#home based data entry work

[lingeringscars]

the goal (the dream, the hope, the plan) is to finish reading for all my classes tonight and write my final paper for methods and final exam for wcc this weekend wish me luck yell at me if u see me

[josephdixon2009]

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[matrimonialformfilling]

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[chipperchemical]

i made my own Life Series iceberg :)

this takes some entries from a few other icebergs i've seen around, plus a few of my own additions! i hope it's all accurate and in vaguely the correct order

here's an explanation for every entry:

LAYER ONE:

Grian owns the series: The Life Series was created by Grian, and he gets final say on all decisions relating to it.

The Helmet Rule: Lifers are not allowed to wear helmets during the series, both so other players are more recognisable and as an armour debuff.

Traps never work: There's a running pattern of traps often failing throughout all of the seasons, for a variety of reasons.

Scar's abs: There's some kind of correlation between how many lives Scar has lost and how much clothing his Minecraft skin loses.

5AM Pearl: The name commonly given to Pearl on her Red life, especially in Double Life.

Scar's Enchanter obsession: Scar almost always tries to steal the enchanting table for himself.

LAYER 2:

Secret soulmates: Refers to Grian and BigB's secret alliance during Double Life.

"SCAR NO!!!": Grian's catchphrase throughout the entire series.

Etho's skin never changes: Despite other Lifers using colour-coded or custom skins, Etho never changes his.

Jimmy's Canary Curse: Canaries are often bought down into mines to detect carbon monoxide or other harmful chemicals in the air; once the canary dies, it's a sign that there is danger in the mine. Jimmy's curse is that when he dies in the series, chaos and danger follows very soon after.

Ranchers' Revenge: The name of the Warden that Tango and Jimmy summoned to get revenge on Scar in Double Life.

All wooden structures will burn: The Lifers love arson.

LAYER 3:

Joel was Shrek: Joel's old Minecraft skin used to be Shrek, and his current skin is just a humanised version.

Pufferish of Peace: The misspelled name of the pufferfish that Grian offered Jimmy and Scott to form an alliance in Third Life.

"Go home. Go.": The words that Tango says to the viewer at the end of Double Life.

Skizz's nicknames: Skizz gives a lot of nicknames to his fellow Lifers, most famously Dippledop for Impulse or Jiggles for Jimmy.

Timmy is Jimmy: Some Lifers call Jimmy "Timmy" and can cause great confusion among the others, most notable in Last Life when Impulse thought he had been calling Jimmy by the wrong name all season.

Cupid Skizz: A headcanon that began in Double Life which claims that Skizz was the invisible force that drew the soulmates together, and is an angel/Cupid.

Crastle as a euphemism: In Third Life, Bdubs' Crastle was often called small and was joked about as a non-PG euphemism.

Easy mode left on: According to Martyn, almost every series has had the incorrect difficulty at the beginning. Most notable in Last Life, where the server was set to Easy mode instead of Hard.

LAYER 4:

Tango's rage: The moments after Bdubs' betrayal kill (Last Life) and the Ranch burning down (Double Life) in which Tango snaps.

EvilAnvil: Youtube Fancreator who creates songs based on each series, using vocal snippets of the Lifers as lyrics.

Ariosor11: Youtube Fancreator who creates videos summarising the alliances and relationships in the Life Series.

Grian's Widow Curse: Grian's allies or teammates always die before him, sometimes to his hands.

Watchers: Originally from Evo, the Watchers are a group of overruling beings who run the Life Series, effectively forcing the players to fight to the death over and over for their own enjoyment. This narrative is only apparent through Martyn's POV. This is not canon and, in Martyn's words, is more similar to a Life Series AU.

Martyn is always a traitor: In every season, Martyn betrays (or plans to betray) his closest allies.

LAYER 5:

Terry: No-one knows who Terry is. (BigB's alter-ego in Last Life when he goes into witness protection.)

Scitties: A specific image of Scar's Minecraft character, standing shirtless and with a... modified chest.

Scar's crystals actually worked: Theory with data behind it which poses that Scar's magical crystals in Last Life had a genuine effect on the player holding them.

Scott hates the Watchers: A common belief due to Scott's reluctance to kill anyone when he was chosen as the Boogeyman in Last Life. He defies the will of the Watchers, possibly out of hatred.

All winners are soulmates: All of the Life Series winners up to Real Life have been soulmates in Double Life -- Grian and Scar, Scott and Pearl, and Martyn and Cleo

LAYER 6:

"Winter is over, Spring has begun.": The phrase that Martyn planned to say after betraying Ren in Third Life after the battle of Dogwarts. It never came to fruition due to Ren and Martyn both dying in the battle.

Second Life: The original name for Limited Life which could not be used due to copyright concerns.

Listeners: A group of beings who are the opposition to the Watchers and are trying to free the Lifers.

The Full Moon Curse: Once any Lifer has pointed out that there's a full moon, the rest of the session is doomed to be tragic.

LAYER 7:

Scar's off-screen death: A cut death from Third Life which involved Scar being killed by Martyn. This was cut from the series due to it feeling awkward and not right.

Jimmy is a Listener: A theory that spawned due to the Listeners' interest and use of Jimmy during Evo. This also links with the theory that Jimmy purposefully goes out first every series to defy the Watchers as a refusal to play the game correctly.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Mumbo is a Vampire: I didn't include this because it's more of a Hermitcraft thing than Life Series, but it's a fun headcanon. It stems from (I believe?) Season 7, when Mumbo's skin changed to be very pale.

Grian is a Watcher: This just tied in too much to the Watcher entry, and I felt that "Jimmy is a Listener" was more interesting.

thanks for reading!! <3

[minglana]

if you havent switched over to firefox, i recommend you do. unlike chrome and other browsers, firefox does not use your personal data to cater ads to you, and its way more customizable. and, since the start of 2023, add-ons including adblockers can no longer be used. im hoping this post can be a sort of guide people can use if they want to start using firefox

to start off, you can import your bookmarks and other data (like logins and saved passwords) with this easy tutorial. and if it hasnt asked you yet, you can make it your default browser like this. i also recommend making an account in case you ever want to log in from another device or anything happens to your computer. with this option, you can choose which data syncs to all devices and which doesnt.

just as a disclaimer (i am adding this on april 15th 2023, over 3 months after i published the post) this information is bound to change, and some addons and settings may become obsolete or redundant, with firefox adding more privacy-friendly settings, or removing available addons. i will update the post accordingly.

last updated: august 27th, 2024

settings

these are things i recommend you do in settings. at the same time, you can also customize your settings any way you want to.

1. in the ‘general’ tab

‘make firefox your default browser’

check for updates to be automatically installed (its near the bottom)

2. ‘home’ tab

scroll down to ‘shortcuts’ and uncheck ‘sponsored shortcuts’

3. ‘search’ tab

make duckduckgo your default search engine

4. ‘privacy and security’ tab

standard security is fine, but strict doesnt hurt either. as it says, it may cause some sites to break, but ive found that barely any do. you can always switch back to standard security if you come across any problems

under ‘website privacy preferences’, select both options

under ‘firefox data collection and use’, i recommend unchecking the first one

under ‘website advertising preferences’, uncheck it

under ‘https-only mode’, enable https-only mode in all windows. again, if a website happens to not work, you can always go back to disable https-only mode

if you want to further customize your experience, you can go to about:config and mess with the settings on there, although you will need to be careful with some, as they can severely impact your firefox experience. some of the settings you can change are:

widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.style to change the scrollbar style. the available parameters are 1-5

browser.tabs.tabClipwidth set to 999 if you want only the active tab to have a close button

extensions.pocket.enabled set to disabled so that pocket doesnt show up

browser.backspace_action set to 0 to use the backspace button as a button to go back webpages.

here are all the about:config entries, i recommend leaving most be, but some can be useful to customize.

add-ons

THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE is uBlock origin. if you dont want to use any addons, and/or don’t like them for whatever reason, please please please get this one at the least. its not only an adblocker, but also blocks most unwanted content on any website. if any content on a website is bothering you, you can disable it by right-clicking it and checking ‘block element’, for example.

to get rid of cookie warnings, you can simply go to uBlock origin settings, and under “filter lists”, scroll down to the “ads” section and check the boxes for “AdGuard Base” and “EasyList”. This does the same function as the add-on “i don’t care about cookies” (which is no longer recommended). under the “annoyances” section (further down than the “ads” section), you can check off all of them, but if you dont feel like checking them all, the most important ones are “AdGuard Annoyances“ and “uBlock filters-Annoyances“

firefox multi-account containers. if you use multiple accounts on a same website, this is for you. you can be logged in to two tumblrs at the same time with this addon, for example.

facebook container. similar to the last addon i recommended, this one isolates all facebook-related activity

now. youre seeing this post on tumblr. which might also mean that you use tumblr web. well, you should probably add xkit rewritten then. it lets you completely hide filtered posts, has a mutual checker, gets rid of the ‘youre caught up’ bar, and many more things

bypass paywalls clean. lets you get through paywalls. it’s also updated frequently, adding websites with paywalls

instead of the addon (it was deleted from the firefox store i believe), you can copy this link (not the text on page it takes you to, just the link!) into the text field you get when clicking on ‘insert’ at the bottom of the ‘my filters’ page on ublock origin settings.

bitwarden. open-source password saver and generator. make an account and save all your account passwords. also generates passwords. with this, you only need to remember your master password, and bitwarden does the rest, really

tab session manager. lets you save all the windows that you close, in case that you ever accidentally close out of a window. that way you can recover all your tabs

terms of service; didnt read. lets you know about a websites terms of service. summarizes the basics point by point

clearURLs. cleans urls of any tracking elements

you can avoid having one more addon by copying this link and following the same instructions as for bypass paywalls clean

there are many more extensions you can use, here are the ones that the firefox team recommends

i also recommend using firefox on mobile, especially android, since you can use add-ons with it too. again, i recommend using uBlock Origin. it is not as customizable on mobile but its still extremely useful. since the beginning of this year, firefox for android has over 1000 addons available. for iOS users, if you want ad-less browsing, you can install firefox focus, although its not nearly as customizable as firefox for android.

i hope this guide is useful for anyone wanting to make the switch!

[meamiki]

Hello. I haven't spoken much on the Reverse Entry AU (Modern Office + Reverse Isekai Loop AU). That changes today!!! Have some scattered (relatively long) tidbits on this AU. Mainly background to actually get to the office part of it but, yea!

If anyone wants elaboration on anything on this list, and I do mean anything, I encourage asking!! Or any random questions on the AU general!! Or just things in general!! Make me think about things I have not considered!!

Spoilers for all of ISAT + 2Hats and the like:

Mainly Concrete

The Country -> The Company.

Well, more of a family storefront, but the similarity in those two words next to each other was too good to pass up LOL.

Said storefront was run by Siffrin’s parents, and was their life's work.

Specialized in niche craft related stuff, in both teaching people how to do them & selling materials for the crafts. 

It was a very warm & homely store, and was adored by locals and visitors alike. 

A store that felt comforting to just vibe in for a bit, if that makes sense.

Loop ends up being Siffrin’s roommate after being reverse isekai’ed :)

They do not help with rent

They are a solid night light, which they try to justify as helping with the electricity bill

They also find a mirror shortly after arrival. 

Important Points

Mirabelle & Isabeau have known each other since University and are besties!!!!!!!!!

Not 100% sure of the logistics yet, but this was too important of a point to not include

Additionally, please know at some point, Isa custom stitched the scarf-shawl Mira wears to work all the time now, and gifted it to her!

He is also responsible for the fun pattern on the vest he wears all the time too!

Bonnie, whenever they are hanging around, makes sure to sneak onto Nille’s computer, and block out time between meetings for time to breathe / snacks for the others

And they also make sure to block out like an hour of time for proper lunches as well

Back to back to back to back meetings are not fun!!!

Breaks are important!!!

I have mentioned this in a different post, but this too, is a very important point to not include here as well

Location of Living

Mirabelle & Siffrin live in the same apartment complex, but on opposite sides of it

They have briefly interacted a few times prior to being coworkers? 

But Siffrin had his hair dyed for interviews for a long time

So Mirabelle didn’t realize it was him for a while, since he started growing out the dye before formally meeting in a work environment

Siffrin simply forgor

Isabeau lives relatively close-by to where Mira & Sif live, he visits Mira sometimes!!

He may or may not have also interacted with Siffrin two (2) times prior to working together due to the above point

Nille & Bonnie live around the area Siffrin used to live before he had to move, and have resided in that area for a long time

They technically were neighbors, at one point!

Odile lives closer to the office than everyone else 

Shorter commute for in-office days 

But still in the general vicinity of everyone else's abodes ofc

Hiring Order

Mirabelle has been working in the office the longest (interned two years in a row, and was formally hired right out of University)

Isabeau is next after since he got a referral off of Mira (interned for one year before graduation, then was hired at the same time Mirabelle was)

Odile was hired to replace Euphrasie (previous senior manager to their team who got a promotion, she’s now director of the regional office)

Siffrin was hired a bit after Odile when they got more capacity, since what they were originally doing was way too much for just three people LOL

Apparently, he got a referral from someone internally, but has no idea about it!

Nille was hired a little bit after Siffrin was

She only agreed upon the role if she was granted the flexibility to pick up Bonnie from school whenever

Random RPG Equivalence Hour

Turn Based Combat = Emails 

Whether it be waiting for data to start processes, answering inquiries, so on and so forth

Sometimes those turns take literal days

It happens!

Being Frozen / Damaged = Program Freezing 

This goes for any program being used

If it freezes it inflicts small damage

It inflicts more damage if it crashes

It makes you cry on the floor if the program crashes and you can’t recover any of what you did for the past hour

It makes you regret all of your life decisions up to this moment in time if it crashes, you can’t recover anything, and you have a presentation on the stuff you were working on in 15 minutes

Misc Meetings

Mirabelle writes fanfic

Isabeau knows about this and supports her in her endeavors

Odile has read some of her works, but does not know she wrote them irl

At some point prior to working together, Mirabelle & Odile became mutuals and started trading book / fanfic recommendations to one another

Odile had a brief stint as a bartender prior to working for the office

Mainly to earn some form of income while applying for jobs / waiting for prior certifications to process and transfer properly after moving from another country

In one or another, she met Isabeau and Siffrin at separate intervals while working there

Additionally, the bar is located close to the office. A lot of happy hours happen there. It ended up serving as a networking opportunity for her LMAO

Both Nille and Bonnie moved around a lot when they were younger

At different intervals, Nille went to the same high schools as both Mirabelle & Isabeau

Nille has probably worked a lot of jobs throughout high school / university

This includes working at the same place Odile worked at for a bit, they were probably coworkers there at some point.

Maybe not necessarily a bartender but, general staff

Again, this served as a networking opportunity similar to the Odile segment ASFASDASDA

Um????

Loop somehow ends up becoming a vtuber.

Loop somehow ends up being a vtuber for the company the team works under, akin to Tony the Tiger.

Loop does this vtuber gig for approximately one (1) stream and quits right after.

((loop decided their first stream was a nuzlocke for some reason. the crafts company literally didnt ask them to. they decided this on their own volition for no apparent reason. the company literally asked for a stream where they do crafts?? anyway they named their pokemon after the party. and. well.))

As I am Indecisive, this still has a chance for change! But for now this list is slightly ordered from “concrete in my mind” to “need to let simmer more probably, but the vibes are there” to “probably not but it is a bit of a funny to consider” (this only applies to the last loop segment ASDAFA)

But yea!! Thanks for reading the ramblings :)

[sweeter-than-teafood]

My MC!

Character design via this picrew

Name: Phoebe Clarke

Age: 27

DOB: 24/10/1997

Heritage: Solomon’s Lineage came from her mother’s side. Her mother was a proficient healer, who used her powers on her weakest patients, to give them a chance at recovery.

Nationality: British, but lived in South Korea for the first 10 years of her life

Childhood; Phoebe was a rather shy individual growing up, often hiding behind Minhyeok during social interactions. They were very close friends, but had to part ways when her parents moved to England for their careers. With hardly any close friends, she threw herself into her studies, often becoming the victim of various bullies.

Adulthood; Her hard work in school paid off, and she got accepted into university to study medicine, just like her mother. She bumped into Minhyeok, who decided to study abroad in England. They continued their friendship, as if they never parted in the first place. They got a cheap apartment together, to save on the costs of uni life.

The incident; During one of their study sessions in the library, Phoebe recieved a phone call from her parent’s neighbours. They had been brutally murdered in their home, though nothing had been stolen. This news caused Phoebe to become detached from her studies. She dropped out in her fourth year, staying in the shared apartment while Minhyeok balanced his studies and caring for her.

Solomon’s Awakening; In the months leading up to her journey in the war between heaven and hell, her eyes began turning purple. Her hair also began to change, although slowly; strand by strand. She would dye her hair regularly to cover up the purple hairs. She tried to cover her purple eyes with contacts, but found them too uncomfortable. She began to give off an aura that attracted people to her, and this caused her to put up a rude facade to deter anyone from staying too long.

The Fall: In order to keep Minhyeok from worrying about her, Phoebe took up a part time job working in Data Entry. It was dull, and left her with a need for something more fulfilling. This lead to her discovering porn, and soon she had some form of escapism from her otherwise boring lifestyle. That is, until Gabriel showed up one day, and thus began Phoebe’s delightful time in Hell.

—————————————————

Favourite Nation in Hell; She loves Gehenna, it reminds her so much of England, with its pubs and quiet natural landscapes. She doesn’t mind all the boisterous citizens, they make her think of the excitable football fans back home; all united in their love for something that means everything to them.

Sin that she commits the most: Gluttony. Over indulgence is her main distraction from life’s woes, whether it be porn, sex, food, alcohol, it’s all good in her books.

Things she does in her spare time: Due to her knowledge in medicine, though not fully qualified, she offered to assist in Paradise Lost whenever she can. She hasn’t got the hang of using any healing magic that she may have inherited from Solomon, so she helps with the basics, like triage and wound care.

Idiosyncrasies; Cardiophilia, Being tied up, Praise.

Devils that she gets on with the most;

Gehenna; All of the nobles, they’re family to her.

Tartaros; Valefor, Eligios

Abyssos: Another nation of homies, if any of the nobles are free and she’s in the area, it’s official; they’re partying hard.

Hades: Foras, Barbatos, Glasyalabolas

Paradise Lost: All of them, they’re her work colleagues, so she looks up to them.

Niflheim: Andrealphus, Beleth, Gusion.

Abaddon: Ronové

She gets on pretty well with the Kings too, aside from Leviathan, who she still is incredibly wary of after the kidnapping and threats of death. She’s trying to forgive him, though it may take a lengthy time.

————————

Some alternative outfits, based on countries in Hell;

Gehenna;

Tartaros;

Hades;

Abyssos;

Paradise Lost;

[jadagul]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question. Why is it harder for larger countries to have citizens with a high median level of wealth? What makes it harder for a country with the US population vs, say, Japan? I can imagine obvious challenges, but also reasons why larger countries can make their median citizen wealthier more easily. Economies of scale, more chances for innovation that can later be widely adopted, strong institutions having outsized effects. Can you help me understand the logic more?

It's not a stupid question! It's a common but incredibly counterintuitive thing that comes up in statistical comparisons. The short version is: you get more variance with small samples than with large samples.

To start off, let's point out this isn't just theoretical. According to the IMF, the twelve highest GDPs per capita are in this chart:

(If you use a different source the numbers change somewhat but not dramatically so.)

If you rank countries by population, those are rank 122, 163, 118, 134, 162.5, 95, 99, 115, 3, 191, 169, and 103.5. The US is in position 3 and the next-highest is at 95 (out of about 200).

Conversely let's look at the ten most populous nations:

When ranked by GDP per capita, those come out at ranks 73, 127, 8, 98, 138, 144, 87, 128, 56, and 71.

And notice already this looks different: these numbers are mostly in like the middle half, whereas the others were almost all in the bottom half. And that makes sense based on the theoretical argument I'm about to make.

A big country has a lot of people in it. And more than that, it has a lot of places in it. And while those places all have a bunch of stuff in common (like being part of the same country), they also have a bunch of things different from each other. So you can think of the per capita GDP of a big country as, like, averaging together the per capita GPDs of all the regions in it. (And then the per capita GDP of a region is a weighted average of the incomes of all the people in it.)

If you look at a city-state like Singapore or Hong Kong, you're "averaging" together one city. And for a small country like Ireland or Luxembourg, you're averaging one city with a small amount of hinterlands. That means that if that one city is unusually lucky, the whole country is rich.

(And if that one city is unusually unlucky, the whole country is poor. The ten least populated countries on the list that have IMF data have GDP per capita ranks of 146, 119, 95, 9, 152, 60, 106, 16, 134, 52, which are all over the map. None of them are at the very bottom, and I assume that's because cities are richer than non-cities, in general. And also maybe a city-state that's also dirt poor gets swallowed up.)

And if you look at our list of richest countries, you can really see this effect. Ireland is a tax haven for the EU, and traditionally so is San Marino. Singapore is a weirdly-managed outlier city state, as is San Marino (and Hong Kong used to be). Qatar and the UAE are all drafting off of oil revenue, and for that matter so is Norway.

And to drive the point home, let's look at the list of US metro areas by per capita GDP.

San Jose beats every country in the world hollow. San Francisco is tied with the top entries on the list. And our tenth-richest metro area would place fifth on the list of countries by per capita gdp. (Contrast Paris at €60 and Berlin at like €42k, if my quick googling is right.)

And then to drive the point home, look at the top of the list. The richest metro area in the US isn't San Francisco or New York or Los Angeles (which at 18th and $86k doesn't even show up on that list up there, but would still put it at 8th in the world); the richest metro area in the US is some place called Midland TX. It's a small town that sits in the middle of a giant oil field, and as I understand it it's basically a base camp for all the oil work out there. So it has one thing going on, and that thing is super lucrative, and distributed across relatively few people; so it gets the top spot.

And that's why the richest countries are likely to be small.

[freckled-words]

TaserTricks Misadventures

Just to get some rust off the wheels, I wrote a little intro to act as the base for where *most* of the stories will be connected to. Some will be stand-alone but still part of the whole, ya know?

If you prefer to read on AO3, here's a handy link for you CLICK ME

Let me know if you catch any spelling mistakes.

Darcy Lewis sometimes had to play “Connect The Dots” with the events in her life in order to make sense of just how she found herself in her current position.

The position of ‘Unofficial Avengers CareTaker’ that is.

Which just so happened to include Loki, God of Mischief, King of Assholes, and a condemned prisoner currently working off his crimes through community service.

Originally Darcy had come to the tower with her pre-established job parameters of keeping Jane healthy and functional, while also helping her with the data entry and machine lugging. Jane’s lab was neighbor’s with Tony and Bruce, and thanks to a connecting doorway, it was easy enough to include the Science Bros in the daily feedings and watering. (Bruce was pretty good at managing himself, but he never turned down Darcy’s cinnamon raisin cookies when she slipped them within reach.)

One trip to scary Ol’ England to fight space Elves later, and Erik came back to the Tower with them. Like Bruce he was pretty low maintenance, he just needed a gentle reminder to put his pants back on two to three times a day.

The real shift in her ‘caretaking’ parameters came when Natasha and Clint started coming by more often.

One night Darcy had been up late in the common room, the TV was on with the volume down low, an overly fuzzy blanket was wrapped around her body, and was doing her damndest to melt the nightmares out of her skull with the vibrancy of the cartoon dancing across the screen.

She swore she’d simply blinked (a super slow blink that lasted around a minute) and suddenly found Clint sitting on the couch next to her, the edge of her blanket draped across his lap and his head tipped back into the cushions with his eyes closed. As far as Darcy could tell, the infamous sniper was fast asleep.

Too tired to have much reaction (or give it much thought) Darcy shifted her blanket so it was covering both of them. She wouldn’t know if it was the presence of someone she knew to be super lethal, or just the sense of having another body around in general, but she managed to drop off into a heavy sleep pretty quick.

She got to know Clint a lot better over breakfast the next morning, and it became a friendly routine for them to crash on the couch on nights when one or the other was feeling rough. (There’d been a couple nights where Tony would stumble up from the lab and crash on whichever space was large enough, and on even rarer occasions, Steve would collapse into the recliner and do his best to sneak away before everyone else woke up the next morning.)

Natasha didn’t need caring for, so much as she opted to spend some of her free time with Darcy. 

Sometimes Darcy was suddenly dragged out of the lab for self defense training (she never made it back to the labs on those days.) But more often Natasha would pop up wherever Darcy was, and inquire into everyone’s wellbeing. It took Darcy a bit of time to put two and two together, and realize that Natasha would have these pop-up chats when she got back from her missions. (Darcy does her best not to think too deeply on this, as it puts a certain degree of weight on Darcy’s casual care-taking.)

At first Steve wasn’t really taken into consideration, as he had his own place to go home too, and when he wasn’t there or the tower, he was out looking for Bucky. (The shitshow of SHIELDRA had been a nightmare and a half that left both Darcy and Jane a little twitchy for a solid two months after.)

So of course that changed when he came home one morning, bruised, battered and bleeding, with Bucky in tow.

Darcy had been in the kitchen getting her first cup of coffee when the two soldiers stumbled in. Steve gave her a nod and a, “Morning Ms. Lewis” then promptly dropped Bucky and himself into a couple of chairs.

Still dressed in her Hulk pj pants, and Black Widow tank top, Darcy muttered a quiet “Fuckin’ Mondays.” And got to work making a mountain of pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the two to devour while their wounds healed. (There were a couple feeble attempts to help, and she’d just slapped them both away with her spatula.)

Given that Tower was a reinforced fortress in the sky, it only made sense for Bucky to hide out there, and Steve couldn’t even fathom leaving Bucky there on his own, so after some strategic room shuffling, Bucky moved into a room that was situated between Bruce and Steve.

Taking care of Steve was easy, and a lot of fun for Darcy. She helped him to work through his ever growing list of things to learn and catch up on, while also getting him to give her art lessons. (They did Bob Ross paintings every once in a while, and it was always hilarious, since Steve would try and make adjustments to outdo Bob.)

Bucky on the other hand was a bit more complicated. He had enough of his memories back to know who he was, and who Steve was, but he still had some brainwashing to work through. Like Bruce, he needed a calm, no sudden surprises environment. He’d stick to Steve most of the time, and other times he’d stay in his room. When Darcy started to notice how little he would eat, and how much weight he was losing, Darcy took matters into her own hands with a gamble.

Steve was in the living room working on a field report from their last mission, and Bucky had tagged along to sit on the couch and fiddle with his phone. It was just about time for lunch, and Darcy figured sandwiches would be fine, “Yo Barnes, mind giving me a hand with this? You slice and spread, I’ll assemble?”

For a brief second Darcy thought Bucky was going to refuse, as she’d called out to him so suddenly, his shoulders had gone back and his hands had frozen mid-fidget. Steve looked up from his papers and raised a brow at Darcy, trying to figure out what she was angling for. Bucky took in slow breath, and seemed to resettle before getting up. He had a confused, yet slightly amused expression when he joined her in the little kitchen space, “What did I do to warrant sandwich duty?”

“You looked bored, that’s what.” She chided back, and pushed a tomato into his prosthetic hand and a tiny kitchen knife into the other. 

He let out a huffed laugh, and settled into the task of prepping. 

While they worked to make a variety of sandwiches, Bucky would grab nibbles as he went. When the sandwiches were ready for distribution, Bucky took five of them for himself. 

Pleased her theory had been right, Darcy made sure Bucky helped her with at least one of the meals each day, and for the rest she had Jarvis send live video feeds to Bucky’s phone of the food being prepared. 

Natasha and Steve gave her private thanks for catching the problem and finding the solution. Bucky’s thanks came in the form of brutal game nights, where they’d square off with board games and video games. Some nights it was everyone in the tower playing (Pepper was banned from playing Monopoly), and others it was just the two of them (“I saw that Barnes! If you throw that blueshell I swear to Thor I will put ghost peppers in your soup tomorrow!”)

Three months after Bucky and Steve moved into the tower, Thor returned, and he didn’t come alone.

They’d all had a heads up that this might be a possibility, but no one had thought it would actually happen.

Loki, Destroyer of New York, God of Trickery and Chaos, was back on Earth…to finish his community service.

[shamebats]

Lived in China for almost a decade. This isn’t a “everything was greener over there post”. HOWEVER, women retire between 50-55 by law, men a couple years later (not sure why the difference) and the quality of life this creates is PALPABLE, VISIBLE, and WILD.

Everywhere you go, healthy middle aged women living. Every evening on almost every corner or every tower plaza, groups of middle aged and older women line dancing to intricate choreography beside a boombox. They practice together. They go to meets and competitions. Every mall is packed with grandfathers and babies. Every gym is slammed with 50-something’s enjoying a second spring for their bodies. The women’s dressing rooms are a social SCENE for gossip, make up, high heel swaps, who’s going to lunch? These aren’t rich women. They aren’t Ladies Who Lunch. These were postal clerks. Secretaries. Data entry specialists. Cafeteria workers. Hospital orderlies.

Every young couple I knew who got married chose their new home based on whether they could find one with a semi-private wing for their retired parents. The pension joined the family’s income stream and voila, live in child care. At one point I worked with kids. I asked kids who their hero is an like 95% say grandma or grandpa because he/she will do anything with me, take me to the park whenever I want, play games with me, know my favorite tv shows.

Young women get to have careers and remain in the workforce because older men and women can fucking retire.

That’s what early retirement gets an economy. All of this. That’s the kind of trickle down economics that is REAL.

[guzsdaily]

The Best Thing I Added to My Notes

Daily Blogs 359 - Oct 29th, 12.024

This is probably the best thing I added to my daily notes.

What?

This is a routine heatmap. The simple explanation is that is shows how many tasks related to my routine I have done in that day, the brighter, the more tasks.

Why?

One of the things that I found is that I'm very easily insecure about myself. Even if I'm doing fine and working on the things that I like, I still have days when I almost forget everything and start doubting myself over and over thinking that I'm not doing enough. This situation happened to me a lot over the previous year, and because of the amount of pressure I placed in myself in these attacks, I started to just feel demotivated and started to stagnate. I never could really prove to myself.

And then I found about this concept, I don't know where or when necessarily, but it was about having data to prove to your own brain that you are supposed to be fine, have palpable methods to convince yourself. Not only having proof, but also, having constant feedback if you are doing fine or if you need to actually question and do a course correction.

This map, this calendar, is what proves to myself that I'm doing fine and that I am improving. Every single day I look into it since it is on my daily notes, and I can see if there are any worries or not, there's no reason anymore to doubt myself as much. Even tho not all days are the brightness, mostly because they are based on the current amount of tasks of the current routine, I can't say to myself that I'm not trying. If any of these days there is a strange black void, I can just click into it, and go back memory lane to remember.

Also, the instant feedback is great. Since I know how the brightness is calculated and that it cares about the percentage of tasks of the current routine, I don't really care that much about older cells, but I do care if some pattern start to arrive in the recent ones. Like the stripe in the first quarter of the year, when I was helping my family and wasn't able to work that much, and the brightness of the last half of the year, when I got a job and organized better my work.

And as a bonus, this map also helps me know where I am in the year. Since I do Quarterly Themes, somewhat aligned with the year seasons, having a visual clue to know what quarter I am, even more when the seasons don't affect that much the look of the ambient outside home, really helps. This clue is not only via the amount of days that passed in the calendar, but also it's color:

Red for summer, quarter one:

Red for autumn, quarter two:

Blue for winter, quarter three:

Green for spring, quarter four:

How?

I don't really know how much it is possible in other note-taking apps, but in Obisdian is kinda simple if you know a little about scripting. It uses just two plugins: Obsidian Dataview and Heatmap Calendar for Obsidian. The Dataview script used is this:

In summary, the steps are:

Get all daily notes of this year (The year value is added via the file template);

Loop over all daily notes:

Get all completed tasks of note;

Calculate the percentage of completed tasks;

Push the day entry to the calendar data, with the correct color (The value "season-spring" is put by the template).

Render the Heatmap Calendar using the function provided by the plugin.

The source code of the daily note template is available on my vault template repository.

Today's artists & creative things Music: I Gave Everything - by Connor Price

© 2024 Gustavo "Guz" L. de Mello. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

[ukrfeminism]

Though British farming is arguably at the most precarious point in its long history – thanks to changes caused by Brexit and food industry subsidies, lack of clear food production policies and increased concern over environmental issues – more women than ever are choosing a career in agriculture and, more importantly, moving into leadership roles.

Back in the 1970s, Holly Collins was studying for her A-levels in Sussex. While her friends sent off their university applications, she wrote to the Royal Agricultural College asking for an entry form, hoping to follow her dream of becoming a farmer.

“They wrote back with the following answer: ‘Dear Miss Collins, we do not admit women.’”

Undeterred, she worked on a farm the following summer: “A lot of the tasks then were manual labour, so I’d just turn up at the farm gate and ask for a job. I was paid much less than the male students I worked with because I was female. The farmer’s father told him that, because I was the hardest worker, he should pay me the same as them – but he didn’t.”

Things, says the 64-year-old who now has her own upland farm, Hollin Bank, at the head of Coniston Water in the Lake District, have improved a lot for women in agriculture since then.

Though British farming is arguably at the most precarious point in its long history – thanks to changes caused by Brexit and food industry subsidies, lack of clear food production policies and increased concern over environmental issues – more women than ever are choosing a career in agriculture and, more importantly, moving into leadership roles.

Minette Batters, the first ever female president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU), may have stepped down this spring after six years in office, but women are still well represented in the union, with Rachel Hallos, a South Pennines farmer, installed as NFU vice-president and Abi Reader as deputy president for NFU Cymru. The Great Yorkshire Show has just got its first female show director in its 186-year history – dairy farmer Rachel Coates takes over after this year’s show in July. In the field of specialist skills, the UK has also just appointed its first female wool grader. Amy-Jo Barton, 22, is based at British Wool (formerly the British Wool Marketing Board) in Bradford where she sorts wool by hand based on style and characteristics; a job she finds “very therapeutic”.

While women comprised 17% of farmers in 2019, data from the Office for National Statistics for 2023 shows that of the 104,700 registered farmers, 22% are female. In the broader category of managers in agricultural services, women make up 32% of the workforce. According to recent figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 64% of agricultural students are women. For an industry that historically relies on father-to-son succession to pass on land and which used to exclude women from many of its educational establishments, farming has come a long way.

Coates, incoming director of the Great Yorkshire Show, says: “Women have always been the backbone of a farm. Now they’re no longer in the kitchen tied to the Aga, they’re at the forefront of the industry. It’s good to see this take-up of leadership roles.”

Louisa Dines, principal lecturer in agronomy at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, thinks farming has lagged behind in terms of gender diversity but is finally catching up with other industries.

“Farmers’ wives and daughters were always important – farms are typically family businesses and intertwined with home life – but women used to operate below the radar,” she says. “Historically local meetings were in the pub or village hall. Wives often weren’t invited or had to look after the children. Even if they did go, it can be intimidating walking into a room full of men, but new communication platforms – such as social media and video conferencing – have made it easier for women to take part.”

There are more than 14,000 members of the Facebook group Ladies Who Lamb and farmers such as the Yorkshire Shepherdess and the Red Shepherdess have huge followings on TikTok and Instagram. Dines says she recently attended an agritech conference to promote links between women in farming in Poland, Ukraine and England. Previously these women had worked in isolation but not had a sense of community. “It was so interesting to see how far we’ve come.”

Traditions need to change more, though. The average age of a British farmer is 59 and the business is still typically passed down the male side of the family. A 2022 survey in Northern Ireland found that inheritance was the second biggest challenge faced by women in farming. The biggest was male dominance.

Molly Lewis, whose family have farmed sheep on 250 acres of pasture in Powys, Wales, for 350 years, says this attitude is starting to shift. The 20-year-old plans to take over when her father and his brother retire. She splits her time between working in the family business and the local agricultural market.

“In the past, sometimes men felt pressured to take on the farm even if their heart wasn’t in it, but now it goes to whoever is interested. I’ve noticed a lot more women happily getting involved. It feels natural, especially here. We have an open hill farm in the Elan Valley, and do a lot of community work with all our neighbours. You see women and girls on the hills doing the same jobs as the men and no one thinks anything of it.”

Lewis also talks of the community’s fury at the Welsh government’s sustainable farming scheme – the post-Brexit plan for funding the industry which includes ensuring 10% of farmland is under tree cover.

Collins’s farm has low densities of mixed livestock and a nice sideline in educational courses teaching traditional farming skills such as dry stone walling and coppicing. It’s currently host to two masters students researching finance and birdlife. She brought in two women – Megan Jones and Katherine Andrews – to manage Hollin Bank alongside her.

She says she has had difficulties with “a lack of respect” from male farmers. “But I am learning at a late age and from the wonderful young women who work with me that you don’t have to instil fear in others to succeed in this very male world. We try to be warm and encouraging of anyone who is interested. I’m not sure this is a ‘female’ attitude to farming but I suspect it might be.”

None of the three at Hollin Bank grew up in agricultural families, bucking the tradition of succession. While Collins had a “striking ambition” to farm her whole life, her colleagues originally worked in conservation and nature restoration.

“As 70% of the UK is farmland, I wanted to understand how conservation and agriculture intertwine,” says Andrews. “I also believe we need to localise the food economy to save food miles, create jobs and deepen our connection to the land.”

If farming is in crisis it may be this new generation who look to change the status quo who will be able to find a resolution. All of them seem keen to evolve. Coates’s big ambition for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society is to engage young people because “we need to make farming relevant – there are going to be changes in agriculture over the next few years and we need to adapt”.

Dines points to the increased importance of marketing and communication – from farm shops and crafts to environmentally friendly farming practice – “all the public-facing activities at which women excel”.

Jones, who worked in restoration before joining Hollin Bank two years ago, also points to the need for communication within the indusry as well as with the public.

“We need to strengthen food systems that value farmers’ extensive knowledge of the landscapes they work in,” she says. “I think we need to listen to farmers and figure out what works financially and ecologically. How can we build resilient ecosystems?”

The reason so many more women have moved into farming is perhaps best explained when Jones talks about what she enjoys most about her work.

“My favourite thing about working on a farm is the daily and seasonal rhythms. Each day you adapt and respond to the environment and the animals. Days when we move the sheep or cows are always good days, walking with them is like a moving meditation. For someone who spent very little time doing practical work growing up, I find working with my hands very rewarding and empowering – especially as a woman.”

[matrimonialformfilling]

Matrimonial Form Filling Auto Typing Software | Matrimonial Form Filling...

[curiouslycaffeinatedcephalopod]

entry 03

do not be afraid to use technology if using paper based methods of note taking, planning and scheduling and journaling.

when i first started my research project i was afraid of using only applications and software such as Notion, drives for storage, Microsoft Word AI grammar assistance etc. I was afraid because i was told (and anxious about it myself) that i could lose my data and information if i didn't have a backup on paper.

this resulted in me not quite meeting my weekly deadlines with tasks and goals because i was spending time "backing up" all my data, planning, schedules, meeting notes, everything.

Whilst i definitely agree with others that you should have a back up, a lot of these applications and software are so well developed and have really well functioning servers, there is such a minimal chance of just losing everything. it would be more logical to make back ups on other storage platforms/drives than keeping everything in paper AS WELL. this is so time consuming and sends you in a panic every time you need to upload data, write notes, prepare documents, edit documents, review data and leaves you with notes you made hastily (and anxiously) which often times never even helped me as the notes were illegible because i was in such a rush.

of course, a paper based method for laboratory notes is a good idea as devices are not recommended in the labs if you're working with biological matter/chemical substances - pencil down your notes and then you can go home if you have the time and the need to write it onto a notion page or type up a document so that you can review the protocol and how you performed during and the outcomes, any changes you may need to make etc.

you can use notion for your research scheduling and planning and just keep a very simple bullet journal/notebook for day to day notations and planning. i had been told to make sure i have a paper based record of everything i wrote on my notion but i think you can keep an abbreviated version and rather keep a copy pasted document of this and/or screenshots and store that across multiple drives (or one if you're not an anxious academic like me, haha).

if anyone tells you how you should do something so intricately personal to each student/researcher because they do not like the interface you use (yes, i was told i should not use the one thing that has worked for me because it was too difficult for the other party to understand or review), it is obviously nice and kind to try and provide things a format they understand, but do not stop doing the thing you enjoy and that actually helps you reach your goals.

context for number 3:

i found notion through various content creators in the research realm, with mixed recommendations ranging from yes it works well to no not for me. i struggle with planning and procrastinating and academic challenges so i decided to give it a go. honestly, the fact that it was aesthetically customisable was a big plus. that is just simply something that makes me want to work. the next thing was its cross compatibility with other apps and software i used, primarily google. it helped me keep track of upcoming meetings, events and urgent tasks and provided a way for me to visually see my progress. but someone i was wokring with, whose opinion mattered very much to me, had mentioned that they were not a fan and that they did not have the time to use the interface, even though the interface was not our primary mode of communication regarding my research project, it was simply a way for them to see how i was spending my time or planning to as a student of theirs. needless to say, i gave up because their way took way too much time already. it is not a problem or a topic that requires someone to blame, i just was in the midst of an already overwhelming time in my project and had to just do what i needed to survive (lol).

anyways, the lesson i learnt was, after falling a couple months behind because of poor planning and compatibility with how i was going about my most important component of my research was that you really need to prioritise the thing that works for you. whether that is paper based or digital.

but you cannot spend every moment fearing that notion will drop off the face of the earth with all your notes and plans along with it. i wasted so much time stressing and creating paper and digital back ups of EVERYTHING. i have now had to spend essentially a month organising things across multiple emails and drives just to get a start on my next big project. the most important lesson will definitely be that you need to train and teach yourself to know what are things that require a back...

you do not need 17 backups, paper and digital of plans passed and plans to come, you will quickly be reminded or be able to recall most such things as they will stress you out and haunt you so much anyways.

however you certainly do need a sufficient back up of data that belongs to the university as part of your project, or any personal methods of tracking such things.

anyways, sorry for the long rambles i post, i am using tumblr as a way to have a blog until i can actually get a website and publish better and more concise posts. i hope you still enjoy reading or at least find some solace or advice in between it all!

[triscribeaucollection]

Last Bastion of Honor

“C’mon, Kid, I promise it’ll be fine.” Len ruffled his hair, and Wally couldn’t help but lean into the gesture, both because it felt nice and he wanted more reassurance. “After a couple of days spent hanging out with the others, you won’t even want to come home by the time we’re finished moving house.”

The teen gave his mentor a flat look at that, making Len chuckle. Even so, they continued heading down the passageway to the zeta tunnel, which had already been adjusted to accept Wally’s entry. Normally, he wasn’t even allowed in this part of the Merry Men’s underground network - they liked to keep their Sprint Kid close and safe, after all. But with Slipstream literally digging out their base of operations, the protectors of Central City were relocating, and figured hiding Wally halfway across the country while they did so would be worth adding him to the teleportation system.

“Recognized, Citizen Cold, Zero-Four. Recognized, Sprint Kid, B-One-Zero.”

“Kid, welcome to Mount Honor.”

Impressed in spite of himself, Wally took a couple of steps forward to better peer around the massive cave. Hologram projectors dotted the walls, along with screens playing news stations, data feeds, assorted tracking stats, and so on. One side of the room had a modified floor with Mister Mirror’s hard-light projectors, probably for training purposes. Through open doorways around the perimeter, Wally could see a lounge, a kitchen, an armory, a robotics lab, a chemical workshop - all good things for an underground superhero base. There were also a couple of hallways leading elsewhere in the mountain, and he nearly set off to check them out before Len’s hand gently grasped his shoulder.

Jumping, Wally turned to glance up at his mentor’s face. “I know you want to explore, kiddo, but at least wait for your tour guide to show up, okay?” Wally nodded... and frowned, when a second glance around proved that there was not, in fact, anyone else present. He raised an eyebrow at Len.

The delay at least didn’t seem to be intentional, as the man frowned as well. Len raised a hand to tap at his earpiece, the other moving instinctively to the ice gun on his hip. “Citizen Cold to Mount Honor, anyone home?”

Wally couldn’t hear anything from the little piece of communications equipment, but judging by the way Len relaxed again, he guessed the man got a reply. A few moments later, he could hear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.

“Citizen, sir! Kid!” Out from one of the hallways, a dark-skinned teenager with pale dreadlocks appeared, looking apologetic. “I am so sorry, I meant to be waiting when you arrived-”

“S’okay, Kaldur’ahm, no harm no foul,” Len reassured him. The tall boy nodded, but didn’t change his expression. “Alright kiddo, you want me to stick around while you settle in, or shall we make this a drop and run?”

Wally rolled his eyes and made a shoo gesture at his mentor. Snorting, Len ruffled his hair again, said goodbye to Kaldur, and headed back through the zeta tunnel. After a pause to shift the strap of his duffel bag, Wally glanced at the half-Atlantean he’d met twice before, who offered him a smile.

“It is good to see you, Kid,” he said. “Do you want to stow your things before I show you around?”

Considering it, the younger teen shook his head. Unperturbed, Kaldur just nodded.

“Well, as you can see, this is the main hub, where all matters of importance take place. Down this hall are the permanent bedrooms for the people stationed here regularly, and that one is the guest quarters and meditation rooms, and this way,” Kaldur pointed to the opening he’d emerged from, “Are the pool, the hangar bay, the external exits, and the garage. We also have a proper work-out room, a library, an observatory, and my favorite, the Grotto.”

Wally raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

“Come, I’ll show you.”

-Honor-

The Grotto, as it turned out, was insanely cool. Located in the deepest part of the mountain, it had a dry sandy floor dotted with the occasional seashell, glittering walls glowing with aurora-esqe lights, and some kind of sound system piping in soft echoes of the nearby ocean’s waves. There were also private little nooks and side rooms hidden in practically every corner. Seriously, someone could hide a couple dozen people in the Grotto, and unless an invader knew exactly where to look, they’d never be found.

“The whole mountain is shielded and lead-lined, of course,” Kaldur murmured as he and Wally wandered through the winding passageways. “But down here, there’s a concentration of the more delicate tech and passive magic, which makes it next to impossible to run a scan to find anyone. The ultimate hiding place, so to speak, if running isn’t an option.”

Probably a bad sign that Wally found that as comforting as he did.

When they headed back up, Kaldur showed him some of the other rooms he liked, including a viewing hall with magic windows that looked out onto beaches around the world, and finally back to the main hub with its attached kitchen.

“I was in a different timezone with my father before he sent me over to help you settle in,” the older teen explained when he started pulling things out of the cabinets and pantry. “So I feel past ready for dinner - would you like anything?”

A small part of him that was still Wallace Rudolph West wanted to shake his head, to avoid imposing, avoid being a nuisance. Wally firmly squashed it down, though, and nodded.

-Honor-

Kaldur turned out to be a pretty good cook, if his fish filets and grilled veggies were anything to go by. He also, by the end of their meal, somehow managed to get Wally completely at ease, sharing ridiculous stories about the shenanigans he used to get up to as a kid.

“-and of course, by the time my father got back, I’d managed to not only beach the submarine above the high water mark, but also cover it in blue and green paint!” Wally burst out laughing as Kaldur grinned, leaning so far over in his chair he nearly fell out of it. After getting his breath back, the younger teen straightened and wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, then pointed at his host.

“Funny guy,” he said in a hoarse whisper. Kaldur’s eyebrows just about flew off his face, and he smiled so widely it had to hurt.

“Helps to have a receptive audience,” he replied. “Which, my father definitely was not.”

Snorting, Wally shook his head with a grin. A moment later he stiffened, when they heard the zeta tunnel power up.

“Recognized, Cheshire Cat, B-Zero-Two, Tigress, B-Zero-Three, Brave Bow, B-Zero-Four.”

“I wondered when they’d be getting back,” Kaldur murmured, getting to his feet. “Have you met the Hunter’s Trio, Kid?”

Wally shook his head, and warily followed the older teen out into the hub. Three newcomers were standing by the zeta tunnel entrance: a blonde girl his age arguing with a dark-haired young woman in a language he didn’t recognize, plus a red-headed dude who looked content to stay out of it.

“You are both terrible at making first impressions,” called Kaldur, striding towards them with Wally on his heels. The girls instantly cut off their argument, braids flying as they whipped their heads around to stare.

“Oh!” The older one exclaimed. “You must be the Sprint Kid - I’m sorry, we didn’t realize you’d already arrived.”

She held out a hand to him, which Wally gingerly grasped to shake, as Kaldur made introductions. “Kid, this is Jade, also known as the biggest mom-friend in the universe; her little sister Artemis, and their, erm, Roy.”

Wally blinked at the guy, who shook his hand after Jade. “Don’t mind Fish Boy, he’s still not sure how to say right off the bat that I’m Jade’s boyfriend and her sister’s brother.” That earned another blink.

“Ugh, you’re all ridiculous.” The second girl shouldered her way forward to also grab Wally’s hand, which made him feel inexplicably warm. “We’re all Huntsman and Challenger’s kids, and it’s nice to meet you, Sprint.”

Mustering his courage, as well as bracing for the pain, he coughed and whispered, “Wally.”

Bright gray eyes stared into his own, and then Artemis smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. The warmth turned into a pleasant tingle. “It’s nice to meet you, Wally.”

-Honor-

“First rule of Mount Honor,” Artemis told him when she led Wally over to the lounge, as Kaldur went to clean up the remains of their meal and the other two young adults disappeared towards the guest rooms. “Never, ever set a prank that could be triggered by someone other than your intended target - no one will save you from the wrath of the accidental victim, and Lady Light keeps a running tally of who’s in trouble to pick her sparring partners from.”

Wally couldn’t help but wince automatically. He’d met the terrifying woman once when she came to collect Silver Skater for a girls night with Leopard and Harlequin, and knew she absolutely deserved her reputation as the fiercest hand to hand combatant of the Honor League. Perks of having a mostly-immortal father who’d mastered a bunch of fighting techniques over the centuries, or so he supposed.

“Second rule - prank wars are in fact allowed, but they can’t interfere with the Job, and you have to follow Jester’s code of conduct; the man’s got, like, an actual list he hashed out with Luthor, I’ll make sure you get a copy.”

Nodding, Wally wondered how long such a list must be - even people who didn’t buy into the Crime Syndicate’s propaganda knew the Jester had at least a few screws loose, and that Lex Luthor very rarely if ever managed to reign in the other man’s more... eccentric ideas.

“Oh, and second rule part two: don’t mess with Trick. Don’t prank him, don’t tease him, etcetera, etcetera.” Artemis gave a half shrug in reply to Wally’s questioning glance. “Jester’s orders, he doesn’t want anyone who isn’t him or Harlequin poking at his kid. Which, honestly, would seem reasonable to me, except that it’s coming from the guy who actively encourages us to have fun even at his own expense.”

That just made Wally frown deeper. He didn’t know much about the elusive Trick, who could best be described as Jester’s grim-faced shadow, and the desire to know why pranking him was off-limits piqued the boy’s curiosity.

Artemis distracted him from thinking about it, though, by going on. “Anyway, the third and final official rule is just to respect other people’s space. A lot of the folks who pass through or stay here have had more than their fair share of traumas, and everyone’s expected to be patient with them.” Her eyes glanced briefly to Wally’s neck, hidden by the high collar of his jacket, and softened. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with that one.”

Smiling bitterly, Wally shook his head. He blinked when Artemis reached to grab his hand, the warm feeling from earlier quickly returning.

“That means other people have to give you whatever space you need too, Wally,” she said softly. “So if anybody steps out of line, or it all just gets to be too much, let me know, okay? We can go hide in my room or the Grotto or something.”

He offered her a genuine smile at that, and got one back in return. Then the mountain’s electronic voice rang out, causing them to both jump and making Artemis retreat back to her own spot on the couch.

*Recognized, Bioship, C-One, Miss White, B-Zero-Six, Ultraboy, B-Zero-Seven.*

Wally frowned when the zeta tunnel didn’t ignite. Artemis clearly read the question on his face, because she stood and jerked her chin towards one of the hallways.

“Hangar bay,” the girl explained. “You want to go see an alien spaceship?”

Grinning, Wally hopped to his feet. And then, in a moment of daring, he turned and crouched, peering at Artemis over his shoulder to rasp, “Wanna run?”

She tilted her head, puzzled, before understanding dawned, and a delighted expression appeared on her face. Carefully, Artemis moved to hold onto him, her arms curling over Wally’s shoulders and collarbone while her legs wrapped around his waist. She held on perfectly fine as he straightened, but he tucked his hands down to brace her thighs regardless.

“Hold on,” he croaked.

And they were off.

Out of the main hub and down the hallways Wally ran, retracing the path he’d followed Kaldur on earlier. The trip only lasted a handful of moments, ten seconds at the most, but Artemis was laughing by the time they stopped in the hangar. She uncurled and dropped from Wally’s back, hands coming up to pat at her wind-ruffled braid.

“That,” the girl breathed, “Was awesome.”

Wally ducked his head with a grin. His throat started hurting something awful with just a few words, but the combined high of letting loose with his inner lightning and causing Artemis to laugh more than made up for it.

“Well, I don’t think I can top that, but this ought to be okay, huh?” He looked up at her words, and then followed her gaze to the white and red ship sitting on the other side of the room, a ramp just descending from its underside. Wally whistled, walking closer for a better look with Artemis right on his heels.

That forward progress came to a halt when he heard the sounds of an argument emerging from the ship.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Artemis muttered, “Can those two seriously not get along for one morning?” Down the ramp came two teenagers, one walking, one floating, both carrying assorted bags of groceries. The boy looked human, wearing a light blue shirt and black cargo shorts; the girl, decidedly less so, with her chalk-white skin and solid red eyes. Wally shuddered as the volume increased.

Artemis clearly noticed, because she gently squeezed his shoulder, before letting loose a shrill whistle.

The argument stopped mid-sentence, as the boy tripped and nearly fell flat on his face, while the girl shot higher into the air, her red cape flaring out like a cat puffing up its fur. Completely involuntarily, Wally snorted.

He regretted it when both the newcomers focused their attention on him.

“Guys,” Artemis said calmly, “This is Wally, the Sprint Kid. Citizen Cold mentioned he has anxiety issues, remember? So will you kindly shut the heck up.”

“My apologies,” the alien girl muttered, settling with both feet on the ground.

“Same here,” the boy added, shooting her a brief glare before focusing back on Wally and offering him a sheepish smile. “Uh, nice to meet you, Wally. I’m Conner, and this is-”

“M’gann M'orzz of Mars,” she interrupted, chin lifted in what could be called an arrogant manner - but Wally glanced briefly at her cape, wrapped close, and took it to be a defensive gesture instead.

“Hi,” he whispered, before coughing and rubbing at his throat. M’gann frowned, and a moment later, what felt like a cold hand brushed against the front of his brain.

*Is verbal communication painful for you?* The martian said without speaking. *I can establish a mental link, if that would make things easier-*

Wally’s widened eyes were apparently all Conner needed to guess at what M’gann was doing, because he immediately rounded on the girl, arms folded. “What did we say about not invading people’s heads until they’ve given their permission?”

“I’m not invading,” she snapped back, “I’m just asking him a question, you overbearing twit.”

“Oh, I’m the overbearing one? That’s rich coming from you-”

Artemis groaned as they launched into another argument, but shook her head when Wally bumped her shoulder, an apologetic look on his face. “Not your fault, dude, they’re just- like this.” He grimaced, and she let out a harsh bark of laughter, nothing at all like the earlier cheerful sound. “Yeah, I know. C’mon, let’s head back to the main hub, and hopefully these two will have gotten it all out of their systems by the time they follow us.”

Wally nodded, and they carefully tip-toed out of the hangar. He tried to offer to run them back again, but Artemis turned him down, taking hold of his hand instead as they walked back at normal speed. And, honestly, Wally liked that just fine too.

-Honor-

There were two girls hanging out with Kaldur in the kitchen when they got back, and Wally felt relieved to recognize one of them.

Raquel happened to glance up and catch his eye first, and promptly moved from where she was leaning against the countertop to come give him a fist bump. “Hey, little Sprinter! Nice to finally see you away from your entourage of mother hens.”

He grinned, shrugging, and she took a moment to ruffle his hair. Artemis continued past them to snag the other girl and tug her over for introductions. “Wally, meet Annataz; she comes over whenever her mentor’s busy with big magic stuff. Anna, this is Wally, he’s the Sprint Kid from Central City.”

“Hello,” Annataz greeted him, her face almost completely hidden behind a curtain of white hair. Wally smiled back, and nodded at her shawl with a thumbs-up. Besides the woven cloth looking incredibly soft, it changed color constantly, gently shifting through the entire visible spectrum.

“Oh, you think that’s cool,” Raquel beamed, “Just wait ‘til you see Anna’s wardrobe - an actual, literal wardrobe, enchanted to spontaneously produce whatever it is she feels like wearing.”

“It’s not that impressive...”

Artemis promptly reached up a hand to tweak the shorter girl’s ear. “Yes, it is, and you should be proud of making it,” she stated. Annataz just ducked her head further, but Wally managed to briefly spot her smile.

Kaldur ended up heading out after his third yawn, practically chased off by Raquel, who threatened to chuck her combat boot at his head if the boy didn’t go get some sleep. Artemis took the opportunity to throw together a couple plates of apple slices with peanut butter on top, which Wally restrained himself from taking too many of. He and Annataz made for quiet companions as Artemis and Raquel chatted, Jade popping in briefly to snag some sodas from the pantry and steal an apple slice. It... didn’t seem awkward though. Len had been right - Wally couldn’t help but feel comfortable in the relaxed setting.

But then an alarm went off.

Raquel was the first up and off the couch, making a beeline out the open doorway and across the main hall towards the suddenly glowing zeta tunnel. Artemis swiftly followed, and after sharing a wide-eyed glance, Wally and Annataz hurried after.

*Recognized, Trick, B-Zero-One.*

A much smaller figure than Wally would’ve expected came staggering through the tunnel entrance, bent almost double and clutching at his stomach. Raquel got there right as he dropped to his knees, catching the kid’s shoulders to keep him from falling over. “Trick, what happened?”

“Owl,” he coughed, blood dripping from between his fingers. “Owlman f-found the warehouse.”

Raquel swore, worse than Digger on the rare occasion he got into the good alcohol. “How bad did he get you? Where are Jester and Harlequin?”

“Not- not awful- he’s done worse.” A bitter little laugh slipped out as Raquel leaned the kid back to pick him up, her thick arms barely flexing as they slipped around thin shoulders and knobby knees. “I was the- only one at home- set the self- self-destruct, on, my way out-” His stilted words cut off with a pained groan.

“Crap,” Artemis breathed, typing furiously on an old-school flip phone. “That’s another League base gone - those bastards are getting way too good at finding us.” Wally hovered anxiously at her shoulder, uncertain of what he should be doing. Annataz had somehow already gotten to the infirmary station, pulling out a first aid kit for Trick as Raquel carried him over. Jade and Roy appeared, grim-faced and armed with a spear and bow respectively. They quickly checked in on the situation, before moving to take up positions on either side of the zeta tunnel entrance - Conner and M’gann and a no longer yawning Kaldur joined them, when those three showed up as well. Artemis, in the meantime, finished with her phone and moved to access some kind of computer built into the wall.

After a moment’s hesitation, Wally followed her.

“First they torched Leopard’s main safe house in DC,” the girl muttered to herself, “Then there’s a countdown on the Merry Men getting found, and now Jester’s place is gone...” Wally nudged her shoulder, and gestured to the base around them with a concerned expression. Artemis immediately went from furious to reassuring. “No, they won’t find us next. We’re in the middle of nowhere up here, no major cities or industry centers for them to want to dig their fingers into. And if the Syndicate isn’t actively working in an area, they don’t pay much attention to it.”

Even so, Wally nervously drummed his fingers against his thigh, unconsciously tapping into his speed without meaning to. Artemis caught him by surprise when she finished typing and reached to hold his hand with her own.

Maybe a minute later, the computer let out a soft chime, and the screen flickered to display a dude with some severely impressive scars slashed across his face. “Tigress,” the dude greeted, dark eyes flicking between the two teenagers. “And Cold’s young charge, I believe. What is the emergency?”

“Trick showed up about five minutes ago, bleeding and winded. He said Owlman found the Jester’s warehouse in Gotham - kid hit the self-destruct on his way out the zeta, but we don’t know if it successfully went off or not. The others are guarding this side in case any uninvited guests hack their way through.”

The dude’s face shifted from stoic to thunderous. “I shall inform Jester, and ask Luthor to check on the warehouse’s status. What is Trick’s current condition?”

“Stable,” Artemis answered, glancing over towards the infirmary. “Firework and Annataz are fixing him up. It didn’t look too bad, though, and he said he’s gotten worse before.”

“An unfortunately true statement for that child. Very well, then. Expect reinforcements shortly.”

“Thanks, Might.” The screen flickered back off, and Artemis shared a wry smile at Wally’s curious expression. “Valor Might. Guy’s even older than Ra’s al Malak. He used to be one of Superwoman’s prisoners before the League accidentally rescued him a few years back, and now he’s, like, the coolest history professor ever.”

As promised, more Honor League members soon showed up. Red Avalanche rumbled in with mechanical encouragement, followed shortly by Gold Lantern, and then Talia al Malak, the Lady Light, came striding through the zeta tunnel and took charge with brisk efficiency. She and Owlman were personal enemies almost as much as him and Jester - if anyone could manage to prevent the Gotham crime lord from getting inside Mount Honor, it would be her.

As more League members showed up, the kids drifted towards the edges of the room, and then closer to the infirmary. After getting his wounds bandaged, Trick had curled into a ball on the edge of the medical bunk, the slitted eyes of his domino mask giving no sign of where the kid was looking. Raquel kept up her post beside him, one hand on his shoulder, with Annataz tucked against her other side. Wally kept glancing between them and the main action in the center of the hub.

Once, when he looked back again, the smaller boy’s head shifted just enough to indicate he was studying Wally. The redhead offered a small, cautious smile, one hand coming up to tap briefly at the base of his covered throat. Trick apparently knew enough about him to recognize the indication of his hidden scars, the ones picked up when Slipstream nearly murdered Wally two years before, because something in his wary expression softened. They exchanged tiny nods, and went back to observing the League members adding new defensive measures to the mountain’s security.

When the zeta tunnel next activated, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Jester and Harlequin tumbled through without injury. Both Gotham heroes made an immediate beeline for the infirmary, prompting all the teenagers gathered there to back off a bit. Trick partially uncurled from his bunk in order to reach for them, hands shaking even as Jester gathered him up into a hug. Harlequin took a moment to check him over, thanking Raquel for the well-done bandages before she pretty much glomped on to her partner and their kid.

Something inside of Wally ached a little at the sight.

The next adult to approach was Huntsman, dressed in a uniform that looked just like the one Artemis wore, except different colors. His hair was the same light shade of blonde, too, and his eyes swept over the girl and her sister before doing a headcount of the others present.

“Alright, everybody,” the man announced, “It looks like we’re all clear for the moment. Luthor’s satellite confirmed the loss of Jester’s warehouse in Gotham, but there were no casualties, and no breach in security here, either.”

Several shoulders slumped with relief, Wally’s included.

“Considering that, and the fact we’ve been losing bases to the Syndicate at an alarming rate recently, the League wants to keep all of you here for the time being. If those bastards haven’t caught on to Mount Honor yet, it’s safer than anywhere else.”

Artemis took a step forward. “But Dad-”

“Don’t argue with me on this one, baby girl, we don’t know where they’re going to hit next.”

Jade moved to stand next to her sister, arms folded and gaze sharpened into a glare. “And how are we going to stop them?”

Huntsman sighed, pulling off his mask in order to rub at his forehead. “We’re working on it. Luthor’s got- I can’t call it a plan yet, but an idea. We need to steal something from the Syndicate first, and that’s going to take time and patience.”

“Stealing from the biggest crooks in the world,” Raquel hummed. “Sounds good to me. What is it?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with, Firework.” Gold Lantern floated over to join them, and despite being a literal alien, his tired expression matched any other overworked human on planet Earth.

“Sinestro, come on.”

“No. This endeavor isn’t something we’re going to discuss anywhere but secure briefing rooms, and no one beyond those directly involved will have anything other than the sparsest of details.” His eyes slid oh so briefly towards M’gann. “The Martian Manslayer is no longer isolating himself, apparently fully recovered from the injuries Psidney and Madam Hornet were able to inflict last fall.”

If Wally thought the girl’s tightly wrapped cloak earlier had been an indication of her feeling defensive, it was nothing compared to how tight the fabric pulled at Lantern’s words - it even visibly hardened into an actual shell. Standing behind her and slightly to one side, Conner’s face spasmed, and he started to lift a hand towards her shoulder, only to pause and awkwardly pull it back down before actually touching the girl.

“Stingray’s been contacted,” Huntsman spoke up again. “As soon as repairs to the Atlantean refugee camp are finished he’s going to zeta in and look over the mountain’s underwater entrance for us. Clarion and the Coven are still busy dismantling the Spire of Fate to get rid of that cursed helmet, but once that’s done they’ll come here to rest and check in with you, Annataz.” The girl nodded, appearing relieved, as did Kaldur beside her. Then Wally straightened when Huntsman looked in his direction. “We were only briefly able to get in touch with the Merry Men, enough to let them know the disturbance has been handled, but there’s no telling how soon they’ll be in a position to cut someone loose to come over.”

Wally grimaced, shaking his head. He gestured to himself and gave a thumb’s up, then pointed towards the zeta tunnel entrance and made a slashing motion. Off to one side, Roy snorted. “Pretty sure the Kid thinks he’s fine, old man.”

Huntsman’s lips twitched into a small smirk. “Be that as it may, they are going to send someone eventually.” Wally huffed.

After that, everybody began to slowly disperse. Artemis and Jade both cornered their dad against a wall to speak with him in low tones; M’gann took off for the hangar with Conner watching her go, whereas Kaldur wandered back towards the bedrooms, yawning once again. Raquel activated her space-tech flight suit in order to help Lantern adjust some things inside the ceiling of the main hub, and Roy headed for the armory, a pensive expression on his face as he counted through the arrows in his quiver.

Trick of course stayed put in the infirmary, Harlequin running her fingers through his short hair and Jester laughingly telling a story about some corrupt police officer he pantsed on live tv. Wally didn’t really want to hang around them just by himself, so he ended up following Annataz into the kitchen.

She spent a minute rummaging through some cabinets, before turning around and jumping. “Oh! S-sorry. Didn’t see you. Um.”

Wally just waved off the apology, then pointed to the supplies cradled in her arms. “Want help?” He managed to rasp.

Annataz pulled out a shaky smile. “Um, sure. Thanks. Have you ever made apple pie before...?”

-Honor-

Life, as always, went on.

Various Honor League members came and went from the Mountain, including Jade, which Wally could see bugged Artemis to no end. Roy apparently also had permission to leave, being eighteen, but the most he ever did was make snack runs down to Harpy Harbor for different kinds of junk food. Wally managed to catch the older redhead alone after one such trip, and hesitantly asked him about it.

“...I used to work for the Crimson Archer,” Roy eventually said, standing in the pantry with a jar of peanut butter still in his hands. “I’m not- obviously, it’s not something I’m proud of. But I was living on the street, and he- he seemed like a better option than the low-level gangs or- other things.”

Wally waited as the guy struggled to put his words together.

Finally, the jar went onto a shelf with a thunk, and Roy turned around to fully face him. “It’s not because I’m still afraid of him, okay? When the League needs some extra long distance support, I’m there. But if they don’t ask, then I- I feel like I need to keep an eye on Artemis.” Something in his tense expression softened. “It was her and Jade’s mom who got me out. Challenger. She gave me something to want more than always flinching under Oliver’s thumb.”

Slowly, Wally nodded. “I get it,” he whispered.

Roy studied him for a long moment, before slowly nodding. “Yeah. I guess you would. You, me, Trick, Annataz - we all started out on the wrong side, before someone here managed to bring us back to the light.”

From the hints Artemis dropped into their conversations, Wally had learned that Trick used to be ‘Talon’, one of Owlman’s pet assassins. But she hadn’t said a word about- “Anna?”

“Mmhm. Her father’s Giovanni Arataz, Kid; the Witchdoctor.”

Oh. No wonder Annataz stayed so quiet all the time. If he had a parent dedicated to dark magic and blood rituals, Wally probably wouldn’t have spoken up to draw attention to himself even before his throat got cut.

“I guess we could add Conner to the list too,” Roy mused, returning to his bags of groceries. “Ultraman technically was making clones of himself to become new lieutenants, until Luthor sabotaged the whole thing and stole the last one.”

“But it’s not like I ever actually did anything for that sociopath.” Wally jumped in his seat as Conner himself walked into the kitchen, a bemused expression on the tall boy’s face.

“Yeah, okay, fair enough. Want something? We’ve got graham crackers and cinnamon sticks, dried jerky, mixed nuts, I think I grabbed a bag of marshmallows-”

“Oreos?”

Roy’s eyebrows went up, but he nodded towards a bag on the end of the counter. Conner thanked him, took out one of two packages, and walked back out the door. Wally made a questioning noise. “...if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s taking those straight to M’gann. I always get a second thing of Oreos for her, and the other one stays in the pantry for the rest of us.”

Wally thought back to Huntsman’s mention of the Manslayer, when Conner almost but not quite reached for the martian girl’s shoulder, and figured it to be a pretty decent assumption. She’d barely emerged from her bio-ship at all since then, causing Artemis and Raquel to frown with concern every time they passed the hangar.

A single package of cookies might be a small thing, but maybe it would be enough to draw her out some more.

-Honor-

Trick first managed to scare the snot out of him when Wally was in the gym early one morning, stretching out his kinked muscles following a hundred-lap run. “I have a question.”

Wally immediately sucked in a sharp, startled breath, freezing partway through the act of standing up. His heart rate, slowing down after the run, instantly leapt back to full sprinting power, and it took a long moment for him to wrestle down the impulse to bolt out the nearest exit. Once back in full control of his faculties, Wally oh so cautiously tipped his head back, to stare at the figure perched on one of the overhead trapeze swings.

Several questions of his own leapt to mind: how long have you been up there; how are you keeping that swing so perfectly still; how did I completely fail to notice you, like, at ALL-

And yet, he only managed to croak out a very wheezy “What?”

Smooth as a bird taking flight, Trick tipped off his swing to drop towards another, hands outstretched. From that he jumped to the nearby bar set, did a couple of loop-de-loops with his whole body, then flipped off to land silently next to Wally. “The League files say Slipstream has a serum he needs to take every day to maintain his super speed; but you don’t, according to the Merry Men. Why?”

Wally forced himself to gulp a couple of times before answering. “Stole, a sample. Lightning. Coma. Woke up, ran.” That said, his throat immediately erupted into a coughing fit.

Trick hummed, swaying slightly as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for the coughs to subside. “So the combination of lightning hitting the serum either mutated you, or woke up a dormant metagene. Very asterous. Hey, as long as you’re here, want to spar?” Wally’s eyes dropped from the other boy’s masked eyes to his stomach, and the bandages barely discernible underneath the dark blue tank top. He frowned, and Trick huffed. “It’s fine. I sparred with Jester yesterday!”

A single eyebrow went up, because Wally very much doubted that, or at least doubted how much strength Jester actually put into his hits. He rubbed at his sore throat, glanced at the nearby mats, and lifted one shoulder in a small half-shrug.

Trick promptly grinned, just wide enough to look creepy rather than reassuring. “Thanks! I promise you won’t regret it.”

...fifteen minutes later, Wally very much did regret it, because even while injured Trick managed to kick his butt six ways to Sunday. Seriously, the smaller boy barely seemed to move at all, yet Wally repeatedly found himself with a foot in his face, or two slamming into his chest, or a leg sweeping his own feet out from under him. Possibly the most embarrassing was the final take-down, when Trick did, literally, kick Wally in the butt to knock him over, before jumping onto his back as he fell and curling an arm around the redhead’s throat when they hit the ground.

Wally froze. Trick paused, his limb almost but not quite touching scarred skin. “...if I was who I used to be, this is probably how I’d kill you.”

Yeah. Wally didn’t doubt that. According to what he’d heard about Gotham, one didn’t become a member of Owlman’s Made Men without being trained in the most gut-punching, trauma-filled ways to kill individual targets: someone with a fear of heights, dropped off the side of a building. An alcoholic drowned with their drink of choice, or a hacker electrocuted by their own equipment. 

Somebody who survived a debilitating injury, wounded in the exact same place to finish the job.

He took a small, shallow breath. Then, Wally reached up behind his shoulder, pinched at the tip of Trick’s nose, and pulled his hand away with his thumb tucked in between the index and middle fingers.

After a startled beat, Trick snorted. “Did you just steal my nose?”

Wally grinned, tipping his head enough to make sure the smaller boy could see. Trick started to giggle, which escalated into a full blown evil cackle, and he dramatically rolled off Wally’s back to flop onto the mat beside him. “How could you! Such betrayal! I will never recover from this, why, SK?”

Snickering softly, Wally turned onto his side and dramatically held the pilfered ‘nose’ aloft. “Souvenir.”

Trick wheezed, curling up into a ball as he shook with laughter.

-Honor-

Later that same day, Wally almost suffered a second heart attack when Harlequin cornered him in a hallway. The warning Artemis gave about don’t mess with Trick suddenly leapt to mind, and the teen winced, very aware he’d likely overstepped in the gym.

And yet, once she’d double-checked that they were alone, Harlequin beamed at him. “You’re a good kid, ya know that Sprinty? Avalanche showed me the security footage of ya playin’ with my little Trick this mornin’, and- he ain’t laughed like that with anybody ‘sides me and my Jay in a long time.”

...oh. Surprised, Wally could only offer a small shrug. Then he oofed when Harlequin grabbed him in a tight hug that could rival Grodd Gorilla’s for sheer arm strength.

“He’s had a hard time, our Trick,” the woman sniffed, when she stepped back again. “Jester tells everyone not t’ mess with him, ‘cause we don’t want somethin’ happening to make him snap, but- when folks find out he used to be Talon, they get scared, and wary. ‘S good to see somebody else act normal with him, though. So thank you. Anything you need, Sprinty, just let your Aunt Harleen know, okay?”

Wally nodded, and accepted another short hug, before Harlequin left him alone to enter the kitchen.

-Honor-

Three weeks following his arrival at Mount Honor, Wally finally got to see one of the Merry Men again. With their zeta tunnel out of commission for the time being, Digger apparently slipped out of Central City on foot and hitched a ride to El Paso, where Madam Hornet maintained a small base in order to keep in touch with a community of Bialyan refugees located there.

“OY,” the Australian hollered as he came through the teleportation device, duffel bag slung over one shoulder and hat tilted to a jaunty angle, “What’s this I hear about the Kid making a nuisance of himself?”

In the chemical lab, Wally groaned, letting his head drop to thunk against the metal table.

Raquel sniggered at him as she passed on her way to greet the new arrival. “Hi, Major Nuisance. You gonna be staying long?”

“Well, either until the week’s up, or our new digs are finished, whichever comes first. Come on out Wallaby, your favorite uncle needs a hug!” Rather than stand, or even lift his head off the table, Wally stretched a single hand up into the air and flipped the bird. Digger promptly roared with laughter. “Atta boy, Kid, stick it to the old people!”

Eventually Wally did, of course, set aside the formula he’d been tinkering with and come out into the main Hub, so Digger could wrap an arm around his shoulders and ruffle his hair into complete disarray. Raquel led the way to a guest room, where Wally hung around as the man settled his handful of clothes and gear. “All good?”

“Yeah, all good on the homefront,” Digger reassured him. “Hartley’s already working on plans for his next Underground Concert, and Lisa’s takin’ advantage of the move to expand her space for housing runaways. Jesse’s drivin’ Mick and Sam up the wall, same as usual, and would very much like to know when we’re gonna get our Sprint Kid back home safe ‘n sound.”

Wally rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help grinning. “Len? Mark?”

“Our good old Citizen in Chief is down to five hours sleep a night, but aside from that he’s doin’ alright, and I fully expect his dear sister’s gonna sit on him one day this week to make the drongo take a long nap. As for the one and only Storm Sage...” the man’s grin took on a distinctly predatory gleam, “Let’s just say Slipstream’s havin’ a heck of a time trying to crack open our old hideout without homemade lightning nippin’ at his heels.”

That deserved a double thumbs up, which made Digger chuckle.

-Honor-

Two days after the Major’s arrival, Luthor called everyone together in the Hub for an informal briefing.

Wally found himself standing with Digger on one side, Artemis on the other; the man’s hand rested reassuringly on his shoulder, and the girl interlaced their fingers, a gesture that sent electric tingles racing through his body. Several other mentors gathered with their kids and students around the large room, the few murmurs falling silent as Luthor took center stage to activate the hologram projectors.

First, an image of Earth. Followed by a second, which doubled into four, then eight, sixteen, and so on. “To begin: our world is but one of many. This is a simplified illustration of the multiverse - an infinite chain of separate realities. Some are different only in the subtlety of a few details, while others appear utterly unrecognizable. Earths that never developed the human race, or suffered massive extinction events to wipe all life away entirely. Places where technology is far more advanced, and others where magic remains the predominant power behind civilization. There are even worlds, such as on this Earth here-” Luthor selected a single image to highlight, “-with a complete inverse of heroes and villains.”

Wally blinked, not quite sure he understood.

“It’s pure chance our research into other universes turned this one up,” the inventor went on, “And we’ve decided to make the most of an available opportunity. A few of our allies have recently completed work on a device capable of transporting several people between universes, so long as it’s fueled by the correct power source. We’re planning to steal something called the Quantum Trigger, tonight, from the Syndicate. With it, I, Jester, and Lady Light, will travel to this nearby Earth, and request the local Justice League come back with us for a joint assault on the Crime Syndicate.”

...huh.

Alright, then.

---

To be continued...

[ohsalome]

Meet Ehtesab, Afghanistan's first civic-technology organization that creates impact-driven solutions to solve challenges across Afghanistan, while building strong and equitable communities.

Ehtesab's Mission is to create a platform that encourages accountability and to facilitate Afghans in their right to know what’s happening inside their communities with real-time and verified information. 

At Ehtesab, we are confident that transparency can drive change for the better. We know that our impact is only measured through the trust that we are able to build through our users. Through our city-wide survey, 87% of respondents requested that Ehtesab should first tackle security. We responded to their request. We are a few weeks away from launching this feature through the Ehtesab app, and we hope that as it provides Afghans with the information they need, we will be able to focus on other issues such as corruption, education, health, and equitable city services. In countries like Afghanistan, building trust is imperative in our culture. Through the usage of technology and the collection of data, we can bring about impact in many ways. From requesting police to increase patrolling in an area prone to the harassment of women to requesting municipalities to increase street lighting in dark alleys or change traffic routes where IEDs are more susceptible during rush hour, Ehtesab aims to inform policy through citizens themselves.

But we need your help. With your support, we can provide 24/7 monitoring of Kabul city and introduce Ehtesab to five other major cities across Afghanistan before September.  How your support will help us achieve our goals: > Hiring three full-time data entry clerks (for 6 months) to ensure Ehtesab users receive real-time and verified reports  > Developing an SMS alerts-based service for users who only have access to a handheld phone  > Launching a mass-marketing campaign to get the word out about Ehtesab to as many Afghans as possible  With the worsening security situation, most funding streams are not taking applications. It would mean everything to us to be able to get to the next stage with your help. Without your support, our work will be stalled inevitably.  We hope you will help us in helping Afghans in this dire and frightening time. Afghans have a right to be informed. Afghans have a right to get home safely.  Please help us achieve this dream that is so very near in our grasp.

Thank you from the entire Ehtesab team!