#Stationary Security Service?

[adorablegorilla]

SSS actually isn't that bad anymore. It's kind of fun to plan around each mission, selecting the units and equipment best suited to tackling the stages and enemies ahead (even if Snipers + Goldenglow does answer quite a lot of them). I think a lot of the existing animosity for SSS is just from people remembering how overturned the difficulty was and how repetitive the stages were at initial release, without experiencing it in its current form. I know because that was how I felt until earlier today. I had been so burned by the release of SSS that even though I knew it had been balanced and updated, I just didn't want to bother. But after getting interested in a lot of modules I hadn't initially bothered with, I decided to give it a try. And I actually had a pretty fun time! I even managed to clear one of the two without any retries (only to have it not save because I forgot about the maintenence today but honestly it was enjoyable enough that I'm not broken up about redoing it).

If you're like me and you've been ignoring SSS since the initial launch because you remember how tedious it used to be and don't want to deal with that, I urge you to give it another chance. You might be pleasantly surprised

[yokohungry]

Tasty food medals. 😂

[superheavyloadermech]

Idk what I'll do when they release more SSS maps... I'm out of space for the medals...

[stelladess]

I was playing stationary security services and suddenly realized, I was having fun.

I think what I have found that works for me is like

Mostly vanguards/supporters/specialists that can be deployed on ranged and ground tiles/casters with Qiubai, Degenbrecher and Passenger (borrowed) as main damage dealers. Vanguard, supporter and caster A equipment, B equipment for specialists and guards.

This approach is just a LOT more consistent I feel. And removes a lot of RNG. So I like it, consistency is king and all.

[flusterfluff]

I FINALLY GOT A CLEAR ON ONE OF THESE SHITTY STAGES

[lizzy-frizzle]

The s3 map challenges are rough this time around

I haven't touched emergency mode but it should go better than the challenges went...I hope

[brave-symphonia]

Just need to say, I struggled with that first level.

Sure, I was partly learning how to really use the mechanics, but I’m not the biggest fan of the different style this game mode has, and I have heard certain things about the later levels in this mode.

[laegjarnisbestgirl]

Wow that nerf did work. This game mode doesn’t suck as bad anymore

[the-cornuthaum]

i want to have a word with the people who made the new sss towers.

that word is "motherfuckers, is it really necessary to have constant mapwide stun? is it REALLY?"

[beta-lactam-allergic]

You're right, many of us don't play SSS. I play the main story, the events (story & EX), CC & IS (IS2 & IS3 so far, I wasn't high enough ranked to play IS1 when it was out & will play IS4 when it comes out).

I stopped with SSS not long after it came out because I'm too lazy to module upgrade a lot. The events already give us enough module material if you don't upgrade everyone. I literally only have unlocked modules for two 6-stars (Fartooth & Nearl Alter), one 5-star (Firewatch) & six of my 4-stars.

I only use the 4-star modules for IS & low star runs (no 5 stars or 6 stars) whilst the 5 & 6 star modules are for IS & CC (when it returns) only. I haven't needed any of the unlocked ones yet, though I might unlock more closer to the return of CC.

Haven't seen anyone thirstposting about Mama's "Rebel Girl" yet despite how desperate this fandom is for muscles. The only conclusion I can be led to is that no one knows she exists because they don't play SSS

[bitedisease]

me at 12: omg this new freddy game is so scary i’ll never play it

me in my twenties: FREDDY FAZBEAR MY BEST FRIEND

[scotianostra]

On 24th February 1923, the world famous steam train, the Flying Scotsman, went into service.

From the 1920s the train was considered the height of luxury. Onboard there were first-class restaurant facilities, a cocktail bar and radio equipment, so passengers could hear the horse-racing results.

There was even a hairdressing salon where men could have their facial hair shaved with an open razor, made possible because the barber's chair was set in such a position that there would be "no jolting". I'm not sure I would have a shave in a moving train!

The train's hairdresser was reportedly known as "Sweeney Todd of the Rails", given his precarious trade.

In 1928 the train broke the record for the longest regular non-stop train journey in the world, when the LNER ran an express service for the entire 393-mile route.

This record would last until 1948, when, unintentionally, the train broke its own record. The Flying Scotsman ran for 408 and a half miles in May of that year when flood damage to the main line caused diversions via St Boswells and Kelso.

Throughout World War II The Flying Scotsman was one of the few titled trains that continued to operate along the East Coast - it carried troops between London and Scotland, although the headboards and roofboards were removed for security.

And, on 21st June 1958, in a historic move which would signal the decline of steam, The Flying Scotsman was hauled for the first time by a diesel locomotive.

The service is currently run by government-owned East Coast.

In May 2011 they relaunched the service, painting one of their locomotives, the Class 91 No. 91101 with Flying Scotsman branding.

At the launch East Coast said the move was "part of our policy of bringing back train names and restoring pride, passion and even a touch of glamour and romance back to the East Coast railway".

It's not all a romantic journey though, just last September there was, what the called a "slow speed” crash with another heritage train hours before visitors were due to board it.

It happened lwhen the ocomotive was being shunted into place to be coupled with the Royal Scotsman train carriages, which were stationary.

A spokesman for Royal Scotsman train owner Belmond described the collision as “minor” and said there had been no major injuries.

"We are grateful for the prompt attendance by paramedics who were on site to assist the few passengers and team members who sustained minor injuries,” the spokesman said.

"One passenger and one team member are attending hospital for a precautionary check-up.

"All passengers have been transferred to a hotel where our team is on standby to offer support and to assist with our guests’ onward travel arrangements."

Last year ater travelling 10,000 miles across the UK as part of its centenary celebrations, world famous locomotive Flying Scotsman will spend the first part of 2024 on static display at the National Railway Museum in York before resuming rail tours later in the year.

The custodianship of The Flying Scotsman is up for tender later this year, so by this time next year I may be telling you about new "owners"

[yokohungry]

Beautiful food medals because I enjoy SSS with a fully kitted Abyssal Hunter team.

[superheavyloadermech]

Abandoned Lighthouse really is truly difficult

hell, most of it isn't, just, floors 5 and 6 are really really a struggle

I just did my emergency run of the month and wow yeah, I'd forgotten how difficult it was first time around too lol

it was easier this time around though at least

easily the hardest boss they've ever made though

[bullet-prooflove]

Three things for Douglas Hamilton:

Flowers, a book, and a letter

Tagging: @kmc1989 @cosmic-psychickitty @star017 @themaineoddity @mimi-8793

Companion piece to:

Photo Finish - You confront Douglas when some personal pictures are used by the press.

Services Rendered - Douglas decides there's going to be a reckoning.

Cursed - Douglas realises he's cursed.

Death Becomes Him - Douglas finds a reason to fight.

Here - Douglas wakes up to find you at his bedside.

Douglas spends the next few days in and out of consciousness.

Apparently that’s what blood loss does to you. He finds it hard to grasp things, to hold onto them. The only constant during this time is the security men in black suits that linger outside his door and you, always you.

There’s a million things he wants to say to you during his waking moments but they’re always interrupted by a nurse taking his vitals, a police offer with more questions, before he knows it, he’s slipping away again back into that haze of exhaustion and fatigue.

It’s past midnight when he wakes up again. The overhead lamp above his bed is turned on, the dull light casting a warm glow across the sunflowers you’ve placed beside his bed because he finds the lilies everyone else has sent too morse. The light is something you’ve started doing over the past couple of nights because you’d realised that waking up in the dark makes him anxious. It’s a symptom left over from the attack, one he thinks will stick with him for the rest of his life.

He tilts his head towards the chair you usually reside in and finds you tucked up asleep, using your jacket for a pillow. The book you were reading rests on his bed, a used thriller from the charity bookshop downstairs. It’s the book mark that catches his eye, the neatly folded letter written on his stationary. It’s the first of many love notes that he gave to you throughout the course of your relationship.

I think about you all the time  the first line reads.

He knows what the rest says, those private intimate words that were for your eyes only. The fact you still carry it after all this time, that you’re even here at his bedside speaks volumes about your feelings for him.

He thinks about your words back on the Mississippi Meanders that night, when you’d found out those pictures had been used, when you’d broken things off with him.

I can’t live like this.

And he knows that this right here, your presence in his life is just temporary whether you know it or not. When he heals, when he returns to his position you’ll be in the exact position you were all those months ago, your relationship exposed for the entire world to see. His new publicist, the one that hasn’t tried to kill him yet is already setting up a press appearance, he’s planned for you to be there by his side when he delivers his speech declaring his victory over death.

Nothing is really ours is it? You’d asked him as you stood upon the bridge looking out across the river and the truth is, it really isn’t, not while he’s the mayor. It’s as he looks at you sleeping in that chair that Douglas realises he has to make a choice.

You or his mayorship.

It shouldn’t a hard one, but somehow it is.

Love Douglas? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

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Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Eco

Chapter Eleven

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Bobby, Bela, Dick Roman and Kobe Bryant mentioned (look, he wasn't supposed to be here but I did my research and well, he had to be), Anael, faceless paps

Word Count: 1683 with pictures

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, tour planning, brunch and shopping with Bela, unbeta'd

Series Masterlist

“Okay, well the official schedule from the touring company arrived, so I have maybe a week to set up the promo interviews before they announce it publicly,” you said over the phone.

“Yeah, with Crowley it’s probably gonna be sooner. Annie’s gotta find someone to step in for the whole year with this so she’s already interviewing. Let me know if you need anything, because I’m just sitting on my hands until we’re actually rolling out,” Bobby replied solemnly.

The give me something to do, please, was implied.

“Check with Benny and his boys, I know the label is supplying some guys too, but I trust you to secure the crew and security schedules,” you said as you made another note on your ever increasing list of to do’s.

Two months may have seemed like a long time, but it was the shortest turn around you’d had for a tour since taking over as publicist for Phantom Traveler and you’d be damned if you fucked it up.

“With the holidays coming up, we’ll be in a pinch to get everything nailed down. But all the commotion with Bela and everything, people will be chomping at the bit to get actual news,” you added, staring unfocused at your computer monitor.

“And he’s got that interview coming up you said, just Dean for that one?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I really hope Meg doesn’t eat him alive. But it’s his chance to give his side of things and for people to see where his head is at now.”

“The sassy little brunette, right?”

“The very one.”

“Is it going to be a tit-for-tat thing? Is Cas gonna be next for a tell-all?”

“Bobby, I don’t think Cas would do an interview and talk bad about Dean even if they paid him. He’s moved on.”

“If you say so, Dean didn’t exactly play nice.”

“He must have had hundreds of offers for the dirt since leaving the band. And everything I hear about him now is just about the kid he’s working with and how they’re creating something unique.”

“I just know how that reporter liked him— the last time.”

“I’m sure she’s going in with the bias against Dean here. Time will tell if she can be swayed,” you admitted. “Plus, Dean won't be alone. We made sure there'll be a few of us there to make it easier.”

“To keep him from making a damned fool of himself you mean.”

“Basically.”

Bobby sat on the other end of the line with his gruff silence before continuing, “you going home for Christmas?”

“Yeah, got the usual stuff with my folks for Christmas Eve then I’m helping Ellen on Christmas day. I’m flying so I won’t be gone more than a few days. Probably end up spending half of it at airports with my luck.”

“Okay, just checkin’.”

“You guys have any plans?”

“Just service on the night before and maybe something with Annie’s cousins. Might just be a train of open houses.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I’d enjoy myself.”

You laughed and wrapped it up with a promise to touch base before you left town. The next two days were a whirlwind of emails and phone calls. You put off confirming brunch with Bela for Sunday, but relented from guilt, as she now had regular visits from paparazzi outside her townhouse due to her and Dean’s night club-hopping. You finished up your Saturday errands and plopped yourself onto your stationary bike in a last ditch effort to fend off your restlessness until it was a reasonable enough time to crash.

God, your life was so exciting.

Bela poured you another glass from the endless pitcher of mimosas. “Anyway, I guess Dean got us tickets to the Lakers’ game tomorrow night, like I actually care about baseball.”

“Basketball,” you corrected, taking a sip.

“Exactly,” Bela smirked.

“How good are the tickets? He doesn’t really follow it either,” you continued, worried they’d be in an embarrassing section.

“I think he said something about getting the label’s box for the game?” She tried to play innocent.

You almost spit out your drink. “The entire box?”

“It’s not floor seats’ exposure, but it will be worth it at least. I think he said he called in a favor with Dick?”

“Dick Roman is giving Dean access to his exclusive luxury box at the Staples Center?” You were floored, you opened your phone and googled who they were playing. “Holy fuck, they’re retiring Kobe’s number tomorrow. It’s going to be insane. There’s no way that box isn’t gonna be packed, but at least you can bump elbows with the uppity ups.”

“Kobe Bryant, yeah? He was quite prolific,” Bela seemed pleased. 

“Uh, yeah, played his whole career here,” you added, but put your phone away. Unwilling to text Dean a ‘wtf’ text while you still had another hour of drinks and foodstuffs to get through. “What are you going to wear?”

Bela slid her most compelling face on. “I was hoping we could find something together. It’s been ages since we drunk shopped. Plus, it’s the holidays so I will need to be a bit tipsy if I want to deal with the crowds.”

You had literally nothing left to buy for Christmas, but drunk shopping was a time-honored tradition between the two of you. Plus, it was fun watching Bela work her magic and pull a stunning outfit together out of seemingly discordant pieces.

“Three stores and I’m getting my own ride home, missy,” you warned with a firm pointer finger.

“Of course!” Bela chuckled and tucked into her eggs, eyes flitting back to you with conspiratorial delight.

You finished off your mimosa and finally saw to your french toast.

Bela’s driver took you to all of her favorite haunts and naturally she weaseled her way in to see the best stylists, at least those who were actually on hand on the Sunday afternoon before Christmas. At Sister Jo’s boutique, the owner herself greeted Bela with a double cheek kiss and hug. 

“What are you doing here? Wait, don’t tell me, you need an outfit asap because your little rocker boy toy needs arm candy,” the woman, who was actually named Anael, teased.

“You know me too well,” Bela replied. “This is my dear friend, Y/N, and we’re a bit on the tilt from brunch, but I simply had to come see you. I need something casual and sexy. It’s for a basketball game.”

You waved as she nodded in your direction, not wanting to break the momentum.

Anael frowned and looked Bela over, with much consideration. Then she hummed before asking, “how do you feel about hats?”

Nearly two hours and a top off on champagne later (to keep your buzzes going), you and Bela walked out of the shop with a bag each and a receipt ensuring Bela would be back in the morning for the alterations on the remaining garments.  

“Well, I’d say that was a successful outing,” Bela said with pride, the pink in her cheeks the only hint of her lingering inebriation.

“I’d say,” you agreed, opening the back door of her pre-ordered ride. “I still can’t believe they had something that would work for me for New Year’s.”

Bela waited on the curb until she could slide in the other side, but continued your trail of thought. “Anael is good people, if she likes something, she carries it. Doesn’t matter the size or price, she is all about how an outfit makes you feel,” Bela explained.

“Well, it worked, because I just spent more on myself than I have the entire year because of how good it felt on, so I get it,” you said, patting the bag at your feet.

Bela confirmed your address with the driver and then hers, thanking them for going out of their way in a way that she wasn’t actually apologizing for being a burden.

“You got eyes on you lady,” the driver warned, pointing towards the corner where a camera lens was trained on the car.

“Ignore them, they’ll find someone else before they follow us very far,” Bela promised and you could see her almost glaring at the rearview mirror for the driver to get the lead out.

You sat on the couch in your robe and sleep pants, hair still wet and wrapped on top of your head. You had crashed for a late afternoon nap after shopping and had rebounded with a blissfully long shower and skincare treatment. Now you watched mind numbing television and plotted out your schedule for the coming week. Even though it was cut short with holiday travels, it was full-to-bursting with things to get done.

You sighed and dragged out your suitcase from under your bed, dropped it on the couch and unzipped it to start packing. At least you could watch something while you organized. 

Just after ten your phone buzzed with a text message. You ignored it for a minute until you could find the remote beneath your pile of socks and paused your Lord of the Rings rewatch.

You stared at the conversation with the movie still paused, dumbfounded. One, that Dean sent you a goodnight text of all things and secondly that he was going to willingly give Bela his phone to post on social media about them. Because it’s not official until they’re both posting each other, or so they say. This was going to be big for the fan girls. You already knew Becky would be emailing you the second she saw it. But as far as fanclub presidents went, she wasn’t the worst. Then again, she would be more than a little bitter if Sam and Madison were the ones flaunting their relationship.

You put a reminder in your calendar to cover an extra sweep of SM while you were waiting out Dean’s interview Tuesday morning and then you tossed your phone back amongst your clothes. You were done for the night and so you shoved your half-packed suitcase on the floor and restarted the movie.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

Chapter Twelve: Hook