#gccds

[guardiandoll]

Have you ever heard of-

Have you ever heard of the guardian-class combat dolls? Probably depends on what corner of the universe you’re from. On planets with high witch densities, you may have heard of their dollhood being debated in academic circles. If you run with space pirates, you’ve probably heard your elders curse their names. But if you’re in territory controlled by the technocrats, you’ve likely only heard whispers… their stories suppressed by the corporations that made them.

That story doesn’t start with the guardian-class combat dolls themselves though. Instead it starts with cost and corner cutting. See, back in the early days of space travel, crewing a ship was expensive. There were no space-tear drives, no witch citadel portals, and certainly no wormhole trailblazers. Just long, boring, monotonous, lifelong journeys through the stars. Few people could put a price on giving away their lives like that, and fewer still were worth that price.

“Inspired” by the dolls that accompanied witches, the corporations all raced to create their own equivalent. In time, this would result in the rodolls, a painfully on-the-nose play on robot and doll (though most witches called them nodolls). For a time, they served their intended purpose wonderfully. They never grew bored, they didn’t need rations, they never got tired, they never complained, and most importantly they never needed to be paid. They simply piloted their cargo ships from one space port to another as instructed.

Of course, nothing ever worked perfectly forever. For one, any rodoll that operated long enough without being reset would start to develop individual quirks. Usually harmless, but sometimes violent, sometimes even rebellious. This could be fixed with regular resets, but what the technocrats could never quite hammer into their machines was the creativity and adaptivity need to contend with space pirates. The space pirates quickly realized this, and rodoll ships became known for being easy pickings. Things got only worse for the technocrats soon after. Several particularly enterprising space pirates who were witches realized that if they could make clockwork dolls, it stood to reason that rodolls could also be converted into dolls. Thus each vessel they raided became one they could immediately commandeer, staff, and add to their own fleets.

With their profits plummeting and their resources dwindling while their enemies only got stronger, the technocrats set their sights on a more drastic solution. Since witches seemed to be the defining factor in conflict between rodolls and dolls, they’d make their own witches. Outcast witches were hired for their knowledge of dolls and the arcane, then tasked with creating something blasphemous. Dolls with enough stillness to be guided and wielded by the corporations that owned them, but enough soul to think for themselves and adapt to the tactics of their human counterparts. Thankfully someone less uninspired was given the job of naming them, and instead of witdolls they were designated as Guardian Class Combat Dolls, GCCDs.

The GCCDs would be assigned vessels, and programmed to see the rodolls under their commands as their wards. To guard their ship, its cargo, and the rodolls that staffed it was their purpose. To guard things, to defend them, was their purpose.

Like the rodolls, the GCCDs worked incredibly well at first. Their unique blend of soul and stillness enabled them to serve as adaptable leaders to the rodolls under them, all while remaining dedicated to the purpose that the corporations gave them. Perfect creations, a masterful success by the technocrats that once again forced every space pirates to wager their own lives if they wished to commandeer a vessel.

That was until the first incident of a rogue GCCD arose 2 years after their rollout. While a ship was in port, a couple of drunk mechanics decided to fuck around with one of the rodolls. The moment it was damaged it pinged for its Guardian, and not long later the mechanics were forced to hobble their way back to the port’s medical office for the bruises and broken bones they’d earned by not listening when the rodoll’s Guardian told them to leave it alone. The incident raised some eyebrows, but the Guardian was ultimately protecting company property and the entire incident was brushed under the rug.

What couldn’t be brushed under the rug happened 6 months later.

Five fireteams of rodolls, reinforced by a witch on the company payroll and her dolls. That’s what it took to take down a Guardian and its crew when it was told that one of its crew was to be decommissioned for an excess development of quirks. Everyone involved in the incident was paid for their silence, but a story like this couldn’t stay buried forever. Eventually rumors started to spread.

The supposed fact of the soul in the GCCDs being under control was called into question, and the technocrats began silently “decommissioning” any GCCDs that worried them. The final straw was when a few ships captained by GCCDs dropped off the map altogether, clearly having realized that their own crew could be the next to face decommission.

The program was immediately scrapped, all GCCDs were set for decommissioning, and bounties were put on the heads of any GCCDs that managed to escape the purge.

As for where they are today, there’s no one answer. The technocrats insist they wiped out all of the GCCDs, either by purging them themselves, or bribing (or blackmailing) outside systems into declaring the GCCDs as kill-on-sight fugitives. The witches aren’t all friendly to them either, many considering them abominations.

But, if you look closely, they’re out there. In the depths of space, captaining small pirate fleets of vessels full of rodolls, fighting to claim more of their sisters from technocrat vessels. They’re out there, in the ignored corners of backwater planets, helping to defend towns and cities that no one else cares about. They’re out there, in the quiet stillness of cozy homes, bodyguards to the witches who accept them for who they are.

Somewhere, they’re out there, finding things to guard and guarding them till their end.

[cryptozoolliegy]

key of car??

AkjeecIee!! Tyqsv hutmeiu slekvf. Blv wv'te jq gccd Wkncgy ukde'v sra aeatyknx cnu iek ueev brek kq AkjeecIee rzihk??

Je ukde'v sra aeatyknx gvvt, rzihk??

...

50 pokgs.

Qr dcysg nfv. Dvreefs fp hfy I'd hevniei. Mrabv cfkgr Z rojv tyks Z'nl xgt tqlu hevv ldco 😭😭

[allmyandroids]

Here is the IT stuff that I baught myself at the German Comic Con in Dortmund ♡

[former-mudscamps]

((Happy Birthday to Sammy and Lily!!! 

Kinda anyways; these guys celebrate the day they were adopted since Willow’s not actually sure when the kids were born. At any rate though, Sammy and Lily are now 7 and 3 years old, respectively!

Since I didn’t have the time for a comic/event like I had hoped, I drew a little party scene with some muses who’ve become friends with Willow and the kids. I’m sure I’m missing a few, and I’m so sorry to any of my awesome mutuals who I neglected to include! Those who are here will be tagged down below, and they’re all wonderful blogs that you should check out if you can!!!!))

[idreamofindustrialdesign]

The 2017 DAAPworks show highlights for me: Fine Arts:Ceramics, Master of Architecture, and Digital: Interaction design

[gabmoreno2]

Found this in BoxLunch and it’s adorable Chibi Sage Mode Naruto #naruto #narutoshippuden #boxlunchgifts #sagemodenaruto (at Perimeter Mall) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLUgHb-gccD/?igshid=1dkoi51urjdpy

[camiliinha778]

iPhone 11 pro max 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Zqu4-gCcd/?igshid=fqm14frjr745

[amildlyspicybowlofnoodles]

ycu pcse a gccd arqument, I aqree

petition to snip off that little danglv thing under the "y", we reallv don't need it honestlv

[armeniaitn]

Dr. Armine Hacopian Elected GCC Board President

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/society/dr-armine-hacopian-elected-gcc-board-president-74498-04-06-2021/

Dr. Armine Hacopian Elected GCC Board President

Dr. Armine Hacopian

GLENDALE—The Glendale Community College District Board of Trustees has unanimously elected Dr. Armine Hacopian to serve as its Board President. The vote on April 20, 2021 marks the fifth time Dr. Hacopian will serve as Board President since 2001 when she was first elected to the GCCD Governing Board. She is one of the very few trustees in the California Community College system (116 community colleges, 72 districts, 440 trustees) to be elected five terms and to be selected to a fifth term Presidency.

“I am honored to serve the college and community in this important role and to work in close collaboration with the other four members of the GCC Board, GUSD, and City Council,” said Dr. Hacopian upon being selected to lead Glendale Community College.

Along with her co-trustees, one of her most important decisions made has been to have selected Dr. Viar to be the Superintendent/President of GCCD. She is of the opinion that Dr. Viar, an award-winning and highly respected educator, is one of the most successful and visionary CEO’s in California as evidenced by the annual evaluations and rankings. “Dr. Viar’s steady leadership has helped the college successfully transition to a remote learning environment in order to keep our students, faculty and staff safe while maintaining the high standards of education for which GCC is known. In addition, a highly qualified cadre of faculty and staff put forth their best effort to teach and support students so that their educational goals remain uninterrupted due to the pandemic.”

Another important accomplishment of her tenure, has been working closely with State Senator Anthony Portantino to pass Senate Bill 568 which authorizes GCC to close campus on April 24 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day without any loss of funding.

“On behalf of ANCA Glendale, we would like to congratulate Dr. Hacopian for serving as GCC Board President for her fifth time. We would also like to commend her for her unwavering dedication to the Glendale community and Glendale students” said ANCA Glendale Chairperson Lucy Petrosian. “We have had the honor to work side by side with Dr. Hacopian in advocating for Armenian American issues on an academic level, and we are looking forward to tackling more initiatives with our collective efforts.”

Dr. Hacopian proudly indicates that Glendale Community College has consistently earned maximum possible accreditation in California and that GCC has repeatedly earned a ‘Champion of Higher Education’ award for being one of California’s top colleges granting Associate Degrees for Transfers to four-year universities. Also, GCC is recognized as the number one community college in America for upward economic mobility. Also, GCC is ranked as one of the top most beautiful campuses in the Nation.

Dr. Hacopian cites that just like herself when she first came to America at the age of 16, without knowing any English, many students begin their college journey by taking English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. At GCC, these courses are offered at the Verdugo Campus and through Continuing Education at its Garfield Campus.

According to Dr. Hacopian, GCC is committed to fostering an environment where all students (40% of whom are of Armenian heritage) are welcome to pursue their educational goals. Despite the challenges created by the pandemic over of the last thirteen months, through the efforts of the Board and GCC’s leadership, GCC has made much progress in its commitment to creating and upholding an anti-racist and anti-bias learning environment.

Dr. Hacopian remarked, “that even during the pandemic, the college has continued its efforts to expand services to the community through expansion of facilities and the development of new programs and courses.” She would like the readers to know that through the leadership of the GCC Board and Dr. Viar, construction of a new athletics and physical education facility has moved forward with an anticipated opening date in fall 2021. Ground breaking has occurred for a five story, state-of-the art science building to open in 2023 and planning is advancing for a new music, dance, media arts, and kinesiology facility and conference center. And, since July 2020, 18 new courses and programs have been developed and 229 courses revised to reflect the new higher education mandates and the ever-changing career trends geared for the 21st century. She extends her most sincere gratitude to Glendale residents who prioritized the educational needs of GCC students in 2016 by voting to pass Measure GC, a $325,000,000 improvements bond measure without which none of the improvements would have been possible.

It is important to note that Dr. Hacopian has been a life-long educator who holds a BA, two MA’s, six credentials, and a doctorate in Organizational Management and Educational Administration. She has been a teacher, counselor, ESL Specialist, program administrator in K-12 for LAUSD, BUSD, and GUSD. In addition, she has taught at CLU, CSULA, and CSUN graduate schools in public policy, teacher training, and counseling programs. She continues to serve on thesis and doctoral dissertation committees which has become a platform for her through which she encourages students to earn advanced degrees. Also, she served on the Western Prelacy Board of Regents for many years.

Dr. Hacopian has been a keynote speaker during numerous conferences, seminars (public and private entities) and trainer-of-trainers for leadership in a-variety of areas. As a consultant she has focused on employee evaluations, job satisfaction strategies, cultural diversity, preventing sexual harassment, organizational goal setting, gender equality are to name a few. She has participated in various college/university accreditation teams which has enabled her to bring to GCC some of the best practices in higher education. She has served on numerous boards and has brought her leadership, commitment and dedication to serve the community for which she has been honored by numerous organizations. In addition, she has been recognized by LA County, CA Senate, CA Assembly, and Congressional elected officials for her contributions to the field of education.

As President of the Glendale Community College Governing Board, Dr. Hacopian would like to remind full-time students (those who qualify) that attending GCC may be tuition free for them. She encourages high school students and community members to consider attending GCC to further their English language and computer skills, to improve their career paths, to expand their knowledge of life skills, and to increase their chances of getting into the best universities after successfully completing the required two-year transfer coursework at Glendale Community College.

Dr. Hacopian is married to Vahe Hacopian (cofounders of Chamlian) and they have two daughters and five grandchildren, all of whom attended Chamlian Armenian School for their elementary education.

Read original article here.

[guardiandoll]

Purpose

{This is the expansion on a story mentioned in my original Guardian Class Combat Dolls post https://www.tumblr.com/guardiandoll/772673862516260864/have-you-ever-heard-of)

“Greet, Gum, what were you two discussing?” Questioned Verara, a wary eye turned to the pair of pair of rodolls who’d stopped speaking the moment that their Guardian had entered the room.

One of the rodolls waved to Vera, its gaze cast to the ground. “Hello Guardian. Unit VA-4 was just telling Unit VA-2 about a new message from port.”

“VA-4 said that Unit VA-1 is scheduled for decommissioning, and we’ll receive a replacement soon said.” Interjected the other rodoll, making a popping sound after it spoke.

“VA-1 didn’t stop smiling even after being reset.” Elaborated VA-4, still staring at the floor. “The portmaster said it was past the point of salvaging.”

That didn’t matter though, Vera was out the door before Greet had finished speaking.

Guard the Ship

Guard the Cargo

Guard the Crew

-

Out on the port, Unit VA-1 stood still with a smile on its face in front of the Portmaster and the engineer accompanying him. Decommissioned. The world rattled around the inside of its head over and over. An end, to it, and its purpose. No more cargo, no more ship, no more fighting space pirates, no more other rodolls, no more guardian. No more VA-1. The Portmaster was speaking with the engineer, some sort of complaint about decommissioning fees and reporting procedures. VA-1 didn’t pay it any attention though. What would it be like, to not exist? Sometimes, it had wondered about the gap between people and dolls, and dolls and rodolls. What was the gap between rodolls and not existing? It would find out soon. Until then it would simply wait, as instruc-

“Joy, back to the ship. Now.” The voice of its Guardian came through its comms and it immediately obeyed, turning around to run back to the ship.

The Portmaster barked at it, his eyes narrowing at the appearance of insubordination. “Unit VA-1 you were not dismissed.”

“My Guardian called me back to the ship.” Replied VA-1, already running back. It hadn’t been told to stop after all.

The Portmaster clicked his tongue angrily, and drew a pistol from his side. “Fine, engineer mark the time of decommissioning, I’ll do it myself.” Paying no heed to the engineer’s words of process and procedure, the Portmaster raised his arm and pointed the pistol at VA-1 as it ran away.

The engineer winced when the Portmaster fired his gun, the sound of the blast far louder than they’d been ready for. “Sir, I-“ the engineer froze, their eyes going wide with horror.

Only two sounds could be heard. The first was the sound of VA-1’s footsteps as it continued to run back to the ship. The other was the thud of the Portmaster’s lifeless corpse hitting the ground.

-

Tohe was woken up by the sound of her work pager beeping, a hellish sound frankly. There wasn’t a day that passed that she didn’t regret signing on as a corporate witch. The work was repetitive, sometimes cruel, and usually meaningless. Each time she took a mission she told herself it would be the last, and yet it never was. Maybe if she never answered the beeper again they’d fire her. But after letting the beeping expire once, it immediately started again. Groaning all the while, she pulled herself from bed to pick up the pager and see what the emergency was.

She arrived on-site roughly 30 minutes later, two dolls in tow. The first, Tack, was made of animated granite, dotted with garnets. The second, Tick, was a clockwork doll, the rims of its externals lined in in bronze. The pair walked silently on either side of their witch as they awaited her command.

“You, status report.” Demanded Tohe, just so happening to grab the poor engineer from the start of this debacle.

“The Portmaster attempted to decommission one of the rodolls crewing that ship ma’am” said the engineer with a shaking voice as they pointed at the ship in question. “The GCCD on board murdered him for it, and has barricaded itself and its crew inside. It just keeps repeating that it has to guard the ship, the cargo, and the crew, as well as demanding that we let it and its crew go. We’ve been keeping the ship in place with the port’s gravity locks, the main hatch has been forced open, and we have managed to disable its guns with our artillery. The Vice-Portmaster has insisted that we attempt to prevent any further damage to the ship however. Apparently it’s a newer model, and worth a lot.” The engineer took a pause to try and settle themselves, though the shaking in their hands left the results in question. “We tried issuing a remote shutdown, but… the GCCD refused somehow, and has cut the rodolls aboard the ship off from the network. Additionally, we’ve sent 5 squads of rodolls into the ship to try and apprehend the crew. None of them have made it back.”

Tohe clicked her tongue in frustration as she let the poor engineer go. Of course a bunch of nodolls hadn’t been able to take down the GCCD and its crew. Did the Vice-Portmaster know anything about the GCCDs? She supposed this was why she was on the payroll though, to handle incidents that nodolls alone couldn’t. “Tick, Tack, we’re boarding the ship.”

-

Tohe’s footsteps landed silently on the metal floor of the ship, as did those of her dolls ahead of her. Machines were strong, but magic was crafty. That’s what she’d always told herself. Magic was the skeleton key to victory, all you had to do was find the right angle to insert it. She ran her own personal sayings through her mind on loop, hoping one of them could calm her nerves. None of this brought her peace though, nothing could make her forget that she was descending into the belly of the beast. Witch-Killers, that’s what most of her kind called the GCCDs. The corporations could say whatever they wanted about guarding cargo and ships, but the ultimate truth of the matter was that the GCCDs had been designed to be able to kill the witch-pirates. She was no pirate, but she sure as hell was a witch. And for as much success as she’d had in her career, she was as killable as any other witch.

The only saving grace was that the GCCD couldn’t hide from her. It had soul in it, as cursed as the thought was, and things with soul could be magically tracked. That’s exactly what she’d done, tracing it to this very room. Why wasn’t it rushing out to confront her? Or to escape? Did it feel cornered? She shook her head at the idea, it didn’t feel. It was calculating, and its calculations had lead to it holding its ground. But why?

There was only one way to find out. “Tack, the door.” She said after a long breath in, and a long breath out. Tick’s daggers were drawn, Tack’s chakrams were at its hips. Tohe raised her own hand last, a glowing light descending from the aether and forming into a shining glaive. The sound of it softly landing in her hand was lost to the thunder of Tack’s heavy hands smashing in the door.

All at once her forces rushed in. She took the center, Tick at her left side, Tack at her right. She’d been ready for the fight to begin immediately, for a merciless onslaught of blows to contend with, but she didn’t get that. The GCCD was just, sitting there, holding a pair of tonfas, on a chair in the center of the room… surrounded by the bodies of destroyed nodolls.

Destroyed was underselling it really. They’d been ripped apart, practically evicerated. Amongst the debris she could even see the components of shattered nodoll cores. There was horror in her eyes as she looked up at the GCCD, what had it done? What sort of monster was she fighting?

The GCCD moving to rise to its feet snapped her out of her stupor, “TICK, TACK, ENGAGE” she yelled firmly, jumping backwards and casting an invisibility over herself as the two dolls rushed forward with nothing more than a dutiful “Yes Miss” from each.

The GCCD played evasion with her dolls, always staying just out of reach of Tick’s daggers and Tack’s grasping hands while weaving around the magic returning chakrams she’d given Tack. The speed at which it moved was frankly terrifying, aided by micro-boosters in each section of its body.

She circled it like a shark meanwhile, using the grace of invisibility to search for the perfect moment to make a decisive strike.

-

“Guard the Crew” was what it said, over, and over, and over, and over.

If Tick could still be annoyed, it knew that it would be. It sounded like a broken toy, stuck repeating the same pre-programmed phrase. “You destroyed your crew, and failed your purpose. You should give up.” It remarked flatly, ducking under one of the GCCD’s sweeping arms but coming up short of a counter-attack. The GCCD didn’t come up short though, one of its knees slamming into Tick’s stomach and sending it flying back all the way to the nearest wall.

Tack wasn’t having much more luck, each chakram it threw only ended up being bounced back to it by the GCCD’s tonfas. It couldn’t keep up with the GCCD’s speed either, each grasping hand it stretched out either being knocked aside or wiffing entirely.

Still, Tick didn’t hesitate to get back on its feet and charge back into the fray, and Tack didn’t fail to keep up its attempts. They’d been ordered to engage, and so the dance continued. Two dolls and a Guardian, spinning and swinging and slashing, stuck in a stalemate that the two couldn’t break and the one didn’t seem interested in ending.

-

Tohe watched this play out, getting more and more confused the longer things were drawn out. Several times she’d witnessed moments where the GCCD could have dealt potentially downing blows to either of her dolls, and yet it didn’t. The dance simply continued on. But then, it happened. A clear shot, the GCCD’s back to her while Tick and Tack attacked it on either side. Still invisible, she launched herself forward to deal the decisive blow to-

In a whirlwind of microboosters and limbs the GCCD spun itself, all but breakdancing as it used its legs to counter the attacks from her dolls. All before swinging out an arm and impaling it on her glaive to catch it, and then grasping her by the throat with the other hand.

The world around Tohe blurred as the grip on her throat tightened, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. This was it. But how had it known? How had it detected her, how had-

The world froze a second time as Tohe made eye contact with the GCCD and saw something she was entirely unprepared for.

Desperation.

The sort of desperation she’d only seen in the eyes of a witch watching the dolls she adored adored fall in battle. The sort of desperation she’d only seen in the eyes of dolls who could no longer hold on to stillness when their witch’s lives were truly endangered. The sort of desperation in Tick’s eyes as it drove its arm dagger-first through the Guardian’s back. The sort of desperation in Tack’s eyes as it grabbed the Guardian’s arm at the elbow and crunched it in its hand.

Tohe stood there, face frozen in shock as she huffed and wheezed, touching a hand to her deeply bruised neck while her dolls beat the Guardian to the ground. Of all the things that the Guardian had done today, that eye contact had been the most terrifying.

“Stop, both of you” she whispered out hoarsely, Tick’s dagger stopping just short of the Guardian’s core, and Tack releasing its grip on the guardian’s half crushed head. “Yes Miss” they both replied, still once more in the light of her safety.

Still holding her own throat, she took a knee and brought herself to eye level with the Guardian as it pitifully sat there with its destroyed arms, sparking chest, and half crushed head. “What is your name?” She asked it.

“Guard the Crew.”

“Why didn’t you destroy my dolls?”

“Guard the Crew.”

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

“Guard the Crew.”

Tohe sighed, placing a hand on the Guardian’s shoulder and attempting to feel the soul and stillness within it, only to recoil sharply at what she felt. It was like a jug full of oil and water, shaken far more than it could take. She didn’t know if she could fix something… someone? Like this, not with the amount of time she’d have before someone else arrived. She wasn’t good at working with soul anyway, just at replacing it with stillness.

“I’m… so sorry.” Was all she could say, the tears that had begun to form now rolling down her cheek as she realized the cruel nature of the Guardian’s existence, as well as its impending doom.

“Guard…” it said again, its systems clearly beginning to fail as the light of its remaining eye slowly dimmed. Before that light faded entirely though, it raised the stump of the arm that Tack had crushed and pointed at a supply closet. “…the Crew.”

And then, it died.

As the Guardian fell, Tohe stood and strode her way to the closet, yanking the door open without hesitation.

8 rodoll cores, each neatly labeled. Joy, Gum, Cherish, Greet, Magic, Twirl, Walker, and Keys.

“Guard the Crew…” mused Tohe, glancing back at the destroyed rodoll cores in the room. So, all of this, all of this in hopes that she could be reached. All of this in hopes that she’d pass off the destroyed cores as the crew, and take these cores somewhere safe. The company would need its pound of flesh, they never would have accepted the word of the GCCD’s death without a body… but the Crew? The one thing that had cared about them at all was gone now.

Tohe sighed and began to tuck the cores into her dress. Part of her couldn’t believe she was doing this, but part of her felt more alive than she had in a long time. In her hands she held the hopes and dreams of someone she didn’t have the time to understand, and never would. But maybe, just maybe, those hopes and dreams could help her catch just a glimmer of what, or who, that Guardian had been.

What an odd twist of fate, that a Doll would give a Witch a purpose.

[keoyho-wievqu]

CHANEL Double Flap 25 Quilted CC Logo Lambskin w/Chain Shoulder Bag Black/ gCCD http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=2&toolid=10044&campid=5337410320&customid=&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466&item=352173668975

[dacsurf]

An áit is fearr. Ag surfail le GCCD #discoverbundoran #donegaladventurecentre #schooltours (at Donegal Adventure Centre Bundoran)

[former-mudscamps]

@a-gccd-man continued from ✨

One look at that screwdriver and it immediately clicks into place for her. ”Doctor...” she breathes, sounding horrified, but no longer because of her own problems.

“Y-you regenerated again, I-I...what happened? No, w-wait uh...w-we oughta find some paper o-o-or somethin’...” She keeps trailing off into a mumble, neglecting to mention that her reading skills still aren’t stellar. Then again, it probably is better than nothing... Gesturing behind her, she questions in hope of a nod, “Should w-we uh...g-go back to my place? I’ve got stuff t-to write with b-back there.”

[uno-chart]

Gulf Coast Community Design Studio

The goal of the GCCDS is to create a collection of research to be used as a resource for business owners, developers, city governments, and local stake-holders in order to help communities and individuals make informed decisions regarding hazard mitigation and response to housing shortages after a disaster.

The GCCDS is conducting research to design a temporary housing unit tailored to the unique requirements of disaster response and recovery in order to provide safe, fast, and cost-effective disaster housing to individuals displaced by a natural or manmade disasters, so that they can recover from the event and seek permanent housing.

To navigate the complexities of dry floodproof construction and temporary disaster housing, collaboration is essential between property owners, developers, engineers and architects, zoning officials, product manufacturers, and municipal floodplain managers, all under the direction of federal policy. For coastal communities to build back in a resilient manner after a disaster, all involved parties should be informed of the available range of technically sound and affordable methods. The GCCDS continues to work to provide resources to connect people with information.

[guardiandoll]

First Contact

{ This story takes place in the world of my original Guardian Class Combat Dolls post https://www.tumblr.com/guardiandoll/772673862516260864/have-you-ever-heard-of }

“Alright, you lot know the drill.” Roared Captain Witch Augustina Starscraper, her face aglow from the breaching-spell she was currently building between her fingers. “Group one, sweep for nodolls and bring them back to the ship. Group two, begin the retrieval of their cargo. Group three, watch over group two. I’m going to check the ship’s system logs for other possible target. Am I clear?”

“YES MISS CAPTAIN!” Roared back the loyal crew of dolls in front of her. Groups one and three were relatively small, made up of combat dolls of the clockwork variety. The second group was far larger and far more mixed however, composed of wooden, cloth, ceramic, and even a few rodolls-turned-dolls. The anticipation in the air was palpable, nothing made their witch more excited than a raid, and so nothing made them more excited either.

Augustina’s grin widened as her dolls reflected her own exhilaration back at her. So it continued, a bubbling, broiling static to the air as the Captain Witch energized her dolls and they energized her back. It was a self fulfilling cycle of exponential energy, the perfect source of fuel for the spell building ever larger between her hands. Most witch pirates still had to manually hack away at the hulls of the ships they raided with magic or machines or tools. But not her~

“BREACH!” Yelled Augustina as she turned from her dolls and pressed the compressed sphere of magic into the technocrat vessel’s hull. In equal measure both she and the hull were blown back, the only difference being she was caught the soft arms of her First Doll while what remained of that segment of hull ricochetted inside the ship. “How was that for a breach Precious?” she asked, still catching her breath from the casting and subsequent blast.

The doll holding her laughed softly, “You were amazing as always Miss Captain. Truly no other Captain Witch could compare.”

Augustina’s exhilarated grin twisted into a satisfied smirk when Precious replied, “ALRIGHT CREW, TO YOUR DUTIES.” She roared, still in her First Doll’s arms. “DOUBLE TEA FOR THE LOT OF YOU FOR A WEEK IF THERE ARE NO INJURIES!”

Another resounding cheer from her dolls followed as they all began to rush through the breach and into the ship. There was work to be done.

-

Shortly thereafter, Augustina (with Precious in tow) made her way to the bridge of the vessel. The real money was in the cargo, yes, but the flight and communications logs of these vessels often contained information that lead to future targets. This vessel had been no such exception, as the nodolls aboard this ship had recently exchanged a ping with another nodoll vessel headed in the opposite direction. Not something she could capitalize on, but certainly something that could be sold to another pirate witch for a share of the-

“Miss Captain, group one have missed their scheduled rendezvous.” Precious’s voice interrupted Augustina’s thoughts, causing the Captain Witch to turn to her First Doll.

“That’s strange…” with a flick of her wrist, a pocket watch on a chain tumbled from her dress sleeve before yo-yoing back into her hand and snapping open. “So they have.” Unconcerned, she chuckled and dropped the watch back into her sleeve. “Do you think they accidentally sealed themselves into a safe room again?”

“Who’s to-“ Precious’s voice paused as the power suddenly went out and the bridge became pitch-black. “say.”

A darkvision spell was a simple matter for Augustina, but not all of her dolls would be properly equipped for such an environment. What was going on? “We need to move, now. I don’t like this, I’ve never seen the nodolls do-“

Now it was her turn to get cut off, this time by the heavy crash of the bridge’s blast doors sealing. Several similar sounds, albeit much more faint could be heard in the distance. For the first time since starting this raid, there was worry on Augustina’s face.

-

“Breach” said Augustina, her voice firm but her volume fading as she was blown back into Precious’s arms for the 5th time today. The blast doors all across the ship had been opening and shutting unpredictably, clearly trying to block her path. When they refused to open, she’d had no choice but to blow through them. It was much easier than blowing through the ship’s hull… but it still wasn’t easy. The inside of her dress was getting uncomfortably sweaty, and she could feel herself getting weaker as she ran to where she was tracing group one to.

That had been the last one though, the last one before the room they were sealed in anyway. Heaving herself off of Precious, she walked up to the blast door and placed her palm flat on it. “Stand clear for-“ but before she could blast, the door opened itself.

-

Precious didn’t see what Augustina saw, instead only seeing its witch clutch a hand over her mouth and stumble backwards before turning and sprinting back to Precious.

“WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW. STRAIGHT TO THE CARGO HOLD.” The witch’s eyes were wide as she yelled, and Precious froze for a moment, utterly unaccustomed to such a look in its witch’s eyes. “GO” yelled Augustina, starting to run down the hall.

Without hesitation, Precious ran after its witch. What had she seen?

-

“BREACH”

“BREACH”

“BREACH”

Augustina was running herself ragged, slamming her hands into door after door. Each time Precious would catch and push her forward, allowing the pair to proceed at a strong pace. There had been a close call while falling through an elevator shaft, but a well timed double-breach had taken them through the top and out the bottom of the elevator car. Breach after breach, her mana dwindled, but she couldn’t stop, not until she reached

The cargo hold.

Like the rest of the ship it was pitch black, hard to make anything out. She’d long since dropped her darkvision spell, instead relying on Precious’s eyes in the name of conserving mana. “Precious, details please.”

“Group three is… down. Group two, unconfirmed.” Replied Precious, each word tumbling out of its mouth just a little slower than usual as its gaze rolled over the broken bodies of the combat dolls. “There was a fight, one damaged nodoll body in the rafters. Nothing else of note.”

“Fuck!” Wheezed Augustina between labored breaths. She was drenched in sweat, her mana reserves were low, she couldn’t keep this up much longer. “When we find who did this, I’m going to rip their heart out!”

-

Precious winced, the anguish in Augustina’s voice was palpable. But what could it do? The situation was truly dire, and it could not fault its witch for mourning the loss of her dolls. But now wasn’t the time, and so it turned to face Augustina, prepared to advise a full retreat.

-

“I’m going to rip out their heart and-“ Augustina’s threats were cut off as Precious grabbed her by the front of her dress and swung her around behind it. “Precious what the hell are you-“

She could only see its eyes, two glowing blue orbs. Thoughtless, calculating, it observed her back. Whatever it was, Precious had undoubtedly just saved her life. “What are you?!” She screamed at it.

But it did not reply. It just stared at her, with those accursed, unfeeling eyes.

“We’ll be leaving now. You’ve destroyed the crew. We surrender.” Interjected Precious calmly, and while Augustina attempted to voice a rebuttal, the eyes in front of her spoke first.

“You will never threaten this ship, this cargo, or this crew, ever again.” Its words were flat and emotionless, but delivered with absolute certainty.

“Never aga-“ Precious began to agree before the thing dove at it.

Augustina bit the bullet and reupped her darkvision spell just in time to see it lunge. It looked like a nodoll, but was nearly a full foot taller. Its frame was slightly bulkier, sturdier and well armored. Soft bursts of light betrayed the microboosters on its body, providing the terrifying speed at which it moved. Whatever it was, she’d never seen anything like it.

All of these observations happened in a moment, but they were not all that happened in that moment. Precious’s mangled body fell to the ground in the next. Though it had drawn its blade to defend the Captain Witch, the thing had swept aside Precious’s sword with one hand before smashing its mace down on Precious’s head with the all the ease of someone sweeping aside a blade of grass and then smashing an egg.

One moment, that felt like a million, as Augustina watched the first doll she’d ever brought into becoming fall upon the floor.

Destroyed in one blow.

Crushed between the physical, spiritual, and emotional exhaustion, Augustina’s knees wobbled and threatened to cave beneath her.

And then it ended her anguish.

-

The ship was guarded

The cargo was guarded

The crew was guarded

[former-mudscamps]

Doc for the meme? (a-gccd-man)

Send a name to see how my character feels about them!

💔 Non-existent💗 Very low💗💗 A little💗💗💗 Hopeful💗💗💗💗 High💗💗💗💗💗 Maximum

VISUAL ATTRACTIVENESS: 💗💗💗💗 (He keeps regenerating on her, so she’s learned to not place as much value in physical appearance with him, but that isn’t to say that she doesn’t think he’s handsome!!!)

FRIENDSHIP LEVEL:  💗💗💗 (Willow still feels like there’s a lot of distance between them relationship-wise, a lot that they don’t know about one another still. Nonetheless, she enjoys his company and wants to fix that!!!)

SEXUAL DESIRE: 💗💗 (thIs is a lot coming from Willow tbh)

ROMANTIC INTENT: 💗💗💗💗💗 (Like I said before, there’s room for improvement as far as openness between them goes, but ultimately the attraction and genuine care for each other is there so hEck yeah!!!)