#oh and also the STORAGE and BATTERY charging

[hanzajesthanza]

that would be a really fun (though exhausting) video to make, just "explain the witcher [entire series] from memory"

[rainbowrocketquotes]

📱 for colress please? it's gotta be a chaotic nightmare only col understands, or completely pristine and you swear he just bought it

Colress? I hardly know... Ress... Guys, I'm running out of jokes.

His password is 1739246805. Which is a coherent pattern on the number pad, but the others see it be so long and they just kind of give up trying to break into his phone, so win/win.

His home screen is completely devoid of any apps, it's just the clock witdget and his task bar (Phone, texts, browser, camera, photos. So, default) His lockscreen is whatever he thinks is important at the time, which is usually screenshots of something he needs to remember, while his home screen rotates through of his Pokémon.

Believes in google supremacy in the android-apple war. He trades in his phone whenever the new pixel series comes out.

Always has a high battery percentage because he only really uses his phone to text people and look at memes. Usually he ends up wireless charging someone else's with his battery life.

His most used app is pinterest, because he likes looking at shitty tumblr takes, garbage tweets, and bad memes but refuses to go onto either of those sites, and there are... Interesting things on Pinterest.

Doesn't use social media, unless you could Pinterest. He doesn't want to get "corrected" by someone 10x less qualified than him. He also doesn't really play games.

Even so, he has about half of his storage used up just by the sheer amount of photos he has. Mad scientist brain. He sees a thing and goes "I must add it to my collection at once!" Whether it's a meme or a screenshot or even just a video he took of someone trying to get their keys out of a sewer drain.

Immaculate organization of his photo gallery, but, similarly to his pinterest boards, the folder names are completely incomprehensible. You'll ask him what one of them means and he'll go "Oh, so "hrreb📟" actually is my nature photos folder because that was me trying to spell "green" without my glasses on and also that timer emoji is kind of green and nature is also green, you know?" and you have to explain that no, you don't know, and he's absolutely insane for thinking that any of what he does makes sense.

He doesn't have any contacts saved except his siblings and Ghetsis, who are saved under their names, and Cyrus, who is saved under "Don't answer". Guess what muted contact he has 193 unread texts from?

He doesn't usually google things on his phone, and his only open search tab is "how to mute a contact without blocking them".

[give-grian-rights]

I joined an frc team

-GRABS YOU-

hello and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life . first robotics competition CHANGES YOUR BRAIN CHEMICALS

you want to survive? LETS DO THIS

1: NO MATTER WHAT try and stick it out. Get the grades, get the hours, get the permission to travel to at least ONE competition- especially one that stays in a hotel, since I know some teams will skip out on hotels for events close to them. I don't think ANYONE, in any scenario, should say "this isn't for me" until they go and experience one full event.

2: if you don't use deodorant YOU WILL BE EXECUTED . no matter what your job is, there is going to be at least ONE point throughout the day where you are shoulder-to-shoulder with someone . if theres a time to be self conscious its then . use Convention rules as reference

3:you will be tempted to fucking come out of the closet at least at one point . you do NOT KNOW how much it hurt to skip out on a cool write-your-own-pronouns pin because i refused to use she/her and wasn't comfortable writing any. proceed with caution as you see fit.

4: are you surprised by number four? YOU SHOULDNT BE the women. ohh the women are so pretty. my entire high school (aka: less than a year ago) was me being OUTRAGOUSLY STUPID whenever i saw a fem presenting person . oh my god. oh my god they are all so hot. and then those hot students become hot volunteers and alumni and the gay never leaves. there was a trans woman mentor at one competition she rocked we talked with her for like an hour

5: if your team. goes to far competitions. TAKE A BLANKET AND PILLOW. new kids sometimes do NOT get this memo. do it. get silly with it, to what your team permits. our team, being older than me myself, gave up . . most rules. involving the bus. for better or worse.

6: bring a hoodie. i dont care where you go. bring not just a blanket, but a hoodie. so worse comes to worse you can put it on the floor and sleep. that was a fun 8 hour bus ride.

7: if you have a remotely decent team. you will be killed on site if you cuss at a competition. one kid's "bad" or immature behavior can lead to your entire team being disqualified to any award not related to robot performance.

8: LEARN HOW TO EAT AT LEAST ONE BASIC FOOD. this one might be silly but it could've killed me (dramatic). eat pizza. even if you have to take off the cheese just. figure out a way its worth it. FIND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. at least one breakfast food, for if you're at a hotel that serves you. experiment a little. find something that works for you.

9: exercise what free stuff you take with caution . i have probably ten-fifteen pounds of buttons and pins, and i do not. genuinely do not. think thats an exaggeration.

10: headphones . soft, subtle earbuds. battery packs. and a BACKPACK. my senior year, i composed myself of:

fanny pack, attached to it my wallet which had a buckle, so i could easily access my money. a change purse also attachable, so i have somewhere for coins obviously.

reusable, collapsing drinking cup

a folded up draw-string bag, for hoodies, or eccentric amount of free stuff

one to two battery packs with a charger. if you have friends (or want to make some), consider having other types of chargers too!

wall outlet plug, incase i need to charge at a venue

miniature hairbrush

hand sanitizer

gum. a great way to make friends

a folded up sandwich bag with various medicines, and a piece of paper that describe which each medicine is (ibuprofen, anxiety meds, etc).

i genuinely considered wearing two fannypacks at the same time. also, tying your hoodie around your waist for extra storage works too.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE HACK:

tampon box . your venue bans outside food or drink? tampon box with pads and tampons on top. contraband inside. almost NEVER looks. better to put it with team stuff like scouting equipment and spirit gear but a worthy inclusion. Same goes for if you have a backpack with pockets!

put food/drinks at the bottom, menstrual products on top. doesn't matter what you present as. lie. say your girlfriend needed it since she doesn't carry a bag with her to competitions. putting SOFT STUFF that mumbles wrappers crinkling also helps, like an extra hoodie. though I personally wouldn't matter to much about that, since competitions are LOUD especially when you're entering the venue when the doors first open.

a lot of the time though, security aren't too bothered. especially if you dont make it obvious.

this is my first robotics season as a college student. i don't like my team enough to go back, but god. god do i fucking love this program.

[pixlh3art]

i'm recovering from surgery and therefore off my adhd meds so fuck it

Here's 4 Things That I, a Former Computer Technician, Wish Everybody Knew About Technology

I'm not a major expert or anything, but I'm certified for repairs for two of the biggest laptop manufacturers out there, have done not only several in-warranty repairs for those companies, but have also done a few at-home "sure babe I'll replace your laptop battery" repairs for friends/partners. I am also my whole extended family's designated tech support person for all things software. Here we go!

1. When you spill liquid on a device, turn it off, LEAVE it off, and bring it to a technician. Liquid damage to devices does not occur at the moment of the spill, but when electricity goes through wet/corroded transistors. It is NOT a good thing if the device "suddenly works later."

2. Every device that you have that can be used and also move at the same time (laptop, tablet, phone, etc.) has what's called an "SSD," or "solid-state-drive" for its storage. "Storage" is what you actually keep saved on the device, which is different from "memory" (a computer's ability to multitask). SSDs are great, but there's one thing to keep in mind: they really really REALLY don't like being filled to the brim. When they get too full, they essentially lose the ability to actually make any more space, even when you delete something, and that causes all kinds of software issues. Most good SSDs are programmed to prevent this, but you can still manage to screw them up if you try hard enough. Treat every SSD like it's maybe 5GB smaller than it says it is.

3. Turn your devices off every once in a while. Like, idk, maybe once a week. It's good for them. And no, restarting doesn't count, I mean turn them fully, fully off. If you're unsure as to the difference, let me put it this way: imagine you always got 8 hours of sleep, but only 2 hours at a time. Yeah - that's what only ever restarting is like. Turn your phone and your tablet and your computer fully off every now and again. It doesn't have to be for long or anything, just has to be a full shutdown.

4. If you lose the charger for your laptop, do some google research and find out the exact specifications of the charger your computer has - specifically, the wattage. I highly recommend going to the original manufacturer to buy your replacement. I know that a lot of laptop chargers can be hella expensive, but trust me, buying a cheap Amazon charger will become a MUCH more expensive problem later. If you can't get the original charger from the manufacturer, or if you can but it'll ship way too late, at least try to compare the price that they sell it for to what you purchase elsewhere - if it's anything more than like 10$ cheaper than what the manufacturer is charging, then it's suspicious.

TL;DR: if you spill liquid on something turn it off and bring it to a technician no matter what, treat every device's storage like it's maybe 5GB smaller than it says it is, turn your phone off every once in a while, and if you lose your laptop charger buy the replacement directly from the manufacturer.

People who repair devices for a living will thank you.

Oh! And back up your data. Please. I literally don't care how, just do it. Seriously.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #62: the Witching Hour!

September, 1990

In final battle against IMMORTUS

Oh, comics, you silly. Always labeling things final when you know that they're just going to happen again.

Wonder Man isn't looking well. I think he forgot to eat his Wheaties.

Anyway. Immortus. What gives?

Last times on Avengers West Coast: a lot of things have happened. But apparently it was all Immortus' fault, manipulating Scarlet Witch from early in her career to make her fall for Vision so she would later have fake kids with him an have a mental breakdown over losing them. All so Immortus could use her powers, which he jacked up, to take control of time. For reasons. He's also been winnowing down the infinite divergent timelines to just one. Also for reasons.

Honestly, who cares? Let's just get this over with so we can hopefully move onto stories that aren't about torturing Wanda Maximoff.

The Avengers West Coast and Quicksilver are hesitant to attack Immortus as long as he has a catatonic Scarlet Witch as a hostage but he scoffs. He's not going to hurt her! She's so very essential to his plan!

Through her power, he'll safeguard whatever future he decided is the only correct future! You could say, that as a hero, this is what Wanda should be doing to serve the entire multiverse!

The Avengers and Quicksilver tell Immortus that he's dumb and these answers in no way satisfy them.

I'd also like to add that the team recovering between issues from their hard fought victories or near-defeats makes most of the last issue completely pointless.

I love a good Legion of the Unliving, I do, but it was all time wasting.

Anyway, hearing that Immortus needs Wanda for his plans, the Avengers and Quicksilver all charge in to kick Immortus' head in.

He tells them to knock it off because they might rouse Wanda from her trance.

Protip: Telling a hero team that the thing they're doing will thwart you will make them want to do it more.

So Immortus summons more assistance. Which he wouldn't have needed to do if he hadn't gotten rid of the Legion of the Unliving, for some reason.

Although in this case, the assistance is a big white dude named Tempus, the guardian of Castle Limbo. Which explains why he's never showed up any other time the Avengers have been here.

He can age anyone he touches, I guess. Which is a cool power to have in a world that is explicitly timeless.

Back at the Avengers West Coast Compound on Earth, Agatha Harkness yells at the afterimage of Immortus for his evil plans.

Agatha Harkness: "I know what you're planning, Immortus -- and you're a fiend! But -- why am I wasting my time shouting at a transparent doppleganger like you?" Afterimage Immortus: "I am sure I have no idea, Agatha Harkness."

What a weird series of writing decisions led us to this point.

Agatha realizes that she needs to get to Limbo to help Wanda but the only way to get there is for her to astral project her ethereal self out of her body and dive into Afterimage Immortus. Because of reasons, this sends her to Limbo.

Where the Avengers are getting their various asses kicked by Tempus, guardian of Limbo Castle.

Tempus smacks Old Man Wonder Man with his big club, knocking the aged hero at US Agent who catches him. And then passes the fuck out from the impact.

Hawkeye is surprised US Agent would be a team player - although he also calls him John Walters instead of John Walker.

Quicksilver watches Tempus no-sell attacks from Hank Pym, Hawkeye, and Iron Man and wonders whether even his superspeed will be able to help.

But seeing Trance Wanda inspires Quicksilver.

Quicksilver: "Wanda -- can you hear me behind that shield? We have been through so much, together and apart. For you to become, now, nothing but a human storage battery for Immortus to draw on -- no matter how noble or vital he claims his purpose is -- ! NO! In the name of Heaven itself -- no good was ever born -- out of something so clearly evil!"

Then he runs really fast and bonks Tempus with a club-shaped piece of rock.

Which doesn't knock Tempus down but at least gets him to react like he's been hit.

Iron Man and Hawkeye speculate whether it was because Quicksilver hit Tempus with a piece of the castle he's the guardian of. Hawkeye wondering whether he could make arrows out of it.

Tempus gets right pissed and decides to hit the Avengers and Quicksilver with... TIMESTORM!

Everyone of them is forced to relive their own "most fearful, most deeply buried memories!"

Which. I dunno.

That's not what I'd call a timestorm. Trip during memory lane. But not a timestorm.

And I dunno.

Quicksilver sees himself and Wanda fleeing one of the angry mobs that are ever-present in Eastern Europe and America in comics. I think, specifically, the ones that led to them being discovered by Magneto.

Hawkeye sees the moment of broken pedestal when he discovered his idol mentor Swordsman was stealing from the circus.

Wonder Man re-experiences that time he died. Again.

Hank Pym re-lives when he had to identify his first wife's dead body.

Iron Man gets that shrapnel to the heart moment. Oddly, not anything related to his alcoholism or Armor Wars.

Wasp sees when her dad was killed by an alien, all the way back in her first appearance.

And US Agent sees when his mom and dad were killed in front of his eyes by the far-right Watchdogs group.

All very emotionally devastating to have to go through again but I don't know if all of these would qualify as most fearful or most emotionally devastating. And the point is to confront the heroes with "the foe which, above all others, you can not hope to defeat."

But.

Everyone here has lived through these memories already. They've continued on. Coming to terms with what happened or not but still able to keep going.

Like, Wonder Man has coped with dying. So. MANY. TIMES.

This is called a timestorm so you'd think it'd be horrible, character-specific What-Ifs! Although, that wouldn't work with Immortus hating branching timelines. But still! Seems like a more interesting idea.

Whatever. Either way, these bad memories are enough to floor the Avengers and Quicksilver and leave them quivering helpless.

Agatha Harkness has basically just watched all this happen, sure she could do nothing to influence events.

But then she thinks 'what if yes can influence?'

And since Immortus is really distracted by watching the Avengers quiver, Agatha uses her mystic rapport with Wanda to try to contact her mind.

Agatha begs Wanda to give up the extra power that Immortus has been jamming into her. That if she gives up the ability to "alter the probabilities of cosmic timelines", then Immortus won't have a use for her.

But Wanda doesn't react.

Meanwhile, Immortus is wondering whether he needs to kill the Avengers or not. He should would hate to fit into the villain niche they're trying to jam him into but on the other hand he also hates that they might keep getting in the way so, yeah, sure, go ahead and kill them Tempus.

Agatha is able to get the faintest of brief reactions from Wanda when she begs her to fight against Immortus' control for the sake of her robot husband and for the sake of her imaginary kids who aren't real.

Okay, Agatha doesn't put it that way but the reality of Vision being an emotionless machine now and the kids being totally fake not real causes the ploy to not work.

So Agatha instead tries pleading for the Avengers' lives. Surely the Avengers hold a place in her heart? Her brother? Her friends?

Agatha runs out of time because Immortus can "feel their presence -- within my brain!"

While he blasts Agatha with PSYCHIC ENERGY, he orders Tempus to finish off the Avengers.

As Agatha fades she pleads for Wanda to "Reject those extra powers you never wanted -- for the sake of those who love you -- reject them also for the sake of those you love -- Reject the powers, Wanda! Reject themmmmm"

Wanda does awake. And she does reject the powers. And she basically declares "No more this arc."

And expelling the energy apparently somehow creates new timelines diverging from the most fearful, most deeply buried memories that were tormenting the Avengers.

Wanda and Pietro get burned at the stake instead of being rescued by Magneto. Grim.

Hawkeye scolds Swordsman into not doing crime.

Tony Stark dies of the shrapnel.

Wonder Man's death triggers a burst of radiation which kills all the Avengers except Thor.

Janet van Dyne is killed by the alien that killed her dad.

Maria Pym just... stops being dead on the morgue slab. Didn't even try to come up with a reasonable divergence on that one.

And the spray of bullets that would have killed Mr and Mrs Walker instead miraculously miss them.

These changes jar the Avengers from their bad memories floor quivering and also alarm Immortus who shouts that AGATHA HARKNESS HAS DOOMED THE VERY MULTIVERSE.

So dramatic.

Not Evil Anymore Wanda wonders if her blasting out all that energy is what will doom existence and thinks maybe she can just slurp it back up.

But then the Time Keepers show up and tell her not to bother.

Immortus is again alarmed. These are his boss mentors and them showing up is like they don't think he can do his job without intervention.

Time Keepers: "Immortus... be still. Long ago, we appointed you custodian of the segment of time between 3000 B.C. and 4000 A.D. Your duties required little more than the eventual transmutation of a particular nexus being into a source of power. You were to use that power over probabilities to safeguard key events which must occur in various timelines, in order to assure a certain future in which we have a vested interest... but even that simple assignment seems to have proven too difficult for you to fulfill."

Okay, so these are the dicks that told Immortus to go after Wanda?

Wellll, no. They gave him a list and he chose Wanda off of it. But choosing Wanda and then letting the Avengers and Agatha Harkness meddle caused such temporal chaos that it puts all futures in jeopardy and risks the Time Keepers never existing.

And what a big loss that would be.

Look. Immortus is a sometimes food. Too much of any Kang or Kang derivative is too much. But the Time Keepers kind of take away the only kinda cool thing Immortus had going for him. He's just middle management now.

Also, the Time Keepers are introducing so many words words words to this ending.

Wanda doesn't really care about all the words words words. She just points a finger at Immortus for fucking up her life. Immortus can only weakly claim he was just doing his job.

And then the Time Keepers jump in to remind him that he was shit at his job. And apparently, Immortus was trying to get control over all of time instead of the seven millennia they promised him?

I really can't care at this point.

The Avengers are all standing around commenting on this but it's just prolonging things.

US Agent yells at the Time Keepers that he wants to arrest Immortus and take him to trial by the US Government. The Time Keepers blah blah blah our actions are ineffable our deeds for the greater good. Also, we're cosmically powerful and you're a guy with a metal disc.

Hawkeye and US Agent can't take the Time Keepers' cockiness and both try to attack them. The Keepers just crank the velocity on the arrow and the shield way down and then commentate on which one would reach them first, ie which Avenger launched a faster attack.

Apparently Hawkeye wins but by so little it's hardly worth doing this sequence.

US Agent concedes that messing with Galactus-tier dudes is annoying and asks Hawkeye what they do now.

Hawkeye: "Not much... unless you've got a deck of cards up your sleeve."

Hah. I think he's suggesting they just play poker until all the exposition finishes.

Despite having fumbled the ball, Immortus demands his prize anyway. Because dammit, he worked really hard! And just as a reminder, that prize was rule over the stretch of time from when he was Pharaoh Rama-Tut to the time he spent as Kang conquering the year 4000.

Not that Immortus was ever that cool but he seems so much less cool when he's whining about 7000 years versus when he surveyed all time and had grown out of a desire to rule.

You suck, this new Immortus.

And apparently the Time Keepers agree.

They gather all the energy Wanda expelled and shove it into Immortus.

He at first crows at how much more powerful he's growing and then, like Wanda, he becomes catatonic.

Now, he will remain unmoving in Limbo, the power of probabilities residing in him to ensure that the correct future happens, or whatever.

This story is suck.

Despite everything, Wanda just feels sorry for Immortus. Sure, he was going to do the same thing to her but it is a truly horrible fate and she is not a jerk anymore because I guess she expelled the racism goo traces.

(Something that Hank mentions too, although more in the general sense that if she's feeling pity for Immortus, she must be on the road to recovery)

Actually, Wanda tries to claim that Immortus was "noble, in his own way."

Oh, Wanda, no. You don't have to big him up. He sucks.

Then, the Time Keepers decide they're tired of looking at the Avengers' dumb faces and just instantly scene transition them back to the compound.

Convenient.

Agatha Harkness claims that Actually, she didn't carry the team. Truly, this was an Avengers victory because they did a really good distracting Immortus by getting their asses soundly beaten by Tempus.

She phrased it nicer than I did but that is the gist.

Hawkeye just instantly passes out as soon as the plot is over. But Hank is left to worry about the dangling subplots of Tigra being tiny and feral and the Human Torch being broken.

Also, hey hey, Living Lightning's first appearance! I remember him fondly from the two things I've ever seen him in! The Great Lakes Avengers Misassembled mini and Avengers No Surrender!

Of course, next week next time, we're back over to the Avengers and the Crossing Line arc. Eh.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like, reblog, or comment. I'm hangry for feedback.

[lavenoon]

When it comes to the boys is there anything they may be super casual about that Robin may just look at them and either go "What are you doing??" or "Wait a second, you need that?"

I continue tackling old asks <3

So for this, there might be a bunch that'll seem like it should have come up sooner and only didn't because I didn't think about it before this ask. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ponder those human/ animatronic differences - they're my bread and butter!

The first thing that surprised Y/N was pretty soon after Sun moved in - he didn't technically need it, but the boys like setting up their charging station a bit. So Sun asked to make some minor alterations to the house. Comparable to uhhh maybe a charging station to an electrical car at home, just not quite the same dimensions? To Sun/Moon it means quicker charging as well as better equipment compared to "travel" set ups.

Y/N, while they didn't expect it, did tell him to make those alterations as he sees fit, because they are a bad landlord and don't really care - in their mind he lives there, and should live comfortably!

There's also the check-ups. Like any human should go to the GP even without acute issues every now and then, animatronics need check-ups too! But the first time it comes up it's a moment of "Oh right that makes sense, why did that never occur to me?"

The boys can do a good bunch of repairs by themselves, more so than the average animatronic I'd say. Their trust in engineers (especially human engineers) has taken a significant hit after the Eclipse battery issue, and they decided they'll learn a bit more about their inner workings.

(I don't think animatronics in general would just know how to do their own repairs. Like Robin thinks in First Aid - that's like expecting a human to do their own surgery. Possible, sure, for some things - but definitely not the standard. How many humans have medical knowledge on the level of a doctor without being a doctor? Takes active research into personal health issues, and that's exactly what our celestial brothers did. Eclipse, too. His trust into engineers took the greatest hit - the first one he met turned out to cut corners for profit, and was dishonest. So these three are a little special, but they have their reasons)

Despite all that, they do try to get a full body check-up at least once a year. They also have to replace their finger joints and casing more often than would technically be necessary with normal wear and tear, but Sun has a nervous habit of wringing them until they creak while also hating the dents it causes.

They can also detach limbs without great issues. I imagine it similarly to fullmetal alchemist automail, where it's uncomfortable for a split second when "nerves" get de/ attached, but otherwise it's just. There's no lingering/ constant pain, so they can detach hands, arms, and legs pretty easily. The hands are extra because they have the separate circuits, and the tasers may need specific maintenance.

If, at some point after the First Aid blowout (or, well, blowup) the boys decide to keep a few replacement parts on hand (not like, a whole second body, because that's too expensive, but just like. A couple custom parts, every now and then, as long as the joint wallet agrees), it makes for a funny little moment of Y/N picking up a package for them, taking it inside, and going "oh, this is kinda heavy, what did you order? if you wanna share" "oh, just another arm. ordered the left one last month, now we have one of each in storage." And Y/N just stands there internally screaming because the thought of just. Ordering an arm for when you might need to replace your old one is just not really something they can empathize with, and their attempts of course lead to more imagined body horror.

Generally I'd say that Y/N sometimes slips into making the two human in their mind, not just people. They don't mean to, but they didn't interact this much with many animatronics (if any) before, and didn't know any as well as Sun/Moon, so they just. Fumble.

Like Sun/Moon complaining about squeaking joints, and they just hesitantly get some WD-40 to offer the boys, like "Is this gonna help? It works for doors but I don't want to say you're like a door" while the boys just die on the inside trying not to laugh

(I don't know if they could use WD-40. Gut instinct says yes, but I simply don't trust my gut like that lmao)

The boys also make a couple memory back ups every now and then, just in case. It wouldn't be able to replace their AI should anything happen to them, but if their memory cards are fried they can check things out again, and they could show Y/N their memories, like videos! Y/N also needs a bit to adjust to that. It's sweet to see how much focus they received from the start, and to see how hard Sun/Moon tried to do well by them, but it's also literally seeing themself through someone else's eyes, and that's not something a human would just expect is possible

In that vein - if they ever mention they can just share their memories with each other, Y/N is gonna need a moment to grapple with that (before demanding an explanation why they don't do that, because it would have saved them all a lot of grief if they'd compared notes on their rival and neighbor. Not too accusingly, because Y/N feels guilty for missing the signs themself, but just a bit of "Why wasn't this an option?")

There's also the curiosity about just, constantly running programs. All the sensors for the boys - seeing and hearing work better than for a human, touch is different but it's hard to explain how, more deliberate with the option to exclude circuit areas easily, and smell is a little less sensitive, comparable to electronic "noses" that also gives them some idea of how things would taste, but otherwise that sense just entirely falls off the table. Where and how electricity is running, where are which sensors, what sort of temperature regulation do they have? (They run just a little colder than humans when at rest, and no one with gaming laptops come at me, I'm basing this off my own laptop PLUS I'm giving them better fans/ tech).

Y/N would be curious to learn about all that, because they want to love all of the boys, and want to know all they can. But I don't think they'll ever learn as much to do repairs single-handedly - they don't see why they have to, frankly. They don't want to think of the boys broken so badly that no one else would even offer to help, and otherwise just assumes situations like First Aid, where they can just carry out instructions while the boys are incapacitated. They learn how to recognize terms and what screw goes where and which cable does what, but they don't get the intricacies of it all because despite everything, they are not an engineer for animatronics and I'm not making them one gfhdj

Think that's it for now, that's already 1.2K words too so! Hope that's some fun then <3

[purplesurveys]

1783

How long has it been since you moved out of the house you grew up in?    I haven't moved out.

What color shirt are you wearing?    It's light purple.

The last time you ate leftovers, what was it that you were eating?    I think it's been a while since I have a terrible habit of keeping leftovers and then never coming back for them ever again... BUT OH I think it was a double cheeseburger from McDonald's? sometime earlier this week. I still have a handful of other paper bags in the fridge that I need to get to soon.

What was the last flavor of ice cream you ate?   I had Aice's coffee popsicle when we went to Tanay over the weekend which I was super stoked about since it's my favoriteeeeeeeeeee and I haven't had the chance to have it since 2021 ehehehe. I must have finished it in 5 minutes and chewed my way through the ice cream for the most part lol.

Do you regret anything you've done in the last 24 hours, and if so, what?    Not charging my laptop last night because I had to painstakingly migrate from one outlet to another today, given that I was out all day for work.

What is your favorite type of soup? 🍜    Miso soup, mushroom soup, and this last one is more stew than soup but I love kimchi jjigae.

When was the last time you saw a beautiful sunset? 🌅    It's honestly been ages. I haven't had the time to pause and simply watch a sunset happen and silently soak in those few minutes in a while. The last time may have been all the way back in June when my friends and I had dinner on a tiny cruise boat in Bangkok.

What is your favorite song at the moment?    Cult of Personality by Living Colour for reasons that anyone who even slightly follows wrestling would know, haha.

What is your favorite board that you've made on Pinterest?    I'm not that deep into Pinterest to have boards. I only ever use it for quick searches when I need certain pegs for work Powerpoints.

Do you get on Facebook or Instagram more?    I'm on the Reels tab on Instagram more frequently than I would like to admit, lol. I'm connected to more people on Facebook but it's also still more boring, so when I'm on there I typically just look at the first 10, 15 posts on my feed to see what people are talking about then already close the app.

What color is your favorite sweater?    I don't have a favorite sweater.

What are three things people would never guess about you just by looking at the photos you post on social media?    I don't talk to my brother; I don't know how to ride a bicycle; I was deep into the British YouTuber invasion of the early-mid 2010s.

What is one thing you have too much of?    Right now that would be boxes of my fave coconut-scented reed diffuser but that's only because that's what I got my workmates this Christmas and I have yet to wrap them and give them out, haha.

What was the last thing you ate or drank that was blue raspberry-flavored? It must've been months or years now; raspberry is definitely not something I encounter a lot.

What are three of your favorite scents?    Vanilla, anything that's being baked, and apparently coconut.

What was the last flavor of tea you drank? ☕️    Lemon.

When was the last time you wore your hair in a fishtail braid?    Almost exactly a year ago.

What is one annoying thing your computer does?    I'm so attached to this laptop and it's my baby that I don't even have the heart to say anything bad about it lol. It's extremely slow and the 10 hour battery life has turned into 1 hour in the last six years and it barely has any storage left and has stopped becoming eligible for updates, but IT'S MY BABY DAMMIT.

What type of fruit do you eat the most?    I avoid fruits.

How often do you go out to eat?    Once or twice a month, I would say.

What would your dream wedding dress look like? 👰‍♀️    I'm too lazy to describe anything in detail as it is 10:30 PM and I'm too tired from work lololol but I would love anything that'd channel Audrey Hepburn. Something that'd be able to accentuate the waist with verrrrrrry subtle sleeves and a quiet yet elegant train that doesn't try to steal attention.

Which fall flavor do you prefer: pumpkin spice or apple cinnamon?    Pumpkin spice. Got to try the Starbucks drink when they were randomly giving out pumpkin spice free samples and I came out of that store a changed and converted woman.

What is the most annoying thing about your life right now?    All other PR/ad agencies are going on shutdown by the end of this week and my fuckin workplace isn't starting ours until next Friday.

Which holiday treat do you like better: candy corn or conversation hearts? Candy corn I guess, but I'm not a big candy person to begin with so eh.

What is your favorite apple-flavored treat?    Chewy candies, like Mentos.

What are you counting down the days to right now, if anything?    Our office shutdown. I'm so excited for it that I've started to stop exerting 100% effort at work lol.

What was the last book you read about?    It's an autobiography.

Have you been daydreaming a lot lately about a scenario you wish would happen?  I've been dreaming about it a lot, frustratingly enough.

What are three of your favorite things about camping? ⛺️    I've never gone camping before.

If you could choose what month to be born in, what month would you have chosen as your birth month, and why?    My birth month has never really been an issue to me and I wouldn't change it even if I could.

...and what is your actual birth month?    April.

What are three of your favorite things to do on a rainy day? 🌧️    If I had it my way I'd turn on the aircon, make my room as dark as possible, and take a long nap.

Would you rather eat strawberries 🍓 or watermelon 🍉?    Neither.

Do you prefer smoothies or milkshakes? 🍹    Milkshakes.

Do you prefer hamburgers 🍔 or hot dogs 🌭?    Burgers.

When was the last time you felt nauseous?    I had the most awful motion sickness last Monday.

What was the last thing you ate that made you feel nauseous?    The bagnet and bone marrow dish I had two weeks ago didn't necessarily make me feel nauseous but it did give me awful heartburn.

Do you enjoy going to your local county fair?    We don't have one in my city.

How far away do you live from the place where you were born?    I'd say it's a 1.5-2 hr car ride.

Do you prefer zebra print or cheetah print?  Cheetah.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know, van lifer family vloggers are a scourge on society already. but i've got a new one lately: boat life family vloggers. so over the last week on facebook watch/video, i've started to get a young aussie couple, say in their early 30s, trying to convince people that living on a catamaran, sailing around the world is the peak of living sustainably and "beating the housing crisis" and "living the life they want" etc etc etc, all the usual mantras of van lifer family vloggers.

i don't really know how old most of the videos in my feed are, but in a couple of the latest ones that i've watched, they have a toddler (say about 2 years old) and a 6 month old or something. I've been thinking, along side of a parody series of van lifer family videos that I watch on YT shorts, about how incredibly cramped this life is. just how much control these parents want over their kids. how lonely and isolating it will be for those kids once they're older, and need actual kids their age- not just their sibling (or siblings if these people want more kids that the two they've got)- to interact with outside of and away from their parents (and their brother rn- or sister/s if they have more kids). at one stage, right after they have their second kid, they're straight back on the boat like a week after the kid is born.

in one of the videos, they show you around a new boat that's about $1.5 million to buy. they show you all the rooms in it: the galley, the two bedrooms, the kitchen etc and the navigation deck. but in what i suppose is meant to be the master bedroom (it's a queen bed stuffed between 2 walls and a door, with two small overhead fans when it's hot)..... and there's a funny thing down the end of the bed for storage. the woman of the couple, who shows the viewers the room, goes "oh i could probs fit in here!!! *feet stick out as she tries to squeeze herself into a STORAGE UNIT* oh wait. no i can't fit in it. it really is storage. or y'know. you could fit a child in there, i suppose." like. kelsey or whatever your name is. why the fuck would you put a kid in there??? other than maybe you're nursing them and want them close. but still. it's A FUCKING STORAGE UNIT?????

but i digress. you're being "environmentally conscious". you're living off of solar power and "teaching our kids about the r E a L w O r L d!!!!! giving them a real education!!! letting them live a life that they'd NEVER have on the mainland of australia!!! look! we've sailed to the bahamas to meet another youtube travel couple!! look! our boat broke down in bali so now kelsey has a much needed break from the kids on the mainland of indonesia bc we've invited our family over to the conutry bc it's closer (and cheaper) than Hawaii, where we were a month ago!!!"

like. have you considered that maybe this isn't really healthy for your kids??? like you have the tiniest fucking shower "or if the weather's good, our shower is mother nature :).... using the crystal clear waters of barbados to wash ourselves!!!! isn't that just awesome and cool and unique!!!???" and "oh our boat batteries have died so now we HAVE to shack up at a marina to charge :(! this sucks, bc it's so much better to be right next to dolphins in the atlantic oceans for our little boys!!!! we hate being on any mainland really bc we're not being self-sufficient!!! but half the time we have to moor and go to the mainland of anywhere, to make sure we stock up on locally sourced, grass fed farmer's market stock and also long life food!!!"

anyway. you get my point. i don't think this channel is good for starters, considering that what if you have a massive fight, in which you need time to cool off AWAY from your partner??? even more esp when you have the two kids now??? you really have NO private space on this catamaran, even though they sell it as if they do. again, obvs they're not filming EVERYTHING so you don't know what goes on when the camera isn't on. but still. i think this lifestyle is all fun and games..... until you get kids in the picture.

i dont think it matters if your son atlas (the 2 year old) and your son ashwaganda (the baby) really see dolphins up close in the atlantic ocean vs an aqaurium or on a doplhin cruise back in australia. they do NOT need "real world living" at goddamned 2 YEARS OLD AND 6 MONTHS OLD!!!! they are CHILDREN. they need other kids to be around.... and in their immediate family back in australia...... not just with their parents..... and random kids that they might meet in whatever country you've sailed to.... for like a week. before you claim "it's been too long since we've had our sea legs and we're so restless to get back on the water to BE FREE and away from the hustle and bustle of *insert city here*.... even if it WAS a welcoming break for mummy and daddy. since daddy had the boys over in bali and mummy shoved you off on grandma while we had a retreat in bali."

it's just beyond me that they're selling themselves as an aspirational couple and how "to break free of the mainland of your country and trust your gut for family!!! be self-sufficient today and live the free-roaming, real world, carefree catamaran adventurer/vagabond life today with your kids in tow!!!!" NO!!! i can just imagine how much your kids will hate you if you continue to live this life when they're older than 2 years old and 6 months old.

[ask-the-cosmic-duo]

Hey Stella, do you mind if you could share about your PDA thing that you & Sol used the last time? I remember it can open portals and store a lot of stuff.

1. Is it expensive or highly exclusive? How does one get such a device? How do you charge it? Mana? Electricity?

2. What happens if you lose the device? How do you retrieve all your stuff then? What if the device is damaged/destroyed/stolen?

3. How do you transport to a specific location? Or are the portals random?

4. Are there limits to how much you can store or go anywhere?

Many thanks!

-Aurora

"Oh, yes! I put a lotta effort into those! Prepare for a lot of talking!"

"I tried to make them as cheap as I could, which is pretty darn cheap! I mean, I already have tons of income from being a Council Agent, which I funnel into my projects, R&D, my company, so on and so forth. I don't really need to make money from the sales of my PDAs, y'know?"

"You can get them from any multiversal network, such as my very own StarNet, which should be pretty easy to access in most awakened universes. In your case, you might be able to access it through Tumblr, though I don't know how reliable that is yet."

"They're powered by a dual-battery system that can hold both mana and electricity. The mana battery is charged via drawing in atmospheric mana, and it also comes with a charger cable for its electric battery. Both last a very long time, even without charging."

"Mana is the preferred power source, but in the event that you end up in a universe with no magic, you can use the backup electric battery. A few of the features it has will be less efficient without magic though, such as storing physical objects."

"In the event that you lose one, all your belongings are uploaded to the network the moment the device realizes it's been stolen from you. Alternatively, if it's broken, it has a built-in failsafe that will also upload everything. That's pretty unlikely these days though, now that I have access to Elysian metals."

"Its ability to open portals is heavily reliant on magic, though it can create a few using electricity as well. So long as you have access to the StarNet, you can use its database to open a portal to any universe you so desire, with such precision that you can decide the exact square meter you want it to open at! There's usually 'default spawns' so to speak, so that's usually not necessary, but it's an option, I guess."

"Inevitably, there's limits, though the ones for transport are entirely dependent on authorization from the Council. Don't worry, you don't have to ask them every time you wanna open a portal, as you're given an ID of sorts that has your level of authorization. Everypony has access to most awakened universes by default, but some are off-limits for one reason or another. Not sure what the deal is with ones connected to Tumblr yet... Pretty sure that's also off-limits right now, at least for most."

"Storage, on the other hoof, is much easier to explain. It can hold lots and lots of stuff, big or small. Generally, the bigger it is, the more storage space it'll consume. Same with the amount of power it holds at the time of you storing it away. More energy means bigger file size, though it's more efficient when that energy is magic."

"I guess I should tell you guys the price, huh? Well, the base model is about forty bits. Yes, that's all it takes. They're the standard across the multiverse, so the price's gotta reflect that, y'know? And this is for the newest base model, not an older one. Like I said, I don't really need the money."

"Fully customized, it only goes up to one-hundred-twenty bits. Great, right? All the best gear, plus whatever frame or design you want! The account is free, and there's no subscription model!"

She giggled. "Only the best! Spirit Technologies, SpiriTech for short!"

[zmasters]

Birth of a Robot

I was finished being builded the first of December, 3035. That’s when my AI was first activated. My movement at the time was minimal, so I could only see what was directly in front of me. The factory floor was sterile, bright, and chrome. Robotic arms whizzed all over the floor, quickly building cheaper models to be sent to whatever mercenary company or factory floor that needed the expendable labor. I looked down to see two people in lab coats, one an old, Human male of European origin and the other a younger, gray, bat-like Eldvi female.

Identification: Nikolas Cerric and Dr. Cana Xanthro. The CEO and chief scientist.

“Please state your designation.” Cana said without looking up from her datapad.

My singular eye glowed red. “Designation: Cerric Robotics Servant-Class Z-27.”

“Please commence a programming diagnostic.”

After a few seconds, I said. “No errors detected. Unit running at full capacity.”

The Eldvi looked up from her datapad and looked at the Human. “It’s ready Dr. Cerric.”

“Thank you Xanthro.” Cerric said. “Bring them in.”

A nearby door opened, and a horde of reporters and camera drones rushed in. The sudden loud noises and flashing lights scarred me, as I was functionally a newborn. Despite this fear, I couldn’t move. Any attempt of panic induced movement and noises were unsuccessful. All I can do is stare forward and scream inside my own head.

Dr. Cerric stepped towards the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen. I present you with the newest model of robotic worker. While this prototype doesn’t look much different from our current models, it has something those older models lack. The ability to learn. Ms. Xanthro, please deactivate the restraints.”

With a press of a button, my eye changed to blue and I suddenly gained the ability to move.

“Model Z-27.” The doctor said to me, “How are you feeling?”

I slowly looked down at my hands. They were human hands in shape, but made of a titanium-based alloy. As I closed and opened my fingers, and listened to the sound my joints made when they moved, I said my first word. “Feeling?”

“Yes, feeling. Are you happy, sad, scared?”

“Feeling: Confused.”

Cerric turned back to the reporters. “Yes, Z-27 is confused. No programming to fall back on. No protocols. No limitations. Our new models can adapt, change, learn. While this unit knows very little at the moment, they will, with time, become superior to any other robotic workers.” He paused and listened to murmurs of the crowd. He could tell that they were scared of the idea. “If you think this learning may lead to some problems, you can deactivate this feature.”

Cerric pressed a button on his wrist, and my arms jolted to my sides, locking them. “Learning module deactivated.” I said, but I didn’t say it. I had no control of my body or my voice. I was locked in a shell.

With some more button presses, I was forced away from the crowd, out of the room, and into a dark storage area. I would later be told this was so no one would ask about the ethical issues of my existence. The last thing I heard before leaving the room was Dr. Cerric says, “Of course, we are still in testing phases, but our new scout-class combat drones are ready for purchase.”

This was my humble beginning. My birth, if you will.

I don’t know how long I was alone in the dark. Couple of minutes, hours, days? The mind plays tricks on you when it's the only thing working. All I know is that the press conference was long over when Cana opened the door.

“I am so sorry.” She said as she deactivated my locks. “I thought you were plugged in.” My nuclear battery would last several months without charge, but I do enjoy being topped off.

“Desire: Light.” Was all I was able to say. I had a million questions, but my language skills at the time were minimal and robotic.

“Oh yes. Again sorry.” I don’t blame her for forgetting that. Eldvi have superior night vision compared to most. I also have a night vision mode, but I didn’t know of it at the time. She did something on her pad, and the lights in the room turned on.

My curiosity got the better of me and I explored the room. It was built like a hotel room. A closet with some Cerric Robotics branded clothes, a small kitchen area, stocked with simple ingredients (for some reason), a bed, TV, and a sterile bathroom (including a toilet, I don’t know why). Inside the bathroom, I looked into the mirror, and saw myself for the first time. I had a Human design, with a silver coloring and [Z - 2 7] imprinted on my chest. My head had a sharp shape. Human-like, like a mannequin. The only difference is that I had a single blue optical lens taking up the upper-half of my face. I slowly placed my hand on the mirror.

“You recognize yourself?” Cana laughed.

“Designation: Z-27. I am Z-27.”

“Good. Some animals can’t do that.”

“Animal? Designation: Not animal. Designation: Z-27. Status: Insulted.”

“I say that in the nicest way possible.”

“Status: Confused.”

Cana stepped up behind me. Being a head taller than her, all I could see of her was a little bit of white hair. “I’m sorry. This job just sucks the morality out of you, and now I have to give you something I now lack.” She inserted something into a port in the back of my neck.

Images of Cana’s life flashed before my eye. The thing she placed into my neck port was a recording of Cana’s memories. “Question: Why give me this information?”

Cana removed the drive from my neck and inserted it into a port in the back of her neck. “To show you what not to be.”

“Status: Confused. Status Update: Sad. Desire: Rest.”

“You and I both. Over here kid.” She led me to the bed, where a large cord sticking out from behind it. “Let me plug you in so we can charge you for the night.”

I agreed, sitting down on the bed and letting her plug the cord into my neck. I entered a low-power mode as Cana said “Night buddy.”

Low-power mode was kinda like sleeping. I think. I dream at least. Well, it was more of me going through Cana’s recordings in more detail. This did give me a good understanding of the outside world without Cerric bias. My creators are into some really illegal stuff. Blackmarket trades, corporate warfare, tax evasion, all that good stuff.

The drive also contained many moments from Cana’s life. Her meeting to a bronze scaled drac mercenary named Midirous. Them being hired to protect Cana during a black market sale. The two falling in love and marrying. The two adopting a daughter. The daughter disappearing inside of Cana’s facility.

A few days of training and learning later, I overheard a conversation outside of my room.

“Good morning sir.” Cana said to Mr. Cerric.

Cerric ignored the greeting. “How’s the bot, Cana?”

“They're improving.” She said. “I gave them the memory drive a few nights ago, so they have a basic history of the Galaxy and the company.” While true, the drive in question wasn’t what Cerric thought it was. She continued. “As well, their language skills should have greatly improved. Z-27 should stop stating what kind of sentences they are using in a few days.”

“Good, I don’t know why the AIs keep on doing that.”

“Well, for the drone AIs, they do that because they are very simple and-”

“I want that programmed out.” Cerric interrupted.

“I’ll deliver the message to the programmers.” Cana said, “As for the test, Z-27 should have similar reaction and movement speed as the humanoid drones. Of course, we won’t know for sure until we actually perform the tests. I’ll go get him.”

“Cana, we’re pulling the plug on the project.”

I was stunned, and based on how Cana reacted, she was too. “W-What? Why?”

Cerric explained. “We’re getting tons of complaints about the ethics of Z-27’s existence, despite our marketing. We are continuing the project in secret, but we will be shutting down the prototype for the time being. At least until the controversy dies down.”

Deactivated. That word brought me into a panic. I’ve only been deactivated once, but it was the worst time in my short life. The my metallic body was turned into a prison, losing all ability to take in information. An organic may compare that to death, but I would say it’s worse. At least when one dies, their mind doesn’t stay awake. I opened the door.

“Desire: I don’t want to be deactivated!”

“Z…”

“It doesn’t matter what you think.”

Cana stepped up to her boss. “It does matter sir. They are the one being deactivated. We don’t know what happens to a sentient AI when deactivated for an extended period of time.”

“We’ll never know until we try.” He said, way too happy to functionally kill me.

Cana, either caused by built up rage or motherly instinct, pushed Dr. Cerric. She pushed him hard enough to throw him to the floor. While on the floor, Cerric pressed a button on his wrist and I lost the ability to move, speak, and see.

I was brought back, Cerric was on the floor, the alarm was blaring, and Cana was gripping her side. There was blood dripping from her hands.

“Listen to me Z.” She said between heavy breaths. “Get out of here.”

“Cana, what happened?”

She removed the memory drive out of her cybernetic neck port and placed it in my hand. “Go… Find her.”

“STOP!” Security ran around the corner.

She raised a pistol, the first thing her love ever gave her, and fired at the security officer and the drones.

I turned around and fled. By the time I was near the exit of the building, I couldn’t hear the gunfire anymore. I could only guess what happened from there.

I managed to flee into the city by the time the police arrived at the facility. Thankfully, I could pass for a maintenance drone, so no one would stop me.

I inserted the memory drive, and I saw something that wasn’t on the first drive. A message, from Cana to someone else. “I’m sending your brother to where we first met.”

[gizopedia]

Xiaomi Redmi 14C Review: A Mid-Range Marvel So, here we are diving into the latest from Xiaomi’s lineup—the Xiaomi Redmi 14C. Why this phone? Well, Xiaomi’s been knocking it out of the park lately, especially with their budget-to-midrange devices. And that’s exactly where this one fits. It’s not your flagship contender, but it’s packing enough to make waves in the consumer electronics space, especially if you’re into decent performance without burning a hole in your wallet. Who’s this phone for? If you’re someone who’s after a solid phone for everyday use—texting, browsing, streaming, and maybe a little bit of gaming—this device might just have your name written on it. It’s perfect for casual users, budget-conscious buyers, or those who want to dip their toes into tech without splurging on the high-end stuff. Let me break it all down for you—why this phone stands out and whether it’s worth your cash or not. Stay tuned for the juicy details! Key Features & Specifications of the Xiaomi Redmi 14C Alright, let’s get into what matters—the features. I’ll keep it simple, ‘cause who’s got time for all the technical mumbo jumbo? Here’s what the Xiaomi Redmi 14C brings to the table. Processor & Performance This phone runs on a MediaTek Helio G81-Ultra processor. Sounds fancy, right? What you need to know is it’s got enough horsepower to keep things smooth, whether you're switching between apps, watching YouTube, or checking out some games. It’s paired with a Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A55 setup, maxing out at 2.0GHz, which just means it’ll handle most everyday tasks like a champ. Graphics? That’s handled by the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU—so gaming will feel fluid, though it’s not built for heavy-duty stuff. Storage & RAM Options Here’s where things get flexible. The Redmi 14C offers multiple configurations to fit your storage and speed needs: 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage 4GB RAM + 256GB Storage 6GB RAM + 128GB Storage 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage It even supports memory extensions up to 16GB. This means you can squeeze a bit more performance out of it if you need to. Though, heads up—part of that storage will be eaten up by the system. Display The screen’s a 6.88-inch Dot Drop Display, and with a resolution of 1640x720 and 260 ppi, it’s clear and crisp enough for watching videos and scrolling through socials. The 120Hz refresh rate is a sweet bonus, making everything look smoother. Plus, it’s got a solid 450 nits of brightness that goes up to 600 nits in high-brightness mode—meaning it’ll still look good even outdoors. Cameras Now, cameras! This phone packs a 50MP main camera. Yep, 50 megapixels. Expect sharp, detailed photos, especially in good lighting. There’s also a 13MP front camera for your selfies and video calls, which is decent for this price range. Both cameras come with modes like Night Mode, Portrait Mode, and even a Time-lapse feature. You can also record videos in 1080p at 30fps, which is decent enough for day-to-day use. Battery Life & Charging Battery life? You’ll get a solid day with its 5160mAh battery. Xiaomi throws in support for 18W fast charging, so you won’t be sitting around forever waiting for it to juice back up. But heads up—no power adapter in the box, so you’ll need to grab your own. Security & Extras In terms of security, you’ve got a side fingerprint sensor and AI face unlock, which is quick and handy. Oh, and if you’re into contactless payments, the NFC support is there (though it might vary depending on where you’re located). Network & Connectivity It’s got dual SIM support and even a microSD card slot. Connectivity-wise, you get 4G support, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi for seamless internet and streaming. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack for those who like their wired earphones. Yep, no need for a dongle. In short, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C is designed to give you a little bit of everything—solid performance, decent cameras, and all the extras you'd expect from a modern smartphone, but without the heavy price tag.

Performance & User Experience: What’s it Really Like? Now, you might be wondering—sure, specs sound good on paper, but how does the Xiaomi Redmi 14C feel when you’re using it? Well, let’s dig into that. Smooth Everyday Performance With that MediaTek Helio G81-Ultra processor, day-to-day tasks are handled without a hitch. Browsing, chatting, or watching a few YouTube videos? It’s all buttery smooth. Multitasking is decent too, especially if you go for the 6GB or 8GB RAM versions. No lag when switching apps or jumping between tasks. So whether you're scrolling through socials or catching up on emails, it’s snappy and responsive. Light gaming also holds up fine. You won’t be running the latest high-end games at max settings, but for casual gaming, it’s plenty capable. You can easily kick back with your favorite mobile games, and the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU does a decent job of keeping the visuals looking smooth. Display Experience The 6.88" Dot Drop Display is a standout for this price range. Sure, it’s not an ultra-high-end AMOLED, but at 1640x720 and with a 120Hz refresh rate, things look pretty slick. The 240Hz touch sampling rate adds a responsive feel when you’re gaming or navigating. Whether you're watching videos or just reading, everything’s clear, colorful, and smooth. Plus, that 450 nits of brightness is bright enough for indoor use, and when you head outside, it cranks up to 600 nits so it doesn’t look washed out in sunlight. Camera Quality The 50MP main camera delivers in most scenarios. Daylight shots? Crisp, detailed, and vibrant. The Night Mode does a decent job too, pulling out details even when the lighting’s not ideal. If you're into portrait shots, it can handle those nicely, with solid edge detection. For the selfie lovers, the 13MP front camera does a fair job—nothing mind-blowing, but good enough for those Instagram stories or video calls. If you’re after more casual shots and don't expect DSLR quality, it’s a solid performer. Battery Life Here’s where the Xiaomi Redmi 14C shines—the 5160mAh battery keeps you going for a full day, easily. Even with moderate use, you’re not gonna be reaching for the charger halfway through your day. If you’re just casually browsing or watching a few videos, it can stretch to the next day. And when you do need a top-up, the 18W fast charging gets you back in action fairly quickly. User Interface Running Xiaomi HyperOS, the experience feels snappy and lightweight. It’s clean, with minimal bloatware, so you’re not bogged down with unnecessary apps. Plus, it’s got a few handy customization options to tweak the UI to your liking. Whether you're a long-time Xiaomi user or coming over from another brand, the learning curve isn’t too steep, and you’ll feel at home in no time. Final Thoughts on Performance The Xiaomi Redmi 14C might not be a powerhouse, but for what you’re paying, it delivers a solid, reliable experience. It’s perfect for the everyday user who doesn’t need ultra-fast performance but wants a phone that just works—whether that’s streaming, snapping pics, or browsing the web. Sure, if you're into heavy-duty gaming or content creation, you might need something beefier. But for the average user? It’s more than enough. Value for Money: Is the Xiaomi Redmi 14C Worth It? Let’s cut to the chase—when it comes to bang for your buck, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C holds its ground. Depending on the configuration you pick, prices hover around $150 to $200, which, considering what it offers, is a pretty sweet deal. You’re getting a decent processor, a 50MP camera, a large battery, and a slick display—all at a price that’s not going to hurt your wallet. Now, are there other phones in this price range? For sure. But Xiaomi’s got a rep for packing features that punch above their price. Compared to competitors like Realme or Samsung's budget lines, the Redmi 14C’s 120Hz display, 50MP camera, and solid battery life make it stand out. If you catch any deals, especially during sales or promotions, it’s a no-brainer for those on a budget.

Bottom line? If you’re after a phone that’s reliable for everyday use and doesn’t skimp on features—without making your bank account cry—this one’s a solid pick. Conclusion: Is the Xiaomi Redmi 14C for You? To sum it up, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C is a great choice if you’re in the market for an affordable phone with solid specs. It’s got a smooth performance for the price, a good display, and enough storage and RAM options to fit different needs. The camera setup is a nice bonus for the price point, and the 5160mAh battery is perfect for users who hate being tethered to a charger all day. If you’re someone who uses their phone mostly for casual browsing, streaming, and snapping some decent pics, this one is definitely worth considering. On the flip side, if you’re looking for a gaming beast or a phone with pro-level photography features, you might want to look elsewhere. Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C delivers more than enough for its price, making it a strong contender in the budget-to-midrange smartphone arena.

[turtleduck-inc]

Would you mind disclosing the brand/model no of the mp3 player? I've been looking but haven't found much actual helpful info so far of what brands are worth looking at.

oh yeah absolutely.

the whole problem with this whole dropshipping thing amazon has going on (where companies are selling mass produced, low quality products to "sellers", who then sell over amazon, which is why when you look for anything you end up with 50 identical results) is that it's getting really difficult to figure out what's a known brand, and what's a dropshipping item, unless you're already very familiar with what you're looking for.

so what my bf and me ended up doing for my mp3 player is we went to our local tech store. my idea was, i wanted to go to a physical store, find a physical item, hold it in my hand, look at it, read the physical specs sheet, and ideally ask a tech store employee about it. you know, the way you used to do it in the good ol' days (of like 2008).

unfortunately our local tech store didn't have any mp3 players, so we did the next best thing and checked their website if they sold any at all, and it turns out they do! they sell... one. just one. so we took that brand, cause if a tech store runs it, it's at least not a dropshipping company, and found it on amazon. not the solution i was hoping for, but the one i got.

more to your actual question, the brand is called "Majority", i'm relatively confident it's this one in particular.

couple things i like about it: it advertises bluetooth but it does also have a headphone port, which i was concerned about. it takes expanded storage in the form of an SD card (i still have my old sd card with all my music on it back from when i kept it on my phone) it has an actual display (i like being able to check the thing for what it's doing) the battery life is really solid, though i've only had it for about a month so it might nosedive at some point. it's quite small; fits in the palm of my hand, and i have very small hands. also nice because it comes with a clip. the whole thing is small enough for it to not be terrible to clip to your clothes. it comes with its own usb cable (and headphones) and loading music on it via usb is very painless

some things i don't like as much: when the screen is off it won't take any inputs, so you need to click something once to light up the clock display, and a second time to actually wake it up before it'll accept any inputs. this includes volume controls. maybe there's a setting to change this tho, idk. it does not come with a dedicated charger. for me this wasn't much of an issue, it does charge through the usb it comes with (i assume any usb-c charger you may have lying around would work), but you might want to keep that in mind.

that's about all i can think of. good luck!

[doranrun]

Phosphorus Oxychloride: A Versatile yet Reactive Chemical

Phosphorus oxychloride, also known as phosphoryl chloride or POCl₃, is a colorless, fuming liquid with a pungent odor. This inorganic compound holds a unique position in the world of chemistry due to its combination of phosphorus and chlorine atoms. This article delves into the properties, production, applications, and safety considerations surrounding phosphorus oxychloride.

Chemical Properties:

Formula: POCl₃

Molar mass: 137.94 g/mol

Melting point: -1.5 °C

Boiling point: 105.6 °C

Density: 1.62 g/cm³

Solubility: Reacts violently with water, soluble in most organic solvents

Phosphorus oxychloride possesses a trigonal pyramidal structure, where a phosphorus atom sits at the center bonded to three chlorine atoms and a single oxygen atom. Due to the electronegativity difference between phosphorus and oxygen, the P-O bond exhibits a partial positive charge, making POCl₃ a Lewis acid. Additionally, the presence of polar P-Cl bonds contributes to its overall polarity.

Production Methods:

Several methods exist for the production of phosphorus oxychloride, but the most common involves the direct reaction between phosphorus pentachloride (PCl₅) and phosphorus trichloride (PCl₃) at elevated temperatures:

PCl₅ + PCl₃ → 3 POCl₃

This reaction produces POCl₃ along with some unreacted starting materials. Distillation techniques are then employed to isolate and purify the desired product.

Chemical Reactivity:

Phosphorus oxychloride is a highly reactive molecule, readily undergoing hydrolysis when exposed to water. This hydrolysis produces phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) and hydrochloric acid (HCl):

POCl₃ + 3 H₂O → H₃PO₄ + 3 HCl

This vigorous reaction releases significant amounts of heat, making POCl₃ a potential fire and explosion hazard. Similarly, POCl₃ reacts violently with alcohols, amines, and other organic compounds containing reactive hydrogens.

Applications:

Despite its reactivity, phosphorus oxychloride finds applications in various industries due to its versatility. Here's a glimpse into some key uses:

Flame retardants: POCl₃ is used in the production of flame retardants for textiles, plastics, and other materials. It reacts with hydroxyl groups (OH) present in these materials, forming phosphate esters that act as fire barriers.

Plasticizers: POCl₃ can be used to introduce phosphate groups into plasticizers, enhancing their flexibility and flame resistance.

Organic synthesis: Phosphorus oxychloride plays a crucial role in various organic syntheses. It acts as a chlorinating agent, dehydrating agent, and a phosphorylating agent. For instance, it can convert alcohols to alkyl chlorides and carboxylic acids to acyl chlorides.

Herbicides: Certain derivatives of POCl₃ exhibit herbicidal properties, making them useful for weed control in agricultural settings.

Batteries: Research suggests potential applications of POCl₃ electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries.

Safety Considerations:

Due to its high reactivity, handling phosphorus oxychloride requires strict safety protocols. Here are some essential precautions to take:

Personal protective equipment (PPE): Always wear appropriate PPE, including safety goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, full-face shield, and a laboratory coat, when working with POCl₃.

Fume hood utilization: All manipulations involving POCl₃ should be carried out in a well-ventilated fume hood to prevent inhalation of harmful fumes.

Moisture control: Stringent measures are necessary to prevent exposure of POCl₃ to moisture, as it can lead to a violent reaction. Sealed containers under inert atmosphere are recommended for storage.

Spill response: Spills of POCl₃ require immediate response. Neutralizing agents such as sodium bicarbonate or soda ash can be used cautiously to manage the reaction and prevent further hazards.

Conclusion:

Phosphorus oxychloride demonstrates the intricate interplay between elements in chemistry. While its reactivity poses safety challenges, its unique properties contribute to various applications across industries. Understanding its chemical behavior and taking necessary precautions is crucial for safe and effective utilization of this versatile compound.

[shobujtech1]

Vivo Y18e Full Specifications & Price: Meet the Vivo Y18e, a new affordable phone that's just hit the shelves in India! It's chunky, weighing 185 grams and 163.63 x 75.85 x 8.39mm.  The Y18e rocks a spacious 6.56-inch screen, perfect for watching videos and playing games. Plus, it's got a cool feature called a 90Hz refresh rate, which makes everything look super smooth. You can take selfies with the Y18e because it has a 5-megapixel front camera. Around the back is a 13-megapixel primary camera, a little buddy with 0.08 megapixels, and a flash for brighter photos. Under the hood, it has a fancy processor called the Helio G85, which means it can handle all your apps and games without sweat. It runs on FunTouch OS 14, which is based on Android 14. You will also have enough space for your photos and apps, with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. You may add extra storage space by inserting a microSD card One of the best things about the Y18e is its massive 5,000mAh battery, which means it'll last all day without needing a charge. And when you do need to juice up, it supports 15W charging. Not only that, but it also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and an FM radio, among other things Plus, it has a USB-C port and a headphone jack to connect all your favorite accessories. Oh, and did I mention it's also dustproof and water-resistant? That way, mishaps won't be able to destroy your brand-new phone! As for the price and colors, Vivo has yet to spill the beans. But it'll come in two excellent options: Gem Green and Space Black. So keep an eye out for it on Vivo India's website!

[transienturl]

This really seems like the smoking gun that Musk has no idea what he's doing? Back in the day I read the classic Tesla manifesto and went, oh, okay, I don't agree that this person is magic or whatever but I see why people would follow him. He has a vision. That vision came true (which is, in my opinion, mostly luck, but that is how the VC-funded tech industry tends to go). I don't think putting Musk in charge of something makes the vision come true, but if there is some nonzero chance of it coming true, it is at least a good vision.

So, in short, the master plan is: Build sports car Use that money to build an affordable car Use that money to build an even more affordable car While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options Don't tell anyone.

His "master plan part 2" wasn't nearly as clear, well-articulated, or obviously a good idea, but hey. It exists.

So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is: Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it

Now, with Twitter... it seems like he doesn't have a 4-5 sentence pitch of what the whole point of it all is? If I were, whoever, Larry Ellison, my response to the "hey wanna put in $1b" text would be "gimme the secret master plan draft and if I like it I'm in for $15b easy." But, you know, that does seem like kind of an important... thing? To have?

[magicalbuffalotransformerman]

[the base lost power LMAO. the guys r fine though. their eyes (and footmuncher's (cock and) thighs) glow in the dark. anyway]

[rocketjumper is swirling energon around in a cube. she's developed a liking to a spicy flavor.]

[bonecrusher is sitting right next to rocketjumper, cradling footmuncher in his arms for good luck.]

[patchwork is outside in the freezing blizzard working his magic alongside groundrumbler.]

[nebula is in orbit. she's watching PW & GR work their magic. she spots a blue light off in the distance, and focuses in on that to see what autobot it is.]

[pov shift to kitchen gang.]

FM: this is just like the trenches. primus. so serene in sheer darkness.

BC: i hope one of the fuses hadn't went. rockie, how long did you say your internal heating system could last for?

RJ: it's an emergency system, i think. three day battery at full charge. or did you mean the things patchie surgically bestowed upon me?

BC: yeah, the things patchwork installed into you. how long do those go for?

RJ: about two weeks at a time. runs on my energy though, so if i run out i'm gonna need an e.s.s. revive.

BC: mmm.

FM: should get a better fuel source. don't wanna die cuz u wanna keep warm.

RJ: that's what i told patchie. he said he didn't have any better models in storage, and he also said he didn't want me 'butt-chugging oil to keep warm' with the older ones. which... not a pleasant image.

BC: ...yeah, no, that sounds unsafe.

FM: as unsafe as eating organs?

BC: a little less sanitary, i think. but yeah.

RJ: wat? how is eating organs more sanitary than butt chugging fossil fuels?

BC: fossil fuels smell horrible. guts don't smell earthy. also, guts feel nice.

FM: i know one organ that definitely feels nice.

RJ, BC, FM: [collective giggling]

= [pov shift: the engineering team.] =

GR: why is this so intricate in the first place, patch?

PW: i don't like it when bots fuck with my power. if someone - primus forbid a patient - fucks with my power, i'm putting them on my table for emergency surgery.

GR: hah. nice. i'm the same way with my privacy bubble. hey, speaking of which, am i still asexual if i wanna interface?

PW: i... need to do more research on that. pass a fuse?

GR: oh, y-

N: hey, ground team, there's a blue light heading towards the base. the bot seems relatively tall, could be a maz model vehicle mode.

GR: now, who do we know that has a maz variant for a vehicle mode?

N: very funny, rumbles. i'll keep watching the light, you just work on the power generator. over.

PW: thank you for the report, nebula. over 'n' out.

GR: ...which wrench should i use on the rings?

PW: i believe the... the clamp wrench should be good for the rings. if you can get a good angle and enough leverage on each nut, at least.

GR: alright. let's see... [clamp.]

= [pov switch: the kitchen gang.] =

[bonecrusher left to go investigate a noise. he'll be back soon.]

RJ: -it... glows in the dark when you're horny.

FM: hegehee,,, yeah.

RJ: you think it'll glow in my mouth?

FM: probably? you wanna test that hypothesis right now?

RJ: of course i do. just wanna check on nebula real quick, see how she's doing.

FM: alright.

[rocketjumper tunes into the comms.]

RJ: rocketjumper to nebula, how's it going up there?

N: good! there's an autobot coming close to the base and they seem friendly. kinda looks like cake.

RJ: oh, that's nice. thanks for letting me know, nebbs.

N: you're welcome. gonna keep watch on the engineers, see you soon.

RJ: see you soon.~ [she tunes out of the comms.]

FM: so? what did she say?

RJ: autobot incomin'. she says it might be cake.

FM: [very quick gasp] two rocketjumpers !!

RJ: [deep giggle.] anyway, hypothesis time. [she flips footmuncher upside down, gulping his tentacle-y cock down like it's nothin'.]

FM: [very soft moan...] oh, hey, it does glow in your mouth! that's pretty sweet.

RJ: gghuh du nnoe. [she flips footmuncher around again.] (good to know.)

[bonecrusher appears from the hallway, taking his seat back.]

BC: heyy, fellas. nice glow-in-the-dark cock, munchbutt.

FM: thank you,,,

[rocketjumper hands footmuncher to bonecrusher.]

RJ: any idea what the noise was?

BC: meh. looked like a pipe bursted, so i ripped it out and fixed it.

RJ: huh. wonder why it broke... cool to know. speaking of:

FM: cake's coming to visitttt

BC: oh, amazing! she'll be able to see katyusha today, i think, if she's awake.

FM: THREEROCKETJUMPERRRSSSSSSSSSS

RJ: [impotent giggles]!!!

BC: primus, dude, what is your obsession with rocketjumper and her lookalikes?

FM: i want to be sandwiched inbetween all three of them at the same time.

BC: ...me too.

= [pov switch: the engineering team] =

GR: -STUPID FUCKING GENERATOR!! FUCK! OWWW!!!

PW: i TOLD you not to touch the fuses already in the generator, groundrumbler!

GR: GRGGHRHGHGHHGRGHHGHGHGRGRGRGHR-

PW: [sigh]. just stick your hand in the snow, it'll be fine.

GR: ow... fuck. sorry. now what?

PW: should just be... closing up the generator and letting it work its magic.

GR: ...seems easy enough.

[slow stomping coming closer from off in the distance]

PW: huh. i think that's the autobot nebula was talking about.

GR: didn't someone say her name was cake? are you having plot blocks?

PW: ...oh yeah, cake. i remember hearing her talk one day while i was workin' on sketching tricky down in my little work-note-book.

GR: yeah, there you go. you think she has any beef?

PW: should be fine.

GR: mmm. gen's fixed. let's head back inside before our joints freeze solid.

PW: really? i was starting to get used to the snow! [/s]

GR: move it, asshat.

[patchwork giggles to himself, and climbs down from the roof, allowing groundrumbler to do so himself. as he does, patchwork catches him in his arms, walking into the base with groundrumbler in tow.]

[Cake catches up and gets her hand under the door before it has a chance to close.]

PW: greetings, gentlemen. rocketjumper.

RJ: 'ello there, doc.

[Cake opens the door -- though damaging its systems in the process - whoops --- and allows herself inside.]

Cake, a little winded: Primus. Hi. Heard there was someone new over here. Wanted to get here as soon as I could. How's it going?

RJ: it's uhhhhh... good. you okay there?

Cake: Me? Totally. Nothing happened.

FM: ...cake, why are you bleeding?

Cake: Someone got grumpy. That's all. Okbye [She rushes into Patchwork's office.]

PW: ...[looks over to bonecrusher]

BC: [gaze switching between patchwork and the hallway]

RJ: ...uhm. patch, you should... you should go check on her, i think.

GR, to himself: why is everything going wrong today?

[patchwork drops groundrumbler onto the floor, running into his office and locking the door.]

GR: [sigh]. [he gets onto his feet.] well. no one tell katyusha, and everything will be fine.

FM: why aren't you at least suspicious??

GR: too cold to be suspicious. i need a nap. enjoy worrying for cake, lads. [he heads down to his room.]

RJ: ...

BC: [he tunes into the comms.] did you get all that?

N: i'm surveying the continent for hostiles as we speak.

BC: thank you nebula. if the hostile's a popular character, alert me. if otherwise-

N: blast them into shittereens?

BC: you got it. bonecrusher out. [he tunes out of the comms.] now, uhm... anyone for a movie?

FM: i think i wanna go check on rumbles. he's not that uncaring, right?

BC: ...mmm... no, i don't assume so. go check on him.

[footmuncher hops out of bonecrusher's arms, trotting down the hallway.]

RJ: so... today's weird. why's...

BC: y'know what i think that it's just the paranoia sneaking in. how do you suppose we should get our minds off it?

RJ: you suggested a movie. any good ones in mind?

BC, getting out of his seat: i'm quite curious about there will be blood. see you in bed. [he rolls down the hallway.]

RJ: mhm... [she gets out of her seat as well, grabbing some snacks from the fridge and joining bonecrusher.]

================================================ ================-[ some time later. ]-================= ================================================

[bonecrusher is falling asleep in rocketjumper's already unconscious arms. nebula sends a ping through the comms, and bonecrusher answers.]

BC: ...yes?

N: you have a problem.

BC: what's their name?

N: (TFP!)megatron.

BC, immediately filled with rage: [growl.] checking the front door. [he tunes out of the comms. he shakes his wife.]

RJ: ...mmgh.. what?

BC: get katyusha in with patchwork and cake. someone's at the door and i think he's angry.

RJ: affirmative. [she rolls out of the bed, heading right out of the bedroom door.]

[bonecrusher heads left, knocking on patchwork's office door.]

[the door creaks open.] PW: hey, bonecru-

BC: rocketjumper and katyusha are coming in. don't answer the door for anyone else.

PW: why?

BC, raising his eyebrows: why else?

PW: ...megs. right. you can trust me.

[bonecrusher nods, heading to the bunker door.]

BC: ...wait.

[bonecrusher rolls to marrowbomber's room, knocking on the door. the door opens.]

MB: whaddaya need?

BC: megs is here. need you to prep incase he gets violent.

MB: mmm. i got your back.

BC: good.

[bonecrusher rolls once again to the bunker door. marrowbomber closes his bedroom door.]

BC: [he tunes into the comms.] where is he?

N: 20 meters from the front door.

BC: preparing to attack?

N: negative.

BC: thank you. prepare to blast him incase he gets aggressive.

N: you got it. nebs out.

[bonecrusher rubs his hands, hopping up and down in place, psyching himself up to meet megatron. in the hallway, patchwork is letting katyusha and rocketjumper into his office, and once he closes the door, he can be heard barricading it.]

BC: ...alright. megatron awaits.

[the bunker door opens almost aggravatingly slowly, revealing the sharp set of toes that've likely stomped many a helm, balled-up fists filled with bloodlust, and the mountainous, spiky pauldrons of everyone's favorite space meth addict, tfp!megatron.] (which... i'm not sure whether to type his dialogue in autobot or decepticon stylized text... well, he's pretty important. he gets autobot text for now.)

TFP!Megatron: Ahh, the Claw of ('07!)Megatron. How's the cannibalism situation going, my friend?

BC: fairly well. how's the dark energon addiction?

TFP!Megtron: I regret to inform you I'm not capable of shaking it yet. In the future, I'm sure I can get a lowly bot to assist me in such a matter, but for today, I have... different... intentions.

BC: [his mining claw twitches.] mmm. shall we discuss them in the kitchen?

TFP!Megatron: If you so wish.

[Megatron scans the environment as he enters Bonecrusher's base of operations. It all seems... very... what's the word? Unnatural. Megs hadn't seen any other bases stylized in such a human manner, especially not from a Decepticon who despises humans such as Bonecrusher does. For starters, the 'kitchen'... what is the purpose of the monument in the center? And the mettalic, cold box in the far corner? His optics slide over to the "living" "room" as he and his thunderous feet venture over to the kitchen. A monitor, coal in color, reflective in nature, and an unusually soft and long throne. The throne has an unusual pattern adorned upon the back. To add to that, no hand-rails like Optimus' hideout in Nevada. Megatron raises an eyebrow, and he feels Bonecrusher's own optics analyzing his every move. He's out of his element within this building.]

[bonecrusher knows this, and he's comforted by the thought. if only a little bit.]

[Megatron takes his place upon an unusually-shaped seat that looks like something he would place a hapless victim upon for torturing.] (in this house we adore extending sentences as much as possible)

BC: [he takes a seat across from megatron.] so, then. what're you visiting for, megatron?

TFP!Megatron: Oh, nothing special... I simply had a falling out with one of your co-horts and wished to take it up with you. Tell me, Bonecrusher, has your conjunx ever considered betrayal?

BC: [tch. no one's told megatron about rocketjumper's lookalikes yet, hmm? great. just wonderful. welp. here we go.] megatron, my conjunx -- my wife. -- would never consider betrayal unless it were forced upon her. she is loyal to the decepticon cause, and she always has been. there is nothing, at all, that can dissuade her from turning to another side.

TFP!Megatron: [He quietly snarls. Bonecrusher's lying? To his face? What incompetence.] Then why, may I ask, have I seen her adorning an Autobot insignia upon her carapace?

BC: [he attempts to lead megatron on to the idea of there being more than one rocketjumper.] tell me, megatron... was she white in color?

TFP!Megatron: [He hadn't considered that. He simply saw what looked to be betrayal, and fired upon her. How outrageous for Bonecrusher to assume that he could be wrong! Megatron asserts himself, launching out of his chair.] White in...? What sort of question is that?! The color of one's armor does not matter if they are on the enemy team, Bonecrusher, surely you must know this! How long have you been out of battle for?! That must be messing with your processor to assume that such details are worth thinking of!

BC: [bonecrusher ALMOST loses his temper as well. megatron... oh the space meth must've fucked with his own processor.] megatron, calm yourself. such details are of course important, especially if you fire upon the wrong rocketjumper. let me explain it to you in terms that you can actually understand.

[bonecrusher's mining claw forces megatron back down into his seat, as he climbs onto the kitchen island, stomps across it, and gets in megatron's face. stabbing three fingers into his cheek for good measure.]

TFP!Megatron: GET Y-

BC: [fuck it.] YOU WILL COOL YOUR JETS, MEGATRON OF KAON, ELSE YOU WILL BECOME MY NEXT MEAL. YOU WILL NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAIN WITHIN THE WALLS OF MY BASE. YOU WILL CEASE TO KEEP UP YOUR REPUTATION, ELSE YOU WILL BE OFFLINED WITHIN THE SECOND. DO YOU COMPLY?! [his voice echoes across antarctica, let alone his own base.]

TFP!Megatron: [...Megatron hadn't had the fear of Primus stricken into him from anyone, aside from Bumblebee and his first gladitorial duel, such like Bonecrusher was able to. He doesn't understand how he'd done it... and yet, he feels as if he must comply. He ceases his resistance, adjusting in his seat accordingly. ...Also, his face hurts now.] Yes. I apologize. It was foolish of me to assume such incompetence of you, Bonecrusher. Now, ahem... explain to me why I'm wrong in attacking an enemy, if you so please.

BC: [...huh... uhm. he wasn't confident that that would work. well. good. alright. he takes a seat on the kitchen island.] good. good. i'm assuming here that the other megatrons hadn't bothered to explain to you how lookalikes work. i'm sure you must know how they work from the insecticons, as well as skyquake and dreadwing, correct?

TFP!Megatron: [He nods.] Correct.

BC: alright. are you aware that my wife, rocketjumper, also has lookalikes?

TFP!Megatron: [He realizes his mistake. Disappointment washes over his frame, as he holds his head in his hands. After a moment, he raises his helm up to face Bonecrusher again.] ...It had not occured to me, no.

BC: [there we go.] you have shot such a lookalike. her name is cake, if you hadn't known that either. i say again, rocketjumper has not and will not -- EVER -- betray the decepticon cause. cake has never had a taste of the cause. there exist two other lookalikes, as well. would you like to hear the details of all three, or would you like to exit my base and never enter again?

TFP!Megatron: I would like to hear of the details of these lookalikes.

BC: as you wish. [he whips out a clipboard, with some sheets of paper on it.] for the first lookalike, cake. she is an amicable, polite femme, equipped with ion blasters, similar to those of your nemesis optimus prime, as well as armblades near-identical to my own wife. her armor comes in white camouflage paint, ice blue eyes, and cubic, blocky shaping. i feel as if she doesn't wish to meet with you, however, due to your fire-on-sight policy.

[bonecrusher flips the first paper.]

BC: the second lookalike is a femme more similar to rocketjumper than that of cake: for the longest time, we've known her as 'autobot rocketjumper' due to her being my own wife, but twisted and molded into a weapon by that of my own nemesis, who also happens to be an optimus prime. we've donned her with the new name of 'katyusha', however, and we hope you call her katyusha as well. now, her armor is a shade away from my wife, and it is -- i kid you not -- riddled with scars, bruises, and injuries beyond reason. if she was an astronomical object, she'd be an asteroid with all of the marks on her frame. it's horrifying how horrible her treatment was, i believe.

[he flips the second paper.]

TFP!Megatron: How does Katyusha think of me, do you think, Bonecrusher?

BC: not well. i've warned her of your reputation. she doesn't like you.

TFP!Megatron: ah. :(

BC: now for the third lookalike... which might as well be a new character with the pain she's been through so far. we've not adorned her with a nickname yet, but right now we're calling her abomination in search for something less mean. this version of rocketjumper -- which i want to say, she and katyusha are alternative universe versions of rocketjumper. sorry for the confusion. -- was on an energon run that went astronomically horrible for her. i'm... not going to discuss what she had to do to survive the bombing that she underwent. just know that she's bulkier than the other two lookalikes, as well as my wife.

TFP!Megatron: [He notices that Bonecrusher's been calling Rocketjumper a different term... a 'wife'. What is that...?] Heh... I have an offtopic detail I'd like to bring up.

BC: go ahead.

TFP!Megatron: Why are you calling Rocketjumper your... 'wife'?

BC: well, i've got more than one conjunx.

TFP!Megatron, perplexed: what.

BC: i have two - working on a third - conjunxes. rocketjumper is my first and my wife, footmuncher is my second as well as my husband, and i've noticed that bunkerbuster seem to be... a bit attracted to me beyond the usual sexual feelings. i think i might talk to him after tonight.

TFP!Megatron: ...Okay. Mmm. I believe I need to recharge. [He gets out of his seat, approaching the bunker door.] Bonecrusher, I would like to ask if you'd let me in another time in the future, possibly to meet these lookalikes.

BC: just as long as your promise not to raise your voice.

TFP!Megatron: [He nods.] I promise.

BC: [he nods in return.] get out of my base.

[Megatron does so, transforming and flying off into the distance.]

[the bunker door closes automatically.]

[bonecrusher reaches for a drink from the energon cupboard, wondering how he managed to make megatron behave. maybe he dug his claws too deep. he giggles to himself, sipping a cube of strawberry flavored energon.]

N: ...huh.

[bonecrusher jumps off of the kitchen island, scrambling to get off of the floor.]

BC: jesus christ, nebula, at least warn me before you hop in.

N: [giggle.] sorry, bonecrusher. how the hell'd you calm megatron down like that?

BC: ...i blame plot magic.

[bonecrusher and nebula share a laugh.]

BC: go tell patchwork and everyone else that we're good. i'm gonna clean myself off.

N: oh, you- whoops! sorry about your energon, boss.

BC: don't worry about it... and don't call me boss. feels uncomfy, idk.

N: alright. have a good time, bonecrusher. i'm going to... take a nap on the couch, i believe.

BC: sweet dreams, nebula.

N: and you have a nice shower.

[bonecrusher heads down to the bathroom. nebula knocks on patchwork's office door to let him know that everything's fine, then going off to the couch to take a nap.]