Toxic Rats: Geoff, Scott, Leshawna, Sammy, Trent
Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Katie, Molly, Scarlett, Dave, DJ
Episode 04: Finders Creepers
"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over a stock shot of the camp, the recap montage starting off with a clip of the contestants racing off towards the side of Mt. Looming Tragedy. "Twelve bumbling buffoons battled it out in a brutal buffet of bombastica," Chef was shown gleefully dropping ice blocks on the climbing campers, catching Geoff and Scott but narrowly missing Molly and almost catching Anne Maria.
"Why all the 'B' words?" B was shown demonstrating his couch invention created from junk, "Because, B proved he was a brave and brilliant improviser who scored big time for his team!" B used an ice pick to poke holes onto a shard of ice and placed it on top of the castle, directing the sun beam towards the Maggots' base and melting it effectively. "Until his bitter teammate Scott allowed brainy Molly to botch it on purpose and B got the boot," Molly threw a snowball onto the shard, melting the castle and B was shown being flung into the night.
"And now," Chris said, popping up in front of a shot of the full moon in a cloudy sky with a lit candle in his hand, marking the end of the recap montage, "tonight's challenge is about fear." He made a devilish look. "And everyone knows fear is a dish best served, in the dark!" he said in an exaggeratedly spooky manner, an eerie sound playing as he laughed evilly. "Huh?" he stopped suddenly, the camera pulling back to reveal Chef standing next to him...dressed like a showgirl with lots of peacock feathers. "Chef!" the host said in annoyance.
"Wardrobe was all out of vampire costumes," Chef explained as the series's capstone then began to play.
"It's all scary!" Chris said, walking off to the left. "Other than that," he scowled and gestured back toward his off-screen assistant. "Right here! Right now!" he resumed his usual demeanor. "On Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!" He adopted his spooky tone as he finished the title, and ended with another evil laugh.
XXXXX
Frogs and crickets chirped and croaked, joined by an owl's hoots as the episode opened on a shot of the full moon. The camera panned down to the cabins as the sound of snoring was added to the nighttime mix, and the scene cut inside to the girls' side of the Maggots' cabin where Anne Maria and Katie were sleeping peacefully in the bunk they shared. Dave and DJ were also shown sound asleep on the boys' side, and the scene cut to the Rat boys to show Geoff also sound asleep.
The camera cut next to show Sammy waking up with a yawn. She stretched her arms out for a few good seconds and fell right back to sleep...until the sudden shrill wail of a blow horn pierced the air.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Chris hollered from off-screen as the scene cut back outside, the blowhorn continuing even over the panicked shouts of the campers.
The camera briefly cut to a close-up of the blowhorn still blowing, then over to the Maggots' cabin as they ran outside fully dressed – first Katie screaming "What's happening?!"; then DJ just screaming; then Scarlett yelling out "This is unethical!"; then Anne Maria just hollering; and then finally Dave coming out, calling out "I'm wide awake!"
The Rats were shown next, Scott grunting "Me first!" as he shoved Geoff down the stairs and slid down the railing; Leshawna quickly running after him; Sammy screaming at the top of her lungs; and Trent coming out last at around the same time while screaming.
They assembled nervously in the common area between cabins, where Chris – wearing a pair of heavy earmuffs – finally eased up on the blowhorn. "Glad you all could make it," he grinned as he took off his headgear.
Molly soon arrived later. "Is there an attack or what?" she asked her teammates.
Katie shot her a quick glare. "Of course not, but why would you care about anything but yourself?"
Confessional: Molly
"Olay, yes," Molly moaned. "I left my teammates behind, but that was because I wanted to win the challenge first. I was always taught to focus on one thing before moving on to the next, and that's what I did." She grew concerned. "I don't see any problems with that."
Confessional Ends
"I hope you're all ready," Chris continued, "'cause it's challenge time!" He stepped to the side as Chef rolled up a large widescreen television on a wheeled cart. It was currently displaying an aerial map of the island with several additional colored icons – six bright green skulls scattered around the island; three yellowish envelopes over the campfire pit, the western edge of the campgrounds, and deeper into the forest; and a large purple spider in the middle of it all.
"We're gonna do a challenge?" Anne Maria wondered. "In the middle of the woods? At night?"
Confessional: Anne Maria
"Doesn't Chris know that we need our hours of sleep?" Anne Maria criticized. "I haven't even done my hair."
Confessional Ends
"Your challenge," Chris continued as though there'd been no interruption, "a scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs. Your locations? A haunted forest," he walked across to the other side of the television, "a scaaary pet cemetery, and an extra spooktastic cave. First team to each location gets a special clue," he said, the camera zooming in as he pointed towards the westernmost letter icon on the screen. "But watch out for booby traps," he added jovially as he moved his finger to one of the skulls, "I really went to town with them, heheh." The campers were shown watching warily.
"So move fast," the host added, "and stick together. You'll be penalized for each player you lose!"
"Umm, what's with the giant spider?" Sammy asked.
"Oh yeah," Chris answered as the shot zoomed in on the icon in question, "there's some kinda gigantic mutated spider sorta running around loose on the island."
The cast immediately started to voice their fears and protests.
"A huge, humongous spider is on the loose?!" DJ hugged Katie out of fear.
"I guess so," Katie said frightfully, but was secretly enjoying DJ hugging her.
The shot zoomed in on Dave in particular as he looked around, moaning "Oh no..." in annoyance.
Confessional: Dave
"Ever since I was a kid, I've never been a huge fan of spiders," Dave admitted. "They leave messy webs everywhere they go, and it takes me a long time to clean them up in places like my uncle's attic or my aunt's basement." A spider soon crawled down on a string. "This is gonna be unpopular, but I'm not a huge fan of Spider-Man because of my dislike of spiders." The spider hissed after hearing the criticism, making Dave flinch.
Confessional: Leshawna
"I may seem fearless on the outside, but spiders are one of the few things I'm terrified of," Leshawna said nervously. "Anything with eight legs is frightening enough."
Confessional Ends
"And since I want to keep things fair for both teams," Chris continued, "I decided to bring back an eliminated contestant for the Rats."
"It's so good to be back here!" the familiar voice of Sierra was heard, becoming more recognizable when she ran next to Chris.
"Sierra! I haven't introduced you yet!" Chris snapped at her.
"If I waited any longer, the episode would've been past the usual 22-minute runtime," Sierra explained. "I'll just go join the Toxic Rats and save you the trouble of doing so since I've rejoined."
Chris watched the fangirl run up to the contestants in annoyance. "Long story short, Sierra is the returnee." Chris regained his smile, and the dramatic and almost heroic tune started playing again. "There's nothing to fear but mortal terror itself! Talk soon," he added impishly, sounding his blowhorn once again.
The twelve campers ran off towards the woods.
\
The footage flashed ahead to another shot of the full moon over the forested hills of Wawanakwa, an owl hooting as the scene cut down to ground level. The logo of the Toxic Rats appeared in the corner of the screen just before the team itself did, running up and stopping in front of a tree with a loudspeaker set up in its branches.
"We're in first place! Sweet!" Geoff cheered just before the loudspeaker whined into activity.
"Welcome to the Haunted Forest!" Chris announced over it, the shot panning downward to show the six Rats gathering around a small crack in the ground. "Your clue can be found at the base of this tree!" Sierra reached into the hole...and screamed in pain as something metallic snapped inside the hole.
"Inside a bear trap," Chris finished his announcement with a laugh.
Sierra withdrew her hand from the hole, the trap clamped down firmly on her arm – though she was at least clutching a note in her hand. "Here! Read the clue," she said, passing it to a mildly shocked Sammy. Just as she was about to read it, the sound of approaching footsteps distracted her and her teammates.
"Bad news guys," Anne Maria commented from the six Maggots. "They have the clue."
"Even with a team advantage they still managed to beat us," Katie reminded them.
"We can let the opposing team have their clue," Scarlett said, looking back towards her teammates. "I have another plan," she said, running ahead with her teammates in tow.
\
The shot cut to the Maggots as they stopped at a clearing further along the trail. "So what's the plan?" Katie asked the girl in front.
"Find a place to hide so we can follow the Rats and their clue to our first souvenir," Scarlett answered. "Into that bush!"
The Maggots dived and painfully tried to hide in a thorn bush.
"Be quiet," Dave hissed, "They're coming."
"Inside a knot is a nest," Sammy read as the scene cut to the Rats. "Your souvenir lives with a pest. Find Polaris to travel northwest? Polaris is the North Star."
"The North Star is right there, so this way's northwest! There's a path!" Trent declared. He ran off, the rest of his teammates following suit.
"Now we follow!" Scarlett declared as the rest of her teammates came out of the bush.
\
The Rats' logo reappeared as the footage skipped ahead again to them running along through the woods.
"Inside a knot is a nest," Geoff muttered to himself as the shot zoomed in on him. "Hey Sammy, what was the rest of that poem again?" he called back without taking his eyes off the path ahead.
When he didn't get an answer he immediately skidded to a stop. "Sammy?!" he yelled in rising panic, and looked back to see nobody behind him.
The shot cut back to show that the rest of the Rats had stopped in their tracks. "What? Did we lose the mouse?" Scott asked.
Geoff gulped. "We get a penalty for each player we lose, right?" he asked nervously.
"And there's a spider crawling around, right?!" Leshawna said in panic. The shot cut outward as he did so, showing a large purple spider crawling down through the shadows of the forest trees.
"We're looking for a knot with a nest, right?" Scott looked off to the right; the camera quick-panned over to a large tree with a noticeable hollow knot in the trunk with the hints of a nest inside; a few green and red marks had been spray-painted on the bark under it.
"There it is!" Leshawna said, immediately rushing towards it.
"But what about Sammy?" Trent asked his team.
"We'll look for her after we get the souvenir," Sierra assured him.
Leshawna started climbing up the trunk as the rest of her team ran up to join her, and soon began to root through the tree hollow with one arm.
Suddenly, a large eye opened up inside the hollow and stared directly at Leshawna. She screamed, and several squid-like tentacles reached out of the tree's other hollows. One quickly grabbed her around the neck and held her up, while another gave her a few wet slaps then poked her in the eye.
"My eye!" Leshawna yelped in pain and terror. In response the tentacle tightened its grip, and Leshawna began to choke.
"What do we do!?" Sierra yelled in panic.
Geoff looked around, then bent down and picked up a handful of small rocks. "We can throw these stones at the octo guy!"
"Good idea!" Scott said as he and his team picked up rocks of their own and began throwing them at the creature, but they seemed to be hitting Leshawna more than the mutant squid-tree monster. Eventually, the thing just raised its captive up even higher, then slammed her down onto the ground and hissed at the others.
"RUN!" Geoff shouted, turning to flee as a tentacle shot towards them, forcing them to scatter.
Unfortunately, Trent was unable to get away in time and was lifted up by the leg. Trent cried in pain as the mutant began to punch him in the stomach with a curled-up tentacle.
The sounds of pain and wet punches caused Leshawna to get frustrated. "No way am I gonna get pushed around or let a squid attack my teammates!" she declared, getting back on her feet and climbing up the tree-squid's trunk while it was distracted. "Quit buggin' us!" she cried as she punched the mutant in the eye.
The beast bellowed in pain, dropping Trent and retracting into its tree. As soon as he got back up, a strand of spider's webbing shot down from above, sticking on to his head and pulling him away from the floor.
Leshawna reached into the knot once again, quickly and triumphantly pulling out a brass key. "And that's how I roll!" she called down to her teammates.
She dropped down to the forest floor, and landed in front of Geoff, who grinned when he saw it. "We got the key, Trent." Geoff received no response as Scott rejoined.
"Trent?!" Leshawna yelled out in concern. "Where are you?!"
As she panicked, the shot changed to a perspective further away, and the footage switched to an infrared shot of the four Rats.
"Guess he's gone," Sierra sighed sadly. "On the plus side, we found the key."
"We lost two players!" Leshawna said. "Shouldn't we go and look for them?"
"Knowing Chris, he probably has them trapped someplace else, so I'm not too worried right now," Scott brushed it off.
"You've got a point there," Geoff agreed.
Just then, the six Maggots arrived on the scene.
Scott was the first to notice them. "No luck here," he quickly said with faux disappointment, "Do you want to see if Sammy and Trent saw anything better over there?" he looked back and asked Sierra, Leshawna, and Geoff.
"Absolutely. It's not just the three of us," Sierra caught on before they turned and ran off.
"I see something!" Katie pointed off to the camera's right – the direction of the squid-tree. "Team colors!" The camera briefly cut over to the knot in question, with a focus on the marks below it in the two teams' colors.
"Excellent eye, Katie," Scarlett complimented while DJ ran to the tree.
"I'm not just a phone addict, y'know," Katie laughed a bit.
"I got the key, everyone," the camera cut to DJ who was in the tree's hollow and holding out a key. He threw the key in front of Dave and Molly.
"Way to go, DJ!" Molly said.
"Now you want to support us," Dave snarked at her. "Where was that when I was frozen?"
"Are you still mad about that?" Molly groaned.
"Of course we are," Katie snorted.
"You don't just leave your teammates behind," Dave lectured.
"Whatever happened happened," Anne Maria got in between them. "Let's focus more on the challenge and less on squabbling right now."
Confessional: Anne Maria
"I'm here to start no fights," Anne Maria confessed. "What Molly did was messed up, but they can scold her after the challenge."
Confessional: Molly
"Thank you, Anne Maria," Molly let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, someone who won't ride on me for my choices!"
Confessionals End
"You're right, Anne Maria," Dave sighed. "We shouldn't waste anymore time fighting."
As Dave bent down to pick up the key, however, a line of spider silk shot down from the treetops, wrapped around Molly, and pulled her up out of sight.
DJ regrouped with his team. "They said they saw something far away, so maybe-" he paused and looked behind his teammates. "Wait, where's Molly?"
The other four looked behind them and gasped. "Oh no, Molly's got taken by the spider!" Dave cried out.
"What do we do now?" Anne Maria griped.
Scarlett sighed. "Not to sound apathetic, but I think we're gonna have to continue on without her."
"Are you sure about that?" Katie questioned.
"I'm sure we can catch up to wherever she's being taken to," Scarlett waved off her concern.
"Well, I hope so," Katie said as she and the team exchanged nervous looks.
Confessional: Dave
"I don't see Molly in the best light right now, but that doesn't mean that I want her to be taken away," Dave began to shudder. "Especially by a spider."
Confessional Ends
"Why are we running so slow when we're in a challenge?" Geoff said as the scene moved back to him, Sierra, Scott, and Leshawna running through the forest. "We won't beat the other team at this rate."
"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Scott conversed with him.
Confessional: Scott
Scott was whittling another piece of wood with his shark tooth. "I'm heading us back into last place where we belong. Another elimination ceremony for the Rats and it's bye-bye Geoff! Or Sierra. I can't decide."
Confessional Ends
"C'mon, let's rock this! With years of exercise and partying, I've got energy to burn!" Geoff said, snatching the key from Leshawna and jogging ahead. The three followed him, but the camera kept its focus on Geoff as he passed a tree stump, then a rock; then stepped on a mysterious clump of dirt… which exploded and sent him flying.
Leshawna, Sierra, and Scott stopped immediately, the shot showing Sierra and Leshawna being shocked and Scott showing delight as Geoff got launched from one land mine to the next off-screen.
During this, however, a line of spider webbing was shot onto Sierra's leg. It quickly wrapped around it and tugged Sierra away from her team.
The camera finally cut back to Geoff, singed and groaning on the ground in an awkward but still holding the Rats' key. The Maggots approached him moments later. "Sorry that had to happen, doll!" Anne Maria comforted as she ran past Geoff.
Scott and Leshawna came to Geoff's need. "You gonna be alright?" Leshawna helped him up.
"I'll walk it off," Geoff tried to remain cool headed.
"Thanks, focus boy," Scott said.
"I don't want to strain my calves," Geoff added.
"We should leave in a few minutes just to make sure we catch up to the other team," Leshawna said. "Sierra just got captured, and I don't want us sticking around here."
\
The scene cut to the lantern-lit cemetery. The camera panned left across its headstones and crosses, several of which were pet-themed, to the entrance as the five remaining Mutant Maggots arrived, huffing and puffing from their run.
"Welcome to the Wawanakwa Pet Cemetery!" Chris greeted them over the loudspeaker.
"We're first. Nice!" Dave said.
"What's the clue?" Anne Maria asked Scarlett.
The camera cut in close as she opened the lid to a small coffin in an open grave, revealing a ragged piece of paper within bearing a list of numbers: 5 in the first row; 5 in the second; 5 in the third. Notably, while most of the numbers were plain black there were three 6s and the 18 were all an eye-catching red. "Three 6's is normally not a good indication of luck," Scarlett said with a nervous look.
"Let's fan out and look for numbers!" DJ said as the perspective cut back to its usual sideview.
"By ourselves?" Anne Maria asked.
\
"I'm in a creepy cemetery in the middle of the woods looking for three 6s. It's no big deal," Anne Maria said warily as she backed through the graveyard. "Good news is, there aren't any owls hooting around. I think I'm safe," she told herself, pausing to smile. "Now, let's see if I can find any numbers..."
She turned around and started examining the nearest headstone, and the shot cut to a view from afar, the footage switching back to infrared. The monster serving as the camera's viewpoint blinked, and when it opened its eyes it had gotten much closer to the jersey girl, and had extended four sharp limbs with tiny claws on the end towards her...
Anne Maria's scream echoed through the cemetery, quickly catching the attention of Katie, DJ, Scarlett, and Dave as they looked up in shock. "Anne Maria?" Dave asked out in concern, the footage quickly skipping ahead to show all four arriving at the location the tanned young lady had been snatched from.
"I could've sworn she was just here," Dave said in confusion.
They all gasped. "Where'd she go?" Katie asked in mild terror.
"I'm just as concerned as you all are," Scarlett started, "but like what happened with Molly, we should move along and hope to catch up with them."
"I know you're trying to be reasonable," DJ said, "but you're rubbing me off the wrong way."
"Yeah, it's like you don't care about what could happen to our teammates," Dave told her.
"I'm just used to not expressing my emotions on occasion," Scarlett told her team members. "Thank you very much."
\
The scene flashed to the Rats, where Scott and Leshawna were next to grimy coffins propped upright against a couple statues.
"Find the souvenir, hide the souvenir, lose the game…" Scott went in to unlock the coffin, but was interrupted by Fang bursting out of the coffin with a menacing grin.
"AAAAHHHHH!" The devious ran away screaming when Fang moved to chase after him.
Geoff was looking at a grave that was open. "This grave smells like french fries. Weird, but I'm not complaining." He got shoved in thanks to Scott running away from Fang.
The camera followed Scott as he ran past two open graves, one of which with a mound of dirt in front of it.
The mutant shark followed his quarry, but when Scott leapt over the mound of dirt, Fang tripped over it. The shark fell into the open grave and growled.
"Why does this graveyard smell like fries?" Katie wondered aloud, following a scent as she walked through the cemetery. She soon came to the pit Geoff was in. "Maybe it's coming from there."
"Hello? Anybody? I need someone to help me down here!" Geoff called out.
Katie backed away a bit. "Did that hole just talk?"
"It's me. Geoff!" Geoff tried to denounce her belief.
"Oh right," Katie sighed in relief. "You're the guy with the cowboy hat."
"That's right," Geoff confirmed her statement. "I fell down this hole, and I'm covered in grease right now."
"So that explains the smell," Katie realized.
"Can you get me out of here?" Geoff begged her. "Grease doesn't mesh well with my shirt."
"I would, but I have to help my team right now," Katie declined. "One of your teammates could get you out. Bye," she left the scene.
"This sucks," Geoff whined, unaware of four maggots coming by the grave. As soon as they saw the grease and Geoff, they jumped in and attacked him, making him howl in agony.
\
The scene cut to Chris, who was watching feeds of both teams on a trio of monitors and laughing hysterically. "Will anyone make it to the spooky cave?" he turned and asked the camera, holding a covered cup with a straw in it. "And if so, how can they possibly make it all the way to the finish line? Less brain, more pain, when we return!" he said, finishing with a sip of his drink.
\
(Commercial Break)
\

My grandmother passed away in January. She was also a hoarder, so my grandfather has been Enthusiastically trying to find people to get rid of all her old stuff. We've all been going through the house and setting aside little piles of things we want to keep for ourselves if we can't take them right now but want them later, to keep them apart from the other things my aunt wants to sell.
I live in a very small apartment, and I also make all of my own clothing. My grandmother had several gorgeous old circular tablecloths that had just been sitting in a drawer somewhere, so I decided I wanted to take them and make circle skirts out of them so they wouldn't just sit in a drawer. As part of a recent social media partnership with another company, I also intended to make a blog post tutorial of my process of turning one of the tablecloths into a skirt. I had my grandfather set them aside for me and told him clearly that I wanted them and was very excited about turning them into skirts that I could wear regularly to work, but I didn't bring them home with me right away because I had a pile of other things I wanted, so I decided I'd make space for those things in my very small apartment before I brought them home with me.
Today, I asked my mother if she could bring those tablecloths down with her next time she came to visit me since I now have space for them in my fabric bin, and she told me that her sister apparently sold them. Her sister apparently doesn't understand why I'm upset and thinks it isn't a big deal. I have been really excited about making those skirts for a while now, and though I can buy another circular tablecloth from a thrift store, it won't be the same ones I specifically set aside and said I wanted. I made a half-joking comment about how my aunt should owe me the money she made from selling my things, she told me that was absurd because she's the one who went through the effort of finding someone to buy the things I had claimed.
This is made worse because my aunt has done something like this before. She sold some of my mothers old things without asking her in the past.
There was other fabric in the pile too that my grandmother had bought and never did anything with, really nice vintage fabric I can't get anymore. My aunt thinks I'm unreasonable for being upset but my grandmother adored that I made all my own clothes and talked about it frequently to other people so I know she would've much rather I made use of her tablecloths and fabric instead of them going to a stranger.

When I try to start the game, it crashes on startup with a white rectangle in the top left, and the window is named "dx11 (cooked) (not responding)". Sometimes I get to the title screen but when the game receives any input, it crashes.
Here are my logs

Microsoft Fabric- What, Why, Who, When, How

by Amit Chandak
Comprehensive article about Microsoft Fabric (20 min).
Summary:

• Microsoft Fabric provides a comprehensive solution for data management and analytics, enabling organizations to optimize their workflows and leverage the full potential of their data.
• Microsoft Fabric is a platform that offers a unified, lake-centric, and open solution for data analytics and AI. It promotes the concept of having only one copy of data stored in a central lake, eliminating unnecessary data replication and providing a true single source of data. By adopting this approach, organizations can streamline their data engineering process, simplify data management, and enable seamless integration with various Microsoft tools.
• Microsoft Fabric aims to redefine the data analytics landscape by providing a standardized format for data storage and utilization, maximizing the value of data assets, and empowering organizations to make informed decisions.
• The platform offers benefits to different types of customers, including greenfield customers, Azure Synapse customers, Azure Data Lake and Azure SQL customers, Power BI customers, and other cloud customers.
• It also caters to various roles within organizations, such as C-level executives, data architects/analysts, business analysts, and data engineers.

Read full article
​

Mastering Power BI

by Monil Panchal
Power BI step by step tutorial split into 6 episodes. Data samples included.

1. What is Power BI?
2. Load and transform data
3. Measures in Power BI
4. DAX part 1
5. DAX part 2
6. DAX part 3

Streamline Your Business Operations: Power BI Automation for Small Businesses

by Benedict Wallis
Power BI automation is presented as a solution for small businesses to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and stay competitive in a data-centric business landscape. (5 min)
Summary:

• Article emphasizes the importance of efficiency and streamlined operations for businesses, regardless of their size.
• It introduces Power BI, a business intelligence and data visualization platform developed by Microsoft, as a powerful tool that can help small businesses optimize processes, save time, and make data-driven decisions.
• The benefits of Power BI automation are discussed, including real-time data updates, automated data refresh, customizable dashboards and reports, and enhanced collaboration and accessibility.
• The text also explores how Power BI automation can streamline various aspects of small business operations, such as sales and revenue analysis, inventory management, financial analysis, and operational efficiency.
• Implementation considerations are highlighted, including data integration, security and privacy measures, training and support, and scalability for future growth.

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From Excel to Power BI: Unleashing the Magic of Data Visualization

by Haroon
The article presents a fictional story about a dedicated Excel user named Harold who is hesitant about transitioning to Power BI. The CEO of his company convinces him by narrating a story about a knight named Sir Spreadsheet who found success with Power BI’s data visualization capabilities. Inspired by the story, Harold embraces Power BI and becomes a legend in his company. (5 min)
Summary:
The article then lists seven prime differences between Power BI and Excel:

• Data Visualization: Power BI excels at creating visually appealing and interactive dashboards, while Excel focuses on organizing and manipulating data within spreadsheets.
• Scalability: Power BI efficiently handles large datasets, whereas Excel may become slower as the data volume increases.
• Real-time Data Analysis: Power BI can connect to live data sources and update dashboards in real-time, while Excel requires manual data entry or refreshing.
• Data Modeling and Relationships: Power BI offers robust data modeling capabilities, enabling users to create relationships between different data tables, while Excel has limited capabilities in this area.
• Collaboration and Sharing: Power BI provides seamless collaboration features for multiple users to work on shared dashboards and easily share reports, while Excel requires manual file sharing.
• Data Connectivity: Power BI offers extensive connectivity options to various data sources, whereas Excel may require additional configuration for certain sources.
• Advanced Analytics: Power BI incorporates advanced analytical features like predictive modeling and machine learning integration, while Excel’s analytical capabilities are more basic and rely on formulas.

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The Fundamentals of Creating Impressive BI Dashboard Designs

by Andrew Hubbard
Andrew highlights the importance of good dashboard design in maximizing data comprehension, decision-making capabilities, and fostering a data-driven culture within organizations.
Summary:
The article emphasizes the significance of good dashboard design in business intelligence (BI). It highlights the benefits of employing excellent design practices, including enhanced user experience, improved data comprehension, time and effort savings, and increased adoption and collaboration. It also discusses the pitfalls of neglecting dashboard design, such as confusing visuals, inefficient data communication, and user disengagement.
The article introduces the principles of Gestalt Psychology, specifically the laws of proximity, similarity, and continuity, which can be applied to create intuitive and effective BI dashboards.
Furthermore, the article provides essential rules for creating compelling BI tools, including defining clear objectives, prioritizing essential information, using appropriate visualizations, ensuring consistency, emphasizing clarity and simplicity, implementing responsive design, providing intuitive navigation, and incorporating context and storytelling. It emphasizes the importance of testing and iterating based on user feedback to continuously improve the design.
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My foster daughter is 4 & has pretty severe ADHD. I've noticed that if something goes into opaque bins or cabinets, closets, etc. she'll never touch it again. She also digs through her open toy bins to find what she wants and then struggles to put it all back. I don't have ADHD and my OCD manifests in organizing & arranging, so this is a new world for me.
What are some ADHD-friendly ways to arrange her toys & books so she can see them to play with and then easily put them away (vs having to complete several "steps" in finding the right bin, opening lids, etc.)? I've tried cubbies but she tends to try to shove everything into one. Is it building a lot of selves? Color-coding? Is it better to have less stuff at a time & swap toys in and out? Any tips are appreciated!

How do y’alls deal with those that routinely block the alley, for hours at a time?
I live mid-block. I have an alley neighbor that has a shorter pad in front of their 1 stall garage. A car fits, a truck would need to be juuust right. I suspect, they meet city regs by inches. Garage has been there for decades, it’s not new. Frequently- weekday, weekend, day, night, doesn’t matter, they are doing something that blocks the alley. Could be a garage cleanout, car washing or repairs, a cookout with large groups of people and tables and grills blocking the driving lane. Delivery and repair people. Trash bins that have tipped because. Bikes and toys, large trash items that don’t stay along the side. In the winter, this is the house that shovels snow into driving lane after the plow has gone through.
I’ve asked them to not block the alley. I’m met with… they don’t have any other place to do what they are doing. Or, they won’t be much longer, they are almost done, etc. Just excuses- because it happens all the time.
It’s just rude, selfish, and un-neighborly for all of us that use this shared space. This person owns their house, as do I.
Has anyone else dealt with this in their alleys? Clearly, they don’t care about those they live by. But also feel that escalating to the city will lead to retaliation.

To make it clear, I know, it's part ofthe game. I know and it happens. It already happened twice actually, but the first time they just got our cars :). And this time they got only the cheap loot. We know who they are. We play on US officials and they are players from another place who play when everyone is offline (read between the lines). They mostly got nothing, everything is buried and the only important storage was locked with my BCU lock, they just destroyed every storage we had, probably frustrated to get only shit loot :D ahaha. But, there is a problem, our loot is on the third floor, no stairs. How were they able to get there? It's all closed, nothing like a rock close to jump with a motorcycle like I saw in a video. Can you climb on people's head? We know any other trick or exploit they could have used? I just want to make my base is as annoying as possible to raid, nothing more. They got to work for the juicy loot right? :D. And hopefully, help others with your tips. So that's it, any tips or trick on how they did it so I can come up with a solution? Cheers.

Site and Significance
The following is an overview of a largely undisturbed late neolithic SLBMC site. The site represents an archetypical example of a small SLBMC village of the period. Several key technological developments from the period are showcased by this site; of particular note are the presence of a dedicated granary structure, handled axe heads, sickle heads, and seine nets.
Site Location
Village Surrounds
Village Layout
Overview of the Village Elements
1 – House 1; the largest house in the settlement, and believed to have been the dwelling of the main patriarch of the village who was inhumed within the large burial mound adjacent to the house. Built in an ovular shape, 7m in the major and 6m in the minor axes. It consisted of an outer ring of 9 wooden posts and two central wooden posts with a main beam between them, which provided a structure upon which thatched or straw roofing was placed. The interior would have been approximately 100mm-200mm lower than the surrounding ground level, and the floors would have been covered with straw and hides.
A central hearth between the two central posts was used for the preparation of food as indicated by the charred remains of animal bones found within the vicinity. A small area in the north-eastern quadrant of the structure features several grind stones covered in carbonized zizania flour, and show signs of heavy usage.
Main House Notable Finds Layout
1 – Central hearth; consisting of a depressed pit ringed by stones displaying significant charring.
2 – A ceramic figurine; depicting what is believed to be a larch tree, a common symbol found within SLBMC sites.
3 – A ceramic phallic figurine. Possibly a symbol of the primary male inhabitant of the residence.
4 – A handled flint axe head; one of the earliest examples from SLBMC sites along with those found in Structure 5.
5 - A flint knife with significant wear; likely discarded due to damage.
6 – A ceramic fertility figurine.
7, 8, 9 – Grind stones showing extensive wear.
10 – A damaged flint spearhead and a (likely ceremonial) cold worked tin spearhead.
11 – A large grouping of various ceramic, stone, and native metal beads
House Diagram
2-4, 6-7 – Houses 2-6; similar in style and construction to House 1, though somewhat smaller; ranging from 5m-4m in the major axis. The finds within the boundaries of these structures indicate a similar, though slightly lesser level of material wealth and status to those in House 1. It is presumed that these structures housed smaller related families of around 4-10 people.
5 – Storage structure; an ovular sunken storage structure; various tools were found within; the most notable finds included two sickle blades, and an axe head constructed for use with a wooden handle, representing some of the earliest known examples of these objects from SLBMC sites. It is believed that this structure would have been used to store common objects such as pottery, tools, seine nets (which were developed during the period) and tanned and untanned hides. Meat and other various foods may also have been stored, although there is little clear indication of this.
8 – Granary; this round structure is believed to be the earliest example of a structure used by the SLBMC as a granary. It consists of a series of six post holes set in a circular arrangement, with an approximate internal diameter of 4m. It is located adjacent to a midden that is largely composed of ceramic potsherds. Within the remains of the structure’s footprint large amounts of carbonized, unhusked rice were discovered, providing a clear indication of its purpose.
It is believed that the interior of the structure would have consisted of a wooden floor, upon which rice was stockpiled, although there is little direct evidence to indicate exactly how it was constructed.
9 – Enclosure; post holes and carbonised manure and straw, indicating an open or semi-covered enclosure for Water Bison.
10 – Burial mound; a typical SLBMC Larch Box Burial mound, approximately 4m in the minor axis and 10m in the major. Fragmentary remains of a 60-70 year old man with a 40-50 year old woman buried within the main casket inhumation at the centre of the mound; the fragmentary remains 2 females of ages 20-30, and 1 of 30-40 entombed were entombed within minor casket inhumations surrounding the main burial. Causes of death were unclear due to the fragmentary nature of the bones that had not decayed; the span of time between the inhumations are also unclear.
11 – A roughly central hearth or pyre, bounded by stones. Presumably used for outdoor communal activities, such as feasting and other rituals.
12 – Pitch Oven: the remnants of a stone-ringed Pitch Oven, used for the production of tar; typical design of the period, with a sloped bottom and outlet hole.
History of the Village
The village is believed to have been established over the summer months of a year. The group would have subsisted on hunting, foraging, and fishing upon arrival at the site. Fishing weirs would have been the first permanent construction, providing the new settlers with more steady supplies of fish. Relatively recently developed seine nets; several preserved fragments of which have been found within carrs along the former river course, would have assisted greatly with this too.
Following the establishment of steady supplies of fish, it is believed that timber would have been felled from the surrounding woodland in order to provide timber for constructing permanent dwellings, and fuel for slash-and-burn agriculture. After this, a series of damming weirs would have been constructed to raise the water level of the stream and slow its flow, allowing for the creation of of wetland zizania paddies along the dammed length of the stream.
Finally, basic irrigation ditches would have been dug out into low-lying areas of the surrounding partially-cleared woodlands, providing irrigation for small fields of upland zizania, tobacco, hemp, and other terrestrial crops.
These dietary staples would have been heavily supplemented by continued hunting, and a mixture of horticulture and foraging of wild plants and trees that had not cleared from the vicinity of the village during the initial slash-and-burn.
It is estimated that the village was occupied for a relatively brief period of time; approximately 10-20 years from establishment, to abandonment. Upon the death of the village patriarch, a larch burial mound was constructed over a period of approximately one year; this event may have coincided somewhat with the relative exhaustion of the local soil fertility, although this is unclear. The village appears to have been then abruptly abandoned; the structures deliberately burned and the damming weirs partially dismantled.
At some point after the abandonment, the course of the adjacent stream shifted, and the resulting oxbow lake silted up and became low-lying marshland, developing into the current carr. This left the site relatively undesirable for resettlement even after the soil fertility would have recovered, helping to explain the relatively undisturbed nature of the site.

So, two years ago I was pregnant with our first daughter. While at Costco, my husband spotted a giant green dragon mallow (Miles) and said "Our daughter clearly needs a giant dragon." And he came home with us. Miles quickly became very important as we used him in a weekly photo once she was born, and now that she is a year old, gets at least one photo a month with him.
We are expecting baby #2, and husband would like to get her her own mallow to also do growth photos with. Issue us I haven't seen jumbo mellows at Costco since! So I'm wondering if there are any other good spots to check.
Thanks in advance for the siggestions!

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using. * Gaming: DCS - Primary Use Case, newer titles, Division 2. What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes? * $1700 - $1800 When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy. * ASAP What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc) * ToweOS/monitor. I have a keyboard/mouse. Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location? * Texas, USA. If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated. * Keyboard/mouse. Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU? * Yes. Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc) * None. Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components? * White, but saving cost is my first priority.
Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference? * Yes. I need a licensed Windows copy. No preference though, whatever is best for gaming. Extra info or particulars: I am an export from the console world and trying to get into the world of PC gaming. I looked at the pinned message on this forum and am trying to build with this microcenter deal that I found in the message. https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006230/amd-ryzen-9-7900x,-asus-b650e-f-rog-strix-gaming-wifi,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-combo

I put a 32" monitor of my choice (currently available at Costco), but open to better recommendations for the same price.
Would be gaming at [email protected] Hz or [email protected].
My primary use case is DCS, but would like to try newer game titles if they interest me.
I created this setup from the part list in the micro center deal build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gR3K6r
Any help is appreciated.

First build, everything turns on, and the boot light comes on with no display. I’ve tried resetting the GPU, clearing CMOS, and only having one stick of ram in. All end where I began. I check PC part picker for compatibility, and everything comes through clear. I believe it might be something with my storage because I have a 250gb SSD from a pre build I used that had windows downloaded (and all my basic programs), and I just plugged it into my new motherboard with SATA cables. Looking for any help I can get.

This is my headcanon for the events following Suzerain as the game played out in my (communist) playthrough:
Disclaimer 1: This obviously includes many spoilers from the game.
Disclaimer 2: This story is written with storytelling and lore at the forefront, not necessarily gameplay accuracy.
(Part 2 is on my page if you can't find it elsewhere)
Disclaimer 3: This is only the first chapter (and backstory) of this headcanon story/fanfic/whatever you want to call it. I want to write more, but would like to see what people in the Suzerain community think about the writing so far and if they’d like to see more of it. :)
Background:
Anton Rayne got elected President of Sordland in his first term by promising progress and an end to the recession. In his term, he managed to fulfill these promises and more.
He ended the recession through several economic programs including an infrastructure program that included the building of a highway in Agnland, the distribution of stimulus checks for people in need, an agricultural revitalisation program in the city of Sarna, an economic revitalisation program in the greater region of Bergia, and the establishment of the Fair Trade and Competition Commission.
Rayne had also enacted his foreign policy that prioritised self-determination and non-intervention, which resulted in improved relations with many nations and many new trade deals with Wehlen, Agnolia, and Valgsland. In slight contrast with this policy, however, Rayne entered Sordland into the Contanan Security Pact. While this move alienated Sordland from some western-alligned nations such as Lespia and Arcasia, it increased trade and cooperation with nations of the east and many of the rising powers in Rika and Xina.
Rayne had also enacted gradual reforms of the economic direction of the country by nationalising several large corporations, most notably Gasom and Bergia steel. In order to temporarily appease the oligarchs, Rayne had through his nationalisation of Bergia steel, let Marcel Koronti, one of Sordland’s most powerful oligarchs, increase his power within his circle of oligarchs. He had also, through the extra income the state had earned from nationalisation and trade deals, been able to cut taxes for all, which further appeased the oligarchs. Rayne, as a communist, saw the oligarchs as a threat, however, he saw the sollists, nationalists, and fascists as a bigger threat that required a temporary appeasement of the oligarchs in order to focus on a larger threat within the nation. Towards the end of his term, however, when the old guard had in large part been brought down, Rayne removed the independence of Sordland’s central bank, a body of financial governing that had long been an extension of the power of the Lothenburg Group.
One of Rayne’s big promises of progressive reform included an increase in the healthcare and education budgets. This was also a promise Rayne was able to deliver on, and through the skillful leadership of education minister Ciara Walda and healthcare minister Paskal Beniwoll, the government was able to efficiently use this budget to make many positive changes to the education and healthcare systems in Sordland.
The increased healthcare budget was used to improve the quality of healthcare services provided in the country, especially in rural areas, as well as a complete subsidisation of dental care and prescription medicine for all and the relocation of doctors to rural areas. The Rayne administration also enacted several taxes on consumer products harmful to the health of the people, including a tax on tobacco and alcohol products.
The large educational reform that Rayne embarked on included a large scholarship program for impoverished families, the building of several hundred schools across rural areas of the country, and the relocation of teachers to rural areas. The reform also radically changed the curriculum of Sordish schools, with desollinisation of schools and an implementation of critical pedagogy and a larger focus on science, physical education, and the teaching of subjects unburdened by sollism. Rayne later established rural education institutes across rural areas of Sordland in order to further improve the availability and quality of education in rural Sordland.
The rights of women and minorities also became a critical issue for the Rayne administration. The first lady, Monica Rayne became a large figurehead in the battle against patriarchy and alongside Ciara Walda they established the Commission on the Status of Women and passed the women’s liberation act that included policies that helped victims of domestic violence, abolished the gender pay gap, affirmed equal access to education for all, and enacted maternity leave laws and state-funded daycare. The support of this commission and its policies, along with Rayne’s personal funding of the Sordish League of Women made them a loyal political ally to Rayne and his inner circle.
President Rayne also became known for his pro-Bludish sentiment that led to a political alliance with Mansoun Leke and the declaration of the minority rights act, the establishment of the minority rights commission that would be headed by Leke, and the granting of amnesty to soll-era political prisoners, many of which were Bludish activists.
Rayne’s other progressive reforms included a vast expansion of the sordish welfare program, that came to include the establishment of the Comission of Social Progress and Uplift, the workers rights act that gave better pay and better conditions to workers across Sordland, two new social benefits programs, one for the unemployed and one for impoverished families, as well as a complete subsidy of public transport and a lowering of the retirement age.
As a communist and subscriber to the ideas of Karlos Marcias, Rayne believed that for Sordland to enter a new age of socialism and communism, the power of the existing dictatorship of the bourgeoisie had to be toppled and replaced with a dictatorship of the proletariat. He saw the judiciary and legislature as being tools of the bourgeoisie. However, the presidency, now under a communist president, was Sordland’s chance for the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Rayne believed that he had to topple the bourgeois institutions of government, and replace them with new ones that represented the proletariat. During his first term, he started doing this with a very risky play. Namely reforming the constitution to give wide-ranging powers to the presidency while he continued to build a dictatorship of the proletariat.
The constitutional reforms included the replacement of the presidential veto with a pocket veto, removing the supreme court’s power to vote on constitutional amendments, removing the ability for the president to be impeached, decreasing the electoral threshold to 8% thus allowing Rayne’s Bludish and communist allies into the legislature, removing the requirement of reviews of presidential decrees, removing the immunity of judges, and abolishing the honorary position and immunity of Tarquin Soll.
Rayne used his new powers to crush the reactionary forces of Sordland, starting with a complete reshuffling of the supreme court. As an extension of the removal of Tarquin Soll’s immunity, Soll was then put on trial in front of a new supreme court that found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. After Soll’s imprisonment the Rayne administration started their de-sollinisation efforts in full. Rayne also established the anti-corruption police that he used to investigate corruption within the old guard.
The ACP found evidence of several sollists collaborating with the Young Sords in order to assassinate communist politician Bernard Circas. The investigation led to the arrest of many sollist politicians, most notably minister of interior Lilias Graff and former members of the supreme court Orso Hawker and Heron Garaci. With the old guard crippled, Rayne took advantage of the situation in order to change the manifesto of the United Sordland Party to move away from sollism and towards socialism.
In order to further consolidate his power, Rayne used his presidential decree powers to purge the general staff and thus remove the military’s power in internal political affairs. In the aftermath of this purge, minister of defence Iosef Lancea was also made commander of the sordish armed forces in place of Valken Kruger. Rayne also established the Sordish Radio and Television Supreme Council that he primarily used to further rein in the propaganda spread by the old guard, liberals and oligarchs. Rayne also started funding the Red Youth, an organisation he had previously been a member of, thus winning him another political ally outside of government.
The rising threat of Rumburg was also handled during Rayne’s first term. Using his diplomatic skill as a former diplomat in the foreign ministry, Rayne de-escalated the conflict and made Rumburg appear as an aggressor on the world stage. Any uncertainty about the threat of invasion was then put to rest when Rayne entered Sordland into a military alliance with Valgsland and later joined the Contanan Security Pact.
But as elections approached instability within the Rayne cabinet appeared. First with a political scandal that led to the arrest of Illana Vance, the Rumburg spy that had posed as President Rayne’s assistant. This scandal also led to Vice President Petr Vectern resigning, retiring from politics, and going to rehab. Lucian Galade was appointed Vice President in his stead. The instability continued however, with the resignation of several ministers including minister of economy Symon Holl due to ideological differences with the President, minister of health Paskal Beniwoll due to concern for the President’s machiavellian tactics, and minister of justice Nia Morgna and minister of education Ciara Walda both due to the President’s constitutional reforms.
This flood of resignations coupled with the arrest of minister of interior Lileas Graf and the retirement of foreign minister Deivid Wisci left a vacuum of power within the administration that Rayne had a clear plan on how to fill after his reelection.
After the election, the results came in with a big change in the political environment of Sordland. The USP came in first with a slight increase in votes since the 1953 election, the NFP came in second, thus becoming the second biggest party in the country, and the PFJP suffered a loss, losing a significant amount of votes to the USP, BFP, WPB, and CPS. The Communist party of Sordland finally made the threshold and due to the popularisation of communism under the Rayne administration they were able to become a legislative power to rival the PFJP. The Workers party of Bludia were unable to make the threshold however, due to the Bludish vote being split between the WPB and the BFP.
As Rayne took to the stage for his victory speech, he reaffirmed his commitment to a turn to the left and to the east and promised further expansion of Sordland’s welfare system and political and social reforms. He declared that this was the start of the Sordish Revolution.
Chapter 1: Inauguration Day
In the aftermath of Rayne’s victory speech and after meeting with the people of Sordland at a USP rally, Anton Rayne entered the black presidential car and was met with a smile through the rear-view mirror and the eternally joyful voice of his driver, Serge, greeting him: “That was a great speech Mr. President, I am glad you got re-elected. Where to now?” Rayne smiled slightly as he always did when hearing the voice of the man who had become one of his closest friends during the last four years. “I am glad to hear that Serge, thank you for all of your support these years, I am really grateful for all your kind words.” Rayne took a slight pause before continuing “We’re off to 137 Wisci Avenue.” “Right away, sir.”
As the two sat in the car in momentary silence, Anton regretted having to leave his wife and daughter at the rally with Lucian. But Monica was strong, he thought to himself. She would be able to handle herself against Lucian if he were to try anything. After another few moments of silence, it was finally broken when Anton realised this wasn’t the same car he had been chauffeured around in earlier in the day. It was similar enough he hadn’t noticed, but it was newer and frankly more comfortable to sit in. “When did you get a new car, Serge?” “Finally noticed it, eh Mr. President?” He continued “But it isn’t my car, it’s yours, you’re the President, I am merely your driver” “The car was a gift. Sent from Chancellor Hegel in Valgsland, as a congratulatory gift for winning the elections. It seems you made quite the impact on him when you visited him in Haelm.” Anton adjusted his posture in his seat and asked Serge what he thought of the Chancellor. “Oh, I don’t follow the politics of other countries that closely sir, but if he made a deal with you he must be a smart man.” Rayne, slightly tired after the rally, simply replied “You’re too kind, Serge” and resorted to staring out the window as the ride continued through the streets of Holsord.
After a while, the two men in the car started to see a gradual decline in the quality of the houses and infrastructure on the streets as they got further from the hill of pride. Once the car rolled onto Wisci Avenue there seemed to be a slight improvement in the quality of the street, however it was still a far cry from the hill of pride. Suddenly the car stopped. “Here we are, sir. 137 Wisci Avenue.” Before Anton could say thank you, Serge was already outside of the car opening the door for his president. Anton stepped out and was then able to thank his driver for the pleasant drive and conversation.
He stepped onto the cracked pavement as Serge got back into the car. Anton instinctively put his hands in his trouser pockets, only to find a packet of cigarettes there. As he took them out of his pocket he was reminded of the time he had caught his son, Franc, smoking, and he further was reminded of the promise he made to Franc to stop smoking. Granted it had become easier to stop after the tobacco tax had been implemented, but it was still a difficult task. Anton promised himself he would call Franc when he got home to see how he was faring in medical school in United Contana. He looked back at Serge and called out his name. “Could you take this and throw it away for me?” Anton threw his last packet of cigarettes to Serge who nodded back at him in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Serge. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Anton said as he walked into the building ahead.
It was a two-story flat-building, more specifically it was the home of Ciara Walda, among other people. As the President walked into the building he was surprised by the interior, which was far more well kept than he expected. As he walked up the stairs however, there was still a quite distinct creak with every step he took. When Anton reached the top he stood directly in front of a door that said “1B Walda Residence”. Rayne knocked on the door and was soon met with a slightly dishevelled former minister of education. Ciara looked her usual self for the most part, aside from looking quite a lot less put together than usual. She was sporting an old bathrobe and slippers, as opposed to her usual political uniform of a pantsuit or dress. “Mr. President?” Ciara blurted out, trying to hide her slight surprise at the situation. “Please Ciara, you don’t work for me anymore, and I know you don’t care for formalities.” Ciara slightly adjusted herself and tried to put on her poker face she had become known for during her time in politics. “Would you care for a drink, Anton?” She didn’t wait for a reply however and simply entered her home, leaving Anton to catch the door and come inside.
“Tea would be nice” Anton replied as he walked into Ciara’s flat. He heard a call from the kitchen “Already started making it.” Anton let out a slight chuckle at Ciara’s unique demeanour as he followed her voice to find his way to the kitchen. The flat was a lot nicer than he expected. Far from luxurious, but it was nicely decorated and brightly lit with large windows, something that was somewhat surprising given that this flat belonged to Ciara Walda of all people.
As Anton found the kitchen, Ciara had already moved into the living room with two cups of tea in her hands. Anton sat down across from her and thanked her for the tea as she sat it down on the coffee table. “I suppose congratulations are in order” she said with a barely detectable sadness in her voice. “I hope congratulations will be in order for you too” Anton said, giving Ciara a slightly puzzled look on her face. Before she could ask what the President meant, he continued “Rejoin my cabinet. I know you miss it.” He paused for a brief moment, “And I need you.” he continued. “You are a talented politician, but you’ve been able to keep your ideals. I need ministers like you. I know you don’t approve of my methods but who will you support if not me? Ricter? Kibener? Leke and Stahler don’t stand much of a chance without my support, so by supporting either of them, you’d be supporting me still. Why not take that opportunity to rejoin the cabinet and make some real change again. Continue the reforms you started with me and Monica.”
Ciara looked down for a few seconds before replying “You know why I left. You know I cannot stand by and support your constitutional reforms, they aren’t democratic and-” Before she could continue, Anton cut her off “What would be democratic then?” He paused before continuing to speak “To give power to an indirectly elected assembly of capitalist leeches and fascists who want to kill half the country and oppress the other? To keep the institutions put in place by a sour old man who wants to stop the world from moving on?” That last comment about Soll made Ciara chuckle slightly. “I’ve never heard you talk about him like that.” Anton replied with a smile “Well, I couldn’t bad-mouth that old fool too much when his lackeys still had such a firm grasp on the country.”
“Listen, I know you might not support my constitutional changes, but-” Before he continued he stopped to rephrase himself “You are familiar with Marcian dialectical materialism I assume?” Ciara looked slightly offended. “Of course I am” “Who do you think you’re talking to?” She said with a slight scoff. “So then you know that class struggle is an antagonistic struggle. You know that capitalists won’t give away the means of production willingly. Oppressors must be taken down by force, not by the systems that gave them power in the first place.” Anton sighed “I know it isn’t ideal, but it isn’t supposed to be. If Karlos Marcias taught us anything, it’s that ideals don’t bring change, material conditions do. Reality does. And reality is messy. Ideals are pure, but as long as they remain that way they are just ideas, they cannot bring real change if they cannot exist within material reality. What does this idealist notion of liberal democracy mean compared to the real material change that comes with socialism?” Ciara sat back on her couch and sighed deeply, looking at Anton the entire time. “I still don’t know, it just doesn’t seem right.” They sat in silence for over a minute before Anton got up and sighed for a final time in defeat. “Thank you for your service to the people of Sordland, we’re going to miss you Ciara. Both me and Monica”. Ciara looked back down at her floor after Anton stopped talking and started walking towards the door.
“Wait” she said as he was on his way out. Anton turned back around. “You stood by me in my educational reforms, you stood by me-” she stopped for a moment “Us, you stood by us as we fought for the rights of our gender.” She looked away out her window for a brief few seconds, “I’m not sure even Leke or Stahler would’ve done that. At least to such an extent. I owe you at least another chance. Both you and Monica” she said with a slight glimmer in her eyes. ”Thank
you Ciara. Really, thank you. Because between Gus, Iosef and Lucian, I could really use an ally in my cabinet” They both smiled at each other as Anton exited the flat. As he started walking down the stairs he heard the door open again. As he looked back Ciara bid him farewell “Good luck, Anton.” “You too, Ciara.”
As Anton walked out of the building he saw Serge leaning on the side of the car. As he noticed Anton he quickly stood upright and opened the backseat door for his President, bowing slightly as he did it. “I got a call while I was waiting for you sir. Your wife and daughter have left the rally along with your cabinet and are on their way to the maroon palace for the celebration dinner.”
While Anton’s first term had been ceremonially opened with a grand ball at the maroon palace, the event had ended catastrophically with the assassination of Bernard Circas, which drew a lot of bad press to the tradition. It had already been criticised before for its over-the-top extravagance, a criticism Anton agreed with. However, the event still occurred during Rayne’s first inauguration as it was still a quite popular affair, particularly with sollists who wanted to honour the traditions of the nation, and with oligarchs who wanted to take the opportunity to cosy up to politicians. But with the assassination, and the loss of power suffered by sollists and oligarchs during the first Rayne administration, it became easier, and frankly more popular, to replace the event with a more modest one. Namely a televised dinner with the President and his cabinet, along with their families.
Due to the wave of resignations at the end of Anton’s first term however, the dinner might come across as a little too modest though. Especially with Lucian who was married to his work, and Iosef who was married to his own idealised version of Sordland. It was unclear if Ciara would attend. She definitely knew about the event, as she was one of the people campaigning for an end to the inaugural ball. She was welcome to attend as she was to rejoin the cabinet, but Anton hadn’t thought to ask her. Especially as she wasn’t fond of any sort of ‘style over substance’ meeting.
Anton was brought out of his deep thoughts as Serge cleared his throat, and he realised he’d stood there for a solid half a minute. He shook his head for a moment and saw a bin in the corner of his eye that he hadn’t noticed stood next to the building he’d walked into. Anton noticed his packet of cigarettes laying there along with another pack that looked just as newly thrown away. He smiled to himself and walked into the car, letting Serge close the door behind him and get back into his own seat in the front.
“You trying to quit as well Serge?” The president’s driver looked shocked for a moment, as Anton realised what that might’ve sounded like. “Cigarettes.” he assured Serge. “Oh! I got a tad confused there for a second Mr. President.” he nervously tapped the steering wheel as he started the car's engine. “Yes! I’ve decided to quit Mr. President. I couldn’t have done it without you though! I saw the press conference you and Mr. Beniwoll did on television before he resigned, warning of the dangers of tobacco.” Anton grinned slightly as he heard Paskal’s name, before Serge continued. “And as I noticed you were throwing away your last pack, I thought I’d do the same. Follow the example of a great leader.”

Part 6 of “Destination; Wriss”
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The nature of Predators” Thank you for the story!
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
Our armored convoy sped down the road. Its bumps and jostles made sitting comfortably rather difficult. Maya tried not to bounce off of the seat across from me. As her eyes locked onto mine in a competition for dominance. She started to shake her fist at me and I returned the gesture in kind. After the third maybe fourth shake on account of the rough ride we thrust our arms outwards at each other, and she held her fist in the air while I gently covered her paw with my own flat one.
“You are too good at this game Elva! It’s not fair!” My tail started to wag as best it could on the seats-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 24 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
The growing burning sensation and throbbing in my head and body grew into an unbearable pain. I peeled my face off of the pavement to the sound of gunfire, explosions and low flying ships. My attention was immediately drawn to the inferno that was a burning town around me.
James and Alexander had taken cover behind the bombed out husk of the first armored vehicle in our convoy while the other had been pulled over to the side to give us a makeshift fort. I started to crawl to their position when I noticed Maya laying next to me. I gently laid a paw on her to ask where I was needed and she didn’t move.
A large piece of metal had penetrated her helmet and was jutting out of the side. I started to examine her wounds only to look into her eyes and see that her soul had already flown into the night. My paws found their way to her neck but could not find a pulse. I started to try and do chest compressions.
One.Two.Three. Gunshots whizzed by my head forcing me to duck. As I laid against her I could already feel that her body had begun to cool. I was too late.
I can feel my heart begin to race. My breathing became frantic. I was panicking or going into shock and both of those will kill me right now. I scanned for anyone I could approach and steady myself with. Sergeant Amélia and her squad were pinned down almost [50 yards] away guarding the war reporters and civilians. Thankfully I found Alexander and Jamie were a lot closer and if I crawled I could maybe get there safely. I held my breath as I started towards them under incoming fire. The sounds of screaming civilians sent pangs of fear through my body begging me to stand up and run. A Gojid did just that and fell to the ground headless, and set an example of what panicking would bring to me.
The only thought I could find was to observe my surroundings and react accordingly. Looking around as I crawled painfully slowly, I saw the Venlil reporter from Dad’s news crew had set up a camera and was desperately trying to record what was happening. Bjorn took a shot to the arm and fell to the ground. Their medic pulled him to the side and started to treat him. I could hear the unmistakable scream of an Arxur bomber followed by another vehicle exploding.
I pulled myself up next to Jamie who genuinely smiled at me. “OH THANK GOD! I THOUGHT YOU DIED TOO!” Several shots punctured through the old vehicle that was our cover. I looked to my alien friend to displace my fear only to see the same fear looking back at me.
Before I could respond Alexander screamed “GET DOWN THEY’RE MAKING ANOTHER PASS!” followed by the screaming Arxur death machine swooping down at us again. Another explosion that thankfully didn’t take anyone's lives, but still seemed to put us all closer to death by obliterating our cover.
I raspily tried to ask “What's going on?!? Last I remember I was in the back of the transport!” The three of us tried to hug the ground as best we could as our cover was further reduced to molten slag.
Our Sergeant slapped Jamie on the back and pointed to a nearby building. “CRAWL NOW OR WE DIE HERE!” I started to envy Humans and their clothes as we crawled through flaming debris and scattered glass into the bombed out ruins of an old arcade.
Power had yet to die in the city so the cold blast of air ran across my body in stark contrast to the fires outside. The sounds of arcade jingles trying to tempt the passersby to play them failed to drown out the screaming, explosions and gunfire in the chaos that is now a second full blown invasion.
Alexander took a raspy breath. “Where is Luca? I never found him!”
Memories of Luca sitting towards the cab of our transport teasing Maya flooded back into the forefront of my mind. “He was sitting near the cab of my transport… Did anyone else make it out?”
Alexander shook his head. “No… We need to keep moving and fall back to base. Jamie, take point and lets try and leave through a back exit and circle around to Amélia’s squad. Elva stay behind me.”
The three of us made our way to the back of the store. A mild whimpering came from a nearby door and distracted us for a brief moment. Alexander waved for Jamie to head to the sound, who followed it to a small broom closet. Slowly Jamie opened the door to a small trio of children. One Gojid, one Mazic, and one Nevok screamed as they beheld the heavily armed Marines.
Both of the marines stepped aside and looked to me for help. By the time my first paw stepped forward the three children rushed me and quickly herded behind me. I turned to them and did my best to sound confident “Ok you three. Things are really dangerous right now but we can’t stay here. We have to go around and regroup with the other marines and retreat to safety ok? Stay behind me and do as I tell you ok?”
I could not make out the words the children said, but I could only hope they would listen as we marched forward. The door at the back of the building led to a small alley that was thankfully clear of hostiles. Jamie led the way and Alexander guarded our flank while I herded the children and tried to keep them quiet. One blind turn and all that separated us from reuniting with the rest of our escort was one empty street.
I felt the M̴a̸z̸i̵c̸ ̶c̶h̶i̴l̵d̵ ̴p̶r̵e̵s̴s̵ ̵i̵n̷t̸o̴ ̴m̴y̸ ̴b̵a̵c̴k̸ ̴a̶s̷ ̵t̵h̵e̶y̴ ̵s̸a̶w̵ ̶t̶h̶e̴i̸r̷ ̸m̵o̴t̸h̵e̶r̵ ̴b̸e̵i̴n̶g̶ ̸p̸r̶o̴t̷e̶c̴t̸e̴d̷ ̴b̴y̴ ̸A̸m̴é̶l̶i̸a̷’̸s̸ ̵s̸q̵u̴a̵d̵.̴ ̴W̷i̷t̶h̸ ̷a̶ ̶m̶i̶x̸t̶u̵r̶e̸ ̴o̸f̸ ̶p̶a̶n̶i̴c̶ ̷a̸n̸d̸ ̷h̸o̶p̵e̷ ̴t̴h̴e̸y̴ ̸s̷h̵o̴u̵t̶e̴d̸ ̴“̸M̶O̷M̴M̶Y̶!̴”̶ ̶a̶n̷d̴ ̷s̵p̷r̶i̷n̷t̶e̴d̶ ̶o̴u̴t̷ ̷o̴f̴ ̶m̸y̴ ̴r̷e̴a̸c̶h̶ ̴a̵n̸d̶ ̸s̷a̴f̵e̸t̵y̶ ̷i̷n̶t̴o̸-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 7 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
M̵y̵ ̶h̵e̷a̸r̷t̵ ̵w̸a̸s̸ beating far faster than what was healthy for a Venlil. I handed the b̶l̸o̵o̷d̷ covered Nevok to their mother and tried to shake myself out of shock. I watched through hazy eyes as B̶j̸o̴r̸n̶,̷ ̵F̷r̴a̶n̵c̵i̴s̷c̶o̴ ̶a̷n̷d̷ ̶M̷a̸r̴i̵a̵,̵̧͇̀̑ were dragged back into cover. My paws made their way to Bjorn's body and began to work to stitch up his wounds. I felt a firm hand grab my shoulder and pull me off.
Alexander stared into my eyes and shook his head. His glass blue eyes spoke of the pain he was feeling while his brow tried to hide his rage. Alexander looked up to the rest of our group and shouted “FALL BACK!” and the marines started to cover our retreat. One group would stay behind and suppress the Arxur that are stalking us with drooling maws while the other group fled to set up a new fall back point and defend their retreat.
A large explosion sounded in the distance and the radios we were all carrying came to life with the sounds of hundreds of UN troops desperately trying to communicate. By some method unknown to me Pullay managed to discern information about another group retreating not far outside of town as well as a rendezvous point for larger scale transport back to the base. Slowly we moved block by block and made our way to what we hoped to be our salvation.
Despite our group's best efforts and cohesion, the Greys are relentless. Hundreds of cattle ships descend from the sky every hour. Every quarter claw we spent fighting, the Greys were destroying the Cradle and whittling us down to nothing.
We fought our way down the street. No bodies littered the town yet, like in the aftermath videos the Greys would taunt us with. We drew closer to the corner of the block. Yet in an instant several gray reptilians appeared from around the corner and opened fire without any hesitation. I watched another medic take several shots to their torso before the Grey’s suffered a similar fate. I rushed to their side only to find again that I was too late.
Amélia ordered us to advance. We could not stop here. Jamie jogged beside me as we all scanned for any sign of hostiles “We are coming back for them. We just have to regroup first.”
We only got halfway between blocks when more shots rained down upon us from the rooftops. Before I could even see where they came from the Humans made a small dinging sound and hurled rocks onto the roofs. No one but the humans would have predicted the roofs exploding sending red slabs of cannibals sliding down the walls.
I took stock of our situation again. This time a young Gojid couple were covered in the blood of another civilian. I sprinted to them “Look at me! Don’t think about it! Just focus on me!” I managed to stop them and a few others from fleeing, but watched in horror as half of our civilians started to stampede the very way we came. I tried to shove the few we had left after the marines and finally got our group making progress again.
The sounds of gunfire and screams came from behind us and we all started to move a bit faster. Several marines noticed movement in the windows only to lower their weapons when Gojid’s appeared. I and Pullay approached them. “Come with us now! We are evacuating and can’t hold this position!” Yet they didn’t move, their eyes locked onto the marines. Pullay spoke calmly to them “You can come with the Humans who won’t harm you OR you can stay with the Arxur who WILL make sure your deaths are as PAINFUL as possible. Make a choice now, WE are LEAVING.”
Another group of Arxur rounded the corner, but this time had no clue we were here and were cut down with them only returning a few shots. We led our new civilians to the herd. They had little difficulty with the decision after that. A mysterious fate is better than the one we all know.
An errant Arxur round had found its way into our group and embedded itself into Jamie’s rifle, throwing it out of his hand. He picked it up only to let out a curse and threw his destroyed rifle to the ground before pulling a folding shovel out of his pack. With a few practiced motions he unfolded it and gripped it with both hands. I begged the stars and sun to keep him safe. “You can’t be considering using THAT as your weapon?!?”
A devilish grin spread across his face. “Don’t worry! I’m just using this until I can scavenge one off of a dead Croc!” Alexander ordered us to shut up and move out. We continued to slowly retreat from this damned town. The next ambush came sooner than we expected. We didn’t have enough time to even clear the block before the fighting started again. If it weren’t for Jamie pulling me into cover I don’t know if I would be amongst the dead now.
While the Arxur were relentless, they were also apparently stupid. Every ambush they had pulled off was thwarted when they began to sprint towards our civilians. The trained marines had almost no trouble landing their shots. I half expected to see more civilians stampede again, but it appeared they had learned what happens to a stampeding herd.
Finally we could see the edge of the farming town. The hope of reinforcements as well as a way to safety reinvigorated us for the final push. Yet that hope was quickly dashed when the Greys sprang their final ambush. Three vehicles in front of us exploded blocking the street. The route’s right and left had been blocked with destroyed vehicles and Arxur were pouring out of the buildings behind us with happy looks on their faces.
Jamie had half a second to scream “FUCK!” as rounds started to sail at us. This time the Arxur did not blindly charge us. They stayed behind cover. Any explosives lobbed at them were fled from and into cover that protected them from human fire. Instead of Arxur on both sides of us, they made sure not to risk shooting their own soldiers… OH BY THE STARS! Those weren’t ambushes. Those were just raiders running into us. THIS is them actually planning!
We scrambled for any cover we could. Jamie crouched near me while we both could only uselessly watch our friends and charges die. The Nevok mother sobbed whilst holding her only child, Papa’s reporter friend desperately started to broadcast to whoever could hear us, Amélia pulled Pullay’s orange-soaked body into cover and I finally found Alexander laying in a slowly expanding crimson pool out of anyone’s reach.
This time I watched as our marines fell one after another. I watched shots land near civilians forcing them out of cover only to die in an instant. We were actually trapped this time, without so much as a chance to fight back.
An explosion landed nearby raining dirt down upon us. For some stars forsaken reason the reporter decided now was a good time to start a news broadcast so the entire galaxy could see every human die and fail to stop the Greys!!! He started to shout into his camera “I AM CURRENTLY WITH A GROUP OF MARINES NEAR THE CITY OF WIEREWOOD-”
My pulse began to race as I watched a red puff come from Jamie’s arm and leg before he collapsed onto the ground. Fuck the consequences I can’t lose him too! I sprinted to his side as the heat from several plasma rounds threatened to end my life. His leg was the first thing I saw. A round had gone straight through his femur, searing it in half. I ripped the Saline/anesthetic container out of my aid kit and flushed the wound of debris. As quickly as I could I packed the wound with gauze and started to bind it. His blood started to stain my paws red, as I realized I was out of sterile gloves. I begged for whatever was listening to not let it get infected but with it as fixed as I could m̸a̸n̶a̴g̴e̷ ̸a̶t̸ ̶t̵h̴e̷ ̷m̴o̷m̴e̵n̸t̷.̶ ̶I̷ ̴w̶e̷n̷t̵ ̵f̶o̴r̴ ̵h̷i̶s̸ ̶a̶r̵m̵,̵ ̵w̶h̷i̴c̷h̸ ̷p̵u̵l̴l̸e̷d̸ ̶s̵t̴r̸a̸i̶g̵h̶t̸ ̶o̸u̸t̴ ̸o̷f̴ ̷h̶i̸s̷ ̴s̷l̸e̴e̵v̵e̸-̴
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 2 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
T̸h̸e̴ ̸A̷r̴x̶u̷r̶ ̷t̵h̴a̴t̴ ̵h̴a̶d̸ ̴s̵t̸e̸pped out from hiding spoke to me. “Well, well well! What do we have here! Little pet taking care of master? Don’t let me stop you prey! Patch him up and the Chief Hunter wants to see what all the noise… is… about… they’re predators… OH SHIT.” was the last words that would ever come from that abomination onto sapience. I could feel my teeth break as I snarled with every bit of anger I could muster. My pistol left its holster and aligned with that fucker’s head in a heart beat. I pulled the trigger as it started to charge me. I watched a hole rip through its neck then I watched the rest of my shots miss.
With a wide sweep of its arm I felt its claws dig into my flesh. I felt my body lift off of the ground. I watched the world move slowly underneath me. I watched it slowly come up to meet me.
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 32 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
I screamed as I took in a long deep breath and pain jolted through my body. I forced myself to look at my abdomen and orange flesh- my intestines were hanging out. A familiar scarred face of the man I forced into a medical examination came to my side holding my medkit. “The- the TOradOL/SAliNE! The TorADol/SaLINe! Gotta clean- clean guts first! Flush it over!”
The rebuilt human started to douse my guts in the pain relieving saline yet despite its name only pain rang through before the drugs kicked in. “Next- slOWLy- put them back instartingatone- end and working them in-” I controlled my breathing as he had to slowly pull my body apart to reinsert my guts. Thank you stars the pain meds are kicking in. I don’t want to feel this.
“Flush again… and get the medi-foam can.” It took a painfully long time for him to realize what I needed him to do. He turned the can upside down and inserted it into my wound. I suppressed a scream but still bucked as the fluid filled my abdominal cavity hopefully flushing out any debris.
The bionic man held me down as I started to reflexively kick. He picked the lid off of the bio-foam can and activated a small amount to come out. He took a moment to read the directions and looked to me “sorry” before he jammed it down as well. I knew he had to but I still cursed him out of pure reflex. The foam expanded and filled the gaps in. If I had a perforated intestine it would spill its contents into the foam pouch instead of my body.
“Now- the- stitches- SEw- me- together- tightly!-” He took the pre-threaded needle and started to dig it into my flesh. The simple guide on the lid of my kit helped to guide his hand. One painful pull after another, I felt myself come back together. I focused on anything else. I turned my head to see the Nevok mother stepping onto a transport still holding her child as safely as she could. Jamie was being loaded onto a stretcher with a few bandages I know I didn’t do. I let out a small sigh of relief at the small sign he still lived but lost it a moment later.. Amélia leaned against a car as crimson fluid flowed from her mouth.
I tracked my friends in my mind. All that was left of our little group was Jamie and myself now. The memories of our squad started to flood back in as I felt my pulse drop. I’m blacking out. I’ve lost a lot of blood. Need to spike the blood pressure. Need to find the blood loss and stop it. My mouth opened to speak-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 13 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
I DESPERATELY kicked as a wave of panic flowed through me. I could feel something holding me down stopping me from moving. A scared human face filled my vision and the mouth moved and words came out. The overwhelming urge to run coursed through my body. I desperately searched for anything that would help. The human held a small bag of synth blood in the air. I was partially strapped to a gurney. I turned my head and saw an empty vial of adrenaline.
That’s what happened. Pulse dropped. Blood transfusion. Adrenaline shot to keep the heart pumping. Panic is normal. That’s what adrenaline does. Breath ELVA. Breath. I could feel the panic start to subside. Two medics came over and started to lift me up. Once again Kaeden spoke but I couldn’t quite make it out.
My hearing began to return and I could hear someone shout. “We are out of room! Can’t take anyone else with us!” another voice began to shout “We can’t leave anyone here! They won’t make it back in time! We all have to leave now!”
“We don’t have a choice! Either some of us get out or none of us get out! And these people won’t survive!”
“I-I’ll stay!” The small Venlil reporter for Prime news hopped off of the transport. “I-I need to cover this.” Another marine jumped off. “I volunteer.” I watched as a few more followed him. Their faces were a mixture of pride, terror and confidence that left me feeling like they might just survive this suicide mission. The scarred, gravitationally challenged man’s words finally reached my ears. “It looks like you have enough room for the civilians now. Good luck and stay safe.”
I felt fear coursing through my veins as I shakily searched my UN provided poncho and grabbed two things; My spare small medkit and a few magazines for my pistol. “Take these! My pistol must have landed somewhere near where I did. Stay safe.”
It might have been the multiple concussions I received but the once-mutilated human looked to soften up for a moment as he took my small offer of help. He and the other volunteers disappeared out of sight as I was dragged onto the transport. The roar of the engine drowned out all chatter that might have given me some small comfort about abandoning the volunteers to their suicide mission.
All that kept me company was the bouncing of the transport, the sounds of explosions, Jamie’s unconscious body, as well as the realization that I was a medic that failed to save anyone.
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I’d like to take a moment to thank u/CrusingNW for all the help proofreading several of these chapters. Every time I think I’ve managed to write something without 10 errors in it and they just go through and make it red. It’s really been a big help! I’d also like to thank u/RebelHero for letting me use Kaeden! It’s one of a few crossovers I hope I get to do! (also Elva does know his name from adding the examination to his medical records) And I can’t forget u/Thirsha_42 for working with me on an upcoming crossover!
As with all of my fanfics this is considered creative commons by myself so feel free to grab anything from my stories to use in your own works! I would appreciate a shout out for this but that isn’t required.
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Will be in the comments or something. I don’t even know anymore.
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I'm in OTR training right now, and kind of planning out organization for when I get my own truck, it'll likely be a cascadia.
I plan to sleep on the bottom and use the entire top bunk as storage. Preferably some sort of either latching shelves or cabinets, secure from opening, but not requiring a key to open. Locking would be fine but not the kind where you must open it with a key. I could secure a large unit with a winch strap.
don't want to have to climb up much to access from the top, would like to have front-access to whatever's up there. Surfing Amazon, wondering what you guys use or recommend that's better / more efficient than just a bunch of tote bins
Thanks!

All done :)
Hello,
I'm doing a bit of a clear-out and giving away a few small items. Free to first commentor who is happy to pay for postage to the their country from the UK. It would be a great first set for someone just getting into FPs, especially still at school or college :)
- Lamy Nexx (A nib) with converter and Bic Criterium 2mm lead holder, which matches quite nicely. The lid cracked, so the clip is super-glued back on
- Pelikan 4001 blue-black (over 95% full)
- Bic nib holder and box of Easterbrook 314 relief nibs and a few other miscellaneous nibs
See photos and date stamp: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/52949570714/in/dateposted-public/
Best wishes!

After reading up on lots of older posts here and google, i'm still having huge issues with the "system storage" as i have a 128gb storage total, and 92gb is used by the system storage. I've cleared the cache partition as well as app caches, repaired apps in recovery mode, deleting apps, emptying gallery bin etc but nothing seems to work.
If anyone can throw out any other suggestions it would be much appreciated as its going up more by the day...

I am currently stuck between pursuing engineering and business in the future, and it's really giving me a headache because even I myself don't know what I truly want. On one hand, I am interested in renewable energy, and I can discuss with others about it very willing and was in an environmental club too. Knowing this, one possible career path I wanted was to be an innovator of environmental related technology such as creating more efficient solar panels or energy storage systems, basically technologies to help solve climate change. However, I did not study physics since my lower secondary, and I do not know if I truly like engineering.
On the other hand, I have been fiddling around with stocks and quite like the concept of value investing, and have read many finance books since then. After reading the millionaire fastlane, I read about the fastlane which points out that if I aim to add value to individuals, the money will follow. This led to me thinking about what I want to be remembered as when I die and how I can add value to people around the world and stuff.
I want to be in a position where I can invent solutions to help solve climate change, or at least alleviate the issue. Thus, engineering would provide me with the highest probability of me being able to do so. However, at the same time, if I am not truly interested in engineering and am doing it for the sake of this 'cause', I might come to regret not choosing business which I might have a more genuine interest in. On the other hand, I feel that working in a business have a lower chance of bringing effective change to such an issue.
What should I do? How should I think and what should I consider? All advice appreciated and I hope that I can make myself less confused and be clear of the path I can take
Thank you everyone!!

After reading up on lots of older posts here and google, i'm still having huge issues with the "system storage" as i have a 128gb storage total, and 92gb is used by the system storage. I've cleared the cache partition as well as app caches, repaired apps in recovery mode, deleting apps, emptying gallery bin etc but nothing seems to work.
If anyone can throw out any other suggestions it would be much appreciated as its going up more by the day...