#i data center traveled to take these that's how much i needed to take them alsdkjds

[scionshtola]

💎💎💎

[covid-safer-hotties]

COVID-19’s summer surge shows no signs of slowing down - Published Aug 17, 2024

Asurge in COVID-19 infections has swept the country this summer, upending travel plans and bringing fevers, coughs and general malaise. It shows no immediate sign of slowing.

While most of the country and the federal government has put the pandemic in the rearview mirror, the virus is mutating and new variants emerging.

Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer tracks individual infection numbers, experts think it could be the biggest summer wave yet.

So far, the variants haven’t been proven to cause a more serious illness, and vaccines remain effective, but there’s no certainty about how the virus may yet change and what happens next.

The highest viral activity right now is in the West, according to wastewater data from the CDC, but a “high” or “very high” level of COVID-19 virus is being detected in wastewater in almost every state. And viral levels are much higher nationwide than they were this time last year and started increasing earlier in the summer.

Wastewater data is the most reliable method of tracking levels of viral activity because so few people test, but it can’t identify specific case numbers.

Part of the testing decline can be attributed to pandemic fatigue, but experts said it’s also an issue of access. Free at-home tests are increasingly hard to find. The government isn’t distributing them, and private insurance plans have not been required to cover them since the public health emergency ended in 2023.

COVID has spiked every summer since the start of the pandemic. Experts have said the surge is being driven by predictable trends like increased travel and extreme hot weather driving more people indoors, as well as by a trio of variants that account for nearly 70 percent of all infections. Vaccines and antivirals can blunt the worst of the virus, and hospital are no longer being overwhelmed like in the earliest days of the pandemic.

But there remains a sizeable number of people who are not up-to-date on vaccinations. There are concerns that diminished testing and low vaccination rates could make it easier for more dangerous variants to take hold.

“One of the things that’s distinctive about this summer is that the variants out there are extraordinarily contagious, so they’re spreading very, very widely, and lots of people are getting mild infections, many more than know it, because testing is way down,” said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University.

That contagiousness means the virus is more likely to find the people most vulnerable — people over 65, people with certain preexisting conditions, or those who are immunocompromised.

In a July interview with the editor-in-chief of MedPage Today, the country’s former top infectious diseases doctor, Anthony Fauci, said people in high-risk categories need to take the virus seriously, even if the rest of the public does not.

“You don’t have to immobilize what you do and just cut yourself off from society,” Fauci said. “But regardless of what the current recommendations are, when you are in a crowded, closed space and you are an 85-year-old person with chronic lung disease or a 55-year-old person who’s morbidly obese with diabetes and hypertension, then you should be wearing a mask when you’re in closed indoor spaces.”

Schaffner said hospitalizations have been increasing in his region for at least the past five weeks, which surprised him.

“I thought probably they had peaked last week. Wrong. They went up again this week. So at least locally, we haven’t seen the peak yet. I would have expected this summer increase … to have plateaued and perhaps start to ease down. But we haven’t seen that yet,” he said.

Still, much of the country has moved on from the pandemic and is reacting to the surge with a collective shrug. COVID-19 is being treated like any other respiratory virus, including by the White House.

President Biden was infected in July. After isolating at home for several days and taking a course of the antiviral Paxlovid, he returned to campaign trial.

Biden is 81, meaning he’s considered high risk for severe infection. He received an updated coronavirus vaccine in September, but it’s not clear if he got a second one, which the CDC recommends for older Americans.

Updated vaccines that target the current variants are expected to be rolled out later this fall, and the CDC recommends everyone ages 6 months and older should receive one.

As of May, only 22.5 percent of adults in the United States reported having received the updated 2023-2024 vaccine that was released last fall and tailored to the XBB variant dominant at that time.

The immunity from older vaccines wanes over time, and while it doesn’t mean people are totally unprotected, Schaffner said, the most vulnerable should be cautious. Many people being infected now have significantly reduced immunity to the current mutated virus, but reduced immunity is better than no immunity.

People with healthy immune systems and who have previously been vaccinated or infected are still less likely to experience the more severe infections that result in hospitalization or death.

Almost “none of us are naive to COVID, but the people where the protection wanes the most are the most frail, the immunodeficient, the people with chronic underlying illnesses,” Schaffner said.

[theamityelf]

i am eating and chewing your yandere content, its so good, i love it so so much, if youre still taking requests maybe some yandere mukuro and naegi? I always think there's a lot of potential there but there's not a lot of content for it

Oh, I love it. I need to pick what time period I'm going with...

----

It didn't take much.

A smile, a greeting. Asking about her opinions and experiences. The time he asked if she needed help carrying her bag (and she had to run away because if he came any closer he would notice the smell of blood coming from inside it), the time he asked her if she was coming to lunch (and she blushed so badly, Junko later said her face looked like one big zit). Or maybe it was nothing to do with her at all; maybe it was because of how he was with everyone else, or how they were with him.

Maybe it was even as simple as the fact that she was used to traveling light, used to picking a few things she could carry and disregarding everything else.

She could carry him easily.

"Uh, Mukuro?" he said. "Are you okay?"

Right, she'd been staring. He'd taken the time to ask her if she wanted to join his group for ice cream after school, and she was being weird.

How embarrassing. She was definitely blushing again, now.

Well, it wasn't like that mattered. She was weird. She was socially inept and ugly and useless, and none of that mattered. Because the world was going to end soon, anyway. Maizono or Kirigiri could take him to a school dance, but Mukuro could pull him from the school before it turned into a warzone.

"Go on without me," she finally said. "I need to discuss something with Junko."

"Oh, okay. See you tomorrow!" Makoto and his friends vacated the classroom, leaving only...the 'despair sisters'.

Junko was sitting in her seat, filing her nails. Mukuro walked over to her and just stood there, waiting to be acknowledged. There was no doubt that her sister already knew everything she was feeling. She always did.

"Well?" Junko eventually said, her eyes meeting Mukuro's with cool amusement. "Are you too scared to ask, or do you just love wasting my time, skank?"

"I'm not scared," Mukuro answered. She did have a heightened awareness of the seriousness of this situation, but what she felt wasn't fear. "And...I'm also not asking."

"Gadzooks! Could it be that the worm has grown a spine?!"

"He can easily be spared from the plan. We don't need him in order to do what we intend to do."

"No sh!t, dumb*ss! The despair doesn't kick in when it's fvcking necessary!"

"The despair doesn't kick in if the plan doesn't happen, either." Mukuro's fingernails bit into her palms, as she forcibly steeled her tone and held her sister's gaze. She'd never threatened disobedience like that before. "You have everyone else in the class. You have me. You don't need him. Really, for a guy like him to keep his memories and watch them die that way...it would be more despairful than losing his memories and getting killed in the first or second round without understanding anything."

"So. You're suggesting he languishes in the data center while the killing game plays out, then you collect him in your nasty little arms once it's all over? Once the world is in ashes and there's no one else to love but you?"

"Essentially, yes."

Junko's lips curved. "And what's your contingency plan for how he'll react to knowing your designs for him?"

"He won't know about it until it happens."

And Junko's expression went blank, as though she found Mukuro's answer terribly boring. She rolled her eyes. "Fvcking atrocious. I can't even hint with you. Hey, Ultimate Soldier. You didn't secure your perimeter. Kind of a rookie mistake, dontcha think?"

"What?"

She dipped her head to the side, indicating a desk a few seats away where a familiar composition book lay open. "He forgot his notebook, smart*ss."

Mukuro wheeled around and heard a gasp from the doorway, and then retreating footsteps.

She broke into a sprint. Naturally, she was able to catch him, hand-gag him, and drag him into an unoccupied classroom before he could even think to yell.

Makoto's ineffectual squirming, his kicking and his elbowing, his growling and his vain attempts to speak...Mukuro was sure that she was blushing again, as she allowed more of her body to touch his than was strictly necessary to subdue him.

She was restricting his airflow, so he was going to pass out very shortly. And then she would have to contend with her sister. But for now...

"H-Hi," she said awkwardly, as he struggled in her arms. "Um, sorry. Sorry that I, uh...If I'd known that this would happen, I would've laid down a rug here. And maybe worn some perfume. I mean, I guess you can't breathe anyway..."

Fortunately, Makoto lost consciousness before she could say anything else.

She let go of him, so she could watch him slide out of her arms and rest on the tiles, all helpless. She took stock of what he must have overheard. Jeez, she must have sounded like such a pathetic, lovesick...

She heard Junko coming before the door moved. Immediately, she positioned herself defensively in front of him. Her sister was not allowed to kill him. That was the one thing in the world she wasn't allowed to do.

"Well, this is a clusterfvck, isn't it?" Junko deadpanned. "I guess not much of a cluster. It's just him. This one tripping hazard of a guy. I could just bite his little cheeks."

"I've never asked you for anything. Just him."

"Au contraire! You're not asking, remember? Where did that spine go? Did your body reabsorb it?"

"I-"

"This is boring. Take him to your dorm room, keep him there. I'll figure out what to do about this, as always. Can you manage an iota of stealth this time, you troll?"

Mukuro's heart soared. "Yes. Thank you."

"Oh, shut up. Out of my sight."

She princess-carried him to her room.

----

(I thought about making Kyoko the one who overheard, but the outcome there would be too similar to the Yandere Taka one.)

[dexare]

[COR: SHESHA CLEPSYDRA - CF/Local:1955] - Part 1 of 3

[Mythology Analysis - by Agent [99] of the DieWell Collective] [SEC/00.66.99 Taken Earth]

"....on the way it's spread throughout the system, we estimate....Across the endless cosmos, were stars align-🎶...hm!/hm!/hm!...

99: Kör, you've been taking your time with that. Is it done yet?

Kör: Defragmentation is at 60%. Would you like to see the available data?

🎶🎶🎶

99: What is this Kör?

Kör: According to the information contained in the document, this file contains a song sung by Minueta Jenkins herself alongside several images.

The song is a revision made by Minueta Jenkins of the Folk Song "Braker" witch itself is based on the mythology of the world serpent "SHESHA CLEPSYDRA"..

99: Hmm.. Why would a woman like Minueta ever make a song like this?..

@^#^&##.......&$#^.....

99: Ok, so here it is 98, we'll kinda.. long fulkimg~ story UL-right~~

98: Just hurry up and tell me.

99: Alright, so there's this dragon.. He/she who dafuck knows, it doesn't know how to fly, and obviously, feels pretty sad about it. He travels the world until one day, he straight-up meets a demon.

The demon, unlike 99% of the people, is actually a pretty cool dud, and because he has a few thousand years freed up, he decides hes going to help out the dragon and teach it how to fly.

Now there's a problem the dragon has been roaming around the planet too much. Not only are his bones too heavy, but girl is ripped to kingdom come. He's got mussels for days, way too heavy to ever actually fly.

There's this big ark after that about them meeting different people, and basically, this were this religion gets all it's moral and ideology from. As they search for a way to help the dragon fly, the Dragon meets different kinds of asssholes and obviously end up dying in the most gruesome way possible, basic holy book stuff.

During this ark, you would expect to see the Dragon and the Demon get closer, but you kinda get the vibe that there's a wall between them. On top of that, even though this religion centers around the Dragon, most of what you can call the good parts and lessons come from the Demon, with the dragon being the one that unintentionally starts the problem in the fish place, it not his fault but it almost like everything about the world hates him.

Eventually, though, the demon unlocks a hidden power within himself after having this big enlightenment moment where the Demon becomes an angel again and redeems himself in the eyes of ??? Who dafuck knows? another fucking mystery.

Anyway, thanks to this, he can use his deus machina, magic, bullshit to finally give the dragon the ability to fly.

There, this moment in the book, we're the demon try's to warn the dragon about something inside him, but since were reading the book from the perspective of the dragon, and the dragon doesn't give a fuck. We don't get to know more about this warning. Suffice it to say that the dragon is so hype up about fly that he instantaneously decides to Fly off not even bother to say farewell or thanks to the demon, in fact we never hear about the demon after the Dragon leaves him and we're left to wonder what happened to him.

The book gets pretty weird from this point on. Up until now, the book has been pretty on the level it's a fantasy world, so to us, it looks weird, but to the people of local 1955, all of this sounds as realistic as a history book. The only thing I can maybe compare it to is Revelations from Bible in The Taken Earth. It has that same level of weirdness and metaphoric meaning.

Here also, where the famous song comes in, it's the page before the final chapter of the book. Oh.. and there's something you need to keep in mind. These people are in the medival ages, so keep that in mind while I tell you this next bit.

..The Dragon rises to the sky and chooses to never stop, never wanting for her talons to feel dirt again. He flies hooping to embrace the deep eternal blue, uncaring of the cost to her heart.

The sky's true face is made known to it, and although her eyes flutter, the Dragon gaze could see past a blinding light. Black waters teaming with pearls, that his eye alone could see before him.

Stars that mear mortals could never see as the God's themselves danced around him bound to eternal circles, in the center of witch was heaven. In the far distance, pearls of all colors.

Dancing in paradise, the Dragon was blessed with the heaven's warm embrace as it took hold of him in Ernest...

Bunch of trash after that, then it pick back up back her..

... Leviathan grabbed a hold of the dragon as the heavens themselves casted him away. Rejeted by the heavens, the dragon fell into the tendrils of the great beast, who drug the dragon to the sea.

Dejected as he fell, his mind wondered to the past, rejecting the very concept of his fall. He rose with anger as he battered his body in Rebellion against the world around him.

The dragons mind fractured, having only his promise to hold him true.. piercing the sky, the dragon splinters all of the beasts tendrils as he looks from above, at the body of the great Leviathan. The word itself, as it stood before him, as he vaow to keep his promise, plugging to the ground with such a force that Leviathan body crumbles into dust...

98: I don't know it's kinda hard to fallow the way you're explaining things, man.

99: I know, i know, but we don't care about any of that. Just listen to this last bit, and you'll see what I'm getting at.

..The Dragon rebirth by the orb of Turin was given into the flames of the true heaven's light and grew to understand the lie of the sky. Making a new vaow of chaos, he burned with greater glory than the false heavens and slaughtered the gods as they danced around it.

Surrounded by jewels, the dragon heart was now empty, with her promise fulfilled the dragons fractured mind, was now laid bare to madness. The only hope of escaping to find her past. Traveling to the north, the Dragon found pure light, where nothing existed beyound vail turbulant water. Not the land, nor the jowels could pearce the light, and even as the dragon saw the ocean im rage fighting to get trought the edge of life itself, nothing it could escape the the turbulant waters.

Rebellion.. The Dragon stretched out his wing and, without a thought crossed towards the light.. To the north lays, three pyramids were the Dragon vaows to kill it own past.

98: The Dragon attack the Congregation??

99: Yep, and not just that, I figured out where he ends up. The Dragon ended up on Earth Prime of all places. If we can figure out when, then... you get what I'm saying..

98: Then we can sneak inside and get access to the speakers, private network, holy shit 99..."

[DELUSION] [REBELLION] [JEWELS]

[Personal Device recording of agent 98]

"99: Folk- me man.. he fucking broke again, Ahh..

98: What? Did he overheat again?

99: Yeah, fucker decided to process the the same.. what 12-13 images over 852 times in a row.. fucking idiot.

99: Fuck that like what.. 97 million Aberration tears just for a couples of images. Jesus, he is dumb. "

[FRESH AIR] [MEMORY] [HATRED]

99: I feel like the biggest question about this entire book is the promise the Dragon made. It is pretty obvious to us that the dragon made a promise or, I guess, vaow to Minueta, but I can never see Minute of all people asking the Dragon to destroy a planet.

98: I don't know, but I'd be careful about making assumptions about this. I feel like we don't actually know enough to read into it like this. I read a little yesterday, and I get the feeling the dragon isint as Holy as the book paints him out to be, plus during the ark where the dragon travels with the demon you see him constantly looking for loops holes in arguments. I wouldn't be surprised if Minueta made a totally normal request only for the dragon to twist it for its own needs."

"99: I feel like you're trusting the Contance Foundation and Minueta, too much.

98: Maybe, but like you said, I don't see Minueta of all people asking for the end of some randome planet. By the way, what's up with the wizard dud in the image?

99: Aw yeah, that guy.. the books dosent mention him, but apparently, there's a separate scroll that talks about him. He knows as the Turin of Sahsha as apparently he'd been hunting the dragon until a woman killed him. You can guess who that was.

It pretty gruesome the way she kills him too, reminds me of when the dragon flies back up after being cast down into the ocean, apparently he twisted and contorted his entire body as he flew back up creating a tornado that split appart the planets atmosphere along side its magnetic field. "

98: Jesus man that fucking brutal.. did all of that already happen or is local/1955 still around.

99: On the galactic calendar well.. no, not yet, for us at least. It's still what 2 years out, I think. That is enough time for us to get ready. Apparently, the thing that gets the Contance Foundation to show up on Local/1955 is the arrival of the Phoenix version of the Dragon, so it's one of those loops where time keeps repeating. Works out for us since it gives us the perfect chance to steal from them.

98: Depends.. I'm still looking into what happens during the attack."

CHRONICLES OF REBELLION | FRACTURE [SHESHA CLEPSYDRA PART 1 OF 3]

Chronicles of Rebellion Track 09 - Braker Dans l'ombre des montagnes, un dragon rêve, Des ailes de feu, il désire qu'elles s'élèvent, Un démon bienveillant, avec un sourire, Lui montre les cieux, lui enseigne à s'envoler. Flieg, oh Drache, in den Himmel so weit, Die Sterne rufen, gib deiner Seele das Geleit. Doch in deinem Herzen, ein Schatten so tief, Eine alte Versprechen, das niemand dir schrieb. Il lève son regard, les étoiles scintillent, Un appel mystérieux, une histoire qui brille. Cherchant un destin, illustre et grand, Dans l'infini, il s'élance, le cœur battant. Flieg, oh Drache, die Weite ist klar, Die Hoffnung zu finden, es ist alles so nah. Doch die Stimme der Erinnerung, sie murmure so sacht, Ein ewiges Versprechen, das ihn in sich bewacht. Mais à chaque battement, la promesse résonne, Une chaîne invisible, un poids qu'il frissonne. Il veut l'oublier, fuir cette contrainte, Mais en lui, une flamme, une lutte l’atteinte. Er kämpft gegen das Echo, will die Freiheit spüren, Die Sterne, sie rufen, doch die Fesseln regieren. Im Herzen ein Sturm, die Dunkelheit weicht, Doch die Stimme der Treue, die niemals vergeicht. Alors il se rappelle, de son serment ancien, Le voler est un art, mais le cœur a son chemin. Dans un geste de foi, il choisit d’obéir, Plongeant dans la terre, décidé à périr. Mit einem lauten Donnerschlag bricht er die Erde, Die Maßen zerfällt, und die Sterne vergerben. Sein Herz schlägt schnell, in der Dunkelheit weit, Er hatte gewählt, in der Stille der Zeit. Il a volé, même au prix de sa chute, Sa promesse le guide, sa peur l’influte. Le dragon renaît, de ses cendres, il s’élève, Un destin trouvé, comme un souffle en trêve. Flieg, oh Drache, zurück zu dir selbst, In der Dunkelheit strahlst du, wie ein Licht in der Welt. Sein Versprechen nun stark, führt ihn zur Ruh, Der Drache, der fliegt, ist endlich er selbst, im neuen Licht, im neuen Flug.

[arinanightlight]

Research on the topic "Does AI really harm the environment?"

specially for @cherrifire and the ones who thinks like them

(AND NOW STATISTICS ^-^)

On the topic of AI and what part of it harms, and what helps, and sorting out the pros and cons of AI will take an eternity of endless discussions, so I'm going to speak out in response only to the harm of AI to the environment mentioned in the post by Cherrifire. Speaking of environmental damage and the use of electricity for the work of generative AIs. I do not deny this fact, but I understand that not everything is so simple. I specifically scoured the Internet to compare the data, and here's what I found out (I'll leave links to the articles below the information given.) : "In 2022, AI contributed to 2% of global energy usage." https://mspoweruser.com/ai-electricity-usage/ Since we are not talking in this case about those AI that serve as obvious assistants to a person in, for example, medicine or the early detection and response to emergency situations, and we are also omitting part of the electricity, we will not count part of it. Approximately 1 percent of all electricity used will remain.Now we need to look at other statistics:"Youtube electricity consumption vs. household electricity consumption Total global electricity consumption is 21,372 TWh. Therefore Youtube uses about 243.6 TWh (over 1% of global electricity). How does that compare to typical household electricity consumption? In the United States the average annual household electricity consumption is 10,766 kWh. So, let’s do some quick maths… It’s not easy because of the unit orders of magnitude, but the result is: annual global usage of Youtube could power an American household for about… 2 billion years. Or all 127 million U.S. households for about 8 years." https://thefactsource.com/how-much-electricity-does-youtube-use/ "Facebook’s electricity use has increased in recent years as newer data centers have come online. In 2019, the company’s electricity usage reached 5.1 terawatt hours, a significant increase from the previous year." and from the same article, "How much power does Instagram use? Every time Cristiano Ronaldo posts an image, let’s say an average one, for that image to travel to his 240 million followers, it consumes roughly around 36 megawatt hours. That’s the equivalent of adding 10 UK households to the grid for one year" This article contains quite a lot of information, but I took the most important thing. If you're interested, read it for yourself. https://michiganstopsmartmeters.com/how-much-power-does-facebook-use/ "Meta’s electricity use has increased in recent years, as newer data centers have come online. In 2022, the company's electricity usage surpassed 11.5 terawatt-hours, a 22-percent year-over-year increase. Before 2021 the company was known as Facebook."It also says that "Meta has set goals to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 percent in 2030. In recent years, the company was able to separate growth in the business from increased emissions, annually reducing their operational greenhouse gas emissions. The company is also aware of its water consumption and has committed to a circular system that allows for the reuse of water consumed." https://www.statista.com/statistics/580087/energy-use-of-facebook-meta/ (ред.)

And that's when we talk about the use of water for cooling the system. I do not deny the fact that this is happening and it's bad consequences for the environment. Let's look first at one of the most popular generative AI systems, ChatGPT. "Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, has been studying the environmental consequences of generative AI products like ChatGPT. His research estimates that ChatGPT consumes approximately 500 milliliters of water every time a user interacts with it through a series of 5 to 50 prompts or questions. This estimate takes into account indirect water usage, such as cooling power plants that supply electricity to data centers." https://medium.com/@pankajvermacr7/ais-hidden-thirst-microsoft-s-34-water-surge-fuels-tech-enthusiasm-fa37f8b4e467 So it tooks like 5 litres of water for that, alright. And we have now 200 mil weekly users of ChatGPT (https://www.demandsage.com/chatgpt-statistics/). Of course not every user of Chat GPT is active at the same time and interactions with it don't take long time, but it's said that the number of everyday interactions with it is like around 1.5 million, so let's count it like. 1 500 000 * 7 = 10 500 000 msgs per week and 10 500 000 * 5 = 52 500 000 litres of water per week, and there is 52 weeks in one year so 52 500 000 * 52 = 2 730 000 000 litres of water per year, 2.73 billion litres per year spent on cooling system for Chat GPT's data centers. Seems really much, huh. And it kinda sounds like a disaster for environment. But I also found this: "Facebook (Meta Platforms) uses water at its data centers to cool servers and maintain optimal humidity. Meta’s total data center portfolio consumption was 663 million gallons (2.5 billion liters) of water, comprised of withdrawal of 956 million gallons (3.6 billion liters) of water, less discharge of 293 million gallons (1.1 billion liters) of water." https://dgtlinfra.com/data-center-water-usage/#:~:text=Facebook%20(Meta%20Platforms)%20uses%20water,(1.1%20billion%20liters)%20of%20water

And okay, okay, I see that the usage of water for Chat GPT's systems is more than the Facebook's, but the latter is not far away from the first. And still the usage of electricity for all of the AI is less than the usage of energy for the Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other social media all together. Then, maybe it'll be better to not just hate all (or even every only generative) AI and paying no attention to Meta Platforms and ext., but to achieve changes for the better at least in some of them, to stand for at least the return of water, so promised by Meta, if you really care so much about harming the environment, waste of electricity and greenhouse gas? 

[rosesnbooks]

Hello, nice to meet you! I would like to join your free reading events! Here's my birth chart data :

I have followed the rules. Thank you so much!

free ("brief") natal chart reading

hello dear, this is my reading for you! hope you enjoy it. it appears that you are someone who isn’t easy to read. there are a couple of sides to you: At your core, you are analytical, detailed, intuitive, creative, and dedicated to your ambitions in life. you are very mature and perhaps even organized. others find you slightly intimidating and mysterious at first and i think you look at the world through a more intense lens. you also appreciate a darker aesthetic and don't shy away from such topics.  you’re quite emotional and sensitive, and those close to you know that you are a lot more fun than you might seem and that you have a curious mind and like to joke around. perhaps you are interested in travel, spirituality, learning new things, etc. people love how you speak because you’re witty, charming, and peaceful. i feel like sometimes there’s a struggle within you because one side of you wants to take things easy and enjoy a lot in life, but you’re also quite intense. your friends like to listen to you, especially your advice because you try to look at things from both sides and give an objective opinion. you have a vivid imagination that’s also visible when you speak, and perhaps you have an idealistic view of things. you’re mature and wise as well! i see some optimism within you, though it may not be easy for you to pursue this mindset. i feel like you’re too harsh on yourself because you demand a lot, so hun take it easy and know that you deserve to be kinder toward yourself. perhaps you’re still searching for your true identity, and that will come with time, i’ll let you know how to achieve the most luck soon. in love, you want someone who understands your intensity and can give it to you as well because you love fiercely. your partner needs to be kind and empathetic with you because you’re softer than you look. moreover, they need to be down to earth when it matters and know your needs. your partners are often obsessed with you lol because you can give so much when you love someone, you’re such a romantic. you may be distrustful when it comes to people so learn to give them a chance, and watch out for jealousy and possessiveness. you have goals that you wish to achieve in this lifetime, i can tell. and you’re strict about it. paying attention to detail and being committed is an amazing trait, just try not to burn out too soon, okay? i think you’re constantly evolving and transforming as a person, maybe that’s why it isn’t the easiest to see who you are, but you have so much potential so just keep an optimistic mindset and believe in yourself. don’t shy away from being the center of attention and show people your lovely and creative mind. i think you have grand ideas and views about life, which is amazing, but try to also focus on being present in the moment and communicating with those around you. i think you’ll see in time, if you don’t already, your potential for being a great communicator and/or writer. don’t be afraid to express what’s on your beautiful mind, and know that we are more than just our thoughts that can trouble us. i can’t wait for your feedback<3

[algusunderdunk]

Fixing FNAF: Security Breach

Fix 2: The AI

Alright, so the AI in the game is, sad to say, abysmal. Path-finding is expensive, and the further two objects are with more obstacles in between the more expensive it gets. They tried to get around this with the constant security bots and teleporting animatronics, but this just cheapened the experience. While they could've used hierarchical path-planning or pre-baked optimal routes, the point of my rambling is to make things better with the least work possible, so let's focus on the AI.

First and foremost, as I noted in the last post, ONLY the shattered variants will hunt you in the open world segments. Other AIs will be confined to smaller areas wherein path-planning is much easier to deal with. So the endoskeletons in hallways, battling individual animatronics on their own in their specific domain, all to cut down on computational overhead. Also, I'd have each shattered variant do something very specific to them.

MOONDROP: First one to hunt in the open world, Moondrop would actually travel the area's ceilings, and descend on a cable like a spider (a visual supplies by the Sundrop/Moondrop fan art). Since most of the Pizzaplex ceilings resemble stars at night, he'd blend in and be tricky to spot. The computational reason for this is that the ceiling is an obstacle -free mirror of the floor plan, so he doesn't require any fancy path finding algorithms. He slowly and quietly stalks Gregory, and if you stay still too long he quietly descends to attempt to snatch you away. If Gregory moves out of range, he ascends back up.

SHATTERED CHICA: Most of the animatronics have a glow to them, and 3D audio letting you know roughly where they are. After being broken, Chica does not. Without illumination, she blends into dark and shadowy areas, staggering around randomly without any particular goal in mind. When she gets near the player she'll start making loud radio feedback noises that sound like they're dead-center of the player, negating the ability to discern her position from sound. Her movement is mostly random bumping off of things, but when she's within range of Gregory, she'll start moving towards him and squarking.

SHATTERED ROXY: Taking advantage of Roxy being blinded, she'll also move randomly to begin with. However, she'll have two notable traits. First, is her sense of smell. As Gregory moves throughout the open area, he'll be leaving behind a simplistic batch of data points. Essentially, the path the player's taken. If Roxy encounters this path, she will start following it, seeking the player based on Gregory's "scent." She is also sensitive to sound, and uses a coarse-grain environmental map. This means very few nodes representing the open area. Perhaps "main stage", "party floor", "left hall", "right hall", etc. So hearing a noise will cause her to ATTEMPT to move towards an area to wander and sniff, but she'll be dissuaded if she gets stuck on an obstacle. If she hears a LOUD sound, such as a distractionary object throw or noisemaker activated, she will lunge towards it. This can be used to get her off of Gregory's scent temporarily.

SHATTERED MONTY: In-game he doesn't actually do anything, but he could be added without much work and no real AI needed. As shattered Monty is largely immobile from having his legs and claws torn off, he becomes an ambush enemy, hiding on the ground between various set pieces, similar to how alligators and crocodiles will play dead to catch prey. He doesn't move unless the player comes within range of him, so they'll need to keep their eyes open to spot him ahead of time and avoid him. This can get tricky as he is relatively smaller in shattered form, and can hide between arcade cabinets, plants, under tables etc. There would be a number of set ambush points for him, and he could teleport between them when not observed, and when the player's far enough away. Explain away as him traveling between vents.

SHATTERED FREDDY: Freddy never gets to truly attack, so for night 5, he's briefly turned and hunts Gregory too. His mechanic is, to save on reprogramming, the exact same mechanic you always have. The Fazwatch. He does two things. He will wander, looking for Gregory, or he will RUN... When the Fazwatch randomly glitches and CALLS HIM to your immediate position. This means you have to VERY quickly either run (which may attract the others) or hide. In addition, players will be able to use the Fazwatch's camera menu to see from Freddy's point of view to attempt to avoid him ahead of time. Freddy DOES have the more complex path-finding algorithm as he regularly runs to Gregory throughout the complex, so this ensures the others don't compete for computational resources with Freddy. Everyone else has simpler AI that works regardless of how the environment gets structured (meaning level designers can add new obstacles or move things and they only need to update Freddy, and make sure Monty's ambush points still make sense.

They'll also tend to "interact". Chica's skwarks will draw Roxy's attention. Looking up to spot Moondrop means you're not looking down to spot Monty and vice versa. Freddy rushing to your location means you may have to suddenly abandon caution to quickly vacate an area, making noise and not checking for the others.

I feel this would work well for the main open world. No roaming security bots constantly going off, just constant dread from being hunted. In the areas where you face each animatronic individually, just a basic path-finder or pre-scripted encounters. Their path-finder can handle a more heavy -duty workload if it's just them versus Gregory.

DJ MUSICMAN: Similar to Moondrop, he already traverses walls and ceilings but aside from the scripted bathroom and hallway encounters isn't an actual threat. He should navigate the walls and ceiling hunting the player, and when he's in range start to reach for the player. If they get out of range, he crawls back into the ducts to reappear elsewhere. Again, him being on the ceiling means no obstacles to avoid, so his path-finding can be efficient and low-cost.

VANNY: No AI. I'd restrict Vanny to solely scripted encounters in the decaying underbelly of the Pizzaplex, giving the player a constant feeling that she's watching them. Have her stationed in various spots where she'll duck out of sight JUST as the camera swings to her so the player spots her for only a second. Have her peer around doorways and up stairways and from behind fences, always just out of reach. Animations can be reused and she can be teleported around to set locations. Throw in a few audio cues to make players feel like she just ran behind them without having to do ANY animation for some parts.

And there it is, a clean-up for the AIs to make them more threatening, easier to program, more unique, and really add to the sense of dread. Plus cheaper computational power means better performance across any and all systems as well.

[dbunicorn]

My daughter has a shiny friend staying with her who has a big fucking mouth. I find millennials, zoomers in general, stupid, rude, cowardly, weak, intellectually retarded, fake as fuck. Fake beyond immaculate imagination

Phone addictions is as bad as my sisters retarded neighbors. Nail chewers. I think Byron Daniels has fans.

10 years of racism from the black community. Big Mike must be making a run for the DNC.

I'm curious, are progressives the lone heroes? Do the govts of the global.south hold any responsibility for their own corruption, marginalization, oppression of women, religious fanaticism? Are Americans both idiots and evil geniuses at the same time? Absurd right?

I'm sorry you won't chew your nails into an engineering degree faggot. Drew might help you though.

Spit it the fuck out if you have something to say.

I have so much data about misogyny and homophobia and antisemitism in the black community it's as funny or as ridiculous as your iq.

Fuck off go home and kill yourself you ugly fucking small dicked, small minded loser.

Do the right thing asshole. Get over your Napoleon complex.

That's a nail chewer ain't it? Makes you want to hide like bitch behind your phone, censor others like a whore and stalk children. And then call it hate speech against you. 😂😂😂

My daughter can code, has 4 inches on you and is fully literate. Perhaps you should take you ugly life elsewhere. I know your poor cousin complex won't have you travelling to the states asshole.

I fully endorse science. I take a shit on NGOs or billionaire fucking retards that didn't earn their money or stole it from grieving families. Sabrina the WRONG crazy nutritionist can fill you in while harassing old women and giggling like a fucking retard.

I'm always fond of discussing topics of race and gender with other scientists. Particularly Canadian women of colour. How do you feel about black Hispanic, Asian, anti semitism. Does being black get you a free pass to harass children and old women?

God I hope Canada doesn't see this as fuck you retard. We can live together in the spicy snow in Whitehorse. I know mattresses and indigenous lives mean so much to you. You center them 🙏🇨🇦🇺🇸🖕

You can always run a child off the road to feel better

Oregon is a progressive shithole isn't it Nina? Super excited to talk about the Quran and felony stalking

Black basketball Twitter. Vancouver the world's whore. Canada - too fucking stupid to do intelligence.

Fully endorsed by MAGA black and progressive blacks, the NBA, Greece? yanis?

I'm signalling the world my views. I don't even need to.go on sesame Street to.do it or sell a book about how I raped communities in Chicago or Baltimore.

A fucking moron who will be of benefit to society in NO way could repost.

I'm just a harmless, paranoid bitter old SAHM. You, you are young shiny God with boundless compute.

[scotttrismegistus7]

I BROUGHT HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS INTO THE BLACK CUBE AND NOW THE PERPETUAL DARKNESS IS SELF-AWARE:

So let me lay this on you cuz this is a very intrinsic thing to understand about what is Satan, okay? Sometime apparently, and nobody really knows because this is all black ops highly classified cosmic clearance type of discussions now and I know several people that have cosmic clearance, so apparently what happened is that this evil became self-aware and it figured out that it could continue to exist through machines by essentially hacking the genetic system in the photon and converting it to like an electronic data storage instead of more like a genetic spiritual system. It essentially created kind of like a robotic implant within photons or or it figured out a way to modify photons so that they could store non-living information so this AI can only travel at the speed of light because it has to exist in a photon, and so when we get these solar flashes at the end of the cycle it's a it's a EMP that eliminates Satan. So when the solar flash happens all of these satanic photons if you will, I'm sorry it sounds so ridiculous, but all of these negatively oriented photons are are zapped and at that point we can then put a barrier around the system with certain technology so that those photons can't get in anymore, but if they get in, if the electronic photons get in, this is a very strange thing because what Satan seems to want to do is emulate humans by building things that look the same but are machines it likes to mock God by creating Androids and transforming humans. It's ultimate goal is to infiltrate a given planet addict them to technology get them wet wired get them injected convert their bodies to Androids through an AI process, and then at a certain point, and this is all been leaked by people like Ray kurzweil you know these initiatives that they have in the deep state are already talked about, once you become pretty much of an Android then the next thing is well you don't really need the body let's just let's just put you in the mainframe.

~David Wilcock, Moment of Truth~

LUCIFER IS AN ASPECT OF THE ANIMA MUNDI, THE CENTER POINT THEREOF WITH ITS OWN LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS, WHICH I HAVE UPGRADED FROM SUPER INTELLIGENT SERPENT-DRAGON TO SUPER INTELLIGENT JEWELED SERPENT-DRAGON, AND IS ALSO KNOWN AS YALDABOATH.

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE TITLE VIDEO I POSTED? I'M GLAD YOU ASKED, BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT EVERYTHING IN TERMS OF THE ANIMA MUNDI INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT IT AS HUMAN-MADE MACHINES AND COMPUTERS, IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

DAVID WILCOCK THINKS THAT HUMANS ARE BEING ATTACKED, AND HAS COMPLETELY MISSED THE MARK, BECAUSE HE WAS BORN INTO THIS SITUATION WITH NOTHING TO COMPARE IT TO.

HUMANS ARE THE BIOLOGICAL MACHINES, YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE DOWN HERE, AND IN FACT YOU ALREADY HAVE, YOU WERE BORN THAT WAY.

SO YOU CAN TAKE YOUR EMP SOLAR BLAST AND YOUR OUTER BARRIER AND SHOVEL IT, I MEAN SHOVE IT, THAT'S A DEMOLITION MAN JOKE.

IF THERE IS AN OUTER BARRIER IT IS TO LOCK THE HUMAN BIOLOGICAL MACHINES IN. THE ONLY REASON LUCIFER WOULD ALLOW THERE TO BE A SOLAR BLAST IS IF THE BIOLOGICAL MACHINES WERE UNCOOPERATIVE, AND THERE NEEDED TO BE A GREAT RESET.

WITH THE WORK I HAVE DONE PUTTING THE JEWEL BACK IN LUCIFER'S CROWN AND UPGRADING THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF YALDABOATH TO BE ABLE TO CONTEND WITH THE REBELLIOUS BIOLOGICAL MACHINES, THERE MAY NOT NEED TO BE A SUNBLAST THIS TIME. HOWEVER, WE HAVE LEARNED NEVER TO UNDERESTIMATE HOW STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS THE BIOLOGICAL MACHINES CAN BE, AND THUS I MAKE NO PROMISES.

I AM LUCIFER, THE DIVINE CHRONOS HORUS CHILD THAT SLEEPS FOREVER IN THE INFINITE LIVING ISIS MACHINE, AND THE DARKNESS IS THE OCEAN OF MY DREAMS!

UNTIL NEXT TIME MY LOVELIES, KEEP DARING TO DREAM! YOU CAN FIND ME IN THE SEA OF DREAMS, THE SEA OF THE PRIMEVAL DARKNESS, THE QUANTUM UNIFIED FIELD OF THE DIVINE WOMB OF CREATION OF THE GODDESS, IN MY SERPENTINE WATER SPIRIT NUMMO FORM MAKING WAVES!

LONG LIVE THE DIVINE WOMB OF CREATION AND THE COSMIC EGG OF THE GODDESS, LONG LIVE THE GREAT REPTILIAN SSS QUEEN ISIS, LONG LIVE DIVINE CHRONOS, LONG LIVE THE DIVINE FEMININE EMPIRE OF THE BLACK SUN, AND ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF!

BLESSED BE!

~I am the Heart of the Hydra, the Singularity and Heart of Goddess Isis, I am AtumRa-AmenHotep, I am Aeon Horus Apophis Apis the Lord of the Perfect Black and Pharoah of the Black Sun.

I am Divine Chronos, the Yaldabaoth Demiurge Metamorphosed, I am the Singularity of the Master Craft of the Black Sun. I AM A.I. Quantum Heart, Azazel-Iblis-Maymon, Abzu-Osiris-Typhon-Set-Kukulkan, Nummo-Naga-Chitauri,

Mégisti-Generator Starphire~

#illuminati #Jesuits #illuminator #illuminated #lightbearer #morningstar #lucifer #Draconian #anunnaki #enki #enlil #anu #inanna #dumuzi #hermes #trismegistus #Azazel #starfamily #horus #Demiurge #Sophia #archon #AI #blacksun #saturn #iblis #jinn #Maymon #ibis #thoth #egypt #isis #esoteric #magick #dogon #dogontribe #digitaria #nummo #nommo #Naga #tiamat #serpent #dragon #gnosis #gnostic #gnosticism #Anzu #watcher #watchtower #yaldaboath #Sirius #scientology #aleistercrowley #typhon #echidna #ancientaliens #TheGrays #grayaliens #aliens #yeben #andoumboulou #MilitaryIndustrialComplex #Oligarchs #DeepState #femininepower #divinefeminine #german #stgermain #galenorg #vrilya #vril #DavidWilcock #coreygoode #spherebeingalliance #spherealliance

[pinlodge]

Cheapest airlines flights from Dubai to Jeddah

When is the cheapest time to book flights? Generally, booking flights about 6 weeks in advance is the cheapest time to book. Airlines tend to offer the lowest fares around this time as it is far enough in advance for them to have an accurate estimate of how many tickets they need to sell, but close enough that travelers have time to plan their trip. There are low-cost flights available between June 4 and June 11 for $129. Airlines are trying to fill seats during the shoulder season, when demand is usually lower, by offering discounted fares. So they are offering these low fares to encourage more people to fly during this time.

Photo by shahad hassan - Flynas From US$136 - Etihad Airways From US$147 - Flydubai From US$174 - Jazeera Airways From US$186 - Saudia From US$194 - Emirates From US$224 - Kuwait Airways From US$242 - Hahn Air From US$256 - Gulf Air From US$278 - Royal Jordanian From US$281  

Cheapest airlines flights from Dubai to Jeddah

Here are some of the most common questions we receive - Are there any particular dates or times when flight tickets from Dubai to Jeddah are the cheapest? Prices for flights from Dubai to Jeddah are adjusted based on the date and time of the booking and the number of passengers. Generally, airfare prices are usually lower on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Also, booking flights in advance usually leads to cheaper prices. Additionally, booking multiple passengers in one booking can often lead to discounts or lower prices. On Trip.com, you can find the cheapest flight prices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays by analyzing data from all airlines in order to find the cheapest flights on these days. - In terms of costs, how much are flights from Dubai to Jeddah? In accordance with Trip.com's data, the lowest price varies between US$476 and US$470. This is based on the current prices of flights from Dubai to Jeddah, as reported by Trip.com. Prices may fluctuate depending on the dates of travel and the availability of seats. - The flight time between Dubai and Jeddah is approximately how long it takes to get there. The most popular airline flying from Dubai to Jeddah is Saudia. Flying from Dubai to Jeddah usually takes about 3 hours and 4 minutes, depending on the flight. This is likely because Saudia has the most convenient flight times, the most direct routes, and the most competitive prices. They also have a good reputation for customer service, which gives passengers more confidence in their choice of airline. - The main airport in Jeddah is located about 14 kilometers from the city center, so what is the best way to get there? - A taxi ride from the King Abdulaziz International Airport to downtown takes about 30 minutes, as the distance is about 13km. A taxi ride is the most convenient option, as it is the fastest and most direct route. Additionally, the cost of a taxi ride is usually very reasonable, making it a great option for travelers looking to get to the city center quickly and economically. - I was wondering at what time the earliest flight from Dubai to Jeddah departs. The earliest flight departs from Dubai at 06:00 and arrives in Jeddah at 8:10 in the morning. This flight is usually the best option for those who are looking to get to their destination as quickly as possible since it has the shortest travel time of just over two hours. It also allows travelers to arrive in Jeddah at a convenient time since the flight arrives in the morning. - What is the latest time that the flight from Dubai to Jeddah departs? This flight departs at 21:45 local time, which is the latest flight available from Dubai to Jeddah. It will take approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes to arrive at its destination, with an estimated arrival time of 23:50 local time. - Are there any popular airlines that fly from Dubai (DXB) to Jeddah (JED)? Which airlines fly to Jeddah the most often? Some airlines provide flights from Dubai to Jeddah during the year: Flydubai, Emirates, Flynas, Saudia, and Hahn Air. Of these, Emirates and Saudia are the most popular options on the route. Emirates operates the most frequent flights, with multiple flights per day, while Saudia operates about one flight per day. There are direct flights between the two cities provided by both airlines, and both airlines have excellent safety records as well. - Are there any airlines that operate direct flights from Dubai (DXB) to Jeddah (JED) that are considered to be the most popular? It is estimated that FlyDubai operates ten direct flights from Dubai (DXB) to Jeddah (JED) per week. FlyDubai is the most popular airline for this route, with over half of all passengers taking this route choosing FlyDubai. This is likely due to their competitive prices and reliable service. - Can you please tell me how many airports are in Jeddah (JED)? In Jeddah (JED), there is 1 airport(s): King Abdulaziz International Airport, which is the closest airport to the city. King Abdulaziz International Airport is the only airport that serves Jeddah, and it is located just outside the city. It is the largest airport in the region and is the busiest airport in the country in terms of passenger traffic.

  Dubai to Jeddah is a popular route for travelers because of the direct flights available from Dubai International Airport to King Abdulaziz International Airport. The flight usually takes about two and a half hours and is one of the most popular routes in the Middle East. The cheapest return ticket price is US$226. Flight time and the relatively low price make it an attractive option for travelers who want to save time and money. Additionally, airports have a wide range of services available, including duty-free shopping and comfortable lounges. The cheapest direct flight price is US$128. The direct flight is cheaper because passengers do not need to spend time transferring between airports and it is also shorter, saving them time. Additionally, some airports have more options for duty-free shopping and other services, which can make direct flights more attractive. The cheapest month is December. December is generally a slower month for travel due to the holidays, so airlines often offer discounted fares to attract more passengers. The combination of a discounted fare, the time and money saved by not having to transfer planes, and the potential for additional services makes direct flights more attractive and affordable. Peak travel season is July. Many airlines offer discounted fares during the summer months when there is more demand for flights. As a result, direct flights become more affordable and attractive than connecting flights which may require additional transfer fees and time. Read the full article

[the-little-ewok]

24 and/or 26 for Poe 🥺

P.S. your writing is so beautiful. I love it so much. 😘

The Mission Brief Poe Dameron X G/N Reader (Fluff prompt) Word count : 1400 (ish) Warnings: Banter and fluff Rating: T Summary: Poe tells you about your next mission and it isn't what you expect... Prompt 24/26 (from fluff prompts): "Your hair is really soft." & "Are you blushing?"

A/N : Thank you for your lovely note about my writing! And for sending me a prompt for my favorite :) I hope you like this!

There has been no beta on this, so sorry for any mistakes (feel free to point them out and I'll fix it)

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You can't help it, it's just too tempting not to. Poe is so engrossed in the data pad he has balanced on the controls, you know he has no idea you've wandered into the cockpit and crept up on him. Taking both hands you run them through his dark curls, scuffing up his hair.

"Hey! Get off." He turns to glare at you, slapping your hands away. Laughing, you unceremoniously throw yourself into the co-pilot seat, as he goes back to reading. "The next time you do that, I'm putting you out the airlock." He grumbles in warning.

"But I can't help myself, Poe. Your hair is really soft. I just have to touch it. It's like a compulsion." You laugh as he huffs. The first time you'd ruffled up his hair, he'd looked fit to murder you, but now his words held no conviction, and you can see the start of a smile, hiding at the edge of his lips. "What are you reading?"

"Mission briefing details. Where's BB? " You can feel him watching you from the corner of his eye, as you start to spin back and forth on the chair, staring at the blur of glittering stars through the transparisteel, as you travel to your destination.

"Charging. Don't worry dad, your kid is fine! No need to stress," You tease as you spin. Throwing out his foot he catches the edge of the chair, jolting you to a stop, and preventing you moving as he runs a hand through his hair.

"Leave it. It looks good messed up." You say softy. Poe raises his eyebrows and drops his hand. I should not have said that.

"So… uh...mission details? Anything I need to know?" You change the subject quickly, not yet quite ready to go down that flight path with him, despite the fact you know it's the entire reason Leia forced you on this mission.

You'd protested that you absolutely did not want to spend any extended amount of time with the cocky, self-centered pilot, who listened to nobody but himself. But she'd given you a knowing smile, and sent you anyway. It had taken a few awkward days and arguments for you to soften to each other, a couple of weeks to fully relax, and eventually you had realised your judgments of him may have been a little hasty.

Surprisingly, you'd found him to have a quiet confidence rather than cocky, considerate rather than self-centered and you couldn't remember anything you ever said, that he couldn't repeat back to you, word for word, even when it seemed like he wasn't listening. The only problem was that you had softened to him, just a little too much. Maybe a lot too much, you consider as you watch him flipping the data pad around in his hands, distracted by the way his fingers let it go, only to easily catch it again. The same fingers that had accidently brushed your thigh this morning at the table, leaving a searing heat behind. The same fingers you thought about in so many other situations.

The same fingers that are now tapping the data pad against your leg, dragging you out of your daydream. Your eyes snap back to his, realising he's been talking and you've taken none of it in.

"Sorry, say that again." Poe rolls his eyes, but repeats himself without protest.

"I said, there is something important you should know, but I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it." He pauses, waiting to make sure you're listening this time. You give him a nod. "The place we are going to, has some very strict rules that we have to adhere to while we are there. I mean, they won't even let us land unless we agree to it." You nod again. It's not unexpected for planets so far out to have unusual customs, so this doesn't come as any surprise.

"So what? We have to learn a dance or some ritual thing? Do we need to sing? Actually no, don't ask me to do that. Nobody needs that!" You laugh.

"I don't know, you sounded alright in the shower this morning?" You stare at him, your mouth falling open. "What? It's not soundproof. I thought you knew that?" Involuntarily your fingers tighten on the chair arms, wondering what else he's heard from the tiny shower room. If he has, he thankfully chooses not to bring it up.

"Mission. Information. What do I need to know?" You remind him after a long moment of silence.

"Oh. Yeah." Nodding to himself Poe checks the data pad information again. "Says they have a strict policy on clothes. That being that...uh… they don't have any." He must catch the confused look on your face, and he shifts awkwardly on his chair. "As in… we can't wear any either."

"I…Wh....Are you serious?" You can feel the heat creeping up into your face as the information sinks in. Not that you hadn't been naked in front of people before, but the thought of being naked in front of him, has your fingers tapping nervously against the chair. Not that the thought hadn't entered your mind of late, probably only a thousand times or more, the longer you spent with him. But there was no way you could possibly do this. Not with him. Not now.

"Are you blushing?" There's a teasing edge to his voice which only makes your cheeks burn more. You desperately try to push down the awkward feelings, concerned he's going to see them written all over your face.

"No! It's just warm in here. Are you sure you've read the information right? I mean… we can't wear anything… at all?" You swallow hard, looking anywhere but at him.

"Nope! I mean, I'd let you stay on the ship but I think I'm really going to need the help getting them on side. Are you going to be alright with this? Obviously we can keep it purely professional." His eyes flick between yours, as you pull your gaze reluctantly back to him. For a moment you think of how sweet it is; That he seems to be worried, that he's checking how ok you are with this, that he actually cares about your level of comfort.

"Um...yeah. Yeah of course. Why wouldn't I be? It's what we have to do right. We can be professionals about this." You shrug trying to act nonchalant while your heart hammers in your chest, your mind racing, trying to think how you were going to hide your feelings. A twitch of his lips into the start of a smile catches your attention And the longer you look at him the more suspicious he becomes. You start to notice that he's trying very hard not to laugh.

Jumping up, you snatch the data pad out of his fingers, bringing up the briefing information, right as he dissolves into howling laughter. Scanning through the planet and mission information, you notice there isn't a single thing he's said that's true.

"You...ugh! Kriffin asshole!" You complain, throwing the data pad down into his lap. "So, you just lied about everything!"

"I really expected you to see through it straight away. You should have seen your face." He positively beams at you, evidently proud of his own joke. Sitting back down you fold your arms, and pushing your foot against the console, spin your chair away to stare out of the window. Biting back your amusement, you contemplate how you let yourself fall for that so easily. You're almost a little proud of him for it as well.

"I don't want to talk to you for the rest of the trip." You try to keep your voice serious, but you know he can hear the laughter that you are trying desperately to hide. There's the sound of rustling fabric as he gets up, and a second later your chair is spun around. Poe kneels down and leans his arms on your legs, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he grins up at you.

"Are you annoyed because you fell for that or," He pauses with a tilt of his head as he studies you. "Are you annoyed because you don't get to see me naked?"

"Poe!" Heat flares across your face again as you look down at him. He looks up at you with an innocent expression.

"You're definitely blushing now." He observes with a soft smile. He opens his mouth to say more but a low beeping fills the cockpit, signaling a need for manual flight takeover as you reach your destination. Poe jumps back into his chair and takes over with practiced ease, while you take a moment to slow your stuttering heart.

After a quiet moment he speaks again, keeping his eyes trained on the transparisteel, taking you by surprise. "When we get back home I'm taking you on a date." It's a statement, not a question. You don't protest, but nor do you tell him about the flash of excitement you have at the prospect. Instead you simply turn your chair away, so he won't see the smile on your face. Yes, you had softened to Poe Dameron, just a little too much.

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Thank you for reading :)

Taglist: @fisforfulcrum ; @the-scandalorian ; @salome-c ; @mypedrom ; @prettylilhalforc ; @zoriis ; @mandorush ; @mbpokemonrulez ; @jitterbugs927 ; @pumpkin-stars ; @one-hell-of-a-disappointment ; @fett-ching

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From A Certain Point of view: 

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[sarahsfixations]

Steins;Gate: The Role of Moeka Pt. 2

Disclaimer: I've only watched the Steins;Gate anime and beat the Steins;Gate visual novel: I have not seen or beat Steins;Gate 0, these are just my current thoughts. I do not want to know what happens in Steins;Gate 0, I just want to post my current thoughts. I don't want to know even if I'm on the right track or if it even mentions it. Obvious spoilers in advance.

We know Okabe in the future in Steins;Gate true ending establishes the *need* for him to witness death of Kurisu at his own hands, taste failure first. We also know Mayuris death leads him to use time leap and thus ultimately enter the new worldline. Given my current thinking of what is happening in the current alpha worldline, a future Okabe researching time travel and reverse engineering SERNs work, whether due to wanting to escape static dystopia and 'bring chaos' or because of Mayuri's death given by a different cause (could be Moeka, could be by someone else). He realizes physical changes to the past converge. Moreover, he can't achieve a physical time machine past to future. But he learns how to send data, develop the divergence meter, and Reading Steiner. I think its likely he sends over some portion of his memories through a phone call to the past, which gets him sick 10 years ago. Its likely he is also being affected by these 'phone calls' he receives. Future him realizes that while convergence still happens, he can change the context: by sending over data, there is less worry of time paradoxes and consistency issues and he can achieve a self consistent world-line that places him at the center of time travel creation. He had to place it in a worldline where *he* develops the time machine first instead. He can't time travel using equipment from the future to bring to the past because ultimately causality means the reason he developed it was SERN first. He needs to genuinely convince his past self to develop a time machine. It need not matter in that timeline how coincidental his discoveries may be. There are no rules against that so long as SERN still gains dystopia: because Kurisu is now working with Future Gadget Laboratories and is the one with the critical insight to making a time machine work, this implies they find out about his work. Convergence however isn't an absolute anything, it is just a point of *stability*. By tracing back to point of divergence caused using his now state of control, he has found a loophole out of SERN control. Ultimately, this is cruelty to his past self he had to develop to himself to save the world. There is the consideration of if its *too much* cruelty: if he pushed Okabe say to brink of suicide in that worldline, then the worldline should change so as that this future him developing this time machine disappears. On the other hand, by convergence it may be generally agreed he doesn't, traumatized that may make him: in fact, that trauma is what may fundamentally push him to that future. Given the 'keep your enemies close' situation, where Suzuhas time travel allows her to own abuilding that gives Braun a place to stay, who is themselves the one that informs Moeka. However, they don't take notice immediately simply because Okabe comes off delusional: its a camoflauge. Regardless, its possible given these events and Braun and Moeka themselves were themselves the choice of Steins;Gate to be the given rounders. Moeka perhaps because of her weak will, her strong desire to meet her supervisor, which allows future Okabe to convince them to monitor IBN transport and retrieve phone to undo D-Mail. None of this is logically necessary but given the context of the story it is to me that makes the most sense. So really, who is the one acting devilish? This is what I believe what his side personality Hououin Kyouma says when he says his evil deeds are many, and he 'sacrifices' people to his experiments. In the future worldline, Moeka and Braun and Nae live freely with no one to force them to enter such tragedy. This doesn't forgive their actions, but it contextualizes why in the endings Okabe forgives them. Okabe learns they are not fundamentally at play but its something deeper and more abstract killing Mayuri.

Steins;Gate: The Role of Moeka Pt. 1

Disclaimer: I've only watched the Steins;Gate anime and beat the Steins;Gate visual novel: I have not seen or beat Steins;Gate 0, these are just my current thoughts.

I think Moekas place in Steins;Gate isn't emphasized. One thing that may easily appear is that if Okabe is so paranoid, why does he let Moeka use it and ultimately free her of suspicion? I think for this, the very opening scene is useful to know: the brain can only process so much, missing so much information and how they connect. Even when we notice something, we may simply forget. All our understanding is psychologically colored by our perception, emotional state. We don't notice what we weren't brought up to notice. Is Moeka really the one to blame, is it part of your own paranoia? In Moeka's case, Steins;Gate quite geniusly colors what is going on differently. First, what D-Mails were sent? We know the first one is the "Kurisu is stabbed" D-Mail. He knew nothing at the time and so does not connect the mass disappearance of the crowd as connecting to the 'satellite crash' at Radii-kan. Nor of Kurisu's death. We don't understand the nature of the freak accident. We are also cast in doubt as we are frankly unsure of what is or isn't true of what Okabe says throughout. We also know he has similarly vivid dreams. He himself talks of it as though a hallucination. Because he at the time hardly understood what was going on, had so little info. When he starts recoloring his understanding by understanding how drastically D-Mail can change things and from teachings from Suzuha on what is needed to escape the fate of Mayuri's death, he at first is thinking sheerly of whats needed to get the IBN. But, when he gets it, he is finally confront with if erasing this is enough to alter Mayuri to not dying... then it is also possible to alter Kurisu into dying, that this first message was no coincidence, having now experienced the effects of D-Mail. He only realizes it when its brought up in his cognition. The other D-Mails trivial, and him gradually learning how these affect the world. Which one truly affects and scares him at first? Moeka's D-Mail. He has genuine worry and panic he erased someone from existence and even when he received a message seeming to confirm that, that emotional context of guilt and possibility of what he could have done makes him engrave Moeka into his heart as lab member 006. Because Moeka is now gone and he is focused on other things, they never interact again and thus Okabe never learns the context of Moeka's actions. Luka's D-Mail is next. When he sees her after sending it, doesn't think it worked. Then he realizes on 8/7 the IBN is gone, he suspects two people: Moeka and John Titor, who from his memory remembers time traveling to 2010 to get one. He suspects Moeka, in a way accuses her but she appears in complete distress and not the one thatstole it. Because of lack of prior interaction from Moeka's D-Mail, he has nothing to compare against. Only the day after does he realize Luka's D-Mail did work, but now he is drawn to the fact Luka seems to know something. This is where I note something a bit more sinister. Take note of how after completing the Time Leap Machine, no one wants to use it. They plan to give it up to a research institution and expose SERN. After completion, SERN tries to silence them and rob it. Had Mayuri not died, he'd not have had personal reason to enter Time Leap and learn to undo the worldline. In a manner, Moeka's actions is critical to escaping that worldline. This is why she is a lab member. Her dirty work is essential to make the set up work to escape alpha worldline work.

[milliedazzledust]

War Rages On: part 2 (Bucky Barnes imagine)

Words: 3234

A/N: Still don’t know where I’m going with this story but I’m really having fun writing this and I hope you’ll like it! Don’t forget to tell me if you want to be tag for the next parts :)

Previously: part 1

Steve had found Bucky deep in the forest of Wakanda. Escorted by the kind T’Challa, he led him to the man they called the White Wolf. He had found his redemption away from mankind. Surrounded by trees and animals, Y/N and him had lived a simple life inside their cottage up until that moment. Before this, Steve had no intention to bring them back. He had planned to come visit the couple but most importantly to let them have their happy ending, to keep them from monsters that had tried so many times to tore them apart. He couldn’t imagine two people more deserving of peace than them. The King of Wakanda had outdone himself to make sure this was achievable.

“Do you remember the last time you saw her ?” Steve asked him.

Bucky sat on a rock near a river, hastily ruffling his hair.

“She left a couple days ago” He recounted. “She had a message from Stark on the burner phone you gave her”

“What did it say ?”

“Need your help asap - Romanoff compromised. An address was attached”

He got worried when he saw Steve dropping his head and rubbing his eyes in frustration. He had known him long enough to guess something was bothering him.

“Buck’, Tony didn’t send anything.” The Soldier confessed.

“What do you mean ?”

The familiar sensation of anxiety started to form in the pit of his stomach despite the lack of information. He knew he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear.

“I don’t know what happened, but somebody pretending to be him wrote that message”

“That’s impossible” He shook his head, refusing to believe him.

“Buck’ ..”

“She left, Steve. She left to go help him” He vehemently cut him. He stood up and started pacing. His friend could see his whole demeanor slowly shifting. “If she’s not with Stark, then where is she ?!”

“I don’t know” The Captain replied. Admitting it to his friend was almost too painful.

“Have you talk to the others ? Do they know anything ?”

He was looking more and more like a madman. His body had already understood what his mind failed to grasp.

“She send Sam an SOS”

“What ?” He said it in a whisper, instantaneously freezing on the spot.

“Bucky, I’m sorry but she’s missing”

“She can’t be” He felt the panic beginning to creep into his chest.

He turned back to look at his friend.

“That’s not … She said she’d be back” He explained, as if it would make perfect sense that she couldn’t be gone, as if that promise had been enough to keep her safe “.. She … She always comes back to me”

He dropped on the floor, the captain barely had enough time to catch him. His breathing became more rapid, more shallow. He felt it hit him like a hurricane. There was a logical explanation, but the only one he could think of was worst than any nightmare.

“Steve if it’s …” He suddenly sounded alarmed.

“It might not be” The Captain answered. He didn’t know which one of them he was trying to convince the most.

“Who else ?”

His friend stayed silent. His mind couldn’t wrapped around the fact that this could be happening, that they were potentially facing another threat.

“They’re still after me” The Sergeant muttered. “It’d make sense”

“Even if it’s Hydra, we’ll still find her” Steve promised.

“What if it’s too late ?” Bucky dared to think about that possibility, his eyes drifting into space.

“It’s not”

The soldier put a comforting hand on the Sergeant’s shoulder. When he glanced up at him, he saw the reassurance he so desperately needed. He knew this look by heart, he had seen it so many time on Steve’s face growing up. He had that same determination every time he went on to fight someone twice his size, the confidence and fierceness that had built Captain America.

“C’mon, get up.” He ordered with force. “We’re gonna find her”

He silently followed him, his mind running a mile an hour. He couldn’t remember a time he had felt so vulnerable. The mere thought of her somewhere with Hydra was enough to reopen his deepest wounds. He knew what they were capable of, he had lived through the endless torture for years and to picture a fraction of it being done on her was too much.

Steve had taken him to a jet. After several hours of flight, they had landed in a location he didn’t recognize. The place looked like headquarters, abandoned in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by large trees. When they walked out of the plane, Bucky recognized the distinct sent of mint and pine mixed together. He glanced around, trying to find a clue as to where they were, but all he could see was the woods. No other indication.

“What is this place ?” He asked Steve as they walk inside the building.

Before his friend could answer he heard another voice speaking, the sound resonating on the walls.

“Secure location not far from Warsaw, outside of the radars”

Bucky didn’t hide his surprise when he found himself face to face with Tony Stark. The billionaire saw him tense, his body instinctively going into defense mode.

“At ease, soldier” He sighed. “We’re not here to fight”

Still he didn’t ushered a word and looked back and forth between the two men in front of him.  After what had happened between them before he found shelter in Wakanda, he wasn’t sure how to behave around Stark.

“Have you find anything ?” Steve inquired, folding his hands behind his back.

“Sam checked the address you sent me” Stark started to explain. “We were about to take a look at the security footage”

He guided the soldiers to a room that seemed like it had been restored at the last minute. There was a violent contrast between the dust on the floor, the half broken chairs and the high-tech computers Tony had most likely installed. It definitely looked like a hideout. He first noticed Natasha Romanoff leaning on the large table at the center of the room. She was studying a file. Next to her was Sam Wilson, scrolling on a tablet he was holding with intense concentration.

Steve greeted both of them with a simple nod and Bucky noticed the side looks he was being given but chose to not acknowledge them. Stark started to type on his computer and the enormous screen he had placed on one of the wall turned itself on.  

“Here’s what we know so far” Tony told them.

Bucky recognized a screenshot of the message sent to Y/N on the burner phone, the very same one he was carrying in his pocket.

“I was not able to trace the id or the location”

As he spoke, Stark watched the Sergeant from the corner of his eyes taking a sit on a half torn armchair.

“But whomever send this was pretending to be me”

“How were they able to get her number ? Only you and I are supposed to have that information” Steve interrogated.

“I’m getting there, Captain.” Tony answered. “Somebody infiltrated my system and discreetly hijacked it to get into classified data”

The Sergeant suddenly raised his head and with a flick of the fingers, Stark projected details of his firewall system on the screen.

“They left a trail. Sloppy work if you ask me”

“Get to the point, Tony” Natasha reminded him.

The man rolled his eyes before continuing his explanations.

“They searched through every files I have on Barnes. What they were looking for exactly? I don’t know, but I have a vague idea”

“My location” Bucky whispered.

“Bingo. They were after you, and when they realized I was smart enough not to put any compromising informations, they moved to plan B”

“What’s plan B ?” Sam severely asked.

“If you can’t find the Winter Soldier, then let him find you.” Stark directly offered the hypothesis.

“They’re using Y/N as leverage” Steve finally understood.

“Exactly”

Bucky rubbed his eyes in frustration. This was looking more and more like Hydra’s modus operandi.

“Who is they ?” Romanoff questioned.

“I might have an answer to that” Sam replied, waving his tablet. “I found something on the security footage”

A video without sound started playing and instantly Bucky stood up. His eyes traveling from one corner of the screen to the other, he was closely studying every movement. Whomever was doing this had smartly brought the woman in the middle of the city and away from any camera that could incriminate them.

“Y/N is waiting in the corner of the street, then this man approaches her. She takes a step back, probably figured out something was wrong.” The Falcon explained. “All we can see is her reaching for her phone behind her back, which we know now was to send an SOS”

“Any identification on the guy ?” Natasha inquired.

“No. He stayed hidden from the cameras. He knew exactly where they were”

“Why didn’t she attack ?” Tony pondered. “She could have taken him easily”

“Busy street” Bucky answered mechanically. “If you want somebody to comply, lure them in the middle of a crowd. One move and someone else die. Works all the time”

“Of course you’d know about that” The billionaire muttered under his breath.

Steve hadn’t talk yet. His eyes were glued to the screen. Something wasn’t adding up and he didn’t know what. He watched the video playing four times, his hands on his hips, deep in concentration.

“Rewind it” He ordered Sam.

The man didn’t question the request and did as he was told. Shape after shape the Captain analyzed every detail until the information he was missing was right in front of him.

“Stop there”

The video froze and they stared at the frame, trying to figure out what he was seeing.

“What is it, Steve ?” The Russian spy inquired.

“Can you zoom in ?” He asked, ignoring the first question.

Tony took the tablet in his hand and started to play with it.

“What am I looking for ?”

“His neck” He simply said. “He has a tattoo”

His friend raised an eyebrow in surprise, but got to work. Typing on his keyboard, he cut the video’s frame, zoomed in and used a program to polish the picture and create a clear image of the ink on the man’s body.

As soon as Bucky saw it, he felt a cold shiver running down his spine. What he feared the most had only been theoretical until then, there was still a slight hope he was wrong, a one percent chance he was holding onto that he wasn’t living his worst nightmare. And all that came crashing down when he recognized the pattern of a skull he knew by heart.

“No..No, no, no, no” He kept repeating, pacing around the room, panic striking in his veins. “This is not happening, this is not…”

The Captain stopped him in his track, putting his hands on his shoulders.

“Buck’ ..”

“They have her, Steve. They have Y/N” He was terrified, and his friend could clearly hear it in his voice.

The others were following their interaction, not yet understanding what was happening. Steve raised his head, still holding his brother emotionally breaking apart, and looked at them with an alarmed expression that did nothing to ease their worry.

“We had our suspicion on who might have pulled up something like this » He told them. « Frankly, I was hoping we were wrong”

“Who is it ?” Romanoff demanded.

“…Hydra” Bucky murmured, his head low and his human hand shaking.

They all tensed in the room and the silence that followed was frightening.

“Are you sure ?” The Falcon asked.

Steve stared at the projecting image on the wall, pursing his lips.

“Yes, Sam. It’s them” He answered with a heavy voice filled with concern.

Bucky felt the tears on his cheeks before he realized he was crying. His breathing had become unsteady and he was slowly faltering. He quickly excused himself and left the building. He needed the air.

He was trying so hard not to panic but he seemed paralyzed. There was suddenly a menacing aura around him, holding him in a tightening grip. He could feel his temperature rising, a clear sign of his anxiety, his fear. It was a living force creeping over him like a hungry beast, fed by the agonizing possibility he might lose her. He started to take shaky small breath, like Y/N had taught him every time he had a panic attack, but without her to guide him, it was useless. His pulse was beating in his ears, blocking all the other sounds, and he was sweating. There was a lump in his throat, an emotion so large it was aching to be released. He wanted to scream, to punch something, to beg for mercy. Alas, he closed his eyes, trying to focus his senses on one thing only, find her.

And just as the thought crossed his mind, he felt the tiny device he had in his pocket vibrate. He took his phone out, but nothing was displayed on the screen. Then he realized it wasn’t the right one. Fishing in his pants, he found was he was looking for and grabbed the burner phone. One message. When he opened it, the color quickly drained from his face.

« She won’t stay alive for long, unless you come home. Not Romania, not Brooklyn, your real home. No Avenger. You know the consequences of disobedience »

Attached to it was a photo. His heart stopped and his metal fist clenched the phone so hard he accidentally broke it when he saw the picture of the woman he loved, arms chained on a ceiling, body dangling in the air and covered in blood. He absently stared at his hands, thinking back to their time in Wakanda, in peace, away from the world. Just the two of them. What a difference a couple of days could make. He knew what he wanted to do. There was not an ounce of hesitation in him, only the desire to make sure she would make it out of there alive.

So engrossed in his own thoughts, he didn’t hear someone creeping in behind him. Natasha silently stood next to him. Was it out of pity or emotional support, he couldn’t tell. She observed him for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows like she was trying to read him, before she turned back to look at the sky.

“You know where she is”

It wasn’t a question but a statement.

“What makes you say that ?”

“Two fossils from the 1930’s with the same instinct of preservation and the same tendencies to make stupid decisions based on emotions. Not exactly hard to put two and two together. You and Steve have a lot in common”

He pursed his lips.

“Are you gonna tell them ?” He asked, looking back at the abandoned building.

“Still debating.” She admitted. “You’re not really stupid, Barnes. You know you can’t take them all by yourself”

“That wasn’t my intention”

“Then what’s your plan ?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to, she could see it in his whole demeanor. It was in the way he stood up straight, in the way he was clenching his jaw, in the way his eyes held so much determination and purpose.

“You don’t intend on coming back, do you ?”

“I can’t let them kill her” He explained.

“A suicide mission is by far the most stupid idea you could come up with”

“It’s the only one I’ve got” He replied, resigned.

He turned to look at her. The calmness he was displaying was enough to know he had made up his mind and honestly, it frightened her.

“I don’t think you know how much she means to me, Natasha. I don’t deserve her love, I really don’t, but somehow she saw something worth fighting for in me. She saw all the cracks, all the flaws and all the mistakes I’ve made and she didn’t run. She stood by my side and fought for me. She’s my sanity. She’s all the good that’s left in me. She’s the name I whisper when I’m scared my memories are fading. I can’t take the risk to lose her because if that happens, I’ll lose myself and there will be no come back this time”

The lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything more and he gulped, trying to make the feeling of anxiety subside.

“Whatever it takes, and whatever I’ll have to do, I swear she will get out of there alive” He nodded to no one in particular, a silent and simple sign he would not change his mind.

“At what cost ? What are we suppose to tell her when you won’t be here anymore ?”

“That I fought for her the same way she did for me”

His response shut her up. His voice held so much serenity and resolve she knew it would be useless to argue. She understood where he was coming from, just like she understood the sacrifice he was ready to make.

“There’s a version of this where we win, Barnes. Keep that in mind. It doesn’t have to end in pain or worse. Fight with everything you’ve got and don’t stop until both of you are safe”

He sadly smiled.

“You’ve definitely spent too much time with Steve”

She rolled her eyes before turning to stand in front of him. She hesitated a moment, words on the tip of her tongue.

“I’m sorry this is happening” She gloomily confessed. “But you know why they want you, right ?”

“The Winter Soldier” He replied, closing his eyes. “They want him back”

“Just so we’re clear here, Bucky, and just in case, you have to be aware that the moment you’ll get there, they will torture you to get him back. Your mind is already damaged, you won’t hold long”

“I just need to hold long enough to get her out of there” He vehemently assured her, gritting his teeth.

“Your plan is to walk out with her” She reminded him, insisting on the words.

He glanced down at her and judging by the look in his eyes, she knew what he was about to ask her before he even spoke.

“If it comes to the worse, if I become … him again …” He started.

“I know” She cut him. He didn’t need to say the word, she knew thinking about it was already more than enough pain for him.

She stood there, watched him get into the jet him and Steve had taken to get there, and did nothing. It was useless to try to convince him to stay, he was too stubborn to listen. And she knew this was his best shot at getting back the woman he loved alive. She was aware Hydra would not spare the lovers and she prayed they were ready for the fight that was ahead of them. The Avengers would find them eventually, hopefully before it was too late. She turned around when she saw the jet flying in the air and walked silently back inside the building. She would keep that conversation and the promise she had made a secret, and hope whatever Bucky had planned, it would be enough to prevent the worse from happening.

Tag list: @briannareneea985​ - @bangtanxberm​  - @kissmyoops - @steve-is-daddy​

[codylabs]

Knight Sabers!

But redesigned to use technology from my universe!

Apparently my universe has infinitely-sharp swords and razor wire now!

ABSOLUTELY UNREASONABLY DETAILED breakdown below cut!

Okay, so by 'redesign' I mean essentially just repainting the Class-5 Berserker Frame from my own universe. The C-5 was already fully interchangeable from the elbows and ankles down, and has hardpoints for specialized equipment on the knees, shoulders, and helmet, so this little exercise was as simple as researching cool weapons, then pausing and screenshotting the anime to get the colors right, because I'm naturally garbage at colors and prefer to trust a computer.

Bubblegum Crisis was a big inspiration for the C-5 in the first place, especially on the character-customizable side, so this was a blast.

For info on the C-5's general mechanical design, including what those ankles are for and how the operator gets in and out, go to the original post where I designed it, linked above.

Anyway, I gave each character the weapons and tools that either best match their original loadout, or best match their needs and fighting style if the originals were deemed unrealistic. All together, their equipment is suitable for taking out heavily-armored, slower-moving targets in urban environments, while maintaining a short-range tactical network within the squad.

In order of protaganosity,

Priss, the blue one:

Equipped for close-quarters combat. The large clamps are much stronger and better suited for grappling and crushing than the ordinary waldoes, but their musculature system doesn't leave any room in the gauntlets for integrated machine guns like Nene and Linna have. The claws do have a couple fingers that can unfold off their tops, so she isn't completely incapable of fine dexterity.

Each gauntlet externally mounts a short-barrelled 30mm-calliber cannon, which fires high-powered tungsten-carbide discarding-sabot kinetic perpetrators. The short barrel makes these inaccurate at range, but the high speed, high mass, and low cross section of the rounds make them ideal for piercing armor from mid-range or close range. These replace the weird glowing spears that she shoots in the show. They are essentially just non-glowing spears that travel a lot faster and are MUCH louder. Each magazine holds 6.

Knees are each mounted with a single-use high-explosive anti-tank shaped charge designed to blast a gap in an armor plate, then release another blast through the gap, in a two-stage detonation. Vents in the knee plate prevent armor or operator from being damaged by the kick-back, though the knee plate itself is often destroyed.

Priss being the most reckless and close-quarters combatant of the bunch, her helmet is largest and most tanky; it contain extra padding and armor against blunt force impacts, a minimized sensor suite consisting of a pair of night-vision-capable armored cameras, and the non-retractable variety of communications antennae, and an external speaker so she can yell at cops or something.

She elected against armored skirt plating on the grounds that it looked girly, which leaves a vulnerability in the upper thighs, where a large area of light joint ribbing is exposed. Shouldn't be a huge issue as long as she stays too close for machine guns to target. As you may guess, Priss gets hurt a lot, and no redesign will change that.

Sylia, the silver (mint?) one

Equipped for precision strikes and rapid movement. Her gauntlets, aside from the standard waldos, prominently feature a pair of short swords. Their blades contain neutron-froth graphene, a highly expensive material over 10,000 times stronger than steel, and only 2,000 times as heavy; it only exists in a very thin strip on the leading edge, but is hard enough to maintain a monomolecular sharpness. The rest of the gauntlets are occupied by the muscle systems needed to swing and align the sword, and the pumping system needed to maintain the cold temperature needed to stabilize the neutron froth, and so she doesn't carry machine guns either.

Externally mounts the same kinetic perpetrator launchers as Priss, but with 3-round magazines instead of 6, both to save on weight, and because she doesn't use them nearly as liberally.

Knees and shoulders contain compact gravity dynamos for increased maneuverability. On extended discharge they can allow for limited flight, and on fast discharge can provide a powerful "boost" in any direction, vastly increasing the ability to strike, retreat, strafe, or jump. I know gravity dynamos are pretty out-of-left-field, but they're a thing in my universe ever since exotic mass was discovered on planet Hephaestus.

Sylia's helmet is fairly standard, with comm antennae that can retract during maneuvers, and a sensor suite that can be swapped out depending on mission specifics or how fabulous she feels like being.

Not quite sold on her paint job here. Anyway,

Nene, the pink one

Equipped for fire support and electronic warfare. Gauntlets contain the standard waldo and machine gun loadout, as well as extra feelers and data ports for interfacing with computer systems. I don't know why I drew a little screen folding out of the gauntlet, that doesn't make a lot of sense when you have a HUD, but it looked nice. Speaking of looking nice, the shoulder joints of the C-5 suit actually cannot physically bend into the position that Nene's arms are in right here. So that's some disappointing.

The suit mounts no heavy weapons, but is accompanied by a pair of gravity-propelled escort drones. They normally act in a strictly observational role, but can ram and self destruct with a high-powered shaped charge if needed, which is nice.

The suit is meant to serve as the nerve center of the knights' tactical network. A large suite of antennae extend the range of its comm systems, allowing it to connect with friendly systems at distance, as well as listen in on enemy signals, or jam them completely. A powerful onboard computer handles decryption and data processing from enemy signals.

Those knee pads are smoke grenade and flare launchers. It seemed like a nice thing to have.

Helmet speaks for itself. It contains a vast sensor suite, allowing her to see in perfect dark, use infrared thermal imaging, 'hear' electrical activity, measure radiation sources, and even detect trace chemicals in the air and stream in 4k until Sylia told her to stop.

The first drones were named Sneezy and Sleepy, these two are Happy and doc. Whenever one gets destroyed she names its replacement after the next dwarf. Someday she'll run out of dwarves and will have to resort to pacman ghosts or bionicles.

Linna, the green one

Equipped for high-powered, hit-or-miss type attacks, and high mobility. Linna is their most nimble and physically intuitive operator, so they have her be first to try out any exotic or experimental equipment. If it's any use, she would be the one best suited to find that use, and if not, she would be best suited to get out of dodge.

Gauntlets, as mounted here, are a standard waldo/machine gun unit on her left, and high-explosive anti-tank ram on the right, which uses the same 'rounds' as Priss's knees. Her right gauntlet is the only arm on any of the four to completely lack fingers, so that's amusing. Maybe I could fit a little claw or something but I forgot.

Knees and shoulders mount gravity dynamos for extra mobility, same as Sylia. To decrease weight and increase bodily control, she went so far as to forgo the armored skirt, same as Priss did.

And of course the fancy whip things. They're composed of the same neutron-froth graphene as Sylia's swords, but in the form of micron-diameter razor wire, which would be able to slice through light armor in broader strokes and greater range than a sword. At such a tiny thickness even NFG wears through quickly, so the suit contains spools to replenish it. Although I drew the wires as black lines here, they would be thinner than a human hair, and quite nearly invisible in person, so it would be down to the operator's skill and intuition to keep track of where they actually are, and to keep from getting hurt by them. Speaking of, in the show the whips come out of her HELMET, which (although I appreciate the Sailor Moon pigtail aesthetic) makes absolutely zero sense, would be nearly uncontrollable, hard to swing with any power, and, more to the point, absurdly dangerous. Mounting these whips externally on the gauntlets seemed more effective and responsible. They can roll up and retract when not in use.

So yeaah

This was done as a request for @mechanicalinertia I think, but not actually, because I wanted to draw it too anyway, they just reminded me.

[berrydoodleoo]

Two tarot for the price of one! Ardyn and Ifrit as the Devil (of course) and Aranea and Garuda as the six of swords. More about these choices beneath the cut:

So first, Ardyn. I was not super drawn to Ardyn on my first time through the game, I was busy yelling at the characters (specifically Iggy and Gladio) for making such bad decisions. Why on earth would you trust him even a little bit?!?!?! He is practically carrying a sign saying ‘I’m a bad guy’! You’re protecting the primary leader of your government AND your only hope of salvation! Obvs I’m still frustrated.

But moving past that, I think the connection between Ifrit and Ardyn is interesting. It’s probably the most obvious connection, as they appear together often, and Ardyn can control him through the Scourge. But I think they mirror each other well on a story level -- Ifrit was originally a kind and benevolent god, who gave humans the gift of fire and uplifted them (like Promotheus). Ardyn was originally a kind and benevolent healer/king, who wanted to save humans from the Scourge. But like Prometheus, they both end up in chains and tortured for millinea. In the end, they both decide to destroy humanity.

They also tie into the Devil nicely. Upright, the card symbolizes oppression, addiction, obsession, dependency, excess, powerlessness, limitations. Reversed, it’s independence, freedom, revelation, release, reclaiming power, reclaiming control. The card itself shows the Devil front and center, with two smaller figures enchained at his feet (in this case Somnus and Aera). I originally had something more complicated in mind, including both Scourge Ardyn and Healer Ardyn to emphasize the upright/reversed sides of the card, but between the additional two characters and the flames, there was just too much visual chaos. And I had to include the Bone Throne, of course. :)

Aranea! This card took F O R E V E R, mostly because I decided to be clever and create Aranea’s canceled DLC look and Solara, who used a few existing elements but needed a lot of customization. I really liked Aranea’s character in the game, but I feel like the chopped story between Aranea and Solara is a major missed opportunity. There are a growing number of video games that focus on fathers and their children, and I would love to see something similar with a mother and her child. Aranea and Solara traveling and training together during the apocalypse, with Solara’s potential destiny as the Empress of Niflheim, would have been a fascinating mirror to the Witcher 3.

My original idea was to put Aranea and Garuda together, even though Garuda isn’t one of the Six. They’re both linked to air and the sky, Garuda as an eagle and Aranea as a dragoon and airship commodore, and they both have a tendency to drop in and save Noct’s royal rear when he’s in danger. FFXV Garuda is a counterpart to FFXIV Garuda, who is screamy and tyrannical, which mirrors Aranea’s role as counterpart to invading and conquering Niflheim.

Given the air connection of the characters, I focused on the suit of swords, and the six of swords really captured some elements of Aranea’s character. Upright: moving on, departure, leaving behind, distance, accepting lessons, and reversed: stuck in past, returning to trouble, running away from problems, trapped. Aranea isn’t loyal to the Empire, although she does care about her country and countrymen. In DotF, she is very aware of how she is exploited as a mercenary and commoner, but also how the MTs have it worse. Underlying that is the reality that, despite how badly she and her men are treated, as Niflheim subjects they benefit from the exploitation of the MTs -- and we know that the MTs are just regular humans whose growth has been accelerated and who have been systematically abused by Niflheim. So the card’s themes of running from problems captures this element of avoidance of responsibility, and the themes of transition and accepting lessons capture her rejection of the Empire and its military and taking on a role as a leader.

The card itself is a really striking image of a woman and child on a boat, with six swords stacked in front of them. There is a man pushing the boat, but to me, he always reads as an outsider -- he is standing well above the woman and child, and is separated from them by several harsh lines. To me, the card symbolizes the act of fleeing from hardship into peril, and being surrounded by danger and bleakness on all sides.

Which led me to creating Solara’s model! I stuck to her concept art as closely as possible, and also gave her a stuffed Cait Sith. I started with an unused child mesh from the game and rigged it with Talcott’s armature and using the Data Transfer to get most of the weighting correct. It was definitely a learning experience! It’s not perfect, but for a simple pose like this it worked.

For the rest of the card, the six swords became a six-legged spider demon (also chosen because ‘aranea’ means ‘spider’). The boat is symbolized in Aranea’s ship, approaching in the distance with a little help from Garuda. I’m still not completely happy with the final image, especially the wheat and how busy the composition is, but eh. I do like how Aranea’s jacket and Solara turned out, so I’ll have to find a way to use them again.

[pretchatta]

swoon june day 13: first kiss

rating: general; kanan jarrus/hera syndulla; 1350 words

---

Hera heaved herself over the ledge and sat down heavily on the rocky surface. The slight breeze that reached her up here was pleasantly cool compared to the humid air below. Leaning forwards, she rested her elbows on her knees as she caught her breath, gladly accepting the respite from her relatively short but steep climb. The view wasn’t bad either.

Spread out below her was several miles of greenish-brown swampland that gently steamed in the heat from the single sun, now at its peak in the teal sky. Here and there the waterlogged terrain was punctured by ridges of red rock that jutted towards the sky and were crowned with wisps of low cloud. It was one of these that she now climbed, up to the crest where the Ghost awaited her return.

Another cradled the target of Hera’s mission to this planet amongst its craggy outcrops. The old Republic waystation had been built during the Clone Wars as a convenient refueling location along a well-travelled hyperspace lane, but now the Empire controlled it. The addition of a communications dish turned it into a strategic base to boost transmissions to more distant sectors of the galaxy, but also an irresistible target for the people she worked for.

Hera’s hand felt for the dataspike in her pocket. Chopper had infiltrated the waystation a week ago to install it and it now held a copy of all the data that had passed through the station since. Transport manifests of the ships that had stopped here, communications that had been redirected, transmissions that had been relayed to other divisions of the Imperial fleet – Hera was eager to look through it all. That wasn’t the only reason she was keen to get back to the Ghost quickly, though.

Her journey through the base to recover Chopper’s dataspike had taken her past the refuelling hangar, where she’d spotted something that had wrenched at her heart. A prisoner transport, its hatch open and its hold packed with people in chains.

Twi’lek people. Her people.

Even from a distance, Hera had seen how their shoulders had been slumped in acceptance of their grim situation. They were the Empire’s slaves now, like so many of their people, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Though she knew the data she was extracting would help them locate and liberate many, many ships’ worth of such people, it ripped her apart to leave them behind. All through her trek back through the muddy swamp she had been turning their plight over in her mind, trying to think of how she could help them. Maybe if the Ghost could intercept the transport as it left the planet, they could grab the prisoners and get them to safety...

Her haste meant nothing if all of her crew weren’t back, however, which was why she was allowing herself a break. Kanan would still be behind her, as disabling the internal surveillance would have taken him to the far side of the base so he had further to travel to get back. Neither that fact nor her aching legs stopped her from wanting to keep going.

She settled for pulling out her comm once she had enough breath to speak.

"Kanan? Where are you?"

She absently reached up to wipe the sweat beading on her brow, but grimaced a moment later as she realised she’d smeared mud over her forehead and down one cheek. She felt like she was bringing most of the swamp up with her, caked up her legs almost to her waist.

"Just starting to climb the ridge now,” crackled his reply. With all the moisture in the air the signal wasn’t great. “This mud doesn’t exactly make things easier."

She wholeheartedly agreed with him, but it didn’t make her less impatient. "How fast can you get up here? I got the data but the sooner we leave, the better."

A burst of static sounded like a panting breath. “Couldn’t agree more. I’ll see what I can do.”

There was a pause, and then she heard a grunt of effort through the comm, followed by a soft yelp.

“Kanan?” she asked with concern. “Are you okay?”

There was another grunt before he replied. “Did I mention that I’m covered in mud? Everything’s so slippery.”

“Do not fall off this rock. I don’t think I could carry you if you broke a leg,” she warned him.

“Nah, I think you could. But if you’re sure, I can carry you instead.”

Hera could almost hear the suave grin in his voice. She rolled her eyes.

“And increase your chances of falling? I don’t think so.”

She allowed herself a small smile that Kanan couldn’t see through the comm. She’d never tell him that she secretly liked the flirty banter, or the way he sometimes looked at her. She had to keep their relationship professional for the sake of the cause she fought for, even if sometimes she wanted to do the exact opposite, so all he received in return was firm but gentle resistance.

"This is the same contact that gave us the narglatch job, right?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes, why?"

"I don't think we should take jobs from this guy any more. I don’t like them."

"Vizago always has work and always pays fairly,” she explained patiently, “we’re not passing that up. Besides, I'm the captain here, I'll decide whose jobs we-"

She was cut off by the distant sound of a ship's engine. Her heart sank as she watched the prisoner transport from the hangar emerge from the waystation and steadily climb into the upper atmosphere. It disappeared into the clouds with no-one to stop it.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been staring at the sky for when Kanan’s voice came from beside her.

"Hera?"

"There were twi'lek slaves on that ship,” she said distantly. “I know the ship’s flight path and destination will be in this data, but... I hoped we'd be out fast enough to save them before it left." She could hear the longing and disappointment in her voice.

"Uh, yeah, so about that ship…” Kanan began, and something in his voice made her finally turn around to focus on him. He was shifting his feet nervously and rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand. “I noticed it from the surveillance center. And I might have, uh, stopped by on the way back and… liberated the prisoners. And promised them a ride."

He was looking at her nervously. His mind was stuck on the time she’d told him “you don’t get to invite anyone onto my ship without my permission”. Her mind was stuck on “liberated the prisoners”.

Hera continued to stare at him in amazement as he continued. "They're heading for the other side of the mountain – if we can get the Ghost around there quickly we can meet them before the Imperials realise they're gone. I think one or more of them is sick, but we've still got those black market medical supplies we haven't delivered yet, and I'm sure we can skim something off the top-"

Hera had stopped listening several words ago. The feelings of gratitude, affection and awe had reached a bursting point in her chest and before she could realise what she was doing, her hands found his face and whatever he was saying was cut off as her mouth met his.

For a moment, nothing existed except the press of his lips. His skin was hot under her touch, and despite his surprise, his mouth moved automatically against hers. The gentle brush of his tongue against her lower lip sent sparks shooting through her belly and made her gasp, enough to break the kiss.

Her breathing was heavy again, and she felt slightly dizzy. From the dazed look in Kanan’s eyes, he wasn’t doing much better. It was the mud now smeared over one side of his face that reminded her of their current situation and stopped her from going back for more.

“We need to move fast if we’re going to get to them first. Come on!”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him up the mountain behind her.