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loganlostitall · 1 year

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Talking to the Moon

Rating: 13+

Word count: Just under 3.5k

Characters: Judith Grimes, Negan Smith (NOT A SHIP!!!!!!); mentions of Carl, Rick, Michonne, Carol, Enid, and R.J.

Setting: Alexandria, post 6 year jump

Content Warnings: sibling grief, talks of death, a little bit of suicidal ideation in here too I think, vulgarity, light talk of typical TWD violence, just lots of sad. Sorry. Fluffy ending tho!

Summary: Judith is getting older, and it’s not fair that Carl isn’t.

Author’s Note: Okaaayy so I really did not want the first piece I published on here to be an angsty vent but life kinda decided to bodyslam me (as usual) so anyways have this lol. I spent all day yesterday writing this in between crying fits and I’m only finishing it now.. oopsie whoopsies. A little context I guess, my older brother was shot and killed 5 years ago, and in 5 years I will be older than he got to be. That’s heavily implemented in here, as well as just the majority of Judith’s dialogue being my own thoughts/feelings. Sometimes it just hits you again, man. My therapist likes me to write it out 🤷🏻 I’m workin on other stuff that isn’t like this so pls bear w me y’all 😭🙏🏽

Beta’d by @murdadixon as alwayysss

Midnight marked her 10th birthday.

She liked to keep track of time in intervals of five. R.J. was currently an interval of 5. He died at an interval of five. She was reaching an interval of 5 herself, right now. In a demi-decade, she would encounter the age he’d never passed; and in a decade, she would be 5 years older than he’d ever be. Five felt significant, and she did not—she simply felt like her brother’s stand-in.

Judith sat on the edge of the wooden boardwalk with her legs drawn up to her chest and both arms wrapped around her knees, chin rested atop them, and stared blankly at the water source before her. Tried to mimic its stillness. But she disrupted it, instead, because the tears swimming in her brown eyes splattered down and sent ripples coursing across the surface, growing larger the further they fanned out and expanded.

That was, similarly, how missing Carl felt. At the start, it was a heavy impact, it obliterated the calmness, and as the years blazed past, it got further away and yet simultaneously… bigger. How could something shrink and grow? How could she grow, every day; and yet consistently feel as if she were being pushed back, made smaller? Small enough to be back in his arms again, like before, like that final night she knew him.

She would appreciate his last words this time. She would wrangle her brain up into her juvenile hands and pin it down to carve them over the top of her damn hippocampus to keep them there; even if it did mean her blood got everywhere, even if it meant she lost all the rest of her cognitive function. Truthfully, she did not want to function this way. Being medically brain dead would be a graciousness. Or maybe just being bit.

Feeling the fever Carl did would unite them in a way.

The panels beside her creaked recognizably, a familiar gait and stride, and Judith’s fingers twitched to move instinctively for a gun she knew she wouldn’t brandish. The scuffed tips of two large black boots entered her peripheral vision but she did not turn her gaze.

“Hey there, Miss Grimes.”

Negan sat in a loose mirror of Judith’s position—he struggled with holding his legs in exactly the same manner and had to improvise considerably. He got himself comfortable with his legs toward his chest but with a short gap between his thighs, toes pointing outward instead of inward as Judith’s were, and both forearms crossed above his knees to lie his head upon.

“Don’t really like water, kid, but I’m diving in there after ya if you jump, so please don’t, alright? For me?”

The preteen wiped her right cheek against her bicep and tilted her head to rest the left cheek against the adjacent knee and look at her guest. Her eyes weren’t really seeing him, but she was trying to acknowledge the fact that he’d joined her. “How’d you get out?”

He ignored that she ignored his question and instead plastered on the usual grin, even if the edges were heavy and worn down, and lifted a finger to his smile.

Shhhh, it’s a secret. It went without saying.

“I should shoot you. I brought my gun,” she pestered, poking a bear with a stick. Only, this bear was a puppy. And the humor behind the words didn’t reach her tone.

He decided not to address her monotony.

“Mmhmm. Right.”

“I would.”

“I know,” he grinned again, more genuinely, and his side administered a dull throb almost out of nostalgia. She had, in fact, shot him. He wouldn’t challenge that.

There were only a few moments that went without speech. Judith found herself gazing ahead again, tapping her right cowgirl boot without tempo because it was simply to alleviate the odd, incessant gnawing in her gut that screamed to bounce her leg, or else.

“Why don’t I get to have a word?” she blurted out, albeit quietly, almost unaware that Negan could not read her mind and was clueless to what she really meant. The man hummed questioningly as if to say ‘continue,’ and Judith finished verbalizing the thought. “I mean… mom’s a widow, and you’re a widower. Enid is an orphan. Aunt Carol is a v- vi..lo..mah, she lost her daughter Sophia.” The young girl struggled on the pronunciation momentarily before returning to the point. “But what am I? Just… a kid who lost a brother? Don’t I deserve a word? Doesn’t Carl? I think he deserves more than one. I would give him them all.”

In truth, Negan would not have heard the second half of her statement had they not been knee-to-knee. Even from only having a view of the profile of her face, he could tell that she was fighting back the need to cry. The intensity with which she swallowed, the twitch of the corners of her frown, her small nostrils flaring. She was probably also avoiding allowing her voice to crack.

Kids don’t ever deserve to feel this way. Adults can hardly even cope with loss. He’d seen it sometimes before, the occasional teen with swollen eyes and dark circles wordlessly offering him a slip with a small, rectangular obituary card stapled to the top left corner to excuse a few days of absence after the passing of a parent, guardian, or otherwise crucial family member. And similar to now, he truly tried his best… when it came to situations like that. It was hard—shit, it still is hard, but after eventually grasping that what most of them wanted was to just be heard (and not to be told that a kick-ass exercise routine could distract a weak mind, or about how being a pussy didn’t get you pussy), he’d take his attendance and approach again with a juniors mitt and baseball to throw at the wall and catch while they cried, screamed, shook, even dissociated some of them. He’d never been a great man, or honestly even a kind teacher; Savior Negan essentially just carried on acting as he had before Lucille’s confrontation, diagnosis, and passing; but the kids who saw through him loved him. When the rest loathed to hear ‘Mr. Smith,’ though no one was to blame for that but himself. To the damaged kids, the whole façade of coolness he tried to upkeep around his classes was utter horseshit because they found him badass when he let them bitch about things without taking to the nearest phone as a mandatory reporter.

Judith was, arguably, the most mature ten year old with significant trauma that he’d ever sat with. Children that young hadn’t been his area of work, really, but there were a handful of times one of his high school students had to drag along a little sibling because they’d emancipated after the death of the only responsible parent, were granted custody of the kid, and the younger had a day off. Other stories, heavily similar or drastically different, with the same outcome. Judith was more put together than half of the seniors that had dished their shit out on him. In a strictly militant world and with no empire turning to him for guidance, there was no excuse to be assertive around her age bracket. He would tell her she was strong, that she was an Amazon warrior who could brave anything and then have to explain Wonder Woman comics, but the probability was massive that she could only grasp some variation of control over herself in these heavy moments because life now held a sickening promise that anything could be marred with a streak of blood. That you have to always be ready to mourn.

So fucked up.

His prior internal assessment to remain silent and give her more time to process her feelings into words proved correct when Judith turned her head back in his direction again with more to express to him.

“Dad isn’t here anymore to tell me what Carl was like at my age. Or tell me stories about before everything got bad. And mom wasn’t around for all that stuff. But even if she was, I- I hate always hearing about him from other people. About how they won’t ever get to see him grow up. Why does everyone else get to remember my brother? Why doesn’t anybody care that I gotta know he’s not watching me grow up anymore? I want to remember Carl on my own, but I was too little!” Her delicate voice shattered beneath the weight of her last sentence, and the way her eyebrows were flying into all different angles on her face betrayed that her developing mind didn’t know what to do with the guilt that ignited furiously behind her ribs for seemingly such a selfish notion. It was a vicious fact that Judith almost never understood what she was feeling, not acutely.

But, she trusted Negan. He’d told her things that no one else had cared to let her know. About Abraham. About Glenn. About Sasha, Denise, uncle Daryl. Everyone she loved had been damaged by him in some way, but… they’d all together affected him, too.

Maybe he changed. Or maybe he’d been keeping this Negan safe. Whatever the case, here he was, out of his cell, not even allowing his knee to bump her own.

This man had killed people? He was the kindest one here to her. Especially when it came to stuff like this. Other Alexandrians always dismissed her; she didn’t have any “adult” problems worth sparing their time for. How could the big bad wolf be so tame?

Judith wiped both of her eyes and straightened her left leg out halfway. “If… if Carl hadn’t got bit, what do you think things would be like now?”

And that question certainly beckoned an answer. He had been allowing her to talk as much as she felt necessary tonight, content to simply sit quietly and be an ear for the little girl as she often was for him. His skull would have been split open on one of those prison walls years ago had it not been for his little window and Judith’s spark of rebellious humanity.

Negan responded honestly, as was always the case with her. “I woulda killed every last one of these dickwipes, and brought you and Carl back to the Sanctuary with me. I don’t kill kids. But I don’t think your brother would have been too crazy about that. Nah, with those titanium balls of his, he would have taken me down, torn all of my people apart limb from fuckin’ limb. Yeah…,” he peered down at Judith, who was just watching him with her elbow on her extended knee and her cheek rested on her palm. No signs of distress. He continued on. “Yeah, Prick thought he was a badass, but Carl? Well, he was the real badass. Anybody could’a killed me, my bet was on him. Catch me off guard, I wouldn’t have fought back. I think he would have stocked one of my big ass trucks with everything he needed and taken off with you knowing he won. But he also would have lost everything.”

Now, Judith’s energy had shifted back into that murky cloud it had resembled before. Not entirely, but to a noticeable degree. Negan cursed under his breath.

“Did I scare you talking abou-”

“You think Carl would have raised me all on his own? You really think he would have done that?”

“Oh, I know it,” Negan nodded adamantly, without aggressive urgency, and chipped a piece of plastic from the aglet of his shoelace to chuck into the water. “Carl loved you more than anyone else, I think.”

A brittle, cracked sob drew his attention immediately to the little girl beside him, left hand reaching out to comfort on instinct and then hovering uselessly between them. Judith gave her permission with action instead of words; turning her legs off to the side to be able to roll onto her right hip and notch herself against Negan’s side. She rested her head against his knee and old tears from her cheek seeped through the thin material of his jumper. The previously awkward arm dropped around her own and he settled for hanging his hand at an outward angle away from her body. He’d comfort the kid but any one of the adults here would send Michonne into a goddamned stroke by reporting that he’d made an attempt against her daughter's life by, say, scratching the back of her head. Some asinine bullshit. He wouldn’t risk it, and not because of himself. No, he’s a big boy and can handle his own conflicts. But Judith would get in so much unnecessary trouble.

After taking a minute to gather herself, Judith whispered, “I think I would have liked that better.”

“…What, Carl taking care of ya?” He queried. “Y’know that means you wouldn’t have your mom, or dad, or-”

“Mommies and daddies die before their kids do, or they’re supposed to. Siblings are- they’re supposed to be there the whole time you grow up, and after. You’re supposed to live your life together. And they’re not supposed to die before you mom and dad do.”

“Kid-”

“I want Carl. I’d give up anyone here to get him back.”

It proved remarkably difficult given how much taller he was than her, but Negan managed to make do. He tilted his neck to a sideways angle and rested his head on top of hers whilst fishing through his right pocket.

Judith peeked up at him. “What’re you doing? Are you gonna stab me for making you sad? I’ve still got my-”

“No. Don’t be nosey,” he goaded and even ventured so far as to stick his tongue out and wrinkle his nose. Her head dropped back down to his leg just as quickly as it rose, and Negan’s fingers closed around the surprise.

“Sounds like a candy wrapper…,” she mumbled, still too lost in her own head and the darkness residing.

Two bright blue pouches withdrew from his pocket, and his brown eyes traveled skyward. “Moon’s right above our heads now. Means it’s midnight. I got ya a gift.”

A second, smaller pair of brown irises gazed upon the same sky, and her bottom lip began to give way into trembles again so Negan damn near shoved the quite literally sweet present directly in front of her face.

Judith blinked, eyes focusing on the text in front of them that stood out violently against the package design. “What’s ‘Razzles?’” A small hand accepted the curious, but still exciting new treat, and read the yellow script surrounding the name at the top and bottom. “‘First it’s candy, then it’s gum’? What’s gum?”

Negan had already ripped his open. “You’re about to give me one fat ass kiss, Miss Grimes,” he mused delicately, tossing three colorful disks into his mouth.

His much younger counterpart followed suit, unsure of how to react while the candy crunched before a scintillating smile broke out across her face and two more pieces joined the first. “Where’d you get these?”

“…Okay, don’t laugh,” he deadpanned, and couldn’t help but smirk when Judith narrowed her eyes at him and raised an accusatory eyebrow, still blissfully chewing away. “I’ve gotta secret admirer.” He drew his shoulders up into a loose shrug, threw his hands out in a ‘surprise!’ gesture and dropped his mouth open to an overly enthused smile as the preteen choked on gum.

“WHAT?!? What do you mean?! Tell me, tell me!”

He wouldn’t comment on how much tension finally dissipated from his body and mind at the eager enthusiasm on Judith’s face. This had all been so… glum. “Don’t know, but they slip me goodies through the bars on the window. I asked Father Freaky for some paper to draw, keep my mind busy y’know, and left a note up there requesting a special birthday gift for my best friend. They got dropped in this morning.”

“So, someone here in Alexandria?” she asked, munching her way through her bag of sweets. There was a twinkle in her eyes, finally, so he’d entertain it.

He shrugged idly. “I’d assume so. I’ve got my fingers crossed there’s some freaky deaky coming my way!!”

“Oh, ew. There it is, you ruined this whole thing.” Judith pushed on the side of his knee with both hands to amass enough force to actually shove his leg over.

“Damn. This whole thing, huh?”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, her mouth now so full of chewed up gray gum that speaking proved difficult.

Negan chomped down on a considerable number of candies all at once and reached for Judith’s own pack of Razzles. “Alright, I’ll just take this then, since I fucked up your birthday and all.” A deep, rumbling laugh burst forth from up out of his chest when the ten year old shouted ‘NO!!!’ and a huge wad of gum rolled out of her mouth to plink into the water and bob along to float elsewhere. The pout her bottom lip garnished was impressive and Negan glanced around to the houses in the distance behind them, all of the windows being dark with the quiet insinuation of sleep, to ensure the absence of scrutinizing eyes before taking one of Judith’s hands into his own to unload half the contents of his own candy until her palm was overflowing and a few stray pieces thumped down against the wood. Negan administered the 5 second rule with a quickness and claimed them for himself.

“Thanks,” she chimed faintly, and set about organizing the surplus of thin, cylindrical candies into separate groups of yellow, purple, orange, pink, and blue.

Negan tucked his hand back to his side and pointedly did not give any attention to the prominent droop Judith’s shoulders adopted afterward. He wondered fleetingly if anyone in town ever just… gave the kid a hug. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Really. It’s not like I went out and found these myself.” He pointed one of his own bits of candy at her and added, “Well, you can always just find my paramour and thank them yourself.”

She tilted her head back against his arm to smile up at him. “You just want me to get you deets. You have a crush on this person already, uncle Negan?”

“I’ll love anybody who gives me attention at this point,” he shrugged again, tone steady despite the admission. “Aren’t I hopelessly in love with you, Miss Grimes?”

Her braid swung and the sheriff’s hat far too oversized for her head shifted slightly out of place when she nodded. She tucked the intertwined strands of hair behind her ear after they fell into her face and tickled her nose. “I never hear mom say that she loves me.”

“Ah, she does.” He tapped a finger against his temple once he knew Judith was looking at him and would see it. “She’s got a lot going on up here. But I bet if you went up to Mich and told her first, she’d say it back.”

The young girl nodded again, though this motion was a simple, stiff jerk and only once. Drastically unlike the one he’d earned for himself just moments prior. Judith didn’t believe that Michonne really loved her, but she could easily surmise that he did. “Love you, too,” she murmured and a hefty sigh followed closely behind. Judith tapped the toes of her boots against the boardwalk and followed Negan’s offered instruction to bravely attempt blowing her first bubble. It snapped into a sticky disaster on her lips. The pair fell into a comfortable, innocent, expectationless silence. Negan eventually polished off the last of his candy and crumpled the wrapper up to tuck away into the pocket he retrieved it from, along with Judith’s once she’d finished her own. She was, reasonably, exhausted, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that Judith had drifted off leaning against him.

Next thing he knew, the clouds were graying and little hands were nudging his arm, accompanied by a sleep-slurred voice telling him to wake up. His legs were numb from having remained in the same seated position for what had to be at least a couple hours, but Negan still managed to get himself up into his feet and follow her along as she led the way to his cell. A sheepish smile and tired shrug was all he could muster when her eyes lingered on the lock and bobby-pin discarded haphazardly in the middle of the concrete. He took his place on his cot and watched the child close the bars behind him and slide the lock back into place.

Judith turned from him to walk away, but threw a drowsy smile over her shoulder and waved. And pointless as it was, he spoke after she’d left and her shadow had already passed by his solitary window.

“Happy birthday, kid.”

I think I get attached to characters like Negan who are dangerous and have soft hearts because that’s exactly what my brother was like.

I miss my Carl ❤️‍🩹

This is my first time writing for TWD, and the first work I’m posting in over 2 years, so I hope it’s good for y’all 🥺

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pencil-peach · 11 months

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G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 9

We have now reached part TEN of my ongoing project to transcribe and discuss all of the onscreen text in G Witch! Because I like writing!!! We have reached Episode 9, "If I Could Take One More Step Towards You."

<<Click Here to go back to Episode 8 (That post actually goes rather in depth into Duel Statistics. You should check it out if you happen to be interested in. Duel Statistics.)

The Beginning of the End. (Of the season.)

In the opening flashback, we see Guel winning yet another Duel, and at that point in time, he now has 8 wins. Ireesha says that he's probably done about 5 duels that month. With this information it's like. Utterly Impossible to determine how long ago before the story proper this scene takes place in, but here:

The Holder is required to do at least one duel every two weeks if there are available challengers. Guel had 28 wins by the time the show starts, so if we assume that Guel did that bare minimum, (which he definitely did not do) 20 duels would take about 40 weeks, or around 9 and so months. So that's the absolute MAXIMUM amount of time possible between this flashback and the show proper.

This doesn't really tell us anything at all, but yknow. I had fun. And isn't that what it's all about?

TEXT: BUSINESS TRANSFER AGREEMENT GRASSELEY M&D COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE SHADDIQ ZENELLI AGREEMENT

THIS BUSINESS TRANSFER AGREEMENT [the 'Agreement'] shall be governed by space front customary law and inter-front commercial treaties.

The agreement is entered into as of this date written below, by and between GUND-ARM, Inc ["Seller"] and Grassley Research and Development ["Buyer"]

WHEREAS, Seller desires to sell, and Buye* desires to purchase, substantially, all of Seller's assets and WHEREAS, the parties desire to enter into this Agreement for the purpose of setting forth their mutual rights and obligations with respect to the foregoing.

Shaddiq Zenelli

Grassley M&D Company Representative SHADDIQ ZENELLI

____________________ GUND-ARM, Inc Company Representative MIORINE REMBRAN ____________________ DATE

*(The word here is supposed to be Buyer, but it's actually misspelled like that on that agreement. Oopsie!)

Lots of LEGAL stuff....hochi mama....

One day I will make a post examining how Belmeria is meant to be a dark reflection of Nika. Just you wait.

And I COULD say SOMETHING about how the last time Guel sees Suletta before he runs away she's running ahead of him down the LIGHTED PATH and he CAN'T FOLLOW but I have to save that for the GUEL ANALYSIS SERIES!!! (Which I will return to...wait for me md-guel....wait for me...)

Anyway, back to a relevant detail, in the scene where Shaddiq talks to Miorine to convince her to call off the duel, Miorine has gathered a bunch of tomatoes and laid them out like this.

She's actually using them to plan out a battle strategy for the Grassley duel. The 2 tomatoes on the bottom are Suletta and Chuchu, and the 6 tomatoes at the top are the Grassley Pilots.

Shaddiq's Michaelis (Left) and the Grassley Girls' Beguir - Pente's (Middle) are actually both successors built from the Beguir Beu (Right) used in the prologue. (That's why they can use Anti-GUND Format Equipment such as the 'Antidote')

When you look at them side by side, it's pretty clear, but if this fact slips by you, you really miss out on the sharp difference in Prospera's behavior watching this duel compared to all the previous duels. Before, she showed unwavering confidence and faith that Suletta and Aerial could stop any opponent, but in this duel, when we see her, she's silent. She's not smiling. In a very real way, she's looking at the Mobile Suit that took her husband away from her.

And when Aerial overcomes the power of the Antidote, she sheds a tear

This was probably the biggest obstacle standing between the completion of Quiet Zero, and now that it's been overcome, the path has never been clearer.

Anyway, during the Role Call of all the Grassley girls, Sabina is shown to specifically be incredibly popular with women. Which I mean....can't blame em..

During this scene, we can see that the Team Battle title card has a slightly different UI, adding the respective Team Name of the Commander. Miorine never officially joins Earth House, but since all the members currently in the fight are, they probably just chose that.

We also see that the official color coding of Earth House is Cyan.

Here we see that in a Team Duel, the "Team Leader" and the "Commander" are two different positions, and can be held by two different people. The Team Leader fights in the duel, while the Commander is who will be awarded the victory or defeat depending on the outcome of the battle.

We also see in this shot that Chuchu's Demi Trainer is registered in Asticassia as "CHUCHU'S DEMI TRAINER"

When Aerial first goes offline due to the Antidote, this warning flashes across Suletta's helmet at first. It's [???] MODE but I can't read the first part. Gomen :( My best guess is that it's an Error message for a sort of Assisted Piloting Mode that Suletta had been using up to this point.

Then the warning switches to MANUAL MODE, which is what Suletta interprets as Aerial saying she needs to continue the fight by herself.

We can't see it fully, but Miorine's name appears on the winner's screen. So only the Team's Commander receives the victory in a Team Battle.

TEXT: AGREEMENT No. 2030-23 GUND ARM INC. Grassley M&D

Each party submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the BENERIT enterprise entrusted court, and agrees not to commence any legal action regarding or related to the subject matter of this agreement in any other court.

This seems like the end of the agreement.

Any way here's a comparison of Miorine and Delling's cursive. If Father Daughter Cursive Comparisons is something you're interested in. Miorine has cute handwriting.

That's all for this episode!! Woohooo!! For your final gift...

FUCK you. I'm symbolizing you as an unripe green tomato to represent the potential love we could have shared that never blossomed due to our respective personal ambitions being at odds with each other. Yeah and its permanent. BITCH.

Click here to go to episode TEN. FUCKER. >>

OR click here to go to the MASTERPOST.

#g witch #gundam the witch from mercury

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basalamander-corner · 1 year

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First Sentence Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @mattresses-and-macaroni

This game has you post the first sentence in your last ten works; if you don't have 10, do as many as you have!

Tagging @andromedaexists @wordswrittenbynight @yors-truly @thecrookedwriterspath @hottubraccoon

Lines are below the cut! They're all from The Shifting Tides. The first four are from the current draft I'm working on. The rest are from the previous draft! The reason I'm skipping some chapters for the current draft is because I skip around when I write! For the current draft, I skipped pretty much the entire first part of my novel, oopsies.

Chapter 1

The sky above Xaallat sent golden rays down on Saran’s back, a warm heat illuminating his less-than human form. He lounged lazily next to the pond behind his house, a mass of fur and flesh lying limply behind his head.

2. Chapter 10 (Saran POV)

They rode for three days straight without stopping, long silences stretching between them like a black cloak meant to suffocate the life out of their still-beating hearts.

3. Chapter 11 (Saran POV)

Truthfully, Saran never expected to board a ship. And he never expected that ship to be a pirate ship.

4. Chapter 12 (First Viridian POV in this draft yay!)

You could accuse him of lying, but Viridian would always admit he didn't actually like throwing people overboard. Especially when said people had very cute faces: eyes that shone like the moon, and freckles like stars.

(From here on out, this is from the previous draft)

5. Chapter 76 (Saran POV)

"My... mother?"

6. Chapter 77 (Saran POV)

Saran tossed his satchels over his horse's back, tying his supplies down as tightly as possible without hurting her. Years ago, he would have wanted nothing more than to leave this ugly place. But now... now he wanted to stay.

7. Chapter 78 (this is one of the only times we get something from Cyrille's perspective. I love him he's just the tired dad)

Cyrille often considered himself a very patient person. He was in charge of Viridian's most important tasks: which meant he did everything the pirate captain procrastinated on.

8. Chapter 79 (Saran POV)

Why did his heart hurt so much?

9. Chapter 80 (Saran POV)

The air was thick as Saran landed in Naporia, threatening to suffocate him. He couldn't place his finger on what exactly was wrong, but it felt nauseating.

10. Chapter 81 (Viridian POV)

Something was wrong. Viridian could feel it.

#the shifting tides wip #writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writing community #tag game #tagging game

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stupid-stew · 3 years

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The Blame Game

me when I have an idea and have never written fan fiction before and then accidentally write 3,000 words about it OOPSIES anyways I was like what if Eda got mad at Luz after YBOS and um could not get that out of my head

EDA

Eda was tired

So tired

Too much had happened over the course of the last day, she hadn’t had any time to think, but now she had a moment to herself, thinking was all she could do. All the events of the last 24 hours, heck the last 30 years, they all came back to her at once.

Lilith had cursed her? Her own sister? And then betrayed the emperor for her? First she’d been hurt by Lilith and then saved by her, and now Lilith was living under her roof? They’d barely talked at all in the last several decades, and now Eda was expected to just be ok with it? Just like that? After the screaming match they’d had not even an hour ago, Eda wasn’t sure there would be much talking at all for the next few days, not like she wasn’t used to it. There was too much to unpack with her sister right now, she felt too hurt to give it any more of her attention. And Luz, poor Luz, oh that kid was going to be the death of her-

A quiet whisper of “Hey Eda?” interrupted her spiraling thoughts.

Eda sat up from her nest and saw the focus of her thoughts standing in her doorway, “What’s up kid?”

What was Luz still doing awake? It was too late, was she having issues sleeping too? It wouldn't be surprising, the kid was probably traumatized up the wall.

Luz moved her mouth, but Eda didn’t hear a word she said, still consumed by her own brain

Luz, her kid. Eda supposed that she might as well admit to herself she loved the kid at this point. But what was she thinking, breaking into the emperor’s castle like that? Didn’t she know she could have gotten herself hurt, others hurt. Eda got hurt, Eda got hurt beyond repair, she’d lost her powers. Her powers had been the only thing keeping her alive, keeping her sane. What was she going to do without her magic? She couldn't live without it, she was the most powerful witch on the boiling isles for titan’s sake, but what is a witch without her power? And if Luz hadn’t broken into the castle, regardless of her intentions, maybe Eda could have had a shot at keeping her powers longer, but no, Luz just had to play the hero didn’t she, everyone else be damned huh?

“Get out” Eda said flatly

“And th- what?” Luz said, startled and confused by the sudden interruption

“I said get out, I don’t want to see you right now” she replied sharply

“Eda I don’t understa-”

“Of course you don’t understand, why would you, why would you ever think about anyone else, you didn’t even think about the repercussions of breaking into the castle”

“Eda I promise I didn’t mean for any of this to happen I just wanted to…”

“No.” Eda cut her off abruptly “I know what you wanted, you wanted to play the hero, you wanted to be back in your imaginary fantasy world where nobody gets hurt and you can always save the day, you wanted to win, guess what kiddo, you won. You won and everyone else got to lose.”

“Eda, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say…” Luz trailed off with tears forming behind her eyes

Something in eda snapped.

“I’M SAYING IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU I MIGHT STILL HAVE MY POWERS, I MIGHT STILL BE MYSELF. IT’S YOUR FAULT LUZ. IF YOU HAD TAKEN EVEN A MOMENT TO THINK BEYOND HAVING TO BE THE ONE TO SAVE ME, THEN YOU WOULDN’T HAVE NEEDED SAVING AND I COULD STILL BE LOOKING FOR A CURE. LUCKY YOU, I NO LONGER HAVE ANY MAGIC TO SAVE MYSELF SO MAYBE YOU CAN STILL BE THE HERO YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AFTER ALL. I. DON’T. WANT. TO. SEE. YOU. RIGHT. NOW.”

There was a stunned silence after those last words, Eda slapped her hand over her mouth, shocked at her own outburst, and Luz doubly as hurt by the words. She didn’t know where that had come from, of course she knew that Luz hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, it wasn’t the kid’s fault Eda was cursed, much less her fault that Eda was a wanted criminal who had gotten herself caught. It was her choice to go save Luz from Lilith, even when the kid was being pressed into spikes she was more worried about the older witch than her own wellbeing.

“Luz-” Eda said, taking her hand away from her mouth to reach out towards the now shaking teen, not sure how to even begin to repair the damage she had just caused.

“No, it’s ok.” Luz cut her off, her voice breaking, “I’ll give you your space, I’m sorry.”

“Kid wait-”

The door shut with a quiet click, once again leaving Eda alone in the silence with her thoughts. She fell back into her nest.

Shit.

LUZ

Luz wasn’t sure what had just happened. She had never heard Eda yell at anyone like that before, well now with the exception of Lilith, and herself.

Was it something Luz had done? She was just telling Eda about how she had fought Belos, maybe if she replayed the events in her head…

*5 minutes earlier*

Luz stood outside the massive door to Eda’s room, not sure whether or not to enter. Eda was under a lot of stress, that had to be taking a toll on her, maybe she should just walk away and come back tomorrow…

No, this can’t wait, Eda needs to know

Luz sighed and reluctantly stepped into the doorway. Eda was laying down in her nest with her eyes closed, was she asleep?

“Hey Eda?” Luz asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the witch if she was finally resting.

Much to Luz’s surprise, Eda sat up. “What’s up kid?”

Eda’s voice had sounded warm, which was a shock to Luz, she had half expected Eda to be mad at her, titan knew she blamed herself enough for the two of them already, but her voice also sounded empty. Maybe Luz was making a mistake, she should leave Eda alone for a little while longer. No, it was probably better to get it over with.

“Hey I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to tell you something.” Eda didn’t respond, so Luz took that as a sign to keep going. “Ok so you know how you gave me the portal key? When you and King and Lilith were up on the platform, Belos wanted to speak to me alone.” she paused, waiting for some kind of reaction, receiving none. “He wanted the portal, and I gave it to him, don’t worry, I set it on fire… which kind of means that I’m stuck here, and th-”

And then Eda had gotten mad, really mad. Was she mad about the portal? No of course it wasn’t about the portal, it was about Luz. Eda was mad at Luz. Eda hated her, maybe she should just leave, spare Eda the reminder of who made her lose her powers every time she saw Luz’s face. And the worst part is that Eda was right, she had gotten too caught up in trying to save Eda that she forgot that she could have gotten hurt. Maybe all those people back home were right, she was too caught up in her fantasy wor-

“OUCH”

Luz ran into something, more accurately, someone. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t been looking in front of her and had run right into Lilith.

“Oh my titan, Luz I am so sorry are you ok?” Lilith fussed over her, seeming genuinely worried about Luz

“What do you care.” Luz scoffed, immediately regretting her words when she saw Lilith’s face drop at her words. “I’m sorry, I guess I should be asking if you’re ok as well seeing as I was the one that ran into you”

“Oh, I guess we are both at fault then, seeing as I wasn’t watching my step either, nonetheless I do apologize. What are you doing up so late? Does Edalyn not have a bedtime set for you?”

Luz took mild offense to the fact that Lilith thought of her as such a child, but most of the pain came from the fact that Lilith thought Eda still cared about her enough to make sure she got proper sleep. Instead of admitting that to Lilith, Luz settled to retort with “I was just coming back from her room, what are you even doing in the house? Didn’t eda strictly forbid you from coming in here until she says otherwise?”

Lilith chuckled slightly at that, which caught Luz off guard, but Lilith’s reply quickly caught her thoughts away from that “I suppose you’re right, but I heard screaming and wanted to make sure nobody was hurt, I guess if you were just in her room then you’re both probably fine, perhaps you could tell me what that was all about?”

And then Luz lost it.

LILITH

Lilith wasn’t sure what to do. Luz hated her, had every right to, but as she stood in the dark hallway with the teenager wrapped around her waist and sobbing, let’s just say she was more than a little bit confused. She expected a lot of emotions from Luz, anger, hatred, rage, was screaming an emotion? Maybe it should count as one. But this? This was very very far down on the list.

“Luz? What’s wrong?”

The girl mumbled something in between sobs into her dress, but it was completely inaudible.

Lilith continued to stand there with her arms out and away from Luz for another minute, not wanting to touch the girl and make her uncomfortable, and at an utter loss for how to comfort her. Not even a day ago they had been seated on the floor of a clearing in the human world while Lilith had shamefully explained herself, how had she ended up here?

Slowly, Lilith placed her hands on the younger girl’s shoulders and pushed her away enough to see her face, Lilith was horrified to see the girl had been really sobbing, hard, her face barely visible in the dark somehow still managed to show levels of pain she didn’t think were possible for someone so young.

“Luz, ” Lilith said as clearly as she could while keeping her voice soft “what’s wrong?”

She listened quietly as Luz tried to explain to her the conversation she had just had with Eda. Lilith was shocked. She had never expected Eda to yell like that at Luz, she had barely seen them interact, but she still knew that her sister cared deeply for the human, and had never expected that sort of outburst to happen, especially in Luz’s direction. Lilith knew that Eda didn’t mean it, but did Luz know that? Of course she didn’t. Lilith was used to Eda yelling at her, she took it and understood where she was coming from, but for her to snap at Luz like that? Something had to be wrong.

“Luz, look at me” Lilith looked down at the still crying girl wrapped around her waist, waiting for her to make eye contact before kneeling down on one knee to get eye level with her while still keeping her hands on Luz’s shoulders. “I need you to listen to me, ok?” Luz nodded, wiping her eyes. “Ok, this is absolutely not your fault. None of it. I don’t know why Edalyn has decided to place the blame on you, but she was wrong to do so.” Luz didn’t look convinced. Titan, Lilith thought, this girl must have really taken what Eda had said to heart. “The blame is on me, Edalyn, and Belos. Not. You. I am responsible for Eda’s curse and capturing you, for which I will never stop apologizing. Eda and I are responsible for the battle and any harm that came to you during it. I am responsible for capturing Eda, Belos is responsible for her losing her powers, even I played a part in that. None of that is on you. At all.”

Luz looked at her blankly, Lilith was unsure what to do, she had never been good with words, had she said something wrong?

“Promise?” Luz asked softly

Lilith looked at the girl in front of her, the girl who had put her life on the line for her sister, the girl who had fought the emperor and ultimately won, in all her years in the coven she had never seen Kikimora look that terrified, and Belos was a scary man, this kid was so strong, and here she was, asking the woman who had put her life in danger out of spite, for a promise.

Lilith raised her hand and drew a dim blue circle in the air, grabbed Luz’s wrist, and pulled her hand through it. “I promise none of this was your fault, and I will do everything in my power to make sure any part of it that was mine gets remedied in full.”

Their hands glowed faintly for a moment before the light went out.

“So,” Lilith began, “what do you say we get started on that promise?”

Luz, still holding onto Lilith’s hand, nodded and allowed the witch to walk her down the hallway, back to the doors where this had all begun.

EDA

Shit Shit Shit

Eda had spent the last half hour trying to think of any way to make up with Luz, she had never meant to say any of that at all, she didn’t blame Luz, not at all, she blamed herself, and Lilith, and Belos, but mostly herself

For the second time that night, Eda found her thoughts interrupted by someone in her doorframe, this time though there was no word of warning, just a silhouette.

“Lilith?” Eda asked, squinting to try and see her mystery visiter, splitting the curse must have split her night vision as well, add that to the list of awful things that had happened

“Yes.”

It was a simple reply, but enough to make Eda jump out of her nest, “What the hell Lily, I thought I told you so stay out of here, what if Luz saw you?”

“Actually…” Lilith started before tugging lightly on something out of the door frame, bringing luz out from behind the wall.

She’s been crying was all Eda thought.

“Lily I swear to titan if she has even a scratch on her-” Eda began to threaten, but then she remembered. “Oh”

“Yeah, I ran into her in the hall,” her sister replied, “can we come in? I think you have some explaining to do”

Eda nodded sadly, seeing Luz this upset, knowing that she was the one who had caused this, it was almost too much, and when Eda got upset, she had a tendency to run her mouth, so she just started talking as soon as Luz had gotten sat down and Lilith had left the room.

“Look kid, I’m sorry. I know that doesn't even begin to make up for what I said, but I mean it. None of this is your fault, I mean you could have been a little more careful, but the blame isn’t yours. I was having a rough time, which isn’t an excuse for the things I said, but I got mad and snapped at you. I wasn’t even mad at you, I was mad at myself, and I took it out on you and that was wrong of me. I was upset about the loss of my magic, it meant a lot to me, but you need to know that it’s not your fault it’s gone. I’m sorry. I was playing the blame game and you’re the one who lost, even though you weren’t the one playing. You didn’t deserve me yelling at you like that and I am so so so-”

“It’s ok.” Luz cut her off.

“-rry. What?”

“It’s ok Eda. I get it. I know you were mad, and I wish you hadn’t said those things, but I know it wasn’t my fault.” Luz said, looking the older witch right in the eyes.

Eda sighed a heavy sigh, “Good.” They looked at each other for a moment before Eda remembered. “What were you in the doorway for?”

“I had something to tell you, but I think it can wait until morning.”

“Luz, I think it is morning” Eda chuckled, looking out the window to see the sun on the horizon.

“Then it can wait until the afternoon!” the teenager exclaimed back.

Luz got up to leave, but Eda grabbed her by the wrist “and just where do you think you’re going?”

“Back to my room? Eda I have to sleep.”

Eda yanked her wrist, pulling her back into the nest “what a coincidence, I have to sleep too! Maybe we could have an apology nest party?”

Luz laughed, slightly taken aback by Eda’s sudden affection, but relieved to see that she was actually sorry and didn’t mean any harm. “Fine by me.”

“Love you, kiddo.”

“I love you too, Eda.”

They lay in silence for a moment before Eda startled Luz by yelling “LOVE YOU LILY!”

There is a sudden scrambling outside of the door and the sound of a witch’s footsteps could be heard retreating back down the stairs.

“How did you know she was still listening?” Luz asked between giggles

“She never was a quiet walker, it would have been hard for me to miss her walking away”

That was the first good sleep Eda had in years, no thoughts eating away at her, no nightmares, no curse dreams, just her and her kid.

read @novelist-becca’s alternate ending!!!!

#the owl house #eda the owl lady #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #eda clawthorne #ybos

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thethirdamell · 4 years

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I’ve seen a lot of people posting a few writing memes about fic titles so I just wanted to break down where all of mine have come from and what they mean in Accursed Ones because I’m bored. Probably nothing you don’t already know in here

1. Awakening - Name of the game + Anders literally waking up + metaphorically waking up and understanding his obligation to help 2. Nothing For It - Mean to imply that Anders had no alternative but to help and be helped by Amell in turn 3. Conscription - What it says on the tin 4. Joining - What it says on the tin 5. It Comes From Beneath - Name of the quest 6. Last of the Legion - Name of the quest 7. Memories of the Stone - Name of the quest 8. A Night of Revelry - Meant to be ironic considering what happens 9. Freedom for Anders - Name of the quest 10. Freedom for Anders Part Two - Name of the quest 11. The Righteous Path - Name of the quest 12. In Retreat, Panic - A play on the Grey Warden motto. (Also my favorite chapter in the story.) 13. All Soul's Day - Name of the annum 14. The Dark Theurge - Name of the demon 15. Paramour - Name of the achievement for a romance 16. Ground Rules - Ground rules for a relationship 17. Lost in Dreams - Name of a similar quest 18. Far Afield - Name of the quest 19. Far Afield Part Two - Name of the quest 20. Uprising - Name of the quest 21. The Resolutionist and The Aequitarian - Amell and Wynne’s respective fraternities 22. Serpents High, Angels Low - Both the rules of the team’s card game and an over-arching theme of the fic where things that are presumed to be good/evil are often the reverse. 23. Malleus Maleficarum - The name of a treatise on witchcraft elevating sorcery to heresy and a song Malleus Maleficarum by Ordo Funebris 24. Shadows of the Blackmarsh - Name of the quest 25. The Blackmarsh Undying - Name of the quest 26. Pride Goes Before Destruction - A reference to the Pride demon and Amell’s pride in thinking he can handle it 27. And a Haughty Spirit Before a Fall - A reference to Justice and Anders falling for Amell 28. The Apple And The Tree - A quote about Amell being like his father 29. Lullabies - A Song - Lullabies by Yuna 30. Fools Gold - Meant to reference both Quentin and Anders’ happiness. Also a song Fools Gold Fitz and the Tantrums. 31. Eyes of the Beholder - A play off “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” meant to reference the difference between Amell and Anders’ perspectives on losing his eyes. 32. Blame it on the Night - Meant to indicate what happened isn’t Anders’ fault. Also a song - Blame it on the Night by Calvin Harris 33. White Lies, Red Eyes - A reference to both the colors of the Amell family and Amell’s personality 34. Spirits and Demons - What it says on the tin 35. Love is Blind - An overarching theme in the story. 36. Satinalia - Name of the annum 37. Brothers and Sisters - A reference to Wardens and Anders still having family without Amell. 38. Score One for Our Heroes - Meant to be ironic. Also a quote from Anders. 39. Out of Control - The current state of things and also a reference to A Leader on Losing Control by Corb Lund which is a Leonie song. 40. Justice for Naught - Meant to imply that sometimes there is no justice but you have to keep trying anyway 41. Here's to Us Blighters - What Oghren says when night is darkest 42. Bold and Brazen and Beautiful - Amell’s description of Anders 43. Monsters and Men - Self explanatory for Justice/Anders. 44. The Best Intentions - Oft Go Awry is Unspoken 45. Blessed Are the Peacekeepers - A quote from the Chant of Light 46. Champions of the Just - The rest of the quote. Meant to be ironic. 47. The Black City - A reference to both Kirkwall and the actual Black City 48. Rip Up Your Roots - A quote from Cor and what Anders does to cope, but the follow up, “You ain’t gonna have a tree.” is equally important. 49. A Good Man - A quote from Lirene about Anders 50. First Day - The name of the annum 51. As The Crow Flies - Foreshadowing Anders learning shapeshifting 52. Wintersend - Name of the annum 53. Chasing the Sun - Name of a song. Chasing the Sun by the Wanted. 54. Doubts and Revelations - What it says on the tin 55. Birds of a Feather - Flock together. Both a joke about shapeshifting and Kanders. 56. Snap - What it says on the tin 57. Ray of Sunshine - Joke on Bethany’s name 58. Oopsy Daisy - Joke on Merrill’s name 59. Pretty Reckless - Meant to reference both Anders and Hawke’s behavior. 60. Let's Try This Again - What it says on the tin 61. A Preoccupation with Spirits - A joke about Justice and alcohol 62. Meetings - What it says on the tin 63. Acquainted - Basically just Meetings Part 2 64. Bloodline Part One - What it says on the tin 65. Bloodline Part Two - What it says on the tin 66. Trail of Love - Name of the quest but also references Anders’ many past and future loves. Amell, Karl, Isabela, Hawke. 67. Rude Awakening - A call back to the first chapter meant to show how much Anders has changed. Anders takes on the role of Amell here and Hawke takes on the role of Anders with respects to Blood Magic. 68. Safe Harbors - A joke about sex with Isabela 69. The Best Laid Plans - Oft Go Awry is implicit. 70. Oft Go Awry - What it says on the tin 71. All New, Faded For Him - This was an anagram like the quest in DAI but I can’t remember what it is an anagram for. RIP 72. A Year Ago Today - What it says on the tin 73. Friends in Low Places - Name of the quest 74. No Turning Back - What it says on the tin 75. Senior Warden Anders - What it says on the tin 76. Bodies So Maimed - Quote from the Chant of Light about darkspawn 77. Down in the Dark with the Dead - A quote from Eli 78. Up in the Light with the Life - The opposite of the above quote 79. A Day for Silence - Name of the annum 80. My Failing and My Falling Part One - A line from Anders’ story for Nika and a reference to Hawke’s failure to protect his sister. 81. My Failing and My Falling Part Two - Same as above 82. Pain and Bane - Name of the poem Merrill sings. Also an overarching theme of the story 83. Luck of the Dog - Reference to the Dog Lords but also ironic considering Anders is not lucky. 84. Bird's Eye View - Both a reference to Anders’ transformation magic and his perspective on the Circles and how Bethany doesn’t share them 85. Act of Mercy - Name of the quest 86. The Revolutionists - Name of Decimus’s fraternity 87. Burn After Reading - what it says on the tin 88. Not in Hand, Not in Play - A quote from the chapter but also Fenris’ perspective on love and a theme of the story. It is or it isn’t. 89. Enemies Among Us - Name of the quest 90. Save Me - What it says on the tin 91. Benedictions - A Canticle in the Chant of Light that makes Hawke think of Anders 92. What Will The Neighbors Think? - A mini-theme throughout the story regarding Anders (in)ability to be openly in a relationship, be it with Amell, Justice, Hawke, etc. 93. Have Your Pie and Eat it Too - What Anders keeps trying and failing to do 94. Dead Set on Ending Badly - Foreshadowing 95. Where We Stand - Where Hawke and Anders’ relationship stands 96. Hearts of Gold or Near Enough - Meant to apply to all of the main characters 97. Ghilan’him Banal’vhen - The Path that Leads Astray. Foreshadowing. 98. Abstention and Absolution - Meant to be Ironic 99. Until the Last Dog is Hung - What it says on the tin 100. Free To Good Home - References the mages, Dog Lords, and also Anders 101. It Gets Easier - Narrator Voice: It did not get easier. 102. Luxury of Leaning - A reference to Hawke not having the option to pursue men as the scion of a noble house but doing it anyway because fuck you mom. 103. Dissent - Name of the quest 104. Into Madness - Play on words. Descend into Madness / Dissent into Madness 105. Fester - What it says on the tin 106. The First Sacrifice - Name of the quest 107. Once Removed - Play on words. A reference to Amell/Hawke’s Eyes and Quentin being Hawke’s cousin once removed. 108. Not Again - Haha get wrekt 109. All That Remains - Name of the quest 110. The Way Forward - A reference to Fenris’ quote about the stairs being out. Meant to symbolize that there are no other options for Anders, Hawke, and the narrative as a whole. Also, ironically, meant to show that Hawke does not actually move forward. 111. Lyrium and Lies - Foreshadowing 112. Ser Cumference and the Terrible Tower - A children’s tale vibe meant to show the dichotomy of man. 113. The Calm Before - Foreshadowing for the name of the next chapter. 114. The Storm - What was foreshadowed. 115. Long Time No See - A reference to both not seeing Amell for a long time and Amell not being able to see for a long time. 116. To Catch a Thief - Name of the quest 117. To Save a Sinner - Similar naming methodology of the previous chapter meant to show Isabela is more than just a thief. 118. On Deaf Ears - Both Hawke being deaf and Hawke not agreeing with Anders. 119. Hey Sparkles - Meant to give a “It’s gonna be okay dude” vibe. 120. Give Me A Sign - Sign language reference but also a plea for Hawke and Anders’ relationship to get better. 121. We Should Talk - About both Hawke and Amell, but Amell is the only one Anders talks to in this chapter. 122. The Weight of Years - Shit’s heavy 123. How Have You Been? - Asking the dangerous questions again 124. Spin a Story - Varric’s terrible advice to Anders but also Amell’s approach to interacting with Anders after they’ve been apart for so long. 125. Give and Take Part One - Commentary on Anders relationship with both Amell and Hawke. 126. Give and Take Part Two - See above 127. What You Make It - What love is according to Fenris 128. Letters from the Vigil - What it says on the tin 129. Consent is Key - A quote from the chapter and commentary on responsible use of blood magic. 130. What Have You Done Now? - A song. What Have you Done Now by Within Temptation 131. But This is All I Ever Was - A song lyric. Ditmas by Mumford & Sons 132. Wasted Time - Also a song lyric from Ditmas but like accidentally.

#ao rambles #ao nonsense #might do this again for apples #what a productive use of my time i regret nothing #don't mind me #just having fun

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thanksjro · 4 years

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Zero Point, a Last Stand of the Wreckers prose story- I Sure Hope You Like Eye Imagery

Ooh, an artsy start to our prose this go around.

This story takes place after the events of Last Stand of the Wreckers, with our dear friend Springer well into his Overlord-induced coma.

Roadbuster is a gentle soul, when he’s not busy ripping people’s spines out.

Roadbuster’s been put in charge of the Debris station since Springer’s out of commission. It’s boring. He’s bored. He has a routine he follows, but there’s only so much grave-visiting/security-checking/weapon-building/eyeball-cleaning a guy can do within a 120 hour day before it becomes less of a routine and more of a compulsive habit.

Springer’s eyes are a specific shade of blue known as Matrix Blue- supposedly a marker for being Matrix Compatible. Considering that Senator Shockwave had to go and get multiple guys some nonconsensual plastic surgery to make sure they could actually fit the Matrix, I’m going to go ahead and say that that’s some bunk someone made up to hype up the mysticism of Primehood.

Springer’s obviously in a bad way, and it’s not looking like things are going to get any better. You can tell, because this is the point where his internal monologue kicks in, reflecting on just what it’s like to die, and his past. Sure hope they don’t have any vats filled with corrodia gravis on this space station.

Back before the war was The War, Springer was young and naive, but his boobs were just as awesome as they are now.

Springer became slightly disenchanted as his time on the front lines went on, thinking that he needed to do more to help the Autobot Cause. He decided he wanted to join the Wreckers, though he knew next to nothing about them at the time, and everything that he’d heard probably should have sent him running in the opposite direction. Decepticons caught by Impactor and friends would kill themselves in the middle of the street if they managed to escape.

But we’re dealing with a mind that’s been shaped by a civil war, now aren’t we? Impressions are warped for Autobots, because Decepticons are evil, and therefore they deserve that sort of thing, now don’t they? Nobody is immune to propaganda.

Springer first met Impactor at Sherma Bridge, where he saw him punch through a ship’s windshield, spear the driver’s head with his drill-hand, and then land the thing in front of a memorial statue. Gee, what a guy.

Springer, even though he’d seen all this and was feeling a little wary about this whole situation- which is a very valid reaction to witnessing a murder, no matter who’s been killed- decides to get put on the list of reservists for the Wreckers.

It’s amazing they even bother with Rung at all, isn’t it?

Springer’s interview is a violent one, because this is the Wreckers, and we don’t ever go half-mast on anything- Impactor falls out of the fucking sky in the middle of a huge battle and tells Springer that he’ll be coming with him. And that was that.

Oh hey, it’s the IDW2 eating chairs. And hello, Kaput, it’s nice to see you again.

Kaput’s diagnosis is as bleak as it is cryptic- Springer’s probably for sure going to die. Kaput seems to only exist to tell people they’re dying or dead, unless they’re the once and future Optimus Prime.

Kup’s pretty bummed out about this whole thing, pacing like a 1950’s father in the birth and delivery waiting room. Kaput doesn’t seem to notice, or is too lost the the medical sauce to realize that him going on about how they fixed that weird humming noise Springer’s legs used to make is making folks anxious.

Roadbuster asks just what exactly’s wrong, if they fixed everything from his ripped-off face to his weird humming legs. Kaput doesn’t like confrontation, so he blathers on for a bit before admitting that they haven’t found the zero point.

Roberts, how many times are you going to do this to Kup? First Rodimus, now Springer- did Kup bully you in primary school? I’m starting to get concerned.

That was six months ago, and while Roadbuster had been polite about it at the time, all the nothing that’s happened since has made him feel a little less kindly toward Kaput.

Okay, who’s ready to find out why doctors and mechanics aren’t the same thing on Cybertron? Because I sure am!

So they have to account for the soul, is what you’re saying. Is this about having some sort of bedside manner, because the mental aspect of healing has to be taken into account? Or is it more to do with the bizarre implications of the soul being physical as opposed to metaphysical, and therefore capable of being destroyed? The ethical conundrum that the spark presents is fascinating.

If a break happens between these two nerves, it can cause the energy of the spark to be redirected away from the points it’s meant to go, like a heart with a hole in it. Yes, the blood is still inside the body, but it’s not inside the veins and is therefore useless, and in fact is directly harming the body.

Roadbuster, after reflecting on the grim reality Springer is currently living, breaks out Wreckers: Declassified. This isn’t reading for personal enjoyment or ego-stroking however- Roadbuster actually greatly dislikes reading about himself in Fisitron’s datalogs. No, this is more of a last-ditch effort to save Springer’s life.

Roadbuster learned to read to act on a theory brought up by Rung- he and Kup are friends, on account of both of them being very old- that the spark is psychosomatic in nature. It can be influenced by intense emotional responses to potentially heal the physical self. They’re willing to try this, because nobody really knows how exactly a spark works, so Rung’s guess is as good as any.

Story time for the evening picks up on a chapter in a story called “The Wreckers’ Air Attack”, getting right into where Megatron’s about to shoot Impactor in the back of the head. But not without pontificating first.

This is so over the top, so romantic- and I’m talking Romantic as in the literary style. I don’t even know what to say here. Luckily Impactor does.

Fisitron may not know what this whole scene is about, but we as the reader do. The hardcover trade edition of Last Stand was published roughly a six months after “Chaos Theory”, where we got THIS exchange:

If this is what Megatron’s poetry is like, it’s no wonder Impactor isn’t a fan. Purple prose out the wazoo, incredibly flowery imagery- I’m sure there’s an audience for all that, but I doubt Impactor’s a part of that crowd.

Megatron is distracted just long enough for Springer to descend upon him on the sky sled, like a murderous Santa Claus, jumping off so the sled can slam into Megatron and send him careening down the side of the mountain.

That’s taken care of. What next?

It’s at this point that Roadbuster checks what chapter they’re on, because he’s really not the biggest fan of Fisitron’s writing style. Guess he isn’t one for fanfiction, or adverbs. Turns out, each of these datalogs are less blog posts and more fully-fledged books. Every single one of them.

Roadbuster’s feeling kind of hopeless at this point, and it’s not hard to understand why; there hasn’t been any sort of response from Springer at all in all the months he’s been reading to him.

He considers the contents of the only datalog he hasn’t cracked open yet, outright skipping over it every time- #113, the one about Pova. He doesn’t ever read it because it’s full of false information, as was made very clear in Last Stand #5.

Springer joined the 17th iteration of the Wreckers, after a hazing ritual so brutal, it required the addition of an amendment to the Misuse of Weapons Act. Horrifying. None of the original members of the Wreckers had survived the war by the point Springer had been brought on- except for Valve, who does not count because he left the Autobots to go be a Decepticon, a fact which will never be expanded upon, much like Eugenesis Skywarp having been an Autobot for some friggin’ reason.

Springer, once on the inside, realizes that maybe the Wreckers are a little too dark a shade of gray for him to be able to sit comfortably with- the battering of POWs just a little too enthusiastically, the bending of the rules a little too sharply, the blatant disregard for the Tyrest Accord being smoothed over with an “oopsie doodle!” It’s looking like the Wreckers aren’t completely on the straight and narrow; shocking, I know.

Still, he doesn’t really see the point in arguing with it, instead just trying to make sure that he’s not the one doing the maiming and such. Complicity is not the answer to this sort of behavior, Springer.

When Squadron X came onto the scene, Impactor was so upset at the perceived slight- because obviously if Squadron X was the Decepticons answer to the Wreckers, and they were a bunch of murderous assholes, what did that make the Wreckers?- that he made it everyone else’s problem. The Wreckers WOULD destroy Squadron X. It was his new goal in life.

This went exactly where you’d expect such a singleminded hate-boner to go.

After the execution of eight POWs who should have been let go due to being on sovereign territory, Springer decided that enough was enough and called the cops on Impactor. High Command had been itching to get this guy back under control, so things moved pretty quickly after that.

Springer resigned from the group afterwords, but then everyone started coming out of the woodwork, pestering him to come back and LEAD them, because they were worried about being shut down. The likes of Roadbuster and Whirl don’t exactly make for good executives. After thinking about it, and after the trial, of course, he agrees to come back on as the leader of the Wreckers. So began a new era.

Back in the real world, Roadbuster’s trying to read the falsified account of Pova, but just can’t go through with it. He decides to tell Springer the truth, if only so he won’t die with a bunch of bullshit bouncing around in his brain.

Springer did so many drugs in Eugenesis, he BECAME drugs in Last Stand.

So Springer is apparently the greatest hype man to ever live, as he pumped everyone up so much about getting Squadron X, they just went completely feral the moment they saw their ship. Squadron X wasn’t even doing anything, and the Wreckers were frothing at the mouth.

When this lead to the inevitable, and Springer was trying to break down the door to prevent Impactor from racking up eight war crimes in under two minutes, Roadbuster and Whirl had a little moment. They knew what had happened, they knew that they couldn’t stop it, they knew that Springer couldn’t stop it, and they were pleased as punch about it.

Once Impactor had been arrested, the other Wreckers were worried that they’d be the next to get ratted out. To try and prevent this, they created a false narrative to lure Springer back into the group, placing him in a position of leadership to soothe his worries about the others having been complacent in the murder of Squadron X.

Roadbuster finishes off this horrifying admission with a non-apology, complimenting Springer on being a good leader. Then he notices that Springer’s got a tear in his eye.

That’s a [ tair ] , not a [ teer ]. It took me a second, too. English is a nightmare of a language.

He tries to buff the tear out, manually peeling back Springer’s eyelid to do it, only to find that maybe Rung wasn’t completely full of shit after all.

#transformers #jro #last stand of the wreckers #zero point #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #prose writing #wreckers trilogy

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fatandnerdy30 · 5 years

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The Little Princess Chapter 2

So, I made an oopsie!! I accidentally posted chapters 4 and 5 before 2 and 3! Woops!

The drive was long, and Hannah fell asleep after only a few hours, still tired from her run. She was woken by the sound of the car door closing. She blinked and looked around in confusion. Where were they? Susan had mentioned living pretty far, but was it so far they had to take a plane? The smell of gasoline answered Hannah's earlier question, and she looked to see Susan standing by the side of the car. Her hand was holding something in front of her face and she was talking to someone. Hannah, ever curious, rolled down her window slowly, the breeze lilting across her face, bringing with it the words from the one sided conversation. "No, I made it." Susan spoke in pauses. "I know, and I'm sorry I never called you honey." After a moment she tensed, then her shoulders sagged. "No. Oh Trevor...there was an accident. No, it happened three years ago. The woman told me it had been raining and there was a tree..." she took a deep breath. "Honey, they had a child." She was silent again, smiling sadly. "No, she looks just like him, she's adorable. Sixteen. Of course I have her. I wasn't going to leave her in that home. No, she was treated well. Yes, I intend on bringing her, so that means you'll have to turn on your charm at work. Why? Because she's your niece, and she deserves to meet him, that's why. Okay, I love you too. See you in a few days." A few days? Hannah sat back in her seat. How far were they going? Susan got back into the car and seemed surprised to see Hannah staring at her instead of asleep. "You're awake, good. Your uncle called and he's setting things up at home for you." She seemed a little worried as she said the words. "What didn't my mother tell me?" Hannah asked, her voice in the car sounding loud. She was mad at herself for falling asleep instead of asking questions. The woman sighed as she started the car. "That's going to be a little hard to explain, honey. but, I can tell you that me, your father and my husband are all a little different." She shook her head, looking both ways before turning. "I really can't explain it in a way that you'll understand without you thinking I'm crazy, and it's been a very long day. I'll find us a hotel and we'll stay there until everything is settled. Hopefully in a few days time, I can bring you home." At that word Hannah felt her heart flutter a little, but her mind was hard as ever. The way her aunt skirted around the situation made her a little more skeptical of the situation. The rest of the ride was quiet, all except the radio playing the background of both their thoughts. Susan took an exit off the highway and pulled into a hotel parking lot a few minutes later. It was late, but thankfully there was someone at the desk. Susan asked for an adjoined room so they would be able to have their privacy. Hannah's jitters died down a little at that. Why would the woman give her her own room if she were the bad guy? But, it could have still been a ploy to earn her trust. Hannah had made a deal with herself, though. She would find out all she could from Susan before making her decision to stay or leave. When they were settled in their rooms, Hannah felt more alone than she'd ever felt, even when she'd lost her mother. She was used to some kind of noise, the other girls breathing, springs squeaking. Although it felt good not to have to share her space with them, it also felt odd to be without them. She changed into her pajamas and laid down. As soon as Hannah's head hit the pillow, though, she was asleep.

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

It was the sun that woke her the next morning, along with Susan's raised voice coming from the other side of the door connecting their rooms. Hannah got up and made her way to the door, pressing her ear against it. "What do you mean they refused to see you? Those backward simpletons! Did you tell them it was urgent? Well, tell them it's his daughter!" There was a softer voice, male, so low Hannah couldn't make out the words, before Susan spoke again, this time her voice softer. "Good. They'll listen to that, but try and keep him out of it. You know my darling brother. Shock isn't a good thing. Okay, call me with any news. Love you too." Hannah stepped away from the door, not wanting to be discovered eavesdropping, gathering clothes for a shower. She wondered what kind of family she had. That Trevor guy sounded whipped, but Susan was what was considered a strong woman. It was then she wondered if she had gotten anything more than her father's looks. She stood under the spray of the hot water, looking into the mirror that hung from the shower head. It was true she had her mother's hair, but there were also streaks of a darker blonde running through it. Her skin was pale underneath it, mostly from the lack of sun under the week of rain. Her eyes were an aqua sea-green, that when she was angry changed to a hard steel, or so others told her. Her nose was straight, but pointed at the end daintily, and her lips were full, her bottom lip in a forever pout that she always hated. She thought back to the picture of her father. He had almost the exact same looks, only more angular and male. Susan looked like him, but also a mixture of someone else. She jumped when a knock came from the door. "Hannah, when you're done I figured we could go out and get some breakfast," Susan called through the door. At the mention of food the girl's stomach grumbled, reminding her that they'd skipped dinner. "Okay!" she called back and hurried to finish. Once she was dressed, she knocked on the door between her and Susan's room, poking her head in. "A-aunt Susan?" she called softly. The words felt odd on her lips, but she felt the need to try them out, just in case things went well for her. And it was well worth it to see Susan turn to her with a smile so genuine it made Hannah blush. "I'm ready." The woman nodded and they were off. The diner they found was small, and a lot of the customers couldn't help but stare at the pair of them. Well, mostly at the almost seven foot tall Susan who guided Hannah to their table with a hand on her shoulder. Hannah could only guess what they looked like, her blushing and Susan glaring at anyone who dared open their mouths about her. And it was obvious she was a woman, with her soft curves and feminine features, as well as her full breasts. Susan's hair fell past her waist, even in a ponytail, the color a dark chestnut that contrasted nicely with her tanned skin, setting off her green eyes, a little darker than Hannah's, but still pretty. They were seated and ordered, and were in the middle of eating when Susan's phone went off. She pulled it from her pocket and Hannah couldn't help but stare at it, curious. It wasn't like any model she'd seen before. Maybe it was the newest mobile out on the market. The woman frowned at the screen, but then lit up when she read the name. "Trevor!" she all but yelled when she answered, her face going red when people turned toward them. "Honey," she said quieter. "What did they say? Uh-huh? Yes, I get that. Wait, they did?" Her eyes went to Hannah's and she gave her a bright smile. "For when? That early? That's fantastic! Oh, you're the greatest! I will show you how happy I am when I get home. Can't wait either. Bye." Hannah felt her face heat up at the innuendo, knowing at least what that meant. "That was your uncle Trevor. Everything is all settled and I can bring you home as soon as we're ready. Which, I'm hoping is tomorrow." Hannah's whole body went numb and she nearly dropped her fork. That early? But, she hadn't had the chance to ask Susan everything she wanted, and the questions she couldn't ask in public. Like, was she really family, or just some highly serial killer that was going to murder her sooner than later? The girl was scared, but also hopeful that this would turn out okay for her. She wanted her happily ever after, but was also ready to fight if she had to. Susan's hand on hers scared the girl back to reality and she looked up into the smiling face of her aunt. "I know this is happening a little faster than you thought, but you'll be happy. I promise." Hannah smiled in return, but something in her gut was telling her that something was coming. Something that might be too big for her to handle, and she didn't want this dream to come to an end. She pushed her plate away half full, unable to eat anymore, her stomach in knots. "How about we go out on the town today? Sound good?" The girl nodded and Susan paid for their meal before they left. It seemed as though she had money for everything, and plenty of it from what Hannah had seen in her wallet. "What do you do for a living?" she asked suddenly. Susan glanced down at her with a secretive smile. "I was wondering when you'd begin asking more questions. Everyone should be curious about their own family, especially when they first meet. As for me, I'm sort of an ambassador to my people. I go around and talk with other consulates. Mostly it's boring work, but once in a while something interesting comes up. I'll tell you about some of them later. For now I want ice cream, how about you?" Hannah nodded with a smile, following her when another question came to mind. "What about my father? What does he do?" At that Susan slowed her pace enough for Hannah to catch up, her face looking sad for a moment. "Your father is a wonderful man. He's kind, but firm, and very generous. His job entails that of him. Your grandmother is very proud of him." This was the first she'd heard of a grandmother. She'd never met one, her mother's parents having passed away many years before Hannah was born. "Will they like me?" The woman clicked her tongue, stopping at the end of the line to the order window. "Of course they will. What's not to like? I already love you, and so will they." That one statement made Hannah want to weep and dash away her tremulous thoughts of suspicion. This was all she'd ever wanted since she lost her mother. She wanted her family back, and now she was getting it back tenfold.

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

"Wow, it's getting later than I thought," Susan said suddenly as they were looking at one of the shops set up for tourists in the small town. "And since we missed lunch, I'm sure you're hungry. After dinner we'll go back to the hotel and get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Suddenly she stopped, her gaze fixed on a luggage shop. "But one more stop." Her voice sounded sad as she led Hannah into the store to look things over. She pulled a long suitcase from a display, looking at it, then at Hannah, almost as if measuring it. Hannah was confused and instantly went on the offensive in her mind. Surely they hadn't bought that much, and she didn't have that much clothing. Something bothered her about this. "All set," Susan walked back toward her, toting the new suitcase behind her with a forced smile. They left the store and headed for dinner at the same diner as that morning. Afterwards, with full stomachs, they went back to the hotel. Susan bid Hannah goodnight and left her alone in her room. They girl lay wide awake in her bed long after that, though, her mind a jumble of questions. How did two weeks go to two days so fast? It seemed like forever she was waiting before Susan came, and now she was already taking her home? In her line of work, the woman was sure to have some power, but did she have pull all over the world? It was just so confusing, and Hannah didn't it. All night she tried to sleep, contemplating running, and had finally gotten the courage to, when she noticed the sun was already high in the sky. Where had the night gone? A knock on her door made the girl sit up in bed with a start. "Sweetie, are you awake?" Susan poked her head into the room, a frown crossing her face when she saw Hannah's face. "Couldn't sleep at all, huh?" Hannah shook her head. Who could when the person claiming to be your aunt could also be a serial killer whom she was alone with? "That's okay. You'll have plenty of time to sleep on the way home. Get ready and we'll leave." Again the girl nodded, too tired to speak. After a shower she got dressed and didn't have to wait long for Susan to come into the room after a knock, all smiles. "Today's the day I finally take you home!" That had Hannah's stomach in knots. "Don't be nervous, honey. You're going to love it there. Promise." Susan still hadn't said exactly where home was, or how they were getting there. Hannah guessed plane, but at this point she had no real clue. "I figured we'd get breakfast on the road. We're passing through a town I've spent a few trips in, and it's close to where we're headed." She grabbed Hannah's suitcase and sent her a reassuring smile. "We'll be home before you know. Let's go."

@unicornofgt

#The Little Princess Chapter 2 #father/daughter #Giant/tiny #g/t community

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gigglybts · 7 years

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Get to know me tag!

Thank you @chim-chimmie for tagging me! 💕💕

Rules: Answer 30 questions then tag 20 blogs you would like to know better

1) Nickname(s): there’s a lot… so I’ll just go with Giggly. 2) Gender: female 3) Star Sign: Scorpio 4) Height: 5′4 (163 cm?) 5) Time: 3:50 pm (15:50) 6) Birthday: October 23 7) Favorite Bands: Lets see… Bts (obvi), Red Velvet, SHINee, Big Bang, Black Pink 8) Favorite solo artist: *crickets chirping* 9) Song Stuck In My Head: Something Disney, I have yet to place the name of the song 10) Last Movie Watched: Um… I have no clue… 11) Last Show Watched: probably some Kdrama or something 12) When did I create my blog: August 27th, 2016…? I think, I checked the date a couple days ago… but I really didn’t post much until late October 13) What do I post: Mostly Fluffy fanfic. I’ve been getting into smut as of lately (”smut” being bs) And TONS of reblogs. 14) Last Thing I googled: shhhh… we don’t speak of these things 15) Do you have other blogs: Yep. One being my stupidity (due to not knowing that there were such things as secondary and primary blogs till a couple months ago), and the others we will not speak of. 16) Do you get asks: Sometimes, mostly it’s my mutuals being the sweethearts they are, or people who think they have the right to ruin my day. 17) Why do you choose your url: I laugh at almost everything, and it was meant to be a bts blog, so “gigglybts” TADA 18) Following: 77… I think? 19) Followers: Six-Hundred and ……something? I can’t remember the other digits 😅 But i really don’t care, I love every little one of you, even you porn blogs- How y'all doing? 20) Favorite colors: Orange 🍊

20a) I messed this whole process up, oh my god. Hours of sleep? 8+

20b) oopsie 😅 Lucky number: 3, it’s the second half of my birthday, and it’s always my jersey number 21) Instruments: Piano and a viola 22) What am I wearing: A huge t-shirt. Yep, That’s it. 23) How many blankets I sleep with: Six? 24) Dream Job: I dunno really? I mean I have different Dream Jobs for different points in my life. My dream job for the next couple years, isn’t the same Dream Job I have for later on in life 25) Dream Trip: Oh lord, there is way too many places I need to go 26) Favorite Food: Steak or strawberries, OH WAIT BURRITOS (and none of those fast food burritos, the ones my mother makes) 27) Nationality: American. 28) Favorite song now: Lie ~Bts

I’ll tag a few of my darling mutuals because I don’t want to bother too many of you. @musicinmeinsoul @stuckinkpopdreams @kthsdrug @softyfor-sweaterpaws @j-dopee @intangiblemusings @dragon-in-my-soul

Don’t do it if you don’t want to! Anyone else who wants to do it, go ahead. You can say I tagged you and I'll add you to the list.😉

#personal #tagged #get to know me #I'm an absolute mess #dear lord

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filosofablogger · 6 years

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Good Monday morning {yawn} and welcome, friends {yawn}. You may notice I’m a little {yawn} sleepy this morning because the weekend was busy, what with Easter and trying to finish up on several tax returns that will be due in just a short two weeks. Even though Miss Goose will be 24 later this year, we still dye & hide eggs, do Easter baskets, and the works. So, once again a holiday has passed and now we can get back to our normal routine. I am a creature of routine and always feel just a little out of sync when it is disrupted, even for fun things like holidays. So, how was your holiday? Did you get enough chocolate bunny ears to last you for a while?

Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee … sorry, Steve, no donuts today, but help yourself to some Easter candy … and let’s share a few chuckles to start out this week, shall we?

Grumpy Goose …

When I worked at Standard Publishing, one spring a goose wandered onto our property, built a nest, and laid goose eggs. It might have gone unnoticed, except that she began attacking people. Clients and sales reps would park in front of our building, get out of their cars, and seemingly from nowhere here came this goose, spitting, hissing, flapping her wings, and given the chance, pecking. The client would run back to their car and call us, whereby we would contact one of the maintenance guys to take a broom for protection and escort the client in. One day she attacked one of the maintenance men, Chester, so viciously that he gave his resignation the very next day! This video of a goose attacking soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, brought back memories of those days …

Distracted Drivers …

There are a lot of distracted drivers out there these days … I mostly blame cell phones. I was talking to my friend Herb while he was driving home in a snowstorm not long ago, and all of a sudden he let loose a rhyming expletive and said, “I’m stuck!!!” Sometimes it’s better not to talk and drive, I think. Herb, by the way, was able to extricate his car without too much trouble. Two stories caught my eye this week about people who weren’t quite ‘with it’ and the results, while humorous, might have ended in catastrophe.

The first is this Okaloosa County, Florida, mom who was getting ready to go somewhere with her husband and young daughter. Just as she was preparing to pull out of her parking spot, she remembered something she had forgotten in the apartment, so she ran back in. When she came back out, this is what she found …

Oopsie!

Dad and daughter were able to exit the car safely, so all is well except … well, the car. The Sheriff’s office had some fun with it, joking that it gave a whole new meaning to the word “carpool”.

And then this one …

An Uber driver in San Francisco was on his way to pick up a third passenger, and surely he must have been distracted, for he made a wrong turn onto a pedestrian walkway and …There were no injuries, and the driver is blaming his GPS. But the troubles didn’t end there! As a tow truck was attempting to pull the car off the steps, the cable snapped and the car plunged into a city trash dumpster and a fire hydrant! One should really use common sense when following the directions of a GPS, don’t you think?

Circus Clown

Now, when I first started this Jolly Monday feature more than two years ago, I promised that it would be entirely non-political. And I’m keeping that promise, even today, but I could not resist this story. There is a real, true-to-life clown running for South Carolina’s 5th District seat in the U.S. Congress. His name is Steve Lough, and he is a former Ringling Bros. circus clown! He even calls his website Clown for Congress.

He has a sense of humour, saying that if his opponents aren’t afraid of clowns yet, they soon will be. I almost like this guy!

Darling Donkeys (aka Adorable Asses)

It wouldn’t do for me to fail to give you your weekly fix of cute animals. Now, I think all animals are cute and can even find cuteness in such critters as armadillos and hyenas. Even so, I never gave much thought to ranking donkeys high on the scale of cuteness, until …

Sparky is a week-old miniature donkey at Ashington Park Stud In Melbourne, Australia. He has a surrogate mum and companion in the form of a teddy bear called Ted.

A donkey introduces her 5-hour-old baby to her friend, the horse

Rock-a-bye Donkey

Feline Friend …

Sometimes kids can be cruel under the best of circumstances, and 7-year-old Madden Humphries doesn’t exactly have the best of circumstances. Madden was born with a cleft palate and heterochromia iridum — a rare condition that causes the iris to be multicolored and occurs in only about 1% of the world’s population. So, young Madden was a prime target for the school bullies.

Madden’s mum is a wise woman, and she encouraged him to create a video to explain his unique qualities and remind friends to be kind. The June 2017 video was popular, garnering more than 220,000 views and 3,500 shares.

Then guess what happened? I’ll let Madden’s mum, Christina tell you …

“Last week, a friend posted an image of the cat in our cleft moms group. This kitty was taken in by a rescue group in Minnesota. We knew immediately that this kitty was meant to be part of our family. Not only does he have a cleft lip like our 7-year-old son Madden, he also has complete heterochromia iridum, like Madden. They were destined to be best friends. Funny how a pet can make you feel less alone. We have friends that kindly helped fund a road trip so that we could travel from Oklahoma to Minnesota to adopt this sweet kitty and bring him home.

We’re usually not spontaneous people, but we knew that we were meant to love this kitty. Moon, the kitty, and Madden are the perfect companions for each other. In a world full of bullies and hateful words, we will choose to chase love. I think it’s safe to say that this kitty is love, and was certainly meant to be part of our journey and Madden’s journey.”

A picture is worth a thousand words, so take another look …

And just as all good things must come to an end, so must our time together this morning. I have … laundry, house chores, a post to write and about a ton of email to catch up on, for I’ve been lax lately. And you have jobs or naps to attend to. If there is one thing in my life that I don’t get (or give, I fear) enough of these days, it’s smiles. So, I’ve left a basket full of ‘em by the door … please take a few as you leave, to share with others today, for we all need them … they help chase away the tears and the ugly scowls like the one I find myself wearing most of the time. Have a happy week and keep safe! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa!

All too true … sigh.

Jolly Post-Easter Monday!!! Good Monday morning {yawn} and welcome, friends {yawn}. You may notice I’m a little {yawn}

#bullying #cartoons #circus clown #distracted drivers #donkeys #Gilbert O&039;Sullivan - Alone Again #goose attacks #Madden & Moon #Maxine

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computerguideworld-blog · 5 years

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5 Real Computer Hacks You Didn't Realize Were Possible

New Post has been published on https://computerguideto.com/must-see/5-real-computer-hacks-you-didnt-realize-were-possible/

5 Real Computer Hacks You Didn't Realize Were Possible

If Hollywood is to be believed, every single thing around you can be hacked. Is your home heated with natural gas? All a hacker needs is a Die Hard movie and a computer to blow that shit up like a volcanic eruption. Do you use a smartphone? Uh oh — a sufficiently skilled hacker can detonate that thing like a hand grenade.

We all like to point and laugh at the ridiculousness of Hollywood computer crime, but here’s the thing: With everything around you, from guns to doctors to airplanes, growing ever more connected in what nerd-types call “the internet of things,” Hollywood’s “everything is hackable” trope is becoming less dumb every day. For instance …

Electronic Billboards Can Be Easily Hacked (To Play Porn)

via Tech Crunch

Electronic billboards, aka the bane of every poor bastard unlucky enough to work a shift that requires driving home after sunset, are gradually spreading to every intersection in America. Normally the image they’re searing into your retinas is informing you where to buy a new Ford or how many appetizers you can get at T.G.I. Friday’s for $10, but one spring Saturday in 2015 at an upscale neighborhood in Atlanta, commuters and diners at a pizza joint were instead treated to the presumably unappetizing image of a giant splayed asshole.

via IBTimes “Gr- Grandpa?”

A concerned driver called 911 to report the “totally disgusting” image, and the FBI kicked off an immediate investigation, because apparently the FBI’s time is much less valuable than we previously assumed. It turns out all it takes to hack into one of these eye-broiling behemoths is to track down its web interface, type in a password that the sign’s owner probably never changed from the default, and boom! You’re free to put a gigantic floppy anus on display for the world in glorious, larger-than-life LED.

And this isn’t an isolated incident. Back in 2010, downtown Moscow traffic came to a standstill when a giant billboard displayed hardcore porn and drivers found themselves with a sudden shortage of hands for driving. More recently, a public billboard at a bus stop in Sweden displayed a continuous porn feed as a group of men huddled in close to watch (but not too close, because that would be weird). More recently, a hacker known only as Johnny Cockring used the aforementioned default credentials to hack into two Alabama billboards and upload Photoshopped images of then-presidential-hopeful Marco Rubio in hardcore gay porn:

Twitter/Cockring_Johnny Scads of Alabama commuters are still unconsciously humming “Y.M.C.A.”

So, yeah — all you need is a set of default login credentials and an adorable hacker name and you can break into one of these electronic eyesores and really brighten up someone’s evening commute.

Remote Surgery Bots Can Be Hacked To Murder You Mid-Operation

University of Washington

It’s a staple of science fiction that future doctoring will be entirely offloaded to robots, because an electronic surgeon probably can’t go on a three-day Kahlua bender just before digging into your sensitive heart meat. And while we’re not at the level of fully robotic doctors yet, we are making great strides in that direction. For instance, surgeons can’t always be where a necessary surgery is needed, but they can tinker with your innards from thousands of miles away via remote-operated robots. The first such procedure took place in 2001 (a fitting year for technological breakthroughs), when a surgeon in New York removed a gall bladder from a patient in Strasbourg, France. That’s some next-level Captain Picard future shit.

iStock/UberImages “What level are you on?” “Digestive tract, but I can’t beat the cancer boss.”

Luckily for that patient, there was no hacker standing by to carve his Xbox Live name into the patient’s liver. But while the dedicated fiber connection used for that surgery would have prevented such shenanigans, it’s since become clear that the internet is a much cheaper means of linkage. And when has relying on the internet ever gone horribly wrong?

Researchers led by Tamara Bonaci at the University of Washington demonstrated that, with some fairly simple remote hijacking hijinks, they could make a Raven II surgical robot’s arms twitch like it hasn’t gotten its digital meth fix. Worse still, they could just as easily take total control of the robot using their knowledge of the Interoperable Telesurgery Protocol … the specs of which are freely available to any random asshat who’d like to brush up on the ins and outs of long-distance slicing and dicing.

SRI International “Med school’s for noobz.”

This means that, rather than your life being in the hands of a doctor with years of training, you could be at the mercy of a misanthropic hacker, a jilted lover seeking revenge on your fun bits, or a bored teenager looking to use your heaving carcass to play Surgeon Simulator minus the “simulator” part.

Bossa Studios “Oopsie! Where’s the restart button?”

As an added bonus, Bonaci’s team discovered that the robot’s video feed was publicly accessible. So the most horrifying prospect of all is that someone could intercept your hemorrhoid surgery, set it to the tune of Selena Gomez’s “Hands To Myself,” and turn it into a viral YouTube sensation (or put it on an electronic billboard).

Sound Waves Can Steal Data From Your Computer

Key45/Wiki Commons

Given today’s online environment of Fappenings and commonplace credit card account breaches and entire hospitals being locked out of their own computer systems by ransomware, there are probably those among you who yearn for the olden days, when getting online meant enduring the death howls of your dial-up modem screaming at AOL to allow you to check your ever-loving email. If you happen to be in that camp, we have bad news for you: Even if you stomp your Wi-Fi router into unrecognizable shards of plastic in a vigorous attempt to become a digital recluse, it won’t be enough. Not when every computer comes equipped with the capability to sing your most sensitive information to a nefarious hacker.

Back in 2013, German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute For Communication, Information Processing, And Ergonomics produced a proof-of-concept malware capable of transmitting data via sound waves outside the normal range of human hearing. Using standard laptop speakers, the researchers were able to transmit sensitive data such as passwords for distances up to 65 feet. That may not sound overly impressive, but this range increases greatly when multiple infected devices are employed to repeat their whispers to one another in an “acoustical mesh network,” like a game of Telephone in which the ultimate payoff is not a hilariously jumbled story but your un-hilariously un-jumbled bank account and Social Security number.

Thierry Dugnolle/Wiki Commons “0 … 4 … 8 … purple monkey dishwasher …”

Then, in 2015, security expert Ang Cui pushed the concept a step further by altogether eliminating the need for speakers and all-too-whimsically dubbing the resulting technology “Funtenna.” By inserting just seven lines of code into the meager brain of an off-the-shelf laser printer, Cui was able to fiddle with its electromechanical components and effectively transform the printer into a radio transmitter.

Though the resulting signal was weak (printers were designed to produce hard copies of school reports and teenage poetry, not output radio signals), it could easily be picked up from outside a building by an AM radio receiver or a geophone — a device readily available on Amazon for use in ghost-hunting, of all things. Of course, the only ghost being hunted in this case is that of Ben Franklin. So an enterprising hacker could theoretically steal every piece of data on your computer using nothing but your on-board speakers, and you wouldn’t even hear it happening.

A Sniper Rifle Can Be Aimed And Disabled Via Wi-Fi

Lee Hutchinson/ARS Technica

Becoming a sniper requires rigorous training, tip-top physical fitness, perfect vision, and a brain like a calculator to factor even the most minute environmental variables into every single shot. Of course, if you have an uncontrollable urge to remotely perforate things and quality-used-car amounts of cash burning a hole through your bank account, you could also just buy a computerized sniper rifle from TrackingPoint, because being able to order mile-away murder over the internet is the world in which we now live.

Lee Hutchinson/ARS Technica “I’ll pay double for a nut-shot guarantee.”

Each rifle in TrackingPoint’s Linux-powered lineup comes equipped with a hi-tech scope that weaponizes math for you. Much like an accountant who depends on QuickBooks to do all the actual accounting, these rifles use “the same lock-and-launch technology found in military fighter jets” to “help shooters of any skill level shoot better than the best shooters who ever lived,” according to their website. Because guns were apparently not quite easy enough to use. While that in itself sounds downright liquid-terror-shit-inducing, if you spotted the mention of “Linux-powered” a moment ago you’ve probably already inferred that the real danger comes not from the man holding the gun but from his technologically savvy douchebag of a neighbor.

Lee Hutchinson/ARS Technica Complete with d-bag shades.

Security researchers and happily married couple Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger (because the couple that hacks together stays together) spent a year hacking into a pair of TrackingPoint’s $13,000 self-aiming rifles just to see what they could make them do. And the results are alarming: After compromising the rifle via its Wi-Fi connection (for those wondering why a rifle has Wi-Fi: It’s so you can stream video of your shot to Facebook, which we’re pretty sure is the Seventh Seal), the researchers were able to fiddle with variables such as wind, temperature, and the weight of the ammunition to remotely re-aim the rifle wherever they damn well pleased.

In one demonstration, they caused the rifle to miss an intended target by more than two feet by simply cranking up the ammunition’s weight value. The couple could even remotely disable the rifle’s firing pin, essentially transforming it into the world’s most expensive Metal Gear Solid cosplay accessory. One thing they could not do, thankfully, was actually fire the rifle remotely — there’s a mechanism in place requiring a manual trigger pull in order to make big gun go boom. Because, you know, safety first.

A Plane Can Be Hijacked Mid-Flight (With A Laptop)

iStock/kasto80

In the movies, a laptop is like an enchanted fucking talisman. With it, you have the power to make traffic signals succumb to your will. You can heftily inflate your bank account with one forceful flick of the Enter key. You can cause the commercial airliner on which you’re sitting to do a sick-ass loop and head straight back to Syracuse to retrieve your forgotten disco pants.

OK, we may have just reached the pinnacle of faux-hacking absurdity with that last one. There is no possible way you can simply whip out a laptop and remotely commandeer a commercial airliner’s flight controls … unless, that is, you’re (former) cyber-security wizard Chris Roberts. Then you can absolutely do that exact thing.

Fox News You can also grow the shit out of a wizard beard.

After getting enthusiastically booted from a United Airlines flight in April of 2015 for jokingly tweeting his intent to hack the plane and activate its emergency oxygen masks, Roberts’ previous discussions with the FBI regarding his concerns about the rampant hackability of commercial passenger flights came to light. In fact, an FBI search warrant details how Roberts hacked into the in-flight entertainment systems of various airplanes up to 20 times between 2011 and 2014.

If you’re thinking he just wanted to watch Pacific Rim without coughing up his credit card number, think again. You see, on certain plane models, the in-flight entertainment systems were inexplicably connected to the cabin control systems, which in turn were even more inexplicably connected to the plane avionics systems. That’s how, according to the FBI documents, Roberts was once able to issue a climb command to one of the airplane’s engines, “resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights.” That’s right — Roberts, using a laptop from his seat in coach, was able to make the airplane fucking move.

iStock/Lilyana Vynogradova “I’m just trying to rock the crying baby in 14A to sleep.”

For his part, Roberts claimed that he only ever accessed engine controls in flight simulations, not while aboard actual flying jetliners brimming with jet fuel and a hundred other passengers. But then that’s precisely what we’d expect a guy who revved up a jet engine just for laughs to say.

Alex creates biopunk dystopias here and dream thrillers here.

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For more ways to tap into the Matrix, check out 5 Hacking Myths Dispelled By A Real Hacker and 6 Real Cyber Attacks Straight Out Of A Bad Hacker Movie.

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