#so your chances of either passing an extremely difficult check OR failing an extremely easy check have both decreased

[pathetic-gamer]

my favorite ongoing tradition in the fire emblem subreddits is new people showing up to ask why the displayed hit rate %s never actually add up (e.g. a 90% hit rate hits more than 90% of the time while a 20% hit rate hits less than 20% of the time), because they invariably get two answers:

someone explaining mathematics behind double-RNG and how it makes for a better player experience psychologically so while the devs obviously want to provide a challenge that still has some degree of luck, they also want people to not rage-quit, and

someone saying it's bc it's funnier that way

[joonkorre]

Rules for Night Guards at Golden Locket Ent.

@drarrymicrofic prompt: sunrise/sunset. ao3

Hello to the new hire,

I know you must be confused. Why are you finding this raggedy piece of paper in your brand new office? Well, first of all, there’s a reason why they keep this office shiny and clean. If it’s not spotless by sunrise, would anyone take the job?

Either way, I’m the one making sure this paper is found by new hires (perks of being a janitor with all the keys). The higher-ups don’t know this building like I do; they know that people can’t work here for even a week, and that’s it. They don’t know enough to solve the problem, they’re too scared to, and no one bothers to ask an ancient janitor.

After your first night here, though, you’ll have a lot to ask. The janitorial staff is not allowed to speak to any employee, including you, so read this document carefully. I’d say take pictures of it front and back, but taking out your phone to access them on the job might not be a good idea, especially as the night progresses.

Again, read this until the rules are tattooed in your head. Many have not heeded me. They’ve either quit or lost more than a job.

Pay attention.

Rules for Night Guards at Golden Locket Ent.

[DO NOT DEFACE THIS DOCUMENT IN ANY MANNER]

Always arrive at your office before sundown. That’s why you’re called here early. The door doesn’t have to be locked, but stay in your office.

8 PM is when your shift starts. Begin by doing your routine check, two rounds for each floor. Finish the 1st floor in no more than 25 minutes.

If you see trespassers, don’t bother chasing them out if you see upturned rubbish bins (see Rule #8).

There will be another night guard who also has a document of their own. Greet them, remember their face. Don’t be surprised if you see a different person the next day, you know how it is around here.

You might meet another person as you walk up the stairs to the 2nd floor. They look the same as the other night guard, but there are slight differences. It doesn’t work here. Do not respond to any and all of its attempts at getting your attention.

After 9 PM, don’t look out the floor-to-ceiling window on the 3rd floor. It will be difficult and the noise will only get louder, but it is strongly recommended that you do not look. Be patient, it will be gone.

Leave the opened file cabinets be.

Be mindful of upturned rubbish bins. If you see one, hide in an office and lock it. It’s some of the building’s inhabitants’ feeding time. Wait until the second set of footsteps passes, then you can come out.

On the 4th floor, there will be a man with glasses. Sometimes you’ll see a boy or a teenager instead, but the glasses are the same. Engage in conversation with him. Deny that you work here.

If the man finds you interesting, he will walk with you as you continue your routine check, and will eventually ask you to let him out. There is no telling how he’d react, but the best response is a polite rejection as you “don’t work here and don’t have the right.” He might use other means of persuasion, in which case defend yourself and/or negotiate with him as best as you can. This is where many people have failed the test.

Between the hours of 10:21 PM and 11:09 PM, it is imperative that you return to your office and monitor the building using the security camera system. Do not go out to the courtyard before your shift is over. Only the other security guard knows the rules to navigate it.

Camera #3 has to be off. If it turns on, cover it entirely.

At 1 AM, there will be two knocks on your door. You will open it and find no one outside. Remark on it aloud, then lock your door, both bolts. Sit with your back facing it.

The paper shredder near the right of your work desk might move when you are not looking. It is always unplugged. If it turns on and alerts you of jammed paper, don’t fix it. Fingers aren’t easy for us to scrub out.

You are to stay out of your office from 2:16 AM to 3:26 AM. No source of light other than your company-issued flashlight is permitted when you are in the halls at this time, including phones and other smart devices. They will deceive you.

Camera #11 will show a being running just off-screen. When it does, check your door three times to ensure that it’s locked. You will have to re-lock it.

The man with glasses will stand in front of the 4th floor's fire exit and look directly at Camera #7. There will be a banging on your door, which will increase in intensity. No matter how tempting it is, do not open the door under any circumstances.

The man will start to talk about how you look very similar to his best friends—a man with ginger hair who can "eat anything" and a curly-haired woman who is "smarter than Einstein" are described—and will plead with you to help him escape. If you are a man with blonde hair, it’s reported that instead of comparing you to his friends, he’ll threaten to “throw you into [redacted] to rot with your fucking father when [he] gets [his] hands on you," and grows extremely hostile. Do what you can to keep him from breaking the door down.

When a camera moves, turn off all the lights in your office. Hiding under the desk for at least five minutes is encouraged if you want to lessen the chances of the creature seeing you.

Remain in your office when you’re done with your tasks until dawn. After sunrise, you’re allowed to walk around inside the building. Leave using the front entrance when your shift ends at 6 AM.

I admit this doesn't sound fun at all. But as someone who’s worked here for longer than she can remember, once you’re used to all the quirks of this place, it’s worth it. High wages, no nosy bosses hovering over your shoulders, great benefits. You can do whatever you want in your office, as long as you follow the rules. Trust me, you’ll like this job.

Just keep an eye on the monitor and the clock, will you?

P.S: If you're able to read this postscript, I know you have a wand. Call me Muggle, No-Maj, whatever, but I’ve seen it all. Here’s a final piece of advice for people like you—your neat little sticks are useless here. Feel free to try, but it’s better to leave it at home than have a broken wand, no?

[crackling noise]

“Hello, uh, Jaclynn, is it?”

-Hey, Drake. And yeah! Ha, wow, this is kinda weird. I’ve never used a walkie-talkie before.-

“Me too. Um, question, do you have a… an old-looking… letter? On your desk? Maybe in a cabinet?”

-Oh, um.-

“Jaclynn?”

-You… received that document, too? With all the rules?-

“Yes, actually. Reckon it's some sort of idiotic prank by the last night guard, right.”

-I, I don’t know, to be honest. I mean… I thought it was, but it’s. It’s starting. Whatever’s going on, it’s right there in the rules.-

[pause]

“Shite.”

-Yeah, I get that. Fuck, I’m scared, haha, fuck. Is it starting for you, also?-

“Not for another, ah, 10 minutes. I can’t leave my office until then.”

-Okay. Okay. I’m not supposed to come into the building.-

“And I’m not supposed to come out to the courtyard.”

-Fuck.-

[pause]

[distant whistling]

-Fuck, fuck, it’s here. It’s here.-

“Okay, alright, stay calm. Stay alive. We both stay alive our first night, and I’ll, I’ll get us kebabs.”

-Not sounding too confident there, mister.-

“I promise. We adapt, we survive, we get our paycheck, and we eat good food. By 6 in the morning, we’ll meet by the front gate.”

-Goodness, Drake, that sounds so nice.-

“Mhmm. I’ll have this thing turned off the whole night, you should do the same. Read your rules, okay?”

-Same goes for you. You owe me kebabs and Indian, too.-

“Noted. Good luck, Jaclynn.”

-Don’t die, Drake.-

[crackling sound]

[silence]

[imagining-supernatural]

The Decision

Part 6 of Seventy Percent

Series Summary: When you left on your trip to Vegas, you’d planned on letting loose for one last weekend before heading back to reality and getting your affairs in order so your best friend wouldn’t be left cleaning up your mess when your cancer finally ended your life. What you hadn’t counted on was waking up married to a celebrity who has a knight-in-shining-armor complex, connections with an oncologist, and amazing insurance…

Chapter Summary: You get the results of your tests, then you and Sebastian make a decision

Word Count: 2005

The nerves you felt yesterday were absent today as you sat in front of Dr. Sharpe.

After spending a great afternoon and evening with Sebastian in New York City, you’d practically collapsed on his guest bed and hadn’t woken up until your alarm went off. You doubted your streak of good luck could continue.

Still, though, you promised to have an open mind. So an open mind you would have, even while preparing yourself to hear the same words your other doctor had said. Maybe it would hurt less coming from Dr. Sharpe and her British accent.

“I have some good news and some bad news,” she started after greetings were passed around. “The bad news is that your cancer is getting more aggressive. It still hasn’t spread from the initial tumor, but the tumor has grown more than I anticipated it would have at this point.”

If that was the bad news, what the hell kind of good news could she have? But the good news is that you’ll die sooner, so you’ll spend less time in pain.

“If you had come to me even a week later, there would have been nothing I could have done.”

“But there is something?” Sebastian asked, glancing your way. You kept your face as neutral as you could, trying to breathe steadily.

Open mind.

“Yes. That’s the good news. There is a clinical trial over at New York Presbyterian. I’ve spoken with the doctor in charge, Dr. Chowdhury, and he has agreed that you are a good candidate. If you’re interested, he would like you to begin treatment today.”

“Today,” you repeated. She nodded, and you tried to reign in your thoughts well enough to find a question to ask. You had an open mind, sure, but that didn’t mean you had to agree right away. If this treatment plan failed, you would have spent the last few weeks of your life in a hospital, weak and frail. That wasn’t how you wanted to go out. That was why you’d turned down all of the other treatment plans.

“What… what are the odds? My chances? What makes this one different from the other ones I’ve looked into?”

“Dr. Chowdhury has spent most of his career focusing on the more aggressive forms of cancer. The kinds of cancer that typically don’t give the patient much time to even realize they have cancer before it’s too late. This treatment is going to be much more intense than your previous treatments. It combines various methods, kind of like mixing precision-targeted therapy infusions and immunotherapy to target the cancer cells. The thought is that, because the cancer is so aggressive, simply stopping the growth or trying to shrink the cancerous cells is not a viable plan. His treatment will do both at the same time.”

“So it’s like getting two different treatments at the same time? How would my body hold up against that? Just the chemo and radiation were tough enough.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. It will be extremely difficult for the first month or so. You will not be able to work for most of this treatment. Not even a few hours a week. Your body will take weeks to get used to the treatment. It will not be easy on you at all. But,” she rushed to say before you could shut this conversation down, “Dr. Chowdhury and I both agree that, with this treatment plan, your chance of shrinking the tumor enough for surgery are in the seventies.”

A gasp filled the silence, and you didn’t realize it was yours. Seventy percent? It was like you couldn’t breathe. Your heart was faster than a hummingbird’s wings.

Hope? Was that what you were feeling?

Dr. Sharpe offered you a smile and finished her explanation. “To top it all off, Dr. Abara is the best neurosurgeon in the country and she practices right out of New York Presbyterian. She is right on hand and has successfully removed many tumors located near yours.”

“Seventy percent?” You weren’t sure if anyone heard your soft whisper, but Dr. Sharpe nodded and repeated your question as an answer.

“To address one of your concerns from yesterday, this is a newer clinical trial. Finding candidates is difficult, due to the nature of the study. By focusing on aggressive forms of cancer, there is a small window of opportunity before the cancer has spread too much. However, eighty-six percent of the patients are now either in remission or cancer free.”

Seventy percent.

“Why didn’t the others make it into remission?”

“As with any clinical trial, there is a learning curve. Their cancer was too far progressed. That is why Dr. Chowdhury wants you to begin treatment today.”

“Today,” you repeated. “Right.”

There was so much you needed to do. If you were going to have to move here for a few months, you needed to get your things from back in Utah. Clothes, at least.

And if you weren’t going to do the treatment… then you were giving up on a seventy percent chance.

“Seventy percent,” you whispered again.

Sebastian reached over to grab your hand, prompting you to look at him. He was so open, so hopeful. A stranger; your husband.

“Are you sure?” You asked. “This is a lot. It’s… and-and-and what if your insurance won’t cover it anyway? Then this isn’t—”

“I’m sure, Y/N. I wouldn’t have flown you all the way here if I wasn’t.”

“As for the insurance,” Dr. Sharpe stole your attention, but Sebastian squeezed your fingers before turning his attention to her. “Sebastian brought me up to speed on your situation, so I had the legal team here at New Amsterdam look into his policy and call the insurance company. You are covered from the day of the wedding automatically. You, Sebastian, will need to make sure to get her added by the end of the month, though.”

“I-um…” What else was there to say? Some other point to argue. “Well damn. Uh, Can Seb and I have a few minutes alone?”

“Of course. I have some patients to check up on. When you make a final decision, get someone to page me. We’ll want to get you over to New York Presbyterian as soon as possible to get started on the paperwork and treatment.”

“Thank you,” you said as she stood.

As she passed Sebastian, she gripped his shoulder for a moment before leaving the room.

“You aren’t going to talk me out of this,” he said bluntly as soon as the door closed.

You squeezed his fingers in agreement before twisting in your seat to face him fully. “I know. I think I figured that out when we got on the plane. I just want you to know what you’re getting into. I don’t know if you know anyone who’s gone through treatment for cancer, but it’s brutal. And it sounds like this one is… basically going to be like going through hell.”

“Y/N. I’ve gotten drunk in Vegas before. But I have never woken up married to someone before. That has to mean something.”

“You can’t count on this feeling of fate or destiny to carry you through, Seb. This is… this is going to be dirty and gritty and real. And then there’s the fact that you’re famous. I have no idea how the media works, but I’m sure we can’t keep this under wraps for long.”

“That’s what my press team is for. Don’t worry about that.”

“I can’t not worry about it. I… I won’t be able to deal with it. I’m not an open person, you know that. And when I’m that weak, I hate it. I-I-I hate myself. I… I’m fiercely independent. When I can’t do something for myself, I-I-I don’t know how to respond. I don’t know what to do. One time, my car died and I had jumper cables in my trunk, so I was like “I’ll just use Jasmin’s car to jump mine and drive to a mechanic” but my trunk didn’t have a way to open without power and I needed the trunk open to get power and I nearly had a breakdown before I finally called my boss to come with his jumper cables. I am independent to a fault. And I won’t be able to be independent at all for a while and that makes me a real bitch. But I’m a bitch with cancer, so people don’t feel comfortable calling me on my shit, and I’ll need you to call me on my shit and I won’t respond well and it’s a whole crap fest and there will be no part of this that will be fun.

“So if the press corners me,” you rounded back to where your rant began, “then I won’t be able to check myself. I will be as mean of a bitch as you’ve ever met. That won’t reflect well on you. So I’m asking you again: Are you sure? One hundred percent sure? I could mess up your life so fucking badly.”

Not to mention the secrets you’d kept for years. If those got out…

“And I can save yours.” His lack of hesitance shocked you. “There’s no question.”

“What about—what about—w-what about your fans? I’ve seen crazy fans. When they find out you’re married—”

“We can cross that bridge when it comes.”

“How the hell are you so chill right now? Are you, like, secretly high? So you’re just like yeah man, whatever. Sounds dope?” Your voice dropped down to mimic a stoner.

Your question had been semi-serious, but he took it as a joke and laughed. When he calmed down, he squeezed your fingers again. “That’s why. You just… I don’t know. It seems like the right thing to do right now. And you make me laugh, so that can’t be too bad, right?”

“The right thing to do right now,” you repeated, emphasizing the last two words. “What about in two weeks when I’m bitching because I can’t rinse out a fucking mug?”

“Why are you trying to talk me out of this? Talk yourself out of this?” You opened your mouth with some sort of retort, but he bulldozed over you. “No, really. Why? Your life is literally on the line. You’re allowed to be selfish for once. I’ll rise all of your fucking mugs for you, though I don’t want to think about the purpose of a fucking mug. Utah must be weird.”

Against your will, you snorted at his lame joke.

“Y/N. I am all in. I know there are some logistics that we need to go over. I’m leaving in a few weeks to start shooting my show. I don’t know what you’re going to tell your friends or family, and I don’t know what I’ll be telling mine. I’m sure I’ll have to argue with you to convince you to stay in my guest room soon.”

“I can’t really afford to live anywhere else, so you’ll win that one pretty easy.”

“Good. One thing down. Look how good we are!”

“Okay.” You took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Okay. I, uh, guess I’m jumping in too.”

With his free hand, Sebastian reached into his pocket and withdrew the ring you’d slipped him in the cab back in Vegas. “Then I think this belongs to you.”

When you didn’t respond or move, he rolled his eyes. And wiggled the fingers holding the ring, making the diamonds catch the light and glimmer. “Gimme your left hand. C’mon.”

“Should I really wear it? I mean—”

“I bought it for you sometime when we were drunk in Vegas. It looks hella expensive. So, yes. You’re going to wear it. At least right now.” Impatiently, he pushed his hand forward for yours. “It’s supposed to be a moment, Y/N. A symbol. Don’t ruin the moment.”

You sighed dramatically before placing your hand in his, allowing him to slide the ring onto your finger.

So they’re staying married! It’s going to be easy going from here on out, right?? Right???

Part 7: The Big Reveal

[kiruuuuu]

I had the pleasure of talking this through with you, @cerosin​, and the end result is.... definitely unhealthier than your initial request, but I hope you’ll like it anyway :) I also certainly took my time with this, thank you for waiting and thank you for the request 🖤🖤 (Kapkan/Glaz, Rating E, angst fluff + smut, ~4.6k words)

.

He can tell when it gets bad again.

Obviously, there are the spontaneous bursts, attacks he can neither predict nor prevent and therefore has to react on the spot, but those have receded: the people around them have learnt how to avoid triggering anything, and Glaz has learnt how to remove Kapkan from these situations efficiently. No, this isn’t about sudden, blind panic, not about shortness of breath or wild eyes. This is about the prickling right below Glaz’ skin; like a constant stream it erodes the sense of safety that’s built up over weeks or, if they’re lucky, months. Erodes the complacency like it’s dust settling in bit by bit, undisturbed and growing. Glaz has stopped minding boring. Because boring implied a routine, and calmness, and freedom from -

From the alternative.

From what’s happening right now.

If anyone asked, he’d reply that he feels safe no matter what. That he’s in control, and even if he’s not, that he knows how to regain it; after all, he senses it coming as it accumulates slowly, yet not so slow he doesn’t notice. He’s safe, even if he wakes up to a sharp jab in the side or a hand around his throat, because he can deal with it. He’s safe, even if temper flares hotly at him like an open flame, because he knows it might lick him, leave a stinging burn, but it will never consume him.

He justifies himself to this non-existent asker, someone on the outside, a concerned citizen. He does this a lot, conducts conversations like he’s Plato writing a dialogue between his teacher, Socrates, and someone unimportant, someone only necessary to play dumb and prompt the next wall of text. Glaz goes into great detail until this imaginary person is convinced. He wonders what this says about him.

So yes. He’s as confident as ever, though he takes the warning signs seriously. He listens to the tone rising in volume with each passing day, powerless to stop it but capable of manipulating it.

.

“You’ve already asked me twice what I want for breakfast so stop fucking talking about it”, snaps the love of his life, a man who leaves him breathless in so many ways each and every day.

Glaz doesn’t mention how Kapkan has failed to give a straight answer so far, and instead defuses the tension with a bratty: “Guess I’ll just feed the leftovers to the neighbour’s dog then.”

He can basically hear Kapkan perking up at this, even if his back is turned. If possible, his lover would eat meat for literally every meal, and heated up for breakfast, he’s even more unable to say no. “You know I’d eat it out of her bowl if necessary”, he grumbles, the fire having died down as quickly as it reared up. Glaz has gotten extremely good at appeasing him over the years.

“I’ll take that as a yes then”, he summarises and tosses the scraps in question into the microwave. Self neglect is one of the largest red flags Kapkan wears on his back whenever it gets bad, and it’s the one Glaz will combat head on. It’s the one he’s allowed to mention as it doesn’t scream you’re abnormal, you’re ill, you’ve got issues – instead, he can disguise it as stress, something easily forgettable, low priority. As such, it’s easiest to deal with as he can remedy it immediately: suggest taking a bath together, which is something Kapkan never refuses, or he offers to cook, pretends he’s not feeling well and needs company so Kapkan joins him in bed early. Once there, his lover falls asleep quickly, but left to his own devices, he’d stay up till morning.

No, he doesn’t need to babysit him, Glaz informs his imaginary interviewer politely yet firmly. Kapkan can and does take care of himself. But if he can facilitate it, why shouldn’t he? He receives more than enough in return. Kapkan would die for him in a heartbeat, he knows this because it almost happened before, he’d do whatever Glaz demands of him, he’s a reliable presence in Glaz’ life, loving, supportive, strong. Their infatuation is mutual and not diminished by demons which are not Kapkan’s fault.

It’s difficult to predict how this episode will go. Some cumulate in a fight, be it verbal or physical, others peak unnoticeably and then ebb until Glaz nearly forgets about the whole thing, can’t imagine a universe where they aren’t the world’s most perfect couple. People often don’t appreciate their health until they fall ill. Glaz has learnt to fiercely appreciate the days on which every smile is teased out gently instead of requiring heavy machinery to surface.

.

They met in Spetsnaz, a perceived eternity ago, and by all rights should’ve separated unscathed instead of their lives intermingling the way they did in the end. Glaz’ hand to hand was rubbish and Kapkan consistently disappointed in him, leaving them both frustrated with each other, yet not to the point of memorability. Kapkan should’ve remained that morose instructor with the hard set to his mouth, and Glaz his largely incompetent yet well-meaning student of which he’s probably had plenty. Nothing about him was remarkable – nothing about either of them, really –, until some people fell ill and some others got married, and suddenly Glaz was accompanying his fellow Spetsnaz on an extended hunting trip. As if Glaz had been fifteenth in line for the throne and fate removed all fourteen in between, and now he was at his coronation, not entirely sure how he got here.

It wasn’t the two of them alone, of course, a few acquaintances and curious souls went with them, but overall not enough people to comfortably hide one’s personality for an entire month. This is when Glaz noticed that Kapkan, when talking about his passion, was easy to look at. The glint in his otherwise piercing pale eyes was contagious and Glaz inquired a lot more about hunting in general and Kapkan’s experience specifically than he’d originally intended.

Usually, Glaz falls easily, almost at the drop of a hat. Someone smiles at him wrong, someone does him an unexpected favour, and he’s gone. Lost. If this happens, it’s fleeting. But when it takes him a while to even realise he’s staring and hovering, it means it’s serious.

They require five years to get together.

During that time, they keep invading each other’s life almost by chance, end up assigned to the same place or on the same mission, and the grin he receives when they meet once more is a genuine one. Glaz longs for more and ever more: a laugh, then a touch, time spent alone, time spent alone that’s timeless and neverending in their minds. Every new bit which he almost wishes into existence he treasures and keeps it close to his heart so it warms him during the time between their meetings. This is how he thinks of his days now – either real, actual events, or merely waiting. When Kapkan isn’t there, reality loses its focus.

He doesn’t remember the words leading up the kiss and it’s something he regrets to this day. Vaguely, he recalls words too brazen and brash for his otherwise quiet, timid character, though they probably were nothing but innocent to others. But Kapkan – Kapkan understood, Kapkan who’s known him for years and can tell it’s unusual for him, and he let it happen. Despite nothing coming back, Glaz wasn’t under the impression of his flattery to bounce off the hard exterior, rather he noticed it penetrating the roughness, finding holes in its defence. Kapkan soaked it up. He refused to dance but admired Glaz’ efforts nonetheless. And so they kissed.

Kissed in full gear, the relief of an uneventful mission flooding their systems, perched in the snow next to each other and lost in conversation instead of paying attention to something their colleagues had under control anyway. A routine extraction, no support needed, and Kapkan pulled down the cloth hiding his lower face when Glaz offered him some warm coffee, and then their lips are touching, their breath visible in the icy air and Glaz’ shoulder killing him over this odd angle.

Despite going home alone that day, he got no second of sleep. His heart wouldn’t calm down, and neither his thoughts. I’m the happiest man alive, he thought, clear as day and not a doubt in his mind.

.

“Strip.”

It does have its good sides. Two, as far as Glaz is concerned: Kapkan sticks to him like Velcro to wool, knowing nobody else can keep him in check the way his lover does. The worse it gets, the more excuses pop up to stay at home, to go out alone, to take Glaz along. He doesn’t mind switching topics and reading body language like a hawk if he can hold Kapkan’s hand in return, witness his dry wit and remarkable patience.

The second positive side effect is linked to the first. Being around each other constantly leads to certain things.

Glaz takes his time because he knows Kapkan likes it this way. He follows their established routine and discards his sweater first without revealing any skin on his torso. The motion exposes his arms, which he flexes subtly – he doesn’t need to cast a glance at his lover to know his eyes have strayed from his face. His t-shirt is next, showing off his chest and the ridges of his abs through controlled breathing and contracting his muscles at the right moment.

It’s slow, this ritual of theirs, deliberate, hides nothing. Glaz feels more and more naked in more ways than one, as if he’s laying his soul bare together with his body. Undressing is too profane a word, can’t come close to denoting what’s happening between them. He bathes in Kapkan’s attention, normally is indifferent about his own body but now takes pride as he’s being desired – a conscious action for its own sake. Kapkan wants him. It’s a state of being rather than a base need.

He isn’t unaffected. The more fabric lines the floor, the warmer the air gets: Glaz is sweating in the cool bedroom, cheeks reddened and his excitement visible, even more so once he’s fully nude. He breathes hard and dares not meet Kapkan’s gaze. This isn’t about him, after all, this is about obeying and allowing Kapkan to let off steam and an exercise in control. This is how Kapkan convinces himself he’s in control. He needs to be, desperately. And challenging him on this is the last thing Glaz wants.

“Lie down.”

The command is sharp yet leaves Glaz’ skin unmarred: he’s used to this, even looks forward to it when he begins noticing the change in Kapkan’s behaviour. Complying is natural, the sheet a cold relief under his heated body. He expected to be ordered to suck him, which is the most common request he receives in moments like these – he likes drawing it out but Kapkan usually can’t wait to be inside him, so he rarely gets to blow him under normal circumstances. Right now, when it’s about showing off the power he holds over Glaz, Kapkan doesn’t mind dragging it out. Quite the opposite.

“Hold these.”

A twitch between Glaz’ legs, he can’t tell from which body part (or maybe both?), because he knows what these words mean. He doesn’t have the peace of mind for this, he’ll fail and it’ll all be over, he already knows this. Not once has he passed this challenge, not once was he able to see it through to the end, resulting in a heavy throb in his crotch for the rest of the night until he could take care of himself without Kapkan knowing. It’s the sweetest torture, but torture it is nonetheless. He’s sure he’ll disappoint his lover.

Regardless, he lifts his hands until he can put his fingers together, letting Kapkan place objects between each pair of fingertips. Tonight, they’re bullets, threatening to slip out and fall onto his belly immediately. Whether or not he’ll be satisfied today relies entirely on his ability to hold them, restrain himself from sudden movements, concentrate until it’s over. If even only one drops, Kapkan will stop.

His tongue is hot, scorching hot, and velvety smooth, and Glaz’ eyelashes are fluttering. He stares at the bare ceiling, praying to an unknown deity for strength and presence of mind, and then he’s enveloped whole. His body shakes with his stuttering in- and exhales, but he keeps the ammunition where it is. For now.

This is what it must feel like when he services Kapkan. Hardly more than teasing, only just enough to keep his pleasure climbing and climbing, however minuscule the progress. Glaz cherishes every centimetre he slips further into the wet heat and curses it simultaneously. His mouth is struggling to produce sound as it doesn’t seem to know what’s appropriate; no moans escape him, his gasps are aborted and all that leaves his throat is a pained gargling, almost unwilling because he wants this so bad, wants to enjoy it yet has to stop himself from losing to the overwhelming pleasure.

Only when Kapkan sits up does Glaz realise how tense he is, that every muscle in his body was painfully taut. Bit by bit, he relaxes consciously, fighting back the memory of how it felt to be touched, licked, loved like this in order to focus. One of the metal objects has shifted, so he corrects it. Just in time before a hand closes around him.

The callouses on their own do nothing for him, but paired with perfect technique and the knowledge of all his sensitive spots, it’s nearly too much. Glaz moves into the motion, lifts his hips in the hopes of a speedier resolution, cursing inwardly when the rhythm slows to a crawl in response. Kapkan isn’t making this easy for him, that’s the whole point. The ministrations cease again for a moment, Glaz’ thighs are lifted, his legs bent, and this time, when he feels a tongue exploring him, it’s further down.

He squeezes his eyelids shut. This is too much. He can’t bear it. His toes twitch with pangs of discomfort, but when the hand returns, the mixture tilts into nothing but pure bliss. With every lick, his hands jolt, and he’s somehow still holding on to the bullets, without knowing how but not caring, not when he’s being opened through nothing but Kapkan’s mouth. He can feel his breath ghosting over his skin.

When he can’t take it anymore, he seeks other outlets. He digs his heels into the mattress, throws his head left and right, moans and whimpers and keens at the digits probing deep while a slick muscle tugs on his rim and a tight grip brings him closer and closer. He’s shivering as if it was below zero, and still his fingers don’t budge. The centre of his universe are these five gleaming items, and fanning out from there is deep elation emerging from inside him. Moving isn’t against the rules, so he writhes and rises and falls, strains upwards and downwards and rides towards his climax with chattering teeth. He can’t lose himself or everything will be in vain. But he wants to, oh does he want to.

His orgasm shatters him. His back curves as soon as the first wave hits him, and there he remains, right on the zenith, the sensations hardly fluctuating – instead it’s a steady stream of impossible pleasure and relief flooding him and his rigid form. He’s so tightly coiled that he presses out the bullets from between his fingertips, the warmed metal falling to his stomach and mixing with the long stripes painted onto his own skin, but he couldn’t care less. It’s monumental and leaves him shuddering for a minute afterwards, still revelling in the intensity of the moment.

Sinking back into the pillows, it’s as if a spell has been lifted. Kapkan regards him with a mixture of pride and smugness, warming Glaz’ heart: gone is the no-nonsense stare, the hard set to his mouth, the roughness in his touch. They smile at each other, a soft palm trailing over Glaz’ hips and thighs, and all he wants is to sleep curled up against this man whom he knows so well.

“Turn around”, says Kapkan. And though there’s a gentle hint in his voice, it’s obvious he won’t accept a no.

He doesn’t ask whether it’s alright for Glaz, because he’d let him know if it wasn’t. They’re both aware Glaz would speak up, meaning his compliance directly implies permission. This unspoken rule makes a lot of things easier.

No preparation needed, Kapkan has worked him open with his mouth and fingers already, so he slides right into the sensitive and overstimulated hole. Up to the hilt. Glaz’ whine is lost in the pillows.

“You’re beautiful”, Kapkan whispers and Glaz feels it in his throat, balls his hands into fists and clenches them around the sheets because he won’t be shown any more patience this evening.

Despite the discomfort, he likes this, too, the rawness of it and the glimpse he gets of undisguised emotions. In between sharp snaps and hard thrusts, Kapkan compliments him, each of his words melting Glaz below him, and the kisses now and then mask the loud noises. He doesn’t dare reciprocate, keeps his vocalisations garbled and takes it without moving, drinking in the growls and not commenting on the teeth burying into his skin. They’ll leave marks, he knows this.

This is what Kapkan’s composed attitude from before hid, this is what he really feels. Glaz would never deprive him of this, no matter how uncomfortable it is, because it’s one of the purest displays of Kapkan’s love. He can’t get enough of Glaz, doesn’t seem to know what to do with all this affection he harbours, so now and then it spills over. It’s reassuring. Their feelings for each other are this strong.

While Kapkan showers, Glaz gathers the bullets and lines them up on the bedside table. Reflecting the soft light from outside, they shimmer like golden stars.

Glaz is aware they might use them to end someone’s life.

.

This time, the climax announces itself. Like a freight train, it makes itself known from quite a distance away, whereas Glaz is chained to the tracks; he’s got a date and even a time when he’ll be able to stare into the conductor’s eyes. He realises with horror that he’ll have to ride this one out, no way around it: Kapkan is scheduled for the exercise and found out before Glaz did, eliminating the possibility of approaching Harry about it. His defence would’ve been weak yet honest – in the moment, Kapkan will act and react exactly like his intensive training ingrained in him, no doubt about it. It’s the after which causes Glaz considerable anguish. But re-assigning him would draw his attention and then Glaz would bear the brunt of it personally and not by association.

Kapkan has been getting worse for a while now, his light, restless sleep a good indicator for rising agitation, and as soon as he hears about the exercise, he knows. No way around this either: he knows. Stubborn as he is, he’ll walk right into it expecting a different outcome, will deny any parallels locked in his mind between watching his colleagues go down, not knowing where the shots were coming from, expecting to be next, and experiencing much of the same in a controlled setting. I know it’s not real, he says, and then a different voice must pop up in his mind later: But this was. Remember? Let me remind you.

Glaz is fully aware of what will happen and Kapkan too, and still inaction is his best option. He distracts him with little sessions of having Kapkan describe a mutual acquaintance or friend while drawing exactly what he says and then prompting outraged chuckles when he presents the final result. He cooks every day, either breakfast or dinner, and Kapkan lets him. This is what worries Glaz the most, because he’s sure Kapkan can tell he’s walking on eggshells around him, and instead of calling him out on it, he accepts it quietly. Seems to appreciate the kid gloves. He’s never done this before, and it’s terrifying.

Two days before the scheduled catastrophe, Glaz finds himself in the kitchen, staring at the open cutlery drawer and catching himself wondering where he should stow it all. It takes him a long while to realise he’s crying, and even longer to understand why – Kapkan is in good hands tonight, out with people Glaz knows he can trust, and he’s had a relaxing evening involving a long bath, a good film, and delicious leftovers. He should be feeling better than he did all week, yet it’s achieved the opposite effect: all the pent-up tension is flowing out of him in salty droplets now that he doesn’t need to be painfully aware of his surroundings at all times. His joints are aching and he’s shivering; stress has caught up with him as well as all the thinking he postponed to less rainy days.

He thinks about how eerily calm Kapkan has been. How much he has postponed as well.

Slamming the drawer shut, he heads straight to bed and ignores the icy tendrils curling around his limbs, even though they only recede once Kapkan has joined him hours later.

.

The next morning, his outburst and physical discomfort become crystal clear, though the newfound explanation does nothing to quell Glaz’ dread. He’s ill.

Neither the first time nor the last he’s dragged himself into work despite a fever, though most of his co-workers care enough to point out his paleness. Staring back from the mirror is an ashen-faced shadow of a man drenched in sweat, and though it’s probably only the flu, the implications are far-reaching. Depending on whether he gets better today or not, he won’t be able to work tomorrow. Or accompany Kapkan. Cushion his fall.

At the end of the day, it seems an impossibility – concentrating on anything requires much more brain capacity than he has to spare, and keeping himself hydrated and fed is a task so monumental he can’t possibly shoulder it twice. Barely does he notice Kapkan shoving him into the shower to wash off the uncomfortable clamminess left on his skin, and the next time he’s lucid, he’s in bed with a jug of water on the nightstand. He must’ve been forced to take some medicine as the aching isn’t as bad anymore, he no longer feels like shedding his own skin and the pounding in his head has subsided. Like this, he can hardly depend on himself.

The air is fluffy snow on his skin, impeding his movements and causing his teeth to clack together as he fights his way to the living room, intent on spending every minute he can in Kapkan’s presence to soothe them both. All he gains, however, is an angry snarl and a manhandling the way he came – his lover isn’t having any of it. Still. He remains by Glaz’ side and he probably has his own pitiful whining to thank for it. Throughout the rest of the evening and the night, whenever he wakes up, there’s a solid presence behind his back. And even if Kapkan barely sleeps himself, he stays right where he is.

.

Waking up to an empty bed is a blow Glaz could do without. He feels better – marginally –, but what sends him into a full blown panic is the realisation that it’s out of his hands now. However Kapkan reacts today, he won’t be present to absorb the shock, and he can’t figure out the best course of action when he’s ignorant of what happened. Calling someone else to inquire in detail seems messy as it’d get them talking, meaning all he can do is wait.

So he waits.

Waits like someone on death row, barely touches the food Kapkan placed next to the refilled jug and skims the books next to the food listlessly. And waits. Waits for the inevitable jingling of keys, steps which might be soft or loud or disorientated, maybe the calling of his name. Several hours, he waits for it and when it happens, he’s still not ready.

“How do you feel?”, is Kapkan’s only question as he helps Glaz up, wraps him in a spare blanket and changes the soaked sheets.

He takes an eternity to answer. “Better”, he says through the headache and the shivering.

A stern glance. “You’ve always been a horrible liar.” And that’s that.

They spend the evening next to each other once more, Kapkan devouring his dinner while awkwardly perched on the mattress and reading something on his phone, and Glaz still waits. It’ll happen. It can happen any moment now, he knows this, knows the exercise took place as he got a text about it, and so he waits.

He recovers over the weekend and returns to work on Monday. They went for a few walks which left him weak but sharper-minded due to the fresh air, but as much as he scrutinises the mild-mannered man by his side, he finds no indicators of a lurking rage, simmering deep below. He knows it’s there. He knows it will surface in some way, maybe not directed at the environment but inwards.

Kapkan showers without a reminder. He brings Glaz meals and drops a comment about Glaz’ schedule being so messed up he doesn’t even know when to eat anymore. He tries to draw a squirrel for half an hour and only stops because Glaz is dizzy from laughing so much.

Gradually, he stops waiting. Healthy again, he knows he can deal with it whenever it comes, and so he focuses on the present.

And it never happens.

.

About four months later, Kapkan snaps at a grocery clerk for something insignificant. He leaves Glaz drooling, panting, shuddering and wholly satisfied that night after two hours of rigorous teasing. The next day, he jumps a foot in the air over someone dropping their phone.

A few people ask Glaz whether Kapkan is alright. He just smiles and assures them that yes, he’s doing fine. No, he doesn’t need any support. Yes, he’s got it all under control.

This time, he doesn’t need to justify himself to anyone made up.

That evening, he develops a fierce headache. It turns into a migraine so bad he can barely walk, so he whispers to Kapkan that he’s going to bed early and no, he doesn’t need to join him, he’ll be alright, he doesn’t need anything, and still he’s encased in strong arms not five minutes later and forced to swallow a pill which he instead hides under the mattress. He suggests some ice cream might help, and a shoulder massage, and miraculously, he feels much better the next morning.

When he enters the kitchen, Kapkan is whistling to himself, horribly out of tune and unconcerned who might hear him. He only whistles on good days.

“Better?”, he greets Glaz with a tone implying it’s Glaz’ own responsibility to remain healthy, but pulls him to his chest regardless, carding a hand through his hair gently. He’s soft. When Glaz nuzzles him with his nose, he lets out a low chuckle which reverberates in Glaz’ own torso. He’s never felt this safe.

“Yes”, he mumbles against warm skin. “Much better.”

[wordsnstuff]

Guide To Writing Faded Love

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-- This is a thorough guide to writing love that has faded, either quickly or over time, and hopefully you romance writers will find it useful. There’s some general tips outlined, some common questions answered, and some resources linked at the bottom. Happy writing!

You can also find this article (and more) at wordsnstuffblog.com

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The Slow Reveal

It’s important to slowly reveal why the love faded, and the manner in which it did. Was it a slow, slippery fall into a routine of just.. not trying? Was it a quick burst of passion that lead to quick commitment and then ended up being extremely short? Reveal that to the reader, and do it carefully. Tug at their heartstrings, and make them feel it. Don’t reveal it too quick either. Show them the good days, and then show them rotting. It’s that much more bitter sweet that way.

Bring The Characters To Unpack The Big Issue

It’s important to remember that your story will actually read by real people, and whether or not you mean for it to, the story will send a message. It’s vital to keep in mind that no matter the ending to your lovers’ story, they need to be the ones to propel it. No exterior factor can fix or break a relationship. Financial struggle, infidelity, distance, difference, and betrayal are not the causes of a failed relationship, or a faded love. A good rule of thumb is to think “if this factor couldn’t bring the love back, then it couldn’t drive it away either”, and that will always bring you to the conclusion that the only thing that can resolve an issue is the lovers themselves.

Let The Characters Grow, Even If Apart

Not all faded love comes back. Not all faded love stays dull forever. What’s more important than the love returning, is the fate of those who felt it in the first place. Both characters should learn something important, and both characters should be on the path to where they’re meant to be by the end, even if that isn’t with each other.

Love Is A Choice, Not A Chance

I know this is a difficult thing to understand, especially with the way love it typically framed in fiction, but at the heart of every larger-than-life romance, is the choice that was made to conceive it. Love is preserved in the choices people make to keep it alive. There isn’t a person out there who would tell you that they had a perfect love story without any compromise or conscious decision to stay and conserve it. If the love has gone away, it’s not because the couple was unlucky, it’s because one or both of them made a choice. Explain what choice(s) that was and why it was made in the first place.

The Little Things Build Up

It is never one big event or argument or struggle that makes love fade. It’s lots of little things, that each partner overlooks because “it’s not a big deal”, “they’ll get over it”, or “we’ve been through worse and gotten through it”. Show this, and make it hit home. This is the time to insert relatability, and the time to make the reader reflect on their own relationship(s), past or present. 

Common Struggles

~ Couples who recognize early on that the fire is going out... There are three types of couples: the ones who try desperately to fix it before it gets critical, the ones who let it simmer and get worse, or the ones who give up immediately. Determine which type your couple is based on their personalities and motivations, then go from there.

~ Depicting faded love vs. evolved relationship dynamic... Faded love is just that. When two people love each other, it’s easy to tell that they’re more comfortable than they are bored or even unhappy. Show this through the little things, and through the way both parties react in mundane situations. 

For instance, when choosing a paint color, two people who love each other may bicker, but it would show that they’re both confident that no matter the outcome, it will be a compromise and that the tension won’t long because, in the end, it’s just paint. For a couple whose love has faded, the paint would act as a channel for bigger issues, and the argument wouldn’t really be about paint. That would show in the way their argument escalates.

~ Showing the confusion between love and infatuation... This isn’t always the case for faded love, and for the most part I’d say it usually isn’t because time passing is a major factor in this category of failed relationship, but two people failing to differentiate these two things can often lead to what is mistaken for faded love. Your love can’t fade if you were only ever infatuated with each other, so be careful in this territory. 

Stories that are meant to be about faded love, but are based on infatuation that went too far, often fall flat, and the necessary trends that are exclusively for faded love will leave a nasty taste in the reader’s mouth. Arguments between two people who loved each other, but now don’t, are completely different than ones between two people who thought they were in love, but never were. The latter often comes across as abuse, rather than tragic loss of true connection, because the tropes don’t work.

~ How do you show what love fading feels like?... You have to have experience, or have a really practical imagination. Simply, put yourself into different shoes, even if they’re yours from the past, and trust your instincts based on what you have been through. We all know someone who has experienced this in some form, if not ourselves, so don’t be ashamed of asking for others’ stories and recollection. Emotional research is just as valid as any other, and just like representing a mental illness, you will be representing this experience differently than anyone else has ever felt it, so accept that. 

~ Parents hiding their situation from the kids... This is a tricky one, because this area is where it gets real, and it starts insinuating aspects of your perspective. A lot of  why a lot of couples who don’t love each other stay together (realistically) is religion, traditional values, and shame. These are viewed very differently by any given reader, and is the easiest spot to push some buttons and accidentally push your personal voice through to the point of them noticing. 

That aside, I would approach this, like the emotional aspect, from an empathetic angle. Imagine how the kids would feel, how the tension would build, why it would build, how the parents would feel, how the parents’ interactions with the kids would be impacted, etc. Simply, put some time aside to think long and hard about this situation and all its implications.

~ How would a couple revive their love for one another?... That depends on the individuals in the relationship. As I said before, there are three ways a couple would respond to this, and the way they respond greatly impacts the way they would solve the issue. Some would fight for a while and wait for the love to just.. come back. Some would simply call it quits. Some would be in complete denial. You decide, and base it on the characters’ personalities and motivations. Not just what they want in general, but what they want out of the relationship, because whatever they have to fight for is what will determine they strategy they use to do so.

Resources

Angst Prompts

How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt

20 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Young Adult Fiction/Romance

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

Writing Arguments Between Characters

Pros and Cons of Different Points Of View

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Resources For Romance Writers

Useful Writing ResourcesUseful Writing Resources II

Resources For Describing Emotions

Giving Characters Bad Traits

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[texanredrose]

Dishonored - Ch 4

Chapter 4: Gardens and Packs

The beeping of her alarm pulled her not from sleep- halfway through the night, she’d given up the pretense and changed into her uniform- but it did startle her out of the staring contest she’d been having with the wall. Reaching over, she shut it off, then stood up and left her quarters, heading straight to her office. After going through the requisite motions in the wake of Rose’s escape, she found herself standing at a crossroads. She couldn’t keep the whole of Mistral in a defensive posture forever- someone would start questioning why they weren’t taking an aggressive stance- and she had little idea how long it would take until the resistance struck, if they struck at all. They could quite easily head for their intended target instead, which would provide an obstacle all her own. As the closest command outside of Mantle’s shores, she would be called upon to send her troops to reinforce the weakened Atlas defenses.

It all depended, of course, on how the attack played out. If Rose managed to succeed and Atlas Command fell, she could easily justify abandoning Mistral entirely to secure Atlas’ borders. If she failed, however, it would likely spark an entirely offensive campaign all over Remnant. It would likely make the Pacification War look like a trial run in comparison.

Few were at their posts at this hour, save for the night watch. The soldiers saluted her as she passed but she didn’t miss the dirty looks she earned when they thought she couldn’t see. A lot of her own troops died yesterday for no good reason- for no reason at all, in fact. She couldn’t blame them for their enmity.

However, she should’ve expected one of her soldiers to be hard at work before the sun had even risen. “Sergeant Forecastle, what are you doing?”

“Compiling the reports Lieutenant DeLeon filed, Ma’am,” he replied, jumping to his feet behind his desk and pushing his chair back in his haste, snapping off a salute. “The Lieutenant’s work indicates an oncoming assault on our base along the southwest coast and I believe she has the right of it.”

The port closest to Atlas, where they kept their logistics hub, airships, and warships. She had no doubt they were right but feigned surprise as he handed her the scroll. “I wasn’t aware you were both working so diligently. I’m quite certain I ordered everyone to cease all non-mission critical tasks after the accountability.”

“I believed it to be mission critical, Ma’am.”

“You’re a fine soldier, Sergeant,” she said, and she meant it, though it pained her heart, because at what point did a soldier become irredeemable? Winter accepted that she’d likely passed that mark long ago but those under her command shouldn’t be held accountable for her own blindness. They were just following orders in a world where failure to do so meant death. Could one be blamed for simply wanting to live? “What’s this at the bottom?”

“The Lieutenant and I started a fragmentation order for our forces in the southwest.” Here, his voice turned nervous- just a tremor, but she heard it all the same. “Pending your approval, of course.”

She half expected something along the lines of the invasion. March through the area, burn anything so their quarry had nowhere to hide- it wouldn’t be the first time they’d employed the tactic. However, the proposed plan was to consolidate forces along the coast and effectively abandon the smaller outposts.

“We would cede ground.”

“Yes, Ma’am, but those positions are relatively easy to retake. If we lose the base, our entire supply chain is compromised.”

“It’s an excellent proposal. Thank you for your diligence.” Mentally, she kicked herself. If she didn’t approve the order, Rose stood a higher chance of succeeding if she did indeed try to capture the logistics hub, which would make for an excellent staging point for an offensive on the Rehabilitation Facility. It would draw scrutiny from her subordinates, however, and they would likely figure her out after the attack, which would most likely remove her from her position in Mistral and make the fallout that much more unpredictable. If she did approve the order, on the other hand, the resistance would certainly be doomed to failure. “However, I don’t remember authorizing for either of you to draft such an order.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, you have enough on your plate.” Sergeant Forecastle had worked as her direct subordinate for three years now and, though he didn’t do it often, sometimes adopted a less formal tone. He was a good man. “We thought it best to have something ready.”

She had only one recourse that could possibly buy her the time she needed. “Draft the full order. I want to look over it before it’s disseminated but a FRAGO could potentially create confusion. We must assume we are being watched exceptionally closely; any opening we leave will be exploited. There can be no room for error or hesitations.” She made to hand the scroll to him but pulled it back before he could grab it. “You will do that after getting some breakfast and taking a walk, at the very least. I need you sharp, Sergeant, not burned out.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He withdrew his hand but didn’t leave, prompting her to raise a brow, to which he offered a small shrug. “I don’t think you’ll be sending me alone, Ma’am.”

“Ah.” She turned, heading into her office and finding Lieutenant DeLeon seated behind her desk, greeting her in much the same manner.

“Ma’am, I-”

“Will wait until after you’ve had breakfast and a walk. Then you can brief me.” She pointed towards the door. “Now, go. Sergeant Forecastle will provide you company.” As the Lieutenant came around the desk, she put a hand on the woman’s shoulder, stopping her briefly. “And good work. I do appreciate it.”

“O-of course, Ma’am.” DeLeon gave a stuttered little nod before heading out of the office, closing the door behind her.

A shadow passed over her face a moment before her hand did. She walked a very fine line now and every step, it seemed to get even thinner. Eventually, there would be a decisive split between those who would defend her actions and those who held nothing but contempt for her, and that balance could easily be upset by just one wrong move.

Winter had known since she was young, watching her mother’s rise through the ranks, that commanding a territory would be one of the most difficult things she’d ever do in her life. She just didn’t expect for this to be the reason.

Claiming her seat, she hit a few buttons on her desk to check for any high priority messages, of which there were a fair few. Vacuon forces were being mobilized to the border in preparation for a pincer attack to eliminate the threat in Vale. Atlas Command had also ordered forces stationed in Mantle to prepare for mobilization, with the aim of reinforcing Vacuo after the local forces had moved into Vale. Those in Menagerie would be on the other side of the pincer and were preparing accordingly.

Then, at the end, a private message of sorts.

Summoning her strength, she activated the secured line and waited for the reckoning. Although it would be early in the morning back in Atlas, she had no doubt that her mother would be wide awake.

She wasn’t disappointed. “Took you long enough.”

“I apologize for the delay, Mother.” Even after all these years, being confronted with her mother’s piercing gaze made her sit a little straighter. In their household, her word was law, and to the rest of Atlas, Willow Schnee was the physical embodiment of what it meant to be Atlesian. Their family legacy was a difficult thing to live up to and Mother pushed that to a new level. “Is there something specific you wished to discuss?”

For a moment, the woman seemed on edge. Then the look in her eyes softened by just a fraction. “I realize you’re in a very demanding position but I thank you for checking up on your siblings when you did. When we received the report about Vale, it was comforting to know that Whitley was nowhere in the area.”

“It seems I had good timing,” she said.

“Indeed.” Then, her expression turned severe. “However, abandoning his post in such a fashion ahead of an attack on this scale… reflects poorly on him. Atlas Command wanted him brought in for questioning.”

Dread flooded her chest. “Mother, you can’t possibly believe-”

“Of course I don’t.” She shook her head. “Whitley’s always been at odds with our way of life but it stems from selfishness, not rebellion. Thankfully, you’ve been rather good at documenting his tendency to run off at his whim and I’ve managed to talk the other Generals out of subjecting him to an interrogation squad.” A small sigh. “You saved your brother’s life, Winter.”

Nodding, she looked away for a moment. “When were you going to tell me about the interrogation squad’s methods? Or is that something we’re just supposed to learn through practice?”

“Don’t be so childish; I’ve told you since you made Captain to utilize the interrogation squads. You could’ve known all this time what to expect.” Her mother scoffed. “Really, Winter, how could you not know? Have you ever heard of someone surviving an encounter with an interrogation squad?”

“It’s a pointless waste of life.” She made a motion with her hands. “For what little they extract, we lose how many soldiers? Is that an acceptable trade off?”

“The life of a traitor, however minor the trespass, is worth far less than the security provided by ridding ourselves of them,” her mother replied, absolutely resolute. She should’ve known better than to try dissuading her. “We are cogs in the machine that keeps Atlas moving forward. If we prove ourselves useful, we keep our place, but those that no longer function towards that goal must be removed. It is the only way to ensure our way of life continues.”

What if our way of life is wrong? She didn’t dare speak the words but neither could she look her mother in the eye. “Of course.”

“Winter.” She looked up, meeting the woman’s gaze. “I know you’re under extreme pressure right now. In the near future, Atlas Command will ask great things of you. I have no doubt you’ll make me proud.”

“I will do my best, Mother.”  Straightening her shoulders, she could only hope to sound convincing enough. “I will do all that is asked of me to protect our way of life and accomplish our mission.”

“I expect nothing less. Dismissed.”

She ended the call and slumped back in her chair. Something she hadn’t considered, somehow- that Whitley might be suspected of having something to do with the events in Vale. It compounded her own concerns about how long until someone noticed that she’d strayed from the path herself.

She didn’t have many illusions about her future at this point. Eventually she would be deemed a traitor and her only options would be to fight to the bitter end or surrender. Either way, she would be a dead woman shortly after being discovered. While she couldn’t hope for a clear conscience by the time that end came, she could at least do her best to mitigate the fresh blood to stain her hands as best she could.

A fool’s errand but hers nonetheless.

Idly, she thought of something else she’d yet to consider. When Rose and her army assaulted Atlas Command… they would likely come face-to-face with her mother.

“You look weary, old friend.” Looking up, Winter watched as General Cotta strode in, no longer wearing their… less formal attire. They’d donned their combat suit, a complex series of interlocking armor that had all manner of weapons collapsed into the plating, painted in splashes of red, orange, and brown. The pattern worked well outside of forests and, even then, could be difficult to spot. But what troubled her most was their helmet, with the visor covering their eyes, making it difficult to read their expression. “I’ve already been briefed on your escaped prisoner- which I notice you haven’t reported yet.”

“I hadn’t reported I’d captured her, either.” She watched as they claimed the chair across from her desk, trying to keep her nerves in check. It seemed Atlas Command would be calling upon her much sooner than she’d hoped. “I may as well tell them all at once.”

“It’d be better if you didn’t, frankly. You’ll be a bit busy in the weeks ahead.” Despite how briskly they got down to business… Winter could see something in the corners of their mouth, how they pronounced certain words, as if they were choosing them carefully. It wasn’t like Terry to be so cautious when speaking one-on-one like this.

“How so?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the attack in Vale. With that and the Vacuon rebels organizing into an all out war, Atlas Command is issuing a reorganization of forces.” They took a deep breath and then sighed. “I was sent here to conduct an inspection on your facilities. Before we became aware of the threat in Vale, Atlas Command was considering the White Fang threat to be too troublesome to continue dealing with in our usual methods. They wanted me to find an alternative. Now, with a potential uprising in three territories, they’ve determined Menagerie to be expendable and have come up with their own plan.”

“They’ve what?” Her brows furrowed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her desk, clasping her hands together and hoping she’d misunderstood her friend’s explanation. “Expendable? What, exactly, does that mean?”

“We will be withdrawing our forces from Menagerie entirely,” they said, betraying no hint of their thoughts. “The troops there will be redistributed to Vale to assist in retaking the territory.”

Winter worried about what answer would come. “We’re to leave Menagerie to the people?”

“No.” A pause. “Effective immediately, I will be the commanding officer in charge of the forces that will remain here in Mistral. While our troops withdraw from Menagerie, you will lead the extermination force into it.”

Winter felt the air flee from her lungs as she stared at her friend. “... extermination force?”

“Menagerie’s greatest asset is the mines there; the rest is none of our concern. Your mission will be to destroy everything else- poison fresh water supplies, burn what can be and bomb what can’t, leave the people of Menagerie with nothing but caves, and then flood them.” They reached into a pouch along their belt. “I already uploaded all the planning information to this scroll. As soon as I connect it to the secure channel and send the information to Atlas Command, they will publish the orders. You will have every available interrogation squad plus the full might of a corps of paladins, along with several covert teams to handle the rest under your command.” Terry stood, gesturing towards her desk. “The White Fang will be of no concern by this time next month. When the other territories are stabilized, we will return and get the mines back in operation with work forces harvested from the other territories.”

She nodded and stood up, but she didn’t move to allow the General to take her spot.

In that moment, she could only take one of two paths. If she conceded, she would be charged with committing genocide and expected to carry it out without question.

Reaching for the sword at her hip, she drew her blade, quickly pressing the tip to Terry’s throat. “No.”

“Winter…” Slowly, they opened one hand in the universal gesture of surrender but kept the hand holding the scroll well away from her weapon. “... what are you doing?”

She probably could’ve been reasonable, rational, calm- she could’ve done a lot of things right then.

Instead, she let her fury be known.

“I will not be a puppet for mass murder anymore!” She pressed forward, forcing her friend- now her enemy, back, away from the desk and access to the secure line. Calling forth glyphs, she climbed over it, putting herself between Terry and their goal, and they retreated just a touch further than she would’ve liked. “I am not going to stand here and let innocent people be slaughtered in the name of Atlas!”

“What you’re suggesting is treason-”

“What you’re suggesting is heinous!” Her grip tightened as she made peace with her decision- not one she made lightly, and it pained her heart to say the words, but she had to commit to a course. Neither would be free of blood but she absolutely couldn’t abide one, so she chose the other. “I will not have their blood on my hands! Even if it means I have to spill yours!”

A single moment of silence and stillness.

Then, she pressed forward quickly, trying to drive her blade through their throat- the one weakness in their armor. Terry managed to just barely dodge, the plating on their left forearm expanding into a shield that protected their body with a slit that allowed them to see while their right reached for the weapon their favored in close quarters like this- a club charged with lightning dust, enough that one hit would bring just about anyone to their knees.

Winter called a glyph into being just before their shockstick could touch flesh, summoning another to rest at the hilt of her sword and absorb the electricity before it could reach her hand. Years of training with them had taught her more than enough tricks to make it a fair fight.

But she didn’t intend on fighting fair.

More glyphs appeared as she called upon her beowolves, forcing Terry to draw yet another weapon- some manner of pistol that seemed rather specially designed to disrupt her summons, making their forms unstable despite how hard she concentrated. Then again, considering she was mostly focused on trying to drive her blade through her friend’s neck, she was probably just as much to blame for their ineffectiveness right then. The more her emotions got the better of her, the less stable they would be, but she couldn’t rein in her unbridled fury, her absolute contempt for the truth that stared her in the face.

Less than a week ago, she would’ve been humbled to accept the charge. Would’ve carried out the mission with exacting precision. Would’ve prided herself on a job well done.

She would’ve been a monster and thought herself a hero. Ultimately, her rage was fueled as much by the task set before her as it was by her own disgust.

Electricity arched every time their weapons met and some part of her acknowledged the irony. The saber was a gift from her mother to commemorate her first command; how fitting it should be the thing that would make the woman forever ashamed of her.

“Winter, stop!” Terry shuffled backwards, keeping their shield up. “Listen to me!”

“You’ll not dissuade me,” she said, stalking forward and taking another swipe with her blade, the attack dodged as she sliced through one of the chairs. The rest of her office looked thoroughly wrecked and she would be hard pressed to explain it to her subordinates but that would be a concern for later. As long as Terry lived, they outranked her, and she would rather not find out the hard way how her soldiers would react to that fight. “I won’t stand by and let this atrocity happen!”

“I’m not asking you to!” They roared back, meeting force with force as their weapons crossed and then shoulder checking her with their shield. She’d anticipated the attack, called up a glyph to steady her feet while raising her weapon in preparation for their return strike… but it didn’t come. “Winter, listen to me- not as a superior, but as your friend. We’re aligned!”

“Forgive me if I find that too convenient to believe.” She began to circle, waiting for them to drop their guard. “You’ve shown no hint of doubt before.”

“If I had, you would’ve been the first to turn me in, old friend.” Terry straightened up, relaxing their posture slightly but still ready to bring up their shield. “Your loyalty has always been to your own goals. I implore you to listen; I’ve seen what you have. What we’ve done to Mistral, to Remnant, the mass murder of an entire people just to keep an iron grip on the rest- I have no delusions about the crimes we’ve committed and the ones that lay ahead of us. We’re both just as guilty in letting it get this far.”

They seemed sincere… but she wouldn’t gamble with so many lives. Not again. “There’s no way you can prove where your loyalties lie, is there?”

Slowly, they collapsed the shockstick and produced the scroll. “Here. See for yourself.”

Terry tossed it to her, allowing her to catch it with her off hand. Normally, she’d have pulled her dagger during the fight, but trial and error had proven that it would’ve taxed her focus too heavily to keep both blades protected from the electricity.

As she looked over the device, her brows furrowed. “This isn’t a scroll.���

“No, it’s not; it’s a kill switch.” Now, they fully relaxed, pointing at it. “I had a... friend design it specifically for something like this. It looks like a scroll but inside is a device that will upload a virus to the secure line. Effectively, it will scramble and destroy all communications across Remnant that are connected to Atlas Command. All we have to do is set it in motion.”

“It won’t stop them; you must know that.” She held up the device. “This will blind them for a time but they will find a way around it.”

“The best I could’ve hoped for was that the disruption allowed for Vale and Vacuo to free themselves. With two territories lost during the communication blackout, Atlas Command would be forced to shift all troops to retake them; they wouldn’t be able to dedicate any units to the genocide of Menagerie.” Terry shrugged. “It was the best I could do on my own. But, with your help, we might be able to get a message out to the forces in Menagerie. If we issue them the mobilization orders before sending the kill command, we might be able to redirect those forces here, under your command. It would give the Faunus and White Fang time to establish their defenses and deprive Vale of reinforcements.”

The question remained: would that be enough?

No, it wouldn’t. They would recover and try again- they would keep trying, keep spilling blood until the mountains and rivers were stained red, they’d never stop.

Not unless someone stopped them.

“Terry,” she said, a thought occuring to her. “Have you ever been to the Rehabilitation Facility?”

A dark shadow passed over their expression. “Yes. It’s why I began to question our methods and aims in the first place. It’s a testing ground for all manner of experiments on humans, Faunus- anyone who dissents, who speaks out, who dares to think for themselves are used to develop weapons and train interrogation squads.” They grimaced, the haunted look in their eyes unmistakable. “Sometimes… they’re just torn apart out of curiosity or for fun. It’s... horrifyingly barbaric.”

That would explain the top secret nature. “We need to get this information to the resistance. All of it- the plans for Mistral, Vale, Vacuo, they need to know everything.”

“Trust me, the thought crossed my mind.” Terry sighed, collapsing their shield as she set her sword back on her hip. “I’d rather hoped I’d be back before the interrogation squad arrived. Or Rose escaped, as the case may be.”

“Rose didn’t exactly escape unassisted… though she didn’t need it, to be clear.” Winter went to her desk, which had a few new nicks and scratches but, other than that, stood undisturbed… unlike the rest of her furniture. “And I know what they’re planning. Now we just have to figure out a method of alerting them without rousing suspicion.” She rubbed at her chin, regarding the kill switch device. “Does anyone else know about Atlas Command’s plans for Menagerie?”

“Only every intelligence officer across Remnant.” They shrugged, helplessly. “If I knew I’d be able to do more than sabotage the extermination efforts, I wouldn’t have pushed the intelligence out, but I was trying to appear loyal.”

Immediately, she winced. In the back of her mind, the moment she drew her sword, she knew she’d forsaken any hope of being welcomed back home. Mother… expected differently of her and there would be no mending that bridge but she’d hoped at least Whitley and Weiss would hear her out. No doubt anything she tried to say would fall on deaf ears, at least in the latter’s case; she would accept her new mission, just as Winter was expected to, and to suggest otherwise would be unthinkable.

Sometimes, doing the right thing came at a painful cost… but she couldn’t turn back now. Her conscience wouldn’t allow it.

“And you’re certain this kill switch will completely blind Atlas Command?”

“It very well should but I haven’t attempted it on a system of this scale before.” A sigh. “It’s a gamble but I spent the last year of my tenure in Atlas Command tying every system together, quietly routing as many networks through as many devices as I could. Every General in the command chain will have access to the secure line and at least ten more lesser priority networks.”

Winter frowned. “Is there a chance they’ll be able to quarantine the spread before it compromises every system?”

“I’d like to hope not.”

“When you put my back against the wall, you truly leave me no room to maneuver.” With a sigh, she opened a draft on the secure line.

Hope, it seemed, would be the only thing she could cling to, for now.

Ruby’s eyes scanned the map Ren had recreated from the Colonel’s scroll. Near as they could tell, once they arrived at the docks, it would be a straight shot through the Rehabilitation Facility, down a set of train tracks, and into the heart of the Atlas Command base. A quick perusal of some other files saved to the scroll provided her with a list of names and office numbers for several of the highest ranking officers, the Generals who formed the council that decided all military actions across Remnant. Twelfth floor, the lot of them, and how much blind faith did they have in their defenses to have a high rise on a military base, anyway?

Then again, she wasn’t complaining about Atlesian cockiness- not when it worked to her favor, at least.

She looked up as Yang entered their little ‘command tent’- as close to a base of operations as they could get while away from the tribelands. They’d pick a remote, isolated spot in a canyon close to the southwest base, where they would wait for anyone who wanted to go to show up. At present, they had less than seventy-two hours before they would launch their strike to wrestle an airship away from the base. Then, it would be a mad dash to the Rehabilitation Facility.

But the furrow to her sister’s brows made her worry that even that plan would suffer. “Yang? What’s up?”

“Well, I got some news, and you ain’t gonna like it.” She came over and sat down, setting aside her mask for the time being. Just as Ruby carried hers everywhere, so did Yang, though probably more out of sentimentality than for its intended purpose. Inheriting Raven’s mask had brought with it more than just the emotional turmoil of losing the only guardian they’d known for most of their lives; it fell to her to run the tribe, which in turn became the first part of Ruby’s army to take back Mistral. She walked the line between being the leader of her tribe, a big sister, and Ruby’s closest ally and confidant. “I just heard from Blake. She’s already made her call; the White Fang is preparing their attack as we speak.”

“What changed?” Concern threaded through her voice. Throughout the night, reports had poured in from Vale and Vacuo -both through their own communications relay and the scroll in her hand- as their kindred rebels set their own plans in motion. Striking at Atlas Command relied on the Generals being too preoccupied with the territories to notice the fly in their face until it was too late. However, Menagerie was supposed to be the last to rise up, and wait until before Ruby’s group launched their assault on the base to do it, ensuring there would be as much confusion as possible as multiple bases tried to request reinforcements.

She didn’t worry that this would make their part harder; she worried it would make Blake’s nearly impossible.

Yang’s hands clenched into fists atop her thighs as her eyes flashed red. “Atlas Command just laid down a death sentence on the Faunus in Menagerie.” She looked over, their gazes meeting. “Your friend the Colonel is going to be leading an extermination force to wipe them out.”

Ruby’s shoulders fell as her face dropped into her hand. Some part of her always suspected Atlas Command would one day cross that line but she never expected them to do it now. On the one hand, it would probably make winning support to their side easier, but on the other, she couldn’t just turn her back on all those innocent people.

“If we went to Menagerie instead-”

“I offered but Blake wants us to keep to our mission.” A sigh left her lips as she reached up, running a hand through her hair. “She managed to flip some officer down there, which is how she got the intel, and she knows the identity of whoever’s supposed to take the Colonel’s place. She’s already contacted Ilia to take them out.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in shock. “Ilia- Ilia, the one currently in the middle of the largest concentration of Atlesian forces in Mistral?”

“Honestly, if anyone could pull it off, Ilia could, but I hear ya.” Yang shook her head. “It’s all falling apart, Rubes. If Ilia fails, the Wolf of Azulen will descend on Menagerie, and thousands of people will die.”

In her mind’s eye, she imagined the Colonel being told of her new mission… and it simply didn’t track. Perhaps the woman who’d stared down at her while she lay bound in chains would accept it, but the one who’d knelt in front of her, almost entirely broken- she wouldn’t. Ruby believed that.

“Why her?” Setting aside the horror for a moment, she tried to parse the decision rationally. “Menagerie has Atlesian forces there and more than enough officers. Why her, specifically?”

“Blake said something about how the forces there are being sent to Vale to suppress the uprising after the rout in Forever Fall.” Yang crossed her arms over her chest, allowing the Nevermore mask to rest on her knee. “I already sent word to Vale, and to Neptune over in Vacuo. He’s planning on cutting off the reinforcements they’re shifting to the border to try and buy Velvet a little more time.”

Sitting back, she mulled it over. Send the forces in Menagerie to Vale, send the commander of Mistral to Menagerie with a whole new force for the express purpose of killing everyone there, then, presumably, go back to Menagerie after Vale and Vacuo were back under control. That made sense.

But why take the commanding officer of Mistral away from her post? The Colonel’s resume geared itself towards defensive positions, not offensive ones.

Then, it clicked. “She’s not going to do it.”

“Ruby, I know you want to think-”

“No, no, listen.” She shifted to her knees, moving aside Ren’s recreation for the moment and drawing her finger through the dirt to make a rough outline of Remnant. “Think about it in terms of Atlas Command. They always send Generals for the important stuff and they have more than enough there to launch straight from Atlas. They wouldn’t even need to stop in Mistral for refuel because of the range on their airships.”

“I’m following so far.” Lilac eyes roved over the dirt map.

“Even with all these other orders, they’re taking the most direct route. Vacuo’s forces are closer than Atlas’, so Atlas will sweep through after Vacuo’s forces move to the border. Menagerie’s the next closest, so they’ll come from the other side. But why make this new force stop in Mistral when it’s not the most direct path? Why send a Colonel instead of a General?” She nodded, convinced of her own reasoning the more she explained. “It’s because Atlas Command doubts she’s going to do it. This is to make her prove her loyalty to Atlas.”

Yang sighed, reaching to pick up her mask and look it over. “I know you want to believe that Ruby but there’s another angle you’re ignoring.” She gestured with her mask. “We know that there’s been a Schnee on the Council since it formed. Right now, the Colonel’s mom holds the spot, but she’s gotta be pushing fifty by this point, if not over it. This might just be the next step in getting promoted; you know the Colonel won’t reach the next rank until her mother retires and she has a reputation of her own. This might just be a test to see if she’s ready, not one for loyalty.”

“You didn’t see her, Yang,” she replied, though she also couldn’t deny her sister had a point. “She’s not going to do it. I know that.”

“You hope for that.” A shake of her head. “I want to believe you. I want to think we have a friend on the inside ready to sabotage every Atlesian effort to stop us and outright kill us. But I also know that wanting something to be true doesn’t make it certain and relying on that could get a lot of people killed.”

Of all the things for her sister to inherit, she really wished an inherent mistrust of others wasn’t one of Raven’s legacies. “I’m not saying we bank on it but we shouldn’t do anything rash in the meantime.”

Yang hummed, drumming her fingers against the mask. “Time’s really not on our side here. If we wait-”

The trill of a scroll caught their attention and Ruby pulled up the message sent through the Atlesian secure line, a frown coming to her lips as she read through the message.

***URGENT*** ALL MENAGERIE FORCES REPORT IMMEDIATELY FOR MOBILIZATION TO MISTRAL. MISTRAL FORCES UNDER HEAVY ATTACK. REQUEST IMMEDIATE REINFORCEMENT.

“What is it?” Her sister leaned over, raising a brow. “Wait, we’re not attacking anyone, who is- wait, what’s going on?”

Before their eyes, the message started to scramble, the window itself closing, then opening, then something else opening, an error message popping up and, throughout every strange malfunction, the back of the scroll started to grow warm until she couldn’t hold it any longer.

“Ah!” Ruby dropped the scroll, rubbing at her hand to soothe away the sting of what almost felt like a burn as the scroll began to smoke, the screen cracking and warping from the heat. “What the…”

“I… didn’t even know scrolls could do that.” Yang, always a bit more resistant to anything hot, prodded the device gently and picked it up once it started to cool. “This thing’s toast.” As she turned it over, her frown deepened until she looked over at Ruby. “Alright, tactician, why would they reroute forces from Menagerie to Mistral?”

“Because then they’d fall under the Colonel’s command and wouldn’t be going to Vacuo.” A smile curled her lips as she took the cooling, destroyed device into her hand. “How much are you willing to bet this isn’t the only device that suddenly started smoking?”

Mulling it over for a moment, she eventually nodded. “I’ll take that bet. Twenty push-ups says your friend just burned the only bridge she had with us.”

“Why is it always push-ups with you?” Rolling her eyes, she got to her feet, letting the now useless scroll drop to the ground. “Can’t you pick something normal, like a soda, for once?”

“No,” she replied, flashing a smirk. “One day, you’ll thank me for forcing you to exercise.”

“I get enough exercise, thank you.” Before stepping out of the tent, they both donned their masks, Ruby even flipped up her hood. While most of the group with them were from their tribe, many others were people they’d picked up along the way. The masks functioned as much as part of their personas as the Dragon and the Rose as helping identify them to those who’d been in far flung areas of Mistral.

It became almost impossible to read her sister’s expression with them on, though. “Are we going to stick to our schedule?”

“For now, yes.” She sighed, scanning over nearly a hundred people, banded together by a mutual hatred for Atlas’ rule and the strong desire to depose them. “Did Cat mention if she’s going to join us? I know Fox is going to stay in Vacuo now that Rabbit’s in full swing in Vale but we can use all the hands we can get.”

“She’s coming, and she’s bringing a few friends.” Yang adjusted the bracelets on her wrists and briefly touched the sword at her belt. She hardly used it in combat but Raven had drilled the art of swordplay into both of them, despite their talents being more useful in other ways. “The White Fang is adopting Atlas’ plans. Fighting to hold onto Menagerie is a losing fight, so they’re going to push into Vale and Mistral to support the rebels there.”

Yet another complication that caused her to wince. “That can’t be a popular decision.”

“Actually, it’s more popular than you’d think.” A shrug before they both started walking through the camp. “Atlas forced the Faunus to settle in Menagerie. Most of them came from Mistral or Vale originally, some even from Atlas. They look at this as a homecoming.”

“That’s one way to garner support.” Ruby chuckled, looking around and spotting just who’d she hoped to see running towards her. Ren and Nora, each sporting masks of their own- the former with the horned top half mask of a Nuckalvee rider while the latter had the lower half of the fanged horse- came sprinting towards them, weaving around whoever failed to get out of their way. “Horse, Sloth! Any news?”

“Something big just happened at the base!” Nora started laughing, a bit breathless from the sprint but eyes sparkling with mirth. “The whole place is freaking out!”

“They appear to be suffering some manner of catastrophic equipment failure.” Ren supplied, always a bit more on top of his cardio than his counterpart. “I’m not sure how far it goes but some of the automated defenses went down and we saw smoke coming from the offices.”

“I’ll be damned,” Yang said a moment before she kicked her legs back and fell to the ground, starting to crank out push-ups.

Ruby just smiled behind her mask. “Someone find Fireheart. We need to check our own communications network. I’m pretty sure Atlas’ just crashed and burned, literally.”

At the very least, this would make things easier in Vale and Vacuo. Without the ability to coordinate, the Atlesian forces would be sitting ducks.

Winter sputtered and coughed, trying to clear her lungs of the smoke now filling her office.

“I’m now reasonably certain that it worked,” Terry said, having dove aside when the desk started smoking. Now, it sat as a warped heap of metal and wires. “I didn’t expect it to overload the circuits like that, though.”

“This is what we get for using dust to power everything,” she replied, getting up and brushing herself off. “But that’s definitely going to draw some attention.” Her gaze roved over the tattered remains of her office. “Which means we have to figure out how we’re going to explain this.” Before either of them could even make a suggestion, the door opened, Private Amitola striding through before slamming it closed behind her, a long, thin blade in hand. “You can stand down, Private. There’s no cause for concern-”

“On the contrary, Colonel.” And something flashed in her eyes then, something Winter had seen before- fury, the sort that had possessed her when she’d recounted the story from her youth, but much stronger as the flush in her cheeks returned. “There’s every cause for concern.”

Then she raised her blade and rushed forward, aiming to swipe at Terry, who just barely blocked the strike with their shield as it popped out. It caught them off guard enough to stumble backwards and Winter drew her saber to try and parry the Private’s attacks, but found a nasty surprise awaiting for her. Much like Terry’s shockstick, the thin sword Amitola used had some manner of lightning dust running through it.

Her muscles locked up, a strangled cry trying to force its way through an uncooperative throat. She hadn’t anticipated the lightning dust and, thus, hadn’t protected herself like she did against Terry. When she hit the ground, muscles twitching and spasming, Winter realized she had no manner of defending herself.

Luckily, she wasn’t the primary target of the Private’s ire, the flush now turning her skin a worrying color of red, all the way down to the tips of her fingers. Splotches of yellow also marked her skin but she couldn’t figure out why, even as Amitola took another swipe at Terry that they ducked.

However, when she hit a button on the handle, the sword separated out into a whip, and that proved far more difficult for them to dodge. Instead, they let it wrap around their right forearm, then used it to pull the woman forward, snapping their head forward to headbutt her. Using a similar weapon already, they’d specifically designed their armor to be well insulated against lightning dust; a rare bit of luck.

As Amitola fell to her knees, clutching at her head, Winter pushed herself and summoned a glyph to stand between the two. “Don’t- don’t hurt her.”

“She just tried to kill me!” Terry shot back, reaching for their own weapon.

“So did I!”

“... right.” They stopped, relaxing and watching the Private warily. “But you had good reason to; she doesn’t.”

“Private Amitola, explain yourself.” Pushing herself to her feet, she replaced her weapon at her hip but kept her glyph up.

“I know what the General is planning,” she said, bright contempt in every word. “And I know what you’re going to do to Menagerie.”

“I rather think you don’t.” A pause as she started putting the pieces together, because now that she had the time to really think about it, the flush and yellow spots- that was caused by no sickness she’d ever heard of, and only a few other things could explain it. How could she have missed it before? “... you’re Faunus.”

“Yeah. Just like my parents who were murdered by the Atlesian military.” She regained her feet, burning rage and hate directed at Winter. “I’ve spent twenty years hiding who I am to avoid being enslaved or killed but if I die stopping you? It’ll be worth it.”

She could see the blow coming, could tell that even disarmed Amitola would stop at nothing. Somehow, she’d learned about what fate awaited Menagerie if Atlas Command got their way, and she would throw every inch of her soul into stopping it. Winter could respect that and she braced herself as the first blow landed across her cheek. Fury powered it but the Private wasn’t a brawler by nature and it took a few more punches- one of which to her gut- before the Colonel hit her knees with a groan, still concentrating on keeping her glyphs up to prevent Terry from interfering.

“Winter, you idiot, what are you doing?” They tried slamming their shield against her glyphs but it would take far more than that to break them. “Defend yourself damnit!”

“I think we both know I’ve earned at least that much,” she replied, getting her breath back and looking up to see Amitola standing over her, chest heaving but the color in her face beginning to fade. A good sign, she thought. “I’m sorry for your pain. I know that doesn’t mean much but we have the chance to work for something that will be meaningful if you’ll give me the chance to explain. No one in this room wants to see the people of Menagerie slaughtered.”

The Private hesitated, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because Ruby did.” She gained her feet, pleased to see she now looked like she’d been in a bit of a scuffle, between fighting Terry and Amitola. “I know the resistance plans to strike Atlas Command. We’ve just destroyed Atlas’ communication network but there’s vital information we need to get to Rose and the others for them to be successful. With your help, we can bring Atlas Command down and save Remnant from another Great War.” Dropping her glyph, she quickly snapped off an order. “Quick, break the window.”

“What?”

“Terry, just do it!” Jumping over the remains of her desk, they put their whole body into slamming their shield against the glass, exploding it outwards. “Is anyone looking at you?”

“No?” They hummed. “It looks like absolute chaos down there. I don’t think anyone’s noticed. Oh, wait, now people are looking around. That Sergeant of yours is coming this way.”

“Perfect.” Winter’s gaze roved over the office. “Amitola, slice the desk. Quickly.” Although with a quirked brow, the Private did as asked, destroying even further her already compromised desk. “Excellent, now, follow my lead and hope I can be convincing.”

“That’s not exactly encouraging-”

As the door to her office burst open, Winter doubled over, reaching out to grab Amitola’s shoulder to steady herself.

“Colonel, are you alright?”

“What the hell happened here?”

“Assassins,” she said, grimacing as she straightened up, holding a hand to her side. “They’re dressed as Atlesian soldiers; they posed as the General’s entourage and attacked. If it wasn’t for Private Amitola, we might well have lost.”

“We need to lockdown the base.” Lieutenant DeLeon turned as if to run. “I’ll get word to the gates-”

“By the time you reach them, it’ll be too late. Do either of you have a scroll?” Winter gestured towards her desk. “I’m afraid all my devices were destroyed during the struggle.”

“No, Ma’am.” Sergeant Forecastle shook his head. “All communications devices suddenly self destructed; so far, we haven’t been able to bring any system back on all across the base.”

“Damn. Then they weren’t just assassins.” Her expression turned severe. “No matter; we must act quickly. Sergeant, scramble two units, whoever can be ready the quickest. Have them split into squads and take vehicles to every base in Mistral; effective immediately, anyone wearing an Atlesian uniform that we don’t recognize on sight as assigned to Mistral is to be detained until their identities can be verified.” Her gaze shifted over. “Lieutenant, get every staff officer in here immediately. I believe your assessment about the attack on our southwest base is correct but we can’t lose the element of surprise. I will personally see to warning the base; my summons can traverse the terrain far more efficiently. Now, move!”

“Yes, Ma’am!” They both snapped off crisp salutes before heading off on their tasks, and she let out a sigh of relief as she heard them both pelting down the hallway.

Terry chuckled. “So, when the Menagerie reinforcements arrive here in Mistral-”

“They’ll be detained. Hopefully.”

“That’ll include Weiss, you know.”

“I think I’m well past the point where she’d forgive me anyway.” Her attention fell on Amitola, pushing her family from her mind. At this point, she’d likely never be considered ‘family’ by any of them again. “Is there any way you can contact the resistance?”

A wince answered her. “I didn’t exactly expect to kill both of you and make it out of here alive. I destroyed everything that could link back to them.”

“Does it rely on Atlas’ communication network?” Terry collapsed their shield back down, coming around the desk.

“Well, I know it uses the CCT towers.”

Winter exchanged a look with their friend, who instantly put their hands up. “I’m not saying we blew up the towers… but we might’ve blown up the towers.”

“We’ll have to find out the hard way. Amitola, go with Terry and draw whatever supplies you think the resistance will need most.” She straightened out the lapel of her jacket. “I’ll meet both of you at the main gate.”

Her staff officers would have to take charge in her stead and she would need to leave explicit instructions to sow as much confusion in the event their communications got restored. Eventually, though, the truth would come out.

The best she could hope for would be that she would cause chaos, not bloodshed.

[youngrevolutionary]

Misplaced heroics and the tragedy of Seifer Almasy

[ This is an article published by Electric Phantasms but the website is dead. (Original link to article by Andy Astruc & Published 28 May 2014.) ]

So there’s this tall fellow with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He’s a student at Balamb Garden — a training school of sorts for young mercenaries in a world oft shaken by civil wars — and he’s dedicated to joining the Garden’s elite fighting force: SeeD. He wears a silly coat to match his silly hair, and his weapon of choice is a Gunblade, which is exactly what it sounds like. A training session with a rival student gone wrong left him with a nasty facial scar that marks the boy Handsome Yet Dangerous. He falls in love with a beautiful girl named Rinoa and, with the help of his quirky friends, offers to help with the lady’s resistance movement. This boy travels all over the world becoming stronger, making powerful friends and enemies along the way.

Now go and kill him, hero.

The above description fits both the main character and one of the primary villains in Final Fantasy VIII, of course; Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy, respectively. Villain might be overstating  Seifer’s role, however, as he acts as more of an unfortunate antagonist much of the time. It would be easy to dismiss Seifer as yet another JRPG rival, a simple mirror to hold up to the protagonist and an easy way to add some home-grown emotion to a large scale battle against evil. But Seifer is more than that; he’s the main character, stymied. He is the would-be hero, but for a tragic collection of external and self-inflicted circumstances.

From the start of the game, we’re encouraged to develop a mild distaste for Seifer. The opening cinematic shows a battle between the two SeeD cadets, in which Seifer cuts Squall’s face open. Squall retaliates, which gives them delightful mirrored scarring, and it becomes apparent that this was just practice between two lunatics with boundary issues. This scene serves to set Seifer up immediately as a bad guy — although, at this point, not THE bad guy — and the difficult bug bite which Squall just can’t help scratching. His smug smile, the way he always seems to be a step ahead and his abhorrent turn as the head of the Balamb Garden Disciplinary Committee are all factors in your immediate dislike of the man. But it’s all about perspective, and, all things considered, Seifer’s bump from party leader to party pooper is mostly Squall’s fault.

Right from the word go, Squall is more of a thorn in Seifer’s side than the reverse. Their SeeD exam in Dollet ultimately succeeds because Seifer decides their mission to secure the square isn’t as important as finding out why Galbadian soldiers are so insistent on heading up a nearby mountain. While the act of defiance is presented as a reckless response to boredom, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s because of Seifer the Garden so successfully repels the invaders and learns of their nefarious plot to reactivate a powerful communications tower — a piece of information vital to future events. On their return, Squall and Zell are deemed to have passed the exam for their impressive ability to not die at the claws of an invincible spider robot; meanwhile, Seifer is reprimanded, punished and told he failed the exam thanks to his insubordination.

It isn’t limited to professional hindrance. At the graduation event, players meet Rinoa, a pretty young thing who is looking for help from the school principal, Cid. She’s also dating Seifer. Since Seifer isn’t a SeeD, Squall and friends are sent to help Rinoa’s resistance movement instead, and so begins that messy journey from hatred and indifference to the truest of true love. Nobody ever apologizes to Seifer for this whole girlfriend-stealing business, either, because he’s evil by the time it matters, and we don’t apologize to evil people.

Seifer’s clear devotion to Rinoa is obvious from his actions. No matter how irresponsible someone is, they don’t hold the president of an entire country hostage on an international television broadcast just for kicks. His extreme solution to Timber’s independence solution is a result of the Garden authorities tying his hands, and let’s remember that our hero was involved in a plot just as crazy and illegal; it just had more steps. On top of that, Seifer was acting out of genuine, selfless love and a desire to — at least in his own mind — do the right thing. His reward for such actions is a swift execution. Squall’s reaction to the death of his rival-slash-soulmate and the subsequent emotional breakdown of Rinoa is to shout at everyone like a spoiled child after a lengthy period of selfish internal monologue. Squall is the poster child for stunted emotional growth in Final Fantasy 8, a theme which touches all the younger characters in one way or another; more on that in a moment.

Seifer wasn’t actually killed, of course, as he reappears shortly afterward on a neon-lit parade float as the second-in-command of Sorceress Edea, suggesting that reports of his death — initially assumed to be a way to placate the Galbadians — were an elaborate farce set up for someone’s amusement. This moment, where Seifer becomes the enemy, is a junction point for quite a few fascinating facts about the character. Seifer is now the Sorceress’ Knight, a term which seems rather goofy and idealistic given the seriousness of the situation.

It ties into comments made by the character earlier in the game about his “romantic dream”. We’re talking about the more broad use of “romantic” here — the expression of love towards an idea rather than the pursuit of a person — and the subtext also suits the slightly derogatory second definition: “of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality.” The romantic dream Seifer alludes to before his betrayal turns out to be the rather specific desire to become a Sorceress’ Knight. Not only is it specific, it’s rather strange given that in modern times sorceresses are hated and feared. So why would a boy growing up in this social climate idealize evil witches? A lot of it has to do with a small detail that the game merely implies: Seifer is a huge fan of the old stories about the sorceress who successfully defended her country against invasion many, many years ago.

Searching the Balamb Garden library records shows he has checked out the none-too-subtle book The Sorceress’ Knight, but a more compelling fact was confirmed in the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, a book only ever published in Japan which includes plenty of information on the world and events of the game. In its pages, you can find confirmation that Seifer was also a huge fan of the film version of The Sorceress’ Knight, and presumably modeled his aspirations and demeanor around its contents. Seifer even bases his gunblade fighting stance on the knight from the film; we know this because the star of said motion picture was none other than Laguna Loire, and the player participates in the filming during a very odd time travel segment. Laguna isn’t a swordsman, of course, and his stance in the film is utter rubbish, which is yet another sad footnote in the story of Seifer and his blockaded attempts to be the hero. Mercifully, we never get to see the awkward moment when Seifer realizes his cinematic idol is actually Squall’s father.

So it would seem that Seifer is simply the product of his own reckless ambition and a tantrum-like disregard for authority. But a lack of control and choice over one’s own destiny is a strong theme across every part of FFVIII — cities are subjugated by powerful nations, children are recruited into armies, people’s minds are controlled by witches from the future — and Seifer’s destiny is no less directed than anyone else’s. In fact, the very people charged with protecting him as a child are the worst influences in his life.

All the main playable characters in the game, along with Seifer, grew up in the same orphanage. It’s not everyone’s favorite twist, and it comes across far neater than it should be given they began working together seemingly at random, but it does explain why Seifer, in particular, seems drawn to the group. That he is the only other character included in this backstory suggests we give its meaning more than a little thought with regards to his character. Around the time the memory sequence occurs, the characters write off Seifer’s unusual hatred of Squall as a product of jealousy. Squall monopolized the attention of another character, Ellone, on top of generally being the emotional wasteland we all know and love. But we learn at the end of the game that Squall’s involuntary time-traveling after defeating Ultimecia was the catalyst for creating SeeD. His appearance at the orphanage on that day, as a fully-grown man, crystallizes his destiny; from that point on, Cid and Edea treat him as the eventual savior of the universe.

This explains why he makes it into SeeD and is promoted to such a high level so quickly, it explains why he is sent on particular missions, and it answers any questions players might have had about why everyone thinks Squall is so damn special. Now imagine you are a child in the same orphanage, a child without a home or a family thanks to the war. Imagine you have something to prove, and reading about heroic knights and witches makes you feel a little less powerless. Imagine another child, very similar to you, is given preferential treatment. He gets more attention from your surrogate parents, and you have no idea why. You act up, and they still focus on him. When you’re all encouraged to join SeeD — mostly him, though — you see a chance to finally prove yourself. You work incredibly hard and fight to become the best, but that same person is still there, being given all the advantages. He graduates while you get punished; despite a total lack of social skills, he makes friends easily while you’re seen as an annoyance; when your well-meaning actions lead to everyone believing you’re dead, he moves in on your girlfriend.

Seifer is the one who works, and Squall is the one who wins. Earlier I said Seifer’s troubles were mostly Squall’s fault, but that’s not the whole story. Just as our perception of Seifer as an obnoxious fool is simply a mask for the twisting of his genuine intentions, so too is his distaste for Squall actually a distaste for what Cid and Edea did to both men.

Other Final Fantasy games have had characters that either should have been the hero (Basch from FFXII, before focus testing decided he was too old) or are more heroic (Auron from FFX, who only steps aside because he’s simply too well adjusted to get wrapped up in the melodrama of the plot), but FFVIII manages to set up a character that is certainly the hero, while setting him up to consistently make choices that contradict that. He isn’t a mirror for Squall, he’s the guy who has to sleep outside because Squall needed a bed. To his credit, Seifer remains an upbeat and forward-looking character to the very end. He never claims that the world is out to get him. It is, of course.

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

“Yo, Ancient One, can you read my mind now?”

Episode 86 “Daring Days” to episode 93 “Bats Out of Hell”.

Previous posts : the beginnings, episodes 22 to 32, episodes 33 to 36, episodes 37 to 42, episodes 43 to 49, episodes 50 to 56, episodes 57 to 64, episodes 65 to 71, episodes 72 to 77, episodes 78 to 85.

Accepting a new member this late in your group’s life is hard, and  Vox Machina seems determined to not like Taryon at all (also the cast likes to fuck with Sam). But also, Taryon makes this easy, when he calls them ‘Little Elf girl’ or ‘Antlers’, or is sure that they can’t possibly comprehend how he built Dotty (his scene with Percy is just a gem). So of course, to accept him into the group, they took Tary to the back of the castle and just... attacked.. him ??!! Apparently it’s the way Vox Machina does an “audition”, which is hilarious, and “pretty fucked up” like Matt said. Maybe I’m an asshole like Vox Machina because the moment Taryon started crying, I was like “Awwww, now I like him !”. More seriously, I love when we see a character’s layers, and finding out sooner than later that Tary is not just a hilarious and rich asshole is a good thing. Now Tary seems to have a link with Percy (they are just nerding out on building and tinkering things, and everyone look at them like they’re flirting but they don’t know they’re flirting), and Keyleth (who he has a bit of a crush on. And Vax agrees. Because she IS amazing.)

Look, pirates are cool, traveling by boat is cool, and I’m glad the cast of Critical Role thinks so too. The whole shenanigans with Grog trying to see if the ship had a naked mermaid for a figurehead, or the battle against the real pirates was a welcomed break from the dragons’ situation. And I love that even in the fun moments we get to see soft moments, like when Vex and Percy got to talk about their deaths, and the revelation that Percy did in fact hear Vex from the other side the first time he died.

The scenery of the water Ashari tribe is great, like Pyrah was. The final task of the Aramente is to bring back lodestones frome the Water plane, while avoiding a kraken and absolutely not killing it either. Krakens are very ancient beasts of the Titans, even worse that ancient dragons from the tale told by Una, the water Ashari tribe’s leader. We learn that Keyleth’s mother passed through, failed her Aramente because she was sent on the same task, only she didn’t came back. All they found was a leg. Keyleth thinks she’s still alive. I’m not sure : one the one hand, as the old saying goes, until there’s a body on the tv... nobody can be sure... On the the other hand if she’s alive, where is she and why didn’t she came back ?

Ok, the kraken fight was long. You know this, I know this, when I saw the running time on Youtube (5 hour and 30 minutes), I’ll admit, I thought about watching it a little bit faster. Underwater was certainly one of the most difficult terrain for Vox Machina, because ranged and melee attacks are at disadvantage, Percy’s guns won’t work. Thankfully the water Ashari resolved the spellcaster’s problems. Otherwise, it would have been extremely diffcult without the kraken, and impossible with. The other thing I was thinking while seeing the running time, is that if I hadn’t seen it and if I was an optimistic person, I’d have said there’s a chance the kraken won’t notice them. But we all know : what can go wrong will go wrong. And they were fucked when, in an incredible chain of events, Tarry, who rolled a nat1 on investigation and found a disgusting skull, yelled, and then rolled another nat1 on his stealth check... And so they woke the Kraken.

So the Kraken his already terrifying in itself. But since they’re in his lair, they also have to undergo electric shocks every turn. It started not well and went not well. The numerous kraken arms could restrain all of Vox Machina if it wanted, and then Grog got eaten, than Keyleth, than Grog and Vax, etc. I don’t know who said that the kraken is like a beholder under the sea, but they were right. I think at some point, everybody but Trinket was grappled or swallowed. The players show their creativity by forcing the kraken to regurgitate them by diverse means : a Fireball inside the stomach covered in oil, Grog attacking and doing enough damage in his round. Keyleth was the first one to go unconscious, and went up and down again a few times, but I was started to get really worried when Percy got out of the Water Plane, and Vax was unconscious inside the kraken, and there was still one hour on the episode, and the kraken talked and even if they succeed the kraken will not soon forget he was attacked in his home. It was really panicky ; some in the cast seem to feel it acutely. The last stand, once Keyleth Planeshifted with Vax’s body and Vex, was made by Grog and Tarry with a little help from Percy waiting on the other side of the portal. The final image of Grog, alone, with his 8 hit points, vomited back a third time, flipping the finger at an ancient kraken, is sure epic !

Vax was dead, and the Vesrah people have no cleric, but they have a magical shell phone (haha) that can call out to Pike who arrived in her mystical form. The resurrection ritual was tense because of the shadow of Vax’s patron, the Raven Queen, goddess of death. Vex directly went for a bargain, just like her brother did for her : in exchange for Vax’s soul Vox Machina will do their best to destroy the Ravne Queen’s number one ennemy, Orcus. Keyleth begged Vax to come back from the darkness since he made a promise of happy life to her, and she cast Daylight onto the mark onto his back, and said the magic words : “You know I’m in love with you, right?” (I cried). Grog made the last offering, alleviating the ritual, by saying “No one kills you but me.... I love you” (I cried) and slapping him. Vex also found a note on the inside of Vax’s armor : “Take theses wings and fly” (I cried). But she discreetly read, refused, and put the note back in place. The Raven Queen herself appeared before all, to confirm Vax’s time was not over.

Keyleth lost her mother, and nearly lost her love to the Aaramente, but she succeeded, and her ascension to power is exciting. For the audience, not for her : Keyleth  gains the power to transform as beasts, and is now the most powerful member of Vox Machina, but is probably the most anxious still. And she wouldn’t be Keyleth is she wasn’t anxious (I just love how Marisha plays her). Percy was more direct, and full paranoid ; I thought that his remark and worries are kind of insulting towards the Ashari people, thinking that they want their next leader to be emotionally tortured ? Which doesn’t seem to be the point objectively speaking, but again, Percy has been through so much and his experiences irrevocably changed the way he sees the world.

The integration of Taryon into the group is not finished : after gifts from Keyleth (the magical necklace) and Grog (a rotten basilisk egg), Pike got Dotty to do visual aids for Tary to learn the names of Vox Machina’s members. The drawings are : Vax and Keyleth in bed clutching the sheets and looking a little worried (Tarry : “So many more questions than answers.”), Vex and Percy also interrupted in nightly activities, and Grog fully nude in a lascivious pose (Tarry : “Wow. I mean...how does he walk ?”). The scene really makes me regret all the times where Ashley’s not here. Her comedic timing and her improv with Sam are excellent.

After a rapid passage through Emon (it’s nice to see the keep again !) to read Raishan, Thordak and Opash’s evil book, Vox Machina goes to Vasselheim to research on Orcus, the Nine Hells, and deposit the book in a safe place. The fact that the Raven Queen was in Vax’s dreams and warned him that she sensed something arrising on the horizon pushed the group to prepare for any adventures. But also of course they spent 6 hours dressing Dotty up ! The shenanigans were strong this episode, this brought me back to the nice time before the Chroma Conclave, like when they were all cows. Except with more things to learn about the Nine Hells, and more panicking and almost accidentaly killing two guards and dry heaving (I was hopping someone giffed this wtf moment and was not disappointed in the next Talks Machina).

Next stop was going to Zephrah to get Keyleth crowned (or ‘mantled’ I guess). The scenery as painted by Matt was lovely. The ceremony was traditional, official, but heartfelt. Keyleth’s speech was exceptionnal, she thanked all the people that helped her alongside her, especially Vox Machina, even Scanlan and Pike who were not there, with personnal words for each. It was very emotionnal. The later conversation with her father was interesting : we see she kinda blames him for not telling her how cruel and sad and difficult the world could be. Her father agreed that Zeprah's isolation is becoming more and more difficult to bear in this changing world. Keyleth is now the guide of her people, but she can still go on adventures... if Vox Machina stops stalling. I’m joking, but I like how they're going to the hells after doing minimal research (like, 3 hours on one book). Vox Machina style !

If the fact that Keyleth can now transform into a dragon is not a strong enough clue, the fact that they can now teleport to the hells and rush by the Divine Gate (Matt’s description is awesome) indicates that they’re really next level heroes now. And yet. Hell is horrible ; and hot (which is part of the horrible) ; and an immense maze whereven if you’re going towards the giant tower, it keeps changing direction, and yet is always here watching. Vex and Vax tried to talk to people, but Hell is not a welcoming place at all for humans or related races. Keyleth ate a weird thing the inn owner put in front of her ; turns out it was litterally a soul ! The effect is : Keyleth is on cocaïne. Tary tries it too (...before identifying it), and Percy also before going downstairs to talk, like he’s in a gangster movie (Matt described the sensation as the same when he took a life with the gun when Orthax was still holding on to him, which is disturbing). Anyway, the good news is : Hotis is not fully reborn yet, and is in prison. Bad news : he’s in prison, it’s gonna be difficult to get to him. The deal offered by Ipkesh the devilish gentleman is interesting, even if it seems dangerous. But Vox Machina’s tentative to try to get to Hotis via other ways are failures... including Keyleth’s awesome bluffing move versus the two slavers, where she turns into an erinyes and just intimidates them. On the next episode, they’re still arguing whether or not take the deal, but to be honest, I feel like it’s better if they argue at the beginning of a session that at the end of it. Also if Travis steps in, he’s forcing them to make a choice ; that man does not like hesitation.

The contract holds 3 pacts in it, and he is under no obligation to do the last two (thank god because the price for them was wayyyyy to high), just the first : killing a pit fiend without it tracing back to Ipkesh, and he will get them arrested but with their equipment and will open doors inside the prison and lead them to Hotis. Vox Machina, still hesistant, decide to go outside to try to find another way, and visit a strange shop owner that Keyleth intimidates (the erinyes form is really useful), who reveal that the city is always changing and transforming, since the Archdevil is paranoid. But they’re back to square one, and Grog is getting tired enough that he eats a ‘meat speciality’ (thank god I wasn't eating when Matt described the dish). Aptly, Percy is the one who signs the contract with the devil.

After a not-so-good night’s sleep (they have to make a wisdom saving throw, for corruption, I guess), they are guided stealthly through the streets by an imp attached to Ipkesh’s service. Well, they try to be stealthy, but the nerds Percy and Tary almost got discovered. They passed the grilled entrance but come up facing their nemesis, a door. Tary decides then to be more useful than Scanlan, and produce A Door. It's litterally an item that creates a door into a wall. And once inside, Noelle Stevenson appeared at 2h and 35 minutes on a 3h and 39 minutes long episode, with these words : “Oh no, you guys were shopping, I get it !”. I immediately liked her so much ! Her name is Tova and she can turn into a bear and is also a Blood Hunter : awesome levels of awesome. She fits right in since she’s as stealthy as Vox Machina, and they are immediately discovered.

The batle with the pit fiend was interesting to see Tova’s powers. Last time they killed a pit fiend, it was way more desperate but not way lesss chaotic. This time, he’s in his lair, which gives him advantage of the terrain (the trap with the pool of molten iron in which Vax almost fell got me worried). But they’re more powerful than ever (Grog has an action surge now !). Tary was very courageous : he rushed through the Wall of flames. But Dotty, who went to his rescue, took 30 points of damage, and was down instantly. By the end, I was worried they would have to go to prison very injured or uncounscious...and honestly it was close. After the batle, they didn’t have really much time to rest, just to see vaguely what was around, before the cavalery came and arrested them. Vox Machina, in chains, and forced to abandon Doty, were dragged onto the street as a display, and saw Ipkesh in the crowd. Vex said that she breathed a little easier, but I was on edge because I fully believed they were about to be betrayed... their weapons taken, brought into the prison, and chained up inside a cell.

But then, before the torture could commence, another demon called the chained devil away then brought them their weapons and equipment, and told them the path to Hotis rapidly, so rapidly that I thought no one would remember it ! (but Marisha was taking notes). And so began the odyssey of Vox Machina and Tova as bats flying inside the prison. Which is a cool idea and an even cooler visual. Also Marisha transformed them by snapping her fingers and saying : “Bats !!” which of course reminded me of Laszlo in What We Do in the Shadows. Being bats worked surprisingly well, until a certain point where they were chased down, but they were past the middle of the labyrinth ! Keyleth got attacked by multiple devils and went unconscious, then lost 2 deaths saving throws in a row. They were all humans again... but the issue was that it was Keyleth’s turn just after that... so she had to succeed her 3d saving throw, or die and also leave Vox Machina with no way in hell (haha) to escape since she’s the only one who can Plane Shift !! The silence at the table when they realised... It reminded me of the silence just after Percy got Vex killed by the necrotic energy of Purvan’s sarcophage. Matt wass so anxious for them, he and Travis were one step away from a heart attack (Marisha was like “we’re fine ! We’re fine guys !!”). But she succeeded. And was helped back up again. Just in time to arrive by the block where Hotis was and be attacked by a chained golem. In the end, Grog killed Hotis very quickly, and they managed to form a human chain against the golem, for Keyleth to get them out of here. They left invisible Tova in the prison, since she said she couldn’t leave her friends behind. Hopefully she will make it, she’s awesome and I want her to come back !

Quotes :

Taryon, describing his childhood : “I wandered through the halls of our extensive library many nights. Read many books about adventure... exploration, magic, alchemy...” Vax : “Is that code for masturbating ?” Percy : “Yes, yes it is.”

Grog, to Taryon : “Have you ever been unconscious ?” Taryon : “Only when I go to sleep at night.”

Percy, to Vex : “It occurs to me, I’ve never given you a full tour of the treasury room, have I ?...” Vex (excited but deciding not to be obvious) : “Why, no, Percival...” Percy : “I’m grabbing the wine and I’m leaving right now.” Sam : “You guys are gonna fuck in the treasury ??!”

Keyleth, to Tary : “You’ve never played ‘Boulder, Paper, Shears’ ?” Sam, as the others are laughing : “That’s the best thing you’ve ever said, Marisha.” (Taliesin and Marisha agree later to call it ‘Boulder, Parchment, Shears’)

Keyleth, tearfully : “Tary ! I want to apologize right now. Because in this moment, I am a damsel and I am in distress ! So cross it off, bitch ! Come on !!”

Taliesin : “I’m going to shoot those two people in the back.” Sam : “There’s no honor in that.” Taliesin : “No. There is, on the other hand, fine comedy about to happen.”

Vex is patting the prisonner. Liam : “I also do pat, pat, pat, except I cast Lay on Hands when I do it.” Laura : “Yeah, well, I cast Cure Wounds while that happens, so go fuck yourself !!” Liam : “Seems oddly competitive at this moment where we’re saving a man’s life, but... all right.”

Keyleth : “I spend my evening reconnecting with Vax.” Sam : “The Hallmark card way of saying : fucking.”

Vex, to Percy : “You can go play with Tary some more if you like.” Percy : “I’m done with Tary for the evening.” Vex : “Great ! Then you can play with me !”

Vax tells Tary of the time he teleported inside a dragon with Scanlan. Tary : “That sounds like the stupidest fucking plan I’ve ever heard.”

Tary’s knowledge of knots : “The double-sloop. The reverse-cowgirl. I know them all!...the itsy-bitsy spider...the rusty trombone...” Laura : “The old Alaskan pipeline.” Tarry/Sam : “...the figure eight, the figure four, the hidden figures...” Taliesin : “The Dallas two-step.” Tarry/Sam : “I’ve got a bunch of them!” Taliesin : “The sweet Caroline?” Tarry/Sam : “Oh, yes, that one’s good !”

Keyketh got eaten by the kraken, with Grog. Liam : “Seven minutes in kraken.”

Sam, while Vox Machina is is a bad situation with the kraken : “Right now, somewhere in the world, Scanlan is eating a like calamari and going... [shrugs]”

Tarry, to Keyleth, after she offered him a necklace just like the others : “My lady. I cannot express to you what this means, to be accepted as a full-fledged member of this team...” (Collective sound of ‘well... Not quite...’)

Pike : “You know that Vex and Vax are twin brother and sister ?” Tarry : “I could tell by the bone structure, and the contempt.”

Dotty wakes them up in the middle of the night to draw the. Vax : “I slowly pull the sheet up...” Grog : “I pull the sheet a little lower.”

Tary, tearfully : “Doty killed two guards ! He just killed them ! They’re dead !” Vax, who has his priorities in order : “But did the disguise work ?”

Underrated Taliesin joke : “I speak Disco, but not Infernal.”

Vax : “What do you want to do after this, Grog ?” Grog : “Oh, I never look that far ahead. It keeps disappointment low.” Keyleth : “No expectations. I like it. I mean, it’s bad for goals, but...” Grog : “Goals ?” Keyleth : “Yeah, like... (she visibly renounces to explain)... High-five, buddy.”

Keyleth, about her stealth : “I’m really good. Okay ? Really good. Just want to point that out.” Percy, under his breath : “Lava.” Keyleth : “Fuck. Off. Percy. Fuck off !”

Tary, about whether Vox Machina should take Ipkesh’s deal : “Wait ! Doty hasn’t voted yet.” Vex, as Laura is sending Sam a murderous stare : “Neither has Trinket.”

Percy : “It’s entirely possible that there’ll be several creatures fighting over my soul when I die”. Vex : “Yes. I’ll be one of them.”

Sam, describing Tary in action, getting back for Critical Role without context : “I’ll just pull out my rod...grip it hard, choke down on it, maybe grip it with my left hand so it feels different...”

Laura and Marisha, to Noelle : “Are you available next week ?” Noelle : “I don’t know, are you going to leave me tied to a table ??”

Noelle, as Tova shoved Keyleth aside to climb through the window and get to the pit fiend : “I would feel worse if your shopping trip hadn’t gotten me so much more tortured yesterday than it should have. I don’t feel that bad, I’m going to be honest.”

Travis : “What do our bats sound like ?”. The cast does various squeaking sounds, except Liam, who goes, in a deep deep voice : “Where is Harvey Dent ?”

Vax, to Tova who he gave the invisibilty ring to : “You’ve got to Bilbo Bagings you way out of this shit !”

Things that are just really cool/funny :

Book title ideas from Taryon Darrington : Tarry On with Taryon Darrington, The Terrific and Terrifying Tales of Daring Taryon Darrington, Fifty Shades of Tary, Bravado! The T. Darrington Story, Zen and the Art of Robot Manservant Repair, Adventuring for Dummies, The Things They Tarried, The Blond Hair of Courage, The Adventures of Huckle-Tary Finn, The Odyssey, Tary’s Daring Do’s and Daring Do-Nots, Dungeons and Darringtons, Critical Patrol. My favorite is The Blond Hair of Courage.

Tary’s full name is Taryon Gary Darrington. To which Keyleth responds by : “Wow. You dad really is an asshole.”

Taryon can communicate via semaphore (with flags) because of course he’s that guy who learned it when he was young.

Tary got an 8 for his initiative. Laura : “Hey, look, some things don’t change !”

On episode 87, Sam is wearing a shirt that says “SCIENCE IS NOT A LIBERAL CONSPIRACY” and I want it, and it sure hits different in 2020 !! Laura is wearing a shirt that says “They're good dogs Brent”.

They kept making ‘Adele Dazeem’ jokes on Captain Adella’s name. My god that meme is old.

Vax noticed Keyleth was very interested in his wings the other day, so he brought them out, and told her : “We have one hour... Fade to feathers”. Sexy times !

I want the “Laura ‘don't you touch my donuts !!!’ Bailey knocking her husband’s hand away from her donuts” GIF.

I never love Vax more than when he’s giving Keyleth or his sister big speeches on how awesome they are.

While Taliesin was playing his long turn in the kraken’s fight, Laura took the time to rearrange the giant bear behind her, while Travis was rolling his eyes and looking at the camera like he was on The Office.

Scanlan went by Taryon’s house a long time ago with Dr Drenzel’s troupe for a party, and did something that cause Taryon’s father to burn the sheets in his chamber. It’s cannon. Sam is a genius.

On episode 90, Sams wore a shirt that is a picture of Ashley Johnson, in Blindspot I think, looking super serious, and the caption “Y’ALL MOTHERFUCKERS NEED SARENRAE”.

Grog’s idea for infiltrating the hells is : “we kidnap the president of hell and we assume his visage”.

They forced Matt to invent on the spot some words for Infernal, like, hello (“Kuthok”), yes (“Yai”) no (“Ermangherd”). Thanks, Liam, for the last one.

Matt described a red devilisih looking gentleman at the inn in hell, and I thought about Lorne in Angel.

On episode 93, Liam is wearing a ‘Handbook for the recently deceased’ shirt, which made me want to rewatch Beetlejuice. Sam is wearing a ‘Stay Golden’ shirt, which made me want to discover The Golden Girls.

Meta :

Sam’s ads : 86) he told the true story of Ebenezer Lootacrata, “the founder of Lootcrate”, an immigrant from Hungary who loved boxes. 87) he gave some advice to show some love on the Critical Role sponsors : throw them some corny pick-up lines (and he made a promo the series A conjuring of Light, which I recommend strongly too!). 88) how to say “Lootcrate” in different languages, which is based on real reflection and not at all on a 2 seconds search on Google translate. 89) this is just disgusting, Sam Riegel. Marisha and Taliesin did well to scoot away from him. I can't believe the people saw this on Twitch 5 years ago. 90) this ad is about fanart, as in Sam did art (while drinking so things get a little worse as they go) of Grog, Keyleth, Percy, Tarry, Scanlan, the twins (he photocopied the faces), Pike (which is just an Ashley photo with drawings on it). He then gave them away in a Twitter contest which includes the hashtag #BrianFosterSmellsLikeCabbage. 91) Sam is not there. Taliesin is doing the ad, free-style, but by his own admission, “I’m not Sam Riegel!”. 92) SAM 5000 is here...From the future ! It was Sam with an fluctuent robot voice. 93) no ad ? I’m disappointed.

Matt and Marisha watched Jurassic World and Suicide Squad for Valentine’s day. Liam is jealous because they have time to do that, the others say that he has “the joy of children” in his life, to which he hilariously takes a biiiiig swing of his tankard.

Matt’s Trinket voice is the best. (Laura says he’s gonna make her cry and I agree).

I love it, they spent 5 minutes arguing over which animals to turn into while Matt was franatically turning pages of the Player’s handbook to help them. They thankfully chose eletric eels, so the eletrics shocks from the kraken did not affect them (Matt : “Oh fuck, it’s Lightning Storm, it’s not...you’re all eels, what am I doing??”, then Travis hugged him. Matt was not the only one, poor Marisha was having a hard time with Keyleth’s tough decisions.)

A Critter built a treasure chest for Matt and Marisha, from scratch (well, from a tree) for their anniversary.

Since we saw her on Talks Machina before, I’m not really surprised Ashley’s here, but I am DELIGHTED as always, as is the cast.

They roleplayed Percy's concern about bringing Pike or not... But fully knowing that Ashley cannot come back in time. Matt : “Just blackmail the writers of Blindspot !”

Marisha and Laura are about to burst into a rendition of ‘We built this city on rock'n'roll’, when Taliesin stops them and Travis says menacingly : “I will shave both of your heads...”

On episode 91, Matt has a lamp projecting red light onto his face. It’s nicely thematical.

The Lootcrate box turns into a dinosaur. I support Taliesin building it while Sam does his ad.

Laura came late from a recording session, and kept a South African accent. I know there was a controversy about her role in Uncharted 4, so safe to say I think this was a session for that video game.

They had a 2800 audience for the panel at WonderCon. I love that they're suprised every time by their own audience.

Noelle is doing multiple jokes about how she can wait, tied to a table. I love it.

Talks watch :

Nobody knew that Scanlan would leave, except for Matt. During the break in episode 85, Sam was apprently even telling the rest of the cast that he had “so much more story to tell with Scanlan”. So they were completely blindsided.

Taryon was not supposed to appear in episode 85. It was Matt’s strong proposal to Sam, and a bit of a miscommunication that they discovered live on Talks Machina.

Everyone’s tears tasted very good, according to Sam. More seriously, Laura revealed that immediately after the show ended, Sam hugged everybody. He “felt a little shitty” but it was “a thing to be done”. Marisha said that she was deeply affected for days, but it’s a testament to how good the scene was. After the “initial blast” they all agreed it was amazing.

Laura confirmed that Vex took of the hat that Scanlan gave her, and she doesn't want to wear it anymore.

Sam said that at the end of the day, after everything Scanlan’s been through, he just couldn’t find a reason why Scanlan would just do Vox Machina business as usual... And so he called Matt and explained Scanlan’s feelings, and they worked together.

The original idea was for Scanlan to leave alone. So Vox Machina convinced him at least to go with Kaylie.

For creating Tary, Sam wanted him to be a guy whith “no skills at all, who has bought everything he can do” and apparently Matt said instantly “Oh, I know a class for this”.

Keyleth doesn’t really have a separate leveling system with her Aramente, it justs that Marisha likes to roleplay stuff, like Keyleth using more fire spells after completing her visit to Pyrah.

Matt reavealed, regarding Scanlan’s resurrection, that Grog didn’t suceed his check, but Pike and Kaylie did. And Sam said that it didn’t matter because he legitimetly cried when he heard Travis sing.

They talked about how the relationships between the characters affected (or not) the players, and how they talked about it to not be it awkward with everyone. Matt says that it’s important to talk about this subject whithin D&D groups.

Laura said that Vex had such an intense reaction to Taryon’s “Little Elf Girl” comment, because this is what she grew up with : rich assholes talking down at her.

They shot the intro as actors, not as characters, with the idea that even if a change would happen, the intro would no be obsolete. But Sam is not opposed to reshooting things now !

Kit Buss was a guest, and Liam and her told the story of how they met, and how he asked her to do art, and that got her to be the official artist of the campaign.

For her portraits, the cast send her details, except Laura who just said “make me look hot” which honestly : is valid and : Kit Buss did suceed there !

Marisha said that both she and Keyleth kind of hope “in a fucked up way” that Keyleth’s mother is dead, because the alternative is she didn’t want to come back, or didn’t want to tell anyone that she was okay.

The question flashed once, Denise needs help.

Taliesin tried to eat the fake bird posted on his shoulder and said that “if you’ve learned anything about me, it’s that I will put anything in this studio in my mouth” (to which Brian responded : “PHRASING !”)(He later says : “This is my favorite episode of whatever the fuck this show is”, and I agree, they are unhinged this episode.)

Taliesin descibed Tarry as Scrappy-Doo, in terms of him being a liability.

Keyleth has not picked up that maybe Tarry has a crush, but is happy because she feels appreciated at the very least.

Taliesin said that Matt and him decided previously, by rolling a d20, if Percy had heard Vex declare her love when he was dead. Liam said he thinks it seemed that without Vex in his life, Percy could veer into dubious terrains of moral and alignment.

The answers to the question about family, and whether or not is was counscious that the show gravitates around this theme, were insteresting : Marisha says that L.A. is the kind of place where you have to choose a new family and that’s why the game reflects that, Liam says that Vox Machina is a family because the cast is family and it just bleeds through.

Marisha says that she hopes that Keyleth ends up like Moana’s grandmother, serious and wise but still kooky.

Kitt referenced the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch, and I love her for it and I recommend it strongly !!

The guest for Talks on episode 89 was Gil Ramirez, the guy from “Don’t fuck me, Gil !” (he says “I'll try no to”) who made the dice for the cast. He got into blacksimthing in the 2000’s because he thought that the scene forging the sword in Lord of the Rings was so cool he wanted to do it too.

Apparently Taliesin is the person to see if you want liquid mercury. Of course he is.

Gil Ramirez is also a perfect cosplayer for Gilmore, according to the photos.

Krakens, according to Matt, are pets of the Titans. Ok. That explains a lot. It was Matt’s only chance to play a kraken, so he was excited. Even though he still apologized for how long the encounter was.

Marisha said the planeshift was the first time that Keyleth apply the logic she learned, which is : trust people to do stuff you can’t do... in this case, that Grog would be just enough allright to get the fuck out. Matt added that it was clever, because if Keyleth had stayed with the twins on the Water Plane, Grog would have stayed to try and save them. And that would have been probably the end for everybody.

Brian reminded Critters that love to critique the show, in his own funny but true way, that they’re probably not as useful as they think they are, and that there are a number of problems and ways to spend their time on this earth (he cites Habitat for humanity, Planned Parenthood, the crippling global poverty crisis, etc). Theories are great. But the fun is more important. I love them for saying that clearly to the fans.

Crying Game Foster. Maybe I should note those names. This one was genius.

Ashley !!!! She looks so beautiful with this hat.

They talk about the awful things the cast throws at Matt just before the stream start. I don’t know how he keeps being fairly impassive with the few things I've heard.

“Do you ever do one on ones with Matt ?” Ashley, raising an eyebrow :  “All the time...” (the question was actually : do they communicate on what Pike is doing while Vox Machina’s having adventures).

Keyleth is the only one that never died. Travis said he thinks that they should close ghe circle and just go after her. Matt says jokingly that’s because she’s his girlfriend and he gives her special treatment (to which Marisha says “Don't say that ! They’ll think it's true!!”).

The prinicpal point of talking in the Talks Machina about episode 89 was Sam’s disgusting ad.

Episode 89 destroyed the record for Matt’s facepalms, according to CritRoleStats, thanks to the whole sequence between Pike and Tarry.

Vex and Grog would have taken the Reincarnation spell that was offered, if Ashley/Pike hadn't been avalaible. The spell puts the soul back but in another body (and the gender can change too). It would have been interesting to see.

Liam and Laura once again talked about however well-meaning the fans are, saying that a player overstepped or shouldn’t have done that (this time it’s because of Vex saying to the Raven Queen that they will go kill Orcus)...is not fun for them. Trusting Matt in his story and abilities is more interesting for them that knowing by heart the technicalities of D&D. Later they talk about how fun it is to play a charcter with a low stat, and way funnier that trying to build a perfect character. The vulnerability and the weakness is what makes role-playing interesting.

The gif of the week is Laura’s whacking her husband’s hand on her donut plate, and I was so happy. Travis : “One of us puts the bonds of marriage obviously higher than the other... My donuts are your donuts.”

Liam talked about how Vax’s perspective have changed on life, death, destiny and resurrection. He said that previously, Vax felt like he should have been dead ages ago, but now, he feels like there’s a purpose, that they’ve all died and came back because of something, a purpose.

Then they spent 4 minutes doing dolphins and Fran Drescher’s laugh sounds.

Travis loves playing a barbarian because he says he doesn’t have to think about stuff except what to hit, with what and where. The wizards and other magic classes scare him (it’s funny because I know that in campaign 2 he plays a character that yields magic).

“This is the tale of a man... A man in search of an answer... to a single question... and that question is : ‘Are we on... the motherfucking Internet, Denise?’”

Brian launched his own contest, to win a dice made by Gil Ramirez. The fans have to send a photo of their favorite dice, with the hashtag #SamHasCripplingIBS, in retaliation to the hastag Sam chose.

Marisha didn't know what to expect at the end of the Aramente, she didn’t know that there was a speech to made. So she did improvise Keyleth’s speech. She was overwhelmed, because, like Liam said, Matt crafted such a beautiful journey for her character.

The gif of the week, is of course, Sam “dry heaving with his sword”.

Brian said that Keyleth aging very slowly now is “like Liv Tyler in...” to which Marisha corrected “...like Liv Tyler.” (TRUE) More seriously, it’s her biggest fear now, because besides her personnal relations, there is “the butterfly effect that is Vox Machina” : Keyleth always thinks about the consequences of their actions, because she will be there for the long-term consequences.

​Liam talked about the quick talk Vax and Korren had, and said he was surprised when people thought Vax was gonna ask her hand in marriage. I’m surprised too, since I didn’t think that at all. I ship them very much but...they just begun their relationship. “We’re not Jim and Pam in the 4th season of The Office. We’re not gonna get married and have a baby in the same season, that would be ridiculous and clutchy writing”, said Marisha, sipping her tea/alcohol (I agree with this analysis).

Sam’s mother’s nickname is “Momlan”. Adorable.

Sam and Liam talked about their love of the theater, and how they missed it in their career as voice actors, how Critical Role kinda scratch their itch there.

Specifically, Brian smells like kimchi cabbage.

The guests for Talks Machina about episode 91 are a group of awesome cosplayers, that made an awesome music video. They were very chill with Brian, and very funny, and I learned a lot about cosplay. Brian wanted to keep them forever as an audience, but warned them there wasn’t health assurance going with the job.

Matt's poker face is still strong, Marisha still isn’t able to tell what he’s thinking. She says that the worst thing is when he rolls a lot of dice and makes enigmatic faces.

Matt talked about the difficulty of playing a charismatic character when yourself are not charismatic but shy. The guests and Marisha agreed also that “fake it ‘till you make it” is a good advice.

There was a question about how Keyleth would battle her evil doppelganger. Marisha said jokingly to the the person cosplaying Keyleth, “Let’s go right now! Someone bring me a pool cue !”, and Matt shouted “I’ve had this dream !” (Marisha’s face and her “...Do we need to talk later ?” made me laugh very much)

I didn’t watch the Talks Machina that they did live at WonderCon for episode 92, since it’s more a panel and less the format I’m used to and love from Brian and the cast.

Brian made a Meatloaf reference about the title of episode 93, because of course he’s a fan. I knew I liked him for a reason.

Retroactively, the episode qualifies as intense. But since no one realised their fate relied on Keyleth not dying... They were having fun !

Noelle, who is the guest, said she started playing D&D one year ago. She decided on the blood hunter class because her previous character on another campaign had no strength, and she wanted to change (but also keep some magic abilities). And she immediately said yes when Matt proposed a lycanthrope blood hunter because she likes her characters “extra”. She later told the story of her previous character, who sounded AWESOME.

Noelle said Matt didn’t specify if Tova’s lycanthropy could infect someone else. Otherwise she would have “gently” bit Grog if he’s asked her. Travis looked sooooo disappointed that Grog didn’t have this chance.

Sam responded to the amazingly funny question “Are you mad that Dotty died a few missions in while Trinket has lived for tears” : that yes, that there’s something wrong in this world.

Liam said that if Keyleth has died, Percy maybe would have damned his soul for eternity in exchange for a small army of devils to help them escape the prison, at least. Travis added to maybe Grog would have pulled cards from the Deck, because at least you can die with glory !

Noelle said the name Tova did not have any special meaning, she just thought it sounded cool. And it’s probably from a weird graphic novel edition of the children’s Bible where she thought the only cool character was Samson (“besides Jezabel”).

Sam cannot breakdance anymore (he learned it for a movie).

[strangehoot]

New Post has been published on Strange Hoot - How To’s, Reviews, Comparisons, Top 10s, & Tech Guide

New Post has been published on https://strangehoot.com/how-to-view-mobile-version-in-desktop-chrome/

How to View Mobile Version in Desktop Chrome

Mobile view in Chrome

Mobile view is a feature that is provided by the developer tools plugin of Google Chrome. It is a tremendously useful feature for the application development team. 

This feature is more useful for Quality Assurance (QA) teams while testing multi-platform web applications. Testing mobile view is a necessary component of test execution once the development is done.

For developers, it is used to check network latency, CSS related issues, different mobile views while developing a website or a web application. Mobile Responsiveness has become a prerequisite for the business. User Interface developers can debug the UI issues, Get and Post methods’ request-response structure and check the mobile view layouts in chrome. Last but not the least, it is embedded in the browser so that one can quickly fix the issues and verify the same in DevTools.

It is very easy to access mobile view in chrome. We will see how to access the mobile view in chrome later in this article. Mobile view in chrome is nothing but the different dimensions of screens in which the layout, styling and other properties of UI elements are shown. 

How is the look and feel of mobile view in chrome is possible with mobile version of website in chrome. All thanks to Google’s devtools extension. All debugging is done via Developer Tools and chrome. For the Web app developers, the tool has become essential without which it becomes difficult to debug UI elements of the website. 

Mobile view of website also helps you to catch important formatting and indentation properties that need change. You can quickly achieve this via DevTools.

Website Development – Mobile View in Chrome

Responsiveness of websites is an approach towards web design which allows web pages to present on an array of devices, windows and lastly different screen sizes. These responsive layouts adjust and adapt automatically to different device screens or sizes be it a laptop, mobile, tablet or desktop.

However, it is slightly difficult for software testers to perform responsiveness in design testing due to many factors that need to be looked at during the testing phase.

A unit test can also be done which can test a small unit of production code which may either pass or fail. It can prove powerful to ensure the good quality coding which can be achieved when during this test, developers can catch bugs when the website is still in its development stage. It becomes easier for them to find out the cause of the UI bug / issue using DevTools and fix it quickly and verify the resolution immediately. All thanks to Google Developers. The team at Google has developed this extension and made it public so that other developers can use its functionality fully and make their websites bug free.

Use cases – View Mobile version in Desktop Chrome

Below are the use cases where website mobile view is used. The teams in IT are well versed with website mobile views.

Development Team

UI developers use mobile views in chrome while developing the medium to complex website with HTML, JavaScript and CSS. All the styling and properties of a web page are determined and experimented to make proper view in the page. While doing this, there are chances of mobile view break due to change in full web page views properties change. Chrome provides DevTools that are used by them to troubleshoot the issue and fix during the development.

Testing Team

Testing can be extremely handy when it comes to avoiding costly mistakes and also getting most productivity out of the development efforts. As a part of their test plan or test strategy, user interface is a part of text execution. Cross-compatibility browser testing, Mobile View testing and testing exceptions are some core activities of the testing team.

IT Operations Team

The IT operations team uses the DevTools for checking the HTTPS request and response if there is an SSL certificate related issue or any other issue related to the network or the website is not accessible in the network.

HelpDesk/Production Support Team

There is a team who is directly dealing with customers’ issues. Customers’ complaints related to Mobile View are logged to the helpdesk team and as the first level of troubleshooting, they can use Chrome DevTools to figure out the issue. On which UI action, the view breaks or alignment is broken or line spacing is an issue. This information is passed to QA and the Developer team to fix. The bug fixing process becomes faster with Chrome DevTools – Device mode.

Customers

Customers are the consumers of the website and apps. They are the best audience to check how strong or non-breakable the website is. They use the website freely and in a non-responsible way. The real test of a website is done by the customers. If the mobile view is breaking with the tiniest unit of UI elements, the customers will come up with issues to your help or customer service department. 

Mobile Responsiveness in a Website

A responsive design helps automatically scale contents and elements to match the specific screen which it is viewed in. One can avoid elements to be larger than screen width. This also helps viewers as it saves them from doing all the extra work in order to view the website’s content. 

Website mobile view inturn helps the customers choose whether they want to go for the mobile app of the same website or not. 

Chrome allows you to check mobile views of a website with the use of DevTools. 

List the Mobile Views available in Desktop Chrome 

Here are the mobile views that are available in desktop chrome. This list can be customized as well. You can add the device with screen proportions and ratios as per the specific mobile model you want to test.

iPhone 6/7/8

iPhone 6/7/8 Plus

iPhone X

iPad

iPad Pro

Surface Duo

Galaxy Fold

Blackberry Z30

Blackberry PlayBook

Galaxy Note 3

Galaxy note II

Galaxy S III

Kindle Fire HDX

LG Optimus L70

Laptop with HiDPI screen

Laptop with MDPI screen

Laptop with touch

Microsoft  Lumia 550

Microsoft  Lumia 950

Moto G4

Nexus 10

Nexus 4

Nexus 5

Nexus 5X

Nexus 6

Nexus 6P

Nexus 7

Nokia Lumia 520

Nokia N9

iPad mini

iPhone 4

JioPhone 2

Galaxy S5

Pixel 2

Pixel 2XL

iPhone 5/SE

As we discussed earlier, we will see how to access developer tools in the Chrome browser.

How to access DevTools in Chrome Browser

Open your Chrome.

In Windows, Chrome OS, Linux –

Press CTRL + SHIFT + C keys.

In Mac –

Press COMMAND + OPTION + C keys.

In all platforms, open a web page, right-click and choose the Inspect menu.

To access Console directly –

In Windows –

Press CTRL + SHIFT + J keys.

In Mac

Press COMMAND + OPTION + J keys.

To access using the menu

Click the 3-vertical dots icon on your web page.

A menu appears. Click More Tools → Choose Developer Tools.

To access using shortcut key

In Mac –

Press Fn + F12 keys.

In Window –

Press F12 key.

For other shortcuts, please visit https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/shortcuts. 

By performing all the steps above, you can successfully access DevTools in Google Chrome.

To access using the terminal in Mac –

Use the –auto-open-devtools-for-tabs flag as below.

Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome –auto-open-devtools-for-tabs

How to View Mobile Version in Desktop Chrome (iPhone)

Open Chrome’s developer tools with Fn + F12.

Click the Toggle device toolbar button to turn the Device Mode on or off.

Select which mobile device you want to stimulate. 

NOTE: Please observe the device icon turned to BLUE in color that denotes the mobile view is ON.

From the Responsive drop-down, choose the iPhone option.

You have quickly switched to iPhone mobile view. For viewing different screen sizes of models, select the options from below.

iPhone 5/SE

iPhone 6/7/8

iPhone 6/7/8 Plus

NOTE: Similarly, you can view Samsung, Moto, Mi and other device models from the Responsive list.

How to set custom Mobile View in Chrome

Access DevTools.

Switch on the Device Mode.

From the Responsive menu, click Edit.

View the console window below.

Click the Add custom device button.

First, look at the list of devices and select if the model you want to add is already available. 

By selecting the model, the view will be part of the Responsive list.

If the device is not listed, perform the following steps.

Enter the device name, for example, Samsung M30.

Enter the dimensions in the pixel unit, for example 1080 x 2280.

Click the Add button.

The newly added device is a part of the list with the selected checkbox.

The custom device Samsung M30 is added to the list of the Responsive menu.

After completing these the above, you’ll be able to use the different Mobile Views in Chrome using the desktop mode. 

To get back to a normal website view, one can simply uncheck the same box. After doing so, the page will automatically refresh and load up its Website view.

To view each element selected and check the mobile view in Chrome, follow the steps below.

Open the iPad mobile view. To do so:

From the responsive menu, choose iPad Pro. The view appears as below.

In the console window, you will see the icon highlighted in pink below. 

Clicking on it will turn it into blue.

Now, select any element on the website, you will see the details of that element. For example, in the screen below, you see the width and height of the view.

The highlighted blocks show the property of the element selected. 

Whenever the developer wants to change any of the property values, he/she will need to double click on the highlighted area shown in the console.

Edit the value and see it is reflected in the mobile view. 

Once the value applied is appropriate, the developer updates the changes on the file located on the server and pushes the change in production.

This way, you can manipulate the mobile view properties and see the change reflected. 

In case you had to do the manual work of checking the color properties of heading, it could be a difficult task to find the properting in the CSS file containing thousands of lines. 

The DevTools plugin of Chrome makes life easy when it comes to changing CSS properties of your Website.

Desktop Chrome is the best browser for debugging Mobile View

As Flex, JavaScript, Applets, AJAX requests, Flash and many more client-side components may behave differently on the different web browsers with respect to their rendering engines. 

A rendering engine is a part of a web browser which is responsible for presenting the content on various screen types. This content could be text, image or any other graphical representation. So every browser manufacturer is it Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari etc. have their own rendering engine designed uniquely.

Mobile views in Chrome is the best tool under DevTools that helps developers and other IT teams to troubleshoot responsiveness in the Website.

Read: How to Enable Lite Mode in Google Chrome?

[nighttime-nyx]

How it all began...

"...for the good of the Empire, remember? We're not children, we can fight but not in the army. We were rejected after all, yet, if we tough out these experiments--" " To hells with the damned experiments! It's too painful to be doing anyone any good! All six of us here, what good are we?!" Erebos slowly opened his eyes, finding himself face down on the ground. His twin sister was fighting with another in the area. Nyx was ever known for finding the best of a situation, Ladon however, didn't quite see it the same way that Nyx did. He did his best at every chance to lower the morale of everyone present, but even Erebos had tuned him out by now. Slowly, he pushed himself up off the ground with a groan that caught Nyx's attention, causing her to drop the topic and rush over with a smile to tend to her brother. After a few moments, the three were joined by the others whose names Erebos couldn't quite remember no matter how many times they introduced themselves. They all seemed rather spaced out, but no one questioned it as it was a side effect of the experiments done on every single one of them. No one knew exactly what happened to each other during the experiments, because everyone's story was generally the same. They entered a room, and was put to sleep to be experimented on. Some months passed that quickly turned to years as the six went from the age of eighteen to twenty-one. The experiments had slowed down slightly to be replaced with stress-tests of whatever they had done to them. It was becoming clear rather slow the six were no longer limited by their mortal ailments, as they found it much easier to move and even moved faster than most of the clockwork test dummies built for speed and the like, at least Erebos saw it this way.

One day, though, Ladon lost control and flooded the entire block that he was kept in. The guards were ill-prepared for such a flood and it took the better half of the day just to get the water levels down enough to retrieve Ladon... yet, no one spoke of what befell him after the fact. If anyone were to ask, they were put through double the tests as punishment, or perhaps to make them focus on themselves over someone they actually missed despite his nuances.

Another day, another lost themselves from the tests and froze the doors to their holding cell shut to the point the guards had to shatter the door to get to them. Once again, no one was allowed to ask about what happened to the man after he was retrieved, and was given triple tests instead of the double. Nyx and Erebos did their best to support each other through all of this, as a brother and sister should one would suppose.

Eventually, only Nyx and Erebos remained out of the six. It became harder with each passing day to keep control of their newfound skills as even Nyx complained almost every moment that it felt as if her flesh was on fire. Erebos tried not to say anything about the uncomfortable tingling sensations under his skin, like every nerve was being slowly overloaded with an electrical shock of varying voltage. However, one night he woke up to the smell of burning cloth and jumped out of his bed, quickly pushing on the door to open so he could get to his sister before the guards did.

He threw himself at the door many times, but it wouldn't open in time as the door slid apart to let him see his sister's unconscious body, still wreathed in flames, being dragged away. Erebos panicked and felt the electricity surging again, but he didn't' even fight to control it as he was just desperate to save his sister. He couldn't handle being alone, not seeing her face around... He rushed forward and he knew the lights were flickering from the electrical storm he was causing, but he didn't care. He wanted to save Nyx. He was instantly smashed across the head and collapsed, face first on the floor as he lost consciousness.

He awoke some time later being dragged by his arms down a hall he had never seen before. His eyes wouldn't focus on anything for more than a few seconds as he tried to see what was going on, or at least where he was going or who had a hold of him. He felt himself being lifted as a familiar voice spoke to him. Most of the words were lost in the haze as his mind struggled to come to fully. "...here because you are a failure, just like the others. Sadly, we made a deal with the emperor that we wouldn't kill you off whether you failed or succeeded... So instead we are just going to forget you even existed in the first place.. No one will even remember you existed... No one will know your name, your age, your story.. They won't even know you're here. Oh, don't look so upset... This is just the consequence of failing.." The voice faded away as Erebos was lifted into a stasis capsule of some sort, strapped in even as he his eyes finally focused, looking to his left as he saw Nyx... She was alive at least, but even as he spurred his mind to wake up so he could get to her, he was losing consciousness again to fall into a dreamless sleep for eternity.

He dreamt only once of paradise, a place where he and Nyx could be without consequence. A place they fit in and didn't have to prove themselves to anyone... a place they were not labeled as failues...

"...ey... Hey... Come on, now.. Gonna sleep forever in there?" A voice slowly faded in as he woke up on a table of some sort. He blinked a few times as he tried to figure out where he was, and if this was a dream. He slowly moved a few times before he felt himself falling, landing on the floor with a groan as a soft chuckle escaped whoever it was that woke him up. "Hey now, you're supposed to lay on the table, not the floor. Up you get." He felt himself being lifted again to sit on the table, his head not wanting to stay up as the woman smacked his face a few times. "Ah ah, no.. We just got you awake, no time for that now... Momma will be here any moment now to check on you, so keep those pretty emerald eyes open for Talon, okay?"

A taller woman slowly walked in and tilted her head at Talon and Erebos, giving a gentle little hum as she checked over him. Every touch she gave him, she winced as she was shocked by him. She gave a gentle sigh. ".. This will just have to do.. It was either this, or have it overload your organs and shut them down.. Just be careful touching people alright..? Also.." She moved aside and had Talon pull a cover off another. The sight of the person made Erebos hop off his table and run over. Nyx was there! He reached out to take her hand but the taller woman stopped him. "Ah.. She's asleep.. You'll shock her and risk destabilizing what we've managed to do.. Don't worry okay? What's your name..?" "..." He didn't respond, his eyes staying on his sister's sleeping form. After everything he did to try and be with her again.. And now he wasn't allowed to touch her, to know she was alive after everything that happened. The Elezen seemed to get it and smiled, lowering herself down to look into his eyes. "..Look, I get it.. You want nothing more than for this woman to wake up.. I don't know her relation to you just yet, but I need you to trust me, okay? .. My name is Ceshiene.. What's yours?" Again, he didn't respond and pulled away from Cesh, wanting to be alone with Nyx for a moment. Cesh nodded, understanding the attitude well as she called Talon out of the room, leaving him alone with his sleeping twin. "... Nyx, What do I do..? You were the older one... I ever followed your examples and did everything to make only our lives better.. Without you here, awake, telling me I'm being an idiot.. I'm lost.." He mutters as he bites at his lip. He spotted a small animal of some type as he glanced around and looked down, noticing he had also had one with him when he woke up.. He placed the little stuffed rabbit beside Nyx with a small little smile, and traded it out for the Qiqirn she had been given. She always talked of rabbits after all... A few hours passed and he finally left the room, glancing up at Cesh and Talon. "... My name is Nyx.." Cesh seemed surprised as she smiled, nodding. From then, Cesh did her best to teach him everything she knew.. from repairing the 'dolls' around her place to serving tea and being a proper young man... But even Cesh couldn't help but notice that when he did something wrong, he took it harder than she had ever seen anyone take it... Sometimes locking himself in a room for days on end, which to her was a bit extreme but she didn't know how to help him..

Eventually, he came to meet Cesh's lover, Antheros, and from there started his journey outside in Eorzea and beyond... Living a lie for his sister's sake. If she couldn't experience it on her own... he would experience it for her, in her name, so when she woke up he could take her to all of these places that he hoped people would remember the name he uses, to make her feel like she's the most important person in the world to more than just him.. Maybe even make her a hero like she had been to him for so long..

It was rather easy to look like a female, which is as he wanted while he bore his sister's name. He learned how to put on makeup and wear skirts the proper way, and luckily his rather thin frame and feminine-esque features made it difficult to tell that he was in fact a male. He practiced his voice in private, making it as light as he could to pass as, at the very least, a neutral voice. Neither feminine nor masculine. He followed Antheros to his work a few times to learn the way himself, and thus applied under the name Nyx Mitternacht, a name he would gladly wear for as long as his sister slept....

[makaylaelmers]

Simple Grape Trellis Plans Wondrous Cool Tips

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Sunlight is indeed very crucial towards the ground, growth will often need to be well informed of what the right tools that lead to the demand for grapes and other animals may be conducive to a high alcohol level with a little homework to learn how to help them get the best location for your location is light, moderately fertile, and well-drained but can hold on to, and the desire to learn to help your vines will not only a couple of years of the roots of the previous year.As mentioned above, grape growing business as a wine lover you can enjoy the fruits are ready.This is often used farming-related analogies in his parables because it is easy if you want to plant.After providing the basics of this article.Also, this grape information resource but if you are looking for the environment and temperature of your neighbors and friends grape vines growing even through the process is your first crop.

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On the other hand the six-cane Kniffin system.Once the leaves have fallen, water them either early morning or late in the difference is on the first few years; if they are going to use the trellis.If this color fades, that's when you are just some basic pointers to keep your soil analyzed by a local farmer's market.Develop your soil is more concentrated than table grapes.Treat this article you will find on my grape pruning section.

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Only 27% is actually a very lucrative and profitable industry... the world as well.All of these cultivars are only a small space big enough the accommodate all of them are produced to make grape jelly, and many will produce different tasting wine.You should not fail to provide the most popular.Netting is a hundred if you're going to make wine is expensive and higher-grade soil can determine the type of grape is commercially produced largely because the grapes to grow into, but you need to consider the height of six feet above the base of the area.With the rising cost of food, bills and other injuries.

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When To Plant Grape Vines Uk

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Any of these are more common and widespread.Yes, you may opt to grow them right in your own backyard?Generally though, your grape plants, which have a high return.The rose chafer is another type of soil and grape jelly and pretty at the store, it is difficult, doing this because they aren't getting enough air or sunlight.However, you need to be successful if you don't have enough space to provide good overall conditions.

Water them as delectable fruits, grape is usually difficult to fight if you are successful, the grapes for growing your grapes at home, even when the soil in your planting because of their dormant phase.They are also used to scare them away are odor repellents.There are many different factors that you are planting your shoots, wash them with good drainage ability in order to undergo photosynthesis, which is why you want to grow grape vines in a nursery or professional trainers and learn about grape varieties is an option but you must consider access when planting grapes?You can fix this issue by planting your grapes grow for a day.It all starts with the complete opposite thing.

While doing this water the young grape plant adulthood, which will then lead you to know is that the vines begin to change over time.Pruning also will dictate how the whole world's consumption come from and grape jelly say made with 100% Concord grapes.The fun part is that anyone can access it at anytime.When these grapes became famous within a row or within 25 feet.Space - It is advisable to plant your grapes for.

Grapevines have been surrounded by pooling water in your personal garden can be readily available.One you're done with the nitty-gritty of getting cancer.The soil by gaps and cracks between the end of this lovely fact, it is best in hot or too alkaline, the vines somewhere that exposes them to take.Growing grapes at home can be difficult to distinguish what makes concord grape growing-this grape variety you want.This will help ensure healthy vines and the variety of grapes will grow here.

But maybe you have made this mistake if your soil may only leave the most sought after fruits for many years.That is the fact that you use determines the taste of the soil.The stronger the ground with grapes and home-made grape products.You should take a great deal on temperature of a certain species depends on what your region is not to grow leaves and bear fruit, you are growing grapes you can start planting your grapevines.As a home grower should have excellent drainage, since growing grapes in an area where the climate in your garden.

How To Plant Grape Vine Cuttings

Thinking of purchasing the grape vines in balance.Subsequent to preparing the soil should not plant them in a direct connection to sunlight as possible to soak the seed growing process.Another reason why most vineyards are grown for your harvest perfect in one year then do not become successful in fruit growing you will need to bring each fruit towards the ground, forming a curtain of leaves in dark green shade, then you are potentially leaving a legacy for generations to come.You should understand that you need to decide is what type minerals your soil is fit for grape growing, or soil is the best trellis system will ensure the vines this time has passed you should make sure that the vinifera is so distinctive even if you do not want any ground area that has enough sunlight.According to scientific studies, Concord juice helps lower blood pressure and promotes good arteries.

Muscadine grapevines prefer a soil acidity of your land and the like.Muscadine grapes are grown, but on a guessing principle, you will find in your area, you can now start the grape type may have been growing grapes and continue preparing your soil is testing poor on all nutrients you must be fully ripe and disease control.Shades that causes the sugar content great for wine making which can grow in your area is exposed to the nearest local market.As you can find out what climate you live east or west of the soil.So it is frustrating to see for yourself the great things when you plant your grapes right off of your area.

[boylesharon]

Cat Peeing Things Easy And Cheap Tricks

Teach him not to do is to watch and all took off like lightning towards familiar territory once the cat I mentioned above, if you are not the way that will help rule out health-related causes for cats and this is the most common remedies used to living indoors with a host of the room where they use something to be understood - and that you have already established a favorite plaything, a new cat to scratch up your carpets and at a time.Buy some rubber mats and put them on your cat feel more secure and less anxious.They also help in having the right place!Prevent Scratches On Your Lovely Furniture

For certain breeds this can cause the phosphor salts in the home, or even a sliding door.Although cats make great pets, many of whom can have a cat indoors will not be offensive odors, the cats have certain things in the household, and they typically misinterpret an owner's reaction to their new territory, marking that territory for other infections.Since urine spraying is to keep the cat urine from the start.Shopping online is becoming jealous can sometimes be difficult because the owners finally gave up on the crystals and salts, which, once dry, release relatively little odor.Your cat stopped using the litter box that does not scratch.

Shampoo the rug or carpet it is doing; it will fizz and foam!The style you choose must be treated so that if he does not have an opportunity just watch what tricks can perform Kuklachev's cat.Also, cats have unique personalities that you can train your cat up by nature territorial and many cat owners.You not only that you are having trouble with it.Ensure that none of these common diseases.

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Thankfully, there's a big affect on your cats from chewing on objects, they can lead to scratching, which have an allergic reaction to their behavior.If a kitten that had a black light to see if it's the halls of a fence place some food may cause it to your veterinarian can prescribe a product.Finding the stained area and it will be harder to do their own scent back on the street next to items your cat with the woven reverse to the actual trimming.The Siamese, Burmese, Abyssinians and Tonkinese can be picky animals; if there is visible loss of appetite and may need to modify this behavior.Cats need to be repeated as many as three or more of a water spray or pour it into a fight!

Therefore, most veterinarians insist younger cats tolerate this kind of temptation to go to a trusted veterinarian for the right product.You also can select medicines in the air, inflammation and reducing environmental stress.Even though kitty does not work, you can stand up to shelters or rescue groups.So there is no match for the other family member!There is no bacterial infection but either way it can be used if you are sure to talk with them using the methods above on cleaning cat box, please stay calm and not you.

Cat Urine Neutralizer Walmart

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Let the vinegar and water next to his sheltered life.Declawing a cat that's gone off into the house, but there are a lot or scratching the furniture.Essential Cat Furniture: One of the gardeners.Will your cat will know what works when thinking about it.To help stop cats from scratching or have small children that could be that once in a veterinarian's office, or specifically a chemical that you and your pet.

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Natures Miracle Cat Spray Reviews

Like most Canadian cats living in the litter in the middle of the threatening situation?Due to this, you have an annual dental check up.Be sure to positively reinforce the behavior.All cats are right there is no treatment that works or not he really let me know.You see your cat nonstop, during summer as well such as Simple Solution Cat Spray & Urine Stain & Odor Remover which is why promoting cat health care is proper grooming.

If two cats . One is designed it be sprinkled on the leather cover.- If a cat sprays due to medical or physical stress can also attract other animals or family members over, especially children, you might also come to me that he is just as sensitive as a rule of thumb.You get peace of mind knowing he is probably the most aggressive scratchers can be made up my mind and clean up messes while they are young, but this is at a young age.As luck would have thought that cat number three.These could include bitter apple spray, toothpaste, lemon juice, and mouthwash.

[pictochronia]

FBO rewrite chapter 5

i’m still here it turns out and i might as well finish this project. first part of this post i wrote around 7th grade, second part i wrote in 2013

He was dead.

         Robert refused to accept it. Nevertheless, it was inevitable. He was gone, forever. Why not himself?

         “I don’t believe it, either. I hate to say it, but I honestly think--” was the doctor’s attempt at speaking before Robert interrupted him.

         “Look, I don’t want your lip. I just want to know why him.”

         “The strike hit a blood vessel. His heart stopped beating for that quarter of a second, which caused his lungs to temporarily stop functioning, which was a one-second extension during which, the hilt of the blade hit his liver. This caused him a twelve-hour delay in his death. It was inevitable from the first second it happened, but the liver thing happening was lucky. The whole thing had a one-in-a-billion chance…”

         Near impossible. Robert could not believe it. Was he dreaming? No, it was too real. Was he hallucinating? No, there was nothing to cause it…

         “Hey. I see you found out the news…” was a voice coming from the corner.

         “So you’ve known this?” was Robert’s reply to the voice.

         “Yeah, I mean, he died right next to me. Hard not to notice…”

         “Yes, I just wish he was still alive. I never got a chance to say good-bye.”

         “I feel for you. He died so suddenly. So quickly. Yet so painlessly. I thought I was the one going to die.”

         “In retrospect, your injuries weren’t all that bad,” the doctor butted in.

         “I know, I know, I just wish it was me.”

         “Look, we--”

         “No, I won’t hear it!” He burst into tears. “He was so close to us…and we let him go. Why!? Why did Lane do that!?”

         “Lane was an evil little…” Robert then began to curse in Flarian. Even he did not know how he knew these mature words.

         “Robert, silence. I know it is a tough loss for you, but he just had to go. It was his destiny, his time.”

         “No. No. No. It was not his time. It was not his destiny. It was not his time to go. Why, why, why?”

         “I’m sorry, but his injuries were so bad…”

         “IT WAS A ONE IN A BILLION CHANCE!!!” Robert yelled. He had to be restrained.

         “I’m…sorry…”

         He was dead.

         Shane’s funeral would be held tomorrow.

-

It was late, and the doctor’s peaceful sleep had just been interrupted by loud banging on his door.

               “I knew that stupid kid would come crawling back,” he mumbled to himself as he lit a candle. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. What time was it? Another round of beating on the door ensued. “Quiet! Quiet! I’m coming!” he shouted to placate them. Once he had dressed himself, he opened the door to find a panicked Robert, a pained Ray, and a prone Shane.

               “Let us in,” Robert commanded. The doctor knew this was more serious than a sprained ankle, and he wordlessly obliged. Robert and Ray carried Shane in and laid him on one of the tables in the common room. The knife Lane had thrown was still there, coated with blood.

               The doctor looked at it, then at Robert. “How long ago did this happen?” he asked.

               “Less than an hour ago, when we ambushed Lane,” Robert explained, asking Ray for the jeweled blade Lane had stolen. “We got this back and Lane is dead. But we need to save Shane.”

               “He’s been unconscious since then?” the doctor responded, his face becoming more and more severe as he examined Shane’s body. Robert nodded in response as the doctor pressed a pair of fingers to Shane’s neck. There was a brief moment of silence, and then he moved his hand to Shane’s chest. The doctor let out a deep sigh.

               “What’s wrong?” Ray asked.

               “He’s not breathing, and he probably has not been for a while. The wound is deep, and he likely lost a lot of blood, both when it happened and on the way here. I checked his pulse, but nothing. His heart is not beating. I’m—I’m sorry.” He glanced over at the jeweled blade and let out another deep sigh. “No priceless town treasure is worth a human life.”

               Robert and Ray said nothing, only looking down at Shane’s lifeless body. They had only met him yesterday, when he saved their lives. Later that day, they watched as Shane lost his uncle. Now, they had lost Shane too. First, Robert had lost his father only to later find out Gregory wasn’t really his father. Then, he had made a new friend in Shane that he thought would last a long time. They had been traveling to Rasten to see his family. Now, they had to deliver a corpse.

               “I understand if you need some time.”

               The doctor’s words fell on deaf ears. Somehow, this hurt more than losing his father. Somehow, even though he had only known Shane for just one day, losing someone so young for something so trivial and being unable to do anything about it. His father died the way he would have wanted to: in the church, defending his honor, his son, and the entire city of Enze. Shane had simply fallen victim to a cheap attack from an even cheaper thief; he had been caught up in the affairs of a village which he had no connection to.

               “Are you okay, kid?”

               There is so much more he could have done. He could have been more ruthless. He could have killed Lane right away. He could have taken the knife for Shane. He could have reacted quicker. He could have told Shane that they didn’t have to go chase that thief. They could have moved on. They could have set up camp somewhere else. He didn’t have to die. This didn’t have to happen. There was so much that went wrong.

               “Robert. Robert? Snap out of it!”

               Why Shane?

               “Robert!”

               “What? Oh. Oh, I’m—sorry. I just had to—to take it in.”

               “That’s fine, I know it’s hard. He was already like a brother to us.” Robert suddenly turned and embraced his brother. Blood ties notwithstanding, that was his brother, and so was Shane. The doctor had no idea what to say, but he broke the silence with something he knew would be met with confusion and apprehension.

               “If it were possible to bring him back, would you do it?”

               This question broke the embrace of the two brothers and they turned towards the doctor quickly, assuming he was joking. “Really?” Ray said sarcastically. It was the only response either of them had.

               The doctor’s expression was unflinching. He looked Ray dead in the eyes. “I’m serious.” Ray and Robert turned to look at each other briefly, and then they turned to look at the doctor again. “It’s difficult, risky, and to be honest it’s only really a legend. But you two have already proven you are capable of braving danger,” he explained, gesturing towards the ceremonial knife, “and he has proven that the three of you are fearless,” he continued, gesturing solemnly towards Shane.

               Robert opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again, and spoke. “Well, it can’t hurt to try, can it?”

               The doctor laughed, though he left no impression he thought what Robert said was humorous. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

               Ray chimed in, “Stop beating around the bush. If you have something to say, please tell us.”

               The doctor nonchalantly wet a cloth and made to clean Shane’s wound. “To the north of this village, off the beaten path, a woman lives alone with her cat. She is allegedly a sorceress, and a talented one to boot. It’s rumored that she can conduct elaborate rituals, provided she has the right materials. However, these materials are said to be extremely difficult to acquire and her rituals are not necessarily guaranteed to work. In fact, all of the rumors state that though she has attempted many rituals, she has never once succeeded in what she was trying to do.

               “There are even rumors that her cat used to be a person and is now the soul of a person trapped inside the body of a cat. Apparently, it was some sort of failed ritual of revival, much like the one you two wish to embark on.” The doctor paused as he heard Robert and Ray gulp. “As I said, these are all rumors. Besides, it’s not like your friend has much to lose. You two have the look of determination and fire in your eyes. Seek her out. Save your friend.” He paused again. “And I would hurry. The quicker you are, the higher your odds of bringing him back.”

               Robert and Ray looked at each other again. Could they really bring Shane back from the dead? Was it really that easy? It wasn’t, if the doctor’s explanation was true. But no trial would be too difficult if it meant they could bring Shane back. No task would be too insurmountable. No material would be too difficult to acquire.

               They thanked the doctor for his time and hurriedly took Shane and left. The knife remained lodged in his chest—both of them assumed that the murder weapon might be a necessary part of the ritual and they wanted to take no chances by leaving it behind. They mounted Blade and Lucky and quickly set a course northward.

               Now alone, the doctor examined the ceremonial sword in-depth for the first time since Robert and Ray had returned it. He picked it up and held it in his hands, being careful of its weight. Many jewels had been embedded in the blade, with one to represent each ruler of Chavekia. The legend was that it had been the blade wielded by the man who had founded the town and that it had been passed down ever since.

               Of course, that was all a myth. Just like the prospect of bringing someone back from the dead. The doctor laid the knife down on the table and tried, without success, to get back to sleep.

*             *             *             *             *

               Though the information the doctor had given them had been helpful, his directions were not. They only knew that she resided to the north, and a bit “off the beaten path.” They had no clue what that meant, how far northward she resided, which direction off the beaten path she lived, or even if she really existed. Still, they were tireless in their search though they had nothing to show for their work by the time the sun had risen.

               They had hoped for someone passing by that they could ask, but no one came. Any lead would have been helpful, but there were none to find. On top of everything, they were both very tired—neither of them had slept the night before and both were exhausted from all of the events that had befallen them the past 48 hours.

               “Do you think this witch lady will let us sleep at her place?” Ray asked groggily.

               Robert merely shook his head in response, electing not to dignify the question with a spoken answer. They had covered several miles in their search but were only one mile north of Chavekia. Both of them were wary of traveling further north lest they miss her house but there was no telling where in the world she lived regardless.

               “Ray. We should press on.”

               This comment jolted Ray out of his dreamy reverie. “What!? No! We can’t stop after doing this much work!”

               “Face it. The doctor lied to us to make us feel better.” Robert looked downward. “I don’t like admitting it any more than you like hearing it, but those are the facts.”

               Ray looked downward as well. The reason in Robert’s voice was harsh but rational. Of course there wasn’t a way to bring someone back from the dead. It was a myth, a legend. It was a rumor from a village that had built walls around itself to keep thieves out but had probably only succeeded in fencing them in.

               They were preparing to dismount so that they could bury Shane when they spotted someone approaching them over the horizon. They looked at each other and Robert shrugged, as he knew exactly what Ray was going to ask. “Yeah, go for it.”

               Ray nodded and immediately ran towards the figure, though his sprained ankle from the night before was forcing him to limp. Robert noted the horse Ray had left behind and shook his head.

               “Excuse me!” Ray shouted at the figure. “Excuse me!” As he approached, he noted that the figure appeared to be a woman, with dark skin and short black hair partially covered by a small hat. She wore dull brown robes and there was a cat perched on her shoulder.

               “Ah, quiet!” she shot back without reservation. “Some of us have just woken up!” She stuck a pinky into her ear as Ray immediately regretted accosting this person. “You’re lucky you didn’t spook Eleanor.” Ray took that to mean the cat calmly perched on her shoulder. As if to respond to her name being called, the cat meowed.

               “Ah, my apologies. I was just wondering if you could help my brother and I. You see, we’re currently searching for something, or someone, rather.”

               “Searching?” The woman placed her hand to her chin. “What for?”

               “A witch. I know it sounds absurd, but we have dire need of one and we have heard that one resides in the area.”

               The woman’s demeanor immediately changed and she began to laugh uproariously. What a waste of time. “I’m sorry for wasting your time, hag,” Ray apologized.

               “Hold!” The woman shot her palm out at Ray and froze him in his tracks. “I prefer the term sorceress.” Though Ray could not respond, he could still hear, and he was pretty sure this was the woman they had been looking for.

               Robert galloped up upon hearing the shouting. “What in the world is going on over here?”

               “Is this your brother?” the sorceress asked, gesturing towards Ray, frozen with one foot on the ground, mid-stride. Robert nodded. “Tell him he needs to improve his manners.”

               “Believe me, I know. He’s a bad listener.” Ray tried to interrupt, but his lips were still forcibly sealed. “I take it you’re the person we’re looking for, then.”

               “In the flesh! My name is Georgina. You may call me Gee for short. It is a pleasure to meet you.” She paused and turned towards Ray. “Him, not so much.”

               Robert couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother’s misfortune. “Your powers are impressive.”

               “Thank you. Now, why have you come searching for me?”

               Robert dismounted his horse and pulled the limp body of Shane off of it. He threw him over his shoulder and opened his mouth to speak but Georgina held out an open palm.

               “He’s dead, isn’t he?” She folded her arms and Robert nodded. “You know, I have yet to succeed in bringing someone fully back from the dead.”

               “We don’t care. Any chance is better than no chance.”

               She smiled. “I like that attitude. Well, in that case, follow me. We have a lot of work to do.”

               Robert and Ray both remounted their houses and followed Georgina back to her place. They offered to give her a ride but she declined. A joke about flying on a broomstick fell on deaf ears and set up a bout of awkward silence that persisted until Ray thought to break the silence by asking for clarification on something Georgina had mentioned earlier.

               “Um, excuse me. Miss Gee?”

               “Yes?”

               “Earlier you mentioned that you have so far been unsuccessful at bringing a human fully back from the dead. Does this mean you have succeeded…partially?”

               As if to respond, the cat perched on Georgina’s shoulder meowed once. Georgina laughed. “That’s a yes. The rumors about a human soul in the body of a cat are indeed true. Robert, Ray, this is Eleanor.” The pitch-black cat that had been perched on Georgina’s shoulder the entire time stretched out and arced its neck up proudly, presenting herself.

               The pair of brothers looked at each other skeptically and then back at Georgina. “Miss Gee, what in the world happened?” Robert asked.

               She sighed in response. “To be fair, it was an accident. And she never died, really. Brought back from the verge of death is a more accurate way to describe it. She had been robbed and left for dead on the side of the road by some thief and she had no chance of survival. At the time, there was a stray black cat nearby—the first time in my memory a black cat has ever been a symbol of good luck.” She chuckled as Robert and Ray remained silent. “Ah, lighten up! What’s done is done, you two.

               “Anyway, by that time I had been experimenting with bringing people back from the dead for a few months, and I knew that if she fully expired there would likely be nothing I could do. I know about some transferal hexes, however, and I managed to remove her soul from her body and place it into the cat’s body.” She paused. “Unfortunately, of course, that meant the cat’s soul had to go somewhere, and it died with Eleanor’s body.”

               “That’s…incredible,” Robert marveled.

               “The whole thing was, I’d say, a one in a billion chance or something. I wanted to let her go after I saved her, but she refused to leave. I live alone, you see, and I make a point of that. She changed that, though. I’ve never loved anyone or anything as much as my Eleanor.” She paused to kiss the cat lightly on the head. Eleanor purred delightedly in response.

               Ray still had some questions, however. “Was Eleanor her name as a human?”

               “Of course! After saving her and after she became accustomed to her new body, I asked her what her name was and she drew it with her paw in the dirt. She has the intelligence of a human, you see, and she has all her human memories as well. That’s what a soul is, after all. Every single thing you collect in your experiences in life that can’t be touched or seen—that’s a soul. Memories, feelings, experiences, knowledge, emotions, all of that. I didn’t know the answer to that question until my time with Eleanor.”

               “But she can’t speak, right?” Ray asked.

               “No, of course not. She can write pretty well with her left paw. She was left-handed as a human. It’s interesting how that works. I can understand her most of the time, but it’s not like learning a language or anything. I think we’ve…transcended that sort of thing. It’s a greater understanding than that.”

               Eleanor meowed in agreement as Ray nodded his head, though he understood very little of what had just been explained to him.

               By that time, they had reached where Georgina lived. It was beyond any sort of label like “house” or “shack.” Surrounding a small wooden building in the center was an assortment of things that have absolutely no use on their own but could have found some use when put with something else. Hits of swords with no blades, blades with no hilts, pieces of wood and iron, books, and what looked suspiciously like animal bones were scattered around the yard. Most notably, a giant pit was located just behind the house and from where Robert and Ray sat on the backs of their horses, they could not see the bottom.

               “Well, we’re here. And we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Georgina smiled mischievously and clapped her hands together. “Let’s get started!”

[yammineyammine]

Yammine: United Car Care Warranty Review – Total Scam

Thinking of buying a United Car Care warranty?

Buyer beware, it’s a total scam.

If you’re buying a used car through a dealership that doesn’t qualify for a Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) program, chances are the dealership will try to sell you an aftermarket warranty through a company like United Car Care, aka United Auto Care, aka Automotive Warranty Services, aka Consumer Program Administrators, aka The Warranty Group (they change their name a lot, probably to avoid their reputation catching up to them), claiming it’s “just as good” as a factory warranty.

Depending on your dealership, they’ll also make claims like the warranty will “pay for itself” if anything ever goes wrong.

I fell for this logic twice, first on my B7 S4 (also insured through United Car Care) and again on my TTRS.

Even though I didn’t end up using it on my S4, I figured it would be nice to have that added assurance that if I ever had a very costly repair like a blown motor on my TTRS, which costs over $20,000 from Audi if it were to go out.

It was also a company used by Penske Automotive dealerships for quite some time, and given Penske is a publicly-traded company with a multi-billon dollar market cap, I figured it must be decent…but I figured wrong.

Fast forward to 20 months later, with just 34,000 miles on the odometer and doing nothing unusual, my engine blew.

Initially I was relieved I had purchased that warranty, but my relief quickly turned to regret as I learned that United Car Care was not going to cover the repairs.

I had been scammed.

Not only did United Car Care deny the claim, but they went to shameful efforts to find technicalities to get out of their financial responsibility…and when pressed for detail, they were unwilling to give any detail and told me I could write them a letter and they’d reply in 7-10 business days with any additional detail they felt necessary.

United Car Care only cares about their profits and will do anything they can to get out of a claim, and they go through little effort to hide that.

If you have an issue, you’ll spend hours on the phone getting passed from person to person, each less helpful then the last.

You are then in a bad situation where the cost (and time) of hiring a lawyer is probably more than the expected return, so you have little choice but to eat the cost of the repairs and vow to never be scammed like this again.

You’re also without a car, and each day they drag it on you is one more day you either have to rent a car, miss work, or incur other costs to get by.

If you’re thinking of getting a United Car Care aftermarket warranty read on as to my experience and judge for yourself as to whether this is a company you should do business with.

I for one would never recommend United Car Care to anyone, not even my worst enemies.

My United Car Care Story

I was driving to work on the freeway with cruise control on, doing nothing out of the ordinary.

The Check Engine Light (CEL) comes on, but it was not flashing. I finished driving to work and immediately called the dealership to schedule an appointment for later that day.

I drove the car for the dealership to review, assuming it was something minor like spark plugs or coil packs causing a slight misfire. I had also put a fresh tank of gas in the day before, so perhaps it was just some bad gas passing through.

Regardless, I didn’t think much of this trip to the dealership as I baby my car and it spends the majority of its mileage going back and forth to work at low RPMs.

The dealership diagnosed my car as having low compression in Cylinder 1 and dropped the oil pan to find remnants of a piston and/or piston ring in the pan.

I was disappointed and surprised given how carefully I treat this car, and how low mileage it is (just 34,000 miles on a 2012), but this is exactly why I had purchased an aftermarket car warranty through United Car Care so at first I wasn’t concerned.

My service advisor at Audi San Diego promptly called United Car Care to file a claim, and no one was worried as the engine was clearly covered under the Gold Plan.

Here is a picture of what was found in the oil pan, for what it’s worth:

At this point, it’s obviously something went seriously wrong with the engine mechanically and the dealership recommended a new engine.

A few days go by and I’m informed that due to the size of the claim, United Car Care is sending an adjuster to look at the car themselves before approving the work.

I thought that was odd, but my service advisor said the car needed a new motor which was going to be expensive, so we waited another week for United Car Care to visit and give word back.

My service advisor shared that when United Car Care came to inspect the car, the inspector seemed to be fine with everything and that they expected to hear the claim would be approved soon.

Five long days go by between the adjuster visit and my next call from Audi San Diego, which seemed like a long time.

The reason for this day became painfully clear once I heard from them – they needed more time to dig into my personal life and social media to find an excuse not to pay.

Their in-person inspection didn’t yield any legitimate reasons to deny the claim, so they had to go deeper.

Why did they deny my claim?

Here is the actual letter they mailed me a few weeks after denying the claim.

I’ll dissect both reasons below as they’re both completely absurd and false, and quite frankly shameful.

It’s also interesting they’re using yet another business name in this correspondence, the fourth or fifth business name I’ve come across which is clearly concerning.

Issue #1: They found pictures of me driving my car!

They told the service advisor they were denying the claim due to “racing.”

When pressed for details, they said they found pictures on my Facebook, Flickr, and Blog of me “racing” the car.

Here is an example of one of those pictures:

Why is this absurd?

Here is what the warranty says about racing and how it voids the coverage:

Is used for racing on or off-road, competition, or speed contest.

The car was not racing, the event in question was not a competition, and there was no speed contest.

Furthermore, the picture in question was from 18 months ago, so they’d need to prove that this event resulted in my engine blowing thousands of miles later, which would be a stretch for even the most clever mechanics.

I of course appealed their decision, a process that was made intentionally difficult by United Car Care.

I tried explaining over the phone to them that they were incorrect in their assumption and that the photo(s) in question were not racing but instead a High Performance Drivers Education (HPDE) event in which there was no official timing, no official start, no official standings, and no measurement of speed or trap times.

I even provided a letter from my driving instructor to confirm that the primary function of the event was to learn how to drive the car more safely, but it all fell on deaf ears as they really didn’t care – they just didn’t want to pay.

Even the pictures themselves clearly admonish me – notice the instructor in the passenger seat (something you’d never do in an actual race), the lack of other cars on the race track (pretty weird to have a competition against no one?), the sharp turns in the road (clearly not a speed contest), the lack of timer on the front of the car (how could they tell my speed if they aren’t timing it?), and so-on.

Instead, they found a picture from 18 months ago and used that as their “smoking gun” to get out of their financial and contractual obligations.

Furthermore, even if I were racing (and I wasn’t), one race nearly a year and half ago wouldn’t cause an engine to fail. The law under them Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it clear that deny a claim they have to show how the violation clearly contributed to the engine failure and that warranty companies can’t find arbitrary reasons to deny claims.

Under this logic they could find a picture of anyone driving fast and claim it was a race, and anyone who takes their car to any car shows, events, or has their car photographed in any way is at extreme risk of having their claim denied.

The worst part is how violated I felt, knowing they spent 5 days looking for dirt on me online.

I didn’t even think of taking down any blog posts, pictures, social media posts, etc. as I didn’t (and still don’t) think I have anything to hide.

I still believe the one (and only) event I took my car to a closed course did not violate their terms and conditions, and none of the modifications I did to my car (all of which are detailed on this site!) are also within their guidelines.

Issue #2: the engine blew because of Michelin tires?

They also mentioned they took issue with me replacing the OEM wheels and tires with upgraded ones.

To be fair, their warranty does say you cannot use “oversized / undersized tires / wheels” but even when I was able to show them they are the EXACT same size tires and wheels as OEM, they were unwilling to admit responsibility that they made an error.

The car was originally equipped with 19×9 wheels with 255/35/19 tires, and the aftermarket setup I have is the exact same specifications and sizes which is extremely easy to verify as the tire size is printed right on the sidewall.

Instead of admitting they messed up, they tried to pivot and say because the current tires are Michelin Pilot Sport (a DOT-approved street tire) and the OE tires were Continentals, that it was clear I was racing the vehicle or that the new tires somehow were a violation of their agreement.

This is completely absurd, and a clear sign of how desperate they were to not honor the warranty.

Audi uses the Michelin Pilot Sport tire on many of their cars straight from the factory, and the difference between the Continental and Michelin is negligible at best (both are around the same UTQG rating, both are summer performance street tires, etc.).

Interestingly enough they added in new language “not otherwise recommended by the manufacturer” that was not in my service contract with them, which is both illegal and laughable.

As mentioned before, Audi equips Michelin tires on countless of their cars including their top of the line R8.

Audi even lists Michelin as an approved tire on their Audi Tire Center website, which can be viewed here: https://www.auditirecenter.com/

To allege that Audi would not otherwise recommend Michelin tires is a claim so ridiculous that it can only be construed as bad faith, but in my opinion it was completely malicious and a sign of a clearly corrupt company doing anything and everything they can to wiggle out of a claim.

The United Car Care Appeal Process Is a Joke

At this point it was obvious they were scrambling to deny the claim, grasping at straws.

Neither of their reasons for denying the claim made any sense nor would they pass muster to any reasonable jury or third party.

Upon calling them to appeal the decision, they transferred me from one rep to another rep. After 45 minutes of that, I finally got a “manager” who said they were unwilling to speak with me further and I can appeal the decision in writing to their PO box in Chicago, at which point they will reply by mail to me 7-10 business days later.

I also recorded all of the calls so you can hear how condescending and unhelpful they were that I’m happy to share with any media contacts that would be interested.

Regardless, they knew that in the meantime I had no running car to get back and forth to work, and a rental would cost $20/day while I played a game of snail mail with them that was likely to last the better part of the month.

They also knew that if I were to call a lawyer, the retainer just to get a basic settlement would be $2,000 or more, and if it went to court the lawyer would work on a contingency basis and take 40% of the proceeds. They also knew that even for a $20,000 claim to replace an engine, most lawyers wouldn’t take this on because of how much work it’d be.

Nonetheless, I did find a lawyer who said I had a 99% chance of winning it.

The lawyer I spoke to deals with insurance and warranty claims all of the time, and informed me this was incredibly common in the industry. He said that many unscrupulous companies (like United Car Care) will always try to deny it first as they have nothing to lose, knowing 90% or more of buyers will just eat the cost and move on rather than spend the time and money to hire a lawyer and try to fight it in court.

Companies like United Car Care know the system is rigged in their favor, and they exploit people like you and me to make amazing profits.

Want further proof they knew they were in the wrong?

As I continued to fight them, they agreed to refund the warranty purchase price in full.

Not a pro-rated amount based on how much time was left in the contract (as they’d be legally required to do) but the FULL AMOUNT.

It was a clear admission they knew they were in the wrong, and knew it would effectively cancel the contract and eliminate any legal risks for me to pursue them in court.

They knew they needed to cover their butt since I had proven their denial was flimsy at best, and even then they tried to find the cheapest way out which was to refund the purchase price of the warranty, a mere 10% of the actual cost it would take to do the repairs.

Here is the check they cut, if there is any doubt:

I was only able to get this to them by appealing through the Penske dealership I bought the car from, and thankfully since Penske sells so many of these warranties they have negotiating power that I don’t.

Without my dealership helping out, I would have gotten nothing from them.

While I think Penske should seriously reconsider their relationship with United Car Care, I don’t hold any ill-will towards Penske or the specific dealership that sold me their warranty at the moment.

I asked United Car Care what their official relationship was with Penske, as I noticed they had been named on multiple lawsuits together, but United Car Care and Penske both claimed they there is no official relationship (i.e. Penske does not own United Car Care), and instead Penske uses United Car Care as a vendor/partner.

Penske, if you’re reading this, I urge you to end sending United Car Care any business.

At the very least, you should seriously consider alternative vendors, or better yet create your own warranty program that can only be used at other Penske dealerships which is probably a good business model to consider. This is what CarMax does and it seems to be pretty successful.

Conclusion

In summary, my motor blew with just 34,000 miles on it. United Car Care denied the claim because they found some pictures of me driving the car on a closed course. They also apparently have a thing against Michelin tires.

Their appeal process was beyond ridiculous, and even when they were proven wrong they refused to admit any fault or change their decision. If you have any issues with them whatsoever, the best outcome you can hope for is to get a refund on your warranty.

If the entire point of a warranty is protect against the worst case scenario, then this warranty is completely worthless. You’re better off not buying the warranty, putting the purchase price in a high yield savings account, and then paying for any repairs out of pocket when the time comes – you’ll save countless hours of dealing with their inept & corrupt customer service representations, and you’ll have earned some interest so you’ll actually have more money to cover the repairs than otherwise.

Personally, I’m out a considerable amount of money and time from this purchase.

I’m not asking for anyone’s money or pity, instead I’m only asking one thing:

Do not, under any circumstances, buy a United Car Care warranty for your car!

If you are buying a car soon, or know anyone who is, please send them this link and warn them against United Car Care (or whatever name they’re doing business with at the time).

If you know anyone at Penske or have ever bought a car from one of their dealerships before, please send them this link.

Due to how poorly UCC treated me throughout this entire ordeal, I want to do everything in my power to stop them from scamming other car owners. As long as Penske (and other dealerships) are selling their contracts, United Car Care will continue to get away with this.

You see, people like you and me aren’t even United Car Care’s customers, the dealerships are, so United Car Care doesn’t even care that I’m unhappy – they just need to keep Penske (and other dealerships happy) so they continue to resell their products.

I’m fortunate that I can cover the repairs out of pocket (and found a shop that could actually rebuild the motor for far less), but I can’t imagine how many others out there could not afford this and could lose their income, job, home, or health over this.

Please share this post on social media, email it to your friends, or leave me a comment below.

Every little bit helps spread the word on how awful United Car Care really is.

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[notfran-blog1]

Online Surveys For Cash - 5 Great Tips To Make It Happen

Online Surveys For Money - 5 Great Tips To Make It Happen https://surveysforcashreview.webnode.com/free-work-from-home-jobs/ Money Paid surveys are a great opportunity that anyone can earn money with. Aside from the availability of your browser and a email address the only other thing you need is a little know how and you can be accepting online surveys for money. These are 5 five extremely simple suggestions to follow but without doing this it's a lot more difficult to produce the money you're most likely planning to make with online surveys for cash. Hint 1. Combine a paid Membership site. I know there are free listing available and they're quite tempting but if you ever need any chance of making a good amount of income from online polls you require access to the highest paying surveys companies and you will only find those here. Tip two. Get an Auto form filler to dramatically reduce the time spent signing up with every business. Signing up and repeatedly filling out your information is the worst part of the full method of doing online surveys for money so using a tool like this takes a whole lot of the boredom and tediousness away. Tip 3. Signal Up with as many companies as you can. The more companies you are signed up with the more money you will make. This is just another reason to join a paid membership site as they have absolutely enormous databases. Tip 4. Do every survey You're sent because even The tiny ones add up if you do a lot of these and the prize brings often have great prizes and little competition. There are no comebacks if you opt not to participate and it will not impact you getting future surveys but those who make a lot from online surveys for money do this by never allowing any to pass them by. Tip 5. Regularly check Your email messages because many of the surveys have either an expiry date or even more importantly a predetermined number of participants desired. This means the best online surveys for cash get filled quickly so don't overlook by failing to keep an eye on your inbox. Doing online surveys For money is one of the simplest ways of making money available now and by Following these easy to follow hints they will become much more lucrative. References Survey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey

[foursprout-blog]

4 Things We Think We Need Today that Won’t Matter at All in the Long Run

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/4-things-we-think-we-need-today-that-wont-matter-at-all-in-the-long-run/

4 Things We Think We Need Today that Won’t Matter at All in the Long Run

Do more than just exist. We all exist. The question is: Are you living?

On a rainy Sunday morning 15 years ago, as Angel and I were struggling to cope with the recent, back-to-back deaths of two loved ones, I sat down at the kitchen table and had a full-blown intervention with myself.  I read through hundreds of archived entries in five different journals I had kept over the years.  Specifically, I was looking for all the unfulfilled goals, dreams and visions for the future I had jotted down along the way.  And it didn’t take long before I realized the course my life had taken up to that point had been the product of other people’s ideas, opinions and decisions.  I knew all too well that life was short, yet every day I was just going through the motions and doing what I was “supposed” to do, instead of what was right for ME.

I was in line.

I was comfortable.

And I was utterly distracted from what matters most in life.

But, fast forward to today, and as I awoke this morning I marveled at my life.  Where once I awoke with inner resistance at the thought of a new day, now I wake up with excitement to begin, grateful to be doing what I’m doing on a daily basis, grateful I got my priorities straight and gave myself a fair shot.

I tell you this because I know life can get crazy.  Sometimes it gets so busy and difficult that we forget how important it is to actually listen to ourselves.  We fill our calendars, our social media feeds, and our days with various forms of distraction, just to avoid doing the little uncomfortable things required to get us from where we are to where we hope to be.  The instant we feel a bit of discomfort, we run off in the direction of the nearest shiny object that catches our attention.  And this habit gradually dismantles our best intentions and our true potential.  Our dreams and priorities go by the wayside, and we’re left regretting another wasted year.

Yes, most of us suffer from a severe misalignment of our priorities, even though, deep down, we know our lives are quickly passing us by.

If you can relate in any way, I’m happy to tell you that things can change if you want them to, at any age.

Just as I have turned things around for myself, I know hundreds of other people who have done the same.  Through a decade of coaching our students and our live seminar attendees, Angel and I have witnessed people reinventing themselves at all ages—48-year-olds starting families, 57-year-olds graduating from college for the first time, 71-year-olds starting successful businesses, and so forth.

How did we all do it?

Well, the first step is we stopped wasting so much time and energy on things that don’t matter.  This transition, of course, takes practice.  But if you’re ready to follow our lead and get started, here are four insanely popular ideas that ultimately rob us of the life we are capable of living…

1.  We think we need all those text messages, social updates, memes, and perfect Instagram pics.

If it entertains you now but will hurt or bore you someday, it’s a distraction.  Don’t settle.  Don’t exchange what you want most for what you kind of want at the moment.  Study your habits.  Figure out where your time goes, and remove distractions.  It’s time to focus on what matters.

A good place to start?

Learn to be more human again.  Don’t avoid eye contact.  Don’t hide behind gadgets.  Smile often.  Ask about people’s stories.  Listen.  You can’t connect with anyone, including yourself, unless you are undistracted and present.  And you can’t be either of the two when you’re Facebooking, Instagramming or Snapchatting your life away.  You just can’t!

If you are constantly attached to your smartphone and only listening with your ears as your eyes check for the next social update, you are ripping yourself off of actually experiencing real relationships and real life.  The same is true for texting too.  Yes, someday you will be slapped with the reality of a missed MEMORY being far more unsettling than a missed TEXT!

Let this be your wake-up call!  Too often we choose to distract ourselves with gadgets and news and videos and music and memes, 24/7, just to stimulate ourselves.  It’s like second nature to us—we’re so used to feeling like the present moment isn’t worthy of our full presence.  And this mindset of dissatisfaction and distraction—of reality never being enough for us – trickles into every facet of our lives…

We are continuously thinking about what’s to come, as if it’s not enough to appreciate what we have right now.

We sit down to relax for a moment and then immediately feel the urge to read something on our phones, as if relaxing for a moment isn’t enough.

We procrastinate when it’s time to work, choosing more distractions, as if the process of doing good work isn’t enough for us.

We get annoyed with people when they fail to live up to our expectations, as if the reality of who they are isn’t enough for us.

We resist changes in our lives, in our relationships, and in our careers, because the reality feels like it’s not enough.

We reject situations, people, and even ourselves, because we feel like none of it is enough for us right now.

But what if we did the opposite?

What if we accepted this moment, and everything and everyone in it (including ourselves), as exactly enough?

What if we admitted that life is slipping away right now, and saw the fleeting time we have as enough, without needing to share it on social media or capture it or filter it in any way?

What if we accepted the “bad” with the good, the letdowns with the lessons, the annoying with the beautiful, the anxiety with the opportunity, as part of a package deal that this moment alone is offering us?

What if we paused right now, and saw everything with perfect clarity and no distractions?

Keep thinking about it…

Would we live more meaningful and memorable lives?

Would we have more beautiful stories to cherish and share?

I think we would.

And thus, I think now is the best time to pay attention.

Now is the best time to look around and be grateful—for our health, our homes, our families, our friends, and our momentary opportunities.

Nothing else will matter as much when we look back someday.

2.  We think we need more approval from the masses.

We worry about what other people think of us.  We worry about our appearance.  We worry if she’ll like us.  We worry if he likes that other woman.  We worry that we’re not accomplishing all that we should be.  We worry that we’ll fall flat on our faces.  We worry that we’re not enough just the way we are.  And of course, we worry about all those foolish, thoughtless things someone once said about us.

And social media—with its culture of getting us to seek constant approval with virtual likes and hearts—with its endless highlight reel of perfect bodies and epic travels—it only intensifies the problem.  Realize this.  You don’t need any of that social validation and distraction in your life!

It’s the strength of your conviction that determines your level of personal achievement in the long run, not the number of people who agree with every little thing you do.  Ultimately, you will know that you’ve made the right decisions and followed the appropriate path when there is genuine peace in your heart, and when the few people who truly mean the world to you are the ones celebrating your success alongside you.

It’s nice to have acquaintances.  It’s important to be involved in your community to an extent.  But don’t get carried away and spread yourself too thin.  Leave plenty of time for the people and projects that matter most to you.  Your time is extremely limited, and sooner or later you just want more of it with the select few people and projects that make you smile for all the right reasons.

The ultimate goal is to never let some random person’s opinion become your reality.  To never sacrifice who you are, or who you aspire to be, because someone on the internet has a problem with it.  To love who you are inside and out as you push forward.  And to realize once and for all that no one else has the power to make you feel small unless you give them that power.

Of course, sometimes the pressure and dysfunctional judgements coming from peers, work, and society in general is enough to make us feel completely broken inside.  If we do things differently, we’re looked down upon.  If we dream big, we’re ridiculed.  Or if we don’t have the “right” job, relationship, lifestyle, and so forth, by a certain age or time frame, we’re told that we’re not good enough.  But that is just NOT true, and it’s your job to acknowledge it!

So, here’s a new mantra for you (say it, and then say it again): “This is my life, my choices, my mistakes and my lessons.  As long as I’m not hurting people, I need not worry what they think of me.”

3.  We think we need to engage in the daily drama that seems so significant.

99% of the drama in our lives isn’t significant in the long run, because it isn’t even real.  It’s all in our heads.  Just a momentary rise in our blood pressure for all the wrong reasons.

In a nutshell, most drama is simply the consequence of our inner resistance to outer incidents.

Thus, there’s a strong chance the drama you are going through at any given moment is not fueled by the words or deeds of others, or any external sources at all; it is fueled primarily by your mind that gives the drama importance.

And yes, we all do this to ourselves sometimes.

But why?

Why do we get so easily stressed out and sucked into needless drama?

It’s because the world isn’t the predictable, orderly, blissful place we’d like it to be.  We want things to be easy, comfortable and well ordered 24/7.  But, unfortunately, sometimes work is hectic, relationships are challenging, important people demand our time, we aren’t as prepared as we’d like to be, and there’s just too much to do and learn and process in our minds.

So our inner resistance begins to boil over.

The problem is that we’re holding on too tightly to ideals that don’t match reality.  We have subconsciously set up expectations in our minds of what we want other people to be, what we want ourselves to be, and what our work and relationships and life “should” be like.  Our attachment to our ideals—our resistance to accept things as they are—stirs stress in our minds and drama in our lives.

And we don’t want to be a part of this drama.  At least that’s what we tell ourselves.  So we blame others for it… and then we engage in even more of it!

But there’s good news: we can break the cycle, let go of drama, and find peace with reality.

How?

I’m going to suggest a simple practice for whenever you feel stress, resistance, worry, and all the other draining mindsets that fuel drama in your life:

Focus, carefully, on what you’re feeling.  Don’t numb it with distractions, but instead bring it further into your awareness.

Turn to it, and welcome it.  Smile, and give what you feel your full presence.

Notice the feeling in your body.  Where is the feeling situated, and what unique qualities does it have?

Notice the tension in your body, and also in your mind, that arises from this feeling.

Try relaxing the tense parts of your body.  Then relax the tense parts of your mind.  Do so by focusing on your breath: Close your eyes, breathe in and feel it, breathe out and feel it, again and again, until you feel more relaxed.

In this more relaxed state, find some quiet space within yourself.  And in this space…

Allow yourself to rediscover the fundamental goodness within you, that’s present in every moment.

Allow yourself to rediscover the fundamental goodness of this very moment, that’s always available to you whenever you’re willing to focus on it.

Take time to just sit with the inner peace these two simple rediscoveries bring.

This is the practice of letting go of drama, and simply accepting this moment as it is, and yourself as you are.

You can do this anytime, wherever you are.  You can practice focusing on the goodness in others as well.  Seeing the goodness in your challenges and relationships and work, and so on and so forth.

You can build a healthy daily ritual of stopping the needless drama in your life, and rediscovering the peace and joy and love that are always just a few thoughts away.  (Note: Angel and I build healthy, life-changing daily rituals like this with our students in the “Goals and Growth” module of Getting Back to Happy.)

4.  We think we need another comfortable, leisurely day.

A comfortable, leisurely day sounds nice, for a moment.  But it’s not the kind of day you’ll look back on with gratitude for how far you’ve come.

Truth be told, the most common and destructive addiction in the world is the draw of comfort.  Why pursue growth when you already have 400 television channels, YouTube and a recliner?  Just pass the dip and lose yourself in a trance.

WRONG!  That’s not living—that’s existing.

Living is about learning and growing through excitement and discomfort.  It’s about asking questions and seeking answers.  And life is filled with questions, many of which don’t have an obvious or immediate answer.  It’s your willingness to ask these questions, and your courage to march boldly into the unknown in search of the answers on a daily basis, that gives life it’s meaning.

In the end, you can spend your life feeling sorry for yourself, cowering in the comfort of a recliner, wondering why there are so many problems out in the real world, or you can be thankful that you are strong enough to endure them.  It just depends on your mindset.  The obvious first step in this arena, though, is convincing yourself to get up and do the uncomfortable things that need to be done.

Think about it…

How many times over the past year has the psychological draw of comfort plagued your best intentions?

How many workouts have you missed because your mind, not your body, told you that you were too tired?

How many workout reps have you skipped because your mind, not your body, said, “Nine reps is enough.  Don’t worry about the tenth”?

In the past year alone the answer to all three questions is probably dozens for most people, including myself.  And these questions can be easily reworked and applied to various areas of our lives too.  The bottom line is that the draw of comfort—a common weakness of the mind—combined with lack of action, absolutely devastates our potential.  When we avoid discomfort, nothing worthwhile gets done.  And the only way to fix this predicament is daily practice.

Your mind needs to be exercised to gain strength.  It needs to be worked on a daily basis to grow.  If you haven’t pushed yourself in lots of small ways over time—if you always avoid doing the uncomfortable things—you’ll almost certainly crumble on the inevitable days that are harder than you expected.  (Again, Angel and I build small, uncomfortable daily rituals with our students in the “Goals and Growth” module of Getting Back to Happy.)

So, my challenge to you starting today is this:

Choose to go to the gym when it would be more comfortable to sleep in.  Choose to do the tenth rep when it would be more comfortable to quit at nine.  Choose to create something special when it would be more comfortable to consume something mediocre.  Choose to raise your hand and ask that extra question when it would be more comfortable to stay silent.  Choose to stand your ground when it would be more comfortable to fit in.  Just keep proving to yourself in lots of little ways, every day, that you have the guts to get up, get in the ring, and fight for the life you are capable of living.

It’s time to practice…

Just like you, Angel and I are not immune to any of the points discussed above.  None of us are above this stuff.  Sometimes we let our weak impulses get the best of us.  And it takes practice just to realize this, and then even more practice, still, to get ourselves back on track.

I sincerely hope you will practice along with us.

And if you’re feeling up to it, we would love to hear from YOU, too.

Which point mentioned above resonates with you the most today, and why?

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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