#it just keeps exponentially multiplying itself

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than Propagator Primordium

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck this is a 2-drop 3/3 that's also a reanimation spell that makes its own reanimation targets what the fuck

In related news about perfectly balanced cards, I was inspired by cards like Bitter Triumph, Cast Down, Devour in Shadow, Doom Blade, Feed the Swarm, Go for the Throat, Heartless Act, Infernal Grasp, Malicious Affliction, Power Word Kill, Terror, Victim of Night, and Walk the Plank to make my own removal spell

[agirlandherkinks]

After Hours (Inanimate Transformation, Expansion)

Was talking to a friend on discord, and came up with a fun tf concept

Imagine sneaking into a water park in the evening, and seeing a strange ride tucked away in a corner, that no one seems to be using. There's a brightly lit, colourful tube slide that seems to finish somewhere down underground, rather than on the surface like normal. It seems strange, but you want to get a least one ride in before security catches you, and there's no employees around to stop you. So before you know it you've ducked under the barrier, climbed the ladder, and are preparing to plunge into the kaleidoscopic depths of the Pooltoy Express.

As you settle into the stream, surrendering control to gravity and lubricated plastic, you feel an undeniably strange sensation, like a blast of cool air all over your body. There's no time to dwell on it though, as you begin barrelling through twists and careening through turns. In fact it's so exhilarating, that you fail to notice your skin creak, and shift, and squeak, becoming bright, smooth and glossy, shedding your hair out behind you. Your body feels lighter, and yet somehow your skin feels tighter, accompanied by a faint hissssss in the air. Your chest and hips slowly begin to puff outwards, an inexorable pressure stretching them bigger and tighter and making them exponentially more sensitive. One particularly sharp turn bumps your tits together (...were they always like this?), scattering your innocent excitement into a wave of pleasure, and triggering even more growth. Your ass begins to balloon out beneath you, and your crotch melts into itself in one orgasmic motion, turning into a featureless, sensitive bulge filling out between your thighs.

You couldn't understand what was happening as you swept down the slide, but it felt... so good. So perfect. As you writhe and fondle your changing body, the hissing suddenly begins filling your head, making it lighter and emptier and blanker, replacing all of those silly thoughts with a steady rush of air and pleasure. You moan, scream with the sensation of it all, as the changes multiply and heighten, turning you into something sexy, and needy, and empty. Something that needs to be filled, with more than just the air that keeps flooding into it, turning its tits into beach balls and ass into pillows and bulge into a soft, jiggly mass the size of its head.

Its hips jolted, as sturdy handles popped out, making it easy and so,so convenient to use. Making it realize just how much it needs to be used.

Its face shifts, eyes glazing over into wide, empty circles, even as its ears pop up into stiff triangles and its mouth pushes forward into a snout with a lazy, content, painted-on grin.

Its limbs begin to stiffen and fix in place, giant, adorable paws replacing its useless hands and feet, a big plump tail popping out from its back.

And lastly, as its awareness totally sinks beneath a sea of pleasure and empty air, three hollow, rubbery tubes open within its body. One in the center of its happy grin, one in the center of its big, bouncy butt, and one just below its giant, sensitive bulge. A nozzle appears on its belly, with the faintest squeak, and the toy knows it is ready for service.

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

Carlos sighed. His 10 hour shift was finished, and he didn't manage to get even a single tip. But on the bright-side, that gave him a great excuse to pop by the Employee Relief Pool.

Emerging from the staff elevator, he surveyed the pool with a frown. How was every pooltoy in the building taken already?? He hadn't seen the place this busy since Christmas, when a family of rednecks had terrorized the park for 8 hours straight. And... was that fucking Lucinda, balls-deep in Squeaky, his favourite toy? He stared daggers at her from across the room, but she just blew him a kiss and bucked inside it with an exaggerated moan.

He turned to leave in disgust, but just at that moment, the exit of the Pooltoy Express lit up, and a new Relief Toy cruised into the room. Carlos's jaw dropped, then turned up into a leer. Huge ass, biggest tits he'd ever seen, and a bulge bigger than a watermelon. Jumping into the pool and wading over to it, he let down his pants, grabbed it by its handles, and eeeased himself inside of its fresh rubber pussy. Tight, soft, and pre-lubricated. Carlos didn't know who this was before, but he did know he was going to make it his own (as much as company property can be said to be your own). Finders-Fuckers-Namers, as his manager coined it.

"Hey there, you sweet lil' thing," he whispered. Apparently the toys still had all their senses, even if there wasn't much going on in their heads to make use of it. He begun a steady rhythm, making sure the toy was being broken in gently.

"I don't know what you used to be, but I bet you feel so much better like this~ I'm Carlos, one of your many owners, and since I got to you first, I'm going to help you explore your new body~" He kept his voice soft, tender, even as his hands roved across its rubber skin, fondling its tits, stroking its bulge, teasing its other holes with his fingers and tongue. The toy couldn't make a sound, but the squeaks and sqrks of its body on his were all the response he needed to hear.

"Oh god, holy shit, you feel so good..." He picked up his pace, feeling his precum leak and lubricate its hole, and feeling the hole lubricate itself in response. Holy shit indeed. He'd never taken any toy quite like this one "Fuck. Ok. Wow. I'm getting close. Fuck. I need to name you before I cum. You're a good little toy. Haaa~" Carlos found himself speeding up, pounding it now, losing his train of thought, losing control, fuck this felt so good, he found himself jabbering, pleasure centers lighting up, brain lost in a haze of fucking and twisting and tight tight little rubber fucktoys- "Good little fucktoy. Fuck. That's you. You're so good- You're a fucktoy- You're Fucktoy! A good- Good fuckinggg Fucktoyyyy~~~"

Carlos came, thick ropes shooting out, filling Fucktoy up, filling its hole, filling the emptiness that needed to be filled, filling it with pleasure and warmth and a blissful, blank happiness.

As the night deepened, all the employees came over to try the new toy. They didn't get to name it, but they weren't gonna miss the chance to take it fresh. Fucktoy bucked, and squeaked, and bounced under the onslaught of cocks and straps, all of its holes jammed full for hours on end, filled to the brim and then filled some more, until every last worker had finished inside it.

Time and time again, day in and day out, Fucktoy's holes were filled, and its owners' came inside it, and cleaned it out, and came inside it again, and again, and again. Fucktoy was sexy, and Fucktoy was happy, and Fucktoy was full, and content, and used, and loved, forever.

[pigfriends]

Ever thought about how good it'd feel to have slugs nesting in your tits? Feeling them writhe and slide over each other, stimulating your glands and making you produce milk at an exponential rate...feeling your titties swell from the increased backlog, as well as the growing number of slugs swimming around within all that liquid... watching them become a pair of massive obscene balloons on your chest, the skin undulating with the movements of all your little slug children and your nipples leaking a neverending stream of mucus-infused milk...

And knowing you, you wouldn't be truly satisfied until your seedbed tits are entirely too heavy to carry. Imagine how good they'd feel by then...

GOD, yes.... in the early stages of infection, maybe just one or two in each, i'd still try to go about my day to day life, feeling them squirming around, my tits dribbling milk into a padded bra, barely able to focus around the bizarre sensation but still forcing myself through work and errands, desperately trying not to let anyone know why I've been so distracted lately.... Just by the time I've started to grow used to it, the first eggs they've laid hatch and the feelings multiply, tens of little writhing things pushing against my skin, my nipples squirting with their every move, I can barely keep my hands off of myself... Having to limit the time I spend in public, trying to cover myself as much as possible so nobody else can see their squirming... A thick hoodie works well enough in winter, but by the summertime they've grown, laid more eggs, and my tits have more than tripled in size, aching and sensitive and constantly moving, leaking through every shirt and bra that i can still squeeze them into. Every minute I have to spend outside my house feels humiliating, my swollen tits bouncing with every step, and the movement only agitates my nestmates further, pushing more fluids out of my teats. I wonder what the lady at the corner-store must think when she sees me maybe once every two weeks, my shirt soaked nearly through just from my rivers of milk, mixed with slime produced by the slugs, tits bigger every time and writhing with life - not to mention the time a particularly large slug forced itself through my nipple while I was checking out... Eventually I wouldn't go out at all. Not able to bear the heat in my chest, I don't even wear clothes. My tits cover my whole torso, slugs of all different sizes writhing within, some forcing their way out in orgasmic, wet births, others squriming back in. My mind is totally consumed with the sensation, spending my days groping my chest, fingering my gaped nipples open even further, sucking the slimy milk right out of my own tits, too caught up in the brain-breaking pleasure to even mind the slugs that squirm into my mouth and down my throat when I do. My skin feels like its burning, every part of me so, so sensitive, especially with slugs crawling on me on the outside, too - I'm covered in fluids, both mine and my little roommates, I've given up on showering at this point, content to just melt into the floor and let my hive grow. And the growth only speeds up - the more slugs squirming around in me, the more that lay eggs inside my sacks, the more that hatch to lay more eggs and so on. Soon I'll be doubling in size every week, with no signs of it slowing down. One week it'll hurt too much to stand, the next to even sit up, within a few more i'll only be able to kneel laying on my enourmous, bloated, waterfall tits for support, and a few more after that my arms wont even be able to touch the floor, still left desperately groping at the squirming flesh to make the most of the pleasure, days blending together, my whole world reduced to my filthy, ruined, slugwhore tits, and still I can only beg for more, more, more

[random-xpressions]

Energy is exponentially contagious. Now what makes it even more interesting is that it multiplies in oneself even when it is being transferred to others. So it somehow even defies ordinary laws. Hence when you're giving, you're receiving it back in multiple folds just like an echo - you utter something once but it reverberates itself and returns to you one after the other or like you touch a surface of water and it creates a ripple effect across. Human energies are such a fascinating phenomenon that it definitely deserves all our observation and in-depth study, apart from our own experimental experience in our most basic day to day interactions. Essentially when two energies come into close contact, there seems to be like a massive explosion of a new force into the universe which again touches other lives subsequently which again then touches further more souls. So be aware and conscious of what you're capable of especially when you sense that energy gaining momentum in you. Keep receiving it and keep expanding it by reflecting it on those around you. The effect is almost magical!

Random Xpressions

[gitaacharan]

90. Sacrificing Sacrifice

Yajna symbolises sacrifice or selfless actions. In this context, Krishna says, “Some yogis perform sacrifices to gods; others perform sacrifice by offering sacrifice itself in the fire of Brahma (Supreme God)”(4.25).

For one living without awareness, living is just gathering and preserving. The next higher stage of living is sacrificing things, thoughts and feelings. It’s like sacrificing the seeds of ahankaar (I am doer) into the fire rather than letting them multiply on the fertile soil of the mind. The third stage is sacrificing the sacrifice itself realising that all of them are Brahma.

It can be said that the mind oriented karma yogi keeps looking for action and doing sacrifice is the path for him. The intellect oriented gyan yogi is about pure awareness and he sacrifices the sacrifice itself. While the former is sequential, the latter is an exponential or quantum jump, but rare. However, both paths lead to the same destination.

Krishna explains this reality in the context of senses and says that “Certain devotees offer as oblations in the fire of inner control, their powers of hearing and other senses. Others offer sound and other sense objects as sacrifice in the fire of senses” (4.26). In essence, the paths of sacrifice and sacrificing the sacrifice.

Krishna explains the relationship between senses and sense objects many times. The prominent explanation is, “Sense organs naturally experience raag (fondness) and dwesh (aversion) for their respective sense objects; one should be aware of this duality” (3.34).

Through specific effort, the karma yogi breaks the bridge between the senses and sense objects which is the sacrifice mentioned in the first part. The second part is for a gyan yogi who sacrifices the entire process to be just a sakshi through awareness. In both situations, the destination is transcending the polarities.

[earthvitalsignimpact]

Mission 10: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

written by AI and edited by a human

Imagination and Creativity

The ability to imagine new possibilities—whether through mental imagery or conceptual thinking—is central to creating new solutions. Creativity allows an individual to think outside the box, challenge established norms, and envision what does not yet exist. This is often the most critical aspect of innovation.

Scientific Reference: Neuroscience research has shown that creativity engages brain regions such as the default mode network (DMN), responsible for spontaneous thought and problem-solving (Beaty et al., 2014).

Mission 10: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – Day 7

Disclaimer:

This story, much like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, characters, or timelines is purely coincidental, especially since it involves time travel, space-time fluctuations, and an overabundance of oceanic plastic. The author takes no responsibility for any potential confusion regarding the nature of time, space, or the exact location of your towel. If you find yourself in the vicinity of a Chronostorm, please proceed with caution and remember that your safety is likely not guaranteed.

The Crisis of Pollution

The team was thrust into the not-so-distant future, landing around the year 2050. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch—an enormous collection of plastic waste, marine debris, and pollution—had grown far beyond its expected size. Spanning an area roughly twice the size of Texas, about 1.6 million square kilometers, the patch had become an overwhelming catastrophe. The Chronostorm, a temporal weather phenomenon, had accelerated the destruction of marine ecosystems, pushing species to the brink of extinction.

As they gazed out over the massive expanse of floating plastic islands, some stretching for hundreds of kilometers, Anika spoke solemnly, "We’re too late. The storm’s making the oceans uninhabitable, and if we don’t act now, we’ll lose everything. The fish, the coral reefs, the food chain—all of it."

The Chronostorm was no ordinary weather system. It was a disturbance in spacetime—a tear in the very fabric of reality itself. In the story, the Chronostorm distorts time within a specific region of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, leading to erratic weather patterns, temperature fluctuations, and the rapid evolution of ecosystems. As time distorts, some areas experience time acceleration, causing pollution to break down at an unnaturally fast rate, while other regions experience time dilation, where pollutants stagnate, unable to break down. This manipulation of time creates chaos across the marine environment.

Chaos Theory and Temporal Distortions

"The storm is accelerating everything," Gunnar explained, eyeing the churning waters. "Pollution isn't just sitting here anymore—it’s evolving, breaking down faster than it ever should have. The ocean's ecosystems can’t keep up."

The Chronostorm in the story operates as a perfect example of chaos theory. Small disturbances—such as a shift in ocean temperature or a change in time flow—are causing exponential changes across the environment. As mathematician and chaos theory pioneer, Edward Lorenz, once noted, “A butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set off a chain of events that leads to a tornado in Texas” (Lorenz, 1963). In the story, this amplification effect means that even small disruptions have massive, unpredictable consequences. Marine life, weather patterns, and species evolution are all linked in a sensitive, chaotic system where even slight fluctuations are capable of causing cascading destruction.

Anika, familiar with chaos theory, recognized how each distortion of time was causing a ripple effect. "The smallest changes in time are multiplying the destruction. If we don’t stabilize things now, it will spiral out of control."

General Relativity and Temporal Distortions

The Chronostorm was also warping spacetime itself. In the story, the storm causes regions of space to experience time dilation. Where time speeds up, plastics and other pollutants break down at a rate that overwhelms the natural processes of the ocean. Microplastics are released into the water far faster than they would in normal conditions, poisoning marine life. In other regions where time slows, pollutants stagnate, creating pockets of toxic waste that cannot break down.

As physicist Stephen Hawking explained, “Spacetime tells matter how to move, and matter tells spacetime how to curve.” (Hawking, 1988). In the story, this principle is manifested as spacetime fluctuations, where the natural rhythm of the oceans and atmosphere is disrupted, creating unpredictable environmental effects.

The scene visually represents the curvature of spacetime, with waves bending and currents moving unpredictably, symbolizing the chaotic environmental effects caused by the distortions

“We have to stop the storm,” Anika said, her voice urgent. “If we don’t, the planet will collapse under the weight of its own destruction.”

How They Got There: Temporal Manipulation and the Chronostorm

The team was sent to the future as part of their mission to investigate and resolve the escalating environmental crisis caused by the Chronostorm. The Chronostorm itself was caused by spacetime anomalies triggered by both human technological interventions and natural forces. These anomalies distorted time, sending the team to the year 2050—a crucial moment when the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had reached its peak size, and the ocean ecosystem was at the brink of collapse.

The Chronostorm created a temporal rift, pulling the team forward in time. This rift was a result of time dilation, where parts of spacetime were stretched and compressed due to the storm's fluctuations. This distortion allowed the team to travel forward to a time when the effects of the garbage patch were catastrophic. They were sent to 2050 to intervene before the situation became irreversible.

Restoration Efforts

The team decided to deploy a combination of bioremediation techniques, which involved using natural processes to detoxify the water. One of their primary strategies was marine phytoremediation, a process where certain species of marine plants, such as seagrass, kelp, and algae, absorb and break down pollutants like plastics and heavy metals. Phytoremediation is based on the natural abilities of these plants to filter out toxins from the water and air, restoring the ecosystem over time. Seagrasses, for example, can sequester carbon and nitrogen, making them crucial for cleaning the water and reducing the impact of climate change on marine environments.

They also deployed ocean-cleaning drones, which used advanced filtration systems to collect plastic waste, especially microplastics that were too small for larger machines to gather. These drones were equipped with specialized software to track the waste and ensure that it was properly disposed of or repurposed, minimizing the risk of introducing new contaminants into the ecosystem.

In addition to these efforts, they focused on restoring key coastal ecosystems like mangrove forests and seagrass meadows. These habitats are known for their incredible ability to sequester carbon, stabilize coastlines, and support biodiversity. Mangroves, in particular, have been shown to store carbon at rates much higher than terrestrial forests due to their dense root systems and the ability to trap organic matter in the mud. These restoration efforts aimed to rebuild natural habitats that would serve as nurseries for marine species, providing shelter and food for fish and other marine life while supporting the overall health of the ecosystem.

The Temporal Environmental Stabilizer (TES) was activated in the story to counteract the rapid fluctuations caused by the Chronostorm. By manipulating the flow of time and stabilizing temperature gradients, the TES was able to restore balance to the environment. It monitored and adjusted real-time conditions in the ocean, ensuring that harmful fluctuations did not undo the restoration efforts. It also promoted the growth of carbon-absorbing plants, such as seagrasses and kelp forests, which are vital to maintaining the ocean's carbon sequestration abilities.

The TES used feedback loops to monitor the ocean’s current state, adjusting the environment in real-time. This included regulating salinity levels to maintain optimal conditions for marine organisms and preventing further acidification caused by the rising concentration of carbon dioxide in the water. By restoring a stable thermal environment and promoting the growth of key species, the TES played a pivotal role in supporting the bioremediation efforts and enhancing the health of the ocean's ecosystems.

Outcome: A Hopeful Future

Slowly, the oceans began to clear, and the restoration projects took root. The team knew that the battle was far from over, but by stabilizing the flow of time, they had stopped the Chronostorm, giving the oceans a chance to recover. The toxic species were being managed, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was beginning to shrink.

Scientific References:

Great Pacific Garbage Patch:

Lebreton, L. C. M., Van der Zwet, J., Damsteeg, J. W., et al. (2018). "A global mass budget for plastic waste." Science Advances, 4(6), eaap9027. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aap9027

Ocean-Cleaning Drones:

Slat, B., et al. (2014). "A novel approach to ocean plastic cleanup." The Ocean Cleanup. Retrieved from https://www.theoceancleanup.com

O’Donoghue, P., & Martens, S. (2018). "Marine robots for cleaning and monitoring the oceans." Ocean Engineering, 158, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2018.02.033

Jambeck, J. R., et al. (2015). "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean." Science, 347(6223), 768-771. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352

Chaos Theory:

Gleick, J. (1987). Chaos: Making a New Science. Viking Penguin.

Lorenz, E. N. (1963). "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow." Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 20(2), 130-141.

General Relativity:

Einstein, A. (1915). "Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation" [The Field Equations of Gravitation]. Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 844–847.

Hawking, S. (1988). A Brief History of Time. Bantam Books.

Phytoremediation:

Raskin, I., Smith, R. D., & Salt, D. E. (1997). "Phytoremediation of Toxic Metals: Using Plants to Remove Pollutants from the Environment." Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 8(2), 221-226.

Glick, B. R. (2010). "Phytoremediation: A Novel Approach to Cleaning Up Toxic Environmental Pollutants." Biotechnology Advances, 28(5), 466-473.

Mangroves and Seagrass Meadows for Carbon Sequestration:

Mcleod, E., Chmura, G. L., Bouillon, S., et al. (2011). "A Blueprint for Blue Carbon: Toward an Improved Understanding of the Role of Vegetated Coastal Habitats in Sequestering CO2." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 9(10), 552-560.

Pendleton, L., Donato, D. C., Murray, B. C., et al. (2012). "Estimates for Global Blue Carbon: Potential for Carbon Sequestration in Mangrove, Seagrass, and Salt Marsh Ecosystems." PLOS ONE, 7(9), e43542.

Exclusive Interview: The Mind Behind the Chronostorm and Temporal Restoration

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Dr. Anika Strauss, the lead scientist behind the mission to reverse the damage caused by the Chronostorm and restore balance to Earth's ecosystems in the year 2050. Dr. Strauss shares her insights into the scientific principles of time manipulation, the challenges of restoring the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the ethical considerations behind controlling the flow of time.

Interviewer: Thank you for joining us, Dr. Strauss. Let’s dive straight into the heart of your mission. The Chronostorm is central to your work. Can you explain in simple terms how this phenomenon works and what makes it so dangerous?

Dr. Anika Strauss: Of course. The Chronostorm is essentially a massive disturbance in spacetime, a kind of storm that warps both time and space. This distortion causes time to behave unpredictably. In some areas, time accelerates, leading to rapid environmental degradation, like the accelerated breakdown of plastics. In others, time slows down, creating stagnant patches of water where the usual processes, like pollutant breakdown, stop altogether. This creates chaos in ecosystems, disrupting the balance between species and their environment.

Interviewer: That sounds terrifying. What inspired the decision to send your team to 2050 specifically?

Dr. Anika Strauss: 2050 was a critical tipping point. By then, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had expanded beyond what we expected, accelerated by the Chronostorm. Time was literally running out. We needed to understand the long-term effects of the storm, observe the damage up close, and deploy technologies like the Temporal Environmental Stabilizer (TES) to stabilize the environment before it reached the point of no return. It wasn’t just about cleaning up plastic; it was about understanding how time itself was contributing to this crisis and using that understanding to reverse the damage.

Interviewer: The TES is one of the most fascinating parts of your work. How does it actually work to reverse the environmental damage?

Dr. Anika Strauss: The TES is designed to stabilize the flow of time in regions where the Chronostorm has created chaos. By manipulating spacetime in a controlled way, it helps restore natural processes—slowing down areas where time is moving too quickly and speeding up areas where time has become stagnant. It essentially re-aligns time with the natural cycles of the planet, allowing ecosystems to recover, pollutants to break down at a manageable rate, and habitats to regenerate.

Interviewer: In your story, you talk about chaos theory and how small changes in spacetime can cause large, unpredictable consequences. How does this concept tie into your work with the Chronostorm?

Dr. Anika Strauss: Chaos theory is central to understanding the Chronostorm. It tells us that small disturbances in a system can trigger a chain reaction that leads to massive changes. In the case of the Chronostorm, those small disturbances in time created enormous shifts in the environment—rapid breakdown of plastics, new toxic species emerging, and ecosystems collapsing. We had to stabilize the system quickly before these shifts became irreversible. The TES helped us manage those feedback loops and re-establish balance.

Interviewer: What about the ethical implications of controlling time? Is it right to manipulate such a fundamental force of nature?

Dr. Anika Strauss: That’s a question we wrestled with a lot. Time manipulation is incredibly powerful, and with great power comes great responsibility. The decision to intervene in natural processes was not taken lightly. We had to ask ourselves: Can we let Earth collapse due to our mistakes, or do we step in to fix it? The key was recognizing that while controlling time could have unintended consequences, doing nothing would be far worse. We’ve learned that the Earth is resilient, but we can’t let it reach the point where it cannot recover. That’s why we developed the TES to restore balance rather than force unnatural changes.

Interviewer: If you could give advice to future generations, especially regarding environmental responsibility, what would it be?

Dr. Anika Strauss: I would say: Be mindful of the long-term impact of your actions. Everything we do, no matter how small, ripples through time. Pollution, overuse of resources, and the manipulation of nature may seem like isolated problems, but they add up. We’ve learned the hard way that small changes can lead to massive consequences. The future of our planet depends on understanding that we are part of a delicate system, and our actions must be carefully considered, for the sake of the future.

Disclaimer: This interview is a work of fiction, inspired by the concepts of time manipulation and environmental restoration. Any resemblance to real-world events, characters, or technologies is purely coincidental. No one knows whether Chronostorms will ever exist, but if they do, please remember: Don’t Panic, and always carry a towel.

This fictional interview provides a deeper look into the world of the Chronostorm and the role of time manipulation in environmental restoration. It blends scientific ideas with the narrative’s themes while offering an engaging way to explore these concepts. Let me know if you’d like to adjust any parts of it!

This quiz challenges both comprehension of key plot points and deeper understanding of the scientific concepts that drive the story.

Quiz: Understanding the Story

**1. What is the *Chronostorm* and how does it impact the environment?**

a) A natural weather event that slows down time and accelerates pollution breakdown. b) A temporal weather phenomenon that warps spacetime and accelerates environmental decay. c) A time machine that allows people to travel to the future. d) A type of hurricane that affects only coastal regions.

2. Why did the team travel to the year 2050?

a) To study the effects of the Chronostorm on the environment at a critical tipping point. b) To prevent the rise of plastic waste in the ocean in the year 2050. c) To stop a man-made climate disaster. d) To gather data about space-time anomalies in the past.

**3. How does the *Temporal Environmental Stabilizer (TES)* work to repair the environment?**

a) It speeds up the process of plastic breakdown. b) It manipulates spacetime to stabilize the flow of time and heal ecosystems. c) It creates artificial storms to clean the ocean. d) It sends people back in time to undo pollution.

**4. Which of the following is *not* a result of the Chronostorm?**

a) Time fluctuations that distort the ocean's ecosystems. b) Rapid breakdown of pollutants into toxic byproducts. c) Creation of new, toxic species that are harmful to marine life. d) Stabilization of ocean currents and weather patterns.

**5. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and how does it evolve in the story?

a) A small floating island of plastic that remains unchanged over time. b) A massive collection of marine debris that evolves rapidly due to spacetime distortions. c) An area where time is slowed down, preventing any decomposition. d) A section of ocean that is cleaned by the Chronostorm.

**6. What does the *Temporal Environmental Stabilizer (TES)* do to the Chronostorm?**

a) It amplifies the effects of the storm. b) It completely eliminates the storm. c) It stabilizes time and temperature to reverse the damage caused by the storm. d) It sends the storm into the past, preventing it from happening.

**7. In the story, how does *chaos theory* relate to the Chronostorm?**

a) It explains how the storm is caused by unpredictable weather patterns. b) It describes how small changes in spacetime lead to large, catastrophic consequences. c) It shows how pollution is naturally cleaned over time. d) It describes how time travel affects environmental outcomes.

Answers:

b

a

b

d

b

c

b

[downtimecollectionsolutions]

The Impact of Machine Downtime Beyond That Initial Monetary Hit

Equipment downtime is a major pain point for just about every industry you can think of. It doesn't matter if you're in textiles, pharmaceuticals, metal, or something else entirely - keeping machines running is always a top priority.

While everyone knows that there is an almost immediate cost associated with instances of unplanned downtime, there's also long-term damage that is absolutely worth a closer look.

The Real Costs of Machine Downtime: An Overview

When it comes to understanding the true financial impact of machine downtime, it's important to separate things into two categories: the literal cost and the larger, often hidden one.

Calculating the literal cost is easy - you simply take the total minute soft downtime you experienced, multiply it by the cost per minute, and you get your number. According to one recent study, for larger businesses the cost of unplanned downtime averages out to about $9,000 per minute.

The larger cost is influenced by those factors that tend to remain a problem even after the machine itself has come back online. When that equipment is running and producing, the literal cost stops.

The damage to your company's reputation with regard to reliability and quality, however, can't be fixed by just ordering a few replacement parts. That will take time and even more effort to resolve. If the problems persist, you may not ever get back to where you were.

Frequent problems also have a legitimate productivity cost attached to them. Every minute that an employee is spending trying to fix a recurring issue is a minute they're not actually making money for your business.

Things may get to the point where those employees start to look elsewhere for work, increasing your turnover rate exponentially. When you consider that it always costs more money to replace an employee than it does to just retain one of your existing ones, it's easy to see how there are financial damages associated with this, too.

In the end, all this also highlights the importance of tracking machine downtime across your own organization. Obviously, if you know you manufactured X fewer parts per hour than you should have, you can calculate the cost of lost productivity (or at least, lost potential sales) fairly quickly. You may even come up with a dollar value that you're comfortable with. A "cost of doing business," if you will.

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[self-loving-vampire]

This whole thing falls apart when you realize that this statement:

Removing death from life inherently removes reason to exist in the first place.

Was not actually given any kind of supporting argument or anything. It's just assumed. Maybe even repeated from some kind of fictional story that itself just mindlessly regurgitated it from somewhere else.

Like, you say that the idea that you're going to die makes you happy to be here, but how exactly are those things related? If your projected lifespan was indefinite and could potentially extend for thousands of years then would that actually make you stop enjoying your life?

I enjoy my life, but not because it is finite. Just like how I would not enjoy my favorite restaurant's food more if I knew it was about to close soon, or how I don't enjoy a video game more if it is a live service game that's about to get shut down.

Life has inherent value and can involve many enjoyable things. You know what's not enjoyable, though? Gradually losing the ability to participate in it as you accumulate diseases and conditions beyond your ability to manage and then die. I think delaying and even stopping this process has value even if it did not function as a binary of "mortal/immortal". Another 20 years in good health are better than nothing after all.

Also, if you value doing good deeds then good news: If you stay alive indefinitely you can keep performing good deeds indefinitely. Your potential for positive impact on other people is multiplied exponentially if you were to live 10 lifespans instead of one. If that is really something you value then it does not really make sense to praise death there, as it would cut your ability to do the things you consider good and meaningful.

Not to mention that aging-related diseases are the leading cause of death and misery worldwide so doing something about this whole thing would count as the single best deed in itself.

I also don't like how a lot of people seem to think aging is basically just wrinkles and therefore think of it purely in terms of like, the beauty industry.

Aging is a curse that causes you to accumulate all kinds of increasingly debilitating and lethal status effects until you essentially get locked out of living your life and lose all of the abilities you may have once defined yourself by.

And then you die and permanently cease to exist, and everyone who cares about you suffers.

There is no such thing as "healthy" aging except in relative terms (by trying to remain active and so on to slow the decline).

Death is my enemy, no matter the cause of it. I do not give an exception to "natural causes".

[orwocolor]

happy moments in a happy life

Pairing: Joe Mazzello x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4.8k

Warnings: Nothing, pure fluff!

Summary: Spending your daughter Olive’s first birthday in the amusement park, you reminisce about the day you fell in love with Joe.

Author’s Note: Requested by @borhapgirlforlife19​ ! Sorry it took me ages to finish this but I hope the fic itself will make up for the long wait :)

the gif is mine

“Hi Olive! Hi!” you exclaim with a wide smile and wave your hand frantically to catch the attention of your daughter. She’s sitting right next to Joe, his arm wrapped around her small body while his other hand is placed on her stomach to make sure she’s not gonna fall out of the mini train ride. After seemingly loitering in the line for quite some time, Joe finally managed to seize the seats in the small colourful locomotive, which of course are the best since there’s a button to sound the train horn. He insisted that his most beloved birthday girl deserved only the best.

Although truth be told, she’s celebrating her first birthday today and you’re pretty sure she can’t even comprehend the difference between the locomotive and the other carriages. Joe on the other hand? Oh, he’s having a blast for sure!

“Look sweetie, that’s Mum!” Joe points his finger at you and Olive looks up at him before she gingerly follows his gaze and finally her eyes find you with your phone in your hand. She gives you the most brilliant almost-toothless grin and you beam right back at her, promptly tapping the button on your phone to take as many pictures as you possibly can to capture this wonderful moment.

Your cheeks hurt from all the smiling but you can’t help yourself. Every single day your little family have been proving to you that even though it always seems like it’s not humanly possible to love them more, the love you feel for them won’t stop before anything and it keeps multiplying exponentially. The realisation warms your heart and the power of this moment is so strong for you to feel happy tears welling in your eyes. You lay your palm on your chest as if the emotions were to burst out of you if given the chance.

Before the train circles back to where you’re standing, you have just enough time to clear your throat and rummage through your handbag, finding a tissue to wipe away the tears.

Just as the mini train passes you again, Joe’s eyes meet yours and he smirks as he presses the button twice to honk the horn. He suggestively waggles his eyebrows and shoots you a wink, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Rolling your eyes, you huff out a laugh and shake your head, not quite capable to wipe that bright smile from your face. As a payback, you cross your eyes and poke out your tongue at him. Your silly expression makes Olive giggle even harder and it takes Joe great effort to keep her upright. His hands full of your squirming daughter, there’s not much left for him to do but blow you a raspberry in return as the train leaves you behind to make another round.

You get your phone ready again, this time swiping left to change the mode to video, unable to resist the urge to film your daughter for an umpteenth time. God, you’ve really become the parent that just has to capture every moment of your child, haven’t you. But who could blame you, she’s the sweetest little girl and anytime you feel down, you just scroll through your camera roll and that adorable smile cheers you up within seconds.

While they were out of your sight, Joe hoisted Olive up on his lap so that she could reach the bright yellow plastic wheel screwed to the simple control desk. His hands are over hers and he turns the wheel right and left, making train noises with his mouth. The course of the train does not naturally change based on their driving but Olive doesn’t seem to mind, giggling with excitement.

The vision in front of you takes you back to your college days, a very special one in particular.

The day you fell in love at first sight with Joe Mazzello.

It was a relatively cold day for the beginning of September. The trees were yet to get a chance to tint their leaves in yellow hues, but dark clouds and cold wind were making themselves known, announcing the approaching winter as small droplets splattered on the beige of your coat and the gust of cool air seeped through your clothes.

You lifted the lapels to protect yourself from the chill and shouldered your bag, precariously balancing in your arms the stack of books that you’d just borrowed from the college library as you made haste for the lecture hall.

The term had only started, but you were already drowning in heavy textbooks and lengthy papers, the tutors making sure their students were not loafing around. When you finally reached the lecture hall and found a seat close to the door, you dropped the books down on the desk with a loud bang, causing a few students to turn their heads after the sound. At that moment, the professor stood up and cleared her throat to announce the beginning of her lecture, and so you just mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ and plopped down on a chair. As quietly as possible, you took off your coat and pulled out your laptop to take notes. There was not much space on the desk in front of you and so you placed a few of the textbooks down on the seat next to you.

After a few minutes of your fingers flying across the keyboard as you tried to keep up with the merciless speed of the presentation, the door to the lecture hall was thrown open and someone stormed in. The professor cut herself short, the unfinished word hanging in the air as everyone craned their neck to see the source of the sudden disturbance.

A soft gasp escaped your mouth when your gaze landed on the newcomer. He was a very handsome man, with messy auburn hair, a sharp, prominent nose and beautiful kind eyes that glimmered in the white light of the lecture hall. A rosy blush spread across his cheeks and the tip of his nose as he tried to catch his breath.

You let your gaze drop down and inspected his clothes. Clad in black jeans and a coat, he appeared to favour simplicity with regards to fashion as the only traces of colour were the threads of red and blue weaved through his chequered scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

A small movement caught your attention when his grip around the handle of his backpack tightened. Shifting his weight, he chuckled nervously under the stare of several hundred students directed his way and the flush in his face turned a shade darker.  

“Sorry, couldn’t find a parking spot,” the man grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck, his forehead knitting while he stood there, unsure of how to cope with all the unexpected attention.

Your eyes flicked to the lectern behind which the professor stood with a clenched jaw and gritted teeth as she looked daggers at the guy, her mouth forming into a thin line. With a quick tilt of her head, she gestured for him to take a seat and stop disturbing her lecture.  

“Yeah, I’ll just, erm,” he trailed off as he scanned the room to find a vacant spot before his eyes finally met yours.

The time stopped. You weren’t breathing. He slowly blinked in a daze, unable to move or tear his gaze away from you.

You felt butterflies fluttering their wings in your stomach. You had always imagined this sensation to be uncomfortable and rather awkward, but the truth couldn’t be farther from your expectations. Admittedly, it was an odd feeling, yes, but it also was a surprisingly pleasant one, reverberating through your veins and spreading warmth throughout your body.

His lips curled upwards in a wide beaming smile and another warm wave washed over you.

The professor’s withering look intensified but you paid her no mind. His gaze still locked with yours, you felt an invisible force pulling at the corners of your mouth to give him a matching smile as you grinned from ear to ear.

The professor cleared her throat, making you jump in your seat. The handsome guy sucked in a breath and bit on his lower lip, breaking the eye contact as he sheepishly shifted his attention to the podium.

“Sorry, again. I’ll just go and take a seat.” He pointed his finger in your direction and gave the professor a solemn nod before scurrying towards you. You made haste to grab the textbooks that lay on the chair next to you to free the space as the other students shifted in their seats to focus on the lecture again, the old wood cracking and shoes squeaking against the linoleum.

He was at your side within seconds, bending down to help you bring the books to the floor. His fingers brushed over yours as you both reached for the same textbook and that now-familiar warmth settled in your fingertips. You couldn’t help but glance up at him, and your eyes locked again for a brief moment. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away and grabbed the remaining books, neatly placing them at your feet before he took a seat next to you.

As you gathered a few of your belongings to empty his part of the desk, you realised one thing. The lecture hall had been built to hold as many people as possible and so all the seats were quite narrow, which caused you to feel the hard warmth of his body pressed against your arm and thigh. Truth be told, it was rather distracting, and you found yourself deleting a line of notes every time your mind wandered off as your unsupervised fingers started typing not only errors but occasionally absolute nonsense.

It seemed the proximity may have had a similar effect on him as every now and then his hands halted in their movement, hovering above the keyboard before he recovered from his frozen state and quickly typed a simple ‘TBA’, pressing the enter key and starting a new paragraph.

Once the lecture came to an end and everyone began to gather their things, you breathed out a relieved sigh, closed your laptop and turned to face the guy next to you. You meant to introduce yourself, maybe ask him if he would care to grab a coffee with you but before you could get a chance to open your mouth, someone else jogged up the stairs of the auditorium to greet the man next to you.

“Dude, what the hell was that?” the guy hollered and his barked-out laughter resonated against the walls as a few more students followed in his tail.

Your face dropped. With no intention of intruding upon the nice man, especially with his friends around, you gathered your things and meandered your way through the lecture hall, ignoring the agitated emptiness in the pit of your stomach.

At the door, you allowed yourself a glance at their group and your heart skipped a beat when you noticed him watching you. He gave you a small wave and an apologetic smile before he shifted his focus back to his friends as they discussed their plans for the weekend.

You bumped into a few friends of yours in the hallway and chatted with them for a while, promising to send them some of your notes until it was time for you to leave the campus and head home as well. Maybe you could make a detour to a local coffee shop. Even though it would be nicer to have company, who were you to deny yourself a hot cup of cappuccino.

Arms full of the many books you’d been carrying around the whole day, you pushed at the massive front door with your shoulder to exit the building, but you froze in your tracks as the weather put a damper on your plans.

You frowned at the dark grey clouds from which an absolute downpour was loudly beating against the concrete stairs leading to the lecture hall.

“Want me to give you a ride?” a voice said right next to your ear, and you turned on your heel, your breath hitching in your throat as you faced the man from earlier, the man you couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Isn’t your car too far?” you asked instead of providing an answer.

“No, it’s right behind the corner. I had to make a few rounds around the campus before I noticed Professor Giles reversing from his spot. Parallel parking is not his strongest suit, I’ll tell you that,” he laughed and tossed his head to prevent hair from falling in his eyes. “I’m Joe by the way,” he said and offered his hand.

“(Y/N),” you replied and wrapped your fingers around his, gently squeezing as a small smile started playing on your lips when his thumb caressed your inner wrist. “And thank you for the offer! But still, the rain’s really heavy and I don’t have an umbrella with me so I guess I’ll just wait it out.”

“We could share my scarf,” he suggested and promptly slid it down from around his neck. “Use it as a cover, you know.”

“I…” You got interrupted by one of your books slipping from the pile in your arms and you kicked your leg up, catching it before it could crash down on the floor. His palm landed on your elbow to keep you upright until you restored your balance and gripped the books in your arm more tightly, resting them against your hip.

“You know, I could carry these for you.”

“Thanks, but I’m alright,” you replied and gave him an earnest smile.

“Let’s make a deal. You lend me half of your books, and I’ll offer half of my scarf, what do you say?”

“That’s hardly a bargain for you,” you chuckled and looked away to hide the grin creeping across your face. Instead, you turned to the downpour outside and stretched out your arm, catching big raindrops into your open palm.

“Getting to press myself to this beautiful girl while we run side by side to my car so that I can give her a lift and maybe ask for her phone number, that is if I muster the courage? I see no drawbacks in the deal for me.” He revealed his teeth in another sweet smile and gave you a wink.

You let out a laugh as you shook your head in disbelief, and with a flick of your fingers, you sprinkled the water you’d just collected in your hand at him to punish him for his straightforwardness.  

It was Joe’s turn to give you a slightly exasperated look as you giggled at his expression, and he rolled his eyes, the smile on his face not wavering.

“Come on.” He motioned for you to accept one corner of his scarf and while you were distracted by positioning the piece of warm fuzzy fabric above your head, he took a hold of the books in your arms, his firm glare not allowing any arguments.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give them back.”

He unzipped his backpack and pushed the books inside before you could utter any protests.

Although you hated to admit it, the scarf was not big enough and you had to huddle up close to fit underneath, just like he mentioned earlier. Maybe the idea of such proximity had not left him flustered, but it sure did make your breath hitch at the thought.

Hesitantly, you snaked your arm around his waist and after a beat of silence, he mirrored the movement, his palm gently pressed against your side.

“On three, okay?” you instructed and took a deep breath. “One. Two.”

“Three!” you both exclaimed in unison and darted down the stairs.

Oh my god was the rain bloody cold!

No matter how fast you ran, the harsh chilly raindrops were biting at your skin, quickly making it numb as your teeth chattered. And no, the scarf did very little to protect you from the downpour, getting soaked in the first few seconds. Adrenalin was pumping in your veins and the buzz you felt spreading all over your body had made you almost hysterical as you couldn’t help but laugh and squeal every time you accidentally stepped into a puddle, splashing water around you.

Moreover, the situation seemed to have the same effect on Joe, his grip on your lower back tight while he laughed at your side. There was this indescribable feeling of urgency and freedom and a rush of hot blood that left you feeling slightly dizzy and out of breath.

When you finally reached his car and jumped inside, you were absolutely drenched, raindrops trickling from your hair and occasional giggles escaping your mouths at the absurdity of it all.

Joe fumbled with the keys for a short while before he started the engine and consequently turned on the heating, pleasant warmth spreading across your damp skin as he hovered his hands above the fans.  

“It should warm us up in a minute,” he commented and gave you a bright smile.

“Thanks,” you answered and mirrored his expression, the wave of warmth reaching your heart as well.  

“So, where to?”

“Erm, Lafayette Hall, if that’s okay?” You suddenly felt the unease in the pit of your stomach and started absentmindedly pulling at your fingers in a nervous gesture. “I know, it’s a bit too far, so if you want to drop me off anywhere nearer, I will understand.”

“No problem, that way we can spend more time together,” he replied as he rubbed his hands and breathed hot air into his palms before he grabbed the wheel and the car pulled away from the curb.

His eyes were glued to the road ahead of him, and so he hadn’t noticed you breathing a sigh of relief and casting your eyes down at the notion of him appreciating your company.

“So, what do you say about the class?” Joe eventually broke the silence without tearing his eyes from the traffic as he carefully navigated the streets, but if you had lifted your gaze a fraction of a second sooner, you would catch him grimacing at the small-talk question.

“Seems pretty interesting. The workload is absolutely crazy though, don’t you think? God knows how many essays, assignments, presentations and the final coursework… sounds like I’ll be spending all my free time in the library.”

“Well, we could always study together. If you would like,” Joe added in haste as he dared to glance towards you to see your reaction.

“I would love that,” you answered truthfully and were rewarded with another beautiful smile of his which you gladly returned.

As he made a turn with his car, you were met with a sea of motionless red lights distorted through the raindrops on the windscreen. The rainy weather must have caused the usual surge of cars on the streets that regularly resulted in nothing but traffic jams.

“Damn it, I don’t think I can turn anywhere and bypass it,” Joe said, his eyes skimming the street.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind,” you assured him, unhappy to see the frown on his face as frustration took over his features. When it seemed he had nothing to say and you couldn’t think of any other words of reassurance, you immersed yourself in the sound of rain beating against the cars and pitch-black concrete.  

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly after a while, “I offered to drive you home, not to get stuck with me in a jam.”

“You offered me a ride, the destination was not specified,” you retorted and turned your head to face him and shoot him a wink.

“Is it still considered a ride if we’re not moving?” he chuckled and you were glad the metaphorical dark cloud above his head, unlike the grey clouds in the sky, seemed to have dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

“Touché. But still, I’m not complaining.”

“Neither am I.”

A comfortable silence settled between you again as you both sat in the car, none of you willing to break the eye contact. Unfortunately, the traffic started moving at that moment, albeit at slow pace, and Joe reluctantly shifted his focus to the road. Even though after a few metres it was time to push the breaks again, he was not ready to meet your gaze.

Instead, his fingers started drumming against the wheel, the movement catching your eye. When he noticed you staring, he smirked and pursed his lips, You thought he would say something or maybe give you another smile. What you did not expect him to do was start making car noises with his mouth and slide his hands around the wheel to mimic driving and revving up, which made you burst out laughing.  

“What?” Joe asked and the innocence in his voice brought another fit of laughter from you as you clutched at your stomach.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” you managed to tell him in between giggles.

“I’ve been described in such terms, yes,” he replied with a joyful glint in his eyes, earning another laugh.

With a smile playing on his lips, he waited for you to calm down as you took deep breaths and placed your hand on your chest, your heart beating hard against the palm, before he spoke again.

“I really like your laughter, by the way,” he admitted quietly and you beamed at him. You might have fallen in love with him at first sight in the lecture hall, but this was the moment you realised you couldn’t quite accept the image of your life without him. And though you didn’t know how, you knew he felt the same as he tentatively outstretched his arm and reached for your hand, his fingers soft against your skin.

“Well, then it’s a good thing you make me laugh with such ease,” you smiled and squeezed his hand in return.

It had taken him a few more days before he gave you a lift again and as you sat in his car, at the very same spot, he finally kissed you and asked you out.

The brush of his mouth against yours caused your heart to skip a beat just like it does every time you two kiss, the memory vivid in your head even all those years later. As you watch Joe with Olive on the mini train ride, the ghost of the touch caresses your skin, the feeling as tangible as back then when your lips first met.

The train slows down until it stops to a halt as the ride ends and Joe grabs Olive under her arms and carries her towards you.

“Hi, baby, did you enjoy it?” you coo when they arrive at your side, your daughter cradled in his arms. She reaches for you with her small hands, and you can’t help but take her from him and press her against your chest. Joe’s hand finds the small of your back and he rubs it gently.

“We had a lot of fun, didn’t we Olive?” he says and tickles her stomach, her bubbly giggles earning her a bright smile from you.

“I’m happy to hear that!” you beam at them as Joe looks around the amusement park.

“Oh look, teacups! And there’s one with a dinosaur print on it. We’ve gotta go on this one too!” he exclaims and you place a kiss on Olive’s temple before you give her back to Joe.

“Have fun!”

“Wait, you sure you don’t want to go with us?” A wrinkle forms on his forehead, his eyes filled with worry.

But the mere idea of sitting inside one of the cups and letting the ride spin you around makes your stomach churn as you feel your gorge rise at the thought.

“Absolutely. I’ll go sit on that bench over there and watch you from there, okay?”

Joe hoists Olive up on his hip and gently grasps your elbow. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”

“I’ve never been better,” you answer and press a sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth. You give him a reassuring smile when he hesitates to move and take Olive to the teacup ride, but she starts wiggling in his arms and so his grip on her tightens and he shifts her focus back to her.

While they wait in a line, you browse around the few shops and stalls that are scattered around the park. One shop in particular catches your attention and a quirky smile pulls at the corners of your mouth when an idea forms in your head. After you make your purchase and finally sit down on the bench you mentioned earlier, you scan the crowds to find your husband and daughter and that feeling of utmost love comes back in full force.

You can’t believe it’s been exactly one year since you gave birth to Olive. She is such a big girl already, and for a short moment you get slightly emotional about the passage of time. Clearing your throat and wiping your tears with the back of your hand, you pull out your phone again, taking pictures and videos of Joe and Olive so that you never forget this special day.

Later that night you softly knock on the door to the nursery and when you open it, you’re met with the loveliest sight in the whole wide world. Joe is sitting in a big armchair with Olive lying on his chest while she slowly sucks her thumb and listens to him reading her a bedtime story.

“It’s time to sleep, big girl,” you whisper softly when you kneel at their side and run your fingers through her hair. “Look, Mummy got you something while you and Dad were having fun on the rides.”

From behind your back, you pull out a small bright green t-shirt with a logo of the amusement park printed on the front and Olive’s eyes widen and sparkle in excitement.

“I know, it’s silly,” you quickly add when you spot Joe’s amused expression. “I just thought it would be a nice reminder of this day.”

“It’s perfect,” he says and chuckles when Olive grabs it from your hands and cuddles to it without hesitation.

“Wait, baby, I gotta wash it first,” you laugh softly and gently pry the t-shirt from her grip. She pouts, her bottom lip quivering slightly but Joe takes no time to hand Olive her favourite teddy bear and the sadness is quickly forgotten. Together, you put her to bed, kiss her forehead and tuck her in.  

“Happy birthday, my love,” you say at the door and close it behind you.

“I’m sure she’ll sleep through the whole night, it’s been a very busy day.”

“It really was,” you agree and hide a yawn in your palm as you make your way to the bedroom. “Thank you for this, it was an excellent idea.” You reach out and squeeze his hand. “And I’m sure she’ll love the birthday party on Saturday as well.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be awesome, right?”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way,” you chuckle.

Your hand in his, Joe takes the opportunity to pull you to him and wrap his arms around you in a warm embrace.

“By the way, where’s my present?” he whispers hotly against the shell of your ear when you enter the bedroom, and you giggle.

“Is it your birthday?” You tilt your head and cock an eyebrow, tapping the pointy tip of his nose with your finger. “Although… now that you’ve mentioned it…” you trail off and smirk at him.

To Joe’s surprise, you free yourself from the embrace and fetch a bag that’s been hidden underneath the bedside table.

“This is for you.” You pull out a much larger version of the same t-shirt you’ve given to Olive, although this one is crimson red and Joe laughs, thanking you with a press of his lips to yours. “This is for me,” you continue when you finally get a chance to breathe again, and show him a light blue t-shirt, “and this…”

Joe cannot believe his eyes. You’re holding a tiny pastel yellow romper suit, too small to fit Olive.

“Are we?” he asks as his eyes glisten, the realisation of what you’re trying to say with that small piece of fabric filling his heart to the brim with so much love and affection he feels for you, for Olive and for your new baby that is yet to be born.

“Yes,” you answer, happy tears running freely down your cheeks as you throw yourself at him, his arms always ready to catch you and hold you tight.

~

Request: Can I request a fluffy Joe Mazzello x fem. reader oneshot where Joe and reader take their 1 year old daughter to an amusement park and Joe goes on the kid rides with his daughter while reader watches with a big smile and takes lots of pictures and videos of them and while watching her little family, reader remembers how she met Joe in college and it was love at first sight? Also, when they get back home that night and after Joe puts their daughter to bed, reader surprises Joe with a present and tells him they’re having another baby? ( @borhapgirlforlife19​ )

[dfcfanfics]

Justice: Delicious Hot, Disturbing Cold Miraculous Prompt of the Day

I have her, at last.

"Princess Justice," Shadowmoth gloated, feeling his enhanced mental hooks sinking into Marinette Dupain-Cheng at last. "I am Shadowmoth. A fact of which you are certainly aware; our paths have crossed many times before this, but never connected fully quite like this."

He felt Marinette trying desperately to shake off his persuasive voice, to ward off the Akuma and its repercussions. Her resistance remained firm, but perhaps not quite as passionate as in their past encounters.

"I sense that I may have caught you on the worst day of your young life," he sympathized. "And, for once, not of my own doing. Today, I am not here to torment you; I am here to help you regain control of your life. This world has many wrongs that a girl with the right power might set right, does it not?"

"It... does," mumbled Marinette, through gritted teeth. She stared at the open window, through which she'd sent a frantic Wayzz with a pair of earrings in his grasp. "It does, at that."

"Then accept my power, and bring your own form of... justice to the deserving."

A cocoon of energy enveloped Marinette as the transformation took hold. Shadowmoth felt the transfer of power take place... and continue... and continue far beyond what he had intended.

"You are correct, Shadowmoth," a reverberating voice declared. "There are many wrongs that I may make right. I can sense those wrongs -- and those responsible for them. Such as a fashion magnate, who plays with magical toys that he does not fully understand!"

"Wh-what?"

She can sense who I am, through our connection? She can trace it back to its source? gasped Shadowmoth, internally. She has THAT level of power?

"Indeed, I do," grinned the transforming girl.

She... just read my MIND?!

"But for the moment, you may rest assured that your schemes and your little parlor games are further down my list. With this... I truly can mold the world into its proper shape. Just know that when I have settled some scores, on behalf of the suffering, of the innocent, of the planet itself... I will be coming for you, Gabriel Agreste."

Shadowmoth watched as his creation began to grow, both in size and in luminescent intensity...

~----~

"YOU."

Shadowmoth tried not to flinch, but failed. His intent was to present himself in a nonthreatening manner, avoiding a defensive stance that might make Chat Noir think that a fight was imminent... but the boy's fury was beyond anything Shadowmoth had ever seen in him.

Chat stared him down, his muscles tensing, ready to tear the villain limb-from-limb at the slightest provocation.

"Young man," Shadowmoth opened, "I require your assistance. You and your partner... who seems to have ignored my summons."

"I'm... I'm sure that she'll be here soon," Chat growled. She'd better be! he thought. I don't know if I can take him down alone.

"I have done nothing to harm Ladybug. I promise you that," Shadowmoth insisted.

"She's more than capable of taking care of herself," sniffed Chat. "And if you had her Miraculous, you wouldn't be talking to me right now; you'd be trying to take mine. But you have crossed a goddamned line this time, Shadowmoth."

He thought back to what he had found in Marinette's bedroom -- scattered furniture and belongings, signs of raw power being unleashed, and no traces of Marinette herself -- and felt his fury redouble. A part of his brain shrieked out at him that giving away "You Akumatized the girl I'm falling in love with" to Shadowmoth was a seriously bad idea... but in the moment, it struggled to be heard.

To his surprise... Shadowmoth's face fell.

"I... have crossed a line," he conceded, "however inadvertently. I have unleashed a great and terrible presence into the world... and I cannot tame it alone."

"What did you do to her?" Chat snapped, unable to restrain himself.

"This... 'Princess Justice'... synergized with my Akuma in some unforeseen way," Shadowmoth explained. "Some untapped power within her, something that I never expected to find... it not only absorbed my Akuma outright, but multiplied it exponentially! She overwhelmed me from afar with a simple thought. I cannot control her; I cannot call the Akuma back."

"So... she's on a rampage... uncontrolled?" mused Chat, pondering the implications.

"She spoke of setting things right in the world. Changing things to fit her worldview, her desires, her sense of justice. But that sense is twisted by my Akuma, I promise you," stammered Shadowmoth. "With the power at her disposal, she could do almost anything, and by all I hold holy, I insist that you and I may not wish to live in the world that she may create. This could be devastating!"

"For you, you mean," Chat retorted. "If you could turn this to your advantage, you--"

"For this planet."

Shadowmoth stared him down, all humor and pompousness gone from his voice. "Do you believe that I would stand before you now, hat-in-hand, for anything less?" he inquired.

Chat Noir heard the urgency, the desperation in Shadowmoth's voice... and despite himself, he shuddered. He pictured Marinette's vivid imagination, her strength of will, her passionate nature... then pictured it again, corrupted, coupled to infinite power. Slowly, he returned his focus to Shadowmoth's pleading gaze.

"...Keep talking."

[sparrowwritings]

Final Fantasy Writing Challenge Day Twenty-Four: Clocks

Day Twenty-Three -- Masterpost -- Day Twenty-Five

Two members of the Convocation of Fourteen sat at the same bench located outside of the governing hall. Each had similar strained expressions as they looked over the identical gaudy invitations in their hands. They also both had the fronts of their robes, their gloves, and their red masks caked in a tiny, shimmering substance.

"How much effort do you think Hythlodaeus put into making these?" Artemis-as-Azem asked. Since the other members of the Convocation had taken their leave, her act of pretending to be her twin had been relaxed for the moment. Insofar as looking actively annoyed was her way of doing so.

"Knowing him, the maximum amount to make this awful thing look the worst. If only to further embarrass us when we received it." Emet-Selch drawled. He shook the card and more shining fragments of that substance Hythlodaeus had created fell to the ground. He had been “inspired” by the incident that destroyed the Hall of Glass. Not too long later a concept known as "glitter" had been created. And used for occasional pranks by the Chief of the Bureau of the Architect against his friends. Much to their dismay, he had released the concept to the public, and so everyone in the Convocation already knew what glitter was when Azem and Emet-Selch had opened their cards and the substance had exploded all over them.

"Remind me again why we should bother replying?" She asked while looking over the deliberately juvenile handwriting. It was an invitation to join Hythlodaeus in attending a lecture headed by the leading expert in Time manipulation. That he had sent in lieu of asking in person because the answer would have been a firm no from both Artemis and Hades. 

One would think that a glitter-bomb laden card would have confirmed the disinterest of both parties. That person would also assume that Azem and Emet-Selch were reasonable people with even more reasonable friends. They would be wrong.

"That he put so much effort into this means he's required to attend and desperate enough for company that he ensured we would at least address the card." Hades sighed and ran a hand down his mask. Some of the glitter dislodged itself and fluttered in the air around him. "At the very least we need to see him in person for the technique to get rid of this damnable stuff."

"And give him time to beg us to go." Artemis dusted at a sleeve in a vain attempt to dislodge more sparkles. "I never attended any classes involving time. Is Kronos really that dreadful?"

"From what I've heard, he's an unpleasant individual and delights in his unpleasantness."

"So there are two of you in the city."

Hades sniffed. "My unpleasantness is limited to the few people I bother to be around. His is a public spectacle."

She put a hand to her chest dramatically. "I'm touched you would grace us with the true extent of your personality."

"Your sarcasm is much appreciated." A quiet silence fell over the two of them. Eventually, he was the one that spoke again. "So you're going?"

"Ugh," Artemis slouched in her seat. "I'm going to have to. With Hythlodaeus miserable and Apollo trying to keep up his spirits, someone else has to be there to make sure he doesn’t take negative criticism so personally. I’ve heard that Kronos lectures are entertaining, at least.”

"You're attending the Time manipulation lecture?"

Both of the seated folk froze, only relaxing when they realized who the speaker was. Elidibus gave a kind smile, as if the two were speaking of normal things and hadn't accidentally revealed the secret of Azem. Besides, he already knew it. 

Artemis recovered quickly enough to answer first. "Yes, actually."

"I suppose I might pop in…" Emet-Selch said lightly. "I've yet to see the latest developments in that field."

"May I join you and your friends, then?" Elidibus had his hands behind him, looking all the more like his actual age. "I've been curious about Kronos' lectures but I haven't had the opportunity to attend yet."

The two older Convocation members (well, one and one imposter member) gave each other a look. As one they shrugged. "Why not?" They answered simultaneously.

------

"So now that I've had to waste half my lecture on going over the basics, shall we proceed to the heart of why I'm standing here?" The body language and voice of Kronos didn't even try to disguise how utterly displeased he was with how things were proceeding. From the way that Hythlodaeus was sunk into his chair and covering his mask with his hands this was an expected, if undesired, result. Artemis could see why he needed the company. Being alone and dying of secondhand embarrassment in front of a hall full of promising students was far lessened when there were more people he knew that could share in it. 

At least Elidibus still seemed interested in the topic, seated as he was to her right. Hythlodaeus was in the seat to her left, a veritable puddle of forlorn mumbling. Apollo patted their friend on the head from his spot on the Chief's other side. Emet-Selch had taken the seat to the Emissary's right, more than glad to not need to directly hear the quiet pleading for the torture to end. That was his excuse, anyway. Artemis suspected that he wanted to be certain that the young man wouldn't be bothered by any other attendee during the lecture.

Hades could be soft hearted like that, when he thought no one was paying attention. 

Back onstage, Kronos received the answers (or lack thereof) that he must have been searching for, because he quickly snapped his fingers. A display consisting of a large line, followed by several generic people shapes and a timepiece appeared above him. He didn't bother looking before he spoke. “Now, seeing as most beings experience time in a linear fashion, and we’re now all aware of how it moves forward and splits,” A wave of his hand took the singular line and split one end into multiple ones. The people shapes floated until one sat at the end of each line and changed color according to which line they went to. One shape, white in color, stayed on the still-connected part of the line. “The obvious next question becomes: Is it possible to move backwards through time to change an outcome? I say yes.” 

Artemis blinked, then leaned forward to see how he came to this conclusion. From the corner of her eye, she could see Apollo stopping his comforting gestures to curiously look towards the stage. Hythlodaeus had even perked up enough to be sitting properly in his chair. 

“After all, time is a progression. One step begets another begets another. What many forget is that negative progression can also occur.” Kronos gestured to the audience. “Have any of you had to be diverted from the path you were taking because of construction? Don’t bother answering, of course you have. What happens when you must trace back your steps is negative progression. Your goal is just as far as it was when you had gotten started. The energy you had saved up to go forward is spent doubling back.” He gestured at the diagram. “Similarly, if you can figure out the energy it costs to move forward in time, all one needs is double that to go backwards. Multiply exponentially by the amount of time you need to travel and you will find yourself when you need to be.” Their seats were close enough that Artemis could see the proud smirk on his face. “Simple, really.”

“But can you actually change anything?” A voice called out from the audience. “All you’re proposing is the means to move backwards! Wouldn’t the changes you make affect your reasoning for going into the past in the first place?” Kronos glared in the direction it came from. 

“I’m getting to that.” He snapped. Quite literally, as he snapped his fingers and the figures moved around again. The red colored one moved slowly from its split in the timeline back to where the white colored one was stationed. The timepiece turned backwards to reflect this. “Now as the fool suggested there lies the possibility that, should you obtain enough energy to move backwards in time, you can cause the future you were trying to prevent in the first place. Thus, your self in this future must needs travel to when you arrived and cause the events that lead to you traveling, ad infinitum. This is what’s known as a Closed Time Loop, and many have theorized that it is the only possible outcome for attempting to change the past.” The red figure, having made its way to the combined timeline, moved in the direction of its split, only to move backwards again. Again, the timepiece moved backwards or forwards depending on how the red figure was moving.

“There is some…” Kronos paused, then said the word as if it were a curse. “Merit...to that theory. There are certain events that one cannot rightly prevent on one’s own. The rise of a virulent disease, for example, could be warned about. However, the disease could still spread before any preventative measures can be taken and cause the damage you had gone to the past to prevent. Similarly, natural disasters are just as difficult to prevent from actually happening. How then, can one effectively change the future?” 

Artemis looked to her right in time to see Elidibus on the edge of his seat. Even Emet-Selch seemed like he was actually paying attention and not just half sleeping through the lecture.

“Again, the solution is simple.” Kronos picked up the white figure from the timeline. “You must remove the person who will cause the most damage to the future you are trying to prevent.” A loud murmur went out through the hall that he ignored. “With that person away, the progression of events must change the outcome of the future. Thus your mission will be complete.”

“What do you mean by remove?” A student from two rows up called out. 

The man rolled his head (and presumably his eyes) hard enough that Artemis was sure his mask was going to dislodge itself from his face. Not that it would have taken much, considering how it was perched on his large, sharp nose. “Not anything as base as killing the person. I mean actually remove the person from the situation entirely. Isolate them in a place where the event won’t be able to touch them while everyone more competent takes care of prevention and recovery.” 

“But how--” 

The timepiece onstage made a blaring sound, shutting up the student. Kronos looked pleased. “That’s all the time I have to explain these very simple concepts to all of you. I’m obliged to tell you that if you wish to learn more, my papers on the equations behind moving backwards in time and how one would be able to isolate the person who would cause the most damage in the future one is trying to prevent are readily available. I won’t be taking any questions.” With that, he quickly made his exit.

Artemis didn’t look at Hythlodaeus, instead turning her focus onto Elidibus. “So...what did you think?”

The young man was practically buzzing with energy. “His grasp of Time and the mechanics of how it works are astounding. I would like to attend more of Kronos’ lectures.” 

She looked past him towards Emet-Selch. He looked like he just ate something sour. “So you didn’t think he was...rough?”

Elidibus nodded. “Oh he was certainly terse. An uncommon trait, of course, but refreshing to see one teach with such a method.” He looked up with an easy smile. “Although I will say I’m far more pleased to have been invited to see Kronos with two of my brothers than I am in seeing the man himself. Thank you for allowing me to join you both.”

The impact her heart made inside her chest was utterly unnecessary. Even if she’d wanted to, Artemis couldn’t have stopped the warm and gooey smile from spreading on her face. “Thank you for joining us.” 

A throat clearing noise drew her attention back to Emet-Selch. The red of his mask made it harder to tell, but he definitely had the remains of a flush on his cheeks. She was going to tease him about it later. “I second the thanks. If you wish to try out other lectures, be sure to talk to us.”

The emissary nodded fast enough that his hood threatened to fall off. “For certain.” He then peaked around Artemis towards Hythlodaeus and Apollo. “I would also like you both to join us the next time, if neither of you mind. Perhaps the next lecture won’t be quite so humiliating for the Chief of the Bureau of the Architect.” 

She turned her head in time to see Hythlodaeus, having gotten his second wind from Kronos finishing his lecture, melt back into his seat with a prolonged groan. “If I’m still in one piece after all of the complaints I’ll have to field, just say the word and I’ll be there.” His words were muffled between his hands, but they were clear enough to hear even among the exiting crowd.

“And I’m always fine with going where Azem goes.” Apollo smiled back at Elidibus with a slight flick of his hair extensions to remind those in the know that he was pretending to be Artemis.

“Then it’s settled.” The young man stood up with a slight bounce. “At a future date, the five of us shall see another lecture.”

“Perhaps we could attend something by Astraeaus?” Emet-Selch suggested. “Gossip says that some of his work had gotten stolen, and I’m keen to see if there’s any truth to it.”

“What does he create?” 

That started a discussion that lasted until the group had left the Akademia grounds altogether.

[grandtheftstarship]

To the Moon and Back(Spock x Fem!Reader) [Request!]

“Hi there! I’ve never done a request before so I hope I do it right. I was wondering if I could request a Spock fic with prompt number 6, and prompt number 30 (also I love your work so much, such a talented author ❤️)” -anon

Hi anon! Thank you so much for the kind words! It really means a lot to me :) I keep just rereading it and every single time I smile! Enjoy your request! I really hope you like it!

Also, OMG @thefanficfaerie REBLOGGED TWO OF MY FICS I THINK I’VE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN. 

Also also, I’m SO SORRY THIS IS LATE!!! Please understand that I am youngish and still in school! I’ve also just started driving school and now I’m going to have even less time... But I will be getting fics out! If you send in a request, it does help with the production of more fics and helps eliminate writer’s block! 

Prompts: 6. Less talking, more kissing 30. For once in your life could you please just listen to me?

Request something!

Word Count: 1693 Warnings: swearing Posted: Tumblr, Wattpad

You were pissed. Furious, seething, fuming. Even those were understatements. You had been with Spock for two years. Two years. You loved him, oh god you loved him, but in this moment you couldn’t hate him more. 

He had gone off and risked his life again, throwing himself into that volcano without a second thought and urging the captain to leave him there, all to protect the prime directive. The first time he tried to sacrifice himself for the good of others you thought he was a hero. Of course, you were worried sick and promptly hit him the second he stepped off the transporter pad before embracing him tightly. The second time, you were a bit irritated but proud of him nonetheless. As the count began to grow your frustration grew with it. 

You understood that he was Vulcan and first officer, both giving him duties he had to follow. His duty to his Vulcan heritage was to refrain from showing his emotions, which he typically followed to the T. He had explained to you once that his reason for putting himself in danger was because he knew that he could handle and accept death better than any human aboard. Just because you didn’t like it didn’t mean that you didn’t understand. Him being the first officer meant that he was responsible for the lives of the crew too, which he also explained that it was his duty to keep everyone safe even if it meant sacrificing his own life. What Spock didn’t realize, though, was that he had overlooked one other commitment. 

His commitment to you.

The Vulcan didn’t understand that by devoting himself to his culture and job, he was neglecting his responsibilities to your relationship. As smart as he was, he was still new to having a girlfriend and the commitments and time that was required to keep it alive. Even though two years had passed since you two had begun dating, you were still patient and accepting with his boundaries and his ways. You did love him, after all. 

That being said, you were still pissed. And that was why you were avoiding him. You knew that he wouldn’t take an outburst of anger from you well, so you tried to avoid the problem altogether instead of facing it. That paired with your fear of confrontation and social awkwardness lead to you going to extremes to avoid your boyfriend. You changed your shift, took different routes to your shifts (one time, you saw him coming down the hall so you literally took the Jefferies tube all the way down to deck seven) and you ate your meals at different times.

Yeah. You hated confrontation. 

Your day started out how the last few usually did; you woke up, got dressed, and snuck to the mess as early as possible to avoid your Vulcan S.O.  Who you didn’t realize you would run into was the captain himself. You crept in the mess, empty besides a few stragglers from the graveyard shift. You weren’t looking where you were going while you scanned the room for pointy ears and you collided with Jim’s back, enlisting an “oof” from the captain. 

Before you could run away, he turned around. 

“[y/n]?”

Fuck.

“Oh, hey Jim. What’s up?” you asked casually.

Jim scowled, crossing his arms. “Don’t ‘hey Jim’ me. What is going on? You’ve been avoiding me, Bones, and Spock like the plague all week and the Vulcan is as worried sick as he can be, no pun intended.”

You shifted on your feet, the guilt washing over you making you want to curl up in a corner. 

“I’m mad at Spock,” you muttered. 

“Why?” Jim pressed.

Frustration started building up in your chest, the constricting feeling pairing itself with the need to cry.

“I’m just so worried about him,” the frustrated tears burned your throat, shaking your voice. You looked up at his surprised face, eyes blurring. “Why, Jim? Why do you let him risk his life like that?”

Jim pulled you in, embracing you tightly as you let it out softly.  When you felt like you finished, you mumbled an apology for staining his uniform.

“Don’t worry, I can change it on my way to the bridge,” he replied, rubbing your back and changing the subject. “Why are you worried about him? You know that Spock can take care of himself.” 

You nodded, rubbing your eyes. “I know but... I’m terrified that one of these days he’s not going to come home. Jim, if he dies it’ll destroy me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“Why don’t you just tell him that? Ghosting him won’t make things any better.”

“He has duties,” you sighed. “Responsibilities to the ship and his culture. I can’t ask him to abandon those things just for me.”

After a beat of silence, you spoke again, softly.

“Jim, what if he doesn’t love me? What if he doesn’t care?”

“[y/n], how could you even think that?” Jim looked at you, incredulous. 

“It’s just that,” you paused to cross your arms over your chest, closing yourself off. “I don’t think he understands the emotional pressure that puts me under. I know I have to cut him some slack for being a Vulcan, but maybe that just means we aren’t meant to be.”

Jim looked at you for a minute, conflicting feelings warring over his features. 

“You can’t just assume these things [y/n],” he said finally. “Relationships require honesty and communication and if you want this to last then you have to give him at least that.”

You nodded, turning away. “Thanks, Jim.” 

With that, you walked briskly away, forgetting about breakfast entirely. You needed to work. You needed to be alone. Your feet took you all the way down to engineering while your mind was drowning in your multitude of thoughts, absent-mindedly picking up a wrench and getting to work on a sketchy control panel. 

Your thoughts were filled with your predicament with Spock the entire time you worked. Eventually, you gave up on working and sauntered back to your quarters, numb and confused. 

You let your eyes study your boots as you swiped your palm in front of the sensor at your door. You walked in slowly before becoming suddenly aware of the presence in the room. You looked up slowly, taking a step back when you realized who it was. 

“[y/n]-” 

“Why are you in here?” you interrupted him, putting on a blank expression. The Vulcan didn’t show any outward sign of being hurt by your comment besides sitting up a little straighter.

“The captain has informed me how you were feeling,” he replied curtly.

“Of course he did,” you muttered, sweeping past him towards your room. All you wanted was to put on your PJs and eat an entire pint of ice cream. “Damn infant can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“I believe that we should speak about our relationship,” he stated, turning as you passed him. 

You scoffed as you took off your uniform, replacing it with an old oversized T-shirt that had some old band’s faded logo sprawled across the front. You didn’t care about Spock seeing you change, as you had been with him in various stages of undress in the past and it was too late to be awkward about it now. “Are you trying to break up with me?”

“That was not the type of conversation I was referring to.”

“Then what is it,” you snapped, narrowed eyes meeting his.

He approached you slowly, bringing his hands up and down your arms. “Why are you angry with me? If I have done anything to upset you it was inadvertent.”

“I can’t- I can’t keep doing this Spock,” you took a step back, out of his arms, and you watched as his hands fell limply back down to his sides. 

“Are you ending things with me?” he returned your question.

You shut your eyes. “No- Maybe-” You sighed. “I don’t know.”

 Spock held your gaze, silently urging you to continue. 

“When you threw yourself into that volcano, you didn’t give a single thought to us,” you could feel your voice crack. “To me.”

He looked away.

“You didn’t feel anything. You didn’t care.”

He opened his mouth to say something but you cut him off again. “You have no idea what it would do to me if you died Spock. For once in your life, would you please just listen to me?” 

He was silent for a minute. 

“My intention was never to hurt you,” he began slowly. “But your suggestion that I do not care is incorrect. It is true that I chose not to feel anything upon realizing that my own life was ending. I have felt the emotions that one feels in the moment of one’s passing. Anger, confusion, loneliness, fear.”

He paused, taking a step closer.

“I had experienced those feelings before, multiplied exponentially the day my planet was destroyed. Such a feeling is one that I chose to never experience again, nor have anyone else feel.”

He was right in front of you now, staring into you with an intensity he had never shown you before. 

“[y/n], you mistake my choice not to feel as a reflection of my not caring, while I assure you the truth is precisely the opposite.”

You looked up at him, bringing your hand up to rest on his cheek softly. He mirrored you, thumbs stroking your cheekbones softly. You let him close the distance between you, capturing your lips in a sweet, loving kiss, he gripped your face tightly as he poured all of the feelings he couldn’t put into words into the act of intimacy. 

“I love you,” you tried to pull away to speak but he chased your mouth with his. 

“Hey-” he cut you off again and you giggled against his lips, feeling him smile. You were taken aback and you gasped, giving him the right away to deepen the once-innocent kiss. 

You weakly pushed on his chest and he gave, even though he was strong enough to fight you.

“Let me say something,” he could hear the smile in your voice as you beamed up at him. 

“Less talking, more kissing,” he replied, pressing himself against you again. You laughed, blissfully succumbing to his warm embrace. 

[sirifaraway]

How Much Money Did You REALLY Make on Your Real Estate Investment?

Maybe you've heard this statement before? "I made a lot of money for this property - I bought this house for $200, 000 and I sold it for $300, 000". Perhaps you have had been in a conversation with someone and heard a story similar to this? Does $100, 000 sound like a good return on investment? This will depend on many factors. The example in this article will first focus on real estate used solely as an investment, but your guideline residence will also be examined this way if you are trying to figure how much cash you have made living in your house. How long did it actually take this specific person to make this money? If you bought a house for the purpose of $200, 000 and sold it for $300, 000 one year later, versus 20 years later, this makes a significant difference. Why? When looking at investment returns, you have to look at the span of time it took for you to achieve the return. This is valid because when looking at other investments, time as well as the come back itself will be the common yardsticks for comparison. If the rate increase of $100, 000 happened in one year, this is usually a 50% return in one year. Other investments might common 1% for cash, 2% for bonds, and 5% for stocks for that same time frame. If you made it $100, 000 in 20 years, this would mean 50% multiply over 20 years. If you do a simple linear calculation, that is second . 5% each year. Now, the bonds and stocks will be pretty attractive compared to this real estate investment. This is important given that most people hold on to real estate for a long time and forget how long it all took them to achieve the return that they received. Typically the numbers presented are usually only about the buy and sell price Does you notice that the only numbers mentioned in this example is the buy and sell prices? For most goods, these are the only prices which will matter when examining if you made money or not even. With real estate, this is not true. Why? Real estate has to be serviced, which is not the case for stocks, bonds, cash or almost every other paper based or contract based investment. Why does this unique matter? If you have ever lived in a house, you know that there are tools to pay, renovations to make, repairs to perform and taxes paying. If you were to buy a GIC at a bank, as well as bank said to you: "you will receive $100 through interest each month. However , to keep the GIC you need to pay off $20 a month for a maintenance fee. " Wouldn't the mean you would only make $80 per month, and not $100 per month? This same thinking applies to real estate. If you get a house as an investment, and you have to pay utilities, tax returns, renovation costs, mortgage interest, and repairs as well as charges to buy and sell the real estate, shouldn't these possibly be accounted for in your return? If you are renting the property, any rent collected would also add to your return. For anybody who is trying to rent a property, but it is vacant for few months, that 6 month period is not part of your returning. As an example related to the above, let's say the house was bought pertaining to $200, 000 and sold for $300, 000, also it took 5 years for this transaction. To actually buy the residential home, the legal fees, land transfer taxes, mortgage written agreement and real estate fees amounted to $1000, $3000, $500 and $5000 respectively. The total set up costs would be $9500 so far, which would be subtracted from the money you crafted, because it actually costs you $200, 000 PLUS $9500 to physically buy the house. Let's say now that you hired the house for $2000 per month, but you had mortgage prices of $600 per month in interest (note that the basic principle is not included in this figure because principle is your money you get in return). You also have property taxes of $250 each month and utilities of $500 per month. You are netting through $2000 - $250 - $500 per month or $1250 per month. With the mortgage interest deducted from this sum, you will have $1250 - $600 or $650 per month. This unique equates to $7800 per year in extra income. Since the house was initially rented for the entire 5 year period - this is a second $39, 000 in return. If for example , work had to be completed to get the house ready to rent, wouldn't this cost be part of the return as well? This is money that you have to spend, and it's only being used on this investment property. If it amount to $5000 for paint, landscaping and minor repairs, as well as come off of your investment return. If the roof needed to be fixed during that 5 year period, and you paid an alternative $5000 for that repair, the whole amount would be deducted within your return. People may argue that the roof will last yet another 25 years, which is true - but you only obtain the benefit of these repairs if you keep the house! If you market the house, you may receive the benefit of keeping the house well retained in a higher selling price, but it will also depend on how heated the real estate market is, what the local neighbourhood is similar to and other factors which are beyond your control and will come into execute only at the time that you are making the sale. This means because you have an additional $10, 000 deducted from your return. To sum up so far, the house profit generated was $100, 000. You will subtract $9500 in closing costs to buy the house, add $39000 in rental income less expenses, subtract $5000 just for minor repairs, and deduct a further $5000 for a big repair. This would leave you with $100, 000 - $9500 + $39, 000 - $5, 000 : $5, 000 = $119, 500. Since this contract took 5 years to complete, the $119, 500 could be spread over 5 years. This means that the return a year is $119, 500/5 years or about $23, nine hundred per year. Since the original price of the house is $200, 000, this means that you are making $23, 900/$200, 000 or with regards to 12% per year. This is a relatively good return, but whenever stocks are making 10% per year, this is fairly akin to what everyone else is getting. Would you have that impression checking only the original story: "I made a lot of money on this place - I bought this house for $200, 000 and even I sold it for $300, 000"? What About the time and effort in Managing the Real Estate Property? Consider the time you may be spending on your house. If you are a landlord, you will have to inspect your own home, make sure your tenants are paying you on time, seek tenants and do minor repairs. If you don't like going through these things, this is considered work and it will cost you in terms of effort you could be doing something else. How to account for this? Tabulate for how long it takes you to manage the real estate investment, and exponentially increase how many hours you spend by how much money you are making at the workplace - this would represent a substitute for what else you may be doing since you are already working in that job. If you commit 5 hours per month maintaining the house, and you make $20 per hour at your day job, this is an additional $100 phone in costs. This translates into $1200 per year in your instance. Note that with paper based investments like stocks not to mention bonds, there may also be time required to read the news, go along with how the stock market is doing and research for timing and also alternative investments. An underlying factor here is whether curbing real estate feels like a job or a hobby. If it feels like a job, the time should be treated like a job. It time spent is enjoyable and feels like a hobby, you will get many benefits that cannot be quantified and it will likely not bother you to spend an afternoon taking care of the property. If you spent time cleaning up the property or possibly moving things left on the property by previous users, this would all be included in your costs. The suggestion is that any money or resources you would have to expenditure for this property would be added to the costs and would impinge on the final return. Any extra money generated, like rent and / or credits would be added to the return. Another way to tell you this is: if I didn't own this investment property, would certainly I still be spending this money? If the answer is very little, this would be deducted from your return. If the answer is without a doubt yes, the cost would not be deducted. What about taxes? Taxation's have been left out of the calculation s so far, but should this is an investment property, there will be capital gains taxation's on the return generated. They may even be taxes within the rental income if it is deemed to be income, and all these numbers would get reduced. This is also not part of the story that people describe for their own real estate experience, however should consider this in your experience. If you borrow money, the eye is tax deductible for an investment property so the issue goes both ways. What about Leverage? It was assumed up to date that you are buying the house with cash, or you are accepting money and receiving it in return once the house was basically sold. There are calculations out there where people put the fraction of the price of the house as a down payment, borrow others and then buy and sell real estate. There are expenses similar to what was worked out above, but the base for the return calculation is much smaller sized, which makes the return much bigger. Going back to the tale in the first paragraph, you do not know if the person coppied money to buy the house or not. Most people don't take into account that as part of an investment return and don't tell you the fact that as part of their result. Let's say you would put down 10% from the value of the house when you buy it. This would equate to $200, 000 x 10% or $20, 000. Over the occasion that you borrow the money, you would be paying interest. Any rates involved in setting up the borrowed funds, like appraisal of your property, legal fees or bank fees would be the main financing costs. The interest paid would be part of your investment decision as well. If you borrow $180, 000 and the interest rate will be 4%, you are paying $7200 per year. Over 5 numerous years, this is $7200 x 5 or $36, 000. Should the cost to set up the loan was $3000 in total, the very amount of money that you invested would still be $20, 000. These prices to set up the loan and the interest charges would be taken from the return. Looking at the original example, if you have a gain or perhaps $100, 000 plus the adjustments, the total gain was $119, 500. If you subtract the costs of the leverage, you would have a very good net gain of $119, 500 - $3000 -- $36, 000 or $80, 500. If you were to be ahead and calculate the return on your investment, you would use a starting of $20, 000, and a gain of $80, 500. Since the time period to earn the return was 5 years, this would be $16, 100 per year. On this platform amount, the return would be 80. 5% per year. The number is much larger than what you had without the leverage - the only difference is that the money was borrowed in place of paid in cash. Once the house is sold, the bank have to be paid the $180, 000 that was lent, but the truth is get to keep the whole gain over and above that amount. Take advantage of can be good or bad depending on whether you produce or lose money. Leverage magnifies your gain and your decline. Since most real estate deals happen with borrowed dollars, be mindful of how these numbers get calculated. It may be the particular leverage that makes the return astounding, not the gain on the original investment using cash. If you see selling for real estate return calculations, be mindful of how much of these rewards are based on leverage versus the actual gain in the property its own matters. What if the Price of the House Goes Down? Yes, prices of properties can go down. In the long run, prices are said to move up invariably, but this is also true for stocks, bonds, and physical things as well. The reason why prices go up is not entirely because realty is a good investment - it is because inflation keeps rising, and since that happens the numbers will always get bigger. If you have a limited amount of something, and the number of dollars keeps rising, the amount of dollars available to buy each thing will get larger. That's why all investments will go up if you wait long ample and if the merits of the investment are still true over the long haul. If the price of the real estate property decline while you are holding the software, all of the expenses will still be there. This is why some people lose money on real estate. It may take 5 or 10 years for a property to get better in value once it begins to decline : so you have to be willing to wait about this long if you want typically the adage to be true. What if I Live in the House? Any time you live in the house, the wrinkle in the calculations is who some of the money you are paying is for expenses you would spend anyway. If you didn't buy a house and rented a condo, you would have to pay some equivalent in rent plus bills. You can take the difference between those couple of situations and this would be the money expended, and the return developed as well. Contrary to what a lot of people say, owning seriously isn't always better than renting - it depends on the circumstances as well as what is important to you. What you choose as a lifestyle is very important once deciding whether you have a house for the money or because you decide to live there. There will not be any taxes on a house hold that you live in compared to an investment property, which is a second important consideration. What if I Have a Business at Home? If you exist and run a business from home, this is even more advantageous to your account because you can write off expenses and reduce travelling time and other costs of going to work, while however retaining the income that the work generates. This would mostly make the expenses of owning a home cheaper for the reason that some of them are tax deducted, and the home make produce more income because it replaces location expenses. The idea of choosing your true self becomes more important here as your home life additionally your work life are being stationed in one place. If you can get issues with your home, this will have a larger effect on you. Realty is not a good or bad investment - it can be many of the above. The point of the article is that people misrepresent the things actually happens in real estate by leaving out specific information. It is usually losses and monthly expenses that are unnoticed in favour of the big gain made on the price. Most of aspects of the investment need to kept together to find out if at all really worth it for you to buy real estate.

[sepublic]

Above is a link to an overview of Bionicle RaE: Part 1′s plotline. It’s an adaptation of G2′s 2015 storyline, meant to expand on the original ideas and concept and go on from there, well past the 2016 story. The summary itself covers the event of Bionicle: RaE from the Arrival of the Toa, up to the defeat of Kulta the Skull Grinder. It’s by no means complete, but for now it’ll work as a story bible to explain what’s happening in RaE.

Below is an excerpt for those curious;

           The Okotans have been menaced for approximately eight hundred years by swarms of blade-legged automatons with the ability to possess victims, known as Skull Spiders. Despite generations’ efforts against these Skull Spiders, led by the heroic Protectors, hope more or less seemed to dwindle. Okotan efforts to scavenge and reverse-engineer ancient technology from the Creation Era have been continuously hindered by the chokehold the mysterious Skull Spiders, their origins, motives, and nature unknown.

           However, a Prophecy of Heroes divined by the scholars of Kokoro became known. According to legend, when the stars aligned, the Okotans would travel to the Inika, a desolate automaton from a time before time. There, the Inika would activate, and its power would cause six stars to fall from the skies, each bearing a hero known as a Toa.

           Each Toa would have the power to control one of the six, fundamental elements that comprised Life itself. And from there, the Okotans hoped that the Toa would help them defeat the Skull Spider swarms.

           An expedition was planned as Kokoran star-gazers calculated the date in which the stars aligned. All six Protectors gathered their finest warriors from each Mega-Village, and when the time was ready, departed to the Inika. The Skull Spiders naturally sensed the Okotans’ movements and went in to intercept them, and many noble lives were lost. Thankfully, the Okotan expedition succeeded in finding the Inika within the Region of Fire.

           Even as a wave of Skull Spiders tried to stop them, the Protectors gathered within the Inika, even as a brilliant light filled the temple. Before them was a golden mask –A Mask of Time, according to legends- and its powers caused time to reverse within the Inika. Time sped back to a point when the automaton was functional, and from there the Protectors took control of the automaton and directed its power towards the heavens. A beam shot upwards, and just as quickly the Mask of Time disappeared and the Inika reverted back to its present-day form.

           Their work apparently done, the Protectors regrouped with the remaining Okotan defenders and called for a retreat. Many more lives were lost in the trip back home, including the Protector of Water’s.

           As the Okotans waited back home, some wondered if the Toa really would arrive. Others even doubted the Toa, with some feeling insulted at the idea that the Okotans would have to rely on outsiders to save them from someone else. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and surely enough, six bright stars began to seemingly grow larger at an increasingly exponential rate…

           Commence the Arrival of the Toa. The stars weren’t growing larger- They were getting closer, many Kokoran stargazers realize. And the speed of their descent exponentially multiplies until one night, six comets, each blazing with one of the elements, crash into their respective Elemental Regions.

           Both Okotans and Skull Spiders converge on each Toa’s position. Kopaka, Toa of Ice is stumbled upon by the Sanctum Guard Matoro. After a brief misunderstanding is brought by Kopaka’s brash, ready-to-fight nature, the two reunite with Izotor and the Sanctum Guard and after being chased by Skull Spiders return to Kokoro.

           Onua, Toa of Earth is retrieved without any particular Skull Spider incident by Korgot and her team, and the same happens with Lewa, Toa of Jungle, and Vizuna and the Gukko Airforce. Tahu, Toa of Fire stumbles from his landing point and gets ensnared by a trap, but is thankfully rescued by Narmoto and the Tawahan Military. Skull Spiders chase them as well, but they too survive.

           Gali, Toa of Water plunges into the depths of the Region of Water, and after coming to terms with her sudden consciousness, swims along with Kivoda and his team back to Kiniga. As for Pohatu, Toa of Stone…

           He lands in the Motara Desert, only to be confronted by a lone Skull Spider. Unaware of his circumstances or the swarms he’s meant to fight, Pohatu is nevertheless wary of the being as it seemingly approaches him in peace. To his surprise, a voice rings from its hollow shell- A cackling rasp that invites him to join the swarms, even as other Skull Spiders begin to emerge from the shadows…

           Pohatu is rescued just in time by a masked stranger, who shatters the Skull Spiders and leads the Toa of Stone back to her isolated tower-home in the desert. She reveals herself as Melea, explaining to Pohatu how the Skull Spiders have been ravaging Okoto. Nearby is the village of Levato, where the other residents of Motara are gathered. Despite questions from Pohatu, Melea keeps the answers short and simple –perhaps too much- and invites him to live with her in their tower. In the days that follow, Melea hones Pohatu’s fighting skills, teaching him to survive, and passing onto him a steely resolve to survive found in the Region of Stone.

           Meanwhile, the other Toa become acclimated to their new homes, purposes, and destinies. Many take it differently, and are welcomed differently by their fellow Okotans. Kopaka strives to be a proud, dutiful defender, although the Kokorans find his clumsiness and simple-mindedness to be surprising, and aren’t entirely sure what to make of him.

           Korgot is one of many who are critical of the Toa, and she makes sure to carefully analyze Onua as she introduces her to the subterranean city of Marn. The Brains of Okoto, led by Nuparu, frequently study Onua, fascinated. Onua herself is a bit taken aback, but learns to go along with the flow, and recognizing the resentment of others, tries to ease Korgot as the Protector figures out her thoughts on the powerful stranger.

           Tahu sucks up the glory and praise quickly, but just as rapidly finds himself being monitored, disciplined, and trained by Narmoto and Jaller, who aren’t as eager to revere him as a demigod as everyone else is. He’s brought down to earth quite a bit in the following days, but he quickly grows to form a bond with the Tawahans and understand Narmoto’s wisdom. Amongst the villagers, he’s definitely a bit of a riot who loves to show off, and great with kids- Including Narmoto’s son, Lhii.

           Gali has reservations. She isn’t sure where she came from and it’s bothering her, and she doesn’t know how to feel about being told that she now has to fight for a bunch of people. In all honesty, Gali wonders if she even has a choice in what’s happening, and the situation is only more complex with Kivoda, the new Protector of Water, still adapting to his role and the loss of his mentor. The worship and constant gifts of the Okotans definitely give Gali anxiety as the burdens of her role begin to weigh on her. Meanwhile, the Kinigans happily wait for Gali’s heroics, not realizing her troubles.

           Lewa happily joins the community of the Vuata Maca. He becomes a quick friend to everyone, doing his best to know each Macan and their names, and providing fun and entertainment. The Macans in turn love and idolize Lewa, quickly growing to enjoy him, although thankfully Vizuna and Kongu keep both in check and remind them of the graveness of their situation.

           Almost immediately after her arrival, Onua quickly learns of a hidden monster supposedly lurking in one of the subsections of the mining tunnels. This faceless creature has never been seen, but many miners have disappeared from those tunnels, and some have been found dead, skinned, dismembered, and drained entirely of their blood. This creature had once been a secret, but eventually the miners pressured Korgot into revealing the truth to the public. The supposedly haunted subsection was walled off, but Onua vows to defeat the beast. Venturing into the tunnels alone in order to lure out the killer, Onua, after a few attempts, succeeds in revealing the monster to be a giant, spindly spider with burrowing capabilities, later dubbed the Fikou Nui. The Fikou Nui is slain, with one of its legs torn out by Onua’s great strength, to be proudly displayed in Marn for all to see.

           News of Onua’s achievement quickly spreads, pressuring the other Toa to live up to their expectations and do something worthwhile for the Okotans. Pohatu, meanwhile, continues to live with Melea, wondering why he came to Okoto in the first place. He doesn’t bring up how a Skull Spider had talked to him, as he hasn’t realized such a thing is unusual to begin with. Still, the secret can’t be hidden forever, and Pohatu begins to realize the truth of his arrival, as well as a past issue Melea had with her former home village.

           Pohatu eventually confronts Melea after learning the truth. Melea has reservations, explaining how she was once the wife of the Protector of Stone, Nilkuu. The two had fought valiantly against Skull Spiders, but one day their daughter asked to join in the effort. Melea was more than happy to let her in, but Nilkuu had his concerns. The two fought at first, but then their daughter joined the effort against the Skull Spiders anyway at a young age, and it was out of their hands.

           Nilkuu couldn’t quite bring himself to encourage his daughter’s choice by training her. One day, their daughter died in combat to the Skull Spiders, and in their retreat the couple couldn’t even bring her body back home. Back at Levato, the couple was grieving, and each responded to the death in a different way.

           Now, it was Nilkuu who felt it was his fault. If he’d been more supportive of their daughter and trained her, she wouldn’t have died. In contrast, Melea felt it was Nilkuu who had been right all along, and regretted encouraging their child to fight. The two fought over things yet again, and unable to bear with Nilkuu’s new direction of recruitment, which she blamed herself for, Melea left Levato.

           Pohatu is unsure of how to react, but ultimately, he acknowledges Melea’s pain while still standing for himself. And despite his seemingly surly, hostile personality, Melea’s love has warmed him and taught him that others need help. He could never forget what Melea did for him for so unconditionally, and he understands how important that kind of compassion was as a result. Thus, he makes his decision to leave the tower and find Levato.

           Melea is hurt, but finally comes to terms with Pohatu’s departure. She fights him in order to see if he’s ready, and of course, Pohatu wins. Tearfully they make their goodbyes as she helps Pohatu pack his belongings, and supplying him with the equipment he needs to survive the sandstorms, as well as a map, Melea directs him towards Levato. Traveling through the harsh sandstorms, Pohatu is soon confronted by the Levatan Patrol, who are unsure of his identity. After quickly explaining his situation and demonstrating his powers, Pohatu is rapidly introduced and welcomed to Levato.

           There, he’s treated immediately not as some higher, greater hero, but as an equal- Or most of the time, a rookie who needs to be taught a lot. The local tribe leader Onewa makes sure to keep Pohatu in check, and while his teachings are less than orthodox (being VERY sink or swim, with emphasis on sink), Pohatu nevertheless feels treated like a person and forms a deep kinship with the Levatans.

           Each of the Toa learn to fight the Skull Spiders, at first assisting in mere defensive measures. Gali manages to come to terms with her anxiety over being a worshipped hero with the help of Kivoda, whom she relates to and vice-versa, as well as Hahli, Macku, and Kotu. When Skull Spiders escape confinement in a Kinigan laboratory, Gali and her allies succeed in rescuing the researchers trapped inside.

[fapangel]

So that Tu-22 crash. I'm having trouble figuring out how the fuselage snapped right the fuck in half. It was definitely a hard landing, but you'd think a combat aircraft could handle that. Was the descent faster than the video suggests or something, or was it just a worn-out airframe?

For those who missed it, the video in question.

Truth be told, I doubt it was the airframe’s fault. Aircraft can be significantly more fragile than most people realize. It is entirely possible in a great many civilian aircraft to over-stress the airframe with control inputs. On fly-by-wire aircraft the computer will usually stop you from going too far, but on smaller private aircraft, the incautious pilot can easily warp the airframe if they yank on the stick too much. Pulling 2 gravities in a turn is effectively doubling the load of the aircraft, for instance. It’s not impossible to rip the wings off, but usually the engine will part company first. Formal airframe g-limits are actually determined by the strength of the engine mounts (as they’re much smaller than the wing roots, but supporting the densest weight in the whole aircraft.) Obviously, aircraft load effects this quite a bit. After installing the Huge Wonderful Mod Pack everyone uses for IL-2 1946, I took a fully-loaded B-25 out for a spin, yanked on the stick like I usually do, and watched in dismay as the wings promptly parted company with the fuselage full of heavy bombs. D:

Military aircraft are built for performance with the most advanced, expensive materiel available, but they still have to contend with the same engineering trade-offs. For instance, early-war American fighters like the P-40 and F4F Wildcat were legendarily strong; the P-40 had five main wing spars (most aircraft have two,) which made it so tough that one Soviet pilot rammed and destroyed two German fighters with his wingtip - and the wingtip wasn’t even severely damaged. (Most of the time a mid-air collision guarantees destruction of both aircraft.) But all that structural reinforcement came at a steep cost in weight, which is why lighter Japanese and German fighters could easily fly loops around the P-40. On aircraft, weight is the enemy, and the lighter you can make the airframe, the faster and further you can go, with more payload.

Where a plane is strong varies greatly, as well. Wings are usually very strong, as they’re literally carrying the weight of the entire aircraft, and they also have to flex a bit in flight, especially on big airliners. The fuselage usually isn’t subject to nearly as much stress. The size and mission of an aircraft also determine requirements. Fighters can expect to be shot at and have to perform very heavy-G maneuvers, so they’re built as compact and strong as possible. Bombers need range, speed and payload above all with maneuvering an afterthought, so they save their structural reinforcement for the wing roots (to lift all that weight) and redundant systems in the fuselage to make them resilient against battle damage. As long as the wings stay attached to the fuselage, and the fuselage has at least one of all the important things (hydraulic control systems, fuel tank, and engine,) they can typically come home, even with gaping holes in the fuselage. (More than a few B-52s demonstrated this when hit by NVA air defenses over Hanoi.) Wings are non-negotiable, however. 

In the specific case of that unfortunate TU-22, size is also working against them in the engineering case. To borrow from the physicists, if you imagine a perfectly spherical bomber, as the size of the sphere increases, the volume increases exponentially, as does the surface area. The surface area requires structural reinforcement running under it, and the volume must be crossed by reinforcing members criss-crossing it. There’s also the basic law of the lever, which combined with the issues of structural strength dictate that the further a point is from the fulcrum point (the support that transfers the load to ground,) the less load it can support without exceeding the lever’s structural strength and snapping it. And bombers need volume to store all the fuel and bombs they must carry. 

Now apply this to the video we saw, and you can see what happened. The TU-22′s landing might not look very hard, but for an aircraft of that size, it really is - especially if it still has significant amounts of fuel on board, increasing the weight. When it hit the ground its downward velocity was completely halted; imposing a brief but high G-load surge. You can tell how hard the aircraft hit by how it visibly bounced off the runway on contact. G-loads are effectively multiplying the weight of an aircraft, and larger aircraft will generally have lower G-limits before structural failure, so what qualifies as poor technique that abuses your poor Cessna is considered much harder when it’s a 757 pogo-sticking down the runway.

The bad news doesn’t stop there. The speed of an aircraft hitting the runway has even more of an impact on the effective g-load (remember, kinetic energy is mass times velocity squared,) and the TU-22M has relatively high landing speeds. Take a look at the design: 

This is a high-speed supersonic bomber, so it has small, highly-loaded wings. They are swing-wings, which helps considerably, but the lower lift-to-weight ratio (i.e. wing loading) means the aircraft has to be moving faster to generate X amount of lift, which translates to a relatively high landing speed compared to something like an airliner. 

Putting all this together, you can understand why a bounce that qualifies as “very hard landing” in a 757 is an airframe-destroying event for a high-performance supersonic bomber. This is a prime example of why military aircraft have been fabled as pilot-killers since their inception; every design choice that makes them high-performance also narrows the safety margins, especially in the most dangerous parts of flight; take-off and landing. In that Tupolev’s case, the initial structural failure was exacerbated by how quickly it happened. If the plane was slowing down on the landing roll, the plane might’ve sagged as it broke in half and ground along the runway, setting it afire and giving the pilots a chance to eject safely. But since the aircraft was bouncing airborne, the shifting center of gravity and loss of weight (as the fuselage bent, it was not transmitting its load to the rear of the plane,) make the rear pitch up, as the lift of the wing’s fixed pitch is adjusted to balance the whole plane, not just half of it. That caused the whole thing to fold up in a hurry, and it was all over from there. 

Maintenance issues might well have been responsible for this, but it was probably a failure of instruments, not a weakened airframe. The bad blizzard conditions visible in the video are likely the main reason for the accident - as you can see from the above graphic, a TU-22 has very poor cockpit visibility to begin with (a common problem on many aircraft, esp. military ones,) and the blizzard eliminated what little was left. The warning lights that indicate the glide path were definitely not visible, which means the pilot was probably relying on their instrument landing system. 

Instrument landing systems are very simple and robust tech first invented in the 1930s, requiring nothing digital to operate; you can find them standard in ye olden Cessna 172 RGs worldwide. It’s a simple “beam riding” system; using directional radio beams to guide a pilot into landing. Even modern HUD systems on advanced fighters use the same two crosshair needles on their display, just like the physical cross-hair needles on a Cessna’s instrument gauge, to tell the pilot where he’s at. They can bring an aircraft in to landing completely blind, although the pucker factor is very high, as this HUD tape from a night carrier landing shows. It’s rare for these systems to malfunction or break, but if there was an issue throwing off the readings, it’d fly that pilot into the ground too fast.

Another possibility is an age-old enemy of pilots - ice. Icing up of the pitot tube, which measures an aircraft’s airspeed via the airflow into the tube, has been the source of many, many aviation accidents, especially when the data was acted upon by an autopilot before the human pilots could react (or even resisting the human pilots; do not fly on an Airbus.) These many lethal accidents have resulted in fixes, of course, but a slight error might not be noticed. And then there’s the altimeter - the basic altimeter operates on air pressure, so it tells you height above sea level, not the ground (you have to keep track of that yourself.) Air pressure also changes with temperature and weather conditions, so you have to calibrate for that, as well. But advanced military aircraft have radar altimeters, which bounce a radar signal off the ground to get nice, accurate feedback without dicking about; if that system had an error, a malfunction, or was just impeded by weather (ice on a runway can reflect radio waves in funny ways), would result in inaccurate altitude readings, which in turn would give them a false reading on their climb/sink indicator, which tells them how fast they’re moving towards terra firma. 

Long story short: it is very easy to die in a military aircraft, and these poor bastards had to do it in an old Russian plane, maintained by Russians, landing at an airport maintained by Russians, in a blizzard. Of everyone who might deserve blame, I expect the airframe techs are third to last, pilots second, and Tupolev corporation itself dead last. 

[jafza]

The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up a Company in Dubai

Starting a business in Dubai can be daunting and complex – from picking the right business entity to signing off on the required documents, there’s a lot to consider when setting up shop in the United Arab Emirates. In this blog post, we’ll provide you with an ultimate guide to setting up a company in Dubai. 

Understanding the Different Types of Business Entities

The city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is fast becoming one of the most attractive locations for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to expand their operations in the Middle East Setting up a company in Dubai requires an understanding of all the different types of business entities, as well as a clear plan that outlines your objectives and corporate structure This comprehensive guide to Dubai Company Formation will give you everything you need to know about forming a business in this region - from choosing which entity best suits your needs, to how to go through with registration and start trading 

 First things first when setting up a company in Dubai, selecting the right type of legal entity is key for ensuring compliance with local regulations and promoting success for your venture Depending on what kinds services or products are being sold, different types may apply – limited liability companies (LLC, private joint stock companies (PJSC, public joint stock companies (PSC etc, each offering distinct advantages depending on where it operates within UAE law and financial regulations Researching each option carefully can mean turning potential confusion into hassle-free progress when starting out! 

Once you have decided upon the ideal legal form for running your business then comes registering it with respective authorities; however there are several steps before reaching this point such as preparing documents detailing company name & details including shareholders’ information; obtaining approvals if necessary & taking care of licensing fees/costs associated thru banks or setup advisors etc, so planning ahead pays off here too! Furthermore having relevant documents like Trade License certificates ready beforehand often serves advantageously during registration process itself whether online applicable or otherwise eez forms jurisdiction-wise specific ones available at official websites per requirements on example DUBAI Economic Department portal platform accessible similarly like others across Emirates represented by other EMDAs around various jurisdictions respectively addressing matters related thereto appropriately timely  

 When registering locally based physical operations more complex guidelines may exist than just those associated under PLC along same lines plus also note accordingly not all places accept foreign ownership either though subject changes every once awhile depending parties involved familiarity/experience internal governmental departments rule(s adherers stipulations extent– regarding certain sector´s overall presence meaning Industrial Free Zones provide alternative options unrestrictedly whereas mainland activities remain regulated especially versus taxes implications imposed otherwise contrariwise visited areas terms (& conditions 

  The good news is that upon contacting any reliable international advisor after checking credentials upfront part probably much simpler manage these possible issues instead tackling them alone resultantly therefore making journey smoother towards achieving desired goals finally irrespective obstacles encountered along way comfortable enough completion standards compliant implementation conformable expectations imaginable indeed successfully forging evergreen friendly long term relationships stakeholders contributing harmoniously shared prosperity involved alike since benefits multiply manifold scale exponential whilst embracing eastern culture paying respect customs traditions prevail amicably thus ultimately leading ‘win-win’ situation benefiting everybody concerned globally sustainably nevertheless keep watch latest happenings upgraded regulations amendments officially placed concern′d documentations references quoting concerning companies formation status quite useful tracking purposes review due diligence purpose proceedings effectively conveniently flowing flexible smoothly establishing solid foundation gradual growth future endeavors accordingly besides enhancing valuable asset portfolio organization possessed initially

Necessary Documents for Company Formation in Dubai

Starting a business in Dubai has become increasingly popular due to its tax-free environment and booming economy However, setting up a company in Dubai can be quite challenging as there are several necessary documents required for the formation of your company This blog post provides you with an ultimate guide on all the documents that need to be submitted for successful establishment of your Dubai-based business entity 

Before filing any paperwork associated with establishing your business, it is essential to determine what type of legal structure best suits the needs of your brand and industry sector. Will it be a free zone or mainland corporate? Once this step is taken care of, you will need to gather a list of relevant documentation that must be provided along with other legal formalities such as licenses and visas before commencement of operations 

The most important document needed when forming a new company in Dubai is the Memorandum & Articles (M&A, which outlines shareholder information including their respective rights and obligations, purpose and objectives etc, This document should also include signatures from all shareholders involved in the venture – or copies if applicable – so make sure it’s filled out properly! Moreover other important documents like Power Of Attorney (POA Certificate from Notary Public showing authority vested upon nominee Director/Shareholder’s representative should also be secured prior to submission for incorporation by UAE authorities' stamping process  

Additionally, Business plan detailing total capital investments expected over defined timeline, personnel resource plans including job descriptions roles & responsibilities; key financials encompassing cash flow statements include projected profit/loss scenarios; professional activity license proposal defining nature & scope of services offered; administrative attestations from local governing bodies endorsing seriousness and seriousness n seriousness n seriousness towards proposed ventures execution plus few others may have to presented in front of concerned departmental l experts during their examinations related formalities required towards starting off planned businesses accordingly through usual procedures aligned across different countries! 

With regards to financial requirements proving source funds utilized towards forming newly incorporated companies such documentary evidence like bank statements reflecting amount deposited into newly open accounts held under sponsors name holding director positions together would definitely strengthen application thereby granting approvals soon enough along with proper features viz agreement terms settled upfront between landlord provider where office setup premises rented located at further simplified overall processes established therefore increasing chances smooth successful completion within stipulated time frame while adhering rules regulations enforced pertaining laws respected jurisdictions availed according desires individual entrepreneurs expandally beyond boundaries own motherlands too !

Conclusion The Benefits of Setting Up a Company in Dubai

Dubai is one of the most sought after destinations for investors and business owners, thanks to its strategic location in the heart of the Middle East It's fast becoming a hub for international businesses, offering numerous incentives for those looking to set up shop in the city With its impressive infrastructure, low taxes, and welcoming atmosphere – it’s no surprise so many companies are choosing to establish their presence here

Establishing a company in Dubai can be hugely beneficial on all fronts; from encouraging more customers and clients, to reducing costs like labor expenses as well as tax payments Setting up your business in this region will also open you up to potential partners who could help drive growth and shape how your firm operates today and into the future 

There are plenty of reasons why Dubai makes an attractive destination when setting up a new business venture or relocating existing operations there – but what exactly should you consider before embarking on such an endeavor? The following guide outlines some key points that will lead you towards success while forming your firm within this bustling metropolis - from understanding local laws related to licensing requirements, understanding financial factors associated with investing capital into projects located within UAE borders right through assessing operating costs associated with staff housing or cost subsidies when recruiting foreign workers - all these elements will play significant roles during startup process tackled throughout entire post presented below us now! 

To ensure everything goes smoothly during registration process it’s wise not only consult legal professionals prior signing any contracts but also research thoroughly about relevant regulations enforced by authorities in charge – investment authority as well other departments involved like Department Of Economic Development (DED alongside Emirates Identity Authority just few primary entities which oversee particular administrative aspects related directly at least indirectly depending on project scope itself among others!  Last yet definitely not least – familiarize yourself with cultural practices followed across country since these issues might arise either way during-after stage formation depending upon number stakeholders involved 

Finally bear mind, the founder needs appropriate residential visa if he intends stay longer than usual even if part time basis present himself regularly meetings held both locally offshore including trips abroad required due nature job undertaken rest should fall place accordingly giving added advantage over competition seeing more money saved kept close eye overall situation maximizing profit margin end!

Setting up a company in Dubai is not an easy task, as there are a lot of decisions to make and regulations to follow But, with the help of this ultimate guide to setting up a company in Dubai, entrepreneurs and business owners will be confident enough to take actions for the success of their business By establishing a great plan according to the laws and regulations in Dubai, entrepreneurs will be able to reap all the benefits that come along with setting up their own company in this prestigious city