#forklift blue light

[sharpeagle-tech]

How Does the Forklift Safety Lights Improve Forklift Safety?

Warehouses and industrial settings are bustling environments where forklifts are crucial for handling heavy loads. However, the sheer size and weight of these machines pose significant safety risks to workers and pedestrians alike. 

Forklift-related accidents (including collisions and injuries) are common in such environments. OSHA records reveal that around 85 fatalities stem from forklift-related incidents annually, with more than 34,000 individuals sustaining severe injuries. 

To mitigate these risks, forklift safety systems have become indispensable, with the safety light system being a key component. Today, we will delve into the importance of forklift safety lights and how they contribute to accident prevention and overall safety in warehouses and industrial facilities.

Understanding Forklift Safety Lights

Forklift safety lights are essential components installed on forklifts to enhance safety by improving visibility and alerting pedestrians and other vehicles in the vicinity. The basic types include blue lights and red zone lights. Blue lights, also known as blue spotlights, project a blue spot onto the ground to alert pedestrians of an approaching forklift. Red zone lights create a visual safety zone around the forklift by projecting red beams onto the ground.

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Technical Specifications

These lights are typically installed on the overhead guard or other suitable locations on the forklift. Blue spotlights are often positioned at the front and back of the forklift, while red zone lights are mounted on the sides. The installation process involves securely attaching the lights using mounting brackets or adhesive, ensuring they have optimal coverage of the surrounding area.

SharpEagle’s Blue Lights Specs

SharpEagle's blue forklift lights feature a robust Casting Aluminum Alloy Housing designed for efficient heat dissipation, ensuring longevity and reliability. With a Tempered Glass Cover, these lights offer durability and protection against impacts. 

Equipped with high-power LEDs of exceptional quality, they provide a projector spot on the ground for enhanced visibility. Their high performance is guaranteed by IP-67 waterproof, dustproof, and quakeproof ratings. Additionally, the double insulated silicon rubberized wire can withstand extreme temperatures, making it suitable for a wide range of environments.

SharpEagle’s Red Safety Forklift Lights

Our red forklift safety lights boast a durable construction with a Tempered Glass Cover and Casting Aluminum Alloy Housing, ensuring excellent heat dissipation for prolonged use. They provide a projector line on the ground for enhanced visibility and safety. 

With IP-67 waterproof, dustproof, and quakeproof ratings, these lights deliver high performance in various environmental conditions. The double insulated silicon rubberized wire enables them to withstand extreme temperatures, making them ideal for demanding industrial settings.

Role of Safety Lights in Enhancing Visibility

In bustling warehouse environments, visibility challenges abound, with towering racks, tight corners, and bustling activity creating potential blind spots. Safety lights are pivotal in mitigating these challenges, ensuring enhanced visibility and reducing the risk of accidents.

These lights are ultimate champions of accident prevention — check this guide for yourself. 

Blue Lights: Alerting Pedestrians and Drivers

Blue lights, commonly referred to as blue spotlights, serve as proactive warning signals, especially in areas prone to blind spots. Positioned strategically on forklifts, these lights project a conspicuous blue spot onto the ground, alerting pedestrians and other drivers about the presence of an approaching forklift. By illuminating blind spots, blue spot lights provide crucial seconds for individuals to adjust their path and avoid potential collisions.

Red Zone Lights: Demarcating Safe Zones

In addition to blue lights, red zone lights play a vital role in demarcating safe zones around forklifts. By projecting red beams onto the ground, these lights create a visible perimeter, indicating areas where pedestrians should maintain a safe distance. Red zone perimeter lights effectively delineate hazardous zones, helping to prevent accidents and promote safer interactions between forklifts and personnel in the warehouse environment.

Preventing Collisions and Accidents

Forklift accidents pose significant risks in warehouse settings, ranging from collisions with pedestrians and other forklifts to impacts with obstacles. Understanding these common types of accidents is crucial for implementing effective safety measures.

Types of Forklift Accidents

Collisions with Pedestrians: Forklifts navigating crowded warehouse aisles can inadvertently collide with pedestrians, leading to serious injuries or fatalities.

Collisions with Other Forklifts: In busy warehouse environments, multiple forklifts operating simultaneously increase the risk of collisions between vehicles.

Collisions with Obstacles: Blind spots and obstructed views can result in collisions with stationary obstacles such as racks, shelves, or equipment.

Check out the guide to learn more about forklift accidents and recommended solutions. 

Role of Safety Lights in Accident Prevention

Safety lights serve as proactive warning systems, alerting forklift operators to the presence of objects or individuals in their vicinity. By illuminating blind spots and providing visual cues, safety lights help operators navigate safely and avoid potential collisions.

Alerting System for Near Objects or Individuals

Blue spotlights and red zone warning lights function as early warning signals, notifying forklift operators when they are close to objects or pedestrians. These lights create visible boundaries and safety zones, allowing operators to adjust their course or speed to prevent accidents.

Preventative Measures vs. Reactive Measures

Safety lights represent a preventative measure in accident prevention, actively reducing the likelihood of collisions before they occur. By providing real-time visual cues, safety lights empower operators to take proactive steps to avoid hazards, minimising the need for reactive measures such as emergency braking or evasive manoeuvres.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Forklift safety regulations are governed by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in the United States and similar regulatory bodies worldwide. OSHA standards mandate that employers provide a safe working environment for employees, including proper training and equipment for forklift operations. Safety lights, such as blue spotlights and red zone lights, are considered essential components of forklift safety systems according to OSHA guidelines.

Compliance Benefits of Safety Lights

Installing safety lights on forklifts ensures compliance with OSHA regulations and other applicable standards. Compliance not only reduces the risk of accidents and injuries but also demonstrates the commitment of warehouse operators to prioritise employee safety. Moreover, adherence to safety standards can enhance the reputation of the organisation and mitigate legal liabilities.

Potential Legal Implications

Failure to implement adequate safety measures, including the absence of safety lights on forklifts, can have severe legal consequences for warehouse operators. In the event of accidents resulting in injuries or fatalities, operators may face lawsuits, fines, and penalties for negligence or non-compliance with regulatory requirements. 

Legal liabilities extend to compensation claims, worker's compensation, and property damage, tarnishing the reputation and financial stability of the organisation. Therefore, proactive implementation of safety measures, including safety lights, is essential to mitigate legal risks and ensure a safe working environment.

Conclusion

We've explored the vital role of forklift safety lights in enhancing visibility, preventing accidents, and ensuring legal compliance. By illuminating blind spots and demarcating safe zones, these lights significantly reduce the risk of collisions and injuries in warehouse environments.

Industry leaders must adopt a holistic approach to forklift safety, integrating advanced technologies like safety lights with comprehensive training and procedural adherence. 

By partnering with a trusted industry expert like SharpEagle, organisations can enhance their safety measures, ensuring safer work environments, protecting their workforce, and mitigating legal liabilities.  

As we move forward, we urge industry leaders to evaluate their current safety systems and invest in advanced solutions like the forklift safety light system. Collaborate with SharpEagle to make warehouse operations safer and more efficient for everyone involved.

FAQs

Are forklift safety lights mandated by safety regulations?

Although not universally required, many safety standards advise or prioritise the use of visual aids like safety lights on forklifts, particularly in areas prone to pedestrian accidents. Always verify local regulations for specific mandates.

How resilient are these forklift lighting systems?

Forklift safety lights are engineered to endure common industrial hazards like vibrations, dust, and moisture. LED lights, especially, boast exceptional durability and longevity.

‍You can also call us at +971-45549547 or mail us at sales@sharpeagle.uk

[soosavy69]

A sweet reunion

Sebastian solace x Fem! reader

This was just a little something I thought up after playing the game all day 🥰 enjoy.

What if there was an au were you guys reunited after he got taken away from you?

Tw: Angst, separated lovers, talks about death (no-one dies dw) reunited lovers, tooth aching fluff.

This was written for the people who have already played Pressure. I have not finished it myself, But there will be spoilers for Sebastian's file as well as doors '001' - '047' I highly suggest you play Pressure before you read this.

Life after Sebastian got convicted just wasn't the same. Your room felt empty without his warm body next to yours, dinner felt lonely. Lonely. You were so. so lonely. He was your love, your boyfriend. You wanted to marry that man. But, then he got convicted of 9 counts of murder.

You were devastated, to say the least. He was brought to court and tried. Found guilty, and sentenced to death by electric chair. You would never see him again. That day after the trial, you did nothing but cry in your bed. Your love, your life, taken. Just like that.

A few years later, you got convicted as well. You were sent down to Hadal Blacksite along with a few other prisoners.

You step into the waiting area and the head director gives you instructions over the radio. Looking around the large area and watch as several people walk into the submarines, taking them away to Hadal Blacksite. 'A death wish' You thought. A small snack bar catches your eye on the opposite side of the dock.

You trail over to it, spotting the several snacks and bottled waters. "Hi! How may I help you?" A small cat person appears from behind the counter and startles you slightly. "Can I get a water and a sandwich please?" You point at the turkey and cheese sandwich behind her. "Of course." She turns around and grabs your snack and water.

You tap your nails against the counter and she turns back with your load. That's when you spot the sugar cookie. Neatly wrapped in pretty pink packaging. Sugar cookies. That was Sebastian's favorite. You smile as you think of him. "Could I also get two sugar cookies?"

The submarine is dark as you step into it. The door folds and slams shut behind you. And down you go. You press a button on the control panel and the sub whisks you up to the surface.

The doors open and you step out onto the open dock. Grey and blue walls surround you with several crates and a forklift. A desk next to a door marked '001' in bright green lettering. Walking up to it, your fingers graze the slot where a keycard should go. 'Locked.' You turn around walk a few steps, ducking under a crate. On the other side is a few desks and a keycard on one of them.

You grab it a return to the door, sliding the keycard in the slot. It slids open with a beep and you walk into the next room. 'One down, 99 more to go.'

Along the way you had encounters with several monsters. A shark with several green eyes, and an Angler fish that you had to hide from. Your heart was pounding as your feet shakely carried you to door '47' It slid open to a dark room. The flashlight you had picked up flickers to life and you point it around the room. 'Good, no more of those squid things.' The grate on the side of the room is flund with a crash and you jump.

"Stranger, over here." A deep voice speaks. A shiver runs up your spine as you walk over to the grate. The voice is familiar to you somehow, but how? It couldn't be... could it? You crawl your way through the grate and come into a small room.

It was dark when you entered, standing up completely and stretching your arms above you. A small light flickers on in the coner of the room and you look up towards the source. "Welcome. Welcome! Don't worry i'm not going to hurt yo-" Wait. "Sebastian?" You say, cutting him off.

"Ah, Yes?" He pauses, a little confused. "How did you know my name?" You grab at the diving gear and pull it off your head. As your eyes met his, they widen. "Sweetheart?" He says shakely. Your eyes swim with tears as you two stare at each other for a while " I-I thought you were... you were dead." You sob out.

It had to be him. The short black hair, the voice, his mannerisms. He leans foward, putting two of his arms on the ground, putting another to your face, feeling your skin and wiping away a tear. You laugh and kiss at his hand. He smiles and chuckles softly. "Hi hun." He finally says. Putting hand on his, you lean foward, closing the distance and kissing him sweetly.

Warmth, love, finally. You'd found him. After all this time. You have him back. He pulls away and laughs. "Looks like someone missed me." You puff out your cheeks. "Of course I did. I thought you were dead!" He shrugs. "That's fair." You look over his body, his angler fish light, the gills, the large tail. Three arms?! "What happened?" A frown appears over his smile and he looks away.

An hour or so passes as he explains to you what happened after he was convicted. You sit on his tail, eating your sandwich. You can't imagine what he had to go through, the scientists, the pain from the DNA. All of it. You felt terrible. "So... yeah. That's what happened." You frown as you look at him.

"But it's okay. I've found you. I'm still alive." You finish the last of your sandwich and pull out the two cookies. A hand comes up to wipe your mouth and unwraps the two cookies. "Do you still like sugar cookies?" Your eyes met again. Shock appears in his eyes and he nods. "You remembered?"

"Of course I did love." A giddy smile is on his face before you can blink. "I haven't had a cookie in so long..." He leans down slightly and he opens his mouth. The sharp teeth scare you bit, but you giggle anyway. You make an airplane sound and wave it towards his mouth.

His teeth bite down around the cookie and he licks his lips. The flavour is sweet. The soft texture of the frosting and the crumble of the cookie itself is just... delicious. He almost cries. His hand comes fowards to take the rest of it from you. You place it on his hand and smile. He returns it.

"I love you." He says. You're stunned for a second before tears return to your eyes. "I love you too Sebastian." You say, taking a bite out of your cookie.

[growmydarling]

It's kinda scary how my liked posts have been slowly changing from BBWs to WG encouragement posts like yours, as well as pictures of big guys for inspiration. I feel as though blogs like yours are corrupting me...

I'm just encouraging the desires that are hivernating within you. If I encouraged you to dye your hair blue, to become forklift certified, to read War and Peace, I imagine I would be able to do it, but it would be more difficult. The fact your face turned so willingly to the light of weight gain and growth means that you were seeking out its warmth to begin with. So dig in honey, indulge 🤗 It's what you've always wanted permission to do anyways, right? <3

[shygirl4991]

I see the light SMG34

Sick me couldn't help do a small thing after watching Tangled and hearing this song (i swear im on break and taking care of my cold)

Finally he had his notebook back, he smiled and hugged it tight while SMG4 was driving the rizz forklift back home. He couldn't  help but be grateful for the help to get it back, sure SMG4 had his reasons to help him but that didn't change the amount of relief and joy SMG3 was feeling. He takes off his spy hat and messes up his hair enjoying the cold air, slowly his eyes drift to the man next to him.  He never took the chance to really take in his spy outfit, he had to admit that it fit him well. Blushing at his thoughts he looks away, opening his notebook he sees the page where he declared Four to be his rival. He flips through all his memories and smiles softly, they have been through a lot together he couldn't believe how much has changed. His eyes shift towards the other man again and blushes, the way the moonlight made his blue eyes glow captivated him. It was as if doing this whole heist has lifted a fog that was on his heart, when was the moment it happened? When did he start falling for the idiot sitting next to him, the man that he hated with everything he had. 

He looks away missing that SMG4’s eyes shifted towards him, the heist was a lot of fun though stressful with the threat of everyone learning about the igloo. It was strange how warm he felt when Three saved him from his hacking mistake, the pain he felt seeing the man get tortured. These feelings were so different from how he felt with his other friends. Not to mention when he lost himself only one person found him, the one person he never thought would see him. SMG3 is the only person that sees the true him, Four looks back to the road he is driving on blushing. Never did he think ruby eyes would bring him such comfort, could he have fallen for SMG3?  He hits the brake when he makes it to a field of glowing flowers, they both look at the field in awe. They get off the forklift and walk through the field “Wow! Never seen flowers like this,” SMG4 picks a flower and smells it. Three stares, slowly losing himself to the sight of Four holding the purple flower. Suddenly Four picks a blue one and hands it to SMG3 “You know i think blue suits you Three.” he winks at his fellow guardian making the man's face go bright red.

“What are you gay for me?” he retorts as he yanks the flower from Four, surprisingly instead of getting a snarky comeback from Four he hears a chuckle. “Yeah, I think I am.”  SMG4 mumbles as he looks up at the stars, Three feels himself freeze hearing his words. They both started to feel shy from the romantic tension building, then SMG3 takes a deep breath and takes Fours hand pulling him close. They looked into each other's eyes, Four didn't move waiting to see his next move. “You're an idiot,” was all he said before leaning forward and gently kissing SMG4 under the moonlight surrounded by flowers, a moment they both won't ever forget. 

[ppurplecchimera]

Enthalassophobia AU Idea:

Spoilersss but 1 want the grand event of Enthalassophobia to be the Seek aggregate meeting the Searchlight in the first Searchlight section!!

TLDR: Seek wins.

CW: Descriptions of bodily harm, both human and nonhuman

This happens through a particularly unlucky expendable who first encounters the Seek chase in the corridors of the Hadal Blacksite. Guiding Light was never captured; instead, GL followed the monsters along with Mischievous Light; thus, the expendable is guided through the correct doors, trusting the blue light with no other option when some of the rooms are too dark or too covered in goop to find any other escape.

The chase just doesn’t end. They reach the room opening to submerged pipes, and only then does the expendable manage to ‘dodge’ Seek by leaping over the railing into the water, swimming down without a single glance back, ignoring the prickling of watchful eyes in the back of their head. Their diving mask’s fogging up but still they push forward with their straining heart.

Soon after leaving the pipes, they make their way over to the generators needing repair as the booming voice in the speakers commands them to. The jolts from their mistakes are almost grounding — for the first two, at least.

On the closed balcony, they start feeling light on their feet. The grand storage unit was equipped with gravity-altering systems to assist with the movement of heavy containers; now, with that gone haywire, a Searchlight has managed to break in and is effortlessly hovering above, looking for prey.

Despite the challenge of commanding their own body, they push forward. Squeezing under forklifts and between crates —it aches—, gaze always turned up in tears —look down, so bright, so bright—, finally they bring back power to enough generators to get out.

The exit’s horns are like a guardian angel’s call. They’re only around 50 studs away.

The Searchlight is only 50 studs away.

They can make it, they’re so close to salvation, they can make it.

…

They can’t make it, the spotlight is on them, the Searchlight whines at its victory, they can’t make it.

At this point, they’re too gone to even process the calcium spear sticking out of their chest, innards stuck on the barbs of it and pulled up.

Their own silence is filled with an inhuman scream. In an instant, darkness shoots forward to grab ahold of their arms. Burning hands in hand, except this one was massive, formed of black goop. The same humanoid that chased them before, stood there with its eye —eyes, all off them— pinned on them.

The funnier description to help cope would be a game of tug-of-war between these two monsters, the expendable as their rope. Except this rope hears the flesh of their own waist cracking and snapping off, and gets out one last cry before Seek ends the chase —their agony— and claims its prey.

Now, as the Searchlight’s determination pulls harder on the infected corpse, the part of Seek confronting it above ground is dislodged and flown up in seconds. Devoured, the goop travels between shredding teeth, through throats and organs…

The floating beast shrieks. Its fins spasming, no longer swimming through the air, it sinks — falls, destroying half the room. In the rising dust, it’s motionless.

Seek does not kill. Seek expands.

Black tendrils rise from the giant’s openings, coating it with the same plague eating away at this Blacksite. The diminished orange light returns in full force; now each source is surrounded by dark eyelids and eclipsed partially by a pupil in the center.

A new weapon for the Seek aggregate.

Sidenote: Figure would get absolutely eaten by the Searchlight, like any other prey — and it does happen for now. Maybe. 1 never cared about Figure much but perhaps 1 could find a better place to insert it, because it has functionally no advantage over the giant floating creechur whose lights emit no sound (1 mean when they’re moving; even when they spot you, you gotta recognize that noise and hide, which Figure wouldn’t.)

In my opinion. These are all just my opinions/ideas!

[borealisbarbie]

borealis

chapter 1.: for now, it's time to run chapter tags: queer (m/m), sci fi, heists, kidnapping, referenced human experimentation, grumpy x bitchy, angst chapter warnings: implied noncon body modification, technical kidnapping, gun violence, language, mild gore, PTSD word count: 4243 A/N: the first chapter of my baby is here and ready to be shared! this is the first original work i'm posting in more than 5 years so i'm super excited to finally start sharing her with you all!

playlist || pinterest || masterlist

   Every time he had to break into a building Dawson was acutely jealous of the shows and movies he’d watched as a kid— his life would be so much smoother if he could just slide through a couple air vents and be done with it! But no, instead here he was, 2am on a Thursday, knee deep in piles of whatever undoubtedly filthy laundry an illegal medical laboratory produced. Not his favorite way to enter a place, but it was one less code to remember— just a single key to lift off of an unaware janitor. The face mask he wore felt inadequate, but it would have to do. 

  The laundry facilities were on the very bottom floor of the lab, but Dawson’s target was only a few floors up— packed up and ready to be transported for sale tomorrow morning, according to Dawson’s employer. He didn’t know what, exactly, it was that he was stealing, but he wasn’t in any position to turn down a job that paid this much. He made his way swiftly down the hall and up the barren stairwell— which had required a convoluted code to open— in silence. The stairwell opened into a short hallway, only three doors occupying the limited space. He strode towards the 2nd door on the left, as his intel had instructed, and input yet another door code. The little blinking blue light swiftly turned green and the door slid open, bringing a satisfied smirk to the thief’s face. That smirk drops when he takes in the contents of the small room. Whipping his phone out of his breast pocket, he pulls up the single blurry shot of the case he’s supposed to be looking at.

   That shitty fucking intel, is all Dawson can think, looking from the picture of his target on his phone back to the large metal crate looking thing that stood in the center of the cargo hold. He was here for a weapon, sure, but a fancy gun or laser sword, not something he would need a damn forklift to move. The crate had a number pad on its side, which would explain the extra passcode he’d been given. He lays his gun down within easy reach inputs the code, wincing as each button press emits a loud ping sound. It’s an obnoxiously long code too, even for some high-tech government laboratory, but finally he types in the last digit and hits enter. The box’s seams glow an ominous red before blinking to green, and there is the hiss of hydraulics before the lid of the box lifts and recedes on its own. Thick clouds of fog rise and quickly dissipate, revealing the contents; his target. It’s not a gun like he had hoped, or a bomb, or even a tiny, mysterious microchip. 

   It’s a dude. A curled slip of man, nude and nestled into perfectly cut out insulating foam. Dawson inhaled sharply, taking a step back. Because what the fuck. What the fuck was this? Was he stealing a corpse? Apparently not, because just as he goes to step closer, reaching out a hand to check for a pulse, the still form suddenly heaves a ragged breath and flies into a frenzy of movement, flinging himself from the box in a panic. Dawson reaches blindly behind himself for his gun on the table, clicking off the safety and pointing it at the man— fuck the payout, he wasn’t about to be mauled or maimed by some feral lab experiment! The man doesn’t attack though, instead scuttling backwards until he hits the wall, wild gaze flitting about and taking in his surroundings with an expression of pained confusion. When his gaze settles on Dawson the thief clutches his gun tighter and lets out a hissed curse; because those eyes are not human eyes. They shine an unnatural shade of teal, and the pupils shift and dilate like the lens of a camera. Mechanical. 

   But not one like anything Dawson has seen before, not even the fancy pretty ones the wealthy like to flaunt online. He’s breathing for one, still dragging in labored and brittle breaths, and sweat drips down his face, dampening unkempt curls. There’s an air of humanity to him that shouldn’t be possible in a mechanical.

“Who are you?” Dawson finally grits out, knowing that the clock is ticking and he doesn't really have time for an in-depth interrogation. The man just recoils further against the wall, though his breathing does at last appear to be mellowing out. A glance down at his watch shows that he has exactly 17 minutes to make his escape before the change of the security guards. “Fine, don’t talk. Look, I've got less than 20 minutes to get out of here so it looks like you’re coming with me. I was expecting a nice little carrying case, but I can make this work.” Still no reaction. Dawson feels a little bad for the mech— inhuman or not, the fear in his face and body language is palpable. He lowers his gun with a sigh before coming forward to kneel in front of the man, meeting his gaze with what he hopes is a reassuring expression— he’s not the expert on comforting scared people. There’s a barely audible hum as the mans’ eyes focus on Dawson, repeating that same camera lens effect.

“Look, clearly I don't know what’s going on here and neither do you, but I don't think you want to hang around here— they had you locked in a box in a basement. Something fucked up is happening here, and you can either come with me, or you can stay and try explaining to them how you got out of that box on your own. I don’t think the people here would be very happy with you escaping, do you?” And yeah, maybe it’s cruel to manipulate him like this, but whatever got him off of the floor and got them out of the lab was good enough for Dawson.

“Juno.” he blinks at the abrupt tone, but nods anyway. He— Juno, apparently— could speak, at least. 

“Great. Nice to meet you Juno, I’m Dawson. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” And with that, Dawson stands yet again, this time taking Juno by the wrist and pulling him up to stand too. It’s sheer luck that hanging on the back of the chair in the otherwise barren room is an abandoned lab coat— he swiftly covers the mech’s nude form with the white fabric and instructs him to keep close and keep quiet, before leading them out of the room. 

   The long reaching hall is still blessedly empty as far as Dawson can tell, and it should remain so for the next five minutes— enough time to get them to the ground floor. Gun at the ready he pulls an annoyingly slow-paced Juno along— the smallest thing seems to distract the mech, as if they are not currently trying to escape a life or death (or unpleasant jail time) situation. They reach a fork, the hallway splitting into two identical paths. The map Dawson’s employer had provided said to go to the left, but Juno refuses to follow, digging his bare heels into the ground when Dawson tries to jerk him along.

“Not that way.” the mech unhelpfully says, a mulish expression on his face. He tilts his head in a way that suggests he is listening to something, and that something is evidently not Dawson— or anything Dawson can hear, because both halls are silent. “This way.” and he shifts his hand so he is the one holding onto Dawson now and, much to the thief’s chagrin, tugs him along without any effort, taking the right hall. They come to a stop in front of a closed door, which doesn’t budge when Dawson jiggles the handle. 

“A dead end, seriously?” he hisses at the now bored looking mech. “I have been studying the schematics of this building for the last three months, kid, our way out was the other hallway!” He’s about to throw the mech over his shoulder and carry him to the proper exit fireman style, when Juno none too gently shoves him aside and gives the door handle a single firm yank. There is the sharp sound of wood cracking before the door gives way, swinging open, easy as anything now that a skinny little mechanical has just ripped the locking mechanism out of the damn door. 

“Faster. And no cameras.” He gently sets the door handle and its guts on the ground, before gesturing for Dawson to lead the way once again. Something was seriously wrong with this mech and the way he functioned, but there was no time for him to ponder that. Quickly familiarizing himself with this portion of the map, Dawson manages to navigate himself and the mech up to the first floor. Which was where things were going to get seriously tricky. Where the bottom levels had been paroled by a barebones crew, the main floors were much more stringently supervised— guards patrolled each end of each level in synchronized pairs, armed to the teeth in the latest tech and paid handsomely enough that there wasn’t much they wouldn’t do for the company. Their escape would have to be timed perfectly, and helpful as he could apparently be, there was no time for deviations from Juno.

“You do what I say from here on out, got it? I’m not about to die because you think you found a shortcut.” The mech nods, but the mulish expression is back— quite the contrast from the trembling, fear filled thing he’d been just a few minutes ago. Time would tell if it was a welcome change. “And— hey, this is important—” he adds sharply, noting the mech’s gaze beginning to wander once again, this time distracted by the rattling of the air con. “If I get shot, or if they catch me? Don’t fucking leave me to die, got it? I am not getting paid enough to die for you. You come back for me.” The mech nods and it’s go time.

   Dawson’s favorite kind of jobs were the ones where he got to break out the fancy equipment— harnesses for repelling down buildings, gadgets to disable alarm systems or cut through the glass of windows or display cases. But sadly, this was not that sort of job. Initially, his escape plan was to walk out completely undetected after going back the way he came, but by now someone was sure to have noticed Juno’s little door demolishment; it was only a matter of time before security was alerted of their presence. And unfortunately, he wasn't exactly able to tuck the mech into a backpack or pocket like he could have with his typical targets. So instead they had to do things the much more dangerous, life-threatening way, and tiptoe through the halls just as they emptied of guards, letting the timing of the guards’ schedule do the heavy lifting for them. So long as they didn’t do anything overt or loud, they were in the clear.

   So of course. Of course Juno— who walked so silently Dawson could almost forget he was there if not for the bruising grip he had on his hand— slips on the slick tile, letting out a small cry as his ankle twists. It’s faint, but it’s a noise, and that’s all it takes for the sound of boots pounding in their direction to pick up. With a curse Dawson pushes the mech more fully behind him, sandwiched between his back and the wall, and clicks the safety off his gun once again. He can feel the mech breathing harshly against his neck, and thin fingers dig painfully into his hand as two guards come from each direction, cornering them with guns drawn. Dawson notes that they do not aim at them, despite clearly having the upper hand.

“Who are you, how did you get access to this floor?” One guard barks while another approaches, pulling handcuffs from his belt and reaching for Juno. And that, apparently, is the wrong thing to do, because the mech’s gaze snaps to the guard’s hand, and in the space of what can only be a few seconds the mech darts a hand out and grabs the guard, pulling him in close before flinging him bodily towards the other set of guards, sending them all tumbling down into a pile of limbs. The remaining guard, the one with the gun, quickly descends into panic, waving his gun around and shouting. Still, no actual shots are fired. Dawson is torn between trying to talk his way out of this or just knocking him out when Juno makes an executive decision. Hand outstretched like a superhero in one of the old movies Dawson watched as a kid, unnerving gaze glowing, and a little ball of light grows in his hand, giving off sparks and increasing in size until it’s on par with a large marble. The mech— or whatever the hell he actually was because mechanicals couldn’t form matter— closes his hand around it and the light disappears. Juno then opens his hand to reveal a shiny silver ball and Dawson only has a moment to study it before it flies forward and embeds itself in the guard’s chest, punching a hole straight through. 

“Jesus Christ!” he exclaims, roughly wiping the blood spray from his face. Juno merely blinks, eerily unaffected, and follows easily when Dawson grabs him and drags him full speed from the scene. Hopefully the shock of their coworker's violent death keeps the other guards off their tail long enough for them to escape. 

   They make it to the exit, but Dawson would be hard pressed to recall how the hell they did it. After escaping the lab itself, it’s a simple matter of slipping down several tiny alleyways and taking a few twisty little side roads until they reach Dawson’s bike. Which swiftly presents the next dilemma; getting the lab grown superpowered mech onto said bike. Juno accepts the helmet easily enough, and even puts it on himself, though he bats away Dawson’s hands when he tries to adjust the straps. He sits behind Dawson when he says to, wrapping thin arms about the thief’s waist. He’s perfectly compliant until the bike turns on. The second it roars to life the mech is gone, scrambling off of the bike and away from its now offensive form.

“NO!” he yells, pointing an accusing finger at Dawson as he shuts off the bike and tries to approach Juno placatingly. “It’s too loud, I don’t like it!” It’s the most he’s heard from the mech since he opened that damn box. Dawson isn’t keen on having his head exploded or being set on fire, or whatever other powers Juno possessed, and so they are at an impasse. 

“What do you want from me here, kid? We need to get out of here, and this is how we do that.” He gestures behind him to the bike. “It’s perfectly safe, I promise.” The mech glares unwaveringly from under stringy curls, and he appears to be shivering— from the cold or from shock, it was hard to tell. Either way, he needed to get him indoors and fast. Could mechs even get sick from exposure? 

“Come on, we’ll get you some clothes, something to eat…” The promise of food seems to do the trick, mistrusting gaze softening to something almost hopeful. 

“Chocolate, I want chocolate, the shiny ones.” Demanding thing.

“I— Yeah, yeah okay. Get on the bike and we’ll find you some damn chocolate.” He offers his hand again to pull Juno back behind him on the bike, but he’s still a little surprised when icy fingertips graze his own. Again, he wonders if it’s a product of Juno’s inhumanity or the winter temperatures. Dawson guides him onto the bike, holding an arm securely over the thin ones clinging with much more fervor to his waist before starting the bike. Juno gives a little whine of fear but doesn’t run away this time, so Dawson counts it as a win and takes off. 

   20 minutes later and they pull up to a dark, run-down looking building. Dawson shuts off the bike and after some light jostling manages to get Juno to let go and get off the bike, before leading the mech inside. The interior is just as grim as the exterior— a welcome desk that has sat unoccupied since Dawson moved in fills one corner, while a pile of unusable cleaning supplies from when there was a cleaning crew 10 years ago takes up the lobby. Juno is again taking in his surroundings with all the interest and newness of a child or cartoon alien, running his fingers across a tabletop before grimacing at the thick dust that now clings to them. Dawson wrinkles his nose when the mech absently wipes the grime on his pilfered coat, drawing attention to how out of place he looks outside of the illegal lab setting— barefoot and clad only in a now bloodstained and filthy lab coat, which slides off one shoulder as it has lost several buttons. The dried and flaking blood spatter across what would otherwise be a sweet face completes the upsetting visage.

“Let’s go, we can’t let anyone see you like this.” He takes Juno by the hand and leads him up to his apartment, smirking a little when the mech groans at the sight of several flights of stairs. It was nice to know that there was some humanity programmed into him. 

10 floors later and they’re finally there.

“Home sweet home…” Dawson mumbles under his breath, pulling his keys out and opening the door. Juno all but runs inside, leaving the thief alone to lock back up. He kicks off his shoes by the door and then follows the sounds of Juno’s exploring to the living room, where the mech is stroking the blanket strewn carelessly over the back of the couch with reverent hands. Dawson clears his throat, feeling a little bad when he jerks his hands back as if burned.

“There’s a shower through there, go get washed up and I’ll have some clothes ready for you when you’re done.” he points to the doorway on the left. Juno seems to deflate before nodding shortly, stripping off the ruined lab coat right there in the living room, which… Okay, technically Dawson had already seen him nude, but he hadn’t planned on doing it again any time soon. He averts his eyes, and before he can muster up a response, the mech is gone, and the sound of the tub running starts up shortly. Shaking his head, Dawson grabs a trash bag from the kitchen to store the coat for now, planning on burning the thing when he gets the chance rather than risking someone finding it in the trash and poking around. Then he goes to his closet to find the aforementioned clothes he promised Juno.

   He doesn’t have much that will fit the slight mech, but he digs up a sweater from an old fling and some shorts with a tie that would work until he could get to a shop. There’s no underwear, but he suspects the mech isn’t used to wearing any anyways. Clothing sorted, Dawson decides to tackle the food problem. He’s not sure what the mech can eat, or, in all honesty, what in his kitchen is still edible. 

   The fridge is hours away from becoming a biohazard zone, and the fruit bowl on the counter has sat empty since the day his elderly neighbor brought it over as a housewarming gift. The pantry, however, yields a mostly not stale pack of crackers, a jar of pickles, and a half empty bag of halloween candy. He arranges his findings on one of the two plates he owns before checking his watch and frowning. It’s been less than 10 minutes and yet he can already hear Juno turning off the shower. There’s a pleased sound and then the quiet shuffling of someone getting dressed. 

   Juno emerges not soon after, rubbing a towel aggressively over his head. He has forgone the shorts for some unknown reason, but the sweater does technically cover everything, the hem hanging awkwardly to graze the mech’s bruised knees, and Dawson lets it slide, taking the towel from him before he can drop it carelessly to the ground like he clearly plans to. He takes one of the mech’s eternally cold hands and leads Juno over to sit at the table, setting the plate of food in front of him. Immediately he can tell he’s made some sort of grave error— those unnatural eyes narrow, and the mech pokes at one of the little gherkins with an unimpressed air.

“What… are those?” he asks disdainfully, selecting one of the less offensive crackers to shove into his mouth whole instead.

“They’re pickles, you never seen a pickle before?” Dawson asks defensively, taking one and biting into it with an obnoxious crunch. And maybe it’s a little more sour than usual, what would Juno know about it if it was? The mech just shakes his head, continuing to scarf down crackers whole. He’s a mess of contradiction, equal parts fearful and demanding, knowledgeable and clueless. And then there’s the whole ‘killing people with little balls of light’ thing to consider. Hell, he probably hasn’t ever heard of a pickle before. 

“So… What the hell was going on in that lab?” he finally asks. Juno looks up from his food (he has abandoned the plate and is now digging through the Halloween candy bag, pulling everything out and sorting them into piles— the non-chocolate candy is piling up on the floor beside his chair.) with eyes narrowed with distrust. He clearly isn’t about to bring Dawson into the loop, returning back to his candy sorting with an added flair of irritation. “Oh, so I save your skinny ass— nearly die in the process, might I add, take you in and feed and clothe you, but I can’t ask why they had you stuffed into a box? That seems fair.” He rolls his eyes when he is ignored yet again, reaching across the spindly table and grabbing the bag of candy from the mech’s lax grip. Juno hisses in surprise, baring pearly teeth at him— Dawson is pretty sure the mech might really try to bite him. Very animalistic for something so clearly machine.

“Nuh uh, you get these back when you answer my questions.” The little bastard actually has the nerve to snatch for the bag but he easily holds it out of reach. “Are you going to cooperate?” he reiterates once again, shaking the candy enticingly. Juno heaves a beleaguered sigh before giving a single sharp nod. As a token of good faith Dawson chucks a Twix at him— and is a little miffed when the brat catches it seamlessly.

“Good. Let’s start with something simple: why the hell were you in that box?”

“I always sleep in the box, if I’m not in use.” 

   That's… concerning. Mechs had developed so much in the past decade, it hardly seemed humane to lock them away when they weren’t ‘in use’. And those were just standard mechs, built to be companions, factory workers, and glorified pets. Whatever Juno was, it was clearly nearly human in its’ design, the lab could have at least sprung for a bed for the guy. The mech looks unconcerned though, gnawing at his candy’s wrapper with his teeth.

“What are your prioritized functions?” Some mechs don’t have them preprogrammed, or aren’t allowed to disclose them, but it's worth a shot to ask. Maybe if he knows why the lab was creating hyper realistic mechs, he could better figure out what to do with this one. Again though, Juno just looks confused by his question.

“I don’t know what that means.” It’s said fully deadpan, but Dawson can sense the unspoken disdain. 

“Well what the hell are you, then? They obviously built you for something— are you just some sort of fancy weapon?” This, at last, has an actual, visible effect on Juno. And Dawson immediately regrets saying it. Confusion, hurt, and guilt flicker across his face before his expression settles into something supremely pained. Then the tears come, only to be dashed away by the sleeve of Juno’s borrowed sweater before they can fall. 

“They didn’t. Build me, I mean. No one did. They just… added things. Removed things.” He’s looking down now, fiddling with the candy he still hasn’t managed to free from its wrapper. “I don’t remember everything, side effect of—” he waves his hand vaguely around his head, “but I was— I guess I was sick, as a kid? Really sick, and my family couldn’t afford the treatment, or maybe I didn’t have a family. The lab was running a trial for some special procedure and they picked me. Fixed me right up. Then they… kept finding new things to fix.” Dawson doesn’t know how he’s supposed to respond. He settles on pushing the candy back across the table, avoiding the unbearable weight of that odd gaze. Silence, for a few moments. 

Then rustling sounds pick up. 

A package of Skittles hits the linoleum.

[warmaidensrevenge]

Eddie Munson x Fem!plus size reader

If you want to read my other work you can find it HERE

A/N: ok this is pure self indulgence. And I just returned to work from vacation and this story kinda took me. So I hope you like it. Thanks for reading and as always feedback is greatly appreciated. Kay love ya byyyyyeeee.

Warnings: language, drinking, inappropriate behavior towards a female, smoking, a touch of violence and not proof read and no word count

Summary: Eddie gets a job and finds a coworker extremely attractive.

November 1988

It was his first day working on his own. Eddie had finished his two week training on the Extruder at the plant. He was happy to find out at the start of his shift that a few of his uncle's buddies were going to be working with him too.

The first hour went by with nothing big happening. Some finished products had just come off the line and Eddie was banding it with green plastic straps. That's when he saw a blue light flash by him and he looked up and saw a forklift driver waiting for him to finish so that they could take the load.

When he looked at her, he really couldn't see her all that well. She was wearing ear muffs and a mask covering her mouth and nose. He really couldn't make out if she was actually a girl. It was winter time and she was bundled up pretty good. Though Eddie was hot as hell. She must have been freezing her ass off driving around like that. But how he was sure you were a female is when you got off your lift and went to talk to someone across the way. He saw your large hips swaying and your full chest being hugged by your winter vest.

You were a larger girl but he swore he had never seen a girl of your stature move as gracefully as you did. He figured he would stop starting so that you wouldn't think he was a creep. So he finished the task at hand and went back to the machine. He heard a honk and turned to your lift. You didn't look at him you just picked up the load and left.

You did that for the entire shift. And only once did you look at him. He couldn't be certain if you smiled at him because of the mask. But by how your eyes squinted and your eyebrows wriggled he definitely thought you smiled at him. He had asked the guys what your name was but they kept calling you the wicked witch/bitch. Which took him back.

He didn't get much information from the guys so he opted to ask his uncle. At lunch he went to sit with Wayne and asked about you. But before he could answer you walked in with your wallet and went to buy a cup of coffee. Once you got it you left.

" Okay so?"

Wayne took a bite out of his sandwich. " That's y/n. She's the one who sends us pies for Thanksgiving and cookies for Christmas."

" oh shit that's her. Man I love her apple pie."

" Yeah. I like her molasses cookies the most. She's a sweet girl."

" Then why do guys call her the wicked witch?"

Wayne shook his head. "You know how I look like I'm not happy all the time?"

"Yeah."

" Well that's how she looks. But people don't see her smile because she wears that mask."

" why does she wear that?"

" Because where her main job is, it gets really dirty and dusty and it makes it hard to breathe."

" That doesn't sound safe."

" That's why she wears the mask. Wait when she leaves, you'll see how dirty she gets."

Eddie nodded and finished his lunch. The last hour of the 8 hour shift he didn't see you. But for some reason he wanted to. He wanted to talk to you. But then all of a sudden he saw you walking to a machine and used the air hose to blow off all the dust that was covering your pants and shirt. You had taken off your ear muffs. That's when he noticed you had a bandana on and a helix piercing. You had a couple of tattoos on your forearm and were wearing a Van Halen tee.

You were already checking off boxes in Eddie's list of the perfect girl. He watched as you finished blowing yourself off and left. The next four hours dragged on for him. The person who was your relief really sucked at their job. They let shit pile up before slowly taking the product away.

When Eddie went on his final break he walked through the tender shop and saw you working on a machine. He had to do a double take to see if it was actually you. He had thought you left already. He saw you leaning into a machine fixing something.

His break was over quickly. The entire time he kept wondering about you. Seeing you with tools in your hand did something to him. Another check mark. A girl who isn't afraid to get dirty.

When he walked out of the break room he ran right into you. You guys exchanged sorrys and did that awkward dance trying to let the other pass. Your laugh filled his heart and sent butterflies flutter in his stomach. Then you put both hands on his biceps and moved him to the side. He felt a heat rise from his chest to his neck when you did that. He tried to give you a smile, but all he could manage a half one. You laughed again and walked into the break room.

...

Eddie thought about you all night. And was actually looking forward to seeing you the next day. His uncle told him your department doesn't have overtime so you pick up some poor guys OT when you could. Even if that meant a pay decrease. So you were a hard worker. And you could cook.

Check and check.

The rest of the next month he didn't see you much. He found out that your department was on a rotating shift. So you had to work all three shifts throughout the month. He actually looked forward to seeing you now. Whether it was just a few minutes or just a glance.

He wanted so badly to talk to you. Hear that pretty laugh of yours again. But he never got the chance too. That was until the company Christmas party. The only reason Eddie even went was because he heard you go every year. So while in the dance hall in a lodge he and his uncle headed to the open bar and got 2 beers and grabbed some food. Normally Eddie would sit at home and eat a microwave dinner and watch whatever Christmas movie was on. But tonight was really fun. All the games and conversations were something he wasn't quite used to. He kept an eye out on the door waiting to see you come in. He was finally gonna see you without all your gear and he knew you would be just as pretty as your laugh.

But you didn't come. He was very disappointed and decided to go out and have a cigarette. The moment he stepped outside he saw someone sitting on a bench just off to the side. All he could really make out was her long hair in a beanie and that she was smoking.

He slowly walked towards the bench and saw you. You were looking at the lights just across the little tree brush. Your full lip wrapped around your cigarette. Slowly blowing the smoke out and humming a Christmas carol.

Eddie stepped on some snow causing a crunching sound that made you turn to him. You gave his this beautiful smile and his heart skipped a beat.

" Hi."

"H-Hey." He said nervously.

"Eddie right?"

" Y-yeah."

You looked away and smiled softly.

" You're umm y/n right?"

" Uh huh." You said taking a last toke of your cigarette and tossing the butt.

Eddie had forgotten why he went outside in the first place.

" How are things in there?" You asked while getting up.

" Umm okay. They should be passing out presents soon."

" Oh. Okay." You said walking past him.

The smell of your perfume invaded his nostrils. You smelled so sweet. He stood there frozen. He was cursing himself for being so damn shy.

"You coming?"

Eddie turned and saw that beautiful smile again.

" Uhh yeah." He said following you back in.

You went to a table that he and his uncle were at. You took off your beanie and your peacoat. Revealing a long sleeve black velvet dress that fitted you perfectly. The sight of you could have brought Eddie to his knees. Just as he thought.

Fucking gorgeous!

You noticed him gawking at you and you just grinned sitting down. He quickly took the seat next to you and smirked. He offered to get you a drink needing one himself. He grabbed another beer and a coke for you. He thought it was strange that you didn't want to drink at a party but he shrugged it off.

You guys hit it off pretty well. The moment you said that you liked his Dio vest he knew he liked you. The fact that you knew who Dio was had him swooning.

You crossed your legs and your dress rode up a bit. He caught a glimpse of your knee tattoo before you pulled your dress down. His mind went berserk. He knew how much a knee tattoo hurt and he was in fucking aww. He had to adjust himself because his growing erection was starting to push against his zipper, making his pants tight.

Looks good dressed up too.

Check.

As the night went on some guys got a bit rody. You had gotten up to get some desserts when a guy from the maintenance department stumbled toward you. By your body language you didn't like what he was saying to you. You took a few steps back but he kept inching toward you. Eddie stood up to go to your rescue but Wayne grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

" Sit down son. Just watch. She can handle herself."

Eddie was confused as fuck. You needed help.

He looked back at you and saw you actually take a step closer to the guy and then put your hand on his shoulder. With one quick movement you kneed him right in the balls. You took a step back as he keeled over. You lifted his chin and Eddie heard him call you a cunt. Eddie's mouth dropped when you laid that guy the fuck out.

CHECK, CHECK. MOTHER FUCKIN' CHECK!

You came back to the table shaking your hand and sat down next to him.

" Cookie?" You offered up a plate.

He laughed taking one. " You're bad ass you know that?"

You shrugged and laughed too.

You shared your cookies with him and his uncle.

" so umm" you leaned in so that only he could hear you. " Want to get out of here?"

" Uhh y-yeah. Sure."

You smiled and stood up. He got up too and helped you with your coat. He turned to Wayne.

" Hey. You think you can get home alright?"

" Don't worry about me boy. Go have fun. Be safe."

Eddie nodded and turned back to you.

" Ready?"

He grinned. " Been ready babe."

You shook your head and he followed you out.

...

Eddie's groans filled the warm air of your living room.

" Fuck!" He groaned as you giggled.

" You're really bad at this." You teased.

" Well seems like you had more practice than me." He chuckled.

" Just a little." You said with a smile.

You move to get a bit more to get comfortable. Eddie watch you get really into it. But when it was his turn he cursed.

He threw the controller down and sunk into the couch when his character died once again.

You snickered going for the last cherry on the screen.

When the next level started you paused the game.

" You know when you said let's get out of here, this is not what I thought you had in mind."

You laughed again turning your body toward him.

" Oh? And what about Mrs pac man doesn't get you going?" You teased.

He chuckled" Yeah. I thought maybe....I don't know."

" you thought we'd have sex."

" Well umm yeah. But don't get me wrong. This was totally fun too."

" Huh. Well you kinda have to take me out a few times before we get to all that."

Eddie tugged at his bottom lip. You wanted to go out on a date? With him?

" Or not. It's totally up to you. But I gotta say. I'm not like that."

" No. No. I umm I just didn't know that you were into me. That's all."

" Well take me out and you'll find out how much." You gave him a sweet seductive smile.

He chuckled. " You're something else you know that?"

Your smile faded. " I hope that's not a bad thing."

" No. It's mostly definitely not. You're cute. And I would like to take you out."

He saw you blush then picked up the controller again. He grabbed the other one too.

He had to admit that this was the best Christmas he had ever had. And he looked forward to spending more nights like this with you.

...

@salenorona23

[biteytiefling]

Heart full of stars chapter one

As Elise Blackmore woke up to the sound of her alarm telling her of all the things she had to do to day. The top of the list was a request from Corey to help repair some of the things in the haunted house that his son Oliver ran and while it is quite unusual for a 10-year-old to be running a haunted house, the fact that it was almost entirely automated, and could be controlled from a control room in the direct center meant that even a five-year-old could do it let alone a 10-year-old with a pension for mischief and a love of scaring people. The reason for the repair was listed as one of the moving walls got stuck along with the fact that some of the decorations needed a new coat of paint.  When Elise got to the haunted house, Oliver was just coming out of the building. He waved to Elise and said I’m going to go looking for that meteorite that crashed down this morning and just like that, he was running off into the jungle. Shortly thereafter, Oliver‘s father Corey ivailo was guiding Elise through the haunted house to the sliding wall that was stuck halfway through its motion. The power to the wall had already been cut, which meant it should have slid back into with the wall in which it was housed, when hiding as part of fire safety after all, despite this haunted house being one of the attractions, it was also used as an actual hotel even if by special appointment only by ghost film Crew and the occasional engineering school that wanted to study the mechanisms used 

Oliver waved to Elise and told her that he was going to be looking for the meteorite that had crashed down on their island, while his dad and Elise were fixing up the current stuck wall  and he had already told Luna that he was going to be going out and looking for the meteorite. He had packed a sandwich and some water, and ran down off into the jungle about an hour later into his walk, he saw a blue glow, and getting closer he saw metal and the ruined trail of the meteorite but instead of a rock, it was metal carved with lines of blue light and then he realized it was a spaceship walking around it. He got to the bridge and saw that there. Was someone still inside of it a big someone, but they didn’t look awake and they looked hurt . Oliver knew that he couldn’t get the 7 foot person back on his own so he called his dad and Elise, Luna, and granny opal after all his dad and Elise would be able to get the forklift if nothing else to help move this guy and granny opal as the island doctor would want to take a look at this guy. If he is actually injured and even if granny Opal was fierce in her own way, Luna as head of security would need to be told anyway.

 Storm heard a voice it sounded like a little kid. He had just enough strength to lift his head and open his eyes to look there. He saw a really small person and it sounded like they were talking to someone, but there wasn’t anyone there he figured that the kid must’ve had a communication device of some sort, but just as he thought that he blacked out again and when he woke up, he heard more voices He realized that he was on something soft, and he was laying down. When he tried to get up the voices stopped And he managed to open his eyes, and even though the lights were really bright, and they hurt, he still managed to see a little And what he saw was five people all of them smaller than him And from what he could hear through the translator was that he was being urged to lay back down by a small, elderly woman with curly brown hair that was starting to gray from one of the others the girl with long white hair and space buns with icy blue and yellow eyes said granny don’t get too close to them. We don’t know if they’re dangerous or not the elderly woman apparently named granny turned to the girl and said now Luna Skinner, this boy is hurt. He looks like he’ll fall back into unconsciousness if he sits up too fast. Storm processed the girls name Luna. He thought it was beautiful. And that was about the last thought he had before falling back unconscious. 

[crimson-amarone]

Chapter 12: Werewolf of December

Chapter Summary:

Previously, Meryl and Clark finally arrived in the city of December. Clark’s powers started to return, but they were acting up for some reason. Meryl met with Milly and the Chief to discuss her next story. Later, Lord Manga Khan hijacked the No Man’s Land satellite broadcast to make his offer to the people of the planet.

Now, Lord Manga begins his resource survey, sending scouts and a special ‘resource survey escort’ down to December to investigate (ahem, steal) the Plants. As this survey group tries to take a ‘sample’ for study, Superman confronts the thieves, and chaos ensues. Superman meets his match against ‘The Main Man.’

Start reading chapter 12

Chapters: 12/24+ (see chapter 12 snippet below)

Fandom: Trigun Stampede (Anime 2023), Trigun (Anime & Manga 1995-2008), My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon), Superman - All Media Types 

Rating: Mature (Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Language, Adult Themes)

Pairings: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Meryl Stryfe/Vash the Stampede, Meryl Stryfe/Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood 

Characters: Clark Kent, Vash the Stampede, Meryl Stryfe,  Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Milly Thompson, League of Lois Lanes

Story Summary:

Two years after Lost July, an interdimensional rift becomes dangerously unstable, opening a portal between universes—the worlds of No Man’s Land and Earth-12.

Outlaw Vash the Stampede is still MIA, although rumors abound. Despite not knowing if Vash is truly alive, both Meryl Stryfe and Wolfwood catch a lead pointing them to a remote town iles away.

Elsewhere, young Clark Kent’s life is turned upside down when he’s dragged to an unfamiliar planet to help as Superman. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen follow his trail with some unlikely assistance.

Two heroes must make new allies to fight ruthless villains in a three-way conflict. All while trying to find where they both belong, face their inner demons, and make a better future for their worlds.

Start reading from the beginning

Chapter 12 Snippet:

The scene was pure chaos as people pushed and shoved and screamed.

Emergency lights began flashing, and klaxons blared, drowning out most of the shouting.

Clark superspeed through the building, weaving in between workers with limbs sprawled out as they tried to run but were frozen in time. Their expressions locked in panic and confusion with wide eyes and open mouths. The chorus of noises shifted into a deep, drawn out tone like from the leftmost key on a piano.

Further inside, a grated, raised corridor opened up into a long, spacious room. Above and below were additional floors of similar platforms. 

Rows upon rows of bulb-like pods hung from the curved walls. Each pod was filled with some kind of cloudy fluid that glowed brightly in blue yet tinged purple from the red lights. Round, white objects floated in the center of each pod.

A number of uniformed security guards armed with police-grade handguns or patrol rifles faced the center of the room. 

Various shouts of “Return the Plant!” and “Stand down or we’ll shoot!” were directed at the obvious intruders near the guards. 

Clark quickly realized this must’ve been one of the Plant facilities Meryl had mentioned. 

A remarkably tall, muscular figure leaped forward at one of the guards, knocking the man forcefully into the railing along the edge of the corridor. The guard crumpled, his weapon clattering along the floor several feet away.

Surrounding the figure stood four equally bulky humanoid-shaped robots coated in a shiny, bronze-like plating. One robot manned some kind of machinery akin to a forklift, but it hovered weightlessly in the air. 

One of the cylindrical, liquid-filled pods was attached to the machine. Inside the pod, one of those white, round masses— roughly the shape of a beetroot or flower bud—bobbed delicately, cushioned within the viscous liquid.

Right after the next guard took a shot but missed, the brutish thief ripped the rifle out of his hands. The thief then quickly took the man down with a punch to his stomach.

Without wasting more time studying the room and situation, Clark sped over to the commotion in a blur.

Start reading chapter 12

[sharpeagle-tech]

Importance of Blue Safety Spot lights in Forklift safety

Pedestrian safety is a huge concern when operating forklifts. According to a Safety in Numbers report, crew fatalities constitute 11% of forklift accidents. While running the statistics, we also found that in California, 1 out of every ten forklifts will encounter at least one accident during their lifetime. But this can be prevented. Experts and professionals believe that over 70% of these accidents and injuries can be prevented easily by installing the right safety solutions. Workers are usually accountable for the other 30%.

Having some safety solutions in place can significantly reduce the chances of forklift mishaps and pedestrians getting struck by the forklift. A blue forklift safety lighting in particular is highly effective in preventing pedestrian-related forklift accidents. This warning light is designed to alert pedestrians that a forklift is approaching and that they should stay out of its way. 

Let’s understand how blue spot forklift safety light is a simple yet powerful way to enhance visibility, prevent accidents, and create a safer work environment for your employees.

Topics covered in the blog : 

What is a blue spot safety light? 

How does it save workers from being strucksome text

Features of blue spot safety lights from Sharp Eagle

SharpEagle Benefit — it comes with one year warranty 

Regulations for using blue spot safety light

How can forklift operators use it? 

Conclusion

‍

Don’t be part of the grim statistics! Light up your forklifts with blue spotlights and cut down pedestrian accidents, which account for 36% of forklift fatalities.

Talk to our Experts

What is a Blue Spot Safety Light? 

When activated, the blue forklift spotlight projects a distinct blue spot onto the ground, serving as a visual warning for workers. It is a sign for workers that the forklift is in operation, and they should stay away from the approaching vehicle.

This warning system is more effective than traditional sound warning systems because warehouses or manufacturing units are noisy. The sound of the alarm gets lost in the noise of machinery. Moreover, operators cannot keep the alarm on all the time. However, they can continuously keep blue safety lights on while driving the forklift. 

That’s why the blue spot safety system is reliable for preventing accidents even in noisy factories, warehouses, and distribution centres. Plus, it’s effortless for operators, who just need to activate it, and for pedestrians, as bright blue light captures their attention immediately and is easier to track than sound alarms. 

Overall, the forklift blue light safety system is a powerful solution to prevent accidents. It protects your workers with its capability to provide clear visual warnings. 

How does it save workers from being struck?

‍Suppose a forklift operator is backing out of the loading dock. Because of the limited visibility, he cannot see the pedestrian walking behind the forklift. So when he moves the forklift in reverse direction, he is likely to run over this pedestrian unknowingly. 

Clearly, the disaster can be avoided if the worker knows that the forklift will move backward or is provided with a visual cue for this. Blue spot safety lights give them this visual cue. They can spot the bright blue LED beam from a distance and move away, saving them from being struck by the forklift.  

Features of SharpEagle blue spot safety lights

1. Casting aluminium alloy housing to ensure durability:

Our blue spot safety lights feature robust aluminium alloy housing to keep it from producing excessive heat. Further, the solid build of blue safety lights allows them to operate at normal temperatures, even in tough settings. Thus, it ensures durability and high performance even in tough workplaces like warehouses or construction sites.

2. Tempered glass cover for damage protection:

Equipped with a tempered glass cover, our blue spot safety lights offer superior protection against damage while maintaining optimal light transmission. This tough cover is engineered to withstand impacts and thermal stress, ensuring the safety light remains visible and operational in unfavourable working conditions. 

3. High-power LED for the powerful illuminating blue spot:

High-power LED in our blue spot safety light delivers bright illumination while consuming minimal power, making it energy-efficient. 

4. Double-insulated silicon rubberized wire that allows functionality in extreme temperatures:

The double insulation of the wire in our safety lights reduces the risk of electrical faults. And silicon rubberized wire makes the light resilient to extreme conditions. This detailed engineering power enables blue spot safety lights to function efficiently even in extreme temperatures. 

5. Ingress Protection of IP-67:

With an IP-67 rating, our safety lighting can withstand dust ingress and water immersion. This rating proves that dust accumulation doesn’t affect the functionality of SharpEagle's blue spot forklift safety lights.

SharpEagle Benefit — it comes with 1 year warranty 

Installing safety lights is a crucial decision from the business perspective. Of course, you don’t want any malfunctions that could cause an accident or delay your operations. We understand that the slightest downtime, especially due to equipment malfunction, can severely impact your revenues. That’s why we stand behind the quality and reliability of our products by offering a 1-year warranty. Plus, we provide end-to-end support right from product selection to installation and maintenance. Get a free quote for forklift safety lights now. 

Boost Profitability With Forklift Safety – Save On Insurance And Accidents with SharpEagle’s Blue Safety Spot lights.

Reach out to Us

‍

Regulations for using blue spot safety 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responsible for maintaining safe working environments. While its headquarters are in the United States, the standards set by OSHA are recognized worldwide. 

OSHA outlines strict guidelines to ensure workers' safety, particularly in low-light conditions. It emphasizes on the use of forklift safety lights and horns to enhance the safety of forklift operations. 

Although OSHA doesn’t explicitly mandate using blue spot safety lights on forklifts, it strongly recommends it. When an authoritative body like OSHA makes a suggestion, you know it's backed by in-depth research and experience.

So, while it may not be mandatory by law to use forklift safety lights, installing them to make your forklift operations safe does save your company from huge business costs resulting from accidents and their fatalities. Forklift safety lights require minimum to no special training for your operators in their everyday operations. There are no downsides to adopting these modern safety lighting solutions, making them a savvy investment for any industry. Also read: Why are forklift safety lights important? 

How can forklift operators use it?

Many business owners are sceptical about installing blue spot safety lights or other safety systems because they are concerned about the operators' ability to use them. 

But here's the thing—using a blue safety light for a forklift is incredibly straightforward. Operators simply need to toggle a switch. All they have to do is activate it from the forklift's control unit. 

So, activating the blue safety light poses no challenge for operators - as long as they understand the importance of using safety lights. 

Consider emphasizing the importance of using blue spot safety lights in your workplace. It will facilitate safety consciousness in the workplace and encourage the work crew to practice caution.

‍

Don't Play with Safety! Secure Your Business With Blue Forklift Spotlights And Save Lives.

Get Free Expert Consultation

‍Conclusion 

A blue safety spotlight is one of the simplest solutions that significantly advance your safety measures. However, consider combining it with other safety solutions like speed limiters, wireless cameras, anti-collision systems, etc, to achieve the highest safety standards at your workplace. 

The combination of safety solutions may vary depending on the nature of your operations and unique safety needs. An ideal safety solution should ensure overall safety, not just pedestrian safety. 

Book a free consultation with the experts for tailored safety solutions. 

Related FAQs

What is the blue light on forklifts for?

The blue light on forklifts warns pedestrians about the moving forklift. They can notice the light from afar and know that an operating forklift is approaching. The blue-spot light on forklifts ensures pedestrians' safety by sending them a visual warning through a blue beam. It is a very simple and underrated safety solution for maintaining pedestrian safety at your workplace. 

What is the blue spot warning light on a forklift?

Workers might face difficulty in hearing the horns or auditory warnings in a noisy warehouse or manufacturing facility. Moreover, if they are working while wearing earphones, they risk getting struck by a forklift. The blue spot warning system gives them a visual cue. The bright light cannot go unnoticed by them, so they can be aware of their surroundings. 

What are blue spot lights for? 

Blue spotlights warn pedestrians about the presence of forklifts. Because of the load, the operators have limited visibility. They cannot see if there’s a pedestrian in the way. Just like an ambulance has that colourful light with sirens, forklifts have blue safety lights to make them noticeable from afar. The lights tell pedestrians not to come in the way of the forklift and prevent workplace hazards. 

Why are safety lights blue? 

Safety lights are blue because the colour is highly visible during daylight. It effectively grabs attention and remains clear even in dusty environments. Thus, it makes sense to have safety lights in blue as they are highly noticeable. Workers can spot it and consider it as a visual warning to stay away. 

‍You can also call us at +971-45549547 or mail us at sales@sharpeagle.uk

[deada55]

"Mandy's Intro" from Being There

for kloktober day 9: inspired by Dethalbum IV ("Mutilation on a Saturday Night"

This is a WIP for a future chapter of this fic, where we figure out how Nathan made his way out of his parents' house to start his life as a struggling gig musician with whale ESP.

tws: puke mention, nausea

Harry's house stayed a hotbed for parties since his mom's sister had this horrible accident that melted her hands off (something about the cleaning chemicals at the bar where she worked and the deep fryer.) His mom and dad went to Leesburg every other weekend to take care of her and her six or seven kids, leaving Harry’s house empty and free for raging in twice a month. Today, he'd gotten someone to bring their subwoofers, and someone else brought a keg, so everyone in their high school who went out and half of the neighboring counties’ stock of underage drunk dudes came out to play beer pong and shout over each other.

When Nathan had gotten there, most of the team was standing around the kitchen island trying to gather up people for shots, but Chris saw him first and pulled him over for a "shot" that was a double or a triple of white rum in a solo cup with some girl’s lip gloss on the rim. And he wasn't a pussy. He took it with them, played a couple games, made a couple shots, and returned to the "bar" to empty out a bag of ruffles. Hopefully, it sat better than dinner had, but he'd had this migraine for a day, and it wasn't going anywhere.

The noise in the room made it feel better in a weird way: he had something else to think about, even though the little party strobe light in the corner with the princess stickers on it was painfully blue in his peripheral vision.

He overheard a conversation between Brendan and Brandon, who'd played on the team with him all four years: Christ got into Alabama on a scholarsip. Just when he'd turned to go stand against a different wall, he got roped into a conversation about greek life that was more about looking at the person who was talking than trying to understand anything of what he said. Jack was probably just full of shit anyway. He liked to impress people like that from time to time, even though it was his cousin who was going to college in South Carolina, and it was him who fucked his ankle up practicing some of the sorriest, limpest field goals ever attempted. He might be right, but he might not be, and that's how it went half the time with Jack.

He turned to Nathan and hooted. "Me, I'm applying in the spring. Hey, what are you gonna do when you graduate, huh? Get a job?"

"Yeah." Not really. Waiting tables relied on your memory. Driving a forklift at the factory wasn’t safe when he still had migraines bad enough to make you see stars out of nowhere. He didn't really want to work for his own dad after all, but if it really got down to the wire, he could. Maybe. Until he ran him over with a forklift or something. Then he’d be shit out of luck and a dad.

He'd been in a couple bands since Junior year, and he could try and do gig work, but that wasn't a way he could support himself alone, was it? Even fast food sounded like a bad idea. Jobs worked like credit scores, right? The more that kick you out, the less likely you are to get one, right?

High school felt like one big fix. By the time he stopped worrying about puberty making him a funhouse-mirror version of a man, with gangly arms and bad skin– By the time he was adult enough to accept it, he was dreading "growing up." Every May, every "last" football game, every birthday was just taking him closer and closer to not knowing how to answer everyone’s questions about what he’d grow up to be.

And now that he'd ended up ruining their chances at states by getting a concussion just when they had the game in the bag, he felt too sorry for all his teammates to hope that they'd forgotten what he did. Even if they acted nice enough tp his face, what did they think then? Huh!

Every morning, he woke up in his room while everyone else was in class and laid there to keep the pain in the very middle of his face as plain pain, not whatever the doctors called "an aura", or the reflex to puke hard enough to burst blood vessels in your eyes, not like getting drunk or eating shit at Epcot all day and letting that shit go on Abraham Lincoln or whoever. What kind of fucking life was that? Going to school was his only job, and he sucked at it.

It would end someday, someday soon. Right?

He drifted off to another wall, the one by the staircase, and a girl with two french braids stood too close to him on his left. On her tiptoes, she tried to bring herself closer to his ear.

"You're Nathan, right?"

"Yeah."

"I hear you give pretty good head."

"Yeah?"

He kept his face still. Rolling his eyes at her wouldn't do much of anything, and on second look, he was pretty sure she was a softballer from Enceeiyesse High School, and with biceps like that she should be pitching. Not all the pitchers were lesbians–

"What about it?"

"Uh... Me too." She stood back and made a little pose with her shoulder pressed to the wallpaper, bending over the chair rail. Her bright white makeup set off her eyes, glowing in the dark like a dog's. A cute dog. She had pretty, round, light brown eyes that she flickered from his belt up, doing a couple complete scans while she flicked her braid over her shoulder and pretended to look for her friends.

He leaned down closer to her ear to see how serious she was.

"Wanna fuck?"

"You got a condom?"

Usually he’d lie, but Romy already got that volleyball girl pregnant… and by now she’d be due in April. Something like that. The fear was renewed among all the football players.

"Yeah." And he did always keep ‘em, throwing out the old ones from his wallet the minute the package looked rubbed.

Her arms wrapped around his waist, closing the couple inches between them, and that's how he ended up on Harry's parents’ bed with this girl, so nauseous he could taste it, he could fucking taste it no matter how hot she was or how she mewled when he touched her and how soft the inside of her mouth was on his thumb. While she brushed her lips over his, every single memory around how to be a person scrambled to assemble into a coherent whole…

[alex-guerin]

Ugly sweater day at work really be out here making me feel ugly...(ignore the blue light, that's the safety light on my forklift reflecting off the wall behind me)

And what's worse is my binder is making me hella dysphoric...not cuz "omg, flat chest, no!" But cuz ...even wearing it, it is so obvious I am afab and have badonkers.

...I don't pass. I will never pass. Why do I keep trying and playing pretend?

[megamanrecut]

Well this happened

Syndicate!Proto AU told in small bursts. Like don’t expect a ton of world-building/continuity tie-ins this is strictly character driven AU territory

In which Proto is captured by the Syndicate prior to the events of Season 1 and is reprogrammed to work for Elec Man

Canon divergence: Proto has run away from Dr. Light, but not yet become the Red Bomber

also also also eventual light spoilers for Day the Moon Fell and/or Recut S3

I actually wrote this relatively fast, whee~

Become the Night

1: Prologue

March 1994…

A sharp crescent moon rose in a clear night sky, casting its cold pale light down on the buildings of New York City’s criminal Underground.

Proto was wrapping up a heist mission for Dr. Wily. It was all routine for him, playtime, really. He had snuck into the remote and shady warehouse, stolen its valuables, and was now at the fun part: fighting off the warehouse’s brutish security drones—when suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. 

Agonizing pain shot through Proto. An unpleasant snapping sensation crackled within the nape of his neck, then he fell on his back. He stared through his brown-tinted aviators at the warehouse ceiling, the folds of his scarf falling away from his face. The pistol he had been carrying, his only weapon, clattered to the floor and skidded beneath a forklift, out of reach.

The drones swarmed upon him like jackals about to rip apart a wounded antelope, but then one by one they were similarly knocked down by blinding flashes of light. Something else was in the warehouse with them…

Then, Proto saw it—a dark blur darted out from the shadows. Bolts of lightning shot from it in all directions, and within seconds the remaining drones lay in smoldering heaps. The blur stopped moving, then strode calmly toward Proto. To Proto’s surprise, he realized he recognized the figure—Smith, who worked at the front desk of Fulmen Finical—the New York headquarters for the Syndicate.

Of all the mobsters in the criminal Underground, the Syndicate was by far the most feared, even the most dangerous of criminals thought twice about crossing them. Wily wouldn’t even speak of the Syndicate, their name like a taboo that would summon a being of unfathomable wrath. Proto had never taken the Syndicate seriously—he had even met Smith twice before, engaging in light repartee with what he had thought was human—but now as Proto looked up at Smith from the dirty warehouse floor, his limbs from the neck down lifeless, he couldn’t help but think that he would have been better off torn apart by the security-drones.

“Lousy move sneaking up on a bot like that,” Proto said aloud.

“There is no way you would have won…I didn’t want to waste time.”

Smith had a wool coat on over his black suit, not a hair or thread out of place despite the fighting he had just done. He nudged Proto’s shoulder with the toe of his oxford shoe. 

“Your spinal relay burnt out. It happens sometimes to domestic androids when they are hit with a Thunder Beam, you just weren’t built strong enough to withstand such an attack.”

“Just kill me,” Proto hissed, shaking uncontrollably, his circuits still smarting.

Moonlight glinted off of Smith’s rimless glasses as he studied Proto. “What are you?”

“What are you?” Proto returned, his eyes on the bands of blue electricity still humming through the fingers of Smith’s red gloves.

Smith smiled. “You’re no ordinary domestic android. You’re the one that has been causing a disturbance in the Underground. Are you rogue? What is your prime function?”

Proto fell silent.

“I had fully planned to ignore you,” Smith continued (he sounded infuriatingly pleased with himself) “I really thought you were just a human idiot in a bad suit, not really worth Syndicate time. But, on a whim, I decided to follow you. Simple really, I just needed to take the bother—I’m glad I did, I’ve never met an android who could pass for human as well as a Syndicate android—you had even fooled me.”

Again, Proto said nothing. Fighting had been fun up until now—security drones and robo-officers had become easy to defeat—but he would have been totally unprepared to fight whatever Smith was, even if Smith hadn’t surprise attacked him. Proto wished he could at least stop himself from shaking.

Smith was still smiling. “…What’s the matter? You’re not as smug as you were during our last conversation.” His pale eyes swept the warehouse, past stacked crates and sparking bodies of security drones. “Ah. I suppose this is what you were after,” he said, picking up a briefcase that lay abandoned beneath a table. “What’s this worth? Three million? Four?” he asked lazily. He glanced back over at Proto. “Funny thing to risk your neck over, you are worth so much more than this…”

“Kill me,” Proto uttered again.

Still smiling, Smith simply shook his head. “No.”

To be continued…

[mysticalnightenthusiast]

S.N.A.F.U CH78 ‘Presents’

A/N1:  Sorry for the huge gap since the last update peoples, life got busy with uni and exams and I lost the motivation to write recreationally.  I hope you enjoy this installment of Daniel and Eadaoin’s story!

*******************************************************************************************

After lunch everyone help wash up and Eadaoin put the plum pudding in the oven, the two families then made their way into the lounge room led by an excited Isaac and Isabella.

“Okay okay okay who first?” Daniel asked no one in particular.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” the two youngsters squealed loudly.

“Ehi, non così forte!” (Hey! Not so loud!) Michelle scolded “sit quietly first okay?”

“But Mamaaaaaa-” Isaac began “it’s Christmas!”

“And it will be for hours yet mister,” Michelle said amused by her son’s excitement.

“C’mon kiddo let’s sit by the tree, it’s too early to make Mum grumpy,” Daniel told his nephew with a grin “do you and Izzy want to help give the presents out?”

“Oh wow can we?”

“Sure thing but you have to be calm, where should we start?””

“Eadie!” Isabella exclaimed “she’s got lots and lots of presents!”

“I do?” Eadaoin asked in amusement as she dropped down beside the Christmas tree “from whom?”

“Everyone!” Isabella replied happily “Mamma, Papa, Nonna, Nonna, Bisnonna and Bisnonno...”

“The entire Ricciardo family?” Daniel asked Grace with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup, both sets of your grandparents, your father and I, Michelle.  Charlie, Guilia....”

“Giulia’s Mum’s sister and Charlie is Dad’s brother,” Daniel explained to Eadaoin “no wonder you needed a forklift for all your luggage Mum your stuff alone probably came on its own plane.”

“Cheeky!”

“Everyone back home wanted to give you and Danny joint presents,” Joe added as Isaac and Isabella dragged a large circular and apparently heavy present toward Eadaoin “That round one is from Charlie and his wife Gia and its homegrown you could say.”

“You open it,” Daniel urged Eadaoin with a smile “I’ll open the next one.”

Eadaoin gently took the enormous disc shaped present and began unwrapping it; soon she was surrounded by an enormous pile of festive wrapping paper and even more bubble wrap.  Daniel pulled it away and revealed an enormous disc of eucalyptus wood with ‘L'amore inizia a casa: Daniel e Eadaoin’ (Love begins at home-Daniel and Eadaoin) burnt into it in elaborate cursive script. On the back was a thick plaited length of wire that would allow the sign to be hung up.

“Oh wow it’s so....beautiful!” Eadaoin exclaimed “Love start-begins at home?  Did I get that right?”

“You did,” Joe replied “the wood comes from an enormous Blue Gum that got hit by lightning at the farm back in September.  Charlie helped me cut it up and Gia who is an art teacher put the inscription and wire on the back.  Also giving wood as a housewarming present is somewhat if an Italian tradition and Charlie in particular wanted you and Danny to have a bit of Australia with you wherever you decided to put down some roots.”

“That’s really quite sweet!” Eadaoin replied thickly “I’ll be sure to send them a thankyou note.”

“Next one!” Isaac announced excitedly pushing a rectangular box wrapped in paper covered in Kangaroos wearing Santa hats toward Daniel “this one’s from Tia Guilia and Uncle Paul!”

Daniel carefully unwrapped the package to reveal a box that contained an altar candle on it with “Daniel and Eadaoin Home Sweet Home” printed on it and a tiny little model of a house broom.  The broom prompted the curly haired driver to burst into amused laughter.

“A broom?” Eadaoin questioned in amused confusion.

“Yeah it’s another traditional Italian housewarming gift,” Daniel explained “its supposed to be for sweeping any evil or negativity that tries to enter a new home and the candle is supposed to remind new home owners to always keep light in their lives.  You know that red candle I have on the kitchen sideboard in the Monaco place and the blue one on the lounge coffee table at the Chelsea place??”

“Yeah.”

“Mum and Dad gave me those when I first bought those places. I’ve done the same for friends that have bought new places.  When Max bought his first ever place in Monaco I got him one in the colours of the Dutch flag.” Daniel explained “Guilia has a small side business making candles and wax melts, those sorts of things and she would have made this one.”

“Next one next one next one!” Isabella exclaimed excitedly.

“Who’s this one from sweetheart?” Eadaoin asked as Isabella gave her a heavy rectangular box.

“Bisnonna!”

“Dad’s Mum,” Daniel explained “knowing Nonna this will be the most Italian gift ever.”

Eadaoin opened the box to reveal a little care package of sorts.  A bottle of home made red wine, a bottle of wax sealed rosemary olive oil, a small package of dried pasta and some rock salt in a little hessian bag tied with a ribbon in the colours of the Italian flag.

“Two glasses of that stuff and you’ll be on the floor.” Michelle said at once “Nonno’s Lambrusco would drop an elephant.”

“Nah you’re just a lightweight,” Daniel teased.

“Oh bite me.”

“Nonno used to make his own wine before his hands got too arthritic,” Daniel told Eadaoin “and ‘chell’s right its strong stuff.  This bottle would be at least ten years old. Don’t drink it quickly of you’ll start questioning your life choices.”

“Giving wine, salt and olive oil are also traditional housewarming gifts in Italian culture,” Joe explained “the pasta is from my mother, she still makes it fresh but had to dry this lot for it to be able to get through customs. And the oil is from the batch she made last year.”

“I’ll definitely thank her both directly,” Eadaoin promised.

“Bisnonna’s pasta is yummy Edie, Nonno always burps after eating some,” Isabella piped up “it’s really loud.”

“There looks to be enough pasta here for two people, maybe after all the Christmas leftovers are gone we can eat it,” Eadaoin suggested.

“Sounds good,” Daniel replied “what’s next?”

The next present was from Graces parents and also contained a bottle of olive oil and salt and a handwritten recipe for bread.

“Its another Italian tradition to give bread as a housewarming present but Mum knew that a loaf wouldn’t be allowed through customs so she gifted the recipe she uses to make it herself,” Grace explained to Eadaoin who was reading the recipe that was totally written in Italian.

Eadaoin’s eyes prickled with unshed tears as she took in the thoughtful gift.

“Oh wow that’s really thoughtful!” she said thickly “I’m going to have to study a bit harder or I’ll misinterpret the recipe and blow up the kitchen.”

“I’ll help,” Daniel promised “I used to help Nonna make bread all the time when I was a kid.”

“Who next kiddo?” Eadaoin asked Isaac who was bouncing excitedly on the spot and looking between Grace and Daniel.

“Go on Tesoro” (sweetheart) Grace said with a grin as Isaac eagerly grabbed a large medium sized package from under the tree.

“This next one is for you honey but your father and I talked to Donnacha and Roisin about putting it together,” Grace informed her son “they’ve done something similar for Eadaoin.”

“We’ll explain when Eadie receives hers,” Donnacha added “everything will make sense then”

Daniel took the package from Isaac and began unwrapping it. Soon he held a large wooden covered photo album on his lap with “Daniel Joseph” embossed in elaborate gold leaf script.

“This looks like our family bible,” he commented with a chuckle as he opened the cover.

“Ah you don’t get one of those til you get married.” Grace said with a grin.

“Muuuuuu-”

“I know I know, go on open it” Grace urged “the whole family contributed to this one.”

Daniel opened the front of the album and on the first page was a photo of Grace holding a freshly born Daniel in a hospital bed and a replica of his birth certificate.

“Oh my god my face looks like a dropped pie!” he exclaimed “I’ve not seen this one before.”

“It’s a copy of the first one in your baby album,” Grace said.

Daniel flicked through each page of the album that showed photos of Daniel in each year of his life from birth, all throughout his schooling and karting years right up to his most recent birthday posing with the cake McLaren had made for the occasion.

“You had a pierced ear?” Eadaoin asked in amusement as the curly haired driver showed her a photo of him at his 17th birthday “that is so daggy!”

“It wasn’t the most fashionable thing I’ve ever done,” Daniel admitted as everyone laughed “I got a nice long lecture from Nonna about what was appropriate for a ‘good Italian boy’ the first time she saw it.  ‘chelle thought it was hilarious.”

“Mum and Nonna had a fit when they saw it,” Michelle with a giggle “he got chewed out for having it done than I got chewed out for encouraging it and going with him to get it done.  Dad thought it was hilarious.”

Joe snorted.

“Well it was pretty funny,” he admitted “it’s probably the most rebellious thing Dan ever did aside from being a constant smart mouth to one of the nuns in high school.”

“Oh Sister Patricia?” Daniel piped up “sour old bitch.” He added under his breath.

“Everyone was a smart mouth to Sister Patricia,” Michelle said “grumpy old goat she was.”

“Alright let’s move on who’s next?” Daniel asked.

“Eadie!” Isabella exclaimed pulling an identical present to the one Daniel received from under the tree.

“This is from your Dad and I but everyone in the family and Danny contributed,” Roisin told her daughter.

Eadaoin gently unwrapped the present to reveal an identical photo album with ‘Eadaoin Niamh’ engraved on the front, like Daniel’s it contained dozens of photos from her birth, each birthday, school and university graduations copies of her birth certificate and University parchments and even a photo of her and Daniel at her most recent birthday in Austin that Eadaoin knew Michael had taken on Daniel’s mobile phone.

“Oh I love that photo!” Eadaoin exclaimed thickly a lump forming in her throat “Michael did such a great job considering he was wasted and couldn’t get the focus settings right.”

“I chipped in that one,” Daniel confessed with a smile.

“We have another copy upstairs if you want to frame it and put it on the mantel piece,” Donnacha informed his emotional daughter “your Mam and I have a copy on our mantelpiece back home.”

Eadaoin got up from her place on the floor and made her way over to her parents, embracing them both hard.

“Thank you,” she murmured a tear or two leaking out of her eyes

“We know photo albums and actual photos are old school but there’s something nice about sitting down and looking at a physical album,” Grace said as Eadaoin pulled a tissue from her bra and wiped her eyes “your parents and Joe and I thought you and Daniel would like a physical reminder of your lives right up until you met and thought from here on out you could start your own album that documents your life together.”

Eadaoin made her way over to Grace and hugged the older woman.

“Thank you,” she murmured moving on to hug Joe next “it’s the best present ever!” 

“Ah you haven’t seen what Danny’s gotten you yet,” Donnacha joked “he looks more excited than Isaac and Isabella do.”

“Uncle Daniel’s got ants in his pants!” Isaac declared loudly as the curly haired driver eagerly reached for a large box marked for Eadaoin.

“Uncle Daniel’s always got ants in his pants,” Eadaoin joked ruffling Isaac’s hair “it’s not just at Christmas he doesn’t sit still.”

“Yeah yeah my turn,” Daniel grumbled the hint of a smile playing upon his lips “this is for you.”

“Hold on sis is this something you should be opening in front of the in-laws?” Cahir piped up with a snort.

“Póg mo thóin,” (kiss my arse) Eadaoin muttered her face turning a magnificent shade of scarlet “idiot.”

Eadaoin carefully unwrapped the gift Daniel gave her to reveal a plain cardboard box she opened that to reveal a plain black bag that was unmistakably a helmet case.

“You got me a helmet?” she exclaimed happily.

“Have a look and see.”

Eadaoin unzipped the case and pulled out a spectacularly decorated racing helmet, it was various shades of metallic and glitter colours and featured Irish Shamrocks in the shape of a map of Australia, beach scenes and in the most delicate script across the bottom under the visor was Níos Láidre le Chéile (Stronger Together).  Her jaw fell open and she gasped in amazement.

“Oh wow Eadie that’s super pretty!” Isabella exclaimed.

“I asked Cahir and your parents about what they thought you’d like on your own helmet and together with what I know you like came up with this,” Daniel explained as Eadaoin inspected the helmet closely “so now you don’t have to use those manky hire ones when you go karting.”

Eadaoin burst into a million dollar smile and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips.

“So when are we going Karting?” she asked brightly.

“When the weather warms up, or we can go to Dubai before pre-season testing starts and go there” Daniel suggested with a wink.

“Sounds good.”

Daniel also gifted Eadaoin a diamond bracelet that matched the ring he gave her that morning then the redhead joined him in sitting in the giant bean bag they had bought in Los Angeles to watch everyone else receive their gifts.

“This is the best Christmas ever,” Eadaoin murmured turning her head and sneaking a kiss when everyone’s attention was on Isaac who was babbling excitedly about a Lego kit Grace and Joe had gifted him “I want to do this every year.”

Daniel grinned.

“Maybe next year we’ll do it at the farm?” he suggested as Isabella squealed excitedly about the Cabbage Patch doll he and Eadaoin had given her “I want to show you everything at home, introduce you to everyone.”

“Parade me about?” Eadaoin asked in a low voice.

Daniel chuckled.

“Of course,” he murmured as Michelle opened up her present from them, a Swarovski crystal frog and a pair of diamond studs “any bloke with you on their arm would be stupid not to, d'you have any idea what my street cred is going to be like when I go home with you?”

Eadaoin rolled her eyes.

“You’re a crazy man,” she said tiredly sinking into his warm embrace “god I am so tired”

“We can go to bed after dessert,” Daniel suggested as Cahir unwrapped a leather bound diary with his name embossed on the front he and Eadaoin had given him “not much longer.”

After gift giving the combined families gathered back at the dining table for dessert.  Much jovial conversation was had til after the meal and Grace noticed Eadaoin’s exhaustion.

“Edie honey are you alright?” the elder Ricciardo asked in concern as Eadaoin began loading the dishwasher with the latest dishes “you look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted,” the redhead admitted “jetlag and Christmas festivities don’t really mix.”

Grace pried the bowl she was holding from her hand and chivvied her toward Daniel who had just entered the kitchen carrying a tray of used cutlery.

“Daniel take Eadaoin upstairs to bed,” she said “she’s exhausted.”

“B-but we have the after dessert movie tradition!” Eadaoin protested weakly “and there are so many more dishes to do-”

“Sweetheart you’re so tired you’re not going to make it through the opening credits,” Grace pointed out “you’ve already done so much for us and both you and Daniel are dead on your feet.  Both of you go to bed.  We can finish up for you.”

“Yeah sis go to bed,” Cahir added as he came into the kitchen with some stacked glasses “we’ve got everything here.”

“You all really don’t mind?” Eadaoin asked tiredly.

“If we did I wouldn’t have suggested it,” Grace relied embracing her “go rest up and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks Mum you’re a star,” Daniel said gratefully.

“That’s alright honey, you’ve done so much to look after us now its our turn to look after you go on scoot.”

Daniel and Eadaoin bade everyone goodnight then made their way up to their bedroom where they started getting ready for bed.”

“I love your Mum she’s awesome,” Eadaoin said kicking off her shoes.

“Yeah she’s pretty good,” Daniel replied leaving his clothes in a messy pile on the floor and getting into bed “oh god what a busy few weeks, I’m dead!”

Eadaoin turned off the light and joined the curly haired driver under the covers.

“This has been the best Christmas ever,” she murmured snuggling into his muscular bulk “I don’t think it could have been any more perfect.”

“I agree,” Daniel replied sleepily, pressing a kiss to her forehead “fuck I forgot to give you your present!”

“That can wait til the morning,” Eadaoin told him with a grin “I want to be wide awake when I open whatever you’ve given me.”

Daniel nuzzled into the side of her neck.

“Good because you’ll need to be,” he said “but sleep first.”

*******************************************************************************************

A/N2:  If you liked this please like and reblog!

[wordpimp]

Pabst Blue Ribbon

Collage of antics and bubblegum Sweetheart your tits Drool on the backseat Backyard hush The high desert sky, a new hose reel Clean blue water

Canyons in the mesas

Cashier at the bodega

On the ferry, the old people young man Sit around Light smokes in a purse All lit up in a future party

The storage facility night moon Forklift operator Boxes and boxes Hotel caddy, carved up and carried

[pastelitey]

people you meet at the end of the world

(this is a snippet of chapter 1 of my boatem crew zombie apoc story, which you can read the whole thing of on ao3 here! please enjoy!)

“Mumbo?” Grian’s voice rang out through the walkie-talkie strapped to Mumbo’s utility belt. Mumbo climbed down off the forklift he was currently trying to hotwire, a project of his he’s been focused on for the past week or so, and rubbed the sweat off his forehead. He unclipped the walkie-talkie from his belt and brings it up to his face.

“Yes, Grian?” After a moment, he decided to add “Over,” a nasty behavior Grian’s picked up that annoys the pants off Mumbo. Is it really that hard to use the correct walkie-talkie lingo, even if it’s just the two of them communicating?

“Can you come check something out?” Grian’s voice came out through the walkie-talkie, only slightly static-y.

“Sure, where are you? Over.” Mumbo sayid, turning around and beginning to walk. He picked up his wrench first, slinging it over his shoulder as he begins to peruse the aisles of rafters they’d pushed back to make more space for meandering about.

“South Left corner. There’s something weird going on.”

Mumbo rolled his eyes as he changed his direction. With Grian’s tone of voice, he was almost certain that he was being pranked by his friend, a hobby of Grian’s that never seemed to get old for the blonde. Regardless, Mumbo trekked on anyway. His eyes skimmed the shelves as he walked cautiously. Even though they’d been in the warehouse for almost three months now and he was certain of it’s safety, the need to look over his shoulder had been hardwired into his brain ever since the first time a zombie snuck up on him. Maybe that’s why he brought his trusty wrench with him to ‘check out’ whatever prank Grian was cooking up, even though he was certain there was no looming danger ahead.

As he finally reached the corner of the warehouse Grian was in, he was trying to prepare himself to get duped, but instead was left frozen in place.

Grian stood four feet away from a large patch of dark blue mold that was steadily consuming the entire south left corner of the warehouse. It looked like mold at first glance, but when he looked harder, it seemed wet almost, and seemed to glisten in the industrial lighting of the warehouse. The weird mold had darting lines all over it, almost like veins, that seemed to glow dimly with an almost sickening bright blue color. It seemed as if it was sprouting some type of flower or blossom in certain spots, and weird particles were being produced by it.

“Um,” was all Mumbo could say.

“Yeah,” Grian added, looking perplexed. His walkie was still in hand, his glasses beginning to slip down his face. “What is this stuff? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Dunno,” Mumbo said, taking a hesitant step closer towards the dark mold-goo substance. He kneeled down to get a closer look at it, narrowing his eyes. It seemed to glisten, like it was trying to mirror the dark night sky. A sense of curiosity rolled over him, and he slowly reached out a hand to touch it.

“What are you doing?” Grian hissed, grabbing onto Mumbo’s shirt from behind and yanking him back to the best of his ability. “Don’t touch that! It could be venomous!”

“Poisonous,” Mumbo corrected, standing back up with Grian’s help.

“Whatever,” the blonde rolled his eyes, finally pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “How did we not realize this stuff was here? It looks like it’s been growing for days.”

“Maybe it grows really fast?” Mumbo offered, scratching the back of his neck under the collar of his tropical shirt. Usually they layered up, but because most days they were holed up in the warehouse, they could wear clothing that showed more skin, like one of Mumbo’s favorite tropical button-ups that Grian loved to poke fun at him for.

“Could be,” Grian said, surveying the mold-goo again. “Whatever it is, we need to get rid of it. I’m more than a hundred percent certain it’s dangerous and could kill us.”

“How are we gonna get rid of it? We don’t even know what it is.”

“I bet we could scrape it off with a shovel or something. Ooh! Here’s an idea, go grab your forklift! We’ll use that to scrape it off.”

“What! Mate, I haven’t even gotten it working, and even if I did, you really think it would be effective in scraping whatever this is off our warehouse floor?”

Grian shrugged with a sly smile. “Worth a shot!”

“You are so-! Y’know, you are so destructive, you just want to use my stuff to destroy it for fun. I’m gonna go grab some shovels, and don’t you even think—”

Grian rolled his eyes. “I know, cross my heart!” Grian drew an ‘X’ over his heart, but the cheeky smile on his face wasn’t convincing. Mumbo rolled his eyes as he walked off to find some shovels and a wheelbarrow, which were conveniently items that had come along with their warehouse.

The shovels did not work. Whatever the mold-goo substance was, it was a nasty bugger that was practically cemented onto the floor and walls, and even seemed to be creeping up onto the ceiling.

“What now?” Mumbo asked as he set the shovel aside. Looking over the substance again, it seemed as if it had moved closer than before, like it was growing and steadily creeping closer to them.

Grian chewed on his cheek for a moment, before Mumbo could see an idea bloom across his face. His eyes lit up and a smirk found it’s way across his mouth, and there was always that mischievous glint in his eyes that seemed almost superficial. Mumbo knew whatever idea he was cooking up, it was going to be disastrous.

“Let’s burn it off!” Grian said, pulling a small handheld lighter out of his shirt pocket, flicking off the cap almost instinctively.

“Are you joking, mate?” Mumbo asked, breath practically knocked out of him. “It’ll just smoke up the whole building! Who knows if the fire will even spread?”

“Let’s find out!” Grian said, leaning down and activating the lighter. The small flame came to life immediately, and Grian held it out against the nearest trunk of the mold-goo, touching the flame against the glimmering surface and waiting to see if it would take.

Immediately the warehouse was filled with a piercing and high-pitched shrieking, one that could match Grian’s squeals of hilarity. Grian was knocked backward as Mumbo keeled over, palms pressed indefinitely over his ears. The shriek seemed to be coming from all around him, and even seemed to shake the ground. It went on for only a few seconds, but it felt like hours. Mumbo grabbed hold of the collar beneath Grian’s sweater and yanked him back away from the mold-goo, where they both prominently collapsed.

“What just happened?” Grian asked exasperatedly. Mumbo’s ears were still ringing even as the shriek dissipated, and it took a second for the world to stop spinning around.

“I think it's just… Screamed at us?”

“Now that just isn’t right,” Grian said.

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

If you enjoyed this, consider reading the rest of it over on ao3! this is my boatem crew zombie apoc story, and i'm very proud of it and want to promote it where i can.

reblogs are appreciated and encouraged !!