Opening**
A security guard is seen running from foxy the guard runs into Freddy and Bonnie and chica in the dining. Foxy raises his hook and slices the guards arm off and the guard is knocked down. He wakes up in a chair it is a torture chair with sharp saws going to his face he sees a screw and tries to unscrew it doesn't work. The sharp saws go threw his face as his skin and meat and blood scattered on the floor and you see his bone they get cutting so wide the cupcake sees this and bites his meat and eats it.
Scene 1**
Mike wakes up in his bed staring at the clock reading 6:00 AM. He goes to his job as a cashier getting paid 3.29 a hour he is planning to quit but he needs rent money. He sees a guy stealing something so he runs and tries to tell him to give it back but sees a child and he realizes he should let them go because they could be hungry. Mike gets called to his boss. The boss tells Mike you are fired pack up your things or we will call 911. Mike packs up and goes home. He calls number for a job council he finds one. 2 weeks later (4/8/2000).
Scene 2**
Number 27, number 27. Mike realizes he heard his number and goes to a office. Hello my name is Dave Miller I am ur councilor today so what is your deal Mike letting people just go after stealing something is just bad you know that right? said Dave Miller. Mike said I did the right thing mr.Miller. I know but you can't be doing that ok Mr.Michael Schmidt also do you want coffee for ur job. What job? Said Mike. Security at Freddy's said Dave. Mike said how is the pay. Not good but hours are worst said Dave Miller. I will take it ok said Mike. Okay said Dave Miller.
Scene 3**
[1 day later]
I am at Freddy's Mike tells Dave on the phone. Ok remember check the place top to bottom but do not look in the suits said the owner and no parts and service also the owner said Dave. Ok I said Mike. (20 minutes later) I am in my office goodbye said Mike. goodbye said Dave Miller. Mike saw a tape with his name he played it and it was the year 1987 of the tape. Hello and welcome to Freddy fazbear pizza place our wonderful staff will love you and if you cook good so will chica and beware of one thing FUN!!! And remember the animatronics should be taken with care ain't that right Henry said the staff. Yes said Henry. Let's see th- th- video tape ends. Mike hears a call from the phone and answers. Uhm hello hello hello and welcome to Freddy fazbear pizza place it is for fancy and fun come to life and remember do not like do anything bad that would get you an illegal trouble I know I know why am I reading this well our last night girl let's just say was terrible at his job and I mean it just make sure to not do anything bad and hopefully not like the last last last night guard he was a train wreck oh yeah guess what he did on his cameras he wrote he nobody like drew the middle finger on every single camera lens that's all I got to say is don't do that and take my warning animatronics are alive and remember close the door and check the lights I'm not going to tell you again because if you ever mess with them they will harm you or worse the last night card sadly passed away because of a glitch at least that's what we think basically we have to reopen this place so we need another car to clean up it and make sure to keep it clean that's all I have to say goodbye said phone guy. Mike said okay and proceeded to look around the place. And before he knew it it was 6:00 a.m. and he could leave ending his shift for night one.
Scene 4**
Mike drove home and he saw a card taped to his door it said that he could get evicted in the next two weeks or else he would have to pay a lot of rent and if he didn't pay it by that time he would lose his house and be forced to live on the streets. So Mike just went to bed waited for 11:30 so he can drive off to Freddy's and get started with his night. He woke up and it was 11: 37 he was 7 minutes late and it was a 30 minute drive so he's so he went a little over the speed limit for the start of it and then calm her down but luckily he knows on the road or else they could have gotten hurt or even killed and but by the time he slowed down those traffic so he got the place at 12:03 and well he just went to his office and checked on everything and cleaned and made sure nothing bad would happen but he heard a phone call. hello hello oh yeah it is me again I tried giving you that warning the last time but you're not going to take it so I'm going to tell you in the hardest way I can and that is damn electronics will try to forcefully stuff you into a Freddy suit but pretty much saw in your face and pretty much that's what happened to the last guard so just be careful I guess but yeah I'm finishing my last week cuz a matter of fact yeah the last card was the one before mine yeah I don't know I'm calling it your last one but it's a awkward just trust me with this I know you probably say I was crazy last time but I'm going to redeem myself but I'm going to send the VHS tapes the company said not to to prove to you that those animatronics are nothing but bad and they always will be so I recommend you just stop messing with them or else they will mess with you in the most Gory way possible they will make sure they rip you live from when they will make sure you do not survive trust me well that's the end of the call goodbye. I thought the guy was crazy. Mike continued his night and well he got curious and he went by the animatronics they smelled disgusting and he saw a drip of blood fall out Mike just cleaned it up thinking it was just water pipes or something but cuz he got Mike just cleaned it up thinking it was just water pipes or something but cuz he Mike just cleaned it up thinking it was just water pipes or something but he got told not to look in the animatronic so he just ignored him and just cleaned he cleaned up the place and finished his night and then he just left thinking that exact drop of blood he realized something was deadly wrong so hey just text again and again and again he couldn't find anything so he heard a knock on the door it was 2:00 a.m. so he didn't care he saw on the cameras it was a police officer her named is Vanessa Mike learned when she told him when he opened the door Vanessa walked in. Mike showed her to her office and he was told about kids went missing in 1987. They never found the bodies. She asked Mike why did you choose this job is this something you think of yourself being at 10-20 years. Mike said no. She told Mike I have to go. Mike said okay cuz it was 5:59 a.m. Mike had to go anyways and he did he went in his car and left and went home and disgust on the phone with his own with the house on her he lives in and they talked about if they can postpone his rent to be later the owner agreed and said we will but if you do this again I will charge you extra.
**Scene 5
It was 7:38 pm and teenagers thought Freddy's place would be a good place to party they went inside and set up everything at 9:54 pm a kid went in the kitchen and saw chica and laughed because he didn't think chica was alive and went by her mouth and chica opened her mouth and peeled his head skin the boy screamed but the speakers where loud. Chica pickled at his meat as she went more and more deep as the cupcake jumped at the boys stomach and ripped his guts and blood on the ground as the blood was gory and one of the girls went to check on him and the cupcake jumped at her biting her face open. One teen went behind the stage with her boyfriend and saw Freddy put his microphone down her throat deep and ripped it out of her neck inside her and he stomped on her face. The boyfriend got scared but Freddy put his arm in his eye holes as he rips his head from there. Another group of friends went in the janitor closet to tell each other the scary horror story of Freddy fazbear pizza place and the light went off and the door opens and closed and the light was back on and they saw Bonnie in there with them as he uses his guitar in one put it in thee boys mouth and putting it out of his back ripping his torso open the teens tried to escape but the doors where locked and bonnie toookk them out one by one. In the dining room foxy ran at them using his hook to kill them slicing there brains out and golden Freddy desposes the bodies.
Scene 6**
Mike went to his office and cleaned the pizza place but phone guy called. Hello hello yeah as you can see I'm back from the call I know you're probably thinking right now and this guy talking about where you found out either way I'm going to help you no matter what even if I am dead right now and probably am I get that because they don't like me they will get to know you and they will like you I will give you hints that I found out on the way they are ghosts children I mean if I was forced to sing songs for decades I would be mad too because that is kind of bad basically no one caught who did I found it out because I'm not dumb and I am actually very smart at least I think but probably not I know exactly will have the bite of 87 happen that's what we call it basically Mike it was dangerous basically this child got bit in the forehead by foxy yeah pretty crazy stuff foxy but the kid raising his suck at him yeah the kid at least yeah the kids did not survive sadly imagine having to write that note to the parents or the parents right now basically they gave him a discount to me that's pretty messed up in the brain like if your child I would you want to do that no I'm not saying that you don't have kids or if you do I don't know anything about you probably know you can be the owner's child right right yeah you probably are knowing your name and that's the same name that's his and he did change his name and it will be new in the public is a start with an s because someone tried leaking the full name I'll ask is if you are him do not try killing me do not be like your father because I found out he's the one and as soon as I get going with this job you know what I'm going to do I'm going to report it to the police station and they're going to find out all the evidence cuz I found the bodies but I didn't remove them because that's disgusting their children dead in the suits I know you I'm guessing you're only doing this because your father told you to let me tell you something why you can stop right now you can at least I mean you were 6 years old when you accidentally killed your brother and dwell changes your name and everything all I ask I don't remember what happened and the year 1983 that's all I have to say goodbye. What Mike said. As he thinks I don't even remember being a child before I was 12. Mike was confused it was 2:00 a.m. he realized Bonnie moved and moved and he got scared Mike right now if his office try to get the exit the exit doors lock so you run back to his office went underneath Bonnie's legs as Barney tried trapping him with his kneecap almost freaking Mike got loose and ran to his office door and closed it and he started realizing phone guy was crazy as he thought Mike knew he was wrong the whole time Mike thought he knew they where not alive but he was wrong bonnie slamed the door trying to get in but left. He closed all doors at 5:00 a.m. and waited it was 6:00 a.m. he left. Mike found Vanessa and told her their alive Vanessa. She said I know they are they are just kids you shouldn't mess with them like do not harm them in any way just quit your job and leave every one you know that is a child out of this place or else they will get dangerously hurt said vanessa mike went to bed.. to be continued next week
Up for part 2

I am writing this on my phone so apologies for any mistakes. Now some relevant background: My sister (19f) and I (22f) live at home with our mom. While we are both in college I live at home year round with our mom and she lives in a dorm and only comes home for holidays, breaks, and summers. My mom works from home and has a high stress job, when she doesn’t want to work she does busywork around the house like cleaning. This happens often. I do help out around the house of course I clean up after myself (obviously), do my own laundry, I am in charge of all changing and scooping of the cat litter in the house except the one in my moms room but I often do it for her because I’m already doing the rest. My mom doesn’t like doing dishes so I do those as well most of the time. Overall we keep the house pretty clean and neat (I like everything organized). This is all relevant because my sister doesn’t care if things are kept clean. And the only chores that are really expected of her are to pick up after herself and tend to the garden when she’s in town. She doesn’t do the first for the most part and the second she does when she feels like it. For example her room is a mess I’ve gone looking for my clothes in there after she left for her dorm and found molded food, dirty clothes everywhere, dirty pads, and more. Usually she is able to regulate this to her room tho so I don’t have an issue, but she is back for the summer and it’s becoming unbearable for me.
This is where I may be the asshole, this morning she came into borrow some clothes from my closet I asked her THREE times to close the closet and she did not. This annoyed me, I brought it up later but she brushed it off with a laugh after saying “oh yeah I did do that oops”, later we went on a coffee run she spilled in my car it wasn’t super bad so I had her wipe it up and when we got home I went got wet wipes to clean it up with any sticky areas and found a half eaten apple in my side car door she had left. I always ask her to not leave trash in my car so again I was annoyed but when I told her about it she just threw it against the fence and went inside. Now I’m starting to get more than annoyed. Then this evening we were watching a movie my sister left half way through the movie and went to bed. I came upstairs to find a crumpled plastic bag next to the trash can my sister brought upstairs (because I asked her the day before) that she didn’t put in the trash can a used pad stuck to the bottom of the trash can, her dirty clothes on the floor of the bathroom and the hallway, a half empty sports drink on the bathroom counter and the door to my bedroom open (I keep it closed for reasons I won’t get into). I. Lost. It. I slammed open her door and started yelling at her about how she might live in a dump at her dorm but this is a common space and I’m done picking up after her. I didn’t curse but I was loud and pretty harsh. She got up without a word picked up the used pad wrapped it with toilet paper put it in the bag and the bag in the trash can grabbed her clothes and went back into her room. Now I can hear her crying in her room and I’m feeling guilty. I have already apologized for yelling but I feel like I took it to far. I shouldn’t have yelled, but in the moment my anger felt justified. Am I the Asshole?

I own a duplex. I live on the top, I have a tenant who pays me rent living on the bottom. ETA: this arrangement has been this way for 3 years.
The house has a driveway that is narrow such that only one car at a time can park on it. The width does not allow for more than 1 car. As a result, my tenant and I have an unspoken rule to neverarely park on the driveway and always park in the 2 car garage at the end of the driveway so either of us can get out without an issue.
I have been a way for a few days and a I returned home to find a car parked in the driveway, blocking my path to my garage.
My tenant came out and asked if I wanted her friend who was visiting her to move her car or park on the street (ample legal and safe street parking) so I could park in the garage. I said no, and parked behind the car, blocking them from reversing should they have to leave. (I do not know the friend who was visiting her).
I went inside, got ready for work, showered etc. While I was in the shower my tenant texted me twice asking me to move my car because her friend had to leave. As I got out of the shower she left me a voicemail. She called me again as I was getting ready, saying her friend really needed to leave and could I move my car. I answered and said “no, she’ll have to wait. Maybe she will learn not to park in other peoples driveway.”
I finished getting ready for work and went downstairs to leave. Before I left, I knocked on my tenants door and told her and her friend, “do not park your car in my driveway in my house, that I own.” They stuttered making excuses etc and I simply repeated, “do not park your car in my driveway in my house, that I own.” They apologized, and I pulled my car out and left.
——
My opinion: I probably could have been politer and laid ground rules down before this incident. But it just seems obvious to me you don’t go around parking in stranger’s driveways. Especially if they only allow for one car. (What if an ambulance had to come and they couldn’t get to the door because a car was blocking it? My tenant is elderly) By this logic (parking in stranger’s driveways) I could just park in anyone’s driveway willy nilly. Even when I was a kid visiting my friends I never parked in their parents driveway, always on the street. And then to get upset because I won’t move my car in my own driveway? Seems a little absurd.
AITA?

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/hopefulaga1n
My ex-wife [36 F] still keeps trying to get back together with me [36 M] and our daughters [16 F] want that to happen too
Thanks to u/mjolnirstrike for suggesting this BoRU and u/Minute_Point_949 & u/stevvandy for finding the links
TRIGGER WARNING: infidelity, manipulation
Original Post May 7, 2016
Doesn't really sound like a big problem, right? Yeah, well, while I wish I could just plain tell her to piss off and never bother me again, there is the matter of us having two daughters and sharing custody, so I can't excise her from my life on a permanent basis.
Not without removing our daughters too.
We married fairly early in our lives, back when we were 20 and we had been dating for three years before that. Our daughters were born in the very first year of the marriage, and there were some complications which meant my ex-wife would have difficulty conceiving again. Didn't matter to me at the time, because I was just glad she made it healthy and fine through the whole ordeal and that we already had two beautiful baby girls to love and raise up.
The marriage lasted for 9 years. Ended when I divorced her for cheating. I have absolutely no tolerance for it and I don't believe in forcing myself to suffer needlessly for shit that wasn't my fault to begin with. While this might sound incredulous to some folks, any love I had for my ex-wife was pretty much killed when I found out about her cheating and the details behind it. So yeah, this isn't a thread about me moving on from her. I've done that 7 years ago. Hell, I don't even hate her, I just don't give a damn about what goes on in her life unless it concerns our daughters.
The problem is that it's only me that moved on from the whole thing. The ex-wife, her family, and even our daughters, have kept trying to get us back together even though I have made it plain for everyone that I have no interest of ever doing that. Me not dating at first for a few years after the divorce might have been giving them false hope, but I sure as fuck wasn't going to jump into another relationship so soon after. Not with our daughters to look after.
They were my number one priority, besides my own issues which stemmed from the ex's cheating. Those issues, by the by, got resolved with the help of friends, family and some counseling. So yeah, that's over and done with.
I have no issue in communicating with our girls. None whatsoever. Anything else? They can understand it just fine. There's never been any fighting, no yelling, no nonsensical teenage rebellion (thus far), no tantrums thrown and so on. Pretty great, right? Except this whole thing. They know about her cheating on me, and it was their mother in fact who told them about it, some three years ago or so. I imagine she's been feeding them some kind of bullshit since then and I've asked her countless times to stop with it, that it wasn't helping anyone, that it only prevented them from moving on.
But the ex-wife didn't stop, she apparently just got subtler about it.
In all the years since we divorced, she hasn't dated or slept with anyone else. While I suppose she thinks that admirable, I don't.
To be honest, I find it kind of insulting. When we were married, she fucked someone else, but now she's just fine going without sex for seven years?
Whatever. Not that it matters.
While I could ignore the occasional mentions of their mother, of how well she looks, of them showing me photos they took with her, obviously all dolled up for my sake, it's gotten worse lately. Why? Because I have a girlfriend. Clemence is not the first since the divorce, but she is the most serious relationship I had since my marriage ended. She also happens to be eight years my junior. Before getting together as a couple, we knew each other for four years through a shared hobby. So basically it was a gradual transition from being friends to being involved with each other. I can honestly say I love this woman. It was a surprise to me when I realized that, because while I didn't really want to admit it to myself, I was afraid for a time that what my ex-wife did to me damaged me on some fundamental level and rendered me incapable of ever truly loving someone else, like I once did her.
Initially, my daughters had very little to say about our relationship, much like they didn't comment anything on the previous two I had post-divorce.
But then they started coming home (ahead of the schedule we set up in advance) and they'd find me and Clemence together (nothing compromising, not sex or anything of the sort). Then came the grumbling. Then came the "Why is she here?" question. Then came "It's not fair to mom what you're doing," as if I was actually doing this solely to spite or hurt their mother. So I sat them down and talked. And I talked and I talked, but they're just not getting it.
They simply won't give up on this preposterous fantasy of theirs where I get back with their mother.
Clemence, thank God, has been understanding and isn't upset by their behavior. She's basically saying to give them time, but I kind of doubt that will work. It hasn't so far, so I have no idea why more time would change anything.
Anyway, since I'm really all out of ideas, I figured I might as well ask you folks here if any one of you might have an idea how to handle this.
Is there even a way, an approach of any sort, that could work on my daughters realizing I will not, under any circumstances, get back with their mother?
Edit: more information.
tl;dr Wife cheated, became ex-wife. Our daughters keep trying to talk me into getting back together and aren't listening to a word I say about it never happening. They started acting grouchy and resentful recently once they realized that my relationship with another woman has turned very serious. Do I play the waiting game and hope they mature past this kind of behavior or is there something I've overlooked, something I could do to make them understand that even without this person in my life, I will never get back with their mother?
RELEVANT COMMENTS
[deleted]

You need a chat with your daughters.
You say that whilst your mother and you are good friends, and have worked together to give your daughters a stable upbringing, there is no way in hell you are getting back together. You should say that if their mother thinks or says anything to the contrary, it's not going to happen. You say you like Clemence and if things go the way you want them to, your future will be with her, not with their mother

OOP

Already did that, dozens of times.
It just doesn't seem to be reaching them at all.
At one point, that was about a year back, they asked me why I don't want to get back together with their mother. When I brought up her cheating, and I admit that at the time I wasn't sure if I should have done that but I honestly couldn't think of anything else, it turned out their mother had already told them about it several years back! They keep using the same approach every time of how she's faithful to me now. When I pointed out to them that she can't be faithful to me given that we're not together to begin with, they just ignore that.
I have talked with my ex-wife about this on numerous occasions, possibly a hundred times by now, about not bringing our adult lives and messing up our daughters'. In one ear and out the other, as they say. At one point, I admit, I even contemplated going to court for sole custody, but I was advised it would not work out well for me, so I dropped that approach.

~
[deleted]

Do your daughters know the reason why you divorced? Do they know your ex cheated on you? I don't ever favor telling young kids that, but your daughters are nearly adults. It seems they are laboring under some delusion about why the divorce happened (likely fed to them by their mother without your rebuttal). Perhaps setting the record straight on that regard might help. You don't have to be disrespectful about her; you can be factual and still get the point across.

OOP

Yes and yes. I actually tried telling them about it a year ago, only to find out that their mother told them several years back, when they were just a few months shy of turning 13. They know their mother cheated on me.
Now, here's the thing that I think is messing with their minds: they never saw their mother as anything but loving towards me or them. Or at least they don't remember it if they did see her acting coldly and distant with me.
During her affair, and yes it was an affair, not just a one-time thing (not that I wouldn't have divorced her either way), she was very much the opposite of loving in bedroom. They never really saw that, nor should they have. My approaches for intimacy were often rebuffed and I felt more and more dejected until one day I realized, with the help of a very close and very good friend, that there was nothing wrong with me and therefore something had to be wrong with her, which is what led me to discovering the affair, because I started looking for reasons why our love life had suddenly dropped so much in quality and quantity.
And it wasn't just sex. There were the small things missing from our daily lives too. I know it sounds silly, but we always kissed at the front door, in plain sight, before either of us went to work. That's something, that only now in retrospect became plain to see, that was missing.
Bottom line is, their mother denied me even the most basic of affections while giving it to someone else outside of our marriage.
To me, that's unforgivable.
They don't understand that, they couldn't, not even if I told them (which I rather wouldn't), and how hurtful it can be when you realize that your spouse didn't really give a damn about you all that much.
So all this? All the regret and remorse and pining for us to get back together? To me, it's worthless. What's the point? Where was all this supposed love and guilt and remorse when it should have mattered?

Update Apr 1, 2017
It's been a while since I was first here and I was reminded recently that I owed an update to the kind and good people here who helped me with our troubles.
A lot of things has happened. Among those things, my daughters actually stumbled across my post. I had no idea they even browsed Reddit, let alone this place. When I came home one day from work I found them crying. They pretty much jumped me, hugged me, wouldn't let me go and begged me to forgive them. Sadly, they had read one of my replies and found out the dreadful extent of my ex-wife's affair and how much it had devastated me.
It took us a while, but we got through it, as a family. There was nothing for me to forgive, they're still young and they love their mother, who took that love and used it to manipulate them. That's on her, not them. There was some much needed counseling, but after several months, the woman who was helping us heal and move on has said that nothing more needed to be done, and they should only check in with her once in a while, rather than continue their weekly sessions.
We're closer than we were before, but their relationship with their mother has suffered for it. Which I think is completely understandable, but I still cautioned them about lingering too much on what she did, since I had gotten over what she did all those years ago. That was something also resolved in counseling (both their own and our shared ones), so it's all behind us now.
I had a brief confrontation with my ex-wife about it and made it clear that she was to not talk about this getting back together nonsense any more with our daughters. I can't tell if it really got through to her, but my daughters have not been pestered about me since then. Or they simply ignore their mother and don't bring it up at home. Either way, so long as my daughters are doing fine, I could care less about what my ex-wife is doing.
Since the situation had improved, things had also become much better between my daughters and my girlfriend, so much that they actually started talking with her (rather than just exchange terse greetings and goodbyes), even occasionally asking for tips on something (girly stuff, of course), and I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart to see it happening for the first time.
I'll admit that also helped me push my thoughts in the direction of proposing to my girlfriend, who had been incredibly supporting and understanding through all of this. We had known each other for a long time now, spent so much time as a couple, and after all this mess, I didn't really think there was anything more I could to to express my love for her. However, I was beaten to the punch.
Two months ago, Clemence, together with my daughters, surprised me one day and proposed to me. I have to say that I felt very odd, but also very happy. Not just the proposal, but that my daughters had actually worked with my girlfriend on surprising me that day with dinner and a night out. To put it simply, I was blown away. It was a small and private ceremony, with only our closest friends and family attending. Currently, we're also expecting, and my daughters are looking forward to having a baby brother or sister to spoil.
tl;dr: My daughters had found my previous post and saw in one of the replies how deeply I was hurt by their mother's cheating. Asked for forgiveness, there was no need for it. We worked through our issues together, both at home and in some counseling, and we healed from it and got much better. Even their relationship with my girlfriend had improved, so much that one day they helped her arrange a nice night for us, where she proposed to me. We're married and currently expecting, with my daughters eagerly looking forward to having a younger sibling to spoil rotten.
THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP
DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

tl;dr: I use the minion method on the WSM and have issues maintaining temps less than 250 after a couple hours. I know the door is a known issue, will replacing it give me a significant boost in temp control?
WSM 22" is been my first dedicated smoker, bought a couple years ago and have had quite a few cooks, all of which have turned out pretty damn great.
Now, as with any hobby one comes to the point where you might want to step it up a bit. My main, really only gripe (outside of the thermometer being more or less useless, but I have always had a bbq thermometer so thats really moot) - is that temp control < 250f feels almost impossible.
I have mainly, if not exclusively used the minion method, which always starts great. First couple hours, I can keep it between 225 and 250. After a couple hours though, I have to completely shut all of the bottom vents, and it still usually hovers around 275+ on a warm day.
The one thing that sticks out to me is how much air is probably getting in the coal door because its machined so poorly, so that is my first guess for things to address. Anyone have experience with this? Did it help? Is there a better method I should be using with the WSM?

PRESENT
This is Part 2 of 3, the Present, in game events we see! Onwards!
The Protagonist is some sort of content creator, one that goes to abandoned or forgotten places and "searches" them, as can be gleaned from the cameras facing the protagonist on his desk, and his conversation with a certain Laura, or LSparks53 (there's also an error in this Harmony tab, with one of the messages from Laura reading as from LauraSparks53 instead of LSparks53. Just a note). This Laura helps our protagonist, who goes by the username of eEnsign. His profile picture are the letters UF, which is weird, since it doesn't match the username, nor what Laura calls eEnsign: Ed. Anyways, I digress. From now on, I'll call the protagonist Ed as well. Laura helps Ed get footage of these places as per the conversation.
eEnsign: "Hey Laura! I'm doing another search this weekend! Wanna come with me?"
LSparks53: "The last few times I've gone with you SUCKED LMAO."
eEnsign: "Remember that old theme park we went to see as kids? Indigo Park?"
LSparks53: "yeah? I kind of forgot about that place? Been closed for a while, right? how would you even get in?"
eEnsign: "Honestly, I don't know. I'm not even gonna bring my equipment. Jump a fence of something? We've done worse lol”
LSparks53: "aight, well just be careful. I'm gonna pass on this one. if you can get in i'll go with you to help record some other time. i'm looking it up now and there's like NO info online about it. probably swarming with cops too."
eEnsign: "I guess we'll find out! I'll check it out, maybe we can go together next week?
Lsparks53: "just be careful, Ed. I don't want to be paying your bail."
And with that conversation, we learn that these two are like a dynamic duo of sorts, having some sort of channel or website where they post footage of places lost to time and "search" them, breaking laws of trespassing and such, apparently also having "done worse", whatever that means. Maybe they took a few things from the place, so burglary? It's never specified. Probably burglary, though, considering that Ed has taken to collecting all sorts of plushies and such from Indigo Park.
What I want to point out is how weird this Laura person acts. As soon as Indigo Park is mentioned, Laura instantly seems to dislike the idea, but never directly says it. Instead, she becomes reluctant to go with Ed, despite having done worse, as Ed puts it. Perhaps she's just cautious, and based on her last sentence, they haven't been caught before, or else she would have said "I don't want to be paying your bail again."
However, I don't think that's the case. Remember when Laura said she looked up Indigo Park and found nothing? Well, we know the website is still up and running, or at the very least, Ed used some sort of service like the Wayback Machine to pull it up on the right most monitor on his desk, which can be seen in the opening cutscene. On it, there's even an option to purchase tickets still, which is incredibly weird, which I'll also go into later on. Why would a defunct theme park need a still running website? After all, if you evacuate everyone from it with no explanation, wouldn't you want to get rid of all evidence of it? If not destroy the property outright, then at least take the website down. Again, digressing, the point is that Laura didn't find this website ... or she did, but didn't say anything.
Again, this is purely speculation at this point; I mean, the two of them have broke into a few places trespassing and recording and documenting abandoned places at least a few times for the internet, and maybe she really is just that cautious, worried about being imprisoned and charged for trespassing, and even attempted burglary.
And it seems like Ed is asking the same questions we are. Behind the Harmony tab is a notes tab with several questions such as "Why did it close?" and "What is left?", among a few others that are cut off. The next question seems to ask "Is it still" something. Seems like Ed and us are in the same boat. Hopefully we can help each other out.
Regardless, Ed ends up climbing the fence and enters the closed off Indigo Park, where dozens of crates stamped with the Indigo Park logo, along with trash, can be seen. Walking around, the main gates are closed off, and one of the doors seem to open on their own, allowing Ed entry into the Registration Center, a desk with a few monitors where a Rangler would sit and check Ed in.
Inside, the Rambley AI comes to life, noting that Ed is the first person there in just over eight years, before directing us to the previously mentioned Registration Center. It is revealed here that AI Rambley has access to the cameras (both computer cameras and CCTV cameras), where he notes that Ed isn’t on the guest list, probably because he snuck in, and didn’t pay for his tickets. However, what stands out as odd is that Rambley doesn’t recognize Ed at all, asking if he was here for the first time. We know that it’s most definitely not Ed’s first time here, but it’s unclear if AI Rambley doesn’t recognize Ed because he grew up, or the registration process requires a photo upload.
Rambley AI: "Hm, I don't seem to have your face in the guest list. Is this your first time here in the park? Or did you just get plastic surgery?"
From here, Ed’s directed to go through the gates, but both AI Rambley and Ed realize that the gates are not open and are instead sending an error message. Going back to the Registration Center, Ed finds and replaces a missing gear, and the gates finally open, from where Ed is free to explore. He’s directed to the Critter Corner, where he receives a Critter Cuff to enter certain areas, and the park, from where he’s directed to Rambley’s Railway to get to know most (poor Salem) of the characters. A massive statue of Isaac Indigo and Rambley can be seen at the entrance.
As Ed makes his way through to Rambley Railway, it’s clear that the park is not in the best condition. Ransacked gift stores, empty cafes with rotting food and festering drinks, tunnels collapsing at the drop of a hat, and weeds spouting everywhere even disconcert the AI Rambley, who tries to shrug off the state of the park by claiming renovations, but it’s clear he’s unsettled with how empty and broken the park is. We’ll cover that later as well.
On this ride, Rambley introduces us to everyone, except for Salem, indicating he’s friends with everyone except her and Lloyd, for whom he has … let’s a bit of distaste for. He’s shown to be sarcastic and snippy with Lloyd, but even his supposed friends aren’t safe from his occasional jabs.
Rambley when speaking to Mollie Macaw: “You sure are [the best pilot you ever saw], Moll! Why, you only crashed into six barns this week!”
Mollie: “I’m not crashin’, Rambley! I’m barnstormin’!”
Rambley: “Haha! What’s barnstorming?”
Mollie: “It’s crashing, with style! I-it barely hurts at all!”
The stutter in Mollie’s audio is what interests me. It could be interpreted as a glitch, which is certainly possible. The park hasn’t been maintained in eight years, and it is falling apart. But it could also be interpreted as Mollie losing her characteristic confidence, upset that Rambley seems to be so keen on pointing out her failures in her hobby sphere.
Rambley, when speaking to Finley the Sea Serpent: “Why the long face? And body? … Oh Finley, you should come out of YOUR shell!”
Finley, in response. “How about YOU come into it instead?”
I would also like to note AI Rambley’s interaction with Finley’s plushie.
AI Rambley: “Ooh, you found my buddy Finley! You know, he’s really shy, like, TOO shy, like OBNOXIOUSLY shy, but he’s got a good heart.”
I want to point out the fact that when Rambley speaks about how shy Finley is, he doesn’t seem to be doing it in a jesting way. In fact, he seems genuinely annoyed with how introverted Finley is, to the point where you can hear it in his voice, and he also uses his annoyed model with slanted eyes when mentioning it.
There’s also a note here that, apparently, Rambley and Finley have known each other for over 100 years, though it’s unclear if this is actually real information, or just something the creators of the ride decided to include for the fun of it.
And another thing. At the very end of the Finley section, Finley hopes that the rider will actually visit him and Oceanic Odyssey, because he’s lonely. Why should he be lonely? He’s friends with Rambley and Mollie, at the very least. Is it because he lives on the bottom of the ocean? Or for other reasons?
Ed then reaches Salem’s area, which is noticeably, horrifically destroyed, a splatter of something bright red front and center. This is where the ride breaks down, and Ed’s required to go and fix it, before continuing onto Lloyd’s area.
I’d like to stop the story to consider the state of Salem’s area; why is it so destroyed? I’m going to avoid thinking of the red splatter as blood, to be honest, but we do know that the Mascots bleed red, thanks to Mollie Macaw. In my mind, there are three potential perpetrators.
The first two are noticeably weak connections, and the reasoning isn’t 100%, so take it with a grain of salt. We know that all the characters received Mascots, so there are three of them that, in my mind, are capable.
The first is, admittedly, a bit weird: the Mascot of Salem. We know she despises Rambley and his friends (her relationship with Lloyd remains a mystery), so it’s possible that Mascot Salem was the one to sabotage her area, as a way of getting back at Rambley. Why her area only is admittedly a bit weird, so she’s not the strongest match. Another piece of evidence would be the smashed animatronic of Mollie. Again, we do know that Salem has used Mollie before by dumping her potions onto her and making Mollie Salem’s minion. Could she also have smashed the animatronic bird?
The second suspect is Mascot Mollie. She can be seen following Ed throughout the ride, and the whole park, for that matter, and we do know there is some bad blood between her and Salem because of the arcade game Rambely Rush. It would give motive for Mascot Mollie to do such a thing, and she’s the only Mascot running about Indigo Park that we know of; Lloyd remained in his theater, not pursuing Ed when he leaves. At the end of the chapter, when Ed enters Oceanic Odyssey, it’s unclear whether a robot or Mascot Finley appears in the aquarium, but he’s likely confined there as well. Mascots Rambley and Salem aren’t even mentioned once.
Now, this one is also kind of a stretch, but the only character that would have more reason to hate Salem more than Mollie is Rambley. They are clear nemeses (again, Rambley Rush), and have been for quite some time. While the AI Rambley is generally benevolent, but still with a sharp tongue, it remains to be seen what exactly the Mascot Rambley is like. His Mascot is still likely here in Indigo Park somewhere, one of the remaining two (Mollie being dead, unless there are several of each Mascot present, in which case this elevates the terror a few notches. Imagine being chased by seventeen Mascot Lloyds) besides Salem. He could very well be the perpetrator. However, I do have a bit of trouble explaining why he would wreck the Animatronic Mollie. Maybe because he knows it’s just a fake, and not the real Mascot Mollie?
However, there is one convenient detail that I have not mentioned. Remember the smashed Animatronic Mollie, and how we were questioning why she was wrecked in the first place? Well, she does offer us one clue. When Ed approaches the bird, Mollie flickers to life momentarily, her voice garbled and distorted until finally, she says this:
Animatronic Mollie: “Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!”
After that, poor Animatronic Mollie finally shuts off for good, her painted eyes devoid of the life she once had. Well, this certainly got interesting, didn’t it? Rambley hurts Lloyd? How? I mean, think about it! How would a raccoon actively hurt a lion? This isn’t like a honey badger situation; raccoons are much more vulnerable and weaker than honey badgers. What’s also interesting is her words themselves. Why would someone program an Animatronic Mollie to say this? We eventually find out that Mascot Mollie will memorize and be able to repeat words or phrases she’s heard, if Ed has the misfortune of being caught by Mascot Mollie later down the line. Is it possible that the same is true for the animatronics? And if so, does that mean that Animatronic Mollie was shouting bits and pieces out of context, or was it supposed to be something she was never meant to hear, and was thusly wrecked?
And even if this was out of context, that still opens up a major can of worms. Even if Rambley never hurt Lloyd, who is this ‘He’ that did hurt Lloyd? Keep this in mind until we reach Lloyd’s attraction.
Anyways, onto Llyod’s area. It’s clear that Lloyd and Rambley both don’t like each other, quite possibly because Rambley hates how Lloyd used to be number one, and Lloyd possibly because he’s not happy that he was replaced by Rambley as head honcho. Rambley, for his part, doesn’t really try to antagonize Lloyd, just wearily going through the ride and trying to get out as fast as possible here.
And that’s essentially it for the ride, AI Rambley suggesting Ed go visit Jetstream Junction. Careful observation would yield the fact that Mascot Mollie has been stalking Ed, studying him from behind the scenes, though she won’t end up being an antagonist until later on.
What’s interesting to note is that at the end, AI Rambley says this: “So, whatddya think? Pretty fun, right? Now you know all about my friends! And Lloyd …”
We know that Rambley cannot stand Salem, Rambley Rush made it quite clear. So, why refer to Salem as a friend? Why is her area so wrecked? Is it possible that AI Rambley has no reason to hate her, because he’s not aware of how often he’s pitted against her in media? But that would also mean that AI Rambley would have to be quite unaware of the media surrounding him, but he seems to know a lot about the history of the park. He still dislikes Lloyd, after all. And then that would beg the question if Mascot Rambley actually dislikes Salem enough to destroy her area in his ride. Too many questions that, unfortunately, there are no answers for. We can’t even see AI Rambley’s thoughts on Salem through a plush or anything, because there are no current collectibles in Chapter 1 that refer to her.
This is actually why I think one of the more intriguing aspects of ‘Birds of a Feather’ is Salem, and her ambiguous presence within the game. There aren’t even any posters in regard to her, unlike Lloyd or Rambley or Mollie or Finley. She’s just so wrapped up in mystery … anyways.
After finding out Jetstream Junction is locked away, AI Rambley sends Ed to Lloyd’s Main Stage Theater, where Ed first catches a glimpse of Mascot Lloyd, dozing on the stage. When Mascot Lloyd notices Ed, he runs into the back, and unfortunately, that’s where Ed has to go.
When Ed reaches the stage himself, AI Rambley tells Ed to be careful, because he has no vision of the backstage area, which is weird. AI Rambley seems to have access to the rest of Indigo Park, why is this area so special? It’s just storage, for the most part … and Mascot Lloyd, but AI Rambley still thinks they’re just as good as they were in their hay day, so he has no reason to be wary of the Mascots themselves until later. It’s true that it’s a Ranglers Only area, and we haven’t really seen AI Rambley in these areas before, so that could be it? Maybe because of his dislike for Lloyd? But then why give AI Rambley access to the stage at all? I don’t know, to be honest. Yet another question. However, AI Rambley does say something interesting.
AI Rambley, to Ed, regarding the behind the stage area: “Hey buddy. I got eyes all over the park, but I can’t see anything behind the stage. If you’re going back there be careful. Your Critter Cuff is not yet able to resuscitate you.”
Why should a Critter Cuff be able to resuscitate a person? From what I understand, it’s supposed to be like those Disney Bands that you can wear at parks, giving you access to different rides and such, even having complementary features of being a pedometer, mood ring, and a heartbeat sensor. This could either be a sort of tease to future upgrades Ed might be able to get in future chapters … or implies something darker. These Critter Cuffs were given to regular guests, for what purpose should they be able to revive someone from being unconscious?
Anyways, as Ed makes his way backstage, Lloyd makes some appearances, even once trying to attack Ed before being foiled by the massive boxes landing on him, causing him to slink away. Along the path, however, is something interesting. Binders, pages, even notebooks are scattered, almost like a bread crumb trail. I was never able to make out what they say besides some months like January, or vague Table of Contents with no explanation. Just thought it was weird. Food for thought. Grabbing the keys, Ed heads back, finding the door locked behind him. Trying to open the door yields an attack by Lloyd, who is strangely repelled by a high-pitched noise.
Now, from all that I have read, there seem to be two theories as for why Lloyd flees. The first cause is that Mascot Lloyd is driven away by the high-pitched beeping from the Critter Cuff. The second, and arguably more intriguing theory, is that someone blows a tamer’s whistle. A tamer’s whistle is a whistle used by tamers to direct animals, usually in settings like circuses where the animal has to perform some sort of trick or feat of athleticism. As it’s used more and more often, the animal learns to recognize the pitch, or duration of the shrill sound, associating it with a certain action that needs to be performed. In this case, the theory states that the tamer’s whistle caused Lloyd to fall back, before fleeing.
Now, while I think the tamer whistle theory is cool in concept, I don’t know who would be able, or more importantly, willing to save Ed from Mascot Lloyd. AI Rambley is not able to see what’s back here, nor should he understand what’s happening, so that removes him from the picture. Mascot Mollie is a possibility, perhaps wanting to save Ed for herself, as she’s seen stalking and watching Ed ever since Rambley’s Railroad, and even appears briefly in the hallway when Ed exits the theater backstage, but why want Ed for herself? They probably don’t need food, else they would have died, sweet pastries and sugary drinks present or not. They were left alone for eight years, after all. The thrill of the hunt would be the only explanation. And then there are our two unknowns, running about the park: Mascot Rambley and Mascot Salem. Could they have been the ones to do it? But why assume they’d act differently towards Ed? Surely they’d still be hostile?
And if the Critter Cuff was the savior, why was it ineffective against Mascot Mollie? Could it be because of the physiological and biological differences between Mascots Lloyd and Mollie? And why did it go off only when Lloyd was nearby? After Lloyd is repelled, the noise stops, after all. Was it the elevated heart rate that tipped off the defense mechanism? But again, surely it would have done the same when Ed would be chased by Mascot Mollie?
Remember what Animatronic Mollie told Ed with her dying breath? ‘Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!’ Could this be what Mollie was referring to? After all, Lloyd didn’t just run away; he collapsed a few feet away from Ed for a brief stint, paws pressing against his ears as Lloyd curled up into a fetal position, only running away when the high-pitched sound ended. Mascot Lloyd genuinely seemed in great pain, and was only able to run away, quite hastily, may I add, once the sound stopped. Was Rambley, AI or Mascot, the one who abused such a feature? Or was it someone else?
Remember, we have no idea why the Mascots turned hostile. Possibly due to a lack of exposure to humans, and thus claiming certain territories for themselves. After all, Mollie didn’t attack Ed until he entered her designated area. But then that brings into question Mascot Rambley. Where was he all this time? Rambley Railroad is his place, after all. But this isn’t Rambley’s only attraction in Indigo Park. At least one other location that we find that bears Rambley’s name is ‘Café de Raton Laveur’, which is French for Raccoon Café. Does that mean that Rambley owns other attractions, and is stalking those? It’s unclear.
Anyways, want to know another possible reason why there was a sudden evacuation with no explanation? What if the Mascots rebelled against the humans because of mistreatment? Think about it, Animatronic Mollie says ‘Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!’ What if Animatronic Mollie wasn’t referring to Rambley hurting Lloyd, but someone else? Someone who would want to design a special feature built into his Critter Cuff that he could activate and subdue, if not straight up hurt Lloyd? And who is the only other male character that we know of besides Rambley, Lloyd, Finley, and Ed?
That’s right, Isaac Indigo himself. This could very well be a case of mistreated creatures rebelling against the horrors they endured. Think about it, when in stressful situations, the mind, both human and not, is much more willing to go into fight or flight, is much more likely to punch first, question later. Is it possible that this Animatronic Mollie caught a snippet of a conflict that arose between the Mascots, when Mascot Mollie was trying to mediate? While this does go against the theory that Animatronic Mollie was destroyed by Mascot Rambley to silence her, it’s still a possible theory, no?
Again, these theories are very much a stretch, I just wished to lay them out on the table and offer them up for people to see and debate.
After grabbing the keys, Ed goes to Jetsream Junction, where Ed goes about exploring and solving some puzzles in order to progress further into the building, as it seems to be the only other place that isn’t falling apart and seems to be in somewhat stable condition. Inside one of the rooms is the Rambley Rush arcade game, and there is something interesting that Salem says in here.
Salem, speaking to Rambley: “Meet the new and improved Marley Macaw! Now with none o’ that ‘friendship’ garbage stopping her from tearin’ you to pieces. I wonder what she REALLY thinks of you now? Have fun finding out!”
Now, this could just be me overanalyzing this thing. It’s our only reference to Salem, and some of the things I cite as evidence could very well just be regular dialogue for an arcade game. However, on the off chance that this means something, I was very interested in what Salem said about what Mollie thought of Rambley. She makes it seem like Mollie is under some sort of illusion in regard to Rambley, like he’s a villain masquerading as a good guy, but has everyone around him convinced he’s good. This could tie in with the broken Animatronic Mollie, as if Mollie found out about some truth in regard to Rambley. After all, her broken, jittering speech made it seem like Rambley was actively hurting Lloyd. Could she have gone to someone to get help, but that other someone suggested Rambley as an ally? That could explain why Mollie felt the need to emphasize that ‘He hurts Lloyd’ twice, like she’s genuinely freaking out that her best friend actively hurt others he didn’t like.
Putting that theory aside, Ed goes through the area, heading up to Mollie’s ride, only to find it inaccessible due to major chunks of broken debris. AI Rambley seems sort of horrified to find the place so broken and calls up a repair technician. It’s no surprise that the line is discontinued, due to most Ranglers likely being laid off after the closure of Indigo Park.
From here, AI Rambley, still somewhat jarred by the wreckage he’s seeing, encourages Ed to go and visit Mollie’s Landing Pad, strangely acting as if Ed had just finished his journey on the attraction, when he couldn’t even step onto it. From there, Ed goes and solves some puzzles, making his way deeper into the building. He spots Mollie a few times as she gets away from him, hiding. What’s an interesting note is that some sort of liquid seems to be dripping from Mollie. When you encounter her in one of the tubes, she leaves behind some sort of reddish grime that disappears once her animation is done. Her eyes, also, aren’t the way they’re usually portrayed. They’re similar to Lloyd’s in that there are white pinpricks of light in dark sockets, Lloyd’s being thin ovals in dark sockets.
As Ed finishes up the puzzles, he goes deeper before he’s attacked by Mascot Mollie herself, fleeing through the numerous tubes and tunnels, before eventually leaving it all behind and entering some sort of Ranglers Only Area.
Before we continue, I’d like to point out something. When being chased, Mascot Mollie occasionally rehearses some lines she once heard, repeating this.
Finely, to Rambley: “You’ve known me for 100 years.”
Reasonable enough; she was there when Ed was in the Rambley’s Railroad attraction. No, what concerns me are two other lines, identified by SuperHorrorBro in his analysis of chapter one.
Mascot Mollie: “Get back in your cage, bird.”
And finally, this.
Mascot Mollie: “Get up you stupid freak!”
Remember, Mascot Mollie only repeats what she has once heard. She doesn’t actively make her own dialogue. Remember the theory I had about the Mascots having enough of their terrible living conditions, and rebelling against the staff? It seems like this is the right direction to go in. Lloyd and Mollie do not attack immediately. While Lloyd runs away, Mollie observes, watching, biding her time. She follows you to Lloyd’s theater, and what does she see, or, rather, hear? Lloyd being pushed further and further back into his domain, the one place he should be happy, before being forced into a corner, and where he lashes out. Even though Ed ends up leaving, he ends up claiming a piece of Lloyd’s territory, and Lloyd goes back onto his instincts, to hunt. However, when he gets too close, that blasted, accursed Critter Cuff lets out its horrible whine, Lloyd collapsing, consumed with nothing but pain. Once the sound ends, he flees, like a terrified animal.
And what does Ed see when he leaves? Mascot Mollie, observing Ed. She’s seen that, yet again, a human encroaches, pushes their bounds, eventually hurting Lloyd to get what he wants. And then, he goes to Mollie’s home, the Jetstream Junction, a place she’s been locked out of due to needing a Critter Cuff, but she wouldn’t dare touch one. She saw what happened to Lloyd, who knew what sort of anguish it would inflict upon Mollie?
She enters behind Ed, stalking him, fury building as she watches Ed run about like he owns the place. How dare this man, this human, walk upon her domain whenever he wants, but she has to wait until she’s let in, like some sort of caged bird. Well, she’s not a caged bird, and she’ll make Ed see that.
At first, when AI Rambley sees Ed, he wishes to stop Ed, but seeing a towering Mascot Mollie chasing him, he opens the door, slamming it shut behind Ed just as Mascot Mollie’s head enters the room, killing the Mascot instantly as blood sprays all over the metallic door and floor. AI Rambley attempts to act like nothing happened, but fails, sighing.
He explains that he didn’t realize the danger of Indigo Park and its inhabitants due to being stuck in that early Reception Center for all of those eight, lonely years, unable to see or interact with anything inside. He was just so excited to finally see an actual person that he pushed Ed into this tour, realizing that, with the way things were, there was no way Ed would come out unscathed, and the AI seems genuine in his sorrow. However, he asks for Ed to help restore the park to the former glory, and, miraculously, Ed agrees. However, before Ed leaves, AI Rambley drops this one last piece of vital information.
AI Rambley: “Whew! That was exhausting to say that whole spiel, but Rambley’s Ranglers (registered) is a registered trademark … that expired yesterday.”
Okay, so couple things. From my impression, I had the feeling that somehow, someway the Indigo Company as a whole was alive and kicking. I mean, look at what Ed has to say when he interacts with the Rambley Raccoon plushy.
Ed: “Ah, there’s my buddy. Kinda feels like Rambley has a whole empire now, being the main man of Indigo and all.”
Ed gives us the distinct impression that not only is Indigo still around, but it’s also positively thriving, yet they allow their trademarks to expire? Trademarks essentially last forever, but you have to fight, in court, to let them continue every ten years or so. If Indigo is based on Disney, the stingiest, largest entertainment company, why would they let their trademark expire, and give access to others? Well, this might have to do with the initial terms.
You see, in order to keep a trademark, you have to defend its usage every ten years. Well, okay, then why didn’t Indigo do so? One of the terms for renewal is that you have to continuously use that trademark. You can’t just claim one and never use it again, that’s basically an infraction upon free speech. Sure, you can fight for its ownership, but there are rules and regulations to these kinds of things, you can’t just trademark something like ‘Oof’ or ‘Lmao’ and keep it without at least saying those phrases occassionally.
And, so far as we know, there are no other places such as Indigo Park owns. Ranglers are synonymous with staff in the park, so obviously, it would be hard to justify keeping a trademark when you never expect to use it. So, that’s my theory on why the trademark did indeed expire the day previously, October 6^th, 2023 (apparently, the creator confirmed the game takes place in 2023, so, that means that Ed arrives on October 7^th, 2023, and the last person to enter park left on October 7^th, 2015).
Anyways, after that, AI Rambley leads Ed to Oceanic Odyssey with the intention to get it back up and running, as it has been closed due to repairs, something that AI Rambley hopes Ed can assist with. As Ed exits, he tries entering a hallway, which AI Rambley blocks.
AI Rambley: “Uh oh. That Rambley’s Ranglers room is only accessible by Royal Ranglers. Maybe you’ll grow up big and strong enough to enter it! But for now, don’t.”
This is the first instance of hierarchy within the Ranglers that Ed has been introduced to so far, and the dark undertone AI Rambley takes when he tells Ed not to go there is somewhat concerning. What exactly is AI Rambley hiding back there? Well, I have a few hunches.
Let’s point out the obvious regarding our friends, the Mascots; they’re not regular animals. Obviously, regular animals don’t have dark orbitals with thin white slits, or have turquoise noses, or have macaws the size of cassowaries. However, they are still animals, creatures of flesh and blood that act like their regular animal counterparts; Lloyd is an ambush predator, stalking until he himself is presented with an opportunity to attack. However, lions are known to just straight up attack if they are discovered by accident, especially if the prey is weaker and slower than them. Lloyd runs away instead of attacking.
Similarly, Mollie follows Ed warily, unsure of what to think of him for most of the time. She never aggresses until he enters her territory, and even then, she’s surprisingly lenient with Ed, straight up until he finishes those color-coded symbol puzzles. Only then does she attack. And even then, this is a behavior reflected in regular macaws as well, as these birds are fiercely territorial of their area.
So, these Mascots didn’t pop up straight from the ground, did they? They had to be bioengineered at the very least, mutated regular animals becoming the Mascots guests once knew and loved. They are, however, animals at their core, animals that do not attack for no reason. They try to deescalate the situation, as Lloyd does when he runs backstage, and when Mollie pulls herself back through the tunnels, away from Ed, and striding through the corridors, until she eventually loses patience and chases after Ed through Jetsream Junction.
I’d like to propose the theory that these Mascots were created in that area of Jetstream Junction, hidden underground and away from prying eyes. This is also where the Mascots were likely mistreated and abused, called horribly names at the very least, and endured beatings and humiliating acts at their worst. This is also likely where the Mascots originally snapped. After all, literally not a single guest understands why they were evacuated. Unless the guests who saw what happened were silenced, there should have been something floating around the Internet, on some obscure forum.
Now, why would AI Rambley hide this? Because he now understands that these Mascots are dangerous, a risk he cannot allow, since he enlisted Ed to bring the park back from the dead. AI Rambley realizes that Ed doesn’t have the tools to survive that area; perhaps because one of the Mascots lurks in there, locked away, or because he doesn’t want Ed to flee, horrified as to the scientific process that allowed for the mutated abominations to roam Indigo Park.
Regardless, Ed finally makes his way to the entrance of Oceanic Odyssey, home of the Mascot Finley. In fact, we actually get to see a glimpse of Finely’s actual size in one of the aquariums as his large head and long torso appear, before the chapter ends. I don’t believe that this is an animatronic, as electricity and water do not mix, especially animatronic with running current of electricity in water.
And that’s where Chapter 1 of Indigo Park, ‘Birds of a Feather’, ends off. Chapter Two will likely revolve mostly, if not totally, around Oceanic Odyssey and Mascot Finley.
So, I have two predictions as for where the next chapter might go. Based on the reactions Mascots previously had to Ed, I believe that Mascot Finley will not be attacking immediately. He’ll likely be observing, like Mollie, at least for a certain amount of time, until he proceeds to attack and harass Ed around his attraction. Ed will eventually get Oceanic Odyssey up and running, and have to leave Mascot Finley behind, as he’s still hostile and very much a danger to Ed.
The alternative to this is that once Mascot Finely realizes what Ed is trying to do, he stops being aggressive, and might instead become a temporary ally, allowing Ed to reach certain locations with his knowledge of the place.
Regardless of Mascot Finley’s ultimate fate, Oceanic Odyssey being powered on will likely catch the attention of Indigo. Based on the information we know so far, Indigo is still a well known, public entity. It’s possible that Indigo abandoned the theme park route, instead focusing exclusively on media such as cartoons, movies, and merch, or they might have other sister locations to Indigo Park. It’s unclear.
Whew. In the words of AI Rambley, this is a lot of information. Almost nine thousand words in, and we finally finish covering Chapter 1. So, let’s proceed to the Conclusion I draw regarding the story Indigo Park tries to tell, and the future events that might transpire.

It's a Whirlpool French door fridge with an ice maker attached to the top. It stopped making ice. I've ran the diagnostics and it shows no error codes.
Under test 58 it gives me "temperature warmer than harvest temperature." Could that be the issue?
I've had problems with the ice maker before. Previously it would stop working when the coils inside the bottom freezer froze. Now the coils are okay.

There is rust hole like this at the bottom of each corner of the cab (right under the door) so a total of 4 holes. Is this the rocker panel? Is this a deal breaker or a problem? Otherwise the frame looks good. I thought I could put up with this and buy the truck but someone told me that piece is structural. Thanks and sorry if this is a stupid question.

Mom woke me up because she smelled smoke. She is a dog breeder and we had a plan for emergencies like this. She would get the upstairs dogs because they were in her bedroom and I would get the downstairs ones. I went into action and saw the fire was near the base of the stairs, stupidly the only set. I went to grab an extinguisher which took only seconds but the fire had already spread to the stairs and the smoke was billowing. I screamed for my mom to come, for my dad to wake up on the third floor. She never answered but I heard my dad calling her name. The fire and smoke pushed me back and I couldn't stay any longer. I grabbed three dogs on the way out and tried to come in another door but the smoke was black and filled the room from top to bottom. I couldn't push through it. I screamed for my mom and dad but they never answered. My neighbor called 911 but there was no chance to save them. My mom was 67 and my dad 73. Paula and Bill. They both were amazing people. My mom loved and was so very loved. I wish I could have done something more. I wish I could have saved them. I'm sorry mom and dad. I love you so much. You saved my life mom. 10 seconds later and I wouldn't have made it down the stairs. I love you I love you I love you. Always.

It's a Whirlpool French door fridge with an ice maker attached to the top. It stopped making ice. I've ran the diagnostics and it shows no error codes.
Under test 58 it gives me "temperature warmer than harvest temperature." Could that be the issue?
I've had problems with the ice maker before. Previously it would stop working when the coils inside the bottom freezer froze. Now the coils are okay.

the way my apartment is set up, there are three spots for tenant parking on the side of the building. it's above a business and they ask us to not block the garage doors that are on that side of the building in case of deliveries. well, my neighbor doesn't like that AT ALL. there's no assigned parking, it's whoever gets here first. my boyfriend always parks his car in the last spot because i usually drive us everywhere, so he doesn't use his car much. the first and second spots are always between my neighbor and i, whoever gets home first. to me, it's no big deal. sure, getting the first spot is great because it's right at the bottom of the stairs, but i can take an extra 2 steps from my car if i need to, whatever. so if she's in the first spot, i park in the middle. when I'M in the first spot, she parks on the other side in front of the garage doors they ask us not to park in front of.
today, they had people redoing the landscaping on the corner of the building next to where my boyfriend parks. he left this morning, and so did the neighor. i asked him to park in the middle spot when he got back because the landscapers had logs and equipment laying in his spot. no big deal seeing as how my neighbor refuses to park in tenant parking anyways, right?
about 30 minutes ago, her and her boyfriend both came here in separate vehicles. she parked her car in front of the garage doors like she usually does, but then flipped out in the parking lot because there was apparently nowhere for her boyfriend to park. the spot my boyfriend usually takes was open, the landscapers moved everything before they left, we just didn't think to have him move his car because it shouldn't have been a big deal. i guess she thought it was because she was yelling about how stupid and selfish we are (i had my window open so i heard all of it), then came upstairs and slammed her door, was stomping around her apartment, slamming things around, etc. all over a parking spot that she refuses to park in anyways. so when we leave the middle spot open, she doesn't take it because of entitlement, but when we use that spot due to things out of our control, she is still mad because we didn't leave a spot she doesn't park in available to her! she would've gone in the same spot in the no parking zone anyways, so why does it matter?
i've hit my breaking point. i think on monday when my landlords come here, i'm going to tell them they need to talk to her. it's every weekend i have to listen to this shit because she has too big of an ego. i'm over it. i don't live here to listen to someone scream and cry and throw things around because i pay to park here too. either they need to tell her to shut up or they need to put clear lines in the parking lot and assign spots. i'm so beyond fed up with this. she's close to 40 and is still throwing tantrums like a toddler. this is so pathetic. it doesn't help that her boyfriend drives this big truck for the DoT that wouldn't fit in the parking lot regardless of which spots we leave open. so frustrating!

Our house has a 24 inch wide electric double wall oven and while it was fancy in the 90s it’s very dated and is falling apart, rusting, etc.
https://imgur.com/a/xxV1CUy
This doesn’t appear to be a standard size anymore. We’d love to replace it with something new, but it’s been hard to figure out what might fit.
Most new double electric ovens are equal height. As you can see, our bottom oven is much smaller. We could maaaaybe accommodate a 27 inch oven but it would be much taller. We’d have to modify the cabinets / lose the bottom shelf to make it fit, and then the doors would be super low too. Feels wrong.
What else could we do here ?

From the beginning...
Cast

Part 2, Chapter 10

The next morning dawns cold and clear. It is plain that autumn is upon the land, and with the Great Glacier just leagues to the north, winter will come soon. The party goes about their morning business, eating (everyone), checking the state of the beard and deciding whether or not to shave it off (Arthur, generally, but also Atticus as Novos doesn’t grow a beard and Zander doesn’t shave his), climbing into armor (pretty much everyone except Dillium, Felicity, and Pocky), feeding and loading horses and asses (pretty much everyone, but particularly Zander, Arthur, Atticus, and Pocky), and finally packing up the pavillionsol (Dillium). Ready for the day’s journey, the group mounts up. On cue, the guide appears, apparently having prepared well ahead. If he’s irritated that the party slept all the way until dawn, he has the good grace to keep that to himself.
Felicity speaks up. “We’ve changed our minds, actually. I don’t think there’s any particular benefit in going to Dragon’s Perch—”
“I agree.”
“—so we’re going to go to Samek instead.”
“Samek? Hmmm. Do they know you are coming? If they don’t, it will take them a while.”
“No, they don’t know we’re coming, that I am aware of.”
The guide nods once and sets out. Much of the day is uneventful, and it does warm up to a comfortable level. By late afternoon, those with tender backsides are wondering when the ride will conclude when the guide raises his hand in a universal gesture of ‘stop and shut up a minute.’ The party still hasn’t learned that gesture, but fortunately there are no giants about [1]. “We’re here,” is all he says.
“Where?” “I don’t see anything.” “What are we supposed to see?” Like tourists on vacation, they peer around in all directions. They can’t see the entrance for the hill. Or rather, the entrance to the gnomish town of Samek is so well hidden in the side of the hill that for a while, only Dillium can see the faint outline of the round doorway. One by one, Flea, Arthur, and Zander finally pick it out. Novos is absolutely certain they are playing a prank on him. Arthur is first. Knocking on the hill seems odd, but practically before he gets a third knock, a small hole opens up around waist height. Two beady little eyes peer out (at Arthur’s belt).
“What!?”
“We are here—”
“So I see.” The window closes.
Zander walks up and knocks. The same window opens, and the same beady little eyes peer out.
“What!?”
“Do you know who I am?” Zander asks.
The beady little eyes look him up and down. “No,” and the window closes.
Dillium tries next. Knock, window, eyes. “Good day. We are here to see—”
“So see.” Window shuts.
Novos walks up. “I know how to do this.” Knock, window, eyes, increasingly aggravated tone. “Let us in.”
“No.”
Felicity has had enough of this. Walking up to the door, she stands for a moment gathering her thoughts. Knock, window, eyes, aggravated tone. “Good day. I’m here on behalf of the Duke of Soravia to see the wise men of your town, or those in charge.”
“Which ones?”
“What?”
“Which ones, the wise men, or those that are in charge?”
“How about if we start with the ones in charge, and perhaps they will decide to allow us to speak with the wise ones.”
The beady little eyes peer out, look around at the party, and appear to give that some thought. “Wait here.” The window closes.
Minutes pass. Tens of minutes pass. Novos gets bored and walks up to the door. He barely gets a third knock in before the window opens. A different set of beady little eyes peers out, and a different aggravated voice says, “What do you want now?”
“We’ve been waiting for a while, and—”
“—And you’ll continue to wait!.” The window slams shut unnecessarily roughly.
“Why you—” Rough arms grab Novos from behind and pull him away before he can do something regretful.
“We’ll wait, as they’ve asked,” Felicity says. She looks around to ask the guide how long they can expect to wait, but he’s disappeared.
The evening passes. As the cold sets in, Atticus and Pocky gather enough light branches for a fire. There’s no benches or logs to sit on, so they squat or sit on the ground. Arthur has taken to pulling off portions of his armor and working on polishing and repairing the scorch marks from the lava snakes [2]. Atticus and Mar debate the relative benefits of following the letter of the law versus being merciful, though in the end, both of them seem to be arguing the same things in violent agreement. Pocky falls asleep against Modred’s side as Beaker plays with a bone left over from… Wait, where did he get that bone anyway?
Finally, the reality that the night is upon them sets in. A proper camp is set, and watches begin. Zander takes the first watch, but sees nothing of interest. He does hear the chirping of grasshoppers, the droning of the cicadas, and the baying of the hounds. Suddenly, the hounds stop. Unnerved, Zander wakes Arthur, who has the next watch. Arthur, Atticus, and Zander take a turn around the camp, but cannot see nor hear anything that sounds like dogs. Arthur agrees to start his watch a few minutes early and Zander takes Pocky inside the pavillionsol to sleep. Arthur’s, and then Dillium’s watches pass uneventfully. Novos, as normal, takes the last watch. As usual, he is so wrapped up with his puzzle box that he notices absolutely nothing.
The cold morning brings breakfast, bickering, and an irritated Novos marching up to the door to bang on it. “We’ve been here all night,” he informs the guard.
“Yes. Yes you have.” The window closes.
Knock. Window. Eyes. “When will we see—”
“When it is time.” The window closes.
Before he can knock again, Dillium grabs his wrist, pushing him back, she squares herself to the door. “When it is time, please inform us.” She says to the closed window.
The window opens and two beady little eyes peer out. A slightly irritated voice replies, “What else would we do?” The window closes.
Several hours pass as the valley warms up. Arthur, Pocky, Atticus, and Mar all work on armor, doing the necessary daily ritual of dusting, oiling, checking rivets to make sure they are still tight and sound. Polish is applied, worked into the metal, and removed. Bickering, some good natured and others not, flows. At midmorning, the guide turns up suddenly, and squats down near the fire. Minutes later, the window opens and familiar eyes peer out. Felicity quickly crosses over to the door.
“Is the council ready for us?” She asks.
“Council? You wanted to speak with those who lead.”
“Yes. I assume that would be your leadership council.” Felicity replies.
“So it is. So it is. There certainly are a lot of you. You can’t all come.” The window closes.
Felicity thinks quickly and makes a motion to Dillium. Knocking gently, she waits for the window to open. “How many of us may come?” She asks sweetly.
“Uhm… “ The window closes. A minute later it re-opens. “Three.” The gnome says.
“Fine. I agree.”
“You agree? I mean, Yes, of course you agree. Come, come!” Suddenly in a hurry, the gnome opens the door, which slides open silently.
As Felicity and Dillium take a step toward the door, the guide steps up behind them. “Where are you going?” Flea asks imperiously.
“The little ones know me.”
“Which ones?”
The guide thinks. “Mayhaps all of them?” With a slight shrug, Felicity accepts that, and they all pass into a dark room, barely tall enough to stand up in.
Dillium is the tallest of the small group, and she has to stoop over to get through the passageway. The guide bends his head down a bit, but Felicity strides forward as if she owns the place, the top of her hair only occasionally brushing the ceiling of the passage. There are guards in dark metal armor in front and behind, but the guard who let them in the door is wearing a much more colorful shirt. As their eyes grow accustomed to the darkness, they note that there are luminescent lichens on the walls, providing a dim light that casts no shadows and fails to illuminate the armored gnomes.
The corridor stretches on for ages. There are branching tunnels to either side, and once, down. Tiny faces can be seen in the dim light as word spreads of the Big’uns. Dillium’s back is screaming by the time they finally reach a room and stop. A door on one side of the room is guarded by two more of the dark-skinned, dark-armored gnomes and a small fire is burning in the middle of the room. The benches around the room are designed for shorter legs and smaller butts, so the guide simply squats down. Dillium sits and starts to work the kinks out of her back. The guards don’t speak, but every once in a while, a face peers in through the open doorway they came in. Some faces are much smaller than others, and a motherly hand frequently grabs the tot and hustles them along.
The trio waits.
***
Pocky and Zander practice sword work as Atticus watches and occasionally tosses out suggestions. Mar naps. Arthur works on removing scorch marks from his armor while Novos plays with his puzzle box and loafs. Something draws Arthur’s attention. As he looks up, he sees eyes staring at him intently peering out from a bush. Without breaking eye contact, he feels around until he grabs Novos’ head and points it at the bush. Novos stares, uncertain what he’s meant to be looking at. “Zander!” Arthur hisses. He points at the bush with too many eyes. Well, two is too many for a bush. Zander looks. He looks some more. Arthur looks away for a moment, and when he looks back, the eyes are gone. Everyone runs over and crowds around the bush. Novos sees what looks like prints—paw prints not unlike Modred’s pawprints, though Modred is being lazy over next to the pavillionsol. Novos looks around, but sees no other paw prints. The men walk around the bush looking for other tracks, but only manage to obscure everything.
***
An hour passes. The guide lounges as if he has nothing on his mind. Dillium meditates, while Felicity tries to work out what the team’s next move should be. Somewhat abruptly, a young gnome opens the door and comes through. “Ready are you?” The darkened room has only a few dim lights. An ancient gnome sits on a three-legged stool in the middle of the room, a small rod in his hand. Eight or nine other gnomes cluster around the small room, some sitting on tiny gnome-sized benches, others standing. Any whispering that might have been going on ceases when the Big’uns come into the chamber.
The eldest speaks. “Warren. Several turnings it has been since last among us you came. Tell. What is the state of the above-realm?”
“They grow bolder. I have seen them throughout the valley, and without fear. If you are to act, you might contemplate doing so soon.” The gnomes chatter amongst themselves in a foreign tongue. The elder lets it go for a few minutes, then he raps on the floor with his rod. Silence returns.
“As I have feared it is. Soon must we act. Well to see you it is. Not so long to visit should you wait.” Turning his attention to Felicity, he inquires, “Please to tell name and purpose for disturbing.”
Felicity tells who she is, and allows Dillium to introduce herself. Flea announces that war is soon to be upon the land. The Duke of Soravia needs friends and allies for the coming conflict, and wishes to include the gnomes. The gnomes chatter nervously, and some of the chatter sounds of anger or fear. Again, the elder waits several minutes and then raps his rod upon the ground.
“Aware of the duke we are, but no call to extend friendship hand we have heard. What does the duke wish of us?” The chatter now is less nervous and more fearful.
“The danger to us all is great, but the duke understands that each should contribute within their talents and means. I suggest that your greatest assistance may lie in logistics, and supply. Perhaps providing some of the greatly admired gnomish craftsmanship would help to raise funds. Any assistance that you willingly provide for the benefit of one and all is exactly enough.” The chatter and babble of the gnomes in the room sounds almost relieved, but still a touch fearful. The elder allows it to go on for several minutes before he raps on the floor once. Saying something in gnomish, he raises his hand. One by one, the gnomes lift their hands out parallel to the floor. It takes a moment or two, but finally all of them agree.
“Determine what we can contribute, we must. If any. As talk we must, a favor for us could you do.” He speaks a few words of gnomish before continuing.
***
“So what is inside that puzzle box you keep playing with?” Arthur asks. He seems more tired of the delay than curious, and is simply passing the time. Mar casts an irritated glance at Novos.
“Dunno. Perhaps a great treasure. Maybe all the misfortune in the world. Probably nothing. Dillium gave it to me months ago.” He continues manhandling it, pushing, prodding, tapping, and so on.
Zander comes over and plops down next to Novos. “Can I have a go?”
“Sure.” Novos hands the box over to Zander, who takes it gingerly in his large rough hands. After a minute or two of working with it to no avail, he hands it over to a beckoning Arthur who seems to have seen something the others missed. He didn’t. Atticus and Mar both have a go before Pocky takes a turn. In three deft moves, the box is opened, revealing an empty space in the middle, roughly large enough for three large silver coins stacked on top of each other. He shrugs as he hands it back to Novos.
With a sigh, Novos starts trying to close the box.
*** “Many generations ago, when but a babe my own great-grandsire’s great-grandsire was, did Callarduran Smoothands of a king tell us. When nigh was the time would he arise. Half of a golden crown he gave us, and a tomb of a great warrior king showed he us. When greatest was our need, take our half of the golden crown to the tomb we are to do, and with the other half reunite it. Drawing close the time is. Our enemies the tomb have discovered we fear. The other half of the crown have they stolen. Taken our birthright, they have. The other half of the crown return to us?” [3]
Dillium recognizes Callarduran Smoothands from a lecture that seemed to last forever, but probably was just before lunchtime. Callarduran is the god of the Svirfneblin, and is held in high regard—perhaps more so than the head of the gnomish pantheon, Garl Glittergold [4].
“Who are these enemies?” Felicity asks.
“Evil ones they are. From us they rob. Our people they kill. Monsters they are.”
An older gnome arrives from the darkness. He is wearing dark armor, and carrying a soft bag made of what appears to be moss. The eldest reaches into the bag and withdraws an arc of gold. It certainly appears to be what you’d expect half a tiara or head band to look like, but it is nearly entirely devoid of ornamentation or decoration. The full crown must be rather plain indeed. Dismissing the trio with a “Think on your words we will,” Felicity, Dillium, Warren (the guide), and Ser Reginald the gnome are escorted from the hall and out of Samek.
Ser Reginald greets them as friends, and chatters through much of the trek up to the surface. He says he is one of a very few remaining ‘royal escorts,’ first named soon after Callarduran Smoothands gave them their half of the crown. They have, over many many many many many many generations (he was unable to count them all), been responsible for guarding the crown and preparing for the arrival of the king. He’s fought the evil ones, and admitted to hunting and killing them in their beds, but would not give a physical description of them. He also admitted that he knew precisely where the tomb was, but had never been inside, “as the time was not yet to hand.”
Finally, they reach the doorway to the outside. With a warning to shield their eyes lest they be struck blind by the sun, Ser Reginald leads the group out to find the rest of the party scrambling to their feet. To the consternation of Ser Reginald, they take the time to break camp, saddle their beasts, and mount up. Ser Reginald wants nothing to do with the horses, so the party creeps along at gnomish walking pace. It is quite possibly the slowest escort quest ever.
Several hours later, the group approaches yet another clearing when they everyone hear a loud rumbling WHOMP! Everyone recognizes it as the sound of rocks falling inside a cave or building. Ahead, a cloud of dust pours out of a cut stone entrance into a hill. “We need to get a move on. The evil ones are already inside!” cries Ser Reginald.
Leaving the horses and asses outside, the party enters the main hall. Arthur asks Atticus to remain with Pocky and the animals, but Mar accompanies the group inside. The moderately sized room has two doorways, though both appear to have been blocked by the recent rock movement. A few minutes of contemplation leads Arthur to believe that one side would take considerable effort to unblock, while the other could be done rather quickly. As he gets to work, the others take in their surroundings. Just inside the door is a carving in an archaic form of common that says “Allies Over Enemies”. Zander notes that there is some indication that there is a test, and one of the mostly broken archways has the word ‘Wit’ carved above it. Felicity notes that according to the archaic writing, there are two tests inside. Dillium is drawn to the faded frescos, though they tend to depict war and destruction.
Soon enough Arthur has the passageway cleared well enough, and the party groups up to go into a large room. The door slides shut smoothly behind them, though there is a door on the far side. Arthur inspects it, “just in case” it is unlocked. It isn’t. The room is more or less devoid of decoration or ornamentation, but there are four columns, one each corner of the room. Novos looks at the column, but fails to note that each side has a letter on it. He does see that he can turn the column one quarter turn, so he does. Once it turns, it refuses to turn again. Members of the party spread out to try to understand the test. Someone notices that there is a small mark on the wall beside each column, but it takes everyone writing down the letters on each column before someone decides to make an effort to coordinate. Arthur suggests that since each column contains an “L”, they should turn the L’s toward the center. Novos points out that he can’t turn the column any further, but Zander turns another column easily. Mar turns another one. As Novos leans up against his column, it turns. The party realizes that the columns can be turned to spell words, and Mar identified the word that was spelled out when they entered. This gets the group going, and with some tactics employed, spell out a word that they hope will open the door. As the last column clicks into place, the door opens smoothly.
The doorway leads to a huge cavern with a five-foot wide natural stone bridge crossing what appears to be a deep, wide chasm. The cavern is pitch black, and while there might be some air movement, the ceiling is too far above and the floor of the chasm too far below to see. The party sets up a marching order with Arthur in the lead and Novos in the rear. Dillium Lights up her staff so that the humans can see and they set out. Ten or fifteen paces across, the party is surprised to come under attack by arrows and javelins. Everyone dodges out of the way of the poorly thrown darts, but one strikes home. No one can see where the javelins came from, or whether it is some sort of trap or if they were thrown. Unfortunately, no one notices that one of the party members has fallen off the stone bridge, either. At the other end of the bridge is a door that opens easily, and everyone makes it into a small foyer. Except for Felicity, who lies at the bottom of the chasm, nearly impaled by a stalagmite. [5] Novos disappears and makes his way to the bottom of the chasm where he finds Felicity and feeds her his last healing potion. Zander pulls out his Wonderous Figurine and activates it. A good-sized wyvern appears on the bridge. He tells it to go down into the chasm and bring back the human. He might have said ‘woman’ but the stone wyvern doesn’t know the difference anyway. It takes off and glides down into the chasm below, and when it finds a human, the wyvern grabs it with his sharp claws and brings it back up to Zander. Novos picks himself up, dusts himself off, and winces at the fresh puncture wounds. Zander, a little annoyed, tells the wyvern to go get the other one, and he does, fresh puncture wounds and all.
Meanwhile, Arthur, Dillium, Mar, and Ser Reginald continue on into a large room. The room is dominated by a huge stone in the middle, with some sort of gemstone embedded in. They also see a dog-like creature standing on the stone, with a piece of golden metal in one hand and a bow in the other. Ser Reginald shouts, “The evil one has the other half of the crown! Get it!” Arthur races forward and Smites the creature.
Mar snarls, “Gnolls. I should have known their stench. She manifests a Spiritual Weapon and attacks with it, then casts a Guiding Bolt. The gnoll, clearly outmatched, fires his bow (missing) and climbs down off the stone. By this time, Novos, Zander, and Felicity have come in (minus the wyvern). Novos speeds over to take a flanking position on the gnoll, but the recent puncture wounds from the wyvern still ache, and he misses entirely.
Around the same time, a larger group of gnolls, armored and armed with swords and axes, enter from the other side and take up positions. One of the larger ones raises his axe to cut down Novos, but one of the gnolls barks out something in a barking sort of bark. All of the gnolls stop and refrain from attacking. Except the one with the huge gash down his front from Arthur. He comes up with a sword and stabs at the air near Arthur. Dillium, likewise shouts for Arthur and Novos (and Mar) to stop.
“Who leads?” asks the female gnoll, as she wraps her shawl around her.
Zander raises his hand. “That would be me. I am the leader of Task Force Chimera.” He sheathes his sword and meets the female gnome in the middle of the room. “I am Zander Roaringhorn, from Cormyr. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”
“Raa’ka. Ssand’r. Sand’r.” Her mouth doesn’t quite make all the sounds as she tries to get his name right. She tells Zander that they are here to fulfil a prophecy that tells of an Alpha Gnoll that will arise in their hour of need. Unfortunately, the crown is… not what they expected. Arthur climbs up on the stone and agrees that the gemstone in the middle seems to connect two pieces of a crown—there’s three pieces total, rather than the two that both the gnolls and gnomes thought.
“Give me the crown!” Ser Reginald cries. Mar snarls.
“I will not. Perhaps we should put the crown together, and then figure out what to do. It is obvious neither of us have the whole tale.” Ser Reginald, thoughtful, agrees.
“You put your piece in first, then.” He says.
“No you put yours in.” Raa’ka replies.
Arthur says, “How about you put them in together. At the same time,” clarifies when the gnolls seem unsure. He jumps down from the stone and gives Ser Reginald a boost up. Raa’ka needs no help.
Gently placing the two pieces of the crown in small cutouts in the stone that appear to be made exactly for their pieces. Ser Reginald and Raa’ka watch for a moment. “Now what?” The crown welds itself together before their eyes. The gem in the center pulses, then shines brightly. Then the whole crown sinks down into the stone. “NO!”
The room rumbles and shakes. The giant stone is cracked into pieces as Raa’ka and Ser Reginald leap to safety. As the dust swirls around and the rumbling fades away, all hear a booming voice.
“AT LAST I AM FREE!”

End of part 10.


[1] Unlike last chapter.
[2] in Chapter 8
[3] Modified slightly from Race for the Crown, Adventures of the Potbellied Kobold, by Jeff Stevens Games.
[4] The Gnomish Pantheon
[5] Remember, stalagmite “might” reach the ceiling, and stalactites hang on tite to the ceiling. Or, you can do the boring National Parks Service way of remembering.

Ripping the bandaid off and posting this - eek. Originally posted V1 on my old account before promptly dox'ing myself on a local subreddit. Oops. Previous versions is here. Any feedback is much appreciated.
Dear AGENT NAME SPELLED CORRECTLY,
If sixteen-year-old Thea Dorner is ever going to escape from the shadow of her psychic sister Everlee, she’ll have to expose her as a fraud first. For Thea that means systematically overturning her sister’s most obvious lies: The one saying Thea has all the psychic talent of a soup spoon. That their house ghost, Henry, died years before he did. And the biggest lie of all - that Everlee sees ghosts, too.
Hidden in the fudged details of missing persons cases her sister has allegedly solved, Thea finds hints that whoever abducted and murdered Henry is responsible for dozens of other disappearances, and there’s no way Everlee doesn’t know it. The killer has a signature: a silver button left behind.
It’s exactly the sort of case to make headlines, and it’s practically built to prove Thea’s abilities, if she can solve it. But Thea is on a path that leads straight to a murderer. If she doesn’t use every single one of the talents and tricks her sister says she doesn’t have, all that will be left of both sisters is a pair of silver buttons in need of polish.
TO BUTTON FROM BONE is a YA horror novel complete at 80,000 words. Set in a world where ghosts are an everyday fixture and psychics aren’t a secret, it will appeal to fans looking for the obvious supernatural elements of Lockwood & Co or Rules for Vanishing, but built around a strained sister-relationship, like in Katie Alender’s Bad Girls Don’t Die series.
BIO HERE.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
MY NAME
And the first 300 words:
Chapter One
In my peripheral a candle flickered on the windowsill, threatening to go out, nearly spent as dawn rapidly approached. Not a spirit trying the defenses of the small attic window in the early morning light, just the daily end of the candle’s life. Throughout the house, in every windowsill, candles would be doing the same dying dance. Every house on the street, every street in the city. It was routine, like locking a door at night, or wearing a seat belt.
“Thea?”
It was soft, like it was most of the time. Like somehow the incompleteness of my name made it taxing for my mother to say. Not Theodora – not Theodosia – and no middle name to speak of. Just Thea Dorner, plain and simple.
“Thea?” Louder, like she might approach the stairs.
The problem was, there was no way I was going to wear the hand-me-down dress laid out on my bed. It belonged to my sister Coral first, because Bianca had died in the one our mother had bought for her. After that it tipped through my other three sisters’ hands for their own aptitude tests before being forgotten in the back of a closet.
Once, it was soft lace over a whisper-light slip. Simple. Perfect, even. But that was before it sank into a permanent state of gray, faded and all stretched out.
I didn’t have to try it on to know I couldn’t wear it. Not as my funeral dress.
“Hello?” The voice was still soft, but I could hear the annoyance as my mother settled her weight onto the bottom step. If she had to come up, she’d ask questions. Like why I needed a black dress.
The jig, as they say, would be up.
“I’m not ready!”
#
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Assalamualaikum all. I have been married for 1.5 years, Alhamdulillah. My in laws are wonderful people, and I genuinely mean it. I always wanted to run my cafe, my father in law is starting to look for places on rent where I can start one, my sister in law is always on my side ( even when I am wrong, she stands right by me, we're like siblings atp), my mother in law is amazing, truly. If any relative/friend says anything remotely mean about me, she fights with them if she has to,she has always been there for me, she even tells my husband to shut up if he is even jokingly teasing me in front of her. I love them all from the bottom of my heart and I mean it. However, one thing really bothers me, and I don't know if I will ever address it because I NEVER want to hurt any of my in laws. My mother in law is emotionally very dependant on my husband, her son. She will often get very angry if he doesn't answer her video calls if he is at work, or if we are out and he declines her call, she will get upset and say things like even if you were out, you could have still answered and shown me your face. If she has had an argument with her husband, she will text her son and say things like , "Please hold me in your arms like I did when you were little.", or let's say her husband 's name is M, so she'll text her son, "I can't wait to have you close to me, my Mini M." Or when my husband is in the shower and I am on video call with her, she will ask me to show her how he is showering, or show him in his birthday suit on the video call. This one time my husband and I were in our room, he had just gotten out of the shower and was changing, so the room was locked. She wanted to talk to him about something unrelated but found the room locked so knocked, he said that he doesn't have clothes on and she will have to wait, so she kind of got offended and said that there's nothing she hasn't seen before so he should immediately open the door for her. She wants to video call him every day, which is normal, but he works overtime very often so it's not possible for him. When he doesn't, she texts him things like she misses him too much, or if he is at work, she will ask him to take a bathroom break and video call her. Now this doesn't mean that she is mean to me or ever gets jealous, no. She gets really really happy when my husband is holding my hand or showing affection to me in front of her, in fact she often tells him to kiss me on the forehead from her side, or give me a tight hug from her. She has never treated me any differently from her own daughter and I do, in fact love her to the moon and back. But some behaviour of hers towards her son makes me feel a little uncomfortable. How do I address it without hurting anyone?

I had to go to the grocery store today. Was running out of food for the dog, short on milk and just needed some things. I haven't been out for a month because of my step dad.
I can't trust my step dad. He will just sit and watch TV while I am gone. He has dementia and 85 years old. Not too long ago he went outside in the shed. He slipped and fell. I didn't know he was outside he never tells me. His son came by for dinner and found him while I was outside vaping. I did walk around looking for him but just in the wrong places. But anyway I got out today because my step sister in law came by for awhile to keep an eye on him.
I went to Weis grocery store. While I was shopping I was getting my cat her canned cat food. It was taking me awhile because looking for different food for her I didn't find. I look up and this older guy is just standing there waiting for me. I told this guy he should have said something and I moved out of the way. We got talking about our cats. He has like fifteen plus cats that he takes care of, I have one. But I have my cat for a reason I believe
First of all I have had two cats. My first cat was about 18 years ago. She was a black cat that my neighbors supposedly were taking care of. My neighbors back then, at least the guy, were jerks. The father laid out in the sun in his bikini bottom and didn't do anything all weekend. I felt sorry for his wife and kids. They always had cats running around outside. This black cat came to me one day and I found some food for her. She kept coming back. She became my best friend.
I went through some very hard times. I even thought of suicide. You know what kept me from doing it? My cat Midnight. Just seemed like everytime she came to me I had peace. I go out for a cigarette she would come to me without me calling her. She would come because she knew I needed her. A few times she was sitting right outside the door. When she passed away she was in my arms. She was like my best friend, an angel at that. I really do believe God sent her to be my friend.
Then about a couple weeks before she passed away she ended up getting under the porch. We had a board off because we had to do plumbing work under there years ago and Midnight liked going under there in the winter. Now we had to get her out so she didn't just die. When we did we kept her inside and took care of her. A few days after this calico cat, her name is Reese, walks up to me outside. She's rubbing my legs and meowing. She just followed me inside. I kept her in my room until Midnight passed on. Now she is all over and a climber. My mom passed on a year later from pancreatic cancer. A lot of other crap happened in that year and if God hadn't brought Reese before Midnight passed on I don't know where I would be today.
I believe everything happens for a reason and what we decide changes our future. That's why we need to make sure we stay on a good path and not a bad one. Personally I don't think we need to try to be perfect because that's impossible but use common sense. There is always a better way and having faith is what helps you to get there. Sometimes we just need a little help and we get a friend

Hi All, Don't normally post to reddit, but I'm in a bit of a bind. Long story short, I'm changing jobs. Staying with the same company, but being moved to a different role at a different site, on better pay. The site I'm moving to is about 1.5-2hrs drive away from where I currently live, depending on traffic, sometimes a little more if you catch it just wrong. In light of this, I need to move and live closer. I'm about 15 minutes from where I work currently, and I already don't have enough hours in the day, so taking several more hours out to drive back and forth is not a good option. The bind I mentioned I'm in. I've spent 2 months so far trying to find somewhere to live closer. It seems to be impossible. I've been looking at rentals as I needed to get things sorted pretty quickly. I start on Monday, and I've got to give 1 months notice on the flat I currently rent. I assumed buying would be too expensive and would take too long. Having been looking at rental places I'm finding that it's incredibly difficult to even get a foot in the door to have a conversation. One place I enquired about the other day told me they'd already had over 120 enquiries about the property within about 4 hours of it being listed, and pretty much everywhere else that comes up seems to be similar levels of demand (although I don't have specific numbers). This is meaning that many places I'm not able to get a viewing for, and am not able to even have a chance of becoming tenant there. Despite this, through persistence, I've had a number of viewings in the time I've been searching, after the viewing you then have to apply to rent the property (if you liked it and want to go with it or are desperate enough to take it regardless), but generally they're taking multiple applications, and it's a competition with about 5 or 6 other applicants to get it. On every occasion so far the landlord has always decided to go with another applicant for undisclosed reasons. I don't feel I'm a particularly unattractive tenant. I'm looking at rents affordable based on my salary, I'm a single person, don't smoke, don't have pets, don't have children, don't have any negative credit, I can't provide good references, but they've never got as far as contacting my references. I can't think of anything that would be counting against me, and yet every property I apply for goes for someone else. I'm regularly exhausting my options on the rental market, enquiring to properties and asking for viewings generally within a few hours of them becoming available and applying to them as quick as I can after the viewing. Currently everything available within the area that is workable for me I've either been told I'm not getting a viewing due to high demand, or I've had a viewing, applied, and been declined in favor of someone else.
Since I'm having no success renting, I looked a little closer at buying. it turns out, after discussing with various people, including a mortgage advisor, I can afford to buy. Certainly, can't afford anything flash, but should be able to get a mortgage on something at the bottom end of the property market, which tbf is all I really need, and will be a step up from the studio flat I'm in now anyway. Unfortunately, there really isn't anything available to buy presently at this bottom end of the market within the area I'm looking. I know my budget is sufficient, as I can see properties that have recently sold or are presently under offer that are within my budget, but it seems unfortunately I've just missed out on the good stuff by a few weeks/a month. I've been looking at options to buy now for several weeks, and nothing new has come up, it's the same properties just sitting on the market, that seem to have been there for a year or so, and are not viable options for me, either due to being non standard construction and unmortgage able, or having serious issues that would take a lot of time and money to get them back to a livable state.
I'm really at a loss now. I fundamentally need to have already been moved into somewhere by now, but instead am going to have to commute for a minimum of a month, assuming I can find somewhere immediately. Right now though, it's looking like I could be stuck in this position indefinitely.
Are there other options here I'm missing? Things I should be doing but aren't? I can't believe that this can be how the property market is meant to operate, what would one do if they had to relocate for work to somewhere that wasn't at all commutable?
Oh, also, yes, I've considered things like air bnb, hotels, or renting a room in the area to minimize the commuting, but these are all too expensive in the area, and tbh, don't really help, as yes, they mean I don't have to make the long drive, really, I need to be at home, with my stuff, to be able to actually spend the time in a meaningful manner.
Sorry if this post seems a bit... whiny/complainy, but... yeah, I'm tired and stressed from dealing with this, and really don't know what to do now.
Edit to state this is in the South of England.

My father and I were in Metro 2 between Jaures and Couronnes today around 5-530pm. The metro was unusually crowded and jammed at the front door, and my dad was standing near the door. I wanted some space to myself in the more empty middle of the carriage, so I moved through the crowd at the front door. My dad saw me and wanted to make his way to me but was stopped by someone tugging on the bottom of his trousers. The bugger got my dad's attention by saying he was stepping on his earpiece, causing my dad to let go of his crossbody bag. At that exact moment, another bugger unzipped my dad's crossbody AND the compartment holding his wallet (so he made his way through 2 zips), took ONLY the money, threw the wallet on the ground and the both of them dashed away, all in less than 10 seconds. A bunch of Parisians were shouting and asked my dad to chase after him but he did not want to risk his safety and also get separated from me.
It's a really shitty experience but I think a huge reason he might have been targeted despite doing his best to take precautions is because he's Chinese (and maybe pickpockets think he is rich?) and looks like your typical clueless boomer tourist. I had to remind him quite a few times to close his bag or crossbody during our trip in Paris out of safety. For me, I've been in Paris 3 times and travelled much of Western Europe the past 5 months while on student exchange (even to pickpocketing hotspots like Barcelona, Rome, Paris and London), and this is the first pickpocketing attempt I have ever seen. I'm surprised how blatant this stunt was, and how skilled they were to only take the cash, and not even touch the receipts that were in the same compartment as the cash. I thought I would be able to guide him around the city a bit better since I was more familiar with the place, and I felt we took adequate precautions (putting valuables in front pockets or in bags, staying aware of surroundings etc.). We were very lucky that his phone, cards and passport were all intact. The most frustrating thing was when I found out he had carried 600 euros worth of cash in his wallet, the vast majority being our local home currency, and put all of it in the same location. I told him there was no need to bring so much cash to Europe when we were first planning our trip...
What can I say, please be careful when visiting Paris everyone. And try not to look like a clueless tourist :')