#the cube pondering itself amounted to like…

[purple-to-my-tangerine]

💕

Pondering the Cube (as brought on by a discussion with a friend about the Cube (ofc))

[thesnazzysharky]

Hot take: Monster 3 is a decent character

Out of all the creatures in this game, Babcube seems to get the least amount of attention and seems to be widely disliked. I do get it to some extent, it's not my most favorite character, but to the point of disliking it? Nah. Firstly, I've seen some claim that there's nothing to the creature itself in terms of background or lore, which isn't true. Its purpose seems to be representing some kind of symbolism. "Old Experiments" is the title of the ambience that plays in the area that Monster 3 resides in and is also the ambience that plays when Monster 3 chases you in Endless Mode (albeit only in the og version of sjsm). Simply going off the name and the fact that it's associated with Monster 3 gives some disturbing implications. That being, at some point amidst the chaos that Ghost Cow was causing in the hospital, a literal infant (or possibly multiple infants) were involved in some way. Infants that were involved in some twisted experiments that somehow birthed the creation of... that (do remember that this is the same game that directly references Unit 731).

Either Monster 3 is supposed to be that infant or infants merged into one or Monster 3 could be a paranormal manifestation of the pain those infants went through. The pain of being trapped down below in the hospital, which is represented through the box containing the baby head, and eventually succumbing to whatever experiments were performed by the possessed staff. That is what Babcube symbolizes. Some extremely fucked up shit was happening down there (which was already made pretty evident by Monster 4, the Hanged Man). It might not be much, but the implications are definitely there. That's kinda the point of the monsters and is what separates them from the specimens. The DLC tells you jack shit about its creatures. Leaving things up entirely to your own interpretation and speculation. Karamari Hospital is all about its mystery. It's why, although pretty funny, I'm not a big fan of Wambu's "How a body got the bag" story apparently becoming Monster 2's canon backstory. It feels like it misses the point of Monster 2 and Karamari Hospital as a whole. But that's just my take. Secondly, its design. It's very simple. An infant's head in a rusty cube. Yet it still manages to be unnerving and bizarre. Frankly the most bizarre creature in this whole entire game in my opinion.

"Well that's just weird" isn't the only aspect to its design however. It's just very unnatural and uncanny in general. The way it glitches in and out of existence as it slowly moves towards you. The way the head itself clearly resembles that of an infant, yet it subtly doesn't 100% look like one, with the closed eyes, wrinkled face, and unnatural looking mouth and nose, making it strike the uncanny valley. With the face looking even worse when it randomly distorts.

And the sounds... dear god I fucking hate the sounds this thing makes. Similar to how the face resembles an infants, the sounds from Babcube resembles the crying and wailing of an infant, but there's that uncanny valley again. It sounds like a crying infant... but not fully. Its crying sounds muted and croaky. Not loud like a regular infant, but definitely odd and strange. Combine all of this together and you get a creatures that's disturbing to ponder about, unnerving to look at, and uncomfortable to listen to or even be around. A creature that feels like it shouldn't exist, yet it does. A creature that really makes my skin crawl. Not in a downright scared or horrified way, but in a "what the fuck am I even looking at or hearing" kind of way. A creature that I just feel really bad for and wonder what happened to birth it.

Like I said, it's not my most favorite character, but I don't dislike it either and I appreciate what they add to the game and the atmosphere of the hidden basement. I don't dislike or think any of the enemies in sjsm are bad in fact. Some are weaker than others, but I think they all add a little bit of flavor that makes this game so enjoyable and cool to me.

[iamwhoiamtmblr]

Title: Remember Who You Are

Story Rating: Chapter 18 - PG

Warnings: Violence, Swearing

Relationships: Nomad Steve Rogers x Female Reader

Master List - Link to Other Chapters

New Mood-board for the series. (Captain America photos property of Marvel)

***My work is to not be posted on any other site without my permission. If you see it anywhere other than Tumblr please inform me***

All characters are property of Marvel. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_(Marvel_Comics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Night_(comics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Skull

Steve jumped off the couch in a snap.  His phone was going off.  It was the alarm in the cabin. “Who could be there?” he thought.  Steve shrugged it off. The alarm had gone off before, nothing major happened; mostly animals. He called the local police to inquire about it. They told him they would investigate.

His neck was sore from sleeping on the couch, at least he slept some. He was anxious to find out if anything had changed. He went down to the conference room.  All the members of the team were there. There were agents scrambling through amounts of data on their computers. Trying to create any possible scenarios of where you were. They were also looking for Crossbones, any possible sightings of him or his team.

Steve was surprised. Everyone was trying to help. Thor slapped Steve on the back. “Are you ok?” “No. I won’t be until this is all over.” “How’s Bucky?” (Steve) “He’s on his way here. Once he’s back I can determine what happened and how severe his injuries are.” (Bruce) Steve sighed. “Any leads?” “Nope, none. We’re trying to contact local authorities in case they have anything.” (Nat sighed) Steve sighed. “We have to think like her, how we trained her.”

Even though all of the team some of the training, it was best to ask the expert. “Where’s Coulson?” (Tony) “Don’t know, I’ll check with Fury.” (Hawkeye)

15 mins later, Coulson entered the room. “How can I help?” “What’s the most basic training given to the agents?” (Tony) “Along with firearms, tactical, hand to hand combat, and how to survive.” “Survive?” (Wanda) “We train them to have a back-up plan in case they get caught and need to flee.” (Coulson) “Flee, back-up plan?” (Rhodes) “Yes, if they are ever caught or on the run, they need a back-up plan.” (Coulson) They all looked at each other – Flee.

“So Y/N fled from the complex after Gita tried to kill her. With no memory of who she is, her basic instincts would kick in.” (Scott) “Thanks for coming Scott.” (Steve) “I came as soon as I heard Y/N was missing again” (Scott) “So what would she do next?” (Tony) “Possibly to have a way out, get away from the situation. Go off the radar. Anything they needed. Transportation. Have a secure place to store some things they would need.” (Coulson) “So planes, trains and automobiles?” (Vision) “Ok, we need to scour any footage from any possible departure location.” (Thor) “Yea but they’re already doing that, looking for her.” (Wanda) “Wrong, you need to look for someone who’s not running away; trying to blend in, not to be noticed.” (Coulson)  Everyone turned and stared.

Steve didn’t want to hear anymore, nothing new. He left the room. The Avengers watched him leave, they all knew Steve was at his wits end. If they didn’t find you soon, this would affect Rogers for the rest of his life. They’re incredibly worried about him on how much more of this he could take. They continued brainstorming.

“I think there’s more to this than Crossbones, I seen the reaction when Steve seen that key chain. I don’t think Crossbones wouldn’t keep her all this time, he would have tortured Steve and then killed her in front of him. Maybe he’s in league with someone who could have gotten the keys.” (Wilson)

“He’s right. There’s more to this than him. Key chain is the key…no pun intended.” (Nat) “Red Skull was killed by Steve wasn’t he?” (Tony) “No, the Tesseract killed him or as Steve put it, he seemed to be swallowed up by the Tesseract. He just vanished. Steve was on the ship with the bombs before he ditched it. The Tesseract fell into the ocean where your father found it..” (Fury)

”The Tesseract is a power source, one of the infinity gems. The power of the cube would have taken him into itself or it would have destroyed him.” (Thor) “Red skull – any known associates?” (Bruce) “None, most everyone he worked with is dead or the few that remain are deep underground.” (Fury) “Anyone with a grudge?” (Hawkeye) “Could be anyone.” (Nat) “Family?” (Vision) Fury looked up… family?? None that he could think of. “Just rumors….nothing notable.” (Nat)

“Rumors?? Maybe, there always was a possibility. Not everything was completely known. Schmitt was always into everything.” (Fury) They all looked at each other. Could there be something they don’t know. “Friday – Check all known associates of Red Skull” (Fury) “Checking…..analyzing…… Red Skull also known as Johann Schmidt, known as the leader of Hydra - deceased. Dr. Armin Zola – chief scientist for Hydra - deceased Susan Scarbo….follower of Red Skull and his cult - deceased Crossbones, also known as Brock Rumlow - at large Baron Helmut Zemo....programer/handler of Winter Soldier program - being held in the RAFT prison.”

“Who’s Susan Scarbo?” (Wanda) “Friday?” (Tony) “Susan Scarbo…follower of Red Skull. AKA Mother Night. Member of the cult of Hydra. Leader of the Sisters of Sin. Her adopted daughter is Sinthea, daughter of Albert Malik” (Friday) “Wait a minute, Albert Malik?” (Fury) “Albert Malik is an alter ego of the Red Skull!” (Friday) “WHAT??” (Tony leapt out of his chair) “He has a daughter??” “OMG, would she still be alive after all this time?” (Scott) “If she was born after he was subjected to the serum she could be.” (Fury) “That’s it! She’s the one that wants revenge!�� (Wilson) “Where’s Steve?” (Thor) “Should we tell him?” (Vision) “Not yet, I want to be sure! If he knew Red Skull has a daughter, he might not react very well” (Nat)

Steve was walking down to the hall - His phone rang.  It was the police in Maine.   “We didn’t find anyone at the cabin….huh…what?.…just a sec sir.” “Tell him about the report.…” (He hears someone in the back ground)” “Oh yeah, just a second, we did get a call about some woman who wanted to go to the logging road where you cabin is. She was dropped off at the entrance. A waitress, Flo, at the local diner was concerned because she was by herself investigating the haunted mill down there. She said a truck driver name Arnold took her. We checked with him, he did drop her off but there was no sign of her.”

Steve began to panic.”What did she look like? Did she say what her name was?” “Nope, no info on that according to the report. Do you want us to go back there again?” (Police) “No, I’ll handle it. Thank you.” (Steve)

Could it be her? Maybe she’s starting to remember? The cabin was a special place for both of you, not only where you first made love but you were able to spend time with her with no one knowing about it. If she’s out there alone, she’s in incredible danger. “I’ve got to go now!” Steve turned and went back into the conference room.

Coulson was back from contacting the authorities. “We got report from some passengers at a bus terminal they seen a woman in  pj’s. Unfortunately, the description was vague though.” (Coulson) “That could be her. Coulson, take some more agents down to the station and ask around. Report back asap!” (Fury) “Got it.” (Coulson)

Steve pondered telling them about the cabin. Maybe he should go alone. “I need a break. I need some air.” (Steve) Everyone looked and stared. “Go, if anything comes up, I’ll get you.” (Nat) Steve nodded. No one wanted to say anything to Steve until they were sure it was you or about Red Skull’s daughter.

Steve walked out of the room, heading down to the air field. He made sure no one was following him. Once he took off in the Quinjet, it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the Avengers came after him. If he knew she might be there, Crossbones would too. It seems he knew everything about him. “Have to get to her first!”

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[pixlokita]

Cosium Adventures- chapter 2

[[MORE]]

The sun was starting to set, making them both stop on their tracks in the middle of the perfect place to set camp. An opening between bushes and the tall trees that they had been walking through for an insane amount of hours. To them it wasn’t as tedious as it would be for most, though; specially if you can keep up a fun conversation between siblings.

The young wolf turned to look at his sister, brows furrowing as he noticed her fur started to change colors.

From the usual vibrant turquoise, softly it started to fade into a dimmer lavender.

It was the usual, still... nor him, nor the rest of her family had gotten used to it.

His thoughts were broken by a heavy thud which came from a small box she had suddenly dropped into the grassy area that seemed most suitable. After a moment it started to unfold into a petite pink tent automatically.

Amelie was always amazed by this contraption that her father had come up with, even half asleep already she never got tired of the way the little cube turned into a comfy place to rest in a matter of minutes.

“It’s a good thing we made it to this point before night fall, huh?” She said, the energetic tone in her voice already becoming more slow than how it had been in the morning.

“Y-yeah..” he responded and sighed while putting down his stuff as well.

His eyes once again turned to look at her figure already slumping down and trying to keep herself awake as the tent still needed four of it’s ends nailed tightly to the ground; and so she started to hammer them slowly into place.

The sound of the clinking metal came to a halt when Tino let out the same old question. She tried not to groan and let him ask away.

“Doesn’t it ever bother you? That you can’t enjoy the night anymore?”

All that followed was a small nod as the clinking continued.

“Sometimes... but I can’t let it bother me always” .

She turned to look at him with a tired but reassuring smile.

After a minute or so, her head tilted slowly to the side. Her expression shifted to a more serious one as her mind struggled to process her thoughts but ultimately failed to do so.

The foggy sensation that started to cloud whatever her mind was conjuring up was getting thicker.

“I kind of... also think it’s a good thing.. in its own way, So I can’t complain”, She finally let out.

True, she had suffered severe insomnia for almost a year before she developed this rare condition.

To her it had become unbearable to stay awake every night.

All alone, all cornered by her thoughts which aggressively kept her from getting a wink of decent sleep for an entire year.

She had wished so badly to be able to open her eyes once the sun was up for a change instead of watching it come up from the horizon time after time to welcome yet, another day followed by increased tiredness that plagued her to no end.

It was like an eternity, an endless cycle of dread. She had started to lose whatever sanity was left during the day time.

Then suddenly, something in her snapped and the sleep which she had wished for so long had manifested itself, but it was more than what she bargained for.

It could only be described as a weird hibernation state that appeared out of the blue and never left after it stroke her down the first time.

Her fur started to lose it’s color after a few months of it as well and settled for a purple hue that somehow matched the sleeping spell that she was put under, though by daytime she mysteriously returned back to her normal color.

Nothing could awaken her once the sun disappeared completely except for the break of dawn, which had worried sick everyone around her until her eyes opened the next morning when it first occurred.

Maybe it was a stress induced comma, or maybe...

“Ever wonder if something else might’ve caused this?”

Her focus was now back into answering her little brother who was patiently still waiting for an answer and still hadn’t taken his eyes off her to make sure she wouldn’t hurt her thumb hammering the last nail into place. Annoyed by the fact that this was still brought up even though It only happened that one time... well those two! - maybe three...’ she gave up on defending herself because the more she thought about it, the more times she was reminded of the times it had happened and lost count.

Once finished, she went to the back of the tent to change.

“We should have this conversation in the morning, I’ll forgetting everything about it as you’re already aware.. I’m more than ok.” She said in a forceful tone trying to make the sentence coherent while it felt like her head was spinning all over the place.

She came out with a simple night gown to match the tent and started setting up her sleeping bag.

Silence was all that followed until it was interrupted by the small tweeting of a chorus of nearby frogs welcoming the night’s fresh air.

A light chuckle and giggling from both when the same memory came across their heads.

“Remember how we used to go frog hunting? When we were smaller?”

Tino was now remembering how Amelie’s mother complained that she should stop wearing her pretty clothes to catch the critters she found fascinating and cute.

“Frogs, lizards, snakes, iguanas.., squirrels....,,,”

Ah... And there it was.

Her eyes were already out of focus, struggling to stay open as eyelids gradually became heavier and heavier, the battle to keep them from closing was futile at this point.

“I’ll start the fire and scout around the area a bit until I get tired” he got up and looked back once more.

It was funny how her brother was literally the opposite at this point, still full of energy and ready to take on even a bear if he happened upon one. Hopefully no unfortunate bear would come across his path.

He also had the same little tent in a box that his sister carried with her at all times for when he was ready to hit the hay, except his was for camping rather than a back up like it was for her when slumbering spells caught her off guard... as seldom as that happened.

It had become a hit item in the market after uncle Sergio had started to sell them.

It wasn’t his intention to make them for marketing, but after witnessing it in action various requests poured in for him to sell these conveniently incredible little things, even for people who didn’t suffer Amelie’s condition.

He had commissioned his uncle for one as well, and the knowing ex-Atlantian had decided to make it a dark red color, like most things his nephew owned. He could be awkward at times but he knew his family well, and as hard as it was for him to express himself when it came to his emotions, his feelings still reached out.

Sharp sparks ignited around the boy’s gloves, after her was done pondering about his past and because of the excitement of the new adventure he couldn’t help but to let out a fired up

“alright!” to mark the beginning of his nightly scouting of the perimeters to secure a path to follow into their destination which would ensure enough daylight to spare the next morning.

The feeling was hilariously answered by a meager attempt of agreement from the barely awake self proclaimed unicorn, who kept Mumbling quietly before slowly succumbing to sleep.

He watched as she lost consciousness for the night and then decided to start his quest to look for branches and pine needles for the fire once he quickly made sure that it was safe to leave her alone in that spot.

“Maybe one day we’ll find out how to cure this rare condition of yours, I think..”

Footsteps disappearing into the depths of the woods was the last thing she heard.

“Maybe.”

She thought to herself before everything faded into black.

[theheartofpenelope]

Simple Things : Chapter fourteen

Excerpt - Because when someone manages to make you the happiest person and the saddest person at the same time, that's when it's real. That's when it's worth something. But her friend kept mum and it drove Lizzie up the wall. Oh yes, the part of an innocent bystander did not become her… never had, never would.  Tag list: @winterisakiller, @devikafernando, @scorpionchild81, @messy-insomniac-bookgirl, @smutsausage, @hiddlesbitch1 @noplacelikehome77 @wolfsmom1 @meh1217 @dina-bln @lilaeye39 @tinchentitri @fairlightswiftly @nonsensicalobsessions @wolfsmom1 @stmeiou @ink-and-starlight @givemecocoaa @profkmoriarty13 @nikkalia @massivelemon @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @argo-shila @emoietmoi@redfoxwritesstuff @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @raining-litter @theoneanna @coppercorn-and-cauldron @turniptitaness @shadyskit @memoriesat30 @antyc67 @just-the-hiddles @sheris532 @marggot4 @jennytwoshoes @nibtime @hiddlescastle @funnygirlthatgab @deebee9114

Author’s Notes/Warnings: tags will follow later on Anyway thank you in advance for feedback - would love to know what you think…Also on AO3 through this link Masterlist available through here Bonus: click here for the pinterest moodboard (always updated)

Chapter 14 : Athens and a slice of home

1. Curious Lizzie

Friends had quickly detected a subtle change in Charlotte’s behaviour. She seemed softer, tired still but….  happier and maybe a bit more carefree…could that be? Lizzie did not hesitate to, one day, point out  ‘Charlie’s apparent delirious happiness’ .

Ok she might have embellished a bit in that department, but for all the best reasons though. She had teased her friend at first with offhandedly inquiring if perhaps it was because business was going well, earning herself that ‘non-disclosing Charlie-smile’.

Truth of the matter was that Lizzie was fairly sure a certain ‘Tom’ had his hand in Charlie’s new-found bliss. And the annoying fact that her friend still remained to keep the matter under wraps peaked her curiosity only more.

An inquiry along the likes of a  "how's Tom?" was standard met with a chuckle and a serene "good-good, he's fine." But that was as far as she would get. It frustrated her beyond measure that she could list the information she had on him on just one hand. Yes, one hand, five fingers and she knew this to be a fact because she had recited them, all five of them, to her husband David one night.

‘his name is Tom,

he’s British,

Charlie finds him quite handsome,

supposedly he’s also intelligent,

and quite attentive.

Even while low on statistics Lizzie did have to conclude these were at least proper traits, ‘but generic as fuck! We haven’t even seen him or a picture of him. Oh come òn David... ‘

“So, when do the rest of us get to meet him?” Lizzie’d finally blurted out over iced coffee on a sultry afternoon, “it seems about time, no?”

This was a reasonable request though, wasn’t it? If Lizzie did the math correctly at least two weeks or so had passed since their infamous summerbabes-celebration…. two to perhaps three weeks - tops! - since Charlie’s trip to Scotland and her night of rapture over there. And while Charlie had expertly danced around her obvious discouragement after checking her voicemail in Lizzie’s kitchen, over the following fortnight she had slowly transformed back into a very delighted young woman, who was now - against all odds - back in high spirits…

Sure, Lizzie had pondered, Charlie was in talks to work with the Royal London Hospital but that deal was nowhere near set. So both her regret and her newfound cheerfulness hàd to be because of Tom, there was simply no other logical explanation… And that’s exactly what triggered Lizzie even more. Because when someone manages to make you the happiest person and the saddest person at the same time, that's when it's real. That's when it's worth something. But her friend kept mum and it drove Lizzie up the wall. Oh yes, the part of an innocent bystander did not become her… never had, never would.

Charlotte cast her eyes downward to her drink with a slight smile. With her hot pink straw she carelessly dunked the ice cubes while her mind tried to come up with a plan to meet this well-meant request with a sufficient, yet rejecting, answer. Because this was something she and Tom had not yet addressed themselves, not really though…

From out of the corner of her eye Charlotte could clearly see David nudging his wife.

“What? Oh, long distance - shminstance,” Lizzie muttered to her husband.

Still trying to figure out her answer, Charlotte caught her breath when she heard David kindly interjecting;  

“Just let her revel in her little honeymoon-phase, babe,” and he planted a sweet kiss on Lizzie’s temple, “remember when we first got together?”

Charlotte was ever so grateful for that silly, small remark that had shut Lizzie up very promptly.  Good man, that David. Eternally grateful even. But she did make a mental note to doctor out a way to diplomatically answer the next request she would surely be receiving sooner or later. No, Tom and her hadn’t really talked about any of this. And from the looks of it they really should, she guessed. First thing when she’d gotten back from Athens... the next destination she was flying out to later that night.

2. Beautiful Athens

Goes to show you never really can tell. Charlotte had opted to fly out to Athens in the early evening to avoid the heat and city traffic, only to realise that Athens was not at all as hot as she had imagined it to be. It seemed the Western part of Europe was boiling up, while the Southern part was actually quite agreeable and - low and behold - even managed to surprise her with short - yet intense - rain shower. What were the odds?

It initially had seemed to be a perfect evening for a hike up the Philopappos Hill, which promised a stupendous view of the Acropolis in all its glory. And boy, did it deliver... Grateful for the opportunity her life now offered her to travel gorgeous cities and see breathtaking sites, Charlotte had apped Tom the astonishing view that had unfolded itself in front of her. No words needed.

Philopappos Hill, that held the Philopappos Monument, had been quite the discovery… In the fifties it was declared an archeological park that consisted of ‘the Hill of the Muses’, ‘the Hill of the Nymphs’ and the ‘Pnyx’ which had been the meeting of democratic legislatures in ancient times. And while of historical, architectural and even archeological importance, it was also the home of indigenous birds, including the Athenian owl and the peregrine falcon. It was an important stop-over for many migratory birds and then there were the land tortoises and the numerous bats that had scared Charlotte shitless at first, .... Talk about another great picture-opportunity -gone-wrong, but she’d sent it to Tom anyway, in good humour.

Listed by UNESCO as a protected monument of cultural heritage and yet it remained open to all, day and night, free of charge. All that thanks to a movement in Athens that stood by its belief that the best protection for the hill was guaranteed by the love, care and active participation of the local people. Philopappos Hill’s state and beauty had left Charlotte absolutely speechless and amazed. And - well - drenched after that sudden heavy rainfall that had come out of seemingly nowhere…

An hour or so later, Charlotte happily and lazily stretched out in the luxurious bathtub at the Plaka Hotel, revelling in the warm water and the generous amount of bubbles she’d indulged in. She counted her lucky stars for that streak of luck that had brought her there careerwise, before her mind started mulling how on earth she had managed to pull an almost 180° on an emotional level in the same process… Because up until recently a pang of guilt had always plagued her when the concept of ‘another man’ - other than her now ex-husband - was being brought to her attention.

Post-divorce, after all discussions had ended and possessions had been divided, after all the dust had settled and the air had been cleared, Charlotte was relieved to find that she didn’t really miss someone. And when she dìd start meeting men ( mostly the result of a well-meant yet awkward set-up)  it was a bit of a relief to her that she didn’t run into someone who would meet up to the - admittingly - ridiculously high-ranged checklist she had cooked up in the back of her mind.

Ah well. When single and desperate in wanting to remain that way, you just shoot for the moon, right?

So, men and dating… it was a non-issue, really. Charlotte had figured she would give herself the luxury of time. She owed herself that much. Time to take care of herself, she was adamant about that part. Time to get her career onto the desired path by investing fully in (nearly all) the challenges she would stumble across. Needless to say that, at that point, romance could or would only hold her back. Well, at least that’s what Charlotte figured. And with her past, who could blame her…  So she desperately attempted to avoid that particular path, at any cost. She wanted, no needed, to spread her wings and fly on her own. At least for a little while. To be who she’d longed to be again and - first and foremost - to be true to herself. And preferable stay that way as well… And then  he  came along.  Dealbreaker . And he messed up all the rules without realising it. Or did he?

It had been quite a surprise to Charlotte how Tom had managed to settle himself under her skin the way he’d done. And once she’d fully allowed herself to give into that knowledge and the temptation and all it encompassed, she’d found herself truly well lost and it had freaked her out immensely.

For that exact reason Charlotte was tremendously appreciative of her hectic work schedule, for it mercilessly ‘demanded’ that their time together would be restricted, split up in small fragments over time; fragments that were never enough but had to make-do... It would be gruelling and demanding for any lovestruck couple, but for Charlotte all it meant was that she could take things easy. She could ease into it. DIp her toe it, see how it felt. And no person was to blame for it, only her work. It truly was a blessing in disguise.

Now in truth, Tom wasn’t exactly putting his feet up either. So his schedule was partly to blame for this as well. More than occasionally he’d have to fly across Europe for a meeting concerning future developments. And somehow this had led to secret get-togethers abroad… After Vienna Charlotte had travelled on to Budapest and Dubrovnik, before making a passage in Prague. And she genuinely adored Tom for creating time and opportunity to meet up whenever and wherever possible.

On her part, Charlotte had gladly taken to Heathrow as her new airport of choice, where they could meet up whether for lunch when she was in between flights or once for a late dinner before she would rail back home.

Currently in Athens, she was up for Napels next for a mini-cruise that would take her to Rome. Of all the things imaginable! Trust neurologist to have their professional association to work ‘a little something special’ out… But before that she would have a stop at home. A couple of days of normality and none too soon. To her delight Charlotte realised that in about 3 days she was also set to meet Tom again.

Oh dear sweet heaven, I’m counting down the days now…  

3. London to Athens

Even early on, Tom had always kindly urged Charlotte to text him when she’d arrived on her destination safely. A gesture he gladly returned of course. It delighted him that soon her messages evolved to silly apps containing nothing more than a picture of her on a balcony or some other mouth watering location as if to prove ‘doing alright’ or ‘wish you were here’ or even ‘look what you’ve missed out on’. She could be such a tease and that thrilled him so, especially when geography was not on their side...

These days he caught himself, sometimes impatiently so, awaiting what she would send him next. And without fault he would grin widely when he took note that she had upped the ante, time and time again. She had humour and didn’t take herself too serious. Oh, how he loved that aspect of her particularly.

Upon returning to his London home after another trip to Mallorca, he had dutifully put down his bags and went along his usual coming-home routine before picking up his beloved Bobby. The chocolate brown Spaniël was absolutely overjoyed at the reunion with his master and very gladly pranced proudly by his side when they took an impromptu detour across Primrose Hill.

This was lovely, absolutely enjoyable,  Tom had reflected,  but her company would have made a very nice extra…

When his cell phone beeped and disclosed an app of a drenched Charlotte upon a Greek hillside claiming she’d perfected her ‘Rain Dance Deluxe’, he couldn’t help but chuckle out loud.

Scratch that. Her company would have been perfect right now.  

Upon returning home, Tom had eyed his still-packed bags with a sense of scrutiny and uncertainty. He really ought to unpack them, he was well aware. Yet he turned on his heels, rewarding Bobby with a loving pat on the head and urging him along for his dinner…

Bobby was completely unaware of his master biting the nail of his thumb. After all, when being pampered with a delicious ‘master-is-back-home-meal’, all he wanted to do was happily devoured it, context be damned. So he also did not take note of his master aimlessly fidgeting around with his phone while he licked his bowl clean. He did however detect a heavy sigh falling from his master’s lips, but that one could not be on him. Could it? Bobby licked along his bowl once more before calmly lapping up the fresh water in his drinking bowl.

The Spaniël curiously turned his ears as he heard the familiar sounds of the kettle being set. Retiring to his favourite dog bed, he followed the scene before him with anxious eyes because he clearly heard his master sigh heavily and mumble to himself yet again. Was he walking over now? Indeed! Crouching down to his level, Bobby was rewarded with another loving scruff over his head and under his chin. Oh, he’d definitely been a good boy for that, hadn’t he?

“You’re happy to happy home, aren’t you boy?”

Bobby wagged his tail lazily in utter delight and looked up through droopy tired eyes.

“Hmm, such a good boy…. I shouldn’t be leaving you again so soon, should I?”

Tom sank down to his level and opted to sit by his side. Bobby raised and slanted his head curiously, because this maneuver was new to him. However he gladly gave into temptation and placed his head onto his master’s knee while he fumbled around with his phone again, dialing a newly familiarized number.

Now, there was only so much he could follow. He was still a dog after all… But his master opted for the speaker so he could carry on stroking his beloved Bobby while talking.  

“What if,” his master spoke up suddenly. “What if – what?” a woman replied. “What if – you got home and…’ he hesitated, “I would be there?”

Water splashed to which Bobby quietly and anxiously growled… much to his master’s delight.

“Oh, you really àre in a bath, aren’t you?’ he exclaimed in a husky voice, “I knèw I should should have gone with a video chat.” “I never lie,” the woman confessed humorously, “but - also - what are you saying?” “If you have the time. If you’re willing to have me. If you …” “That’s a lot of ‘ifs’...”

Bobby sensed his master seeking refuge in silent nervous laughter. And then felt the loving petting stop when the woman replied, “I have work though.”

“I - I understand completely,” Bobby’s master paused, “then… we’ll just see each other on the weekend then, as we’d planned.” A pause, “right?” “No.” “No?” His master hunched forward some in surprise.

Bobby heard the woman laughing and apologising profusely, something about “surprising” and “not knowing where her head was”.  Silly woman. Something with “whenever you want” and “please” and lots of those good praising words. She even mumbled Bobby’s name at one point.

“Did you hear that boy?” his master cooed to him after ending said phonecall later that evening, “Charlotte insists I take you with me on a little holiday. What do you think? Bobby? Holiday?” But by that time Bobby had been massaged while into his own little land of dreams… 

4. So, this is me...

Charlotte’s heart pounded into her chest as she ushered Tom and Bobby inside her home, muttering a “so, this is me…” and she gestured around inside.

“You’re welcome to stay, if you want,” she blabbered on nervously before rolling her eyes at herself.

Seriously Charlotte? Who are you talking to?

“I could easily book a hotel, you know,” Tom, ever so quick on his feet, retorted to which Charlotte raised her brow playfully and chuckled bashfully.

“I’m kidding,” he murmured while cautiously setting his bag on the wooden floor and gently inched closer to her, “I’m just so happy to see you are just as nervous as I am.”

“Are you though?” Charlotte scrunched up her nose. And to her delight he closed his eyes momentarily and nodded softly with a purred “mmm”. Bobby however ruined the sweet moment with an impatient tug on his leash and subsequent spinning around Tom, desperate to go and explore his new surroundings.

And so, with an endearing smile, Charlotte bent through her knees apologising and exclaiming she should take care of her favourite guest first and foremost. As she cooed over Bobby, sweetly praising and ruffling his fur, Bobby kindly returned her greeting with the attempt of jumping up to her which Tom quickly forbade him to do. Much to Charlotte’s amusement.

She suggested Tom to unleash him, which he hesitantly did after sternly reminding Bobby not to run. It was quite the sight and Charlotte couldn’t help but smile to herself.

Very swiftly Bobby spotted the drinking bowl she’d set up for him in the kitchen. And he lapped up the water gratefully before setting out to search the premises. The soft pitter-patter of his paws and gentle ticks of his nails quietly set through the downstairs living area. It was a sound that reminded Charlotte of her own childhood and still cherished deeply...

She unlocked the kitchen door that led to her cosy little garden, while Tom promptly rolled out Bobby’s travelling doggy-bed onto the hallway floor before following in Charlotte’s footsteps. Bobby followed suit, before roguishly diving into the garden curious-snout first. Charlotte laughed heartily as Bobby went along before easing an insecure Tom he would be alright in her closed-off, dog-proof garden.

He instantly relaxed and leant back against the door jamb.

“I know it’s dark out, but it feels so nice and quiet here,”

“Private,” Charlotte smiled, “drink?”

With a nod he wordlessly followed her path around the kitchen island.

“So, Charlie?” he pointed to the wooden ornament dangling on the key chain at her door.

“Nickname,”

“Charlie,” he pursed his lips as he slanted his head, “I like it…”

He smiled after sneaking another peek inside her living room once more while she fixed them refreshing drinks, “exactly how I imagined it.”

“Oh?” an intriguing smile crept across her lips “and what did you imagine then?”

“Well, I imagined a long sofa, with plenty of comfortable cushions. Shelves filled with books, ...”

Charlotte titterd and shook her head, “Cheater! I told you about that.”

“Fine, fine,” he held up his hands as an act of innocence as he walked over to her in the kitchen again.

“I’ll go again. I -  imagined big windows that invite a lot of light. Erm, I imagined a small garden,” he continued while striding closer to her still, “but I can’t see anything there, so help me god.” A chuckle fell from his lips, “I also pictured an all white kitchen, with… marble countertops.”

“Marble countertops?”

“M-hm” he hummed, “solid, sturdy, marble countertops,” he emphasized as he closed the distance finally and swiftly lifted her up on them.

“Hi,” he murmured while his nose teased hers.

“Hi,” she breathed back, anxious for that kiss she’d been longing for ever since he stepped onto her threshold.

“Am jealous of Bobby though,”

“Are you now?"

He nodded and slid his hands softly over her knees and up her thighs before holding onto her hips with firm care, “he’s gotten wày more attention than I have.”

“Hmm,” she sighed, her hands gently combing through his generous curls, “and we can’t have that, now can we?”

He shook his head, and she caught that mischievous twinkle in his eyes sparkling in full force. It was all she needed to lure her in, and happily she brought her hands to his cheeks before leaning in for a sweet kiss on his lips.

“Missed you,” he mumbled against her mouth. And that was just the final straw.

A wistful sigh escaped her mouth and he captured her lips again with his. She responded instantly and so they finally reunited with passion, with fervour and a very blatant desire. There’s no decorum here anymore. It had been too long. Way too long and she was pleased he agreed with her.

His lips conveyed her of how much he had missed her, longed for her and his fingertips firmly slid up her thighs, trying to raise up her clothing in the process. Charlotte made a quick mental note not to opt for a playsuit again, no matter how cute and sexy, on the eve of reuniting with a lover because his lustful groans suddenly turned to slightly frustrated ones when he failed to figure the garment out.

A mild happy whimper escaped her lips however when his hand circled around her backside and forcefully scooted her closer to him and the growing bulge in his jeans. And all Charlotte could to was grab onto his shirt as she pushed her hips into him needily.

Desperation. Could that be a fitting word here? Absolute desperation? To feel his skin on hers again. To have him fall apart because of her doing again? Her mind gets clouded though when his tongue started a delirious path down her neck before his fingertips tugged the straps of her clothing off of her shoulders. She can hear him mutter how the sun has spoiled her but is unable to reply at this point. Instead she locked her legs around his waist, in a desperate need for that friction.

A groan and he grabbed onto her hips even more fiercely, growling something about ‘where next’ and it takes her a while to realise he’s talking about the directions to her bedroom. Luckily Bobby was having the time of his life in the garden because the two barely made it across the hallway and ended up in her reading chair, Charlotte on top, bringing both herself and Tom to a nearly simultaneous but earth-shattering climax.

Satisfying and fulfilling.

Easily, effortlessly.

Addictive.

Oh dear. 

5. Settling in

With remorse Charlotte left for the office the following day, only to return to her home where the windows had let the fresh air in all day. A dining set was out on the terrace and soft lounge music played in the background while a handsome man lazed in her garden, catching up on some reading. And Bobby? He relaxed under the shade of the shrubbery as if he owned the place.

Charlotte very much enjoyed seeing Tom lounging in the hammock, his long legs stretched out. His one ankle resting across the other one, a book propped up in his one hand while his other arm lazily bent over his head.

Tiptoeing over to him, she knelt down quietly in the green grass by his side so she could surprise him with a soft kiss on his cheek. He hummed deliciously, dropping the paperback onto his chest and stretching out his arms to her, wanting to draw her near.

These were probably the best moments, Charlotte pondered. The ones were he lay in her garden, so free of sorrow or stress. No clocks dictating their lives. Bobby either happily chasing butterflies or resting in the shade.

He muttered for her to 'come hither' and pulled her into his lap. Charlotte giggled and shrieked, claiming the hammock wouldn't last this way. But he would have none of it.

She could spot his laughing wrinkles at the sides of his eyes, and softly caressed them. She could spy her own happy reflection in his ray-bans. So perfectly happy.

"What are you reading?" she asked and wilfully followed the direction he guided her in. With her head resting on his chest,  he grabbed hold of the paperback and read out loud to her. Oh yes, she could get used to this… And she happily informed him later on she’d re-arranged her schedule so she’d be able to work from her home the next couple of days. So it would be just the two of them. ‘Against the world’ , he’d teased.

He was adapting so well, it boggled her mind sometimes. But Tom gladly admitted he truly was happy there, very happy, in their little cocoon. Nobody knew where he was. Well nobody of the outside world. He revelled in the fact he could just shut the door behind him there in her home town and nobody would be any the wiser. It was private, safe, secret. It was all he ever longer for. Not to be hunted anymore. Being able to step out with Bobby to the nearby park and be left in absolute privacy. Going out for an impromptu errand and be left in peace. Being able to kiss someone without having the media shred them to pieces when all they had for now was still so frail and new. And moreover uncertain whether any future could come out of it, although he was all-in already.

There was only one little twinge by the end of his stay. When her doorbell rang, and Charlotte started muttering gibberish under her breath. She’d asked him to hide and to lay low and promised he would thank her later. So Tom saw no reason not to oblige to her request.

But when he realised it was a friend coming over, and a close one at that, questions did arise. The woman was clearly surprised Charlotte had a dog over and he could tell there was some curious questioning going on before the visit ultimately ended.

When he sweetly asked Charlotte later who the woman was, he was appalled that the woman was in fact Charlotte’s best friend Lizzie. And it made him contemplate out loud whether Charlotte was hiding her boyfriend, or  him as her boyfriend?

"Boyfriend?" Charlotte grinned, "Is that what we're calling it?"

And with that she crawled over to him to tempt him into a luring kiss.

"Now love, come on," he furrowed his brow.

"I'm just,” she sighed, her eyes pleading, “not ready to share you yet."

At his silence she softly nuzzled his neck, “I'll do that thing you like ..."

Well, anything really, if it kept his interest away from the matter. And away from the fact the Lizzie was already pushing towards meeting Tom. But Tom’s cheeks flushed crimson, before he cleared his throat with a "darling, you know you better…”

Apparently this was not working and with a sigh she let herself fall back into the bed next to him while he reasoned that her best friend wasn't quite the outside world, and that despite their promise to be discrete he would honestly be ok with it if she would want to confide in her.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Charlotte sighed, “Lizzie is wonderful and very dear to me. And she's also the one who's been most on my case for …”

“For…?”

“For keeping to myself. For shutting off in the past.”

Tom propped his head up on his hand and she could feel his eyes flickering over her.

“She was probably genuinely concerned,”

“Myeah,” Charlotte agreed, “I'm just afraid I guess that she'll only get ahead of things, while I really feel this need to take my time and take this slow.”

Her fingertips trailed over his thigh, apparently she was on a better path now because his lips curved into a soft smile and his eyebrow quirkily while his voice dropped about an octave, "I like it slow..."

Charlotte grinned and tilted her head up to him, he teased his nose against hers.

“Thought you might…”

[dandyfics]

twilight ; bang chan ☆

━━☆

— summary: is this a sweet dream or another painful nightmare?

— genre: angst + a bit o’ fluff for your sappy heart — pairings: bang chan x reader — word count: 1.7k — listen to: twilight – kim lip & see saw – chuu, gowon — warnings: none!

— author note: beware spelling and grammar errors ! i made this while getting high on jiwoo and chaewon’s crUnCHy voice, plus twilight made me a lil emo – so i HIGHLY recommend y’all to hear see saw and twilight to you’ll get a bit of the feel i’m going for. ok? ok. please enjoy this sappy mess !

You wake up abruptly. The white sheets that once was draped across your chest are trampled onto the floor, pillows are thrown out of sight. You can feel the wafting wind from your slightly open window, the ticking of a clock hung on your wall, the heavy heat that took over your whole body. Cold beads of sweat trickle from your forehead as you pant out heavily. Your hair is a mess, but your mind was in a bigger one.

“Nightmare. Just another nightmare.” You tell yourself, multiple times as you shake your head. “It’s the third one this week.”

Cursing under your breath, you blame the amount of caffeine that you forced yourself to digest. Three coffee cups in the morning featuring another one right after campus didn’t come up with a mere good result as you hoped. The silence wraps around you as you stare back at the empty four walls, your mind feeling as if it’s refreshing itself a million times. 

“3:00 am.” You murmur lightly, glancing at the clock. You envelope yourself in the fuzzy blanket, in the hopes of getting some more rest. But your mind refuses to do so.

It’s too early to be up and too late to be awake.

You hear small noises, a combination of clicks and ticks. A symphony of familiar hums are shallowly dancing on top of the trickling wind. Curiosity drapes you heavily, the next thing you know - you’re already walking out the bedroom door towards the kitchen. Someone is in the kitchen. 

A new atmosphere hugs you swiftly. The beige lights, a whiff of vanilla and cinnamon, and the light warmth surrounds you like the wind. You stare in awe at your own kitchen, it felt lively. A little livelier than it ever was or will be. Though, the one that was catching your attention wasn’t just the drastic change; it was the one who longed there way longer than you did.

“Chan?”

He adverts his sight from the laptop before him towards you, a honey-like smile painted softly on his face. “Already awake?” You nod, trembling a little. “Looking for a midnight snack?”

As if in a split second, everything diverted. A warm mug of milk is placed before you, the sweet steam puffing on your rosy nose. Chan sits in front of you, watching you take a small sip before flinching because it was too hot for your lips to handle.

He chuckles. “What’s kept you up? Did you forget to work your thesis again?”

You groan a quick “don’t remind me” as he laughs slightly, like a soft, puff of cloud. Your face flushes, he still remembers your unhealthy habit of sleeping early and forgetting to do the tasks you were supposed to turn in the next day. “Hey, at least  don’t spend all-nighters for work that i could’ve done any other time.” You blurt. The boy clicks his tongue, sipping from his own cup.

“Touché.”

You drop a sugar cube into your cup, splattering a little bit of your milk on the marble table. “I-it’s just that, I slept a bit early. Thus I woke up early.”

“Too early.” Chan adds, humming a tune as he shuts his computer down, walking towards the sink to wash a familiar ceramic cup you bought for him for his birthday long ago. 

You tug on your gray sweater, feeling uneasy on your seat. You didn’t even remember sleeping on that day and all of a sudden, you’re all sweating and nearly screaming on your bedside. Sometimes you confuse yourself, what drove you so mad? What woke you up?

What the hell happened that day?

Chan sits beside you, resting his head on yours softly, his fingers playing with the strands of your hair. Your train of thoughts break down as you feel the heat from him. “Are you really okay?”

You nod assuringly, surprised by the sudden affection. “Trust me, Channie, I’m fine.”

The boy gazes at you, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips as he tucks the strands of hair on your face behind your ear. “You don’t need to lie.” He murmurs. “I know you’re not fine.”

Sometimes, you question yourself; What on earth did you do to deserve Chan? You don’t like lying to him, knowing that he will find out at the end and triple him inside the guilt makes you feel even shittier. As silence reincorporates between the two of you, he continues on humming a small tune, wrapping his arms around your shoulder. You couldn’t do anything but embrace the warmth he gave you, until you feel a trickle of heated drops that spilled from your eyes.

“Love? What’s wrong?” You sob silently, hiding your face with your hands. Your eyes blur from the warm tears, breaking you apart immensely. Chan whispers softly at you, the heat of his breath fanning across your face. “Baby, please don’t cry.” You couldn’t help it, the tears just decided to lurk between your sockets and fall for everyone to see, for Chan to see.

“Please tell me what’s wrong.” He says, his voice melting in your head as you tried to hold back the tears. Your nose turned red and your face dusted into a light rose, your eyes swelling and still covered in tears.

Chan covers you with a long hug, his head resting on the nape of your neck. “I knew you weren’t okay.” He mumbles, making flowers bloom inside your stomach. “You know you could’ve told me.” You tried to catch a breath and calm yourself down. You were just confused with yourself. Asking yourself questions that you can’t answer. Why did you cry? Why now? “Do you want to tell me?” Chan holds you hand reassuringly, still enveloping you with warmth.

You nod slowly. Mustering a bit of courage to speak up your mind. “It’s the nightmares that won’t go away.” You whisper, nearly choking on your words. “You were there and then–” you sniffed, your nose puffing heavily. “–suddenly you were gone.”

The pain rides up your throat, making you choke out the words. “I miss you, chan.”

Chan grips tighter on your hand, you were afraid of making eye contact with him – but you can feel the subtle gleam his eyes on you, only on you. “From what I know, dreams are supposed to tell you something that you need to know. Something that you’ll have to face in the future. It’s supposed to help you overcome whatever it is waiting for you.”

He slowly interlaces your fingers with his, his other hand playing with your tousled hair softly.

“You have to be ready to face it. And whatever happens, it’s for the best,” he says, wiping a small tear from your cheek - replacing it with a warm kiss. “I know you can face it.” You felt like you were about to melt in his small peck.

You want to stay in his embrace.

Chan insisted on accompanying you in bed, enveloping you in his warmth and scent. You know that in the end, you have to sleep again so the morning will come quicker. The clock ticks slower each minute and you couldn’t wait to see the sunshine fall from your curtains. God, how you wished it was morning already. 

The boy wraps your frame with his arms, holding you close and giving you comfort. You look out of the peak of your curtains, showing a little drape of the moonlight. The sky painted a somber blue canvas, swirls of light gray covered the stars, yet the full moon shone brighter than any other.

“Hey, do you know what this type of night is called?” You shook your head idly, turning to chan as his warm breath brushed your face. “There’s a small peak of light below the horizon, signing that it’s almost morning.”

It was true, you could see a leak of light showing from below the houses, buildings, and hills; fissuring the dark skies into a soft mix of lavender and violet - you couldn’t really tell. “I see it.” You mumble sleepily. “It’s called a twilight, right?”

Chan didn’t respond for a second, leaving you to stare at the beautiful canvas of colors outside your window. “I want to spend more nights with you.” He whispers, pecking your lips for the last time that night.

You smile at his words, “Me too.” You whisper, feeling your eyes dim down into the darkness of your room. The last thing you saw was Chan’s weary smile, his messy disheveled hair and the twilight that accompanied the two of you.

The bright sunshine hit the tip of your face, a warm heat burns your face slowly.

Your eyes opened slightly, still puffed as it was the other day. Your clock ticked, showing the time. Wearily, you turned to your side. A crumpled blanket and messy pillows, you exhale your breath slowly, sitting on the bedside.

The feeling lingered in you, dreams and thoughts from last night longed inside your head. It felt like something was missing.

He was missing.

“It was just a dream,” You tell yourself, pondering back and forth in your room. You look outside your window, the twilight was long gone. “Nothing more than a dream.” You whisper, trembling. It didn’t feel like a dream. But it had to be.

You walk out of the door towards the kitchen, starting your coffee machine and groaning to the loud noise from the mechanism. You hated this feeling first thing in the morning.

You sat on the island impatiently, holding onto a random mug you pulled from the cupboard. Chan’s mug, you remind yourself. You stare at it for a while, the memories recoil and rewind in your head like old records.

The tears roll from your cheek, but you didn’t let out a single sob. “Why?” You ask yourself blankly, confused about your own thoughts. “Why you?” You just don’t get why fate keeps on playing with your run-down house of emotions. His warm fingers, his soft voice, you miss all of it.

You’re only a fool. A fool that still thinks that he’s still there when you’re alone. A fool that refuses to believe that he’s not there anymore. 

“I miss you, Chan.” You say, hoping that wherever he is - he would listen. “I still do.”

And you finally woke up. Remembering that he was never there. Even the shooting stars that litter the night skies will never bring him back, all of the different shades of blue could never paint a smile as beautiful as his, not even the moon’s frequency that resembles his tone. All that’s left is a twilight that never fails to remind you of him.

[poipoipoi-2016]

Since Google Plus is going away,  I’m going to back up Steve Yegge’s platform rant.  And confirm the opening paragraph.  

One thing that struck me immediately about the two companies -- an impression that has been reinforced almost daily -- is that Amazon does everything wrong, and Google does everything right.  Sure, it's a sweeping generalization, but a surprisingly accurate one.  It's pretty crazy.  There are probably a hundred or even two hundred different ways you can compare the two companies, and Google is superior in all but three of them, if I recall correctly.

Looooooong text below the cut

Stevey's Google Platforms Rant I was at Amazon for about six and a half years, and now I've been at Google for that long.  One thing that struck me immediately about the two companies -- an impression that has been reinforced almost daily -- is that Amazon does everything wrong, and Google does everything right.  Sure, it's a sweeping generalization, but a surprisingly accurate one.  It's pretty crazy.  There are probably a hundred or even two hundred different ways you can compare the two companies, and Google is superior in all but three of them, if I recall correctly.  I actually did a spreadsheet at one point but Legal wouldn't let me show it to anyone, even though recruiting loved it. I mean, just to give you a very brief taste:  Amazon's recruiting process is fundamentally flawed by having teams hire for themselves, so their hiring bar is incredibly inconsistent across teams, despite various efforts they've made to level it out.  And their operations are a mess; they don't really have SREs and they make engineers pretty much do everything, which leaves almost no time for coding - though again this varies by group, so it's luck of the draw.  They don't give a single shit about charity or helping the needy or community contributions or anything like that.  Never comes up there, except maybe to laugh about it.  Their facilities are dirt-smeared cube farms without a dime spent on decor or common meeting areas.  Their pay and benefits suck, although much less so lately due to local competition from Google and Facebook.  But they don't have any of our perks or extras -- they just try to match the offer-letter numbers, and that's the end of it.  Their code base is a disaster, with no engineering standards whatsoever except what individual teams choose to put in place. To be fair, they do have a nice versioned-library system that we really ought to emulate, and a nice publish-subscribe system that we also have no equivalent for.  But for the most part they just have a bunch of crappy tools that read and write state machine information into relational databases.  We wouldn't take most of it even if it were free. I think the pubsub system and their library-shelf system were two out of the grand total of three things Amazon does better than google. I guess you could make an argument that their bias for launching early and iterating like mad is also something they do well, but you can argue it either way.  They prioritize launching early over everything else, including retention and engineering discipline and a bunch of other stuff that turns out to matter in the long run.  So even though it's given them some competitive advantages in the marketplace, it's created enough other problems to make it something less than a slam-dunk. But there's one thing they do really really well that pretty much makes up for ALL of their political, philosophical and technical screw-ups. Jeff Bezos is an infamous micro-manager.  He micro-manages every single pixel of Amazon's retail site.  He hired Larry Tesler, Apple's Chief Scientist and probably the very most famous and respected human-computer interaction expert in the entire world, and then ignored every goddamn thing Larry said for three years until Larry finally -- wisely -- left the company.  Larry would do these big usability studies and demonstrate beyond any shred of doubt that nobody can understand that frigging website, but Bezos just couldn't let go of those pixels, all those millions of semantics-packed pixels on the landing page.  They were like millions of his own precious children.  So they're all still there, and Larry is not. Micro-managing isn't that third thing that Amazon does better than us, by the way.  I mean, yeah, they micro-manage really well, but I wouldn't list it as a strength or anything.  I'm just trying to set the context here, to help you understand what happened.  We're talking about a guy who in all seriousness has said on many public occasions that people should be paying him to work at Amazon.  He hands out little yellow stickies with his name on them, reminding people "who runs the company" when they disagree with him.  The guy is a regular... well, Steve Jobs, I guess.  Except without the fashion or design sense.  Bezos is super smart; don't get me wrong.  He just makes ordinary control freaks look like stoned hippies. So one day Jeff Bezos issued a mandate.  He's doing that all the time, of course, and people scramble like ants being pounded with a rubber mallet whenever it happens. But on one occasion -- back around 2002 I think, plus or minus a year -- he issued a mandate that was so out there, so huge and eye-bulgingly ponderous, that it made all of his other mandates look like unsolicited peer bonuses. His Big Mandate went something along these lines:  1) All teams will henceforth expose their data and functionality through service interfaces.  2) Teams must communicate with each other through these interfaces.  3) There will be no other form of interprocess communication allowed:  no direct linking, no direct reads of another team's data store, no shared-memory model, no back-doors whatsoever.  The only communication allowed is via service interface calls over the network.  4) It doesn't matter what technology they use.  HTTP, Corba, Pubsub, custom protocols -- doesn't matter.  Bezos doesn't care.  5) All service interfaces, without exception, must be designed from the ground up to be externalizable.  That is to say, the team must plan and design to be able to expose the interface to developers in the outside world.  No exceptions.  6) Anyone who doesn't do this will be fired.  7) Thank you; have a nice day! Ha, ha!  You 150-odd ex-Amazon folks here will of course realize immediately that #7 was a little joke I threw in, because Bezos most definitely does not give a shit about your day. #6, however, was quite real, so people went to work.  Bezos assigned a couple of Chief Bulldogs to oversee the effort and ensure forward progress, headed up by Uber-Chief Bear Bulldog Rick Dalzell.  Rick is an ex-Armgy Ranger, West Point Academy graduate, ex-boxer, ex-Chief Torturer slash CIO at Wal*Mart, and is a big genial scary man who used the word "hardened interface" a lot.  Rick was a walking, talking hardened interface himself, so needless to say, everyone made LOTS of forward progress and made sure Rick knew about it. Over the next couple of years, Amazon transformed internally into a service-oriented architecture.  They learned a tremendous amount while effecting this transformation.  There was lots of existing documentation and lore about SOAs, but at Amazon's vast scale it was about as useful as telling Indiana Jones to look both ways before crossing the street.  Amazon's dev staff made a lot of discoveries along the way.  A teeny tiny sampling of these discoveries included:  - pager escalation gets way harder, because a ticket might bounce through 20 service calls before the real owner is identified.  If each bounce goes through a team with a 15-minute response time, it can be hours before the right team finally finds out, unless you build a lot of scaffolding and metrics and reporting.  - every single one of your peer teams suddenly becomes a potential DOS attacker.  Nobody can make any real forward progress until very serious quotas and throttling are put in place in every single service.  - monitoring and QA are the same thing.  You'd never think so until you try doing a big SOA.  But when your service says "oh yes, I'm fine", it may well be the case that the only thing still functioning in the server is the little component that knows how to say "I'm fine, roger roger, over and out" in a cheery droid voice.  In order to tell whether the service is actually responding, you have to make individual calls.  The problem continues recursively until your monitoring is doing comprehensive semantics checking of your entire range of services and data, at which point it's indistinguishable from automated QA.  So they're a continuum.  - if you have hundreds of services, and your code MUST communicate with other groups' code via these services, then you won't be able to find any of them without a service-discovery mechanism.  And you can't have that without a service registration mechanism, which itself is another service.  So Amazon has a universal service registry where you can find out reflectively (programmatically) about every service, what its APIs are, and also whether it is currently up, and where.  - debugging problems with someone else's code gets a LOT harder, and is basically impossible unless there is a universal standard way to run every service in a debuggable sandbox. That's just a very small sample.  There are dozens, maybe hundreds of individual learnings like these that Amazon had to discover organically.  There were a lot of wacky ones around externalizing services, but not as many as you might think.  Organizing into services taught teams not to trust each other in most of the same ways they're not supposed to trust external developers. This effort was still underway when I left to join Google in mid-2005, but it was pretty far advanced.  From the time Bezos issued his edict through the time I left, Amazon had transformed culturally into a company that thinks about everything in a services-first fashion.  It is now fundamental to how they approach all designs, including internal designs for stuff that might never see the light of day externally. At this point they don't even do it out of fear of being fired.  I mean, they're still afraid of that; it's pretty much part of daily life there, working for the Dread Pirate Bezos and all.  But they do services because they've come to understand that it's the Right Thing.  There are without question pros and cons to the SOA approach, and some of the cons are pretty long.  But overall it's the right thing because SOA-driven design enables Platforms. That's what Bezos was up to with his edict, of course.  He didn't (and doesn't) care even a tiny bit about the well-being of the teams, nor about what technologies they use, nor in fact any detail whatsoever about how they go about their business unless they happen to be screwing up.  But Bezos realized long before the vast majority of Amazonians that Amazon needs to be a platform. You wouldn't really think that an online bookstore needs to be an extensible, programmable platform.  Would you? Well, the first big thing Bezos realized is that the infrastructure they'd built for selling and shipping books and sundry could be transformed an excellent repurposable computing platform.  So now they have the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, and the Amazon Elastic MapReduce, and the Amazon Relational Database Service, and a whole passel' o' other services browsable at aws.amazon.com.  These services host the backends for some pretty successful companies, reddit being my personal favorite of the bunch. The other big realization he had was that he can't always build the right thing.  I think Larry Tesler might have struck some kind of chord in Bezos when he said his mom couldn't use the goddamn website.  It's not even super clear whose mom he was talking about, and doesn't really matter, because nobody's mom can use the goddamn website.  In fact I myself find the website disturbingly daunting, and I worked there for over half a decade.  I've just learned to kinda defocus my eyes and concentrate on the million or so pixels near the center of the page above the fold. I'm not really sure how Bezos came to this realization -- the insight that he can't build one product and have it be right for everyone.  But it doesn't matter, because he gets it.  There's actually a formal name for this phenomenon.  It's called Accessibility, and it's the most important thing in the computing world. The. Most. Important. Thing. If you're sorta thinking, "huh?  You mean like, blind and deaf people Accessibility?" then you're not alone, because I've come to understand that there are lots and LOTS of people just like you:  people for whom this idea does not have the right Accessibility, so it hasn't been able to get through to you yet.  It's not your fault for not understanding, any more than it would be your fault for being blind or deaf or motion-restricted or living with any other disability.  When software -- or idea-ware for that matter -- fails to be accessible to anyone for any reason, it is the fault of the software or of the messaging of the idea.  It is an Accessibility failure. Like anything else big and important in life, Accessibility has an evil twin who, jilted by the unbalanced affection displayed by their parents in their youth, has grown into an equally powerful Arch-Nemesis (yes, there's more than one nemesis to accessibility) named Security.  And boy howdy are the two ever at odds. But I'll argue that Accessibility is actually more important than Security because dialing Accessibility to zero means you have no product at all, whereas dialing Security to zero can still get you a reasonably successful product such as the Playstation Network. So yeah.  In case you hadn't noticed, I could actually write a book on this topic.  A fat one, filled with amusing anecdotes about ants and rubber mallets at companies I've worked at.  But I will never get this little rant published, and you'll never get it read, unless I start to wrap up. That one last thing that Google doesn't do well is Platforms.  We don't understand platforms.  We don't "get" platforms.  Some of you do, but you are the minority.  This has become painfully clear to me over the past six years.  I was kind of hoping that competitive pressure from Microsoft and Amazon and more recently Facebook would make us wake up collectively and start doing universal services.  Not in some sort of ad-hoc, half-assed way, but in more or less the same way Amazon did it:  all at once, for real, no cheating, and treating it as our top priority from now on. But no.  No, it's like our tenth or eleventh priority.  Or fifteenth, I don't know.  It's pretty low.  There are a few teams who treat the idea very seriously, but most teams either don't think about it all, ever, or only a small percentage of them think about it in a very small way. It's a big stretch even to get most teams to offer a stubby service to get programmatic access to their data and computations.  Most of them think they're building products.  And a stubby service is a pretty pathetic service.  Go back and look at that partial list of learnings from Amazon, and tell me which ones Stubby gives you out of the box.  As far as I'm concerned, it's none of them.  Stubby's great, but it's like parts when you need a car. A product is useless without a platform, or more precisely and accurately, a platform-less product will always be replaced by an equivalent platform-ized product. Google+ is a prime example of our complete failure to understand platforms from the very highest levels of executive leadership (hi Larry, Sergey, Eric, Vic, howdy howdy) down to the very lowest leaf workers (hey yo).  We all don't get it.  The Golden Rule of platforms is that you Eat Your Own Dogfood.  The Google+ platform is a pathetic afterthought.  We had no API at all at launch, and last I checked, we had one measly API call.  One of the team members marched in and told me about it when they launched, and I asked:  "So is it the Stalker API?"  She got all glum and said "Yeah."  I mean, I was joking, but no... the only API call we offer is to get someone's stream.  So I guess the joke was on me. Microsoft has known about the Dogfood rule for at least twenty years.  It's been part of their culture for a whole generation now.  You don't eat People Food and give your developers Dog Food.  Doing that is simply robbing your long-term platform value for short-term successes.  Platforms are all about long-term thinking. Google+ is a knee-jerk reaction, a study in short-term thinking, predicated on the incorrect notion that Facebook is successful because they built a great product.  But that's not why they are successful.  Facebook is successful because they built an entire constellation of products by allowing other people to do the work.  So Facebook is different for everyone.  Some people spend all their time on Mafia Wars.  Some spend all their time on Farmville.  There are hundreds or maybe thousands of different high-quality time sinks available, so there's something there for everyone. Our Google+ team took a look at the aftermarket and said:  "Gosh, it looks like we need some games.  Let's go contract someone to, um, write some games for us."  Do you begin to see how incredibly wrong that thinking is now?  The problem is that we are trying to predict what people want and deliver it for them. You can't do that.  Not really.  Not reliably.  There have been precious few people in the world, over the entire history of computing, who have been able to do it reliably.  Steve Jobs was one of them.  We don't have a Steve Jobs here.  I'm sorry, but we don't. Larry Tesler may have convinced Bezos that he was no Steve Jobs, but Bezos realized that he didn't need to be a Steve Jobs in order to provide everyone with the right products:  interfaces and workflows that they liked and felt at ease with.  He just needed to enable third-party developers to do it, and it would happen automatically. I apologize to those (many) of you for whom all this stuff I'm saying is incredibly obvious, because yeah.  It's incredibly frigging obvious.  Except we're not doing it.  We don't get Platforms, and we don't get Accessibility.  The two are basically the same thing, because platforms solve accessibility.  A platform is accessibility. So yeah, Microsoft gets it.  And you know as well as I do how surprising that is, because they don't "get" much of anything, really.  But they understand platforms as a purely accidental outgrowth of having started life in the business of providing platforms.  So they have thirty-plus years of learning in this space.  And if you go to msdn.com, and spend some time browsing, and you've never seen it before, prepare to be amazed.  Because it's staggeringly huge.  They have thousands, and thousands, and THOUSANDS of API calls.  They have a HUGE platform.  Too big in fact, because they can't design for squat, but at least they're doing it. Amazon gets it.  Amazon's AWS (aws.amazon.com) is incredible.  Just go look at it.  Click around.  It's embarrassing.  We don't have any of that stuff. Apple gets it, obviously.  They've made some fundamentally non-open choices, particularly around their mobile platform.  But they understand accessibility and they understand the power of third-party development and they eat their dogfood.  And you know what?  They make pretty good dogfood.  Their APIs are a hell of a lot cleaner than Microsoft's, and have been since time immemorial. Facebook gets it.  That's what really worries me.  That's what got me off my lazy butt to write this thing.  I hate blogging.  I hate... plussing, or whatever it's called when you do a massive rant in Google+ even though it's a terrible venue for it but you do it anyway because in the end you really do want Google to be successful.  And I do!  I mean, Facebook wants me there, and it'd be pretty easy to just go.  But Google is home, so I'm insisting that we have this little family intervention, uncomfortable as it might be. After you've marveled at the platform offerings of Microsoft and Amazon, and Facebook I guess (I didn't look because I didn't want to get too depressed), head over to developers.google.com and browse a little.  Pretty big difference, eh?  It's like what your fifth-grade nephew might mock up if he were doing an assignment to demonstrate what a big powerful platform company might be building if all they had, resource-wise, was one fifth grader. Please don't get me wrong here -- I know for a fact that the dev-rel team has had to FIGHT to get even this much available externally.  They're kicking ass as far as I'm concerned, because they DO get platforms, and they are struggling heroically to try to create one in an environment that is at best platform-apathetic, and at worst often openly hostile to the idea. I'm just frankly describing what developers.google.com looks like to an outsider.  It looks childish.  Where's the Maps APIs in there for Christ's sake?  Some of the things in there are labs projects.  And the APIs for everything I clicked were... they were paltry.  They were obviously dog food.  Not even good organic stuff.  Compared to our internal APIs it's all snouts and horse hooves. And also don't get me wrong about Google+.  They're far from the only offenders.  This is a cultural thing.  What we have going on internally is basically a war, with the underdog minority Platformers fighting a more or less losing battle against the Mighty Funded Confident Producters. Any teams that have successfully internalized the notion that they should be externally programmable platforms from the ground up are underdogs -- Maps and Docs come to mind, and I know GMail is making overtures in that direction.  But it's hard for them to get funding for it because it's not part of our culture.  Maestro's funding is a feeble thing compared to the gargantuan Microsoft Office programming platform:  it's a fluffy rabbit versus a T-Rex.  The Docs team knows they'll never be competitive with Office until they can match its scripting facilities, but they're not getting any resource love.  I mean, I assume they're not, given that Apps Script only works in Spreadsheet right now, and it doesn't even have keyboard shortcuts as part of its API.  That team looks pretty unloved to me. Ironically enough, Wave was a great platform, may they rest in peace.  But making something a platform is not going to make you an instant success.  A platform needs a killer app.  Facebook -- that is, the stock service they offer with walls and friends and such -- is the killer app for the Facebook Platform.  And it is a very serious mistake to conclude that the Facebook App could have been anywhere near as successful without the Facebook Platform. You know how people are always saying Google is arrogant?  I'm a Googler, so I get as irritated as you do when people say that.  We're not arrogant, by and large.  We're, like, 99% Arrogance-Free.  I did start this post -- if you'll reach back into distant memory -- by describing Google as "doing everything right".  We do mean well, and for the most part when people say we're arrogant it's because we didn't hire them, or they're unhappy with our policies, or something along those lines.  They're inferring arrogance because it makes them feel better. But when we take the stance that we know how to design the perfect product for everyone, and believe you me, I hear that a lot, then we're being fools.  You can attribute it to arrogance, or naivete, or whatever -- it doesn't matter in the end, because it's foolishness.  There IS no perfect product for everyone. And so we wind up with a browser that doesn't let you set the default font size.  Talk about an affront to Accessibility.  I mean, as I get older I'm actually going blind.  For real.  I've been nearsighted all my life, and once you hit 40 years old you stop being able to see things up close.  So font selection becomes this life-or-death thing:  it can lock you out of the product completely.  But the Chrome team is flat-out arrogant here:  they want to build a zero-configuration product, and they're quite brazen about it, and Fuck You if you're blind or deaf or whatever.  Hit Ctrl-+ on every single page visit for the rest of your life. It's not just them.  It's everyone.  The problem is that we're a Product Company through and through.  We built a successful product with broad appeal -- our search, that is -- and that wild success has biased us. Amazon was a product company too, so it took an out-of-band force to make Bezos understand the need for a platform.  That force was their evaporating margins; he was cornered and had to think of a way out.  But all he had was a bunch of engineers and all these computers... if only they could be monetized somehow... you can see how he arrived at AWS, in hindsight. Microsoft started out as a platform, so they've just had lots of practice at it. Facebook, though:  they worry me.  I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they started off as a Product and they rode that success pretty far.  So I'm not sure exactly how they made the transition to a platform.  It was a relatively long time ago, since they had to be a platform before (now very old) things like Mafia Wars could come along. Maybe they just looked at us and asked:  "How can we beat Google?  What are they missing?" The problem we face is pretty huge, because it will take a dramatic cultural change in order for us to start catching up.  We don't do internal service-oriented platforms, and we just as equally don't do external ones.  This means that the "not getting it" is endemic across the company:  the PMs don't get it, the engineers don't get it, the product teams don't get it, nobody gets it.  Even if individuals do, even if YOU do, it doesn't matter one bit unless we're treating it as an all-hands-on-deck emergency.  We can't keep launching products and pretending we'll turn them into magical beautiful extensible platforms later.  We've tried that and it's not working. The Golden Rule of Platforms, "Eat Your Own Dogfood", can be rephrased as "Start with a Platform, and Then Use it for Everything."  You can't just bolt it on later.  Certainly not easily at any rate -- ask anyone who worked on platformizing MS Office.  Or anyone who worked on platformizing Amazon.  If you delay it, it'll be ten times as much work as just doing it correctly up front.  You can't cheat.  You can't have secret back doors for internal apps to get special priority access, not for ANY reason.  You need to solve the hard problems up front. I'm not saying it's too late for us, but the longer we wait, the closer we get to being Too Late. I honestly don't know how to wrap this up.  I've said pretty much everything I came here to say today.  This post has been six years in the making.  I'm sorry if I wasn't gentle enough, or if I misrepresented some product or team or person, or if we're actually doing LOTS of platform stuff and it just so happens that I and everyone I ever talk to has just never heard about it.  I'm sorry. But we've gotta start doing this right.

[kazjester]

This is part of a series I want to try called “Work Sucks: Short Stories”

Gayle finds a strange mechanical cube he has no idea how to open.   Unluckily for him, Kaz is there to help!  My first story in a long while, and the start of what I hope to be an occasional thing:  short stories that take place in the Work Sucks canon, featuring encounters with monsters and devices I won't have the time/energy to put into comic form, but can better flesh out in the written word! Most of these stories won't impact the overall story of the comic outside some side character moments.  They're meant to be stuff I wish I could draw out on multiple pages but know I won't have the time to really get to.  They're going to be a bit more fetish focused than the comic itself, which already is a ton focused on that stuff, and I'll do my best to label them appropriately so readers can get an idea of what they'll get into.                     

Read the full story after the break.  Feedback welcome on ways that I can format or make the story more enjoyable!

[Content-warning:  vacuum peril, brief soft vore]

- Work Sucks: Side Story – The Paperweight –

         Gayle stared at the box for longer than he needed to, sitting cross legged and contemplative.  I'm wasting a lot of time thinking about what I already know will happen if I attempt to open this box, he thought, but continued to sit there and zone out.

         I'm okay with this.

         It was a slow day, much slower than usual.  There was no morning encounter with one of Terra's monsters, no surprise emergencies caused by Kaz, and no sudden encounters with Socks.  Only the piles of junk Zeppy had scarfed up surrounded Gayle and kept him company.  Just another day on the job with a gadget or two to fix up, and then, this box.  A box with no buttons.

         Certainly Gayle was no stranger to devices like these.  Press a button on a weird looking cylinder, and get sucked into the tornado it spawns.  Toss a little sphere at someone (or drop it on his own foot, as Gayle had) and they get sucked right into it.  Gayle knew he was going to end up in this stupid little box, and for now he puzzled over how that may happen.

         There were hardly any patterns on this thing, nor any places to jam a screwdriver or two (his favorite method of “fixing” something). Gayle wondered if it was some sort of vortex weaponry, or maybe even a travel device.  At this point in his career, Gayle didn't put it past the box to open some sort of hell dimension if he just dripped a little of his blood on it.

         The box was smooth on the corners.  The color of it was a shiny pearl, with two circles, one on each opposing side, a darker shade and slightly raised up, but not buttons themselves.  Despite Gayle's curiosity there was only one thing he didn't try.  It was the end of the day and the last thing he wanted to find out the hard way was...

         “HEY Gayle!” Kaz blurted out, having snuck up right behind the rabbit.

         Kaz watched in awe as Gayle jumped right up in pure shock.  Legs locked, Gayle's feet planted firmly in the squishy floor, while his hands fumbled and launched the cube straight up.  Without even a glance at the box, both arms swung forward and clasped tightly to it, each palm pressing into a circle.

         Gayle was ready for death as some sort of tingling feeling shot through his body, starting at his palms and ending in his soles.  His whole body felt numb for just one moment, and for that moment, a sudden peace overcame Gayle as he closed his eyes and thought, Finally... free, as I always imagined I would be.  Killed by Kaz.

         Then Kaz patted him in the back, shocking him back to his body and he fumbled with the box yet again, glaring at the purple lion while settling down. Three beeps came from the box but Gayle hadn't cared to notice.

         “Quitting time!” Kaz smiled, as awkward as ever, and then eyed the box, “Oooo, what's that?  Can we sell it?”

         Gayle shrugged, tossing his boss the unknown device, “It's a paperweight.  Night, Kaz.”  The rabbit shook out his arms and legs to get the rest of that feeling out of his body, and trotted off as Kaz perplexed over what he had said.  Various swears filled the air as Gayle stumbled into another pile of junk.  Kaz kept his focus on his new toy.

         Kaz' eyes lit up.  “A paperweight, how genius!” he exclaimed and ran back to his office for the night.

–

         Kaz stared, as intensely as Gayle was earlier, at his fancy new paperweight.  It made total sense, with how much his chair snored, to keep his files held down out in the open instead of safely in a desk drawer, or the shelves behind him in his office.  That way, people could see the insurance papers Kaz continually procrastinated on for his employees, and think he was doing a real hard job filling them out.

         ~BEEP~

         It had done this once every few moments or so at first, but then, coincidentally as Gayle had fled further and further away from work, it had slowed down quite a bit.  Even so, it was even more annoying being spread out as much as it was, and Kaz didn't think any amount of paper weighting was worth the occasional startle.  Kaz startled easily.

         “How am I supposed to get any sleep tonight if that keeps beeping?” Kaz pondered to himself and his chair, who kept trying to wrap its flippers around him for bedtime.  Kaz was too busy leaning forward and fiddling with the box.  Out of options, Kaz smacked it.

         “Oh!” Kaz smiled.  On top of the cube a little button popped up.  It must have been stuck or something, and without a second's thought Kaz' pudgy fingertip pushed down on it.  It beeped loudly for five seconds, annoying both Kaz and the chair until it completely ceased.

         The box rumbled next, for just a moment, before the box tipped over on its back, and on the front a new circle opened.  A jet black hole, accompanied by a slight whooshing sound of air rushing into the front.

         Kaz, chair, and the interior of Zeppy were fine.  Kaz shrugged and finally sunk into the belly of his greatest companion, ready for bed with a comforted look on his face.  “Wonderful,” he yawned, “It triples as a white noise machine and dehumidifier!”  Kaz, and his best chair in the world, started snoozing.

–

         Gayle tossed and turned in his bed, continually wrapping himself in his sheets as he failed at falling asleep.  Why did I even bother to try and get to bed this early, he thought to himself as he grabbed his phone, reminding himself of the message Terra left.  Oh yeah.  In the morning they were going to get breakfast from a new joint that just opened up last week.

         >:| i can'f fall asleep : he texted to his coworker, who must have been fast asleep herself.  The prospect of berry pancakes did encourage him to keep trying.  If all else failed, every respectable breakfast bar had unlimited coffee to drink.

         It's just stuffy in here.  Gayle tossed the covers aside and stood up, wearing his cozy pajama-like jumpsuit, which was as comfortable as it was bright pink.  It almost glowed a little in the moonlight.  Socks made it for him, and he wasn't shy about telling them how cute it was.

         Gayle approached the window, realizing it was unusually bright out for being the dead of night.  Clade must have flown too close to a new moon, which beat always flying too close to another sun.  It was nice outside, and he only had to leave the window open a slight crack to fill the room with the chilled air.

         He was certain he'd get comfortable now, but somehow it eluded him after tucking himself under the covers.  Like a stomach sickness stirring within him, a feeling crept outward through his body.  He tried ignoring but it wasn't doing him any favors.  Gayle shot up into a sitting position on his bed, almost feeling himself tumble out of it onto the cluttered floor.

         I better not be getting sick.  I don't feel like throwing up...

         Like waves from a shore the feeling came and went.  At first it was slight.  Each time it intensified Gayle felt compelled to move off the edge of his bed.  It really did feel like a tide had yanked at him.  At first he'd feel just his fur getting tugged at, and other times he almost slid completely off.  The strangest moment came when his legs just lifted up in front of him, as if something was pulling up his paws until he could drop them back down.

         Gayle then sighed.  He remembered this feeling from earlier today, when he grabbed the box.  His ears were now waving in front of his face, hair motioning like he was caught in a current underwater.  Maybe it would pass.  Gayle frowned, this better pass...

         The knew better. It wasn't going to pass.  Too tired to actually sigh, he mentally did.

         With feet firmly planted Gayle stood straight up.  This wasn't by choice.  Gayle had meant to just push against the tugging feeling but instead it helped tip him forward and out of bed.  That pit in his stomach was tighter now, a dark matter wanting to move far away somewhere.  That “somewhere” is what troubled Gayle the most.

         He struggled to sit back down and even barely brushed his bushy tail against the bed before it was pulled away. ��Lifting up his arms, which took more effort than he expected, he noticed his pajama cuffs and fur on his hands fluttering about like they were in a breeze.

         His arms shot out as if something grabbed them, and he struggled even more to pull them back and regain control.  Toes firmly planted, his hips fought against him just as hard.  Then it was one leg, and then the other. Finally that feeling claimed his entire body and a sort of weightlessness took hold.

         His instinct guided him to reach out for the covers and grasp tight.  His paws slid back as far as they could without lifting up, and any slack on the covers pulled tight.    He dug his toes in, as animal-kin do when they're being sucked toward something, attempting to climb along the covers back to his bed.

         Gayle could finally hear it, a faint whirring noise filling his ears as the pull strengthened.  It couldn't be.  What was sucking him in?  Everything in the room was still as night.  His monster plushes, the clothing strewn about, and the random bits of electronics he toyed with all were secure.

         His paws scraped the floor with their toe-tips as his heels lifted up into the air. Legs were locked in, floating behind him toward the window. Something had to be outside, pulling at him, but nothing was there, and the window remained barely cracked.

         Gayle swayed from side to side.  The feeling in his body intensified but the room remained eerily quiet, outside of the gentle whirring in his mind he wasn't even sure was real.  Maybe he had fallen asleep.  Maybe this was just another dumb dream in a sea of bad dreams Gayle always had. At least this one wasn't about work.  With déjà vu overcoming him as much as this force, he could have sworn he once had a dream exactly like this.

         Gayle remained puzzled as he kept hold of his covers, and continued to after they ripped from under his bed.  They dragged along the ground, unaffected by whatever force had grabbed Gayle, and while he fell to the floor, slowly, being dragged along himself by that force, nothing else in the room was dragging along with.

         His body floated up and plopped against the wall with the window, letting him sink into the rubbery surface.  From outside the apartment a stranger looked up at his window and the impression of a noodly rabbit pushed out from within.  All of his clothing and fur fluttered toward the opening in the window.  Just like a movie he saw once about space travelers seeing if they could get some fresh air outside.

         It ended badly for them.

         That stupid box!  It was the most obvious conclusion to make.  It must have altered his body so that even the slightest breeze could lift him up. Pressure differences from outside were known to suck people out of their homes without any warning, so if that box had changed the make-up of Gayle's body, this slight opening was enough to sweep him up and out.

         Gayle shifted around, still sucked against the wall and trying to not get himself pinched when he finally made his move.  It took a lot of effort, more than he wanted to spend, to get his arms up high enough but when he did, and shut that window, he collapsed right on the floor.

         The stranger outside shrugged and moved on.  The distraction was enough for a monster to catch up to him and launched its blobbish body, maw agape, at its target.

         “That... was dumb,” Gayle huffed while trying to get a sense of balance again. It wasn't coming back.  The pit in his stomach was still there.  The sense of weightlessness and the tide of the atmosphere remained.  His body was confused and began sliding in random directions.  He'd lift up and fall gently down, then suddenly jolt to the side.  Gayle would slide around the room toward his door, as if this force was still trying to find an exit, and then he slid back to the window again after bouncing right into it.

         Gayle attempted to get up.  His bare feet squished down into the floor but couldn't get a proper purchase, hands grasping and pushing into the rubbery surfaces of the apartment as he tumbled around.  Gayle realized he didn't know what “up” was at the moment, dumbfounded as he glanced at his bed on that... wall?

         At this point Gayle finally got his bearings as he realized he was tumbling along the wall of his apartment.  Various shouts could be heard muffled by the wall from his neighbor.  He wasn't sure what he knocked off but a crash followed by more expletives tuned him in to the chaos. Something paddled against his butt from beyond the wall.  Soon there was a ring and shouting coming from his door.

         “Sorry!” Gayle exclaimed.  He liked this neighbor for once and regretted that this may be the first time he was causing trouble for them.  The door being locked snuffed out any chance of them coming in to yell at and/or rescue him.

         Better call Terra, the rabbit's next thought was as he slid closer to his bed and nightstand.  Gayle was so disoriented, and so upset with his current situation, he wasn't paying any attention to where he was currently sliding.   After a swipe or two for his phone, and a final miss knocking it down between the nightstand and his bed, Gayle saw the open vent he was being pulled towards in the corner of his eye.

         Vent covers weren't a common thing in building design.  Vents, taking after the organic design philosophies of most architects, looking to emulate how organic and living the rest of the world was, were more like, appropriately, throat holes.

         With all of his fur and clothing fluttering in the direction of the vent, Gayle clawed as much as he could to the walls of his apartment, in any hope he'd find something to cling to.  Buildings, as squishy as they were, were pretty useless to hang onto, as much as they would be if they were just as solid.

         Gayle rolled onto his back, just in time for his calves to slip down the opening of the vent.  He straightened up as his thighs slurped right in, and laughed at how quickly he prepared himself for it.  This was work instinct kicking in, the amount of small passages that took him all over Zeppy were just as embarrassingly tight as this silly vent was.

         His torso quickly disappearing into the wall, Gayle spaced out his arms as far as he could.  It gave him a few moments of resistance, though hardly any time to catch his breath.  If anything the force was trying even harder to pull at him, Gayle could see as the entire area around the vent dipped inward.

         The rabbit's arms gave out and slipped in, easily.  With the space around the vent still sucked in a couple sets of furry fingers clung to the rim, one by one slipping off until the hands slid entirely into the vents airway.  From Gayle's perspective, the little bits of his room he could see quickly vanished as the “throat-hole” of the vent closed up and took him quite deep.

         While the tight air duct conformed around Gayle with every passing second, he thought about the only other time he almost got sucked into one of these. The apartment's air conditioning malfunctioned and reversed, sucking in multiple residents.  Gayle was pretty used to finding a place to hang onto, but was giddy he managed to snag a copy of some of the security footage that night, thanks to his apartment's bad router security.

         It felt like FOREVER being pulled through the venting in the walls.  Soon the rabbit plopped down into the main hallway on the first floor.  The janitor was there, tapping a paw right by Gayle's snout as he collapsed on the ground.  The basset hound stood there in light blue overalls, his eyes piercing uncomfortably into Gayle.

         Gayle felt lively enough to get to his own feet.  Better a vent than a monster's throat, and even gave him time to relax on his way down.  This was the first floor of the U-shaped apartment building, and while Gayle was glad to be on solid ground again, he wasn't quite sure why he was so forcefully brought down here.

         The janitor grumbled, provoking a response from Gayle, “I know you may have some questions,” he started, “but boy am I glad to see you. How'd you know where I was... whoa!”  He stumbled in a different direction, first being pulled back so hard against the hall's walls he felt like he was going to sink deep into them.

         The janitor growled, “Half this building knows where the hell you were.  The way you were hollering the entire time playing in the walls?  You know there's a door, right?  Were you locked in?  You could have just called and spared me the complaints!”

         Gayle nodded respectfully as his plopped off of the wall and stumbled around with the numbness teasing at his entire body.  “Sorry,” he hesitated, “Whatever's going on right now is kinda confusing so could I please just get back to my room?”

         The hound leaned into Gayle, keeping him from moving around with a well placed elbow. “How about instead you tell me what this 'whatever' is so I can decided if I have to call the MCP or not?” he barked, releasing Gayle from his elbow lock.

         Gayle almost tripped right into the janitor but they just stepped aside, letting him fall to the ground and slide away.  This guy was familiar with Gayle, after all, and knew of the little gadgets he'd make as well as the side affects they'd cause.  So watching a rabbit tumble randomly across the floor, grab onto a sofa, lift his paws straight up into the air, twirl around, and then just land on his own two feet like nothing happened was just another day to the hound.

         “Never-mind, you're just a danger to yourself, aren't ya?”

         The janitor shrugged and begun padding off.  He paid no further attention to the confusing rabbit and made his way to a side door in the halls.  He pushed open the door and glanced around at the little alcove where the walkway to his break area led.

         To Gayle, it might as well have been like swinging open an airlock.  The moment a clear path to the outside had been open every bit of fur and clothing on Gayle flapped as if he'd had stepped into a wind tunnel.  He should have braced himself against the sofa when he saw the janitor taking his leave, but instead his fingers could only hang onto the plush chair for a short while before slipping off.

         He swung his arms around like a madman trying to find anything to hang onto.  Like sliding through oil his paws slipped quick easily across the floor before lifting right into the air.  This force didn't want him to have a single chance to grab onto anything and seemed to be aiming him in a straight line to whatever led outside first.  The janitor coming in for the night and propping open the door must have been what pulled him through the ducts in the first place, and now that it was opened again there was nothing keeping him from being sucked out.

         Thankfully the janitor was right there by the wide-open door, and pudgy enough for Gayle to get a pretty solid grip on.  “Close it close it close it!” the rabbit panicked, swinging around and outside into the alcove as he anchored to the basset hound.  Gayle flapped around like a ribbon caught in a breeze.  His hold on the hound was the only thing from keeping him from entering the atmosphere, or so Gayle feared.

         “What the heck are you...”

         Gayle interrupted, “Listen okay I have no clue where this wants to take me but we're almost outside and I really don't want to find out and...”  He stopped as he realized he was dragging the hound along with him.  His own legs were wildly kicking about in the air, paws swinging all over, and the suction force only got stronger now that he was fully outside.

         The janitor's own heels slid along the ground, with gravity still on his side and keeping him from taking flight.  Unfortunately they dug in quite well as they scrapped along the janitor's own personal garden.  Flowers and well-tilled veggies kicked up as Gayle dragged him right through the middle of it.  Eyes locked to his own, the janitor's teeth shone through the growing snarl.

         “I'm not sure what to...” Gayle could only get out before the hound reached up for his neck and held tight to his collar, “Okay I see your upset but this is way out of my...”  The janitor's growl deepened.

         They slid through a small parking area for bikes and scooters behind the apartments.  The janitor hooked up against a bike rack and dug his paws under a bar, adding, “You're going to pay for the garden, or else your other ear is going to get a matching scar.”

         Gayle scoffed, “Okay dude you're being a bit unreasonable.”  Gayle, clasping his hands to the hound's wrists as they reached for his neck, recalled the time he borrowed the janitor's shop vac for a work experiment, resulting in the janitor losing most of his office. Maybe he wasn't being too unreasonable, Gayle would have thought, until the hound just let him go.

         “WHAT the heck man!” Gayle shouted while flying back.  He grabbed to the handles of a nearby scooter, dragging it along instead, gritting his teeth to the uncomfortable sounds as it banged and clanged against other vehicles.

         “That's.  My. Scooter.” the janitor calmly informed him, a wave of murderous intent radiating out.  Gayle decided it was best to just give up and float away.  His lifetime friend did not give chase.

–

         Gayle huffed, just watching the city pass him by, ignoring the stares of the occasional night owl gawking in his direction.  Not... actual night owls.  Okay, maybe one or two.

         He had managed to get a grip on a rail here and there, but holding on was useless on his own.  His arms were tired enough already, and the sparse evening population did little to assist.  Most thought a monster attack was underway, hiding at the first site of a struggling animal-kin.  The MCP, as always, was useless.

         At least if this was a monster attack, it'd be over by now.  It was only a matter of time before he'd hit the walls of the city, and probably would go right up and over them.  He peered a distance away.  Naw, it was simpler than that.  A door to the outside was wide open and waiting for him.

         Suddenly, a hand reached up.  Then another.  Two pairs of pinkish-white claws held onto the rabbit, from a couple sitting on a park bench, underneath the combined light of the moon and a broken lamp.  A rat and mouse couple gave him a look he hardly knew.  They were concerned for him!

         “Dude are you okay?” the rat piped up, wearing a rather punk-styled jumpsuit. The nearby mouse wore a very similar one, but cut off (or appearing torn off) at the knees.  They each wore matching spiked collars, and matching piercings Gayle would die to have on their large pinkish ears.

         “Yeah,” the mouse whimpered, suddenly losing focus and becoming lost in their own narrative, “I read about this online!  I know of this technology, enough to snatch anyone off the streets when they get too... wise?”

         “No no guys I just need a little help hanging on.  I'm tired and got a little too caught up on work and...”

         “The man's got you, hasn't he?  You learned too much, so they turned on … the HARVESTER!?”

         “What!?” Gayle asked, perplexed by multiple things going on here.  The couple was hardly trying to help, his body pulled farther away as the mouse fell to his side and started laughing.  The rat wasn't even trying to keep his claws around Gayle, and was more likely... feeling the rabbit's arms?

         “Ah crap you two are high as hell, aren't you,” Gayle whimpered as he pulled them both off the bench.  The mouse hugged to his partner's legs, still laughing.  The rat joined in laughing and gave up completely, letting Gayle float on down the street.  Gayle watched on as the couple ignored him and started making out.

         Gayle just crossed his arms and soared feet-first through the open door, where the forest gladly accepted him.

–

         Gayle wished he get used to this.  Not the constant flight through the jungle, but the vines he was able to hang onto.  Multiple attempts were made to secure himself by tying the vines together and to the ground, but he could never quite reach the ground, and spent way too much energy just hanging on instead.

         The last vine broke, sending Gayle back on his journey with a bundle of vines in his arms.  He contemplated making a lasso out of them but that seemed like way too much work.  He found these moments of weightless soaring to be a good time to rest his arms, and ready up for another fruitless attempt later.

         It was pretty impressive the amount of times Gayle would just float by a tree without any hope to hang onto it.  Perhaps that was for the best, as Gayle also imagined the amount of times he could have snapped himself in half smacking into a tree at full speed.  This force was pretty considerate and well meaning with his safety.

         Zeppy loomed in the distance.  This whole time the rabbit was pointed in its direction, and was just waiting for the moment he'd be yanked above the trees toward it.  Thinking about the inevitability of his journey ending, one thought popped into Gayle's mind that chilled him to the bone: Wait, what hole am I going to end up going down to end up inside Zeppy!?

         The thought was enough to kick his animal-kin instincts back into overdrive and he flailed his arms toward the foliage below him.  Able to hook onto a loose root that was jetting up from a tree, he tried again and again to kick his legs down and hook his paws onto something.  For a moment his toes grasped to the soil until his legs were yanked back up and stayed there.

         The root Gayle hung onto was in bad shape.  There were signs it had been uprooted, having been grabbed onto before, as his fingers fit into similar grooves where he grasped.  Someone was already here!  But where?

         Gayle's ears perked up as he heard a familiar sound, the whooshing of air that came with a hungry monster's inhale.  Even his clothing was flapping in a new direction now, and for once, instead of despair, it gave him hope.

         As Gayle's grip steadily slipped down the root, Gayle saw a group of three other animal-kin not too far away, having their own similar adventure.  A giant orange worm peeked out from the muck, its bright and toothless maw wide open and sucking in as hard as it could toward the group. Gayle couldn't be happier to see a monster this close.

         Intentionally letting himself fly, Gayle got a better look at the trio as he soared closer.  A pink goat, golden lion, and blue bear were hanging onto whatever they could as the worm kept sucking them towards it.  The goat and bear were able to hang onto similar roots, and the lion hugged as tight as they could to the goat.  They wore matching velvet jumpsuits, common for groups who wanted to stick together in their travels.

         It's gotta work, Gayle confidently thought as the worm's breath tugged at his body.  Surely the rabbit was changing trajectory and this was his chance to have a real anchor.  If this didn't work, at least he'd have company inside the belly of an underground friend.  Gayle could... work out the details after.

         The rabbit missed the lion anchor, but as the bear's legs swung up they were just in range.  Gayle grappled to the bear's pudgy paws, sinking his fingers in for a tight grip.  The group eyed him, annoyed, to which Gayle shook it off with, “Wow, talk about a close call!  I came on by to help you guys but looks like I'm the one needing saving!”

         He could imagine the trombone music play in his head with that acting.

         Gayle managed a faked laugh but the trio was too concerned with their own well being. The goat lost his own grip, sending him and the lion closer.  First the goat was able to grab onto Gayle's ankles, and the lion wrapped around the tree the bear was hanging onto.

         “Well if you're going to help then don't let go!” the lion ordered, staring at Gayle.  While the lion positioned himself to help up the chain of animal-kin, he kept his eyes locked on Gayle.  Not out of concern for his safety, but to better make sure his goat pal was also secure. His steely gaze quickly shifted to utter disbelief.

         No no no! The rabbit didn't say a word but was crying out in his mind.  A commotion broke out between the three friends as they all adjusted to what was happening.  Gayle was simply pointing away from the worm, the goat forced to hang onto Gayle's legs to the side now, like hanging off of some handle bars.  The bear was caught between Gayle's hold and his lion friend's hands, while the lion could barely wrap his legs around the tree.

         “Unhook yourself!” the bear snapped at the lion, “He said he's going to help.  He's pulling us out of here!”

         The lion let himself get pulled out, locking his fingers to the bear's, with the goat still somehow clinging to Gayle.  Gayle kept his mouth shut.  At first the tug of war continued between the worm's pull and this abstract force yanking Gayle away, but it was clear the abstract force was winning.  The lion's paws no longer pointed in the direction of the worm, and soon it wasn't even close enough to get them.

         “Wait guys!” Gayle yelped as normal gravity took hold over the three strangers. The goat let go, and the bear was yanked out of the rabbit's hands as the lion pulled him into a hug.

         The goat was the only one to run after Gayle as he floated away from the trio.  “Hold up!” he called out to Gayle.

         Gayle smiled for once, reaching his hands out to the goat, ready to be saved. Instead, the goat gave him a high five and waved goodbye.  “We get it!” the goat repeated, “You know there's no time for goodbyes. You're off to save another group in trouble!  We'll always remember your kindness, even if it means never getting to know who you were. Take care, good friend.  Take care!”

         By the end of that speech Gayle was clearly on his way.  The trio had grouped up and all waved.  Gayle tucked his arms in once more and pouted.

         “Well, guess this is it,” Gayle sighed.  Zeppy was closer than ever, and Gayle could feel this tremendous pit in his stomach yanking him upwards at an alarming rate.  He glanced down, one last time, to the ground he was leaving.  Instead he just saw a bunch of slimy orange.

         A giant, rapidly approaching orange maw greeted him, from the worm that BURST through the jungle and aimed right for the rabbit.  With a bit of an inhale and a giant mouth chomping down on him, Gayle was swallowed by the worm.

         A powerful gulp pulled him down, deep inside a warm throat that seemed to go on forever.  Each gulp was stronger that the last, and every muscle within that worm did its best to hang onto Gayle.  Doing its best was not enough.  The worm started to fall back down to Clade's surface. Gayle wasn't.

         He didn't imagine he'd ever be in this situation, but all he could think to do was find a way to stay stuck in the worm's throat.  Of course, so coated in saliva now, Gayle easily slipped right out and the throat's muscles could do very little to pull him back in.

         The worm's mouth clenched as tight as it could, and with Gayle pressing against them from the inside, this was the last hope he had to stay in.  The cool air of the outside welcomed Gayle as he slipped right through the lips and back into the night sky.

         Feeling nothing else, Gayle took in the view.  From the wandering elder monsters in the distance, to the cozy bundles of towns caught between deadly swamps and jungles, it almost looked... beautiful.  The glow of the moon was almost enough to make Gayle's heart glow along with it. Almost.

         A trail of spit was all that connected the rabbit and the worm as it plummeted down to the forest.  As Gayle smacked against the side of Zeppy and slid alongside its back, Gayle let out a tremendous sigh.  The blow hole. Thank goodness it was going to be the blowhole.

–

         Gayle had been sucked towards Kaz's office so many times now that he recalled every laborious twist and turn.  A right here, a couple lefts, and now a long slide through a tight tunnel before the final stretch.  Getting pulled closer by Kaz's chair's snoring was a much more fun way to travel, and it didn't come with the exhaustion of flying non-stop from the town.

         And BOY were Gayle's arms tired.

         Entering the office, Gayle couldn't muster an ounce of strength to grab onto anything.  He bounced off a couple walls and continued circling around the room like getting closer to a windy drain.  He didn't bother clinging to the bookshelf.  Kaz' desk was too close to the source of the suction, and the last thing he wanted to do was grab Kaz and drag him in with him.

         Gayle was too upset getting the answer as to why he ended up on this impromptu work trip.  Using his eyes to burn a hole through it, Gayle couldn't believe the device he found was appropriated as a paperweight.  A black hole was practically open in the side of it, and Gayle felt every single molecule in his body getting sucked right towards it.

         Gayle only had the strength for one last thing.  Kaz had woken, sleepily moving his eyes around to follow his employee being slurped in a circular motion into the box.  Gayle felt every moment as his body stretched and swirled into the black hole.  The last thing to get sucked in was Gayle's right arm, presenting a rather appropriate gesture to his boss as he disappeared.

         Kaz chuckled. He'd of course let that slide.

–

         “Well, I at least figured out how to get you out,” Kaz said to himself after an hour of poking at the box.  The jesterly lion sat up on his chair, quite proud he didn't end up getting sucked in too, and then rushed to stifle as giggle.

         Snoring filled the air.  “I guess we can figure out what to do in the morning, after you get some sleep, buddy.”

         Kaz sunk back into his chair, and soon drifted off to sleep as well.  On the desk, next to an open and empty cube, rested a green and pink cube just about the same size.  Tucked between his own set of paws was Gayle's face, snoring as he slept.

         His new cube-shaped body was being used to hold down the papers for his annual review.

[the-sleepiest-melon]

(This takes place sometime before Ocean Gem)

He had seen Pearl do it before, when she had pull out the police tape, along with many other items, so why couldn't he?

He was alone right now. The gems had some important mission to be on, and apparentely it was too dangerous for Steven. So in the meantime, he decided to try something new. Steven took a deep breath, and reached for his gem. Ready to see what kind of mysteries lied inside and....

Nothing. He just felt the cold of his gem. He kept trying. And trying. From different angles, at different speeds, how come it came to the gems so easy?

He let out a hefty sigh and laid back on his bed, his shirted lifted up a ways and his gem exposed. There had to be a secret! He began talking to himself out loud. "C'mon Steven, there's gotta be some magic gem secret to this! You've got your bubble, and you have magic healing spit, and you can pull out your shield so why can't-"

He jolted out of bed and decided to try one more time. He sighed, and began to focus. He hadn't quite mastered it, but he needed to try. And after a good amount of effort, he summoned his shield. His gem began to glow a light pink, and the familiar rounded shield floated just in front of him. But that didn't matter. He reached for his glowing gem.

And his hand went right through.

The sensation was off to say the least. He felt his hand in there, but there was no pain. Just discomfort. He swallowed that, and began rummaging around. Slowly, he began to pull stuff out.

First was what appeared to be a pair of sunglasses. Then an umbrella. Then a Mr. Universe CD, was this just all his Mom's junk?

Finally he hit something else, it felt glassy and smooth. He pulled it out, and the object revealed itself to be an octahedron, made of a light metal. Each of the eight sides had one of four colors, blue, yellow, pink, and white He found out quickly that it could be rotated, quite similar to a Rubix cube. He sat there messing with it, pondering what it could be. Clearly, it was some sort of gem artifact, but what did it do? Was it a gem toy? Did gems have those? Or maybe it was a spaceship, just a really tiny one? Or maybe-

Apparentely, his turning and twisting had done something. The object began to glow blue, and floated in front of him. The edges of it parted to form a massive screen. A gem appeared on it, and it looked like Pearl? But she looked sadder, and different.

"This is the Blue Diamond control room, who authorized you to make this call?"

Steven discovers he can store objects in his gem besides his magic shield. He then discovers that there are things left behind by his mother. Tell us what these things are.

[harley623gaming-blog]

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52 Ways To Avoid VBUCKS Burnout

Once the transmission starts, you'll see a preview in the upper-right trap of the activity (which you can minimise, if you want). This survey window enables people quickly toggle your microphone and webcam upon and away, and also click on the "chat" link to find out exactly what people are tell on your terrible Fortnite death streak. If you're wondering what items come in the Fortnite shop right now, on the era to you're understanding that, you can control to your Fortnite Battle Royale shop items guide We'll be updating that web site every period, to ponder all the make new objects which Epic gets to the Fortnite store.

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All the Fortnite Battle Royale tips you need, plus Fortnite Android info, free V Bucks, and Fortnite Server status updates. Fortnite is the best battle royale video sport of 2018. PUBG is a similar game, although its condition is considerably lower than Fortnite's. The mid subject remains whether the dances used in Fortnite emotes are copyrightable material kept under US law. If not, then Epic Games' usage of the dancing is not copyright infringement, and in-game deal from the matter dances may continue unfettered.

What's Wrong With VBUCKS

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Using Vortex you can play Fortnite with every way. Play Fortnite in other PC, Mac, mobile machine or smart TV. Fortnite Battle Royale is the completely free 100-player PvP method in Fortnite. One large plan. A war bus. Fortnite building abilities with destructible environments combined with intense PvP combat. The last one have wins. Download now for FREE and bounce to the action.

To get Fortnite on a PC or Mac, you'll require a Epic Games account. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem a direct way to stop childen by obtaining things about your account, when they tell the password, though we've asked Epic Games and will update this history when we hear back. The best Instant Sound Options from the best soundboard for Fortnite. Use it in Reception, in Game or Later Death! Create your best moments by performing online.

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Fortnite Battle Royale isn't merely the biggest diversion of 2018; that a genuine cultural phenomenon. From middle-school playgrounds to frat house individuals to million-view YouTube livestreams , that become the passion for numerous fans. Gaming hasn't seen everything this massive since the go of Minecraft. Fact No: 2 : - Fortnite will ban all gamers who will try to cut or cheat the approach.

After you get existed allowed with the free gift, there will be an approval email. All you requirement is start that also following the education to motion with near your Samsung account, download Fortnite game, and then obtain the 15,000 V-Bucks with the Universe skin for free. A now-deleted tweet from a fake Epic Games bill said: Fortnite will be shutting low by Sept 26th 2018.

Having moving storm groups in creative would also lived properly accepted from the Fortnite competitive area as participants would be able to consistently practice hectic end-game scenarios commonly established at LAN events. Fortnite could also follow PUBG's example also count news roads to interest up the gameplay (but made with Fortnite's signature, goofy way). Other vehicles might be another interesting direction to look happening, with competitors PUBG , H1Z1 and now Song of Due: Blackout successfully featuring vehicular gameplay.

[stormoftara]

A Drink and A Think

Thog is drinking alone at the bar, when Ashe comes to join him. Together they have a drink, and when Ashe believes Thog is stressed out, she begins to give him a massage.

Ao3 Link 

It was a quiet night at the bar, everyone was either out or sleeping already. It'd been like this for awhile now, the chaos that had ensued after everyone had moved to the Shrouded Isles had settled. Thog pondered upon the quietness, the ice cubes in his whiskey clinking against each other as he lifted the glass for another sip. He wasn't used to this calm atmosphere, and he certainly didn't want things to be like this all the time, but it was nice every once in awhile.

Behind him, he heard the door creak open and soft footsteps across the so recently varnished floor. Someone took a seat next to him. Thog turned his head slightly to see Ashe grinning at him. “Hey,” Thog said, tipping his glass in her direction.

“Good evening Thog,” Ashe said cheerfully. She looked at the bar in front of Thog, which was covered in papers and envelopes. “Making new contracts, are we?”

Thog gave a slight chuckle. “Not exactly. Oh yeah, there is something I've been meaning to give you.” Thog stood up and rounded the bar, going to the other side.

“I hope it's not paperwork.” Ashe said, leaning onto the bar, watching as Thog unlocked a nearby chest.

“No, this is something Kyr made.” Thog rustled through the chest and brought out a bottle.

“Kyr?” Ashe said as she looked closely at the bottle. “By the gods, is that fog apple extract?”

“Yup. He thought you'd like some, he made up a bunch for his sword.” Thog’s eye twitched slightly thinking about the monstrous sword. He placed the bottle on the bar in front of her, and went back to his seat.

“That was very thoughtful of him. I'll have to thank him next time I see him.” Ashe smiled, taking the bottle and reaching over the bar to grab a glass. She poured a bit for herself, a thin mist emerging from the glass. Thog felt like he was getting drunk just off the smell alone.

Ashe took a sip, and Thog went back to looking over the letters he had in front of him. It was hard to concentrate, especially when Ashe let out a “Gods, this is heavenly.”

Thog had begun opening another letter when he felt Ashe’s voice close to his ear, “So what are you doing?”

Her breath was on his neck, tickling him slightly, sending a shiver down his spine. He tensed up, not used to have Ashe so close to him. He tried to not let it show as he said, “These are just some request letters, you know, for adventuring.”

“Oh, anything good?” Ashe leaned in closer to look at the letters, her body gently pressing against Thog. At her touch Thog tensed up even more. “Thog, are you stressed out? You feel so tense.”

Thog could barely mumble out a reply, “No, no, everything’s fine.”

Ashe reached over Thog to pick up one of the letters. He could smell her earthy scent as she did. She had a very distinct aroma, smelling very much like nature itself, the trees, the flowers, and the dirt. “A zombie well?” Ashe looked at one of the letters and chuckled. She put a hand on Thog’s back, “Why don't they just cover the well up? I mean how many zombies could even fit in one well?”

Thog was so tense now he was sure he'd be sore in the morning. “Apparently a lot. I wonder how they all got down there.”

“Maybe they fell in? I don't think zombies are particularly smart.” Ashe took another sip from her glass, her hand still on Thog’s back. “You are so tense!” Ashe declared, putting her drink back down.

“Guess I'm just soooo stressed out deciding what job to take next.” Thog joked, hoping Ashe couldn't hear the anxiety in his voice. He picked up his own glass and took a long sip. The whiskey burned his throat almost pleasantly.

Ashe stood up, and in a quick motion she was behind Thog. “Here, let me give you a massage, since you are so stressed out.” She said with only the slightest bit of sarcasm.

Thog just sat silently as Ashe put both her hands on his shoulders. His mind was running wild however. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to give Ashe that drink? She wasn't acting drunk, but she wasn't normally this touchy-feely, at least not with him.

Ashe’s hands felt softer than he imagined. Her hands were wrapping around his shoulders, her thumbs pressing into the base of his neck in circular motions. Despite himself, he could feel himself relaxing slightly. Her hands slowly started to work their way down, kneeding his sore muscles. She was strong, her fingers pushing hard into his back, working through the many years of knots.

She paused for a moment, leaning into his back. She grabbed her drink and took a sip. Thog could feel her weight on his back, and for someone so strong she felt surprisingly light. She began to speak, so close to his ear again, sending a shudder down his spine. “You know, it might be easier if you took your shirt off.”

Thog nearly froze in place. It's wasn't like he hadn't taken his shirt off in front of Ashe about a dozen times before, but doing it now, felt much more intimate. Thog took a deep sip of his whiskey, finally draining the cup, leaving behind only the half melted ice cubes. There wasn't a problem here, right? It was just him taking off his shirt in front of his friend, just so she could give him a massage. Nothing strange about that, no reason to get flustered.

“Sure,” Thog said quickly unbuttoning his shirt in a practiced motion, he was rather good at quickly removing it. He slid it off and placed it on the bar.

Ashe’s warm hands were on his back again. She traced her fingers over the many scars that littered his back. The small ones, the worrying large ones, she traced each one with her hands without saying a word about them. Thog couldn't help but to think more and more how terrible of an idea all of this was. He needed more whiskey. Without moving too much, he reached over the bar to grab a bottle and poured it for himself.

Ashe started to massage his back again, apparently done exploring his scars. She started to hum to herself as she did so, stopping only to take sips from her glass. She seemed to be in a good mood at least, Thog noted. She was a happy drunk, which was preferable to a sad drunk. Thog wasn't sure he could handle a sad Ashe on his own. Sudden thoughts of Ashe silently sobbing gripped his heart. That was something he'd never want to see.

“So, Thog, can I ask you something, uh, personal?” Ashe continued her massage, but had leaned in close to Thog again, as her hands worked at his lower back.

“You know I don't like talking about personal stuff.” He replied a bit stiffly.

“Oh, I'm more than aware. It's just, I'm worried about you.” Her voice was soft, and washed over Thog. He wasn't sure he had ever heard Ashe like that before.

“I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about. I'm doing just great. I haven't been this happy in a long time.” Thog smiled to reassure her, despite the fact she couldn't see him.

“That's good. I was afraid that you were feeling guilty, you know what with that whole incident with the harpy.” Ashe let out a short laugh, “I mean wind siren.”

Thog wasn't sure how to respond. Maybe he did feel guilty back then. He had done a lot of wrong in his life, the most recent incidents running through his mind. He had sold Markus, Gregor, and Ashe into slavery. At that moment he had hardly felt any guilt for his actions, after all the pay was good. Then, he had basically killed them all when he sent them after the death god. Without a thought to their safety, he had run off with the life preservers as Charoth destroyed his boat. He could still recall how he had barely felt anything when he saw their dead bodies smashed on the beach. How it wasn't until they had come back to life that he felt the smallest pang of guilt. How worst of all, everyone had forgiven him for his actions.

He didn't deserve that forgiveness. He knew it, but he had been working hard to change that fact. He was doing everything in his power to protect the group, to keep them happy. He had given Ashe that money so she could find herself when she had run away to the Ban. He had tried his best to protect everyone when fighting the “harpy”. He was changing little by little, so he could be free of the heavy burden of guilt that weighed so heavily on his shoulders.

Thog of course said none of this. He took a swig of whiskey and replied, “I feel great honestly. So let's not talk about that again, alright?” He turned his head as far back as he could to smile at Ashe. She grinned back.

“Are you gonna put that in my contract? Like the wizard drugs?” Ashe teased.

“Ashe.” Thog said in a warning tone.

“My lips are sealed, you have my word.” After a moment of silence, she spoke up again, “I have an idea, I think it'll relax you for sure!”

“Okay?” Thog didn't have to wonder long what she meant. He felt a spark of electricity on his back, like when she healed him. “What are you doing? I thought you wanted to use that weird spirit mumbo jumbo less.”

“Oh don't worry, I haven't used my allotted amount yet today.” Ashe continued to send small sparks across his back. He could feel his muscles all start to relax. It was so pleasant in fact, he leaned over and put his head down on the bar. Ashe started humming again. It sounded a bit like a lullaby. His eyes started to feel heavy, and before he could realize what had happened, he had passed out.

…

When Thog’s eyes flickered open, he was in a much darker place than he remembered. And there was a mattress under him? This was his bedroom! How had he gotten there? The last thing he recalled was Ashe giving him a massage…

Oh no. Had she carried him here? He'd never live that down. She would tease him for the rest of his life. He groaned slightly.

The sun had not yet risen, and the sky Thog could see from his window was still pitch black. He wavered between getting up and just going back to sleep when he noticed that he wasn't alone. There was someone next to him on his mattress.

Ashe was curled up beside him, facing away from him, her breathing slow and steady. That settled that then. Thog settled back into bed, and slowly pulled Ashe closer to him, so he wouldn't wake her up. She gave a soft snore, but otherwise didn't wake. Thog placed his head on top of hers, his arm curled around her waist. She was so warm next to him, warm and soft and lovely. He couldn't help but to smile, for about the hundredth time that night.

Just before falling back into sleep, he softly whispered into Ashe’s fluffy hair, “Thank you.”

[centralparkpawsblog]

Can Dogs Eat Coconut?

https://www.centralparkpaws.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Can-dogs-eat-coconut-meat-shell-oil-raw-cooked-health-warnings-benefits.jpg

By now, I’m certain we are all conscious of the benefits of coconut oil for dogs.

But what about the coconut itself?

It was a question I’ve been pondering.

I’ve wondered if oil would be more concentrated than the coconut meat itself, so of course, I had to satisfy my curiosity.

Also, since I see coconut on the ingredient list for treats and food, I questioned if its an ingredient with any real benefits, or is it there to make dog owners feel better about the food they buy?

Plus, I have to wonder: If coconut oil is good for dogs, what other coconut products have benefits, too?

Curious what those benefits are? Check out how to use coconut oil clean your dog’s teeth or how to use coconut oil to soothe cracked paw pads!

Can Dogs Have Coconuts?

Yes, dogs can eat coconut meat.

Coconuts are non-toxic and have various health benefits. Coconuts and coconut oil have similar positive health effects on our dogs.

However, if you are going to feed your dog coconut, it is best to feed young coconuts instead of mature coconuts since they can be harder to digest.

Coconut oil has a higher concentration of health benefits per tablespoon since water and other elements have been removed.

What Coconut Products and Parts are Safe for Dogs to Eat?

Coconut Shells and Husks: Shells and husks are non-toxic, but neither are they good for your dog. The shells can pose a choking hazard and the husks have no nutritional benefit. However, the husks are used for the fiberfill used in many all-natural dog toys[1].

Sweetened Coconut – Though it’s not harmful, your dog likely doesn’t need the extra sugar in their diet.

Coconut Milk – Yes, but coconut milk generally contains additional ingredients and is high in fat, so it’s not great for dogs with weight issues or dogs who suffer from pancreatitis. 

Coconut Ice Cream – This is the same as coconut milk. It is safe, depending on the other ingredients involved in making it. Also, it can be high in fat and contains unneeded sugar.

Coconut Water: Dogs can drink coconut water in moderation. It is full of vitamins, nutrients, and electrolytes. However, be sure you purchase non-sweetened coconut water. Also, use caution when feeding it to your pup since coconut water has a high level of potassium. Increased levels of potassium can cause health issues in dogs such as Hyperkalemia[2].

Coconut Flour – As long as it is strictly made from coconut, yes, coconut flour is safe and also a great alternative for dogs who suffer from allergies to grains and gluten.

Are Coconuts Good for Dogs?

Yes, coconuts have several health benefits, just like coconut oil.

Most coconut products share a variety of beneficial health properties like[3]:

High in manganese, which aids in promoting good bone health and helps to metabolize carbohydrates and proteins

Contains a good amount of amino acids, which keep pancreatic cells functioning well and aids in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels

Rich in antioxidants, which boosts the immune system and reduces the risk of disease and illness

Aids in getting rid of as well as preventing fleas

Promotes a healthy coat and skin

Possible Dangers of Coconuts

There are only a few dangers associated with coconuts, but those that do exist are:

Allergic reaction – Rare but possible

GI upset and bloating

Adding to obesity

May trigger pancreatic flareups

The shell poses a choking or obstruction hazard

How to Serve Coconut to Your Dog

Grain-Free Dog Biscuits – These treats have peanut butter, sweet potatoes, and coconut oil and flour.

Homemade Frozen Treats

If you want to take it to the next level and be a bit more creative, try adding some of the following ingredients to coconut water:

Plain unsweetened yogurt

Blueberries

Bananas

Peanut Butter

Experiment with using a few, if not all, of the above ingredients together.

All you need to do is toss the ingredients into a blender and mix with coconut water.

Next, pour the coconut water mixture into ice cube trays or silicone treat molds then freeze them.

Your dog will love these!

Plus, if you have dogs with allergies, you can omit anything that would be problematic, like nuts or dairy, and still make a yummy treat your dog will go bonkers over!

How Much Can You Feed Your Dog

Coconut is good for our dogs, but they can have too much of a good thing, especially during the introductory period.

Much like coconut oil, because of its high-fat content, too much coconut meat too soon can cause your dog to have an upset stomach, often in the form of diarrhea.

The normal amount of coconut for dogs is 1 Tbsp per 30 lbs per day.

But that should be adjusted according to your dog’s dietary needs.

For example, some dogs who need to keep the weight off will want to consume less than the regular daily allowance.

What’s another food dogs can have, but only occasionally?

Waffles.

Yes, really!

Conclusion

The answers to all of my questions were answered regarding adding the whole coconut to a dog’s diet.

I am pleased to know that all of the different pure coconut products and coconut itself share similar health benefits as coconut oil.

So, regardless of which form you feed coconut to your dog, you can be confident in knowing that it is a healthy treat option for your pup.

Though I rarely have coconut in the house, I always have coconut oil.

My dogs love coconut oil; they eat it just like a treat.

However, the next time I have plain shredded coconut, I will see if my trio has any interest in that since it would make a great food topper when they are picky.

Also, I will definitely be trying a variety of dog treat recipes using coconut flour. It is an excellent flour alternative for my dogs who have food allergies.

And there is no better time to bake with the pups than on a cold February afternoon.

Resources

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/coconut-fiber 

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/metabolic-disorders/disorders-of-potassium-metabolism/hyperkalemia

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-nutrition

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from https://www.centralparkpaws.net/faqs/can-dogs-eat-coconut/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=can-dogs-eat-coconut

[madeleinefranklin-pontefract]

Conceal and Reveal into Paris in the Park

                                                        Madeleine Franklin – March 2019

Foundation Diploma Art and Design

  “Conceal and Reveal” into “Paris In The Park” – (Outdoor Exhibition)

  Unit 3: Preparation and Progression in Art and Design

Unit 4: Information and Interpretation in Art and Design

Unit 5: Personal Experimental Studies in Art and Design

Unit 6: Extended Media Development in Art and Design

  Evalution

My Conceal and Reveal initial thoughts were realising I had been limiting myself by utilising strictly waste materials. I knew I wanted to keep waste minimal but needed to create something powerful enough to make a viewer really think, and could achieve this through a wider range of media.  

  Our topics for Conceal and Reveal into Paris in the Park were "space", "structure", "communication", and "surface". I chose “space” deciding to study "the space between heaven and hell"- that being, in many people's eyes, our planet, and in my eyes, both realities exist here.

  Edward Burtynsky taught me the brutal honesty of how our actions effect our planet. I realised we can create hell through greed, destruction and ignorance. This reminded me of the attitudes of big industries. Wire was a good material to begin experimenting with for its’ reminiscence of industry and effective ability to aid my exploration of waste materials. In turn I discovered the work of Rachel Ducker. I adored the drama and character in her wire figures, so proceeded to create an assortment of quirky wire trees.

 Studying Andy Goldsworthy encouraged me to consider the idea of working closely with nature itself. I pondered how much we use and rely upon nature and made a link in my mind between me being nature, and wanting to work with wire and the body, using my own limbs to create wire templates. 

 In London, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum’s exhibition “Fashioned from Nature”. I was thoroughly inspired, gaining an insight into the possibilities of creating exactly what was being exhibited in my future work; motivating me to develop my love of fashion and textiles.

In Paris, I was fascinated by the street art and absorbed the way text can communicate messages. Installation art like Maya Dunietz- Thicket, was equally insightful as were the Parisian vintage shops being an “installation” in themselves.

I was impressed by the historical art work in the Louvre and d’Orsay which emphasized Vivienne Westwood sentiments; always pay attention towards how things were made in the past.

Returning to college I wanted to create sculpture in the shape of a body representing "Mother nature". Initially, I wanted to create a “crawling” pose with graffiti style words reading “Now or Never”, signifying how little time we have left to save our planet. However, experimenting with waste plastic- melting large amounts of it over a mannequin to create front and back chest pieces- my idea rechanneled. Pleased with the pieces, which appeared eerie, I attached them to a mannequin before layering plastic over the top- implying the exploration of historical fashion design. Mainly I employed clear and blue plastic, symbolising water and air, using ferns to symbolise nature. Other aspects aimed to give the impression of pollution, hurt and claustrophobia- I trapped ferns in plastic bags and sewed them into the dress.

I bought an Elle fashion magazine in Paris and discovered an article about a global warming protest. One of the placards stated "The Earth we want her blue not bleeding". This was profound and I proceeded to make blue and red ice cubes using food colouring, envisaging the melting ice caps of the Antarctic. I used a heat gun to melt the blue ice cubes over my dress sculpture and the red cubes I let melt at their own pace. The resulting stains on the paper beneath became a poster representing the protest placard.

A conversation with my tutor led me to revisit a brief interest I had during Conceal and Reveal regarding the reclamation of nature, and I began making 2 more sculptures.

Firstly, I wanted one to represent the effect of the industrial revolution, where no thought of consequence occurred to business. Therefore, I made this sculpture entirely from melted plastic.

The second, my "Mother nature" dress, portrays our awakening attitudes at present where we are still in the midst of this problem. The third, made from a variety of materials, is based on an idea gained from watching 'Princess Mononoki', a Japanese Anime centered around a war between nature and negative energy.

This 3rd sculpture aims to embody a "Nature Spirit". It represents our future and how we will either learn to harmonise with nature, or destroy ourselves and nature will reclaim us back. Lastly my poster displays the melted ice cubes and lyrics from the song "Lungs" by Alyss. Overall, I consider my project very successful. If there is anything I have learnt that I need to improve on, it is time management and organisation. I was quite rushed, so if there were anything I would have liked to have improved upon, I would not have had time. My projects are quite ambitious, therefore I need to accommodate to this. However, I have made huge bounds in the progression of the themes and methods of my work and opened many doors with respect to Final Major Project possibilities.

[perfectlyfuturisticbouquetm-blog]

A Guide to Car Stereo Installation

Deciding on your lets you choose from assorted brands and styles, regardless of your desire might possibly be. When you look real near our services and products you will observe fine information and features which are often overlooked due to cost, mass manufacturing, or simply a deficiency of passion. You can find lots of models available on the marketplace, with dimensions in order that would be your first step. Jack's really is really a success story that is superb. Iave performed guitar. From the outside looking in, an individual deliver exactly the very same quality and may possibly think that most record players would be the exact very same. The Chronicles of Car Stereo Installation How to Improve Your Motor Vehicle Stereo Contact quality is nice and also the secondary microphone on the back of the phone will its sounds works to quell surrounding noise. Each of those stereos possess a lifetime warranty. 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