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sunandsstars · 1 year

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HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Recombinants x Medic!Reader

Summary: An unlikely group of people find a home in their cute little human doctor.

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of wounds/death/hurting animals

Word count: 1.6k

“Ouch!”

“Sorry! I did tell you it would burn” ___ swiped the alcohol wipe across Lopez’s blue arm, cleaning the deep wound from dirt and bacteria. She grabbed a needle and thread out of the medkit on the floor and carefully stitched him up.

“Don’t be a pussy Lp” Brown stuck his tongue out, tail flicking every which way, hitting Mansk behind him who swatted at the appendage and rolled his eyes, not that anyone could see them under the shades.

“Hey! This is a crazy ass gash on my arm! Let me cry dickface” Lopez stuck up the middle finger of the hand that wasn’t getting treated and ___ slapped it, instructing him not to get into petty fights until after she’s done.

“Will you lot stop pulling each others cocks for one minute?” their colonel strolled into the med bay with Wainfleet right behind him, both ducking under the small doorway to get into the room. “How’s it looking doc?”

“He’ll be ok, it shouldn’t get infected if treated correctly, just make sure to change the bandages every once in a while” ___ finished the last of the stitches she sewed, putting away her equipment. Being a doctor on Pandora had its pros, her income was higher than any other job on Earth, she got to be the first of the human race to live on another planet, she also got to have free roam of Bridgehead since she was highly ranked which was cool.

The cons however, were that she had to be apart of Project Phoenix. Assisting the recombinant squad, ‘deja blu’ was not what she signed up for and at first she was very reluctant, until she actually spent time with them. They were sweet and gentle with her, knowing that she was physically much weaker than them, they took care of her and also each other. Somewhat, they were a family.

Also the soldiers were fucking hot.

“Good. Lopez that was some stupid shit you pulled back there. Could’ve gotten us killed” Quaritch’s heavy steps stomped over to the two and flicked the mans pointed ear, Lopez winced and ___ huffed a laugh.

“Sorry colonel, just got too excited”

“If you want to be excited again, you have the opportunity to get out once you’re done here” General Ardmore made herself known, glaring at every person in the room “I need you on the front lines, take on those big ass animals that are blocking our train lines, they haven’t moved for days so we’re gonna amp up the pressure”

Some of the squad quietly sighed, they just came back from a mission, one that almost got them eaten by a giant black cat, not to mention one of them is injured enough as is.

“General, Lopez here needs to rest, he’s hurt enough as is” ___ intervened, holding the man’s massive hand and squeezing it in reassurance, she knew by the way his ears pointed down that he didn’t want to go out so soon, especially after almost getting his arm hacked off. Ardmore only directed her glare to the woman, making her freeze and look down.

She was one intimidating lady.

“General, we’ll be out there as soon as my guys are rested, it shouldn’t take long” Quaritch piped up, not wanting their doctor to face the older ladies rath of judgement.

Ardmore nodded sharply and sighed heavily, not liking the delay but this wasn’t her team to command… well it was…but Quaritch was a man that she didn’t want to get on the bad side of. Recom or human. She briskly turned and marched out but not before giving them three days rest to recover and gather supplies. She’d just have to send some Bulldogs instead.

Lopez sighed and squeezed ___’s hand in thanks for sticking up for him, he released it and stood up from his chair, Brown coming over and clapping him on the back “you guys wanna go to the rec room? Ja and Zhang are waiting for us”, many agreed and followed suit, Wainfleet and Quaritch sticking behind for ___.

The doctor packed her equipment away and took off her lab coat off, nodding to the two as they filed out. “So.. what exactly happened out there?” she usually was on these missions with them, but she had to tend to some paperwork with the bio scientists.

“We ran into one of those.. what are they called, thanators? Nasty fuckers” Wainfleet strolled up next to her, tail flicking and sending her hair up a little, he grinned and messed with her more, using his tail to flick more of her neatly kept hair.

___ turned and slapped his leg, smoothing her hair down and jogged a little further to get away from him. “Yeah, they’re not very nice. You must’ve been in their hunting zone - stop that!” she grinned as Lyle followed her around “just because I have hair and you don’t!”

Quaritch snorted “docs got a point corporal, but that burn runs deeper than Lp’s kitty scratches, how you gonna take that?” he was a few ways back from them, ears pointed up and grin on his face at their silliness. He could hear more of his team in one of the rooms further up laughing and chatting, Prager had a secret lover? Now that is something he’d need to find out.

“Well for one, sleep with both eyes open and a nightlight, for two-” The soldier grabbed ___ by the waist and hoisted her up over his shoulder, slapping her ass and barging into the recom’s rec room shouting “this little lady has been bullying me about my hair! We needa teach her a lesson”

Zdinarsk sharply turned at the loud noise and saw the predicament the two were in, ___ was dangling with her face barely reaching Lyle’s lower back, her tiny fists hitting the muscle as she shouted for mercy. The soldier hollered “what hair?!” and the rest followed with shouts of their own, oh the agony.

Wainfleet pointed his middle finger at every single one of them, including Quaritch behind him who was chuckling loudly. He placed the human in his arms onto one of the couches and forced her onto her back, easily pinning her with just one hand. His yellow eyes met hers and she instantly tensed up “no! NO! Lyle please don’t!” the man only grinned devilishly and raised his other hand slowly “Lyle I promise I’ll do anything!”

“Anything?”

“Yes anything! I’ll bake you those brownies you like!” Man did he love those brownies.

“Hmm, what do you think people?” Lyle glanced at everyone in the room to see their opinions.

Zhang twisted around and raised his brows “I dunno corp, she disrespected you and your lack of hair, she deserved what’s coming to her”

“Zhang!”

“Yea give it to her!” Fike pumped a fist into the air and Mansk nodded cooly.

“The people have spoken darlin’ you could still make me those sweets anyway” ___ screeched as the solder brought the hand down and tickled at her skin, going across the stomach, under the pits, under her chin. Her greatest weakness is that she’s ticklish, ever since they found that out she’s been exploited to the harsh fingers of the recombinants.

The doctor had tears going out of her eyes as she laughed at the feeling “I-I’m sorry! ahaha! I did- I didn’t mean to!” she felt Wainfleet slow down to a stop, nodding and patting her head as she breathed heavily. A flicker appeared in his eyes and she instantly put her hands up, knowing he would probably do it again.

Prager strolled by and rugby tackled Lyle to the floor, taking him down and wrestling him. All ___ could see from her position was tails swinging and legs flailing, she breathed heavily and sat up, carefully avoiding the almost ten foot men.

She strolled over to Quaritch who engaged himself in a game of cards with Ja, Zdinarsk and Fike. She examined the A4 cards he held then the ones on the table and plucked one from his fingers, placing it down. “Fuck” Zdinarsk swore, cursing whatever god was out there for this treachery, she was losing. Z-Dog never loses. “You know, I thought I liked you sweetness” ___ just stuck her tongue out in retaliation. Fike urged the doctor to help him out too, only to get a card thrown at him by Zdinarsk.

“How are you doing Lopez?” ___ strolled over to the man who was watching T.V with Zhang and Brown, he grabbed the little lady and perched her onto his lap.

“Good mami. It’s gonna take more than a fat cat to tear me down”

“Oorah!”

___ glanced over the man’s shoulder at Wainfleet who agreed and flexed his muscles, marines will be marines, she laughed.

“Don’t act like you weren’t crying earlier because of the pain” Brown chimed in, eyes glancing at the two next to him, he reached a hand over to rest it on ___’s calf, rubbing circles on it.

“I didn’t cry”

“Yes you did, whining like Prager when he got dumped by his secret lover”

‘Prager had a secret lover?’ ___ wondered. Tea is brewing, she had a feeling it was gonna be good.

“I’ll stick my tail in your ass if you don’t shut your fucking mouth”

“I’m counting on it”

“Cut it out!”

#✰ — avatar works — ✰#avatar the way of water #x reader #atwow #avatar x reader #atwow x reader #avatar the way of water x reader #fluff #lyle wainfleet #miles quaritch #sean fike #prager #ja #brown #lopez #zdinarsk #zhang #mansk

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centaurianthropology · 2 months

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Oh man, I think the Circle of the Crimson Mirror might just be MY Candela circle. I enjoyed the goofy schlock horror with the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil, and really enjoyed the amping up of horror in The Circle of Needle and Thread (though the horrors of war theming was not specifically for me, it was still well done). I haven’t gotten to watch the Circle of Tide and Bone because life happened, but from what I’ve heard it was very good.

But I was laughing out loud with glee for the first episode of the Circle of the Crimson Mirror. All these characters are delightful. The setting is fascinating (starting out OUTSIDE of Newfaire and expanding the world was really fun), the theming of Irish folklore horror gives a folk horror mixed with cosmic horror vibe that I’m really excited for. And Liam is just the sort of ruthless DM that is perfect for a horror game. Because for me, keeping your players wrapped up in the horror, making them at least a little genuinely afraid (after talking through Lines and Veils of course) in a fun and contained way IS the heart of playing a horror game. It’s the same as watching a horror movie, in that you WANT to be scared, that’s part of the enjoyment, but in a horror game the fun is having it happen to you.

And both folk horror and cosmic horror are some of my favorite subgenres, so this is hitting all my favorite sorts of horror. And because it’s me, see below for my much longer thoughts about this first episode and the characters. Because I’ve never found a topic I enjoy that I can’t write an essay about.

Liam comes for everyone straight out of the gate, doesn’t he? While I found the train cold open in chapter 2 exciting, I found this even more harrowing. With NPCs we barely know constantly imperiled, all the investigators are really sketched so clearly right off the bat with their actions rather than their more open explanations later. I love that all of them lean heavily into being out of their depth, even sometimes making poor choices because of it. The players are aware they are in a horror game. The characters are not.

So let’s talk about those characters:

MALCOLM TRILLS

Imari Williams was the player at the table I had no prior experience with, and I love what he’s doing here. He puts his whole body into acting out the scene, even at the table. Even before we know he was a Sole Survivor of a massacre during the war (and I found it deeply entertaining that Imari couldn’t help but dump his backstory all over the floor. Liam’s gently encouraging everyone to hold it back for dramatic moments, and Imari is just so excited he’s like “NO! HERE IT IS!” not once but twice in the very first episode), we knew that. Because Imari is clearly dedicated to acting that out through what Malcolm chooses to do. He believes in saving others, especially after losing his entire squad. He has to do it, even (or maybe especially) for those civilians he doesn’t know. His entire point in being in Candela is saving people. So when Liam dunks two unnamed sailors in the ocean, Malcolm goes in. His friends are horrified. They love and value him, and they value him more than two randos. But to him, the randos are the point. Saving people is the point. So no matter how many disappointed dad-lectures he gets from Leo (and this is clearly not the first one he’s gotten), Malcolm is always going to be this way. He’s always going to try to play the hero in a horror setting, which is such a delicious choice for a horror player to make. Everyone at that table knows how perilous it is, but Imari is fully committed, and I love it.

We already know a lot of his background, but there are things we don’t know. We don’t know his relationship with his family, or why Leo is so disdainful of the Trills as a group. There seems to be an implication that the Trills are old money in Newfaire, perhaps, or at least a legendary family for other reasons. And apparently reckless heroism is a family trait. But what does Malcolm do in his day-to-day? He’s the one we don’t have a career or life for back in Newfaire yet, and I am interested to see who he is when he’s not playing the hero for Candela.

LEO AMICUS

I love the description of “I’m going to lie a little and say ‘early forties’” as an explanation for Leo’s age. It tells me a lot about his character right off the bat. We know he’s older (but not how much) and that he doesn’t want to admit he’s older. There’s just a touch of vanity already there, and given that he’s also a man in a dressing gown on a ship in a severe storm, who thinks that his presence is deeply inappropriate? Who asks if there’s a bar on a tramp steamer? We know so much about Leo already, and I love it all. Taliesin plays a dandy so well, his table reactions are so expressive, and it’s so clear that a setting like this is NOT where Leo shines. He shines in social situations, in parties and bars and places where his charms mean something beyond keeping a crewmember calm long enough that she can be knocked unconscious. But he’s so great in being totally overwhelmed and being useless in an action sequence.

And once the storm is over? We find out that Leo is very much the mother hen of the group (probably the oldest member). He knows Malcolm well, and treats Grimoria like a beloved niece. We haven’t gotten a lot of interactions between him and Edgar, but I’m excited to see what their relationship is like, as the two more cautious members of the group.

It was in his interactions with the other members of the circle that I realized how much like family this circle is. They are VERY close, despite ostensibly just being coworkers. There is such a deep care and concern for one another here and I love knowing how dangerous that also is in a horror game. And Leo is the one most open about his attachments here. We know he doesn’t have much blood family, and doesn’t talk to them. We know he looks at these people as his family.

And I love that, for that family, we see a REALLY different side of Leo. While he was overwhelmed and trying not to look at the blood on the boat, the second the Murphy girls (or whatever was masquerading as them) tried to murder Malcolm and the others, Leo was grabbing kitchen knives and trying to kill them. His perspective from his talk with Malcolm also remains consistent: you put your family first. When his family is threatened, meek Leo melts away and we have a man who will do whatever is necessary, kill whoever is necessary, or let anyone die to protect them. He seems to have few moral convictions, but an enormous amount of love, and that excites me for this character.

And I love that we actually know very little about him right now. We know he lives in Red Lamp (because of course he does) and that his apartment doubles as their chapterhouse. So he can be Team Dad at every meeting.

Also congrats to him for getting laid in the very first episode. Hot sailor dude propositions him, and Leo is all about that life. This Professional Man of Leisure is clearly gay catnip.

DR. EDGAR LYCORIS

I was so excited that Alex was finally going to be in a filmed Candela game (he was apparently one of the play-testers during its development, and it’s so clear he knows the rules). Dr. Lycoris is cool, calm, almost robotic in his presentation. He’s definitely a classic Alex character with his calm and his normal-guy-in-a-group-of-weirdos vibe (while secretly being very much a weirdo himself), and filled with casual competence and rudeness. But at the same time there are hints of how much he cares about this circle too. Him quietly calling Grimoria ‘Grim’ when she’s unconscious and he’s tending to her, telling her, “You can’t sleep forever, Grim,” in such a fond tone. The two of them clearly have some quiet history together, and there is a real softness between them that I’m excited to see them dig into as they get deeper into the game. There’s clearly a long-standing connection with Malcolm too, with both of them extremely aware of one another’s skills and weaknesses, working together seamlessly, especially in moments of extreme stress. I want to see more of these soft moments, these personal moments when his icy demeanor cracks, and I imagine we’re going to get plenty of them, given that THIS is how intense the first episode was.

He and Leo are the two characters we know the least about at this point. We know that Edgar is a surgeon working in the main hospital in Newfaire. We know that he is cool under pressure, and that he is both used to fighting (his immediate shift into using his scalpel as a precision weapon to go after arteries and tendons is such a nice touch for the character), but also can really be shocked by sudden violence (I love that he totally freezes after THAT happened to Declan’s mother). He states that he wears nice and fashionable clothing, but the clothing is almost wearing him rather than the other way around, like someone picked them out for him. I want to know who that other person is (is it Leo???). I want to know who he is when he’s not trying to wear what other people expect of him.

I am so excited to get to know Dr. Lycoris.

GRIMORIA

Likely a stage name, and I do wonder if we'll get her birth name, or if that even matters to her at this point. Mechanically, I am thrilled to see a Candela player try to homebrew a multiclass in this system. She’s essentially gone for a Medium/Magician hybrid. We know she works as a procurer of esoteric artifacts. She performs shows with smoke bombs, so likely is a stage magician, and that she has been able to channel spirits since she was a small child.

And we know that she’s 18. In a group in which consists of a man who is at least in his mid-forties, a man who is 32, and a man who is a surgeon (so has at least obtained advanced training, and is probably in his late twenties at minimum, and is likely in his thirties given the hints that he served as a battlefield surgeon during the war), Grimoria is YOUNG. Absurdly so. The guys care about her in a different way than they do one another. They look out for her in subtle ways, though are all very careful not to treat her as a child. The softness between her and Edgar is reflected in the overtly familial way that Leo talks to her, treating her like a very clever niece, but also the person he finds the most calming in the group. It’s fun to see that, even though he treats her as his relative, he doesn’t treat her as a child. She’s the one he goes to when he needs to clear his head. He just wants to listen to her read aloud. He finds talking with her soothing, and it’s clear why. She has a good head on her shoulders, and is rising to the occasion, so while he is caring for her, he also intrinsically understands her need to care for him as well. And Aimee really sells that in-between nature of being 18. It’s such a great portrayal of someone on the verge of being an adult, but not quite there yet. Someone her friends want to care for, but also want to treat like an adult and like any other member of the group. There is a tension in those relationships purely because of her age.

I also like that she’s the most pure investigator of the group. She’s the one who pushes for information, who has a burning desire to KNOW. And that’s a great flaw and danger for a character in a horror setting. The desire for knowledge in cosmic horror is so dangerous. Her willingness to channel spirits right off the bat is dangerous. She is, in her own quieter way, just as reckless as Malcolm and I love to see it. Aimee is throwing herself into this, playing a character who doesn’t know she has limits let, and is eager to push every boundary. I can’t wait to get to know her even more.

CONCLUSIONS

I love that we have two cautious characters and two reckless characters. I love that we have a balance, and we have a group that instantly portrays exactly how close they all are to one another. We’re not sure how these bonds were forged, but they are so well portrayed and so clear. These people love one another. They would do terrible things for one another, and I can’t wait to see what they go through together.

Count me very excited and very eager for next month’s addition to their story (and count me already sad we only get three episodes with them).

#candela obscura #circle of the crimson mirror #I love them all so much already #Malcolm Trills #Leo Amicus #Edgar Lycoris #Grimoria #Imari Williams #Taliesin Jaffe #Alex Ward #Aimee Carrero

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zeestarfishalien · 11 months

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Part 10: I Want My Mouth So I May Howl

First | Previous | Next

He was wary of the magic lady at first. “A ghost’s reaction to magic users is something like instinct,” the words echo in his mind in a voice not his own. It should be familiar, the tones are warm, but he still doesn’t remember.

This magic user is nice. She’s addressing him, calling him by the nickname The Man gave him, and most importantly of all, The Man trusts her. There’s no increase in his wariness at her approach and casual touch.

If The Man trusts her, Danny will too.

~*~

Time spent by The Man, no it’s Jason. His name is Jason.

Time spent by Jason’s side is slowly bringing a more humanoid awareness back into Danny’s mind. He eats when Jason eats, exercises when Jason exercises, he washes right before Jason (it’s more that Jason gives him a bath since he doesn’t exactly have opposable thumbs). Danny even tries to emulate sleep when Jason sleeps. It’s a slowly established routine that has Danny remember what it is to live.

Standing on the table, staring down at himself feels disorienting now. The haze of instinct protecting his mind from the pain of memories is lifting and more and more he desires, craves his human form. He wants to wake up from this waking daydream because it’s starting to feel more like a nightmare.

~*~

Voices come to the forefront of his mind now. They aren’t him, but they’re familiar, people he knows, people he loves. He knows this even while he cannot place faces or names to the voices drifting in and out of his semi-wakeful mind.

The first clear memories come when he releases his astral form for the night. It’s his version of sleep. Jason goes to bed and Danny retreats into his own comatose body.

As he sinks into the depths of his subconscious this night, his mind decides the first memory it should pull forth is that of his death. It is not a memory he enjoys reliving; the hot zing of nerves being fried with enough volts and amps to kill an elephant. The ectoplasm acts like a superconductor and the electricity and his death bind that to his body and soul. He’s so hot. He’s burning alive. He’s dying. He’s living. He’s dying again. Neither option sticks and after some form of infinity, the portal spits out his smoldering corpse.

When he wakes, even the sound of electricity in the walls sets him on edge. The buzzing hum feels louder the longer he thinks about it and he dives back into his own body, into that special void in his mind where he’s safe from the sounds around him.

Once Jason is up, nearly an hour passes before he’s able to coax Danny out of hiding.

With Jason, the electricity isn’t so loud. Danny can focus on the steady beat of Jason’s heart. It helps to push all that other stuff to the background. Danny can breathe again. He doesn’t need to breathe but he’s been doing it lately to mimic Jason.

The mimicry ticks something in his brain that feels right and familiar. Jason talks to him, tells him all sorts of little things. Danny wants to respond but words sit at the tip of his tongue in a body incapable of speech, expressions he cannot quirk lips and brows into rest uncomfortably beneath his skin.

He shifts closer to Jason when they sit together on the small two-person couch as if being closer to someone human will make him more human…more alive.

He wants to go back.

He does not know how.

~*~

Memories of scathing threats and nights spent piecing himself back together thread through his dreams. Needle and thread. Needle and thread. There’s green everywhere. He’s sitting in a pool of it. It splatters the walls.

Memories shift to stitching outside with the knowledge that he can sleep sooner if he doesn’t have to spend an hour scrubbing the walls and floor.

Sometimes there’s other faceless people helping him. Black hair. Red hair. Gentle hands brushing hair off of his sweaty forehead. His mind won’t let him see them, remember them fully but he vividly remembers an argument on meat versus greens that turned into a fight against human sized meat monsters.

He also remembers their screams from the day he died…

When he wakes this time, there’s a moment where he’s stuck in the void, trapped within the flesh and ectoplasm that is his body. Panic floods him and he frantically breaks loose. He should have stayed but he can’t bear to be stuck in dark confines. It’s too reminiscent of nightmare memories that sit at the edge of his mind, not yet remembered but never fully forgotten.

Danny is more aware of time now. Another week passes and he can better tell what hours versus minutes versus days feels like. Throughout it all, Jason is there. His habits, his little quirks all becoming familiar to Danny. All becoming endearing.

~*~

There’s hands on him, hands that he associates with love and safety, but their hurting, hurting, hurting. Why are they hurting him?! Stop! Please! It’s Danny! It’s Danny. Please…please no more.

Soft hands, bigger than his. Always bigger than his no matter how much he grows, but she’s always there, always loving.

Soothing fingers card through his hair with whispered promises that she’ll get him out. She’s almost ready. She’s so close to freeing him.

There’s voices yelling and flashes of green and he’s panicking, but not for himself. For her. Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?! He’s fighting and screaming and struggling because She’s GONE. So he screams and screams and screams until darkness overtakes him.

Flickering fluorescents are the last light he sees for a long long time.

First | Previous | Next

Yeets this out and races back to my hole.

Ya, so we be getting somewhere. It took me a while to figure out how to get to where I want this to go and I had the crisis of wanting to change where I wanted it to go and the ultimate decision to not change it (it may change in the future again. Lolol) But mostly it was the new fic I started that held this one up. That and actually getting some temp work (of course it ended up being manual labor again and so I went from doing almost nothing to running around for 8 hours and carrying heavy things).

We all good now tho. I’m finally adjusted. My lil bro be graduating next week tho so I might be busy again with that and the pet sitting. Either that or I’ll be extra using writing as my escape. It’s one of those fifty-fifty things.

[the new fic isn’t out yet. But it’s Dead On Main and a sort of horror comedy with a fair bit of gore involved.

@akintoabitch @snowblub @isaactheautobot @jaguarthecat @ventureingonwings

@dannyphantomphan @nonbinary-disaster @depressed-bitchy-demon @8-29pm @addie-lover-of-stories @lifefilledwithstories @apointlessbox @skulld3mort-1fan @katgirl05 @spookytragedyshark @mandyne-1001 @ascetic-orange @booklover9114 @qualifiedpasta @mouzerequis @fleeting-mists @gin2212 @rollthatcritical @kaitouhime @itsloveleo @litlecameron @phantom-dc @hippityhoppity-iownyourbones @pastalavistamf @kokoroluna @legowerewolf @riasthelustful @agreatcheesecakestudentstuff @mysterimax

@rangerhorsetug @treepainting @thatonegirl10 @demiourgias @spooky-fm @antagonisticly @fluffy23sblog @manglethemingle @kyrianclawraith @layyeschips @shepardking @asphyxia778 @ballzfrog @fluffen-spooky @drowningroane @deathsdaisy @malaayna @mistyaltair @potatoeofwisdom @heartsong18 @nixthenerd @icedbluesoul @the-church-grimm @overtherose @sara0055

#church grim danny au #danny phantom crossover #dpxdc #dcxdp #the black dog danny #remember folks danny is an unreliable narrator

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marvelousbelladonna · 9 months

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Chapter 2 this August 31st

With GM: Spencer Starke

And players:

Marisha Ray

Travis Willingham

Brennan Lee Mulligan

Luis Carazo

Zehra Fazal

#critical role #cr spoilers #candela obscura spoilers #candela obscura chapter 2 #zehra fatal #marisha ray #travis willingham #brennan lee mulligan #luis carazo #spencer starke

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the-elevator-twins · 4 days

Note

NEIL! NIGEL!!

I have a gift for you!

>[A small box is dropped from the ceiling. It clatters slightly. Inside there are two dolls, a container of various blades, needles, and fishhooks. And a small notepad full of scribbled writing, barely legible.]

>[The first doll resembles Nigel, but greyscale, with sewn-over eyes, and a twisted smile. Meeting gazes with it fills your mind with whispers, voices telling you to do things. Telling you to obey.]

>[The second resembles Coworker, or Colleague. Difficult to tell who. It's torn open, stuffing loose. Oddly enough, there's a fake ribcage inside, and it's face is twisted into a look of fear. It brings on feelings of existential dread, and desperation, and makes you feel rather antsy.]

>[The box overall gives off a frightening vibe. Yet it calls out. Bringing on urges.] >[To conform.] >[To hurt.]

Enjoy!!~

(i) > You and your "twin" gaze into the contents of the box. Pointed objects met with two dolls. You can only stare at the dolls for a moment in sheer discomfort. How your plush self is nothing at all like you two.

(i) > It only amps up your anxiety before you take the other doll out and close the box shut. Your "twin" shoots you a puzzled gaze, seemingly unaffected by the strange "gift's" contents.

> "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost. . ."

> "It's just. . . That box concerns me. It's obviously us. . . And no doubt, it's that senior. . ."

> "Hmm. . ."

(i) > Your "twin" reopens the box, taking out the plush version of you to examine. On the other hand, your focus is back on the torn doll.

(?) > What should you do with the doll to begin with?

(1). Put it back in the box.

(2). Fix the doll's wounds.

(3). ØƁĔŸ. . .

(3) (3) (3)

. . .

> (2)

(i) > Your head is splitting with pain. For a moment, staring at the doll awoke some kind of urge inside you, a violent urge. Yet, you push past the evil temptation.

(i) > Taking a thread and needle from one of the drawers, you carefully tuck any stuffing back into the doll and begin weaving the doll back together. It's a rough patch job, but still sown nonetheless.

> "There you go. . . Hope you feel better."

(i) > You opt to keep the doll in your possession, for now. . . Your "twin" can keep the monotonous plush version of yourself."

[ next_post.exe ]

#elevator hitch #the elevator twins #// ✂️ protag: replies #// ✂️ antag: replies

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hopetorun · 1 year

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behind the scenes for wait a year (which i just reread and continue to be delighted by)

okay this is technically a little less than half of this scene but the full scene is almost 4k (it's by far the longest scene in this story, almost a quarter of the story is this scene) but here's some commentary on the part before they start actively having sex, lol

The most surreal thing that happens in Prague is that they win, [truly this is one of the most improbable and self-indulgent things i've ever put into a hockey fic. tho the original outline of this story had them winning gold at the 2026 olympics together and then i realized i'd lose my mind writing two different fics in two different versions of 2026, and that i'd have to fill three and a half whole years of story in] an overtime goal shoveled in on a rebound by a kid named Ryan Chesley that Luke played with in Michigan [i thought this was a real guy for some reason but the only ryan chesley i can find plays for the university of minnesota ... who knows] and who spent the first week of the tournament sitting next to Quinn at every meal to ask him questions about the NHL. Quinn’s on the ice with him when the puck goes in, the horn goes, the arena full of Czech fans goes suddenly silent except for the screaming directly in Quinn’s ear. [my sincere apologies to the czech men's national ice hockey team and also their faithful fans attending the game. i do feel bad but they had to beat someone]

It still feels great to be slammed into the boards by the weight of his whole team, and as the cheers on the ice start to die down Quinn can hear a few from the crowd, too. And it’s still a win, a gold medal that’ll be draped around all their necks, another item for the list of things he and Brady have done together.

Quinn stands next to Brady when they line up for the anthem, Brady’s arm draped over his shoulder and Brady’s voice loud in his ear. Quinn leans in closer, unable to resist the pull of him, and Brady tightens his arm around Quinn’s shoulders as the final notes of the anthem play, and it’s like something out of a dream. [brady is SO physically affectionate and i spent a lot of time really carefully threading this needle of making him even more obviously so than usual and still keeping quinn unaware of brady amping it up] A weird hybrid of present and memory that comes together as feeling entirely outside of reality.

After—after the medal ceremony, after the champagne and beer in the locker room, after the team shuffles through a series of bars, after Quinn tries more Czech beers than he thought existed—after all that, Brady catches his eye and grins and Quinn follows him out onto the street without a second thought. [i didn't want quinn to seem like a pushover in this story, or like he isn't an active participant in this relationship or friendship because he very much is, but he is willing to let brady be in charge of things pretty often, and brady also knows him very well and makes sure things are the way quinn would want them. because he's in love] He doesn’t even know what Brady has in mind. The smell is wearing on Quinn, the walls and wooden seats oozing smoke even though no one inside is smoking, and the air outside is crisp and clear. [i learned many facts about prague for this fic and one of them was that smoking in restaurants was only banned there pretty recently]

Prague is pretty cool, with red-roofed buildings and old, winding streets and stone bridges arching over the river. [google search pictures of prague] Quinn wouldn’t mind actually getting to explore instead of being shuffled from the hotel to the arena to the practice facility.

Brady knocks his shoulder against Quinn’s, startling him out of his thoughts. “I think I’m just about done for the night,” he says. “I can’t keep up with those kids anymore.” [this is a lie. brady can keep up with the kids. he's just more interested in having sex with quinn. or going for a walk with quinn. really whatever as long as quinn is there]

He doesn’t seem particularly drunk, to be honest. Quinn’s seen him drunker, Quinn’s seen him puking in bushes and falling asleep in strangers’ beds. Right now he’s a little pink in the face, but he isn’t slurring or stumbling or even rambling. It is late, though, and they played a hard game today, 12 minutes of overtime before the goal horn sounded. And Quinn’s had a lot of beer, even if he isn’t really feeling it either. Maybe in the tips of his fingers, but maybe that’s just Brady’s proximity and the way Quinn wants to reach for him. [quinn ... you're so in love]

There’s no one around who would even notice if he did.

“Me neither,” he says. “You gonna head back to the hotel?”

Brady nods. “I think we could walk,” he says. “I don’t think it’s far.”

It’s a clear night, stars sprinkled through the sky and a crescent moon overhead. According to Google Maps on Brady’s phone, the walk back to the hotel will take 20 minutes and take them across one of the bridges. The night air feels nice after so many hours of sweaty teammates and cramped, hot bars and beer breath. [this is very Rule of Romantic, i feel like a cab would be much more plausible but a tipsy nighttime stroll in the moonlight ... so good for being in love]

Halfway across the bridge, Brady nudges Quinn’s shoulder again, and then he catches Quinn’s hand in his own. [this scene, and the one shortly after where they go out to dinner, are both very much meant to feel like what the relationship progression would've been if they started dating in high school, going for walks together and tentatively holding hands etc] He’s never done that before. Quinn refuses to read anything into it. It’s just Brady doing that thing where he doesn’t know how to be casual.

On the other side of the bridge, half a block down an empty cobblestone street, Brady presses him against a wall and kisses him. It’s not really a surprise, not after last summer, but it feels completely different. This isn’t part of Quinn’s life. He might never come back to this city, and even if he does come back here, probably for some other IIHF tournament at some point, he might never walk down this street again. He isn’t going to walk past this spot and think about the time Brady kissed him here, the way Brady’s mouth moved against his and the warmth of Brady’s hand on his side, distracting even through the material of Quinn’s shirt. [is this a good thing or a bad thing? quinn's not sure yet]

Quinn kisses him back, of course, slides his mouth across Brady’s and his hand along Brady’s side. The stone is cool against his back, and Brady’s mouth is forceful against his. Not rough, not biting, but Quinn would have to push him away to break the kiss.

He doesn’t want to push Brady away, and when Brady does pull away, Quinn chases his mouth. Brady indulges him with another kiss, shorter and softer, and then kisses his cheek instead. [brady ... this boyfriend behavior ...]

“Wanted to do that since you set Chesser up with that saucer in OT,” Brady says, and his breath is hot against Quinn’s cheek. [a fun fact about me is that i cannot use sauce in the slang sense of pass in any way with a straight face and i did in fact grimace as i wrote this line but. these dumb boys do say these things] The problem, the one that Quinn’s been trying to ignore since the first moment that Brady laughingly suggested kissing him, is the one that Quinn always knew was simmering under the surface: the moment Brady became someone he might be able to have, he stopped wanting anyone else. [oh i was so proud of this line. i am proud of it tbh! obviously it's not consciously in quinn's internal monologue throughout the story but i hope the idea was kind of infused in so it doesn't come totally out of left field]

Quinn tangles his hand in Brady’s hair as best he can, and yanks Brady’s mouth back to his. Brady lurches forward, and the medal hanging around his neck hits Quinn’s chest before it settles, dangling between them. [is this how physics works? i sure hope so] Quinn doesn’t like the space there, and he arches off the wall to feel Brady’s chest against his own instead.

He kissed Brady so much last summer, but he’s still not used to kissing someone that much taller than him, the way he has to tilt his head up, how much longer Brady’s limbs are than his own. He’s not used to it, but he does like the way Brady towers over him, corners him against the wall, presses forward until Quinn’s entirely surrounded by him. [tying back to brady right after the game, draped all over quinn, always touching him :))))] He’s not used to it but part of him wants to be, wants to get to do this until it starts to feel normal.

Now’s not the time to think about that. Now’s the time to kiss Brady until his lips are sore, until they’re both panting, and then to slide his hand down to Brady’s ass and squeeze hard enough that he understands what Quinn wants out of this.

It also makes Brady’s hips hitch forward against his, rough friction for a few breaths, and Quinn doesn’t even bother trying to hide the way it makes him gasp. It’s not like Brady doesn’t know what he likes.

Brady bites Quinn’s earlobe before he pulls away, and then scrapes his teeth down the side of Quinn’s neck. Quinn didn’t used to like having this much biting involved in sex, but it’s Brady. So far, he hasn’t found anything he doesn’t like when it’s with Brady. [quinn ... buddy ... more broadly i really enjoy poking at concepts like the things people do because the person they love wants them, someone else being so into something that you enjoy it even if it's not your thing, etc etc. not a lot of detail on it in this story but it was def on my mind]

“You wanna head back to the hotel?” Brady asks. His voice is rough. Quinn squeezes his ass again. Watches Brady’s eyes fall shut for a moment. “Jesus,” he says. [quinn does really enjoy getting to throw brady a little off balance]

“Yeah, I wanna go back to the hotel,” Quinn says. He doesn’t sound any better than Brady.

“Thank God,” Brady says. And then he kisses Quinn again, stepping somehow closer so that Quinn is more thoroughly pinned but also so that they’re pressed together, almost hip to hip. Quinn rolls his hips a couple of times to feel the drag of his cock on the inside of his pants. Not what he wants but better than nothing at all, and it’s pretty satisfying when it makes Brady swear under his breath, too.

“Fuck,” Brady mumbles. “I gotta—”

He fumbles for his phone in his back pocket.

Matthew was still at the bar when they left, and Brady must be texting him to find somewhere else to crash. Maybe in the morning they’ll regret giving him that kind of ammunition, [matthew's inclusion in this story is partially just a function of it being a gift for becky, though also partially as a brothers counterpoint to jack, but i did amuse myself imagining what a nightmare he'd be to brady about this] but right now Quinn just wants to get his hands on Brady’s skin, his mouth on the muscles of Brady’s stomach, the thin skin of his hips and collarbone, the tender spots on his neck. He spent the whole season trying not to remember how well he learned Brady’s body last summer, but it’s all rushing back now. Brady’s hand is already curled around his hip, fingers pushing under the waistband of Quinn’s pants, nails scraping a tender spot above his hip where he would leave marks with his mouth and then push his thumb into them until Quinn hissed. [being familiar with someone's body ... good]

“Come on,” Quinn says, pushing Brady away from him. There are things Quinn wants to do to him—with him—that he’s not going to do on a side street in Old Town Prague, even after midnight when there’s no one around. He does not want to have to call his parents, or worse, Matthew, to explain that they got arrested for public indecency in Czechia. [this would be a nightmare for them but very funny for me]

“Right,” Brady says. He’s distracted, his hand sliding from Quinn’s hip to his ass, fully under his pants now.

“Brady,” Quinn hisses. “Hotel. We can be naked in a hotel.”

That does get a pleased noise out of Brady, and then a transparent leer.

“You know, you’re hotter now than you were when I said I’d marry you,” Brady says. [i don't think of brady as a particularly self-aware guy, which tangentially is why i find his pov really hard to write, and to some extent he isn't entirely aware of what he's going with quinn in this fic. he gets there quicker, and he's fully willing to go with the flow of stumbling into a relationship, but he is very much in the middle before he realizes he's begun, as it were. but the pin drops for him like ... on their romantic prague vacation] Quinn absolutely cannot think about this. He cannot think about marrying Brady, the stupid deadline that creeps closer every year, and then go to a hotel in Prague and beg Brady to fuck him. [oh but you very much can, quintin] “Good taste from me, I think,” Brady continues. “Got in there before anyone else did.”

#my fic #ask meme #fic by daisysusan

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squadron-of-damned · 1 year

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i like those thoughts, gimme more and i'll give you more.

you didn't mention wolfgang so mmm, since siegfried's lines is just a bunch of werewolves, then it means he's a real life furry! finally thinking abt the webber sisters though, are they vampires? just one of them or maybe all three and wolfgang is pretty chill with that since they're relatively tame? also him still having the dogs but trains them for tracking and idk how this would work but ✨communicates✨ with them telepathically a lo that one shit from twilight™.

also, dhampir nikolle? wanna know how that happened and what the other vks think of it and how they'd react if one of them got turned into a vampire. like manfred actively sought out to be turned but what if someone was- maybe after a hunting a few vamps and the symptoms started to show?

The Weber (actually with just one b, "Weber (der)" being weaver/handloom in German) triplets are not vampires, they are just very creepy. But most likely human. the werewolf's brides. Nadele, Cvira and Shere (die Nadel - needle, der Zwirn - thread/twine, die Schere - scissors) are deep into the uncanny valley, but it's because they are normal humans who are way too into this thing. They always bring fresh meat on the table for the family. I suggest nobody ask where it comes from, because we might learn things we don't want to. Technically the three triplets count as damsels in distress, but problem is they cause the distress most of the time.

(Also the training of the dogs doesn't change. They have always been tracking/hunting/guarding dogs. It just gets amped up to 11, because Wolfgang no longer hesitates to sic them on people.)

Nikolle: "Mum, what is a dhampir?"

Helena: "Well, when mommy and daddy love each other very much and mommy doesn't check that son of a bitch is actually son of a bat and the condom has a microtear in it..."

Given that Helena's tried to keep away from a family, they didn't see Nikolle much. And by the time her heritage came out, Helen could plausibly go "we have bigger problems than half of my daughter, such as my entire father!"

#vampire au #von karma fan family

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krispyweiss · 2 years

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Album Review: Grateful Dead - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, 3/9/81

The Grateful Dead have long been associated with LSD. But on March 9, 1981, inside Madison Square Garden, cocaine was powering the music.

And that shit was rocket fuel.

It’s apparent from the first notes of “Feel Like a Stanger” - which opened the gig and, thus, the unimaginatively titled Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, 3/9/81. If the high-test music doesn’t give it away, then Bob Weir’s very enthusiastic vocals do.

Coke is a horrible drug. But when it works, it works.

This is a strong gig, as evidenced by the fact the Dead pulled it from its In and out of the Garden boxset for stand-alone release.

It’s also one of those rare shows where the first set is the showcase of the concert, with Jerry Garcia deciding on the ultra-surprising, electric “Deep Elm Blues” and the band threading the needle between focus and exploration on “Bird Song.” The ensemble is particularly amped coming out of the main jam and Garcia plays with atypical grime on the set-closing “Minglewood Blues.”

Though a tad inferior to its predecessor, set No. 2 is no slouch as Garcia leads a spiraling “->” between “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider,” a pairing that benefits mightily from the band’s new-and-improved vocal blend courtesy of keyboardist Brent Mydland, who joined in 1979.

Strangely, this doesn’t translate to “Uncle John’s Band,” which emerges tentatively from a lightning-quick “Estimated Prophet” that proves too much of something - it starts with “c” and ends in “e” - is sometimes just too much.

Grade card: Grateful Dead - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, 3/9/81 - A-

10/12/22

#grateful dead #in and out of the garden #2022 albums #jerry garcia #bob weir #phil lesh #mickey hart #bill kreutzmann #brent mydland

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andreassenheath22 · 2 months

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posttexasstressdisorder · 5 months

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Time to turn off the oven and fire up the soldering iron: Dynaco Repair Post

I'm a tube guy. I have been without my Dynaco amp almost two years now, and I lost the preamp to some unknown issue a few months ago.

But that's all about to change. Thanks to @misfitwashere and dynakitparts.com, the parts to fix the main issues arrived in my mailbox day before yesterday. I'll be diving into both the Stereo70 and PAS3X in this post, starting this coming week.

Check back in with this thread to see the repair process in my usual photo-essay sorta way. And in order for that to happen, I'm gonna make this my pinned post until this project is done and I'm once again bathed in the glow of tubes.

First evening: Beginning work on the PAS, the initial phase is to get rid of the two honkin' (one exploded) caps and selenium chip stack with one small and very nicely designed and well implemented circuit board with two diodes and two capacitors.

First step is assembling and soldering the circuit board, starting with the diode pair. You have to make sure the polarities are right before you commit to solder.

After that, the two caps:

And, of course, trim the leads, and that's all there really was to it.

The next phase will require more elbow grease: unsoldering the eight leads to the original stack, and removing it. The undsoldering took a bit of doing, but once that was swung out of the way, a twist with the needle-nose on that nut on the main mounting screw and the accursed capacitors laid down by The Auld Gods in the Younger Days lie in a crumpled heap.

But with that out of the way, we see the vast expanse of real estate suddenly visible shows the extent of the exploding: a heavy line of gunk under, and what had to be a fine mist that sprayed on everything in that direction. You can see where I took a cloth and wiped a bit under that RCA jack array...it's a greasy, waxy mess!

So that's where I decided to stop for the first evening. I will get back to it tomorrow. It's obvious now that I'm going to have to unbolt that back panel to get at all that capacitor goop under the RCA jack array, which I will be replacing anyway. Having that back panel off will make that job easier.

First order of business tomorrow will be unbolting the back panel and getting some parts cleaner going on that cap residue.

Update: Tues. evening 12-05-23

Well the day's been a mix of ease and frustration. While unmounting the back panel did give enough leeway to get the job done, it by no means was able to "swing out of the way", but it did move about 3/8" back away from the base plate, which was enough room to clean the stuff out.

I ended up just using a single-edge razor blade to scrape the now-dry and dusty stuff loose and out, it was the easiest and best way. Screwed the panel back on once it was all clean, and went to the next step, installing the standoff that will hold the new board in place.

The new board is certainly cleaner-looking than the old stack of hoodoo!

Now it was time to solder the EIGHT leads to the appropriate spots on the board. Instructions say to follow the original wiring diagram for which wires go where.

This is where the Dynaco kits ALWAYS stood above the others...there were life-size drawings of the top and bottom, showing you where the wires were to be routed.

And so I sat and took stock of which wires were which, poking up from the bottom. And here's where this kind of project always ends up taking longer than it should. Even after adjusting some of the slack out of the two original leads from the PC6 board, they're both like a ridiculously small amount short...like 1/2"-3/4".

I remembered seeing a brand new roll of exactly the right kind and gauge of wire this last week either down in the garage or in the process of clearing stuff away for this project up here.

[Insert two and a half hour unscheduled nap here]

So at 5pm I pop awake ready to get back at it.

[Cue "yaketty sax" music while I spend the next two hours looking for that damned spool of wire]

At this point, I am chuckling at myself. I'm not in a hurry with this. I want this to be RIGHT. So now It's nearly 8pm, and I'm starvin'. I am gonna stop for the night and make myself a burger and pick this up tomorrow.

PS: Ta-dah. Found it.

Wednesday, 12-06-23

I got a fairly early start on things today and am happy to report that the PAS filament supply is now installed, and all four 12AX7 tubes light up when it's powered up.

First thing was to un-solder the two wires at points 14 and 15. These are the ones that were too short to make it to the right spots on the board.

I made a twisted pair of new wires a couple inches longer than the ones removed, and decided to flag one as "black" with a bit of electrical tape at each end, which I'll trim when things are done.

This is 22gauge wire, slightly smaller than the original, but still fine to use for our purposes. The first two connections were easy enough, with the clearly marked board and fresh solid-core wire.

The next two were re-used leads, going to the other PC board. They required some re-bending to make the distance, but worked fine:

Now the AC side, doing the outside pair (going to the 12X4 socket):

And finally, the two blue leads from the transformer:

At this point, I was technically "done" with this phase. Trimmed up the bits of electrical tape, and routed the wires a little neater. Plugged it in and WE HAVE GLOW!

So the basic issue has been solved, and I *could* just close it up and use it, but I noticed one more not-so-fun thing under the hood when I was assessing the wiring:

Yeah, the little can-cap is leaking on one lug. I will have to get that from dynakitparts.com. The only other thing "wrong-wrong" is the worn-out RCA jack array on the back, and the pilot light bulb went when the capacitor that exploded did its thing. The main AC cord could stand replacing, as it's quite stiff with age at this point, much like my old carcass.

However, before I start on those RCA jacks, I need to clean the Source Switch, this triple-wafer monster:

The bearing in the very front is binding, so that trying to change source is difficult, and feels like the whole thing is stressing. The three contact wafers each need to be cleaned, and the spots where the contact arm turns need lubed. I'll be working on that next, after I make a late bite of lunch.

Coming back at it, looking at the Source Switch now, it looks like there really isn't any way to make that front bearing turn any smoother. It's actually just a single ball that gets bumped from spot to spot, held in place by a pressure clip, one knotch for every click of the control.

After using WD40 on the physical mechanical parts, it doesn't really turn any easier. The electrical contacts on it seemed to brighten a little after the DeOxit was applied. So I'll leave that one alone.

And on to replacing that worn-out RCA jack array with one that gives enough room to plug things in (and better jacks).

After getting the parts laid out and the instructions out, it became apparent that it was missing two parts: "precision" resistors and the new label for the back IDing the jacks.

Just used the contact form on the dynakitparts guy's website and let him know what's missing, and will hopefully get those sent. I will also see if I can get the cash together to get that quad can cap. So...at this point, I'm kinda at a stand-still until further notice.

But we have GLOW on the preamp, and we didn't when we started this! I'll let y'all know when I know more from the dynakitparts guy.

Literally 20 minutes later: Got a super-fast reply and he'll be sending the parts out tomorrow and they will get here on Saturday. So yay on that! In the meantime, I will be turning my attention to the Stereo70, and installing the Bias Kit that will do away with the selenium rectifier and tube.

Update Saturday Evening 12-09-23

Has been a frustrating couple of days, culminating in the news that our mailboxes were pried open, so they're keeping our mail at the post office. That means I will have to go and try to get an idea of how they're going to deliver our mail for the next month or two, or even whether. Point being, the Dynaco parts were scheduled to be delivered Monday. I have either got to go to the PO later in the chance it's been processed through and put in whatever temporary holding bin they've got my mail in. Argh.

Got no work done Friday, so tomorrow I'm going to at least do everything up to putting the new RCA panel in. The ST70 will get its work, and they'll both get new power cords. I had a lot of flat-bladed extension cords and old things that were beyond repair, and I snipped the power cords and tossed them in a bin to replace worn ones. The two I found were close to the originals, maybe a touch larger, but they are flat-bladed (unpolarized) just like the original cords, so I will be able to control the power of the ST70, FM3 and Dual 1219 turntable by switching on the PAS.

So, ironically, I will sign off for the evening with no photos, but by turning the oven back on to bake. I'm thinkin' raspberry muffins with chocolate chips.

Well, at least it's gotten across the continent in record time. If it's in Oakland, the main Alameda PO should get it. We'll see. Meanwhile, have a muffin.

Well, crap! I guess I have hit up against a "max number of photos in posts". Not seeing any kind of statment to that fact, it just won't open the windo to add attachments.

SO: as of Sunday, December 10, I'll start a new post, and link it here when I've done it.

and

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nexthlive · 9 months

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NEXTH Season 4: The best is yet to come. [https://nexthchic.live/] [https://nexth.city/runway]

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#lifestyle #design #style #fashion #thebestisyettocome #NeedleThread #aesthetic #art #unique #modern #luxury #timeless #elegance #iconic #independent #sustainability

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