#Ticket-based parking system

[parkomax]

Ticket-Based Parking: Reliable Access Control and Revenue Management Manage parking operations efficiently with Parkomax’s ticket-based solution, offering robust access control, revenue tracking, and a smooth flow for vehicles entering and exiting your facility.

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

"Halloween Theme Park" Pt. 3 Rogues Party

Sorry, I know it's late but better late then never, lads! We're going to do a series of asks based on the same prompt of going to a theme park that does horror mazes in halloween (see: HHN at Universal Studio, Knotts Scary Farm, Fright Fest at Six Flags, etc). LAST ONE. then back to normal asks I swear.

TW: Horror mazes, theme parks

Riddler

You didn't have to convince him much. The moment you said anything about animatronics and the level of theater involved, he was into it. Will get a disability pass for his knee (and other injuries he's gotten fighting batman over the years). Will play it up that he has a brace for his knee AND a cane, too. Why yes, the two of you shouldn't have to wait in the hour to hours-long-throng of people who might get too close and breathe on him.

Is he petty enough to look at the prices of things and hack into the park system so you get a massive discount? Pffft. Yes, yes he is. It's one of those things no one is going to see unless they're looking. And by the time they look, he'll be long gone out of the system without a trace. If they didn't want things like this to happen, they really should up their security. Needless to say, whatever you want sweetheart, it's on his tab.

He does jump when the scare actors get him and it's all in good fun. Will get his feathers ruffled if someone gets him good or in a way he considers a "Cheat." Won't cause a fuss, however, because this is your thing and shockingly he doesn't want to make any of this about himself. The ones he won't be as gracious to are guests of the park making fools of themselves or being obnoxious. At best, he'll trip them with his cane. At worst, he'll sneak photos of their faces for later Riddler trials.

Favorite themes are sci-fi which is such a shock no one could have ever guessed. If it has ARG, interactive or "secret" elements, he's going to be the one to find all of it. He found a button to press and has a child's sized bead bracelet now and he's very proud of it. If he sees larger animatronics or SFX, he will try to pause to get a look at the mechanics. Something fascinating for him to see the gears so to speak. Will even pay extra for an entire behind the scenes tour.

Penguin

You do have to convince him to go, but it's not a hard convince. Mostly, it's just not his fare. He's seen plenty of awful things in Gotham that border on real-life horror. Plus, there's a lot of disfigurement used as the "fear" element in these kinds of things that leaves a poor taste in his mouth. However, if you ask and make it clear you really want to do this with him, he will.

Does not look at prices. Whether it's the ticket or food or souvenirs... He's got the funds. If there's a possibility for VIP tickets with something like hotel or a spooky dinner included, you don't even have to ask, that's what he's getting. You deserve it. If there's food the place is known for that's good, he's getting it.

There's a fair chance some drunk at the park will make a comment on his stature or looks. It's dark, not everyone can tell who he is in these settings. It can almost be forgiven. Almost. At best, he'll pull them close by the collars and remind them just who he is and what he can do to them. At worst, he's going to remember their face for later, colder revenge. Head under the ice at the lounge, for example.

His favorite mazes would be ones with historical themes, gangsters, that kind of thing. It's familiar. Like looking at a twisted fun-house mirror of his own life and interests. Might even tip his metaphorical hat to a scare actor that banters with him in that kind of outfit.

Mad Hatter

You need to convince him. Several of his crimes border on horrific and genuine terror, but he doesn't seek out horror himself. If anything, he sees things of that nature and sort of... doesn't. He sees Wonderland instead. So going out of his way to be in a horror maze is a bit- you mention costuming and he perks up. Costuming?

Oh. The outfittings! The dedication to details in a scare actors look! He's quite fond of getting closer to the actors in a respectful manner and complimenting their aesthetics in hopes they'll pause and give him a better glance. If he has a sketch pad with him, he's already scribbling and drawing haphazardly. Not of the actors per say, but the ideas they give him. Inspirations... How he can twist it to his perfect world.

Low-key is asking you to take photos of souvenirs you like because he very well might be able to just... make it without it costing 50 dollars. He's absolutely anti-paying this kind of money. It's practically highway robbery! ...However he will pay a little extra for something sweet the two of you will share. Funnel cake, that kind of thing.

So much nervous laughter when he's in the mazes. Lots of "oh! hehehe yes you got me! AHAHAH oh very good!" This is so different then when Jonathan scares him! This is... Not nearly as fun. Still somewhat enjoyable just different. Good thing it's with you!

Scarecrow

He got his own post :)

Music Meister

The biggest wuss on this list. Phantom of the Opera and Frankenstein are about his levels of horror and even then, it's mostly the musical/stage-play versions. If you get him to go on the basis of set-building and the fact that each maze is like a contained live play, he'll find it much more interesting. That's the ONLY reason you convince him to go.

Listen. Clarence is a great guy. He would defend you and protect you through fire if need be. That said, in horror mazes, he does threaten to sprain your arm with the way he twists it close to him when an actor jumps. You aren't a body shield or anything, but you'll notice he shirks behind you on a particularly good scare.

Doesn't really plan on buying anything because the tickets were already kind of expensive (says the man who would pay insane prices for a theater seat)- But if there's something in particular that you like, he either buy it orrrrr do a quick song and dance routine for it at the cash register (it's fine). It's not dissimilar to what he'll do to a rude guest. Except the rude guests will be convinced to walk behind a roller coaster fence :)

If he can get over his fears long enough, you'll catch him ogling the props and set pieces. Standing in one spot a little too long to look at something. What does this contribute to the visual storytelling?

Victor Zsasz

If you mentioned it as something you like to do, he's already bought tickets for it. Maybe even earlier than someone should have been able to. You aren't really sure how he did that and maybe it's better you don't ask. He's just pleased that you're pleased. He's flirting with the monsters/slashers and/or asking which ones you'd let pin you and- quietly! Only to you.

He acts rather nonchalant about prices of things. Doesn't seem to pay much mind to them either way. And yet those dark eyes seem to linger on you as you look at things. If you express interest in something, he'll offer to get it for you. That's what boyfriends do, right? Whether it's a new shirt or some obscenely cute plush with fake blood.

If he could fuck you in the mazes without any consequences, he would. Seeing the fake blood and gore gets him going. The more the better! That's his favorite type of maze. This is all giving him some roleplay ideas... At one point he's definitely going to make out with you either just after a maze or sometime during the night when he can sneak you to a dark corner.

Rude guests? Who would be rude to a man physically covered in tally marks from head-to-toe? Maybe if they were stupid, sure. He'd give them a moment to apologize while staring. It's your night, so he'll try to behave. If they're rude to you, however... He leans in close to their ear, whispering. You can't make it all out but he's smiling in that way of his- The guest leaves in a rush. You're not sure if Victor will do whatever he just threatened... but considering it's you there's a fair chance that's a yes.

Killer Croc

He's uncomfortable with the idea, at first. What if someone confuses him for a scare actor because of how he looks? You find that it's something he's always been curious about but didn't go for that reason. It does happen, but not as often as he feared. Occasionally he does startle an actual scare actor and he feels bad.

Funny enough, he's probably not the one handling a rude guest in this scenario. Someone DOES start to harass him based on his looks (entitlement plus liquor) and he's doing his best not to bash on the guy. He doesn't want to fuck this up for you because of his temper- And then you see another guest jumping in. Are you harassing his man because of how he looks? Are you some ableist prick making fun of him because we're at a horror event? Oh it becomes a thing. What many people don't realize is what a draw these events can be for people who are differently abled whether it's physical or neurodivergency- Someone would be on the rude guest before either of you had to really step in.

He will be disappointed in 90% of the theme park food because he knows he could make this better. You both know this. He'd rather make food before or after and snack on things. Souvenirs? All they do is collect dust like an old ladies knick-knacks huh? He guesses if you want it- Holy shit how much do they want for it? Some of these people need to be in Arkham for these prices, he swears. But he'll get it for you if you don't get it yourself.

If there's a voodoo/hoodoo based maze, he's steering clear from it. He's heard enough offensive stereotypes about that sort of thing for a life time. It's just annoying at this point. He actually doesn't mind circus or freak show themes because of his moonlighting back in the day. Yeah, maybe they should kill all the gawkers, actually.

Harley Quinn

You don't have to convince her at all. You mention date night at a horror theme park and she jokes about if Crane is in charge of it. Apparently he did a haunted house last year that sent people running out. But she supposes a whole park dedicated to it would probably be okay ;P . Of course she wants to go, it's going to be fun and thrilling! And if the scaring doesn't get her heart going, she'll run to a roller coaster!

Lowkey loves being chased. She will instigate a scare actor by running and squealing if someone actually gets her. Is she truly scared? Fuck no. Then, Harley gets downright goofy if there's a clown maze or scare zone. Big "you see your cousins at the store" kind of energy. So much banter, especially since she's somewhat plainclothes and they might actually not recognize her.

Doesn't seem to pay much attention to pricing of food or merchandise unless it's particularly egregious. Then she's hands on hips "Whaddya mean you want that much? Highway robbery, that's what that is!" Do you want her to steal it? She can steal it and they probably wouldn't notice (they would).

She'll fight somebody if they're rude to you or employees. Tiny but mighty that's absolutely her. You wanna say somethin'? If you have any strength, there's a chance you can pick her up before she actually hurts someone. Because she WILL hurt them, especially if they physically harmed an actor.

Poison Ivy

This was the kind of thing she never got invited to do when she wasn't "pretty." Group night out or dates... and she never saw the point of going by herself. So it's on when you bring it up for a date night. When she goes she's in full spooky fashion. The woman could be doing a modeling session for insta if she wanted. She's giving beautiful decay and rot, babes.

In the spirit of behaving and not making a scene, any rude guests will find themselves trapped in place by plants as you and Pamela walk away at a moderate pace. A wave of her hand and suddenly they're tangled in the grass of all things. Wow. That sucks. Guess it's a good thing for them she can't feed them to her carnivore plants.

Will absolutely use her powers of charm and plant-based pheromones to get discounts on stuff in the park. Oh, was there some shirt you wanted or a stuffed animal and it's too expensive? She's got this. Either that or she pulls out one of those premium credit cards that she absolutely did not con off of someone.

For the most part she barely regards the scare actors with a glance unless they specifically target her. If a scare actor manages to surprise her particularly well, she'll give a few well-placed curses and plants around her grow in a spurt. She'll give a dry laugh and walk it off, mostly based on your reaction. She's a good sport about it. For themes- Literally any kind of theme set in nature or about nature taking over? That's her bag, no notes, everyone deserves it. Creepy crawlies count, too! Club settings with electronic noise and grinding machinery are less to her taste.

Two-Face

Both of them are very tentative to going. Harvey doesn't want to be confused for a scare actor... and Harv has a similar feeling but in the sense of not wanting to be gawked at. They'll go if you REALLY want, but it's completely for you. Might even try to be low-key and in disguise.

Harv complains about every single price. With what you paid for to get in here, the drinks should be free, at least. Harvey has no problem shelling out just because this whole thing is focused on you, anyways. Harv may eventually join in on the prospect of spoiling you considering that's his bag.

If someone was brave (read: stupid) enough to actually comment on Two-Face being there with their looks? "It'd be a damn shame for me to take out your eyes-" and a lisping growl from Harv as they get far too close to whoever said it. If it's you, they're lifting the person off their feet and there's a need to get them to cool off.

HATES asylum bits. Especially if there's poorly done plot-lines with DID in them. "Been there!" Harv exclaims. "Done that-" Harvey finishes. It's just tasteless and insulting at this point, especially given the large amount of press given to the rotating door residents of Arkham. Similarly to Penguin, he'll like historical themes, especially mobsters and the like.

Black Mask

Honestly? You convince him and I'm not sure it would go well. The park doesn't want to let him in due to the "mask" on his face and he's threatening staff members. You have to remember his medical documentation or else NEITHER of you will be getting into the park. Then someone asks if he wants a disability pass and he's throwing another fit. The semi-ableist toxicity is real if it's towards himself. To be clear, if you needed accommodations he'd fight bare-knuckled for you. The next realistic thing that I could see happening? Someone jumps at you and Roman, on instinct, knocks their lights out and you get kicked from the park.

We'll pretend that didn't happen though. He's cocky and refuses to be scared by anything. Someone jumps at him, he just glares at them in some strange macho way of trying to intimidate them. This results in some fun interactions where there's just. a stand-off. The scare actors might even know who he is and they know he can't do shit about it here. He's forced to play into it until you pull him away. It goes about the same for rude guests, although he might actually have those guys killed off screen later.

He will not comment on prices of anything because he's better than that. Also, I mean, it's one banana, Michael. What could it cost? 10 dollars? He does have that... rich people blindness to what something should cost vs. mark up. So yeah you'll be leaving with plenty of things you absolutely did not need but it caught your eye and he wants you happy.

He's dead-set on none of it scares him when you ask him what he liked. Not the question you were asking but O-K. In truth, he doesn't like incredibly low-light mazes because he doesn't like being unable to see what's in front of him- nor does he like grasping his way around with his hands. He doesn't mind body horror, especially face action. Makes him think of his start...

Mr. Freeze

You have to convince him to go and you pretty much have to promise to be at his side the entire time. It isn't because he's cowardly or anxious, he just doesn't like jump scares. If it's at you or at minimum both of you, that takes some of the edge of it off. It's an activity for the two of you, not... random people trying to scare a man in a full breathing apparatus.

The funny thing about this is that scare actors typically will not go for him. He's tall, broad, and he's recognizable as THE Mr. Freeze from a distance. Some people might even think he's a scare actor until they're right up on him. This does work to his advantage to rude guests, though. He just sort of... looks at them. Doesn't need to do much and they back off.

He doesn't really eat. Not... in public anyways. He has his nutritional lines that pumps directly into his system allowing a perfect ratio of needed calories for the night. He also doesn't see the joy or interest in merchandising. He won't object to you partaking, however.

His feelings on scare actors does transfer to the whole of mazes. It's just... not really his thing. He will like themes related to the arctic or freezing, predictably enough. Sort of a happy place. It's what his perfect world would look like, except for you in protective gear yourself. Perhaps more theming related to science fiction? He did always like those comics as a young boy...

Ra's al-Ghul

Why would you pay to get scared? That's the first thing he asks. Then when you try to explain it, he goes off into a ramble about the state of the world. People used to have problems- things they were really frightened of! Yes, ghost and horror stories always existed but this is taking it to an entirely new level- He's going to sound like such an old man about this. Yes, you have to convince him.

When people jump at him, he just rather... blinks. Unlike Black Mask who is trying to keep an image, Ra's is truly unphased. He will compliment a scare actors makeup and is pleasantly surprised when they pose mid-snarl for him to get a better look. Ah. It's theatrics. The people who do this are proud of the artistry. Interactive play... Hm. It puts it in a different, more enjoyable light for him.

Will not be purchasing any expensive merchandising. The whole thing is gauche and reeks of capitalism. Outside of the people actually working the event, he feels surrounded by entitlement and rude behaviors. He is one drunk guest bumping into him and saying something before he contemplates Actual Crimes. He'll opt to glare into their soul instead but they don't know how close he was.

Gravely insulted by any kind of theming about indigenous cultures (not done correctly/thrashed) or "ancient spooky religions oooo." He feels a deep hostility that turns him into a bit of a Karen, I'm ngl to you. However, will appreciate a well-decorated set that fits a theme. It has to make sense.

Bane

No. Very politely, just no. It's not about how you ask him or how you convince him, this is a hard no for him. He does not like people jumping at him, he does not like the tight spaces. Nothing about scare actors or mazes appeals to him. Plus, he knows his instinct in fight, flight or freeze is to fight. He knows he would lash out at someone on instinct and that would be irresponsible of him to go to an event like this.

Take him trick or treating. Hell, take him trunk-or-treating. He'd love to go to a pumpkin patch with you! He'll gladly try to go to a theme park with you outside of a horror event. He might have a hard time fitting in on rides but... He'll go! Just, please, mi amor, don't ask him to do this one thing.

He would absolutely support you going. Pick you up and drop you off, even just so you're not driving late or having to pay for a hotel. If you need extra money for a ticket or for merchandise to go with your friends, he's more than happy to help out. There's nothing in him that wants to ruin something you genuinely enjoy.

You can tell him all about it once you're home with him. Fun stories or your favorite mazes and why- Let him share this with you in a different way.

[rose-ellis]

Library AUs

I love a good Library AU - if there's one in a fandom I'm part of, I've probably read it. Some are pretty accurate…others not so much.

And listen, I'm not usually a stickler about job accuracy in other people's fics cause I understand that we aren't all doctors, firefighters, innkeepers, or whatever other job we give our characters, and most of us don't have people in our lives that we could ask questions to. So if a fic writer doesn't know everything about a job, it's totally fine.

But one thing that I see a lot in Library AUs that irks me is fic writers making their characters work in a library on a whim because it's an "easy job." Maybe they're using it to pay for school or just putting in time until they find their true calling.

It may be surprising to learn that to work in most libraries, you need some sort of formal library education. There's the university route of getting a BA and MA in Library and Information Science, or the college/vocational route of Library and Information Technician programs, among others.

Of course there are exceptions, particularly in smaller, rural public libraries - there's always going to be exceptions. But if your character works in a mid-to-large sized city public library or as a full-time (non-student) staff at an academic library in the 21st Century, they basically have to have a library degree.

Being a librarian/library tech is more than just greeting people and scanning their books.

It's organizing programs and events based on the demographics and needs of the community - reading and literacy groups, after school activities, social gatherings for lonely seniors, budgeting and cooking classes for college kids, hosting mobile health clinics, etc.

It's knowing where to find reliable information and resources when a patron asks a question - books for a public/high school project, academic articles for college students, info about immigration and citizenship for newcomers, by-laws for someone fighting a parking ticket, community resources for those needing assistance, etc.

It's caring for the library's collection on a tight budget to better serve the community - ordering new releases, subscribing to useful databases, purchasing licenses for ebooks, repairing damaged items, weeding redundant material, etc.

It's sorting the library's new acquisitions - understanding how to find and build numbers in the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress Classification systems (among others), creating cataloguing records, assigning subject headings, etc. to make the collection searchable.

It's finding someone their next book, helping them create and print their resume, and teaching them how to use their new device.

It's a million little things that no one thinks about. And library staff must do all of this while trying to market the library as something valuable in order to justify their existence in the face of constant budget cuts. Add onto that the increasing censorship issues and hostility that library staff must face.

And I may be screaming into the void because I know that 99% of that won't ever make it into fics. I get it - it's very dry and ruins the fantasy of working at a library. I'm not suggesting that you should have your characters spouting Dewey numbers left and right. And I know that it’s fanfic - it’s supposed to just be something fun and cute. It would just be nice to see it written like it's an actual career instead of an easy little filler position that anyone can do on a whim.

tl;dr: being a librarian is not an "easy job" - most librarians actually have degrees in library science. Show librarians some love by not undervaluing their hard work.

Sincerely,

a very tired library technician student

[brennacedria]

Overhearing Brian's convo with the AAA travel agent. He's mostly correcting her correctly when she's mentioning pricing on something wrong on a nonnegotiable point (like my park hopper, and based on my numbers the standard, table-service dining plan). For some reason, her system isn't letting her quote the full dining plan unless we choose a "deluxe" resort which is like... Bullshit, because I can pick the full plan even with a value resort doing this myself on the website. (I'm not saying she's bullshit, I'm saying her system is because I understand that's all she can work with.)

....okay, tho... To be fair, she just quoted almost 500$ less for a four night/four day ticket than what the website quoted me. I'm 90% sure the promo she's using for that IS one I have access to online but didn't use because I didn't think that fourth day would be worth it, but if that's what her numbers for Brian come out to I'll redo my quote with the extra day and see if hers is still better or not.

OHHH, that's the lower hotel. I don't mind the lower hotel if it still gets the dining plan I want--they ARE all closer than the Coronado (cheapest moderate resort) and Brian IS concerned with being closer than we have been in the past. I like the Coronado tho, cause it's the cheapest "moderate" and usually the least crowded of all the value AND moderate resorts.

Idk. He at least seems to be in a good mood while talking to her, so maybe that's a good sign.

[apocalyp-tech-a]

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW 🌈 (TechxReader)

Hello! This is my Bad Batch XReader Exchange gift for @deezlees for the @cloneficgiftexchange run by @ghostofskywalker!!! 💜

Prompts: Learning to ride a horse || Going on a vacation together || His first time at a history museum || Confident reader persona

Words: 2500

Warnings: None except flirtation maybe

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55173340

A/N: Having background in public history and having already written Tech at museums, this was a perfect matching!!! Hope you enjoy it! 🤓 And thank you to @cloneficgiftexchange for running it!

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW 🌈 (Tech X Reader)

The sun shone through the early morning commute of speeders and ships traversing Coruscant's sky, its pale blue color muted by smog that even the planet's filtering system could not alleviate. Towering skyscrapers of grays in every hue passed by as you navigated to the Grand Army of the Republic's base.

Upon pulling up in your speeder, a bright millaflower red Mustang XD38, you saw your future passenger salute you by casually flicking three fingers from his brow. You brought the speeder to a stop and flirted. "Hey good looking. Looking for a ride?"

"That depends," he said as he hopped into the passenger side with one dexterous and confident move.

"Depends on what, Tech?" You raised an eyebrow at him.

"On if I can be the driver." He adjusted his goggles hopefully.

"Can I pilot the Marauder?"

"No."

"Then you can be my CO-pilot. Just remember, I am the Captain here." You winked at him playfully.

You revved up the engine, but it wasn't loud enough to cover Tech's large sigh of frustration. You chuckled to yourself proudly before shooting him a grinning glance. "Aw, don't be like that, maybe you can drive back."

"That is exactly what you said on our previous two outings." Tech held up a pointed finger in a very casual, yet disgruntled manner.

"Yes. Hence the word "maybe."

Tech's propensity for arguing about who was driving dissipated as the museum came into view. His eyes were wide with excitement, though you knew he was trying to keep that emotion at bay. You had seen him go on one of his excited know-it-all rants before. You found them amusing, endearing, and most of all impressive. He was the smartest person you knew, whether it was from Kaminoan meddling or not, didn't matter.  You loved listening to him, and he loved to talk. And you didn't just like listening to him because of the pleasing sound of his voice and looks, but because he actually did talk about things that were interesting. 

After parking, you both walked to the museum's main entrance. Tech adjusted his goggles as his head tilted back to take in the much larger than necessary doors adorned by a full arch of sculpted marble, stone, mythological figures from all over the galaxy.

"Shall we?" You suggested with a smile.

Tech nodded in the affirmative. "After you, Madame." Tech took note of the strange face you gave him upon being called 'Madame.' Perhaps it was a little old fashioned, but he still had not figured out what else he could use in place of your name without being too forward or disrespectful. Sometimes you called him 'Hot Shot' or 'Ace' which were exceedingly better than the names his brothers called him.  

As for you, his brothers were not without suggestions. Crosshair suggested 'Doll,' Hunter suggested 'Sweetheart,' Echo suggested 'Dearest,' and Wrecker suggested 'Booboo-tooka.'  

None of those monikers were quite sufficient, however, but Tech knew a solution would eventually present itself.

Since you had already purchased tickets as a surprise for him since he had not only repaired, but upgraded and heavily modified the repulsor system for your speeder, you were able to acquire visitor badges quickly and began your mosey through the museum.

With twenty levels, there was no way you could see everything in one day let alone a few hours, but you knew Tech had marked out an itinerary on his datapad to follow at your suggestion. You knew he only had so much leave to see what most piqued his interest. Even though he wanted to see everything, you finally convinced him to whittle it down to four floors.

"Let's start with the Paleolithic and Neolithic," he said with a tweak of his goggles. He started walking toward the lifts as if he had been there before, but you knew he had simply memorized the entire museum's layout.

"Sounds good to me," you said walking beside him. As you stood in the lift, you tilted your head up to study his profile as he continued to look down at his datapad. You wanted to blame the movement of the lift tube for the slight buckling in your knees, but you knew it was all due to his handsomeness. 

Your heart pitter-pattered the moment you had seen him at 79s three months ago. You weren't one to go pick up guys at bars, but there was something unique and enticing about him. You thought little of it or him, figuring to never see him again until he came into your electronics shop in search of a capacitor.  

Apparently your knowledge of computers made an impression because he came in the next day looking for a hyper-regulator. With fate on your side, you asked if he wanted to meet you for a drink and after some adorable awkwardness, he agreed.

The lift doors slid open and you stepped into a carefully curated world of wood and stone. Dioramas with the first humans, the first Trandoshans, the first Rodians, Twi'leks, and Pantorans were set up along one corridor.  

"It is fascinating, the similarities between different species as pertains to the genesis and evolution of technology," Tech marveled as you came to the exhibit of like tools from all over the galaxy. "The Twi'lek arrowhead is quite similar to the Devaronian and Human. The same goes for ax-heads and needles. But once you get to items like beads and pottery vessels, you see the cultural trajectory lose conformity and develop based on materials available by individual local environment and customs."

"I had never really thought about it like that. I'm used to technology and more recent history I guess."  You shrugged.

"Indeed. One can hardly expect the modern mind to memorize all of the information whether historical or technological. Though I do try."

"You have some 'exceptional' advantages that the rest of us do not," you teased. You had not known him three rotations when he went on a detailed explanation of he and his brothers' 'defects' which did not sound like defects at all to you. Then he continued to explain how those traits made them more deviant than defective. You certainly understood that side of him as he often met with you when he should have been attending to GAR duties.

Satisfied with your visit to the 'stone' ages, you next traveled through time and to the fifth floor to the rise of cities and nation states.  

Tech stared at the first exhibit with fascination.  "The agricultural revolution varied by planet. Those that did not have crops that could be mass produced could only sustain small settlements, whereas those with large crops could maintain large cities that grew exponentially into kingdoms and nations."

"And wars and starvation."

"Yes," Tech turned to you, his brow furrowed with concern at your statement. Did you not find history as fascinating as he did? He knew your views on the war and cloning. He dared not ask, but all he could do was agree with you.

When Tech continued to stare at you, you realized maybe you had gone too far and put a damper on an outing that was supposed to be fun. "I'm sorry, Tech. I didn't mean to rain on your parade."

He adjusted his goggles thoughtfully. "I have seen plenty of rain on Kamino," he said understandingly. "You need not apologize. That is an unfortunately correct assessment of civilization. With growth and progress comes conflict and suffering. The two seem to go hand in hand, but I think rather to have faith that intelligence and good intentions have the advantage."

"In that case, it's almost as if sentient life is collectively "defective." You smiled, grateful for his understanding and wisdom. For being a clone maybe a third your age, if that, you can not but admire his calm and collected approach to situations and problems. The only thing he seemed to ever be nervous around is you, but that was understandable because you knew the clone troopers didn't exactly get lessons in romance in the GAR.

Tech merely pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose with a knowing smile. He was never quite sure how to take your sarcasm, probably because he was self aware of his own and that of his brothers, Crosshair in particular. But the affectionate twinkle in your eyes and gentle flourish of your smile made his heart beat a little faster and the tips of his ears feel a little warmer.

He had not expected to become interested in a female. He was engineered to be a soldier, nothing more. Yet, you made him feel like he was more than that, that he wanted more even. He found himself returning to your shop even though he really did not need to.

And yet he did 'need' to.

Tech found himself smiling back at you. "Indeed. I must apologize. We have been to two floors of exhibits that I wanted to see. Is there something you would like to see?"

"No, Tech. This was all for you."

"I should very much like to learn about what interests you."

"Well, there is an atrium level. Gardens and ruins from other worlds. I remember being taken with the one from Naboo when I was a child." You felt a little weird saying that considering Tech was technically the same age as you were at the time. "You can actually sit there and relax. Or meditate like a Jedi." You shrugged.

"I would very much like that."

After browsing the garden exhibits of Kashyyyk, Chandrila, Selonia, and Old Coruscant, you settled in the Naboo section. A small waterfall splashed down a rock cliff before flowing through a makeshift river that encapsulated the area and then recycled back to the top of the waterfall. Lush green grass spread across one half before melding with a more tree and moss covered rocky area that housed some Gungan head statues. But what really amazed you not only as a child, but as an adult as well, were the guarlara statues that guarded the Naboo area.  

Tech studied you as you gazed upon the statues, content to witness your own fixation with something in the museum since you put up with his. "The guarlara, a quadrupedal mammal native to Naboo, having evolved the physical trait of speed on that planet's grassy plains and also a long mane of hair. Used as transportation before the speeder was invented and now only used for official royal business such as coronations."

"Sadly, I don't think I'll ever get a chance to ride one."

"No. They are reserved for royalty," Tech said a little too bluntly. But you knew he didn't mean anything by it and that he for the most part sympathized with you.

"Indeed," you echoed a word he had a habit of saying. "Let's sit over on that fancy stone bench. My feet are a little sore from all of the walking we've done."

"Indeed," Tech said in reply with a grin. He forgot you were probably not used to walking five or ten klicks or more as he was.

You both sat in silence as the sound of the waterfall drowned out the low chatter of the museum. You took extra satisfaction because Tech is sitting right next to you, so close that your arms and legs were touching.  

You knew he was a little nervous because he continued to look down at his datapad rather than enjoy the soothing sound of the waterfall, but maybe water just wasn't his thing.

“Hey Ace. What cycle are we heading for next?”

There it was. 'Ace.' One of your pet names for him. He wanted so badly to find one for you as well, but he wanted a special name, not the usual. He knew you liked driving and piloting as he did, but Ace could not work for both of you. He knew you also liked guarlaras, but there were not many equus related monikers that seemed suitable. Guarlara itself did not roll off the tongue very well. Pony was not very romantic. And mare simply sounded unsuitable.

Tech's eyes went from studying his datapad to studying the floor. He was disappointed that he could not find an ideal solution to this very simple quandary.

He now turned to you, studying your delicate features, so content to be in your favorite part of the museum, yet you were so colorful as well, not like anyone he had ever met before. When you turned to him, he took to studying the sparkle in your eyes, that seemed to represent everything he admired about you.

“What is it?” you asked, noticing Tech staring at you strangely.

He took your hand in his. "I was simply thinking about what an extraordinarily colorful woman you are. You remind me of the rainbows on Kamino. They were always so vibrant after a storm. And you are a vibrant beacon after all of the missions we go on. You are like a rainbow to me, albeit in adult human female form."

“Awwww...” You squeeze his hand and place your other hand over your heart. "I think that might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Tech could not help the large smile that spread across his face. “Then it is settled, Rainbow.”

You could not stifle the huge goofy smile that was spread across your face, beaming with happiness at Tech, whose eyes reflected your contentment. “You know, Ace, I think you might have earned the title of Captain.”

“That is not possible. Hunter is our Sergeant and first in line for that- Oh. You are referring to your speeder. You are going to let me pilot it?” Tech asked with a hopeful tweak of his goggles.

You laughed at him. “Come on, Captain Tech. Let's finish out the rest of the museum, then you can take me for ride.” The sly wink you gave him gave you exactly the fumbling reaction you desired.

Tech pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose nervously and cleared his throat. “Yes. I shall take you for a ride in your speeder.”

After you were all done at the museum, you took note of Tech's excitement to sit on the pilot side of your speeder while you took the seat he had earlier.  Before you knew it, you were speeding away from the museum, up into the sky at a breakneck, but controlled speed, but it didn't matter, you knew he was a skilled pilot, and you trusted him with your life, and your heart.

Tech looked over at you, a huge smile spread across your face as the speeder breezed through the bright, neon signs and beaming lights of the other vehicles in the skylanes and shining through the windows of the skyscrapers.  All of the colors of the Coruscant evening did not compare to the lovely colors of you, his own personal Rainbow.

[fantasyismyonlyrealescape]

Whumptober 2024: No. 12 - Underground Caverns/"Just A Little More"

Title: Tight Spaces

Characters: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens (Zowens)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 1454

A/N: Welcome to another addition to Whumptober, Day 13. Just as a heads up, this fic is all about claustrophobia, so if that is triggering to you don't read. Also, I based this fanfiction off of Caverne de St-Léonard (Saint-Léonard Cave) in Montréal, Québec, Canada. They give guided spelunking tours, but for the purpose of this fanfiction we are dropping the guide and replacing them with Sami. So, here we go. I hope you don't mind my artistic license with this one. Enjoy!

Summary: Sami Zayn doesn't know Kevin Owens as much as he thought he did, putting them in a situation that they both soon regret. Can Sami get through to Kevin and get them out of it?

Cross posted on AO3 under user wrestlinginjeans.

Kevin could see Sami practically vibrating with excitement in the driver’s seat as he made the last turn and pulled into the parking lot of the attraction that Sami had insisted they go to. It had been a surprise, planned weeks in advance when Sami knew that they would both have the same day off. With Kevin on Smackdown and Sami on Raw, they hadn’t been able to spend as much time together as either of them would have liked so this was Sami’s attempt at rectifying that. “We’re here!” Sami says, a smile that Kevin knows like the back of his hand illuminating his face.

“Unhelpful, Sami. Where are we?”

“You’ll see, come on!” Sami said, wanting to keep it a surprise for as long as he could. Long fingers wrap around Kevin’s bicep for a moment with an insistent tug before they disappear, and the slighter man is hopping out of the car and into the parking lot.

“We got here just in time for the opening, so there shouldn’t be too many people!” Sami babbles happily as they make their way to the entrance. “I can’t believe you’ve never been here before, Kev. You’ve lived here all your life!”

“How do you know I’ve never been here? You won’t even tell me where ‘here’ is?”

“Because I asked you and you said you hadn’t.”

Kevin takes a moment to wrack his brain and remembers Sami asking him numerous seemingly pointless questions, but Sami had asked him a lot in the past few weeks, and he couldn’t think of exactly what question Sami was referring to.

“Sami, you are always talking about one thing or another and we are always jumping around between conversations. It’s hard to keep track of one thread of your thoughts let alone all of them. Unhelpful.”  Kevin states in mock irritation with no real heat to it, Sami smiling happily and giving a small shrug in response.

A moment later, they are at the ticketing booth. Sami pays for them both and when the worker hands Sami two bright orange hardhats with headlamps attached, Kevin begins to bite down on the inside of his cheek nervously.

As Sami tosses Kevin his hardhat, placing his own on his head in one swift motion, Kevin attempts to regain his inward composure. From the outside, he was totally fine but inside he was beginning to worry.

“Sami… What do we need these for?” Kevin asks quietly, looking down at the hardhat still in his hand.

In another swift motion, Sami grabs the piece of gear out of Kevin’s hand and places it on his head. He points down towards a wrought iron staircase, the happy smile still on his face as he buckles the chin strap for Kevin.

“I think the term is spelunking, silly right? Have you heard of it? Essentially, it’s cave diving.”

No. Out of all the things Sami wanted to do on their day off, cave diving was at the top of his list? Kevin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Sami, oblivious in that moment to Kevin’s internal battle, was already pulling him by the arm down the stairs and into the start of the cave system. Sami pulling him along was the only way he would ever set foot in a cave. He was only able to take one steadying breath before he was pulled along into the cave, his eyes immediately beginning to adjust to the lack of light.

Sami, having dropped his hand from Kevin’s arm was moving his body in a slow circle, his eyes directed upward, and his mouth slightly parted in awe at the rock formations around them.

“Isn’t this incredible, Kev?” Sami said, his tone a mix of awestruck and disbelief. “I’ve been here several times, and every time I come back it always feels like the first time.”

Sami, clearly not afraid of tight spaces but curious as to why Kevin had gone so quiet, dropped his gaze back down to eye level.

“Kev?” Sami asks quietly, a questioning look on his face.

Kevin, never one to voice any of his concerns, immediately shrugged off the question.

“Yeah, Sami. I’m good. Let’s go.”  

Not ten minutes later and in a particularly tight part of a passageway which Sami could fit through with ease, but Kev couldn’t, Kevin was on the verge of a breakdown. Sami, leading the way, didn’t realize until it was too late how Kevin was reacting to the situation.

“Sa-mi…” Kevin managed to get out, the rush of blood in his ears only surpassed by his heartbeat thrumming like a drum beat. His heart seemingly threatening to burst from his chest was the only thing that he was aware of in that moment.

Sami having just made it to the next opening, spun around to say something to Kevin who he assumed was right behind him, the comment fading from his lips when he saw Kevin not making progress towards him.

“Kev? You good?” Sami asks, his smile fading as he takes a couple steps towards the exit he had just pushed himself through. When he got no response from the dark-haired wrestler, Sami directs his gaze to read Kevin’s eyes. Sami had seen that gaze in his best friend’s grey orbs before and it didn’t bode well for either of them.

“Kev. Kevin, come on. Just keep moving forward. You’ve got this.” Sami encourages, placing his hands on the exit and bending down slightly to get a better angle of his friend. “Kevin Owens, snap out of it.”

Grey eyes, slightly clouded in his panicked state, dart to Sami’s own hazel ones.

“That’s better. Come on, take one step at a time. Breathe, Kev, I am right here.”

Kevin, unable to comprehend in that moment how Sami could possibly breathe so easily given the situation, inched slightly forward only to slam his eyes shut. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t feel anything, he only wanted to get away, but he couldn’t. Would this be it for him? Of all the dangerous things he has done in his life, Kevin Owens would go down as “died by spelunking”? What nonsense.

“Kevin! Keep moving forward. I can get us out of here, but you need to clear the way first.”

With Sami’s words once again falling on seemingly deaf ears, he climbs back into the small passageway. In a moment, warm hands make contact with Kevin’s forearms. Sami, making a quick assessment of Kevin’s state, notices how quickly he is breathing and how a sheen of sweat had formed on Kevin’s skin. Inwardly cursing himself, Sami wraps his fingers around Kevin’s forearms with just enough force to attempt to get a reaction from the shorter man.

“Kev. I’m right here. You and I are going to back out slowly, okay?” Sami instructs quietly, glancing behind Kevin to make a quick mental estimate of how long the passageway went. While not an ideal situation, Sami was worried that if they moved forward and made it to the next opening, he wouldn’t be able to convince Kevin to go back into such a confined space even if it meant guaranteed freedom.

“Kev, you got that? I need some kind of response from you.” Sami asks gently, giving Kevin’s forearms a gentle but insistent squeeze. Kevin his eyes directed downward at Sami’s hands on his arms, takes in a shuddering breath before nodding his head once.

“Great. Alright, now I need you to start backing up slowly. I’m not letting you go. You make a motion, and I am going to match that, okay?” Sami instructs slowly, giving Kevin’s arms a reassuring squeeze as he removes one of his hands to give himself better leverage for what they were about to do. “Alright, Kev. Let’s take that first step now, okay? Ensemble.”

The passageway that they were currently in was tight to the point where they had to crawl through on their hands and knees. So, when Kev made the first motion back towards the entrance, Sami couldn’t help but sigh inwardly in relief. Kev was listening to him; they would be out of here in no time. After several minutes of slow moving, Kevin exited the passageway stiffly followed by Sami. Leaping down from the ledge, Sami immediately made his way to Kevin.

“Kev, how are you feeling now?” Sami asks urgently, his hands reaching out towards Kevin, his fingers finding his friends upper arms. Sami sees Kevin take one steadying breath, licking his lips once before bringing one of his hands up to brush against one of Sami’s.

“I’m good, Sami. But the next time you want to go spelunking, drag Seth or somebody else with you.”

Translations: Ensemble – Together

[inkmo]

went to report a rammer on forza and i noticed they had a 'feedback and suggestions' option in their support tickets, so i decided "why not? i have thoughts about this game". two and half hours later my partner had to get my attention to remind me we needed lunch and it was already 4 p.m. my last therapist said i don't have ADD. long rant under the cut. I'm 100% correct, btw.

Generally, i think this is a really great game when everything is working right. It's just about the only one i'm playing these days. I came to it from Assetto Corsa and Gran Turismo, so I have some modest sim racing experience that informs my expectations. Anyway, here is a list of features i'd like to see some day, some comments, etc:

the option to auto-sell most cars that are won in wheel spins when racing online (currently the car goes straight to your garage). Perhaps a slider based on value or rarity. removing cars from my garage by hand is a very time consuming experience.

on that note, i feel some utility to easily manage downloaded tunes, paintjobs, and garage cars would be greatly appreciated. even if it's an external program that doesn't run in game. at current, tunes can only be deleted when you are in the car they apply to, and paints and cars have to be deleted one at a time, which is very time consuming with menu lag (my xbox takes a while to do this each time, and I have had a few marathon sessions where I'd spend half the day just deleting and organizing things in my garage). in the my paints menu, thumbnails take a very long time to load, and deleting one sends you back to the front. perhaps a toggle for whether it is currently on a car in my garage or not would help, too. and a way to see what tune i have on my car and who made it. it's necessary to delete tunes at times because of the limited number you can have. if you don't have the tune in your collection to compare against the car, it can be really easy to forget exactly what you have that car for. my workaround for this has been to devise a paint color system (red cars for power, blue for road and street, orange for dirt, green for offroad, black gray or white for purists, chrome for highway pulls. i think i might need another color specification for hotwheels cars and to differentiate between circuit and sprint cars) but this requires a high number of paints to be saved. my workaround for that is to just buy a fresh car and specify the solid color I want there. this seems to not use a paint save slot. maybe there can be an option to click on for each car in your garage so you can remember if a car is for rally or street racing etc…

and on that note, menus take a very very long time to load, and selections are never acknowledged right away. it's been two years and I still find myself pressing the button repeatedly in menus when i select things because i just can't tell if it really registered or not. sometimes when i enter an event, it can take up to twenty seconds for my thumbnails to load on the car select screen, and this can get a little nerve wracking when the timer's counting down. I still have an xbox one, and i think there is a chance this could be more of an xbox one problem than an fh5 problem.

constraints/settings for events for tire choice, drive train, engine swaps, maybe even a locked tune that can be purchased and installed at the event car selection screen for spec racing and club time trials. for instance, i LOVE RWD dirt racing, but RWD cars are not very competitive when AWD cars are in the mix.

the option to race expert, pro, and unbeatable drivatars if you want in the weekly playlist events. i like these events because they enforce some variety in car choices, and i just like getting to check things off a list, but the actual racing tends to be a snooze.

even unbeatable drivatars tend to do mystifylingly stupid things every race. mostly jerking the wheel hard on straightaways for no reason, or parking it on corner apexes needlessly, especially in sweeping turns where i would expect to be able to follow flat out. i realize that they can't actually be that good if you want to have a chance of catching them in only three laps, but single player often feels like i'm just trying to get past 9 or 10 mobile chicanes so i can actually race with the one or two real competitors up front.

i don't always have xbox live gold, and single player freeroam can be a real shitshow at times. mostly it's encountering drivatars just parked in the middle of the road (I guess they're mimicking real players that pause while driving? I do that sometimes), or that there seems to be a few places on the map that spawn loads of drivatars at once. like i'd almost without fail encounter an 8 to 10 car roadblock on the sweeping downhill south of guanajuato leading to the stadium/street scene for instance. i know horizon life and horizon solo can't be the exact same experience, but i came to find driving in freeroam in horizon solo at times infuriating.

head-to-heads ought to punish players for leaving the road. they always devolve into eliminator style as-the-crow-flies racing when they actually happen. that's just not racing, and it's why i guess you see people doing them so rarely. the real freeroam racing seems to mostly be at the drag strips and on the tarmac side of the mountain. (by the way, the tarmac side of the mountain is a masterpiece. chef's kiss. good work.)

backmarkers should be ghosted in online lobbies. I didn't know this was an issue, but I accidentally rear ended a guy pretty hard the other day who i was going to lap, because I expected to just ghost right through him. I don't think i've ever encountered trouble makers hanging around at one point on track to try and ram the leaders when they come through, so i can't comment as to whether this would help with that. wall riding should maybe be punished harder, too. i saw someone wallriding at HMC in the trial last week, and it was good enough to keep him in front of all the unbeatable drivatars. but that's also the only time i've ever seen someone wallride like that in this game, so it's perhaps not a big problem. i didn't even know it was something i could report people for until today.

can it be possible to turn off some particle effects when racing online? it's pretty common to get stuck behind people who can't or won't put the power down right in fast corners. this makes a smoke screen that's impossible to see through. i'm not sure exactly what amount of power and angle starts making big smoke; I don't notice my tires smoking if I'm using slip angle in a turn, though, and i don't recall seeing drivatars do this.

i use the braking line only setting, because there are just too many car and track choices to truly internalize. i've noticed the braking line tends to 'lie' on hotwheels races. it seems like i'm always braking too late in hard braking zones in hotwheels races, but this doesn't seem to be a problem in mexico or badlands. is it just me?

this is just a polish thing, but what if players that use the borrow car option get a random manufacturer color instead of every car being the default color. just to add some variety to the grid.

another polish thing: the Buick GNX has a bump map or UVs problem on its doors. my 3D modeling knowledge is a little lacking, but SOMETHING makes that car look like it has a big dent in its doors on the trailing edge.

i loved the stock car trials you guys were doing for a minute a year or two ago. i remember the one with the porsche desert flyer was really fun, especially when i realized i could set the car up (this car has a very short gearbox, but it's a race gearbox -- and anyone that didn't think to tune theirs was a sitting duck). on the other hand, i also learned i could get away with building those cars to have more power as long as the PI was still the same as the stock option, so maybe that should be fixed). on the other hand, i thought the mini and landrover offroad B class trial the other week was total dogwater. idk what it was.. maybe i just don't like those cars. the mini john cooper works buggy x-raid seems to be particularly underpowered no matter what i use it for. I would love to see more stock car trials in the future.

i wish we could have the oval in freeroam all the time.

i think you guys did nothing wrong with the blower bentley forzathon. it was early in the game for me and i had to grind to just buy the thing, but i didn't think it was that bad…

an option to fire A class boneshaker drivers into the sun. J/k! A class rods and customs tours tend to turn into boneshaker only, and that's kinda fun. boneshaker cup someday perhaps? consider it won't you? ;-)

((i think the meta is a little wonky in general. for instance, drag tires make for some of the best road racing builds in B class. rally tires are hands down some of the best road racing tires in A class and above. Rally tires are almost never used for rallying because offroads handle dirt better, allow some PI for more horsepower, and aren't that much of a hindrance on road (ex: I won every event in the trial yesterday (A class Lexus Road events) on offroads. I accidentally grabbed one of my rally cars instead of the road build I'd made, but that rally car was still good enough to win). muscle cars with whitewalls seem to be one of the choice build types for hotwheels hazard and offroad events. in fact hotwheels open seems to devolve to a small handful of power meta cars that are the only viable competitors, and that's why i guess it seemed so dead when i was still doing it. I guess my thinking is tire and drivetrain constraints could reel the meta game in a bit, and we'd see fewer people griping about "bring clean cars, no forza aero, tires etc" in looking for group posts and on reddit. after my first couple months playing this game, i had to go and do research about the build/tuning meta because i realized i just wasn't fielding competitive cars most of the time. maybe this is actually the correct way to play the game if you care about it. i've raced enough in sims that i knew racecraft wasn't my issue. and i think this might not ever occur to players that don't already have experience with racing games. i'm not sure it's really possible to learn in game what a 'good' car looks and drives like. the game won't teach you and the autoupgrade seems to be nearly useless in this regard. you have to go looking on reddit or youtube for good tuners to follow, and be willing to take notes.))

that's about everything i can think of off the top of my head right now. this seems like a lot, but i love this game and have thought about it a lot the last couple of years. and i know y'all have done quite a bit to fix things. game crashes are fewer now it seems. i'm genuinely surprised these days if i get it to crash, but it was a pretty common occurrence a year or so ago.

p.s. attaching a fan art i drew of the nissan tsuru just because i like you guys. have a good day :)

oh, i just remembered. the existence of 'rivals lines' strikes me as a problem. this is where the checkpoint gates don't adequately constrain the track boundaries and players can cut, or go way off road to carry more speed into an otherwise slow corner. are these by design?

one more thing. and i can't believe i forgot it because this was at the forefront of my mind when i started writing. we really need some sort of car proximity marker or radar in first person views. like in Assetto Corsa or Gran Turismo. i find 3rd person racing kind of disorienting so i'm always in dash or bonnet view. i think most of the time when i make contact, it's turning into cars that are significantly alongside during corner entry. I just don't know that they're there until it's too late.

[theriverbeyond]

app based parking payment systems are so bad because when there is a guy at the exit that I must hand my credit card to before I leave I will pay 100% of the time but if you make me remember to pay on an APP in the morning when I am thinking about class and homework and that group presentation I have to do today then I will forget approximately 65%-95% of the time and then return to my car after 8+ hours of school to a $80 dollar ticket. so like I guess that's why they do it huh.

[parkomax]

Efficient Vehicle Access Management with Ticketing Systems Our advanced ticket-based system simplifies parking management by offering precise entry and exit control. Reduce congestion, improve customer experience, and maintain high security standards effortlessly.

[the-smile-doctor]

HELLO!

Welcome to Smiley’s Big Adventure!! The amusement park and arcade based on the hit arcade game of the same name! I am Smiley, the owner and ruler of this wonderful establishment! Please, have fun! And don’t forget to S̪̭̱̼̼̉̈́ͪ͋̽̚M̘͈̺̪͓̺ͩ͂̾ͪ̀̋I̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣL͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨE̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑!

Rides: The Beam - 6 tickets Up, Down, and Around - 3 tickets Vessel of Laughs - 6 tickets Ferris Wheel - 3 tickets Cheer-ousel - 3 tickets Tunnel of Love - 6 tickets per pair Arcade Games: Smiley’s Big Adventure - 2 tickets Ticket Chamber - can earn up to 30 tickets The Jester’s Circus - 3 tickets Escape the Gag - 1 ticket Dance Dance Revolution - 2 tickets per player MORE GAMES TO BE ADDED SOON. . . Now Playing: CRAZY - LE SSERAFIM

Smiley was created by @the-arcade-doctor, who has so kindly given them to me. Smiley is panromantic, but asexual, and we will not accept any NSFW asks. We wouldn’t anyway.

tag system is as follows:

#smiley makes a friend - answering an ask

#behind the smile - lore

#chats with smiley - rp threads

#outside the park - mod posts

(text in parentheses and in regular text is the mod speaking.)

(this blog is so dead omfg I’m sorry to everyone I’ve interacted with)

[justforlocal]

Understanding the Factors That Determine the Cost of Auto Insurance

When it comes to auto insurance, one of the most common questions drivers ask is, “What factors determine my premium?” The cost of auto insurance isn’t arbitrary; it’s based on a variety of factors that insurers use to assess risk and determine how much to charge you. Understanding these factors can help you make informed decisions and potentially lower your insurance costs. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the key elements that influence your auto insurance premium.

Driving History

Your driving record is one of the most significant factors in determining your auto insurance premium. Insurers look at your history of accidents, traffic violations, and claims to assess your risk level.

Accidents: If you have a history of accidents, especially those where you were at fault, your premium is likely to be higher. This is because insurers see you as a higher risk.

Traffic Violations: Speeding tickets, DUIs, and other traffic violations can increase your insurance costs. Multiple violations over a short period can significantly impact your premium.

Claims History: Frequent claims, even for minor incidents, can lead to higher premiums. Insurers may view frequent claims as an indicator of higher risk.

Vehicle Type

The type of car you drive also plays a crucial role in determining your insurance costs. Certain characteristics of your vehicle can affect your premium.

Make and Model: Luxury and high-performance vehicles often cost more to insure due to their higher repair and replacement costs.

Age of the Vehicle: Newer cars may have higher premiums because they are more valuable and more expensive to repair. However, they may also come with advanced safety features that could reduce costs.

Safety Features: Cars equipped with advanced safety features such as anti-lock brakes, airbags, and collision avoidance systems may qualify for discounts.

Theft Risk: Some cars are more likely to be stolen than others. If your vehicle is a popular target for thieves, you might face higher premiums.

Personal Information

Several personal factors can influence your auto insurance premium. Insurers use demographic information to assess risk.

Age: Younger drivers, especially teenagers, typically have higher premiums due to their lack of experience and higher risk of accidents. Older drivers may also see higher rates due to slower reaction times.

Gender: Statistically, men are more likely to be involved in accidents than women, which can result in higher premiums for male drivers, especially younger ones.

Marital Status: Married individuals often pay less for auto insurance because they are statistically less likely to be involved in accidents.

Occupation: Some occupations are seen as higher risk than others. For example, delivery drivers or individuals who spend a lot of time on the road may face higher premiums.

Location

Where you live and park your car can significantly impact your auto insurance costs. Insurers consider the following location-based factors:

Population Density: Urban areas with high traffic volumes and congestion typically have higher accident rates, leading to higher premiums.

Crime Rates: Areas with high rates of vehicle theft, vandalism, or other crimes can result in higher insurance costs.

Weather Conditions: Regions prone to severe weather events like hurricanes, hailstorms, or floods may see higher premiums due to the increased risk of damage.

Usage of the Vehicle

How you use your car is another critical factor in determining your auto insurance premium. Insurers assess risk based on the following usage-related aspects:

Mileage: The more you drive, the higher your risk of being involved in an accident. Low-mileage drivers often qualify for discounts.

Commute: If you use your car for commuting to work or school, your premium might be higher due to the increased time spent on the road.

Business Use: Vehicles used for business purposes, such as deliveries or client visits, may have higher premiums due to the increased risk.

Coverage and Deductibles

The type and amount of coverage you choose, as well as your deductibles, directly impact your auto insurance premium.

Coverage Limits: Higher coverage limits provide more protection but come with higher premiums. It’s essential to balance coverage needs with your budget.

Deductibles: A higher deductible means lower premiums, but you’ll pay more out of pocket in the event of a claim. Conversely, a lower deductible increases your premium but reduces out-of-pocket costs for claims.

Optional Coverages: Adding optional coverages like collision, comprehensive, uninsured/underinsured motorist, or roadside assistance will increase your premium.

Credit Score

In many states, insurers use credit scores as a factor in determining auto insurance premiums. A higher credit score can lead to lower premiums, while a lower score may result in higher costs. Insurers believe that individuals with higher credit scores are more likely to be responsible drivers.

Insurance History

Your history with previous insurers can also affect your premium. Insurers consider the following:

Lapse in Coverage: If you’ve had a lapse in your auto insurance coverage, even for a short period, you may face higher premiums. Continuous coverage indicates reliability and lower risk.

Previous Claims: Insurers may review your claims history with previous insurers to assess your risk. Frequent or significant claims can lead to higher premiums.

Discounts

Many insurers offer discounts that can help lower your auto insurance premium. It’s worth exploring which discounts you might qualify for, such as:

Multi-Policy Discount: Bundling your auto insurance with other policies like homeowners or renters insurance can result in discounts.

Good Driver Discount: Maintaining a clean driving record without accidents or violations can earn you a good driver discount.

Good Student Discount: Students with good grades may qualify for discounts.

Safety Features Discount: Vehicles equipped with advanced safety features may be eligible for discounts.

Low Mileage Discount: Driving fewer miles than average can earn you a low mileage discount.

Telematics and Usage-Based Insurance

Some insurers offer telematics or usage-based insurance programs that use technology to monitor your driving habits. These programs can adjust your premium based on factors like:

Driving Behavior: Safe driving habits, such as avoiding hard braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration, can lead to lower premiums.

Mileage: The actual number of miles you drive can impact your premium. Driving less can result in lower costs.

Understanding the various factors that determine your auto insurance premium can help you make informed decisions and potentially lower your costs. By maintaining a clean driving record, choosing a vehicle with advanced safety features, and taking advantage of available discounts, you can reduce your insurance expenses. Additionally, considering your personal factors, vehicle usage, and location can provide insights into why your premium is set at a particular level. Stay proactive, shop around, and regularly review your policy to ensure you’re getting the best possible rate for your auto insurance needs.

[mayra-quijotescx]

I gave zero days' notice and peaced the fuck out from employment with them exactly three years ago today but if I ever stop giving HPL shit, either they got completely overhauled* or I died. So let's get into it!

I've been going downtown at least once a week for the past month to help sling water bottles and fill plates with our local FNB, who you may know from 1. refusing to let people suffer the slow and painful social death penalty of starvation for being unhoused and 2. having our walking bruised ego of a mayor declare war on them for same. The group took their 56th ticket last night. For more info, check out this excellent Texas Observer article.

And every time I went I noticed that Central had fancied itself up; new bike racks, orderly clusters of tables and chairs, big fuckoff flatscreen displaying Library Updates...

...and I also noticed that it looked mighty closed for 7PM on a Wednesday.

So I got nosy and I pulled up the hours tonight. And uh.

You could say they've changed.

Here let me just

OLD SCHEDULE (barring natural disasters... it did happen) Monday thru Thursday: 9AM to 8PM Friday: 9AM to 5PM Saturday: 10AM to 5PM Sunday: 1PM to 5PM

it was also an emergency cooling center back then and isn't now but ohhhhh we won't get into that because I'll never shut up

NEW SCHEDULE Tuesday thru Thursday: 9AM to 6PM Friday: 9AM to 5PM Saturday: 10AM to 5PM Sunday and Monday: CLOSED

like

excuse me

Now I understand that the system has been hemorrhaging workers for years due to mismanagement by a business-class administration creating a work environment so toxic it could give the gnarliest sludge in the port imposter syndrome, so this could be a literal inability to retain enough staff to keep the main branch open, but admin has also been shamelessly vocal for years about how much they despise the local community (which is the downtown unhoused community) and wish they could be more choosy about who they serve as a (begrudgingly) public service, so this is equally likely to be a policy choice to further cut off who I cannot stress enough is their main patron base at that location and who will continue to be, barring outright revolution, whether the precious petty bourgeoisie who made the baffling choice to all take public service positions like it or not.

Anyway, they can quit bellyaching about wanting more families at their ~public asset~ (snarl chomp growl biting them biting them biting them) because even with the original hours, my former coworkers and I puzzled over how to get even families willing to pay for parking to brave the freeways and traffic to get to us before closing. At 8PM. Now? Virtually the only way someone with kids is getting there before the gates get slammed shut is if they're sleeping outside. And those aren't the families the gossamer-skinned Apple-exec LARPers in admin want to serve. So they can truly shut the fuck up about Making Central Family-Friendly(TM).

And FNB doesn't start distributing until a solid hour and a half at most after closing time, assuming the library was even open that day to begin with, so they can shut the fuck up about it ~making them look bad~ too. Just my $0.02, adjusted for inflation.

-

*Harris County Public Library workers, if you're reading this and willing/able/planning to launch a hostile takeover of the HPL system, I will support you in every possible capacity, up to and including giving my life in the line of duty. Call me. My one condition is that I want to plant a giant trans flag in the middle of the Central Plaza when we finally liberate it from the tyrants. And I want the director to watch.

[rssecurityturnstile]

three arms gates barrier from RS Security Co., Ltd(www.szrssecurity.com) Appropriate for all kinds of public locations that require organized passage of pedestrians, such as scenic spots, exhibit halls, cinemas, docks, train stations, bus stations and other places that need ticket confirmation; locations that require authorized entry such as factory participation, canteen consumption, golf courses, monthly card leisure centers, and so on; anti-static control areas of electronic factories, systems that require stringent security steps such as face acknowledgment and fingerprint recognition. RS Security Co., Ltd primarily produces, establishes and sells access control items, such as tripod turnstiles gate, city flap gates gate, servo motor swing turnstiles door, translation turnstile barrier, drop arm gates barrier, full high turnstile gate, half high turnstiles door, speed gates door and other channel turnstile gate products, and parking barrier, acknowledgment camera, hydraulic bollards, road bocker tripod turnstile gate Integrated electronic tickets, gain access to control and presence, club consumption/catering, anti-static, finger print, palm print, face recognition, iris acknowledgment Integrated application of other series of items; complete stainless steel frame structure, servo motor, separately developed and produced motion; one-way/two-way turnstiles door/ swipe to release the lever button and the upper lever is optional, with Counting function can understand RS485 direct interaction with the computer; three rollers gates door triggers and instructions and alarm prompts; automatic fall of the pole when power is off and manual fall The pole is optional, and it gets the switch signal to open turnstiles gate; it can be equipped with a card reading control part, and numerous units can be connected to the network; it can be geared up with magnetic card and proximity card combination techniques; it can be purchased according to different functional requirements. Do. A completely rainproof box made of alloy aluminum or stainless steel, compared to the city flap turnstile gate servo motor swing gates gate and other pedestrian passage devices, three rollers turnstiles door are more economical. It has a tailored installation user interface (such as card reader, sign light installation, etc) to make sure that the system integrator's control gates gate equipment is simple and convenient to install. The motion of the three-stick turnstile door machine has an instantly changed hydraulic shock absorber. When using the three-stick gates door operation, the noise is extremely small and silent. Effect, turnstile gate bar instantly decreases back to center. The surface of the motion is plated with yellow dichromate. Can be set with gates door machine control, one or two instructions control (set by user). The base is repaired with expansion bolts.

[calvinfischfan24]

My idea for a “Bob’s Burgers” theme park ride!

"The Bob's Burgers Movie Ride" is a 2-part interactive attraction that opened up with the new "Seymour Bay" section of "Disney's Hollywood Studios" theme park in Orlando, Florida on May 30th, 2025. This attraction and entire themed area surrounding it replaced the former "Animation Courtyard" area. The ride combines live actors, a tram tour, and a trackless ride system with some tracked segments where intense scenes occur. The ride is based off of the 2022 animated movie "The Bob's Burgers Movie" by "20th Century Studios".

For the first 6 months of its opening, due to it being an E-ticket attraction, the ride was only available to guests who utilized and got Virtual Queue timeslots at either 7:00am or 1:00pm via the use of the "MyDisneyExperience" mobile app. After the 6 months ended on November 30th, 2025, the Virtual Queue timeslots option got removed, allowing guests to board the ride normally via the "Stand-By Entrance", the "Lightning Lane" entrance, or "Single Rider" entrance.

The ride has garnered praise from critics and guest polls, with praise being focused on the ride's storytelling narrative, the use to 2 ride vehicles, the performances of the live actors, and the special effects. All of the original voice actors reprise their voiceover rolls for the purpose of the attractions.

Part 1: Location, Setting, and Ride's Entrance:

The area around the ride includes the restaurants of "Ocean Avenue", such as "Bob's Burgers", "Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria", etc over on the left side, an interactive show attraction on the right, and finally towards the back over a large manmade lake, a recreation of "Wonder Wharf" and various attractions featured from the cartoon. However, behind the "Scream-I-Cane" roller coaster, and towards the very back of "Wonder Wharf", is the main attraction called "The Bob's Burgers Movie Ride".

The exterior of the ride is a bright yellow rectangular-shaped building, with a larger, blue-painted hidden show building, which houses the main components of the attraction. The front facade of the attraction includes the name of the attraction displayed on a large sign in large red letters, an below the sign, from left to right, is a "Stand-By Entrance" entryway, a "Lightning Lane" entryway, and a "Single Riders" entryway. The left side of the entryways has a height measurement marker, and the right side of the entryways has a basic sign with various health-related warnings for guest, as well as a posted warning that some parts of the attraction are too intense for younger guests.

The "Stand-By Entrance" sign has a built-in "Wait Time" clock, and during the attractions opening months, virtual queues are utilized. After a few months, they are phased out, and replaced with regular "Stand-By Entrance" usage, the use of the "Lightning Lane" and "Single Rider" entrance, and finally, the use of "Disability Access Service" for guests with disabilities.

Part 2: The queue and pre-attraction lockers:

Guests proceed to enter through either one of the 3 queue entrances, and for the first part of the queue, all 3 go straight, being next to each other, all separated via metal chain-link railing. The queue itself is supposed to be a museum that Calvin Fischoeder had constructed, detailing the history of "Wonder Wharf" and his family tree. Displays within this part of the attraction include large, framed family photos and portraits fastened to the walls, a few family heirlooms on display in pedestals topped with glass cases, and framed legal documents, such as wills and testaments, old ride construction blueprints, and newspaper front pages regarding the Fischoeders.

Guests then proceed to move forward in the queue, all before entering another room, which happens to be a room filled with old artifacts on display, that reference episodes that the Fischoeders messed up in but didn't get in trouble for. Examples include a wishbone from the episode "Dawn of The Peck", a baseball ball and bat from the episode "Torpedo", and many more. This part of the queue also has several TV monitors fixed on the upper corners of the room's ceiling, showing news reports of the body of Cotton Candy Dan being discovered in the sinkhole from the film, Calvin's arrest as a suspect, and of course, his bail being paid by himself and his release until his trial later on.

Then, guests proceed down a left turn, leading into a large white-tiled room with brown walls, and a blue-grey ceiling. The room is filled with hundreds of small rectangular-shaped lockers, with the locker units/sections all lining the walls of the room, leaving a wide doorway for guests to continue going through. All lockers have their own set of park ticket scanners, and a guest must scan their ticket card or paper ticket's barcode in order for a random available locker to unlock and swing open. Guests must then put all loose articles and pocket items, such as cellphones, wallets, hats, sunglasses, purses, bookbags, souvenirs, reusable cups, etc. Items that can remain on a guest include prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, body casts, prosthetic limbs, and anything else that is essential for the guest.

If a guest requires more than one locker for all of their stuff, they can ask a nearby carnie (a cast member), for a laminated "Locker Ticket" card, which is then scanned and allows another locker to unlock and swing open for the guest. Guests then must swing the lockers shut, and then proceed out of the locker room via the open wide doorway. If a guest's item is too large to fit into one of the regular lockers, there are larger ones available, and a credit card must be swiped before one can be rented. They are free for 2 hours before the guest's card is charged 2 dollars. These lockers are to be unlocked with a guests phone number being typed in via a keypad upon the ride being over.

There are also several metal sinks available, for if a guest enters with a souvenir cup that is full of a beverage of any kind, they will have to dispose of said beverages into the sink, and clean out the cups with the provided water faucets and paper towel dispensers, all before placing the empty cups in the lockers.

All locker tickets are then used at the end of the ride to unlock the lockers, and allow guests to get their stuff back. The lockers are double-sided, allowing guests to retrieve their items when the ride is over. Above the lockers on all 4 sides of the room, TV screens are fixed to the wall, with a pre-recorded message presented by Kuchi Kobi, telling guests all of the aforementioned rules regarding the lockers, with a concluded warning that upon exiting the locker room, all guests will proceed through a metal detector checkpoint to make sure they have nothing on them.

Part 3: The metal detector checkpoint:

Guests then proceed out of the locker room, and make their way to a metal detector checkpoint, located in a brown room with brown walls, a wooden floor, and a blue ceiling. There, a row of 3 metal detectors are set up, with cast members dressed up as carnies holding handheld metal detectors, to use them in case guests set of the metal detectors as they walk through it. Once the guests past through, if they don't set off the detectors, they're free to continue to the main ride boarding station. However, if the metal detectors do go off, the cast members check them over with a handheld metal detector for either melt buttons, belt buckles, zippers, or prohibited items.

If is just a piece of metal that is part of the guest's clothing, no further action is taken. However, if any loose articles that aren't essential are found, the guest is instructed to go back to the locker room and put it away into a locker. If the guest refuses, they will be denied boarding the attraction until they comply. Once they clear the guest to proceed, the guest continue and then enter the main ride's boarding room.

Part 4: The boarding area:

Guests then proceed down a straight section of queue, with this section of blue being inside of a straight room resembling a wooden room built out of wood of the pier, with the walls, ceiling, and floor made out of wood. At this point, an artificial saltwater scented can be smelled by guests, creating the illusion of guests being outside near the ocean, when the entire ride takes place indoors. Finally, guests enter the main boarding station room via a large wide open doorway.

The main boarding station is made to look like the beach area near "Wonder Wharf" at sunset, complete with a yellow-painted floor with a grainy texture to resemble beach sand, and orange-red-purple-yellow-painted walls to resemble the sky during sunset, complete with a projection of a sun halfway over the horizon. The ceiling remains black, and has metal rigging, colorful spotlights, hidden audio speakers, and hidden black cables, as they control the lighting of the boarding station room. Sounds of ocean waves crashing against the beach and sounds of seagulls making calling noises are played in the background, completing the illusion of guests being in an actual beach.

The boarding area's main queue becomes a single line, lined with wooden poles and rope railing, enhancing the theming of it being a beachside even more. The queue goes left, and then right, followed by a few more lefts and rights, all before reaching the far-end of the end of the room, where the main boarding station is located. The boarding platform itself is made up of 2 separate boarding sections, with there being 9 rows of long bench seats, with enough space for 8 people per row, all for a total of 72 riders per ride vehicle.

At that point, as guests approach the end of the queue, a carnie cast member assigns all incoming guest a row in one of the two boarding station waiting sections, with each row being separated by a metal railing, and the ends of said row being closed off at the ends by a small metal gate. After both rows are filled with 72 guests each, the first ride vehicle rolls up into the station from a tunnel on the right, all before pulling up alongside the boarding station platform on the left. This ride vehicle is a 1-car tour tram, similar in size and scale to the ride vehicles used on the ride "Skull Island: Reign of Kong" at "Islands of Adventure" in Orlando, Florida, only they're painted white, with a thick dark blue strip, and 2 thin yellow stirps. The sides of the tram also has the words "Wonder Wharf" tours displayed, in large red and yellow letters.

Both and left and right side of the tram have a series of automatic sliding doors that seal up on the ends of the rows, locking guests inside until they're unlocked by a cast member. The tops of each bench seat have a metal handlebar on them, allowing guests to be able to hold on tight during the ride. The front of the tram has a driver's hub, with a driver being on the left, and a speaking tour guide actor or actress positioned on the right. The tour guide is named Taylor, and is played by either a man or a woman.

Once the tram arrives in the boarding station, the automatic sliding doors on the left automatically slide open once activated by a cast member, and the gates at the end of the queue swings open, allowing guests to board the ride, sliding down to the end of their assigned row of seats until the row is full. Once everyone is seated, the gates at the end of the boarding queue swing shut, and the doors at the end of the tram's left side automatically slide shut. Then, the tram is dispatched out of the station, beginning the first part of the ride...

Part 5: The main ride (part 1):

The tram drives out of the station as the tour guide introduces himself or herself as Taylor, and she tells the guests that they're going to go on a tour of "Wonder Wharf", the backstage area of "Wonder Wharf", as well as the backyard of the Fischoeder Mansion, and some parts of the town. The driver then continues driving out of the station, entering a massive set that resembles "Wonder Wharf" just as the sun disappears over the horizon. Taylor then gives a spiel on the history of "Wonder Wharf", and how Calvin inherited it from his father.

As Taylor continues by telling the history of the many rides there, the tram's radio suddenly activates, and Calvin's voice comes on, calling out "Tram 1 Guide: Taylor. please come in!". Taylor responds back, saying that she/he has their tour group all safe and sound. Calvin then tells Taylor that needs him/her to do him a favor, and to pick up Grover, and then deliver him to his secret clubhouse, a place that he will give Taylor access to, so he can drop off some books on tape so he can go with his brother Felix on a "trip". Taylor agrees to this before being told here to pick him up from, and then hangs up the radio.

Taylor then continues to drive around the dark "Wonder Wharf", where she tells more of the history spiel, all before driving into a large set resembling the main road, passing many restaurant and businesses on "Ocean Avenue", and narrowly avoiding the sinkhole outside of "Bob's Burgers". Finally, the tram stops outside an apartment building complex, where a live actor playing Grover Fischoeder, wearing his gym outfit and with a brown leather briefcase, is waiting for them. The tram stops, and Taylor opens her door of the driver's hub, telling him who he/she is, an directing him to come on inside. The Grover actor then nods and climbs onboard the tram, sitting on a seat in between Taylor and the driver. Taylor then closes up her side door as Grover buckles up, and then, the driver continues driving through the massive recreation of Bog Harbor, turning around at a traffic circle, and then making the way back to "Wonder Wharf".

The tram then makes its way back to "Wonder Wharf" and then makes it way towards a life-sized recreation of "The Mole Hill". The tram then turns around a corner, and then, stops at a marked rectangular parking spot behind it. After Grover tells Taylor to have the driver stop there, to which Taylor and the driver complies. Then, Grover uses the radio to contact Calvin, letting him know that the tram has arrived. The voice of Calvin then gives the-all clear, and even invites the guest to join him and take a quick tour of his clubhouse. Grover then hangs up the radio, and then pushes a hidden button on his cellphone. This action makes the entire parking space below the tram suddenly slowly descend via a hydraulic lift.

The platform takes guests 2 stories down below ground level, all before stopping at a station descended to look like a concrete unloading station, complete with a rectangular-shaped tunnel of a short length, a few lights, and a large set of automatic double doors, all located on the tram's right side. The Grover actor then thanks Taylor for her service, and then gets off the driver's hub of the tram. He then opens one of the double doors, and disappears into the next setting beyond the doors. Once he closes the door behind him, Taylor closes up the door on his/her side, and begins to get ready to continue the tour. However, all of the lights suddenly go out, and Taylor freaks out over an unexpected blackout. As everyone is in complete darkness, some noises can be heard in the background, including the voices of the Belcher kids, Calvin and Felix Fischoeder, and then, Bob and Linda Belcher.

Taylor wonders what is going on upstairs, and attempts to contact Calvin on the radio. However, instead, she/he hears something very disturbing...Grover revealing that he is indeed the one who killed Cottan Candy Dan, as the events in the movie taking place in the clubhouse are going on in real time. Taylor, stunned by this, begins to record everything after pushing a "Record" button on the radio, and then tells guests there is a change of plans, and that after they get back up to the surface, they will rush over to the police station and turn in the recording to the police. At that point, Taylor suddenly notices that Grover left his briefcase in the driver's hub, and as the recording reveals both Calvin and Felix being forced into the submarine, and the Belcher kids making an escape by the clubhouse's secret tunnel, Taylor realizes that Grover will return for it in a moment, and is scared over facing him due to what he/she now knows.

However, as Taylor picks up the suitcase to get ready to return it to Grover without looking suspicious, she opens it by mistake, and a few paper documents come out. Taylor scrambles to gather them all together. As he/she does this, Taylor suddenly comes across one with Grover's well-plotted evil scheme listed on it, and begins to read it out loud to the guests, shocked by the moment as he/she goes on. Grover suddenly appears through the door, and then catches Taylor read the end of the list. Taylor then notices Grover, and freezes upon seeing him. After a few seconds, Taylor then chuckles nervously, puts the paper back into the briefcase, seals it shut, and holds it out for Grover to take.

Grover then slowly approaches the driver's hub, and takes the briefcase back. Upon doing so, Grover asks Taylor if she believed anything she was reading, to which Taylor chuckles nervously, saying he/she doesn't believe it one bit. Grover then says that he isn't convinced, and Taylor tries to reassure him that it is the truth. However, Taylor's hand accidently bumps the "Playback Recording" button on the radio, causing it to playback all that Taylor recorded. Grover then glares at Taylor, steps back towards the double doors, opens one of them, reaches his hand inside, and then pulls out a crossbow, aiming it at the tram and all of the people onboard. He then demands that Taylor and all of the guests put their hands up, to which the guests comply. He then approaches Taylor, aiming the crossbow at her neck, demanding that he/she unlock the tram doors, and for all of the guests to follow him off the tram, or else there will be "deadly consequences".

Taylor complies, and pushes a button that makes all of the tram's doors on the right slide open automatically, and then all of the guests, along with Taylor, proceed to all get out of the tram. Grover then pushes a button to get the double doors to automatically swing open, revealing the setting of Calvin's secret clubhouse. As the new setting is revealed, Grover then tells all of the guests that from there on out, they'll need to do what he says, or else they will get seriously hurt. He then mentions that he will have no problem firing his crossbow at anyone who doesn't listen to his demands. He also then tells the driver to not say a word to anyone, and he agrees to keep the secret. Grover then leads the guests through the doors of the clubhouse set, and this begins the next part of the attraction...

Part 6: The main ride (part 2)

Once guests enter the life-size recreation of Calvin's clubhouse, Grover grabs Taylor, and forces him/her to sit in a nearby armchair, all before taking out some rope and tying his/her hands up in front of him/her, warning Taylor that if he/she tries to escape or fight back, that he'll use the crossbow on her. He then forces all of the guests to stand around the circular golden railing surrounding the ocean hole in the center of the room, and to face the walls of the clubhouse. As the guests proceed to do so, Grover closes up the automatic doors, and then tells his guests all about his scheme, and how he is going to lock them up as he proceeds to burn down "Wonder Wharf", and then, he'll go off and finish the Belchers once and for all. During this whole process, the actor playing Grover doesn't break character under any circumstances, unless there is an emergency, or unless he's dealing with a guest being sponsored by the "Make-A-Wish Foundation".

The clubhouse setting is a full-scale recreation to the one in the film, and has everything inside, including a large steampunk-Esque submarine, a full drink bar, several framed vintage family photos, and the lady statue from the movie. The clubhouse also has a row of automatic sliding single doors that lead into a wide large, air-conditioned chamber resembling a supply closet, complete with a TV monitor built into the wall on the left, and fitted with another passageway door made to look like the wall located at the very back of each one. These sliding doors are arranged in a row, all in a semicircular arrangement using up half of the circular clubhouse. There are a total of 6 sliding doors in the clubhouse room, and each wide "closet" room can hold up to 12 guests at a time.

Grover then begins the proceeds of asking how many guests are in each group, and then assigning guests to standing in a straight line in front of each sliding door. Once everyone is assigned their closet room, the actor playing Grover is then given a hidden signal via his cellphone that the closets can be loaded with guests, and then uses a hidden control panel built into the wall to push a button that makes the doors automatically slide open. Grover then makes all the guests step into the closet room behind the doors, and then, as the guest face open doorway, Grover goes from door to door, saying that the guests should make themselves comfortable inside as this is the last room they'll be in before they perish in a fire. He then does a villainous laugh as he pushes a switch that makes the closet room door slide shut and lock.

The TV screen then turns on, and shows a live video feed of the main clubhouse room, where Grover is busy reading the fuse, and while Taylor is still seated with his/her hands tied up in front of him/her. Taylor then looks left and right for a way to escape and call for help, and then notices an animated Calvin Fischoeder appearing in one of the windows of the submarine that he and Felix are trapped inside of. They are actually being shown via a circular TV screen built into the submarine's windows to create the illusion. Calvin doesn't say anything, but looks at the statue, and then does a twisting motion with his hands, all while looking over at Taylor. He then proceeds to mouth the words "Open secret passageway", and "Escape". Taylor then gets the message, quickly rushes up to the statue, and twists the secret switches on it.

At that point, the secret doors at the back wall of the closet rooms suddenly automatically rise up to reveal a wooden passageway, leading into another circular room, which acts as the boarding area for the second part of the attraction. Taylor then screams for the guests to get out via the secret passageway, and that he'll/she'll hold Grover off so they can escape. At that point, as the guests begin to rush out of the closet room and down the wooden passageway tunnel, Grover notices this, and angrily tries to attack Taylor, only for her to try to fight back in a well-choreographed stage fight. It is at this point that the TV monitors turn off, leaving guests alone once again.

All 12 guests in each closet proceed to make their way down the passageway tunnel, all before making it into the circular wooden boarding station room, where the next ride vehicle awaits them. This ride vehicle happens to be a larger version of a clam car from the movie, only with no plexiglass dome, is a trackless ride vehicle like in "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance", and there are 3 rows of seats, with 4 seats per row, allowing space for 12 guests at a time. The seats all have a single seatbelt that goes over the guest's lap, and a few posted signs about what to do and what not to do during the ride on the clam car. A ride operator is tucket away in a hidden control room behind one of the walls in the circular boarding room, as they're job is to dispatch the ride vehicles while having it look like the guests are on their own in a perilous situation.

Taylor's voice then comes on over the room's intercom speaker, sounding like he's/she's calling out to the guests while struggling to fight with Grover, telling them to quickly get on the ride, and make sure they're seatbelts are fastened. As he/she says this, Grover gets the upper hand, the intercom cuts out, leaving guests all on their own. Once the guests do so, a series of small doors on the car's left side automatically slide shut, and then, a hidden camera does a seatbelt check of the guest, signaling to the hidden ride operator if the car can be dispatched or not. Once the ride operator is given the all-clear to go, a hidden curved door opens up behind the guests at the back of the circular room, and finally, the trackless clam car vehicle backs out of the station, all before turning around to face forward, and then the real ride begins once the circular room's door closes back up again. As this happens, the sound of Grover bursting into the boarding station room, and yelling angrily "GET BACK HERE!" is briefly heard by guests as the ride begins...

Part 7: The main ride (Part 3):

The clam car then turns to the right, and speeds forward to begin the main ride. The clam car is an aforementioned trackless ride vehicle, but some scenes/sections of the ride utilize a track for the attraction's more intense scenes and elements that a trackless ride system can't accomplish. From here on out, the live actor playing Grover is no longer present in the attraction, but instead, animatronics of the Grover Fischoeder from the cartoon is present, with his original voice actor reprising his role for the attraction.

The clam cars all make their way forward, getting away from the row of circular boarding rooms, and then turning to the right, beginning the next ride of the attraction. The first room of the ride is a life-sized recreation of the underside of the "Wonder Wharf" pier, complete with hundreds of piles of various size, shapes, and colors of stuffed animals. The clam car speeds forward and makes its way around the piles of stuffed animals, but then suddenly, an animatronic of Grover driving the lobster car from the movie appears from between 2 random piles of toys, and begins chasing after the car. The clam car makes several sharp swerving turns in an attempt to get away from Grover.

However, as the clam car makes its getaway, another clam car appears in front of it, showing animatronics of the Belcher family inside, warning the guests to get out of there. The clam car then turns to the left, and then continues to speed through the maze of stuffed animal piles. Finally, the clam car speeds towards the end of the pier, but then another lobster car with an animatronic of Grover suddenly appears in front of the guest's clam car, causing it to quickly make a sharp left turn towards the edge of the pier's underside compartment. Then, to create the illusion of the clam car flying through the air, the clam car rolls into a special track system, and then speeds down a sharp drop, all while spinning around in circles at the same time, as the top part of the clam car can spin around or move up, down, and sideways via hidden hydraulic actuators.

The clam car then makes it down to a large recreation of the beach surrounding "Wonder Wharf" and "Ocean Avenue" at night. The ride's housing show building is constructed to have 2 large life-sized city recreations, with one being on top of another, and each one being 2 floors tall. The setting on the upper half of the show building is used for the tram tour segment, while the setting on the bottom is used for the clam car chase segment. All sets are life-sized for accuracy reasons, and to complete the illusion of both cities being visited at once, despite them being 2 totally different sets.

Once back on the beach setting, the clam car is slowed down via electromagnets, and then, the car slides back onto the "ground" surrounded by fake sand, and it continues its use of its trackless ride system. The clam car then speeds down the beach setting, and then speeding up the nearby stairs up to the "street" level, where the main town is located. This is done as another track fixture and some powerful electromagnets pulling the clam car up the stairway, and once back on the street level, the clam car returns to using its trackless ride system.

The clam car then sharply turns to the right onto the main street setting, and then speeds down Ocean Avenue, and past the sinkhole on the left, narrowly missing it in the process. Suddenly, as the clam car turns to the right at the end of the street, another animatronic of Grover in the lobster car appears out from an alleyway and tries to crash into the guests from the front. But the clam car swerves out of the way, and then spins around a nearby traffic circle several times. Then, the clam car speeds forward towards the "Wagstaff" school building, all before speeding up another set of tracks on the front stairway, and then bursting through the front doors.

The car then speeds down the hallway of the empty school, and then, suddenly, as the car speeds past a hallway with lockers lining both walls on the left and right side, Grover's voice is heard behind a row of lockers on the left, and suddenly, said row of lockers tip over towards the clam car, all while the voice of Grover is saying that he's going to crush the guests into a pancake. However, as the row of lockers tumbles over towards the guests, clam car suddenly makes a last-minute right turn down another hallway, all while the voice of Grover screams in the background, demanding the guests to "COME BACK HERE!". The clam car then makes its way to the end of the hallway, bursting through a set of double doors at the very back of the school, and after going down to the ground level via a small ramp, speed through the playground, and then through an open gate built-into the chain-link fence, onto the street.

The clam car then turns to the right, and continues speeding down the street setting. Suddenly, as the car speeds down the street setting and makes it down to an intersection, a random rig truck comes down a street from the right, and it narrowly hits the clam car, as an animatronic of a truck driver suddenly slams on the breaks, screaming "HEY, I'M DRIVING HERE!" to the guests. The car then makes a sharp left turn to avoid hitting the rig truck, and then proceeds to speed towards a large building construction site setting. The metal barricade fences are then "knocked over", and the clam car speeds into the construction site. However, as the car speeds through the site, an animatronic of Grover suddenly comes out from behind a parked bulldozer, and aims his crossbow at the guests, all before quickly making a sharp right turn and into a large dug-up hole in the ground, causing it to slide down a downward curved slope track, and then entering a massive setting resembling a swear that is located underneath the attraction's lower level, complete with a trackless ride strip positioned over a manmade sewer river of "grey water".

The clam car then speeds down the sewer setting, all while water splashes against the sides of the walls of the sewer. Grover's voice is heard overhead, screaming at the guests to hold still and to let themselves be killed. The car then makes a sharp left turn, and then, after another straight section of track, the car them makes it to a huge wall themed and painted to resemble a wall of dirt. The wall then "bursts" open, and then the car drives into a large recreation of the bottom of the sinkhole. Once the car drives inside of it, the car slides onto a hidden section of track with a series of high-speed rollers built into it. The track leads straight up out of the sinkhole, and back to ground level.

Next to the clam car on the left, an animatronic of the clan car with the Belcher family inside is positioned next to them, with flexible screens built into their clam car's dome window, showing the Belchers looking over at the guests with great concern. Bob yells at the guests to get out of there, as they're in big danger. Suddenly, achieved by a curved dome-shaped transparent screen right above the guests, Grover is seen in his lobster car, pushing the huge mound of dirt into the sinkhole, in an attempt to bury the Belchers and the guests alive.

And then, like in the film, Bob drive his clam car into the pipe within the sink hole, which causes a suddenly upward launch of the his and the guests' clam car, and as it launches upward and out of the sinkhole, the dome-shaped screen quickly slides open. As the Belcher's are "stuck" near the hole's entrance on the surface, the guests' car keeps speeding forward again, and then it speeds off down the road, and through an alleyway.

Once at the other side of the alleyway, an animatronic of Grover is seen attempting to sneak back into the gym via the window. But then he turns around, and sees the the guests, and then the car immediately reverses for a bit, and turns to the left down another alleyway path while remaining backwards. Then, the car speeds down a slope, and then, speeds through the local park, passing the lake and hidden sprayers lightly spray riders on the left side with mist. Then, after hidden a "rock" and going out of control, spinning in circles around the Ranger Station building, the car proceeds to speed through the park's heavily wooded area, and finally, gets stuck in a "ditch".

Then, another Grover animatronic appears with a chainsaw, and says that they're not going to escape alive, and proceeds to "cut down" a base of a tree. Then, right on cue, a massive animatronic tree begins to fall towards the guests. Suddenly, 2 thick branches sticking out of 2 trees on both the left and right side of the guests catch the tree, and save their lives. Grover freaks out over his plan failing, and tries to look around on the ground for his speargun. Suddenly, a large bear animatronic appears, and "nudges" car out of the hole, and the car begins speeding backwards again.

The car then spins around, and then, facing forward once again, speeds out of the park, and back onto the street. As it does, the car then rotates and then faces the left, and then speeds down the street again. After speeding a few feet, it makes a sharp right turn, and speeds down an alleyway. As it does, the car suddenly stops, and above everyone on the right, positioned on a metal fire escape, another animatronic of Grover is seen, aiming his speargun at the guests, all before taunting them. As he prepares to shoot, the car suddenly speeds backwards, and then, after "bouncing" off a mailbox, the car rotates to the left, and speeds down the road again.

The car speeds down the road again, and then speeds past the city, nearly hitting a nearby tree. By said tree, an animatronic of Mr. Frond is seen trying to coax his cat (another animatronic), Dr. Bojangles, to come down said tree. The cat nearly "falls" off the tree, and Mr. Frond yelps in fear, and then the car spins around in circles, and then, it speeds backwards, and then speeds down the city backwards for a bit. At another intersection, the car spins back around to face forward, and then speeds towards the "OMG Mall".

As the car reaches the doors of the mall, the doors are "slammed" open, and the car speeds all over the mall, with several "arrows" from the speargun firing at the walls, nearly missing the car by an inch. the car then drives through the food court, dodging tables and chairs, before finally, speeding up a "flight" of stairs via a track system, and then, after speeding all over th second floor, speeding into an elevator, and then elevator going back down to the first floor. The doors open, and the car speeds around the play area of the mall, and then out the back door, through the parking lot, and all as Suddnely, a motorcycle driven by Mudflap dodging them at the last minute.

The animatronic of Mudflap angrily says she's calling the cops, and the car speeds off some more, and the car drives back into the town, slightly turning left and right, looking for a place to go. Suddnely, a manhole cover in front of the car pops open, and Grover emerges, popping out up to his waist, and aims his speargun at the guests, evilly laughing about their fate, and readies to shoot them. Upon pulling the trigger, nothing happens, as he's out of arrows. Grover is stunned at this, and begins angrily cursing his defeat, and Suddnely several red, blue, and white flashing lights are seen, and sirens are heard, and several life-sized police car animatronics surround the scene.

The car then spins around, and then, with orders from the voices of cops, the car in a modest speed makes it way to the police station, all as some victory music plays on the background. As it does, Sargent Bosco's voice speaks and congratulates the guests for helping them lead Grover to them, and he hopes no one was in any danger or anything. Bosco then says that when the car comes to a full and complete stop, to unbuckle their seatbelts by pushing the bottom on the buckles, and to stand up, and carefully exit the car to their left, and head through the police station itself. The car then approaches the outside of a large recreation of the police station, and pulls up at an exit/deboarding station on the left, just outside the doors of the station. About 5 cars can be unloaded at a time.

Part 8: The Unloading Station, Exit Process, and Gift Shop:

The guests then exit the vehicle and as several cast members dressed up as police officers are positioned nearby, they thank the guests for being safe, and guide them in through the doors. They then follow several signs and makings on the floor, leading them past the receptionist desk, past the detention cells with animatronics of criminals locked up and doing nothing, and then, passing a desk where a live actor playing Bosco is positioned, ushering guests to move along and not waste his time. Finally, guests step out a back door, and walk through an alleyway, and proceed to walk down an exit queue made of police barriers.

They then proceed to walk through a small part of the town, before finally making it to "Wonder Wharf" at night, and the guests then are lead by another police officer cast member, telling guests to grab any stuff they put in the lockers before they're taken away by the police as evidence. The guests then proceed up an escalator marked "Authroized Carnies Only", and they made their way up to the ground level of the attraction above the massive set below. They then made it to the room where the backside of the double-sided lockers are, and guests use their park tickets and locker tickets to unlocks and open up the lockers, grab their personal belongings, and finally, they walk down a hallway of several pieces of displayed "Bob's Burgers" artwork and enter a large gift shop selling "Disney" and "Bob's Burgers" merchandise. on-ride photos can be picked up here, and of course, a set of automatic sliding exit/entry doors is where guests exit back outside into the park.

[rkhemlani]

Media Reflection - Ghibli Studios Museum

Months prior to the trip, Nico had reached out to me and asked if I had wanted to go to the Ghibli Studios Museum, which initially I had doubts about because I had never seen one of their films before. However, Nico convinced me to come anyways, and we both entered the online queue a month in advance to secure our tickets. Nico and I were able to purchase our tickets, but some of the other members of the GroupMe group chat were not able to, and they had to find sources on Reddit and other websites to help with the purchasing process. Eliza was able to acquire tickets for most of the group, which was quite impressive because she had to call people in Japan to help her out, I don’t know if I have that same dedication. 

We were able to visit the museum on our free day on Thursday, June 8th, and it was a great experience! The building itself was cute, colorful, and childish, it reminded me of something I would see at a theme park like at Disney or Universal. Upon arrival, there was a strict prohibition of photos inside the building, so I’ll try to describe the setting as best as possible. It was a three-story building that also included an outside patio with a café, and it was adorned with decorations from the films, including stain-glassed windows with character designs, large statues, and detailed imagery on the walls. We walked around aimlessly reading the intricate history behind the Ghibli Studios’ film-making process. Each room was dedicated to a different aspect of the design process whether it was the drawing/sketching of the manga or the filming of the pieces all together. It was inspirational to see how far the company has made progress within the anime industry, as now five of its films are in the top ten highest-grossing anime films made in Japan. After touring the museum, we sat at the theatre and watched a short feature film about My Neighbor Totoro, which was one of Ghibli’s first films and is arguably the most recognizable symbol of the studio. It was about 20 minutes long and it was incredibly light-hearted, funny, and thrilling. Certainly, this was my favorite part of the experience. 

Academic Reflection

I will be discussing the impact of the short film based on My Neighbor Totoro that our group was able to watch while attending the Studio Ghibli Museum on our free day on June 8th. It started with a young, cute girl running through the fields next to her farm house and getting chased by a tornado that happened to be an invisible cat. She befriended said cat and was able to visit the cat’s colony, which contained thousands of cats and other creatures. She was nervous and anxious at first, until she found Totoro, which was this large, cozy-looking animal that she found comfort in. They messed around in the cat colony and befriended the largest cat by feeding him candy. All in all, it was extremely light-hearted and funny. 

I had never seen a film before, so I didn’t know what to expect prior to this feature film. The scenes were absolutely breathtaking as they depicted fantasy settings in an eerily normal way. The flow and continuation of the film was top notch as everything was easy to follow, even for someone like me who had never seen My Neighbor Totoro before. The show actually reminded me somewhat of Japanese culture, in that the cats were like the everyday transportation systems such as cars, bikes, buses and trains that transported the other fictional species, such as the species Totoro was from, around. Those species traveled in massive hordes all towards the large cat that the girl and Totoro fed, which reminded me of the morning rush at Tokyo Central Station. These creatures were very orderly as they walked in crowds of straight lines and even made sure to avoid the little girl, whom they didn’t recognize. This also reminded me of how sometimes the people on the train we would be sitting next to would randomly get up and go sit somewhere else, which I believe they acted this way due to the fact that we were foreigners. 

The featured film was incredibly well-designed and it although it was light-hearted and childish, I enjoyed it very much as it was a comfortable switch-up from more violent animes that I have watched in the past. We learned in class that many forms of Japanese media have struggled with the issue of the expression of “soft power”. This short-film directly challenged that issue because the show had underlying expressions of Japanese society, while being expressed in a childlike manner. 

[sanini-panini]

last night i mentioned i was doing this oc ask game and some friends off tumblr threw questions at me but i thought i’d cross post here for funsies (part 4). this one is... also long because it involves all nineteen characters.

🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL - what is something your oc will refuse to stay quiet about?

ENNEAD

jinal - injustice. if she sees something wrong, she's going to step in and fix it. after what happened with skye, she's done being a passive observer.

haku - ask them why they haven't used their powers of infinite regeneration to fix their vision yet and you will earn yourself a free lecture on the necessity of imperfection.

minerva - i talked about this here already! the tldr is that she will always advocate for her loved ones and their well-being.

ven - they are very vocal about their hyperfixations, which tend to be related to music, TV, or movies. it's the ADHD.

kai - if he sees someone making what he considers a mistake, he will intervene. often this intervention takes the form of gentle advice or a cryptic discussion that prompts self-reflection, but sometimes he is more direct.

mateen - he's not the Advice Friend like kai is, but given his past, he is unable to stay quiet when he sees someone acting recklessly and doing something they'll regret later. it just reminds him too much of himself.

ridwan - injustice. they refuse to stay silent in the face of the same kind of fear-based persecution that almost got them publicly executed. they are a staunch activist for civil rights and if you mention the word capitalism while they are in the room you will hear about unionization.

silpa - ask them about any of the unsolved problems in mathematics and you will earn yourself a free lecture, most of which will probably go right over your head.

felix - kpop. i said what i said.

NEW GUARD

ilia - this is difficult because ilia is a fairly quiet person actually... but i think she could talk for hours about historical fiction and period dramas

morgan - if you accuse her of being wrong (even on the smallest thing), she will give you a ten page reply with footnotes. this is how peter and juli got her to deliver a passionate diatribe about the color chartreuse.

peter - i was stuck on this one until i remembered his reaction to morgan throwing away dirty dishes and like. yeah. that's it. if peter sees someone being wasteful, he will not stay quiet.

juli - kpop. felix is about to get an hour-long powerpoint presentation on all the kpop moments he missed during his fifty years in prison.

lian - high school musical. next question.

joshua - if he feels like he or his loved ones are being wronged, you will hear about it, and he will tell you exactly what he thinks of you.

rae - injustice. this applies to the big obvious things (the classist structure of modern society under corporate capitalism and the inherent corruption of the justice system under the Soul Stealers), and it also plays into his philosophy on parking tickets, a la henry david thoreau.

karyme - so her public passion is media preservation, and she's a big name in the archival scene online. that said. if you know her well enough you will unlock the rant on all the ways the internet is absolute shit when it comes to media analysis. this includes a visceral denouncement of modern retellings, a lament on how found family has morphed into a mirror of nuclear family structures, and a list of all of the tags you should probably blacklist if you want to avoid absolutely braindead takes.

auster - this is difficult because auster is like. the master of Not Speaking. but i think one thing that gets him to speak up without fail is self-deprecation from people he cares about. he knows they're wrong, and he'll tell them why in the most earnestly beautiful speech you've ever heard, and then he'll turn bright red as he realizes exactly what he just said.

and as a bonus...

joel - his math homework. it's torture, don't you see? absolutely horrid. none of it makes sense. why do people do this for fun.