#au: modern technology

[lockwood-fic-recs]

status update

by menina123 on ao3

Rating: T | Category: F/M, Gen | Relationship: Lockwood/Lucy

LinkedIn: You have 1 notification. Congratulate Lucy Carlyle for starting a new position as Consultant Psychic Investigation Agent (Aural phenomena specialty)

Everything's the same, except everyone has an iPhone—a slight canon AU where technology has advanced to the present day. The story of the Black Winter through social media posts, texts, Google searches, playlists, and (sent & unsent) emails. Starts at the end of The Hollow Boy and goes through The Creeping Shadow.

[halorvic]

The danger is clear and present: COVID isn’t merely a respiratory illness; it’s a multi-dimensional threat impacting brain function, attacking almost all of the body’s organs, producing elevated risks of all kinds, and weakening our ability to fight off other diseases. Reinfections are thought to produce cumulative risks, and Long COVID is on the rise. Unfortunately, Long COVID is now being considered a long-term chronic illness — something many people will never fully recover from. Dr. Phillip Alvelda, a former program manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and the development of mRNA vaccine technology, is the founder of Medio Labs, a COVID diagnostic testing company. He has stepped forward as a strong critic of government COVID management, accusing health agencies of inadequacy and even deception. Alvelda is pushing for accountability and immediate action to tackle Long COVID and fend off future pandemics with stronger public health strategies. Contrary to public belief, he warns, COVID is not like the flu. New variants evolve much faster, making annual shots inadequate. He believes that if things continue as they are, with new COVID variants emerging and reinfections happening rapidly, the majority of Americans may eventually grapple with some form of Long COVID. Let’s repeat that: At the current rate of infection, most Americans may get Long COVID.

[...]

LP: A recent JAMA study found that US adults with Long COVID are more prone to depression and anxiety – and they’re struggling to afford treatment. Given the virus’s impact on the brain, I guess the link to mental health issues isn’t surprising. PA: There are all kinds of weird things going on that could be related to COVID’s cognitive effects. I’ll give you an example. We’ve noticed since the start of the pandemic that accidents are increasing. A report published by TRIP, a transportation research nonprofit, found that traffic fatalities in California increased by 22% from 2019 to 2022. They also found the likelihood of being killed in a traffic crash increased by 28% over that period. Other data, like studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, came to similar conclusions, reporting that traffic fatalities hit a 16-year high across the country in 2021. The TRIP report also looked at traffic fatalities on a national level and found that traffic fatalities increased by 19%. LP: What role might COVID play? PA: Research points to the various ways COVID attacks the brain. Some people who have been infected have suffered motor control damage, and that could be a factor in car crashes. News is beginning to emerge about other ways COVID impacts driving. For example, in Ireland, a driver’s COVID-related brain fog was linked to a crash that killed an elderly couple. Damage from COVID could be affecting people who are flying our planes, too. We’ve had pilots that had to quit because they couldn’t control the airplanes anymore. We know that medical events among U.S. military pilots were shown to have risen over 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, which the Pentagon attributes to the virus.

[...]

LP: You’ve criticized the track record of the CDC and the WHO – particularly their stubborn denial that COVID is airborne. PA: They knew the dangers of airborne transmission but refused to admit it for too long. They were warned repeatedly by scientists who studied aerosols. They instituted protections for themselves and for their kids against airborne transmission, but they didn’t tell the rest of us to do that.

[...]

LP: How would you grade Biden on how he’s handled the pandemic? PA: I’d give him an F. In some ways, he fails worse than Trump because more people have actually died from COVID on his watch than on Trump’s, though blame has to be shared with Republican governors and legislators who picked ideological fights opposing things like responsible masking, testing, vaccination, and ventilation improvements for partisan reasons. Biden’s administration has continued to promote the false idea that the vaccine is all that is needed, perpetuating the notion that the pandemic is over and you don’t need to do anything about it. Biden stopped the funding for surveillance and he stopped the funding for renewing vaccine advancement research. Trump allowed 400,000 people to die unnecessarily. The Biden administration policies have allowed more than 800,000 to 900,000 and counting.

[...]

LP: The situation with bird flu is certainly getting more concerning with the CDC confirming that a third person in the U.S. has tested positive after being exposed to infected cows. PA: Unfortunately, we’re repeating many of the same mistakes because we now know that the bird flu has made the jump to several species. The most important one now, of course, is the dairy cows. The dairy farmers have been refusing to let the government come in and inspect and test the cows. A team from Ohio State tested milk from a supermarket and found that 50% of the milk they tested was positive for bird flu viral particles.

[...]

PA: There’s a serious risk now in allowing the virus to freely evolve within the cow population. Each cow acts as a breeding ground for countless genetic mutations, potentially leading to strains capable of jumping to other species. If any of those countless genetic experiments within each cow prove successful in developing a strain transmissible to humans, we could face another pandemic – only this one could have a 58% death rate. Did you see the movie “Contagion?” It was remarkably accurate in its apocalyptic nature. And that virus only had a 20% death rate. If the bird flu makes the jump to human-to-human transition with even half of its current lethality, that would be disastrous.

[kazuma-nyasogi]

drew this in december but i forgotttttt

[wealmostaneckbeard]

Orc and dwarf hardware (guns, computers, power tools) are both incredibly durable. You can drop a piece of dwarven/orcish kit in the mud, leave it there several days, pick it back up, do a bit of cleaning, and it will work just fine. But dwarves value aesthetics while orcs prefer ergonomics.

[fusionfanatic]

Research for an au fic I’m working on: how would Azula act and behave in a modern setting? And I don’t mean re-imagine her character within a modern context and stories. This isn’t Azula, but she’s an overachieving American high schooler with strict and overbearing parents, or Azula, but she’s the soon-to-be CEO of her father’s multinational conglomerate based in Japan or something. No, I mean how would Azula as she is in canon, Fire nation princess and all, act and behave if you simply just took her from her world and plopped her into [insert current year you’re reading this]?

[blue-rose-soul]

What if charlie and alastor grew up togethr ?

For that to happen, Lucifer would have had to know about Alastor from the beginning*. I don't think he would have taken Alastor away from Nicaise, and she wouldn't have wanted to live in Hell, even if it did mean living in luxury. The guilt and the feelings of betrayal are still there - it certainly doesn't help his crumbling relationship with Lilith - but Lucifer wants to keep an eye on his friend and their child. So he peeks in on them on Earth, occasionally pops in to grant a couple small miracles or gifts. Never staying long just in case Heaven catches on.

Then Nicaise is murdered by her employer. And there is no way in hell that Lucifer is allowing that fucking piece of shit to keep her child! Lucifer books it over as soon as he can and finds Alastor sleeping in a shed and, oh, he is not happy. He doesn't kill Nicaise's murderer. It's enough to flash his wings, horns out, spitting flames as he informs the man that Hell is real and he's bound to it before disappearing with Alastor**.

So now, in just the span of a few days, Alastor: has witnessed his mother's violent murder, has been effectively kidnapped by her murderer, was forced to sleep in a shed that smells like dogs, found out that angels and demons are real and that his father is one, has been whisked away to live in another world that transforms him into a monster as soon as he enters it, and is now expected to get used to living with his mysterious father as well as a new step-mother and half-sister. Needless to say, it's a lot.

So naturally, he's a bit shaken when he first arrives in the Morningstar household. He doesn't speak and spends most of his time shut up in his new room which is way bigger than his old house was. Lucifer's awkwardly trying to balance giving him the space he needs and make him feel welcome. Lilith isn't terribly thrilled with the situation, but... Well, she seems to have a lot of compassion for her people. I don't think she would really turn out a traumatized child, but she's definitely going through some complicated emotions of her own.

Charlie has none of the reservations the grown ups have. In fact, she's suuuuuuuuuuper excited to meet her new little brother! Even if he doesn't look that much littler than her***. So she slips into his room, tries to drag him out of bed, pesters him, and generally just acts like an excitable, friendly child. As much as Lucifer and Lilith try to get her to give Alastor space and time to adjust, she keeps coming back. Her little brother looks so sad and she doesn't want him to be sad! She wants to help him feel happy!

She remains persistent, telling Alastor all about her home and family and insisting that he'll like it soon because her mom and dad are really nice and she loves him already and he'll love it there in Hell and...

She stops as she sees the tears start to roll down Alastor's face. Charlie begins to panic, thinking she's said something mean by accident, but then Alastor sobs out that he misses his maman and just wants to go home! Suddenly Charlie feels really bad. She doesn't know how to make things better. So she just stays. Sits next to him. Doesn't leave him alone. Sheds a few tears of her own.

Once Alastor's cried it out and tired himself out a bit, Charlie asks him what his mom was like. They spend all night talking about her. When Lucifer goes to check in on Alastor later, he finds both kids passed out on the floor in a pile of blankets.

It's still rough going from there on out, but Charlie plays a large part in helping Alastor heal after everything. Some things still stay the same. Lucifer and Lilith's marriage still struggles, she disappears, Lucifer pulls away from now both of his children in his depression. And Alastor still has a lot of anger. He doesn't really agree with Charlie's goal of redeeming sinners because he fully believes that some people just aren't worth redeeming.

Still, he goes with her whenever she searches for injured sinners after the exterminations. He and Vaggie actually get along a bit better here. They still snipe at each other quite a bit, but there's an almost friendly undercurrent to it. And although he doesn't really believe in the goal of redeeming sinners, he does go along with the Happy Hotel project just to help Charlie out. Doesn't stop him from mocking the idea every step of the way.

This version of Alastor hasn't really developed the Radio Demon persona. He doesn't exactly need to, given he's the Prince of Hell. But he's still Alastor and still cultivates a terrifying reputation for himself. Charlie's grown up with this Alastor though and knows the man behind the curtain. She's not always happy with how quick he is to suggest violence as a solution, but she also knows that when he sees a weaker demon being preyed upon by stronger ones, he'll step in.

He's also protective of Charlie, and usually takes it upon himself to step in and do things that he sees as necessary but he knows she wouldn't like. For example, after finding out how Valentino treated her when she went to the studio, Alastor pays his own visit in private and makes sure Valentino knows if he tries to pull any shit like that again, Alastor will pick apart his soul piece by wretched piece and scatter it across all the rings of hell. Charlie knows he did something when the next time she sees Valentino, the pimp screams bloody murder and throws himself out the nearest window.

(*Just imagine Lucifer, wings out, attempting to drunkenly climb out of Nicaise's window, only to get stuck, give up, and slump over on the floor.)

(**The old bastard spends the rest of his life donating his wealth to build orphanages and hospitals, helping the poor, and basically trying to buy his way into Heaven. It doesn't work and he's slaughtered during his first extermination in hell.)

(***Charlie at this point should be roughly a century old, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what that means for a half-angel half-demon like her. Did she age at a typical human rate until she reached young adulthood and then just stopped? Or did she just age very very slowly? I'm going with the second for the sake of this AU. I also have this theory that Lilith never actually died, and was transformed into a unique sort of demon simply by entering primordial Hell. And something similar happens to young Alastor when Lucifer brings him home.)

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Okay. But if Shen Yuan took over as Shen Qingqiu, did Shen Qingqiu take over as Shen Yuan??

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

imogen to bells hells now that she's taken off the circlet:

[vagun1ka]

i saw "build a bear" tiktok and there where these lovely clothes, i needed to put it together on my favorite person^^

bonus: happy qilin ganyu

[tootalltech]

one thing about five hargreeves is that it’s a good thing he’s too old to know what an energy drink is

[backpackingspace]

Listen diomedes deserves to have a vlog. Every video is just him staring at the camera while drama in the odysseus household unfolds in the background.

[just-a-repa]

Some modern au shenanigans

Character description part 1 here

This is the moment Rael knew he is dead meat, little shit won't keep his mouth closed in front of their parents for sure

Rael definitely buys himself makeup with his pocket money (or uses Jo's) and when he and Qui-Gon are alone in the house he just experiements with it

I also totally forgot to do something for halloween night, but happy (late) halloween guys :D

[harpydrawsstuff]

Pulls out another crossover friendship au out of my ass

[underacalicosky]

🧛🏼‍♂️ vampire + 7!

AHH sorry! I think this was meant for @palfriendpatine66 and their WIP Wednesday: make me write! I was trying to signal boost lol 🤦🏻‍♀️ Apologies if I gave the impression that these are my WIPs!

@palfriendpatine66, handing this one over to you!

[au-yuukiemcee]

Nevi Kingorn: Fire Bad

~Nevi explains to the others why she doesn't trust modern technology.

[cazzythefrogking]

marauders incorrect quotes pt 122

James, looking at a dead phone: How do we bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town-