#and I have soo many cryptic posts is here

[kyri45]

✨ShadowPeach Bio Parents Bio AU Q&A! 20/09✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

@funnybadger868 ha chiesto:wait so if mk can hear macaques past can he hear wukongs for example the circlet and the spell

Yeah he could. It's now just a matter of if he wants to use this power ever again

@cryptic-theseus ha chiesto:you're paying for my therapy btw, the bill is on the way

Blame it on the gay monkies not me. It's bc of them that my life is ruined/hj

@ayrza ha chiesto:Hey!I have an important question, where do you get your sources for the AU👉🏻👈🏻p? I mean, I just recently entered the LMK fandom and I see that there are parts that are not mentioned much in the series and it frustrates me because I feel like I only watch the anime but I'm missing the manga 🫠I love your art and your work, it's amazing 🫰🏻✨

Hi! Well I' finishing to read Journey to the West (im at chapter 80) and if I need extra info or just check I go to the fandom wiki.

@feyqueen91 feyqueen91 ha chiesto:A question for your Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU (btw, I just saw your recent post for More Than A Successor Arc & I thought something light hearted was needed to even out the Angst), is Macaque able to summon something like what Red Son did with the Samadhi Sprite, and he teaches MK to do it too?

Wait what exactly? I haven't understood what you meant by sprite.

@og-glitch-punk ha chiesto: Honestly I expect this to be hidden but i also love your work on both comics, keep it up!! I forgot their names but dude- how would the lotus prince and our moon chef feels about wukong and Macaque being MK's parents? HELL. WHAT ABOUT THE TRIO? YELLOW TUSK, PENG AND THE LOIN (CANT REMMEBER HIS NAME EVEN IF HE IS TECHNICALLY DEAD/GONE). Hell even this chaotic snake man may even use MK to his advantage with the fact he is the child of Wukong and Macaque. So many possibilities and guesses, so many twists and turns we will never know bro

Oh he absolutely woud. Also about the others. They would probably act like protective aunt/uncles to that poor traumatised boy.

@thenerdnico ha chiesto:Oh my GODS that last bio dad's chapter broke me, your expressions are always amazing. I'm going to assume that at the end of Wukong's and Macaque's fight, Wukong realised Macaque wasn't moving and ran up to him, and ended up sobbing and screaming when he realised he was dead??? If that is the case, do you think MK listened to it long enough to hear that as well?

Oh for angst reason yes. He did.

@shadowpeachera ha chiesto:AHHHH YOUR SHADOWPEACH BIO AU IS SOO GOOD!!!! I SCREAMED AT THE LAST UPDATE!!! I have a question though. You know in the series i think season 3 epsiode 5 where Wukong goes into a deep mystic monkey meditation, yeah. Well i was wondering if Mk has ever tried that but got disrupted and lost his memories or started acting strange infront of his monkey parents. It would be hilarious i can imagine him shouting, “TUDI, TUDI!”KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, no pressure though! HAVE A GOOD DAY!

Lmaooo ok ok I don't think I'll go witha small amnesia arc in the AU but this doeß sound adorable.

@sakuralotus03 ha chiesto:It will probably be quite heavy, but I suggest that after Wukong saw the monkey like that he had a huge attack of guilt and anxiety and ended up injuring his left eye with his claws

Poor baby!! Nono don't worry his eye is fine.

@raylamoongirl ha chiesto:question for macaque: what was the hardest thing to teach Mk?Lmk bio parents Q&A

Mmmm so they tried really hard to teach him shadow teleportation, but he seems to not be able to do it.

@lmkobsessedmoth ha chiesto:For the Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU What if macaque and wukong go on a date and wukong doesn’t know it’s a date because he’s as dense as the rock he hatched out of

He truly would be. May the gods give him a clue or smt otherwise we wont end up nowhere here

Anonimo ha chiesto:Hey!I love your Shadowpeach bio Parent's AU But I Wonder,Does Wukong and Macaque already dance together before?

Danced??? I think so?? When they still were lovers friends I think (i think i m missing something)

Anonimo ha chiesto:I am on my knees, heart giving out, HOW IS BABY MK SO CUTE AND SHADOWPEACH SO ALLERGIC TO JUST KISSING ALREADY LIKE COME ON YOU TWO Anonimo ha chiesto:When I read the other part where swk and mac where talking about wanting MK to view them as parents at first I thought swk was proposing having another kid with Mac and I went “WOAH HEY- HOLD UP FOR A SECOND THERE U NEED TO GET UR SHT TOGETHER FIRST” and thank god it wasn’t that I thought swk was JUMPING AND ACCELERATING THEIR PROGRESS LMAOOOSo I’m actually glad they are taking baby steps, they need them

This slowburn is gonna be so slow-burning you all are gonna die when they actually kiss (will they kiss? Oh that's just for me to know ahah)

Anonimo ha chiesto:Since macaque is called mama by mk does that mean macaque is like a mother figure to mk in your au mama macaque is adorable and he gives off motherly in his character

Anonimo ha chiesto:Whos mom if there is considered a mom by MK or only dads? Is it Wu or Mac? My headcanons is Wukong basically the mom cuz he gives off mom and dad vibes together and Macaque just gives off dad vibes to me

He gives more motherly vibes, yes (Mamacaque and DadWukong forever)

Anonimo ha chiesto:Hi in you bio parent au for monkie kid how were monkey king and macaque as teenagers when they had a good relationship were like they a romantic couple or had secret crushes on each other and never told each other or were they just friends love this au it's amazing

Oh I think they were definitely lovers once. And that makes their past and what happened even more tragic honestly.

@ayrza ha chiesto:I don't know who is more adorable: Baby MK or Macaque and Wukong blushingPsd. I love your AU and your art 💖

Both. Both is good

@diamondwolf23 ha chiesto:THOSE TWO BETTER KISSSSSSSSSSS-I’m gonna miss Baby Mk ;-

Me too. Me too.

Anonimo ha chiesto:You could say Wukong is a...... simpian?(like simian but yknow >>)

LMAO YES

@scififeather21 ha chiesto:You can't believe how much I love your Shadowpeach AU comic series that last part made me grin so much. Mostly because my husband and I have done that exact thing when our kids were small babies and the looks and smiles were the same too. OMG it such a nice thing to see after a long day at work yesterday. :)

THAT'S THE- SWEETEST THING?????? LIKE IM SO GLAD I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE???? TO HEAR IT'S THE SAME THAT HAPPENED TO YOU IS THE SWEETEST THING EVER

@snsp6 ha chiesto:I love ur bio dads au! I wanted to ask what would happen if smth similar to the baby mk incident happened to the immortal monkeys.Like either they were de-aged to their youth or had an amnesia rules type of situation!(I am in love w the world building in this!!! And ur art is delectable!)

I don't thing the world would be ready for non-reformed Wukong#like-#not really reformed but the guy killed so many people bc of impulsiveness#until he learned that murder is not fine

Anonimo ha chiesto: This might be a stupid question, but for your bio parents, AU is MK just always in his monkey form, or is this just how he permanently looks now?

He's on his monkey form when he trains / stays at the weekends at FFM or when he friendly duels/train with Mei and Red Son.On weekdays he's constantly in his human form

@meisawkwardashecc ha chiesto:Is Wukong potentially shorter than Macaque? 👀🥺Avatar

Yes

@miraclecactus ha chiesto:Can you show us what's going on in the Freenoodles house? I'm looking forward to knowing how they manage to calm MK down :( Puedes mostrarnos que es lo que sucede en la casa de Freenoodles? Estoy ansiosa de conocer como ellos manejan el como calmar a MK :(

They used Wukong and Mac advices until he feel asleep.

Anonimo ha chiesto:I like how Wukong asks Macaque how he knows MK won't hate him after this. Like my guy, you literally killed Macaque, and he still hangs around I think he knows a thing or two

True. Although let Wukong be the dumbass he is.

alizardonfire ha chiesto:I love the idea of macaque being wukongs *rock* if that makes sense? It gives so much character to him.

Aaaahh ty! Yeah I feel like he's pretty good at understanding when he s just out of his mind and bring him back to earth.

Anonimo ha chiesto:If this isn't to much spoiler will the next lmk comic be angsty

This will be answered too late but I will always warn you in advance if there s angst coming.

Anonimo ha chiesto:I love your art! Lighthearted question since your about to bring the pain- do you think Mac and Wu fight over who gets to be little spoon/big spoon or are both of them 100% happy with Mac as big spoon and Wu as little spoon every night

So as for now, they are good with Wukong being the little spoon. Both bc Wukong is the the one who constantly craves for touch amd bc Macaque feels more comfortable in a position of "control" let's say. He can decide how much closer or not to get to Wukong.

Then in the future they would be more comfortable to switch (and the bicker about who should be the big or small)

@sallyvanna ha chiesto:HAIII FIRST OF ALL I LOVE YOUR BIO PARENT AU it makes my day every time I see a new page postedI was just wondering, why was macaque kinda nervous when he summoned rumble and savage? He was like 'ah shit I didn't want that-' 👀

It was because the kid would be afraid of them! Of course he wouldn't. But I guess Macaque still feels like his powers are a threat to him.

@redwrathroit ha chiesto:Hey, note this is something you can completely ignore but I wanted to know if you had a ref sheet for your monkey Bois, I'd love to take a try and drawing them plus I had made an Oc character of my own but I did it once and then art block hit me like a train and said; nah, never again. So it would really help me out if you have a ref, if not ignore this and have a nice day/night

Unfortunately I don't. I have a lot of panels where you can see them full body in various stances though.

Anonimo ha chiesto:Wukong being the little spoon is too cute, he spends years being the big spoon platonically to everyone that someone finally gave him what was needed, to be protected instead of being the protector

Yesss he iss!!!!!!

@froggyofdeath ha chiesto:Question abt Shadowpeach bio parents! Sooo, who kills the spiders, who screaming abt them, who the one who picks it up and try to scare the screaming one?🫠✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️☕️☕️☕️☕️

Mk is screaming, Wukong picks it up, Macaque kills it.

Anonimo ha chiesto:Can we see exactly when they decided to prepare the courtnapping room? Like when exactly did they know oh we need to prepare that our son has apparently followed in our footsteps

Unfortunately in this AU for now I don't plan tp draw a full spicynoodle arc as well. There will be moments for the ship as well but more like extras and side stories.

Anonimo ha chiesto:Your shadowpeach bio au reminds me of something..... I remember you saying to someone that they should Read a Son of Two Dad's. Have you read the entire thing? and the sequel?

Yes I did! Also the sequel, but i think it s in hiatus.

Anonimo ha chiesto:In you newest update for the shadowpeach parent au, that one scene of Macaque looking at Wukong as MK holds his finger kind of reminds me those flashback scenes in movies of the dead lover/wife that is looking at the main character from under a flowing blanket. I have no clue why but the image popped up in my head when I read that part of the comic lmao

I bet when they are back together they will re-create this exact image eventually

Anonimo ha chiesto:I love that Macaque is initiating contact with Wukong. Hugging him, holding his hands, cuddling with him. It makes my heart melt 🥹🥰 And Wukong is giving him opportunities to do so

He is opening the door for Mac to come closer, so that it's his choice how much he can get closer. The last thing Wukong wants is to rush things or do something that would make him more uncomfortable.

Anonimo ha chiesto:Omg! I love your art especially your shadowpeach parent bio au, it's adorable! Although I'm terrified for the next page. Anyway, my question is, why won't you let the monkey trio breathe from the trauma? 😅🥹

Bc apparently chat asked for it

[cowboy-like-moony]

Andrew Garfield

[iidanotlida]

Hold my hand - yamaguchi tadashi [10] - just the two of us?

tag/s: (comment or send an ask to be added)

@waitforitillwritemywayout @tamaguchi @timmytimberdrake @elianetsantana @bigchaosenergy​ @kac-chowsballs​ 

Notes:

Yams legit froze when he saw your message to hang out he thought he was dreaming and pinched himself

everyone from both gc’s smiled when they saw that they were actually going to hang out (including Kenma and Tsukki!!) as they were genuinely happy for their friends

y/n cryptically tweeted about the two of them hanging out using emoji’s but some of their fans figured it out and now ask for another collab vid :D

Yamaguchi does not know what his feelings for Y/n are yet

Y/n does not know what her feelings for Yamaguchi are yet

a/n: ayyy Imma post tomorrow too since I already made the chapters, damn look at me being prepared didn’t see that coming.

- X

masterlist | prev | next

!ONLY READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I WAS M.I.A. FOR SO LONG!

Okay so for the past couple of weeks before I last uploaded I was feeling more psychically ill than usual, if you didn’t know I am anemic and insomniatic so I usually feel pretty ill on a daily basis, but recently I was feeling way more tired and faint than usual. At first I just brushed it off as stress so I didn’t pay it much mind but then I fainted in class so that was the first thing that made me think ‘okay something might be wrong’ as whilst I have passed out before because of my anemia, it usually happens in summer because of the heat, but again like an idiot I ignored the signs. A couple days later I could feel my hands becoming more stiff and immoble and at first I thought it was the cold as I am a freak who loves the cold excessively and doesn’t wear gloves even when the cold is causing me pain, but I always do this every year so the stiffening didn’t strike me as weird. It wasn’t until a few days later when I noticed that I was beginning to lose feeling and movement in most of my right hand and some on my left hand. Still at this point I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell anyone and continued my days and school as usual because I am left-handed despite the pain. Then by the end of that same week I had basically lost all feeling and mobility in both of my hands and my hands had swelled up soo much so I told my mum and I wasn’t able to do anything at school, and even now I still can barely do anything. I got blood tests, which I hate and almost fainted after getting them like 20 times in the past 5 years, and my results were that I am soo critically iron deficient and vitamin D deficient to the point that I could be hospitalized so here I am many weeks later. The swelling in my hands has now gone down and I have regained feeling and mobility in them but they are still extremely painful to put any pressure on or move so I can only do basic things, I mean I couldn’t even hold cutlery a week ago. But I am feeling a lot better and I thank you for your patience and hope you enjoy reading to the end of this SMAU :))

[eacart]

omg i want to learn more about this gravity falls au do tell

Omg ok I’m about to go off bc we’ve been having big thoughts about this au.

So basically, mako and bolin go up to live with their grandmother for the summer in her old tourist trap and are thrown into the cryptic phenomena of the area. Korra is from the area and shes a little thug, always running around and beating things up and ofc bolin is immediately enchanted by her. @hotrod2007 is working on a fic based on the Northwest Manor episode where Wu enlists their help to get rid of a ghost before his parents’ big party. Asami makes her first appearance there and Korra ofc is immediately entranced.

We also worked the gaang into this au as Wendy and her crew. Zuko works the counter at the mystery shack, where his bf sokka makes appearances much to grandma yin’s chagrin (at least until she realizes his tactical mind is perfect for exploiting tourists). I’m working on a fic based on the convenience store ep where Zuko takes the kiddos out with his friends bc I’m a sucker for the gaang and wanted to write them in this lok-centric universe lol.

Also, Huan Beifong is kinda taking on Soos’s role bc ofc we had to have a connection to the Beifong family, we can’t just leave them out.

There’s a lot more going on here, too, which I’m sure yall will get to see once we start putting more stuff out there. I know @hotrod2007 has a bigger idea which i still dont know too many specifics about but I’m so excited for! Until then, I might just start posting some of the sketches ive been doing if theres an interest. I dont have any more big art pieces lined up, though, bc I’ve been working on some other atla stuff, but hopefully as we continue the au I’ll get inspired.

Thanks for the ask!

[itwill-comeback]

Some things to note

Alright, so this is my work's blog, a side blog inside a bog, don't mind me. Nickname's Casper or Cas for now. I'm 20, a Capricorn, a decent writer, huge Hozier fan. This is where I'll be putting the stuff that I write as well as on AO3 which to be fair, I'm not as good at using since I just started using it.

About my writing:

I'm an absolute mess of a writer, zero update consistency, sorry. No editor, unless you count Grammarly. I'll probably only ever post my COVT works here and AO3 so there's that.

× I love the COVT just the way it is, but I crave some new things in it. In my writing you'll probably find the following

× Vlad not being bad at like everything, boy needs some skills and hobbies dang it!

× Vlad having motivations and in some way resembling his father when that motivation is what's driving his decisions, don't worry he won't become his old man, but lord outside of physically resembling Tomas he needs to have some of his traits.

× You don't know where we are canonically in my works? Join the club babes. Call it an AU or post-canon if it makes you feel better cause I'm just writing for the fuck of it, and you're in my candy cottage now kids.

× Vlad has ADHD canonically I'm almost certain, so don't be surprised if it's in my works. He's on adderall and Henry reminds him often to take his medication so he's not the Big Forgetful.

× Vlad is willing to flex on people about being the Pravus because he's aware it tricks vampires out and he finds that funny.

× Henry has an Attitude™ and does Not tolerate shit from vampires. Thank those Slayer Genetics.

× Vlad schemes. No context just,, be aware.

× Dorian is ostracized in Elysia, but he's not actually that creepy, people just really don't like that he's powerful and has a penchant for playing the Cheshire Cat. Cryptic soft boi with a grin that claims madness, promise he's just lonely.

× Vlad is far less awkward in my writing, he's clued in to social and psychological influences.

× D'Ablo has gotten a fucking redemption arc. Will I write it? Unlikely. (I did) But you see in my head canon he's faced off with Tomas and Vikas, and being the incredibly hard to kill bastard that he is, got out of it alive despite their best attempts to be rid of him. Pravus blood will take you so far. He lied low, got bored, came back to Stokerton and basically told Vlad "You're the Pravus, we been knew, want my job back, idc bout u or ur uncle or the Elder Council, like being President tho so tell Otis to scoot." And Vlad was like "yeah sure, Otis wants to go back to being principal anyway & the Elder Council doesn't take up near as much time as the Stokerton Council cause it hardly ever convenes, don't fuck wit me again, my dad's dead btw, oh and Vikas too. Let's just be chill." And that was that.

× Vlad has vampire friends and empathizes with other orphans. Not far fetched. Like at all.

× Vlad has a few jobs, gets that bread... for a college aged kid at least.

× Did I say bread? D'Ablo is rich af. Stunts on everybody in Armani suits and wears Red Bottoms. He's the President of a Council, you know that job pays. Old rich Italian vampire rolls in mad cash and has taste, surprise surprise ?

× Know who else is an old rich Italian vampire? Dorian Ciotti, his family uses stocks and real estate as monopoly money. And you thought they were just a humble family with a small business, jokes on you they haven't been humble for hundreds of years. Dorian is known to travel all the time, where did y'all think he got the money for that? You better believe he spoils Cecile, she's his baby girl. A rich single dad who thinks he might fuck up at any moment, he's doing great at raising her. Your fav could never.

× Elysian Councils are mostly afraid and indignant towards Vlad, but don't worry, he can see through them quite well at this point. (Read: he was raised by Tomas fucking Tod, the king of liars, other vampires don't have shit on him.)

× Elysia is not entirely the Councils, Elysia is a world of vampires full of pocket communities and niche tribes all tied by the same undead thread.

× Otis and Vlad share the issue of having a terrible sweet tooth, and now that Nelly's gone they have to figure out how to bake for themselves. Also blood candy and blood mixed baked goods exist and Vlad is really wanting to try some.

× Vlad has the most powerful weapon against vampires on him at all times now, is curious to find out how it works and what it runs on. Elysia knows he doesn't leave it anywhere, if he's somewhere the Lucius is there with him.

× I will be inventing a few of my own charms (like the tego charm) with latin words so you can always ask Google what the charm does before I tell you. (I.e. Tego = to cloak, to hide. This charm is used to allow the vampire who creates it to have a lock down on any humans they place it near.) Tomas places these around the citizens of Bathory to keep other vampires from reading their minds and discovering his location, he closes their minds in a way.

× Vlad has more complex hidy-holes for his things these days.

× Remember that key in the first book that looked like head of a woman that was described in detail and then left behind and never mentioned again? Remember it. I'm gonna use it. Red herring? Who?

× Henry has not forgotten the time he saved Otis' life. He's gonna call in that favor someday, Otis, you know he will.

× Otis has a lot more faith in Vlad to not act like a child and will treat him like an adult.

× Vlad has a huge crush on somebody. Not saying who.

× Vlad's a big hippie. On god, he loves the earth, hates conflict, and wants to tell D'Ablo about how many slave children worked to create his outfit, but wants to keep their peace more.

× Vlad has at long last, filled out and isn't the lanky child he once was, could throw you through a wall but is probably too nice for that. Probably.

× Vlad and the Pravus are separate entities sharing the same vessel. Pravus isn't a ghost though, he's the Adam of the vampire species and died a long ass time ago and wanted to live again after a while. Much like D'Ablo, he lied low, got bored and wanted his place in the world back. Had to create a new form of life to exist in, created the vessel (Vlad's body), could've gotten rid of Vlad's soul and just worn his body, but kind of ended up adoring him before he was even born and, entranced with the concept of this new existence, decided to share the body with him, which sort of forces him to stay hidden in Vlad's subconscious or divide their body into two bodies. Which he can totally do, but it's kind of a lot of trouble and would hurt Vlad badly so he doesn't bother. He really adores this dumb kid and doesn't want him to be lonely, but that'll present its own issues in its own time.

× Dorian is aware of all of this. Pravus can fix his mind and his cravings for vampire blood, but he can't force this from the two of them because it would kind of fuck Vlad up. Oh you mean that fox in the back of my mind isn't my mental support animal, it's an ancient vampire and kind of absurdly powerful? Cool cool.

× Eddie Poe becomes a bigger problem than ever before! Fun!!

× The Slayer Society becomes a bigger problem than ever before!

× As far as I'm concerned, Em is not being manipulated by D'Ablo in the books, he answers to her, she's autographed bible old, you think he could pull one over on her? Tomas Tod couldn't even manage that. (Canonically I know Vlad insinuates that D'Ablo is holding some power over Em but I just can't see that realistically being true.)

× Em went home to Europe after that Slayer cleanse nonsense, she's still President of her Council, but she is no longer on the Council of Elders. Kind of in hiding because she suspects Vlad's about to take over the entire world.

× D'Ablo's cult is still a thing, they send Vlad gifts sometimes. Sometimes it's a dead bird, sometimes it's an envelope full of cash. D'Ablo doesn't care either way what they give him, Vlad prays it's not a dead animal every time tho soo.

× Remember how Mellina was never said to have any family? Turns out her family were just religious nutcases and promptly disowned her (and her child) upon finding out she was having a child out of wedlock.

× Vlad is in touch with the Tod clan in Scotland cause he wanted to get in touch with some part of his family and prove to himself that his dad's side isn't all bad, they kind of give him Evil Dad War Flashbacks™, but they're good people. A few are vampires and they think Vlad's a cool kid.

× There's always gonna be magic in my writing, don't worry though, I'm not gonna make Vlad OP.

[jakkosisle]

The Battle For Lordaeron:  Part I - Battleplans

War horns echoed through Orgrimmar for the umpteenth time, summoning every able-bodied champion, adventurer, hero, mercenary, or miscellaneous within earshot to Grommash Hold.  An ocean away, the Undercity was under attack.  In retaliation for the burning of Teldrassil, a massive Alliance fleet had landed on Lordaeron’s northern shores, deadset on dethroning the Banshee Queen once and for all.  Thus, Sylvanas is calling on every champion of the Horde to rush to the Undercity’s defense, for it is not only her seat of power and a crucial Horde foothold in the Eastern Kingdoms, it is the home to the Forsaken - a pillar of the Horde for years.

The line outside Grommash Hold was long.  Everyone had a different reason for answering the warchief’s call.  Some were genuinely loyal to Sylvanas, seeing her as worthy of the mantle.  Others were loyal to the Forsaken, if not Sylvanas herself - the Forsaken had proven their commitment to the Horde time and time again, so many viewed it as only honorable to return the favor.  And some were just happy to finally have an excuse to do away with all this “greater good” nonsense and just smash some Alliance skulls.

It was in this line that Jakko, Spritzie and Soozee Boomsprocket found themselves standing.  Being champions of the Horde themselves (seems like the word “champion” has a loose definition these days), they too answered the call.

“Still can’t believe this is actually happening.” the goblin-raised troll druid (yeah, it’s a long story) muttered to himself as he looked up and down the line of Horde volunteers, which seemed to extend all the way into the Drag.  “First Teldrassil burns down, now this.”

“You sound surprised that Alliance and Horde are fighting again.” Soozee observed.

“Well yeah, but usually it’s just a glorified slapfight over resources in some box canyon in the middle of nowhere, or somethin’ stupid like that.” Jakko explained.  “But this?  A capital city burns down and another one is under a massive attack?  Shit hasn’t gotten this bad since the Siege of Orgrimmar.”

“Worse, actually.” Soozee replied matter-of-factly.  “After the Siege, the Alliance allowed us to keep our city.  I doubt they’re going to show us that kindness a second time.”

Jakko scoffed.  “Fuck, man.  We didn’t even wait for the Legion’s corpses to get cold before we started going at each other’s throats again.  Then again, I should’ve seen this comin’, with Queen Bitch as our warchief.” Jakko commented.

“Hey!” said a Forsaken in front of the siblings.  “Show a little respect to your warchief, dog!”

“Bite me, deader!” Jakko snarled.  The Forsaken stomped over to the troll, but a tauren stepped in.

“Alright, break it up!” he said.  “Save it for the Alliance.”  With that, tenuous order returned to the line.

“Hey Jakko - if you hate Sylvanas so much, why you even in this line?” Spritzie asked.  “I mean, technically, everyone here is a volunteer.  You don’t really HAVE to rush to Lordaeron’s defense, yanno.”

“I’m not stupid, Spritz.” Jakko replied.  “I know I’ve got a dog in this fight.  If the Horde goes down, we go down.”  He was at the Siege, all those years ago.  He remembered Varian’s promise - that if the Horde failed to uphold honor, the Alliance would end them.  After Teldrassil, he had no doubt that Anduin was planning to make good on his father’s promise.

He smirked at his baby sister.  “Besides, you’re goin’.  And someone’s gotta watch your back.”

A few years ago, Spritzie would’ve smiled at that.  But not this time.  She gave Jakko an oddly neutral look, then turned her eyes back toward the front of the line, barely even acknowledging the troll.  Spritzie had been like this for a while now, ever since the Legion War started.  She’d grown more distant, more prone to running off on her own, rather than faithfully stick by Jakko’s side like she used to.  He wondered if it had something to do with Rikko’s death.  He remembered that it hit her hard.

Slowly but surely, the line would move forward.  Each volunteer champion was quickly assessed for battle readiness before being let through the portal to Undercity.  The three siblings were well-equipped for battle.  Jakko was wearing his usual leather gear, decorated with tiger’s claws and teeth, his two druidic swords strapped to his back.  He sat atop his hippogryph, Stoneheart, who stoically kept its eyes facing forward.

Spritzie was dressed in her tight mail gear (which showed way too much skin in Jakko’s opinion) and was carrying her shotgun that she’d been using since Argus, as well as a small army of beasts, which took up a large portion of the line, much to the chagrin of other Horde champions in the line.  The largest of which was her jade cloud serpent, Spritzie Jr., who she raised herself from an egg during her time in Pandaria.

Finally, Soozee was dressed in her signature “Void Suit”, and armed with a dagger/taser/thingy strapped to her belt as well as her void detector.  She sat in the driver’s seat of a large mech that she had dubbed “The Void Buster.”  Yet another product of her mad experiments with the Void.  Speaking of which…

“You sure you’re gonna need that void detector, Soo?” Jakko asked.  “Don’t see how much good it’ll do in the middle of a battle.”

“If certain rumors are to be believed, then trust me, this detector will DEFINITELY come in handy.” Soozee cryptically replied.

Jakko sighed as the line moved, Grommash Hold getting closer and closer.  He didn’t really know how this day was going to end, but he knew one thing for sure - he wasn’t going to let anything happen to his sisters.

The first thing that Marbelma noticed was the smoke, which hit her nostrils like a steam tank.  Tirisfal’s shoreline defenses fell quickly, and it was easy to see why - the beach was littered with black, smoking craters, as was much of the land further inland.  As the Alliance landing force marched towards Brill, she looked up to Roniaar, her adopted uncle (yeah, it’s a long story), who was riding by her side.

“So, we came here to liberate Lordaeron, yes?” he asked.

“Aye.” Marbelma replied.  A nearby farmhouse, ruined by bombardment, suddenly collapsed into a massive pile of bricks and wood.

“Then why does it look like we’re destroying Lordaeron more than anything?” the draenei asked.

“Lordaeron was destroyed a long time ago.” Marbelma argued.  “It’s a rotten old house that needs to be torn down before we can build something new.”

“Hm.” Roniaar hummed.  Tygoon, the wind drake he rode, huffed as it made its away across the ruined land, anxious from something brewing in the air.  Marbelma’s hippogryph, Cinderwing, ruffled its feathers, scattering embers to the wind, as it got nervous.  All of the mounts knew that battle was drawing near.

They eventually arrived in Brill.  The Forsaken Town was almost entirely bombed out, the landing force having made a command post out of the town’s ruins.  The statue of Sylvanas Windrunner that once stood proudly in the town square was now in pieces all over the ground.  “We move out in twenty!” a worgen commander cried out.  The group split up to make their final, last-minute preparations.  Marbelma and Roniaar spotted a familiar face in the crowd, standing near a table filled with weapons, rations and other supplies, and directed their mounts towards him.

“Hey kids.” the void elf greeted as his two fellow Servitors approached.  He was dressed in purple leather armor, bone-like spikes mounted on his shoulder pads and the lower half of his face obscured by a mask made from shal’dorei silk - a souvenir from his time on the Broken Isles, no doubt.  Strapped to his belt was a pair of evil-looking daggers - straight edged with tips at the end, making the blades effective at both stabbing and chopping.  But what really made the blades unnerving was they constantly exuded a strange, purple mist.

“Tendalel.” Marbelma curtly agreed.  “How did the recon mission go?”

“Not great.” Tendalel said as he spilled out the contents of a sack on the table - the severed head of a night elf.  “I tried to tell him.  I told him ‘Look, buddy, I used to be a blood elf, I used to make business trips to the Undercity every other weekend, so I KNOW FOR A FACT that the Apothecarium is THIS WAY.’  But no, he told me to shut up, called me a void-addled abomination, and then lead the entire team into the Magic Quarter where Horde reinforcements were portaling in by the hundreds, and got himself decapitated by a big angry orc.”

He picked up the severed head and looked into its dead eyes.  “You see what happens?  You see what happens when you don’t listen to your good friend Ten?”

“Wow.  Guess you could say he lost his head in there.” Roniaar quipped.

“Roniaar, a man died.” Marbelma deadpanned.

“Basically, that operation is officially FUBAR.” Tendalel said as he casually tossed the head over his shoulder.  “Undercity is crawling with Horde now.  Sending anymore SI:7 down there would be suicide.”

“Were you at least able to sabotage anything?” Marbelma asked.

The rogue shrugged.  “I smashed a few important-looking bottles on my way out, but that’s about it.”

“So it seems we’ll have to win this fight on the surface, then.” Roniaar concluded.  “Storm the ruins of Capital City.”

“What about the sewers?” Marbelma asked.  “Can’t we get into the Undercity that way?  It’s how Varian got in last time the Alliance was here.”

“No dice.” Tendalel said.  “The Forsaken collapsed the entrance to the sewer tunnel long before we even got here.  It would take days to dig through all that.  Days we don’t have.” he turned and pointed to the Ruins of Lordaeron.  “Everything that’s gonna happen today is gonna happen within THOSE walls.”

The void elf then walked away.  He climbed atop his sable ruin strider, a purple talbuk courtesy of the Argussian Reach.  “Where are you goin’?” Marbelma asked.

“Debriefing and hopefully heading back home - SI:7’s done all it can do for this battle.  Good luck, kids!  You’re gonna need it!” Tendalel called before he snapped the reins and the talbuk trotted forward.

“Take care of yourself, Shadestep.” Marbelma said.  “It’s what you’re good at.”

“I’m VERY good at it, thank you for noticing!” Tendalel replied, choosing to take the insult as a complement as the talbuk disappeared into the crowd.

Marbelma turned her angry gaze to the ruins of Lordaeron City, where the Horde was holed up.  She then looked around and watched as the Alliance constructed siege towers, tuned up the steam tanks, and sharpened their blades.  She heard her shaman companion sigh.  “After Pandaria, I had hoped that Alliance and Horde would never again clash like this.” he opined.

“The peace was never destined to last.” Marbelma opined right back.  “Don’t let your feelings cloud your judgement, Roniaar.”

“My feelings aren’t-“

“Bullshit.” Marbelma cussed.  “I know about your old orc girlfriend.”

Roniaar looked at Marbelma, shocked.  “How did-“

“Rhyliaandra told me a while back.” Marbelma said.

Roniaar grimaced at the dwarf.  “You don’t know the whole story.”

“You and some Shadowmoon shaman start shaggin’ back when you were a Rangari, she disappears one day, and the Horde start their war with the draenei not long after.” Marbelma said.  “I miss anything?”

Roniaar had no response.  He just turned his gaze to the gates to the Undercity.  “Aw, what’s wrong?  Afraid ye might have to fight yer old girlfriend today?” Marbelma taunted.

“She’s gone.” Roniaar darkly replied.  “I’ve looked.  In Kalimdor, in Outland, no one knows what happened to her since those dark days.  She probably died a long time ago.”

Roniaar turned his gaze back on Marbelma and gave her a withering look that surprised her.  All her life, she had known Roniaar as nothing but happy-go-lucky, so the sight of him angry like this was…unnerving.  “Do not mistake my lamentations for hesitation…or weakness.”

With that, he puled the reins on his drake, and the two parted ways for the moment.  Marbelma scoffed.  “Whatever.”  Roniaar’s problem was that he was an idealist - someone who still believed, despite all the atrocities that happened, that peace could still exist between Alliance and Horde.

Daelin Proudmoore said it best.  Peace is like a dream.  Beautiful.  Ephemeral.  Unobtainable.

And eventually, you gotta wake the hell up.

One portal jump later, the Boomsprockets found themselves in the Undercity.  They were immediately hit by the stench of death - not the regular, slightly undeath that was the Undercity’s usual scent, but rather fresh death.  The death of the living.  The floors were stained with freshly-spilled blood.  “They already got into the Undercity?” Jakko asked.

“SI:7 did.” one of the death guards replied.  “The majority of them have already been routed.  Undercity is secure for now, but the bulk of the Alliance forces are still above us.”

“They’ve taken Brill.” another death guard added.  “They’ll be moving on the city soon.”

“Damn…” Jakko breathed.  They were really walking into the heat of battle here.

The Boomsprockets stood in a crowd of Horde volunteers in the magic quarter, champions who answered the Dark Lady’s call, and were separated into different battle groups.  A Forsaken death knight stood before the assembled group.

“Greetings.” he began, his death charger huffing.  “I am Commander Johriah Lawrence.  On behalf of the Dark Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, I thank you all for coming in the Forsaken’s hour of need.  Your bravery today will neither go forgotten or unrewarded.”

He dismounted and motioned for a pair of death guards to bring over a table.  He placed a map on the table, a map of the Ruins of Lordaeron and the surrounding Tirisfal Glades, the Boomsprockets realized as they gathered around for a closer look.

“Alright.” Commander Lawrence began.  “You’ll all be on the first line of defense.  Here, in front of the main gate.  You’ll be meeting the Alliance head-on.” he said, pointing to the spot on the map.  Several Horde soldiers smiled and chuckled at the notion of spilling human blood.  “Should the line fall, you’ll withdraw back into the city.”

“Won’t the Alliance pursue us?” one tauren archer, Highmountain judging by his antlers, asked.

“That’s what the blight’s for.” Lawrence answered.  “We’ll bombard the Alliance lines with blight to cover your retreat.  We won’t have enough gas masks to go around though, so we strongly advise keeping your faces covered once we start blighting the area.”

An agonized scream echoed through the halls of the Undercity.  “What was that?” a nightborne warmage asked.

“Just another SI:7 that got caught, pay no mind to it.” Lawrence casually answered.  “Now, the hope is that the blight alone will deter the Alliance enough to call off their siege, but in the unlikely event they somehow get past the blight, we’re looking at two possibilities.”

He gestured to the entire northern wall.  “First scenario, they try to break through the main gate, seeking the most direct route to the Banshee Queen’s throne.  This would be foolish of them, of course, because the palace gardens is where the bulk of our forces will be gathering.  More likely, they’ll seek to punch a hole in the walls on either side of the gate, entering into either the west or the east sides of the city.  In either case, they would have to pass through here…”

He pointed to a large open space on the south side of the ruins.  “The Southern Courtyard.  Should the Alliance breach our defenses, that will be our first rally point.  That is where we will make our stand.”

“And if we get overwhelmed there?” Spritzie asked, speaking up for the first time since the Boomsprockets arrived.

“Same as the front line - we fall back, blighting the area as we go.” Lawrence answered.  He pointed to the fountain area, just in front of the Lordaereon Palace.  “Second rally point here.”

“And then?” Jakko asked.

“…I don’t know.” Lawrence said.  “All I was told was that we’re to wait there for further orders.”

“Which is code for ‘you’re fucked, good luck.’” Jakko huffed.  This notion generated a few worried murmurs among the other Horde soldiers present.  “This plan is bullshit.”

“Hey.” replied an offended tauren.

“You know what I mean!” Jakko snapped.  “With all these back-up plans, it almost sounds like Sylvanas is EXPECTIN’ us to lose!”

“Fair point.” Lawrence said.  “Change of plans, everyone.  We’re all going to abandon our numerous contingencies and defensible positions and instead charge head-first into the waiting jaws of the invading forces all at once.  Nothing could go wrong.”  The death knight’s roasting earned some chuckles and even a few laughs at Jakko’s expense, which left the druid fuming.

“In all seriousness, I will concede that this battle plan is a risky one.” Lawrence said once the laughter died down.  “Should the line fall, which it hopefully won’t, we would have to blight the area surrounding the city, effectively trapping ourselves.  And if they somehow make it past the blight, which they hopefully won’t, our plan would then be to essentially invite the Alliance into our midst.  A lot can go wrong.  All of that said, we do have one advantage.”

Dramatic pause.  “We are the Horde.” he simply said.  Those words were enough to elicit an eruption of cheers from the unit.  Nodding with satisfaction, Lawrence rolled up the map.  “You all know where the elevators are.  Make for the palace garden and wait for your cues there.  For the Horde.”

“FOR THE HORDE!”

As the crowd of Horde began making for the center ring where the elevators were, they passed several Alliance corpses on the way.  Jakko pulled on Stoneheart’s reigns as he noticed the nature of one of the corpses.  The purple skin and long ears made it obvious that she was a night elf, but what really surprised him was her garb - long robes made of wood and leather.  She was a druid.

A druid much like him.  She was even a feral druid like he was, judging by the daggers still clutched in her hands.

Lawrence trotted up to Jakko’s side and nodded to the corpse.  “Friend of yours?” he asked.  Apparently, he could tell that Jakko was a druid.

“…Maybe.” Jakko replied.  The night elf didn’t really look that familiar, but it was entirely possible that, just a year prior, they were fighting side-by-side against the Legion.

“Well, I hope you don’t have any other night elf friends.  We can’t have you hesitating today.” the death knight said.  “The Burning Legion is defeated and the truce is over.  It’s back to basics.”

“…Guess so” Jakko said as the commander walked off.  He considered the corpse for only a few more seconds before following the rest of the crowd.

He was able to catch up with his two sisters and board the same elevator as them.  They soon emerged into the courtyard of Lordaeron, the harsh sunlight above nearly blinding them after they were underground just a little too long.  The courtyard teemed with activity, crawling with Horde soldiers and mercenaries of every race and creed.

And off to the side, on top of a ledge, Jakko caught a glimpse of them.  The leaders of the Horde.  Saurfang, Bloodhoof, Theron, all surrounding the ‘Warchief’ Sylvanas, most likely discussing where to best place their defenses.

Jakko was skeptical of Sylvanas, to say the least.  He’d been skeptical of her since the Cataclysm, when she first started raising her army of undead.  Why Vol’jin used his dying breath to name HER of all people his successor was still one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Horde.  Something about a vision from the spirits.

It made him wonder if maybe the Drakkari had the right idea - eating their gods and all.

Off on the other side of the courtyard was a mechanical monstrosity.  It vaguely resembled a Horde Demolisher, but was much bigger, much more heavily armored, and seemed to somehow exude power.  Jakko knew that power almost immediately - enough to make him pull his reigns on his hippogryph and stop.  He had been in Silithus long enough to know that power very well.

“Is there azerite in that thing?” Jakko asked.

“Yes.  You can feel the power from here, can’t you?” Johriah asked in turn.  “It’s a prototype - a war machine unlike any that has come before.  And according to the engineers, it’s just a small taste of what we can do with azerite…”

Something on the side of the war machine sparked and exploded, sending the goblins crewing the machine into a tizzy.  One of them tried to put out a blue fire with a fire extinguisher.  “Behold, the future of war.” Jakko deadpanned.

“…Growing pains.” was the only excuse Johriah could offer.  “Are there any engineers among-“

The death knight didn’t even finish his sentence before Soozee hopped out of her mech and stomped over to the war machine.  “You idiots!  You misaligned the internal circuitry!  Haven’t you ever worked on a demolisher before?!”

The goblins all shrugged.  Soozee groaned and immediately started barking orders, which the other goblins took to following.  “Ah, I see she’s on top of things.” Johriah observed.  “The Dark Lady wants the war machine ready for combat within the hour!” he shouted.  Soozee gave him a silent thumbs up before going back to work.

Jakko remembered how Soozee used to be before the Twilight Highlands - how she had once been a tough-talking engineer and leader of a tank crew.  It was rare to catch a glimpse of the old Soozee like this.  Even better, working on the war machine should keep Soozee off the front lines - at least for now.

“Joe!” cried a female voice.  Jakko looked and saw a female Forsaken wearing leather gear and goggles came running over to the death knight.  “I haven’t seen you since Stormheim!  Good to see ya!”

“Ah, Dread-Rider Cullen.  Likewise.” the death knight replied.  “Any updates from the Alliance?”

“Nothing yet.” Cullen replied.  “Outside of the occasional scout, they’re all still in Brill.”

“Curious.  Thought they would’ve made their move by now.”

“That’s the good news - it doesn’t look like they’re ready to begin their siege yet, so we’ve still got time to set up our defenses.”

“And the bad?”

“We spotted more ships landing on the northern shore - hundreds of Alliance soldiers are still funneling in.  When they finally decide to hit us, it’s gonna hurt.”

“So that’s why they haven’t attacked yet.  They’re STILL gathering strength…” Johriah opined.  “Can’t be helped.  At least we still have home field advantage.”

Cullen looked over Lawrence’s group of volunteers.  “I see some of your guys have flying mounts.  We’re about to make a bombing run on Brill - don’t suppose you’d be willing to spare a few flyers?”

“Of course, my lady.” the death knight said with a bow.

“Aw, you’re still a charmer, Joe.” Cullen replied with a raspy chuckle.

“Horde!” Johriah Lawrence barked.  “The good lady is requesting volunteers with flying mounts to join in her bombing run.  Who among you will join her?”

Several Horde volunteers stepped forward, sporting mounts ranging from wyverns to drakes to cloud serpents.

Like the one Spritzie was riding, as she was one of those who volunteered.  “Spritz, what are you doing?” Jakko asked.

“Volunteering for the bombing run.” Spritzie asked.  “Duh.”

“You’re gonna be a target out there!” Jakko hissed.  “You think the Alliance don’t have AA guns?”

“I was gonna be a target today no matter what.” Spritzie replied.  “Come on, Jakko - if I can handle the Burning Legion, I’m pretty sure I can handle a bunch of drunk dwarves.”

Jakko growled in frustration with his sister’s inability to properly calculate the risks.  He stepped forward, volunteering for the bombing run as well.  Someone had to watch Spritzie’s back up there.

“Alrighty, looks like you’re all under MY command now!” Cullen shouted as she whistled for her bat.  “Don’t worry, Joe.  I’ll bring most of them back in one piece.”

Once Cullen hopped aboard her bat, she flew up to one of the higher towers of Lordaeron City, the volunteer bombers flying close behind.  There, combat engineers, again mostly goblins, were attaching bombs to flying mounts, some of them being less than cooperative.  A Forsaken engineer began affixing the bombs to Jakko’s hippogryph, about a half-dozen or so iron balls with pull-pins.  “Alright, to drop the bombs you just pull this-“

“I know how bombs work, pal.” Jakko said.  Having been raised by goblins, Jakko knew explosives far more intimately than most trolls.  “Surprised these are just regular bombs though - ain’t we using blight?”

The engineer scoffed.  “Damn apothecaries are being stingy with the stuff.  Says they need it for one of their ‘contingency plans.’  So you’ll be bombing the Alliance the old fashioned way.”

“Works for me.” Jakko said.  He trusted good old seaforium more than the green stuff any day of the week.

“Alright - once we’re all geared up, we’re gonna make a bombing run over Brill!” Cullen called out.  “The Alliance have been spotted building siege towers, so aim for those!”

Spritzie’s cloud serpent was now laden with bombs, along with Jakko’s hippogryph.  “Okay, everybody ready?  One, two, three, for the Horde!”

“FOR THE HORDE!”

With that, the riders poured out of the tower like a nightmare, making a beeline for Brill.

[aion-rsa]

Zodiac Killer Code Cracked After 51 Years

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An international team of private citizens and codebreakers have cracked the Zodiac Killer’s mysterious “340 Cipher” 51 years after it landed on the FBI’s desk. The Zodiac Killer attacked at least eight people in California between 1966 and 1969. He taunted investigators in the aftermath of his spree, sending letters and puzzles about his unsolved cases. He claimed to have killed at least 37 people, although only five of those deaths can be definitively attributed to the killer. While the Zodiac Killer has never been caught, his case is still active. But now one major mystery has been solved.

Zodiac had a habit of taunting police by sending letters to the press, and several of those contained intricate codes, some of which he claimed would ultimately reveal his identity. This marks the second coded message to be broken by civilians. In July of 1969, a puzzle sent in pieces to The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Vallejo Times-Herald newspapers in 1969, was cracked by a school teacher from Salinas, Calif., and his wife. The puzzle was known as the 408 cipher after the number of characters it depicted. This first cipher laid out what was essentially the Zodiac Killer’s manifesto, with lines such as “I like killing because it is so much fun.”

This second cipher came to be known as the “340 Cipher,” and was sent in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle in November of 1969.

“I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME,” reads the message, according to David Oranchak, a member of the team which deciphered the cryptogram. “THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME, I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER, BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER, BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME, WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE, SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH. I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH.” 

The coded message contains 340 characters, but no obvious clues.

The section which says “That wasn’t me on the TV show” refers to an episode of Bay Area television talk show, The Jim Dunbar Show, where attorney Melvin Belli was the guest. Someone claiming to be the Zodiac called the Oakland police station on Oct. 22, 1969, demanding Belli, or Boston attorney F. Lee Bailey, appear on the show. While the show was being broadcast, the station received several calls from a man who called himself “Sam,” and kept hanging up in order to stop police from tracing the calls. 

The cryptic message was sent two and a half weeks later.  On Dec. 20, 1969, Belli received a letter from the Zodiac at his home. To confirm he was the killer, a portion of a victim’s bloodstained shirt was included in the envelope. The message was interpreted as the Zodiac Killer’s way of saying Sam was an imposter.

The coded message was first submitted to the FBI Laboratory on Nov. 13, 1969. Their Cryptographic and Racketeering Records Unit reviewed numerous proposed solutions over the past 51 years, but none had merit. On Friday, Oranchak posted a video on YouTube detailing how he, Sam Blake of Australia and Jarl Van Eycke of Belgium cracked the code. “Last weekend, a team I’m on solved the 340 and submitted it to the FBI,” Oranchak told the San Francisco Chronicle. “They have confirmed the solution. No joke! This is the real deal.”

To break the cipher, the team collected information about variations in the cipher text. 

“My main contribution here was actually enumerating many possible reading directions through the cipher, in total over 650,000,” Sam Blake told ZodiacKillerFacts.com. “David and I both ran these through azdecrypt and zkdecrypto respectively. Interestingly, only azdecrypt was able to find the fragments of the complete solution. It was a needle in a haystack. Even finding the right haystack to search in was lucky.”

The three experts checked and expanded each other’s work extensively before submitting their findings to the authorities on Friday, Dec. 4. The bureau called Oranchak three times on Saturday morning. 

“When I talked to the FBI, they only needed to make one change to the solution.” Oranchak told ZodiacKillerFacts.com. The team deciphered a six-letter section as “soo her.” Oranchak said the FBI’s “cryptanalyst called me and she said she thinks it’s supposed to say, ‘sooner’” instead.”

The FBI confirmed the cryptologic researchers’ claims about the cipher popularly known as Z340. “The FBI is aware that a cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by private citizens,” the FBI’s San Francisco office tweeted Friday.  “The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco and our local law enforcement partners. The Zodiac Killer terrorized multiple communities across Northern California, and even though decades have gone by, we continue to seek justice for the victims of these brutal crimes.”

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While the Zodiac Killer was never caught, the most likely suspect remains Arthur Leigh Allen, who died of a heart attack in 1992 having never been formally charged with the killings. But other suspects have held the attention of amateur sleuths through the years, although only a small handful have appeared credible. Perhaps the cracking of the latest Zodiac code will finally bring investigators a step closer to solving the case.

The post Zodiac Killer Code Cracked After 51 Years appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[possiblyimbiassed]

Sherlock’s note - Part II

In Part I of this meta I tried to explain why I believe that Sherlock’s last (and only) post on John’s blog after TSoT is a sort of ‘goodbye note’.

But I think there’s more to it, so here comes Part II.

I believe notes are another recurring theme in this show (in addition to suicide and drugs, which have tried to point out here). And this has been beautifully presented by @hemlock-her-loss in their answer to a post made by @hufflepuffpentaholicinthebau. The post continued here.

And @hemlock-her-loss points out that Faith’s note is actually Sherlock’s note - which I absolutely agree with. I think the show-makers have tried, in many ways by now, to give us hints about Sherlock’s note.

(More about this under the cut)

The note theme actually begins already in ACD canon, where Holmes leaves a note for Watson to find after he disappears in the Reichenbach falls (FINA):

“From the top of this bolder the gleam of something bright caught my eye, and raising my hand I found that it came from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry. As I took it up a small square of paper upon which it had lain fluttered down on to the ground. Unfolding it, I found that it consisted of three pages torn from his notebook and addressed to me. It was characteristic of the man that the direction was as precise, and the writing as firm and clear, as though it had been written in his study”.

And the story ends very shortly after this (going into a time lapse of 12 years before ACD published “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”. In the stories the hiatus was of three years).

What I find interesting here are mainly four things: 1. Holmes has prepared himself to die at Moriarty’s hands; it’s not just a sudden fight, ending with both of them falling down the Reichenbach abyss. It’s a plan started already in London, and Holmes even claims that his career was in crisis anyway, as a sort of excuse. 

2. The note seems far too long to have been scribbled in haste; it certainly looks like Holmes had written it long before the actual event. Watson even insinuates that it had been written in Holmes’ study…

3. I also find it significant that some of Holmes’ last words are referring to Watson’s wife. 

4. It seems like Holmes had let his brother in on the plan, since he had handed over his property to him. But how on earth could Mycroft let this happen? It doesn’t make sense.

Very strange procedure indeed, for a detective who is out to solve crimes… To me this looks much more like a suicide than anything else I can think of.

But in BBC Sherlock I believe Sherlock’s real (or was it actually his second?) suicide attempt - which I believe happened between TSoT and HLV - was most of all a ‘cry for help’; Sherlock doesn’t really want to die, as we learn in TLD when Culverton is about to suffocate him. But then John saves him. And the note references in BBC Sherlock are so many that I do believe we can see a pattern here. Let’s have a look:

In ASiP the dying, clever Jennifer Wilson scratches a word on the floor boards with her fingernails, that leads to the killer. Lestrade outright calls it “a note”.

In TBB Andy leaves a note under the door to Soo Lin Yao’s flat. She is later killed, but before she dies, she writes down the key to the Chinese cipher and leaves it to Sherlock.

In TGG Sherlock leaves a 50 pounds note to a girl from the homeless network, who helps him solve the crime. (And I think we are the ‘homeless network’, as I discussed here )

In ASiB Sherlock leaves a note to John under the door knocker of 221B saying “CRIME IN PROGRESS PLEASE DISTURB”. What’s that if not a cry for help?

In THoB Sherlock repeatedly shows John his notes with important key words on them, such as “BLUEBELL” and “H.O.U.N.D.”.  These key words – especially the latter – are very important for solving the case (please read @sagestreet’s “Follow the dog” meta about this, by the way; it’s really interesting!)

In TRF Sherlock tells Molly that “I owe you” is a mental note. There’s also little Max’s writing on the wall calling for HELP.

Sherlock later shows a fax (from Moriarty) to John and Greg, saying “HURRY UP THEY’RE DYING!”.  

Once more: a cry for help, because someone is dying!

Sherlock’s phone call to John before the fall from Barts rooftop is specifically referred to as him leaving a ‘note’ (se pictures on top of this meta).

In TEH Molly asks Sherlock: “Should I be making notes?” And Sherlock answers: “If it makes you feel better”. Apparently making notes is key to a better option?

In TSoT Sherlock literally leaves his music sheet with literal notes on it to John and Mary, before he leaves the wedding reception early. It’s a beautiful waltz, and it’s implied that he has practiced dancing with John to this music. Which is a tiny bit strange, isn’t it? I mean, If John needed practicing for the wedding, why didn’t he practice with ‘Mary’? ;) ;) ;)

And then Sherlock’s last post on John’s blog, shortly after the wedding, is a note in my opinion; a clue about how he is feeling (see Part I of this meta).  

I can’t recall any note in HLV (maybe someone else can?), but in TAB there are several: 1. Sherlock leaves a note for Lady Carmichael in her mansion. 2. Eustace Carmichael’s murderer left a note tied to the very murder weapon, with the words ‘MISS ME?’ written on it. 3. Sherlock made a list for Mycroft with the drugs he had taken, which might have saved his life.

And there’s also Mycroft’s mystic notebook with its cryptic content:

In T6T Mycroft has left a note on his fridge with the number “13th” on it. Bad luck? Or is it referring to August 13th, when Sherlock wrote his ‘note’ on John’s blog? But this is Mycroft anyway, not Sherlock. There’s also the letter ‘Mary’ uses to drug Sherlock, and then the mystic note from John at the end of the episode - the one we never get to see or hear what it’s actually about. T6T is the only episode where the notes appear a bit bleaker, but the thing is, we never actually see their content.

And in TLD we have Faith’s note with the message “I need to kill someone”. And “Me”. Later we learn that it also says “MISS ME?” in ultraviolet writing.

Juxtaposed to this, there’s also Mycroft’s notebook (again) with “Alicia Smallwood”s card and some other stuff (why has Lady Smallwood two names, by the way? Maybe Sherlock’s mother’s name is Alicia? Or Elizabeth? Just a thought…)

Finally, in TFP there isn’t exactly a note, but John receives a DVD with the words “MISS YOU” on it, in the very end of the series. It’s a posthumous message from ‘Mary’, directed to both John and Sherlock, and the content is partly rather horrible. But she also says “If I’m gone, I know what you could become”, which I see as very telling.

So, here’s my conclusion about these notes, and it is hopeful: I think the many note references always mean a clue of some sort; the key to a possible way out. As opposed to ACD canon, I believe Mofftiss have changed Sherlock’s destiny, they have ‘fixed it’. His note is not ‘final’, as in canon. While Holmes does return in canon, he seems to be condemned to a life where he either lives on his own, or at least never can be together with Watson in a romantic relationship; it’s ‘suicide’ or ‘solitude’. But I believe there’s a way out in BBC Sherlock, and that’s what Sherlock is working on right now, in his EMP, during the hiatus until S5. Because I firmly believe that Samarra can be avoided! ;)

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