#80% of the server still is not hooked up

[scopop08]

Yeah that took as long as I expected it to

[bettyfrommars]

it’s the a7x anon 😘

imagine stripper harlot reader and eddie falls for her (obviously) and he follows her to a club one night. it’s an underground club (got me thinking blood rave from blade) but shes deadly, she sucks the soul out of men in the clubs, poisons them for fun, the club is filled with different types, vampires, wolves, ghouls, but none are more desired or feared than her.

Sympathy for the Devil

eddie x demon!fem!reader

It's the mid-90's and Eddie has moved to Seattle with the rest of Corroded Coffin to get in on the music scene. He sees you one night dancing at a bachelor party and can't seem to stop thinking about you. His hunt for you takes him to a dark part of town where only monsters dare to go. wc: 2.5k

18+ONLY, grunge!eddie, descriptions of monsters, eventual smut, star-crossed lovers, Gareth, reader described as having thick hips and tattoos, exotic dancers, alcohol consumption, breathing fire. Readers dad is basically Hellboy.

Part 1: Great Balls of Fire

Part 2: Mark of the Beast

Part 3: Burn it Down

A/N: There is just so much I want to explore on this topic, I had to turn it into multiple parts. No smut in this chapter, but there will be in the next two, if there are people who want to read it. I love any reason for a good Blade blood shower. I love this anon, and I hope I did some justice to your idea.

-----------

Eddie dropped down into the dark venue on a wing and a prayer, hoping you were working that night.  He didn’t know your schedule, he only knew you from that one night two weeks ago when he was there for Jeff’s bachelor party.  

Out of a sea of beautiful, scantily clad women, you stood out like a flash of  lightning in a pitch black night.

“I can’t believe we’re here again, man,” Gareth complained, swiping his hair out of his face.

“What are you afraid of?” Eddie shouted over his shoulder, hoping to be heard above the throbbing, electronic music. His eyes scanned the crowd for you, or any one he remembered seeing you talk to that first night.  Ahead of them, down the shadowed alcove of the venue were several dancers gyrating on poles and spreading their legs out wide for customers at the rack to hook dollar bills into their g-strings.  

“I’m afraid my girl will cut my nuts off if she finds out I came here with you,” Gareth responded.  

Gareth's hair was shorter than it had been when they were in high school. It was just long enough to tuck behind his ears, but still so full and curly that he had to slick it back.  Eddie’s hair was much longer now, almost to his nipples, and he’d grown his bangs out, so it was more grunge rather than early 80’s metal.  

“We went to see Mudhoney at the Crocodile,” Eddie confirmed. “That’s all you need to tell her.  We only came here to look for someone.”  They had done exactly that, and the Mudhoney show had been amazing. Corroded Coffin’s relocation to Seattle was the best decision Eddie had ever made, and he was grateful his band made the journey with him.  They were all renting this old house on Capitol Hill and getting paying gigs a couple times a month—it was a dream.

But since he’d laid eyes on you—he could barely function.

You had bewitched him in the best of ways.  

So, there he was---dragging Gareth back to the same strip club to look for you.  He honestly didn’t expect to get your number, or even talk to you—he just needed to see you again.   

Once he reached the dimly lit red cocktail bar, Eddie froze.  “She’s not here,” he wet his dry lips, getting on the balls of his feet to scan the crowd. “I mean, I don’t see her.”

“Okay, great, "Gareth tried to avert his eyes from the women on stage so that he wouldn’t feel guilty.  “Can we go now?”

But Eddie wasn’t ready to give up that easily.  

“Hey,” he called over to one of the servers he remembered from the last time. She was about to carry a tray of drinks over to a table when she caught his eye and her face lit up.  

Eddie was awkward when he didn't want to be, but on every other occasion—he possessed a decent amount of charm.  Plus, this particular server was a fan of his band, he just didn’t know it.

Eddie stroked some hair behind his ear and leaned closer, giving her your full description, right down to the color of your eyes, and the details of a few of your tattoos, and then asked if you were working that weekend.

The server shook her head, her cheeks burning hot under Eddie's attention.  “Sorry, she’s not here. I think she’s at the Devils Den tonight.”

Eddie squinted at Gareth and the both of them mouthed “the devils den” with a question mark, like they had never heard of it in all of the 2 years they’d been there.  

The Devil’s Den did not advertise.  You could not find it in the phone book.  It was a word of mouth or friend of a friend only, and security was tight.

“Be careful,” the redhead server offered a warning, passing Eddie her phone number on the inside of a gum wrapper with a wink. Gareth rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

Eddie drove Gareth back to his car first.

“You sure you don’t want me to go with?” Gareth asked Eddie over the hood, strumming his fingers on the metal.

“Nah man, I’m good,” Eddie assured him, twirling his keys on his finger as he walked backwards. “You go home to your girl.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He remembered the directions the redhead told him as he sucked down a cigarette with the window open, blowing smoke out into the crisp city night.  It took him down through the east end of town, along a tunnel, and then shot him deep into the industrial district.  Vacant buildings loomed like faceless gargoyles as his van rolled along the dismal expanse, void of human life.

The building was unmarked, but the address was correct; he checked it with the numbers inked on his palm several times.  He parked a block away and walked over with his fists shoved deep into the pockets of his leather while scraps of paper and leaves skidded across the pavement.  His long hair flew across his lips and clung there until he peeled the strand back and tucked it behind his ear again.

He could hear the music now, thudding low from inside the building as he rounded the corner.  

There was a purple light coming from the open doorway, and a minotaur man with a thick tail and broad shoulders sat on a stool blowing smoke out his nostrils.  Eddie heard him ask the couple ahead of him to see their IDs, so Eddie got his ready.

You just happened to be on your way out for a smoke when you saw him—-

Him.

The one you couldn’t take your eyes off of two weekends ago. The grungy boy with the long hair you couldn’t stop thinking about.

What was he doing at a monster bar? Did you want him to see you like this? 

Self-consciously, you spun around, ducking your head so he wouldn’t see your horns, wondering if you should try to cover them with your hood and retract your claws. 

Eddie handed the Minotaur bouncer his ID.

“What the fuck you want me to do with this?” The bouncer asked, aggressively standing up to his full height which was close to 7ft.  His voice bellowed, “no humans allowed, can’t you read?” Sure enough, there was a black and white sign on the door that said: NO UNAUTHORIZED HUMANS ALLOWED.

Eddie tucked his ID back in his wallet, about to offer to try and pay the guy off when he saw you appear in the doorway.

“Oh shit,” Eddie whispered to himself.  You were even more stunning than the night he first saw you. Now you have horns? He hadn't noticed them the other weekend at the club; maybe you had them tucked under your wig. He could tell you were different, but he had no idea you were what was known in human circles as a Beastly.  

“He’s with me,” you told the enormous Minotaur man, and Eddie watched him cower before you.  He sat back down on his stool and bowed his head, muttering his apologies.  

He had to remember not to let his jaw hang slack as you walked closer, swaying your hips as you did so, plucking a cigarette out of the pack to pop it into your mouth.  He noticed that what he once thought were tattoos were actually designs that seemed like they were burned into your flesh; they glowed orange in the night as if there was lava flowing in your veins.  

Eddie patted his jacket and his back pockets, forgetting where he put his lighter. Once he found it, his hand was trembling, but he took a breath and cupped his palm over the flame, leaning forward to offer it to you.

You hesitated, searching his rich brown eyes.  His very human eyes: you wanted to watch them sparkle.  “Do you want to see something cool?”

Eddie lowered his hands and poked his tongue out between his teeth. “Always.”

“It might freak you out,” you warned.

“I love getting freaked out.”

You held the cigarette out and blew on the end of it, producing a string of fire from your lungs.  It was a soft, blue flame and Eddie watched the tip of your smoke light up and crackle with embers just as the fire disappeared behind your lips again.

“Party trick,” you took a drag, squinting one eye at him playfully.  

“Can you do mine?” Eddie opened the top pocket of his jacket to pull out a smoke from his pack, while a few more bodies shuffled by on their way to the door.  Two had chalk white skin with fangs, one had the snout of a pig and a green mohawk, and the other looked like she could’ve passed as human, until she stuck her tongue out at one of the other men and it was long and forked, falling almost to her chest.  

They each gave Eddie a suspicious look, but when they saw you standing there, they quickly jerked their stares away.

Eddie gripped the cig between his full lips, and his eyes never left you as you leaned in.  You could’ve produced a flame long enough to reach him where he was, but you decided to step in close, so that your mouth wasn’t far from his.

Your eyes met as you breathed a steady stream of fire.  The thought occurred to you that you could take him right then; you could suck his soul out like juice from a Capri Sun and he’d never know what hit him.  You could drink his essence like oxygen and fill your stomach with his charming warmth—but then you wouldn’t have him anymore, and your heart was screaming louder than your hunger.  

“That’s so rad,” Eddie chuckled.  He took a drag and then blew the smoke out sideways.  “What other tricks do you know?”

“I think it’s your turn to do a trick,” you raised an eyebrow. 

“What could a human possibly do to impress you?”

“I’m sure there are lots of ways you could impress me,” your smile was coy, and it made Eddie’s pupils widen with admiration.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

But then one of the ghouls with skin that looked stapled on stepped out of the doorway and said your name.  

“What is it?” You snapped.  Your demeanor changed—your eyes narrowing on her.  

“Sorry,” the ghoul stammered.  “Um, it’s Drucilla—she says there’s a phone call for you.”

“I’ll be right there,” you grumbled, waving her off, but when you turned back to Eddie, your face softened.  “I have to go.  If you’re around later we can—-”

“Yeah, I’ll wait,” Eddie said quickly.  He didn’t know how long the wait would be, and he didn’t care.

You motioned for him to follow you inside, and as he entered, the Minotaur bouncer grumbled: “Sorry about earlier, man.”

“It’s all good,” Eddie clapped him on his big, beefy shoulder.

There was a band at the back of the venue playing something that reminded him of Alice in Chains, and Eddie felt right at home.  Everyone turned in his direction, and he followed close behind as you traveled down a few carpeted steps to the long, low-lit bar along the wall.  Your tail flicked from side to side as you walked, and he smiled to himself when he noticed it.  

You swatted the bar with your hand to get Danny’s attention.  The wolfman bartender stopped the conversation he was having mid-sentence and rushed over, a furry hand swiping hair away from his beard.  

“He’s with me,” you told Danny, motioning over your shoulder to a bewildered Eddie.  “Anyone fucks with him, and I’ll rip their head off.”

You meant it literally, and Danny knew that.  

“I’ll keep an eye on your pet,” Danny nodded as he cleaned a glass with a towel.  He made eye contact with Eddie and ran his tongue over his sharp canines.

Eddie sank down onto a stool at the bar and watched you go, his heart hammering in his chest.  There were two exotic dancers in cages on either side of the dancefloor, and one looked like she had reptilian skin with an alligator tail.  The action on the main floor was more of a mosh pit than actual dancing, and he knew the guys from his band would dig this place.  He wondered what you would think of his music if you saw him perform; maybe he could do a few tricks for you on stage. He wanted to look out and see you in the crowd and know you were his.

“What can I get you?” Danny asked, flipping a coaster in front of Eddie with a flourish.  

Flustered at his choices, Eddie ordered a beer, and then he leaned in.  “Hey, what is her story? Why does everyone seem so…afraid of her?”

“You mean you don’t know who she is?” Danny raised both bushy eyebrows at him as he popped the cap on his beer. 

Eddie shrugged, eyes dancing over the wall of bottles.  “I have no idea, man.  This isn’t my scene.”

Danny came forward and put his hairy forearms on the bar.  “Yeah well, her dad is the head Devil in charge of all of this,” he gestured around.  “He runs the underground Beast Mob, and everyone is scared shitless of him.”  Danny scooted Eddie’s beer forward, giving him a pointed look.  “And you should be too.  He hates humans.”

Eddie swallowed hard.  “I’m pretty good with parents,” he mumbled. 

He sat there for a while and sipped his beer, taking in the scenery and the other monsters, when he caught sight of you weaving your way back through the crowd.  Everyone you walked by seemed to beg to touch you or talk to you; a couple of them even bowed.  He wanted to have you on his arm, to feel the fire from your lungs burn his skin.

“Hey,” the person behind Eddie tapped his shoulder, and Eddie spun around to find an orc-looking guy with two tusks jutting up from his bottom teeth.  

“Yeah, man, what’s up?” 

The bartender glanced over Eddie’s shoulder at you, and then regarded him with a nod.  “Be careful with that one, son.  She will feast on your soul and drain you dry.”

Eddie turned to see you watching him from across the way, and you offered a shy wave.  Your short horns looked sharp and ready for battle; the marks in your skin glowed like neon.

Eddie sighed wistfully.  “Damn, I really hope so.”

[epersonae]

Because you foolishly agreed to more than one of these: Director's Cut of "BIGFOOT STOLE MY HUSBAND!", please.

anyway.

before I even start on this, let me just say that I love that you've picked out my three OFMD fics that imho get the best comments in very different ways. for the benefit of all the broken hearts gets the in-depth analysis and plot-based screaming; I spit on your grave is full of I NEEDED THIS CATHARSIS; and BIGFOOT STOLE MY HUSBAND is about 80% "would it be weird if I wanted to kiss bigfoot/o no you've awakened something in me", which me too bud (actually this comment is one of my favorite comments on anything ever).

Sometimes you write something you're not into entirely out of spite, well, 80% spite and 20% as a gift to your friends lol.

Which is to say that someone posted a link to a pretty bad (and also at the time the only) Ed/Stede/Bigfoot fic in a server I'm in (come ON, "it was all a dream"?!?!?! COWARD) and we got chatting about what a good fic would be like, and then dammit now I have an actual idea.

I said in my previous director's commentary post that I often need a hook to get into a story, and the camping narration that it starts with was the hook.

My ex-husband (first spouse, the bad marriage, the divorce) was very outdoorsy in that Pacific Northwest way; in college he'd worked for a summer as a guide on Mt Rainier and then the following winter was the caretaker for a lodge. He was not as gung-ho about it as some of his friends, but he did always want for us to go on a "real" backpacking trip, and we did a lot of car camping. And like, we had some real awful arguments and terrible experiences, but also there was a lot I enjoyed about it, and I hadn't (still haven't) done that since before I got divorce. (iirc we didn't go out at all that last summer we were together, which feels like part of the "everything coming to a head" of that year.)

So apparently I had a whole bunch of pent-up feelings about camping, both the actual physical experience of being in the woods/mountains and the experience of doing something that your partner is into WAY more than you are. (Which, yes, is both about the camping and Bigfoot.)

One of the other things about that fic is the whole scent experience, obviously, and that is the 20% gift for a friend aspect of that story, because one of the people who I was more or less writing it for is someone who I thought would appreciate that particular aspect. My beta also pushed me to be more specific and detailed about the actual fragrance notes, so I did two things. One, I looked up perfume sites and stuff for the kind of language people use for that, and two, what ended up being the most notorious (?) details: I opened up my spice drawer and literally smelled all of my spices to find something that might be a little unusual but also felt right. And that is where the cumin thing comes from.

(I think the commenter experience of "would it be weird if I were into this" comes both from my commitment to sensory detail and to Ed's inner narration of "would it be weird if I were into this")

Finally, I knew it needed to end not with Bigfoot, but with them affirming their connection to each other, and I did seriously laugh out loud when I realized I could use "he's got nice hair". It's so stupid and so perfect.

(also the detail of the two of them having a selfie with a roadside attraction fake taxidermy Bigfoot is stolen from my experience going to the Portland Maine cryptozoology museum and doing exactly that with Ryn, who loved all things Bigfoot.) (I've had relationships with at least four people who are/were really into cryptids, I have no idea what that's about.)

[ask me for the director's commentary on a fic!]

[daemonhxckergrrl]

I'm assuming you listen to music. What technology to you use to do so?

(I mean streaming services (which one? I'm in the marked for a good one) / piracy / buying cds / ...; but if you wanna talk about audio cards / laserdisc players / ... I'd find that interesting too)

a mixture !!! i still use spotify (unfortunately), mainly for shared playlists for gigs and quick discovery of new stuff. i have an mpd server for anything i download (bought, pirated etc.) or that i rip from physical media, and i do have a couple CDs but don't really use them much.

i'm getting an old 80s (i originally though it was 90s but nope) JVC hifi my parents never threw out which has dual tape decks, CD player, vinyl and FM tuner, probably around christmas time when i visit, and i'm hoping that'll encourage me to buy, borrow (friends, libraries), and burn more physical media to listen to. i'd probably also hook it up as a secondary output for my PC if i wanted to play music from there (i believe the hifi has an aux option). i'd be tempted to hook it up as an input as well (to listen to vinyls on headphones at my desk or easily rip tapes) but i'm kinda limited on inputs.

since we're on inputs and you mentioned being interested in like the hardware side of things as well as the format side, i have a focusrite scarlett 4i4 (4 ins, 4 outs) connected to my desktop and a pair of the ever-reliable ATH-M50x headphones. focusrite hardware is all usb standards-compliant and while there's no official control centre, someone reversed-engineered a few and mine is supported so i have actual hardware control of it via ALSA Scarlett Control Panel, and software routing can be done in pipewire.

when i get my mpd setup fleshed out more i'd love to have access to it from my phone w/ the ultimate goal of all my music being either in that library or physically on a shelf - probably both for any physical media i buy (we love backups !!)

[byz-was-here]

Single Board Computers, They’re exactly what it says on the tin. It’s essentially an entire computer soldered to a single circuit board. I like SBCs because of the most well known one, the Raspberry Pi. I’ve used a pi 0 (that cost me 15 bucks) to run an adblocker across my whole wifi network, and I’ve used raspberry pi 3b+’s, which cost me $35 each, to run home-built network storage drives, media servers, retro game emulators, and as a cheap desktop alternative on occasion. 

However, I’ve hit a snag. Raspberry Pi’s ain’t cheap anymore. (presumably because they’ve started selling them en-masse to businesses who want to use them for commercial applications instead of to enthusiasts (like me)

So, I wanted to see what was out there for a decent price range.  Ramble under the cut. Its a longish one. 

Now, I’ve used mini pc’s before, and those usually run windows and are, to put it mildly, hot garbage. Those rely on x86 processors, who take up more resources and really aren't suited for SBCs. (For a small, cheap windows pc, you’re usually better off buying a refurbished business pc like a dell optiplex or lenovo thinkcentre. Those will usually run you about 80-90 USD and aren’t that bad a value for money, especially if you want something for a home office.) SBC’s usually have an ARM processor like you see in a smartphone or tablet. They take up less resources, draw less power, but currently, you can’t get windows running on them. 

Which brings up the first barrier to those wanting to use them.

Linux Operating Systems. 

I like to describe Linux as being like Mac OS, if a mac took a STEM degree instead of liberal arts. (Apple can bite me. Screw you and the garden you walled off)

However, there’s a lot of linux distros that are pretty user friendly nowadays, like Ubuntu or Mint. And you can absolutely run Ubuntu on an Arm Processor. 

(Rasbian OS is also an option, but as it’s optimized to work only with raspberry pi’s, it usually has issues on other SBC’s.)

As for the computers themselves, I found myself looking at the boards made by the Libre Computer Project. They have computers with about the same price and size as a standard raspberry pi 3b+, and the gpio pins are largely compatible. 

However, I would note that none of their models have a wifi radio on the board, unlike most raspberry pi’s do. So if you get one, you will have to hook it up via ethernet or resign yourself to sacrificing a usb port to the wifi gods. 

Another thing I noticed, is that while the specs for their bottom two boards match up with the raspberry pi 3b+, they apparently have issues with running hot and throttling, so you will want to get a heat sink and/or a case with a fan. (Chill. The heat sinks usually have adhesive and you just stick em on.)

There’s a $20 model, the ‘Le frite’ which WOULD be a very good replacement for projects involving something like a pi zero, however, instead of using an sd card for memory, it uses eMMC cards. Which most people lack a reader for. 

Bit of an issue, there.  They do sell them along with the SBC on the site, but. Nah. 

Next is a charmingly named $35 model called “Le Potato” It’s essentially the same dimensions as a pi 3b+, which is nice since while Pi Boards are expensive as hell, you can still get their accessories for relatively cheap. It also uses an sd card for a hard drive, which is much easier to deal with. It does not have usb 3.0, which is a bit of a bummer, but, it does have 4 ports like a pi. Still need to sacrifice one of em to the wifi gods if you don’t want to hook it up via ethernet. For most projects, this will probably work fine. Just get you a heat sink.

Finally, they have an exciting 40 dollary-do option called the renegade. (It’s edgy because this one comes in black.)

It’s essentially punching into Pi 4 Territory, except it only has a 3 usb ports, one of them being 3.0. It seems to lean more into video encoding, so if you want a cheap media server or a retro game emulator, this one’s probably ya boi.  It also has a 50-dollar option with 4 gig of ram. If you want a cheap desktop you can keep in your pocket, this is what I would get. 

Again, unfortunately, one of those 3 slots will probably be sacrificed for a wifi dongle, and it also seems to have an issue with overheating, so you WILL need to shell out for a heat sink or a little case with a fan. Again, luckily, accessories for a Pi 3b+ will fit it just fine. 

I am probably going to buy one of these, either the renegade or the potato, and give em a whirl for a week or two. After that, I’ll give more of my thoughts

[paisley-print]

Near The Water’s Edge:  Chapter One

After fleeing your abusive husband, you find yourself in the small coastal town of July, North Carolina. Soon you meet Frankie Morales, Air Force Veteran and single dad. As the two of you grow closer, you begin to let go of your past and learn to love again. That is until a strange man shows up in town, and you 're forced to choose between your safety or the safety of the people that you love.

Inspired by the novel “Safe Haven” written by Nicolas Sparks. 

Frankie Morales x Female Reader 

Rating: 18+ / Heavy adult themes eventual smut.

Trigger Warnings: Domestic Abuse, Drowning, Dark Water. 

Word Count: 1744

Note: I tagged everyone who liked the original posts. To stay on the permanent list please either send me a message or write it on the post. Enjoy <3 

Series Master List

Chapter One 

Aggressively American, that was the only fitting description of the place you found yourself in. July was a coastal town located in the southern part of North Carolina. It was pronounced like ‘Julie’ but nobody ever called it that. It had been the farthest place your two hundred dollars in cash could take you; and as the greyhound pulled away, you wondered if you should have chosen Nebraska instead. 

It wasn’t that the town was dirty, quite the opposite actually...it just felt manufactured. Too perfect to be real. The streets were named things like Liberty and Independence. The shop fronts were brick and all along the main street there were American flags and flower pots holding red, white and blue geraniums.

The name Norman Rockwell came to mind. 

As you walked along the main street, you surveyed the many shopfronts. To a passerby it seemed as though you were looking to buy something - in your mind, however, your thoughts were racing.

‘I made a mistake, I know I did.’ You analyzed the last few hours, replaying the memories over and over again as if on VHS; scrutinizing every last detail. ‘He would track me down, find me - by morning. Should I go back? No- it was too late for that.’

It was still early in the afternoon, but finding a place to sleep tonight was paramount. The trip had taken eleven hours straight through. Only ever stopping to change buses and refuel - you were exhausted and your muscles ached. 

‘Food,’ you thought ‘I should eat…’ 

But did you have enough? Depending on how much a motel cost around here, you figured you would only have enough to cover a room for one night. So food would have to wait. 

As you rounded a corner, you were met with the sight of the bay. It wasn’t anything like the brown water in New Jersey, the water here was a deep green. The boats created little swells along the surface, and the sun’s glint off the peaks made it look like the water was filled with emeralds. 

On the left side of the street stood a marina and dockside restaurant. The smell of food made your stomach grumble. On the right side was a series of Victorian style houses, stone pillars and large porches dominated the structures. 

A sign in front of one had caught your attention: American Dreams B&B.

‘Jesus’ you thought ‘they’re really leaning into this whole aesthetic aren’t they?’

A bell on the front door chimed as you entered. The decor of the place looked dated; as if it hadn’t been touched since the 80s. Lots of wood tones and floral patterns. You didn’t mind it though…. it made you feel at home. 

An older woman was sitting at the front desk watching a soap opera on a little TV perched on the counter. She looked up and smiled as you approached. 

“Hello there. How can I help you today?”

“Do you have any rooms open?”

“Sure do, we have three vacancies right now.”

Relief washed over you, “what’s the nightly rate for the smallest?”

“That would be the pink room at $175 a night.”

More than you had anticipated…. “All take it, thank you.”

The woman turned to the computer. The monitor was old and heavy- it looked bigger than the TV. “Driver’s license?”

You hadn’t even thought of that… “I don’t have one, would a birth certificate work?” 

You cringed at the sound of it. Who carries around a birth certificate as identification? It was all you had, so you gave it to her, however you knew that the odd request made you stick out in the woman’s mind. Surely she would remember you if someone came asking…

The woman hesitated but took the certificate, reading it out loud “Summer Emma Sparks.”

You swallowed hard and shifted on your feet, feeling sick. The circumstances surrounding how you secured the certificate flooding your mind...

‘I needed it,’ you remind yourself.

The woman, whose name you found out to be Mae, handed you a key and sent you on your way. Now the plan would be to look for a job, something that worked off of tips. Having as much cash available to take with you at a moment’s notice was important. First, though, you would sleep. 

And as the tide lapped against the boat dock across the street, you slipped into the darkest, soundest slumber you had in years. You were safe for the time being. 

-

There was something to be said about the little joys surrounding small town life. In New Jersey neighbors barely knew each other, and would even go so far as to avert their eyes or turn their backs when passing them on the street. Here though, people were kind. 

Too kind sometimes, always pressing you with questions...you couldn’t fault them for it though. If you were here under normal circumstances, you would have welcomed such friendly chatter. It almost pained you to be so dismissive, but you needed to be, for your safety and theirs. The less anybody knows about you, the better. 

You set down a tray of empty cups and looked at the clock on the wall, debating whether to take another table. Even though your shift technically didn’t end for another twenty minutes, most of the night servers were already here and the day had been long.

You managed to get a job at the restaurant next to the marina on your second day in town. The owner suggested you start the following weekend, but you persuaded him to let you train that day just so you could get the free meal that they provided with every shift. The tips weren’t enough to buy a hotel room though, and so you had to sleep on the beach that night.

Thankfully, the tips for the last few days had been good, allowing you to buy a week in the bed-and-breakfast. Most of the servers at the restaurant were teenagers who could only work the evenings, allowing you to take as many morning and afternoon shifts as you wanted. Sometimes there would be another server with you, but most days you were alone. You didn’t mind one bit, the dining room was small and easy for you to handle by yourself. 

You had your eye on a few rental properties on the far side of town. A mobile home community offering one bedroom complexes for dirt cheap prices. You were suspicious at first, but after taking a walk through the neighborhood you realized most of the people who lived there were snowbirds or weekend warriors. 

Those residents who did live their full time seemed like you, friendly people who had fallen on bad times. They weren’t the confederate flag wielding, dip spitting, rednecks you first thought they would be; and for that you were thankful. 

“Summer….. Summer.” 

You turned suddenly, remembering that was your name. “Yeah?”

Your boss was holding two containers of soup “do me a favor and put these in the fridge before you go?”

“Of course,” you said, allowing him to pass the containers off to you. 

The fridge was a separate unit out back; it looked like a little shed. From where you were, you could see a full view of the marina. It was set a little farther back than the restaurant. To the left, lines of boats bobbed up and down with the tide. There was a parking lot next to that, then at the very end was a house... or what you assumed was a house. 

Elevated about six feet on stilts and spanning two stories high. It wasn’t anything like the grand Victorians that stood opposite of it. It was unassuming, modern and clean. Your eyes fixed on movement off to the side. Below the house to the right, you noticed a little girl. She had to be no more than three years of age, reaching for something over the bulkhead. A feeling of dread clutched at your stomach. 

‘She’s going to fall’ you thought suddenly. 

Both containers of soup hit the ground and exploded - painting the side of the building. You didn’t even notice as you sprinted down the shelled driveway towards the house. The splash came as soon as you threw open the gate and without even a moment of hesitation; you jumped into the water. 

It was freezing, like little needles pricking your skin from all sides. The salt water stung your eyes like something wicked, but you forced yourself to keep them open. You scanned what was around you, murky green darkness and foliage that reached up from the sand like the tendrils of a kraken. Threatening to grab you and pull you down into its watery depths. 

Your eyes landed on a flash of pink below. With all of your strength you pushed yourself forward, hooking an arm around the girl and bringing you both to the surface. Just as you broke through the world above, you saw a man skid to a stop and reach for the girl in your arms. 

You gasped, and the little girl coughed and hiccuped... then started to cry. It was music to your ears; it meant that she was breathing. You held the girl up as far as possible; the man took her and moved away from the bulkhead. 

“Make sure she’s okay,” you choked, the water assaulting your senses. You tread for a moment longer before the man reappeared and offered you his hand. You took it and he pulled you from the water easily. 

Bracing yourself on the bulkhead you brought your weight over the rest of the way. The man immediately turned his attention back to the little girl, bringing her to his chest and clutching her as she wailed. 

You blinked, hands coming up to rub the salt from your eyes, the world coming back into focus. The man was older, wearing a navy blue baseball cap and a grey flannel. 

His brown eyes still held a spark of panic in them as he looked at you. “I don’t know how I could ever thank you enough….she was right there, then I turned around and….” He held onto her a little tighter and sighed, closing his eyes. The little girl was settling into a mess of sniffles and whimpers. “Don’t ever do that again, baby,” he breathed. 

-

-

-

Tag List For This Chapter Only:

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Permanent Tag List: 

@hnt-escape 

[justthehiddleswrites]

Trivia Night | Stephen Strange x Reader

Pairing:  Stephen Strange x Reader

Summary:  Stephen can’t pass up music trivia night at a local dive bar. But what should have been a landslide win is a bitter battle. Has Stephen met his match in more ways than one?

Warnings: drinking (not underage)

-

Stephen stopped in front of the non-descript bar. A colorful banner hung against the faded brick facade. Music Trivia Night Every Thursday!

“Well, don’t mind if I do.” he commented to himself as he ducked in.

Bodies crowded the small bar. The smell of smoke still clung to the walls despite the smoking ban. He noticed the groups gathering around tables with buzzers. He approached the nearest group.

“Mind if I join you guys for trivia night?”

A somewhat rotund man who came up to only Stephen’s shoulder pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses.

“Are you any good?” he questioned.

“Try me.” Stephen smirked.

“What was the flip side of the last number one hit for the Beatles?”

“The last number one of the Beatles was The Long and Winding Road…” The man smirked as he turned. “…For You Blue is the flip side.”

The smirk disappeared and was soon replaced with a huge smile. The man extended his hand.

“Welcome to the team. Name’s Matt.”

Stephen shook his hand. “Stephen.”

The group did quick introductions as Stephen took a seat and one guy handed him a beer. Stephen sipped, grimaced at the bitter, watered down domestic beer. He pushed the glass and flagged down a server to order a more suitable craft ale.

“With you we might stand a chance.” Matt joked.

“Yeah, perhaps you are the one who can take down The Terminator.” another guy called Chris chimed in.

“The Terminator?” Stephen glanced around the bar to see if someone who was a worthy opponent to his own mind. “Can you see him?”

“She sets up by the moderator.” Matt gestured to one side of the tiny room.

Stephen’s eyebrows rose in interest. A woman? He chuckled to himself at his luck. He felt more confident than ever as the event started.

“Okay everyone, let’s get started!” The emcee’s voice reverberated against the brick walls. “Welcome to Music Mania, where the points and the answers matter.”

Stephen zoned out as the emcee read over the rules and prizes of the night. He had half a mind to use his powers to see the outcome, but what was the point, he always won when it came to music.

“Round 1!” the words punched through his thoughts and brought him back to reality.

Everyone playing hunched over their tables, ready at the buzzer.

“Question 1: The band Duran Duran is named after a character in what movie?”

As Stephen moved to slam the buzzer he overheard BZZZZ!

“Terminator?”

A soft voice lilted through the air. “Barbarella.”

Stephen banged the table with his fists. “I knew that one.”

“Sure you did.” Chris muttered off to the side, nursing his Miller Lite bottle.

“I can go to another table.” Stephen hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

“Not necessary, Stephen. Can I call you Steve?” Matt questioned.

“I prefer Stephen.” He took a long draw on his bottle. “What’s the matter with your friend?”

Chris shifted in his seat, glaring at Stephen. “I’d rather not say.”

“The Terminator shot him down. And now he is bitter.” The rest piped up.

Stephen resisted the urge to chuckle. “You’re mad at me because you got rejected? I like this girl more already.”

“Listen—” Chris started in.

“Question 2: What year was Frank Zappa admitted to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?”

Stephen slammed the buzzer with lightening speed to hit it first.

“At the back?” the emcee asked.

“1995.” Stephen smirked, confident in his answer.

“Correct! Looks like you have some competition out there, Terminator. What’s your name back there?” The emcee shaded his eyes.

“T-3000.”

A smattering of chuckles and gasps came across the room. You popped your head up to see who dare to challenge you. Your eyes met a tall, goateed man sitting at the back. He winked and smiled at you. Scowling, you sat back down.

“This means war.” you whispered to yourself.

The emcee shrugged. “Looks like we have ourselves an actual competition. Onward and upward!”

The two of you steel yourselves for the next question.

“Question 3: Which country singer adopted the alter ego Luke the Drifter?”

You hit the button so hard it jumped on the table.

“Terminator?”

“Hank Williams.”

“Can you be more specific?”

You rolled your eyes. “Hank Williams, Sr.”

“Correct!”

You turned to see Stephen grumbling and grousing to his tablemates. You smiled. It was rare you had competition in trivia; the adrenaline was pumping.

“Question 4: What was the second music video to air on MTV?”

Stephen buzzed in first. “Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles!”

“Oh, that is incorrect!” the emcee hissed.

You buzzed. “I believe that was the first video. The second was Run to You by Pat Benatar.”

“Correct!”

“Shit!” Stephen yelled, and you noticed the sound of beer mugs clattering as he hit the table.

“Next time, listen more!” you taunted.

“Eyes forward.” he retorted.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe there is a rivalry. Let’s play on! Question 5: Who was the oldest artist to top the UK charts?”

The two of you hesitated for a moment before Stephen buzzed in. “Louis Armstrong in 1968 for What a Wonderful World.”

“Show off!” you bellowed.

“I believe that answer earns a bonus point.” the emcee responded with a smile.

“You’ve never given me bonus points!” you stood in protest.

“You have never given an answer like that. Looks like you have met your match.”

“More like my next victim.”

“The way you go through men that is probably accurate.”

“Next question, please.”

Stephen couldn’t hear the animated conversation between you and the emcee, but he spied your growing frustration. It pleased him to no end. He found himself more and more enchanted with you.

“Question 6: Which 80s song was re-released in the UK in 1991 and went straight to number 1? Name the artist and the song.”

You got to the buzzer first.

“The Clash. Should I Stay or Should I Go.” You replied.

“Correct!”

The rounds continued to bounce back and forth like an excited ping pong match. The entire bar invested in the match with all the other teams dropping out to spectate. People took sides cheering and jeering. The room buzzed with electricity. By the time the regular round ended, you and Stephen were tied.

“For the first time, we have a tie!” Everyone cheered. “Can I have the two competitors come to the front?”

Stephen rose and made his way to the stage at the front. You settled onto an uncomfortable stool. Stephen meanwhile looked perfectly at home as he folded up his long limbs to take a seat. You ignored the growing tightness in your chest as you gazed upon him.

“Now for the tiebreaker question. Terminator, T-3000, grab your pen and paper. Question: Of the over 600 songs Elvis sang, how many did he write? You have 15 seconds. Closest to the answer wins.”

The entire bar erupted into the Jeopardy theme as the two of you wrote down your answers. You placed your paper in your lap confident. Stephen winked at you from the barstool on the other side of the makeshift stage.

“Okay, time’s up. Terminator your answer.”

You flipped your paper to reveal the number zero.

“And T-3000?”

Stephen revealed an answer of thirteen.

“And the winner is…” The emcee bounced his head between you and Stephen. “… Terminator! She guessed right with zero!”

You pumped your fists in the air and did a little victory dance. Your hips shimmied back and forth. The motion hypnotized Stephen. In that moment, he decided.

“Excuse me.” He tapped you on the shoulder.

You spun to come face to face with your closest competitor. “You’re taller than I expected.” You extended a hand. “No hard feelings?”

He shook your hand with a firm grip. “On the contrary, I am delighted to find someone who meets my own knowledge of music. Tell me how do know so much.”

Your gazed dropped as you shuffled your feet. “My dad was a bit of a savant for music. We would talk about it every Sunday over breakfast. I was a sponge.”

Stephen smiled softly. “That is a charming story. Perhaps I could hear another one sometime. Maybe over dinner this week?”

Your head snapped up to meet his gaze. You stared into his ice-blue eyes.

“That sounds nice, uhh…”

“Stephen Strange. Dr. Stephen Strange.”

You introduced yourself.

“Pleasure. So what do you say Tuesday at 7?”

“I think I can swing that.” you croaked back.

“Until then.”

“I look forward to hearing some stories from you too.”

Stephen chuckled. “Yeah about that…”

[parivarma]

NAME: Pari Yameena Varma AGE: 27 BIRTH DATE: November 23 ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral MBTI: Esfp GENDER: Cis Woman SEXUALITY: Bisexual PRONOUNS: She/Her OCCUPATION: Server at Copper Fig & Actress

pari wasn’t born in the united states, she was born in pakistan but then moved when she twelve years old. she has a big family and family means a lot to her in this world. her father is a big bollywood actor and an upcoming hollywood actor as he has two mansions in california. her mother is a doctor, a tough one at that. although she is a doctor she had always wanted to be a dancer but an injury took away her dreams and so she forced her dreams upon pari. which took a toll.

because of her mother’s pressure for her to be perfect, especially after the move, pari developed an eating disorder. at one point she was 80 pounds. but she got roles after roles so what was the problem? her mother. it took a few years to realize this and eventually she parted ways. even though it hurt she knew it was what was best for her. she still talked a lot with her five siblings and her dad, that would never change. well, hopefully.

soon after she got caught up in a romance that soon lead to the use of drugs and she was hooked. her parents tried to help her but she didn’t let them, it cost her their trust after she nearly robbed them of valuables one summer. one big arguement later and pari ran. a year or two later she gained some help and after the third rehabilitation, she found herself in a town in barton point. nine months clean she found a job that she eventually grew good at and got herself a small house. 

currently working at garden boulevard as a server, she hopes to move on from there and into some kind of fashion industry or just continue on with the occasional acting job. she lived off her parents money so getting a regular job was offputting but she adjusted, making it seem like the job was acting job and her character was a server. 

losing contact with her parents, she only keeps in contact with her younger brother - the two have always been the closest among her other siblings. she hopes one day that she can face them and have them forgive her but her mother being the most stubborn person she has ever known, and her father being too busy for any other matters, she highly doubts it.

her interests include dancing, skating, shopping, yoga, sewing, the colour pink, one night stands, collecting rocks, playing the violin.

she has two dogs, four fish, and a snake. 

[profoundnet]

Header by @cryptomoon and is available on merch from her redbubble store. You can use all those fancy emojis (and more!) on our Discord server!

The Masterpost is open for all creations by ProfoundBond members which are posted in their entirety during that month.

MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR AUGUST 2020!

Featuring works by Ahurston | @allmystars-i | @a-mandala-rose | @andimeantittosting | ArielAquarial | @destielshipper4cas | DragonSgotenks | Endellion | @friendofcarlotta | @friendofcarlotta | @haybibiboi | @kingbirdkathy | @kitmistry |  @latter-alice |  @maleyah-givemetomorrow | @nickelkeep | @one-more-offbeat-anthem | Shadowkat83 | @sketching-fox |  @spnsmile | @starprincecas | @writerposer

Masterpost below the cut.

DragonSgotenks - DragonSgotenks

Getting to Know You (E, 9.1k)

When picking up his new company assigned laptop to work from home Castiel Novak meets IT tech Dean Winchester, who's a little flirty and a lot drop dead gorgeous. After Dean gives Castiel his phone number Castiel calls for help with his computer and Dean, well, Dean is VERY helpful.

Tags: TopCastiel/bottomDean, strangers to lovers, condoms, anal sex, meet-cute

~

one_more_offbeat_anthem - @one-more-offbeat-anthem -  one_more_offbeat_anthem

A Barely Functioning Adult’s Guide to Beekeeping (T, 10.7k)

Dean Winchester and Cas Devereaux, seniors, are roommates and best friends. Cas is the president of the beekeeping club, and he eventually cajoles Dean into coming to a couple meetings. Meanwhile, Dean is struggling with his relationship with his estranged father, whether or not he’ll get to graduate, and the fact that he’s maybe, kinda-sorta, almost definitely in love with Cas. Pair those things with his lack of confidence, a sudden road trip home to Kansas, a nosy creative writing professor, and the fact that he might be drinking too much—Dean’s a wreck who believes he has no future. But he might be wrong.

Tags: College AU, First Kiss, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, the Impala, Angst and Fluff

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Lovemuppet - @haybibiboi - lovemuppet

15x03 Where’s your head at? (T, 979 words)

Prompt: take a sad scene and try to make it sadder. 15x03: the breakup

Tags: angst, episode related

~

kitmistry - @kitmistry - Kitmistry

Stumble and Fall (E, 42k)

Castiel was raised to do one thing: serve his country, whether that was fighting a war or becoming an expert spy. But when his lover is charged with treason and executed Castiel defects. He has evidence that can destroy the KGB’s entire spy ring in New Mexico, he has names of scientists involved with atomic weapons who send information to the Soviets, and he won’t stop until he has revenge. Putting all his trust in the Americans, Castiel finds himself under the protection of U.S. Marshal Dean Winchester, who is too cocky and attractive for his own good, but at least seems to know what he’s doing. When a routine transfer to a safehouse goes horribly wrong, Castiel and Dean narrowly escape with their lives. With the Marshals compromised and Castiel being framed for murder, he and Dean are on the run from KGB and law enforcement alike. They have no one to trust except each other, and nowhere to go that their enemies can’t reach.

Tags: Cold War AU, Soviet Spy Castiel, US Marshal Dean Winchester, Enemies to Lovers, Suspense

~

latter-alice - @latter-alice - Latter-alice

pressing the issue (M, 2.2k)

"So," Dean shifts closer, "what's the big one?" It's obvious, and he isn't stupid. There's only one reason to ask this now. To press the issue. His answer is short, to the point. "You." The night before they leave to fight Chuck, Cas and Dean keep each other company.

Tags: First Kiss, Confessions, Cas is stressed

Sweet Insanity (G, 709 words)

"So," Dean draws the word out as he gives Cas a once over. "Did it hurt?" End of series fluff

Tags: fluff, first kiss

~

Maleyah - @maleyah-givemetomorrow 

“Dean” (SFW)

A Cas drawn for Ineffable Impala's DTIYS. Sparked a companion piece Dean.

Tags: Destiel, Mobster!Cas, DTIYS submission

“Heya Cas” (NSFW)

Companion Dean, who may or may not be praying to Cas, while he's busy.

Tags: Destiel, DTIYS submission

~

Kait - @kingbirdkathy - kait

Don’t leave me (SFW-ish)

"Don't leave me.“

Tags: things that Dean can never say out loud, hint of butt

reverse destiel (SFW)

reverse destiel DIY, original by gabester_sketch.

Tags: Hunter Cas, Angel Dean

smut time (NSFW)

just some smut

Tags: bottom dean, riding

~

MandalaRose - @a-mandala-rose - MandalaRose

The Shots You Don’t Take (E, 57k)

Still nursing the tatters of a broken heart and trying desperately to stave off the terror of his impending graduation, college senior Cas Novak decides it’s time to blow off a little steam. Not just any hook-up will do, however. The last thing Cas needs right now is a distraction. On the lookout for someone he can enjoy a steamy night of passion with before leaving them behind entirely, Cas thinks he’s found exactly what he needs in cocky university hockey star and well-known playboy Dean Winchester. Dean is gorgeous, doesn’t date, and is the singular most infuriating person Cas has ever met. He’s the perfect one night stand...that is, until Dean decides he wants an instant replay of what was supposed to be a one-time event. Will Cas’ offer of friends, sans benefits, convince the arrogant love ’em and leave ’em hockey defenseman to find an easier score? Or will Dean wear down Cas’ defenses and lure the sexy nerd in the dorky trenchcoat back to his bed?

Tags: Hockey AU, College AU, Hate to Love, One Night Stands, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Injury/Hospital, Briefly described (non-graphic) violence, Panic Attack, Fake/Pretend Relationship, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED.

~

nickelkeep - @nickelkeep - nickelkeep

Sometimes You’re the Sea (M, 10.2k)

When a freak storm overtakes the Lebanon, and Dean is knocked overboard, he's considered lost at sea. That is, until Dean wakes up onshore, with the bluest eyes he had ever seen watching over him. In a matter of days, Dean's world is turned upside down. He's falling in love with the man who saved him. A stranger appears, demanding his hand in marriage. And Dean's pretty sure that bird just called him a Dumbass.

Tags: AU - 1700s, AU - Fantasy, AU - Creatureverse, Sailor!Dean, Cecaelia!Cas, Dean POV, Little Mermaid Elements

Dog Days are Over (M, 7.8k)

It was cold. Dean shivered and reached for a blanket before snapping awake. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't at home. For fuck's sake, Dean was still shifted. He whimpered, hating how pathetic he sounded, and tried to push himself up onto all fours. As Dean tried to put weight on his front left leg, he yelped out in pain and fell back onto the cage’s cold metal floor. He was either at the shelter or at the Vet. And he was so screwed.

Tags: AU - Modern, AU - Creatures Exist, Animal Shifter!Dean, Animal Injury, Hurt!Dean, Hurt/Comfort

~

FriendofCarlotta - @friendofcarlotta - FriendofCarlotta

A Fear of Falling (E, 40k)

After his partner’s tragic death, Dean Winchester resigns from San Francisco PD to work as a private investigator. Dean’s first case is a make-or-break opportunity: tailing the youngest brother of powerful shipping magnate Nick Novak. Castiel Novak, estranged from his family by choice, lives a quiet life 30 miles north of the city. His lonely but peaceful existence comes to a rapid end when he’s drawn into a plot to fake his brother’s death. As Dean and Castiel’s paths cross and they grow closer, the noose of a dangerous conspiracy tightens around them. Will they discover the truth before it’s too late?

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Private Investigator Dean Winchester, Accountant Castiel, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Discussions of Past Suicide, Discussions of Past Drug Abuse, Minor Character Death, Inspired by Vertigo (1958), Acrophobia, Angst with a Happy Ending

Stranger Things Do Happen (T, 852 words)

Dean invites Cas to experience the human ritual of watching horror movies to get ready for Halloween. Cas soon realizes that watching scary movies with Dean may come with unexpected... opportunities.

Tags: Domesticity in the Men of Letters Bunker, Movie Nights in the Dean Cave, Getting Together, Dean Winchester Has a Sexuality Crisis, Gratuitous References to 70s and 80s Horror Movies

~

Ahurston - ahurston

Yarrow, Lilac, and Foxglove (E, 10.4k)

Dean, Cas, and the magical garden down the road.

Tags: Fluff but give it feelings, domesticity, post-season 15, explicit sexual content, established relationship

~

allmystars - @allmystars-i - allmystars

Feels Like Nothing (G, 700 words)

Newly Human Castiel feels the weight of human existence for the first time. Dean is there to get him through.

Tags: Canon Universe, Human Castiel, Depressed Castiel, Supportive Dean Winchester, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Holding Hands, Hopeful Ending

~

sketching-fox - @sketching-fox

The Black Trenchcoat (SFW)

Artworks done for the fic “The Black Trenchcoat”, written by spnsmile in our partnership on spncanonbigbang!

Tags: winged cas, kisses, fic art. Accompanied by fic by @spnsmile.

~

Endellion - Endellion

If Tomorrow Never Comes (E, 1.4k)

Dean promised Cas wouldn't die a virgin and he's going to keep his promise.

Tags: Bottom Dean, Top Castiel, anal sex, anal fingering

What We Want and What We Need (E, 1.3k)

Cas is angry, Dean is sorry. They go to the bar's bathroom to work it out.

Tags: Angry sex, Top Dean, Bottom Castiel, anal sex, spit as lube

~

writerposer - @writerposer - writerposer

Croat-Ville (E, 27k)

When Castiel stumbles into the Winchester's survivor camp, one of the few safe havens left after the Croatoan virus ravaged the earth, he had thought he lost everything. What he found there, who he found, would change his life, and maybe the world.

Tags: Endverse, Age Difference, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Skip

~

Destielshipper4Cas - @destielshipper4cas - Destielshipper4Cas

Fake Bite, Real Love (M, 2.7k)

To show his ex that he has moved on, Cas wants to fake a claiming bite on his neck. Painting it on doesn’t work, but luckily, his best friend and long-term crush Dean steps up to the task. Keeping a lid on his feelings is getting difficult, however, when the alpha is nibbling on his mating gland.

Tags: Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Best Friends, Idiots in Love, Omega Castiel, Alpha Dean

~

Shadowkat83 - Shadowkat83

Drowning in Guilt (T, 4k)

Bot Prompt: Dean is having another slice of pizza; Cas is polishing his angel blade; Sam is at the library Summary: When Sam discovers a case of people drowning after leaving the local bar. They head to check it out, what they didn't expect was to lose Dean to the creature. Now Cas and Sam need to find Dean before its too late.

Tags: monster of the week, angst, flirting, jealously, hurt Dean, feeling realization, two parts, confession of feelings

~

goldenraeofsun - @goldenraeofsun - goldenraeofsun

A Thousand Lies (E, 73k)

Dean Winchester is the best con artist in the continental US. Conscripted into the life after a stupid mistake as a teenager, he works for a man only known as the Lightbringer. He specializes in the marriage con, tricking his marks into falling in love with him and bolting after the honeymoon with everything they own. But the morning before his meticulously planned meet-cute with his newest assignment, he runs into an adorably clueless accountant named Cas in a coffee shop, and Dean’s entire view on life implodes.

Tags: con artist Dean Winchester, accountant Castiel, mutual pining, slow burn, Dean Winchester has self-worth issues, minor Dean/Crowley, angst with a happy ending

~

andimeantittosting - @andimeantittosting - andimeantittosting

Honour Undressed (E, 15.3k)

Among his friends, Castiel, Lord Milton is everyone’s confidant and, along with his trusted valet, the fixer of problems. But there is one secret Castiel has never shared: he is in love with his valet and has been for years. Born in the gutters, Dean Winchester was assigned as Castiel’s batman in the war, and when Castiel travelled home to take up his title, Dean followed him as his valet. To assist Castiel, Dean is not above a little burglary or blackmail. But the one thing he wants for himself is Castiel’s heart. When Castiel’s closest friends become the target of a blackmailer, certain truths come out. But while Dean determines to seduce Castiel, Castiel is adamant that he must resist, for if there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with his servant.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Regency, Class Differences, Blackmail, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending

~

starprincecas - @starprincecas - cuddlesandcas

Tell All The Truth, But Tell It Slant (T, 35k)

A cursed object gets touched, truths start coming out, and emotions reluctantly with them.

Tags: Canon Divergent - Post Season 8, Truth Spell, Bunker Fic, Human!Castiel, Drama, Humor

~

ArielAquarial - ArielAquarial

Hidden in the Sand (G, 5.4k)

Dean tries to drive down to Palo Alto as often as he can to spend quality time with Sam. This time, things are different. Not only is he secretly apartment hunting only a city away, but he's finally getting the chance to fish on the beach instead of a rickety old pier. Despite Sam's warning about stingrays, Dean insists everything will be fine and heads into the water without a care. What could go wrong?

Tags: Fluff, Cockblock Sam Winchester, Brotherly Bonding, Day At The Beach, Vacation, First Meetings, Flirting, Alternate Universe, Lifeguard Castiel (Supernatural)

~

spnsmile - @spnsmile - spnsmile

Destiel Prompt August Collection 2020 (G, 29k)

Collection of short Destiel stories prompt of August writer's month 2020

Tags: Romance,  AU, fluff,  established Castiel/Dean, First Meet,  Cute-Meet, Profound Bond,  Idiots in Love,  Boys Kissing,  Soul Mate

SKID (E, 24k)

Dean Winchester swore off love after getting dumped and fired from his job the same day. Badly drunk, he ended up balcony-hopping until a pair of hands snatched him inside a darkened room. But it's no hero, it's someone with deep voice whispering threats with a gun pointed at his back. Dean’s too drunk to deal with life but one good look at his hot assailant plus enough beer sold him to his accursed fate. The next morning, he found himself engaged to the most notorious leader of a powerful clan, Castiel Novak. Married life in the compound for a month was not as blissful so when he could, Dean fought for that freedom. Castiel relented and as Dean tried to put the pieces of his normal life together, getting a bike messenger job and dealing with pain in the ass clients, he now also needs to deal with the dangerous presence of his very jealous and very protective husband watching over him. Is his life ever going to get back to normal?

Tags: Alternate Universe-Gangster, MAFIA, Arranged Marriage,  Romance,  Hate/Love, Protectiveness,  Established Relationship,  Domestics,  Hurt and Comfort,  True love

Black Trenchcoat (E, 23k)

When Dean found out Castiel was working with Crowley to open Purgatory, he had no choice but to leave the angel in the ring of fire with nothing less than a broken heart. But instead of plotting against his friend, Dean takes a literal sense of fire vs fire. He decides to kill Castiel with love. Or that story where Dean convinces Castiel to look into their future to see if Castiel's plan against Raphael succeeds, only to find the world in chaos and an angel donning a black trenchcoat emerges to take Dean away.

Tags: Canon Divergence,  Romance,  Time Travel,  Protectiveness,  Possessive Castiel, season 6, Profound Bond, Kidnapped Dean Winchester,  Wings,  Kissing. Accompanied by art by @sketching-fox.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] 100 Days - Shaw (Day 51 - 100)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for e-mails which have not been released in English servers! 🍒

What’s the 100 Days Companionship Event?

Day 1 - 3: here

Day 4 - 30: here

Day 31 - 50: here

Day 51

Learnt a new card magic trick and will leave you wide-eyed today. You coming?

Day 52

Instead of thinking about raising koi to change your fortune, why not buy a can of cola. As compared to nothing, at least my mood will be good.

Day 53

I have two tickets for an e-sports competition. It’s at 8pm. We’ll meet at the entrance of your place.

Day 54

The competition yesterday was pretty bad. I may as well have participated myself. Let’s not go for today’s competition. We’ll level up at home.

Day 55

Sign in. Come to think of it, you’re pretty amazing - you can come up with so many topics to talk about every day.

Day 56

I heard that you have plans to try jigsaw puzzles. I’ve sent you one with 30,000 pieces - it’s completely white. No need to thank me, and I wish you an early completion.

Day 57

The professor keeps complaining that his snacks go missing. Placing the snacks in a laboratory where people walk to and fro - he deserves it. Don’t you agree?

Day 58

I found the snacks thief - it’s a big fat crow. Whoa, it’s awfully sly.

Day 59

Jensen has been working hard on practising his rap. Today, I even heard a flow in his snoring, and recorded it. Want to hear?

Day 60

It’s the day of Frost’s Descent. Of course you have to eat marbled beef with me.

[Trivia] 霜降 (“shuang jiang”) translates to “Frost’s Descent”, which refers to the last solar term of autumn. Shaw’s use of “marbled beef” is a play on words because in Chinese, “marbled beef” is “霜降肥���”!

Day 61

Even three-year-old children know that they have to wear more clothes when it’s cold. Looks like you’re only one-year-old.

Day 62

There’s a small stall on Westmoon Street selling Double Ninth cake. It’s tastier than those in other places. Come out quickly, I’ll take you to taste the delicacy.

Day 63

Head to the hotpot shop first. The Old Man wants me to meet some of his old colleagues. How troublesome. Remember to order a plate of tripe for me.

Day 64

You want to compete to see who can replicate the most number of animal sounds tomorrow? You’ll definitely lose.

Day 65

Fine, I lost… But why do you know how to imitate the sound of a hippopotamus?!

Day 66

Are you really angry today? In that case, if I wear a pompom hat next time, I’ll let you tie a knot too.

Day 67

That song you shared with me before - its orchestral arrangement is still passable, but its effects will be ten times better with the bass. I’ll record a section for you later.

Day 68 (Halloween)

Title: Costumes

This is what you called an incredibly amazing costume? Wait at home. I’ll show you what’s truly “incredibly amazing”.

Day 69

A performance without an audience is pretty fun too. It’d have been even better if someone were around to record it. I think you’re pretty suited for it.

Day 70

Today’s challenge: To sneak away under the eyes of the professor.

Day 71

I signed in late today, but you can’t blame me for oversleeping. It’s all because the sun didn’t appear and head to work today.

Day 72

Unlocked a new breakfast combo. Even though I don’t see a need for it, I can recommend it to you.

Day 73

There’s a bad ending to that drama you haven’t finished watching, so I’m giving you a heads-up. I wasn’t wrong when I said fairy tales weren’t believable, was I?

Day 74

Feels like you’ve been busy for several days. Want to sneak out to relax for a while?

Day 75

Realised that my phone battery is running low, and can’t slack off and send you messages anymore. How unlucky.

Day 76

I’ve been busy preparing for exams recently, but you can still send me messages at night as usual. At most, I’ll reply you the next day

Day 77

There’s a sports meet in school next week, and I’ve been dragged in to fill the numbers. Come watch if you have time.

Day 78

Let’s compete in a round of “flash sale” tonight. The loser will buy whatever’s in the other person’s shopping cart.

[Note] Shaw is talking about 秒杀 (“miao sha”), which directly translates to “seconds kill”. It’s a term used in online shopping where once popular items are placed on the Internet, dozens of them are immediately snatched up, sometimes in a single second.

Day 79 (Single’s Day)

The rain in November is pretty cold. I’ve decided to shower and sleep early today, so don’t disturb me after 12am.

Day 80

I can brush off how you added ginger ale to Cola the last time. But this time, what do you think you’re doing by adding indigo woad root?

[Note] Indigo woad root, also known as the root of Isatis tinctoria (板蓝根 - “ban lan gen”)is a traditional Chinese herb used for flu relief

Day 81

Horror techniques like inserting a jump scare in a comedic clip is too elementary. Next time, please come up with something new.

Day 82

Are you awake? Head out once you’ve signed in, or what I taught you about the skateboard will be completely forgotten.

Day 83

The graffiti wall I brought you to the last time has been torn down. I found a new unfinished building, and you can practice here.

Day 84

No one can be certain of the future. I can’t be bothered to think about it either. As long as you run in the direction you want to go, it’s enough.

Day 85

This semester’s elective course is almost over. There are some assignments I haven’t finished. If there’s anything, come to the library to find me.

Day 86

I don’t feel like writing anymore, and am prepared to head out for a stroll tomorrow. Give me two recommended locations from your collection of reviews.

Day 87

One principle applies to both ice-skating and skateboarding - you won’t learn it if you don’t fall a few times. In the worst case, I’ll catch you when you fall.

Day 88

Watched as someone failed to stick a straw in after three tries, and didn’t allow me to laugh out loud.

Day 89

That hook you hummed today was a little familiar. Did you watch the live performance of that very popular underground band recently?

Day 90

Call me along the next time you go to a Live. Relax, I’m on pretty good terms with the bassist from that band. I’m not going there for a surprise brawl.

Day 91

The Old Man’s a little sick, so I’m bringing him medicine. Since it’s along the way, I’ll bring the umbrella you left at my place to you.

Day 92

Didn’t expect you to grasp the move I taught you today so quickly. I’ll award you with a can of Cola.

Day 93

The punishment for today’s game are biscuits filled with mustard, and the person who loses will eat them. Do you have the guts?

Day 94

Have I been infected with your bad luck recently? Even the things I get in blind boxes are duplicates.

Day 95

Not just old antique shops - I can also find all the old game shops, old phonograph shops, and old appliances shops in Loveland City.

Day 96

Adam forgot to take the pot away the last time he had instant-boiled mutton hot pot in Live House. We could use it again today.

Day 97

Instead of believing in some “Mercury Retrograde”, why not come along with me to pray to Emperor Yang Gu, so he’ll save you from calamities.

Day 98

It’s become a habit to chat with you every day. If there are such challenges in the future, look for me too. Got it?

Day 99

It’s the second last day, and we’ll soon see the outcome of who has won this round. Are you sure you’ve been signing in every day?

Day 100

If there any other bets or challenges next time, I’m always ready and waiting.

[wreckedhoney]

June 2019 – Highlights of Tristan Harris (Computer Scientist, Design Ethicist, ft. on documentary The Social Dilemma) and others before Senate Commerce Committee regarding large tech companies using algorithms and machine learning to influence the public in the context of radicalization from false information and accountability.

The video is sixteen minutes and transcribed, and I’ll paste the dialogue under a cut for this post with some highlights in bold, but I want to share first just one of the many important insights of this meeting:

“…the business model is to keep people engaged…There's a tendency to think here that this is just human nature – that people are polarized and this is just playing out; it's a mirror it's holding up, a mirror to society. But what it's really doing is it's an amplifier for the worst parts of us.…It's calculating what is the thing that I can show you that will get the most engagement, and it turns out that outrage, moral outrage, gets the most engagement.…the polarization of our society is actually part of the business model.”

“…shorter, briefer things work better in Attention Economy than long, complex, nuanced ideas that take a long time to talk about…But reality and the most important topics to us are increasingly complex, while we can say increasingly simple things about them that automatically creates polarization – because you can't say something simple about something complicated and have everybody agree with you; people will, by definition, misinterpret and hate you for it, and then it's never been easier to retweet that and generate a mob that will come after you… subsequent effects in polarization are amplified by the fact that these platforms are rewarded to give you the most sensational stuff.”

Harris: Everything you said –  it's sad to me because it's happening not by accident but by design, because the business model is to keep people engaged – which, in other words, this hearing is about persuasive technology, and persuasion is about an invisible asymmetry of power. 

When I was a kid, I was a magician, and magic teaches you that you can have asymmetric power without the other person realizing it. You can masquerade to have asymmetric power while looking like you have an equal relationship. You say pick a card, any card, while meanwhile, you know exactly how to get that person to pick the card that you want – and essentially, what we're experiencing with technology is an increasing asymmetry of power that's been masquerading itself as an equal or contractual relationship where the responsibility is on us. 

So, let's walk through why that's happening in the race for attention, because there's only so much attention companies have. They get more of it by being more and more aggressive. I call it “the race to the bottom of the brainstem.” 

So, it starts with techniques like pull-to-refresh; so, you pull to refresh your newsfeed that operates like a slot machine. It has the same kind of addictive qualities that keep people in Las Vegas hooked to the slot machine. Other examples are: removing stopping cues. So, if I take the bottom out of this glass and I keep refilling the water or the wine, you won't know when to stop drinking. So, that's what happens with infinitely scrolling feeds; we naturally remove the stopping cues, and this is what keeps people scrolling. But the race for attention has to get more and more aggressive, and so it's not enough just to get your behavior and predict what will take your behavior; we have to predict how to keep you hooked in a different way. 

It crawled deeper down the brainstem into our social validation – so, that was the introduction of likes and followers and how many followers do I have. It was much cheaper to – instead of getting your attention – to get you addicted to getting attention from other people, and this has created the kind of mass narcissism and mass cultural thing that's happening with young people, especially today. After two decades in decline of the mental health of ten-to-fourteen year old girls, it has actually shot up in the last eight years, and this has been very characteristically the cause of social media and the race for attention. 

It's not enough just to get people addicted to attention, and the race has to migrate to AI, who can build a better predictive model of your behavior. And so, if you give an example of YouTube: You're about to hit play in a YouTube video, and you hit play, and then you think you're gonna watch this one video, and then you wake up two hours later and say, “What just happened?” The answer is, because you had a supercomputer pointed at your brain, the moment you hit play, it wakes up an avatar voodoo doll like version of you inside of a Google server, and that avatar based on all the clicks and likes and everything you've ever made – those are like your hair clippings and toenail clippings and nail filings that make the avatar look and act more and more like you. 

So, that inside of a Google server – they can simulate more and more possibilities. If I pick you for this video, if I pick you for this video, how long would you stay? The business model is simply, “what maximizes watch time?” This leads to the kind of algorithmic extremism that you've pointed out, and this is what's caused 70% of YouTube's traffic down be driven by recommendations; not by human choice, but by the machines. And it's a race between Facebook's voodoo doll, where you flick your finger – can they predict what to show you next? – and Google's voodoo doll. And these are abstract metaphors that apply to the whole tech industry, where it's a race between who can better predict your behavior. 

Facebook has something called loyalty prediction, where they can actually predict to an advertiser when you're about to become disloyal to a brand. So, if you're a mother, and you take Pampers diapers, they can tell Pampers, “Hey, this user is about to become disloyal to this brand.” So, in other words, they can predict things about us that we don't know about our own selves, and that's a new level of asymmetric power. 

And we have a name for this asymmetric relationship, which is a fiduciary relationship, or a duty of care – relationships the same standard we apply to doctors, to priests, to lawyers. Imagine a world in which priests only make their money by selling access to the confession booth to someone else. Except, in this case, Facebook listens to two billion people's confessions, has a supercomputer next to them, and is calculating and predicting confessions you're gonna make before you know you're gonna make them – and that's what's causing all this havoc. 

So, I'd love to talk about more of these things later. I just want to finish up by saying this affects everyone even if you don't use these products. You still send your kids to school where other people believing the anti-vaccine conspiracy theories impact your life, or other people voting in your elections. And when Marc Andreessen said into 2011, that the quote was, “Software is going to eat the world,” and what he meant by that – Marc Andreessen was the founder of Netscape – what he meant by that was that software can do every part of society more efficiently, because it's just adding efficiencies. And so, we're going to allow software to eat up our elections, we're gonna allow it to eat up our media, our taxi, our transportation – and the problem was that software was eating the world without taking responsibility for it. 

We used to have rules and standards around Saturday morning cartoons, and when YouTube gobbles up that part of society, it just takes away all of those protections. And I just want to finish up by saying that I know Mister Rogers, Fred Rogers, testified before this committee fifty years ago, concerned about the animated bombardment that we were showing children. I think he would be horrified today about what we're doing now, and at that same time, he was able to talk to the committee. And that committee made a choice differently, so I'm hoping we can talk more about that today. Thank you. 

Senator Thune (R-South Dakota): We know that internet platforms like Google and Facebook have vast quantities of data about each user. What can these companies predict about users based on that data? 

Harris: Thank you for the question. So, I think there's an important connection to make between privacy and persuasion that I think often isn't linked, so maybe it's helpful to link that. 

With Cambridge analytic – that was an event in which, based on your Facebook Likes, based on a hundred and fifty of your Facebook Likes, I could predict your political personality, and then I could do things with that. The reason I described in my opening statement that this is about an increasing asymmetry of power is that without any of your data, I can predict increasing features about you using AI. 

There's a paper recently that, with 80% accuracy, I can predict your same Big Five personality traits that Cambridge analytic got from you without any of your data. All I have to do is look at your mouse movements and click patterns. So, in other words, it's the end of the poker face. Your behavior is your signature – and we can know your political personality based on tweet text alone. We can actually know your political affiliation with about 80% accuracy. Computers can calculate probably that you're homosexual before you might know that you're homosexual. They can predict with 95% accuracy that you're gonna quit your job according to an IBM study. They can predict that you're pregnant. They can predict your micro expressions on your face better than a human being can. Micro expressions are your soft reactions to things that are not very visible, but are invisibly visible. Computers can predict that. As you keep going and you realize that you can start to deep fake things. You can actually generate a new synthetic piece of media, a new synthetic face, or synthetic message that is perfectly tuned to these characteristics. 

The reason why I open the statement by saying we have to recognize: That what this is all about is a growing asymmetry of power between technology and the limits of the human mind. My favorite socio-biologist, E.O. Wilson, said, “The fundamental problem of humanity is that we have Paleolithic ancient emotions, we have medieval institutions, and we have godlike technology.” So, we're chimpanzees with nukes, and our Paleolithic brains are limited. Again, the increasing exponential power of technology at predicting things about us, the reason why it's so important to migrate this relationship from being extractive to get things out of you, to being a fiduciary, is you can't have asymmetric power that is specifically designed to extract things from you – just like you can't have, again, lawyers or doctors whose entire business model is to take everything they learn and sell it to someone else. 

Except, in this case, the level of things that we can predict about you is far greater than actually each of those fields combined when you actually add up all the data that assembles a more and more accurate voodoo doll of each of us. And there's two billion voodoo dolls by the way; there's one for one out of every four people on Earth with YouTube and Facebook are more than two billion people. 

Senator Peters (D-Michigan): Thank you, Mister Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses. This is a fascinating discussion. I like to address an issue I think is of profound importance to our democratic republic – and that's the fact that, in order to have a vibrant democracy, you need to have an exchange of ideas and an open platform. And certainly, part of the promise of the Internet, as it was first conceived, is we'd have this incredible Universal Commons, where a variety of ideas would be discussed and debated, and it would be robust. And yet, it seems as if we're not getting that. We're actually getting more and more siloed. Doctor Wolfram, you mentioned how people could make choices, and they could live in a bubble, but at least it would be their bubble that they get to live in. But that's what we're seeing throughout our society as polarization increases, more and more folks are reverting to tribal type behavior. Mister Harris, you talked about our medieval institutions and Stone Age Minds. Tribalism was alive and well and in the past, and we're seeing advances in technology, in a lot of ways, bring us back into that kind of tribal behavior. So, my question is to what extent is this technology actually accelerating that, and is there a way out? 

Harris: Thank you. I love this question. There's a tendency to think here that this is just human nature – that people are polarized and this is just playing out; it's a mirror it's holding up, a mirror to society. But what it's really doing is it's an amplifier for the worst parts of us. 

So, in the race to the bottom of the brainstem to get attention, let's take an example like Twitter. It's calculating what is the thing that I can show you that will get the most engagement, and it turns out that outrage, moral outrage, gets the most engagement. So, it was found in a study that for every world word of moral outrage that you add to a tweet, it increases your retweet rate by 17%. So, in other words, you know the polarization of our society is actually part of the business model. 

Another example of this is that shorter, briefer things work better in Attention Economy than long, complex, nuanced ideas that take a long time to talk about, and so that's why you get a hundred and forty characters dominating our social discourse. But reality and the most important topics to us are increasingly complex, while we can say increasingly simple things about them that automatically creates polarization – because you can't say something simple about something complicated and have everybody agree with you; people will, by definition, misinterpret and hate you for it, and then it's never been easier to retweet that and generate a mob that will come after you. And this has created a callout culture and chilling effects, and a whole bunch of other subsequent effects in polarization that are amplified by the fact that these platforms are rewarded to give you the most sensational stuff. 

One last example of this is on YouTube. Let's say we actually equalize; I know there's people here concerned about equal representation on the Left and the Right in media. Let's say we get that perfectly right. As recently as just a month ago on YouTube, if you did a map of the top 15  most frequently mentioned verbs or keywords in the recommended videos, they were: “hates,” “debunks,” “obliterates,” “destroys” – in other words, you know, “Jordan Peterson destroys social justice warrior in video.” So, that kind of thing is the background radiation that we're dosing two billion people with, and you can hire content moderators in English and start to handle the problem, but the problem is that two billion people in hundreds of languages are using these products. How many engineers at YouTube speak the twenty-two languages of India where there's an election coming up? So, that's some context on that. 

Sen. Peters: Well, there's a lot of context. Fascinating. I'm running out of time, but I took particular note in your testimony when you talked about how technology will eat up elections, and you were referencing, I think, another writer on that issue. In the remaining brief time I have, what's your biggest concern about the 2020 elections and how technology may eat up this election coming up? 

Harris: Another example of how we used to have protections that technology took away – we used to have equal price campaign ads, so that it cost the same amount on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. for any candidate to run an election. When Facebook gobbles up that part of media, it just takes away those protections – so, there's now no equal pricing. What I'm mostly worried about is the fact that none of these problems have been solved. The business model hasn't changed. And the reason why you see a Christchurch event happen in the video just show up everywhere, or, you know, any of these examples – fundamentally, there's no easy way for these platforms to address this problem, because the problem is their business model. 

Harris: This is one of the issues that most concerns me. As I think Senator Schatz (D-Hawaii) mentioned at the beginning, there's evidence that in the last month – even as recently as that, keeping in mind that these issues have been reported on for years now – there was a pattern identified by YouTube that young girls who had taken videos of themselves dancing in front of cameras were linked in usage patterns to other videos like that, which went further and further into that realm, and that was just identified by YouTube, as a supercomputer, as a pattern. It's a pattern of “this is a kind of pathway that tends to be highly engaging.” 

The way that we tend to describe this is: If you imagine a spectrum on YouTube on my left side, there's the calm Walter Cronkite section of YouTube. On the right hand side, there's crazytown, UFOs, conspiracy theories, Bigfoot – you know, whatever. If you take a human being and you could drop them anywhere, you could drop them in the calm section, or you could drop them in Crazy Town. But If I'm YouTube and I want you to watch more, which direction from there am I going to send you? I'm never gonna send you to the calm section. I'm always gonna send you towards Crazy Town. So, now you imagine two billion people, like an ant colony of humanity, and it's tilting the playing field towards the crazy stuff. 

The specific examples of this: A year ago, a teen girl who looked at a dieting video on YouTube would be recommended anorexia videos, because that was the more extreme thing to show. The voodoo doll that looked like a teen girl – there's all these voodoo girls that look like that – and the next thing to show is anorexia. 

If you looked at a NASA moon landing, it would show Flat Earth conspiracy theories, which were recommended hundreds of millions of times before being taken down recently. I wrote down another example. Fifty percent of white nationalist in a study had said that it was YouTube that had “red pilled” them; “red pilling” is the term for the opening of the mind. The best predictor of whether you'll believe in a conspiracy theory is whether I can get you to believe in one conspiracy theory, because one conspiracy sort of opens up the mind and makes you doubt and question things and, say, get really paranoid. And the problem is that YouTube is doing this en mass, and it's created sort of two billion personalized Truman Shows. Each channel has that radicalizing direction, and if you think about it from an accountability perspective – back when we had Janet Jackson on one side of the TV screen at the Super Bowl, and we had 60 million Americans on the other, we had a five-second TV delay and a bunch of humans in the loop it for a reason. But what happens when you have two billion Truman shows, two billion possible Janet Jackson's and two billion people on the other end? It's a digital Frankenstein that's really hard to control, and so that's the way that we need to see it.

From there, we can talk about how to regulate it. 

Senator Sullivan (R-Alaska): Anyone else have a thought on a pretty important threshold question? 

Harris: Is it okay if I check in? Thank you, Senator. The issue here is that Section 230 of the Communications Decency section – 230 has obviously made it so that the platforms are not responsible for any content that is on them, which freed them up to do what we've created today. The problem is if, you know, is YouTube a publisher? Well, they're not generating the content, they're not paying journalists, they're not doing that, but they are recommending things, and I think that we need a new class between, you know… 

The New York Times is responsible if they say something that defames someone else that reaches a certain hundred million or so people. When YouTube recommends flat earth conspiracy theories hundreds of millions of times, and if you consider that 70% of YouTube's traffic is driven by recommendations, meaning driven by what they are recommending, what algorithm is choosing to put in front of the eyeballs of a person, it's if you were to backwards derive a motto, it would be, “With great power comes no responsibility.”

[paladimwit]

Dolphon Dawngrove - Character Sheet

The Basics ––– –

Age: Adult

Birthday: July 7th

Race: Blood Elf

Gender: Male (Sometimes Female-- See Additional Info Section**)

Face / Body Claim: I drew him on my art blog

Sexuality: Demi romantic

Marital Status: Single

Server: Wyrmrest Accord

Physical Appearance ––– –

Wardrobe: Think 80′s himbo fashion. Crop tops and loose pants, but add also chunky plate boots and gauntlets.

Hair: Platinum blond and pretty much blending in completely with his skin.

Eyes: The light glows in his eyes a pretty bright gold.

Height: 5′5″

Build: Muscular, but padded well with fat. A more natural look than muscles built to be fashionable. Strongman over model, basically.

Common Accessories: He most often can be found wearing a gold choker with a red gem set in the center. Other accessories include various piercings all over his body on occasion.

Distinguishing Marks: His hands are rough from years working as a blacksmith, and he’s seen enough instances of sword-to-sword combat to have earned himself a few nice scars, most of which have long since faded.

Personal ––– –

Profession: He’s been blacksmithing for years.

Hobbies: Sparring, recreational herbs, and fashionable armor design.

Languages: Thalassian and Orcish, with a few words of Taur-ahe and ambitions of learning Common.

Residence: Wherever he gets tired enough to sleep for the night, though he’s been considering finding property in Dalaran, for ease.

Birthplace: Silvermoon

Religion: He trusts the light to protect him, but in a real casual way.

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: N/A

Children: N/A

Parents: Estranged

Siblings: Younger Sister

Other Relatives: Grandmother

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open-Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Sympathetic / In Between / Apathetic 

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal [??? Pass.]

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful || Monogamist / Polygamist 

Additional information ––– –

Himbo: Self-explanatory. His heart is in the right place, but man is he just dumb as rocks sometimes. He’s beautiful, well groomed, muscular, and air headded.

Emotionally Intelligent: He’ll hear you out and give you solid life advice, cuz he’s seen a lot of life and knows a thing or two about coping well.

**Barber Shop Frequent Customer: With the introduction of a “Trans Your Gender” Machine in the barber shop, Dolphon now experiments with his pronouns and physical presentation as often as possible. 

RP Hooks ––– –

Please,,

I’m still learning lore so I’ll be real, I wont be able to do much super deep lore based rp... But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. I’m very good at slow burn friendship development. ESPECIALLY with Dolphon and who he is as a person. Adaptable and friendly, will talk to just about anyone if they give him a chance and doesn’t have a very extremist set of morals.

He LOVES Vulpera, if that’s something to take note of lmao. He also is very fond of Druids, given that his best friend is one.

OOC Info  ––– –

I’m pretty shy when it comes to initiation, so if you really want to interact you’ll have to poke me in dm’s so we can get passed that initial “new person” anxiety.

Otherwise, Dolphon is pretty much all over the place in-game. I’m working on not being too scared of walk-ups, and welcome them tentatively if you happen across him in-game. 

Lore abiding rp is probably not very likely, since I’m still learning. But I do like slow-burn friendship development! I’m not looking for dark themes or smut, so that’s off the table for now (unless we plan something out and have a goal in the end that’s developmentally based. I love story-writing! I don’t love meaningless angst.)

Contact Information  ––– –

@paladimwit is his tumblr url and in-game he’s Dolphon, if you wanted to look him up! I usually rp in-game, but would love to have a reason to rp on tumblr again. Otherwise, if we have good enough chemistry we can exchange discord info and rp there! I much prefer rping there tbh.

[antoinesylvia]

My Homelab/Office 2020 - DFW Quarantine Edition

Moved into our first home almost a year ago (October 2019), I picked out a room that had 2 closets for my media/game/office area. Since the room isn't massive, I decided to build a desk into closet #1 to save on space. Here 1 of 2 shelves was ripped off, the back area was repainted gray. A piece of card board was hung to represent my 49 inch monitor and this setup also gave an idea how high I needed the desk. 

On my top shelf this was the initial drop for all my Cat6 cabling in the house, I did 5 more runs after this (WAN is dropped here as well).

I measured the closet and then went to Home Depot to grab a countertop. Based on the dimensions, it needed to be cut into an object shape you would see on Tetris. 

Getting to work, cutting the countertop.

My father-in-law helped me cut it to size in the driveway and then we framed the closet, added in kitchen cabinets to the bottom (used for storage and to hide a UPS). We ran electrical sockets inside the closet. I bought and painted 2 kitchen cabinets which I use for storage under my desk as well.

The holes allowed me to run cables under my desk much easier, I learned many of these techniques on Battlestations subreddit and Setup Wars on Youtube. My daughter was a good helper when it came to finding studs.

Some of my cousins are networking engineers, they advised me to go with Unifi devices. Here I mounted my Unifi 16 port switch, my Unifi Security Gateway (I'll try out pfSense sometime down the line), and my HD Homerun (big antenna is in the attic). I have Cat6 drops in each room in the house, so everything runs here. On my USG, I have both a LAN #2 and a LAN #1 line running to the 2nd closet in this room (server room). This shot is before the cable management. 

Cable management completed in closet #1. Added an access point and connected 3 old Raspberry Pi devices I had laying around (1 for PiHole - Adblocker, 1 for Unbound - Recursive DNS server, and 1 for Privoxy - Non Caching web proxy). 

Rats nest of wires under my desk. I mounted an amplifier, optical DVD ROM drive, a USB hub that takes input from up to 4 computers (allows me to switch between servers in closet #2 with my USB mic, camera, keyboard, headset always functioning), and a small pull out drawer. 

Cable management complete, night shot with with Nanoleaf wall lights. Unifi controller is mounted under the bookshelf, allows me to keep tabs on the network. I have a tablet on each side of the door frame (apps run on there that monitor my self hosted web services). I drilled a 3 inch hole on my desk to fit a grommet wireless phone charger. All my smart lights are either running on a schedule or turn on/off via an Alexa command. All of our smart devices across the house and outside, run on its on VLAN for segmentation purposes. 

Quick shot with desk light off. I'm thinking in the future of doing a build that will mount to the wall (where "game over" is shown). 

Wooting One keyboard with custom keycaps and Swiftpoint Z mouse, plus Stream Deck (I'm going to make a gaming comeback one day!). 

Good wallpapers are hard to find with this resolution so pieced together my own. 

Speakers and books at inside corner of desk. 

Speakers and books at inside corner of desk. 

Closet #2, first look (this is in the same room but off to the other side). Ran a few CAT6 cables from closet #1, into the attic and dropped here (one on LAN #1, the other on LAN #2 for USG). Had to add electrical sockets as well. 

I have owned a ton of Thinkpads since my IBM days, I figured I could test hooking them all up and having them all specialize in different functions (yes, I have a Proxmox box but it's a decommissioned HP Microserver on the top shelf which is getting repurposed with TrueNAS_core). If you're wondering what OSes run on these laptops: Windows 10, Ubuntu, CentOS, AntiX. All of these units are hardwired into my managed Netgear 10gigabit switch (only my servers on the floor have 10 gigabit NICs useful to pass data between the two). Power strip is also mounted on the right side, next to another tablet used for monitoring. These laptop screens are usually turned off.

Computing inventory in image:

Lenovo Yoga Y500, Lenovo Thinkpad T420, Lenovo Thinkpad T430s, Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 12, Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 14, Lenovo Thinkpad W541 (used to self host my webservices), Lenovo S10-3T, and HP Microserver N54L 

Left side of closet #2 

**moved these Pis and unmanaged switch to outside part of closet** 

Since I have a bunch of Raspberry Pi 3s, I decided recently to get started with Kubernetes clusters (my time is limited but hoping to have everything going by the holidays 2020) via Rancher, headless. The next image will show the rest of the Pis but in total:

9x Raspberry Pi 3  and 2x Raspberry Pi 4 

2nd shot with cable management. The idea is to get K3s going, there's Blinkt installed on each Pi, lights will indicate how many pods per node. The Pis are hardwired into a switch which is on LAN #2 (USG). I might also try out Docker Swarm simultaneously on my x86/x64 laptops. Here's my compose generic template (have to re-do the configs at a later data) but gives you an idea of the type of web services I am looking to run: https://gist.github.com/antoinesylvia/3af241cbfa1179ed7806d2cc1c67bd31

20 percent of my web services today run on Docker, the other 80 percent are native installs on Linux and or Windows. Looking to get that up to 90 percent by the summer of 2021.

Basic flow to call web services:

User <--> my.domain (Cloudflare 1st level) <--> (NGINX on-prem, using Auth_Request module with 2FA to unlock backend services) <--> App <-->  DB.

If you ever need ideas for what apps to self-host: https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted 

Homelabs get hot, so I had the HVAC folks to come out and install an exhaust in the ceiling and dampers in the attic. 

I built my servers in the garage this past winter/spring, a little each night when my daughter allowed me to. The SLI build is actually for Parsec (think of it as a self hosted Stadia but authentication servers are still controlled by a 3rd party), I had the GPUs for years and never really used them until now.

Completed image of my 2 recent builds and old build from 2011.

Retroplex (left machine) - Intel 6850 i7 (6 core, 12 thread), GTX 1080, and 96GB DDR4 RAM. Powers the gaming experience.

Metroplex (middle machine) - AMD Threadripper 1950x (16 core, 32 thread), p2000 GPU, 128GB DDR4 RAM.

HQ 2011 (right machine) - AMD Bulldozer 8150 (8 cores), generic GPU (just so it can boot), 32GB DDR3 RAM. 

I've been working and labbing so much, I haven't even connected my projector or installed a TV since moving in here 11 months ago. I'm also looking to get some VR going, headset and sensors are connected to my gaming server in closet #2. Anyhow, you see all my PS4 and retro consoles I had growing up such as Atari 2600, NES, Sega Genesis/32X, PS1, Dreamcast, PS2, PS3 and Game Gear. The joysticks are for emulation projects, I use a Front End called AttractMode and script out my own themes (building out a digital history gaming museum).

My longest CAT6 drop, from closet #1 to the opposite side of the room. Had to get in a very tight space in my attic to make this happen, I'm 6'8" for context. This allows me to connect this cord to my Unifi Flex Mini, so I can hardware my consoles (PS4, PS5 soon)

Homelab area includes a space for my daughter. She loves pressing power buttons on my servers on the floor, so I had to install decoy buttons and move the real buttons to the backside. 

Next project, a bartop with a Raspberry Pi (Retropie project) which will be housed in an iCade shell, swapping out all the buttons. Always have tech projects going on. Small steps each day with limited time.

[evien-stark]

✧I Need You✧ Chapter 80

Once the adrenaline faded, the last shock of the night- Rhodey walking up with a nervous President Ellis- was enough to spike what was left in your system. You practically collapsed in his arms as you hugged him tight. Glad to see him. Happy to know he’d been with Tony through most of this. And then that glow that had been consuming you from the start seemed to burst, and with it went most of your energy. 

Things became a little bit of a blur after that. You just remembered feeling hot. Too hot. Sweating profusely. Rooms shaking. A whisper of a cold breeze that left too soon. Too many voices speaking just above you. Hands touching you. Poking. Prodding. Lovingly caressing- 

Ah, that was always Tony. Even in your hazy state, you felt him. And more than once you heard him, not just speaking to you, but speaking to you. In that way only he could. You’re alright honey. You’re gonna be alright. I love you… 

His voice reassuring you, hypothetically holding your hand until the next time consciousness actually returned. The room was soothingly dark, not overly so. And you weren’t alone. Turning your head, the first thing you saw was an IV in your arm, steady drip- a spike of panic touched your awareness- because the last time you’d been hooked up to something like that-

“Hey, there she is.” A warmly familiar voice put your fears at bay, and you looked up to see Bruce, turning half away from a screen, tablet in hand. He slipped his glasses off his nose, putting them in his shirt pocket. “How are you feeling?” 

For a moment you had no idea how to answer that. “I’m okay… I think…” Sure, why not. You didn’t currently feel like you were in immediate danger- or pain, which was nice. “What are you doing?” 

“Checking your levels. Most of it is out of your system by now, I was just making sure things are on the straight and narrow.” Moving, he took a seat on the side of your bed. Lifting his hand, he placed the back of it gingerly on your forehead. 

You gave him a curious look. “As far as I know you aren’t that kind of doctor.” Smiling lightly at him.

He took the jab with relative ease, smiling right on back. “I’m not. But I can make do.” Patting your forehead once, he returned his attention back to his tablet, making a few scribbles on it with his pointer finger. “You’ve had a hell of a fever for the past couple of weeks… spiked more than once... but I think you’re out of the woods now.” 

“Weeks?” You felt your voice weakening at that. “But… I’m fixed now, right?”

“I told you.” Tony’s voice entered the room as the door opened. He came in, rolling up his sleeves, dressed in a handsome white button up shirt and black vest complimented with a purple tie. “That’s what I do.” Bruce moved to allow him to sit next to you on the bed, setting a hand on the back of your head and easing you closer to press a kiss to your forehead. “How are you feeling, honey? All good news, I’m sure.” 

You practically melted into him, eyes closing. “You look so nice… dressing up just for me?” Unintentionally avoiding his question. 

He sat back, hand sliding to cup your cheek in his palm. His grin was sure. “Not entirely. Somebody’s gotta do work around here.” 

“Usually that’s me.” Teasing right on back. 

“Yeah. Well, I guess I don’t mind, while you’re still under the weather. We have a new initiative going on.” 

Shifting, you rested your head against his shoulder. “Tell me about it…” 

His arm came around your shoulder, and you noticed Bruce slipping out of the room to give the both of you some privacy. Tony’s hand spread out as he labeled his proud moment, “It’s called Maimed by AIM- with a question mark.” 

A dissatisfied noise escaped you. “Maybe you should have waited for me to come to…” 

“Don’t like it? I thought it was catchy.” 

“Are there still people left? That Killian hurt?” Used. Abused. Maybe there were some out there… that hadn’t bought in to the Mandarin nonsense. Maya had been talking about that. Briefly, in the time that you knew her…

“Yeah…” His voice got quieter. “Seems Maya had a dead-man’s switch in the event of her death. All her research, all the information of their test subjects, the families… it all got transferred to the Stark Industries’ servers a week back. I thought I may as well try and clean up where I can. Now that I have the answer they were so desperately looking for.” 

“Maya is-” 

“Yeah.” The arm around you squeezed you tighter. “I watched Killian put a bullet through her. When she decided she’d seen enough.” 

Though it was small, the bloom of sorrow was impossible to miss. You moved your hand up over his chest, and snuggled closer. “I’m sorry, Tony.” 

“Couldn’t do anything about it.” His free hand rose, holding over yours. “Doesn’t matter now. All I can do is try to fix what she wanted me to fix.” 

“Did she have family?”

“I already made arrangements. Funeral was a few days ago. There was uh… a lot of red tape.” 

You felt like you were so far behind. “Did you go?”

“Not invited. As I’m sure you can imagine.” He didn’t allow a lot of time to marinate in this. Clearly wanting to move past it. He drew a quick breath in. “Anyway. Tell me. Honestly. How are you feeling?” 

“I don’t know…” Murmuring, as you closed your eyes. Almost like one of his machines, initiating a self check of some kind. How did you feel? “Tired, I guess. Groggy, but… I think everything’s okay.” It should be, right? If you’d spent two solid weeks in bed sweating out this stuff? 

“You’re really sure?” But him asking this again made you wonder. Were you okay? 

It occurred to you what he may have been getting at. Maybe he could fix regular people that had been injected with this stuff. But hadn’t Killian been going on and on and on about something… you dropped down into that space that should have been dark. Because that’s how you always remembered it. But now… it was still alight. Aglow. Orange sky above you. 

Instantly you knew. You were in one of the upper levels of Stark Tower. There were currently two thousand or so people in the building- and… so many… in New York City… for a moment almost a million voices rushed by your ears, causing you to sit away, put your hands over them, and force your eyes open. The calming low-light of your room found you again. “I’m not- ...I thought you said you-” No, no. This wasn’t his fault. You couldn’t blame him. He was standing again, when you looked at him, standing where Bruce had been at that screen by your bedside. “That stuff is still in me?” That had to be it, right? 

His hands were a flurry of motion, opening windows, typing things. “No- ...by all accounts you’re completely flush. ...there were- ...Maya’s notes, on you… pretty sensitive stuff. I can account for the physical reaction, for the most part. But…” 

But there was something about you that he just couldn’t fix. Because how could you fix a-... “You can’t fix the thing.” Eyes lowering. 

“That’s what’s wrong?” He took a seat by your side again. “Talk to me.” 

Did it matter? He couldn’t fix it. It was going to be like this forever now. But, when he put his hand over yours… you remembered you were not so alone. And keeping all of this bottled up, hadn’t that been what had gotten the two of you in trouble in the first place? “When I want to… I guess- like- super concentrate the thing- I go to this space. I don’t know how to describe it. But the floor is covered in water. And usually- usually I could only see one person. The person I was concentrating on. And it was dark in there. Just me. And them. And whatever they were feeling. But now… now it’s like it’s supercharged. I can see too many people. And it’s not dark anymore. It’s so bright.” Oddly finding some catharsis to letting yourself talk. 

So when he didn’t interrupt, you continued, laying your head on his shoulder. Closing your eyes, but not going. Basking in the darkness behind your lids. “When he put that stuff in me- Extremis- I think I really did burn up… and I tried to drop into that space to- I don’t know- make the guards help me or something- but it just all lit up. Like it was on fire, too. And now it’s still that way. And I’m sorry- this probably isn’t making any sense.” 

You felt him shrug. “Makes sense to you.” Then he drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Superpowers are not really my forte. Not those kinds. I wouldn’t even know where to begin- doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try- but…” But how on earth could he even begin to imagine cooking up a solution to a problem he couldn’t physically understand? Literally. So far beyond him. Something science couldn’t make sense of. Injecting a super serum into someone’s body? Great. He could work with that. 

Talking about warping emotions and some dark-bright space where somebody’s- … essence? - wandered around? Yeah. He had no idea what to do with that. And you couldn’t fault him for it. So, you decided, “I’ll be okay.” And when you heard the murmur of discouragement from him, you cut him off, shifting to just look at him. “Really, Tony. I’ll figure it out. It’s not life threatening- that I know of- don’t make that face at me-” Because he was giving you one hell of a dry look. “I just have to get used to it, I guess.” You didn’t always even have that space. Coulson helped you unlock it. Maybe you should talk to him about it… 

“I have to take your word on this one. But. If it gets better or worse. Both. Either. Neither. I wanna know about it.” Because he wanted to keep track. Check up on you. Make sure you were doing okay. And after having communication shut down for so long… what a relief that thought was. 

Leaning in again, you rested your forehead against his, and lifted your hand to his chest. Although his current clothes were killing the light from the Arc Reactor, you felt its faint shape underneath. “No surgery yet?” 

“Like I was gonna go have- let’s be honest- pretty intense open heart surgery while you were laid up. Please. I have more courtesy than that.” His smile was wry. “One of us needs to be full capacity at a time to take care of the other.” Duh. 

At this, and the teasing after thought, you couldn’t help a little giggle. But it died down, and you found yourself just looking at him. “When, then?” 

“Whenever I’m ready. Doctor I met at- wouldn’t you know it- that same science convention in Switzerland. Seems like everybody I met that one night is suddenly important. You believe in coincidences?” Among the massive amount of sarcasm, there was a flutter of sorrow here. And you waited for him to continue. “Friend of Yinsen’s, actually. Took a few days to put a name to that blurry face.” Quieter still, “And realized I’d even met him that night.” He sniffed a breath in, moving past it. “Luckily for me, turns out he called the house. Before it blew up.” 

While just about every part of you wanted to ask what that was about- you didn’t want to give him too much opportunity to slip away. The fact was, they’d connected. And apparently now whenever he decided the time was right… “Are you ready?” Asking him as gently as possible, hand reaching up to touch over the side of his face. 

“Tech’s there. I developed a high powered energy magnetizer that’ll assist with the removal and keep the shrapnel at bay while the Arc’s not in my chest and I’m under.” But he was nervous and scared. Because that’s how a reasonable person would feel. If the surgeon didn’t perform right, or he missed a one or a zero somewhere, or … or anything-

“It’s okay if you’re not ready, Tony. It’s not now or never. This can wait.” Trying to just let him know that you understood. You very much understood his fear. 

“I’m done waiting.” It surprised you, how strong he said this, paired with the determined look in his eyes. His hand rose up, holding yours over his cheek. “I’m ready to move on.” 

So this this, you could only step beside him, and follow him wherever this led. “Okay. So we’ll move on.” Together. “What’s the recovery time look like?” 

Finally he smiled again. “I think, all things considered, I should be fine to take you on a date for Valentine’s.” 

“You’re thinking about that now?” He was such a goof sometimes. But that did pose an interesting question. “What day is it even?” How long did they say you were out again? 

His arms came around you then, with an appropriately tight squeeze. “January seventh. Honey, I’m sorry to say, the new year came and went without you. I promise I did very little partying to start 2013 off.” 

Your arms wrapped around his middle, burying your face in the crook of his neck. “What a change for you.” 

“Which is why I’m looking forward to Valentine’s.” 

“We’ll see.” 

                                                    --------

Things happened almost too fast after that. The rest of the night you drifted in the comfortable presence of Tony, who had settled on the bed with you, although his fingers seemed to never stop moving atop his laptop keyboard. The next morning, as he confirmed appointment after appointment, you worried he was speeding along this process for fear if he put a stop to it in any way now, he may never do it. 

It was hard to know what to make of that. But that very next afternoon you were shaking hands with Dr. Wu and his assistant Jiayi. Fine people, really. You didn’t get any terrible feelings from either of them. Which was important, for sure, but… 

This done waiting attitude may have been more harmful than helpful. But if he wanted to go then what choice did you have but to follow him? So, the appointment was made. And it was a done deal. You put your current energies into make sure he was comfortable, that his room was secure, air tight, and private. And that none of this leaked to the press. This was not meant for them. Not yet. If ever. 

Rhodey met up with you that evening, and you spent perhaps too long a time giving him a squeezing hug. And also apologizing for practically- probably- scaring the living daylights out of him the last time the two of you were together. And while the room was being prepped for surgery- same as Tony- you and Rhodey stood outside, gazing in the observation window. You weren’t exactly sure you were strong enough for this, to watch this- but… 

“He’s ready to go, huh?” Rhodey crossed his arms. 

You gave a weak shrug, as they wheeled him in and started wiring him up to machines. “He said he didn’t want to wait any longer.” 

“I’ll say. Twenty seconds after you return to the land of the living- no offense-” Holding a hand up briefly to you before recrossing his arms, “-he’s going under. Was this something you two talked about before?” 

He was probing. Looking for something. It put an unease in your heart. “You worried?” 

“When am I not? Who knows with him. He acts out when he’s stressed. I just wanna make sure a life changing surgery isn’t gonna be a major regret.” As always, heart in the right place. 

You lowered your eyes as they brought in the anesthesia. “We talked about it. Very briefly. He made consultation appointments for himself. But it all kinda got put on the backburner.” 

“Yeah. I get it. Seems like we’re forefront now, though.” 

In the room, Tony gave you a thumbs up, and you put your hands to the glass in the shape of a heart. Perhaps a little too cliche, considering what was about to happen. But you were sure you saw the corners of his lips lift up around the mask. You felt Rhodey put his arm around you, and only realized then you were shivering. “We’re gonna be okay.” Even your voice was wobbly. 

There just wasn’t enough time to process this. Rhodey pulled you closer to him. “We’ll be okay.” 

The surgery took a grueling five and a half hours. Dr. Wu was probably the best- and only- person for the job. He was careful. Meticulous. Each piece of shrapnel extracted took a long time, as you were sure he was making sure he did everything precisely. Some of it was hard to watch. Like the beginning. And somewhere in the middle you were glad there were just too many doctors in the room standing on the side of his table blocking your view. 

Rhodey took to pacing, but never left. Which was good. It was very nice to have a shoulder to literally lean on every now and again. But where you thought five and a half hours was the longest amount of time you’d ever spent doing anything in your life, it then seemed all too short as Dr. Wu starting sewing him up. It was over? Just like that? Just like that. 

Just like that. You were almost left in a state of shock as they wheeled him out of the room. Rhodey had to shake you a little. “You okay?” 

“He’s lived with that shit in his chest for almost five years- I think-” Time was a little beyond you at the moment. “And now it’s just- gone. Done. Finished. Over.” 

“And this is… a good thing, right?” He had his arms half crossed, one hand sitting just over his mouth as he watched you. “Are we on the same page here?” 

“I just… can’t believe it. It’s hard to believe. You understand, right?” Turning away from the window, the now empty room, looking back at him. 

You found relief when he nodded. “Yeah. I get it. I think we’ll all have to work on believing it together.” 

His hand reached out to take hold of yours, leading you finally out of that wing and upstairs into the room where Tony was getting situated. Still out cold. Probably would be for a while. And, in fact, was. So long a time that eventually Rhodey gave you a pat on the shoulder and told you he needed to head out. That was fine. He had other things to do. You understood. 

So you waited. And tried not to look at the bandages peeking out beyond the neck of the hospital gown he was wearing. Though you did. More than once. Dr. Wu came in eventually to debrief you. You took everything to heart. All his instructions. The details. The important things. And then… he got a hug, too. Even though he didn’t seem like he enjoyed it that much. But that was okay. 

It was when he left, and that you sat down again, that you saw Tony groggily opening his eyes. Leaning over, you brushed some of the stray bangs away from his forehead. “Hey, handsome…” 

His smile was one of relief. “Hey yourself…” Voice a low murmur. “Still here?” 

Laying your hand over his on the bed, “You’re still with us. Everything went perfect.” 

Closing his eyes, he huffed out a noise. “I meant you… if you’ve got other things to do…” 

“Nothing more important than you.” 

“Can’t argue with you there.” It was easy to tell how foggy he was. Not up to his normal speed. Which you imagined must have been frustrating for him. Because in the next breath, “When we gettin’ outta here?” 

“Give yourself a little while, Tony. You just had serious surgery. And, by the way, even when we go home, you’re not allowed to like- even put your arms above your head for the next four-to-six weeks.” Already starting in with the list of important things to know from the doctor. 

He scoffed. “Back in that cave I was building a suit almost immediately after-” 

“Well I don’t care about what went on in strange caves after forced surgery and while you were under duress. Here and now you’re taking it easy. Got it?” Laying down the law. And that was that.

He stared at you, eyes a little glassy, half-lidded. And then a beautiful loopy grin appeared on his face as his eyes closed all the way again. “Yes, ma’am… your way or the highway…” He sounded like he was drifting, as he let his head fall to the side. You sat forward to brush his hair back again and he murmured out a soft pleased noise. His hand turned over, taking hold of yours. “Thanks… for staying…” 

Leaning in, you pressed a delicate lingering kiss to his temple. “Just relax, Tony. Rest. I’m here. I’ve got you.” 

“Got you first.” Through his daze, he got this out pretty quick. 

You smiled, nuzzling that spot at his temple. “We can debate about it later.” 

“I love you.” He was on his way out. I love you, too. 

                                                    ----

You really did make sure to law down the law and make sure he took his time with recover. When he was ready to go home- ...well… not home, which was already a pain, but the Avengers Tower would do, as the penthouse basically acted as your second home- now primary- but, when he was ready, you made sure to take him yourself. Loaded him into the car yourself. Drove him yourself. Took him upstairs yourself- and put him to bed, yourself. 

There was a lot of that, in the coming weeks. But you didn’t mind. It was easy work. Making sure he rested, and when he was back on his feet, making sure he didn’t do anything crazy. “I’ll do all the heavy lifting. Literally, lifting of heavy things.” Unable to help getting in a few sassy snarks here and there. He seemed to appreciate them, anyway. 

In true Tony fashion, he was unable to sit still. And even doing normal things was taking a toll on him. It eventually led to the both of you heading down to the labs. But you made sure to be his hands and arms, and found some strange pleasure as he guided you through building what were essentially non-essential things. Not that he didn’t trust you, you were sure. But probably just getting the tizzy out of his brain by going from one easy thing to the next to the next to the next… 

As February rolled in, he really did seem to be doing much better. And the few check-ins from Dr. Wu suggested he was making excellent progress. And as the second week dawned, you caught Tony more than once giving you thoughtful glances, that eventually turned into, “So. Valentine’s?” 

An offer you were having trouble refusing. Even if you made a show of being slightly off put by the idea, a small sigh escaping you. Aside taking him, there of course was always work to do. “You really have something in mind?” 

“I do. So I’d appreciate it if you could just take one night off. I don’t think I’m asking too much, really.” Playing at being offended as much as you were playing unsure. He came around your desk as you were humming in long mock thought, putting his arms around your shoulders from behind. “You’re gonna make me beg? I’m not above begging. Just say the word.” 

A playful roll of your eyes came next as you gave in. “Oh… alright. Valentine’s. What should I wear?” 

He pressed a kiss to your cheek and, immediately after gaining your approval, seemed to be on his way out. Like he’d completed his mission and risked blowing it by staying any longer. “Something classy. I’m gonna take you out.” 

“Hey- before you go- we have to go back to the… site in Malibu- and collect whatever’s left-” A task you’d been trying to keep him on track for for a little while now. Now that he could handle it. 

But he just waved you off. “We’ll talk about it after.” 

One more thing to put away for now. Couldn’t have everything. 

But a night out? Suddenly seemed like a thing you weren’t sure how you lived without. Something classy really wasn’t saying much. But knowing Tony’s inclinations… you decided on a slinky black dress, which somehow matched his all white suit. It was a good look on him, you had to admit. Really, though, you wondered what had gotten into him. 

The entire night he looked at you like you were the only person on planet earth that mattered, and for one reason or another, it flustered you. He was just emanating love from every pore. So much that you may have been drowning in it. He took you to a fancy restaurant for dinner. And then an even fancier and more exclusive one for dessert. But it wasn’t the food or the locations that were important. 

It was him. And the two of you. And it hardly mattered that paparazzi were being quarantined by Stark security on the opposite side of the street everywhere you two went, or that people around you were looking around and trying to sneak pictures… you understood, really, why he was looking at you the way he had been. It wasn’t because you really were the only person in the universe. 

But to him you were the most important one. For sure. And on a night like tonight, you’d never questioned it less. Maybe near death experiences did that to a person. Maybe he felt more alive than ever. It was hard to say. 

After dessert he strangely took you back to the Tower, and led you hand in hand for a slow dance on the desk, as fireworks bloomed in the night sky behind you. Just as you laid your head on his shoulder, he spoke up. “I uh… at the risk of being overly cheesy, I got you something. I think that’s standard protocol, right. Gift on Valentine’s day.” 

You couldn’t hide your smile if you tried. “I didn’t get you anything.” 

“You’re enough.” Smiling as the two of you gazed at one another. But he seemed a little anxious. “Anyway- here- uh-” Reaching into his suit jacket pocket, he pulled out a long, thin black velvet box. “Turn around.” 

“Jewelry on Valentine’s day. You are going for cheesy.” Teasing him only in the most harmless way possible. Obeying his request after that. You heard the lid creak open, and the tinkly sounds of a chain and some other metal… your eyes closed briefly, lulled by a warm thrum that appeared while his fingers brushed the sides of your neck as he laid the necklace over your skin. Once you heard the clasp close, you reached up to touch your hands over it- feeling a heart pendant, small but no doubt encrusted with something expensive. But on the sides- 

...all along the sides of the chain, there were these… soft yet edged pieces of… something. Something. And almost immediately, for one reason or another, you knew what they were. “Tony-”

His voice was warm in your ear, “Our future started here.” 

As if you needed more confirmation. Half turning to cast quite a look at him- “Tony these are-” 

“Technically speaking- pieces of my heart- yes-” 

“Pieces of shrapnel from a bomb that almost killed you-”

He held a hand up, palming the side of your face. “Now, honey, you can’t say I never gave you anything nice. Or personal.” 

Sitting pretty around your neck were pieces of metal that had been literally sitting in his heart for years- and that had been extracted only five or so weeks ago in a surgery meant to heal him. And now… now he was gifting them to you. Like a sentimental piece of art. How were you supposed to handle that…? 

Evidently, with a crack of a smile, and a reach of your arms up to wrap them loosely around his neck, drawing him closer. “I love it. And you. You’re so weird and dramatic sometimes. You know that?” 

His head craned back, not lulled in, arching a brow. “How is that dramatic?” And at this you mirrored the look he was giving you. The mutual eye brow raising went on for maybe ten seconds more before laughter bubbled up from him, and his hands came to settle on your hips, bringing you in as close as he could get you. “Oh- I’m very sorry- Ms. Our Future Started Here. What was that about glass houses and stones again?” 

Giggles were all too soon leaking out of you. Maybe you two deserved each other. It was right. He was right. Laying your head on his shoulder, as the two of you swayed, “At least I can say I own a Tony Stark original.” 

“I mean. You own a Tony Stark. But if the jewelry thing is what really does it for you…” 

“I own the Tony Stark, thank you.” Only one. Only one man in the world like him. Only one man in the universe that was him. And you were forever grateful. 

His arms lifted, and you felt a slice of worry, but it dissolved as he wound them around your shoulders as yours dropped to wind around his middle, laying his head atop yours. Having no trouble at all. Your eyes closed. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too. Thank you… for the necklace. For tonight. ...for everything.” Was this an appropriate time to start spilling all that out? You were sure he knew, but… it never hurt. 

“If we’re about to start throwing out gratitudes, you’re gonna be out here all night listening to me go on.” Serving it right back to you. “Let’s just keep it simple, shall we?” 

“Mn.” Agreeing in a murmur. “We shall.” 

So, instead, in the way only he and you could, 

I love you. You let him know again. And in a space that contrasted the night you were sharing, bright as you went to him, and sort of just… laid your head on his shoulder there, too. Close as two people could be, you imagined. In whatever that was. You put your hand over his heart, and heard him inhale just somewhere over you. 

His voice returned to you, full, flush, and warm. I love you, too. 

For a brief moment the two of you not only existed together, but all together too fleeting, you seemed to share a space. And his heartbeat fell in line with yours. 

A night had never been so perfect. 

[mooncorebunny]

Plan for 2019:

Set up the Redblack home media server or face a triple penalty: SUCCESS, but missed the deadline by a smidgeon +0.5

Finish working on new BunComp algorithm, publish it: FAILED, lost interest

Finish working on something else, publish it: SUCCESS, Chipriccio 24, delivered late; also a big PMD file format specs document +1.0

Acquire job title promotion by hook or crook: SUCCESS, now a “senior” “engineer” +1.0

Attend gym at 80%+ rate: PARTIAL SUCCESS, at least didn’t give up entirely, but more like 66% rate +0.5

Read literally thousands of pages of Star Trek literature in mostly chronological order! (Using nifty secondhand e-ink reader device): SUCCESS, got up to The Abode of Life (1982) +1.0

Bonus objective: Survive the possible 2019 financial meltdown: POSTPONED

Secret bonus objective: Visited Dublin for the first time +0.5

Total score: 4.5, better than I thought, but I still feel unaccomplished

Plan for 2020:

Develop and publish at least a working alpha of BunnySynth and BunnyTracker for double points

Prepare a design doc and other pre-production on an action-adventure game

Publish another song

Read literally thousands more pages of books and manga!

Travel through Europe on a train like a European

Attend gym at 80%+ rate

Find competent dentistry

Bonus objective: Declutter

Bonus objective: Continue saving toward surviving the possible 2021 financial meltdown

[maryqueenofmurder]

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE CHANGES COMING TO YOUTUBE ON JANUARY 1ST?

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd604xskDmU

If the link is broken just copy paste it.  If you don’t want to, my link is broken, or you can’t do it for some reason, let me lay down the gist of things.  Youtube was fined 170 million dollars recently.  136 million went to the FTC and 34 million to New York state.  Hang in here, this is going to affect the youtube community real soon.  Youtube was fined for violating COPPA, otherwise known as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

It gave info from children to advertisers for targeted ads.  This goes against COPPA.  I am not here to debate the ethics and morality of what youtube has done.  What I’m here to do is tell you what is going to happen as far as I know.  If a channel is deemed kid friendly then they have to get rid of targeted ads.  They could also be demonetized among other things.  Losing targeted ads is a big deal because according to the video it is 80-90% of a channels revenue which is a huge deal, even to big youtubers.  People could be losing their jobs.

They decide usually decide if a channel by these four things: Aimed at kids.  Animated characters, cartoons, toys.  Child audience.  Activities children enjoy.  This includes roblox, fortnite, and… Minecraft.  I absolutely love minecraft youtubers and I don’t want to see them disappear.  Animators as well will take a big hit.  PEOPLE COULD BE LOSING THEIR CHANNELS.

Youtube has been a big part of my life for a long time.  It’s been almost three years.  That doesn’t sound like a while, but I’ve changed and matured a lot over that time.  I had seen a non minecraft Popularmmos video, then one of my sisters introduced me to a video that I can say with absolute certainty changed my life.  It sounds dramatic for something so simple.

It was only a playthrough of a minecraft map, and the video was by Popularmmos.  From there I must have watched hundreds of hours of minecraft videos by that channel.  At least three survival series and almost all of every kind of video, minecraft or not.  I think it took me around two years of near constant watching to finally get bored.  I didn’t watch much youtube for a while.  Somehow I ended up watching Aphmau, which introduced me to fandoms and shipping.  I’ve watched all of Mystreet except for the last season.

I fell out of youtube for a while, but with fandoms and fanfictions I wasn’t too bored.  I have read so much fanfiction at this point, it is really enjoyable.  On youtube I mostly just listened to music, but then my sister (same one!) introduced me to Grian.  He was doing survival on a server, and I was instantly hooked.  I showed my sister, and we both still watch his videos to this day, though I’m behind.

Youtube introduced me to a lot of the internet and fanfiction.  They have really helped make me who I am today.  I’m terrified of losing them.  Sure, this won’t change Tumblr or Archive of Our Own, but most of the fandoms I look at or the fanfiction I read is based off of minecraft youtubers.  I still can’t comprehend how much my life could change because of something so simple as privacy laws.

The channels that remain won’t be the same, and will probably have taken on a darker, more adult theme in order to survive this purge.  And not all of them will survive.  Not all of them will be able to afford to do youtube.  I can think of more than thirty minecraft youtubers of the top or my head even if I don’t watch their videos or know their channel names.  I play minecraft because of youtube.

I don’t want to lose the minecraft youtubers I watch, and I don’t want other people to lose something that gives them so much joy.  I don’t want the content creators to lose something so dear, so personal to them either.  I don’t want them to lose their jobs, to lose their channels, or to have to change the way they act or talk or the videos they make.  People have been thinking about putting a string of expletives at the start of their videos to prove that they aren’t child friendly.

I don’t want this to happen.  I don’t want people to be so desperate, so helpless that this is their only choice.  I want them to be themselves.  And I want people to be free to love them for it.  To enjoy their videos.  I don’t know how to help.  Maybe if channels collaborated, or maybe if they did sponsored videos, or maybe if they did an absolute truckload of non-targeted ads.  I don’t know how to fight the law.  Please, spread news about what’s going on.  Maybe people can help fund them, so they can bring joy to others.  Maybe, maybe, maybe.  We don’t just need maybe’s or what if’s or if things had happened differently.  We need to do something.  Every revolution starts with a person, with an idea.  An even the wildest things can happen if just believe.  If you just try.  Maybe one person by themselves can’t do much.  But if we all stand beside each other, than we can move mountains.  And we won’t have to do it alone.