#what is timer relay

[onlyquinns]

I loved your story about jacks birthday and meeting the fam and i was wondering if you could like continue on with it. Maybe the second day jack and y/n go out to like a theme park thing on a pier or smth. and he’s just so deeply in love with her he can’t stop staring. something cute and fluffy yk :)

after jack’s birthday party, you’d gotten far more comfortable around his family. it was obvious that they liked you, that they were more than happy to have you at the lake house. so, it was no surprise that the boys had invited you to go to the little theme park by the pier the next day.

you and jack walk side by side, hands held between the two of you. he carries your bag for you, unashamed to have your overly decorated bag over his shoulder. he ignores the people that stare as the two of you walk by, the keychains on your purse jingling with every step. as long as he knows you’re not carrying something that he could easily hold, he’s fine.

“so, what do you wanna do first?” he asks as the two of you walk through the park opening.

you look around, a little overwhelmed with the loud sounds and little kids running around. you gnaw on your lip, eyes darting around as you try to find something familiar. jack notices immediately and pulls you to him, strong arm wrapping around your waist to ground you.

“how about we just walk around and play some games?” he suggests, pulling you to a colorful stand advertising something that looks like whack-a-mole. he turns and smiles at you, “i’ll win you something,” he teases as the two of you walk up to the carney.

the teen boy running the stand straightens at the sight of you, putting on a fake smile. “welcome! are you here to play?”

jack nods and hands over a crumpled five, enough for one attempt at hitting twenty moles until the timer runs out. you watch as he pulls your bag higher up his shoulder, giggling behind your hand. he holds the wooden mallet with determination, waiting for the teen boy to give him the go.

“3,” the boy counts down, “2… 1.”

obnoxious music pours from the overhead speakers in the little booth as the boy presses a button, bringing the stupid moles to life. jack hits every single one with one goal in mind, ignoring the people who cheer for him behind you and the cluster of kids who try to peer at the game. you watch in amusement as he hits the last one, timer blaring above him. jack cheers as his score blinks above him, a simple glance shows he’s beat the necessary score.

“congratulations,” the teen says and hands over a giant stuffed animal, pushing into jack’s waiting arms. the boy’s attention is half on jack and half on the sudden crowd rushing him, dollar bills waving in their hands.

“for you,” jack says as he approaches, holding out the plush. you giggle and take it from him, holding it to your chest.

jack watches as your smile lights up your face, your excitement making his achievement mean more than just beating some stupid amusement park game.

when you’re done squealing and cooing over the fluffy toy, jack takes it back from you and shoulders it on the same arm holding your purse. he grasps your hand again and pulls you through the park until you gasp.

“look!” you say, pointing at a pink and blue stand.

jack looks over at what you’re pointing at, and chuckles at the sight of a dingy cotton candy stand. he pulls you toward it.

“what color do you want?” he asks, swinging your hands back and forth as you approach the little stand.

“pink!” you tell him excitedly, watching with wide eyes as the worker at the stand takes a paper cone of perfectly fluffed cotton candy out of the little machine. “i’d like pink, please.” you turn to jack and smile.

jack’s ears heat at the way you look at him, bright eyed and so sweet. he pulls his wallet from his pocket and hands over a few bucks to the other worker at the register, relaying your desired color. you hum happily when the person you’d been watching hands you your cone, thanking them and jack.

jack watches as you tear into the sugary fluff, fingers pinching a piece off and popping it into your mouth. his heart beats loudly in his chest at your happy expression, your body wiggling with delight at the sweet treat. you pinch off another piece and hold it out to jack, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“oh, thank you, baby,” he says softly, wrapping his lips around your fingers.

you squeak and pull your hand away quickly, turning away in embarrassment. “you’re welcome.”

jack chuckles and watches with heart eyes as you shift in front of him, your cheeks warm and your lips tugging into a soft smile. he thinks about how cute you are, at how he’d do anything to see you like this again.

he gently tugs you to a picnic table settled closer to the parking lot, pulling you down next to him so you can enjoy your cotton candy while sitting.

you offer him another piece and jack refuses, shaking his head and saying, “i bought it for you, babe. you can have it all.” and the smile you give him is worth more than the want for the sugary treat.

jack leans against the table and rests his cheek against his hand, watching as you eat. his eyes are soft and full of love, thanking the universe for you and for the sunlight pouring perfectly over your body.

“you’re absolutely beautiful,” he says, and you turn to look at him. a piece of sugar clings to your lip, half dissolved with your spit. he reaches forward and wipes it away, licking it off his thumb.

you’re about to say something, but freeze at the sight of luke and quinn walking up to the two of you. jack turns around to see what’s got your attention and groans a little at the sight of his brothers.

“that’s not very nice,” quinn says as he settles across from jack.

luke agrees, “yeah, man. could act like you actually wanted to see us, y’know.”

you giggle and the two smile, pleased that they got you to loosen up a little. jack rolls his eyes and brushes them off.

quinn chuckles and leans forward, arms crossed atop the table. “sorry, jacky, but no pda in public,” he teases.

jack’s ears burn bright red at the implication, sputtering. “we weren’t doing anything,” he says, because it’s true.

“uh huh,” luke says, joining in on the teasing. “the way you were looking at her was way too much cheesiness for prying eyes.”

quinn snorts, and jack grabs your hand and pulls you up. jack grumbles his goodbye and tugs you away, pulling you toward more booths filled with stuffed animals and other items. his brothers laugh as the two of you walk away, the sounds of their giggles disappearing as the two of you walk further away.

“i think it’s sweet,” you say, finishing off the rest of your candy. “y’know, that you look at me so much.”

jack turns to you, “huh?”

you turn and smile at him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear at the same time jack reaches forward to brush it away. your fingers bump his and you giggle.

“to be fair,” you whisper, wrapping your fingers around his. “i like looking at you, too.”

[miyamiwu]

Xia Fei is a green tea bitch (and I love him for it)

But first, a definition from Baidu:

Green tea bitch (绿茶婊, lǜ chá biǎo) = internet slang that initially referred to young models who appear pure and innocent but are actually materialistic and would use their looks to climb the social ladder. Over time, it evolved to also describe those who put on a no-makeup makeup look but claiming it’s natural. Their defining trait is pretending to be harmless, to appear as if they’re broken inside but no one can tell, and looking sickly but serene—all the while actually harboring ambitions greater than anyone else.

WAIT! Stay with me—I’m not saying Xia Fei slept his way to the top. Green tea is more of a vibe. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s just something you’ll naturally understand after encountering them several times in media. I’ll just show several examples of Xia Fei being green tea to show my point.

My belief in green tea!Xia Fei started from this:

Xia Fei once again acted as an interpreter for Vein. The first time this happened was in YE4, when he was about to explain something to CXS after Vein said he looked tasty.

At first, I just found it really cute that Xia Fei knows his laoban so well that he can act as his interpreter, but then it hit me—

In the finale, how exactly did he know that Vein intended ShiGuang to be his substitute partners in the photoshoot? ShiGuang’s visit was sudden, and their request was even more unexpected. He and Vein weren’t really given the time to discuss it and come to an agreement with what to do.

Sure, XF could’ve inferred that Vein’s “serve me” and “pay with your body” translate to “work as a model.” But where he did get the translation “work as a model with Xia Fei”? Why is he including himself in the translation? Vein never mentioned his name once during the conversation.

We know Xia Fei is brazen with Vein, but he’s still an employee after all, a part-timer even. Can he just manage other people’s work arrangements like this? Not to mention, he’s making ShiGuang work with him. A part-timer saying that two guys are being recruited as models still sounds normal… but automatically assuming (and declaring) that those new guys are going to help him in his job before the boss even says anything? No matter how close Xia Fei is with Vein, considering the boss-employee relationship between them, it doesn’t sound right.

So, I thought… Is Xia Fei really relaying Vein’s meaning? Or is he actually enforcing his own meanings on Vein’s words?

And Vein…just lets him. (“Felix always does whatever he wants.”)

How green tea!Xia Fei could be real

First Appearance

Xia Fei’s first appearance in the show just reeks of green tea. Heck, a tea room was even mentioned:

In this scene, he was openly whining to a coworker about how his boss won’t let him eat snacks. And okay, employees complaining about their boss is normal. But the way Xia Fei worded it is soooo not professional:

“If he catches me sneaking food again.”

It’s as if Vein is personally watching over his food intake. Bitch, how??? Vein was barely in Yingdu. His plane just fucking landed. How is he catching you???

Xia Fei wasn’t just whining in this scene. He was flaunting his closeness with Vein. Green tea energy 🍵🔥

And this is how the show is introducing him to us. They’re not showing us his silly or serious sides first. Of all aspects of his character, they chose to show us this.

The Elevator Scene

Unlike some people, I only go for the best, whether it’s a project or a connection. Isn’t that right, boss?

....Why did he say that?

No, no, the real question is: How could he say that while on the call with Vein???

The allegation being true or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that he did not deny it. In fact, he even fucking owned it, but with some corrections: “I’m not sleeping with that 60-year old guy. Unlike you guys, I only go for the best, like my boss. Right, boss?”

What the fuck.

(Related post: my understanding of those women’s gossip)

If he had said such words without Vein listening in, I could’ve just interpreted it as him making up stuff so he can snipe at those women. But no! Vein heard everything he said. Vein, who hates lies, heard his Felix implying that he was sleeping with him, the boss.

And all these in a censored Chinese show???

Once again. What the fuck.

Green tea energy 🍵🔥

Xia Fei pairing himself with Vein

In CMedia, the green tea bitch is usually a woman who likes the male lead but dares not confess. Instead, she just tries to keep others away from the ML. When she sees the ML showing interest in the protagonist or anyone else, she would then “casually” display how close she is with ML either as a way of marking her claim over him or to make the protagonist feel that the ML’s actions for her are nothing special because he does it for everyone else.

(Think Kurumi from Kimi ni Todoke trying to make Kazehaya “everyone’s Kazehaya.” That girl is classic green tea.)

The green tea would do this by mentioning, often in a whiny tone, the stuff ML has done for them (“He’s always watching my food intake, he’s so annoying”) or by deliberately showcasing her deep understanding of the ML (“Actually, what laoban meant…”).

With these in mind, we can recontextualize this scene as Xia Fei being green tea 🍵🔥:

The framing here has struck me since I first saw it… The way Xia Fei moved to Vein’s side (putting them in one group), leaving Cheng Xiaoshi (whom Vein just complimented for looking tasty) across them, separate from them, and barely in frame.

I could be overthinking it, but if this were in any other genre, this would be a classic green tea move 😂

There are just too many nods on Xia Fei being more than what he seems

The bus Xia Fei is riding on in the OP contains the words “Look Carefully.”

These are the same words on this art by Yuyu:

(Yuyu is the animation director who posted that “See You Later” art and practice animation featuring Vein and Xia Fei)

In YE6, Jack also warned Cheng Xiaoshi about Xia Fei:

“He’s not as innocent as he looks.”

Oh, and I think it was definitely Xia Fei who tattled to his laoban that Jack released company secrets. After all, Xia Fei’s loyalty to Vein is unquestionable.

Liu Xiao also has something to say:

“If you know each other’s true colors…”

Finally, Lu Guang has always been wary of Xia Fei:

As he should. After all, Xia Fei is so close with the man who killed Cheng Xiaoshi in previous timelines.

(I also believe that Lu Guang never genuinely thought of Xia Fei as his friend, unlike Xia Fei does for him and CXS.)

Conclusion

Let’s go back to the original definition of a green tea bitch:

Green tea bitch (绿茶婊, lǜ chá biǎo) = internet slang that initially referred to young 1.models who appear 2.pure and innocent but are actually 3.materialistic and would use their 4.looks to 5.climb the social ladder. Over time, it evolved to also describe those who put on a no-makeup makeup look but claiming it’s natural. Their defining trait is 6.pretending to be harmless, to appear as if they’re broken inside but no one can tell, and looking sickly but serene—all the while actually harboring 7.ambitions greater than anyone else.

Xia Fei is a model.

Jack says he only appears innocent.

His character profile states that he likes money.

He has the looks.

He did not deny the sleeping his way to the top allegations (re: elevator scene).

He may be narcissistic (This is more apparent in his Rent a Shell PV, and Director Li has stated that the character PVs are a closer representation of what the antagonists are actually like because in Yingdu they are restrained)

Now, all we’re missing is the ambition aspect. What does Xia Fei desire the most? Or rather, who—

It’s Vein.

Vein is his ambition.

He cares about his laoban a whole lot that he’s vowed to uncover the truth behind his death no matter how bizarre it may be.

Xia Fei may be green tea, but it’s all to get closer to Vein. If he indeed slept with Vein (it’s already heavily implied), then it’s not for him to gain fame or status, as a traditional green tea bitch would. It’s simply to be with Vein.

If he’s stepping on others to get to the top (as many characters have hinted), then that’s because Vein is at the top. And he needed to reach him.

Xia Fei is green tea, and I love him for it.

[inklings-challenge]

Camp Tolkien: Day 4

Welcome to another day at Camp Tolkien!

Our two-week summer camp is a chance for you to work on the project of your choice in the company of other writers. No matter which stage of the process you’re in–brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising–Camp Tolkien’s activities are here to help you make progress. Bring along your projects, and have fun!

Today’s four activities are listed below. Choose whichever one you wish–choose more than one if you want to.

Friendship Bracelets: Tell us about two characters who are currently friends, or talk about a childhood/former friend of one of your characters.

Skits: Write a short dialogue scene in script format.

Relay Race: Start a stopwatch. Write 100 words. See how long it took you. Set a timer for the same amount of time, then see how many words you can write in that time.

Tumbling: Switch up the format of how you work on your project. If you usually type, write by hand (or vice versa). If you must type, type in a different program, or use a different-colored font.

When you’re finished, reblog or reply to this post, telling us how it went, and/or sharing what you wrote for the day.

So glad to have you all at camp! Have fun, go forth, and create!

[acidnhuskerdust]

Huskerdust Detective AU

The demon who is used to working alone, and the demon who is used to having all eyes on him.

I had a fun AU I'm going to eventually write as a full fledged fic down the line, sucks I'm currently working on a different one so I decided why not write my ideas down now to get it out of my system?

Instead of being forced to work at the Hazbin Hotel as a bartender, Husk is tasked to work as a detective. He is hired by demons to figure out who has crossed them, stole from them, etc.

Although he has the title of a detective, he is involved in a lot of the dirty work. A glorified hit man is what he likes to call himself.

Being a detective is mainly just for appearances, after forming a relationship with the demons of Pentagram City, he gets many high paying clients. The real reason he has this job is to get more intel on Overlords for Alastor to take down.

This is where Angel Dust comes in

Angel waltz into his office like he owns the place and Husk is both immediately irritated and infatuated by the spider demon

Angel gives him a job for a backstabber, someone has been fucking over his boss's deals, stealing their stash, and sending threatening messages to Valentino

Husk is tasked to come to the club Angel usually works at after shooting videos to pick up some clues. This is when he figures out Valentino is his boss.

After taking down the two timer with Angel, Husk sees this as a perfect opportunity to use him to get closer to Valentino, to figure out his weakness and relay the information to Alastor

Angel begins working with Husk part time, and as annoying as Angel seems at first, the demon grows on him more then he'd like to admit.

I'm so excited about this, I will probably work on this while also working on my much shorter (sorta slice of life) fic. Just imagine all the costumes Angel would wear to be 'under cover' only for people to immediately recognize him.

Just wait until Alastor finds out that Angel is living at the Hazbin Hotel, where the daughter of Lucifer resides in...

Edit: I wrote it, read it here lol

[somedaylazysomeday]

Experiment - Part Two

Tech x fem!reader

Tech decides to prove how simple female bodies can be.

Can be considered a second part to my one-shot 'Experiment', but can also be read as a stand-alone work.

Rating: Explicit. Minors DNI.

Word Count: 3,800

Warnings: Antagonism, ill-advised bets, assumptions about females, mentions of sexual behavior, sexual touching, fingering, unprotected piv sex, creampie

Previous | Masterlist

---

It wasn’t rare, per se, that you and Tech found yourselves alone. 

Your relationship could be contentious, but it wasn’t anything bad enough that you needed to keep a referee on hand. You found him slightly grating and he thought you were oblivious at times. You also vented some of that low-level irritation by sleeping together every so often, but you had never decided to be anything close to exclusive. 

That being said, Clone Force 99 was busy enough that neither of you had much time for finding another partner. It had been a particularly bad dry spell for you. Which was why you were unashamedly eavesdropping on a few troopers behind you in a market on Savareen.

“Anyway, I told her I wanted to bring someone else with us and she freaked out,” one of the troopers was telling his friends. “She said I wasn’t even good enough to keep her happy, let alone two people at the same time. Can you believe that? Not my fault that making her come is harder than defusing a det on a countdown timer”

Thankfully, you were facing the other direction, because that made you grin broadly. From everything you had heard so far, the relayed statement from the trooper’s girlfriend had been harsh but true. The trooper was a remarkably selfish lover if his stories were to be believed. Personally, you thought the girlfriend had a point. 

“Are you almost finished?” Tech asked. “We need to return to the ship.”

“Shhh!” you hissed. “I want to hear how this plays out.”

You couldn’t be sure whether the troopers had heard you or if they simply weren’t bold enough to tell their friend that his girlfriend was right. In any case, the only answer they offered was a simple, “That sucks, man.”

“Yeah,” the other agreed. “Females are a mystery.”

“We will miss our rendezvous,” Tech warned. 

You huffed at him and went to pay for the basket of produce you were holding. After weeks of nothing but rations, the prospect of fresh fruit and vegetables was something you couldn’t turn down. Still, you were irritated at losing your stolen entertainment and you glared at Tech when he fell into step with you on your way back toward the Havoc Marauder. 

“I don’t know why you were rushing me,” you said eventually. You were passing the last of the small town’s buildings and the forest grew thicker around you. “Hunter sent a comm that the window needed to be pushed back by an hour. They won’t be at the rendezvous for at least two hours and we’re not that far from the ship.” 

“And I don’t know why you were so eager to continue listening to those regs.” Tech shook his head. “It was hardly an interesting story, especially given the trite and untrue assurances at the end. Females are hardly a mystery.” 

Your jaw twitched. “And what exactly does that mean?” 

“Females across most species barriers share several characteristics,” he spouted instantly. “The majority of them prefer to be listened to rather than have their problems solved, prize social bonds rather than holding leverage over others, and are often capable of more complex, circuitous thinking than most males.” 

“They were talking about female bodies, Tech.” 

Tech fell quiet at that. You gloated for a moment, happy to have silenced him for once, but it didn’t last. Apparently, he had needed a moment to consider that, but came back with a reply soon enough: 

“There are too many species to narrow down what he was talking about. Different species have different physiology, and need different stimulation to achieve pleasure.” He adjusted his goggles, and you could see the brightness of his eyes behind them. “For instance, did you know that female Dianogas derive pleasure only from having the pressure in their eyeball increased by a factor of twenty percent?” 

You nodded slowly. “Gross.” 

Tech had been preening at his masterful display of knowledge, but his expression dropped into one of derision when you failed to be as impressed as he thought you should be. “It is far more complex a system than is possessed by most species. Humanoid species are all similar. And human females are the least complex of all.” 

That sounded as if you were being challenged. With the frustration stemming from your recent dry spell and the general irritation of being around Tech when he was in one of his ‘I am the god of all knowledge’ moods, you accepted that challenge. “Go on.” 

“Human females share close similarities to each other, likely stemming from a narrow evolutionary path. Even ignoring the genitals, human females have a set of several extragenital erogenous zones. They are, in descending order: breasts, lips, neck, ears, and buttocks(1).” 

You rolled your eyes, readjusting where your bag sat on your shoulder. “That’s ridiculous. Not everyone likes having all of those places touched.” 

“Not everyone, but a majority,” Tech expanded. “And the type of stimulation can vary between each place. For example, lips are best stimulated orally while breasts can be stimulated either orally or manually. That means manipulated by hand.” 

You hissed at the condescending explanation, but he paid no attention to you. Tech could get this way when he was convinced that someone would benefit from his knowledge. “And that is not taking the actual genitals into account. The human clitoris has over ten thousand nerve fibers, some of which extend into the vaginal channel to form what is known as the g-spot.” 

“I already knew all of this, Tech,” you bit out. Okay, maybe you hadn’t known the exact number of nerve fibers in the average clit, but you didn’t appreciate being lectured on your own body. 

Tech turned to you, raising his eyebrows. “And yet you believed those troopers were correct when they said human females were a mystery. There is nothing mysterious about the body of the human female. If given the proper stimulation, most human females can reach orgasm in under three minutes.” 

“That can’t possibly be true.”

“Are you doubting the research or my knowledge of it?” 

“Are you admitting that you’ve done research into how quickly you can make someone come?” you countered. 

“Of course.” Tech was, as ever, matter-of-fact. “And you personally have benefitted from my research. Yet you still doubt whether I’m correct.”

“I’ve been with some talented people,” you said, making sure to emphasize the plurality so he wouldn’t think you were solely talking about him, “but I’ve never come in less than three minutes. So, according to my personal experience, you’re wrong.” 

“I am not wrong,” Tech disagreed, clearly appalled. “If you don’t believe me, that is your choice, but I am not incorrect.” 

You didn’t answer him, relieved when you saw the Havoc Marauder just ahead. As you had expected, you had plenty of time before you needed to go meet the others, but that meant you could put away the provisions and get some time away from Tech until he started to annoy you less. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem capable of letting your disagreement lie. He followed you as you went to the storage room where you kept the rations. “The research is simple and well-supported. Even if you ignore anecdotal evidence, there are clear trends that prove-”

“Tech, can we just let this go?” you asked, trying not to sound overly antagonistic. “We can just agree to have our different opinions.”

“It is not a matter of opinion,” he insisted. “There is a single answer, supported by science, research, and experimentation. I can prove it to you.” 

That made you pause and turn to him. “What? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Allow me to prove that I am correct,” Tech repeated. 

That was not enough of an answer, so you watched him in silence. There was a strong chance that he meant to show you the papers and studies where he had gathered his information. 

When you didn’t agree, Tech apparently decided to offer more of an explanation: “If you agree, I will use the knowledge I’ve gained to bring you to orgasm in under three minutes.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea-” you started. 

“I understand it can be frightening to have one’s worldview challenged-”

“Yeah, I’m terrified of an orgasm.” The sarcasm was thick in your voice. “You know what? Fine. And when you’re wrong, you’ll have to admit that your research wasn’t as effective as first-hand experience.”

“I look forward to proving you wrong.” Tech took the bag from your shoulder, tucking it neatly inside of the (little-used) produce cabinet in the ration storage room. He latched the cabinet with sure motions, turning expectantly to you when he was finished.

“Bunks,” you suggested. He inclined his head in agreement and followed you to the small barracks aboard the ship.

You shoved aside your sheets and the discarded clothing that was still tangled in them. When you had woken up, it had seemed impossible that you would be bringing anyone back to your bunk, so you hadn’t bothered keeping anything neater than they needed to be. Tech was more than a little messy, himself, so you didn’t worry that he would look down on you for it. 

“How do you want to do this?” you asked, hesitating before you climbed onto the mattress. 

“I do not believe that you undressing should count toward my time,” he pointed out. 

“Fair enough,” you agreed, stripping quickly. You had been dressed casually to visit the nearby market, so the process didn’t take long. When you were naked, you rested your hands on your hips and tilted your chin at Tech. “Next?” 

Tech swallowed hard, like the sight of your bare body had made his mouth go dry. It was a heady feeling, and your confidence soared. 

“Remember what I told you about extragenital erogenous zones?” Tech asked, switching into lecture mode. 

“Yes,” you agreed, adding, “which is not an attractive term, so I don’t think you’re helping your own case, here.” 

“The attractiveness of the term is not what matters.” Tech stepped closer, hand rising. “The important thing is how they impact you.” 

You opened your mouth to loose a sarcastic comment, but stopped short at the feeling of Tech’s fingertips brushing lightly against your bottom lip.

It was… odd, having someone touch your mouth. But the warmth and familiar smell of Tech's skin kept you where you were. You would at least let him have his chance. 

His hand went to your chest, fingers splaying to cup your breast. When you were nestled in his palm, he trailed his fingers together, letting your breast slip under his fingers until they met with a soft pinch on your nipple.

Tech's head tipped closer, letting him mouth at the line of your throat. Those lips traveled upward until he could scrape his teeth lightly over your earlobe. You fought a shiver. 

And then you did anyway, shuddering against him when Tech reached to run his gently squeezing fingers across your ass. 

“Breasts, lips, neck, ears, and buttocks,” he murmured. “Slightly out of order, but have I managed to convince you?” 

“You've managed to waste thirty seconds of your time,” you replied, fighting to keep your voice almost steady. “Two and a half minutes to go and I'm not anywhere near an orgasm.”

“Patience.” 

You frowned at the chastisement, but Tech paid no attention. He guided you down to lay on your bunk, feet on the edge of the mattress supporting your half-bent legs. It left your core exposed to the chill of the air on the ship, and you abruptly realized that those simple touches had left you wet. Not soaking, but well on your way there. 

You watched between your own legs as Tech studied your core. He seemed to be plotting his methods. Before you could remind him again of the time requirement, he brushed gentle fingertips over your labia. 

It felt more intense than you could believe. And when that delicate touch moved to caress your inner lips, you shifted your hips impatiently. 

Tech's attention turned to your clit. His first brush over it was so light that you could hardly feel anything, but he soon grew bolder in his touches. He worked you faster and faster, pausing only to sink two fingers deep into your channel. 

You arched against your bunk, a shocked and plaintive cry leaving you before you could even try to bite it back. 

“Good,” Tech said softly. “I want to hear you. Let me hear that you like what I'm doing.”

You weren't entirely sure how you would have responded to that, because Tech crooked his fingers inside of you and started hunting. Deliberately, he mapped your channel until he zeroed in on a rough, spongy patch on the inside of your front wall. 

A slight smile appeared on Tech's face. You had a moment to think about how handsome it made him before he stole your ability to see. 

He bore down on your g-spot, putting pressure on it until you cried out again. If you had the ability to remember words, you would have told him that it was too much. 

Tech hummed in understanding anyway  and shifted his efforts. His thumb worked against your clit as his fingers started a circular sort of thrusting motion. Your g-spot was still getting more attention than it ever had, but it managed to be less direct - and with that, less intense. 

Just when you started to wonder how close you were to three minutes having passed, Tech's mouth dropped to your hip. He applied lips and teeth to the sensitive crease where your hip met your thigh. 

Your orgasm rose up and swallowed you whole, and you never had a chance to fight against it. One moment, you were treading water in the assault and the next, you were drowning in sensation. 

Dimly, you became aware of the fact that your fingers hurt. With that realization, you came slowly back to your body, letting your stiffened fingers uncurl from where they had been fisted in the sheets. Your thighs unclenched, releasing Tech's hand from where it had been trapped between them. 

His fingers were still working gently inside of you and you gathered your strength to push him away. “How… how long?”

“Two minutes and forty four seconds,” Tech informed you, sounding obnoxiously matter of fact about it. “It likely would have taken less time if I had not stopped to test my understanding of extragenital erogenous zones.”

You would be irritated, but the strength and suddenness of your orgasm had left you largely unable to do anything but stare up at the ceiling. The heaviness of your limbs felt strange without a full buildup of activity, and it almost seemed as if your body was in a state of shock at how quickly the pleasure had been pulled from you. 

“Tech, can- can you-” you trailed off, reluctant to ask him for anything else. Eventually, you settled on, “Water?”

“Of course,” he agreed, instantly on his feet and rushing to get you a canteen.

When he handed you the water, you could watch Tech eyeing how long it took you to accept it, then to raise the canteen to your lips. Even so, he waited until you had finished drinking to ask, “Is something wrong?” 

You lifted one shoulder. “I- no? I don’t think so. It was just weird to come that suddenly. It’s like my body is pissed that there isn’t more.” 

“Do you want me to do it again?” Tech asked. 

You searched for sarcasm or mocking in his tone, but there was only patient curiosity. “Can you.. kiss me?” 

“Gladly.” 

He pressed a kiss to your lips. Then another, kneeling on the bed to reach you more easily. Eventually, he was lying on the bed beside you, all so he could kiss you without putting either of you in an awkward position. One of his hands gently cradled your cheek while you pressed a palm to his chest so you could feel the steady thump of his heartbeat. 

You continued far longer than you had expected, past the solace of a simple kiss and into the realm of need. You didn’t think it was entirely one-sided. Maybe the kiss had started for your benefit, but nothing said Tech couldn’t enjoy it, too. 

And he did. You could tell by the way he squirmed closer, by the heat of him pressed against you, by the steady deepening of the kiss you shared.

“Is this helping?” he asked. 

His eyes were bright with desire, a faint but undeniable rasp edging his voice. Maybe you should let him ask, to help assuage your pride. But you took pity on him instead. “Yes, but it might help more if you made me come again. Slower. The old-fashioned way.” 

Tech started to ask what exactly ‘old-fashioned’ meant. You could hear the question rise behind his parted lips. And yet it faded away before it could be asked, answered by the way you gripped his length through the material covering his lower half.  

His breath shuddered out and his hips twitched, but Tech still asked, “Are you certain-?”

“Yes, if you are.” 

Tech’s response to that was to reach down and grasp the back of your leg, tugging your knee up and over his hip. You were both still cradled by your mattress, but he was perfectly between your thighs. 

“You are stunning,” he told you. 

“You’re still dressed,” you told him. 

Tech paused, glancing down with a mixture of irritation and dread. “A problem I intend to fix momentarily.” 

He pulled away from you, rolling to his feet with his hands already working at the fastenings of his body glove. He had stripped it off in moments and you couldn’t help but be impressed at the efficiency of his movements.

When he slipped back into your bunk, he was all tan skin and subtle musculature. Tech arranged you both the way you had been before the interruption and, without the body glove in the way, the head of him was notched at your entrance. You were noticeably wet from your earlier orgasm, and he started to slip into you simply due to the position and your proximity. 

Tech’s voice was completely unsteady as he asked, “Precisely how slow do you want this to be?” 

“More than three minutes.” 

It may have been a dry witticism, but Tech accepted it like it was the most sincere request he had ever heard. And you couldn’t bring yourself to regret it, not when he pushed into you in a series of shallow thrusts.

When he had bottomed out inside of you, Tech reached to brush a bead of sweat from your temple. “Slow.” 

“Slow,” you confirmed with a nod. 

Tech began to move. He stayed deep inside of you for the most part, using tiny pulses to keep you building toward a reasonably paced orgasm. Occasionally, when he couldn’t help himself, he withdrew further and plunged back into you. Each of those thrusts pushed the breath from your lungs, shocking you no matter how often they happened. 

It wasn’t the frenetic sprint toward pleasure that you had experienced before. Rather than having pleasure ripped mercilessly from your system, Tech’s efforts were coaxing it from you. 

His pelvis rocked against yours, pushing and pulling incrementally inside of you. The bunching of his muscles against your body told you how much he was holding back even as the thick press of him stretched your channel. Compared to the jarring shock of your rushed orgasm, this pleasure felt utterly lazy and self-indulgent.

And you didn’t seem to be the only one who thought so. 

When Tech wasn’t watching you intently, his eyes fell closed and his brow furrowed as if he needed to concentrate so he could process everything he was experiencing. After one particularly deep pulse, your body tightened. It wasn’t your second orgasm - not yet - but it was a warning that another one was coming. 

Tech’s eyes flew open and he made a rough, helpless sound. Ridiculously, that was the thing that finally pushed you over the edge. The fact that you could pull such pleasure from him even without the extensive research he had done into erogenous zones - genital or otherwise - made you feel extraordinarily powerful. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that he was such a gorgeous man. 

In any case, you gasped a warning a half-second before your body clamped down around his. Tech kept going, working you through it, and it only pushed you higher. The pleasure went from silver to a blazing white, blinding in its intensity and almost painful. 

It was hard to come down when Tech’s rhythm was speeding up, but you could tell he was close by the wrinkle between his eyebrows. “Where-?”

“My implant is still good.” 

Tech’s lips parted and his brows furrowed, but you couldn’t see any more of his face than that. By the time he started to spill inside of you, he had buried his face in your neck. His arms wrapped around you, squeezing hard enough that it took extra time for you to catch your breath. 

When the desperate thrusts finally stopped, Tech fell utterly boneless against you. You sympathized as you slumped against the bed. You dozed lightly, rousing only when you felt him pressing his lips against your shoulder. 

You chuckled lightly, glancing down just in time to catch his eyes flicking up toward you. “You okay?” 

“Rather wonderful, actually,” he admitted, his lips still brushing your skin as he spoke. “And you?” 

“Good,” you said, wincing slightly as he moved against your core. “I’ll be sore, I think.”  

“I shouldn't be surprised.” Tech gingerly moved away from you, the stickiness of your activities trying to keep you together. “I'll see if we have any bacta.” 

“Bacta can't do anything about soreness,” you reminded him. Of course, as the Bad Batch's makeshift medic, he was well aware of the limitations of bacta. “Save it for the next mission.” 

Tech's head snapped toward you as your eyes widened. “The rendezvous!” 

Weak-kneed and as bare as the day he was decanted, Tech sprinted for the front of the Havoc Marauder. 

You braced against the shift of liftoff, then started gathering his clothing and a washcloth for him. Hunter would know what had happened, of course, but there was no need to be blatant.

---

Author's Note -

I can't remember if this is a first for me, but it's definitely in character for me as a person: I referenced an actual paper posted in 2016 to get Tech's information about the extragenital erogenous zones. I'm posting the citation below in case anyone wants to read it! I thought it was very interesting, even if you just read the abstract.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know what you thought!

Younis, Ihab, et al. "Female hot spots: extragenital erogenous zones." Human Andrology, vol. 6, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 20-26, www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/xha/2016/00000006/00000001/art00004.

[stefanelectric]

Low Voltage Relays Explained: Types, Functions, and Applications

In the complex world of electrical systems, relays play a crucial role in ensuring safety, efficiency, and automation. Among these, low voltage relays stand out as versatile components that manage and protect circuits operating below 1000 volts. Whether in industrial automation, residential power distribution, or commercial infrastructure, these devices act as the nerve center of electrical control and protection.

In this comprehensive guide, we will break down what low voltage relays are, explore their types, explain their functions, and highlight their diverse applications across industries.

What Are Low Voltage Relays?

A low voltage relay is an electrically operated switch that uses a small control voltage (typically below 1000V AC or DC) to switch larger electrical loads on and off. These relays act as intermediaries between control circuits and power circuits, providing isolation, control, and protection.

Unlike manual switches, relays automate the process of circuit management, responding to electrical signals, fault conditions, or system commands without human intervention.

Types of Low Voltage Relays

Low voltage relays come in several forms, each tailored to specific tasks within an electrical system. Here are the main types:

1. Electromechanical Relays (EMRs)

· Use a coil and a movable armature to open or close contacts.

· Provide physical isolation between input and output.

· Common in traditional control panels and basic automation.

2. Solid-State Relays (SSRs)

· Use semiconductors (like thyristors or triacs) instead of mechanical contacts.

· Offer silent operation, faster switching, and longer lifespan.

· Ideal for high-speed applications and environments requiring low maintenance.

3. Overload Relays

· Specifically designed to protect motors and equipment from sustained overcurrent.

· Available as thermal overload relays (using bimetallic strips) or electronic overload relays (using sensors and processors).

4. Time Delay Relays

Provide a deliberate time lag between the relay receiving a signal and switching.

Used in motor control circuits, lighting systems, and sequential operations.

5. Overcurrent and Short-Circuit Relays

· Detect and react to current exceeding preset thresholds.

· Essential for system protection against faults and overloads.

6. Voltage Monitoring Relays

· Monitor voltage levels and trip when voltages fall below or rise above safe limits.

· Protect sensitive devices from under voltage and overvoltage conditions.

Functions of Low Voltage Relays

Low voltage relays serve multiple vital functions in electrical systems:

1. Switching and Control

Relays control the opening and closing of power circuits in response to low voltage signals from controllers, timers, or sensors. This enables remote and automated control of large electrical loads.

2. Protection

Relays detect abnormal conditions like overloads, overcurrent, under voltage, and phase failures. When such conditions arise, they disconnect the affected circuit to prevent equipment damage or fire hazards.

3. Isolation

They electrically isolate control circuits (usually low voltage, low current) from power circuits (high voltage, high current), ensuring safety and reducing interference.

4. Signal Amplification

A small control signal (from a PLC, sensor, or microcontroller) can trigger a relay to switch much larger loads, effectively amplifying the control power.

5. Automation and Sequencing

In complex systems, relays help sequence operations by ensuring that processes occur in the correct order and at the right time intervals.

Applications of Low Voltage Relays

Low voltage relays are the backbone of automation and protection in various industries. Here are some key application areas:

Industrial Automation

· Control of motors, pumps, conveyor belts, and production lines.

· Use in programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and distributed control systems (DCS).

Power Distribution Systems

· Protect electrical panels from overload and short circuits.

· Monitor voltage and current levels in distribution boards.

Building Automation

· Lighting control systems.

· HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems.

· Elevator and escalator controls.

Renewable Energy Systems

· Manage and protect solar inverters, battery banks, and wind turbines.

· Automatically disconnect faulty sections to prevent system-wide failures.

Data Centers and IT Infrastructure

· Ensure stable power supply to servers and networking equipment.

· Protect sensitive electronics from voltage fluctuations.

Transportation

· Railways, metros, and automotive applications for control and safety circuits.

Home Appliances

· Found in washing machines, microwave ovens, and HVAC units to automate functions and provide protection.

Advantages of Using Low Voltage Relays

· Enhanced Safety: Isolate control and power circuits, reducing electrical shock risks.

· Automation Ready: Easily integrated into automated systems for smarter operation.

· Cost-Effective Protection: Safeguard expensive equipment from damage due to electrical faults.

· Versatile: Available in many forms to suit different voltage levels, currents, and response times.

· Reduced Maintenance: Especially with solid-state relays, which have no moving parts.

Future Trends: Smart Relays and IoT Integration

As industries move toward smart grids and Industry 4.0, low voltage relays are also evolving:

· Digital relays offer programmable settings, self-testing, and event recording.

· IoT-enabled relays can send status updates and alerts to centralized monitoring systems.

· Energy-efficient designs reduce power consumption while providing reliable protection.

Conclusion

Low voltage relays are indispensable in modern electrical engineering, seamlessly combining protection, control, and automation. From safeguarding your home appliances to managing the power in a sprawling industrial plant, these devices ensure that electrical systems run smoothly and safely.

Understanding the different types, functions, and applications of low voltage relays empowers system designers, engineers, and even DIY enthusiasts to build safer and more efficient electrical setups.

As technology advances, the role of these small but mighty devices will only grow, driving the future of safe, smart, and automated power systems.

[enzaelectric]

The Role of Relays and Timers in Industrial Automation Systems

In the world of industrial automation, efficiency, safety, and precision are crucial. Among the many components that contribute to a well-functioning automated system, relays and timers play a foundational role. These devices act as control elements that manage the flow of electricity, signal processes, and coordinate timing sequences — ensuring that operations run smoothly and safely.

In this article, we’ll explore how relays and timers work, their types, applications in automation systems, and how high-quality products — like those offered by Enza Electric — can enhance performance and reliability in industrial settings.

What Are Relays?

A relay is an electromechanical or electronic switch used to control a circuit by a separate low-power signal or multiple signals. In industrial automation, relays act as a bridge between the control system and the equipment being operated — allowing machines to be turned on or off automatically.

Types of Relays Commonly Used in Automation:

Electromechanical Relays (EMRs): Use physical moving parts; reliable and easy to maintain.

Solid-State Relays (SSRs): No moving parts; faster switching, longer lifespan, and better for high-speed applications.

Thermal Overload Relays: Protect motors and equipment from overheating.

Control Relays: Designed for controlling multiple contacts simultaneously in automation systems.

What Are Timers?

Timers are devices used to delay or repeat electrical signals at predetermined intervals. They help synchronize tasks, automate sequences, and provide controlled outputs over time — critical for complex industrial processes.

Common Timer Functions:

On-delay and off-delay timing

Interval timing

Cyclic or repeat cycle operation

Flashing and sequencing operations

Types of Timers:

Analog Timers: Manual dial settings, simple and cost-effective.

Digital Timers: Offer precise programming, displays, and flexible timing ranges.

Programmable Timers: Ideal for complex automation routines requiring multiple sequences.

Key Roles in Industrial Automation Systems

1. Process Control and Sequencing

Relays and timers enable automated machines to follow a specific sequence — turning motors, lights, or pumps on and off in a logical order. For example, a conveyor system can use a relay-timer combination to control material flow with millisecond precision.

2. Safety and Protection

Relays protect systems by interrupting circuits in case of faults. Combined with timers, they can ensure delay before activating emergency stop functions, preventing false triggers and increasing worker safety.

3. Load Management

In high-demand industrial environments, relays help manage load distribution by selectively energizing or de-energizing machinery. Timers assist in staggered starts, reducing power surges.

4. Energy Efficiency

By automating start/stop functions and managing operation durations, timers help reduce unnecessary energy use. Relays ensure only the necessary loads are powered, minimizing wastage.

5. System Monitoring and Feedback

In smart automation, relays provide feedback signals to the control system. Timers assist with diagnostics by creating intervals for testing or data collection.

Benefits of Using High-Quality Relays and Timers

Choosing the right components significantly impacts system performance and longevity. Enza Electric’s relays and timers are engineered with:

High durability for tough industrial environments

Precision timing for reliable operation

Easy installation and compact designs

Compliance with international safety and quality standards

By integrating Enza’s low-voltage solutions, businesses in the GCC, MENA, and Africa regions benefit from cost-effective, scalable automation that supports both current needs and future expansion.

Common Applications in Industrial Sectors

Manufacturing Plants: Control of motors, robotic arms, and production lines.

HVAC Systems: Timed control of fans, compressors, and dampers.

Water Treatment Facilities: Sequenced operation of pumps and valves.

Packaging Machinery: Relay and timer-based coordination of packing, sealing, and labeling.

Food and Beverage Industry: Process automation with hygiene-compliant controls.

Final Thoughts

Relays and timers are the silent operators behind the success of industrial automation systems. From process optimization to enhanced safety and energy management, these components are indispensable.

When sourced from a trusted manufacturer like Enza Electric, businesses are not only investing in reliable hardware but also in the longevity, scalability, and safety of their entire operation.

Ready to Power Your Automation?

Explore Enza Electric’s wide range of relays, timers, and other low-voltage switchgear solutions designed to meet the evolving demands of modern industries. Visit www.enzaelectric.com to learn more or request a quote today.

[kzele]

TSSM What If. . .Ock Triggered The Bomb Earlier?

Summary: For once, Peter Parker is in crosshairs and is forced to become the hero. Naturally, this puts him back in the crosshairs by reminding him just WHY he has two separate IDs.

Peter was used to being dismissed by adults. They took one look at his face and saw his age instead of him as a person. So when Mr. Osborn politely told him to get lost, he would've normally taken it stride. If it had been about normal business stuff, that is. Norman had practically superglued himself to Peter's side whenever they were in the same room for just about everything else he forced the teenager into. Be it brain-frying corporate meetings or neat trips and lab experiments.

Heck, considering he had been essentially browbeaten into accepting this "apprenticeship," Peter might've been ecstatic to get away and, you know, RELAX AROUND CHRISTMAS. But, noooo. Not with Norman Osborn. Because Norman Osborn doesn't have fun. He has money.

Alright, maybe that was a bit unfair to think about the senior Osborn like that, because he was and has always been MUCH nicer to Peter than apparently everyone on the planet. (Which brings up its own problems where Harry is concerned.)

But that's not the point here.

The real point is that Norman's assistant/flunky Donald Menken, who either doesn't like Peter or ignores everybody with an income below 250k as standard procedure, was going to say something about Toomes aka Big Bird's goth grandpa.

Ever since the guy escaped from prison along with his buddies, he's been laying low for some time. Which is quite an accomplishment if we're taking into account all his very public past murder attempts. The first of which he literally screamed at his target before attacking. Despite his flight suit being almost completely silent in use. And having the element of surprise already. It sucks to know that his villains were learning subtlety. Or just learning in general.

Annnd since the Vulture is nowhere to be found, any information about the jerk is necessary. Unfortunately, arguing the point with Norman isn't going to get anywhere. Not unless you can count ticking him off as "getting somewhere." And Peter would rather not do that. . .Especially when he could just sneak back in and eavesdrop, regardless of his marching orders. Lots of pillars to hide behind plus his enhanced hearing will hopefully equal one enlightened spider.

Peter produced the expected agreement and made it about two steps before-

His brain was on fire. Spider sense!

"Nonononono, countdown activated! Thirty seconds to implosion!"

The teen whipped his around to see Morris the demolition guy frantically inputting what could only be the deactivation codes.

Norman was firm, "Shut. It. Down."

The timer didn't even slow.

Well, crap.

He basically teleported himself next to the panicking blond right at that moment.

Okay, focus and then think. It didn't seem likely that this was an accident but even if this was supreme bad luck, the codes were shown to not work. Bomb squad would be clean up by that point. Revealing himself as Spidey and saving everyone would endanger his loved ones regardless of whether he survives this or not. But Peter couldn't do this. He couldn't save everyone in time as just plain, old Peter Parker. He couldn't. . .

Wait. In time?

Of course. The timer.

Peter was done thinking in seconds and relayed his thoughts, "Mr. Bench! Can you reset the timer?!"

"I'll-I'll try," the frazzled man nodded as he worked.

But the machine was only on the new time for moment before it reverted back to half a minute. Somehow, it felt almost mocking in its false hope.

"It-it wo-won't-"

"Is there a manual way to disable the timer so it can't revert back," Peter asked in a voice calmer than he felt.

Morris' voice was almost inaudible, "Blue wire at the bottom right of the screen. Pull that when I go again."

And then there was waiting. . .

Waiting. . .

. . .

. . .

Now!

"NOW!"

And then there was silence.

29:59. . .29:58. . .29:57

He would've collapsed onto the old and dirty tenement floor right then like Morris. (And Menken, too, if the gasping sounds from behind were an indication.) But his adrenaline hadn't worn off and the danger was still present the longer they stayed here if the muted buzzing in his cranium meant anything.

"Well done, son."

Norman Osborn's approving smile followed Peter the rest of the way out of the building.

End of Part I

Next Time (possibly) : Ock Goes WTF happened and Peter Receives the Credit for All The Things. Also, Stalking Ensues.

[bluestsdays]

for some reason, none of this felt real until right now, as she watches each and every second tick by, waiting for the dreaded sound of the timer she’s set to decide their fate. everything up until this point was so blurred, in her mind. could hardly even remember waking up this morning and relaying her fears to miller, or buying the test, or ending up lying on the floor in wait, or experiencing any other emotion besides paralyzing fear. fuck, what if her gut feelings were right, and she really was pregnant ? her raw and bloodied cuticles speak volumes— she would be a mess. she would fail, somehow, she would fuck everything up, irrevocably. she wouldn’t even know how to begin to be ready for something like that when she could hardly keep herself fed and well-rested and clothed in clean, non-paint stained clothes (and not just miller’s t-shirts, either). there’s even some paint in her hair right now, frantically working at trying to get it out, as if it might change the outcome of this, or at least prove something, somehow. serves as a decent distraction, though, as her thoughts wander, wondering if he was as terrified as she was, if his thoughts were spiraling just as wildly as hers. of course, she’s thought about the prospect of this with him someday, but that’s just it— it was someday in the future, not now. and even then, she’s never been certain about the idea, not because of him, but because of her. because of her own family, her parents— how suffocated she was growing up in that house, always wondering when she would be enough. and she could lose herself in those thoughts, in the insecurities that gnaw at her bones, but it’s the sound of her timer reaching its end that snaps her out of it, adrenaline spiking in her system. “ fuck, ” she groans, arms draping across her eyes as she lay there against the floor, unable to move. “ will you look ? ” she asks, the corner of her eye peeking out from beneath one of her arms. and maybe it’s unfair, but she doesn’t think she could be the one to do it without throwing up everywhere. “ if it’s bad, you have my full permission to throw me off the balcony. it’s fine, really. ” / @bestcurse.

[yamatohomo]

Vegapunk speech transcript from chapters 1108-1121!!! Enjoy!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

I left in all the ellipses because sometimes they are used instead of punctuation, while other times they’re just used to show that the thought isn’t finished when moving to a new speech bubble. If they seem randomly placed, that’s why. Enjoy!! I think this helped me a lot with understanding exactly what is going on so I hope it helps some of you too :) I definitely have some theories and I also think that this solidified some other theories for me. Please talk about your theories in the notes, I'd love to hear!!

(official translation)

[Chapter 1108]

Vegapunk: Hello out there! Come in, world… ahem... I am Dr. Vegapunk, a humble genius scientist. While many of you will likely be shocked by what I have to say in this message… I assure you that it is the truth of this world!

[Chapter 1109]

Shaka: Come now, Stella. You can’t just start this up out of nowhere.

Vegapunk: Hmm? What do you mean, Shaka?!

Shaka: Surely the audience will need to be adequately prepared to hear it.

Vegapunk: You really think that’s necessary? Some intelligence agency will pick it up… and it’ll spread across the world by the next day…

Shaka: Are you certain about that? What if they manipulate the information?

Vegapunk: Hrmm. A good point… so what do we do?

Shaka: I’ll relay the signal through every naval base in the world… and force them to output at maximum strength. The transponder snails can receive audio signals… but the visual transponder snails will take time… in order to be set up for viewing. I suggest giving them an interval of one hour.”

Vegapunk: One hour?! That seems long. So long, in fact… that it will give those who might not want this message heard the time to interfere with it.

Shaka: Very well! Let us set the preparation period for the message to… ten minutes!!

Vegapunk: You hear that, world?!!

(Pythagoras appears on the screen)

Vegapunk: So, nine and a half minutes to kill, what now? 

Shaka: Want to invent something? I’m rather busy.

Vegapunk: Why not have some coffee?

Pythagoras: Calculating the likelihood of signal jamming…

Pythagoras: …!

Shaka: The coffee will take ten minutes to brew. 

Vegapunk: Then I won’t have time to drink it!!

Pythagoras: I calculate the chances of it jamming are exceedingly low.

[Chapter 1110]

Shaka: What is that, Stella?

Vegapunk: Hmm? Why, it’s the dream of all mankind: Vega Coffee!! One little speck of this stuff dropped in water… and you’ve instantly got nice, warm coffee!!

Shaka: How many minutes left?

Vegapunk: It’s not like we’re on a strict timer. Let’s wait seven minutes or so… and then we’ll begin. Not that anyone will be close enough to stop us… if they wished…

(all Five Elders appear specifically to stop the broadcast)

[Chapter 1112]

Shaka: I can’t help but notice you’re not drinking… your Vega Coffee.

Vegapunk: It’s hot! I have a very sensitive tongue!! That’s mean, Shaka. You knew that already.

Shaka: Four more minutes, Stella.

Vegapunk: (Sip) Yeow!!

Shaka: Stella, there’s not much time left. Why not use thermoelectric elements to take the coffees heat… and convert- energy- (York interrupts, yelling over the broadcast)

[Chapter 1113]

Vegapunk: Well, it’s been such a short time… that the coffee’s not even cool yet, but… are they all set with their video transponder snails by now, I wonder?

Shaka: Thirty seconds to go, Stella.

Pythagoras: I feel a bit nervous knowing this is going all over the world. Video will one day… connect the entire world. It will mean knowing… and the discomfort of being known.

Vegapunk: Can you all hear me? Test, test. Hello? This is Vegapunk. Hello, world. Come in, world!!

Shaka: It’s a one sided hijack of the waves, Stella.

Vegapunk: I know that! Well! In that case… let’s get this message started!!

[this is where the speech begins]

Vegapunk: I… have committed two sins. Therefore, whether I am arrested or executed… I shall program this message to be broadcast… when my heart stops beating. However–!! I want to make one thing very clear first. Whoever may have rendered their judgment unto me… I am not trying to convince you that their intent is evil. I will not apply the labels of good and evil at all, in fact… because I understand too little about him to begin with. What I am about to tell you is so preposterous… you might even burst into laughter. However… you all have the right to know. To make a long story short… The world as we know it… Will sink into the sea!!

[Chapter 1114]

Vegapunk: Now, speaking of the near future for me… assuming that the sensors I built are functioning correctly… in the days after I record this message… there should be a most remarkable earthquake that strikes the entire planet!! As a result of that… the sea should rise about one meter around the world… rendering some islands uninhabitable. Beaches around the world will be lost for good. If I am wrong in this prediction… feel free to disregard the rest of this message. If this has happened, however… you should heed my words very carefully!! This particular earthquake is not exactly what I would call… a natural phenomenon. In my own way, I only ever hoped for peace… but this was the root of my first sin. I dreamt of a source of endless, eternal energy… and in my desire… to push the world forward into the future… I flew too close… to the sun!! Allow me to explain… just what it is… that is happening to our world. From about 900 years ago… to about 800 years ago– a period of a century… there is a span of history that is completely and entirely blank. We call this the Void Century, because all records from this time were eliminated. The only means to know this lost piece of history… is to find a message from the past… in the form of ponegliffs scattered across the world… and decipher its contents!! However, the World Government has made it a crime of the highest order… to decipher the message of the ponegliffs. And despite being a member of the government myself… I broke this law. That was my second sin. Through the sheer tenacity of a group of excellent archaeologists… I inherited some texts and a number of ponegliffs, which I have deciphered… and continue studying to the best of my ability. I regret none of this!! History, you see, tells a story… in other words, what I know… is an incomplete story of that 100-year void!! It would be dishonest to fill the blanks with my own speculation… so I will leave you only with the verified truth!! The main character of this story… was born into a kingdom with an impossibly advanced civilization, about 900 years ago. Like the Sun God Nika spoken of in Elbaf legend… he fought with a body that stretched and contracted. His name was Joyboy. And he was the very first man on this sea… to be called a pirate!!!

[Chapter1115]

Vegapunk: But as for why he was called a pirate… I have only read… from a handful of ponegliffs… but what I found there… was the record of a breathtakingly vast war. Joyboy’s enemy… was the World Government of the present day!! More accurately, it was the precursor to the world government… a provisional army put together by 20 kingdoms known as The Alliance!! You might say they had no other choice, so robust was Joyboy’s faction!! Without knowing the spark that caused the war, I won’t say who was right or wrong, I’ll simply state that two competing ideologies came head-to-head. As I mentioned earlier, for its time 900 years ago, the country of Joyboy’s birth… was a startlingly advanced civilization. And the weapons that were used over the course of this 100-year conflict… appear to be impossible to re-create with the latest of modern science. Even I, a humble genius, cannot replicate them!! And therein lies the problem!!! The void century… came to a close with the defeat of Joyboy… but not before… leaving vast, permanent scars of war… across the face of the world!!! The world is made up of a series of islands. Sailing between them is difficult, and many people never experience anything but their own culture at home!!! But this shared understanding of the world… does not necessarily apply to the world of a thousand years ago!! Because a cataclysm occurred during the void century… causing the world to sink once before!!! We are currently living on the pieces of a continent… that existed long ago!!! The world of a millennium ago now slumbers unseen at the bottom of the sea!!! In fact, one can assume that in the past… there were a number of continents we know nothing about. If the world were still the same as it was in the past, then the act of erasing 100 years of history… would be simply unthinkable and impossible. However, it makes much more sense… when you understand that the rise in sea level over that century… was 200 meters!! As for why the sea level rose so much during that century… it would be natural to assume the work of a sudden natural disaster… but I can state for a fact that this was a man-made disaster!!! If such a cataclysm were caused by natural forces… then the initial disaster would have spanned several centuries… and inflicted slow but continual damage upon the world!! But by any measurement– climatology, geology, environmental atmosphere science… this dramatic shift could not have happened within a single century!!! So the cause is something else. And when I detected the rise in worldwide sea levels the other day… I had my answer. I knew the cause… and confirmed its existence!!! The ancient weapons that sank the world into the sea 800 years ago… still exist today, and await the moment that they stir once again!! In other words… the vast war that arose during the void century… never came to an end!!!

(final panel shows Imu angrily listening to the broadcast)

[Chapter 1116]

Vegapunk: Sadly… I owe you all my deepest apologies. But I need you to understand why!! I wanted to create the energy that would power the industry of the world to come. And though it is still incomplete… I have at last reached a practical stage of my life’s work… the Mother Flame, a fire that never goes out!! It is an energy source that will one day in the future enrich the lives of people all over the world!! Unfortunately, one little piece… of that flame has been stolen!! The fault of this lies entirely with me!!! Around two weeks after the theft of the flame… the sky over Lulusia shone with a powerful light… and the kingdom vanished without a trace, according to reports. After that was when I observed the first signs of worldwide earthquakes!! As a scientist, and with utmost pride in its development, I can tell you this… nothing but the mother flame could have created so much energy!!! The flame that I created was used to activate an Ancient Weapon!! I know nothing about who might have carried this out… but the results speak for themselves!!! My actions have led, directly or indirectly, to the loss of many human lives!!! A fact that weighs most deeply upon my soul!! I am so sorry!!! I have inadvertently proven that the man-made disaster that once sank the world… is possible again!!! In the past, there were three ancient weapons… and Joyboy attempted to preserve them for the future!! Why would he do that for such dangerous things?! Have we not sunk far enough?! Who is the true evil here, and who fights the good fight?!! The day will come when all of the answers are laid bare!! And I warn you– that moment will happen when we reach the very precipice of the world’s drowning!!! The Void Century… is still ripe with mystery!! However… there are some who have learned the truth!!! The King of the Pirates’ crew!!! When they learned all of the true history… why did they drift apart without telling anyone? Why didn’t they act on it?!

[ Chapter 1117]

Vegapunk: I know this information is in bits and pieces… but if I were to say more, it would be speculation. Lastly, I have one final message to impart. To those scattered throughout the world… who bear the name of D… within you there is… (signal cuts off when Emet the Iron Giant is thrown into the sea by the elder Warcury)

[Chapter 1119]

Vegapunk: (underwater as the den den mushi regains consciousness) …But actually… nothing of the sort.

… Which you might consider a will… inherited through the years… (cuts out) can only pray that those at the mercy of reason…will be able to hear this message.

[Chapter 1120]

Vegapunk: Someone once said that the voices of the past… will be heard… history is told by the winners… and the voices of the losers at the bottom of the sea are so very faint… but the truth that was gleaned… at the cost of so much sacrifice… has at last been told to the world, just now… I can only pray… that this message has made it safely… out to the world at large. It would be foolish to hear about a war 900 years in the past from only one side. History requires a multifaceted approach to understand entirely. If only I had more time on my side!! Alas! There are forces outside of my ability to stop. Twenty-five years ago, the pirate Gol D. Roger… Completed an unprecedented tour of the entire world. And what he and his crew heard… were likely the voices of the past. In conclusion… as I’m sure you’ve all surmised by now… my view of our future is thus!!!

[Chapter 1121]

Vegapunk: One Day, the memories of The Void Century will be recalled… and mark my words, that day is coming!!! The sinking of the world’s continents… was a man-made disaster brought about by weapons!! Weapons which, by some design… still exist today!!! The machinations of history and fate… seem to insist upon the obliteration… of those last descendants of rare races!!! If the worst should come to pass… I want you all to take care of yourselves!! No matter what should happen… I believe in the intelligence of mankind!! I believe in science!!! (interference)--ger died 25 years ago!! Whitebeard died two years ago!! But the fall of these legends… was merely the prologue of a new era!! And Now…!! These people who refuse to buckle under any and all suppression… They are the ones… who are the closest to the truth, ironically enough!!! Then again, perhaps it was Roger who sent them there. The person who winds up with it may not be the one Joyboy desired!!! There is no stopping the tide… The fate of the world now rests… in the hands of the one who finds it!! The person who lays claim… to the One Piece!!!

[trunk-in-the-attic]

A Postcard from Harold North

@inklings-challenge | Day Seven

(June 12) Dear Diary,

That was a bit of a detour, wasn't it? And I learned I have no idea what Samuel's voice sounds like so I can't begin to approximate it. Alas. Anyway, let's try another activity…

Relay Race: Start a stopwatch. Write 100 words. See how long it took you. Set a timer for the same amount of time, then see how many words you can write in that time. / Tumbling: Switch up the format of how you work on your project. If you usually type, write by hand (or vice versa). If you must type, type in a different program, or use a different-colored font.

Right, then. Stopwatch at the ready…

The group came up through the trees. Harold winced every time a twig snapped. They were so close to finding out about the mysterious singing, but what could it be? What if it was timid and they scared it away? At the edge of the clearing where the old stage was located, Harold couldn't help a gasp of astonishment.

...as a severe weather warning went off on the phone that was doubling as a stopwatch and there was a pause to see if it was local! Ahem. Let's try this again.

Nope. Actual sirens going off.

(June 16) Dear Diary,

The storm ended up being much less exciting than one might expect if the sirens go off—it rained harder about an hour before the warning than it did after, though the radar did look exciting just a town or two over. I did a smidge of writing over the weekend, trying to corral a worst-possible draft, but I'm not sure if I got worst draft or a satisfactory outline where my imagination fills in the blanks and sees no need for further work.

Back to camp!

Letter Writing: Share a letter written by a character from your project. If you want to make it a postcard, include a picture that relates to some element of your story.

A postcard will be perfectly on-theme for this story!

"Dear Dad, Wish you were here! Grandma Violet let me drive the pony, but she doesn't even know it's name!! We've also been canoeing and hiking and everything. This place is so fancy they even provide snacks in our rooms! Miss you lots! Harold

Now to create a Victorian era inspired image that might have originated in an Adirondack tourist lodge…

...Unbelievable. There are those sirens again. At least we've had the constant grumble of thunder for a soundtrack for the past hour, and the light has that pre-storm quality.

I'll just sit here and work diligently on my art project...

[inklings-challenge]

Camp Tolkien: Free Day

Welcome back to Camp Tolkien!

Our two-week summer camp is a chance for you to work on the project of your choice in the company of other writers. No matter which stage of the process you’re in–brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising–Camp Tolkien’s activities are here to help you make progress. Bring along your projects, and have fun!

At Camp Tolkien, Saturday is Free Day! Today, we bring back all the activities from the past week, and you can join in whichever one you wish. This is your opportunity to try an activity that you didn't have a chance to try earlier in the week, try an activity from a day you missed, or to repeat a favorite activity. Try one or try them all--it's your free day, so do what you like.

The activities will be listed under the cut. They will be listed in the same order they were provided during the week.

When you’re finished, reblog or reply to this post, telling us how it went, and/or sharing what you wrote for the day.

Have fun, go forth, and create!

Monday

Icebreakers: Tell the other campers about the project you’ve brought to camp by writing a one-paragraph summary.

Photography: Find or create at least five reference pictures that visualize settings and/or characters in your project.

Archery: Set a timer for two minutes. Write as many words as you can in that time. Repeat this four more times, for a total of five mini writing sessions. Keep track of your word count for each, and let us know your high score.

Nature Walk: Work on your project while you’re outdoors.

Tuesday

Orienteering: Draw a map of a location in your project–a building, a neighborhood, a town, a world, whatever you wish. Note that does not have to be an accurate map–it could be a certain character’s perception of their surroundings, it could be biased, it could be more about artistry than facts, it could just be a napkin scribble if you want.

Painting: Write a detailed description of at least one character in your project.

Scavenger hunt: Incorporate the following five words in whatever you write for your project: friend, tree, march, red, finish. Alternately, find as many of those words as you can in what you already have written for your project, and share each sentence.

Rock climbing: Set a timer for thirty minutes and try to finish as much of a draft of a scene as you can in that time.

Wednesday

Alphabet Game: Make a list of twenty-six things that could happen in your story–each one starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

Dioramas: Write a detailed description of one room in one setting in your project.

Hiking: Go on a walk outside and use something about the experience (a sensory detail, something you saw) as inspiration for your project.

Zipline: Write as fast as you can for ten minutes. You are not allowed to backspace, cross out, or delete anything during that time.

Thursday

Friendship Bracelets: Tell us about two characters who are currently friends, or talk about a childhood/former friend of one of your characters.

Skits: Write a short dialogue scene in script format.

Relay Race: Start a stopwatch. Write 100 words. See how long it took you. Set a timer for the same amount of time, then see how many words you can write in that time.

Tumbling: Switch up the format of how you work on your project. If you usually type, write by hand (or vice versa). If you must type, type in a different program, or use a different-colored font.

Friday

Woodcarving: Take a previously-written portion of your project and try to reduce its wordcount by 25%.

S'mores: Set a timer for five minutes and write as many words as you can. Then do a ten-minute writing session. Then a fifteen-minute one. Then treat yourself to a snack.

Storytelling: Tell us about a story from within the world of your project. It could be a folktale, a bit of history, family lore, something from a character's backstory, whatever you like.

Movie Night: Listen to a favorite movie soundtrack while you work on your project.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1149 review

Wow, hey, I didn't see that coming. And in fairness, I play it fairly safe as far as theorycrafting goes. The conventions of storytelling - the structure of rising and calling arcs of action and character growth, the long and short term pacing, the way foreshadowing is doled out - all are the way they are for good reasons. A lot of fan theories these days emphasise some big, shocking clickbaitable twist hiding in plain sight, but in reality nine times out of ten the thing that will happen is what's being built up in the standard ways.

But then there's that tenth time, when the author swerves and subverts and escalates past where you thought the limit was. Done purposefully, and after enough time of colouring inside the lines, and you can catch even your most analytical readers off-guard.

The choice to include Lilth and Bonney in the colour spread is interesting. I wonder if this one was drawn back in Egghead when they were more prominent and left unused, or if they just got in by default because none of Elbaph's locals would fit. Usopp and the cat seeing the bill is a fun detail, you just know Nami set the prices. I'm in two minds about Bonney's tray though. Like yeah, it's probably "rip-off" like what the Japanese text says, and there is exactly one confirmed instance of deliberate colour spread foreshadowing in the series' whole run, so it's not a safe bet. But come on, the tray even has kind of a squashed shape instead of being a perfect circle, making it feel even more like a tombstone. Maybe that final page twist has me in a mood for conspiracies, but I can't help paying attention to it.

I'm glad we get to see a decent amount of fighting between Scopper and Sommers. It's getting hard to tell if this arc is going have room for traditional, extended one on ones, so I was worried we wouldn't get to see the full creative applications of his and Gunko's powers. Pleasantly surprised that Haki isn't being treated as the be all, end all solution to immortality here. It's obviously effective up to a point, but not enough to put the Holy Knights fully out of the battle. Anyone else notice the Impel Down callback in one of Sommers' attacks too?

This is also a great scene for Chopper. He doesn't call out Brain Point by name, but being the only one present to really notice how effective Scopper is managing to be and making the pragmatic choice to follow him instead of wasting strength on the others (having seen that Robin couldn't cut Gunko's arrows and Saul couldn't do anything for the thorn coils around the children) is Brain Point behaviour. And since he follows Scopper over the edge at the end, he's going to be the one in a position to relay the secret to the others later, whether by returning alone or escorting Scops to Luffy's group.

The school and library start to burn. That's one timer running, but I'd be surprised if any real damage is done to the books. The school can be rebuilt if it burns down. I wonder if the answer will be as simple as Biblo deactivating his power so that the books shrink down and become easy to move, or at least consolidate in a corner away from the flames. But even without personally feeling the threat, seeing Robin and Saul's reactions as it goes up is heartbreaking.

And speaking of heartbreaking, god damn, Ronja. What an awful thing to put on a child's shoulders. In light of the final pages, I find Gunko's reaction to the child's tears interesting. She thinks Ronja should be happy to be saved, no matter what has been sacrificed in her name to make that happen, even if surviving this means a life of servitude. Is Gunko herself enduring a scenario where everything important to her was lost, leaving her with only a life in the Celestial Dragons' grip? This is followed by another tragedy: Collun's love for his dad foiling the rescue. Understandable coming out of a kid raised in a well-defended land of peace, but you can see the pain in Scopper's face. I'm surprised the future sight vision of Collun's death was so graphic. Good way to get readers in the mindset that made Scopper back down though. His injuries are pretty rough, and with the fall to go with them I might have feared for Scopper's life in any other series. But he's going down by the side of the best doctor he could ask for, who also happens to be able to transform into a big, fluffy cushion if he can get ahead of him in the air.

And then the final spread just punches everything into top gear. Gunko knew Brook? Pre-piracy Brook lore? His army days and knowledge of Germa and the Holy Knights? God damn, this has been a long time coming. That alone would have put me into overdrive, and then Imu drops in to say hi. Why is the Holy Land burning? How far does their power over the marked ones go, now that we've seen telepathic communication, body hijacking and remote termination? What is Imu actually going to do via Gunko that she wasn't already doing? Is Imu able to bring any other powers of their own through into her body, like, say, their transformation from the Sabo's throne room scene? Given the lightning, is this an application of Haki, or at least Imu's Haki being used by Gunko's body (and that being possible, could the Strawhats with CoC lend it to their crewmates for future battles)? And I legitimately cannot tell if getting possessed made Gunko's hair grow or if it was just hidden before.

Awesome week to be following One Piece, made better by not having a break to nurse this cliffhanger through. I can't wait to see where Oda's going with all of this and what long-awaited Imu lore is going to be delivered through their presence.

[teapotteringabout]

Stingray Ep 3 - Sea of Oil

Ironically, oil famously doesn’t mix well with water yet it makes quite a good Stingray episode. It’s not a name that’s aged particularly well, especially in a world of Just Stop Oil and Deepwater Horizon disasters. You’ll be glad to know that this is the first of my much shorter reviews as we’re starting to get into the general rhythm of Stingray. Underwater duo attack something, Stingray investigates, they tussle with duo. Today an oil rig is attacked and of course this is the worst thing to happen in the history of humanity ever. We do have to remember that this was made in the early 1960s when environmentalism wasn’t quite the thing it is today.

Now, the reason I rank this episode so highly is because of Atlanta, and certainly because of the dynamic between her, Troy and Marina. Bear with me here.

We open with a very satisfying scene of an oil rig getting destroyed (just because the effects are so well done). Stingray is deployed to investigate and Atlanta’s come along for the ride to establish a surface base. Troy seems a little awkward about this arrangement.

I like to think that it’s because it’s dangerous work and he doesn’t want her getting hurt. That might be me snorting cope. But you can see why it’s so easy to call Troy a two-timer. I do hate that for him, and I hate him for that.

Also isn't it interesting that Atlanta's here, so Marina has her arm on Phones. Intriguing hmmmm

So with that in mind, lets have a look at this wonderful exchange between Team Stingray and Team Oil Rig.

It’s actually canon and acknowledged that Troy and Atlanta are a couple and Troy knows he’s a lucky man for it. So a couple episodes later the character assassination is just tragic.

Anyway, Preston the Oil Rig man is a smooth talker.

1960s everyone. I think this is a good time to point out that the dur hur I love silent women joke isn’t actually that prevalent in the series. We’ll hear it a couple of times from Commander Shore, but that’s all, and he’s the older gent of the group who might be more prone to making outdated jokes. Troy and Phones certainly don’t make such jokes at any point in the series, and that knowledge really does make my heart swell.

We see what they’ve been deployed to do – Stingray guards the drill while it’s active and Atlanta relays instructions from the rig. The enemy craft of the week does get picked up on the hydrophones, but Phones quickly loses it and it’s assumed to be an echo from the drill. I like that this is included, showing that the enemy is always there and is observing, and their spotting Stingray dictates their next actions.

When the work is done for the day, the lads catch up with Preston the Oilman and it’s here that we’re introduced to Oink the seal.

Just as in previous Gerry Anderson productions (Bobby and Mitch in Supercar and Venus and Zoonie in Fireball XL5) we now get an animal companion duo in Marina and Oink. I can only imagine how many lozenges David Graham needed after voicing Oink, but not as many as Zoonie – because while Zoonie is there for the entire Fireball series, Oink will vanish about halfway through. And thank Cod for that. Oink looks cute, but I cannot stand his vocals and he adds nothing to the story. If anything, he makes things more confusing, which I’ll get to in a couple posts time. He would have been much better off making a one-off appearance in this episode because this is the best performance he gives – we’ll get to that soon.

For all my irritation at this character, I do love his puppetry. Look at this good boi.

Unbenownst to the gang, evil submarine hides underneath Stingray, and that night, an evil pair of evil green arms plant an evil stickerbomb on the hull. It's one of the rare occasions where the puppetry leaves a bit to be desired. I think a live-action close-up shot would have been better.

Troy and Phones have a nice little exchange about Marina sitting on the deck enjoying the ocean view. I love the implication that Phones is a chatty guy come bedtime and Troy, as we'll see often in the series, loooooves sleep.

Atlanta is sleeping aboard Stingray when she’s kidnapped by some wet footprints. Marina is sitting on the hull of Stingray’s nose at the time, and so witnesses the event. I can only assume someone got aboard Stingray without her knowing by using the aft hatch which someone left open? Because for security reasons I would assume random people can’t just open submarine hatches from the outside??

Anyway, we get our first proper shot of Marina swimming underwater and the effect is beautiful. In addition to being filmed through a thin fishtank like all the underwater shots, a fan is blown to simulate her hair and dress flowing through water.

In terms of Marina's actions, when I first watched this, I thought we’d still get that bitchy girl rivalry, and Marina would be like “oh what a shame, Atlanta’s gone, want me to keep you company, Troy?” and when Atlanta is inevitably rescued, the whole escapade is laughed off in an “aren’t these girls crazy over you, Troy?” kind of way. But, thank Teufel, no. Marina immediately sounds the alarm.

I just love that it’s Phones who’s straight into action and Troy “Action Man” Tempest is 14-year-old me at 11am.

Anyway, he’s all battle stations go when he learns that Atlanta’s been kidnapped. I love the urgency in his voice, how he’s demanding to know what happened and urging that they need to find her immediately.

They start submerging and the sticker bomb is triggered to explode when it does. Thankfully, Stingray’s instruments pick up a fault with the Surface Video Scanner or SVS (the periscope thingy) so the dive has to be aborted. Upon investigation, it’s because Oink is sat in front of the SVS lens, blocking its view. He’s also found the sticker bomb.

The Stingray crew manage to dive out of the way of the ensuing explosion and at first they assume Oink has been killed. I’m glad he wasn’t, as animal death is very dark for most Anderson shows, but I do wonder how a whole seal managed to get inside Stingray without anyone noticing. Anyway, as I said earlier, this is the one time Oink does anything substantial – he accidentally saves the Stingray from being blown up by a sticker bomb that Mr Wet Footprints had left on the hull.

Let’s get back to Atlanta, and for me the highlight of the episode. She reasons with her kidnappers – Nefir and Gerit – and we learn that it’s all a big misunderstanding. They thought the drilling was an attack on their home, not just a harmless oil rig. Whoever got hurt from an oil rig? In fact, they’ve got oil for miles in their home that they’d gladly share with the humans. Sweet!

Seriously though, look at the detail of the set when their craft is transported on a monorail over a whole lake of bubbling, steaming oil. I don’t think oil ought to be hot when drilled, but I digress. It’s even dripping down the walls of the cavern.

And look at the interior of their base. Like Titanica and several other bases we'll see, this new colour TV tech has made brightly coloured villain lairs the in-thing. I'd love to know why these guys have what a mural of a green-haired hollow-eyed tits-out lady. Presumably she's a deity. It's little tit-bits of worldbuilding that make many of these undersea races really come alive.

Nefir (bearded dude) and Gerit (clean-shaven dude), despite planting a bomb on Stingray, do turn out to be quite sweet dudes. They even appear to give Atlanta a shawl and apologise and comfort her when they hear the bomb explode, assuming Stingray has been blown up.

Also when the sticker bomb explodes, it’s heard down here too and Atlanta’s little devastated gasp of “Oh! Troy!” is so well-acted by Lois Maxwell. Like you can really hear the despair and shock in her voice. Lois Maxwell is a star and this won’t be the last time I simp over her.

It’s quickly established that Stingray has survived the explosion, and though Atlanta, Nefir and Gerit are overjoyed and relieved, they quickly realise they have a new problem – when Stingray finds the entrance to their cave door, Troy will try to rescue Atlanta via the Michael Bay Method of blowing shit up, and that’s not so great for a civilisation sitting on an oil well. Also, as Nefir states, the “mighty ocean will rush in”, which could indicate that this race of people can’t actually breathe underwater. Sure, water rushing in quickly could well crush any marine being, or smack them with debris. But we do actually meet other undersea races who can’t breathe underwater so I like to think this is one of them.

The underwater technology is so different to Terranean equipment that there is no way they can stop the attack or tell Troy that Atlanta is safe. As such, Atlanta bravely urges Gerit to take her on his ship and try and stop them. It’s a huge risk as without any way to communicate, they would be interpreted as an enemy and blown up, but the alternative is certain death when Stingray locates their city. It all makes Troy sound quite extreme actually. Shoot first, ask where Atlanta is later, especially on a craft that won’t be threatening them in any way, or you have no actual proof is involved.

In any case, Atlanta and Gerit go back out in their submarine to try and stop Stingray. There’s a wonderfully tense scene where Phones has picked up their echo and starts counting down to their firing distance. It’s then that Atlanta comes up with the genius idea that if she uses the motors to send a Morse Code message, Phones would hear it on the hydrophones. This is objectively brilliant. It’s using these two characters’ core skillset perfectly and it’s pretty much the only time that Troy is not the hero of the day. Enjoy it while it lasts.

There’s no music at all while Atlanta relays her message with the motors, and, heartbreakingly, it seems to be too late as Phones reaches zero and gives the command to fire.

THEN he hears the message through his hydrophones, and gives the urgent command to destroy the sting missile remotely.

I love that as well as the hydrophone 'pings', you can also hear Atlanta's message through Phones's headset.

All’s well that ends well, with Troy and co meeting Nefir and Gerit properly. Nefir also has an odd remark at the end: “especially when we nearly cost you your wives”. Now, after some confusion from Troy, it’s established that he meant ‘lives’. That’s fine, English is unlikely to be your first language when you’re a literal sub-seabed race. Firstly, I would say an apology is warranted on Troy’s side too, for nearly killing Atlanta and Gerit. Secondly, I can’t help but wonder if ‘wives’ was the word specifically chosen for the script because we’re still very much in Troy’s questionable triangle era.

Anyway, we wrap up the episode with a scene that made me spit out my tea when I first saw it.

Is that oil or are you pleased to see me?

As a while, this episode is a solid A for Atlanta. S for Star, because she is one. She’s calm and brave, risking her life to go in the submarine to try and contact Stingray, and clever to message them in an unconventional way. This is the first ‘Atlanta centric’ episode and believe me, they tend to be absolute bangers.

The show at this point continued to subvert my expectations with Marina going out of her way to kick-off Atlanta's rescue rather than maintain a bitchy rivalry. Oink, as annoying as he is, is cute and at his most useful to the plot in this episode. We also have our first glimpse of an underwater race that isn't Titan's lot or Pacificans, and though in fitire episodes these other races will be fully villains, it's lovely to see friendly ones who want to befriend the humans, and the Stingray crew acting as less a military force and more a PR link between sea and land.

Remember when I said this would be a shorter review?

[the-time-lord-oracle]

Rose's first meeting with the Doctor and Gazelle:

Suddenly, she felt a hand take hers and she opened her eyes to look at the owner of the hand; a tall man in his early forties with close-cut brown hair, piercing blue eyes, rather prominent ears, a hawk-like nose and dressed in a battered black leather jacket, a burgundy V-neck jumper, black trousers and black doc martin boots. "Run!" he urged Rose, his voice a thick Lancashire accent. And so they ran! The man pulled Rose out of the way as the dummy's arm came down and sliced through a pipe like a knife through butter. Rose and the man burst through the doors and raced down the corridor towards the lift with the army of dummies in close pursuit.

When they reached the lift, Rose could see that it was being held open by a very pretty young woman in her early twenties with long, wavy, chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes, an ivory complexion and dressed in a black leather jacket, a black tank top, black skinny jeans, black biker boots and black fingerless gloves. Once Rose and the man were inside the lift, the brunette woman hit the button for the ground floor and the doors began to close. But before they could close fully, the dummies caught up with them and one stuck it's arm through the doors, preventing them from closing properly. Both the man and the woman tugged on the arm until it came off with a pop and the doors closed. "You pulled his arm off!" Rose stared.

"Yep, plastic." the man said nonchalantly, tossing the arm to Rose, who caught it and looked it closely. It was solid plastic al the way through.

"Very clever, nice trick!" Rose remarked. "Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?"

"Why would they be students?" the woman quizzed. Unlike the man, she spoke with a Surrey accent.

"I dunno." Rose shrugged.

"Well, you said it." the man said. "Why students?"

"'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly... they gotta be students." Rose reasoned.

"That makes sense, well done." the man said in a patronising tone.

"Thanks." Rose retorted, matching his tone.

"They're not students." the man said darkly.

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds 'em, he's gonna call the police."

"Who's Wilson?" the man asked.

"Chief electrician."

"Wilson's dead." the man said matter-of-factually as the lift doors opened and he stepped out. The woman gave Rose an apologetic look and followed him.

"That's just not funny, that's sick!" Rose burst out as she followed them out onto the ground floor, emerging in a back corridor.

Once they were all clear of the lift, the woman reached into her inside jacket pocket and produced a small silver metal cylindrical object with a blue light on the end and aimed it at the lift controls. "Stand back." she warned Rose, and switched the device on, causing it to light up and emit a strange buzzing noise.

"I've had enough of this now!" Rose grumbled, then she yelped and flinched as sparks flew out of the lift controls. "Who're you two, then?" she questioned as the man and woman walked off down the corridor. "Who's that lot down there?" Rose insisted as she followed them. "I said who are they?!"

"They're made of plastic." the man explained. "Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He reached into his pocket and produced a homemade bomb; two blocks of C4 with a timer strapped to them. "So..." he continued as they reached a fire exit and opened it, "we're gonna go upstairs and blow it up. And we might well die in the process. But don't worry about us, no. Go home, go on! Go and have yer lovely beans on toast."

"And whatever ya do, don't tell anyone else about this." the woman warned Rose as they ushered out into an alleyway behind Henriks. "'Cos if you do, you'll put them in danger."

The doors were slammed shut and Rose was left staring in bemusement. Suddenly, the doors opened again to reveal the two strangers. "I'm the Doctor, by the way." the man introduced. "And this is Gazelle." He gestured to the woman, who gave Rose a small wave. "What's yer name?"

"Rose." the befuddled blonde replied.

"Nice to meet yer, Rose. Run for yer life." the Doctor grinned manically, waggling his homemade bomb, then he and Gazelle shut the doors again.

[vaknewt]

One Piece: Vegapunk's Broadcast(Official Full English Translation)

I've stitched together an uninterrupted version of Vegapunk's broadcast as of now. Tried to get things accurate, but got a bit confused with the three Vegpunks during their 'Coffee Stream.'

Coffee Stream and Prep

Chapters 1108-1113

*Beep... Beep... Click...!! Zshk...!!*

Stella: Ahem!  Hello?  Check, check... Is this on?  Hello out there!  Come in, world.  Ahem... I am Dr. Vegapunk, a humble genius scientist.  While many of you will likely be shocked by what I have to say in this message, I assure you that it is the truth of this world!!!

Shaka: Come now, Stella. *ZSHK* You can’t just start this up out of nowhere.

Stella: Hmm?  What do you mean, Shaka?!

Shaka: Surely the audience will need to be adequately prepared to hear it.

Stella: You really think that’s necessary?  Some intelligence agency will pick it up and it’ll spread across the world by the next day…

Shaka: Are you certain about that?  What if they manipulate the information?

Stella: Hrmm. A good point… So what should we do?

Shaka: I’ll relay the signal through every naval base in the world and force them to output at maximum strength.  The transponder snails can receive audio signals, but the visual transponder snails will take time in order to be set up for viewing.  I suggest giving them an interval of one hour.

Stella: One hour?!  That seems long.  So long, in fact, that it will give those who might not want this message to be heard the time to interfere with it.

Shaka/Stella?: Very well!  Let us set the preparation period for the message to ten minutes!!  You hear that world?!!

Shaka/Stella/Pythagoras: 

-So, nine and a half minutes to kill.  What now?

-Want to invent something?  I’m rather busy.

-Why not have some coffee?

-Calculating the likelihood of signal jamming…

-The coffee will take ten minutes to brew.

-Then I won’t have time to drink it!!

-I calculate the chances of jamming are exceedingly low.

-What is that, Stella?

-Hmm?  Why, it’s the dream of all mankind: Vega Coffee!!  One little speck of this stuff dropped in water, and you’ve instantly got nice, warm coffee!!

-How many minutes left?

-It’s not like we’re on a strict timer.  Let’s wait seven minutes or so, and then we’ll begin.  Not that anyone will be close enough to stop us if they wished…

-I can’t help but notice you’re not drinking your Vega Coffee.

-It’s hot!  I have a very sensitive tongue!

-That’s mean, Shaka.  You knew that already.

-Four more minutes, Stella.

-*sip* YEOW!!

-Stella, there’s not much time left.

-Why not use thermoelectric elements to take the coffee’s heat and convert that energy into something--

-One minute left, Stella.

-I know!! *Slurp..* Well, it’s been such a short time that the coffee’s not even cool yet, but are they all set up with their video transponder snails by now, I wonder?

-Thirty seconds to go, Stella.

-I feel a bit nervous knowing this is going all over the world.

-Video will one day connect the entire world.  It will mean knowing, and the discomfort of being known.

Vegapunks Message

Chapter 1113

Stella: Can you all hear me?  Hello?  This is Vegapunk.  Hello world.  Come in world!!

Shaka: It’s a one-sided hijack of the waves, Stella.

Stella: I know that!  Well!  In that case, let’s get this message started!!  I have committed two sins.  Therefore, whether I am arrested or executed, I shall program this message to be broadcast when my heart stops beating.  However--!!  I want to make one thing very clear first.  Whoever may have rendered their judgment unto me, I am not trying to convince you that their intent is evil.  I will not apply the labels of good and evil at all, in fact, because I understand too little about him to begin with.  What I am about to tell you is so preposterous you might even burst into laughter.  However, you all have the right to know.  To make a long story short, the world as we know it will sink into the sea!!

Chapter 1114

Now, speaking of the near future for me, assuming that the sensors I built are functioning correctly, in the days after I recorded this message, there should be a most remarkable earthquake that strikes the entire planet!!  As a result of that, the sea should rise about one meter around the world rendering some islands uninhabitable.  Beaches around the world will be lost for good.  If I am wrong in this prediction, feel free to disregard the rest of this message.  If this has happened, however, you should heed my words very carefully!!  This particular earthquake is not exactly what I would call a natural phenomenon.  In my own way, I only ever hoped for peace, but this was the root of my first sin.  I dreamt of a source of endless, eternal energy, and in my desire to push the world forward into the future, I flew too close to the sun.  Allow me to explain just what it is that is happening to our world.  From about 900 years ago to 800 years ago--A period of a century, there is a span of history that is completely and entirely blank.  We call this the Void Century, because all records from this time were eliminated.  The only means to know this lost piece of history is to find a message from the past in the form of ponegliffs scattered across the world and decipher its contents!!  However, the World Government has made it a crime of the highest order to decipher the message of the ponegliffs.  And despite being a member of the government myself, I broke this law.  That was my second sin.  Through the sheer tenacity of a group of excellent archeologists, I inherited some texts and a number of ponegliffs, which I have deciphered and continued studying to the best of my ability.  I regret none of this!!  History, you see, tells a story, in other words, what I know is an incomplete story of that 100-year void!!  It would be dishonest to fill the blanks with my own speculation, so I will leave you only with the verified truth!!  The main character of this story was born into a kingdom with an impossibly advanced civilization, 900 years ago.  Like the Sun God Nika spoken of in legend, he fought with a body that stretched and contracted.  His name was Joyboy.  And he was the very first man on this sea to be called a pirate!!!

Chapter 1115

But as for why he was called a pirate… I have only read from a handful of ponegliffs, but what I found there was the record of a breathtakingly vast war.  Joyboy’s enemy… was the World Government of the present day!!  More accurately, it was the precursor to the World Government, a provisional army put together by 20 kingdoms known as the Alliance!!  You might say they had no other choice, so robust was Joyboy’s faction!!  Without knowing the spark that caused the war, I won’t say who was right or wrong, I’ll simply state that two competing ideologies came head-to-head.  As I mentioned earlier, for its time 900 years ago, the country of Joyboy’s birth was a startlingly advanced civilization.  And the weapons that were used over the course of this 100-year conflict appear to be impossible to re-create with the latest of modern science.  Even I, a humble genius, cannot replicate them!!  And therein lies the problem!!!  The Void Century came to a close with the defeat of Joyboy, but not before leaving vast, permanent scars of war across the face of the world!!!  The world is made up of a series of islands.  Sailing between them is difficult, and many people never experience anything but their own culture at home!!  But this shared understanding of the world does not necessarily apply to the world of a thousand years ago!!  Because a cataclysm occurred during the Void Century causing the world to sink once before!!!  We are currently living on the pieces of a continent that existed long ago!!!  The world of a millennium ago now slumbers unseen at the bottom of the sea!!!  In fact, one can assume that in the past there were a number of continents we know nothing about.  If the world were still the same as it was in the past, then the act of erasing 100 years of history would be simply unthinkable and impossible.  However, it makes much more sense when you understand that the rise in sea level over that century was 200 meters!!!  As for why the sea level rose so much during that century, it would be natural to assume the work of a sudden natural disaster, but I can state for a fact that this was a man-made disaster!!!  If such a cataclysm were caused by natural forces, then the initial disaster would have spanned several centuries and inflicted slow but continual damage upon the world!!  But by any measurement--climatology, geology, environmental and atmospheric science, this dramatic shift could not have happened within a single century!!!  So the cause is something else.  And when I detected the rise in worldwide sea levels the other day, I had my answer.  I knew the cause and confirmed its existence!!!  The ancient weapons that sank the world into the sea 800 years ago still exist today, and await the moment that they stir once again!!  In other words, the vast war that arose during the Void Century never came to an end!!!

Chapter1116

Sadly, I owe you all my deepest apologies.  But I need you to understand why!!  I wanted to create the energy that would power the industry of the world to come.  And though it is still incomplete, I have at last reached a practical stage of my life’s work, the Mother Flame, a fire that never goes out!!  It is an energy source that will one day in the future enrich the lives of people all over the world!!  Unfortunately, one little piece of that flame has been stolen!!  The fault of this lies entirely with me!!!  Around two weeks after the theft of the flame, the sky over Lulusia shone with a powerful light, and the kingdom vanished without a trace, according to reports.  After that was when I observed the first signs of worldwide earthquakes!!  As a scientist, and with utmost pride in its development, I can tell you this… Nothing but the Mother Flame could have created so much energy!!!  The flame that I created was used to activate an ancient weapon!!  I know nothing about who might have carried this out, but the results speak for themselves!!!  My actions have led, directly or indirectly, to the loss of many human lives!!!  A fact that weighs most deeply upon my soul!!  I am so sorry!!!  I have inadvertently proven that the man-made disaster that once sank the world is possible again!!!  In the past, there were three ancient weapons, and Joyboy attempted to preserve them for the future!!  Why would he do that for such dangerous things?!  Have we not sunk far enough?!  Who is the true evil here, and who fights the good fight?!!  The day will come when all of the answers are laid bare!!  And I warn you--That moment will happen when we reach the very precipice of the world’s drowning!!!  The Void Century is still ripe with mystery!!  However, there are some who have learned the truth!!!  The king of the pirate’s crew!!!  When they learned all of the true history, why did they drift apart without telling anyone?  Why didn’t they act on it?!

Chapter 1117

I know this information is in bits and pieces, but if I were to say more, it would be speculation.  Lastly, I have one final message to impart.  To those scattered throughout the world who bear the name of D, within you there is a-*ZRRKSH!!*

Chapter 1118

*ZSSK* That… name… *ZSHK*

Chapter 1119

…But actually… …nothing of the sort.  …Which you might consider a will inherited through the years. *ZSSHK!!* …can only pray that those at the mercy of this reason will be able to hear this message.

Chapter 1120

*Zrk* Someone once said that the voices of the past will be heard… History is told by the winners, and the voices of the losers at the bottom of the sea are so very faint, but the truth that was gleaned at the cost of so much sacrifice has at last been told to the world, just now… I can only pray that this message has made it safely out to the world at large.  It would be foolish to hear about a war 900 years in the past from only one side.  History requires a multifaceted approach to understand entirely.  If only I had more time on my side!!  Alas!  There are forces outside of my ability to stop.  Twenty-five years ago, the pirate Gol D. Roger, completed an unprecedented tour of the entire world.  And what he and his crew heard were likely the purest voices of the past.  In conclusion, as I’m sure you’ve all surmised by now, my view of the future is thus!!!

Chapter 1121

One day, the memories of the Void Century will be recalled, and mark my words, that day is coming!!!  The sinking of the world’s continents was a man-made disaster brought about by weapons!!  Weapons which, by someone’s design, still exist today!!!  The machinations of history and fate seem to insist upon the obliteration of those last descendants of rare races!!  If the worst should come to pass, I want you all to take care of yourselves!!  No matter what should happen, I believe in the intelligence of mankind!!  I believe in science!!! *ZRSHK* --ger died 25 years ago!! *ZZRK* Whitebeard died two years ago!!  But the fall of these legends was merely the prologue of a new era!!  And now, these people who refuse to buckle under any and all suppression… They are the ones who are closest to the truth, ironically enough!!!  Then again, perhaps it was Roger who sent them there.  The person who winds up with it may not be the one Joyboy desired!!!  There is no stopping the tide… The fate of the world now rests in the hands of the one who finds it!!  The person who lays claim to the One Piece!!!

Chapter 1122

That is simply the truth. *ZRTT* Joyboy is his-- *ZZZT* *BEEP* *BEEP*

This is when the Five Elders finally stopped the broadcast.