#speed camera detection

[diagnozabam]

Dacă aplici folie pe numărul de înmatriculare, scapi de rovinietă sau riști amendă?

Unii șoferi încearcă diverse metode pentru a evita plata rovinietei, de la numere rabatabile până la vopsele speciale. Una dintre metodele vehiculate pe internet este aplicarea unei folii pe plăcuța de înmatriculare, astfel încât camerele de supraveghere să nu poată citi corect numărul. Dar este această practică eficientă sau te poate costa scump? Aplicarea foliei pe numărul de înmatriculare: O…

[reasonsforhope]

"A tiny lizard found only on one tiny Caribbean island has seen a dramatic 1,500% increase in its population, after just a few years of island restoration efforts.

In 2018, researchers estimated there were fewer than 100 individuals of the critically endangered Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus) on the small hat-shaped Sombrero Island, part of Anguilla in the Caribbean. Just six years later, there are more than 1,600 of them, a recent survey has found.

“I am beyond thrilled to see the ground lizards on the road to recovery, and this is a fantastic reward for everyone who has worked hard to restore Sombrero,” Jenny Daltry, Caribbean alliance director at conservation NGOs Fauna & Flora and Re:wild, told Mongabay. “Too many island species have been lost already, and we really need to prevent extinctions whenever we can.”

Today, Sombrero Island hosts large seabird colonies and several unique and rare species. But invading mice, likely brought to the island on ships or other means by people, as well as climate change impacts, have wreaked havoc on the island’s inhabitants...

To turn things around, Fauna & Flora, Anguilla National Trust and Re:wild began restoration efforts in 2018. They trapped and removed all the mice by placing bait from June to August 2021. They also developed a “biosecurity plan” in which researchers regularly check the island to ensure it’s still mouse-free.

Given Sombrero’s remote location, the likelihood of reinvasion by mice is considered low, Daltry said. She added that the teams are also developing “remote surveillance cameras with AI capability” to automatically detect and alert them of invasive species.

While the mice may be gone, the threat from hurricanes fueled by climate change still loom close. While the researchers have been working to restore the island’s native vegetation, the island has lost much of its original soil cover, which will take time to rebuild, Daltry said. With no tree cover yet, any severe hurricane or storm surge in the future “could set back the speed of recovery of the soil layer and vegetation,” she added.

However, Daltry said she’s hopeful that even the current sparse vegetation provides the Sombrero ground lizards “with vital food and shelter, giving them a much better chance of survival when the next storm strikes.”

“This could make the difference between survival and extinction,” she said."

-via Mongabay News, December 20, 2024

[dior-luxury]

𓂃 . 𐑞 "Get On The Bed" Prank On Them ⟡

ꔫ﹒genre﹒⟢ - romance/fluff/comedy. f!reader

⏆﹒⿻ ch . bangchan . leeknow . changbin . hyunjin . han . felix . seungmin . i.n

﹙◞◟﹚﹒warnings ﹒Mild Suggestiveness . Romantic Themes . Mild-Language

Bang Chan (방찬)

It had been a cozy, quiet evening. Chan was sprawled out on the couch, laptop open, headphones slightly askew as he worked on a track, mouthing along to the beat. You’d been waiting for the right moment to test your little prank, and now—he looked so focused—it was perfect.

You walked over casually and leaned in just enough for him to notice. When he looked up at you with a smile, you tilted your head and, with a playful lilt, whispered, “Get on the bed.”

He blinked. Once. Twice.

“…W-what?” he stammered, pulling off his headphones so fast they nearly snapped back into place. “Did you just…?”

You nodded, keeping a straight face.

Chan’s ears flushed instantly. “Uhm—should I—uh—wait, are you serious?” He looked around like the walls were suddenly sentient witnesses to his confusion. “Like...now?”

You could see the gears in his head turning at high speed—wondering if this was a signal, a joke, or something more serious. He even stood up halfway, brushing invisible dust from his shirt, his face a mix of shock, amusement, and bashful hope.

But the moment you cracked a smile, he froze. “Wait a second...are you—are you pranking me?!”

You burst out laughing, and he groaned, hiding his red face behind both hands before collapsing back onto the couch. “You’re evil,” he muttered, a shy grin tugging at his lips. “You can’t say stuff like that so casually—do you want me to lose sleep tonight?”

But for the rest of the night, he kept sneaking glances at you, his smirk lingering—clearly, the prank had left an impression.

Lee Know (리노)

You knew Lee Know was sharp. Hard to fool. But that didn’t mean you wouldn’t try.

He was in the kitchen finishing a snack when you leaned on the doorway, arms folded, and casually said, “Get on the bed.”

He turned slowly, a brow raised. “Excuse me?”

“Get on the bed,” you repeated coolly, giving nothing away.

He narrowed his eyes. “Why? Did you change the sheets or something?”

You didn’t answer.

Lee Know took a step toward you, licking his lips in thought. “Wait…” he said slowly, eyes scanning your expression like a detective. “You never say stuff like that unless you’re up to something.”

You shrugged.

“Is this one of those TikTok pranks?” he asked, amused. “Are you recording me? Where’s the camera?”

Still, you held your poker face.

That’s when a sly smile curved his lips. “You know, if you want me in bed, all you have to do is ask nicely.” He winked, walking closer. “No need for vague commands.”

You burst out laughing, and he snorted. “Yeah, thought so. You’re a terrible liar.”

Then he leaned down, placing his hands on either side of your shoulders against the wall. “Just know…you’re playing a dangerous game, baby.”

You gulped—and realized you’d started the prank, but he might just finish it.

Changbin (창빈)

You found him in the studio corner of the apartment, scribbling lyrics and mouthing beats. His glasses were sliding down his nose slightly, and he looked deep in the zone. Perfect timing.

“Hey,” you said sweetly, leaning on the wall. “Get on the bed.”

He paused, pen midair. “Huh?”

You nodded. “Now.”

He blinked. “Wait. Why?” He stood slowly, frowning. “Are you okay? Do you need to talk about something? Did I forget something important? Is it—wait, did I mess up a date? Your birthday’s not today, right?!”

You had to bite your lip to keep from laughing.

“Wait—should I bring snacks? Or like…is this about a massage? Did you hurt your back?” He was now spiraling into a full-on theory board of reasons why you might want him on the bed. “Or—is this, like, code for something?”

You finally laughed, clutching your stomach.

He squinted. “No… Don’t tell me this was a prank. Are you serious?”

You nodded through your giggles.

“I WAS READY TO APOLOGIZE FOR STUFF I DIDN’T EVEN DO,” he yelled dramatically, throwing his hands up. But then he grinned, eyes twinkling. “You got me good… Next time, I’m turning the tables.”

Hyunjin (현진)

Hyunjin was mid-selfie when you waltzed in. You caught your reflection in the mirror behind him—him pouting, perfect angles, glowing skin. You loved how into himself he could get, and now you were about to ruin it (in the best way).

“Get on the bed,” you said, standing tall.

He dropped his phone like you’d just cast a spell.

“…Is this a dream?” he asked, placing a hand to his chest dramatically. “Did I just hear my beautiful girlfriend—the love of my life—tell me to get on the bed?”

You nodded solemnly.

“Oh my God,” he gasped, looking toward the ceiling. “Thank you, universe. My time has come.”

Then, without skipping a beat, he threw himself onto the bed in a theatrical flop, arms wide like he was in a telenovela. “I’m ready! Take me!”

You couldn’t contain your laughter. He peeked up, suspicious now. “Wait…are you laughing? Is this a joke?!”

You nodded through the laughter.

He sat up with an over-the-top glare. “You devil,” he hissed, pointing dramatically. “How dare you toy with my heart like that.”

But then he giggled and pulled you into bed with him anyway. “Fine. We’re both staying here now. Prank or not.”

Han (한)

It was a quiet, late afternoon in your shared apartment, rain tapping against the windows like a soft lullaby. You and Han had spent the day lounging in pajamas, binge-watching anime, stealing snacks, and laughing about nothing in particular. He was now sprawled out on the couch, hoodie half over his head, a bag of chips clutched to his chest.

You stood up, stretched, and glanced at him with a mischievous smirk. “Babe,” you called softly, your voice low and suggestive, “come get on the bed.”

Han’s head snapped up so fast you thought he might’ve hurt his neck. His wide eyes blinked at you in disbelief, a chip falling from his mouth mid-chew.

“Huh?? What?” he asked, half-gasping, clearly not trusting his ears.

You bit your lip to hold back your laughter. “You heard me. Bed. Now.”

A moment of silence. Then his brain combusted.

“Oh my god, wait, wait—hold up,” he stammered, practically throwing the chips aside and scrambling to his feet. “You’re serious?! Like serious serious?!"

You didn’t answer. Instead, you turned and sauntered toward the bedroom, giving him just enough reason to follow.

Han trailed behind, his hands in the air like he was surrendering to fate. “Wait, babe, I didn’t shower yet! Should I—? Should I light candles? Do I need to… should I bring water or something?!” His voice cracked in that signature Han-way, half-excited, half-overthinking.

The moment he stepped into the room, you turned to face him, a completely straight face. “Okay,” you said, nodding solemnly. “Now lie down. Face down. We’re doing... tax paperwork.”

The confusion on his face was pure art.

“What? Bro, WHAT?” he exclaimed, hands dramatically slapping his thighs. “I was mentally preparing for the Olympics! You’re telling me we’re doing taxes?!”

You broke into laughter as he dramatically flopped onto the bed like a starfish. “Unbelievable. My heart rate hit 130 for forms and deductions?!”

He pouted for a good five minutes, but later admitted it was a pretty good prank—especially after you kissed his cheek and promised to “make it up to him” with cuddles and a massage.

Felix (필릭스)

The golden hour sun poured into the apartment, casting warm hues across the walls. Felix had just finished baking cookies and the scent of chocolate still lingered in the air. He had that soft, relaxed look on his face—the kind that made your heart flutter.

You were sitting on the edge of the bed, scrolling through your phone when the idea popped into your head. “Lixie,” you called out sweetly.

He peeked in from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “Yeah, baby?”

You locked eyes with him and tilted your head innocently. “Come here… get on the bed.”

For a second, he just stood there, blinking. Then his ears tinged pink, and he smiled—slow and slightly dazed. “You want me to… right now?” he asked, his voice dipping into that soft, deep register.

You nodded slowly. “Right now.”

He carefully placed the towel down and walked toward you, his movements graceful but slightly hesitant. You could see the wheels turning in his mind—Felix, ever the gentleman, was trying to read the room just in case he misinterpreted your tone.

“I mean… we can,” he said, voice low, “if you’re in the mood. You sure you’re okay?”

You had to bite your lip to keep from laughing. He was just so tender about it.

When he finally got to the bed, he sat down beside you, waiting for your lead. And then you handed him… a Rubik’s Cube.

“Time me,” you said seriously. “I bet I can beat your record.”

Felix stared at the cube, then at you, then burst into a soft giggle. “Oh my god, you brat,” he laughed, burying his face into your shoulder. “You tricked me!”

You both ended up lying on the bed anyway—laughing, tangled in blankets, solving the Rubik’s Cube together and sharing stolen kisses between turns.

Seungmin (승민)

Seungmin was sitting cross-legged on the floor, headphones on, editing a vlog for STAY. He had that slightly furrowed, focused look on his face, occasionally muttering to himself as he cut and trimmed footage.

You leaned against the doorway, watching him, then decided it was the perfect time to cause trouble.

“Seungminnie,” you purred. “Come get on the bed.”

He paused his music, pulled one earphone out, and turned slowly. His eyebrow lifted with suspicion. “Why?” he asked dryly, voice laced with his usual sarcasm. “Are you going to steal my hoodie again?”

You gave him your best doe eyes. “Just come here.”

He stood up slowly, stretching, arms raised over his head as he walked toward the bed with caution.

“I swear,” he muttered, “if this is another prank where you bury me in plushies again, I’m going to file a formal complaint.”

You patted the bed beside you. “Just lie down. Trust me.”

He lay down stiffly, his body language reading: I don’t trust you at all. “Now what?”

You sat on his stomach and dramatically opened a folder. “Time for a pop quiz. Seungmin Kim, please list the chronological order of every date we’ve ever been on.”

He stared at you like you had lost your mind.

“No,” he deadpanned.

“Yes.”

“No, I refuse.”

“Yes, and if you get one wrong, you owe me boba.”

Seungmin sighed so hard it could’ve moved furniture. “This is abuse,” he said, but there was a grin forming at the corners of his mouth.

You both ended up laughing so hard you couldn’t even get through the first few questions—and he did buy you boba later, grumbling the whole time about how you “play too much.”

I.N (아이엔)

It was late evening and you and Jeongin had just finished a casual home karaoke session. He was sprawled out on the floor, arms stretched out like a starfish, hair tousled, breath still slightly uneven from belting high notes.

You patted the bed gently. “Hey, Innie,” you said softly. “Get on the bed.”

His head whipped around like a deer caught in headlights.

“Huh?! Why?!” he asked, already blushing.

You kept your expression serious. “Just do it.”

He sat up slowly, his face suspicious but obedient. “Is this a trick? Are you going to throw a pillow at me?”

“No tricks,” you said. “Promise.”

Jeongin climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged, eyes fixed on you like he was waiting for some kind of jump scare.

You leaned in close. “Now lie down. Completely flat. Arms at your sides.”

“Okay…” he obeyed, stiff as a board. “Now what?”

You reached over and placed a slice of cold cucumber on his forehead.

“What the—?!” he sputtered, lifting his head. “What is this?!”

“It’s spa time,” you said calmly. “You’ve been working hard. Relax.”

He let out a high-pitched laugh and covered his face. “I thought you were trying to seduce me and it’s salad ingredients?!���

You both collapsed into giggles, and eventually, he did relax—laying with his head in your lap, cucumber slices now replaced by your fingers brushing through his hair.

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 20: The One Where We Take a Course in Rear Window Ethics

Oh, hey, hey – you’re back!

Yes. I, uh – we need to – uh... What the hell are you doing with that Exakta VX camera fitted with a 400 mm Kilfitt lens?

Come here. See those open windows across the courtyard?

Uh, yeah…

Well, I’m trying to zoom into that apartment –

Wow. Because that’s not creepy as fuck.

Oh, don’t be so modern. This is New York City, 1954. It’s fine.

Yeah, okay. I need you to focus for a moment. Seriously – put down the zoom lens. Headquarters called and wanted to know why Dorothy was still in Oz. You know we were told to take her home.

No – actually we were told to throw stones at that wannabe Wizard. And we did. Kind of. Okay, whatever, but surely you can feel the shift. At the very least we’ve infiltrated the base camp with a bunch of flying monkeys. They’ll take care of the rest. God, there’s one in there –

And we were supposed to help Dorothy find her way back home.

Meh, don’t worry about Dorothy. I don’t think she’s ready to go home. Even after the ping-pong bullshit of the past few weeks, she’s still standing on her own two feet. Although Toto continues to be a mild pain…

But –

But nothing. Dorothy’s had the power to get her own ass home this entire time. When’s she’s ready, she’ll go.

Okay, well, obviously you’re not going to be of any help as you seem preoccupied with spying on your neighbors. So, I’m going to need to borrow the hot air balloon. Where’d you put it?

Oh, it’s on the—wait! If you take our balloon, how am I supposed to get around? I’m not staying here indefinitely. There’s no air conditioning in this damn apartment!

How about I promise to come back for you? Maybe.

Damn you. Fine, I’ll go with you. Let me get my shit together. Here, hold my camera – and don’t drop it!

Hmph, this is heavy. How does it work? I just look through this and… <points camera towards apartment across the way> Oh – this is interesting. What the hell did you say was going on over there? “…[S]tart from the beginning…Tell me everything you saw – and what you think it means.”

You know those days when you have no choice but to catch up on the work you’ve been blowing off for the past few days (maybe even weeks)? Well, last week, I was having one of those days. The work I’d been pushing down my list for weeks finally needed to be addressed. Regardless of how mind-numbing it was, it had to get done otherwise things were going to start going awry.

I’m one of those people who – when working on the mundane – has a mind that tends to wander every few minutes or so. I find myself Googling things like, “What is the fastest animal on the planet?” And, for your own Useless Knowledge, the cheetah’s land speed of 60+ mph doesn’t come close to the peregrine falcon’s dive bomb of 240+ mph.

Anyway, to keep my mind from wandering, I usually have something running in the background to force my brain into paying attention to two things at once – somehow that helps me maintain focus. The most popular “something” is almost always one of the many (quite possibly too many) British detective shows available for streaming. But, the other day, I simply wasn’t in the mood to rewatch Season 3 of “Dalgliesh” for the seventh time.

So, after a bit of scrolling, I put on an old movie I hadn’t seen in years: “Rear Window.”

The 1954 original, of course.

I’m rarely impressed by anything put out by Modern Hollywood, but the old shit – well, there are some legit classics out there, including this one.

One of the reasons I’ve always been fond of this movie is because you go into it knowing the “bad guy” right from the word “go.” I’m one of those extremely annoying people who can guess the villain within the first few chapters of a book, or within the first twenty or so minutes of a movie (like I said, I am rarely impressed by Hollywood). However, I will admit, one book did slip by me. Damn you, Agatha Christie. Honestly, though, the thrill I felt with being wrong was far more memorable than anything I’ve ever felt with being right. Good or bad, a surprise always leaves its imprint, doesn’t it? Plus, the hysterical elation my father must have felt – and later exhibited – knowing I was going into the final few chapters wrong – well, damn him, too. And, no, the book was not “Three Act Tragedy.” That one was quite easy.

Okay, enough about Ms. Christie. Back to Mr. Hitchcock.

As I sat busily typing away and listening to the dialogue of “Rear Window” playing in the far reaches of my office, it suddenly occurred to me that the parallels between “Rear Window” and the Lukola fandom were rather, well, thought-provoking. Here we have a man (and later his sidekicks) peering into the personal life of another human being. Our protagonist in “Rear Window” witnesses an event (a cover-up, actually) and sets out to prove it – all from the perspective of an onlooker looking in. Sound familiar? I thought it might.

So, welcome to your course on “Rear Window Ethics.”

Now, I cannot intertwine “Rear Window” with the Lukola fandom without dragging your ass into the story. Actually, I could – but it’s far more entertaining for me (and hopefully you) if I form a nexus between you and the movie.

Therefore, you, of course, get to align yourself with L.B. Jefferies (played in real life by Jimmy Stewart). If you’re still in this fandom, it’s because you’ve witnessed something you simply cannot ignore and you’re almost certainly hellbent on proving it at this point.

It’s very likely most of you entered the Lukola fandom alone. You watched some portion of the World Tour and became intrigued. Your mind began to wander, which sparked some urge in you to do some digging. Eventually your investigation led you to the Devil – sorry, I mean, social media. There you met like-minded junior investigators, and you’ve now found yourself chatting with these newfound friends and theorizing in the burrows of underground group chats.

So, about your sidekicks…

The part of “Stell-aaaaaa!!!!” (yes, that is my hat-tip to Jake) is given to your most “inventive” Lukola friend. You know, the one that has their own “theories” channel in your private chats; the one who scurries down the rabbit hole – not in search of the White Rabbit – but in search of the Cheshire Cat. Stella is the reason you think outside the box. In “Rear Window,” Stella (played by Thelma Ritter) is Jefferies’ nurse (Jefferies is injured and bound to his apartment; hence why he has so much free time to gaze out the rear window). This friend will throw anything and everything against the wall to see what sticks – even if it occasionally takes a deep-dive into how to cut up a body in a bathtub.

Next, we have Detective Doyle, Jefferies’ long-time friend (played by Wendell Corey). Doyle is quite possibly your spouse, haha, or anyone who side-eyes your involvement with this fandom. Doyle half listens to Jefferies’ theories and usually counters Jefferies with an alternative piece of evidence. But don’t fret, although Doyle teases Jefferies about his wild theories throughout the film, Doyle is, in fact, supportive of Jefferies and does comes around in the end.

I’m going to switch gears for a moment but not before acknowledging that, yes, I am aware I’m missing a player here. Don’t worry – she will arrive shortly.

Alright, on to our subject matter: Lars Thorwald.

Thorwald (played by Raymond Burr) is our straight-outta-Hitchcock-baddie who has been spotted by Jefferies trying to cover up the murder of his wife. The obvious parallels I’m going to draw between “Rear Window” and the Lukola fandom are (1) Thorwald’s crime being equivalent to the World Tour and everything that has happened thereafter, and (2) Jefferies’ obsession with proving Thorwald is guilty being comparable to the fandom’s obsession with proving Lukola is real.

Now, I’m going to get the ball rolling by fast-forwarding through the World Tour all the way up to where I last left you – the post-release of “Mis-Directed.” Recall that shortly before the book’s release, in a surprise turn of events, Luke appeared with Antonia at the Boss event held January 30. However, this was almost immediately negated by Luke snubbing Antonia post-event (and perhaps even more shockingly, Antonia’s mirrored lack of acknowledgement of Luke). And try as Nicola might, there’s no skirting around the innuendo made throughout that fan-fic of a book.

“Watson! Get up! There’s fuckery afoot!”

Who the hell are you?

I’m Dad. Who are you?

Ah, not that guy!

Yes, that guy. Of course, Dad has entered the room. After all I needed someone to fill the role of Lisa Fremont (also known as Grace Kelly). Lisa is your Lukola friend with the highest degree of common sense. She takes the “evidence” presented and looks at it with some realism. She is never going to take the Dwight Shrute Route and state something as “Fact,” but she is the one you rely on to delineate between what makes sense and what doesn’t. In short, this is your friend who understands human nature.

Alright, before I really get this ball rolling –

Since I’ve now added a third wheel (Dad) to the back-and-forth dialogue of my two wizard-chasing-balloon-riding-time-traveling-narrators, I suppose I should also give these two imbeciles names.

You first.

Uh, well, I’m Charley and that’s –

I’m Crowd.

Full credit for these two make-believe idiots is given to my dad. He created the personas of “Charley and the Crowd” for my two nieces a few years ago. They would show him their dolls and my dad would narrate what was going on in their stories. Of course, my nieces regularly corrected him with, “No, Papá, that is not what Barbie is doing!” Still, Charley and the Crowd stuck around, playing the role of two, usually counter-productive and sometimes ignored, news anchors at a Macy’s Day Parade-like event hosted by my nieces’ massive collection of L.O.L. Dolls.

And just for clarity’s sake, during the dialogue between Charley, Crowd, and Dad, actual statements made by Dad will be in quotations. Any statement not in quotations was added simply to move the story along.

Let’s begin (finally).

In “Rear Window,” every time Jefferies and his sidekicks present their findings to Detective Doyle attempting to prove Thorwald’s guilt, they are thwarted by evidence discovered by Doyle’s investigation. It’s a constant back-and-forth throughout the movie; however, regardless of how “solid” Doyle’s evidence is that Anna Thorwald is still alive, Jefferies remains sat on the hill that Thorwald killed his wife. It was this parallel – not the peeping Tom aspect of the movie – that piqued my interest last week. No matter what was thrown at him, Jefferies remained steadfast in his opinion Thorwald murdered his wife. Nothing budged him. I realized Jefferies’ level of resilience mirrored every diehard Lukola’s reaction to every piece of contradictory evidence thrown at them. Nothing budges them.

The tail-end of January and all of February was a bit wild in the Lukola fandom. I mean, there were a lot of narratives being thrown around only to be counteracted by another event. As I mentioned earlier, we ended January with the Boss event but that flame was quickly extinguished by Luke and Antonia’s complete lack of follow-up. Luke had the perfect opportunity to make it “official” with Antonia – to finally shut down the Lukola shippers – but he didn’t.

Crowd: Antonia not doing anything with it is the biggest tell, in my opinion.

I’m not going to spend much time rehashing the Boss event because I already discussed it in Entry 18 (link below), but I will touch on two things that I believe deserve an Honorable Mention.

The first being –

Charley: Why didn’t Antonia have her phone or even a handbag at the Boss event?

I mention this little detail because it was echoed at the BAFTA afterparty Luke attended with Antonia on February 16. In fact, I suspect this may be the modus operandi when Antonia attends an event with Luke – she is not given the opportunity to have a phone with her. One would think, at the very least, you would see Antonia entering and/or leaving an event with some kind of handbag or clutch. But we have pictures of Antonia entering both the Boss event and BAFTA afterparty without one. I will acknowledge we don’t see her leave these two events; however, if we rewind time, Antonia does not have a handbag with her during Papsmear.

Dad: “Well, that’s extremely odd.”

I don’t believe I’ve mentioned it before – at least not on this blog – that my dad has an eye for women’s fashion. My sisters and I grew up under his critical eye and, to this day, my father doesn’t know where he went wrong with my older sister. This is entirely why he was given the part of Lisa Fremont, the movie’s style icon in the form of Grace Kelly. The fact that Antonia is never seen with any type of handbag at these events sparked his interest.

Dad: “[It seems] they [at a minimum Luke] wanted complete control [of what Antonia could take away from the event]. No handbag. Nowhere to hide a phone. No rogue pictures floating about.”

Charley: Yes, it does seem that way.

The second event I wanted to mention was – although neither Luke nor Antonia liked the Boss grid post of the two of them entering that event together – Nicola did. Now, this wasn’t an immediate like. In fact, Nicola waited almost two weeks to like the post, on February 12.

Crowd: The day before Nicola went back and liked that post, that video was being dissected across social media.

Dad: Why?

Charley: Because it was suggested Luke said, “Let’s get this done,” as he walked inside the event with Antonia.

Dad: “I don’t hear shit.”

I will admit, when this video was initially sent to me, I didn’t hear anything except the background noise. However, when I was told what was allegedly being said, I was able to hear it. This very well could be the power of suggestion but the timing of Nicola’s like on this post is, at a minimum, noteworthy.

Once we leave the Boss event, we stumble right into “Mis-Directed.” I’ll post the links to my review of that book at the end. It is what it is – and it’s a whole lot of…umm, yeah…maybe Dad said it best.

Dad: “Either your Lukola thing is real, or Ireland is a psychopath.”

Crowd: Seriously, who let this guy in here?

I’m going to have to hard agree with my dad on this one. Not necessarily about Nicola being a “psychopath,” but the references made in the book are too on the nose for it not to be intentionally Lukola- and/or Polin-coded.

I’m also convinced this book was edited after the World Tour, with the most obvious example of this being demonstrated with the quote: “The dates here coincided with the time period of Leicester Square… Below the words was a symbol of a V-shaped flying dove. At first glimpse, it strongly resembled two raised fingers.” If our duo is to be believed, Luke and Nicola had no idea prior to the World Tour that the fandom would go wild over Colin’s fingers. But after the release of Part 1, any mention of “two raised fingers” would send the fandom into a feeding frenzy. And it’s such an extremely random bit of innuendo, I have trouble believing the author came up with it on her own.

Charley: When you think about it, if Antonia hadn’t shown up at the Boss event, the Lukola fandom would have taken the book as confirmation that Lukola was real.

Indeed, a hefty portion of the fandom would have done just that. The fandom was already convinced that Luke and Nicola spent the holidays together – even without direct evidence – because there was evidence that Luke and Nicola did not spend the holidays with Antonia and Jake, respectively.

Antonia appeared to be with family at Christmas and in the Maldives over New Year’s – without making even the slightest insinuation that Luke was with her.

Jake seemingly spent the holidays with Dylan B., as demonstrated by his pre-Christmas stories with Dylan in their (basically) adjacent hometowns – without Nicola, who, by her own account, was in Galway. Jake and Dylan’s Christmas stories were followed up with their jointly hosted New Year’s Eve party – at which Nicola was not present (as evidenced by Nicola’s comment to an attendee’s New Year’s Eve post: “Have the best night miss yous”).

Dad: “It is weird they [Nicola and Jake / Luke and Antonia] wouldn’t spend any of the holidays together. One? Sure, maybe. But all? No.”

But, even with that statement, my dad chose to play the role of Detective Doyle (a/k/a the Devil’s Advocate of “Rear Window”) regarding the holidays because –

Dad: “Misty [Antonia] was with her dance troupe. Jake was with his friends. Ireland was doing her thing. But no one knows where Thang [Luke] was. Everyone else has a trail except him, which is odd. He could have been with Ireland, but you can’t prove it, so what you have is not really evidence.”

Charley: Thanks, Dad.

But, let’s face it, my dad is right. There’s no solid evidence that Luke and Nicola spent their holidays with each other or anyone else. You can apply the same theory to the birthdays. The only “evidence” we have that two people did not spend a birthday together was Jake posting a belated birthday greeting to Nicola followed by Nicola posting what appeared to be an intimate birthday dinner for two, presumably from the night before. We can surmise Nicola’s birthday date was not Jake, otherwise he would not have posted the late greeting.

About Jake’s birthday –

Crowd: Oh, yeah, “hard launch No. 54” because Nicola used a red heart in her birthday story to him.

Charley: You mean the same one she used in a story for another friend just the other day?

Crowed: Yep.

Dad: “I don’t know what to say about those people [the Jakolas]. They need to resubmerge or something. There’s no relationship there [between Jake and Nicola].”

The Jakolas are banking this “hard launch” on the fact Nicola posted a birthday story for Jake, but not for Luke, and vice versa. These are the same people who will argue that Luke and Antonia not posting about each other’s birthdays is because they’re private – but, in the same breath, refuse to acknowledge Luke and Nicola may not post about each other’s birthdays because they’re private.

I believe it’s worth mentioning that no one from the Bridgerton cast except James Phoon posted about Nicola’s birthday on January 9. When Nicola acknowledged her birthday greetings the day after, she did not repost Phoon’s story nor did she repost fan-favorite JVN’s birthday story. And I should have placed bets on this next part – no one from the Bridgerton cast posted about Luke’s birthday on February 5. Surely, I’m not the only person who saw – and anticipated – the comraderie there.

What the Jakolas should have been focusing on with Jake’s birthday was the fact that it was Dylan and Becky’s boyfriend that were wearing matching “Jecky” shirts at their joint birthday party. No one else had that shirt except for the two people believed to be their significant others. Although I’m not fully convinced Jake is dating Dylan, I am one hundred percent convinced Jake would date Dylan over Nicola.

Charley: What’s next?

Crowd: God, there was so much shit going on in February! Uhh, let’s jump to Valentine’s Day. Nicola attended the IFTA’s with her mother and sister, and Luke attended a GQ dinner event alone.

This holiday follows in the same vein as the previously noted holidays, except it’s Nicola and (amazingly!) Luke that are both accounted for. Jake was presumed to be in Sheffield rehearsing for his play; and Antonia was nowhere to be found, not even at the GQ dinner.

However, Antonia does make a brief reappearance at a BAFTA afterparty alongside Luke on February 16.

Crowd: But it was a repeat of the Boss event. The next day, neither acknowledged the other.

Charley: And Luke was reported to have left the party after only an hour – without Antonia. He even posted a picture of himself getting into a car alone.

Dad: To me, “[i]t seems like Thang took his dog [Antonia] for a walk and left her at the dog park.”

Two days later, Luke – actually out for a walk – is papped getting coffee, alone. Is it horrible of me to say that the most exciting thing about these pictures was the untucked versus tucked shirt? I’m not even sure why I’m taking the time to mention this except I felt there would be some side-eye if I did not.

And to be honest, I’ve left out some details and minor events from the months of January and February because, if I were to add them, this post would be twice as long as it already is. For example, don’t get me started on sunburns, tan lines, and “sunny places.”

If we were in the movie, “Rear Window,” everything stated up until this point would run parallel to the back-and-forth between Detective Doyle and our Trio of Peeping Toms. Evidence is presented by the Trio, which is then countered by Doyle. Doyle’s evidence is dismissed by the Trio because, again, they’re hellbent on proving their case, so they continue theorizing and digging into Thorwald. All that leads up to the movie’s climax.

Charley: Have we finally made it to the SAG?

Crowd: Yes, yes, we have.

Charley: Dad – Dad – wake up!

Dad: Huh?

Alright, the fucking SAG awards. This would be about the point in “Rear Window” where Lisa gets caught by Thorwald rifling through his belongings in search of evidence. We’re in the audience biting our nails because Jefferies can’t do a damn thing to help Lisa except watch everything unfold. And that’s what we did with the SAG awards. The entire Lukola fandom was hyper-focused on Luke and Nicola – and they did not disappoint.

Forget all the drama we endured from the sideshow characters and the nonsense that came with them.

Forget Luke being AWOL for six months.

Forget everything except the “hug heard ‘round the world.”

The ice was broken; the champagne was flowing. Luke and Nicola’s joint SAG appearance was like the World Tour on steroids.

Dad: Can I say something?

Crowd: Fuck. What?

Dad: “It was their season, right? So, their joint appearance on the red carpet wasn’t earth shattering. Neither was them sitting together. It was their night to celebrate.”

Crowd: Who invited this wet blanket to the party?

Dad: I wasn’t done. “Their season has run its course, right? They’ve ‘graduated.’ So why are they the focus of mainstream media?”

Charley: <thinking> Because there’s something newsworthy there?

That is your climax. Not their SAG appearance – because everyone can have their own interpretation of Luke and Nicola’s behavior and those interviewers’ Q&A’s – it was the mainstream media going ga-ga over Luke and Nicola that sent the Lukola narrative tumbling out the window. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand that reference.

By the following day, Luke and Nicola were everywhere. I genuinely appreciate the “Librarians” of the private group chats – those people who track and record every single post, story, like, non-like, follow, unfollow, literally everything – their job was grueling last week. The Sincerely Ignorant Lukolas who jumped ship months ago were frantically trying to climb back on board, while the Jakolas were desperately trying to find their Dramamine. The Defectors went silent except to remind their hive of hornets not to worry; that they will get “a reminder soon…”

Charley: A reminder of what?

Crowd: Oh, that there are two side characters floating about.

Well, lo and behold – right on schedule – a random picture of Luke and Antonia in an elevator surfaced the day after the SAG awards. The problem with the picture was that it was dismissed by Lukolas almost immediately. The account that dropped the picture on X was suspicious. Antonia’s hair and clothing seemed “so last year.” The Lukolas were far more focused on Luke and Nicola liking anything and everything to do with the SAG that day than to pay any attention to the “same old song and dance” about Antonia. Even Nicola liking Jake’s very bland “Nicola” comment on her grid post was dismissed with a “shooing” wave of the hand and an uninterested half laugh.

On February 25, the “insinuation” pictures were at it again. In fact, it was a rather busy day. An event host posted a picture of what appeared to be Antonia perfectly centered at an L.A. hotel pool. The story was reposted by the hotel itself. In fact, that’s the only reason the picture was found by the fandom. A new elevator picture of Luke and Antonia dropped; however, it, too, was dismissed fairly quickly, regardless of it being dropped by a different, less dubious X account. The Lukolas just didn’t give a fuck about Antonia. Luke was the subject of a blind that insinuated he had spent most of his time at the SAG looking in a mirror. And the evening was rounded out by something that would have rocked the boat in June 2024 but had little effect in February 2025 – Nicola followed Antonia on Instagram and vice versa!

Oh, shit – Jefferies just lost his grip and fell out the “Rear Window.” But he didn’t die! So, that’s a plus.

The following day, February 26, Antonia started to remove tags from her Instagram account including the “Soho” New Year's 2024 picture of Luke and his friend group, which included Antonia. And Nicola responded to the “mirror” blind about Luke with “I can confirm this is 100% not true [laughing/crying emoji].” So, interestingly, we had Antonia backing further away from Luke and Nicola stepping up to defend him.

Crowd: So, where do we go from here?

That’s a good question. The thing I’ve learned through this “course” is that the Lukolas are now unmoved by the shenanigans happening around them. You can serve Antonia to them on a silver platter, and they’ll flag down the waiter and ask them to return her to the kitchen. And you won’t find Jake anywhere on their menu (hence why I didn’t even bother to mention Jake’s play).

Dad: I think “the whole thing has run its course.”

It really has. The Lukolas are tired but unyielding. At this point, they just want their version of Thorwald to confess. The narratives running parallel to each other (i.e., Lukola vs. Jakola vs. Lutonia) can’t go on much longer. One of them is going to crack under the pressure.

Remember, “Three can keep a secret…”

P.S.

Dad: “Is Ireland still wearing that ring?”

Me: Yes.

Dad: “Then why did you call me?”

Me: <deep sigh>

[robin-evry]

𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐄𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐀𝐎 𝐘𝐔𝐔 🐺🍃

The Xianzhou Yaoqing's Merlin's Claw and one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals. Unconventional and straightforward, she exudes effortless charm. She is skilled in all forms of martial arts and has honed herself into a supreme weapon. She is widely adored by Xianzhou soldiers and civilians alike as "The Vanquishing General." However, she bears the burden of the Moon Rage affliction. If she were to hunt down all the abominations in her limited lifetime — then the only enemy Feixiao has would be herself.

Many students theorize whether or not Feixiao!yuu might be a descendant of a divine beast due to their abilities is nothing like a regular beast man possessed.

Fei xiao!yuu presence at NRC is like a swift breeze cutting through a stagnant room—elegant, precise, and utterly untouchable. Despite their quiet confidence and disciplined nature, their overwhelming speed and combat prowess make them a mystery to both students and staff alike.

Would never appear late, would go towards a morning jog and workout, and by far it's already 10 minutes before class started immediately get ready and run at max speed to make it to class. And when they made it a huge gust of wind swipe the entire class causing multiple papers books flying around due to how fast they're running.

The strongest beast man in the entire school Leona even acknowledged it, but wouldn't say it out loud. Fei Xiao!yuu has the capabilities to go head on head with malleus and have a large possibility of winning and for Lilia he even admits that fei Xiao!yuu would be able to take him down even during his prime. And during their first encounter with Leona after stepping on his tail before he could swing his leg fully it was caught mid air by them, telling him hitting someone for something so small is not nice.

One day, they challenged half of Savanaclaw to a sparring match and won, causing a massive uproar. Many savanaclaw students respect and admire fei Xiao!yuu calling them big sister or big brother.

They find subjects like History of Magic and Alchemy frustrating but people would still consider their grades Average or above but any hands-on subject is where they shine. They are particularly skilled in Spelldrive, often dominating matches with their speed and strength.f

Fei xiao!Yuu completes assignments with precision but never overcomplicates things. Prefers to finish work quickly and move on, often seen vanishing right after class like a phantom.

Epel mentor and big sibling, Feixiao!yuu would train grim upon physical abilities on many forms of martial arts as well how to wield some weapons causing a boost upon his strength able to take down multiple savanaclaw students. Which shocked vil.

The fastest amongst all the students or the world, every time they run or use their speed wind will follow them as well when they're running time seems to stop or move slower but they're just running faster than anything ( basically super speed ) and if they infuse their speed with their wind ability can make a tornado that sucks everything good for cleaning up debris or messes.

Students often turn their heads for a moment, only to find feixiao!yuu has disappeared without a sound. Even the cameras have a hard time catching them

Can avoid detection effortlessly, slipping past rule-enforcing Riddle or nosy Rook. However, Malleus and Lilia always seem to sense them, much to their irritation.

As well their skilled on multiple weapons impressed multiple students like rook and Lilia. When rook was practicing his archery Feixiao!yuu was wondering around walking at high speed noticed something wrong with rook stands and corrected him, Rook challenged them to demonstrate their abilities towards the bow and managed to shoot a leaf from a mile away where it's impossible to see or hit even experience hunters would have trouble.

Lilia also requested them to train some dismonia students and they accepted knocking multiple students soon a showdown happened between him and Feixiao!yuu it ended at a time, but at the time Lilia immediately knows Feixiao!yuu holding back afraid to hurt him in full strength

During any battle or fighting an overblot, feixiao!Yuu remains calm and focused. They treat Overblotted dorm leaders like a worthy adversary rather than a monstrous threat, Like a challenge.

Fei Xiao!yuu flying Aureus rarely appear due to them holding back because they know that these people are inexperienced but would use flying aureus only for emergencies. the first time they summon the spirit it was riddles overblot.

Similar towards their ultimate, fei Xiao!yuu would summon a tornado stunting riddle and send powerful punches towards his body and compress all the air in the tornado, as well summoning flying aureus to boost their strength sending riddle down to the ground creating a large crater Destroying the garden completely.

And this is how the theory of them is a descendant of a divine beast. Many would immediately stop and greet fei Xiao!yuu in the middle of the hallway. Which amused them.

Some students would try to lift up fei Xiao!yuu signature axe but no one has ever able to do it, even malleus trying to lift up the weapon. Fun fact Crowley forbade them from using their weapon at school so they mostly use their arms during battle, due to the risk of cutting the student who was overbloting.

Fei Xiao!yuu would never tell anyone about their moon rage curse afraid that they would distance themselves but as well hurt them, so when moon rage is happening during the middle of the battle fei Xiao!yuu tend to take it too far to the point of injuring the student after it they secluded themselves towards an empty place to meditate trying to keep their instinct under control.

The first years started to get worried why fei Xiao!yuu seem to be avoiding them so they follow them and find them meditating and when ace taps their shoulder, fei Xiao!yuu was still in a state of moon rage and pin ace down on the floor twisting his arm, his scream woke them up from the state. Good thing ace arm is fine but fei Xiao!yuu is more distant, they tried to Conor fei Xiao!yuu but they were too fast for them after catching up fei Xiao!You finally confess about their curse.

During malleus overblot thanks to their moon rage, fei Xiao!yuu manage to wake up and immediately go head to toe with malleus but during the battle fei Xiao!yuu is still in the moon rage mood so they have no self control or are aware of what's going on.

[honey-milk-depresso]

Batfam x reader going to an escape room

Gesus I went insane from this, I was too lazy to do Babs and Bruce I’m sorry- 😭😭

***S/o is above 18, which means characters below are also aged up!

Batfam x S/o VS Escape Rooms

Dick Grayson

God forbid you bring him to a horror-themed escape room. He can fight Joker, Slade, almost get killed like three days a week but he’s scared of them nasty ass sound effects when you unlock a clue and begin jumping on you while screaming until he stops and goes “oh hey, a clue-”

Sometimes keep pointing at the wrong kinds of clues. Like the ones that have the sticker label that says “NOT PART OF ROOM” and can still ask, “is this a clue???”

If you’re scared, both of you can cling together although both of you would push each other to try to punch in the coordinates because you fear the whacky effects this escape room offers.

He will, however, do everything you tell him when trying to solve puzzles. Dick will sacrifice all his loud sound fear and do it for you. Otherwise if you’re brave enough (magically) he’ll just look from behind and clap with amazement.

Whether you two escape or not… usually not. You guys get stuck there most of the time although he wouldn’t be so jumpy and can focus if you two pick a non-horror-themed escape room. You two still had fun though and that’s all that matters. <3

Jason Todd

I felt like he might’ve destroyed the props inside the room out of frustration. Horror themed or not, this man can get frustrated over puzzles he’s failing at. Like one time this man was punching in possible combinations as stated in the piece of paper you two found (miraculously) that had a riddle to the password of the lock the two of you were trying to open and ends up breaking the lock with his bare hands out of frustration that the host had to rush in after catching all that on camera.

He keeps complaining, “that shit is more nonsensical than Riddler’s riddles, goddamnit!” He just wants to win and get out of here with you. That’s the whole POINT.

The one who keeps making sarcastic jokes about all the clues like “this guy puts ‘DEATH’ as the password, how original”, “wow. Who could’ve guessed the VAMPIRE out of the three options where the two others are HUMANS is the killer. Incredible.” You’ll never here the end of it-

If you’re scared, he’ll hold you closer to him (while he slowly loses his shit to colour coordinated buttons) and secretly likes how you cling to him if you are scared. If not, he’s appreciative you try to calm him down and help him stay focus.

You two would sometimes get out, sometimes not successfully, but all the time you’d usually get a bill to pay for the damaged props. Couple goals. <3

Tim Drake

He is full on lock mode INTO this escape room game. By this point, you two are just speed-running through this to get out and win.

Tim is a detective with an IQ of 142 after all, so most of the escape rooms are just easy for him that you complain isn’t fun anymore. Thus, you two go for the really hard ones and I mean those REALLY hard ones like “The Caretaker” kinda with a 1.5% success rate THEN would things get interesting.

Tim likes a challenge, and he gets even more determined to be successful in escaping. He’s not scared of the props, even in horror-themed because he’s super driven to win. If you get scared of horror-themed, and even more terrifying is that it has such a low success rate he’s still by your side trying to reassure you while trying to solve the clues to get the both of you to the next section. Most of the time, you two get out. He gets super salty if he was about to key in the code to get out but just that split second he ran out of time and the both you didn’t get out. Kiss his cheek so he’ll completely forget being salty and more red-faced. <3

Damian Wayne

Like Jason, might’ve break a few props in the process of being frustrated. He’s laser focused in winning and escaping, it’s just that he’s frustration bubbles up easily in an escape room when he come across a particularly challenging roadblock he might push away his rationality and break the lock with his bare hands like Jason (dude how??).

He’s not scared of escape rooms, and maybe for the cheaper ones he’ll think are lame: commenting on how fake the blood is or how plastic-y the skull is with his bad painting. If you’re scared though, he’s silently celebrating the fact he gets to hold you close all while having a straight face.

Inside, his brain is yelling “YESSSSSSS- THANK YOU LORD FOR LETTING ME HOLD THEM IN MY ARMS AND-”

Yeah- pretty much just sums up the most chaotic experience for you or at least, whatever goes on his head.

Usually would get out with him, although sometimes you two would find a bill to pay for broken props but it’s not as bad as Jason’s count so don’t worry. <3

Duke Thomas

He’s pretty good at escaping actually. Well, he’s not as fast as Tim, but if given an hour on an average escape room, Duke can get out with you in maybe 50 minutes flat.

Of course, he’s not gonna try escaping an escape room with a success rate of 1.5% like Tim is, he knows his limits.

Has fun in horror and non-horror themed escape rooms alike. He’s mildly scared of the horror ones, maybe just be slightly jumpy but he won’t scream hysterically or anything. He’ll probably laugh it off and focus on figuring out the clues.

Maybe throw in a joke or two like, “wow, this guy just gives us the password through people’s surnames that are all colour names. If only it was that easy in stakeout mission-”

If you’re scared, he’s there for you and reminds you it’s fake. You’re not gonna die here (because this isn’t a twisted kind of escape room set up by Joker or anything like that, it’s an entertainment one so it’s okay-) and is pretty chill about the whole thing.

Pretty high success rate to escape for most escape rooms and definitely a lot of fun with him even if you guys fail! <3

Cassandra Cain

Also pretty high success rate of getting out of your average escape room, but she also might be another one to break the props but usually by accident.

She might be a little frustrated rattling with the locker and wondering what other possible the lock combination could work when she accidentally uses her strength and kinda… breaks the lock by accident. The two of you would look at each other as Cass slowly just… puts the lock away and gets to the next clue while the two of you act like nothing happened.

Very calm and collected and she’s just unfazed with the horror-themed escape rooms. She’s seen far worse and in fact, she thinks the horror-themed ones are fun that she’s seen smiling more while solving each clue.

If you’re scared of the props, she tried to reassure you they’re face by showing the blood is fake and the skulls are fake (and then accidentally breaks them somehow or drops the fake blood on the floor-) as she tried to reassure you.

Overall, 10/10 good time with Cass. <3

Stephanie Brown

Okay so… she’s focused, yes, but she takes a really long time to think. Just a tad bit. Might be like Dick: points to the prop that has a “NOT PART OF ESCAPE ROOM” label and goes “is this a clue???”

She’s trying, she really is. Has a pretty normal chance of escaping with you but usually with only 5 minutes left or less. I think the most insane one was when you and her finally broke out on the dot when one hour was over and it was time’s up. The host was just doing that white guy blinking meme thing and was like- “huh- okay-”

She’s kinda jumpy in horror-themed escape rooms, but she’s not like Dick to scream her lungs out. Maybe just let out a yelp or “HOLY SHI—” out loud and be like “goddamnit” when she quickly recovers.

If you’re scared, it’s okay she’s got you! Even if she’s a bit startled in the beginning, she’ll be your (mostly) knight in shining armour!

She jokes a lot about the props around like: “Lmao, this goofy horse painting’s like Jason”, “Why the skull look so poorly painted on the eyes”, “What is with that silly sounding witch laugh, lmao” to lighten up the mood.

Funny times with Steph in there so 10/10. <3

Reblogs help! ^^

[shower-phantom-ideas]

Yall don’t understand how obsessed I am with Danny messing with the Justice League. Like just pranking them mad wild. Or “haunting” them.

Maybe it starts as a mistake. Someone was getting close to him and he just vanished. Maybe he was walking around one of their cities cause he wanted to “see how a real hero does it” but tried to stay out of the way.

Hes following Superman and doesn’t realise hes been had. Superman keeps seeing this odd child on the edge of his vision. It’s only weird because of how quickly he is traveling. He should be followed like this. So he tests it out and flys off to somewhere far off, but secluded. Edge of some farm land would work. Trying to not give it away he doesn’t make a show of looking for the boy. He then spots him. His eyes slightly glowing as he stands in the edge of the woods. Clark focused on the boy and hears slight breaths but nothing else. Which he should have realised sooner was wrong.

He returned to the team to report this odd being following him. To also warn everyone else to be on look out just incase.

Weirdly enough it was the Flash who noticed him next. Even weirder was that he could never get close. Even with his speed which was alarming.

Cyborg started seeing the kid too. He tried using cameras to get a better look at him but nothing ever showed up. Always missing was the boy from the video. Sometimes the whole video would get distort.

Wonder Woman probably got the closest as she used a fight to get “thrown” in his direction. She got close enough to see worry about her. He seemed so concerned and like he was going to step in until he met her gaze. A whole new kind of fear crossed his features. Then he was gone.

Everyone of the main team (and even some not) reporting in of spotting the kid except for Batman. And he looked. He tried everything to see if he was being followed like the rest but nothing. He read their reports on their encounters and tried to emulate it but never saw the boy. Maybe it was all a big prank being pulled on him? He couldn’t rule it out. Still he kept up constant watch.

Then one night he was out and got into a fight. Distracted by looking for the kid he got messy. Or maybe the criminals got desperate but he didn’t notice the rocket launcher being targeted on him in time and it fired. Only then did he notice it. No time to fully get out of the way he braced for the worst. When all of a sudden a body slammed into him shoving him out of the way of the blast. They rolled onto the ground. Bruce quickly recovered and looked for his saviour. On the ground, blown slightly to his left by the explosion was a black haired teen in a white t-shirt. Before he could move the boy groaned and looked right at Bruce. The haunting blue eyes meeting his even with the mask in the way the boy knew just where to look. He was about to speak when the boys eyes went wide with fear and then nothing. The boy just vanished into this air. Bruce didn’t have much time to be stunned by this as the thugs before started to cheer, thinking they had finished off the Bat. So he went to make quick work of them before any could get away. Well now he knows hes being followed too

Danny just freaking out about Batman seeing his face. Turns out he never followed Batman unless fully invisible. All he wanted was to see how “real” heros did it. And it had been helping him with his fighting. To see how the pros are. He was always worried the “worlds greatest detective” would figure him out though so he stayed hidden. Also maybe hes a bit of a fan. I made Wonder Woman get the closest cause shes his fav probably.

[reijisteacup]

Can you do a scenario where they get like a really silly sacrificial bride who makes dark humor jokes and calls them humanoid mosquitoes and randomly drinks monster and gets shaky and violent afterwards because of all the caffeine and aggressively bites them for no reason.

This is me core

YESSS THIS IS MEE TOO TWINNN <3333

=================================================================================================

Sakamaki's

Shu Sakamaki:

At first, he ignored her. A sacrificial bride with a death wish? Fine. Less work for him. But then she climbed onto his couch, knocked his headphones off, and bit his shoulder hard. “Are you feral!?” She licked her lips. “You taste like wet dog and childhood trauma.” He genuinely considered calling Karlheinz.

Reiji Sakamaki:

He tried to educate her. Tried to instill discipline. Structure. Dignity. But every time he lectured her, she stared blankly and whispered: “God, you sound like a tax accountant. Bite me.” “I intend to.” “Promise?” He banned energy drinks. She started making her own in the garden. She called it “Witch Juice.” It burned a hole through the marble.

Laito Sakamaki:

“Oh~ such a naughty little thing. Kinky, ne~?” She blinked once. “Do you want rabies? Because I’ll give you rabies.” Then she bit his neck like an angry toddler and screamed “BLEED FOR MY ART!” Even he needed a moment after that.

Kanato Sakamaki:

He was intrigued by her… erratic behavior. Until she called Teddy “Build-A-Bear’s goth cousin” and tried to offer him Monster. He screamed. She screamed. Everyone screamed. The windows shattered. When he finally tried to drain her, she whispered, “Careful. I had five Red Bulls and a gummy bear today. My blood might legally count as an energy drink.” He spat her out.

Ayato Sakamaki:

Thought she was gonna be an easy snack. Until she bit him first. While laughing. “Hey! You don’t get to do the biting, Chichinashi!” “Sorry, I thought we were playing ‘Who’s the Bigger Parasite.’ Guess I won.” Cue Ayato chasing her through the halls, fangs bared, her screaming “MOSQUITO MAN DETECTED—DEPLOYING REPELLENT” and throwing holy water like it’s a Nerf war.

Subaru Sakamaki:

Poor, poor Subaru. He tried to be patient. Nice, even. But she snuck up on him, poked his arm, and said, “Hey. Do vampires get heart attacks? Because I think I’m about to give you one.” She then chugged half a Monster, screamed like a war god, and sprinted full-speed into a wall. He just left the room. Nope.

Mukami's

Ruki Mukami:

He thought she was a “livestock anomaly” at first — defective, but manageable. Then she kicked open the manor door, chugged a Monster in three gulps, and screamed: “HELLO POLYESTER DRACULAS, YOUR BRIDE HAS ARRIVED. WHO WANTS TO DIE FIRST?!” He dropped his book. When he tried to scold her for her “utter lack of refinement,” she made unblinking eye contact and whispered: “Your hair makes you look like a rejected Final Fantasy villain.” She bit him later for calling her ‘livestock.’ He had a mark for three days. Ruki locked himself in the library for 72 hours. He now mutters her name like a curse.

Kou Mukami:

At first, he thought it was all an act. “She’s just quirky~ That manic pixie cryptid energy is kinda cute~” Then she punched a hole through his fan mail pile during a caffeine rampage and told his stuffed rabbit: “You’re next, Rabbit Satan.” She tried to bite him mid-photo shoot, eyes wild, pupils two different sizes. He screamed. She screamed. The camera guy screamed. And when he bled a little, she licked her lips and said: “Mmm~ glitter blood. Tastes like clout.” Kou has been sleeping with the door locked ever since.

Yuma Mukami:

He honestly liked her. At first. Girl had bite — literally. The first time they argued, she lunged for his forearm and gnawed like a rabid raccoon. “WHAT THE HELL—?!” She didn’t even answer. Just wiped her mouth and went, “You taste like fertilizer and unresolved daddy issues.” He tackled her into a bush. She started calling him “Corn Daddy.” He pretends to hate her, but honestly? She's the only person who’s ever scared him without even trying.

Azusa Mukami:

Wasn't scared. At all. No, he was enthralled. She bit him? He smiled. She barked at the others like a demon chihuahua on six Monsters? He laughed softly. Called her "warm chaos." “Do you… want to bite me again…? Harder this time?” She blinked. “You’re kinda weird. I like that. Wanna shotgun Monster together and commit minor arson?” Cue the most deranged, soft-spoken duo in vampire history. Everyone avoids them now. They’ve started a caffeine cult.

Tsukinami's

Carla Tsukinami:

The King of Vampires met her, and she called him a “premium Dollar Tree Dracula.” He nearly killed her on the spot.

Nearly.

But the way she downed a Monster mid-sentence and growled “fight me, powdered donut boy” before lunging at him with a feral bite? That… intrigued him. “You are either utterly brainless… or a divine glitch.” She responded by asking if his cloak was made of dead IKEA curtains.

Carla has not been the same since.

Shin Tsukinami:

He laughed his ass off. “What are you, a rabid possum? What’s wrong with your blood pressure?” She bit him out of nowhere — no warning, no seduction, just CHOMP. “NOW YOU’RE MARKED BY THE GOBLIN QUEEN!” she screamed, eyes twitching from her sixth Monster. Shin didn’t even fight back. He wheezed. He cried. He might’ve imprinted on her. “I think I’m in love,” he whispered, holding his bitten wrist like it was sacred.

[coochiequeens]

Good news for my same sex attracted sisters.

Lesbian dating app to use facial recognition to exclude trans women from matching with biological females

By SANCHEZ MANNING and SUE REID

PUBLISHED: 19:03 EDT, 1 June 2024 

The first dating app for lesbians is set to launch – using sex-recognition technology to exclude trans women and ensure only biological females can sign up.

It is the brainchild of feminist campaigner Jenny Watson, who says there are currently no dating apps which cater purely for women who want same-sex relationships.

The current crop of dating apps, she says, are increasingly being used by males who identify as female and who say they too are lesbian.

L'App will use facial recognition technology to verify a person as a biological female.

Ms Watson said would-be users will have to go through a process when they sign up where the app scans their face via their smartphone.

It is the brainchild of feminist campaigner Jenny Watson (pictured), who says there are currently no dating apps which cater purely for women who want same-sex relationships

The software, which Ms Watson claims is 99 per cent accurate, analyses features including bone structure, the shape and positioning of an individual's eyes, eyebrows and nose shape or size. It will also be able to detect if a person is presenting a live image rather than just putting a photo of a woman up to the camera by detecting movement, blinking motions and heat emissions.

Tests have revealed that if someone tries to disguise themselves as a woman by putting on a wig or make-up, the technology will spot the deception.

Ms Watson, 32, a town planner, told The Mail on Sunday: 'There is no female-only dating apps at the moment. Lesbians need an app which they can use without being messaged by trans-identifying males.'

She said L'App had also been developed in response to many lesbians finding that they were being banned from existing apps if they dared to specify that they wanted to date only natal females. Speaking about her own personal experience, she said: 'Any time I've joined a lesbian dating app or any other dating app myself, I get banned.

'To avoid trans-identified males, I will always write a little blurb, nothing disrespectful, saying my preference is for women and please respect my boundaries.

'And every time I do that I get banned. On one app I was asked to put down my most controversial opinion, so I wrote that J. K. Rowling was right and was banned for that. It's insane.'

Ms Watson has previously campaigned to protect lesbian spaces, by hosting female-only speed dating nights. She plans to open UK's first single-sex lesbian bar.

She has been criticised as transphobic for excluding transgender women – which she rejects. Her launch comes as a court case is being heard in Australia over whether a trans woman can be lawfully excluded from a female-only social networking app called Giggle.

[fluentmoviequoter]

waves of feelings

Adam Karadec x fem!detective!reader request, brief angst to fluff, emotional vulnerability, 3.2k+ words

You don't realize that you like Karadec and he feels the same until Morgan points it out.

High Potential Masterlist | Directory | Request Rules

Karadec is pretty like the ocean during a thunderstorm. At first glance, it seems dark, dangerous, all choppy waves waiting to pull you under and sharp rocks. But, if you wait a moment, linger in the cool sand beneath the clouds, you can find peace in it. The grey clouds reflect off the dark blue water, painting the horizon in a mysterious yet mystifying collision of danger and growth, spouting from the same precipice.

“No, she’s gone,” someone says, drawing you from your daydream.

You blink, and the Major Crimes bullpen comes into focus as the image of sitting on a beach with Karadec fades to the back of your mind. Daphne and Oz are watching you, smiling as you try to catch up with the conversation.

“What?” you ask.

“Oz wanted to know if you had the security footage from the 7/11 across the street from our stabbing scene,” Daphne answers.

“Oh,” you murmur, shaking your mouse to wake your computer. “Yeah, I’ll forward it.”

“Thank you,” Oz says. “Care to share what you were thinking about?”

You shake your head as you focus on finding the video. “Just zoned out.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Daphne jokes. “Here I thought it was daydreaming.”

“Fine,” you sigh, smiling over your shoulder at her. “I was on a pretty beach, far from murder and mayhem, with nothing on my mind but the beauty in front of me.”

Daphne nods as she pulls herself back to her desk, reaching for a lollipop. “Better answer. Which beach? Bahamas?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Daphne sighs, then begins typing, drawn back into the real world. You’re lucky to have this team, you think. You can joke with each other and have fun, but you’re also there for each other when things turn serious. This job is hard enough as it is, and you can’t imagine doing it with anyone else.

“Shouldn’t Karadec be back by now?” Oz wonders.

“He’s with Morgan,” Daphne reminds him.

“Yeah, so however long it would take Karadec, double it and add half an hour,” you add.

“What’s the half hour for?” Morgan asks as she enters the bullpen.

“Fun facts, sightseeing, replacing the lollipop you stole,” Daphne lists.

“Hey, I apologized.”

“Doesn’t replace it,” you muse.

You spare a glance at Karadec, then turn back to your computer. He’s been different lately, and not just because of Morgan. Or maybe it is because of Morgan. Either way, you think he’s found something or someone that has made his life different. You’re happy for him, of course, but you can’t help but wonder why you don’t have that. Flexing your fingers over your keyboard, you remind yourself to focus, then open the video feed from a traffic camera less than a mile from the crime scene.

“Find anything?” Karadec asks, stopping beside your desk.

“The 7/11 had Monster energy drinks on sale,” you answer, leaning back to see him. “Four cans for $5.”

“Ooh,” Oz murmurs. “I might need to find a 7/11.”

“There are approximately 1,900 7/11 stores in California,” Morgan informs, perching on the corner of Karadec’s desk. “Or one store for every 21,000 people.”

“That’s a lot of stores that don’t even sell the best sour candy,” Daphne says.

“TOD was around 11, right?” you check. Karadec nods, so you continue, “Two cars drove by at a high rate of speed at 10:23 p.m., heading toward the scene. I’m trying to find them on other cameras to see if maybe they stopped around there.”

“Good work,” he applauds, nodding. “Let me know.”

“Sure,” you agree, releasing a breath when he steps away.

“Morgan and I found the store where he bought the knife,” Karadec says. "A hunting and fishing store in Rancho Cucamonga confirmed that the knife was purchased there. Apparently, they’re the only seller in the contiguous U.S., and it isn’t sold online in the states. Their legal team is prepping a list of buyers to send over.”

“Doesn’t narrow it down much,” Oz responds.

Karadec shakes his head, his gaze wandering to you. You’ve been distant lately, distracted. He'd ensure you were okay if he could find the right time or place. At the end of the day, when you all go home and the cases are supposed to be pushed out of your mind until you return to work or catch a break, he realizes that it isn’t his business. Karadec has enough going on in his life that it’s easy to forget to wonder about you when he actually has time to slow down and think. Like now, this stabbing case is familiar, almost too familiar, so when he looks away from you, that worry disappears, and he begins analyzing his own past for an idea of why he can’t seem to move past this stall point in the investigation.

“Still a John Doe?” Morgan inquires.

“Oh!” you exclaim, glancing at the clock above Karadec’s head. “I have to go. Meeting with the ME.”

“Need a second set of eyes?” Morgan offers.

“I’m okay,” you answer, gathering your things. “Thanks.”

After you leave, it’s as if a scale has been removed from Karadec’s eyes. Everything is a little clearer, the pieces of the puzzle fit together, as he opens the case file and turns his back to your desk.

While you’re gone, Karadec remembers why the case seems so familiar, why it’s bringing up memories of his field training days. He realizes that the sudden influx of nightmares must be related. Turning toward Oz and Daphne, Karadec prepares to tell them what he knows.

“My first year on the job, there was a series of stabbings,” Karadec begins. “Every victim was left on the side of the road with no wallet, no keys, and no clues as to how they got there.”

“A serial killer?” Daphne asks.

“The Rager,” Morgan says, snapping as she remembers. “They discovered the victims were run off the road and attacked by a man with intense road rage.”

“Right,” Karadec replies. “The speeding cars in the 7/11 video could indicate a similar situation.”

“Is the original killer still in prison?” Oz wonders. “If he got out, started driving again… could be the same guy.”

“He died,” Morgan answers. “Prison riot a few years ago, he was stabbed, passed away the next day. Right?”

Karadec nods, tapping his fingers on his thighs. In his nightmares, people he cares about turn up dead, killed in different ways by the criminals he’s locked up over the years. The vengefulness of wrongdoers has permanently marred his mind. If he had a chance to work some of his past cases again, he’d approach them differently. Maybe this is that chance.

Looking toward your desk, he asks, “Did the traffic cams show anything close to the scene?”

“Closest one was a half mile away, between the scene and the 24-hour grocery store east of it,” Oz replies.

“So, the other side of the 7/11. If the same car or cars passed it, we could get some more information.”

“How did the Rager get rid of the other cars?” Daphne asks.

“He came back for them,” Karadec answers. “Had a friend bring him back, claiming he was picking it up for a friend with a car repo business or something. It was a different time.”

“Exactly,” she agrees. “Today, you can’t just leave a car on the side of the road without someone taking notice.”

“Two killers,” you announce, returning from the ME’s office. You drop your bag in your chair and lean over your desk to pull up the video from the traffic camera. “I’d be willing to bet that we’ll see both cars driving by, going the speed limit, not riding each other’s tails, just going.”

The team gathers around your monitor as you press play, and it’s just as you suspected. You replay the clip, then pause it as the second car enters the frame.

“The bumper is damaged,” Morgan realizes. “They ran him off the road, killed him, then took his car.”

“Run the plates, Oz,” Karadec instructs. “Find our victim’s name and who own the killer’s car.”

“ME confirmed that the stab wounds were inflicted by two different people,” you say. “Likely one man and one female.”

“Nice work,” Karadec applauds.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Oz calls. “Killer’s car is registered to Rager’s nephew.”

Lying sideways across your bed, you let your head hang partially off the side, your hair loose and cascading toward the floor. You move your feet to the rhythm of your favorite song, playing on repeat as you try to clear your mind.

Across town, Karadec looks out of his window, spinning a glass between his hands as he pretends he can see the stars past the smog and city lights. The case is closed, so he could probably sleep without nightmares tonight, but his mind won’t quiet. It’s been years since he worked the Rager case, but he feels like he’s in the same place, back at the beginning, stuck in a continuous cycle.

He looks at the clock as your song ends, and you both sigh before you stand. Sleepless Los Angeles nights call for one of two things: finding someone to spend it with, or a midnight walk on the beach with a prayer you don’t get caught while it’s closed to the public.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you exclaim, pulled from your wonderings about why your life looks so much different than you imagined it would.

Karadec turns away from the ocean, facing you as your mind reminds you of what you’d thought about this morning.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he guesses, walking toward you.

“I’m surprised any of us can these days,” you muse, forcing yourself to look at the dark waves rather than Karadec.

“What’s your excuse? You closed the case, you should be taking a victory nap,” he teases.

You scoff, walking slowly beside him, dragging your feet through the loose sand. “Right, because solving a case is the key to turning your mind off. If that were true, you would never complain about sleep deprivation.”

“Those complaints are our right as detectives,” he argues.

“You… you might have a point there.”

Karadec shakes his head, a close-lipped smile gracing his features as the lights of a pier come into view.

“Come out here often?” he asks.

“Not as much as I used to,” you admit. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately – too much, maybe. The waves drown out some of those thoughts.”

Karadec nods. “Yeah, I’m sure you have a lot to think about.”

“What does that mean?” you inquire, laughing.

“I mean, look at you,” he says, gesturing toward you as if he answered your question.

“I’d prefer not to,” you reply.

“Seriously,” he continues. “You’re a good detective, got a stable job, a nice place to live, you’re pretty. Other than the hazards of our job, you’ve got it pretty good.”

“Yeah,” you agree facetiously. “If that were true, I’d be in a committed relationship, not considering adopting a cat just so I’m not completely alone between shifts.”

“Better to be alone that haunted by past arrests in your dreams,” Karadec murmurs.

You quiet, letting your smile fall as you nod. He’s right, of course, but there has to be a halfway point, where the good and the bad outweigh each other and everything is at the very least okay.

“What do you normally do on beach nights?” you inquire.

“Besides avoiding the patrol trucks?” Karadec counters.

“Obviously.”

“Usually go get coffee or something, stroll through a neighborhood.”

“Okay, midnight coffee is terrible for you, and I’m going to assume that you stroll through a moderately safe neighborhood.”

Karadec shakes his head. “Then what do you do? If my routine is so bad.”

You smile, pointing towards a break between beachfront buildings. “I’ll show you.”

Sitting across from Karadec, you lean back against the cracked red vinyl. The table between you is inlaid with newspapers and magazines from the 1900s, and Rhythm of the Rain by The Cascades plays on the jukebox by the door.

“I thought coffee was a no go,” Karadec says, opening the menu.

“We’re not here for coffee,” you argue.

“Hey, sweetie,” the singular waitress working at midnight greets. “The usual?”

“Yes, please,” you reply, smiling kindly. “And the same for my friend.”

“You got it.”

“The usual,” Karadec repeats. “My midnight go-to is unhealthy, but you can go to a diner every night.”

“You’re very judgy for someone getting a free treat,” you muse.

“I can pay for it.”

You wave, glancing out the window as you fold a napkin on the table.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Karadec invites.

“Not at all. Do you?”

He shakes his head, and you sit in comfortable silence until two bowls piled high with vanilla ice cream are delivered to your table. A long plate with various toppings accompanies them, and you smile as you say, “Thank you.”

“Midnight sundaes,” Karadec says, his brows lifted. “Much healthier than coffee.”

“You’re just jealous I thought of it first.”

It’s nearing two a.m. when you exit the diner and stop out into the parking lot.

“I’m a mile that way,” Karadec says, pointing straight ahead.

“I’m a mile that way,” you reply, pointing over your shoulder.

“Come on,” he invites as he begins walking.

“I just said I’m the other way,” you argue, following him anyway.

“It’s a mile regardless. This way, you don’t have to walk alone at this hour, and I’ll drive you back.”

“But I was walking alone before I found you,” you point out.

“Which is terrible for you,” Karadec deadpans, drawing a chuckle from you as you jog to catch up with him.

The following morning at work, which is only a few hours after you left Karadec, you feel oddly rested. You’ve still got a lot on your mind, but it doesn’t seem as pressing anymore, and you can see where you’ve succeeded in life. Like midnight sundaes, a brilliant advancement from your college years. Karadec comes into the bullpen while you’re scrolling on your phone, and he’s clearly thinking too, not greeting his team as he usually does.

“Are we case-free right now?” Morgan asks. “This is weird, right?”

“It’s never long,” Oz assures her. “We’ll get a call soon.”

“While we’re waiting,” Daphne begins, smiling at you.

You lock your phone and pinch your brows as you say, “I don’t like your tone, Daph.”

Karadec unlocks his computer, then turns his chair, looking between you and Daphne.

“I want to set you up with this guy I know,” she explains. “You’re single, right?”

“Yeah,” you answer slowly. “But I don’t think I want to date anyone right now. I… It’s not the right time.”

“Unless it’s Karadec, of course,” Morgan interjects.

Your eyes widen as you look at her, and Karadec clenches his jaw so hard you can see the muscle in it tighten.

“What?” you whisper.

“You like Karadec,” Morgan says, lifting her hands. “He likes you. You like each other.”

You look away from Morgan, your eyes bouncing left to right as you think. You’ve been evaluating every area of your life over the last few weeks, picking apart your feelings to find what was missing. It makes sense now that you somehow brought Karadec into every musing. When you thought about needing a break, Karadec was on the beach with you, a lighthouse in your storm. When you considered your career success, Karadec was solving cases beside you. It’s so obvious now that Morgan has said it. You like Karadec.

Karadec watches you as you think. He’s more composed following Morgan’s intrusion into your private life, thinking about all the instances in which you invaded his thoughts. After a nightmare, he’d open your text thread, type a message, then delete it, opting to sit with himself and feel hopeless until the sun rose on a new day. Even last night, you’d been on his mind as he stared out at the ocean and asked himself if he was doing a good enough job as head detective.

“I’m going to take this as a no,” Daphne drawls, sitting back in her seat.

“Morgan, I think you broke them,” Oz chides, looking between you and Karadec.

“Gillory,” Karadec begins. “We’re at work. There is never a time or a place for you to interject yourself into your personal lives.”

“Got it,” she replies, nodding. “I won’t be so blunt next time.”

“I just said-" Karadec cuts himself off with a sigh, closing his eyes as he shakes his head.

“I- I’ll be right back,” you murmur before you stand. In the privacy of the bathroom, you look at yourself in the mirror. You’d convinced yourself that Karadec would never like you, and it didn’t take much. Then, you let yourself believe that your entire life was running off the rails. Maybe if you’d just admitted that you had feelings for Karadec, you could have solved cases faster because you wouldn’t have been so easily distracted.

Rushing back into the bullpen, you don’t notice how Oz, Daphne, and Morgan look up, wide-eyed and ready to eavesdrop on whatever moment you and Karadec are about to have.

“We need another case,” you declare. “I think we can crack a cold case.”

Karadec watches you for several breaths, then asks, “Did you have coffee while you were gone?”

“No, that’s your thing,” you reply, smiling. “Tell me I’m wrong. This team can do it, and we don’t have anything else to do today.”

Karadec can’t interrupt you to say that Morgan was right, not with the others watching, so he smiles and agrees. Morgan already has a cold case in mind, and the board is filled with details as you talk everything over, sparing glances at Karadec every chance you get.

You knock on Karadec’s door long after the sun goes down and a cold case has been reopened, solved, and closed. In your cooler, you’ve brought ice cream, your favorite sundae toppings, and everything you saw Karadec use last night. You need to talk, need to clear the air, and address what Morgan pointed out today, but there’s no movement inside, no answer to your knocks. Letting your smile fall, you wonder if Morgan was wrong. The thought doesn’t linger long before the elevator opens and someone clears their throat behind you.

Turning, your smile returns when you see Karadec lift a grocery store bag.

“You weren’t at home,” he says.

“You weren’t either,” you reply softly. “I, uh, I brought sundaes.”

“I brought coffee.”

You scrunch your nose, and he steps past you to unlock the door. “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

He pushes the door open, and you step inside, looking around as he sets his bag on the counter. Karadec takes the cooler from your hand, pulls the ice cream out, and sets it in the freezer.

“Morgan was right,” you blurt out. “About me liking you. I guess I didn't realize because I was caught up in the waves of my own feelings - trying to keep them from pulling me under.”

Karadec pushes the freezer closed before he returns to your side. Standing in front of you with only inches separating you, he raises his hand to your face. His touch is warm and gentle, his hand strong and calloused.

“I get it. Don’t tell her, but Morgan was right about more than you liking me,” he murmurs, leaning in to kiss you as he kicks the front door closed.

[animalphotorefs]

Hey! Sorry if you’ve been asked this before, but I didn’t see it anywhere.

I volunteer at an aquarium and often arrive before my shift, in which case I wander around and like to take photos. However, there’s been a problem of my phone focusing on imperfections in the glass rather than the animals, making the photos very blurry. I’m thinking about buying a small camera to fix the issue, is there a specific feature I need to look for or should just about any kind work? Your zoo and aquarium photography always turns out so clean so I was hoping you’d have advice. If not no worries!

What I’ve learned so far is that taking photos of fish in tanks is really dang hard, honestly. I’ve got a good idea of how to get the basics I want for the site now but they’re not like… what I would consider good photos.

You’ve got a couple problems with trying to shoot into tanks that have to be solved around: the acrylic/plexi is thick, and can warp or scratch or discolor; the water itself also creates light refraction and adds distortion to images; not all tanks are well lit, and many are lit with LEDs that have a flicker cycle; tanks are often very shallow, which requires a macro capability, or they’re super deep but anything farther back gets distorted by the water volume; fish are fast little buggers that require a really high shutter speed.

I think your phone is probably focusing too close to you - its software is telling it the salient point of the image is the surface of the tank, instead of the things in it. That’s more common now I think as phone cameras get better and better and the design improvements are focused on close up detail like a flower or a dog nose or a portrait from three feet away.

The current setup I’ve been using is a mirrorless camera with the autofocus software set to detect eyes, prioritize animals, and hold tracking without switching subjects. For fish I rented a macro lens with a big aperture so I could get close-up shots with lots of ability to take in light (35mm RF 1.8 if anyone is curious). That compensated for the fact that I had to use a shutter speed of like, 4000th-5000th of a second to catch moving fish without motion blur - for context I normally shoot birds in flight at around a 2000th of a second. Some tanks were well enough lit that worked with normal settings, but a lot required purposefully overexposing the shots massively and cranking the ISO up to absolutely ridiculous levels.

Point being like… yeah, you can get a nice camera with a good macro lens if it’s important to you to get fish photos. But tbh I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it, and it’s a pretty major investment. I don’t think a point and shoot (anything without interchangable lenses) would have the capacity for the settings I found I needed. I don’t want to discourage you, but I do want to be honest about what you might be looking at!

That said, if you want to play around with the idea, you can always rent cameras and lenses! That’s how I’ve figured out what my daily kit looks like and what I want to buy for different use cases. I will always recommend finding a local store, but if you don’t have one and are in the US, I’ve always had good experiences with the company Lensrentals.

Let me know if you end up trying some new gear, and any other professional photographers please chime in with additional advice!

[frenchfriedgiraffe]

the year is 2023. dghda season 7 has just ended. after bringing back multiple dead characters (including but not limited to dead character number 1, 2, 3, 4, and patrick spring) the titular main character dirk gently is standing in the middle of the ocean, on a lifeboat, surrounded by sharks. he stares straight into the camera and says "looks like this requires... some sort of... holistic detection." he takes out a tracking device and presses a button, releasing several pterodactyls into the air. the lifeboat (which has now been revealed to be dirks trusty partner, mona) transforms into a speedboat and whisks them both into the air, following not only the course of destiny, but the convenient tracking device heading straight for (dirk turns to give a dramatic look at the camera) the agency.

they crash through several buildings and dirk cracks a funny one liner about tuesdays. mona is conveniently nowhere to be seen. dirk goes to the agency where todd is sitting and being a character. dirk smiles and todd leaps into the air, dirk has been saved! they jump into each other's arms, lips 3 centimeters apart... will they...?

a phone rings, making them both pause. dirk answers it. his face falls in shock. todd asks him what's wrong. dirk turns around grimly.

"somehow... gordon rimmer has returned"

the crowd of marketable small cats in the corner of the room gasp. todd gets shot by several arrows in a pararibulitis attack to keep viewer retention. dramatic music and alarms blare. suddenly there's a crashing sound. dirk whips around only to see the aforementioned sharks speeding towards them through the sky. dirk says "they fly now!?" todd nodds "they fly now."

several sharks eat dirks body and its all very sad. todd is crying. the writers suddenly remember farah is there and make her cry too, but in a cool way. suddenly, bright light erupts from dirks body. he's not dead!! something is happening! he stands up, the light fading to reveal... matt smiths face.

"this sure is some holistic agency" he says as the credits roll and every single person on earth claps as the show finale ends... teasing perhaps a reboot... bought by a major conglomerate perhaps...

[bethanythebogwitch]

I am a survivor of Florida, having gone to college there for 4.5 years. There's a lot (a LOT) to not like about Florida, but the wildlife is not one of those things. So for this Wet Beast Wednesday, I'm gonna talk about the most famous Florida resident, the manatee. And why stop there? I'll discuss all the sirenians in one go.

(image: three manatees facing the camera. They are rotund, resembling a potato in shape. Their heads are smaller and end in squarish snouts. They have two flippers at the front of the head. The tail is flat, wide, and round. They are grey all over)

The sirenians are a taxonomic order of marine mammals consisting of 4 living members: three species of manatee and the dugong. They are the only herbivorous order of marine mammals, a trait that has given the the nickname "sea cows". The name Sirenia comes from the sirens of greek myth. In the original story, the sirens were bird with the heads and breasts of women, but later stories turned them into mermaids and that's the version that's stuck. There are unconfirmed stories that European sailors (the most common story uses Christopher Columbus) mistook manatees for mermaids, which is why they're named after sirens.

(image: a manatee facing the camera. Its face is visible, revealing two nostrils on a broad, flat shout covered in whiskers. It's eyes are located above the snout and are small and black. It is grey, but has patches of greenish algae growing on it)

Sirenians all have a pretty similar body plan. They are fusiform (bulky in the middle and narrower at the ends) and very bulky animals not built for speed. They don't ned to be fast (though are capable of short bursts of speed) because unlike other marine mammals, they are herbivorous. The vast majority of a sirenian's diet consists of sea grass and most of the rest is other aquatic plants. All species have been known to supplement their diet with invertebrates, mostly during times of poor food availability. When feeding, they move their snouts through the sediment, letting sensory bristles detect plants. They then use their flexible and muscular lips to pull up the sea grass, roots and all. While an individual can eat up to 15% of their body weight a day, they are known to seek out seagrass patches with higher nitrogen content instead of eating everything they can get. This reliance on seagrass limits the range of sirenians to shallow coastal areas, rivers, and estuaries in warm climates. Hearing and touch (with the bristles that cover their bodies) are their main senses. Their eyes are weak, making them almost blind. Sirenians are large, with the largest ever known, Stellar's sea cow, growing up to 10 meters (33 ft) and 11 tons. Mature sirenians are large enough to have no natural predators. Like all marine mammals not named sea otters, sirenians have a thick layer of blubber to keep them warm. Their bones are extremely dense and likely act as ballast to counteract the buoyancy of the blubber. In the marine mammal breath-holding competition, sirenians do pretty bad. They can hold their breath for about 15 minutes at max.

(image: a dugong. It is similar in appearance to a manatee, but skinnier. Its tail is a fluke with two points. Its head is larger and the snout and mouth point downwards)

Sirenian reproduction is somewhat poorly-understood. They only have a single calf at a time (with a gestation period of about a year) and mothers will raise them for one to two years. Calves mature quickly, reaching sexual maturity in around 2-5 years in manatees and 8 years in dugongs, though most females do not give birth until between 6 and 15 years. Their nipples are located behind the flippers, making a nursing calf appear to be sucking its mother's armpit. Sirenians are solitary animals who typically only congregate in groups when females are in estrus. Males are believed to compete for the right to mate and may engage in lekking. Lekking is when a male will claim a territory and mate with females in this territory while chasing opposing males out. Sirenians live long lives, with the oldest known individual being a female dugong that lived to 73. Despite how long they live, each female will only get pregnant a few times in her life.

(image: a manatee mother with calf. The calf looks like a smaller version of the mother and is suckling, making it appear to be biting the mother's armpit)

As with all marine mammals, sirenians are descended from land mammals. The study of sirenian evolution has led to a surprising conclusion: the closest relatives of sirenians are elephants. It sounds weird, but there is substantial DNA evidence supporting this conclusion. In addition, the tusks of a dugong (see below) and flexible and prehensile lips of sirenians are based on the same structures as the tusks and trunks of elephants. It gets better, the next closest relative of both groups are the hyraxes, who look more like rodents than anything that should be related to an elephant or a manatee. All three are part of a clade called paenungulata, which is part of a clade called afrotheria. The other main group within afrotheria is afroinsectiphilia, which consists of aardvarks and various shrews. The afrotherian family reunions must be wild.

(image: a scientific diagram showing a cladogram of afrotheria and the groups within it. source)

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the last surviving member of its family, which also included the now extinct giant Stellar's sea cow. The easiest way to tell a dugong apart from a manatee is its tail, which is shaped like a dolphin's fluke instead of the round tails of manatees. Internally, there are also multiple differences, many of them relating to the skull. The skull has a very distinct shape, with the upper jaw bending down at a sharp angle. The tip of the upper jaw has two short tusks emerging from it. These tusks are found in moth males and females, but develop differently. In males, they emerge when the calf reaches sexual maturity, while those of females only emerge later in life and sometimes not at all. It is believed that these tusks are used by males to fight over females, as males are often found with scars matching the shape of the tusks. Dugong teeth as simpler than those of manatees, being simple pegs. While manatee teeth will be replaced continuously through life, dugongs only get one set and have to make it count. Dugongs reach an average length of 3 m (10 ft) and 420 kg (930 lbs). Dugongs have the largest range of any sirenian, stretching from east Africa to the Solomon islands east of Australia. This range is fragmented rather than continuous and dugongs are separated into multiple isolated populations. The largest population is believed to exist in northern Australia.

(image: a dugong feeding on seagrass, seen from the front. It's snout is being dragged through the sediment, leaving a cloud of dirt behind it. Small yellow fish surround it)

The west Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) does not live in west India. It lives in North America. I dunno who named it, but you had one job. The species is divided into two subspecies: the Florida manatee (T. m. latriostris) found in the Gulf of Mexico and east coast of the United States, and the Antillean manatee (T. m. manatus) found in the Caribbean and down south to Brazil. The Antillean subspecies is much more poorly known compared to the Florida subspecies. The Florida manatee may be the most well-studied of all manatees due to the extensive conservation efforts regarding them since the 1970s. Like other manatees, the WI manatee has a round, paddle-like tail and fingernails on its flippers. Their diaphragms are divided into two hemidiaphragms, each of which contracts one lung. They have the northernmost territory of all manatees, which comes with some consequences. They are susceptible to stress and even death when exposed to water under 20 degrees C (68 F). They travel south during winter, usually to southern Florida, but conservationists still have to rehabilitate manatees harmed by cool water every year.

(image: tourists in transparent kayaks observing a west Indian manatee swim below them)

The Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) is the only sirenian that lives entirely in freshwater, residing in the Amazon river basin. They move seasonally inhabiting flooded areas during the wet season and lakes during the dry season. They fast during the dry season, subsisting off of their fat stores. There are believed to be multiple relatively isolated populations of Amazonian manatee, but studying them is difficult due to them preferring to live in areas away from humans. The Amazonian manatee is the smallest sirenian, reaching between 160 and 230 cm (5 ft 4 in to 7 ft 7 in) and 120 to 270 kg (265 to 595 lbs). Scientist Marc van Roosmalen has proposed the existence of a related species, the dwarf manatee, that lives only in one tributary of Aripuanã river, which is in the habitat range of the Amazonian manatee. Their existence is debated, but most manatee scientists think that they are misidentified juvenile Amazonian manatees.

(image: an Amazonian manatee with calf, seen from ahead and below. they have the same body plan as the above images, but are a darker grey with a white patch on the stomach)

The African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) is the only species found in the old world, in west Africa from Senegal to Angola. They occupy the largest range of habitats of all sirenians, from tropical islands to flooded forests, to offshore sand flats, to lakes and rivers. They will swim up river during the wet season and back down during dry season. Some isolated populations live exclusively in rivers, never venturing out to sea. They are the most omnivorous of the sirenians, seeking out invertebrates to eat and stealing fish from nets. Many cultural groups in their range consider the African manatee sacred, some saying they used to be people and that killing one requires paying a penance. Mami Wata, a water spirit revered in throughout west, central, and south Africa, has been identified with manatees by some folklorists.

(image: an African manatee seen from the side in an aquarium. It looks almost identical to the west Indian manatee)

All sirenians are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, except for the Antillean manatee, which is endangered. As they have few to no predators as adults, the primary threats for all sirenians come from humans. Boat strikes and getting tangled in nets kills and injures many individuals, possibly more than die of natural causes. This is not helped by them lacking fear responses to predators, meaning they don't flee from humans and boats. All species were historically hunted for their meat, blubber, and bones, reducing their populations. While all species are now legally protected, poaching and legal hunting by indigenous groups still occurs. They are also threatened by habitat loss as coastal development, pollution, and climate change reduces the range of seagrass. Damming has also reduced their ability to travel up rivers, cutting off valuable feeding ground. Learning about freshwater ecology will make you despise dams. In the United States, the west Indian manatee has become an icon of conservation, especially in Florida, where they have extensive legal protections. Controversially, the US government reduced their legal protections in 2017, much to the ire of many conservation groups. The manatee is the state marine mammal of Florida, presumably narrowly beating out dolphins and meth heads wandering around the everglades.

(image: two juvenile manatees who were abandoned by their mothers. They are being bottle fed by employees of the Cincinnati zoo. Ideally, they will be able to be released into the wild once weaned)

[cypherscript]

Comet Homerun

Flash was panicking, all of the space flying heroes were off planet and he was stuck on monitor duty after slipping some laxative into the mug of an NATO inspector checking out the watch tower to report back to the other nations. Why? Because non-hero suits are just a problem waiting to happen and the sooner he was gone the better. Bats didn't think it was funny in the slightest though. The cause of the panic was the alarms blaring in the monitor room, Watchtower had detected a large celestial object hurdling towards the earth at incredible speeds and given the range of the Watchtower's detection it would impact the earth in forty-five minutes.

"Come on, come on there's gotta be someone in the damn register who can help with this." He spent the next thirty minutes trying to find someone to no avail when a separate alert came through but this time from the earth; a massive energy surge as an object the size of a beachball sped from the earth's atmosphere, its tail forming as it does so.

"What the heck," Flash shouts as he sees it zoom past the Watchtower and into space, moments later the first alarm ceases and the report shows it was destroyed by a comet collision of unknown origin. "Computer track that energy surge on earth and get me a visual." The computer hums and a window opens showing a boy in a black hazmat suit and white hair floating above a park with two other teens. The CCT camera barely picking up what he says. ______________________________________________________________

"Ah dang, kind of let that one get away from me, do you think anyone's going to notice? Atleast I got Overgrowth souped before he got a good root in." The girl scoffs, "Yeah, I'm sure people are just going to ignore a freaking giant ball of ice being flung into space." "Yeah," The other boy speaks up, "Like all the rockets hitting the moon recently. Don't worry about it dude."

"So wasteful," The girl mutters as they head out of frame of the camera. ______________________________________________________________

"What am I going to tell Bats?"

"Tell me what," A deep gravely voice asks, causing flash to totally not scream like little child.

[thelittleastronautinspace]

JINX IS ALIVE AND I CAN PROVE IT!

OK so, in the final episode of arcane Jinx blows herself up along with Vander/Warwick so she must be dead right?

WRONG

Here's my evidences

1. Foreshadowing, The Airship

Arcane is full of foreshadowing, nothing in this show is meaningless, repeating motifs and Chekhov's guns are plenty. In the very first act in episode 1 of the show the first words out Powders mouth to the audience is "One day, I'm gonna ride in one of those things.", this is in reference to an airship floating past.

The start of the shot has the ship fly above the camera and allow us to see the back fans. See how this frame is set, its a establishing shot with a focal point on the left side with the airship above the horizon line on the left. Now look at the end shot of act 3 season 2

It is a replace, a beat for beat copy of the first airship shot, arcane is the most expensive animated show to ever be produced, this is not a coincidence, this is foreshadowing. Its telling the audience that Powder fulfilled her wish. But there's more.

2. Repeating motifs, Jinx's scribbles/ film noise

At the end of the act3 s3's shot is this glitched out end card, before it for a few frames we se film noise. Film noise is when dust or other stuff gets on the film roll creating white specks and streaks, this is significant because its a running motif with Jinx and her hallucinations.

The first image is the end scene of arcane while the second image is from ep6 s1, notice the white streaks in each. Film noise, it only appears with Jinx, its a visual motif of hers, denoting her grip on reality and saying to the audience that she is here, its her motif.

3. Visual story telling, Caitlyn, The Monkey, The Hexgate and Shimmer

Caitlyn is first and foremost a detective, she is a brilliant minded woman who was able to figure out most of Silco's plot without any contact in the undercity, she has a keen eye for detail and can reconstruct in her mind a crime scene as seen in ep 4 s1.

We see her in the final minutes of ep 9 s2 pondering Jinx's "death", I think she believes Jinx is still alive and is gathering evidence.

She has with her the monkey head of the monkey bomb Jinx used. It is the same one as the bomb, the same red paint on the ear and middle nail. But here's the thing, if the monkey head survived getting blow up, there should be remnants of Jinx's body or cloths or anything but we are show nothing.

This tells me Caitlyn also thinks Jinx is alive and is trying to figure out how. She looking through her mothers archives on Jayce's blueprints of the hexgate. and she zooms in onto the part of the blueprints that show vent ways in roughly the same area Jinx would have fell, meaning that Jinx had an escape route out of the hexgate and away from the explosion.

This leads me on to my finale point of the visual story telling and it has to do with shimmer. Jinx gains this uncanny speed with shimmer and when she uses this new power we see these trails of pink. In this new season we also see how she seeming goes so fast we cant see her except for the trails of shimmer.

This leads me to the explosion, if we slow it down we see the same pink glowing streak rushing away from the explosion. Jinx used her shimmer speed to get out.

We only ever seen this pink streak is with Jinx and other shimmer enhanced people but Jinx is the only one with this ludicrous speed that could outrun an explosion.

I do believe Jinx lives, there is to much evidence and frankly, Jinx is to much of a money maker for Riot to just kill off. I bet we will be seeing her soon in Riot's new show even if its small cameo

[anumberofhobbies]

Jupiter: 10 Years of OPAL Observations by NASA Hubble Space Telescope Via Flickr: Hubble's sharp images track clouds and measure the winds, storms, and vortices, in addition to monitoring the size, shape, and behavior of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) storm. Hubble follows as the GRS continues shrinking in size and its winds are speeding up. OPAL data recently measured how often mysterious dark ovals — visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths — appeared in the "polar hoods" of stratospheric haze. Unlike Earth, Jupiter is only inclined three degrees on its axis (Earth is 23.5 degrees). Seasonal changes might not be expected, except that Jupiter's distance from the Sun varies by about 5% over its 12-year-long orbit, and so OPAL closely monitors the atmosphere for seasonal effects. Another Hubble advantage is that ground-based observatories can't continuously view Jupiter for two Jupiter rotations, because that adds up to 20 hours. During that time, an observatory on the ground would have gone into daytime and Jupiter would no longer be visible until the next evening. These two views of Jupiter showcase the wealth of information provided by the spectral filters on the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) science instrument. At left, the RGB composite is created using three filters at wavelengths similar to the colors seen by the human eye. At right, the wavelength bounds are widened beyond the visible range to extend just into the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared regimes. Humans cannot perceive these extended wavelengths, but some animals (such as mantis shrimp, whose eyes function similarly to certain sensors on some NASA missions) are able to detect infrared and ultraviolet light. The result is a vivid disk that shows UV-absorbing lofty hazes as orange (over the poles and in three large storms, including the Great Red Spot), and freshly-formed ice as white (compact storm plumes just north of the equator). Astronomers, including the OPAL team, use these filters (and others not shown here) to study differences in cloud thickness, altitude, and chemical makeup. For more information: science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-celebrates-... Image credit: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Find us on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube