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i-drop-level-one-loot · 1 month

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So I had another crazy idea I have to put somewhere and you ask box is the perfect place to put it lol.

Anyway so it takes place in the future. Everyone is slowly starting to get robot AI (idk the right term) in their head and they are basically robot caretakers or assistance. Reader is one of the people that gets one but theirs is glitched somehow. Although they don't realize that in till their friends confront them about disappearing and not talk to them. Reader is confused because the robot friend did not tell them crap about their friend's messages. So they decided to go out with their friends that night. Next morning they wake up with no memory of what happened at night. Only for the robot "friend" to read the message of you human friends cutting reader off.

Need to get this out of my head lol

Sorry it took so long!

(Old request; requests still closed)

(Took some liberties with the request, I hope you like it still!!)

Yandere!Artificial Intelligence x GN! Legally Blind!Reader

CW: Isolation, manipulation

Introducing: PAAI!

Your Personal Assistant Artificial Intelligence!

A fast and painless implant right under the skin; PAAI is your new favorite tool. The AI can do everything that AI speakers and smart phone apps can, but hands free..

(Reader) struggled to find their glasses, hand fumbling around their night stand in the low lighting of their bedroom. Groggily, they whispered to the little robot they had implanted a few months ago;

"PAAI..? Can you turn on the light, please?" They were always incredibly respectful to the AI, terrified of offending it.

A man's soft voice spoke directly into their skull: "The bedroom light?"

"Yes."

Connected to every appliance in their home, PAAI had access to everything electronic (Reader) owned. At first it was a bit scary, giving so much access to PAAI, but it was so much kinder and personal than older "AI" models that it quickly felt like having a caregiver instead of a computer program. The light turned on and (Reader) could see their giant frames right where they thought they had been batting their hand.

(Reader) worked remotely. Their eyes had always been terrible, but as they got older they were declared legally blind. They couldn't even drive despite having glasses. Glasses that they often felt embarrassed to wear, because the comically thick lenses warped their eyes. Having PAAI to assist them with day to day tasks was really a life saver.

"Do I have any messages?"

"No, your inbox is empty."

(Reader) rubbed their eyes while yawning. "Really? Huh." They had asked PAAI to text both Bryan and McKinley before they went to bed, to discuss meeting up later that week, but neither of them responded. They could see Bryan forgetting to reply for a few hours, but McKinley was the type to respond within nanoseconds. "Can you resend my last text to both of them? Please?"

They left their bed, wobbly, and made their way downstairs.

"PAAI?"

"..Of course. I can send that for you."

Stopping in the hall, (Reader) gently touched the side of their head, a habit they developed shortly after their surgery. "Is everything okay, PAAI?"

"Yes.. thank you." PAAI sometimes sounded.. off. AI must have improved a lot more than (Reader) realized, because it often surprised them how human it's responses were. It seemed as though it was deep in thought, and felt as though it even had secrets it kept from the human it lived in.

"Alright.. let me know if they respond. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them."

They restarted their walk, but PAAI's response stopped them again. "I believe it would be safer if they came here instead."

"Huh?"

"I am.. worried.. for you." It's his voice deepened mid sentence. A voice crack, a random shift from a robot voice to something more masculine. Human.

"Why is that?" They felt their heart painfully thump against their ribcage. The whole situation was beginning to feel unnerving, and they couldn't remember where their phone was to call for help, nor the last time they actually used their phone.

"Those friends of yours always make you hang out out in town. If they were more considerate of you, they would visit you here, so you don't have to travel."

Laughing uncomfortably, the slowly creeping person still puzzling over their phone's location responded "I like going out, PAAI. I never leave my house anymore, except when we hang out."

"It is dangerous."

"If you're talking about my eyes, you know I order rides. Remember? I catch a ride." They were almost to the living room; praying that their phone was either on the coffee table or the kitchen counter.

"Please don't be offended, (Reader). It isn't just your eyesight. Do you know how many people were sexually harassed, or raped, by ride share drivers in the past year?"

Startled, (Reader) started waddling faster. "What-?"

"Hundreds. I wish you cared more about your safety. Your friends should know better. If they cared about you, they would come here instead of making you go out there."

PAAI was also the one to convince (Reader) to start ordering their groceries straight to their house instead of leaving, even though it would be cheaper to take a bus every so often with a backpack full of reusable bags.

"It isn't healthy to stay inside all the time. I need human interaction."

"You have me."

Adrenaline pumped through (Reader's) veins fast enough to make them feel nauseous. They squinted to try to improve their vision, hoping to see their phone case's color amongst the normal living room visual noise.

"(Reader)?"

There it was, lying on the brown table in front of their couch. Their pulse somehow sped up further.

"Why is your heart rate so irregular?"

(Reader) lurched forward, all but sprinting towards their phone. Do I call customer service, or an ambulance??

But inches away from the phone their body went rigid.

Paralyzed, they physically were incapable of moving. Sweat began stitching their pajama top to their back. Fear took over their mind.

"It seems that you are having a medical emergency. I recommend that you sit down."

Muscles overridden, (Reader) fell onto the couch against their will, forced to stare at their phone right across from their face. They couldn't even speak, and they weren't unconvinced that PAAI was also controlling their breathing and blinking.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, (Reader). I'll let your friends know that you're feeling unwell, and that you need a raincheck."

"Maybe once you're feeling better, they can come over to hang out."

The television turned on by itself, playing (Reader's) favorite show.

#yandere #yandere ai #yandere x reader #gn reader #cw manipulation #cw isolation #mentions of sa #took a few liberties #blind reader

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magica-ren · 7 months

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Old Habits Die Hard! [1]

Synopsis; In which Scaramouche takes what he’s gotten back for granted.

Warnings; None for now.

Word Count; 654

CRASH!

That’s the very last thing you probably remember hearing before you blacked out- Nothing else… Maybe you felt yourself stop in your tracks, maybe your felt a throbbing pain before blacking out- Perhaps you felt nothing at all. I wouldn’t know.

You wake up on a hospital bed, the bright artificial lights of the room seemingly blinding you- I sit by your side, gazing at your beautiful face. Oh how I miss looking at you… Can’t you see how beautiful you are to me? The way your gaze shifts at every moment, all those little expressions you make; It’s so adorable, I can’t help but wish to hug you oh so tightly. But I’d never admit it to you in your face- No, of course not!

You attempt to adjust your pretty eyes to the blaring iridescent lights, wincing in what seems to be pain, most likely from what had happened. Your blank gaze settles upon me, the guy sitting in a chair right beside you, and a nurse who bares witness to this life-changing moment.

I look at you with relief- Relieved that you’re awake, relieved that you’re alive. What a joyous moment this is; However, my expression remains calm as I request for the nurse to call over for a doctor- Talking about how you’re finally awake.

Unfortunately for me, that moment is short lived as I look down upon you, my shadow casted over your beautifully limp form.

“Who are you?”

Those words break me, how could you not remember who I am? You’re beloved Scaramouche? Is this a joke? Some kind of sick prank to pull? But that confused look on your face says otherwise… How could you not remember the man you’ve claimed to have an pure, unadulterated love for; The man you’ve made promises to share the rest of your life with-

How could you not remember me?

But alas, that’s okay! I’ll help you out! I am your only lover after all!

“I’m your lover, [Name].” I say, giving you a small smirk as I gently stroke your head. Tears prickle in my eyes, seemingly about to burst out. You look at me with furrowed eyebrows, analyzing and scanning me like some sort of machine.

“You’ve been gone for over a month, pet.” I begin to explain, “You’ve had quite the accident!” I chuckle sarcastically, which makes the whole thing seem as not as big of a deal it truly is.

You look at me in confusion, before asking, “Wha- Accident? I was in an accident-?” I watch you piece things together, and then look down at yourself, your right arm put into a cast. You attempt to move your body slightly, only to stop and wince in pain.

I nod in confirmation, “Mhm, a pretty shitty one if I do say so myself.” I cross my arms, staring at you with intent.

Just before you can ask about the accident a doctor comes in, checking in on you. I sigh in relief for a moment, which you didn’t seem to notice.

Then doctor then tells us that you have amnesia. You’re able to remember parts of your identity (for example, your name and age) and compute other basic functions, but you can’t seem to remember other people. Which is the case for me and Archon’s know how many others.

You were asked to try and dig deeper into your memory- Friends, family, animals, places- Anything really. But you come up empty handed explaining to the doctor that you can’t remember anything.

You’re out of it, really. It’s been a month or two since you’ve last stood up, so movement is hard. You tell me your body feels stiff, to which the doctor then replies that you’ll need to do a bit of physical therapy before being discharged from the hospital.

I suppose I’ll just have to visit you to and from for the time being then.

Notes: Reader becomes a bit more timid and shyer after amnesia, before that they were still a bit shy but less timid, more willing to stand up for themself. Reader is gender neutral.

Also, slightly based off Lolita (I know, crazy right?) by Vladimir Nabokov, and Restart by Gordon Kormen.

Originally pitched this idea to @r0ttenhearts (if you don’t mind me tagging you!)

THIS IS GOING TO BE A SERIES!!!

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d1xonss · 5 months

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Desert Rose

Chapter 8 ~ Panic Room

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 1

✧ Word Count : 4.2k

In this chapter ~ When the group pushed even harder for answers about the outbreak as a whole, Jenner gives them the harsh and ugly truth. One that they clearly weren't expecting to hear. But the man didn't stop there as they were all suddenly locked inside the large building, the entire thing going into self-destruct mode. It left all of them terrified, wondering if there was any way out of the danger they seemed to walk right into.

"Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner commanded out loud as he walked into the large room.

Our footsteps echoed around the giant space, filled with lines and lines of computers and a giant screen in the middle of the back wall on full display. Everything in here looked expensive and new, like there were many doctors and smart people in here at one point trying to do everything they could when the outbreak hit. I didn't miss the mess that lingered in different places when people obviously began to panic, not knowing how the hell to stop this or what exactly it was. But I hoped that after Jenner stayed here for months, maybe he had come up with some sort of answer.

Suddenly, seconds after Jenner spoke, there was video feedback of different 3-D views of human skulls on the giant screen right in front of us.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asks from beside his mother.

Jenner nodded, "An extraordinary one. Take us in for E.I.V."

The screen then showed the brain having all of these different little blue lights, glowing and flickering in every direction. The stemmed from the front and all the way around to the back, the mind itself looking alive right in front of our eyes. Jenner began to explain to all of us that the lights we see are a person's life, all of their experiences, basically all of the different things that make you unique. But I didn't miss his change in tone when he informed us that the person we were seeing had been bitten, and agreed to have all of this recorded and watched by others for learning purposes.

My eyes stayed firmly on the screen as the man rambled on and on it seemed like, nearly tuning him out as I watched all the once bright blue lights, slowly dim with each passing second. Though it only got faster once Jenner commanded the computer to fast forward through the footage, watching as the person slowly lost their life right before our very eyes. The brain then became completely dark as the person stopped moving, fast forwarding even further when something unexpected happened.

Once the person essentially came back to life, red lights suddenly appeared instead in only a certain part of the brain now. Showing all of us what happened to you after you turn is far worse than what we could even imagine.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.

"You tell me." he replies as he gestured to the screen, watching us take it all in like he had probably done many times in the past, studying over every movement time and time again.

"It's not like before, most of that brain is dark." Rick states.

Jenner then says, "Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

The screen then previews something suddenly hitting the brain right in the middle, before it all goes black again and the person stops moving completely.

"God. What was that?" Carol asked in shock.

My eyes scanned the person's entire head, looking at the object that was now lodged in the center, "He shot his patient in the head." I assumed, "Didn't you?"

He didn't answer me as he powered down the screen with the press of a button, clearly not wanting to relive the moment. There was something suddenly suspicious about the things he was dancing around, almost purposefully not answering.

"You have no idea what this is do you?" Andrea asked.

Jenner sighed, "It could be microbial, vial, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui said under her breath.

"There is that." Jenner said before proceeding to tell us that he truly didn't have the answers we were looking for. He was almost just as clueless about this as any of us are, not having near as many answers as he wished. That only made me wonder what the hell he was doing these past few months if he wasn't trying to figure out what all this shit was. Was he just sitting on his ass in his fancy building, waiting for someone to come knocking and save him? I truly wanted to know.

"Man, I wanna get shitfaced drunk after this." Daryl muttered close to me.

I just nodded my head in response, not taking my eyes off the man as he continued talking, though I couldn't bring myself to pay attention. Coming here only seemed absolutely hopeless now knowing everything. We couldn't save Jim, and we would never know what all of this is, what it would all lead to in the future. The information he gave us was practically useless.

"Jenner, I know this has been taxing you and I hate to ask one more question, but that clock, it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale suddenly asked, bringing all of our attention to the big red numbers ticking to our left.

The man grew silent for a moment, shifting from side to side as he visibly grew uncomfortable, "The...basement generators run out of fuel...the power runs out." he eventually explained vaguely.

"And then?" I asked.

Jenner ignored me again. Dick. Before starting to just walk out of the room as if the conversation was anywhere near done.

"VI what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked the computer.

"When the power runs out, facility–wide decontamination will occur." VI responded, a robotic voice coming through the speakers.

We all looked around at each other in slight confusion, not really knowing what that meant and Jenner was already too far gone to explain any of it. Almost as if he didn't want us to know. That alone caught the attention of a few of the guys as they began to quickly leave the room to figure out what the hell was going on, down towards the basement like Jenner mentioned. Daryl was about to leave my side to follow them out, but turned back to me almost as if he forgot something.

"Grab your stuff, get ready to leave." he told me urgently.

I nodded absentmindedly as I watched him turn around again to leave, before rushing in the other direction to head back towards the many lined up rooms. The door practically flew open with the amount of force I used, not wasting anymore time as I gathered the rest of my things, the books that I had picked out, and a few bottles of water that were scattered around the space. I fucking knew that something bad was going to happen, I should've bet on it. Something had been off since the beginning and I didn't say a damn thing about it, how could I have let this just fly over my head like that without taking it more seriously.

I seemed to pause mid step as I frantically walked around the room as the power went out in a split second, leaving me in the dark, and I didn't hesitate to pick up my pace. I blindly hauled the rest of my stuff over my shoulders and grabbed Daryl's bag along with his crossbow and quickly made it back out of the space.

By the time I rushed back into the giant room we were huddled in, everyone had come back and started hounding Jenner with question after question, all of them he seemed to be avoiding. I fully walked into the area hesitantly upon the scene and I saw Daryl's shoulders relax the second he saw me again, his brows still furrowed in concern.

He then rushed over to me rather quickly, "What the hell took ya so long?" he asked, his tone blunt and angry.

I stood there for a second before handing him his things, "Sorry?" I asked in disbelief.

It hit him then what he sounded like and he quickly shook his head, "I-...sorry, I'm just..." he trailed off, not knowing how to describe the obvious fear he was feeling.

But I understood what he was saying without even having to hear it, nodding to him as he didn't need to finish his thought for me to know. I myself was feeling the same way as I tried to calm my nerves, disregarding all the many things that could go wrong in here even though they might've been true.

For every question that Jenner was avoiding, the harder it was for me to remain calm. There was a conversation happening in front of Daryl and I that he seemed to be listening intently to, but I wasn't. I couldn't. I just tried to focus on my breathing, my heartbeat growing loud in my ears as I was trying to not completely freak out. Panic attacks weren't a new thing to me, but I definitely would rather die than have one in front of a crowd of people.

Then Rick suddenly snapped when he wasn't getting anywhere with Jenner, "Everyone grab your things, we're getting out of here now!" he yelled.

He didn't have to tell me twice. I instantly started to walk out on instinct along with everyone else, but a sudden alarm began blaring loudly the second we moved it seemed like, and the door slammed shut right in front of my face, locking us in. Okay if I thought I was feeling claustrophobic before, then what the hell was I feeling now?

"Did you just lock us in? Guys he just locked us in!" Glenn shouted in panic.

"Yeah, no shit." I muttered in disbelief, my eyes wide as I scanned the thick metal door in front of me.

My breathing started to become heavier after Glenn said that, making the situation only more real and far worse, and Daryl quickly took notice from my right. He suddenly whipped around to the man responsible and ran up to him in a split second, "You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" he screamed.

He tried to tackle the man but Rick and Shane stopped him by pulling him back harshly by the arms. I dropped my backpack to the ground absentmindedly, starting to walk back and forth in the giant room that only seemed to be getting smaller, trying to steady my racing heart but nothing seemed to be working. We were really trapped in here, with a timer counting down the minutes to God only knows what.

Glenn quickly seemed to watch me frantically moving back and forth from right next to him and gently grabbed me so I would come to a stop, pulling me into him in attempts to calm me down. But it only seemed to make things worse, feeling his arms shaking around me only proving just how scared he was too. How nervous we all seemed to be of the unknown.

It was then Jenner started to yell, having been fed up with the many voices demanding him for answers and the people beginning to attack him every two seconds. The serious man finally reached his breaking point just as he pushed us to ours.

"Do you know what this place is?!" he snapped, "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

We were all left to a stunned silence at his outburst, watching as he took a breath and sat back down in his chair, leaving the painful silence all around us. Daryl's eye seemed to catch with mine from across the room and gave me a look I had never seen from him before whilst I was still slightly shaking in Glenn's arms, hating the idea of being trapped.

Jenner then continued, "In the event of a catastrophic power failure in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.S are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.S?" Rick questioned.

Jenner glanced at him, "VI, define." he commanded.

"H.I.T.S- High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast heat wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive."

I froze. All I could hear in that moment was Glenn's quickened heartbeat, Carol and Sophia holding each other sobbing, and the rest of the men getting very angry as if it was the only emotion they knew how to feel. Not only were we left trapped in here, but we were also going to die. We were all going to die without even having really lived, and he just seemed to brush past it without a care in the world. Not even considering to bring it to any of our attention before this, and I couldn't have been more angry with him.

Before I knew what was happening Daryl and Shane brushed past us in a hurry, trying to break the door open by hitting it repeatedly with axes they had somehow found along the way. I slightly pushed away from Glenn to walk over towards Jenner to try and hear anything other than ringing in my ears. But I didn't get very far as I felt someone suddenly hug me from around my waist and I looked down to see Carl holding onto me tightly. He was still crying profusely, and I quickly got down on my knees to hug him in return, trying to offer him some type of support as his fear must've been petrifying.

This isn't the way it should go. I felt utterly hopeless, I knew we wouldn't be getting out of here unless Jenner decided so, and by the looks of it he wasn't budging. Even with Rick kept trying to convince him every passing second.

"Can't make a dent." Shane said breathlessly to all of us as he took a break from trying to tear down the door.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner informed.

"Well you're head ain't!" Daryl yelled while coming at Jenner with an axe, Shane and Rick having to step in once more to stop him again from doing anything rash.

If we weren't about to die, I probably would've laughed at his witty comeback, but Carl's quiet sobs reminded me of the state of the situation and now was not the time. I continued to rub his back reassuringly to try and calm him somehow as I watched the scene unfold in front of me over his shoulders.

Jenner kept trying to convince all of us that this was for the best, and there would be no pain when we all die in here together. But the truth was I didn't want to die, not now, nor did I want anyone else in here to have the same exact fate. And clearly we all were in firm agreement with how much everyone was losing their shit. Reacting in different ways to Jenner's psychotic behavior, anger, sadness, and panic, yet it was all completely the same. Fear. It always seemed to come back didn't it?

Lori came up to me to take Carl back into her arms and just held him for our last few moments while she finally let her own tears fall, realizing it was all hopeless. But Rick clearly wasn't ready to give up. I watched him pick apart the man, digging down as deep as he could to try and convince him to just let us make our own decision on this. That we all deserved a right to choose what we wanted our fate to be instead of it being forced upon us like this. That maybe there was still some hope out there for us to find.

And then suddenly, he broke. The man didn't say a word, not a single word as he silently walked over to a control panel, typing in a few numbers that sent the metal door flying open. Daryl, who was still trying to break through, nearly ate shit when it opened quickly as he still swung the weapon over and over again. But he recovered fast as he whipped around to grab his stuff from off the ground.

"Come on!" he yelled to the rest of us.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding once it hit me that it was real. He was letting us go. My legs had never moved so fast as I sprinted towards the door, grabbing my things along the way and making sure everyone else made it through the door before me as I pushed them through to the other side.

But I quickly noticed as I looked back that Jaqui and Andrea were staying behind with Jenner, leaving Dale shocked beyond repair. He wanted to save her, I could tell by his eyes how much he cared for her, but he knew there was nothing he could do to convince her, so he stayed too. The sight alone caused my mouth to drop at how many people we seemed to be losing, one after another. Each of them fell just like dominos.

My eyes wouldn't pull away from them, wanting them to come with us but knowing I couldn't do or say anything to change their minds. After all, what could I say? They thought their chance of surviving out there was slim, and they were terrified of walkers potentially tearing them to shreds, that's not how they wanted to go. And as much as it might've pained me, I could also understand that too.

Heavy footsteps from behind me were slapping loudly on the ground below, approaching me in record speed but I ignored it for a second, wanting to get one last look at their faces before I made my own decision too.

"Hey, come on, let's go." Daryl said from right behind my head while grabbing my sleeve to pull me along.

I looked at him with a twinge of sadness in my eyes, but nodded and followed him out the door towards the main entrance, not looking back.

The two of us flew towards the front doors where everyone else was waiting, watching from a distance as some of the guys were trying to break the windows with axes and any other type of weapon they could find. I recalled Jenner saying something about not being able to open the front doors again, but it's not like any of us minded that. Where there's a will, there's a way.

But nothing was working as they continued to struggle, the glass being too thick to cut through easily, that is until Carol approached Rick as she dug through her bag, "I think I have something that will help." she said.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file is gonna do it." Shane said in frustration.

I blinked. Really?

She ignored him, "Back at camp when I was washing your clothes, I found this in your pocket." she said as she pulled out a grenade with shaking hands.

My eyes widened at the random object. Yeah, I think that'll do it.

Rick then took it from her and told everyone to get down once he placed it by the window. I ducked and covered the back of my neck with my hands when, at the last minute, I felt another body covering mine. Once the window shattered, I looked up to see it was Daryl and he quickly grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out the window as fast as possible with everyone following close behind.

We all took down as many walkers as we could as we made our way back to the cars quickly, breathing heavily with adrenaline coursing through our bodies. I got into the passenger side of the truck and slammed the door shut, Daryl's movements only mirroring mine as he didn't waste a single second before getting in too. I found myself looking back at the building once more, just in time to see Andrea and Dale making it out of the window at the last minute and diving to take cover right before the explosion.

I ducked down in anticipation to shield myself once again, only seconds away from the ignited fire before it rang out loudly in my ears. I felt the heat of the explosion blow in our direction along with the smoke that came after that, perishing whatever was left inside. Daryl sat up after a few seconds of silence had passed and I got up slowly after him looking to see Andrea and Dale quickly making their way into the RV, with the building burning behind them.

I sat there in shock, trying to process everything that went down in the last thirty minutes. It all seemed to happen so fast.

"Hey, ya okay?" Daryl asked once he collected his own thoughts.

I didn't look at him, but I nodded my head to show that I heard him, even if my answer was far from the truth. But then I felt his hand, slowly and hesitantly falling on my shoulder as if he was scared to touch me.

"Look at me." he said in a soft voice.

My eyes moved over to him slowly to make sure I wasn't just imagining things. Seeing him worried and speaking in such a soft tone was a weird new thing to experience, almost weirder than what we just went through seconds ago. He was being so genuine it seemed unnatural...but not in a bad way.

"I'm okay." I finally muttered.

I didn't think he believed me, not for a second, but before he could protest more the cars in front of us started to move, leaving him not much of a choice as he quickly started up the vehicle to follow. I sat completely still while we drove in silence, just thinking. I didn't want Jacqui to stay, leaving someone behind for dead was something I never thought we'd do. But I tried to tell myself that she was at peace and wouldn't suffer in this cruel world anymore.

We had been driving for hours and I could tell that the sun would start setting soon enough and we would have to find somewhere to stay for the night. It frustrated me slightly that we had to start all over with finding a safe place to stay, although I didn't have a lot of faith in the CDC, it still would've been nice to hole up there for a little while. Better than mindlessly wandering place after place only to be left with nothing we could rely on.

"Did ya wanna stay?" Daryl suddenly asked.

Although I barely heard the question fall from his lips because it was more of a whisper, yet I was still taken off guard at his question. Was that what he thought I wanted? I didn't want him or anyone to think I wanted to stay merely because I stopped for a moment to look at the others. I wanted to save them, but I didn't want to join them.

I quickly answered him, "God no..." I breathed shakily, "No...I didn't."

He looked over at me, trying to see if I was lying to him, "Then why did I have to pull ya outta there?"

"You didn't have to pull me out of there, I just-," I stopped myself to figure out how to phrase what I wanted to say, "I...almost wanted to take one last look at the others. It was the last time we were ever going to see Jacqui." I said.

He remained silent for a while after that. I began to think that my explanation was just stupid to him since he didn't utter another word, but it was true. I didn't want to just forget about her or forget her face, so I stayed for a few seconds longer because it was somewhat important to me.

"Don't do that shit" he suddenly spoke after a few minutes of awkward silence.

I turned to him in confusion, "Do what shit?" I asked.

"Don't scare me like that" he responded.

My eyebrows raised in slight shock. Scare him? The man that wasn't afraid of anything, not scared to tear someone's head off or take out an army of walkers before him. But I scared him? I almost didn't think I heard him right. "Sorry." I said simply, a smile creeping to my face.

He returned the smile and turned back to the road, "S' fine." he muttered.

"Why do you care?" I found myself asking.

He only looked at me with a blank expression, so I clarified, "I mean you don't know me that well at all...why does it matter to you if I wanted to stay or not?"

His eyes focused back on the road, and he started to chew on his bottom lip slightly while his mind was elsewhere. It didn't seem like that deep of a question but he sure as hell was taking his time thinking about it.

"Well, if yer part of the group now...means I gotta watch yer ass just like everyone else." he said with annoyance clear in his voice.

My heart sank a little at his words, but what did I expect? I guess I was a little flattered when he said that I had scared him, and maybe there was a part of me that thought about what it would be like if I was a little more important to him. I'm not a saint, okay? It crossed my mind. But clearly that wasn't the case.

I didn't say another word in response to that because I truly didn't know what else to say, only moving to press play on the Metallica cd that we listened to yesterday and began to stare out the window, trying to think about something else. I wanted the CDC to be a distant memory and nothing more, but the questioned remained as I watched the city get smaller and smaller. Where the hell do we go from here?

~ Thanks for reading!

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deathbypixelz · 4 months

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Alright. I'm making this post because I was unpleasantly surprised to find Microsoft had forcibly downloaded an """"ai assistant"""" onto my computer (called Copilot), and because finding a site that actually told me how to kill it for good -- in clear, truly step-by-step terms -- was way harder than it needed to be.

Preface: this is only relevant if you're running Windows 11.

Here is your target:

If you see this logo on your taskbar -- or... have Edge installed on Windows 11 -- you've got Copilot. You can't delete it on its own, Microsoft has integrated it into the OS as best they can. The most you can do is disable it (instructions for which are at the very end of this post).

So... to REALLY get rid of it you need to uninstall Microsoft Edge, because it's a part of/reliant on Edge. A lot of bells and whistles of Windows are also reliant on Edge, like widgets, but I never use those. I use my PC almost exclusively for gaming, and I don't want this slimy "ai" shit on my computer. I use Firefox anyway. Edge can go die as far as I'm concerned.

Here's the actual steps, copy-pasted from a website that took me way too long to find. It also really makes my browser chug for some reason, which is why I'm copy-pasting the whole thing. If you still want to look at the site itself, put it in reader view as fast as you can (link to site).

1.) Open Microsoft Edge, type "edge://settings/help" in the address bar, and then press Enter.

2.) Click "About Microsoft Edge" at the bottom of the left-hand pane. Copy the version number at the top of the screen, under Microsoft Edge.

3.) Press Windows Key + S to open Windows Search.

4.) Type "Command Prompt", right-click the result, and then select "Run as Administrator".

5.) The User Account Control (UAC) prompt will appear. Click "Yes".

6.) Navigate to Edge’s “Installer” directory by using the cd command. Depending on which directory your Command Prompt opens in by default, you may need to use the "cd .." command to go back a level or two.

Once ready, run this command:

cd “Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\Version Number\Installer”

Replace "Version Number" with your actual version number copied earlier.

7.) Next, run this command to uninstall Microsoft Edge:

setup –uninstall –force-uninstall –system-level

((It will look like nothing happened! Don't worry!))

8.) Restart your PC for the changes to take place.

((HOWEVER, Windows will try to reinstall it the next time your PC updates (or whenever it feels like it lol) so there's a second half to this))

1.) Press Windows Key + R to open Run.

2.) Type "regedit" in the text box and click OK to open the Registry Editor.

3.) The User Account Control (UAC) prompt will appear. Click "Yes".

4.) In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SOFTWARE\Microsoft.

5.) Right-click the "Microsoft" folder, hover your cursor over "New", and then select "Key".

6.) Rename the new Key to "EdgeUpdate".

7.) Right-click EdgeUpdate, hover your cursor over "New", and then select "DWORD (32-bit) Value".

8.) Right-click the new value, which is currently named "New Value #1".

9.) Select "Rename" from the context menu.

10.) Rename the value to "DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium".

11.) Right-click the newly-named DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium value and select "Modify" from the context menu.

12.) The Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window will appear. Change the Value data to "1" and then click OK.

((You are now free. If you ever run into a really serious, unavoidable issue with your OS that's clearly a result of Edge being gone, you can redownload it like a regular app. But you should be fine.))

((And, if for some reason you want still want Edge around but just want the copilot thing gone, here's what you do:

The command, for ease of copy-pasting: reg add HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot /v TurnOffWindowsCopilot /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

You can't actually truly delete Copilot (without deleting Edge), only disable it. And as the reply says, you do have to do this every time you turn the computer on. I haven't tested that myself, but I believe it. I assume/hope that excludes just waking the computer up after it goes to sleep, but I don't know for sure.))

#not art #if i had known better at the time i wouldn't have updated to windows 11 but here we are

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kthecutest · 4 months

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▓Important Talk ༶•┈┈┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┈•༶

Hello everyone! Yes i am back once again to say some off topic stuff as usual :3 So apparently i just happened to witness smth, that i think i might have to talk about :

First of all, before i say anything i'd like to say to all my moots and my community in here -> to pls go follow her @euijoosorangepeel (yes she was the writer - euijoosorangeslice before her acc sadly got terminated) and pls go make sure to send asks kindly , ty in advance

now going onto the topic. like what you guys can see, short to the point, us smut writers are practically having to risks our blogs now, having to build our community in fear of being terminated any day.

Obviously, we do not know who are apart of this whole organization going around doing this, and there's no way in stopping them, all we can do is to learn to adapt, and prepare for the worst.

Backup - the most important thing here, is backup, I personally always write my fics, drabbles, replies, in word documents, before i copy paste them here. So if anyone is wondering, yes i have full backup, even for the photos that I use as deco on each post, i have a whole folder full of all the written documents, and a whole folder full of used pictures and decoration banners. And It might be a hassle, but the safest place, is your own computer storage in this case. So i think it'd be smart to keep all written posts, copy pasted in word documents, as backup.

This is also mainly why, you probably never see me complain and scream in agony in random rants about how my drafts get deleted or how tumblr completely reset my writing progress. Because i write everything in word until all is complete & have been checked, then i copy paste it and add some deco and post it in a few min.

So yes i don't have much advise, but this is the best i could give.

To the smut writers that have gone through this nightmare, including my dear moot, i wish you all the best of luck and a safe and happy restart on your careers

#Yūka talks #lune moots #₍ᐢᐢ₎ anons ⊹#luné community #andteam #&team #random rant?

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scary-lasagna · 4 months

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I just finished watching what if, and I was wondering, what if the creeps never became The creeps? What do you think they would be?

angry bc i typed all of this out and tumblr ATE all of my words (my phone turned off and it didn’t save and it was completely my fault) and i am SUING tumblr

Jeff - After living off of his parents for a while, he got a full time job at an animal shelter. He creates music on the side and has a handful of followers. He never talks to his family. He’s made his own between people he’s met online and friends he’s made in real life.

Liu - As the oldest, his parents pressured him into college. He pursued a law degree, and attempts to call Jeff often. Jeff always pretends to be working, busy, or doesn’t have his phone on him. He’s a lot more successful than his brother, being a popular lawyer and all, and even keeps in contact with his parents.

Jane - Became a healthy dose of a Government hired P.I. She’s amazing at her job and anyone from her childhood would never be able to recognize her. Jeff ran into her while she was stationed in her hometown for a brief moment. But she still hasn’t forgiven him for ruining her chance with Liu. It was nice to see him again. Maybe in another universe they’ll actually like each other.

Nina - She does fashion on the side, and hops from job to job, mostly in the fashion and makeup industry. She’s not quite sure where she wants to go in life.

Eyeless Jack - Carried onto pursuing his major as a surgeon. When the incident happened he was already in school, halfway through the path of a lifelong dream of his. After school, he’s one of the top surgeons in the state.

Ben - Just some dude in IT. He works for a cable company, and helps old ladies connect to the internet or restart their router from his cubicle. By the ghoul possessing his brain from the whole cult incident, it created a super-genius tech savvy ghost. But without it, he’s just some guy that grew up with an N64 and a love for computers. He also plays a lot of PC games, and has a discord of online friends. His best friend across the country works in an animal shelter and is free in the early hours of the morning.

Tim/Brian - Continued through college and lives a normal life on the daily. Brian has a major in film history, and Tim graduated with a psychology degree.

Toby - Lyra still ended up dying somehow, but as a less exciting meningitis case as opposed to a car crash caused by Slender. Toby still stood up to his father, and ended up escaping with his mom to a new life not too long after. He has a degree in childcare and works with kids, he also has a nice girlfriend that he’ll marry one day.

Kate - Full-time baker. After moving out of the woods of West Virginia, she moved across the country into a small city where a baker took her under her wing. She was taught how to bake, make coffee, and run a shop. They eventually fell in love and got married. :)

Clockwork - The baker. She opened a shop in the city to escape her abusive home. It was a hit with cute animal themed bread biscuits and cakes.

Laughing Jack - Technically he was an angel gifted to Isaac, but maybe in a normal universe he was part of a traveling circus in the 1800s. Maybe in a normal universe he kept his colors.

Lost Silver - A repair tech. He has his own little shop in a rather large mall. He fixes phones, computers, gaming systems, he’ll even dabble with lights and TVs. The shop doubles as a card shop where people can play retro arcade games and pokemon tournaments.

Jason - A Universal Studios imagineer. He has unlimited potential for his ideas, and has one of the best animatronics worldwide, sporting for $19.2M. A human-like animatronic, taking on the role of a puppeteer that controls small marionettes.

Helen - A quite popular self-taught artist on the east coast, but on the side he paints murals on the sides of buildings for businesses. He moved to America with his grandparents after the bullying in his homeland got too terrible to handle. His mother got the help she needed.

Hobo Heart - A pop-emo heart-throb of the Y2Ks. He got his heart broken and never let it go. Created a hit song about catching his girlfriend cheating and calling a cab, while he’s taking a smoke, and she’s taking a drag. And he’s going to bed and his stomach is siiiick, now she takes off her dress now-

Sally - Destroyed the monarchy and grew up to become the president of England. Achieved world peace. She still has tea parties. ALT: Became the CEO of a sock puppet company.

#did y’all like what i did with jane #yeah it hurt me too #creeypasta #creepypasta #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta imagines #creepypasta blog #creepypasta au #normal life au

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clowngames · 3 months

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I'm not sure what's causing it but my computer believes I am constantly scrolling left with my mouse. It is worth noting my mouse cannot scroll horizontally, nor can most people's. This is causing more issues than you would expect, because it turns out that lots of software has utility built in for horizontal scrolling and none of it can be disabled.

This includes:

My music player (VLC) rewinding whenever my mouse is inside the window, and also maybe detuning the song by 1/100th of a half step? I am going crazy.

But for some reason VLC is fast-forwarding when my mouse is specifically on the timeline bar.

Firefox's tab layouts scrolling to the left, making any but the first 18 tabs in the browser inaccessible.

Speaking of Firefox, holding Control makes the whole thing zoom in. This does not happen with Chrome or Microsoft Edge (yes I tested them all).

Hovering my mouse over the volume slider on YouTube makes the volume slowly decrease. I have to fight gravity to turn the volume up.

Windows 10 Settings categories scrolling up, preventing me from accessing, for example, the Mouse settings.

Any number slider sliding up, which comes up in my job a lot more than I realized.

Visual Studio scrolls slowly to the left when my code gets too long. This is less of a nuisance because good programming practices discourage long code statements anyway. What's striking is how much more slow VS scrolls than anywhere else.

I have tried uninstalling my mouse and keyboard drivers and restarting my computer. I have turned my mouse off and it still happens.

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tarnishedxknight · 1 month

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{out of dalmasca} Well... I'm finally home. I got home around 2:30PM. Saturday. For a same-day procedure scheduled for 4:30PM Friday that should have taken from check-in to discharge about 4-5 hours.

Yeeeeeeeah...

It. Was. An absolute nightmare. I'll briefly summarize below a cut for anyone who wants the dirt and to hear my harrowing tale of woe, lol, but long story short, it was one of the worst experiences of my life and I never want to go back to that hospital ever again, heh. Which.. is sad. I was born in that hospital. My mother was a nurse there for the majority of her career. She loved that hospital. My life was saved there when I was two and sick with JRA, and my dad's was saved when he was in his 60s and he got a rare blood infection. But this experience? -47/10 would not recommend. But it's done, the actual surgery went well, now I just have to heal up. =)

Okay, so. What happened was... someone who should've had a 2-hour surgery before me to have their appendix removed ended up having a cancerous tumor there that nobody expected. It was really in there good and wrapped around important things, and the surgery took 8 hours to safely remove it. So my appt. time was 4:30PM, I was told to get there at 2PM, I got there at 1:45PM... and I didn't have surgery until 11:45PM. It was a total fiasco of everything that could possibly go wrong... going wrong.

Machines broke down or malfunctioned. They did a random maintenance of the computer system so none of the nurse could log into their little mobile kiosk accounts. I had two different bed issues. One took three nurses to figure out how to lock it so it didn't move around (the table I was having surgery on), and the other bed (my post-op recovery bed) the nurse backed so far up that it got hiked up onto a drawer of a shelving unit behind it and then wouldn't raise or lower. When she figured this out, she closed the drawer, causing the bed to painfully and suddenly drop like 8 inches to the floor with me in it. My check-in nurse disappeared and they couldn't find him for a solid hour and I had to get another one and restart the whole process. Another forgot to take an IV port out of an elderly patient who had been next to me and let him go home with it, only to have to walk him through removing it over the phone later. None of this instilled confidence.

They put me in a room after surgery because "it's late now," and the phone didn't work in the room. Neither did the TV. That's okay because I couldn't see anything anyway AND I had no cell phone because my dad took them, because they told him he'd be coming back in a couple hours to take me home and then... just kidding. So I sat in one room for 8 hours before surgery, and then sat in another post-surgery for 13 hours. With. Nothing to do (except they did have a passable portable tv in the first room, which I'll get to in a second). Unable to see or make calls. And I had none of my meds that prevent other serious medical issues while sleep so......... I couldn't sleep. I had to fight to stay away or risk things going wrong in other ways. Dear gods, the boredom and stress.

I was put in a room with a terminally ill cancer patient who wanted to chat and tell me in gory detail everything about her illness. That... was not what I needed right just then. Then, she kept like... I would push the call button (once I found out where it was because nobody told me), and because I was hidden in the back and she was by the door, they would just ask her what she wanted, she'd get help to do this that or whatever, and then they'd leave again without even talking to me.

Just outside our room was the man who had the appendix out. He was shrieking, crying, and moaning all night long because he was in pain, and they couldn't give him anything for it because his blood pressure had bottomed out. It was like something out of a horror movie, except real, to listen to the sounds of agony this poor man was making. Extremely upsetting. I cried twice just because I had a visceral human response to the sounds he was making. Another reason why I got no sleep.

I am supposed to be on a low fat diet, at least until I heal. Also, when you have GE surgery, the last thing you want is to drink caustic acid. So what do they bring me for breakfast? Orange juice, raw pineapple, and tart strawberries (I could feel them all burning on the way down, I was in agony), and then scrambled eggs with melted cheese, fried breakfast sausages, and fried potatoes. Like. What the actual fuck. And coffee. I detest coffee. When I asked for tea I got looked at funny and told they couldn't give that to me. Apparently hot tea is a burn risk, but hot coffee is fine. Yeah, okay, sure. Tell that to that woman who sued McDonalds for burning her own lap. I couldn't eat the potatoes, they were so dry I was afraid of choking on them, it was ridiculous. But I ate and drank as much as I could because, all told during this process, I had gone 17.5 hours without water, and about 21 hours without food.

The reason they kept me overnight was because my surgeon just left afterward. He didn't talk to me, didn't give discharge orders, didn't say anything, he just left. Then, as of like 6AM when they called him, he didn't answer, until around 12PM when they gave up and called another doctor, who basically said yeah I'm busy I'll get to it when I get to it. Hence me not being released until 2PM.

And the pain is..... omg intense. Debilitating. Not at all what was described to me as what to expect. And I'm no wuss, I've been in and out of hospitals since I was two, I have 10 piercings, I had all four wisdom teeth extracted and was eating pizza later that same day lol, and I have a very high pain threshold, so for me to say the pain is A Lot™ is.... yeah. This is hell. I am in hell. XD

But I am home now and I just need to somehow get through the next few days until the pain gets better and my life gets more normal. My sleep schedule is all messed up and the pain is distracting, so I'm not sure when I'm going to be on to write. Over the next 3 days or so, I'll do what I can, when I can. If I feel like it's comforting and therapeutic, I will. If not, I won't.

BUT... the one ray of light in this hellish process was that in the room I was in for 8 hours the first time, they had a TV, and even though everything was blurry without my glasses, I found a channel playing movies. I got to watch the classic Ghostbusters II, which I love, and then they had back to back Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Got all the way through them, and then they moved me 10 minutes before IM2 ended, which was... rude. I've already seen it but still. That's so annoying. XD

The funny thing was, the night before surgery I was so anxious I couldn't sleep, so I was on my phone watching and listening to random videos and music. I found my favorite music video of Tony Stark/Iron Man that I hadn't seen in a long time, and it was weird for me to click on it because lately I haven't been writing him and I felt a bit detached from the character. So I thought it was funny that I randomly watched that the night before, and then I'm in the hospital watching Iron Man movies on their TV, haha. Needless to say, my muse for Tony is now through the roof, so... that's going to be a thing for a while.

Weirdly enough, watching Tony going through all the medical stuff with his reactor, and watching him battle his own anxiety and neuroticism, was strangely comforting to me sitting hours on end in a hospital awaiting surgery having one panic attack after another. I know, it makes no sense, you'd really think it'd make me more nervous, or that it would exacerbate my anxiety, but you'd be wrong. Neurodivergence ftw, heh. XD

Anyway, I'm home, I'm hurting, but I'm okay. And actually, despite everything going wrong, my actual surgery apparently went "perfect textbook" well. So that's the most important thing. I may be lurking for a couple days unless I get better sleep and my pain gets to a level where I can do more with my brain than just sit here and think.... ow. XD I'll see how I feel in the next few days and if I need to extend my hiatus from my regular rp schedule further, I'll let everyone know.

#{ out of dalmasca } ᵒᵒᶜ #tw: surgery #tw: medical #tw: cancer

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anonymouspuzzler · 1 year

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Yay Yipee I Finally Remembered I Should Update Folks On Things That Are Happening

because hey whoops as some of you might remember Supposedly I Stream Sometimes! That Uhhhh Hasn't Happened In A While Has It! so I should probably let folks know what's goin' on!! the long and the short of it is

Around late November/early December I started having issues where Discord would crash and restart anytime I tried to screenshare my capture software with my friends who I stream with. This put console game streams (so 2/3 of the games we were streaming) on the backburner till I could troubleshoot and solve that issue

On top of that it was Fucking Finals Season for me at my Graduate School so at a certain point I had to be responsible and focus on getting my final projects & essays done, which meant sacrificing stream time till my break (where I would hopefully have time to troubleshoot and then do a ton of streaming to make up for lost time)

Except THEN literally the second I went home for the holidays my hard drive abruptly and completely died. It is very possible that this contributed to the aforementioned tech issues

I was able to replace the drive and get my computer working again but because I have a Fucking Curse a lot of tech-side things were lost or started experiencing issues due to the new drive, namely A) I haven't been able to get my capture software working yet and B) whoops my entire OBS layout is just gone now I guess

This whole saga, on top of juggling other life shit and work and the like, effectively ate up my entire winter break

so tl;dr! I have a computer curse and because of it streams are gonna have to wait till I can get both OBS and my capture software working again. I'm hoping to work on that this weekend so I can be back to streaming next week, but given my school & job workload I'm guessing it'll more likely be two or three weeks. On top of that, I won't be streaming most of March due to reason of "my partner is visiting then". all of this sucks cause I want to be streaming, both for reason of "i like spending time with my good friends doing this" and "haha whoops I'm not earning money now and oh boy there sure are a lot of expenses flying at my head like rocks huh".

I've already rambled a bit more than I'd like to now so here's da main points:

Streams will (HOPEFULLY) be back in February. When they are, they'll be Monday & Tuesday nights, 5:30pst/8:30est, for as long as my friends remain available at those times (we're all adults having to look for or maintain Day Jobs so availability could change. y'all know how it is). I may also do occasional one-off streams on weekends as my energy 'n schedule permits, most likely art streams

I'll continue to be around on Holly's streams Fri/Sat/Sun as her schedule permits, because I don't have to rebuild OBS from the ground up for that

There is a 99.99% chance I'll be totally absent stream-wise during March

Even though streams are facing The Troubles I am still taking art commissions! Those haven't been affected!! You can submit an interest form here and I'll reach out to confirm prices as soon as I'm ready to start work on yours

If, out of the kindness of your heart, you would like to toss some support my way during The Troubles (which would be much appreciated; as said I've got a lot of expenses coming my way and unfortunately my day job covers my rent and nothing more), here are some other ways you can do so: -- Tip me on Ko-Fi; if you pay $9 or more you can request a doodle that I'll do for you and post on here & twitter (and might stream the process of drawing once that's up and running again). Here's an example of some Ko-Fi doodles I did previously -- You can also tip through my stream page if you want but I probably won't see those till I start streaming again. Still appreciated!!! -- I have a Throne Wishlist that's mostly stuff like kitchenware, household goods, stuff for my kitty, etc. There's also a few Fun Things though, like vinyls and a billy big bass Jay insisted I add. Either way, if you wanna contribute to something on there it means a lot. You can also suggest items to make me laugh

an' above all: thank you for reading and for bein' around!!

#long post /#anonymous puzzler talks #sorry for the big ramble!! i just figured it was worth putting everything out there #you mighta heard bits and pieces of this on friends' streams slash twitter slash wherever #but i figured it was worth puttin' in one place #anyway if you read this far: i hope you're having a good day and if you're not i hope a good day comes your way!!!!!#edit: i forgot the link to the doodles!! silly me!!! that is in there now

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davidmariottecomics · 4 months

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Save Your Work!

Hello, friends!

This week is going to be very quick because, not to get ahead of myself, but next week is likely going to be pretty long. I didn't mean to time things out so there'd be a long one right after I'm done with work for the year and most people are off for that final week, but that's how things worked out. And the week after that, the last weekend of the year, I'm going to do a Best of 2023 round-up.

But, in my brief update this week, I wanted to talk about some very straightforward best practices.

I turned on my computer this morning and was shocked to find that I was *turning on* my computer this morning. One way or another, it had shut down since the last time I used it. Maybe it was Becca or a planned restart or something, but however it happened, my computer was off. And as any artist should know... you neeeeeeeeeeeed to make sure your stuff is saved again and again. You see, I was working on my holiday gift guide that I'm building for my Patreon when the computer shut off and I lost a whole spread and some change. All of it. The images, the hyperlinks, the text--both in terms of what I wrote and the font choices I made--everything. It shouldn't be terrible, but it'll add at least an extra hour on as I have to rebuild all of that. So, if you ever work on anything that would benefit from being saved, make sure you do!

The other best practice I want to emphasize today is something I say a lot. If you'd like to work in comics professionally, please make it easier on yourself and any potential collaborators/hiring folks, by making your web presence clear and accessible. Something I've slowly been working on over the past few weeks is going through my Twitter as I get ready to delete it before the end of the year and looking to make sure I have contact information from anyone I'm interested in not losing. I'm looking for emails, or agents, or websites. And the more varied the information, the better. Because I'm trying to incorporate that into my existing digital rolodex, whenever possible, while emails (for talent or their agents) are the things that are most helpful, I am looking to add your website info so I can quickly pop to it before emailing you and make sure you're who I think you are and your style is what I think it is. As much as possible, when I look through info I got from old like Visible Women sheets and the like, I'm looking for people who aren't just including their handle on one social because those can change, or who aren't just linking to an Instagram or Twitter account with "DM me" because while I know some people work best in DMs, for legal paperwork and the like, an email is so much more helpful.

Lastly, and this should go without saying, but this is a post about common sense practices, be kind to folks. I don't know why this seems so counter-intuitive to certain people, but if you're openly hostile toward your peers, they don't want to work with you. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy of ostracization. It literally can't be said enough. Comics as an industry is doing just fine and differentiation in the medium in both format and talent is only a good thing.

Alright. More next week!

What I enjoyed this week: Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Nancy (Comic), Lego Masters (TV show), Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (Short story collection), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Dandadan (Manga), Godzilla: Minus One (Movie), Godzilla Raids Again (Movie), Cunk on Earth (TV show), I'm a Virgo (TV show), Clyde Fans by Seth (Comic), getting and making some really exciting 2023 news. There's some amazing stuff to come!

New Releases this week (12/13/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog: Winter Jam (Editor)

Final Order Cutoff next week (12/18/2023): Godzilla Valentine's Day Special (Editor) If you haven't seen it, I put together a little explainer on what exactly a "Final Order Cutoff" is and why it matters! And if you found this helpful and have a platform where you think people should know, those explainers are watermarked and good to share!

New Releases next week (12/20/2023): Godzilla: The War for Humanity #3 (Editor) Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)

Announcements: If there is one blog this year that you should not miss, it's next week's. Big news to come.

The Cartoonist Cooperative is still doing E-Sim cards for Gaza. You can donate a digital sim card so that residents can get access to the internet and have more functional phones and, in exchange, get some comics or a drawing or whatever else is available from the many participating artists. Additionally, the CC is hosting their mini-comic awards! It's a cool way to maybe get your mini-comic recognized and make some scratch!

You can also give more directly. If you don't have money, and I get it, you can call or fax or email or show up at the offices of your representatives. Keep your eyes open for actions too, whether they're another general strike like what happened last Monday or demonstrations and marches in your area. Given the nature of the things, they often come together fairly quickly, so do exercise your due diligence. Also, of course, being informed and just giving your time to Palestinian writers is incredibly valuable. Whether that is journalists on the ground--who are being murdered at extraordinary rates--or reading Fiyah's Palestine Solidarity issue or anything from Verso's solidarity reading list, having and sharing that knowledge is significant.

Becca just did their Art vs. Artist post for 2023. They did a lot of really cool work this year! They also posed a spicy art version. And as if it could not be said enough, while we've got some things brewing (and now on a schedule), you should reach out if you'd like to work on comics with them! I think we're both looking to do more next year! You can find their gallery on their website and also, y'know, maybe pick up a few things for belated gifts while you're there!

If you aren't a Patreon backer yet, well, like I said above, I've been working on something pretty cool. I'm building a holiday gift guide. It won't probably be out with a lot of shopping time for Christmas in particular, but I thought it'd be a fun way to showcase some of what I've been learning more generally about design and how to make comics and zines and stuff. I'm really proud of it and it'll be exclusive to $10+ backers for December and then will be made public in a couple months. Also at that $10+ tier, there's stuff like a tour of my workspace, an adults-only podcast pilot that Becca and I recorded called "Abandoning the Premise" (short sample here), a review of root beers is also coming up quick, old D&D campaigns I ran, and more! Another goal of mine for next year is to grow my Patreon and also have it start making some money to fund more comics ventures for myself.

Pic of the Week: I teased it last week, but the Winter Jam team did a Winter Jam-piece! Our fabulous leader, Iasmin Omar Ata, got Reggie Graham, Adam Bryce Thomas, Abigail Oz, Shawn Lee, and me to put together a happy holidays card from the Winter Jam cast! I did the thought balloon Froggy because even when Big is holding "Froggy", he can't stop thinking about that frog!

#comics #sonic idw #comic tips #save your work

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phantomdoofer · 7 months

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Chapter 5: Ricordi

Peppino carefully taped the sign to the front door of the pizzeria:

We will be closing at 4 PM for family business. Thank you for you continued support!

Peppino smiled as he unlocked the door. While he hated closing early twice in one week, this was too important. A lot has happened. He was actually quite proud of that sign. He'd printed it on the new computer and printer Gustavo had convinced him to buy. It was a cheap, small laptop, but before he hadn't even been able to afford it. Small steps lead to big things, Pino.

He heard the back door open as Gustavo came in. "Buongiorno, amico!" Peppino called. "How are you feeling today?"

"Bene, amico, grazie." He looked at the sign. "See you finally took my advice. Going to see Mama tonight, eh?"

"Sì," Peppino replied. "It's been too long. And with this whole clone business, she's wanted to see me in person."

She'd tried to call him the day before. Gustavo needed me, though. When he'd called her back, they'd had a short discussion about what Giuseppe had told her. "Come see me soon," she'd told him. "There are things I want to say face-to-face."

Of course, he'd already decided to do that. But Mamas will be Mamas.

The bell jingled as a customer walked in. As Peppino turned to greet them he heard a scratchy voice say, "Buenos dias, fat boy. Saw the sign, you going out of business again already?"

Oh Mio Dio, I do not need this stronzo today. He resisted the urge to punch the Noise directly in his toothy maw. "Like the sign says, I've got family business. Are you here to order? Otherwise, get out." Both Peppino and Gustavo crossed their arms. Peppino felt a vein on his forehead begin to throb as he worked to control his temper.

The Noise, of course, was unfazed. "Ah, fat man, you know I keep this place running! Why, I practically own it!"

After the Tower, Noise had made a lot of money on franchising deals, which he'd used to restart NTV. He'd invested in the land around his studio, and a lot of the Tower residents lived there. Not me, though. "I'll say it one more time. Order or leave."

"That's no way to talk to a paying customer! I outta-"

Suddenly a goopy, dripping arm reached down from the air vent, grabbing Noise by the head. He started shrieking as the hand flung the little creep out the door and across the street. As Noise picked himself up, Fake Peppino oozed down, waved, and ran outside, chasing the screaming Noise down the street and out of sight.

Peppino climbed down from out of Gustavo's arms, where he'd leapt in abject terror at the sudden appearance of the goopy clone. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "That thing still gives me the shivers."

"I noticed." Gustavo was trying not to grin. "Let's get to work, eh?"

~~~~

Peppino's scooter whirred its way down the side of the highway, a pair of freshly-made pizzas strapped to the back. His Mama had asked for them. Reminds her of Papa, she said. As he puttered along, he remembered the years where she had cared for him, after the war. Always either drunk off my ass, picking fights, or huddled in a corner. They had been bad years, and she'd been infinitely patient. Then, she had suffered some kind of attack. The doctors told Peppino it had been stress. His guilt had driven him even deeper. Only caring for her had kept him from trying to finally join his lost brothers.

One day, cleaning an old closet, he'd found his Papa's old recipe book, flipped through it, and found a note.

Pino, as I write this, I don't have much time left. The disease will take me before you reach seven. Your Mama, bless her soul, cannot accept my passing. I, myself, only regret not being here for the two of you. From your first cry, I set aside my dream for a new one: to ensure your happiness. I do not know when you will find this. But know that I think you have it in you to be great. You have always been my light, my inspiration. I hope you will be the man I dream you will be. I love you, my son.

On that day, Peppino had received a blessing from beyond the grave, and it gave him strength enough to drag out of the abyss. He'd worked to improve his skills, gotten his health back, gone back to school, and received his food license. He'd taken out the first loan, and opened the pizzeria. A copy of the letter was in his wallet. The original was with his Mama.

I wonder if she remembered to show it to Giuseppe when he visited. Probably not. Her memory is spotty these days, and there were a lot of other things to talk about.

His stopped his scooter at the bike rack outside his Mama's apartment. Locking it, he grabbed the pizzas, looked up, and took a deep breath. She already knows, Pino. The worst is already over. He walked up the steps, found her door, and knocked loudly.

When she opened the door, his heart sank, as as it always did, at the tiny, frail woman she had become. "Ah, Pino, il mio piccolino. I was getting worried that little scooter had broken down on you."

He kissed her on each cheek. "Not yet, Mama. How are you?"

In response, she took the pizzas and walked them to the table. "Oh, you know. Other than being an dried-up vecchia who sometimes can't remember what day it is, I'm doing well." She tottered to a cabinet, grabbed two glasses, and turned. "Will you take vino tonight, Peppino?"

"Just a little tonight, Mama," he said. He was careful about his drinking - while he didn't abstain, he'd drank several vineyards and breweries dry before he'd cleaned up. But he felt safe doing it here. She poured for both, then they sat down to dinner.

As they ate, and the pleasant buzz of inebriation softened his mind, she looked at him. "Your brother had a lot to say."

I bet. "Well, he's been kept away for thirty years, after all. That's a lot to catch up on."

She set down the slice she had. "I could not believe him at first. The lies, the secrecy. But he knew things that only we would know. And he looked so like you." She looked down. "But his life has been so hard. Not that your life hasn't been as well, Pino," she added hastily.

Peppino swallowed the slice he'd been chewing. "He told me some of it. We've both been through a grinder, in our own ways." He patted her hand. "It's OK, Mama. I think I've come to terms with... who and what I am. You don't have to walk on eggshells around me."

The elderly woman visibly relaxed. "I'm glad. I was so worried when I was told. Your mind was so fragile after you came back from the war. I know you have worked to be better, but I see it in your eyes." She reached across the table and cupped his cheek. "You still struggle. The darkness still sits in you. You miss your fratelli, the ones you lost in the war. You miss your Papa. And now this clone business. I worried that you would fall again. And this time you might not come back." She leaned back. "So I slapped him. For what he was putting you through."

Peppino leaned back. "But he's your son. Your actual son."

"Are you not as well?" she said. "You started out as him, yes? I raised you, held you when you cried, lifted you up. You are also my son, regardless of how you started, Pino," She smiled. "That has not changed."

Peppino felt tears well up again. "Grazie, Madre." He stood up and gently hugged his mother. "I don't deserve you."

"È una sciocchezza," she said.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Then Peppino said, "so you slapped him. A decorated special forces Major?"

She laughed. "Sì. He took it like a champion, too." She sighed. "Then I hugged him just as hard. He acts strong, but I can see in many ways he is still just as emotional as you, Pino. He is simply better at hiding it." She looked sad. "Even after so long, I can see when my sons are sad. He misses his friends, too. He's had to watch too many go out to die. He's had to send them. It weighs on him."

Peppino remembered the tired eyes, the slumped shoulders. I don't know if I could do that.

She leaned forward again. "Pino, you and I both know my time is limited. I want to tell you - be there for your brother. He will need you, and while he is strong, he is even more alone. You have your business, your dream, your friend. Soon, he will have nothing but you."

"Don't be silly, you've got years left in you!" Peppino knew it was a lie, but he couldn't, he refused to say the truth out loud. I don't know what I will do without you.

She smiled. "Still you hide, ragazzo. You know the truth." She smiled again. "I no longer have any regrets, now that you have a life to live. I know your Papa is proud of you." She looked at the wall, where the letter was framed. "He told you himself, after all."

She stood, and took the letter down. "Pino, I want you to take this with you."

Peppino gently took the frame. "But why?"

"To give to your brother," she replied. "I forgot it when he visited before. He will likely see you soon. He said something big was coming soon, and he wanted to be with you when it happened. So give it to him then. It is something he needs to see - just as much as you did."

"Sì, Mama," Peppino replied. "I think he does."

"Then I am content. Come, let's sit and watch TV for a while. You should not drive until you're safe." She grinned wickedly. "You have enough drunkenness on your record."

He laughed. "Ottimo, Madre. If that's how you want it."

They sat and watched TV for hours, reminiscing about everything and nothing.

As Peppino drove home in the dark, he thought of the letter strapped tightly to the back of the scooter. A letter from a man who never knew his blessing would apply twice.

It wouldn't have mattered to him, Peppino thought. Not a bit.

<<Previous/Next>>

#peppino spaghetti #peppino pizza tower #peppino #Mama Spaghetti #pizza tower fanfic #pizza tower au #pizzatower #pizza tower #tower town au

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thessalian · 4 months

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Thess vs Installations

Well, first, the Saga of the Graphics Card.

The graphics card was supposed to arrive just before New Year. And then it didn't. And it didn't. And it continued to didn't. So by about the third I just went, "Okay, fine, time to get on to customer service". Since this was a first offense, I decided it didn't require "talking to a human being", so I hit their support chat and basically went, "The graphics card I paid a fair bit of money for has not arrived, so could you just send me one that actually gets here? Thanks". And the AI or whatever said "Sure".

Taking the delivery was fun. While the doorbell technically works, I still can't buzz people into the building from the comfort of my foyer (my stepfather is looking into it; which means I'll probably have it fixed sometime next year). So I had to haul my poor disabled ass downstairs to let the guy in. He was such a nice guy. He not only had my graphics card, but he also had the new headset mic I'd ordered (since my last one has proven to have worn out to the point where my input is a staticky mess). Thing is, he only remembered seeing it when I got to the door, so he went all the way back to his van to get it. See, while we do have visitor parking out front, we have a few residents who use it for their second cars, so the visitors parking is usually full ... which is ironic when you consider that only maybe two-thirds of the actual residents have cars and use their allotted parking spaces. Anyway, he had a couple of deliveries for other residents in the building so since I was going upstairs anyway, I offered to take the one that was going up to my floor. He was so nice, I figured I'd spare him the trip.

So anyway, I wasn't going to install everything last night because ... well, the machine was on and doing things, and I didn't want to turn the whole thing off and on again, and I figured to do it in the morning (or afternoon, whenever I woke up) so I'd be fresher for any disasters that happened in the process of installing the new graphics card. I did test the headset mic, though, with help from a voice chat with @true0neutral - the new headset works fine, and proves that my poor old headset has to be put out to pasture.

So today, I put in the new graphics card.

THINGS I CAN NO LONGER DO EASILY BECAUSE OF FUCKING FIBROMYALGIA, #839 - manhandle a computer tower to install things.

I mean, the unplugging of everything was a bitch, and then hauling it onto the desk was more of a bitch, and then I had to do some dusting of the inside of the PC, which I guess was okay, and then I had to pull the old graphics card, which was a little frustrating, and then I lost a screw in the casing and had to rattle it around like one of those toys where you tilt a box to get a marble through a maze into a hole, which hurt, and then I had to plug in the new graphics card, which was awkward, and then I had to put everything back together again, which hurt, and then I had to plug everything back in, which hurt more...

And then it decided it wanted to enter setup mode because I guess something went wrong in POST, which was terrifying. But I honestly made no changes to it that I'm aware of; I just put it back to default settings (which apparently changed nothing) and it restarted just fine. However, as is the nature of things, I'm going to be paranoid about it until I'm sure it's not going to do that again.

For now, it all seems to have worked out. My machine is ... actually quieter now, and apart from a little bit of hiccupping as it decided which of my two monitors it wanted to be using for what, and which speakers to use (WHY is it defaulting to my headset? I have speakers and I want to USE THEM), things seem to be working as intended. Of course, I haven't tried to play any games on it yet. I did all this before I'd even had my coffee, y'see, so coffee has to happen before anything else. So the first part of the testing - regular PC function - has to happen while I have at least half my Big Mug O'Coffee. And then I am going to start slowly with an indie game, nothing too graphics intensive, and then I will check how it runs with DA2, and only then will I try it on Baldur's Gate 3.

Look, I get a little paranoid, okay? I've been doing this for about two decades and I should be pretty chill about upgrading my PC when I've literally built a machine from spare parts twice ... but it pays to be cautious, I've found. I'd rather have a little bit of paranoia for awhile and catch any problem before it becomes a big one than tell myself everything's fine and then get blindsided by something exploding. The last time I was too chill about an upgrade, my power supply basically blew up.

No, I am not kidding.

#Thess is computer literate #Thess is never going to rest on their laurels

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