#can we uninvent it please??

[strange-wafflez]

I almost forgot today is the stupid april fools and I should stay off the internet 🫣 thank you instagram for reminding me 30 seconds into the tl 😫

Here’s some Bastille positive vibes instead:

[dtmacgxstorys]

Floyd Leech X Reader!

This is a Floyd Leech X Gender Neutral Reader!

Note: I'm stuck on Idia's chapter,(chapter 6) sooo, yeah! Also, if you're somehow Not scared of the Leech twins, you're probably not going to like this!(I Think!) Yes, I love & fear this guy! Jade is scarier more, though!

... How long has Yuu been living at NRC!?

You have been living at Night Raven College for about 3 & a half months now. "Grim, get up or we'll be late for class again!" "*Merrrr* five more minutes." You make your way to the door of you'r room. "If you don't get up soon, I won't give you any tuna!" Grim sits up fast. "Tuna!? Don't take my tuna away!" He said as he jumped off the bed & on your shoulder. You walk downstairs & made your way out of Ramshackle. You walk through the gates & hear a familiar voice.

"Yo, morning Y/N! Do you want to eat breakfast with me?" "Morning Ace! Yeah, I'll eat with you." You & Aec walk to the cafeteria while making some small talk. You grab some food & sit with Aec & Deuce. You enjoy most of your food in peace,(surprisingly) until you hear a familiar voice. "Hhiiiii shrimpy!~" He says as he hugs you from behind. "Uummm hi Floyd." "Whatcha eaten? Anything good? ... Uumm No."

He says as he puts his chin on top of your head to see your food. "Floyd, please! Stop hugging me!" "Huummm fine." He said as he backed away from you. "See you later Shrimpy!~" After breakfast, Grim's & Your classes are pretty uninventful. Avter your clsses, you were on your way back to your dorm when someone hugged you from behind & someone else grabbed Grim.

"Shrimpy!!!?~ Why do you always have to babysit the catfish? I want you to play with me and just you." "Don't worry about Grim, I'll take good care of him for you." Jade said. "Hey Shrimpy!~ Do you have a swim suit?" ".. Yes, Why?" "Can you go get it?~" ".. Fine." He let go of you, but followed you to your room & looked around while you grab your bathing suit. "(Wispers).. this place is really in bad shape. .. Shrriimmpyy~ did you find it!?" "Yes. Where are we going?" "To Octavinelle! There are some rooms with some smallish pool in them!"

You quietly follow him to Octavinelle & go down a hallway in the front of Octavinelle. You go almost all the way down the hallway before he finds one not occupied. He opens the door for you & you walk in. As soon as you walk in, you can see the pool in front of you & to your right is a good sized bathroom to change in. "Shrimpy~! Can you please get changed, walk into the pool, then close your eyes when you have your balance in then! It has a rock bottom & leads out into the ocean, so you might also feel some fish swing around!"

".. Um.. O-ok." He walks over to the pool & you walk into the bathroom & change into your one-piece bathing suit.(like a diving suit) A little hesitantly, you do as he asked. Floyd is nowhere to be found. A minute went by & you still haven't heard from Floyd. Before you can call out his name, you feel around your left lage & hear: "hehe thank you for turning me Shrimpy!~" You open your eyes to see Floyd, but he looks very different. ".. Floyd!?"

He is holding himself up by the floor leading to the pool, making him seem shorter then you when that isn't the case. "Heha do you like my real form, Shrimpy?~!" He said, flashing his sharp teeth at you with a smirk. He slowly leans in a bit closer to you, waiting for an answer. ".. Un.. It's.. Y-yes!" You say as his teeth hovered just above your collarbone. You can't see, but his smirk widens. He moves up to kiss your chin.

You feel his tail unravel aroun your lag & rast it on the rock. He also moves to make himself eye level with you. "I'm glad to hear that, Shrimpy!~" You start to blush. ".. F-Floyd,... would it be weird to ask you if I could.. like.. pet your tail?" You see him move his tail out of the water & onto the floor next to you. As your giant petting his surprisingly soft tail, he moves closer to you & hugs you from behind & puts his chin on your right shoulder.

".. I love you.. Y/N!" You shiver from hearing him wisper your name. ".. Y-you.. mean it!?" "Hehe Did you think I wanted to eat you or something?" ".. kind of." "Hehe no. I just really like seeing your reactions! I don't want to heat you." He leans over to your left ear & wispers: "unless your into that!~ hehe" You gently push him away. "F-Floyd!?" You say, looking away from him, blushing even more now!

"Hehehehe You really are too cute all flustered like this!~" he said as he puts thumb just under your bottom lip & pointer finger under your chin to gently make you look at him. Ones you look up at him, he kisses you on the lips. You quickly returned the kiss, throwing your arms around his neck. His hands slowly & gently rub your back as you two make out. After a while, he pulls away & ask: "Will you spend the night with me and cuddle?"

".. I should check on-" "Catfish is fine! My brother won't hurt him! .. Do you really not trust us that much!?" ".. You and your brother scare me sometimes." "Because we.. I Love seeing you reactions! I know it's mean, but we're not evil!" You looked at him surprise. ".. I said scarey, Not evil!" "So will you spend the night with me?~" ".. Yes!" He kissed you on the lips reall quick & ask: "Can I whatchyou~" "No you can not which me change!" He pouts and says: "fine."

End!

Sorry for not writing for a while. I've been depressed because my mom believe that xx xy bullshit & I'm a trans man. I started this before I was depressed but... yeah. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! 🥰

[vineee2000]

Who was the person who invented phrase "trauma dumping" and can they please uninvent it.

Like I get what you were getting at mate. Great concept. Didn't work out. Yeah we misused it to stigmatise slightly inconvenient but normal social interaction. Yeah sorry. Can you take it back, we'd be better off scrapping it now.

Having a traumatic childhood means you cannot talk even objectively about your basic foundational experiences without it being "venting", even if you're not actually venting. You just straight up have a huge chunk of your life you can't talk about, full stop, without it being trauma dumping.

And it not being socially acceptable to talk about your own childhood is super alienating. Sometimes people want to know why, and any answer you can give them is going to be off putting.

It's to the point I get irritated when something I said is framed as venting when I'm literally just talking about my life experiences, doing my best to keep emotion out of it.

[bookoformon]

3 Nephi, Chapter 11. "The Spirit of Contention."

The Big Moment Arrives. The Narrator reveals the Christ and makes some bold statements. The God of Israel and the Christ are One Person, what is called a Rabbi in Hebrew, "The Son of The Master of the Bundle of Disciplines."

He tells the world they must as Moses required, be baptized twice. Baptism twice confers recognition of the truth of the matter vestments that comprise the world and also the Presence of the Unseen Spirit. Both facts must be imprinted upon the Self if one is to know God.

Humanity has struggled with this. We invent things and then pretend they are uninvented. Only God has the power to make organic and inorganic matter and combine them and then order them into what is called life. When Aaron struck the Nile with his staff, he demonstrated man may impregnate a woman, but the mircacle of life and its continuity is beyond him. All he can do is be knowledgeable and conservative towards it.

To be contrite towards all that God makes is abomination, it is a sin. To do so towards others who make of life what God gave to them is also a sin.

Jesus calls the competition between the Spirit of God the Large Voice, the one that reigns over creation, and the one that reigns over the intuition on the heart the Small Voice. We must hear both. And this means, as the rest of this chapter says the Spirit of Contention will outshout them both and this cannot be allowed. See v. 28-30.

This section is the climax of the Book of Mormon. To understand it is to understand any faith, any faith in God at all. Recall the story takes place in the Old World near Jerusalem, not in the New World, and is a Midrash, a conclusive argument based on what was discussed by Saint Mark in his Gospel around 70 CE. The Book of Mormon however, narrates this section as if it is taking place in 34 CE in real time.

There is one instance of Gematria in the text I will highlight at the end.

Jesus Christ did show himself unto the people of Nephi, as the multitude were gathered together in the land Bountiful, and did minister unto them; and on this wise did he show himself unto them. Beginning with chapter 11.

CHAPTER 11

The Father testifies of His Beloved Son—Christ appears and proclaims His Atonement—The people feel the wound marks in His hands and feet and side—They cry Hosanna—He sets forth the mode and manner of baptism—The spirit of contention is of the devil—Christ’s doctrine is that men should believe and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. About A.D. 34. "Glared."

1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place.

2 And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death.

3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name��hear ye him.

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

18 And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.

19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.

20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.

21 And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.

22 And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.

23 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:

25 Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

26 And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are bone; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.

28 And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.

29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.

32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

41 Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.

The Voice speaks Three Times. The Third Time calls man to give up on all urges and means to violence. So the Book of Mormon says we must be Baptized Thrice. Once to recognize the creation, second to recognize the Creator, thrice to recognize the non-violent nature of the Self. It represents our aspirations for civilization to be free at last.

As we are seeing, without this Third Baptism the animal nature reigns supreme in spite of the former and this is not working out for us or this planet.

In verse 1, it says the revelation of the Christ in the Additional Testament was prophesied to make a big difference. That is apparently up to us: even though the Book of Mormon caused profound changes in American society, the changes were incomplete. We still do not know or want to know what to do with the black man or the black woman. There is no confusion in Christ as to how well to contend with our fellow human beings. Discrimination against any and all persons must end.

The violence must end. The manufacturing of weapons must end. The corruption and contention and manmade imaginary nonsenses that keep us from enforcing human rights laws and getting the business of the government for which it is enlisted, hired, and paid for by the people must all end.

The Value in Gematria is 9333, טגגג, "tagged", or "crowned". Mankind has been granted his sovereignty- through his intellect, engineering, and technology, mankind should be able to avoid any kind of trouble at all. We are causing trouble it will take a century to repair. If our parents took this seriously and did what was necessary after World War II, this Third World War would not be taking place. There must not be a Fourth. See v. 15- this record all have felt.

The Value in Gematria for v. 15 is 7560, זהואֶפֶס‎ "This is zero." Zero Ephesus is and is not where we want to find ourselves. We can always put the Republicans to death for what they have done to this world- can you believe it? And we must, but what happens then?

Without a firm understanding of Ephesus, which is train of discrete realities leading wherever the engine goes. The lead car follows the engine, the next one follows the leader, and so on. Each one represents the beginning and the end of an epoch, and depends on the Engine for its route and speed and destinations.

The Christ has said follow me and all will be well. So today we need to ponder what life would be like if we removed the Spirit of Contention from our lives replaced him with the Godhead. We could start our lives over again.

[azurea]

Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore

From Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning, please come flying. In a cloud of fiery pale chemicals, please come flying, to the rapid rolling of thousands of small blue drums descending out of the mackerel sky over the glittering grandstand of harbor-water, please come flying. Whistles, pennants and smoke are blowing. The ships are signaling cordially with multitudes of flags rising and falling like birds all over the harbor. Enter: two rivers, gracefully bearing countless little pellucid jellies in cut-glass epergnes dragging with silver chains. The flight is safe; the weather is all arranged. The waves are running in verses this fine morning. Please come flying. Come with the pointed toe of each black shoe trailing a sapphire highlight, with a black capeful of butterfly wings and bon-mots, with heaven knows how many angels all riding on the broad black brim of your hat, please come flying. Bearing a musical inaudible abacus, a slight censorious frown, and blue ribbons, please come flying. Facts and skyscrapers glint in the tide; Manhattan is all awash with morals this fine morning, so please come flying. Mounting the sky with natural heroism, above the accidents, above the malignant movies, the taxicabs and injustices at large, while horns are resounding in your beautiful ears that simultaneously listen to a soft uninvented music, fit for the musk deer, please come flying. For whom the grim museums will behave like courteous male bower-birds, for whom the agreeable lions lie in wait on the steps of the Public Library, eager to rise and follow through the doors up into the reading rooms, please come flying. We can sit down and weep; we can go shopping, or play at a game of constantly being wrong with a priceless set of vocabularies, or we can bravely deplore, but please please come flying. With dynasties of negative constructions darkening and dying around you, with grammar that suddenly turns and shines like flocks of sandpipers flying, please come flying. Come like a light in the white mackerel sky, come like a daytime comet with a long unnebulous train of words, from Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning, please come flying.

- Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems (1970, Chatto and Windus)

[kenzieam]

Surrender to the Call - Chapter Three (Bucky X Lev)

Rating: M (language, violence, mentions of torture and abuse, eventual smut, angst)

Genre: Drama/Angst

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If I missed any tag requests, I apologize!!

*IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED OR DELETED FROM THIS LIST, DM ME*

**Potential Triggers, please read with caution**

*******************************************************************************************

Alright, this chapter is pure angst, no redeeming factors at all....

Poor Buck-Buck gets put through the ringer..............

All dialogue in BOLD is Russian.

*******************************************************************************************

“Take your sniveling elsewhere, you shame our masters.”

Breathing hard, Bucky just stared at Lev for a long moment, unable to reconcile this... monster with his Lev; in a way, this side of her was worse than the raging beast, this showed cruel intelligence, a psychopathic streak of callous, sadistic evil.  

Bucky turned and fled, fighting to control his racing heart.

Steve found him later, sitting silently in the common room, the TV playing, but Bucky’s mind a million miles away. With a sigh the blond man sat beside him, leaning back into the couch.

“I talked to Shuri, she apologizes for not seeing my message sooner, her research’s taking off, she said she hardly has the time to sleep anymore.” He paused, but Bucky remained silent.

“She said she’d do all she could to help, would drop everything to devote her full time to this.”

Bucky finally managed a half-hearted smile, the edges stained with heartache.

“We can go anytime you’re ready... if you’re coming with us?”

Bucky exhaled, finally turning his haunted gaze to Steve. “I... I don’t know. I mean... this is Lev, but it’s not. She’s so... cruel, and she knows exactly what to say to cut me the deepest. I want to be there for her but... it hurts so bad.”

Steve nodded silently then exhaled loudly, rubbing at his scalp. “I understand Buck, whichever you decide, I understand. We’ll be flying out as soon as we can figure out the best way to subdue Lev. I mean, right now, you can’t trust her, we have to restrain her.”

Bucky nodded. “I wouldn’t trust her either right now”

“Bruce is thinking a concentrated dose of sedation fog through the vents, it’ll have to be a hell of a dose and it won’t work for very long, but it’ll give us time to restrain her... we might even need the collar.” He shuddered.

The collar was an invention of Tony’s that he kept locked behind many doors. It was a last resort type of deal, a metal collar that delivered an incapacitating electric shock if the wearer violated the preset limits. Most anything could be input by way of restriction and limitation, but the easiest and most effective was motion detection. If the wearer moved too much, past a certain number of degrees, the collar shocked, anything from the barest tickle to a lethal level. Tony had considered ‘uninventing’ the collar at one point, but it unfortunately had come in handy a few times for detainees who couldn’t be reasoned with any other way.  

The thought of using it on Lev was agonizing, but it was going to be necessary; this wasn’t Lev they were dealing with right now, they had to remember that.      

Steve’s phone beeped suddenly, a caustic, grinding tone that instantly set Bucky’s nerves on edge. Steve grimaced as he hurried to silence it, his face growing grave as he read the message. Bucky felt the beginnings of anxiety start to pierce his miserable bubble.  

“The President’s launching one last all-out attack on HYDRA, she’s requesting the Avenger’s participation.”

“I can’t-”

“No Buck, not you. Everyone else.” Steve cut a quick, knowing glance at him. “She doesn’t trust you either, it seems.”

A curious mix of relief and disappointment filled Bucky, he’d come back from being the Winter Soldier, he’d fought as an Avenger for this goddamn country, and now suddenly he wasn’t to be trusted?

“It’s just the timing, man.” Steve continued. “She’s sore with the attacks and Lev’s performance back there, this is our chance to crush those pricks once and for all, and it frees you up to take Lev to Shuri; it wouldn’t hurt for you to spend some time decompressing in Wakanda either.”

Bucky was about to protest, but Steve continued, correctly interpreting Bucky’s reluctance and seeking to head it off. “I know it’s far from ideal, but there’s no one else. We have to respond to this request, ‘cause you and both know it’s anything but a friendly invitation. If we succeed, it will secure Lev’s safety from prosecution-”

“But, if Shuri can’t reverse it, remember that fucktard agent said-”

“It will. Shuri helped her once, she’ll do it again. I’m sorry it has to be you taking her there, but maybe it’s for the best, you’ll be right there when the real Lev wakes up.”

“If the real Levi wakes up.” Bucky couldn’t stop his voice from breaking.  

“Shit Buck,” Steve murmured. “We can’t think like that.”

*********************************************************************************************

Bucky flexed his hands, regripped the controls with a grimace. He’d been holding onto them so hard his joints popped and protested angrily.  

Lev’s sedation and capture had been far from pretty. When the sedation fog had first been pumped in; they’d decided, somewhat reluctantly to not ask Lev first if she would be willing to just cooperate, it wasn’t worth the potential trouble of giving her a heads-up of what they were planning; she’d fought with an almost desperate edge, as if this were bringing back horrible memories. She’d gasped and struggled, flipping back and forth between vicious, indignant rage at being tricked, and desperate, pleading panic, clawing wilding at her throat as she choked and gasped.  

Bucky’d had to turn away before he’d snapped and ripped the door open to pull Lev free, instinctively rescue her and soothe her, take away the agony making her scream. As she’d finally slowed in her struggles, as the sedation took effect, he’d turned back as she’d convulsively twisted to face the glass, and the look of betrayal in her eyes had cut him to the quick.  

She’d already been stirring by the time they’d secured her restraints; specialized lightweight chains rated to withstand even the Hulk’s strength and the snap of the collar had woken her up completely. Murder in her eyes, she’d leapt to attack, heedless of the restraints, only to go rigid with a strangled scream as the collar shocked her for moving too far. She’d tried again, snarling like a rabid dog, only to be stopped again. The collar was set to deliver a stronger shock with every additional violation, had already been set to a punishing level, and the second hit actually knocked her semi-conscious for a few seconds.  

Bucky was half-hysterical by the time they’d loaded her into the quinjet and the take-off had been delayed for a few extra minutes while Steve calmed him back down.  

Then the team had departed, leaving reluctantly to attack HYDRA and Bucky had been alone with Lev in the quinjet. He was the first to admit that this was a bad idea, but there were precious few options available to them. HYDRA needed to be stopped, and this was looking like the best and only chance.  

Lev had been silent so far, alternating between glaring daggers at Bucky’s back and wracking her brains for a way to escape. She was loathed to admit that she was indeed trapped, the chains unbreakable and, even if she managed to slip them, the collar was another matter entirely. She’d tested it a third time during take-off, when Bucky had been distracted, and the pain had been enough to convince her to stop. Her best chance was waiting, until when they were off-loading her. Maybe everyone would be incompetent, she’d never heard of this Wakanda before, but she could hope they weren’t fully prepared for what she was capable of delivering.  

Bucky glanced in his mirror, catching sight of Lev staring at him unblinkingly and he looked forward again, unnerved. There was no trace of his Lev in those cold, reptilian eyes. Calculating, cunning eyes that slashed deep down into your very soul and pried loose your deepest fears and secrets.  

“Where are we going, Asset?” It was the first time she’d spoken since they’d taken off.  

“To someone who can help you.”

“No one can help me.” There was an edge to Lev’s voice and Bucky had to clamp down hard on the sudden impulse to flip the auto-pilot switch and scramble back to Lev’s side, pull her to him and comfort her, soothe away the desolation he’d heard in her stark declaration. He flinched involuntarily, this could be... probably was a trick, an attempt to lure Bucky towards her, soften him and distract him further than he already was, capitalize on it in some way. He wouldn’t put it past her right now to simply try to incapacitate or hurt him somehow, then let the quinjet drift until it could no longer, and they crashed to their death. It was a morbid, cynical thought, but this was HYDRA at their worst, or best, depending on your viewpoint.  

“HYDRA succeeded this time. Your woman is gone. I am all that remains.”

Bucky flinched again, harder this time. No, it can’t be true, she’s just messing with you again.

“It hurt, I remember that,” she continued, stubbornly, or perhaps, calculatingly, keeping to Russian despite revealing earlier that she still was capable of English. "The pain was something she’d never felt before, torment without end. But, when the agents all decided to take a turn with her, soon she was moaning like a whore-”

“SHUT UP!” Bucky screamed, the jet jolting as he ripped at the controls. Lev, although secured to a bulk-head, was jerked to the side and went rigid with a screech as the collar activated again. Eyes half-open but unseeing, her unconscious body fell back against the side of the jet and her verbal torture fell silent.  

Bucky panted, tears streaming down his cheeks, crying hysterically, only through sheer will did he keep the jet from barrel-rolling while he half-convulsed with agony in the seat, hands gripping the controls hard enough to bite into his flesh and draw blood. He’d hadn’t intended to throw Lev around like that, hadn’t been thinking of using the collar’s restrictions to his advantage, had only been reacting to her horrible words and the anguish they filled him with, but it had worked. The monster in Lev’s skin had fallen silent, at least for now, and Bucky could try to regain his sanity.  

He trembled as her words replayed in his head, ‘when the agents all decided to take a turn’ and he dry-heaved, shuddering. God, baby. What did they do to you?”      

Lev remained silent throughout the rest of the flight, but she watched Bucky the whole time, a sick little smile on her face as she saw the unending trickle of tears on his pale face.

Shuri, T’Challa and Okoye were waiting as Bucky guided the jet down and he took a deep breath, knowing the royal siblings and their beautifully dangerous head of the Dora Milaje would be able to see right through any façade he could try to put up. He’d spent time with all of them recovering from his own HYDRA indoctrination and again later, the first time Lev had been here and they’d become friends. He trusted Shuri completely, but he wasn‘t ready for T’Challa’s frighteningly accurate observations, his quiet, wise words. Hopefully Okoye, silent and deeply intelligent, would stay silent.  

Without meeting Lev’s eyes Bucky walked past her and down the ramp, wanting to speak to their hosts out of her range. All three Wakandians were more than capable of handling themselves, and could easily handle anything Lev could currently dish out physically, restrained as she was, but her mouth and cruel cunning were a different matter entirely.

Mingled sympathy and shock flashed in the royal sibling’s eyes as they took in Bucky’s appearance before pulling him into tight embraces. Okoye nodded to him, gifting him with the tiniest encouraging smile.  

“I will not ask how you are feeling; your face and eyes are answer enough” T’Challa rumbled quietly.  

Bucky nodded in appreciation then took a deep, steadying breath. “Like we’ve already said, HYDRA has completely corrupted her, worse than before.” He glanced at Shuri, who frowned in concern. “But there’s more, she’s... cruel, she‘s going out of her way to... say things, it’s like she’s trying to...” he broke off, looking away for a minute before gathering the strength to finish his sentence. “It’s like her only goal is to drive me crazy with reminders of how much she suffered, how badly I failed her.”

T’Challa nodded in grim understanding. “Psychological, go for your basest, most primal emotions; protection and care of your mate. Cruel indeed.” He reached suddenly, planting a strong hand on Bucky’s shoulder. “You did not fail her.”

Bucky inhaled sharply and looked away, blinking rapidly. Giving him a moment, T’Challa glanced to his sister. “You will still be able to help?”

Shuri frowned thoughtfully for a moment. “I can’t say for sure without going inside her mind, it will certainly take longer though.”  

T’Challa nodded. “Take all the time you need,” he looked back towards Bucky. “You need to rest as well, for as long as this will take. Your previous quarters are waiting for you.”

Bucky hesitated, the thought of familiar surroundings, the quiet peace that permeated the air here was a siren song to his raw nerves; but he needed to help contain Lev first, if only to be the target of her harsh words and save the Wakandians from the brunt of her malice.  

T’Challa understood. “Let’s get Levka settled first.”

*********************************************************************************************

Bucky collapsed into the blankets with a pitiful groan. His body ached and throbbed, but that was nothing compared to the raw agony of his emotions.  

Understanding what they intended, and not willing to cooperate in the slightest, Lev had been ruthless, realizing quickly that she was currently overwhelmed physically and instead going for Bucky’s figurative throat. If she couldn’t break away from the restraints, she could at least inflict this damage. She’d learned the spatial limits of the collar, keeping eerily still as the poison had spewed from her mouth; horrible descriptions of the agonies Lev endured as she fought to maintain her own mind and thoughts, the panic in her amethyst eyes as each successive round in the machine eroded her memories and personality more and more, the way she’d whimpered Bucky’s name at the end, her eyes unfocused and hazy. There was no way Lev could know what she’d looked like at the time; HYDRA must have either described it or, more likely, shown her footage of her own torture and conversion when she was finally pliant and docile, all traces of Lev gone.  

It had taken all of Bucky’s strength to not flee, cover his ears and run away and only Okoye’s threat of cutting out Lev’s traitorous tongue finally silenced her, the warrior swinging her spear-head dangerously close to the corrupted woman who glared daggers in return, her violet, violent eyes promising retribution.  

Fury had flared, white hot, in Lev’s eyes as the cryo procedure began but, as the arctic cold air had swept up her straining body a different emotion took over and the final tattered remains of Bucky’s heart bled anew as Levi looked over at him with wide, panicked eyes. For the briefest second it was truly her, truly Levi, and she was terrified of the cold, the dark, the silence that she realized was coming. Her first cryofreeze at HYDRA’s hands had been an abject failure, and the young Levi, known then as Nika, had spent four years in suspended hell, a purgatory that ruined her for any of HYDRA’s eventual plans with her. She was reliving that terror now.

As the cold had curled further up her body, licking at her throat Lev had opened her mouth, and the word please had fallen from her lips, a desperate plea to Bucky to save her.  

It had crushed what was left of his shattered heart and he’d been unable to listen as Shuri tried to explain what she was about to try, and T’Challa himself had escorted the broken man to his hut, watching with sad, sympathetic eyes as the former HYDRA assassin shuffled like an old man towards his blankets.  

Giving into the threatening darkness, Bucky closed his eyes, rigid body sagging into the blankets and, for a long time, he knew no more.      

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

End Effector: Or How Better to Serve our Robot Masters

Please note none of the links listed in this article are affiliated. I.e. I do not make money when you click on any of the links

Robot Music: A deeper ditch.

I have a friend who won’t listen to Spotify discover weekly or the Release Radar playlists because these are machine-generated suggestions based on our listening behaviour. “It analyzes that person’s listening history, focusing on the music he or she has played recently. It then compares that insight to the playlisting behaviour of others. Scanning millions of playlists, the system finds tracks that are commonly listed alongside music with which a user is already familiar, and then groups those tracks together into a new, personalized playlist.”

This is music suggested for you by automated analytic code within the Spotify software. In other words, as suggested by robots. This is your robot music.

I identify with that sentiment. There’s something slightly disturbing and slightly alien about the idea. But I do listen to my discover weekly playlist and I think it’s a great way to discover new music. Not the only way but a great way. I’ve been introduced to so much new music I would never have found myself. And, granted, it’s often more of the same. It’s always going to be in the arena of what I’m already listening to. The algorithm's help me in the direction I’m going. In the end, it’s a deeper ditch. Actual new music, the strange, unusual and exciting gets to me via different routes: chance hearing, human recommendation, reading, radio.

But the thought of the machine mind guiding us, telling us, governing our daily existence is interesting.

2. The Robots are coming. Oh.

I know it’s not really a surprise and everyone else has already “got it” but curiously public debate seems to be very focused on AI in the future being a threat to mankind. Mainly by non-arena experts sounding off? Hawkins, Musk. “Ware! The robots are coming!” Actually, they are on about AI but we know that’s just an acronym for “Robots!”

Since I don’t think about it too deeply then AI Robotics means:

Warehouse automation. Mesmeric

Lawnmowers. AWD lawn mowers

Vacuum cleaners. Roomba

Self-driving cars that might actually work

Writing music and writing creative prose. Well, prose. Turns out it’s a machine and not a monkey. Iterate, Objective: Shakespeare

Iron Man's Third Hand, DUM-E The one I love the most,

So, without much real knowledge or understanding, I think of a thing like a dumb animal. For instance that lawn mower. I can have it in my garden, doing the drudgery so I don’t have to. And yes, it’s a thing, a pet, a mechanical gopher. Tangible/ One day I’ll have that. The perfect lawn. the invisible yardman, the gimp in the garden. Maybe even a clean floor?

But it’s not that. These are only the end-effectors. ”the last link (or end) of the robot. That part that interacts with the work environment “ Wikipedia What is an End Effector? And to misquote whatis.techtarget “the part of the robot where the hand would be that interacts with the environment”. The intelligence and code that drives and manages these are sometimes not even present in the hardware. The hardware is only the visible presence, the actor and enabler of the automatons programming. The mind in the machine? The mind of the machine.

Think about it. Robotics and AI now keep your home warm (Nest), schedule your milk and eggs delivery, even try tell you when to have sex. (When to have sex) They even listening to you when you don’t think they are. (Google is secretly recording you through your mobile) And, believe it or not, they are now pushing out total accountability. Wirelessly linked average speed cameras will catch you as you speed your way to and from work, automatically generate, then send you a fixed penalty notice. No, I’m not bitter.

It really is too late. The rise of the machines is over and it happened while we were sleeping. It’s not the tomorrow you are waiting for, it was yesterday. And it’s only going to become more so as further systems integrate and exchange information with ever-increasing ubiquity.

3. What to do?

Well, you can’t uninvent a thing that’s for sure.

You can try hide. Go off grid. Cancel your social network subscriptions. Get rid of your smartphone. Sell your car, don’t use public transport, get a bicycle. Use cash. Get a cow, get some chickens, grow leeks. Don’t get a job. Don’t go to the doctor. Some will try.

You can get inoculated. You have the right to be forgotten. Become the shape of something missing? I just don't think it’s possible. That law may have intent but do we have the science? I don’t think even the curators of all those data warehouses know what they’ve got hiding in there? The cure for cancer? Or just 500 pictures of little Timmy’s 8th birthday party.

You can negotiate. Accept what you have to and reject what you can. Take some, leave some. Unfortunately, I think this isn’t going to work as well as you might hope. Sure minimise social media. Even get rid of that smartphone. That's a big step where living in modern society means ever-increasing integration.

You can ignore it. Yes, and that’s what most of us are doing. Going about our lives, enjoying this new way of living and of course tut, tut, tutting as I’m doing here. But getting on with it.

We know there is no equilibrium. Nothing remains static and as this new way of life accelerates those not integrated or engaged are going to diminish. There’s more than a few articles about what we are going to do with our time now mechanical beasties will be doing all the heavy lifting. Honestly, I feel the looming of the Axiom and it’s about time I get served my lunch in liquid form. Less tonic and more Gin. It helps with the softening of the bones.

You can deal with it. You must. This new reality that’s both endemic and integral to our way life is soon to become the dominating market for our palfrey skills.

4. Serve now. The robots are waiting.

I’ve already started. I serve a machine that keeps me perfectly occupied. A machine that constantly prompts me to serve its needs. I am its own personal End Effector. “Change the water”, “Add more beans”, “descaling needed”. The directions are constant, endless. I can only aspire to one day serve as mighty barista’s do. Yes, I am become an End Effector. And you too can become an End Effector

This new system has needs that cannot be met by clunky bits of metal or plastic. With our soft hands, limited interpretive abilities, perambulatory mobility and the capability to execute multiple tasks badly, we’re perfect. Whether serving a coffee machine or driving to direction. Well, maybe not driving so much since the robots are now building cars they can drive themselves. The world is turning into a Philip K Dick Short Story. Still, the primary interface between machine and man during this transitionary period. That’s us. This is it, This opportunity, this is the new frontier for us the humans.

Here, where machine needs man. It’s a match made in Metropolis.

[eggsaladstain]

can we uninvent cars that can be hacked

we went too far

we were foolish

please

we are not worthy

[musiconcrete]

From Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning,     please come flying. In a cloud of fiery pale chemicals,     please come flying, to the rapid rolling of thousands of small blue drums descending out of the mackerel sky over the glittering grandstand of harbor-water,     please come flying. Whistles, pennants and smoke are blowing. The ships are signaling cordially with multitudes of flags rising and falling like birds all over the harbor. Enter: two rivers, gracefully bearing countless little pellucid jellies in cut-glass epergnes dragging with silver chains. The flight is safe; the weather is all arranged. The waves are running in verses this fine morning.     Please come flying. Come with the pointed toe of each black shoe trailing a sapphire highlight, with a black capeful of butterfly wings and bon-mots, with heaven knows how many angels all riding on the broad black brim of your hat,     please come flying. Bearing a musical inaudible abacus, a slight censorious frown, and blue ribbons,     please come flying. Facts and skyscrapers glint in the tide; Manhattan is all awash with morals this fine morning,     so please come flying. Mounting the sky with natural heroism, above the accidents, above the malignant movies, the taxicabs and injustices at large, while horns are resounding in your beautiful ears that simultaneously listen to a soft uninvented music, fit for the musk deer,     please come flying. For whom the grim museums will behave like courteous male bower-birds, for whom the agreeable lions lie in wait on the steps of the Public Library, eager to rise and follow through the doors up into the reading rooms,     please come flying. We can sit down and weep; we can go shopping, or play at a game of constantly being wrong with a priceless set of vocabularies, or we can bravely deplore, but please     please come flying. With dynasties of negative constructions darkening and dying around you, with grammar that suddenly turns and shines like flocks of sandpipers flying,     please come flying. Come like a light in the white mackerel sky, come like a daytime comet with a long unnebulous train of words, from Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning,     please come flying.

Invitation To Miss Marianne Moore by Elizabeth Bishop

[jslilley]

Invitation To Miss Marianne Moore, by Elizabeth Bishop

From Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning,     please come flying. In a cloud of fiery pale chemicals,     please come flying, to the rapid rolling of thousands of small blue drums descending out of the mackerel sky over the glittering grandstand of harbor-water,     please come flying. Whistles, pennants and smoke are blowing. The ships are signaling cordially with multitudes of flags rising and falling like birds all over the harbor. Enter: two rivers, gracefully bearing countless little pellucid jellies in cut-glass epergnes dragging with silver chains. The flight is safe; the weather is all arranged. The waves are running in verses this fine morning.     Please come flying. Come with the pointed toe of each black shoe trailing a sapphire highlight, with a black capeful of butterfly wings and bon-mots, with heaven knows how many angels all riding on the broad black brim of your hat,     please come flying. Bearing a musical inaudible abacus, a slight censorious frown, and blue ribbons,     please come flying. Facts and skyscrapers glint in the tide; Manhattan is all awash with morals this fine morning,     so please come flying. Mounting the sky with natural heroism, above the accidents, above the malignant movies, the taxicabs and injustices at large, while horns are resounding in your beautiful ears that simultaneously listen to a soft uninvented music, fit for the musk deer,     please come flying. For whom the grim museums will behave like courteous male bower-birds, for whom the agreeable lions lie in wait on the steps of the Public Library, eager to rise and follow through the doors up into the reading rooms,     please come flying. We can sit down and weep; we can go shopping, or play at a game of constantly being wrong with a priceless set of vocabularies, or we can bravely deplore, but please     please come flying. With dynasties of negative constructions darkening and dying around you, with grammar that suddenly turns and shines like flocks of sandpipers flying,     please come flying. Come like a light in the white mackerel sky, come like a daytime comet with a long unnebulous train of words, from Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning,     please come flying.

[dtmacgxstorys]

Ithaqua X Reader!

This is an Ithaqua X Gender Neutral Reader! (No Plan, Just Write!)

Note: Yes, More Ithaqua! I just Love Owl Boi! >//.//<

You & your friends head of a ruthless killer stalking in the nearby woods, It's also been unnaturally cold since the rumors started. You & your friends decide to spend some time in the woods, considering your family's wouldn't care if any of you went missing. You've been walking for a long while, going deeper in the dark, cold woods. "Why is it getting colder the deeper we go?" One of your friends asked. "Hey, Look, a house!" Another said, pointing in the direction of a small building. ".. guys, is that a lone gravestone?" Your 3ed friend asked, pointing to a small clearing. All 4 of you walk over to it, but you can't read what it says.

"Well, I say we go in the house and out of the cold." One friend said, and the another two follow. "I'll be in shortly." You say as you keel down to try to read headstone. "Who lived here, away from everyone?" You said before getting up & heading into the small house. When you get inside, your friends have already started to fire. "Hey, Y/N, come look at this cute guy in this picture!" "And I bet if we do see the killer, you'll probably think they are attractive as well." You say, rolling your eyes, walking over to them. You look down at the picture & blush a little.

The first night was uninventful. In the morning, the two friends who brought bow an arrow with them when out hunting. You & your friend when to get more wood, you feel like you're being watched. "Ok, *huf* I think this is enough for a week, lets go back." You help carry the wood back to the house. "... something doesn't feel really." You say. "We in the woods where serial killer might be hiding." Your friend says, continuing their way to the house. You put the wood in the house & say: "please stay here, i'm just gonna look around the house real quick." "oh, o-ok." You step outside, not even sure why you feel the need to look around.

You look up in one of the trees & you see an owl sleeping. You can't help but smile at the site. You were starting to relax until you hear your friends scream. "Shit!" You ran back into the house. "...well, I guess we didn't need to get as much wood as we did." "I know you said you were depressed, but how can you not care that one of our friends was just murdered?" "Because that's why we were!?" "...right." You say, shaking. You both hear another scream, but this time, it was closer to the house you two are in. "Sh-Shit! I-I d-don't w-w-want t-to die h-here!" You say. Your friend gets up & quickly says: "then go hide somewhere."

You run into a room into a room in the back of the house, it's a simple but nice-looking bedroom. You go into the closet & hide in the plile of old clothes. Just as you have yourself buried in the clothes, you hear the front door slam open. "Why must you have a mask? Afraid somebody might recognize you?" You hear two clicks & then the video of the kill. "Oh shut up, no one deserves to see my face." You hear a thud, you assume that was your friend's body hitting the floor. You hear a couple of clicks getting closer to you & then he says: "three, three, I know I saw four people come in here. Oh, where could you be?" You hear him slowly approaching where you are, but before he comes into the room you're in, you hear an owl cell out. "Umm, do you know something I don't, little one?" You hear him start leave. "Doesn't deserve to die you say? I know that you're older than I can understand, but really?" You hear the owl cell out before flying off. "Hehe well, I guess it's your luck day, you get to live an encounter with me, Ithaqua! hehahaha"

You hear the door closed, but you say in the pile of clothes, shaking, crying. You must have fallen asleep because you wake up on a couch in front of the fire. You quickly sit up. You hear something land on the back of the couch next to you. It's the owl you sew earlier. You reach your hand out to pet it & say: "oh, helo there!" It seems to like you petting it. "She's pretty, it's she?" You jumb & turn to the voice. You see a hooded man with a mask that kind of looks like an owl's face & the fake that his hood had existed fabric on it that looked like ears, he just looked more like an animal than a person. You move to the other end of the couch, away from him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." ".. y-you're the o-one w-who k-killed my f-friends?" "Oh, rrriiight, ..uummmn" He says, looking at the fire. "W-Why didn't you kill me?" "She doesn't want me to." He says, looking past you at the owl. You look at her. "Y-you can understand her?" He looks back at the fire. "Yes."

You pet her some more. "Thank you." There was a long & awkward silence. He brought the silence by asking: ".. are you hungry?" "Hamm? Um, a little." He gets up & heads to the kitchen. You decide to follow him. "... ssoooo, I'm Y/N, by the way." "Ummm, whatever darling." You can't help but blush hearing him cell you that. "*huph* so what's you making, Asshole?" "All I have right now is deer stakes, no fruits or vegetables. Is that ok with you, Y/N." Him saying your name made your heart skip a beat. "...uuummmm y-yeah." You say as you had to the table. The owl flys over the chair next to you. "She have a name?" "She wouldn't tell me & she doesn't want to be given one." "Oh." Is all you said as you petted her.

"So... why did you & your friends come into the woods?" He asked. "...um... we um.... our families don't care about us, we only had each other." ".hummm" "... was this place always been your home?" He pauses for a while. "...yes." You look out the window & you can see the headstone. "... do you want some water?" "Yes, thank you." "You're welcome." He says as he fills a class & brings it to you. You only take a couple of sips, waiting for him to be done cooking. Eventually, he brings you the plate of cooked deer meat & puts it in front of you, then sits across from you. "Thank you." "You're welcome. ... I just someone will see my face after all these years." He says as he pulls his mask off & his hood falls off as well. He's even more beautiful than the picture of him. "Hehe you know it's rude to stare, darling." You look away from him, taking a sip of your water. ".. you know, your not that bad to look at either." You almost choke on your water. "Haha I'm sorry, are you ok?" "*Cough* umhu y-yeah." You try to hide your face as you eat.

When you finish eating, he gets up, takes your dishes & cleans them. "Soo, where am I going to sleep?" "The room you were hiding in." "Oh, ok." You get up & start heading to the room. "Tired already?" He asked, walking over to you. "I-I uummm" "Why are you so nervous, darling?" He asked as a claw grazes you check. You shiver. He walks away from you, saying: "just so you know, that's my room, I won't try anything but, I will be in there to sleep later." "What!? Isn't there somewhere else I can sleep, I see another door and-" "Don't Go In That Room!" You jumbled. "Sorry, that was my mom's room, I want it left how it was." "Oh, ...ok." You say, going into his room. "Sweet dreams, Y/N!" You hear him cell to you before you start drifting off.

End!

It's 4:35am! 🫠

This feels more like a creepypasta fan fick than anything.