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elen-aranel · 3 years ago

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Golden/Alone

The Engineer’s Adventures

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For: @autumnleaves1991-blog Writer Wednesday. I am aware that today is Thursday; this was longer than I expected! Pairing: Captain Christopher Pike x F!Reader (no Y/N) Warnings: violence, references to violence, drug use (kind of), minor character death WC: 7.3k words Tag list: @jusvibbbin - to be added to my Pike x Reader Taglist please let me know <3 A/N: The Engineer is back! And why does she go on away missions? WHY? I genuinely had so much fun writing this. I hope you enjoy!

“If I were piloting, Number One, I would have flown us through the eye of that storm cell. We would have gotten here quicker,” Chris jokes to Number One as they unstrap themselves from the co-pilot and pilot’s seats, respectively.

“And that is precisely why I was flying and not you, Captain. We may have been slower, but I got us here in one piece.”

“Lieutenant, back me up here. My flying was great in that speeder on Eloma.”

“You kept us ahead of our pursuers, yes sir,” you say with a smile.

“And staying ahead of pursuers is not a valuable skill in an atmosphere like this one where we are not being pursued,” Number One states with some finality, as she presses the control to open the back of the shuttle and extend the ramp.

You are on Caylara, for what you hope will be a boring mission. The captain and Number One, along with security officer Ensign James, are here to open negotiations for Caylara to join the Federation.

You are here because of the atmosphere – it is notoriously difficult to traverse. You can’t transport living things through it, unless you want them to be merged, dead, or both, and even flying through it is a challenge because of the electrical storm layers. There are windows of time when it’s safer, when shuttles and communications can get through, and windows when they can’t.

At Louvier’s instruction you had prepared a shuttle (and a backup – you don’t like to take chances) to travel through the atmosphere. Standard procedure for Caylara was to have an engineer accompany the shuttle to perform any repairs needed on the ground. You had tried to argue your preparations were good enough that you wouldn’t be needed, but Chris had seen straight through you.

“You find diplomacy boring and you don’t want a repeat of Eloma. That’s what’s really going on here, isn’t it?” His mouth had twisted into that smile you found irresistible, and even though you pouted, adopting your best puppy-dog expression, he had just laughed. “It’s all right. I won’t make you go to the reception. I won’t even make you wear your dress uniform. You can stay with the shuttle.”

You hang back as the captain and Ensign James pass you, Chris brushing his hand against yours as he passes. You smile a little, and get your tricorder out – you need to check to make sure the shuttle didn’t get damaged and will be all right to make the return trip. You look down the ramp as you scan, seeing the Caylarans for the first time as their delegation greets the away team.

They are very tall. You estimate the shortest is well over two metres and they tower above the away team, even over Ensign James who is tall for a human. But given the slightly lower gravity of Caylara their height isn’t surprising, you think. They have skin varying from very pale through to olive toned. Their faces are smooth but they have scales around their hairline extending down to the rest of their bodies. Well, their hands, at least. They are wearing long robes.

Your tricorder beeps as the away team starts to move away; there seems to be a charge buildup in one of the EPS controllers, but that’s all and it’s an easy fix. You pop the relevant panel and discharge it, without shocking yourself for once, and replace the panel.

Then there’s nothing left to do but wait. The reception is due to last two, perhaps three hours – short enough that you’ll be able to make your return trip through the atmosphere with time to spare before the current window closes.

You’ve brought some reading, of course, but first you want to get to the bottom of why the EPS controller picked up a charge. You take it as a personal insult, really – you were sure you had accounted for everything from the data you were given to prepare. However, when you compare the preliminary data with the scans the shuttle took as it went through the atmosphere you can clearly see the discrepancies. You’re puzzled for a moment – but of course you had enhanced the sensors to the latest specs when you adapted the shuttle, and you don’t know how old the original readings you were working with were. You almost wish Chris had piloted you through the storm cell; then you would have more data to work with.

You busy yourself combining the shuttle’s readings with your existing model, and calculating how much it was off by. After some time you are pretty sure you’ve got to the bottom of where the charge came from, and you modify the shuttle so that it doesn’t happen again.

You also think you may be able to make predictions with your new model, and perhaps refine your timings for the atmospheric windows. The Caylarans know the timings pretty accurately, but you aren’t at the stage of sharing data on that level as yet.

You run a new set of scans, and frown – there’s only ninety minutes until the window closes. You compare with the original estimates and—

Hang on. When did it get so late? You were supposed to be on the way back by now.

“Shuttle Hubble to away team? Come in please?”

Silence.

“Shuttle Hubble to Captain Pike?”

More silence.

Silence when you try to call Number One and James, too.

“Enterprise to Hubble. Come in, please.”

“Shuttle Hubble here, Lieutenant Spock. I was just about to call you – I have lost contact with the rest of the away team. They should have been back here by now, but they aren’t.”

“I have also tried to contact the captain but to no avail. Three unknown craft have appeared in the system, and have locked weapons on to us and the planet. They are not responding to hails. I have placed the Enterprise on yellow alert and raised shields. We cannot get a sensor lock on individual life signs through the atmosphere, and—”

“They’re firing some sort of energy weapon!”

“Taking evasive action!”

“Lieutenant, I—” Spock sounds uncharacteristically strained as he’s interrupted by what sounds like an overloading console.

“I understand. I’ll look for them. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Enterprise out.”

That’s it, you think.

You’re on your own.

You take a deep breath: what do you need? Communicator. Tricorder. Emergency medkit.

Phaser.

You put the medkit in a backpack, and since there’s space you add a water bottle and some emergency rations. You clip the tricorder to a utility belt, and holster the phaser, set to stun. Your communicator goes in your pants pocket; you’ve got your usual tools in your jacket.

Then you remember your terrible luck with communicators, so you grab a spare and shove it in your backpack. That should do it. You can’t carry the kitchen sink and you don’t have time to keep second guessing yourself.

Okay. Plan: find the away team, bring them to safety.

You exit the shuttle and shut the ramp – you don’t need strangers damaging it.

You take in your surroundings next. The shuttle has landed in the grounds of a large building, elevated on a hill in the middle of a city. It’s only three or four storeys high, but quite wide, and you think it extends back a long way. There are decorative metal accents spaced at regular intervals – lightning conductors, you realise, as you head toward the most important looking doorway – you see burnt grass at their bases. This building isn’t tall, but it is the tallest around; the atmosphere must affect Caylaran architecture, you think.

There’s no one around, which surprises you; shouldn’t there be guards?

You push the door and it opens with a whisper. Inside is the most ornate room you have ever been in. The walls are gold coloured stone, there are dozens of columns in mottled golden marble, and there are decorations finished with real gold leaf everywhere. There are bronze statues and hundreds of warm coloured lights. The ceiling is as decorated as the walls, and the whole effect is beautiful. Imposing. Stunning. Overwhelming.

But again, no one is here. You get your tricorder out, but you can’t resolve anything. Perhaps something is blocking the scan? You look at the stairs. The steps are high, designed with Caylarans in mind, and go up before dividing. There are flights down, too. There are corridors to the left and right, and you have to take a moment to weigh all your options. The largest doors are ahead, though, up the main staircase and over. Perhaps that’s where you would take guests that you wanted to impress?

You think back to what you read on Caylara in your mission briefing as you climb the stairs. Their head of state is Crown Princess Nanren, but although the title remains the same, a princess many generations ago passed laws to end the hereditary monarchy. Now a new crown prince or princess is elected for life when the previous one dies, and you think they have an elected senate too.

Beyond that, you don’t really know anything, you think as you reach the top of the stairs. You cross the landing, trying to stay aware of your surroundings. And as you look down the stairs, you lock eyes with the first person you’ve seen.

A guard is sitting on the ground next to the doors. He’s armed, and the stairs in front of him show signs of having been fired on. But he’s slumped back, his green-blue swirled eyes staring up at you.

“Why’s it so dark? I can see you in the dark. Why did you bring the dark with you? You shouldn’t—” he tries to lift his weapon, and you draw your phaser, but his head lolls and he closes his eyes, dropping the weapon in front of him.

That was unsettling.

You proceed slowly down the stairs, but he doesn’t move again. You kick his weapon away and get your tricorder out. You’re not a medic, this isn’t a medical tricorder, and you don’t know much about Caylaran physiology, but you do have field medic training and you can see that something is terribly wrong. You scan him, and then the air. It seems like there are traces of a molecule around that your tricorder program flags up as having features in common with known hallucinogens. It didn’t flag up on your general scan so it’s probably dissipated enough that it won’t affect you, but still you wish you’d put on an EV suit. There’s no time to second guess yourself now, though.

You put the tricorder away in favour of the phaser, and you gently push the next door open.

If you thought the foyer was large, this room is even larger. It’s all gold again, and should be as beautiful, but it looks like there’s been a fight in here and furniture is in haphazard piles on the floor. It makes you think of playing forts with your cousins in your grandparents’ house as a child. You’re not a strategist but you can easily see that these piles aren’t much better than that – they provide barely any cover.

You pick your way over gilded chairs and past carved wooden tables inlaid with gold, keeping an eye out. About a quarter of the way into the room, under a table with two chairs on top you see a Caylaran. She looks young, wearing what looks like it could be a staff uniform – it’s a plain warm toned brown dress with an embroidered hem, far less fancy than the delegates who had welcomed the others of your team. She’s staring straight ahead, hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. She pays you no attention as you kneel down by her.

“What’s your name?” You ask, softly.

“My name is Lararen and I’m going to kill the queen, going to kill the queen, going to kill the queen. My name is Lararen and I’m going to kill the queen, then the Genai are going to kill me.”

She smiles broadly as she finishes her little song, still staring vacantly straight ahead, and you shudder. You shake her shoulder and she blinks, slowly, but she doesn’t move.

You straighten up, thoughtfully, wondering what the Genai are. Some sort of bogeyman, or an alien race? Not that it matters.

Next you find a pair of guards, asleep, holding hands. You move their weapons out of sight and continue through.

But then you find a dead Caylaran. He looks like someone important, but his red robe embroidered with a golden floral patten has a scorch mark right in the middle of his chest. You’re not sure if that killed him, because there’s a pool of blood beneath him too. Either way, you think as you close his grey-purple eyes, he probably didn’t deserve whatever it was. You take a moment to pay your respects before moving on.

You don’t find any more dead bodies in this room, but you find several more Caylarans, either sleeping or talking nonsense. One male asks you where your flowers are, and tries to give you some from a fallen flower arrangement, but most of the rest are just scared.

You think they probably have good cause, as you push another door open. You pick it because the largest number of guards were close to it, so you figure it probably leads somewhere important.

It leads on to a stair well, small but lavishly decorated with tapestries, depicting Caylarans standing in outdoor scenes, sometimes with animals you don’t recognise. They deaden the sound of your footsteps as you climb the tall stone stairs.

Then two things happen: you pause as you notice one of the hangings is moving a little at the bottom, as though in a breeze. And then you hear voices above you.

“She’s not up here,” says a female voice, annoyed. Lucid.

“Well she’s definitely not down there.” The second voice is male. Defensive. “I’ve got a message from Alara. She wants us to look again.”

“Fine. But I want it noted for the record that this is a waste of time,” the first voice says, sounding suddenly quieter – she’s probably passed through a doorway.

“Like anyone cares, Nerela,” the second voice says. You risk a peek up the stairwell. You don’t get a good look as the second person disappears through the door, but they are definitely not Caylaran – he has blue skin.

You lean against a tapestry. There are aliens here, separate from your away team. There are aliens in orbit, too. The odds are good that they’re the same species. And “she” must be the crown princess. But what are they planning?

Regardless, you still need to find your people. It’s been half an hour; you could get back to the shuttle faster if you went straight there, but there isn’t much time left in this window.

You eye the tapestry again. You’re definitely not going to follow the aliens, and this breeze must be coming from somewhere. You push it aside.

This door is the first plain thing you’ve seen in the building. It stands slightly ajar – hence the breeze – and it’s painted beige to match the stonework, but otherwise it’s featureless. It swings as quietly as all the other doors when you push it, but it has some kind of bolt on the other side. Interesting. You try to work it, but you can’t. You think of the tools in your jacket; you could probably figure it out, but no. There’s no time. You push the door to, making sure it’s as shut as it can be, and continue.

You must have entered the service part of the building, you think, as you walk along a corridor. This is functional and plain, like the door. You feel a little more comfortable here; if you’d been interested in fancy, you would have joined the command track. Or Diplomatic Corps. You get your tricorder out again, but it doesn’t show you anything still and you didn’t expect it to. But then you approach a door, and hear whimpering from the other side.

You have your hand on your phaser as you push the door open. It’s dark compared to the rest of the building; there is a small window but there’s not much light coming through the Caylaran atmosphere right now. You take a moment to let your eyes adjust, then head toward the whimpering.

The room is small; some kind of office, perhaps? There’s a desk in the room, and behind it—

“Number One?” She’s crying. Number One is sitting on the floor crying, hair a mess, dress uniform dirty, cradling Ensign James in her lap.

You can barely believe it, but you squat down, reaching for your tricorder. You can see James breathing, at least. You look around, but Chris isn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Number One?” You scan them both. They both have traces of the drug in their systems, but a lot less than the guard you scanned earlier. As your eyes adjust you can see though that James has hit his head; there’s blood in his hair and on Una’s uniform. He’s also been hit by a energy discharge, but to the side.

“Una? What’s wrong?”

“I failed everyone. I didn’t protect my captain. What first officer doesn’t protect her captain? They’re going to throw me in the brig. They’re going to court martial me. I lost my captain, and he’s dead, I—”

Suddenly you’ve had enough. You slap her, hard. “Number One!”

“Lieutenant! What did you just—”

“Oh my goodness! I’m sorry, I—you—” You breathe. “Are you all right?” You strip your backpack off for your medkit. You’re going to need to try to bring Ensign James round.

“I—I’m not sure. I don’t know what happened; everything was normal and then suddenly it wasn’t. I was so scared, Lieutenant. It was—I can still feel it. But it doesn’t feel like me.” She shakes her head, eyes still a little wide, and you pass her the water bottle. She takes a drink as you inject Ensign James with a hypospray. He starts stirring immediately, which is good, but you still think he needs a proper exam to rule out any brain problems.

“Una, you’ve got fifteen minutes to get back to the shuttle with Ensign James. There are alien ships attacking the Enterprise, and I’ve seen aliens here too. I think they may be called the Genai. You go down the corridor, down the stairs, through the big room, through the foyer, and out. Do you think you can do that?”

“Back to the shuttle. Genai.” She shakes her head again, blinking a few times. She squares her shoulders. “Yes, I think so. I can. What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find the captain. You can tell the computer to run on autopilot, if you need to – I updated the climate model, so the computer should be able to handle it.”

Together you help Ensign James to his feet.

“Do you have your communicator still?”

“I don’t,” James is still groggy as he pats himself down.

“I do,” Number One brings her communicator out and opens it. “Number One to Enterprise, come in please.”

Static.

“I think there’s a blocking field throughout this building. The tricorder isn’t working for some things either. You’d better get going.”

“Good luck, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks. You too, Commander.”

You put your medkit away as Number One and James leave. You’re relieved that they’re both okay, and you’re confident in Una, now she recognises her fear isn’t hers.

Back in the corridor you check the door to make sure Una shut it. You push it, but it’s locked. Weird. You could probably unlock it, but you don’t want to go that way anyway.

You turn your back on the door and continue along the corridor. Number One had said the captain – had said Chris – was dead. But he can’t be. She wasn’t, and you think she only had blood from Ensign James on her uniform. But... what if he is?

If he is, you do your duty as a Starfleet officer first. Find his body. Survive. Get out of here. Then mourn him second.

You pass three locked doors on the corridor, but the last opens to more stairs. Still functional, but just going down this time. You go down, listening, hand on you phaser.

Back on the ground floor – you think, but it could be a mezzanine level – there are several rooms that are open.

You go into the first one, hand still on your phaser. It’s a bedroom, and there’s a Caylaran male cowering in the corner, wearing the service uniform.

“Have you come to end it?” He asks, staring past you. You don’t answer, but your heart aches; you think he means his life. The next room is empty, bed neatly made up.

You listen at the door to the third room, and you think you hear breathing. You push the door open slowly. You don’t see anyone at first, but as you head into the room you see the edge of a gold robe, protruding out of what must the en-suite. You think you’re getting a feel for Caylaran fashion, and this is easily the fanciest thing you’ve seen so far. The robe is made of gold fabric, whereas all the others you’ve seen have been colours embroidered with gold. This one has gold and silver embroidery, and multicoloured gemstones picking out the centres of the flowers.

“Crown Princess Nanren?” Your pitch your voice low. Gentle. You remember how Chris spoke to you on Earth in the past, when you were panicking, and try to convey that calm, that confidence, to her. And in that moment you know you can no longer focus on looking for him. If this is the crown princess, more hinges on you looking after her.

“Crown Princess? I’m a Lieutenant from the Enterprise. From Starfleet – the Federation. I’m not a dream or a nightmare. I’m here to help. Will you come out?”

“The Genai are here. They’re going to kill me. I—I can’t—”

“We will find somewhere you can call your people. I will look after you. We will call in your people and they will deal with the Genai.” General Order One doesn’t apply here, you think. Not if the Genai are already interfering. Not that you care about diplomacy anyway. You’ll do what’s right now, and face the consequences later.

“I don’t—Why aren’t they here already?”

“I don’t know, Crown Princess. But we will figure it out. Please trust me.” You put all your belief into your tone, all the hope you still have left... and she steps forward.

She looks every bit the princess. She is tall, even compared to the other Caylara you’ve seen, and her dress is as exquisite as you expected from the tiny part you’d seen. You wonder, briefly, how many she has like that and how many months, perhaps years, it took to sew. She has a gauzy golden cloak hanging behind her, also embroidered, and her dark hair is braided and pinned up into an elaborate style. The only things that are not Princess-like about her are her purple-blue swirled eyes. They are wide, and anxious.

You recall your briefing notes, and bow. “Princess,” you say, staring at the floor.

“Arise,” she replies, and there’s the ghost of a command tone there. Good.

You straighten, looking up at her again, and pause. This is not how you dress if you might need to make a run for it.

You exhale, surveying the room. It’s a bedroom – a staff bedroom.

“Princess, I can get you out of this, I think. But first... you need to change.”

You find staff robes in the wardrobe that fit her, even if they’re a touch short. And sensible shoes. You have to sit her on the bed to take her hair down, but, you reflect with a little smile that she can’t see, taking her pins out is not unlike taking tiny components out of a circuit board.

“You get used to it, you know,” she says as she stands after you’ve finished. “The pomp and ceremony. The robes. People expect it of their princess, and you get used to it.”

“They are lovely,” you say, following her gaze to where her robes are hung up. “But we should get moving. Where can we call your people?”

“That sort of thing is in the wing on the other side of the Room of State,” she says. Right. The other side of that big room. Of course. And there’s a locked door between you and it.

Even so you retrace your steps. She’s much faster up the stairs than you, and you think bad thoughts about differing alien physiologies. But then, she would find the chairs on the Enterprise a bit small, you think. And the beds.

Soon you’re on the corridor with the door at the end, and you finger your jacket’s zipper as you get closer – it’s time for you to brush off your lock-picking skills. You hope the lock is easy like the ones on Eloma.

But the princess pushes the door and it opens with a whisper.

You can’t say anything. But you thank your lucky stars for small favours.

“Let me,” you say, as you approach the bottom of the stairwell. “If anything happens, go back the way we came.” You look the princess in the eye and she nods.

You crack the door open the tiniest bit, and you hear a voice.

You turn back to the princess, reach out and take her hand. You know it isn’t protocol but you squeeze gently, feeling the scales on her skin and a ring round her finger, hoping the touch will keep her calm.

You push the door open again.

“—everywhere. Yes. Me personally. I don’t care what you—yes I know scanners aren’t working. I wish you hadn’t got voice comms back. But she’s not here; she must be on your floor. Fine, Nerela. She could be in the south wing. No don’t come down here, you idiot. Go round. Ugh. Put Yaima on. Yes tell Nerela she’s being a pain. No, they’re still with our vessel, so she can’t be in the garden. It’s the storm cycle; of course we can’t—To the East, yes. I’ll see you there. But tell Nerela she’s done after this. No I don’t care. Alara out.”

You hear footsteps stalking down the room, getting closer. Your heart is in your mouth, one hand on your phaser, as you hold your breath. The steps falter slightly... and then they continue. You stay frozen until you can’t hear them anymore, then you give it a minute after that before you move the door.

The Room of State has changed since you saw it last; almost all the furniture has been pushed to the sides of the room, apart from a chair cushion in the middle of the floor; that’s what made Alara miss her step.

You take a step forward, and the princess follows, still holding your hand. She gasps, and you follow her gaze; at the end of the room are rows of Caylarans, lying on the floor. You look around, but the coast seems clear. You take your tricorder out one-handed, and you scan them. From here you can pick out their life signs – they may be unconscious but they’re still alive.

“They’re okay. They aren’t dead. Probably stunned with an energy weapon.” You feel the princess relax, and you drop her hand. “We can take care of them later. You need to show me where to go.”

She nods, and you follow her across the room and through the door on the other side. You have time to check on the way across: Number One and James aren’t there. Neither is the captain.

The stairwell on the other side is like the first, except this has paintings rather than tapestries, and your footsteps are louder as you climb.

“I don’t know who any of them are,” the princess says, looking at the paintings on your way up. “I suppose I should, but... they’re not my ancestors, I suppose. Just... predecessors. In a way.”

You resist the impulse to shush her.

On this stairwell a painting opens to the service corridor. You take the lead going through, but the corridor is empty. And when the princess shuts the door, you hear its lock click.

You walk along the corridor, listening carefully, but you can’t hear any signs of life. You have to hustle to keep up with the princess, but you push a couple of doors as you pass them. They’re both locked.

The stairs down at the other end of the corridor carry on further than they do on the other side, and your calves are beginning to ache when you reach the bottom. Your discomfort doesn’t matter, you tell yourself. It’s cooler down here, and you think you must be underground. Some kind of bunker.

“My real office is in my suite. My ceremonial office is downstairs, but this”—she opens the second door you reach—“is for emergencies.”

The office is dark as you go in, but she presses a control and it lights up. You close the door behind you and look around. Unlike the other rooms off the service corridors, this one is lavish once again. The wallpaper has gilded highlights, and the desk is made of a golden brown hardwood and is intricately carved. There’s no window since you’re underground, but the light fittings are made of bronze and remind you of the statues in the foyer. You realise the room is probably this nice in case the princess needs to do an emergency broadcast – her surroundings will still look the part.

The princess sits at the desk, pressing her palm to a sensor. A computer apparatus lifts up, and she enters some commands. You walk round the desk and stand a little way to her side, as a Caylaran man appears on the screen. His expression is blank, confused.

“Is this some kind of joke? At such a time? Using Princess Nanren’s—wait—”

He frowns, tips his head to one side.

“Your highness, is—is that you? The Genai—we were sure they’d killed you. That’s what they said. And the blocking field is on so we couldn’t scan—we had no idea—I—” He closes his eyes and bows his head.

“I am so sorry, your highness. I didn’t want to risk your people on a dangerous mission with no intelligence if you were already dead. But I should have trusted in you, and not believed the Genai without proof.”

Staff robe or not, Crown Princess Nanren straightens up and looks every bit the princess once again.

“Arise. Guard Leader Daymen, I am glad to see you. Please do not apologise; the time for analysing our decisions and learning from this situation is not yet here. First I must survive, and you must take back the palace. The Genai are still here; they have a vessel in the garden and people throughout the palace. Our people have been drugged; most are in the Room of State, but there are likely others dispersed through the palace.”

“They have three vessels in orbit too, I think,” you say, quietly.

“They have vessels in orbit too, although”—she presses a control, and a little data window appears—“they won’t be able to send any reinforcements through the atmosphere for a few more hours. What do you need to retake the building?”

“I will bring my guards now, highness. If you could turn the blocking field off it would make things safer, but—no. You are the most important. Enact the safe-room protocol, and remain where you are until we secure the building.”

“I may be able to lower the blocking field. But I shall keep safe. Do you have any news of our Federation guests?”

“Their shuttle left before the window closed. I was unable to talk to their ship at that time, but...” his expression goes thoughtful. “We use a limited range of communication frequencies. The Genai in orbit could have blocked them.”

You nod to yourself; the Caylaran frequencies had been in your briefing, and they were very different to Federation ones. The blocking field in the Palace was wide-band, but it would take too much power for a block like that over a bigger area. Much more sensible to just block the Caylaran frequencies.

“Thank you. May the skies protect you, Guard Leader.”

“May the skies protect you, highness.” He bows once again and cuts the connection.

“Lieutenant, thank you for all you have done for me so far. May I ask this last favour?”

“To take down the field? Of course, your highness. What do I need to do?”

She slides a ring off her finger and hands it to you. It’s a very narrow band of gold with a small red stone set on it. It’s big for you, though, so you slip it on to your thumb.

“You can use that to gain access to the systems. The security office is down the corridor to the right.”

“Lock the door behind me, your highness.” You smile as you turn to go.

“May the skies protect you, Lieutenant.”

“And you too.” You go through the door, closing it behind you. You hear a loud thunk a moment after you do; it sounds like more than a lock – probably blast doors. At least she’s safe, you think. Even if that means you’re alone.

You wonder about Chris, and where he could be. You have to hold on to hope, don’t you? You can’t think... no. You mustn’t. Instead you think about what he would do in your place. You think he’d be cautious. You’re nearly at your goal, but if you don’t succeed people could get hurt if the Caylaran Guard can’t tell who is who, or where they are. You’ve heard people complain about security officers being trigger happy; you think it’s probably the same for the Guard.

And you’re in a strategically important part of the palace; you don’t know how many Genai there are but they’ll probably find this area eventually. You draw your phaser, and make sure you walk quietly.

There is only one door left between you and where the corridor splits, when you hear a voice. The door opens a little, and you freeze. The voice is familiar – one of the Genai.

“—last time, no. I genuinely, and I am completely sincere on this, do not care what Alara thinks. Not even a tiny little bit! She missed this entire section! Yeah whatever, Yaima, you go tell her what I said. But when I find the Queen—Crown Princess, whatever, and she doesn’t, she’s the one that’ll get fired, not me! Nerela out!”

The door slams open, and Nerela stomps out. It’s her or you, but you are ready and she is not. Her black eyes widen as she sees you, and her weapon is in hand, but before she can aim you shoot. She grunts as she falls back, stunned.

Happily, Genai are shorter than Caylarans, although Nerela is wearing high heeled boots which make her look taller. You drag her back into the room she came out of, take her weapon and communicator and leave her lying in the recovery position. You shut the door behind you and it clicks a second later.

You shake your head; the doors are one mystery too many. You put Nerela’s weapon in your phaser holster, and tuck her communicator into your belt. Then you head to the right, toward the security office.

The first thing you notice as you push the door open are the screens. Dozens of them. The second—

“Chris?” He’s frowning, pointing a phaser at you. He looks at you like he can’t believe his eyes. Like you’ve stepped out of a nightmare.

“Chris it’s me. I’m real. I’m really here.” You take a careful step through the doorway, keeping eye contact with his bloodshot blue eyes, letting the door close behind you.

“You don’t need to be afraid any more.” You think about what Number One had said. “This fear... it isn’t really you.” You stoop down and put your phaser on the floor. You take Nerela’s weapon and put that on the floor too. And as you do, something clicks into place in your mind.

“Chris, you’ve been helping me, haven’t you? Locking doors to keep me safe? To help me get where I needed to go?”

“I’ve been so... afraid. I—I needed to keep her—to keep you safe.” He relaxes his grip on his phaser a little, and you reach for your tricorder.

“You were drugged, Chris.” You scan him. “Number One and James are safe, they got a lower dose than you.” A much lower dose, you realise, looking at the numbers. “I sent them back to the shuttle and they returned to the Enterprise. I’m going to end all this, get us home. But I need you to stop pointing that phaser at me.”

He looks at his hand, holding the phaser, then back at you.

“But is she—are you real?”

Your heart melts for him. You haven’t said these words, but you’ve felt it for a while. And—you worried, you genuinely worried, that you would never get to say them. This may not be the moment you planned, but he has to believe you.

“Chris, I love you. I’m real.”

“I—” he drops the phaser, and it clatters to the floor. The next thing you know you’re in front of him, arms around him, holding him. You can’t think; you can speak. You just hold on, letting your body feel his warmth, his solidity. You may not have been drugged, but you had been so afraid

. After a moment he puts his arms around you, too, and you just stay there for a moment more. Holding him. Letting him hold you.

As much as you’d like to forget everything else right now, you still have a job to do. You pull back, take hold of his hand, and look at the security console. You can see feeds of the Room of State, the foyer, the other rooms you’ve been in, and other places, too. Beneath the monitors is a schematic; this is how Chris was locking and unlocking the doors, you realise. But how did he have the credentials to do so?

You look at the desk and see a ring like the one the Crown Princess gave you, nestled in a groove.

“How did you get that?” You ask.

Chris frowns. “I was in that big room, but I was so afraid. I came through the door. Went upstairs. Along the corridors. Looking for somewhere safe enough. I got here and the Caylaran... we struggled, he tried to shoot but I took his weapon.” You follow his gaze to an energy weapon on the ground. “Then he ran. And I stayed. I could see everything. Not get caught out. And then I saw you.”

You squeeze his hand, and work the controls with your other hand. There is a glyph that looks like a shield; you turn it off. You check your tricorder – finally you can detect life signs. Both Caylaran and Genai. As you do, Nerela’s communicator chirrups to life.

“Nerela? I swear, if this was you—! You have the worst timing! The Caylaran guard are here. Put the blocking field back up immediately. That’s an order! Nerela? Nerela, answer me! Ne��”

It lapses into static for a moment. Then silence.

“The Guard are here, Chris. As soon as the atmosphere clears we can go home.”

When you return to the Enterprise you go to the captain’s quarters. You know he won’t be there, but you need the sense of his presence. His smell.

Chris had to stay on the planet to complete the original negotiations and help deal with the Genai; the drug’s effects had faded by the time the atmosphere was passable again, and you’d got some water and rations into him. Spock came down and stayed, but you had only left Chris because he ordered you to.

You have a shower, put on one of his sleep shirts, and curl up on the sofa under his throw blanket to write your report.

“Sweetheart?” You wake up to Chris kneeling in front of you, hand on your shoulder. His hair is damp and he’s out of his uniform. Your brow creases for a moment – you don’t remember him using that endearment for you before.

“Chris,” you say, stretching. Pushing the throw away, and leaning into his touch. “You’re back.”

“I am.” His mouth quirks into a smile. “There was a lot to sort out; it seems the Genai and the Caylara have a dispute over a world on a system between them. The Genai thought if Caylara joined the Federation, we would take their colony from them. They thought if they disrupted the negotiation and killed Crown Princess Nanren, either we would give up, or the Caylarans would be too afraid to continue.” He moves his thumb along your shoulder.

“Spock put the fear of God into the Genai in orbit. I’m not sure how,” he adds, at your incredulous look, “but they and the Caylarans have requested mediation. And now the Genai want to work towards joining the Federation, too.”

“I wish they’d chosen to talk to us first,” you say, frowning. Thinking of the dead Caylaran. “These breakthroughs always seem to come at such a cost.”

“They do,” he says, gathering you into his arms. Holding you against him.

You stay in his arms for a while, just breathing. But eventually he pulls back, and moves to sit beside you.

“You were amazing today. You’ll be getting a commendation, but Crown Princess Nanren wanted me to convey her thanks, too. You saved her life.” He reaches into his pocket, then leans forward and fastens a chain round your neck. It’s delicate, golden, and from it hangs the ring that she had lent you for the computer. That you had given back before you left. “She wanted you to have this. But she thought a necklace might work better.”

You shake your head, taking hold of the ring. “Saving her was as much you as me, Chris. Locking those doors.”

He looks at you, thoughtful. “I don’t think so. I—I have never felt fear like I did today. Now I look back at it I can tell it wasn’t real, but at the time, seeing you on those screens, moving with purpose, helping our people and the Caylarans... you gave me hope.”

He pauses, blue eyes meeting yours. Hand reaching out to touch your face.

“When we were down there... I remember what you said to me. I love you too.”

You lean forward, meeting him for a kiss, gentle at first but it goes passionate almost immediately, both of you pouring your feelings for each other into the connection between you. You didn’t know it could feel like this, you think, before he pulls you into his lap and thoughts flee away.

“Lieutenant, I want to thank you.” Number One says, sitting at her desk. “I was not myself down on Caylara, but you did yourself proud. You saved us.”

“You’re welcome, Commander.” You smile. “I’d say any time, but right now I’d be happy if I never left the ship again.”

“That being said, if you tell anyone—”

“If I tell anyone you were crying, I can expect to spend the next month of duty shifts degaussing the transporter with a microresonator?”

“Oh that’s a good one. I must remember that. Yes. You will be degaussing, Lieutenant.”

“Understood.”

#writer wednesday #Christopher Pike #Christopher Pike x Reader #Captain Pike #writings of the girl from outer space #fanfic #fanfiction #Star Trek Discovery #Star Trek Strange New Worlds #The Engineer's Adventures

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anomander-dragnipurake · 4 years ago

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Ghosts

I initially had the idea to do this fic a while ago, even before I started writing my first Super Mario fic. I finally got around to it for Halloween after being reminded of the idea via coming across a fanart piece that depicted a similar idea. I'd link it because it's sort of fic inspiration but it's buried deep in the Bowuigi tag on Tumblr and in the reblogs on my main blog.

Of course the hotel was haunted, why wouldn’t it be? Just when he thought he was finally free of having to deal with ghosts, this had to happen. Finding the Poltergust in the garage – indicating E. Gadd was here somewhere too, probably trapped in a portrait – was a sheer stroke of luck because Luigi had neglected to bring his own ghost hunting equipment. This one was the new model E. Gadd had been telling him about too which was neat expect for the fact that he now had to use it to deal with a hotel full of ghosts.

Before getting to that though, he glanced around the garage one last time to make sure he was alone before pulling out his phone. He needed to call Bowser, tell him not to come day after tomorrow after all. They’d been planning to have him show up at the hotel a couple days later and then finally reveal their relationship to Mario and Peach because away from home while on vacation when everyone was already in a good mood seemed like a good place to do that. But ghosts had happened instead so it’d have to wait.

Though it wasn’t super late into the night yet, hopefully Bowser would already be sleeping so Luigi could just leave a message. There was a very real chance Bowser would want to come anyway to punch the ghosts over their plans being ruined and only get himself in trouble. Luigi would rather not have to try to dissuade him from that so… He picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, what’s up?” he said. “Aren’t you normally in bed by now?”

“Uh… yeah but um… well turns out the hotel’s haunted, it was a trap from King Boo. He uh… yeah, stuff happened and I have to deal with it.” He needed to save Mario and Peach, the Toads too. “So, you probably shouldn’t come after all. We’ll have to tell them… later.” Both of them had kept finding reasons to put it off, figures after finally committing to a plan something would go wrong with it.

“He got Mario again, didn’t he?”

“Yep and Peach and the Toads and probably E. Gadd too, since his car is here but he’s not.”

Bowser grunted. “How does King Boo keep beating Mario when I never could?”

“Please not now.” Mario was in danger; Luigi didn’t want to hear about Bowser’s rivalry with him when that was a thing.

“Oh uh… all right, sorry. You okay?” All the gruff bravado was gone from Bowser’s voice now. Instead he sounded concerned which meant Luigi’s plea had been filled with more desperation than he’d intended.

“No, not really.” How could he be in this situation? What if he couldn’t beat King Boo this time? Or what if… King Boo took it further and killed Mario before Luigi could get there to even try to save him?

“Right, you’re afraid of ghosts, huh?”

“I know I probably shouldn’t be anymore.” He’d dealt with two full hauntings and captured King Boo twice as well so logically he shouldn’t be afraid anymore but alas, his fear had never been rooted in anything logical. “But… they’re still scary.” He leaned against E. Gadd’s car, holding back a grown. This ‘adventure’ had only just started and he was already tired.

“All righty then,” Bowser said as if reaching some kind of decision. “I’ll go over and beat the ghosts up for you. Except me in however long it takes my fastest air ship to get there.”

“What? No, no, no, you don’t need to come down here. I can handle it on my own.” It was too late though; the line was dead.

Luigi groaned as he flipped his phone closed to slip back into his pockets. Now he had to save his brother and friends and watch out for when Bowser arrived to hopefully make sure King Boo didn’t get him too. Could the night get any worse?

***

The hotel was rather drab looking in the dark of night, there wasn’t a light on anywhere inside it. It had looked much better in the brochures so it was a disappointment all around. Vacation wasn’t what Bowser was here for though so whatever. Maybe a dark hotel would serve as a good arena to beat up some ghosts and King Boo though.

Mario was going to be so shocked when he saw it was Bowser who’d save him this time. That would count as finally besting him too, right? Defeating the person who’d defeated him was basically a victory over both of them, right? So, this was going to be a fun outing after all.

With a signal from him, the ship flew in closer to hover over the roof. “Circle at a distance until I call you back,” he instructed the shy guy at the wheel before vaulting over the edge. In hindsight, even with how much it would’ve slowed down the ship, he probably should’ve brought in a troop of minions for backup but he’d been in such a hurry and hadn’t wanted to wait for an entire troop to get ready to broad it and now it was too late. Whatever though, he could handle King Boo and his tiny boos by himself.

He landed on the hotel’s roof with a thud, the tiles cracking beneath his weight. Glancing around he was disappointed to see that the roof was empty. What his exact plan was, he had no idea but he didn’t a plan, he’d just wing it like he normally did and it should be fine.

The roof was pretty barren and thus it didn’t take him long to locate a possible way down so he could enter in properly through a window or something. Before he could start to descend though…

“Why are you here?”

He snapped around to see King Boo had come out of seemingly nowhere. He was holding a portrait of Princess Peach, which knowing King Boo’s powerset, meant it probably was her. Bowser had given up courting her a long time ago and had only continued to kidnap her to lure Mario in for another rematch. He no longer even did that because Luigi had decided to convince him not to which had ultimately resulted in their current relationship. But it still made him mad because if anyone was going to capture her, it should’ve been him. He at least treated her right, the way a princess should be treated, not trapping her in a portrait. So…

“I’m here to kick your ass,” he said with a slight growl as he balled up his hands into fists. He would’ve preferred to start with a blast of fire but he wasn’t sure how flammable Peach’s portrait was and he wasn’t going to risk damaging it and possibly her.

King Boo raised an eyebrow and laughed. “You’ll make a nice portrait so sure, I won’t question my good fortune, let’s fight.”

Bowser lunged at him even before finished speaking, intending to grab and rip Peach’s portrait out of his hands. But King Boo floated higher, dodging with seemingly little effort. And he was out of Bowser’s range completely, such bullshit.

With a flash of light from King Boo’s crown, there was suddenly an empty portrait floating beside him. “Sorry this isn’t much of a fight, I got stuff to do,” he said as it starting glowing, pulling Bowser in.

Like hell was he gonna be turned into wall art. He’d blast the damn thing to bits with fire and then…

Next thing he knew, he was indoors and looking down at Luigi instead of up at King Boo. It felt kind of like waking up after a too long nap. He breathed out the breath he’d been taking, releasing a puff of smoke instead of the mighty blast of fire he’d intended it to be. He glanced around at the room, it seemed to be an office of some sort. “What happened? Where am I?” he said as he looked back down.

Luigi looked tired but otherwise mostly fine. He had the Poltergust on his back but a different model than the one he’d shown Bowser. This one had a clear tank with something green inside it. “You were captured by King Boo and turned into a portrait,” he said. “Why did you have come? I tried to tell you not to.”

“Because I wanted to.” Bowser always did whatever he wanted.

“Yeah but why?”

“You’re scared of ghosts, I wanted to beat them up for you.” And he still would, he just had to try a little harder. There were few problems that couldn’t be solved with a good punch and/or blast of fire.

“Oh uh… thanks for the thought.” The slight blush on Luigi’s face as he lifted his free hand to rub the back of his neck was cute and made look slightly less tired. “But I um… I’m fine. I can handle it by myself.”

Bowser sighed as he crossed his arms. He wasn’t too good at reading other people’s emotions but… “You don’t seem fine.”

Luigi deflated a little, letting out a heavy sigh. “It’s scary and I’m tired and… scared and stuff. Gotta save my bro though so…” he trialed off with a shrug. “You should probably go the garage but uh… I’m not sure how I’m going to explain your presence to E. Gadd and the Toads, that’s going to be awkward but I’m not sure where else would be safe.”

“Fuck that, it’s personal now, I’m going to beat up King Boo.” No way would Bowser ever stand for such a humiliating defeat. So he turned to march out the room.

Before he could take more a few steps though Luigi grabbed his arm pulling him back. Bowser could easily just drag him along or pick up and carry him with him or even just shake him off entirely but didn’t.

“You can’t,” Luigi said. “He’ll just turn you into a portrait again so… please don’t. I already have to save Mario and Peach, I don’t want to have to save you again too.” He sounded desperate and scared and… it made Bowser feel bad. “So just… let me do it.”

“You’re scared of ghosts though.” So he shouldn’t even want to do this.

“Yeah but… you need special equipment for hunting ghosts and… I’ve never lost to them so… I can handle it.” He was full on hugging Bower’s arm now, making it even harder to pull away.

Bowser could only sigh at that. “All right, fine, I’ll just help you then.” He could do that much at least. “I’m not letting that bastard get away with beating me so easily and I’m not letting you face the ghosts on your own when you’re so scared of them. And there’s nothing you can do to convince me to hide in some stupid safe place instead.”

Luigi looked like he wanted to protest but sighed instead as he rested the side of his face against Bowser’s upper arm. “Okay, that works, I guess. It’s… kind of nice to have some company anyway I suppose, it gets kind of lonely sometimes.”

Bowser grunted instead of trying to come up with a reply because he wasn’t sure how to. “Let’s go,” he said instead, gesturing towards the rooms exit. He wanted to see how Luigi fought ghosts, he’d been curios about what that was like ever since Luigi had told him about it. “I can’t wait to see the look on Mario’s face when I help save him.”

Luigi chuckled nervously. “That’s uh… certainly going to be an interesting meeting.”

#My writing #super mario bros #Luigi's Mansion #Bowuigi #canon divergence #established relationship #Luigi's mansion 3

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audreycj-things · 4 years ago

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[𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓰 𝓽𝔀𝓸] My Top Five I.T. Career Choices

Are you a current or aspiring student of the information technology department? Are you having trouble with what job to take once you’ve completed your four years of torture college? If that’s two yeses, you’re in luck because in this blog post, I’ll be sharing with you the possible careers I’m considering on taking after I graduate.

But before that, let me share with you how I became a part of the Computer Studies department in the first place!

A Back Story of My Career Dilemmas

Roughly three years ago, upon approaching my senior high school years, I was dead set on taking the path towards becoming a lawyer. Hence, I enrolled under the Humanities and Social Sciences strand. (I no longer remember why I wanted to take up law though.) A few self-evaluations later, I realized I wanted to become a medical professional, specifically a neurosurgeon. I can attribute this to familial expectations, the many Korean dramas I watched, and my desire to improve the country’s healthcare system, to help people, and to be one of the few doctors with nice handwriting. And so, I shifted to the STEM strand up until I graduated.

During my last few months in senior high, I underwent personal dilemmas on what I really wanted. Amidst my extended family’s career expectations for me, my wise mother constantly reminded me the reality of medical professionals’ work. She emphasized the importance of your college program being a product of your own choice rather than everyone else’s expectations. And so, I was no longer sure of what program to take in college. At this point, I was already panicking, especially after seeing how confident my peers were with what career they had in mind. All I knew is that I was completely clueless of what to become and that I am a fairly versatile individual who always tries her best in whatever situation and opportunity she’s thrown in. (I’m known to be a jack-of-all-trades type of person.)

Seeing my struggle, my mom recommended me to consider the I.T. field. As a college professor and her university’s official representative to local and international seminars, she has witnessed and understood the potential and significance of professions under this field. Although hesitant at first—mostly because I haven’t been too exposed to opportunities that allow me to acquire advanced computer-related skills (not including the ones I learned in my basic education’s computer classes)— I gave her suggestion some thought and decided that I shall take up the challenge.

And so, here I am, enrolled as a Computer Science student in the tech savvy Malayan Colleges Mindanao.

My Top Five I.T. Career Choices

Before anything else, allow me to explain briefly about the I.T. field that I plan to be a part of. This is for you to be able to catch up with what I’m trying to say, especially since there are going to be various technical terms from here on. And who knows? I might spark your interest in giving this career path a try!

According to Computer Science Online, the information technology industry operates across a range of industries, such as healthcare, finance, education, and entertainment. Broadly, information technology can be defined as the use of computing via various components (e.g. hardware, services, software) to develop, manage, transform, share and store information in different forms. Careers in information technology deal with the design, creation, management, and maintenance of the varied components of the system, including software, hardware, networks, systems integration, and multimedia.

[1] COMPUTER PROGRAMMER

The number one thing that I absolutely want to become is to be a computer programmer.

Following Technopedia’s definition, a computer programmer is a skilled professional who codes, tests, debugs, and maintains the comprehensive instructions known as computer programs that devices should follow to execute their functions. Computer programmers also conceptualize, design, and test logical structures to solve computer issues. Programmers make use of specific computer languages like C, C++, Java, PHP, .NET, etc. to convert the program designs developed by software developers or system architects into instructions that the computer could follow. They often refer to code libraries for simplifying their coding and might build or make use of computer-aided software tools to automate the coding.

I’ve always been awestruck of how coding works. It amazes me how a series of words and symbols arranged in a definite order will result to apps, websites, and other various software—even this word document I’m using under Microsoft Office! It’s surreal how each element of this software functions in such a smart and creative manner, especially when you know it as merely words and symbols in its raw form. I want to be able to do this by developing and learning all the knowledge and skills a good programmer should possess. Afterall, one should aim for excellence first; success will follow.

[2] SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Another career that I would love to have is to be a software developer.

According to CollegeGrad, software developers are the creative minds behind computer programs. Some develop the applications that allow people to do specific tasks on a computer or another device. Others develop the underlying systems that run the devices or that control networks. Software developers oversee the entire development process for a software program, including testing and maintenance. They design the program and then give instructions to programmers, who write computer code and test it.

Admittedly, I prefer doing the back-end job of a programmer. I don’t really love leading a team in a somewhat creativity-based project. However, the idea of initiating and facilitating the coming-to-life process of a computer program seems incredibly fulfilling. If ever I do become a software developer, I would probably create a computer program that will be of use to hospitals and schools. In fact, my mother encourages me to consider developing an enrollment system someday. No pressure.

[3] DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR

My third option is to become a database administrator.

According to Learn How to Become and Wikipedia, database administrators are responsible for establishing databases for organizations in all sectors of the economy in accordance with their specific needs in order to ensure that data is readily accessible for efficient and effective use by anyone with permission to use it. They use specialized software to store and organize data. Their role may include capacity planning, installation, configuration, database design, migration, performance monitoring, security, troubleshooting, as well as backup and data recovery.

A database administrator’s job appeals to my perfectionism. The idea of being in-charge of keeping everything organized is a huge but ultimately fulfilling challenge.

[4] CYBER SECURITY CONSULTANT

Another career I have in mind is to be a cyber security consultant.

Top Universities emphasizes that maintaining cyber security in the modern world has become increasingly important, so a cyber security consultant’s role focuses on understanding the risks to the security of information or data. I would have to analyze where security breaches may occur or have occurred, and restore or reinforce systems against such breaches, to ensure that confidential data is protected. This role could include ‘ethical hacking’, meaning deliberately attempting to hack into my employer’s network to expose any weaknesses. Alternatively, I could work as a computer forensics analyst or investigator to combat the increasing phenomenon of cyber-crime.

I can attribute my attractions towards this career to the movies I’ve watched that portray hacking (or anything of the sort) to be cool. In several action movies, I always felt excited when seeing characters getting out of a tight, life-and-death situation with their cyber security-related skills. Although now I know that there’s more to this job than hacking—which they only do for testing reasons, otherwise it would be a crime—it still appeals to that part of my self that craves for thrill. In hindsight, the chances of coming across serious cyber security situations (like a government cyber security breach) here in the Philippines is quite low compared to other countries, so I guess my thrill-seeking self won’t be too satisfied if I work locally.

[5] GAME DEVELOPER

My last and fifth career choice is to become a game developer.

According to Top Universities, game developers produce games for personal computers, games consoles, social/online games, arcade games, tablets, mobile phones, and other handheld devices. This role splits into two main parts. First, there’s the creative side of designing a game and dealing with the art, animation, and storyboarding. Second, there’s the programming side, using programming languages such as C++.

I fit into the second part of developing game—the programming part. Although I’d rather invest on computer programs that are of use to the community, helping create a game seems like a fun way to apply coding. In hindsight, games are not just limited to the “fun” aspect because they offer more benefits than entertainment, so I guess I’m still helping the community in a way. I play games myself, especially the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game called League of Legends. I understand and have experienced that one can learn, acquire, and hone skills (like strategy planning, enhanced reflexes, analysis) from playing games, especially complex ones. Furthermore, one can create and maintain friendships with games, as well as improve their self-confidence.

OVERALL...

Computer programmer, software developer, database administrator, cyber security consultant, game developer… whatever my career will be, I hope I’ll love what I’ll do and contribute something to the betterment of the community.

I also hope to prove some family members wrong about IT-related jobs being insignificant, that graduates under this program just “end up in computer shops.” While managing and maintaining a computer shop is a noble job, there’s so much more to the professions under I.T. that are constantly being overlooked and taken for granted. We are literally living in the digital age, yet many people still don’t appreciate this field enough. Hopefully, I’ll be able to enlighten and inspire people to try this career path and be a part of the tech savvy community.

Wish me luck in my journey!

#career #computer science #information technology #blog post

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loreweaver-universe · 6 years ago

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LAST EDITED ON 7/9/2020

I got @’d on Twitter about a liveblog recommendation list, so let me reiterate what I said there regarding my status on potential liveblogs that they mentioned. In fact, here’s a whole rundown!

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the biggest one that they wanted me to liveblog, as I’ve only ever seen the first episode and a smattering of clips from elsewhere. Unfortunately, this is one I will almost certainly never do as a main-lineup show; patrons can pledge enough to get me to do episodes, but that’s the only way I’m going to liveblog it, as I have almost no interest in it whatsoever, and considering how hard it’s been for me to blog Wander, I can’t imagine I’ll have any kind of a good time with MLP.

Also, I’m a little scared of the fandom, as it’d be a rough time staving off the less pleasant groups. I should know, I grew up in the online Sonic fandom.

Gravity Falls is, unfortunately, not on the table. For the exact opposite reason; I’ve seen all but, like, eight episodes, and am heavily spoiled on the rest.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, to remind everybody, is the show that already replaced Madoka Magica in my main lineup. You’ll be seeing more of that as I catch up on Steven Universe and repair my shattered mental health.

Star Vs the Forces of Evil is on the potential liveblogs list for my patrons to vote on whenever I catch up on a main-lineup show and need to replace it.

Amphibia is also on that list, and is a show I’m very excited about--for obvious reasons.

They also mentioned The Owl House, The Loud House, and Victor and Valentino. I’ve never heard of any of these, so I guess when I finish She-Ra I’ll ask my staff if they’re shows I should add to the poll.

EDIT: Zombieland Saga keeps getting brought up as a liveblog possibility, as well.

THE CURRENT LINEUP

MAIN SHOWS

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power--Have done the first thirteen episodes.

INACTIVE SHOWS

Steven Universe--Completed. :’(

Over the Garden Wall--Completed.

Madoka Magica--I stopped liveblogging this show due to my declining mental health not being able to handle its pessimism and negativity. This is never coming back..

Wander Over Yonder--I wasn’t enjoying the show, and, more importantly, nobody was enjoying me not enjoying the show.

Infinity Train--Completed through the end of season 2. Waiting on season 3.

PATRON PICKS

Currently, I have three slots on my Patreon (valued at fifty dollars per liveblog) where a patron can straight-up pick a show for me to do--either a full ten-minute episode or half of a twenty-minute episode per month. Once I’m mentally able to handle working consistently again and get ahead of my responsibilities, I might do extra liveblogs of these shows in a month beyond what I’ve been commissioned for--but that’s a maybe and a someday, so don’t plan on it.

Baccano--Currently halfway through episode 10. Really enjoying how funny it is.

Paranoia Agent--Currently completed episode 10. Very high-quality.

A Place Further Than the Universe--Currently halfway through episode 8. this show is so cute you guys

OTHER POTENTIAL PATRON PICKS

Some of my patrons have backup shows they might have me switch to or do after I complete theirs. These are those shows.

Re:Zero

POTENTIAL PICKS

These are shows that are definitely on the voting list for when my patrons collectively vote on a new show. It’s not the entirety of the list, but these won’t change.

Amphibia

Star vs the Forces of Evil

DuckTales 2017

Samurai Jack

Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts

The Dragon Prince

Hilda

Mob Psycho

Camp Camp

The Owl House

Anyways, that’s the status of my shows, past, present, and future. Hope that cleared stuff up!

#bloggin #inbetween #psa

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moondoon · 5 years ago

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Okay so uhhh heres my AU. I’m going to just copy and past for the most part what was posted on Amino. Keep in mind I wrote this all down last night while pulling an all nighter so lets go babe!! I super duper hope you think its a neat idea and I will post more on it later. tumblr wont let me upload any more images and im very mad right now!!!!! so dig through my blog for more. I have plenty and I will post more.

Anyways, lets start with Majora. The main big baddie of the actual game. My version of Majora is actually not technically a bad guy. Not even a guy at all. She is 20 ft tall, has a skull for a face, long whips that can slink out of her wrists, and 3 separate forms. Wrath being the final.

Her canon design is a tad eyesore so I decided to fix it up. Shes the one thing I am actually proud of in this whole AU thats why I started with her. The third eye on her head, and the eyes on her chest can move but rarely do. Theres no need.She’s extremely monster like and doesn’t necessarily think like you and I.Shes very powerful and all of that power is sealed away in the mask.Most of the events of Majoras mask still remain true to this AU, I simply add backstory and some characters.

I cant explain much of Majora until later when things get extra spicy but trust me she has more to her than just this.

so lets move onto Fierce.

This character I have a lot more to explain of, less to show. I draw him plenty you know who he is. He’s 8ft5, messy long hair that can be found braided, and has a bad attitude.

This fella is almost always angry and really just likes to intimidate people. He’s the kind of guy to throw hands before arguing. Prefers to work alone and doesn’t stick around for praise nor offerings.

The people of Termina respect Fierce, they try to avoid getting in his way. Where he refuses to harm and or interact with them currently (post game) they still refrain from distracting him.

Before the events of the game, before being sealed in the mask, he was a lot more interactive between the people of clocktown. He was a tad friendlier and actually had a few people he liked to visit from time to time.

Shortly after being sealed away unexpectedly for hundreds of years he realized its not worth the pain of losing the people he loves.

Hes going to be around for a long time and feels at this point, that its best he not make friends with mortals anymore.

He had a very close relationship with the deity of the Deku people, Odolwa. They were very close. Odolwa came in a long time ago back when the original god of Termina arrived. he is not related to Mr Termina but they respect eachother. Odolwa may be very old compared to Fierce but he gets along great with him, shares a love for big cool swords, and even will stay up at night with him from time to time and just hang out.

This god was made for Termina, to represent, and protect the people of Termina.

No matter what area they are from he was created to protect them. He is very active and can be seen wandering around both clocktown, and around Termina field until he is needed.

Fierce is uhh,,,, not quite ready for a job as big as this. Atleast not in the eyes of the true and current god.

This man does not quite have a name yet im working on it shh im gonna refer to him as many things.

He is very tall and very slender. He is dressed in long golden robes that almost look like a cape at times, and wears a lot of jewelry. He is the man who made fierce for one reason and one reason only. To replace him.

He’s been around for a very long time and watched over the people of this land.

Having the same type of authoritative intimidation as white diamond from SU, he stands very tall, moves very gracefully, shows no fear, and is constantly smiling.

There is a minor god who follows this man. He’s pretty much just backup who agrees with everything Mr.Termina says. Hes no where near as strong no where near as intimidating but he is his right hand man.

Mr.Termina and his Right hand man want to go run away and never come back to this hellhole. They want to be free to relax and no longer have duties of a god.

He creeped out a lot of people so uhhh,,,, he’s sort of been a holy being in the sky who watches rather than be a part of the people. They barely know him and by the time Fierce is made he is the only icon in their eyes.

Fierce was made to be just as powerful if not more powerful than this god. Pretty much just condensed and improved. Mr.Termina wanted him to have a mortal form so he can fit in better with humans rather than being a big scary monster/deity who would scare them away.

He has been keeping Fierce in check, cares little to nothing about sentimental value nor emotions and will even go as far as calling Fierce weak and or soft for a god. This really starts to corrupt and hurt him and he gets very self conscious about appearing as “weak” so he really tends to beat himself up. He’s sounding a tad mentally abusive towards his creation. This only makes Fierce hate him more and more each day.

He really just wants to make Fierce as perfect as he can be before passing the baton over to him but isnt doing it right.

Meaning, he can’t give him all of his powers at once. In fact he hasn’t taught him any out of fear that things wont be working out and fierce may kill him. Hes afraid of what he made lmao. This is why Fierce mostly stays in the physical strength area. He is a very strong man and does have some abilities that he doesn’t control. (Some healing factors)

Fierce has become kind of... rebellious? He’s acting more human than god. Granted hes an angry little man but but it should be expected considering he wanted him to fit in with the humans.

All of this was fine and dandy until Fierce was fed up with what this god was doing to him, killed his right hand man, and was banished to be a mask for a few hundred years. Pretty much papa put his son into timeout without letting him say goodbye to the people he loved back in clocktown.

All of this gods creations have a “if all else fails turn them into a mask so they cant harm me” thing. He cant turn anyone into a mask only his creations.

This is where link found him during the events of MM, used his mask, and set him free in the end of Majoras mask.

This not only benefited Fierce by him studying link and learning how to use magic blasts from his sword,(though he will never admit it) it revealed a dark secret about the old god. One that truly had Fierce scared, yet ready to kill the man.

I refuse to tell you what yet because I want to make more posts on this later on.

After chasing link off he pretty much spends his time lying low. He’s not supposed to be out of timeout. Hes trying his best to learn how to use any other powers he may have currently to be able to last longer than 5 minutes in a fight with the true god. Fierce wants this man dead. No retirement for him mwuahaha

He will attempt to forcefully take his place and do this job right and as much as he hates to make this horrible man proud by doing so, its the only way to save himself and people in the future. ________________________________________________________________ SO uh anyways thanks for reading i love you. I miiight take asks for this au? I certianly will be happy if anyones actually curious... just to help do something cause im not the best at story telling... I hope what I have posted makes sense. I love yall see ya later

#Majoras Mask #Fierce Deity #legend of zelda #idk what to tag it as im not hella worried abt it

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per-ineptia-ad-astra · 5 years ago

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starhearth: episode six

Second Month of Spring, Day 7-Third Month of Spring

After fortifying himself with some berries and a cup of water—I’m sure he’d prefer something stronger but that’s what we got—McCoy successfully harvests the bees. Which is not really a sentence I anticipated typing back when I first started this blog.

[ID: A screenshot of McCoy standing over a bee’s nest next to a tree stump, with single-pixel bees swarming around McCoy and the stump. The information box at the bottom of the screen says that McCoy is “harvesting Bee Nest.”]

With the bees no longer hanging around threatening to sting the workers, the tree-felling can continue once more. While that’s going on, there are some promotions to carry out.

So far, the camp hasn’t been attacked by anything bigger than some tiny mobile tree stumps and rocks, which Kirk has been able to protect everybody from all on his own. But that won’t last forever. As time passes and the settlement gets bigger, more serious foes will start showing up. Kirk’s going to need backup before too long.

McCoy sets to work making a Cleric’s Tome, an item that will allow him to promote from Herbalist to Cleric. Herbalists are a strictly civilian crafting class who can craft healing items, but Clerics are warriors who can cast healing spells which are much more powerful. In other words, McCoy can finally achieve his greatest desire: being able to heal people just by gesturing furiously at them.

[ID: 1. A screenshot of McCoy standing among some items in the stockpile, hands raised and eyes closed with a blue and gold book floating above his head. 2. A screenshot of McCoy standing in the stockpile, now dressed in a white tunic and gold robe and with gold sparkles floating from him, with a message box on the side of the screen reading, “Leonard McCoy has been Promoted!--Leonard McCoy is now a Level 1 Cleric!--Healer Training: A cleric can use Sheep tamed by a Shepherd to practice their magical gestures and earn experience up to Job Level 3. Healing Aura: The cleric’s presence heals everyone around them periodically.”]

Leslie and Chekov also get promotions, both becoming Footmen. As I’ve mentioned before, I intend to make Chekov an Archer eventually, but a Hearthling can only become an Archer after taking a few levels of Footman first.

[ID: Leslie and Chekov standing in the stockpile, Leslie, now wearing a blue and silver tunic, jumping into the air with gold sparkles around him while Chekov crouches on the ground next to him. A message box on the right reads, “Ed Leslie has been Promoted!--Ed Leslie is now a Level 1 Footman!--Combat Training: A footman can use Training Dummies to train their combat techniques and earn experience up to Job Level 3. Damage Up 20%: The footman knows that all combats may have mortal consequences, and attacks with renewed determination.”]

McCoy, Leslie, and Chekov now join Kirk on a patrol around the tavern, vigilantly guarding against the terrors of the night. Not that any have shown up just yet.

[ID: A screenshot of the field behind the tavern at night, with rain falling, as Chapel runs in one direction and Kirk, Chekov, Leslie and McCoy walk in the opposite direction, tightly clustered together.]

We’re not quite done with the job-changing yet. We’ll need another Herbalist to replace McCoy, so Chapel takes up the mantle.

[ID: Chapel standing next to the crates inside the storage room in the tavern, glowing gold as she promotes to Herbalist. A message box on the right reads, “Christine Chapel has been Promoted—Christine Chapel is now a Level 1 Herbalist!--Junior Practitioner: The Herbalist can attend to 2 hurt hearthlings at a time. Natural Regeneration: The Herbalist channels the spirits of the forest and gains natural regeneration. Willpower and Diligence increased.”]

It’s also finally time to get some farming and cooking started. Everyone’s been surviving on jerky, berries, and water, but that’s not much of a life. They’ll be a lot happier with some proper meals. So Sulu and Rand promote into Farmers. The job comes with a nice hat, apparently.

[ID: Sulu standing in the tavern storage area, now wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and labeled in the information box as Hikaru Sulu—Level 1 Farmer. The message box on the right reads, “Hikaru Sulu has been Promoted!--Hikaru Sulu is now a Level 1 Farmer!--Speed Up: Running fresh food from field to table has increased the farmer’s footspeed.”]

I only intend to keep Sulu as a Farmer permanently. Rand’s going to become a Chef. But like with Archers, Hearthlings can’t promote into Chefs directly; they have to promote from a level two Farmer.

Rand and Sulu start plowing a couple of fields by the lake to plant carrots and turnips in. As Farmers level up they gain access to a wider variety of things to plant, but for now, carrots and turnips are all we got.

[ID: Sulu and Rand, who is wearing a straw bonnet to match Sulu’s straw hat, digging rows of upturned soil in two square fields next to the lake.]

Early the next morning, a farmer stops by with some goods to sell. One of those goods is a basket of cherries, which has potential—cherry bushes don’t spawn in this biome naturally, but a Herbalist could use that basket to make seeds and plant bushes from those, giving us an additional food source. (Yes, I know cherries grow on trees. But in this game, they grow on bushes. Don’t ask me why.) We still don’t have much money, but selling all our healing potions (we don’t need them, now that McCoy can heal everyone directly) gets us just enough to buy the cherries.

Only problem is, since Chapel only just became a Herbalist, she’s still level one. She needs to be level two to be able to craft cherry seeds. One wouldn’t think that getting the pits out of cherries would take advanced skill, but apparently it does. Since the basket of cherries counts as a consumable food item, it’s a race against time to get Chapel up to level two before someone decides to eat all the cherries. Exciting, huh?

Meanwhile, we’ve qualified for another villager.

At this point, I was seriously starting to run into a quandary. The inherent problem with trying to play a colony-building sim game with all your villagers named after TOS characters is that there’s just not that dang many recurring characters in TOS. By ten villagers in, we’ve pretty much tapped out the main cast. In desperation to find some more significant TOS characters, I wound up looking outside the actual crew of the Enterprise.

And that’s how Sarek joined the colony.

[ID: Sarek, a Hearthling with pale skin, brown eyes, brown hair, and thick rectangular eyebrows that are floating next to his head, as he runs past some trees towards the village.]

Sarek has 6 Mind, 2 Body, and 6 Spirit, and the Opinionated trait, which means he likes to tell other Hearthlings in no uncertain terms what he thinks about everything...so that’s accurate. You may also notice that his eyebrows are floating next to his head as well. Must be hereditary.

Everyone gets on with their work for a while. Chapel is making potions. Sulu and Rand are harvesting vegetables. Scotty is upgrading the beds to be slightly nicer beds. Uhura has now started a second trapping area, this one for catching bugs. Yes, bugs. There are some remarkably big ones around here, and they can be caught for food. Because the current rations weren’t unappealing enough for everyone as it was.

At some point, while looking around the map, I was very startled to realize that a giant zombie guarding a treasure chest had spawned not that far away.

[ID: A zoomed-out shot from above and behind the tavern, showing a wide field stretching into the distance with tree-covered cliffs on the left and the lake on the right. A very large figure is standing on the other side of a large patch of open dirt from the tavern and is selected in the information box, which reads, “Giant Zombie—Blaarhgh...don’t touch Master’s treasure!!”]

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE

As deeply unnerving as that revelation was, for the moment the zombie seems content to leave us alone. Unfortunately, not everyone shares that outlook.

[ID: A pair of small green figures with beady eyes and pointed ears approaching the camp from across the field. The one in front is wearing a helmet and carrying a serrated sword, while the one behind is bare-chested and carrying a hammer. The goblin in front is selected, and the information box reads, “Nag The Bonesm...(the rest is too large to fit into the text box and is cut off)--Covetous and armed!”]

A pair of goblin thieves try to sneak into camp and steal from our stockpile. Seems a small goblin camp has appeared not too far from our budding little village, and its denizens are keen to try to take our goods for themselves. The warrior crew is able to dispatch them without much trouble, but they’re only the first. More will follow.

Meanwhile, Spock has already gotten into an argument with Sarek.

[ID: Spock’s character info page, which shows that his mood is Glum, and that one of the negative modifiers for his mood is “Had an unpleasant talk -3. I can’t believe Sarek said that!”]

Why am I not surprised.

#starhearth #starhearth episode 6

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magicalgirlsofshoujo · 5 years ago

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Hello Everyone

Hello everyone, after a very long time, this is Fuyu again.

To begin with, some apologies. I am sorry for disappearing without any notice. It was especially unfair to the people I was bringing on to help with the blog. I am sorry for thinking no one would really notice and letting my own self doubt and shame take the wheel.

I am also sorry that I somehow simultaneously missed a Cardcaptor Sakura revival and yet no real new magical girls of shoujo wtf.

Back on a serious note, I have some explanations. In my classic, "definitely could have said this in about half the words and with no proofreading whatsoever."

Oh gosh, this really does make me feel nostalgic.

I don't believe people have to share their personal lives if it harms them. So, don't let anything I say guilt you or your specific circumstance. Escapism is a wonderful part about fandom and the internet. Because the world is doodoo and we're all knee deep in it lately.

However, the fact that I had to run away and hide has as much to do with the nature of feel good escapism and fandom as it does with my own personal issues. What does a person do when the things they enjoy no longer make them happy?

For me the answer was to keep trying for a long time, because I felt robbed of what I love. Also, to some extent I felt I was prioritising trying to regain that feeling over confronting what was going on inside me. I did try a little bit to just take a step back. I reached out for more people to help with the blog when I started feeling the weight on me. But then getting helpers on board ended up becoming an effort in itself and my dwindling social energy just went into negative numbers.

That's why I just stood up and walked away. I had altogether too much to deal with in my brain and saying a proper goodbye somehow felt like another monumental effort.

That's also why feel an explanation of what I went through can be beneficial, because that is far from unknown in an anime fandom where otaku culture and its issues of toxicity are well known.

I do like to think I had a more wholesome attitude about it though. Teehee~

And since I was convinced no one would really care (brains are dumb) and was proven wrong upon my return even after all this time, I feel like an explanation for anyone who wanted one was warranted. Even if it's in classic Fuyu word vomit style.

I know I have always felt better when I've read stories similar to my own struggles. The feeling of, "I'm not alone!" is one that can't be underestimated. In addition, even in small areas like my little corner here, I think normalizing mental illness is a worthy cause. Everyone knows someone suffering whether they know it or not and such.

So, the short explanation is it turns out I've been living with undiagnosed ADHD. This was becoming a problem right around the time of my disappearance. For whatever reason the mechanisms I set up to deal with what I thought was laziness (primarily mainlining caffeine and forcing myself into deadlines to motivate myself) no longer worked and I would stare at computer screens where words would once come easily. This was a problem for the area of study that I loved and enjoyed so much. In my case it was also a big problem for the fandom I loved and enjoyed.

My words are all over this blog and I haven't written anything since I left.

Currently I am still exactly one course away from my undergrad degree, same as when this all started. This is at least partially because I was only diagnosed very recently.

Because I couldn't do these things I panicked and then would become extremely depressed. This was the incredibly visible problem and so when I got help I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. All are definitely true, but now we believe we diagnosed the surface symptoms and missed the underlying cause of adhd.

Instead of my anxiety, panic, and depression cycle coming from nowhere it was usually triggered directly by my lack of focus and motivation. So, years of focusing efforts on my, admittedly unbearable, moods ultimately always came up short because as soon as I felt well enough to try again, I would eventually hit the same wall in my brain and panic all over again.

The main reason I wanted to share this story is because of this difficulty in diagnosing. I don't want to get into the politics and economics of healthcare in the US that affected my care (suffice to say there were large gaps in treatment) because there's an element here that's a little more in my wheelhouse: gender.

I think the idea of gender bias in the medical community is fairly well-known, but essentially women's accounts of their symptoms are discounted by their own doctors.

This can be an issue with women and girls who suffer from ADHD because we do not match the visible checklist. Specificallyn regarding the "hyperactivity" part of ADHD. One explanation behind this, once I subscribe to, is that it's because girls are socialized differently and have different expectations.

Once upon a time, I fit the understood criteria. I would fidget all over my desk and talk to all my classmates instead of doing my work. Generally being a minor nuisance. The fidgeting issue was focused on the fact that I liked to wear skirts and that was unladylike. Going back through old report cards sees me labelled "chatty." I eventually learned to be quiet through social shame.

Honestly the gender bias regarding ADHD can be harmful for boys as well. My brother was tested at a similar age because he was disruptive and had a short temper. Nothing. They didn't acknowledge that boys being boys in the classroom might have been bullying.

I think these problems of both over-diagnosing and under-diagnosing have lowered since the nineties, but I know it hasn't gone away. There are many areas where it might have even gotten worse, especially with opioid epidemics making people suspicious of anyone who might use a medication that can be abused.

Naturally it should be said all of this is just my perspective on an ongoing journey, but I feel it's still a little worth putting out there. It's good to share our stories, because I didn't even realize I might have ADHD until someone else's little anecdote that "coffee calms me down because it makes my brain quieter." And there I was being miserable without caffeine because it's bad for anxiety.

They had even taken away my tea! DX

I feel like ADHD and similar stuff is even less uncommon in our circles too. Fandoms welcome those who feel left out by society and it's the perfect fit for those of us with intense devotion.

I'm still working my way through all this. I've been optimistic before and then fallen back into even worse holes than the one I was in when I left. But every climb out is an experience that makes the next one easier. It's an unfair to have to do at all, but it's worth doing rather than doing nothing.

As for what I'm actually going to do as FuyuMaiden and with this blog now, I don't know. This is the most I've written in a very long time and while it wasn't too difficult it was also very introspective. Stuff I have a lot of practice in dealing with my own mental health.

I'm definitely not going to force myself into anything. Especially since I haven't been keeping up with much. Like I look at cast lists for anime and I'm like "I don't recognize any of these seiyuu anymore!!! Am I old!?" Tentatively reblogging should be back up soon? Hopefully?

I think I'm going to make a discord for Magical Girls of Shoujo. Evey social media platform and phenomena is fragile, so it's good for us to have a backup. Plus I have faith in the stalwart eternity of gaming's need to talk shit. Discord will be around a while.

But I've been out of the loop so if there's any new places where fandom roams that I can also expand my ideals of magical cute stuff let me know.

And again, I am sorry for worry I caused. I love all of you and missed you very much.

#fuyu talking #blog stuff

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freyayuki · 6 years ago

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Introducing the Harry Potter Meta Archives WordPress Blog

With the recent news regarding Tumblr, I decided to create another blog as one way to backup my posts, just in case.

I already have a WordPress.com account since I have one blog there. Said blog has been on hiatus for like forever already. I talk more about that here. Anyway, when I logged back in after such a long time of being away, I thought I’d create a secondary blog there.

It might help me be more active on WordPress, so that I could publish at least semi-regularly on my main WordPress blog. Or, maybe this will just give me more work to do. LOL :-).

Anyway, I decided this secondary WordPress blog would be the backup blog for my Harry Potter Plotholes Archives Tumblr blog.

WordPress has an importing tool, which allows you to import content from another site or blog to your WordPress.com blog. This includes Tumblr. They even have detailed instructions on how to use this tool.

However, while this is quite useful, especially if you have hundreds of posts already, I decided against using the import tool.

The main reason was so that I don’t run out of free space on my blog. The free version of WordPress has a 3.0 GB media limit, which may not be enough since a lot of my posts have images.

So I decided I was just going to import my Harry Potter posts one-by-one. This gives me the opportunity to schedule my posts and decide which one to publish first.

Here are some more screenshots from the Harry Potter Meta Archives WordPress.com blog:

Currently, I am using the Dyad 2 theme on this blog. I’m still not sure if I’ll keep using this theme, but I’ve decided to stick with it for now.

Anyway, since the blog is still very new, I only have a few posts up so far. Hopefully, I’ll be able to add more soon. If you’re also on WordPress.com, feel free to check it out :-).

#wordpress #harry potter #wordpress blog #new blog #harry potter blog #blog update #wordpress.com #wordpress theme #blogging platform

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averyaveragestudent · 6 years ago

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first and foremost: hello! yes, i’m back and ready and motivated to get this blog finally kickstarted. i’ve followed the studyblr community for about three years now (since my senior year of high school), and one thing i know is how supportive and kind this community is.

i created this blog last year when i was about to start my first year in management studies, sadly i was not very active after that. the main reason: i did not like what i was doing and was totally unmotivated in pursuing that path. logging in here and seeing how many people followed me in the couple of weeks i was on here a year ago made me realize i could use my experience to help some of you out.

whether you’re a studyblr or not, you can’t always be 100% focused on what you’re doing, and ending up somewhere you don’t want to be can happen. if you feel like you’re wasting your time and can’t enjoy yourself and your studies at this point in your life, i’ve made this post for you! i’m happy to say i survived this last year and am finally headed towards what i want. here’s a guide to cope with loss of motivation and your studies.

1. focus on yourself

this seems obvious, but it’s way easier to say than to do it (trust me, i know!), but focusing on yourself when you’re at a place you don’t want to be at is crucial. here are a few tips to do this:

keep yourself busy: super important! and no, i don’t mean stay busy with school, but find other enjoyable activities that’ll help you pass time and make your school year more enjoyable. for instance, i’ve been a fervent MUNer for years, and i decided to join my school’s MUN club this year. it helped a lot to fill in the empty gaps in my schedule, and instead of being at home procrastinating homework i really did not want to do because it didn’t interest me, i’d be meeting new and awesome people, and learning and practicing debate!

set a personal schedule: and keep school stuff to a minimum. this may be controversial, but i know that this year i could not physically or mentally get myself to work on my courses the same way as in high school. here’s the thing, when you really aren’t where you want to be, and you know it, it’s useless to push yourself too hard, and it’s unhealthy. obviously, i don’t mean give up and don’t work, but focus on other things, especially your health. sleep early and wake up early regardless of whether or not you have class the next day, set times when you’re available for “basic” things like grocery shopping, house chores, socializing, and keep it as busy as you can, this is in line with the first point.

find someone who can help you: and by this, i mean a professional. this year, due to financial reasons mostly, i couldn’t seek professional help although i was in a really bad place emotionally. being in a major you’re not interested in causes extra stress, and having someone you can talk to freely and who can give you advice is extremely important. if you can, try to see with school counsellors if you can get special help with that! even better if it can be on a regular basis.

stay healthy: eat a lot of healthy foods, if you can follow point one by joining physical activities/sports clubs, even better!

2. focus on the future

being in a negative place mentally and emotionally because you feel like you’re failing your studies is normal, but please remember that this is temporary. it seems like a waste of time and i can’t even put words to how draining the feeling is. that being said, staying focused on the future and what you do want might help a little.

find a new path: so you’re disappointed in what you’re studying, maybe it’s what you initially wanted, maybe it isn’t. take the time to find where you want to go. a good way to do this is to get an empty sheet of paper, write down what you don’t enjoy about your current studies. on the back, write down what you wish you were doing, how you wish things were different. after that, research! if the program you’re in doesn’t suit you, find other schools you could potentially join that best fit your criteria. maybe it’s the major, find any alternatives that may interest you whether it’s in your school or not. reach out to people studying these things and ask as many questions as you can! get some of their notes, too, to see if the courses interest you!

work accordingly: know that just because you aren’t where you want to be doesn’t mean that you can’t change that! in my case, i knew i was wasting time but didn’t want to “waste” one more year by having to start my first year again. see if and how you can transfer into different subjects the following year. personally, i had to have a certain amount of credits so i worked accordingly to get them. i did this minimally, because it was not what i wanted, but what kept me going was knowing that thanks to that i’d be able to join the major i wanted next year!

3. mental health resources

Masterlist of hotlines

9 tips for studying with depression by @psychedaboutstudying

Apps for your mental health by @highlightcrs

List of calming sites by @iammissanna

Self help masterpost by @self-care-club

4. extra tips

i’d like to end this post with a few tips that i didn’t necessarily include in the rest of the post. my two main points are supposing that you want to pursue studies in any case, but there are a few things i would like to address regardless.

dropping out: there is absolutely nothing wrong with dropping out. your family/friends may not approve, but as long as you have a backup plan (money saved, a potential job, etc.) dropping out is absolutely fine. what’s most important is doing what makes you happy, and maybe college/university was not doing that for you and/or was not leading to where you wanted to go. if this is the way you believe you have to go, do as much research as you can to do it well, reach out to friends and family and try to have a support system behind you so that you always have someone no matter what happens.

gap year: gap years are always an option! yes, after “wasting” a year in a career path you didn’t want you might be hesitant in “wasting” another year, but taking a year to yourself is always a possibility and will give you time to follow the two first points of this post without the stress of class. besides, a gap year doesn’t have to be a waste, if you have the means to you can take the year to travel somewhere new, maybe find a job in another country and take time for yourself! you can also stay at home and explore new/different activities, begin new projects, learn a new language, meet new people, etc. take time to explore new things, you might find what you want to do in that, maybe without even realizing it!

don’t hesitate to drop in my inbox or chat for advice or any other kind of support you may need. i’ll always be happy to help, and i hope this post did that a little bit!

#study #mental health #support #studyblr #study guide #mine #guide

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georgewagner · 3 years ago

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How to become a number 1 electric underfloor heating installer

Electric underfloor heating is becoming more popular than gas, due to changes in SAP calculations and the Government’s announcement to ban gas boilers in all new builds by 2025. Plus, electric underfloor heating provides greater design freedom by freeing wall space, making it appealing to homeowners and architects. With demand rising, now is the time to push for the number one spot as an electric underfloor heating installer.

Becoming the number 1 installer of electric underfloor heating is no mean feat. Failing to carry out the installation correctly can reduce energy efficiency. It can even cause the system to fail completely, which is no good for your reputation or the homeowner’s pocket! Here are some top tips from ThermoSphere, on how to make the installation of electric underfloor heating worry-free and reduce the risk of costly errors.

1. Know your product

By knowing your products inside out, you’ll give yourself a key advantage. Knowing your product means that you’ll choose the right electric heating system for the floor type. In turn, this reduces installation time and makes the system more energy efficient.

For example, insulation boards are one key component of an electric underfloor heating installation that’s often forgotten about. Without them, the system will be less efficient and more expensive to run, as heat will be absorbed through the subfloor.

There are several ways to learn about products: day-to-day use, online training, person to person training, blogs, forums, YouTube and other social media platforms.

2. Stay ahead of the competition

As well as the knowledge sources mentioned above, you need to keep up to date with trends, new products and industry changes. Subscribe to regular product content producers, chat to people in the industry and sign up to loyalty programmes so you’re the first to know about new product launches and technical support.

3. Test, test, test

Another key component for reaching that number 1 spot is knowing how to test the electric underfloor heating system. Best practice is to test the resistance and insulation of the system. A good tradesperson will test the electric underfloor heating three times:

As soon as it comes out of the box, to make sure there’s no damage to the heating cable before installation starts.

When the underfloor heating mat or cable has been laid. This test makes sure that no damage has been done to the cable while it was being installed.

Once the floor finish has been laid, to make sure that no damage occurred during the installation of the flooring.

Removing sections of the floor covering to fix an issue that’s preventable by proper testing during installation is the last job you want to have.

4. It’s all in the planning

You can never over plan an electric underfloor heating installation! Start by outlining all your requirements. Key areas to consider include: desired output, floor substrate, insulation, thermostat type and position, floor sensor position, floor finish and maximum temperatures.

Knowing the answers to these questions will save you time and money in the long run. Plus, it’ll create an efficient and effective workflow which will impress any homeowner.

5. Check if the electrical circuit is suitable

One of the top considerations with any electric heating system is the total load (current in Amps) that the heater requires to operate. Electric underfloor heating systems use a lot of current. So, make sure the total load doesn’t exceed the total load capacity of the electrical circuit.

Consult ThermoSphere’s technical team if you need help calculating this for your system.

6. Remember the warranty

One of the most common questions electric underfloor heating installers ask is “I’ve got too much heating cable, can I cut the end off?” The simple answer is no and here’s why…

Electric underfloor heating cables produce an exact resistance, so they create the right amount of heat along the entire length. If you cut the end of the cable off, you’d reduce the resistance, the heating won’t work as designed and it could even fail, especially if the end isn’t terminated correctly! In addition, cutting the cable voids the warranty, and there’s no warranty on a self-repaired cable. If a cable is cut accidentally, then the manufacturer should be able to help. For example, if you’re a registered installer with ThermoSphere Connect, you could be entitled to a free replacement (provided that the floor finish has not yet been laid).

7. Offer good customer service

Answering questions and being generally helpful is part and parcel of being a number 1 electric underfloor heating installer. Three of the main concerns for homeowners are: How much will it cost, how long will it take to install and am I protected if it stops working? Here’s how to answer those common questions homeowners ask…

Question 1: How much does electric underfloor heating cost?

The cost of electric underfloor heating is a lot less than most homeowners may think, especially when compared to the cost of running common household appliances. For example, an oven can cost £26.86 per year to run if used for 90 minutes per week, compared to £24.64 per year to heat a 2.5m2 bathroom (4.67p per hour).

Here’s an interesting fact to put the cost of running electric underfloor heating into perspective for homeowners: if you have a well-insulated home, it costs less than the average takeaway coffee to run ThermoSphere electric underfloor heating in a 2m2 bathroom for a month, on average! Find out more details on how much electric underfloor heating really costs.

Using a thermostat with heating scheduling and zonal control is essential for keeping the cost of running electric underfloor heating under control. For example, the SmartHome thermostat enables you to control your heating on the go via WiFi. On the other hand, the BT21 uses Bluetooth to keep your heating system safe and easily controllable from your home via the app and the Programmable allows you to set weekly scheduling.

Check out more tips on how to provide great customer service.

Question 2: Does electric underfloor heating take long to install?

Quite simply, no. You can install most ThermoSphere electric underfloor heating systems in just one day (depending on the size of the space). Remember to allow time for adhesives to fully cure before the system is switched on; this usually takes 1-2 weeks.

Question 3: Am I protected if the system stops working?

The last thing a homeowner needs is for their newly laid floors to be taken up to fix a problem. This can be costly and disrupts their daily life.

There are no moving parts to an electric underfloor heating system and cable failures are extremely rare, if installed correctly. However, a damaged cable can usually be located and repaired with minimal disruption. Here are a few tips:

Consider installing a second sensor probe as a backup, which can be connected should the other fail.

You can also adjust the thermostat to air sensor mode. However, you’ll need to put a temperature limit of 270C on the floor. As the sensor measures the temperature of the room and not the floor directly, this will stop the floor overheating.

9. Go the extra mile

Offer to set the heating schedule, calibrate temperatures, set the temperature limits and adjust any other settings as required, so the electric underfloor heating works perfectly after you’ve left. Make sure to show the homeowner how to do this too.

Think about the cost of one FOC call back to you to adjust settings after the adhesives have cured. Going the extra mile during the initial job will save you money and time. Most importantly, it’ll leave you with a very happy homeowner!

If you have any questions on electric underfloor heating system installation, contact the ThermoSphere team or find a retailer close to you.

The post How to become a number 1 electric underfloor heating installer appeared first on Rated People Blog.

How to become a number 1 electric underfloor heating installer published first on https://fanseeaus.tumblr.com/

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bscott-fineart-synthesis · 4 years ago

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getting back into Business.

Lately I have been struggling in working with the pandemic. Hopefully some of the coping mechanisms and adaptations that I have learnt last year what help me work through this situation to the best of my ability. After learning the limitations I’ll be presented with want to return back to the studios I have been looking for alternatives that gives me ample space to work. Currently my living situation makes working even on a small scale almost impossible. While I understand that could work in the pods in the studios I feel an easy with that idea as the space is small and it could easily change Due to coving like it already has if the pandemic gets worse and we are not allowed back in the studios I’ll be in a bad situation with no backup. I also wanted to experiment with scale while I still want to keep it realistic especially during the situation, since I want to affect someone’s emotions so completely I would not be happy not being able to experiment a different scales. this leaves me with a few options.

My first thought was that I could travel back to Mansfield and use the ample space in my parents garden to produce work the main reason why I cannot do that was due to the fact that I’ll be isolated from Derby and I would struggle greatly to be involved at university physically. Well this will be an ideal plan if I do you have to shield due to being at risk in the pandemic and something I can fall back upon if needed at the moment I feel that it would hinder me greatly to do that at this point and to leave that for a last resort if I only need to use it healthwise.

My second idea which was very ambitious what’s the privately rent out an actual studio space which I can share with a few others where I can produce work well socially distancing. It was rather difficult to find a place that was affordable and practical but I did manage to. All bills electricity and water were included at the price of £95 per calendar month. This would be doable if I could split the rent with other people but unfortunately the people I had in mind did not want to take the risk and therefore I couldn’t manage this idea on my own.

My current idea and what seems to be the most likely of options is sharing Cheryl’s garden. I approached her with the idea of renting a place and she was interested but suggested we could use her outdoor space instead which was doable and much more practical. Due to its proximity to the University I can experiment much more widely due to it being a wider space, share resources with Cheryl Making the idea more cost-effective, and also be able to communicate with university and build on my experiments both there and at Cheryl’‘s garden. On a personal note I am also a great a big fan of Cheryl‘s work and I really enjoyed working with her so being in close proximity with her would make me feel much better and be much more enjoyable especially in such a dark time as during this pandemic.

I feel much less anxious now that I have the possibility of being able to produce more active work as being stuck in my one room studio apartment even the simplest of installation ideas would be very difficult to experiment with and I can only take theory so far. Being hands-on and getting excited about experimentation is something I’ve been wanting to do but have been held back since this lockdown started. I am coming up with some ideas on how I could potentially work things so that my installation could possibly be portable so I can eventually move it to a more practical location later in the year.

I believe it be a good idea to research other installations and also try and test the waters and how my Current difficulties have affected my emotions and therefore the direction in which my art is taking. I am also attempting to use this blog as a sort of diary, this will help me keep track of my ideas and also reflect on them later I think I struggled with this last year with the movement from a book to a blog as writing a book felt more natural when talking about one’s feelings and thoughts.

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ff15trashgoldenslumbers · 7 years ago

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Uhm...hi! First of all, I love your blog so much. You are definitely deserving of all the love you get and deserve even more. I was wondering if you could possibly write how the chocobros would react to their S/O obsessing over a baby (that isn't theirs, maybe a family member's or stranger's) I'm sorry it isn't much to go off of

Hello Darling, thank you so much! I enjoy the love that I get, and also have room to give and get more! Children are…well they’re a gift from above…

~~~~~

Noctis

“Are you pouting?” You giggled, holding the fourth Princess of Duriya, as you sat in the guest chair aside your fiance.

“No.” Noctis scoffed.

“She’s a natural.” Regis replied standing alongside the child’s mother.

“Are you certain that you don’t mind, Princess?” The child’s mother called, worried about offending you as you held her child.

You glanced to the three elder sisters ranging from 5 to 10, than to the baby curled so nicely within your arms and the bosom of your dress, “I don’t mind, she’s such a good baby.”

Regis chuckled fondly, “So long as your daughter is within my daughter’s care, everything shall be fine.” He replied with a wink, at your overly large smile. Regis loved seeing that smile beam on your face since he first started calling you Daughter after Noctis’s proposal.

“Thank you, your Highness.” The Queen bowed, obviously exhausted but ready to head into the meeting with Regis. “We shall return shortly, should you wish to put her down, a servant will be able to escort you to her chambers.”

You gave a wave, you didn’t understand royal hierarchy, as this woman was a Queen, and you were simply marrying into the royal family. Yet then again you were marrying into the richest and most powerful family, maybe your darling Prince could explain.

“Hey Noct, what’s that look for?” You asked, at your boyfriend currently glaring at your boobs, well more precisely the young child using your boobs as a pillow. Well as they were often used as Noctis’s pillows, and a few of your shirts and dresses had the drool marks to prove it.

“What look?”

“Noctis are you jealous of the baby?” You giggled, only for those blue sapphires to stare at you, then quickly away. There was your answer. “Noctis don’t get upset, she’s super cute. Do you want to hold her?”

“I’m not upset and no.” Noctis groaned.

“Really?” Both of you turned as you heard the baby start to fuse, “Oh…Oh no, is Noctis making you upset?”

“I am not.”

“She might be getting fussy cause she’s sleepy.” You replied, moving to stand, only to feel Noctis lift you up to stand instead as you were still holding the baby. “We should put her down for a nap, excuse me.”

“Yes, Prince and Princess.” A maid called.

“Where is the Princess’s chambers?” You inquired.

“I’ll escort you there.” The maid smiled, as she led you both down the hallway. To a rather grand nursey, “I shall go fetch the nanny for you.”

“This is a little much don’t they think.” You giggled, moving over to what you assumed was a cradle, hopefully. It was covered in so much bling, you felt more comfortable putting the child on the huge stuffed moogle in the corner. “Rest easy little one.”

Almost as soon as you put the little one within the bed, she was out like a light and you had your arms filled with a boyfriend rubbing his head against your breasts, reclaiming his spot like the cat he was.

You giggled stroking his head fondly, “I hate to see what you’re like when we have kids of our own.”

“That’s like in 10…” Noctis rubbed his face further against your chest, “Make that 15 years.”

~~~~~

Prompto

“You are the absolute cutest little thing.” You cooed to the baby inside the stroller. “So healthy and strong, how old?”

“18 months.” The mother beamed, clearly a new mother.

“Goodness, you are such an amazing mother, such a happy baby.”

“Thank you so much!”

Prompto watched as you continued talking to the woman and the baby, it had been going on for 5 minutes, but he couldn’t bring himself to tear you away. You absolutely adored young, anything! Kids, Chocobos, even that baby behemoth you tried to convince Ignis you could tame with all your love.

“I’m so sorry I wasted your time.” You smiled to the mother.

“No, no we love meeting new people. Say if you live in town, would you mind babysitting?”

You gave a soft sigh, “Oh I wish, unfortunately I like in the Crown City.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, we both really like you. Well have a nice day.”

“Buh bye.” You smiled to the mother, only than realizing that your boyfriend was waiting. “Oh! Oh Prompto I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Nah it’s fine, I know what you’re like around kids.” Prompto smiled, as you flushed deeply. “It’s super cute and I love how happy you get about it.”

You giggled softly, “Oh you’re the best.”

“Now let’s go see something both of us will be happy about.”

“What’s that?”

“Baby Chocobos.”

Prompto couldn’t keep down the laughter at the huge smile and squeal that escaped you.

~~~~~

Gladiolus

“Hi precious.” You cooed.

Gladiolus cocked an eyebrow, he was in the kitchen so who were you talking to? Moving into the back room, where you had set up your stretching center the man was greeted to you laying on the floor before a bassinet performing your floor stretches. He had forgot that you were babysitting your friends baby today.

“I was wondering who you were talking to.” Gladiolus chuckled, stepping over to you, as you performed your downward dog.

“Hey Baby.” You smiled, only to squeak at the loud smack on your ass. “I should have known better.”

“Yes you should have.” Gladiolus chuckled as you presented your cheek for him to kiss. “How long the munchkin been here?”

“About an hour, we were just about to go out for a walk, wanna come?”

“Why the hell not.” Gladiolus chuckled, only to have to wait, as it took you 15 minutes to get ready. Constantly going ‘One more second’, before finally getting yourself and the baby together. He stopped and watched as you wrapped a long piece of cloth around yourself before placing the baby within it.

“Ready?” You called, getting a coo from the baby and a yes from your Baby.

As the three of you walked through the park, getting stopped every so often by other women who fawned and cooed over the baby. You noticed that Gladiolus was being a little more standoffish,and had only allowed for you to hold his hand, and kept staring at the baby than away.

“Here.” Gladiolus replied handing you a small snowcone.

“Thanks baby.” You cooed, before looking down seeing that the little one had fallen asleep. “We should head back after this.”

“All right.”

You placed a spoonful of the flavor ice in your mouth, enjoying the mix of flavors of the sweet ice Gladiolus provide you, he was always so good at pick out the best mixed flavors. “Gladdy, Baby.”

Gladiolus tensed slightly, you only called him ‘Gladdy Baby’ when you were mad, or ready to ask for a strange favor, “Yeah?”

“Why do you keep looking at the baby like that?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, like you want to fight a kid?”

“What no!” Gladiolus quickly gasped.

“Than what’s up?”

Gladiolus glanced away from you both, a slight blush to his cheeks, “I…I was just thinking of how you would look with our kids. You’d be an amazing mother, our future children are lucky.”

Your spoon dropped from your hands, as you stared at you boyfriend, “Th..thanks.”

“I’ll go get you another spoon.” He replied all but bolting from the bench you were on.

You watched the tall man, thinking about maybe 15 years down the road, “You know, he’s the only guy I want to start a family with.”

The baby cooed loudly in agreement in their sleep.

~~~~~

Ignis

“Careful, little one.” You smiled, reaching out taking the small hand currently tugging on the tassel of the curtain within the main hall. Only to have that small hand currently wrap around your hair, well rather your hair than have an entire curtain fall on the two of you during the Gala.

“Are you alright, My love?” Ignis inquired for quite possibly the tenth time this evening.

“Yes, my love.” You smiled.

When the Gala had started, you hadn’t been expected to play babysitter to the son of a Duchess from a neighbouring country. Yet the nanny had fallen ill due to an allergic reaction in one of the hor dourves, and the backup nanny was stuck in traffic for the 2 hours at least. So being the only woman within the room that actually knew how to hold a child you took it upon yourself to make sure this child survived the evening as no one else seemed concerned.

Besides anything was better than listening to some of the conversations Ignis could get dragged into.

“Let me know if you require any assistance.” Ignis replied, resting a lingering hand on your own.

Yet all evening, even as Ignis associated with the rest of the room he always made certain that you were within his sight. He watched as you cooed at the baby, allowing him to pull at your hair or the shiny straps of your evening gown. He watched as you cleaned the baby’s face with a napkin with a giggle. He even felt a little hint of a green eyed monster make it’s way into his head, as you swayed softly to the music in the room, certain that you were humming along as you always did.

For nearly 3 hours Ignis watched you fawn over the little one, before the backup Nanny finally appeared. Only for the little one to put up quite the fight, reaching out to you, only for you to reach out a finger as his small little hand reached out taking it. Ignis tighten his lips, so as not to smile, as you pressed your forehead to the small hand and if he was reading those beautiful lips correctly, you had whispered.

“Good night my sweet little one.”

Ignis tried to appear that he was paying attention to the man before him, as you waved good bye to the baby, before moving over to his side where you were suppose to be.

“Wouldn’t you agree, Mister Scientia?”

“Yes, impeccably.” Ignis replied, despite not paying attention to the man, as you approached.

“Good evening gentlemen.” You smiled.

“Oh, you are Mr. Scientia assistant, I do thank you for handling my son all evening.” The man replied.

“Yes, the young one is quite the little angel. I do hope that you do not mind if I take Mr. Scientia, we have been requested by the Prince.”

“By all means.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, taking Ignis’s arm as you lead him towards the balcony.

“Is Noct all right?”

“Noctis disappeared about two hours ago with Prompto and their ‘friends’, I assume they’re already at his apartment eating a pizza. As for Gladio and his other, I’m uncertain” You replied, before a smug look appeared on your face, “Yet you would have known that, if you were not so distracted by me this evening, is there something wrong, Mr. Ignis?”

Ignis cleared throat, he hadn’t expected for you to catch him, “I had no idea that you were so wonderful with children.”

“Myself either, this was my first time holding one.” You replied a soft shiver going down your spine. “I typically stay away from children, they frighten me.”

Ignis stared in shock, before chuckling, “You did splendid, Darling.”

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awkward-and-fluffy · 7 years ago

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Hey, for those who are still looking out for my HTML/CSS tutorial and lesson posts, I have some updates for you all!

[And quick apologies if the banner made you hopeful that this is my next lesson. I am putting it there because it’ll be an important in-between with my series.]

For a while (about a year), I’ve already been considering backing up these posts on my own future website and continuing the lessons/tutorials there. With current news I’ve been seeing about tumblr not being reliable storage, this might be a good time to discuss what I plan on doing with my series and what I’ll improve for its format when I manage to fully transfer it to my website.

A few things to expect for my planned transfer/backup of my lessons...

Title Change: First and foremost, the series will have a different name once it’s on my personal website. I tend to use a universal online alias, so I intend on changing the “Fluffy Teaches” to something else upon transfer! (I’m not anonymous on this blog anymore as of last summer, afterall...)

Layout Upgrades: With tumblr posts, you’re very limited in how everything can look, and can’t do much in an efficient, time-saving manner. You can do a lot more with custom pages on your blog, but from what I’ve noticed, my own textboxes on the page for my lessons get a little messed up easily as they conflict with tumblr’s default code. When I’m putting this on my own website, though? I have SO MUCH creative freedom! I already have some concept designs planned for the lessons, and I hope these designs make the lessons more appealing (hopefully) and interactive for you all!

Important Mistake Fixes: Okay, I want need to fix a few errors I made in my lessons absent-mindedly. I can’t stand leaving them there when I look back on them; but if I’m going to put time into transferring my series onto my website.... I’ll fix all those mistakes and errors upon transfer. Will the fixes show here? Yeah, I’ll do that too. I just plan to focus on this transfer process first, so hang in there!

Higher Quality Images: The obvious change here is that the images for my lessons will be higher quality. This is because on my blog, most/all of the images I use tend to get blurred and lowered in their crisp-ness. So, expect ‘em to truly be crisp when they’re on my website!

About my future website: This is a project I was working on until I was more busy with my final year in high school waaay back in 2013 (I think?). The stress of that final year screwed up my emotional health and tossed me into a major anxiety rut that lasted until late last year. I’m a lot better now thanks to therapy and my strong will for recovery alone, so I’m trying to get back to work on this website during the course of this year!

The main/general layout for it is also rather old, so I do have some of my old messy code to work with. However, I’m only going with this for now as I’ve yet to plan a new layout and don’t want to spend way more time redoing my site from scratch.

How I’ll get it hosted? Well, I’m hoping I can find an affordable domain service that’s still good quality and has good security, etc. Idk how common that is yet, as I have to research this more and look for reviews, but I am keeping huge mental note on it.

I’ll also try and find some way to get support for my website on the side. I may research Paypal’s donation services and make sure I don’t accidentally do something illegal with their service. Another thing I’ve been trying to look into is Patreon, but I haven’t figured out a satisfying system for it that I believe will be encouraging and rewarding for whoever decides to pitch in their support.

(Keep in mind, that if I DO use donation-like methods to ensure better financial health for my future website, I wouldn’t want anyone feeling guilty for not pitching in! If you can’t pitch in, don’t. If you don’t want to pitch in, don’t feel obligated either! It’s merely an option. Not a requirement.)

Anyhow, my first goal is to make sure my website is actually complete and ready for hosting at all. Transferring my lessons to it will be part of that completion process.

Thank you for your time to read this, if you read through it at all!

#web design #web programming #wd tutorials #web design tutorial #update

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coin-river-blog · 6 years ago

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In an age where governments are trigger happy at censoring or shutting down networks, it is reassuring to know that Bitcoin can operate sans internet. Network censorship, after all, is not some dystopian storyline but a power exercised by many democratic governments across the world. Thankfully, there are solutions that enable people to send and receive bitcoin even in a worst case scenario. For an advanced technology, it turns out that cryptocurrency can get surprisingly low-tech.

Also read: Bitcoin and Weak Frequency Signals: Bypassing Network Censorship With Radio

Send Bitcoin by Radio and Circumvent Network Censorship

Imagine waking up one morning to find that the internet is down. Not because the wifi’s been disconnected: instead, your government has pulled the plug . You’ve no idea when it’ll be back online, and in the meantime, you’re cut off from life as you know it, ranging from contact with loved ones abroad to paying for anything by card. Since society isn’t big on keeping cash these days, and ATMs stock up on only so much paper money at a time, chances are you’ll have to sidestep – or engage in – a few fistfights if you’re to put a meal on the table.

Since bitcoin is, itself, a form of digital currency, it takes a good amount of preplanning to set up a transaction, but in theory, it could still operate even when conventional options are forcefully removed from the equation.

What do –

Greeks Cypriots Venezuelans Argentinians Brazilians Zimbabweans and Ukrainians have in common?

They all woke one day and the banks were shuttered and capital controls were put in place to avoid an economic collapse.

Bitcoin doesn't close 🚀

— Jason A. Williams 🦍 (@JWilliamsFstmed) February 12, 2019

While most of us will hopefully never experience a dystopian world of intermittent internet, the productivity sages remind us that a failure to plan is planning to fail. Knowing how to transact with cryptocurrency in a chaotic world is the sort of knowledge that might just come in handy one day, and in the meantime will make you the most interesting guest at the dinner party.

Depending on the political stability of your geographic location, learning how to send bitcoin without internet could be nothing more than a fun Saturday afternoon science project. Then again, it could provide the way out of a tight spot one day, whether it’s transferring funds to a buddy stuck in the middle of the ocean or bribing a zombie to feast on the coins stored in your brain wallet instead of devouring your brain.

Bitcoin Over Airwaves

2014 saw the earliest mentions of bitcoin being sent via the airwaves. Hamradiocoin was one of the early vanity altcoins, geared at the ham radio industry. While it wasn’t entirely clear why said niche industry needed a dedicated currency, its current $794 market cap – unchanged since May 2017 – adds to crypto’s rich historical arsenal of questionable coins.

But the idea of marrying Marconi and Satoshi was bound to lead to more useful experiments. A step in the right direction saw Finnish company Vertaisvaluutta.fi propose the creation of a P2P half-duplex CB/HAM radio cryptocurrency. Also in Finland, Kryptoradio partnered with a national broadcaster to pilot a cryptocurrency data transmission system that broadcasts bitcoin transactions, blocks, and currency exchange data via national DVB-T television networks in real time. The project failed to launch its commercial phase, with founder Joel Lehtonen explaining:

The project raised huge audience and there has been some serious commercial interest but nothing I am really interested in because they would destroy the original idea of Kryptoradio – distributing the Bitcoin ledger autonomously without internet connectivity.

Come 2018, there was a new experiment in town. Ingredients: Brooklyn-based gotenna, a mobile, long-range, off-grid consumer mesh network, and bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet. A New Zealand developer transported crypto from a distance of 12.6km away, entirely offline, using only a network-disconnected Android phone and four portable antennas. Though as his Twitter recount acknowledges, it took one heck of a prep, including setting up relay stations.

Over the weekend I sent a bitcoin transaction to a relay 12.6km away with no cell network or internet connection. Here's a tweetstorm about how I used @gotenna and @SamouraiWallet to do it

— ℭoinsure (@Coinsurenz) October 16, 2018

Fast forward to this year, and in perhaps the most simplistic effort yet, Coinkite founder Rodolfo Novak managed to move BTC some 600km away from Toronto, Canada to Openbazaar co-founder Sam Patterson in Michigan, USA. And in that moment, Bitcoin-by-sky went international.

Advocates for Bitcoin by Air

In 2017, computer scientist Nick Szabo and PhD researcher Elaine Ou delved into the topic at Stanford’s Scaling Bitcoin conference, introducing a research project that proposed tethering bitcoin to radio broadcast to secure consensus proofs using weak signal radio propagation. (View their talk, a copy of the presentation, and our coverage of the event for further information.)

With Novak and Patterson’s latest feat, crypto Twitter went wild. Szabo, showing that he’s still a firm proponent of taking bitcoin skyward, chimed in to congratulate the duo for a successful sendoff that not even a snowstorm could stop.

Bitcoin sent over national border without internet or satellite — just nature's ionosphere. https://t.co/IKCAXGs9fW

— Nick Szabo 🔑 (@NickSzabo4) February 12, 2019

How to Send Bitcoin by Radio

As Novak and Patterson have illustrated, you don’t need to overload on gear or make space for satellite storage in your backyard to send bitcoin by air. Accompanying an SDR ham on this quest was nothing more than a 40m 7Mhz antenna and the JS8call application.

While the setup seems simple enough (Google “ham radio for beginners” for a primer), in practice this is probably not something you’ll dive into unless you’re just messing around or, in real life, shit gets real.

Gearing up is as easy as H-A-M

In truth, there are restrictions aplenty when it comes to sending bitcoin by radio.

First off, legalities. To stay on the right side of the law, some countries require you to be a licensed ham operator, and even then you’re unable to send any encrypted messages or use the airwaves for commercial purposes unless so licensed. At this point, it’s not yet clear which governmental task force will join the SEC and co in clamping down on illegal apocalyptic bitcoin-via-radio transactions.

Since legal restriction is the mother of all invention, Novak and Patterson circumvented this by broadcasting their experimental, non-commercial wallet encryption sendoff via public cypher.

Then there’s prepping it all. For this to be a viable – albeit last resort – solution in an actual nail-bite situation, sender and receiver would have to set it all up in advance. Novak and Patterson were able to execute their experiment by communicating and collaborating in lieu of the transfer, using a brain wallet. (The brainwallet, which is simply storing your mnemonic recovery phrase in your brain, is not to be confused with the recent more nefarious version – the deathwallet popularized by CEO Gerald Cotten who took the keys to Quadriga’s crypto kingdom to his grave.)

Thus, if you’re going to use this as a backup plan for when stuff hits the fan, you’d better secure a right-hand wo/man and a fool-proof project management blueprint while things are still web-friendly. If this process seems as though it walked off the pages of a James Bond novel, yes. It’s decidedly more involved than a mere intra-wallet send-off.

However, if you’re gung-ho on testing out alternative bitcoin transports, don’t let the naysayers stop you. Yours might well be the next proof of concept the interweb is waiting for. The blog Better Off Bitcoin, for one, offers a run-through protocol tutorial.

Scalability Is a Big Bottleneck

Clearly, scaling is a non-issue here. For the foreseeable future, sending bitcoin by radio isn’t happening unless it absolutely has to.

According to Australian crypto trader Boss Cole, “As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are moving into the future, it is an interesting concept to think about what would happen if we instead went into the past. It is possible and easy to transfer Bitcoin without an internet connection, but it is not convenient. There are a number of projects working on this with satellites or their own infrastructure, however at the time of this writing they are not “popular” simply because there is no real demand.” He continues:

In the case of government censorship, the infrastructure would change rapidly. If we were dealing with serious problems, the infrastructure would follow. Because it is possible. If we went into the dark ages, the main way to transfer Bitcoin would be transferring private keys between individuals. This would be simple, but not convenient.

Not even extreme weather conditions can deter the determined from sending bitcoin via radio waves

So while it’s theoretically possible to take to the skies and send crypto wallets around the world and all the way into space, DIY bitcoin ionosphere amateurs won’t be sending satoshis to the dark side of the moon any time soon.

Why Radio Wave Transmission Might Be Necessary

We tend to associate worst-case scenarios in which the main character has nothing but a walkie talkie and an old ham lying around with Hollywood’s portrayal of doomsday.

Yet for unstable regimes like Zimbabwe and Venezuela, internet blackouts were how 2019 got its start. In reality, network censorship is an all-too-common control tool for many governments around the world.

India leads the pack with 288 shutdowns between 2012 and 2019, with 134 instances in 2018 alone. The Middle East and Africa aren’t strangers to forcing citizens into offline mode, either.

Good luck stopping information across borders when all you need is 40 watts of power, a long piece of wire, a radio and a computer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 12, 2019

Under the Communications Act 2003 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the U.K. has an internet kill switch, which could be enforced in light of a serious threat such as a significant cyber attack. The U.S. has had, for the past 85 years, the power to kill electronic communications under the Communications Act of 1934. And with talks of Russia considering a test run to decouple from the global internet, we risk taking a rude awakening if we assume the world’s 72,558 Google searches every second to be an unquestionable given.

Bitcoin for Every Situation

It might have taken a mini-library worth of code to get NASA astronauts to the moon, but sending bitcoin there won’t be nearly as hard. All you need is a radio. Okay, that and a moon rocket. But the point is, this new technology can be just as comfortable – or accessible – even when when the tech you’re using is decidely old school.

Peer-to-peer networks built on the internet have a special allure because of the sense of resilience they have without a central point of failure. A bit misleading: they are really built on many computers and the connections between them.

Not true with radios. True peer to peer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 16, 2019

Bitcoin might have been invented on the internet for the internet, but it can straddle both the digital and analog worlds. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin walk the line between money under the mattress and cash in the bank. As these trailblazers show, bitcoin can straddle those worlds not only functionally, but also technically. Thanks to the efforts of the pioneers profiled here, crypto has shown it can survive in even the most challenging environments.

Sending bitcoin by radio isn’t quite carrier pigeon, but in tech terms it might as well be. Which, says crypto developer John Villar, is “probably the most low end you can get before smoke-signaling a brain wallet.”

Can you envision a situation in which you might have to send bitcoin by ham radio? What other ways could you picture cryptocurrency being transferred without the internet? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Tags in this story

Bitcoin, Bitcoin Radio Broadcast, brainwallet, BTC, Censorship Resistance, Data Transmission, Elaine Ou, gotenna, HAM radio, N-Technology, network censorship, Nick Szabo, Rodolfo Novak, Sam Patterson, samourai wallet, Scaling Bitcoin 2017, Stanford University, Weak Signal Radio

Nadja Bester

Nadja has been involved in the cryptocurrency industry in numerous capacities, ranging from journalist, writer, marketing and communications specialist, and speaker. She has reported on cryptocurrency since 2017.

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