#data mus

[lookforpornography-mastrubation]

LOOK FOR PORNOGRAPHY FOR MASTRUBATION

LOOK FOR PORNOGRAPHY TO MASTRUBATE TO

[wjbs-bonkle-au]

Metru Nui Archives data log 36012: The Head

Log author: Spiritual Researcher Vizuna

The Head, as it wishes to be called, is, well, a head. Specifically the head of a Class-02 Toa, or maybe Class-03? I'll have to ask Surgical Director Gogot after I've finished writing this, then I'll put it as an addendum.

The Head was... challenging to deal with. It litters its speech with profanity (which, for professionalism purposes, has been expunged from this data log), threatened the lives of both me and my colleagues (though these threats appeared to be empty based on its lack of any limbs or weapons), and claims to have once been one of the few Toa to ever come from Xia, though as my... interview with it (and subsequent research) indicates, it is mostly lying about this.

The following is an audio-to-text transcript of my attempt at inverviewing The Head:

Vizuna: Apologies for taking so long. I couldn't find my archival tablet, so I had to borrow the Chief Archivist's one. Now, how did you get into this state? The Head: Wanna find out, [EXPLETIVE DELETED]? Vizuna: I admire your attempts to threaten me, but they won't work. Answer the question, please. The Head: Ran into an... old friend, see. Tried to kill me, but couldn't finish the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] job, not for lack of trying... Vizuna: I see. What do you mean by that? The Head: Eh, it'd take too [EXPLETIVE DELETED] long to explain, and I'd have to repeat myself. Especially since you [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Le-Matoran don't even seem to remember what [EXPLETIVE DELETED] colours you're meant to have. Vizuna: Why y- [SLOW INHALE] I am not a Le-Matoran. I am a Bo-Matoran. You should know the difference; you are... were a Toa of Air. Right? The Head: What the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] are you talking about? How would you know that? Vizuna: Your eyes are... red, but now I look at them, they're not... they're not the same as... The Head: Yeahhhhhh, now you're starting to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] get it. Vizuna: ... This interview is over. I need to check something.

Now, those who don't know about Matoran mythology may not be aware of Shadow Toa; powerful, illusiory constructs that a Makuta can manifest, though very little is known of them, as they are rarely used.

The only source I have access to that describes a Shadow Toa is an ancient text, written in ancient Matoran, which contains the following passage that I have partially translated into modern Matoran, with any words that have multiple definitions having both listed: "Be Toa's eyes as the setting suns, moreso than capricious Le or [steadfast/durable] Fe, armour dark, then ally is Toa not; for is instead illusion from cruel Kra. Only ceases after confront truest [self/friend]."

Translating this fully into modern Matoran is difficult due to the ambiguity in the grammar and certain words having multiple definitions, but I gave it a try because why not: "If a Toa's eyes are bright red, moreso than the pinkish-red of a Toa of Air or the reddish-orange of a Toa of Iron, with dark armour, then they are not an ally; they are instead an illusion from cruel Shadow." The next section is a bit more ambiguous; it could mean "It immediately ceases to exist when it is confronted by its true self", or "It can only be killed by a close friend", or maybe some combination or rearrangement of those. Maybe something else. Who knows?

But what I want to note is that part about red eyes and dark armour. The Head has eyes that match that description perfectly, and while it lacks any armour or a mask, the metal it is made out of does look darker than usual, at least compared to what I've seen from the few Toa I have met, which makes me wonder if The Head is, in fact, a Toa of Shadow.

Before I move onto the next section, I also need to address something interesting that last line. Both interpretations point to Shadow Toa being based on existing Toa; "truest self" could refer to the one that it was recreated from, while "truest friend" could refer to another Toa who is particularly close to them. Which means that The Head could have been based on an actual Toa from Xia, though I didn't want to deal with the Xian council's excessive bureaucracy just to access a list of registered Toa with no clue which one The Head was copying. This will come up again later.

Getting back on track, since I had an example of a rare phenomenon in my possession, I decided to try giving it a soul-scan to see what I could learn.

Souls are a form of elemental and life essence, generated in the cerebral crystals (also known referred to with the more casual term "brainstalks") of most beings and transported throughout the body via elemental conduits. Souls also what give eyes, cerebral crystals and heartlights their distinctive glow, though the actual colour of said glow comes from the surrounding protodermic biomineral that those components are made out of, which tints the otherwise blindingly white soul-light; even De-Matoran and Toa of Sonics, with their white biominerals, have their soul-light filtered slightly to make their eyes, cerebral crystals and heartlights glow to a lesser degree than if they were isolated.

Souls are comprised of six different "pieces", which affect the shape and appearance of the soul and the being it belongs to; they are Unity, Duty, Destiny, Light, Darkness and Element. The first three obviously relate to the being's connections to the Three Virtues; Light and Shadow have unknown purposes at time of writing, though it appears to have some correlation with the being's personality, as Matoran destined to become Toa usually have higher Light, and Makuta naturally have higher Darkness.

So I put The Head in the soul scanner (it tried to resist, but the most it could do was try to bite my fingers), activated the scanning mode, and went back to my office to water my plants and rearrange my tablets while I waited for the scan to finish.

As soon as I saw the results, I knew that I had to download them to the archival tablet so I could include an image of them here, because they would have been too bizarre to be believable, but it also undoubtably proves my hypothesis of what The Head is.

The Head somehow has 0 Unity, Duty, Destiny or Light, but its Darkness is so high it caused an overflow. This thing is (was?) definitely a Shadow Toa.

Now that I had this evidence at its true origin, I was ready to re-confront it, along with a secret weapon...

The Head: Oh good, the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] finally decided to give me the attention I [EXPLETIVE DELETED] deserve. Vizuna: Yeah, yeah, let's cut to the chase. I know what you are. The Head: [EXAGERRATED GASP] Oh noooooo, you managed to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] figure out "what I really am". You guessed it earlier; I'm a [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Makuta, and I am to be [EXPLETIVE DELETED] feared! Vizuna: You're a Shadow Toa, based on a Toa from the island of Xia. You were struck down in battle, but managed to survive as a damaged head due to not being defeated properly. The Head: Wait, how did you f- Vizuna: A combination of ancient writings, and a summary of your soul's construction. And to further prove it, I brought this. The Head: A [EXPLETIVE DELETED] mask? What's that going to do? Vizuna: It'll let me know who'll get the privilege of shutting you up for good.

At this point, I ran out of audio-recording space on the tablet (sorry about that, Etoku; I replaced the memory module before returning it to you), but when I put the mask on The Head, it turned dark-grey, so I will be requesting access to the Xian council's list of registered Toa and looking for any Toa of Ice or Sonics.

Now, a lot of fellow spiritual researchers might hate me for what I am about to say, but I am going to destroy it, because there's a lot that we're going to learn from how it reacts to being exposed to its original

Artifact information:

Categories: Living, Supernatural

Current location: External Warehouse 7434-B, "To Be Destroyed" section.

End of log.

Addendum by Spiritual Researcher Vizuna: I went to ask Surgical Director Gogot about The Head, but according to the other surgeons in the dissection lab, he's currently busy; some slackers from Le-Metru somehow managed to get into the Mutagenics gallery, and he's taken the sole responsibility of dissecting what's left of them.

Addendum by Spiritual Researcher Vizuna: Ok, so it's been a week, and Gogot still isn't available; according to the off-duty surgeon who answered the door when I went to ask, he won't be available for at least a month, maybe longer, and since I didn't want to subject any... less experienced surgeons to The Head's nonsense, I will just wait until he's finished. In lighter news, I managed to finally get a copy of the Xian council's list of registered Toa, and I've had letters sent to the Toa that The Head was mimicking, as well as what the list claims is their closest ally, so hopefully they'll respond soon to... dispose of it. Also it means I won't need Gogot to ID the type of Toa that The Head came from.

[sentient-rift]

(Suddenly, Thanos snaps his fingers and wipes out half the universe.)

"Oh, not again..."

"Seriously?! We're doing this again?!"

"Curse you, Thanos!!"

"Not on my watch! The Infinity Stones won't work here!"

(RiFT snaps his own fingers and reverses the effect.)

"WAAAAAAH!! THANK YOU, RiFT!!! I REALLY HATE THAT MEME!!!"

"Of course. No meme is going to take my friends away from me."

[stuffyflowers]

for the main uty ost bracket, im planning on adding little bios for each track with their seed, where theyre played, and any trivia regarding the track. though im not sure what trivia i should and shouldnt add. i think im just going to add stuff that relates to the actual music (eg justice having a snored rendition by interacting w sleepo) rather than stuff relating to release dates or file oddities

[jayblanc]

Chinese Censorship of the 2023 Hugo Award Nominations

Back before the 2023 Hugo Nominations were conducted, I noted that the Chengdu Worldcon Hugo committee had inserted a worrying clause indicating that local government officials could invalidate nominations for breaching the norms and standards of China. I suspected this would result in arbitrarily applied censorship to control the ballot. I am sad and unsurprised to discover I was correct.

The 2023 Hugo Nomination vote data has been published (https://www.thehugoawards.org/2024/01/2023-nominating-and-final-ballot-statistics-published/), and includes notation where nominations were excluded from the ballot. Those with normal reasons, such as being in the wrong category or not being published in 2022 are identified with their reasons for exclusion. This time there are a number of nominations that are merely marked at "Not eligible".

Here is the list of those nominations, that would otherwise have been placed on the final 2023 Hugo Award Ballot.

Babel - R.F. Kuang - Best Novel: Very likely excluded for referencing student revolution, and the use of language and translation as coercive tools of oppression. Color the World - Congyun "Mu Ming" Hu - Best Novellette : A story about perception of, aid of, and discrimination against disability. Congyun Hu has left China and now lives in New York. Fogong Temple Padoga - Hai Ya - Best Story : Either there is something in the original Chinese that was not translated, there's a taboo subject that elides my reading, or this otherwise innocent looking near future tale of cultural building restoration was written by the wrong person. The Art of Ghost of Tsushima: Dark Horse and Sucker Punch Games - Best Related Work : The video game Ghost of Tsushima was subject to directed social exclusion for it's depiction of the Mongol invasion of Japan. Sandman, Amazon Studios: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long and Short) - A diverse and divergent cast, includes subject matter and social issues that are currently taboo in China. Paul Weimer - Fan Writer: Publicly Critical of holding a Worldcon in China. Xiran Jay Zhao - Astounding Award: Qualifying work "Iron Widow" is reimagined story of Chinese Empress Wu during a fantasy/mechanical alien invasion.

This raises a lot of questions as to if this basically taints the process, and what can be done about it.

[catpriciousmarjara]

Personal pet peeve: When a particular character has a lot of paperwork and such associated with their job and it has been established in universe that the work is extremely hard, complicated, and tedious but then in fanfic another character in another job position takes up this character's paperwork and does it perfectly. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

Paperwork is not some nebulous pile of papers so easy that anyone can just waltz in and fill it up just like that. Paperwork, especially for large organisations, requires specific training and knowledge. A particular situation might have at least ten forms associated with it depending on how it happened, when it happened, who were involved, who were affected, who filed the initial report etc. It could be form A.1, it could be form B8, it could be G3 or D-3.2e, and then it has to be filed away in a specific way under a specific designation. At times it could be completely nonsensical but still necessary and part of proper procedure....all of that requires training and experience. Someone from a totally unconnected role can't just take over this position and do an excellent job at it, unless it has been previously established that they too had prior training and guidance in this.

Example: Cale(KRS) and Basen Henituse in Trash of the Count's Family. Kim Rok Soo before trasmigration into Cale Henituse was a team leader who has experience with important official documentation and paperwork for the Company. Basen Henituse is established to have been send to territory heirship classes and doing well in them. These two people being able to take on the other's paperwork load is not at all farfetched. (Same with Cale and Alberu though the latter would still have to sign and seal his insignia separately in the end.)

So no someone who's untrained can't just take someone else's paperwork and just breeze through them unless they are like supernaturally intelligent to the point of figuratively downloading all the necessary data and information directly into their brain or something.

Let's not even talk about how the character might have a particular way and organisation of doing things and someone else taking over their workload without permission might just mess that order up and their well intended actions might end up doing more harm than good.

Look at MXTX's Shang Qinghua or Ling Wen. As I'm reading SVSSS right now let's take it as an example.

Someone who can conduct and lead an audit: Shang Qinghua, specifically trained as an auditor. Yue Qingyuan- can possibly fill in for a specific kind of audit.

Someone who cannot conduct an audit: Literally every other Peak Lord on Cang Qiong. Not trained for it. Should not be in charge of it.

Someone who can file in medical paperwork: Mu Qingfang, head of medical operations in the sect.

Someone who can't do that: his Peak Lord colleagues. At most they'll be able to file in incident reports and other such forms that guardians of patients will have to fill in at a hospital.

People involved with merchants and associated business transactions: Shang Qinghua(logistics expert-procurement logistics), and for large contracts, Yue Qingyuan(Sect Leader). Other Peak Lords depending on the goods. For example the Zui Xian Peak Lord when they are negotiating prices for the raw materials or equipment for alcohol brewing or Wei Qingwei when they are sourcing metal.

Someone who can handle annual budgeting: Shang Qinghua. Person who allocates the funds according to the final budget- Yue Qingyuan.

Persons who can't do that: His colleagues who are definitely not trained in finances and accounting.

And so on and so on.

Shang Qinghua was invited back to the sect after literal treason because nobody else could do his job. That should tell you that people without specific training can't just take over the paperwork of another person's job unless their own jobs are connected enough to be sufficiently similar that they can handle it.

So no someone like Shen Qingqiu who's a scholar and tactician primarily, can't take the entirety of Shang Qinghua's or Mu Qingfang's or Yue Qingyuan's paperwork and fill it in for them, no matter how intelligent he is. Though I'm sure Yue Qingyuan would let him sect be damned lmao.

You see things like this in many other fandoms as well. Innocuous forms that anyone can fill in are okay but complicated paperwork for auditing, budgeting, logistics, diplomacy, business transactions, internal affairs, etc? No way. That all takes time to familiarize with before even properly filing them let alone actually doing them.

This is of course a personal pet peeve as I mentioned from the beginning. People are free to write what they want, read what they want, like what they want. This is no way an accusation towards particular individuals. It's just that for me it breaks immersion pretty quickly.

[styrmwb]

References to Previous Final Fantasies in Dawntrail

Or, how 9 + 11 + 6 = 14, somehow. (SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY)

I've played every mainline FF, plus a few others, so one of my favorite things about playing XIV is seeing what they do with previous FFs, and how they incorporate it into the world/story. Dawntrail very very much did this, to the point that I could literally predict plot points before they happened. (THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT I LOVED THIS)

So I figured I would put down my fanboying in text form, for people to read the insanity of a madman who has played too many JRPGs from a single series.

Note: I have not completed every single side quest, but I have done the entire MSQ, every dungeon, and 3/5 of the role quests. This isn't a complete collection, just what I noticed :)

V

Krile's "real name" is Maya. The original Krile in FFV was Krile Meyer Baldesion. (XIV might also have the middle name but I don't remember! I'm gonna put it here regardless!)

VI

Valigarmanda is the first Esper you encounter in VI, right at the start of the game. Its summon attack is Tri-Disaster. I really liked how they kept it frozen in ice, just like the original, and because Tri-Disaster is a SMN ability, they changed it to Tulidisaster to fit the Tural location.

Pictomancer was first in VI as well, being Relm's job. She even got to be in XIV as well, being credited as the Archon who created the art (HA). Shoutouts to the Relm reborn joke it needed to happen

IX

One of the two most important games in this expansion. There is A Lot here.

The preorder bonus/deluxe edition had a Wind-Up Zidane and Garnet, the two main protagonists of FFIX.

Alexandria is lifted directly from IX. The name, the style of the buildings, and even the castle with the crystal popping out of the top, shown in the dungeon and in Yesterland in Living Memory.

(This is the Dissidia NT version, but I wanted a picture that showed the castle and the roof architecture)

Solution Nine is named after one of Zidane's Dyne abilities. While not direct, Living Memory, the final zone, is very reminiscent of Memoria, the final dungeon of IX. I wonder if you can get a special sword by completing the entire MSQ in under 2 hours?

Living Memory also features quite a few locations from IX. The Canal Town looks very similar to Treno, and features a location called the Daguerreo Medical Collection, named after the city as well. Underneath Proto Alexandria in Yesterland, where the data terminal lies, looks very similar to the part of Alexandria Castle where Steiner can grind to level 99 (I don't know how else to describe it if you know you know). In the Windspath Gardens lies the Cleyra Museum of Nature, also named after the IX city.

Some quest text in Living Memory tells you about other locations in the Unlost World. Lindblum, the city that holds hunts and is very technologically advanced; Conde Petie, where the Dwarves are from (mentioned by a Milalla who said he was from there), and the Iifa Tree. There might even be more here, that I either missed or haven't done yet.

Another quest has you go on a treasure hunt for a password. This password? "I Want to Be Your Canary", the play from FFIX.

Solution Nine has a couple buildings with monsters from IX as signs. One building features a Mu (Which is also mentioned in Living Memory), and another building features Yans, both friendly and not friendly.

Another monster that I noticed a reference to was the Gimme Cat, which is featured on the popcorn in Living Memory. It's also mentioned as an energy drink, but called a "Gimme Bat" instead? I guess it does have bat wings.

While XIV doesn't have any direct plot important characters from IX, the ones we do have are very reminiscent of its cast, and clearly are done like that on purpose.

Otis is Steiner (with maybe a little tiny bit of Beatrix depending on how you look at it). Captain of the Knights of Alexandria, he speaks in an older fashion, similar to Steiner, and is very loyal to his princess.

Sphene is an interesting mix. The most obvious one is Garnet, both being Queens of Alexandria, being named after stones, and loving their people. The other one, which might be argued isn't intended, is Garland.

(No, not those guys. The other one.)

Garland in IX is an artificial being whose purpose is to continue his world's life. To do this, he would try to fuse Terra (his planet), with Gaia (the main planet), and control Gaian souls for Terra instead. What did Sphene do? Try to fuse her reflection with the Source, to use their souls for her own people. I personally think this is a very clear similarity.

In general, because of this similarity, the latter half of Dawntrail shares very similar themes with IX's plots, dealing with death and souls. I also think it's pretty funny that both start out pretty happy and cartoony, and end fairly depressing and existential.

Another plot point used in the MSQ is the play sequence. While IX's is based off love, and XIV's is the history of Alexandria, both feature a sword fight scene. (99 out of 100 nobles approve).

Finally, several songs from IX are used in Dawntrail. In the above mentioned play, Swords of Fury plays, just like the original. And a few scenes later, Vamo'alla Flamenco (previously used for the DNC quests) plays, though it should have been during the sword fight!! Prima Vista Orchestra and Fleeting Life are used in several scenes, usually involving Sphene. Something to Protect also appears, but in a scene I can't recall. Finally, the Court Jesters' theme gets a remix as the main song in the Strayborough Deadwalk.

X

There is a singular joke in Heritage Found made about dodging lightning bolts right before the flash so they don't hit you. The person who wrote this line wanted to induce PTSD in as many people as they could with only a single line of dialogue.

XI

The other most important game in the expansion. In a way, Dawntrail FEELS like it could have been an XI expansion in another lifetime. I might be looking too much into it, but I feel as though this was foreshadowed back in the first patch of Endwalker, as Dawntrail takes A LOT from the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion.

In Endwalker, the Alzadaal's Legacy dungeon was based off of the Alzadaal Underwater Ruins in Aht Urhgan. The dungeon used many models from XI, such as the Rampart, the Xzomit (hell yes!), and the Acrolith. The dungeon had a visual similarity, as well as the areas in the dungeon being named after zones in Aht Urhgan (Bhaflau Thickets, Arrapago Reef, and Mount Zhayolm). I know this is Endwalker and not Dawntrail but trust me it's important for the foreshadowing.

Gulool Ja Ja was a boss in the Besieged mode of ToAU, leading the Mamool Ja Savages to assault Al Zahbi. Both incarnations of this character are VERY different from each other.

Similarly, Gurfurlur was also a boss in Besieged, leading the Troll Mercenaries. It's very funny to me that both of these warmongers became such nice people in Tural.

The Yok Huy as a whole are actually Trolls from XI. The different name I assume coming from the fact that Trolls are already an enemy in XIV, in Labyrinthos.

While this isn't direct, and is probably unintentional, the fact that the final boss in Vanguard was a naga/lamia like entity only makes me wonder if it was somehow a callback to Medusa and the Undead Swarm, the last remaining Besieged invaders.

Zoraal Ja is a Notorious Monster in the areas around Aht Urhgan.

To continue on with Mamool Ja facts, Mamook is an area in ToAU. They don't look very similar, but they do both share the title of Autarch as their ruler. Mamool Ja in general come from XI, so it's no surprise that in the expansion that well, expands on them, it uses XI for inspiration.

This next one might be a little insane. The general plot of Treasures of Aht Urhgan, is that after killing Promathia, a god that wishes to end all life, the Adventurer goes to a completely different area to have a relatively calmer adventure. Here, they meet a female member of royalty named Aphmau. Her brother, Razfahd, unable to rule over the country, has a conquering nature, and uses an Automaton body to control Alexander for his goals. This... can't be a coincidence, right?? We kill the Endsinger, who wanted to end all life, go to a completely different area to have a relatively calmer adventure with our female member of royalty, Wuk Lamat, and we fight against Zoraal Ja, her war hungry brother that is unable to rule, so he uses the power of Alexandria (a mech suit) for his goals. You... you see what I'm cooking here right??? RIGHT!?!?!

To piggyback off of this, Wuk Lamat very much fits the role of the XI heroine. A girl who is very clearly the main character of the story, and hangs around you more than anyone else.

Edit: one last thing that I forgot to put down before posting, one of the hunts uses the Magic Pot model from XI. We love Magic Pot.

I THINK that should be everything I found? I know for a fact we're going to get more since the Alliance Raids are based of off XI (I'm so excited)

XIII

A couple enemy models were used from XIII.

The Silver Lobos in Urqopacha use the XIII model. I'm fairly sure they've never been used in XIV yet, but I could be wrong.

Similarly, the Strayborough Deadwalk uses the Gremlin/Ahriman enemies. I do not think they've been used before this, feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong :)

Type-0

While not like, direct, the concept of erasing the memories of anyone who has died (especially seen as a blessing) was a major plot point of Type-0's world.

I think that's everything? My memory isn't the greatest, so I'm sure there's something I noticed that I missed, and again; I haven't done everything, so there might be even more out there that I've yet to find!

Please, feel free to comment anything else that you may have noticed, and hopefully you enjoyed reading :)

[carpedzem]

it has been 3 hours firefox doesnt want to start

mu pc is testing my patience today

[purplephantomwolf]

Savoring the Finish Line

Chapter Five

Synopsis: You are a bakery owner. One day Max Verstappen comes into your bakery.

Note: This is not an accurate portrayal of how the real people in this act. I do not know them personally, so I will not be portraying them accurately.

Warnings: Panic attack mention

Previous Chapter: Chapter Four

Masterlist

I AM REWRITING THIS FROM AN OC STORY. IF I MISS ANYTHING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN FIX IT! THIS IS CHAPTER 5 OF 5 OF ALREADY WRITTEN CHAPTERS. THEY ARE NOW ALL POSTED.

March 19, 2022

     The flood lights are bright against your eyes. “Night races are beautiful,” you hum to yourself. You walk along the paddock an hour before qualifying is supposed to start. You watch all the engineers, drivers, and working personnel rush about. You hum to myself, walking towards the Red Bull garage. 

     “Good evening, Y/n,” Max says, stopping his conversation with Christian Horner and Geri Horner. You jerk to a stop, surprised. 

     “Hello, Max,” you smile at him. Both the Horners look between us

     “Christian, Geri, this is Y/n, the woman who owns the bakery I told you about. Y/n, this is Christian and Geri Horner,” Max introduces us. 

     “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. and Mr.  Horner,” you say, extending my hand. Christian shakes your hand. 

     “Please, call us Geri and Christian. Any friend of Max’s is a friend of ours,” Geri says, pulling you in for a hug. You blush and nod, as you pull away from her. 

     “So, Max has told us that you own a bakery?” Geri asks you.

    “Yes! It’s a small bakery in Monaco called Delicieux Gateries,” you grin, always happy to talk about your bakery. 

     “What do you sell?” She asks, starting to walk into the hospitality. 

     “Well, I sell all sorts of things. There’s croissants, kouign amanns, scones, macarons as some of my most popular selling items,” you list off, following after her. 

     “You say my and I, do you work at the bakery by yourself?” Christian asks, appearing behind Geri. 

     “I’m the only full time employee. I have this older couple who works the front of the bakery for me part time, but I do all the baking,” you explain. Max comes up next to us. 

     “How are Louis and Estelle doing?” He asks. 

     “They’re doing good! They’re watching Elise and Lacey for me this week,” you answer. Geri and Christian exchange small smiles, and you grin at Max. Max glances at his watch and nods to Christian. They start the descent down to the garage to get ready for qualifying as you and Geri continue talking about your bakery. Suddenly Max comes rushing back into the hospitality. “Will you wait for me after qualifying? I want to make sure you get back to your hotel safely,” Max asks upi. You blush and grin. 

     “Sure, you might find me asleep here, but I’ll wait in here for you,” you smile. 

     “Great, good, awesome,” Max says, fumbling over his words. He rushes back downstairs, as Geri lets out a laugh. You turn to her blushing, feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. 

     “Oh sweetie, that’s just too cute,” she smiles. You nod, blushing. 

     “I should probably go down to make sure I’m in place before all the excitement starts. It was nice meeting you, Geri,” you say. 

     “It was nice to meet you too, Y/n. I’ll make sure to stop by your bakery some time when I’m in Monaco,” she says. You nod, grinning. You head down to the garage, getting into place. Max looks over at the area for guests and smiles when he sees you. You send him a quick thumbs up, smiling. He blushes, quickly looks back at the data and his race engineer. 

     You grin as the lights go green at the end of the pitlane. You take a deep breath, breathing in the smell of rubber and fuel. It smells wonderful. Max pulls out of the garage, sending a big vibration through your body from the roar of the car. Your eyes flick between the screens and the track. You smile when Max makes it into Q2 easily. You have no worries about Max making it into Q3. You bop my head along to the music playing throughout the paddock as you wait for Q3 to start. 

     You frown as you hear Max on the radio saying something about his tires being fucked when he goes slow. “That’s not good,” you mutter. Max goes out for his last lap. You cross your fingers as he crosses the finish line. “Yes! Let’s go, Max!” you cheer as he finishes P2. The garage claps and cheers at his results. 

     The garage starts to clear of the other Red Bull guests. You linger, trying to stay in the garage as long as possible. Eventually the engineers start leaving too, so you head up to the hospitality. You take a seat at one of the tables, waiting for Max. 

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

     “Y/n,” You hear your name whispered. You jolt up, looking around. You rub your eyes, trying to get rid of the tiredness. 

     “Oh, hi Max,” you grin, spotting him squatting next to your chair. You stand up, grabbing your bag. “Ready to go?”

     “Yeah, I’m sorry I made you wait so long,” Max says, looking guilty. 

     “It’s okay! I’d rather have someone to walk me back this late at night, than go back by myself,” you shrug. Max looks relieved. 

     “Which hotel are you staying at?” He asks, grabbing your bag from you. You start to protest him carrying it, but he gives you a stern look and you stop. 

     “The Hilton,” you answer, walking out of the hospitality. 

    “Oh, good! That’s just down the road from my hotel,” he smiles. Max leads you out of the paddock. “Did you enjoy today?” He turns to you. 

     “Oh, yes! Congrats on starting P2 tomorrow! You were amazing,” you gush. 

     “Thank you,” he grins, as you arrive at a car. 

     “Is this your car?!” You gasp, looking at the Aston Martin car. 

     “No, it’s just on loan to me for the weekend,” Max replies, “All my cars are back in Monaco.” 

      You nod, “Makes sense.” Max opens your door for you, and you slide in. You run your hands along the seat, marveling at it. 

     “Do you like it?” Max asks, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

     “Yes, I’ve never been in such an expensive car,” You look over at him. He pulls out of his parking spot, and you admire him as he drives to your hotel. 

     “Thank you for the ride back, Max,” you thank him as he pulls up to your hotel. 

     “Of course, Y/n. I’ll see you tomorrow? I can drive you back after the race,” Max looks over you, hopeful. 

     “I would like that,” you smile at him. 

     “Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow after the race. Hopefully I’ll see you before the race too,” Max says. 

     “Hopefully! Good night, Max,” you say, opening your door.

     “Good night, Y/n,” he says, as you shut the door. He watches you walk into the hotel before pulling away. You head up to your room, falling into bed. You sigh happily, before quickly falling asleep. 

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

March 20, 2022

     You thank the driver of the taxi as you climb out. You scan your pass to get into the paddock. You walk past the Ferrari hospitality and spot Carlos outside. Louis is a big Ferrari fan, so you figure getting Carlos’ signature on his hat would make him super happy. “Excuse me, can you please sign my hat?” You ask Carlos. He quickly signs it, before heading inside the hospitality. You head inside the Red Bull hospitality. You sit at one of the tables, waiting for it to be closer to 6 to head down to the garage. You’re reading an article on your phone when the chair next to you is pulled out. YOu look up and see Geri sitting down. “Hello, Mrs. Horner,” you greet her. 

     “Please, dear. Call me Geri,” she waves her hand. 

     “Okay, hello, Geri,” you say. She laughs and greets you. 

     “Are you having fun this weekend?” Geri asks you. 

     You nod quickly. “This is the most fun I’ve had since I opened my bakery. I haven’t taken time off since then,” you answer her. 

     “Oh, honey. You must be working yourself to death then. You should take some time off,” she says, looking worried. 

     “I am looking at hiring another baker, that way I can take time off. It’ll be nice to not have to work every day,” you explain. She nods, smiling. The door to the hospitality opens, and Max walks in. He’s deep in conversation with someone, so you just wave to him when he looks over. He waves back, before heading down to the garage. 

     “So tell me, how did you and Max meet? I know Max, and he wouldn’t give out garage passes to just anyone,” Geri asks, turning to you. 

     “He came into my bakery having a panic attack. I helped calm him down, The garage pass is a thank you from him. I told him I didn’t need them as a thank you, but he refused to take them back,” you tell her. Her eyes get a worried look when you say the panic attack part. 

     “Thank you for helping him. Do you know why he was having one?” Geri asks, looking concerned. You shake your head no. “Okay, thank you,” she sighs. You glance at the time. Seeing that it’s 15 minutes before the race is supposed to start, you stand up, Geri standing up with you. 

     “It was great talking to you, Geri. I hope we can talk again after this weekend,” you smile. She pulls you into a tight hug. 

     “I’m sure we will,” she grins, letting you go. You head down to the garage, getting into place as the national anthem finishes. You excitedly slide the headset on. 

     Max enters the garage, a concentrated look on his face. The thought of how cute he looks when he’s concentrating enters your mind. You shake your head at this thought. You cannot start liking this man, he’s so far out of your league, you think. Max slides his helmet on and climbs into the car. There’s a muffled roar of engine as he pulls out of the garage. 

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

     The lights go out and Charles goes across the track to block Max from taking P1 at the first corner. You gasp as Esteban and Mick collide, spinning Mick around. You let out a relieved sigh when Mick continues on. You always get so worried when cars collide. 

     Hamilton slides as he pulls out of the pits, trying to warm up his tires. You smile and clap your hands once when you see Zhou pass him. Hamilton quickly passes Zhou again. Max pulls into the pits, and you watch as they put a new thing of soft tires on his car. It’s amazing to watch the pit crew work so quickly. 

    Charles comes into the pits, and you bite my fingernails as you watch them do a slower stop then Max’s. “Come on, Max,” I whisper as Max comes down the main straight. You groan as Charles comes out in front of Max. They battle all throughout the lap. The Red Bull garage breaks into cheers when Max passes Charles and then groans when Charles passes him back. The two drivers repeat the same fight on the next lap. You groan as Max locks up on the third lap of the fight, not letting him take the lead. 

     Max comes in for a second pit stop, putting on medium tires this time. Charles does the same thing the next lap.You groan as Charles comes out in front of Max again. Max is angry as he comes on the radio, complaining about how he took it easy on the out lap, when he could be ahead. “I’m never doing that again,” he says. 

     Max comes into the pits again, and as he pulls out of the pits, he complains about the steering. You hold your breath as I listen to his radio, hoping everything is okay. You gasp suddenly as you see Pierre Gasly pulled off to the side. He leaps out, as his car catches aflame. The full safety car comes out, and the cars bunch up. Max keeps coming on the radio complaining about the steering. 

     You groan as Max gets a poor restart after the safety car. Your hands clasp together as you pray that Carlos doesn’t pass him. A few laps pass, when suddenly Max comes on the radio asking about the battery. Max is tumbling down the order. “No!” You gasp, hand flying up to cover your mouth in shock. “He was doing so well,” you pout, “He was so close to finishing.” He pulls into the pits, and you just know he’s going to be angry. He climbs out of the car, and walks back into the garage. Suddenly you hear a shout and your head flies to the track. Sergio Perez has lost the engine and spun around. You’re shocked that Red Bull has had such an awful start to the season. 

     The race finishes with a Ferrari 1-2, but you couldn’t care less at this moment. You know Max is going to be upset, and you just hope he knows there’s nothing he could’ve done to prevent it. You wait in the garage until after the podium ceremony, waiting to see if Max comes back in. Eventually you head into the hospitality. You take a seat to wait for Max.

Next chapter: Chapter Six

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taglist:

@freyathehuntress

[najia-cooks]

[ID: A bowl of avocado spread sculpted into a pattern, topped with olive oil and garnished with symmetrical lines of nigella seeds and piles of pomegranate seeds; a pile of pita bread is in the background. End ID]

متبل الأفوكادو / Mutabbal al-'afukadu (Palestinian avocado dip)

Avocados are not native to Palestine. Israeli settlers planted them in Gaza in the 1980s, before being evicted when Israel evacuated all its settlements in Gaza in 2005. The avocados, however, remained, and Gazans continued to cultivate them for their fall and winter harvest. Avocados have been folded into the repertoire of a "new" Palestinian cuisine, as Gazans and other Palestinians have found ways to interpret them.

Palestinians may add local ingredients to dishes traditionally featuring avocado (such as Palestinian guacamole, "جواكامولي فلسطيني" or "غواكامولي فلسطيني"), or use avocado in Palestinian dishes that typically use other vegetables (pickling them, for example, or adding them to salads alongside tomato and cucumber).

Another dish in this latter category is حمص الافوكادو (hummus al-'afukadu)—avocado hummus—in which avocado is smoothly blended with lemon juice, white tahina (طحينة البيضاء, tahina al-bayda'), salt, and olive oil. Yet another is متبّل الأفوكادو (mutabbal al-'afukadu). Mutabbal is a spiced version of بابا غنوج (baba ghannouj)‎: "مُتَبَّل" means "spiced" or "seasoned," from "مُ" "mu-," a participlizing prefix, + "تَبَّلَ" "tabbala‎," "to have spices added to." Here, fresh avocado replaces the roasted eggplant usually used to make this smooth dip; it is mixed with green chili pepper, lemon juice, garlic, white tahina, sumac, and labna (لبنة) or yoghurt. Either of these dishes may be topped with sesame or nigella seeds, pomegranate seeds, fresh dill, or chopped nuts, and eaten with sliced and toasted flatbread.

Avocados' history in Palestine precedes their introduction to Gaza. They were originally planted in 1908 by a French order of monks, but these trees have not survived. It was after the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (in which Britain, having been promised colonial control of Palestine with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War 1, pledged to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine) that avocado agriculture began to take root.

In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, encouraged by Britain, Jewish Europeans began to immigrate to Palestine in greater numbers and establish agricultural settlements (leaving an estimated 29.4% of peasant farming families without land by 1929). Seeds and seedlings from several varieties of avocado were introduced from California by private companies, research stations, and governmental bodies (including Mikveh Israel, a school which provided settlers with agricultural training). In these years, prices were too high for Palestinian buyers, and quantities were too low for export.

It wasn't until after the beginning of the Nakba (the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from "Jewish" areas following the UN partition of Palestine in 1947) that avocado plantings became significant. With Palestinians having been violently expelled from most of the area's arable land, settlers were free to plant avocados en masse for export, aided (until 1960) by long-term, low-interest loans from the Israeli government. The 400 acres planted within Israel's claimed borders in 1955 ballooned to 2,000 acres in 1965, then 9,000 by 1975, and over 17,000 by 1997. By 1986, Israel was producing enough avocados to want to renegotiate trade agreements with Europe in light of the increase.

Israeli companies also attained commercial success selling avocados planted on settlements within the West Bank. As of 2014, an estimated 4.5% of Israeli avocado exports were grown in the occupied Jordan Valley alone (though data about crops grown in illegal settlements is of course difficult to obtain). These crops were often tended by Palestinian workers, including children, in inhumane conditions and at starvation wages. Despite a European Union order to specify the origin of such produce as "territories occupied by Israel since 1967," it is often simply marked "Israel." Several grocery stores across Europe, including Carrefour, Lidl, Dunnes Stores, and Aldi, even falsified provenance information on avocados and other fruits in order to circumvent consumer boycotts of goods produced in Israel altogether—claiming, for example, that they were from Morocco or Cyprus.

Meanwhile, while expanding its own production of avocados, Israel was directing, limiting, and destabilizing Palestinian agriculture in an attempt to eliminate competition. In 1982, Israel prohibited the planting of fruit trees without first obtaining permission from military authorities; in practice, this resulted in Palestinians (in Gaza and the West Bank) being entirely barred from planting new mango and avocado trees, even to replace old, unproductive ones.

Conditions worsened in the years following the second intifada. Between September of 2000 and September of 2003, Israeli military forces destroyed wells, pumps, and an estimated 85% of the agricultural land in al-Sayafa, northern Gaza, where farmers had been using irrigation systems and greenhouses to grow fruits including citrus, apricots, and avocados. They barred almost all travel into and out of al-Sayafa: blocking off all roads that lead to the area, building barricades topped with barbed wire, preventing entry within 150 meters of the barricade under threat of gunfire, and opening crossings only at limited times of day and only for specific people, if at all.

A July 2001 prohibition on Palestinian vehicles within al-Sayafa further slashed agricultural production, forcing farmers to rely on donkeys and hand carts to tend their fields and to transport produce across the crossing. If the crossing happened to be closed, or the carts could not transport all the produce in time, fruits and vegetables would sit waiting in the sun until they rotted and could not be sold. The 2007 blockade worsened Gaza's economy still further, strictly limiting imports and prohibiting exports entirely (though later on, there would be exceptions made for small quantities of specific crops).

In the following years, Israel allowed imports of food items into Gaza not exceeding the bare minimum for basic sustenance, based on an estimation of the caloric needs of its inhabitants. Permitted (apples, bananas, persimmons, flour) and banned items for import (avocados, dates, grapes) were ostensibly based on "necessary" versus "luxury" foods, but were in fact directed according to where Israeli farmers could expect the most profit.

Though most of the imports admitted into Gaza continued to come from Israel, Gazan farmers kept pursuing self-sufficiency. In 2011, farmers working on a Hamas-government-led project in the former settlements produced avocados, mangoes, and most of the grapes, onions, and melons that Gazans ate; by 2015, though still forbidden from exporting excess, they were self-sufficient in the production of crops including onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, almonds, olives, and apples.

Support Palestinian resistance by calling Elbit System’s (Israel’s primary weapons manufacturer) landlord, donating to Palestine Action’s bail fund, and donating to the Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee bail fund.

Ingredients:

2 medium avocados (300g total)

1/4 cup white tahina

2 Tbsp labna (لبنة), or yoghurt (laban, لبن رايب)

1 green chili pepper

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp good olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 1/2 Tbsp)

1 tsp table salt, or to taste

Pomegranate seeds, slivered almonds, pine nuts, chopped dill, nigella seeds, sesame seeds, sumac, and/or olive oil, to serve

Khubiz al-kmaj (pita bread), to serve

Instructions:

1. In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic, pepper, and a bit of salt into a fine paste.

2. Add avocados and mash to desired texture. Stir in tahina, labna, olive oil, lemon juice, and additional salt.

You can also combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.

3. Top with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Add toppings, as desired.

4. Cut pita into small rectangles or triangles and separate one half from the other (along where the pocket is). Toast in the oven, or in a large, dry skillet, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Serve dip alongside toasted pita chips.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canadian residents whose personal data was compromised in a 2019 LifeLabs data breach can now apply for up to $150 in compensation from a multi-million dollar class action settlement approved in October.  The private medical diagnostics company and its subsidiaries were the target of a cyberattack on Dec. 17, 2019, that compromised patient data for around 15 million customers, mostly in British Columbia and Ontario. Hackers accessed personal information, including health numbers and test results, according to the claim. LifeLabs has denied claims of negligence brought in the class action lawsuit. The company will now pay at least $4.9 million in the negotiated settlement — and up to $9.8 million — depending on the number of claims made.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[forwhatiam]

Happy 28th! <3 Here's my favorite fics I read this month (and last), organized from longest to shortest. It's been a tough year, here's to hoping this next one doesn't treat us too bad.

Cameras Flashing by juliusschmidt (E, 81.7k)

With his breakout single platinum three times over and his second album still selling out in stores around the world, Louis Tomlinson has made it to the top. However, his position as Pop Heartthrob of the Decade is threatened by the edgier, more artistic Zayn, who happens to be releasing an album a week after Louis’ upcoming third. Louis needs something groundbreaking- scandalous, even- to push past him in the charts. Much to Louis’ dismay, his PR team calls in The Sexpert.

Consulting with PR firm Shady, Lane and Associates pays the bills so that Harry Styles can spend his down time doing what he really loves: poring over data. On weekends and late into the evenings, he researches gender, presentation, and sexual orientation, analysing the longitudinal study that is his father’s life’s work. That is, until his newest client, the popstar with the fascinating secret, drags him off his couch and frighteningly close to the spotlight.

As the album’s release date approaches, will Tomlinson and Styles be able to pull off the most risky PR scheme of the millennium and beat Zayn in sales or will the heat of their feelings for each other compromise everything?

you came into my life by disgruntledkittenface (M, 57.1k)

When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

You Should Be Here With Me by lululawrence (NR, 34.4k)

The festive period is a traditionally hectic one in the world of Premier League football, and this year is no different. A lot is riding on how Manchester United is able to come through the fixtures in the coming weeks.

Louis and his teammates know all too well the pressure that is on their shoulders. They need to prove, not just to fans of the club but the entire league, that they still have what it takes to be a team worthy of fighting for the top of the table.

Throw in the fact that Louis is all too aware that he's not getting any younger in a profession that demands your peak physical fitness year round and the incredibly fit Harry Styles, who is part of the club's social media team, and this year's festive period might just be the most important one yet.

Not having a breakdown! (I'm just here for the kid.) by louisismycat (E, 28.3k)

Harry has to park outside his ex-husband’s (Louis) wedding so that he can whisk their kid away if a meltdown ensues during the day. Guests will not know this and will only see him parked outside, it cannot be stressed enough, his ex-husband’s wedding.

Your Reign is Free (to give along to Santa) by LadyLondonderry (T, 28.3k)

It’s Christmas Eve. It’s a totally normal Christmas Eve. Harry and Louis have some friends coming by, and some totally normal birthday and Christmas plans. It’s a totally typical totally normal Christmas Eve.

A fic that takes place over 24 (+1) hours where surely everything will go totally to plan.

I Roll 'til I Change My Luck by larry_hiatus (T, 8.4k)

Dating is hard enough when you're gay. When Louis reveals to his Tinder matches that he uses a wheelchair and has a service dog, things tend to get even more complicated. Too bad the guys on dating apps aren't as sweet and understanding as his best friend Harry…

What's in a Name by HelloLovers13 (T, 2.6k)

Louis had always known Harry was his soulmate.

The name on his arm disagreed.

But what did his soulmark know about true love anyway.

there's a devil in your smile, it's chasing me by larryftnoctrl (T, 1.6k)

Harry is on a shitty date. the NJ Devil is his savior.

BONUS NON-1D FIC: Dedicated To The One I Love by hayseeds (Peanuts, G, WIP)

After a summer away from Lucy and too much time to think, eighth grade leaves Schroeder silently pining after the girl he’s rejected since he was a kid.

[sentient-rift]

🌋 ((Your Solo at my Laplace lol

"What can I say about that Laplace that I haven't already said about mine? There are a lot of words that come to mind when I think of Laplace, such as 'Annoying,' 'Troublemaker,' and occasionally 'Jerk.'

"...With that said, if your Laplace is anything like mine, then the Best word that describes him is... 'Reliable.' I can always count on him..."

*Laplace gets all fuzzy inside.*

[transhuman-priestess]

Sigma-38 is an assimilator unit out on her first raid. Her target: a young man deemed perfect for assimilation as an incubator.

The New Flesh is a gory, violent smut story for consumption only by adults over the age of 18 who are cool with dubcon, noncon, drugging, gore, light cannibalism, surgery, forcefem (kinda/sorta), brainwashing, weird gender shit, and probably a bunch of other stuff i forgot to mention

April 2

0313 Earth UTC

200 Million Kilometers beyond Jupiter

Sigma-38 fixed her vacuum helmet to her chassis. They were 2 minutes out from their target, a John Henry-class mining vessel, the Blair Mountain. The ship carried 2,000 metric tons of platinum-group metals, 20,000 tons of common ores, and 5,000 tons of water ice. None of that would be taken. When the Blair Mountain would be found, several months hence, her cargo would be entirely accounted for. What happened to her crew would be a mystery, the sort of thing that old astronauts talk about in hushed whispers at Jovian saloons.

The raiding party consisted of two K-class interdictor vessels, each containing 10 Gamma-type assault drones, 4 Mu-type engineers, and 1 Sigma-type assimilator. This was 38’s first raiding party, the drone was eager for the opportunity. Raids were one of the few times when command and control of the hive was allowed to devolve to individuals. Like water rushing in to a cave as the tide rises, the party would disperse into the target ship before washing its contents back out to the ocean of stars.

Nobody had to speak the 30-second warning. Logistic commanders were unnecessary for the hive. Antithetical to it, really. They would have a 15-minute window to subdue and extract the crew and whatever provisions they could before the Blair Mountain came out of a dead zone in the deep space network.

10 seconds. 38’s vessel, K-19, was aligning itself with the main crew hatch. The other interdictor, K-13, was covering the emergency hatch. 5 seconds. There was a soft thump through the floor of the cabin as K-19 achieved hard dock with the target. The airlock decompressed and the force field deactivated, allowing Mu units 76 and 45 to go to work wiring into the Blair Mountain’s airlock controls.

Zero.

The door opened, and the 15 drones of K-19 flooded into the airlock. The Mu units immediately set about bypassing the second door. 10 seconds later, the party was in. Sigma-38 pushed her way through. Screams erupted from the cramped quarters inside. Intelligence pegged the number of crew at 20. The hive had calculated a loss rate of 25% would still result in an acceptable gain, but a dead body was only good for its biomass, nothing more. Nonlethal weapons unless absolutely necessary.

38 followed the sound of screaming down the hall to her right, 4 Gammas behind her. 10 meters in, they came upon a small dormitory. She turned the handle on the door, feeling resistance as the 5 crew members behind the door pushed all their weight on it to try and keep it closed. 2 of the Gammas joined 38 and together they rammed the door down. Sigma-38 grabbed her first quarry of the raid. A young engineer’s mate, no older than 20. Tears filled his eyes as he begged, “Don’t kill me! Please! Don’t kill me, please!’

38 did not respond, only applied a shock from the stun rod embedded in her forearm. The engineer’s mate collapsed as 3 of his shipmates tried to knock her down. The assault drones pulled them off, applying their own stun rods to their prey. It was over in 20 seconds. One of the Gammas put magcuffs on the humans. 38 left the room and continued down the hall as a Mu used a gravcart to haul the humans back to the interdictor.

3 minutes had passed since the airlock was first breached. Mu-76 had patched the hive into the ship’s computer. 38 absorbed the data as she walked down the hall, zeroing in on the captain’s quarters.

The ship’s manifest listed the captain as Theresa “Terry” Holder, 37, a 10 year captain in the civil navy. A picture of the captain appeared in the corner of 38’s vision as she walked through the hall. Though she long ago gave up on being human, 38 still appreciated the form of them. The picture of Holder showed a strong-jawed woman with long brown hair and a swaggering smile, dressed in a grease-stained tank top. 38 felt her cock grow warm underneath the armor plating.

38 found the captain’s quarters, opening the door without hesitation, and was immediately met by the noise of a gunshot and a blast of kinetic energy as a .45 caliber round struck her left chest plate. She noted it, but felt no damage beyond the superficial. Four more quickly followed. Holder’s grouping was good. It would not save her.

Sigma-38 made eye contact with Captain Terry Holder as she approached. Something about her sent a thrill down 38’s spine. Holder’s gun jammed at the same time as a curious expression overtook her stubbled face. Not just fear. Confusion, maybe even a hint of recognition.

“What!?” She shrieked, as she frantically worked the pistol’s slide, trying to clear the jam, “You’re dead. You’re dead! You have to be dead! I shot you! I shot you and you’re dead!”

Sigma-38 grabbed the captain by the neck, lifting her half a meter into the air, and spoke, “Do not resist. You will become beautiful.” with a twitch of her wrist, a needle shot a sedative into the captain’s neck. This was the part 38 had been waiting for. The part where the prey knew it was beaten. that help would not come, that there was no more point in fighting. She locked eyes with the captain as the latter slipped out of consciousness. Though Holder could not see it, 38 was smiling

*****

All told, the raid, from infil to exfil, had taken 12 minutes. Only 2 of the crew of the Blair Mountain were lost. Their bodies were taken, their biomass useful for the synthesis of hormones, amino acids, and neurotransmitters. The other 18 would join the hive. They would be kept sedated until their assimilation began. It was a 4 day flight back to the hive’s nexus, and in that time 38 had planned to assimilate around half of the take.

The first, she decided, would be that engineer’s mate. One of the Gammas brought him to the assimilation chamber. 38 looked him over. Young, thin, around 19 or 20. No tattoos, sandy hair. She affixed a respirator mask to his face and, after checking that he was properly restrained, pressed a button on the stretcher to pull him out of sedation.

He stirred slowly, eyes bleary with drugs. So vulnerable, so innocent. 38 couldn’t wait to assimilate him.

“Where am I?” he said, “I...my name...my name is...Phillip Ellis...203243…”

“Your name,” Sigma said, “is of no concern to us.”

“Phillip Ellis, 2-oh-3, uhhhhh, 2-4-3”

“You have been selected to become an incubator for the hive.”

“What?” confusion crossed his face. Soon would come the fear.

“Your body will be modified and augmented to perform the function of incubator in the hive’s breeding chambers.”

“I...what?” The fear was starting to creep in. 38 had a choice now. She could administer the gas, which would clear away all that fear and doubt, or she could push him just a little further into terror. The choice was not difficult.

She waited for a few seconds and then said, “Do not be afraid,” It was too easy, really, “we will alter your body surgically and mechanically. Superfluous limbs and organs will be removed. You will be conscious during this process. You are afraid now, but you will enjoy it, soon.”

Phillip Ellis’s response was simply to begin screaming. A high pitched, entirely undignified wail of dread. With a smile, Sigma-38 turned on the gas.

Ellis could only scream for so long before his lungs ran out of air. When they did, he had no choice but to inhale. His body was operating on adrenaline, he couldn’t have held his breath if he’d wanted to. He took a deep breath, already preparing to scream again, but the gas worked quickly. Before he finished inhaling it had already worked its way into his brain. A powerful aphrodisiac, it would arouse him, making the next step much easier and faster.

38 felt her cock begin to swell, and said, “I am going to release the restraints on your ankles. I want you to lift your legs up in the air and present your ass to me.”

Ellis resisted, somewhat half-heartedly, “No, I...I don’t want to,” he said.

38 frowned. She dialed up the gas and again, said, “I am going to release the restraints on your ankles. Lift your legs up in the air and present your ass to me.”

“I…” Ellis trailed off. His pupils were dilated, his mouth hanging open, a wide, crazed grin on his face.

“If you will not comply,” said 38, “I will compel you.”

Her cock was aching now. She didn’t feel like waiting for him to lift up his legs. He was so blissed out anyway that he probably couldn’t do it on his own. She grabbed his ankles and lifted them over his head. She held them there with one arm, and with the other, she took her cock and pressed it up against his asshole. He provided no resistance, “oh,” he said, “That feels good,” he was smiling. 38 smiled, too.

Slowly, she began to slide in and out of him. His thin, pale body squirmed and bucked in time with hers. He was hairless except for his head and groin, his cock engorged. She felt his ass grip her cock, and began to fuck him faster. As his moans grew louder and louder, 38 felt herself approaching orgasm. To her, this was foreplay. What came next was the main event.

The first convulsion twitched behind her cock, another, seconds later. The pressure began to build. It would be soon now. She could feel the replicators in her prostate working overtime on their payload. Another pang, the pressure now sustained. Ellis’s moaning was joined by 38’s and she felt her eyes close and her cock grow hard before it finally let go. She felt the pump of her prostate and her balls as they shot 10ccs of assimilation nanites into Ellis’s ass.

Ellis moaned, then groaned, and finally started screaming. This part was always painful, but it would only last for a minute or so. The nanites in 38’s semen were already dispersing themselves through his bloodstream, turning his veins a dark grey, his skin pale as they worked their way through his capilaries. In 10 seconds they had found their way to his brain. There, they began working to redirect the pain signals from his body into the pleasure center, and soon his screams of agony had become cries of ecstasy as he felt his tissue being remodeled on a cellular level.

38 pulled her cock out of his ass, a few grey pearls of cum dripping onto the floor of the chamber. Idly, she touched her finger to the end of her cock and brought it to her mouth, licking her own nanites, a metallic rush on her tongue.

“Nooo,” came Ellis’s pathetic voice, “please don’t stop. I need more.”

“You will get more.”

Ellis smiled. Sigma-38 reached for her first tool, a long, curved knife.

The first thing to do would be to cut through the skin and muscle on all four limbs. The last ¼ by the torso would be allowed to remain. She pressed the knife to Ellis’s left bicep, and whispered in his ear, “are you ready, dear?”

“Yes, yes please!”

She plunged the knife into his arm, feeling it slip through the skin and muscle and thunk down onto the bone below. Ellis screamed from the pleasure of it. Sigma allowed herself to remember this feeling from before the hive. It was bliss. She felt her cooling pump speed up just thinking about it. But she had to focus on the task at hand.

The wound did not bleed much, the nanites already replicating, aiding in clotting and building contact points and hookups for later. Ellis would make an excellent Iota-type incubator.

Soon, 38 had carved away a 3-centimeter wide section of flesh around each cut point on Ellis’s femurs and humeri. She put the knife back in its slot on the wall and reached for a circular bonesaw. She held it to his left humerus, but did not turn it on yet. Instead, she reached down and gently stroked the exposed bone, feeling Ellis shudder under her touch, hearing him moan in pleasure. She looked at his cock and saw a drip of precum fall from it on to his taught, hairless stomach. Almost a pity he wouldn’t have it anymore within the hour. Almost.

She turned on the bonesaw and began removing the limb. Bone chips and marrow spattered on her face, she idly licked them away from her lips. The salty, copper taste drove her mad. She lived for this. It was her purpose.

The next step was to install the hookup sockets to his residual limbs. She touched the side of her head to take a lidar scan of each, before sending them to the replicator in the corner of the room. By the time she’d made her way over, four fresh limb sockets were waiting. She brought them back to her quarry and began fixing them to each limb in turn.

These would be hooked into the breeding chamber back at the nexus. They would carry everything this incubator would need to survive. Nutrition, water, power, networking.

“There,” she said to him, “Isn’t that so much better? Don’t you feel so much lighter? Freer?”

“I do, 38.” He used her designation. A good sign, this meant that the neural connection with the hive was already being established. Usually that took longer. Ellis would likely not reject the hive. That was always a concern. Incubators rarely experienced rejection, but fixing it was always a messy proposition that left the hive with a less-than-fully-functional drone.

“Do you know what’s next, Iota unit?” she asked him as she hooked his limb sockets into a temporary life-support machine

“I do not have access to that information at this time.”

38 smiled and said, “Next we install your chestplate unit, dear.”

She walked to there replicator and pulled out the unit. It resembled a mechanical simulacrum of human breasts in shape, although its function was quite different. This would be the Iota unit’s biomech support device. Hormone synthesizers, nutrition processors, oxygenation units, heat exchangers, blood filters, and an assortment of other devices were included.

Gently, lovingly, she lowered the device onto the Iota unit’s chest. Microhooks dug into his flesh, and he let out a moan of pleasure. Grey lines appeared under his skin as tubing and wiring melded itself with flesh and bone underneath.

She cupped his left breast with her hand, squeezing gently. The silicone skin gave little under her touch, but the Iota gasped and opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on her, before lying back and relaxing again.

It was time for the best part. “Dear,” 38 said, “after this next step you will become Iota-723. Do you know what the next step is?”

“The next step is…” the incubator was thinking, “You give me my womb and pussy, correct?”

“Very good! That’s right!” 38 was beaming ear to ear. 723 was doing very nicely already, and 38 was eager to feel as he felt during this part.

She took a scalpel in her hand, “Just so you know,” she said, “You won’t be able to talk out loud after this until the incubator hardware is installed,”

“That’s okay,” she heard, not out loud, but through the wire. This one was learning quickly.

“Alright” she thought back, “here it comes”

She pressed the scalpel into the soft flesh of his underbelly, just below his sternum. A bit of blood wept from the incision. She carved down and around the lower perimeter of his ribcage, down and around his abdomen to his pelvis, then across his belly, back up to the other side of his ribcage, and back up to the sternum again.

“38,” she heard, again through the wire, “I think I might cum.”

“You have to wait, not yet. Trust me.” she thought back.

Tenderly, she reached her fingers under the skin, and peeled it back, exposing the organs underneath. No longer were they the bright pinks and reds of a normal human’s. Grey filaments spiderwebbed across them, the nanites inside already processing them for use later.

38 went about removing 723’s intestines, stomach, liver, lungs, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and spleen. Soon, all that was left in the hollow chest cavity was 723’s heart. It was beating fast. Though its owner was quite unperturbed by the situation, the heart itself seemed terrified. 38 once again allowed herself to remember her own assimilation.

Lying on the table, a strong feminine hand reaching inside her, up under her ribcage. Pleasure aching through every remaining fiber of her flesh. Her heart pounding as if trying to knock down the wall of some impregnable fortress. She let this memory swim to 723, letting it communicate through feeling rather than words what was to happen next.

38 reached into 723’s ribcage, and gently clasped his heart in her hand. She reached the other hand in, the one holding the scalpel, and quickly cut through the vessels and ligaments holding the heart in place. It kept beating as she slowly pulled it out and presented it to him.

But 723 didn’t see. He was screaming, or rather, trying to, the pleasure overtaking him. His eyes rolled back into his head and the muscles that remained in his body flexed rhythmically as he experience the most powerful orgasm of his life.

When 38 had been assimilated, her orgasm had lasted for 12 minutes and 22 seconds. She sat there, stroking 723’s short, sandy hair, for more than 15 minutes, until the last waves of ecstasy left him.

When he finally relaxed, 38 stood up and retrieved the incubator hardware from the replicator. The main part of it consisted of an expandable tank, for growing embryonic drones. Other equipment included amniotic filters, immune augmentation, and a vocal synthesizer that would hook up to the throat to allow the unit to speak normally.

She lowered the hardware into the cavity, easing the accessories under 723’s ribcage and attaching the mount to his lower spine. When she was finished, she gently caressed the small window of the tank. “You’re going to make us such beautiful drones, dear.”

“That is all I want,” said 723, out loud now, “to serve the hive.”

“Well,” 38 replied, “you’ll need a pussy to be a proper breeding device, won’t you?”

“Yes!” he cried, excitedly, “give me my pussy!”

38 went to work. She opened up his scrotum first, removing the testicles and gently placing them aside. The next step was to remove the erectile tissue from the penis. She took great care while doing this not to cut the nerve that ran to the head. Damaging that would mean there wasn’t anything left to make 723’s clitoris, which would be a shame not just for him, but for the entire hive. An incubator that could not feel pleasure was no incubator at all.

She pressed the now-inverted penile skin up into 723’s abdomen, and felt the incubator hardware grasp and attach to it. She opened a small tube in one of her fingers and injected pleasure nanites into the cavity. They would lubricate and protect the birth canal, as well as make it more sensitive for both 723 and 723’s end user.

38 took some nano-suture and sewed small details into the skin outside, she placed the clitoris under a nice little hood, sewed small wrinkles into 723’s new lips, and, rather tastefully she thought, bunched up the pussy lips so they were nice and plump.

“723, would you like to see your new pussy?”

“Yes! Yes I would!”

Rather than hold up a mirror, 38 simply showed 723 how his pussy looked through her eyes.

“Oh god, it’s so cute!” he said, “I can’t wait to use it.”

38 smiled, “All in time. For now, you need rest.”

“Understood,” 723 said. He closed his eyes and slept while the nanites in his body finished up the finer details of installation.

Sigma-38 picked Iota-723 up, and carried him to the adjacent conditioning chamber. Gently, she hooked him into a wall mount, before turning and making her way to preprocessing.

723’s assimilation had taken only an hour. Incubators usually took less time than full drones, though. 38 stepped into preprocessing, and looked over the remaining 16 humans, (Sigma-47 was working on assimilating another) held by mag restraints on vertical beds. Her gaze fell on the captain.

Terry Holder’s sedation was just now wearing off, as 38 had planned. Groggily, the captain opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on 38. She struggled, ineffectually. The drugs were still in her system, still keeping her slow and weak. There was that look of confusion again, from her quarters, and recognition. Her eyes grew wide as it dawned on her, and she said, “Jenna? You’re alive?”

“Hello Terry,” said Sigma-38, “The Jenna you knew is long, long gone.”

[haze-phobia]

SHIP SHEET of mu OC Gertrude and Sebastion.

THEY DO NOT LOVE OR LIKE EACHOTHER!

Gertrude was a scientice working at the hedal blacksite, experementing and data orginisation.

[jazumst]

Prywaciarz

Żeby Was... Po prostu prywaciarz. Posłuchajcie:

Wczoraj gadałem w królem R. Dostali 1k na święta. Odkąd umarł jeden z szefów kasa bardzo się polepszyła. Może i ogarniał firmę, ale nie miał ręki do ludzi. Odkąd odszedł w zaświaty są premie, podwyżki...

//

W drugiej za to firmie... Prężnej, z dużym zapleczem, znanej... XD Dwieście złotych XD XD XD Ech, sknery pierdolone. Dziwne, że tak tam ludzie ciągną.

//

Pamiętacie jak pisałem, że te co mają dzieci dostaną odrobinę większy bon? Mimo iż SWS dał bony w kopercie to już wiadomo kto ile dostał. Obśmiewam skąpstwo tego chuja. Stara Baba, Kuc i Manekin po 100, KM, Kiero i ja, po 200. Zrobiło się o tyle niezręcznie, że miały mieć więcej, a nie mają. W ogóle te bony w tym roku tak zrobione na odpierdol. Tusz rozmazany, data zmieniona długopisem, więc pewnie z zeszłorocznego pliku robiona. Niby tam mu padła drukarka, ale znam go na tyle, że pewnie nie chciał dawać tych bonów.

//

Nie wypowiadam się nawet. Wstyd jak chuj. A z bonu cieszy się jedynie ukr, nabrała się 5 drogich rzeczy i tak szczerze uśmiechnęła jak zobaczyła, że zostało 30zł. Kupiła 7.