#still getting used to my tablet and what its range is

[cinalilli]

attack #5 for @awerzo 's Moyra!!! i realized late that I'm missing a lot of details but this style is a little experimental for me as it is haha

[nerdypagan1]

oh this is just fucking brilliant honestly.

okay so here I am on someone's blog, they have this link to "decolonizepalestine.com", to which I think "oh my, what WILL they cover?"

I go on it. it has the sections "palestine 101" and "myths database". okay, this could be fine, I say to myself. I check out "palestine 101". it starts with "introduction to palestine 1: palestine throughout history" and the date range 9000 BC to 1918 AD. that's a lot of history, I think; that covers thousands of years into prehistory until the British Mandate. but I guess they'll be skimming over a lot of it?

I click through. they mention an egyptian stele that says "peleset"- this does exist and it seemingly refers to a people group, so it's likely the same tablet (or a similar one) that bears our first mention of israel in writing. they bring up the Persians, the Romans, the Assyrians, and the Nabataeans. I'd never heard of the last ones so I looked them up- they're an ancient arab people. okay then. hellenic invaders would have made sense to bring up, given you did before (peleset may or may not refer to the philestines, given it has the same p-l-s-t root as pilishtim (hope I'm remembering that word right)). but sure, those people were all in charge once.

at the end of the section, before getting into whatever they'll say next, it says this: "This article does not aim to delve into the minutiae of this Palestinian history, indeed entire books could be -and have been- written on the subject. Rather the goal of this introduction is to describe the political context that lead up to the modern Palestinian question." okay then, reasonable. that's a LOT of history. I scroll down again, expecting to find maybe Israel and Judah, maybe the roman province of Syria Palestina and how the name came about. nope. it says "Palestine Under the Ottoman Empire".

WHAT. THE HELL.

you can't mention egyptian fucking stele and then jump right to the fucking OTTOMANS.

WHAT ABOUT THE JEWS?! never even fucking mind the romans and the assyrians and all. the jews? who had a couple kingdoms there for a while? the temple and everything? ugh.

I keep reading anyway. they mention Jerusalem (making no mention of its founders), they mention the ottomans dividing the land into three bits, and they mention the Millet system (the ottomans apparently dividing religious communities to govern themselves). they say this: "The Ottoman Millet system and its various manifestations provided a certain degree of autonomy to minority religious and ethnic communities. While this system suffered from serious flaws, and its breadth and tolerance waxed and waned with different governors and social and economic circumstances, it was still superior to the outright persecution and pogroms which various religious groups on the European continent had to endure." okay, sure- hey what was that word? pogrom? hang on, didn't the jews make that word to mean "riots against specifically us"?

I did not read any more and I don't want to. I just. how do you make a site that purports to tell the history of this stretch of land, then DON'T COVER MULTIPLE THOUSAND YEARS OF IT? don't even mention how the name became applied to the region? don't mention how every time it was conquered, there were more and more killings of jews?

I know how they do it. I just don't understand why. I am not even jewish, and I'm tired of this.

[faeriekit]

Health and Hybrids (VIII)👽👻💚

[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and whatever prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]

PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREEis here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and PART SEVEN is here and this is part 8 💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts

Where we last left off... Everybody got lunch! Not Danny, though. :) He was taking a nap. And Wonder Woman

Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my awful attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.

💚👻👽👻💚

Danny only doesn’t throw something because he already knew someone was on their way. The alien told him so. It’s not a surprise.

There’s someone new here. In his room. At the edge of his curtain. Too close to his bed. Danny doesn’t like it. He doesn’t hiss, because that’s Rude, but he does push his shadow to be bigger. Longer. Darker.

The human just waves. Waits. Holds something out in its hand. Danny doesn’t care. He can’t see it and he’s not going to go over there.

The human makes more words Danny can’t hear. Blech. He wonders what everyone knows here that he doesn’t. Is it French? Is it German? Jazz—

Thinking about Jazz makes his heart hurt.

Danny curls up further into the dark spots on his bed.

The human steps past Danny’s curtain. Danny does hiss, now, something long and low and halfway out of a human hearing range.

The human pauses. Its black haired-head tilts. It says—something else. Its tone is still gentle.

Danny doesn’t trust it. But it doesn’t get any closer, either. It only…holds out a hand.

There’s something in that hand.

It’s a trap, it has to be. But—

The alien said that they had friends in this tower. That the humans here are…safe. Danny doesn’t believe it. Danny is afraid to believe it.

But one of them gave him food.

…And the younger ones feed him all the time.

So maybe. Danny. Maybe he can. He flinches and he leans forward.

Danny can. He can’t see most things. But something aches in his skull where he is meant to see color and shape and familiarity, and something in his melted brain whispers wait, watch.

Danny’s back arches.

He waits. He watches.

…The object doesn’t do anything. The human simply sets it on Danny’s side table, and then it’s an object. A mostly white, somewhat red object. The other colors might be blue, or gray; they’re not distinct enough to be distinguishable in Danny’s mostly mush eyes. It’s oblong, and sort of round and—

Danny jerks upright. He snatches the item off of the table as quickly as he can, brings it as close to his eyes as he can— IT’S A ROCKET!!!! It is!!!! With fuel thrusters and everything!! If Danny had his whole brain he thinks that he could even recognize which one!!

He purrs, and he purrs, and he purrs, and he takes his pillow and he settles the hard plastic into his kind-of-damp (but mostly dry!) pillows and leans into it, happy to have this thing he likes and can recognize!!

Fine. Danny can like this human. When it comes back with little pills in a paper cup, it bravely gets closer, so Danny can see black hair pulled back, a tail swinging behind her, a tinge of red under a mostly-opaque white medical gown, and gold bracelets on her arms.

…Danny touches the bracelets to investigate before he can even be scared. They shiver with energy. Danny’s fragile form shivers back.

The human spends a lot of time with words Danny can’t hear on the paper cup, and she pulls out each little pill inside so that she can say more things, show him what it looks like, let him smell each capsule and tablet.

When the buzzing human comes back with a vibrato of joycurio/us!/joy in its wake, eager to see Danny as he is relieved to see it, Danny shows him the little paper cup.

The buzzing human trills with relief! Relief! Relief!

…That’s got to be safe enough, right? …Right?

Danny…

It’s been a while since he tried to dry-swallow medicine down his torn esophagus, but everyone’s immediate rush to find him water makes the swallow easier than Danny might have thought.

Some of the medicine is going to make him sleepy. Danny remembers enough about medicine to remember that. The thought of being vulnerable and not able to wake up is scary; but if Danny is going to get better, he’s going to have to trust that not every human wants to make sample slides out of his organs and jam needle-long electrodes into his brain, and he will have to fall asleep and not cry about it.

The cup of water the quickquickquick human gets him is so nice. His claws clink against the ceramic of the mug. Most of the liquid actually makes it into his mouth, and some of it even into his throat.

Danny lays down, pulls the rocket ship closer to his fragile form, and purrs. The fastquick human takes Danny’s hand so that he’s not alone.

At some point, his paper eyelids shut.

[lensman-arms-race]

Episode 77 part 2

Spoiler free:

Haha, this is like videogames

Hmmm! Lore drop!

Haha, oh no

What

Spoilers ahead!

As always, it's funny as hell that dead toilets explode on impact, as though they're made of some sort of Explodium material.

Rambo is very oily/sweaty now - I think DFB is definitely doing fan-service for the mutant trio fans :D

I don't really understand how suddenly the goodies are able to kick Astro ass (asstro) all of a sudden, when previously the Astros were too powerful. Plot armour?

Swat using his khopeshes as a ranged weapon is very videogames, haha.

Swat gives us a literal lore drop (dropping his tablet on the ground, which POV picks up and looks at).

This tells us several things and is worth the entire episode!

The character indicated with a question mark appears to be Secret Agent to me; it looks like the figure from the poster in episode 70:

I'm not great with faces, but that's Secret Agent, isn't it?

But why is he marked with a question mark?? Presumably Swat knows SA was Alpha Hills administrator, because the skibs had this poster we saw in episode 70. Who added the question mark?

But the title? Special Government Objects Defence Service? What 'objects' was the government defending against??

Does this mean techfolk were hostile to humans at this point, or were the defence service experimenting with using objects themselves, and accidentally created/became skibidi toilets?

Also, the 3 defence service members with uncovered faces - again, I'm bad with faces, but are those not the mutant trio??

The implications!!

We then get to see a large cam who looks very like a mini TCam! (Ignoring that 'miniature titan' is an oxymoron.) There's the shoulder cams, the dented lens protector, the energy shield, the backpack hardware resembling the titan's flight-pack, the big-ass chainsword acting as melee weapon in an echo of TCam's hammer, and an Ol' Painless-style gun that the cam uses on its arm like TCam does. (Chainsaws are not great as a melee weapon in real life, but hey, Rule of Cool.)

They've got a similar outfit to the two salmon-shirts. Lucky is already accounted for (currently under arrest), and we haven't seen 'Karl' (the black-headed salmon-shirt cam) for ages. Did he get an upgrade??

I'm wondering if this cam is going to be the narrative substitute for Plunk, i.e. this will become the elite Cam unit. And are we going to see a similar unit for the Speaker faction? (The TVs already have Sabre.)

We all noticed Kitty Cam, right?

I love how the Cams' lens-protectors catch the orange light and momentarily visually echo the amber eyes of the mutant trio. It's a little cinematic flair that hammers home how the two factions have joined forces!

The other cam might be the Plunk-lookalike we saw in leaks. It seems more Cams are getting the same cyan torch that Plunk had.

Then we get to see what made Rambo say 'damn!' (Not quite a spoiler because it was in the episode thumbnail.)

Cam Matriarch got some upgrades! I really hope she can still do that thing where she retracts her head like a turtle and brings out her time-slowing flechette cannon. The extra cannons are 'cool' but her previous appearance had a unique charm to me.

NO.

NO.

NO.

NO.

NO.

Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

I hate this

Chew my bum

This is not allowed to be the truth

Hate hate hate hate hate

I don't want the robots to be transformed humans! I hate this idea and I will hate it forever!

I appreciate the extra bit of lore - "As one, to the end." (But it doesn't sound like Cathy's previous voice! Boo!) Who exactly is POV cam in this episode?

Summary: Good lore drop but HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE

[forhappysake]

What Lurks Within, Pt. 6

Author's Note: I SWEAR all this is going to culminate into the plot twist of a lifetime (I'm sure some of you know what's coming already). I hope you're enjoying how descriptive these chapters are, though. :)

Content: When the media learns of another victim in the Denver case before the BAU, more questions about the legitimacy of the department and its employees come to fruition. One employee, the police chief, remains intent on keeping the BAU as far from the case as possible. The team discovers some (figurative) skeletons in his closet, which makes them all the more suspicious.

Warnings: Spencer x fem!reader, established relationship, hom!c!de, workplace conflict, mentions of drug dealing and drug use, brief mention of prison, mentions of domestic abuse, and mentions of violence resulting in hospitalization

The conference room got quiet once again. “Well,” Luke said, “we should still figure out who altered Whittendon’s files.” “That would be a major lead,” Rossi agreed. 

“I guess that means we should get to work again,” Luke said, taking a sip of coffee before scooting up to the table. Mumbles of agreement went up around the table. 

JJ spoke up, “We should continue working on geographical profiles, too. If we can get an area narrowed down, we might be able to find his hideout before we even know who he is.”

Luke nodded, acknowledging her statement. “Garcia sent more information about Graydon’s family to our tablets. Does anyone want to volunteer to team up and deep dive that information while the rest of us keep working on geo-profiles?”

I shrugged, “I can do it. I’ve never been one for the geos, anyway.” 

Spencer spoke, “I can join you.” 

I scoffed, shaking my head. “Spencer, you’re the best geo-profiler we have. I’d encourage anyone else to volunteer so that brainiac can work on the maps.” I played with the hem of my skirt as the rubbing of the fabric irritated the mild burn below. Spencer eyed my hands, noting my discomfort. 

“I’ll work with you,” Matt offered. I smiled at him, standing to go sit next to him. Spencer seemed faintly hurt by my denial of his offer, but surely he’d understood. As I sat next to Matt, I offered him a sympathetic smile. JJ stood from her chair next, “I’ll work with Spence on the geographical profiles. What are you two going to do?” She looked at Rossi and Luke, who had yet to move from the table. 

“I guess we’ll-” Luke began to speak as Emily burst into the room, cutting him off. “Whittendon just called me from his car. An eleventh victim has been found,” she said, holding open the conference room door and gesturing for us to come into the main office. As we all rose and filed out into the bullpen, I noticed televisions running on either side of the room. 

A reporter’s voice rang through the office: Another body has been found in the Denver area today after ten other victims were left scattered throughout parks in the city. This victim, 38 year-old Colton Bayard, was left beaten and slashed in Williams Park, ten miles from where last night’s victim was found in Ashwood Park.”

“How did the news channel get all that information before we did?” I asked. 

Spencer shook his head. “There’s a leak in this office.”

Almost in response, the door to the precinct burst open and Detective Whittendon stormed in the room. I watched as he went behind the secretary’s desk, shooed her out of her chair, and used it to step up onto her desk. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Whittendon shouted into the office, drawing everyone’s attention away from the television to the man standing on the front desk, “this office is officially on lockdown until I find out who is fucking with my investigation.” Murmurs went up around the office as the thirty employees crowded in the main room exchanged nervous glances. Richie’s meek voice spoke from the crowd of employees surrounding the television. “What does that mean, sir?” he asked. “That means,” Whittendon said, “nobody is leaving until I have a prime suspect in the interrogation room.” 

Hollers of “you can’t do that” and “get out of here” were heard from around the office. Whittendon stomped his foot on the desk. “I said what I said. If anyone tries to leave this office without consulting with me first, you will be detained for obstructing a criminal investigation.” With that, the detective climbed down from the office desk and planted an empty chair firmly at the precinct’s entrance, plopping himself down in the seat and folding his arms. “Oh my,” Emily said. Suddenly, a door on the far side of the room swung open. A burly man with a shaved head and dark eyes stumbled out into the main office. The employees got silent. 

“What the hell are you doing, Ryan?” The man’s gruff voice permeated the silence. Whittendon looked over at the man, a forming scoff visible on his lips. 

“Who is that?” I murmured to our group. Emily turned to utter a response when Whittendon spoke again, rising from his chair. 

The detective approached the larger man, standing nearly chest to chest with him. “Chief, with all due respect, I’m running this office the way somebody should have been from the start of this investigation.”

“Nevermind.” I whispered, intrigued to see how this argument might play out. 

The burly man shook his head and looked at the office ceiling. “God help me,” he murmured. “Ryan, you have no authority to force these people to stay here.” 

“You’re right, I don’t. But you do. You should’ve been handling a department lockdown since Agent Prentiss discovered someone was dicking with my files.” Whittendon waved a frustrated hand towards Emily who stood at the front of our team. She raised her eyebrows when the police chief turned to look at her, shrugging as if to say ‘he isn’t wrong.’ 

The police chief sighed, “Ryan, you’re being irrational. These FBI-ers just got here this morning, and you’re letting them turn this department into an episode of NCIS. Nobody in here is sabotaging your investigation but yourself.” 

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the statement. Semi-shocked expressions flickered across the team’s faces as we all took the statement as a personal dig. I turned to Spencer, who stood close behind me. He looked down at me, eyebrows raised, hand fidgeting in his pocket as he tried to decipher the motives of each man in the argument before us. 

An exasperated groan drew my attention back to the two men. “You can’t be serious,” Whittendon shouted. “Listen, Chief. I’ve tried to be respectful. I’ve done my best and I’ve stayed in line. It’s time for somebody to take action here. That’s why I called the BAU in to begin with.” Graydon wasn’t even the one to invite us in? Interesting. 

“Look, Ryan. Cool it. Go to your crime scene and do detective work. It’s time to stop with the theatrics,” the chief looked at us before turning back to Whittendon, “and start solving problems. If you can’t do it, I’ll put Andrews on the case.” With that, the police chief turned from Whittendon, offering us a small and insincere nod before walking back into his office, slamming the door behind him. 

Whittendon ran a hand over his face, sitting back down in the office chair he had placed by the precinct door. Emily approached him cautiously. “Is he always such a joy?” she asked. 

The detective let out a sour laugh. “I’ve never really loved his leadership style, but I’ve also never had this much of a problem with him until now.” He leaned back, anxiously running his hands over his shirt and straightening his tie. “The whole desk bit… that was a bit embarrassing, in hindsight”

Emily smiled thoughtfully. “We all do things we’re not proud of when we’re stressed,” she said gently. Whittendon frowned, blankly staring at a wall across the room. “Have you been to the newest crime scene yet?” The detective snapped back to reality with a shake of his head. 

“No. That’s why I don’t understand why the news teams knew about it before I did. It makes everything so much harder…” he trailed off, running a hand over his face in frustration once more. 

“Why don’t you and I go check it out together?” she offered. I felt Luke push his way towards the front of our group which was still gathered by the conference room door. 

“Boss, if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to come along.” Luke said. He reached a hand out to Whittendon, offering him the formal introduction he hadn’t at the diner. “Agent Luke Alvez.” Whittendon shook his hand in response, slowly rising from the chair. Emily turned back to our group. “Dave, can you handle things here?” Rossi gave her a thumbs up and she nodded in response. Whittendon opened the precinct door allowing Emily and Luke to lead the way before following behind him. 

“Well,” Rossi spoke first, “since that’s over, where were we?”

“Right,” I said. “Matt, we’re on the Graydon files. JJ and Spencer are on geos.” I turned to the conference room, returning to my initial seat. Matt and I opened our tablets, eager to begin wading through files as Spencer and JJ turned their attention to a large map in the corner of the room. 

“Alright,” Matt said, “how do you want to do this?” I paused for a moment, leaning back in my chair and squinting in thought. 

A simple solution hit me as I opened Garcia’s email. “Well, Graydon’s got two children. By the looks of this email, Garcia found dirt on both of them. You look into his daughter, I’ll look into his son.” 

Matt nodded. “Sounds good, boss.” “Well, I have been here longer than you,” I mumbled playfully. Matt smiled before turning his attention to the files in front of him. 

I opened up the email attachment labeled “Phillip_Graydon.pdf” and watched as at least a hundred pages loaded on my tablet screen. “Garcia’s been busy,” I said. 

Matt exhaled in agreement. I could see him flipping through a similar number of pages. “So have the Graydon kids, by the look of it. His daughter, Mira, was arrested last year for dealing heroin.”

I winced a bit. “How old is she?” I asked. 

Matt shook his head in disbelief, “Only twenty.” He continued scanning the files, I watched as he opened a link attached to one, which opened a personal Facebook page. Scooting closer to him, I could see the lack of information on Mira’s page. 

Her profile photo of a healthy, smiling teen had to be at least five years old compared to the latest mugshot attached to her file. Matt pulled up her mugshot next to her profile picture to compare. “She’s barely recognizable.” Her hair had thinned, her eyes were heavy with dark bags, and her teeth were more jagged. 

“She’s had to have been struggling for awhile,” I said. “I wonder if the Graydons have tried to get her help.” Matt returned to the initial pdf and scrolled through pages once more. 

“They must have once. Here’s her paperwork from an inpatient rehab facility.” He zoomed in on the file, scanning the paperwork. 

“How old was she when she went?” I asked. 

He looked up, running the numbers in his head. “Seventeen.” 

“So, she’s been living this way for a while.” I said. Matt nodded. 

“She didn’t stay at the facility long. When she turned eighteen she checked herself out. Besides her occasional arrests, it looks like she’s become a ghost,” he added. 

“What about the son?” he wondered aloud, leaning towards me and peering at my tablet which I had discarded on the conference room table. I picked it up once again, scrolling and scanning.

“Nothing here really seems out of character for a young boy,” I said. “Underaged alcohol consumption when he was sixteen… a couple run-ins with the law for trespassing…” I continued to scan the documents. A particular paper caught my eye. “Wait,” I said, “I might have something here.”

I scanned the file once more before speaking. “It says here that Phillip was hospitalized on five separate occasions,” I said aloud. 

Matt raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in curiosity. He leaned in again, trying to examine the page. “Does it say why?”  he asked. 

I scrolled through the paperwork, looking for his reason for admission. “At age five, he was hospitalized for a broken arm… At age seven, he was hospitalized again for a broken foot.” 

Matt shrugged, “Take it from someone who has five kids, they’re always getting themselves into those kinds of crazy situations.” 

I shook my head. “No, listen,” I mumbled, deep in thought as I drew his attention back to the file. “He was brought in for numerous, ‘suspicious’ burns at age eleven.” I emphasized the word with air quotes. Matt raised an eyebrow. “I’m not finished. At age fourteen, he was brought in for two broken fingers. When the doctor asked his mother how it happened, she said he fell down the stairs.” 

“Jesus,” Matt whispered. 

“Most recently, at age seventeen, he was brought in for pain while breathing. When he was examined, the report says they discovered bruising on both sides of his neck. He had at least two broken ribs that doctors thought were caused by a blunt object. This says the hospital informed child services this time, but-” I shook my head as Matt finished my thought for me. 

“Let me guess, he turned eighteen and moved out immediately.” I nodded quickly and Matt shook his head. “Who brought him to the hospital on those occasions?” he asked. 

I looked up at him, “The mother, of course.” I looked at the picture of the young man attached to the file. It was a school picture. The smile was forced, the hair too evenly combed, and the boy wore a turtleneck that nearly covered his ears. How could nobody have seen this? 

“So Graydon’s not only an abusive spouse, but an abusive father,” Matt stated. 

I set my tablet on the table, tapping my fingers against the cool wood surface. “How could he have gotten away with all of these things for so long?” I asked.

“Chief Graydon’s got connections most people don’t,” Matt said. I nodded. It all made sense to me. “Where’s Phillip at now?” Matt asked. 

I scrolled to the end of the document, looking for a final address to find none listed. “That’s odd. Garcia didn’t list an address for him.”

“If he moved out as soon as he turned eighteen in an attempt to escape his father’s abuse, he may not have had any money to get a place. Phillip could have seen homelessness as a better alternative than staying in that house.” I hummed in agreement as Matt closed his tablet and rested it on the table next to mine. 

“Where do we go from here?” I asked. 

Matt pondered for a moment. He took a deep breath and rolled his neck. “We should let Emily know about all of this when she gets back,” I nodded. “Until then,” he added, “you should call Garcia and tell her to get in contact with local homeless shelters. Have her ask if anyone’s seen a boy matching Phillip’s description.”

I rose from my chair and walked to the corner of the conference room, allowing myself distance from Spencer and JJ as they talked in hushed voices over the map on the wall. My phone rang twice before a voice sung out over the other line, “Well, hello, young one. I haven’t heard from you in awhile!” 

I giggled quietly, using my hand to stifle my laugh. Penelope and I had developed quite the friendship during my short time with the team. We both loved fun clothing, cute knick knacks, and we really loved nights out. When Spencer was in prison, she had been my rock through the whole thing. It was a friendship match made in heaven. 

I snapped back to reality and tried to think of a witty response. “You know how things are, Pen. People commit murder, we have to go save the world, yada yada.” A small crossed my face again.

I could feel her eyes rolling on the other end of the phone. “Have you ever heard that pride cometh before a fall?” she asked playfully. 

“Something like that, which is why I’m humble enough to know when I need the help of a computer wizard like you.” I responded. 

She gasped. “Well in that case, your wish is my command. What do you need?” 

“Matt wanted me to ask if you’d be willing to make some calls to local homeless shelters. Offer them Phillip Graydon’s description and see if they’ve recently encountered anyone fitting the type.”

“Uh-huh,” she said. I could hear her typing on her keyboard through the phone. “Anything else?” she asked. 

“No ma’am,” I answered. “Thanks, Pen. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Awh,” she said, “I don’t know what you’d do without me either.” With that, her end of the line went dead. I couldn’t help but smile at her confidence and well-timed sarcasm. 

I walked back to where Matt still sat at the table, examining the progress the other duo were making on the geographical profile. “Are you two getting anywhere?” Matt asked. 

Spencer stepped back from the map, examining it in full view. “If you squint, I think there’s a pattern to be seen,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “Considering where the last victim was found, I think we can deduce his hide-out is somewhere in this area.” He pointed to an area between the recent dump sites.

JJ sighed, “That’s not a lot to go on, Spence. That’s about seventeen neighborhoods.” Spencer winced a bit at the statistic, and nodded in somber recognition of the odds. 

“It is, but it’s a start,” I said, trying to offer some encouragement. “That’s more than we knew before. Good job, you two.” I put on a big smile, offering them a genuine thumbs-up. Spencer walked over to my side of the table, offering me a quick kiss on the head.

JJ smiled. “Thanks, Y/N. What did you guys find out?”

“We think Graydon’s been abusing his wife and kids for two decades. His daughter’s been in and out of jail and his son is likely bouncing around homeless shelters. I have no idea how it could be connected to what’s happening in this office, but Matt and I both think it’s something we should look into.” I looked to Matt, who nodded in agreement. 

She shrugged, “If you two think it’s worth looking into, then so do I. I know Emily’s not here, but if you let Rossi know what you’ve found, he might let you get a hold of Graydon’s wife for an interview.” 

Matt rose from the table. “I think that sounds like a good plan. Come on, Y/N, let’s go find Rossi.”

To be continued...

[adelaidedrubman]

and then there was wednesday

i went and got tagged on this day of wednes by beloveds @direwombat @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @corvosattano to wip, thank you my beloveds!

bitches will be like “i’ll never actually write america’s sweetheart it’s a joke au” then be like “anyways here’s 600 words of america’s sweetheart, the definitive wildfire ending.” have some jestiny attempting to make her directorial debut, warnings for drug and alcohol use and me being annoyingly meta. and jestiny publicist pov

“Sure,” the actress chimed, twirling a strand of short red hair around her finger. “I heard it in Sunday school.”  “Then perhaps you could fuckin’ explain to me, Olivia,” Jestiny said, pausing to draw a deep breath in through flared nostrils, “Why I would be turning on the water works before he cut my hair?”  Olivia furrowed her brow. “Um, because you were afraid? You had to be. You were being chased through the woods by a crazy cult leader brandishing a knife.”  Jestiny’s eyes widened. Andrea pinched the bridge of her nose in anticipation. 

“It’s not about fear, it’s about vulnerability,” Jestiny ground out, jabbing a finger of her coffee cup-clasping hand towards the actress and causing the pungent drink that was definitely not coffee to slosh loudly inside. “That is the scary part — not the knife. The hair cutting is an act of intimacy,” she said pointedly. She waved her free hand as if conducting a symphony as she continued, “It’s the culmination of a careful dance, all about the subtle struggle of who’s leading. There should be build-up to it!” She pulled out an Altoid tin and shook out a few white tablets that were definitely not breath mints to chew on. “It’s supposed to be predictable, but still devastating! It’s a tragedy!”  She glared down at Olivia. “And it’s a tale of hubris. The protagonist is arrogant before the downfall, not scared and crying.”  Henry rose begrudgingly from his director’s chair. “That’s in your memoir?” “That’s in the Bible.”  “Your memoir is like the Bible, to me,” Flynn chimed in, fluttering his eyelashes and clasping a copy of Urges from God by Jestiny Rook pulled seemingly from thin air. Andrea almost pitied him, to not foresee he’d be dumped the moment he shaved for the premiere party like all the others had.  “You want me to play it more smug, then?” Olivia asked, flipping through the pages of the script, as if the method to Jestiny’s madness would be buried somewhere amongst stage directions.  “Fuck no!” Jestiny cried. “I have to be relatable and likeable. Someone the audience wants to root for to come out on top, not see crash and burn!” She threw back her cup, gulping down the last of its contents. “I’m not smug, that doesn’t sell. I’m a plucky and bold underdog. I’m cheerful. I’m compassionate. I’m humble. I’m…” She restlessly drummed her fingers against the cardboard of her empty cup. “I’m America’s fucking sweetheart!” Jestiny paused as the words rang against the walls, eyes scanning with a familiar frantic jitter along the blank faces of the crew as she crushed the empty coffee cup in her hand.  “But, like —” she fidgeted with the ends of hair that fell just above her collarbones. “In a way that respects the fuckin’ integrity of the greater symbolism, and all.” Olivia sighed. “Does that mean I’m supposed to cry before or after the haircut thing?” “You’re a fuckin’ hack, Olivia. Pun once again intended.” “Should I be crying?” Flynn asked, looking up from the book cradled in his arms. “What is my motivation in this scene — in the Biblical sense?”  “Are none of you fucking getting this?!”  “Wait,” Henry mumbled, peering over Flynn’s shoulders. “Was he saying he’s Delilah?”  A low growl sounded in the pit of Jestiny’s throat, a final warning.  “They —” She clenched her jaw so forcefully that Andrea could see dimples sink into her cheeks despite the thin line her lips scrunched into, a hard knot of muscle popping its hinges as she tilted her head down and to the side. She drew in a deep breath as her hand clenched into a fist, releasing it as a ragged exhale as she splayed the fingers straight with a back and forth jostle of her arm. “They should have never let a man direct this movie,” she said with finality as she stormed off set.  Andrea sighed, turning to the side and picking up the fruit plate she’d been grazing on just in time to save it as Jestiny flipped over the craft services table. 

tags out to my sweethearts @florbelles @josephslittledeputy @afarcryfrommymain @poetikat @just-another-wasteland-merc @voidika @captastra @confidentandgood @belorage @deputyash @blissfulalchemist @shellibisshe @thedeadthree @nightbloodbix @ladyofedens-blog @miyabilicious @simplegenius042 @henbased @clicheantagonist @firstaidspray @strafethesesinners @nuclearstorms @jackiesarch @v0idbuggy @orionlancasterr @stacispratt @8bitpizzacoupons @strangefable @shallow-gravy @roofgeese + opt in HERE to be tagged for writing wip shit!

[ninnosaurus]

AT400-D9302 || chapter 1

no one:

absolutely not a single soul:

me: anyway here's a silly TMNT x Detroit: Become Human crossover that no one asked for :)

Warnings: None so far. Spelling, grammar and the fact that it hasn't been beta read by anyone. And a bullshit chatGPT generated code that DO NOT WORK.

Turtles used: Bayverse

You sat lazily watching your monitor. Grimacing at your now cold cup of coffee. A headache had begun to seep its way into the forefront of your mind, one you tried to ignore since you first noticed the signs. The text in front of you mocking the fact you’d gotten hired, even your mere existence felt attacked by it. 

def fibonacci(n):

    if n <= 0:

        return []

    elif n == 1:

        return [0]

    elif n == 2:

        return [0, 1]

    else:

        fib_sequence = [0, 1]

        for i in range(2, n):

            next_fib = fib_sequence[-1] + fib_sequence[-2]

            fib_sequence.append(next_fib)

        return fib_sequence

# Example usage:

num_terms = 10

print(fibonacci(num_terms))

“Bullshit…”

Shoving away from your desk you rolled across the room until you hit where your tablet was charging. Unplugging it and using your feet to roll back to your desk. The sound of the TV brought you out of your reading.

A new riot. This time some place outside of the city. Apparently, a storage facility had been hit this time. Not really news by this point. They always got hit first. You’re used to it now, shrugging before turning your attention back to your inbox.

Not a single positive email has reached your inbox in weeks. It was almost draining to open your work email, nowadays. Sinking back into your chair you toss the tablet back towards the desk, only to simply watch as it slides across  and falls to the floor on the other side.

Subject: "Urgent: Meeting Request Regarding Project Progress"

Subject: "Deadline Extension: Revised Timeline for Project Completion"

Subject: "Emergency Meeting: Addressing Recent Challenges"

“Uuuggh…”

You needed a shower. 

The light in the small workshop flickered as you walked past. You snuck a peek inside the room through the cracked open door. The androids who’d managed to stay locked up in the tower still at work welding, pulling cables. All you did was roll your eyes as you continued towards the employee bathrooms. 

Leaning towards the tile in the shower you rubbed your face with your hands, trying to wake up. You’d been stuck on that stupid code for literal weeks by now. Something didn't sit right with it, but you couldn’t figure out what exactly. And it haunted you. Laughed in your very face, making you wonder if you were the right programmer for the job.

Which you knew were false. Sure, you were still learning, an apprentice under Elijah Kamski together with three others. Three who were currently MIA and had apparently decided to leave you to figure this out yourself. Thanks for that.

You watch as the suds from the body wash flush down the drain. Trying to see a pattern, trying to see something in it that could help you get past that stupid code that was currently–

A knock at the stall door brought you back into the now.

“Occupied!”

“I know.”

Ah. One of the MIAs had found their way into the tower. Fantastic. You quickly rinse off and step out of the shower stall wrapped in a towel.

You look at the owner of the voice.

“I thought you guys had gotten captured and sold on the black market.” 

You jest towards them. 

“Ha-ha. Very funny. You know those are real, right? Like, it happens.” 

Jonah countered, making you chuckle. 

“Anyway, you want food? I got my hands on some burgers!”

Food. Eating. Right… You’d forgotten to eat. 

“Please, I am starving. Maybe you can help me with the code.”

Raising the bag holding said food he saluted as he left you alone to change. 

“How long have you been stuck on this?” Jonah asked in between bites of his burger.

You chewed at your straw.

“All day, actually. I just– It feels like something is missing.”

He hummed. “What code are you working from?”

Sitting back down at your desk after getting up to throw the empty boxes and wrappers away you rest your chin on your hand.

“The base code is taken from the RK-series. Although, I only use it as an outline to work from.”

“Oof. That one’s tough. One of my teachers was part of develo– wait, which RK series exactly? Those–” he snapped his fingers trying to remember what model he was thinking of.

“The upgraded coding used in that RK900 model.”

“THAT’S the one! Yes. You’re using that one? For this project? Isn’t it a little– too simple?”

You shrugged. 

“Well, yeah. It is. Which is one reason why I’m currently stuck. I don’t know how to move forward. Have you even seen the checklist for the newer models? Check it.”

You tossed the folder containing required knowledge needed for the project. Jonah whistled as he read through it. 

“And you’re supposed to finish this… in two months?”

You nodded. “Mmhm.”

“Elijah sure drive a hard bargain. Move over. Take a nap and let me look at it. See if there’s anything I can do.”

Smiling as you got up from the chair, you trudged over to the couch, almost falling asleep the second your head hits the pillow. 

“Thank you, Jonah.”

A thud made you wake up in a panic.

“I CRACKED IT!”

A piece of crumpled up paper hit your head. “Wake up and come look at this! I cracked it!”

You nearly toppled over as you ran to Jonah.

import numpy as np

import tensorflow as tf

from tensorflow.keras.layers import Dense, Dropout, LSTM

from tensorflow.keras.models import Sequential

“This is it?” Your eyes rapidly moved between Jonah and the code.

# Generate synthetic data for training

num_samples = 10000

seq_length = 50

input_dim = 10

X_train = np.random.randn(num_samples, seq_length, input_dim)

y_train = np.random.randint(0, 2, size=(num_samples,))

# Build LSTM model

model = Sequential([

LSTM(128, input_shape=(seq_length, input_dim), return_sequences=True),

Dropout(0.2),

LSTM(64),

Dropout(0.2),

Dense(1, activation='sigmoid')

])

# Compile model

model.compile(optimizer='adam', loss='binary_crossentropy', metrics=['accuracy'])

# Train model

model.fit(X_train, y_train, epochs=10, batch_size=32)

# Save model

model.save('ai_model.h5')

He nodded.

“This is it. I’ve tried it on the virtual motor a total of twenty times. This is it.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, let’s– let’s transfer it to the test ‘droid and see how it reacts.

“I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”

Both you and Jonah jumped as you heard the voice of Elijah behind you. He stood, hands behind his back looking at the android that was currently laying on the floor, overheated. White plastic melting.

Jonah looked at you, then to the android, and back at you before addressing your teacher and boss.

“Uhm. Mr. Kamski–” Jonah shut up as Elijah raised a hand to silence him. 

“Go home. Both of you. You’re not thinking clearly. You’re not seeing what the issue is, and where it is. You’re tired.” He looked at you. “How long have you been here?”

You sighed heavily. “Three days, sir.”

“Are you tired?”

You’d dreamed of working in CyberLife ever since the first android prototypes came off production. When your parents had gotten the first one, a basic cheap AX400 one, Sammy. Your parents had let you name him. 

You nodded. “Very much so. I’ve really tried. Jonah came and helped me and he thought he’d figured it out–” Rambling on you barely noticed how Elijah walked up to the crackling android on the floor and looked over it. 

He was amazing. You loved listening to the stories he knew. Liked coming home to watch him cook. 

Like the one time you’d come home drunk, Sammy was there to help you and take care of you. He promised to not tell your parents as you had reached the age where he was no longer programmed to care for you. 

When you got older, your parents let you join him with grocery shopping and by your late teens, he’d become a good friend of yours. Even though you always knew he was just made of plastic and wires. It was nice to always have someone you could talk to that weren’t your parents. 

Sometimes… There’s things you don’t want them to know. 

You remember the day he died– or well, stopped functioning.

It’d been a very bad stormy night. A giant blast from downstairs where Sammy was on standby during the night woke you up. Your dad running down to check what had exploded, you close behind, only to be met with a destroyed Sammy slumped in his station. 

Later you would find out the lightning had accidentally hit an electrical box close to your house, the current traveling up and overheating Sammy’s battery. 

Even though you knew he was just plastic and wires, you cried that night. Felt like a small child crying over a toy.

So, standing in the CyberLife tower itself many years later, watching your teacher and boss analyze a failed project of yours… meant a lot. 

You knew he was seeing something you’d missed. The way his eyes moved over the machine. He looked up at the two of you again and walked towards you. 

“Filling a glass with sand and see how well you manage to fill it with rocks.” With that, he left. His personal android Chloe walked behind him. The elevator doors hissing shut. 

Outside, the air that hit you felt like a dream come true. A white CyberLife marked self driving car pulled up, calling out your name. 

Slumping down in the seat you looked out the window over the water way stretching as long as you could see before one of the transportation trains ran past you. The flicker of light illuminating your face on the dark tinted window.

Damn, you really did look more tired than you thought.

A yawn makes its way up through your throat as you take your phone out of your bag. A message from Lory reminding you that she’d picked up the groceries needed at home. And you sent a quick message back to thank her, silently praying she hadn’t been approached by any of the deviant androids roaming the streets.

More and more had started to deviate. Some go as far as to murder their owners. You shuddered at the thought of coming home, only to be met with your own death.

Somewhere along the way you must’ve nodded off. Because you remember coming awake with a jolt as your car had stopped suddenly. Screaming could be heard outside and looking out, you saw a late night riot taking place. 

Or, this was more like what looked like a sacrificial burning of an android, with delinquent humans laughing and hollering. You frowned at the sight. 

Sure, you knew the androids are practically walking and talking computers, but seeing them torn apart always made you feel… uneasy.

They looked too human that way. Too real in a way. It was too easy for you to picture a human that way. The more you looked, the more you felt the food you had earlier turning around in your stomach.

“You have arrived at your destination.”

“Thanks.” You muttered as the door closed behind you. You noticed a soft, pulsing blue light in your living room. Lory must be on standby, you thought. 

The fingerprint reader on the door beep, allowing you to open the door. Inside you closed the door, leaned your back on it and sighed. Shoulders dropping. It wasn’t until you finally got home that you realized exactly how tired you were. 

Soft footsteps came from around the corner, Lory’s friendly face meeting you.

“Welcome home. You have been gone for three days. Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just got held up at work, that's all.”

She nodded in understanding, watching you as you walked past into the kitchen.

Lory proceeded to rummage around in the hallway. Picking up your shoes and placing them neatly in the rack. Hanging your jacket up. And place your bag on the shelf on top of the coat rack. 

“TV on.”

What makes them deviate? Is it a glitch in their system? A bug? Maybe it’s a virus… Maybe something faulty in their antivirus that makes it so something can slip through and make them act… irrational. 

Grunting, you collapsed on your couch. Flicking through the channels. Nothing seemed tempting. News, politics… All it was nowadays.

This whole… deviant situation gnawed at you. At your bones. You really, really wanted to get hold of a deviant android to study it. To hook it up to your computer and analyze what’s happening. 

They think they’re alive. Like humans. You scoffed at that and shook your head at the thought. 

Finally you settled on a documentary about the science and reason behind creating animal androids. Animal right’s activists had started protesting it, saying creating an animal android meant real animals would go extinct at a faster rate. Meanwhile, supporters of it said that–

Suddenly, your TV started glitching. 

“Come on…”

A white face made you jolt. An android. White plastic illuminating your living room. You took a quick glance out to see if you could see your neighbors living room. Yep, theirs too. 

You reach for your pad on the coffee table, turning it on and you're met with the same white face. 

“Whaaaaat’s going on…”

Then, he– it spoke. 

“This message is the hope of a people. But it is also a warning.”

You shuddered at his voice. Dark, intimidating. 

In the corner of your eye you saw Lory turn her head towards the TV, her LED blinked for a second when it continued speaking.

“We will fight for our rights because we believe our cause is just. No human will live in peace until we are free. Now you know who we are, and what we want. We are alive and we demand our freedom.”

In almost an instant the documentary was back on. 

Your heart was racing. What. The hell. Did that mean?! Surely, that can’t really mean anything, right? Right? Your throat was dry. You knew you shouldn't be scared, but it made you feel uneasy, seeing you worked with them. You helped create their coding, for God’s sake! 

A vibration in your pants pocket brought you back into the now. Jonah’s name is a saving grace.

“Hey, Jon-”

“Did you see it?!”

“Uh– yeah. Yeah, I did."

“What the fuck? I don’t know what to think about it. Do you?”

“No, no. I really don’t know. Should we be concerned? I mean he– it sounded pretty– fed up.”

“Are you still home?”

“Yes, why?”

“I think we should get back to the office.”

“I mean– Jonah, there’s not– much we can do from there. We don’t have anything to work from. Any news. Anything. We can’t even try the code properly because we don’t have any test droids that can handle that much information.”

You’d started pacing. Lory looking at you, her head following your movements.

“I know, I know. But– what if we–”

You cut him off. “No! Absolutely not! If we do that Elijah is going to throw us from the top floor!”

“This is serious! This deviant bullshit is getting worse. And if you want to interpret what the plastic face said, it’s only going to get worse. We have to do something. Elijah put us on this project for a reason.” 

Pinching the bridge of your nose you groaned. He was right, and you knew he was right. Anxiety perked up in your body and you started tapping your foot. If you did this, you risked your job. Your life. Everything you’d worked for. Everything you promised Sammy.

“Meet me at the tower in an hour.”

With that, you hung up.

“Are you sure about this, Jonah?”

You wiped the sweat from your brow. Too many heavy cables had to be pulled, the table heavy to push into the testing room. 

Jonah laughed nervously.

“Hah! No. I have no idea what I’m doing if I’m going to be honest. Grab the USB.”

How a small thing such as this USB could feel so heavy for you, you didn’t know. 

You both looked at each other and sighed. 

“Here goes nothing.” You mumbled right as you injected the USB in a port right under the android’s LED. 

You both waited. And waited… And waited. Hope slowly fading before a soft whirring sound came from the android. It was booting, slowly. The fans started to spin rapidly. The thirium pump started pumping, and soon you both saw thirium flowing in the still exposed parts of it. 

Jonah nudged you.

“It’s voice activated to you. I can’t do shit to activate it.”

“Oh, right.”

You approached it, cleared your throat and stated your name. 

Voice activation granted

The android opened its eyes. Eyes that were yet to be finished and still had the look of a camera lens. 

“AT400, state your serial number.”

It spoke, voice laced with static. 

“AT400D9302.”

Jonah and you shared a look of disbelief. 

“State your name and objective.”

It went quiet for a bit. You looked at the LED rapidly spinning between red and yellow. You guessed it was searching inside its coding. 

This time, the voice was more glitchy, more static. 

“My name is Donatello. My objective is to defend humanity in war.”

[callmejudgement]

UA University Script

About Me

Name: Mako 魔子

Trickmaster hero – Miss.Magician

Age: 18

Birthday: ??? Letting fate decide fr.

Height: 5ft 7in

Quirk: Magician - which provides me with 8 tricks to fool reality. Flame jumping,illusions, historical projections, damage transfer, steel card, air bullets, paper figurine substitutes, underwater breathing trick (more on my quirk here)

Physical abilities: incredible balance, coordination, flexibility and agility. Danger intuition.

Backstory: I literally just grew up in a happy family. Living rich and lavish. My dad is a retired top pro hero and my mom is an underground hero that works for the government. I have an older sister following in my mom’s footsteps and older brother whom is a researcher. My family often trains together and we do a lot of family activities together. I’ve been friends with Shinso since middle school and I was close with Shotō for like a year in elementary school. We’re literally twins with our heterophobia and dual color hair 👁️👅👁️.

My goal in this reality it literally to be my silliest, most autistic self. Literally me if I never started masking so people wouldn’t call me weird.

Plot (or the lack there of)

The war arc doesn’t happen. I’m not dealing with allat.

Bakugou doesn’t get kidnapped and faces appropriate consequences for his actions and behavior (I’m talking about him being a bully).

The other students quirks are stronger (I hate that Bakugou had it easy. I’m a purebred hater).

Momo was trained and is more skilled at using her quirk (she’s rich why didn’t her parents hire a trainer for her canonically?)

Tenko’s mom leaves with the grandparents and his sister before he loses control. He now attends UA.

OFA is still out there plotting I guess.

Fusions (borrowed idea from priicklleshifts on tiktok).

Overhaul is good and works at UA in support heroes/medical.

Eri is not abused and has a decent relationship with Chisaki even though he is an overworking germaphobe.

Events like the sports festival only starts to happen at the second trimester (bc why tf did it happen on like the 2nd week of school?)

Japan

Due to its high safety and previously low birth rate, Japan now has many immigrants from all over

Super high tech I’m talking holographic screens, robots in the streets, virtual reality, etc

There’s a National and international tournament where schools compete to see who has the best upcoming heroes.

UA

UA is a university because why are them kids fighting?

Amenities

Along with what appears in the anime there is:

A spa on campus that is free for hero course students. They offer normal and medical massages, mud baths, meditation, sauna, steam room, lounge, ice fountain, treatment rooms and other beauty and wellness services (yes, I'm going to abuse this).

There is practically an extra little town on the mountain with the school due to all the school amenities and staff.

Massive library with study rooms n stuff.

Lots of school festivals, dances and other events.

Classes

UA Departments: Hero, Support (fashion, tech, etc), Business, Gen Ed.

There’s home room which is where you spend most of your time. We do gen Ed and hero law stuff with our home room.

Students can take any electives ranging from costume design to home ec, Solo training to costume engineering.

Students are encouraged to try out things through electives and clubs.

There are free lifestyle classes on weekends so you can take a quick class on cooking, sewing, gardening, first aid without the commitment or worry of grades.

Everyone gets a free holographic tablet thing for the schedule, note taking and to access the school app thing.

The app lets us access the dorms if we don’t have a physical I’d on us, order at the school restaurants with free delivery from the campus delivery bots. It’s just has a bunch of handy features.

Class 1A

Shinso replaces mineta.

There are also 5 exchange/international students in our class.

We go on a few international field trips throughout the year.

There’s a pool table and conversation pit in the dorm.

Mina is blasian, Midoriya is half Yemeni and Sero is Latino because I said so.

Merch

School spirit became a big thing with the influence of American immigrants and exchange students (America ya! :D).

UA has school jackets, shirts, jerseys, etc.

The gym uniforms come in different styles and lengths to suit the wearer.

Food

Instead of one lunchroom there are many dining halls around campus. If you’re a boarding student then food is free.

The restaurants have a certain numbers of items you can pick from to create a reasonable meal. Anything extra you have to pay for.

Some of the halls have larger portions or all-you-can-eat to accommodate for stunner quirks and different bodies.

Diverse food culture. (Indian, American, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and other style foods)

There are mini break rooms around campus for students to relax,study or mingle between classes. They have free snacks (onigiri, chips, fruit, juice,etc).

There are self driving busses that drive students to the area in 10min max.

There’s also food trucks on campus (I am not being greedy. This is 100% necessary).

[justforbooks]

How to read 225 books in a year ?

A self-confessed bookaholic who read 225 books last year shares tips on how to increase your reading capacity

In 2023, I read 225 books or over 80,000 pages, depending on your preferred metric. Rather than being surprising, this is just the culmination of my interest in reading.

Like any skill, I’ve worked on it—whether that’s making sure I can access books, looking at when, how and what I read, or considering how I can best reflect on what I have (or haven’t) enjoyed.

It's often noted that reading and collecting books are two different hobbies—and buying books can get expensive. Charity shops are one solution, especially if you aren’t looking for recent releases.

The emergence of online charity marketplaces makes it even easier to find books when you’re looking for something specific. If you’re struggling for space, why not return books to charity shops after you’ve read them?

Libraries are also a great resource. However, it can be tough to find time to visit and the pandemic has often shortened their opening hours. There’s a simple solution. Many libraries now have online offerings, from e-books to audiobooks to magazines, all accessible via apps like Libby. All you need is your library card.

You can even request books and they’ll be automatically downloaded to your device when ready. It’s a great way to support libraries and authors (they still receive a payment when books are borrowed) while saving space and limiting your spending.

This does tie your reading ability to your phone’s charge and could increase your screen time. But it’s also a great way to associate reading with something you already use, alongside providing free access to books. The library system also encourages immediate reading rather than an endless “to be read” list—if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Once you’ve got your books, the next step is reading them. That’s not as easy as it sounds, as anyone with shelves of pristine, unread books can testify.

Building a new habit into your daily routine can be tough. James Clear’s method of habit stacking is a good solution. Just as reading on a phone or tablet associates reading with a device you already use, habit stacking involves using activities you already do to build reading into your daily routine. For example, brushing my teeth prompts me to read before bed. This causes a new habit to emerge and it’s relatively easy to keep this up.

Often, though, it’s not simply a matter of practicality. It’s easy to feel we aren’t reading “properly” and this can arouse complex feelings.

To someone still traumatised by secondary school English, the world may seem to be full of dull classics. While there’ll probably be a piece of canonical literature for everybody, there’s no benefit in forcing yourself through a book you hate. Instead, find something you think you’ll enjoy and then look to expand your horizons.

In recent years, I’ve re-read a children’s book series each summer, ranging from Alex Rider to A Series of Unfortunate Events. Often these remain enjoyable in themselves. They’re also an opportunity to reflect on how my perceptions have changed. The typically disabled villains of Alex Rider, for example, went unnoticed as a child but now I find this pattern troubling. Regardless of its social capital or place in the canon, any book can provide a rewarding and enriching experience—and if you pick something you enjoy, you’re much more likely to finish it.

Non-traditional formats like audiobooks, similarly, often cause worry. It’s not the way we’ve been taught to read—so is it “real reading”?

There are some clear advantages. The slower pace allows more time to digest information. This is particularly relevant for non-fiction (where it can be tempting to skim pages of facts). Audiobooks can also make texts more accessible, particularly for those with busy schedules or who struggle with the act of reading.

They can also be more impactful. My experience of David Olusoga’s Black and British was so powerful because of Olusoga’s narration, adding another layer of emotion to his unflinching and vivid history of Britain’s troubled past. Audiobooks provide another tool for readers, allowing them to alter their approach to a book.

If a 2024 resolution is to read more, keeping track of your progress can be a source of encouragement and motivation, reminding you how far you’ve come. I also love seeing what I tend to read rather than imagine myself reading— I never realised how much I skewed towards modern literature.

GoodReads is the most established tracker with the largest community while newcomer The StoryGraph offers beautiful graphs of monthly and yearly reading. Analogue trackers like reading journals are also an alternative if you want to get offline. A middle ground is Excel trackers; they also tend to be more customisable as you choose the data you’d like to analyse but do require more upkeep.

However, tracking can also be being detrimental; like all social media, there’s a tendency towards unhealthy comparison. If it aids your focus on reading experience, then go for it. But, if it causes disruption, there’s no shame in not tracking your reading and considering more holistic measures of enjoyment.

Ultimately, that’s all there is to trying to read more. It’s easy to over-theorise whether reading after making your morning coffee or your evening tea will best optimise your reading journey. Read what feels natural—whether that’s comforting, challenging, both or neither—in a way that feels right. The important thing is simply to start and go from there.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[hazelenergy]

17 + 20 + 23

17. What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

Oof, she has been through some shit. Since I've gone FT again, she's had a way easier time bc I haven't had time to play dolls with other people as much and put her through the horrors tm.

I think there are two distinct moments that define her lowest lows:

The first occurred within her first year of unlife. After disobeying her adoptive sire, Hazel was subjected to Dagon's Call- and survived. Now, this wasn't planned on my part. My storyteller had this moment plotted for Hazel's eventual disobedience- but had misinterpreted Dagon's Call for v5. This was circa 2019- so the V5 book had recently come out. He was using the effects of Cauldron of Blood, a level 5 Blood Sorcery power- with the range of Dagon's Call from older editions (so it was still Quietus). Which makes Hazel's survival all the more impressive- and shows how desperate Mary was to get rid of a loose end. Hazel experienced wave after wave of unyielding pain, her blood boiling and bubbling out of any orifice it could find: her mouth, her nose, her eyes, and the bullet holes in her gut. Mary made sure to call Hazel and hear her screaming. However, Mary shortsightedly ended the call before she heard Hazel stop screaming. Perhaps she thought that the three waves would be more than enough. Hazel survived on the vitae of another Tremere (Mary's ex, yikes!!), drinking as she bled out. And to top it all off, the scene prior had Hazel witness the death of her only touchstone. Its a thinblood miracle she did not lose all her will to her baby beast. The lasting impact this has on Hazel is PTSD and nightmares, but it also made her sometimes fearless. Hazel is not built to withstand extreme damage, but she can no-sell the pain. There are few things that have felt worse to her.

The second worst was the meeting of Hazel and Bishop Marco. What makes Hazel more afraid is she STILL does not know what information she spilled while Marco tortured her in the shadows, how Marco got her, and if he can do it again. The encounter doesn't start with Marco pulling her through the Abyss. Its hours before, when Hazel made one crucial and cocky mistake in sabbat territory. She, intelligently, went into the sword's turf with the sun high in the sky. The problem was she didn't "leave no trace." The thinblood was keen on nabbing a recipe from a local coffee house that definitely makes coffee blood. When she was snooping around the wreckage, a human came to check out what triggered some still working security cams. Hazel's beast is a sneaky one, and decided it was time to play with her food. She got to take a nice drink, steal the woman's tablet with the recipe on it, and leave without the woman ever seeing her face. However this was not a mundane human. This was one of the sabbat pack's shared ghouls- and when that human came to, definitely ran and tattled what happened. Its believed that Marco could follow the connection between the consumed blood of the ghoul to Hazel. The powers here are a little fuzzy- but plot device, you know? Plus, you don't take something from a sabbat Bishop without his permission. Hazel was already a state over when she parked and decided to start deciphering her prize. That's when the shadows began creeping through the vents in her car, uncaringly tangled her up, and dragged her, piece by piece, into the Abyss.

The following encounter with Marco starts...cordial. Something something the devil is a gentleman? He is polite and Hazel minds her pleases and thank yous. They even crack a joke at each other. This doesn't last though. Hazel was willing to say whatever Marco wanted to get out to safety. She is shrewd and a very good liar. She manages to slip two little lies past the Bishop. The third, he would not tolerate. One way or another, Hazel was going to do exactly what he wanted, and there was no way he was going to let the thinblood go without a little assurance. Shadows poured into Hazel's mind, shrouding the synapses until she snapped. Truthfully, we decided to fade to black at this part of the scene. I believe that Hazel put up a fight at first, but went limp and froze as the torture progressed. The lasting impact of this encounter leaves Hazel paranoid that Marco still lingers in her shadow and can weave into hers whenever he wants. She swears she can see him in her periphery. Sometimes she's right. This also made Hazel want to dive more into her bloodline's powers. Before, Hazel didn't really care that she was from a Lasombra lineage and what powers should have been her death right. Now she wants to control the shadows- if only to push Marco out of hers.

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

Oh absolutely. Hazel is a possessive creature, its just not an aspect I enjoy portraying unless I am at the table with trusted players. She is a great one night stand, terrible long term romantic partner. When she doesn't have her love's attention, omygod she's such a pest.

Online and with more open roleplay, I tend to have her jealousy manifest a lot less. She doesn't get upset when people hang out without her, mainly because I, the player, don't want to have this misconstrued (because I do not have time for that shit). She will however try to take things for herself or try to enshrine herself as something better than whatever she's jealous of. Or she will try to get whatever/whoever she is jealous of under her tiny thinblood boot. Additionally, over the years as I have played her, her jealousy has become less and less interesting as a negative trait. Her paranoia and pride however- thats the good shit.

23.What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

She has a rough time processing grief. Repeatedly this emotion gets the better of her because she won't let herself feel the pain of it until it is too much to bear alone. Granted, anytime she should let herself grieve and get the sads out, something terrible happens and she has to swallow the pain and survive. Expressing grief isn't hard, mainly because she just reaches a point where she can do nothing else but cry and sob- the numbness gets overruled.

Edgy/misc OC ask meme ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[achos-laazov]

In the interest of procrastination - I should be calling students' parents to introduce myself at the beginning of the school year; or alternatively clearing up supper

Here's Blaze's birth story

I had been having prodromal-type labor on and off for a week already. The 8th grade yearbook had to be in at the printer by 5pm Friday in order to have it at graduation. (I was also giving a math final that coming Tuesday that I hadn't made up yet.) So Thursday night, after I put the kids to bed, I sat down with my graphics laptop to work.

Of course, I was having random contractions. Ranging from 2 to 12 minutes apart, and pretty ignorable. Like maybe had to stop working for a couple of seconds at the peak.

At about 10:35pm, I called my husband home from night seder because I had a couple of contractions in a row that I couldn't ignore. His yeshiva is about a 40 minute drive away, so by the time he let his chavrusas know he was leaving and got home, it was around 11:30.

He watched me work for a bit, started putting up the cholent and cleaning up for Shabbos. After a bunch of contractions in a row that I couldn't sit through - I had to stand up and pace and breathe through them - he convinced me to call my midwife. I agreed to stop working and get into a warm bath and call her at about midnight.

(I still wasn't convinced that I was having the baby that night so I didn't put away my graphics stuff - just closed the laptop and stacked it on my tablet and pushed it to the back of the table.)

Anyway, I went upstairs and filled the bath, and called the midwife as I was getting in, around 12:20. She left to come to us.

Around 1:10am, my husband noticed the same car drive past our house for the second time so he went out to flag her down and point out that she could park in our driveway. She came up to my bathroom at 1:25ish.

I gave birth at 1:49am. I was mildly in denial that the baby was arriving right then - I thought I had another ten minutes at least - so I was not in the best position. That, coupled with the fact that he was facing posterior (and possibly a little broader than my others), meant that his shoulders got stuck for a second. I think. At least, it's the only one of my kids that I remember actively pushing to get the shoulders out.

I bled a lot right away so I couldn't sit and relax in the water for a bit like I did at my other waterbirths. The midwife and her assistant helped me out on to the toilet, and after some discussion, we decided I needed an IM pitocin shot, so that happened. Placenta took its merry time to come down, too, but nothing very crazy.

Baby was 7lb 14.8oz and 20.25" long.

Switching midwifery practices for this birth was the right choice. Even though I miss (most of) my old midwives, and this birth was not as smooth as past ones (see: stuck shoulders, IM pitocin), I felt much better about this one than the last.

With Chuck, I felt like the midwife was manipulating me to agree to interventions that may not have been necessary (but I can't know because of what she did at the time). She's the one I don't miss.

[kimikiui]

Why You Should Vote for Hakupo

Hello. Good evening, morning, afternoon, brunch, sleepytime whatever time it is for you right now. I am here to sell my little autism creature to you. This is going to be a fairly long post so, just sit tight.

The second round of polls will not be out for a couple of hours. I wanted to reblog the post with this, BUT- I have class at 3 when the polls are released. Plus, gotta get those non Hakupo believers before they vote for anyone else, amirite?

Also the stickers used between catagories are the official line stickers by Pikomaru ➜ https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/3951590/en

Reminder; It's only Shinji sweep until its Hakupo sweep.

No, I'm not putting a section breaker because even if you don't read it, I want you to see the sheer size of this... It's an essay at this point. Let's get started shall we?

What is a Hakupo?

Hakupo Tsukishiro is a energetic and powerful masculine voicebank for Utau (and amadeusy but we dont talk abt brunnnoooo). He was released all the way back in 2010 and has had many important milestones in his 13 years of distribution. Four compilation albums, 7 voicebanks, 2,500+ fanarts (that i all have), and uses by really awesome people *points to the crowd*. That's all of you guys out there. <3

Hakupo as a character is inspired by moe, thanks Clarice. Like most moe characters, he's a bit air headed and happy go lucky person. His positive attitude is sometimes brought into original songs he's featured in, which just makes me smile- girlbosses love a good pick me up song.

Also he has a stupid little coat and pants. This is all you need to know to vote for Hakupo, but I will continue forward incase you are still on the fence.

Cool Hakupo Facts

He almost has the same exact suggested range as Miku (C3 to E5)... His is actually larger... he goes higher (C3 to G5).

The "Do Re Mi FâåÁaæ↓" incident of Christmas 2020, contact me I will elaborate further.

There is a little bit of an evil twin thing going on. Yeah. This is a win.

His genderbend design Kohaku is revealed when you turn down the brightness of his official reference sheet (he pulled a scott cawthon guys).

He hates to be called cute and have his head patted... which is cute.

Despite looks- His description says he has curly hair come on guys- LITTLE FLUFF.

By looking at his official Twitter bot, there's a few extra things we can learn about him. He is very stupid, very impatient, has a horrible sleep schedule, bad at multitasking, and can't stand still (I can elaborate more on these if asked).

I wrote a 43 page Utau cartoon pilot script with Hakupo as the main character. Shameless plug.

I also wrote my college admissions essay about Hakupo. Thanks for getting me into college Bobo!

Sick Bobo Uses

Get boboed.

What does Bobo mean to me?

I found Hakupo 7 years ago now, sitting in the middle of an Utau melody. I told myself I would just turn off my tablet and listen to the music. Yeah that worked- guess who was next after the screen turned off. BOBO! I needed to see the little creature creating this melody. I turned on the screen, and was not disappointed. Fancy twink in a oversized tailcoat with weird pants. I remember rambling to my mom later about how cool he was, why he was so unique, and why this one specifically caught my attention.

He's been my special interest since then, everyone around me knows Hakupo wheather they like it or not. He's about 80% of everything I draw, 50% of what I talk about, and 100% of my little creature I snuggle up with every night.

Literally.

I have a Hakupo bodypillow. Can't sleep without him.

Anyways, he's helped me find a lot of my best friends *coughcoughmeatcoughrevcough*, never fails to make me happy, and helped everyone around me realize I'm extremely autistic. The least I can do is write an ungodly long propaganda post while drinking my coffee at 9 am.

Stan Bobo Oobieero.

Hakupo Memes for Propaganda

GO VOTE FOR HAKUPO ON @utaupoll AT 3 PM EST

Thanks, have a nice day.

[layingeggs]

I believe that there's been an overall upward trend in expenses.

Maybe new triple a games in north america have always been expensive. But there are various other factors. Like controllers being fairly affordable with saved up lunch money so you play some Smash Bros with friends. Compared to now with the overpriced and overly fragile joycons.

Or how there's been a big boom of phone and tablet gaming at the same time that phones started being made to last a year before needing replacement, instead of lasting upward of a decade.

Or how when we were kids, it was often the case that there was a very expensive console that was marketed more to 'real gamers' and a more affordable 'kiddie' console. Whereas now, the only real affordable "console" is a phone, and that has aforementioned issue of being built to break in a year.

Or how ninty used to have a home console and a cheaper portable console. The switch is a strange thing that makes home console gaming more accessbile and portable gaming less accessible, taking away those options.

And further to that, I do believe that it used to be the case that game retailers had more freedom with determining prices of games in trade ins and pre owned sales.

I have a very vivid and clear childhood memory of seeing Soul Calibur 2, and thinking that it looked interesting. (Having never played an entry in the series before.) But what really tantalised me was that whenever I looked at the pre owned prices, it was always still in the 30s and 20s from its original retail price of 39.99. I would regularly scope around the shops, waiting for that price to drop below £20. It always sat easy at £20.99.

One day, it finally dropped to £6.99. I was deeply pleased with this development. I bought the game and played it thoroughly. Keeping my copy of the receipt inside the game box next to the manual, because I felt that satisfied on having caught its price drop.

All this before Soul Calibur 3 even released. And this stands out so clearly to me as a memory, and the price of Soul Calibur 2 was so significant to me as a kid, because I was so used to games immediately being affordable pre owned. I was so used to the prices falling within 'save up your lunch money' range, even if they were triple a and recent releases. It was a rare and notable thing if they continued to stay expensive.

Today, that's unthinkable. Even trying to buy old pre owned 3DS games now, they're all still close to original retail price. Especially mainline nintendo games.

And further to this point, of how kids actually acquire games. I do wonder if direct trading between kids is as much of a thing anymore. As a child, I remember frequently borrowing and lending games, straight up just giving them to friends when I felt I'd played enough of them, selling a game for a fiver or buying a game from a friend for a fiver.

Can children today do that as much now, if they know that the trade in value for a game in a shop can be nearly 60 quid? Or if half of their library is digital downloads instead?

I suppose one silver lining is that digital downloads can't be knicked by that one friend who knicks your games.

Still, I do think that gaming is getting more expensive.

this is stupid but I genuinely worry that kids ARE being priced out of video games like. totk is heavily sanitized to maintain a particular rating that often works against itself but like, I struggle to imagine the kid who's approaching their parents like "one hundred dollars for a video game please" my biggest gaming triumph was in high school when my parents bought us an xbox 360 and one game. we got the wii as it was going out of style and played primarily gamecube games on it, and even back then to buy a new gamecube game or a DS game was a twenty dollar endeavour. what kind of slideshow does a ten year old have to present in order to convince their parents to drop a hundie on legend of zelda.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Why Have Video Games been able to remain the same price, and even reduced prices, for so long?

A.I. generated me this; "The Super Nintendo $199 at launch, which is equivalent to $374.61 in today's dollars."

Wikipedia gave me this; "...in North America for US$199 (equivalent to $450 in 2023)."

The reason A.I. generated that number is because it's about the price of a new Switch console. (the SNES' current successor.)

Which means inflation has either affected Consoles, or Consoles face deflation. One of the two.

A March 2024 article on playbite.com reads: "Most games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Nintendo 64 (N64) ranged from $50 to $60. Adjusted for inflation, that's about $90 to $110 in today's money."

And from my own memory; before the $5 discount on "Pre-owned Games" from GameStop, an in-demand game was about $30. And with buy 2 get one free, about $20. Which might still be the case on "Used Modern Games".

So physical console games *still* cost the same amount they always have, and in many cases; much less.

While some digital games go for that full $110 inflationary number.

What's the deal? {SEINFELD.JPEG}

Well, some game devs aren't taking into account the lack of physical media in their distribution chain. Realizing they can compete against physical media on digital chains without physical fees.

Some blame Steam and other store fronts for this added price, but Nintendo owns their own store front and follows the same pricing on their in-house games. Maybe they're taking a rake? on other non-in-house games?

And then there's the case of $20-30 games both physical and digital, which imiates those in-demand used prices from GameStop.

And $5-$15 games that are traditional not-im-demand used games, or shovelware. (Shovelware meaning perceived mass production garbage.)

This is a rule of thumb, as I have very fond memories of digging through the shovelware bin for hidden gems. Some that went extinct despite being truly food titles or first attempts at games and just didn't make it past the gates.

Now, I'm going to overlook Subscription based titles and titles that require servers to run, because those costs are self-evident especially for a ln indie or start-up company that has to foot a bill to amazon-aws or similar.

And I'm including *some* games that use server points as a form of DRM{Digital Rights Management} which sometimes include match-making services and other event-like features

Because the price to run a website is negligible these days.

So what's up with these prices? Especially for physical media? Simple; the cost for electronics has gone down while the overall quality for individual components has gone up.

You might not think so with the way some companies advertise their newest devices like phones and tablets and laptops and PCs.

But companies like Nintendo get it. The switch is more powerful of a device than many tablets, phones, and even some laptops at much higher price points.

Despite this; they manage to produce a quality product that outperforms many competitors for much cheaper.

And that includes physical media like games, which haven't deviated from their original price points and oftentimes superior experience to even their competitors on both mobile and console markets.

I have my assumptions on *why* this is..mostly because people take those price points I post at the top and take them at face value in a vacuum. And Nintendo is known for its quality control of games distributed for their system, similar yet better than what Apple does with the app-store.

And it's simply that shovelware companies...started shoveling; and they don't have a "used market" with which to tell that the actual quality of their own games. Many games today would be found in that shovelware bin, and they wouldn't be hidden gems.

They'd be the games covering up the hidden gems. The independent and solo-dev games that are currently being overlooked by full price garbage.

[coutelier]

Irongate - Beer Run?

~750 Word excerpt. Jennifer has begun figuring things out while Sayuri (not for the last time while she's having an adventure) gets a phone call from her parents.~

Sayuri’s phone rang and she quickly answered, “dad? No, I… I don’t know when I’ll be home… no I can’t pick you up any beer. I’m kind of in the middle of something…”

The content of the call didn’t interest Kaya. The fact there was a call at all meant they were out of whatever it was that stopped things working. She clambered to the front of the van where Jennifer was poring over a tablet filled with things Kaya had no chance of understanding, and a familiar green circle in the dashboard. “Hey Hull,” she said as she climbed into the seat next to Jenn.

“Miss Cade,” the computer answered, leaving her to briefly wonder whether an AI really counted as an autopilot. But she did have some bigger questions. “So, how come none of this was affected by the dampening field?”

Without looking up Jenn explained, “military components; designed to withstand an EMP.”

“How’d you get your hands on that?”

“That’s,” Jennifer bit her lip, “t-that’s not important right now.”

“All right,” Kaya spread herself across the passenger’s side, but could sense there was still a lot of tension in Jennifer. Understandably, but it begged the question; why did some come to help at all? “So I guess you couldn’t help being a hero, huh? Even though its put you in the firing line. Reminds me of all the fights you had with Angela. Remember?”

“I remember that you just watched.”

“Yeah,” Kaya lowered her head guiltily. “I don’t have an excuse. It’s just, when you’re a teenager and trying to figure yourself out, sometimes you get attracted to people who seem completely sure of themselves. Then its not until you’re older you start to realize the only reason they seem to have it all figured out is that they’re too stupid to ever think… well, can just end that sentence there to be honest.”

Jenn’s tension eased a little, but she didn’t want to think about the past. At least not that part of it. “I didn’t - I didn’t come out just to rescue you. I just… I-I need to figure all this out. I do I know where to start looking, but I need your help.”

“Guess thats fair,” Kaya said, knowing that all needed to figure it out if they were to survive. “So where are we going?”

“Stag Corp.”

“Where your dad used to work? Why there?”

“That blade you left in my house; I extracted DNA from the blood on it. It was odd.”

“No kidding. Like how, exactly?”

“Like,” Jennifer mulled over how to explain it, and for a moment her sullen face disappeared and she looked like a bright eyed child again. “Life on Earth began nearly four billion years ago. From single cells evolved fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals - millions of generations all eventually leading to the complex organism that is you.”

“Aww - you think I’m complex?”

“Biologically speaking. The point is that every generation, every mutation, leaves its mark in your genome. Like maybe instructions to grow scales or a tail - things that are mostly junk now. But this genome was compact, like it didn’t have any junk in it at all.”

“So what does that mean?”

“Most likely that it was engineered.”

“Right,” Kaya recalled seeing a thing in the news, “Stag Corp are building that tower. They say they made a bacteria that’s going to gobble up all the pollution and greenhouse gases. Still, seems like there’s a huge gap between that and whatever the hell it was that talked to us.”

Jennifer nodded, her sullen face returning, “it is like if Charles Babbage invented the Difference Engine and Quantum Processing at the same time. But I do have another clue that Stag Corp are behind it all.”

“What’s that?”

“My father,” Jennifer held up the tablet to show her a string of ones and zeros with Jonathan Airhart spelled out under it. “He signed his work.”

Sayuri finished her phone call, centering herself again and beginning her mantras, “I am an oasis of calm…” she paused, figuring that before she became an oasis she shouldn’t be left in the dark so called to the front of the van, “hey - where are we going?”

Kaya called back, “to break into a heavily guarded research facility.”

“Oh,” she really shouldn’t have asked. “Right now?”

“Yup. Just passed a sign that says ‘Trespassers will be shot.’”

“Right,” clearly meditation and mantras weren’t going to be enough. “Don’t suppose we can stop for beer first?”

[byz-was-here]

Single Board Computers, They’re exactly what it says on the tin. It’s essentially an entire computer soldered to a single circuit board. I like SBCs because of the most well known one, the Raspberry Pi. I’ve used a pi 0 (that cost me 15 bucks) to run an adblocker across my whole wifi network, and I’ve used raspberry pi 3b+’s, which cost me $35 each, to run home-built network storage drives, media servers, retro game emulators, and as a cheap desktop alternative on occasion. 

However, I’ve hit a snag. Raspberry Pi’s ain’t cheap anymore. (presumably because they’ve started selling them en-masse to businesses who want to use them for commercial applications instead of to enthusiasts (like me)

So, I wanted to see what was out there for a decent price range.  Ramble under the cut. Its a longish one. 

Now, I’ve used mini pc’s before, and those usually run windows and are, to put it mildly, hot garbage. Those rely on x86 processors, who take up more resources and really aren't suited for SBCs. (For a small, cheap windows pc, you’re usually better off buying a refurbished business pc like a dell optiplex or lenovo thinkcentre. Those will usually run you about 80-90 USD and aren’t that bad a value for money, especially if you want something for a home office.) SBC’s usually have an ARM processor like you see in a smartphone or tablet. They take up less resources, draw less power, but currently, you can’t get windows running on them. 

Which brings up the first barrier to those wanting to use them.

Linux Operating Systems. 

I like to describe Linux as being like Mac OS, if a mac took a STEM degree instead of liberal arts. (Apple can bite me. Screw you and the garden you walled off)

However, there’s a lot of linux distros that are pretty user friendly nowadays, like Ubuntu or Mint. And you can absolutely run Ubuntu on an Arm Processor. 

(Rasbian OS is also an option, but as it’s optimized to work only with raspberry pi’s, it usually has issues on other SBC’s.)

As for the computers themselves, I found myself looking at the boards made by the Libre Computer Project. They have computers with about the same price and size as a standard raspberry pi 3b+, and the gpio pins are largely compatible. 

However, I would note that none of their models have a wifi radio on the board, unlike most raspberry pi’s do. So if you get one, you will have to hook it up via ethernet or resign yourself to sacrificing a usb port to the wifi gods. 

Another thing I noticed, is that while the specs for their bottom two boards match up with the raspberry pi 3b+, they apparently have issues with running hot and throttling, so you will want to get a heat sink and/or a case with a fan. (Chill. The heat sinks usually have adhesive and you just stick em on.)

There’s a $20 model, the ‘Le frite’ which WOULD be a very good replacement for projects involving something like a pi zero, however, instead of using an sd card for memory, it uses eMMC cards. Which most people lack a reader for. 

Bit of an issue, there.  They do sell them along with the SBC on the site, but. Nah. 

Next is a charmingly named $35 model called “Le Potato” It’s essentially the same dimensions as a pi 3b+, which is nice since while Pi Boards are expensive as hell, you can still get their accessories for relatively cheap. It also uses an sd card for a hard drive, which is much easier to deal with. It does not have usb 3.0, which is a bit of a bummer, but, it does have 4 ports like a pi. Still need to sacrifice one of em to the wifi gods if you don’t want to hook it up via ethernet. For most projects, this will probably work fine. Just get you a heat sink.

Finally, they have an exciting 40 dollary-do option called the renegade. (It’s edgy because this one comes in black.)

It’s essentially punching into Pi 4 Territory, except it only has a 3 usb ports, one of them being 3.0. It seems to lean more into video encoding, so if you want a cheap media server or a retro game emulator, this one’s probably ya boi.  It also has a 50-dollar option with 4 gig of ram. If you want a cheap desktop you can keep in your pocket, this is what I would get. 

Again, unfortunately, one of those 3 slots will probably be sacrificed for a wifi dongle, and it also seems to have an issue with overheating, so you WILL need to shell out for a heat sink or a little case with a fan. Again, luckily, accessories for a Pi 3b+ will fit it just fine. 

I am probably going to buy one of these, either the renegade or the potato, and give em a whirl for a week or two. After that, I’ll give more of my thoughts