#corona cases number

[neil-gaiman]

Hullo mr. Gaiman!

Sure as hell you receive quite the number of asks, can only hope you’ll see this one. It may be my second ask of this kind and I’m not trying to spam but I happen to have… slightly miscalculated something. Trying to ask does no harm though.

Some time ago, like a bit more than a month, I sent you an ask saying that I’d mailed you a drawing, but there’d been a bit of a mess with the address and I couldn’t be sure wether you’d receive it, asking if I could send it here just in case. You did answer (thanks!) and I did send it some time after, cause well I kinda was on a stage in the meantime, so I guess you didn’t see that at all, and well. I underestimated my curiosity ‘bout what you’d think of it. A Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall-sized bit of curiosity. It’d just be really really really cool if I had the certainty you saw this drawing here. It has some meaning to me, at least. It’s only that like, I use art as my only way to express positive emotions since I was quite little, I seem to be learning only now at almost 21 (and thanks to your works I’d add) to do so other ways than that. My approach to life seems to have been a bit of a mess since… well, always. And a bit of an unusual life it’s been. So here it is:

Some of it is charcoal, some is sewn, some is sand. I just kinda skipped the choosing-technique part.

Thank you again,

V.

It looks like real art and it looks like me as well.

[abigail-pent]

Thoughts on HTN Act Four on my ??th reread:

- Harrow says "You cannot build in the River. It is a dimension of perpetual flux. Defined space is nonsense here. You might as well try to wall off Time with bricks and mortar." Which hits VERY DIFFERENT after Nona when we physically see a Tower rising from the River - this is way more like bricks and mortar than Pal's bubble even! IS THIS A CHEEKY LITTLE FORESHADOW OF WHAT THE TOWER IS???

- I think it's so fucking funny that Harrow tells her lobotomized self to silence Judith, like she knew Judith was going to speak her inconvenient mind no matter what

- There are 24 total letters. One for Harrow, one for Ianthe, one for Ianthe to give to Gideon Nav if met, one for Cam, one in case Harrow met Judith, one in case Harrow met Corona .... so like most of the letters went unopened. What happened to them? They went into the River but did anyone pick them up?

- Teacher says: "When the work was done, when I was finished and so were they, and the new Lyctors found out the price, they bade him kill the saltwater creature before she could do them harm." This still makes no sense.

We know (from Chapter 37) that "the price" is one of a set of John's lies - that the RBs would chase them and destroy them for the indelible sin of Lyctorhood. But that only explains why they thought Alecto would harm them if they knew Alecto was an RB (truth), and they thought RBs hunt Lyctors (lie). Throughout HTN, Augustine and Mercy both appear to know a lot more about John's motives than John tells Harrow, but we don't actually know if they learned this, or the history of the ten billion, from John or from BoE. When they had Alecto locked into the Tomb, they certainly didn't know that Alecto is John's cavalier, or else the big reveal about Alecto's and John's eyes would not have been such a big deal ten thousand years later. What did John tell them at the time? "Oh hey RBs kill Lyctors and we've been hanging out with one this whole time?" I don't think so! Did they just randomly guess there was an RB in their midst? Seems unlikely! So why did they suddenly turn on Alecto?

- When Augustine says Harrow's call sign is H, just H - is that him taking pity on her (knowing what her cavalier's name should be and choosing not to use the initial G), or him condescending to her because she is not a complete Lyctor?

- When Alecto learns that Varun is coming and she's astonished that it's happening... this is very interesting. She shouldn't be surprised if she already knows the RBs are chasing her and trying to get to her, but her astonishment makes it seem like she doesn't actually know this.

- the way Harrow prays that Ianthe isn't the traitor.... hmmmmmmm

- Cytherea tried to bodily go to the surface of an RB and failed, having gone "mad for weeks"

- Cyrus died before Ulysses and Cassiopeia. When he drove the corpus into a black hole, Ulysses drove the brain through the stoma and Cassy dropped the body into the River alongside the brain; which means Cyrus was the first to go. (Though obviously Cassy's death was faked.)

- The way Mercy describes the RBs: #2 sounds like Mercury (quicksilver), #6 sounds like Uranus (sphincters), #4 sounds like Venus (a humanoid creature with a beautiful face) #1 sounds like ... I don't know, maybe Mars (looked to Mercy like a great and incoherent machine, with a great tail and a thousand broken pillars on its back; looked to Cassy like a mechanical monster with swords for wings and great horns, tesselated over with graves; both of these say "war machine" to me), #8 sounds like either Jupiter or Neptune (a giant head, finned like a fish, teeth protruding from its own skull - fish suggests ocean/Neptune; red with a big green eye - eye suggests Jupiter), #7 looks like Neptune because it's blue but I think it's actually Saturn (who is classed as a Varunian god, who ate his children, and of course we know from NTN that #7 is named Varun the Eater), whatever number Alecto is is Earth, and that leaves Pluto and either Jupiter or Neptune unnumbered and undescribed. I'd guess Alecto is #9, which leaves #3 and #5.

- Augustine says Mercy's House "suckles at the stoma like a damned teat." We know the Second House drains thanergy to turn it into thalergy and the Eighth House is the opposite of the Second in that way; so it drains - or sucks - thalergy. Which is hella fucking curious because it suggests that the power on the other side of the stoma may actually be **thalergy**. But when you think about it, that actually starts to make sense. John says that the other side of the stoma is "a genuinely chaotic space," "a portal to the place I cannot touch, somewhere I don't fully comprehend, where my power and my authority are utterly meaningless," and that "no ghosts venture deeper than the bathyrhoic layer." What could be more chaotic than a fount of pure life energy - afterlife energy, even? What could take the wind out of John's sails more, or contradict his power more, than a source of actual, eternal life? We know from GTN that death has to connect to life, and life to death; death can't be linked up to death like that, the opposites call to one another. And we know for certain that the force on the other side of the stoma calls to John, who is a great conduit of thanergy, and the Resurrection Beasts, who are massive, planet sized pools of thanergy. I think the stoma opens for them because they're Big Thanergy and the stoma is the gate to Big Thalergy.

Also: we don't actually know that no ghosts get all the way down to the bottom of the River except if they're like really evil, which is what John posits. We know we do not see ghosts at the bottom of the River. It doesn't follow that ghosts just choose not to go there. This fact could also be explained if the Big Thalergy on the other side of the stoma is pulling all the nearby ghosts through. Classic causal inference fail - John has the direction of the causal relationship backwards.

- John can't project his soul into the River and enter the "senseless state" because then Alecto would come to the fore and take over his body.

- Harrowhark has never had a father figure - or a figure who wanted to be her father - except he tried to kill her.

- Harrow saying she's not a person because she's a chimera or a war crime... ohh... 😭😭😭

- John says he designed the Tomb *with* Anastasia and never wanted it opened from either end, yet at the end of NTN we find Anastasia's body in there with Alecto... so either the Tomb was always openable by Anastasia or John knew she would die in there.

[fatihulusoy]

Greetings folks! Did somebody say fungus bots? its time to spore some trouble i guess :) ok it wasnt funny i get it.. Anyways meet with new fungus based biohybrid bot..

before i start to explain how its works lets take a look at its backstory shall we?

The idea was almost age old actually, experimentation of soft body robotics and bio robotics and today its reshape as we see biohybrid robotics with the search for more sustainable, self-healing, and biodegradable materials. Traditional robots are often made from synthetic materials and metals, which can be rigid, non-biodegradable, and challenging to repair. The researchers at Cornell University sought to overcome these limitations by integrating biological elements into robotic systems.

The team turned to mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, which has the unique ability to grow, self-repair, and biodegrade. Mycelium is also known for its strength and flexibility, making it an ideal candidate for use in soft robotics. By embedding mycelium within a network of sensors and actuators, the researchers created a biohybrid bot capable of sensing its environment and responding to stimuli, all while being environmentally friendly.

This fungus bot represents a significant step towards more sustainable robotics, demonstrating how living organisms can be harnessed to create innovative and eco-friendly technologies. The research also opens up possibilities for robots that can grow, adapt, and repair themselves in ways that conventional robots cannot, potentially revolutionizing fields such as environmental monitoring, agriculture, and even healthcare.

there is four actual elements that actually runs this bot besides of shell.

Fungus's Mycelium

Fungus's slug

UV light or UV array in the sun light

Electricity (it seperates as fungus related electrical pulse and electricity waves from censors)

firstly lets start with fungus mycelium: Mycelia are the underground vegetative part of mushrooms, and they have a number of advantages. They can grow in harsh conditions. They also have the ability to sense chemical and biological signals and respond to multiple inputs. so basically its neural system that transfers certain commands of activities between root and fungus itself

its slug is basically fungus's cell system or actual biohybrid organism it this case

once mycelium gets affected by UV lights it generates small electricity pulses to slug system and when slugs gets electrocuted by these pulses it acts like a muscle basically and it causes the slug to move or contract its muscles to activate.

and once you figure out how you gonna shape its muscle system and house them carefully you will have a "biohybrid robot" as their terms

the reason im taking this now is it reminded me "Fungus Baby Experiments" which is an inside name for series of projects that been continued for a while after corona until now.. Simply, the goal was to create or adapt an organism to thrive in different environments and make sure these environments livable by humans in the future by manipulating with artificial and external factors. Google it :)

anyways.. thats all from me this time..

until next time..

Sources:

for fungus baby experiments:

[kneesheee]

I haven’t watched D4, and I’m probably not going to, but one line that I see floating around is when Cinderella says:

Some people act mean at fist cause they're too afraid to feel. It's survival, it's protection. That's why roses grow their thorns.

Who were the first two “good” people that we met that were “mean?”

Chad and Audrey.

We know Auradon isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Audrey had a mental breakdown and fell victim to a lingering curse and she was still punished by planning the wedding for Ben and Mal; the reason for said breakdown. Yes, it’s funny, but who would want to tempt fate like that again? Also, yall wasn’t scared that she’d do something to mess it up?

I’m not having someone who does not like me and had literally just said that she wanted to hurt me plan my wedding no matter how sorry she is.

Then we have Chad who this quote fits the best honestly.

Chad has been described as dumb, a womanizer, a jerk etc.

1. He’s the heir to his kingdom.

At the time of D1-D3, he was presumably an only child, meaning that at the time, there were no thoughts about how the inheritance to his throne would go.

This means any girl that succeeded in marrying him and birthing an heir has secured her and her family’s future with no threats.

(This is now a challenge due to Chloe’s existence; if the girl decides that she even wants kids.)

Chad isn’t dumb; he’s proven to be quite smart considering that he made a copy of Jay and Carlos’ dorm room key so that he can use their 3D printer. He’s smart about things that he prefers.

In D1, Doug describes him as someone that inherited all the charm and not much else.

For opportunists, this basically means: He’s an idiot. If I marry him and give him a heir, I can basically be the real power behind the crown.

Not sure how well that’s going to work because in the book Return to the Isle of the Lost; he does seem to care about his kingdom when Ben takes him on a trip there due to Madam Mim’s escape.

Also, it does show that he is concerned about how the line of succession moves if something happens to Ben, and I have thoughts on him, so that’s for another post though.

Back to the point, if he’s “dumb” and they want to take advantage, who wouldn’t turn it around on them? In the movies and books, he canonically had three official girlfriends and a lot more unofficial girlfriends.

1. Ruby Firzherbert; Second in line to Corona and Dark Kingdom.

In some cases, she could be the heir to the Dark Kingdom since in Frozen; Hans mentioned that his brothers were set to one day inherit different kingdoms, and it happened a lot in Ancient Greece that sons would have to find their own kingdoms.

Why not make her the Queen of the Dark Kingdom? It’s been about twenty years. It has definitely been restored to glory.

2. One of Ariel’s nieces.

Ariel has six sisters, and unknown amount of nieces so it’s hard to say what number she is to inherit because the only niece we know of canonically is Arabella. However, if we go with the idea that the sisters were supposed to inherit the seven seas like in the live action version, as a nod to their names and numbers and tails, then this niece would have also been secured in her own lineage.

There is also the fact that said niece could have been the one to inherit the throne to all of Atlantis.

3. Audrey.

She has two kingdoms. Her Father’s and her Mother’s. If we go by the live actions, she has the Moors. She’d also a direct descendant to Queen Ingrinth’s old kingdom. That gives her four kingdoms, but we’re going to stick with two.

Chad was very excited when Audrey wanted to date him. He drove six hours to her with a tire. They broke up in Return to the Isle of Lost, but he still immediately went to help her even after he spent so long on having Evie design his outfit for the Royal Cotillion.

So, the past how many years and months that Ben and Audrey had been together, which really sounds like an arranged marriage from the first book and her line in Queen of Mean where she says “she always thought she’d be the Queen”… then this means he’s watched the only girl he loved be in love with someone else. His best friend basically.

Back to the quote, in D1, we see from Lonnie that the Auradon kids operate under the belief that the villains loved their kids.

Stay with me now.

In D4, we learn that Chad has a younger sister. The early assumption was with the first three movies that he was an only child. Now, we move on to a bit more canonical side. He has a younger sister.

A thing that some mothers fall victim to is living through their daughters.

This gives Cinderella the chance to give her daughter the life that she never had. That same headcanon where everyone says that she spoiled him rotten to make up for her own childhood… it fits better with Chloe because again, Chad is the oldest and the presumed heir so he’d be having a bit more lessons in regards to the kingdom meanwhile he sees his Mother and sister going on another shopping trip or wtv else.

He sees her doting on what he can assumed is the child that she always wanted. He’s obviously not that much older than Chloe, so he could see the difference in how they are treated.

Going with the thought that villains loved their kids and under the presumption, that yeah, his mom loves him, but he wasn’t the child that she wanted… he lashes out.

a. Mal love potions Ben, causing him to publicly embarrass and hurt Audrey.

b. Evie tries to use him just like everyone else.

c. Jay doesn’t have sportsmanship, but he’s quick to take up for the girls. Something that Chad is doing for Audrey, and the parallels are staggering and not something that he wants to see at that point of time.

Now, this my own personal interpretation. You may feel differently. You can disagree with me just as I can disagree with you. That’s your personal right.

[funkyt-t]

On chapter 19 of nona the ninth and all clues point to nona being Gideon.

number 1 - The eyes

number 2 - Nona can't do necromancy

number 3 - Harrow is implied to not have come back to her body at the end of HtN

number 4 - Nona has a huge crush on Crown.

The eyes are the biggest factor I think (though crushing on Corona is a trademark Gideon Nav move), but there is a non zero chance that, somehow, Harrow and Gideon managed to perform the eightfold word perfectly (like John and Alecto have) and now have swapped eyes, which would mean that nona is actually Harrow.

These are my theories, I'm writting them down in case I'm right so I can say "Called it"

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

North To The Future [Chapter 4: Semi-Charmed Life]

The year is 1999. You are just beginning your veterinary practice in Juneau, Alaska. Aegon is a mysterious, troubled newcomer to town. You kind of hate him. You are also kind of obsessed with him. Falling for him might legitimately ruin your life…but can you help it? Oh, and there’s a serial killer on the loose known only as the Ice Fisher.

Chapter warnings: Language, alcoholism, addiction, murder, veterinary medicine, delicious Thanksgiving nomz, ANGST and let me repeat that last one in case you missed it ANGSTTTTTTTTT!!!

Word count: 5k.

Link to chapter list (and all my writing): HERE.

Taglist: @elsolario​ @meadowofsinfulthoughts​ @ladylannisterxo​ @doingfondue​ @tclegane​ @quartzs-posts​ @liathelioness​ @aemcndtargaryen​ @thelittleswanao3​ @burningcoffeetimetravel​ @b1gb3anz​ @hinata7346​ @poohxlove​ @borikenlove​ @myspotofcraziness​ @travelingmypassion​ @graykageyama​ @skythighs​ @lauraneedstochill​ @darlingimafangirl​ @charenlie​ @thewew​ @eddies-bat-tattoos​ @minttea07​​

Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist! 💜

Here’s the thing about the Ice Fisher: he doesn’t have a type. Ted Bundy liked girls and young women. John Wayne Gacy liked boys and young men. Juan Corona liked farm laborers, Belle Gunness liked suitors who answered the marriage ads she placed in Chicago newspapers, Robert Hansen liked sex workers who he would set loose in the Alaskan wilderness and then hunt down with his Ruger Mini-14. Everyone has their preferences. But not the Ice Fisher.

The first victim was a burly mid-fifties logger and recreational hunter named Josiah Wolfenstein. The second was nineteen-year-old college student Tammy Miller; she was from Sitka and studying psychology, a choice that now strikes you as ironic. The third and most recent victim was Carol Philips: forty-three, Garth Brooks superfan, amateur baker, and beloved soccer mom. They have nothing in common except for their manner of death. They reveal no pattern. They shed no light on who the Ice Fisher is targeting, and conversely who can consider themselves safe. Everyone is a potential victim. And there is no such thing as safe.

In between veterinary appointments, you watch the local news coverage on the grainy tv in the clinic lobby, your arms crossed instinctively over your chest, your face grim.

“You want some bear mace?” Jennifer says, showing you a small black cannister attached to a keychain. “My boyfriend buys a new one for me every time someone gets murdered, so now I have extra.”

You take it tentatively. “Bear mace?”

“Yeah, but it works on people too. It has a 30-foot range. You can spray that Greek guy with it.”

You laugh and clip the bear mace to your purse: a Coach patchwork saddle bag that your parents bought you a few Christmases ago. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Chief of Police Eugene Baker, a high school classmate of your parents, is holding a press conference on the television screen. “We believe this killer to be an adult male with considerable physical strength and knowledge of the outdoors. While the first two victims were found in Dredge Lake, Ms. Philips’ remains were recovered from nearby Crystal Lake, complicating the investigation. Police are patrolling the Tongass National Forest, but we simply do not have the manpower to surveille all Juneau-area lakes at all times. We therefore will continue to ask for the public’s cooperation in submitting tips and identifying possible suspects. To this end, we have set up an anonymous 24/7 hotline staffed by volunteers; the phone number is displayed at the bottom of your screen. We advise all Juneau residents to stay vigilant, particularly around strangers, and avoid leaving their homes alone after dark…”

Outside in the violet-and-amber afternoon light, there is the sound of tires slipping on ice. Aegon’s 1985 Chevy Nova drifts sideways into a parking spot; or, rather, into a position improbably straddling three separate parking spots. He and Sunfyre exit the vehicle.

“Oh, great,” Jen grumbles. She hides behind the reception desk so she won’t have to interact with Aegon. She busies herself with cutting pieces of paper into snowflakes, impaling them with paperclips, and arranging them on the miniature Christmas tree that you obtained for the clinic.

“Hey!” Aegon announces merrily as he breezes inside. He is dressed in his light-wash Levis, black Converses, and an oversized pale green sweater with holes in it; the white of the T-shirt he has on underneath shines through the gaps like stars. Overtop he has thrown the black parka you gave him, unzipped and peppered with melting snowflakes. Half of his hair is pulled back in a messy bun. Sunfyre—still wearing his cone of shame—trots along beside him, unleashed.

“Hey,” you return, smiling. “You’re early.”

“We weren’t catching anything, there was an orca pod in the bay this morning and it scared most of the fish off. So we docked the boat after lunch.” His spots the new addition to your purse. “What’s up with that?”

“It’s bear mace. For bears…or serial killers…or you. I haven’t decided which yet. What’s up with your hair?”

“It’s a man bun,” he says, somewhat defensive. “They’re very popular in Southern California.”

“That sounds fictional.”

“I’ll have you know that in the acclaimed feature film Mulan, love interest and all-around badass General Li Shang had a man bun.”

“Literally fictional.”

“Are you going to take the stitches out of my dog’s face or are you just going to mercilessly bully me? I’m very sensitive, you know. As an Aquarius, I hide this beneath a thin veneer of rebellious behavior and inability to commit, but at my heart I am a profoundly fragile man. I’m forever just a few seconds away from disaster. I’m a Christmas ornament in the unsteady hands of a five-year-old high on the jittery, saccharine rush of Kool-Aid.”

“Tropical Punch?”

“Cherry. But knowing you, every cup would have to be a brand new flavor.”

You’re still smiling; you haven’t stopped since he walked in. Aegon smiles back. Jen peeks over the top of the reception desk with wide, curious eyes. Sunfyre whines and scratches at his cone, as if to remind everyone about the true purpose of this visit.

“Bring the beast,” you say, leading Aegon back into the exam room. He scoops up Sunfyre with a grunt and places him on top of the table; the dog’s nails click against the cool, reflective metal surface. You liberate Sunfyre from his cone, then numb his muzzle with lidocaine and remove the stitches one at a time, snipping them with surgical scissors and then pulling them out of the flesh with tweezers. Aegon watches you with his hands in his parka pockets, his expression strangely vacant.

“He’ll have a scar, won’t he?”

“Yes, a small one. But that will just make him more rugged and attractive to all the lady-dogs. Or gentleman-dogs, whatever Sunfyre is into.”

“A scar on his face,” Aegon murmurs, then shakes his pensiveness away. “What should I bring to Thanksgiving?”

“Probably nothing. I think my parents have it covered…the appetizers, the dinner, the desserts…and also, you do not strike me as someone who cooks.”

“Yeah, I eat a lot of Lunchables. But I feel like I should bring something.”

Your eyes flick to his, playful. “Are you worried about making a good first impression?”

Aegon smirks, shrugs, says nothing. Sometimes you make an appearance at Ursa Minor, sometimes you don’t; sometimes you pick up when he calls, sometimes you end up spending hours in his apartment watching the X-Files or Law & Order or 60 Minutes. Other times, you fill your time with work, family, friends, flipping through the tower of travel magazines you have stacked beside your bed. It’s not that you’re ignoring Aegon. It’s that you’re trying to figure out what being with him would be like: what you would gain, what it would cost. He hasn’t tried to touch you since that night under the Northern Lights. You haven’t tried to pry into his many mysteries. But each unanswered question is like a landmine one careless step away from eruption, and they’re filling up that space that stays between you on his threadbare floral couch. At this precise moment, Aegon seems sober, which is highly unusual. There’s something quiet and boyish about him when he’s like this, something almost vulnerable. You can picture him wandering aimlessly through the Foodland, staring at mounds of Idaho potatoes and cans of gooey apple pie filling, having no idea what to do with any of it.

“My mom really likes flowers,” you say. “And obviously she doesn’t get to see them a lot this time of year. So if you want to bring something, bring flowers.”

“Okay. Deal.”

“No rum and Cokes today?” you ask, still removing stitches with sure, deft hands.

“Not yet. But I’m counting the seconds until we’re done here, believe me.”

You recall what he told you as you sat together in Ursa Minor under Christmas lights and strands of shimmering silver tinsel: I don’t do well when I’m sober. You pull out the last stitch and pet Sunfyre’s soft fluffy head. He pants happily, his tail thumping against the table, his trusting dark eyes gazing up at you, tiny starless universes. “Why did you buy the Nova if you’re almost always too drunk to drive it?”

“So I can take Sunfyre up to the woods on nice days. He loves the trails.”

“Um, I don’t think you should be hiking out there alone.”

“Relax. Killers never get the people who deserve it.” Aegon flashes you grin, digs around in his parka pocket, tosses you a gold key that you catch in fumbling, cupped palms. “Here.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a spare. Just in case you ever want to stop by and hang out with my dog. Or, you know. Me.”

You gawk at the key, at Aegon, back to the key. “You’re giving me a…? Why would…? How…?”

“Just so you know it’s an option,” Aegon says. He lifts Sunfyre down from the exam table and leaves like the sun at dusk.

~~~~~~~~~~

You love waking up at home on holiday mornings. There is the noise of clanging pots and pans, the scents of bacon and pancakes and rising Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, the sound of one of your dad’s rock albums spinning on the record player in the living room. Today, his Thanksgiving preparation background music is Third Eye Blind; you bound down the stairs as Semi-Charmed Life drifts through the house. After a swift breakfast—your mom has already set out a plate for you, along with a glass of ice-cold orange juice and a Flintstones multivitamin—the real work begins.

The turkey is slathered with butter and herbs and placed in the oven. The neck and giblets are boiled to make stock for gravy, and then you set them aside for Sunfyre. The rolls are baked, the potatoes are mashed, the yams are smothered with brown sugar and marshmallows, the green bean casserole is topped with French’s fried onions, the stuffing is Stove Top out of the box, the cranberry sauce retains the precise shape of the aluminum can it was jiggled out of. Once you and your dad have finished setting the table, you tell him you’re heading out to pick up the mysterious friend who will be joining you for dinner.

“Your friend doesn’t have a car?” your dad asks, not critical or suspicious, merely intrigued. You have been uncharacteristically cagey about this particular friend, and with good reason. You know practically nothing besides what your parents have already surmised: male, probably single, inopportunely sexy.

“No, he does. I just told him that I’d give him a ride.” In case he gets too hammered to drive himself home, which is almost a certainty.

“Okay, ladybug,” your dad says, folding the red cloth napkins into inelegant triangles, his scruffy grey eyebrows knitted together. “Whatever floats your boat.”

When you knock on Aegon’s apartment door, he appears dressed in his most festive attire: a blue Hawaiian shirt, black jeans, combat boots, a gold chain around his neck, his white-blond hair neat and mostly straight. He is holding a bouquet of roses that have been dyed a deep sapphire color, like the ocean, like biting winter cold.

“Wow,” you say. “You look like Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet.”

“I hope I get a happier ending.” He calls Sunfyre over. The golden retriever pads into view. He is wearing a meticulously groomed coat of fur and a blue bowtie to match Aegon’s shirt.

“Hey, buddy!” you squeal in delight, squatting down to scratch Sunfyre’s ears and cover his scarred muzzle with quick smacking kisses. “You are going to be so psyched when you see what we have for you. There’s a nice turkey neck…and a heart, and a liver…and a delicious gizzard…and maybe even some nice juicy kidneys…and I’ll slice it up all up for you into easily chewable little bites…”

“Calm down, Appletini,” Aegon says, grabbing his parka. “You wouldn’t want anyone thinking you’re the Ice Fisher.”

Back at your parents’ house, your mom and dad dash to the door to meet your enigmatic friend, clamoring like teenage girls at an Enrique Iglesias concert. Aegon beams and shakes their hands, thanking them graciously for the invitation. Your dad shoots you a furtive grin: This friend IS sexy! Sunfyre presents himself for pats and high-pitched coos of adoration.

“I’m Vince, and this is my wife Debbie,” your dad says. “But you can call us Mom and Dad, that’ll make things less confusing. That’s what most of my daughter’s friends do.”

“That is so totally cool of you. I’m Aegon.”

“Aegon?!” your mom blurts out before she can stop herself.

He sighs. “It’s Greek.”

“Oh, how exotic!” she recovers tactfully, then gasps when he hands her the bouquet. “For me?!”

“It’s the absolute least I could do. I hope you like roses. The options at the Foodland were roses, roses, or…let me think…oh yeah, more roses.”

“They’re lovely,” your mom purrs. “And such a unique color!”

“They reminded me of Alaska, all the ocean, and ice, and big open sky…and also Appletini. Because I always give her the blue mug.”

Your parents blink at him, confounded. “…Appletini?” your dad ventures, smiling.

“It’s a long story,” you say, suddenly shy.

“Well, come on in,” your mom courteously deflects. “There are deviled eggs, salmon dip, Ritz crackers, and pigs in a blanket just waiting to be eaten.”

As your mom and dad bang around the kitchen putting the final touches on dinner, you and Aegon assemble your appetizer plates and loiter in the dining room, nibbling and chatting, bathed in the flickering golden light of the woodstove and humming along to the red Third Eye Blind vinyl that is still rotating on the record player like a bloody planet. There are three unopened bottles of wine on the table. Aegon keeps glancing at them, his eyes gleaming and famished.

“Would you like a tour of the house?” you say. “An authentic Alaskan house? Come March you’ll probably never have this opportunity again. You’ll be jet-setting off to some other far-flung destination, probably somewhere warm where they have plentiful Taco Bells and internet.”

“I’m not a fan of the internet,” Aegon replies, piling a Ritz cracker worryingly high with salmon dip. “But Taco Bells are a must. Yes, lead the way, oh wise and prophetic Madame Appletini.”

You show him the kitchen where your parents are laboring (floral wallpaper), the study (more floral wallpaper), the living room (wood paneling), and the backyard (adorned with a salt lick for the friendly neighborhood cow moose). Then you take Aegon upstairs to your bedroom. He ponders the details for a nerve-rackingly long time as he gnaws on slightly-too-crispy pigs in a blanket: your stack of travel magazines, your veterinary books, your dark blue bedding, the photographs taped to your mirror, the plethora of posters tacked to your walls.

Aegon speaks without looking at you, still investigating. “Has Trent ever gotten to enjoy your extensive collection of Ricky Martin posters?”

“Not yet. Preferably not ever.”

Now Aegon turns to you; he is smiling. “I feel so sorry for him.”

“Dinner’s ready, kids!” your dad shouts up the stairs, and you obediently report to the table to eat until you are in agony, which to your understanding is the primary objective of Thanksgiving.

“Drinks?” you mom inquires as she lights the tall red candles. The blue roses are in a vase at the center of the table. “There’s Tang, and Snapple, and water of course, and Pinot Noir. Martha Stewart says that’s the best wine to pair with turkey.”

“Wine, please,” Aegon says. She fills his glass. It vanishes almost immediately.

Aegon is the perfect guest: he samples everything and offers enthusiastic compliments, even when he is clearly horrified (as he is by the green bean casserole): “The turkey is so moist and flavorful!” “The yams are like dessert!” “It’s so fun to poke this cranberry sauce!” “My, what a creative use of cream of mushroom soup!” Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Sunfyre feasts on a plate of turkey organs and a few slices of white meat. You have a glass of wine, and so does your dad; your mom has two; you lose count of Aegon’s glasses after four. He becomes increasingly uncoordinated, giggly, fogged like a window. Your parents do not encourage him to drink, but they don’t try to stop him either; they ignore his drunkenness like a ghost that stands in the corner of the room, silent, waiting, set ablaze by firelight.

“Do I detect a British accent?” your dad asks Aegon pleasantly. “So this must be a new experience for you. Did you grow up abroad?”

“I grew up everywhere.” Aegon smirks evasively, swigging his wine. “And yes, my exposure to Thanksgiving is extremely limited. But I like this. I like this a lot. I’m going to have to do it every year, wherever I am. Sunfyre will rebel if I don’t. He’ll call PETA to file a complaint.”

“You do quite a bit of travelling, I gather,” your mom says. She watches Aegon with an intense, mesmerized sort of interest. It’s almost unnerving. It’s like she is searching for something: fingerprints dusted at a crime scene, gold nuggets sifted from a river.

“All over. All the time.”

“What do you do for work?”

“Everything,” Aegon says. “Here I’m salmon trolling. In San Francisco I was a dockworker, in San Diego I was a lifeguard—you don’t want to know how little training it takes to be a custodian of human lives, it’s absolutely horrifying, they’d let a great white shark be a lifeguard if it looked good in red—in Phoenix I did construction, just outside of Denver I got a job working on a cattle ranch. In Dallas I picked cotton. In Portland, Maine I caught lobsters. I’ll try anything once. I just like to keep moving. As long as I can make enough money to have somewhere for me and Sunfyre to sleep at night, I’m happy.”

“You’re just like Jack Dawson in Titanic,” your mom sighs, smiling in a way that brightens her whole face. “All you need is the air in your lungs.”

“You work on the same boat as Heather’s brother Trent, is that right?” your dad asks.

“Oh, Trent!” your mom says. “He’s a hunk. He looks just like a long-haired Matt Damon.”

You squint at her. “Yeah, if Matt Damon did steroids.”

“He’s a nice boy, that Trent,” your dad says. “I mean, he won’t be winning Who Wants To Be A Millionaire anytime soon, but he’s solid.”

Your mom nods in agreement. “Dumb as a rock.”

“He’s a great guy,” Aegon says diplomatically. “Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Unless that fly was a salmon.” He laughs overly-loudly, sloshing red wine out of his glass and staining the tablecloth like blood on snow. Your parents pretend not to notice.

After dinner, your mom brings out dessert: one pumpkin pie, one apple pie, one plate full of Tongass Forest Cookies. Aegon samples both pies and gobbles cookies until his Hawaiian shirt is littered with crumbs, washing them down with more wine. Then he gets up to pull on his parka and let Sunfyre outside. Aegon lurches as he moves, clutching walls and counters and the backs of chairs.

“I’ll go with you,” your mom offers before you can. She helps Aegon down the icy porch steps and then plays with Sunfyre in the backyard: chasing him through the snow, throwing sticks for him to fetch, tossing snowballs for him to snap between his jaws. Aegon, wobbly but in good spirits, participates as much as he can. And the way that your mom looks at him…it’s an expression you can’t recall ever seeing on her face before. It is fascination and fondness and grief all tangled up together. The light in her eyes is beautiful; it is also breathtakingly sad.

Your dad taps one of the empty wine bottles. “He’s got a problem, ladybug.”

“I know.”

“You can’t fix that for him. He has to want to fix himself.”

“I know,” you say again, your voice a brittle whisper.

Your dad sighs deeply and clasps his hands together, stares out the window, contemplates something heavy and unseen. At last, he speaks. “I’ve loved your mother my whole life. And when she and Jesse got together, I thought it was going to kill me. It wasn’t the fact that she was with another man. It was what he put her through. There were fights, there were bruises, and then there were promises and apologies, past-due bills and handmade birthday cakes, locked doors, open doors, kicked down doors. I couldn’t get her to leave him, and I couldn’t watch it keep happening. I tried everything to get away from your mother. I joined the goddamn Marines to get away from her. Four years in Vietnam and I still couldn’t sweat her out. I came back to Juneau and used my G.I. Bill to go to the University of Alaska, and…I would never admit this to anyone except you, but you need to hear it…I waited for that marriage to fall apart. And it did, but it took Jesse drowning in the Gastineau Channel.” He looks at you with miserable, glistening eyes. “Watching the way your mother suffered with a man like that was hell. Watching you go through the same thing would be unbearable.”

There is silence: a silence as thick and perilous as the ocean. Your dad studies you, searching for understanding, for a rational consensus to be reached. You study the lines in your palms. There is nothing rational about what you’re feeling. Alaska is flush with eligible men who are not temporary, not secretive, not unrepentant alcoholics: pilots, truckers, fishermen, loggers, oil riggers, scientific researchers, park rangers. You don’t want any of them. You’ve never wanted anything the way you want Aegon. It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair.

The back door opens, and your mom and Sunfyre—elated and covered in snow—romp into the house. Your mom is giggling as she grabs a dishtowel from the kitchen and begins to clean the snow from Sunfyre’s fur. “You might want to…uh…retrieve Aegon,” she tells you. “It’s pretty cold out there.”

“What’s he doing?”

“Making snow angels.”

“Oh. Great.” You put on your own parka and head out into the afternoon twilight.

“Hey,” Aegon says from where he’s sprawled on the ground. He’s sweeping his arms and legs back and forth as stars rise in the sky.

“Hey. Are you having fun down there?”

“Yes.” His breath is a cloud in the frigid air. His arms and legs go still. “I love feeling small like this. Nothing matters. Not our pasts, not our accomplishments, not our mistakes. We’re all just bones with memories. We’re all just future space dust.”

“You don’t want to be remembered?”

“God no. What would be worth remembering? I want to be a whisper. I want to be the wind that blows over the ocean.” He cranes his neck to look up at you, thoughtful in that glazed, drunken sort of way. “You can remember me, I guess. I’ll allow that. But only you. No one else.”

“Assuming I outlive you.”

“You will obviously outlive me.” He holds his arms up in the air and you pull him to his feet.

“I think it’s time for you and Sunfyre to go home.”

“Oh no.” His face is filled with abrupt realization. “Do your parents hate me?”

“No, they like you. They like you a lot. They’re just worried about you.” And they’d be a lot more worried if they knew about the track marks on your arms or the fact that you can’t stay in one place longer than six months without being descended upon by maybe-metaphorical ghosts.

Aegon laughs wildly, almost hysterically. He reaches for your shoulder to steady himself and then stops short. He sways in the late-November air, his hair dripping from the snow, his hazy blue eyes all over you. You tuck his ever-errant lock of hair behind his ear. I love him, you think helplessly, like when you know you’re dreaming but can’t wake up. “Worried about me,” he muses without elaborating. “Worried about me.”

Your parents send Aegon home with warm hugs and Tupperware containers full of leftovers, including extra turkey meat for Sunfyre and a truly ludicrous helping of cookies. You drive to Aegon’s apartment building slowly so Sunfyre can stick his head out the back window and bark gleefully at every car you pass. It is dark when you get there, the sunset come and gone, the constellations visible in a rare clear sky: Gemini, Orion, Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. Your Jeep idles under the lusterless beam of a streetlight.

Aegon asks, a ghost of a smile on his lips: “You want to come upstairs with me?”

“Yes,” you reply. And if you do, you won’t leave until morning. “But not until I’ve talked to you about something first.”

“It’s important,” Aegon says softly, not a question but an observation, reading your face like a weather forecast: chance of sun, chance of storms.

“Yes, it’s important.”

“Okay. Let me take Sunfyre inside and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

He doesn’t kiss you goodbye, he doesn’t even hug you. He reaches out with one hand and dusts his calloused thumbprint across your cheekbone, marveling at you like you’re a radiant horizon, like you’re ancient ruins: cave paintings older than the pyramids, pillars of stones and secrets. Then he gets out of the Jeep and staggers into the apartment building with Sunfyre scampering along beside him. He reappears moments later, his hands buried in the pockets of his parka. You were too anxious to wait in the Jeep; you pace back and forth beneath the dim ochre streetlight. Aegon watches you from several yards away, waiting for you to begin.

“Look,” you say. “I like you.”

“Cool.”

“No, I mean, I really like you.”

He smiles like the sun, like the Northern Lights. “So you are applying to be my Juneau girl.”

“Yes. But I need something from you first.”

His blue eyes are calm beneath the streetlight, beneath the starlight. “Name it.”

“I need you to get help.”

Aegon shakes his head, not understanding, his smile slowly dying. His lock of bone-white hair cuts his cheek in half like a scar. “What are you talking about?”

“You can go to rehab. I’ll help you find a program, I’ll take care of Sunfyre while you’re away.”

Everything about him changes, like the phases of the moon: his face darkens, his eyes go steely and sharp, everything you love about him is eclipsed. “I don’t need rehab.”

“Aegon, you obviously need rehab.”

He glares at you with savage distrust, with betrayal.

“I need you to get yourself together,” you plead. “I want to be with you, I want to let myself care about you, but I can’t do that when you’re killing yourself right in front of me.”

“I don’t see how it affects you.”

“It does. It will.”

“I’m a lot better now than I was two years ago.”

“It’s not good enough, Aegon.”

He looks down at his combat boots, then back at you. You barely recognize him. “So I’m not good enough.”

“That’s not what I said—”

“It’s what you meant, it’s what this whole fucking conversation is about, right?” he flares. “You not being satisfied with the kind of person I am. You thinking that you get any say at all in who I am. Are you delusional, are you that goddamn narcissistic? Have you staked some claim to me that I’m unaware of? Are you Christopher Columbus here to strip me bare and claim you discovered me?”

“Are you listening to me?! I’m trying to tell you that I l—”

“No, you don’t like me. You like some hypothetical version of me that you’re trying to convince yourself exists.”

You stare at him in heartbroken disbelief. “Why won’t you let me help you?”

“I don’t need your help. I don’t want your help.”

“But I thought…if you would just…we could…”

“When the fuck did I ever promise you a future?” Aegon flings like a blade. “When did I ever promise you anything? You think I showed up here to build you some cabin on the side of a mountain, get a desk job, give you Christmases and kids? That’s not me. That’s never going to be me. I’m not yours to use. I’m not a Ricky Martin poster to keep tacked up on your wall. I’m not the impetus to bail you out of your spineless, unfulfilling life.”

“Please stop.” Your throat is burning; there are hot tears slithering from your eyes. The icy wind stings against your face. “Please just stop.”

“I’m not the one who fucked this up,” Aegon hisses. “It was you, it was you, because I told you the truth but you refused to believe it. I’m not yours and I never was and I’m never going to be, so you better get that through your thick fucking skull. I’m not yours.”

“And why would I want someone like you?!” you scream into the darkness. He flinches away like you’ve hit him. His eyes are huge and glassy. “An alcoholic, an addict, a coward who runs away from anything worth living for? I’d rather die than waste my life on you. Wait, my mistake, waste the next four months on you, because then you’ll be fleeing to go terrorize some other girl in some other city. I don’t want you. I can’t wait to forget you.”

“Then go!” Aegon roars over his shoulder as he turns away. “Just fucking go!” He storms off into his apartment building; he disappears like the end of summer, leaving a jet-black endless void.

You retreat back into your Jeep, slam the door, and sit there under the silver-cold moonlight sobbing into empty, trembling hands.

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 21 of Nona the Ninth

I don't understand why she did that? She knew it would be We Suffer listening and making the call on whether to shoot her, and that she would consider stealing Judith to be betrayal. I still have no idea why Camilla saved her here, other than just that Camilla doesn't particularly want her to die? Pyrrha had not appeared or said any codewords at the time she objected to the shot. Corona obviously wasn't collaborating with Pyrrha to communicate things to Camilla and Nona via codewords, I don't think she expected to see Pyrrha there at all and she doesn't know about the codewords, either. So I don't know what her plan for not getting shot was? Was she just hoping that Ianthe would take in Judith after she got shot?

This seems to be setting things up to say that Nona is actually Gideon, but I don't think that's correct, for numerous reasons. I guess we'll probably find out what's up when they get ahold of Gideon's body

I can't find this particular code. Going back to the beginning of the book, supposedly the code for "someone listening" was "fritters", but I don't see Pyrrha saying that anywhere in the last chapter

I did find these ones:

That's clever, I didn't expect those to come back, presumably the important resource is Gideon's body and not Ianthe's cigarette stash (does she still think smoking is cool after she decided to sacrifice Augustine to the Stoma? I wonder). But I don't think I would have been able to find those again without the Nook app's search function

Yes, they do give weird incest vibes

I'm surprised that We Suffer is offering to give them a shuttle and information on the Sixth House in exchange for Gideon's body - I think since she no longer has Judith, she no longer has a way to leave the planet and get to a place where she can use it to open the Tomb. Or does the wider BOE have a way to rescue them that they'll use if they get ahold of Gideon's body? It sounded like from what We Suffer said about the mysterious package she wants them to take with them that she is stuck

So yeah, John obviously made no attempt to resurrect Gideon, and it doesn't even sound like anyone is puppeting her corpse like Ianthe is with Naberius? I'd say he lost his mind, but I think we're going to eventually find out that that already happened 10,000 years ago at this point

I wonder if there's going to be some reveal at some point that John can't actually resurrect anyone, and whatever happened during the Resurrection was like, a one-time fluke, or Alecto actually did it, or something like that? Because he started out Harrow the Ninth telling Harrow that he can't resurrect the Ninth House because "the cost is too great" but it never became clear what he meant by that or why that was the case, and now he's clearly not resurrecting Gideon despite that being the obvious thing for him to do. I think there weren't any Lyctors other than Cytherea that died in a way where they could in theory have been resurrected: Cassiopeia was torn apart by angry ghosts, Cyrus went into a black hole, Ulysses went into the Stoma, and Anastasia wasn't a Lyctor

So the theory now is that they think Harrow would have reappeared where Number Seven is, and so they broadcast Gideon's body to get Harrow back? Except... during Ianthe's last interaction with Harrow's body, it was being occupied by Gideon. So maybe Gideon's body is also meant to lure Gideon in Harrow's body in addition to Harrow in Harrow's body?

I have no idea what the exchange is about

Was this like, 12 year old Corona suggesting making wards out of cum or something

Right, so obviously we're meant to interpret this as being code:

but I can't find any instance of "None" being used as a nickname for Nona in this whole book, and as amply demonstrated by this example, "none" is in fact a pronoun, which would make it confusing to be used as a nickname - it'd be like nicknaming someone "You" or something like that, there'd be no real clear indication when it was being used with its usual meaning and when it was meant to refer to Nona. So this seems like a really big stretch

Surely colored contacts are going to be easier to find than iris dye?

Anyway, I guess Nona is going to go pretend to be Harrow

[girlactionfigure]

🟠 Monday  - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

▪️INTL POLITICS.. Hossein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the PLO working committee and designated to succeed PA 4-year president for life Abu Mazen, met today in his office in Ramallah with the new British foreign minister.  A-Sheikh demanded that Britain act for "the cessation of aggression on Gaza, the introduction of aid and for the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip, “and the recognition of a Palestinian state.

▪️IRAN CLAIMS.. that Israel is operating a spy balloon on the Iran-Azerbaijan border in order to gather information.

▪️IDF MILITARY EXERCISE.. Jordan Valley.  Expected military movements.

▪️LEBANON EXPLOSION.. Wadi Khaled, northern Lebanon, on the border with Syria: a huge gas explosion.  Unknown reason.

▪️ECONOMY.. Google in talks to buy an Israeli cyber company “Wiz” for $23 billion.  If it closes it will be Google’s largest acquisition, and Israel’s largest hi-tech exit.

▪️SOCIETY.. Significant increase in the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox youth for nationalservice. Since the beginning of the war, twice as many ultra-Orthodox have been joined national service than last year. This year, 813 ultra-Orthodox volunteers joined compared to 492 last year. A total of 1,538 ultra-Orthodox members serve, among others, in security agencies such as the Shin Bet, Mossad, and the Israel Police, as well as in educational, management, and other positions.  

The numbers put them in line with their percentage among the population.  12,033 are from the Jewish general society, 5,356 are servants from the Arab and Druze sector and 1,938 are from special populations.

▪️CORONA IS UP.. a wave of Corona is going through Israel.  For the vast majority it is “just a flu”, but almost 100 are hospitalized with serious cases, 15 very serious (which is not a huge number - and similar to serious flu cases in the winter).  Doctors are complaining that the drugs to treat serious Corona are not covered by the Israeli health basket, and therefore of highly limited availability.

▪️HIGH COURT ORDERS PAID DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FOR TERRORISTS.. which outraged many in the Knesset, but the reason: a Knesset law on terrorist handling that says - Section 15 of the law states that "the hearing will be held in the presence of the detainee's defense counsel and if he is not represented, the court will appoint him defense counsel”.

♦️HEAVY IDF BOMBING in Gaza overnight, as well as many sites in Lebanon targeted overnight.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR OPS - TURMOS AYA.. Ramallah area.

⭕ INTERCEPTION OVER HAIFA.. explosion, rocket trail photo’d.

⭕ INFILTRATION? ALMON..  There was a Home Front alert for an Infiltration in the Samaria town of Almon (north west of Jerusalem) at 6:30 AM, but I’ve seen no follow up either of an attack or of clearing the incident.

[iamblue15]

Calamity Kids VS Kaiju

*(Pros)

-(Cons)

=(Equal)

*All the Calamity Kids will be at 50% power at the start but will go to 100 if they need to even the playing field.

-They all have a limited amount of time to defeat their opponents, so they must use it wisely.

Dipper & Mabel VS Destoroyah

*Destoroyah can split himself into smaller spider-like creatures.

*His Oxygen Destroyer Ray and Variable Slice can cut through nearly anything.

*Can absorb energy from his jaws or tail, replenishing and empowering himself.

-His stomach is the most vulnerable as a strong enough blow causes him to vomit blood.

-Is weak to extreme temperatures

×

*Mabel can create and command an army of battle plushies.

*She can create giant bubbles to trap and demobilize opponents.

*Dipper can generate different monster body parts like tentacles to aid him in enhancing physical strength.

*He can also create a long flaming sword that can nearly slice anything in two.

*Dipper and Mabel can create long-range attacks (Critical Rolls, Death Muffins, and Super Yarn Bomb) and summon kaiju-sized monsters (Enigmatic Beast and King Waddles).

-They must defeat Destoroyah as a team as just one of them on their own won't be enough.

Raz VS Spacegodzilla

*Can create and summon crystals from the ground and out of thin air.

*Has telekinetic abilities as he can fire his crystals at opponents like missiles and carry large objects with his mind.

*The ability to fly at high speeds.

*Can redirect his Corona Beam to hit his targets with his telekinesis.

*Can create a Photon Shield to defend himself.

*Can absorb different kinds of energy such as the crystals he produces to boost his powers.

-If any of the crystals in his body are damaged, he will weaken significantly.

-Isn't the best physical attacker and therefore relies heavily on his powers.

×

*Raz's psychic powers have drastically increased to the point he can telekinetically lift entire buildings and his psi-blasts can penetrate through nearly anything.

*Can produce about a hundred archetypes to overwhelm opponents and for a little more extra damage.

*Throws bad idea grenades.

*Can slow down time using Time Bubble.

*Raz can collect more psychic energy from psitanium or in this case, Spacegodzilla's crystals.

*With enough psychic energy, Raz can produce a colossal psychic titan like the one in the Meat Circus.

-Spacegodzilla can even absorb Raz's energy if he gets hold of him so he must keep his distance and strike at the right opportunity.

Lili VS Biollante

*Biollante can produce a drastic number of tendrils and vines for offense and defense.

*She can spew a highly corrosive acid that can melt flesh to the bone.

*Has an incredible rapid regeneration ability.

*Despite looking immobile, she is actually able to traverse thanks to the vine "legs" on her lower body.

*She can tunnel into the ground to gain more distance and perform ambush maneuvers.

-If she is damaged internally (especially if it's her glowing "heart"), it could be catastrophic for her.

-She requires water for her body to defend and regenerate itself, otherwise, she will be open to attacks.

×

*Lili's pyrokinesis has been enhanced to the point she can create a flaming storm of destruction.

*She can produce and control plant life to aid her in combat.

*Shoots projectile explosive seeds that detonate upon impact.

*If she builds up enough fury, her fire attacks greatly increase.

-Will have qualms about hurting a plant and since she has telepathy, can hear the thoughts of the human side of Biollante. (She was made from the DNA of the daughter of the scientist who created her.)

-If she releases her blue-flaming fury, she will have to go into cooldown and her firepower will decrease.

-Even though she's resistant to Biollante's acid, she can still feel a painful, burning sensation albeit briefly.

Norman VS Hedorah

*Hedorah can split itself into smaller Hedorahs to avoid certain attacks.

*Its sludge can be used to immobilize or burn victims.

*It's capable of flight.

*It produces toxic gas to suffocate or blind opponents.

*It can fire his Hedirum Ray from his eyes and cause painful burning.

*Its malleable body makes him impervious to physical attacks.

*It consumes pollution to grow and replenish itself.

-It requires moisture to function so anything like the power of electricity would cause it to dry out and be turned into ash.

×

*Norman can generate lightning to attack at a distance.

*He can summon hordes of hungry flying ghouls (big and small) to overwhelm his opponent.

*He can make himself non-corporeal like a ghost to evade attacks, this requires his full concentration.

*He can boost his energy by absorbing electricity from machines or in the sky.

*If he harnesses enough energy, Norman can take on the form of a large wraith, which also increases the power of his lightning.

-Though Hedorah's gas won't kill him as it would an average person, he could still be blinded and have difficulty breathing if he makes contact.

Neil VS Leatherback

*Leatherback has the strength to lift and hurl a whole Jaeger over some yards.

*It has tough plated skin that acts as armor so It can take a good amount of damage and won't falter.

*Fists are primary weapons and can tear through the armor of a Jaeger.

*Will resort to hit-and-run tactics and then perform an ambush attack on the opponent.

-Unfortunately, its EMP-like organ won't be effective against this opponent.

-Its belly is soft compared to the rest of the body and can be considered a weak point.

×

*Neil's durability has increased so much that a falling building would barely leave a scratch.

*With enough harnessed energy, Neil can create an extra pair of large arms that can restrain the kaiju or send it flying with a single punch.

*He can generate a shield made from his energy for extra defense.

*if he punches the ground, spiked rocks would shoot out like the Pokémon move Stone Edge along with causing a small earthquake.

=He is just as agile with his attacks compared to Leatherback.

-Would be at a disadvantage if they take this fight underwater and have to rely on his defenses until he can escape and resurface.

Coraline VS Rodan (Monsterverse)

*Rodan is capable of performing devastating aerial maneuvers such as barrel-rolling or sonic booms by clapping his wings together.

*He is extremely durable and resistant to intense heat thanks to his bio-volcanic nature, he can even shrug off a deep puncture wound caused by Mothra.

*Can ambush his opponents by hiding in the clouds.

*Uses a charging attack by swooping in with his beak or talons which triggers an explosion upon impact.

-Though he is durable, Rodan can still be impaled in the case of Mothra stabbing him with her stinger.

-It is evidently seen that Rodan makes very rash and reckless decisions such as taking on King Ghidorah and not aiming for Mothra's most vulnerable areas to finish her.

×

=Coraline matches Rodan in terms of speed.

*however, she has the edge in agility such as maneuvering from one angle to another in the blink of an eye like a dragonfly.

*She can fire homing shots at her opponent, particularly aiming for vulnerable spots like the eyes or inside the mouth.

*Coraline can generate lightsabers that can slice and pierce through virtually anything if she gathers enough energy.

*By rotating in wagon wheel fashion, her ponytail made of energy can function like a circler saw, carving through whatever's in her path.

*If she can pick up enough speed, Coraline can cause a devastating sonic blow upon impact against her opponent.

-Though durable, Coraline can still get temporarily knocked out if she takes the hit from Rodan's sonic booms and exploding charges.

Wybie VS Mechagodzilla (Monsterverse)

*Mechagodzilla is armed to the teeth with different artillery such as missiles, plasma punches, spinning blades at the tip of its tail and even grinding saws in it's hands and mouth.

*It's also equipped with jet boosters to enhance its agility and the power of its blows.

*Its Proton Scream can cut through buildings and even rival Godzilla's Atomic Breath.

*Its armor is highly durable against most attacks unless that attack is powered with some kind of powerful energy like Kong's axe when it absorbed Godzilla's Atomic Breath.

-If its link with Ghidorah's skull is tampered with, it will glitch out momentarily.

×

*Wybie can create whatever machine, weapon, vehicle, or tool he can think of out of his energy.

*He can arm himself with four or more robotic claws like the ones Dr. Octopus has to restrain or defend against his opponent.

*For a boost of speed, he can generate a powerful rocket-booster pack.

*Wybie has the power to manipulate and control electronics or machinery in the area.

-He can only take minimal control of Mechagodzllla such as holding it in place or using its limbs or tail against it.

-He, unfortunately, has lower defense so a Proton Scream could cost him a great deal of damage if he's not careful.

[bopinion]

2024 / 33

Aperçu of the week

“All we have to do is call our opponent a communist or a socialist or someone who will destroy our country.”

(Donald Trump. We'll see about that...)

Bad News of the Week

Since the end of the coronavirus pandemic - although there hasn't actually been one - I've been waiting for its successor in a slightly anxious mood. Another rapidly infecting virus that spreads worldwide, is potentially deadly and, above all, restricts all our lives again. Now it's here: Mpox. For the first time since Corona, the WHO (World Health Organization of the United Nations) has declared the highest alert level, a “public health emergency of international concern”. Because of the virus that was previously called “Monkey Pox”. Discovered in Congo at the end of 2023, it has now also broken out in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya.

The initial figures spoke of 14,000 suspected cases. Based on the usual 50% rate and the reported 500 deaths, this means that one in twelve people who become infected will die. That's a lot. So it's certainly a virus that should be taken seriously. One day later, it was reported that the first case in Europe had emerged in Sweden. Then the first three in Asia in Pakistan. It's the usual pattern: on the one hand, every infectious disease spreads faster and more uncontrollably in times of international travel. On the other hand, specific cases are only discovered when they are specifically sought or tested for. So the numbers will now quickly go through the roof. Because the spread is already more advanced than we know.

What will happen now? What will the states do? How will society react this time? And above all: what have we learned? There is a lot of talk in Germany about the need to come to terms with everything that has happened around COVID. Also to learn from the mistakes. There is a lot of need for clarification - for example with regard to the procurement of masks, the closure of schools, compulsory vaccination, curfews and unequal treatment in the retail sector. And what has happened since (drum roll please!): Nothing. What applies to politics also applies in private life. Some friends turned out to be conspiracy theorists, others were law and order hardliners, most were simply irritated and unsettled. There were even rifts right through families. Rifts that still exist.

And now we could all be facing the same situation, just as ill-prepared. And if Mpox doesn't develop into a pandemic, perhaps swine fever will spread to humans. Or bird flu. Or something else entirely, be it from the South American jungle or from the secret laboratory of some deep state. Or a revenant from the past spreads again - cholera still exists after all and first cases of polio are reported from Gaza. No, I'm not panicking. But I do have one or two worries. After all, humanity has shown itself more than once to be incapable of learning from the past. I would love to be wrong about that.

Good News of the Week

Venezuela is not giving up. It is wonderful to see how the people are fighting for democracy, no longer wanting to put up with the corruption of their “elites” and finally wanting to have a perspective worth living in. Just under a month ago, elections were held in the Latin American country, which could actually live in prosperity and peace but is suffering from dramatic economic decline, inflation and poverty since years. Or as investigative journalist Sebastiana Barráez says in the news magazine Der Spiegel: “Maduro has couped!”

Initially, the state electoral authority declared President Nicolás Maduro Moro, who has been clinging to power since 2013, the winner without providing any evidence - as is actually required by the constitution. The opposition has now had access to more than 80 percent of the printed protocols of the individual polling stations and has made them public. According to these, their candidate Edmundo González won with around 67 percent of the vote - compared to 30 percent for the incumbent head of government. So did Maduro commit electoral fraud? It looks like it.

The United Nations and the Carter Center had sent election observers to Venezuela. They have now criticized the election authority's actions and declared that the official result was not achieved democratically. The panel of experts speaks of an “unprecedented process in recent electoral history”. No wonder that most Latin American countries as well as the USA and Europe did not recognize the “official result”. And Maduro? He doesn't give a damn. The despot has further intensified the repression against the population with the help of the military, the National Guard and other state organs loyal to him. According to the independent rights organization Foro Penal, over 2,000 people have been arrested since the election. These include opposition politicians. And journalists. That speaks a clear language.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the US government has now offered Maduro and close associates of the regime an amnesty if they relinquish power. I wish the Venezuelans would keep up the pressure. And the international stage too. Until Madura and his clan really abdicate. Because then the country, which has already been abandoned by 20% of its population in recent years, could return to better times. In a survey conducted by the Gallup polling institute in December 2012, the country's inhabitants were among the happiest people on earth. It would be nice if this vague memory could become reality again.

Personal happy moment of the week

“Your application for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) has been approved. You are now authorized to travel to Canada by air.” Nothing more to add here. Taking off this sunday. Boy am I excited...

I couldn't care less...

...about the discussion that Germany “only” came 10th in the medal table at the Summer Olympics in Paris - behind hosts France and Great Britain, even though their populations are smaller. “What does it take for more medals?” asks the Tagesschau news channel. That is of little interest to me. Much more important is the charisma of athletes as figures of identification for a nation, the role model function for children, the motivation to surpass oneself. After all, it's not for nothing that the Olympic motto is “Taking part is everything”. In that sense, Eddie the Eagle really did fly.

It's fine with me...

...that the Democrats' party conference is now turning into a coronation mass. Because the most important decisions have been made: Presidential candidate and his (better in this case “her”) running mate. Normally, I would now say that political program content should not be completely secondary. But I don't care about that at the moment. The main thing is momentum. The main thing is optimism. The main thing is not to go back. The main thing is that Donald Jessica Trump doesn't triumph in November. Harris Walz!

As I write this...

...we're trying to catch a mouse. Apparently it was raining too hard outside and it wanted to get out into the dry. Now she's hiding behind a bookshelf and is afraid of us - even though we want to rescue her and set her free. Update: we've got her and she's fine. Second update: there seems to be another one...

Post Scriptum

It's good when someone doesn't look away but points. Even if it's about Israel committing an injustice. After all, you are then almost reflexively vilified as an Anti-Semite. In this respect, I am pleased that the European Union is showing more and more backbone in this regard. In this case, I am not referring to the maltreated Gaza Strip, but to the West Bank, where the Palestinian population is suffering more and more from brutal attacks by militant Israeli settlers - who can be sure of the backing of Benjamin Netanyahu's increasingly right-wing extremist government.

Once again, there have been attacks by extremist Israeli settlers on the population of the West Bank. And now EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has had enough. He will “present a proposal for EU sanctions against the supporters of the violent settlers, including some members of the Israeli government”. Including the government! That's a bombshell. I very much hope that he finds the necessary support for this. Because this massive problem is currently all too easily overlooked in the great shadow of Gaza.

[thenerdyindividual]

Going off the Darryl walking by with his case of Corona symbolizes COVID theory, that means upon rewatch you can tell exactly who in Glass Onion is going to test positive for COVID/Corona Virus when they get home.

In the pool scene there is a shot where Whiskey and Miles are sitting together. Both of them are drinking Coronas. Helen bursts into Darryl’s room where he still has a case of Corona and is drinking one. Then in the denouement Blanc is sitting next to Darryl in the garden outside.

That makes 4 infections: Miles (our infection point), Whiskey, Helen, and Blanc.

There’s also something so clever about Darryl carrying a case of Corona when “case numbers” and “cases” are the terminology we’ve been using since the start of the pandemic.

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 216 Trivia

This is my favorite panel from this chapter, sorry Whyman…

"The world's top two rocket scientists" — only because they didn't head over to one of the NASA headquarters in Los Angeles (~550 km south by boat) for more people to help them out…

Chrome's quote here is generally attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, from the book "Metaphysics". (Aristotle never says these exact words, it's only implied in the writing.)

Why was Chrome holding the flag? Was the flag-planting action to show the KoS passing new frontiers into space, or will it be a parallel for him planting the flag on the moon if he's one of the chosen ones?

Either way, that's not the original KoS flag, it's a copy with outlines.

The rocket's launchpad may be located on the opposite side of the bay to the large tree that grows out of the Soyuz capsule. At the very least, the side with Wavebreak Cliff and the Sapphire Cave doesn't seem to have large bays.

Xeno's scars disappeared so that we can fully appreciate his forehead wrinkles :)

The rocket that successfully makes it to space is attempt number 7, which is pretty impressive given that there's only 2 known rocket scientists working on the project.

This reconnaissance satellite is probably based off the first weather satellite, TIROS-1. It was built by NASA to see if satellites could be useful for studying Earth, especially in the case of natural disasters such as hurricanes.

You'll notice the unusual cylindrical shape, and the wiggle lines — this likely means that it's spinning like a top, which helps keeps it stable in orbit. Similarly designed satellites are the Meteosat 1st and 2nd generations, Hiten, Japan's first lunar probe, and Himawari-5.

At 25,000 km up, it's in a medium Earth orbit. The closest satellites to this radius are the GPS constellation (20,000) and Galileo constellation (23,222), both used for global positioning.

The KoS's satellite uses radio waves to send down the data, but early recon satellite programs such as CORONA simply dropped film canisters down to Earth in a reentry capsule (and then caught mid-air by a passing airplane).

We don't know what kind of apparatus Whyman uses to know what's happening on Earth, so we can't know for sure if they can intercept the satellite signal or not. If it /is/ possible, Whyman may not have the tools to decode the signal anyways.

Yellowstone may never have a super-eruption ever again, but smaller volcanic activity is still possible. The Gallatin mountain range is part of the Rockies, northwest of Yellowstone Lake. Due to tectonic shift, the Yellowstone hotspot is moving northeast, towards Gallatin.

If Yellowstone were to have another super-eruption, the ash cloud would cover most of the US, but the lava would only stay in a small radius of around 64 km. Since the population density is very low in the national park, there may only be a few unrecoverable statues.

China has a lot of wetlands, which since ~256 BC gotten drained to make the land "more useful", such as for housing. Cities like Wuhan are trying to make artificial wetlands to prevent flooding, since the rainwater now has fewer places to get absorbed.

Without people to keep up the irrigation channels, China's wetlands seem to have returned.

The Great Barrier Reef is off the northeastern coast of Australia, and after several thousand years has recovered and grown larger. In fact, it's the world's largest single structure made by living organisms, and is currently visible from space.

For the same reason that the desert in South America spread north, the Sahara got wetter. The wobbling tilt of the Earth gives the Sahara phases of more rain every several thousand years, turning it into a forest. Unfortunately, humans may have upset this balance at present.

The Perseus fleet grows stronger! (The) Medusa doesn't stand a chance.

Did they expect Kohaku to jump out the window like this? Because that's a lot of excess cable to be freely trailing her without going taut.

This isn't confirmed as this is a very pixelated photo, but the location on the moon here may be around the Eddington and Seleucus craters. The surrounding craters seem to have been enlarged and crowded together somewhat for the manga's image, but the positions are similar.

Interestingly, the Luna 13 spacecraft landed in a similar area to where the black spot is. Luna 13 was the third craft to land on the moon, and was carrying science equipment for studying the moon's surface.

Communication was lost December 28th 1966 after its batteries died.

[reflection-s-of-stars]

Harrow nova au thought (plus more thoughts later): if all the necromancer/cavalier pairs are swapped, the sixth and ninth houses will suffer each other’s fates.

So in the Ninth corner, you have Gideon Nav (Gideon Nonagesimus? Man idk), a self-sacrificing necromancer head over heels in love with Dulcinea, and is extremely upset about the big reveal. This is a recipe for some Very Bad Things to happen to our dear Griddle.

You also have Harrow Nova, who’s willing to do some unreasonable things to protect Gideon. This is a canon quality of hers, but here, it’s also been bred into her as Gideon’s cavalier. There’s no distance she wouldn’t go to protect her adept.

You might notice that this dynamic looks a hell of a lot like the Sixth’s in canon.

I think the way this would end is for Gideon to die fighting Cytherea (or maybe Loveday), and for Harrow, perhaps with myriad-old notes left behind by the OG cavaliers, to find a way to keep Gideon’s soul alive. Maybe she traps her in a river bubble (perhaps with a historical smut book), or maybe she does something else. Gideon is confused and hurt that Harrow won’t let her die for her, but she’s Gideon! Harrow has to protect her, she’s Gideon!

Meanwhile, with the Sixth, you’ve got Palamedes- also madly in love with Dulcinea, also self-sacrificing, and now he’s a cavalier, so that’s to the max. He loves Camilla, too, he loves her with all the strength in his heart. And we see that one of his worst fears is her getting hurt.

And then there’s Master Warden Cam, who’s an odd case. The insane level of devotion that makes her her might be applied to her House, but Palamedes would still be her number one. Permanently losing him would still be unthinkable.

And that’s a good recipe for a very bad start to Lyctorhood.

Palamedes tries to appeal to “Dulcinea” after Gideon is found dead, and the Sixth gets attacked for its troubles. Camilla’s badly injured, and Palamedes is angry- angry enough that he pools his thanergy and explodes himself, catapulting Cam to Lyctorhood. Between that and Cytherea’s (or maybe Loveday’s) weakened state (turbo cancer), Camilla has no trouble beating her, but her grief is almost enough to make it not worth it. And the prospect of immortality doesn’t balance it out if it’s without Palamedes.

It makes sense- switch around dynamics, and the possible outcomes are going to change. The devoted necromancer of a self-sacrificing cavalier will go unwillingly to Lyctorhood, and the devoted cavalier of a self-sacrificing necromancer will carry their soul to the end of the earth.

More thoughts on swapped necros, cavs and pairs:

The Fourth and the Fifth switch. Baroness Jeannemary Chatur and Sir Isaac Tettares are killed shortly after their shared birthday party. Isaac is fourteen, Jeannemary is fifteen. Lord Magnus Quinn and Sir Abigail Pent are heartbroken, but they don’t stick around much longer either. Abigail and Harrow have some version of the “why’d he have to get stupid now” conversation. (Also I need you guys to know that this Abigail is a weapons nerd who can use pretty much every offhand under the sun)

The Third is less swapped than it is rotated. Coronabeth is a flesh adept who ends up a semi-reluctant Lyctor. Ianthe is her twin and cavalier primary, who dies for her sister’s ambitions quite willingly. Naberius is their cousin who would’ve been sent to the front lines if he hadn’t claimed to be necromantic, but is left out of the twins’ scheme and captured by Blood of Eden along with Harrow. (You also need to know that Corona cuts off Ianthe’s hair to use it as a weapon and grows it back later)

Captain Marta Dyas is an extremely competent necromancer with accolades upon accolades and a great Trentham education and a brilliant future in the Cohort. Lieutenant Judith Deuteros is her cavalier whose dad is a fleet admiral. They work together very well, and though Judith does get her ass kicked by Palamedes in a duel, she holds her own against Teacher for long enough that Marta can escape. Marta gets captured by Blood of Eden along with Harrow and Babs, which is very good for her blood pressure. (Marta and Babs do not have an As Yet Unsent romance. She has a boyfriend back at Trentham. She gives him romantic advice.)

Duke Protesilaus Ebdoma of Cypris is a sick necromancer who’s realized he doesn’t have much time left. He’s taken a new cavalier to make his last days more comfortable- Miss Dulcinea Septimus, just out of school and eager to prove herself. They, of course, don’t last very long- Dulcinea is killed and impersonated, and Pro’s body gets wheeled around with a wave of the hand and a “my adept’s not feeling very well.” (You also need to know that Dulcie dresses like she’s in Barbie and the Three Musketeers and has a stunning array of very cool hats with feathers)

Speaking of the murder of the Seventh, I’m not sure what to do with the Lyctors. It makes more sense for Cytherea to be the one to impersonate Dulcie, but also! It’s my roleswap AU and I want Cristabel Oct!!! She hasn’t got the intellect ordinarily found in a sandwich or an orange and I think she should be immortal!!!

The Eighth is also there. Silas’s offhand is a net. That’s all I have going now, I don’t know or care too much about them

Wow this got long. I guess it turned into a whole Harrow Nova AU planning post? Idk I just really like roleswap AUs and Harrow Nova is fueling my love for them like nothing ever has. (Red OSP voice) So yeah!

[lemongingerart]

Hi Peb, responding to your 'get help'!

(((I made a separate post for several reasons. Lately, if I reblog something with extra content, it's just ignored. Also, this content has dirt on it. Lemons. NSFW. I wanted you to choose whether or not you want to be associated with it and how you want to get the tags right 😅))))

Ah, I'm sorry to hear that you're going through tough times! How is it that bad things always seem to happen simultaneously? I certainly feel you on the first topic though, right now I'm under a pile of blankets with covid as well. Tough mf.

We all sometimes need a pat on the back (or a bottle of red wine to share 🥲) so I do like this idea and dug through my Hux x OC fic for something shareable (because in all honesty that's the only content I have 🙃)

So… have this partially unfinished and unreviewed smutty chapter, that I won't be publishing this year anyway, because it’s so far up my fic no one will remember I shared this today 😅

(Oh stars, I think this is the first time I'm putting smut out in the open, and it's not even romantic, it's pure horny filth mainly for the ginger general's pleasure … but I'm too exhausted from corona to care 💁‍♀️💁‍♀️💁‍♀️ )

Tagging the moots, in case they're horny for Hux: @liminalpebble, @mylifeisactuallyamess , @morby - let me know if you want in

Wourd count: about 2 500

Tags/warnings: Hux POV, in universe but kind of AU if you read this separately, established relationship, Hux x female!OC (called Miko), hints of dom/sub relationship, boobs, dry humping maybe?, oral (m!receiving), a shoe.

Let me know what I forgot, because I most certainly did forget something (hence, corona)

'H, we got an issue on the eastbound production line' Miko said, barging into his office and suddenly standing next to his desk.

Armitage skeptically looked up from his datapad, not amused by her lack of discipline. Still… he thought he would never have to admit it, but he was getting slightly used to it. The annoyance towards her unprofessional behavior had dwindled, now only a minor hindrance and thus making him able to focus on the reason she stumbled inside his office in the first place.

"Lieutenant, at ease." He said, although it wasn’t like she was standing straight up anyway. "Please explain. Slowly. "

Miko nodded, but the way she pulled up her eyebrow made it clear she wasn't having any of it. Stars, each time she was besting his authority she was encouraging him to find ways to fuck her and he wondered if she was doing it on purpose or even by reflex.

She swiftly provided him with an overview of various calculations, clearly visualized on her datapad, while she was elaborating on the numbers with her usual passionate style.

Hux didn't hear what she was saying though. Although he was watching her lip movements closely. And the way her chest heaved when she took a breath in between her rambling. Hmm, he'd love to free up some time in his busy schedule to open the clasps of that uniform and feel how warm and pliable her breasts feel today.

Miko stopped her exposition. "You aren't listening, are you." She stated, setting up a pouting face and her right hand on her hip. He knew her enough to assume that the disappointment was at least exaggerated, at best staged. He also knew how to turn that disappointment into something much more pleasant.

"You’re distracting me, Lieutenant. " Miko turned a quarter when she laid down the datapad before him. She switched hands, planting her knuckles on her other hip. She frowned. "Distracting you? This is kind of urgent, otherwise I wouldn't barge into your office and disturb your heavily stuffed planning like this." He could swear she was mocking him now.

She sighed, waving her free hand towards the datapad on the table and ticking on the graphs. While doing so, she leaned on his desk and he could smell the champoo on her hair - of course she wasn't using the regulated one - and a hint of the tea they shared this morning.

"Still, you know what your lack of manners and disrespect do to me." He hissed, turning his desk chair and sliding her way. Miko looked back to him in bewilderment. Did she really not expect him to make a remark like this? She frowned for a second.

"Apologies, sir, for speaking before my time. " she then quietly said, blushing and turning her gaze towards the ground. He didn’t miss the flicker in her eyes, though, signaling Hux she was more than happy to play along. Stars, he never was sure if she did these things on purpose in the first place.

He did want to get that uniform open now, just a little bit to feel if he could make her moan with one hand in, kneading her tits and making her nipples get stiff between his fingers.

Outstretching his right leg, he locked his foot behind the back of Miko’s knee, coercing her to come closer. Hux hips had sunken more towards the end of the chairs seating now, making him lay back a bit. She followed his unspoken directions with baby steps, the closer she got the more blush apparent on her cheeks.

As she was standing in between his legs now, he raked his long fingers over the side of her figure. He could spot how she pulled in her lower lip, biting it as if it could stop her from breathing heavily, betraying she needed his touch.

He chuckled, he deeply appreciated the way she played her part right now. It was still a mystery to him how she could just… be who she was to him.

"I'm not sure if I can just accept those apologies. But I am in a good mood. Can your eastbound issue wait for another 15 minutes?" Miko only nodded. "Good. Because I'm going to solve another problem first." He whispered, pulling her closer by the neck clasp of the uniform. She had to bend her knees forward and he made sure her upper legs reached the chair, right before the center of his pants. The next friction created by her leg moving was no coincidence though, it made it clear to him she was aware of the boner in his pants and how she was more than willing to do something about it.

But first, he wanted to open up that uniform just enough to see her nipples come out and give them some of his treatment, while still some of the skin remained locked in fabric.

He pulled her closer even more, planting a kiss on her lips, the kind of kiss that is making her want more by the way she tries to pull on his lips. But he wasn’t going to give her those yet. He still had a firm grip on the collar, making sure she couldn’t steal away any extra kisses. The soft but needy complaining sound that escaped her lips, made him chuckle.

His other hand found a way to the clips of the uniform, expertly opening it up from under the collar to right under her breasts. Keen on reaching his target, he slipped his hand inside, pulling up the tank top she was wearing underneath. Still holding her by the collar and enjoying the way she looked bothered and desperate for another kiss, he cupped her left breast, fingers sliding between the fabric of her bra and her warm skin. The way they moved made him knead them a single time, before pulling down the bra and exposing her skin to the cold air.

Seeing her facial expression change to something even more needy, almost animal like, was his new favorite thing. While he was most certainly doing this for himself, pleasing her always gave him that extra rush to the head. Lately, in the afterglow, it made him realize that he would do anything to keep her by his side.

He repeated the process on the right side, this time taking in how both tits looked out in the open and if it was matching his recent visualization. Gods, he loved the sight of how tense they stood, all restrained through the fabric and the cold air. Matching the pout on her face.

He pulled her closer by the collar again, contemplating if he should kiss that cute pout from her face or not. Her feigned disapproval had proven to give him more inspiration before.

"H., s-sir… we really do have an issue in the eastbound.." she breathed into his ear, stopping mid-sentence due to the soft pinch he performed on her nipples. While he should probably credit her for not leaving out a sound, he relished in how he could control her like that.

He pushed her back, letting her neck go, making her stand up so he could appreciate the sight. The minute he saw realisation dawn on her features, she became to blush even more. "Lieutenant, how come that you always have such a lood mouth, but somehow this is the only way I can make you feel-"

BLIEP, the comm on the desk did, making Hux snap out of it and Miko have the strangest reflex he ever saw in a human: she dived right onto the floor, hiding from the visual receptors of the holocomm device. Hux sighed, turned his chair towards his desk and pressed the accept button to answer the call. He had made it clear he only wanted to be interrupted for urgent matters only, so he could not ignore the call.

"Better be something important, Captain." He started with a snide. He could hear Miko giggle from beside him and he almost rolled his eyes.

The problem with captain Gavin is that he thinks every gossip that happened in his department was of utmost importance. Another problem is that Hux, while higher in ranks, could not simply replace him yet. Drawbacks of running a mid-sized business compared to a complete fleet.

He sighed, annoyance apparent on his face, but still having a hard dick under the desk and a Lieutenant on all fours, tits out, next to him.

He subtly rolled his desk chair to Miko’s side, sliding his foot towards her and halting it right in front of her. He then moved his toes upwards twice, the leather of the boot making a scratching sound, to signal her to come closer. He saw her nodding in the crook of his sight, eyes wide, expressing she got the message. On hands and knees, she silently started crawling towards his foot. While Hux feigned interest in Gavin, he reached further and lower with his leg, the calf of his foot first touching her right boob, then making her crawl closer even more until he could settle his foot in between her legs.

Making sure her head remained under the line of sight from the desk, he turned back in forward position so she slided on his foot, under the desk. "Captain, explain to me why you're not wasting my time.", he asked the holo. Said captain resumed his reasoning while Hux tried to remain as boring looking as ever, while stars he could feel her grind on his shoe right now.

If there was something he really wanted to see, it was the sight of his favorite Lieutenant (the only Lieutenant he favored), half naked but still in uniform, riding his shoe and enjoying it very much. Sadly, he couldn't afford looking down right now, so he just had to imagine her boobs bouncing, her pants getting soaked and the leather of his shoe getting stained. He'll wear the mark throughout the remainder of the day with pride, something his old self would forsake him for.

Gah, he needed some depressurising for himself, and resume with what he had in mind before he got the holocall.

He subtly brought his hand down, fingers stretching and probing for contact with the only person he could trust down there. Almost immediately, he found her hair and pulled it closer in between his legs. That was enough for her to interpret the silent order correctly and get to work on his belt, all the while Gavin rattled about modulators and wrong versions and disgraces and what not.

Hux wasn't sure his face remained stoic the moment she slowly licked the head of his dick, making sure no precum got spilled. What he was sure of though, is that his right leg bumped the underside of the durasteel desk as if it was hit by lightning. That would sting later.

She had pleased him with blowjobs before, so the sensation itself wasn't new, although each time it felt as heavenly as before. That's why he knew she was taking whatever she would get, the wretched woman loved to turn him inside out whenever she could.

But this setting, with Miko under a table and he himself having to concentrate on acting like he was interested in captain chippy? That was completely new and more of a challenge than he had anticipated.

When he felt her make little circles with her tongue, obviously having fun and trying extra hard to make sure he won't forget this particular session, he automatically clenched his fists. He pulled her hair, and she took the action as encouragement, taking him in her mouth completely and slowly sinking down towards the base. Fearing this would be too much to handle all the while making the holocall, he brought his free hand up before his mouth, trying to hide the scowl that was forming. When she reached her limit, she started to go up again, sucking with all might and making him see stars. As soon as he felt the turn in her movement on his cock, he commenced curling his fingers and pressing his fist against his lips, to make sure he wouldn't start panting in front of the camera.

Soon, she started pumping his dick, following the rhythm she knew he enjoyed all too well, and he had to stop his hips from tensing and stretching. By a thousand suns, why was she so good at this?

"General, I'm sorry to disturb you, but have you seen Lieutenant Ylena? We have an issue in the eastbound sector and she wanted to be informed of the process." Sergeant K interrupted captain Gavin during his boring plea. Hux had to focus on the conversation again, now that two of his subordinates were in view of the holo. A daunting task considering how much underpressure she was putting on his cock right now - he could imagine the dimples in her cheek. Oh frack, he needed to answer now, so he pulled her still with the grip he still had on her scalp. Miko immediately stopped, but didn't let him go though, applying the littlest of pressure and letting him know that this game works both ways.

Hux sighed and answered the men in the holo: "I've just heard her, she's on her way up to me for some other matter. I'll send her over once I'm done with her."

Shit, she was definitely chuckling on his dick now. Then, she started doing little short sucking motions on the head of his cock, sending him to new heights. This conversation had to come to an end now.

"Captain, sergeant, I propose we end this debate right now and I will see to it that Lieutenant Ylena will be at your department as soon as she can," he blurted out, way too fast for his doing but he just needed to close the communication line and stop her from using her mouth and driving him to his peak so soon. In the meanwhile, he had come up with other plans.

He pressed a button and the holo disappeared. Now that he could move more freely, he brought his other hand down and stroked her filled mouth: "Shush, I still want you on the desk my little Lieutenant." He said with a crooked smile while pulling her back from his cock at her hair. "Get up while I lock the door. This time I will not be disturbed while I make you feel exactly how hard you made it for me. "

[sluggydrabbles]

FLUFFBRUARY 10 - SELF CARE TOGETHER

“So I just put the wet sheet on my face?” The dead girl who was sometimes called Gideon and sometimes called Kiriona was skeptical.

“Yes, it's not that hard.” Ianthe sounded only slightly exasperated. She demonstrated, holding the sheet over her face. The eye and mouth holes looked disconcerting, like Ianthe had flayed the face off of a person made of cloth. Knowing her, that was part of the appeal.

They were in Ianthe’s bedroom on the Cohort flagship, having a ‘slumber party’, as Ianthe called it. So far it had involved Ianthe demanding a truly obscene number of pillows be brought to the room and creating a comfortable nest on the large bed. Gideon’s—Kiriona’s hair was pushed out of her face by a soft headband and Ianthe declared it was time to finally address her ‘moisturization problem’.

Kiriona had always thought that her face was too oily, but when she said that, Ianthe had given her a look that made her feel like an idiot, so she stopped protesting.

“Just lay it on and smooth it over your face like this.” Ianthe said, oddly eager. She was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this whole thing.

Gid—Kiriona couldn’t help but laugh at Ianthe’s mask-covered face. “You look ridiculous.”

To her surprise, Ianthe smiled. “You’re so stupid.” For once there was no bite in the words, only a wistful sort of affection. Kiriona’s heart felt warm. She could get used to nice Ianthe.

She put the cold, slimy cloth against her face. It smelled floral, which made the whole experience more pleasant.

“No, no.” Ianthe said, grabbing her wrist as she tried to smooth out the mask. “Like this.” Ianthe’s cold finger—a flesh one—ran along Kiriona's jaw and under her eyes, smoothing the cloth. It felt nice to be touched like this, even if it was Ianthe. Her dead skin wasn’t as sensitive as it should be, but it still felt good.

“Thanks.” She mumbled as Ianthe took her hands away.

“Corona always wanted me to put the mask on her.” Ianthe said by way of explanation.

Oh. It should have been obvious. That was why Ianthe seemed different. She was a replacement for her precious sister.

Her conflicted emotions churned in her stomach. She didn’t like Ianthe but she had been happy that Ianthe had wanted to spend time with her. Knowing she was just a replacement should have made her feel worse, but the idea that Ianthe had considered her to be a good enough candidate to replace her sister was gratifying. Even if Ianthe didn’t want her around for herself, she still wanted her around in some capacity.

“Why did you two even need to do this?” She asked as Ianthe laid against the mass of pillows, her eyes closed.

“Hmm?” She asked, not opening her eyes.

“Couldn’t you just…” She waved a hand. “Flesh it up to make your skin softer?”

Ianthe’s eyes opened. “‘Flesh it up’?”

If Kiriona could, she would blush. “Yeah. Why use the masks? Unless there’s necromancy in them.” Maybe they were made of flayed skin.

Ianthe rolled her eyes. “Your simple mind astounds me.” Once again, the words were said more gently than their contents would imply. “It’s not about the skin, not really. Well, in the case of you, you need all the help you can get. I don’t think necromancy alone could solve your break outs.”

Kiriona frowned, but Ianthe continued before she could protest the likely accurate statement.

“It’s about the relaxation. You put the mask on, close your eyes, and relax.” She demonstrated by laying back down on the pillows. “So fucking relax, okay?”

Kiriona felt silly as she lay back down. She had the strangest feeling like she wasn’t doing it right. “Like this?”

“Do you really need my help to figure out how to lay down and close your eyes? Is that what you’re asking me right now?” Her eyebrow raised and moved the top of the eyeholes of the mask up, making the expression look more exaggerated.

Maybe not being able to blush was a good thing. She closed her eyes and breathed in.

This was kind of nice. The mask smelled good, and it had stopped feeling so slimy and cold. It felt wet, but pleasantly so. It felt indulgent. She was starting to see the point.

She wondered if she would like it. She could use some relaxation after all. Maybe Kiriona could—

She shook her head. Nope, not thinking about that.

“This was a good idea,” she said, to distract herself from her thoughts. She was laying in a comfortable bed with a girl—because despite her flaws, Ianthe was a girl and Kiriona did like that about her—experiencing luxury for the first time in her life. She should focus on that.

“Of course it is. All my ideas are good.” Ianthe said smugly, reaching for Kiriona’s hand and intertwining their fingers—dead flesh against gilded bone.

[jbs79]

I'm lookin' for her (Mike WiLL Made-It) (Astronaut)

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her (yeah)

Is that her in the V.I.P. line

With the Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent?

Used to drive the Nissan, now she in a Beamer

I don't want her 'cause she from the corner

And I heard that Beamer was a loner

Her old man the owner

And don't even drink Corona's

What type of drink you want, bruh?

Know it's champagne forever

I'm dirty Sprite forever

You can come sit with me

If you'd like to change the weather

If you wanna live better

We can buy a crib, wherever

Don't get too thirsty, get used to this cheddar

I wanna tell the world about you just so they can get jealous

And if you see her 'fore I do tell her I wish that I met her

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her too

I heard she keep her promises and never turn on you

I heard she ain't gon' cheat and she gon' never make no move

I heard she be there anytime you need her, she come through

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

Send her my way

Tell her I've been lookin' for her in the broad day

Hangin' with the dope boys in the hallways

And I know to keep her, yeah, you gotta get that pay

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her too

I heard she got a pretty face and stand up like a stallion

I heard that she a precious jewel, you'll treat her to medallions

I wanna be the one to find out if I go to prowlin'

And if I get her number, you know I can't wait to dial it

And if we get together, girl, you know we gon' be wildin'

And when we get together we make magic and it's ours

Whenever you up here, ain't nothin' nobody can do about it

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her too

I heard she keep her promises and never turn on you

I heard she ain't gon' cheat and she gon' never make no move

I heard she be there anytime you need her, she come through

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

She a hood girl

But she a good girl

She been misled

Now she ready for the world

I want your energy

To take control of me

I tried to go to sleep

And seen her in my dreams

Just in case I run across her today, I'ma stay clean

Just in case you recognize her face, send her to me

And tell her I've been lookin' for her with a flashlight

You can't tell a nigga nothin' 'cause I got my cash right

And tell her if she honest I promise to stay true

Make sure when you tell her, tell her we goin' past the moon

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her too

I heard she keep her promises and never turn on you

I heard she ain't gon' cheat and she gon' never make no move

I heard she be there anytime you need her, she come through

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

Turn on the lights

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

I'm lookin' for her

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Siegfried Frey

Turn On the Lights lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid