#automatic gate opening system

[beautifuljellyfishkid]

Benefits of Automated Gate System

In an era of ever-advancing technology, where automation has become an integral part of our daily lives, it’s no surprise that we’ve witnessed the emergence of automatic gates as a prominent feature in residential and commercial spaces. These Automatic Remote Control Gate Opening System offer a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond their initial purpose. In this informative blog post, we’ll delve into the world of automatic gates, exploring the reasons why we need them, their impact on our lives, and the evolution of gate automation technology.

Benefits Of automatic gate system

1. Enhanced Security

One of the foremost benefits of installing an automatic gate system is the enhanced security it provides. These systems act as a robust deterrent to potential intruders. Here’s how:

Access Control: Automatic Remote Control Gate Opening System can be equipped with access control mechanisms like keypads, card readers, or biometric systems. This ensures that only authorized individuals can enter the premises, greatly reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Surveillance Integration: Many automatic gate systems can be seamlessly integrated with surveillance cameras and intercom systems. This allows you to monitor and communicate with visitors at your gate, providing an extra layer of security.

  2. Convenience and Accessibility

The convenience offered by automatic gate systems cannot be overstated. Here’s how they make everyday life easier:

Remote Operation: With remote controls or smartphone apps, you can open and close your gate without leaving your vehicle or home. This is particularly convenient during inclement weather or when you’re in a rush.

Scheduled Access: Automatic gate systems can be programmed to open and close at specific times. For instance, you can set them to open in the morning when you leave for work and close at night for added security.

3. Increased Property Value

Installing an automatic gate system can enhance the value of your property in several ways:

Curb Appeal: Automatic gates come in a variety of designs and materials, allowing you to choose one that complements your property’s aesthetics. A well-chosen gate can significantly boost your property’s curb appeal, making it more attractive to potential buyers.

Security Premium: Properties equipped with security features like automatic gates often command higher prices in the real estate market. Buyers are willing to pay extra for the peace of mind that comes with added security.

  4. Safety

Automatic gate systems are designed with safety in mind:

Obstacle Detection: Many modern automatic gates are equipped with sensors that can detect obstructions in their path. This prevents accidents and injuries by halting the gate’s operation if it encounters an obstacle.

Pedestrian Access: Automatic gates can be equipped with separate pedestrian gates or access control systems, ensuring safe entry for individuals on foot.

These technological marvels are not just a luxury but a smart and practical investment. They provide the peace of mind that comes with enhanced security, the convenience of seamless accessibility, the allure of increased property value, and the assurance of safety and privacy.

In a fast-paced, ever-changing world, automatic gate systems offer stability and a sense of control over our surroundings. They are the sentinels of modern living, promising a future where our homes and businesses are not only protected but elevated to new levels of functionality and sophistication. So, consider the advantages, weigh the benefits, and take the step toward safeguarding tomorrow with an Automatic Remote Control Gate Opening System and install with Letin Automations.

[ironmengatesdoorsdesign]

Types Of Automatic Gates And Also Which One Is Right For You

In the world of house protection and ease, automated gateways have actually ended up being a principal. These highly advanced systems not just give an included layer of defense to homes however additionally add significantly to the visual worth, making them an extremely popular enhancement in modern houses.

Automatic entrances come in a selection of styles and also devices, each offering distinct attributes and benefits. Thus, it ends up being important for possible purchasers to be proficient with these types in order to make a notified selection that best matches their needs.

This short article ventures to look into the globe of automatic entrance systems, presenting an exhaustive exploration of different kinds offered today. The objective is not simply to state the different kinds however additionally help viewers in discerning which one could be best for their specific demands. Whether taking into consideration aspects such as design charm, operational ease or safety and security level, this exposition offers comprehensive insights that aim at helping with decision-making processes in the direction of selecting one of the most ideal electronic entry system for one's residential property.

Selecting the very best Electronic Access System for Your Property

Picking the optimal digital entrance system for one's building relies upon a careful equilibrium of safety and security and also comfort much akin to striking the best chord in a harmony; equally as way too many or as well couple of notes can interfere with consistency, an extremely complicated or insufficiently safe system can cause unnecessary disturbances.

A myriad of elements need to be thought about when making this important decision, consisting of the size as well as format of the residential or commercial property, its place, existing safety procedures, spending plan constraints, as well as individual preferences pertaining to technology use. An educated selection will make sure that not just does the picked system offer robust defense against unauthorised access but it also seamlessly incorporates into daily routines without causing added headache.

Different sorts of automated gates function in a different way: gliding gates are excellent for buildings with restricted room while swing gateways create an even more conventional visual appeal. For services seeking to regulate vehicular accessibility, obstacle arm gateways supply an effective solution whereas vertical pivot or lift gates work outstandingly in high website traffic areas as a result of their quick procedure. Bi-folding entrances with rapid open/close cycle times could offer well where rate is vital like airports or emergency solutions.

Each type includes special advantages and also prospective disadvantages; comprehending these distinctions is essential to making an astute choice that matches private demands flawlessly. Eventually, selecting an electronic entrance system is about joining a neighborhood committed to security and also ease-of-use-- it's about belonging someplace risk-free amid growing worldwide unpredictabilities.

[phoebejaysims]

Boutique Mod - DOWNLOAD

Inspired by the sims 2 shopping for clothes system, I present a sims 3 take on buying clothes, accessories and running a thriving boutique! Set up shifts, keep the racks stocked, and you might find yourself in profit!

Required:

Ambitions

NRAAS Master Controller + Integration Module

Optional:

ITF if you want to use the clothes mannequin and some visual effects.

Late Night if you want the animations for the security guard.

Seasons for extra interactions on the mannequin.

Savvy Seller Set for some visual and audio effects.

Full Documentation is included in the download. I spent a while writing it out, so please read thoroughly!

How Stores Work:

Set up a shift

Hire Employees (bosses count as employees so stores are fully functional with only one sim!)

Link at least one rack to the register

Open for business!

Employees:

Store employees can be given three types of roles: register attendant, sales attendant and security guard.

Employees will do their jobs automatically but you can always manually tell them to do things too like: restocking, dressing up mannequins, helping customers, among other things.

Customers:

Inactive and active sims can browse through the racks and have the ability to purchase items. They'll interact differently depending on if they are shopping at a clothes rack, accessory rack, or at a mannequin.

Inactives won't purchase outfits from mannequins unless you direct them to (or you enable auto-purchasing in the XML). However, they may "fake" buy clothes.

Once finished shopping, customers hold their bags and wait to be rung up! Take too long and they may abandon their purchase.

Shopping:

Adjust prices and restrict customers by age and gender to customise your store!

Clothes Racks:

Buy Clothes for your own sim, sims in your household, or (if you're an employee) suggest clothes for customers.

Employees that suggest clothes for customers can fulfil Ambition Stylist jobs this way.

Accessories Racks:

Choose accessories to be sold by adding them to the XML in the package file. The XML comes loaded with a few base game items already plus a couple modded items (Arsil's Sunglasses and lipstick - that won't be loaded unless you have them installed).

Sell buy-mode items as well as CAS items!

Make your CAS items wearable from your sim's inventory using your own meshes or my dummy accessory (see Documentation and XML for details).

Blacklist certain categories from being shown. If you want a dedicated shoe shop or an opticians, you can have it!

Try on products before buying them to see if they suit your sim. If there's a mirror in the room, they'll check themselves out in it.

Clothing Mannequin:

Try on the mannequin outfits to see if they suit your sim.

Plan different outfits to display and even set them to be rotated through seasonally.

Let your employees be creative and choose a random outfit for the mannequin to wear.

Buy clothes for your own sim, household members, or customers.

Allow or disallow inactives from automatically purchasing display outfits.

Security Gates:

Give your security guards something to stand and look threatening by.

You can try your luck at stealing from the shop. If you're caught, you'll have to pay up. If you get past the gates (or if there are no gates), enjoy your bounty!

Boutique Door:

Cloned from the Savvy Seller doors without the annoying 'kick-every-last-person-out-the-building-come-closing-time' feature.

Link this to a register and let the open and close sign automatically flip itself. Also, close the store or rename it, straight from the door.

Phone Interactions:

Ask for time off work (paid or unpaid).

Call in sick.

Cancel vacation days.

Credits and Thanks:

@dhalsims for adding geostates to the ITF rack for me. Modders, I really recommend her if you need any 3D models made also!

DouglasVeiga for the BG rack with the geostates.

@aroundthesims for allowing me to use her objects in my mod as always!

Sims 4 for all the animations that I converted.

Simstate & merchant mods for the idea to go into a mode to link racks to the register.

The OG shop for clothes mod and pedestal by @anitmb.

Arsil and @zoeoe-sims for wearable CAS items idea that I adapted.

Ani's Candle mod & Amb. Makeover XML which I looked at for inspo on how to do accessory rack xml.

Compatibility:

All new objects so shouldn't conflict with anything really.

Removes the 'plan outfit' interaction from dressers.

Made on version 1.67.

If you would like to donate as thanks, please feel free to do so at: my kofi! I don't take your generosity for granted!

Download: - Simblr.cc - 2t3 Boutique Mod Suggested Extra CC: - Lyralei's TS2 Conversions (incl. clothes changing booth) - More ATS3 Security Gates - ATS3 Friperie Set

Known issues, prop information and the full feature breakdown are all in the documentation.

Please be patient with me if there are bugs to fix. Also, anyone who DMs me "I don't know how to create a new shift" will be immediately fined £150.

With that said, please enjoy the mod and tag me in your beautiful boutiques,

Phoebe :)

[orphiclovers]

What's interesting about the Paradise arc is that its the first time our "genre expectations" are subverted in a major way.

Everything about the aesthetic of ORV- the system windows and stats and attributes and items and monsters- everything encourages you to think of it as a "video game". and without noticing, both the audience and the characters fall into this trap. Because we expect this kind of leveling player power fantasy to unfold a certain way, so many assumptions about the worldbuilding are automatically made even if there is no evidence.

In truth, we DIDN'T really wonder where they came from..... Gate opens, fantasy monsters pour out and attack, we kill them. its such a basic and ordinary set up you don't think to question it.

you start off weak without items and barely able to kill a 9th grade ground rat with a makeshift bone club, but then the further you go and the more "mobs" you kill, the more you grow and in turn stronger monsters appear until you're killing 4th grade species with unbreakable swords with divine attributes. it's a video game concept. the monsters just spawn because that's the game design and if you need some paper-thin justification for it just say "they're from another world" and that makes enough sense.

And yet, this assumption turns out to be just that. Naivety and willful ignorance. Nothing in the world just conveniently "spawns" from thin air for you to kill. This ISN’T a video game.

it is revealed that "the monsters" are also just incarnations like you, processed through farms, horrifyingly mutated, then locked up and starved until they're mad, then set loose by the dokkaebis wherever fighting need to happen. they're victims of the scenarios just like us, in fact they could even be the people you fought off other monsters with in a previous scenario.

fucked up! but to be fair, you could still fit this info into a darker video game concept like the Last of Us. It's just one mechanic that is subverted.

But they don't stop there. Even more basal assumptions are brought into question. Is there even an end to this? as justification for his actions, Reinheit says no.

The numbers of the scenario increasing naturally leads to the assumption that there is a final scenario. if you try hard enough, you kill the final boss. it's an ultimate goal to be striven for that drives many incarnations to keep fighting.

Furthermore, there are the constellations to give hope of possible escape.

And then Reinheit asks why we think the constellations have escaped.

Mic drop.

No one has ever reached the end of the scenarios.

The constellations aren't gods and the monsters aren't monsters.

Everyone is a victim and everything exists in the neverending cycle of exploitation and violence. THIS is the true revelation of Star Stream that Kim Dokja already knows.

It's all revealed here for the first time.

[ghettogirly]

Hey, hope you're doing fine. Can I request something when Armando has to watch over the reader because she knows something about the cartel , she sees things you should have not seen , wrong place , wrong time for her. Even though they always argue, she knows that he always protects her. She does the same for him.

Kinda relates to a 'pieces of her ' on Netflix 😭 when they were in that hotel room

Him and I - g easy

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒: 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐗 𝐌𝐈𝐘𝐀𝐇 (𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐂)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

-> synopsis: Miyah has a past that not even she knows about. Thinking her life was all normal, she is suddenly thrown into a whirlwind when an intruder breaks into her house. Are we prepared for her journey of not only finding herself but the answers to her past?

-> format: story.

-> theme: angst.

-> warning: mentions of violence, use of the n-word, mature language, themes of break-ins.

-> authors note: so i have turned this into a series!! i really want to write the pieces of her plot because i loved that show, but in a different type of way! thank you for requesting this! my update schedule is going to slightly change guys due to me getting more of an intense workload from my sixth form so i hope you all understand! 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝💕.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟏: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐈𝐍.

Trash clinked across the floor as a gust of wind swept it by. Desolate and quiet, only a couple cars were parked in the large space. A dark no

Heels were heard clacking off the floor as a brown skinned girl walked over to her car, clutching her purse with one hand while the other was angled in the direction of her mercedes benz. Opening the car door, she climbed into her seat.

Plopping the chanel bag that wrapped around her arm onto the passenger seat, the woman clicked her tongue while turning on the ignition. Settling into the seat, sighing as she recollected the hectic day that occurred.

“I really need to get home.”

Pressing onto the gas pedal while putting the gear stick into reverse, Miyah pulled out of the car park from her work place onto the highway. Flicking the headlights on, she started to drive down the road. The hum of the tyres mixed with the slow jam of the radio, lowly playing throughout the vehicle. Pink LED lights illuminated the interior of the car contrasting with the midnight black sky, coating the exterior as it hung over the trees and the wildlife surrounding the road.

The small screen of the navigation shone brightly in the woman’s face as she glanced down at it.

“15 minutes.”

Driving down the road, Miyah nodded her head to the slow beat of the rnb song playing through her sound system. Tapping her index finger onto the wheel she drove down the highway, content with her life currently. Life was hectic but she was satisfied.

Pulling into her gated residence, Miyah rolled down her window to enter the code into the pad. Once confirmed, she parked up her car at the front of her door before slipping out, grabbing her purse.

Opening her door, the hallway and living room was automatically irradiated by the modern lights that hung off her ceilings. Cylindrical pillars stood at every sharp corner, contrasting a classic element with the modern theme of her white and black marble interior.

Slipping off her heels, Miyah sighed in relief. “I really need to go to sleep.”

Shaking her head, she ascended up her stairs into her bedroom. A queen sized bed layered with fluffy comforts and duvets were placed in the middle of the woman’s bedroom. The colour scheme being white and grey , matching with the fluffy, white, circular carpet that was under it. Walking over to the bed, she placed her bag by her cabinet before flopping down on the bed.

“Why did i even become a lawyer again?”

That was a good question.

Why did she become a lawyer?

When thinking about society and the world today, you would think that the law reached everyone. Helped victims by putting away those who made their life hell but, we are wrong. Everyday, domestic abuse cases go silent, the justice system not caring enough for those who get abused in the relationships. Mainly women but also men becoming apart of the statistic of abuse victims, which could’ve been prevented if someone would’ve just listened. Child abuse cases go unheard until the severity of the abuse ends up in a death, which could’ve been prevented if someone would’ve just listened. Even random spree attacks which could’ve been prevented if someone would’ve just listened and understood that persons mental health.

I wanted to be the one to change this. To be able to keep law on track with the fast pace of the ever changing world. To be able to stand up for people who looked like me and those who were me.

And also for you mom.

Changing into her silk pyjamas, Miyah sat on her bed cross legged with her ipad on a stand. Parting her honey brown hair into 6 boxes with a rat tail comb, she braided two plaits in each section, ready to go to bed. Slipping her black bonnet on top of the loose braids, wanting to protect her curls from future breakage.

The girl pulled down her light, turning it off before getting underneath the covers. Closing her iPad, she sunk her head into the silk pillows that happily embraced her, closing her eyes.

It was pitch black in Miyah’s room. Not a shred of light peeked through her curtains. Stirring, she sat up. Glancing over at her alarm clock, the red bold numbers stating 3:32am. Sighing, she got out of bed, putting on her fluffy slippers.

Walking down the stairs she flicked the kitchen lights on, changing the settings to dim, not wanting to fully wake herself up. Grabbing a glass, she filled it up with water before taking a sip. Sighing, Miyah popped the now used glass, back into the sink before heading towards the stairs.

Something stopped her.

A rustle was heard from the living room next door. Slowly crawling into the kitchen, Miyah slightly opened the drawer for the utensils before grabbing a sharp knife. Peeking around the counter a black figure appeared before her.

“Who are-“

Wasting no time, the figure quickly punched Miyah causing her to stumble back. Throwing another punch to her chest, the figure then raised their fist, angling it towards a certain direction before throwing another. It was pretty clear they were male. Adrenaline ran through Miyah’s glands which secreted them into her bloodstream, activating her fight or flight.

Dodging the fist that was coming her way, she ducked and kicked the male in his balls before quickly running up the stairs. Loud banging was heard from within the room due to the stomps coming from the woman. just before reaching her bedroom a hand grabbed her ankles, brutally dropping her down on the marble floor.

“Fuck!! Get off me!”

The mystery man then swiftly got on top of Miyah, wrapping his rough hands around her neck before harshly gripping it. Pain and frustration overcoming the poor girl

“Stop..”

Pressing down onto her neck mired the man added more pressure, forcing less and less oxygen to not enter the girls body. Miyah’s muscles started to become frail as less oxygen was reaching the muscles, building more lactic acid causing them to become tired.

Slowly, her life began to slip away.

Her mind flashed to a deserted beach. The blue crystalline waves crashed against each other, slowly overlapping one another. The sky transitioned from a purple to orange ombré as the sun was setting, the orange rays shining onto the brownskin girl that stood there in the middle of the beach. Her curls waved in the wind due to the gentle breeze coming from the west.

A gentle tap was felt on Miyah’s shoulder, causing her turn around.

“It’s not your time.” The figure said before disappearing.

Suddenly, she was back in the present. Still feeling the man strangling her, a surge of strength powered suddenly came through.

Grabbing the nearest plant pot, she cracked it over the intruders head causing him to stumble back in pain. Gasping for air, Miyah panted heavily.

Yet, the man was still not done. Stomping over to her, he attempted to kick Miyah who was on the floor, out of breath. “Nigga, what- the fuck- is your issue?”

Quickly sliding out of the way, Miyah grabbed the man’s leg causing him to fall onto the floor, before grabbing a picture frame off the wall and violently smashing it off the intruders head, knocking the consciousness out of him.

“That’s what you get bitch.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[🌸] 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @thedarkworldofhananerea @shurisgf @milliumizoomi @armandosbabymama @tyneshaaa @dyttomori @5tarlan7 @deadpool15 @yeahnohoneybye @believeinthefireflies95 @wizewhispers @amplifiedmoan @sarcasticbitchsblog

[bostrichidae]

the realm of monsters fascinates me

spoilers for monstrosity! also extremely long analysis of the backgrounds, my theories about the realm, and uh. yeah. this thing took like an hour to write.

so monstrosity is incredible, right? kai gets mentally, emotionally, and physically tormented and all is right in the fandom. WELL NOT FOR ME. i've been thinking less about the characters and more about the land itself.

PART 1

rewatching monstrosity, 12 seconds in we already see a giant ruined building in the background. it almost looks like a mansion of sorts, and the architecture aligns with the show's more eastern style. but it's tilted, as if it landed there from somewhere else or was uprooted. the fact that the lightning highlights this building indicates that it may be something more relevant than we thought, the darkness concealing the history of this realm.

we see boats, sails torn and hulls wrecked. the proximity to the island indicates that maybe it was something on the island that took them down- either trying to approach, or trying to escape.

the way the lanterns light up automatically when the bird-thing portal opens implies that they're powered by magic, which connects to something else later. kai seems to know what this means, hiding as soon as he sees them light up.

there's a decently intact bridge, likely made from wood which would imply that its construction was rather recent. and again, the gates at each end of this bridge are very eastern-style.

AND THEN THERE'S THE SCENE WHERE HE'S JUST RUNNING THROUGH AN ABANDONED CITY??? like. hello. what the fuck happened here. like everything else we've seen so far, the architecture and layout are traditionally japanese just like ninjago and many of the other realms. it even seems to have a castle in the center, implying that whoever lived here had a system of power and authority.

and then the giant skeleton with horns??? and samurai clothing??? it's definitely not human, but it seemed to be some sort of warrior considering the pile of bodies surrounding it. many of said bodies have arrows in them. one of the skeletons is holding a dagger, a dagger that is piercing the giant's body. there was a battle here, where at least one side was using fighters of different species to gain the advantage. the clothes still seem to be in pretty good condition, again implying that this all happened fairly recently.

the rows upon rows of (seemingly) human statues? that's weird. the statues are carved sitting down. their eyes are closed. they're arranged like gravestones. interesting aint it. it reminds me of the terracotta army in Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb, which is a form of funerary art, which depicts an actual army... this is looking more and more like a post-war apocalyptic world and i'm loving it.

the ground during this fight scene looks like agricultural fields, with the neat lines and the way everything's sectioned off. there obviously aren't any crops there, at least not anymore. when kai throws the fireball, it lights up the surrounding area to show that there are lines in these fields. they're crop fields, or used to be anyways. with the raised paths in between them, they're probably rice fields.

"the beast that ravaged my homelands and devoured my future". um. okay. this implies that her homeland IS the realm of monsters, and that maybe the big guy is the entire reason it is this way??? the implications are insane. this would imply that this thing maybe has some sort of corruption power, that it can transform and decimate an entire realm. her being the one to say this also adds to the pre-war scene- that dragons lived peacefully here as well.

as the dragon approaches the egg, it's reflected clearly on the ground. those fields are still full of water, likely from the rain.

there's always lightning in the background, even with no visible rain. it always seems to be storming in this realm.

"good people do not last very long here"... so maybe those who lived in this realm were wiped out because they sought a peaceful life? maybe their army wasn't "aggressive enough" in their attacks. whatever it is, it seems she blames the people for wanting to follow a moral code and live a life of peace. she talks about "becoming a monster", which gives me a terrible terrible theory.

it makes me think that maybe all of the monsters in the realm weren't always that way. that they became like that in order to survive in their new apocalyptic landscape. that they used to be human, or this realm's equivalent of that. the cities and buildings are abandoned because the people were driven mad, losing their humanity and any sense of civility. they still carry some of the magic that powered their community, seen with the lanterns, but they're far from the people they used to be.

PART 2

right off the bat this place is fascinating. there are shrine gates in front of this diamond-shaped hole, probably the entrance to a cave or a building. it looks a little older than some of the other stuff seen so far, with one of the gates being broken on top and vines growing all around. there are what looks to be stairs leading up to the bottom, and there are patterns bordering the entrance. this is the entrance to the cave of change, based on what kai's doing at the moment. there's a triangular entrance in a similar style, either another entrance or a window of sorts.

ok i want to talk about this building. this looks to have been some sort of fortress, or at least a MASSIVE building. there are stairs leading up to a door on the left side, and what look like giant entryways in a couple other places. lots of stairs and strangely shaped entryways. what look like towers with tall windows. this place almost looks like a castle of sorts.

and yes, i have to talk about the mural. this thing is GIANT, high up, and was probably carved after the fire master turned into the bug, since it depicts him in particular. that or it was a prophecy of sorts, predicting that if he entered the cave, he would not exit alive. dude got chomped by the bug.

the fact that rusty is here, outside the palace with his weapon like that, makes me think he laid himself there. as a warning to anyone who might come near. his weapon out in front of him... he intended for that to be his final resting place. he failed his master, his weapon was destroyed, and he wouldn't be able to continue much longer with no more fire master to power him.

his first line is one of hope. thinking that his creator had survived. and survived is an interesting choice of words here because he knew what had happened, then went "now i remember". was there a cure? some way to prevent the transformation? or was rusty just remembering the fact that his master's death was prophecised?

prev. fire master (who i'll call FM) is dressed very traditionally. his staff is that of a buddhist monk, and he wears a roningasa hat, which was used in the late sengoku period by ronin, warriors, wanted persons, and anyone who wanted to avoid being seen. this is an interesting choice, because it not only gives us a general time frame for this guy but also that he was intentionally covering his face. rusty projects the hologram with this hat either out of respect or that he genuinely never saw FM's face. either way, it's a great way to conceal a person's face while also adding more depth to their character.

the fact that all the bugs went up in flames implies that by killing FM, they ended the cycle. they got rid of whatever it was that was transforming these people.

PART 3

so that's just a battlefield. more war evidence... yay. flags, swords, and even gravestones that imply people were buried on site. the ground is leveled out.

oh boy emotional rollercoaster time. this chase scene is really interesting especially because as he's running, he's passing a multitude of man-made objects and nothing else except rocks. no plants or any signs of life at all.

the wu illusion being offputting and the hat being broken... despite everything, it's still recognizably him. the creature that created that illusion was unable to fully recreate him, instead creating a corrupted version of him. corrupted, just like everything else in this land.

the creature creating the illusions, and the fact that it's able to do so, aligns with my earlier theory about the monsters retaining some magic from their past selves. it's able to show people what they desire most. possibly derived from some sort of wish-granting power? it can also convince the person that what they're seeing is completely real, in front of them and alive, despite it just being a reflection in the water.

when the monster was defeated, a gap in the clouds appeared. a glimmer of hope. a life finally able to continue on, to abandon its monstrous form. the color returning to the environment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

environment and setting-wise, the first part was definitely the most interesting as it showed cities, boats, dead bodies, and the signs of what used to be a flourishing civilization.

my idea of the realm's history goes like this:

there was a race of people who lived prosperous lives. they lived in peace alongside dragons, and likely many other creatures as well. they used magic to power their city, lacking the technology to do it otherwise. an egg hatched somewhere, a creature of unknown origin being born in their land. at first, nothing too strange happens. but then everything starts changing. the creature grows. as it grows, its power spreads. corrupting the realm. transforming its life into monstrous beings. humans, dragons, and animals all turning into mutated versions of themselves. eventually, this leads to a war. the surviving human soldiers battling against their former friends, people they once loved. some dragons help as well. obviously, this doesn't go well. the humans are quickly overpowered, allowing the monsters to take over the realm. some people even started transforming mid-battle, meaning their fellow soldiers would have to kill them. in the chaos, some humans turned against each other, only leading to their demise quicker.

elsewhere, some people try to escape into the ocean on boats. this doesn't go well for them.

the last surviving soldiers all meet together one last time, knowing there is no hope of surviving. they wanted to preserve themselves in dignity, and so, lined themselves up to create their own graveyard. the large snake-like monster (seen in the scene with the statues) paralyzes them. (gonna call these guys the frozen army.)

when FM is turned into a bug, his elemental power goes to a different realm due to his lack of descendants and there being no suitable heirs in the realm of monsters. it would likely have returned to ninjago.

sorry this is long and probably really badly written but i had to get my thoughts out all in one place. and yes this took like an hour to type. not including the amount of time it took to pause during each shot and look at the background art. but there were some things i noticed that people weren't really talking about all that much, so i wanted to bring them up.

my eyes hurt

[the-indigo-symphony]

We mentioned this a while back as part of a larger post, but it bears repeating on its own – it is in fact common for systems to experience a burst of new system members shortly after syscovery. If this happens/ed to you, it's not a sign that you were wrong about your plurality – it's just something that happens.

Why does it happen? Could be any number of reasons, really. Maybe you've been stressed about this whole process, and that's caused some new folks to pop up to deal with it. Maybe they're old members coming out of dormancy. Maybe it's psychological, and your brain is responding to the change in dissociative barriers and how your system works. Maybe it's spiritual, and all you really needed was a foot in the door for the gate to open, like folktales that say just knowing about other entities can draw their attention to you. Maybe you get new members really easily, and this is just the first time you've knowingly experienced a burst. Whatever the reason, the effect is the same – a sharp increase in number of system members just as you're figuring things out.

It can be off-putting! Frightening, even! But as I said earlier, it's not an automatic sign that you're wrong about being a system. You'll find plenty of other systems who have gone through similar when they were first discovering their systems. Take a breath, take things one step at a time, and trust that things will work out if you just keep working at it. That's how most things work out.

[ponett]

ive seen you post about doctor robotnik's ring racers occasionally on twitter and would like to hear your overall thoughts on the game

I'm enjoying it a lot! It plays well, has a ridiculous number of unlockable characters and tracks, and is generally just really polished. This would be impressive even for a paid indie kart racer that cost like $20-$30, but for a freeware fangame that's somehow built off of Doom? It's nuts. So much love and care went into this. I've been having a lot of fun playing through all the Grand Prix cups and clearing out the challenge board, which I've only completed 47% of it even with over 15 hours of playtime logged.

It's absolutely one of the most hardcore kart racers I've ever played, though, and that's gonna turn some people off. While playing solo even easy mode can be difficult, especially thanks to the rival system that gives one CPU buffs over the others. Anything below 150cc is a complete joke for me in Mario Kart, but even playing on the "normal" difficulty in Ring Racers (now renamed "intense" in the 2.2 patch) kicks my ass, and if you place poorly in a Grand Prix race it gives you a game over and makes you redo the race. I can't even imagine touching the higher difficulties at my current skill level.

This is compounded by how technical the game is and how many options are at your disposal. Spin dashing, tricks, fast drops, collecting and spending rings, an item roulette that can be manually stopped, a high risk high reward chargeable melee attack when you have negative rings, the ability to harass and be harassed by other racers while positioning yourself before the start of the race, gates that can only be passed through when you have a high level of boost, lots of items with different quirks that reward skilled play. And of course, perhaps most daunting of all to new players, there's the game's unique slope physics designed to mimic how they work in the 2D Sonic games, which will often require you to either spend rings for a small boost or stop and charge up a spin dash to get up a steep hill.

All of these add a lot of complexity to the game that can be pretty daunting early on, which is why it has an infamously long story-driven tutorial to introduce all of these mechanics. I'm not sure said tutorial actually does the best job introducing how those mechanics will actually be put to use in races, but I can't blame them for thinking the game needed it. (I do have to admit I am annoyed by the game's insistence upon framing everything via Sega Saturn inputs, though. I had to open the settings screen to figure out what buttons the tutorial actually wanted me to press.)

Some of these things have already been addressed in the first couple patches, of course. You can now exit the tutorial way earlier, some unlock requirements have been relaxed, there's an option to let the game automatically use your rings for you, easy mode has been made easier, a handful of problematic courses have been tweaked, etc. And I'm sure they'll continue to refine the game based on player feedback. But it's probably always going to be a fairly hardcore game. It's hard and has a high skill ceiling by design. Nintendo's never gonna make a super technical new Mario Kart for sickos - not on purpose, at least. They need it to be a pick-up-and-play party game that sells 70 million copies. But a freeware fangame not beholden to shareholders can experiment more and try to cater to that more hardcore crowd. Say what you will about Ring Racers, but it absolutely has a specific creative vision of its own beyond "Sonic Mario Kart," and I respect that even if the game sometimes frustrates me

[cherr-22]

TNGDH 34

“For this reconnaissance, we will investigate further. With the new demonic beast’s appearance recently, we must be more careful.”

“Yes sir!”

The knights answered in unison. It was so loud that even I, who was leisurely enjoying a sunbathing session while lying on the sawdust, could hear it.

‘Already another reconnaissance.’

It has been about a month since the previous one.

―Squeak squeak. Squeak. (But why hasn’t he told me about going on this one?)

I rubbed my stomach after stuffing myself with the almond, macadamia, and strawberry that Kyle had brought. I must’ve gained more weight, because it was getting harder to breathe. Just a little bit.

Anyways, it would be a good idea to follow along this time too. If another accident occurs, it’d be good if I were there.

I crawled to a corner and just when I was about to use ‘Summon’―.

“Wait a moment.”

Kyle opened the door and came into the study.

I took back my hand from the system window and slid back to the center of the hamster house.

“Cashew.”

Kyle’s soft voice called for me. I pretended I wasn’t doing anything and made a gesture that said, “You’re here?”.

Then he lifted me up and naturally started kissing me.

―Squeak……. (Alright…….)

Of course. If he didn't do this, he wouldn’t be Kyle Blake.

I received his kiss and waved my hand in goodbye. Hurry up and leave.

Kyle only left after glancing back at me twice at the study door. I quickly used ‘Summon’ and wore my clothes.

Really! At this point, shouldn’t I be able to automatically wear clothes? This is so inefficient!

[(´。＿。｀)]

……I’m not saying it’s your fault. It’s not like we could do anything about it. I’m just complaining out loud…

I comforted the sullen system and walked down the hallway at a brisk pace. I diligently headed out of the castle, greeting the workers carrying laundry baskets and brooms along the way.

When I pushed the tightly closed door, a light so bright that it hurt my eyes poured in. I stepped outside, feeling the cool air surrounding me.

Now, Kyle. Take me with you. Look at this perfect timing I appear before you when you need me.

“Your Highness! ……Huh?”

I looked at the empty field in front of the castle with a dumbfounded face.

He’s not here.

There’s nothing here. Even though this is the front gate?  Surely they would’ve reorganized their ranks here before going up the mountain?

I hurriedly searched the surrounding area. The flower beds, bushes, pillars… I looked closely everywhere, but I couldn’t find a single one of his familiar footprints.

“Just where exactly did you go!”

I shouted at the sky in frustration and a passing worker flinched.

“H-his Highness Kyle went to the back gate.”

“Yes?”

“He said someone fearless may try to follow him…….”

I stood in place with a dumbfounded expression. The employee, seeing my reaction, quickly bowed his head and disappeared.

Then, does this mean…….

“He’s avoiding me?”

I went back into the castle and thought for a while. There weren’t any other demonic beast specialists within the castle so why would he go without me?

No, I knew why even without having to think. It was because I fell off the cliff last time.

It must’ve been a shock to see the person he promised to protect to fall into danger right before his eyes. What if it happens again? Would I be able to grab onto him properly this time? I could imagine him worrying about it all night long.

Still.

“It’s only right to keep the person you want to protect by your side.”

As I trudged down the hallway, I felt an inexplicable sense of loneliness. I must’ve gotten used to spending my time with Kyle.

I wandered around for a while before arriving at the kitchen to eat two freshly made sandwiches, scones, and cookies with black tea and then returned to my room to cancel ‘Summon’.

―Squeak. (Sigh.)

I laid down and stared at the dark ceiling of the study room.

There was no time to get lost in sentiment. I spent the entire day walking around and thinking about Kyle, but my heart felt heavier than it did before.

‘……Why do I feel so heavy?’

I grunted as I turned over. However, I couldn’t get up. I was only able to stand after grasping the floor with my paws.

―Squeak squeak. (……Just how much weight did I gain?)

Now, I could no longer deny it. At this rate, I may become an obese hamster and would have to survive on just chicory and lettuce.

I suddenly felt a sense of crisis and started walking on the hamster wheel. And here I thought I’d never have to ride this horrendous thing again!

Alright. Let’s do some morning dieting.

To the point where Kyle will be so surprised upon seeing me again.

*

Reconnaissance usually takes about four to five days. They said they would go further this time, so it should take about a week. Today was the first day of the week.

During this time, I was quite busy as both a human and a hamster.

During my time as a hamster, I worked on my squishy belly by running on the hamster wheel, and when I was human, I helped around.

Mass production of the quilted clothes have begun, because they thought it would be good to distribute them to the residents of the territory. The remaining knights in the castle also spent their days hunting.

I, of course, helped with sewing and teaching the kitchen staff various other healthy recipes. The most delicious recipe was the one made with the fish beast.

There was a pond to the south of the castle that was frozen all year long, so people often went ice fishing and hunting there.

They would gather together and light a bonfire to have a feast.

The grilled fish grilled with an even coat of spice and sauce…… it was tastier than any other seafood I’ve eaten.

As a result, the people greatly enjoyed the fish. And best of all, the fish would break through the ice on their own if there were a lot of them.

Anyways, it was hectic and busy. Thanks to that, my Miracle Value went up to 24 percent. It was a huge increase despite Kyle not being here.

In other words.

‘The people here has accepted me.’

Although, I did benefit a bit from the ‘passive effect’ of gaining favor with the Northerners.

When I walk across the hallways in the castle, the workers greet me and the knights sometimes look for me with monsters they caught in their hands. When I go to the kitchen, I’m gifted with freshly baked bread and some cookies. Yesterday, I even received the tart that the youngest worker of the castle baked.

‘……But we are still a little awkward with each other.’

It was definitely not a bad feeling though.

I cleared my throat and glanced at the clock. It was ticking just past noon.

―Squeak squeak. Squeak squeak squeak. (Kyle, just when exactly is he going to come back? The weather is fine so he should be back pretty soon.)

While mumbling to myself, the system window blinked.

[(❤´艸｀❤)]

That’s not it. Don’t look at me like I’m a wife waiting for their husband to return home. We’re not in that sort of relationship.

I kicked the system window and it flashed again on the opposite side of me.

‘Ha?’

I frantically kicked hard at the moving system window. I was so absorbed that I didn’t even hear the study door open.

“So you also knew how to dance.”

A soft voice came from above my head.

I paused and turned my head up. Kyle was looking down at me with a very disheveled appearance.

“Sorry for being gone for so long. I rushed back, because I was worried about you, but it seems like I could’ve washed up first. I can’t hold you with my hands dirty like this.”

Kyle mumbled while holding his hands caked in dirt and blood. My eyes naturally went to his hands.

―Squeeeak! (Hey! What’s with your hands!)

I stuck myself to the transparent wall and squeaked towards Kyle.

Kyle must’ve thought I was glad to see him after a long time, so he looked at me sweetly and left the study, saying that he would come back soon.

I pounded my chest in frustration and used ‘Summon’.

It’s a good thing I didn’t use it earlier in the day today. How could I hold in after seeing him like that? I must take a closer look myself to see if the body I cherish has any injuries.

“I think right now is good.”

I hung around in front of Kyle’s room for a while before knocking the door. Then, I heard a voice from inside telling me to come in.

“Shu?”

Upon opening the door, I saw Kyle with a robe draped over his shoulders, drying his hair with a towel.

I quickly scanned him from head to toe. No injuries on his arms. Not a single scratch on his chest. He just looked a bit messy.

I sighed in relief and walked over to him.

“It took you a while this time.”

“I thought it would be good to go the longer route after encountering the new demonic beast before.”

“You didn’t tell me to go together this time.”

“There is no need for you to accompany me on every reconnaissance. Besides, didn’t you say you were busy?”

I crossed my arms and puffed. You could hide all you want, but I know you better than yourself.

“Not because you are afraid I might die?”

“…….”

Kyle stared at me silently. It seems I got it right.

I reached out and gently grabbed both ends of the towel covering Kyle’s head to help dry his hair. He obediently lowered his head to narrow the distance between me and him.

“Teach me how to use the bow tomorrow. I learn quickly, so it’ll be worthwhile for you to teach me.”

“…….”

Kyle’s brows narrowed, and then he relaxed with a short sigh.

As if he missed me for the week he was gone, he wrapped my waist with his strong arms and pulled me in. I entrusted myself to him. With his familiar body scent reaching the tip of my nose, I felt at ease.

I let go of the towel and placed my arms around his neck. I smiled as I heard him saying that he would teach me and that he’s glad to be back home.

--------------------------------------------------------

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

[mistydeyes]

first line treatments: how the pharmacist met the 141

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

summary: After your time as the pharmacist in the army, you think back to your days when you first started at the pharmacy. You were in your late 20's, less experienced and also less stressed, and more importantly had not familiarized with your patient. However, you fondly remember how you got to know each member of the 141.

pairing: Task Force 141 x pharmacist!Reader

some other parts of the pharmacist!series:

counseling the 141 - first part to the pharmacist! story

weird dreams when they are injured on the field

being sick and having the 141 come to the rescue

warnings: medical/pharmacy terminology, medical inaccuracies, swearing, depiction of wounds and violence

a/n: this took me a while to think of because I knew I wanted to continue my pharmacist!series but I wasn't sure where to go with it! hope you enjoy!

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

price

"Alright Captain, here's the keys," the head of the medical department said as she dropped them in your hand, "the pharmacy opens in an hour." You held the heavy chain in your palm, noting the various tags on the individual keys. "Wait, what do you mean in an hour?" you questioned as you stood outside the locked gates. She let out a laugh before responding. "An hour, Captain," she corrected and your eyes widened, "you're the new pharmacist in charge and the Army wouldn't have picked you if they didn't think you would be able to do this." With that, she walked off, leaving you to fumble around and try to orient yourself in the new area.

Despite the awful time you had waking up at 05:00, any sense of sleeplessness was gone and you were fully running on adrenaline. You felt like someone injected you with epinephrine based on how you ran around the pharmacy, trying to fill scripts and get your logins in. At 06:30, you heard a knock on the door to the pharmacy. You practically jumped, almost dropping the bottle of Metformin in your hand. "Hello?" you questioned as you saw a uniformed officer standing with a water bottle. "You must be the new pharmacist," she smiled and you opened the door to fully, "I'm your technician." You could feel your stress subside as she gave you a quick tour of the pharmacy. By the time she was finished, she informed you she would take care of the incoming scripts while you managed the queue and the verification process.

To your delight, the automatic pharmacy doors opened and you saw there was not a large queue of soldiers waiting for their scripts. You took a moment to catch your breath and review some of the new scripts as well as the occasional filled prescription that required your verification. You were focused, drowning out the sounds of the pills hitting the tray and the occasional conversations in the hallway. "Um Captain," your technician called, "I think someone is waiting." You felt your face flush as you quickly walked over to see a captain politely waiting. "I'm so sorry," you apologized as you looked up at him, "first day on the job." "It's alright," he reassured and you smiled, relieved he wasn't an irate customer.

"Did you check in with the app?" you asked and he shook his head. "I like to come early to avoid all that nonsense, I believe medical sent something down for me," he spoke gently, "the name's John Price." You turned to the computer and took a few moments to orient yourself with the system. Eventually, you were able to find his file amongst the surprising amounts of John Price's in the system. "Yes, looks there's two here for you," you said and turned to search around the bins. You thought searching the system took you long but navigating the bins took even longer. You eventually found the clear bag of his items and returned. "Here you go," you responded, "any questions?" He shook his head and you handed over the bag. Before he left, he turned back to you. "It's already half past 7, you're making it through your first day," he commented. You weren't sure if it was a compliment or a complaint based on your slow time, however, you were comforted knowing the day was going quickly.

soap

After a few more patients, you finally had time to review your emails for the day. You sighed as you clicked through the reminders for meetings and on-boarding. You finally reached something of note. You sat back in the chair as you read through the email and attached file carefully. In summary, it notified you of a certain non-compliant patient who would be visiting your pharmacy soon. You laughed at the bold red letters that read “PLEASE ADVISE SERGEANT MACTAVISH TO TAKE THE FULL COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS.” This was the first email of its kind you’ve received and you laughed at the childlike recommendation.

The incoming scripts had dissipated and your technician decided to take over the counter for you. Eventually, you heard your name being called and you walked over. "Captain, there's a mandatory counseling notification for you," she remarked and you nodded. You looked up to the patient who seemed to know what this was about. "If you don't mind Sergeant, you can come to the vaccination area and we can discuss," you explained with a smile. He nodded at your command and you walked to the private corner. You settled into the plastic chair and he sat across from you. “You're not in any trouble," you joked, "I’ve actually heard a lot about you, Sergeant.” He let out a laugh as you grabbed his medication. “You can drop the formalities,” he said before you began your counseling, “it’s just Johnny.”

"Well Johnny," you returned the conversation to you, "medical wanted me to talk to you about how to take these." Another laugh and this time you looked at him a bit confused. "Doctors are always tellin me that," he said as his voice boomed in the small area. "They are right after all, you should be taking the full course of these," you advised, "they even come counted out for you." You turned the bottle of Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid in your hand, looking at the nine white tablets. "I'm serious, Johnny, you know the types of recurring infections you get if you don't take these," you said, sternly, as if you were a mother chiding their child. "I know, I know, Captain," he said defensively, hands in the air. "Good," you said handing the pills over, "then I shouldn't be seeing a script for you anytime soon." With that, he nodded and you dismissed him before returning back to your computer. Little did you know, you would be cursing at the pharmacy system as a script for Mactavish, John came in for MRSA infection.

gaz

After a week, you were finally comfortable in your role as the pharmacy officer. You were able to fill and verify scripts quickly and keep the queue from turning into an angry mob. The constant self-dosing of paracetamol was a thing of the past for you. However, as your technicians were frantically running around when you returned from lunch, your mood changed. After one of them sheepishly explained the situation, you felt like screaming. "What do you mean the medical file system is down?!" you exclaimed as your heart dropped. Apparently, it would be fixed once it was determined to be an error and not a malicious hack. You were also advised to stay off the phone lines and other systems as a precaution. This didn't help you as a platoon of soldiers was coming in for their prescriptions and were leaving on a 6-month deployment.

It would be no issue but you found that you were unable to verify an NSAID allergy for a patient. "Guess I'm doing this the old-fashioned way," you mumbled before walking out the pharmacy doors. As you exited the pharmacy, you soon realized your haste. Despite receiving a full tour on the first day, you had no idea where to go. You spent 15 minutes exploring the halls but to no avail. Finally, you threw in the towel and decided to ask someone. You looked around and saw a sergeant walking down the hall, casually. "Excuse me, Sergeant!" you called out and he walked closer. You read his name tag before continuing. "Sergeant Garrick," you asked as you looked up at him, "would you mind directing me to the medical wing?" "The directions are a bit confusing, so I can walk with you," he offered and you nodded happily.

As you walked, you made pleasant conversation. He asked you many questions about your short time on base and took an interest in your hospital pharmacy job before this. "The career change came when I was tired of mixing IV bags" you explained, remembering how after that shift you went to a recruitment center. In contrast, he described how he enlisted after secondary school and eventually worked his way up the ranks. "Do you ever regret it?" you asked, hoping not to offend the soldier. He let out a small chuckle which rebounded in the linoleum hallway. "Lots of people ask that but there's never a day that I do," he responded, smiling back at you. After the afternoon you had, Sergeant Garrick was a fresh of breath air. His optimism and smile made you think he was his squad's dose of Vitamin C.

Eventually, you saw the sign for the medical wing. Part of you had forgotten this is how your stroll had begun. "And here she is," he presented, sarcastically having his hands. "I can't thank you enough, this would've taken me ages to find," you said with gratitude. He nodded before turning around and walking back to his initial destination. "Thanks for the walk, Captain," he called and you smiled to yourself before navigating through the various doctor's offices.

ghost

As you looked up at the clock, you watched it painstakingly go second by second. Fridays and weekends were especially slow as most soldiers were on leave or off-base. You even relieved your technician as the hours slowly passed with no scripts being entered. Eventually, you heard the doors open and you walked to the counter.“Can I return this?” the man spoke, pushing over a small bottle of pills. You looked up at him, reading his name tag. “Well, Lieutenant Riley. If it’s an antibiotic you can toss it once the course is completed, you don’t have to come back here,” you clarified, expecting him to take the bottle back. But he simply shook his head. You placated the lieutenant and picked up the bottle. It looked like one from a civilian chemists and you turned the label to find it was a prescription for fluoxetine.

"Oh I see now," you realized, "I can dispose of this for you." As you threw the bottle into the bin to process later, you realized he was still standing at the counter. "Did you need something else, Lieutenant?" you asked as he stood in place. "Is there any way to get it off my file? The chemists gave this to me for the third time and I don't take it anymore," he requested and you were more than happy to oblige. "Yes, I'm sorry that it still gets sent out when you're on leave," you apologized, turning your gaze to the computer. You typed in a few things and after requesting his full name and date of birth, you were able to pull up his medical file.

Despite looking like a well-oiled machine, his file was as long as the base itself. You scrolled past various psych evals, mandatory therapy notes, and hospital records until you reached his prescription list. You tried to hide your dismay when you saw he was initially prescribed this in 2001, over 20 years ago. You wondered if this was the first time he had ever thought to get it discontinued officially in the records. "Everything alright?" he asked, noting how you stared at the screen and you nodded. "I can remove it for you now and add a note to prevent any further refills," you said and with a few codes and your confirmation, it was successfully removed. You returned back to the counter, letting the lieutenant know it was completed. "Thank you, Captain," he said quietly and turned to probably head back to his quarters. You made sure to close his file before you returned the item, trying to avoid the copious amounts of alerts regarding his plethora of scripts and refills. "Guess I'll be seeing you soon, Lieutenant," you said under your breath, not realizing how often you would be seeing certain patients.

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Code Blue Ch. 71- Baby It's Cold Outside

Summary: An chilly afternoon filled with drama, a developing relationship, bonding and growth is spent at the Kiriakis Mansion, along with an unexpected departure while Lee and Travis head out for a night of celebration in the Hub of Massachusetts.

*Chapter Warnings* Language, angst, mentions of physical and sexual assault and drugs

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

March 25

Salem, Massachusetts

Arriving at the iron-barred gates of 13201 Glen Oaks Drive, Josie impatiently waited for them to open after verifying her identity which required a three step process in a specific order if there were no guards present for a much simpler preauthorization. It began with facial recognition by looking into the monitor on the drive up security system, then a fingerprint scan by placing either thumb upon the screen and lastly, entering a six digit code into the keypad. If all three passed, the gates would automatically open. If the order was done incorrectly or there were any discrepancies, armed guards would metaphorically appear like ninja elves out of the trees. Victor had a garrison that patrolled and surrounded every inch of the grounds with the additional aid of a ten foot tall electric fence, for the notorious Greek kingpin, had gained more enemies than friends in his fifty years of organized crime.

The tedious procedure had always annoyed Josie because then there was still an entire meandering mile of blacktop road through endless forestry to travel before reaching the colossal estate that was perfectly placed in the eye of the forty acre property near the Atlantic bay but now, she was grateful that the extra security measures were in place since her mother and sister were now residents for an indefinite amount of time to ensure their safety and protection and she owed all her gratitude to Gerry.

With those thoughts, Josie made her way to the front door with bittersweet emotions, for at least her mom was now where she had been meant to be all along but with Victor's current comatose state, she worried that it may be too late for the star-crossed lovebirds to finally get their forever after fairytale....just as it now was for she and Lee.

Greeted at the door by Henderson, Victor's kind, loyal and lifelong butler who was all suited up in a penguin tux with tails, Josie was then led to the main den area where Megan was lounging on the sofa with her cast-covered leg propped up and eyes glued to a tornado disaster on the weather channel.

"What's the weather predictions for this week? Are we flying over the rainbow to Oz anytime soon?" Josie curiously asked of the redheaded girl who reminded her a lot of the clueless character Cher Horowitz, minus the preppy attire and popularity. Deep down, where only few could see, Megan was an old soul and she actually cared about things that mattered in the world, even when to most, she was seen as the mean girl Regina George.

"Joey!!! You came!!" Megan squealed with excitement and then teared up.

"Of course I did. Since when do you get all emotional to see me?"

"Since you're the one who did all of this for me to keep me safe when I deserve to rot alone after everything I've done to you."

Josie sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "No you don't, so stop it. Where's mom? or Gerry?"

"Mom's somewhere in this ginormous labyrinth and I think Gerry is at his guesthouse with his mom. He said it's imperative to keep our jealous mothers apart."

Josie laughed as she rolled her eyes. "That's the truth for sure. Last thing I want to be involved in is another cat fight."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just more drama."

"I hear that. Honestly Joey, I think Gerry is purposely avoiding me for that exact reason so he's not tempted to rip my head off. He's never going to forgive me."

"Well...if I can, I'm sure he'll come around too. I mean, he's letting you stay here and that's a start right?"

She frowned. "He's only doing it for you. If he had his way, he'd find the shadow man and hand me right over to him."

"Speaking of, how are you doing Meg? Sleeping ok? Any more memories surfacing? or dreams?"

"No," she sighed, "The only thing I've dreamt of since coming here is that spooky, banshee Bean Nigh Gerry intentionally infused into my brain to scare me. As far as memories of my attack, mom seems to think I've suppressed them. A trauma response thing I guess and she keeps pushing me to go see a shrink. She even suggested hypnosis AS IF I WANT to remember...but...I know I need to since there's not much else to go on."

"I know. Gerry told me about the hospital surveillance footage from that night is mysteriously not accessible. Seems to be a lot of that happening lately."

Megan's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, just like the night Liz died in the hospital. There's no footage and then today with....anyways, personally, I feel Cyrus is involved and I just thank god we got you and mom out of there when we did."

"Yeah cause the guard at my door vanished into thin air too. I was never so happy to see Gerry in my life when he and Philip came to spring me."

Josie raised a stunned brow. "His brother came with him? Shocking. I figured he'd be too wrapped up in running both his dad's 'legit' publishing business and not so legit shipping company with Vic out of commission."

Megan was blushing as she smiled, rambling and drifting off into the memory of that day. "Yeah, he did. It's been a minute since I've seen him. He was always so nice to me. I can't believe how much he's matured both physically and mentally. That smile and those dimples are something else. He stayed with me while Gerry took mom to say goodbye to Victor and he saw how nervous and scared I was and he even laid in the bed with me, holding my hand and telling me funny stories to ease my anxiety. He smells so lovely like the ocean breeze."

Perplexed, both brows raised. "Oh really?? Do tell me more."

Megan swiped up a bottle of nail polish from the end table with a pleading pout on her lips. "Ok, but...since you're in the perfect position, could you finish my toe nails for me? I couldn't reach this side with all this fucking plaster in the way."

Josie studied the bottle for a moment. "Hmmph. Vampire red. This sure looks like the one that came with my vampire perfume that went missing too."

Megan's eyes resembled that of a guilty dog. "That's because it is. I'm so sorry. I still have the perfume too. I'll give it back and..."

"No, it's fine. I'm just glad you're being honest. I bought a new bottle anyways because Lee loved it so mu...," With a pause, her eyes fell, "It don't matter. I stopped wearing it. I've been wearing a Jasmine scented one lately. Ok, lets get these piggies done and you can finish telling me about your seemingly endearing time with Phil."

As Josie began with the big toe, Megan noted her deflection and respected it. If her sister wanted to talk about Lee, she would and Megan knew not to push.

An ear to ear smile formed on Megan's face and her eyes lit up. "He's just so," she sighed, her cheeks turning rosy again as she rambled on, "funny and smart and successful and debonair and sweet and..."

"Sweet huh? It seems to me that you're the one who's sweet...on him."

"What??" she gasped, acting surprised. "Oh no no. For one thing, Gerry would flip the fuck out so don't ever say that again and..."

"Oh I'm saying it, not to Gerry of course because you're absolutely right. He'd lose his Scottish shit over it but...you are downright smitten. Just admit it Meg. It's me you're talking to here. Look, I get it. He's definitely charming as you said and I see a lot of a youthful Gerry in him, but...." she paused as she finished her toes. "just don't take his kindness for anything more than what it is. He has a lot of issues, pressures and responsibilities, hence his drinking habits. His life isn't all roses and rainbows and quite frankly, his track record with women is just like his father's. Too many to list."

"Yeah but you and I both know Victor was only like that because he couldn't be with mom."

"Yes I know but Vic's womanizing days were very influential on Philip but so was his mother's. Kate was the same with men. Married one week, divorced the next so it's all Philip has ever known. His upbringing was unstable, not his fault but as much as we want to believe we can change a man, remember that a zebra can't change it's stripes, trust me, I know."

"And leopard's can't change their spots, yes I know Joey and I know Lee hurt you terribly but not all men are like that."

"No but a lot are and you should know that considering your own track record with men. You're always looking for love in all the wrong places. For example, Ethan. Maybe he's not the one who attacked you but he still hurt you, not to mention he's shady as fuck in every single way. If he could harm his own brother then I believe he eventually would have harmed you and I also know he's done many other vile things. All I'm trying to say is...are you even ready to consider being with and trusting another man right now after what you've went through? You're still trying to process it all and work through it and heal which should be your sole focus. Megan, I don't mean to bring this up but...you...you were sexually assaulted on top of being beaten and left for dead. Does Philip know the whole story?"

"No, he doesn't and I know you're just trying to look out for me but Joey, it's Philip. He's not like Ethan. He's gentle and caring. I know he's dealing with things too. Aren't we all?? He talked to me about some stuff, like what Aunt Viv did to his mother and...."

Out of a hidden passageway came Philip, strutting in like he was Bruce Wayne, his childhood and present hero, just in time to hear a name he despised.

"Ohhh, you mean your mother's bat shit crazy witch of a sister who not only buried my mother alive but stole her and my father's fertilized embryo and implanted it into herself and then nine months later, yours fucking truly popped out? Please don't mention that terrifying name again because it's like summoning Beetlejuice, Bloody Mary and Candyman all rolled into one and no one, specifically me, needs that kind of twisted horror, so I HOPE for all our sakes that you'll heed my advice."

As Megan giggled at his quirky sarcasm, her eyes were helplessly drawn from his hickory hues to his tan and toned chest that was partially revealed where his black, satin shirt had been left unbuttoned down to his sternum.

Philip was usually very dapper and dashing as he was this day. Parted in the middle, his polished, ashy strands were grown to his ears and stylishly layered in a feathery fashion with the back ending at his collar. To complete his classy wardrobe, he wore a navy trench coat adorned by a burgundy scarf that hung freely down to his black trousers and upon his feet were the usual, shiny black shoes. There were also days where he was laid back and casual which sometimes included a black leather jacket and facial scruff and simply picturing it had Megan biting her bottom lip, for like her sister, bad boys were her guilty pleasure.

As soon as Philips's paraphrased rant ended, his hands went to his hips followed by a heavy sigh and twinkling eyes on Josie. "Ahhhh Josephine, what a sight for sore eyes. It's been awhile girl." With arms dramatically out, his head tilted as he gave a grinning full set of teeth. "Get over here and give your almost brother in-law a big ol hug."

She couldn't help but chuckle as she playfully rolled her eyes and made her way into his arms for a brief pat on the back. He had always reminded her of Jim Carrey with his goofy facial expressions and witty remarks. She would agree with Megan. Phil was funny, charming and rather sweet indeed which was one of the reasons she had always adored him and as far as his scent being that of an ocean breeze, Josie deemed it more of a beachy scent with hints of coconut, probably from all the tanning he did.

"You should try using a real door sometime. It's super easy and less creepy. Good to see you Philip. Thank you for helping with my mom and sister."

"I did use a real door. It just happens to be invisible and super cool. No thanks necessary. I am happy to help. My brother really needed it too. He's pretty stressed with work and dad and everything else."

"Yeah, I know. I'm praying for Victor and you're right about Aunt Vivian...."

"Gahhh!," he gasped and cringed, throwing his hands in the air as he did a little spin. "That's two. Ixnay on the ongsay! One more and we're all doomed."

Megan and Josie both roared with laughter. "Ok ok," Josie complied, "No more mentions of that. We don't want her here anymore than you do. So how's Kate these days anyways?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, you know my mother. Hitched again for the umpteenth time. I give it two months tops. I honestly don't get the marriage thing. Once you put a ring on it, it all goes to shit from there."

The room became silent as Josie and Megan glanced at each other and that's when Philip realized his mistake. "Ok ummm, yeah. Just give me a moment while I try and insert my foot into my big, fat mouth. I'm sorry Josie. That was really insensitive of me. You know I always wanted you and my brother to have a happily ever after."

Megan's remorse radiated in her moistened eyes and the words just slipped out. "And it's my fault that they didn't get one."

Philip's brows furrowed. "How so?"

Megan's eyes became fearful as she instantly realized her mistake because Philip had never been told the reason why Gerry and Josie's engagement had been called off.

Josie was all for honesty but she also knew it was a can of worms she didn't want to open at that time or even at all. Instead of throwing Megan under the bus and adding to her stress, she would leave the truth for her to tell, that was if Gerry didn't blow Megan's cover first considering his anger and unwillingness to forgive her and Josie knew Philip could very well react the same way, even if he himself had also done some pretty despicable things in his life that gave him no right to judge anyone. He was very protective of his brother and Josie was beginning to feel that way for her sister too after all she had been through. She believed Megan was sincerely contrite for her sins and for that, she would offer a lie of omission to correct her sister's accidental confession.

When Phil was still looking at Megan, awaiting her response, Josie winked at her sister to confirm she had her back. "Oh, that's because Megan and I weren't getting along and she confessed to me that she used to secretly wish Gerry and I would break up and when we did, she thought she jinxed us per se and of course, I blamed her too but I don't anymore. As far as Gerry, I think we should just not mention it. We're all trying to move on and it just makes it harder for him."

Philip bought it. "Ahhhh, I see. Well, I can totally relate to the whole jinxing thing if you haven't noticed, but nahhhh Megs. It wasn't your fault and if your own sister says it's not, then believe her. How about this? Lets make a pact. No one mentions that ominous V word so that something wicked this way will not come and no one talks about the past to my brother." He flared his hands out and displayed a selling grin. "Sound like a plan?? We all good? Cause I'm good if you're good."

The girls glanced at each other and Megan promptly answered. "Yes. Yep. All good right Joey?"

She made a zipping motion over her mouth. "Lips are sealed."

Phil loudly clapped his hands together and cheered. "SWEET! Now, I...am...parched. Ladies, would you all care to join me for a drink? I am going to run down to the Batcave and pick out some fine vintage. I would just summon Henderson but the elevator is on the fritz and he certainly cannot use the Batpoles at his frail age. His entire body would shatter upon ground impact and have to be plastered up like Meg's pretty little leg. Bless his ancient heart, but we'll all be old and gray like he is by the time he even gets down the stairs."

Both women giggled.

"Sure," Josie accepted, "One glass. I have plans for later today and tonight with a friend so I don't want to get started this early, plus I got to drive home."

All eyes went to Megan. "Yeah ok. I'll sip on some."

With fiery friction, Philip excitedly rubbed his palms together. "Awesome. Oh and Megs, I'm having a motorized wheelchair brought in for you. Crutches suck and I know how much they hurt your arms."

He walked over and smiled as he teased her big toe with a tickle. "Cute. Blood red. My favorite color aside from black. Looks great on you."

As she gave another giggle and her toes a wiggle, Philip swaggered off through an actual door, turning back to glance at Josie with a curled smirk.

The moment he was out of sight, Megan's palms went to cover her face. "Oh my god, what am I going to do???" she whined, "He's soooo sweet and I'm lying to him."

Josie sat back down and propped Megan's foot up on her lap. "Keep your mouth shut. That's what. For now anyways. But, you're going to have to tell Philip the truth at some point because there's no guarantee that Gerry won't blurt it out, especially if he sees you getting all cozy with his brother and I'm telling you Megs, sooner than later is better."

Her hands flopped down. "Philip's going to hate me!"

"Well he's certainly not going to be happy so you have a choice to make. Tell him what you did or take your chances with Gerry and risk a far worse outcome...OR...stay away from Philip all together."

"WELL I can't exactly stay away from him now can I? Not only am I immobile as a fucking tree but I also live in his home and sure, this place is so huge that you could get literally get lost in it but Philip isn't just going to forget I'm here if I avoid him, as if I even could when he knows every nook and cranny in this Gotham fortress and pops out of the fucking walls. I'm limited to the ground level to boot since the elevator is broke. You just saw how he hovers like I'm some shiny new toy, most likely to cure his boredom of being insanely rich. He'll hunt me down. He's fucking Batman if you haven't noticed."

Philip entered his private office but it wasn't just any office. It was a replica from the original Batman movie. There was a red phone and the comic on the desk along with a bronze bust of Shakespeare and hidden inside of the statue was a red button that he pushed, triggering an empty bookcase to slide open that revealed the golden Batpoles.

Gracefully, he glided to the basement and strolled his way through the well lit brick tunnels to the wine cellar where he pondered over the abundant wine selection, ultimately deciding on a sweet red vintage.

On his journey back, his phone beeped. It was a text from Gerry asking him to come to the guesthouse.

With a swift turn in his slippery-soled shoes and wine bottle in hand, Philip changed his course and jogged off to see what his brother had summoned him for.

Meanwhile, at the guest house of the Kiriakis estate, Gerry was collecting large amounts of cash from the safe along with multiple burner phones and his passport.

After packing them all up, he instinctively picked up his wedding ring laying before him on the desk and went to put it on but he froze at the first knuckle and gazed at it with pained eyes. He recalled the day when Josie caught him wearing it and how he lied by telling her he stupidly put it on while drunk and it got stuck, for his fingers had become fatter since they were together. The truth of the matter was that he wore it because it was all he had left of her aside from his memories and the stolen kiss that he could still feel upon his lips when he closed his eyes. He knew he had to break free of the unhealthy habit of the golden ring when he and Josie had never even made it to the alter and he needed to break free from her too, completely, and the only way to do it was to cut all ties with no goodbyes. It seemed to be the best and only option, for just the sight of her weakened him. She was the air his lungs required. She was his heart living outside of his body. She was the reason it even beat. With that thought, Gerry placed the symbol of union and love in his backpack and whispered, "Out of sight, out of mind."

Right on que, Philip arrived with a shoe sliding stop and a fading smile when he saw Gerry zipping up his visibly full backpack. "Going somewhere big bro??"

Gerry stood, his expression desolate. "That's why I asked you here. I'm going home Philly."

Phil's lips parted as he briefly and blankly stared at his brother. "Home?"

"Back to Scotland with Mum. She's at the airfield, waiting on the jet as we speak."

"Umm ok? So you're just taking her back and then you're coming back here right? Because Salem is your home now."

"It used to be. Not anymore. I don't know when or if I'll be back."

Another blank and befuddled stare, followed by a slow gulp. "What?? IF?? What about Dad???"

"He's in a coma and has shown no signs of coming out of it anytime soon. You have my number. If something happens, I'll be on the first flight back but there's nothing my being here can do for him. I've spent most of my days and nights sitting in his room and he doesn't have a clue I'm there. I can't do this anymore Philly. I can't look at him that way. I can't look at her.... I have to get out of here."

Philip softened and sympathized when he saw tears welling in his brother's blue eyes. "By her, you mean Josie," he replied as a stated fact and not a question.

Gerry's silence confirmed he was right. "Gerry, she's up at the house right now, visiting her sister and Mom."

"I know. That's why I had you come here instead of me going there to talk to you."

Phil's brows furrowed. "You're not even going to go see her and tell her you're leaving?"

"No," he simply stated.

"Yeah cause you know she'll talk you out of it. Well then, I'll just try instead."

"What for Philip?? Why should I stay here??"

Offended, he crossed his arms. "Gee Gerry, I don't know? Maybe for me? I'm your brother and I'm kind of all alone here."

"You're hardly alone. You got Maggie and that other daughter of hers living with you. You'll be just fine. Maggie adores you like a son."

"Yeah ok but again, what about Dad? I can't sit at the hospital with him like you were doing. I kind of have a multi-million dollar company to run right now??"

"And you have Xander to help you with Titan or did you forget about our other brother? And there's Brady too, our nephew who's also employed there. They've been visiting Dad too. So has Maggie and she will continue to do so. You'll be just fine without me."

The anxiety and frustration was increasing. "Speaking of Maggie. Who's going to watch over her and Megan??? I mean, that's why they are here is it not? For protection?? Maggie is just going to trot off to the hospital as if there ain't some mad man out there who tried to kill her daughter and most definitely still wants to??"

Gerry picked up his bag and hooked it over his shoulder. "You're kidding right? The security here is top tier which is WHY they are here. No intruder will make it to the front door alive and Maggie will have men comparable to secret service agents with her anywhere she goes and then let's not forget you," Gerry chuckled, "You're fucking Batman so everyone will be safe."

Not finding any humor in Gerry's wisecrack, Phil's brown eyes narrowed. "You're being selfish man."

"Well little bro, sometimes we have to be selfish for the sake of our own sanity. Josie and her family are not my family nor are they my fucking problem. Not anymore. My Mum is my priority now and she's homesick so I'm taking her home."

Phil's narrowed eyes turned to slits. "I call bullshit. There's something else going on here because you would never speak that way about the March family, let alone walk out on them at a time like this, especially Josie."

Gerry scoffed as his Scottish sass came out. "Yer bum's oot the windae." He looked down at the bottle of wine, " Are you steamin???How many of those have you had?"

"Ahhh the defensive Scotsman arrives. Now I know you're up to something!"

"Haud yer wheesht!"

"No, you shut up!" Phil reeled as he ripped the bag from Gerry's arm and attempted to open it.

The struggle was on as Gerry locked his arms around Phil from behind. "Give it back you little bawbag!!"

"The name's Batman!!!," Phil riposted and with an agile maneuver, he slipped out of Gerry's vice grip arms and zipped the bag open.

Gerry held a stiff palm in the air as he scowled and shook his head. "More like Robin, you little fucking bawbag and I'm going to proper slap the shit out of you!"

Philip rolled in laughter as Gerry chased him around the desk. "HA HA!! Fast as fast can be. You'll never catch me!"

Without warning, Gerry leaped onto the desk and slid across, jeering. "Come here you little cunt!"

Gasping, Philip quickly dumped the contents onto the floor. Gerry froze, teeth gritting as Phil gloated over his win.

"Hmmm what do we have here?" he sarcastically inquired, panting as he picked up a handful of the cash. "There must be at least fifty grand here, give or take. Now why would you have all this dough if you're just going back to Scotland??"

"Away wi' ye! It's a gift for my Mum ok??"

"Now see, you're doing that little Scottsy tantrum again. Quit lying. I know how you operate. You're not all a 'by the books' cop, Mr. ex FBI and secret ops man. This is bribe money. Although, it's shocking that you would use a less painful way to extract information out of someone. I remember the gruesome stories you told me. What did you do to that one dude? Oh yeah, that's right, plunged a knife straight into his thigh as he was bound to a chair and when he still wouldn't talk, you impaled the other thigh."

Lips pursed, Gerry snatched the empty backpack from Phil's hand and began collecting the scattered items. "I thought I'd be nice first," he snarled, "just like I'm being with you because you were three seconds away from a head swirly in the cludgie where I just took a massive jobby."

"Ew," Phil cringed, wrinkling his nose, "is that what that foul odor is?"

Repacking his back, Gerry formed a smirk. "Mince and tatties for lunch. Does it to me every time."

Just like that, the sibling war was over as they both chuckled.

"Alright," Phil sighed, "just tell me what's going on. Who are you trying to take down?"

More sarcasm from Gerry, "Classified info. If I told ya, I'd have to kill ya."

"Hilarious. Come on man. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone. Have I ever fucked you over??"

Gerry sighed too, "No but the less you know, the better because Josie is also proper good at extracting info from people and believe me, she's going to grill the fuck out of you when she learns I'm gone. I can't risk you cracking under pressure, so, sorry wee man. What you don't know, you can't tell."

Phil shook his head in worry. "Well that's just great!"

"That's what you get for snooping. Look, just trust me alright? I know what the fuck I'm doing and if all goes as planned, Salem will soon be cured of a very bad virus."

"And if your plan goes South, then what?"

"Then I'll move on to plan B. Now I need to get going before Mum makes the pilot's ears bleed with her Gaelic babble. I'll phone ya when I land in Glasgow. "

"Well you better and I'm going to be keeping tabs on you. If you don't respond to my check ins, me and the boys are coming in the Batjet to find you."

Gerry rolled his eyes and made his way to the door. "Stop calling it that. It's black and it's a jet."

"Neverrrrr," Phil teasingly growled, "Welp, go on then. Go and hide from Josie because I know that's part of all this."

Gerry paused his steps to glance back at Phil before making his departure, "You think I'm hiding in the shadows but I AM the shadows."

Phil couldn't contain his excitement as he grinned from ear to ear and shouted, "Bro, oh no you didn't just serve me a Batman line!"

As he reclaimed his bottle of wine, he heard Gerry's bellowing laugh and then watched through the window with a fading smile as his brother got in the car and left.

Turning to make his own exit, Phil froze as something twinkled upon the hardwood floor from beneath the disheveled desk. As his feet approached, it became clear what the object was. With a mumble, "Oh shit," he bent down to pick up Gerry's wedding band and placed it in his pocket.

Philip returned to the main house to discover that Maggie had joined the visit and the red haired March mother was the first to notice his melancholy mood as he slowly scuffled in.

"Philip? Has something happened? Oh dear, is it Vi..."

"No, no. Dad is fine as far as I know."

With a hand to her heart, she sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness. Well, then why do you look so glum?"

His eyes roamed to Josie as he swallowed an audible gulp. She stood from her seat, eyes heavy with concern. "Philip??"

Megan's stomach knotted up, for she feared he had learned the truth about her.

"I ummm...," he sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, then let his arm fall flat at his side, "Gerry's gone."

"What do you mean...gone?"

Philip sat the wine bottle down and went straight for the bourbon. "I mean....he packed up and headed back to Scotland with his Mom. I just saw him off."

Maggie then stood, folding her arms as she approached him, "Well when's he coming back? What about his father?"

Frustrated over the position he was placed in, Phil lowered his head and grimaced as he muttered, "Damn you Gerry for throwing me to the wolves." He forced his eyes to Maggie's, "I don't know. It's indefinite at this point and I guess I will be keeping him updated on Dad. If something changes, he'll come back. Everything just became too much for him."

The fiery ginger snapped, "AND what about Megan's case??? Who's going to handle it???"

"I don't know that either Maggie. I'm sorry. He didn't say anything about Megan but I'm sure he put someone on it that he felt was qualified to do it. As annoyed as I am with him right now, he's a good cop. The best in fact. He knows what he's doing and we just have to trust him."

The knot in Megan's stomach untied when he said she hadn't been mentioned but she had to wonder why Gerry didn't rat her out. Surely he would have gotten off in watching his brother turn on her.

Josie scoffed, her eyes burning with tears, "Trust him. This is what I always get for trusting people." She thought of Lee and Orlando, "Oh well, what's ONE more person to walk out of my life or to screw me over. Honestly, I don't even know why I care anymore." She then thought of Craig who's never hurt her, "It's just another sign showing me where I'm supposed to be."

"Josie," Phil sighed and pulled Gerry's ring out of his pocket and held it out to her, "he's hurting too. I found this after he left."

She scoffed again, arms folded and leering at the golden band, "Gee, I thought it was stuck on his finger from when you and him got drunk and he stupidly put it on knowing his fingers were fatter. That's the story I was given."

"Yeah ummm....that was a teeny tiny lie. He was just embarrassed that you caught him wearing it. Anyways, I just thought....maybe you'd want to hold onto it for him?"

Feeling an anxiety induced lump in her throat, she swiftly brushed away an escaped tear, "Well you thought wrong. Why would I want the stupid thing? I need some air."

She spun around and rushed off to one of the many patios, slamming the door behind her.

"Joey!!," Megan cried out and began frantically scooting herself to the edge of the couch, "Someone hand me my crutches. I need to go to her. She needs me."

Maggie sat beside her distressed daughter, "Megan, just let your sister have some time to herself. She's upset."

"No, you don't understand Momma. It's all because of me!!," she shouted.

"What do you mean?? How is any of this your fault sweetheart??"

Megan's tearful blues peered up at Phil, "I...I need to tell you something but...first, can you just please help me go to my sister. Please Phil!"

He quickly handed the panicked redhead her crutches, "Sure ok, calm down. Meg, what is wrong?"

"Can we talk later? I really need to get something off my chest about Gerry."

Grabbing the crutches, his brows furrowed as he helped her up, "Ok??? Yeah, I'll be around. Should I....be worried? You sound so serious."

With sarcasm, "No, I should."

Definitely worried, his eyes intensely locked with Megan's and he not only saw her hidden fear, but he felt it. There was something else he was feeling too. A comfort being held in her gaze. A peace he had never felt and it perplexed the shit out of him.

"Philip," Maggie interrupted, "How about you round up your armed forces and take me to see your father so Megan and Joey can have some time alone."

Philip slowly pulled his eyes out the strange hold Megan had them in, "Yeah um, s...sure Mags," he softly stammered, then his eyes darted right back to the girl that was distracting him which is when he realized that he had his arm around her lower back, holding her close against him.

He gave her one of the crutches, "Here, hold onto this for a sec."

Reaching behind her, Philip picked up her light blue cardigan from the couch and offered some musical comedy to relieve his awkward tension, "You should wear this," he claimed and then sang a fitting tune, "Cause baby it's cold outside."

Megan's lips curled into a grin, for she knew the song very well, so she sang a line back, "Ugh, you're very pushy you know?"

Surprised and enthralled, he matched her grin and continued on, "I'd like to think of it as opportunistic."

Lost in his eyes, Megan's panic had subsided so she carried on with the spontaneous duet, "I simply must go."

Maggie's eyes were wide, oscillating between the two flirty vocalists as they sang the lyrics in random orders to speak to each other.

Phil chuckled in song, "but baby it's cold outside."

"I ought to say no no no sir,"

"Mind if I move in closer?"

"I wish I knew how,"

"Your eyes are like starlight now."

"To break this spell,"

"I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell,"

"The answer is no,"

"But baby it's cold outside,"

"My sister will be suspicious."

"Gosh your lips look delicious....."

Mesmerized, Philip paused as he unconsciously gazed at her lips until Megan's giggle broke the spell, "Um can I...put my sweater on now?"

"Oh, oh...yeah, yeah here, sorry, sorry," he rambled as he clumsily helped her slip it on.

Once she was steadied on the metal make shift legs, slowly but surely, Megan clunked her way to the patio with Phil's hand securely on the small of her back as he diligently walked beside her, ready to catch her if she fell and it made her feel even more guilty. She doubted he would ever touch or even look at her again once he knew what she had done to destroy his brother's and her sister's relationship.

With closed eyes, Josie snapped her wrist with the rubber band and inhaled the dewy breeze as she tried to relax but it just wasn't doing the trick. Taking her phone out of her back pocket, she thought of a much better way to soothe her anxiety which was a text to Craig.

"Hey Chester. Just checking in to let you know I'll be back soon for the art class with the university students. I'm still with Mom and Megan. Can't wait to see you. This day has to get better."

Within seconds, he responded, "Ahhh, hearing from you is like a breath of fresh air and it makes me all tingly inside to know you can't wait to see me 😉 No rush love. All is going well here. Gael actually came and we're getting to know each other. I'm sorry that you're not having a good day. I will do my best to fix that. See you soon sweetheart. - Chester 😎"

"You just did ❤️"

It was true. He had cured her anxiety but then, Megan came speedily hopping out in a hyper, frazzled state, her voice quavering. "Joey, are you ok?? I'm so sorry! This is all my fucking fault. I caused all of this pain and suffering!"

Through her trepidation, one of her crutches snagged the leg of a chair and sent it crashing to the ground as she helplessly lunged forward into Josie's expeditious arms. "Holy shit Megan! I've got you. Hold onto me!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!," she cried as Josie maneuvered her into a chair and lovingly scolded her.

"Meggy, you can't RUN with crutches. What were you thinking?? Are you trying to break your other leg too??"

Panting, "It would serve me right!"

Josie firmly cupped her face, forcing her to look at her, "No, it wouldn't. Now breathe. Are you alright?"

Her lips quivered as a pool of tears flooded the rims of her bottom lids, "No. No I'm not. I hate myself for what I've done and Gerry hates me so much that he just up and left without even saying goodbye to you."

"Well at least didn't tell Phil about you and I think I know why. He didn't want to risk you being thrown out, so I don't think he hates you that much."

"Oh he hates me alright. He only kept quiet for you and I might still be tossed out on my ass because I'm going to tell Philip the truth tonight. I'm so done with the lies and secrets. I need to atone for my sins Jo. God spared my life and now I need to do what's right."

"Ok, it's your choice. I don't think Phil will just kick you to the curb. He's not that insensitive and cruel."

"I know he's not. He's so fucking wonderful and amazing that it hurts."

"Ahhh, so you admit it," Josie chuckled, "You DO have the hots for him."

With a shy grin, Megan sniffled and nodded. "Fine. I do but I'm not worried about that right now. I'm worried about you Joey. You're going through so much. I hate that Lee has hurt you so deeply."

Josie sweetly brushed away her sisters tears that finally fell, "Don't worry about me. I've become more resilient through all the pain. Sure, I've had my weak moments but I've made it through them and I will continue to do so because I now know who truly loves me."

Megan gazed straight into her sister's eyes and with sincerity, she spoke words that meant everything to Josie, "I will always love you."

The March sisters embraced, both sobbing as Josie reciprocated the words she hadn't said to her sister in years. "I will always love you too Meggy and if you tell Philip what happened and he wants you to leave, you call me ok? I'll come get you and we'll figure things out. We're the March sisters and we're fucking Irish. We'll just go drink ourselves into oblivion."

Through their tears, they both heartily laughed as they leaned their heads together. "Go," Megan said, "Go have fun tonight with Craig. You deserve it."

Josie's brows furrowed, "I never told you I was going out with Craig? I just said I had plans tonight with a friend."

"Well that friend is Craig no? I mean, you had the dude's cologne all over you that day in the hospital and the way you talk about him, well..."

"Ok the cologne thing was not what you think and what do you mean, the way I talk about him???"

Megan grinned, "Ok, now it's your turn to admit it Joey. You got the hots for him too!"

Josie stood as she laughed, "Ok, we're done here. I really do need to go. Let's get you back in the house cause baby, it's cold outside!"

Megan's blues popped. Josie giggled, "That's right. I heard you both signing your little hearts out."

With a clothing change to a hoodie with another jacket layered on top and packed suitcase at his side, Lee sat at a café around the corner from his close to downtown home, warming up with a coffee to wait for Travis to pick him up. His bartender buddy was going to pick him up at his house but Lee quickly split out the back when he noticed that Angel had unexpectedly returned home and he was in no mood to deal with her again. After his brief and heated luncheon with Gordon, he was more than ready to get out of dodge and celebrate his birthday in Boston where all the party life was at and at the end of the night, which Lee knew would be a late one, they would crash at a hotel and head back to Salem the next day or of things were going well, maybe a few days later.

In his boredom of waiting, Lee took out his phone to play some games when the voicemail ticker stared him in the face. The one he had ignored since Josie called earlier that morning.

As his curiosity was gnawing at his very soul, his thumb hovered over it in hesitation, for he knew that just her voice alone could and would ruin his entire day but he realized that he was not going to stop unconsciously gritting his jaw, even by chewing gum, until he listened to the three minute long message.

Forcing his thumb to click the button, he then held the phone to his ear.

"Lee, hey umm. It's me. I..I just wanted to tell you happy birthday and that I hope you have a good day somehow and I hope this message doesn't ruin it. It's not my intentions....."

After her second sentence, Lee was shifting in his seat and sighing. He was instantly annoyed at her casual approach as if nothing ever happened and wish him to have a good day, as if he even could after everything, then follow it up by hoping she doesn't ruin it when he knew that she knew she would, just as he knew it before he foolishly listened.

That was enough for him. Lee hung up and immediately went to delete it...but he couldn't. This time he couldn't force his shaky thumb to erase it. Instead, he just left the unheard majority there to keep eating at him.

Seeing Travis pull up outside offered Lee some relief and off he went to toss his suitcase in the backseat, then hopped in the car and intensely locked his stressed sapphires with Travis' hazels.

"Let's go," Lee flatly commanded, no smile.

"You ok man?"

Another flat response, "Never been better Trav."

"Well if that's true, then why do you look like you've lost your best friend? Is it that girl you told me about today at lunch?"

Lee was silent for a moment, letting his stinging eyes wander out his window because Travis had sliced his Achilles heel wide open with his spot on intuition and he didn't want to talk about it so he deflected instead by turning up the music.

"Good tune. How fitting because baby it IS fucking cold outside for sure."

"Well, I know a way to get really warm. You still into medicating in ways other than alcohol?"

Lee raised a curious brow, "Tell me more."

"I have a few friends, Johnny and his girl Emily, that can hook us up with some good shit and they'll be out and about in Boston tonight."

"Oh really? How good?"

"Like blow your mind good. An out of body experience good. A fucking life altering good. A no more worries good, at least until you come down."

Lee stared at Travis with devious eyes, "Oh hell yeah. I'm already as down as I can get. It's like I'm drowning and I can't fucking die."

Travis gazed at Lee, "There's no drowning tonight babe. I'll be your life jacket."

Lee side-eyed him at the babe reference.

Travis smirked, "Alright man, I get it. I'll shut up and drive. Buckle up. Tonight's going to be one hell of a ride."

@redeemer46

[lacefuneral]

ok i've seen some posts about the tumblr alternative cohost but none that were actually helpful so!

(disclaimer: i am very new to this website. users who have been there longer can and should chime in with additions and/or corrections)

Cohost Introduction Post

What is cohost?

Cohost is a fledgling website that is essentially a tumblr clone, but with its own culture and site-specific features. It is also very much a work in progress. You are encouraged to talk in the cohost forum to suggest changes for devs, report bugs, and upvote other people's suggestions. This website WILL grow and change over time. And as such, I do not know if/when the information I share here will be outdated. Edit: To answer an ask I received, anyone can join cohost without an invite. It used to be invite-only. It is not this way anymore.

Is "adult content" allowed there?

Yes. Cohost is not on the app store, meaning that it is not subject to Apple's specifications. You can post illustrations, writing, and photographs (cohost does not support any video formats at this time, just gifs). Cohost has an elaborate filtering and trigger warning system (moreso than tumblr), and you can disable adult content for your entire account or for individual tags. I actually don't engage with the adult content at all on there. Visual CSEM (both real and fictional) is specifically forbidden (although frankly I think the guidelines could be stricter wrt written content. Still, does seem to handle this better than AO3 does, going as far to say that written content about real minors is forbidden.)

How are minors protected?

The minimum age to join cohost is 16, and requires proof of parental permission to join. Users who are under 18 are automatically age-gated and cannot view adult content.

If cohost isn't on the app store, how is it used?

You can, of course, use cohost on a computer, but it is designed with mobile in mind. Opening the website on any IOS browser, clicking "share", and then "add to home screen" will install an app for you to use. The same can be done on an android. There is a guide here.

How does cohost work?

First, you create an account. Then you wait for approximately two days (read: weekdays) for the account to be activated. This is done to prevent spam bots. In the meantime, edit your profile. List some interests, your pronouns, your other social media links. Give yourself an icon. Note: icon and banner file sizes are small. You may need to shrink and compress images.

After the two days are up, make your first post! Write a basic introduction (with what you feel comfortable you feel sharing) and list some interests you like, maybe some hobbies, media, etc. And then tag this post with "#welcome to cohost". This will let existing members know that someone new has joined, and they may initiate conversation and/or follow you.

Next, go to the search and type in "The Cohost Global Feed" and click on the tag. Bookmark this tag. This is essentially one giant community space where you can find random users. (There is currently some discourse on the website as to whether this tag existing is a "bad thing" or not because "cohost isn't supposed to have a global tag". Just ignore that lol). Next, go back to search and type in things you like. TV shows, maybe. Video games. Music. Anything. See if people have posted in the tags. Follow them. Comment on their stuff. Click "like" to bookmark the post if you want to.

Most crucially, make sure that you bookmark the actual tag so you can look in that tag again later without having to manually type it each and every time. Also, you get a feed called "bookmarked tags" which allows you to scroll through all of them at once, which replaces the "for you" feature other websites have.

You can "share" a post (called "rebug" in user slang) which serves the same purpose as a reblog on tumblr. In a rebug, you can add your own tags or comment in the body of the post. Cohost users do not talk in tags as much as tumblr users - they tend to prefer to speak in the body of a rebug, or in the comment section (replies). At this time, you cannot view all reblogs. But you can view all comments in the comment section. Any post that is rebugged will preserve the tags of the OP, with any additional tags added being attributed to you. Rebugs are named after the website mascot Eggbug, a purple bee-like insect.

Posts are called "chosts" - and shitposting is called "shitchosting." Two examples of global shitposting tags are "#css crimes" - which is when a person does goofy things with the HTML/CSS editor to make colorful text, fake chat windows, and such - and "#shitchosting" which is a general shitposting tag. I've also seen people use tags like "#random".

If a post makes you laugh, check out the OP's profile. See if they post frequently, and if you have any common interests. If you realize you want to block or mute someone instead, you can.

You can send asks just like on tumblr, but your inbox must be manually opened first. So remember to do that.

How do I look at my own blog?

This is one of my gripes about the UI. You would think, intuitively, you would click here (at the top of the screen). But you would be wrong!

It is ACTUALLY under the sidebar menu, called "Profile." And I'm not the only one to to complain about this. (To get back to your dashboard, by the way, you click on the cohost logo.)

Are there sideblogs?

Yes! Each sidepage (sideblog) has its OWN set of likes AND followed pages (blogs). This allows you to easily switch between multiple sets of dashboards. A lot of users use this to have a SFW dashboard and an adult content dashboard. But it works like tumblr, too. You can have a side page/dashboard for whatever you'd like. Maybe one of your pages is for programming. Maybe another is for photography. You switch between your pages by clicking the arrow next to your icon/username at the top of the screen. ("Ohhhhh.... THAT'S what that's for.")

What's the userbase on there like?

Mostly programmers. Trans people. Furry artists. Plural systems. Furry trans plural programmers. Certainly a lot of shitposters. The website is trans-run and, as such, has zero tolerance for TERFs. Everyone seems pretty friendly from what I can tell. And there's very much a culture of "follow someone randomly based on their vibes" that doesn't happen as much on tumblr. Tumblr is more like "I really like this TV show, I'm going to follow 40 blogs about just this interest." Because the cohost community is so much smaller, there is a lot less content overall, especially fandom content. You can't follow 40 fandom pages because your fandom tag has a total of 3 posts, all made by one person approximately a year ago (well. for me anyway).

Cohost, then, actually has much more in common with real-life socialization. You seek out people with interests that may be very different from your own, and to find a common interest is very exciting! Unlike tumblr, you are encouraged to tag as much as possible. This allows your posts to be seen, to find common interests. And, of course, don't forget to look in "#Welcome To Cohost" too! You may find some new friends there.

What file formats can I post in?

Currently, I am aware of basic image formats working (like jpeg, png) animated gifs, and mp3s. You currently cannot upload videos to cohost. I believe the reason is not related to server costs, but rather as a way to curb the uploading of copyrighted content.

How does cohost make money?

There are no ads, and yet, as far as I am aware, cohost is operating comfortably. There is, however, an entirely optional "cohost plus" that is $5 USD a month. Currently, there are a few perks, but not enough to convince me.

What if I think something about cohost should change?

Cohost has a forum where users can submit ideas for features and other users can discuss/upvote those ideas.

Here is a list of posts made for newcomers to read:

[caelwynn]

Caelwynn's Mod List for Stardew 1.6.9+ - Gameplay/Quality of Life (pg 1)

Last Updated: April 17, 2025

Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4.

Abilities — Experience Bars 1.6 — Adds additional information to the experience bars, such as how much XP you have and how much you need. Also makes it easier to show such information for mod-added skills.

Actually Lucky Rabbit's Foot (Rebooted) — Makes the Rabbit's Foot actually give you some Luck! A passive luck bonus is applied to your character whenever you carry around a rabbit's foot.

Activate Sprinklers — lets you activate sprinklers by right-clicking them.

Archaeology Skill — Adds a new skill tree based around digging artifact spots and panning mechanics as well as a couple of new machines, new food, and a way of displaying artifacts.

Auto Animal Doors — automatically releases your animals from the buildings at a set time each day, and then locks the buildings back up at another set time.

Auto Heal and Energize — Automatically consume food to recover when your health or stamina is low!

Automatic Gates — for those of us too lazy to open/shut gates.

Better Crafting — an extensive overhaul of the crafting system. I mostly use it for the ability to bulk craft.

Better Chests — allows for better organization and search/filtering capabilities for your chests.

Better Friendship — adds a bubble above the heads of NPCs informing you if you've spoken with them today and what in your current inventory they might like to receive as a gift.

Better Junimos — allows Junimos to automatically plant crops, fertilize, water plants, harvest forage, clear dead crops, and NOT harvest your flowers.

Better Quarry Redux — improves the spawn rate of geodes, ore, and gems in the quarry.

Better Ranching — adds a bubble above the heads of farm animals informing you if they need petted and/or milked/sheered/whatever.

Better Truffles — Adds the capability for pigs to dig for truffles in tall grass and provide a bubble to show that the truffles are there.

Better Winter Star Gifts —reduces the number of 'dud' gifts at the Feast.

Bigger Backpack — allows you to purchase an additional row of storage space in your backpack.

Bigger Fridges — Increases the size of the fridge from 36 slots to 70.

Blue Eggs and Golden Mayo — allows you to make blue eggs/blue mayo from blue chickens, and golden mayo and ostrich mayo.

Boss Battles — This mod adds 7 new unique bosses to the mines with varying difficulty settings and arenas, each dropping cool costumes and valuable materials.

Brown Cows Give Chocolate Milk — Exactly what it says. Also allows you to make chocolate bars from chocolate milk.

Build and Place Anything Anywhere — Lets you build, farm, or place furniture / objects anywhere.

Catalogue Filter - Continued — Adds a filter field for shop menus and catalogues that lets you filter shown items based on text input.

Central Station — Travel to other mods' destinations by boat, bus, or train. You can also get a ticket to the Central Station to change line, visit the gift shop, and more.

Challenging Community Center Bundles — A bundle overhaul mod which tries to create a challenging but not frustrating experience playing Stardew Valley.

Chests Anywhere — access your chests from anywhere on the map, or from select locations as set up in the config.

CJB Cheats Menu — a GUI to access various console commands. I mostly use it to freeze time while decorating or to warp to certain locations prior to unlocking the minecarts, because with as many expansions as I have, it takes for-freaking-ever to walk everywhere.

CJB Item Spawner — allows you to spawn any item in the game. Useful for cheating for respawning an item that bugged.

CJB Show Item Sell Price — shows a tooltip telling you how much an item (or stack of items) would sell for.

Cornucopia - Artisan Machines — Similar to PPJA Artisan Valley, this adds ten new artisan machines, over eight new goods, four new special orders, and vanilla-style balance.

Cornucopia More Crops — adds over 90 new crops and 35 new trees. I moved to this when PPJA did not get updated for 1.6.

Cornucopia More Flowers — adds over 40 new flowers and 5 new flowering trees to the game. Again, moved to this after PPJA was discontinued.

Custom Wedding Ceremony — Adds seven different wedding locations, more decorations, changes Lewis's speech, and other delightful small details.

The Masterpost for all of the mods is located here.

[croxot]

Here I'll ramble about my favorite games this year.

This sure was a good year, and I have better opinions than the game awards do so I'm just gonna talk into the ether for a bit here.

Once upon a time I liked D&D 5e quite a bit, just like everyone else on this god forsaken internet. In recent years I've been more interested in Pathfinder 2e and Lancer. After so many years rolling with 5e, it became a bit more refreshing to try systems with more specific and rigid rules for certain things. However, a videogame requires specific adherence to rules to function, and in this respect, Baldur's Gate 3 is an incredible adaptation of the system. There's just so much stupid bullshit you're allowed to get away with in game that most devs would not even consider. I may have played thru act 1 like 7 times now and it's still entertaining. Also I went from hating Lae'zel to loving her. Congrats Larian, you made me like perhaps the most annoying person I've ever met in a videogame.

As my bones start to deteriorate I find myself seeking smaller, more intimate games that give a sort of feeling. Lunacid is "like" Kingsfield in the way that it's a first-person dungeon crawler. That's where the buck stops for that comparison gameplay wise. However, Lunacid offers an extremely specific feeling I find is rare in games. It's the same sort of "you're lost and alone but also it's also groovy" feel as Metroid Prime 1 & 2. And if you can capture the same sort of feeling that some of my favorite games ever gave me as a teenager, you're just automatically on my games of the year list.

I saw a gameplay video in passing on twitter, got slightly horny because caked-up goat lady, went to the steam page and saw OVERWHEMINGLY POSITIVE. I don't think my experience with Pseudoregalia is unique. It just feels great to jump around and the music slaps.

Cross the feeling of the open-sea adventure of Wind Waker, with the chase and collection of fishing minigames of countless other titles, and the dread of exploring the uncaring unknown. It scratches a seldom-scratched itch of exploratory joy within an indifferent universe. Dredge's systems can be distilled to the simple loop of growing beyond your own fears to discover more and more. None of these fears is particularly intense, but it's enough. Dredge isn't going to find itself on game of the year lists because it's doing any one thing particularly well. It's also not doing anything specifically or wholly NEW. It is however, more than the sum of it's parts, and it is beautiful.

Remnant 2 is the best co-op souls-style game that exists, tied with Nioh 2. That's it, that's what I had to say. It just real good and it deserves to be on game of the year lists.

So like, late this year, 2 Souls successors came out. Lies of P and Lords of the Fallen. And goddamn did Lords inspire division.

I think these releases really showed that people who are "Souls Fans" really cover a LOT of different specific interests, and not all of these interests are well-represented in every souls-like. Lords, perhaps amazingly, seems to cater to what I particularly want out of a Souls game, whereas Lies of P did not. I like these games for their challenge, sure, but more importantly, I like the character building. The ability to create a unique playstyle that I can take on the game with. This slowly grated on me in Lies of P because the game really only wants you to play it (and succeed at it) a certain way. Because the perfect parry was the truest answer to everything a boss could throw at you, and the dodge sucks ass, I felt more exhausted by the end of the game than anything. I also wanted to try a strength build, but the heaviest weapons cannot manage to fully wind up and land a hit on any bosses past the halfway point. Without any hyper-armor or poise, the "big weapon" playstyle felt completely trash, even outside of bosses. Lords lets me dodge, block, perfect parry, and hey they ALL feel useful. I can actually wind up big weapon hits too! Yeah it feels a bit floaty, and yeah enemy density can be rather crazy at times, but I'm the weirdo who's favorite Dark Souls is DS2. Lords also does ranged combat better than any of it's contemporaries. I think a lot of people also never played the original Lords of the Fallen. Now that game SUCKED. I played the whole thing, my god.

GAME OF THE YEAR BAYBEE

I've already talked about AC6, but again, you can't just get me to complete a game. I see an achievement list and I say "fuck that, I hate that!" I saw AC6's Achievement list and I was rubbing my hands together like a cartoon villain. Like Pseudoregalia, AC6 just feels good to play. It feels so tight, and after a few hours you can feel the minute changes in the way your mech handles even after small part swaps. Anyways it needs DLC with more Rusty content. 12/10.

[ameliaegschulz]

Untitled Powersuit Check-Up Drabble

"Sigh... coroner's report... funeral arrangements..." The mother and engineer shuffled through the papers in front of her, making sure all things where accounted for before slotting them into her private file cabinet. "...okay, that should be everything."

A cold click as she locked the file cabinet with a retinal scan. A shake as she fell backward into her main-floor office chair, an office in which she sat alone.

"Why does it keep feeling worse..." she muttered to herself, alone in that office. "Every time... Every time I think I'm ready to head off and find her, I'm just knocked back down."

"Dead-end leads... dead friend... dead daughter as far as the state cares... at this rate it'll be dead hopes as far as the eye can see..."

"Think, Emily... suppose this is it. Suppose they're both just... gone, forever. What then? ...where do I even go from there? ...back to what I was doing before? But Zak was..."

"Aagh!" A short yell as she slammed her fist onto her desk. "Get it together, Emily! Where would I even be if I just gave up as soon as she was taken? Pushing forward as I always have is why I'm here to begin with! I just have to keep pushing forward. Keep pushing forward. She's still alive. Still alive. Still..."

After a moment, Gates stood up from her chair and exited her office, positioning herself in an open space in the living room.

"This is as good a time as any," she hummed, tapping her ankles together and - for the first time in two months - fully equipping her powersuit, standing still as it assembled itself over her frame from her feet all the way up to her head.

Once fully suited, Gates performed some rudimentary motions and stretches in that small but open space in the living room, getting herself used to the suit again. After her short exercise, she examined the HUD in her helmet. Ninety-nine percent charged. Navigation system fully operational. Ammo pools at max capacity. Energy blaster ready to fire. Onboard AI status...

...represented by an outline of Zak'yanna lazily sleeping.

Gates sighed.

"Zak? You awake?"

The image of the AI appeared to stir awake before facing forward and waving at Gates with a cheerful grin.

"Long time no see, Core Cracker!~" it said to her via text below its outline in the HUD.

"Yeah, no kiddin'..." sighed Gates in response.

Another flirtatious pose from the AI's image before the words "Two months, right? Is this a simple suit check-up?" appeared below it.

"Yes, just a check-up."

The AI gave her a thumbs up and a wink before appearing to look through a magnifying glass at all things across the HUD. After five seconds, the AI threw up double V signs with a cheerful smile, displaying the words, "Check-up complete! Everything's functioning normally except the automatic recharge! Shall I diagnose the issue and attempt repairs?"

Gates trembled mildly in her suit before relaxing.

"No... I know what's wrong with it. It can't be fixed yet."

The AI held its chin, puzzled by Gates's response.

"Rather, I have to find and rescue Za- you, so that you can fix it."

The AI scratched its head briefly. It held up a finger after figuring out what Gates meant, and then it appeared saddened and hunched forward. It straightened itself out to the image of a normal posture before displaying the words, "Did she take me again?"

"I don't know who it was," answered Gates, "but I'm almost positive she's related to it all. Not that it matters, I ran into another dead end as far as finding you again."

"Are you referring to the coordinates you entered into your Pocket Stargate™ app?" asked the AI.

"I-- yes. Yes, I am! I entered them and I didn't get an--"

"It may be that the app needs a little more info. It is still in beta, after all. May I analyze these coordinates to determine what is missing?"

Gates nodded vigorously, and the AI once again appeared to look through a magnifying glass. Gates looked at this image, then downward at her feet, preparing for another disappointment.

"Analysis complete," returned the AI with a smile. "Some of these coordinates have partial matches with those previously used by the real me. Do you have corresponding timestamps for these coordinates?"

"...I'm sorry, timestamps??" Gates exclaimed.

[scribblecake]

Heyy! Hope you’re day is going well!☺️

F: Share a snippet from one of your favourite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it.

Hi! Thank you dear! It's going good so far! 💖

oooooooooh boooooyyyy, This was hard to answer! I had to do some digging, fr fr. 😅

But I found one! It's a bit long but I'm super proud of this dialogue. I pretty much just reenacted a scene from 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail' with Lady Dimitrescu and one of my demon OCs. It was 3 AM (as per usual) and I'd hit a wall on the series I was working on at the time. I had the movie playing in the background and the rest is history! It was a blast to write!

So here's an unprompted (mini)fic I guess?

Lady Dimitrescu opened her mouth to call the entity but stopped, narrowing her eyes as she studied its features. Even with its cute features, she wasn’t sure how to address it. Its face seemed both male and female. With a quick exhale she gathered her courage, calling out to the dark entity.

“Young man!” Alcina snipped as she gestured for the Hell-spawn to follow her.

“Woman.” The Hell creature responded curtly as they hurried to keep up with the lady.

Lady Dimitrescu blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“I’m a woman. Not a young man.” The demon corrected.

"Well, I can’t just call you ‘woman’.” 

“You could just say ‘Xentia’.” The creature deadpanned.

“I didn’t know you were called Xentia. And while I am sorry I assumed you were a man, I couldn't give a damn what your name is.” Alcina shot back, quickening her pace. In spite of her escalating annoyance, she couldn’t help but laugh at the small demon struggling to keep up with her long strides.

This seemed to strike a nerve in the Hell-creature, their face scrunching up in annoyance.

“Well you didn’t exactly bother to find out, did you? And what’s more, I object to you automatically treating me like an inferior!” The infernal woman exclaimed defensively.

At this she scoffed, her rouge lips quirking into a dangerous half smile. “Well, I am the Countess of this village.”

“Oh, Countess, eh? - very nice. And how'd you get that, then? By exploiting the villagers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in your society. If you flesh bags ever want to see any progress…” The demon’s words droned as they prattled on about god knows what. They went on for what seemed like an eternity as they made their way to Castle Dimitrescu and by the time the gates were visible a dull ache had begun to throb at Alcina’s temples. 

“Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!" She snarled.

“Order, eh? Who does she think she is?” 

Lady Dimitrescu hissed as anger continued to build within her. “I am the Countess!”

“Well, I didn’t vote for you.” The infernal woman said matter of factly.

“Y-You don’t vote for a Countess!” Alcina seethed. This creature really knew how to try her patience. It took the Countess every ounce of self control she had not to rip the woman’s throat out.

“Well how’d you become Countess then?” The demon questioned with an incredulous look. 

Despite herself, the lady found the question amusing and her anger died down for the moment. 

“If you must know, beast, my family ruled over this village for centuries, only having lost ownership at some point after I had left our family home. I returned years later to find our lands empty. It was then that Mother Miranda found me and bestowed upon me her gift. She implanted me with a Cadou, an entity of her own creation that holds unimaginable power. It infused with my flesh and made me into something beyond humanity, and with its power I was able to reclaim my family’s land. That is why I am Countess.” Lady Dimitrescu explained. She made sure to position her body in such a way so that she towered proudly over the demon woman.

“Listen, strange bird women distributing parasites is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses! Not from some farcical implantation ceremony!” The demon argued back.

“Be quiet!” Lady Dimitrescu shot back as her anger began to reignite.

“But you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some feathery tart threw a leech at you!” Xentia exclaimed with a dramatic arc of her arms.

“Shut up!” 

“I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an emperor just because some avian bint had lobbed a tapeworm at me, they'd put me away!” The infernal creature laughed.

“Shut up, will you? Shut up!” Alcina roared. It seemed her patience and self control had run out, and before she could stop it, her hand shot out, lifting the vile creature by the arm and giving it an angry shake.

“Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!” The demon exclaimed as a cheeky grin spread across her face between shakes. 

“Shut up !” 

Xentia hollered as she was violently dragged away to the castle. “Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being r e p r e s s e d !” 

“Bloody peasant!” Lady Dimitrescu snarled as she wrapped her hands around the half-witted demon’s throat.

~***~