#Dr: courier code

[copper-skulls]

*[He just keeps talking about tea.] *[Somehow, it still makes you feel better.]

-

anyways. you think I can't draw my OCs with canon characters in DR? WRONG. the idea here is that if courier landed in any of the sanctuary dark worlds, they'd get. overwhelmed VERY quickly by everything to the point of a breakdown. they might like their ttrpgs but that's CHARACTERS they're not built for adventuring at all-

anyways. and then gerson finds them. and He's the closest thing to a lightner around there so he acts the most. familiar. and manages to actually get courier to calm down as he drags them into his library. eventually. it still takes a while. this computer person that got into the church because father alvin couldn't get his laptop working did Not sign up for this

[scullylovebot]

Happy 104th birthday to my dearest Peggy Carter! ❤️

For her birthday I have curated what I think her SHIELD file actually looks like, her timeline during the war, and some other things.

It all started because I watched a deleted scene from The Avengers where Steve is looking at some files, and we can see Peggy’s file, which is completely wrong and full of inconsistencies. Thank God it stayed in the deleted scene.

Before starting, this is information I gathered on my own, they are my headcanons, if you don’t agree that’s perfectly fine, just be respectful. If you want to share your opinion feel free to do so! Now, let’s get started.

Margaret Elizabeth Carter was born on April 9, 1921 in Hampstead, England. Daughter of Harrison and Amanda Carter, she also had an older brother, Michael, who was four years older than her. She attended Parliament Hill School from 1928 to 1936, obtaining her school certificate at the age of 15. Despite her wanting to attend college, she was not allowed due to her parents' belief that it was not lady-like. However, in 1937 she managed to join the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) by lying about her age, saying she had been born in 1919, making her 18.

She worked and trained there as a Staff Nurse (it looks like all nursing staff had officer ranks but this one was the lowest, and it didn't have an equivalent in the RAF). In June of 1939 the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was created, she took the opportunity and transferred there. Her superiors realized she was rather good at math and languages so when operations started in Bletchley Park in 1940 she was sent there. While in the WAAF she was an Officer Cadet, as she was undergoing officer training, but this is not an actual rank. In Bletchley Park she worked as a code breaker and wireless operator.

Upon her brother's death in August of the same year, she joined the SOE which at the time was controlled by the Secret Intelligence Service aka Mi6, she trained there for the reminder of the year (4 months of training). She was parachuted into France in 1941 as a courier. She was a master at evasion and good at turning anything and everything into a weapon. After her mission was completed she was summoned to Cairo. There she stopped working for the SOE (but continued working in the MI6) and was transferred to the ATS obtaining a promotion to Second Subaltern. She was assigned to be the liaison between GHQ (General Headquarters in Cairo) and the newly formed Special Air Service (SAS). She provided them with intelligence and basic medical care, after a while she began going into missions with them.

She participated in the Battle of El Alamein where she was wounded by a gunshot to the shoulder. As women were not allowed to fight in active combat she was given orders to go home but Colonel Phillips recruited her to work for the SSR. In early 1943 she was sent on a mission to Germany to rescue Dr Erskine. In the US, the idea for Project Rebirth was born. Steve Rogers was recruited on May 5, 1943.

Because her rank is equivalent to that of a Second Lieutenant, she was in charge of a platoon (18-50 men), composed of three or more squads (6-12 men). Second Lieutenants are addressed as sir or ma'am, but because she worked with the SSR she was addressed as Agent. Steve received the serum on June 22, 1943, and was sent on tour to sell war bonds. She went back to Europe. They meet again in November 1943 when Steve rescues the 107th and forms the Howling Commandos. She worked all over Europe with and without the Howling Commandos, and also helped coordinate the operations of the SAS in Europe. In total she "... spent three years in the mud of the European theater. Eastern Front, Western Front, and everything in between." (Agent Carter s1e5).

At some point after the Commando Order was issued by Hitler in October of 1942, she was captured and almost executed by hanging, but she managed to escape.

At the end of the war in 1945 she was discharged from both the ATS and the MI6 but kept on the SSR, so she immigrated to the US. She was promoted from agent to Lieutenant after taking down Dr Johann Fennhoff. When the SSR began dissolving in 1949 she was recruited by Howard Stark and Colonel Phillips to direct SHIELD. Her role was Deputy Director until after 1955 because they do not address to her as the Director of SHIELD in AoS but they do say "she outranks us" (s7e3). She retired after 1989 but before 1995.

About her uniform; she wore a green uniform but it didn't match that of the ATS or FANY. It started as a regular ATS uniform, but being in the SAS gave her the opportunity to modify her uniform because it was a newly created detachment/regiment.

ATS uniform on the left, FANY on the right.

Peggy in uniform and battle dress. It could have been more historically accurate but who cares. (They took too many artistic liberties with her uniform)

I think she never wore the WAAF uniform which was blue because she was barely there like 4 months, she spent more time in the nurse's uniform.

Now! Military honors and awards. It took her some time to get recognition for her accomplishments but in total she has six military awards: the 1939-1945 star, the Africa star, the France and Germany star, the war medal, the Croix de Guerre, and the Medal of freedom.

She was a Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE), and also had one of these cute parachutists badges, on the left is the one awarded to other SOE members, and on the right the one belonging to the SAS. I can’t decide which one though.

I feel like I'm missing something but that's all I have for the moment, I hope you guys enjoy!

[eastsideofthemoon]

Finally meeting THE REAL Michael Burnham

One of the reasons I love season 3 of Disco the most is that we FINALLY got to meet the REAL Michael Burnham.

In one year of being away from all things Starfleet and The Federation, all things Vulcan, Michael finally got to discover and embrace herself without worrying about the opinions and expectations of others, nor needing someone else's approval. She got to release the guilt and shame of her past and completely shed the Vulcan shell she'd created for herself as a byproduct of assimilation.

And girlie was flourishing!

Michael was at peace with herself, which lead to the calm and confidence that exuberated from her. She had genuine joy and was able to obtain peace. Thus, she was smiling and laughing and cracking jokes. Michael has a sense of humor, yall!

Also, I love that she had the opportunity to create a life for herself and be a regular person - well, as regular as you can be as a courier. She really needed that time away to determine her own moral code and values, which is something that should take place before anyone takes on the mantel of captain.

Also, Michael needed to choose Starfleet for herself. Up to now, Starfleet was a constellation prize to make Sarek feel better for not choosing her to join the Vulcan Exploration Group. In the first half of the season, we see Michael having an internal conflict with whether or not she belongs with Starfleet and her crew due to who she had become during her gap year. It's in Unification III, where we see Michael, with the help of her mother, Dr. Gabrielle Burnham, come to the conclusion that she does belong. We actually get to see her choose Starfleet for herself on her own merits. Yes, she may have her doubts and will question things, but at the end of the day, she is fighting for the same things Starfleet and the Federation are fighting for.

I think this is why I'm baffled at how some people stay stuck on season 1 Michael. The woman has grown since then. And this is before we get to season 4, which I'll write about later.

Although I do believe there is still a conversation to be had about why Discovery didn't just start with Michael as captain, I am enjoying her journey.

[timeclonemike]

Silas: portal's broke Bloody Marty: wat Silas: lithium niobate crystals burned out during the stress tset DocBill: ouch better than having them bun r out when you nedd them DocBill: if you think about it Ace_High: I know a guy who can hook you up if you don't have spares Silas: I have spares Silas: Just Silas: they're in a hard to reach spot ADMIN_Axiom: uh oh Silas: ya speaking of Axiom I could really use my ladder back right about now ADMIN_Axiom: will send a courier drone Hazmatthew: Did somebody say DRONES??? Bloody Marty: oh great DocBill: Ax what have you done Hazmatthew: Because I have some suggestions DocBill: Are these suggestions safe for work this time Hazmatthew: depends on whether your working at the workplace or robbing it Ace_High: for fucks sake that is not how SFW and NSFW work Ace_High: WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS ADMIN_Axiom: already have a cargo drone lined up for this but thanks matt Silas: thx ax Silas: btw who the f is Auntie Vigilance Silas: they joined like half an hour ago and haven't posted anything ADMIN_Axiom: that's a new bot don't worry about it Silas: okay Bloody Marty: what about Sku11_Crunch3r they've been quiet for a while DocBill: that's the new tryhard intern Hazmatthew: okay didnt want to say anything but Fancy_Pantaloons has stopped trading dirty robot pics with me for the last few hours so I think something is wrong Silas: gods noit this again Ace_High: matt stop Hazmatthew: Axiom maybe check to see if their ip and account looks right on your end or if they got hacked or spoofed or what Hazmatthew: and you guys get off my back DocBill: nobody wants to hear you weirdos talk about how you want to fuck a washing machine Hazmatthew: we took it to DMs like you wanted Hazmatthew: wouldnt even bring it up if i wasn't worried about the chat security compromised Hazmatthew: and the washing machine thing wasn't even like that Hazmatthew: we were arguing about design limitations Hazmatthew: and Silas: NOBODY CARES Hazmatthew: and it turned into a fight and we both apologized Hazmatthew: so maybe STOP BRINGING IT UP ERROR: Connection to Central Server Lost Diagnostic Code: Nice try heroes, but you forget my doctorate was in computer science. Better luck next time. - Dr. Axiom

You’ve just figured out what the bad guy’s plans are because you were accidentally added to their group chat. You’ll go out and stop them, but reading through the group chat couldn’t hurt, right?

[fabricofranchise]

New Franchise Opportunities — Fabrico | Top 10 High-Earning Ventures for 2025

New Franchise opportunities in India has shifted from being a Western-influenced model to a deeply integrated business strategy embraced by thousands of entrepreneurs. In 2025, the industry is projected to surpass ₹1,000 billion, especially in sectors like food, healthcare, logistics, education, and laundry franchise business in India.

As consumer demand grows across Tier 1 to Tier 3 cities, the appetite for standardized services, branded experiences, and reliable business models has never been stronger. Whether you’re an experienced investor or a new entrant, new franchise opportunities — Fabrico gives you a competitive edge to make a smart, profitable choice.

Why 2025 Is the Perfect Year to Start a Franchise

Here’s why 2025 is the golden year:

Post-pandemic expansion: Consumer demand is roaring back, especially in urbanizing Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Digital transformation: From ordering food to scheduling laundry pickups, tech integration makes scaling easy.

Policy support: Government initiatives like Startup India and Mudra Loans boost franchise funding access.

Low risk, high ROI: Proven models like Fabrico laundry franchise offer predictable earnings.

So if you’ve been waiting for the “right time,” this is it.

What Makes a Franchise Profitable in Tier 1, 2 & 3 Cities?

Not all franchises are built the same. Here’s what you need to win:

Low overheads — rent and staff costs are lower in smaller cities.

Brand recall — people trust nationally recognized brands.

Scalable operations — a good franchise supports multi-location expansion.

Local demand mapping — services like laundry, pharmacy, food delivery, etc., dominate.

Fabrico has cracked this code by targeting underserved yet high-demand regions with tailored support.

Top 10 Franchise Opportunities for 2025

Let’s dive into the top 10 new franchise opportunities you should consider.

1. Fabrico — India’s Most Promising Laundry Franchise

Fabrico is rewriting the rules of laundry and dry-cleaning businesses across India. By focusing on asset-light, tech-enabled franchises, it helps entrepreneurs launch with minimal investment and maximum reach.

Why Fabrico Wins:

App-powered services: Doorstep pickup, real-time tracking.

Low startup costs: ₹28–35 lakhs.

ROI: Average 40–50% annually.

Franchise support: Training, CRM, supply chain, marketing.

Whether you’re in Lucknow, Pune, or Bhopal, Fabrico’s laundry franchise business in India is tailored for hyperlocal success.

🔗 Explore the full model here

2. Lenskart — The Eyewear Revolution

From online-to-offline dominance, Lenskart gives you access to India’s booming optical market.

Key Highlights:

Investment: ₹30–35 lakhs.

Break-even: Within 18 months.

Support: Store setup, inventory, marketing.

3. Domino’s — The Evergreen Food Franchise

Jubilant FoodWorks’ crown jewel continues to attract hungry entrepreneurs.

Quick Facts:

Investment: ₹50 lakhs — ₹70 lakhs.

Returns: High-volume, high-frequency business.

USP: Robust delivery ecosystem.

4. FirstCry — Rising with the Baby Products Boom

India’s leading baby product brand, FirstCry, offers a powerful retail franchise.

Why It’s Hot:

Investment: ₹20–30 lakhs.

Target Market: Young parents in metros and Tier 2 towns.

Support: Stock supply, POS systems, training.

5. Patanjali — Ayurvedic Retailing at Scale

With India’s obsession with organic, desi brands, Patanjali franchises are surging.

Business Snapshot:

Investment: ₹10–12 lakhs.

USP: Household recognition + wide product range.

Suitable for: Health-conscious metros, rural belts.

6. Dr. Lal PathLabs — Healthcare Meets Profits

Diagnostic services are booming. With India’s growing health awareness, this is a solid bet.

Franchise Perks:

Initial Cost: ₹3–5 lakhs for collection center.

High trust value: NABL-certified brand.

Growth: High margins on specialized tests.

7. DTDC — Low-Cost Logistics Business

Courier and cargo services remain an evergreen niche.

Logistics at Its Best:

Investment: ₹1.5–5 lakhs.

Training: Provided.

Returns: Consistent monthly revenue, especially from B2B shipping.

8. KFC — A Global QSR Powerhouse

Yum Brands’ KFC offers global standards and Indian flavors.

Opportunity Breakdown:

Initial Cost: ₹1 crore+.

Brand equity: Instant crowd-puller.

Great for: Malls, high streets, highways.

9. Pepperfry — Furniture for the Masses

With rising real estate and rentals, furniture demand is steady.

Franchise Facts:

Investment: ₹15–20 lakhs.

Format: Studio model.

USP: Online + showroom synergy.

10. Apollo Pharmacy — Pharma Retail Franchise

India’s largest pharmacy chain combines health with steady cash flow.

Business Details:

Investment: ₹10–15 lakhs.

Repeat customers: High.

Essential business: Recession-proof.

What’s the Typical Franchise Investment in India?

Franchise investment varies across sectors. Here’s a rough breakdown:

Low-cost (< ₹5 lakhs): Courier, path labs, kiosks.

Mid-range (₹10–30 lakhs): Laundry (like Fabrico), retail stores, education.

High-end (> ₹50 lakhs): QSRs like Domino’s, KFC, and premium retail.

What matters more than cost is support, scalability, and ROI — which is where brands like Fabrico shine.

FAQs — All Your Franchise Questions Answered

1. Which franchise is best to start in 2025?

If you’re looking for scalability, low cost, and high ROI, Fabrico’s laundry franchise tops the list.

2. How much can I earn from a franchise?

Depending on the brand and sector, average monthly earnings range from ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakhs.

3. What are Tier 2 and 3 cities best suited for?

They’re perfect for franchises like laundry, courier, pharmacy, and FMCG retail due to lower competition and high local demand.

4. Do franchises offer training and setup support?

Yes. Brands like Fabrico, Lenskart, and Apollo offer end-to-end onboarding, marketing, and operational support.

5. Are laundry franchises profitable in India?

Absolutely. With rising urbanization, dual-income homes, and convenience culture, laundry services are in high demand. Fabrico leverages this trend best.

6. What legal documents are needed to start a franchise?

Franchise Agreement, GST registration, Shop License, and FSSAI (for food) are some essentials.

Conclusion: Your 2025 Franchise Success Begins Today

Choosing the right franchise is less about trends and more about timing, location, and support. In 2025, India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets will fuel the next wave of franchise expansion — and brands like Fabrico are already miles ahead.

Whether you’re starting fresh or diversifying an existing portfolio, take the leap with a brand that offers unmatched support and ROI. The laundry franchise business in India is no longer a side hustle — it’s a full-fledged enterprise.

🚀 Ready to own the Laundry and Dry Clean Franchise Business? 📞 Contact Fabrico Now: contact@fabrico.in 🌐 Visit: https://fabrico.in/laundry-franchise-business-in-india

For More Details Read These Articles

Top Laundry Franchise Opportunities Near You: Why FABRICO is #1

Top Franchise Business Opportunities in Small Towns of India for 2025

Discover the Best Franchise Opportunities with Fabrico: Your Path to Success

[irishfederalreconnaissance]

Services of MI-6 Government (Defections)

CI-6: Gold thread, iron-tungsten ingot, implanted in left shoulder, beneath bicep, two days old. Initiated as family's Pope system, from Ptolmey of Egypt; Innocent III, Alexander IX, Gregory IV, Pope Innocent VIII. An American Pope, for "Congregationalist Intelligence Hexadecimal"; mimicry of MI-6 ally leadership. Project Name: "NASH". Project Duplicated: "NIGMA".

"NIXON": Mother raised with "housing doctor" (mother's lawyer), in mimicry of childhood of Vice President Richard Milhouse Nixon; intended as mother's doctor in military NCO tradition, however as a politician; Clan MacBeth's secret control of the United States since founding. Personal specialty, third degree interrogation, "Guantanamo Bay" prison facility; held for trading in Asian and Filipina wealthy women to Oman, to place pressure on Arab oil brokers; the goal, to guarantee loyalty of Sauds, to Ethiopia, clandestine ally of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

House of York (COBRA): Canadian special forces chief and suitor, "COBRA"; cop and teacher insurance, to guarantee court's date, and payment of cheque, dual purpose; unless refusing court's date, then a member of "Joe Team"; scurrilous GI Joe. Whole comics and referendum of related action figures and merchandise, teaches the York system; all English novel and writer's tricks, established or disapproved of by Yorks, hence the political strategy out of the Bible (King Herod, the York's ancestor before being Belgian-Fenslings on deportation to Germany and the Lowlands) is the ultimate; over the proxy, the military strategy, followed secondhand; less important, but the same.

NSA HUMINT: Safety of implant into organization, against gun violence; superb laws, martial arts, and code technical training, of greater schools and phonelines; the router's assurance and assistance, out of highschool civics, and military tactics of veteran, for engineers, couriers, and soldiers. Personal training, New England criminal tactics, for marijuana running; anti-syndicate representative of National Security Agency.

UMass-Amherst CI: Protection of ROTC programs at UMass-Amherst, receiving orders through Hillel House, and lower tier, Sigma Epsilon fraternity. Self, selected as "Ted Bundy", #2 rank on campus police roster; "fits the profile". Failed #1, "Klaus Doenitz", surrender of township to university. Placement, Gangland Narcotics, to fight "INTERPOL" and related vice services; five dominatrixes out of slave trades of cotton and textile and religion, taken down, along with organizations related; Empress M, Goddess J, Maitresse Sandi, Mistress Lucinda, Lady Kim. Hell's Angels, crippled.

Irish Chiefs Mossad (Carnegie Trust): Provisional service through Dublin and between Carnegie family; Roma Gypsies out of control of slave labor of the military, "shibboleth", a song or piece of art that is endemic to an entire family, given their work of art as a child. "Donnie Darko", from mother, "Games Without Frontiers"; assigned high value target, Osama Bin Laden, to pay through for hire; View Askew, Kevin Smith, fleeing his genetic father, Stanley "Stan Lee" Leiberman; Kevin Smith feature film, "Smokin' Aces", featured self, as "Lestrada", blood money mercenary; untraced, due to fingers and key digits.

Homeland Security: Your last defense, against the enemy's first offense; specializing in enforcement of The Patriot Act, civilians' rights against police, always working stably without the offending foreign police officer on site and ready. Dr. Joshua Golden, recovered from slavery out of Talisein Games, with the nullification of $300,000 in escrow for payment of silence, as revenge for creating the nuclear submarine during the Vietnam War at inspiration of his USMC rifle company; subsequently, sent to Levenworth, by Richard Nixon on personal visit.

DC Comics: The formation and founding theory, of The Boston Freemasons; the hunt of Albert de Salvo, for creating the "yahtz", and through him, decades of torment of drug users. Batman is cool with getting high; Chet says so, and so does David Masouz and the FBI.

Ministry of Security Services: The North Korean state, an entire intelligence fundament, devoted to open flow of information and factory safety of workers; even from other workers, in my case, with a father that works UN and USA and CIA deputy of North Vietnamese and related Communist Southeast Asian labor, for America's East Seas account, out of Russian outsourcing. The captures of Christine Warren, Cassie-Leigh Stock, and Michael Fargnoli, for being proper Nazis, inside the Unitarian Church; the proper culprit of the Holocaust, found out and others remaining at large; hunted through Pimpstress Mistress Thyck.

Wicca (Church of Satan): The Confederacy's reformers in the Catholic Church, out of Russian Catechism, the Satanic; applying slavery to those at risk of death, with comfortable conditions applied. Self, applied freedom to Ivan Tomasic, by befriending a murderer by reasons of being bred to be a superhuman killing machine.

[quickscope-news]

New York doctor sued for prescribing abortion pills to Texas woman

Filed by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, the lawsuit alleges Dr Margaret Carpenter prescribed abortion pills to a woman near Dallas in violation of state laws.

Texas has sued a New York doctor for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas.

A lawsuit, filed by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton on Thursday, alleges Dr Margaret Carpenter unlawfully prescribed abortion-inducing drugs to the 20-year-old, in violation of the state's laws.

What is Outbrain

While no criminal charges are involved, Mr Paxton said the woman, who was nine weeks pregnant, was taken to hospital in July with "serious complications" after taking the medication.

"In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents," he said.

Court papers note the woman received two drugs commonly used in abortions for pregnancies up to 10 weeks: mifepristone, which blocks a vital hormone in pregnancy, and misoprostol, which causes contractions, cramping and bleeding in the uterus.

The documents add the state of Texas is seeking up to $250,000 from New York's Dr Carpenter - who is also a co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.

The lawsuit says the medic's "conduct violates the Texas Health and Safety Code's prohibition on prescribing abortion-inducing drugs via telemedicine". Such prescriptions are made online and over the phone.

Texas bars abortion at all stages of pregnancy, and in 2021 - before the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade, which gave a constitutional right to abortion - passed a law allowing state citizens to sue anyone who provides abortions or assists someone in undergoing the procedure.

State laws also prohibit a physician or medical supplier from providing any abortion-inducing drugs by courier, delivery, or mail service, and require physicians to have a Texas medical license to prescribe to state residents.

[asiaflyexp]

Melbourne Freight Forwarding

Melbourne Freight Forwarding

Welcome to the Melbourne Branch of Asiafly, your trusted freight forwarding service. We specialize in efficient and reliable parcel delivery in Melbourne. With a team of experts and state-of-the-art technology, we ensure seamless transportation of your goods. Our Melbourne freight forwarding service guarantees timely delivery and secure handling of your parcels. Contact us now for a hassle-free shipping experience. Let Asiafly take care of your logistics needs.

Melbourne Warehouse Address

Serial Number

Warehouse Name

Area

Warehouse Code

Zip Code

Address

4

FBA

Melbourne

MEL1

3175

29 National Drive, Dandenong South, VIC 3175, AU

5

FBA

Melbourne

XAU1

3043

Non Sort Pop Up (Tullamarine, AU)Warehouse B, 25-29 Jets Court, Tullamarine, Victoria, 3043, AU

6

FBA

Melbourne

MEL5

3023

103 Palm Springs Road RAVENHALL, VIC 3023 AU

10

Winit

Melbourne

WINIT-MEL

3029

1-5 Felstead Drive, Trunganina, Victoria, 3029

15

Goodcang

Melbourne

GC-MEL-1

3175

C/O 63-69 Pound Road West, DandenongSouth, VIC 3175

16

GC-MEL-2

3175

C/O 42-62 Pound Road West, Dandenong South VIC 3175

Melbourne Freight Forwarding Comprehensive Quotation

Australia Air Dispatch (Tax Included)

Zone

11-100KG

101KG+

301KG+

501KG+

Delivery Time (Working Days)

Product Code

1st Zone

36

35

34

34.5

8-10

YX1

2nd Zone

40

39

38

37.5

10-12

3rd Zone

45

44

43

42

12-15

Ordering Channel: Australia Air Dispatch (Tax Included) - General Cargo

Australia Air Dispatch (Tax Included) - With Electric/Magnetic Goods

Zone

11-100KG

101KG+

301KG+

501KG+

Delivery Time (Working Days)

Product Code

1st Zone

45

44

43.5

43

8-10

YX3

2nd Zone

49

48

47

46

10-12

3rd Zone

54

53

52

51

12-15

Ordering Channel: Australia Air Dispatch (Tax Included) - With Electric/Magnetic Goods

Melbourne Freight Forwarding Specific Terms

Notes

Additional fee of +2 CNY/KG for wooden products, other product names have no additional fees.

Full tracking available. For electric goods, MSDS.UN38.3 and battery report are required. If the battery report cannot be provided, an additional fee of 1 CNY/KG, minimum 50 CNY per report, is applicable.

Billing method: Based on actual weight and volumetric weight (Length cm × Width cm × Height cm / 6000), charged at the greater of the two. Minimum chargeable weight per item is 8 KG. 3.1 Delivery requirements for Australia local delivery:

Australian local delivery requirements

Delivery Method 1 (No additional fee):

Delivery Method 2 (No additional fee):

Oversized item delivery (Additional fee applies):

Truck Delivery Requirements Beyond Courier Service Limits

a. Single shipment weight must be 200 KG. If the weight is below 200 KG, an additional delivery fee of AUD 95 applies.

b. Intercontinental transport fee for crossing zones, minimum charge AUD 150/AUD 0.5/kg (This fee applies only to truck delivery services in the ADL region).

c. Regular-sized items (individual weight < 30 KG, longest side < 120 cm) within 60 KM distance have no additional delivery fee. Beyond 60 KM, additional fees apply, please inquire for details.

d. Irregular-sized items (individual weight ≥ 30 KG, longest side ≥ 120 cm) are charged based on the delivery distance, referring to our truck delivery fee table (0 KM-30 KM AUD 65/pallet Min AUD 95, 30 KM-60 KM AUD 75/pallet Min AUD 110).

e. No additional fees for overweight or oversize items when using our truck delivery service.

f. For special oversized weight, size items, and distances beyond 60 KM from our overseas warehouse, please inquire separately.

For overweight and oversize items, self-pickup is available at our warehouses in Australia. Warehouse addresses are as follows:

(Sydney) (Air Freight) 39-43 Warren Ave, Bankstown NSW 2200; (Sea Freight) 9-15 Alfred Rd, Chipping Norton NSW 2170

(Melbourne) 85 Northgate Dr, Thomastown VIC 3074

(Brisbane) 30 Woomera Pl, Archerfield QLD 4108

(Adelaide) 22-26 Alfred Ave, Beverley SA 5009

(Perth) 9 Ferguson St, Kewdale WA 6105

Return related

If delivery is unsuccessful and the recipient does not collect the parcel from the designated post office within the specified time (around 7 days), the parcel will be returned to our warehouse in Australia. Returns can be either destroyed or resent; there is no service to return the items to China. Note: For address errors, recipient refusals, or other reasons causing unsuccessful delivery and return, a return fee of 50 CNY per item will be incurred, which the customer is responsible for. If reshipment is required, the cost is 50 CNY for the first 0.5 KG and 10 CNY for each additional 0.5 KG. If the goods remain in our warehouse for more than 60 days after the return, we will destroy the items and charge additional destruction fees.

Compensation terms

Lost items before departure from China will be compensated at 40 CNY/KG and the shipping fee will be refunded.

Lost items after departure and before final delivery will be compensated at 40 CNY/KG without a refund of the shipping fee. Customs inspections causing damage or delays are not compensated, and no compensation is provided for delayed delivery or damaged parcels. Note: Queries can be submitted within 15 natural days after receipt. Claims can be made if the package has not been updated for over 30 days after pickup abroad (excluding delivery failures, arrival for pick-up, etc.).

Prohibited and restricted items

All items with batteries (including any products with built-in batteries, pure batteries, battery accessories), liquids, powders, and other items prohibited for air transportation, food, solid wood and bamboo products, unprocessed animal and plant dry goods, used personal items, counterfeit and imitation goods, spray containers, liquid alcohol, asbestos, lighters, medical waste, toxic substances, corrosive substances, securities, counterfeit money, drugs, dry ice, flammable and explosive items, obscene items, magnetic items exceeding standards, oxides and organic peroxides, weapons and ammunition, soluble paints, and other items prohibited by local laws for mailing. If parcels are falsely declared, the losses and legal responsibilities will be borne by the customer. For the list of prohibited items, please refer to the Australian Customs website: link

The above quotes do not include other possible expenses, such as customs inspection fees, etc. The final bill from local customs will prevail.

Special Note

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[eggcatsreads]

January Reading Wrap-Up

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Favorite Read of the Month:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (GR review)

Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

Code Name Verity is the heart-wrenching story of a woman captured by the Gestapo as a Nazi spy - and her confession.

I HIGHLY recommend going into this book blind, without looking at ANY spoilers as I guarantee you will not see everything that's going on. This is also a book that really lends to a re-read, which is what this was for me. I had read this book last year, and even still this was still a top read for me - despite knowing what was going to happen. This book has a lot of hidden clues throughout that you only really catch on a re-read, but absolutely do not spoil the book for yourself. Trust me.

The beginning portion of this book can be very slow and seem to drag on for a while. Believe me when I say you need to push past it and finish to the end. Once the second section of this novel starts it's a whirlwind and everything you thought you understood for the first part is suddenly turned on it's head.

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Other Five Star Reads:

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham (GR review)

The story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. A harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand.

I highly suggest this read if you have ever been interested in the Chernobyl disaster and wanted a nonfiction book that brought it to life, and also explained nuclear physics in a way that even non-nuclear physicists could understand. I mostly listened to this through audiobook, and there were times I was glad I was working alone because my jaw literally dropped and I gasped and reacted out loud to what was going on.

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The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Multi

Hauntings, and a variety of horrifying secrets, lurk in the places we once called home. These stories shed a harsh light on the scariest tales we grew up with.

What it says on the tin. An anthology of horror stories by various authors (many of which I personally love their other works). If you like horror, especially creeping gothic horror, check out these stories. It's a quick read, and a fun way to bring some spice into your life without the commitment.

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Rest of Books Read Under the Cut:

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

The inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Superheavy by Kit Chapman (GR review)

An in-depth look at how synthetic elements are discovered, why they matter and where they will take us. From the Cold War nuclear race to the present day, scientists have stretched the periodic table to 118 elements.

Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher by Brandy Schillace

In the early days of the Cold War, a spirit of desperate scientific rivalry birthed a different kind of space not the race to outer space that we all know, but a race to master the inner space of the human body.

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell

As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. But then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another... Why is the killer seemingly targeting her business?

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Twelve women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. 

Plastic Fantastic by Eugenie Samuel Reich

This is the story of wunderkind physicist Jan Hendrik Schön who faked the discovery of a new superconductor made from plastic.

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God.

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Rating: ⭐⭐

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

Haunted by visions of her mother and hunted by this mysterious creature, Kari must search for what happened to her mother all those years ago. 

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All my reviews and opinions are my own, and if you liked something I didn't that's great! My rating system is super subjective (like all of them are) and I definitely don't like books others do, and that's fine since we're not all the same person, lol.

My ratings are generally:

5 stars: Books I enjoyed the entire time I read them. I had fun, it was exciting, and I wanted to continue reading. Many times, the difference between a 4 and 5 star read to me is simply the Vibes. If I had fun reading the book, or was really invested, I'll give it 5 stars even if it's not objectively That Great of a Book. If the Vibes say so, they say so.

4 stars: Great book, but there was simply something that didn't fully connect with me or there were a few slow spots. ALSO many of the debuts I read I tend to rate 4 stars, since they're a new author and I don't want to rate too harshly. 4 stars is my safe rating when I can't fully commit to a 5 stars, but it either wasn't "bad" enough or I don't want to be mean enough to rate anything lower.

3 stars: Run-of-the-mill. Nothing surprising. Book was read, but I could handle having not read it. If "Ehhh?" with a waving hand was a book.

2 stars: I disliked something about this book, and at times I may have finished it because I had already invested this much time into it. This book might have made me angry with something the author chose to do or include, but it never quite reached the spite reading stage.

1 star: I finished this book out of spite. If I could fight it in an alleyway I would. I wish I could bring back the tree that died to make this book so it could fight the author personally for doing this to it.

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Books read so far this year: 11

[mychemicalficrecs]

hello! i feel like i have read every good frerard book out there :( do you have any plot heavy frerard books? books where the plot is equally as important (or even more important sometimes) than the relationship. i like long one shots, but i’m not picky so variety is good. like even long chapter books are perfect!

Aww, there are so many amazing fics out there, let's see if we can't find a few plotty ones for you!

Plotty Frank/Gerard

Only Going One Way by ataratah, jjtaylor, 73k, Mature. Crossover with due South. Constable Gerard Way of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Detective Frank Iero of the Chicago PD team up find Mikey Way in a city where bowling alley score cards hide secret codes, where the good guys are either lying or undercover (and sometimes lying about being undercover), and where criminal bakers make drug-laced frosting.

Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency by jjtaylor, 43k, Mature. Pete, in Decaydance Mansion, with a yarrow stake. Frank and Gerard, in the greenhouse, with a plant of questionable origin. Bob, everywhere you look, with a gang of assassins for justice. Vampires, valets, pamphlets, haunted furniture, dub-thrall, disembodied voices, zombie couriers, and sinister rituals.

Be sure to check the sequel out too: The Detective's Secret and the Mystery of the Dancing Flowers by jjtaylor, 84k, Mature. Wanted: Replacement Valet for high profile Midnighter household. Must have excellent references, believable reason for leaving former place of employment, all Clan paperwork in order. Experience in filing, housekeeping, carriage driving, men's grooming, bookkeeping, scheduling. Highly desirable skills include: basic gardening, Daylighter legal practices, first-aid, hand-to-hand combat. Please contact Frank Iero for more information.

They Came From Outer Jersey! by thatsfinewithus, 25k, Rated R. New London Fire is an elite fringe government force assigned the task of protecting the earth from some of its more interesting threats: those from beyond the atmosphere or even the universe. They've handled dangerous cases before, but they've never seen anything like...ZOMBIES FROM SPACE. Vampires, long hunted in lore and legend, are now the earth's only saviors. There is little information as to who sent the creatures until Mikey Way, head of the NLF, finds out more by being abducted. Is it too late for him? Is it too late for the earth? Find out how six vampires, one government general, and one frustrated comic book artist save the earth in...THEY CAME FROM OUTER JERSEY!!

All We Are by lightisbreaking, 20k, Rated R. Set in the future, where humans are on the brink of evolution. For the select few born with a special awareness of their own minds - an awareness which gives them abilities beyond the norm, life is suddenly a very dangerous thing. Frightened of what this could mean, the government set out to make this new race of humans extinct, telling the public that these people are mentally unstable defectives and must be kept under observation for the safety of the public. All of this brings together a rather odd troupe of people, hiding from the government and eventually having to protect one of their own when he's taken into custody. Superpowers AU!

Unholyverse by Bexless, 186k, Mature and Explicit. Religion! Horror! Exorcisms! Piercings! And Gerard is a priest.

Can Never Wrong this Right by theopteryx, 24k, Explicit. Written for the hc_bingo challenge, for the square of 'forced soul-bonding.' It's 1949 and Dr. Way is a professor of Archeology and Frank is his constantly exasperated (and secretly pining) assistant. When their latest trek takes them to South America to locate the fabled Blood Stone, however, they both find more than they bargained for.

The Life of Dinosaurs by akamine_chan, 29k, Mature. Gerard and Frank are rival hosts of dinosaur nature shows, who suddenly find themselves forced to work together. In order to impress their new boss, cable magnate Grant Morrison, they have to create a season of dynamic shows that maintain their high standards as well as continue to bring in the viewership (and ad revenue). On top of that, Frank and Gerard have to deal with the unexpected physical attraction they feel toward each other, all while avoiding stampeding ankylosaurs, ravenous theropods, and the occasional amorous pterosaurs.

and me here on the ground by frequentlybees, 32k, Explicit. Frank's worked hard to build a life for himself in the city of Jersey, where dragons swoop and dive over the river, and every day is divided by the ringing of the city bells. He knows the streets of the city like he knows the the tattoos on the backs of his hands, and he's content with what he has: a job as a bike courier, friends who love to give him shit, and a crush on a professor of art history at the local university. But he's also got a secret—one he's been running from for a long time. But all it takes is one delivery to a mysterious, quite-probably-magical bookshop to show Frank that there are some things you can’t outrun. Especially since he’s finally found a place that he doesn’t want to leave.

Cursed Bodies and Stolen Hearts by Andromedas_Void, 22k, Mature. Gerard is a wizard hiding from the war, not to mention his old flame Bert, and Frank is a pet shop worker who gets tangled up in the middle with a curse placed on his body.

Your Heart The Only Place That I Call Home by dear_monday, 30k, Explicit. When Frank and his crew of morally ambiguous ethernauts (pirates, as Imperial law would have it, but that's such an ugly word) fetch up on the doorstep of the fabled Sanctuary, they aren't expecting to find much - least of all a long-lost brother, a garden in a box and the key to an ancient riddle.

Strays by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd), 14k, Explicit. Frank and Gerard's life off-tour is all about grocery shopping and blowjobs and general domestic happiness...until Gerard goes missing, and bloody scraps are all that's left behind. So when a stray dog turns up on Frank's doorstep, can anyone blame him for wanting a little normal back in his life?

Heaven's Not About Your Reputation by impertinence, 29k, Mature. Desolation Row AU. The Tipper Laws have consumed the nation; more and more freedoms are being restricted every day. After getting thrown in jail for causing a riot with their illegal punk show, My Chem decides to do the logical thing: cause even more trouble.

Catching Pieces of a Fallen Sky by snarkydame, 21k, Mature. Ray and Frank are the only survivors of the Jersey Queen, an independent freighter hit by (space!) pirates. In the chaos, the doomed ship took a blind jump through the hyperways, leaving them stranded in a dark and lonely quadrant of space. Mikey and Gerard are the last remaining crew of a legendary "ghost" ship, the Ravenkroft, which has been lost for the fifty years since the War that Broke the Stations. They've been avoiding inhabited space due to emotional scarring from the loss of their crew, and a feeling of isolation due to the fact that they are in fact cyborgs. They pick up Ray and Frank's escape pod, and promise to help them. In the process, old feeling of guilt are assuaged, new emotional ties are wrought, and the legendary ship comes home.

Of All The Hidden Corners by moneyes, 44k, PG-13. An epic, adventurous tale filled with alternate universes, lords, mischief, magical powers, snark, boyfriends, and luck of the bad kind.

[gamevoidartblog]

Finally decided to write this all out! Here’s all my main fallout OC’s!

Tldr from left to right under cut:

Alyx (FNV) The Courier 6 of my world, but being intimadated for what she was in for as she progressed farther, ended up mostly giving up and leaving the job to her friend... 

Sally (FNV/Fo4) “Courier 7″ was her code name, seeing her friend couldnt finish the job, she went to help her and anyone else in the wasteland.

Dr. Courier (FNV) A woman who accidentally went into Big Mt, but due to a birth defect the autodoc completed its process without lobotimizing her. She managed to get into the Forbidden Zone, but when she did she was greatly injured. Once Sally came and saved her, she had become almost brain dead. Both to save her and to free Mobius they combined their brains. She now walks around with Mobius in her mind.

Dr. Rat (???) Definitely a REAL doctor and a REAL person with a COMPLETELY NORMAL birth defect of backwards thumbs and definitely NOT a bunch of mutated lab rats puppeting a costume. 

Soupah and Ashley (Fo3) fun side characters, Ashleys suffers a condition where shes slowly becoming more and more paralyzed. Her village was killed, but due to hiding under her hospital bed she wasnt killed. Soupah, a soup loving mutant, now carries her around. Ashley has discovered thanks to her shes a psyker, and similar to the forecaster she can predict likely futures but its easiest for her when looking into a swirling pot of liquid.

Ava (Fo3) The Lone Wanderer , she joins the Enclave and does horrible things. But thanks to her friends later in her story, she helps destroy the enclave and make up for all that shes done.

William (Fo3) A disgraced brotherhood member, during his glory days he had killed Alyx’s ghoul fiance. He was nearly killed by Alyx in the aftermath but she spared him and afterwards he began to realize the wrongs of his way and the brotherhood and went rogue, looking for Alyx to make up for what hes done.

[copper-skulls]

ref making of my skellie

[meatcrimes]

so i finally finished The Frontier. here’s my final thoughts:

new vegas runs so much faster and smoother since uninstalling the frontier and all related hotfixes

i will say one positive thing about this mod and it’s the sheer variety of different items in the world. not just the guns, but the consumables, workbench & campfire recipes, combining consumables to make healing items that are on par with the wasteland omelette or fiend stew.

i know this mod was being developed before fallout 4 was released but this would have been so much better, from a technical standpoint and from a story standpoint, if this were a fallout 4 mod. if this was essentially a Where Are They Now mod that explored what the ncr/legion/bos did following the second battle of hoover dam, this would have been a better story. for example, legate valerius becoming the next Caesar after the deaths of Edward Sallow and Legate Lanius and how the changes he implemented made the legion almost unrecognizable

speaking of legion, i played the legion quest line and most of the crusaders quest line so these are all opinions from that perspective

the de-fanging of the legion was disappointing. i wanted to play with the villain faction, or at least a morally gray faction who is no better than the other choices. the legion could still be evil even with the “liberal” valerius in charge. the ending where the northern legion abolished slavery, gave women equal rights and power, and allowed modern technology was disappointing because they were clearly trying to remove a lot of what made the legion evil in the first place. a “liberal” legion that, for example, uses slavery as a punishment for crimes that you’re freed from when your sentence is up, is still evil and still villainous

or a legion that allowed women to have limited roles as priestesses, doctors and frumentaria (which i hc that the mainland legion is already doing but wtvr). that could have been what the “liberal” new caesar has done while still maintaining the legion’s misogyny

SPEAKING OF WHICH. legate valerius had an epiphany and supported women’s equality when his daughters were born which is unintentionally hilarious because that’s how a lot of real life men start caring about women’s issues

the mission where you have to kill a slaver and when you get to her you find she’s already been captured by other slavers. and how that was the end of the quest. and you lost karma for killing her or setting her free. there’s a lot to unpack here but let’s just set the whole suitcase on fire

also the indigenous coded tribe that was wiped out by an STD. yeah. not over that

and the Followers doctor who knowingly gave the courier a blood transfusion from someone with syphilis

the other followers doctor, Welick, who blamed all of his problems in life on arcade gannon

(from subtext we can gather that Arcade exposed illegal/unethical things Welick was doing and the reason everyone “had arcade fever” was just them acknowledging that Welick was wrong. and the reason he “left” the followers is that he was actually kicked out. welick is an unreliable narrator but i’m willing to bet 35 bottle caps and a wrinkly $5 NCR bill that most of the players did not pick up on that)

scrapz my beloved ❤️

seriously scrapz was the highlight of this mod. you know that post that’s like “when you know you can do a canon character better so you just steal them and make them your oc”? that’s what i wanna do with scrapz. he deserved a better mod

also… the fact that we can flirt with scrapz with a black widow check (and i think confirmed bachelor too but i am not replaying this mod in order to see) and he openly admits to being horny on main for humans (paraphrased, but honestly tell me that doesn’t sound like a real line from this mod) and yet we can’t have sex with him!??

he clearly has advanced enough AI to give him the ability to consent, since he leaves the player if you get too far in the crusaders quest line (and i assume ncr too but once again. not replaying to check). we can fuck the chem-obsessed Argonian queen. we can fuck a deathclaw. but we can’t fuck a robot despite being able to have sex with FISTO in the base game

the entire Dr Voss quest. i’m still not sure what that was. it’s just a blur of blood sewers, finding keys, and increasingly incomprehensible notes

when callidus revealed AJ was his sister and he didn’t want you to kill her but capture her and reunite them. and then i killed her anyway because it’s what she would have wanted, between death and the legion

“you prevented silus from being interrogated” x103

the weird romance-but-not between legate valerius and the courier. like he lets you sleep in his bed for a well rested bonus, his personal quest is called I Was Made For Loving You, his weird protectiveness of the courier, and of course that unintentionally erotic interrogation scene. and near the beginning i swear there was dialogue with him that was like “you were out cold for days, but I never left your side. it looked like you weren’t going to pull through, but I ordered my men to spare no expense to ensure you recovered. i tended to most of your wounds myself, working late into the night to set your broken bones and repair your torn ligaments” etc etc you get the point

the NCR commander named Tiberius Rancor who no one suspected was a legion plant

the radioactive super mutants that had a melee weapon called Kitchen Sink and it literally was a whole entire kitchen sink ripped from a building. and the courier couldn’t use it

the repair tool for the cars in the game but when you used it, it kept giving you the achievement for knocking down enemies so it was basically a source of infinite xp

the fucking space enclave. the enclave, in space. they never were defeated by the chosen one or the lone wanderer, they just fled to outer fucking space for some reason

the cannibal ice ghouls with 3500 hit points. you know what i mean. the fact that this mod was set way too far south to be seeing them, and basically did nothing accurate to the mythology at all except that they were cannibals, and didn’t even pluralize the word correctly. i understand this was probably inspired by fallout 76 but 76 should not have had those creatures either

in conclusion: i was determined to finish this mod and i’m glad i can say i did, but was it worth it? was it really worth it? no

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 37

💖 first time reader click here 💖

Five more chapters to go, guys. This is coming to an end 😭 I enjoyed writing it so, so much! In this chapter we have fluff. Literally only fluff and snark, because my babies have suffered enough. And the remainder is gonna be the same. Because fuck pain.

Coulson was mad. Outwardly, of course, he seemed as level-headed as ever, handing out orders and signing papers out left and right, but coming to sit within five feet of him seemed like the worst mistake I had recently made. His phone was ringing practically non-stop and he answered every call, sometimes speaking in different languages I didn't understand, sometimes in rapid-fire English that sounded like Morse code to me.

I'd never been sent to the principal's office but I imagine that's how it feels like. Finally, his shoulders sagged and the breath he took in left his lungs slowly, deflating his body into a tense ball of quiet fury.

"You and mister Brock ruined months worth of investigation and undercover work," The agent finally spoke. "But I can't even be mad at you properly. We've apprehended the main culprit, detained all of his followers except select few that Dr. Xavier took upon himself to handle," His words shocked me; not at all the scolding I was expecting. A deeper part of me was even afraid I'd be taken away and buried under so much red tape not even Tony's seemingly endless money and influence could have gotten me out. "I... Really don't know what more to say." Coulson folded his hands atop the desk, looking over me with a blank look.

"A thank you would be nice," I let my mouth run before the words even really registered in my brain, the cursed thing.

The agent chortled, "Perhaps, we really do owe you a solid one," Before standing up and walking over to the coffee machine in the far corner of his office. "Coffee?" He motioned to a pile of empty cups next to it. I nodded and he set to work. "The guys should be back in two hours, tops," He remarked off-handedly, watching me out of the corner of his eye. There was no way he had missed how my body relaxed into the uncomfortable office chair at the news. "Nobody is hurt except Rogers but I think he'd find how to hurt himself even on recon duty." The man laughed, bringing over two cups of dark, delicious, steamiy hot bean juice. Nhghhgg.

"Steve is a dumbass," I agreed amicably, blowing over the rim of the cup. The stone of coffee on it's own seemed to wake up my previously anxious, half-empty half-racing brain. The past twelve hours were full of urgency, the team being called in for assistance in mere minutes after my and Venom's return to the tower.

They barely had time to wipe their tears and shelf their worries before the suit-up call came, haste hugs and kisses being traded on their way to the quinjet. Coulson showed up not much later after that, a quinjet of his own and a stack of papers for Eddie to fill out, stern instructions for me to follow him and stay glued to his side at all times. I didn't need to ask: it was obvious there was a rat in SHIELD, again. Thankfully, the rat was discovered before they could come and try to increase their odds by doing something to me; I'd hid out in Coulson's office, crashing down into a strange, most likely Venom-induced sleep as footsteps raced past the door.

I'd woken up anxious and disoriented, the owner of the office pacing along the furthest wall and pointedly whispering into his cellphone. The rest was history.

"Your father called," The agent remarked, watching my reaction carefully. "Said to call him back whenever you can."

I was drained, beyond wrung out, and not just from my latest stunt as a parasitic symbiotic alien's host. The past couple of months were a nightmare, an anxiety-riddled, paranoia-spiced mess of a shit show. I was very much looking forward to breathing freely and enjoying my science without hiding my WIPs, enjoying my relationship (s) without fear of being abducted and sending my men into a panicked, destructive spiral.

My voice remained even as I carefully contemplated and spoke my next words. "He can go fuck himself. Him and that harpy of a woman," I sighed: disappointed in my parents, but not surprised. "I'm freshly out of fucks to give. I'm done."

Coulson, if he even was surprised, didn't show it. His expression remained neutral and supportive. "I understand you. There's enough basis for us to aid you in creating a new identity for you, if you'd like," He pushed a stack of papers towards me.

I chewed on my lip in contemplation. It would be handy, sure, I could be rid of the curse that became of my family name and my parents couldn't legally do anything at all to me; on the other side there was my name plastered on several inventions and projects I'd done over the years. In all my years, I was taught that my name is to be my business card.

The decision was obvious. "No, thank you," I looked at him, hoping to convey the sincerity. "I think I will be okay."

He smiled and went back to his paperwork, all but verbally dismissing me. As soon as I finished my coffee and washed the mug, the couch called to me once again and I curled up under the fleece blanket Coulson had thrown over me while I slept, alternating my attention between sneaking glances at his concentrated form and my cellphone and the few meager games it had. There was no signal and no wi-fi access on the Helicarrier. Security reasons, blah blah blah...

A knock sounded out, startling me out of my sluggish thoughts; one of Coulson's hands crawled down to one of the drawers on his right side where I assumed he had hidden a gun. "Come in," He called out, shooting me a pointed look. I sat up, alert.

"M'here to pick up - uh - a Baby," A tired but amused, familiar voice called out. Clint stepped into the room, still wearing his dirty and bloody uniform, and, as my eyes briefly scanned him, the archer appeared to be unhurt save for a few bruises here and there. His eyes landed on me immediately, visibly relieved.

"Waa," I deadpanned indignantly, raising my hands like a toddler would do when they wanted to be picked up. The only thing Clint was missing was a courier's ball cap.

"I assume the mission went smoothly?" Coulson asked, a soft grin and even softer eyes landing on our interaction.

Clint nodded affirmative, walking over and picking me up with ease, disregarding my shierk completely and stopping only when I poked him in the ear - closest appendage to me - in retaliation. His eyes were laughing and his tone was flat. "Caw caw, motherfucker," He announced to me flatly, waving goodbye to Coulson.

We passed more than a dozen agents giving us the biggest side-eye as I dangled over his shoulder, ass up in the air, fiddling with the numerous straps of his gear as Clint power-walked us to the Avengers quinjet. I'd even stuck out my tongue to some dude pointing a finger at us.

My family was already loaded into the vehicle, all in various stages of dirty, bloody and undressed. Coulson's words were true - only Steve sported a wide bandage over his shoulder, neck and head - one look at Bucky and I just knew the Captain would be regretting his stupidity in a few hours time. Even Stephen was there, looking unhurt but very annoyed and tired, as he hovered a few feet off the ground with Cloaky majestically swaying behind him.

"And what the fuck was that little performance for?" I asked once Clint deposited me in the very front row, between a dozing Bruce and a tinkering Tony.

"I had strict instructions from the Hulk," The archer grinned, pushing a few buttons on the dashboard of the vehicle. In seconds, we took off home.

"Oh, hi," Bruce must've heard his green counterpart being mentioned; his eyes cracked open just as I smiled at the scientist and reached over to brush his curly mop of hair out of his face. "M'yes, Hulk is demanding you do not set foot on the ground these days," Bruce was sleepy and warm, so soft when he kissed my hand, I felt my heart swell.

"Gonna spoil me rotten, you lot," I snorted, keeping the happy smile and the warm feeling as Stephen came back from the Astral world, opening his eyes and giving me a grin of his own.

"That's my job," Tony mumbled, still very occupied with a part of his suit. I turned around expecting a kiss; I had to stifle an ugly snort upon discovering one of the parts of his Iron Man suit got damaged and stuck, making a part of the chestplate render one of his arms temporarily immobile. Tony looked like a frustrated toddler building Legos.

"Someone get me a screwdriver and some pliers," I gently pried away the calloused fingers away from the jagged piece of metal, kissing Tony's cheek in the moments until Natasha handed me the required instruments. Tony was free, grimacing in discomfort as he stretched and rotated his arm, in little under ten minutes. "What happened to the nanosuit?" I asked, not remembering the last time I'd seen Tony in one of his older, clunkier creations.

"They had some sort of technopath mutant," He grumbled - I had discovered the source of his ire. "Turns out, Bruce snuck in my special anti-mutant suit I'd made ages ago. Nanosuit got destroyed in seconds and Hulk had to carry me back to the quinjet for a change of equipment," Despite his sour mood, Tony was visibly more relaxed than since the day I confessed I'd been drugged. "Brucie-bear, this is exactly why it remained a prototype."

"It's better to get stuck in a suit than to be a meat pancake on the sidewalk," Used to Tony's tantrums, Bruce merely blinked and continued eating the chocolate that he procured only God knew where.

I locked eyes with Stephen, both of us shaking our heads in almost identical, semi-fond semi-annoyed way. Ah, sweet sweet normalcy.

There were towers of pizza boxes as we arrived in the tower; a couple of agents got all but yeeted out by Tony, with little to no thank you as they had been the ones that arranged the food for us - still, I understood Tony's dislike of the super-secret organisation and merely paid the two for the pizza, politely waving goodbye as they side-eyed Tony with disdain.

Then, I had to tow both Clint and Thor as they attempted to begin eating, still wearing muddy bloody clothes - of course, I did not possess the physical strength required to handle two adult men, so I merely began a small lecture on parasites (Stephen gleefully joined in) and both of them scattered towards the showers like two spooked little first-graders.

I also used the brief moment of stagnation to hug Loki; these days he didn't freeze in surprise but rather warmly hugged me back, whispering something cheeky to me as I buried my face in his chest. Stephen was the one to cough extra-loudly to attempt to separate us - it was, once again, unanimously decided to have a family dinner and a cuddle pile straight after. Food coma had never sounded nicer.

"So, what'd Coulson say to you?" Clint asked curiously as we all settled in, freshly showered and those who needed it, re-bandaged. I was warm and toasty between Tony and Stephen, wearing the former's gym shorts and the latter's hoodie, Bruce's t-shirt underneath it. The scientist himself was drooling onto Tony's shoulder, somwhere between sleep and awareness, glasses askew.

"He basically thanked me and offered me a new identity," I shrugged, polishing off the last of my smoothie and handing the second bottle over to Loki. As usual, no food was wasted and I always had someone to finish my leftovers, especially since Bucky tended to think I could eat as much as him and kept trying to overfeed me like a foie gras goose.

"Congrats, you've been adopted," Natasha snorted from her place between Clint and Steve. Only the red of her hair was visible behind the man-bulk and the blankets.

"Uh," My response was, as always, deeply informative and astute.

"He likes to take in strays," Clint full-belly laughed. "Me at first, then Natasha. He's got a soft spot for Tony and Bucky but he won't admit it."

My eyebrows rose. "That's... That's my job?" I remembered the whole Venom/Eddie situation, our rogue wizard. Coulson was aiming for my place- the audacity! "He can't just do that!"

"And you can?" Stephen's finger booped my nose, making me huff and cuddle up to Tony, turning my butt towards the sorcerer to show him exactly what I thought about his observations. He only laughed harder. "Sounds like someone's a little jealous."

"Okay, boomer," I rolled my eyes. Stephen Strange, a supreme troll is what he is.

"But that's why you love me," He continued as others around us groaned and snorted, too used to us teasing each other about our age difference and my old man kink. Whatever, I got to bang my hot old men anyways.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95 @gladiosamicitias @warrior1-19 @toomanyrobins @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming

[ryttu3k]

Night Road quote text dump, because I've been deluging a friend with quotes and want a place to keep them all.

We're a bit like that, yeah:

They direct you to a hulking Malkavian named Severian, and the sullen giant directs you in turn to Gibberish Mike.

Fortunately, it turns out that "Gibberish" Mike is just Australian.

Practical concerns:

"That's it!" Elena says, leaning over your shoulder. "That's his yacht. Oh, and this is all about him. Very useful." She snaps a picture of the email with her phone, then the two of you get out of there before the technician returns. You head down the elevator and then back to Elena's Datsun.

You're so pleased by how well that went that that it takes you a few minutes to remember you're in Arizona.

"His yacht?" you finally ask.

Fun with bungalow ownership:

After a day of fitful dreams, you throw on your leather jacket and engineer boots and get ready for another night. You step outside to check your Integra. A neighbor parks next door in her Ford Super Duty and gives you a friendly little wave. You've been practicing this. You're ready.

"Howdy, neighbor."

"Howdy!" she responds before heading inside.

Fucking nailed it. You're one of them.

This is legitimately how I got the Messy Critical achievement:

You grab a hoe.

You rip through the underbrush with savage efficiency, staying a few steps ahead of the pushcart as Julian scans. You work in a trance, chopping and hammering. Only when you hear Julian shouting do you realize that you're holding a busted length of wood.

The head of your hoe is buried in the beautiful round black door of Prince Lettow's Rolls-Royce.

Raúlblocked:

You head to Raúl's place, but he's not there. You find a note hidden above the door that reads, "Problems in Phoenix. (Jesus Christ has returned? Stole a car?) Contact me right away for major jobs and I'll come back. Already missing you." And there's a ProtonMail address with some of the security contact codes you agreed upon earlier.

But it looks like Raúl will be occupied dealing with the Lord and His automotive crimes, and he won't be able to wander around Tucson with you.

Pattermuster doesn't get paid enough:

"Hello? What? Well, the blood can't be 'everywhere.' Surely that's an exagger—okay—okay, fine. Okay. Okay, I'll get—okay. Five minutes. What? No, Sissy Spacek. No, Sissy—you're thinking of Rosemary's Baby. No, Carrie had the prom scene. With all the pig's—yes, it was Sissy Spacek, I'm sure. That much blood? Jesus. Okay, hold—five—okay, five minutes."

Valid question:

Do they teach ax fighting at Quantico?

Julian Meyer:

"Man, it's been a while," Julian says, leaning against your door frame. "I remember the nights we spent keeping that elder asleep with offerings of blood, the days curled up together in the desert. Wasn't it romantic?"

"That never happened, Julian. You made up our relationship and tried to sell it as a novel until the old Prince of Tucson threatened to execute you." '

"Vampire romance was big at the time," Julian says with a shrug. "And I changed our names. I still don't know why no one wanted to buy it."

Dammit I thought I was done with uni:

"Awful," Dr. Caul says with a little shudder. "But now your real studies can begin."

Your real studies consist of a syllabus (thirty pages) and a trunk full of books (35,000 pages).

"Are you disappointed, Rook?" she says with a little laugh. "Were you expecting something more mystical? A bolt of cosmic enlightenment? A conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel, who would reveal the answers you seek?" She bangs the trunk as technicians get ready to load it into your car. "Get reading."

An enthusiastic boss:

You reunite with Pattermuster down in the morgue, where he's pumping his fists as a thin-blood on a gaming laptop watches with a worried expression because she can't tell if he's incredibly happy or insanely mad.

"Rook!" Pattermuster shouts, his eyes full of Blood, "you did it! You brilliant child, you did it! We're safe. Oh, thank God, we're safe." He pulls you into an embrace, then punches a brick wall because he's so happy, showering all three of you in dust.

I thought that was Finland?:

You catch all sorts of whispered gossip as you cross the rooftop garden.

"Camp Scheffler?"

"Gone. That Outlander courier had something to do with it."

"I heard the Russians helped the SI burn it down."

"That's ridiculous. There's no such thing as Russians."

Pot, kettle:

"Julian," the Eagle Prince says, "you will locate Reremouse with the equipment Vane brought. Once we find him, we will strike shortly before dawn. I have prepared a stake sufficient to pierce even his old hide."

"That easy, huh?" Julian says.

"No, but—"

"Your plan is ridiculous, convoluted, and dangerous," Julian says.

"And you have a better one?"

"Absolutely," Julian says. "We use Stonehenge to teleport him to Mesopotamia."

The must-have appliance:

He's a black outline in the glow of a single yellow bulb... and then the bats descend.

And then the bats get torn to pieces, because Pattermuster pulls his two katanas out of nothing and turns into an undead Cuisinart for a few seconds.

But aesthetic:

Leave it to a vampire to bring a sword to a gunfight.

It is pretty cool though:

"Oh my God," Julian says. "You're going to use the car engine to fling Prometheus into Reremouse's heart."

"Dammit, Julian, I am not doing this because it's fun. I am scrambling for every advantage I can because we only have one chance to stop Reremouse, and if we fail, the Second Inquisition will descend on us like wolves on a wounded deer."

"It's still cool," Julian mutters.

A e s t h e t i c:

The Camarilla looks unkindly on vampires who dress like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, but what's the point of being dead if you can't look the part?

#JustToreadorThings:

You sleep badly and awaken to an aching and acute Hunger that crowds out other thoughts. But when you approach the Rolls-Royce, you find Lettow and Julian seated on a blanket, evidently in fine spirits. They're holding stainless steel mugs as they watch the last purple streaks fade from the western sky. There's something perfect about the composition before you: the two Kindred in their working clothes with their backs to you, the blue-black clouds, the faraway mesas framing the scene.

"I fear we've lost the Aesthete," Lettow muses. "Luka? Luka!"

It's just good sense:

A lot of keypads use 0911 as an emergency override for police and fire. That doesn't work, but a common default password causes the elevator doors to slide right open.

Change your defaults, people.

They draw the line at 31%:

Not all problems can be solved by putting a brick through a window, but at least 30 percent can.

Descriptive:

That's when your Nissan makes a sound like a bunch of typewriter keys dropped in a blender, and the whole truck lurches to a halt.

Munch munch:

"There are tags attached to all the payroll numbers," you say. "FNMA. PFC. What are they?"

"FNMA?" Antonio says. "That's Fannie Mae. The loan commission. Privatized in 1968. PFC…"

"Pavlodar Fried Chicken," Janet says. "Damn Commies."

Courier what did you do:

When you try to start your Mercedes, it vomits black smoke. That's not good. You kill the engine.

"Pop the hood," Julian says. "I'll get it up and running."

He checks the motor. There's a long pause.

"Did you melt a bunch of cheese in here or something, Vane?"

“I remember crawling out of a Nieuport 20 outside Gibraltar," Prince Lettow says. "The engine looked like that. Of course, ours had been on fire."

"Engine looks like Vane fed a bunch of sardine cans into a paper shredder," Julian says.

Almost!:

So Lettow is cute. I'm going to talk to him and see if he might be interested in a handsome young courier who almost has his own car.

Scientist life:

A beaker of cold coffee on her desk has a pencil in it; she flicks the pencil away and drains the entire beaker, then looks you in the eyes.

Domesticity:

"Wow, Vane," the Banu Haqim says, "did you finally settle down. Where's the wife and kids? Why don't you get me a beer, and we can talk about football and quote some Bible verses at each other?"

I really want to know where the fake werewolf came in:

"...so the whole fucking Cadillac is on fire, and I'm kicking and kicking, trying to get the window to break!" Dove says.

"Right, right, because —" You're trying to follow this story, and it isn't easy.

"Because I'm still handcuffed to the guy who was pretending to be a werewolf, right. And I finally kick through the window, rip half the dead fake werewolf's arm off to get free — I'm out of my fucking mind now, with all the fire — and I finally crawl out of the car."

"And get clear before it — do they blow up?"

"Escalades? I dunno, probably not," Dove says. "But anyway, I'm finally clear, so I run across the parking lot, laughing because I'm just thrilled not to have met final death chained up to that guy. And I barely have time to look up before Lettow comes screaming around the corner in a Ford Bronco with the lights off and runs me over. I was in the wrong Cadillac the whole time."

"No!"

"Two black Cadillac Escalades in the parking lot of the Marriott," Dove says. "How was I supposed to know which one — anyway, that's why I don't get to drive anymore. That's why Lettow wants assholes like you driving."

"Driving what?" you ask. "Because I need a car."

Dove shakes her ugly head. "I'll get you something. Give me a few hours to work on it, and I'll send someone to find you."

Cars are everything:

You still don't know how Julian plans to go from "divert a few funds and data streams from the Camarilla" to "transform the global information panopticon in a way that ends the Masquerade but keeps vampires safe," but he has a nicer car than last time, so he must be doing something right.

Guys please be nice to Raul:

"There appears to be a vampire hunter outside," he says, "investigating your electric vehicle."

"Send your bird to peck his eyes out," Julian says. "I'm not going outside until I find my sneakers."

Cheese?:

Over the next few minutes, you cough up a glorious wad of bullshit involving MKUltra, the Philadelphia Experiment, Star Wars (the movie), Star Wars (the Reagan-era government program), Jackson Pollack's CIA connections, the history of federal cheese, and the secret mastermind behind the seventies gas crunch.

In fairness it's a pretty rare sound:

You're way up in Limberlost, near the mall and the Walmart, when Riga settles on the roof of a Safeway. You reverse into the parking lot in case you need to get out fast and scan the cars at the pumps. It looks quiet. Then you hear a faint ringing.

The sound is musical, hypnotic. It reminds you of your childhood, and for a long time you just sit there in the driver's seat, remembering what it was like to be alive. But what is that sound? What memory from…?

Oh, right.

The pay phone next to the ice merchandiser is ringing.

It's a skill!:

Not every member of Clan Toreador joins their august ranks because of their great beauty or artistic genius. Some people end up vampires because of their extensive knowledge of Adobe After Effects.

Big Pirates of the Caribbean energy:

"I'd kind of like to give Lettow here a horse and a sword and let him tear through an entire police barracks," Julian says. "Tell me that wouldn't be fun."

"One thing I learned from Napoleon," Lettow says, "is that the most powerful cannon is useless if you cannot see your target. We know the location of one small encampment. That isn't enough to start shooting."

"You knew Napoleon?" Julian asks.

"Napoleon was my horse," Lettow says.

[lokiondisneyplus]

As film and TV sets reopen at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, home to big-screen juggernauts like "Avengers: Endgame," the biggest job is keeping the coronavirus off the Georgia studio's lot.

The several hundred producers, set designers, painters and carpenters working to get productions ready undergo tests for Covid-19 weekly, and sometimes more often. An app tracks workers' symptoms between tests, and a badge system prevents anyone without a negative test result from opening doors on the lot.

The regime of testing will cost more than $1.5 million a month once cameras are rolling and several thousand workers are on set, said the studio's chief executive, Frank Patterson, noting that is what is needed to stay in business.

Pinewood Atlanta is trying to solve a riddle facing a host of businesses, schools and universities headed into this fall: How much Covid-19 testing is needed to ensure people can stay safe and keep organizations functioning amid a pandemic. At many companies, tests for active infections or antibodies are becoming a condition of returning to the workplace, along with symptom checks and stepped-up cleaning practices, medical consultants say.

Mr. Patterson steeped himself in research on testing, viral transmission and air quality when the pandemic halted film shoots in mid-March. With streaming services and Hollywood studios relying on him to produce new content, he aimed to restart his company's shooting as soon as possible and become what he calls "one of the most secure and safest studios in the world."

That security doesn't come cheap. These days, around 200 workers each day get a nasal-swab Covid-19 test, costing Pinewood Atlanta about $200 each. When cameras are rolling later this year, 3,000 to 6,000 workers will be on set daily, compounding costs.

"We have to pay a premium just to get back to work. It's painful, but it's not stopping anyone," Mr. Patterson said.

Pinewood Atlanta has been involved in some of the world's highest-grossing franchises, such as "Avengers: Endgame," as well as content for streaming services. The production company believes testing expenses will eventually qualify for the state's film-production tax credits. A spokeswoman for Georgia's revenue department said it plans to put out guidance on allowed expenses soon.

Employers who want results quickly must hunt for labs that can guarantee speedy results and priority treatment.

Right now, testing in the U.S. involves a patchwork of public, private and academic laboratories that can offer their own testing services or partner with drugstores, doctors and other groups. That decentralized system has recently been plagued by supply-chain strains and a surge in demand that has led to delays in results for many individuals.

"We just don't have a real functioning market," where demand for testing can easily find lab capacity in the U.S., said Sean Murray, president of Eurofins's workplace Covid-19 testing program.

To run its tests, Pinewood Atlanta hired health-testing and software-company BioIQ Inc., which relies on a network of labs. The company offers results in 24 to 48 hours, and Mr. Patterson says his studio is also willing to courier or rapidly ship tests to labs for faster processing.

"The tighter your feedback loop the more quickly you can learn and adapt," BioIQ Chief Executive Justin Bellante said of the need for quick turnaround times in results. Weekslong waits for many people tested in the U.S. have slowed contact-tracing and containment efforts.

Workers at Pinewood Atlanta report for testing days before they are scheduled to be on the lot to allow time for results to come in. A nurse performs a nasal swab for their first test; if that first test comes back negative, subsequent tests are conducted via saliva samples.

All workers on Pinewood productions have to answer health questions via an app on their phones. A completed questionnaire and a negative Covid-19 result get an all-clear code on the app, which workers present at a checkpoint at the studio. To open doors on the campus, workers must scan a badge; the badges only work if the wearer has received a negative test result.

Security guards at the checkpoint on the lot issue cleared workers a different color wristband each day. On-site Covid compliance officers, as well as fellow workers, keep watch to ensure everyone has the same color wristband.

The frequency of testing for workers at the studio is determined by factors such as the level of person-to-person interaction in their jobs. The highest-risk workers are tested three times a week, and Mr. Patterson said some actors prefer daily testing.

Figuring out testing led to some friction along the way, Mr. Patterson said, but partner studios and unions have reached a point where some preproduction work has resumed. The film industry as a whole hasn't yet adopted formal testing rules and Pinewood Atlanta will adjust its still-evolving protocols as standards are established.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that testing workers without virus symptoms may be useful in areas with significant community spread, though employers should consider factors such as the availability of tests and rate of positive results in previous employee tests.

Siemens Healthineers AG's world-wide testing program for its 50,000 workers will rely on consistent rules for all employees and includes regular testing for active infections and viral antibodies.

Workers' testing will depend on their location, the state of infection in the area, how much they travel and their work setting, said Deepak Nath, the company's president of laboratory diagnostics. Those who report to a corporate facility or travel in areas where the virus isn't contained will be required to get weekly tests and monthly antibody tests, which Siemens Healthineers produces.

Public-health officials have given mixed reviews to antibody tests, which require a blood draw to detect the presence of virus-fighting cells. They warn that having had Covid-19 isn't a guarantee against future infections. Yet medical advisers who work with employers say the tests can give companies a sense of the prevalence of the virus among their workforces.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has partnered with the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard to test workers in the Los Angeles area and in Washington state for Covid-19 antibodies, said people familiar with the matter. SpaceX didn't respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Nath said he didn't expect needing such elaborate testing to keep workplaces open back in March, but the continued global infections make it necessary, he said. The company is self-insured, meaning it pays for all of its employee health-care costs. It declined to say how much testing will likely cost.

"We truly haven't used cost as a filter through which to say whether we test or don't test," Dr. Nath said.

Grocery-chain Kroger Co. has begun shipping at-home tests to workers that cost about $60 to process. Microsoft Corp. offers on-site testing to employees and their families if they want it, a spokesman said.

While workplace testing is a financial strain for businesses now, costs could fall as pooled-testing methods become available, Mr. Murray of Eurofins said.

"It really is about money. If it were free, I think there'd be testing all over the place," he said.

Employers are trying other tactics alongside testing such as new air-quality and circulation measures and additional cleaning. At Pinewood Atlanta, productions are likely to employ fewer extras, and intimate moments between actors will be simulated with visual effects, Mr. Patterson said.

"Will it actually be actors exchanging spit? Unlikely," he said. "If we can do characters traveling universes and conquering worlds [with effects], we can certainly have two lovers kissing."