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hollowcrovvn · 5 years

Text

Every Breath (RK900 x f!reader | reposted)

Rating: M

Pairing: RK900 x f!Reader Summary: Nines has you in his sights, all parameters designating you as his perfect potential partner. Though he is a bit confused on what type of partner that means. Notes: SHAMELESS PWP because I’m thirsty and needed a tall glass of Nines. I GOT TUMBLR FLAGGED SO REPOSTING (ao3)

Working with Gavin had been satisfactory. RK900's, Nines, performance had been holding steady at 96.2% effectiveness, but there was always room for improvement. RK900 knew it made the humans around it more comfortable to refer to "him" with masculine pronouns and had labeled him with the nickname "Nines" to further his assimilation and to avoid confusing him with the "other" similar looking but obsolete model RK800. It was unconsciously done, humans liked to be around their own kind, which is why he looked like this to begin with. There were probably better forms, more structurally sound and efficient, but Nines was trapped within this human shell. He envied computers sometimes, if only for their streamlined aesthetic, but alas, he needed a means to carry his bio-components from room to room.

Speaking of people who only existed to bring their brain room to room, Gavin entered the offices at that moment with you alongside him. Scans indicated heightened caffeine levels in both Gavin's and the officers bloodstream; coffee date? No. Account balances showed Gavin had only paid for his own. Nines relaxed back, crossing his leg to rest on his knee. He was programmed to display more human characteristics than the RK800 was capable of— well, before it deviated. Again, all simply a means to make him appear more approachable and therefore, more human. Did it work? Hardly. Everyone eyed him with unveiled suspicion. They had accepted the RK800, but such courtesy had not yet been extended to him.

He had to work on that.

"You're in my seat, tin-can." Gavin said, the insult having of late lost much of its malice and becoming almost as much of a nickname as the "Nines" he had bestowed upon him. Nines stood and moved to the opposite chair, feeling no need to argue the point that technically, it was his. Nines had learned his first week of Gavin's preoccupation with starting needless conflict, you on the other hand were far less simple of a puzzle.

You didn't like him, that was evident by your tone, refusal to meet his eyes and your micro-expressions that often expressed ill-ease. There was however, some other cues that indicated the exact opposite. Nines had categorized you under "mixed feelings" in regards to his existence.

You were an officer, but specifically you were trained for and worked in crime scene investigation and had been the rising star forensic photographer for about three years now. A quick file search showed you were still waiting to take the detective's exam, hoping for a career change. Nines disapproved. He wanted you to take your exam as soon as possible so he could submit his request to be reassigned as your partner. He had been watching you closely, examining how you worked scenes and how you processed evidence. He had listened in on your conversations with other officers to get an idea of your personality, hobbies and other personal information needed to determine how well you'd fit.

It was simple math. All probability suggested you would raise his effectiveness level to 98.8%. A 2.6% increase was very appealing, along with the fact you were the most likely to "bond" with him over Gavin or any other officer. Nines knew this of course, because of that the one factor you had that no one else did, the thing that filed you under "mixed feelings". Your pupils expanded when you looked at him and the beat of your pulse was less to do with fear and more to do with excitement. In short, despite your reservations, you were sexually attracted to him. He had paid attention to your interactions with the RK800 and found no similar reaction, which indicated it was specific to his model. Nines could work with that.

Parameters adjusted and he gave a friendly smile to you, making sure it reached his eyes.

"Good morning, officer. How are you feeling today?"

"Jesus," you said with a scowl, "You know, it's kinda rude to scan people without permission." you said, circles under your eyes, "It's called a hangover, Nines. Keep it to yourself."

"I didn't—" Nines started, noting now all the tell-tale signs of veisalgia now that you had mentioned it, "I apologize, ma'am. I did not scan your vitals, I was simply trying to be polite."

Unlike Gavin, your face lit up red, burning with sudden embarrassment.

"Oh..."

"Busted." Gavin said with a laugh, taking his seat.

"Er— sorry. I just assumed."

"It's quite alright, officer. It has been a very eventful week for you. Studying for the detective exam?"

Now the embarrassment turned into something akin to shame, veiled with anger. Parameters needed to adjust again. Somehow he'd said the wrong thing, as if he was judging her night time excursions.

"Do they program you to be a smart ass, or is that just you?"

"I am most certainly programmed to be smart." he said, definitely being one now.

Gavin would have reacted negatively to the quip, but your features softened and your expression became one of vague admiration for the joke.

"I bring it up because I would like to be of help. If you need someone to go over terms or do practice questions, I am able to access past tests and example questions going back several years."

"So can a computer." you said.

"I'm better company."

Gavin snorted as he listened in, shaking his head.

"Nines, why you getting up in her business? Don't you got some 001's to compile or some shit?"

Nines ignored him, eyes fixed only on you. He used his appearance and expressions to his advantage, artificially expanding his own pupils and leaning back in his chair in a way that was open and inviting. He had removed his jacket prior to your arrival and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, displaying the muscles of his arms and the broadness of his shoulders and chest more obviously. Human mating patterns were so *easy* to mimic and based on how your eyes were everywhere but on his right now, his efforts were quite effective. Your core temperature levels had risen slightly, a specific concentration noted between your thighs. An excellent sign.

You sucked a corner of your lip into your mouth as you appeared to consider the offer.

"Why the hell not?"

Gavin shot you an impetuous look.

"What? I need all the fuckin' help I can get. Might as well use the tools CyberLife saddled us with before they take over."

The words "mission accomplished" registered in Nines feed, invisible to all but him. A new objection presented itself:

Establish bond with future detective.

---

Practice was hardly something you needed. Based on your answers to the first few practice problems Nines determine you were good, very good. You combined the objectivity of academia easily with that human factor, that originality to approaching problems. It was obvious you hid these accomplishments from your fellows like Gavin, choosing to fit in more than stand out in that regard. As you sat diagonal from him at your kitchen table, eyeing over a new logic puzzle Nines sent to your tablet, he took the chance to open some files within his mind and peruse your photos.

You were also more than adequate at capturing a crime scene, there was an artistry to your attention to light and contrast, making sure every detail was preserved. This was more than just attention to detail though. Another search brought up more pleasant images, hosted on a freelance photography site under your name. The contrast of dark and light remained, both in color and subject matter, but the photos were more “light hearted” than a crime scene shoot of course.

When his attention came back to present he noted you were staring at him rather intently, tilting your head and sitting back and then forward a few times, adjusting him in the lens of your minds eye.

“Why did you want to help me?” you said, tossing down your stylus and heading to the kitchen. When you returned, you had a bottle of vodka, juice and a glass. Singular. You poured at least a double shot into the glass and chased it with orange juice. Swirling it unceremoniously you began drinking it very quickly.

“You would make a good detective.” Nines said simply, knowing that as you weren’t a direct commander, he could opt to ignore or even lie in response to certain queries.

“Gavin thinks you have a crush on me.”

“That’s not possible, I am a machine. But...” Nines paused, leaning forward slightly, “I hope we might be closer. I’d find it agreeable for you to “like” me.”

You hummed, finishing off your drink and going to pour another. Nines hand closed over the top of your glass, stopping you.

“We’re still studying, officer.”

“Thought you said you wanted me to like you?” you said with a slow smile, putting your hand over his own to move it aside. He didn’t budge, instead capturing your hand in his own and pushing it away.

“I do.”

“See, I’m not convinced, Nines.” you said, a challenge. Parameters were adjusting, fitting to the task.

O Convince

X Give Up

Choose Approach:

X Flattery

O Rational

^ Logical

"Would I be willing to assist you in passing your exam if I did not want you to have a favorable opinion of me?"

"Oh no, that I believe. It's the why, that you ain't sold me on."

X Flattery

O Rational

^ Logical

"You are a very intelligent and capable, woman. You deserve to make detective and I would consider myself lucky to work with you."

That was laying it on a bit thick, but something in his words had peaked your interest, a slow smile starting at the corner of your mouth.

"A "woman"— not an "officer"? So you can make the distinction then?"

Nines brow furrowed, slightly confused, "I am programmed to observe outward appearances and use of pronouns to establish the correct gender of a person, yes."

"There are lots of capable women officers on the force, and Gavin is a good detective too."

X Flattery

O Rational

^ Logical

"I know. I ran the probabilities. But if I were partnered with you, I would be better at completing my missions by a factor of two point six percent."

The truth at last. You sat back, grinning to yourself.

"And why would you think I'd stick it to Gavin and accept you as a partner?"

Nines paused, wording carefully, "Humans enjoy working with co-workers that they enjoy the company of. If you liked me more than Gavin, then you'd be more likely to accept such a request."

You stood, pushing the chair back as you came around the side of the table. You were close, close enough he could register that same spike in your temperature through his dermis without using a scan.

He looked up at you, purposefully expressionless.

"How were you planning on getting me to like you better?" you said, voice low, "Given your display at the office today, I think I know." You took the opportunity to take back your glass, setting it aside though as you seemed now more intent on a different kind of pursuit.

"Anyway within the confines of reason and legality." Nines answered, moving back in his chair to stand but finding himself suddenly incapable of doing so as you straddled the chair and sat down in his lap.

Nine— was not programmed for this. But he would be, in approximately .2 seconds as he downloaded the pertinent information. You leaned a forearm against his chest, resting the elbow of your other arm against him as you put your chin against your fist. You observed him with an almost casual curiosity, despite the way you sat astride him, the heat of you making his sensors spiral through several data points so fast his parameters shifted.

Engage in consensual sexual activity to solidify bond.

"You surprise me." Nines said, earning him another curious look.

"How so?"

"I never thought you'd be one to want to fuck an android."

His obscenity threw you off guard and you seemed prepared to protest, even drawing back and the shift in your weight indicating you were preparing to get back up. Instead though, Nines stood, arms bracing beneath your thighs as he pushed you up unto the surface of the table. The glass clattered, falling over and rolling off the table to land on the rug beneath with a heavy thud.

"Keep dreaming, tin-can." you said, pushing your hand flat against his chest. He made no attempt to get closer, "I only sleep with people who have a pulse."

Nines tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowed. He reached up slowly, grabbing your wrist and moving your hand a little further down on his chest. When you felt the pulse beneath, steady and strong, it was startling— the exact reaction he wanted.

"Qualifier met." Nines said, simple. Direct.

Despite yourself you huffed a laugh, "Well... fuck me."

"That is what we are discussing." Nines said.

"Too much discussing. Not enough doing." you said and the hand on the center of his chest balled into a fist in his jacket as you pulled him down, catching his lips in a biting kiss.

His LED turned from blue to red without even pausing at yellow. When you drew back, there was blue blood on your lips and the taste of thirium in both your mouths. Something in Nine's eyes sharpened, even as his lids fell half closed. He wiped the cut on his lip with his thumb, looking at the blood with vague interest before he cupped your face in his hand and smeared the blue across your chin and then up to your lips. Your tongue chased the movement and he pressed the pad of his thumb down against it almost as a reprimand.

"You're wearing too many clothes, officer. We'll need to take them off." Nines said, hands already undoing the front of your jeans. You tugged your shirt off, throwing it off into the room before straightening out your hips more so Nines could pull off your jeans in one smooth movement. The cold was a shock as you realized he'd managed to completely undress you from the waste down, your panties hem flush with the hem of your jeans as he tossed them aside.

You were left in nothing but your bra, which Nines hooked a finger in the front clasp, pulling it up a bit from your breastbone. A snap of his fingers and it was open, slipping it off your shoulders. It was not lost on you that Nines remained entirely dressed, still secured up to the neck in the high collared uniform.

"I can tell you like to misbehave," Nines said, stopping your attempt to pull him in close again, "But it's just to hide from them how you crave structure. Keep your hands down."

The immediacy in which you followed the command, setting your hands on the edge of the table, drew a half smile to the corner of his lips.

"You need direction. Someone to guide you." Nines laid his palm flat on your collarbone, slowly moving up your neck and then down, tracing the curve of your breast with the back of his knuckles. You arched your chest forward into the touch, Nines clicking his tongue scoldingly.

"Turn around, palms flat on the table. Don't move."

Something in your eyes sparkled, even as you did as you were told, however slowly you did it. Making a spectacle of yourself, swaying your hips invitingly as you bent over. Nines could barely stop himself from running his palm over your ass, squeezing. Suddenly that same hand was on your back, pushing you a little further. You gasped, the table cold on your heated skin, nipples pebbled and hard as they occasionally brushed the surface.

"This is why you would be a perfect fit... " Nines continued, nudging your legs apart with his own. He rested his hand on the cleft of your ass, spreading your vulva with his thumb, "... intelligent, loyal," he slipped his hand between your legs, cupping you, stroking your folds with his index and middle finger until you were up on your toes, trying to maneuver more pressure into the light touch, "...Obedient."

The sound of his palm connecting to your ass was loud in the silence, the cry that came from your throat even more so. You stood still again, moaning in frustration as you clawed at the table.

"Patience, officer."

"Just do it, for christ's—"

Another slap, this time it actually stung just a little, sending satisfaction in trembling waves down your spine that Nines could see with every scan. Despite what he said, he slowly slipped a finger inside, the sound so obscene with how wet you were already and so fluid that he was quick to add another.

"You're already ready for me, aren't you?" Nines said, moving faster, deeper. You had to be able to feel the warm trickle of your own fluids running down your thigh, "I know you've seen me watching you. Assessing your qualities."

His finger hooked and your body arched inward, jerking as you gasped, a moan strangled in your throat as he found that spot and pressed on it again and again. Your thighs trembled, tingling sensations collecting at the base of your spine and spreading out in a growing spanse over your body. Right when you were there, Nines stopped, taking his hand from you and wiping the fluid onto the side of your hip.

You made a noise of protest, rising up from the table, but his hand was on your back again, pushing you all the way down.

"You were happy enough to wait to take the detective exam— to make me wait. Now you wait."

It was quiet for a moment, not being able to see what Nines was doing was clearly both unsettling and arousing as he watched you wiggle, desperately trying to keep yourself still but almost coming apart with the anticipation. Nines unbuckled the front of his belt, unzipping just enough. RK900 were outfitted in every possible way, with the latest programming and technology in all aspects of human sexuality. It was effective in helping understand certain— "crimes of passion".

Nines let the head of his cock just barely brush your vulva, sliding it up and down the slick soft skin, enjoying the velvety feel of it against the sensitive modulars designed to simulate all the human sensations. Nines swallowed thickly, trying to keep his parameters clear and set while also feeling the conflicting confusion of multiple possible decisions. He settled it down to two.

Choose Approach:

X Deep Pace: Slow

O Quick Pace: Fast

"Show me how much you want me." Nines said, eyes heavy as he watched you look at him over your shoulder, bracing your hands on the table as you pushed back against him, trapping his cock between his pelvis and your ass as you bounced up on the balls of your feet, rubbing yourself against his shaft.

"Tell me you want to be mine."

This wasn't part of the mission. Why was he saying these things? Why were his biocomponents tightning— anticipating?

"Yes— I do. I do, please...pleaseplease, Nines."

Well. How could he deny you when you said such pretty things?

He aligned himself to your entrance and with a shaking sigh, sunk into you to the hilt. It was almost unbearably tight, your walls involuntarily spasming, gripping at his girth as you tried to adjust to the suddenness of his size and the feeling of delicious fullness. He took a ragged breath, pulmonary functions seemingly malfunctioning from what he could tell through the haze of his parameters, demanding, ordering he begin his approach.

Nines slipped out only slightly and then, still seated deeply inside you, he thrust forward hard and sudden. The sound of his hips against you was almost as loud as the slap, skin hitting together wetly. You whimpered, the shock of pleasure with just that faint mix of pain was enough to make your heart pound with anticipation for the next thrust. Nines drew back, controlled and methodical as he paused for a little bit longer, throwing you off each time he pounded back in. How he could possibly keep this up without loosing his mind was beyond your comprehension no doubt. Nines could feel your wetness soaking into the fabric at the front of his jeans, so smooth and hot. The parameters flashed in his mind

X CCCCCONtiN##UE P&CE O Faster

Nines gripped your upper arms, holding you down firmly as he snapped his hips forward, that perfect control slipping as he hunched over you, seating himself in as far as he could and then rocking in small tight circles. You broke out into a litany of expletives, your body moving involuntarily as you pushed back into him, moving your hips in pace with him.

"Oh fuck— oh fuckfuckfuck!!"

Your body was so warm, Nines only explanation was that he must have overheated. That was the only logical explanation for how quickly he spilled, spurts of artificial cum coating your insides with unnatural coolness. Your entire body shuddered with the force of your own orgasm, a sudden rush of fluid taking a moment to register in Nines addled mind. He'd made you squirt.

Nines took in a few unneeded breaths, finding it helped stabilize him. He released your arms and drew out carefully, watching the milky substance slip out from inside you. He used the head of his cock to push it back in, letting it drip back out around him. Nines hummed, quickly finding your discarded shirt and using it to clean himself before he tucked his softened cock back into his jeans, buckling his belt and adjusting his jacket..

"Careful." he said, noting you were righting yourself back up on unsteady legs. He pushed you to lean back on the table, using your shirt again as he kneeled down and gently wiped the mess from your legs, noting it had trailed half down your calf. He paused before wiping one trail, casting a quick look up at you before he leaned forward and swiped it up with his tongue. You huffed a laugh, euphoric and tired.

"Don't tell me you want round two already..." you said, Nines considering for a moment before deciding you were too tired for such a thing.

"No." he said, finishing up and moving into your living room where he took a blanket from the back of your sofa and wrapped it around your shoulders.

"You should hydrate and take an anti-inflammatory pain killer. You will be sore tomorrow."

"No shit." you huffed, leaning forward to rest your forehead into Nines' chest. He— did not return the touch, simply letting you use him to prop yourself up. He knew based on his downloads "aftercare" was an important aspect in any dominate, submissive sexual encounter, but part of him felt a bit ill-prepared to offer such "care".

"Get to bed." he said instead, an order that he knew you were not disinclined to follow, "You need to rest."

"You goin' back to DPD?" you said, sitting back up and gingerly covering yourself as you headed towards your bedroom, "Or... do you wanna stay? You don't have to, ya know. You ain't my first hook up, Nines."

That—

"I'll stay." Nines said, shocked at how fast he responded without consulting all his usual parameters.

You nodded, laughing to yourself at a joke he didn't understand as you headed down the dark hall. Nines looked around the room and concluded there was some additional clean up that would need to be done.

He didn't want to even begin thinking about the other maintenance this encounter would cause for him.

#lemon #rk900 x reader #dbh rk900 x reader #rk900 x female!reader #detroit become human #detroit become human fanfiction #detroit become human fanfic

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awesomelisaremoaner-blog · 5 years

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Combatting Cummings Communications Campaign

So, here they are.

Three road-tested and ready to go campaign messages designed to strike at the wavering hearts of a few hundred thousand people in a smattering of marginal constituencies that Dominic Cummings knows he needs to win if he is to save Brexit and place Boris ‘Bozza’ Johnson on the Iron Throne of rUK until god knows when.

These simple, pared-back statements have been focus-grouped to death, and are now finely-honed weapons of mass persuasion. They are to be feared.

They will be repeated ENDLESSLY by the Conservativeratti, hoping that, over time, the statements will smash their way into the consciousnesses of ordinary people, grab ahold of their amygdalas, and squeeze a vote for the Tories out of their ordinary hands.

But there are two great things about these statements:

1. They tell us lots about what Dominic Cummings has learnt from his focus groups

2. They can be killed.

Let’s deal with point 2 first.

Behavioural science tells us that if you keep repeating a statement enough, eventually it will become truth. This is why Donald Trump says ‘Fake News’ a lot. If you keep repeating something that taps into people’s emotions, you will have an even easier job. And if that thing you repeat is very simple to say, job is most definitely a goodun.

These days lots of bad people on the depressing side of politics have worked this out, and the internet is abuzz with the sounds of bite-size populist sentiments pouring unwantedly into the minds of defenceless populaces, from Budapest to Beijing.

BUT – behavioural science also tells us how to effectively debunk these unhealthy mind viruses, strip them of their power and turn them into weapons that actually do the opposite of what was originally intended, like a re-programmed Terminator.

This was done to some effect in the 2017 election, when Theresa May’s ‘Strong and Stable’ message gradually became paired with a ‘Weak and Wobbly’ counter-message (on t’internet at least), which – allied with her increasingly wobbly performances - made repeating the phrase more of a liability than a strength. By the end of the campaign they had stopped using it altogether.

And that’s what we are going to try and do this time around – take super-villian Dominic’s campaign messages apart, and reconstitute them as something remain-y.

This is an eminently winnable fight. The Conservative victory absolutely depends on getting the kind of people who hate Brexit but also hate Jeremy Corbyn and thought Ed Miliband was a bit wet to say ‘fuck it, there’s no one else, I have to vote for Boris fucking Johnson because I am a Conservative voter’.

whereas, our victory depends on getting these lovely people to say “I don’t feel good about voting for Boris Johnson, and I never wanted Brexit anyway.” And then either voting for someone else or just going to the pub and saying fuck it all and not voting.

By the way - they are not going to vote for Corbyn, okay?

I know loads of these people, and so do you. They feel politically homeless and are ripe for conversion.

So, what does behavioural science say about how exactly you counter Dominic’s misinformation? Well, there are certain key principles:

1. Never re-state the myth. In 2017, too many people would say “it doesn’t sound very ‘Strong and Stable’ if you can’t turn up to your own debate. Sounds more like weakness”. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. All you are doing is strengthening the phrase ‘Strong and stable’ in someone’s mind. No, instead you must have a…

2. Persuasive alternative counter message. Which you repeat anytime you come across the original. This counter message should directly relate to the original message (e.g. ‘weak and wobbly’ scans like ‘strong and stable’), and it should contradict its impact.

3. It should be simply expressed

4. It should be framed to appeal to YOUR audience.

So, let’s look at the three Conservative statements and see what they can tell us about how to destroy them. Here they are:

1. We will get Brexit done by October 31st

2. We are the Party of the people

3. We will take this country forward.

I am going to deal with the last one first, as I think this is the common theme that will underpin a lot of what the Tories try to do over the next few weeks.

We will take this country forward

It’s clear that much of the clash and thunder of Bozza’s arrival in Number 10 over the last few weeks have been about creating the illusion of busyness and purpose. ‘At least he is doing something’ cries Dominic’s target audience, and this message is designed to appeal further to that powerful sentiment of frustration.

This central idea of forward momentum, impetus, activity, inevitability is going to be big for the Tories. They will complain that they were dragged into an election they did not want, and only they, not the squabbling remainers or even parliament as a whole, have the sense of initiative to get us out of the morass.

And it makes some intuitive sense. They do have a plan (a stupid, self-serving one), and they are certainly very focused on winning over the next few weeks (for the benefit of the Conservative party if not the country). So, you can’t challenge this myth by saying, “no, you are not going forward”. They are most definitely in motion.

What you have to say instead is “But they are heading in the wrong direction.”

It’s that simple: “The Tories are steering Britain in the wrong direction.”

Easy. Say that whenever you hear this ‘going forward’ line, and it will become a rock of Kryptonite around the neck for them.

Or, in the mocked-up parody campaign posters: ‘We are taking this country in the wrong direction” under a big picture of Boris’ mug.

Of course, you will have to be able to justify why you think they are pointing us in the wrong direction – but as soon as you do that you have WON, because now we are not talking about ‘forward’, but about ‘wrong direction’.

And it’s easy to justify, because not only is Brexit a BAD thing, but also they are spectacularly unprepared for any of the logistical issues of either shit Brexit, or terrifically shit Brexit, PLUS they are not going to get any meaningful changes to a thrice-rejected deal so we are either going to be a vassal state or watching fist fights breakout in chemists all over the country over the availability of Epipens or both.

See – wrong direction.

Which brings me to point 1.

We will get Brexit done by October 31st

So, once again, the way to deal with this is not to say ‘no, you won’t’, or ‘it’s a coup and the Queen will stop you’ or anything else silly – that will not appeal to our target audience.

The power of this statement comes from (1) implying that the endless debates and fannying about around Brexit will be over if we just lie back and let Bozza get on with it, and (2) that this is not such a bad thing after all – in fact it’s all fine and we might as well be cheered by his jollying, can-do demeanour rather be positively sickened by it.

It’s key to challenge this ‘not such a bad thing after all’ emotion with its converse – Brexit is in fact a terrible, terrible thing (for many of the reasons listed above).

To this end, we have had a stroke of good luck, courtesy of Theresa May no less, who managed to delay the date of Brexit doom to October 31st. Or Halloween.

Yes, Halloween.

Brexit is coming on Halloween.

And thus it is easy to pair evil with evil in the mind of the floating voter.

There are many possible permutations, e.g.:

· Boris’ Halloween Horror Show is coming

· It’ll be a real fright night this Halloween

· Don’t let your kids see what Weird Uncle Boris has planned for them, etc.

The important thing is to pair the October the 31st thing with fear.

And yes, here at last we can use Project Fear to our advantage. If someone mentions it, we can say “Yes, it is Project Fear – because Boris is about to make Project Fear a reality – on Halloween... Steve Barclay said last week they haven’t even started talking yet about how to keep car parts supply chains running after Brexit – WTF?!”

See – turn their weapons on them.

This can be fun, this can be playful. We can make memes where Boris is a scary clown. We can make jokes. We can make deep fakes.

The important thing is October 31st stops being a nothingburger, and starts being something that people might want to think carefully about before rushing headlong into it.

So we have:

· Boris’ Halloween Horror Show is coming

· He’s steering Britain in the wrong direction!

I think these two ideas play well off what I imagine are Bozza’s brand weaknesses - his underlying associations with being reckless, slapdash, mendacious and spivvy. Our target voter has all these doubts about him too.

We are the Party of the people

So this is the Tories attempt to roll their tanks on to traditional Labour territory, by indicating that they are the true champions of the 2016 popular vote, PLUS this probably also encapsulates their crowd pleasing policies on the NHS, policing and crime.

You can’t challenge this by pointing out (as I am sure Labour supporters are minded to do) that no they are bloody not the Party of the people. Trying to explain who actually influences Tory policy and how that tends not to benefit the person in the street is all a bit ‘yawn’ and won’t actually register with disengaged voters.

No, we need something cleverer and something that skewers the meaning at the heart of the message.

I think the solution is two fold:

One – the statement refers to ‘the people’ like we were one big homogenous mass of dutiful subjects, but the truth is vast swathes of the country are not reconciled to Brexit and never will be. They are in open rebellion against their flagship policy.

Most polls show more than 50% support for remain these days – so even those soft Tory voters who are leaning towards voting for him for want of any other obvious candidate do not feel truly represented by him.

Boris is acting like he is the unifying figure that can bring the country back together, and this is where we must challenge the statement. He is not uniting us at all. We are a divided people.

And this gives us the key to unravel the second part of the sentence – that reference to the big P Conservative Party.

The sentence implies that the Conservative party is acting with one voice (trying desperately to draw on that ‘stability’ that they have long ago squandered) – but the plain truth is they are divided too.

MPs are resigning, others are in open rebellion and the executive is calling for de-selection. They, like the people are split down the middle.

So there you have it:

“A divided party can never unite our country”.

The final message:

· Boris’ Halloween Horror Show is coming

· His divided party can never unite our country

· He’s steering Britain in the wrong direction!

Getting the message out

It’s clear from 2016 that Dominic has lots of whizzy tools for targeting his message where it needs to go, and you may not.

But you do know soft Tories, lots of them.

What you need to do now is to deliver this message – by sharing it on social media – into the heart of the conversation about who should run our country so it changes the dialogue and makes everything they try to do work against them.

You are like Han Solo flying the Millenium Falcon deep inside the Death Star, Frodo lobbing Gollum into the Cracks of Doom, Arya pulling the knife-drop trick on the Night King. Watch the waves of destruction spread.

Thanks for listening and good luck.

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aaaanathaniel · 3 years

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It took the guards some time to open his cell, as ice had formed inside the lock.

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acehotel · 6 years

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Interview: Archie Lee Coates IV, PlayLab

NYC’s premier dream factory, our indefinable friends at PlayLab define themselves simply: “creative studio, no focus, lots of ideas.” This week, they unveiled their latest mercurial art campaign in Midtown — Grown Up Flowers. We sat down with the ‘Lab’s lead alchemist Archie Lee Coates IV to get the details.

When exactly did this Grown Up Flowers project start, and what was the initial impetus for it?

As a studio, PlayLab wants to constantly move into new territory; we don't necessarily know how to do projects at a certain scale, but always want to try. We had started a conversation with Sarah Berman of the Berman Group, who we met through Plus Pool —we told her that we really wanted to get into large-scale public work.

She represents a lot of developers, property owners, things like that. She was saying that quite often they have an interest in art, and hosting art to some degree, to help draw people to their buildings. She mentioned that there this association called Avenue of the Americas — a coalition of property owners on the Avenue of the Americas in Midtown — and that they were interested in bringing more people there for the purpose of art. It just sounded like a dream. We were like, "Okay, cool. Well, let's start that conversation, see where it goes."

We presented maybe a dozen ideas to the board, and they liked pretty much all of them, but it was really just for one or two specific properties at the time.

This was the Flowers project?

They hadn't even seen the flowers yet. There was this project that we wanted to do called Say What You Want to Say, which was gonna be a massive billboard in the center of Midtown, staffed full-time by an attendant with a phone. The idea was, you could text his phone and say whatever you wanted to say, and he would change it physically on a giant billboard marquee. They were like, "This is awesome! Let's do it!" But, we spec'd it out and it was pretty expensive, and they only had the budget to do one. Eventually, there were five other property owners that want to get involved, so they asked if we could do something for the budget that hits all five properties at a giant scale. The only thing we knew that could do that was either projections or inflatables. So we started going down this path of inflatables, and flowers just kind of came to mind.

Flowers have been painted and sculpted since the beginning of time, and Jeff [Franklin, co-founder of PlayLab] said this really amazing thing to me early on with the project: “You don't really have to ask permission to paint a flower.” Everybody's gonna have a different perception of what that is, but it's such a naturally beautiful object.. so, yeah, we were like: "Let's just make big, giant flowers."

Did you have previous experience working with inflatables, or was this a first time venture?

Yeah, it was a first time venture. I think we always had an ambition to do inflatables. We always referenced them for projects, and we didn't know what the cost would be — it turns out the cost was exactly perfect for a five site budget.

We had a lot of ideas. One of them was making smaller-scale, inflatable replicas of the buildings — or maybe inflatable nesting dolls, with, like, five different scales of the building in front of the actual building. With a little shop in front that sold tiny tourist trinkets of the building.

One day, we were walking through Midtown — this giant jungle of concrete and glass —and occasionally there are these small little flower beds. We were like, “wouldn’t it be amazing if there were just just giant flowers everywhere?

There’s something interesting about how the flowers look like original design objects, but also as if there’s some kind of generic template —they're not so dissimilar to what you’d expect to see a vendor at a street parade handing out to kids.

Right.

So, who originally designed them? Are they based off templates?

I'm so glad you are observing that and asked that question, because a large part of the project was sculpting these flowers and figuring out our approach to them. Because it was a blank template, we could make anything we wanted to make. But we don't know... like, we don't have 3D software. We just don't have that skill set or experience. So we literally started by drawing with pencil, shading to show three dimensions, with Jeff and Anya [Shcherbakova] — who led that charge in the studio — doing hundreds and hundreds of options. It got really difficult once we got to forms, so we started modeling them out of clay — then made new drawings from that. We would sculpt and then do still lives of those. it was really a blank template.

There are stock flowers, but there's not a crazy variation of them, and they all look like what you’d see at like a car dealership... these kind of like wavy things. So we made our own, but tried to make them to feel a little like they might be stock ones. The limitations turned out to be super fun. We really like the artist Paul McCarthy, so we found out the place where he makes his inflatables, and they ended up making them for us.

Your sculptures are a little more G-rated than his.

They are 100% more G-rated, with the best family-friendly intentions. But the New York Post definitely had their mind in the gutter when they said they looked like giant penises.

Really? The Post said that?

Yeah, it was just funny. The were like “We reached out to PlayLab, but they declined to comment.” But they didn't. We didn't hear from them at all.

Whenever I think about inflatables, like at the Macy's Day parade or wherever, I think about how easy it seems to be for these objects to be ruined or penetrated or disrupted in some way. What measures are taken to preserve their structural integrity?

We were super nervous about that, obviously, but these people at Inflatable Images in Ohio have done this so many times, and they were like, "Look, based on probability, nobody's going to screw with these." Plus, each of these buildings has security like 24 hours a day — not like guarding the flowers, but they're around, you know?

Mm-hmm.

For the majority of them, there's so much air going through the blowers, a pinprick isn’t really gonna do anything. If you look closely at the flowers that have the blowers there are little tiny holes where the seams are at every little joint. So I think they're relatively safe.

There's like a constant stream of air coming into them?

Yeah, constant.

How long does the exhibition run?

Three months. Through July.

And what happens to the flowers after that?

The Avenue of the Americas Association owns them now, which is awesome, but we already have interest in showing them in other places. We're talking to them about the idea, because they're just too big and beautiful to just keep in storage.

Do you have any dream locations?

Man, I don't know... like, right in front of the U.N. building? I don't know.

That makes me wonder — are the flowers geographically specific? Are they like, native New York flowers?

No, they're more like caricatures of a bunch of flowers, combined. Like, if you took every archetypical flower in your mind and joined them together.

You’ve said that New York was once an island of flowers, and now it's an island of buildings. When I think about the average viewer — like, a tourist or something — that comes across them out of context, that narrative might not immediately translate.

Totally.

So what are you hoping their immediate takeaway is? Is it just sort of, you know, “art! Its big, it's beautiful, it's great?”

Yeah, definitely — just a feeling of positivity and fun. You know, we don't usually make hashtags for any of our projects, but we did for this one, because it was so public that we wanted to see what people were posting. As soon as the flowers went up, it became an immediate selfie zone. There's tons of people posting photos that are like, "Spring is here, life is great, thanks for the flowers!,” you know? No political statement, no negative conversation around it. It's just supposed to be a delightful break from the ordinary visual, or whatever thing you're doing at that moment. They're not so big that they're overpowering, and they're not small that they can be forgotten. When I see photos of them they still look like renderings to me, you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's kind of hard to think, "why they would be there?” because they're just so obviously out of place.

They're all in publicly accessible places, right? Even in the buildings?

Yeah. They're all in plazas, except for one in the Hippodrome lobby. That one's really special, he’s called Wilt, after Wilt Chamberlain, because he's so tall. And he's so tall that once he hits the ceiling he has to bend down... so the flowers are looking over everybody that walks into the lobby. When you just stand there for 15 minutes, you have all these people take a photo of it, or a selfie in front of it. We asked a few of them, "Have you ever taken a photo in this lobby before?" And they were like, "No, never." You know, like simple things like that. They're stopping, and just enjoying the buildings and Midtown. It's just kind of like a rounded edged project.

#yes #nyc #ace hotel #ace hotel new york #Archie Lee Coates IV #playlab #avenue of the americas

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elliotfcup349-blog · 5 years

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Turn Your Music Into A High Performing Machine

Are you thinking about developing opportunities in business marketing or music and entertainment marketing to get your company up and running? Contact Kurb Promotions today because we have been offering our marketing services that allow you to Make Money from Music for next to nothing ? beginning from $97 for full service ? for anyone musicians and people prepared to get a new idea in marketing leverage, through Music Publishing.

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Okay therefore if ppc adwords could be the solution to all of your problems and I'm going to be abandoning much from the effort I put into regular writing and blogging and various other marketing efforts what does that leave me to perform to carry on developing my business?

Because you know I love developing my business ideas and marketing strategies, I couldn't stop if I wished to!

Well although I want to develop my Music Publishing business principally, the number one priority is being completely in command of administration and paperwork, everything official business. It' one

thing to get managing a profitable business but it's less than hot once you get caught out plus you've got just to walk the also to renew the nice energy in my opportunity I want to really get involved in ensuring that our customers feel really taken care of and supported specially the music marketing and marketing consultant services.

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Also I discussed web design and presentation playing a large role in developing my business because it's a bit of a weak point right this moment; I believe better designs will lead to more confidence from customers choosing our intend to deliver their demands.

So the key priorities for my business seeing that the complete marketing process starts to operate smoothly are maintaining basic administration and customer satisfaction standards. That really should not be to hard. But the point of this short article would have been to question what I might be doing that's valuable wonderful this newly created free time? Everyday there'll be sales and administration tasks to become completed, as soon as that is certainly done, we've got to perform the marketing consultant services requested by clients, but what next?

Well I would like to formulate my Music Publishing business idea because the full idea of it is rather lucrative to the work involved, in fact it costs not nearly as expensive music marketing services yet I do less work making more money, in order to start to see the attraction of building the service up personally.

Well writing and creating more e-books might be the one. Video is one area I've wanted to do really but realistically it's hard to demonstrate the return adhere to what they that work well may be created as something which may be sold again and again then you may be onto something.

The idea is that once you've all the products available, then you can definitely use videos and articles, blogs etc to pay attention to selling your product or service which unlike a site, when the sale continues to be completed, the work in the marketer is is similar to my Music Publishing business idea, the tough part over it is establishing the trust that musicians need to feel relaxed letting me utilize the songs for my Music Publishing enterprise.

So here's their email list of new priorities for business development:

- Increase afford PPC marketing of local CD / DVD copying, color copying and pirate services

- More attentive management of administration and Customer service

- Look to improve web site design and presentation to increase sales

That's the very first phase, then:

- develop e-books which can be developed quickly for target help artists Make Money from Music

- use article promotion, seo, building links, social media and video to help create appeal for not merely the products but also our tunes publishing initiatives.

10 Improvise Melodies while alternating between two chords of accompaniment. I have found this exercise being an impetus to writing good melodies: with my left hand, I alternate between two chords, sufficient reason for my right hand I improvise melodies. Again, practicing writing music promptly helps to hold me creative.

11 Develop your skill to think in multiple lines of instrumentation. When music is going through your head, make an effort to stretch your composition ability by thinking in multiple lines of music. It takes effort, however the more lines of instrumentation you are capable to hold with your mind, better you will be able to compose when it comes time for you to write.

By taking time to practice these disciplines, I hope that you can find your song-writing ability increasing.

#music #kind of music #music type

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

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Fail of the Lich King

by Wardog

Tuesday, 14 July 2009Wardog critical hits Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, the World of Warcraft tie in novel, for 4000 points of damage.Uh-oh! This is in the Axis of Awful...~

Here’s a confession, Ferretbrain readers: I’ve never read a tie-in novel. Truthfully, I have enough trouble getting invested in the world in original fiction, so there’s a pretty low likelihood of me wanting to read about a universe specifically designed to have movies or games or a tv show happening in it.

I do, however, play World of Warcraft.

And I am, secretly, a bit of a Warcraft loregeek – having played Orcs Versus Humans, and Warcraft II and Warcraft IIIback in the day, despite being abysmal at RTS games. Azeroth is basically Generic Fantasy Setting#3 but having been splashing about it in since the age of eleven, what can I say, I have a fondness. For anyone who doesn’t give a toss (i.e. the rest of you) lore has kicked off in a big way recently in WoW, with the release of the expansion Wrath of the Lich King. This is a big deal.

Arthas, Rise of the Lich King, a WoW tie-in novel by Christie Golden, is the history of that big deal.

The short version: There’s this Lich King, right? He’s wrathful. He needs to taken out by a bunch of PCs.

The longer version: I’m not going to go into the history of Azeroth, which has a long and detailed history. Arthas, later to become part of the entity known of the Lich King (like, whoops), was the son of King Terenas Menethil, ruler of Lordaeron, and a paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand. An impetuous but basically okay youth, hope of his people yadda yadda yadda, he boned the only girl in the entire Warcraft universe, Jaina Proudmoore, for a bit and then went off to do, err, war things.

It’s all a bit complicated and involves a plague of undeath caused by infected grain, evil wizards, demons and Arthas going off the deep end, culling infected villages and burning the boats of his own army so they have no choice but to fight for him. While making questionable military decisions (this is WCIII, by the way) Arthas also gets obsessed with the

deathly hallows

runeblade Frostmourne, a sword rumoured to give its wielder limitless power. This is, as anyone could guess, a plot. In this case, orchestrated by the Lich King Ner’Zhul.

Arthas nabs Frostmourne from its prison of ice, despite the “DON’T TOUCH THE SWORD IT COMES WITH TERRIBLE PRICE YOU STUPID PILLOCK” signage and heads off to save his people. Except, this apparently involves murdering his own father, because, of course, the sword has completely corrupted him, and the Lich King is whispering to him, and controlling him, through it. Way to go, Arthas.

So, now some gothylooking sub-human Death Knight, Arthas charges around the land, generally wrecking it and raising people from the dead for kicks. But it turns out the Lich King isn’t as powerful as he thought he was and things start to go wrong. Arthas is recalled to Northrend, which is currently attack anyway by some other dudes from the lore (The Burning Legion, don’t ask). Again, it’s insanely complicated but Arthas fights his way to the Frozen Throne, releasing the Lich King and consuming him or something or other in order to become the true Lich King. Mwhaahaha.

And, then, in true Lord Voldemort fashion he’s just … been … like … sitting on there on the Frozen Throne. Raising an army, or whatever. Although everybody knows that “raising an army” is fantasy-speak for “doing fuck all.”

This is the story told in Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.

What neither my summary, nor the book itself, quite encompasses is the fact that there is quite a bit of WoWlore that’s quite cool and interesting. The original Lich King, for example, is actually an ancient Orcish shaman, tricked by demons into betraying his people. His transformation into the Lich King was actually a punishment for defying his demonic masters. Arthas, of course, is Generic Fantasy Concept #5: uppity princeling is stupid and turns evil. But there is something iconic about him, it must be admitted. He’s one of the most popular and enduring figures of the Warcraft universe.

I think part of his resonance comes from the fact you actually got to be him in Warcraft III. That game blew my tiny mind when it first came out. Not only was it sweeping, epic, and sub-Tolkeinesque in the way that Blizzard does supremely well (here’s the scene of him murdering his father –

check it out

!) but the narrative arc is, well, a bit of a mindfuck. You start out playing Arthas in his whiny Prince incarnation and, even though the game is utterly linear, it’s hard not to feel some responsibility for all the messed up stuff he does. Or rather, you do on Arthas’s behalf, because it is a RTS.

Anyway, that’s the background and a little bit of justification as to why I’m reading a tie-in novel, an experience I don’t think I’ll be repeating any time soon. This is not, you understand, a dig against tie-in novels, I’ve had absolutely nothing against them at all and I suspect I found the right sort of universe and the right sort of writers I’d enjoy them. But Arthas: Rise of the Lich King is absolutely terrible.

Dear me, dear me, it really is.

The problem is, I’m not sure what extent its just plain bad and to what extent signs I am interpreting as manifestations of badness are merely the tropes and tools of the tie-in novel form. Obviously tie-in novels are operating on a different set of rules to those governing original fiction. I’m not entirely sure what they are, truthfully, but I suppose it’s about evoking characters and places that are already familiar to the reader. And since the writer is working within an already quite restrictive canon, I suppose I should have expected an element of sketchiness but … but … it still feels incredibly tepid to me. It’s simultaneously bland and over-written, if that makes any sense at all. There’s no depth or conviction to the narrative – I suppose, I’d say it’s supremely utilitarian.

Northrend was the name of the land. Daggercap Bay the site where the Lordaeron fleet made harbor. The water, deep and choppy, with an unforgiving wind, was a cold-blue gray. Sheer-cliffs were dotted with tenacious pine trees soaring upwards, providing a natural defense of the small, flat area where Arthas and his men would make camp. A waterfall tumbled down, crashing in a billow of spray from a great height.

Do you see what I mean? It’s like looking at flat image. The information is presented list-like – there’s very little connection between the introduction of the sea, the cliffs, the camp, the waterfall. No senses other than the visual are engaged, and no effort has been made to do anything with the scene setting other than present it as it is. The waterfall tumbles down from a great height? Oh come on. It’s a waterfall, obviously it moves from a higher place to a lower place. Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

One of the lines that Dan and I never tired of mocking in Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith is “from my point of view the Jedi are evil.” This is profoundly mockable from every conceivable angle but my favourite joke is that Lucas simply forgot to finish the line. He was sitting at his writing desk, thinking something like this: “what I want to do here is capture something of the moral ambiguity of this scene, the way morality is so often a matter of perspective. I suppose what Anakin is trying to say, from his point of the view the Jedi are evil.”

Writes down: “From my point of the view the Jedi are evil!”

And the entirety of Arthas: Rise of the Lich King reads like this to me.

For example, there’s scene in which Kael’thas, Prince of the Blood Elves, confronts Jaina Proudmoore over Arthas’s destruction of his entire race. This is naturally complicated by the fact Jaina, tastelessly, chose whiny Arthas over fabulous Kael. Now, I think the thought process behind the scene went something like this: “what I’d like to show in this scene is Kael’thas verbally attacking the woman he loves and cannot have because he cannot attack his real enemy, Arthas, and therefore feels helpless and impotent. In order to capture this quite subtle interplay of emotions and ruined relationships, Goldie writes:

Jaina felt quick tears come to her eyes as she suddenly understood. He was attacking her because he could not attack his real enemy. He felt helpless, impotent and was striking out at the nearest target – her, Jaina Proudmoore, whose love he had wanted and failed to win.

Everything about the way the book is written is as laboured as the scene above. There’s no hope of anything, or anyone, accruing any emotional depth because, Rowling-like, everything the characters say, think and do are mercilessly explained to us. Take this little discussion between 9 year old Arthas and Prince Varian, whose father has just been assassinated.

“He was assassinated,” Varian’s voice was blunt and emotionless. … Arthas stared. Death in glorious battle was difficult enough to handle but this- Impulsively he placed a hand on the other Prince’s arm. “I saw a foal being born yesterday,” he said. It sounded inane, but it was the first thing that sprang to his mind and he spoke earnestly. “When the weather lets up, I’ll take you to see him. He’s the most amazing thing.” Varian turned towards him and gazed at him for a long moment. Emotions flitted across his face – offense, disbelief, gratitude, yearning, understanding. Suddenly the brown eyes filled with tears and Varian looked away. He folded his arms and hunched in on himself, his shoulders shaking with sobs he did his best to muffle… … “I hate winter,” Varian sobbed, and the depth of his hurt conveyed by those three simple words, a seeming non-sequiteur, humbled Arthas.

Putting aside for a moment, young Varian’s impressive ability to communicate a range of complex emotions in a short space of time using only his face, for God’s sake, you stupid woman, there’s no need for you spell it all out for me. I get it. You don’t have to join the emotional dots with a crayon. A seeming non-sequiteur my seeming arse.

It doesn’t help that it lacks any sort of consistent narrative voice, swinging from an attempt at Tolkeinesque portentousness which inevitably just sounds lame (“long had he lived” or “tall he was”) to an incongruous modernity. Arthas, in particular, sounds like he’s voiced by Keannu Reeves:

“I destroyed your homeland … fouled your precious sunwell. And I killed your father. Frostmourne sucked the soul right out of him, Kael. It’s gone forever.”

Like, totally, duuuude.

As you can see, the dialogue is generally pretty shite (sorry, I’ve lost my objectivity now). Kael’thas, my favourite character in the entirety of WoW canon, is its most tragic victim. A beautiful elven prince, thousands of years old, bizarrely into Jaina Proudmoore (I think because, as we have established, she is the only woman in the entirety of Azeroth), cultured, sophisticated, tremendously intelligent, and, ultimately, terrible tragic as Arthas’s destruction of his people reduces him to utter madness. He spends much of the book pouting and sulking after Jaina, flouncing out of rooms in “a swirl of violet of gold” (way not to look gay, Kael), throwing hissy fits and bickering with Arthas. His dialogue encompasses such immortal gems as

“In Quel’Thalas, there are trees that tower over these in a glory of white bark and golden leaves, that all but sing in the evening breezes. I think you would enjoy seeing them someday” (take me now!) and, rather less impressively, while verbally and literally fighting with Arthas: “You’re good at killing noble elderly men.” All together now: whooooo.

Oh sigh.

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, it’s just somehow plain misjudged a lot of the time. From Arthas’s weirdly homoerotic consumption of the Lich King Ner’Zhul (just, no thanks) to lines like “long had he lived, the length and yellowness of his tusks and the wrinkles on his brown skin testament to the fact.” Yellowness?! What the hell?

Below is a picture of Illidan Stormrage, part demon, part night elf, blind and wholly mad, another of WoW’s iconic figures. Isn’t he kind of fabulous? Wouldn’t you just love to get together with a group of friends and kill him?

Would you at any point, if writing about him, use the phrase: “Sweat gleamed on his massive, lavender-hued torso?” Lavender-hued? LAVENDER-HUED? Lavender is for grandmas and bath oils. Not insane demonic night elves. Come on, Christie Golden, don’t you give a damn what you’re doing?

I could criticise the writing style endlessly but the problems with Arthas: Rise of the Lich King are even more substantial. Again, I understand that writing the story of a life of a character who was probably made up as they went along is probably quite a challenge but I don’t think it alters the fact that the one event constantly cited as the most traumatic and character-defining of Arthas’s entire life is… Actually let’s do a quiz. Is it:

a) That time he murdered his father?

b) That time he killed an entire town of innocent people because they’d been infected with the undead plague?

c) That time he burned the boats of his own army to force them to keep fighting for him?

d) That time the guy he was staying with offered him a serving girl to rape?

e) That time he was picking up Frostmourne and it directly caused the death his mentor and oldest friend?

f) That time he killed Sylvanas Windrunner, turned her into a banshee and rape/tortured her for kicks?

g)The death of his horse.

What the hell? He even has recurring nightmares about it.

(by the way, it’s option g)

Okay, this has degenerated into ranting now. By whatever standards you’re judging it, Arthas: the Rise of Lich King is a bad, bad book. Just because something is a tie-in novel doesn’t mean readers aren’t entitled to flair, conviction, a small scintilla of actual talent. Is there anything good at all I can say about it? Well, the commas are all in the right places.

Themes:

Books

Sci-fi / Fantasy

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~Comments (

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Arthur B

at 22:37 on 2009-07-14

Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

That laziness isn't a trope of tie-in fiction, it's a disease of tie-in fiction.

Games Workshop/Black Library, who seem to have a better batting average than most with this sort of thing, seem to work on the assumption that any tie-in novel is potentially someone's first contact with the franchise in question - that's is why they put the classic "laughter of thirsting gods" blurb at the start of all the

Warhammer 40,000

books, after all. This does mean that the authors have to explain who the Space Marines are every time they're introduced in a novel, but it also forces the authors to have some degree of discipline and not Christie Golden the place up.

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Rami

at 22:38 on 2009-07-14The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

That having been said, I've read some pretty good tie-in fiction and there's lots of mediocre-but-not-actively-crap tie-in in campaign settings like the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance, so in my experience at least tie-in fiction's rules aren't that compromised by the rules of whatever they're retelling!

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http://serenoli.livejournal.com/

at 10:46 on 2009-07-15Studying Microeconomics, Rami?

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Shim

at 12:11 on 2009-07-15

Actually, I

haven't

been to Daggercap Bay, in fact I know nothing at all about the Warcraft universe except what I've picked up via gaming conversations/blogs/comics. Maybe I should read this thing as a control sample?

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Andy G

at 14:03 on 2009-07-15

The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

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Rami

at 17:07 on 2009-07-15@serenoli: I'm pleasantly surprised anyone got the reference, although I don't suppose I should be as it's a pretty typical text, isn't it? Certainly everyone I met at my uni on an economics course used it.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

Well since I used to play Warcraft III I would have loved a textbook I could call the Book of Arthas ;-)

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Wardog

at 14:26 on 2009-07-16@Arthur & Shimmin

Since WoW produces far fewer tie-in novels than the Black Library (those things are taking over Borders, there are shelves of them!), I don't think there's any particularly need to make them "introductory." I suspect the thinking behind it is there's genuinely *utterly no reason* to read a Warcraft novel unless you're already hugely into Warcraft.

I can has macro-enconomics joke?

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Arthur B

at 16:27 on 2009-07-16

I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of

Konrad

didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 07:05 on 2009-09-30

That's precisely the sort of thinking that tie-in franchises get stuck in, of course: they don't write for newcomers because they don't expect any newcomers to buy the books, and as a result no newcomers buy the books, which discourages the publishers from producing more and discourages the writers from writing for newcomers, and you end up with a vicious circle which results in the novel line ghettoising itself. (It gets particularly bad when the authors and/or publishers also believe that the audience for the franchise is too stupid or too loyal to care about quality, and so can't be bothered to write well.) I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of Konrad didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

You raise an excellent point here, and it's one worth considering. Despite WoW's massive fanbase (as well as the fanbases of their other universes), Blizzard just really focuses on writing novels for the existing fans, not in bringing in new ones. A good deal of their tie-in fiction are simply novelizations of the games in some capacity or prequels to upcoming stuff, and unlike Games Workshop, they rarely give the writers a chance to produce original stuff within the confines of these worlds they have created, though they are getting a bit better at it. As well, one of the things that Games Workshop really excels at with their tie-in fiction is that they take more risks and allow the writers to investigate and play with their creative properties much more frequently.

This also leads to a greater depth of genre material, for example, you can find Warhammer stories that involve big quests and swash-buckling adventures (Gotrex and Felix), detective stories (Zavant Konniger), horror (Vampire Genevive), etc. Now Blizzard is expanding a bit, particularly with their manga works, but they are still a long way off from getting anything close to the Black Library's level of quality, range and depth.

One of the major problems I had with this story was the lack of epic scope that I would expect for a novelization of much of Warcraft III, and it's a problem that Blizzard's novels seem to be running into frequently these days. Part of that is simply the transition from an interactive visual-based medium to a non-interactive text-based one (unless you count throwing the book against the wall a point of interaction), but honestly, Golden could not seem to capture the intensity and the epic nature of the many of the events she was writing about. Take the Siege of Hearthglen, for example. In the game, it's a mighty 30-min last stand against an overwhelming horde of flesh-eating nasties, and about a third of the way through, you're faced with the choice to save a series of nearby villages, possibly gaining an expansion town and preventing the undead from massing even more troops with the risk of possibly losing your main base because your forces are stretched too thin. In the novel, Golden doesn't bother to show it, beyond transcribing the start and end cutscenes to novel format. It's like the writers Blizzard has hired to write these books say to themselves, "I have to write battle scenes, intense drama, and make the reader feel like this stuff matters? Fuck it. Let's talk about Arthas' horse." I'm half-expecting when the inevitable novel chronicling the Exodus to Kalimdor and the events of the second half of WCIII comes out, the Battle of Mount Hyjal will be reduced to a schoolyard slapfight between Archimonde and Stormrage. Perhaps not the biggest problem with the book overall, but one of many, and as a major Warcraft fan, one that really stuck in my craw.

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Wardog

at 12:19 on 2009-10-05Hello there - welcome to Fb.

I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :)

The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee.

It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 13:39 on 2009-10-23

Hello there - welcome to Fb. I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :) The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee. It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

Many thanks for the warm welcome, and glad to hear I had something useful to contribute.

One of the things that really struck me when I was reading this novel was that Golden's writing skills seem to have dramatically declined since she wrote Lord of the Clans. That was a pretty good tie-in novel that worked both as a Warcraft story and a general high-fantasy one, and I'm considering doing a review of it for this site. Reading Rise of the Lich King, I had a uncannily similar feeling when I read the sixth Harry Potter book, namely, "Who is this woman and where has she stashed away the writer I had come to love?" Or just like, in this case...

#Ferretbrain #Arthas: Rise of the Lich King #World of Warcraft #Axis of Awful #Wardog

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

Text

Missed Classic 82: Trinity (1986) – Introduction

Written by Joe Pranevich

I should be at the beach and instead I am playing a game that is equal parts charming and deeply disturbing: Moriarty’s Trinity, a “fantasy” adventure game about inevitable nuclear armageddon. Much like A Mind Forever Voyaging, this is a game with a narrative purpose and a political bent, but also a product of its time. The Cold War had nearly boiled over and Moriarty’s message about the risks of nuclear proliferation was timely, even if I am uncertain how much anyone wanted to play a game about it. As I am writing this now, I’m not sure I want to play a game about it. At a time when nationalism is on the rise worldwide and new walls are being built, when Russia announces new “hyper sonic” missiles that are designed to pierce existing defense systems, and when North Korea promised a “Christmas present” that would let their own stockpile of nuclear weapons reach American shores, it’s hard to enjoy a game about it. We are still far from the brinkmanship of the Cold War when Russia and America played chicken with our lives, but it feels like the world is moving in the wrong direction.

I have been waiting to play this game for months. I had intended to rush it between Batman Returns and Consulting Detective II, but I pushed off after being warned that I would want to savor it. Beyond that, I don’t know all that much about the game itself. It was distributed on the second Lost Treasures set, so I owned it but never started it even once, nestled as it was in a submenu next to Sherlock Holmes and Wishbringer. I have since learned that it is considered one of Infocom’s finest works, but that is a reputation I was unaware of then and which I look forward to discovering the truth of now.

Boom, boom! Ain’t it great to be crazy?

The title of the game comes from the Trinity site, the location of the first ever nuclear explosion in July 1945. Maybe you can blame my shoddy education, but I never learned much of this history in school. Of course, I knew about the Manhattan Project and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and I recall seeing the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian on one of my visits), but as for the history of the bomb, I was taught (or I remember) very little. That isn’t to say that the bomb wasn’t on our minds in the 1980s, but the threat of the bomb was a more immediate concern than the history of said bomb. I was in second grade in 1986 and not fully aware of what was going on in the wider world. When I was older, we were taught that Pittsburgh, where I grew up, would likely be a secondary target for the Soviets because of our capacity for (if not active development in) steel production. It was believed around the dinner table that our mountainous terrain would decrease the damage and keep us safe. I recall being told that people moved to the south of the city because it would be safer there in the event of a bombing. It’s likely that nothing I just wrote was actually true, only the musings of scared people telling half-truths to other scared people. Nuclear bombs were on our minds, but we were not educated about the bomb and what would really happen in the event of a strike. Thankfully, none ever came.

An included comic fills in much of my missing history, although I’m not qualified to say what may have been exaggerated or adjusted for effect. It documents in a campy and jingoistic way the history of atomic energy from an apparently near-future perspective, as an informative (1950s-style) comic. The style reminds me of the Fallout games and I would not be at all surprised to learn that they were influenced by Trinity in some way. The history starts in 1938 when Nazi Germany was the first to split the atom. I had to look this up to make sure that this wasn’t alternative history because I certainly never learned that Germany was first. Niels Bohr wants the United States to harness that energy for a bomb and enlists the aid of Albert Einstein to press the point to President Roosevelt. Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Manhattan Project began, and the scientists at Los Alamos got to work on their bomb. Throughout it all, the refrain “It’s my patriotic duty.” is repeated. Even after Germany left the war and the threat of a rival atomic program was over, the United States continues building the bomb. The impetus was gone but the patriotic duty remained. It’s chilling.

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

The history lesson continues through the eponymous test at Trinity followed by the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The panels are structured to hint that intimizating the Soviet Union, not defeating Japan, was the true goal of the bombings. Naturally, the United States monopoly on the bomb ends quickly and now we’re scared again because the “reds” have one too. So what to do? Build a bigger bomb! This leads to the tests on Bikini Island and further escalations. The comic transitions to “today”, a near-future world where the United States still performs underground tests (in reality, they ended in 1992) and has completed a Star Wars-style orbital defense system (unworkable with 1980s tech in real life, but functioning well here.) The story ends with a scene of children playing in Kensington Gardens and a general promising that all of the missiles and bombs that were built and stockpiled would never need to be used.

In addition to the comic, the game comes with instructions for folding an origami paper crane and a cut-out of a sundial. I expect that the sundial will be used as a form of copy protection, mostly because the instructions for the paper crane seem difficult to render in a text adventure. The manual ends with a well-written explanation for what we are getting ourselves into. It’s in spoiler territory, but I’ll repeat it verbatim anyway:

You’re neither an adventurer nor a professional thrill-seeker. You’re simply an American tourist in London, enjoying a relaxing stroll through the famous Kensington Gardens. When World War III starts and the city is vaporized moments after the story begins, you have no hope of survival.

Unless you enter another time, another place another dimension.

Escaping the destruction of London is not the end of your problems, but rather the beginning of new, more bizarre riddles. You’ll find yourself in an exotic world teeming with giant fly traps, strange creatures, and other inconveniences. Time and space will behave with their own intricate and mischievous logic. You’ll visit fantastic places and acquire curious objects as you seek to discover the logic behind your newfound universe.

And if you can figure out the pattern of events you’ll wind up in the New Mexico desert, minutes before the culmination of the greatest scientific experiment of all time: the world’s first atomic explosion, code-named Trinity.

The development of this game took place over several years. It is well-known that Moriarty was thinking about the nuclear proliferation even during his Atari years and that these concerns informed the darkly pessimistic Crash Dive. The amount of research he poured into this game is tremendous: the manual lists forty texts in his bibliography. You will, I hope, forgive me for not reading them all before playing the game; I expect that most players wouldn’t have taken on the equivalent of a college-level course in nuclear history before playing! Moriarty actively developed the game at least since the summer of 1985 when he visited the Trinity site, Los Alamos, and several museums devoted to nuclear history. I’m told that he also visited Kensington Gardens, but I have not been able to verify that fact. (I have previously reached out to Mr. Moriarty for feedback, but I regret that he has not yet responded to my queries.) Infocom was taking a risk on Moriarty by allowing him to do another “political” game so soon after the previous one failed, but at least this one would have puzzles. (The New Zork Times article promoting the game goes out of its way to stress that yes, this is a game with puzzles.) How well will all of this come together? I know only one way to find out: Let’s play!

The adventure begins!

Our adventure begins in Kensington Gardens, part of Hyde Park in London. It’s a beautiful place that I have been to a half-dozen times, although never in a near-future dystopian fantasy. Our character has decided to leave his tour bus and camera behind in favor of seeing the sights on his own. The manual already told us that we’re about to be nuked, so it’s oddly tense. I have a pit in my stomach. It’s difficult to want to play this game.

North of our starting location is the Broad Walk where I am greeted by a flock of pigeons. An old woman sits nearby selling bags of crumbs to tourists for just 20p. I check my pockets and have only a 50p coin (as well as a nearly-expired credit card); am I supposed to get change first? I buy the crumbs anyway and she gives me a 20p coin in exchange. Just as in Wishbringer, we get a “beep!” sound and a notification that our score increased by one point. I’m one percent through the game! I like this feature and I hope that we see it in more Infocom games in the future.

I feed the birds some crumbs and– gasp!– there was a large ruby hidden in the bag. It slips between my fingers and lands on the ground. When I reach down to grab it, a roadrunner appears out of nowhere and snaps it up before running off to the east, racing between the legs of park-goers. Before I can even consider whether roadrunners are native to Britain (they are not), the old woman shouts, “It’s time!” and I score a few more points. My descriptions are not doing justice to a well-written game and a well-written sequence. It’s one part whimsy and one part tense, with a smattering of Alice in Wonderland-style strangeness. Moriarty is great at his craft!

I chase after the bird and find myself at the Round Pond, a charming area where children sail boats on the fountain while the ducks look on in disgust. The roadrunner continues as soon as he sees me, dodging baby carriages (“perambulators” or “prams” in London-speak) and disappears east once again. I follow him again to arrive at the Lancaster Walk. He scoots east again across a grassy lawn and I try to follow, but the game politely tells me to read the sign first. The sign says not to walk on the grass, but surely that notice doesn’t apply to roadrunners or adventurers? I follow that bird, but the grass reaches out and stops me! It’s some near-future attack grass and it deposits me back on the path. There’s no obvious way to follow our roadrunner friend any further.

Meep-meep. Phtttbt.

I’m Googling while I am playing, a luxury that the original players in 1986 would not have had. Moriarty is doing a fantastic job modeling the real Kensington Gardens. The statue of a horse and rider here on the Lancaster Walk, for example, is called “Physical Energy” and exactly matches the one in the real garden. As I stand there admiring the scenery, someone bicycles over the grass without a problem. Is that the trick? Do I need to find a bike?

North is the Lancaster Gate where an elderly Asian woman struggles to open an umbrella. I move to help her, but am taken aback by her face. It is, to use the game’s word, “wrong” and “badly scarred, as if in an accident”. It stops me in my tracks. I’m shocked at the crassness of our avatar, especially as the nature of the game and the lengths by which it goes to draw attention to her scarring suggests that she is a survivor of Hiroshima. I’m not sure if that works timeline-wise, unless we’re not as far in the future as I thought. A gust of wind takes the umbrella and lodges it into a nearby tree. The woman begins to cry before kicking the tree and walking off. Am I supposed to find a way to recover it for her and return it? I don’t see an obvious way at it either since I cannot climb the tree. I’ll come back later.

We cannot explore the full garden as we are blocked when we head in directions the game doesn’t want us to go, for example by indignant nannies to the east and a mob of tourists to the north. I explore south to the Flower Walk and discover a soccer ball discarded in the grass. Grabbing it increases my score by a point! Can I use it to dislodge the umbrella? The game goes out of its way to call out how ugly the nearby Albert Memorial is. It’s a statue of a guy on a horse and apparently was super ugly in the 1980s but has been restored now. I doubt I ever gave it more than a passing glance.

Tossing the ball at the umbrella dislodges it, but then I lose the soccer ball. I score five points, so it must be a good trade! It has a touristy slogan along the side, “All Prams Lead to Kensington Gardens”. (This is a slight paraphrase from an expression in J.M. Barre’s The Little White Bird, the first story to include a version of Peter Pan. All that research that I did for Hook is paying off!) I open the umbrella and am immediately blown eastward by the wind, knocking me into a group of nannies. There might be a Mary Poppins joke here someplace. I get the idea that you can perhaps use the umbrella to force your way across the man-eating grass, but the grass doesn’t seem to care that I am wind-powered and pulls me back anyway.

Heading west, we discover the Inverness Terrace. A boy sits nearby wearing headphones and blowing bubbles. When one pops, we are treated to a “popup” quote that appears in the top half of the screen:

“Atoms or systems into ruins hurled, / And now a bubble burst, and now a world.”

It’s all very poetic, but when I try to talk to the boy or take his headphones, he runs off. Was he rude for ignoring me? Or was I rude for bothering a kid just enjoying a summer’s day blowing bubbles in the park? I should have let him enjoy the last few minutes of his life.

Since time is running out, I resolve to explore and map the rest of the gardens:

To the west is the Black Iron Gate where a careless nanny has misplaced a pram. Fortunately, there is no infant inside.

When I return to the pond with the sail boats, I discover that one of them is actually an origami crane, just as in the manual. I unfold it for a cryptic message: “Long Water, 4 PM.” It’s 3:44 PM now.

Northeast of the Palace Gates is “The Wabe” with a strange sundial exactly like the one in our packaging. It is seven symbols on it and the sun’s shadow is currently pointing at the first symbol. Strangely, the first symbol is labeled with “Omega” and the last with “Alpha”. That seems backwards but perhaps suggests that we will be working our way further back in time? I don’t know enough of the Greek alphabet to recognise the rest of the letters.

Arriving at the sundial also gives us an Alice in Wonderland quote:

“And the ‘wabe’ is the grass-plot round a sundial, I suppose?” said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity. “Of course it is. It’s called ‘wabe,’ you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it. – Lewis Caroll

If I had to guess, I’d say that we had seven sections to this game, corresponding to the seven symbols. Will Kensington Gardens become something of a “hub” for me while I explore other times? I go to leave, but the game does some amazing hinting and I am alerted that the wind is causing the “gnomon” to scrape against the metal of the sundial. I discover that I can unscrew it and take it with me. What is a “gnomon”, you ask? It’s the triangular bit of the sundial that casts the shadow. Yes, I had to look that up in a dictionary to make sure it was a real word. “Wabe”, despite the Alice quote, means absolutely nothing; it is a fake word created for “Jabberwocky”.

I’m nearly out of time, but the whole of the park is only nine locations and I try everything I can think of. I work out that I can push the pram around, but that doesn’t allow me to impersonate a nanny adequately enough for one of them to let me pass. It’s not until 3:53 that I discover the trick: I can ride inside the pram! I have no idea how I fit, but apparently I squeeze in. By riding in the pram and unfurling the umbrella, I can “sail” across the killer grass to the Long Water! It’s easy except I crash, drop all my stuff, and break the pram. Oh well.

My map of Kensington Gardens.

Which doesn’t seem that far off from the real deal!

I check my watch and it is 3:59, but the second hand has stopped moving. I gather up my stuff when I notice that a missile hangs nearly motionless in the sky. I say “nearly” because it is actually falling very slowly towards the Long Water. In the center of the water is a strange white door. As I watch, some birds (unaffected by the time dilation) fly through the door to parts unknown. Obviously, my best choice is to “make like a tree and leaf” through the door. I wade through the water to get closer when the roadrunner from earlier runs by, still with the ruby in its beak, and disappears through the door. As the world is destroyed by nuclear Armageddon, I hear a voice telling me to “be quick”:

“This way, please.”

You turn, but see no one.

“This way,” the voice urges. “Be quick.”

The space around you articulates. “No!” your mind shudders, “That’s not a direction!”

“It’s a perfectly legitimate direction,” retorts the voice with cold amusement. “Now, come along.”

As we pass through the door via the “perfectly legitimate direction”, the prologue ends and we are finally given a proper title card:

A title screen!

I emerge from a door in a toadstool into a strange meadow. Far to the east, a meteor strikes. I’m not in London anymore, but that will be enough for today.

A few more bits and pieces:

I did not notice it while I was playing, but the Kensington Gardens comic panel in the manual depicts the old woman and her distinctive umbrella. Strangely, she is pushing around a pram but she did not have one in the game itself. Am I to surmise that she was the one that left it there for me to find? Or am I digging in too deep?

That kid isn’t going to grow up either. :/

There is no indication as to when in the near-future this game takes place, at least not yet. Since Moriarty wasn’t psychic, he didn’t know that the Berlin wall would fall or that the Soviet Union would collapse (both in 1991). Our only clue is that the Star Wars defense system is up and running and the cost of a tour was $599. Not a lot to go on! If the old woman was scarred in the Hiroshima bombing (a stretch based on the clues so far, but I’m thinking that is what Moriarty is going for), that puts the upper bound somewhere between 2000-2020. We’ll see if the game offers further clues later or if we’re just supposed to interpret it as “Next Sunday, A.D.” to quote a somewhat less serious sci-fi classic.

Time played: 1 hr 20 min Inventory: gnomon, piece of paper, bag of crumbs, small coin (20p), credit card, umbrella, wristwatch Score: 15 of 100 (15%)

Now it is time to guess the score! Looking at Moriarty’s scores to date, we have Adventure in the Fifth Dimension with 13, Crash Dive! with 20, and Wishbringer with 46. Infocom’s current average overall is 40 points, excluding the short tutorial game. He’ll also eventually write Loom, a game that we already scored as 65 and is currently tied for the tenth best game of all time on our site. Although I haven’t played it yet, it would be unfair of me not to mention that this is sometimes considered the best game Infocom ever created. My opinions may not match the general consensus, but I enjoyed this introduction portion well enough (even if I find the subject matter macabre) and I am curious to see how the game progresses.

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-82-trinity-1986-introduction/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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theonyxpath · 5 years

Link

That photo looks like V5 Philly By Night‘s cover!

(Not an actual book we’re working on).

But it was my view in Philly during this last weekend at PAX Unplugged. Which was fantastic for us, so let me get right to the highlights!

First, there was the convention itself. We went in with a strategy of a non-sales booth, with double demo tables in the booth and more demo tables in the gaming area. Our primary goal was to hand out our new brochures and to talk with as many people as possible. Towards that end, Mighty Matt brought a fine selection of display products, including working texts from several books not yet on sale (or Kickstarted):

And no, we were not selling V5 Chicago By Night at the con, which unfortunately disappointed a few fans. First it needs to get to KS backers (soon), and then into game stores and other sales venues. But, as we had intended, we did give folks a chance to buy our stuff – right across the aisle at the Studio2 booth! Here’s a pic with Jim from Studio2 and our books on prominent display:

That was from set-up day, so you can’t see our new Onyx Path official shirts, and I wasn’t wearing by silver bell yet, but once the attendees rolled in, the system of us sending folks over to buy the books we just talked up, and them sending folks over to us for demos and info (or to get Eddy or Neall’s autographs), worked out better than we had hoped.

And here’s the booth itself on set-up day. It would soon be filled with people talking and demo-ing:

Ah yes, the people. So many the people. We had demos running at at least one table and usually two, all through the con. Dynamic Dixie, Crystal, and LisaT were our ambassadors of goodwill and directed folks to the downstairs gaming area, or next door to buy books, or over to Mighty Matt or myself if they wanted more in-depth answers or to talk business – all the while handing out a phenomenal amount of brochures.

Eddy, Neall, Meghan, Travis, Danielle, and Crystal (again, boy was she busy), all demoed games in the booth and downstairs – a wide cross-section of our publishing, from Chicago By Night to Scion to Pugmire to Scarred Lands to Changeling: The Lost to TC: Aeon (more on that later)!

Here’s a Pugmire game being run by the one and only Eddy Webb:

There was a lot of laughter, some gasps, and a lot of folks who popped over to the Studio2 booth to see what of ours was for sale. That flow from our booth to the demos to Studio2 was what we were looking for, so our booth/demo crew hit it out of the ballpark!

And when I mentioned people, I also meant that we talked to a ton of podcasters and actual play folks, printers and shippers, and our cohorts from around the industry. At least three of us were losing our voices by the end of the con. I did a look back at art directing the original Mage: The Ascension book interview, which I’ll be sharing the link for soon – but let’s just say that our discussion went far deeper into how art direction works in general than I’d have expected.

A real thrill for me was meeting the Devil’s Luck crew (literally) in their Scarred Lands characters’ costumes – especially since the Slitherin rat-men were one of my contributions to the Creature Collection back in the day:

A mighty Manticora!

Squeak, squeak!

If you get a chance to watch, well, really any of their actual plays – not just Scarred Lands – you too will be impressed with their dedication to character and great gaming.

So here are some specific news items from PAXu:

PAXu was the first place you could buy the Trinity Continuum Core and TC: Aeon traditionally printed books, and boy did they go over big! Right now, we are sold out of their respective Screens, so we’re looking into what to do about that! You can ask your FLGS to order both books from their distributor or have them reach out to Studio2 or IPR (below in the sales section of the blog).

Our old friend Ivan van Norman and Hunters Entertainment through Renegade Game Studios announced that they are heading up the creation of Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition! Congrats to Ivan and the whole team!

We released our new brochure for 2020, although the year really doesn’t mean anything except that we can find it in sequential order with all our other ones. The year isn’t associated with any expected releases. I’ve seen some folks ask why this project or that project isn’t in there, and the reason is simple.

This brochure is designed to showcase the various worlds that we are making projects for; to give a taste and info about those game-lines, and not really to provide a listing of everything we have done, are doing, or will do. We picked a few key projects to mention to show some of the range or depth of a line.

Chicago Folio art by Michael Gaydos

And, of course, we followed through with announcing a new project at PAXu that was hitherto unannounced, with a blurb in the brochure and press releases the same day as the brochure went public. That project is Exalted Essence!

Of course, we’ve only teased what’s in this book, because this is just the first announcement, but here are a few clarifications from the team on a few things that people have some questions about:

A lot of people have been speculating on the system, so we can definitely confirm it’s still a version of the Storyteller System and not Storypath or something else.

Castes/Aspects, etc. will still come into play, but as variations on the main Exalt types.

The 10 Exalt types included will be Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded, Exigents, Sidereals, Getimians, Liminals, Abyssals, Alchemicals, and Infernals.

There will be some setting information in Essence, enough to run games set across Creation, though players and Storytellers can certainly supplement setting information and history with any of the current and forthcoming Exalted 3e books.

Players and Storytellers won’t need to be familiar with any other Exalted books or editions to run a game of Exalted Essence.

Our main goal regarding Exalted Essence is to capture the feel of Exalted: the vast, epic-fantasy game that has captured imaginations for almost two decades.

Now, I’d also like to step back a bit and go into our impetus for creating a “lighter” version of Exalted 3rd.

Obviously, Exalted 3rd Edition is a huge book. It has a lot of pages, it’s heavy, and inside, it covers a ton of material with a gigantic Charms chapter, and then several more chapters for other powers. (Obviously, this is a titanic simplification of EX3, but I’m not going into an analysis of everything in there, this is already a long blog post).

What I’m saying is that EX3 is daunting just to look at when you sit down to play. If you hear about it, and want to get it, it costs a lot to buy, it costs a lot to ship, and the page count pushes the limits of book binding technology. Then we look past that, and the material within is also daunting, even to experienced Exalted players.

VtR2 Spilled Blood art by Andrea Payne

So years ago, we began to discuss how to make EX3 less daunting. To start with, despite all that I’ve laid out above, there are a lot of people happy with EX3 exactly (or at least close to exactly) as it is. A lot. So our purpose shouldn’t be to wreck what people do like – we want to make it easier for people to continue to enjoy Exalted as well as to get into it for the first time.

But a Jumpstart alone isn’t going to do it. It’ll get you started but ultimately the only way to keep going is going to require you braving that giant scary book. We realized that we need a simplified version of EX3 that didn’t supersede it, but simplified it while allowing the line to be there if you wanted to get into those more detailed systems and descriptions.

OK, but now it falls on us as publishers to figure out how to make that happen. And EX3 is not just daunting for players, it’s just as daunting to game designers. I’ve said it before, so it’s good to repeat here: Exalted is like a giant steam-punk machine; an intricate interconnected series of gears. And if you mess around with one game system gear in one section, you run the risk of completely screwing up a system or detail on the other side of the machine that is interconnected to a dozen gears of its own.

So we just can’t plop a developer who doesn’t understand Exalted into a chair and they start making Exalted books. We were phenomenally lucky that we could bring on Robert Vance and Eric Minton as developers, and even with their previous Exalted experience there was still a decent ramp-up time. But then, when they were rolling along on all cylinders, they were faced with creating books that were already on the schedule and had been announced, that built off of the EX3 core.

We either had to pull them from that continuation of a very healthy and enjoyed game line in order to develop the EX3 simplified book, and leave a lot of fans in the lurch, or find and train more EX3 devs to create the simpler version even though that would make it even longer before it could come out.

Obviously, ultimately, that’s what we did.

We will certainly have more to say about Exalted Essence in the weeks and months to come. Keep an eye on the project progress info below, and once writing begins you’ll see it pop up in the First Drafts section and then move through all the steps.

Like all of our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Next Kickstarter: V5 Cults of the Blood Gods!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast recaps PAX Unplugged! Available on Podbean or on your favorite podcast venue!

Once again our Twitch schedule is jam-packed with games! We’ve got Vampire: The Masquerade, Pugmire, Scarred Lands, Aberrant, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Trinity Continuum, and even more! If you’ve ever wanted to know how our games are played, check out our Twitch channel on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Likewise, our YouTube channel is filling up with content, including Aberrant: Community Service, Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion, and Pugmire: Paws & Claws! There’s a ton of content over there to wade through, as well as a recently dropped Onyx Path News! Subscribe to us on youtube.com/user/theonyxpath

I want to give a special profile to Aberrant: Community Service, as this superb actual play really gets into what’s great about Aberrant. For your ease, here’s the playlist of episodes on YouTube so far: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiNRTdSDh6-XTtU1yRfowy7njFNps7qEN

Matthew Dawkins continues his Gentleman’s Guide to Scion over on the Gentleman Gamer YouTube channel. He’s covered an introduction to The World setting and to the Storypath System so far. Videos can be found right here: youtube.com/user/clackclickbang

The fantastic folks at Red Moon Roleplaying have been working with us overtime on producing actual plays of Mummy: The Curse, Changeling: The Lost and Vampire: The Masquerade with Matthew Dawkins, Klara Herbol, John Burke, and Bianca Savazzi. You can find their excellent shows right here: Vampire: The Masquerade: https://youtu.be/IRNubrPeIKk Mummy: The Curse: https://youtu.be/jyZYG-WadpU Changeling: The Lost: https://youtu.be/Y90EFR8FlR0

Did you know you can pick up the mobile version of the Pugmire RPG for free? Find out about the mobile version right here: https://youtu.be/6TkWfDecVp8

Have you been watching Ekorren‘s Exalted roleplaying journal? If not, you really should, because he makes a fantastic series of videos: https://youtu.be/6OM9lwzzOEQ

And finally, it’s been a while since we last promoted the fine folks at Devil’s Luck Gaming, and their superb actual plays. If you love watching people play RPGs, you’ll really enjoy their games: twitch.tv/devilsluckgaming/

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we are proud to announce the PDF and physical book PoD versions of In Media Res for the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, a collection of pre-constructed stories featuring the hypercompetent Talents including:

Codename: Aquarius, a spy story of questionable loyalties in a wilderness of mirrors.

Caper, Incorporated, a reality-bending super-science heist for the fate of the world.

Classified: Help Wanted, a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in a single locked-in skyscraper.

And more…

Plus we’re also releasing the Trinity Continuum Core Screen in PDF – all on DriveThruRPG

Conventions!

2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI. Check out David Fuller’s Athens, Ohio Scion actual play tie-in adventure (soon to be coming to the Storypath Nexus community content site) that will be running at Midwinter. The event url is below: https://tabletop.events/conventions/midwinter-gaming-convention-2020/schedule/402

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Sending out art notes and contracts.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Art all seems ready.

Mummy 2 (KS)

City of the Towered Tombs

Let the Streets Run Red – Sending out art notes and contracts.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Going over sketches.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Sending out art notes and contracts. Still looking for a couple of artists.

Vigil Watch – Sending out art notes and contracts.

In Layout

Chicago Folio

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Haven’t forgotten it.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Proofing

Memento Mori – At WW for approval.

Dark Eras 2 – Correction notes back to Aileen, so off to WW soon.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

M20 Book of the Fallen – Getting PgXX notes from Satyr Phil.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – 2nd proof.

VtR Spilled Blood

At Press

Trinity: In Media Res – PDF and PoD versions on sale on Weds at DTRPG!

V5: Chicago – Shipping to the KS fulfillment shippers. PoD proofs ordered.

Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs coming.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – At press, proofs signed off on.

Geist 2e Screen – At press, waiting for proofs.

DR:E – At press, proofs signed off on.

DRE Screen – At press, waiting for proofs.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – PoD proof on the way.

Trinity RMCs

Tales of Good Dogs – PoD files uploaded.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

In Memoriam- Two performers that brought multiple beloved characters to life: Rene Auberjonois, from the original MASH Father Mulcahy, to Clayton Endicott III on Benson, to perhaps his best-known role as Odo on DS9, and Caroll Spinney, who brought Big Bird and, my personal favorite, Oscar the Grouch, to life on Sesame Street and delighted so many children around the world for decades. They did good work, brought two notable grouches to life, and will be missed by the many who loved them for it.

#Onyx Path Publishing

0 notes

margotgentrywrites · 5 years

Text

third and fourth chances 1

Ai Xue has put her dreams on hold for her family’s sake. She doesn’t believe she’ll ever be able to live life the way she wants to and relieves the doldrums of the everyday with escapist dramas. When a vision from her fantasies steps into her life, will she discover that living to escape isn’t living at all and finally confront her family and reality? Or will she choose to continue living a lie for the sake of peace?

Yu Hai has lived with a secret for over fifteen years. The mask that he wears in public, as the CEO of the successful technology company Heaven’s Gate, has become a part of his everyday life. But when Ai Xue becomes an intern at his company, his steady, boring, well managed life is suddenly in danger of being turned upside down. Will he realize that he can’t and shouldn’t fight his emotions? Or will he continue to deny himself the normalcy he has always craved?

To start with, he had long, straight black hair, always slicked back in a half ponytail or braid. Instead of being a distraction it added an air of elegance and power to his appearance, something his subordinates often tried to cultivate, but failed at miserably.

To say he was a fashion icon was a bit of an overstatement, though - his suits, while of fine material and tailor-made, were not eye-catching. His shoes, though designer Italian and all leather, were a timeless, modest style. Not to mention he was hardly personable - aloof was putting it nicely.

His appearance was, over-all, nondescript, and his personality was definitely not the ‘inner beauty’ type.

Except that hair.

God, ever since she’d come to work for this company, she’d had fantasies about that hair. She could still remember her first time seeing him, the day she’d interviewed for the internship: he’d walked into the building and across the lobby with just two other men by his side, flipping through a folder - looking completely bored and unimportant. She never even would’ve looked twice at him, except at that moment he’d turned his back as he and his companions waited for an elevator, and his hair had swished about his shoulders neatly, then come back to rest against his back in a glossy, graceful, black waterfall.

She was captivated. What she’d thought at first was just longish, slicked-back hair was actually a mane. Like he was the damn emperor in a drama. It was the hottest thing she’d ever seen, and she’d done a semester abroad in California. Unconsciously, she’d pressed her thighs together as she watched the man turn his head to speak to one of the men. His nose was straight, his profile strong. The hair suited him so well...

Without another thought, and without taking her eyes off the man, Ai Xue had leaned over to the girl next to her. “Who,” she’d whispered hotly, “is he?”

The girl next to her, faceless, nameless, had looked from the man to Xue and back again. “That’s the CEO here. Yu Hai. Don’t you know anything?” Then she’d gone back to her own business.

Ai Xue didn’t know anything, apparently. She’d just agreed to come apply for the internship at Heaven’s Gate to get her father off her back about not caring about her future, or having enough ambition, blah blah blah.

Well, that had all changed in a moment. She was going to give the interview of a lifetime and absolutely slay the competition. The world would soon see what Ai Xue was made of - he would soon see. After all, if he was an emperor, surely he needed an empress.

Of course, it would be easier said than done. As she’d watched the elevator doors gradually open and Yu Hai and his companions board, she’d vowed to herself to finally make her father proud. He’d never be able to complain about her lack of ambition or obsession with dramas ever again. She would make CEO Yu Hai and all his subordinates look to her for answers, to need her so desperately that Heaven’s Gate could never survive without her.

She would help this company and that man surpass them all.

She would make him look at her, not just pass her by.

And as the group of men turned around in the elevator, as the doors began to close, she could almost have sworn he did.

___________________________________

Heaven’s Gate was a company that specialized in technology research and development, then brought in contractor groups to produce the systems they created. It was a complex business that relied on its various departments getting along and working together for a common goal. It was a large enough company that it was able to hire two interns to each department, and sometimes took on assistants for the chief administrative and operating offices as well. Over all of it, CEO Yu Hai led the charge in development, providing the ideas and the impetus for the company to continue producing innovative technology and systems.

Perhaps because of this, he was more demanding than anyone would ever guess from a first glance at him. He worked closely with his COO, Yun Qing Li, to ensure the employees did their jobs well, that the compensations were adequate in the case of overtime - and there was always overtime - and that no one ever, ever left Heaven’s Gate for another company. Get a job working for Yu Hai and you were employed for life. The cost was only your unwavering loyalty in the face of an ever shifting economy and market, and an unchallenged belief that Yu Hai was the genius your superiors told you he was. It didn’t matter that the man rarely smiled, rarely spoke to his underlings directly, and was basically sequestered in the ivory tower top floor of the Heaven’s Gate building. Believe in the company and it would believe in you...and believing in the company meant believing in its CEO.

Now, in the intervening weeks since her interview and then the offer of the internship, Xue found herself coming to work early and leaving late nearly six days a week. She ran messages for the department she’d been assigned to, answered phone calls, and made coffee. It wasn’t glamorous, or challenging. In fact, she thought being a delivery driver for her uncle’s restaurant had probably been more difficult. The job was turning out to be just as tedious as every other job she’d had in this industry...but she wasn’t bored of it yet, a fact over which her father and cousin took every opportunity to tease her. Well, her cousin teased her. Her father just alternated between fawning over her newfound ambition and scratching his head, utterly bewildered. Maybe, underneath it all, what was motivating her was the pressure to be the best for the best, but really, Xue thought it was more likely the hair still holding sway over her better judgment.

Finally free after another long day on the job, she’d gone straight home, hoping to relax some before going to bed and waking up to do it all over again.

“I’m home!” she called softly into the darkened front hallway, carefully taking off her shoes in order to put on the house slippers.

From deeper inside the apartment, she could hear a cheerful voice calling, “Xue is back!” followed by a “Finally. Tell her to make dinner!”

“You all are heartless,” she groused as her cousin, Lin Wei, appeared in the hallway. Wei laughed and took her bag as she tossed it aside.

“Your father has been begging you to cook for him all week.”

“So? Tell him to ask Uncle for leftovers.”

A new voice added itself to the discussion. Quiet, but distinctly masculine.

“Sorry, Xue. I offered to make it in your place -”

“Feng Li.” Xue smiled up at him as she finished fitting the slippers on her feet. “It’s okay. You do this all day for a living. I don’t mind.”

“That’s right. Besides, you’re so good at it,” Wei interrupted, shooing Xue along the hallway until they got to the kitchen. She turned and stuck her tongue out at Feng Li as they passed him and he just gave a small smile in response, crossing his arms and leaning in the doorway. Xue rolled her eyes at him and his smile broadened.

Xue began bustling about the space, pulling out this pan and that one, along with some basic ingredients. Taking a particular spice down from the spice rack, she frowned at the jar.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Li asked quickly.

“Just...I didn’t realize we were almost out of the curry powder.” She shrugged and went to set the jar back in the cupboard. Before it even reached the rack, Feng Li had plucked it from her fingers and was regarding it seriously. He looked back at her.

“I’ll get more for you.”

Wei was quick to weigh in. “Great idea. I’ll go with you,” she said. Xue looked at them askance.

“It’s not a big deal. I can make something else.”

“No, no, you can’t,” Wei replied. “Your dad loves your curry. Come on, Feng Li.”

Then Wei was pushing Feng Li out the door without even a goodbye, chattering the whole way. Xue gave a quiet laugh to herself, shaking her head at the couple’s antics, and turned back to the counter. Her slim fingers held freshly washed vegetable firmly and she deftly wielded her knife, chopping the onion, julienning the carrot and radish. It was all second nature to her and she allowed her mind to wander as her hands went through the familiar, relaxing motions.

Zhang Feng Li was the sous chef for her uncle, Lin Ming. She’d known of him for a long time, and had known him as a friend for a couple of years. He was quiet, hard working, and always happy to lend a hand in the kitchen, or show her how to do something she hadn’t yet mastered. She liked him as a chef and as a person, but she wondered more what her cousin thought of him. In the last few years that he’d grown closer to the family it was obvious that her Uncle Ming wanted Wei to consider Feng Li as more than a friend.

As she considered her cousin’s romantic predicament, Xue couldn’t help picturing her own predicament. It had been two months since she’d started her internship and she didn’t feel she was any closer to her initial goal of landing a full time, permanent placement at the company. CEO Yu Hai still haunted her daydreams like the proud young dragon she fancied he was, and he still had no clue she existed, except as a peon who occasionally washed his coffee cup. She was afraid to even think it, but it might be time to admit she was stuck. And being stuck usually led to boredom, which led to eventually quitting, then bouncing around from one part-time gig to another until her father hassled her into applying for another tech industry job. It was a cycle she’d been in for years, ever since she’d graduated, and she was getting older, getting tired, and had nothing to show for all the hard work she’d put into her degrees. Of course, if her father had let her just go to culinary school like she’d originally wanted to, she wouldn’t be in this mess at all. Just because a person was good at something - like she was with business and technology - didn’t mean it was what they were supposed to be doing in life.

She’d always had a dream, hadn’t she, of becoming a chef - not even a big-time one, just a small street cafe would be adequate - and spending her days cooking for people the way her mother had, showing them love and the possibilities of life through her food. Then, at night, snuggling under a blanket with a glass of wine in hand, satisfied with a hard day’s work, ready to dream with her favorite drama or even just stargaze… Instead, here she was in another dead-end job, with a hopeless crush, and nothing to show for it except her father’s pride. Well, he could be proud all he wanted, but the truth was that his daughter was an aimless, foolish woman...

“You’re deep in thought.”

Her father’s voice interrupted her thoughts, breaking the circles she was mentally running around herself, and she cast a grateful, tired smile in his direction.

“Dad. Look, I’m making dinner.”

“I see that! Finally, you’re meeting your filial duty.”

Xue laughed, her strange mood easily lifted by her father’s humor, and pushed the vegetables to one side of the cutting board. Then she lifted the wok that was heating up and swirled the oil around in it.

“Maybe,” she admitted. “But only if I can turn this internship into a full time job.”

Ai Liang Bo moved further into the kitchen to watch his daughter work. He dismissed her concern quickly. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that! You’re brilliant! How could they let you go?”

Xue set the wok back down and turned to face her father. “I’m one of dozens of brilliant, new workers - and I’m older than the average intern.” She shrugged. “It’s my own fault if I don’t get it.” She hesitated and then went on, her voice much quieter, “I just want to make you proud.”

“Xue. My girl. Don’t think like that. Don’t even say it. You work so hard. If your mother -” he stopped short and then sighed. He moved toward her and Xue allowed him to pull her into a warm embrace.

“Your mother and I are both so proud of you already. So you’ve had a few extra years to find yourself. Who hasn’t?” He laughed some. “You should have seen me before I met your mother. I swear, your grandmother despaired of me.” He shook his head some, lost in a memory. “But my point is, you’ve finally settled down and are ready to really work. All you have to do is ask and destiny will open the door of Heaven for you now.”

“Maybe,” Xue repeated, but she returned her father’s embrace gratefully before pulling away to continue cooking. The vegetables she’d chopped up earlier hit the pan with a sizzle and the cheerful sound managed to dispel at least some of her anxiety.

Heaven’s door might open for me, Xue couldn’t help thinking to herself, but will Heaven’s Gate?

Later that night, long after the dinner dishes had been cleared away and most of the household was in bed, Xue sat up by herself with only the glow of the television to keep her company. She sat curled in a ball on the couch, knees drawn tight to her chest, arms wrapped around her blanket-covered legs, and tears streaming down her cheeks from beneath her glasses.

She stifled another sob and wiped her cheeks quickly, then tucked back into a ball, completely engrossed in the drama playing out before her. The second prince of the realm was in the middle of sweeping the woman he loved into his arms and finally getting her to confess she loved him when his father, the emperor, had stormed into the tent to reclaim his concubine. In between sniffles, she eagerly absorbed the actors’ every expression and movement, all the words that went unsaid in the longing glances the prince was exchanging with his father’s concubine.

“It’s so awful! Xue, you’re not actually crying over this?”

Xue jumped, scared out of her skin. She’d been so intent on the TV show she hadn’t heard Lin Wei come into the living room. Her cousin plopped onto the sofa beside her and tugged at the blanket. “Come on, let me have some,” she insisted and Xue sighed and relented, holding the blanket up so Wei could thrust her own legs under it as well. The younger woman snuggled close and pouted at Xue.

“Hold me?”

Xue clucked her tongue and then wrapped her arms around Wei. “So demanding.”

“But you love me...and it’s more cuddles than you’re getting anywhere else right now.”

Xue smacked Wei’s shoulder and Wei laughed before settling back down. “Hey, if you can’t have the second prince there’s always Feng Li.”

“I’d rather join a convent,” Xue remarked off handedly, trying to focus on the drama again. “And how did you know he’s the second prince?”

“I said it was awful; I never said I didn’t watch it,” Wei said nonchalantly. “Besides, the thwarted lover is always a second prince.”

Xue laughed and then settled her cheek against her cousin’s head. It was a comfortable position, and one they’d engaged in for well over fifteen years. First, because Xue had always wanted a little sister when her cousin had been born, and second, because when both their mothers died they’d needed one another desperately.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Xue asked a few minutes later. Wei nodded.

“You can tell me anything,” she said.

Xue hesitated, caught between escaping into the drama in front of her and the possibility of creating a little drama in her real life. Wei sensed her reticence and sat up, untangling herself from the woman she’d always thought of as an older sister. She searched her face and Xue brought her eyes up to hers.

“I’m working for a real-life second prince.”

Wei’s eyes widened. “Tell me everything. Tell me!”

Xue chewed on her lower lip a moment, then nodded and began to explain just what could be waiting for her behind Heaven’s Gate.

For the first time in a long time, the drama on the television continued to unfold, but this time Ai Xue wasn’t watching it. It was always nice to escape for a little while, but knowing the intricacies of life in ancient China as a screenwriter imagined them was hardly going to help her get unstuck. And if she wanted her own real-life fairytale, unstuck was exactly what she needed to be.

___________________________________________

Yu Hai woke up slowly, as he usually did. His meditation routine wouldn’t allow for anything else.

Become aware. Stretch your limbs. Feel the smooth, cool surface of the sheets. Feel the soft warmth of the blanket. Take a moment to be grateful for waking up to another day. Picture the day as a blank piece of paper, ready for brand new ink. Open your eyes. Gradually sit up. Feel the cool, dry air of the room. Feel the warmth of the sun coming in the window pane. Take deep breaths. Place your bare feet on the floor and feel.

Feel everything, so you can feel nothing.

After going through these motions, he did a series of Sun Salutation. Then he finally, finally allowed himself to tend to his physical needs. But even then, he was guided by years of routine.

Use the bathroom, wash your hands. Wash your face, brush your teeth. Brush your hair, tie it back. Brush it again. Leave the bathroom, step to the closet. Draw out the suit laid out the night before. And so on and so forth into eternity.

While he was getting dressed, his phone rang. He asked his assistant, the brain of his smarthouse, to answer. The call was connected without any clicks or buzzing - perfectly silent and efficient, as it should be. He waited for whatever was so important his morning needed to be disturbed. Not a moment later, a bright, cheerful voice accosted his ears.

“Yu Hai, it’s your day off.”

He paused in the act of straightening his cuffs and looked to his left, eyeing the orchid the caller had given him for his last birthday. “Something to appeal to your OCD,” she’d joked at the time. He smiled slightly.

“Yun Chen, I don’t take days off,” he replied.

“You do today.”

“What’s the matter? Are your parents giving you trouble? You know, if your father has too much free time I can always -”

“No, no...well. Yes, actually. But no, if you pile any more work on my father my mom will come to your office personally to demand an answer.”

Yu Hai shivered. He liked the Yuns, but he had no desire to spend more time around more people, especially not spontaneously.

“Fine,” he said. “But if you need an excuse, just come to my office for dinner. I can’t skip work for you.”

“Will you ever skip work for anyone?” Yun Chen wondered. When he didn’t respond, her laughter came over the line, mirthful and genuine. “All right, all right. I’ll come for dinner. But you have to come downstairs to greet me properly.”

Yu Hai pressed his lips together, reminded himself to be present, and forced his shoulders down and to relax. “All right. Just call me when you arrive. I’ll see you.”

“I knew there was a reason you’re my best friend! Thank you! Kiss kiss!”

There was silence and Yu Hai knew she’d hung up. He lowered his head, took a deep breath, and then left his room.

He didn’t take days off.

__________________________________________

It was a sunny day and Hai shielded his eyes some as he got out of his vehicle in front of the building. He thanked his driver and moved forward, feet making pleasant, reassuring tup tup noises from the leather soles and hand-hewn wooden heels as he crossed the flagstones in front of the building.

The doors slid open without a sound and the change in air pressure ruffled his hair some. He felt the tickle of a stray strand of hair across his forehead and cheek and he lifted a hand, brushing it away without much thought. The elevators were straight ahead. Rows of comfortable chairs on either side of the lobby. A large, half-circle welcome desk sat adjacent to the elevators. He knew people were nodding to him - they always did. It was only normal to greet your employer, the head of the company you worked for...but it didn’t get any easier to acknowledge the constant, countless hellos, bows, smiles, waves, and head nods.

Then it was over, as his personal secretary approached him, the usual folder with daily tasks listed in his hands. He went through the motions with the man, never breaking stride until they reached the elevators. His secretary pressed the button and then stood back, hands clasped in front of him, waiting for the inevitable.

“You were late.” Hai didn’t look up from the folder. His secretary cleared his throat slightly.

“Ah. About that. I’m sorry, Sir. I had to take the train today because my car wouldn’t start.”

“You should take the train more often,” Hai responded. When there wasn’t a reply, he looked up to see his secretary clearly confused and struggling to find the correct meaning. He smiled very, very slightly. “That was a joke.”

“Ah. Ah! A joke. Very good, Sir. Sorry, I didn’t - you don’t normally...ahem.” He trailed off as Hai glanced back at the folder, the exchange clearly over already.

A few feet away, an elevator opened and Hai could hear the the group of employees gathered in front of it whispering furiously to one another, debating whether they should allow him to take it instead. He closed his eyes briefly and then very deliberately ignored the whispers, pretending instead to be engrossed in the schedule in his hands.

The moment passed, but the clamoring of his nerves remained. Yu Hai finally snapped the folder closed and passed it over to his secretary, who accepted it with surprise, but was kind enough not to say anything. Hai glanced over at the now empty space in front of the other elevator and he suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about how Yun Chen was going to make him leave his office, walk through the halls, take the elevator down and then back up again...all those eyes on him. All those greetings. Every whisper, every smile, every blatant stare -

Hai was abruptly reminded of that moment, months before, when he’d caught the unabashed gaze of one of the people who’d come to interview during their annual intern search. He’d gotten on the elevator with his secretary and COO Yun and had turned around just as the elevator doors were closing, only to see the round, bright face of a young woman turned in his direction, the blatant curiosity in her expression bordering on rude. And yet…

“Sir?”

Yu Hai came to himself to see his secretary gesturing to the now open elevator before him. He gave a brief nod, somewhat irritated with himself for his confusing reverie, and stepped into the elevator. He turned around, rolling his shoulders back subtly to try and release some of the tension and that was when it happened.

“Oh, wait, please!”

No. This could not be happening. Everyone knew that no one outside of his secretary and the COO or honored guests was ever supposed to ride the same elevator as him. They made up all sorts of reasons for the exception and truth be told, Hai didn’t really care what was said about him. As long as the rules were followed, his employees could believe he ate baby lemurs for breakfast.

So who in their right mind thought they could catch a ride on this elevator this morning?

He lifted his gaze to the lobby outside the elevator and saw a woman hurrying towards them. Then he reached down, intending to be the bigger person for once and hold the door, and pressed the button - and the doors began to slide shut.

“Wait!” came the now panicked cry, and suddenly a hand was thrust between the nearly shut doors, causing them to open again.

“I’m so sorry,” the woman was saying, no, practically gasping. “I -” She stopped short as her gaze traveled from his chest up to his face and then all the way down to his shoes and back up.

Yu Hai couldn’t help his own gaze doing the same and he realized, with a sinking feeling, that this was the same woman who’d caught his eye briefly two months ago. The intern with the round, bright face was suddenly a reality and he could see every detail of that shining face up close as they were. A rosy pout, pink cheeks, gracefully tilted eyes, and a playful blunt cut with bangs that cradled a smooth forehead and gentle brows.

“I’m sorry. I meant to hit the open door button.” He confessed so quickly that he was sure he’d muddled the words, not to mention the look of rising panic on the intern’s face. She opened her mouth and a rush of confusing apologies came out.

“I’m sorry, Sir! I...I forgot my badge! I’ll take another elevator later. Thank you! I’m sorry!”

“Huh? How did she get through the security if she didn’t have her badge? So rude. Sir, I can talk to Human Resources if you-”

“No,” Hai replied quickly. “Just....forget it.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Yu Hai was extremely proud of himself for staying quiet after that, especially considering he was suddenly worried he might be about to have the first anxiety attack at work he’d had in over three years.

#novel #original novel #in the style of a Chinese drama #Chinese drama #my dream cast includes #luo yunxi #yang zi #third and fourth chances #margot gentry #tumblr authors #author

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cleopatrarps · 6 years

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NASCAR notebook: Larson reveals secret to consistent speed

Throughout the bulk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Kyle Larson has been the fastest of the Chevrolet drivers.

Jun 8, 2018; Brooklyn, MI, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (42) during practice for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Larson may have a secret weapon that accounts for his speed — former NASCAR competitor Josh Wise.

Now an athletic trainer for Chip Ganassi Racing, Wise is perhaps most famous for his stunning upset of heavily favored Danica Patrick in the 2014 NASCAR All-Star Race fan vote, after the Reddit community on the Internet mobilized behind him.

But Larson credits Wise with playing an integral role in dialing in Chevrolet’s simulation programs, which have become an essential component in achieving speed in lieu of on-track testing.

“I think what has really helped us is Josh Wise, who is part of our race team on the training side of things and just kind of filling in a lot of different gaps, but one of them is the simulator,” Larson said on Friday before opening practice for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway.

“He has done a really good job of going there and making it drive somewhat similar to where I don’t go there and spend two of the four hours that I’m there just trying to get off pit road. It’s good that he’s there.”

And as the simulations become refined, they resemble more closely the actual on-track experience.

“I really feel like all year long — and even at the end of last year — now we could go to whatever track on the simulator, and even though it may not be exactly right, it’s pretty close,” said Larson, who will try for his fourth straight Michigan victory on Sunday.

“There are still little tweaks and stuff that we kind of work on each time I’m there, just trying to get it to feel more realistic, but it’s definitely a good tool, and Chevy has done a good job, as well as our race team has done a good job at getting it closer to where we can now learn some things off of it.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR. HOPES MICHIGAN TRACK WILL WIDEN OUT BY SUNDAY

The most recent repaving project at Michigan International Speedway was completed in the fall of 2011, but drivers still struggle to use the full width of the racing surface, particularly the high line.

Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., last Sunday’s winner at Pocono, hopes that will change when Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 gets under way at the 2-mile track.

Goodyear has brought a completely new tire combination for the event, with both left- and right-side tires built to provide more wear. Designed to run cooler on a track that tends to generate high temperatures, the right-side tires feature a single-tread compound, as opposed to last year’s multi-zone tread.

“It’s definitely been a challenge to work the higher grooves here,” Truex told the NASCAR Wire Service. “Because of the way the banking is at this race track, with the bottom groove being the flattest part of the track, you typically don’t run down there throughout the weekend until the race, when you have to have somewhere to go.

“You have to have an option, so it seems like everybody runs the middle all weekend, and then Sunday during the race, you start going to the bottom for an option instead of going to the top, so we’ll have to see. It seems like (Turns) 3 and 4 is a little bit more prone to getting wider, especially on the entry because of the way the corner’s laid out and on the exit. But it’s been tough to make that third groove work here since they paved it, really.”

That doesn’t mean drivers won’t be trying to work in the higher groove.

“I think there’s maybe one or two races where a few guys got it working at some point in the race,” he said. “But typically, it hasn’t been the fastest way to get around here. Hopefully, as it wears, it will continue to move up — continue to give more options.

“Before it was repaved, you could run all over it, so the geometry of the race track and the way the banking is, I would think at some point it’s going to lend itself to it being wider and being able to run higher and make those higher grooves work. But so far, it’s been a challenge with the pavement not wearing very fast.”

FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK, NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WILL RUN RESTRICTOR-PLATE PACKAGE

The success of a new high-downforce, high-drag restrictor-plate competition package in last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis provided the impetus for the use of a similar package in last month’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte.

With additional Cup races contemplated for the All-Star configuration, Saturday’s LTI Printing 250 Xfinity Series race (1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will again provide a laboratory for the promising aero package.

“I’ve enjoyed the new package,” said Joe Gibbs racing driver Brandon Jones, who raced under the same rules last Saturday at Pocono. “The one thing I think we all could probably agree on is just our corner speeds were so low at that track.

“When you had your momentum going and you were built up, it was really awesome. You could really race side-by-side. But as soon as your car got a little bit tight, or you got side-by-side with somebody and got choked down, you’d get freight-trained, and guys would go by you really bad.

“I thought you could keep speed up a little bit better at Indy (last year). I think that’s what produced a really great race with that package, and I think it’s going to do the same thing here this weekend.”

—By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media

The post NASCAR notebook: Larson reveals secret to consistent speed appeared first on World The News.

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dani-qrt · 6 years