#Wayback Burgers

[sandboxworld]

Wayback Burgers Sets to Open First Location in Quebec

Wayback Burgers has announced a master franchise agreement with Sushil Bhagudia. This agreement outlines plans for Bhagudia to open between 20 and 30 new Wayback Burgers locations in Quebec over the next 20 years. Bhagudia, who has successfully operated a Wayback Burgers franchise in Monroe, New York since 2018, will leverage his experience in this new venture. “We are pleased to announce…

[duranduratulsa]

Spooktober Burger 🍔 of the day: The Frankenburger at Wayback Burgers #food #foodporn #burgers #cheeseburgers #frankenburger #waybackburgers #spooktober #halloween #october

[drowning-in-webnovel-chapters]

How tf are you supposed to eat this?!?!??

My friend just sent me this from work

[darudedogestorm]

music genre Songs that sound like they could be background songs in girlsgogames restaurant sims

[terrasu]

What the fuck

[sittinwithyou]

Marlee and I found some some unexpected art the other day and it was all because we wanted some burgers.

Basically, that’s it. That’s the story. It was the photo that inspired me to make a blog.

When you’re out and about, how much do you take a look around and try to find the unfamiliar? If you have a certain stretch of sidewalk of street that you walk regularly, do you take stock of the things you see and hold them against what you expect to be there? For that matter, how often are you looking up at the sky? Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m accident prone, although I don’t do all this as much as I used to. I try to keep my eyes on the ground and my immediate surrounding now. It only takes one time getting hit by a car (lightly) to remind a person they should have their head on a swivel.

But finding this lump of discarded street wasn’t like one of those times. Indeed, this was finding completely unexpected in a new place. I guess we all have our preconceived notions of what a parking lot at 830pm is going to contain. I just didn’t expect a heaping chunk of concrete with rusted iron jutting out to bo on that list. Afterwards, I was just thankful that the lighting was optimal, the angle was good, and my phone was handy.

So, I will now forever (so long as I can keep the digital file) have a reminder of the time I took the time to enjoy something completely random… aka: unexpected art.

Oh, and the burgers were from Wayback. They had only one song playing for the forty minutes we were there.

Above all, it was okay.

[morningstargirl666]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Rewriting what was the old chapter 22 of TBBW (1920s Dance, Woo Woo!) and the last half, the klaroline half, has become a chapter all on its own. It's really building up to be one of my favourite chapters in the entire fic, and it's partly because I read @kirythestitchwitch's Crash Course which made me crave a cheeseburger so badly I wrote it into this fic. So here's a sneak peak --- don't let the fluff fool you, this chapter has its fair share of angst hehehe

“You know, I’m really surprised you didn’t insist on paying,” Caroline commented, unwrapping the paper around her cheeseburger as she settled back on the bonnet of Klaus’ car.

Klaus sat beside her, unwrapping his own burger as he stretched his legs out in front of him, one leg hanging off the side and resting on the upwards curve of the rim that snaked above the front wheels. Caroline leant back against the glass of the windscreen, relaxing into her spot as the sweet, steaming smell of the burger hit her — two seasoned patties topped with melted slices of creamy, cheesy goodness calling out to her from their package in a perfectly toasted, soft sesame seed bun, stuffed with crisp, curly lettuce and slices of fresh tomato. Up above, the light pollution from Mystic Falls was less intense so far away from the town, parked outside a quiet diner just off the Jackson highway. The stars were beginning to peak out from behind the clouds, the moon a quarter-full and shining down on them from the night sky above. Behind them, the warm glow of the diner spilled out onto the parking lot, employees wiping down tables and serving the odd exhausted truck driver behind the glass, like one gigantic, square-shaped fish bowl. The neon lights of the diner’s name, Wayback Burgers, flashed and flickered in the dark, reflecting red and blue light onto the wet pavement. 

“And why’s that?” Klaus asked, licking his thumb where the various condiments and sauces had leaked out of his large, triple stacked bacon cheeseburger and onto his hand. She’d felt weird ordering him nothing at the drive thru after she’d asked for the cheeseburger and fries, impulsively buying a milkshake to wash it all down with too. So she’d turned to him and asked if he’d wanted anything, and with some hesitancy, he’d ordered one of the meatiest burgers on the menu.

It was weird. The choice prodded something in her brain, seeming familiar. It was only when they got their burgers, Klaus eyeing his with a hunger that looked out of place on a vampire, that she realised why.

Tyler always ordered the meatiest thing on the menu too. Burgers, ribs, steak, chicken wings — it didn’t matter where they bought lunch, if there was an option to eat like a hungry pack of hyenas, he’d take it. Klaus had slightly more decorum, but the look was exactly the same.

“I don’t know. Aren’t you supposed to be ancient?” she shot at him, setting the wrapping in her lap and taking her first bite of her burger. She sighed in bliss the moment the taste hit her tongue — it was truly a magnificent burger. The patties were seasoned to perfection, falling apart in her mouth, cheese melted onto them. The tomatoes and lettuce were fresh but not soggy, and the pickles buried beneath it all had an acid tang that balanced the whole thing out. “Old people are always moaning chivalry is dead,” she finished, holding a hand up to cover her mouth as she spoke around her food.

“And I seemed like the type?” he asked, glancing at her with a raised brow. His voice dropped to a dry drawl. “Why? Because I’m old or because I’m dead?”

She grinned, cheeks full of food. “Both,” she informed him happily, before chewing the last of it and swallowing. Klaus grunted, finally taking a bite out of his burger. Like her, he seemed to melt into the taste, some of the tension in his shoulders easing. She shrugged, eyeing him consideringly before turning her gaze back to her burger, folding down the wrapping. “Most guys get weird when I offer to pay.”

Tyler normally did. Matt had. Since both boys were on opposite sides of the financial spectrum, she kinda figured it wasn’t because of the money.

He looked at her then, searching her face for something. He swallowed his food before he spoke. “Did you want me to pay?”

She shook her head. “No. It was my idea to drag you out here. And you’re giving me a lift home after my car broke down even though I’ve rejected you like, a bajillion times. Least I could do was buy you a burger,” she teased, smile strained.

They hadn’t spoken about it, on the drive here. This thing between them; his jealousy towards Tyler and cruel actions earlier that night; the dozens of hesitant advances, if unwanted on her part. They weren’t friends.

Problem was, Caroline wasn’t sure if they were enemies either. 

Enemies didn’t show each other their personal artwork or unfinished sketches that were hidden away from even their family’s prying eyes. Enemies didn’t sit on a public bench and discuss lost dreams. And they certainly didn’t buy burgers at drive-thrus and eat them together under the starlit sky.

Klaus sighed, but didn’t seem offended. “I don’t think it was quite a bajillion times.”

“Yet,” she corrected cheekily, taking a big bite into her burger.

Instead of the scowl she expected, Klaus smiled fondly, following her lead and taking a bite too.

[butchsophiewalten]

Findjackwalten 07/15/23 Update #1 and #2 Walkthrough

Findjackwalten updated TWICE yesterday! There's no new pages but a LOT of already existing pages have changed, several of them more than once.

UPDATE #1:

Findjackwalten.com

Lots of these images of Bon have appeared on top of the whole page. The page in this screenshot is SUPPOSED to be grey except for the new bons, but The Wayback Machine doesn't archive that color overlay in the page capture.

If you use something like Ublock Origin to remove the Bon assets you can see the bit of white-on-black text reads "Say something..."

This image also seems to be the same as the backdrop to this teaser

Seeing it now it's more obvious what the drawing is actually of. Bon is wearing a hard hat, with little screws and bolts of electricity around him. It seems engineering-related, like somewhere Susan would work.

Findjackwalten.com/martinguaridasecretanoentrar

This page has been outfitted with three new Funny Walten Facts

"Goodfaith Caring"

This one's enigmatic. Exact google search results are nonexistent (IE, searching the name in quotation marks), so it probably refers to something in universe? It's capitalized, so it's a proper noun. Maybe the name of a company? Maybe even the name of an episode of something? An episode of The Walten Files? and episode of Little Bon's Neighborhood? An episode of The Showstoppers Comedy Extravaganza?????? It's so vague I really don't even know what to say here.

"Sha was originally named "Belle" or "Belly" so that all the names would start with a B and be named the "THE 4 B's" or "THE B PACK" instead of "THE SHOWSTOPPERS", but Sha sounded more adequate. She was actually the last showstopper to be made and a final addition because back when TWF was a fangame i needed a character to balance the group more and a more adequate stage companion to Bon than Banny (too similar to Candy and Cindy from good ol FNaC) so Sha was made, so yeah, my fav showstopper right there."

Something I mostly knew already but was pretty obscure! I always really love getting a look into the creation of The Walten Files, and this bit about Sha only existing as to make Welcome to Bon's Burgers less similar to Five Nights at Candy's is a really fun fact.

"No she wasn't homeless, it was just cheaper than paying for an actual apartment"

An elaboration on the Sophie fact from before. This just makes this previously devastating Sophie information really funny. He lived in a meat shop for three years because the rent was cheap. His whole life is so bizarre.

Findjackwalten.com/poker

Nearly the same as always, except the top text has changed to read "It was not quick."

Findjackwalten.com/890247895yuiowarsehiofhkjy890wte

There is LOADS of text on this page now. It reads like more Anthony website posting, which definitely confirms this being a sort of bizarro 'missing link' from the nonfunctional "Object Possession" link on /brightonghosts.

This "Jazmin Doll" story is completely fictional and exclusive to the universe of The Walten Files. There is some (completely unsubstantiated) speculation that Child's Play could be based on the real-world haunted artifact of Robert the doll, but that's obviously not what's being referred to here.

The important information here is this:

"dOnce [sic] the soul chooses it's vessel, it becomes it's body. However, the longer it spends inside of it. The more it becomes it's ACTUAL body. (Jazmin's body was the doll, the wood was her skin, the wooden arm was her real arm.) it can cause it pain and it can feel everything it touches. this has been named amongst us ghostfans as "Post-Extensive Object Possesion"'

This is like. a CRAZY bomb of information to be given about the ghosts in this universe. I don't want to theorize about it too much since I try to keep crazy theories away from these walkthrough posts, but holy shit.

Another little thing here is that there's some odd letters on this page that i'm not totally willing to write off as just typos. There's a missing "e" and "g" in this bit here:

And an extra letter "d" here:

No clue what this means, or if it spells something, or anything.

Last thing I wanna point out with this one page is the little stipulation at the beginning where Anthony mentions that if the story he talks about is proven fake, he might delete the page. This might be what happened, and why the main /brightonghosts page doesn't link off to it?

Findjackwalten.com/ghosttalk

This page is the same except for this little addition just at the bottom:

This update seems to corroborate the new information on the Object Possession page, that ghosts within haunted objects eventually 'become' the object and experience a sort of 'life' within it.

Findjackwalten.com/brightonghosts

A new update from Anthony!

He's found some new stuff to show us! And apparently the K-9 facility is now demolished? That sounds familiar enough that it might've been something we knew before but I can't exactly remember. The Jane Walten mystery continues.

Findjackwalten.com/btscene

Just a small update, one new image at the very bottom:

UPDATE #2

Findjackwalten.com

The same as the last main page update, but with new white-on-black text:

This is a quote from How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which is... interesting? It's making me think back on notable presents in The Walten Files. We see a lot of present boxes in Bunnyfarm that usually involve a ghost/animatronic giving one to Sophie which kickstarts a Scary segment.

There's also the fact that Rocket was a Christmas present

Findjackwalten.com/poker

A really weird update here. We have that exact same quote from How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and the normal /poker image has been replaced with one with this ominous white face peering out from behind the grandfather clock.

Findjackwalten.com/brightonghosts

Just a little funny edit of Anthony trying to fix his slipup

Findjackwalten.com/poker ....again?

This update to /poker happened maybe an hour or less after the previous one.

the Grinch quote has been changed to read "oops!", and the painting has been replaced with this darkened, almost pitch-black version. If you use some photo editing software to brighten the image, you get:

Oops indeed.

[miyuhpapayuh]

ten.

The next month had flown by and it was just as blissful as the last, bonding Leon and Zora like super glue.

“Okay, what kind are those?” He asks, pointing to the spiral-like white flowers near the middle of the store.

“Cala lilies! My mama’s favorite flower!” She answers.

“You think that, and Aster would look pretty together?” He asks.

“Yeah, that sounds like a pretty combo.” She nods, squinting at the smirk on his face.

“Right,” he nods, walking towards another flower inside the same flower box. Pink ones she would frequently paint, the shape being one of her favorites.

“Cosmos! My favorite, next to poppies of course.”

“They come in orange, too?”

“They do!”

“Good to know,” he nods again, moving toward another flower box, altogether, with her in tow, silently laughing at him.

He thinks he's slick.

“You sure you don't wanna be a botanist?” He asks, looking back at her.

“An expert on flowers? I thought I was already there!” She quips with her hand on her hip.

“You are! Just not established, like you said.”

“Okay?”

“So, you wanna be established?” He asks, reaching out for her hand.

“I don't know. Maybe? Why?” She asks, latching onto him as they continue their stroll.

“Because you love this place and flowers. It seems like your element. One of them, anyway.”

“Like you know me,” she waves him off, earning a chuckle from him.

“Have I been wrong, yet?” He asks, looking down at her.

“Nah, your scores are high.”

“What, are we playing a game?”

“Mmhm, and you're winning.” She giggles, patting his chest with her free hand.

After buying her usual bundle for her, and another for his mama, they pack up and head towards mint hill for lunch.

Zora had told Leon about Wayback Burgers and how delicious they were, and he was sold after hearing “burger”.

They're sitting outside, like usual, grubbing away on their cheesy burgers and greasy loaded fries.

“Oh, Linda wants to have a meeting tomorrow. I wonder what's going to happen.” Zora says, stuffing another handful of fries in her mouth.

“Whatever happens, it better be necessary action against her knucklehead of a child.” Leon comments, catching her eye.

“Yeah, I'll be holding my breath, still.”

“Why? She suspended him, finally.”

“Yeah, after how long, though?? I'm still skeptical about their relationship in the workplace, whether she finally “got it” or not.”

He nods, knowing she's just being precautious. “Yeah, I understand. I just don't get why it's so hard for parents to show their children right from wrong.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she shakes her head.

“If he was my kid, I'd kick his ass and fire him in the same breath.” He says, making her crack up.

“Leon!”

“What? There's no way I would let that go on and on and on! He'd have to feel me, since he can't get his shit together. Better yet, she should let you beat his ass.”

“Oh, I'd love to! He deserves his ass beat.”

“See?”

“I never said you were wrong,” she laughs, “it's just funny to see you get all worked up. Especially over his stupid ass. He's not worth it.”

“Yeah, but you're worth protecting.”

She twists her lips up, trying to hide the smile on her greasy lips. Hiding behind a napkin was her only other choice, with them sitting almost shoulder to shoulder.

“Stop that,” he laughs, pulling the napkin from her grasp. She turns her head, only making him kiss the skin of her neck that's bared to him. Turning back, his lips catch hers, making them both laugh.

“Leon,” she starts, snatching the napkin back to wipe her mouth and his.

“Zora,” he leans back in, his head laying on her chest, those eyes looking up at her.

“You're pretty.”

“So are you.”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Bright and early on Monday morning, Zora and Linda sit in the side office at the job, while Linda gears herself up to deliver the news.

“Alright, my dear Zora. I know I've apologized before, but again I sincerely apologize for not putting a stop to Cory's foolish and disrespectful behavior, a long time ago. There's no excuse.”

“I appreciate it, Linda. I'm glad you listened before he got cut. I'm just being honest.” She shrugs.

“Yeah, I won't argue with that. But, you won't have to worry about that cause he's not coming back.”

She raises both brows in total shock. “What?”

“Yeah, he still feels like his actions never harmed you or made you that uncomfortable. I told him to can it, cause nobody wants to hear that. So he's fired.”

“See? A pig. Your son needs a swift kick in the ass.”

“Get in line. As you can see, he doesn't have the greatest rap sheet.” She shakes her head. “I need to try all over again with him, it seems.”

Zora lets her have her bad parent moment, cause if she wasn't gonna say it… Zora woulda still been thinking it.

“I know it was tough firing your son, but it's better for your business. Your patrons couldn't stand him, either. And.. now I don't have to get harassed at work anymore.”

“Yes, all for the greater good. Plus, I love you like my own! I couldn't let you feel like I didn't care about what wasn't going on. Again, I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do to help patch this over?” She asks.

“Mmm… how about a raise?” She innocently smiles, making Linda return the gesture.

“How's $25 sound?” She asks, swearing she saw Zora’s eyes bug out her head.

“Twenty-huh?”

“With a person cut, and finally a genius to look at my taxes, I can afford it!”

“I— that sounds like a plan.” She straightens up after a moment, shaking her boss's hand.

“Good! Now go out there and look pretty, we open soon!”

Today might've been the first day she felt like she could breathe, and it rolls by quick and easy, just like every day should and would, moving forward.

Calling Leon, right after Nique, on her break and telling him the wonderful news, one would think he was shedding tears on the other side as he expressed his excitement.

“I think you're happier than I am!”

“I'm just glad I ain't have to floor him in his mama's business. I mean, I woulda loved to do it, honestly. But.. you know what I mean.”

“Leon,” she talks him down, laughing. “Cut it out. That's what the parking lot is for. Don't damage the property.”

“You right, you right! My baby smart.” He chuckles, as she fondly shakes her head.

“Oh! I got a raise, too!”

“Really? What she bump you up to, $30?”

“Pretty close. $25!”

“That's my girl! You deserve it.”

“Thank you, baby. It's been a good morning and afternoon.”

“The rest will be just as good. Promise.”

“Yeah? What you got planned?”

“If I tell you, I'd have to kill you!” He says back dramatically.

“Sounds like you took a page outta my book, dear.” She giggles.

“Ha, ha. You'll see about everything later. Have a great rest of your shift and I will see you soon.”

“Okay, alright. See you soon!”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Every bit of her fifteen minute drive felt so long, as she finally pulled into the lot, near his building and cut her car off.

Hopping out and sprinting to his door, he greets her with a glass of white wine and a couple sweet kisses, pulling her inside.

“Thank you, baby.” She smiles, looking around at all the tea-light candles he’d lit before she arrived. As well as another batch of orange poppies and cosmos in a vase on his table.

“Leon, you are so cute.” She frowns, sitting her glass down and cupping her own face in awe.

“Am I?” He asks, leading her towards the other side of the island, where their plates are already prepared with the delicious food he'd made.

“Yes, you are! Oh, this looks so good!”

He wraps his arms around her, stuffing his face in her neck like usual as they sway. Her eyes start to sting.

“You deserve it, ya know? People are listening to you and what's important to you. Life's working for you and your needs, cause it's about time, right?”

“Yeah, it's about time,” she nods, tracing his arm with her finger, wiping her tiny tears away with her free hand. He spins her around in his hold and kisses the rest away.

“You okay, my beautiful flower?”

“Perfect.”

As they sat and ate, their sweet evening turned into an even sweeter night as they found themselves in between the living room and kitchen, dancing to a playlist he'd made her.

She probably told him how cute he was, about a thousand times, and each time earned her sweet kisses she would never grow tired of. He felt the same way about hers. About her.

“You know what I was thinking?”

“What?”

“I could finally move somewhere nicer. I mean, I love my complex but I can actually pick up and go somewhere else!”

“Yeah, you can! Where you thinking?”

“Oh, I've got a few places on my list. They're close to everything still, especially my job and you. Nique stays in one of them— ooh that would be trouble,” she snickers, hiccuping right after.

“I'm sure she'd love that. Soberly give these some thought.”

“Yeah, I know. I'm just excited! Life's really the bee’s knees right now.” She cups his face now, gazing up at him with twinkling stars for pupils.

“I love you,” he says, without a second thought, watching her smile brighten.

Both of their hearts stopped and started again at the same time.

“I love you, too. It's not too soon.” She assured him, pulling him down to her level for another kiss as they got wrapped up in the moment.

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

“Uh, did you go out with a vampire?” Neoma asks, making Lovita snort as Zora places a hand over the hickey in question.

“No, did you?” She asks, pointing to the dark mark on her older sister's neck, making her reach up to cover it.

“Touché,” she squints, before smirking at her little sister. “We know your other secret, though!”

“How??”

“We caught on as soon as you walked in here! It's all in your walk and you're glowing even more than before!”

“Dear god,” she laughs, making them both crack up at her.

“I think you and god have been having enough conversations, don't you think?” Lovita cracks.

“Stop,”

“Continue? I will. How was it? Cause we heard from a lil birdie that it was the best, ever!”

“It was,” Zora giggles. “Also, say goodbye to Nique cause she's dead once I get to her.”

“Ohh, don't kill her. She was so happy for you! You know girly is our fourth sister!”

“What kind of flowers should we bury our fourth sister with?”

“Zora!” They both call out, making her laugh and throw her hands up.

“Alright, okay! I should direct my fire at you,” she points at Lovita, “cause you set me up, miss bartender!”

“Hey, I'm not responsible for you gettin��� all touchy with that man. That's on you.”

“And on her, he was.” Neoma smirks.

“Okay, okay! I don't need visuals, Jesus! We're just glad you're enjoying yourself and that fine man. He's a sweetheart, and he really cares about you.”

“He told me that he loves me.” She says, making their jaws drop.

“Awww, that's so sweet! It's only been like two months!”

“I know, but when you feel it, what's time? Just a factor.”

“Do you feel it?”

“Yeah, you love him back?”

“Absolutely, I do. Our relationship has been so easy going. Even when the days get a bit tough, we're still meeting in the middle. Still there for each other. I mean, after I broke the news about Cory being fired and me getting a raise, he was so happy for me. He knew how important all of that was, and we had one of the best nights! He cooked, he got me flowers, he praised me. Fed me back the words I always tell him. It was beautiful. He's beautiful.”

“You're gonna make me cry, man!”

“Hell, I cried several times last night!”

“Now, backtrack for a minute. Cory really got fired??”

“Yes! He's really not coming back!”

“No way! I never thought I'd hear those words.”

“Girl, me either! But listen, I need y'all's opinion on something.”

“Yes, it's too soon for marriage.” Lovita says without missing a beat, making Zora roll her eyes.

“Nobody's getting married! Listen!”

“Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm listening.”

“I'm thinking about moving out of my complex.”

“Oh, thank god!” They yell in unison.

“Oh, come on. It's not that bad.”

“As if your landlord being infatuated over you isn't bad.”

“It's not, you know why? My rent is reduced, he lets me smoke the fuck outta my apartment and I got the maintenance crew wrapped around my finger. I be helping my neighbors out!”

“Right, it's time for Zora to help herself out, though. I'm all for you moving.” Neoma nods, making Lovita do the same.

“Nique’s complex is really nice! They've got a fountain, an indoor gym, a pool, a pit! Like it's one of those all inclusive places for real!”

“How much?”

“A little over a band, I think. Maybe $1050 or something like that.”

“Usually, I wouldn't be able to understand but it's got actual amenities so we'll chalk it up. Call her!”

“Okay, I'm calling.”

Nique answers the FaceTime almost immediately, already giddy for whatever it was that Zora had to share.

“Oh, all my favorite people! Minus that lank of a boyfriend. What can I do y'all for?”

“I love her,” Neoma giggles.

“Hey Nique! Guess what I was thinking about?”

“Moving in with me?!” She excitedly guesses.

“Pretty close! How about maybe being your across the hall neighbor!”

“You know what?? My neighbor is actually moving out soon!”

“Would you look at that!” Lovita taps Zora on the shoulder.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Any. Time.”

“Anyway,” Zora sighs, “I would love to have that apartment.”

“Let me get in touch with the rent office lady and see if you can just pay first month's rent when she dips to secure it or sumn!”

“I'm prepared to do that! I can't back out now either, I've told all three of you.” She sighs.

“Aw, you still keep that rule in place?” Lovita coos.

Some odd years back, Zora made a rule that if she shared something with Nique or her sisters, she'd have to make it come true. Some way or another.

It definitely helped her through tough times.

“Yeah, I pinky swore! You know I take those serious as hell.”

“It's true!” Nique laughs.

“Did you tell Leon? We could use his box-movin’ ass!”

“Yeah, he knows! Oh, we used the L-word!”

Nique's eyes grow as wide as her mouth, making the three of them scream in laughter.

“Oh my gosh! When did this happen?”

“Last night. We celebrated Cory's firing and my raise, and he told me that he loves me. It felt like he had been holding it for a while.”

“Aw, that's so sweet! Zora!”

“I know,” she frowns, dabbing at her eyes. “Stop it, I don't wanna cry again!”

“Okay, okay,” Nique says, both of them laughing it off. “But I will definitely talk to her tomorrow! I'd love for you to be my neighbor!”

“Me, too!”

“I'm so happy for you! I'm glad Cory's gone, too. His stupid ass.”

“Thank you boo, and me too. Leon is too,” she snorts. “He was ready for his scrawny ass.”

“Oh, we know!” They say unison, falling into another laughing fit.

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“I dream about you.”

“Yeah? In what ways?”

“All the ways. You're a muse in all of them. A goddess. I happily kiss the ground you walk on,” he continues, making her giggle.

“Happily, huh?”

“That's what I said, girl.” He says back, dropping his head for emphasis.

“I hear ya,” she returns the petty gesture. “You lucky we're on the phone or I'd fight you.”

“We gotta work on your flirting, Zora-Jean.” He says with a laugh, causing her eye roll to come like clockwork.

“One day, they're gonna get stuck just like that.”

“Ha. We gotta work on your jokes, Leon… what is your middle name?”

“I told you, I'm not telling you.”

“Aw, come on! It cannot be that bad.”

“It's not, I just don't like it.”

“Okay.. what if I like it?”

“Zora,”

“Oh come on, Leon! Just tell me.”

“Okay, fine.” He crosses his arms like a spoiled child. “It's Avery.”

The smile that spreads across her face makes him look towards the ceiling, feeling his face get hot.

“Uh oh! I thought you said brown boys don't blush, either! Ya face look a lil red, baby!” She mocks, making him laugh and rub a hand down his face.

“Cut it out.”

“You first!” She places her chin in the palm of her hand, waiting patiently as he locks back in on her face.

“Ugly, right?”

“Leon Avery. It's country as hell like mine. I think it's adorable!”

“Yeah?”

“That's what I said, boy.” She mocks, again.

“I'm coming over just so we can fight, now!”

“The door's unlocked,” she says with a raise of her right brow.

“Bet.”

After five minutes, he was stepping through the threshold of the love lair and there she was, swaying to the low music coming from her speaker.

She never ceased to get him caught up in her. Mesmerized, he always was.

“Come dance with me,” she says as her eyes land on his, holding a hand out for one of his, pulling him to her once he latches on.

“I thought we were fighting.”

“We can. After we dance.” She answers, making him grin and shake his head at her, loosely wrapping arms around her waist.

Her hands rest at his neck, one at the back and the other at the front, her right thumb brushing against his adam’s apple.

His hips find her slinky rhythm in no time, drawing them even closer to each other. He finds a reason to spin her around, making her laugh.

“I dream about you, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhm. Also, in all ways. My prettiest subject. I kiss every flower to lead me to you.”

Their eyes dance over each other's faces, searching for words to make the moment sweeter.

“You think I'm pretty?” He asks, pulling a hand from her hip to rub the scruffy sides of his face, while she wholeheartedly nods.

“The prettiest man I've ever seen with my own two eyes, Leon Avery.”

 “You gon wear that out, huh?”

“I was just about to ask you the same,” she says, covering his hand with hers, leading it back to her hip.

“Oh, you must be ready to fight now.”

“Yeah, take me down.” She innocently smiles, it only brightens as he hoists her up from the ground to toss her on the bed, climbing on top of her.

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

A few days go by and Zora gets word that she can put down a cash deposit of half the rent to secure the new space, which she happily does.

Another thirty days was gonna be draining enough, so she immediately began packing and sorting through things she'd been meaning to part ways with. Of course Nique was helping.

“I feel like I haven't seen you in a minute, friend.” Zora frowns, as they fall into another hug.

“Aw, you're all mushy on me! What has that man done to you??” She pokes fun, as well as actually poking her in her sides.

“Like I never showed you affection before.”

“Girl, you've hugged me seven times in the last ten minutes! We'd be slap boxing by now.”

“Yeah, well…”

“What?”

“Change is good. Shut up, and listen to this bullshit.”

“What happened??”

“I think my landlord's gonna be a problem.”

“What he do?”

Flashback 

After getting her recertification papers inside her mailbox, she headed down to the rent office to speak to her landlord face to face, so there'd be no discrepancies between the two.

“Hey, Jordan. Can we talk?” She asks, knocking twice on the outer wall of his office.

“Sure, doll! Come in and sit.” He smiles, looking at her over his glasses.

“Thanks. I just came in to let you know that after my lease is up, I'll be moving out and I won't be needing these.” She sits the papers on his desk, watching the frown stretch across his face.

“Oh, I see. What's got you leaving?”

“I've been here for about five years, give or take. It's time for something new, even though I really like this place.”

“So stay,” he tries to sway her.

“No, sometimes you gotta spread your wings and fly somewhere else.” She nervously laughs, sighing as he joins in.

“I understand. I've made it easy for you here, though. Who's gonna treat you like that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, Zora. You're my special tenant. I give you the hook up.”

Her face scrunches up. “All though I've appreciated you being so nice to me, I've always said that you never needed to.”

“Fine.” His tone changes. “In thirty days or less, since you wanna play games, the locks will be changed. So you and your things better be out by then.”

She was surely expecting him to turn on her, which is why she recorded their conversation.

“The agreement is thirty days. Do not make this ugly.”

“It got ugly once you said that you were leaving, dear.”

“I don't have to stay here if I don't want to.”

“Who's telling you that you have to stay?”

“Did you not just try and sway me to stay?”

“Zora, this conversation is making me dizzy. Let's wrap it up, shall we?”

She's taken aback, but nods anyway.

“Noted.”

Flashback over

“I'm so glad you recorded this. Ew, he's such a slimy man!”

“I know! That's why I'm packing up early. I don't have time for his bullshit.”

“Do you think he's gonna try some shit?”

“With that threat? Yeah, probably.” Zora sighs.

“Tell Leon! Get him to kick his ass or something.”

“I don't want Leon going to jail for me.”

“Girl, you know he got a ski mask that's been waiting on its shining moment,” she replies, screwing her lips up.

“Nique, please!” She laughs, shaking the juvenile visual from her head. “I'll tell him, but we're not fighting anybody.”

Ch 11

@sheabuttahwrites @soufcakmistress @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @blackerthings @thegifstories @essaysbyciara @nayaxwrites @headcannonxgalore @twistedcharismaaa @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @abeautifulmindexposed @fujiiapples @harmshake @ghostfacekill-monger

[mysteriousbomboworld]

Hello everyone and welcome to me dumping a bunch of Cookie's Bustle images used on the RODIK website I've found by tackling a couple different angles of it on the Wayback Machine, with some little bits of commentary from meeeeeee

Smaller version of the above gif (and the blog's current favicon!)

Matching alien gif used alongside it on the front page. Easily one of my favorites

Full-body, non-animated version of the render used for the blinking gifs

This actually comes from an english version of the RODIK site! There's not much left of it in the wayback machine- for example, the Cookie-specific page is just a bunch of broken images... But we can see from the hiring page that they hoped to make more games after, with even more focus on foreign markets!

I actually found this on the product page for one of their office softwares, and not any of the Cookie related pages! Maybe they started using her as a company mascot? (It would be really funny if desire for a mascot was what lead them to making Cookie's Bustle in the first place... That would be like if those BK games were made before Burger King was even named Burger King)

These from what looks like a page for ordering Cookie's Bustle by mail (which was also on the pages for office software... but I like the look of them)

This was on what seems to have been a page that had a different picture every month! Unfortunately, only two months were captured in the Wayback Machine, and only this one still had the image...

An image used to link to the merch store on one of many versions of the RODIK homepage! (And proof that the plushies did indeed happen! When I first stumbled across a tweet about them, I was ready for it to just be somebody being coy about one they'd made themselves...)

This one you may recognize from me making cursors out of it. It came from the software museum page! I'd looked at that page several times before, actually, when I was first getting introduced to the game, but I didn't actually notice it until I went out of my way to save as many old Cookie images as I could find.

Various promo images

And ending the post off with the in-game screenshots! (I keep forgetting about the Adventure Zone sign and getting cracked up about it all over again)

[pudgy-planets]

Tried wayback burger. It is pretty goood.

Milkshakes are really good too.

[ohimsummer]

why is there,,,,a 9 patty burger at wayback burgers

[spectres-fulcrum]

But no, about my deep dive into the wayback machine. There’s been this whole ado lately about misogynistic men saying “female fans mostly aren’t real fans” and “those who like Disney era SW just want a strong female lead.” And it’s kraytspit, of course. But it also gets me thinking about how I’ve lived and breathed Star Wars since I was 7.

How Mom started me with Episode I and I just asked “where is Darth Vader” so we actually started with IV and it’s funny that in the end I liked the prequels more. My sister worked at Burger King and got all the kids meal Episode 3 toys for us and I spent hours playing with them and rearranging them on the shelf and I still won’t let them be thrown away.

How mom read Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest to me. The way we stumbled across Secrets of the Jedi at my aunt’s local library and it felt like discovering treasure and we had to read the entire book before our vacation ended. Finding favorites in the series and checking them out over and over to read on my own-school library, local library. Mom read me Junior Jedi Knights and I met Han and Leia’s son for the first time. Grew up a bit, read Young Jedi Knights on my own. Remember reading the Emperor’s Plague while my girl scout troop was on an archery field trip. Checked out the Episode I visual Dictionary from my local library a hundred times. And Amidala’s Journal.

I grew up watching the OG Clone Wars. One of the first video games I owned was the Episode III plug in and play game. I had it in 2nd grade when I got the flu and my dad and I played it a ton. My friend would come over just to play it and I resorted to hiding it in my closet.

Went to SW.com a lot. I remembering playing the coloring book, a picture of Padme in the meadow in AotC. The Who Said It was my mine and my mom’s thing. There was a section of question and answers on every movie and I loved it so much. Leia’s wookieepedia page was the first wookieepedia page I ever read and I was so amazed by how detailed it was.

I remember giggling too loudly at Rotta the huttling when I was ten and he was so tiny and cute for a huttling in the movie theater. The Clone wars was my preteens-stupid hatred for Satine, cute butterflies for Luxsoka, etc.

I remember QuizUp being The Thing in early high school and living in the Star Wars category cause where else would I be?

And then, it all stopped. The old EU was no longer canon and so much of what I grew up with I held my breath to see. What it would trample over. I still don’t think I’ve read anything with the Solo kids-the real Solo kids- since then. Maybe very early on. Not since TFA for sure. Meanwhile I can’t bring myself to read new Jedi Apprentice era stuff. Like it’s odd.

Off topic. But point is. That’s not getting into the fandom side of things. Point is. I’ve lived and breathed this series since I was seven. I grew up on it. If some dude ever claimed I wasn’t a real fan I’d laugh in their faces. But no one should be accused of it simple because of their gender. And cause it’s being thrown about I’ve been thinking about my roots a lot.

I think the real point of this tho is I’ve always been a books and cartoons>movies Star Wars girlie.

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of Sneak King

This tasty title challenges players with stealthily handing out burgers across crowded rural, suburban, and urban environments.

(Not) Extracting Xbox sounds

The Sneak King ISO runs on both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. This was achieved by including two sets of files on disc, each targeting a respective version: XBP archives and XEN archives respectively.

I didn't make any progress in extracting the contents of a XBP. EkszBox-ABX claims to recognize them as WMA containers as of v1.6, but ultimately extraction and playback didn't work in v2.10-Beta. I will say that while this program is powerful, I have found it a bit buggy/unintuitive in the past. It's also unclear the XBP format I read about is applied here, or if it's just a coincidental use of the same file extension.

I moved on from EkszBox-ABX, and tried unpackers and Winamp plugins on aluigi's site. Finally I tried DragonUnpacker and Game Extractor to no avail. I also tried the XEN QuickBMS script (see below), suspecting that the archive formats might be identical. but it failed.

I suspected that the XBP archives I was interested in were used to contain either WMA or Xbox ADPCM sound assets. I tried simply renaming to WMA; standard media programs still couldn't play them afterwards. I couldn't importing the WMA into Audacity as the format isn't supported there. Finally, I tried using vgmstream to interpret the file with the XBOX codec, but couldn't get usable output.

There is supposedly a home media center project for the original Xbox which may or may not support these files called XBMC4Xbox. This Wiki page has a bunch of info but I personally only found dead-ends.

Extracting Xbox 360 sounds

It's tempting to look further into the XBPs, since they boast bigger file sizes than the corresponding XENs in some cases. However I was reaching the limits of my skills. And besides, I've found little correlation b/t original Xbox audio file sizes and quality in the past - for example, with Riddick Butcher Bay.

We can use a QuickBMS script to extract King's ambient XEN archives and get the WAV(s) inside. This script was posted on the now-defunct XeNTaX forum, now accessible through the Wayback Machine.

This WAV file is in WMA1 or WMA2 format, decodable with vgmstream:

codec = WMA1 interleave = 0x0 channels = 2 sample_rate = 44100 start_offset = 0x00 num_samples = data_size

If you're interested in the sound effects found in each level's XEN archive, use this:

codec = XMA1 interleave = 0x0 channels = 1 sample_rate = 44100 start_offset = 0x00 num_samples = data_size

Some of these sound effects are seemingly ambient sounds, like birds and dogs in the Cul-de-Sac or distant chainsaws on Saw Mill. That said, I've never actually heard them play in-game.

Capturing footage

The Xbox 360 version offers the best visuals and should be used for capturing footage.

(Not) Hiding the HUD

We can try to hide the HUD (read on) or simply crop it out of our captures.

It should be possible to extract the XEN archives relevant to the HUD, modify or remove any relevant textures, and then repackage the archive using the BMS script above. However I couldn't get this working, due to the implementation details of the script - the QuickBMS error message suggests its something about MEMORY_FILE.

Regardless, I couldn't determine what format the textures are in. I was able to get signal using raw pixel viewers that suggests they are probably mipmapped. They are likely in some 360-specific texture format that requires its own toolchain (i.e. not Photoshop) to edit. Unlike some emulators, Xenia doesn't offer its own texture modding capabilities.

There are apparently developer commands in the Burger King games to hide the HUD, but these are disabled in retail.

Hiding the King

To avoid capturing the player-character you can hide the King somewhere that borders an obstacle or the level's edge, and then swing the camera such that the King isn't rendered. First-person mode unfortunately adds its own UI overlay so we don't want to use that (unless we can figure out replacing textures - see above).

Loading screens

In addition to each area's background tracks, there are short (~5 second) ambient loops that play over loading screens for Saw Mill (logging_am_loop_01) and Cul-de-Sac (suburb_am_loop_01). Loading assets seemingly exist for the other levels (const_amb_loop_01 and urban_am_loop_01) but I never heard them in-game.

Notes and curiosities

The game has four named ambient tracks: sawmill, construction, urban, and suburban. Of these, only urban plays on the expected level (Downtown). Meanwhile construction plays on Saw Mill, sawmill plays on Cul-de-Sac, and suburban plays on Construction Site.

[niqaboy]

thank you for the suggestion, doordash. unfortunately, when clicking on your "halal" category, wayback burger was not what i was hoping for. please contact me again when i can order lamb over rice

[ear-worthy]

What Five Award-Winning Indie Podcasts Are Up To Right Now

In July, 25 independent podcasts won the Ear Worthy Podcast awards for indie podcasts. These intrepid podcasters act as creator, writer, producer, sound engineer, I.T. troubleshooter, researcher, host, distribution pro, marketing guru, public relations professional, and, most important of all, financial backer for the podcast.

In short, they do it all for their podcast.

Here are some key updates on some of the award winners.

If you haven't listened to these independent podcasts, I urge you to check them out by clicking the link in the section about the podcast.

The Life Shift focuses on candid conversations with people about the pivotal moments that changed their lives forever. The podcast highlights life-altering moments and humanizes the struggles and triumphs through them all. This podcast was also the winner of Best Indie Podcast Of The Year.

Host Matt Gilhooly has developed a bonus episode that recaps the final statements from episodes 101 - 110, where guests reflect on what they would say to themselves before their life-shift moment and offer advice to those going through similar experiences. These conversations are raw, personal, and deeply inspiring.

Surfing Corporate, which won as Best Workplace Podcast Of The Year, helps listeners navigate the corporate waters, and surf the hell out of them, and "all without throwing fellow employees to the sharks or promising your firstborn to Satan. It CAN be done," according to the co-hosts Aileen Merciel & Glenda Pacanins.

Aileen and Glenda are ready to launch their new season on September 18th. Listeners can look forward to episodes where the co-hosts sit down with Kristi Coulter, former Amazon executive and author of Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career.

Kristi Coulter pulls back the curtain on the high-pressure, high-stakes culture inside one of the world's most influential companies. In another episode, Aileen and Glenda challenge the traditional view of categorizing bosses as either good or bad, focusing instead on those who embody both traits.

Leaders who can be inspiring and brilliant, but also mean and volatile. Join them as they explore the psychology behind these unpredictable corporate characters.

Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever-- is the winner of the Best Film History Podcast Of The Year. Each episode focuses on a film, director or theme and brings in experts to discuss its history, politics and influences. In the latest episode, host Ayesha Khan slips into the wayback machine to discuss Robert Duncan Milne, who is a lost pioneer of science fiction literature. Host Khan takes a huge jump back to the end of the 19th century and a side step to science fiction literature rather than film.

In the many stories Milne wrote he included themes of time travel, alien life, teleportation, cryogenic preservation, remote surveillance and much more. Think Jules Verne, yet sadly not as well known as the author of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

"Fine" Dining is the hilarious search for the most mediocre chain restaurant in America. Host Michael Ornelas hits popular spots like IHOP, Texas Roadhouse, & Chili's to find the perfectly average 5-out-of-10 "fine" dining experience."

And now, it’s burger time. Septemburger is Fine Dining’s earnest attempt to find something actually great by pitting 24 burgers from eight different restaurants against each other in a single-elimination tournament. The contenders? Only the finest in fast-casual: Shake Shack, Steak ‘n Shake, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Whataburger, In-N-Out, Culver’s, Rally’s, and White Castle. Listeners can even get in on the action by submitting their own Septemburger bracket by September 10th for a chance to win $500!The Septemburger series kicked off on September 4th and will run throughout the month, with new episodes dropping every week. Get ready for a burger battle like no other, and don’t forget to follow along on social media using the hashtag #Septemburger2024.

6 Degrees Of Cats is the world’s #1 (and only) cat-themed culture, history and science podcast. Join cat worshiper Amanda B. as she investigates these and other hard hitting questions with a diversity of guest experts from across the globe.

Right now, host Amanda B. AKA Captain Kitty is preparing for the new season in late fall. But fear not, cat lovers. 6 Degrees Of Cats has a Substack page that has regular posts called The Captain's Log. Check out these twice-monthly posts and podcast archives to find out the answers to deep-seated cat questions, including their role in history, culture, and our constant struggle to figure out: "What is my cat thinking?"

This review is part of an ongoing series of reviews, recommendations, and essays about Indie podcasters -- their craft, their challenges, and the critical role they play in podcasting. These entrepreneurs display skills as disparate as hosting, sound production, graphic design, scriptwriting, interviewing, marketing genius, and financial watchdog. They are the heart and soul of podcasting.