#dyn: it's obvious to everyone

[hawkaye]

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 12d

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

The next day Glorfindel has Alphlîn and Alphsîr practicing launching attacks from the air at a (slowly) moving target, specifically a bundle of a grass tied to a (very) long rope tied to the back of the rearmost wagon. They have to replace the target after each successful hit.

After a few hours when they've gotten pretty good at it, Glorfindel tasks them with working on precision — hit the target, and not him and Asfaloth, who will be riding along. He starts out a couple wagon-lengths away, but wants to see how close he can get to the target before he has to start dodging or blocking.

Celeborn has pulled himself together enough to sit in the rearmost wagon and try to provide moral support/encouraging commentary.

Up at the front of the caravan, Maglor falls in beside Whiterot's wagon.

"I've been thinking about what I should say," Whiterot says. "It's hard, because I was in Angband for years before my first death. And that was— I'm sure there are many former thralls who would say being an orc is worse. Being an orc is wretched. But for me, being an elf in Angband was worse."

…Huh. "Do you… want to talk about that, then?"

"Absolutely not."

They ride in silence for a time.

(Or not talking to each other, at least. Elvish hearing being what it is, Maglor can clearly hear Zuste and Dyn in the next wagon worrying about whether the magic crates would protect the Wizard's Clay if the swan-twins miss really badly. Also Elladan having a one-sided conversation with some of the relief oxen who are trying to wander astray, and Risyind explaining something about causeways, and even Turgon offering Glorfindel unsolicited and unneeded dodging advice.)

Whiterot finally asks, "Did Bellow and Screech talk to you about multiplication duties?"

"Turgon did some," Maglor says carefully. "Sharlinnu talked about — childhood, for lack of a better word, but not… how that came about."

"The obvious subject, then, I suppose."

(An incomplete description of 'the obvious subject':

No one likes multiplication duties. It makes you aware of your body and it makes you vulnerable and you have to take your clothes off and the itch is annoying and no one likes it at all.

But it's harder on the ones who have to do the bearing.

It would kill an elf, to bear nine children in five years. Even in Angband with the Dark Lord's will keeping slaves from death, there just wouldn't be anything left. Orcs aren't precisely bearing children, it doesn't drain their already-battered fëar or break their hearts, but it is still physically grueling. It's painful and exhausting and the amount of food you have to get through every day is absurd.

The suckling period is at least brief, only about a month. But it's deeply uncomfortable, and worse—

Most of the time, your heart is too dead to bond with the thing while it's suckling — but the miserable hröa may still try.

And everyone says it's just five years at most after you mature and by the time you're fifteen your job is killing, and you can forget about it, or convince yourself it wasn't so bad. But if you survive long enough — live past a defeat, live through the Shadow ebbing for a while, live until the Shadow seeps into you again and calls you back — you will be called back to multiply for another few years.

("I am never going to fully understand how Straw and Squint could stand to have Mist and Rain. Both of them had appalling childhoods in their first lives, which I think explains how they could think it was an acceptable situation to bring a child into, but I don't understand how they accepted the — vulnerability of it. No amount of walls in the head could make it seem safe.")

It never ends.)

"Nothing about being an orc ever ends," Whiterot says. "Thralldom didn't end either, for me, but— Being an orc, you have to walk the same terrible road over and over and over again. You're born, you grow, you remember you're a person just in time to fully appreciate it as your body is turned against you. Multiplication duties, and then death, death, torment, death, death, until finally it's your death but you're just right back in the Crucible. Over and over and over."

(Maglor carefully does not ask what she went through in Angband, that the totality of being an orc still is not worse.)

*****

They arrive at the Large Explodable Rock.

—It might also be described as a small steep hill with little plant life, but really, it's a cracked boulder the size of a house. The black stone is incongruous among the grasses and flowers.

Maglor says he doesn't like the look of it.

Gimli says regardless of how it looks he's puzzled how it got here. He's never personally done any excavating in the Grey Mountains but he doesn't think the stone there looks like this, and anyway they're leagues away now! There aren't any similar landforms in sight…

They check the rock over. Glorfindel, Celeborn, and Elladan and Elrohir agree that while it does feel vaguely sinister somehow? it isn't actually dangerous. It's just been sitting here in the middle of nowhere for ages, being a rock.

Maglor grudgingly ventures close enough to poke at it. "Does anyone else think this looks like—" He stops. "Celegorm, does this look like a piece of Thangorodrim to you?"

Turgon rolls his eyes dramatically but doesn't dispute that Maglor and Celegorm saw considerably more of Thangorodrim than people who spent most of the Siege in Gondolin. (Let alone Celeborn.) Although, actually—

"It doesn't look much like the lower slopes," says Whiterot.

—Those who were orcs in the First Age also got a pretty good look at some parts of it. Whiterot is right. It doesn't look much like the lower slopes.

"No, it looks like the cliffs higher up," Celegorm says. "But you're proposing, what, a piece of Thangorodrim just… suddenly appeared here? Fell out of the sky?"

Well, yes.

Very few orcs survived being in the open in the vicinity of the end of the War of Wrath long enough to get a clear idea of what was going on. So, quick catch-up.

Between Ancalagon falling on Thangorodrim and various high-power assaults from both sides, the mountains were breaking apart and shifting around.

Some of the pieces looked like they might be about to shift down onto the attacking Elves, Men, and Dwarves.

Eönwë and the other maiar present helpfully prevented this; some balrogs or other umaiar tried to encourage it. After some push and pull Eönwë evidently decided to remove the hazards from the battlefield by launching them up and away.

And honestly most people on the battlefield promptly forgot about it. There were other things to worry about.

But! They found out later that, at around the same time, at about the latitude of the Grey Mountains but well east of the Sea of Rhûn, a giant ball of fire fell out of the sky and created a gulf where there hadn't been one before. (There may already have a been a depression inland? But there was definitely not water there before.)

Also Pelnûru scholars believe a rain of stone was one contributing factor to Cuiviénen as it once was not existing anymore.

Zuste whistles. "Ooops."

"That's," Screech starts, then stops. "That's—" She turns to Khitwê and Risyind. "Adjuration Abridged, the lines that repeat—"

"That's gods for you," Khitwê and Risyind helpfully chorus.

"Thank you, you'd think it'd let me vaguely insult — things."

"We definitely weren't complaining at the time," Maglor says. "I'm inclined to call Cuiviénen an acceptable loss, even, given the stakes. I don't know what used to be where this Gulf is—"

"Maybe Straw's home village, but that was definitely an acceptable loss," Whiterot says. Turgon snorts.

Anyway, since pieces of Thangorodrim were definitely falling out of the sky even farther away, there's no reason a smaller piece couldn't have ended up here.

With that question answered, it's time for Wizard's Clay practice, with stone this time!

(Celegorm to Maglor, as Gimli is setting up: Do you think if I said Noldor tools are better I could get Celeborn to defend dwarves and make that face again?

Maglor: Don't insult Gimli or his tools with pointless comparisons.

Maglor: …I'm not sure it's true anyway.

Celegorm: Neither am I, and I bet neither is Celeborn, and that's what makes it funny.

Maglor: …It would be funny, but still don't do it.

Celegorm: This is why everyone says you're boring.

Maglor: You are the only one who says that.)

[shy-urban-hobbit]

Modern Au kid fic! Platonic Aiden and Lambert (Aiden and Lambert are both 14. Geralt and Eskel are early twenties).

CW for eye trauma and injury description.

"C'mon, everyone knows you're like a god damned guard dog when it comes to your boys." Guxart pleaded.

"And you're hoping I'll extend that to your boy?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Vesemir ran his free hand over his face as he listened to the man on the other end of the line. He knew what he was getting into when he became a foster parent almost twenty years ago. However, he hadn't had any requests like this since taking Lambert in a decade ago and Guxart's kids were a whole different matter. It wasn't his fault the Dyn Marv Group Home had essentially been a sinking ship when he took it over. He was doing his best to turn things around but it was a slow process and there was no denying a good portion of the kids needed support which not many people were equipped to provide as a result of his predecessors management style, whilst a good number of the remaining kids had priors.

"Look, real talk." Guxart suddenly sounded exhausted, "He's my responsibility and for obvious reasons he can't stay here. Right now he's in a bad way, physically and mentally. I need to put him with someone I can trust won't take advantage of that. I need to know he's in safe hands. Please, Ves."

Vesemir sighed. He really hoped he wasn't going to regret this, "When can we expect him?"

"Any idea what this is about?" Eskel asked as he slouched on the old sagging couch.

Geralt shrugged and gave a grunt as he replied to a text (probably Yen), "Group text. I got the same information you did."

"Ass." Eskel gave his brother a playful swat.

"Alright you two." Vesemir emerged from the kitchen carrying three sodas, "I'll fill Lambert in when he gets back from school, but there's some details I'd rather he not know right away."

"Sounds serious." Eskel said, both he and Geralt leaning forwards in their seats to show they were listening.

Vesemir nodded, "Guxart called me. We've got an emergency placement arriving in a couple of hours straight from hospital, lad around Lambert's age."

His adopted sons wrinkled their noses, Vesemir cut them off before they could say anything, "I know you have past issues with the Dyn Marv kids. But Guxart assured me the worst Aiden's ever been slapped with is weekend detention."

Eskel perked up, "Aiden? Lambert's Aiden? Fuck, I gave him so much shit about him being imaginary."

Vesemir shrugged, "It's possible. It's not an uncommon name though."

"So why was he in hospital and why is he coming here?" Geralt asked

"He got attacked by a group of older kids. Naturally, for his own safety he can't go back to the group home while the investigation is ongoing and Guxart didn't want to ship him across State with fresh trauma."

"For how long?"

"Depends how long the authorities take. All I know is that the ringleaders are going to be up on assault charges. Possibly even attempted murder."

"Attempted - what the fuck did they do to him?"

"I didn't want to ask over the phone, his social worker will fill us in on everything when he arrives. That being said, you two know the drill for new arrivals. Geralt, you go do a junk food run and grab some essentials while you're at it, I've got no idea what he's going to be bringing with him so just the basics for now. Eskel, give me a hand getting the spare room ready."

Lambert kicked an empty can into the gutter, scowling down at his shoes. Another day of bullshit taunts and teasing and still no word from Aiden after almost a month. He wasn't dumb, he knew Aiden would have a reason and he knew what the deal was for care kids. He'd probably been moved to a different home or something with no warning and no choice, it happened. Still, Lambert thought his friend would have at least replied one of his emails or something to let him know (Aiden didn't have a phone. He said it was more hassle than it was worth trying to prevent it from getting stolen), not just act like he didn't exist anymore. Long distance friends were a thing, right? Lambert kicked another can. Fuck it, he was done. If Aiden wanted to ghost him then two could play at that game. Fuck friends and fuck him.

"Home." He called out, nudging the door closed with his foot.

"Stop kicking the door and get in here." Vesemir called from the living room, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Fucks sake, I haven't even done anything." Lambert groaned "I've literally just walked through the door."

"I know you haven't. Stop bitching and sit down."

Lambert slumped into the room, taking in the spread of pizza, burgers, hotdogs and cake on the coffee table. That could only mean one thing, "Who's the new guy?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about, but I need you to promise you'll keep a cool head first. Ok."

Lambert shrugged.

"He got here about half an hour ago straight from the hospital. He's pretty beat up."

"Sucks for him. He got a name?"

"Aiden. About your age."

Lambert shot to his feet, "About this tall, dark hair?"

"Yes. But before you - Lambert !"

Lambert didn't hear as he charged up the stairs and down the hallway to the usually empty spare bedroom and immediately started pounding on the door, "Aiden?! "

The door cracked open and Lambert couldn't hide a wince. Vesemir wasn't kidding when he'd said Aiden was pretty beat up. The skin of his arms which wasn't covered by his t-shirt and bandages was covered in bruises. He had the fading evidence of a black eye whilst the other was covered by a patch of surgical gauze, a fresh, bright red scar poking out of the top and disappearing into his hairline. He smiled at Lambert awkwardly, "Hi."

Lambert threw his arms around him in a hug before remembering he was supposed to be mad and turning it into a light shove, "You dick! Why didn't you tell me you were in hospital?"

"I would have if I could but I was in an induced coma for two weeks and it's not like the hospital had a computer lab."

"Wait, you were in a coma."

"To give the internal shit a chance to heal. I'm all good now though. Well-" he pointed to his gauze covered eye, "Mostly."

"What happened anyway?" Lambert asked, moving into the room to sit on the bed.

"Jad and his gang jumped me. This happened when Vi decided to get a flick knife involved." Aiden moved to sit next to him, eyes on the floor and fists clenched. "They couldn't save my eye."

Lambert had never heard his friend sound so small, "Shit, Aiden."

They sat in awkward silence, Lambert not really knowing what to say after that. Luckily they were both saved by a shout of, "Boys, everything ok? If you want food I'd get down here before Geralt eats it all!"

Lambert grinned at his friend, "Hot dog eating contest?"

"You're on!"

[marcoreusofficial]

the homosociality of football players

[sitp-recs]

Here I come with another special hidden gems selection to celebrate the best among us, the wonderful and inimitable @the-starryknight! What a privilege to share this space and be friends with someone this generous, creative and kind. I can’t imagine the fandom as we know it without Starry’s warm presence and gentle encouragement. Starry is a true MVP - somehow they find time to write, beta, mod, comment, rec, check in, cheerlead, and god knows what else. They’re not only an incredibly talented creator - with a creative mind and evocative prose that gently tuck me into bed or, alternatively, keeps me at the edge of my seat with a gritty, seductive dark-ish plot - but also the gentlest soul, always available and ready to lend a helping hand or to boost our community with their fabulous TLC posts.

Starry, you are the gem. Your collaborative and generous spirit is the backbone of this fandom, and your passion for art and history make me want to experience all those beautiful things with you. I’m endlessly fascinated by the worlds you create, so rich and detailed, by your vibrant characters full of nuance and heart, by their tender falling in love and journey towards hope, friendship and self-care. Thank you for being an inspiring ray of sunshine during my moody and difficult days, for putting so much of yourself into your work, and for making my fandom experience so much more special. Your energy fuels our enthusiasm and your kindness awakes the best in us. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate your day and contributions than to highlight some hidden essentials that could get more visibility and love! The banner I chose hopes to evoke - beyond the obvious reference to gems and a starry sky - the ethereal quality of lush beauty & mystery that I see and enjoy so much in your works.

I gently invite everyone else to join me in this love fest for Starry - go check the incredible works below, leave as much feedback as you can, and feel free to share your own favorites alongside mine, I’ll love to see your picks. Happy happy birthday Starry! Here’s to many more years enjoying this chaotic but exciting fandom life 💙💜

Drarry

On Permanence (2021, M, 1.4k) - the title itself makes me immediately love this fic but I wasn’t prepared to the explosion of feels this sexy, tender, introspective fuck buddies to lovers gave me. The clubbing atmosphere full of freedom and possibilities, their easy coming together as if inevitable, the tentative way they navigate this change of pace, wanting as much as before but with so much more meaning and time to discover each other. Utterly gorgeous.

The possibility of going home with Draco is the only reason Harry comes to the club anymore. Tonight, there's a new kind of intimacy to be found outside the neon noise.

little luminaries (2022, G - E, 2.5k total) - fifty short stories, fifty new ways to fall in love with Drarry through Starry’s words. This is a spectacular sample of their genius mind and beautiful prose, exploring all the takes and tropes you could imagine within 50 concise and magical words. A delicious collection of bite-size treats for all kinds of moods and days!

Fifty 50-word Draco/Harry microfics in various genres, mostly romance/HEA.

Confessions in a Lover's Whorl (2021, T, 2.6k) - this impeccable Draco POV full of hope and longing tells the love of a lifetime within 3k. It’s so precious and moving to witness him watching Harry, a private and intimate little moment exposed to our eyes and heart only. The ending makes me tear up every time and it’s a crime this doesn’t have more comments. If you wanna read only one thing today, choose this fic.

In the mornings when Harry remains asleep, Draco tracks the stories of their life together in the lines of Harry’s upturned palm.

Could Have Been a Tragedy (2021, T, 3k) - vamp hunters husbands, that’s what I’m talking about baby!!! This has the exact brand of light and fun intimacy I need in all my established relationship fics pls, their dynamics are a delight and this concept is so cool and inventive! As always this unfolds into so much character and back story, with excellent dialogue and delicious domesticity, A+ power couple vibes.

Covens of dangerous and feral vampires require a special sort of hunter. Luckily, Draco and Harry make just the team, equipped with a frankly absurd number of silver knives and wooden stakes.

In the Garden After Dark (2021, M, 3.5k) - I am simply obsessed with this Unspeakable universe with teams of three, and by Starry’s sharp, evocative and melancholy exploration of grief and loneliness. The Drarry dynamics sharing love and pain hit me right on the solar plexus and I wanna know all about their complicated jobs and lives! Haunting and moving.

Unspeakables work in teams of three, but when Draco and Harry lost their third, Draco left too. Now he's back, Illusion magic stronger than ever, and Harry is less lonely in his arms.

Of Mirrors, Myths, and Men (2021, E, 5.4k) - imho this is one of Starry’s sexiest stories with superb UST, ballroom romance, handyman wolf Harry & Veela Draco coming together in a lush, hot and poetic way! I just love the seductive vibes here, how they quietly gravitate towards each other building anticipation, which culminates with a breathtaking mirror sex scene that lives rent free in my mind! Trust me, you gotta read this one 🔥

After years of renovations on the Manor, Draco has one room left: the Ballroom. Harry Potter’s repair skills come highly recommended. But from the moment Potter stepped foot in the Manor, something burned between them, far more compelling than Draco could have ever anticipated.

The Art of the Matter (2021, E, 5.7k) - there’s something magical about seeing Starry in their element - like in this Victorian AU featuring fancy waistcoats and hot fumbling amidst an art heist (!!!) - that leaves me in awe of their writing. The detailed historical setting, the charming flirty dynamics, the intensity of their get together (never enough time, even after seven years!), the mystery behind the painting, the exciting thrill surrounding the heist! This feels both familiar and original, fun and sexy and full of vibrant details that make the story jump out of the screen.

Someone has been casting increasingly awful curses on artworks, targeting Muggle viewers. Draco and Harry are one of the best cursebreaking teams around despite their penchant for distraction in cloak closets. Their latest case? A Muggle portrait in the Paris Salon with a virulent blood curse.

Saltwater Stain (2021, M, 9k) - @tackytigerfic and I will never stop screaming about how brilliant this dark-ish fic is - downright creepy and fascinating it will confuse seduce your mind like a siren with its contemplative and surreal atmosphere, plus the sublime devastation of Harry’s longing for Draco. Incredible setting and vibes, one of the most intriguing, disturbing and well-executed pieces I’ve ever read.

Seven days stuck on a boat investigating a rogue ghost wouldn't be so bad if Harry didn't want Draco so much. Draco has his rules and Harry's content to follow them, but the air feels different away from the shore. Is it possible that the sea could offer Harry something impossible on land?

Rare pairs

Autumn in the Air (2021, T, 1.7k) - the way I ran to check this when I saw that Starry had written DRON! This is a darling, intriguing and moving short. I love the building tension, the slow creeping realization something’s wrong, their soft mutual longing for each other. A treat to soothe my poor multi-shipper heart!

Draco had never been here before.

Surface Texture (2021, E, 6.3k) - I can’t even think about this Harry/Teddy without getting choked up, this has everything I’ve ever wanted for my favorite rare pair, and it’s a joy to experience how hot and devoted they are to each other. Artist Teddy finding his muse in this sexy and mature Harry gave me goosebumps, I could taste their want and the sexual tension as if I were right there by their side, and despite the sinfully scorching smut this has an incredible amount of introspection and tenderness, as per Starry’s brand. A masterpiece! Don’t forget to check @bluebutter-art’s brilliant art for it here.

I've drawn a hundred portraits, but none quite like Harry's. In the early hours of the morning, I lay him bare in charcoal and paper.

[writers-blogck]

Opposites ( The Mandalorian x Reader ) 01

Warning(s): This is going to be a series. I am obsessed with the show and need to let my love for both Baby Yoda and Dyn out. So here we are. This will try to be gender-neutral. There is mentions to a skirt in this chapter but with the race you are, there are no gender norms. Men wear skirts as well.  For now, your race is called Gypsies because I can’t think of a good name yet. The language being used for your race’s language is Romanian. The race name will change when I can come up with one.  Now, buckle up for some slow-burn romance! 

Title: Opposites  Pairing: Dyn Jarren x Reader Fandom: The Mandalorian  Word Count: 2925

Chapter One: The Beginning 

Flames licked the air as the music soared through the chill breeze. It would be considered a cold night if not for the fire that everyone crowded around. It was a strange sight for anyone who wasn’t a local. It looked as though someone had taken one of the walls out to open up a building with the roof only covering half. This allowed the smoke to fade off into the sky as it curled higher and higher. The floor was nothing more than the natural sand of the land. This cantina was one of interesting architecture.

This was no place to take a baby but desperate times call for desperate measures. They should be fine, rarely were people dumb enough to mess with a Mandalorian. He knew the child needed to eat and even if he would have pushed himself through it, he needed to eat as well. When he traveled without the child, he used to push his body to the extreme limits. Barely getting any sleep, eating rarely, trying to just do job after job. Now with a fragile thing he had to take care of, he couldn’t expect to continue that path. Which is how he ended up in such a strange cantina. Even with his travels, he had never seen anything quite like this.

The child was sitting on a booster with his tiny hands gripping his bowl of bone broth. On such a night, a steaming bowl of soup was just the thing to warm the bones. Mando himself didn’t get anything but bread rations that he planned to eat back on the ship. He couldn’t take his helmet off, he knew he could wait. The main concern was for the child to eat enough so they could be on their way again. It was too dangerous to stay in one place for too long.

                                                       --

The movements were second nature to you at that point, twirling around the fire with your tambourine high in the air. You savored the heat the flames gave off as it warmed your bare skin. You learned how to dance and play as soon as you learned to walk. It was the way of your people. Dancing was one of the biggest parts of your culture. During the day, your people would hide in the shadows and steal to get by but it was the night when you really came alive. This cantina was just one of the many hotspots, hidden out on the edge of the sand dunes. The locals whispered of the dancing gypsies and hope one day they would be able to see them dance. No one knew where the group would be, the information was kept a secret.

You were one of the most skilled dancers of your people and both the natives as well as travelers could see that. Many nights you could feel the eyes of all sorts of people following the sway of your hips and flick on your wrist. After the show, some would try to give you money while the rare patron gave some type of gift. Those were the people who always seemed to be able to find the show’s location. There were the specific men, and a few women, who would come after the show and offer money in exchange for other services. They were your least favorite clientele. But the male gypsies would scare them away.

This night was the same as your people’s bodies curled together like the flame itself, skilled movements that were too delicate to get near. Some were dancing as couples while others were dancing alone. The more innocent eyes stayed on the couples while those with other purposes trained on those alone. Some would even come up and join the dance as the excitement rubbed off on them. Participation was very much encouraged.

Your own eyes scanned the crowd quickly in curiosity as you danced and fell upon a sight you had never seen before. A real Mandolorian. Not just some scavenger with stolen armor. They were so rare, you doubted anyone in your community had seen one.  You didn’t even know much about the people other than the danger they could bring with them.

                                                       --

The sound of excited yelling and whistles brought the man out of his thoughts, his mind immediately ready for a threat. He was raised on the trigger of a gun and meant he was always on guard even when lost in thought. Those instincts had only gotten stronger with the child now. It was the first time he had something to protect. He no longer only had himself to think about. Yet his dark eyes quickly noted there was no new threat, instead, a tidal wave of color pouring around the fire.

Bright purples, pinks, greens, and blue were illuminated in an ethereal glow from the fire as a group of seven to ten similarly dressed people arrived. It was easy to tell who they were, they were one of the local races. Even without the bright colors, the large pointed ears, not that unlike the child’s, would give them away. Mando hadn’t been to this planet before and didn’t know much about the natives, but he learned what they looked like. All the shops were filled with the same rainbow of colors, scarfs covering faces to reveal only eyes that peered around like a cat. He didn’t trust the gypsy people. He knew what those eyes meant.

Trouble.

Their bodies curled together like the flames itself as they began to dance to the music. Mando had never been much for dancing himself. Training had taken up most of his time and the free time he did have, he wasn’t going to spend it learning how to dance. This dancing wasn’t like the slow dancing he had seen either. The Mandolorian didn’t dance like this. This dancing was filled with chaos and energy, huge grins on each of their sunkissed faces. Where the Mandolorians were strict and straight-laced, these natives were carefree. Too hedonistic in Mando’s mind.  Yet these aversive thoughts seemed to disappear from his mind the moment he saw the person with the blue and green crystal pin in their hair.

He hardly noticed they were even singing due to the blood that seemed to rush to his ears. The pounding was like the kind he would get when he was in an intense battle. There was no danger and yet his mind seemed unaware. What was going on? His body was making no sense to him.

It must have been the way the light hit them in that exact moment. Or perhaps it was the lack of sleep in him. Something had to be wrong with him for a person to leave him breathless. He had seen beauty in his time but this was different. They weren’t the traditional kind of beautiful but there was something transcendental with them. Their pointed ears held gold chains and earrings in them and sparkled when the light hit them in a certain way. Bare feet expertly moved gracefully while making no sound. Delicate but confident. The feet of a thief, not a dancer. Perhaps they really were a thief. They had stolen his attention.

Behind his dark visor, his sharp eyes couldn’t move away from the absolute vision in front of him. Thankfully, no one could tell what he was really looking at. He could just be looking at the fire or just staring off into space. That was all. Everyone would just see the threatening Mandalorian and look away. The Child needed to hurry up and finish eating so they could leave. He wanted to go as fast as possible, his stomach churning at the unknown feeling. He had never felt this interest to know more about a person before.

There was no way this could be true but upon a final spin, the gypsy seemed to be looking right into his soul. His heart skipped a beat, feeling as though he had been caught. They couldn’t know he was watching and yet with the small smile they presented him, he wasn’t so sure. Did they have some strange ability? Their eyes stilled for only a moment yet it felt as though it had been minutes. They easily went back to finishing the song they were singing.  Mando didn’t recover as quickly.

The Child’s large eyes seemed to have found them as well and could sense a shift in the man sitting next to him. He turned to look up at his caretaker, back at the dancing figure, and then settled on Mando again. He turned to the green child and frowned, not even needing to hear anything to know what that look meant.

“Don’t say anything.” He huffed, refusing to admit they had affected him in such a way.

                                                       --

The night went as most do. As time passed, members of your group got drunk and the performance fizzled out. Some found partners to keep them warm for the night but that wasn’t for you. Your mind was focused on something else. The Mandalorian hadn’t left like you had expected. With each passing second, you felt yourself getting pulled closer. Their kind seemed almost like a myth. What type of stories did they know? Since coming to this village when you were thirteen, it was the only place you had called home. There was so much in the universe you hadn’t seen yet. You had never even left this planet.

When the Mandalorian seemed to be paying attention to the creature next to it, you pulled as much confidence from your core as you could before walking over. The gypsies put confidence and affection as some of the most important things in your culture. With the outfits you all wore, confidence was needed. In the day, you wore scarves and clothing that covered your entire body but when the night came, so did the fabric. Women would wear crop tops, some men didn’t even wear shirts. This was the way of your people. Be proud of who you are and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It was obvious to see as gender norms seemed nonexistent.  

“So, not many Mandalorians come here. Are you lost?” You asked as you slipped into the chair across the table from the two beings. Mando slowly looked over, taking a moment to take in what was happening before speaking.

“No, just a stop.”

You nodded, leaning your elbow on the table and resting your chin in the palm of your hand. The armor shined with the firelight and you wondered what it was made of. It was rare anyone wore armor in these parts. Not because it wasn’t needed but the heat of the sun would cook whatever was inside it during the day. Most people tended to be nocturnal here as it got quite a bit cooler when the moon came out.

Silence blanketed the table as you inspected the person, which you now know due to his voice, and tried to match what was in front of you to the few pictures you had seen.  He was much larger than what you expected and more...shiny. The old scrolls that you had found on your scavenging made them seem much flatter in color. You preferred it this way better.

“So, what are the Mandalorian?” Your question caught him off guard. It had been a long time since he had to explain it to someone before. No one ever asked so bluntly before either.

“If you know not many come here, how come you don’t know about us?”

“Well, I’ve seen art and some had Mandalorians in it. No one here ever knew enough to answer my questions. So, I thought who better to ask than from the source.”

Mando thought over the question, rolling it around in his head. How was he supposed to answer that? There was so much that went into their way, it would be impossible to explain it fully to someone who didn’t even know the basics. He stared in your direction, unsure of what to say.

“We are a skilled group of fighters. Some say we are the best warriors in the galaxy. It is a way of life. Our life.”

Even with the less than detailed explanation, you were satisfied enough for now. Your Păzitor (Guardian)  had warned you that your curiosity would get you killed one day. He cared for you but feared when you left the village to explore the sand dunes. There were dangerous creatures and even worse, dangerous people out there. You had been slipping out for as long as you lived here, there was no way to keep you anywhere you didn’t want to be. There was so much out there but no one wanted to explore. As you were getting older, the itch to leave was only getting stronger.  

A tugging at your skirt caused you to glance down, meeting the big brown eyes of the kid that had been sitting across the table from you. When had he had the time to get down without either of you noticing. With a small smile, you leaned down and placed the child on your lap. This seemed to please it as it relaxed, leaning back against your chest.

“I’ve never seen anything like this little guy here before. Got to say, I don’t think you look like this under that helmet of yours. So, why is he with you? Is he an orphan?” Your arms lazily wrapped around his smaller form as he cuddled up against you. It must have been past his bedtime, whatever time that was. Every child went to bed early, didn’t they? The gypsy children were the only ones you had seen out so late.

“Something like that.”

“Are you on a job now and that’s why you are just stopping here? Or maybe you’re just a bum in a ship traveling the stars with a little green bean,” You teased, a glint in your eyes as if challenging the man. Before he was able to answer, blaster fire echoed around the strange cantina.

Then the screaming started and chaos began. As soon as the blaster went off, the Mandalorian jumped up and immediately began searching for the threat. Your arms pulled the child closer to you, gathering the multi-colored shaw you used in your show to wrap it around them. The first instinct you had was to hide it. Maybe it would be safer that way and would be left out of the fight.

Something grabbed your wrist and pulled to have you topple into their chest. This caused a small yelp to slip from your lips, bringing Mando’s attention to you immediately. He didn’t see the Child but that didn’t mean you weren’t in danger at that moment. No matter how much people believed him to be bad, he kept doing actions that contradicted their beliefs.

Even without seeing it, you could smell the blaster fire on them. Shit, where was it? Both of his hands were occupied with one grasping your wrist and the other at your hip. There would be bruises there in the morning. As soon as you deduced he wasn’t holding the blaster, you reacted. It was no more than six seconds that passed and just as Mando was about to rush over, you stole his attention again.

A loud grunt and the attacker being pushed back caused Mando to stop in his tracks. He had no clue what had just happened moments ago, you didn’t have an electrostaff in your hands. Yet, here you are, moving to incapacitate the man who decided to mess with you. Even with the force behind your movements, you moved as if this was no more than another dance. Your movements were all calculated and one step ahead of the enemies, your feet hitting the ground with the grace of a ballerina.

Another enemy came in your vicinity and it was then that the Mandalorian noticed there were no sparks at the end of the staff. This was an electrostaff but must have been broken into nothing more of a staff. Yet, where had you gotten it? There was no room on your outfit to even entertain the thought it might have been on your person. It looked as if you had summoned it out of thin air.

With a calculated hit to the temple of the first man, he was down for the count. This left you to turn and fight the other who had his blaster drawn. You reminded yourself to keep calm as he moved to fire. Precision was key and you could hear yourself counting the beats in your head to time it correctly. As his finger squeezed, the staff came down hard on his wrist which caused the shot to only char the sand into small pieces of glass.

Mando hadn’t realized he had been staring until he felt arms wrap around his form to attempt to slice his throat. He was brought back to reality as he easily tossed the man over his body to land with a hard thud on the ground. Before they had a chance to get up, a single blast from the Mandalorian made sure he stayed down. He pushed the thoughts of you aside, knowing that he needed to focus on protecting these people.

Yet, no one had piqued his interest as much as you had and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

Your Electrostaff: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/commercehq-userfiles-master/commercehq-store-fb48b69a3b345592c79d2b5daf360f96_da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709/b38aabdceec14ea5819e839e5d810ea6_ezgif.com-crop.gif

How you Fight: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/99/11/e59911d8a0614152022b4fdcff7b1533.gif

[romanticrobot]

This may be glaringly obvious to literally everyone but like...I still have to talk abt it.

I really do feel like Dyn's helmet is more like a security blanket now. Yes, it's still the last part of his tribe that he has left, but the helmet has always been something for him to hide behind. I'm not saying Dyn is a coward. No. Not at all. His actions speak very well of his bravery. All I'm saying is that Dyn uses his helmet as a barrier. That armor isn't just protecting his body, it's protecting his vulnerability...deep down he's still afraid of losing all the people he cares for, but he doesn't want anyone to know because in his position as a bounty hunter (and a Child of the Watch), that is a fatal weakness. Yet, his weakness is clear once he aquires Grogu; with or without the helmet, everyone is aware of his intense fear of losing his son.

I like that the helmet rule is bending and cracking. I can't stress enough the importance of Dyn meeting Bo-Katan. For the first time, he met other Mandalorians who taught him that The Way was not the only way, and that perhaps his creed is a hindrance to his own wellbeing.

Shit, the whole episode with Mayfield shows us just how exposed he feels when he is not wearing his helmet. The fear, awkwardness, and guilt is apparent. His helmet is a shell of false confidence. For his own sake, I hope he starts to take it off more, because I think the helmet is a manifestation of Dyn's self-destructive tendencies. Now that he is establishing a circle of supportive friends, I don't think he needs to hide anymore.

[perfectirishgifts]

How Cloudflare Became The Most Important Internet Company Nobody Has Heard Of

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-cloudflare-became-the-most-important-internet-company-nobody-has-heard-of/

How Cloudflare Became The Most Important Internet Company Nobody Has Heard Of

DNS, the Internet address book we notice when it disappears.

In a perfect world, big networks that hold up important parts of the Internet would never be brought down by single points of failure (SPOFs) but unfortunately there is no such thing as a perfect world.

Take Cloudflare – the most important Net infrastructure company most people have never heard of – whose backbone network suddenly stopped doing its big and important job for 27 long minutes on 17 July.

This got people’s attention as numerous big Internet sites went missing, including hordes of well-known websites such as Zoom, Spotify, Reddit, and YouTube that depend on its services. Even Twitter became unavailable in some areas, ironic because that’s where Internet users normally head when they want to complain about things not working.

Hard bitten, many suspected the worst – another big DDoS attack similar to the infamous 2016 attack against Dyn, another obscure Internet company nobody thought mattered until suddenly it did.  

In fact, the websites were still running but what was missing was Cloudflare’s DNS resolution that makes it possible for people to access them without having to type in their underlying IP addresses.

The problem, it transpired, was the misconfiguration of a single router prompted prompted by network congestion in one of Cloudflare’s datacenters.

“We’ve never experienced an outage on our backbone and our team responded quickly to restore service in the affected locations, but this was a very painful period for everyone involved,” said a chastened Cloudflare a day later.

Tiny giant

This was 2020’s most obvious Cloudflare outage, but it wasn’t the only example. Take, for example, 15 April disruption, a less serious outage that still affected customer access to the Cloudflare API, the software interface customers interact with. The problem? An engineer decommissioning old equipment in one datacenter unplugged a nearby cable providing connectivity between that location and the rest of the network. Easy to do – someone unplugged something!

Not many people complained about it but it was still serious enough that the company’s co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince took to Twitter to berate himself in a way normally quite alien to California’s tech elite:

“This was painful today. Never should have happened. Great to already see the work to ensure it never will again. We make mistakes – which kills me – but proud we rarely make them twice.”

Then there’s the recent 2 November outage picked apart in some detail in a blog published last week. That one was caused by a single “misbehaving” switch, a fundamental piece of infrastructure that acts like an accelerated crossroads for network packets as they move from one place to another.

Did you spot the SPOF? Not the switch in this case, so much as Cloudflare itself, the Internet service users didn’t know they were using.

All infrastructure providers suffer occasional problems, so this isn’t about calling out Cloudflare so much as noticing their increasing influence, one which extends to other aspects of the Internet.

In August the company stopped offering DDoS protection for the 8chan message board, a notorious melting pot for political extremists. To protect or not to protect? In this case, not. The decision was interesting. It turns out that privacy’s love affair with so-called free speech has some ideological digital limits after all.

Open kimono

What’s striking is that that a problem or decision at a single web infrastructure company that’s still relatively small (projected 2020 revenue: $422 million) can have such effects. If by most objective definitions Cloudflare is an Internet minnow it’s one that’s become important because it looks after traffic for a lot of bigger beasts.

Curiously, Cloudflare devotes a lot of effort to dissecting its failures, flaws, and difficult decisions. This policy is commendable. Nothing causes confidence to drop faster than a problem that’s never explained because it turns technology into a black box people are forced to take on trust.

But what really makes Cloudflare different from most of the other content delivery networks is its embrace of privacy through emerging standards such as its 1.1.1.1. public DNS, backing for DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) security, and free almost VPN, Warp.  

Privacy is a shrewd strategy because as more users adopt Cloudflare’s version of it, the easier it is to accelerate them to its website customers without traffic leaving its own datacenters (as well as making rivals look like glorified ISPs).

It’s possible the future of the Internet infrastructure business model looks more like Cloudflare, the CDN that gives everybody something for nothing.  But that’s also a world where we all become more dependent on it for services we didn’t know we were consuming till the next outage nudges us out of our slumber.

From Cybersecurity in Perfectirishgifts

[annadianecass]

Are you overlooking the chink in your cybersecurity armour?

In a landscape full of high-profile data breaches, such as Yahoo and Tesco Bank, we’re seeing more and more organisations looking to bolster their defences in order to protect their business critical assets. However, are organisations overlooking the smaller, intermediate devices in their network that could provide an access point for the craftier cybercriminal?

One example would be that of water pumps in flood defences, which might seem a non-obvious point of entry. However, industrial processes and individual water pumps are increasingly becoming internet-enabled so they can be controlled from one central point in the network. One compromised pump on its own may not change the world, however if a series of these could be controlled, not only could this prove disastrous to the community the plant serves, but if the infrastructure is not protected at every level, this small, intermediate pump could become a gateway, granting access all the way up to sensitive data and mission controls.

To prioritise defending non-obvious assets, businesses need to ask themselves – if someone were to gain access to this device, where would the network take them? Exploring this further, we look at a selection of intermediate devices that organisations often overlook.

  POS systems

  If Oracle’s breach last year is anything to go by, Point of Sale (POS) systems are one of the most critical intermediate devices to secure in your network, especially in retail. In the case of the Oracle incident, the company announced that malicious code had been found in the payments system and it was unknown if the cybercriminals were able to decrypt the card data or use it to steal money.

Thankfully, Oracle’s corporate network and its other cloud service offerings were not affected. Much like the water pump example, this shows the potential route a simple payments platform could have into your wider network if left unprotected.

  Small IoT devices

According to recent research, 73% of IT professionals are concerned that they will fall foul of a sensitive breach occurring in the next 12 months via a connected device. This is a concern as each connected device has an administrative back door into a network that poses a risk, and many are left unsecured. IT professionals admitted that half of them don’t have the process to change default passwords on these IoT devices, which could potentially provide hackers easy access into the entire corporate network.

Last year’s Dyn DDoS attack was a huge wake up call for the dangers of unsecured connected devices. Thousands of internet-connected CCTV cameras were infected with Mirai malware, making them into a botnet, most likely the largest of its kind, which flooded sites with traffic, taking down most of America’s internet connections. The threat of IoT is two-fold – not only can unsecured devices give a cybercriminal access to your network, but it could potentially take out websites across the globe.

  Additionally, companies that are caught up in the rush of digital transformation are potentially putting themselves at risk. Organisations connecting legacy devices to the internet looking to take advantage of the huge benefits available, can cause a wider security issue as these systems are run on older software versions that aren’t always supported and difficult to patch. It is a growing trend that in the rush to make everything “internet-enabled”, security can sometimes be overlooked. Businesses must ensure they aren’t creating or opening a backdoor into the network accidentally.

  Healthcare technologies

  It comes as no surprise that healthcare and NHS institutions need a large cybersecurity overhaul. One recent incident found misconfigured email servers, outdated software, and security certificates, along with NHS trusts’ emails and passwords, through public web searches. It was also discovered through the same incident that NHS trusts are suffering an increase of data breaches, from 3,133 in 2014 to 4,177 last year. Combine that with the devastating effects of WannaCry earlier this year, and cyber incidents are now accounting for more breaches, rather than just human error, rising from eight in 2014 to 60 last year.

  Additionally, the increased adoption of connected devices into medical services and processes is creating even more endpoints in hospitals that need to be tracked and secured, widening the surface area for attacks with even small devices like insulin pumps being shown to be breachable.  Although the introduction of these devices is streamlining and improving the way care is provided, it has the potential to make healthcare institutions easy targets. Hospitals and other health practices are a source of valuable data, with information on almost every single citizen in the country hosted between them. This combined with cybersecurity not being a high priority and the fact that these institutions have the money to pay a ransom, makes them a top target for the enterprising cybercriminal.

  Healthcare institutions must prioritise the management of user access if they want to ensure adequate security levels around these endlessly growing numbers of endpoints. The variety of job roles that need to access a vast array of files from a connected network will also require different levels of access. For example, a doctor on call will need access to all previous medical history and prescription requirements, whereas an on-call care worker may only need medical history, and are not qualified to distribute or access prescriptive files. It’s paramount in this case that healthcare institutions evaluate who needs access to which devices and what data to prevent access falling into the wrong hands. This is especially pertinent as the GDPR legislation looms, which will enforce NHS departments to fully analyse their digital functions, including processes for the storage, security and identification of patient data.

  Industrial Control Systems

Industrial plants, and their control systems (ICS), are often overlooked. These controls are managed through remote stations, both automated and operator driven, distributing commands to manage supervision, control, and production.

  However, as industrial controls manage everything from your production line to power, transport, water, gas and other critical infrastructure, the potential disruption and resulting downtime from any issues can have a significant impact on your business and national infrastructure and possibly impact peoples lives.

This was brought to everyone’s attention during the Ukraine power station hack that took place in late 2015. Phishing emails were sent to the power companies containing malware that permitted the exfiltration of information and credentials to control systems, cutting off power to nearly 250,000 homes and businesses in western Ukraine. Even more recently, Ukrainian infrastructure has been paralysed by the Petya ransomware, which then spread across Europe, halting the operation of government departments, its central bank, and aircraft manufacturers.

  Once again, the rise of internet enabled control devices and systems is putting organisations at risk. These systems demand forms of remote access for repairs and instant communication with the operations teams, as well as the support technicians themselves. Today, machinery can be monitored and accessed through mobile phone apps, and often service centres receive automated alerts from the machinery itself as a warning in the case of a fault and these technological advances are transforming processes. Much like in healthcare, the sake of productivity and progress shouldn’t overshadow the need to make sure the network is secured at every endpoint.

  While modernisation has clear advantages, it also exposes new risks. Today, it’s imperative that IT professionals have a clear view of every device in their networks, and that no element of the environment is overlooked. When something as small as an insulin pump or a single water pump has the potential to allow a cybercriminal into your network, it’s time to get visibility of every device and make sure the correct security protocols are in place.

    The post Are you overlooking the chink in your cybersecurity armour? appeared first on IT SECURITY GURU.

from Are you overlooking the chink in your cybersecurity armour?

[hawkaye]

BVB TV - favorite duos ↳ Marcel Schmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek

[hawkaye]

“What do you appreciate about each other?”

[hawkaye]

Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer

+ bonus:

[hawkaye]

What's in the box?

[thecottageinthedark]

#whosebaby talks#professor pericles#ricky owens#SPN zachariah#SDMItag#SPNtag#like sure maybe they weren't overtly intentionally thinking#'i am going to tap into the same emotional reaction that gets women and queer/trans people and POC killed'#but i don't doubt they were drawing off it at least subconsciously#which i also have big fucking beef with them over the way they framed pericles and sexuality and the audience's intended reaction to him#and am frankly inclined to give that even less benefit of the doubt; because sdmi came out when#'IF WE LET GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED THEN NEXT IT'LL BE LEGAL TO MARRY CHILDREN AND ANIMALS' was at its height#the one and only mlm relationship they didn't no homo was the one you're supposed to find freaky and abusive and predatory and repulsive#whereas all the other abuse and predation in the show gets a pass#the message that 'you might as well fuck an animal as another man' is foghorn-loud-and-clear#to the point where as long as it's Heterosexual and Everyone's Got Matching Bodies they'll paint ACTUAL bestiality as good and cute#like man they ain't slick at all there is no excuse for them not knowing this lol#especially when you add in things like the '''joke''' where scooby and shaggy peek at an obvious metaphor for a closeted trans woman#secretly trying on women's clothes in private; and they shudder about how 'my brain needs a shower' 🙃#sdmi is part shockingly progressive rep for its time and partly just being incredibly hateful toward queer people#i love pericles and his dynamic with ricky; problematic framing and all#but god they really came out with the racism ableism and homophobia in spades on this one and i'm bitter to this day over how well it worked#transphobia cw#transmisogyny cw#homophobia cw#bestiality mention cw#the crit files#the salt files#SDMIcrit tag#dyn: when i die i want you to die too

me thinking out a post about the kinds of aesthetics i'm drawn to in media, characters, stories, worldbuilding etc and why, in relation to both pericles and ricky but also just as a general pattern: sudden Extreme Battery-Acid-in-the-Chest Anxiety Spike

me: nervous system why this. why are you this way