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xbadgerbearx · 3 years

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your people will have our help

word count: 2.1k

Can’t Sleep: [1] … [3]

Of course you had to jump out of the aircraft into the cold water. What a perfect way to start the mission. Your team swam for a bit before wading through the shore as you approached the beach.

"Congratulations, Bloodsport."

"How'd you do it, Waller? There's no soldiers out here on patrol at all."

The beach was completely empty. There were no disturbances and more importantly, no enemies anywhere to be found. It was... peaceful.

"Let's just say they were distracted."

You only walked on the sand a couple feet before a large explosion erupted.

"Control, we have a disturbance south of here," Bloodsport reported after you jumped in surprise.

"It's just a diversion, Bloodsport."

Bloodsport seemed to weigh his options before speaking, "All right, we cut through the jungle to get to Valle Del Mar."

"Don't they have blockades at the city limits?" Peacemaker interjected.

"That's the word."

"How we getting in? Especially with Charlie the Tuna here," Peacemaker said while looking back at King Shark.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"You're the leader. You're supposed to be decisive."

"And I've decided you should eat a big bag of dicks, how's that?"

"You're being facetious, but if this whole beach was completely covered in dicks and somebody said I had to eat every dick until the beach was clean for liberty, I would say no problemo."

"Why would someone put penises all over the beach?" Ratcatcher II asked.

"Who knows why madmen do what they do."

"Chris, this is the second time you've made a comment like this today. Is there something you want to tell us?" You joked.

"Well, you know what I think?" Bloodsport started. "I think liberty is just your excuse to do whatever you want. Whether that's to eat a beach full of dicks or killin' folk."

"Oh, yeah? At least I don't kill men for money like you."

"Oh, here we go," Bloodsport sighed as he turned to face Peacemaker.

"There's something wrong with your skin," Ratcatcher II called out as she pointed to Polka Dot Man. You turned to see his face covered in bulging colorful... polka dots.

"It's just a rash."

"Oh, my- Abner, are you okay? You don't look so good," you said worriedly as you reached your hand out to touch him. You were interrupted by another loud explosion off in the distance.

"Never mind that, we need to continue forward."

You made it quite the distance before Bloodsport dropped his bag onto the ground. The entire time walking you watched Abner with both curiosity and worry.

"Alright, we'll camp here, and tomorrow we'll go straight through the city to get to La Gatita Amable by nightfall."

Everyone was laying out their sleeping equipment, in this case sleeping bags, as you figured out where you should lay yours.

"Why don't you lay over here, (L/n)? I could keep you warm," Chris offered with a laugh.

"Fuck no," you replied with the same humorous energy. "I'd rather you not roll over on me like you did last time."

"Last time?" Abner piped up timidly.

"It's nothing like that," you assured while rolling your eyes. "Me, Chris, and some of our other teammates at the time had to huddle up for warmth after Waller sent us on a mission somewhere in Siberia."

"Oh," Abner said, kind of relieved.

"I'll just put mine here," you placed your bag next to Abner's and DuBois. "It's near the fire."

You changed into your sleep clothes. Well, to be honest you just took off your shirt and slept in your tank top, but it was close enough. It wasn't long before you drifted off, however, you awoke some time later to some shuffling sounds and a quiet groan. Peeking under your lashes, you find yourself facing toward DuBois who was resting on his elbow, alert. You quietly sat up and turned to see what DuBois was looking at. A colorful light show was dancing on the leaves and tall grass. Almost as quickly as it happened, Abner appeared. He looked a little out of it, but quickly dawned a look of shock as he was caught doing... what exactly?

You got up to make sure your favorite awkward man was doing okay before you were cut off by a loud bang! Instinctively, you disappeared. Literally. DuBois kept shooting Nanaue until he was backed up against a tree.

"How deep of a sleeper are you?" DuBois asked Cleo, to which she responded sleepily, "I was having the most wonderful dream."

"If it was you about to be eaten by King Shark, then you're psychic," Chris said.

"I don't believe he would do that. He has very kind eyes."

Sebastian was saying what you could only guess was that Nanaue was, in fact, going to eat her.

"Hungry," Nanaue whined.

"You bastard!"

Rats from every direction emerged from the darkness as Cleo held up her glowing device. DuBois was looking rather uncomfortable.

"All right, calm down with the rats!" he yelled.

"What?"

"I have a thing with rats."

"You have a thing with rats?"

"Yes."

"And you're on a team with someone who controls them?" your disembodied voice asked.

He whipped around trying to find you before yelling, "What the fuck?"

As if suddenly remembering that you cannot be seen, you revealed yourself behind Abner whom you were using as a shield. As cute as he thought it was that you were using him as protection, it did startle him that you just appeared randomly behind him.

"Partnering up with someone with rats is not something I asked for!"

Peacemaker started laughing.

"What are you laughing at me for, man? Why the fuck are you in your underwear?"

You looked over and sure enough, Chris was in nothing but his underwear.

"Woah!" you yelled while burying your face into Abner's back. "Chris, put on some pants for fucks sake!"

"Tighty-whities? Really?"

"Now that's just racist."

"No, it's not racist! They're tighty-whities!"

"You didn't tell me you had a fear of rats, DuBois," Waller said over the comms.

"I'm an assassin! Why would I share my liabilities?" This was promptly followed by an uncharacteristicly girly scream.

"Aww, he's offering you a pretty leaf to show you he means no harm," Cleo cooed.

"Why the fuck would I want a leaf?"

DuBois was getting increasingly more freaked out while Chris started laughing again.

"Just get the rats out of here!"

Cleo turned off her device and all the rats scurried back into the jungle.

Peacemaker turned to DuBois and asked, "Hey, we gonna kill Megalodouche now, or what?"

"Nanaue's the strongest member of your team. You need him to get into Jotunheim."

"Yeah, well we can't function as a team if we gotta watch our back from one of our own eatin' our bollocks," Bloodsport replied.

"Nanaue," Cleo started as she kneeled down to his height. "Would you eat your friends?"

"I no friends."

"You have no friends? Well, if you did, would you eat them?"

Chris answered with a "yes" before he was shot a look from Ratcatcher II.

"No?"

"Then can we be your friends?"

Chris scoffed, "Come on, he's obviously lying."

"If I die 'cause I gambled on love, it will be a worthy death."

DuBois shook his head, "You are a little idiot."

So much for a full rest. It was nearly morning by the time the shark incident was resolved, so you decided to just pack up and dress yourself.

"Task Force X, you have an additional mission directive. We've located Colonel Rick Flag. He's been taken by the enemy."

"Rick Flag?" DuBois asked while your team made your way through the jungle.

"I know, you both served on special forces in Qurac that took down Avral Kaddam. Flag was the one who initially recommended you."

"You had other operatives in Corto Maltese and didn't tell us?"

"There was no tactical advantage, now there is. I've uploaded the location on your MTS. Terminate his captors with extreme prejudice. Kill anyone you see. These are dangerous people. Recover Flag before moving on to the city."

You eventually made it to a decent sized camp before DuBois MTS started beeping.

"That's where they're holding Flag."

"Nothing like a bloodbath to start the day."

"I thought they called you Peacemaker," Ratcatcher II questioned.

"I cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it."

Ratcatcher II turned to Polka Dot Man before whispering, "I thought you were the crazy one," which was swiftly answered by you lightly shoving her shoulder.

"I am."

"All right," Bloodsport said, getting everyone's attention. "Let's get it."

You and Nanaue crept behind a man who gave his cup to his buddy.

"Gracias," you heard the man say. Soon after, King Shark picked the man up and ate him as he started screaming. He dropped what looked to be a communication device. Nanaue smacked his mouth as the comms device went off.

"Cualquier cosa?"

As your nearby teammates looked in somewhat fear as to what to do, you picked up the dead soldier's comms and said "Nada, Señora" while perfectly mimicking his voice. Your team carried on.

You hastily turned yourself invisible as you scouted for Rick Flag. It took a couple of minutes but you managed to find the only white guy there. You assumed he was Rick since he was injured, but were they... laughing?

"Bloodsport," you whispered into your comms. "I found Rick Flag. He was laughing?" You sounded unsure.

"Most likely drugged," Peacemaker said. "Where's he located?"

"Northmost tent, past the watchtower." Right after you said that you saw a bunch of colorful polka dots disintegrate the watchtower.

"On our way."

You could hear some of your team's conversation as they approached your location. You made yourself visible again.

"I'm sorry it's so... flamboyant."

"It looks cool," you heard Cleo say.

"I don't like to kill people, but if I pretend it's my mom, it's easy."

"TMI, mate," said DuBois.

More laughter could be heard inside the tent as Bloodsport ripped open the tent curtain. An uncomfortable silence settled.

"DuBois?"

"Hey, Flag."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Bloodsport looked around confused. "Waller told us that you were... uh... are you drinking tea?"

Flag gestured to his female companion sitting across the table from him, "This is Sol Soria, she's the leader of the freedom fighters, the resistance trying to take down the current government. They-they saved my life."

"Oh. Wow."

Everyone put down their weapons.

"Why did my people not alert me of your arrival?"

You awkwardly hide yourself behind Abner again.

"We didn't see any people," Bloodsport swiftly lied.

"Yeah, I didn't see anybody on the way..." Peacemaker continued.

"There's no one out there."

"They were gone when we got here."

"I turned them into my mother in my head and killed them."

Everyone turned to look at Polka Dot Man. You just sighed and smacked his shoulder. To make matters worse, King Shark hacked up... was that a finger with a wedding ring? Sebastian squeaked out an audible "Uh oh."

Soria promptly lunged off the table and made her way outside. You and your team awkwardly stood amongst the destruction you caused while Flag and Soria looked in pain.

"Typical Americans. Just run in, guns blazing."

"I know, this is messed up. These guys, they're..."

Rick looked behind him to see Peacemaker and Bloodsport getting into a stupid cat fight, while Ratcatcher II was rubbing her face ashamed, and you and Polka Dot Man were looking off into the jungle having your own conversation and not even paying attention.

"They're fucking idiots, but right now our objectives aligh with yours. If Jotunheim contains the technology our intelligence says it does, then it could be used on the people of Corto Maltese as well as Americans. That's why we need your help to get into the city so we can stop 'em."

Soria just stared past Flag and asked, "Is that rat waving at me?"

Sure enough, Rick turned back around to see Sebastian waving at them. Cleo was messing with her hands, Chris and DuBois were looking around while tapping their feet, and you were admiring Abner's polka dots on his costume as he was awkwardly trying to accept your compliments.

"It appears it is."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna guess because it's friendly."

Soria thought for a moment, weighing her options, before speaking again.

"Luna and Suarez murdered my entire family. I'd make a deal with the devil to stop them." As if it physically pained her to say, she continued. "Your people will have our help getting to Vall Del Mar to apprehend this Gaius Grieves."

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

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The future is symmetrical

When Mitch Kapor articulated the principle that “architecture is politics” at the founding of EFF, he was charging technologists with the moral duty to contemplate the kinds of social interactions their technological decisions would facilitate — and prohibit.

At question was nothing less than the character of the networked society. Would the vast, pluripotent, general purpose, interconnected network serve as a glorified video-on-demand service, the world’s greatest pornography distribution system, a giant high-tech mall?

Or could it be a public square, and if so, who would have the loudest voices in that square, who would be excluded from it, who will set its rules, and how will they be enforced?

As with its technical architecture, the political architecture of the net is a stack, encompassing everything from antitrust enforcement to spectrum allocation, protocol design to search-and-seizure laws, standards to top-level domain governance.

Among those many considerations is the absolutely vital question of service delivery itself. What kinds of wires or radio waves will carry your packets, who will own them, and how will they be configured?

For decades, a quiet war has been fought on this front, with two sides: the side that sees internet users as “mouse potatoes,” destined to passively absorb information feeds compiled by their betters; and the “netizen” side that envisions a truly participatory network design.

This deep division has been with us since the internet’s prehistory, at least since the fight over Usenet’s alt.* hierarchy, flaring up again during the P2P wars, with ISPs insisting that users were violating their “agreements” by running “servers.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/altinteroperabilityadversarial

Above all, this fight was waged in the deployment of home internet service. The decision turn the already-monopolistic cable and phone operators into ISPs cast a long shadow. Both of these industries think of their customers as passive information consumers, not participants.

As an entertainment exec in William Gibson’s 1992 novel Idoru describes her audience: “Best visualized as a vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism craving the warm god-flesh of the anointed. Personally I like to imagine something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It’s covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth…no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections.”

Contrast this with the other cyberpunk archetype, the console cowboy who doesn’t merely surf the digital, but steers it — the active participant in the technological/media environment who is more than a recipient of others’ crafted messages.

For a long time, Big Tech and Big Telco tried to have it both ways. AT&T promoted teleconferencing and remote family life conducted by videophones in its 1993 “You Will” marketing campaign. Youtube exhorted you to “broadcast yourself.”

But AT&T also set data-caps, kicked users off for running servers, and engaged in every legal, semi-legal and outright illegal tactic imaginable to block high-speed fiber networks.

Youtube, meanwhile, blocked interoperability, leveraged vertical integration with Google search to exclude and starve competitors, and conspired with Big Content to create a “content moderation” system that’s two parts Kafka, one part Keystone Kops.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/12/fairy-use-tale/#content-id

While the questions raised by broad participation in networked society are thorny and complex, one question actually has a very simple and factual answer: “How should we connect our homes to the internet?” The answer: “Fiber.”

There is no wireless that can substitute for fiber. Wireless — 5G, Starlink, whatever — shares the same spectrum. We can make spectrum use more efficient (by tightly transmitting the wireless signals so they don’t interfere), but physics sets hard limits on wireless speeds.

Each strand of wire in a wired network, by contrast, is its own pocket universe, insulated from the next wire, with its own smaller, but exclusive, electromagnetic spectrum to use without interfering with any other wire on the other side of its insulation.

But copper wire also has hard limits that are set by physics. The fastest theoretical copper data throughput is an infinitesimal fraction of the fastest fiber speeds. Fiber is millions-to-hundreds-of-millions times faster than copper.

https://www.eff.org/wp/case-fiber-home-today-why-fiber-superior-medium-21st-century-broadband

We should never run copper under another city street or along another pole. Any savings from maintaining 20th century network infrastructure will be eradicated by the cost of having to do twice the work to replace it with 21st century fiber in the foreseeable future.

Trying to wring performance gains out of copper in the age of fiber is like trying to improve the design of whale-oil lamps to stave off the expense of electrification. Sure, you don’t want anyone sitting in the dark but even the very best whale-oil lamp is already obsolete.

But besides future-proofing, there’s another reason to demand fiber over copper or wireless: symmetry. Our copper and (especially) wireless infrastructure is optimized for sending data to end-points, not getting data back. It’s mouse-potato broadband.

(this is especially true of any satellite broadband, which typically relies upon copper lines for its “return path,” and even when it doesn’t, has much slower uplinks that downlinks)

By contrast, fiber tends to be symmetrical — providing the same download and upload speeds. It is participatory broadband, suited for a world of distance ed, remote work, telemedicine, and cultural and political participation for all.

Fiber is so obviously better than copper or wireless that America paltry fiber rollouts needed to be engineered — they never would have happened on their own. The most critical piece of anti-fiber engineering is US regulators’ definition of broadband itself.

Since the dawn FCC interest in universal broadband, it adopted a technical definition of broadband that is asymmetrical, with far lower upload than download speeds. Despite lockdown and broadband-only connections to the outside world, Congress is set to continue this.

The latest iteration of the Democrats’ broadband bill defines “broadband” as any connection that is 100mb down and 20mb up (“100/20”). Both of these speeds paltry to the point of uselessness, but the upload speed is genuinely terrible.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/future-symmetrical-high-speed-internet-speeds

US broadband usage has grown 21%/year since the 1980s. 100/20 broadband is inadequate for today’s applications — let alone tomorrow’s (by contrast, fiber is fast enough to last through the entire 21st century’s projected broadband demand and beyond, well into the 2100s).

Any wireless applications will also depend on fiber — your 5G devices have to be connected to something, and if that something is copper, your wireless speeds will never exceed copper’s maximum speeds. Innovation in spectrum management requires fiber — it doesn’t obviate it.

Today, the highest growth in broadband demand is in uploads, not downloads. People need fast uploads speeds to videoconference, to stream their games, to do remote work. The only way a 100/20 copper network’s upload speeds can be improved is by connecting it with fiber.

Every dollar spent on copper rollout is a dollar we’ll forfeit in a few years. It’s true that cable monopolists will wring a few billions out of us if we keep making do with their old copper, but upgrading copper just makes the inevitable fiber transition costlier.

China is nearing its goal of connecting 1 billion people to fiber. In America, millions are stuck with copper infrastructure literally consisting of century-old wires wrapped in newspaper, dipped in tar, and draped over tree-banches.

https://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/frontier-service-quality-report-final.pdf

Indeed, when it comes to America, monopoly carriers are slowing upload speeds — take Altice, the US’s fourth-largest ISP, which slashed its upload speeds by 89% “in line with competitors’ offerings.”

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/27/immortan-altice/#broadband-is-a-human-right

America desperately needs a high-fiber diet:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/30/fight-for-44/#slowpokes

But it has a major blockage: the American right, who have conducted history’s greatest self-own by carrying water for telecoms monopolists, blocking municipal fiber:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/17/turner-diaries-fanfic/#1a-fiber

It’s darkly funny to see the people who demanded that “government stay out of my internet” now rail against monopoly social media’s censorship, given that a government ISP would be bound by the First Amendment, unlike Facebook or Twitter.

Luckily, Congress isn’t the only place where this debate is taking place. In California, Governor Newsom has unveiled an ambitious plan to connect every city and town to blazing-fast fiber, then help cities and counties get it to every home.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/15/how-to-rob-a-bank/#fiber-now

In tech circles, we use the term “read-only” to refer to blowhards who won’t let you get a word-in edgewise (this being one of the more prominent and unfortunate technical archetypes).

The “consumer” envisioned by asymmetrical broadband futures is write*-only — someone designed to have other peoples’ ideas crammed into their eyeballs, for their passive absorption. A consumer, not a citizen.

As Gibson put it, it’s a person who “can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote.”

Cyberpunk is a warning, not a suggestion.

#pluralistic

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stardestroyer81 · 3 years

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To say that I’m genuinely surprised regarding the attention and love that my recent sprite posts have been getting would be a massive understatement. Like, just seeing that one person alone finds my work reblog-worthy (And even writes compliments in the tags— my absolute favorite) just means the world to me. I’ve found that such validation has motivated me into probably the biggest ‘sprite high’ I’ve been in for quite some time, probably ever since the period where I’d been uploading Mega Man Ultimate sprites daily. And if this prelude is any indication, it’s time for yet another Mega Man 11 demake post! I had a very clear idea of who I wanted to post next, but then I was reminded of a demake I had made of a section from Block Man’s stage. I really liked the colors I chose when spriting this piece, they’re reminiscent enough of the original game yet still having a distinct ‘NES Mega Man’ feel. With this in mind, I wanted to make another sprite piece with the palette...

... ultimately deciding that Block Man himself would be next on the demake list!

Out of the eight robot masters from Mega Man 11, I’m fairly certain I’ve sprited Block Man the most, as unlike the other seven, I have a different version of Block Man from each year since 2018. Being the very first robot master to be revealed for Mega Man 11, Block Man has plenty of sprite iterations around the block, though most of them feel a little too... static, if that makes any sense. With that in mind, I went and found an image of Block Man’s idle pose and used it as a reference for what I wanted the sprite to look like, just like I did with Bounce Man. Most of the Block Man sprites out there depict him to be really tiny— sometimes just as small as Mega Man— and also aimed to have the sprite as accurately sized as possible.

What I really like about the sprite is that I was able to stay within the NES’s four-color limitation! My 2018 iteration of Block Man’s sprite used five colors, utilizing a light blue in a few select areas, though when 2019 rolled around, I was able to color the sprite with only four colors. It was extremely tough to get Block Man’s legs to look right (And also keeping the height in mind), and his oddly shaped torso was no picnic either, but I’m 100% confident in saying this is my best Block Man sprite yet! You may have already noticed that the background I sprited for Block Man looks... a little small and cramped. That’s only because Mega Man and Block Man are kinda small on their own, and I didn’t want the reveal image to be 80% background and 20% sprites. But I can assure you that there is indeed more to the background, and I think it’s my best one yet!

Tilesetting this one was really fun! Everything seemed to fit neatly into 16x16 tiles up until I got to the mosaic near the top. I was able to tileset most of it (Like the Metall army), yet had to resort to MS Paint trickery to get the ‘Mega Man explosion’ to look half decent. It definitely took the most time, but comparing it to the original really shows how all-out I went for this one! Like usual, I hope you enjoy the sprites!

#Mega Man #Rockman #Mega Man 11 #Rockman 11 #Block Man #Sprite Art #Resprite #OC #Coolness #I may have made Block Man's exterior a bit shinier than I should have #But I think it looks a lot cooler that way #After all it DOES have a shine in the cover art #An irk I have with a lot of the Block Man sprites around is that the shoulderpads are seldom done correctly #Most of the time people just sprite them as solid color spheres #Block Man's artwork shows that there's an added level of detail to them though #So I made sure to include that in the resprite #Funny how a robot master resembling a salt shaker was actually quite the challenge to sprite #His torso is just so intricately shaped #That was something I hardly got right in my past sprites but I feel like I was able to finally get pretty close here

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just-my-sickly-pride · 5 years

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The Old College Try || Brian May x fem!Reader

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD OF A FIC THAT I POSTED LAST YEAR TO A DIFFERENT BLOG. I DID NOT STEAL THIS; IT’S MINE. The version on my other blog has since been made private. Minor changes have been made.

summary || of all the new experiences you thought you’d have in your time at college, falling into an extended friends-with-benefits situation was not one of them - but you wouldn’t have changed it for the world. you and Brian had tried every kinky thing you could think of. except calling Brian ‘daddy’, of course, because, y’know, bleugh. you both thought the idea of that was gross. so gross. right? modern day au. college au.

rating || explicit. 18+ only. do not read if you are under eighteen. there’s a bit of what i’d like to call platonic fluff? but mostly smut. daddy kink, choking, some slight dom/sub dynamics, but not much.

word count || 6.9k. this was clearly written back when i actually used to write reasonably-sized fics.

author’s notes || i’m re-uploading this because i have a part two written and ready to be uploaded. i’m sorry the gif below is so big but it’s just too pretty!

masterlist

If someone had told you that, within the first few months of starting university, you’d have made a new friend who would quickly become more than a friend, you’d have said that that someone had no idea what they were talking about. You weren’t interested in dating, at least not at this point in your life. You just wanted to focus on university, at least for the first year.

If that someone had clarified what they’d meant by ‘more than a friend’, you would’ve been equally as confused.

Well, maybe not that confused. You’d been attracted to Brian the second you’d first clapped eyes on him, when he’d asked if the seat next to you was taken in your second lecture of the day. In fact, after that first hour, you’d thought you’d probably develop a crush on him — but, surprisingly, you didn’t, even after the two of you became friends. Great friends, actually. You shared similar interests, and you could talk for hours about absolutely anything. He was good fun to argue with over silly, trivial things, like where the best place to keep ketchup was, or whether it was acceptable to drink wine out of a cup. And he was always open for late-night conversations about life and the universe. And you loved making him cringe. Your favourite way to do it was to say that his love of animals revealed he was actually a furry. Or saying that he had a foot fetish. You found it hilarious how easy he was to wind up. He did not.

So yes, above all else, you were friends.

You’d just added a little something extra to the mix along the way.

You couldn’t remember how exactly the whole ‘with-benefits’ component to your friendship had started, but you could remember very clearly when: three months into uni, into being friends, and you’d both been at a mutual friend’s party. You’d both been drinking, and you’d been flirting, like you always seemed to be, and then, next thing you knew, you were making out. You’d spent the rest of the night making out, actually, and then Brian had come back to yours, where’d you’d made out even more, but with less clothing. You hadn’t slept together, but you’d fallen asleep in the same bed.

And the next day, things had seemed… completely normal. Nothing had seemed to change between you two at all. It wasn’t as if either of you pretended the night before hadn’t happened, but more that it just didn’t need to be something really that worthy of note. It had happened, it had been fun, and that was all there was to it.

The next time you two had gotten drunk — at your place, playing a dumb drinking game while watching Zootopia, of all things — the same thing had happened. Except, this time, you’d gone all the way. And it had been great. No awkwardness, no pressure to impress. The next day, again, the dynamic had remained the same.

So, after a brief conversation to clarify things, you’d settled on friends-with-benefits.

That had been two months ago. It wasn’t a secret, per se, but you weren’t exactly rushing to tell anyone. You actually had no idea how many people knew.

But what you did know was that, while neither of you had had a friends-with-benefits arrangement with anyone else before, you were both fucking good at it.

It hadn’t taken long at all for things to become more adventurous in the bedroom. Every time the two of you slept together — which, given that you were both young adults who had needs, was fairly often — you were experimenting, trying out new things, almost in competition to see who was the kinkiest.

Which was new, again, for both of you. You’d never thought of yourself as particularly kinky, and Brian had told you he’d never really considered anything more than just vanilla sex. But one day, during a lecture, you’d found yourself staring at his hands, and had wondered what they would feel like wrapped around your throat.

As it turned out, it felt incredible. And so had been just about everything that had followed after it.

You were staring at his hands now, as he fiddled with the lid of his water bottle. You were at lunch with your friends at uni, celebrating the end of a painful three-hour lecture, but you’d zoned out of the group conversation long ago.

Brian’s hand drifted down the side of the water bottle lightly, deliberately slowly, and you could tell without even looking at his face that he’d caught you staring. His fingers glided back up the water bottle, and curled around the top of it, and you chewed on the inside of your cheek.

Brian’s hand flexed around the water bottle, tightening, and you squeezed your thighs together. You shot a glance up to his face. He wasn’t looking at you, instead politely engaging in the conversation, but he had a small smile on his lips. He knew he was getting you hot under the collar with just the movements of his hands, and he was enjoying it immensely. You simultaneously hated that it was so easy for him to tease you, and loved that he enjoyed doing it.

You sighed, sitting back. “I’m just going to the bathroom,” you said, completely cutting off whoever was talking; you didn’t care.

You stood up, leaving your belongings there with your friends, and walked to the bathrooms. There were two sets of bathrooms: the food court ones that everyone used, and the much quieter ones that were in the building next door, down a corridor. There were no security cameras there, either. The bathrooms weren’t abandoned, exactly, but you could have about five to ten minutes of privacy if you were lucky.

You leant against the wall of the corridor, tugging on the sleeves of your shirt, rubbing your hands together, bubbling with nervous energy.

Brian rounded the corner an agonising two minutes later, and you said, “You’re a fucking menace,” before he grabbed your hips and pinned you against the wall, kissing you hungrily. You knew you had barely any time — not even a minute — before your friends started getting suspicious, so you made the most of it.

Well, the most of the twenty or so seconds you were given. Someone exited the bathroom, and you and Brian sprung apart from each other, and you looked down at your hands, pressing your lips together to stop yourself from laughing. The guy who’d left the bathroom mumbled, “Sorry,” and hurried past you.

You and Brian shared a glance, and then you started laughing. Brian covered his face with his hand, shaking his head. “I…” He sighed. “The number of times that we’ve gotten caught by strangers… And it never gets better. It’s always horribly awkward, every time.”

“Maybe we should just stop making out at uni then,” you said.

Brian lowered his hand, looking aghast. “That’s out of the question. What am I meant to do, wait till the end of the day?”

“Maybe we should,” you said with a shrug. “Maybe we should stop making out basically every day. It might make things more… rewarding. Or at least interesting.”

“I don’t think I could last an entire day,” Brian said. He rested his hand against your collarbones, applying just enough pressure to push you back into the wall, and his thumb moved to press against the front of your throat. Your lips parted instinctively. Brian’s eyes were on his hand — he’d told you that he liked how his hand looked against your skin — and your eyes were on his face. The concentration and heat in his gaze, coupled with the feeling of his hand, was enough to make you squirm with need.

But now was not the time, nor the place.

You sighed, letting your head fall back against the wall and your eyes slide closed. “Bri,” you said slowly, a warning.

“Mm?” Brian said, his warm voice low.

“We’re in public.” You opened your eyes, and lifted a hand, placing it on top of his, gently taking it away. “We have to go back.”

Brian was tense, his jaw clenched, and you smiled. “Come on,” you said. You spoke lightly, but you knew that Brian would obey you.

Brian breathed out sharply, and he turned away from you, rubbing his eyes with one hand. “Fuck, I want to fuck you so bad,” he growled. “Fuck.”

You felt that all through your body, but you just took his wrist and went to leave, dragging him after you. He stayed stuck to the floor, his eyes boring into yours, and you could see the gears turning in his brain, knew he was seriously considering grabbing you and taking you into one of the bathrooms.

You knew he wouldn’t. You both had limits, and actually fucking at uni was not on the table for either of you.

But still. The fact that Brian seemed damn near overwhelmed with desire — desire for you — made you feel like the most powerful motherfucker on the planet.

It also helped that you just tugged on his wrist again, just once, using barely any effort, and he became unstuck, following your direction without another word.

“Maybe later I can dig out the old furry suit,” you said as you headed back to the food court, making your voice as sensual as possible.

Brian snatched his wrist back as if in disgust, but you could tell he was trying not to laugh. “Jesus, you know how to kill the mood really fast.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you said, blinking at him innocently. “Don’t you want to see me in my suit? It’s a badger one. I got it made just for you. I thought you’d love it.”

Brian shook his head. “I hate you so much.”

“Maybe we can try something even better tonight,” you said, giving him a pouty, sexy look that you knew looked ridiculous. “Something new. What do you say, Daddy?”

Brian’s step faltered, and the wildly taken-aback look on his face made you laugh. You skipped ahead, sliding back into your chair, and Brian joined you soon after.

A week later, you and Brian were in your dorm, books and textbooks and pens and laptops strewn all over the living room floor as you tried to study. Brian was always much more studious than you were, so it helped to have him there to steer you back to your books when your focus strayed. Unfortunately, having him there served as the worst distraction you could’ve had.

After about fifteen minutes of you mildly irritating him, flicking his pen as he tried to write, poking him in his side where he was most ticklish, making stupid noises at him and demanding some kind of response, he’d sent you to the kitchen to make a snack and get you both something to drink.

You hummed to yourself as you waited for the popcorn to microwave, scrolling through Instagram on your phone. You came across a horrifically awful meme, and you laughed. “Hey, Bri,” you called. “Dude.”

“What?” Brian replied from the living room.

“Come look at this meme. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Just send it to me.”

“No, come look at it.”

You heard Brian sigh melodramatically, and soon he lumbered into the kitchen, stretching out the kinks in his muscles from sitting on the floor. “All right, show me.”

You showed him your phone, and he looked at it for a second, then his eyes flicked to you, accompanied with the most intense are you shitting me expression you’d ever seen on another human being. “That’s horrendous.”

You giggled. “I know.”

“I can’t believe I walked all the way in here for that.”

The microwave dinged, and you went to get the popcorn. You almost burnt your fingers, but you managed to get it out of the oven and peel it open.

“Ouch,” you said as you grabbed a few pieces and tossed them into your mouth. “Bri, open up.”

Brian opened his mouth, and you threw some popcorn at him, not aiming at all. It went all over him and the floor, and he sighed as you laughed. “God, you’re so fucking annoying,” he said, the corners of his mouth quirking up.

You shimmied your shoulders. “I know,” you said happily, trotting past him. You paused in the kitchen doorway to shimmy again, this time adding your hips, wiggling your butt at him, and then continued to the living room with the popcorn, getting comfy on the floor.

“You can’t just shake your arse at me,” Brian protested, following you. “That’s not fair.”

“You called me annoying,” you said. “I can do what I want.”

Brian groaned. “You’re so…” Before you knew it, he’d fallen to his knees beside you, snatched the popcorn bag from your hands, and captured your lips with his.

You still got a thrill when you kissed him, even after two months. It felt naughty, in a way, like there was something taboo about it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that everyone else you knew was getting into relationships, or wanting to get into relationships, and your arrangement with Brian was the antithesis of that. Maybe it was because you wasted so much time doing it, when you should’ve been studying, or working on an essay. Maybe it was because you’d never been so physically attracted to another human being before that there had to be something wrong with you, didn’t there?

Brian kissed you deep, kisses that were slow and controlled and drove you insane. You tried to go for his jeans, but he straddled you and grabbed your wrists, pinning them to your sides. Every time you tried to take some of the power back, escalating things or speeding them up, Brian just didn’t rise to it, didn’t take the bait, and it was so frustrating you wanted to scream.

Brian pulled back just enough to end the kiss. You tried to continue, but he ducked his head, as if to kiss your neck, so you let your head fall back, but he just pressed a single, infuriatingly light kiss to your pulse point.

“Oh my God, I hate you,” you growled.

“Oh, I’m annoying you, am I?” Brian said, beyond smug, and you wanted to kick him in the ribs.

“You fucking… This is entirely different,” you said. “You—“

Brian licked a stripe up your neck, and you felt the air leave your lungs like it had been sucked out with a vacuum.

“You bitch,” you said, but it came out sounding breathless and needy.

Brian chuckled, and you felt him bite your neck, softly, teasing.

Your lust-addled brain was scrambling to find a way to get control of the situation, to not let Brian win, so you fell back on instinct: making Brian feel repulsed. “Are you imagining I’m a hedgehog? A sexy, spiky hedgehog?”

It worked a treat. Brian recoiled, letting your wrists go, his nose screwing up. “Why? Why do you do that?”

You leant into the bit, refusing to back down. “What about a fox?” you said, giving him a salacious smile, putting your hands on his chest. “Want me to put on National Geographic?”

“You disgust me,” Brian said, sounding more tired and exhausted than anything else, and it delighted you.

You leant forward, into him, smoothing your hands up his thighs, your lips hovering just over his. “What do you say, Daddy?”

Brian went very still. He swallowed.

You paused, confused by the lack of reaction, and pulled back. “What?”

Brian’s face was red. “That was… uh. Um.”

“Sorry,” you said. “Nickleback?”

It was your safeword. Nothing kills the mood like Nickleback, Brian had said when he’d suggested it.

“No,” Brian said stiffly. “Not Nickleback.”

Wait. “Did you… Do you like me calling you Daddy?”

Brian blinked, looking away, and he cleared his throat. “I— Well—“

You took a moment to consider this, and then, taking it slow, so Brian had time to refuse if he wanted to, you kissed his neck just the way he liked, and he let out a breathy moan, one of his hands coming to twist itself into your hair.

You slipped your hands under his shirt, your nails scratching up his back, and your kisses moved down his neck. You bit at the hollow of his throat, making him moan, and you murmured against his skin, “You gonna fuck me good, Daddy?”

Brian let out a shaky breath. “Jesus Christ.”

You broke out into a smile of victory — it was always a bonus to discover a new kink, whether it was yours or Brian’s — and Brian roughly pulled you away to tilt your head up towards him, and he kissed you so passionately it made your head spin.

As if you weren’t wet enough, he let go of your hair to wrap his hand around your throat, and your stomach leapt with anticipation. He began applying pressure, and it felt so fucking good that you stopped kissing him, just feeling the way your body reacted, the way your veins fizzled with adrenaline as your fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, the way your airway opened to try to suck in as much air as it could, even though Brian wasn’t even restricting your airflow.

When he let go, the effect on you was instantaneous. Nothing turned you on more than Brian choking you, and it never failed to send you in a kind of frenzy. You grabbed onto Brian, kissing him, biting him, shoving your hands up the back of his shirt and clawing your nails down his back, just as he liked it, and he responded in kind, gripping your hair.

Brian broke the kiss, your foreheads pressing together, your eyes still closed.

“How long do we have the place to ourselves?” Brian asked.

“What’s the time?” you replied, blinking your eyes open.

Brian’s grip tightened on your hair — he was irritated that he had to let go of you, and you loved it — and he leant back, craning his neck to look at the clock on the wall. “Five to five.”

“It’s a Tuesday, so that means Lucy finishes later,” you said. “We have until about… ten past six.”

“Good.” Brian swooped in to kiss you again, but only for a moment; he got to his feet, wincing as his knees cracked, making you laugh, and he took your hands and helped you to yours. You made your way to your bedroom, having to pause your journey every so often when either you or Brian got too handsy and you couldn’t resist making out again, but eventually you made it, and Brian wasted no time in throwing your shirt off.

“I have to admit, I’m surprised,” you said as you easily slipped Brian’s shirt off him - you had to go on your toes to get it over his head - and dropped it to the floor.

“What?” Brian said, his hands going to your belt. The conversation was put on hold as he ducked his head to kiss you, and you moaned into his mouth. You both managed to undo each other’s belts blindly, but you had to separate again when Brian struggled with the button on your jeans.

“I didn’t know you that was a — thing, for you,” you continued, watching Brian’s fucking gorgeous fingers finally undo the button and yank down your fly. “Y’know. Being called Daddy.”

“I…” It was Brian’s turn to watch you work on his button and fly. “Um, neither did I.”

“I thought you—“ You finished your task and began shoving your jeans down your legs, and Brian did the same. “I mean, the other day, last week, whatever, when I called you Daddy, you looked, like, not at all happy. You made a face.”

“That was not an unhappy face,” Brian said. “That was a— a ‘wow, I did not expect to like that’ face.”

You laughed. “But we always make fun of people who say ‘Daddy’ unironically. Everyone jokes about it all the time. Especially Roger,” you added, “but you do too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Brian said. “But the way you say it, I just…” He abandoned the thought to finish taking off his jeans.

You bit your lip, watching him, waiting until he looked at you. When he did, you gave him a slow smile, basking in how transfixed he was by you, and you murmured, “Daddy.”

Brian shuddered. “Yeah,” he said weakly. “Yeah, like that.” He hesitated. “Do you— It isn’t too weird for you, is it? You don’t have to—“

“Dude,” you said, stepping over to him. “I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t okay with it. Honestly, at this point, it would have to be something mind-blowingly weird for me to not be okay with it.” You cupped the front of his underwear and gave him a squeeze, and he clenched his jaw, his eyes dark on your face. “Whatever turns you on, baby,” you said with a wink.

Brian gripped your hips, tugging you against him. “You turn me on,” he said. “Jesus, I— I’ve never met anyone who turns me on as much as you do.”

“Really?” you said, your fingers and toes tingling with excitement.

Brian nodded emphatically. “God, yes,” he said. “It never even occurred to me before you that I could just always be mildly turned on all the time just by being around another person. Especially not someone I’m, y’know, not romantically interested in. But the number of times I’ve thought about you when I’m—“ He cut himself off, glancing away, rubbing his jaw. “Um. Yeah. You… Yeah.”

Your heart was galloping, and your thoughts were occupied only by the desire to get Brian naked. “What do you think about?” you whispered.

You slipped your hand into Brian’s boxers, and curled your hand around him, jerking him off, not enough to frazzle his brain too much, but enough to get him interested.

He still wouldn’t look at you, closing his eyes, making a sound in the back of his throat.

“I bet it’s hot,” you said. “You think about fucking me hard? Making me scream like you always do? You’re so good at it. You always fuck me so good.”

Brian’s breathing grew uneven, and his hand went back to your hip. He was holding onto you like it was the only thing keeping his knees from buckling.

You kept your touch light, not changing the pace.

“Do you think about choking me?” you said. “Think about how hot it makes me? Think about how perfect your hand looks around my throat? Maybe how pretty I look when you tie me up and I’m all spread out for you. Maybe how fucked-out I look when you fuck my mouth. I know how much you love it. Do you think about that?”

“Fuck,” Brian groaned.

“Do you think about my nails down your back? How pretty and red your skin looks all scratched up? Maybe all the times I’ve sucked you off when our friends are in the room next to us, and you have to put a hand over your mouth to keep yourself quiet.” You tightened your grip just slightly, and Brian hissed, trying to buck forward into your hand, but you slipped your hand from his boxers, leaving him bucking into thin air, and he moaned.

“Is that what you think about when you get yourself off?” you prompted.

Brian nodded wordlessly, and went to kiss you, but you moved out of his reach. “You gonna use your words?” you teased.

Brian moaned again. “God.” It almost came out in a whine of frustration, and you felt warmth run down your body all the way to your toes. “Yes,” Brian ground out, finally opening his eyes. He had such pretty eyes. Dark and bright. “Yes, fuck, I think about all of that. I think about you in every single— scenario you could imagine. Literally whatever you can think of, I’ve thought about it. Because you drive me mental. And none of it compares to the real thing, which I’m really fucking hoping we’ll get to within the hour, if you’ll stop fucking about.”

You grinned. “You’re so patient with me,” you said. “I’ve trained you well.”

“I’m getting increasingly less patient,” Brian muttered.

You took one of his hands, bringing it to your face, slowly. You let his fingers rest against your lips. “I’m sorry,” you said, though you weren’t sorry at all.

Brian’s eyes were focused on your mouth. Watching his face, loving how horny it made him, you opened your lips, sucking two of his fingers into your mouth.

He moaned, biting his bottom lip. “You look fucking incredible doing that,” he murmured as you swirled your tongue around each finger. His other hand moved to your back, his fingers ghosting up and down your lower spine.

You let his fingers slide out of your mouth to say, “I love doing it. I love your hands.” You ran your tongue up his fingers and drew them into your mouth again, feeling the texture of them.

Brian’s other hand came to rest on your collarbones, his thumb against your throat. A promise. You felt excitement fizzle through you. “Good girl,” he said softly.

You paused. You’d never heard that one before.

“Sorry,” Brian said immediately. “I don’t know why I said that. That was too much.”

You let the new words sink in. You liked it.

You pulled off his fingers again. “I don’t think it was, Daddy,” you said.

Brian’s mouth fell open. “Oh my God,” he breathed.

“Unless you think it was,” you added quickly.

Brian shook his head. “No,” he said. “It— it sort of… works, doesn’t it? With me calling you — when you’re calling me…”

“Call me that again,” you suggested. “We can always veto it at any point.”

“That’s true,” Brian said. “I’m— It feels a bit weird calling you that, like, right now, so I’m just going to— I’ll wait.”

You nodded. “Okay. But I liked it, I think.” Brian’s fingers still rested against your mouth, and it was nice, in a strange way, to have them there. “It was hot, y’know, in the moment.”

“Good,” Brian said. “Otherwise that could’ve been—“

“Awkward, yeah,” you said with a laugh. You kissed his fingertips. “So, you gonna choke me, or…?”

Brian snorted a laugh. “You’re not exactly delicate, are you?”

“Never have been,” you said happily. You took his wrists, guiding his hands away, and leant in to kiss him.

You ended up on the bed somehow, with Brian kissing you while he held your wrists down above your head. If you’d had more time, you would’ve used the scarves that you kept in your closet for just this purpose — you hated wearing them, so you were glad that they were useful for something — but time was ticking, and both of you were anxious to move things along.

Brian had to let go of your wrists to move further down your body, tearing off your bra and giving your boobs the love they deserved.

You made a soft sound of pleasure, scratching your nails up and down Brian’s back where you could reach, and along his shoulders, and Brian tensed at the sharp pain of it, but you knew it wasn’t too much. You’d only ever had to stop when you’d almost made him bleed, and even then it had been you who’d noticed it, not him.

Brian went to move further down your body, but you tugged him back up, shaking your head.

“No?” Brian said.

“Choke me,” you said.

Brian nodded eagerly. “Yeah, of course.”

“Choke me, Daddy,” you added with a laugh.

“That is funny,” Brian said, “but also, please say that in your sex voice.”

You quirked your eyebrows at him, and then grabbed his hand, pressing it against your throat. “Please choke me, Daddy.”

Brian sat up and leant over you, then applied pressure on your throat, and your eyes slid closed, your head tilting back. “Yeah,” you breathed. “Yeah, Daddy, just like that. Feels so good.”

“Fuck,” Brian muttered. His grip tightened, and you whined.

Your mind went quiet, focusing only on the feeling of Brian’s hand around your throat. You couldn’t have thought about anything else if you’d tried.

Brian released his grip, and you felt your heart jump.

Your eyes opened. Brian was watching you with an expression you knew well, his cock pressed against his stomach, leaking pre-come. He looked delicious.

His hand stayed where it was.

“More?” he said.

You nodded. “Please, Daddy.”

“God, that’s so fucking hot,” Brian said, and did as you asked.

He kept his grip tight on your throat for so long that your body’s instincts really kicked in, giving you a surge of adrenaline that, in any other situation, would have made you panic. But not right now. Right now, it did something very different.

“Good girl,” you heard Brian say, and you whimpered.

He let you go, and you gasped, almost trembling with need. “Fuck me,” you demanded. “Fuck me literally right now, dude, I’m not even joking.”

Brian chuckled. “Choking you always works. Every time.”

“Yeah, because it’s really hot,” you said bluntly. “I’m like a waterfall down there right now. Get your dick in me. God.”

Brian laughed, and you batted his hand away to sit up, grabbing onto him and kissing him. You fell back onto the bed, Brian coming with you.

He was laughing against your lips, but you didn’t care. You did care, however, when you felt his fingers nudging at your entrance, and you nodded. He pushed a finger into you, and you spread your legs, making a muffled sound of frustration.

Brian pulled back. “What?”

“Hurry up,” you said. “Get those fingers up in there.”

You didn’t exactly help speed things up; you kept distracting Brian, nipping at his lip and neck, raking your nails up his back, taking his cock in your hand and jerking him off.

By the time you assured him that you were ready, you were both sweaty, breathless messes, and Brian’s hands shook with adrenaline so badly that he dropped the condom as he was trying to open the packet.

You, again, weren’t helping.

“Come on,” you whined, kneeling behind him, pushing his hair aside to kiss his neck, your hand curling around his front and squeezing the base of his cock.

”I’m trying,” he said. “It’s a little difficult when you’re— Got it.” As he rolled the condom onto himself, you moved your lips to his ear, kissing the bone behind it.

“You gonna fuck me good, Daddy?” you murmured. “I’m so ready for you. So wet for you, Daddy. All for you.”

He shuddered, a full-body shiver that made you grin.

“Done,” he blurted, and turned around to shove you onto your back.

You laughed, bouncing as you hit the bed, and Brian pounced on you, kissing you deeply. He took a brief pause to lube himself up, and he pushed into you soon after; although the burn was familiar, you still took a few moments to adjust the further he sank into you.

You threw your legs around his hips, and he began thrusting into you, and you wondered how the hell you’d gone your whole life up until a few months ago without him fucking you.

Soon, he panted into your ear, “Can I choke you?”

“Yes, fuck yes,” you said, and he paused, getting to the right position, making sure he could keep balanced, and then he was fucking you again. One hand came to press on your throat, and your eyes slid closed.

You’d come just from this before — Brian fucking you nice and deep while he cut off the blood supply to your brain. It didn’t happen all that often, and neither of you ever expected it to happen, but once or twice it had.

You could feel yourself teetering on the edge now, very nearly almost there, but you knew you’d need more.

Brian let your throat go, and you made a sound that was halfway between a moan and a gasp, and then his fingers were at your clit, and he said, “Good girl, Jesus Christ,” and no one was more shocked than you when you came unexpectedly.

Brian’s hips shunted forward at the feeling of you pulsing around him, and he moaned, and you were panting like you’d run a marathon, jerking from the aftershocks of your orgasm.

There was a moment of confused silence. You weren’t sure if you should be embarrassed or not.

“Did you just come?” Brian said, his voice pitched high in surprise.

You nodded. “Yeah,” you said breathlessly, pressing your palm to your forehead, staring at the ceiling. “Oh, God.”

“I thought I was going to finish soon,” Brian said with a laugh.

“That was… wow,” you said. “Okay. All right. I didn’t even realise I was that close.”

Brian hummed, and leant down to kiss the hollow of your throat. “It was sort of hot,” he said. “If I’m being honest.”

“Yeah?” you said.

“Mm.” Brian’s tongue brushed over where his lips had been, and your shoulders tensed, a light giggle slipping from you.

“Stop it, I’m ticklish there,” you said.

Brian kissed further up your neck. “Am I all right to keep going?” he said in between kisses. “You’re not too sensitive?”

“If you can make me come again before you’ve finished, I’ll buy you your groceries for the next two weeks,” you said.

Brian paused, then lifted his head. “My groceries, or my household’s groceries?”

You thought about it. “Just yours. I’m not made of money. And it would be a little suss if all of a sudden I was forking over, like, all of my savings to pay for a fortnight’s worth of food for four guys. You’d send me broke.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about it too much,” Brian said. “I was pretty close already.”

“Fine,” you said. “Two weeks’ worth of food. For the entire gang. If I come again before you do.”

Brian laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, all right. Already prepared to lose this one.” He kissed you, and you rolled your hips up to his, and he picked up where he left off.

You spent the next couple of minutes floating in that grey area of arousal, feeling turned on beyond belief, but knowing that you weren’t going to come. It didn’t matter, though, because you were more than happy where you were, and you also knew that you wouldn’t have to pay for a shit-ton of groceries.

Towards the end, though, you felt the beginnings of something within you, and, okay, maybe you did really want to come again.

You could tell Brian was close, and you urged him to go faster, harder. “You’re fucking me so good, Daddy, yes,” you panted.

Brian groaned. “I’m…”

You clenched around him, and his rhythm stuttered. “Come on, Bri,” you murmured. “You’re so close, I can feel it. Come on. Daddy. Daddy, please.”

Brian cried out as he came. You grinned, and let Brian take a moment before you rolled both of you over, so you were straddling him. His arms flopped out to the sides, and you laughed.

Your second orgasm was just out of reach, an itch you wanted to scratch, but it was easy enough to ignore, for now.

Brian ran his fingertips over your thighs, looking beautifully dishevelled. “How are you?” he said. “Do you need me to—“

“No,” you said. “No, I’m good.”

Brian squinted at you. “Are you lying?”

“No,” you said. “You don’t have to do anything. I’m fine.”

Brian sighed. “Right. All right.” He sat up and helped you dismount, then discarded his condom in the bin across the room. He climbed back on the bed and shoved your legs apart.

You gave him a quizzical look. “What are you doing?”

“Eating you out,” Brian said, like it was obvious.

“You don’t have to,” you said, unconvincingly.

“If you don’t want me to, I won’t,” Brian said.

“Well, do you want to?” you said.

“I always want to,” Brian said.

“You don’t even want to take a break first?”

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Brian said, getting comfortable and kissing the inside of your thigh. “I’m not done until you’re done.” He kissed your thigh again, much further up. “And are you done?”

You debated your response.

Brian’s kiss moved even further up. “You going to be a good girl for me?” he murmured, looking up at you with those dark eyes, and you felt your stomach jolt with arousal.

“Not done,” you blurted, shaking your head. “I’m not done.”

Brian huffed a laugh, and you let your head fall back.

This — Brian eating you out — was something, amongst other things, that the two of you had perfected down to a T. Usually it wasn’t something that happened straight after sex, but you’d done it before. And anyway, you were both very adaptable when it came to sex. Specifically, sex with each other.

Brian could just about slide three fingers into you without any further preamble, and his tongue really was something divine. You curled your hand into his hair, giving him murmurs of encouragement, you breath catching whenever he got just the right angle, just the right pressure.

It didn’t take long. You felt it building and building within you, and you breathed, “So close, yes, that’s it.” Brian knew exactly what to do, exactly how fast to go, and then your back was arching, and you came with a gasp and a cry.

Brian peppered kisses to your stomach, and you pushed at his shoulder. “I’m fucking ticklish, dude, stop it,” you said, squirming, and Brian crawled over you, landing heavily beside you on the bed.

“Done?” he said, raising his eyebrows.

You reached over and wiped off his face with your hand. “Yep,” you said. “Thanks, Daddy.”

You’d said it just to make him uncomfortable, and it worked a treat. Brian made a face. “Eugh. Not like that. Sounds weird if you say it like that.”

“Like what?” you said, feigning ignorance.

“Like I’m actually your dad and I’ve just, I don’t know, dropped you off at school.”

“What if I called you just ‘Dad’?”

“I would never speak to you again. And immediately get a restraining order.”

You laughed. “What about—“

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Brian said. “Before I regret ever telling you anything in the first place.”

You shuffled onto your front, letting your arm fall across Brian’s waist. “Can we just skip the lecture tomorrow?” you grumbled. “Let’s just stay here and have sex.”

“That’s a very appealing suggestion,” Brian said, “but I don’t think our future selves would be all that pleased when we don’t know anything for the exam.”

“We never know anything for the exam,” you said. “Everyone always has to teach themselves everything anyway.”

“Well, be my guest, if you want to stay home,” Brian said. “But I’ll be going.”

“Maybe I’ll just sleep with someone who’s available, then,” you said.

“Feel free.”

“Maybe Rog.”

Brian made a face. “Gross.”

You grinned. “In your bed.”

“All right, no, I know for a fact that Rog would never have sex in my bed. That’s crossing a line.”

“Would you have sex in his bed?”

Brian thought it over. “Maybe. If it was you, then maybe.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Oh?”

“That wasn’t a challenge,” Brian said. “I don’t want to have sex in Roger’s bed. I’m just saying, if there were no other options—“

“We’re definitely going to have sex in Roger’s bed,” you said with a grin.

Brian groaned. “No.”

“Okay, I’ll just have sex with Roger, then.”

“No!” Brian groaned even more loudly. “Then he’ll never shut up about it.” He paused, and then said, “Actually, he makes a lot of Daddy jokes. I’m curious now - do you think you could do some recon and figure out if he’s into it, too? I bet he is, the hypocrite. If you could, it would bring me so much joy. I’d be eternally grateful.”

You laughed. “We’ll have to see about that one.” You sat up, and climbed off the bed. “I’m going to shower. You can join me if you like, but you don’t have to.”

“I’ll shower after,” Brian said. “We always end up wasting water when we shower together. Which completely defeats the purpose of showering together.”

You shrugged. “Up to you,” you said lightly, heading to the bedroom door.

You hadn’t even opened the door when Brian blurted, “Okay, fine, I’m coming.”

You shot him a smile over your shoulder. “I wasn’t even trying to change your mind.”

“I think you were,” Brian said, as the two of you headed to the bathroom.

“I don’t think I was.”

“Hm, I think you were.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “You’re so annoying.”

Brian laughed. “Ah, how the tables have turned!”

“Shut up,” you said. You swatted his hip. “Get in the shower.”

After the shower, you both got dressed and went back to studying. The popcorn was cold, and your roommate Lucy complained about the mess on the kitchen floor when she got home.

Nothing had changed, and it was perfect.

#brian may x reader #queen fanfiction #smut #rpf #mine #try verse

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addictedtostorytelling · 4 years

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Hello, there! Addicted- that sounds like an appropriate name kkkkk-, I would like your advice on one subject. I want to make a gif from a movie, "Fear" do you know it? I have it downloaded on my computer, Which program you advise me to use? I never made one before, so I'm pretty lost here.

hey, @mementovive!

you can call me aj, if you prefer. 😉

as far as gif-making goes, i make most of my gifs from dvds, but the process is pretty similar to making them from downloads, from what i understand.

the programs i use are:

handbrake (to convert files to mp4 format)

windows movie maker (to cut and manipulate the mp4 files down to the right scenes and sizes)

and adobe photoshop cs5 (to make the actual gifs)

the process itself is kind of involved, so i’ll put the instructions after the “keep reading,” if you’re interested.

__________

i suppose i should preface this post by saying i have a pc, and i have no idea if any of these programs work for macs.

so.

to make gifs, i start in handbrake, where i take the following steps:

(note: if your video file is already in mp4 format, you can skip down to the “windows movie maker” part of the tutorial.)

select the source from wherever i have the video file saved.

“browse” to find the destination where i want to save the converted file and save it under whatever file name i want.

select the “high profile” preset from the right-hand menu.

make sure the cropping is set to zero in all directions. (if a change to the cropping is needed, select “custom” in order to do so.)

make sure that the “anamorphic: none” and “modulus: 16″ size options are selected.

hit the “start button” up top and wait for the video to convert.

the bigger the file is, the longer it takes to convert.

(i typically try to only convert short clips, a few seconds or minutes in length at most, to avoid crashing the program.)

i then move to windows movie maker, where i select the little filmstrip icon in the center of the screen to import my newly-made mp4 file:

once the mp4 file uploads, i use the slide rule on the filmstrip to select where i want to crop the file. then i hit the “split” button and delete the excess video material i don’t want.

since photoshop balks at longer files, i usually limit each clip to no longer than 25 seconds in duration. i also try to leave some extra frames before and after the scene i actually want to gif, as photoshop tends to shave off of a second or so from each clip when you upload to start giffing.

after cropping the file down to the size/length i want it to be, i click on the blue “file” tab at the top of the program, select “save movie” and then the “recommended for this project” setting on the sub-menu. i then save the file to my preferred destination.

i am now ready to go to photoshop and begin giffing.

to open my intended mp4 file, i go to the “file” menu, select “import,” and then select “video frames to layers” from the sub-menu.

i then select the mp4 file from whatever destination i saved it to in movie maker.

at this point, a pop-up menu called “import video to layers” appears, like so:

if i want to gif the whole clip, i select the “from beginning to end” option. otherwise, i click “selected range only” and use the slide rule on the video viewer to select which portion of the clip i want.

in either case, i make sure that the “limit to every” box is checked, like so:

i typically choose 2 frames, as doing so makes the gifs smoother.

(the higher the number of frames selected, the more gaps there will be between frames, which translates to the gifs ultimately being choppier.)

i also keep the “make frame animation” box at the bottom of the pop-up menu selected.

once i have selected everything i need to, i then hit the “ok” button, at which point photoshop creates an animation timeline at the bottom of my screen.

from here, my next tasks become

cropping,

sizing,

coloring,

and sharpening

my gifs, in that order.

my first item of business is to delete any extra frames i do not wish to gif from the timeline. i do so by selecting said frames in the timeline and clicking on the little trashcan icon at the bottom of the timeline, near the scroll bar.

once i have the frames i actually want to work with---which may all be for one gif or for multiple gifs i intend to make into a set---i click on the menu icon on the right-hand side of the animation timeline.

doing so opens up a pop-up “actions” menu.

i then select “select all” from the actions menu, which highlights all remaining frames in the animation timeline.

next, on the “layers” widget on the right side of the screen, i select all layers, making sure that they’re highlighted, and press CTRL + G to put them into a “group” folder. the name is this folder is unimportant. (photoshop will automatically name it “group 1.”)

i then return to the animation timeline, where, with all frames still selected, i click on the little black arrow at the bottom of a frame (beside the timestamp that says “0.03″ and select “other.”

i then input a set delay of 0.09 seconds and click “ok.”

now i select the crop tool from the tools widget on the left side of my screen. i use this tool to cut away any framing around the gif, like so:

next, i click on the “image” tab at the top of the screen and select “image size.”

the size of image i want will depend on what kind of gif(s) i’m making. if i am making a single gif or large gifs for a “stackable” set like this one, i make it no wider than 540px. if i am making a gifset that is two gifs across, then no wider than 268px. if a gifset that is three gifs across, then no wider than 177px.

if i adjust my gif to the width i want and the height ends up being less than ideal, then i undo the width adjustment, input the height i want, and then crop the gif to the proper width (manually) using the crop tool rather than the “image size” menu, as doing so prevents skewing.

in any case, once i have the gif the size i want it to be, i start on coloring.

honestly, coloring gifs is the most artful and least scientific part of the whole process. the tools for doing so are found both in the “layers > new adjustment layer” tab at the top of the program and in the “adjustments” widget on the right-hand side of the program, adjacent to the layers widget.

there are lots of good tutorials on coloring available for beginners, both on tumblr and on youtube, so i recommend reading/watching a couple, just to get a feel for what all goes into the process.

once you have the basics down, you kinda just have to play around to find what looks good to you. some gif-makers use psds, some color by hand.

i tend to have kind of a “base set” of coloration that i use and then go by feel on a lot of stuff, favoring bolder colors where i can, though i am still striving to achieve the kind of beautifully vivid hues expert gif-makers like @panchostokes create.

seriously! check these out. they’re gorgeous!

in any case, after coloring the gif comes sharpening, which is another process i suggest you check out tutorials to learn.

tbh, sharpening is one of my weakest skills as a gif-maker, and particularly as i most often make gifs of 90s and early 00s shows, which tend to have low resolution and therefore need a lot of work; in addition to using tutorials, i’ve been playing around with my own sharpening “recipe” lately, but i haven’t hit on the perfect admixture just yet.

once i’m finished with the gif---cropping, coloring, sharpening---i go to the “file” menu in photoshop and click “save for web devices.”

before saving, i make sure that the lower left-hand corner of the pop-up shows that my gif is under the current tumblr gif size limit (to ensure maximum image quality).

at present---as of september 2020---the current limit is 8mb.

however, most gif-makers try to keep their gifs under 5mb, when possible, as tumblr compresses larger gifs, ultimately lowering the quality by changing them from .gif to .gifv files.

if i find one of my gifs is over the size limit, then i go back to make the gif smaller---by cropping it---shaving off the extra mbs.

finally, i check to make sure that the “forever” looping option is selected, so that my gif doesn’t stop running after its first play-through.

once i have everything as i like, i click “save.”

---and that’s the basics of how i make gifs.

of course, mine is neither the only nor best way to make gifs, and i’m sure that more seasoned gif-makers reading this tutorial are probably side-eyeing my process 👀 👀 👀.

there are undoubtedly easier ways to do things and methods that achieve prettier results; this process is just the one i’ve developed through trial and error, so it’s the one i stick with.

note that i also didn’t say anything here about adding text to gifs, but that’s something else you can learn how to do through more thorough tutorials than this one.

my best advice for aspiring gif-makers is to find a gif-maker whose work wows you and see if they have any tutorials or tips; i personally learned almost everything i know about gif-making from this very excellent tutorial @everynineyearsandthirtyfourdays posted years ago.

anyway.

good luck giffing fear!

i hadn’t heard of that movie before, but i see that billy plays a role. nice!

feel welcome to send more questions any time.

#answered #mementovive #**#my tutorials #giffing

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newstfionline · 3 years

Text

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Canada’s Ontario to go on province-wide shutdown Dec. 26 (AP) Ontario on Monday announced a province-wide shutdown because of a second wave of COVID-19 in Canada’s most populous province. The lockdown will be put in place for southern Ontario from Dec. 26 until Jan. 23, but will lift for northern Ontario on Jan. 9. Ontario has had seven straight days of more than 2,000 cases a day. Modeling shows that could more than double in January. Health officials earlier said a four- to six-week hard lockdown could significantly stop the spread of COVID-19. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, had already closed restaurants for indoor dining but schools remained open. All high schools in Ontario will now be closed for in-person learning until Jan. 25. Elementary schools will be closed until Jan. 11.

Congress Strikes Long-Sought Stimulus Deal to Provide $900 Billion in Aid (NYT) Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a hard-fought agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that would send immediate aid to Americans and businesses to help them cope with the economic devastation of the pandemic and fund the distribution of vaccines. The deal would deliver the first significant infusion of federal dollars into the economy since April, as negotiators broke through months of partisan gridlock that had scuttled earlier talks, leaving millions of Americans and businesses without federal help as the pandemic raged. While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March, it is one of the largest relief packages in modern history. The agreement was expected to provide $600 stimulus payments to millions of American adults earning up to $75,000.

Trump’s legacy: He changed the presidency, but will it last? (AP) The most improbable of presidents, Donald Trump reshaped the office and shattered its centuries-old norms and traditions while dominating the national discourse like no one before. He smashed conceptions about how presidents behave and communicate, offering unvarnished thoughts and policy declarations alike, pulling back the curtain for the American people while enthralling supporters and unnerving foes—and sometimes allies—both at home and abroad. While the nation would be hard-pressed to elect another figure as disruptive as Trump, it remains to be seen how much of his imprint on the office itself, occupied by only 44 other men, will be indelible. Already it shadows the work of his successor, President-elect Joe Biden, who framed his candidacy as a repudiation of Trump, offering himself as an antidote to the chaos and dissent of the past four years while vowing to restore dignity to the Oval Office. “For all four years, this is someone who at every opportunity tried to stretch presidential power beyond the limits of the law,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. “He altered the presidency in many ways, but many of them can be changed back almost overnight by a president who wants to make the point that there is a change.”

Mexican president expects no conflicts with Biden administration (Reuters) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday his weekend call with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden was “very friendly” and that he expect relations to be positive with the new Democratic administration taking office in January.

World closes borders to Britain as new coronavirus strain breeds panic (Reuters) A slew of countries closed their borders to Britain on Monday over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, heightening global panic, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of UK food shortages days before the Brexit cliff edge. India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70% more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely. Several other nations have suspended travel from Britain including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada. France shut its border to arrivals of people and trucks from Britain, closing off one of the most important trade arteries with mainland Europe. As families and truck drivers tried to navigate the travel bans to get back home in time for Christmas, British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s said shortages would start to appear within days if transport ties were not quickly restored.

Britons scramble for residency in Spain and Portugal ahead of Brexit (Reuters) In October, Michelle Jones and her husband Gary boarded a ferry in England for a new life in Spain. Had they left it beyond Britain’s period of transition out of the European Union, things would have been much more complicated. “We haven’t got a choice—it’s now or never,” the former housing association worker said at the hairdressing salon she has taken over in the resort town of Fuengirola in southern Spain. Britain formally left the European Union on Jan. 31 after its 2016 referendum, but since then it has been in a transition period under which rules on free travel and trade remain unchanged. That period ends on Dec. 31. Fourteen European countries, including Portugal and Spain, will grant Britons arriving before Dec. 31 the right to five years of residency. Other countries have tougher post-Brexit requirements, asking all Britons to re-apply after the transition period. Ahead of the deadline, some people have brought forward retirement plans and others have taken advantage of being able to work from home to move.

Skiing (Financial Times) The European Alps are home to a third of the world’s 2,084 ski resorts, and typically generate €28 billion in revenues. That is roughly 7 percent of the overall European Union tourism market. Though geographically compact, the Alps are the global seat of skiing, and in a typical year are host to about 43 percent of worldwide skier visits, considerably higher than North America (21 percent), the Asia Pacific region (16 percent), and other parts of Western Europe (10 percent). Naturally, this season will not be generating 28 billion euros. France has shut down all ski lifts through January 7, resorts in Italy and Austria are closed, and the Swiss are going to do their own thing but will cut ties with neighbors for the duration of the crisis.

Nepal Falls Into Political Turmoil. China and India Are Watching. (NYT) Nepal’s top leader dissolved Parliament on Sunday amid infighting among members of the governing party, throwing into doubt the political future of a strategically important Himalayan country where China and India have long jockeyed for influence. The prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, called for the dissolution of the lower house of Parliament despite protests from his own Nepal Communist Party and opposition groups, including the largest, Nepali Congress. Nepal is now set to hold elections starting in late April, more than a year earlier than the expected vote in November 2022. Mr. Oli made his move in the face of rising dissatisfaction with his job performance even within the ranks of his own party. He was elected to a second stint as prime minister in 2017 on promises of tamping down corruption and forging stronger ties with China and its economic growth machine. But Mr. Oli’s administration has been plagued with its own corruption allegations as well as criticism of his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated an economy that has long depended on tourism and on remittances from its citizens abroad.

Rockets fired at U.S. embassy land inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, damaging compound (Reuters) At least eight Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the U.S. Embassy, causing some minor damage on the compound on Sunday, the Iraqi military and the embassy said on Sunday. The Iraqi military said an “outlaw group” fired eight rockets. Most of the missiles hit a residential complex and a security checkpoint inside the zone, damaging buildings and cars and wounding one Iraqi soldier, a military statement said. U.S. officials blame Iran-backed militia for regular rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, including near the embassy in Baghdad. No known Iran-backed groups have claimed responsibility.

Spyware targets phones of Al-Jazeera reporters (AP) Dozens of journalists at Al-Jazeera, the Qatari state-owned media company, have been targeted by advanced spyware in an attack likely linked to the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a cybersecurity watchdog said Sunday. Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said it traced malware that infected the personal phones of 36 journalists, producers, anchors and executives at Al-Jazeera back to the Israel-based NSO Group, which has been widely condemned for selling spyware to repressive governments. Most unnerving to the investigators was that iMessages were infecting targeted cellphones without the users taking any action—what’s known as a zero-click vulnerability. Through push notifications alone, the malware instructed the phones to upload their content to servers linked to the NSO Group, Citizen Lab said, turning journalists’ iPhones into powerful surveillance tools without even luring users to click on suspicious links or threatening texts. Citizen Lab, which has been tracking NSO spyware for four years, tied the attacks “with medium confidence” to the Emirati and Saudi governments, based on their past targeting of dissidents at home and abroad with the same spyware. The two countries are embroiled in a bitter geopolitical dispute with Qatar in which hacking and cyber surveillance have increasingly become favored tools.

In Tigray Conflict, Displaced Children Suffer (NYT) UM RAKUBA, Sudan—The Um Rakuba refugee camp is filling again, stifling in the afternoon sun in eastern Sudan, and there are children everywhere. More than 51,000 Ethiopians have fled their country because of the military’s offensive in the restive region of Tigray, and more than 19,000 of them are here at Um Rakuba. Almost a third of the Ethiopian refugees are children, with at least 361 of them arriving unaccompanied, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Many of the unaccompanied children said they were separated from their families as they bolted from their homes in the middle of the night, trekking hours and days with nothing but the clothes on their backs to reach safety. “It is quite heartbreaking,” Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said in an interview in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. “For an emergency that is relatively small in numbers, I have hardly seen such a high level of people separated from their families, many children separated.”

The food industry and academic studies (Food Dive) A new study published in the journal Plos One reported that in 2018, 13 percent of research articles published in the 10-most-cited nutrition academic journals were funded at least in part by the food industry. Of those funded by the industry, 56 percent reported favorable findings for the industry backing them financially, vastly higher than the 10 percent of articles that were not paid for by the food industry that reported industry favorable outcomes.

#headlines #news

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ladyhistorypod · 4 years

Text

Episode 15: Boss B!tches

Sources:

Elleanor Eldridge

Smithsonian Library Blog

Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge (Smithsonian Libraries)

Women Extra and Ordinary: Elleanor Eldridge

Documenting the American South

Rhode Island Historical Society

Stages of Freedom

Further Learning: Stages of Freedom on Zora Neale Hurston

Madam CJ Walker

National Women’s History Museum

Philanthropy Round Table

Guinness Book of World Records

History Channel

Preserving Black History

Mary Ellen Pleasant

New York Times

CNBC

Black Past

Black Economics

Biography

Attributions: Katy Kirby, Live a-humble, Cash Register, San Francisco bound

Click below for a transcript of the episode!

Archival Audio: I can make my own living just as well as he can make his. He ought to be glad I'm working. Just because he can't stand competition he wants me to quit. My work isn't important enough. I'm only a woman but he, the man, is boss. He'd like me to be a slave to the house. Look at this mess.

Haley: Starting a business now is increasingly just slowly getting harder and harder because… and I'm doing this because I want to start an Etsy, because money and graduating in a pandemic sucks. Like Etsy has ridiculous fee prices.

Lexi: Yes.

Haley: Like just uploading a picture is like twenty cents and I realize this for like all these other accounts there are just so many different fees. But then when I was talking to like my dad and the older generation family members, they’re like “start a business, have an idea, and like create something” and I’m like do you guys not understand how difficult that is? Like I don’t–

Lexi: Well you need money to make ideas.

Alana: Yeah.

Lexi: I have plenty of business-worthy ideas and I always like sit at the dinner table and joke that someone should give me like X. amount of dollars because I've researched how much my new idea is going to cost but no one ever takes me seriously and they're like “what is this your thirty fifth business idea this year” but like… compostable dog toys? Fantastic idea.

Haley: Oh, I love that idea.

Lexi: All it would take me is a grand to get that off the ground so if anyone wants to invest. But guess what? I don't have a grand.

Haley: Well I’m using my savings account for this.

Lexi: Oof.

Haley: I have invested like a grand or so and I’ve taken way longer– I've been thinking about this like for the whole pandemic like since May. And with moving that was kind of like a shit show obviously like school comes first, but I'm at the point where now I'm just like making stuff and I have to do another order for shipping like candle materials? It's a hundred dollars for shipping. Yeah. I like making stuff. I’m a crafty bitch.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Alana: Hello and welcome to the Lady History; the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. In the Zoom meeting today as always is Lexi. Lexi, which of your business ideas do you think is the most sustainable?

Lexi: My most sustainable business idea is to 3d print dog toys out of corn. That if the dog buries them in the yard or destroys them and you need to get rid of them, they are compostable. Because one of the biggest struggles about being a pet owner is that, at least for my bird a lot of the toys are very made of natural materials and so I don't feel bad throwing out the broken pieces, but dog toys are made of not good stuff.

Alana: And it's the other constant in my life, Haley. Haley, what would you do with a million dollars?

Haley: I would have a dog. Dogs don't cost a million dollars, but like…

Lexi: You could spoil a dog.

Haley: Yeah.

Alana: And I'm Alana and I can't eat the rich because pig isn't kosher.

Lexi: In terms of women starting businesses, I was thinking if Lady History doesn't work out, if we never make real money our business plan can be–

Alana: How dare you, we have made six dollars.

Lexi: Okay. But like, if we need real money and all museums stop existing because of the rona we can open a bake shop called Sprinklebear McPuss-n-Boots’ Bakery.

Haley: I love it. I'm down. You know that's like always been my dream is to have a bakery but part of the bakery…

Lexi: I believe there's a place near me I think you would really like. You probably couldn't eat anything there– well maybe you could eat like the savory stuff. But it's called Sweet Memories and the first floor is a tiny little restaurant that serves soup and gourmet grilled cheese and has baked goods but the upstairs is a little craft store where they sell locally made, handmade stuff and that is kind of how I envision Sprinklebear McPuss-n-Boots’ Bakery.

Haley: So that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be a chef growing up and I would, that's how I like bake all my cookies and everything, all egg substitutes. I just hate it when people try to make like restaurants so freakin elaborate, like where they have– and I'm not talking diners, diners are perfection like the gross greasy diner? Give that to me.

Lexi: Mm. That’s the good stuff

Haley: I don't want to go to a cafe where like the list of crap you can get is longer than like my shoe size… I have small feet. Okay fine, I have very small feet so like let me rephrase that.

Lexi: Longer than Robert’s shoe size.

Alana, laughing: Ayyyyy.

Haley: Ayyyy.

Lexi: That was a dick joke. I’m sorry.

Haley: Longer than my wand. My bakery has to have a good menu that's like very limited. So again, soups. I love soups and sandwiches, like you have your grilled cheese–

Lexi: I mean it’s literally gourmet grilled cheese and like three kinds of soups.

Haley: Like you always have like the tomato, you always have broccoli cheddar, and you always have chili and like one seasonal.

Lexi: I had a pumpkin wild mushroom seasonal soup that was to die for.

Haley: Amazing, that sounds so great. And then for the bakery stuff, it's stuff that like you can eat right there– like a croissant would be excellent. Cookies would be excellent, but also just like you could special order like a pie or cake.

Lexi: Yes!

Haley: And then one part of it is like a library type situation. Not necessarily bookstore, but just like all my books. I have over two hundred books of course I could spare a few books. So you could sit there, read, do a chit chat.

Alana: It's like those books at Gelman that are like you can't take them out but you can read them there. On reserve or whatever it’s called.

Haley: Yes. And then lastly, have stuff like packaged because like hostess gifts. I am the queen of bringing a hostess gift. There have been moments where I forgot it and that's why I've made up with it of just being really elaborate. So if like you need a serving dish for the cookies you're going to buy from my place? Of course I have some ivory porcelain cooking dish– like serving dishes. You want like a Haley inspired Dutch oven? you damn Skippy you're gonna have it in three colors.

Lexi: So I guess the final verdict is Sprinklebear McPuss-n-Boots Bake Shop will be an egg-free, small menu, gift shop, library, eatery experience.

Haley: Absolutely.

Lexi: For my business woman I am covering yet another lady from the Women Extra and Ordinary project that I did with the Smithsonian Libraries. I feel like this is going to get real old real fast, how many of these women I'm covering, but you know what I already did the research. So today I'm gonna talk about Elleanor Eldridge, who lived in Rhode Island and was born approximately in March 1785. Her father, Robin Eldridge, was a formerly enslaved person who fought in the American Revolution in exchange for his freedom. Her mother, Hannah Prophet, was a Native American who died when Elleanor was ten years old. Elleanor was one of nine siblings. After her mother's death, an aunt suggested Elleanor never get married, and Elleanor began working as a servant. While working, Elleanor became skilled in weaving, spinning, paper and soap making, wallpapering, cheesemaking and dairy working. And to keep her living costs down, she exchanged housework for boarding so that she wouldn't have to pay rent. And through her skills and smart planning, she was able to expand her money making ventures, performing various tasks to earn money. Elleanor was naturally gifted as a businesswoman, and when she succeeded in saving up a large sum of money she began investing in property, which is a pretty good business move. She was also able to take out a mortgage to further her investments. And this was an extremely unique position for a woman of color living in Rhode Island at the time that she lived. So she took advantage of her own savvy and did something really unique and awesome. She built a home on the property she bought with a space that she could rent out. So like think modern duplex but this is the early 1800s and your landlord living next door is a badass businesswoman. So I wouldn't mind her as my landlord. But Elleanor's aunt was right to advise Elleanor to never get married because at the time women could not own property in their own name if they were married. So married women could only hold property in shared ownership with their husbands or after their husband's death, so Elleanor was smart to not get married because it would have meant that her husband would control the property that she had acquired through their own hard work, so by staying single she kept her business interests in her own name which is really good. When Elleanor fell ill in her forties, she went to stay with her family to recover from her sickness. And after becoming well, she had to travel to assist another ill relative who was suffering from cholera. And because many people in her hometown thought she was gone for a really long time, they believed that she died, and a disagreement surrounding the loan that she taken out– the mortgage– led to Elleanor having her property holdings wrongfully taken from her. And she decided to take legal action in 1837. She became the first Black woman in America to plead her case in court and despite overwhelming evidence–

Alana: I look pretty good for a dead bitch.

Lexi: Despite overwhelming evidence, including three male witnesses, a corrupt sheriff testified against her and his testimony was enough for the judge to rule against her. And after spending years working and growing her business, Elleanor lost everything. But Elleanor did not give up. A strong-willed woman, she pursued a settlement out of court which allowed her to repurchase her property, but she was still short on funds to pay the fee that she needed to pay to recover the property. So she had a big brain plan, like the big brain businesswoman she was, to help her cause. Elleanor, who was illiterate, enlisted the help of a ghostwriter; abolitionist Frances Harriet Whipple Green, and Green transcribed Elleanor's life story into a memoir, and the sales of the memoir helped Elleanor repurchase her lost property. And you can read the book by accessing a digital scan on the Smithsonian library website if you are so inclined to read it. The terminology is a little dated and it's a little hard to read if you speak modern English, but if you're curious for a firsthand account… Because even though it was physically written by Francis, it was told by Elleanor, so it's a really unique story. And the book is in the public domain but if you're so inclined that you're just like this is really cool you can actually purchase a physical copy and have it if you would like to. Elleanor’s memoirs include this quote which I really think sums up her whole situation quite well so I'm just going to read it in her words– “No MAN would have been treated so; and if A WHITE WOMAN had been the subject of such wrongs, the whole town—nay, the whole country, would have been indignant; and the actors would have been held up to the contempt they deserve! Newspaper editors would have copied, and commented on it, till every spirit of honor, of justice and of chivalry, would have been roused.” So I think that says a lot about the situation that she was in and how she felt about it and how precarious the whole thing was the fact that if it had happened to a guy, or even to a white woman, it would have not gone down the same way it did. So at the time of her death, Elleanor had recovered most of what she lost and regained most of her property and money, and her story is regarded by scholars today as an important unique account of the story of a Black woman in early America pursuing her own career. In a time when many Black stories were lost, Elleanor's was saved and today she can continue to tell her story through her book. When not close for COVID-19, the Rhode Island Historical Society has a walking tour. It’s about Elleanor and other Black Rhode Islanders from early America, so it stops at a couple locations in the city to share their stories. And the Historical Society also presents a one woman reenactment of Elleanor's trial called “No Man Ever Would Have Been Treated So: The Trials of Elleanor Eldridge” which can be booked as an educational event for groups and clubs. It's pretty cool. And the actress who does it seems really cool so Google it. One of the links actually in the tumblr sources that I am sharing is a video where the actress talks about her experience and a couple other things related to womanhood, so if you're curious about that kind of stuff go watch it.

Alana: I hate that you’ve now done two Rhode Island ladies, and I've been to Rhode Island and telling me about all these cool things to do in Rhode Island and I didn't do any of them because I was like eleven and–

Lexi: You'll go to Rhode Island again.

Alana: Lady History field trip to go see that play.

Lexi: Hey, maybe she could do the play and then we could do a live episode about other famous Rhode Island ladies.

Haley: That would be fantastic.

Alana: Manifest it. Say it on the pod, make it happen.

Lexi: Live show at the Rhode Island Historical Society about Rhode Island ladies.

[Archival Audio of a hymnal]

Haley: My fabulous gal today is Madam CJ Walker, or, by Guinness Book of World Records, the first female self made millionaire in America. And before we get to that point, this history book starts at her childhood. Born on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana, Sarah Breedlove was one of six children to Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove. I love the name Minerva. Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, “former slaves-turned sharecroppers.” And that was a quote, and I don’t like that that’s how it’s phrased. Like “former slaves-turned sharecroppers” is exactly what happened, my problem is like in the sentence I kept reading it it's like “oh but they’re sharecroppers now” not like–

Lexi: It's like still bad.

Haley: Yeah it's still bad and this is because–

Alana: It's not even bad to less bad, it's bad the different bad.

Haley: Yeah. It hits differently. And this is all post Civil War. I even put in my notes like this quote is weird. Unfortunately, her parents died when she was seven and Madam CJ moved in with her sister who worked in the cotton fields. And at age fourteen she married Moses McWilliams, and this is partly to get away from her abusive brother in law.Because already we're off to a rocky start if like your footnote is to get away from an abusive person. Maybe there was love. I couldn't find much about Moses. Again, life was just not on Madam CJ’s side, and her husband died in 1887. And she had to raise their two year old daughter Leila, known as A’Leila. She moved to St Louis with the hope of a better life and not just like living in poverty getting out of that poverty situation because… like yeah absolutely. She wanted– and she was very adamant on making a better life for herself and her daughter and knowing that she could do it as a woman, not just like having that widow title slapped on her. Because we know– even now still, if you’re a widow that's kind of like your identity, your personality. It's like “oh… your partner died.” And kind of the same with men like raising children and that's not what we want. So in St Louis, her four brothers were barbers and she worked both as a laundress and a cook. She also joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church where she met Black men and women who were both educated and successful. And this is kind of like an inspirational moment for her. This was a pivotal moment that she, in my research, just kept going back to. She went through a bit more of a life struggle with a failed marriage and just more financial ups and downs which would make anyone physically and mentally strained. However, in 1904, she began using African American businesswoman Annie Turbo Malone’s “The Great Wonderful Hair Grower” because she was starting to see like scalp problems where… concluded into like hair loss, and I’ll explain more of that because I had to do some more research myself. She also joined Malone's team of Black women sales agents, and this is where she starts to become one of those successful independent people she'd previously admired. And I believe this is around the time Leila actually went to like university, so that was a big yay. I also would like to pause, like I said, to do some research about hair care products because all hair is different. And these products especially that Madam CJ later invents were for Black women who lost their hair to scalp disorders or most likely a form of alopecia, like relatively common and Madam CJ had it too. That is not to say that hair loss just comes in scalp disorders, like I get hair loss when I use certain rubber bands because I have really thick coily hair that will break off at the end. Apparently my hair type is prone to like stress falling out. After some time in the business field, and I believe this was just like about a year, she moved to Denver where she married quote “ad man” Charles Joseph Walker. Hence the new name of Madam CJ Walker. and this is important in the business sense of her life because she started out with a dollar twenty five, and yes this was way way back ago, but in the sense of building like a business that was launching her career to be a self made millionaire that's a little bit of dough. And she was able to launch “Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower” which her husband, the ad man, helped advertise and getting like mail order business started because remember, we did not have the lovely internet. So that was a huge chunk of the business to get like revenue, get the word out there and such. And she knew that there was a market here, because one she was in that market and she just previously worked in that market so she could easily tap into it. And as a Black woman, she knew how to essentially not only market, but just be like “here's how you use it.” So unfortunately this marriage ended in a divorce, and she later moved to Indianapolis. And in 1910, she built a factory for her company, now named Walker Manufacturing Company. And this transformation made it possible for her to become an advocate for Black women especially in the economic independence realm, with Walker Manufacturing Company she could branch out and do a lot more. And she opened up a training program called the Walker System, and basically this huge network of licensed sales agents blossomed. And this led back into her core ideals of giving back and being very generous because she believed that she had generous opportunities given to her, so now she needed to give back. And she remembered what it was like to be that person on the poverty line being inspired by these wealthy, educated, successful people. She ended up employing forty thousand Black women and men in the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. I couldn't find out if this was specifically one part of her business or like the whole network or other endeavors because she also had a cosmetics branch called the National Negro Cosmetics Manufactuers Association that she also started. Regardless, forty thousand people worked many different spans of land is a lot. And her worth in all senses of the word just kept growing and growing. Financially, in the last year of her life she reached that one million dollar mark with her sales exceeding five hundred thousand dollars and some reports saying that at her death, the value of her remaining estate was more like six hundred thousand, which is about eight million today. Just like, what Alana asked, what would I do with a million and maybe a house… like now thinking of it. Because one of her things she spent her money on was a mansion named Villa Lewaro which was a five point five acre plot in Irvington, New York. And I think I might have to do like a drive by field trip. I know where Irvington, New York is and by looking up the street name when I was like googling all this, I think I know exactly where it is. This was also for Madam CJ to be closer to her daughter at this point. And at the end of this like all, happy and sad, Madam CJ continued her avid philanthropy until her death from kidney failure by bequeathing two thirds of her net profits to charities and thousands of dollars to different schools and individuals. There is a Netflix special that’s out. I have not watched it yet. I thought it was still in production. Lexi was the kind beautiful soul to send me an email. Lexi, have you watched it and can you give us a review?

Lexi: I watched it. Since I didn't dive as deep into research on her as you did, I'm not sure how accurate it is because there were you know little stories you didn't cover… Because this is like it's not just one movie it's like a multi part series, so I guess my curiosity maybe after you watch it you can tell us how accurate it was. But from an entertainment standpoint it was really good.

Haley: This is going to be like once I'm done with like writing my thesis and everything–

Lexi: Treat yo self.

Haley: –and be like this is amazing.

Lexi: Yeah, it was like… In terms of entertainment value it was a really amazing woman focused story which I appreciate.

Haley: I've seen the previews, I knew it was coming out and I really thought I was still in production or was like postponed because La Rona. Those looked fabulous.

[Archival Audio of a song about San Francisco]

Alana: So I initially found out about my lady from Drunk History, which is classic me. It’s one of my favorite shows. I have said on this podcast before that I was devastated when it was canceled. I'm still devastated. I don't think I'll ever be over that loss in my life. But then in researching this lady I found out that very little of the Drunk History story is accurate and so that broke my heart. And I'm glad I followed up with some research and wasn't just like using Drunk History as a source because I don't think that's a good idea. Okay, so, Mary Ellen Pleasant was born no one really knows when so I can't tell you her star sign, but in 1814ish. One of my sources said August 19, 1814, which would make her a Leo and I definitely can see her as a fire sign. She wrote three autobiographies, and every single one gives a different birth date and even year. And also no one even really knows where she was born it's possible she was born free in Philadelphia or into slavery in Georgia, who knows? Only Mary Ellen, and she's dead. She spent her early life in Nantucket, Massachusetts where she was indentured to a family of abolitionists. Insert lady doing equations meme. The… I… What? I don't understand how abolitionists owned slaves. Like Alexander Hamilton owned slaves. What's his name? His lover? I haven’t watched Hamilton in so long.

Lexi: Oh, John Laurens.

Alana: Also owned slaves.

Lexi: Yes. But they were like “slavery bad, but we own slaves.”

Alana: I forgot where I was. Oh, I was at my insert lady doing equations meme because abolitionists who own people make me confused. Eventually she was married to a man named James Henry Smith who was either white or biracial or mixed race. And he was an abolitionist as well but also a plantation owner. That's one of those things that I am a big ole question mark. So the two of them as a couple gave a lot of money to the abolitionist movement because they had a lot of money from owning a plantation that I think meant they also owned people, which I am so confused. But James Smith died in the early 1840s and left her a lot of money, some of which she invested and some of which she kept giving away to the cause. The cause of abolition. She got remarried to John Pleasant and they moved to San Francisco to avoid slavers, so formerly a local lady for Haley, even though she doesn’t live in San Francisco anymore. I'm not sure what happened to him. He is never mentioned again besides she moved with him to San Francisco. Mary Ellen became business partners with a man named Thomas Bell. It's possible they were romantically involved but Mary Ellen like found a wife for him, so I don't think so. But anyway they amassed thirty million dollars.

Haley: Throuple?

Alana: Throuple, maybe, I don’t know. Together they amassed thirty million dollars in back then money which is almost a billion dollars today. In the 1890 census, she listed her profession as capitalist which is like so on the nose and I love it. She owned laundries and restaurants and dairies and all these other things. She even owned a Wells Fargo. And she hired Black people, especially Black people who had escaped slavery, to work in them, which gave them opportunities that they probably wouldn't have had otherwise. And this is where she gets the nickname– she starts to get the nickname the Mother of Civil Rights in California. She was a light skinned Black woman, so she could have been white passing, and she did until a census taken after she had gotten kind of successful and amassed all this wealth, she wrote in that she was Black instead of white. She also, furthering her title of Mother of Civil Rights in California, she sued a cable car company for not allowing Black people on at all, setting the stage for Rosa Parks to be even allowed on the bus in the first place to refuse to give up her seat. She won several other lawsuits regarding racial discrimination in the 1860s and 70s and she starts getting notorious among white people. Obviously, because powerful Black women make white people uncomfortable. That’s just a fact. And so many people started calling her Mammy Pleasant which she hated so much because they were like using it derogatorily. Apparently a pastor in Sacramento wrote her a letter addressed to Mammy Pleasant asking for something and she wrote back to him on the same piece of paper because she didn't want to waste her own on him. Big Dick Energy.

Haley: That’s a power move. That’s a power move right there. That’s like saying “best regards” on an email.

Alana: Yeah. Jumping back in time a little bit, in 1859 the abolitionist John Brown led a raid on Harpers Ferry. This is a pretty famous event, he got caught and he was hanged and they found a note in his pocket that basically said here's what I gave you thirty thousand dollars to do– regards to the raid– and it signed, but there's a case of mistaken identity, so no one actually knows who did it. Except, on her deathbed, Mary Ellen confessed to it being her. She pulled the whole “tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” And her gravestone reads “friend of John Brown” because she was. After Thomas Bell died, his widow sued Mary Ellen and she lost almost everything. So there was some falling out there that's something happened. It's also possible she studied voodoo like the actual voodoo like the Haitian voodoo, not like the garbage touristy shit, from Marie Laveau herself, who I’m hoping maybe we’ll cover at some point. I think Marie Laveau was really cool. But that's one of those things that like she said and can't really be corroborated even against Mary Ellen’s own stories. I think it's possible that that's just like something she said to scare the white people even further. There's a park in San Francisco named after her. Haley did you ever go?

Haley: I feel like I do, in the sense I know the plot of land, or like general area. Is it in Golden Gate? Because Golden Gate Park has like a bunch of little pockets.

Alana: No, it's on the corner– it's on the corners of some streets. Anyway there's a park in San Francisco and she haunts it and she has been known to–

Haley: I wish I’d known that. I really… I would have gone.

Alana: I know. Yeah, she throws eucalyptus nuts at people, supposedly. I think that’s cool. That’s what I would do. And she used her position to make a better life for herself and better the lives of others and used her capabilities… And she had… She was such a smart woman, and so capable, and so manipulative but in a good way. She knew what people were thinking and could use that to her advantage, and not just to her own advantage, to the advantage of the people in her community who she really helped. And the best quote from her is “I'd rather be a corpse than a coward” and that's what makes me think she is a fire sign.

Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on ladyhistorypod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review, or tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself.

Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra you can find her on Twitter and Instagram at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand, and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Haley: Next week on Lady History, we’re diving into some misconceptions. Retelling the stories that should have been told the first time.

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howtobuytech · 5 years

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How to Free Up Storage on Your iPhone

You’ve probably seen the dreaded pop up telling you your device is out of space, especially if like most people you don’t pay the extra cash for a higher tier of storage when you buy a phone. Sometimes it can be confusing what your options are. Given that Apple wants to sell you additional iCloud storage, they don’t have much incentive to make it clear. Fortunately, there are a few quick solutions for offloading the most common storage hogs.

Photos

Having too many photos is probably the top cause of limited storage, but it turns out it’s actually pretty easy to deal with this. You could plug your phone into a computer to offload those photos onto a hard drive, but there are also easy ways to store them in the cloud for easy access from all your devices.

iCloud Storage: If you have multiple Apple devices or your want to be able to share your photos with friends and family, iCloud is the easiest way to store your photos. The problem is that Apple doesn’t give you much free iCloud storage space. If the meager amount you get for free isn’t enough to store all your photos, you can always pay the few dollars a month for additional storage. It’s annoying, but it is convenient and you’ll have easy access to everything right from the Photos app on all your devices. Simply open Settings, tap your Apple ID at the top, tap iCloud, and make sure photos is set to “On.”

Google Photos: This is another option that might be better for most people. First of all, it’s free and unlimited. Simply download the Google Photos app and it’s a pretty simple process to upload your photos from there. Of course, nothing is truly free and there are a couple of downsides that may or may not matter to you. First, Google Photos has a file size cap, so if you take a bunch of high resolution photos, it will compress those photos during the upload so you may lose some detail in the image. Most people won’t be able to notice this though. Second, Google isn’t exactly known for protecting its users’ privacy. It’s very likely that Google is using some of these photos for its own data purposes, like training its algorithms to recognize objects in images. Again, that may or may not matter to you personally.

After backing up your photos in the cloud–it might be wise to actually backup your photos on a hard drive and in the cloud–you can simply delete the photos on your phone by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Messages

The options for messages are much the same as for photos, except there’s really not a Google Photos-like option. You can back up your messages by plugging your phone into your computer and opening iTunes. Using the exact same process as for photos, you can also keep your messages stored in iCloud.

The only real free option without a computer or iPad Pro is to simply delete old messages. It’s not ideal, but some people don’t have a need to go back and read messages from a year or years ago. Simply go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Unused Apps

We all download apps from time to time just to use them once and never open again. Annoyingly, these unused apps can still take up a ton of space. Fortunately, this one has the simplest solutions.

Delete Apps Manually: You can simply delete apps by long pressing on them until it goes into jiggle mode. From there, just tap the X on the app icon. Don’t worry about losing those apps if you paid for them. You can always re-download them without paying again.

Second, Apple has already built a feature to offload unused apps. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores and make sure Offload Unused Apps is toggled on. Apps offloaded in this way will still show up on your home screens but will take a minute to re-download if you try opening them again.

Unused App Media

The last common storage hog is media data stored by apps like Spotify and Netflix. If you frequently download playlists or TV shows, these can fill up your phone very quickly. The process for solving this is simple. Go into Spotify (or other music app) and toggle off Downloaded for any playlists you don’t need frequent access to. In video apps like Netflix, check if you have any shows or movies downloaded and delete any you don’t need or have watched already.

Alternatively, you can look at a full list of apps ordered by how much space they take up by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If anything looks fishy or you see apps that don’t need to be storing so much data, you can simply tap on them and then tap on Offload App.

If you’re still having trouble with space after dealing with these common culprits, Apple often has helpful recommendations for things that can be deleted. As usual, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and these recommendations should appear near the top. If this still doesn’t, you may want to consider paying up for a higher tier of storage next time you upgrade your phone.

#tech #technology #tech tips #phone storage #iphone #android

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corina76t311-blog · 5 years

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OGG To WAV

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martincart · 5 years

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SF 64 lieutenants headcanons

I'm a bit bored, so, I'm sharing more headcanons here, this time from the bosses of Starfox 64 (I promise to upload more headcanons of other characters), and although they are few, I would like to share them here.

In case you do not understand some points, I leave the references of the characters here where there are also more headcanons of them: https://martincart.tumblr.com/post/180221335218/martincart-the-bosses-of-starfox-64-are-here

Meteo Crusher Pilot/ Aaron Galaxicos:

Before entering the Corneria academy, Aaron worked at his 25 years in various bars, and even in cabarets (and several of these, he ended up being fired by fights with clients) as a singer. For many people, he was really a good show (especially among women). During the war of Lylat, he sometimes sings in public to encourage the soldiers.

Also one of the many jobs he had was in a movie theater. He hated it a lot when a movie portrayed the chimpanzees (their species) as canibals.

Related to the first point, several of the songs he sings are romantic music, preferably of genres such as rock, jazz or swing (exam.of real music: Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra or Depeche mode ).

Already inside the military academy of Corneria, he was a brilliant student. He specialized a lot in body to body duels and in target shooting, he was also an expert in flight tests. The few weaknesses he had were in swordsman battles classes ... and in swimming.

His former classmate from the academy has always bothered him with the fact that his name sounds nice to a dog.

He's a womanizer. Even in his advanced age, he continues to seduce and sleep with several women, younger than him. That also includes sleeping with several of his female soldiers durint LW.

His command during the war was mostly chimpanzees, but he also accepted other species of primates, such as baboons or gorillas.

Even though he wants to look like an elegant or disciplined person, there are times when Aaron acts derisive and it shows that he loves to have fun.

Aaron is an expert in hand-to-hand fighting, but he also has his own weapons: A Venom's pistol, and a whip (A riding crop) that can change to a long whip to attack his enemies from long distances.

His mechanical eye serves to show holographic images of planets or files, also of people. Holographic images have no size limit.

He and Andrew have an enmity that looks childish in public. Many of these end up both wanting to humiliate each other or commenting on horrible words. Everyone thinks that this is due to the behavior of the heir.

He has a "good" relationship with Wolf, giving him advice on how to act in Venom and his society, in addition to military advice or information from other soldiers, especially Andrew or Andross. Wolf relies on him, apart from the fact that he likes to see how Aaron mocks Andrew (at the beginning).

He and Leon do not get along. Aaron respects Leon for being a good fighter and killer. Leon has his own cold opinion of Aaron.

Like the others, Aaron despises Pigma and does not understand why Andross recruited him. Pigma knows that Aaron is smart, but very sensitive. In addition, each one has a discriminatory / racist vision among them.

He has a good relationship with several of Venom's lieutenants, but he always wins a negative criticism from them when he commits something stupid and does not realize that, especially it is the Macbeth engineer who scolds him. It can also happen that they joke about him to make him angry.

There's a horrible, rather obscure relationship between Andross and Aaron.

Among the soldiers of his squad, his most loyal soldier (best friend) is a mandrill named Marshall, who not only shares personal talks, but also intimate secrets.

Area 6 Commander/ Cobra Ryota

In his hometown of Venom, he was the most specialized soldier of all, winning his position as commander.

Due to the first thing, when being considered a strong man, his family hope to have inheritance as strong as him. He was engaged in his 18 years with another warrior as strong as he, Dusa. It was a difficult relationship because both were gloomy character, but they could marry in love with each other. However, the inheritance plan could not be made upon discovering that Cobra is sterile. Andross promised Cobra that he would help him build a family during the war.

He was one of the first Venomians to meet Andross. He was interested in the old monkey just seeing him for the first time. When Andross decided to fight for all his people and create a better future for all, Cobra was the first to accept it, and he told Andross that he trusted all his faith to him and would always be his ally.

Andrew taught Cobra a lot about Corneria's culture, and even though he preferred to continue with his Venom culture, he gladly accept listening to music with the little monkey. He really liked Corneria's music a bit, but he prefers only the instrumental ones.

Speaking of his relationship with Andrew, Cobra has affection for the young heir, despite not showing it. Although, like many others, he detests Andrew's pampered and conceited attitude, and repeatedly punishes him for mistakes he makes, he does not blame him for participating in the war, and Andrew does it only for the acceptance and love of his uncle . There are also many occasions that Cobra protects Andrew from other people, or even, other Venom soldiers.

Also Cobra (and Caiman) accept that Andrew is staying at his base in area 6. Only this happens when Andrew feels insecure going to Venom, and prefers to stay away from the dark environment of the empire or Aaron.

For these reasons, Cobra fully relies on Wolf and Leon. He knows that Wolf is quite reliable and powerful, and that he cared for the young heir (even if it is reluctantly at first).

The same with Leon. In fact, Cobra and Leon have a very good relationship for their protective characteristics towards their friends.

Cobra threatens Pigma several times to eat him.

Previously, Cobra was very reserved when speaking, and during Lylat War he continues to be so, but sometimes he can respond to someone insulting him ( Exam: Pigma or Aaron).

Another detail that he hides is that he is very proud and loves to destroy enemies of Venom. That is why in battle, many see him laugh or act cruel (and for many, it is a terrifying image).

The favorite instrument of Cobra is the drum (of any type).

He is always seen drinking coffee at his base, many assume that he does not sleep at all because of his dark eyes (caiman is the only one that forces him to sleep ... and he does it ). It is also common to see him yawn.

Caiman Dilia

The whereabouts of Caiman's biological parents are unknown. Caiman only knows that Cobra and Dusa found their eggs since they were very young, and both decided to raise him as a friend. Since he was born, he has a close relationship with Cobra and Dusa.

From a very young age, there were already exiles from the lylat system in Venom. All Venomians distrusted these unknown beings, and others preferred to kill them. Caiman was fascinated by these creatures, and he wanted to investigate them in secret from others. Even if it cost a little, he learned a bit of talking like them, becoming a translator between Andross and the Venomians when they met.

He also became very close to Andrew from his childhood. being always by his side and helping him to adulthood.

The only moments where Caiman acts rude to Andrew is when he loses respect to someone when it is not necessary, or when he sees Andrew bothering Cobra during his work.

There are times when Caiman gets "funny" with Andrew and makes him spend uncomfortable moments (especially in front of Wolf, Leon and Pigma).

Caiman loves Wolf and Leon. He admires Wolf's strength and bravery, and he adores Leon's agility in his attacks. but yes, he admits that Wolf is too proud, and warns him that that pride could go wrong. About Leon, he is only afraid of his cold personality, but he loves his cunning and that he is always to give reason to wolf.

Caiman does not hide his spite towards Pigma. When he sees him near Andrew, he decides to take him away or look at him in a bad way.

In spite of his admiration with Andross, Caiman can notice the stress that the emperor gives Andrew, thinking that Andross is a really cold person.

An excellent relationship has with the other lieutenants. He loves to do any activity with each of them (except for Magno, who is more than brute force). He has a special relationship with Cobra. Like Cobra, he does not have much confidence in Aaron.

In the squadron of Caiman any species of reptile and primate is accepted.

Caiman's favorite instrument is the flute (like Cobra, of any kind).

Attack Carrier Captain / Magno Doenis.

Magno grew up under a patriarchal upbringing. Where he should be the leader despite being the third child of a family with eight children (he only has sisters). Despite that, his sisters had to fight at his side, becoming brute warriors like him. Magno still has a sexist mentality, and he shows it a lot with Dusa. He would do the same years later with Caiman and Cobra when the two become partners (he only complains in silence).

Magno was one of many who murdered the exiles before the war of lylat. There were times when he decided to eat them for lack of food, or just for his little nieces and sisters. That's why at the beginning he has a very bad image of Andross. He became his most loyal and strongest soldier during the war of lylat.

Magno can only see Andrew as an annoying child, and often shows his contempt for the young monkey. Luckily, Cobra always stops him before he does something bad to Andrew.

Magno was very happy to have Wolf and Leon in Venom because he sees the two as powerful, reliable soldiers, and especially, fun people. There are times when Wolf and Magno share beers or fight as training or for fun. Leon prefers to be next to Cobra for his more relaxed personality.

Pigma is Magno's favorite person to abuse.

Magno has a good relationship with Hook silver, the only problem is that he is very rough with the poor old captain who manages to hurt him a little, and that is why Fidel always threatens and watches over him. he rivalry much with Osamu to show his exploits in the gym. He and Granga had a very bad start in their relationship, but now they are able to tolerate each other. Magno worships his friend Cobra (who like Granga, did not have a good friendship before) and tries to become Caiman all a "real" man. Aaron is also one of the many victims of Magno in his heavy jokes.

His favorite instrument is the harmonica.

Forever Train engineer/ Fidel Macbeth.

Fidel has grown up under the command of a strict man. From a very young age he has matured more than any other child in his city, and has become quite lonely by concentrating on his family affairs.

His favorite musical instrument is the violin. Since he was young he has always been practicing to play at his family's parties.

Fidel is much more mature than the other lieutenants, and is always punishing the others when they do any stupid things (especially Aaron and Magno).

Fidel and Andross have a very good relationship, especially when the two are two elderly people among several "young boys".

He relies on Wolf, and he knows he's a good driver, but he also knows he's an immature person, and it makes him angry to see him fight Andrew or Aaron.

Fidel considers Leon an excellent soldier, better than Wolf. He also admires that he can have a relaxed chat with him and Cobra.

He is very strict with Andrew, he often scolds him for his immature character, telling him that he must act as a better heir of the empire and wants to get him away from the war at all costs. Andrew obviously acts like the conceited child that is in front of these answers. When Andrew was just a child, he considered Fidel a grandfather.

His contempt for Pigma is enormous, especially for being a pig.

With the others, he appreciates and admires Cobra for his good work as a commander, he despises how Magno can be very rough as a person but knows that he is a good soldier. Fidel sees Osamu and Granga as two young boys despite the fact that they are both 36 years old, the same goes for Caiman. . Fidel and Aaron have a difficult relationship because of the extreme behavior of the chimp. Even so, no matter what happens, both appreciate each other.

His best friend is Hook Silver. The two of them know each other well before being exiled and before Silver decided to become a pirate. Despite the cold personality of Fidel, he admits that Silver is the only one that makes him laugh.

Sarumarine’s Captain / Hook Silver

Before becoming a pirate, Silver was known to be a sailor with a good heart. Many admired him for several reasons. Unfortunately, several of those jobs that he had was to arrest several primate criminals.Giving him some discomfort and hatred for some part of the primates in Zoness.

Many people remembered how Silver was very friendly with children (That's why Andrew also considered him a grandfather when he was a child). He would only reveal to a single person that he wished to have a family at some time in his life.

He and Fidel met when he needed a new boat and went straight to ask the best engineer of the lylat system (Fidel's father). While waiting for his appointment with Mr. Macbeth, Silver heard a beautiful violin song and discovered that it was Fidel playing. After a little interruption and talk, Silver asked him if they could play together with his melodica and his violin.

Mentioned in a previous point: Silver, like the others, looks at Andrew as a spoiled boy. Every time Andrew opens his mouth, silver pretends not to hear his words and proceeds to punish him. He is the only one of the other lieutenants who gives Andrew a job in his marine ships so that the heir learns discipline.

Like the others, he believes that Wolf is a very funny person and a good soldier for the empire. He also shares play times with Wolf and Magno.

He loves the agility that Leon has when fighting and piloting. He also thinks he is a great pilot.

At this point you should already know his opinion of Pigma (?.

Silver is a person very loyal to his emperor, and loves to spend time with Andross. More than anything, he loves to play chess or appreciate the sea of Zoness with him.

The crew of Silver is composed, in its majority, of macaques and gorillas. Although he can also accept another soldier from any other primate species.

A special feature of Silver is that he has more qualities of real Japanese macaque. Aka. his movements and gestures seem more like that of a real monkey.

His favorite instrument musical is the melodica.

Shogun Pilot/Osamu Kumo

Osamu learned about the handling of weapons and how to build them under the ruins of an abandoned library in Papetoon. I practice too much until becoming a great dangerous criminal on the planet.

In his spare time, he loves to exercise (and always tries to make his best friend, Granga, exercise with him). Or he may also be simply playing hide and seek with the other members of the empire among the trees.

Unlike the others, Osamu sees Andrew as a little younger brother. Try to have more patience than most others do not do with Andrew, and always prefer to give him advice about becoming a better person than simply punishing him. But yes, who does not lose patience with a boy like the young heir?.

Osamu and Wolf have a good relationship. The two are pretty similar with their proud and bearable personality. Think the same of Leon as a pilot, except that he sees him as a boring man.

Osamu loves practicing target shooting with Pigma.

Osamu always jokes calling Fidel "papa" because of his strict attitude and for always scolding him. With Silver he does not know what to have fun with since he is very old and he finds it boring. He has too much fun together with Magno and Caiman and he thinks Cobra is boring. With Aaron he is very mocking, since he always reminds him between jokes that he is only a man who destroys rocks and the other an expert high-ranking soldier of the empire (Osamu does not want to admit that he has a huge affection for Aaron, even though he now became a horrible person).

Osamu greatly appreciates Granga not only as his best friend, but as his lifelong brother (a younger brother, specifically). The two love to practice together any kind of skill for their empire, make jokes to others and spend time together. In addition to trusting and protecting each other. Osamu will always say that the main reason he wants Granga is because he never had a brother or a family during his whole life until he met him.

His favorite instrument is the acoustic guitar.

Granga / Jacob Jr.

When he lived in Corneria, he tried to enter the best technology-computing university in the whole city by passing a compulsory exam. Unfortunately, he did not manage to enter, feeling horrible and stupid at the thought that he was not smart enough to pass.

Due to what happened to the previous point, the only job that Granga managed to get to work was as a waiter in a luxurious restaurant (he admits that he was doing quite well and his boss treated him well).

He was only raised under the arms of his sweet mother, Leonor. The two had a beautiful mother-son relationship, but granga always disliked her too much as she only called him "Junior" even when he was 20 years old (until now he even hates to be called Junior or by his name).

Leonor took care of Granga alone when he was barely a child. Nobody knows about his father. Granga only makes mention of his father by making horrible comments about fatherhood or when another character talks about his relationship with his father.

He also had a nice girlfriend at the time, but when he started working as a hacker, she was the first to leave him (he does not care much).

Andrew always saw him, and he will see him, like an older brother, but one quite stupid. The two always fight and insult each other, and if it were not for Fidel, Cobra or Osamu, they would even fight hand to hand between them. He has the least patience with Andrew.

his opinion about Wolf or Leon is the same as the others, except that Granga shows more his superiority than the others want to hide towards Wolf and Leon.

Pigma knows that Granga is not as powerful or brave as the others, but even so, the worst thing that Granga can do to Pigma is to hack his machines.

Granga adores his emperor, not as much as a fanboy would, but he would certainly try to do whatever he wants by the name of his leader. The biggest reason why he appreciates him too much is because Andross showed a lot that he saw potential in him.

Granga has a difficult relationship with Magno due to past events, but neither do they have much trouble between them. Unlike Osamu, Granga only sees Fidel as an old nut, and Silver as a laughing old man (even so, he secretly admits that he loves them). He appreciates Cobra, but advises him to talk more like Silver or Caiman (even if that means being scared by his laughter). Since they have known each other to the present, Aaron and Granga always fight among themselves. In itself, Granga is the most honest with Aaron to tell him that he is a shitty person.

The only person (besides her mother, previously, and also of andross) who always teaches her affection for the unimaginable, is Osamu. Granga loves the spider monkey too much as a brother, and he will always do his best to rescue him from any fight or disaster in the war (knowing that he is a very weak and cowardly person inside him). There are certain things that Granga does not like about his friend, like the fact of smoking or that always forces him to exercise, but already being by his side he will be quite happy.

He loves to listen to electronic music, dubstep or Spanish music. The funny thing is that his favorite musical instrument is the tambourine.

For some rare reason, he insults a lot in Spanish.

That's all for now, if you have any questions, have my ask open to ask! See you!.

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kinkyacademia · 6 years

Text

Dragon!Overhaul

I was allowed a single pass for the Dragon AU, and who do I choose? Overhaul. And, since I hit the tumblr post limit I want to make you wait, I’m uploading it in parts ;)

Part 2

-Mod Pasta🍜🍝

Demons, merfolk, dragons, are those all really real? Or are they just tales told to scare you as children, to keep you away from the water, the forest, the places you wish to go most. You found that you really didn’t care.

You see, you were not only adventurous, but you were the child of a noble. Whatever you wanted, you got, but all you wanted was to leave the large kingdom you were holed up in. Every time you were caught, more guards were put up to stop you. “Stay until you’re married,” they say, “you’ll understand once you have children,” they say, but you don’t want that. You just want to breathe for the first time in your life. That’s how you found yourself walking leisurely through the forest in your white, silky, flowing nightgown like a ghost. Your hair, long from never being allowed to be shorter than to your hips, flowed behind you as your toes sunk into the dewy grass, your fingers trailing along the rough bark of the trees. The smell, it intoxicated you, filling you with calm jubilation as you continued deeper into the woods.

It was almost dawn when you spotted your first orange flower. Its petals were so vibrant that it caught you off guard. It was the first flower that you hadn’t seen in one of the bouquets your father gave you to try and unsuccessfully sate your urges. You fell to your knees in front of it, caressing the lovingly before leaving it to be as you continued. You didn’t want anyone knowing the direction you had gone, after all. You persisted deeper, the warmth of sunrise keeping you going. Soon you reached a clearing, spotting another orange flower on the outside of a large cave entrance. Upon nearing it, the floor of the cave was lined in shiny metal. The flower was on the outside, and you approached the cave to kneel down to the flower and lightly hold the blossom in your frail hands. Hands that haven’t ever touched a bow and arrow, never washed their own hair, never touched a pencil other than to doodle. Writing was not allowed, only reading.

Once you were fully satisfied, you pushed yourself up and continued on past the clearing. Just as you reached the trees, you heard a small hiss from the cave. Fearing that the guards had found you, you covered your mouth and moved behind a tree. Before you even could, something cold and hard wrapped around your waist, and your scream of shock was cut off as the air was pushed out of your diaphragm. You were pulled back into the cave, hands outstretched and eyes wide. This very well could have been the end of you. When you grew the audacity to open your eyes, they grew wide with wonder and fear.

What lay before you was a dragon. Not just any dragon, but a dragon with scales of metal. It appeared to be asleep, and you were directly across from it. You slowly, silently pushed yourself up and tried to sneak your way out of the nearly black cave. Once you took the corner, you saw that it was getting a little lighter. Before you could, you heard a very loud sound behind you that made you whip around like a meerkat. The dragon sighed like a cow, but so much louder, and you paused. The dragon cracked an eye open, the multiple lids opening one at a time, before his full orange eye penetrated you. You swallowed, fear shaking you to your core. His, probably the size of you if you curled up in a ball, looked to the mini nest of ferns you had been dropped off in. You scrambled back to them, sitting back down and waiting further instruction.

It didn’t come. He continued to just not let you leave, little grunts and sniffs of acknowledgment keeping you in place. Soon nighttime came, and the cave dropped in temperature as the little light it had faded into pitch black. With this cover, and the motivation of your coldness (the ferns did not retain much heat), you got up and tried to sneak out again. You heard a loud sigh from the dragon, but he wasn’t moving to stop you, right? You continued out, and soon moonlight pooled at your bare feet as you continued to walk. You kept going, though, at your own pace so that you wouldn’t make any noise. Maybe had you made a run for it your would have escaped, but just like that afternoon, a tail wrapped around your waist and pulled you back into the cave. His tail was so long that when you plopped back down into the ferns, the dragon hadn’t moved his spot. You grumbled unhappily to yourself, grabbing a large fern and pulling it over yourself. There wasn’t any reason you should be here, your life in the hands of this mystical creature, instead of still on the run from the guards.

Or maybe this was better. As you finally felt a little bit warmer, you realized that this was a good place to at least rest for the night. You snuggled into the plants, hoping to find more warmth. When you didn’t, you furrowed your eyebrows and turned over - and came face to face with the face of the dragon. Your breath caught in your throat, and you felt your soul nearly leave your body. How had it moved so silently, it was made of metal! You almost wondered if it was about to eat you, but then you realized something: it’s breath was warm. It had been warming you up by being closer and just generally a warmer body than your own. You studied its face in the darkness for a good half hour, too afraid to actually fall asleep. The dragon was sound, though, so you eventually found yourself drifting off as well. At least the guards wouldn’t be able to capture you with a dragon keeping you deep in his cave.

A couple days passed before the dragon even moved other than to keep you in the cave. You became weak with dehydration, and soon you stomped straight to the dragon’s face with arms crossed and eyes ablaze, “Mister Dragon, I can’t stay here forever! It’s cold in here, I’m thirsty, and I haven’t eaten in days. I don’t like sleeping on rotten ferns, and I can’t sleep anywhere else because the ground is made of metal,” you were panting by the end of your rant, and the dragon stayed silent for a couple seconds. Then both of its eyes flickered open, and you smiled at the acknowledgement. Your smile quickly faded when it opened its mouth, a deep rumble coming out that eventually formed words despite his giant teeth and tongue.

“Fine. I’ll be back,” you barely had a second to respond before the dragon pushed himself up, dust falling off of him and - then dust just falling. He was gone. You looked around in shock - he had zipped out so quickly, and he spoke! You ran to the front of the cave, hoping he was gone now and would allow you some time to escape. Alas, upon nearing the entrance to the cave, light never reached you. The front was blocked off by rocks, and you gaped - how had he created that without making any noise? And so quickly! You sighed, moping as you returned to the ferns and plopping down. As you waited, something caught your eye - the cave, so dark, actually had an opening near the back where the dragon would sleep. You pushed yourself up, glancing at the entrance like it would return in an instant. He wasn’t there.

The entrance was so hard to spot, and it fit perfectly into the back with the sun hitting it just right to mask it like it was never even there. The first thing you realized was that the room was much, much bigger than the previous one. The walls were coated in metal, but the metal was rough and some of it still formed the end of what it was melted from; a spoon, a helmet, etc. Your eyes widened; it was beautiful. Metallic objects littered the ground in large piles, and you were surprised by just how much there was. Look, not touch, you told yourself; this was the dragon’s treasure, after all. Every once in a while you would spot something like a purple king’s robe or other things that looked a lot warmer than the dirtied nightgown you wore. You felt tempted to wear one, but you held back; forbidden fruit, you’d remind yourself. Just as you reached a particularly large pile, there was a rumble behind you. You whipped around to see the dragon poking its head into the cave, almost dog-like. Your knees weakened; if it was going to kill you, it would have done it days ago, right?

“I presume you like it,” he crawled into the cave, barely making it through the tall entrance. You nodded, relieved that he wasn’t angry like you had suspected.

“It’s... shiny. I like it, it’s very pretty Mister Dragon,” you offered him a smile, and he turned around and pointed his muzzle to the main cave.

“I brought you food. My name is Overhaul,” he paused, and you stared at him for a couple of seconds before realizing what he wanted. The dragon speaking was still freaking you out a little. You began to walk forward, reaching him and walking past him before saying.

“(L)-“ you stopped yourself. You didn’t have to identify with your father anymore, did you? “(F/N).”

“(F/N),” he muttered to himself as you made your way into the main room and he settled down in between the two rooms as a blocker of sorts. When you saw what he brought you, it made you giggle, then grow into cute peals of laughter. The dragon huffed in question.

“I’m sorry Mist-uh, Overhaul, I can’t eat raw meat,” you looked to the pile of about five dead pigs, then to the berries, “And those are deadly to humans, sir.”

“Oh. Move,” you glanced back to see the dragon with his mouth open. Your eyes widened, and you scrambled back just as a small stream of fire shot past you and lit up the bushes with the berries on them. As they burned next to the pigs, they pigs cooked rapidly, and soon you had edible meat. You were in shock; now the room was warm from the fire, albeit a little smoky, and the pigs were cooked. You hesitantly approached Overhaul.

“Thank you, Overhaul,” you gratefully offered, and he barely responded.

“Mmm,” Your eyes narrowed, but instead of questioning him, you made your way to the pigs and began to eat them. It was the first meal you had eaten in days, and also being the first that you didn’t have the obligation to act extremely proper at. Still, you retained some manners and wouldn’t just dig in face first.

And thus started your rocky relationship with Overhaul the Dragon, who still didn’t let you go out until at least a month of knowing you. Even then, you were only allowed in that clearing in front of the cave. Even this changed with another month’s time, and soon you were allowed to traverse his territory freely. He would let you get food of your own, but he still usually brought something back for you. Speaking was rare, maybe every other day, but it was nice. You had thanked him many the time for allowing you to stay with him, but all you got in response was “You can’t leave, don’t thank me.”

Maybe he knew you were a princess, maybe he didn’t, but he seemed to want to keep you modest. Your nightgown didn’t last very long in the cold winter climates that you had been trying to avoid before by getting to a village. One day he came back with a bundle of things delicately in his mouth, and he let them drop in front of you as you were weaving dried grass. You looked up to him, “Thank you, how did you get this?”

“Trespassers,” he muttered, jumping nimbly over the pile and then to the back of his cave. He patted the ground before settling, almost peaceful in a single instant. You finished one layer before crawling over to the pile. It was a basket, and in the basket were backup clothing, possibly for a trip. Inside the clothing was a loaf of bread and a single gold coin. Upon seeing the coin, you looked at Overhaul. He seemed to be sleeping. You grinned to yourself; he was such a pushover, honestly.

So you threw the coin at his big bronze muzzle, but before it hit him, his tail whipped around and hit the coin from behind, causing it to fall into his treasure hoard behind him. He opened his eyes, a groan reverberating from his chest, “I give you things, and you throw gold at me?”

“Yup,” You giggled, sassy swaying your hips as you settled down and pulled the shirt on. You felt horrible for him taking from people, but you also liked the new clothes. When you realized your nightgown was still on, you glanced at Overhaul. He wasn’t awake, was he? He didn’t appear to be. You pulled your gown off, grabbing the tunic and pulling it over yourself. Just as you were about to grab the pants, you heard a distinctive <i>sniff</i>.

“Sorry! I thought you were asleep, this is absolutely indecent,” you chuckled to yourself, turning to him and covering your most precious lady parts with the pants. Overhaul pushed himself up, lazily walking past you and out of the cave. He groaned as he plopped back down in front of the cave. You blinked in surprise; he hadn’t even said anything. You sighed; what a weird dragon.

That would have been alright had he not suddenly started doing this a lot. Almost every night. He stopped talking to you, eating outside of the cave and leaving food whenever you weren’t around. It was beginning to get warmer, and you just wanted to actually interact with your lizard friend. Every couple days, he would bring new ferns in and use the dried ones to sort of “sweep” the dust out of the cave. He was a strange dragon, very strange indeed.

On one particularly warm day, you were watching fish in his stream before heading back for a nice warm nap. You had to jump over the hot metal at the entrance, then pitter patter your way into the cave. When you got into it, though, you screamed, “OVERHAUL! Help, there’s a human, Overhaul!” You screamed, scrambling back as the armour-clad human with short brown hair pushed himself up. He was wearing some of Overhaul’s armour, none of it matching and half a foot long spines protruding along his spine that split the metal. They looked strangely similar to the smaller ones Overhaul had... or were his just bigger, but you didn’t realize?

“He won’t come,” his voice was exactly like Overhaul’s, and you paused from your backtracking.

“Why not? He’s a good dragon,” you narrowed your eyes. This was was all too suspicious, practically bathing in your dragon’s riches.

“Well thank you,” he continued to approach you, “I’m delighted to know you like my company,” you blinked in surprise. His company? He was talking like he WAS Overhaul! You grit your teeth turning around and almost running out of the cave to find him before the man shouted, “Wait, Madam, (F/N) was it?”

“How do you know my name?” You turn back to him. Was this one of the guards? You would have to get Overhaul to kill him - they didn’t know where you were! You didn’t have the heart to kill someone, though.

“You told me a moon ago,” his placid face felt just too similar to Overhaul’s. You were starting to believe him, but you couldn’t yet. He isn’t a giant dragon! “Many dragons can shape shift, and it so happens I can into a human.”

“Oh,” You whispered, still keeping your distance, “And why should I believe you?”

He opened his mouth, lazily pointing into it as a miniature stack of smoke rose from it. Your eyes widened - it really was him. A smile found its way to your face, and you approached him, “Overhaul? How-why did you only just do this?”

“Why should I care? I’m more intimidating in my real form,” he shrugged, the metals clanking on his shoulders, “but this is the only way I can do what I must.”

“You must? What’s going-ON?” You shouted in surprise as the man took a step forward and leaned down, your voice cracking from the closeness, “Overhaul, have you ever spent time with a human?”

“Yes, you,” he responded without an ounce of doubt, which was a little cute if you admitted. He studied your reactions. This wouldn’t work, you weren’t attracted to him enough, he could tell from your scent. He thought the armour would do the trick, “Don’t you know what happens in spring, Maiden?”

“Flowers bloom?” You shook your head, walking past him and into the cave. When you spotted your little cocoon you had created for yourself, you found it suddenly a lot large than you remembered, “Did you change my bed?”

“Please think carefully, little princess,” his voice was silky, perfect. It made your insides twist with uncertainty as you took a step away from him - he was walking strangely close. It scares you, but also excited you. When he got close enough, which was less than a foot away, he pulled something out of the armour. It was the purple cape you had seen a month ago, just carefully folded. It unfolded in his hands, and he threw it over your shoulders and clipped it to your loose tunic. Your eyes sparkled at the gift.

“Thank you, Overhaul. I love-“

“Kai. Just call-please call me Kai,” he seemed to be forcing himself be nice to you. That all melted away when he promptly picked you up princess style with a little yelp on your end.

“Overh-Kai! Stop-wait-KAI!” You shouted as he plopped you down onto the fern bed. You shifted yourself to sitting on your knees in front of him, “Overhaul, what’s going on?”

“My name is Kai. My given name. Sorry, I should calm down,” he glanced at the entrance to his stash of treasures and then back to you, “Are you hungry?”

“No, uh, no,” you stuttered out, and he nodded,.

“I can get you whatever you want, little princess,” he continued using the pet name, never taking his eyes off of you. The signs suddenly crossed in your mind, and you made sense of it all.

“Are you trying to... Kai, are you trying to take me?” You questioned, and he blinked slowly.

“Take? I would refer to it as courting,” he deadpanned, and you felt your cheeks rush with colour. Wow, you hadn’t thought a dragon could fluster you like this. A small smile slowly stretched upon his lips, and you couldn’t pinpoint why it frightened you. Maybe because it was the first expression you’ve ever seen on his face before.

“Kai... but you barely know...” you trailed off, unable to find much of a reason not to have sex with him. The next part was the deal breaker, though; when you realized that it was spring. Spring, flowers blooming, he was in a rut!

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yuzusorbet · 6 years

Photo

Olympic Victory Parade Day, Sendai, 22 April 2018

(my personal account) (photos are mine, please do not repost nor use for other purposes)

Scheduled time of parade: 1.15pm to 2.10pm.

7am.... wearing my parade t-shirt and wristbands, I left my hotel and walked a short distance to the road where the parade would take place (Higashi-nibancho-dori 東二番町通り). People were already sitting in the ‘1st row’ of the roadside. I met my friend Ella and we decided on a comfortable spot where we could wait for the next 6 hours (omg) and we spread out our picnic mat.

We decided on this area because it was right opposite her hotel (Mitsui Garden) and it was in the middle of the 1.1km route. Ella’s friends would be joining us later because they were lining up to buy parade wristbands. Ella and I bought ours the day before as we arrived in Sendai earlier. (The wristbands were sold on these two days only, 21 and 22 April. Only 10,000 sets and limited to 2 sets per person.)

While I waited at our picnic mat to ‘reserve’ our spot, Ella went on a hunt to buy various local newspapers because Yuzu’s face was on all of them. Information about the parade was front page news, of course. :)

It was nice and cool in the early morning but soon it was hot. And it got hotter and hotter..... Umbrellas, hats, sunshades and sunblock came out of our bags. Later we saw news that it was the hottest day ever recorded for April in Sendai (29.9°C). I told Ella, “Cos Yuzu is sunshine.” She responded, “Cos Yuzu is the sun.” Right! :D

Even though it was very hot, everyone was just so happy and excited to be there. The event was very well-organised. Policemen and volunteers were everywhere to tell people where they can sit and where they can’t. There was always a path kept free for people to walk along the whole stretch of road. The parade planning committee had also asked convenience stores around the area to let people use their toilets, so that was not a problem. For us, we used the nice toilets in Mitsui Garden Hotel as Ella and two other friends were staying there. This photo was taken by me from the 7th floor hotel lobby at about 9.30am.

At about 8 plus, a TV station crew came looking for people to interview. There were 4 young guys who stood out from the crowd. They said they were very inspired by Yuzu and he gave them courage and motivation for their exams. As a result, all of them got into Tohoku University (one of the top universities in Japan). Wow!!!! They came for the parade because they wanted to say thank you to Yuzu. They had started waiting by the roadside since 3AM !!! I was so touched to hear that..... (pic below is when the crew came back to do the live news report)

These 2 ladies were holding a banner with the Japanese words “shiawase desu” (meaning ‘we are happy’) and they said it’s because Yuzu is always thinking about skating to give happiness to others. They want to tell him how happy they all are because of him. Yes! I want to tell him that too!

After hearing their stories, the TV announcer said he would be back in 20 minutes to do the interview on live TV news! Because we were sitting near them, the lady on the left (of pic above) told me to get ready cos we may be on national TV! (Ella quickly ran to the nearest convenience store to get a disposable face mask cos she was so shy, haha.....) Much thanks to a friend who uploaded Japanese TV news that day, we saw the programme that they appeared in: at 2.30 of this VIDEO. So happy to see it!

Later on, I chatted with the lady. Told her I really loved her banner and message and she told me how she carefully made it herself. The two of them were so nice and friendly. Much thanks to them for posing for my photo!

After the TV news excitement, Ella’s friends joined us. They managed to get their parade wristbands (they started lining up at 5am! Sales started at 8am. The previous day, Ella and I lined up from about 7am and sales started at 10am). Here are their Pooh bears happily showing off the precious bands. Behind them is one copy of the morning papers. Ci

Time passed quickly as we occupied ourselves with snacks, chitchat and more photos and selfies. I love my parade t-shirt. Bought both colours, wore the purple one on parade day and the blue one the next day. The S size fits me well and they are so comfortable.

We also took turns to walk around to see other parts of the parade route and soak in the atmosphere. At about 10.30, some volunteers (in light blue jackets) gave out Japanese flags. On the flag handles were the words “Hanyu Yuzuru senshu 2nd straight victory congratulations parade”. (’senshu’ = athlete)

All of us got a flag each.... so happy! Now, when Yuzu approaches, shall I wave my flag or hold up my blue CiONTU towel as a banner or just hold my phone steady to take photos??? hmmm........

At 11.30, the sidewalks were packed but there was always a part left free for for people to walk. (see pic below). The girl in the blue jacket was one of the many volunteers for the day.

At 12.30pm, the roads were closed to traffic. It’s finally almost time!! We all started to stand up to get ready for the parade. Our group was right behind the barricades. It was good that we came early to get this “front row” spot. :)

Pic below: friend sticking flag into hat so that hands are free to hold camera. xD Blue parade wristband on arm. Most of us wore both the blue and the purple wristbands, one on each wrist, haha.

After the traffic closure, there were some mass movements to be made. The crowd on the opposite side of the road was brought forward to the central divider because the parade bus would only be travelling down one side of the road. So people could cover the road on the other side. It was done really neatly even though the crowd was so huge..... I really love the Japanese for being so orderly. One man with a loudhailer went down the road telling people what to do. Essentially, it’s to hold hands and move forward slowly a certain number of steps on his count. And this was done section by section all the way down that 1.1km route. So now the people on opposite side of the road were much closer to us! (pic below) Our side was also moved forward in the same way by 5 steps. This also meant there was a lot more space for more people to join in and watch the parade.

Another TV news crew came by, and then there were helicopters flying overhead. It’s time!!!!

1.15pm, Yuzu is on the stage!!! So handsome!!! We watched the live stream of the opening ceremony on our handphones. I shared my phone screen with 2 older Japanese ladies near me and they were very grateful. :) Then, finally, Yuzu was getting on the parade van! Being in the middle of the route was good. We didn’t have to wait long to see the start of the contingent approaching!

When the parade van approached our area, Yuzu was looking towards the other side. We shouted loudly, “YUZU!!! YUZU!!!” And he turned to our side and waved!!!

[same pic cropped and enlarged:]

As he waved, he glanced down at our group at one point! I was so happy that my mind went blank! I should have shouted “omedetou!!!” (congrats) but I totally forgot! I just stood there holding my Ciontu towel and looking up at his beautiful face. Then he pointed at something in the crowd and laughed and said something (but we don’t know what)..... omg...... he was really too cute for words. I recovered in time to snap a few more photos before the van became too far away. Aww...... it was so awesome to see him so happy.......

After the parade van passed our area, the crowd slowly dispersed. We went to Ella’s hotel room to watch the rest of the parade on TV. She made coffee for us and we also had some sparkling wine to celebrate. Her friends thanked us for picking a good spot for the parade..... haha, we were really lucky!!!

After the parade was the press conference and part of it was aired live on that TV channel. As always, we marvelled at how well he answered the questions. When the programme ended, we all wrote postcards to ourselves to send back home, so that we would have one more souvenir of this fabulous day. We used Yuzu-postcards that were specially made by one friend. These amazing fans have really great ideas! Look how cute the cards are!

We went to the convenience store nearby to get stamps and dropped our cards into the post box outside the store. While walking through a shopping street, we suddenly saw some people near us giving out newspapers.... it was a free paper with the parade photo and news! Wow that was fast! We quickly lined up and got a copy each. How lucky we were to be passing by!

Being part of the crowd at the parade was a marvellous experience. It was so wonderful to be among Yuzu’s people and to show him our love and support together. Waiting at the roadside for more than 6 hours was fun, thanks to all the fans around me! I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you, Sendai!! Thank you, Yuzu-fans!! And finally, the words that I wanted to shout from the bottom of my heart but was struck speechless (Yuzu’s fault).....

YUZU, おめでとう！！！そしてありがとう！！！(congrats and thank you!!!)

--I really enjoyed my Sendai holiday. The local people were so warm and friendly and many of them thanked us for coming for the parade. I plan to write soon about other parts of my trip.... like chatting with locals while queuing for wristbands and realising how pure and simple their love and support for Yuzu is; going to Ice Rink Sendai and skating there; being moved to tears at Sunao Noto-san’s photo exhibition; eating delicious gyu-tan and zunda-mochi; visiting places with Yuzu’s signature and simply enjoying the beauty of his hometown..... Update: [Part 2 of my holiday] [Part 3] [Part 4]

--Except for the parade route map which is from Japanese news, all photos are taken by me; please do not use or repost without my permission. Thank you.

--For some numbers about the parade, see this post.

#olympic victory parade #sendai victory parade #Yuzuru Hanyu #victory parade #took so long to write cos I have so much to share and didn't know how to start #decided to just start with the most important day and main reason I was there

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mrfippstuff · 5 years

Text

End of All Meaning Chapter XIII: the memory [C]radle

Previous chapter

Fipp: I would have gotten this out last week, but I had to finish up Kingdom Hearts III.

Holy hell that game!

End of All Meaning

Chapter XIII: the memory [C]radle

Pod 153: The rules are protected by low-level systems. Salvaging data poses an unacceptable level of risk.

Pod 153: Knowing that, do you still wish for them to survive?

Pod 042: Yes.

000

LOADING -Booting System…

Commencing System Check

Memory Unit: Green

Initializing Tactics Log

Loading Geographic Data

Vitals: Green

Remaining MP: 100%

Black Box Temperature: Normal

Activating IFF

Activating FCS

Initializing Pod Connection

Launching DBU Setup

Activating Inertia Control System

Activating Environmental Sensors

Equipment Authentication: Complete

Equipment Status: Green

All Systems Green

Combat Preparations Complete_

000

At first, it was hard to move any limbs, they were too stiff, too sore, to move properly, which resulted in further ache along the joints, but the desire to relocate was stronger than the need to rest, to submit to the darkness that was all-surrounding. It was difficult, as though the body had forgotten how to respond to stimuli from the brain, but eventually fingers began to twitch in response, and the reward was the sensation of hard, solid ground being scrapped against arms and legs, gloved fingers and the back of boots digging into the stonework.

“Good morning, 9S.”

9S groaned as he opened his eyes beneath his visor, squinting at the brightness that flooded his eyes from the sunlight above, filtered through the clothed screen. Slowly, trying to not too badly agitate the dull aches in his body, 9S managed to push himself into a sitting position to feel moderately comfortable.

“Pod 153?” he asked, trying to take in his surroundings, as well as the pod that floated several feet above him. In his head, he tried to recall the past events that had happened to him, how he ended up here, wherever 'here' was.

There was the assault. The logic virus. The Bunker, it was gone. Everyone in YoRHa was dead. The crash in the Flooded City-

His own infection. Trying to get rid of it. Failing at that…

A2. Bridge.

9S painfully gasped as he grasped at his abdomen, at the location where A2 had used his own sword to run him through. Because he asked her too. Because it was the only thing that could be done, other wise the only other person who could do it was-

“2B!” In a panic, 9S' head turned around, trying to find her, he had to find her. Where was she? Where was he even? He's somewhere up high, he can see from his perspective, clearly on top of a sky scrapper overlooking a city, but was this even the same city? There was so much strange white rubble covering it, ranging in size from mountainous slabs to large boulders, having crushed so many buildings and structures, that if this was the same city, it was impossible to tell.

In any other circumstance, he would have wanted to know what he was looking at, what had happened during his… absence, but right now that didn't matter.

He needed to find 2B.

She wasn't far, she was only laying right beside him, with Pod 042 floating just above her, and he ended up feeling a bit foolish with how worked up he had become, but the moment he laid eyes upon her sleeping form, he was instantly overcome with the strong desire to touch her, to be near her, and as he laid his hand down on her shoulder the fears and anxieties that had been building up inside of him ever since the assault began all began to melt away. There was something about this, just being near her, that felt right, that made him feel at peace and there was nothing else wrong with the world. There were no human left alive, the very thing that all androids were built to protect and serve no longer existed, all these thousands of years of warn and conflict against the machines didn't mean anything, and all the battles they fought were for nothing, but he didn't care. As long as he could be by 2B's side he could be happy, even if that meant fighting a never-ending war.

Happy, even though he knew who she was.

Was there something wrong with that? Was it some kind of cosmic joke by a nonexistent god for him to feel happy and content in the presence of his own murderer?

He didn't care.

But still, there were still things he needed to know.

“Pod,” he asked, not taking his eyes off 2B's powered-down form. “What happened after I met up with A2? Why is 2B shut down like this?”

“Report: Unit 9S was killed 1718 hours ago, following your contact with unit A2 upon the bridge to the commercial facility. Following that, us tactical supports units reconstructed your parts.”

“So, I've been out for just about two months…” A lot could have happened in two months. Too much. With a light turn of his head, 9S looked away from 2B and to his pod. “And the logic virus?”

“Report: The logic virus previously inside you remains in suspension after its deactivation following The Tower's collapse.”

“So it's just in suspension,” 9S muttered to himself. “It's not a problem right now but-Wait! Tower? What Tower? No, forget about that for now, what about 2B? What happened to her?”

“Unit 2B ceased activity approximately 740 hours ago.”

“Was she infected too?”

“Negative.”

“Then why isn't she wake up?”

“Correction: Unit 2B can be activated in low-power mode, but any attempt to activate her beyond the most basic functions result result in a complete system shut-down. This unit has already attempted 345 boot-up combinations 34,500, and all have ended in failure. 2B's current status suggests that there is a possibility that her personal data is corrupt.”

“Her personal data?” He looked back to her, the comfort quickly faded away as he took the sight of her in, just thinking about the very idea that she could just be gone was sickening to him. His grip on her shoulder loosened as his hand moved further up, until he was gently cupping his palm against her cheek, and the soft weight of her skin against his glove was enough to ease those feelings. At least for the moment. “Then I got some work to do, huh?”

“Statement: This unit recommends against any attempts to hack into unit 2B, the unknown cause of her inability to load her personal data could possibly lay deeper than your usual permitted maintenance routes.”

That gave him moment to pause. He had been placed in charge of 2B's maintenance, meaning he knew well how her systems were, but only the ones he had been allowed to work with, and as his personally assigned Executioner, 2B would have likely had a subsystem built into her created with him in mind, designed to very possibly lock-down, or maybe even erase, his own personal data if he ever decided to launch an attack against her. Hopefully in her current state he would be able to either bypass or just completely ignore those traps.

He had to try no matter what.

With his mind already mad up, 9S readjusted how he sat, folding his legs over, and taking 2B's hand into his own, giving it a firm squeeze, and a very large part of him wanted to believe that she squeezed back.

“I'll be fine, trust me,” he said as he booted up 2B, and like the Pods had said, she did not go beyond the minimally required system boot-up procedures before the start-up simply stopped. It wasn't much, but it was more than enough to give him access.

With a simple thought, 9S sent separated his consciousness from him body and uploaded it to 2B's body.

000

When entering hacking space, 9S was always presented with infinite beige-colored space, the landscape shaped by cubes, and straight and narrow corridors that could only take sharp turns, it was something he knew well, having dived into countless time by accessing machines, androids and general-use terminals alike. Due to 2B's condition, he expected the darkness that surrounded him, leaving him with limited vision of the digital landscape, but there was something that put him at unease, something that left him with the feeling that there was something about this hack that was different than the other ones he had performed. For one, instead of being projected as his cursor avatar, he is instead presented in one that is one of his physical body,

“Odd,” he wondered aloud, looking over his arms. “Pod, I need you to-Pod?”

He looked around when he noticed the absence next to him,that there was no, simplistic polygonal display to represent Pod 153, floating anywhere near him.

“Pod 153, can you answer me?” he called out, expecting at the next least to receive a display with a text message on it, but there was nothing. Pod 153's data should have made the transfer with him, but for whatever reason, he could not detect its presence anywhere near him, meaning it was still stuck somewhere outside on the outside, unable to aid him. Something must have been very wrong with 2B to prevent that from happening. That was why he was here in the first place, so he started his trek down the darkened path, heading to the varying nodes that controlled 2B's more basic systems, and from there he could start and hopefully figure out what was wrong with her.

He came to a stop however, unable to proceed any further as a large section of the pathway was gone, as though something large had come along and simply swiped away, reducing it to jagged ledges, and leaving the nodes inaccessible to him. Damage like this was never a good sign, but there was something else here he had never seen before. Growing around the edges of where the path had been destroyed, there appeared to be what looked like thick, black vines growing out of the ground and wrapping around the ground. Dark and jagged thorns out of them, sharp like daggers, that dug into the floor and eating away at the foundation beneath his feet.

“What is this?” He knelt down next to the cluster of vines, each one thick as his arms, their own blackness somehow standing out against the darkness around them. This thing, it was not the corruption brought on by a logic virus, nor was it anything else he had ever heard or researched on, whatever it was, it was something either new, or unique to 2B herself.

Carefully, 9S reached out to the vine, and with a moment's hesitation, 9S placed his hand against the vine.

He instantly reeled back, crying out in pain and stumbled backwards, unable to control his body as the images uploaded into his mind and agony ripped through his form. In this state 9S had no ability to take in where he was, and was unable to stop himself from tripping backwards and falling over the edge and into the abyss below.

000

Pod 153: Connection failed: This has been the seventy-fifth attempt to contact unit 9S.

Pod 042: Query: There have been no changes in his status at all?

Pod 153: Response: None. While this unit is still able to monitor his vitals, direct connection with unit 9S has so far proven impossible, and is likely being caused by whatever error that is preventing unit 2B from properly reactivating.

Pod 042: Query: Unit 9S' vitals so for do suggest that at the present moment that he is in danger?

Pod 153: Negative: All of 9S' vital statuses are currently stable.

…

Pod 153: What do we do now? We spent so much time repairing them and now…

Pod 042: I suggest we wait. Whatever is wrong with 2B, hopefully 9S can fix it.

Pod 153: Do you honestly think that?

Pod 042: I hope so.

000

When 9S returned to the world, he was surrounded on all sides by darkness, an inky abyss with no features, and a part of him wondered if he was still in hacking space. Maybe he was dead. Again.

No, wait, there was something in the dark all around him, something he could see if he put enough focus on it, something he paid more attention to as he pushed himself to his feet.

“More thorns,” he said, “But this is looking so much worse than what I saw up above.”

On the higher levels, what he saw a single cluster of vines, causing the damage to a pathway, but here, even deeper in the darkness, the vines surrounded him, thick as trees and the thorns were longer than he saw tall. He could see their silhouettes in the darkness, several mountains against the void of black, and he could see them slowly move and writhe in the far distance.

“Just what is this stuff?” Carefully, 9S walked forward, stepping over the smaller vines that curled along the ground, trying to bury themselves into the foundation, and careful to avoid touching any of them. At the moment, there was no way of knowing what these things were, or what they could do to him if he exposed himself to them for longer periods of them what what he had so far, so until he had a better grasp on the situation he needed to try avoid contact. The only thing he could do right now was go over what he did know, which he could admit was honestly nothing. There was the image he had received when he first touched the fine, just a single image was all he got, but the physical reaction on his part had been so extreme, as though his whole body had erupted into a blinding, heated pain, that forced him backwards. The image had been himself, laying on the ground. There was a large and bloodied gap in his chest, with blood pouring out of it and soaking into his chest and into the ground beneath him.

He had an idea what it was, but before he could say anything for certain, he needed to see more.

Waving his hand, 9S pulled up the schematics for 2B's systems, and thankfully he had at least that still going for him, and while he doubted if the map could provide an actuate depiction of what these systems looked like anymore, he hoped that at least it would be right in telling him where he was. If the map was right, he hoped it was right, then the place he wanted to be was not too far from where he saw.

With his next destination in mind, 9S dismissed the screen and continued on his way.

000

dark

too dark

is someone there?

please leave

000

The further he went into the system, the more the vines grew, becoming larger and more wild, and soon 9S found himself walking though a forest of giant, tree-like vines, sprouting from the ground and vanishing into the sky above. He had to stay in the middle of the path as he possibly could, as simply being near them left a heavy feeling of unease inside his chest, as though his black box was replaced with a block of lead that was too big to fit in his chest cavity. His head would also ache from the proximity of being close to them, a static that would fill his mind for a moment, and another image would appear as well, but it was hard to tell what he was looking a. Mostly is was just a cluster a pixels forming a still image, enough to give him an idea what he was looking at, but not enough to give him a full picture.

The further he went into a thicket, the more frequent the images became, and harder to block out, even when he tried to keep his distance from the more frequently abundant vines. He had to ignore them however, he couldn't let them get the best of him, not until he at least found 2B, and if the map he had was right, then he should be closer to where he wanted to go. When he found it, he wasn't too certain what he was going to expect, but what he encountered was a massive tree, formed of gnarled and twisted roots, easily larger than anything that he had seen on Earth. Inside, hopefully he would-

-Mud. Mixed with red. Laying there-

find what he came for.

-sword deep in chest-

9S groaned as he placed a hand against the side of his head. He didn't have to even touch the vines to receive the images anymore, they were just as easily downloaded into his head, a full image as opposed to a the partially pixelated messes he had been having shoved into his skull. His pace quickened, walking into the narrow opening between the vines, until he came to a small hollow inside the deepest reaches of the tree, and it was here he found what he needed. There was an altar in the center of the small room, white and crumbling with vines digging into it, eroding the material down to nothing, but what had caught his attention was what was lying on the top of it.

It was 2B, or at least the projection of her data, and judging from its appearance alone, it was not too hard for 9S to see the damage that had been done to her; vines were growing out of her body, pushing themselves through her clothes and skin, wrapping around her before trailing off her body and burying themselves into the ground, and possibly acting as the source of all the vines he had encountered thus far. The thorns dug themselves into her skin, drawing blood, and he was worried that if got too near her, the thorns would shred his own skin off.

“2B…” Slowly, 9S walked up to the projection before him and carefully attempted to touch his hand to her skin, but the interference from the body, the threat the overwhelm him with too many fragmented memories, was enough for him to take caution, to hover his hand over her body.

This was a memory leak, he was nearly certain of it. Something had caused such a heavy blow to 2B's memory region, that the damage had manifested in such an extreme way, enough to prevent her to from waking up at all. If this was the problem, then he would need to fix it.

He raised his hand to prepare to prepare another hack, when his head felt as though it was being ripped apart at the seam.

000

go away

please

not

you

who

leave me

alone

000

9S screamed in the darkness, the data that had suddenly flowed into his being too great, too painful, for him to properly process. Every moment felt like an the data was ripping at his circuits from the inside out. It was just too much to take in at once, even with his specs.

But through that pain, he had come to understand what was the root of the problem.

He knew who 2B was. YoRHa No. 2 Type-E, an Executioner model designed and manufactured to kill him when he discovered the truth about humans, something he began to piece together when they had met that Type-E in the City Ruin. From that encounter he learned how much their duty could cause them to suffer, and he remember wondering how many androids 2B had killed, and how much 2B suffered because of it. It wasn't until the pit, after Eve's death, that he came to learn the extent of the pain she had to endure for the sake of her duty, and just how much of it was because of him. It always ends like she, she had cried as she cradled his corpse, and he realized that the androids she had killed had been him, over and over again, and he knew exactly why too. It was because he had accessed information in The Bunker's servers, learning about mankind's extinction, diving deeper into the systems despite Pod 153's warnings.

How many times had he forced her hand because he couldn't take a moment to consider the ramifications of his actions? How many times did he have to make her to restart their relationship from scratch? Everything that she had gone through had been because of him, and the state of what he was seeing before him, and it was his responsibility to fix this. He needed to weed out the corrupted memories and try and restore them back to their original format, but the prospect of this did not sit too well with him, since it seemed that he would need to go through the memories frame by frame, considering how fragmented they had been. There was also the act of needing to go through 2B's memories himself, and going through her memories like that felt like a violation on his part, prying into some of her most private moments, the parts of herself that she never allowed anyone to know. It felt wrong of him to simply storm though them like that, but this seemed like the only thing he could do for her now.

He was also hesitant to dig into the memories because he knew what those memories would consist of.

Accessing too much data at a time clearly had a negative affect on him, meaning he would have to do this very slowly, so he readied himself as he dived in.

000

why are you doing this

000

She found them eventually, though she might have never thought to look up this far if one of them hadn't come out looking for her, telling her about this place. There was no reason for her to care, not anymore, she did her part, did it with everything she had to offer, so that should have been more than enough to excuse her from this mess for the rest of her life. Even so, she was not demanded to be here not even asked, bur rather the knowledge was imparted to her by the deliverer, and the choice of what to do with that was left entirely to her.

Still, the Pods apparently brought her back to life, so A2 figured she owed them this much at least.

“They still out?” she asked as she stepped over the forms of 2B and 9S, her laying on her back while he sat by her side, her hand held gently in his own.

“Affirmative: It has been roughly fifty hours since unit 9S' initial hacking of unit 2B in an attempt to restore her to fully function order,” Pod 153 said, hovering over 9S' unmoving shoulders. “His vitals remain mostly stable, with short intervals where they will either drop or spike. The current cause of these changes is currently unknown.”

With a heavy sigh, A2 walked over to the two, and sat down by them, so she could better take in their features, to take them in. They certainly looked better than the last time she had seen either of them, almost peaceful, entirely absent of the fear, grief and rage she had previously seen between the two of them, and a part of her had to resist the urge to reach out to them and carefully, almost lovingly, stroke their faces. There would not have been a point in do so, so why even bother?

“You think they'll be okay?” she asked.

“Unknown: Without further information, we are unable to come to any conclusions as to what may be the cause of their afflictions,” Pod 042 answered.

“Ah…” A2.

“Because of this,” Pod 042 continued. “Pod 153 and myself are… worried, and we want them to be okay, after everything that has happened to them.”

“Yeah, me too.” A2 gave a deep sigh, her eyes briefly glancing between the two pods, and then back to the two androids. “Life's shitty. It beats you down for whatever reason, and more often than not it'll screw you right up the asshole.” A2 leaned back, supporting herself on her arms as turned her attention to the sky above them, where the remains of YoRHA floated in orbit, and somewhere out there, deep in space, was the machine arc. Down below her the city was in ruins, the mountains worth of rubble having changed the landscape beyond recognition, but androids and machines were still around, with the fighting between them having been drastically cut down. The machine network was gone, machines no longer attacked on sight, and most of Anemone's resistance was still kicking, trying to make sense of this new world.

Somehow things turned out well. How? She didn't have a clue, but it did.

“Still,” A2 said as she pushed herself to her feet, patting away from of the dirt that had build-up on her skin. “I think they'll be okay.”

“Query: Do you really think so?” Pod 153 asked.

“Maybe,” A2 answered with a shrug. “When they do, let me know, okay?”

“Query: You are not staying?” Pod 042 asked as A2 pushed herself to her feet.

“Nah,” was A2's answer as she she made her way to the crumbling exit she had originally come through. “For one, if they wake up, I don't want to risk 2B being in a stabby kind of mood, let her sort things out between 9S and herself before they do anything else. But,” A2 looked back to 2B and 9S, eyes lingering on them longer than she would want to admit. “If they do wake up, and it looks like everything is cool with them, send me a message or something. Maybe we could all do with a fresh start?”

With nothing left here for her, beyond some vague hope for a less terrible future, A2 parted ways from them, and hoped for the best.

000

9S cried out in pain as he felt as though it was a physical force that pushed him away from 2B's data, something heavy and hard that almost made him think he had collided with a sidewalk after jumping off a fifty-story building. He tried to move, to support himself up with his arms, but the uncontrollable shaking in his limbs merely sent him back crashing down to the ground in a motionless heap. He did know how long he had been doing this, trying to piece together 2B's data, frame by frame, exposing himself to her own thoughts and feelings, all of which left this terrible weight on him, and it seemed like the further he went on, the more potent the inevitable recoil came whenever he delved in these memories too long, and it took him longer to recover each time.

He saw his deaths, so many of them. She had stabbed him through the back and through the chest, sliced open his throat and cut off his head. He had been strangled, drowned, his flight unit blown up with him, and shot through the head. So many ways to die… It's partially why this was taking so long, the need to process his numerous deaths, the images of his deaths, of his following disposals, almost too much for him to take at once. If he was in his physical body, and he had eaten anything in the last couple of weeks, he might had emptied the contents of his stomach. Then there were the other memories, the good memories of their time together, numerous small and pleasant moments between them, how their relationship built itself up from those early days when she didn't know who he was and didn't care. But time passed, they spent days together, of the small, intimate moments that only they knew about, that meant so much to them. She had been more than happy to listen to him go on about whatever bits of data he had discovered, her headband being the only instance she allowed herself to accept a gift from him. Days spent of them just being together, where the war seemed so far off.

She was the one who came up with Nines.

Though all of this he experienced the emotions she felt; the joys and delights of those small happy moments, and her grief and pain and his deaths, to having to meet him again, some times even the same day, with the dread that they could never escape this cycle. How she held in everything in fear it would overwhelm her, and on top of that there were his own emotions that he could barely handle at the moment.

His own fear and anger at watching himself get cut down, anger and fear he found himself directing towards 2B, which only grew in intensity when he came across those fleeting good memories. His past was important, his memories of 2B the most valuable possessions to the point where he would happily suffer a permanent death than than to have a single one of those memories wiped out. So to see the sheer volume of memories, close to three years of memories, all lost forever, and a deep, dark seed of resentment began to grow deep inside him. How could so many of these memories be stolen away from him? Why would she do this? Why would she-

He needed to spend a lot of time between dives and reconstruction, to calm himself down, to put himself back into the right state of mind, and push those thoughts down.

It would be easy to kill her. Just erase all the data. It wouldn't take too much effort on his part.

He won't though, he knows he won't, because he if did that he might as well erase his own data as well.

After he finally managed to find the strength to get back up, 9S dived back it.

He did not know this, but eight days passed on the outside world, and even if he had he couldn't stop.

000

its dark

i know theres something here

i dont know what it is though

[?]

hello?

[!]

what are you

[--- --- ---- --------]

what i dont understand you what are you saying

[--- ---- --- - –? --- --- --- ---------- –?]

sorry i cant hear you please go away

just so tired

[---- o- I- ------ ----t----]

just leave

[C-n yo- unde-stan- me now?]

better but i still dont know who you are

[Oh, you don't? Are you certain?]

yeah I dont know much do you know something that can tell me anything

[Okay, so not much to work with right now, so we'll start with the basics. First of all, my name is 9S.]

[Yeah, that's who I am, and you're 2B.]

2b is that who I am

[It is. Does any of this sound familiar to you?]

maybe I cant help but feel as though

…

[2B? Can you still hear me?]

yes im still here its just why dont i remember anything

[You were hurt recently, badly too, it was enough to force you into a shut down state, and almost all your data was corrupted. It took a while, but I was finally able to put everything back to where it was before. You should be up and running, but… ]

but what why do i not have any memories if you fixed me i should know you right

[That's pretty difficult to explain, I'm not actually sure how I should even begin to explain it, but even so I think I can still finish the repairs but you'll have to patient.]

…

can i ask you something

[What is it?]

whatever is wrong with me can you not fix it

[I don't understand.]

if its okay with you can you just leave me here im sorry you wasted your time here

[I'm sorry 2B, but I can't do that.]

why not i dont remember much but i think that this is how its supposed to be im not supposed to come back dont wanna come back

[Don't say that, 2B, if anyone can come back it's you.]

and if i dont want to

[And why wouldn't you want to come back?]

i dont know, but for some reason I think I deserve that I know i deserve this to fade away into the abyss

[No, you don't deserve this, you deserve more than this, 2B, you've already been through too much just to…]

who are you

[What? I already told you, I'm 9S, and I-]

no i mean you are you to me you know me thats clear but just who were we to one another

[You were… you are someone very important to me, and I want nothing more than to get you out of here.]

…

[2B? Please tell me you're still there.]

…

[I just really miss you.]

i did something, didnt i something terrible

[No, you haven't, you just-]

please be honest with me i know youre lying to me but i need to know please

[…]

[Yes. You did some terrible things, but they were mistakes that you wish you didn't do, that you wish you could take back more than anything else.]

what did i do

[…]

[You killed other androids, that was your designation. We were a part of an organization called YoRHa, and your class of androids were built to kill other androids, either because they were infected with a logic virus, captured by machines, or to prevent information leaks.]

i killed others

[You hated it, however, and you wanted to stop more than anything else.]

then why did i not stop if i hated it so much then why would i continue to do it

[That's a lot harder to explain, but I'll put it like this, you made a promise to someone, that you would always be there for them, and they knew his even knowing that you would kill them. They would then be reset, with no memories at all, and things would repeat like that.]

why would someone put themselves thought that why would they make me promise to keep ending their life

[Because despite everything that had happened, they didn't want to spend a life without you.]

this person

[Yeah?]

is it you

[It is.]

then you have to leave me here 9s

[What? What are you say saying, I can't just-]

things are starting to come back to me bits and pieces small memories all coming together to fit back into the places they belonged the more we talk the more i remember

i hurt you so many times but no matter what no matter how much i despaired i never did anything to save you i gave up hope

then i learned why i had to keep doing this

so much suffering all for nothing

its my fault

[No, it's not, it's mine. I should have known when to stop looking, when to stop looking for information when I knew I should not have, if I had known what I had put your through, than I never would have even looked at the server.]

always thinking about me even when im the one causing you pain but no

just leave me

please

i deserve to fade

just please live happily for me

[I'm not leaving you 2B, I just can't, and if you won't let me help you then I'll simply do the next best thing.]

[I can't live happily if it's a life without you, so if you won't come back with me, then I'll just stay here with you, you don't even need to talk to me ever again. Just as long as I'm near you, that's enough for me, so just take as much time you feel like you need, and I'll still be here for you.]

…

[…]

000

Time passed. I don't know how much, but I doubt that was the point really. We waited, neither one willing to break the silence, both hoping the other would yield to the others' wishes. How long I wonder, will we wait here?

Eventually, one of us spoke.

000

why bother

knowing who i am

what i have done to you

you would be in your right to leave me to die

even kill me yourself

you would not meet any resistance

so why

[To be honest, I don't know how to really explain how I feel about you. I once looked up old human records, hoping that I could find some kind of reference to help me understand this emotion, but I do know is that being around you, it makes me happy. I know you don't feel like you deserve a second chance, not after everything that has happened to you, but I think you do, more than anyone else deserves a second chance. So please, 2B, come back with me…]

000

Eventually, a decision is reached.

000

i'll go

000

Light filled the dark.

000

The field beneath the shopping district, a small meadow hidden in this cave, with delicate flowers that gave off a soft, ethereally light from the white petals. Legends say that they had the power to grant wishes, so maybe one of those hundreds of flowers, these Lunar Tears, heard her desperate plea and decided to take pity on her. To think, she once had decided to taint this place with his blood, after she had decided to turn it into his next grave, but she is happy such a thing did not happen, that she did not stain this place with her sins.

She hoped Emil found his peace, reunited with the friends he lost so very long ago.

It was in this field that 2B found herself with 9S, the two of them laying down in the field and taking in the peace and serenity this field had to offer as they idly discussed what they were going to do with their future. It's something she never allowed herself to consider, a future without YoRHa, where she did not have to fight, where she was not expected to regularly kill the people she was close too. It was something that scared her, this uncertainty, the prospect that their futures were theirs for their own choosing. 9S had expressed similar fears to her, which alleviated her own anxieties.

They talked about it, her and 9S, what they were going to do with their lives now. They could stay in the city and continue helping the Resistance; According to Anemone, when The Tower fell it took the machine network with it, and since then the remaining machine forces were no longer actively hostile. They passively roamed around the city and the surrounding areas, posing no harm to an androids unless directly provoked, with some even beginning to develop their own sense of self. The war was over, and Anemone had suggested redirecting their war effort to rebuilding the city, to try and make things better, and she had offered the two of them a place with them if they chose so. That was one option they could take, other ideas had come up from time to time. They could simply pick a random direction and walk that way, seeing where their travels could take them, Anemone had even offered them passage on the next supply ship to come in, if they wanted to take their lives overseas.

A2 was also still alive, according to their Pods, somewhere out there, simply waiting to reconnect, and 2B isn't sure what to do with that. Maybe she'll talk to A2 one day, maybe she won't, but right now she doesn't think she's ready for that.

All of that however is left for the future, and right now 2B wanted to focus on the present; Her and 9S down here with no one else around, in their own little world.

She did not know what would come next for them, but for the first time in her life, she was not afraid to hope.

the en[D]

000

ple[A][S]e [B]e well,

Mrfipp

#nier #automata #2b #9s #a2 #pod 042 #pod 153 #end of all meaning #fanfic

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