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sleepn0tfound · 2 months ago

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That's MY Daughter

DC x Fem!Neglected!Batsis! Reader x Marvel [Just some midnight thoughts]

Bruce and Tim realised something odd about Stark Industries. Ever since a few months ago the technology being produced there had improved by an unbelievable amount. It was futuristic, nothing that this world has seen before. And the weirdest part of it is the fact that Tony Stark had offered to partner up with Wayne Enterprises. THE Tony Stark, Iron Man, the most egotisical man they knew had willingly offered to partner up with them? After years of being petty with Bruce and the JL?

Tim had been made to prepare to become the new CEO soon, thus he recently started taking up more work at Wayne Enterprises when the agreement was made. Though instead of Tony being the one to talk about ideas it was an unknown woman communicating with him about the ideas, the product, the marketing, etc. And the merge of the two companies was an absolute success, the marketing especially drawing in young adults. (courtesy of Tim and the mysterious women who seems to be around the same age as him)

Who was the mysterious women though? Well both Bruce and Tim could only come to one solution. The least known character to Bruce, to Batman, which says a lot considering the fact that he had made a contingency plan for every Avenger, every hero, including his own teammates, including himself, yet this one character was completely unknown, zero plans if she were to go rogue. And that drove Bruce crazy. Her file was blank. Every vital information was marked with the word 'unknown'. It had been making Bruce paranoid for years since she had appeared next to the Avengers.

The reassurance from the Avengers never helped. It was as if something was gnawing at him. After all how could he trust them anyways? (careful Bruce your trust issues are showing)

One of the only things they knew about her is that she is the main hacker/coder for the Avengers, hence the reason why the Avengers digital security was admittedly better than the Justice League's and how much faster they got, what should be, classified information. (no matter how much Bruce wants to deny it)

And her codename, Special Agent Reaper. No she wasn't originally an Avenger, she was crowned the most skilled assassin of this era, working under S.H.I.E.L.D and one of the sole reasons why all of the HYDRA agents that have sneaked into S.H.I.E.L.D have been successfully taken out, her name would pass by in the wind every so often, they might be rumours or the truth but no one truly knows. Hell even Ra's Al Ghul, The Demon’s Head, had acknowledged her once. Even Talia had admitted that Damian's fighting technique was made to mirror The Reaper's, the only difference is he used katanas while the Reaper, fittingly, uses a scythe.

But one thing was for sure. If you saw the shadow of a hooded figure you better run, though at that point it might be too late.

As the saying goes, "Beware of the Grim Reaper. Wherever it goes death follows closely behind.”

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

“Ah! Brucie! Here you are!” Tony said, wine in hand as he approached Bruce at the gala. Well that was a first. He usually never played into the Brucie persona. Well nonetheless the show must go on.

“Tony!” Bruce threw himself at the other billionaire, acting as if he was drunk, ignoring the way Tony’s expression turned into a grimace for a split second.

As usual, they were both around other pretentious socialites who never seemed to run out of questions.

“Ah! Tony, I heard Stark Industries have been bringing in more money than ever.”

“Oh yes! It’s all because of this prodigy i had found. She actually was the reason why Stark Industries and Wayne Enterprises had a collab. I might even give the company to her when I retire!" He let out a laugh that seems to emanate the word 'rich', a small smirk stayed on his lips as he heard the guests at the gala begin to whisper.

"Oh? Is that so? Then I would love to meet the person I have been working with this entire time." Tim Drake-Wayne said as he finally came out of the corner where he would usually stay in to observe rather than interact.

"Be my guest." A subtle challenge, as if Tony was daring him to go through with it as they locked eyes. A smirk on one face while a well practiced smile on the other.

Bruce let out a light hearted laugh as he tightened his grip around Tony, a subtle warning to stay away from his son, "Well then I wouldn't mind arranging a meeting! I'm sure you wouldn't mind the others joining." His tone had a slight change that even the most observant wouldn't realise.

Bruce could barely keep up the 'Brucie' act with Tony bragging about how Stark Enterprises profits have shot up with him finding a 'prodigy' and someone who will take over the company once he retires.

"Not at all. The more the merrier. I assume you wouldn't mind me inviting more people as well." Tony sipped his wine, he wasn't one to back out from a challenge, especially when he is so confident.

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

This certainly wasn't how the Justice League and the Avengers expected their next meeting to happen. A petty fight between the two men that singlehandedly funds their respective teams causing all of them to be in one room together.

"Well then, Stark. Where is this prodigy that you speak so highly of?" Bruce said as he sported his famous batglare.

"I assure you she is on her way. She should just be right about done with her mission." Tony replied with the same tone, shooting a glare as well.

Meanwhile the two teams were watching this as if it was the most entertaining show they have seen.

"Hey I'm here." Y/n entered the hall, still wearing her assassin suit, though her signature black hood was down, revealing her face.

Silence seemed to engulf the room.

"Kid... Your hood."

"...Fuck."

hi! i might have disappeared for a month :D To those who are waiting for more parts of DC x Super/Kent!Reader it will come... eventually. I'm having the biggest writer's block for that specific AU so uhm yeah! I wasn't really planning on making that AU a series since it was mostly just me being bored and writing for the lols but since it received so much attention [thank you guys so much!] I have to do it now. i was doing some worldbuilding and already know how I want the reader to be and allat but I cant really think of how to shape the story ukukuk. so yeah stay tuned for that! also this thing was also just a blurb. Might make somewhat of continuation parts if I feel like it. [Also the neglected!batsis! fanfics I've been reading is getting to me. i have a feral urge to create a diff AU series for that] Also would you guys be interested in me creating a twitter/insta account or like a tele channel to post random things

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cinnam0nic3girl · 1 month ago

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Ultimate Guide to Staying Productive

1. Set Clear Goals

Define SMART Goals: Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Break It Down: Divide large goals into smaller, actionable tasks to make them more manageable.

2. Plan Your Day

Use a Planner or Digital Tool: Tools like Google Calendar, Notion, or a physical planner can help you organize your day.

Prioritize Tasks: Use methods like the Eisenhower Matrix to decide what’s urgent and important.

Set Time Blocks: Dedicate specific hours to work, breaks, and personal time.

3. Eliminate Distractions

Create a Dedicated Workspace: Ensure your environment is clean, comfortable, and free of clutter.

Limit Digital Interruptions: Turn off non-essential notifications and use tools like Focus Mode or website blockers.

Establish Boundaries: Let others know your work hours to minimize interruptions.

4. Use Productivity Techniques

Pomodoro Technique: Work for 25 minutes and take a 5-minute break. After four sessions, take a longer break.

Eat the Frog: Start your day by tackling the most challenging or important task first.

Time Blocking: Allocate specific times for specific tasks or categories of tasks.

5. Take Care of Your Health

Stay Active: Incorporate regular physical activity to boost energy levels.

Eat Well: Opt for a balanced diet with foods that fuel your body and mind.

Sleep Enough: Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night.

Practice Mindfulness: Techniques like meditation or deep breathing can reduce stress and improve focus.

6. Stay Motivated

Reward Yourself: Celebrate small wins to stay motivated.

Visualize Success: Remind yourself of why you’re working towards your goals.

Find Inspiration: Listen to podcasts, read books, or follow people who inspire you.

7. Review and Adjust

Daily Reflection: Spend 5-10 minutes reviewing what you accomplished.

Weekly Check-ins: Assess progress toward your goals and adjust as needed.

Learn from Mistakes: Identify what’s not working and pivot strategies if necessary.

8. Build Habits for Long-Term Success

Start Small: Focus on building one habit at a time.

Track Your Progress: Use habit trackers to stay consistent.

Stay Patient: Remember that habits take time to form.

9. Leverage Technology

Productivity Apps: Tools like Trello, Asana, or Todoist can help organize tasks.

Automation: Automate repetitive tasks to save time.

Note-Taking Apps: Use apps like Evernote or OneNote to capture ideas and organize information.

10. Stay Flexible

Adapt to Changes: Life is unpredictable, so be ready to adjust your plans.

Avoid Perfectionism: Focus on progress, not perfection.

Embrace Breaks: Taking time off can recharge your energy and creativity.

#clean girl #clean moodboard #girl things #girlblog aesthetic #girlblogging #girlhood #glow up #pinterest girl #self care #that girl #becoming that girl #pretty girls do it better #wonyoungism #wellness girl #vanilla girl #higher self

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tinystepsforward · 5 months ago

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autocrattic (more matt shenanigans, not tumblr this time)

I am almost definitely not the right person for this writeup, but I'm closer than most people on here, so here goes! This is all open-source tech drama, and I take my time laying out the context, but the short version is: Matt tried to extort another company, who immediately posted receipts, and now he's refusing to log off again. The long version is... long.

If you don't need software context, scroll down/find the "ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening" heading, or just go read the pink sections. Or look at this PDF.

the background

So. Matt's original Good Idea was starting WordPress with fellow developer Mike Little in 2003, which is free and open-source software (FOSS) that was originally just for blogging, but now powers lots of websites that do other things. In particular, Automattic acquired WooCommerce a long time ago, which is free online store software you can run on WordPress.

FOSS is... interesting. It's a world that ultimately is powered by people who believe deeply that information and resources should be free, but often have massive blind spots (for example, Wikipedia's consistently had issues with bias, since no amount of "anyone can edit" will overcome systemic bias in terms of who has time to edit or is not going to be driven away by the existing contributor culture). As with anything else that people spend thousands of hours doing online, there's drama. As with anything else that's technically free but can be monetized, there are:

Heaps of companies and solo developers who profit off WordPress themes, plugins, hosting, and other services;

Conflicts between volunteer contributors and for-profit contributors;

Annoying founders who get way too much credit for everything the project has become.

the WordPress ecosystem

A project as heavily used as WordPress (some double-digit percentage of the Internet uses WP. I refuse to believe it's the 43% that Matt claims it is, but it's a pretty large chunk) can't survive just on the spare hours of volunteers, especially in an increasingly monetised world where its users demand functional software, are less and less tech or FOSS literate, and its contributors have no fucking time to build things for that userbase.

Matt runs Automattic, which is a privately-traded, for-profit company. The free software is run by the WordPress Foundation, which is technically completely separate (wordpress.org). The main products Automattic offers are WordPress-related: WordPress.com, a host which was designed to be beginner-friendly; Jetpack, a suite of plugins which extend WordPress in a whole bunch of ways that may or may not make sense as one big product; WooCommerce, which I've already mentioned. There's also WordPress VIP, which is the fancy bespoke five-digit-plus option for enterprise customers. And there's Tumblr, if Matt ever succeeds in putting it on WordPress. (Every Tumblr or WordPress dev I know thinks that's fucking ridiculous and impossible. Automattic's hiring for it anyway.)

Automattic devotes a chunk of its employees toward developing Core, which is what people in the WordPress space call WordPress.org, the free software. This is part of an initiative called Five for the Future — 5% of your company's profits off WordPress should go back into making the project better. Many other companies don't do this.

There are lots of other companies in the space. GoDaddy, for example, barely gives back in any way (and also sucks). WP Engine is the company this drama is about. They don't really contribute to Core. They offer relatively expensive WordPress hosting, as well as providing a series of other WordPress-related products like LocalWP (local site development software), Advanced Custom Fields (the easiest way to set up advanced taxonomies and other fields when making new types of posts. If you don't know what this means don't worry about it), etc.

Anyway. Lots of strong personalities. Lots of for-profit companies. Lots of them getting invested in, or bought by, private equity firms.

Matt being Matt, tech being tech

As was said repeatedly when Matt was flipping out about Tumblr, all of the stuff happening at Automattic is pretty normal tech company behaviour. Shit gets worse. People get less for their money. WordPress.com used to be a really good place for people starting out with a website who didn't need "real" WordPress — for $48 a year on the Personal plan, you had really limited features (no plugins or other customisable extensions), but you had a simple website with good SEO that was pretty secure, relatively easy to use, and 24-hour access to Happiness Engineers (HEs for short. Bad job title. This was my job) who could walk you through everything no matter how bad at tech you were. Then Personal plan users got moved from chat to emails only. Emails started being responded to by contractors who didn't know as much as HEs did and certainly didn't get paid half as well. Then came AI, and the mandate for HEs to try to upsell everyone things they didn't necessarily need. (This is the point at which I quit.)

But as was said then as well, most tech CEOs don't publicly get into this kind of shitfight with their users. They're horrid tyrants, but they don't do it this publicly.

ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening

WordCamp US, one of the biggest WordPress industry events of the year, is the backdrop for all this. It just finished.

There are.... a lot of posts by Matt across multiple platforms because, as always, he can't log off. But here's the broad strokes.

Sep 17

Matt publishes a wanky blog post about companies that profit off open source without giving back. It targets a specific company, WP Engine.

Compare the Five For the Future pages from Automattic and WP Engine, two companies that are roughly the same size with revenue in the ballpark of half a billion. These pledges are just a proxy and aren’t perfectly accurate, but as I write this, Automattic has 3,786 hours per week (not even counting me!), and WP Engine has 47 hours. WP Engine has good people, some of whom are listed on that page, but the company is controlled by Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102 billion in assets under management. Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your Open Source ideals. It just wants a return on capital. So it’s at this point that I ask everyone in the WordPress community to vote with your wallet. Who are you giving your money to? Someone who’s going to nourish the ecosystem, or someone who’s going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers?

(It's worth noting here that Automattic is funded in part by BlackRock, who Wikipedia calls "the world's largest asset manager".)

Sep 20 (WCUS final day)

WP Engine puts out a blog post detailing their contributions to WordPress.

Matt devotes his keynote/closing speech to slamming WP Engine.

He also implies people inside WP Engine are sending him information.

For the people sending me stuff from inside companies, please do not do it on your work device. Use a personal phone, Signal with disappearing messages, etc. I have a bunch of journalists happy to connect you with as well. #wcus — Twitter I know private equity and investors can be brutal (read the book Barbarians at the Gate). Please let me know if any employee faces firing or retaliation for speaking up about their company's participation (or lack thereof) in WordPress. We'll make sure it's a big public deal and that you get support. — Tumblr

Matt also puts out an offer live at WordCamp US:

“If anyone of you gets in trouble for speaking up in favor of WordPress and/or open source, reach out to me. I’ll do my best to help you find a new job.” — source tweet, RTed by Matt

He also puts up a poll asking the community if WP Engine should be allowed back at WordCamps.

Sep 21

Matt writes a blog post on the WordPress.org blog (the official project blog!): WP Engine is not WordPress.

He opens this blog post by claiming his mom was confused and thought WP Engine was official.

The blog post goes on about how WP Engine disabled post revisions (which is a pretty normal thing to do when you need to free up some resources), therefore being not "real" WordPress. (As I said earlier, WordPress.com disables most features for Personal and Premium plans. Or whatever those plans are called, they've been renamed like 12 times in the last few years. But that's a different complaint.)

Sep 22: More bullshit on Twitter. Matt makes a Reddit post on r/Wordpress about WP Engine that promptly gets deleted. Writeups start to come out:

Search Engine Journal: WordPress Co-Founder Mullenweg Sparks Backlash

TechCrunch: Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a ‘cancer to WordPress’ and urges community to switch providers

Sep 23 onward

Okay, time zones mean I can't effectively sequence the rest of this.

Matt defends himself on Reddit, casually mentioning that WP Engine is now suing him.

Also here's a decent writeup from someone involved with the community that may be of interest.

WP Engine drops the full PDF of their cease and desist, which includes screenshots of Matt apparently threatening them via text.

Twitter link | Direct PDF link

This PDF includes some truly fucked texts where Matt appears to be trying to get WP Engine to pay him money unless they want him to tell his audience at WCUS that they're evil.

Matt, after saying he's been sued and can't talk about it, hosts a Twitter Space and talks about it for a couple hours.

He also continues to post on Reddit, Twitter, and on the Core contributor Slack.

Here's a comment where he says WP Engine could have avoided this by paying Automattic 8% of their revenue.

Another, 20 hours ago, where he says he's being downvoted by "trolls, probably WPE employees"

At some point, Matt updates the WordPress Foundation trademark policy. I am 90% sure this was him — it's not legalese and makes no fucking sense to single out WP Engine.

Old text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit. New text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.

Sep 25: Automattic puts up their own legal response.

anyway this fucking sucks

This is bigger than anything Matt's done before. I'm so worried about my friends who're still there. The internal ramifications have... been not great so far, including that Matt's naturally being extra gung-ho about "you're either for me or against me and if you're against me then don't bother working your two weeks".

Despite everything, I like WordPress. (If you dig into this, you'll see plenty of people commenting about blocks or Gutenberg or React other things they hate. Unlike many of the old FOSSheads, I actually also think Gutenberg/the block editor was a good idea, even if it was poorly implemented.)

I think that the original mission — to make it so anyone can spin up a website that's easy enough to use and blog with — is a good thing. I think, despite all the ways being part of FOSS communities since my early teens has led to all kinds of racist, homophobic and sexual harm for me and for many other people, that free and open-source software is important.

So many people were already burning out of the project. Matt has been doing this for so long that those with long memories can recite all the ways he's wrecked shit back a decade or more. Most of us are exhausted and need to make money to live. The world is worse than it ever was.

Social media sucks worse and worse, and this was a world in which people missed old webrings, old blogs, RSS readers, the world where you curated your own whimsical, unpaid corner of the Internet. I started actually actively using my own WordPress blog this year, and I've really enjoyed it.

And people don't want to deal with any of this.

The thing is, Matt's right about one thing: capital is ruining free open-source software. What he's wrong about is everything else: the idea that WordPress.com isn't enshittifying (or confusing) at a much higher rate than WP Engine, the idea that WP Engine or Silver Lake are the only big players in the field, the notion that he's part of the solution and not part of the problem.

But he's started a battle where there are no winners but the lawyers who get paid to duke it out, and all the volunteers who've survived this long in an ecosystem increasingly dominated by big money are giving up and leaving.

Anyway if you got this far, consider donating to someone on gazafunds.com. It'll take much less time than reading this did.

#tony muses #tumblr meta #again just bc that's my tag for all this #automattic #wordpress #this is probably really incoherent i apologise lmao #i may edit it

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butchfairyzine · 1 year ago

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Butch Fairy Zine: Answering questions

What art style are we looking for? What is the estimated timeline? Will you get paid? we answer them here!

We will be answering more questions and posting them in the days leading up to the artist application form opening. So if you have questions, use our inbox, or you can fill in our interest form and leave them at the bottom. And if you have queries for the frog, you can leave them there too. He is very busy, so keep that in mind.

Find the interest form here.

Our Artist Application form will open on the 12th of January 2024.

text version under the cut

What type of artists are you looking for? And are you after a specific style or a range of styles?

We are looking for artists who can create pieces with fully rendered fairies and a background within the specified schedule. These can be digital artworks that are flat colour artworks, paintings, a mixture, or another style entirely.

We will also accept mixed media and traditional artworks, but they will need to be scanned at a minimum of 300dpi.

When you sign up for an artist position, are there any requirements to be a part of the team?

E-mail communication is required (discord is optional).

You must have a PayPal account to receive payment.

You must be able to communicate comfortably in English.

You must be 18 or older at the time of signing the contract by the 16th of February.

For artists accepted into the zine what would be the timeline for completing and submitting artwork?

Our current schedule for the artists requires concept ideas to be submitted by Feb 16th, and the final version by May 16th! Progress check-ins will be on Feb 29th, March 21st, and April 11th.

(In the image there is also a table including this information as well as the final submissions date being May 16th)

When the zine is for sale, where would the profits go to (charity, zine admin, etc.)?

We are aiming to hold pre-orders in June/July of 2024, with a flat fee paid to all contributors and additional proceeds split between contributors and mods.

Our priority is to make sure each contributor is paid fairly for their work. If sales do well enough, 20% will be used for future books and projects, and 80% split between taxes and fees, production costs, contributors and shipping costs.

Is this physical or digital and will there be prints of the art available? Got any merch ideas planned to go along with the zine?

Both physical and digital! Our goal is to make a 210 x 148 mm (A5) perfect-bound soft cover book.

We also plan to add some paper merch, including prints of some of the art from the book. Additional merch ideas include stickers, sticker sheets and bookmarks.

#art zine #butch fairy zine #fairy zine #art jobs #faq #answering questions with the frog

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ayeforscotland · 7 months ago

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What is Dataflow? Part 2: Diagrams

This is the second part of a couple of posts about Dataflow, particularly why it's important for the world going forward and relating to the Crowd Strike IT disaster.

Read the first part here.

Before I get into this one today, I wanted to address a couple of things.

Firstly, Dataflow is something that nearly every single person can understand. You do NOT:

Need to have a degree in Computing Science

Need to work in IT

Need to be a data analyst / Spreadsheet master

If any of you see the word 'Data' and feel your eyes glazing over, try and snap out of it because, if you're anything like me, Dataflow is much more approachable as a concept.

Secondly, what do I mean by IT?

Traditionally in most of our media the all-encompassing 'IT department' handles everything to do with technology. But every business works differently and there are many job titles with lots of crossover.

For example, you can be an infrastructure engineer where your focus is on building and maintaining the IT infrastructure that connects your organisation internally and externally. This is a completely different role from an Application Portfolio Manager who is tasked with looking after the Applications used in business processes.

Both are technical people and come under the banner of 'IT' - but their roles are focused in different areas. So just bear that in mind!

Now that's out of the way, let's begin! This one will be a little bit deeper, and questions welcome!

An Intro to Diagrams

You probably do not need a history of why pictures are important to the human race but to cover our bases, ever since we put traced our hands on a cave wall we have been using pictures to communicate.

Jump forward in time and you have engineers like Leonardo Da Vinci drafting engineering schematics.

You get the idea, humans have been creating diagrams (Pictures) for thousands of years. Centuries of refinement and we have much more modern variations.

And there's one main reason why diagrams are important: They are a Common Language.

In this context, a Common Language helps bridge a language gap between disciplines as well as a linguistic gap. A Spanish electrician and a German electrician should be able to refer to the same diagram and understand each other, even if they don't know each other's language.

The reason they can do this is because they're are international standards which govern how electrical diagrams are created.

A Common Language for Digital?

Here's an image I've shown to clients from governments and institutions to global organisations.

Everything around us, from the products we use to the bridges we drive over and the buildings we live, work, enjoy and shop in had diagrams backing them.

You would not build a skyscraper without a structural engineering diagram, you would not build an extension on your house if an architect couldn't produce a blueprint.

Why is there not an equivalent for the Digital World and for Dataflow?

Where is the Digital Common Language?

This is the bit where the lightbulb goes on in a lot of people's heads. Because, as I mentioned in Part 1, the flow of data is the flow of information and knowledge. And the common mistake is that people think of dataflow, and only ever think about the technology.

Dataflow is the flow of information between People, Business Processes *and* Technology Assets.

It is not reserved to Technology specialists. When you look at the flow of data, you need to understand the People (Stakeholders) at the top, the processes that they perform (and the processes which use the data) and the technology assets that support that data.

The reason why this is important is because it puts the entire organisation in context.

It is something that modern businesses fail to do. They might have flow charts and network diagrams, and these are 'alright' in specific contexts, but they fall to pieces when they lack the context of the full organisation.

For example, here is a Network Diagram. It is probably of *some* value to technical personnel who work in infrastructure. Worth bearing in mind, some organisations don't even have something like this.

To be absolutely clear, this diagram will hold some value for some people within the organisation. I'm not saying it's completely useless. But for almost everyone else, it is entirely out of context, especially for any non-technical people.

So it doesn't help non-technical people understand why all of these assets are important, and it doesn't help infrastructure teams articulate the importance of any of these assets.

What happens if one of those switches or routers fails? What's the impact on the organisation? Who is affected? The diagram above does not answer those questions.

On the other side of the business we have process diagrams (aka workflow diagrams) which look like this.

Again we run into the same problem - This is maybe useful for some people working up at the process layer, but even then it doesn't provide context for the stakeholders involved (Are there multiple people/departments involved throughout) and it doesn't provide any context for technical personnel who are responsible for maintaining the technology that supports this process.

In short, nobody has the big picture because there is not a common language between Business & IT.

Conclusion

So what do we do? Well we need to have a Common Language between Business & IT. While we need people with cross-functional knowledge, we also need a common language (or common framework) for both sides of the organisation to actually understand each other.

Otherwise you get massively siloed departments completely winging their disaster recovery strategies when things like Crowd Strike goes down.

Senior Management will be asked questions about what needs to be prioritised and they won't have answers because they aren't thinking in terms of Dataflow.

It's not just 'We need to turn on everything again' - It's a question of priorities.

Thing is, there's a relatively simple way to do it, in a way that looking at any engineering diagram feels simple but actually has had decades/centuries of thought behind it. It almost feels like complete common sense.

I'll save it for Part 3 if you're interested in me continuing and I'll make a diagram of my blog.

The important thing is mapping out all the connections and dependencies, and there's not some magic button you press that does it all.

But rigorous engineering work is exactly that, you can't fudge it with a half-arsed attempt. You need to be proactive, instead of reacting whenever disaster strikes.

#AyeforScotland #crowd strike #Dataflow #diagrams #workflow

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anemoiashifts · 1 month ago

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ways to deal with possible tiktok withdrawals.

social media addiction is a very real thing. it’s so so important to be gentle with yourself, especially at a time like this if your screen time on tiktok isnt a number you’re proud of. I don’t say that to shame anyone, just to say “i understand” to those who may resonate & feel they could benefit from this. a digital shoulder to lean on. even if tiktok will come back, it’s good to put some healthy habits into practice anyways.

i don’t think a lot of people understand how detrimental the tiktok ban could be for some people — even if short lived. it served as a lifeline & im sorry if that’s been brushed off by anyone. this isn’t what i normally post but i did get an influx of followers recently of whom im assuming are from tiktok. thanks for making the trip over here, if you are one of those people :) !

disclaimer ! im not a mental health professional. if you are seriously struggling please please please go talk to someone who is qualified in dealing with addiction or any other issues you may be facing. wishing all of you peace in a time that feels like someone is pelting ten tennis balls at you from every direction imaginable.

────୨ৎ────

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ self care …

⋆ if your anything like me, your sleep schedule is way off. now could be a good time to try & correct it. set a time to go to bed & even if your not sleepy, try & meditate or listen to a youtube video in the background while you rest your eyes.

⋆ adapting some sort of routine even if it’s just eating enough & drinking water regularly. it’s a start & it’ll help you focus on doing something else.

⋆ most importantly be kind to yourself & give yourself grace in the moments you are struggling. it can be hard to even acknowledge that you want to develop a healthy habit or change for the better when you dislike yourself or feel hopeless. all we can do is try & that’s something most do not consider. if you did so much as just read this post, you’re doing more then most.

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ hobbies …

⋆ once you stop doomscrolling for hours on end, you’ll see how long the day really is. & there are so many things you can do to keep yourself occupied.

⋆ off the top of my head, here are some ideas on how to keep yourself busy ! : scrapbooking, coloring, sewing, jewelry making, video games, walking or running, photography, knitting, crocheting, people watching, making spotify playlists, going down youtube rabbit holes, embroidery, sculpting, poetry, learning astrology, meditation, yoga, baking or cooking, making mockups or concept art for various things.

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ read …

⋆ piggybacking off of the point above, go to your local library & get a library card ! they don’t just have books but shows & movies & dvd’s ! buy some blanks & burn em so they’re yours forever.

⋆ the site thriftedbooks has used books for cheap. ebay & in person thrift stores are good options too if new books (or shows or music) are to pricey. sometimes your library will even have sales ! i once got a beautiful looking, 1927 poetry book for $2 at one of those.

⋆ not to mention how important education is & staying informed. keeping history fresh in your mind will always do you good. get that attention span up :) ik you can do it !

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ be productive …

⋆ i know you at least have a messy closet or drawer or maybe your camera roll needs to be cleaned out. take this time to do it.

⋆ alternatively, if you keep a list of books, movies & shows to watch like me in my notes app … why not dive into one of those ?

⋆ trust me, I know it sounds like such a big hurtle sometimes to simply do the dishes but you’ll feel so much better once everything’s done. often, i feel physically lighter.

⋆ that compulsion that we do when we click on tiktok & go “oh right !! it’s banned …” then close the app & do it two more times in a row before you audible huff at yourself ? try to keep your hands busy so you’re not tempted to reach for your phone 24/7 & repeat that cycle.

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ community …

⋆ like i said, social media addiction is a real thing despite not being treated like one all the time. it’s unfortunately been normalized considering how many people are unaware they even struggle themselves. friends of mine have told me that they use tiktok to cope with things & something that serves as a distraction.

⋆ have people around you. don’t be alone as that’ll make you feel worse about yourself. even if you don’t have anyone in real life, im sure there are communities of your interest on the internet that would accept you with open arms. (like this one !) please don’t resort to online chat bots or ai tools for companionship.

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ do what makes you happy … :)

⋆ watching your comfort show for the tenth time, being in nature, trying on your entire wardrobe to discover a favorite outfit that you didn’t know existed ? do it all. everything that brings you joy, do unapologetically.

────୨ৎ────

#desired reality #reality shifting #shiftblr #shifting #shiftok #shifting motivation #shifting realities #shifter #reality shifter

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dreamdolldiary · 1 year ago

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a simple, no BS rundown on how to ACTUALLY reach your goals

Because grass is greener where you water it. Not the other side.

1. Stop the overconsumption

This is #1 for a reason because just like the majority of individuals who set goals and research how, we often find ourselves stuck in a

"get inspired > overconsume self care content > we get that quick dopamine > never actually pursue our goals or cannot go 1-3 months without being consistent." cycle.

That all ends with this post. Let me keep it simple and straight to the point. Your brain is not designed to hold an overload of information at once for something so straightforward as the pursuit of goals - there is never a need to go down a YouTube or Tumblr self care post rabbit hole when they all essentially regurgitate the same, core information.

Besides, no amount of information will prove beneficial if you aren't willing to commit to goal execution.

2. Identify your ULTIMATE goal

Look back on all the years that have gone by. What aspect of your life makes you feel like you need to improve? What do you truly want to achieve right NOW?

Was it the lack of exercise you got? Your low grades? Your poor relationships with others and yourself? Mental health issues? Unhappy with your job? Financial stress? Pinpoint the areas of your life that carry the most weight at this time.

Depending on what you feel, you may feel unhappy with the way you handle your responsibilities or the way you can't seem to navigate through your hardships.

An example goal to combat these problems would be: to be more self reliant.

Now, narrow down your focus to three pivotal habits that will guide you toward this ultimate goal.

3. Focus on 3 KEY HABITS that help you achieve that ULTIMATE goal

I think being self reliant should be or is a subliminal goal everyone has. I mean, this is your life, only you can make things happen and that all depends on your self reliance.

Narrow down your focus to three pivotal habits that will guide you toward this ultimate goal.

The 3 Key Habit Areas:

Productivity

Skills

Exercise

Pick 1 for each.

Why only 3 habits? What person doesn't want to be good at a million things? While wanting to constantly reinvent ourselves and have a reset or implement the 12 week year into our lives, it’s very easy to get carried away.

Yes, not even the sky's the limit! You can be and do whatever your heart yearns if you know it's your calling or if you truly know it'll make you happy but when it comes to goal setting, we will pile so much more than we can handle at once and you know what that does?

Creates excitement

As we try to tackle all these goals/habits, it gets overwhelming- unsustainable.

And because it got overwhelming, you'll start to "fall behind" on being consistent in every one.

If you "fail" to be consistent or expect yourself to be a master at it within the first 2 weeks, you'll throw in the towel and say "Well. Since I can't do this, I might as well give up altogether."

And you go on living the same life you wanted to improve from.

So AS MUCH as you want to do it all right now, take it slow and easy. This isn't to say you can't be all the things you aspire to be. I am saying to take it one step at a time. You have to walk before you can run.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Ideas for those 3 key habits

Habit: a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

Productivity:

Practice the 2 minute rule

Create a time block schedule that is flexible

Plan the next day and set priorities on your to-do list

Practice digital minimalism

Wake up at 5-6am and allocate “me time” before you jump into work/studying.

Skills:

Learn a tech skill (coding, editing/design, typing)

Learn a high value language (immerse, learn the alphabet)

Have better handwriting

Learn calligraphy

Dedicate AT LEAST an hour to this habit everyday. Choose something you enjoy. Don't make this feel like a chore.

Exercise:

10k steps a day

Practice dance (choreography online, ballet, jazz, contemp.)

Martial arts inspired exercises

100 crunches a day

Add stretching to these habits

3. Create a SIMPLE, fail proof plan that works for YOU.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

3 habits. 2 of which should take at least 2 hours of your whole day. If you can't do that then you need some self-assessing to do.

Assess whether you work better in the morning or at night

Plan what hours you're going to do them.

Print out a paper with a time block schedule, set it infront of your desk, make it a widget on your phone, tape it on your room wall- anywhere where you can easily keep track of the time and what you should be doing now and in the next hour.

Example schedule that most people can relate to:

Productivity | Skill | Exercise

Wake up at 6am - me time (skincare, calm music, stretch)

7am - Full body exercise.

8-9am - Get ready for the day and head to work

13:00 - Break time (read a book, walk around for some peace of mind, or immerse yourself in the language you chose)

17:00 - Come back home and rewind. (eat, settle down, walk the dog)

18:00 - Learn how to code

19:00 - Get ready for the next day by planning

20:00 - Shower & get ready for bed

4. Reflect, always!

Keep a track of your consistency.

This doesn't have to be an inconvenience or all set to be pretty and aesthetic.

Print out a habit tracker and tape it, along with a pen on a wall, next to your vanity, wherever is convenient and hard to miss so you can easily mark it off.

If it's close to bedtime, make it a routine to check what you have yet to accomplish.

You knocked off learning how to code, your phone says you walked 10k steps, but you see that you forgot to drink water? Then drink a sufficient glass of water, and place a check in the box.

Quick. Simple. Easy. No excuses.

There. 1 week goes by, soon 3 weeks, then a month, that month turns into 2, then 3, and those "goals" are now habits. A part of your daily routine. They become non-negotiables.

Just like how it's routine for you to go to wake up, brush your teeth, and get dressed everyday.

Now that you created a set of habits, you can build upon them. In a few months time when you feel that it is right, create another action plan and introduce 3 new habits.

For example, you can try another dance style, wake up at an even earlier time, and you can learn how to speak another language or to put it simply, make it goal to reach an advanced level of your new skills

Another example could be towards a more specific ultimate goal. Like taking care of your outward appearance.

Habits for that ultimate goal can look like:

Putting on skincare oils to reduce scars

Growing your glutes + massaging your muscles

showering + brushing your teeth everyday

Rinse and repeat.

Remember that only you can save you. Only you are there for you. Your future is built now.

You don't need luck. You need self love.

— dreamdolldiary ₊˚🕯️♱‧₊˚.

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crowleysgirl56 · 4 months ago

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Ok sssoooooooo I did a little digging to try and figure out exactly WHAT THE FUCK is going on.

Firstly, Goodomensnews which is what everyone is sharing here is an Instagram account which screen shot two sources.

First is a website called UK Productions News. Here’s their website: https://www.ukproductionnews.com

Seems to be a subscription service for people looking for TV/film production work to get information about what is happening and where. From the contact page it seems to be run by one guy who I can’t find any info on regarding whether he’s actually a known industry professional. The listings section apparently lists productions that are being filmed in the UK. You can only see four pages worth outside of the subscription and most is stuff I’ve not heard of. Plus the actual production information is also behind the paywall. The very top one listed yesterday is for a GO TV film.

This brings us to the second cited source from that original Instagram post, TV Zone UK, which basically tweeted the info you see above. They haven’t cited any other source, and they themselves are just a random website that basically gives out snippets of entertainment news. I don’t think they’re a big name entertainment media outlet. I’ve googled and there’s nothing from all the usual entertainment media outlets like Deadline, Digital Spy, Hollywood Reporter, Den of Geeks, etc.

So basically a website that we have no idea if they are truly an industry professional run website was contained information that was tweeted by a not very big entertainment information site and then reshared on Instagram.

It’s probably not anything to worry about but it does give us three possibilities:

1. The information is a mistake or false

2. Episode 6 will be movie length (god I hope it’s this one)

3. The information is correct and it may be that the last season has now been reworked into a movie, and THIS is what the “Production changes” were referencing when the season was paused back on 10 September.

Though I honestly don’t understand how the third one could be true. How do you go from 6 scripts which took 9 months to write to condensing it into a film in a month? And still proceed with production in 3 months time? I honestly don’t know enough about how the industry works or can work to answer this question. Did they get Gaiman to do it? Or did they get their own editor to do it? It leaves so many questions.

I know that having a movie instead of an entire season feels disappointing (if this turns out to be true), because it feels like we won’t be able to get the full story. It won’t leave us enough time with our Ineffables. But as someone who really loved Sense8 on Netflix, trust me, getting a movie is better than nothing.

So I guess let’s all just hang on a little longer. Keep pressuring Prime and pray that this is just number 1 (or maybe number 2!) on that list.

#good omens #good omens season 3 #good omens news #good omens fandom #ineffable husbands #prime #Amazon prime #prime video #fire neil gaiman

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sgiandubh · 10 months ago

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Lallybroch: copyright vs. trademark

An excellent question was asked by our friend @rosfrank in the comments thread to 'The door faces North' post and given the cosmic amount of uninformed bullshit being ventilated for almost ten years in this fandom, I think it's time to answer it once and for all:

Whenever we are informally talking about 'owning the rights to something', I think it's very important to bear in mind a fundamental distinction between two different categories of ownership rights: copyright and trademark.

The copyright is the most familiar one to many of you. It is what you usually find on those annoying and apparently useless first or last pages of all the printed or digital editions on this planet. Something like this:

In the US, copyright issues are regulated by the Copyright Act of 1976, as included in Title 17 of the US Code. The US public authority competent for registering and managing copyright is, as predictable, the US Copyright Office.

Perhaps the most seminal US Supreme Court decision, as far as copyright is concerned, is the 1991 Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co. In it, the Court ruled that mere compilations of information or facts (such as, for example, telephone books) are not protected by copyright, according to US law. In other words, the ancient legal concept of 'sweat of the brow' (which simply means the amount of work required to gather and compile those facts/information) is not enough to qualify a work for copyright protection, if no creative effort is added to enhance its content. This is why I have always considered absolutely ridiculous Marple's efforts to watermark public information screenshots: it is useless (to the extent that it legally protects her from nothing) and, as her timelines, a mere compilation of facts (legally ditto). A similar approach is preferred by the UK and also by many Roman law legal systems, such as the French one - just making things clearer, here, by the way.

See how 'Erself is roughly doing, right now, in this department:

But I am rambling. In my view, Lallybroch, as a pivotal concept used in Diana Gabaldon's books, is protected by the copyright granted to each and every of her books mentioning it, according to the Roman law principle 'accessorium sequitur principale' (the accessory follows the principal). So it will remain protected for at least 70 years since the last of her books mentioning it would have been published under copyright. Unless she chooses to separately protect the entire finished cycle as a whole, once Book Ten (fingers crossed) is published, preferably during our foreseeable lifetimes.

That being said, that goes only for one copyright category: (published) text - you cannot copyright that secret diary in your drawer, LOL. This is why, the current US Copyright Office records concerning Lallybroch look like this:

Sony Pictures Television Inc owns the copyright to the fictional name Lallybroch in the motion pictures category, as it is the title of the Episode 12, in Season 1 - DG has been handsomely compensated for this, no worries. And someone I have no idea about owns the rights to an original musical score she has written and titled Lallybroch in the music category, since October 2013.

Onwards to the trademark. This is something different and this is all about making your name/concept/idea profitable. It is all about branding it, putting it on a product and selling it under that brand. It includes all the graphic elements and the logo of the brand (accessorium...) - in short, its visual identity to the consumers. In the US, trademark issues are regulated by the 1946 Lanham Act and the public competent authority is the good old US Patent and Trade Office (USPTO).

Right now, the situation for the Lallybroch trademark is as follows:

So, we see three different trademarks: two of them, owned by Diana Gabaldon, are classified as 'dead' (cancelled and/or abandoned) and the third, Lallybroch Spirits, owned by S's Great Glen Company is pending approval - he will not be able to label any booze bottle Lallybroch Drink Me before permission is granted by the USPTO.

Let's unpack:

Both Lallybroch trademarks formerly owned by Diana Gabaldon were filed at the USPTO on February 21, 2000 and granted on December 12, 2000. The first was aimed at producing 'tartan fabrics for the manufacturer of clothing' and it was abandoned in December 2003:

The reason is that the owner did not file in any Statement of Use after the trademark was granted. She had three years to do so, and since she chose not to do anything about it, the trademark was deemed abandoned (Stacy K. Smith is the attorney hired by Herself, btw). That means she specifically implied not to intend using it in the future. As such, she may claim NO rights on a now free to use mark:

The second trademark was aimed at producing 'clothing, namely, t-shirts, dresses and headwear' and also 'jewelry, namely, rings, pins and necklaces'- to cut the story short: OL merchandise - and it was cancelled on March 1st, 2013:

The reason is that the owner did not file the Section 8 declaration (of continuous use for five years) within the allowed legal timeframe (6 months after the fifth anniversary of the trademark granting renewal). Her trademark federal rights are now deemed canceled (but not her state law and/or common law rights!) and if she wants to ever use that name again, she would have to start the whole process over, bearing in mind the trademark could have been granted to someone else, in the meanwhile (not her case).

And for anyone who might ask, 'Erself does not own any other trademarks whatsoever:

The other (Doll Lab - LOL for ages) Diana Gabaldon is a pharmacist from Albuquerque, NM. Chill. 🤣🤣🤣

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as far as published text is concerned, is Diana Galabdon.

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as far as motion pictures are concerned, is Sony Pictures Television Inc.

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as a personal work of music, is Mrs. Kelly Ruth Davis, of Pennsylvania, USA.

The owner of the Lallybroch Spirits trademark will be Sam Roland Heughan, when that trademark is granted by the USPTO.

I hope this answers your question, @rosfrank. Thank you for asking.

#fandom #shitshow #boozewars #business #legal

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kitsuneheart · 7 days ago

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—From the Introduction to "On the Courtship of Hedgehogs," by J. & B., PhD, Mobotropolis Press

I grew up a SatAM and Archie Sonic fan, so there’s a lot of small references in this fic to the older media. J. and B. are actually Jules and Bernadette, better known as Sonic’s parents! I liked the idea that, even though movie Sonic’s parents are absent (dead?), they are still teaching him about growing up and love.

*****

But Amy also just had her own innate charm. She was upbeat, kind, frighteningly strong, a fellow animal-lover, and, above all other things, obsessed with all things romance.

I wound up convinced that Amy Rose loves (non-sentient) animals PURELY because of her first Lego set, “Amy’s Animal Rescue Island.” But I think it works. Her liking animals also solved the problem of where she lives. It’s addressed later, but she lives with Zimmer, who’s the farmer we see in movie 1. Zimmer now also has goats. Of the Tauernscheck breed, also known as...Austrian goats. There is NO WAY that Austrian goat milk is milk Stone FLEW IN from Austria, it would ruin the FRESHNESS of the product!

*****

the girl had needled about the Wachowski’s relationship with the fervor of one of those...oh, what was the word? Ah, right. Shippers.

THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE BUILDING.

*****

Five years had passed since Amy arrived on Earth to stop the Skynet-ripoff menace of Metal Sonic. Only a year after, one Rouge the Bat had surfaced...

I’ve got a couple ideas on a Metal Sonic fic to slot in as a prequel, but I’m trying to be good and stick to this one project until it’s done. As for Rouge, I was replaying SA2 for my kid, and realized she was semil-known as a spy before the events of the game. I think, in this story’s universe, she likewise got established at GUN before the hero trio met her.

*****

...the two misfits off in Station Square.

Where is Station Square in this fic? Just close enough for Amy to visit at her running speed (which I’m assuming is fast, but nowhere near Sonic’s speed). I actually find this really funny, as it implies that Station Square is in Montana, which is...not a big-city kind of state.

*****

Maddie had almost been relieved to find nothing about construction in Rosemary P.’s "The Courtship of Foxes"...

Rosemary P. would actually be...Rosemary Prower, Archie comics Tails’s mom!

*****

mini MGA reader

The Mobotropolis Grand Archive. This is the Archie Sonic-verse version of Wikipedia. The MGA is part of the research backbone of Sally Acorn’s digital assistant, Nicole. In this fic, it’s an information repository, including a lot of fiction.

*****

He still thinks Watergate salad is haute cuisine.

I love the idea of Shadow eating terrible 1970s food. Other highlights would include Hamburger Helper and the McDonalds Egg McMuffin, as well as a general craze for cheese logs and Jell-o.

*****

...things are probably backed up all the way to the Mean Bean."

I decided to be a little hand-wavy and let Stone go back to work at the coffee shop. There IS a reason, within the Metal Sonic story, and it does get alluded to a few times in the fic. But I just like Stone.

*****

...but half of the new hires just had to do an "emergency pitstop" in Montana's most famous open-air exotic zoo.

There’s no way Sonic and crew were kept a secret after the entire Eclipse Cannon thing.

*****

“Californians.”

Shots fired, at myself.

*****

And there was just one creature on this planet, or any other, who could exhaust him.

*****

"Heeeey, Shadoooow"

It’s me. The Devil. (STOP.)

*****

This clearing had become their accustomed meeting place. The center had once been dominated by a giant cedar, but now, thanks to his metal counterpart, all that remained was a wide, laser-cut stump and a few blasted pieces of the trunk, just starting to decay.

Tip: don’t get bogged up on details. I spent, like, at least 20 minutes figuring out what kind of tree in Montana would leave a big enough stump, with the end result that I can actually point out the specific area these two are meeting.

*****

Scandal at the Food Court!

Panic! At the Disco.

*****

A little trill came from somewhere deep in Sonic’s chest and he rubbed his chin against the crumbling bark. The scratch sent jolts down his back, somehow to the tips of his quills, and the trill tuned up a notch.

Hedgehogs do not have scent glands. A fact which PISSED ME OFF when I learned it, because I love the idea of Sonic scent marking. I kept a few scent spreading/sharing things in the fic, but never specifically call it “marking.”

Not to say hedgehogs don’t HAVE a scent, just that it’s not a glands thing.

*****

....a chocolate muffin big enough to qualify for its own zip code.

Shortly after beginning this fic, Costco changed their muffins, and now they’re a lot smaller. I have never felt more betrayed.

*****

Sonic chattered the whole time, darting back and forth, coming to sharp stops, posing and preening as he cut off and corralled his opponent, coming in closer with every revolution.

Seeing fanart of these two circling is what inspired this fic. Sigh, oh how fanfic can warp your mind, that I can see running in circles as romantic.

*****

Amy rooted about in her messenger bag, pulling out a phone. “Rouge, when I get my hands on you!"

I was very happy when I decided Rouge and Amy would be friends. It turned out to be very useful in the future of this fic, as there were a few times I needed ways to pass info between characters while not involving other characters. Amy and Rouge were perfect for that, and they wind up having some fun interactions. I should do little fic for them. Maybe a girl’s night out heist. Maddie can come, too.

#on the courtship of hedgehogs #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #shadonic #fanfic #notes

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justicesocietyzine · 1 year ago

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Applications Open for Better Heroes: A Justice Society Zine

Better Heroes is a fanmade zine dedicated to the Justice Society of America. We are looking for contributors to help make this zine as spectacular as the team it's representing!

Better Heroes will be a digital zine, with a later physical release. We're hoping the physical release can be bundled with potential merchandise, but that will be dependent on applications and on fundraising.

Any proceeds that exceed our production costs will go directly to aid for Gazans and for Palestine. We are currently weighing different charities, and intend to be as transparent as possible if and when we reach our funding goal. We're hoping we can raise enough with your help!

Will you join us?

Read on for guidelines that will help with your contributor application. And if you have any questions, drop an ask! We're happy to talk to you.

What Are We Looking For?

Writers: obviously fanfiction, but ALSO, if you have an original essay (personal or academic) or a nonfictional historical piece, we are more than happy to consider it

Artists: we're looking for cover artists, splashpage artists, artists to be paired with writers, and general. splashpage and pairing might end up more hand in hand, but that is tbd!

MERCHANDISE Artists: we are CONSIDERING, based on the interest check, making merchandise to go with the physical zine, including but not limited to stickers, pins, charms, and prints. For the integrity of the zine, please do NOT submit any merchandise ideas for THIS zine. if we move forward with merchandise, we will work with you. this is NOT the same as applying to be a zine artist, but you can apply for both! however, if you apply and are selected for both, please understand artist and merchandise artist as 2 separate jobs.

Pinch Hitters: if a contributor defaults up to 1 month before the turn-in date, a pinch hitters will be tapped. this means a pinch hitter could have anywhere from several months (if the contributor defaults early in the process) to only one month. if you are chosen to contribute AND you want to opt in to pinch hitting, there is a VERY small chance you will be asked to do both - we'd like to include as many creators as possible.

Additional Information: We are heavily considering offering a smaller zine-within-a-zine of NSFW content. this zine is not automatically included with the regular one, and buyers will have to opt in. you are welcome to apply for only sfw contributions, only nsfw contributions, or sfw AND nsfw contributions. if there is a want for additional merch to go with the nsfw zine, or a want for an nsfw-only package, we will consider it based on finances. NSFW proceeds will be bundled into our charitable donations.

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wheelsgoroundincircles · 6 months ago

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1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

Holden has gone back to the future, restoring its very first concept car - the 1969 Holden Hurricane Concept.

The futuristic research vehicle described as an experiment "to study design trend, propulsion systems and other long range developments" has been restored to its former glory as a labour of love by a dedicated group of Holden designers and engineers.

Code named RD 001; the Holden Hurricane is a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive, two-seater sports car which incorporates a remarkable array of innovative features and technology, much of it way ahead of its time.

Features such as electronic digital instrument displays, station-seeking radio, automatic temperature control air conditioning, rear vision camera and an automated route finder were all showcased in this ground-breaking vehicle 42 years ago. Many of these technologies have only recently made their way into mass production, demonstrating Holden's remarkable foresight into both design and engineering technology.

The Holden Hurricane stole headlines and dropped jaws nationwide when it debuted at the 1969 Melbourne Motor Show.

Michael Simcoe, Executive Director GMIO Design, said it was fantastic to see such a significant vehicle restored.

"At Holden we have always prided ourselves on our ability to look into the future through our concept cars," Mr Simcoe said.

"It's amazing to think that the features we take for granted today were born out of creative minds over 40 years ago."

As its code name suggests, the RD 001 was the first product of the GMH Research and Development organisation, staffed by a small squad of engineers working in conjunction with the Advance Styling Group at the Fishermans Bend Technical Centre in the 1960s.

The team that designed and built the original Holden Hurricane employed some advanced technologies and techniques when it came to the powertrain. Powered by an experimental 4.2-litre (253 cubic inch) V8, this engine was a precursor to the Holden V8 engine program which entered production in late 1969.

The Holden Hurricane's V8 engine featured many advanced design components such as the four-barrel carburettor - a feature which wouldn't be seen on a production 253ci Holden V8 until the late 1970s. The end result was approximately 262hp (193kW), a towering power output in 1969 and one that ensured the Holden Hurricane had the go to match its show.

But perhaps the two most innovative features were the "Pathfinder" route guidance system and the rear-view camera.

The "Pathfinder", essentially a pre-GPS navigation system, relied on a system of magnets embedded at intersections along the road network to guide the driver along the desired route. A dash-mounted panel informed the driver of which turn to take by illuminating different arrows, as well as sounding a warning buzzer.

The rear-view camera was also a ground-breaking innovation.

Engineers using a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system with a camera mounted in the rear bumper feeding vision to a small black-and-white TV mounted in the centre console.

Former Holden Chief Studio Engineer Rick Martin led the modern-day Hurricane team in researching the vehicle's components, systems and history in order to restore it.

"There are some genuinely remarkable ideas and technology in the Hurricane," said Mr Martin.

"From the automatic air-conditioning and magnet-based guidance system, to the inertia-reel seat belts and metallic paint, this was a car that was genuinely ahead of its time.

"The hand-picked team of engineers and designers who built the original Holden Hurricane worked in strict secrecy and began Holden's now proud tradition of ground-breaking concept cars."

RD 001 stands just 990mm high and has no doors in the conventional sense. A hydraulically-powered canopy opens upwards and forward over the front wheels, combined with twin "astronaut type" power-elevating seats which rise up and pivot forward, along with the steering column for ease of access. Occupants are then lowered to a semi-reclining position before the roof closes over them.

The wind tunnel-tested fibreglass body consists of three segments; the canopy, the engine hood and body shell and was finished in an experimental aluminium flake-based metallic orange paint.

Safety innovations included a foam-lined fuel tank, integrated roll-over bar, digital instrument readouts, ignition safety locks, interior padding and a fire warning system.

The project to restore RD 001 began in 2006 and has been a genuine labour of love for some very dedicated Holden employees. The entire restoration process has been driven primarily by volunteer labour from Holden designers and engineers in their spare time.

But the Hurricane first entered Holden Design in less than immaculate condition. RD 001 had a residency in a trade school where apprentices practised their welding on the priceless concept.

After being returned to Holden in 2006, the Hurricane restoration project has taken many thousands of painstaking man hours to lovingly restore RD 001 to concourse condition.

Holden's Manager for Creative Hard Modelling, Paul Clarke, has been largely responsible for managing the restoration of RD 001. He ensured as many of the original parts as possible have been used or remade using modern techniques to 1969 specification, in order to preserve the authenticity of this hugely important Holden.

"The entire team has done a fantastic job in bringing this beautiful concept back to life," Mr Clarke said.

"The talent we have within the Holden organisation is simply outstanding. Every time we take on a project I'm constantly amazed by the passion and talent in this company, making it a genuine pleasure to work on these projects.

"The Hurricane plays a crucial role in Holden's story and the company has such a great sense of history and heritage that it was very important to bring RD 001 back to life. It's been a challenging but incredibly rewarding process."

Since the debut of the Holden Hurricane Concept in 1969, Holden has continued to build a global reputation for envisioning and executing world-class concept vehicles. Holden is recognised globally within General Motors as a centre of excellence for concept vehicle and show car development and is one of only three GM design studios that is capable to design and build concept cars.

Michael Simcoe added that the Hurricane holds a particularly special place in Holden's history as it kick-started Holden's long love affair with concepts that has since seen the likes of the iconic GTR-X, Torana TT36, Coupe 60, the GMC Denali XT (which was requested specifically by GM for the North American market) and the award-winning Efijy.

Holden Hurricane Concept (1969)

#Holden Hurricane Concept #Holden Hurricane #Hurricane #car #cars #Holden

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ikkosu · 7 months ago

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G1 prowl. I don't know where I'm going with with this. Mention of 'suggestive stuff but it's not explicit.' hrhrghrhhhrh

IT was a fine evening that night in his habsuite. As usual, the lights are turned off; room shrouded dim with the only illumination apparent is the iridescent glow from the desk lamp that tugged an ache in his optics.

He persevered, however. No matter how uncomfortable the ache pulsed. Bent over the desk, he skimmed through the expense protocols from this morning's briefings. It wasn't usually his position to handle the funds. The most he's got his hands on is managing the military expenditure, ensuring nothing is nicked during the process. But given the mech prior his employment had handled the situation indelicately, 'usually', he's now tasked with the errand to do so.

Another one of the many issues he'll have to sort through. As if being the tactician isn't enough. Not only will he have to spend weeks formulating battle plans but also play side-hustle as a financier.

Ultra Magnus expected the finished product the end of this week. Unfortunately for him, he'll give it seven days prior.

Footsteps patter in front of the door. He's too fixated on a misspelling to hear it slide open. (Is it so hard to not miss the other 'i' in Liaison?) And when his proximity sensor does register — swivelling around in surprise, the chastise lodged in his throat is cut short when a forty Cybertronians isn't in his view - but tipping his helm down is your minuscule form on the floor.

You peered back up, features twisted in solemn ire. Nose scrunched, lips down turned. Eyes distraught.

"You look..." He tried to find the word. When he couldn't he settled on something less severe he winced out. "...unhappy."

You sighed. "You have no idea."

With a slight tilt of his helm, he crouches to your level and curls out a servo. It didn't take long to waddle onto the palm, clutching the thumb to keep yourself balanced as he raises himself. You blinked when the thumb you're holding moves, pressing against your cheek then back and forth against the skin. You leaned into the touch and nuzzled the ridge.

"I was in trouble.” You spoke after a moment.

Prowl raises a brow. Oh? Trouble? You're not usually the worst ones. Worst are the twins. Along with an occasional Smokescreen and Hot rod thrown into the mix.

"That seems a little vague." He says, ploddings towards his desk.

"Hardly. It's just a little scolding I've got from ultra Magnus."

" What did you do to warrants such a transgression from the commander? Nothing too severe, I suppose?"

"That's for Wheeljack to decide. All I did was follow what the twins told me to do.

He sets you on the table, turning around to sort his datapads while you brought your legs to your chest, crossing your arms and perching your chin on top of it.

"Twins?" He frowned, tossing aside a datapad that read: Base Report #096.

"Sunstreaker? Sideswipe? The twins?" You list off. "...Don't tell me you forgot them too."

"I've got better things to remember." He tosses aside another report. Battle plans. Classified information. Blueprints.A digit points to his helm. “ Hard copies are unreliable. They're easily taken advantage of if not stored safely. That is why it is essential my processors are clear of any 'irrelevant' information."

You rolled your eyes. “Right. Red black. Yellow black. I don't see how hard it is for you to remember primary colors."

"Perceptor is also red and black."

"But you remember him."

"Only because he is my direct liaison to the Scientific district." Prowl turns halfway to you and you can see the quirk of a smile. "He's worth remembering." A pause. “And I suppose," He goes back to his desk. "You are too."

Silence. Prowl's door wings flick up straight as he fully faces you. You observed the unusual blue hue on his cheeks, though. Are those...?

"What did they tell you?" He asked, organizing the datapads

There was a pause as you observed him for a moment.

"Promise me you won't laugh."

He shoots you a look. "I don't laugh.”

"You do."

"Only when it's necessary."

"That's a 'somtime."

"A probability close to half."

You groaned. "Its just some stupid joke they've managed to rook me into. Tell me, what the hell does frag mean?"

His door wings flick up, just as his lips does. " Why, its an equivalent to your, ah, well — equivalent to the curse word—"

" Fuck?" You finish for him since it was obvious Prowl would take a lifetime to enunciate that word.

"How...tragic."

"Oh, please—"

"I'm going to assume they've tricked you into uttering it beside the commander?"

You crawled towaeds him, "They said it means rest! Can you believe that? Everytime I needed a break they told me to use 'frag' since it practically means the same! Except Cybertronian? Can you imagine the humiliation when I realized ice been going around telling bots that I need a frag? To everyone?!"

He scoops you up into his servos,and you noticed the surface lightly shook. You look up and is greeted by the crescent crease of his optics.

"Laugh and I'll pour water on your datapads."

He starts moving again, still unable to hide his sounds of amusement. " I admit that's a little—"

" It's terrible!"

"Yes, very terrible." Prowl sits on the edge of the berth, adjusting his position as he leans back, you perched on his chassis. " You have my condolences."

" Now, everyone thinks I'm some player with a desire to bag all bots in this base!" You hid your face into your palms. The memories of this morning resurfaces and the burn sears into a scalding heat. "This is— they're not even my type.....i don't even— ugh. Take me, now."

"Not unless you've taken the lives of the twins first."

You look up. Prowl is looking down softly.

"Oh, I will." You crawl up, tucking yourself under his chin. "Tommorow. They're never going to escape."

"An apple for an eye?" His voice rumbles as he spoke. A digit curls out and rubs your back.

"A paint job for a paint job." You leaned close into the cables of his neck.

"Sunstreaker adores his finish..." He mumbled.

"That's why I'll give it a little mishap."

#transformers #maccadam #transformers x reader #transformers idw #idw prowl #prowl x reader #prowl

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transmutationisms · 1 year ago

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ok i still haven't seen the video du jour so i'm not casting aspersions on it, specifically, but i must say i am baffled by seeing responses to it on here that seem to be written under the presumption that newspaper journalism is somehow immune to the economic forces that cause digital creators to churn out endless streams of low-effort, plagiarised content. have we not all had the experience of trying to find information about an event and clicking on a few different news stories from 'respectable' outlets, only to discover they're all using the same three quotes and just paraphrasing the copy around it, and then clicking around more and determining that those three quotes all turn out to have been sourced from a local paper that broke the story last week but has a circulation of approximately ten people and was mostly ignored, and meanwhile critical details of the situation have now been distorted or omitted in a game of lazy newsprint telephone?

this is more of what i mean when i say that plagiarism is not a bug of capitalist knowledge production and circulation; it's a feature. newspapers and academic articles and youtube video essays are all products and they all exist to sell themselves. individual writers and journalists and editors may be more or less invested, personally, in what they're making, but regardless they are all subject to the same forces incentivising more content and shittier source attribution: it's good for your bottom line if you can continually present yourself as some brilliant thinker who is coming up with wholly original ideas and bestowing them upon the masses. it is much less beneficial to you, economically, to direct people openly and honestly to others' work by crediting them and presenting your own output as part of a larger collaborative social endeavour.

this sort of knowledge production is therefore prone to plagiarism as an expression of the contradiction between the idealist pretense to knowledge circulation as a beneficent activity of social enlightenment, and the material reality of knowledge circulation as a capitalist activity both productive of and dependent on structures of exploitation and inequality. it's not a problem that's unique to individual bad actors, or to any specific medium or professional credential or lack thereof. let's be serious

#najia said much the same the other day about academia! i just like dk why there is so much energy put into trying to present certain #media forms as uniquely subject to market forces. or well i do know why but lol

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charlottesbookclub · 23 days ago

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time after time – chapter seven (part one) (armitage hux x reader)

time after time masterlist

Summary: Hux's expectations are altered, but he takes the opportunity to spend more time with you

Warnings/Tags: gn!reader; set pre-TFA; descriptions of eating; as always, let me know if I've missed anything!

Words: 5364

Author’s Note: as I mentioned in my notes on chapter six, that was the chapter that convinced me I needed to take the story in a little bit of a new direction. chapter seven is where I start doing that! this was a really fun one to write, and I hope it will be equally as fun to read! 🥰

Hux awoke slowly this time, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The sight that met him was not the dark, clinical ceiling of medical, but rather the cheery surroundings of your quarters. He must have woken up before the cycle switched. He scrambled for his datapad. A thick, cold feeling slid down his throat and settled in his stomach. The digital display dispassionately informed him that it was already the next cycle. He should have felt relieved – he had finally broken through whatever strange curse had held him trapped for the past week. But those feelings were overshadowed by the idea that he didn’t get to try this again. All the thoughts of practicing and perfecting himself slid through his hands. You would remember, you would know. Every awkward question and ungainly phrase, every foolish thing he had done and said. His hands were shaking as he turned off the datapad and returned to the couch feeling dazed.

He needed some kind of warning, some sort of preparation. What he needed was a new plan. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all – you had asked him to stay, hadn’t you? You wouldn’t have done that if he had made himself completely abhorrent to you. He scrubbed his hands across his face as though in an effort to jumpstart his thoughts. They came to him in rush. Kriff – he had responsibilities again! He couldn’t just write off his work knowing it would all be reset. In a flurry he reached for his datapad once more. He couldn’t even remember what he was supposed to be doing today. He pulled up his packed schedule and breathed a small sigh of relief upon seeing one large block of color filling up most of the cycle. It was labeled ‘Project Starkiller Planetary Inspection.’ He relaxed against the couch, closing his eyes and counting out a few breaths to calm his racing pulse.

The project on Ilum was just in its beginning stages – Hux simply needed to visit the planet and see what progress was being made on updating the old Imperial infrastructure. Compared to many of his other responsibilities, it was relatively easy. It was quiet. His eyes snapped open. The thought echoed again: it was quiet – almost private. He could take you. Excitement bubbled up in his chest. He felt like a silly child, but even that thought couldn’t dampen his sudden good spirits. Maneuvering easily through a series of highly confidential access portals, he cleared your schedule and granted you the required permissions to visit the base. Only a select few knew of the actual plans for the planet, but he reasoned you didn’t need to know that restricted information to simply tour the base with him. Plenty of personnel staffed the limited facilities there without knowing the true purpose of the planet.

Nearly bursting with newfound energy, Hux found he could no longer sit still, even though it was still quite early in the cycle. As quietly as he could, he collected his fresh uniform, thanking the stars that he had thought to request one, and slipped into the refresher. Not even chancing a glance in the mirror while still in his sleep clothes, he pulled on his uniform, adjusting it to perfection. Then there was the considerable problem of his hair. He felt wrong using any of your products, but he had to do something with the orange mess that had grown even more unruly with sleep. He cast about the small room, looking for anything he might use. A tidy stack of little black boxes in the corner caught his eye: your unused First Order-issued products. Knowing instinctively which one contained the necessary gel, he carefully took just as much as he needed before meticulously replacing everything as he had found it. After a couple passes of his gelled hands through his hair, he finally looked in the mirror. Given the stark contrast from the night before, he was reasonably pleased with how he had turned himself out. He hoped you would be too.

Sitting back on your couch, your blankets now neatly folded beside him, Hux waited for you to awaken. He responded to messages, filed reports, and signed documents, trying to get ahead on as much as possible. He had never thought to try and give himself free time before, but if it meant he could spend it with you, then he was willing to at least make an attempt.

Faintly, he heard the chime of an alarm followed by shuffling footsteps. He tried to keep himself focused on his work and not think about how you might look right now, completely unguarded and disheveled from sleep. If he woke up next to you, he would know. That sudden thought, a blaster shot from the darkness, sent him reeling. He tried to swallow the idea, but it lingered as he listened to you move quietly about your quarters, just out of his view.

Eventually, you emerged into the main space, dressed in your uniform, appearance meeting and exceeding regulation. The only thing out of place on the perfect model of a First Order officer was the warm smile that you offered him. But he wouldn’t have changed that for all the core worlds. It didn’t seem fair that just looking at you would rob him of his breath, yet he found himself returning your smile despite his difficulties with moving air through his lungs.

“Good morning, General,” you snapped him a little salute, but the lilt in your voice and the teasing smile that you seemed unable – or unwilling – to chase from your lips made the whole greeting seem much less martial and much more congenial. Was Hux smiling again? The corners of his mouth felt a little odd, like they weren’t used to making that shape as often as you seemed to be able to bring it out of him.

“Good morning, Captain,” he returned your salute happily. You beamed.

“I’m afraid all I have to offer you this morning are nutrition bars,” you revealed your other hand, which held two of the wrapped bars, and handed one to him.

“Not to worry – these are my usual fare after all,” Hux received the bar and began to unwrap it. You moved as though to sit. Expecting you to take up the same place on the floor that you had occupied last night, Hux nearly dropped his bar as you rounded the table and perched on the corner of it. The toes of your polished boots were almost touching his. He swallowed his bite of the bar thickly and attempted to divert his attention from the fractional space that separated you from him. You planted your elbows on your knees casually as you unwrapped your own bar. This was such a different version of you than what he had seen in his first glimpses in the dining hall with your back straight and shoulders upright. It was so different from everything he had ever known, but he found he preferred this version by far. You made things feel easy, light.

“I see there’s been a change to my schedule,” you mused as you ate, watching his reaction from the corner of your eye.

“Yes, I’m realizing now that I should have asked you first…” In his haste to spend more time with you, Hux had failed to plan for a scenario where you didn’t want to go with him. Or perhaps he didn’t even want to consider that such a scenario was possible. You waved away his concerns and he breathed a private sigh of relief.

“Not at all – anything that gets me off bridge duty is more than welcome.” Your tone was joking, but he could tell there was a heft of sincerity behind your words. He recalled your interactions with Ernstead, momentarily allowing the memory to make him clench his fist. He’d need to address that. But not now.

“I thought I could use your expertise from the field,” he measured his words as he monitored your reaction, one of your brows raising in interest, “seeing as I’ll be going planetside to make an inspection of a new base.” Your whole face lit up. Hux felt his chest fill with warmth.

“I’m far from an expert,” you responded, excitement inflecting each of your words, “but I’ll do the best I can.” You pushed yourself up from the table, a motion that Hux echoed.

“I fear I won’t be able to tell you much – the project is classified,” he apologized as he collected his greatcoat and swung it onto his shoulders.

“Not a problem,” you confirmed happily as the two of you made your way to the door. During the short walk, Hux watched as you subtly adjusted your posture – straightening your back, squaring your shoulders, stiffening your limbs, dimming your smile. By the time you were walking side by side in the hallways, you were perfectly at attention. The posture was so natural to him, but watching the process on you, lamenting what it had taken from you, he began to wonder: had he ever not been at attention?

You both slipped into a vacant turbolift. Hux selected the level for the proper flight bay and switched on private mode; it was a considerable trip to the ship you would be using, and he would rather not have anyone interrupt. Your lips quirked up in a little smile as he did so.

“You know, General, I have it on good authority that many officers aboard this ship abuse the privilege of private lifts,” you informed him, a glimmer of a laugh in your voice.

“Unfortunately I am aware of this,” he responded ruefully, wondering what had caused the amusement in your voice, “I have heard a number of reports of officers using private mode simply to go on caf runs during their off shifts.”

“Oh!” You let out the exclamation as though you were expecting him to say something else entirely. “That’s quite tame compared to the stories I’ve heard.” You both stood professionally facing the doors of the lift, but Hux was watching you intently from his periphery. The small smile did not leave your lips. What had you heard?

“And these stories involved…” he prompted as he watched your mouth work slightly as though you were debating how best to phrase your response.

“Usually a pair of officers engaged in… shall we say… highly unprofessional interpersonal contact.”

Hux’s entire body stiffened as he froze in place at your words. Heat seeped up the back of his neck.

“Primarily kissing, I’m told,” you continued, the bemused lilt in your voice never fading, “I doubt the average length of a lift ride leaves time for anything… further.”

Despite the fact that he was still standing as still as if he were carved from stone, he was utterly flustered. He swallowed and tried to remind himself to breathe. He had fixed his eyes completely on the polished black doors in front of him, but he still thought he saw you chance a glance at him. Kriff, he hoped you didn’t notice the incriminating blush that was blossoming onto his face. Certain images were taking shape in his mind. He thought of your cheek under his hand, the warmth of your body as he pulled you close to him, the press of your lips— He cleared his throat and tried to banish these thoughts, but was less successful than he had hoped.

“Right, well…” he cleared his throat a second time when his words came out thickly and slightly strangled on the first go. “I shall have someone look into these reports.” Kriff, he needed to change the subject before he abused the privilege of a private lift in just the manner that you had described.

“Captain, I assume you are able to pilot a vessel?” He tried to keep his words as professional as possible while still fighting with the images his mind had conjured for him. If you were surprised at the abrupt change of subject, you didn’t show it.

“Absolutely, General. I graduated the academy with top marks in all my flight classes.” Hux could still hear the smile in your voice.

“Excellent, since I have opted to forgo an assigned pilot for this trip. I thought it would allow us more…” his words faded as he noticed that you had turned slightly to face him. Your expression was frustratingly unreadable, though he thought you might be puzzling through something internally.

“Is that… alright?” He asked, suddenly nervous that he had presumed too much. “If you are uncomfortable with that arrangement, I’m happy to make the necessary adjustments—”

“No, no – that’s completely fine,” your smile had returned as you reassured him, “in fact, I’m looking forward to it.”

Hux was about to respond when the lift pinged to indicate that the selected floor had been reached. As though on cue, your smile flattened into a neutral mask, and the doors slid open to reveal a flight bay bustling with well-ordered activity. Hux strode out of the lift with you just a pace behind him. After conferring with the flight coordinators, you both made your way to your assigned ship. Hux was hyperconscious of your presence beside him, watching the faces of the passing personnel for any indication that they could sense his desire to be near you, but most of them barely looked up. Of course it was completely natural that a captain might accompany him on an off-ship mission, but what they didn’t know was that it wasn’t just any captain, it was you.

“I’ll make sure everything in the cockpit is in order, General,” you stated as a flight coordinator accosted him to confirm the last-minute details of the trip. Hux had difficulty paying attention to the coordinator as he watched you confidently board the ship and disappear from his view. What he gleaned from the conversation was that a small squad of stormtroopers would accompany the two of you on the trip – Hux knew it would be too much of a risk to go completely alone – but they would travel in the transport section of the ship, near the back. You and Hux would be alone in the cockpit. He reaffirmed the planned departure and arrival times, ensuring that the ship would be expected on both ends. When everything had been satisfactorily arranged, he dismissed the coordinator with a salute and tried not to hurry too obviously to join you in the ship.

He found you sitting in the chief pilot’s chair of the two-seated cockpit, adjusting some of the settings and checking the pre-flight read-outs that were being displayed on the screens. Not wanting to disrupt your work, Hux tried to slip into the neighboring seat quietly, but you still threw him a small smile as he entered. Travel through the Unknown Regions was hardly safe or predictable, and as he watched you make the necessary adjustments, your concentration totally focused on the task in front of you, Hux was captivated. Your movements were sure and precise, despite the relaxed casualness he knew you were capable of. You were fast and responsive, reacting to the read-outs, the ship’s internal systems, and the chatter on the coms channels all at once. Buckling himself into the seat, he didn’t dare to interrupt, but he couldn’t help but notice the way the red and blue lights played over your features, setting your profile off against the banks of buttons and blinking lights. Finally, you flipped one last switch and addressed him.

“Thank you for your patience, General. I think we’re ready for takeoff if you are.” Your words were professional, but you didn’t bother to hide the excitement on your face when it was just the two of you in the small cockpit.

“Of course, Captain. You have my approval to launch the flight.” You answered his words with one flash of a smile before switching on your headset and requesting permission for takeoff. You exchanged words with the controllers, making some more adjustments on the ship’s flight array. Your attention was once again completely absorbed with piloting the craft as you gained permission to leave the hanger and maneuvered expertly out of the busy flight bay. Hux didn’t mind at all; he was fascinated with watching you work. There was an impressive professionalism about you, but not the self-conscious kind that he noticed when you were walking the halls or on the bridge. Here, you seemed to be in your element, engaged and confident. You made a few more communications to the Finalizer’s controllers as the ship zoomed from the hangar and into the vast field of space beyond. Eventually, you were able to set the auto-pilot feature and replace your headset on its stand, easily within arm’s reach in case of an emergency. Shifting to a more comfortable position in your seat, you looked over at him.

“What?” you half-laughed, almost embarrassed. Kriff, you had caught him staring. Hux quickly fixed his gaze out into the net of stars outside the ship.

“Nothing – it’s just…”

“What?” You repeated your question again, almost nervously, like you weren’t sure if you had done something wrong. Hux spoke as quickly as he could to disabuse you of that notion; you had done everything perfectly.

“You seem more… comfortable here. Than you do on the Finalizer, that is.” You shrugged lightly. Hux wanted to know more. “Did you do a lot of flying when you were in the field?”

“Some,” you responded, looking over at him. He took this as permission to return his gaze to you as well. “Why are you asking?” You seemed guarded suddenly, and the thought that he had said something wrong made Hux’s stomach churn. You seemed to value honesty – you had proven that to him last cycle. Maybe it would be better to just ask? Something about being there alone with you was making him feel brave. He sighed, changing his tone slightly, lowering his voice.

“I know – well, I’ve heard – that you’ve been struggling with transitioning to the Finalizer from field work.” You reaction was instant. You returned your gaze out of the large viewport, your posture stiffened, and your grip tightened on the controls, even though you weren’t actively flying the ship. You swallowed, possibly trying to keep down tears.

“It’s that obvious?” Your voice carried none of its usual brightness. Hux’s chest seized.

“No – it’s not – not to me. I just—”

“But it is to others.” Somehow it felt like the statement was meant to be a question, but instead you uttered it as a dismal fact. Your eyes were still fixed far beyond the ship. How had he made such a mess of this? He couldn’t even help you when he truly wanted to. He longed to place a comforting hand on your arm, but his many calculations came back confused, and he couldn’t determine how you would receive the gesture. His arms remained stiffly situated on the armrests.

“I promise you, I don’t mean this as any kind of judgement of you or your performance. I want…” Hux wanted a lot of things, a lot more things than he felt he should want when it came to you. He voiced just one of those desires: “I want to help you.” You let out a deep sigh and slumped back slightly in your chair. After a beat of silence, you turned to him, a half-smile on your face.

“Thank you, Armitage.” Your use of his first name in this professional space caught him off-guard, momentarily stealing his breath. Despite the shock, he found he liked it. It seemed… intimate. There was that word again. A welcoming warmth buzzed in his chest.

“Actually, it’s sort of funny that you should offer,” you continued, “since you’re actually the first person who has helped me.” You took one look at his suddenly blank face, and he knew that you knew that he had no idea what you meant. You let out a small laugh, as though it was obvious how he had helped you. It wasn’t obvious to him. It wasn’t obvious at all. You had caught him when he nearly passed out, opened your quarters to him, cooked him food, let him stay with you, and never thought less of him despite his many failures. Clearly, you had been doing all the helping.

“You were nice to me – you are nice to me,” you said at last when it must have become clear that Hux truly didn’t know what you were talking about. “Nobody else has really done that. Well, except Lieutenant Mitaka I guess, but I already knew him, so that’s different. But like I said last cycle, you didn’t judge me for all my weird shit— sorry, stuff,” you quickly corrected yourself with a little laugh, and Hux couldn’t help but find himself smiling along at the small slip, “and you listened to me.” You fixed him in the weight of your gaze then, serious once more. Hux found himself entirely entranced by your eyes, probably lingering a moment too long before speaking.

“I’d like to do some more listening – if you’d let me.” Your lips lifted up at the corners at his words; not a full smile yet, but he was getting there.

“Sure – what would you like to know?” You made a sweeping gesture with your hand to indicate the expansive nature of the questions you were allowing him to ask. Hux wanted to know everything, but he desperately did not want to abuse the privilege. He started simple.

“You worked recruitment in the field, right?”

“Did you look me up, General?” A small, teasing smile fluttered its way onto your face.

“Lieutenant Mitaka told me,” he responded, knowing full well that he had looked you up. But Mitaka truly was the first to tell him about your previous assignment, so it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Right – that makes sense.” You hummed thoughtfully a cast your eyes back outside the cockpit, this time though, it felt less like you were avoiding him and more like you were thinking. Hux didn’t press as he watched the faint starlight flicker over your features. He half wished the ship never had to land. After a long moment, you turned to him again, your answer ready.

“Technically, yes, I fell under field recruitment for the navy, but I feel that what I did was more like ‘building community trust’ – not that that would ever pass as a First Order department name,” you snorted and Hux found himself unable to keep from chuckling a little himself. You seemed to notice this, pausing momentarily before continuing, your expression brightening a little at his evident amusement. “I didn’t directly conscript any personnel – I worked primarily with local leaders who held sway in the areas where I was stationed. I found that I made a lot more headway by explaining what we’re trying to do rather than just… I don’t know, shoving recruitment papers down people’s throats like some of my colleagues seemed content to do.” You rolled your eyes at some past memory, and Hux had to keep from laughing again at the endearing expression of annoyance. He wanted you to keep talking forever. Kriff, he was ready to promote you to the top of recruitment immediately. “There are just so many planets and systems and people who are disadvantaged by the New Republic’s policies, and when you’re able to walk them through why they’re experiencing resource deficits or economic downturn or whatever else, they tend to listen.”

You concluded your remarks with a little gesture that seemed to indicate that everything you just said should be obvious. It was obvious to Hux. He was a hair’s breadth of his self-control away from unbuckling himself from his seat and kissing you until he couldn’t breathe. You were kind and capable and you could see his vision perfectly. It took every ounce of energy in his body to remain sitting where he was, fingers nearly making dents in the armrests from the force it took to contain himself. He hoped that his enthusiastic nods of agreement would assure you of his complete support of your ideas. He didn’t stop thinking about kissing you though.

Just when he thought he could finally speak relatively calmly, your headset buzzed. You snapped it up instantly, confirming with the controller on the other end that you understood the message. After switching a few more toggles and adjusting the flight path slightly, you signed off with the controller and clicked the headset back into place.

“Potential for asteroids in the area,” you said by way of explanation, “we have our early warning systems on though, so if any get close, we’ll know.” You paused for a moment, thinking. “I’m so sorry, General – what were we discussing?”

“Your work in the field,” Hux considered leaving it there, but he was still wrestling with his self-control and let his unusual impulsivity go further: “your excellent understanding of the First Order’s mission and your admirable trust-building efforts.”

“Ah yes, thank you!” Hux was hyperaware of the way you bit your lip a little in embarrassment, eyes angled back toward the control panel and away from his admiring gaze. “You’re very kind to say that.” Hux merely hummed in response, another question floating through his mind.

“May I ask you something else, Captain? Something unrelated?”

“Of course,” you returned your focus to him, watching him with expectation to see what he would ask. Hux himself was wondering how best to frame his inquiry so it came off as casual.

“Our scheduled meeting from last cycle – when Lieutenant and Captain Mitaka proposed that and set it up, how did they frame it to you? What did they call it?” You seemed to suddenly find the control panels in front of you very interesting, despite a lack of new alerts.

“Oh, just that: a meeting or a meet-up or something of that sort.” Your words felt intentionally nonchalant, almost too much so. “Why do you ask? Did they frame it differently for you?” You cast a furtive glance in his direction before returning your attention to the flight array. There was something in the look that Hux couldn’t quite read, but he thought it might be a flicker of hope, though he wasn’t sure. He stayed the course and kept to the safe answer.

“Oh no, something very similar: meeting, meet-up, rendezvous, something of that nature,” he lied, also trying to keep his tone light and casual. He recalled Mitaka’s increasingly complex and obscure names for the meeting after Hux had steadfastly refused the term ‘date.’ You nodded at his response, your flash of nervousness seemingly fading upon hearing his answer. You flicked your gaze to him again. Kriff, would there ever be a time when just your eyes on him wouldn’t make the skin under his collar start to heat up?

“Why did you want to know?”

“I was just hoping that after my unfortunate incident last cycle which disrupted said meeting, that you would be gracious enough to allow me to consider this an extension of that initial appointment. I fear it will be something of a working meeting – my schedule can’t be helped – but perhaps it could still serve a similar function?” Hux intentionally left the proposed ‘function’ vague, hoping you might interpret it in a more generous manner.

“Of course, General.” Hux felt you might have been about to use his first name again, but then opted against it. How he wished you had. “I’m so grateful that you’re willing to spend this time with me. I can only imagine how full you schedule is.” Kriff, if you only knew he wished he had all the time in the galaxy to spend with you. Any attempt at endeavoring to somehow compress that thought into words that he could actually utter to you was interrupted by a notification on the control panel. Your hands flitted over the array of buttons and screens, flipping switches and adjusting toggles as you responded to the blinking lights. Then you leaned back again.

“The autopilot notified me that we’re close to coming in for a landing. I’ve set the flight path accordingly. There shouldn’t be any issues, but I might have to take the controls if things get… bumpy.”

Indeed, Hux could see Ilum coming into view through the large windows of the cockpit, the greyish planet growing larger as the ship angled in preparation for landing. The two of you sat in companionable silence then, Hux watching as you continued to make minute adjustments to the controls every so often. He couldn’t help but think about how nice it would be to just be with you like this. Doing work late in his quarters or sitting on the couch with you just there, comfortably beside him. He clenched his teeth slightly as the exquisite softness of the thought slowly pressed the air from his lungs. After a while, you spoke again, your eyes still fixed outside of the ship.

“I hope this doesn’t come off as impertinent,” you seemed to take a deep breath before continuing, “but you’re very different than I thought you would be.” You flicked one nervous glance at him as the word ‘different’ fell from your lips. The sentence was barely above a whisper, as though you hadn’t decided whether you should say it aloud or not. Hux’s body stiffened instinctively, heat growing from his chest and rising toward his ears. A slight queasiness began to build in his stomach.

“What—” he cleared his throat when the word came out thin and reedy, “what do you mean by that?”

“It’s just— well, Lieutenant Mitaka praised you very highly. He lauded your commitment to the First Order. He said you were loyal and intelligent and responsible – that you were someone he looked up to.”

Mitaka had said those things about him? Hux sat in stunned silence, puzzling through how your experience differed from the way the lieutenant had described him. Did you not find him to be those things? Did you not find him praise-worthy? The sick feeling in his stomach intensified, but you weren’t done.

“But he also told me to be careful.” You sighed deeply, almost as though you had decided something within yourself. You turned fully to look at him then, and Hux had significant difficulty breathing under the soft but weighty intensity of your gaze. “He said you could be… prickly. Hard to get to know. That you don’t… trust others easily.” Hux was completely pinned. He knew the words were true. He had a thousand reasons for this, of course – betrayals and humiliation and more uncertainty that he could stand. He was trying to stammer out some excuse to this effect when he realized you still hadn’t finished. “But I don’t find that to be true at all.”

You looked down for a minute, then back at him, your eyes so warm he thought he was going to melt right there. You didn’t find it true at all. Your words reverberated through his suddenly thoughtless mind, causing a gentle hum to rise in his chest and spread in little shivers throughout his body. He didn’t recall even deciding speak when the words stumbled their way out of his mouth:

“You make it easy.” His voice was hoarse and the phrase was inelegant, but when he saw your face light up like a sun, he didn’t care at all.

“Thank you, Armitage,” you beamed at him, the sound of his name on your lips rendering him even more nonfunctional than he already was, “I only hope I can be worthy of such high praise.” With that, you needed to turn your attention back to the ship, flipping off the autopilot as the planet’s atmosphere neared and taking the controls into your hands. Hux sat dazed, basking in the glow of you and trying to figure out how he was ever going to force himself to leave that cockpit and conduct a professional inspection of the base.

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