#I'll make another post in the morning when I can be more coherent

[911-on-abc]

the second they made buck bi i watched the whole show for the first time, took a week, finished just before the latest episode came out. this obviously means i do not know my first thing about anything, most theories and fanon storylines included. what is the most important stuff that i need to know? the more deranged and delusional the better 🌸

oh LORD buckle up anon!! but also... hi!! Welcome!!! I'm so glad that ur here and that you've enjoyed the show enough to (hopefully) stick around!!!!

Full disclosure, I've only started watching 911 since season 6, so there are years of fandom lore/drama that I'm not even aware of. I really recommend checking out blogs such as @captain-hen @gracieryder @maygrcnt who have been around here MUCH longer (I'll tag more people in the morning) & follow @911bts who keeps track of literally EVERYTHING 911.

Okay, 911blr 101 is couch theory. What is couch theory you ask? well, it all starts at the beginning of S6 when Buck's couch (or lack there of) was used as a metaphor for Buck's romantic relationships. In S5, when Taylor moved into Buck's apartment replaced Buck's couch (that he got with Ali) with her own. When Buck and Taylor broke up, she took the couch with her, leaving Buck couchless. The connection between girlfriends and couches first comes up during a conversation with Buck, Eddie, and Christopher. Buck's struggle to find the 'perfect' couch reflects Buck's struggle to find the perfect person to partner up with. At the end of the episode, Buck decides to move his armchair where the couch used to be, signifying that he is trying to become comfortable with himself outside of a relationship.

Then we get to the start of S6b. Buck's parents come to town, Buck gets struck by lightning (as one does), and his parents buy him a new couch. There is probably some metaphor there about family and blah blah blah, but that doesn't matter because the couch is uncomfortable and Buck can't sleep on it and everyone keeps bothering him, and who does Buck run to? He runs to Eddie. And then he falls asleep on Eddie's couch.

and like this is a big fucking deal. because it shows that he is comfortable with Eddie! he feels safe in Eddie's home! he is more safe and comfortable on Eddie's couch than he is on his own and Eddie welcomes him there!! and couch = romantic relationship, so falling asleep on eddie's couch = relationship with Eddie???? There is another scene in S6 where Christopher falls asleep on the couch and people are like!! we are connecting the dots! (we were not connecting the dots)

and then!!!! the Kameron gives birth on Buck's couch and the couch is ruined and then y'all never guess what happens. In one of the last scenes of s6 Buck asks his brand new love interest Natalia if she wants to go couch-shopping and everyone is like WTF???? aren't we past this?? didn't we just have this conversation about NOT buying a couch with ur gf at the beginning of this season???

uhhh this explanation was NOT supposed to get this long. okay, let's speedrun this shit. The Christmas Elf!! Very important!! OG Buddie Queen!! Buck Navy Seal AUs (ugh. he literally talked about how he was too emotional for the Seals I hate this AU so fucking much!!) everyone is fucking irrational about the lawsuit arc, just filter that shit out. eddie = gay and/or demisexual. buck = christopher's second dad. literally, everyone is bisexual. Chimney? bi. Bobby? bi. Maddie? bi. is this canon? no, except for in my heart. there is SO much that I am missing. but if u are still reading this drop ur favorite/least favorite fanon theories in the chat and drop the @'s of some good blogs to follow. OH!!! ALSO!!! do NOT trust Tim (the showrunner) that man LIES!!!

[fools-task-force]

It's half past midnight but I can't stop thinking about Fyolai and the kinda tragic beauty of it

Fyodor, who has been alive for God only knows how long, who has lived more lifetimes than perhaps even he knows. He's bored of humanity by now, no one is truly surprising to him. He purely uses people, but who is it he seems closest to? The one who is humanity in its purest form

Nikolai is flawed, sure, of course. But he's so overwhelmingly human, and isn't that why he's flawed? He's comedy and tragedy, loyal but supposedly wanting to kill Fyodor, simultaneously seemingly utterly insane and fully aware of and in tune with himself. He's unpredictable

Sure, Fyodor and Dazai parallels are there and are beautiful and I hope to make a post about them when I can form coherent thought, but Nikolai represents something Fyodor lost touch with. Let's not ignore the religious symbolism either, let me pull up my Catholic childhood to point this out

Fyodor sees himself as a Jesus figure, can we all agree on that? From his ability literally allowing him to rise from the grave to his goal being to free man from sin. Nikolai is his closest "friend" (in quotes either because they're homosexuals or because Fyodor doesn't have friends, reader's choice), and speaks about wanting to kill Fyodor. A friend and betrayer. Judas, anyone?

Also the color symbolism, and this actually goes beyond Nikolai to like every man Fyodor has worked with except Dazai (if you can consider whatever the fuck Dead Apple was to be working together, and even then Dazai wore white), but white is a color of purity. Fyodor surrounds himself with people with white hair, but the only one in all white except for ability dragon dude whose name I def didn't forget is Nikolai - white hair, white clothes, white accessories. Bram wears black (and is a vampire which is like inherently impure), Sigma has half purple hair (don't get me started on Signs), Fukuchi wears green/red.. actually now that I'm thinking about it Ivan was mostly in white too but Ivan is dead so he doesn't matter now. But Nikolai is color wise the most pure of anyone Fyodor surrounds himself with, which is going to be something that's really important to someone focused on freeing mankind from sin

Anyway it's nearing one in the morning and I fear I'm making less sense as I go on, I fully accept I may and probably have misread/misremembered things and that my points are probably half baked, mayhaps I will make another post when I get a decent amount of sleep. Perchance. I look forward to hopefully seeing some debate about this that I can sit out of and just watch people be smarter than me or maybe I'll delete this when I look back and remember my dumbass made this

[delta-altair]

Angry rant ahead. I've been holding back on this one but I woke up at 3am this morning to prep for a virtual astronomy conference in a European time zone next week so whoops it's what I actually feel in words instead of in vague reblogs.

Just as I have never forgiven the people who caused 2016 to happen, I will *never* forgive the Beltway media, podcast bros, pollsters who think they're the goddamn oracles at Delphi, and fauxgressive fucking idiots for this.

First of all, if I here one sniveling whining "But Kamala is a cawwwwwp-" -- if you do not posses the common sense to understand that a chaotic, open convention where the disunity of the Democratic party is on full national display would be a stake through the heart of the campaign -- WHOEVER is chosen -- then sorry but you aren't smart enough to comment on this!!! Sorry if that's fucking mean but it's true. For once the left (and I mean from the center to the wall, the whole thing yes) collectively needs to shut the fuck up, get in line, and focus on one goddamn thing for the next three and a half months.

Second, I had a much longer post with plots and everything I was going to make about the last Canadian election, but I'll make it short now. This is about *polls*, aka the "reason" why this happened (it's not, it was the media forcing the issue by refusing to show the public anything else about Biden and his accomplishment, but anyway...). Feel free to skip (but there's a cat at the bottom for anyone who actually reads my rantings), the tl;dr is that you should not trust any poll more than a week out from the election because the average person is a fucking moron.

So polling just before the previous election was called (Canadian elections are different, they can happen before the 4 year mark if the PM decides) all showed a healthy Liberal (center-left) lead. Probably majority if it holds. "If an election was held today, who would you vote for?", that was the question. But then the Liberals call the election and SURPRISE, guess what happens? They tumble in the polls so drastically they fall below the Conservatives (right) in overall vote share almost immediately. They held onto a minority in parliament because of how our systems works (we have 5 seat holding parties), but still, they took a huge hit. Why? Did some scandal happen the week after the election was called? Did the Conservatives promise everyone a free puppy if they won? No.

No, nothing happened. The reason why the Liberals fell in the polls was that people were mad that they called an early election. Despite the fact that the polls that some of the same people definitely took asked the question "If an election were held today, who would you vote for?" I guess the average person didn't have enough brain cells to rub together to understand that if an election is happening then the Liberals would have necessarily called an election. I know this sounds circular and stupid but that is literally it!! A bunch of people said "Yeah I'd vote for the Liberals if an election was happening today. Oh the Liberals (the only people who CAN) called an election, I don't like that, so I'm not going to vote Liberal."

So miss me with literally any poll that is not a week out from the actual election event. They are all nonsense. It turns out that you cannot predict human stupidity to a statistically significant degree.

We are *also* in a regime where the only thing that really matters now is turnout, and turnout is much harder to poll than voter preference, so that's another kick against polling.

I don't really have a coherent ending for this. I'm not in total doom mode because a lot of things can still turn out ok, technically. But I still remember the feeling I felt when a huge portion of American said "actually, saying you can assault women and grab them by their pussies any time you want is actually not disqualifying for being president, but we're going to make up a bunch of bullshit to explain why we're not voting for Hillary" and I still do not trust most of you because of this.

You have once chance to not totally fuck this up. Treat it seriously.

Here's my cat to brighten your day. Her name is Jupiter.

[a-queer-seminarian]

big ol' worry dump, i promise i'll post something rebloggable soon but i'm still processing everything and have not had time to write it coherently! cw queerphobia from the pulpit, church hurt, verbal violence, and brief csa mention (not a specific case)

SO. for anyone not keeping up, this past Sunday i visited my childhood church in ohio, and was devastated when near the end of his homily (Catholic word for sermon haha) my childhood pastor suddenly switched from celebrating the Spirit who bursts through closed doors to proclaiming that The Church Is Under Attack from people like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. :/

After he finished and sat down, i stood up and got behind the lectern/pulpit to remind him and everyone in the room that queer and trans people have the Holy Spirit too, because his words implied otherwise. And i could not risk that any other person there felt suddenly and utterly alone — i had to make sure they knew that not everyone agreed with our priest's message.

(Here's a place you can watch a clip of the homily — obviously mega content warning for homophobia, please keep yourself safe and remember you are loved!! — as well as my response)

Not long into speaking, I was escorted peacefully out of the building. Two parishioners followed and found me outside, and thanked me for what i said. They were very sweet <3

As we were talking, another parishioner stormed out and got very, very verbally violent. It was scary shit.

Other parishioners eventually came out and led Scary Man away, thankfully. The church's other, younger & newer priest, Father Jim, also came out to apologize profusely to us. Then i went home. My wife and i flew home to Georgia the next morning.

____

and...stuff keeps happening.

i did not expect this to make the news, but it did. the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote on it, and so have other papers across the country.

an officer called me to ask if i wanted to press charges on Scary Man. I don't, because i'm just not convinced the results would be helpful to actually stopping him from doing what he did again.

if anyone has resources or someone smart i could talk to for advice on alternatives to cops & court for a situation like this, please hit me up!!!

after agreeing to an interview with the Plain Dealer reporter, which used my first and last name, folks have been finding me on social media to offer their support, which actually has been so uplifting and i plan to post some of the messages later!

my parents are proud of me and support me BUT my mom is worried sick that someone is going to, like, find out where i live and come attack me. i'd be more worried that they find out who my parents are and go attack them, tbh.

i've had more sudden spikes of adrenaline in the past five days than i have in the past like, 2 years lol

i've also talked with more different individuals on the phone in the past five days than i had over the rest of 2023 so far

i was scrolling through twitter last night and randomly came across a tweet featuring a TikTok of a cut-down version of my priest's homily + my response...i really don't like what parts they cut out, or what they titled it. and it's got over a million views. :OOO

there's a lot of confusion in the replies — people who don't realize i'm a former parishioner, not an active one; people not knowing how to gender me which is fine but it's, you know, getting a little grating; and of course, people resorting to saying Father Tim must be "closeted gay" or otherwise have a Sinister Secret himself to say what he said...I hate that kind of rhetoric.

Not every person who spouts homophobia is secretly gay. The Biggest Homophobes are usually, shockingly, straight.

And flippantly suggesting that anyone, even a Catholic priest, is a pedophile without facts to back that accusation up only serves to harm csa victims — because then when there really is a case that needs to be pursued, people may not take it seriously.

one big thing that's bothering me about how everyone on every side of the debate is interpreting Father Tim's homily is they are focusing mostly on his condemnation of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — and while I certainly oppose what he said about them, it's actually the first half of his message that scared me more: the stuff about the church being under attack and how Christians must defend it. He ended with a vague reminder to do so "peacefully," without any examples about how that's even done. And obviously, Scary Man didn't absorb that part of the message.

sigh. i was really hoping that agreeing to an interview with the plain dealer reporter who wrote the first article would give me a chance to explain why i felt i had to interrupt Mass, but unfortunately they didn't include those quotes. i'm really disappointed.

that article's title also says "attendee fired back," using exactly the kind of violence-coded language that I had a problem with in F. Tim's homily. So that's really unfortunate.

which is why i want to write up my perspective. i did send a long ass email to father tim the other night explaining what i did, why his message was hurtful AND fueled his parishioner's violence, and asking if we could talk about alternative ways to hold Scary Man accountable beyond the law. he hasn't responded yet.

anyway. yeah. it's been. a lot. good vibes and prayers are so very appreciated! and seriously, if anyone has resources about alternatives to legal action when we're dealing with someone who got very verbally violent and physically aggressive, i'd love some help figuring out what to do. also any thoughts about like, keeping myself safe? yeah

Anyway, gonna end with the affirmation that God made us Good; human diversity is what it looks like to be in the image of an Infinite creator; and queerness is a holy gift that the Body of Christ can't do without!!

Amen and amen.

[itsdefinitely]

*clears throat*

inhales

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay now for actual words

WATCHING AND DREAMING SPOILER WARNING

first off, ive been crying for the past forever. this show always makes me cry. BUT I WAS CRYING THE ENTIRE EPISODE

JUST THE- the way all of the characters are going through some sort of loss as shown in the dreams; amity with kind of everything, gus with his dad, willow with her dads, hunter with flapjack, eda with her family, and king with his dad. the list goes on and on, and what ive said is only the ones we're explicitly told. hunter is probably still missing belos, luz feels like she lost the entire isles... hell, all of them feel like they lost the entire isles, because it really looked that way. and then you have the Collector, who doesn't understand death until it's right up in their face and it's too late to do anything about it

ALSO CAN I TALK ABOUT FLAPJACK? flapjack last episode was kind of like the canary in the coal mine, if that makes sense. flapjack ... had that happen to him and suddenly the characters were much more aware that belos is back and holy SHIT belos is back. it was kind of like a wake up event where everything started to process in their heads. i dont know if im making sense but yeah

we finally got to meet king's dad!! who is both king and queen best of both worlds and i love them very much and im not normal please im getting attached

OKAY JUST the scene where luz died absolutely broke me. i was sobbing. eda and king getting so defensive (rightfully) is so real becuase that is their family that you just killed. and the collector being so confused is so fiucurhdheieifjjdiekdkjd yknow?

just the collector in general. just the. them misunderstanding death and when being told that kindness and forgiveness is sometimes all someone needs, trying that on belos because oh it's a rule in the game so it must work. HOW GUILTY MUST THEY FEEL WHEN LUZ DIES

AND RAINE OH MY GOD RAINE

i dont have the words for raine i really really do not. have a keyboard smash in an attempt to articulate my thoughts

fjjfjfieoieufuoskfkjcjdkkdkdjruururhbrhdksoicufujeiwpqplwkjfhvhnfjsieiirititjjHFHJFIR99W0QPQOIE8FINFNSNWKIDJJDKQPDPPDPWJRJCUUDUETTAUUSHDGEVDBJXKSKAKMZMKZJHSKWPFKJ

i hope you understand what im saying

ouuughhhh its too early in the morning to have thoughts i'll probably make another post with more coherent words

[iguana-braces]

Y'all, I've been thinking about this fic all day and I finally ironed out a bit that was giving me so much trouble so--

Finally, here's a snippet of Chapter 3 of Tales from the Danger Zone!!!!

It felt like he had just fallen asleep when some kind of horn blared through the room. Just as Pete lurched awake, the room was flooded with blinding fluorescent light and he had to fight back the youthful urge to pull the covers over his head. 

"On your feet, cadets!" barked a voice from the doorway. Still partially blinded, Pete felt his way to the floor from the top bunk and stood at the end of the bed next to Nick, who looked like he was still asleep standing up. The clock at the end of the room read 0300 hours. 

Jesus, it's still the middle of the night. 

Strangely enough, slouching against a pillar in the middle of the room with a clipboard and a stern expression was– "Chuck? I thought you were one of us." 

The former veterinarian merely shrugged. "Never said I was." 

"You didn't say much of anything coherent last night."

Another man was at the other end of the room, also carrying a clipboard, who Pete vaguely recognized as having also been at the bar with them mere hours ago. Once all the men were on their feet, he scribbled something on his clipboard before he began speaking. "Good morning, gentlemen. My name is Ranger Williams, callsign Sundown. And this is my co-pilot, Ranger Piper, callsign Chipper." 

"Oh, great," Nick muttered beside him. "They have callsigns." 

So Kazansky and Kerner weren't the only Jaeger pilots in California. How many more were there? And how’d they get to be there? 

"For the next eight weeks, we will be your squadron leaders, your mentors, your brothers, your confidants. But anything we say is law. We say jump, you say how high.” Sundown circled the room, sizing up each of the cadets like a seasoned drill sergeant. Despite his resentment towards the ranger for being woken up so suddenly, Pete liked him already. “Hope you enjoyed your last taste of freedom last night, because you won't be leaving this base for a while. If you make it past the first training cut, you get a whole week off. Besides that, you get one free weekend per month. When that weekend occurs is up to you, but you have to get permission in advance."

"What about extenuating circumstances?" Nick asked, raising his hand. 

"Like what?" Sundown replied, backtracking to stand in front of the querying cadet. 

"Well, my wife's having our baby in a few months. I won't know when exactly until it, you know, starts happening. I’d like to be there if I can." 

Sundown glanced towards his copilot, who merely shrugged his response. Continuing his promenade around the room, Ranger Williams decided, "Exceptions can be made, but you better have solid evidence of those extenuating circumstances. I don't want to hear that all of a sudden, twelve of you have wives giving birth at the same exact time."

"Of course. I'll bring back the umbilical cord, sir." 

Pete, and a few others, couldn't stop a few snorts and chuckles from escaping. 

"Yeah, alright, jokers. Take it away, Chip." 

Ranger Piper straightened up, but remained rooted where he was as he addressed the room. "A kaiju attack can happen at any time, as evidenced in Cabo and Manila. These creatures do not adhere to business hours. As a Jaeger pilot, you need to be ready for action at a moment's notice. There will be more drills like this in the future and you will be graded on just how quickly you can become functional. Seeing as you’ve all managed to stay awake for the past few minutes, you’ve passed your first drill. Congratulations."

Clapping his hands together loudly, startling half the room, Sundown concluded, "That's all we have, folks. Y'all sleep tight now."

Lord knows when the actual chapter will be posted cuz I'm about to move and then I'm going to back to school 🙃, but I need all 3 members of the audience for this to know that I'm still here!!!!! Still thinking about this AU!!! Constantly!!!!

Tags for those audience members 😅 - @redfurrycat @milficeman @superioraxolotl @salemfrogtrials @film-in-my-soul @sadpetalsstuff @all-time-fanatic @worldsoldestpizzaslice @katieshook02 @oababy @goobieboobie @fantasias-creativebubble @straightforwardly @queenbbarnes @stilledimperfections @slutforfics @xofangirlthingsxo @cool-ultra-nerd @blue-aconite @joaquinwhorres

(let me know if you want to be tagged or want to be removed from the tags!! ❤️)

[ken-f-cker]

last Drive book post!

driver meets Bernie Rose at a polish place called Warszawa

Bernie has frequented the place for 20 years and mentions he doesn't know the name of the owner, an older woman who wears a miniskirt with no stockings

driver mentally comments that the woman seems 'completely comfortable with herself' which is an uncommon trait in LA

Bernie recommends the duck and driver gets it, and likes it

they talk about where they're going from there: Bernie says he'll probably head back east, Driver says he'll go back to his old life if he can

“Friend of mine claims the story of America is all about the advancing frontier. Push through to the end of it, he says, which is what we’ve done here at land’s end, there’s nothing left, the worm starts eating its own tail.” “Should have had the duck instead.” Despite himself, Driver laughed.

idk why that tickles me so much that the driver laughs here. like he's in the company of a man who should despise him for killing Nino and instead they're just. making jokes about things with each other? idk. the romance of it. Anyway

they walk out to driver's car and chat briefly about how yeah, Driver had a friend who shattered both hips in a crash and started working on cars instead of driving them. this may or may not be Shannon? so maybe he survived and they just never mentioned him by name and I missed that ksfbf

anyway. they go to shake and driver sees moonlight glint off the knife Bernie is about to stab him with and beats him to it, taking it and sticking it in his throat

He’d struck a bit central, away from the carotids and other major vessels, so it took a while, but he’d taken out the pharynx and breached the trachea, through which Bernie Rose’s last breaths whistled. So not too long. Looking into Bernie Rose’s failing eyes, he thought: This is what people mean when they use words like grace.

I'm too gay to comment on driver saying he sees grace in the eyes of a dying man. so I'm not going to say anything. but I'm thinking about it ���

he dumps Bernie's body off a pier and watches the tide take it

the book ends with him driving away vaguely, but I just wanna. quote the whole thing tbh because it's short and I can

Far from the end for Driver, this. In years to come, years before he went down at three a.m. on a clear, cool morning in a Tijuana bar, years before Manny Gilden turned his life into a movie, there’d be other killings, other bodies. Bernie Rose was the only one he ever mourned.

aaaand that's the book!!! I'll probably make a more coherent post about it another time but I liked it; I think the movie did a good job of putting things back together and adding things where things needed to be added. I liked that the book gave more focus on driver and Standard's friendship and I liked that he held such fondness for his foster parents that he knew he could trust them with the cat and gave them the money as well

seeing his backstory, even with as little as we get, was really interesting and I'll definitely be incorporating a lot of it into my interpretation of the ryan gosling 2011 version of the character

anyway!! if you read these thanks for reading along with me!!!

[procrastinatorproject]

Apparently, we are now moving fully into the realm of angst... 🙈

This chapter (of technically still the same story, though we are moving further away from the original prompt with every paragraph 😅) is veering into explicit AU territory of the "Everyone lives, no-one is turned into a Borg Queen" variety. I'm not sure how much I'll go into the details of how we got here, some of it will definitely come up during this chapter, but I haven't picked the fix-it version I like best for season 2. So for now, let's just say: "S2 happened mostly the same, except Agnes and Rios have returned safely with the rest of the motley crew."

(also: not sure how coherent this is, but it is late and I'm trying not to stay up until 2am for once. I'll do some proper editing before I post this to AO3 in the semi-near future 😋)

---

“How are you today, Dr Jurati?”

Despite herself, Agnes had to smile. “Emil, how many times have I told you to call me Agnes?”

“Force of habit.” She could hear that the EMH, too, was smiling. Or… he would have been smiling, if he currently had a physical matrix.

“How are you doing?” she asked, leaning back in her chair and looking at the ceiling. As an academic with contacts in faraway sectors, it wasn’t unusual for her to have calls that were voice-only. Even with the latest advances in subspace communications technology, the latency of inter-quadrant calls was greatly reduced if you didn’t try to submit an image at the same time.

Still, this wasn’t your average voice call, and it was difficult to stop herself from picking at the corner of the loudspeaker, where a slim gap had formed between rim and grill that was vibrating ever so slightly every time the device emitted the EMH’s voice.

Emil seemed to be pondering her question. After a long moment, he said: “All my systems are operating within normal parameters. The ones I have access to, anyway.” He sighed. “It really is rather inconvenient, but I suppose this has to count as an improvement.”

Agnes ran a finger along the edge of the speaker. “Well, I’m glad to finally be talking to you again.”

“We spoke only last week,” the EMH said mildly.

Agnes rapped a knuckle against the grill. “That wasn’t the same.”

There was a brief pause before Emil said: “No, it wasn’t.” Another pause, then: “I’m glad, too. I’ve missed our chats.”

For a moment, silence hung between them as each dwelt on their own thoughts. Finally, Emil made a noise like he was clicking his tongue, even though in his current state, he had neither the tongue nor the palate to perform this action. When he spoke, he sounded a lot more composed. “Commandr Barclay is to be commended; I didn’t expect he’d make progress this quickly.”

“I was pretty amazed, too. I guess the new algorithms helped more than we’d thought.” Agnes felt a familiar tingle on her right cheek and she started fiddling with the zipper-pull on the edge of her sleeve.

Even though he didn’t have any meaningful access to the ship’s visual sensors, Emil must have noticed her sudden discomfort, because he asked: “Would you like to talk about that?”

Agnes pulled the zip up a few centimetres, then back down to her wrist. “I’m really sorry we haven’t been able to fully untangle your programmes.”

“That’s not what I —”

“It should only be a matter of time now,” Agnes continued quickly. “I had a message from professor L’Nel this morning. She’s finally managed to look at the data we sent her, and she thinks we can significantly reduce the risk of algorithmic fragmentation. We’ll probably have to work backwards to your root architecture and save all alterations and augmentations along the way, but with a large enough external processor, it should be doable.”

“Dr Jurati…”

The zipper had gotten snagged and no matter how hard Agnes pulled, she couldn’t free it again. “I was thinking we might ask Seven and Raffi if they have time for a detour to Vulcan. I still have contacts at the Science Academy and who knows. With my new-found powers of persuasion, I might just get them to lend us their supercomputer for a few hours.” She was babbling now, but she couldn’t make herself stop. “It would take some time to iron out all the kinks in interoperability-interfacing, but now that Ian can help us with insights into Sirena’s computer system, we’re a lot closer to a solution.”

“Agnes.”

The zipper finally came loose, but she had pulled on it with so much force that it slipped over the delicate stopper at the hem of her sleeve cuff and landed on the desk with a quiet clink. Agnes took a deep breath, staring at her now permanently zipped-up sleeve. So much for getting unstuck…

[tinyboxxtink]

"Black Magic" *Part 6*

Part 5

Part 7

Okay so this one's a bit shorter, but like I said I want to try and keep it a "day" a chapter. Also, I don't think you want this day to be ANY longer.

....I'm so sorry.

Also also---- I'm going out now. I'M SO SORRY.

I'll post another chapter tonight....be strong my babies!

Side note how perfect is the gif with the angry barba and the smirking Olivia....I mean.... what?

Tag List:

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@omgsuperstarg

@chasingeverybreakingwave

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@word-scribbless

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@stars-trash-18

-------

You arrived at the door of Rafael's office early once again, knocking this time. You looked like a million bucks. You had taken at least an hour to get ready, your outfit, your hair, your makeup. You were ready to make a move. You knocked again. There was no answer. He should be there, maybe he didn’t hear you. You knocked a little louder. Where could he be? You decided to take a peek and peer open his door to see the most horrifying sight:

Rafael and Olivia, making out on his desk. They both snapped back when they heard the door open.

“Y/N!!” He yelled angrily. “Don't you knock?”

“Oh.. oh my God I'm so sorry sir I'm really sorry. I just brought your morning coffee sir,” You were upset, embarrassed , confused , distraught unable to speak, unable to think.

“Well you should learn not to peep on other people Y/N,” Olivia gave you an evil smirk. “I should get going anyway baby,” she rubbed the lipstick off Rafael's lips. “I have a long day.”

“Oh but I'll miss you carino,” Rafael whined while rubbing his nose against hers in a disgusting fashion.

“I know baby, but maybe we'll have lunch?” She messed with his collar.

“You can count on it,” Rafael growled seductively, smacking her butt as she walked towards the door. “Two can play at your game,” she whispered at you as she walked out

Oh my god. Oh my God oh my god!! How did she know? How was it possible? So many things went through your head at that moment.

“I um, I left something at my desk,” You lied quickly as you headed out the door.

“Olivia!” You called after her angrily suddenly overwhelmed with courage. She stopped and turned and stared at you

“Really? Got some balls on you now do you?”

“What did you do?” You demanded.

“I didn't do anything to him.” She acted innocent. “He just realized that his feelings for me were there all along,” she batted her eyes mockingly. “Isn't that what you did?”

“It's not real!” You barked. “You know it's not real. It'll wear off by tomorrow,”

“Oh I really don't think it will” She held up a water bottle in her purse and it was filled with a….purple liquid? Yep it was purple. Why was it purple? Did she make it stronger? Oh God how strong did she make it?

“Olivia you can't do this to him. I stopped and realized if it wasn't real, I didn't want it.”

“Oh that's bullshit.” She rolled her eyes. “You just brought him his morning coffee. You and I both know that it has that stuff in it. You just needed to refill him but I got there first.”

“No that's not true! You yelled, tears stinging your eyes now. “And he loves me. I know he does.”

“Oh my God you are delusional,” she laughed.” Look I'm happy you had a fun day yesterday but you’re out of your league here, sweetie. He's mine and he always will be? Got it?” She smirked again, then turned and stomped away in her heels leaving you there speechless.

----

You were furious, you were confused, you were upset and then you realized that you had to still continue this day as if nothing was different. Nothing was wrong. You wondered how strong Olivia's stuff was. You wondered what the rules were. Did it block out his feelings for you completely and only focus on her? Did it wipe any memory of you and him at all? Could you break it? You had so many questions you needed to call Chloe but you know you couldn't until your break so you sucked it up and walked back into Rafael's office.

“I'm really sorry about that so earlier,” You did your best to keep from crying. He looked at you with an almost look of disdain.

“Yeah well you really need to be more professional, Y/N.” He scoffed.

"Now you really need to get me copies of these prepositions by noon so that I can go to lunch with my beloved and then go to court.”

“Your beloved?” You spat unintentionally, wanting to gag.

“Excuse you?” He gave you an angry look.

"Look I know that you have some kind of crazy crush on me, but you need to learn that what me and my girlfriend have is something you can't get between so you really need to either control yourself or I will relieve you of your services.” He glared at you.

You couldn't breathe, you felt your heart beating in your chest and your ears. Your palms were sweating, you were having a panic attack. What the hell did she put in her concoction? How did she make him turn so harshly against you?

“I... Yes sir, sorry sir, right away sir,” You whispered grabbing the papers from him running out of the office.

Finally after you got Rafael his copies and he stormed out of his office to go meet his “beloved”, you took the break to call Chloe in tears.

-----

“Oh My God, what happened honey?” She asked, immediately hearing your sobs over the phone.

“She did it,” You sobbed.

“Who did what now?”

“She found the spell! Or some spell. I don't know what she did. I don't know how she could have-- I don't know what she did!!!” You kept sobbing uncontrollably not being able to form coherent thoughts.

“Okay, I'm going to need you to slow down,” Chloe said in a calming manner. “Breathe honey. Use your words. Now explain to me exactly what happened,”

You took several deep breaths trying to compose yourself so that you could explain what was happening to her.

“I went into Rafael's office this morning, and he was making out with that vile woman,” You sniffled.

“What vile woman?”

“Olivia, his ‘beloved’,” you rolled your eyes through your tears.

“His beloved?”

“It's some woman that he works with, and apparently has been in love with him forever. She somehow, I don't know how, figured out what we did to him and she somehow found her own spell. Which I'm pretty sure is not the same one, because it was a purple liquid. AND she not only created feelings for her, she made him hate me!!” You continued to sob.

“...Oh,” Was all Chloe could say.

“OH…?!” You scoffed. “I thought you said that magic laws frowned upon spells like that, controlling people's free will!”

“It does! Good magic anyway,” She sighed.

“What the hell does that mean?” You yelled angrily.

“Well I mean you know there's good witches and bad witches,”

“Oh my God, what in the Wizard Of Oz fuckery--”

“I don't know what to tell you honey. That's how it is. There's good magic and there's black magic. Black magic is all selfish and self-indulgent and instant gratification. She must have gone to somebody who deals in that,”

“Who could it be?”

“I don't know! It's not like they're listed in the yellow pages! WAIT-- Oh my God I think I might have an idea,” Chloe suddenly paused. “...But you're not going to believe me,”

“Oh my God what does that mean?” you asked wearily.

“Well.. you've seen all the movies right? You know like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White,”

“Oh God. Are you seriously going to tell me that true love's kiss can break the spell?”

“Well.. you really don't have any other options right now, do you?”

“CHLOE those are Disney movies for fuck’s sake!!”

“Hey, remember Once Upon A Time? THAT was the ‘real world’, and true love’s kiss brought magic to our world!” Chloe pointed out.

“THAT’S A TV SHOW!!!!!”

“I don't know what else you want me to say here babe. But you should do it. Unless you want to lose him forever to this “Olivia” person. You said that she had a lot of it, right? She could keep this up for as long as she wants. AND the more she gives him the stronger it's going to be and the harder it is going to be to break. I mean he might end up really hating you and firing you, and then your whole life will be ruined. You not only need to break this spell for you to be happy, but before it impacts your entire life,” Chloe warned.

“Oh my God, oh my god…” You whimpered. “I should have never done this.”

“Hey chin up this will work out I'm sure of it!” She said in a chipper tone.

“Okay Jiminy,” You rolled your eyes as you hung up and went back to your office. You did your best to continue with the rest of the day, trying to stay out of Rafael’s way. Which wasn't hard, considering that he was in court most of the day. Around four he texted you and told you that he was no longer in need of your services for the day so you could go home early. Oh also he just HAD to add that he was going to go out with Liv. You wanted to vomit. You headed home and went to brainstorm with Chloe.

-----

“Okay so I've been researching black magic. Chloe had papers sprawled out all over her bed when you came home. “She must have used a combination of love and hate spells.”

“Wait, so you mean actual love spells? Like actually creating fictitious love? Not just magnifying what he felt for her?”

“Correct” she nodded. “I don't think he ever had real feelings for her.”

“Well he said that she and him had a thing, and that he thought about her like that when they first met. So maybe it was going off of that,” You shrugged sadly.

“Another thing we need to figure out is how to get the rest of the potion from her somehow,”

“And just HOW do you expect me to do that?!”

“I don’t...I don’t know,” She shrugged, sifting through her research.

“Chloe, give me something you DO know,” You rubbed your temples; this was giving you a migraine.

“Okay… well, maybe if I talk to my other friends they can figure out a way to counteract the effects even just a little, if you're not willing to or unable to get true love's kiss,”

“Oh God--”

“Hey, I'm just saying”

“Whatever.” You sighed. “My head hurts, my heart hurts, everywhere hurts Chloe,” You whined. “I just want this to be over,”

“Okay honey just-- just go get some sleep, I’ll figure out a game plan for you to use tomorrow,”

“Okay...thank you,” You gave her a small hug and went to your room.

You went to bed with a deep feeling of dread.

[hajimeiwaswife]

EGUZKILORE

Word count: 1,4K

Warnings: post time skip!Iwaizumi

Summary: Iwaizumi finds some strange items in his birthday.

'What an intriguing flower' Iwaizumi thought, looking at the sunflower-like plant in front of him. Entering his office at the training department of the Volleyball National Team of Japan, he found it on his desk, waiting for him with a little note under it.

"In the beginning of it all, everything was dark. Not a pinch of light could be appreciated among the darkness surrounding the atmosphere. Sorginak and creatures of the night used the lack of light to attack the people who lived in the area." read Iwaizumi, confused with the terminology and the story, "The townspeople, tired of the danger it supposed, took a stone each and went to Mari's cave in order to seek a solution. In exchange of the stones, Mari gave the people the Sun, protecting them from the evil creatures during the daytime. But it wasn't enough, as they continued to damage the towns at night."

Iwaizumi sought the rest of the story, curious as to what happened next. How did the townspeople survive the creatures at night? Who was Mari? What was a sorgina? He needed answers, but he also had to work, so he left the flower and the note in his desk again and left his office.

"Iwaizumi-san!" shouted an excited Shoyo, running to him in an eternal happiness and bouncing.

"Good morning!" continued Bokuto, following the ginger enthusiastic boy.

Like that, the rest of the team greeted him, he was loved and respected as their trainer, something he really appreciated, as he had worked hard to get where he was. In his 27 years of life his main motivation had been surpassing the annoying man he had for best friend, Oikawa Tōru; he was sure that team could make his dreams come true.

"Happy birthday, Hajime," suddenly said Shugo Meian, greeting the trainer and surprising both the players and Iwaizumi himself.

"Is it your birthday, Iwaizumi-san?" asked Shoyo, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yes, indeed."

"We should celebrate! Bokuto, bring the wine!" exclaimed Atsumu, forcing the white and black haired guy to follow his orders. Sakusa, who was observing everything from his usual corner, formed a scowl under his mask.

"Miya, we can't drink during practice." reasoned Ushijima, serious, and nodded at Iwaizumi, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." returned the gesture Iwaizumi.

The morning continued like that; Atsumu tried to convince five different people to drink with him in 'Old Iwaizumi's honour', Shoyo and Kageyama challenged each other to see who was the best at guessing Iwaizumi's presents ―receiving a scold from Aran, who had to suffer their bickering since first hour in the morning―. Hajime was used to having to take care of men in their twenties as if they were his own children, but he had to admit it was draining to have to look after Bokuto so he didn't end up electrocuted, incited by Atsumu, needless to say.

During lunch break, Hajime returned to his office to get his meal, which was in a Tupper inside his working bag. He took it out and headed to the door so he could go to the canteen to heat it up. That was until he saw another flower, like the one in he had seen in the morning, attached to the wooden door. Surprised, he grabbed it and found another note.

"The townspeople decided to gather and go to Mari's cave again. With a stone each, they returned to the Goddess' dwelling and asked to be saved from the creatures that attacked when the sun faded in the horizon. Mari, who was benevolent, gifted the people the Moon, so they could be protected at night." 'Ah, that makes sense' thought Iwaizumi to himself, "It worked for some time, but the creatures got used to the light casted by the satellite and started causing trouble again. The disturbing laugh of the Sorginak didn't let the townspeople sleep, and again, they gathered."

Hajime turned the page, waiting to find the rest of the story, but there was nothing left for him to read. He sighed, he didn't know who was leaving those strange flowers and those notes in his office, but now he demanded answers and he wanted them in that exact moment. But how? The was no one there to continue the story, not a single soul. Frustrated, he went to the canteen as he had planned initially.

The rest of the day proceeded without events, just a couple of phone calls from his family and friends, the team's shenanigans and his pursue of the end of the story.

With a tired sigh, Iwaizumi returned to his office for the last time that day, he needed to pick up his belongings in order to go home a drink a beer as he had wished ever since he got up of bed. Just in case, he searched for a flower and a note, finding them on the top of his bag. The difference was that the only thing he saw was the plant, but no note. 'This must be a joke', thought Hajime to himself, seeking the note as a mad man.

"The townspeople grabbed a stone each again and returned, for the third time, to Mari's cave. They asked for help and the Goddess answered 'This is the last time I'll be helping you, my dearests'." Hajime turned immediately to find you at the door, smiling slightly as you talked.

He had seen you and talked to you before, you were the translator and interpreter of the National Team and of the MSBY. He had to admit he found you attractive and very interesting, but his busy schedule made it impossible for him to actually being able to think about inviting you to go for lunch with him someday.

"In that moment, Mari created a bright flower, one that could be mistaken for the sun itself. 'This flower will grant you the safety you seek at nights. The Eguzkilore will protect you'. Ever since, you can find an Eguzkilore at the door of every Basque house, seeking protection and light." you finished, walking to him nervously. "Happy birthday, Iwaizumi-san."

"Thank you," was the only think the athletic trainer could say after a minute of silence. He was still processing what had just happened.

"Um, the flowers are for you," you fidgeted, nipping at your lower lip, "I gave you three for you front door at your house, another for this door and the third for, eh," you coughed, feeling his intense gaze on you as you talked "for your car. I hope you like it."

Silence reigned in the room again, the only sound that could be heard was Shoyo's and Bokuto's shouting from across the gym. Hajime looked between you and the three flowers in awe, wondering what to say so he didn't mess up and make you think he wasn't grateful for such a thoughtful ―and unusual― present.

"Do you, uh, wait no, not that," he started, trying to form a coherent sentence, "How do you know this story? Where does it come from?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, that," you nodded, taking a deep breath, "Well, I read about it a couple years ago, I found it cute and endearing how the Basque culture explained the, uh, you know, the existence of the sun and the moon. And I thought that maybe ―not that you have to―, but maybe you could... like it? I guess." you awkwardly stated, looking at everything but him, warmth overtaking your features.

Hajime nodded again, smiling slightly at your nervousness, he thought it was cute. He also thought it was thoughtful from your part to get him a present for his birthday, and decided in that moment, in mere seconds, his next move.

"Maybe you can tell me more about his Basque stories?" he asked, nonchalant, "We could go for a drink and, yeah, talk about them?"

You thought about it for a second, your crush was asking you on an informal date after you acted in, what you thought, was the creepiest you had ever acted. But he seemed to like it? Men were strange. You were glad, though, the meaning of the Eguzkilore was very beautiful and you wanted to share it with him.

"Yeas, why not? There are a couple more I could tell you."

"Settled, then. C'mon, I have my car parked near the entrance."

Like that, the both of you exited the gym in a comfortable silence, Iwaizumi keeping one of the Eguzkilores in his hands so he could place it in his car. You were thrilling, it actually stood out in a very original way. You looked up at him and he smiled at you in a breath-taking way, causing your hands to tremble in excitement: you were going to get some drinks with Iwaizumi Hajime!

"I have a question, though, what's a so-, sor, sorgina?"

NOTES:

Eguzkilore is composed by "Eguzki" = "Sun"; "Lore" = "Flower". It comes from the Basque, the most ancient culture and language in Europe.

Sorgina: it could be the equivalent to what we know as "witches". They are described as Mari's assistants, they are usually good, but sometimes are described as "disturbing". They were part of the Akelarres.

Mari: the main goddess of the Basques. To contact with her you have to leave a stone at her cave.

[james-stark-the-writer]

My new WIP

So, just thought I'd introduce you people to my new child. As I (think I) said in the Get to Know the writer tag, I've decided to put off The Immortals till I feel confident enough to write it and till I finish this one. The title of the new WIP [as of this draft which I haven't started yet] is A Year At The Opera (or AYATO for short).

There's also a tldr at the end if you don't want to read this.

First off, why am I writing this? It's not a very long or interesting story. I was watching (for the first time in over a decade) Sabrina The Teenage Witch and I'd gotten to episode 20 of season one. I was sitting there, ready to watch another episode, have a good laugh, and episode 21 just blew me away. The episode is called As Westbridge Turns. If you haven't watched it, here's a short summary. The episode has a really good concept (that I'm not sure there are any books about but I'm sure mine's different). So, Sabrina's bored out of her mind cause there's nothing interesting going on in her life. And, to help spice it up, she goes to her Aunt Hilda who gives her a can of Worms. And, once she opens it, for a day, Sabrina's life becomes an episode of a soap opera. Hilarious chaos ensues.

Like why the heck has no one made a book on this that I've heard of?!

So, you've probably guessed off the title and the episode summary what the premise of the book is. But, here's a version of it. (as non spoilery as I can keep it). It's kind of written like a blurb because that's just how I like it. It's a urban fantasy (not a whole lot of magic involved at least so far) about a murder mystery and with soap-opera-ish vibes. And if it's sounds cheesy and cliché, it's supposed to be. Its a book about soap operas. It's gonna be cheesy (but hopefully well written and reasonably cheesy).

'When you're sixteen, everything is a soap opera.'

Summer is over and school is about to start. Everything seems to be going fine. There's new people in town (Svetlana and Ivana), the town's hottest boy (Ingram) is currently in a relationship, the kid with the abusive father (Boris) is alive, the quiet girl (Sabrina, just cause) is keeping secrets, the writer (Aaron) is still sleep deprived and on the first day of school, multiple fights break out. Just an average day of a high school.

But this serene scene is about to be shattered.

Aaron Adler's life is changed when his father, the only man who's ever been there for him, is tragically killed in an accident at work.

And on the night he receives the news, Aaron makes a wish. A wish that changes his life. A wish his father wasn't dead. A wish his life was more interesting. A wish the world was like those soap operas Sabrina enjoyed.

And, to Aaron's absolute shock, his wish is granted. When he wakes up the next morning, his father waits downstairs for him, eating breakfast. And it dawns upon Aaron what he's done. Athea (the town) is about to get a whole lot weirder. With a serial killer on the loose, the party of the year drawing closer, relationships at stake and a year of this, Aaron's life is about to get a whole lot interesting.

Tldr: Aaron's a writer. His dad dies. He makes a wish his life was a soap opera and his wish comes true. Chaos ensues.

My progress on the project: I haven't actually written anything yet, but... I've outlined the first two chapters. The inciting incident is the beginning of the third chapter. I'll start writing once I have the first five chapters outlined. Why am I outlining? I've only tired outlining once before (and that was a short story) and all my other books have been without an outline (at least until two-thirds of the way in and they're riddled with plot holes). Thought I'd give it a try. See how much coherent I can make the story.

Anyway, I'll probably be posting excerpts in a few weeks (once I get to work, you know). Let me know if anyone wants to be tagged. And, I'm still working on the character board I promised I'd post today, so, sorry. It's impossible to find the right pictures.

Also, before I forget, if anyone goes to high school in the UK or America, what usually happens on your first day?

Edit: A Year At The Opera Masterpost