#it was also a good opportunity to show the size comparison between his two forms

[bluegekk0]

I remember in a previous post that NKG is fluffier than Grimm, but now that Grimm is super duper fluffy would NKG be even more fluffier or the same amount of fluff?

grimm may be fluffier now, but he's still a far cry from his nightmare realm self

[smallersocksx]

Pokemon Journeys Episode 74 (Ramblings/Review)

Introduction/Background:

I'll be honest I haven't been watching the series as actively since episode 65. That's because the episodic formula they chose to use for the series was honestly starting to grate on me and if you read my post on my issues with the Pokémon Journeys anime. I did bring up one of my issues being the episodic formula.

As time grew on through my issue with the episodic formula and some of the other issues of the series begun to annoy me even more so I needed to take a break. When they announced Dawn would be making an appearance, I knew I had to watch (the one instance where the episodic formula kind of worked in my favour). As Diamond and Pearl was my first game, my favourite anime series and had some of the best story-telling in my opinion. In comparison to Journeys, I think my main issue with the series is the lack of direction and not knowing where the story is going.

That element of surprise might be great for some people and if you’re enjoying the series that’s great too. Personally, I love the story-telling aspect of the Pokémon anime and watching these characters go on their own personal journeys. This is why watching a story-driven series, I want that level of clarity and direction provided by a linear narrative. This is why the episodic formula was starting to grate on me, Journeys is great when they are focusing on furthering a character’s goal or development, my issue lies with the huge gap in between which later results in a huge pacing issue that could easily be resolved if they gave time for certain aspects to be fleshed out more.

However, that isn’t to say Journeys is a bad series. I’ve certainly enjoyed a lot of the episodes and the slice of life aspect the series provides in comparison to earlier series. On the other hand, given that the series is meant to be focusing on travel that can be construed as a negative point as well.

And I've realised as I'm writing this, this may come across as a rant about the series rather than discussing the episode. So, if you're still reading thank you ^o^ But I thought it was necessary to give some background to explain how my opinions have been formed and if you recommend that I re-visit some episodes that’s great too!

So far, I've only seen the episode with some really poor subtitles. So, if I've misinterpreted a scene then you can let me know. But I think I got the gist of most of the episode. If you’ve read some of my other posts, I always try to break down these reviews/ramblings.

The Beginning:

I feel as though this episode is going to end up drawing similarities to the DP episode Sleepless in Pre-Battle. In which, Darkrai causes nightmares and Cresselia is unable to help the town for some reason, I can’t remember the exact reason in the original episode although in this case, it’s obvious as we see Team Rocket’s Matori Matrix attack and injure Cresselia. This sets up, the boys’ side of this DP mini-arc in which they’ll investigate the Darkrai side of the problem and something I greatly appreciated ASH! REFERENCED! HIS! BATTLE! WITH! DARKRAI!!! It was something I greatly appreciated and kind of wished Journeys took the time to reference some of Ash’s other achievements and experiences more often. Give him more of a mentor-ish role like he was to May back in AG. 

Rather than Chloe joining the boys in Sinnoh, originally, she was meant to be going on a trip with her family as the summer holidays had begun. However, those plans immediately went down the gutter as both her parents had work and her brother was joining his friend at summer camp (this is going by really horrible subtitles so I may be entirely wrong). I honestly don’t know if Chloe went to Sinnoh intending to join up with Ash and Goh or just going on a trip by herself. But I really liked the call back to Following a Maiden’s Voyage in which Chloe had packed too much the same as Dawn and her Mum ended up giving her a more appropriate-sized backpack. I think there might have been a Sword and Shield reference in there as well because at the beginning of the game the Mum says the backpack, she gives the player was the one she used for her journey and I think Chloe’s Mum said something amongst those lines. I don’t know I might be grasping at straws.

I loved all the Sinnoh/DP references earlier in the episode and to be honest I was focusing more on the Dawn and Chloe side of the episode rather than the boys (sorry Ash and Goh).

Chloe and Dawn:

Now I’ll be honest, I love Chloe for me personally she’s one of the stronger aspects of the Journeys series. However, in this episode, she annoyed me a little bit. From my point of view, one of the more subtle ways Chloe has developed after catching Eevee was that she learnt to relax and embrace being a kid primarily because of Eevee. This development was highlighted in the Glimwood Tangle episode where Chloe ended up playing with the group of Impidimp. If it had been Chloe from 20 or even 30 episodes before she may have handled that situation completely differently. Whereas, as of late she’s learnt to relax and have fun which at times was something I could have done when I was her age. 

Anyways, I’m going on a tangent once again. I just thought the whole argument with Dawn was rather pointless, I didn’t understand the need to create any conflict when they were getting on perfectly well beforehand. That was kind of my biggest gripe on the girls’ side of the episode. 

On the other hand, they also set up a good opportunity for Chloe to grow which I kind of hope they take. Another issue, I’ve been having with the Journeys anime is that they set up some great plot lines or potential development and fall through on delivery or never act on it. One aspect I loved about episode 63, was that they were setting up an interesting way for Chloe and Eevee to develop or find a goal by meeting other trainers that own an Eeveelution and learn why they chose that particular form. They could have even set up Ash getting in contact with May or Serena to talk to Chloe about Glaceon and Sylveon. But the writers never followed up on the potential storyline after episode 63, which is so frustrating.

This is why I’m hoping with Dawn’s influence Chloe actively begins to at least try things out to learn what is a good fit for her. This was an issue with Serena as well, before discovering Pokémon Performing, she didn’t really actively try out other things like battling as much. Even, Ash gave Contests a go and ended up developing some of his best strategies from those experiences such as the Counter Shield and the Ice Aqua Jet. Considering, Pokémon is an anime targeted towards children, it would be a good message to send, to at least try something once rather than not trying at all.

Climax:

Following their (unnecessary) argument and battle with a sleep-deprived Rhydon, Chloe and Dawn come across the injured Cresselia from the beginning of the episode. Going back to the Rhydon, in the original Darkrai film they did expand on Darkrai causing Pokémon to fall asleep and have nightmares but I can’t recall if the Pokémon were affected in Sleepless Pre-Battle. It was an interesting and small touch that I liked about the episode (also poor Rhydon).

The preview for the next episode shows Chloe calming Cresselia or at least gaining Cresselia’s trust, and it made me think again this might be me just grasping at straws. But perhaps Chloe has some sort of affinity with Psychic-type Pokémon because we had that whole weird vision aspect (that was again never addressed) in the Glimwood Tangle episode where Chloe had that vision of Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash. I don’t know, that’s a theory I just developed that probably won’t pan out.

Conclusion:

All in all, it was a decent episode to come back into for Journeys. If I’m honest if they were promoting the DP remakes, I’m surprised they didn’t try to do anything that focused on the Creation Trio rather than the Lunar Duo however the Creation Trio did play a huge role in the DP films and Dialga and Palkia in the original anime so perhaps they wanted to give more spotlight on the Lunar Duo or even hint at Tobias’ return with Darkrai? 

If I’m completely honest I’m concerned about the pacing for the next episode as this arc is only meant to be two episodes, this episode did do its job of setting things up. In my opinion, it could have been faster in some areas, they could have even shown a Contest in this episode and have Dawn and Chloe meet in that way. Given in the next episode the two groups will meet up and attempt to defend Cresselia from Team Rocket and I don’t think they’ll have much time to show off anything Contest-related which is a shame because Contests were my absolute favourite aspect of the games and anime. 

If this were a three-episode arc maybe they could have used this episode to focus on Chloe and Dawn, next episode focuses more on Ash and Goh finding Darkrai have the groups meet up and then the third episode half-battling and half showing off contests. I don’t know this is just me throwing some ideas out there. As I think Journeys just has a huge issue with pacing for some reason and this episode was sort of slow in some areas and as I mentioned I’m worried the next episode is going to be really rushed.

But overall, it was a decent episode and I’m hoping we’ll get to see the rest of Dawn’s team next episode as I love her Pokémon to bits. Also, Pikachu and Buneary reunion, please!!!

(And I may watch this episode again with proper subtitles)

[ashrain5]

Roman is getting used to his new family. Here are two instances that made him think that he ruined everything he has managed to build with them.

Roman centric for @dragonofthemountain

platonic/familial sides (including dark sides)

Warnings: sympathetic Deceit, sympathetic Remus, former dark side Virgil, sides as family, hurt/comfort, injury, guilt, isolation

Wordcount: about 3200

---

Roman was Creativity. Before, he was Creativity but he wasn’t Roman. Back then he was... well he doesn’t really remember. He doesn’t remember much from before he was Roman. He knows there was Creativity and then there were Roman and Remus and they were both Creativity.

And then his family split and his brother was torn away from him. He stayed with Morality and Logic and they became the Light Sides while Remus joined the Dark Sides. Roman had at that point only really cared about Remus.

Sure he knew Deceit and Anxiety but they were minor nuisances more than anything. He didn’t interact with them much.

And as time passed he and Remus grew more and more apart. Remus’ ideas became more and more absurd and disturbing until Roman was almost scared of his brother. So Roman avoided Remus just as much as he avoided Deceit and Anxiety.

All this changed however, when Anxiety became Virgil and opened the door between the Dark and Light sides. Sure they played up the beef for Thomas’ videos but there were some tensions they had to work out.

It took time but Logan and Patton and Roman became Logan and Patton and Roman and Virgil which soon became Deceit and Logan and Patton and Remus and Roman and Virgil.

They started to work together and grew closer until they were a family again. Sure they were a family before but that was just the Light Sides and the Dark Sides separately.

Roman has always been protective of his family and now his family was double the size it used to be which means there are three more people he has to protect and it’s so unfamiliar. 

He usually had to protect Patton of stray spiders or his own clumsiness and he made sure Logan didn’t overwork himself too much and providing plenty of Crofters jam for the logical side.

Now he provided safe heating opportunities for Deceit since Remus’ creations could be volatile if he didn’t focus on it perfectly which was hard for the Other Creativity.

He acted as a rubber duck for Remus so he could share his ideas in a healthy, productive way instead of bottling it up and ending up with Thomas losing sleep.

He distracted Virgil from his worries and came up with new fidget toys for him.

With all three of the previous Dark Sides he made an effort to include them more in day to day life.

Logan and Patton regularly joined him on his tamer adventures in the Imagination and he was happy to see that Deceit, Remus and Virgil seemed interested in joining him as well though they were hesitant to join with Patton and Logan as well.

Roman understood that. They had lived on their own for years, almost two decades even. It was understandable that they would be a little overwhelmed by their much louder dynamic, even with how loud Remus was by himself.

So they went out on adventures one-on-one. It seemed to make the others more comfortable so Roman was immensely pleased with it.

But then two things happened and he stopped asking any of them to join him on his adventures.

---

The first thing happened on a wednesday. He had invited Virgil out to the Imagination. Just exploring the town and finding ways to fortify it since Virgil enjoyed knowing he helped in keeping people safe.

Roman was right in a way. He had intended to find ways to make it harder for enemies to invade the city. What they ended up doing was finding ways to make living in the town safer.

“You should make the sidewalk a little elevated in comparison to the road, the carriages and wagons could run onto the sidewalk and hurt people or damage houses.” was the first suggestion.

Then “I know you love your medieval cobblestone aesthetic but can you make it more even? There’s a huge difference in height between them, they’re a tripping hazard and horses could get injured by it too, not to mention wagon wheels.”

Of course Roman wrote every tip down on his little notebook, he would make sure to take care of those issues as soon as possible so he could show Virgil next time. Virgil would be happy to know that his concerns had been taken seriously and something had actually been done to prevent the things he worried about happening.

They were taking the stairs down to the town square, chatting as they went.

“These stairs could use redoing. They’re really worn down and slope downwards, people could slip. Also, dude where are the handrails here?” Virgil complained, interrupting Roman quite abruptly.

“Alright. The stairs will be the very first thing I take care of okay, Green Emo?”

“I don’t even listen to Green Day, Roman, do your-” he wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He had turned towards Roman a little as he spoke and didn’t notice how strong the slope of the step he took was, foot slipping off and bringing him out of balance.

Roman, a few steps behind and above Virgil could only watch in horror as his friend’s hand shot to the side where he expected a handrail to steady him. He reached out, trying to at least grab Virgil’s shirt to help him but as his fingertips barely brushed the fabric of that familiar hoodie Roman knew he was too slow.

Virgil landed at the bottom of the stairs in a still heap and Roman was next to him within a heartbeat, falling to his knees by the downed side.

“Ow, fucking hell.” Virgil was already cursing, trying to get up. Luckily it had only been half a dozen steps, they had been almost down.

Roman breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?” his hands were fluttering all over Virgil, unsure whether or not to touch him. His decision was made for him when Virgil hissed in pain and almost fell back down when he put pressure on his arm to push himself up. Roman wrapped his arm across Virgil’s chest to get him up on his knees, from there they got up slowly.

“Shit, my arm hurts. And my leg but it’s not as bad.” he groaned, hanging on to Roman to keep his balance.

“Okay, okay we can do this. We have to get you back home, sides can’t heal as quickly in the Imagination. Can you walk?”

“I think so. I’ll try at least”

They hobbled forward a few paces and Roman was acutely aware that Virgil was in pain, something he never wanted to see in the first place and he hoped he would never have to see it again.

“This is obviously hurting you even more. Please let me pick you up, that way we can get you back sooner.”

Luckily Virgil didn’t put up a fight and let himself be carried home where Patton fussed over him and Logan made sure to check for broken bones before they could grow together wrong. His wrist was badly sprained and bruised and his ankle wasn’t as badly sprained so Logan supplied Virgil with some ice packs and ordered him to stay settled on the couch for the few hours it would take him to heal.

Roman had locked himself up in his room as soon as he knew Virgil would be fine. Sides had very fast healing rates so it wouldn’t take long for Virgil to heal but until then he would be in pain and it was Roman’s fault.

It was his fault Virgil got hurt, it was his fault Virgil was even in the Imagination to get hurt in the first place! And God damn it, Roman would feel guilty about it to the end of days probably.

But he couldn’t just stay in his room and feel sorry for himself. He had to do something!

So he went back to the town he had visited with Virgil and with a bitter taste in his mouth he set about addressing every single issue Virgil had noticed. Roman had seen one person get injured by his careless creation already. He couldn’t bear the weight of the guilt of Virgil getting hurt. He would surely break if anyone else got hurt from his negligence.

---

Roman didn’t end up showing Virgil all those improvements. He didn’t want the other side in there. It was like Roman had turned into Anxiety himself with how anxious he was about Virgil potentially getting hurt again.

He had slowly warmed up to the idea of inviting the others in again when the second incident took place.

Roman had kept the other sides out of the Imagination but he couldn’t keep Remus out since they were both Creativity and both had equal influence over the Imagination.

Where he used to isolate his part of the Imagination from Remus’ part, the borders now blended into each other seamlessly and it was not a surprise to see the Duke in the Prince’s city or wandering the castle.

Whenever one of them got antsy or needed to free his head to figuratively make space for new ideas they would ride out, sometimes just to enjoy the wind on their faces and each other’s company after years of separation.

More often than not though, they went out to look for trouble in the form of a daring quest.

Remus was the only one that Roman told about his guilt over Virgil getting hurt. While it felt good to get it off his chest Remus’ advice didn’t help him much.

“Oh why don’t you get him one of the stones he landed on? You could dig it up! Or you could find him the biggest, most venomous spider in the woods! Virgil loves spiders!”

Yeah, suffice to say that Roman stopped him before he could get any more ideas that would leave him with nightmares.

That idea with the spider sounded kinda good though. Not the biggest or most venomous though. Maybe a tarantula

Luckily their quest to battle the Dragon Witch managed to take Roman’s mind off the matter for a while.

While the Prince and the Duke had been out of the Imagination the Dragon Witch had claimed a spot of land and had leveled the town that had occupied that very land until a few days ago.

They found the Dragon Witch’s lair soon enough and went in, brave and brazen as they always were in quests like this one.

“Dragon Witch! We are here to challenge you! Return the land to the people you stole it from!” Roman declared, sword already drawn as he caught sight of the monstrous figure.

“You dare challenge me, little princeling? With your little Duke because you fear coming alone? So be it. I will not give up this land, it is mine and mine alone.” The Dragon Witch was obviously prepared for them, already armed and in armor.

Of course Roman couldn’t just back down now, he was a prince after all and it wouldn’t be very princely if he turned his tail now that he had already challenged the Dragon Witch.

He saw Remus circle the Witch to the right so he took the left side, that way they’d have the best chance at making this fight a short one.

The twins lunged at him as one and Roman quickly lost himself in the rush of adrenaline the fight provided.  He didn’t even notice any cuts when he didn’t quite move fast enough to dodge the Dragon Witch’s long claws. What he did notice however, was Remus yelping, a thump and then he saw his twin slumped on the ground by the wall he had been thrown against.

Roman jumped back into action, stopping the Dragon Witch from coming after Remus. That way the Duke could take a moment to collect his wits and get back on his feet again.

“You good, Remus?” he called over his shoulder when his brother didn’t join him after a moment.

Silence on Remus’ part and Roman turned around, using his power over the Imagination to freeze the Dragon Witch in that moment of time. He saw Remus still slumped on the floor and now that he took a closer look he saw blood at his temple.

And Roman felt his blood freeze in his veins just like the Dragon Witch was frozen behind him. “Remus!” he yelled, rushing over to him.

Not again. Please not again.

He had let it happen again. He had let one of his loved ones get hurt again. 

He should have been more careful! He should have made the quest less dangerous! He shouldn’t have asked Remus to come out with him in the first place!

Remus didn’t wake up at Roman’s efforts so Roman carefully scooped his twin into his arms so he could take him back to the mindscape or at least back to the castle, away from the Dragon Witch. He could alter the Imagination’s reality at some other point in time to reverse the damage done by him.

Sadly he wouldn’t be able to reverse the damage the Dragon Witch had done to Remus. Only time and first aid could help with that.

---

Remus woke up a while after they got back to the mindscape and Roman hid himself away in his room just as he had done when he had seen Virgil get hurt.

He refused to let anyone back into the Imagination after that. So much so that the others staged an intervention. To his surprise it was Virgil who came to his room and refused to leave without talking to him.

He plastered a smile to his face as he realized that. He opened the door to Virgil, fist raised to knock once again.

“Hello, System of a Downer, how may I help you this magnificent day?” he asked, putting as much bravado into it as he could muster.

“You can drop the act, Princey. You’ve been so anxious I feel it down to the bones.” Virgil was frowning at him, looking displeased and annoyed but it did a bad job concealing his concern. Without even waiting for Roman’s response he squeezed past him into his room. 

Rude.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Verge.” he lied. He didn’t like lying to his family but he liked worrying them even less. He did, however, offer the anxious side a seat on his bed.

“Don’t lie to me or I’m calling Dee. This is about Remus and me getting hurt on your watch isn’t it? You felt anxious when I got hurt and it started up again around the time it happened to Re and it’s been getting worse ever since. Patton also thinks you’re mad at him because you haven’t invited him to the Imagination again.”

Roman looked down, unable to meet the other’s eyes. He hadn’t even considered that Virgil might be able to feel his anxiety and he had not thought about the possibility of Virgil knowing exactly what was bothering him.

“No, it has nothing to do with that at all, what are you talking about? I just had a stroke of genius, the ideas don’t wait for anything!” he tried, still hoping to bring Virgil off the right track.

No such luck. Of course, it would figure that the personification of the fight or flight instinct would be too perceptive to be deceived like that.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“Uhm did you miss the part where I’m literally Anxiety? Don’t worry is not an option for me. So talk to me. I’m right am i not? This is about us getting hurt and you like- feeling guilty about it? Responsible? I know you too well, I notice when you lie to me.”

Roman sighed and flopped down next to Virgil on the bed. 

“But it is my fault. You were telling me what was wrong, I should have fixed those issues as soon as you told me about them. I shouldn’t have even made those errors! I should have noticed. And I was the one who dragged Remus out on that quest! I should have done better, paid more attention, made the damned quest safer. I got you both hurt and I refuse to let anyone else get hurt.” he ranted, hoping Virgil would be unable to hear him with how he had buried his face in the blankets. 

Hopefully the fabric would muffle his voice, maybe even swallow him whole so he could avoid more talk about feelings. Ugh.

“I know, Ro. But get this - those were accidents, out of your control. I could’ve gotten hurt even if those stairs had been good, I could have tripped and fallen regardless of the state of the stairs. And have you seen Remus? He’s been raving about how cool that quest of yours was. He had fun and didn’t really care about the injury. It wasn’t even bad, you know head wounds usually look much worse than they actually are.”

No such luck apparently. Now he understood why Logan hated admitting to his feelings so much. Emotions were so nasty and messy when they weren’t good ones.

“Still my fault you got hurt.” he told his blanket petulantly, only to squawk when a sudden weight landed on his back. “Wha- get off of me!”

“Nope, can’t, so sorry. You know how this family apparently solves emotional distress. You’re not getting rid of this living weighted blanket.” Virgil shimmied his shoulders a little as if to accentuate how comfy he was making himself on top of Roman’s back.

Roman put up a token fight but didn’t truly mind. To be honest it was quite comfortable. Virgil’s weight on top of him was warm and grounding, comforting.

He hadn’t even noticed how touch starved he had gotten during his self-imposed exile. Having Virgil pressing down on his entire back was a little overwhelming at first but Roman was soon able to relax completely. Patton was right to hug everything out. It did help. A lot.

But Roman would rather burn his sash and melt down his crown than admit it to Virgil. So he just stayed there, silent and comfortable.

He would still blame him for this family getting hurt, those feelings had quite some time to settle and grow roots but with his family there to help he would be able to get over it.

In a few hours he would follow Virgil downstairs and talk to the others about what had been going on in his head. A lot of talking would follow and some more hugs and some of Remus’ usual comments would help lift the weight off his shoulders a little.

But right then Roman had a different kind of weight on his shoulders, the good kind.

And a little nap wouldn’t hurt right?

Exactly. So Roman stayed put and fell asleep, much to Virgil’s amusement. What could he say? Virgil made a great weighted blanket!

It should be a compliment, really.

___

Taglist: @3-has-charm  @adreamisadishyourmommakes  @analogical-mess @bubbliee0  @iris-sanders-athena @letthefandomsbegin @emthetimelady @ilovereadingandilovebreathing @ravenwashere1776 @stormcrawler75 @soulwillriseinperfectlight

[armsdealing]

charles derane’s apocalypse verse notes.

basics.

codename: hawthorne -- this is a name/nickname he will occasionally use when he does not feel like going by his actual name. height: six feet four inches weight: 274 lbs (formerly 295 lbs) transportation: 2001 Dodge Ram - Black (looks)

appearance:

standing at 6’4”, charles is massive in size and along those lines, incredibly imposing in posture – straight and ready unless otherwise required. not only that, but his build packs 274 lbs of muscle/fat that he’s had even before the outbreak and he’s been very careful to maintain at all possible costs. while it’s true that he had the weight lost typical of survivors, he remains hefty and able to endure and perform physical tasks with ease. this is a skill developed from childhood, and charles has formidable dexterity and control of his body, moving through the environment with the speed necessary to outrun even the most feverish of zombies or fight them with melee weaponry. he has very broad shoulders and thick biceps and forearms, muscular legs, and a solid stomach and chest, even if it lacks tone. despite all this, he’s able to remain graceful, movements characterized by their stealth rather than flaunting his physical appearance with noise and clumsiness. when needed, his walking might as well be referred to as an experienced hunter’s prowl, used to both rural and urban scenarios to explore and navigate.

slightly sharper features have been the main toll taken by a lack of steady food source. the biggest change remains in his head, though; charles actually is incredibly survival-driven and apathetic toward anything that won’t ensure said survival. he doesn’t care about anything or anyone but himself, and he will make a point to show it. needless to say – he won’t be very friendly.

due to a lack of efficient razors, charles sports an unkempt dirty and bloody beard that he only maintains at bay with a knife but otherwise leaves to grow as extra protection in harsh temperatures. this makes a good job at covering the lower half of his face, filling out the spots where body fat or muscle lacks. his hair is messy, but consistently kept short by comparison – and surprisingly soft to the touch if ever actually touched. but it’s true; he neither is nor looks friendly, and if ever forced to speak, it’ll be in the form of gruff mumbles and a desire to keep the conversation as short as possible. there is no discernable accent in his voice, save a very rugged pitch and texture born from disuse, and the only hint at coming from somewhere is a shortening of words typical of the southern american dialect – found in his closest post-apocalypse allies, the beckett family.

tics are bound to be picked up if too much time is spent around him. while at first glance you won’t see nothing but a very large man you’d want nothing but to get away from, there is a cleverness to his eyes that makes it noticeable he is very aware of what happens around him and what happens to you. he will pick up on movements, expressions, with nigh perfect accuracy – and know the very moment you’re reaching for the gun tucked on your side or planning to propel forward for an offensive. he reads people before ever coming close to them, which is an important point to keep in mind – while he has no problem whatsoever with violence and even, at this point in his background, with killing, charles would rather keep things distant, and he’d rather you left him in peace. he tends to look around himself when idle, unconsciously even, as a remnant of situational awareness, and so coming from behind is nearly impossible.

on that same vein, other minor habits include adjusting and readjusting his pack and its straps; a lot of his supplies are in that bag, and he makes sure to check regularly that everything is in place and he can move without fear of losing it. he twists his neck and rolls his shoulders, cracks his knuckles when it is necessary, and might scratch his cheek and beard. when he speaks, he might sigh occasionally, and grunt even more so, nod and shake his head and gesture directions rather than mention them, clench his jaw when he doesn’t like how an exchange is going, raise an eyebrow when he’s questioning you, shrug to disregard your questions, purse his lips when he’s being thoughtful. people have met him and not heard him speak even once because of his taciturn nature, keeping to commands that he does need to elaborate on and that is it. when forced to speak at greater length, expect hostility and a sharp sarcasm that might take you off guard.

clothing wise the apocalypse does not allowfor anything but light packing, and his shirts are comfortable and visibly worn, sometimes torn. he has no attachments to any particular piece of clothing – with the exception of his jacket and his steel toe combat boots, and will not hesitate to switch clothings the second he sees an opportunity to do it. ever present is the pack strapped to his back along his shotgun, however. he will go for the comfortable and things that will last him, most commonly henleys or plaids, western cut. nothing colorful and in fact, probably dirty. long sleeves are preferable, given most deaths to zombies being due to an exposed limb. he does not care about how he looks under any normal circumstances, and how he looks like – like the lone survivor he is – isn’t his primary concern. if he ever cleaned up, he’d be much more handsome.

when found in close quarters to him, the smell of forest will be practically a staple, along with with sweat and grease, scents that have followed him. occasionally, smoke may be added, when he’s been near fire. such is the case with gun powder or blood, the latter which he washes away when he has the opportunity to.

skin deep, it is surprising that he does not sport any tattoos of note or at all. he has never been interested by the idea. what he does have, though, is scars in spades, some – many – dating back to his very childhood, teenagehood, and pre-apocalypse adulthood. his knuckles are very scarred, as are his arms and legs, with an assortment of prints left by experiences that range from simple falls to glass to blades. in his very face rests a cut on the bridge of his nose, and another on the left side of his cheek/jaw that leaves a thin scratch in his beard devoid of hair. another quite visible scar going across his right eye that took some eyebrow with it. 

INVENTORY | WEAPONS (8)

aluminium baseball bat. found in his truck.

glock g17. found on his person. (spare ammo? yes)

smith & wesson 629. concealed on his person. (spare ammo? yes)

smith & wesson model 59. full magazine. in his backpack. (spare ammo? yes)

winchester fixed blade knife. in his backpack.

mossberg 590 mariner. holstered in his back with a strap. (spare ammo? yes)

remington 700pss with leupold mark 4 scope. in his truck (5 rounds. fully loaded. spare ammo? no)

makeshift blade. (looks) concealed on his person.

INVENTORY | ITEMS (12)

(1) backpack (looks). usually on his person or the back of his truck. very worn looking and dirty.

(5) cigarettes. lucky strike. kept in their package, inside his backpack.

(1) canteen (looks). water. normally full. inside his backpack. 34 oz.

(1) flask (looks). empty.

(1) zippo lighter (looks). on his person.

(1) leather journal (looks). inside his backpack.

(1) swiss blade (looks). on his person.

(1) duct tape roll. inside his backpack.

(1) first aid kit: (1) sterilized needle, (3) aspirins, (10) band-aids, (2) gauze, (1) surgical tape, (1) small bottle of rubbing alcohol. neatly pressed in a small bag (looks). inside his backpack.

(1) compass (looks). usually in his pocket.

whenever possible he has a map of whichever location he’s in.

he tries to keep a jug of spare gasoline in his car whenever possible.

BASELINE INVENTORY | CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES (8)

steel toe combat boots (looks). worn.

2 extra pairs of shirts. 

jeans (looks) very worn, as well as torn.

canvas coat (looks) worn.

leather jacket (looks). 

spare underwear.

one spare pairs of socks, besides the ones he wears, in his backpack.

BASELINE INVENTORY | FOOD & EDIBLES (9)

2L water canteen. usually full. ** (looks)

(2) goya black bean cans. **

(1) b&m baked beans**

(2) chicken bouillon**

(1) progresso chicken noodle soup.**

(1) jar of peanut butter’s co.*

(2) hard tack packs.*

(1) fruit snack.*

* kept in backpack ** kept in car.

BACKGROUND / VERSE NOTES.

this information will be used interchangeably for any apocalypse/zombie themed scenario that presents themselves. hence i didn’t write about a single specific storyline.

charles is a rover and this is by choice. however, he does have alliances, most notably with the o’connell compound located in garnet, montana (click here for more information on it -- when i post it that is :^)). 

charles usually acts as though he has no set role; however, this is false: his job is to track other settlements and map out other places of the united states to see how they’re doing, then relay this information back to the compound -- hence the journal he has on hand. he usually winds up there once every two to five months, depending on how far he wanders off. he will also hunt down rare supplies, and outline “no-go” zones, either because the place is swarmed or because the settlements are hostile. 

this information is normally used with the purpose of establishing communication between the settlements, if charles deems it useful and favorable. this goes back to whether he finds the settlement in question trustworthy and reliable. not all of them cut it. 

otherwise, he will never disclose the existence of the o’connell compound. you could set fire to his leg and he wouldn’t do it. 

exceptions are only if he finds you alone and you’re a child. he will try to take you back to the compound so you’re safe.

in this verse charles is 49, and still a father. cael derane is 20 and living in garnet. he’s a trained medic and occasionally will tag along for specific situations.

charles is unfriendly and does not like to work with others but he is pragmatic first and foremost and if you present yourself useful then he will consider forming an alliance for however necessary he deems it. again, the presence of children and young (his kid’s age, basically) people does a lot to sway him. he is very fatherly.  

[ve1vetyoongi]

remember me | kth

chapters:  I, II, III, IV, V

pairing: taehyung x reader

rated: T 

genre: idol!au, baker!tae, french!reader, angst, romance, fluff, eventual smut.

summary: Taehyung wants to be forgotten. Overwhelmed by his life as idol persona V, he longs to just be Kim Taehyung for once. Even if that means forgetting everything he ever knew.

word count: 6.1k

warnings: mentions of blood, strong language, memory loss, eventual smut (chapters will be marked accordingly).

a/n: so this is the first installment of Remember Me! I have been working rlly hard to perfect this fic for a couple of weeks and I’m really glad I can finally share some of it! I should also note that my French is atrocious and if there are any errors I would be grateful for corrections! all the love <3

Moonlight illuminated the diamond ring in Taehyung's palm.

The Parisian alleys looked different at night time. Usually bustling with locals selling fresh fruit and flowers, dragging carts from the harbor or opening their businesses for the day, the cold silence was stark and frightening in comparison. Vintage book stores and home owned cafes lined the passages, dark and vacant due to the late hour. Taehyung had noticed his reflection in the windows as he stumbled past - in his best coat, no less - the blackness behind obscuring any transparency and providing a chilling reminder of his current predicament as he watched his own form heave against the vibrant orange but peeling paint of the small two bedroom apartment complex on the corner.

Taehyung's legs felt weak and he let them buckle, his weight sliding down until his backside rested against the freezing cobblestone. It was cold enough for a jacket in the evening, the summer sun's glorious warmth dissipating like clockwork as night time swept the small French village he found himself in. Even so, beads of sweat laced his hairline, testament to the hatred that scolded every fiber of his being. It felt like he was burning alive.

A plane trip somewhere remote seemed like a good idea to begin with. An opportunity to think things through without the burden of his status following him - or rather people. Here, nobody knew him. Taehyung was confident his idol status was unknown - after all, the phone signal was horrible and stable internet connections were few and far between. He highly doubted any of the few hundred inhabitants would recognize his face from a magazine or a music video. The only music Taehyung had heard during his time here was soft spoken French symphonies, classical opera sometimes, but definitely none of the energetic pop tracks his band was known for.

His band was part of the reason he had packed a bag and jumped on the next plane out of the country. Not his band members per se but rather the responsibility his status required of him. If young Taehyung had known of the great success he would achieve after debut, no doubt he would have been thrilled. Singing, dancing, performing - they were all a part of him, his greatest love and his greatest passion. He had worked diligently, training on no sleep and practicing until his vocal chords were raw with overuse. But now he was here, he wished he was anywhere else.

It is a misconception, he decided, that we could ever be satisfied. He had fame, he had a decent fortune and adoring fans. He had what some would describe as everything, what young Taehyung considered necessary to a life filled with happiness. Most would assume he must want for nothing; that was true to an extent, as he was fortunate enough to not want for anything materialistic, owning a room filled with clothes, two cars and an apartment with enough rooms to house at least two large families comfortably. That didn't stop him wanting, though.

Taehyung stared at the small, velvet box that he twisted nervously between his freezing fingers. He had a girlfriend, too. Soon to be fiance, once he inevitably had to return home for promotions or an obligation listed in his schedule. It was as if his whole life had been mapped out years in advance. Apparently, his company decided marriage was next on the agenda, probably to boost the album sales that had begun to dip as of late.

He loved Joy, he did. Taehyung had been ecstatic when she started returning his shy smiles and longing glances at award shows and music events. He was overjoyed when she agreed to let him take her out for coffee - a small gesture uncommon in an idol's busy schedule but appreciated none the less, an opportunity to spend time listening to her sweet voice and inhaling her vanilla perfume he was desperate for among their hectic conflicting obligations.

Things seemed to move quickly after that, him moving out of the dorm he shared with his band members to buy a place for them to share. A few months after that they adopted a dog and by then it seemed as though the relationship was serious, enough for his company to encourage him to ask for her preferences and size when it came to wedding rings.

He loved Joy. He loved how she dressed, the shampoo she used. He loved how she was soft spoken but stern when need be though never overbearing. He loved her family and how her mom always sent them home made meals to heat up on cold winters nights. Taehyung loved Joy, but not in the way he wanted to. How everyone wanted him to. How he was supposed to.

She was good for him and he knew that. It would be difficult - no, impossible - to find anyone more perfect. Joy was everything most guys wanted in a girlfriend, in a wife, as confirmed by the slaps on the back and contented hums from his friends when he introduced her for the first time. She was good for his image too, his company had made that clear, practically picking the wedding venue before he had even popped the question.

But here he was, running away from his problems, quite literally, sick to his stomach with fear and worry and an indescribable feeling of wanting. Taehyung was the man who had everything yet he still found himself wanting. Wanting for Joy to be happy, just not with him. Wanting to perform, but without the burden of fame. Wanting for people to forget V and to live as Kim Taehyung for a little longer. For he knew that once he boarded that plane home, his face would be headline news.

A dog barked uncontrollably somewhere in the distance, alerting Taehyung of the boots that cracked against the cobblestone, crunching the glass from a broken beer bottle that had rolled from the hands of a drunk slumped in the doorway of one of the only bars the village possessed. Even that was closing for the night, though the cheap neon light, barely fixed to the wall, still glowed and sent the alley into a rich hue of red. It was ominous and out of place amidst the natural beauty of the village and Taehyung picked up on the menacing presence leering over his pathetic form when it was already too late.

The sound of feet became louder, followed by the dog, it's noises turning shrill and whiny as it was kicked to the curb. Black boots came to a halt in front of his crossed knees, one nudging his arm a tad too harshly to be friendly. Taehyung glanced up slowly from beneath the brim of his hat, thankful the shadow cast by the visor concealed the shock evident on his face as he took in his company.

Two broad men ogled down at him, a sickly smile plastered to the mouth of the second, the gold caps on his teeth glinting in the low light. He blinked at them once and then twice, considering their reasons for stopping. Did they think he was drunk?

"What have you got there, young man?" The first one sneered, arms looped around his back but the sheer weight of his boot enough to keep Taehyung in place, unable to stand let alone run. It was then that he followed their gaze, straight to the space where his thighs met, cradling the small black box containing the biggest diamond he was sure they had ever seen in a place like this.

"What do you want?" Taehyung replied gruffly, squaring his shoulders in an attempt at appearing as intimidating as their hot stares. Easier said than done when wearing yellow tinted designer glasses and a pair of fluffy sandals.

"I want to know what a nice boy like you is doing in a place like this," The man's accent was as thick as the prickly stubble lining his jaw as he gestured to the empty blackness around them. "And how you have a ring like that."

Taehyung shoved the box roughly into his coat pocket, shaking himself free from the hold of the tall stranger as he attempted to get to his feet. "It's for my girlfriend." It wasn't a lie, yet he still had to swallow the lump in his throat in order to choke the words out, even to a pair of thugs.

"Where are you going?" The second man spoke for the first time, hand jerking out to push Taehyung's shoulder downwards violently until he returned to his former position on the ground, susceptible to their every whim due to their heightened stance over him.

"I have to be getting home."

"We know you aren't from around here, kid." He bent to his knees, foul breath tainted with beer fanning Taehyung's forehead as he spoke. His voice was louder, raised from the whisper he spoke in before. He wrapped his thick fingers around Taehyung's throat, drawing his words out slowly as if to be extra clear. "Give us the ring and we won't make any trouble."

"No." Taehyung said through gritted teeth, mouth widening as the hand around his windpipe tightened, cutting off his air supply and drawing tears to burn his eyes as he fought for another breath.

"This is your last chance." Taehyung was gasping now, grasping desperately at the sharp elbow of the man until his grip faltered, allowing him to take in the sweet cold oxygen.

He fell to his hands and knees, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth as he heaved shakily. Taehyung kept his eyes trained to the concrete as he slipped off the silver bracelets littering his wrists and the big rings on his fingers, throwing them haphazardly in the direction of the men. He didn't know how much they were worth - the cost of items was not an issue anymore and sometimes he didn't even bother to look when he paid for them - though he was sure it was not as much as the ring pressing against his thigh through the fabric of his jacket. "You can take anything you want. Just not the ring."

"You think I'm stupid boy? This shit ain't worth a dime." Black boots spat vulgarly at the measly pile of silver. "I want the fuckin' good stuff."

"He ain't gonna listen, big guy. Just rough him up a bit for Christ's sake."

At his words, the other nodded his head, cracking his knuckles at what felt like an obscenely loud volume. The words dawned on Taehyung quickly and he brought his knees to his chest, cradling his head in his arms as he prepared for incoming blows from their fists or their steel toes. Isn't the body supposed to go into fight or flight mode when faced with imminent danger?

Not that there would be any point in trying to take flight as the grip of the bigger mans hands beneath his underarms was vice like, so tight he was sure it would bruise. His stubby fingernails pierces Taehyung's sensitive skin, causing him to yelp in surprise as he felt them press purple half moons into his flesh. And he pretty much gave up fighting as soon as he felt the cool serrated metal of a knife pressing against his throat.

He stifled a scream, instantly going slack in the man's grip, abandoning any attempt at escaping. "Please. You can take anything but the ring!"

"Please what, baby boy? You scared or somethin'?" The man with gold teeth came to a halt inches from his face, eyes glinting with amusement at Taehyung's begging.

Something sounded from above, catching the attention of both Taehyung and Gold Teeth. They locked eyes before glancing upwards. A small girl balanced precariously over the railing of the tiny balcony extending from a decorative screen door, the glass propped open by a plant pot overflowing with green ivy, allowing the drapes to blow in the night breeze. She carefully unhooked the silk sheets pinned to a makeshift washing line, folding them neatly over her arm. Her bare feet kick a clothes pin under the guard rail, seemingly unaware when it clattered to the ground below, just missing Taehyung's arm. If she were to just look down...

Gold Teeth apparently comes to the same conclusion, raising a single finger to his lips in warning. Don't move. He mouths. Taehyung swallows thickly, the blade sharp against his adams apple.

Before he could think better of it, he was taking a deep breath and bellowing as loud as he could for help. He didn't have time to form the word more than once, a second help dying on his tongue as he was spun around to face his captor. It was then that he felt a searing pain in his thigh. It was hot to begin with, burning as his skin was pierced by the knife but then it was cold, horribly icy as blood began to trickle from the wound down the sides of his leg.

"What the fuck man! I said rough him up not stab the kid!"

"We need to get out of here," An arm was still tight around Taehyung's chest, the man stumbling backwards when Taehyung's head fell into the crook of his neck as he cried out in agony. He took the opportunity to reach into his pocket, retrieving the black box from a powerless Taehyung. "Lets go! Fucking run!"

They sped off, each thud of their boots sending a sharp pain through Taehyung's head as he desperately gripped the wall for support. He felt numb as he noticed the knife that was still wedged into his leg. The pain unbearable as he ripped it out, discarding the bloodied weapon somewhere behind him. He pressed his hands to the opening in a bid to ease the pain, shock rocking his body as he watched blood spill from between his fingers.

His focus began to blur, the alley spinning in large figure eights as he tried to get a grip on his surroundings to no avail. Taehyung tried to soften his bodies descent to the ground but his palms could not grip the wall in time, leaving bloody smears where they touched the paint. The crack of his skull against the paving was audible, his eyes popping when he felt a giant pressure begin to build in the back of his head, like a balloon filling with helium, ready to burst at any moment.

The pain was so unbearable now that he could barely feel it. It's strange - when the pain was at it's worst it is as if his body went into shut down, protecting him from the agony by making him feel nothing at all.

It was not long before his sight went completely black, leading him on a descent into nothingness. It was like sleep but without the promise of a good dream.

Hands shook his shoulders and Taehyung was sure he caught a glimpse of a face before his lids were too heavy to stay open any longer.

"Monsieur?"

He was too far gone to hear you.

Pain. The searing burn of disinfectant in his wound. A wet cloth cold against his forehead.

"Can you hear me, sir?"

A sweet voice, ringing out in his ears. Another bout of pain as something tight is fastened around his leg.

"I'm so sorry. The pain will be over soon."

The voice again, but tinny with remorse this time. A face, paled with worry but soft and comforting. Welcome among the confusing blur that tinted his vision, dulled his hearing and weighted his body.

You.

And then there was blackness, again.

When Taehyung finally came to, you were curled up in a wicker chair beneath the windowsill, sun illuminating the battered copy of Romeo and Juliet your nose was tucked into. The aged, dog eared pages covered your features but he could tell it was you by the elegantly messy up-do sat on top of your head, wavy pieces of hair escaping the elastic to frame your chin nicely. Come to think of it, the entire room is covered in novels - some classics, some he was yet to hear of - littering every surface. They were not intentionally decorative but something about them was endearing. They were well loved, used, like a perfect bookshop of your own and the sweetness of a dust filled library settled into his senses.

Taehyung pulled his body into a sitting position against the wooden headboard, wincing slightly when his leg resisted the small movement. You noticed his sharp intake of breath, raising your head from the crook of your elbow to check on his state. Upon realizing he was awake, you lower your knees from where they were tucked tightly against your chest, rushing forward to push him back against the mountain of pillows you carefully placed behind his head the day before, book cradled beneath your underarm.

"Lay down, sir." You are unsure why you whisper it, perhaps afraid a louder volume will aggravate the wound located at the back of his head. "You must rest."

"I feel fine - better, at least," Taehyung assures, allowing you to help him under the elbow so he sat comfortably upright. "Thanks to you."

You smile meekly, busying your hands by plumping up the comforter that draped across his bare torso, lifting the corner to inspect his leg. He gazed down at you through lidded eyes, taking in the shredded silken sheet you had fashioned into a tourniquet around the gaping gash in his thigh. The pink fabric was stained in the middle with a messy red splotch, a clear indication of where the knife had entered his leg. You grip his ankle, attempting to lift and bend his knee but abandoning your ministrations all together when he let out a hiss, scrunching his eyes in response to the intense pain that shot up his side.

You tutted sympathetically. "I thought it would be feeling at least a little better by today."

"How long have I been here?"

"Nearly four days, now."

Four days? How had he been out for that long? The last few nights were a blur, flashing through his mind in nightmarish snippets, none of them connecting to form a clear memory. Taehyung figured it was some sort of coping mechanism his body employed in an attempt to stop him reliving whatever excruciating events he had suffered through.

"You had an infection in your leg," You continued, eyeing him carefully as he appeared to lose himself in thought. "But I think you managed to sleep it off. You don't feel feverish now, right?" You jerk forward to place the back of your palm against his damp forehead, relieved when it feels cool to the touch.

"No..I uh - what is your name?" He questions abruptly, suddenly curious about your identity. He had been here for half a week yet this somehow felt like a first introduction, his only prior recollections of you being that night on the balcony and several flashes of you tending to his needs while he was out cold.

"Y/n." You respond simply, smirking when he nods eagerly, bashful after his sudden outburst. "And yours?"

"O-oh yeah, I'm - " Taehyung opens his mouth to form the words, though nothing comes out. The name he was so familiar with felt as though it was at the tip of his tongue yet he couldn't quite let it spill from his lips. He watches you wait patiently for his answer, narrowing your eyes in question when his sentence dies almost as soon as it began. "I don't know."

You nod slowly, index finger tapping against your thumb as you took in his revelation. "You don't have to tell me -"

"No!" He lurches forward quickly, ignoring how his leg groaned in favor of reassuring you. "I want to tell you I just...don't remember."

He watches as your mouth forms a small 'o', realization hitting you all at once. "I guess you hit your head harder than I thought."

Taehyung reaches a shaky hand to graze the nape of his neck, taking in the way his hair matted to his skin with blood, the sticky substance coating the pads of his fingers. The skin was still sensitive and the area still throbbed dully where his skull had connected with the cobblestone. If he closed his eyes and focused he was sure he could still hear the sound of it.

That would explain why he couldn't remember his name - or come to think of it, anything prior to being attacked by a knife and barely anything after that. Was it amnesia? He wasn't sure how this sort of thing worked, never being one to listen in health class. Would this be...permanent?

"If it helps," Your soft words bring him back to the small apartment, allowing him to watch as you flit across the room to his opposite side. He noticed how you practically danced, effortlessly floating on bare feet to the wooden side table pressed against the wall. "You were wearing this when I found you."

You move to sit apprehensively at the foot of the bed frame, hand extending towards him to reveal a small gold ring. Taehyung took it between his fingers, nodding in thanks. You wrapped your arms around your torso and watched curiously as his eyes glazed the scripture engraved on the inner side of the metal band.

Kim Taehyung.

"Kim Taehyung." He repeated out loud this time, slipping the piece of jewelry over his thumb. It felt natural, as though it belonged there. "That must be my name?"

You nod. "Taehyung." Even if it wasn't his name he was sure in that moment he would adopt it, the way your lips curved around the word sending shivers down his spine. "It suits you."

He was suddenly aware of how bare he was, shifting uncomfortably when he noticed his own naked chest. His pants had been discarded to allow you to get a closer look at his stab wound, leaving him only covered by the thin summer lace that swaddled his legs. You noticed his discomfort, grabbing a striped top and a pair of loose fitting white pants from the laundry room behind you and throwing the garments in his direction. He catches them reflexively.

"They were my fathers. Too small now." Taehyung smiles at you properly for the first time at this, eliciting another bout of dull throbs to shoot through his head. "Your things got a little dirty in the scuffle. I washed them for you." A small mirror sat on a tiny dresser, its reflection angled so Taehyung could see the laundry blowing in the summer breeze on the balcony, his shirt and jeans included.

"Thanks." He pulls the shirt over his head, grateful for the modesty it provided him. He looked up at you when it came to his pants, allowing you to assist him when pulling them over his injured thigh, the pain unbearable enough to distract him from the humiliation of needing help to carry out such a simple task.

"Oh - I almost forgot!" You run back into the laundry room, retrieving a black carry bag and the designer coat Taehyung had donned the night you found him on the street. Kicking the door shut with your heel, you fumble in the front pocket of the bag to retrieve a phone. "I hope you don't mind I looked through your stuff, I thought you might have an ID." You shrugged.

"It's fine, really. It's not as if I was around to stop you." He chuckled dryly at his own joke, enjoying the small roll of your eyes. The phone was cold in his palm and he turned it around a couple times as if to search for clues.

"It might help if you look at what is on the phone." You nudge him with your foot and it was his turn to roll his eyes now.

"I knew that." Taehyung huffed, sliding a thumb across the screen and watching as it came to life under his touch, lighting his face with its blue tinted glow. The screen presented a set of numbers, prompting him to input a passcode. He tapped a couple random numbers, hoping he might unlock it by chance or a miracle presented by his fingers muscle memory but apparently even that was having trouble remembering anything. After several failed attempts, a notice displayed on the screen: Iphone locked. Try again in 10 minutes. Taehyung dropped the device in his lap with frustration, pressing his palms to his eyes as he desperately wracked his brain for any set of numbers that might be relevant or familiar but nothing came, leaving him utterly sour with his own brains lack of cooperation.

He flinched when you reached out to rub his forearm, pulling away quickly out of embarrassment when you gauged his reaction to the contact. "I'm sure you will start to remember soon."

"What if I don't?" He pulled his lip between his teeth, nibbling anxiously as he considered the negative outcome. Taehyung knew that although he couldn't remember them he must have a family or friends at least who were worried somewhere, confused as to where he had disappeared to for four days. If he never remembered they would just be left in the unknown forever. Did he have a job? A home?

"You will, I'm sure of it." You say softly, desperate for a way to appease his worries. He was a stranger to you but you couldn't help but feel you knew him somewhat. After all, you had seen him at his very worst across the past few days, at his bed side day and night while he suffered through his fever. Something wrenched in your heart when you realized this was something you couldn't fix for him.

Taehyung felt himself relax with your reassurance. He reached forward to place your hand where it had touched his shoulder before, covering it with his own. His palm was wrapped in a silken scarf that acted as a bandage to cover the scrape attained when removing the knife from his leg. You unwrap it carefully, nodding in satisfaction at the way the skin had begun to heal, a contrast from the red and angry appearance it had possessed to begin with. Threading the scarf around his neck, you tie it in a knot at the base of his throat. Taehyung watches you inquisitively, cocking his head when you were done as if to ask for approval. You nod at your work. "Very à la française." He is surprised by your perfect pronunciation, gauging the accent that taints your English thickly to be local.

"What makes you think I'm not français?"  He catches a glimpse of his appearance in the mirror, making you giggle when he sees that the accessory does indeed make him look like a French stereotype when paired with the blue and white striped shirt he currently donned.

"Your French is awful for one." Taehyung can't deny your statement, simply raising his hands in defeat. "And I've never seen you around here before. Everybody knows everybody here."

It was true. With only a couple hundred inhabitants, everybody seemed to be connected in some way in your town. Each and every individual local shared an uncle or a colleague or a neighbour so visitors stuck out like a sore thumb, drawing attention and becoming a source of gossip among the people. It was summer though so tourists were more frequent these days meaning you had not noticed Taehyung's arrival, that was until he got stabbed outside your apartment and almost died of an infection in your very own bed.

"You got me." He slumped back in surrender. "I assume you know this town better than anyone?"

"I have lived here all my life so I would hope so."

Taehyung scratched his chin. "How about you give me a tour? Might re-jog my memory if I see something familiar?"

You were cautious, not wanting to make a bad situation worse by taking him out before he was ready. He only just seemed to be getting over his fever and you were fearful that his immune system was susceptible to any sort of illness he could pick up out in the open. Then again, the fresh air might do his lungs some good. After all, he had been cooped up in your small one bedroom for half a week now - and so had you as a result, for that matter - so it was unsurprising that he was desperate to get out and find some sense of normality again. "What about your leg?"

Taehyung pulled himself to the edge of the bed, a little weak as he shakily tried to bare weight on his leg. The pain was subsiding a little now though it was still difficult to take more than a few steps before he had to relieve his leg a little by leaning against your wooden clothes cabinet.

"Hold on a second." You noticed his struggle, bending to your knees and fishing under the bed until your hand found the smooth wooden handle of a cane, once belonging to a great uncle - or perhaps it was an aunt, you couldn't remember - before pressing it into his palms. Taehyung admired the decorative lions head that was carved into the base, covered with flaking gold leaf and scratches from years of use and misuse. He pushed away from the wall, leaning into the stick and finding his balance, letting out a breathy laugh when he managed to take a series of steps - albeit slowly - with it's assistance.

"Are you sure? It looks special." You purse your lips in agreement, unable to list the various ancestors who once relied on the cane as Taehyung was now and unable to remember how it came into your possession in the first place. You were thankful it did, though as it was finally being put to use.

"Of course." You slip a light scarf around your shoulders, expecting the afternoon breeze to be chilly as it gradually turned into night. "Until your leg heals."

The apartment was situated on the second storey, exited by a small winding staircase that led to an open piazza, inhabited only by an outdoor chair you favored for reading on summer mornings. It took a while to get down, Taehyung still struggling to find his footing with the cane and needing your support under his elbow to manage the last few steps.

The hustle and bustle hit deliciously when you finally stepped out into the open. The town was alive, children playing on the corner with chalk as colorful as the buildings around them, mothers watching from balconies and open screen windows as they danced in the shadows cast by ornamental street lights. You led him down through the winding alley, under a stone arch and out into the outdoor street market. Taehyung's senses were immediately filled with the smell of cooking crêpes and burgers sizzling on a grill along with the sounds of traders and marketeers shouting praises of their homemade la crème glacée. Men unloaded fresh fruit and vegetables into crates, transported by truck from nearby produce farms and Taehyung swore he had never seen colors so vibrant, so ripe.

"Where are we going?" He asks, struggling to keep up with you as you effortlessly weaved through the throngs of people. The town square opened up into a harbor which stretched for a couple of miles along the front where the town merged with the sea. The water sparkled beneath the bows of holiday yachts and fishing boats and he could not help but gawk at the beauty of it.

"Here." You say, stopping abruptly and almost causing him to walk into your heels as a result. You pat the stone wall before you. The entire harbor was lined with it but this particular spot was at a lower height than the rest allowing you to swing your body over so that your legs dangled over the drop. Taehyung's eyes widened nervously as you did just that, jerking forward to grip your forearm as he envisioned you catapulting down to the small patch of sandy beach below. You simply giggle, gesturing for him to sit next to you. His leg protests when he tries to copy your earlier actions despite his hesitance towards its safety, opting to perch on the edge with his back facing the boats instead.

"This is where we are going." You let out a breath, taking in the view you were all too familiar with yet somehow not tired of. "I come here to think a lot. It's my place."

Taehyung hummed in response, eyes glazing across the tops of houses and chapels that rose from behind one another, towering above you. "I can see why. The view is beautiful - how do you say that in French again?"

"C'est une vue à couper le souffle."

"Yeah, that." He mumbles, scratching the nape of his neck and avoiding your gaze by pretending to be engrossed in the fishermen unloading their days catch.

"That's not the reason I like it, though." You continue. "I like how it is quiet here." It was true. Compared to the hectic town square it was serene, only a few people in sight including yourselves along with some particularly noisy seagulls. "Sometimes I feel smothered in town."

"I understand, I think." Taehyung nibbles his lip. Something twisted inside of him at your words, the feeling you described to him familiar somehow though he couldn't put his finger on why exactly. "Sometimes you have to find peace inside the commotion."

"Right." You agree curtly, eager to change the subject before it became too raw. "Has your memory come back yet?"

He sat in silence for a while, enjoying the cool salty breeze on his skin before he spoke up quietly. "I wish I could remember."

Another bout of silence. A boat bobbed into the calm waters of the harbor, filling the quiet just enough for your words to almost slip past Taehyung had he not been watching you intently. "Perhaps you should just embrace it."

"Embrace my amnesia?"

"I mean, embrace the chance at a fresh start," You explain, finally drawing your attention from a blank point in the distance to stare him straight in the eye. "I don't know anyone in this town who wouldn't give their left leg for a chance to re-invent themselves. Think about it - you could literally be anyone you want to be."

"Anyone?" Taehyung still wasn't convinced, the idea of leaving behind his past still tender, even if he couldn't remember it.

"Anyone!" Your face glowed with a sudden bout of excitement, irises glinting in the evening sun as you pull his hand into your lap. "You could go away from here, become a traveler? Or an artist...you look like an artist."

Taehyung looked out over the charmingly beautiful town, lingering for a second on the rough edges that blended out into the pink and yellow sky. Something felt right about being here - something instinctive.

Your enthusiastic babbling brought him back down. "A florist! I bet you know a thing or two about flowers - unless you forgot about that too.."

"Y/n?" His sudden interruption brought you to an abrupt silence, an indication that you were listening. "Who are you? Like, what do you want to do with your life."

"I mean - I work in a bakery. My fathers bakery."

"A baker, huh?"

"Yeah. Though if I hit my head I would like to become a writer." Taehyung nods, remembering the vast amount of books you hoarded in your apartment. " You know, like a real one. With a library and a writing room."

"You don't need to lose your memory to do that, y/n."

"People around here...we don't get to be writers. Or florists. Or artists."

"Why not?" Taehyung couldn't understand your resentment for a town so gloriously pleasant, so perfectly simplistic.

"Because we are insignificant. We are traders and housewives and bakers." You spat the last word with a bitterness you had become accustomed to.

"I could be a fisherman." Taehyung puffed out his chest to mimic the muscular man unloading crates of seafood below.

"Nuh uh," You wrinkle your nose. "The smell is unbearable."

"Then, I want to stay here." He concluded, crossing his arms with a determination that said his decision was final. "At your bakery."

"You are stubborn," You announce, shaking your head in disbelief. "You could go anywhere and you choose to stay here?"

The sun was dipping into the waves now, almost obscured by the ripples and sea foam. "I feel at home already."

[martaangeliniblog]

I went on and I started scrolling through

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[astrogeoguy]

Lovely Luna in Evening, Saturn Shines at Maximum, and Moonlight-Friendly Sights!

(Above: Look - a donut! The Ring Nebula in Lyra, imaged by Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario on July 25, 2012. His other excellent images are found at  http://astrodoc.ca/ )

Hello, Summer Stargazers!

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 7th, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event. Contact me, and we’ll tour the Universe together!

The Moon and Planets

This is the week of the lunar month when skywatchers worldwide can enjoy the moon in the early evening sky - just ahead of next week’s 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. And, two more planets will reach opposition and maximum visibility this week. Here are the Skylights!

(Above: The moon at First Quarter, imaged by Michael Watson of Toronto in spring, 2015. Michael’s amazing photos can be viewed on his Flickr page here.) 

Tonight (Sunday) the moon will begin the week as a pretty waxing crescent in the western, early evening sky on the border between Virgo (the Maiden) and Leo (the Lion). On Tuesday morning, the Earth-orbiting moon will reach a 90 degree angle from the sun - setting up its First Quarter phase, when it appears half-illuminated from Earth. We call this phase “first quarter” because the moon has completed one-quarter of the trip around Earth. 

First quarter moons rise around noon and set around midnight. The evenings surrounding this lunar phase are the best times to look at the moon under magnification. As the sun slowly rises over the moon’s eastern horizon (which takes a week!), its steeply slanted rays of light cast deep, black shadows to the west of every elevated feature – mountains, crater rims, boulders, and even fault lines. Every hour, and every night, the zone alongside the terminator, the pole-to-pole boundary dividing the lit and dark hemispheres, creeps west - revealing new breathtaking vistas. 

On Tuesday night, the moon will take up a position above (celestial north of) the very bright, white star Spica in Virgo. Over the course of several hours, you can watch the moon’s orbital motion carry it eastwards of that star. That’s toward the left for Northern Hemisphere observers, and vice versa. 

On Thursday and Friday night, the waxing gibbous (which means “more than half-illuminated”) moon will visit Libra (the Scales) and then land above the up-down row of three little white stars that mark the claws of Scorpius (the Scorpion). 

In the southern sky on Saturday evening, the waxing gibbous moon will land about three finger widths to the left (east) of the bright planet Jupiter. If you watch the moon and Jupiter over several hours, starting at dusk, you will see the moon’s orbit carry it farther from the planet, while the rotation of the sky will lift the moon above Jupiter.

(Above: The bright gas giant planets continue to dominate the southern evening sky. On Saturday, July 13, the bright, waxing gibbous moon will land near Jupiter, as shown here for 10 pm local time.) 

For about an hour after sunset on the Sunday evening, Mercury’s orbital motion downwards towards the sun will bring it less than 4 finger widths to the lower left (south) of slightly brighter Mars. The two dim planets will be very low in the north-northwestern twilit sky. Take care that the sun has completely disappeared below the horizon before attempting to search for them with binoculars or telescopes. The best time to look for Mercury falls between 9:30 and 9:45 pm local time. Mars sets nearly 30 minutes later, so you’ll have more time to look for it. Observers closer to the Equator will have a better chance to see the two planets – due to a darker sky after sunset. Mercury will drop too low to see after mid-week.

(Above: Mars and Mercury can be spotted with difficulty, low in the north-northwestern sky after sunset early this week, as shown here at 9:40 pm local time. Mercury is following its orbit downward, toward the sun.)  

That incredibly bright object that you’ve been seeing in the southeastern evening sky recently is Jupiter! This week, Jupiter will be visible from dusk to almost 4 am local time. Even a backyard telescope can show Jupiter’s saucy equatorial stripes and the four Galilean moons named Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. They always appear in a rough line flanking the planet. If you see fewer than four, then some are either in front of Jupiter, or hidden behind it. 

From time to time, the small, round black shadows cast by the Galilean moons become visible in amateur telescopes as they cross (or transit) Jupiter’s disk. Io’s shadow will transit Jupiter after midnight on Thursday (i.e., Friday morning) from 12:31 am to 2:43 am EDT. 

Due to Jupiter’s rapid 10-hour rotation period, the Great Red Spot (or GRS) is only observable from Earth every 2nd or 3rd night, and only during a predictable three-hour window. The GRS will be easiest to see using a medium-sized, or larger, aperture telescope on an evening of good seeing (steady air). If you’d like to see the Great Red Spot in your telescope, it will be crossing the planet starting late on Monday evening (from 10:15 pm until 2:15 am EDT). More GRS viewing opportunities will occur after dusk on Tuesday and Thursday, and on Saturday night from 10:15 pm to 1:30 am EDT. 

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 9, Earth’s orbit will carry us between Saturn and the sun. Sitting opposite the sun in the sky on that date, Saturn will rise at sunset and arrive at its minimum separation from Earth of 9.0 Astronomical Units (an AU is the average sun-Earth distance). That’s 1.351 billion km, or 75 light-minutes! Saturn will shine at a peak brightness for the year (magnitude +0.05) and exhibit an apparent disk diameter of 18.4 arc-seconds. The rings, which will be getting narrower every year until the spring of 2025, will subtend 42.86 arc-seconds. (For comparison, the full moon is 1,800 arc-seconds across.) Don’t fret if Tuesday is cloudy. Saturn will look nearly as good for several days.

(Above: Saturn will reach peak visibility for 2019 on Tuesday, as shown here at 10:30 pm EDT. Look in the southeastern sky after dusk, about 30 degrees to the lower left of Jupiter.)  

Yellow-tinted Saturn will remain visible all night long. Its position in the sky is just to the left (east) of the stars that form the teapot-shaped constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). Saturn is quite a bit dimmer than Jupiter. To find it, look about 3 fist diameters to the lower left (east) of Jupiter. Dust off your telescope! Once the sky is dark, even a small telescope will show Saturn's rings and several of its brighter moons, especially Titan! Because Saturn’s axis of rotation is tipped about 27° from vertical (a bit more than Earth’s is), we can see the top surface of its rings, and its moons can appear above, below, or to either side of the planet. During this week, Titan will migrate counter-clockwise around Saturn, moving from Saturn’s right tonight (Sunday) to the upper left of the planet next Sunday. (Remember that your telescope will flip the view around.) 

For night owls, distant and dim, blue Neptune is in the southeastern pre-dawn sky, among the stars of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). The planet will be rising shortly before midnight local time this week. You’ll find the magnitude 7.9 planet sitting a thumb’s width to the left (east) of a medium-bright star named Phi (φ) Aquarii. 

Blue-green Uranus will be rising at about 1:30 am local time this week. It is sitting below the stars of Aries (the Ram) and is just a palm’s width above the head of Cetus. At magnitude 5.8, Uranus is bright enough to see in binoculars. 

Venus is bright enough to see within the pre-dawn twilight sky that surrounds it, but it is sitting very low in the northeast - sinking ever-closer to the rising sun. Venus will be rising at about 5 am local time all week. 

But wait, there’s more! On Sunday, July 14, the dim and distant dwarf planet Pluto will also reach opposition. (After all, it IS sitting near Saturn this year.) On that date, Pluto will be the closest to Earth (4.91 billion km, or 273 light-minutes) and reach its greatest visual magnitude (+14.2) for 2019. Pluto will rise in the east at sunset and reach its highest elevation, over the southern horizon, at 1:20 am local time. While Pluto is far too dim to see in amateur-grade telescopes, an astronomy app can show you where it is compared to the brighter nearby stars. Even if you can’t see it directly, you will know that Pluto is there. 

Some Moonlight-Friendly Sights

While the moon will brighten evening skies all over the world this week, there are still plenty of sights to see.  

Stars shine with a colouration that is produced by their surface temperatures, and this is captured in their spectral classification. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle, namely Deneb, Vega, and Altair, are all A-class stars that appear blue-white to the eye and have surface temperatures in the range of 7,500 to 10,000 K. High in the southwestern sky, orange Arcturus is a K-class giant star with a temperature of only 4,300 K. Finally, reddish Antares, the heart of Scorpius, is an old M-class star with a surface temperature of 3,500 K. By comparing these stars colors’ to other stars, you can estimate those stars’ temperatures. The classification letters, from hottest to coolest are: OBAFGKM. Can you think up a mnemonic phrase to remember the order? I have one.

(Above: The bright stars of summer shine with different colours. Deneb, Vega, and Altair are hot white, medium-hot Arcturus is orange, and cooler Antares is closer to reddish. The sky is shown for early July at 10 pm local time.)  

The constellation of Lyra (the Harp) is positioned high overhead in late evening in early July. This constellation features a coffee and a donut! Keen eyes might reveal that the star Epsilon Lyrae, located just one finger’s width to the left (east) of the bright star Vega (Alpha Lyrae), is a double star. Binoculars or a small telescope will certainly show the pair. Examining Epsilon at high magnification will reveal that each of the stars is itself a double – hence its nick-name, “the double-double”. To see the donut, aim your telescope midway between the stars Sulafat and Sheliak, which form the southern end of Lyra’s parallelogram. Messier 57, also known as the Ring Nebula, will appear as a faint grey ring. Higher magnification works well on this planetary nebula – which is the corpse of a star that had a similar mass to our sun.

(Above: The constellation of Lyra, the Harp features summertime’s brightest star, Vega. It also contains a coffee and a donut - the double double-star Epsilon Lyrae and the Ring Nebula, respectively.)  

Mid-July evenings bring us one of the best asterisms in the sky, the Teapot in Sagittarius (the Archer). This informal star pattern features a flat bottom formed by the stars Ascella on the east and Kaus Australis on the west, a triangular pointed spout pointing west, marked by the star Alnasl, and a pointed lid marked by the star Kaus Borealis. The stars Nunki and Tau Sagittarii form its handle. The asterism reaches maximum height above the southern horizon around midnight, when it will look as if it’s serving its hot beverage – with the steam rising as the Milky Way! 

(Above: The stars of Sagittarius form a quaint Teapot-shaper asterism. The Milky Way rises like steam from its spout, as shown here at 11 pm local time in early July.)

The Summer Triangle

If you missed last week’s note about the Summer Triangle asterism, which shines high in the eastern sky every July, I posted it here. 

Public Astro-Themed Events

Taking advantage of the moon and other bright objects in the sky this week, the RASC Toronto Centre astronomers will hold their free monthly public City Sky Star Party in Bayview Village Park (steps from the Bayview subway station), starting around 8 pm on the first clear weeknight this week (Mon to Thu only). You don’t need to be an RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them – looks are free! Check here for details, and check the banner on their website home page or Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

On Tuesday, July 9, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour planetarium show will be Our Musical Universe. Find tickets and details here. 

Weather permitting, on Tuesday, July 9 from 9 to 10:30 pm, astronomers from RASC – Mississauga will hold a free public star party at the Riverwood Conservancy, 4300 Riverwood Park Lane, Mississauga. Details are here. 

On Thursday, July 11, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here. 

At 2 pm on Thursday, July 11, the Cliffcrest Library will present a free public talk by Dr. John Percy, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, in Astronomy & Astrophysics and in Science Education entitled The Amazing Universe. Check here for details. 

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, July 13 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

The next RASC Family Night at the David Dunlap Observatory will be on Saturday, July 13. There will be sky tours in the Skylab planetarium room, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 8:30 pm for a 9 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC Toronto Centre member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer form here. And to join RASC Toronto Centre, visit this page. 

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[jennamoran]

IOSHI (Part 6)

Hi!

Today we’re sharing a bit more of the cyberpunk setting I wrote in, I dunno, 2003?

So far,

we’ve had a basic introduction to what’s going on.

we talked about the core culture and a few subcommunities.

and a few more!

and another few!

and the last of them.

                Today, let’s talk about some system stuff!

                IOSHI System

For this version of IOSHI, we’re going to be using a variant on the basic diced Chuubo’s system:

basic rules here,

some more thoughts here,

stuff not quite on point for IOSHI here.

                We’re going to start with the base skills of:

Action — what you use in action scenes.

Connect — what you use to understand people, trust people, connect to them.

Endure — what you use to endure suffering, manage in harsh circumstances.

Perceive — what you use to sense things, be alert to them.

Research — what you use to look things up.

Sell — what you use to sell people on things.

Stealth — what you use to avoid notice.

Tactics — what you use for infiltration, combat, etc. plans. Also functions as Luck OOC.

                As in the original system, rolling can earn experience, which, in this setting, is fungible with money. That said, a successful roll does not fill the character’s wallet:

Either the character spends tabs earned this way on abilities learned through insight, or, he or she must wait until he or she earns miscellaneous funds of unstated quantity later in the story, at which point, he or she can reify some of their accumulated experience into those. The segregation of tabs into liquid and non-liquid forms is a measure taken to protect the player’s suspension of disbelief; if the player fails to keep careful track, no harm is done.

Characters can only earn tabs and bonuses from rolls the GM asked for, or, that the GM confirms are/were worth rolling. It is traditional for the GM to grant each player leeway on one triple/quadruple/quintuple per session, after which panic at the opportunity that was nearly lost should remind the player not to roll random things.

                How to Roll

A typical diced action rolls 5d6 — five six-sided dice. You’re looking for matches. I personally like to read these dice as (size of match x 10) + (result of match) — so, for instance, I’d read “two sixes” as 26.

This is really only useful for making it slightly easier to do comparisons between two competing characters’ results, though, so you can ignore that and just read that as “two sixes” if you’d prefer.

Each roll is tied to a specific Trait — you’re said to be “rolling” that Trait, e.g., your Research Skill. Here’s how you’ll read the result:

              Quintuples

This is an amazing, potentially even campaign-defining success. To whatever extent possible, this is a moment that changes everything.

The character gains 10‡. The relevant Skill goes up by +2 until the end of the session (max 10).

              Quadruples

These show up about 2% of the time, and represent amazing success.

The character gains 4‡. The relevant Skill goes up by +1 until the end of the session (max 8).

              Triples Below the Trait Level

Triples up to the character’s Trait level are an impressive success. They make the character seem smooth and professional even if he or she is not — or, at least, make the character seem good at whatever the player is rolling at. (If the player wants the character to seem dissolute or whatnot, this might result in the character having such a manner instead.)

The character gains 0.3‡. The relevant Skill goes up by +1 until the end of the session (max 6).

              Triples Over the Trait Level

Triples over the Trait level are an impressive success that could be attributed to luck or to skill as the GM prefers.

The character gains 0.3‡. The relevant Skill goes up by +1 until the end of the session (max 6).

              Doubles Up to the Trait Level

Doubles up to the character’s Trait level succeed (even if there’s also a set of doubles over the character’s Trait level). This is a standard RPG success.

The character gains 0.1‡.

              Failure

If the only doubles are over the character’s Trait level, the character fails. This uses the standard RPG concept of failure for the player group. For some groups, this will mean “the character does not accomplish what he or she attempted, with possible negative consequences.” For other groups, it will mean, “the character did well, but the situation became more complicated.” Other possibilities also exist.

              “Critical” Failure

If there’s no matches at all, that’s a “critical” failure — usually, the character manages to go in exactly the opposite direction of whatever the character was trying to do.

As compensation, the relevant Skill goes up by +1 until the end of the session.

              Other Stuff

Bonuses, conflicts, and penalties are handled as per the diced Chuubo’s rules.

            Buying the Basics

The eight base Skills above cost 3‡ per level, with up to 5 levels available.

Abstractly, without a specific archetype, the suggested starting layout is 2 points in each, for a total of 48‡.

Characters may also buy levels of physical attractiveness for 1‡ each. This is normally the result of cosmetic alteration, although the first point may be wardrobe, nutrition, or even — if that tab is spent in character generation — natural beauty. Characters can buy up to five levels of attractiveness, but only rare PCs or NPCs will have more than two.

They can buy Cred with a narrow organization (e.g., a single community) for 1‡ per level; with a larger or more powerful organization (e.g., a group of communities, or a widespread corporation) for 2‡ per level; with a major network of organizations (e.g., “technical communities” or “core culture”) for 4‡ per level. Again, 5 levels are available. Some tasks may not be possible without a base level of applicable Cred.

There will be other powers and miscellany at various costs.

From here on out, assume everything has five levels unless otherwise stated.

            Character Types

There are roughly 170 categories of IOSHI training. Each creates its own form of specialized hyper-competence. Characters can study almost any discipline, science, or occupation at the well, developing either general capability or a specific expertise. Players should nevertheless consider carefully before making inhumanly skilled chefs, tailors, or botanical scientists; these archetypes may prove ineffective in play.

Thirteen occupational categories have significant utility in a typical IOSHI game. Most characters should have IOSHI training that qualifies them for at least one of these occupations. Since the stars of the game are exceptional individuals, the player can freely assume that his or her character has significant natural talent for more than one of these occupations, mixing and matching these basic archetypes during character creation or advancement.

The archetypes, and their underlying talents, are:

Decker / Network Administration or Hacking;

Fire / Adaptable Physical Self-Image

Hunter / Data Mining or Private Investigation

Jockey / Flight-Suit Athletics

Knife Edge / Martial Arts or Gun Combat

Librarian / Digital Library Manipulation

Medic / Medicine

Rigger / Driving or Transportation

Shaman / Psychology (Understanding)

Shark / Business or Psychology (Manipulation)

Techie / Science or Engineering

Transcend / Adaptable Mental Self-Image

Visionary / Data Analysis

            IOSHI Training

When someone studies at the well, IOSHI tailors its knowledge into a form that that person can readily understand. That person receives this knowledge in a standardised fashion. First, an access chip is implanted in his or her brain. Then that character downloads his or her studies through a datajack into a two-level personal library stored on that chip. Level one stores the data image presented to the character by the well. The character actively thinks on that image and practices the techniques it contains. This produces a growing instinctive understanding of the subject matter. The chip’s second level stores a holographic record of the user’s comprehension, ensuring that the character does not forget the acquired knowledge later.

Typical player characters and many non-player characters have powers deriving from their IOSHI training. Players should be aware that the “librarians” — students of the data organization and chip design techniques that make IOSHI training possible — can potentially manipulate or interfere with these abilities. Augmenting a character’s well-based training with inherent skills, biotech, and cyberware makes him or her less vulnerable.

Studying at the well also makes a character susceptible to data taint. Using a filter when actually connected to IOSHI by datajack reduces this risk substantially but does not eliminate it. In particular, certain powers obtained through the well can acquire taint, making the character exceptionally vulnerable to the taint’s effects when using that power.

            Sidebar: Training Costs

As noted earlier, the standard unit of value in the late 21st century is the tab, denoted by the ‡ sign. Characters can spend ‡1.0 as a Character Point. Except in unusual circumstances, the Character Point cost of the relevant traits determines the cost of IOSHI training, cyberware and its implantation, and biotech mods.

End Sidebar

            Occupational Features

Not everyone has the raw aptitude for every career. Anyone can train at the well and develop mastery comparable to an early 21st century adept, but life reserves the heights of achievement for those with both natural talent and training. This natural talent is, loosely speaking, in the player’s hands, and follows their decisions as to what traits to buy.

The basic talents for an occupation are listed with that occupation. They do not in and of themselves represent an overwhelming level of skill but manifesting one or more is a strong indication that the character has aptitude. They cost ‡1.0 each.

More impressive abilities generally have a higher cost. The templates to follow list a number of possible abilities for each category of training. Characters can ignore some or most of these abilities and still qualify as experts in their field. A few of these abilities will represent traits commonly associated with an occupation rather than powers that derive directly from it.

            Notes on Training

Certain abilities do not derive directly from training, even when listed with the character templates to follow. IOSHI training encourages certain character types to develop or buy these abilities but does not necessarily imbue characters with them directly. Characters are assumed to hire agents and servants, obtain cred, build or buy gadgets, toughen their physical body, and accumulate wealth on their own. This means that if a character buys such things through IOSHI training, a librarian’s manipulation cannot affect them; for instance, if a librarian disrupts the effects of a decker’s training, the software agents that that training has encouraged him or her to purchase will not mysteriously disappear.

Characters can purchase many abilities as biotech, cyberware, or training outside of the well. The normally available options will appear later on.

            Decker

Mission Statement: “I control the world of information.”

            Summary

Deckers program and operate software defences. They can also circumvent those defences with the reflexive grace of a master thief picking a tumbler lock. Breaking into systems requires the same skills as protecting them from intrusion, so rogue deckers and corporate deckers receive similar training. In human eyes, deckers are network security experts. In the eyes of the programs, deckers are ruthless killers, leaders, and gods.

In Tartessos, software defines the order of the world. Various unpredictable and quasi-intelligent programs squat atop essential services and manage society like little gods. When citizens delegate certain aspects of their lives to software, they hand over part of their self-determination not just to their own software but to the data environment in which it lives. They cannot easily discard the advice of their programs in these matters. Doing so would put them out of synch with the function of the society around them, which they cannot afford unless they have the ability, time, and power to handle that aspect of their lives themselves.

Deckers are at the mercy of their code, just like most other characters, but their situation is more balanced. They can impose their own will effectively on the software governing their life, tailoring it to better suit their agendas and desires. Deckers know, where many others do not, that accepting the aggregate will of the structure around them is at best unnecessary and at worst a temporary compromise.

Suggested starting traits for a decker are

Action 1 — what you use in action scenes.

Connect 1 — what you use to understand people, trust people, connect to them.

Endure 0 — what you use to endure suffering, manage in harsh circumstances.

Perceive 3 — what you use to sense things, be alert to them.

Research 4 — what you use to look things up.

Sell 1 — what you use to sell people on things.

Stealth 2 — what you use to avoid notice.

Tactics 4 — what you use for infiltration, combat, etc. plans. Also functions as Luck OOC.

They can buy up to 3 points of Edge against attacks on their brain or mind through the deck interface at a cost of ‡1.0 each.

            Identifiers

Deckers often identify with artistic, corporate, criminal, maenadic, and technical cultures. Their appearance, mannerisms, and clothing reflect a confusing melange of these themes. Most have very technical hobbies and secondary skills — scientific pursuits, technological pursuits, or time-wasters that rely heavily on the net. Deckers tend to have extremely elegant and impressive avatars. This gives them ranges of expression that pre-packaged software cannot provide.

           Cred

Deckers often have cred with artists and technical communities. Some have cred with secure communities and street culture as well. That said, social influence is not their strength:

A recommended starting point is 1-2 points of level 1 Cred.

            Talents

The basic Decker Talent (for ‡1.0) is a +2 Tool bonus on Perceive, Research, or Decking rolls to:

identify security practices and software encountered in the net; or

find online resources and locations.

                      The character can take this talent a second time to increase the Tool bonus to +3.

            Attributes

This section lists common decker abilities and how a character can purchase them in the IOSHI setting.

The core Decking Skill costs ‡10.0 per level. It allows the character to operate in the world of software without comparative disadvantage. Sometimes that’s absolutely vital, and operating without it does not even allow a roll; other times, it simply removes a point or two of the system’s Edge. Decking is generally capped by the character’s relevant base Skills — for instance, a decker needs Stealth 2 to apply Decking 2 to avoid a system’s notice.

Several character types—including deckers, hunters, and certain knife edges—know how to forcibly crack sealed databases open. The Force Database specialty costs ‡3.0 per level and adds a Tool bonus to the character’s Decking or other Skill when extracting and parsing data from software sources that either physical reality or virtual reality considers “local.” Deckers, and specifically deckers, sometimes buy a Crack Software version of this specialty, costing ‡5.0 per level, that can extract data from all software and not just passive data stores — e.g., from the working memory or specifications of a security system.

Online Combat, for ‡4.0 per level, grants +1 Edge per level in a conflict against hostile software.

Software Subversion, for ‡7.0 per level, acts as Connect and Sell when interacting with software — the character can intuitively relate to it, harmonize with it, and twist it to their ends. It adds to Decking for these purposes, and the sum isn’t limited by the character’s base Connect or Sell.

Technical Mastery grants a Tool bonus to Endure rolls to customize one’s equipment. It costs 1.5‡ per level — or 1‡ if it only applies to software.

            Software Agents

Most characters can find some use for software agents that act on their behalf in the net. Deckers use them as assistants; hunters have them monitor data sources; sharks use them to help organise their affairs; and ordinary Tartessians use them to make their lives more convenient. Intelligent agents with a personality patterned after the character’s are usually called PIPE programs or PIPEs; they cost 5‡. Unintelligent or semi-intelligent agents range from toys that a competent decker can download and strip of viruses for free to somewhat useful tools usually costing up to 1‡. (Tartessian norms cluster many agent prices around 0.07‡ at the low end and 0.72‡ at the high end.) Note that communication between a character and his or her software agents is vulnerable to delays due to network distance.

A typical “toy” provides the character with a running feed of local street maps and architectural plans. A typical PIPE slaughters hostile software that tries to monitor the character’s activities.

A typical investment in this kind of equipment is either 5-6‡ or 11‡.

          Sample Decker

A sample, narrowly focused decker might spend:

48‡ on base traits,

2‡ on cred,

20‡ on Decking 2,

5‡ on a PIPE,

1‡ on the decking talent, and

4‡ on four levels of Technical Mastery for software.

         (to be continued! Probably with fires, hunters, and maybe jockeys.)

        Developer’s Notes

I hate working on these kinds of systems. The costs will forever look arbitrary to me.

Secret confession:

This does not mean I hate playing in this kind of system.

[chysgoda]

Let's talk about oaths

In which Art’imis loses her temper and Solkazgyl has a bad day

It was a nice day in Camp Dragonhead. A clear sky and warm sun brightened most moods and all the threats that they watched for were quiet. a good day to catch up on outdoor chores or just to feel like a person for half a bell. So one no begrudged the commander or the couple of Fortemps dragoons that had pounced on the opportunity to catch up when all of their schedules aligned on such a nice day.  

Dinadan noticed the group walking into the camp first. Art’imis he recognized first, her scale mail hauberk and white cloak had become as regular a sight as any of his brother and sister dragoons in the congregation. The other three he did not recognize at all. He elbowed Matthaios in the ribs to get the other dragoon to shut up for a moment. “Who are the foreigners with Art’imis?”

Haurchrfant leaned forward to get a better look. “That would be Lord Papashan and Captain Jenlyns of the Sultansworn they passed through here a few days ago. I do not know the Roegadyn however.”

Matthaios turned as well and frowned. Tension sparked off the group and it was obvious that the Hyru and Lalafel between Art’imis and the Roegadyn were keeping the pair apart. “Something’s going on there.”

“Indeed,” Haurchefant agreed. He rolled his shoulders back picking up the mantle of commander again. Matthaios and Dinadan glanced at each other as the fell into step with the Silver Fuller.  

The Au’ra paladin glanced their way and shook her head as their group approached the chocobo porter’s station near the main gates. She looked back down the the older lalafel walking next to her “which route will you return by?”

“Revenant’s Toll, There are still remnants of the 14th legion in Northern Thanalan that are causing trouble.” Papashan said easily. “Captain Jenlyns wants to assess if the Sultansworn can aid in the efforts there.”

Dinadan let out a relieved breath when Art’imis smiled with honest approval. “Field work will be good for them. Thank you for keeping an eye on things in Ul’dah for me Papashan.”

The lalafel waved off the thanks with a huff, “I kept an eye on things long before you were born welp.”

Art’imis chuckled fondly tension beginning to leave the line of her shoulders. “I shall pray to the Dawn Father and Halone that you and Captain Jenlyns have a safe journey.”

The roegedyn snorted in amusement, “nothing for an old teacher Art’imis?”

All the tension snapped back into the free paladin’s shoulders. Next to her Papashan pinched the bridge of his nose. Art’imis’ lips pulled back and up in what was technically a smile but reminded Dinadan more of hunting wolves. “Nothing other than to let you know that you’ve no need to visit Falcon’s Nest. I’ll keep an eye on Constaint.”

“It’s hardly a bother to -” the Roegadyn’s eyes narrowed at his fellow free paladin

Art’imis interrupted before he could finish, “Solkazgyl, Let me clarify what I mean. Do not come back. You’ve done enough, and more damage besides.”

“Poaching students is rather poor form Art’imis.”

“As is abandoning a student for the sake of theatrics. Shall we compare sins?”

Dinadan tensed when the roedadyn’s sword hand flexed and Art’imis shifted her shoulder in preparation of using her shield. The two Sultansworn noticed as well. Jenlyns stepped between the two Free Paladins. “We need to be moving on Solkazgyl.”

The Roegadyn ignored the Sultansworn captain and stepped to side so that line between himself and Art’imis was clear again. “He would have been fine without your interference.”

“If by fine you mean dead, than yes he would have been.” Art’imis snapped back. “You manipulated a child into seeking out a death cult whose standard battle strategy is to summon void sent!”

“It was merely a test of conviction, you were tested in the same way.” Solkzagyl waved a dismissive hand.

“Three moons between when you first put a blade his hand and when you abandoned him. Mylla wouldn’t have even let him spar with how little you showed him.” Rage made the Auri’s words sharp. If she’d been a dragoon Dinadan wouldn’t have been surprised to see dragonfire flicker along her skin. Her left hand hovered above the hilt of her sword on her right hip.

“Art’imis,” Haurchefant called firmly. Her head snapped around to him a hissed response half formed before her better sense checked her wrath and she snapped her jaw shut. The Fortemps knight held the younger woman’s eyes and she dropped her hand from the hilt of her sword and nodded an acknowledgment.

“Well now that some of us have thoroughly out stayed our welcome we shall be off.” Papashan said, dry as the Sangolii desert. “My apologies for the disturbance Ser Haurchefant.”

Dinadan kept his eyes on the Roegadyn as Matthaios stepped to the side leaving a space for the small paladin to join them. Solkzagyl frowned at Art’imis’ back as she turned away from him.

< He’ll provoke her, He wants the fight.> Gorebash whispered a warning.

“Art’imis,” the Roegadyn called out, “did you fight that duel in ernest?”

“No.” The Au’ra didn’t turn back to him when she spoke. The insult plain in her body language, he was not a threat to her and it was not worth the effort of turning and looking him in the face.  

“Ah, well I think I will certainly be back than. It would be a shame if the boy learned to apply himself unevenly.” The roegadyn’s weight shifted to the balls of his feet. “I’d have thought you would have learned better after what happened to the Sultana under you care.”  

Dinadan would always remember the aetheric copy of Art’imis’ shield flying towards Solkazgyl as being the first thing that happened even when nearly everyone moved at the same time. Both Jenlyns and Papashan rounded on the Roegadyn flushed with anger. Haurchefant reached out to hold back Art’imis as both he and Matthiaos pulled their lances from their backs. The Au’ra paladin ducked under the Fortemps knight’s arm and had her sword drawn and shield in place before she took her first full stride.

Solkzagyl took half a step back in preparation to catch a shield that became nothing but sparks of aether. He recovered well, but his sword had only just cleared its scabbard when Art’imis invaded his space. The keen edge of her blade slicing through the  silk and wool just under the bottom edge of his breastplate. She dragged the cut with her as she rushed by and it found flesh and blood. She was past him then, just a head of his retaliation, and into the snow fields on the other side of the gate.

Dinadan’s eyes locked on the gleam and flash of light on the edge of Art’imis’ blade and followed its arc as she turned herself back to face the gate. She brought the blade up before her almost like she was saluting an dueling partner, the light flashing and gleaming again as a snap of her wrist showed the flat of the blade and the ruby rivulets of blood that were pulled in from the edge of the blade to gather in the fuller crystal bright-  His dragon wrapped around his senses and pulled his attention away from the light playing on the blade, it was almost physically painful. <Do not be distracted!> Gorebash hissed. <That trick is not for you.>

He blinked and assessed the situation, at least half of the knights of Camp Dragonhead were unnaturally focused on the Au’ra paladin. Both Haurchefant and Matthiaos watched with thinking focus. The Silver Fuller frowned deeply his eyes darting from his people to the Free Paladins squaring up outside his gates. The Sultansworn also seemed to have resisted the aether light that still tried to pull at his focus. The old lalafel had thrown out an arm to keep Captain Jenlyns from stepping in. Solkazgyl stalked towards the smaller Paladin who kept the space between them, backing up to draw her opponent further away from the gates. The pull on Dinadan’s attention stopped abruptly and he wasn’t sure if it was distance or if Art’imis has simply stopped putting effort into whatever it was.

“Back to your posts!” Haurchefant barked at his men who were shaking off the effects as well. The Silver Fuller looked at the two dragoons who nodded and then he turned to the gate and trekked out after the dueling Paladins. The two Sultansworn feel into step with them.

The two fighters had closed the distance between them and begun to fight in earnest when the five of them got close enough to see and hear the fight clearly. Art’imis was lighter on her feet than the Roegadyn and had no hesitation about taking whatever shot was open to her, but she did not have the same mass to back up her strikes. It was unnerving watching the small woman take blows that would fell most of the Knights in the Congregation. It shouldn’t have been so disquieting, Dinadan had seen her take the full force of a dragons lashing tail on her shield and keep her feet.  But The shapes here were different here, Art’imis’ size made her look childlike in comparison to her opponent. It looked to much like a child being meanced. He picked up the pace just a bit-

“Stop!” Papashan called out with the authority of an old captain. He darted in front of their group to stop their forward motion.

“She can’t mean to-“ Jenlyns gasped and then darted forward to stop them as well.  Ahead of them Dinadan could have sworn he saw the name of the Furry tumble from the Auri’s lips as she deliberately dropped to one knee as if in prayer. White fire crashed to the ground in a solid circle. A pained and surprised shout rang out from inside the light.

When the light faded Art’imis was on her feet again. Solkzagyl’s chest heaved with pain and rage as he climbed back up from his knees. “You dare call her scorn down on me?!”

“Did you not wish to fight in earnest?” Art’imis snarled at him. “Is this not what you wanted? To face the Eikon Slayer and prove that it is you who should hold leadership among us all, Sultansworn and Free Paladin alike?”

The pair closed on each other again to focused on their wrath to pay any heed to outsiders. Captain Jenlyns grimaced everytime a blow hit home on either fighter. Haurchefant rested his hand on the hilt of his sword but had not yet drawn. Aether made the air reek with a smell like tin that was so strong Dinadan could taste it. Swords bounced and deflected off of shields that formed of aether while the blow was swinging in. His heart stopped for a beat when the Roegadyn caught Art’imis’ shield and swung it out away from her.  She let it go rather than be knocked off balance. Solkazgyl’s smirk was an ugly thing as he stepped back, mouth opened to offer a chance of surrender. Art’imis did not stop, with her right hand she gripped the blade of her sword halfway down from the hilt. She changed the grip of her left hand as she raced ahead and swung the hilt of her sword like a war hammer. The crossguard smashed into the first wound she’d laid on him. He choked on a gasp and staggered back but she kept with him plowing her shoulder into his side and taking advantage of the momentum the stager had started. The giant fell and she jumped to the side and stomped on the wrist of his sword arm. When the fingers spasmed she kicked the sword away.  She pressed the tip of her blade against the side of Solkazgyl’s throat.

She turned her head and spat blood into the snow. “Dawn Father forgive me, but you have found the absolute limit of my patience.”

The Roegadyn opened his mouth and Art’imis pressed the blade hard enough to almost break the skin. “No Solkazgyl, for once in your life you will listen. You preach endlessly about conviction and the importance of keeping oaths, but somehow you never take actual responsibility for those oaths. You throw one of the worst nights of my life in my face and dare to say that I lack conviction. Where was yours? Where were you when the Brass Blades and Crystal Braves seized the palace? Did you not swear to protect the house of Ul? Where were you when the wine was poured and I watched a sister claw at her throat trying to get air? Where were you when I was choking on the vapor of a silencing potion? Where were you when your brothers in the Sultansworn were attacked?”

Art’imis took a deep breath trying to contain her wrath. “Ever since Papashan put me on your trail I have found naught but confusion, fear, and death in your wake. Do you know how many were hurt by your damned theatrics? Do you know how many travelers fell prey to the cultists? Do you know how many knights of House Haillenarte were injured in the Sea of Clouds? You chose to let murders wander loose so that you could play your game. Did we both not swear our swords and shields in defense of innocents? Of those who could not shield themselves? So once again you are forsworn. For what? That you might teach the Sultansworn a lesson they already know far better than you?”

“Art’imis,” Haurcefant stepped closer to the woman. “You need to stand down.”  

Art’imis blinked realizing that there was a cut on Solkazgyl’s throat that was steadily trickling blood.  She sheathed her blade and crouched down so that she could snatch the winged circlet from Solkazgyl’s head and claim her prize. “Do not presume to interfere with what is mine again.”

No longer threatened by the closeness of Art’imis’ sword Solkazgyl sat up. “And you presume to claim all of Ishgard as your own?”

“Yes,” Art’imis spoke with a conviction and heat that reminded Dinadan of the white fire she’d called down. “Mine to protect, my sanctuary to maintain, my kith and kin to shield. You will not interfere with what is mine. Now leave, and do not darken my door again.”

Papashan had collected Art’imis’ shield and handed it back to her when she walked away from Solkazgyl.  The lalafel turned to the Commander of Camp Dragonhead. “Given the circumstances we would take no offense should you chose to assign guards to see us to your border without further incident.”  

“I do believe I will.” The Silver Fuller said flatly. “I trust you and Captain Jenlyns can keep your friend here until I send my men out?”

“Of course.” Papashan turned to consider Art’imis. He nodded to the circlet in her left hand. “I do believe that will look better on you. And since I rather think you bear the Fury’s favor already I will pray that your Dawn Father will take watch over your good sense.”

The free paladin flinched a little at the subtle reprimand of her loss of temper. Haurchefant rested a hand on Art’imis’ shoulder as they turned away from the Ul’dan group. The dragoons feel into step with them, closing ranks as they returned to camp dragon head.

Jenlyns watched realizing on some level he had taken for granted that Art’imis would one day return to call Ul’dah home, come back to the familiarity of training with his men between adventures or helping teach recruits at the Gladiators guild. “I did not realize how much I assumed she would return to Ul’dah once all was made right.”

Papashan glanced up when the Captain made the quiet confession.  Before looking back to the Ishgardians walking back into the safety of Camp Dragonhead. “Allegiance must run both ways to have any strength. The Warriors of Light gave Eorzea their faith and blood, the Eorzean Alliance repaid them with distrust and abandonment. If they’re needed they will come, it’s in their nature to. I do not think they’ll ever give us their trust again though.”

Silence fell until three knights wearing the colors of House Fortemps came out confirming Papashan’s words with finality.  

Notes

So I have lots of feelings about the 50-60 PLD questline, Frustration, Bafflement, and WTF mostly. So much about this line made me so mad. Among them just the straight up lack of sense the whole thing made and then the ingame admission of yea we know it’s stupid. Also the final duty was a serious let down? Like the duties with the Deaths Embrace required a lot more effort and then you get to Solkazgyl’s little tournament and he’s just not that hard a fight. Probably because the big blue jackass spends more time perfecting his dramatic entrances. Also it feels like Constaint is like stupid quick at picking up fighting skills given that the implication is that he hadn’t known Solkazgyl for that long before he “died”.    

Timeline wise I had the PLD quests done before I got to the great dravanian road trip so in my head this is all wrapped up before Alphinaud and Tataru get accused of heresy.

[hypeathon]

RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 10 Production Analysis

Previous Volume 6 Production Analysis Posts:

Chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight & nine

The first RWBY episode of 2019 also marks what seems to be the beginning of the last act of this volume. By now, this usually means action sequences and coordination and entanglement between various characters. But how does all of that hold up in this chapter’s presentation?

Since the first scene in this episode involves a cooperative operation between the main cast and Saphron’s family, now is as good of a time as any to go into one character in particular. Adrian is... a fascinating character to put simply, though it’s not just because of what he’s capable of but also because of how he exists. Though not common, models of kids and animals have existed before in the show, but never a fully rigged model of an infant. The closest instance there was of one prior was in the premiere chapter of this volume and even then, the model wasn’t really moving at all. Given his body size, it would not be surprising if Adrian’s model was entirely key-animated which can potentially lead to some awkward motion to make a baby’s fidgety nature look and feel right. But not as much has been needed out of Adrian’s animation outside of a few giggles and small gestures, with one exception of course but more on that in a bit. One last note, Adrian has an actual “voice actor” despite not having any audible words named Lucella Wren Clary who is actually lead producer for volume 6, Joe Clary’s baby daughter.

Going back to Adrian’s animation, the whole opening scene with him, Saphron, Weiss and Caroline was animated by Colin McAtee, Alex Hoyle, Vince Cappelluti and Hannah McCravy. Most of these animators, have been mentioned before through these analyses with the exception of Alex, who confirmed to specifically have done the cut with the Nubuck guards trying to tend to Adrian’s fake crying whereas Colin supposedly animated the cuts that came right before and after. Colin also stated that Kerry Shawcross gave them quite a bit of freedom regarding how to animate the characters. Since Kerry became the main director of the show back in 2015, he has been accused of having a draconian grip over what animators are or are not allowed to convey, namely with fight scenes. This has stemmed from some critics wanting a justification to point fingers at someone for not having certain aspects of the show be as ideal as they want without needing to spend time fact-checking. The reality is that Kerry will always have a vision for how he wants a given scene to be expressed, he simply needs to as the director. However, he is willing to let any animators assigned to a scene (as well as storyboard artist, camera layout artists and whoever else involved) to provide their own creative input to depending on the scene. With some exceptions, he’s actually more easy-going with action sequences than dialogue ones, the latter involves the animators being more precise with character acting (and the animators themselves don’t usually mind it either). So to see confirmation that he gave the assigned animators more creative freedom with the Adrian distraction scene is an interesting change of pace.

In the next scene at the cliff side, there is concept art accompanied with a couple of set design notes. First is, “boulders cover path & jut up from rock wall along entire cliff side” while the other says, “Path width: 20-30 ft, tree height: 30 ft”. In the first place, these design notes are likely to provide details for environment modeling team to maintain the dimensions and key features of a given setting. That said, these same pieces of information can also help give an idea as to what is in store for the story from here on. Between the boulders and trees, they may potentially serve as cover for the main cast once they start fighting Cordovin’s mech. It’s also possible that the height of the trees specifically may serve for another fight within this episode, but more on that later. One other quick thing to mention are the splash effects at the bottom of the cliff side. Splashes have been done before in the show, but given the setting, it’s appropriately presented with more nuance.

Taking a moment to skip ahead, this is a good opportunity to touch on the visual effects in this episode a bit. More specifically, the effects when Cordovin fires the warning shot from her mech. There is a lot of great timing with the build-up where the ball of energy swells up in small bursts within the cannon while a shock wave releases to help sell that effect. The small shock waves themselves also dissolve into particles which were an interesting touch. The swelling ball also has two bits of animation going on in which the layer of roundish shapes give off a backspin while the slender pen-stroke like shapes spin to the left. The best comparison to make would be the way veteran animator of the Pokemon franchise, Masaaki Iwane, animates effects such as explosions and flames. Iwane very similarly uses that swelling build-up effect in many instances such as this sequence in Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back and this one (about 54 seconds in) from Pokemon: Spell of the Unknown. Describing all of this is frankly very difficult but that is simply a testament to how intricately handled the visual effect itself is from just one cut alone. This is not even counting the next cut of when the cannon fires. From then on, there is an extended swelling effect from the ball of energy as well as small sparks appearing in the form of particles and streams. Once the cannon does fire, we see a couple of split-second white flashes on the screen. This is honestly the only part where a small opportunity was missed to capitalize on the effect and apply something called impact frames. They are basically effects in the form of a few frames that are inverted in color to make a sort of flash to help give off the sense of impact as the name suggests. The white flashes from when the cannon fired almost did something like this and could have benefited from adding say, a more blackened silhouette of the mech and the burst from the cannon, similar to what was seen in these stills which may have come from this sequence in Naruto Shippuden.

Despite calling the lack of impact frames a missed opportunity, it’s also nitpicking, as it doesn’t take away from the outstanding work done in just one instance. It is hard to tell how much of each aspect of the moment was due to the visual effects team or the compositing team or whether 2-D Effects artist, Myke Chapman had any part at all in say, the sparks all over the control panels in the ship Weiss and Maria hijacked. Regardless, this is the most creatively handled work from those departments done yet, outmatching that of the electricity swirling around Hazel’s arms in volume 5 or Cinder’s wind column in chapter 5 of this volume.

With all of that gushing of the effects out of the way for now, let’s rewind back to a scene with Maria and Weiss being found out by Cordovin. In terms of animation, there was one bit of confirmation from Nyle Pierson and what he contributed to this episode, that being the comedic and now meme-worthy part where Maria is chewing cashews. If you recall, Nyle was also the one that confirmed to have animated Ruby’s reaction to seeing Jaune’s sister as well as Blake and Yang treading through the snowstorm to the shed. With three confirmed sequences, this should help give a small idea of how he animates. His timing with character acting can be a bit comparable to Hannah Novotny’s in terms of how he applies small bits of anticipatory action before body gestures or head shifts. That said, they don’t approach animating mouths and eye pupils the same. Where Hannah is more likely to shrink the pupils and makes a snarl mouth shape when say, characters get angry (in fact, she may have animated Cordovin threatening Maria through the intercom), Nyle keeps pupils fairly dilated and the mouth movements can be similar to characters in various Sonic the Hedgehog games. 

One aspect of this episode’s production that has been neglected are the storyboards and that’s because there was not much to highlight. Or rather, it was a struggle to find anything to bring up. Part of the problem was that aside from a couple of having establishing shots that make note of the terrain of the different characters and Qrow being framed at certain moments to show him being opposed to everyone else’s plan, the visual direction felt standard overall. There was one fairly clever instance of Qrow blaming himself where the main cast were several feet away from him, only for Ruby to wind up in front of him a few shots later after talking some sense into him (along with an interesting “misty” effect likely from the compositing). Other than that, not much else. That is not meant to be taken as a criticism so much as an observation. Not every episode needs to hit it right out of the park, as this one served as mostly a build-up episode. That said, there’s also the matter that in this episode, there were six storyboard artists which makes this and chapter 2 the most credited. This is strange because usually, an episode will vary from 3-5 storyboard artists and the number is never really dependent on episode length either. Chapter 3, the longest episode in the series (not counting credits) had only Rachel Doda, Kevin Harger and Mari Yang credited while chapter 4 which served as a transition episode, ran only at 13 in-a-half minutes and had all of the previously mentioned names as well as Emily Little, making for four artists. It’s honestly unclear as to why this type of pattern occurs aside from maybe scheduling. 

Moving on to the last segment of this episode, we have the start of a fight sequence between Blake and Adam. As much praise as there was with the effects from the cannon fire prior, the moment where Adam launched his attack at Blake was nothing to sniff at either. The attack came with everything expected from what Adam has done before where the screen dims and parts of his body glow. But this time, some black and red-colored spark effects were added which have never been done before and thus gave off an extra menacing feel. The effects of the slicing wave were also a little different from his character short where in that instance, it felt more like a stream of wind. Here though, the shapes are more defined with a heavy blur layered on top. Then there’s the animation. The only animator confirmed to have had a part in Adam and Blake’s fight this episode was John Yang who very likely animated this segment, though it’s unclear whether he animated anything after that though. John has been involved with the show since volume 5 and some of his previous sequences include Blake firing on Ilia which came prior to Kim Newman’s sequence, Oscar vs Leo, Ozpin vs Hazel, and part of Maria vs the bandits. In the chapter 1 production analysis, I speculated that he may have done Oscar leaping from train car to train car to get to Dudley. After some observation, I’m more convinced that he actually animated Qrow’s initial fight against the Sphinx Grimm and Ruby and Weiss helping Oscar defeat the Manticore Grimm. The way John times movement is with a brief but explicit sense of anticipatory action before each strike and movement is suddenly unleashed. The movements and strikes feel swift but intense in ways that feel a bit similar to animation director for volume 6, Joel Mann. In fact, John’s sense of timing can be compared to animator Yuya Takahashi who depending on whp you talk to, is known for contributing to various fan-favorite sequences in both Dragon Ball Super and Fairy Tail.

All of that aside, one last thing of note towards the end of the sequence were the cold-air effects when Blake and Adam spoke their lines, likely done by the compositing team. This was a neat touch in that it helped indicate the temperature of where they are. It’s one of those neat attention to details that along with the dust particles showing through the light in Lionheart’s office in chapter 1 of volume 5, many viewers would not think of acknowledge but none-the-less add a touch to the atmosphere.

That marks the end of this production analysis. This one was admittedly a bit more scarce and scattered in terms of what to talk about, but the parts that were noteworthy through the presentation definitely had much to breakdown. With the first of what seems to be a set of action-oriented episodes out of the way serving as build-up, we seem to be in for a bit of a wild ride as teased by assistant lead animator, Melanie Stern. Here’s hoping that there will be quite a bit more to touch on through the production of the next chapter.

[indianwebsitecompany]

12 Essential Elements Of an Effective E-commerce Website Design

A good e-commerce website design India should have all the necessary attributes to attract, impress and convert your audience into your customers. It should possess the magnetism that whosoever visits your website should not leave the site without making a purchase. It should provide a great user experience from start to the end of the customer journey so that the next time your customers require something they know where to go. There are innumerable e-commerce websites on search engines and numerous similar to your kind of product and services. Moreover you have a very short span of time to invite, impress and impel your users to buy from your site. Attract your online shoppers. Your time starts now.

Website designers incorporate websites with elements like animation, 360 degree product previews, dynamic product search, advanced filtering etc to engage customers but despite of all these aspects they fail to convince customers. This is because certain basic features are left unattended. Your website must be:

User Friendly

If your customers are finding it difficult to understand your e-commerce website or finding it complicated to search for their requirements then all your efforts and money will go in vain. It is good to work upon the aesthetics but not at the cost of losing simplicity or ease of use. The objective is to help shoppers get to what they want faster. Providing shopping categories, filters, enhanced yet ducksoup functionality and comparison capabilities.

Mobile Friendly

50% of e-commerce transactions are executed through mobile phone. Be it 50 products or 50000 if your website is not responsive or compatible with all devices it can annoy your users to bounce off your site immediately. You cannot afford to lose your customers. Your e-commerce website should have the competitive edge.

High Quality Photos and Video

Images and videos are of immense importance in e-commerce website design. Along with detailed product description your website should possess high defined images to entice the customers. In fact not just one, your users want to see products from different angles along with zoom in features for convenient analysis before they buy. Your images should also be well optimized. Images that don’t load or take too long to load will see a consumer drop-off rate of 39%, according to Adobe.

Testimonials

Shoppers read reviews on e-commerce websites. About 95% of them, in fact. And 57% of consumers will only use a business if it has 4 or more stars. Its okay even if you have some negative reviews. This ensures trust of the users that the product, company or reviews are not fake.

Related Products

This is an immensely successful feature of an online store. Related items not only mean other items in similar category, but also items corresponding to the item your customer is looking for. For instance, if your customer is searching for girl’s dresses and they get hairbands, girls bellies or other such accessories connected with it, they feel delighted that they are being understood and there are high chances that they shop the product along with related products. They get deeper into the site as there search is now enhanced. This increases time of customer engagement as well as sales. Related feature is advantageous in three ways:

It spurs excitement and curiosity

your customers get more options in a particular category that can increase their sopping list

More options also gives them a chance to compare and even continue sticking to your e-commerce site decreasing the bounce rate.

Related items can also include similar product categories to comparison shop, “people who bought this item also searched for”, and so on.

Common Queries or FAQ’s

It is very important that your customer is totally satisfied before making the buying decision. All his queries need to be well answered and sorted, so that there is no confusion left to cancel the purchase The more detailed information is provided from the side of the seller the more credibility is built from the users side as it proves the authenticity of the seller and the product. When the users gets detailed information from your e-commerce site itself they get satisfied and will not waste time seeking information about the product from other sources. This prompts confidence and fast purchasing decision.

Bonding Through Social Media

Creating a bond with the customers is not a new tradition. It was prevalent even when there was no internet or social media. The radio jingles and use of product of a particular brand by generations made a strong bond between sellers and users in earlier times. The change is that now the shift has been made to social media.

Brands and online sellers that interact on an emotional level with their customers build brand trust and advocacy. Social connections are undeniable and it is easier now than ever to communicate with an audience. Linking social profiles and user-generated content to an e-commerce website are must-have features that offer brand character to online sellers.

Shoppers are filled with a relentless "buy now" and "get this" surge. It is those brands that socially connect with clients that build clients for life. They deliver goods that benefit others and that individuals care about.

A Secure E-commerce Website

It is your foremost duty to provide your customers with a secure platform where they can come and make online transactions without any fear or botheration.

SSL certificate: Establishes secure user-to-website connectivity. Before you trust an online store with your details, look for HTTPS and a green lock in the address bar. Select a vendor with name recognition for an SSL certificate. Symantec is almost always used by enterprise e-commerce giants.

Two-factor authentication: Provides an additional security layer by requiring a username/password and a code created by the system to be sent via email or text.

Use a firewall: Provides a gateway or wall between two networks and allows for the blocking of malicious traffic and permitted traffic.

Connection to privacy policy in footer: Addresses the privacy policies of the website and promises that consumer information is not shared with third parties.

Payment Options

Your e-commerce website needs to be incorporated with almost all payment options to avoid clogging the buying decision. If certain option is not there, make sure to explain why.

Transparency With Shipping Charges and Detailed Information

The number one explanation for customer annoyance and shopping cart abandonment is alarmingly unexpected shipping costs. It is crucial that e-commerce websites provide shipping data early in the process of checkout, including a cost-showing ZIP code calculator. Including time for delivery and options for quicker delivery is also beneficial. Sites should list countries outside the usual zones for shipping.

Interestingly, when free shipping is included, shoppers spend 30 percent more per order. Be sure to present free shipping codes via the header navigation on all pages of the web, if applicable.

Contact Page

Nothing creates confidence more than an unnecessarily obvious and well-presented "contact us" feature when it comes to operating an e-commerce site where most business takes place online. This is particularly true when high-end goods or technical items are sold. Never make it impossible for a customer to get in touch or ask for help. Consider a feature of the website as the contact page. Include numerous forms of reaching out, including mobile, email, and an online form. Be sure to add social connections and Google maps for locations to customer support.

The aim is to wish your customers confidence that you are authentic and they can reach out to you whenever they wish to from one option or the other.

Return Policy

Return policies are a critical aspect of every website for e-commerce. It should be clearly evident and well-written or explained in your return policy. This is another aspect of online sale that creates trust. It reassures customers that the brand is there for them whether they are dissatisfied or just need a different size.

In order to create great shopping experiences, e-commerce sites have an amazing opportunity to use tried-and-true features mixed with revolutionary new elements. Be it small business or big enterprise, you will require insightful assistance of best Indian website company. E-commerce web design company India provides unmatched e-commerce development services, a quintessential e-commerce web design at affordable e-commerce website design packages. Call Indian website company, the best e-commerce web design company.

Indian website company crafts exemplary e-commerce websites that are incorporated with all the necessary features that provide users with a pleasing shopping experience that will surely make them come over again and again. What are you waiting get assistance by best web design company in India at most economical e-commerce website design packages.

https://www.indianwebsitecompany.com/blog/ecommerce-website-design

[wiccan101]

A Defense Of A Mixed Economy

Whether its Anarchism or Totalitarianism. Capitalism or Socialism. There's really only one thing I can say on such matters. A mixed economy is sufficiently better, than unfettered capitalism or total socialism on the other. Anarchism doesn't work, because people with too much freedom are susceptible to do dangerous things with too much freedom, which is why governments are an evil necessary to form to prevent freedom being overly abused to such a great extent that it would put everyone's public safety at risk. Totalitarianism however doesn't work either because placing too much power into the state, prevents economic marketable growth and stunts personal development.

Capitalism however promotes a free market system whereby citizens are practically free to create almost any product or provide almost any service and ideally start their own business to make their own profits. One of the main selling points of capitalism is that it’s a system that primarily self-regulates. It’s meant to keep prices and the quality of products and services at least half way decent. Of course it doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the general idea. Another wonderful thing about capitalism is that it aims to preserve economic freedom from excessive government control. That’s a good thing. However, there is always at least some government regulation involved, as there should be in my opinion. Though most hard core capitalists believe in the French expression Laissez-Faire, which means “leave it alone.” They hold to the idea that if government would just stay out of the way and not legally interfere or try to regulate what business owners can and can’t do, all would go well. But in my view, as well as in the view of most leading economists, this is not realistic.

The list of corruption that rises under a completely free market, is too long to go into. But one quick example, is how oil companies would surely release far too many carbon emissions into the atmosphere during their production process if unregulated by the government. You know the old saying, “If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.” When unregulated, people will always eventually fall out of line. It’s kind of like when the teacher leaves the classroom, there will always be those children who will stand up on their desks, throw paper airplanes and spit spit-balls. Whatever margin for error is given, it will always be used to its fullest degree. So there must be at least some rules.

Capitalism, on its own, is not flawless, and is too often unfair. For example, it’s not fair that a young teenager can come out with a number one hit single of a song the singer didn’t even write and make millions, while a hard working adult works all day in the Sun, digging ditches, yet can barely feed his family or pay his rent. Wealth is often unjustly distributed. In fact, it is and has been the American way. In America, people can gain wealth by finding it, by winning it, by stealing it, or by inheriting it. Money is too often not truly earned.

Unfortunately, most capitalists think that competition, and free markets solve all problems. Competition is good, but too much competition can be a bad thing, leading to inferior products and/or services. For example, things are usually made just well enough to outdo the competition in order to maximize profits, which is unfortunately the real goal of most capitalizing Americans. Parts are often cheep, services are rushed, and many wear a fake smile while they trick you into paying for things you don’t really need. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, a “sink or swim” ideology. But thankfully capitalism, when properly regulated, does help to keep prices, product quality, and the government in check.

Socialism on the other hand is a system that promotes equal opportunity, financial safety nets, shared profits and shared sacrifice. Under pure socialism, every able-working person would always have a job and always have an income. Though we currently live within a dominantly capitalistic system, we do have many socialized programs and services like our public school system, our public libraries, the police and fire departments, Social Security, Medicare, and welfare programs like unemployment checks, food stamps, and Medicaid. Many socialized programs serve as a safety net for those who lose their jobs or become too ill to work. Imagine what would happen if your house caught on fire, yet for whatever reason, good or bad, you couldn’t afford to have the fire department come and put it out. Though your neighbors, who could afford to hire the fire department, chose to do nothing about it. In all likelihood, your house would burn down, along with damaging the homes of your neighbors who stood by. Therefore, at least some safety nets should be in place.

However, the word socialism has become demonized by capitalists and is now somewhat synonymous with Democrat. Some of the main complaints and concerns many have with socialism is that it increases the size of government, can lead to wasteful spending, and can encourage “social loafing” or laziness, whereby people who could work harder choose not to, because they believe other citizens will pick up the slack. Therefore, you get a lot of free-loaders riding the coat tails of others. I agree these are all very valid concern, but the solution is not to get rid of socialism altogether. Let’s not go from one bad extreme to the other and over compensate. When people abuse their car by speeding, making illegal turns, or getting into accidents it’s not logical to get rid of all cars or ban all driving. The answer is to find more ways to prevent people from taking advantage of the system. For example, social psychologists have discovered that having a good work plan, involving specifically assigned duties, and having fair evaluations of individual performances dramatically reduces social loafing.

But some still worry that individuality would become lost within a purely socialized society and argue that it would cradle and overprotect citizens. I agree this would likely be the case which is why I believe some capitalism is needed to help remedy those problems. We have to maintain a healthy level of individuality and personal reward. If you are familiar with many of my philosophical views, you will know by now that I always advocate balance in everything. Total socialized assistance is wrong and so is having absolutely no socialized assistance. The solution is in a careful balance between the two.

Many also argue that a socialized system can not be as financially successful as a capitalistic one. There was an economic experiment conducted by a Mayo high school student, in Rochester Minnesota, named Paul A. Leonard. The experiment was intended to compare the financial success between a capitalistic group and a socialistic group. The results showed that students performed more pushups and acquired more candy under a more stressful capitalistic system in comparison to a less stressful socialistic system. Even though Paul’s classroom experiment was only meant to be analogous to the real world, as all experiments are meant to be, I still thought the experiment was oversimplified. Paul’s experiment maintained ideal conditions and gave the false impression that pure capitalism would be a total success. For instance, he did not factor in important variables like unemployment, price fluctuations, inflation and deflation, and theft often found within a capitalistic system. A more accurate picture would have shown some students, within the capitalistic group, merely standing by to reflect the idea that no one could afford to hire them to do the pushups or students stealing candy from other classmates in order to survive.

In the real world, we are not just dealing with mere pieces of candy in exchange for pushups. In the real world, people suffer greatly. They become homeless, sick, and die when, for whatever reason, they fall behind. Anyone, regardless of how rich or good looking or decent, can eventually become down on his luck and find himself in desperate financial need. Don’t be naive thinking that as long as you do the right thing and work hard that you are completely safe from any financial collapse. The insensitivity of unbridled capitalism–a financial machine that cares only about itself, as a whole, and not the individual–will leave you far behind to be crushed within its gears and turbines. Yes, capitalism can make a nation more financially powerful, in the short run, but look at the costs. Most are overworked, over stressed, and can’t spend enough time with their loved ones. Children, on average, are not being properly raised. It’s not good to have an economic system which primarily focuses on acquiring money at almost any costs. The amount of money a nation makes should not be the only measure of its worth.

So it’s true that a purely socialistic system may not be as financially successful in the short run as a purely capitalistic system. However, a purely socialistic system profits in other ways. Such a system is often more humane, more compassionate, less stressful, and less corrupt than a purely capitalistic system. In simplest terms, whenever there is a gain, there will be a loss and for every loss there is a gain. This Yin-Yang effect is why I always advocate a combination of both systems. It comes back to the balancing act I strongly believe in.

Capitalists celebrate financial independence, self-reliance, and individuality, whereas socialists celebrate interdependence, cooperation, and community. These are all good qualities when properly balanced. Socialists hate unbridled capitalism and capitalists often criticize any form of socialism. But it’s unfortunate that many have not yet come to realize that some socialism is a good thing, just as some degree of capitalism is a good thing. Independence and self reliance are fine attributes, however, there are times when we not only need to depend on others, but should depend on others, because it allows us to be better people and it helps us to be more communal.

To sum up, pure unbridled capitalism is too insensitive, too selfish, and too cruel. It’s a cut-throat philosophy—an every man for himself ideology. With pure capitalism, there is an inescapable loss, and that is the nation’s moral sole. On the other hand, pure socialism can be overprotective and may inhibit individual recognition and rewards for personal efforts, talents, and strengths. Both capitalism and socialism, alone and independent of the other, are doomed to fail. However, both socialism and capitalism are needed. We need a system that provides incentives to work hard and rewards those who do, yet at the same time, a system that is compassionate enough to lend a helping hand when necessary—one that does not cruelly punish those who truly, for legitimate reasons and unjust circumstances, can’t work as hard or produce as much. Keep in mind that what affects one citizen ultimately affects all other citizens and one bad apple spoils the bunch. We are all apart of the same team whether we like it or not. So we need to start exercising a more cooperative effort in order for the human race to survive. It’s easy to do the wrong thing and it costs to do the right thing. We need a system that supports and maintains a healthy balance between capitalism and socialism, between competition and cooperation, between independence and dependence, between the private sector and the public sector, and between regulation and freedom.

Right now we are very out of balance, and as a result, nations are falling. When there are children who are not getting properly educated, it means something is wrong with the system. When people are starving, it means there’s something wrong with the system. When people can’t get proper healthcare, it means there is something wrong with the system. We must all pull our resources together to aid one another during these desperate times or the entire system will fall and all our cherished money will become completely worthless. Personally, I would prefer to trade in some of my cash to help my fellow man and to keep my sole in tact. Remember, what goes around comes around. The more you support your fellow citizens, the more they will be able to support you in your time of need. “All for one and one for all” should be the slogan for America . . . and the world.

Again, there is no perfect political system. No matter how well a system of government is designed and built, corruption will always manage to seep through the cracks. But, it’s our civil duty to do all we can to push back any and all forms of corruption and injustice as much as possible.

Down through the ages, we come closer and closer to creating the perfect society, even though we have had many setbacks. Like a pea rolling back and forth along the walls of a huge bowl, we are slowly but surely finding our way towards the center of equilibrium. Like a set of adjustable lenses the answers are coming into focus. Soon the arrow of correctness will hit the bull’s-eye straight enough.

Definitions of Capitalism & Socialism

Capitalism is an economic and political system (based on self-interest and competition) in which all the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated within a free market society.

Socialism is an economic and political system (based on group-interest and cooperation) in which all the means of production and distribution are collectively owned and operated by all members of a society.

[thesportssoundoff]

Ten incomplete thoughts on UFC 216

Due to work, I missed the main card except for the main event which I managed to get home in time for. Anyways here’s what I got based off of the prelims and the FX card.

1-  Demetrious Johnson is our ugly baby

This is a Jerry Jones-ism so forgive me but I think it fits if you think about it. Have you ever seen a couple that just had a baby---and the baby's ugly? To everyone on the outside, the baby is absolutely hideous looking but to THEM, to those parents, it's the most beautiful thing ever because its THEIR baby. Demetrious Johnson is our ugly baby. For some fight fans and casual consumers, Demetrious Johnson is a midget who has boring fights against limited competition with a weird personality. He lacks a demographic, a definable fanbase by which an organization can capitalize on his gifts. He's destined to be the guy or the man who fight fans have no interest in. His mere PRESENCE on a card or an event signifies skippable to them. He is almost a fan repellant at this point. He is, in many ways, an ugly baby.

But he's our ugly baby. He's the best fighter in the world as of right now. Where as other see boring fights over limited competition; we see dominant performances vs good fighters who would be great in a world where he doesn't exist. Whereas they see the hit but don't get hit style as boring, we see endless activity through a variety of channels designed to minimize risk BUT still promote action. He finishes fights. He challenges himself to be better. His dominant reign has never featured two fights alike and while you can be bored with the dominance, it's still dominance. It's still one man dominating a host of opponents of various shapes, sizes and styles. All of which unique, all of which remind you that what you're seeing is special and what everybody else sees is irrelevant. Who gives a shit if he's an ugly baby, he's YOUR baby.

Mighty Mouse, in a climate where fighting often and fighting consistently on TV isn't really worth as much as it should, will never be respected for what he is. He's our ugly baby; the thing only we can truly appreciate. You just gotta go with it.

2- The Uniqueness of Combat Sports; Good and Bad; was on display.

We begin with the good. The 1 v 1 nature of MMA (and boxing and etc) makes it so much more free flowing as to the how and why we get the matchups. There is no set schedule---so when Derrick Lewis hours before the show can't go? You just get another guy on display! Out comes Walt Harris who had a fight scheduled previously who gets bumped up the card. That's the fun thing about MMA; it's never always laid out to perfection but 9/10, it ends up being just fine. Instead of not getting a Werdum fight, we get Werdum vs Walt Harris on like six hours notice. That's really cool.

And the negative? Well in no other sport would an obvious matchup not happen on account of money. The brackets are what they are, the Yankees and Red Sox don't immediately get to play one another in the ALCS. Who wins is who wins. Tony Ferguson vs Conor McGregor is the fight to make under all categories except for one----which happens to be the biggest one. At the risk of upsetting the Nate Diaz fans, imagine if the Lakers last year took the place of the Spurs to ensure that the NBA would garner the biggest ratings for their playoffs. It'd be stupid---but MMA is a stupid sport sometimes. So we'll sit and wait to determine whether the right title fight will take place or whether the most economical title fight will take place. Either one will do.

3- Mighty should SERIOUSLY think about retiring.

There's a theory that flyweight would've had a better chance of surviving had it not been for Demetrious Johnson, the aforementioned ugly baby of MMA. Let's test that. Mighty Mouse should seriously consider pulling a GSP. Just take off for a while, work on the Fox team/whatever network is next team and provide analysis from a distance. When the opportunity arises for him to come back aka when there's a title fight that makes sense, he should return. Let's see if HE is the problem of it the division itself is a problem.

4- Tony Ferguson is a once in a decade type fighter

No, I don't mean that in the sense that he's a prodigious athlete or some special draw. He's not Conor or Ronda or whomever else has been tabbed with such a label.  I'm talking about a guy who is a fighting freak; one of those fucked up type of guys who has these fights that the average human being couldn't fathom and even pro fighters would try to avoid. He began the third round shouting at Kevin Lee about how this was going to be his round and he legit just marched dude down, ate whatever fire was coming his way, got up from takedowns and then when shit got hairy on the ground, he went elbows into armbar into triangle. Tony Ferguson fights with this unrelenting confidence and this air of inevitability. "At some point, I'm going to get you. And when I do? You aren't going to do shit about it." Ferguson isn't just a great fighter, he's a savage sadistic will breaker. You don't see guys like that come along, not in today's MMA where fans think fighters play it safe more than ever before.

5- Greg Jackson had a bad night.

I didn't see any of the main card fights beyond the main event but this goes to the Duquesnoy and the Ray Borg fight. In the former, it felt like any adjustments after the first round were nil for Duquesnoy. Unorthodox only works when fighters are afraid of it and you execute it with near perfection. The unorthodox offense and footwork of Duquesnoy was figured out pretty quickly by Stamman and the adjustments were....I unno. MAYBE Duquesnoy got some great advice and he just didn't execute on it. His third round was abysmal from start to finish and outside of Stamman nearly giving him the fight by virtue of being an idiot, it was not the performance we expected from a top prospect. As for Ray Borg? WHEN has clinching with Mighty Mouse ever worked. I watched a bushel of Demetrious Johnson fights in a row and pointed out that the clinch is where he excels---so Borg clinched and wrestled. Even if Ray Borg isn't a good striker, you have a better chance of starting something on the feet. Furthermore, you HAVE to tell your fighter to never go for the neck on Mighty Mouse. Everytime he takes guys down, they chase that desperation guillo because he feeds it to them. Every single write up I read involved some form of "Borg chases a guillotine" but that never works. NEVER. The gameplan didn't seem to give Borg a single shot.  Also felt like Lando Vannata engaged far too much vs Bobby Green BUT I'm not gonna hold dude responsible for that.

6- I think Kevin Lee is making a right choice jumping up to 170 lbs

I made the comparison of Gray Maynard for Kevin Lee at 155 lbs. I think that's still apt---but I think Lee going UP in weight is the right idea. Kevin Lee said he weighed 185 lbs or more vs Tony Ferguson and so that gives you an accurate window of what MOST 155 lbers are weighing after rehydration and etc etc etc.  Lee will not be at that big of a size and strength disadvantage vs guys at 170 lbs. Look at how MOST 155ers who have moved up have been able to hold their own vs genuine welterweights. The difference is not that massive and so I figure Lee with better cardio will pop into that top 10 discussion.

7- I need a good reason why there's no 165 and 175 lb divisions

Just curious what the excuses are. I understand it might not curtail weight cuts but it can't hurt for sure. Unless you're going to tell me 185 lbers are going to try to kill themselves to make 175 lbs but if thats a concern, just establish a weight percentage rule. Weigh more than 15% of your intended weight class? Move up or move out! If you're concerned about MMA watering itself down then I mean are you not realizing the quality of talent between 155 lbs and 185 lbs? That's a stupid excuse. The quality of fights will improve because people aren't dying to make weight that intensely. You're at least TRYING something. Two more titles? 99% of you people don't even care who the champ is anyways if he's not a star so how does it impact your ability to enjoy MMA?

8- Brad Tavares is quietly becoming really good.

I've been harsh on Tavares because I feel like he's better than what he's put out recently. Over the past two fights though, he's shown some serious improvements. He's more aggressive while still being his usual composed and patient self. He's got a great jab, he can wrestle with just about anybody. In many ways it felt like he always knew his chin was a little questionable and so he fought to protect that. Recently though it feels like he's more aggressive than usual and that's a good thing. I just think he needs to get that finish which has eluded him so far in the UFC.

9- Magomed Bibulatov losing is a bummer.

Yes yes yes yes. I know. Try to hear me out here for a second will ya? The one thing we keep hearing about guys at 125 lbs is that they're all basically the same guy. The idea that they're all just fighters fighting the most boring guy in the world. Bibulatov had a teensy bit of buzz on him and John Moraga, a dude who at this point is your gatekeeper to the stars, smelted him. Woooof.

10- The Anik, Rogan and Cormier team seemed to have an idea of how to work together.

Don't know if it was the week or whatever the case may be BUT thesse guys were all on their game. Cormier seemed to fit in better and have a better understanding of what he should or should not be calling and their jokes actually seemed to work for once. Most of all, all three guys seemed to be in the zone with very little moments of  "Wow that was stupid!" Good night fo rthis new commentary squad.

[everydaymusings-blog1]

Jace Wayland x OC

A/N - part 2! I know I updated quick but I’m obsessed with writing this!

Later on that evening, all four were gathered in the library, fawning over books of runes. Izzy trying to teaching Clary about the new runes that scattered her arms from their latest mission. Jace still bemused by the new arrival and intrigued, for the first time, by somebody that was not a shadowhunter.

The double doors to the large room were forced open and in walked Magnus, taking a seat at the large oak table that the others were gathered around. All tearing their attention away from what they were doing and towards Magnus.

‘Well my little shadowhunters, how today has been splendid’ he smiled, winking over at Alec and flashing his hand towards the door spelling a lock so that nobody could enter unexpectedly.

‘Magnus…’ Jace started, hoping to be the first to quiz the warlock.

‘I’ll tell you everything Jace, just give me time to breathe’ he sighed, propping his feet up on the table and resting his hands across his chest.

‘It’s okay Magnus, Jace is just transfixed by this Cora girl’ she laughed, poking fun at Jace who, for once ignored her jests.

‘Cora Melusine, has been sent from Idris to reside in the institute here and in order for her to assist on missions for the Clave’ Magnus informed the group.

‘Yes Magnus. But what is she?’ Jace exasperated, not happy with Magnus’ answer.

‘She is not a what’ Magnus said with hints of anger, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table, the others following suit. ‘Cora is a Triad’ he almost whispered, causing Izzy, Alec and Jace to all drop their jaws.

‘What's a Triad?’ Clary asked confused, still new to the whole shadowhunter world and that was one she definitely had never heard before.

Magnus sighed ‘A Triad is a being that forms from three different ‘species’, they are usually born into one world and discover their other traits throughout their early years. In Cora’s case, she was the child of two shadowhunters in Idris and developed her traits very early on’ he explained, going slowly as to allow the redhead to catch up.

‘Wow’ Alec sighed, rubbing his hand along his jaw. ‘That means..’

‘She's very powerful’ Magnus stated ‘which is why she is under strict protection from the New York Institute, if Valentine were to get his hands on Cora’s blood… well, he would be able to create an almost indestructible force of shadowhunters’ Magnus said, looking between the faces in front of him.

‘What would her blood do?’ Izzy asked, now in almost the same amount of confusion as Clary.

‘With her blood and the mortal cup, anyone could make a triad of their own making’ Alec stated, shaking his head and looking down at the table.

‘Yes’ Magnus sighed ‘with the blood of his desired attributes, such as vampire, werewolves anything in this world, paired with those two things, Valentine would make an army so strong he could wipe out the Clave entirely’

‘He could wipe out the whole world…’ Clary started before being interrupted.

‘Yes but not if he doesn't get to her’ Jace almost shouted, staring from his hands to Magnus ‘so, she's an triad shadowhunter? She’d be more powerful than Valentine’

‘Not quite’ Magnus pointed ‘Cora has the same amount of shadowhunter blood as all of you and yes she's a very good shadow hunter, but she's also part Mermaid and part…’ Magnus carried on before there was a huge crack and the double doors he’d enchanted to stay locked burst open.

‘Warlock’ A new voice added.

Cora had burst through the doors and was now stood at the end of the table, smirking towards Magnus who knew he’d just been caught revealing all to his friends.

‘Thought I felt my ears burning Magnus’ she laughed standing behind the Warlock and resting her hands on his shoulders ‘you forget I can hear through walls?’ She tutted, throwing herself into the chair beside him.

‘Cora..’ he started.

‘It’s okay’ she winked at him ‘you know I love it when people talk about me’ she cackled, reaching for one of the books on the table inspecting it as she did.

Magnus laughed and shook his head before gesturing to the group ‘Cora, this is Izzy and Alec Lightwood, Clary Fairchild and Jace Wayland. You and Jace share in common the size of your egos’ he quipped, throwing the young girl a smug expression.

‘So you’re the group of shadowhunters that I’ll be stuck with for the near future. Can you all at least spar properly?’ Cora joked, looking around the group.

‘Could say the same about you downworlder’ Clary poked, confidently smirking at the other female and causing Magnus to shake his head before resting his head in his hands in exasperation.

‘Who you calling a downworlder, newbie? Like you haven't just killed your first demon last week’ Cora cackled, challenging Clary leaning closer in attempt to intimidate the redhead. Clary’s overbearing confidence often outshined her naivety to the world she’d only just become a part of. Challenging a Triad isn't something even a well experienced shadowhunter would attempt.

‘So Aldertree actually trusts us enough now to send us on missions together’ Alec clapped.

‘Sounds so’ Izzy added, standing and returning the books that scattered the table back to their rightful places on the bookshelves ‘But for now… sounds like we should get to know our new group member. So I reckon a night to pandemonium is in order’ she said excitedly, resting her head on top of Alec's.

‘You know I’m always in when it comes to an alcoholic beverage’ Magnus said with a spark of excitement in his voice.

‘Besides, I want to raid Cora’s wardrobe. It appears we share the same interest in fashion’ Izzy jumped excitedly hinting towards the other girls.

‘Or baring skin…’ Alec sighed, laughing at his sister. There was no question that both girls had confidence in their figures and expressing any runes that scattered their skin. However unlike Isabelle, Jace had noticed that Cora didn't appear to have any visible runes even considering Magnus had stated that the girl had just as much shadowhunter blood in her as any other.

‘Well then, this calls for a girls meeting’ Cora started ‘taking Isabelle's hand and gesturing for Clary to also follow. Despite the instant friction between the two they were both aware they would be spending a lot of time together for the foreseeable future. Beside’s Cora could never let an opportunity to spice up a relatively conservatively dressed shadowhunter, something that was rarely witnessed.

Jace, who this whole time, had remained unusually quiet. This was mainly because the nagging feeling within him felt he had already made acquaintance with the Triad, but yet, he could not quite put his finger on when or where. But also, because no matter how hard he tried something deep inside him was stirring, a feeling he had not yet experienced and could not quite explain. But, it was something that scared and excited him at the same time.

---

Music pounded from Pandemonium, filling the streets around with the sounds of bass. Jace, Alec, Magnus were stood outside waiting, Simon now joining them, the sun had long gone down.

‘God, how long does it take girls to get ready. I’ll be frozen to death before they eventually turn up’ Alec moaned, hands deep within the pockets of his tight black jeans.

‘I told you we could just wait inside, but you’re the one who insisted to stay out here’ Jace tutted, pretending not to feel the cold, and keeping his arms crossed tightly against the leather jacket he was wearing.

‘That’s only because Iz insisted. You know what she’s like with group activities’ Alec rolled his eyes, mentioning the fact that if they went inside without her, a tantrum would begin.

The sounds of high heels on concrete interrupted them, as the three females made their way across the alley, through the smoke emitting from the grates that ran down the sides of the road.

Each of the girls were dressed, showing off a huge amount of skin. Which neither Simon or Jace were complaining about, Alec on the other hand rolled his eyes and turned around making his way to the club entrance.

Izy was dressed all in red, a cat suit that was sleeveless and had a deep v at the neck, ending almost at the top of her naval. She alluded confidence as she strutted towards the boys. Clary, who usually was dressed down in comparison, was wearing gold stilettos, bearing her legs, opting for a black dress that was simple but hugged her figure in just the right way, causing Simon to almost start drooling as he stood there. Then there was Cora, who wore black leather high waisted trousers, and paired with it a mesh body that had silver velvet roses woven across the bodice. Electric blue heels adorned her small feet, showing off tattoos of weaving ivy and flowers on her feet. Her silver hair slicked back into one long braid that fell down her back, the bottom almost touching her sacrum.

That same feeling stirred in Jace, as he fixated himself on the young triad, causing the palms of his hands to sweat slightly. He thought to himself, that of course he found women attractive, that was obvious, but none that had ever made him feel like this. He felt he couldn’t control himself, that he was going to say something stupid or embarrass himself, making him feel increasingly uneasy. He was never insecure around women. Never.

‘Evening boys’ Izzy greeted, grabbing Alec and Magnus by the elbows and dragging them into the club. Clary taking Simon by the hand also, greeting him with a kiss and entering the club.

Cora sauntered past Jace, fully aware of her effects on him. The benefits of being part mermaid, was being hyper aware of emotions, even of those shadowhunters such as Jace. She knew how interested he was by her, and that made her all the more interested in him.

See, like Jace, there was something that was drawing the triad to him, like a long lost feeling. Something she’d felt before but had long forgotten and the nostalgia of that feeling was like a fire burning inside.

‘So Wayland. You just going to stand out here in the cold, or you going to buy me a drink’ She winked, poking him in the chest, impressed by the prominent muscles below.

‘Wouldn’t have it any other way’ he replied attempting to knock of the insecure feelings erupting in his mind. Holding his arm out for her to take a hold of, a jolt of electricity sparked as she wove her small hand across his forearm taking his lead.

[fortheloveofeos]

Tattoos - Nyx Ulric

Had some fun with Nyx’s tattoos and character design here. The large cat I mention here was part of his actual character design, which I mention here, and is a really beautiful piece of concept art that was never actually used in the game/movie. I added a few tats for…research purposes. Hope you like it.

Tagging Nyx friends: @chocobopuffs @daemonchocobo  - and @opalandowl for the inspiration

xxx

Sitting back against the cracked leather booth of the worn out bar, Nyx sipped is warming beer. His head rested against the once white wall, which was now more of a dirty grey, and one arm was slung over the back of the booth. Crowe was seated beside him with enough room between them for Nyx’s knee to rest in the booth as well. Libertus was already maintaining a pretty good buzz and was rattling on about the love of his life he had apparently seen on his way out of the Citadel after his shift that day. Pelna was pretending to listen, but it was clear he was more focused on his phone than anything else.

“Are you just going to stare all night, or are you actually going to say something to her?” Crowe jabbed an elbow into his stomach playfully and jerked her head towards the bar. “Don’t tell me you’re scared, Hero.” She raised an eyebrow and laughed around her own beer as a few strands of her coffee-colored hair fell into her hazel eyes.

Pelna perked up, his dark eyes looking you over as you served up a round of shots to a loud group of probably college students. “Might have some competition,” he tilted his beer towards the bar just in time for one of the young men to make a rude gesture in your direction once you had turned your back.

Sighing, Nyx finished his drink before slamming the empty bottle down onto the chipped wooden table with considerable force. He managed to climb over Crowe without asking her to get up and landed gracefully in his heavy boots. “Is anyone listening?” Libertus whined before Nyx left his friends and made for the bar.

Your high-waisted, dark wash jeans might as well have been painted on and gave a perfect picture of your ass as you stretched onto your toes to fetch a bottle from the top shelf. Your long hair was swept up into bandana and your crop top allowed for a glimpse of the smooth skin just above the waistband of your jeans as you raised your arms. Nyx thought he caught a glimpse of a spiraling tattoo but you moved before he could focus on it. You had just brought the bottle down from the shelf when the young man that had made the rude gesture made a move to smack your ass over the bar.

Using his reflexes to his advantage, Nyx caught the would be offender’s arm and held it tightly enough to leave marks. “That’s not how you should treat a lady,” he spoke lowly and his blue eyes turned to icy steel as he clenched his jaw. The threat was clear in every part of his body as he glanced over at the rest of the group the kid had come into the bar with, almost begging one of them to make a move.

“Think you’d like to try that with me?” Crowe smirked and crossed her arms over her chest as she took up a position flanking Nyx. For her slender build, there wasn’t a Glaive alive that would willingly tango with the young woman once she had made up her mind.

Shuffling was heard before Pelna managed to get Libertus situated with his crutch against the bar. Although he was drunk, he was still a man of considerable size and the stone mask he slid into place over his flushed features was intimidating enough on its own. Pelna clapped Nyx on the shoulder, a teasing smile on his lips. “Can’t let you have all the fun now,” he turned to the young man still held in the Glaive’s grasp. “Do you need as escort out of the bar?”

Nyx loosened his grip enough to allow him to pull his arm free before he stumbled back a step. For all their show, the group of students dashed out of the bar pretty quickly before everyone turned their attention back to their drinks and their company.

“Could’ve handled myself,” you smiled as a you placed another round onto the counter in front of the four Glaives, “but I appreciate the help. This round’s on me.” You cracked the tops off each of the bottles before handing them out.

The others dispersed back to their claimed booth leaving Nyx in a barstool in front of you. You eyed him carefully, impressed by his rugged good looks and how well he could pull off the black leather pants and matching cotton shirt. Of course, you knew all about the Hero and the Glaives that frequented your little bar. However, you’d never spoken directly to Nyx Ulric, nor had you had the opportunity to observe him. The sides of his head had been recently shaved but his stubble made it clear he hadn’t bothered with his face. His eyes were crystal clear and glinted with something you thought might have been a mix of desire and mischief. What caught your eye the most, however, were the subtle tattoos that were placed on his skin to resemble birthmarks. Without thought, you looked at him and offered your name along with your outstretched hand.

“Nyx Ulric,” he smiled and he shocked you when he grasped your hand in his only to turn it over so that he could kiss your knuckles instead. “Nice to meet you.”

Laughing, you withdrew your hand and went back to tending the bar. Nyx, however, wouldn’t let that deter him and you found his smooth voice traveling down the bar to where you were. “Did I see a tattoo on your hip?” He questioned after several minutes of banter.

Rolling your eyes you motioned towards his cheek. “Looks like you’ve got your own,” you pointed out as you washed a glass.

Shooting you a wink as he tipped back his beer, he smirked. “More where that came from.”

You had taken that as an invitation in its own right. Your fingers tangled into the hemline of his shirt as Nyx kissed you roughly on his couch. The little teasing game the two of you had started had gone on for weeks. You knew he was hiding ink under his clothes and somehow finding them only made you more breathless as you ripped the shirt over his head. Your fingers immediately danced over the outline of Galahad that was placed just over his heart, loving that he shivered beneath your delicate touch. A tribal pattern traced over his collarbone and around his shoulder before ending just above his bicep. You ran your tongue over one of the twisting bands and he grunted before pushing you back.

“You’re turn,” he growled as he ripped your own shirt over your head. The skirt you’d picked out just to rile him up hung lowly on your hips and gave a much clearer view of your own marking. You let him trace a calloused finger over the vines and petals before standing up and shimmying the skirt down your legs. Standing in your underwear in front of him, he could see your own collection and made an appreciative grunt at the sight.

Nyx leaned forward, making a grab for you, but you danced just out of his reach with a giggle as you retreated towards his bedroom. Laughing, he followed close behind and once he turned to shut the door to his room, you caught the beautiful tattoo on the back of his shoulder. “Nyx,” you breathed in awe as you walked closer to study the work of art.

Easily the most beautiful piece you had ever seen, the tattoo took up his shoulder and part of his upper back. The image seemed to shimmer slightly with the white ink mixed amongst his tanned skin. Black and grey worked together to form the large coeurl-like feline that stared straight ahead. Something akin to horns seemed to grow from its cheeks and its blue eyes were strong and fierce. Before you could stop yourself, you traced a finger along the outline of its face.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed with a smile.

Spinning around, Nyx caught your wrist, placing a kiss against your palm. “Thank you. It’s…very special to me.”

“What is it?”

Chuckling, Nyx led you over to the bed and pulled you down beside him. “It’s a feline species only seen on Galahad. They’re fierce creatures - incredible hunters, very loyal to those that earn their trust, and quite deadly if you cross their path.”

As you traced a finger absentmindedly over the ink, you sucked in a quick breath as realization dawned on you. “Your uniform. It’s based on this?” You had seen the patch of fur on the sleeve of Nyx’s uniform and you knew it wasn’t part of the standard issue appearance. He also wore the horned hood and you thought the intricate metalwork may have been meant to resemble the face of the cat.

“It is,” he confessed with a grin.

Somehow, it suited him. The wildness and strength of this obviously large predator seemed to resonate with the soul of the intoxicating man half-naked beneath your fingers. As he looked up at you where you sat beside him, you couldn’t help comparing his strong, bright blue eyes with those tattooed on his shoulder.

Still lost in your thoughts, you were shocked when Nyx pounced on you, pinning you playfully to the bed with a lighthearted chuckle. “Weren’t we in the middle of something?��� He laughed before stealing a quick kiss, his fingers going back to tracing the ink over your hip.

“I guess I’m your prey?” You couldn’t help giggling as he rubbed his stubble against your face similar to how a cat might nuzzle its head to show affection. He was clearly having fun with your comparison.

Laughing at the gasp he earned after nipping at your neck, Nyx sat back with you still pinned beneath him. “I’ve had you in my sights for a while.” His mouth descended upon yours in a searing kiss that had you all but surrendering in his arms.

[gravelgirty]

There is No Quiet Night in the Rainy Season: A Hogan’s Heroes fanfic

Part 1 of Tape and Needle and Scissors and String And...

Part 2: Irish Rejected Potatoes...

Part 3: Above My Pay Grade...

Part 4:

Deep in the Germans’ mess hall—a place LeBeau was grudgingly willing to consign as one of the less-well-thought-out circles of hell—there was a lot of noise. You could almost hear it over the artillery-grade raindrops smashing into the galvanized tin roof.

Banging. Rattling. Thumping. Muffled cursing.

“Every time we let those prisoners into the kitchen, this happens. Every time!”

The grumbler was the cook—He was from a very poor part of Germany. So poor, in fact, that he owned the dubious ability of being able to identify every form of edible vegetation in the forest. He’d grown up next to one of the more pretentious parks under the Kaiser, and the Kaiser had a habit of throwing entire families in prison if a single member trespassed on his territory.

(And as Hans knew, urinating across the fenceline into the hunting preserve counted as an encroachment. He still missed the Donners…even if they had been an indispensable part of WWI’s civil engineering projects…)

Hans was treasured and feared in equal measure. There was always a ratio of soldiers that didn’t know which part of the potato plant to peel. But Hans’ skills with meat were between ‘doesn’t bear thinking about’ and ‘unmitigated disaster’.

He grumbled in his drafty old kitchen. He puffed and muttered and banged things back and forth. That little Frenchman and his foreign ways! How dare he touch his tools of trade? Was there no respect in the profession between equals? For Hans considered LeBeau his counterpart to the prisoners—forced to make do with the miserable ingredients, and serve them up to a sourly ungrateful populace.

“Unbelievable!” He swore as he found another exhibit for offense—the Frenchman had sharpened all of his knives! They hung gleaming on their bar—and sorted according to size! How hard could it be to put things back exactly as they had been?

There was nothing for it. Hans wearily sat down and started on the largest cleaver—it was an excellent beast for skinning vegetable marrows or taking the rinds of very tough turnips. But too sharp by half. With his lips set, he started a long, boring campaign of running the bladed edge across the cutting board.

 - - -

The remainder of the day—if “day” meant weather that the Black Forest would call unfit for mushrooms—was spent with the Stalag in a consensual state of misery.

Hogan split his men and put them in short teams—half to transfer the latrine to a spot that was far too close to Barracks noses for comfort—and the other half underground hastily shoring up, blocking up, and doing whatever they could to fill up what had once been a comfortable and useful section of tunnel. When it looked like it was time for a break, he made them switch.

It was back-breaking, grueling work but no-one complained. They all sensed urgency if not impending disaster.

Anyway, some idiot pointed out, it was at least quieter outside than it was inside. The newer prisoners were starting to show signs of psychological breakdown--weeks of heavy cold raindrops on the roof could do that to anybody, but especially to men who had been three feet from the front lines less than two months ago.

The only exceptions to the workplan besides Hogan:

Baker, who had shaken off Klink’s hooch in record time and was now sleeping it off to a three-octave, one-man chorus with his uvula and soft palate. Wilson had the throat-drops waiting for when he woke up.

LeBeau, a man under fire, working frantically to produce enough hot caffeine to get the men through this dire period.

And Newkirk. The Brit hunkered dangerously close to LeBeau’s stirring-elbow, whip-stitching up a contraption at record speed. His earlier depression was gone as if it never existed; he was on a man with a mission, and he was cheerful. This would worry Schultz to see it, even if he wanted Newkirk to snap out of his mood as much as anyone else.

A happy, cheerful Newkirk was a Newkirk presented with a solvable challenge that would discomfit Germans. Even Cpl Fritz, the only man in the Stalag dumber than Klink, knew this.

Ill-feelings were running amuck and morale was AWOL for guards and prisoners alike.

The guards were sopping wet  because ‘sideways’ was a perfectly normal direction for winter rains. They thought longingly of LeBeau’s patented, secret, imitation coffee and wondered if their lot would improve if they just took off their uniforms the second they returned to their own dank barracks and stood naked by the stove. They envied the wretched POWs, who hadn’t any reason to be outside other than roll call and latrine-digging, and they knew from long, long experience that the mud cladding the POWs was a wonderful insulation.

“Lucky swine.” Wolfe shouted over the rain.

“What??” Langenscheidt yelled.

“I said, Lucky swine!”

“I know you’re Langenscheidt!”

“That is not what I said!”

“What??”

“The swine! The swine!” Wolfe had no choice but to carry on--he was committed. “They’re no wetter than we are, and they don’t have rain falling on metal hats!”

“Eh?” Langensheidt looked over the edge to the prisoners below. “Hah! You know, they look like swine! At least they don’t have a tin roof on their head!” He laughed and rapped his sodden knuckles on his own helmet.

Wolfe gave up. he just wanted to live. He wasn’t sure what he had to live for, but anything was worth avoiding Hell, which might be what he was seeing in the mud right now.

---

The POWs were achy, sniffly, and sweating under their layer of this mud because this natural insulation wasn’t letting an atom of respiration out of their pores. They collectively wondered if a few well-placed holes drilled into their shoes would let the sop out from between their toes. They envied the bloody Germans, who could at least breathe inside their wool uniforms.

---

In the Kommandant’s office, Klink was writing a very stern note to his cigar-supplier. Contrary to all claims and the expensive installment, the humidor was worthless. He now needed a dehumidifier. This was the third in a series of such letters, which boiled down to the company thinking Klink was insane because everybody knew, Germany didn’t get that wet—where did he think he was, Podgorica? But Klink’s clerical talents had risen to the challenge--he couldn’t do anything about Hogan stealing his Cubans, but the complete lack of any decent tobacco could get him sent to the Russian Front if the wrong official came by.

Or Hochstetter. He didn’t need cigars--real or withheld--to send him to the Russian Front.

- - - 

Hogan was in his office and trying to think of the fastest journey to Stage II of his plans. If he could get the latrine moved, it would be an effective if smelly temporary blind for their attempts to build a new tunnel. The guards had their own latrine—and loathed theirs.

And with good reason, he thought glumly. Rats loved the POW latrines—it was a straight shot between the back of the soldiers’ mess, and on the other side, a thick bramble thicket. The brush was only waist-high and not worth the effort of trying to escape through the cover—there was no human-worthy cover with that vegetable barbed wire.

That was alright for the non-human--or should we say, inhuman, infernal things that did use the brambles for camouflage and hideaways.

Like the creepy, pallid, humpbacked crickets that lurked in the dark and crawled at you with terrifying purpose when you weren’t looking.  Or the toads, which looked like clods of earth with eyeballs. Nobody knew what those things were, but the guards and guard-dogs were terrified of them.  Carter said they looked like the ‘lil’ hoppers’ back in Bullfrog, and if you ate one you’d be talking to gigantic furry lemon-yellow polka dots that whistled show tunes. Hogan had made it very clear that he was not allowed to test for comparison, and no, Newkirk, we aren’t putting it in the guards’ soup-pot. Yes, I am a spoil-sport. Part of the privilege of command.

The rats reigned over all these beasts, and ate them with relish. Perhaps a daily diet of poisonous toads explained their behavior--they didn’t act like the rattus of Hogan’s tough childhood. They didn’t act like any rats he’d ever heard of.

The latrines were horrible but they were the perfect place to hide and chew on one’s ill-gotten contraband or secret stash of chocolate, gum, and the home-made raisin moonshine that nobody would ever admit to making but somehow, the stuff just kept…happening. And since the brambles still had tons of weathered fruit still hanging on to the vine from summer, the damned vermin had the best living arrangements of every living thing in the Stalag—possible exception being Oscar and Heidi’s dogs, who had the closest thing to red carpet treatment.

It was very ironic that the superior supply lines of Stalag XIII was nurturing these foul creatures. Klink had his excellent black market-skimming campaign going on that shorted everybody but himself (and Hogan would give one of Klink’s stolen cigars to learn his secret), but Hogan also had his Top-Notch smuggling and supply lines over and under the Stalag thanks to willing POWs and good old Oscar and Heidi. Between all these avenues sang opportunity for the bold rodent that saw anything unguarded and un-poisoned. There was also the third underground grocery store on part of the guards--willing to sell out either Klink or Hogan’s pass of chocolate or cheese if they got their own cut.

The guards’ latrines weren’t all that charming, but they were well-built and clean and built over one of the original concrete foundations. The POWs had a packed-earth foundation topped with old pallets. It was leaky and drafty and cold even in the dead of summer. In the drought season they had to hose it down in case it would burst into flames. It was the best place to go for contraband deals because the roof was airtight. The rats found easier pickings with the POWs than the guards. At least, Newkirk said snidely, the rats the POWs caught had more meat on their bones.

Hogan sipped his coffee and continued to think. Outside LeBeau was struggling to wring another miracle out of rations, potable water, and if you believed his rants, cinnamon-sprinkled sawdust. For some reason he was angry that he couldn’t get all of Carter’s hot peppers.

Hogan was also getting down because the men were supplying him with increasingly dismaying reports on the soil. Who would have thought any amount of rainfall would get through that brick-hard dirt? They needed dry earth to dig if they all didn’t want to die, and dry earth was so far as concept as realistic as glass slippers and talking wolves.

And…Germany was the country for both…

He glared at the tiny bookshelf nailed to the wall. GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES sat next to his mothy reading collection—a surprise birthday present from Schultz. The sergeant had made a comment about idle time was better spent reading than ‘naughty doings’. Hogan still didn’t know what to give him back for thoughtful revenge.

BANG-BANG.

Hogan jumped slightly and beat Carter to the door before the young man could filthy up his doorknob. The pyrotech was a walking lump of mud but at least one could see his eyes and mouth.

“What is it, Carter?”

“Aw, how’d you know it was me?” Carter pouted. Behind him Newkirk and LeBeau were snickering in that fond, cruel way good mates had, even as they hovered protectively over the stove and stitching.

“You left your hat on, Carter.” Hogan pointed out the obvious. “That makes the shape of your head a little distinctive.”

“Oh. Aw, shoot. Well, at least it kept me from hearin’ the rain. Honestly, its a lot quieter outside--”

“What is it?”

“Oh. The boys wanted you to know we’ve got as far as we can for the day. The walls of the pit are startin’ to, uh…jellify.”

“’Jellify?’” Hogan repeated. Behind Carter, Newkirk and LeBeau imitated this, and both looked as confused as Hogan felt.

“Yeah, they jiggle when you slap ‘em.” Carter nodded, which sent a good chunk of the Stalag’s terra firma hit the ground with a splat-splat. “Like pipeclay.”

“Pipeclay?”

Newkirk sucked in his breath with the force of his mother’s Electrolux vacuum. “Gov! Get ‘em out if that’s the case! Pipeclay’s not stable! The walls’ll be falling in and they’ll be in the bottom--!”

“You heard him, move!” Hogan barked.

Shaken, Newkirk watched them vanish into thin air. Only Hogan’s missing jacket and a trail of mud proved they ever existed. He risked looking at LeBeau. He was willing to bet they were both the same shade of pale. Over their heads, the relentless rain hammered and hammered and hammered...

“Mon d--.” LeBeau murmured. “Now what will we do? The Colonel needs this dug out.”

“Oh, uh…he’ll think of summat.” Newkirk rucked in as much optimism as he could manage, consider the circumstances. “The lads’ll need a lot of something hot to drink. Do you think you have enough?”

LeBeau grimaced. “Perhaps. I could do miracles with another pot, but I don’t think that old mushroom in the mess hall will let me borrow one for a while.”

“Did you sharpen his knives again? Shame on you.”

“The greater shame is to Krupp Steel!”

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll get you one. I’ll just pop--“ Newkirk realized what he was saying and closed his eyes. “Bloody ‘ell. We’re all gunna go stir-crazy, aren’t we? What’s that word Carter uses…cabin fever?”

“Yes.” LeBeau assured him with deadly calm. “And this fever, I do not have soup for.”