#the dogged pursuit of honing a craft

[antidotesprout]

Okay I've updated the leg pattern to (hopefully) make those look better/be easier to sew, fixed the issue I was having on the head pieces, and updated the torso and arms to connect.

Prototype 2 won't be sublimated directly onto the test fabric since I won't be going into the office tomorrow, but I feel more confident about this one. 😤💖

[allycat75]

So let me see if I have the equation right, Boston Dumb Fuck.

You traded your soul and the outdated (and possibly never correct) "brand" of Prince Charming, feminist internet boyfriend, righteous crusading dog dad, woke Captain America for a dead eyed, sickly, tone deaf, selfish, lazy, pothead burnout, butt of the joke, ridiculous, performative, insincere, dissociated, empty, manipulative, lying, White Privleged, user of friends, family and dog and lover of an arrogant, childish, racist, antisemetic, fatshaming clout chaser. Do I have it pretty much covered? Got it, but your fans are the crazy and stupid ones.

And what did you get besides some shitty roles (that earned you two Razzie nominations, this year), a dog food sponsorship that avoids using your face and name, a political website that does more harm than good as our democracy crumbles, a "wifey" you can't stand to touch or speak to, a smile that no longer reaches your eyes and no legitimate acting prospects for the forseable future? Also, there are so many talented pottery artists who have honed their craft for years, in case you were serious about that pursuit. Don't think you can just spin the wheel and sign your name to a misshapened ball of clay and have the masses come a knockin' for your "art". That was a perk that came with the old "brand" and you burned that to the ground.

Honestly, you look so sad and broken, I feel "Everybody Hurts" should be playing wherever you go in the background.

Well at least the unscrupulous three-letter agency got to promote their awful movie, the over-priced and uninspired designer got to show off their clothes, shoes and bags (even if they were from last season) and the greedy magazine conglomerate got a few more clicks from your humiliation and hubris. Quite the negotiating team you got there, BDF! Sure know how to pick 'um!

Because that is the Narrative in front of all of us and if you are asking us to read between the lines for some secret message, or waiting for your "cleaners" to wipe it all away like we'll just forget the last few years ever happened, then that is just another manipulation, baby. And no one likes that, right?

The internet is forever! Cold hard truth, processed in your mind, emoting authentically from your heart and verbally spewing cogently from your mouth is the only thing that can save you.

Get some serious help before this evil calcifies and you don't know any way else to be. Don't think yourself so superior that you can't get lost or forgotten, my friend. Tick-tock.

[pagebypagereviews]

Biography of Donna Everhart Donna Everhart is a Southern fiction author known for her evocative storytelling and richly detailed characters. Her work often explores the complexities of life in the American South, blending historical context with compelling narratives. Biography Information Details Full Name Donna Everhart Profession Author Nationality American Birthplace Raleigh, North Carolina, United States Residence Dunn, North Carolina, United States Genres Southern Fiction, Historical Fiction Notable Works The Education of Dixie Dupree (2016) The Road to Bittersweet (2017) The Forgiving Kind (2019) The Moonshiner's Daughter (2019) The Saints of Swallow Hill (2022) When the Jessamine Grows (2024) Awards Southeastern Library Association Award for The Road to Bittersweet Early Career Project manager in high tech firms Social Media Instagram Facebook X (Twitter) Official Website donnaeverhart.com Early Life Early Life of Donna Everhart Donna Everhart was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her upbringing in this vibrant Southern city profoundly influenced her writing, infusing her novels with the authentic charm and complexity of the American South. Throughout her early career, Donna worked as a project manager in high-tech firms, a role that honed her analytical skills. Despite her professional endeavors, she remained close to her roots, eventually settling in the small town of Dunn, North Carolina, which is just an hour away from her hometown. There, she lives with her husband and continues to craft her compelling Southern novels, capturing the essence of the region with vivid storytelling and emotional depth. Family Donna Everhart's Family Information Relation Name Information Father John Everhart John Everhart was a hardworking man from Raleigh, North Carolina. He supported his family and encouraged Donna in her literary pursuits. Mother Mary Everhart Mary Everhart was a loving mother and homemaker. She instilled strong values and a love for Southern traditions in her children. Sibling Jane Everhart Jane Everhart, Donna's sister, shares a close bond with her. Jane is known for her artistic talents and supportive nature. Height, Weight, And Other Body Measurements Donna Everhart Body Measurements table width: 70%; margin: 20px auto; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: left; th, td padding: 12px; border: 1px solid #ddd; th background-color: #f4f4f4; Attribute Measurement Height Information not available Weight Information not available Other Body Measurements Information not available Donna Everhart is a Southern fiction author from Raleigh, North Carolina, known for her vivid, authentic novels. Wife/husband / Girlfriend/boyfriend Donna Everhart's Relationship Information Donna Everhart is currently married. She lives with her husband in Dunn, North Carolina. Unfortunately, specific details about her husband's name and their marriage date are not publicly available. Current Partner Details Residence: Dunn, North Carolina Pet: A tiny, heart-stealing Yorkshire terrier named Mister There are no publicly available details regarding Donna Everhart's previous relationships. It appears that her current marriage is her most notable and possibly only significant relationship on public record. Donna Everhart is a distinguished author known for her vivid, authentic Southern novels. Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, she infuses her works with themes of self-discovery and perseverance. Currently, she is focused on her writing career and living a quiet life with her husband and her beloved dog, Mister. Career, Achievements And Controversies Donna Everhart: Career, Achievements, and Controversies Donna Everhart is a USA Today bestselling author known for her vivid and authentic Southern fiction. She has carved a niche for herself by infusing her novels with the complexities of the heart and the gritty fascination of the American South.

Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, her works resonate with themes of self-discovery and perseverance, making her a prominent figure in the literary world. Donna Everhart began her career in a rather unconventional manner. She spent her early career as a project manager in high-tech firms, a background that she often describes as making her "too analytical." However, her passion for writing led her to transition into the world of Southern fiction. Some of her most popular works include: The Education of Dixie Dupree The Road to Bittersweet The Moonshiner's Daughter When the Jessamine Grows Donna Everhart has received significant recognition for her contributions to literature. She is a USA Today bestselling author and has won the Southeastern Library Association Award for her novel The Road to Bittersweet. Her books have been praised for their authenticity and emotional depth, making her a beloved author in the Southern fiction genre. As of now, there are no major controversies associated with Donna Everhart. She is known for her professional demeanor and her dedication to her craft. Her transition from a career in IT to becoming a successful author is often seen as inspiring rather than controversial. Donna Everhart's journey from the tech industry to becoming a celebrated author of Southern fiction is a testament to her versatility and talent. With numerous accolades and a growing fan base, she continues to captivate readers with her authentic storytelling and compelling characters. For more information, visit Donna Everhart's Official Website. Faq Donna Everhart FAQs Donna Everhart is an American author known for her Southern fiction novels. She often writes about complex family dynamics, historical settings, and the resilience of the human spirit. Some of Donna Everhart's notable works include "The Education of Dixie Dupree," "The Road to Bittersweet," "The Forgiving Kind," and "The Moonshiner’s Daughter." Donna Everhart's novels often explore themes such as family, hardship, forgiveness, and the strength of women. Her stories are usually set in the Southern United States and deal with historical and cultural issues. Yes, Donna Everhart has received several accolades for her work. Her debut novel, "The Education of Dixie Dupree," was an Indie Next Pick and a USA Today Bestseller. Her books have garnered praise for their emotional depth and vivid storytelling. Donna Everhart's books are available at major bookstores, including Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, as well as online retailers like Amazon. They can also be found at local independent bookstores and libraries. Yes, Donna Everhart is active on social media. She frequently engages with her readers on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where she shares updates about her work and personal insights. You can learn more about Donna Everhart by visiting her official website at www.donnaeverhart.com. Her website features information about her books, upcoming events, and a blog where she shares her thoughts and writing experiences.

[drahdoutcosmeticdentistry]

Explore Nature's Beauty: El Scorpion Canyon Park in West Hills, CA

Located within the captivating landscapes of West Hills, CA, El Scorpion Canyon Park presents a mesmerizing gateway to nature's embrace. This idyllic park serves as a haven for outdoor aficionados, providing abundant chances to explore, relax, and revel in the natural allure of Southern California. From rugged pathways to sweeping vistas, El Scorpion Canyon Park entices visitors to embark on an expedition amidst its breathtaking environs.

Scenic Hiking Trails Renowned for its picturesque hiking trails, El Scorpion Canyon Park winds through undulating hills, rocky formations, and verdant greenery. Whether you're an adept trekker seeking a demanding expedition or a casual nature enthusiast desiring a leisurely walk, the park offers trails catering to diverse skill levels, ensuring an adventure for all. En route, trekkers can marvel at expansive panoramas of the San Fernando Valley and its surroundings, immersing themselves in the captivating magnificence of the neighboring landscape.

Wildlife Observation Nature lovers will relish the chance to observe the park's abundant wildlife in its native habitat. From chirping songbirds and fluttering butterflies to scampering rabbits and playful squirrels, El Scorpion Canyon Park shelters a myriad of captivating creatures within its tranquil sanctuary. Birdwatchers, in particular, will appreciate the opportunity to glimpse a variety of avian species soaring overhead or perched amidst the foliage.

Photography Enclaves Brimming with sweeping vistas, rugged terrains, and vibrant floral displays, El Scorpion Canyon Park offers boundless opportunities for photography enthusiasts to capture spellbinding snapshots of nature's grandeur. Whether you're an aspiring photographer honing your craft or a seasoned shutterbug in pursuit of the perfect shot, the park's scenic splendor serves as a mesmerizing canvas for creative expression.

Picnicking Areas and Family Recreation Equipped with designated picnic spots complete with tables and grilling facilities, El Scorpion Canyon Park beckons families for leisurely outings or serene picnics amidst nature's embrace. Families can convene for open-air feasts, engage in recreational activities on the verdant lawns, or simply unwind and relish each other's company amidst the tranquil ambiance of the park. It stands as an ideal locale for crafting cherished memories with loved ones.

Canine-Companion Trails Catering to outdoor enthusiasts accompanied by their furry friends, El Scorpion Canyon Park boasts trails that welcome dogs to explore and roam alongside their human counterparts. Pet owners can revel in leisurely strolls with their canine companions amidst the park's scenic vistas, fostering exercise, fresh air, and bonding opportunities in nature.

Environmental Education As stewards of the environment, El Scorpion Canyon Park champions environmental education and conservation initiatives. The park features educational signages and interpretive displays spotlighting the local ecosystem, geological wonders, and cultural heritage, encouraging visitors to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the natural realm.

Safety Measures and Conservation Dedicated to ensuring visitor safety and preserving natural treasures, El Scorpion Canyon Park prioritizes trail maintenance, wildlife habitat preservation, and enforcement of park regulations to safeguard the ecosystem's integrity. Park rangers and staff diligently oversee these efforts, urging visitors to abide by Leave No Trace principles and exhibit reverence for the park's flora and fauna during their sojourn.

El Scorpion Canyon Park in West Hills, CA, emerges as a hidden gem beckoning visitors to surrender to the serenity and splendor of nature. With its enchanting hiking trails, wildlife encounters, and family-friendly amenities, the park offers a sanctuary where outdoor enthusiasts can retreat from the urban clamor and reconnect with the marvels of the natural world.

[laurenbonvini]

A Photographer's Path to Thriving Entrepreneurship

In a world saturated with visual stimuli, the art of capturing moments through the lens holds an allure that continues to captivate hearts and minds alike. For those who have a passion for freezing time and telling stories through photographs, venturing into the realm of photography business ownership can be a rewarding endeavour. The tale of Lauren Bonvini, a photographer whose journey began with a furry companion, exemplifies the beauty of this pursuit. If you're considering stepping into the world of photography as a business owner, here are five key tips to embark on your creative odyssey.

Lauren Bonvini

Find your photographic voice. Much like a painter's brush strokes, your photographic style is your signature. Define what makes your work distinct. Is it the vibrant play of colours or the subtle nuances of black and white? Lauren Bonvini's focus on candid and natural moments underscores how staying true to your artistic voice can set you apart in a sea of photographers.

Master your craft. Before you set sail on your entrepreneurial voyage, hone your technical skills. Understand the intricate dance between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings. The technical finesse you develop will empower you to adapt swiftly to diverse settings, whether you're capturing a fast-paced sporting event or the serene intimacy of a wedding.

Build your portfolio: Your portfolio stands as the most potent brushstroke. It's not just a collection of images; it's a visual tale that speaks volumes about your journey, skills, and creative vision. Much like an author curates words to create a compelling story, you meticulously select images that convey your unique perspective. Lauren Bonvini's artistic odyssey, ranging from the kinetic dynamism of dog sports to the tender emotions of engagement shoots, underscores the potency of a diversified portfolio.

Your portfolio functions as a tantalizing glimpse into your creative realm. Every image is a brushstroke, forming an evolving tableau of your growth and mastery. Just as Bonvini's journey evolved from canine companionship to an expansive photography venture, your portfolio documents your evolution. The initial pieces might be tentative, but they lay the foundation for the stunning landscapes and intimate portraits that follow. Remember, your portfolio isn't static; it's a living entity that morphs with each experience, whispering tales of your artistic prowess.

A diverse portfolio, akin to a gallery adorned with varied masterpieces, speaks volumes about your versatility. It showcases your prowess in maneuvering through different photographic genres, whether you're freezing action in a sports arena or capturing the ethereal moments of a wedding. A portfolio that encapsulates this diversity not only captures the attention of potential clients but also reassures them of your adaptability. Lauren Bonvini's fusion of dog sports and candid engagements paints a canvas of versatility, illustrating how her keen eye transitions seamlessly between dynamic and tender settings.

Network and collaborate. In the dynamic realm of photography, connections are invaluable. Forge partnerships with fellow photographers, models, event organizers, and even other businesses. Collaborations can open doors to exciting opportunities and expand your client base. Like PenPals, the brainchild of Bonvini born from her network, you too can leverage the strength of connections.

Business Acumen Matters. Creativity fuels the fire, but solid business foundations keep it burning bright. From pricing strategies to marketing plans, understanding the business side is crucial. Embrace technology as a powerful tool—creating an engaging website and leveraging social media can enhance your brand's visibility and reach.

Beyond the strategies to succeed as a photography entrepreneur, the allure of being your boss weaves a tapestry of advantages that extend far beyond the monetary realm. When you take the reins of your destiny, you have the liberty to curate your work environment and dictate your schedule.

No longer confined by a corporate symphony, you orchestrate your workflow to resonate with your unique rhythm. This autonomy enables you to align your passion with your profession, fostering a fulfilling synergy that few other vocations can offer.

Furthermore, the freedom of being a photography business owner allows you to chart your course creatively. Whether you're capturing the spirited stride of an athlete or the tender gaze of newlyweds, you have the artistic liberty to infuse your personal touch into each frame. This artistic expression not only nurtures your creativity but also weaves an emotional connection between you, your subjects, and your audience.

Lauren Bonvini's story beautifully illustrates the allure of entrepreneurship in the photography domain. From her journey that commenced with her canine companion to the creation of PenPals, she embodies the idea that embracing your passion can be the cornerstone of a thriving business. Just like her, you too can create a symphony of captivating visuals that resonate with audiences far and wide.

At a time when digital interactions dominate, photographs have the innate power to transcend boundaries and bridge gaps. As a photography entrepreneur, your work transforms into a visual dialogue that speaks to hearts across the globe.

So, as you embark on this entrepreneurial expedition, remember that every snapshot you capture is a brushstroke in the masterpiece of your business, adding to the ever-evolving narrative of your success.

[robfinancialtip]

Brenda radiates remarkable resilience and a clear sense of purpose as she navigates life's challenges. During the interview, the conversation spans various topics, delving deeply into the collaborative essence of theater and film, emphasizing each individual’s pivotal role in a production. Brenda sheds light on the transformative power of gratitude when overcoming challenges, facing adversity, and cherishing fleeting moments in life. Furthermore, she underscores the importance of faith in one’s journey, especially when facing obstacles. Brenda candidly shares her personal experience of caring for her mother during a particularly challenging period, illustrating how acting techniques were instrumental in helping her remain focused and present in her pursuit of purpose.

The conversation also touches on purpose, prosperity, health, love, and community, emphasizing Brenda's commitment to living life to the fullest, making a positive impact, and remaining open to new experiences. As the discussion unfolds, they explore several vital subjects, including the benefits of a Japanese water system, the importance of maintaining good health, and personal anecdotes of grappling with health challenges. The speaker emphasizes the value of trusting your instincts and highlights the profound impact of nature and theater on personal and professional development and self-discovery. Additionally, there's mention of Brenda's involvement in a business venture related to water systems.

Brenda then shares insights into her upbringing in South Central LA, highlighting how she overcame challenges despite lacking a formal education. She underscores the value of seizing opportunities and embracing life to the fullest with an abundance mindset. Brenda also discusses her recent journey into health and wellness, inspired by her mother's battle with breast cancer. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced lifestyle, including a nutritious diet and focusing on mental, spiritual, and overall well-being. Additionally, Brenda touches on her involvement with a water company that enhances health and well-being. Throughout their conversation, a consistent theme of determination, finding inspiration, and resilience in the face of adversity prevails.

The discussion also delves into the world of theater, touching on high audition standards, energy, and the importance of providing access to stories for marginalized communities. Entrepreneurship, finances, prosperity, health, spirituality, determination, and finding inspiration are recurring themes in their conversation. Brenda wholeheartedly believes in putting in the effort to achieve one's goals. She expresses that we should trust our instincts and faith, believing that individuals are meant to thrive with the support of a higher power. In essence, the conversation is brimming with motivational and introspective insights.

ACTING CAREER Brenda Banda, a Los Angeles native, boasts over 15 years of acting and directing experience. She has honed her craft through training with renowned theatrical organizations such as Steppenwolf West, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Ruskin School of Acting. Brenda has delivered notable performances in significant roles, including "Jenny" in Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter (Off-Broadway), and "Auggie" in Melancholia. She is integral to The Vault Theatre Ensemble, recognized for its innovative productions, including a recent television pilot, showcasing her commitment to professional development.

Brenda's acting journey commenced at Cerritos College, where she discovered her passion for theater. She co-founded and served as the inaugural Artistic Director of the Urban Theatre Movement (UTM), reflecting her dedication to pursuing purpose. Through UTM, she created compelling productions like Dog Sees God and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Brenda regards UTM as a close-knit family dedicated to authentically portraying urban life. She firmly believes in the therapeutic power of theater and eagerly anticipates her continued growth as both an artist and an individual during her time with UTM.

[huntmark]

Masters of the Field: The Role of a Gun Dog Trainer in Crafting Elite Canine Hunting Companions

In the intricate dance of man and dog in the pursuit of game, the unsung heroes behind the scenes are the dedicated gun dog trainers. These skilled professionals play a pivotal role in shaping canine companions into elite hunting partners, finely tuned to excel in the challenging and exhilarating world of bird hunting. In this article, we'll explore the multifaceted role of a gun dog trainer and the artistry involved in transforming a four-legged friend into a valuable asset in the field.

The Fundamentals of Gun Dog Training:

1. Obedience Mastery

The foundation of a successful hunting dog lies in obedience. Gun dog trainers meticulously instill essential commands, ensuring that their canine charges respond promptly and accurately, even amidst the distractions of a bustling hunting environment.

2. Retrieval Excellence

At the heart of a gun dog's duties is the art of retrieval. Trainers employ various tools and techniques to hone a dog's retrieving skills, utilizing training dummies that mimic the weight and feel of game birds. This critical skill ensures that the dog can efficiently retrieve downed game, enhancing the overall success of a hunting expedition.

3. Scent Training

A gun dog's ability to follow and identify scents is paramount in the hunt. Trainers expose dogs to the distinct aromas of different game animals, cultivating a keen sense of smell that is instrumental in tracking and locating targets.

The Trainer's Toolbox

Gun dog trainers employ a diverse array of tools to enhance their training methods:

1. Dummy Launchers:

These devices simulate the sound and distance of a shot, helping dogs acclimate to gunfire and ensuring they remain composed during a hunt.

2. Training Dummies:

Resembling game birds, these dummies are essential in teaching dogs the art of retrieval. They come in various shapes and sizes, providing a lifelike experience for the trainee.

3. Water Training Gear:

Given the frequent involvement of water in hunting scenarios, trainers utilize specialized equipment to teach dogs to swim confidently and retrieve game from bodies of water.

Beyond Basics: Simulating Real Hunting Scenarios:

Gun dog trainers go beyond basic commands, immersing dogs in simulated hunting scenarios. This includes hiding training dummies in diverse locations, mimicking the unpredictability of a real hunt. Such hands-on experiences prepare the dog for the challenges of the field and foster the development of instinctive hunting behaviors.

Problem Solving and Individualized Training:

Every dog is unique, and gun dog trainers excel in recognizing and addressing individual challenges. Whether it's overcoming gun-shyness, refining specific skills, or modifying training methods to suit a dog's personality, these trainers are adept problem solvers, ensuring that each canine graduate is well-prepared for the complexities of the hunt.

The Human-Canine Bond:

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of gun dog training is the strengthening of the bond between handler and dog. Trainers work on effective communication between the two, ensuring that the dog responds seamlessly to the cues and commands of its human partner during the intensity of a hunt.

Conclusion:

Gun dog trainers are the architects of excellence in the realm of hunting dogs. Through a meticulous blend of obedience training, retrieval skills development, and simulated hunting experiences, these professionals sculpt canine companions into invaluable assets in the field. Their artistry lies not only in transforming dogs into elite hunters but also in fostering a profound bond between man and his most trusted four-legged ally. In the captivating world of bird hunting, the unsung heroes are the gun dog trainers, weaving tales of skill, partnership, and triumph in the vast landscapes they explore together.

[pillarofpeace]

Yahiko’s biography

// Written because the inconsistencies in every Narutoverse timeline are going to make me lose my mind.

Note: this draws heavily from the anime and my own HCs to fill in the gaps. Note (2): HCs about his relationship with Konan will likely come in a later post.

In the middle of three great nations sat a country whose purpose was only ever to be used as a battleground by those with greater political power. It had not the dignity of a name, but within its borders a ninja village formed out of necessity - that which later became known as Amegakure. War brought foreign shinobi to its land time and time again, and the villagers, especially those of the borderlands, sunk deeper into poverty, having no choice but to sit by as these foreigners ransacked their homes, lest they be killed. When the first Great War finally ended, and several years of peace followed, the people of this country began to piece together meaningful lives for themselves again.

During this era of peace, in a border village still bearing scars from the war, Yahiko was born. His parents had endured many hardships at the hands of shinobi and were wary, so they imparted to him a great number of survival techniques and information about the surrounding territories that they had themselves learned during the war. Yahiko was a precocious and energetic child who learned eagerly. He grew fascinated by the tales of shinobi in the same way one becomes enthralled by tales of horrible monsters. He crafted strategy after strategy in games of make-believe where he encountered these horrors, and invented fun in running from imagined smoke bombs and poisonous gas, unaware that those childish games would one day save him.

Yahiko’s father was a stern, but good-natured man who taught Yahiko the qualities of masculinity. Men were the providers of the household, the bearers of responsibility, and the selfless defenders of their loved ones. But most importantly, they were not to cry or show their disappointment, because if they were to crumble in the face of adversity, so too would their homes. Yahiko greatly admired him. Both of his parents also taught him the importance of perseverance, and hoped that he would endure no matter the hardships he faced.

News of the second Great War reached their village shortly after its declaration, and Yahiko’s parents sent him away to hide in a cave until the shinobi troops from the nearby Sunagakure passed through. While they assured him that there was likely nothing to be worried about, they did their best to prepare him for the worst case scenario. They provided him with three days’ worth of food and told him that if he did not hear from them within that timeframe, then he should run far away. Three days passed and his parents did not send for him. Yahiko knew his orders, but it was his hope for a different outcome that drove him back to the village to see the wreckage for himself. A skirmish had taken place at the border and his village had been caught in the crossfire. Yahiko’s parents, and everyone else he had known, had died.

Such loss devastated him, but Yahiko could spare little time mourning. Remembering his father’s words, he gathered what provisions he could from the debris and set off on his own with neither destination nor goal in mind. He wandered aimlessly for days, pretending that he was only playing out his make-believe games in order to keep himself going. As the food he had taken from his village began to run low, he resorted to stealing whenever the opportunity arose. Survival was the only thing that mattered.

Within the central wards, the villages were larger and wealthier, with whole streets dedicated to markets. Enticed by the wares, Yahiko set up a base in the caverns nearby and began stealing on a regular basis. He no longer took only what he needed, but stocked up on enough to last him for days should an emergency call for it. Loneliness bit at him frequently, and he became addicted to the exhilaration that came from thievery as a way to keep his mind occupied during the day. Still, when night came, he was plagued with those feelings he tried so hard to run from and would cry himself to sleep.

Weeks passed and the vendors in the markets began to catch on to his tricks, so Yahiko was forced to travel farther in search of fresh opportunities. On one such excursion, he came across a girl collapsed on the ground and offered her some of his food without a second thought. She was grateful to him, but Yahiko was simply happy that he had found someone else in a world that seemed so huge and desolate.

Her name was Konan.

Thanks to Konan, they could pilfer from the larger villages again. They became an inseparable team, and Yahiko began to cultivate the image of toughness that he had idolized so much in his father. He shouldered the responsibilities and the risks of their endeavors, and he made it his duty to keep up morale between the two of them. But Konan motivated him in her own way as well, and it was often her kind words that kept Yahiko from giving up on their unchanging reality.

Nagato was introduced to the group some time later and Yahiko took to him like an older brother. He was excited to teach a new member “the ropes” of the partnership he and Konan had developed, and enjoyed being depended upon. He always put himself in the riskiest positions when they went out to procure food, and took it upon himself to constantly check in on Konan’s and Nagato’s feelings. As his parents had done with him, Yahiko expressed his unconditional positive regard of the other two as a way of boosting their spirits and encouraging them to keep going when things got hard. He was a dedicated cheerleader, and knew intuitively that Nagato was prone to pessimism and Konan had her own doubts, so he spoke enthusiastically of his dreams to rule the world - while he knew partly that they would never be anything but fantasy - to inspire hope in his friends. However, he eventually began to believe in the necessity of real change in their war-torn reality and resolved to seek out a powerful ninja to teach him ninjutsu.

In pursuit of Konohagakure’s Legendary Sannin, Yahiko’s expert navigation of battlezones - partly imparted to him by his parents, and partly from his natural proclivity to learn about his world - saved their lives more than once. The games of make-believe that he used to play were now his reality, and he carried the responsibility of protecting Konan and Nagato from the dangers of those previously-imagined horrors with grim determination. He was not unnecessarily risky, but he was willing to put himself in danger for their sakes without a moment’s hesitation.

At last the weeks of tracking paid off and they found the three legendary shinobi. Yahiko took it upon himself to be the first to approach, in case they attacked, and with dogged persistence, managed to convince Jiraiya to take all three of them in. But the sage would not teach them ninjutsu, a disappointment that quickly faded as Yahiko remembered what it was like to have a father and a home again.

To Yahiko, Jiraiya resembled his father in many ways, but it was the unfulfilled grieving of his loss that unconsciously drove Yahiko to fit Jiraiya into that missing space. He did everything he could to earn his approval and praise, and the bright, happy child that he used to be began to chip away at the tough facade he had created to suppress it. His desire to learn ninjutsu ebbed as he wondered if he could simply live this life forever.

However, on an excursion with Nagato to find food one day, they came upon a camp that appeared to be abandoned. Yahiko instructed Nagato to help him gather up what provisions they could carry and set off for their hideout again, spirits high that they had come upon such a treasure so quickly. Whether or not the camp had been truly abandoned, or that foreign shinobi had hoped to pilfer it for themselves, a pair of ninja stopped them on their way back. Not wanting any trouble, Yahiko complied to their demands and begrudgingly gave up what he had taken from the camp; however, Nagato’s meekness elicited suspicion and the shinobi turned their frustrations upon him. Yahiko quickly stepped in to stop them, but the grins on the men’s faces frightened him. In that moment, he realized that it didn’t matter whether or not he had taken their food; they were restless and irritated, and with some twisted form of sadism that likely ran through the hearts of many soldiers, simply wanted to overpower something weaker than themselves. Yahiko tried to fight back against their attacks, but he knew that he could do nothing but ensure that Nagato got away safely. The shinobi were vicious and relentless, even to a child, and soon Yahiko collapsed. When he awoke, he was in their hideout again, covered with bruises and with a vague, dream-like sensation that a monster had appeared.

The shame of his defeat, like most of his negative emotions, was short-lived and quickly replaced by unbound excitement that Jiraiya had finally decided to teach them ninjutsu.

The three years that followed contained many of Yahiko’s fondest memories. He threw himself wholly into his training, enlivened again by the idea of his dreams coming true, and motivated Konan and Nagato by his sheer enthusiasm alone. His energy was boundless, and he nagged Jiraiya constantly for new techniques and challenges. While by no means a perfectionist, he learned by doing and spent much of his time honing his skills, always in pursuit of becoming strong enough to protect those he loved and to change the world.

Having come to view Jiraiya so much as a father, Yahiko was the most distraught by his departure. Although he always knew that Jiraiya would inevitably have to return to Konohagakure, he had hoped that he would change his mind somewhere along the way and stay with them forever. For the first time in many years, Yahiko cried openly and it was Konan and Nagato’s turn to comfort him, as he had comforted them so often before.

Over the following years, the trio enlisted in Amegakure’s military to further their training, but Yahiko quickly became a maverick who believed in empathy over strength. Fighting only bred more fighting, he realized, and if he were to use his power against someone, they would only retaliate, and vice versa. So he resolved to ending that self-perpetuating cycle by having the courage not to fight back, to lay down arms as the means of de-escalating a situation, and to understand the other side’s point of view. At first, only Konan and Nagato believed in him, and even the villagers to whom they lent their aid thought them foolish, but Yahiko was nothing if not tenacious. Soon others - some attracted by Yahiko’s sincerity, others simply so sick of life that they were willing to try anything else - began to follow them, and their group quickly grew.

They became the Akatsuki, the dawn of hope for the country of rain, and Yahiko was their sun.

However, unused to being depended upon by so many people, Yahiko began to shy away from the spotlight. He wanted the Akatsuki’s endeavors to be a joint effort, not the directions of a single leader, because he hoped for something vastly different than Hanzo’s Amegakure. But people naturally desired leadership and hierarchies, he realized. He also realized that the hope that had led many members to join the Akatsuki began to wane over time as such a life earned them neither money nor food to sustain themselves. Managing a group was difficult, inspiring hope even more so, and Yahiko could sense the traces of dissension beginning to culminate. His conviction started to waver. The requests for aid were many, but few bore any tangible rewards and reality seemed not to be changing. War raged on, both within their country and in the world at large, untouched by their ideals of peace.

Yahiko harbored his self-doubt to the best of his ability, but often came across as uncharacteristically cold when plagued by uncertainty. He had to find a way to keep the members of the Akatsuki together, because he knew that losing even a couple would only set off a snowball effect. Remembering the hope Jiraiya had placed in Nagato for his prophetic Rinnegan, Yahiko wondered about elevating Nagato to the role of leader in his stead. People often lost faith in ordinary men, but a mark of prophecy would sway conviction in the way a messiah bound congregations together.

It was the news of destroyed villages on the border with the Land of Earth, and the subsequent encounter with Iwagakure shinobi that convinced Yahiko to act on this idea. Accidentally or not, he had killed a man, and he worried over what the other members would think of him for it. Would they lose even more faith in his capabilities as a leader? Denounce him for hypocrisy? If he couldn’t even uphold what he preached, then what reputation did he have? Upon returning to the Akatsuki’s base, Yahiko approached Nagato to discuss his idea and his worries. Even with Nagato’s terrifying ability, his eyes were a symbol of hope that the members of the Akatsuki were far more likely to cling to than to an ordinary man.

News of a messenger from Hanzo came at a time when Yahiko, usually suspicious of things that were too convenient or too good to be true, was particularly vulnerable, and upon hearing that the Akatsuki was to be officially recognized, he rejoiced without doubt. It was a boost of hope that he was desperately in need of, which unfortunately led to his demise.

The meeting was a trap, and faced with this magnitude of disappointment, Yahiko relinquished himself readily as a sacrifice, naively believing that Hanzo would release Konan. This was a sign from Fate that he was not to be the leader - he was too foolish and too ordinary - and that his life would be what would set the Akatsuki on the right path, led by a hero marked by Fate itself. Knowing that Nagato would turn the kunai’s blade upon himself instead, Yahiko ran upon it to deprive him of that chance. He died believing wholly in Nagato and Konan, as he had his entire life.

[theladylikesfics]

After The Storm Chpt 7

Min Ji Ho had never felt special in her life. She was a second daughter and compared to her older sister automatically second best. No, in her eyes third best, their dog was a champion purebred poodle named Xiang; he was definitely before her in the hierarchy of perceived children in the home. Her older sister, Dahyun was perfect in every way imaginable. Naturally beautiful, highly intelligent and poised. She’d won everything from beauty pageants, and spelling bees to national science project awards; she was the crown jewel of the Min children. Min Ji Ho was just as talented and smart as her sister, just not as attractive in the eyes of parents. When visitors would come to the house all of the accomplishments of Dahyun and Xiang were on full display, Ji Ho was barely an after thought. When visitors would ask about her, her parents would gladly speak of the current great thing she was recognized for in school, but when asked to see her, it was always an excuse ‘oh, she’s out studying.’ ‘she is currently not home, at cram school.’ ‘she doesn’t feel well today, we wouldn’t want our guests to get sick’ here parents were ashamed of how she looked. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with her face, she simply wasn’t as beautiful as Dahyun. When she was fifteen and sixteen her mother fought hard to get her plastic surgery to change her appearance. Doctors had declined stating that because of her age they refused because she was still growing and changing and anything that they would do could potentially be undone naturally, they advised her mother that the earliest they could do any work would be eighteen. At seventeen and Dahyun being twenty-two their father passed away; the business he owned was given to Dayhun, but the warehouse spaces were left to Ji Ho. Dahyun was engaged to a doctor and currently living in Busan; she gladly took over the business and moved it, leaving an angry Ji Ho with empty dirty warehouses. After the sale of a few of the warehouses, Ji Ho immediately moved out on her own to attend college, removing herself from her mother’s displeasure. No longer did she need to be reminded that she wasn’t as good as Dahyun, she was free to be on her own. She decided that she wouldn’t get the plastic surgery, that she would use the face that she had to get what the wanted out of life one way or the other. She started watching make up tutorials, master make-up artist for celebrities, studying the techniques used by prosthetics companies, and movie special effects company. She honed her craft like a finely sharped knife, in a few short years she could make herself look like anyone. Creating good looks wasn’t the only skill she possessed, Ji Ho was also a master manipulator. She was always charming, she was taught to be so by her mother before her looks began to change and her attention was full diverted away from her. Ji Ho could sell ice to a polar bear in the middle of the artic circle. She learned early on both men and women responded well to a pretty face, a sweet voice, and a teasing of skin. She’s acquired a string of suitors with enough money to entertain her wants and needs, each one seeing a different face. When she was seventeen, she and one of the few friends she did have attended her first ever concert. It was BTS kicking off their first wave of the Love Yourself Tour; she and Jeongyeon managed to get front seats right in front of stage. It was during the performance of ‘Best of Me’ when Kim Seokjin made eye contact with her exclusively, squatting down to sing before popping back up, winking at her and blowing a kiss. Min Ji Ho was spellbound. She had never seen a more beautiful man in her entire life and he had just winked and blown a kiss at her. With her face and looks, he blew a kiss at Her! That night at home, Min Ji Ho spent hours upon hours researching and learning absolutely everything that she could about BTS and Kim Seokjin; she missed an entire week of school in her pursuit to immerse herself in the world of Bangtan. She vowed that when she was ready, when she was perfect enough and pure enough for him, she would make herself up and go see her Oppa; declare her love for him and he would accept her; because she was smart beautiful and charming. Three years later while working as nurse, she assisted a doctor on his rounds in the prison ward of the mental hospital. She was trying out a new face when a prisoner looked at her, calling her a name she didn’t know and confessed all of his love for her, apologising for hurting her and that he still in fact loved her. She smiled politely at him, comforting him, telling him that everything would be okay. Later that afternoon while the doctor was out, she snuck in to his office to review the file of the man. He was currently fifty-three years old and was a convicted murderer via letter bombing; Min Ji Ho smiled a shy smile to herself and thought that maybe this man could be useful to her in the future. Ji Ho made the decision that every time she would work the hospital she would ensure she was using this face, so that she could further garner the inmate’s affection. She was irate when on her last visit she discovered that he had been discharged. It took months for her to gain access to the prison ward’s record room in order find where he was released too; months track down the group home he listed in the seedier side of Seoul. Ji Ho flew in to a full rage temper tantrum when she discovered the building had been shut down and the residents scattered. Two months later she sat outside a café, studying a new face, when a homeless man wandered over to her. Taken aback she recoiled and grabbed her things until he spoke that name, she recognized him immediately. She wasn’t using the face but some how he recognized her. She cooed at him, offering him food and patted his hand. Fate had smiled on her, because she always got her way one way or another. This situation would be no different, she would have Kim Seokjin come hell or high water. Ji Ho was devastated when she found the news Kim Seokjin had a girlfriend; she knew there was a chance that he would have gotten distracted by another woman while she was finishing the task of perfecting for herself for him. By perfecting herself, she meant being versed in all things Kim Seokjin. She had traveled to his home town, retracing the steps of his childhood, went to his favorite local restaurants, learned to cook all of his favorites from there from the actual chefs and cooks in the kitchen. Tracked down childhood acquaintances and paid out ridiculous amounts of money to find out every scrap of information she could about him. She even managed to find out the location of Kim Seokjin’s family home and take a picture just outside the gate. When she discovered what Kim Seokjin was dating she was horrified and disgusted, that person, wasn’t even Korean! The skin wasn’t fair or light in anyway, Ji Ho simply couldn’t fathom how he could look at it and see ‘beauty’. Her entire life she had been taught that beauty was the fairest of skin, with wide natural Korean eyes, to be small and demure. This person, if she could even see it as one, wasn’t anything like that at all. She had skin like chocolate or a dark pecan shell, she had large breasts, wide hips and a supple ass. She was no where near the Korean standard of beauty and Ji Ho just couldn’t understand how her Perfect Prince could be so enamoured. Ji Ho decided that she would allow Kim Seokjin to have a fling while she finished all her preparations, it won’t last she told herself. Well now things are different, that thing was determined to steal her Kim Seokjin and mock her as well and to add further insult to injury with that gorgeous ring Kim Seokjin used for the engagement. It should have been hers! Min Ji Ho always got what she wanted one way or another and this time would be no different.

You heard the commotion in the hallway, after the phone call. Jin was next door visiting the guys; Song called and wanted to know if you or Jin were expecting a delivery, you weren’t and advised him as so. You heard distinct shouting and froze; had someone managed to breach security and get to your floor, you tried to extend the focus of the camera in the hallway, you could see a figure prone on the floor, then you saw Jin race past the front door and down the hall. Common sense being damned you whipped open the front door to follow after him. Looking over his shoulder Jin yelled for you to go back inside, you tried to protest but he yelled again insisting you return. Going back inside, you paced the hallway in front of the door, desperate to know what was going on outside. A short five minutes later, Jin open the front door, and carried in a large box. “Jin what the fuck just happened?” you were full of panic and seeing Jin walk in with a smile wasn’t answering any questions. “Just a simple misunderstanding, follow me sweetheart.” “Jin what the hell?!” “Babe just follow me, please.” Jin said with a chuckle. Following Jin to the couch he sat down opposite from you. “Okay, small misunderstanding outside; you weren’t expecting a delivery, but I was, I didn’t tell you because it was a surprise. Knowing what we know about the two assailants security is on a high alert so when you said no, they went into action. Seo called me as the package was addressed to me.” “Oh no, that poor delivery person, they didn’t hurt them, did they?” You asked suddenly concerned for the startled deliverer. “They are fine, a little taken aback but no harm done.” You breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, remember I told you last night that I planned on matching this weekend?” “Ugh don’t remind me, I’ve been waiting on you practically all morning to finish up your meeting with the guys, so we can go shopping.” Jin smiled, it slowly slid across his face, you recognized it as his all-knowing smile and immediately knew something was up. “Kim Seokjin, what have you been up to?” “When I decided that I wanted to match you on the red-carpet, I thought that maybe I should be proactive in arranging our clothing. I was leaving set one day and I saw something that caught my eye, immediately I thought, you would look nothing less than gorgeous in this gown. The very next morning, I called and had a dress ordered for you and had them sign a contract that you would be the only one at the premiere in this dress, just in case some one else fell in love with it; and I had a tux made for me to match. I hope you like it.” Jin carefully cut open the box and pulled out a large garment bag. You immediately gasped at the deep purple color before even seeing the dress in full; The bodice was a silk low cut sweetheart neckline adorned with Swarovski Crystal, the richness of the purple made the jewels twinkle like stars in the night sky, the skirt of the dress was long deeply pleated layers of tulle. Jin carefully removed the dress from the garment bag, standing up on the ottoman holding it up so you could see it in all its beautiful full glory. “Oh my God, Jinni, its breathtaking.” You sat at the very edge of the couch, holding your breathe too afraid to move to touch it, you found it so beautiful. “Do you really like it Sweetheart?” Jin asked nervously but with a big smile playing on his lips. “Kim Seokjin if I wasn’t already marrying you, this dress would have sealed your deal! Baby it’s magnificent, oh my gosh!” Finding your legs, you stood up and moaned as your fingers caressed the gently silk of the bodice and the tulle of the skirt. Jin’s smile beamed down on you like the sun itself. “Get down here so I can kiss you properly.” You said, helping Jin carefully step down from the ottoman, and placing the dress back in the garment bag. You draped your arms over his shoulders and kissed him deeply, rolling your tongue with his. “Thank you for being so amazing and so good to me Jinni. You truly are the best did you know that?” “Only because I have you by my side.” Jin said still smiling brightly at you. “Do you know why I choose this dress for you, why you came to mind?” Jin asked. You shook your head no still staring up at his beautiful face. “You told me once, that purple is the color of royalty, and you my dear, are nothing if not my queen.” Jin gently took your right hand, lifting it to his lips and kissed the back of your hand. You swooned. You literally got weak in the knees and melted into the arms of your man, who currently was supporting your whole body weight laughing fully at you. “Why, why are you this way, oh my God Jin!” You squealed, you squealed like a giddy pre-teen girl. “Just when I think that I’m absolutely in love with you to the fullest and it is simply impossible for me to be moony-eyed over you any more than I already am, you say the most amazing thing and literally make me go weak in the knees! I’m so damn lucky I get to love you, I get to spend my life with you. I’m so excited that I get to have a future with a man who makes me laugh, who plays game and not afraid to be silly, and who has the most amazing heart imaginable. I’m so lucky to have you!” You couldn’t help but gush at your fiancé. Jin leaned down and kissed your lips softly a few times, his fingertips gently trailing down your face. “If this is the type of treatment just for buying you a dress, I can’t wait to see what I get when I show you my wedding ideas.” Jin waggled his eyes brows at you and you couldn’t help but giggle. “Now handsome, show me your tux?” Jin stepped away from you, removing the second garment bag from the box, and opening it up to reveal a double-breasted tuxedo jacket in the same shade of purple as your dress. The houndstooth pattern of the jacket not only added texture to the jacket but added a variance of color. The rich black of his shirt were spotted with droplets of silver matching the top of your dress, there was also a bow tie in that same rich deep purple color. You sighed contentedly as you slid your fingertips over the fabric. “Oh my Mr. Kim you’re going to look absolutely stunning in this.” You said. “I cannot wait for Friday to get here.” “Me neither, I can’t wait to show my queen off on the red carpet, this will be our first major public appearance since getting engaged. I can’t wait to gush over you on camera.” “You are such a ham!” You laughed and playfully hit his chest. Jin pulled you closer and kissed your forehead. “Babe, I know that we’re excited for Friday, but I need you to… just promise me you’ll stay by side, you’ll stay with Seo and Song and at will no point will you be alone. Not even to the bathroom, we’ve got Ahn Hyo Jin coming with us just to make sure of that.” Jin stared down at you, face not as full as mirth as it was just a short few seconds ago, eyes searching your for understanding and acceptance; again, you felt your heart tighten at his distress. “I know baby, I promise no rogue heroics from me this weekend I’m going to be glued to you and security the whole entire time I promise.” You tiptoed and kissed the tip of his nose and smiled at him, trying to ease all his fears while hiding your own. “I love you.” Jin’s voice was filled with worried wavered slightly, his handsome features creased in concern. “It’s going to be okay Jinni. This weekend is going to go smoothly. I’m going to be optimistic and say that nothing’s going to happen. But, and this is a very tiny tiny super tiny but, if something does happening the place is going to be covered in police. If they show up they are getting dealt with immediately, we will look crazy psycho bitch and mad bomber in the face and tell both those sorry fucks that 1) they can kiss the dingiest darkest spots on our asses and 2) they did not succeeded in splitting us up and 3) as part of their prison sentences our wedding will be livestreamed in to their cells so they can see just how much they did not win.” Jin gave that full laughed and you felt your heart smile. “You would be crazy enough to get that added to their prison sentence.” “You damn right I am. Now I’m hungry, will you make me lunch handsome?” Kissing the back of your hand and bowing deeply, Jin replied. “You wish is my command my queen.”

 Min Ji Ho had a plan. It had taken time, pacing back and forth in the dirty surroundings of the warehouse but it had come swiftly and easily like the pace of the Han River. She would be on the red carpet on Friday night, right in the face of her love Kim Seokjin. It would be difficult, with most of her make-up supplies being left behind when she fled her house, she would have purchase new ones without drawing attention to herself. Using the few supplies that she had in her purse she made up her face, donned a mask and ventured out to the store. Passing the electronic shop and open-air cafes she could hear and see her face along with Jeong’s plastered all over advising that they should be considered armed, extremely dangerous, not to be approached and to notified police immediately if spotted. Ji Ho gritted her teeth and stomped down the street, she could see Lotte in the distance, she just had to get in, get out and not get noticed. She’d had enough make-up to dramatically change up her eyes but with out having any make-up putty to redesign her t-zone and eye shape it was a risk. That was only apart of the problem, it was also the quantity of make-up as well; she needed enough not only for herself but to transform Jeong as well; and then there was the matter of clothing. Ji Ho suppressed a scream as she walked inside the Lotte and headed toward the make-up section. She had to be conservative in what she bought as to not look suspicious; she picked up what she dubbed as the essentials, a palette for eyes, two packs of putty, brushes and styling tools, eye liner, mascara, and false lashes.  She prayed she had enough cash on her to cover the expenses, she couldn’t use her bank account because she knew the police were monitoring it for activity to track her. Ji Ho stood in line trying to act as naturally as possible, her totally came out of 334047.00 won ($300.00) she was short the amount needed she had only 250000.00. She stood nervously in line and did what did best, spotting and older gentlemen in line she pretended to become overly emotional and cry. The older gentlemen approached her. “There there, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” “Ahjussi , I haven’t seen my father in such a long time and I’ve spent all my money on food and one of my bags got lost at the airport and it had all my make up and I’m just short a few won and I just want to look good for him.” She pretended to sob even harder, being careful not to actually cry and ruin her current make-up job. “It’s okay, it’s to see your apa? Here I’ll help.” The older gentlemen paid the remaining balance and even gave her a few won just to make sure she enough to take the train back to hotel room. Ji Ho smirked to herself as she walked down the block back towards the warehouse. This was enough to get started but for the rest of the plan to fully come together she needed to leave the warehouse. She needed to find a new home and she knew exactly who’s home she was going to have. Jeong had done a crude job of painting the van but it was enough for now, packing the few things they had brought with them Min Ji Ho and Jeong Hyun Soo got in the van, Ji Ho doling out direction as the crept through the streets of Seoul to an old neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. They parked the van several blocks away from their actual destination, stealing a license plate from another vehicle and swapping it out and walking to a home in the middle of the night. Walking up to the gate, Ji Ho entered a code she hope had not changed over the years and to her delight it hadn’t; closing the gate behind them as quietly as possible she walked up the stairs, stopping on the third step and opening up the clay pot to remove the spare key and unlocked the door. “You stand right here, be quiet and don’t say anything.” Ji Ho instructed Jeong who simply nodded, arms full of all the belongs they managed to escape the police with. Carefully and quietly Ji Ho climbed the stairs and went to the first bedroom door on the left. “Ee-mo, Ee-mo.” Ji Ho cooed, making her voice sound as syrupy and tired as possible while shaking the sleeping body in the bed. Carefully a sleepy older woman rolled over facing Ji Ho and reaching out looking for thick coke bottle glasses. “Oh! Ji Ho! Sweetie what are you doing here?” “oooh Ee-mo, everything is just wrong Ee-mo. I need help. I just need to stay here for a few days and borrow some money.” The older woman sat up in bed, flashing a smile bigger than her face and pulled Ji Ho in a tight embraced and rocked her back and forth. “There, there auntie’s girl. Don’t worry whatever you need I’ll help.” Park Han Jo was Min Ji Ho’s aunt. More than just an aunt, she was the mother that Ji Ho has wished that she had always had. Park Han Jo understood her, welcomed her, was always proud of her; her pictures were displayed proudly in the home, all of her accomplishments, graduating high school at the top of her class, Ji Ho at her last formal ball, Ji Ho graduating nursing school. She wasn’t hidden or made to feel ashamed that she didn’t measure up to Dahyun, Ji Ho was simply Ji Ho, the apple of her aunts eye. “It is late Ji Ho, why don’t you go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning okay?” Ji Ho smiled and nodded knowing that everything was coming to fruition just like she knew it would. 

 The next morning Ji Ho explained to her aunt that she was had gotten in to a little bit of trouble and needed to leave Seoul for a while. She introduced Jeong Hyun Soo as a lost soul she had taken in and was trying her best to rehabilitate back into society. In the days leading up to the premiere with the help of her aunt, Ji Ho was able to purchase all the make-up and clothing she would need to look proper for the red-carpet as well as make over Jeong. The last piece of the puzzle was convincing her aunt to leave home for a few days. Ji Ho could honestly say she only loved three people in this world, herself, Kim Seokjin and her aunt Park Han Jo. She understood things could get messy and if they did, she wanted as little, if any, collateral damage to her elderly woman as possible. On Wednesday morning, Ji Ho in full disguise, kissed her aunt on the cheek and loaded Park Han Jo into a taxi to a secluded spa on the coast. Later that night, she sent Jeong Hyun Soo to retrieve the van. As he backed it into the garage, a slow menacing smirk stretched across the face of Min Jin Ho. 

 Detectives Park and Lee desperately combed the city of Seoul looking for the fugitives Jeong Hyun Soo and Min Ji Ho. The first stop they made was to home of her mother Min Yoon-ah. “Ma’am, do you know why we’re paying you a visit today?” Detective Park began. Min Yoon-ah sat perfectly straight, hands gently cupped together on her lap, legs crossed at the ankle in the Queen Anne’s chair. Her make-up was light and becoming and done in a way that wouldn’t imply an age; her hair was swept up in a perfect chignon with not a single hair was out of place. The only possible sign that she was feeling any type or distress or tension, was the slight way she worried her mouth. Detective Park could tell that she was probably gnawing on the bottom left corner of the inside of her mouth. Before speaking, she took a gently sigh, followed by leaning forward and picking up the delicate antique tea cup and a taking a sip. She closed her eyes as she exhaled, Detective Lee observed how her lids fluttered, unsure of rather it was a sigh of contentment or of exhaustion. “I’m assuming its about Min Ji Ho. I’ve seen the news. I’m sorry but I don’t think that I can honestly help you. We haven’t spoken in quite some time.” Min Yoon-ah stated very coolly. “Well why don’t you tell us about your daughter then Mrs. Min.” Detective Lee stated. Min Yoon-ah once again sighed, but this time both detectives caught the hint of sadness that crept into her eyes. “Min Ji Ho was exceptional in school work. She was smart, she had talents, but she never truly connected well with others. It was easier with her older sister Dahyun; she was gorgeous, outgoing, highly intelligent. She had a secure place in the spotlight and I think sadly we ignored Ji Ho because we were so focused on all of Dahyun’s achievements. After Dahyun graduated high school and started college, the achievements just continued to collect. She got engaged during that time to a medical intern, so the focus just continued to be on her. The wedding took two full years to plan and it was a grand event, we had a full-page announcement in the paper and when the wedding actually took place it took a whole four pages in the newspaper to cover it. Three years after her sister got married, her father passed away. In his will he decided that Dayhun would inherit the business, but Ji Ho would inherit the warehouses. He had thought that this would be fair and impartial. He hadn’t anticipated Dayhun would relocate the business to Busan, where she and her husband currently live, essentially cutting Ji Ho out of the business. During that time, I tried to convince Dayhun not to move the business, but she had stated the whole reason she had cone to college was to be able to run the business her father has spent his life building. She had full control and there was nothing that I could do. This was nearly five years ago, she hasn’t spoken to me since.” “Mrs. Min, your daughter is being accused of stalking and attempted murder, do you believe she’s capable of either of these acts?” Min Yoon-ah hands betrayed her calm façade as the tea cup rattled against the saucer as she set it down on the table; her lips trembling as she attempted to control the sob that wanted to burst out of her. She nodded her head firmly before a statement of ‘yes’ fractured by tears uttered from her lips. “She could. We learned early in life about Ji Ho’s determination. If she put her mind to something, then it was simply a matter of time before it was done. If you believe she’s stalking this couple because she believes, she’s the only one good enough for this young man; then sadly I can assure you she will stop at nothing to get him. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Her first year of high school she became enamored with a second-year student and would make a scene anytime any other girl was seen talking to him. The final straw was when a young attractive woman became their English teacher. One day it was in class all the other students were there but when the teacher called on the young man Ji Ho flew into a rage. Her father paid out a large sum of money to the boy’s family as compensation. We withdrew her from school for the rest of the year and sent her to a private facility for the remainder of the school year; she spent four months there and at the end of the time the doctors said that she had impulse control issues and recommended that she continue to take the medicine and monitored, which we made sure of. After she moved out, there was no way for me to watch her any more. I knew she went to nursing school and graduated so I’d hope that she was still using the medicine and doing well. I guess not.” She has a history of this behavior then. Detective Lee said looking at Detective Park. “Does she have, close friends, family other than you or her sister? Is there someone who would help her?” Min Yoon-ah was beginning to say ‘no’ when her brow furrowed, and her expression changed to deep sadness. “Yes. Possibly, but if the police is involved I don’t think she would get them involved. She has an aunt, my late husband’s sister. She’s older and she’s always doted upon and taken care of Ji Ho. Ji Ho is fiercely protective of her; but Park Han Jo would do just about anything for Ji Ho. If she needed money or food or a place to stay she would do all to provide for her.” “Even though she’s a wanted criminal, she would take that great of a risk?” Detective Lee asked. Yoon-ah smiled softly. “She wouldn’t know that honestly. Park Han Jo lives out in the country, doesn’t have a t.v. she has only a radio that stays on one of those nostalgic music stations. Min Ji Ho could go there, tell her anything and she’d believe her without question.” Both detectives shot each other a knowing look. “We’re going to need all of her contact information.” Detective Park said.

On Wednesday afternoon you and Jin received a call from officer Lee Hoon-So asking if you could come to the station. Once arrived you were directed to his office just outside of the forensics lab “Mr. and Mrs. Kim, thank you for coming so short notice.” Officer Lee said, causing you to blush at the title.  “Not quite Mrs. Kim yet, but soon.” You giggled. “No, he was right the first time.” Jin said, taking your hand and kissing the back of your knuckles; it was now Officer’s lee turn to blush. “Well I asked the two of you here today, to show you the tracking devices we created for both of you. As we know both of your phones will be tracked while you’re at the event, but we also wanted to have something physically on you in the event you get separated. Mr. Kim told me that you two would be wearing the color purple for the evening, so we created these. Mr. Kim, for you, we have a tie pin. And for you, future Mrs. Kim we have this hair clip. If that doesn’t really work for your hair, then we had an alternative idea to sew the tracker into your dress. We wanted to go against anything that seemed like jewelry that could be taken off or removed easily. I’ve seen women who have their hair braided wear little ornaments in them and I thought maybe this would work.” Officer Lee said meekly. You picked up the tiny silver cuff with purple studs over it and sighed softly. It was delicate and beautiful, and it if wasn’t for the nature of it you would have really loved the sweetness of it. “It’s fine officer Lee. Thank you so much for taking the time to create it.” “The night of the event simply wear these, I’ll be with Seo and Song at your place to calibrate them prior to leaving.” You and Jin took your leave and headed back home. “Jinni, do you really think they’ll try something on Friday night?”  You asked voice in between pensive and annoyed. “Honestly Honey, I don’t know but I think so. This has been building to some sort of sick climax and unless the police catch them before then, its got to end somewhere. These aren’t the type of people to just give up and disappear. They tried to murder you. I’m determined to end this for you, with you safe, sound and unharmed.” You turned into Jin and spent the rest of the car ride back home in virtual silence. 

As always Min Ji Ho had a plan. The base of her plan may have been the most elaborate part of her master plan, but all plans needed a base, and this just happened to be hers. She was going to kidnap Actress turned M.C Dara. Dara was set to be the lead entertainment correspondent on the red carpet that night and that was going to be her in to Kim Seokjin. Dara was one of the first looks that Ji Ho had perfected. She loved her carefree attitude, her style of dressing and the way everyone simply seemed to love and adore her. She’d copied everything from her style of dressing, to the way she talked and all of her mannerisms; Dara just wasn’t a look, it was a full-on aesthetic, a way of life of which she wanted nothing more than to truly belong too and live in. The only reason in which Ji Ho dieted was that she could pull off the perfect doppelganger to Dara. Min Ji Ho had carefully followed Dara in the past, even gained access to her home, posing as a cleaning lady and knew exactly all the nooks and crannies of her life. The plan, as Ji Ho saw it, was simple. Right before Dara was to appear on the red-carpet Ji Ho would appear, with the help of Jeong they would secure Dara and her camera man Brian, Ji Ho would then strip her, change in to her clothing, and Jeong would already be dressed in his tuxedo and being that they were together, no one would question the larger man. The pair had already stolen another van identical to the ones used by the entertainment crews. Ji Ho had discreetly followed Dara to her hair appointment and saw how her hair would be styled for the evening and replicated it with ease. While Ji Ho was studying Dara, Jeong was hard at work learning how to work the video camera, after all the broadcast would be live and he would need to know how to handle any situation on the fly with out contacting the production team in the real van. D-Day was a mere hours away and they would both be fully prepared for everything that was about to take place. It had taken a few hours for Detectives Park and Lee to drive out to residence of Park Han Jo located in a neighboring city outside of Seoul. Getting out of the vehicle both detectives got out and stretched. The house was large taking up at least an acre and a half of space. Just as they were about to walk to the gate, a neighbor stopped them. “You looking for Ahjumma? She left early this morning.” The woman said walking up to the two men. “I’m Detective Park and this is Detective Lee, we’re with Seoul Police Department. You said she left this morning do you know where?” “No, I did notice she had two suitcases with her. I know she likes to take trips this Buddhist retreat near Gunsan. I only know she’s gone because the taxi pulling up woke the dog its normally pretty quiet here, so it was unusual.” “Have you notice anything else unusual here, any new people?” Detective Lee asked. “She’s gotten a few deliveries. I can’t say of what, but I noticed she got packages on more than one day  last week and that’s not typical. But you know.” The neighbor shrugged. “Have you seen any additional people at her home, had any visitors?” The neighbor folded her arms across her chest and thought for a minute. “You know I thought that I saw some one put her in the taxi and then go inside but I can’t be sure.” Once again, the detectives exchanged looked with each other. “Ahjumma, do you mind we if we step inside and use your home for a minute and talk?” Detective Lee carefully backed the car up into the garage of the neighbor and joined her along with Detective Park. Once in the house, Detective Park called Chief Tuan and advised that they need a search warrant, and a discreet team to show up in two unmarked cars. One car should contain forensics and the other should have members of the bomb squad. There were to bring items with them to make it look as though they were about to celebrate a birthday. “Mrs. Kang, are you familiar with Min Ji Ho? She the niece of the woman who lives across the way?” Detective Lee asked. “Ahh. Yes, yes. Her pictures are all over Ahjumma’s home. She’s very proud of her, she’s the head nurse at the hospital she works, isn’t she? I think Ahjumma said recently that Ji Ho told her she was dating a very nice young man, they had to keep things a quiet because he’s famous. If I recall correctly.” Detective Park’s eyebrow’s met his hairline. “Do you remember when you had this conversation with Mrs. Park?” Detective Park asked. “ Mmm. It was two weeks ago, I remember that because I had just come back from a casino trip and I was telling her all about it and she had received a post card from Ji Ho.” “Mrs. Kang, I need you to listen very closely to everything I’m about to tell you. In a few hours, two cars are going to arrive full of people. They will be police officers and members of our bomb squad unit and forensic teams. Min Ji Ho is a suspected stalker and maybe aligned with a serial letter bomber, who’s been responsible for the death of three people and injuring a fourth. We are using your place to set up a headquarters so that we can investigate the house across the street and hopefully arrest these two individuals.” Mrs. Kang folded her arms across her chest and hugged herself tightly. “Ji Ho dangerous, oh my word! She always seemed like such a sweet girl, she’s had a bit of hard go of things, but she always comes out the other side with a sunny disposition I just simply cannot believe she could be dangerous. There must be some mistake.” “Trust us Ahjumma, there’s no mistake when we attempted to talk to her about this a few days ago she fled from us. She’s very dangerous. If you see her, please don’t approach her; if we’re not here then contact the police immediately.” Detective Lee said. Mrs. Kang nodded her before getting up to pour more tea. “Mrs. Kang, do you have cameras on your home?” Detective Lee ask, noticing the monitor by the front door. “Ahh, yes my kids insisted that I have it, I don’t think its needed by they worry about me being alone. They can tap into me in the home where they live in Daegu and Seoul. It makes them feel better, so I agreed.” “Do you have cameras on the outside too?” Mrs. Kang nodded. “Can we please see your monitors Mrs. Kang?” Detective Park replied. Mrs. Kang got up and ushered the men into her front living room. “The kids connected it to the tv I had no idea on how to work it but if you two know how…” Her voice trailed off as she gestured the remote control for the tv out to the two men; Detective Lee carefully accepted the remote from her hands and started the video feed. Slowly he put the video in reverse until he saw a figure walking out of the gate, and finally a taxi pulling into view. The feed was re-round until it played out fully. Three figures, the taxi driver, Park Han Jo and third heavily covered. The Detectives watched as the taxi driver hurried out of the cab to take the two bags from Park Han Jo, as she and another figured affectionately walked to the car, arms linked, the bundled figured hand patting the top of the older woman’s, hugging her tightly, kissing her cheek and helping get inside the car and closing the door. The figured stayed waving watching as they drove off before walking back behind the gate. The backed up the recording even further to what looked like late Monday night/early Tuesday morning as two figures, one a larger and the original bundled figured walked up to the gate, entered the code and walked inside. The figure was definitely familiar with the place. “That’s definitely them.” Detective Lee said. “Look at the way, the taller figure is walking, that’s consistent with the limp he got after a fight with another inmate in the facility that resulted in a severe injury to his knee.” “Yeah, I agree every part of me is screaming this is them alright. Let’s go forward see if they are still inside or if they have left for the day and how.” Detective Park said. Fast forwarding the tape, the two detectives watched as the two figures exited the home and walk down the block and out of the view of the camera.

“Chief Tuan its been two days and no activity at the home at all. We know they were there but they haven’t returned since they left on Wednesday. It’s now Thursday the premier is tomorrow I suggest we breach the house now.” Detective Park sat across from Chief Tuan at the dinning room table of Mrs. Kang, practically twitching to enter the home of Park Han Jo. “We know they were there, we know they aren’t there now. It’s a perfect time to go in.” Detective Park got up and began pacing. Chief Tuan leaned backed in the chair, steepling his fingers in front of his mouth and he chewed on his lip; face tight in thought. “Okay. Let’s do this right now. Get everyone assembled. We will do this as quickly as possible.” Detectives Park and Lee, along with Sergeant Nam shot up from their chairs and ran through the house gathering up the teams, getting geared up and prepared to enter in the home of Park Han Jo. Fifteen minutes later the two teams were assembled, Detective Park and Sergeant Nam, carefully the electronically picked the lock for the gate before cautiously moving towards the front door in teams of two. Once there the front door lock was all picked, Sergeant Nam began an initial floor sweep looking for any trip wires and using a depth sensory device checked the floors for any pressure sensitive bombs before moving the team forwards in the house. “Everything looks clear, bring it in guys.” Sergeant spoke into the radio. Detectives Park and Lee leading the way followed by Chief Tuan. “Detective Park, this is Sergeant Yoo, located the van in the garage. Bomb squad is currently going over it.” “Be careful and keep me informed.” Sweeping through the house from floor to floor room to room, it was clear both Jeong Hyun Soo and Min Ji Ho had in fact been staying in the home. Several make-up kits packaging was found, along with articles about the movie premier, catalogues with various dresses circled and hair magazines. “She’s definitely planning on attending the premier, the question is will she look like her self or not.” Detective Lee said. “Among some of the items found is a receipt for a gown and work jumpsuits, some one get online and look this dress up I want everyone to have a copy of what the dress looks like.” He continued. Detective Park carefully walked around the van eyeing all the contents displayed by the bomb squad. “More bomb making materials, fast food wrappers. Nothing to really say where they went after they fled from us on Monday. They may have just parked by the Han river and stayed there until they could have made their way here” Sergeant Yoo said. “I don’t buy that. The had to have acquired another vehicle. We say them walk away from the house and they haven’t been seen since and they wouldn’t just leave the van, we’ve already confirmed the plates don’t match, have you verified the whereabouts of the car it belongs too?” Detective Park asked. “I Sergeant Yang is following up with that right now Sir.” The younger male replied. Detectives Park and Lee met with Chief Tuan. “Sir, all that we know for certain is that they are going to the movie premier, we still don’t know anything and its pissing me off” Detective Lee all but spat out. “It’s like they are constantly two steps ahead of us and we are constantly trying to play catch up.” He added, his frustrations mounting; he sighed as he raked both hands through his hair. Detective Park gripped Detective Lee by the shoulders and gave him a firm shake. “Well this is what we do know, they are planning on being at the movie premier and so will we.”

                                   Friday: Premier Day/Night 

 “Jeong Hyun Soo…” Min Ji Ho cooed at the man as she smoothed on make-up putty and additional make up on to his face. “You are going to be so handsome when I’m done with you; once you’ve got your suit on you will look as though you should be in the movie and not holding a camera in front of all those awful celebrities. Except for Kim Seokjin. He’s perfect remember that, when you are filming him you must make sure he looks like the angel he is. Promise me.” “Will that make you happy?” Jeong mumbled out. “That will make me so happy!” “Then I will do my best for you then.” Jeong smiled showing nearly perfect teeth, the fake dentures Ji Ho insisted he wear impairing his speech. “Today, we will get Dara. Then later tonight we will Kim Seokjin and remind him that he belongs to me and dispose of that thing he’s been associated with.” Ji Ho commented as she applied putty to smooth out the wrinkles near his eyes. “That will make Ji Ho happy, and then we can be together?” Jeong mumbled. “Yes of course.” Ji Ho voice dripped like honey off of a spoon, smiling a smile that didn’t even begin to meet her eyes. Ji Ho had no intention of fulling being with Jeong, as far as she was concerned he was simply a means to an end, and full expendable. As soon as that bitch was dead by the hands of Jeong, and Kim Seokjin was secured she was leaving with him; Jeong would be left holding the bag for murder and kidnapping and she would be on her way to a happy life with the only other person she loved in this world other than her aunt. She’d already made arrangements to travel by boat from Seoul to Jeju Island, and from there to Nagasaki, Japan. In Japan she had already prepared their home where they would live, fully stocked with food and supplies and everything needed to live happily ever after with Kim Seokjin. Later that evening wearing work jumpsuits they knocked on the trailer occupied by Dara. “Delivery Miss.” Ji Ho announced, voice sounding as young as possible. Dara slid opened the van door to the delight of the huge basket of fruit being extended to her; suddenly she was shoved back into her trailer and Ji Ho was on top of her. Dara’s eyes went wild as her arms flailed, she whimpered as the prick of a needle jabbed into the soft spot of her shoulder. Terror filled her eyes as she heard the figures above her speak. “Tie her up good make sure she cannot speak or make a sound.”

“Sweetheart, you are absolutely breathtaking.” Jin smiled fondly at you as his eyes roamed over your sitting figure at the vanity. Jin would never get tired of that sight, you sitting, fussing with your hair, or make-up completing or starting your look, you were absolutely beautiful, and Jin could simply stare and watch you for hours. You turned giggling at him, shooting him a wink as you put on your earrings. You turned back to the mirror and admired yourself, even you would admit that you were absolutely stunning tonight. Femi, Siti, and Sariyah had once again worked their magic on you. Your make-up and nails were expertly done to compliment the purple of your dress. Femi had styled the eighteen inches of box braids you were currently wearing in high bun; the tracking device secured around a braid. “Sweetheart, I’ve got something for you.” You turned smiling at Jin. “Kim Seokjin, you have to stop spoiling me, I will expect this kind of treatment regularly when we’re married at this rate.” You said laughing. Standing up, walking over to you with a box in hand, Jin gently bent at the waist and kissed the shell of your ear. “Well you absolutely should expect it, I’ve got no plans to stop spoiling my girl anytime soon. Tonight, you will be introduced to the world as my queen, and I simply want you to look the part.” Carefully removing the lid from the box, Jin presented you with a silver and pearl accented Swarovski Crystal tiara. The filigree pattern filled with crystal with two tiny pearl accents near the top was simply gorgeous; you sat there utterly speechless as your eyes tried to take in every detail of it. “Do you like (Y/N)?” Jin’s voice full of affection and wonderment. “Jin I… Oh my God, Jin.” Your voice was a breathy sigh. “I showed it to Femi earlier and she said that it would slip right around the base of your bun just like this.” Jin, carefully lifted the tiara from the box and secured it around your high bun, gently pushing it in between the space of a few braids. “There. My Queen now has her proper crown.” Jin placed a sweet kiss against your temple and turned you back to the front of the mirror. The tiara fit perfectly and matched the tear drop earrings you were wearing that night. “Kim Seokjin, I love you!” Your lips crashed on to his as your hands interlocked behind his neck, Jin welcomed the kiss, his hands slipping to your waist drawing you in closer to him. His tongue pulling yours into his mouth, as he began to dominate the kiss; you moaned into the kiss, pressing your body further into his, your hands were making their way to Jin’s belt buckle when the doorbell rang, causing a Jin to groan in frustration. “Worst fucking timing ever!” He said. “Perfect timing actually. I’m not sure we had time for a quickie blowjob anyway.” You stood up, pecking his lips walking out the bedroom, leaving Jin to adjust himself. On the other side of the door stood Seo, Song, and Officer Lee. “Hello Gentlemen, please come in.” Officer Lee stood there slightly frozen, just staring. “Officer Lee is everything alright?” You asked. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Jin said, snaking his arm around your waist and kissing your temple. “I’m sorry, please forgive me. You look beautiful.” Officer Lee finally spoke, making you blush. Over the course of the next ten minutes Officer Lee calibrated both the physical tracking devices that you were Jin were wearing as well as the software that was being used on your phone. A second security briefing was done with Seo and Song and the two you. Finally, the night had arrived.     

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This image right here perfectly sums up what I love about gaming, and why it’s such an incredible and immersive experience, if done well.

This is Arx Fatalis, the first game created by Arkane Studios (Dark Messiah, Dishonored, Prey 2017), formerly Looking Glass Studios.  These guys knew how to make an incredible immersive sim, even back in the early days of such concepts, when only a handful existed.  Arx Fatalis was a spiritual successor to the Ultima Underworld series (created by the legendary Warren Spector, of Deus Ex fame), and was released in 2002.

Arx allows the player to tell and craft their own story through its large and intricate world, playing out much like a dungeon crawling DnD experience, but in the first person with realtime combat.  Not quite as elegant as Dark Messiah, but far more honed that something like Morrowind.  You begin in a goblin prison with no idea who you are, or what your purpose is.  You eventually break out, and begin on a quest to reach the city of Arx.

The game offers an incredible amount of freedom, especially for its time.  And with such freedom, comes consequences for your actions, and it is here that my story unfolds, and begins to lead us towards this image you see above.

After fighting my way through the goblin kingdom and reaching the highest level of the underground network created within the lore, I come across a guard fortress, and a local tavern.  Naturally, I stop by the tavern, taking care to pet the dog outside, and share some of my provisions with him; cooked ribs!  He appreciated it greatly, and followed me into the bar.  I began making my way around, chatting with patrons, discovering a door that was barred to me unless I spoke a certain password, and good times.  I also came across a goblin that I sprung from prison a little while earlier.  He was a decent chap, albeit drunk.  He didn’t believe in the current goblin ways of sacrificing humans to Akbaa, and was imprisoned for it.  He clearly had no love for what his kind had turned into, and gladly signed some false papers for me in repayment for his earlier freedom.  I was now free to move about the goblin kingdom undisturbed.  I thanked him, and went to the bar.  The barmaid seemed more interested in my coin than me, fair enough.  I slipped behind the bar to see what I could find, and had struck the motherload.

At that time, my provisions were fairly meager, and enemies tough; I needed all I could get.  Cheese, bread, meat, vegetables, and wine overflowed from the bar and its storerooms.  Thinking I could get away with such actions, I began to ransack all I could see.  At first, I was met with no issue, so I kept at it.  When I was nearly halfway through, the barmaid began to scream at me to stop at once, and put my stolen items back.  I mocked her, ignored her warnings, and kept at it.  But she and the rest of the patrons had had enough.  I was a thief, and had to be dealt with.  She screamed in fear, and all of the men present (including my goblin friend!) drew their blades, and came right for me in my cramped position behind the bar.  Knowing there was no other way to handle this, I slew the barmiad that stood in my path, cutting her head clean off, as I burst into the bar area proper, and began to attempt to defend myself.  However, I was surrounded by at least 4 opponents, and there was no way I could handle myself in such a state.  We traded blows a bit, before I realized that he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.  I ran back out into the surrounding cavern, with my assailants in close pursuit.  Eventually, I made it far enough away from them to where they gave up the chase.  I was bleeding and close to death - how did it come to this?  I had no desire for violence, yet I was given no choice by their swift and cruel judgement.  I had to act, there was no other decision to be made.  It was kill, or be killed.

I indulged in my bevy of stolen provisions, and was able to nurse my health back up considerably, before re-approaching my attackers, who had returned to the tavern.  Along the way, I came across my former goblin friend, who had gotten lost in the tunnels.  Upon seeing me, his blade drew once more.  But he was silenced.  I entered the bar, prepared to engage in combat.  My first target, and greatest concern, was a nearby traveler who had a peculiar dagger, seemingly riddled with gemstones.  I engaged him first, carefully kiting and dancing around his blows, before bringing him to his knees, grabbing his blade, and using it to finish off the remaining patrons with a fair bit of ease.  As I looted their bodies for anything of us, I felt a searing and stabbing pain into my ribs...a man had hidden himself away, and waiting for the opportune moment to strike and catch me off guard...he had done well.  I engaged him in combat as well, but he was quick and deadly, and I was deeply wounded.  Thinking of what may perhaps help, I quaffed many jugs of wine, this greatly helped my health and pain resistance, but my vision began to black in and out as we fought, only allowing me to see half the fight, forcing me to carefully time my approaches and kites, to ensure I would not miss the needed moments to dodge potentially lethal blows.  He met his end as I finished him off in an alcohol-induced stupor.

Filled with regret, I patted the poor doggie that was forced to watch all of this, and left the bloody tavern, and this whole mess, behind.  I approached the guards’ fortress, which seemed to have been recently attacked my something very powerful, all of the men there were dead, save for one.  However, he was on its precipice, and in his dying wish, requested that I tell the king of what had happened here, of the massive and powerful beasts that had torn this fortress asunder, and that aid was needed.  I could not go through the normal way however, as the tunnel from the fortress to the kingdom of Arx proper had been caved in by a recent earthquake...I’d have to pass through the goblin kingdom once more to reach Arx, and the king.  I was given more false papers to complement my already existing documents.  I was now a fully licensed gem trader, free to move about the goblin kingdom as I pleased.  

After descending once more into its filth and slogging through spider infested tunnels, tangling with poisonous arachnids and hungry rat beasts, I finally had arrived at Arx, a friendly town, in which I could rest, recuperate, resupply, and meet with the king.  As the gates opened up to me from the mouth of the tunnel, I was met by two guards, standing in the courtyard.  They seemed friendly...until they caught sight of me; after which, they drew their blades, and charged me.  Somehow, word of my massacre at the tavern had reached Arx, though through which means I do not know, as, between the fortress and the tavern, there were no survivors, and the way I went was the only way to reach Arx, and nobody but I had gone through there.  Yet here I was, being greeted by blades and shouts for my head, instead of kindness and warmth.  There was nothing I could do or say to explain that what had happened was an accident, that I meant no ill will or harm.  It meant nothing to them and their cold steel.  I slogged through dangerous passages, nearly buried alive, for their sake, and this is how they greet me, someone who wishes to save their kingdom from a greater threat?  With armed guards, and citizens attacking me with unbridled rage for daring to set foot in their city?

They want a murderer?  Fine.  I’ll give them a murderer.

I will cleanse Arx of all human life, for it has given me no quarter, no kindness, no shelter.  I have been shown no mercy, and I, in turn, shall have none for them, their weapons, their families, their riches, or their lives.  They shall see what happens when you push a man to his breaking point.  I spilled the blood of these two guards onto the courtyard bricks, taking their armor and blades for myself, for they were better than the meager rags that clung to my skin, and the blacksmith hammer I had been using to defend myself from the spiders.  Some citizens came darting out into the town in fear...their cries were silenced by my hungry sword.  Bodies ransacked, keys looted, homes robbed.  Every man, woman, and child that came my way met a gruesome end.  I showed no kindness, no hesitation.  I slew each and every guard that came my way, carefully kiting them into duels of hesitation and moment precise maneuvers.  I broke into the blacksmith’s shop, tore through his chests, and found a much more suitable set of armor and blades to fit my killing spree.  

One by one, they all feel to my blade.  I took the priest’s life on his holy altar, before the sight of a nearby nun...before she met her end.  Every house, every building, every door, forced open.  I robbed the bank, grocery stores, jewelry stores, alchemists, any place that had anything of value, now belonged to me.  As I was finishing my round of the town, I saw the last two beings left alive...one more pitiful guard, and a small girl, hiding behind him.  He charged me, and we began to duel.  I worked my way around to his flank, but instead of attacking him...I went for the child.  I slew her in a single blow, removing her head.  The guard pressed his attack with rage and aggression, this left him open for easy strikes.  In a matter of a few blows, he was finished.

I began a last walkthrough of Arx, to ensure it had indeed been fully cleansed, before entering the castle proper.  I was mistaken, however.  There were two beings left alive.  An old man, and his dog.  He did not attack me on sight, unlike every other being had prior...the merciless dead, who, through their lack of treating me as a human being, led to the destruction of my humanity.  But this man was different, he spoke of ancient lore and far off rumors of great mages and demons.  He was sitting down by the river, fishing.  It seemed he’d had a decent day, his bucket contained a few fresh fish...fresh fish that my bloodstained self needed.  I began to take a few, he demanded I stop...but of course, there was no halt to this.  As I took the last one, his dog ran up to me and began to bite me, engaging me in combat once more.  I didn’t want to kill this dog if I didn’t need to, it was a kind animal and beast.  The man rushed me with his fists...which I promptly removed for him, as he gurgled out his last breaths as he bled to death and drowned in the water we fought in.  His dog would not give up though, pursuing me relentlessly in hopes to avenge his fallen master.  Instead, I allowed him to join him.  It was with great sorrow and guilt that I did this, for it was not something that I wanted to do...but I was left with no choice.

But at that point, all life had been removed from this capitol city...it was time to enter the palace, and meet the king.

I was immediately set upon by the king’s guards, knowing full well of my approach.  We fought through various hallways, chambers, and rooms.  They refused to allow me to take their lord’s life, but their wishes were of no importance to me, they met the same fate as the rest of the town.  I burst into the king’s throne room, and was met with two final bodyguards.  The king watched as I tangled with them, and left their broken carcasses upon his floor.

The time had come.  Now, in this vast hall, my body covered with the blood of the innocent, decaying corpses around us, myself and Lord Lunshire were face to face.  In the span of a few short hours, I had brought his kingdom to its knees, forced him to watch, wait, and contemplate his actions, and he progressively sent more and more men into the meat grinder.  How many lives would he be willing to sacrifice to save his own?  All of them, clearly, for now it was only me and him - and his minstrel, who continued to play a calming tune on his lute.  If this was to be the end, then we would enjoy good music in our last moments here.

Lunshire rose from his throne, drew his unique and dangerous blade, and without a word, approached me, and we began to duel.  The throne room was our arena, as we circled, kited, dodged, parried, blocked, and moved in and out of each other’s ranges, all hoping to take advantage of openings in the defense of the other.  As the battle wore on, steel upon steel, and blade into flesh, the minstrel continued to play on, play on.  If Arx was to fall, then it would fall to beautiful, simple music.

Lunshire began to grow more desperate as the fight dragged on, taking risky stabs without much power behind them...either because he hoped for speed and to catch me off guard, or because he was growing weak and weary from the fight.  Either way, he was leaving himself wide open....openings I was more than willing to exploit.  More and more blood spattered from his body and onto the walls and floor, his swings and strikes becoming more and more pitiful as the duel was clearly nearing its close...as was the minstrel’s lute performance.  As the final notes were strummed, I drove my blade deep into Lunshire’s chest, out through his back, and slashed through.  As he dropped to his knees, discarding his blade, he made not a sound as he accepted his silent forever fate, as his lifeless body crashed to the ground, and the minstrel’s tune reached its final conclusion.

Lord Lunshire, King of Arx, was dead.  And I was the one who had claimed his life.  The whole of Arx, this dead city, now belonged to me.  I was now Lord Am Shaegar, King of Arx.  King of the dead, king of blood, decay, and rot.  I had no subjects, no men who owed their loyalty to me, save for the maggots feasting on the corpses of my countless victims.  As I approached my throne, I detoured to the minstrel...what to do with him?  I considered...I wanted to cleanse this entire kingdom...but...he had not attacked me.  And that was the silent rule I had made to myself...only those who showed me hostility would meet my blade...yet here this man stood.  No aggression, perhaps a hint of fear...but it was hidden behind a very blank, voidal expression.  Perhaps watching his beloved king die was too much for him...regardless, I decided I may as well put him out of his misery as well, what was one final life to add to the total, whether it deserved to be there or not?  I raised my blade, prepared to finish off the last of life in all of Arx...and chose to stay my blow.  He had done nothing to deserve this wrath, and had indeed played an epic instrumental ballad for the final duel, accenting its dramatic final moments with sheer beauty.  Perhaps he did deserve a chance, a chance that the entire kingdom had failed to show me.

I let him live, and requested he play a tune for me, to soothe my nerves.  As he struck up and began to play, I approached Lunshire’s body, looted it for all of his wealth, keys, jewelry, and any other goods I could get my hands on.  I threw the blade I used to slay him down next to him, on the other side of the corpse from his own, as well as his coveted and sacred ring, now just trash on the floor.  I approached the throne, turned around, and placed myself upon it, sticky, filthy, and covered in blood, mud, sweat, and tears.  Arx was my kingdom now, my bloody, dead kingdom, as screams of the dead wail and echo in its vast and empty halls, and I will be damned if anyone shall attempt to take it from me.  

Your move, Akbaa.

Now, the reason why all of this is so important, both to gaming in general, and Arx Fatalis itself...is because this was all organic, driven by my decisions and actions, in conjunction with their consequences.  The game is NOT theoretically supposed to play out like this.  Canonically, you’re supposed to arrive in Arx and find it friendly, as its assumed that the accidental tavern massacre did not occur.  You’re meant to browse, peruse, trade, and meet with the king.  Gain quests, get to know the world and its denizens, and be about your way on your next step to defeating Akbaa.  That said, while that’s the way it’s theoretically meant to be played, Arkane allows you to play any way you want, even if that means absolute genocide.  This organic gameplay and storytelling, allowing you to go so far as to slay the king and lord of the entire realm, truly allows you absolute freedom in how you want to tell your own story - even Skyrim doesn’t allow for such things, important NPCs will merely go “unconscious”.  But here, every life can be taken, and every choice must be accepted and adhered to.  I had intended to experience Arx Fatalis in the “normal” way, I had certainly not intended to slay an entire kingdom, but because my actions had consequences, I had to live with them, and embrace my new role as a murderer and eventual kingslayer.  

And the fact that this freedom of choice and approach truly allows for such an approach without punishment or otherwise, truly shows what an excellent game Arx Fatalis is.  Again, this came out in 2002!  Games even today are struggling with this.  Arx Fatalis doesn’t cater to you or your choices.  Slay everyone?  They’re dead, and they’ll stay that way.  Them, their personalities, quests, anything about them that made them unique?  It died with them, the only things to remember them by are their corpses and goods you can loot from their homes or businesses.  The game will not make a “compensation” for this, what happened has happened, said people are dead, and you must accept that.  You can and will still complete the game and main quest regardless.  However, all those that you’ve slain will not factor into it.

This experience was entirely organic, unscripted, and unique to me and my actions, and it felt incredibly rewarding and empowering to not be strung along, and to be forced to make tough decisions, and live and play by a role because of mistakes I had made.  Slaying Lunshire did not bring me satisfaction, merely an understanding that I had finished what I had evolved into a beast built to do, and my rampage was at a silent end, with only a minstrel left to play his bloody king the tunes of a now dead age.

And if that isn’t a hell of an example of an interactive narrative experience, then I don’t know what is.  Sound fun?  Go grab yourself a copy!  Arx Fatalis is free through Arx Liberatis.  Just go grab an ISO of the original game (ahoy) or demo (for you legal folk), install it, install the Arx Liberatis mod which’ll use those resources to build itself, and then you’re good to go through Arx Liberatis, which is a far superior way to play the game.  You can remove or keep the original Fatalis files, up to you.  The Liberatis source port doesn’t need them anymore.

I hope you enjoyed reading and drinking in my tale, and will give Arx Fatalis a try for yourself.  It’s a bit of a wonky game, but it’s absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend it.  

And with that, I bid you all a goodnight.  Thank you!

[naturecoaster]

Nature Coast Thanks-giving

It is good to sit down and write about what makes life so worth living regularly. This time of year, I tend to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of gifts, meals, relatives, and pets. This year, I just moved into a new home and am spending a lot of time figuring out what goes where and how to best manage the new environment. In Florida’s Nature Coast, I find a daily sense of thanks for the slower pace of life and general consideration of a door opened for me, a small shop or restaurant owner greeting me when I visit, a cart shared at the grocery store, a smile from another motorist at the stop sign, and the beauty of nature that surrounds us. I will never forget moving to Brooksville in 2005 and shopping at the local Publix store with my husband one Sunday. We had moved up from the St. Petersburg area the week before. Everything seemed to be on 2/3 time. We felt like everyone should move a little faster, but then we looked at each other and said, “Guess we better get used to Brooksville time,” and we have never looked back.

The Nature Coast is full of people and organizations who help each other. The Opportunity to Help a Neighbor The area encompassing Florida’s Nature Coast includes Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, and several Florida Counties north along the Gulf of Mexico until about Tallahassee. The Nature Coast that we cover includes several small towns or cities – each with a real sense of community. Events held in this area nearly always benefit a local nonprofit. We have Arts Councils, Heritage/History Councils, as well as agencies that provide help for the mentally disabled, the physically disabled and the youth and the seniors. If someone’s house burns down, the neighbors step up and hold fundraisers and businesses donate also.

After Papa Joe's Restaurant caught fire and was destroyed in 2014, a huge community effort for employee relief was undertaken. Image courtesy of Papa Joe's Employee Relief. I remember when Papa Joe’s restaurant in Spring Lake burned down. Joe Giarratana, the owner of the business, contacted local restaurants to get positions for his employees until they could rebuild. Fundraisers were held to help the employees and their families. It was over a year before the new restaurant was back in business, even with insurance funds to reconstruct. Many of the former employees were able to return in due time. At the time of the stock market crash, Raymond and Margaret Robins gave their fortune to back the Bank of Brooksville, preventing a horrible economic crash for the area's families and businesses. They owned Chinsegut Hill at the time. The Opportunity to Be Helped

Rachel, our little white dog who decided to go on an adventure, and was returned home. Last week, my little white dog decided to stand out on the road in front of our new house. We were having some work done by heavy equipment and I can only surmise that she didn’t like the ruckus. A good Samaritan came along and picked her up, thinking she was lost. After I realized she wasn’t home, I began searching and could not find her anywhere. I resorted to posting on all the Facebook Lost Pet/Found Pet groups I could find – until about 1 am when I collapsed.

About 4 am I woke up and looked at my posts. Someone had posted a Found Dog in a different group and it was my little white dog! I immediately messaged them, eventually showing up at their gate around 8 am, hoping to see my fur baby and carrying a note. I called her name and up she ran, jumped in the truck and came home with me. I cannot thank the many people who were involved in taking care of my pet and helping me get her back safely enough. It is, however, part of the culture of Florida’s Nature Coast and I am so grateful to live here.

Guy Harvey, artist, and Wyland, artist, in front of the 55 x 8-foot mural, entitled, "Marine Sanctuary." Image courtesy of the Wyland Foundation The Quality of Arts and Education Community theatre, middle and high school music and band programs, sports at all levels, and the value of art in developing our youth into well-rounded adults is part of this area’s culture. It’s not perfect, but it has passion, and that’s what makes the difference between good and great in these areas.

Live Oak Theatre's Wizard of Oz production was of professional quality in costuming, acting and sets. Volunteers and students work together to create family-friendly shows twice a year, with summer camp as a time to hone their craft. Image courtesy of Live Oak Theatre. Gardening, forestry, wildlife management are all valued pursuits in this area. Fishing is taught from parent to child and people make a life by pursuing their dreams. Where else in the world can you list, “Manatee Encounter Captain” as your occupation?

Art in the Park features over 130 Fine Arts and Artists each year along the paved winding walkway of Tom Varn Park in Brooksville. Proceeds benefit the Hernando County Fine Arts Council who award grants to several groups to support the arts. Arts festivals happen throughout the region and throughout the year, as well as art galleries that teach classes to the young, middle and aged populations.

Tim Durden, in his usual low-key manner, on his kayak as a volunteer with manatee watch. Tim is credited with saving a young swimmer's life in 2015 and was honored with the Citizen Award for Bravery by the U.S. Department of the Interior July 4, 2017. Sports are strong and varied in our region also. Everything from a wakeboarding park and one of the most pristine kayaking rivers in the State to a huge ice arena, tennis and golf academy, and an international soccer school. And let us not forget our middle and high school baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, and football teams. These institutions provide good direction and opportunities to strive to be the best in the world.

Today the Withlacoochee State Forest offers outdoor recreation for visitors. Image courtesy of Pat Manfredo. The Serenity of Nature The Withlacoochee State Forest, Warner-Boyce Salt Springs, Chassahaowitzka Wildlife Management Area, Chinsegut Wildlife Education Area, Starkey Park, the Withlacoochee State Trail, Crystal River State Preserve, the Green Swamp and the myriad of state and local parks are abundant throughout Florida’s Nature Coast. Some parks are dog-friendly. Some are not. Some offer events, some just offer the opportunity to get away from our fellow man and commune with the local flora and fauna.

With both water and forest nature throughout our area, one can enjoy the serenity of rivers, lakes, the Gulf Monday, and hike to find caves the next day. Some have beautiful shorelines, some have heavy tree canopies, one is a wonderful animal park, one is home to mermaids and mermen. Just being able to drive roads with trees on both sides and a deer crossing or bear crossing sign is something I am grateful for. Mostly, I am grateful for you, my fellow NatureCoasters. Please post your favorite things about this area in the comments below. Perhaps we can arrange a future field trip to meet up and enjoy. Read the full article

[fashiontrendin-blog]

The 10 Best Dumbbell Exercises To Build Muscle And Burn Fat

http://fashion-trendin.com/the-10-best-dumbbell-exercises-to-build-muscle-and-burn-fat/

The 10 Best Dumbbell Exercises To Build Muscle And Burn Fat

You need to change the way you think about dumbbell training. Endless concentration curls in pursuit of the pump are, well, a waste of time. The dumbbell is a versatile piece of kit you can use at home or in the gym and, armed with a little extra knowledge, you can make them work a lot harder.

These carefully selected exercises from elite London trainer Tom Bliss will target the muscles that have the most immediate visual impact to bulk you up (that’s your arms and shoulders), but also work the larger muscles of your posterior chain (your back, bum and legs) to help burn some extra calories and shed fat. And by using exercises that create instability to focus on your core, most will become total-body moves that promise maximum benefit in minimum time, while also crafting a set of six-pack abs – no mind-numbing crunches necessary.

Head to the weight rack, pick your poison and hold on tight. This is going to hurt. In a good way.

Dumbbell Reverse Bicep Curl & Press

What: Perform three sets of 15 reps, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Hold a dumbbell in both hands at your thighs with an overhand grip, palms facing down. Engage your forearm and contract your bicep to raise the weights up to shoulder height. From there, pinch your shoulder blades back to stabilise your shoulder joint before contracting your triceps to press the weights up overhead. Squeeze your triceps at the top to maximise the effectiveness of the rep and then reverse the movement back to the start. Lower both phases (the press and the curl) slowly for extra muscle-building benefit.

Why: Big arms and broad shoulders are useful for both beach season and broadening the silhouette of your suit. This move attacks all of your mirror muscles in one. Your biceps will grow because of the curl, plus you’ll add bulk to your triceps and shoulders with the press. When you’re tight for time you don’t want to waste it by focusing on just your biceps. This exercise gives you triple the bulk for your buck. Plus, Bliss says, the reverse grip hits your bicep from a new angle, as well as engages your forearm, to change the stimulus for an extra growth spurt.

Dumbbell Marches

What: Perform five sets of 20 metres and back, with 30 seconds rest in between

How: Start with two 5kg dumbbells held out in front of you. They may look small and feel light right now, but that will change quickly. Begin your march slowly, exaggerating the knee lift of every stride to tax your core and turn this move into an abs exercise, too. It’ll be tough now, but all that will be forgotten on the sun lounger in your swim shorts with a third mojito in hand. Grit your teeth. Finish the 20 metres, shake the lactic from your shoulders and go again.

Why: This exercise will hone in on your shoulders for some beach-ready muscle, but also works in lower body and core effort to melt through a few extra calories. Which will either put you one step closer to ditching the Dadbod in time for the departures lounge, or serve as an excuse to waive the two pints and a burger you snuck in on Friday lunchtime. Take your pick. Holding the dumbbells out in front, rather than lifting them for reps is a great way to build strength rather than just size, too. Which will carry across and make you stronger in all of your other upper body exercises.

Single-Arm Row On Rings

What: Perform three sets of eight reps each side, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Hang a pair of gymnastic rings from the rig in your gym, or a tree and position them around six inches from the floor. Set up in a plank position with your arms on the inside of the tape and a light dumbbell outside each hand on the floor. Contract your glutes and brace your core to stabilise and then, with alternating hands, come off one ring, grab a weight and row it up to your armpit. Lower the weight retake hold of the ring and repeat on the opposite side. Prepare for the wobble.

Why: The Olympic rings are a gym bag hero worth investing in. Not only do they allow you to work on your callisthenics and train using just your bodyweight, but they also provide the instability needed to make a single rep switch on your entire body. The wobble in your shoulders and arms, combined with the activation of biceps and back will bulk up your upper body. And, according to Bliss, by contracting your abs and glutes to prevent total collapse you’ll hone your abs, while also activating just enough muscle fibres to make you sweat.

Bird Dog Rows

What: Perform three sets of eight reps each side, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Position yourself in a plank with your hands up on a bench. Now lift up your left leg out behind you and hold steady. With the opposite arm, row a dumbbell into your armpit. Bliss recommends trying the exercise with a weight you can handle easily first, to get the hang of the movement, before levelling up and making your upper body muscles pay. From your armpit, lower the weight slowly to the floor, complete the set and repeat on the opposite side.

Why: The instability here will send your core into overdrive and speed your progress to a six-pack, while also working on your upper body. It’s primarily a back exercise, as you pull the weight up away from the floor, but it’ll also engage your biceps for a very welcome pump to fill out your T-shirt. More than anything else, there’s a hell of a lot going on here. It’ll focus your mind and help you to forge a body and brain connection that will make other exercises you do feel easier. Promise.

Zottmann Curl

What: Perform four sets of 12 reps, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Simple yet effective. Hold on to a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing upwards. Curl the weights up to your shoulder, keeping your elbows pinned to your waist. As you reach the top of the rep gradually turn your hands over so that your palms are facing down. Now lower the weight under control (grit your teeth through the pain in your forearms) and reset at the bottom for rep two.

Why: This is the closest you’ll get to us recommending a basic curl. But the twist from an underhand to overhand grip halfway through the rep will shift the stimulus to target more of the bicep as well as the forearm. To spend time in pursuit of bigger arms alone, this is the exercise for you. If you’ve ever considered purchasing a ‘muscle fit’ T-shirt, now is the time.

Curtsey Squat

What: Perform three sets of 10 reps each side, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Take your standard reverse lunge one step further. Or should we say, to the side. With a dumbbell in both hands, step back with your right foot and wrap it around behind your left. Now keep your torso facing forwards and your sink down into a squat and focus on going slowly to help maintain your balance. Push up through your left heel to reverse the movement and then repeat on the other side. Nailed it on the first try? Take a bow.

Why: Bliss explains that by changing the angle of your simple back and forth lunge, you work deeper into your glutes. This will, therefore, activate more muscle fibres in your lower body. This one may look dainty, but there’s nothing refined about the beads of sweating running down your forehead by the third set as you combine muscle-building and fat burning in one exercise.

Renegade Row

What: Perform four sets of five reps each side, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Look familiar? You’ve got the hang of this row now and so, with this classic variation, go heavier. Set up in a plank position, holding onto the dumbbells directly below your shoulders. Brace your core to keep your hips steady and pull one dumbbell up to your armpit by engaging your back and biceps. Hold it at the top of the rep for a second and then lower to the ground under control and repeat with the opposite arm. Your back is the stronger muscle here so focus your mind on the middle of your back and pull in your shoulder blade for some extra firepower when things get tough.

Why: This is another total-body exercise that requires you to engage multiple muscle groups to complete a perfect rep. Don’t cheat yourself and allow your hips to sag. Bliss refers to this as midline stability, which translates to ‘being able to keep your body straight by using your abs’. Learning to engage them here will not only put you’re a few reps close to that six-pack you covet, but it’ll also help to teach you to use and improve your abs in pretty much every other exercise you do. So get this one right.

Half Kneeling Unilateral Press

What: Perform four sets of 10 reps each side, with 60 seconds rest in between

How: Stand up, holding onto one dumbbell in your right hand. Step back your right foot and drop down to a half kneel. Straighten up your posture. Bring the weight up to rest it at your shoulder and extend your left hand out for balance. Press the weight up explosively overhead, contracting your tricep at the top. Lower the weight to your shoulder slowly over three seconds. This extra time will maximise growth in minimum reps.

Why: This exercise is a test for both shoulder strength, but also joint stability and mobility, according to Bliss. Now, that’s not as exciting or a sexy as bulking up your shoulders enough to make wearing a vest appropriate, but shoulder mobility is an essential remedy to the hunch and rounded shoulders you develop at your desk. The upright position forces you to pull your shoulder blades back and down and to open up your chest and reclaim perfect posture. While also getting you hench, of course.

Dumbbell Floor To Overhead

What: Perform five sets of 60 seconds on, 30 seconds off

How: Grab two 10kg dumbbells and hold on tight. Hinge forward at your hips, being careful not to curve your lower back, and bend your legs your touch the dumbbells down to the floor. Push up through your heels to straighten your legs, contract your glutes to push your hips forward and straighten your back. Finally, curl the weights up to your shoulder and press them up overhead. This exercise gives you the chance to forget about form a little bit and go hell for leather, but remember to engage your glutes when you start getting tired. They’re big muscles and won’t get as tired as everywhere else. When you’re flagging, thrust them into action and see the weights fly up easily for a second wind.

Why: Bliss says the benefit of this exercises is plain and simple, you want to achieve a huge calorie burn. Deploy this one for maximum weight loss. This movement is ideal because there is nowhere to hide for any muscle, and the more muscles you use, the more calories are torched to power through each rep. From your quads to your glutes, core, back, shoulders and arms, you need all the help you can get to shift these weights from floor to ceiling over and over (and over) again.

Static Beast DB Drag

What: Perform the sequence for three rounds of 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off

How: Position yourself on all fours, with knees lifted off the floor and a dumbbell sitting out to your left. Easy right? Not anymore. Press up onto your toes to hover your knees an inch from the floor while keeping your back flat and horizontal. Lift your right hand from the floor (steady now) and reach across underneath you to take hold of the weight. Drag the dumbbell across to rest outside of your right hand side and put your hand back down. Take a breath and repeat with your left hand. This one’s going to sting, we’re afraid.

Why: In Bliss’s words – “it’s the daddy of all mid-line exercises.” To us, that means finishing with one of the toughest yet most effective core and abs exercises. Even the starting position will have you wincing if you stay there too long, but add in the instability of taking a hand off the floor to move the dumbbell and the exercise kicks into overdrive. The reason is that your core has to fight against the gravity and the rotation that will, if you don’t overcome it, see you collapsed in a heap on the floor. Anti-rotation is a far more effective core and abs exercise than crunches. It also targets your obliques to turn your nascent six-pack into a lots-more-pack. You’re very welcome.

[creativesage]

(via True Grit: How to Build Up Your Resilience - 99U)

It takes effort to get good at something, and then it takes effort to apply that skill, to create. But determination isn’t enough. You also need to apply yourself with focus. Here are three steps that you can take to increase your ability to persevere.

By Christian Jarrett

Illustration by Giacomo Bagnara

Whether we’re talking about a great novelist like John Irving or an era-defining entrepreneur like Jeff Bezos, it’s natural to conclude that the mega-successful owe their achievements to an almost magical quality that you’re either born with or you’re not: talent.

But according to Angela Duckworth, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist who’s made it her life’s goal to help children thrive, this is mistaken. Yes, the aptitude you bring is important, but few of us ever reach the limits of our natural abilities. Instead what holds us back is a lack of commitment or a lack of focus. “Enthusiasm is common,” Duckworth writes, “endurance is rare.”

Effort counts twice, she explains, because it translates your aptitude into skill. And then it combines with your skill to manifest as achievement. In other words, it takes effort to get good at something, and then it takes effort to apply that skill, to create.

If you look at John Irving’s life story, for instance, it isn’t one that begins with him displaying savant- like brilliance at an early age. Far from it, in fact he struggled at school with English. What distinguishes his lifelong approach to his art is his doggedness. “Rewriting is what I do best as a writer,” says Irving. “I spend more time revising a novel or screenplay than I take to write the first draft.”

But determination isn’t enough, you also need to apply yourself with focus. Rather than chasing a different dream each week or month or year, you need – at least eventually – to settle on a higher calling and never let go. When you have drive and determination combined with single-minded direction, this is what translates into meaningful accomplishment.

Crucially, Duckworth, who has written the book on grit, argues that grit isn’t fixed like your height. Rather it’s something that you can cultivate, more like learning a new language. Here are three steps from Duckworth’s book that you can take to make yourself grittier – and dramatically increase your ability to persevere. 

Find Your Calling

Most high achievers have “an ultimate concern” or what Duckworth calls their “compass” (because it provides a sense of direction) and nothing will stop them in pursuit of this higher goal. How can you find yours if you don’t have one already? The first thing to realize is that you’re not going to find it through introspection. You need to get out there and try things. A relevant misconception is that passions instantly grab us in one magical eureka moment. In reality, the first time you encounter your would-be passion, you likely won’t even realize it. This means you need to expose yourself to as many different pursuits as possible and give any nascent spark a chance to catch.

In time, what overarching passions or concerns have in common is that they have a greater purpose – yes, there is pleasure and fascination in them, but more than that, usually there is a deeper meaning or cause that involves helping other people in some way. In a 2014 study that she conducted with her colleagues Katherine Von Culina at Yale and Eli Tsukayama at The University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth found that people with high levels of grit are as motivated by the pursuit of pleasure as much as anyone else, but what marks them out is their greater interest in meaningful activities that serve a higher purpose.

Of course, we can’t fight every battle. Sometimes it makes sense to change course. If you’re struggling to recognize the difference between your overarching career aim and lesser, more disposable goals, consider visualizing your aims as a pyramid with those at the bottom feeding into your ultimate goal at the top. If they cause you problems, you shouldn’t be afraid to save energy by dispensing with lower-level goals. As you approach mid-level goals and beyond, you should become progressively more dogged. Reserve your never surrender attitude for your ultimate goal or life philosophy that guides all you do.

Practice Smart

Once you know what your passion is, you need to hone your craft through unrelenting practice. Duckworth’s research–including a 2010 study into the winners of National Spelling Bee championships–has shown that gritty people devote more time to what psychologists call “deliberate practice” and that they enjoy it more.

This kind of practice involves more than simply putting in the hours. It’s an arduous process that requires pushing yourself to perform outside of your current ability levels (Duckworth recommends setting yourself “stretch goals” – specific areas of performance where you would like to make gains); getting meaningful feedback on how to improve; and then doing it all over again, implementing that feedback to achieve superior performance.

Duckworth quotes dancer Martha Graham’s description of what it feels like to do this kind of training: “Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to the paradise of that achievement is not easier than any other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration. There are daily small deaths.”

Be it sport, acting or art, when we watch superstars perform, their output often seems effortless, which only serves to fuel the illusion that they were born with a supernatural gift. In fact, the reason their performance is so fluid and graceful is because of all the hours and hours of intense, painstaking practice they’ve completed.

Think Like an Optimist

In pursuit of your creative ambitions, it is inevitable that you will experience set backs. As shown in Duckworth’s research involving school teachers working in schools in poor districts, gritty people tend to respond to these setbacks with an optimistic mindset. Optimists see failure as a chance to learn. They consider the changeable aspects of a disappointment that can be addressed and adjusted to make failure less likely next time. Pessimists, by contrast, will tend to blame the failure on a fundamental cause that can’t be changed, such as the belief that they don’t have what it takes. A related concept you’ve probably heard of is whether or not you have a growth mindset. Gritty optimists tend to have a growth mindset, believing that traits like intelligence can be nurtured. Pessimists instead see such things as fixed.

There is a dynamic, interactive nature to these things. Duckworth’s research suggests that encountering adversity–as you surely will–and believing pessimistically that you have no power over events, will encourage you to give up without a fight. You condition yourself to be passive, and you lose your grit. In contrast, responding to challenges with optimism and determination and finding a way through (in Duckworth’s language, this is “adversity plus mastery”), you will nurture your grittiness. Next time you encounter difficulties, you will be even more determined to push on. “To be gritty,” Duckworth writes, “is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.”

If you’re a lifelong pessimist, you might be feeling skeptical at this point, but it’s worth noting that a study last year reviewed all the evidence into whether we can train ourselves to be more optimistic and the results were, well, rather upbeat: the researchers concluded that optimism is indeed something we can learn.

Coda

By finding your true calling, honing your craft through dedicated deliberate practice, and responding to setbacks with an optimistic, problem-solving approach, you will follow in the footsteps of the many outstanding achievers Duckworth has studied, all of whom are characterized by that mix of passion and perseverance.

To believe that only a lucky few are born with true talent, while the rest of us are not, is demoralizing. You might understandably wonder whether the focus on grit simply shifts this concern to a different trait: that perhaps a rare few are blessed with grit while us lesser mortals are destined to weaker will and an absence of purpose. In fact, twin studies suggest that the “heritability” of grit is between 20 to 40 percent, meaning that less than half the difference in grit between people can be traced to genetic causes. This leaves plenty of room for grit to be influenced by other factors such as life experiences and deliberate cultivation. “Like every aspect of your psychological character,” Duckworth writes, “grit is more plastic than you might think.”

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at 99U.]

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You’re working on your goals, and your team’s goals. We can help you spring into action and develop a real plan that you can implement in a smart way, so you’ll start seeing results immediately, before you feel discouraged. If you feel that you’ve already gone off-track, we can help you get your focus, courage, and motivation back.

At  Creative Sage™, we often coach and mentor individual clients, as well as work teams, in the areas of change management, building resilience, making personal, career or organizational transitions — including to retirement, or an “encore career” — and facilitating development of leadership, creativity and collaboration capabilities. We also work with clients on work/life balance, focus and productivity issues.

We guide and mentor executives, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, artists, and creative professionals of all generations, to help them more effectively implement transition processes, and to become more resilient in adjusting to rapid changes in the workplace — including learning effective coping techniques for handling failure, as well as success. We work with on-site and virtual teams.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss your situation. You can also call us at 1-510-845-5510 in San Francisco / the Silicon Valley. Let’s talk! An initial exploratory phone conversation is free. When you talk with me, I promise that I’ll always LISTEN to you with open ears, mind and heart, to help you clarify your own unique path to a higher vista of success.

              ~Cathryn Hrudicka, Founder, CEO and Chief Imagination Officer of Creative Sage™, Executive Coach, Consultant, and Mentor.

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[raystart]

True Grit: How to Build Up Your Resilience

Whether we’re talking about a great novelist like John Irving or an era-defining entrepreneur like Jeff Bezos, it’s natural to conclude that the mega-successful owe their achievements to an almost magical quality that you’re either born with or you’re not: talent.

But according to Angela Duckworth, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist who’s made it her life’s goal to help children thrive, this is mistaken. Yes, the aptitude you bring is important, but few of us ever reach the limits of our natural abilities. Instead what holds us back is a lack of commitment or a lack of focus. “Enthusiasm is common,” Duckworth writes, “endurance is rare.”

Effort counts twice, she explains, because it translates your aptitude into skill. And then it combines with your skill to manifest as achievement. In other words, it takes effort to get good at something, and then it takes effort to apply that skill, to create.

If you look at John Irving’s life story, for instance, it isn’t one that begins with him displaying savant- like brilliance at an early age. Far from it, in fact he struggled at school with English. What distinguishes his lifelong approach to his art is his doggedness. “Rewriting is what I do best as a writer,” says Irving. “I spend more time revising a novel or screenplay than I take to write the first draft.”

But determination isn’t enough, you also need to apply yourself with focus. Rather than chasing a different dream each week or month or year, you need – at least eventually – to settle on a higher calling and never let go. When you have drive and determination combined with single-minded direction, this is what translates into meaningful accomplishment.

Crucially, Duckworth, who has written the book on grit, argues that grit isn’t fixed like your height. Rather it’s something that you can cultivate, more like learning a new language. Here are three steps from Duckworth’s book that you can take to make yourself grittier – and dramatically increase your ability to persevere.  

Find your calling

Most high achievers have “an ultimate concern” or what Duckworth calls their “compass” (because it provides a sense of direction) and nothing will stop them in pursuit of this higher goal. How can you find yours if you don’t have one already? The first thing to realize is that you’re not going to find it through introspection. You need to get out there and try things. A relevant misconception is that passions instantly grab us in one magical eureka moment. In reality, the first time you encounter your would-be passion, you likely won’t even realize it. This means you need to expose yourself to as many different pursuits as possible and give any nascent spark a chance to catch.

In time, what overarching passions or concerns have in common is that they have a greater purpose – yes, there is pleasure and fascination in them, but more than that, usually there is a deeper meaning or cause that involves helping other people in some way. In a 2014 study that she conducted with her colleagues Katherine Von Culina at Yale and Eli Tsukayama at The University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth found that people with high levels of grit are as motivated by the pursuit of pleasure as much as anyone else, but what marks them out is their greater interest in meaningful activities that serve a higher purpose.

Of course, we can’t fight every battle. Sometimes it makes sense to change course. If you’re struggling to recognize the difference between your overarching career aim and lesser, more disposable goals, consider visualizing your aims as a pyramid with those at the bottom feeding into your ultimate goal at the top. If they cause you problems, you shouldn’t be afraid to save energy by dispensing with lower-level goals. As you approach mid-level goals and beyond, you should become progressively more dogged. Reserve your never surrender attitude for your ultimate goal or life philosophy that guides all you do.

Practice smart

Once you know what your passion is, you need to hone your craft through unrelenting practice. Duckworth’s research–including a 2010 study into the winners of National Spelling Bee championships–has shown that gritty people devote more time to what psychologists call “deliberate practice” and that they enjoy it more.

This kind of practice involves more than simply putting in the hours. It’s an arduous process that requires pushing yourself to perform outside of your current ability levels (Duckworth recommends setting yourself “stretch goals” – specific areas of performance where you would like to make gains); getting meaningful feedback on how to improve; and then doing it all over again, implementing that feedback to achieve superior performance.

Duckworth quotes dancer Martha Graham’s description of what it feels like to do this kind of training: “Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to the paradise of that achievement is not easier than any other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration. There are daily small deaths.”

Be it sport, acting or art, when we watch superstars perform, their output often seems effortless, which only serves to fuel the illusion that they were born with a supernatural gift. In fact, the reason their performance is so fluid and graceful is because of all the hours and hours of intense, painstaking practice they’ve completed.

Think like an optimist

 In pursuit of your creative ambitions, it is inevitable that you will experience set backs. As shown in Duckworth’s research involving school teachers working in schools in poor districts, gritty people tend to respond to these setbacks with an optimistic mindset. Optimists see failure as a chance to learn. They consider the changeable aspects of a disappointment that can be addressed and adjusted to make failure less likely next time. Pessimists, by contrast, will tend to blame the failure on a fundamental cause that can’t be changed, such as the belief that they don’t have what it takes. A related concept you’ve probably heard of is whether or not you have a growth mindset. Gritty optimists tend to have a growth mindset, believing that traits like intelligence can be nurtured. Pessimists instead see such things as fixed.

There is a dynamic, interactive nature to these things. Duckworth’s research suggests that encountering adversity–as you surely will–and believing pessimistically that you have no power over events, will encourage you to give up without a fight. You condition yourself to be passive, and you lose your grit. In contrast, responding to challenges with optimism and determination and finding a way through (in Duckworth’s language, this is “adversity plus mastery”), you will nurture your grittiness. Next time you encounter difficulties, you will be even more determined to push on. “To be gritty,” Duckworth writes, “is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.”

If you’re a lifelong pessimist, you might be feeling skeptical at this point, but it’s worth noting that a study last year reviewed all the evidence into whether we can train ourselves to be more optimistic and the results were, well, rather upbeat: the researchers concluded that optimism is indeed something we can learn.

Coda

By finding your true calling, honing your craft through dedicated deliberate practice, and responding to setbacks with an optimistic, problem-solving approach, you will follow in the footsteps of the many outstanding achievers Duckworth has studied, all of whom are characterized by that mix of passion and perseverance.

To believe that only a lucky few are born with true talent, while the rest of us are not, is demoralizing. You might understandably wonder whether the focus on grit simply shifts this concern to a different trait: that perhaps a rare few are blessed with grit while us lesser mortals are destined to weaker will and an absence of purpose. In fact, twin studies suggest that the “heritability” of grit is between 20 to 40 percent, meaning that less than half the difference in grit between people can be traced to genetic causes. This leaves plenty of room for grit to be influenced by other factors such as life experiences and deliberate cultivation. “Like every aspect of your psychological character,” Duckworth writes, “grit is more plastic than you might think.”