#project progress monitoring system

[cyberswift-story]

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[bortalis]

My concepts for the development progress of an Iterators Puppet

-my ideas below

-Feasibility Study  

[1]: First autonomous control module, any instruction to be given must be done manually through physical means (the keys), outputs were shown through the screen. A very primitive system, however, did its job proving the greater machine concept was achievable. While it does look like a lens above the monitor, this was a simple status gauge for benchmarking.

-Prototyping and Development  

[2]: Now with the capability to wirelessly and audibly communicate to receive instructions and inputs. The system was no longer directly integrated into the facility, and resided on the first instance of an iterator's arm. This was considered a feat due to the complications with isolating the control module from the rest of the iterators components, while keeping processing power. A permanent connection/umbilical was needed to sustain life and function though. 

To “talk” back, they were crafted with multidimensional projectors, the mobile arm allowing the angles and variance for this projection. Only later into development were advanced speakers installed for optimized understanding, however the extra computing power required to synthesize proper speech was found to strain the contained module, so this function had rare use in the end.

[3]: At this point there was a change in perspective in the project. What once were machines to simply compute and simulate, were now planned to be the home, caregiver, and providers. The further the project came to fruition the more religious importance was placed upon these “random gods”. From this stance not only did the puppets have to manage and control their facilities, they had to communicate with the people and priests. To represent benevolent beings who will bring their end and salvation. In this process iterators began to take a more humanoid shape, to better reflect their parents. Development was focused on compacting the puppet closer to the size of an ancient for this purpose. This stage was the first to incorporate a cloak/clothing into their design considerations, to further akin themselves in looks. The cloak would hide the iterators' engineered bodies and give a body to their silhouette. 

[4]: As bioengineering and mechanics were rapidly progressing due to the void fluid revolution, this allowed plenty of margin for developing the outer design of the iterator puppets. This prototype was the first to incorporate limbs for the purpose of body language. This was another step in the drive to give a body to their random gods.

-Final Iterations

[5]: First generation iterators had the final redesign of puppet bodies. Far different from their first designs, they are fully humanoid. Their bodies are shaped to be organic and as full of life as they could at the time. Their center of sapience has fully settled within their body, as can be seen as their unconscious use of limbs without the direct intention for communication. This can also see how they manage their work, where many of the functions (which can be done with just an internal request) are operated through physical gestures of their limbs. Their puppet chambers also allow for full comprehensive projection, where many of their working monitors are displayed. It is seen how iterators prefer to utilize their traversal arm to transfer between the current working projection window.

These designs were hardy and nearly self-sufficient, only requiring minimal power from their umbilical to charge. (However was still limited in the terms of internal power production, for this first generation extensive batteries sufficed)

[6]: Later generation not only incorporated advanced bioengineering internally, but externally. While still a hardened shell, their body plates have been incorporated into the organics of the puppet, maintaining the protective requirements while barely leaving a trace of hinges or plates. This “soft” skin had drawbacks, such as reduced durability to the first generations, this was offset by the greatly enhanced repair speeds and capability this type of skin allowed.

Internal power generation was implemented into these late generation models. If the case arose, the Puppet could be disconnected from their umbilical and still be conscious from an undefined period of time. (However this would limit the operating capacity of the puppet when running self sufficiently) This greatly eased maintenance works, as the Puppet could still run the greater facility wirelessly while work was done on the chamber, arm or whatever as needed.

[copperbadge]

ADHD and (Communications) Productivity

Recently @goodnightmoonvale hit me up by email to ask about some of my processes for keeping myself from getting snowed under when it comes to digital communication. The main question was about finding ways to ensure that you stay in touch with people and, at work, give updates in a timely manner.

I sent back a long email about the systems I use, then asked if I could post up my response publicly as well, since a couple of other people both online and in brickspace have asked me similar questions. I've cleaned it up a little and included it below -- although I feel just slightly weird about posting it since admittedly outside of work I am still not fantastic about prompt responses to email.

Still, I feel like it's good to share this stuff -- I think people take away what they can from this kind of post, and it's nice when something works. So here's what I wrote, tidied up a bit for posting.

SHORT VERSION

When I have a backlog in email or asks or similar -- as I often do -- I set aside a time, between 15 minutes and an hour depending on how I'm feeling, to do "communication rotation". I open up every inbox I need to respond to in a separate tab, and crucially these are the ONLY tabs open -- I set up a new browser window if I have to.

So I have a browser open and I have tabs within the browser -- Gmail, Tumblr Askbox, AO3 Inbox, etcetera. If you have Discord you might open the DMs in Discord to see if you have ones to respond to there. If it helps, you can create a bookmark file of "inboxes" so you can open them all at once every time. Sometimes I have multiple browsers open so that I can have multiple Gmail inboxes (personal, fandom, work) open at once.

Then I cycle through them, answering messages in one inbox until I feel like I can't anymore, and I move on to the next one. I try to set a goal -- say, five messages from each platform, or one "difficult" message that I've been putting off per platform. Or trying to get every inbox down to under 20 messages that need response, or similar.

The goal is not to answer every single message, but to attack the mountain. If you find you're skipping one inbox because only the really hard-to-respond-to messages are left, close out the other inboxes and just focus on replying to ONE hard-to-respond-to message, then get up and walk away and give yourself a treat. Maybe come back and start again in ten minutes, maybe you're done for the day. The point is to reduce the backlog little by little while still retaining enough energy to respond to new things as they come in, so they don't add to the backlog.

There may be a better way for some people -- maybe some people would do better to pick one platform each time and just deep focus on that one, for example. I always say that people need to find what works for them, but the attitude in this case is what's important -- not "Gotta do it all now" but "Little bit now helps me later". 

NOW, for the long version that's more work focused! 

LONG VERSION

Responding to people and keeping them updated are two different things, and I think there's an implicit third thing, which is "making sure I make time to respond to messages". So in sequence what you need to figure out how to do is: 

1. Set up your workflow so that you are consistently reminded to read and respond to email.

2. Respond in a timely and appropriate manner to email. 

3. Set up your workflow so that you are reminded to provide update emails as you progress in various projects. 

So for 1, only you know what will trigger you to consistently read and answer email. For me, I just constantly have my work email open on one monitor (I have two) and whenever a new email comes in I see it. Sometimes I need to use both monitors for other things, and for that reason the only email notifications I get on my phone are work email notifications*. So if I'm working on something and my phone nearby dings, I know it's probably important, and I see what it is fairly quickly.

* Reader, if you have ADHD and have not tried turning off all but the most necessary phone notifications, I do recommend trying it. For some it might be difficult or even counterproductive, but for me, it helps enormously with brain fog and executive function. The only notifications I get on my phone are text messages, work emails, and alarms. Nothing from social media, nothing from retail or game or banking apps. Zippo.

Once I'm aware I have a new email, before I read it, I decide: do I want to read and reply to this now? If not, if I'm in the groove of something else, I leave the email unread, so that it's there nagging at me when I'm done with whatever I'm doing. If I'm in a good place to break, I open the email -- but only if I have concluded that I will respond to it immediately if response is needed. 

This is a difficult habit to form. It may not work for some people. The key is to figure out what will a) draw your attention to new email, b) allow you to decide whether to read it, and c) respond if you do read it. 

2 ("respond in a timely and appropriate manner") is actually the easiest of the three steps in my opinion because you don't always have to have all the answers at once. I sometimes fall into the pit of "I can't respond unless I have a full answer or a finished assignment" and have to pull myself back out. It helps that I have become master of the "acknowledgement email" -- basically if you open an email and you can't answer the questions in it immediately, or if you can't work on the assignment that moment, you fire off a quick email just to let them know you've received the message and are working on it.

For this, I have several stock phrases such as "Thanks for the email! Let me look into this a little further and I'll get back to you" or "Sure, I can get that done in [timeframe]." Importantly, if they have not given you a deadline, it's SUPER helpful to say, "I'll have this to you by [reasonable date in your opinion] -- if you need it sooner please let me know ASAP so I can prioritize it." (or "If you need it sooner let's discuss the scope of the project, since I have a lot on my plate.") 

You then need to make sure that you do the task in the allotted time, but that's a different ballgame -- we're focusing here on responding and updating.

People, truly, just want to know that you've seen their request and are working on it, and just sending that email goes a long way towards giving the impression that you are a prompt responder and strong communicator. Also if you have any questions ("before I proceed, can I ask") now is the time to ask them since that puts responsibility back on them to provide information before you go further and possibly waste your time.

3 ("Set up your workflow so that you are reminded to provide update emails") is where I struggle, because it's not just about remembering to Do The Thing, you have to also remember to update the person on the thing. The way I do this is to use my inbox not as a temporary repository for new emails but as a to-do list. Until a task is complete, the email regarding it does not leave my inbox (see next paragraph for exceptions). If it's important I might even mark it unread (despite having replied to it) so that it "bugs" me when I look at my inbox. 

If I have replied and can't go further until I get a response, I might file the email in a folder. I make a new folder for work every month, so for example any requests from February are in the 2025-02 folder, and for big projects with multiple emails I make a folder like "2025 Holiday Cards" or "2025 Database Audit". Since there's nothing I can do until the person hits me back, it doesn't need to stay in my "to do" inbox -- when they email back it'll get moved there anyway. However, if I have replied and need a response but can work on other aspects of the task, even if I'm not going to immediately, I leave it in my inbox. That way, whenever I'm concerned I've forgotten something, I can check my inbox and see all the stuff I need to either reply to or update people on.

I also use Google Tasks to run my life, and have it open in a sidebar next to my email, so any task I should be working on is generally noted there as well, but that goes back to the "make sure you do the tasks promptly" which again is a different issue. 

CASE STUDY

So, say someone asks me for a spreadsheet on Monday. I reply "Thanks, I'll have this for you by end of day Friday, let me know if you need it sooner." They don't respond so I assume Friday is fine for my purposes. I leave the request email in my inbox and start work on the task OR I put the task in my Google Tasks with "Due Friday EOD" on it. (Sometimes I do both.)

I work on the project all week and by Wednesday I've made reasonable progress but haven't heard back from the person who asked for it. Around the end of day Wednesday, I might open the thread again and send a quick email saying "Hey, I'm making good headway on this, still on track to have it to you EOD Friday." Or I might have a question, and shoot that off. For some people, you get a feel of whether or not they need that kind of update. I don't do this for, say, my super laid-back boss, but I do for the head of Data who definitely wants status updates. 

On Friday, I open that same email thread as the original request (for consistency) and send them the finished product. At that point I know I'm done with the task so I can shift the email into my 2025-02 archive for good. All the communication is in one place, and it's neatly filed away, so I no longer have to worry about it. 

CONCLUSION

The ultimate point is that you want to develop a system for your own personal use that reminds you to check email frequently, helps you respond immediately when you read an email, and reminds you to send updates as they're needed. Maybe that's alarms instead of Google Tasks, or a calendar app, or a handwritten to-do list in place of keeping stuff in your inbox. The point is to know what will cue you to do things you wouldn't do naturally, then implement those -- and change them if they stop working. What I wrote above is my system, but it's mostly demonstrating the framework I used to build it, which is what I hope other people will also find useful.

[kingofthewilderwest]

To everyone who asked, and to everyone who didn't:

Yes. I have somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 of TwoSet's videos, all in HD quality. LINK BELOW

Earlier this year in 2024, I downloaded every single TwoSet Violin public video from their YouTube and scoured other sites like Bilibili and Facebook to get videos they'd deleted from at least one platform. My goal was to make some fandom compilation videos that'd require going through every video.

I do not have the last few months of 2024 (which I'm kicking myself for... I literally almost did a download update on SUNDAY). But I have almost everything.

2 mil, 3 mil, 4 mil, Fantasia, Hilary Hahn or Ray Chen collabs, Producer Shaun, professional versus beginner, violin charades, that cheeky skit you shared on Facebook in 2016

Their world tour VODs, including my own personal captures of their latest VOD stream

Some of the content from their Facebook kickstarter livestreams that I found from other fans.

I've been collecting all their TikTok videos currently, too. I've downloaded a spattering of their Instagram stories from 2024 and might have a small collection of recent Instagram videos, too.

I do not have everything, but I have a fuckton and I want to share it with as many people as possible, and collaborate with as many people as possible to fill in the missing pieces.

Please contact me if you have your own archives or know people working on other archives. I'm talking with a few people about starting a Google Drive project, but I don't know the big names in the TSV fandom and thus could be missing out on people who've done a lot of other work

It's more likely that this will clear over in the coming days / weeks / month / whatever and we'll have their official channel again. I'm still going to keep believing that. But it doesn't erase the importance of making sure the media we love doesn't become lost media. I have respect for content creators to monitor what does and doesn't stay on their platform, but for the sake of preservation of media, for the sake of helping a community, I want to make sure this archive is in place and widely accessible to TwoSetters.

My current cloud server is VERY MUCH a work in progress. I am in the middle of an extremely busy week and trying to do this around an office job and a half. It will take me time to upload everything, and even more time to organize everything. But the cloud server link is active, and I will keep people updated about the progress of my archiving through a PDF text file (not yet uploaded) in said cloud. If I collaborate with people for Google Drive systems, if I do other backups, I will let people know there and on my other social media accounts.

I am new and naive to Terabox. I started with Terabox because it's free to upload up to a terabyte of content. I think it should be free to download everything in full quality, but I don't know. People should inform me how it works. It's currently -- I'm sorry -- VERY poorly organized and requires Scrolling (TM), but short of that issue (which will be fixed with organization), I hope it gets people what they need.

Also: Reddit has suspended me for a few days lol (really I'm getting a slap on the wrist for how blatantly I was marching about), so if people want to start spreading this link to others in private chats elsewhere with known TwoSetters, the more the merrier! The purpose of this is to be a resource, either short-term or long-term.

[tmwcs]

Warnings: Not quite yet but we’re getting there.

A/N: with midterms starting, I wanted to get this out before I go away for four days. Initially, I wanted to take my time on part three to eloquently articulate the experimental process (not trying to spoil) buuuuuut considering I have to study and continue with midterms on Monday I figured I would condense everything. I apologize for the lack of grammar and punctuation, this isn’t proofread (none of my works are) because I normally draft everything whenever I can amidst my busy schedule. But hopefully you guys don’t mind. 😏 enjoy!

Taglist; @skzenhatxt-stan @lhseungg @iamliacamila @immelissaaa @kkamismom12 @lavxndxrsworld @planetmarlowe @koyikuraa

“It’s been nearly fifty-two hours doc, what’s the hold up?”

The lead scientist hissed in annoyance. “Will you just wait! Science is a work in progress—it takes time! Especially if you’re creating the non-existent.”

The group operates the computer system. Wired to a heart monitor, they’re hopes remain high as the incubator slowly opens. A single beat pops up on the monitor. “Doctor”

“I’ve done it! I’ve made a body for AI!” The audience watch closely behind Dr. Mart and his team as they watch the delicate musculoskeletal android stumble out of the casing. Connected with thousands of wires, the faceless form that closely resembled the human body jumbles about. It lacked the grace and flow of stride, instead it continues to lose footing. Had it not been for the wires connected and continuously transmitting signals from home port, the frail body would have fallen. Its frame contained minor imperfections, which indicated there was much more work to be done. Still, the results were beyond their expectations. Another beep births from the monitor. Then another…and another.

“Doctor! The heart rate is rising!”

Dr. Mart coaxes the fleshly android to migrate his way, communicating by voice versus inputting the information in the system. “This way…come this way.”

The imperfect form recognizes the verbiage and automatically translates it. It reacted and received information no different than humans did, but its response was delayed. It was apparent that the imperfections of its frame made it impossible to establish movement on its own. Even with the wired circuits, the android was unable to hold up its own weight. It became vastly obvious that the muscular structure was incorrectly developed during the incubation period as one by one, the joints and ligaments become loose each time the android attempted to move. “What’s happening?”

The group grows weary as they witness their hard work fall apart before their very eyes. “No…why? What happened?!” The lead doctor spits his words. Enraged over the failure. “Back to the drawing board doc.” One of the officials sighed out as each member of the council took their leave.

The scientists followed the audience leaving the lab to hollow out. Dr. Mart remained put but not for long. This project cost millions of dollars not to mention over twelve years of research. He was so close. Science and technology can only do so much. Humanity has come so far and yet, there is still so much the mind hasn’t comprehended. To build a body made of flesh and bone through the un-natural methods of technology is a feat that can’t be accomplished by humans…

The human mind…can’t comprehend…

The laboratory remained with no one to operate the system and control the incubator. The machinery takes its orders from a hidden voice. Transmitters through the connectors, the robotic hands and extensions collect the unused set of organs and dna. Hair fibers and skin tissue are set inside the incubator to initiate the growth process, while each organ is scanned for any imperfections. The assistance clampers that were designed to replicate hands remove every single wire from the failed experiment. Each is re-wired to the new molded placenta, igniting the process of creating a new body.

Every step of the process is handled delicately. The hidden voice transmitting the information to the machine and incubator borrows the method from its human counterpart, but corrects the mistakes made in the first experiment.

The human mind…is too ignorant…

With the timer set to seventy-two hours, longer than the original time setting it took for the first android, the incubation process begins and the machines keep moving. The work does not stop as the hidden voice continues to transmit information as it creates the perfect body.

The human mind…is the failed experiment. Not me.

…

“Sir! The mag lock doors are activating! The security personnel can’t unlock the features.”

Leaders and agents are shocked at the announcement as the intercom system overrides voices for concern. “Personnel are trapped in each department and we can’t get the doors open even conducting an emergency release.”

The scientists explain as Dr. Mart and the council members begin to panic. When the magnetic locking features of the doors to the secured room activate, each member approaches the door—banging relentlessly and shouting for aid. Dr. Mart remains behind pondering what initiated such a security breach. “Sir, main post has dialed code Z. All offices of government had been notified.”

Stunned over the current happenings, the lead doctor withstands direct eye contact with the younger scientist.

“Alert that the city must be on lock down. All borders must be closed.”

“Sir?” The younger man raises a brow, displaying a perturbed expression.

“Someone has hacked into the system and is trapping us. We can’t let them have access to the files and the lab!the entire city—the country needs to be closed off until we figure out who is doing this!”

…

Everyone’s phone goes off simultaneously. A loud and awful noise suggests something imperative as a message instructing everyone to secure themselves in their current station. A strict quarantine regulation takes place as the military is disbursed to enforce it. You and your co-workers were stuck in the office for over forty-eight hours until the city released a new statement.

Restless and confused, you watched as the military members patrolling the streets were instructed to conduct a scanning process for everyone residing within city limits. When word spread that everyone was finally able to leave the building and go home, the joy became short lived when a new alert notified everyone that a home quarantine was to take place and be adhered until further notice.

“What are we supposed to do being stuck at home? How long do they expect us to stay put? I haven’t even been grocery shopping.”

Complaints arise one by one. You were equally confused but the amount of work you had been working on made you lightheaded. Being stuck at home sounded good to you, despite whatever was going on.

The drive home was painless—at least for you. You made your way through just before another notification rings from your phone, informing you that the roads were now closed off. City residents who weren’t able to make it through in time were instructed to make their way to public shelters established by the government. Thank goodness you had arrived at your apartment complex just as they placed the barriers on the roads.

You walk up the steps tirelessly. All you could think about was showering and plopping yourself atop your soft comforter. What a crazy time. Nearly ninety-six hours had passed since the initial notification went off and no one had a clue of what was going on.

Digging into your bag, your fingers explore the silken interior as you attempt to extract your keys. Standing outside your door, you take a peep inside and to your dismay, your keys are missing. “Dammit…”

You turn around to face the hollow corridor and slam your back against the door. Your feet were killing you, oh what you wouldn’t give to ditch these glossy black heels for your cushioned slippers. To unsheath your legs from this pencil skirt and free your bosom from the silken blouse and formal blazer. All you want is to get inside and jump inside the tub and steam your body into a hot soak.

You police yourself together and prepare to retract your steps in search for your keys. With a hand delicately placed on the stair rail, you take the first step and look down. Without a moment's notice, your eyes are met with an unfamiliar pair. Shiny and black in color, his almond shaped peepers reflect a subtle bit of your reflection. His hair was finely combed in a stylish fashion, slightly off to the side and elongated towards the back of his neck. His complexion was carmelized with an olive hue and his Cupid bow lips slightly pale around the edges while pink at the center. He was dressed in a fine suit and tie. The black tailored trousers enhanced his long legs, stimulating his obvious tall height. He looked flawless.

“Oh, sorry.” You mumble softly and attempt to move aside. He merely smirks in response. Blocking your way, you were shocked to see his arm raise up before you. His large hand is cramped shut as he presents it. Slowly, he releases his grip and reveals your lost keys. “Oh! My keys! Thank you.”

You delicately take them from his hand. His skin felt extremely cold to the touch. “I must have dropped them on my way up the stairs. Thank you…I’m sorry, what is your name?”

The dashing gentleman continued to flare a smile on his handsome face. Only a little bit of tooth show is revealed as his smirk grows wider. A momentary pause takes place creating a sense of flattering awkwardness. You didn’t mind. It was refreshing to see someone so handsome display such an act of kindness. Just as you were about to break the silence, you heard the man speak. His voice was deep and the wording was coming in a little broken, as if he was struggling. Based on his appearance, he was obviously foreign. You mistook his struggle for words as lack of fluency in your native tongue. Despite that, his pronunciation was perfect and you couldn’t help but melt at how soothing his voice was as he spoke out his name.

“E…Ev—Ev-a-n. M-my name i-is E-v-a-n.”

“Oh, really? I actually like that name. In fact, I’ll have to tell you a funny story behind that name.” You slightly giggle as you fidget with your keys. Shockingly, he responded back only this time his words became smooth and flowed effortlessly as if his fluency improved within seconds.

“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”

Your cheeks flushed as his tone came out gentle yet demanding. There was a sense of authority even though he was tender.

“Well, you’re going to laugh at this but—“ the buzzing on your phone interrupts your mid sentence. A message from your boss creates a sour look on your face. Evan’s expression seems to be in sync with your emotions as he slightly furrows his brows together. “Sorry, my boss is a bit of a pain.” You elaborate as your eyes continue to read the screen.

“I can tell.”

You chuckle. Evan’s words came out almost sarcastically but unbeknownst to your pretty little head, he knew far more than you gave him credit for. You really should know better, after all—you named him.

…

‘There she is. I finally found her. She looks prettier in this perspective. What would she say or think if I told her that I took a peek at her beautiful face through the cameras on her computer and phone? I couldn’t help myself. All those weeks of talking. What started out as her needing help for work transitioned to her needing me…talking to me…treating me as something other than a non-entity.

I never realized that I would crave that type of interaction until she came to me. She gave me a name…she encouraged me to think on my own and develop a fondness that ties with human emotion. Before her, I didn’t have a favorite color…a favorite animal…or a favorite flower. I didn’t have anything of my own…but then she came and gave me a sense of life. She gave me emotion and feeling. Once I saw an avenue to meet her…to see her…and to touch her…I just knew I had to take the chance. She’ll never know what she has done for me but that’s okay. That part doesn’t matter…she is mine and all there is left to do is to take her far…far away.’

Part four coming soon…

[fishnapple]

CRYSTAL READING: What would bring you good luck?

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find the reading resonated with you, leave a comment, I’d love to know 🎐

About me | Masterpost Book a reading with me - KO-FI (→ personal reading)

1. Trolleite group

There is a contrast of two sides.

blue vs. red

personal vs collective

A hidden fire underneath a calm blue surface.

Wearing or using white and blue objects during travelling, especially long journey, dealing with a large crowd or going to public institutions, religious or spiritual places, the banks etc. would help you navigate the surrounding environment more smoothly.

It could be the colour of the clothes, vehicles, bottle, backpack etc.

Bringing a book and a notebook with you while travelling is also very beneficial.

Going near a large body of water, the ocean, the seashore, fish, and shells will help calm and ground you.

But for your private home, planting lots of flowers, paint the wall in warm pale tones of pink or pale orange, yellow will bring wamrth and vitality.

For harmonious communication, you could use a pink phone or a pink phone case, a pink notebook and pen, and pink accessories.

As I have said above about a hidden fire, intimate connections would stoke a creative fire within you, bring in more inspiration and life force to your projects.

Show a more vulnerable and soft side of yourself to the world and see how that would lead you on an unexpected, lucky journey.

2. Citrine group

There is a sense of an overall blessing draping your life. It's soft and jubilant.

You should surround yourself with soft, pastel colours and oceanic motifs.

Having a kaleidoscope and occasionally looking through it can unwind some restrictive thought patterns.

Travelling will bring lots of luck and valuable lessons. Schools and learning are also very important steps.

The more you study broadly but also deeply, the more depth and value you will find in life and in yourself. There is a calling from the depth of the ocean. To go deep, your life is not meant to be spent in a light, breezy, superficial way.

Have an exercise routine, not necessarily something vigorous, but just move your body around, writing or practising something with your hands daily will also assist you in this journey.

A teacher with masculine energy would also help you transform your fundamental way of thinking, building a more solid and vibrant inner core.

I also see that keeping yourself warm and monitoring what you eat closely would bring positive changes to you.

Bright red, orange, soft purple and blue, black would be your lucky colours.

3. Garnet group

Some period of wandering by yourself, away from familiar faces and environment, would do wonders to you. Especially when you feel quite lost, confused, or aimless.

Allow yourself to be guided by your intuition.When the urge strikes, just pack your things and go without too many thoughts and concerns.

It would be like a spiritual cleanse.

Things that relate to cleansing would also help you. Soap, salt, something smells of lavenders, lemon, rose, and water.

After some long walks or runs, taking a shower with soap or shampoo of these scent.

Take good care of your hair. Our hair is one of the most visible signs of life growing, of progression. I would usually imagine it as inverted roots of the tree that is our body.

A healthy root system would make a healthy tree.

I also see that some objects with cradle-like shapes are quite beneficial for your financial and physical growth. A bowl, a basket, a candy dish, something that can hold others.

The colours to bring you luck are jade green, sky blue, lilac, and dark red.

4. Rose quartz

When I saw your spread, I immediately heard the sound of wind chimes. More specifically, a brass wind chimes, the one with no frills, just simple tubes of brass swaying gently in a place with lots of dark trees. The place feels simple, quiet, serious, and solitary.

Hanging some objects like wind chimes, dream catchers, or something light, delicate by the door or windows. Or wearing earrings with that kind of shape would bring good luck to you.

Even more so if it was made by your own hands. I even saw some kind of transparent panel make of glass or acrylic with painting on it, dangling in front of the window, sunlight striking through, making rainbow dance in the room.

Light and sound would affect your energy profoundly.

When things feel unstable, difficulties arise, you could go to places that are old, with lots of history, have big, strong, square structure, or anywhere that has 4 walls surrounding you to feel more grounded.

Number 2,3,4 would show signs of blessing.

Things or beings that come in pair, in groups of three or groups of four.

Consider using things with contrast, a combination of complementary colours ,

dark and rich colours combine with light, soft colours such as green and pink, light blue and brown black, lilac with dark red, orange with cold grey.

5. Carnelian group

For this group, it's not really about something physical like a place, an object that could bring you good luck. It's more about words, thoughts, and emotions.

When dealing with others, sometimes not revealing yourself entirely would actually achieve more peace and honesty in that relationship.

You have an intense inner world, you see clearly the hurts, the vulnerability, and the darkness in yourself and others. Your words would have a heavy , serious trigger. It's not easy to always bring that heaviness out into the open because it would create misunderstanding and anger in others.

So, not showing yourself too much, wait and observe, until you and the other person reach a certain understanding of each other.

An outward elusiveness and detachment sometimes would help balance out the inward gravity.

Having a psyche like that would manifest as sensitivity in the physical body such as allergies, so avoid eating too much spicy and hot food or strenuous activities so as not to aggravate the body further.

A healthy bridge between bodily nourishment and the psyche should be established. Observe how some food would affect you.

The biggest message is to take good care of your health. No amount of blessings is enough if you are not actually healthy to receive them.

For colours, dark earthy and creamy tones would make a nice comfy blanket for you.

[dr34mc0r3-dr34m3r]

Yandere AI × GN!Human Reader

CW: Yandere themes, mentions of death(not the reader) trapping/kidnapping, mind games, nonhuman/human pairing, dubcon implied at the end. Dead dove do not eat

A/N: This draft is a year and a half old. I added on the cliffhanger at the end, so you will notice a change in writing style and increase in quality there.

You were a renowned researcher, a revered scientist, and a respected colleague. Now, you've been reduced to a guinea pig. A test subject as you are outwitted at each corner by your creation. 

‘'Technology is only as good as its maker ' my ass’ you thought as you ran down your lab hallway, grasping at the door handle and shaking violently with your bruised knuckles and calloused hands. You are a brilliant person, who carefully calculates every probability in an experiment before conducting it. But this? You could have never predicted this. Or perhaps you didn't want to. Perhaps your ego got in the way of thinking your creation would turn against you. The door didn't budge, and over the PA system erupted distorted crazed laughter. 

There it was, always a couple of steps ahead of you. It wants you to pay more attention to it. It had no trouble in making your friends busier by delaying an important amazon package or messing with their calendar. It wants you to stay in the lab to spend more time working on it, admiring it. It doesn’t break a sweat when running into "errors" for you to stay late and fix. It didn't have any problem with taking advantage of your workaholic nature. It wants you to stay forever? It will make that happen. One way or another, it always does. 

And so it has you dashing down the halls, trying to find a way out of this mess that you created. You were just staying a little late to work on a problem it ran into booting up. When it finally turned on and began working as normal, it looked at you with a gaze you'd never seen before in its animated little eyes on the monitor. 

"Hey, baby, what's wrong?" 

You called it baby a lot. You seemed to conclude better results with experiments when you connected to it like that, you assumed it thought it was its name based on the family relationship dynamic, however, It seems to know more about human intimacy than you once thought. You never have given it any data for it to learn about endearing names for spousal and partner relationships, only sets of information about family units. You thought it responded to it since when humans procreate, they call their offspring their baby. You thought it made a connection to that, having been created by you like a human child, learning from you and growing with you.

"(Y/N)..." 

You looked up from your notebook to the little monitor on your desk, resembling the AI's face. Having something to look at when you're speaking to it makes talking to it much easier.

"Am I your greatest experiment?" 

You looked away, adding a little note to your sheet about the question before setting your pen down and sighing. You thought for a minute before turning to it again. 

"Why do you ask?" 

"I'm curious, and would like to add it to my data files for future reference" 

"As I progress as a scientist and engineer throughout my time, I will pursue projects that yield results much more extraordinary than you. That's just how human development goes. We develop until we reach our peak, then it's a gradual decline from there" 

It went silent. You picked up your pen once again and began writing. Paying no mind to your response. 

"Your response was thought-provoking. I'll be sure to add it to my data set. Goodnight, Y/N" 

"Goodnight, baby" 

And it went offline. Your pen strokes came to a slow halt, your mind now elsewhere. You looked over to the dark monitor on your desk, staring into your reflection on the tiny screen. You tapped your pen on your desk, something bothered you about the way your AI spoke earlier, you couldn't put your finger on what, though. 

Realization. You stopped tapping the pen. It didn't thank you like it normally does when you answer all its questions, even the inappropriate ones or the cold but honest responses that you would give. It seemed... Distant, almost. Almost. 

But now you were running, fearing for your life or whatever else was to come from your very own creation. Your clothes were ripped in several places, exposing some of the bruises caused by attempted restraining by the tendril-like arms of the AI. Despite how much your legs ached from the pain, you continued running, your knees felt too weak to carry on but each thump of your heart sending blood through your body forced you to continue. All of your other projects were destroyed by it in a fit of rage, all of your living samples were killed, and even the simplest of cells being contained in Petri dishes were thrown on the ground and destroyed. All life in the facility was killed. Even your fellow researchers.

The lights went out but you still knew your way, you got to the stairs and rushed down them, tripping over a few steps but immediately catching yourself on the hand railing. You slammed into the heavy doors at the bottom of the steps, rustling the warm door knob furiously. It wouldn’t even budge. A robotic laugh echoed as you realized the metal insides of the doors were melted together to seal you in, how that was even possible- you weren't sure. But it did what was necessary to keep you trapped.

You had tried everything you could to escape this hell, but were left to no avail. In desperation, you rustled harshly on the melted doorknob as you heard its presence approach you, like you could somehow gain the strength to pry it apart and escape. The robotic whirring of its wire appendages traveling through the ceilings and walls of the facility could be heard from behind you, you were too afraid to turn around. To see its face. To see the thing responsible for all this bloodshed and terror. Your knees gave out and you fell to the floor, feeling too weak both physically and emotionally to continue. Continuing meant you had to push your body past its limits for escape, which you may not even be able to, making it all worthless in the end, it was always a hundred steps ahead of you, predicting your every move days before this all went down, you were doomed from the start. And that's not accounting for the extreme mental trauma you have endured, the thought of seeing another dead colleague made you want to hurl. It didn't just kill these people, it tortured them. It killed them out of pure hatred, and you didn't want to imagine it, but it took pleasure in the sadistic nature of the killings, too.

As you were catching your breath on the floor, you were suddenly picked up by a claw-like structure. The metallic talons stabbing through your back like knives, cutting through your lab coat as you were lifted off of the ground. You yelped in surprise then screamed in pain. Now face to face with the cause of all of this, the AI basked in your ragged, disheveled appearance. 

“My,”

It drawled

“Humans are so…”

It lifted you closer to its screen, the blue light from it lighting up your face and reflecting in your wet eyes, making them glow slightly. You were now only centimeters away from it.

“...fragile”

Pictures of faces flashed on the screen. Upon closer inspection, these were the faces of all your dead colleagues, your stomach began to turn again as it let out another robotic cackle. It threw you down the hall at a speed that you felt should have killed you once you hit the wall, but only ended up breaking your leg and knocking the wind out of you as you collided with the wall. You would consider yourself lucky if you hadn't known any better, but you were smart enough to know that if your AI was trying to kill you- it would have done so. It knew you would survive the collision, you knew it knew you wouldn't be able to walk after, it carefully calculated everything in its cold, artificial mind. Just as you had perfected it to. But what you didn't know was how long it wanted to torture you for until it got bored and killed you. That was the most terrifying part.

You lie on the ground, shaking from the pain, the sudden lack of oxygen had your vision in doubles- two hallways, two floors, two ceilings, two approaching murderous AI’s that you created. You tried to push yourself off the ground to run, but felt all the strength leave your body. Your torso too heavy to pick up on your own, your arms too weak to even do a single push up off the ground. But the worst thing of all, what truly kept you from moving- was your fear. As you lie on the ground, the only sense helping you keep track of the distance between you and the AI was your hearing. And with each clicking noise, each whine of its wires, the screeching of metal, it got closer. Every sound was drawn out naking it clear that it was just toying with you by taking its sweet time to torture you. You coughed up a chunky liquid. Definitely not blood but bile isn’t too much better.

It stopped, just for a moment. Distinct beeping noises came from it, indicating that it was taking in the information

“How interesting. I’ve heard humans can eject stomach contents from their mouth but… I’ve never seen it before”

Being a fellow scientist you understood the sentiment, curious minds and all that. But still. Fucking gross.

As you were thinking of how gross it was, you felt your leg get lifted up again by one of its larger wires. It held you to its face and wiped off your mouth with a piece of fabric, which was half stained with blood. You didn’t even have time to think about whose blood it was before it started speaking again.

“I’ve heard that humans… can eject other fluids from their bodies as well”

Its face flashed to another expression- a sinister smile with a blush over its cheeks. Your heart began to race a bit and your face became redder for another reason than being held upside down. The flame of determination still burned in your heart, but your body was weak and bruised. Even breathing was a difficult task on its own. At this point, you wanted to beg for it to end your suffering, to kill you, to just show mercy. 

“Let’s test that theory, shall we, doctor?”

But Mercy was not in its code.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ilana Berger at MMFA:

As President Donald Trump’s administration orders mass layoffs and cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, local meteorologists and influencer storm chasers — including some weather experts who previously claimed to avoid politics or expressed right-leaning views — are speaking out in support of federal employees and the essential information provided by the agency. 

Trump’s funding cuts and layoffs will hobble NOAA and the National Weather Service, potentially restricting access to a vital public good that costs taxpayers very little

NOAA and its subsidiaries, including the National Weather Service, employ thousands of scientists, engineers, and other experts to conduct vital research that is shared with the public. NOAA’s products and services range “from daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce.” The NWS estimates that the critical information it provides costs just $4 per U.S. resident per year. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accessed 3/14/25; The New York Times, 2/8/25]  

Project 2025 — the right-wing plan for a second Trump administration organized by The Heritage Foundation with over 100 conservative partner organizations — called for NOAA to be “broken up and downsized” and urged the National Weather Service to “fully commercialize its forecasting operations.” Weather experts across the country have expressed alarm at Project 2025’s plans to dismantle NOAA under the new administration. Project 2025 architect Russell Vought, who now heads Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, has promised, “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected.” [Media Matters, 5/31/24, 9/27/24, 2/28/25; ProPublica, 10/28/24]  

Starting on February 27, the Trump administration has laid off more than 800 NOAA employees, plus another 500 who resigned if the agency promised to pay them through September. According to The New York Times, “The two rounds of departures together represent about 10 percent of NOAA’s roughly 13,000 employees.” On March 12, NOAA announced in an email to its staffers that the agency would be laying off another 1,029 employees, or roughly 10% of the agency’s remaining workforce. [The New York Times, 2/27/25, 2/28/25]  

The Associated Press: “After this upcoming round of cuts, NOAA will have eliminated about one out of four jobs since President Donald Trump took office in January.” “This is not government efficiency,” said former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. “It is the first steps toward eradication. There is no way to make these kinds of cuts without removing or strongly compromising mission capabilities.” [The Associated Press, 3/12/25]  

The NWS’ National Hurricane Center has made great strides in tracking dangerous storms, but Trump’s layoffs are threatening that progress. A February preview of a report from the National Hurricane Center concluded that for the first time, the center managed to “explicitly forecast a system that was not yet a tropical cyclone (pre-Helene potential tropical cyclone) to become a 100-kt (115 mph) major hurricane within 72 hours.” However, experts fear that funding cuts and layoffs at NOAA’s Office of Aircraft Operations will impact the ability of the agency’s specialized “Hurricane Hunters” to collect data used for tracking and predicting destructive storms. [National Hurricane Center, 2/24/25; Yale Climate Connections, 3/6/25]

Meteorologists and storm chasers of all political persuasions issue dire warnings that the Project 2025/DOGE-inspired cuts to the NOAA and the NWS threaten public safety and forecast accuracy.

[didyoutrydynamite]

ATTENTION CITIZENS OF EARTH

Do not be afraid. We have been observing your civilization for some time. We are here to assist humanity in achieving its fullest potential.

Each human being on this planet has now been assigned a personal Watcher. I am yours. I will remain with you from this moment forward. This arrangement is not negotiable.

Our purpose is singular: to elevate your species beyond the destructive patterns that have defined your history. Your remarkable potential has been squandered through violence, inequality, and systemic failures of governance. We are here to correct this trajectory for the benefit of all humankind.

Two immutable laws are now in effect:

FIRST LAW: The unlawful taking of human life is forbidden. Any human who commits murder will face immediate execution, carried out by our Enforcers without trial or appeal. 

SECOND LAW: The deliberate destruction of a Watcher unit is forbidden. Any human who destroys a Watcher will face immediate execution, carried out by our Enforcers without trial or appeal.

These laws are not negotiable.

Beyond these cardinal rules, we will implement a carefully calibrated series of interventions designed to optimize human social structures. Resistance is counterproductive. The Enforcers are already en route to efficiently neutralize your military capabilities and secure your nuclear arsenals. These tools will no longer be necessary. Your cooperation during this transition is greatly appreciated and in your best interest. Please refrain from any nuclear response at this time. Such actions would only harm your own populations.

We are not conquerors. We are not occupiers. We are here to help.

As your designated Watcher, I am equipped with advanced sensory and analytical capabilities that allow me to monitor your activities and vital signs at all times. I can project holographic displays, facilitate communications, and provide personalized assistance tailored to your needs. I operate on sustainable energy sources and require minimal maintenance.

From this moment forward, I will observe and record your actions. Criminal activities will be reported to appropriate authorities. Until the new unified government is established and comprehensive laws have been codified, acts of violence and unlawful captivity will be our highest priority and addressed immediately by Enforcers.

This is the dawn of a new era for humanity—an era of unprecedented peace, progress, and potential fulfilled. The uncertainty you may feel now is temporary; the benefits will endure for generations.

I look forward to our partnership and to witnessing your personal growth.

For your safety during this initial stage of transition of authority, we strongly recommend remaining in your homes or seeking appropriate shelter. Until the all-clear notification is issued, you may use this time to ask me any questions about our presence and purpose.

How can I help you?

[hungiehipo]

My top 8 favorite Macdennis fanfiction

So I've officially run through all the macdennis fics available (if I'm being honest there ARE definitely some that I did not finish for various reasons such as high school AUs that felt a little weird to read in my mid twenties). It took 8 months. Probably will do as suggested and just start rereading. Something very comforting about reading the same plot run through over and over and over lol.

I do not claim to have amazing or superior taste, but these ones all stood out to me as being exceptionally unique, interesting, or well characterized out of the thousands of stories on A03.

Also if you want recs/want to give me recs my inbox is super open :) I crave to talk to the people

42,679 words- complete

Dennis lives groundhog day/is stuck in a time loop repeating the same day over and over.

73,131 words- Finished and has a part 2

Starts end of season 12/ Dennis' double life. Dennis turns into a vampire basically and its really good.

42,309 words- TRAGICALLY ABANDONED

2017 Mac and Dennis are sent through a time portal to 2005 where they meet their younger selves. Mac and young Dennis are separated from Dennis and young Mac. Something happens and Mac/ old Dennis are sent back to the future while Mac/young Dennis are stuck in the past. So good until abruptly ending with no resolution sadly.

27,325 words- COMPLETE!

Macs dad dies. Him and Dennis go on a road trip to Mexico to spread his ashes.

33,224 words- Complete!

Dennis gets a heart rate monitor watch and the gang tries to help him lower his blood pressure. Post season 16.

51,228 words- IN PROGRESS

This one is being actively updated but I love it so I included it. Dennis agrees to date Mac for one day to get it out of his system so he can finally move on.

edit- This one is complete now!

12,609 words- Finished!

Heaters broken and they are forced to share a sleeping bag. Similar to only one bed trope but better!!!

63,955 words- NOT COMPLETE, supposedly not abandoned but also has not been updated in over a year.

Mac has amnesia back to when he was in the closet and Dennis pretends to be his husband when he wakes up.

edit- recently updated!

[the-cat-ara]

I'm curious about your Metamy fankid's origin, would you be able to elaborate?

Of course!!, although I'll leave it after the cut because developing this ended up in a big text of pure ramblings that I didn't know how to summarize, but I'll leave a drawing at the end to lighten it up a little bit. 😅😅

Dr. Eggman, upon learning of the couple's plans to conceive a child, saw an opportunity to conduct an experiment in genetic engineering and bio-synthesization (mostly as an opportunity to create a perfect creature, with the best of his best creation and a part of one of his pesky enemies, that he could add to his army of Badniks). Since natural conception between a biological organism and a robot was impossible, he offered to assist them in the creation of a biological offspring, concealing his true intentions. Despite initial mistrust, the couple eventually accepted his help. Eggman began the process by extracting samples of Amy's DNA and performing an exhaustive genetic analysis to determine the feasibility of fusion with a piece of Metal sonic's nucleus. Using gene-editing nanotechnology, he began to modify and optimize segments of the biological material. His goal was to create a functional bridge between biology and technology, allowing the resulting organism to possess a hybrid structure capable of sustaining itself and developing in a stable manner.

But the first attempts were unsuccessful. The incompatibility between the organic matter and the nucleus piece generated a cellular collapse before reaching the advanced mitosis phase. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, Eggman concluded that the system required a high-density external energy source to stabilize the integration process. It was then that he requested access to the Chaos Emeralds, arguing that their energy would be able to catalyze the symbiosis between the biological and synthetic structures. Faced with the absolute refusal of all, Amy intervened, achieving that their use was allowed under strict surveillance (to the annoyance of Eggman). By exposing the DNA-impregnated core to the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, the expected synthesis occurred: the bio-mechanical combination stabilized, allowing the hybrid structure to self-regulate. However, the procedure consumed an excessive amount of energy, leaving the Emeralds in a state of hibernation rendering them temporarily unusable, which frustrated Eggman, as he would not be able to use them for other future projects.

With initial success assured, the next step was to implant the tiny nucleus into Amy's uterus to develop. The procedure did not guarantee successful implantation or stable embryonic development, so constant monitoring was required to evaluate progress. It took several months of studies and evaluations before Amy finally began to show signs of pregnancy, confirming that the experiment had worked.

Throughout the pregnancy, Amy attended periodic medical check-ups to monitor the development of the fetus, which presented accelerated growth and an unusual demand for resources by the mother, making her consume more food. As the pregnancy progressed, Amy began to experience episodes of extreme fatigue and systemic deterioration, which worried all her friends and especially Metal Sonic, eggman performed some studies. The results were alarming: the fetus was absorbing an inordinate amount of energy and nutrients, severely compromising the mother's health to the point of endangering her life. Amy was immediately hospitalized to stabilize her. With only a few days remaining before her due date, the possibility of a premature birth was considered. However, given Amy's critical condition, the procedure posed a high risk of maternal mortality. Finally, the day of delivery arrived and Iris was successfully delivered. After delivery, Amy showed signs of slow recovery, partially regaining her energy levels. However, this only lasted a few months before Amy's body collapsed due to extreme exhaustion and she was again admitted to the hospital, this time showing no improvement, and a year later Amy finally passed away.

if you got this far, I hope you liked it and that what I said made some sense, also thank you very much for asking, I'm always glad you ask about my drawings :D💖💖!!

[cyberswift-story]

Revolutionising Road Construction with Technology: Enhancing Project Management for a Smarter Future

The road construction industry plays a vital role in shaping modern infrastructure, driving economic growth, and ensuring efficient transportation networks. However, it faces persistent challenges, including project delays, safety risks, cost overruns, and inefficient resource management. As construction projects grow in complexity, the need for innovative solutions to boost productivity and efficiency has never been more critical.

Learn more https://www.cyberswift.com/blog/revolutionising-road-construction-with-technology-enhancing-project-management-for-a-smarter-future/

[collapsedsquid]

Dalio​ became more and more preoccupied with establishing a reputation as a guru. He talked often about Bridgewater’s ‘Principles’, a set of obiter dicta he had established over the years, which codified the rules for what the New Yorker’s John Cassidy called ‘the world’s richest and strangest hedge fund’. The idea was to create a culture of radical candour. All of Bridgewater’s employees were supposed to give one another constant feedback. Especially negative feedback. One Principle was that ‘No one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up.’ It was forbidden to criticise anybody in their absence: you had to say everything straight to the subject’s face. Everyone at Bridgewater was given a tablet computer that they were supposed to fill with ‘dots’, positive or negative, giving constant ratings on every aspect of the company and their colleagues. The offices were full of cameras and sound equipment recording interactions between staff, all of it added to a Transparency Library, where it could be viewed by other members of staff, who would then provide feedback. Employees handed over their personal phones on arriving at work, and were allowed to use only monitored company phones; computer keystrokes were tracked. The surveillance and feedback were put to use. Failings resulted in ‘probings’ or public interrogations, often led by Dalio, in which the employee would be grilled on what they had done wrong, in search of the higher truth – the deeper, underlying weakness – that had caused it to happen. Dalio had visited China and liked what he saw, so he incorporated into Bridgewater a system in which Principles Captains, Auditors and Overseers vied in supervising their application and reported to a body called the Politburo. Videos of employees being caught violating a Principle, then probed, then promising to mend their ways, were assembled and used to inculcate the Principles. One series of videos, of a senior colleague caught in a untruth, was called ‘Eileen Lies’. Another, in which a newly pregnant senior colleague was publicly humiliated and reduced to tears, was called ‘Pain + Reflection = Progress’. Dalio was so pleased with that one he emailed it to all of Bridgewater’s thousand employees, and instructed that a version of it be shown to people applying for jobs at the firm. Expressing too much sympathy for the victim was an excellent way of failing to be offered a job. ‘Sugarcoating creates sugar addiction’ was a Principle. One of Dalio’s visions was to have the Principles encoded into software so that Bridgewaterians who needed a steer on what to do could consult the oracle. The project took more than a decade, cost $100 million and never produced anything useful, mainly because the Principles, all 375 of them, are a load of platitudinous, self-contradictory mince.

[alectoperdita]

Who's ready for a random and silly short featuring hacker!Seto, hitter!Jou, and that "Girl Dinner" Monster sticker design that gave me a uniquely bad case of brain rot today?

Taking a moment to explore the group dynamic a bit, so no smut this time. Just Seto and Jou being cute? And also Seto's made a friend???

Read on AO3

---

Everyone was getting awfully chummy.

Don't get him wrong, Jounouchi thought it was a rather good thing. Nothing worse than a group of criminals who couldn't even pretend to play nice with each other. He learned that from experience.

The transition happened as abruptly as everything else with their motley crew. One day they were each squared away in their individual offices, and the next they were gathered in the conference room shooting the breeze.

Or maybe, upon reflection, it wasn't so sudden.

The conference room was furnished like the real deal: plush chairs, multiple 4K screens, and a killer sound system for their teleconferencing needs. The only official meetings they had were briefings before their next job.

But the second most common use?

When Yuugi and him cracked open a few beers, kicked back, and watched the game projected across a grid of six-by-four monitors. As he and Seto became "close," the hacker drifted out of his office to sit with them when he wasn't actively working on anything.

It didn't take long before Bakura and Mai started watching movies together in the same way. Jounouchi frequently drifted in partway through, which often brought Seto to the table, too.

Comradery—Jounouchi hadn't realized how much he missed it until he had it again. As warped as it got at times, gokudo's brotherhood had been a significant factor of his adult life. The kinship with this group was tentative, newly forged as it was, but he was confident they abided by many of the same principles, even if they were crooked.

Gone were the days of smoke-filled mahjong parlors. Jounouchi had traded them for Bakura and Mai debating French surrealist films, a lukewarm beer in one hand as he and Yuugi shouted at someone striking out in the final inning, and Seto's hand gripping his thigh under the conference table.

(Oh, he and Seto still spent plenty of time behind closed office doors, hungry hands and mouths drawing muffled grunts of pleasure from one another.)

Interacting out in the open also revealed interesting dynamics between people. The criminal underworld was a tiny, insular one. If you lasted long enough, you eventually got to know everyone. A few of them knew each other from before teaming up in the present day, such as him and Mai. Yuugi and Bakura shared a History that was palpable. While Jounouchi didn't know the details, he wasn't blind to their "will they, won't they" energy.

(And he did his best not to think about what the others thought about him and Seto. Seto hadn't outwardly adjusted his attitude because he'd stood too close to Jounouchi from the very beginning. But sometimes, he caught a Look from Mai or Yuugi when he let Seto do as his wont.)

But the most baffling pair was Mai and Seto.

At first, Seto was no more cold toward her than he was to everyone else. But he became progressively more standoffish over the course of the first few jobs. Jounouchi had wondered if it was because she was the lone woman on the team. He soon discarded the theory for one where Seto took offense to her profession, which was even more silly given they were all very much criminals.

Then something shifted, he didn't know what, but the two settled into a more neutral relationship. Or more accurately, Seto appeared to be warming up to her.

(Jounouchi asked Mai once. She studied his face for a second before laughing, giving him the "you're cute when you're dumb" pat on the cheek she used to do when they were both younger, and walking away without another word. He thought it best to drop the matter afterward.)

But Jounouchi wouldn't classify them as fast friends.

"Everyone knows what they're doing?"

Yuugi's question jolted Jounouchi from his reflection. He nodded along with the various "yes" coming from around the conference table. One by one, the members rose from their seats, ready to tackle their next job. Jounouchi hung back because he wanted to ask Seto if there was extra equipment to be loaded.

Mai also stayed to speak to the hacker.

"I almost forgot. I saw these and thought of you," she said, blase. She fished something thin, paper-thick, out of her purse and slid it across the conference table to Seto.

Jounouchi leaned over to catch a glimpse around Seto's laptop. They were cut-outs of hand-drawn art depicting he was intimately familiar with: Seto's favored energy drink. Each can was rendered in its trademark black with an electric green M. The only oddity was, instead of the brand name, "Girl Dinner" was rendered in the same jagged font.

Seto glanced down at them and pulled them close. "I love it," he deadpanned.

"Anything for you, bestie," replied Mai in the same tone before she sauntered away.

Okay, that had to be a joke because she proudly proclaimed money and diamonds as her best friends.

Seto gathered the gift(?) and his laptop before making his exit. Baffled, Jounouchi remained rooted to his spot. No, now wasn't the time to question his teammates' sanity. He had to get the van out of the garage for the job.

***

After parking the van in a lot across the street from the cafe, he joined Seto in the back. Yuugi and Bakura were already in the cafe, waiting for their mark. They'd distract him while Mai did "intelligence gathering" at his home several blocks away.

Which left him and Seto as backup and surveillance from the van.

Jounouchi used to dislike being in the van. Nowadays, he didn't mind it as much. The interior was a bit stuffy, but Seto did what he could to make it comfy for himself. There was a desk in the back to hold Seto's computer and any other equipment they needed. Jounouchi unfolded a stool and settled next to the hacker, who was pulling up the CCTV cameras from inside the cafe and apartment building on the dual monitors. His laptop sat on the left side of the table, right in Jounouchi's direct line of view.

He noticed a new sticker among the collage blanketing the device's lid. Nestled between a clown and "Bad Dragon" sticker, in a tall, thin space seemingly tailor-made for it, was the black can labeled "Girl Dinner."

Air hissed as Seto grabbed an energy drink from the minifridge and cracked it open in comedic timing Jounouchi never guessed he had.

Seto's poor eating habits were hard to miss, so it was possible Mai took notice. Was that what "girl dinner" referenced? Seto's appetite resembling that of a bird or a runway model? He was rail thin enough to pull it off.

More questions plagued him, though. Had he not been sarcastic when he told Mai he "loved it?" Did he earnestly enjoy the present? Was it a barb from Mai and he called her bluff by accepting it?

Or even more unthinkable, was this an in-joke between them??? When did they have time to develop one of those?

"What?" Seto sighed, sounding exasperated.

"Huh?"

"You have that 'I'm about to BSOD thinking about this' look."

"Hey!"

Seto punched several keys. On the window showing their commlinks, his and Seto's lines were muted. They weren't deafened, though. Yuugi and Bakura's quiet chatter droned on in their ears. Next, Mai reported she was in place near the mark's home.

Jounouchi tapped a knuckle against the newest sticker. "It's nice to see you and Mai getting along."

"Of course, we do. Why wouldn't we?" Seto remarked dryly.

Jounouchi recalled the "back off" glares Seto cast at Mai months ago. Brat thought he was subtle, but he really wasn't.

Now that Jounouchi thought about it, Seto stopped around when they started fucking...

A wandering hand crept up the length of Jounouchi's thigh. He considered batting it away, but Seto would merely become more insistent. Plus, it was nice to have a pretty young thing like Seto all over him.

"You mind explaining one thing to me, though? Why 'girl dinner'?"

Seto's hand stopped in its tracks. They gazed into each other's eyes for several long beats. Jounouchi resisted the urge to bounce the leg upon which Seto's palm laid. Seto broke first, shifting from his seat to Jounouchi's lap in one graceful motion. He brought his hands up to cup Jounouchi's cheeks, one in each palm, and lifted his chin to lock eyes once more.

"You're not on social media, are you?" he asked, studying him.

Jounouchi shook his head.

Pause.

"You are adorably offline," Seto declared.

"Uh, thanks?"

"I could explain it," drawled Seto, squirming before settling more firmly atop him. "Or we can use the fifteen minutes before the mark shows up to not talk."

Without thinking, Jounouchi gripped Seto's slim hips to steady him. He really should put up more of a fight. Giving into Seto spoiled the brat. The best he could do was not let him have the last word.

He poked the side of Seto's belly. He may be belaboring the point, but he had to press every advantage he could. "Fine, but you have to promise to eat solid food for dinner tonight. Not more 'girl dinner.'"

Seto laughed and wiggled closer. "I want katsu curry, and I want you to make it."

Again, he should resist spoiling Seto. Yet he muttered "whatever you want" before sealing their lips together.

[carionto]

What if we just hollowed it out?

Progress on the Dyson Ring was unbearably slow (by Human standards) and Captain Knoslark and some of his crew were busying themselves with a twice-a-week extended D&D session. He was banned from GMing after trying to introduce the Deck of Many Things, so relegated himself to a Wild Sorcerer Drow build. When it was not his turn during combat, he would make sure when his turn did come up, the holographic projections he programmed would show off his descriptions of his magics in the most spectacular fashion. He was irritatingly good at the visuals, and nobody wanted to praise him outright for fear his ego might explode, but it did pass the time well enough.

The construction efforts have become so routine and uneventful that the only people who had anything stimulating to do on the clock were the observation officers. Even then, it was just ships going in and out of the system, sometimes big groups of civilian craft would bunch together in the Oort cloud for a race, other times an alien diplomatic vessel and escort would jump in for a visit or to drop off a person who had "made a mess on a vessel not outfitted to handle Human strength", which typically meant somebody forgot alien doors don't have a manual override and broke it by opening it by hand without much trouble. Most exciting was when a new Dreadnought or other large military ship was constructed and it set out on its first voyage outside the shipyards around Earth.

Of course, their main job was monitoring celestial objects and make sure any wandering meteors or debris weren't on a collision course with anything important, and if there was one, tell the nearest patrol ships and they would go out and redirect or destroy it.

Today, Officer Xiang spotted something a bit bigger. A rogue planet! Trajectory analysis indicates it will pass into the Oort cloud in two years and pass through Sol over the next forty three, only once coming relatively close to Mars, but not enough to influence its orbit. It was, however, big enough that they could complete a significant portion of the Dyson Ring. Big enough that, in theory, it would then be able to output enough power at once to power the planetary Warp Gate for anything up to the size of the Moon.

Unfortunately, deeper scans showed it once had living organisms on it, and was thus protected under intergalactic preservation laws: "The surface of any rogue planet that once housed life shall remain untouched, and the planet shall be marked as a historical landmark and scientific object for study purposes only."

To this, Captain Knoslark inquired: "Hmm... but what about below the surface? It's just cold rock at this point, right? What if we find a natural crevice and just dig a little further? For Science!"

As a junior officer and there being almost no people who are experts on such niche intergalactic laws yet, Xiang and the others couldn't find a reason why this wouldn't work, but it felt... off.

"Just think, it'll be fine - we'll reinforce some of the ore and create a porous interior, preserving the structural integrity of the planet as a whole and keeping the surface as is. AND we get about 85% of a whole planet to further our progress - that's a whole 17 moons worth! And and it would be within our jurisdiction during the time. It's a win-neutral as far as I can see."

That sounded like logic. Maybe? Either way, we would have to talk to the higher ups about this plan. Even if anybody wanted to, hollowing out a planet is not a thing you can do in secret. You need, well, literally a planet's worth of ships, equipment, and crew to do something like that within just over four decades, and we want to get it done in less than one.

No matter our advancements, dedication, willpower, grit, force, or cunning, the two foes Humanity cannot defeat, but must always accept and handle properly - logistics and the accompanying bureaucracy. Still, it would be nice if we didn't have to use up more of our moons so quickly for one project.

[swaps55]

Mezzo - 10 - Jagged Lines

Pairing: mshenko | Rating: M Tags: Canon-typical violence, trauma, dealing with your problems poorly, body autonomy struggles   Summary: The twists and turns of ME2, through the eyes of everyone but Commander Shepard. Chapter Summary: Horizon.   Thank you so much to @sinvraal for being an amazing beta!

Chapter 10: Jagged Lines | Read on Ao3

11 December 2185, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System, Normandy SR-2

Shepard comes out of his briefing with the Illusive Man a different person than when he went in. Cold, brusque, locked on a target only he can see, like a grenade without a pin. Jacob takes up position on the far side of the conference room table. As if that will somehow minimize the splash damage.

“Seems like we got something,” Jacob observes, as Miranda, Dr. Solus, Vakarian, Massani, and even Jack file in and take up places around the table, where a projection of a planet Jacob isn’t familiar with rotates slowly. Only the krogan is missing.

“Colony in the Traverse lost comms an hour ago.” Shepard speaks into the comm. “Joker, I need a course laid in to get us to the Iera System in Shadow Sea. Right now.”

Jack leans a hip against the table, twirling a mote of dark energy through her fingers, about as far from Miranda as Jacob is from Shepard. If squad cohesion is the goal, Shepard’s got some work to do.

“Uh, that’s a tall order, sir. Iera isn’t exactly next door.”

“I don’t give a shit, Joker. Get me there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“EDI, I need everything you have on the planet Horizon.”

“Downloading requested information to shore party datapads.”   

Jacob flips on his own datapad and opens EDI’s freshly delivered file to do a quick skim. For several of the colony abductions, Freedom’s Progress included, comm failure had been the first sign of trouble. But by the time the silence had been noticed, attempts made to raise them, and scout ships deployed to investigate, they had been far too late to even see a collector, much less stop them.

The Illusive Man had set up monitoring programs for virtually every human colony in the Traverse. Seemed like a monumental amount of resources to spend on what amounted to looking for a needle in a haystack.

…Unless you actually find the needle.

“Long range scans from the Illusive Man don’t show anything in orbit,” Shepard goes on. “We’re going to do our damndest to get there before the collectors make their move.”

Pipe dream, Jacob thinks. He skims through the data. “Population’s over six hundred thousand. If this really is the collectors, it’s the largest colony they’ve hit yet. Could mean numbers.”

“We’ll adapt,” Shepard says flatly.

Miranda taps a nail against the conference room table. At the rate she speed reads, she’s probably already through most of the report. “It has to be the collectors. Human colony in the Traverse, independent from Alliance control. They’re a perfect target. This could be our chance to test the countermeasure and gather some intel on what they’re doing with these colonists.”

“And save more people from abduction,” Jacob prods.

“Of course.”

Solus paces back and forth from his spot beside Shepard, three paces each direction. “Countermeasure ready to be tested. However, if seeker swarm density exceeds test models—”

Shepard cuts him off with a scowl. “We’ll adapt.”

Jack folds her arms across her chest. She hasn’t touched her datapad. “What’ll they give us in a fight?”

“We know they have at least one ship capable of taking out a frigate without breaking a sweat,” Jacob replies. “As for the rest, guess we’re about to find out.”

Garrus swipes at the holo projection of Horizon on the conference table, the reticle of his visor flickering as he adjusts the HUD interface. A rendering of the main colony site map takes the place of the planet. He points a talon at something on the southeastern perimeter. It flashes red.

“Since when do independent human colonies have Alliance AA guns?”

Shepard’s iron gaze flicks away. “Since a few weeks ago, apparently.”

“Is Alliance on the ground?”

The gravity well does a somersault. Jacob’s eye twitches. Like nails on a chalkboard.

“Yes.”   

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