#<- update: queue is dead i lost control

[patopq]

Beware the shitty art tag

its all critical role ITS ALL CRITCALROLE (and ut/dt stuff)

here's a post with timestamps i wrote down for a nott & jester supercut

- in any case, name's Pato - Its full of spoilers im not kidding, i tag spoilers when i post MY stuff, but not when rbing - fuck AI - Not doing comms (unless you got mercado pago 🇦🇷)

if you were looking for something, i tag everything CR-related by: - campaign, oneshot or mini series - if its fanart (if its not mine -> #critical role fan art) - if it has any ship (yes im that pathetic) #[insert ship name]

si alguien del server esta leyendo esto: no im not the same person

[snowpiercer-recaps]

Season 1, episode 10: No Sleep 'Til Chicago

Spoiler alert!!! This is a rewatch recap of Snowpiercer s1e10: 994 cars long. Naturally, it is full of spoilers for that episode. However, it also contains spoilers for some other episodes of season 1 and season 2. You have been warned!

There’s no voiceover monologue in this episode. Instead, Melanie addresses the train, mirroring the morning announcement in s1e1. Snowpiercer is approaching Chicago, which is Mile Zero. How poetic, to have a fresh start as they cross the start line! Melanie talks about how everyone (especially her) feels haunted by their past choices. She wishes they’ll all make better choices in the future - as One Train, governed by the rebels. She ends with the updated train length, 994 cars long. Then, she hands the mic over to Layton. He introduces himself, and the opening credits roll.

After the opening credits, one of the engineers has left their opera music running again! It seems very wasteful, given that 37 battery cars are offline and they’re running low on power. Despite the brewing crisis, Melanie leaves the engine to do something mysterious that she’s put off for a long time.

In the bunk room, Layton is talking to Miles. The Last Aussie, “the guys” and Mama Grande are downtrain, and they all want to see Miles. Miles is smart, though. He immediately notices there’s an important name missing from that list. They lost Josie, didn’t they? Miles cries. Layton hugs him and tells him Josie would have been so proud of him. The scene is very sad and sweet and hard to make jokes about, so let’s move on!

Next, Layton addresses a crowd of representatives from all departments and guilds (except Ag-Sec, because they’re all too busy dealing with lettuce looting - no joke!). Layton’s speech does not go well. Ruth accuses Layton of murdering the security forces. Lights argues back that the security forces were the ones murdering them! Layton ends his speech by telling people to mark the brand new revolution with their loved ones. Ruth storms off, and Lights calls it bullshit. Great start, everyone!

Ruth isn’t done arguing just yet, so she has a pop at Roche.

She’s on top Ruth form today!

Pike has taken over the Folgers’ car, where he’s enjoying a foot soak and a beard trim from JAnnietor while surrounded by… orgy foreplay? I’m no expert in these matters - I prefer to spend my time incorrectly recapping mediocre sci fi - but I don’t know how else to describe this scene. This fucking show! 

LJ comes home to mourn her parents, and is surprised to discover that she wasn’t invited to the party. Pike introduces LJ to JAnnietor and Terrence-Never-Terry, and then they’re interrupted by two naked people descending the stairs. Apparently there’s a queue of people waiting to have a go in a First Class bed. The next group excitedly head on up.

LJ is distraught at the thought of people fucking in dead parents’ bed, but no one at the party can muster much sympathy for Snowpiercer’s resident cock chopper. LJ begs everyone to leave, but Pike isn’t moving. She then changes tactics, and tries to tell everyone in the room that Pike tried to work against the rebels. But who’s going to believe her? Pike does what most reasonable people would do if stuck in a room with LJ: he tells her she has no friends, and literally throws her out.

Up in the engine, those headphones are still playing music to no-one! Bennett thinks it’s probably coming from Ag-Sec. Then, he sneakily angles a screen away from Javi and takes out the satellite feed so that no one else can see what he saw. Melanie takes ONE BREAK in SEVEN YEARS, and Bennett does this!? No wonder our girl has control issues!

Talking of Melanie, she’s visiting the Nightcar. Audrey greets Melanie with an unwelcoming, “Oh. You’re finally ready now.” And they keep that deliciously tense energy up for the whole scene!

In the session, Melanie admits she sent 147 of the last souls on Earth to death. But Audrey knows that Melanie’s really there to deal with something else. Miss Audrey does her whole Nightcar hypnotherapy thing, and Melanie is eventually taken into an idyllic flashback of her daughter. When Audrey presses Melanie for information, she tearfully explains, “I sacrificed my daughter for this train.”

Audrey instructs Melanie to go further. “If Alex was here, what would you want to say to her?” To our knowledge, Melanie hasn’t given Alex’s name in this scene, so I find it very interesting that Audrey already knows it! I would really love some more details about their past. 

In the flashback, Melanie hugs Alex, and in the experience room Audrey hugs Melanie.

Down in the Chains, Layton is taking a look at Zarah’s baby scan. He calls it “she”. Because they have to disagree about everything, Zarah thinks it’s a boy. And then, we get a closeup of the scan!

0.25cm and 5w5d±**d suggests that either Terrence-Never-Terry overestimated how long ago Fight Night was, the Snowpiercer contraceptives have some weird fertility effects, or the writers don’t know the difference between gestational age and embryonic age. But hey! It’s still relatively useful information!

Zarah and Layton aren’t sure how they’re going to manage to co-parent after everything, but they’ll find a way.

In Ag-Sec, the strawberry car has been trashed. Jinju lists off a huge list of issues to Till and Roche, and I’m gonna just take a moment to talk about the fact that Till is STILL covered in blood. She seemed to spend a lot of time last episode waiting around for Layton, so I’m pretty sure she could have taken five minutes to wash her face and put a clean shirt on? Maybe at the same time that Melanie found a whole new outfit, for example? I guess Till’s just into this aesthetic?

Till doesn’t give a fuck about Ag-Sec’s issues: their first priority is equal calories for everyone. Jinju explains they lost sixteen workers and the team haven’t slept for 48 hours. I think it’s safe to assume the majority of passengers have been awake for that long, so it might not be the strong play that Jinju thinks it is. Till snarkily thanks Jinju for her efforts, and Roche decides to get the fuck out of there before he gets caught up in the breakup that’s been brewing for five episodes.

Till yells at Jinju for lying to her (and the whole train) about Wilford and Melanie. Jinju explains why she thinks it was necessary. Then, she demonstrates why it’s a terrible idea to break up with someone when you haven't slept for two days. First, she says, “Come on, Till,” which is very interesting given that Jinju usually calls Till, “Bess” when they’re together. Then, taking a line straight from Ruth’s School of Desperate Romance, Jinju asks, “Would you really rather be alone?” How unhealthy was this relationship!?

Brakeman Till shows way more maturity than I ever expected from her, and replies, “I’m not alone.” She’s got all her new revolution friends, and more responsibility to the train than ever before. They fulfil episode eight’s prophecy: they’ve gotta choose between each other and the train. And the train comes first. They kiss one last time, then treat us to this bit of very important information about Snowpiercer culture:

Why is it very important? Well, the first reason is that Jinju is literally never seen around ever again. How the hell does she pull that off? And the second reason is that it’s going to make Mel/Ruth shippers scream in the next scene.

A very sad Ruth refreshes her makeup, then sits alone in the announcements booth. Melanie has come to hand over the Head of Hospitality position, and try to make amends. Ruth is highly unimpressed with the anarchy, chaos, and stacks of frozen bodies waiting to be composted. But most of all, she’s angry that Melanie gets to go and hide away in the engine while Ruth is left to deal with these people. Melanie tells Ruth that democracy used to work and… really? With all the books in Melanie’s library, and her opening speech about being haunted by choices that caused global warming, she thinks that democracy used to work? So many characters are saying strange things this episode! Let’s blame it on the sleep deprivation.

Ruth gets down to it: Melanie sent 147 people - including some of Ruth’s friends, like Nolan Grey - to die. Ruth finishes up with, “Survival doesn’t need love, does it?” and Melanie corrects her: there’s nothing more important than love. That’s what Melanie got so wrong. Ruth glares at Melanie, and opens the door for her to leave. They have an even more brutal breakup than Till and Jinju.

Ruth slams the door, and she looks like she’s about to cry her new makeup off already.

After another cool outside shot of the train, we return to the engine. Javi is listening to the opera, and trying to manually triangulate the signal that Bennett is trying to keep hidden. Melanie walks in wearing an engineering jumpsuit and announces “I’m back!”, looking genuinely happy despite everything she’s been through in the last few days/hours. She starts to give instructions for their traditional slow-down to mark Mile Zero, but Javi interrupts her to get her to listen to the cool new song he found on the radio.

Bennett tries to brush the music off, but Javi insists it’s coming from the Northwest. Outside! Are there survivors? Melanie asks Bennett for more information, and he explains the satellite is “down”. If they want to learn more, they’ll need to slow down before they go out of range of the signal.

Downtrain, Roche has caught some lettuce thieves. He brings them to Layton and Till, who are having a coffee in the mess hall, YET STILL HAVEN'T WASHED THE BLOOD OFF! They detected the lettuce was for Pike up in First, but they don’t have time to do anything about it because Layton is needed in the engine, immediately. Roche and Till are very unimpressed that Layton tells them to “keep order until [he gets] back”.

Up in the engine, Melanie explains they haven’t had any radio contact in six and a half years. Bennett suggests it’s just a loop that’s been running the whole time, and they haven’t heard it because they don’t use the radio any more. But he wants to slow down anyway, to get a look at whatever might be sending the transmission. Till, Zarah and Miss Gillies should try out Bennett’s acting class! He’s good!

Melanie explains the predicament to Layton: if they slow down, they’ll be using more power than they generate. But if they don’t slow, they’ll miss their chance to investigate the signal. They agree to slow, in case there are survivors out there.

Downtrain, a drunken, beaten up Osweiller accidentally knocks into a tearful LJ. She punches him to the floor in self-defence, then apologises. They bond over the fact that they’re the least likable characters on the show (now that Commander Grey is dead). LJ shows Osweiller the only thing she has to trade: an egg. And she doesn’t even know “how to take the skin off.” Osweiller does, though! He’s an egg peeling expert! The first step is to smash it against your head without even checking whether it’s cooked.

These two deserve each other.

Back up in the engine, the signal is peaking. They must be almost on top of it! Bennett ‘fixes’ the satellite to check, but doesn’t tell anyone. Melanie takes a look out of her binoculars and spots… Big Alice!

There’s commotion in the First class dining hall, as the passengers flock to the window. Tristan and Eugenia quickly tell Ruth there’s another train outside!

Ruth’s lines in this episode are outstanding.

Up in the engine, they’re panicking. Melanie wants to drag all the power they can, to move as fast as they can to get away from that train. The tracks connect. The train will switch in behind Snowpiercer, and Melanie is sure they’ll try to board through the huge door at the back of the tail. Is that why she wouldn’t entertain the idea of disconnecting the tail carriages? Bennett points out that they don’t know it’s Wilford on Big Alice! And it’s Melanie’s turn to get an iconic line. “Who else, Ben? Another merry band of ark pirates?”

There’s a brief break from the engine to show Ruth literally squealing with excitement as she tells everybody in First to stay calm. Then, Melanie gives Layton a grave warning about how Wilford will be far worse than the literal fucking war that they just had.

In First, Ruth is ecstatic! Wilford has come to save them from the “bloody rebels”! I don’t want to criticise but… maybe they wouldn’t have the reputation of being “bloody rebels” if Till and Layton gave their faces a quick wash? Just a thought! 

Ruth and Tristan are going to need a greeting party. Or is that not the protocol? Ruth can’t remember! They’ll make do. They’re off to the tail!

Outside, Big Alice is braking hard, preparing to dock with the tail. Meanwhile, Bennett is enjoying a spot of ghost-bird watching, and Javi is finishing off his math homework.

Melanie believes Snowpiercer can outrun Big Alice, but Javi tells Melanie that his calculations say otherwise. Melanie has barely been back at work for ten minutes, but she’s right back on her bullshit and ignoring Javi! He needs to do the math again, until it tells Melanie what she wants to hear. How many issues would have been avoided if Melanie and Bennett just listened to Javi occasionally? No wonder the poor guy defected for an episode!

We head to the Folgers’ car next, and I’m gonna have to stop making jokes about Roche being Till and Layton’s dad because - and there’s no gentle way to put this, friends - the three of them rock up to the orgy together. Thankfully they’re there to stop it, not to partake! But still. I sincerely hope I never discover any smutty fic about any combination of these characters. 

Layton needs Pike to help unite the people against their common enemy, and drags him off to the tail.

Back in the engine, Javi warns they’re going too fast, and Bennett warns the reserves are at emergency levels. They have to slow down, or it’s over. Melanie orders them not to slow down. She’s still convinced that they can outrun Big Alice, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Again, I guess we just blame this strange behaviour on sleep deprivation? Why would Melanie Cavill ignore science?

Big Alice clips Snowpiercer’s tail as it switches in behind them. It’s a good thing they dropped those seven cars yesterday, or there would have been a bigger crash! Layton quickly gets the exhausted soldiers organised to defend the train and create barricades, and they make their way to the tail.

Meanwhile, Melanie softly encourages Snowpiercer to go faster. But none of her words change the fact that Javi’s math was right: Big Alice easily catches them up, and docks. The tail kids - some of the few people that are still downtrain - go to investigate the clunking at the back door. 

In the engine, Bennett and Javi explain the new plot as quickly and simply as they can: the other train is using an uplink to hack Snowpiercer’s controls. Wilford is trying to seize Snowpiercer's engine. The only way to stop the hack is to go outside and destroy the physical connection.

Layton and his army arrive at the tail. But while he’s been running between the engine and the rebel army in the tail, he forgot to check on Ruth! She is, of course, boldly leading the First and Second Children’s choir through the train to welcome Mr. Wilford.

Roche yells at Ruth, and she retorts she’s there on official business: Hospitality leads the welcoming party! Roche, Pike, Layton and Till cannot fucking believe that Ruth just marched a bunch of singing kids into a military situation, and tell her as much. Ruth turns away for a moment - to address the children, perhaps? To tell them she misunderstood, and they should return to safety uptrain? No! Not at all! It’s to pull a gun from her fur!

This show is genuinely funnier than most comedies I’ve seen.

Ruth goes on a little rant about how Grey would have been there in full dress uniform, and she would have been beside him, because her uniform says peace. Teal is the colour of diplomacy! Ohhhhhh, diplomacy. Diplomacy and peace. That’s why she’s threatening them with a gun! 

Layton calms Ruth down and agrees that she should be at his side when the door opens - they need diplomacy, rather than another war. Ruth agrees, on the condition that she gets to be the first person to shake Mr. Wilford’s hand. She hands the gun to Roche, and heads to the front line with Layton.

In a maintenance car, Melanie and Bennett are suiting up to go outside and destroy the uplink. Surely breach workers could have done this? Aren’t Melanie and Bennett needed in the engine? These people are making some awful choices this episode. Must be the lack of sleep, again.

Bennett doesn’t like the idea of breaking the uplink, and suggests they should stand down. Then, we discover why Bennett hid the satellite images and convinced the others to slow the train: Big Alice is packed with hex nuts! (Snowpiercer is running out of the spare parts it needs to survive.)

Melanie has a rant at Bennett - he didn’t consider that perhaps his precious hex nuts aren’t still on Big Alice, or that Mr. Wilford might not willingly share the hex nuts if there are any, or that the populations of the two trains might infect each other with deadly diseases (but isn’t that the point of the biosecurity car? These people really need a nap!)

And then, Melanie realises Bennett knew about Big Alice for hours before the rest of them. She is furious at him for lying to her, Javi and Layton. But she’s most furious that he made the decision without her. 

For payback, she gives his coldsuit a quick vasectomy. Now he can’t play outside! Melanie concludes that she will not put her faith in Wilford again. There’s some serious backstory there, huh? Bennett tries to stop Melanie going out, but she gives him a death glare until he opens the door for her, and she goes out to play by herself.

Melanie jumps around on top of the train, clipping and unclipping her safety rope very unsafely. Maybe that’s part of why Bennett didn’t want her to go out alone? Do the safety ropes require two people to work properly across carriages? When Big Alice hacks the brakes, the resulting jolt causes Melanie to fall off the train, and into the snow below.

Seconds later, in the exact spot they departed from seven years ago (though with surprisingly few frozen corpses around), Snowpiercer grinds to a halt.

At the supply door, Layton is trying to rally the crowd with a speech. Ruth is chiming in to shoot him down at every opportunity.

Then, the door swings open. Alex marches forward and explains the situation: Mr. Wilford has seized control of Snowpiercer’s engine, and if the people of Snowpiercer don’t agree to a peaceful surrender, they’ll freeze to death within minutes.

(Sidenote: the subtitles spell Ruth’s surname differently in this scene and it’s very annoying!)

Layton and Ruth aren't exactly the most united front, and their bickering quickly grinds away at Alex until she asks what she really wants to know: is Melanie Cavill alive? Ruth answers that, yes, Melanie is alive. Layton then asks who Alex is. Alex gives her name, then nearly cries as she asks, “Where is my mother?”

The next shot answers Alex’s question: Melanie is busy making snow angels outside! When she's had enough, she gets up, grabs her axe and starts walking towards the train.

And that's it! The end of Season One of Snowpiercer!

[yeoldontknow]

❧ check in tag

tagged by the sweetest angel @propinqxity to do this little tag. this is such a cute list of questions, and some of these i dont think ive been asked before. thank you so much for the tag and the tumblr crush mention lovely. you truly are a bright spot on this website and i mean that sincerely <333

going under a cut because im certain i will ramble ~

1. Why did you choose this url?

its sort of like a pun between yall dont know and the fact that, hopefully, sincerely, chanyeol does not in fact know that i run this blog lmao i changed to this after a long time of being bread-jinie and i wanted to rebrand. i will, however, do my best to never change URLs again because the masterlist switch over was a complete hassle

2. Any sideblogs? If you have them, name them and why you have them

i have a fic recs blog called @yeoldontknowiread. as to why i have it, i know it hasnt been updated in ages since ive been kind of on hiatus, but i think reading and sharing work on this platform is immensely important. i actually read quite a lot of fanfiction, and i try my best to share the things i read. im very very behind on recs at the moment cause i try my best to write something substantial for every recommendation i make. as a writer, i know exactly the kinds of thoughts and feedback on fics that make my heart soar so i try to put in the same energy to my recs. community is only fostered when there is reciprocation

3. How long have you been on Tumblr?

hmmm since april 2017. i actually had my 4 year anniversary this year and i did have plans for things but i got roped into real life things and couldnt celebrate the way i truly wanted to :(

4. Do you have a queue tag?

no but sometimes i think i should. i view tags as a library on top of my knee jerk response to things. most of my tags are just my initial thoughts or feelings at any given moment, so those take precedence over a specific queue tag

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

when i was getting into exo, i was reading fanfiction like crazy. i used to write fanfic quite a lot in other fandoms, but at that time i hadnt written anything in about 2.5 years. exo was the first re-introduction to that feeling of excitement and inspiration. after about 3 weeks of straight reading, i decided i wanted to write again. i wrote the prologue to hero in about two hours and tried logging into AO3 to post it. sadly i forgot all of my log in information because it had been years, and was getting frustrated. i really wanted to put it somewhere out of fear that id lose interest if i didnt do something with it, and everything id read had been on tumblr. so i made a tumblr just to put hero lmao i didnt have any mutuals. it was a blog with straight 0. i hadnt even created an account to interact with writers before that moment, i really thought id be a silent reader forever. but exo woke me back up and for that i am eternally grateful.

6. Why did you choose your icon?

the yours music video is...so stunning? like the colour theory throughout the whole thing is truly so inspiring and gorgeous. and this shot of chanyeol looking at the painting took my breath away, truly. tulips and the color of peach, like do you know how evocative that is? ugh

7. Why did you choose your header

my header was made by @jamaisjoons for my birthday this year because shes literally the most talented person when it comes to graphics. and this was so kind of her to do, i cried a lot

8. What's your post with the most notes?

uhm....either the body through time or truth i cant remember which but i checked recently and its one of those

9. How many mutuals do you have?

honestly at this point im not even sure. i know ive lost a bunch while i was on hiatus because i was basically a dead blog, and some people do dash cleanses. and im certain others have left, too, for their own reasons. still, i have a good core of friends though who are active and that is enough for me

10. How many followers do you have?

more than i probably deserve

11. How many people do you follow?

399

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

uhm i guess? there was a time when nng was not updated and every wednesday id post the days go by music video in sadness and grief but im not a big shitposter. if i make a text post its usually a life update or me crying about chanyeol, theres no inbetween lmao

13. How often do you use Tumblr every day?

tbh i havent used tumblr that often, not since march i think. i used to use it many times a day, checking in on friends and stuff, but once i started focusing on my phd applications i was only here sporadically. i didnt make an announcement either, just let my blog run on queue so i wasnt totally gone. i think i was checking in twice a week or maybe once every two weeks to refill my queue and check mentions etc. but now that my interviews are done im trying to get back on here daily to reconnect

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

ive had my share of disagreements with people and any details about those situations shall remain as they are meant to: private

15. How do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts?

in what context? like, you need to reblog this or your wish wont come true? or like, please reblog this to spread the word/spread awareness, etc? in the case for the former, i scroll right by. in the case of the latter, if im around and see someone raising a go fund me or some major event is occurring and i find a post with good sources or charities i will reblog. mostly though, the full extent my activism isnt really on this blog. its my escape from reality. my activism is usually placed on other platforms.

16. Do you like tag games?

i doooo!!! theyre so fun i love learning about my friends

17. do you like ask games?

i love those too! theyre so cute and usually a nice way to have interaction immediacy with people in the community

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

no one. can we please abandon this notion of fame on tumblr? arent we all here to write about some dick and some smut and some fluff and then hang out together and log off? lmao tumblr isnt reality and followers/fame is so arbitrary on this platform, no one has any control over any of it

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

i am in love with so many people here. let me name a few:

@yehet-me-up @kyungseokie @jenmyeons @j-pping @jamaisjoons @inkedtae @kookdiaries @yoonia @dulcetvk @kithtaehyung @imdifferentshadesofpurple @ditzymax @sugaurora @sahmbtsficrecs @junghelioseok @yeojaa @augustbutwinter @joonscore @btssavedmylifeblr @cutechim @sunshinekims @kimtaehyunq @ouvuo @delhyun @exo-stentialism @sooibian @softyoongiionly @jinseunie @zibermuda @bratkook @1kook @luffles424 @xjoonchildx

and so many other people and mutuals that i am certainly forgetting. love is such an expansive feeling, and it encompasses platonic ardor and creative desire. i admire every single person listed for so many different reasons, and cherish and treasure them or what they provide to the community. love is such an important and broad experience. truly, i hope they feel adored every single day x

[shandidellamorte]

~Crüe AU writings 16~

Everything seems to be going Vince’s way! Can Tommy and Mick turn things around on him? Let’s hope.. A special update for Vince’s birthday! Last chapter before the end! Enjoy, babies! <3 Also I’d like to thank @ashestoashesvvi for contributing ideas to help me with my block~ <33

~Shandi

As requested @smokeandmirrorz is on the permanent tag list for every new update! If you’d like to be on the list let me know! <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~VAMPIRE AU Part 16~

Summary: Mick and Tommy hope they can still save Nikki from Vince’s control. (told from Mick’s POV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lot of things rarely hurt me. But this...this hurt. Neil enjoys torturing me, forcing me to watch as the kid feeds from him like a gluttonous freak. Lee’s pissed. They chain him up to keep from lashing out. It sure doesn’t stop that mouth of his. He swears up a storm, but Neil just looks at him and laughs. “If you were hoping to ‘score’ with him you’re out of luck, Half-blood~” he says with a cocky smirk. “He doesn’t give a shit about you anymore..he loves only me~”

“Maybe right now but just you wait, Princess..once I get him back I’m takin’ your fuckin’ head off!!” 

“I’d like to see you try! Come, Nikki..they can stay locked up down here for a while until I’m ready to deal with them. They’re boring me and I wanna have some fun~” 

“As long as there’s more blood. I want~” 

“Of course you do~ Come with me and you’ll have it~” 

I can’t watch the kid follow Neil like some demented dog. I turn away. I never wanted him to end up like this. I failed him. Now he’s lost to me. If only there were some way.. “Hey..I hope you’re not givin’ up on me, old man.” Lee says, jarring me from my thoughts. “Johnny knows how to track me. He’ll come back..hopefully with good news.” ‘Hopefully.’ Yeah. Hope is something I have a short supply of right now. It’d be nice if somethin’ went fucking right for a change. 

It’s a grueling three days before we hear anything. We’re both so delirious and weak from our Thirst, we can only faintly hear the beating of small wings from outside. Lee looks up and narrows his eyes. “J-Johnny..? That you..?” 

“It’s me. Sorry for not coming sooner. Had a long trip to make. I have a message from your mother. She won’t be able to come herself but she sent special ‘help.’“

“Wh-what kind of..help..?” 

“They can’t show themselves now but you’ll see. In the meantime..” He takes out a large vial of red liquid and hands it to me. “You drink this..and try to get Sixx to feed on you. It’s the only way to break Neil’s hold on him.” I’m skeptical but..if it saves the kid I’ll do anything. I take the vial and down the whole thing. It feels strange..but at least I no longer feel the Thirst gripping at my guts. All I can do now is hope it does what Corabi says it will do. He lets Lee feed on him to get his strength back. “Mmmph..thanks, Johnny..y’did good~ Now make yourself scarce. I don’t want them catchin’ you too.” Corabi frowns. “A-are you sure..?” 

“I know you’re worried but trust me okay? I got this~” 

“Alright. I’ll be nearby. Just signal me.” 

“Will do~” 

As Corabi changes back into a bat and flies off Lee leans back against the wall. “I’m not gonna say we’ve got nothin’ to worry about now cause that’s far from the truth. But we’re gonna have to fake our way through this. Pretend that we’re still weak. It’s the only way to throw ‘em off.” I nod. “I’m ready.” As if on queue Neil comes back down with the kid...tied to a fucking leash!! I’m not gonna let him get away with treating that poor kid like some damn trained pet!! I glare at him as he approaches the cell. “Poor babies..you look so thirsty..so pale and weak~ Maybe they just need to be put out of their misery..what do you think, Nikki~?” He grabs at the bars and growls. “Let me have their blood..let me drain them dry!! They’ll die slowly and painfully..and we can watch them suffer~” Neil laughs and pets the kid’s head. “What an excellent idea..such a good boy you are~” He unlocks the cell door. “Go..take them~” The kid charges in and goes straight for me, knocking me down and sinking his fangs into my neck. It hurts. Not him biting into me, but the fact that he’s so willing to do it. He’s been turned so completely I don’t even recognize him anymore. The stuff that I drank better work. If not..I’d rather just die here and now. He keeps drinking..and drinking..and I don’t feel anything. No pain. No weakness. Whatever that stuff is it must be working. Neil has to come in and pull the kid off me. “Enough, Nikki. If you keep going we won’t get to watch him die~ Take the Half-blood next~” 

“Whatever you say~” 

He tries going over to Lee but I can see he’s having trouble walking. Is..that stuff working already..? Neil can already tell there’s something wrong. “Nikki? What are you doing? I told you to take him!” The kid stumbles off to the side. “I...I’m trying..I...fuck...w-what’s happening..to me..?! My..blood’s burning...IT FUCKIN’ HURTS!!” He collapses, screaming in agony..and what’s left of my heart breaks. Is this what that stuff is supposed to do? Maybe this was a mistake.. Neil comes in and picks him up. “You assholes have done something to him..don’t try to deny it!! I’ll make you both pay for this..I swear it!! When I come back..you’re dead.” He carries the kid back up the stairs. His screams are still echoing in my ears. “I know that was hard..” Lee says., “..but it was for his own good. It’s burning all of the corrupted blood out of him. He’ll be hurtin’ for a while, but he’ll be normal again.” 

It’s little consolation after what I just witnessed, but I’ll take it. 

To be Continued!!

[thatfairyfangirl]

True Colors Chapter 24

AN - I discovered an error in my queue while updating a tag list, instead of rearranging the whole thing I’m just giving you lovely people an extra chapter this week...enjoy!

Though the avengers fought with all of their might HYDRA had beaten them back. They needed to fall back, regroup. But they were pinned with their backs against a wall. It would seem Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull himself was even more terrifying of a foe than her father, and she was ever the more loyal to him for it. It was eventually Bucky who got everyone out, sacrificing himself in the process. But as much as they all knew how important it was to get him back before they were able to reprogram him, first they needed to tend to their wounds and come up with a plan.

A week and a half later

They sat around a small table in the middle of a long abandoned and forgotten SHIELD base, not exactly back to 100% but they couldn't wait any longer. Each second was a precious commodity they couldn't afford to lose.

~~~~

Deep in the hydra base Bucky sat strapped to a chair not unlike the one they had used to scramble his mind the first time around. “What the hell is taking so long?” Sinthea demanded as she stormed into the room, both her and her father quickly losing patience.

“I wish we could tell you ma’am.” A scrawny trembling hydra scientist answered, only to be met with a barrel of a gun in his face.

“If you keep killing them it will only take longer.” Her father reminded her in a stern tone. “Let the man speak.” Like an obedient child she put away her toy.

“I want my soldier.” She hissed.

“And you'll get him.” The scientist assured her showing her a pile of papers she had little interest in. “The human brain is a strange thing. We are doing everything as was described in Zola’s notes, exactly. But he is resisting. I have never seen anything like it before. Whenever we get close his mind...it just breaks it.”

Suddenly she was a hair away from his face, he could feel the rage burning in her bones. “Then try harder. Locked somewhere in that brain is the greatest weapon we have ever had. I want it.” She purred wetting her lips as her fingertips played against Bucky’s muscles. She giggled maniacally as she watched his restrained arms attempt to bat her away. “Soon.”

“More importantly the last of HYDRAs supply of vibranium is attached to his inner workings. And the only man capable of giving it to another is long dead.” The Red Skull added...Even if Bucky's mouth wasn't gagged to keep him from swallowing his tongue he wouldn't correct him on the outdated information. It was better to allow them to torture him than to send them to Wakanda for more. No, instead Bucky turned inward, focused on that small spark of light his life held so dear to him. Flashing back to warm memories of you laying in his bed, your fingertips caressing his muscles as your beautiful voice lulled the monster within him, forcing out all the work they attempted to do.

~~~~

Opening night of your show came and went, his absence sending you into a dark spiral none could seem to break you of. You were now sure you had lost your Bucky forever. You didn't even bother using your powers anymore, it was hard enough getting through the daily show times. You wandered through your own life like a ghost, half convinced it was all just a bad dream you needed to wait to wake up from.

~~~~

“So anyone wanna tell me why rainbow light bendy chick isn't around?” Scott finally spoke up. “I feel like that invisibility thing would have been handy.” It wasn't The first time the idea of bring in you in was pitched.

“She's not active duty.” Tony quickly spoke up, doing his best to protect his friend as he worked to patch up the Iron man suit.

“This is kind of what having a reserves team is for Tony.” Nat reminded as she helped Clint change his bandages. “We can't just stay here licking our wounds.”

“No.” Was all they got in return.

“And why not Tony?” Steve asked with a stone face as he stood, feeling about half ready to go rounds with him over this. “HYDRA’s already got Bucky. Any liability she would have been is out the window!”

“Because-” he paused tossing down his tools, hating himself for having to taddle on you. “Because ever since those two split she's lost control of her power...she can barely make a sparkle right now.” He went on to explain how your power is tied to your emotions, and right now you were in no state of mind for a fight.

“Do we really have much of a choice?” Wanda remarked. “Faith and trust right?”

“It might just be the kick in the pants she needs.” Steve agreed. “FRIDAY, call her in.”

~~~~

Hearing the news sent you into a fiery crimson rage. Not just your hair but all of your body ��glowing a monstrous red you burst through your bedroom door clad in your uniform. “Colossus, come on. We have a job to do.”

“What is going on Spektr?” He asked as he set down his sketchpad.

“They have my Bucky.” You growled as you took his hand, dragging him out the door. “And they are not allowed to keep him.”

~~~~

“Do you even have a plan Spektr?” Colossus asked as he landed the craft in the ice and snow.

“Yeah...get my Bucky back.” You answered in a low primal voice as you put on your protective glasses before enveloping both you and Colossus in a blanket of light, hiding you both from sight. You tore through the facility leaving broken and scorched building parts in your wake. You found him sedated on a table. As you lifted him you heard the sound of a bullet entering the chamber of a gun...close.

“Step away from my soldier.” A twisted voice purred. You turned to find Sinthea, wearing the terrifying smirk of someone who feels like they've already won.

“Sorry sister,” the rage flowing through you fueled the most powerful blast of light you ever mustered, “that's my soldier.” Colossus flung the soldier over his shoulder carrying him to safety. The red light you emitted grew brighter as your rage focused until what was once a cherry line of anger became a white hot beam of rage. “AND YOU CAN’T HAVE HIM!” You roared before the white light burst out stronger than you’ve ever seen before, leaving a firey wake as it engulfed the room.

Colossus looked back to see parts of the room were now on fire, rolling his eyes he turned, scooping you up in his other arm. “Come along Spektr. Time to go.” You protested, kicking and screaming, you had to finish the job...you had to.

[candideangel]

10 Underused Character Questions ~

Introduction -

Name: Angelique Candide (pronounced like candied, like candied apple)

Age: 19-20

Your favorite picture of your muse’s fc: My Icon really, because I drew it myself I was still very proud of it. I just lost the original file, but you can find it in “mun’s art” page.

Questions -

What would be their twitter name? What sorts of tweets would they tweet? Hm...I think Angelique would have the twitter name, Angelsweets, but that’s just because it’s a shortened part of her name, but she also has a pretty big sweet tooth. Angelwing would probably be taken with this day and age. Her twitter feeds would probably compose with small updates, picture diaries with her friends, plant life, photos from a trip, and stuff she would bake in the kitchen.

What’s their favorite genre of movies? Of music? Angelique’s favorite movies are a mixture, she loves romance movies, and horror during certain times of the year. However, she really loves Disney films because they were what she grew up with (also, she does know through reading that the fairy tales are different). As for music, music from the Early 2000′s and a handful of modern pop music are the kinds of things you’d find on her playlist. It ranges from having Green Day, Fall Out Boy, original Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga, and the list goes on (including a few movie soundtracks)

What’s on their top queue on Netflix? Anything with a fantasy genre really, she’s a sap for fantasy movies because there’s just something with being taken in with the amount of hard work that can go into creating a fictional world with a brilliance of creatures. However, she’s also a bit of a sucker for watching shows that are under her age demographic, but to her as long as the story and plot is engaging, she will enjoy it.

What’s their favorite scent? Do they smell like that? Anything that has to do with the baking scenario, vanilla, cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin spice, if she’s got a candle for every season, a lot of them will either have a scent of fresh baked cookies or summer fruit, or a cake. Most of the time, no she doesn’t smell like that, she prefers to wear a mint scent from perfume, peppermint, or a clean citrus one. However, some small bit of information, she has a lot more floral scented shampoo and body wash when she gets herself clean.

Apple or Android? Android, hands down. Angelique just never understood the hype with Apple brand of products. She doesn’t need a lot of bells and whistles with her phone and devices, just the ability to have the apps she cares about and plenty of storage space for memory. The only real thing she would really like is maybe a fitbit or some kind of smart watch from them, but those are usually expensive. Usually she’s a few models behind because she uses her devices until they can no longer be used.

Favorite Season? Least favorite season? Fall and Winter are her favorite seasons at the top of the list because the warmth of cozy sweaters, fresh baked cookies with smells, and just the feeling that they bring just makes it worth while. Not to mention she’s had a lot of fun at festivals during these two times of the year. Spring is great to her in third because the weather’s not too hot or too cold, and it’s prime planting season to get fresh goods. Summer would be dead last only because of the heat, and she has a tendency to get sunburned really badly what with her complexion and hair color, while summer means a lot more fun activities, harvesting time for plants like tomatoes, she just can’t stand being outside too long during the day when the sunlight is at its strongest...even if it makes her sound like a vampire.

Are they a bottom or top or versatile? Angelique...is more of a bottom type of person, but that’s just because if she’s comfortable with her partner, she would love for them to be in control and make the feeling amazing between them. However, if her partner would like to mix it up a little, she can sometimes be a bit more on the dominant role if she is extremely frisky.

Describe their morning routine. Do they wake up early or sleep in? Do they press the snooze button a bunch of times or do they immediately get up? Day dependent, Angelique loves to stay up late so she does have a tendency to turn off the snooze button and fall back asleep until she finally has to get herself out of bed, but if she knows that there is something on a routine that she knows needs to get done, she’s usually good with getting an early start. Angelique’s morning routine is pretty simple; make breakfast, clean the dishes used from the previous night and that morning, if it’s on the list of to do’s; exercise, then shower, and go out shopping if she had to, or work, or whatever.

If they were to be compared to a canon character, who would that be? (Spirit animal) I kind of have a hard time comparing her to a canon character, because her personality is just her own. However, I think her biggest spirit animal will actually have to be Hunk from Voltron, not because he is a cook or anything, but also because she tries to be friendly with people, and in times of stress try to keep them together while trying to keep herself as centered as possible. A wonderful support person.

Finish this sentence, muse: What would ___ do? “What would mom do?”

tag five people so they can get to know their muse too! @redhotdefender @lanceamormcclain @coolblueprotector @strongest-conviction @william-t-sickofyourshit @panickypaladin tagged by: @axnattural

[quell-tea-salon]

THE IDOLM@STER SideM 3rdLIVE TOUR - GLORIOUS ST@GE Fukuoka (2018/3/25) event report

Cast: S.E.M, Cafe Parade, THE Kogado, Legenders, Mofumofuen, Beit (Pierre and Minori only; Kyoji (Ume-chan) was at Anime Japan).

This is going to be long and messy and full of CAPS. Cast members are referred to by their nicknames. The set list, if you don’t mind spoilers.

Where do I start? My heart is so full.

My day started like this: I was exhausted even before the concert because I had been in the queue for the merchandise booths for FIVE HOURS since 8:30am. There was SO many people, and no doubt many, like me, had traveled interstate or even from overseas. As Fukuoka’s concert was the only one held in West Japan I think that many fans from this side of the country would make the effort to come even if they didn’t have a ticket for the concert (anyone could visit the merch booths and there were cinemas nearby showing the live-viewing). Anyway, I was planning to buy the rubber wrist bands but they all sold out within the first hour. I had to keep changing my shopping list while checking twitter updates about stuff that had sold out, and by the time I reached the booths pretty much everything that I wanted was gone, save the official pamphlet and Fukuoka limited edition charm (in pic above). I’ve attended events before so I should have known what to expect, but I was still shaking my head in disbelief ^p^ On the bright side I made friends with the person who was in line next to me (a BeitP!) and after we were finally done with the booths we barely had time to grab lunch before the show started.

There was another long (but thankfully fast-moving) queue to enter the concert hall as staff did ID checks, then yet another line for the bathroom. By the time I made it back to my seat, it was 6 minutes to start time OTL Unfortunately I didn’t have much luck with seating this time; I was two thirds down the back of the hall and could barely see the ground level of the stage. ...And of course there was a tall dude a few rows in front of me blocking my view of the middle of the stage >_> I had to keep reminding myself that I was lucky just to be there. (Sitting in the back rows isn’t all bad though; more on that later.)

The show kicked off with the standard sponsors and messages from Yamamura on the main screen. Then the lights dimmed and the whole cast appeared on stage to perform Reason!! It took a while for it to set in that I was actually physically present at a concert and not watching a live-viewing T_T For today’s concert Totto (Hazama-sensei) covered Shugon’s (Teru) solo parts in the song. Later he introduced himself as the MC for today! While I was happy for him tbh I was also a little worried bc Totto can be fuwafuwa (fluffy.... if you get my drift), but I knew Yoshiki would support him. Thankfully Totto was a decent if mostly absent (lol) host, and even Enokiya, usually a salty tsundere, was surprisingly serious for the most part *Maita P’s everywhere clutching their chests* Furukawa and Shohei both said that they were happy to be here as Fukuoka/Kyuushu is their hometown. They both spoke a few lines (in-character) in the local dialects :D During Legenders’ turn Kasama-san shared a cute story about Fuumin - apparently it was Fuumin’s first time on a plane and after landing his ears felt weird so he said “I think I left my ears in the sky!” which Kasama-san thought was such a cute thing to say wwwwwwww Fuumin turned bright red... Koma-chan was just happy to be near the ocean ww (the convention hall was right along the water).

After the intro talk the lights dimmed again and as soon as we heard taiko drum beats we quickly set our pen lights to fluro pink - it was From Teacher to Future! S.E.M appeared in the ouendan cheer outfits and recited the lines from ep5 (as per Makuhari day 2) before striking the Pose of Passion as the crowd cheered :D Again, they shed the ouendan coats before singing. This time Cafepa were the background cheerleaders!! (Later, Enokiya said that he felt whoever was behind him (Asselin iirc) hit him with their pompom a couple of times ww)

Next was Mofumofuen with Welcome Happy Kira Park! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS TO DO CALLS WITH! It was sooo much fun and there were all so adorable T_T To this day I’m still in awe of Yano every time Nao’s voice comes out of his mouth lmao

Cafepa was up next with Cafe Parade! As a fan of Furukawa I was excited to finally get to see him live and he didn’t disappoint. Idk why but today he cranked up the seduction to 100 and his Asselin was.. ajfh;ajfk;ahk;s Asselin u ok why are you dripping sex appeal.......... this is not the Asselin that i know... Also i was wearing concert earplugs (bought a pair after realising that attending so many concerts was gradually damaging my ears; didn’t help that Japan’s concerts are RIDICULOUSLY LOUD) but I could still feel his insane vibrato through the ear plugs O______O But I digress. Cafepa are always rly fun to watch on stage as their performances tend to be dramatic and have a musical flair.

Legenders - Symphonic Brave. I was shaking bc MY OCEAN BOYS!!! It’s my least fave Legenders song but I’ve gradually warmed up to it after watching them perform it on LV a few times, and i rly do love the vocals. Combined with the visuals on the monitor this song makes you feel like you’re soaring through the sky and that anything is possible... Sadly Koma-chan wasn’t performing well today (I briefly wondered if he had a cold or something bc his voice was rly weak in both volume and control), but Kasama-san and Fuumin were amazing! I love the use of mic stands in this song T_T

Kogado - Tsuyoku Toutoki Kemonotachi. Each time they perform this song they do a brand new fight sequence during the bridge; usually Shohei is the one who comes up with the moves (with help from the dance instructors) but for Fukuoka, all three Kogado members worked together and performed a badass fight scene complete with explosive sound effects www

For the next song, a grand staircase decorated with red carpet unfolded on the main screen and Pierre appeared on the upper level of the stage. Mahou no Stair!!! (Yes!!!!!! We knew that Pierre and Minori were definitely singing their solos since they were unlikely to do any Beit songs without Kyoji, and it also happened to be the last day for Beit in the tour.) As Pierre made his way down the stairs towards the lower level of the stage, the steps lit up in red, mimicking the red carpet, while the staircase on screen shifted so it looked like Horieru was a prince gracefully descending upon the ballroom to join us for a dance ;______; Tbh I’m not fond of Pierre’s solo as it sounds rather flat (a pity considering Pierre has such a cute genki voice) but he was super cute and princely and melted every heart in the vicinity T_T At the end of the song he made a gesture like he was waving a magic wand to cast a spell (the main screen behind him showed a sparkly golden spiral) and when he moved aside to retreat from the stage MINORI APPEARED ON THE UPPER LEVEL HOLDING A BOUQUET T______________T Pierre had summoned Minori!!!!!!!!! We screaaaaamed omg Beit medley T______T

During Cherish Bouquet TakaP unleashed his sparkly princely charisma by 5000000% and killed a bunch of people (both girls and guys) in the audience [FANSERVICE INTENSIFIES] By the end of the song most of us were dead.... and when he held out the bouquet towards us (the camera) our SCREAMS lol istg ;;;;;;;;;;;;

Then both Pierre and Minori appeared on stage again wearing blue happi kimonos as the next song’s intro played AND WE LOST IT BC IT WAS FUN FUN FESTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEIT!!!!!!!! GROUP SONG!!!!!!! THEY’RE DOING BEIT SONGS AFTER ALL!!!!! T__________T AND FUNFUNFESTA IS MY #1 FAVOURITE SONG TO DO CALLS WITH omg i felt sooooooo spoiled at that moment...... There was so much to love about this part. Pierre usually dances with his Kaerre plush in this song but this time he was holding Kyoji’s pierre plush (the blue one!)  so Kyoji could perform with them ;___; And both Pierre and Minori were super generous with the fanservice! TakaP’s winks are so destructive >< During the catering part konamono was replaced with “Ramen!” (specialty dish of this region). THEN KOGADO BURST ONTO THE STAGE, ALL WEARING HAPPI KIMONOS AND CARRYING A MIKOSHI PALANQUIN djhfaglhgdfLJHGLFHJDSdf they were hopping and cheering and it was both hilarious and amazing to see Kogado like this......... Really there was so much happening, my heart could barely keep up ;;;;;;;

Shinonome was up next with Piece Montee. This whole sequence was really cute! During the song he mimicked making a cake, piping cream and taste-testing before finally being satisfied with his creation. A HUGE (like, human-sized) balloon art cake was wheeled out onto the stage. After Shinonome left the stage, the lights dimmed and Nao-kun appeared, admiring the cake which had a plate saying “Happy birthday Nao!” on it!!!! NAO-KUUUUUNNNNN THE BIRTHDAY BOY <3<33333

Nao was the cutest thing during Hop Step Hai, Ship T___T He kept admiring the cake and looked soooo happy... He even showed us his fluffy tail and i just jhdfkj;gf;KDF,lkl just, an angel ;;;;;;;;;;

Later during the talk segment, Yano thanked us for all the love, support, and birthday wishes, and said that while he’s feeling incredibly happy and blessed, he has no doubt that Nao is feeling even happier and at the top of the world. It was also Minori’s birthday around that time, so as a double birthday celebration they asked us producers for a favour. We all held up our pen lights in red to mimic candles on a birthday cake, and when Minori and Nao made the motion of blowing out the candles we turned off our pen lights all at the the same time. The hall and stage lights were completely dimmed for this and it was a really pretty sight T_T Happy birthday, Nao and Minori!!!!!!!!!!!

Then it was time for Mofu In The Park, another super fun song to call along to! ME ME! PYON PYON!! GAO GAO!!!!!!!!!!!! This was Mofu’s last day in the tour and they really gave it their all ;___;

THE NEXT PART......IS WHERE I DIED. When i heard the song intro play i FLIPPED MY SHIT BECAUSE I RECOGNISED IT AS SECRET! PLAYFUL! DRIVE! which is a song from the St@rry Collaboration series (the extra CDs that came with the anime BD/DVDs) and NOBODY EXPECTED THIS BECAUSE IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE SAVING THOSE SONGS FOR FIVE ST@R PARTY DKJFA’JGFA;KJGAF;IYLAKYJK

So i was in disbelief already and my brain barely had a second to process that this song belongs to S.E.M and Jupiter before S.E.M APPEARED FROM THE SHADOWS ON AN ELEVATED TROLLEY DECORATED IN BRIGHT RAINBOW LIGHTS AND I JUST DIEEEEEDDDDDDDDD ajbgadjakhaf;l ok so i kinda expected a trolley to come out bc i noticed the staff running around and looking like they were securing the routes, but i wasn’t expecting it to be S.E.M, much less them singing this...sinfully sexy song ;_______; The trolley started from the left side of the stage and made its way around the perimeter of the concert hall, doing a left into the walkway RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BLOCK OF SEATS WHERE I WAS (they were so close omg S.E.M!!!! BEFORE MY EYES!!!! crying forever) before ending its journey on the right side of the stage. As per tradition they were throwing rubber balls at the audience (sadly not in my direction ><). Jirou-chan and Rui were perfect idols and dishing out fanservice the entire time //// Hazama-san was amazing and beautiful and stoic ajhgfsaldgsl god i love SEM so much ;;;;;; As the trolley passed in front of me JIROU-CHAN POINTED AT ME!!!!!!!! At that moment i was actually grateful for getting a shitty seat at the back of the hall sobssss Jirouuuuuuuuuu ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

I REALLY love this song but i have to admit i was barely paying attention to the singing because i was... distracted....... haha... Also this performance changes things for Shizuoka because if SEM did their collab song without Jupiter there’s a chance that DraSta will sing Etranger without Beit. Oh my god. I’m shaking just thinking about it. I’M JEALOUS OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON ATTENDING SHIZUOKA T_T pls say hi to my babies on my behalf.... Anyway, back to the concert.

Tbh i was already 1000000% satisfied with the concert after SEM’s performance lmao but the set list continued to blow my mind... One of the solos i was hoping to hear was Saki-chan’s Favourite ni Odorasete, AND THAT WAS THE NEXT SONG!!!!!!! I started out not rly liking Kobapyon’s voice for Saki-chan because he does this weird squeak that a lot of female seiyuu do too for cute moe characters, which ig kind of describes Saki-chan... But the more i learned about Saki-chan the more i started to like him (her? they? idk which pronoun Saki-chan prefers, pls do enlighten me if you know) and his solo is such a cute and catchy song T_T Kobapyon is srsly really cute in person as well.... just a bundle of angelic cuteness and ribbons tbh.... To top it off, the guest performers for this song were Minori and Pierre!!! Minori was at the top of the stairs and as Saki-chan approached he gave him a bouquet, which Saki-chan happily accepted. Then Minori held out his hand like a fking prince and held Saki-chan’s hand and escorted him down the stairs AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH (the crowd wouldn’t stop screaming ajkh;skjfg). At the bottom of the stairs was Pierre, sitting on a bench and reading a book (iirc). Saki-chan bade Minori farewell and approached the bench, and Pierre pulled out a handkerchief and set it on the bench for Saki-chan to sit on JKAHGLFHGLAHG WHO EVEN DOES THAT ANYMORE OH MY GOD T_______T Saki-chan danced with the both of them in turns and just looked like a beautiful princess with her princes... (I just remembered a tweet i saw about this... “Saki-chan with B(eit) LOL BURUZON CHIEMI REFERENCE) By this point the audience had died again from both jealousy (of Saki-chan) and just overall bliss from getting to witness this cute af performance. Compare this to last year when SEM were the ones escorting Saki-chan and got slapped in the face instead LOL. (When this was brought up during talk time Yoshiki was like “Oh, so it’s fine if it’s Takatsuka?” LMAOOO)

The CafePa medley kept going! Next up was Roll’s One Whole Wonderful. Roll is SO cute!!! TwT He mimed being surrounded by cakes and took a bite from all of them before breaking into the HAPPIEST smile, omg just precious ;;;;;;; Why is CafePa full of cuties ;;;;;;;;;;;; My heart was purified ;;;;;;;;; Then the rest of CafePa joined him on stage for Reversed Masquerade. I love this song more and more each time i see it. I especially the single-file march they do towards the end ;w; 

I started yelling again when the next song played because it was another one that i had been hoping to hear!! Amehiko’s Sweep Your Gloom!!!!!!! (Lol before the concert i was like “I’ll be happy if i get to hear this ONE song. And maybe these others too if i’m really lucky” and i got to hear pretty much all the songs on my list dhjgladhflajdh BLESSED) I love Amehiko’s smooth voice so, so much and this song, despite the serious and uplifting lyrics, sounds sexy af bc of Kasama-san’s voice //// To make the performance even more amazing (THIS KEEPS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THE CONCERT ISTG WE ARE SO LUCKY) Rui and Jirou-chan joined the stage as the backup dancers and i wished that i had extra pairs of eyes to watch all my favourites doing the moody sensual dance T_T

As a LegeP i was still feeling giddy and happy AND THEN SORA APPEARED ON STAGE FOR FLOWING FREEDOM omggggggggg my heart >_____< I LOOOVE this song and Sora did such a great job performing it T_T Fuumin was even wearing red contacts to match Sora’s eyes and the text graphics on the main monitor was really stylish and well done, so much so that i found myself watching the graphics half the time. Next, rounding up the Legenders medley was Legacy of Spirit. Legenders’ starting point! This LegeP couldn’t have asked for more TwT (I guessed that they would save Chris’ solo for Shizuoka.)

Finally it was The Kogado’s turn again! They’ve performed RAY OF LIGHT at every appearance in the tour and it just gets better each time!! Just kickass in all aspects and I love Ren singing in a higher tone, esp that last note of the chorus *__*

Back to SEM with ∞ Possibilities! I’ve heard this song a million times but i’ll never get sick of it. We cheered each time Hazama-sensei hit that goosebumps-inducing note in “koeTEEEEEEE” ;____;

Next was yet another song on my wish list! Hazama-sensei’s Learning Message! Like everyone else I’m absolutely in love with Totto’s amazing vocals and the song’s technopop instrumentals are to die for. Imo this song’s key sounds a tad high for Hazama’s in-character vocal range but Totto never fails to deliver a strong vocal performance >< In true SEM tradition he had some weird dance moves haha (someone on twitter interpreted them as possible math symbols).

Beit took the stage again for Smile Engage!!!!! Ahhh THE representative Beit song T_T Horieru and TakaP were sparkly and charming as usual but tbh the vocals sounded a little thin without Kyoji...

SEM joined them on stage next for Eureka Diary. As with the previous songs i think Minori sang most of Kyoji’s lines? I have to admit that I don’t really like this song but it was great seeing Beit and SEM on stage together ;w;

We were in the last segment of the concert which followed the standard template - Beyond The Dream, costume change break/”Encore!” yelling time, then GLORIOUS RO@D, and lastly, DRIVE A LIVE. Iirc Jirou-chan sang Touma’s solo part in GloRoad? I was jealous of the people sitting in the front half of the hall as it was raining paper/foam stars with the Glorious St@ge logo. But more importantly I was ecstatic to be able to participate in yelling “WE ARE 315!!!!” during Drive A Live T_______T I’ve never felt closer to the im@s community and the 315 idols.....

I don’t remember much from the ending talk but I do recall SEM attempting to speak in the local dialects, a somewhat teary-eyed Murase addressing F-LAGS who were watching the LV, Beit & Mofu & Kogado expressing gratitude for the support they’ve received (last day for all these groups), and SEM blowing a synchronised kiss at the camera before disappearing from the stage right at the end akjgfa;kgjfas; *clutches heart*

This day will be a treasured memory of mine for years to come.... Ngl, because i didn’t have a great view from my seat at times I kinda wished that i could’ve split my body in two to watch the concert live and the LV at the same time. But SEM drove by in their rainbow limo trolley within metres of my seat and Jirou-chan shot me in the heart so there’s that.... And while it’s a shame that my main baes DraSta weren’t at Fukuoka, the amazing set list gave me everything else that i wanted, plus more. So much more T_______T Thank you, 315Pro. This P will keep working hard to support our idols!!

[timschaffer]

It’s been a good 6 months with these new systems and here’s my long inevitable rant on them.

Ok so I beat Demon Souls and Astrobot soon after the system releasing and it’s been just me playing PS4 games since on the PS5. The frame rate/resolution does improve on some titles but it’s not many as it pretty much has a be a game where it was unlocked so it has room to fill either/both, which Xbox does the same but the difference being PS5 with 47 titles(found a good list googling) and Xbox actually with Hundreds of titles.

Than we have 120fps games and PS5 is at 11 where Xbox is at 45. I’m super into 120 frames but I get it’s not for everyone and not many even have a 120hertz TV. For me, it’s a HUGE plus though. I’ve been messing with Titanfall 2’s 120fps boost and man is it a game changer. Nioh, a PS4/PS5 exclusive also got 120 frames and it for sure makes the game. Another one that would be unexpected for most is New Super Lucky’s Tale. A good platformer at 120fps is so much fun!!

PS5 does has the cool haptic feedback and strong pressure sensitive triggers. I wouldn’t use them competitively but for single player games it does add an extra layer of immersion that I liked. It is starting to get old and I been recently just turning it off. It’s much more impressive than the Switch Joycon’s HD rumble but with both of them you just get over it after a few months. With Tony Hawk’s remake I had to turn them off as it was dramatically messing up my combo game as triggers are super important when you need to do a reverb to keep a combo going and it doesn’t register because you have to be so quick with it and any pressure you have to add only makes it harder to pull off.

Game Selection

Both currently are in the same boat of not much new for the systems to play. Demon Souls does give the edge to PS5.

Ratchet and Clank and Horizon will be out this year, Ratchet getting very close now :) , but that’s about it. And Xbox has Halo coming.

Now 2022 and beyond Xbox now has 32 studios under their belt where 2 years ago they were at like 12. And Sony with PS1,2,3,and 4 has always had stellar first party titles so it should be the same with them, about 2 huge blockbusters a year. IF Microsoft can have these studios come out huge hitters than we could see a shift in who has more AAA big hitters, 10/10 games.

Huge win for Xbox with back compatibility

Xbox has where you can play OG Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series titles. For me this is one of my favorites as for some examples...

I been playing Lost Odessey the last few days because of the new game the same people made, Fantasian, which has become an instant masterpiece for me so I wanted to go back to their last game and sure enough it’s as good as JRPGs can possibly be. Also playing an original Xbox title that is 20 years old, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.

So having these games run so smoothly (as the original for sure had issues) and it be in 4K is just wildly cool!

Breathing fresh new life into older games is so nice :)

Game Pass - The best friend of gaming

Pay $10 a month and have access to a great selection of hundreds of games!

Some highlights

Destiny 2 + All Expansions

The Outer Worlds

Halo Master Chief Collection

MLB The Show

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Outriders

Doom Eternal

Skyrim w/ Mod Support

Monster Hunter World

Slay the Spire

Hollow Knight

Yakuza Series

Grand Theft Auto V

Tetris Effect : Connected

Hellblade

Dishonored 1+2

Nier Automata

Dead Cells

Microsoft Flight Simulator

No Man’s Sky

Anyone could find at least 10 games they’d want and instead of paying 300 dollars for those 10 games (trying to take sales and older release dates into consideration instead of just saying $600 if all new titles), you could pay $120 a year or $10 a month and have more than you could ever want.

I been playing Outriders a ton and only because of Game Pass. I played the demo(beta) and I was very meh on it, but the more I play it as I didn’t have to buy it and it was just sitting there the more I realized that if you just ignore the horrible story segments and just play the game, it’s has an amazing gameplay loop and mechanics!

There has been many examples for me where I played it because it was on Game Pass and ending up finding something great I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Plus than you have games you for sure would have bought and spent hundreds/thousands obtaining these games and now you don’t have to.

The Bigger Picture

You have a gaming PC, a smartphone/tablet, a cheap laptop with a browser... as long as you have access to a web browser or Google Play/App Store you can now stream Xbox games on these devices. And unlike other streaming services, you can also download these games to devices powerful enough to run them.

Got a gaming PC and a smartphone? Got an Xbox and a tablet? Install it on your PC/Xbox and than continue your game with your smartphone/tablet on the go. Everything is tied to your account when it comes to game purchases, subscriptions, and save files. Being able to jump to any device and not only play but continue your progress is ... well living in the future. We’re finally there, something we thought was only possible in dreams.

Media Optics

Sony has had major mishaps and here is a good video breaking it all down in a few minutes.

https://youtu.be/u6lzBl9kUf0

If you are unable to watch or just not wanting to watch some key take aways are this

-PlayStation has a few big hitters on the way but Microsoft has far more things in the works and if they become successful games Sony is going to be in a big losing position. Sony can release 1 or 2 great games a year but it won’t be enough.

-Sony’s competitor is investing, is excited, they have interesting personalities and they go in podcast and they do live streams. And they’re far more active on Twitter. They interact with their fans. “And Their studios don’t sound like fucking robots, and they don’t have the State of Play girl voice over and that’s it” “They aren’t stuck to a PlayStation blog post, where they can’t say a bad thing about anything they make”

-“You’re not going to be able to get by in a Game Pass ecosystem in 18 months, the way you would be now, unless you have something to compete. And if your not going to compete on the subscription level, than you need to have repeatable AA and AAA. More 2nd party and 3rd party exclusives”

-“I’m nervous, I been covering PlayStation (since early PS3 days), I been playing PlayStation since the beginning. If you not a little worried right now, I think you should be”

-“It doesn’t feel exciting right now. I turn on my PlayStation 5 and I just like, eh. Like it doesn’t even feel like they are trying to draw me in.” Sony has a very assertive and very active competitor, and PlayStation isn’t doing that right now

-In other dark moments of PlayStations history they had a strong Identity and a lot of games, they weren’t always great but they were trying. Now all they want to focus on is the few huge blockbusters. Meanwhile Xbox is making moves not only for tons of big exclusives to follow but this great and exciting Game Pass movement and being constantly active with their fans and bring big updates to their games and other companies games for their platform.

“PlayStation isn’t offering much to be excited for.” “I turn on the PlayStation 5 and I don’t see anything to be excited for to play” “I keep saying I don’t feel like you need a PS5” “I also wish they would talk to us. You can’t announced something huge like PS3 and Vita stores closing deep in a forum post people have to randomly come across” “You sold us a dev kit and than canceled the console’s store the next month”. Thank god they later go back on it.

Xbox has been having big and fun announcements at least once a week

Just today they added 12 more games with 120FPS boost enabled and another going from 30 to 60..

2 days ago they made it where you can play free to play games and join party chat without having to pay for an Xbox online subscription.

3 days ago they made it where iOS and web browsers can now access Game Pass

So what is PS5 Currently offering its competitor doesn’t have?

Demon Souls

Controllers with Adaptive Triggers and Haptic feedback

PS4 exclusives

So what does Xbox Series X|S offer that it’s competitor doesn’t have

Game Pass

Account saves and instant gameplay access across PC, Android, Apple, Web Browser

Quick Resume

(Queue up to 6 games to be able to switch back n forth between without the software having to close)

“Auto HDR” on games without native HDR support

91 Xbox Series vs 11 PS5 120fps games

VRR support

(Variable refresh rate)

Playing games off external storage solutions

Having Access to 4 generations of games dating back to 2001 with higher resolution and resolved frame rate dips.

1440p support and being able to select your resolution and hertz you want to run.

Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One Exclusives

The Future

PS5 “must have” games for future we know of

Final Fantasy XVI

Ratchet and Clank A Rift Apart

Horizon 2

God of War 2

Forspoken

5 big games in the next 2 years’ish.

Xbox “must have” games for future we know of

Scorn

Halo Infinite

Starfield*

Elder Scrolls VI*

Hellblade 2

2 this year, 1 next year, 2 maybe exclusives as with * they haven’t said if they will be exclusive or not.

Xbox will be at E3 and Sony will not so there is a possibility we do see all the game announcements from the 32 studios Microsoft has under their belt now but yes going off only what we know at the moment PlayStation’s intermediate future looks brighter. I do think it’s safe to assume that at least 3 more games could be huge coming from Microsoft and we just aren’t aware of it yet.

Of what we do know, I’d say neither is enough for someone to buy a system based of the exclusives we are aware of yet (with the exception being Elder Scrolls VI for millions, just not me) but more of the promise of what’s to come.

I am a HUGE Final Fantasy fan so for me XVI is enough for me to own a PS5.

[ericjuneau]

Scapegoat by Eric Juneau

Copyright 2020 by Eric J. Juneau. All rights reserved.

This story is in no way intended to infringe on the established copyrights and trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. It is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for sale. It may be freely distributed providing that no alterations to the story are made.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names in this story used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person, living, dead, or otherwise, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Scapegoat

by Eric J. Juneau

The following takes place before "Mega Man X".

Commander Sigma did not need an office. Offices were human constructs to provide private space to focus on work. But a reploid accomplished most job tasks by connecting to a computer terminal. They executed at speeds beyond any organic life form's reaction time.

But it appeased the human politicians and militarists to give him an an office. One with a wall-to-wall window behind his desk overlooking the city buildings. They thought it befit his station as leader of the Elite Seventeenth Unit of Maverick Hunters. An office symbolized status--I get one, you don't. Therefore you are inferior to me.

Zero did not have an office.

Which was why he was standing in Sigma's.

"In my time as commanding officer... no, as a Maverick Hunter at all... I have never seen such a blatant disregard for property," Sigma said. "Do you know what was salvageable from the fire?"

Zero pursed his lips. "Judging by the disaster recovery brief, I would say 'very little'."

"I'm glad you had the mindfulness to at least consider the damage you've done." Sigma picked up the data PDA and held it out. "Nothing. Nothing was salvageable. As one would expect when a geothermal reactor becomes engulfed in flame."

"Sir, I didn't have a choice. One of the mavericks' stray shots hit the fission shielding."

"But you didn't have to add fuel to that fire. You turned a manageable blaze into a raging inferno. The entire district had to be evacuated."

"There were no human casualties. Besides, the plant was a lost cause anyway. The fire was controllable. So I let the natural process of destruction do some of the work for us. As far as I know, we have no standing orders to apprehend mavericks. Correct?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean actively trying to destroy them. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero. There are more of them than there are of us."

"We don't know that, sir. Mavericks hide, stay undercover. There may be more of them, but they don't have a unifying force-"

"Until one day when they do. Dammit, Zero. You have clearly learned nothing from this incident. Since day one, I've been barely able to suppress your brutality and mania. Therefore, I'm demoting you, effective immediately."

Zero gasped. "You can't take away my A-Class. That's verified through independent eval-"

Sigma held up his hand. "No, not that. That can't be changed by your commanding officer. But your mission allocation can. From now on, you are only cleared for epsilon-level assignments."

"Epsilon? That's the lowest there is! It's for privates and emissaries, not hunters of any rank."

Sigma leaned in and pointed his finger. "Until you prove you can handle combat with a calmer head, this is your fate. These lower level assignments will teach you there's more to being a Maverick Hunter than violence and destruction."

"But-"

"There will be no argument. Your first assignment is already in progress. Get to it, hunter."

Sigma didn't have to tell him he was dismissed. Zero turned on his heel and left the office. The door slid shut behind him.

In the corridor, Zero accessed his account. Sure enough, the only tasks on his assignment queue were epsilon-level. Everything else had been filtered out.

Worse yet, all epsilon-class missions required a partner. Zero didn't see who the second delegate was on his current assignment, but it didn't matter. The system would notify him or her that the prerequisites had been filled. Reploids didn't need downtime--didn't need sleep, didn't need food, didn't need to relax. When an assignment was ready, so was the hunter.

Whoever signed on must have been a real go-getter if they didn't care who the senior officer would be. He or she was probably hopping at the door like a puppy.

Zero headed to the transportation bay. Nearly as he predicted, his partner chased after him, waving his hand. He was a blue reploid with angular limbs and a young face. Zero recognized him, though they had never met.

"You're Mega Man X, right?" Zero asked.

"Yes. Although everyone calls me 'X'. Honored to be working with you."

Zero nodded. They walked down the corridor, while Zero discerned first impressions. "So you're the original reploid?"

"Yes, sir. Although I'm not technically a reploid, since all existing reploids are based off my design. You know, since 'reploid' is a portmanteau of 'replicated android'. I'm considered the original prototype."

"But you're with the Maverick Hunters now. Why?" Zero asked. "Aren't we essentially killing your children?"

"Well..." X rubbed the back of his head as they walked. "I don't think of it that way. It could be some kind of programming error, or a fatal bug that makes them violent towards humans."

"Then why have they got you pushing pencils? Taking epsilon-level assignments? You should be with the tacticians and intelligence. You know the most about the vulnerabilities and flaws in your own design."

"Well, one is inexperience. I only joined up recently. Another is... I'm a pacifist." X hung his head.

Zero stopped in his tracks. "You're a pacifist? And you joined the Maverick Hunters?" Zero threw back his head and laughed, yellow hair swishing behind him.

X nodded. "But I realized that I could still do something about it. I wasn't intended for combat but I was designed for it. Every one of them is like me. So if they wreak havoc and I just sit there, I'm as bad as them."

Zero nodded. "Noble," he said as they walked into the elevator. At least he couldn't question X's loyalty. Even if he seemed a little wormy, a little naive for a Maverick Hunter, they'd get along fine.

The elevator dropped them off outside the transportation bay gate. Gristle, a hunched reploid with red bug eyes, was manning dispatch.

"Zero, what's shaking?" he said in a gravelly voice. "Whatcha got going on today? You got a chum?" Zero could almost feel Gristle's datacrawler oozing around his mission log. "Whoa, epsilon-class? What'd you do to get the garbage run?"

"Don't ask," Zero said. "Don't want to talk about it." Zero headed into the bay toward the teleportation capsules, with X following. A long row of booths stood against the wall, similar to restoration chambers. Reploids could use these instead of their own internal teleport circuits, which saved on energy and lifespan.

"Hey, hey!" Gristle shouted. "No, no, no. Not for you. Teleportation's only for delta-class assignments and higher. You take a manual."

Zero looked where Gristle pointed. Small personal vehicles--like ride chasers, cruisers, LUVs--lay scattered in the bay. They were necessary to humans who couldn't teleport. But to a reploid, he might as well have been told to ride a tricycle.

"Ha, ha. I recommend the Little Sultan." He pointed to a two-seated streamlined hovercar. "It's a fine day for a ride anyway, isn't it?"

Gristle's laughter followed them to the hovercar. They both got in and took off through the garage's open maw.

True to Gristle's statement, the day was fine—blue skies with crisp, clean air. But weather control systems will do that for a city. The bright sun certainly didn't match Zero's mood. But X drank it all in, like he had never left Maverick Hunter HQ. Perhaps that was true--rookies tended to get stuck in the bowels of labs and workstations.

"Look, a dog park," X pointed out.

To their right a fenced-off square field enclosed humans with dogs, humans with robot dogs, and robots with real dogs, all partaking of the sunny day.

"Sure is nice to see the city without all the destruction. Something to remind us what we're fighting for. What to look forward to when this is all over," X said.

Zero nodded. "What do you know about our mission?" Might as well make conversation, since the vehicle was self-driving.

"We're delivering an encrypted data package to IngeniVox, a technology manufacturer and innovator." X held up a tiny black rectangle.

"You know what IngeniVox does?" Zero asked.

"Primarily, they make the energen capsules reploids use to restabilize their reactor cores. The data we have is the updated hardware design for the power port interface, so IngeniVox can integrate it into their work."

Zero nodded. "Exciting stuff."

X fiddled with his fingers. "Well, I guess, since it concerns reploid power generation, it's sensitive enough they couldn't risk transmission over the HyperNet. So they needed a courier. And since all assignments require a backup..."

"Only epsilon-level," Zero said. "This mission doesn't need a delivery boy, it needs a mailbox."

X cocked his head. "I take it you think this mission is beneath you."

"It's not my typical fare… but you probably love this." Since you're a pacifist, Zero added in his head.

"Well, it's a safe mission. No one's going to come to any harm or be put in harm's way."

Zero barked a laugh. "I like your optimism, kid. "

X muttered "Kid? I'm older than you. I'm older than every reploid," as the hovercar curved around a corner.

Zero did feel a little lighter as they entered the venture district. Here, manufacturing mixed with business development--the epicenter of progress for the city. Every diamond-glass building glowed in the sun, from skyscraping towers to wide aquaponic fortresses.

The hovercar decelerated into the driveway of a small building shaped like a tulip bulb, covered with mirrored paneling. Maybe fifty people worked there at any given time. A modest logo was stenciled next to the door.

Zero and X entered the reception area. Several flat-panel screens displayed a slideshow highlighting "cutting edge" and "hyper automation" among smart looking humans and teal-and-orange backdrops. The couches and tables looked barely used. But there was no one in the room, not even at the reception desk.

"How do we meet our contact?" X asked. "I expected the entrance to be monitored."

Zero checked the reception console. "Computer is locked due to timeout."

"Is the office closed?"

"It's normal business hours," Zero shrugged. The door to the building proper was secured by a thumbprint reader. Zero wasn't about to violate that policy--he was in enough trouble as it was.

X grimaced. "Something's… off. I don't know anymore than that. It's just... a funny feeling."

They waited for five minutes. X picked up a thermoplastic pyramid that was some business award. Zero examined an abstract painting and a potted palm tree. Surely someone would return after a given amount of time. Security logs would record that the door had been opened and there were occupants in the reception room.

Zero tapped his communicator. "Ophi, are you picking up my location?"

"Loud and clear, Zero. You're at the IngeniVox building right now."

"What's the net traffic look like coming from my location?"

"One second." Zero's eyes darted around the room while the operator examined the input/output transmission at their location. "Seems normal. E-mails, phone calls, internet transmission, all within expected parameters."

"Hmm, okay." Zero shut off the comm. "There's still signals from the building, so people are here."

X didn't answer. He was listening. "Something doesn't seem right. I've never felt anything like it."

Zero again turned his eyes to the door. Authorized Personnel Only.

"X, your buster operational?" Zero asked.

"Yes, sir. It's not as powerful as yours, but..."

Zero waved him off. He approached the door, examined its structure. The electronic lock was a basic "prox" card reader with RFID and 512-bit RSA encryption. Nothing special. A coffee maker could have hacked it. Zero emitted a brute force attack via radio signal and the door opened.

Inside was a typical office building--dispersed cubicles, thin carpeting, uniform desks and chairs. The hum of running machines filled the air. But the lights were off--only the windows lit their way.

"There's people here somewhere," X said. "Maybe they're at a company-wide meeting?"

"I doubt it."

The cubicles occupied only a small area on the way to the manufacturing center. Secure labs, glass windows showing big boxy servers. X peeked in one of the conference rooms. A display screen shuffled through natural landscape photographs.

"Maybe everyone is sick?" X asked. "Or has the day off?"

Zero didn't dignify that with a response. They looked in break rooms, conference rooms, computer rooms, closed-off lab stations, and personal offices. No reploids, no robots, no humans. The only moving object they encountered was a motorized vacuum crossing the floor. It sensed them, avoided their feet, and rerouted to the other hallways.

They stopped and listened, but there was nothing to hear. Nothing but some sinister feeling they couldn't figure out.

"Hey!" Zero shouted. "Hey, anyone!"

"Look," X pointed to an open door. "They wouldn't leave a laboratory open like this. It's a sterile room. And that little box has the chemical symbol for ranmatine. That's highly corrosive."

Without meeting a soul, their sojourn was halted by the other end of the building. They descended the fire stairs one floor.

"Never quite had this feeling before," X said. "I think humans would call it the heebie-jeebies."

Zero smirked. "Leave that out of your report," he said. Assuming we live to see the end of this.

The next floor down was much like above, although missing some of the niceties and human touches. No conference rooms. Just a small reception area with wooden floors and an airlock into the manufacturing floor.

"I've seen abandoned buildings before, but not like this," X said. "Not one that seems so recent. Still full of life-"

"Hold it, X."

The two of them froze.

"Did you hear something?" X asked.

"Thought I heard a... something like crying. Human crying."

X cocked his head, listening for the phantom noise. They waited for the sound to come again.

"HEY!" Zero shouted, startling X. "Is there anybody here?!"

"Let's look in here. This looks like their outbound router."

Inside a closet, taking up all the space, rested a silver and ebony server rack brimming with red, orange, and green lights. The rack was chilled to the touch from the running coolant.

But what caught Zero's eye was a device on the floor--a six-inch black box with an upright cylinder. The top of the cylinder beeped softly every three seconds. A human might have missed it among the snaking wires and conversion boxes. But this didn't fit with the setup. Especially when Zero turned it over and found it had no bottom, just circuit boards and loose wires.

"What is that?" X muttered.

Zero was about to respond when his comm board lit up with an incoming signal. From Ophi. "Zero, can you read me? We analyzed the network traffic coming from the building. It's there, but it's garbage. Random strings and repeated requests. Electronic messages from three days ago sent over and over. Like it's sending mock signals to resemble a normal amount of communication."

Zero turned the device over in his hands. "That's what this is. It's a transponder. Sending simulated network traffic."

"Because if it all stopped, an alert would trigger from the service provider," X said.

"But why? You want to make it seem like humans are still at their desks working. What could-"

Zero's and X's eyes were still on the transponder when they turned from the closet. That was why they didn't see the two reploids standing in front of them. Zero recognized their designations--Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox--and that they were mavericks. But that was all his reaction time would allow.

Phase Crane held some kind of rocket launcher on his shoulder. He fired it as Zero and X raised their buster arms. Two globes of milk-colored glop flew out. The blobs made perfect impact with the apertures of their arm cannons, covering them in sticky biscuit dough.

Phase Crane shifted the launcher tube off his shoulders. "I don't recommend you try to shoot us. That's liquid ceratanium. Well… it was liquid. It hardens quickly."

X tried to pry it off with his fingers, but true to the maverick's word, it had already solidified. Ceramic titanium was the only substance that could repel plasma energy. And his arm cannon was clogged with it.

"If you fire now, the shot'll bounce back in. And probably blow your arm off." Phase Crane cackled. "But if you want to try, go ahead, by all means. I'd like to see that."

Zero's lip twitched as Phase Crane laughed. He reared his fist and ran forward, screaming. X followed a split-second behind. Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox didn't move.

Halfway there, Zero's and X's legs tripped a taut chain across their floor. Their bodies convulsed with violent electric current, paralyzed by bands of yellow energy. Then they collapsed on the ground.

###

Zero and X's systems rebooted from the catastrophic shutdown as their bodies were thrown on a concrete surface.

"Maverick Hunters..." someone said after their heads hit the floor.

They were in a lab or product storage room. The air radiated with energen.

Zero and X stood. They were surrounded by six mavericks in total--the two from before, plus Grabber Kangaroid, Grease Caribou, Bullet Frog, and one hulking gorilla-dog in the center: Drill Mongrell. Mongrell sat on a makeshift throne made of old chassis and plastic parts. His fists were the size of industrial pistons.

"Maverick Hunters… hey... hey, you're Zero," Mongrell pointed as if he had seen a celebrity. "This here is Zero."

"No, he isn't," said Bullet Frog.

"Sure he is. Red and white armor, blond hair. Only A-class in the hunters. The Elite Seventeenth, right?"

"That's right," Zero replied.

Drill Mongrell stepped forward. His fist embedded in Zero's torso, crackling with energy. Zero rocketed up and smashed into the ceiling. Gravel and gray dust rained down with him as he fell like rotten fruit.

"You barbarous-" X started forward. Five arm cannons leveled at him.

Zero struggled to one knee, his limbs trembling. "Enjoy that, Mongrell." Zero glowered from under his helmet. He grinned. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see, Zero… pride of the Maverick Hunters. But later." He turned to Grabber Kangaroid. "Put them with the others."

"With the humans?" she asked. "Why not just get rid of them? We could-"

"Not yet. They might help us out yet. Hostages and such," Mongrell said.

As Chain Buffalox grabbed X's arm, he turned to the other mavericks. "Imagine that. Maverick Hunters helping us."

"They'll be begging to help in no time," Drill Mongrell said.

Bullet Frog and Grease Caribou picked up Zero and half-carried, half-dragged him away. The other two marched X at cannon-point.

They were in a sub-sub-basement, deeper underground. The floors were made of smooth concrete and shiny plastic, like a garage. It was cool and dry, had few lights, and no decorations.

The four mavericks took X and Zero to a room with a mechanical hatch covering the floor. Blinking servers stood against one wall in glass cases. Bullet Frog typed some commands into the standing console at the corner of the hatch. It hummed and slid back like a pool cover.

Bright light spilled out from an in-ground vat. Inside was an ultra-clean server room, indicated by the grid of black computer boxes. And people. About fifty people standing within the illuminated walls. They looked up and began moaning and pleading to be let out.

The mavericks tossed X and Zero into the pit. They landed on their faces, clanging on the semi-metallic floor. The other humans surrounded them, helping them up, checking for damage. Women and men, ages from young twenties to eighties. Everyone spoke at once.

"Guess we found the people," X said. "Are you all here?"

"We think so," said one of the humans. All looked dressed for a day at the office--some with lab coats, some with collared shirts. Most were roughed up, but uninjured.

Drill Mongrell stepped up to the rim of the pit, his allies on either side. "Shut up! Shut up, all of you!"

The group hushed down, except for one woman in the back who couldn't stop sobbing. Phase Crane leveled his arm cannon at her. She cried like her atoms were breaking apart.

"Lady, I told you to keep quiet. Shut up or I'll shut you up."

A man came to comfort her, holding her around the arms while whispering "sh-sh-sh-sh-sh..."

"Zero..." X said.

"Quiet," Zero said.

"Now that we have some new guests here, maybe you'll be more willing to talk. I'm going to ask you again. Which one of you is responsible for that energen bomb?" Drill Mongrell asked.

The humans remained as disconnected and frightened as before, clammy skin and glistening eyes. No one said anything.

"You know what I'm talking about. Which one? All right. Maybe you know these two I just dropped in. They're Maverick Hunters. Zero, in particular. Finest hunter in the Seventeenth Elite Unit, headed by Sigma. What you do from here on out, any consequences that come to pass, he's accountable. That's his purpose anyway, to protect you from reploids like us. Ain't that right, Zero?"

Zero ground his teeth. "You could say that."

Drill Mongrell bent to one knee, addressing Zero. "One of these weaklings killed Terror Mongrell. Same model, same system software as me. You could call him my brother. I did. Someone killed him with an explosive energen capsule, right when his back was turned. I want to know which one of these flesh-bags did it, so I can treat them to the same fate. And until I find out, there's going to be more death coming. So you talk to them, Zero." Drill Mongrell stood. "You explain to them what's at stake. Take a couple minutes."

Drill Mongrell walked away. His maverick gang followed.

Without the sight of them, the IngeniVox employees closed in.

"You guys got to help us," a man said. "Please. You don't know what they can do."

"Is anyone hurt? Does anyone need first aid?" Zero asked. The people shook their heads.

"Are you really Maverick Hunters?" asked a woman.

"Yes. Mega Man X and Zero," X said. "We came to deliver some engineering data regarding energen capsule ports."

"Oh, that would be Hadleigh Wilkins." The man pointed to a nearby heavyset Black woman in a white lab coat. Her crispy hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked dumbfounded at being called out by name.

X took the little plastic nubbin from the storage compartment in his armor and handed it out. "Thanks, I guess," she said as it went into her pocket.

"Mister Zero, sir?" asked a scared looking blond boy with lean features. He touched Zero on the arm. "H-hi. I'm Ryan Shetler. I-I'm a software developer. L-listen, you've got to do something. Those mavericks are gonna-"

"All right, Shetler. Calm down. We'll-"

A woman with long pink hair approached. "We've got people who don't even belong to the company down here. Maintenance managers and even the coffee shop guy. We've got to do something before they come back. Evelyn wasn't even supposed to come in today. She just came to pick up-"

"We're going to handle it, all right?" Zero snapped.

"Hold on! Hold on!" X said as they crowded in.

"We've got to stop them!" the others shouted. "They're going to kill us!"

"If you try and attack, they'd kill you all, get it?" Zero shouted. "Humans are nothing to a maverick. Your lives--all your lives--are on a very thin thread right now."

Shetler interrupted again. "We were thinking if we all rushed... I mean, there's fifty of us. Some of us might get hurt, but all fifty at once-"

"You ever seen flesh against a plasma cannon?" Zero sneered. "It'd go through you like a bullet through a garbage bag."

That quieted them down. Except Shetler, who meekly said "But... we've got to do something."

"We will. But someone needs to explain to me what's going on," Zero asked.

The crowd shushed then. Hadleigh sighed and stepped up. "They came in this morning. Burst in, corralled us up. I think they were looking for energen. The kangaroo one broke into the lab where I was, pocketed everything I was working on."

"There were no signs of forced entry," X said.

Hadleigh nodded. "They might have come from underground. Or the roof. I don't think they were looking for a spectacle, just the energen. They searched the building top to bottom, waving their cannons around. Weren't paying much attention to us."

"What happened to Terror Mongrell? How was he killed?" Zero asked.

"Some of the team in R&D, they call themselves 'rogue squad'. I guess they rigged some of the energen capsules to reverse polarity and implode. Snuck up and threw them, then ran away. One of them picked it up. Exploded right in his face. Whole torso disintegrated. I guess it was the big one's twin."

"That's when the havoc started?" Zero asked.

Hadleigh nodded. "They pulled any of us they could find, using us for hostages. Human shields. Interrogated us. Found every last human in the building. It was easy. We all gave in--no one wanted to get hurt or see anyone hurt."

"And you've been trapped here ever since?"

Hadleigh nodded. "The 'rogue squad' is here too, but the mavericks don't know that."

"Why doesn't he just kill you all? Then he'd have his revenge," X asked.

Zero shrugged. "Because it's personal. He must want to do something special he can't get from indiscriminate killing. We aren't dealing with mavericks like we used to. They never used to roam around in gangs, terrorizing humans for pleasure. They used to fight alone, popping up here and there. I've learned never to hold any expectations for a maverick."

"Anyway, we've been trapped here since," Hadleigh said. "Mongrell keeps threatening us unless we give them up. Even the guys in rogue squad don't know which one of them did it."

A woman gasped and covered her mouth as her watery eyes flashed. Drill Mongrell had returned, along with his cronies.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen? What's it going to be?" When no one spoke, he eyed Zero. "You get any answers out of them? Did you tell them to do the right thing?"

"The right thing would be to accept that your brother got what he deserved."

"Not on account of some human cowards."

"He was a moron who broke in somewhere and picked up a strange energen capsule tossed his way. If you're dumb enough-"

Mongrel's arms lit up as bright as his eyes. "I'm not gonna take a lecture from a servile thug like you about right and wrong. Now give 'em up." Mongrell held up his barrel-sized fist and cocked it like a shotgun. A surge of ocher energy rippled through. "Who did it? If I have to wipe out every mealy-mouthed meatbag here, I'll find out. I will."

"You think that's going to bring Terror Mongrell back?" Zero sneered.

Drill Mongrell growled under his voicebox. "Grabber, take two of them. That one..." He pointed to a rotund Indian man with meaty jowls. "And that one..." He pointed to Shetler.

"No!" X shouted.

"Mongrell, when I get out of here I'm going to tear you apart. There won't be anything left of you but dust," Zero said, fighting the urge to raise his useless arm cannon.

"You gotta get out of there first," Mongrell said.

Grabber Kangaroid stepped up. Her belly split across the middle and a large claw emerged. The claw, attached by a chain, hurtled out and clamped around the first victim. The clamp yanked back so hard, his neck wrenched hard enough to snap. Kangaroid caught him and threw him to the side.

Three others clutched onto Shetler's body, but that didn't matter. He flew out of their hands and into the mavericks'.

"Well? Anybody got anything to say now?" Mongrell asked once the cries had settled. No one spoke. "All right then. You can live with your decision." Mongrell stepped back. The mavericks dragged the dazed humans out of view.

Everyone stood in hushed sobs, like trembling zombies. Zero and X could do no more than the same, staring at the space above.

There was no charging of cannon, no hum of a power surge, no voices, no crying or pleading. Just two shots, with no way to shut out the sound. Some weeped louder, but otherwise, the death chill had frozen everyone.

"We've got to do something," muttered Hadleigh.

"We will," Zero said.

###

The hatch advanced, becoming their ceiling and shutting them back in a vault. Bright light from the paneled walls and floors irritated their eyes like gnats. Zero didn't know why the mavericks didn't come back and capitalize on the fresh fear. Maybe Mongrell was more gutless than he let on.

X had gone to circulate among the others, maybe to gather information. That suited Zero fine--he could stand against the wall and contemplate the situation. Strategize. Six mavericks, once seven. Still too many to take on, even with a buster that worked.

X returned. "Did you ever send out a distress signal?" he asked Zero.

"Have been ever since they threw us in here," Zero said. "Signal's being blocked. I can't even connect to you. Something's mangling it. Probably whatever lines this room."

"Lead-corbosite," Hadleigh tossed in. "It scrambles all wireless signals, prevents external hacking. These servers are for data-processing. They're only ever supposed to talk to each other. That's why they put us in here. Easier than trying to grab everyone's phones, PDAs, whatever."

"I found the members of 'rogue squad'," X said. "That's just a nickname they gave themselves. They're the top engineers for the company, innovators. Two of them are willing to submit themselves, but two aren't."

"And they shouldn't," Zero said. "We don't deal in lives. We should be thinking about escape."

"Even if we do, we're useless without our busters," X said.

"I know," Zero said. "We're just arms and legs."

"There's some vorticular acetinol in my lab. It can dissolve ceratanium. If we can get out of here," Hadleigh said.

"Eventually we're going to register as missing, either us or the humans," X said. "Then they'll send reinforcements."

"Too much time passes, they're going to come back here and kill another one of us. Or we'll just start dropping," Hadleigh added. "Haviland has an implant that sends neurosignals from his heart to his lungs and it's not working in here. If we don't get out of here soon, he's going to drop dead."

"Reinforcements?" Zero turned to X. "We are the reinforcements."

X, Zero, and Hadleigh spent an hour brainstorming plans, huddled in a corner. Many began shivering from cold, walking around, rubbing their arms and legs together. The vault wasn't meant for human habitation.

"Do they always come in the same way? Stand in the same spots?" X asked.

"Yes, right there." She pointed.

"How many approach at a time? I figure Grabber Kangaroid will always be one of them."

"The only time there's more than two is when the big one is with, the leader."

X's eyes brightened. "Here's what we could do. Zero and I could press against the wall under where they stand. That hatch opens slow, so they'll be waiting. Probably not paying too much attention. We'll wait until we see them. Then we jump, drag them down. Once they're in, we swarm, all fifty of us."

Hadleigh drew back.

"Just long enough to keep them down and confused while Zero and I disable them," X said.

"What's to stop them from signaling from help?" Hadleigh asked.

"Same thing stopping us." X gestured to the illuminated corbosite all around them.

"You don't think they'll be on a higher alert now that we're here?" Zero asked.

"Not without our blasters." X held up his arm cannon, still covered in hardened goo. Zero nodded.

"It's risky," Hadleigh said.

"Life is risk," Zero said. "If we're to have any chance at all, we have to take one."

"You're telling me," X said. "If the heaviest reploids show up, we might be screwed. I don't think I can take that buffalo one down."

"Surprise will be on our side," said Zero. "We'll also need everyone's help. Every last body."

"I'll start telling the others." Hadleigh stood from her crouch and sauntered toward the others.

X and Zero assumed positions where the hatch opened, comparing data about where they would approach from. Then they pressed against the wall to stay out of peripheral vision. After that, all they had to do was wait.

"Gotta admit, X, you've got a mind for method," Zero whispered. "Me? My central strategy is to rush in and start shooting."

"That's why you're an A-class hunter. You never hesitate on the battlefield. You have the skill that keeps you alive," X said.

"Could also be luck. I may take action, but it's not always the right action. You figure out the right action. There might be a place for you in the tactical division."

X looked down. "I could get people killed."

"You can get people killed doing what I do," Zero said.

"No, I mean I... may not be ready... yet."

"Well, with some training-"

"No, you don't understand." X's voice trembled. "You know my story. When Dr. Cain found me, I was sealed inside a capsule. I was supposed to be there for thirty years so it could test out my neuropsychology. Run simulations and correct the AI network. Make sure I wouldn't pose a danger to humans."

"Right, so?"

"So when Dr. Cain analyzed the capsule's computer, he couldn't find the date I was sealed in. The data was either corrupted or erased or... something. So no one knows how long I was in there." X gave Zero a desperate look. "What if it was less than thirty years? What if every maverick is my fault because they're all based on me? Because I was disconnected too early. And they all have it, Zero. Every reploid has my faulty programming. And there are so many of them, we could never stop them all, and they keep making more every day-"

"X, X, calm down," Zero said. "It's not your fault. You didn't make anyone go maverick. Whether it's a virus or a design flaw, you didn't make any of this. Besides you're doing everything you can to stop them."

"I'm doing everything I can because it could all be my fault," X said in a low tone.

Zero grimaced and huffed, unsure what to say.

A loud thud sounded, followed by grinding metal. The hatch was opening.

###

X and Zero hunkered down as the ceiling's shadow slid across the floor. The humans couldn't hear, but X and Zero, with their ultra-sensitive audio receptors, picked up conversation. Mongrell wasn't one of them.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Mongrell. His whole… thing. They were close, I guess?"

"I never saw it. How many should we grab?"

"I don't know. He said to take one or two."

"Well, which is it? One or two?"

"How should I know? They all look the same to me."

"Maybe he meant we take one big one or two little ones."

"I don't think that's how it works. Each human's an individual unit."

Around Zero and X, the people trembled like chickens in a hen house. Hadleigh made a V sign with her fingers. "Two," she mouthed.

"The bigger ones might be more valuable."

"But more of them means more loss. Humans have a higher reaction to large numbers of dead."

"That's true. Maybe we take one small one and one big one. Like that one standing over there, he looks big enough."

"Hey, you. Step forward. Are you important?"

The silhouettes of the reploids crept over the rim of the wall, shadowed by the overhead lights. Zero and X aligned themselves directly under each.

In perfect synchronicity, they leapt up, kicked off the wall, and bounded over the pit. With Zero and X floating before them, Grabber Kangaroid and Bullet Frog stood stunned.

Zero seized Grabber Kangaroid by the shoulders. X grabbed Bullet Frog's bulbous head. As they fell, they dragged the mavericks down with them. Everyone landed scattered from each other with loud clanging.

The humans mobbed the prone reploids. They held them down anywhere they could squeeze in and get a hand on some metal. The mavericks appeared dazed, making little effort to get up as they were overrun.

X and Zero sprang up, no time to spare. They scrambled toward the mavericks, each heading toward one.

"Voice box," Zero said. Simultaneously, X and Zero plunged their free arms into Bullet Frog's and Grabber Kangaroid's mouths. They clutched the biggest chunk of equipment they could find purchase on and ripped it out.

"Arm cannon," Zero said. The humans spread apart, giving access to each maverick's right hand. X and Zero tore them off with as much strength as they could muster. Grabber Kangaroid and Bitter Frog convulsed in pain and terror. Taking away a maverick's weapon was like ripping out their soul.

"There." Zero sat back. "Can you hold them like that for a while?"

The humans nodded, while the mavericks flailed beneath them. "All of us together, we can do it."

"All right, let's get out of here." Zero turned to Hadleigh. "Where is your lab?"

"I'm coming with you," she said. "You need my keycode to get in. And 'rogue squad' told me there are more of those rigged-up energen grenades in there."

Zero should have said no, but time was of the essence. "Fine."

"Get on my back." X hunched down.

Hadleigh wrapped her arms around X like a human backpack. The two wall-kicked and jumped out of the pit, landing on concrete floor. In a darkened corner, they saw the two bodies that had been shot. Holes torn through their chest cavities, crispy flesh bubbling around the edges.

Hadleigh let herself down. "My lab's on this floor. South wing. Come on."

As they headed south, Zero said to X, "I just sent a message to HQ, but they won't be here soon enough."

"There's still four of them and two of us," X said.

"But we know that and they don't."

Hadleigh led them to a laboratory with a darkened door window. She entered a code on the keypad. The hydraulic lock behind the door whooshed open.

The lab was a mess--equipment scattered on the floor with sparkling glass and instruments. Rubber stoppers, vials, blue stain, frayed wires, along with the strong smell of latex and ozone.

Hadleigh reached under a standing table, where towers of differently-sized canisters were stacked. She placed one on the table. It hissed as she unscrewed the top. "Crap," she said. "There's only enough for one."

"X, you take it," Zero said.

"But your buster is more powerful. Mine's only a Mark-17."

"I can handle myself. I didn't become a Class-A solely because of this." Zero held up his arm.

A light entered Hadleigh's eyes. "I think I know something you can use."

X poured out the canister on his arm and rubbed the viscous goo in. In a few seconds, the ceratanium began hissing and smoking, emitting a foul chemical odor. Meanwhile, Zero followed Hadleigh to the corner of the lab. She bent down to a chest. Inside was a palm-sized gold stick.

"Try this. Hold the hilt away from you and energize it."

Zero did so. A needle-thin ray of green light extended out three feet. It crackled a bit, then stabilized.

"It's a laser sword," Zero said.

"It's an irradiated plasma ray with a hydron blocker attached to an output impedance. And an extended amplitude regulator to control the length. But yes, it's a laser sword." She shrugged. "What can I say? We're nerds. Problem is, no one can use it, because we'd chop off our limbs. No human at least--we don't have the dexterity or control. But a reploid..."

Zero stood clear of any objects. He swooped the sword around, stabbing and slashing. Each swing made a vrrrp-sound that increased in timbre with velocity. He grinned.

"I could get used to this." His mind raced with ways to refine it for combat. The hilt was clunky. It could be longer and have an added guard. Maybe increase the blade width. Make it swing in a more fluid arc. And make it green. Or blue. Both? He couldn't decide.

"Zero?"

"Huh?"

"We're ready," X said. He brushed the remaining chunks of ceratanium off his arm cannon. It had a discolored stain, but nothing that couldn't be cleaned. Assuming they survived this.

"I'm ready." Hadleigh zipped up a squarish bag with a vendor's logo and shoulder strap. It was full of small round globes, each with a band of prismatic light around the center.

The three of them made their way to the grand conference room where X and Zero had woken up. Its windows were made of frosted glass and they could see the mavericks' silhouettes inside. They were talking, scheming, hoarding the energen, searching through computers for data.

Zero and X stood a ways from the room, out of sight. "If we could pick them off one by one, we'd be fine," X said.

"Don't think we're going to have that option," Zero said.

X's eyes traced a path along the ceiling. "Is there a maintenance shaft that cuts across that room?"

"I think so," Hadleigh said. "It's always cold in there."

"You thinking about sneaking in?" Zero asked.

"I'm thinking about a three-pronged assault. Surprise them. I can get through the vents--I'm lighter than I look. You bait them out the door. Hadleigh stands to the side and chucks her explosives at them."

"I don't know if we can take that chance-"

"I'm willing," Hadleigh said. "I think it's a good plan."

"We gotta do something now. They're going to get suspicious when those mavericks don't come back," X said.

"All right. I'll get their attention on me. You drop behind them. Then we all unleash hell."

X nodded. He climbed up some boxes to the ceiling, tore the grate out, and climbed in.

"We'll wait a bit for X to get into position. Let's get ourselves ready."

With quiet steps, Zero and Hadleigh approached the conference room door. Without lights, they wouldn't be seen, as long as no one looked too hard. Hadleigh stood on the other side of the door frame. She silently unzipped her bag. Zero stood a few feet from the entrance. From here, he could hear the dialogue inside.

"It's all about psychology," Phase Crane was saying. "You use fear to motivate them. Humans eat up fear. And you know what they fear the most?"

"Uh, snakes?" came one of the answers. "The dark? Squishy things?"

"No, no. The unknown. That's why I told Mongrell to put them in isolation. They don't know when we're coming. They don't know who's going to die. They don't know where we are. So they stew in their little gray brains for hours thinking of the worst case scenarios. Intimidating themselves. Building up their fear. They do the work for us."

There were murmurs of assent and approval.

"I don't care. I want them to pay for what they did to my brother," came Mongrell's voice. "Go find out where the other two are. Tell them to grab the two reploids, the Maverick Hunters. They're harmless now. Kill 'em outright. Let them know there's no one protecting them."

"Don't be so sure about that!" Zero shouted.

The chatter inside halted. Zero held his sword across his chest. Hadleigh shifted her feet.

The door burst open. Chain Buffalox stood there, steam emitting from his nostrils. Phase Crane behind him.

"Kill him!" Mongrell shouted.

Mega Man X dropped out of the ceiling behind them. Everyone but Buffalox turned around--he was rushing Zero. As soon as he cleared the door, Hadleigh started throwing metal balls of energy inside, one after the other. The room filled with explosions. The other mavericks darted around chaotically as X targeted them one by one.

Buffalox tried to punch Zero, but he side-stepped, severing the arm at the elbow. But that didn't faze the buffalo-reploid--a chain burst out of his arm cannon, embedding into Zero's chest. It lit up with an electric surge, stunning Zero, sending pain through him like red hot spikes. Chain Buffalox retracted the grapple. Zero held out the laser sword as he was brought into Buffalox's range. The green ray impaled the maverick through the chest. Sparks and smoke puffed into his face, and the maverick fell over.

Zero rushed toward the conference room. Smoke and screams and explosions saturated the area. Flames crackling and flashing, glass breaking, a gummy acrid smell that burned the nose. Zero pushed himself through the fog. "X?"

Zero's foot made contact with something outside the door. A body. He waved the smoke away. It was Hadleigh. Her eyes were closed, charred skin and blood above her left eye. Body covered in ash. Dead by explosion, not a stray plasma shot. Maybe one of those jerry-rigged capsules rolled back to her.

"X?" Zero shouted again.

"I'm here!" X said.

At Zero's feet, Drill Mongrell's shape crawled along the floor through the smog. Zero gripped under the maverick's chest armor and spun him on his back. Mongrell cried out. Zero stomped a foot on Mongrell's torso and held the sword to his chin.

"It's over, Drill," Zero shouted.

"Ain't nothing over. They killed my brother, I'll kill you too."

"There's been enough killing today."

Drill Mongrell stopped struggling. He grinned toothily. "All right, Zero. That's fine, then. I surrender."

Zero remembered what Commander Sigma had said. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero.

He plunged his sword deep into Drill Mongrell's chest cavity, into the power core. Mongrell gasped as liquid plasma and oil eked out. "I'd rather become a maverick myself than have to work side-by-side with you, rehabilitated or not," Zero whispered.

When Drill Mongrell stopped twitching, Zero unsheathed the sword and turned it off.

"You okay, Zero?" X asked, getting closer.

"Just fine," Zero said.

###

And it was over.

Zero and X rushed back and disposed of the two mavericks held in the pit. The humans had held up their end of the bargain, so X and Zero held up theirs. Shortly thereafter, HQ sent in the cavalry. The humans were treated, the building locked down, and order restored.

X and Zero were standing in front of the doorway when the medical gurney slid out. A body lay under a shroud, carried by the anti-grav lifters.

"A human willing to sacrifice herself, so that us Maverick Hunters could live..." Zero muttered.

"I've learned never to hold any expectations for a human," X replied with a small smirk.

Zero took a breath. "I've always thought of humans as characters in the background. Like sheep that get in the way. I think... I think that must be how the mavericks think too." Zero began to walk away, back to the troop transport. "You know it could be more," he called back.

X turned to him. "Huh?"

"It could be more than thirty years… that you were in the capsule. If they don't know the date, you might have been in there the full duration and you're fine. You were tested fully and the reploids go maverick because of something else. Maybe they get ideas in their head or their programming gets hacked."

"I suppose," X said. Maybe not convinced, but less burdened. "I'm going to stick around, in case they need help with clean-up."

Zero nodded. "See you at headquarters, X." And he walked off.

#END#

[lootbear]

Top 5 ways to rank up in CS:GO

‘Global Elite’ - The pinnacle of matchmaking achievement. A goal for many CS:GO players but for every person that achieves it, there are more that get lost forever in LEM limbo and even more than that who end up stuck at the lower ranks.

If you feel ‘stuck’ at any rank then your goal is most probably to rank up. In this guide we are going to share some of best ACTIONABLE tips you can take to instantly better your game.

‘You can’t INSTANTLY improve your game Mr.Stupid-blog-writer-man, it takes hours and hours of practice’. 

First of all, did you just assume my gender? I mean, you’re right but its still not OK to do that these days. Also you’re the one reading MY blog post, now who’s stupid, hmm?!... Anyway now that I’m done insulting you for no reason we can move on from the minefield of a conversation of gender... Yes you can. You can literally change just a few things that will have an instantaneous effect on your game. Lets get into it.

1. Keep your ego in check, be willing to learn.

I can honestly say that an inflated ego or a false sense of entitlement is the cause of skill plateau in 99.9% of people. It’s far too easy to blame external factors that are out of your control for the loss of your game but by doing this you neglect EVERY FACTOR THAT IS WITHIN YOUR CONTROL. Stop making excuses for why you lose to your opponents and focus instead on how you can beat them. Every player that beats you is an opportunity to learn. 

Example - An AWPer on A-Long on Dust_2 is killing you when you try to rush even when ‘HE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE BLIND!!’. Adapt. Try jiggle peaking him instead. Adapt. Try faking the rush and going short instead. Adapt. And if what he is doing ends up being hard to counter - Take what he is doing and adopt it into your own play style when its your turn to defend. 

When you accept that a player is better than you without hurting your precious ego it stops becoming a frustrating dead end and becomes an opportunity to learn. 

2. Work on your communication

So often I hear my friends blame their teammates for losing a game. And whilst you can’t control the skill level of your allies, you can control how you decide to communicate with them. Raging at people, calling them noobs or whatever else you might want to do is a sure fire way to destroy team morale and most likely push them into a downward spiral of no longer caring about the game. 

Adopt helpful, friendly communication with your teammates and see an instant improvement to both the team play and your enjoyment of the game.

Now, in the event that you meet someone that hasn’t read this blog, isn’t taking this advice and is being a toxic idiot then the best thing to do is simply mute them. Do not lower yourself to their level. Remain positive and continue to communicate with the other members of your team. 

3kliksphilip has a great video on this and whilst a little old, the points he covers are still relevant -

3. Give accurate call outs.

This point goes hand in hand with our previous tip but deserves its own point on the list due to its importance. Stop giving bad calls with inaccurate information. 

A few days ago we tweeted out this - 

(you should definitely follow us on Twitter @applootbear if you haven’t already by the way)

There is NOTHING worse in this game (except maybe CS:GO’s update schedule #burn) than rotating to another bomb site based on a call of ‘THEY’RE ALL B’ when in actuality there is only 1 player in tunnels and he isn’t even rushing. Calls like this cause your teammates to lose their competitive positioning (on either team) and can lead to losing rounds faster than throwing a cat over your head can lead to a ban on Twitch. Oh wait, that isn’t very fast at all is it? Okay never mind - its fast. Promise.

Start being more accurate. Call the number of players you hear / see, wait that extra second to decide if they are actually rushing you after all or if they are simply going Lowers to Mid. 

The same goes for being on T side. Giving accurate information on how many players go where, the weaponry etc can go along way to securing you the round. 

4. Learn helpful nades / flashes / smokes for ALL maps.

I feel that, especially at the lower ranks, utility is either underused or misused far too often. CS:GO is a strategic game focused around the common theme of gaining or denying space. There is no better way to deny access to a bombsite than with the use of a properly placed smoke or a well timed molotov.

Learning how to deny your enemy the space they require or to provide space for your teammates can go a LONG way towards securing a win. The longer you can hold off a terrorist team from being able to take action upon a bombsite, the more pressure you put them under. And the same in reverse - The more angles you can deny the CT team access to, the easier the job of taking space becomes. 

No-one (apart from maybe Nadeking) enjoys practicing nades endlessly on empty servers, so what is the best way to learn all of these important throws? 

S L O W L Y. Slowly is the answer. Focus on one map at a time, or even 1 bombsite at a time. Try learning a few key smokes and flashes for bomb site A on Mirage on a private server then queue specifically for Mirage in your next game and put them into practice. Solidify your learning by implementing them in real situations and you will find that you remember things more consistently. Sure, learning a crazy-bounce-off-4-walls pop-flash for someone camping behind an obscure position seems cool but 1 - How often will you actually use that? And 2 - Will you remember it anyway? 

Here is a great guide from the king of nades him self... Nadeking, obviously... To get you started - 

5. Configure your sensitivity properly

Everybody is different. Some people like high sensitivity, some people like low sensitivity. You need to find what works best for you. Do not be stupid enough to google things like ‘ScreaM’s CSGO Sensitivty’ thinking that by copying him you will somehow suddenly get paid to make cringe mouse advertisements too. It doesn’t work like that. 

Personally, I have always preferred a slow sensitivity as I tend to aim with my whole arm vs. just using the wrist as some players do. How did I settle on my sensitivity? By following this guide I found on YouTube - 

It can take a while to get to the final result but trust me when I say that its worth it. Invest this time into getting your sensitivity PERFECT in CS:GO and you will notice an instant increase in your consistency.

Also, please be aware that you should try to maintain a consistent sensitivity across all FPS games that you play. There are many calculators online that can convert your CS:GO sensitivity into any other game you play. This keeps your muscle memory in check and stops you from missing those heads. 

I hope that you have found this guide useful. The most important (and incredibly cliche) thing to remember is that CS:GO is, after all, just a game. If the frustration of losing games is causing you too much emotional torment then perhaps you should reconsider your hobbies. Maybe take up fishing. Chill out a bit, come back to the game when you can control your emotions and focus on your self improvement. 

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

[thenightisland]

explanations/updates under the cut

i haven’t been able to maintain much in the way of interaction with most of the people i care about, also haven’t been able to do much more than get out of bed every day because it’s one thing to be depressed and another to have just had such a goddamn terrible few months that there’s no way your antidepressants can keep up with all the awful

i already had several weeks without my second in command because she’s cursed and had to have another surgery. our unit lost two of our main techs (for new people inexplicably reading this, i charge a locked acute psychiatric ward, and losing techs is a /massive/ loss). the admin demons have been instituting various new things that have been having terrible effects on the units which i won’t get into because that would be a really really long explanation with a lot of jargon in it. one of the things though is the fact that the “do not readmit” list has been low key thrown out the window, so all the pts who were on that list /with good fucking reason/ are of course, now coming back, and spoiler alert they’re just as terrible still.

this one bookstore closed which sounds stupid as fuck but that place was the closest thing i had to a church and it literally kept me alive when i was in high school like i say that completely without exaggeration so it closing was the equivalent of someone hacking off one of my limbs because it was still the main place i went to when i was upset and wanted to feel less miserable and i don’t have it anymore and you wouldn’t believe how hard it is like imagine if your church got demolished or whatever you believe in like it destroyed me and i feel unmoored i don’t have that safe space feeling now because it’s gone

meanwhile the person i spent seven years of my life in love with had a baby with the boyfriend she described as Guy Karen, named me godmother of their firstborn son, and unknowingly made his middle name the pen name i’ve used for a decade because fucking of course this might as well fucking happen too. but i have other romantic bullshit going on now that’s honestly fucking me up worse.

also somehow i still can’t escape a little life like it has haunted me every waking moment since march 2016 and i hate how much i am like the protagonist and it’s kind of fucking with me??????

a fucking garbage man bashed off the side mirror on my car which i still haven’t had the fucking time to get fixed that was great

spent my whole vacation anxious having panic attacks like what is the point in having a long vacation if you’re going to be constantly stressed over nothing like goddammit can’t i just have this

within the last month and a half five people i know have died. three of them were our patients which like doesn’t sound like a thing that would cause that much distress, but due to the nature of our unit, we’re the only family a lot of our career patients have most of our pts are homeless, schizophrenic, intellectually disabled, just plain unwanted people of varying illnesses, like we literally look after the people no one else wants so when we hear one of Our Patients has died it fucks us up so badly. and it’s even worse because it’s not like they died in their sleep or something all of them have been post-discharge suicides like our work already feels like a revolving door exercise in futility because that’s the nature of the field unfortunately but it still hurts like i spend forty hours or more a week with these people i literally see them than i see my friends and family our patients are mostly so close to us that like when the day shift charge nurse came back from maternity leave, pt who had been there when she was pregnant who were there again were asking about how the baby was doing so three of our pts killing themselves in the last month in a half is soul crushing

then the closest thing i had to a friend in nursing school, well, she died too. out of the fucking blue, out of nowhere. she was a 28 year old healthy woman with two young daughters. she worked so hard for her and her girls she went to nursing school to build a better life for them and she genuinely wanted to be a nurse meanwhile i originally got into it for the money like she only got to live her dream working in L&D for two and a half years. and then she was on vacation in florida with her girls who were doing like a cheerleading camp. and she just. went to sleep and never woke up. and i still don’t know what killed her no one has posted it on facebook, and unfortunately, all the people who might know are the people that i cut out of my life because the rest of our class was a toxic mess so i can’t very well be like heyyyyy so i know i deleted you years ago and all but what killed linda? so still no closure. i just hope to god her girls didn’t find their mother dead. like it wrecked me.

i also say that every time i come back from a vacation something awful happens like when i came back from boston/nyc i discovered i was the only nurse left on my shift and when i came back from st louis last fall my dog died a very traumatizing [for me] death, so when i came back from dc i was like hmm what next.

well, another fucking person died is what next. /one of my coworkers/ my alpha tech from my original 11-7 team one of the people who has literally saved my life and kept so many people from getting hurt this is someone i saw five days a week for the last two and a half years of my life. he was already going through a lot because him and his wife split, so he was staying at a friend’s house, a friend who happened to be an NP for one of the psych docs, and the NP’s sister who works as an internal medicine assistant. and then on cinco de mayo we got word that his car had flipped and killed him. and a lot of people attributed it to a classic cinco drunk driving fatality but it gets worse because of course it does because lol it wasn’t /his/ car that flipped. it was the NP’s sports car. and apparently, the NP was driving, and the sister was following. the sister and NP were off the grid for a couple days and then the sister came back to work, but the NP has been taken off the on call list “indefinitely” so not only is one of our team members dead, but he is probably dead from a /drunk driving vehicular homicide done by another team member/ because apparently the world was like fuck our unit specifically.

then i got to spend several days being targeted by a pt who was a behavioral case [aka they’re not actually mentally ill, they’ve learned to play the system to avoid going to jail, basically] and that involved her being in seclusion for seven goddamn hours and her literally endlessly threatening to kill me for days to the point that i was confined to our walled in nurses station because she was you know trying to kill me and just constantly standing on the other side of the glass throwing around some of the worst verbal abuse i’ve ever experienced like i’m already exhausted and fatigued and miserable can’t you shut the fuck up i need to find some kind of meaning in my job because it’s all i have and you’re making it very hard for me to feel like i’ve done any good for anyone

all of this built up nicely into a good old fashioned nervous breakdown to the point that i had to call in sick because lol turns out that that is a lot of fucking shit to deal with in the span of a month and a half and emotionally things are only going to get harder from here this year for a variety of personal reasons that suffice to say have literally kept me up at night and upset me enough that i even had some nightmares break through the medication because i’m seeing so many of my friends find their happiness and i hate that i can’t feel that happy for them because i’m so tired and when the fuck will it be my turn i don’t want to resent my friends’ happiness and successes i’m just fucking exhausted and would really like for some good goddamn things to start happening here any time now i’ve been under so much stress i’m just a human version of the song running on empty at this point it’s all too much and i still can’t write i’m still stuck in the same hell from a manuscript i wrote nearly four years ago all i’ve been able to write is Coping Poetry to keep from going off the deep end and honestly everything in my life just feels completely out of control and i’m just tired of so many bad things happening in such a short amount of time like i can handle my own emotional problems until you dump all this other fucking nightmare fuel on top of them then it’s too much

so for the unfinished ao3 wip i’m sorry for the sheet music requests i’m sorry for the unanswered messages i’m sorry i’m safe i’m not in any danger of hurting myself or anything but i’m overwhelmed and i barely have the energy to get through all the shit that’s been happening lately so i can’t even promise when my interactions with anyone will be back to normal especially given my already awful skill at withdrawing from the people who care about me because i don’t want to bring them down any so just. tolerate the queue’s work. if you see me posting more but not answering you it’s not you it’s me i just cannot manage even talking to more than like three people max right now hence the until further notice psa you’ve seen at the top of my blog

the worst part is that there’s actually /more/ but it’s also three in the morning and i have to work tomorrow so here’s the highlights turns out averaging one death a week takes a toll on a person who’s already isolated and exhausted

hopefully at some point, things won’t suck as much and i can go back to being regular me. till then, apologies, and enjoy the queue

[hydrus]

Version 297

windows

zip

exe

os x

app

tar.gz

linux

tar.gz

source

tar.gz

I had a great week. I fixed some things and added a bunch of new ui stuff, including a basic new 'file notes' system.

dead subscriptions and bandwidth review

Several users have reported that their subscriptions were receiving DEAD status despite seeming to be healthy. Moreover, attempts to revive their dead subs were not working. I have put some time into improving the logic here all around and I hope this is mostly if not all fixed. On update, all your dead subscriptions will be revived automatically just to check if they were hit by this, so I hope everything will all be cleared up here for everyone. Please let me know if you still have problems.

Furthermore, the manage subscriptions and edit subscription panels will now note any subs or queries that are currently blocked due to bandwidth rules (this will come under the 'recent delays/errors' columns). This should make it a bit clearer to see when a sub is just pausing for a bit vs experiencing a real error.

I have also cleaned up the network->review bandwidth usage frame. It shows more data (including bandwidth used during the current search distance) and cuts out some anomalous rows.

missing tags and the wrong images

A long-time patch to get Deviant Art, tumblr, and thread watcher tags working correctly has been replaced by a more formal solution in the new downloader engine. The old patch stored the tags in volatile memory and would forget outstanding tags through a program restart, but this new one will save them as soon as they come in (in these cases, tags are parsed in the initial gallery page parsing step).

This improvement will affect all new URLs, so if you have an existing DA sub that lost a bunch of tags, you might like to run its query text in a manual DA downloader page again to fetch the tags retroactively. If you try this, you would previously have had to click a quiet 'cog' icon to force the page to fetch tags for files where the URL was already known and the file was already in the db, but I have moved this obscure option to the much more appropriate 'tag import options'.

The tag import options panel has received its own cleanup. The lists of namespaces are more cleanly aligned and delineated, and I've added select all/none buttons for quicker editing.

I also fixed an issue with Hentai Foundry sometimes pulling a picture embedded in an artist's image description area rather than the actual art. This affected 'teku' artist searches particularly. If you were hit by this and want to fix it, I think you want to find the gif that was being substituted (try system:hash=e3e8979cf9b736b479597ce03982d33e2a9be3a949f0e005ec8c236b7d7198d4), clear out its 'manage->known urls' to instruct hydrus to forget which file is supposed to go with those URLs, and then retry 'teku' in a HF download page or reset your teku sub.

EDIT: Reading this back, that HF teku fix is a bit convoluted. If you understand what is going on there, feel free to do it, but I'll see about writing a 'fetch URL even if URL known and file is deleted/already in db' option that'll make this 'get it again even though you think you know what it is' action easier to do in the next few weeks.

file notes

After several discussions with users, I have written a very basic 'file notes' system that lets you attach longer multi-line text data to any file. Please check it out under media right-click->manage->file notes.

This is a prototype, so you'll just get a very simple dialog for now, but I expect to write mass import/export for this stuff and am interested in your thoughts as well. I might print the text file in the media viewer background, but I would like to hear about some use-cases before I do anything particularly clever here.

You can bind the new 'manage_file_notes' shortcut action to the 'media' shortcut set to quick open this dialog.

tag summary colours and alpha

The new tag summary generators (under the new options->tag summaries) have a couple of extra options on their panels. You can turn them quickly off with a simple checkbox and also (for the thumbnail ones) set the background and text colour and opacity!

sash positions

This is mostly only something that advanced users will want to interact with.

There are new options to control the width and height of the main gui pages' management and preview panels (the management panel is the bit on the left of any regular media page--the bit without thumbs but with all the controls for what the page does). It is under the new pages->management and preview panels submenu. You can now turn off 'save sash positions on exit' and make manual size saves/restores as well. So, if you accidentally resize your client to be tiny and the preview windows of all your pages go tiny as well, you can now just go pages->mapp->restore and they'll all be restored to the size they were on boot.

I may do more here, so feedback would be appreciated.

full list

finished a prototype 'file notes' system. thumbnails and media viewer canvas now support 'manage->file notes' in their right-click menus. this launches a simple text box which will save its contents to db

added 'manage_file_notes' shortcut to the 'media' shortcut set

tag summary generators now have a simple show/hide checkbox and (for thumbnails) custom colours for background and text including alpha channel!

fixed a variety of timing and display logic related to subscription query DEAD vs next check time calculation

all currently dead subscription queries will be revived on update, just in case they were formerly set dead by accident

the 'fetch tags even if url known and file already in db' option is moved from the download/subscription panel's cog icon to tag import options

cleaned up tag import options layout, controls, internal workflow, and help button

added 'select all/none' buttons to tag import options panels with multiple namespaces

if a subscription is blocked by bandwidth, the manage subscriptions dialog will display that in its 'recent error/delay' column

the edit subscription dialog will show similar bandwidth blocking info on a per-query basis, under a new 'recent delays' column

the review bandwidth usage panel will no longer show some unusual results by default that you can see with 'show all' hit anyway

the review bandwidth usage panel will show the usage at the current search distance in a new column

the review bandiwdth usage panel will show number of requests after data usage. this might be info-overload, so I might alter the syntax or roll it back entirely

fixed an issue with hentai foundry parser pulling images placed in the image description area instead of main image. this particularly affected the artist 'teku'

tags for deviant art and tumblr and thread watchers, which were formerly stored in volatile session memory--meaning half-completed import queues were losing their tags through a program restart--are now saved to the new import object directly

removed all the old volatile session memory patch code

added the new import object through a larger part of the parsing pipeline

deleted the old remains of the giphy parser--if it comes back, it'll all be rewritten in the new system

harmonised some other import pipeline code to the new system

added a new 'management and preview panels' submenu to the 'pages' menu

added an option to control 'save sash positions on close' to this menu

added an entry to force-save the current sash positions to this menu

added an entry to 'restore' the currently saved sash positions to all pages to this menu (this is useful if your window resizes real small and all your pages get crushed up)

rejiggered how URL Classes are matched with URLs to make sure some Post URLs are not lost (this was affecting Hentai Foundry Post URLs, which were sometimes not displaying in the media viewer despite matching)

fixed an issue where the duplicate filter page's jobs would not trigger an update after a job finished

fixed an outside chance of a crash after running a duplicate filter page job

improved how strings are coerced to unicode--now the preferred system encoding will be tried before utf-16, which should improve support for é-type characters in various non-unicode sources (like neighbouring .txt files)

fixed an issue with the client's local booru and flash files (and some other file fetching and mime reporting is a bit faster and neater overall)

the options should be more reliable about redrawing all thumbnail banner summaries on an option ok now

the options->media->media zooms option will now remove any <=0.0 values when it saves

fixed up some old test code

improved how some thread-to-gui update reporting code works

deleted some old network object code

converted manage subscriptions panel to an edit panel--a decoupling refactor I will likely ultimately make across the program

wrote a help page for content parsers

did the first half of a help page for page parsers

misc refactoring

misc cleanup

next week

I did a bunch more parsing help this week and some misc downloader overhaul work while fixing other things, but I would like to get back into the meat of the overhaul work for a bit. I might write some ui to inspect the current 'session' status, so you can see, clear, and manually edit your network contexts' cookies.

Otherwise I have a ton of smaller things still to be catching up on.

[bt2018bt2018]

Retail Insights February 15, 2018 http://ift.tt/2F0Gy05

Click on an image below to zoom in & open photo gallery >>

Overhead skeleton for store decoration

Overhead art animal skeleton

outside store name board explicitly communicate that it accepts AMEX

outdoor sale sign with an arrow

OFFERS AT A SINGLE GLANCE sign wanted on this brochure stand

NATIONWIDE NEWS agencies team up to provide parcel collection points to customers

Mirror next to mannequin in store

Mirror on stores pillars

Mirror integrate into shelf

Mirror integrate into store pillars

Mirror integrate into shelf makes it easy to see how headphone looks on me

Mirror at back of shelf edge for shoe display

Mini trees inside retail store

MIMCO selling points at a glance through store window

Mannequin with see-through dress

Mannequin prancing

Mannequin paired with flowers

Mannequin leaning forward

Mannequin at corner of store window

Mannequin and mirror

Lock to lock luggage handle in place

Levitating shoe

Koala and trees product visual merchandising

jump rope counts for you with LED lights

Jumbo elephant sale

iPhone lock screen update

Interesting Jacket

Interesting coasters

How to keep your headphones from taking up previous space

Heat tech extra warm leggings

Heart shaped packaging for glasses wants you to buy both boxes

Happy water bottle with cute toy

good things come to those who wait

Good pets deserve great rewards

Golden shoes sold at this mall

Golden reflective shelf background for clothing

Giant mirror in retail store

Giant mannequin squashing basketball

Giant baby wipes for portable shower

Gel soles leather shoes

GEL sole shoes

Fresh meat sold at this pet shop

Free glasses clean

DON'T FORGET - sign

Direction to recycle with arrow sign

Different zipper colours for this waist pouch

Dedicated pickup counter for people ordering juice through the app

David Jones environmentally friendly shopping bags

Cute baby feet images overhead shelves displaying clothing

Cosmetics beauty store visual merchandising

Convenience store fridge communicate selling point on its product with overhead space

Confident mannequin posing

Chandelier

Bistro lighting

Biggest savings of the season sign

Barbershop with terminator Statue

Ballerina shoes

Bad sweater day

Babies overhead photos at a glance in this mall

Australia's softest tissue

Arrow tips for sunglasses

Arrows and sunglasses

Arrow for mall directory

360 degrees video camera

adoption centre at this pet shop

adopt a hermit crab

Adequate sofa seatings in this mall

Visual Merchandising FOCUS Concept

Tax Time Madness

Stamps available for sale at this convenience store

Specialist Maths & English Tuition

Shirts

Overhead Shoe Products compartment

POST OFFICE Paper Bag as Advertising medium

Amelia's Wardrobe

24 hr Dry Cleaning Drop Off

Price Checker shows movie trailer

Sales pitch for Lotto wants u to dream

Shiny Bricks in this retail store

$15 off for every$75 spent promo offer limited by time

Bottle Cap Darts

Breville manage your food pressure, temperature and time

Colourful towels

Comfy Bed Position

Disadvantaged Indigenous Children

Happy Ben at Kit Kat Stand

Gold Embossed Book Cover

Get Fully Charged

Mannequin

Little Story Card next to Product

Invisible Thread

Nothing Escapes the Miele AirClean System

Nutri Bullet

Sunbeam Espresso Machine

TARGET Centre Safety Mirror installed overhead

The VS Style

Transparent Baby TuTu

Turn winter into a winner

Gel ink multicolour pen at office works.

Upside down Spider-Man in retail store ceiling frees up space

100 dollar note as a bookmark.

Why should Chadstone jb hi-fi stop selling discounted junk products? Mousepad doesn't work. Lost customer for a lifetime to recoup a little of capital. Win the battle. Lost the war

Black lipsticks for Caucasian female

Myer. Free cookie with dining in and take away coffees

Batman logo haircut at the back of kids head.

Crew cut at shaver shop saves me money

News agency offer gift wrapping service. Pushcarts too

Departmental store put charity coin box next to cashier

Glitter skin moisturiser

What if the face of watches is made from bulletproof glass as a selling point. Eliminate customer anxiety and fear

Stairs to buildings should have sign and arrow to direct people with babies in prams to nearest ramp access into building

Square board with Body Image and Hole for Head for retail shop Photo competition and to hide body of customer

Ladies tight mini skirt with pockets akin to pants

Backpack vacuum cleaner

Fun fact stories in Brochure next to products in store

Split payment at self-service cashier

Uniqlo staff wear Japanese clothing

Sack the boss' n year of the monkey' lottery ticket - signs

Street or mall overhead ceiling light with stencil project word on floor as well as lights

Put teddy bears on the walls of florist

Attractive women distributing flyer improve flyer penetration rates

Store greeter. Anti-theft bag checker and sample distributor roles in one person. Big W

Lacey back for dress

Beanie with quote terrible hair day

Luxury brand store entry hostess carry tablet to take down email address of customers waiting on queue to enter store

Inner zipped pocket for down jacket

Wireless bra by UNIQLO retail clothing store

Retail store offers discount signage shaped as outline of product

Melbourne Color Coded Post Box

Discount sign shaped as product that it is talking about

Immerse your senses in virtual reality while you wait .jpg_

in store plant

Inspirational quote in sportswear shop

Integrate giant ship with video game shelf

Integrate mall pillar with mirror for customers to make an informed decision

Integrate mirror into mall pillars

Jeans categories viewable at a single glance through overhead sign

Kettle top opens slowly to release steam and avoid splashing

Kid Mannequin

Lamp in a box

Lego pencil case

Leverage on most populous escalator point in mall to advertise promos and services

Lingerie mannequin wearing pearls

lingerie Mannequins posing wildly with a mirror as background

Lingerie model

Lingerie shop in Melbourne central mall

Make full use of store corner to display product

Mall directory

mall promo sign next to the elevator door

Mall welcomes Chinese customers by communicating in Mandarin

Mannequin hanging by a string

Mannequin in action

Mirror allows you to instantly compare your own shoes with product shoes

Marbled mall floor

Mannequin on a swing hanging from the ceiling

Mannequin laying hands on another mannequin shoulder

Mirror as background of product shelf

Mirror as background shelving for white lingerie

Mirror at corner of staircase

Mirror integrate into mall's pillar

Mirror integrate into pillar with compliments

Mirror integrate with Shoes on shelf

Modern coloured lipstick

Missing reason on Why would customers make the efforts to pick up brochure at UNIQLO from a distance away

Mirror integrate with Shoes on shelf

Mirror integrate into pillar with compliments

New and improved socks

MyVoice at BigW

Mysterious visual merchandising

New York giving tampons away for free

No commission on all foreign currency

Nothing over $20

Novelty blenders

Office set up in the middle of the Departmental store

Overhead hanging remote control vehicles

Overhead lamp with grass protruding

Overhead lighting

Overhead Retail Store Nameboard Integrate with Arrow

Overhead television deter theft

Overhead television introduce product

Pair chicken with soft drinks advertisement on drinks fridge

Pair internet steaming tv services to sell television products

Pet shop sign with arrow on back door

Photo of model in photo shoot using Cosmetics sell products

Photo stand next to product show model wearing jeans

Please queue here for service sign

Products on a box layered with paper hay

property agency let's you rent condo before you buy

Quality paper

Queue here for service sign

Quick and easy Spanish recipe book

Quote by kikki.K

Retail store with framed advertisement and arrow

Retail store pays tribute to the glorious dead

Selling points next to property advertisement

Sell medications by asking if customer have a symptom

seamless briefs for no visible lines

Scalp camera consultation

SALE gown on mannequin

Shoes levitating in this store

Shelf edge with Label for jeans product

shelf background with image of foods

Sexy naked legs sell stockings product

Sign that play with words sell products

Sign that compliments you sell products

Sign invites you in to store

Sign communicate upstairs product category at a single glance

Stacked washing machine to save space

Staircase tells you where is the elevator

Star next to brand name

stocktake sale sign

Storage space in built into beds

store greeter double as working staff by folding clothing at entrance

SUHDTV by Samsung

suit and tie

the suitcase is also a scooter

Suitcase

Suncubator

Sunset backdrop in visual merchandising

If our insights have benefited you or your circle of influence, please support us by clicking on the advertising banner below as well as sharing this site with your sphere of influence. 

It costs you nothing & only takes a few seconds of your time.

Thank you, and God Bless you and your family. 

Retail February 15, 2018 at 11:48AM