#but i apparently need to make a key for my own shorthand

[ashcadence]

Listen, I've been like knee deep in research recently and I'm trying to compile my notes but I'm not even making sense to myself. Wtf does "See: N26ch24:14-26 IHAS" even mean??? What kind of incomprehensible shorthand was I using at two in the morning like a month ago?

[moiraineswife]

Drawn In - A Witsnah Fic

IT’S TIME FOR NEW CONTENT. 

Title: Drawn In

Summary:  Pre Rhythm of War: Jasnah and Wit's first kiss. Canon compliant. It's soft and it's fluffy and a little dramatic in places (bc Wit) but it's what they deserved!!!

Teaser:   'Counter to the vicious rumours and harsh jibes, Jasnah was still human. She did not experience lust the same as others that she knew. But she was also not a frozen husk of a woman, devoid of need, or want for companionship and comfort.

A part of her longed for this connection with another person, this intimacy, this want that she increasingly found only with him.

He was dangerous, yes, but he made her feel safe. He made mock of everyone around him, but for her he made sense, and certainty, of things she’d never thought to understand. He was a roamer, a drifter, a wanderer, untethered and bound. But he was hers.'

Link: ao3

Commission Link: Have me write other cosmere characters

“So Investiture will be found on planets with one Shard or more?” Jasnah said, speaking the words aloud as she wrote them shorthand in her notebook. 

Conversing with Wit was always a stimulating process. He seemed to view each conversation as something of a duel. The chance to spar, to test his opponent, feel them out, offer them new challenges, new quips that required responses, new information that needed to be processed, new barbs to return in kind. It was invigorating. 

Lately, they had been spending more and more time together. He was the Queen’s Wit, and as such he accompanied her to most public gatherings she attended, as was proper. 

Something that was decidedly less proper, by Alethi standards, was the amount of time they were now spending together alone behind closed doors. 

Nothing untoward had happened between them. Not yet. At times she wondered if she had fabricated the impression that it could. Then she would catch a glint in his eye, the edge of a smile curving across his clever mouth, the way his eyes sometimes darted to her lips as they spoke. 

There was flirtation, too. Gentle, for the most part. He was not from this world, but he knew the Alethi well enough never to push too hard or too far. Even if she was not, strictly speaking, Vorin, the society they played within was, and there were rules that had to be abided to. 

Outside of that, she had never been one for flowery compliments, or overt, blunt attempts at seduction. They felt hollow and insincere to her, not to mention distastefully brusque. It reminded her of Amaram’s entitled insistence in his pursuit of her. She did not like being made to feel she was a hog bound at the end of a rope to lure the waiting chasmfiend. 

She preferred something altogether more subtle and cerebral than the usual Alethi courting methods. Someone who would dare to draw close to her, to tease at implications of what might, to pique her mental curiosity, stimulate her mind, who worked to connect with her, truly, on the most important levels. 

Wit...Wit was dangerously skilled at that. And he seemed to know it was what she wanted, seemed to read the eagerness, and the intent, in her responses. 

Indeed, she had considered courting him. Truly courting him, and allowing him to court her. 

So much so that she had discussed it with Ivory. He was the only person whose view on the matter she considered worth taking. Had he protested, she would have heeded him, and regardless of how invigorating she found Wit, it would have gone no further. 

However, Ivory, like her, was intrigued. He felt it would be a ‘good new avenue to explore for her personal growth’. She didn’t view it quite as logically as that. There was some feeling behind her own interest. More than some, if she was honest. 

It was late, now. They were tucked away together, deep in her chambers of Urithiru. If anyone heard of it there would be a great scandal. She was, as far as Vorin society was concerned, a single woman. She would be expected to be chaperoned, to ensure Wit didn’t try anything inappropriate with her.  

Wit seemed to consider the very definition of what each people he visited ‘inappropriate’ to be his own personal playground. He liked to establish himself within the boundaries of propriety, then slowly test, and push, and pry at them. And occasionally set them on fire and watch them burn with barely restrained glee. 

He had revealed much to her in the time he’d spent as her Wit. She’d met him before, of course, and guessed at his nature and origins, but she had coaxed more concrete answers from him now. 

He was an ancient creature, unlike anything she, or anyone else upon Roshar, had met before. He had visited other worlds, had witnessed their destruction, as well as the birth of the Shards that now held sway in the Cosmere at large.

The knowledge he held within his mind was incredible, incomparable.

The Heralds had been a revelation to her, as a dedicated historian. They were history come alive, walking, talking, sharing their truth with her. 

Wit was the same. Yet so much more. For he was the living history of not only her planet, but many more besides. 

Jasnah relished this time they spent alone together. Speaking with him, learning the secrets he carried, the keys to understanding her powers, and the powers of Roshar and beyond. 

He seemed to thrive upon her questions, as much as she thrived upon asking them. He was a showman, she knew, a performer. He liked to have an audience to play to. He had stories in his soul, and his purpose was to give them to others, as he felt was appropriate. 

“Quite correct,” he replied, absently, not looking at her but making some note on the papers he had propped on his legs. 

He was lounging back in his chair, boots up on her desk, which she permitted when they were alone together. If that was his comfort, she would not complain. She was not Dalinar, with military discipline drilled into her. She would not chide a man for sitting as he would in a moment of private companionship. 

There was a stack of parchment balanced on his raised thighs. She suspected he was taking his own notes on their conversation. He had done so before, after she had made some observation he’d actually found original and interesting enough to write down. 

She hadn’t thought, after all his years of life, that she would be able to provide him with anything he had not already experienced from someone else. It seemed that she had been wrong, and that he found her as intoxicating and stimulating as she found him.

She didn’t object to him writing, either. She found the tradition of forbidding a person from their potential passions or interests based upon some arbitrary concept like gender a foolish prohibition.

Although, not having to deal with men in the hallowed spaces of her research had been refreshing, at times. Excluding a rough half of a population's minds from any topic was ridiculous, she felt. 

Besides, Wit had learned to read and write long before Rosharans had even thought it unseemly. He was beyond such things. Indeed, some days he’d confessed to her he was beyond such things as gender.  

“And it can exist in multiple states?” she continued, pushing her thoughts back to the topic of Investiture, stopping them wandering down avenues far darker, and more mysterious, in regards to her and her Wit, “As a gas, such as the mists you described upon Scadriel,” she had to glance at another notebook to check the name of the planet. Wit nodded vaguely, “As a metal,” she said, “Like our Shardblades,” another nod, “Or as a liquid, like that gathered at the Well of Ascension.” 

“Indeed,” he said, making another few marks with his pen, still not looking at her. 

She didn’t mind that, either, but she did lean over to peer at his paper to see just what he was so engrossed in. 

She was surprised to see that he wasn’t writing at all. Instead, he was sketching, with delicate movements of a charcoal pencil he must have filched from her desk drawers while she’d been occupied. It was a rather impressive, and rather detailed, rendition of her.  

Jasnah as he saw her. Her eyes alive, focused on her work, hair unbound, cascading around her shoulders and down her back. Fingers deftly making some notation. Her face beautifully sculpted by sweeping lines of black against the tan parchment.

It was a very different style from Shallan’s, reminiscent of the drawings he had given her to help identify the Heralds. It was less focused on realism, imprinting every aspect of a moment captured in time, and more stylistic. Obviously his work.

There was...A care to his movements, and such an intimacy to his creation that, absurdly, she found herself having to fight down a blush. 

“That’s beautiful,” he murmured, glancing up at her, making swifter, surer strokes with his pencil, “If you’d just hold that pose for a moment more, my dear,” he said, as if this was the purpose of their meetings together. 

“I’m not supposed to be posing, Wit,” she said, composing herself, forcing herself to sound queenly and proper. And perhaps overcompensating, by the flicker of the smirk that he gave her. “I’m supposed to be learning. From you, I might add.” 

“We’re both old enough and ugly enough to do more than one thing at once, I think,” he replied blandly. 

Then he stopped and looked up at her, a faint glint in his eyes. 

“I do apologise,” he said, putting a hand to his chest and giving her a slight bow, without removing his feet from her desk, “I forgot to whom I was speaking for a moment.” 

He reached out and deftly slid a knuckle under her chin, angling her face more towards the pool of light that shone from the goblet of spheres on her desk.

“You’re not quite what I should define ‘old’ just yet,” he said, the smile pulling apparently irresistibly at his lips. 

“Wit,” she said, rolling her eyes, using the motion of turning back to her notes to cover the slight shiver that had pulsed through her at the intensity of his attention upon her a moment before. 

“No, please,” he said, cupping her chin gently between his fingers and turning her back to face him once more. “I’m almost finished,” he said, almost breathless, intent, “You can spare me a moment, surely? For the sake of art, Jasnah.” 

“You know I don’t care over much for art, Wit,” she said, though she did not pull away from him this time, drawn in to the faint glimmer in his eyes, the plea in his tone. 

His touch was strangely electrifying. As if there was Stormlight in his fingertips, sparking between them where his body met hers. The smallest of connections, yet the broadest of implications contained within such a simple gesture. 

“I know,” he said, with a dramatic sigh, “One of your very few failings, Brightness. We all must have at least one, I’m told. Except me of course.” 

“Of course,” she returned, rolling her eyes again, even as she found herself suddenly, dangerously, drawn in to those bright, sharp blue eyes of his.

“There’s just...Something wrong,” he said, cocking his head to one side, studying every line of her face. 

“Oh?” she said, feeling a spike of alertness breaking through the fog of her intoxication. 

“Yes,” he said, frowning, “Something not quite right. I think it’s your mouth.” 

“My mouth?” she repeated, confused, until she followed his gaze down to his sketch of her. 

“Mm,” he agreed vaguely, nodding, “Your lips have such a precise, sculpted quality to them,” he murmured, his thumb rising from her chin and tracing ever so tenderly over them. 

She had to restrain herself from closing her eyes and leaning in to him. It had been a long time since she had allowed anyone to touch her as intimately as this. It had been a long time since she had wanted anyone to touch her as intimately as this.

“I don’t think I’ve managed to capture it correctly,” he said, mirroring the motions he was making against her skin on the parchment, shaping her mouth more precisely. 

Lines of flesh and lines of charcoal, and breathless daring held together in the stillness between his words, neither of them moving, neither so much as breathing through them. Held. Captivated. Connected.

“That is a shame,” she said, finally, forcing herself to get some words out. 

She should draw away. She should put a stop to this. Should direct them back to their studies. This was more than he had ever dared with her before, further than he had ever pushed his teasing flirtation and gentle courting. She should not allow it. He was dangerous. The pull she felt to him was dangerous. The smart, the logical, thing to do was to walk away. To halt this before it began. 

She didn’t.

She didn’t want to, Storm it. Her world had ended, and she now struggled in the muck, and blood, and ash that remained to see what she could salvage. It was cold, hard, lonely work. As it had been for all those years she’d worked alone, in shadows, unseen, unwanted, untouched. 

Counter to the vicious rumours and harsh jibes, Jasnah was still human. She did not experience lust the same as others that she knew. But she was also not a frozen husk of a woman, devoid of need, or want for companionship and comfort.

A part of her longed for this connection with another person, this intimacy, this want that she increasingly found only with him. 

He was dangerous, yes, but he made her feel safe. He made mock of everyone around him, but for her he made sense, and certainty, of things she’d never thought to understand. He was a roamer, a drifter, a wanderer, untethered and bound. But he was hers. 

“Perhaps,” he said, then paused, licking his lips, almost as though he was nervous. Do it a part of her willed him, say it. Please. “Perhaps a closer look?” he murmured. 

She nodded, expectant. But when he slid from his chair and cradled her face in his hands, kneeling in front of her, he only traced the shape of her mouth with a tip of his finger, leaving her disappointed.

Yet she could see the want in his deep eyes, the gentle intrigue, the spark of daring that had led him to reach out and put his hands on her as he had tonight. With far more intimacy and familiarity than he’d ever risked before. 

“Wit,” she said quietly, dislodging one of his fingers. 

His eyes flicked to hers, and she felt her heart fluttering in her chest, as if she were an awkward teenager, fumbling into her first exploration of romance. 

She forced herself under control, and made sure her voice was level when she said, “Do you want to kiss me?” 

He blinked once, startled, then a smile spread across his lips, tentative, still, as if a part of him wondered she might be asking so she could put an end to those thoughts. 

But he nodded, “I do, Your Majesty. Most improper thoughts for a Wit to harbour for his queen, I admit.” 

“More improper still if they are reciprocated,” she said very quietly, watching his smile flare in his eyes at that. 

“Indeed,” he said, now sounding almost breathless, as if he could not quite believe what was happening. 

This feeling was likewise mutual. 

“If you want to kiss me, Wit,” she said, “Perhaps you should stop dancing around it, and just do it.” 

He held himself, suspended by shock, for a single heartbeat. Then he moved, surging towards her like a highstorm’s flood. One hand cupping her cheek, guiding her, the other sliding deft fingers deep into her thick hair. 

Then his mouth was on hers, finally, and she was closing her eyes and sinking into him, and he was moving gently against her. Drawing away for a beat, heavy lidded eyes meeting hers, seeking approval, which she gave. Then again, his lips against hers, heat pulsing between them like a freshly infused gemstone. 

“Ah. Yes. That helped,” he said, smiling softly at her, making to turn back to his sketch, as if that had been the only purpose of their embrace. 

“Yes,” she agreed quietly, “I think that it did.” 

Her tone held him in place and he bit his lip, giving her a small half-smile, no longer keeping up the joke of his sketch. Indeed, he let it slip from his lap, the pencil dropped from uncaring fingers, his attention focused entirely on her now.

“I’ve been wondering if you were ever going to allow me to do that,” he said, still sounding a little breathless, though Stormlight should have dealt with any purely physical exertion.

“I’ve been wondering if you were ever going to try,” she admitted, her fingers stroking absently at an out of place curl of black hair at his forehead. 

Wit smiled more broadly at that, taking her hand and gently brushing the knuckles against his lips, “I did promise you that I would never leave your questions answered.” 

He leaned in for a second kiss but she pulled back, frowning, “You leave my questions unanswered all the time, Wit.” 

“I do not!” he said, affronted, placing a hand over his chest. 

She gave him a flat look, “You disappeared for three weeks last month. Upon your return I asked you where you had been and you told me that you had ‘gone fishin’,” she said, badly mimicking the accent he’d used. 

He smiled and rubbed noses with her, which was the last thing she’d expected, and startled her so much she almost missed his reply.

“Technically, my dear, that was an answer," he said, smiling innocently up at her.

She just stared at him, unimpressed. 

Wit raised a finger, “I promised you I would give you answers. I said absolutely nothing about those answers being of any use to you.” 

Jasnah sighed, then kissed him again. That seemed to take him by surprise, which was pleasing. She found herself smiling against his mouth, and he against hers, and they broke apart, both laughing softly, unable to maintain the kiss. 

“So” Wit said quietly, his eyes flickering up from her lips to meet her gaze, “This is something we do now, is it?”

“I assumed when you said that you wanted to kiss me, that implied more than once,” she replied with a small sniff. 

Wit smirked at her, “Rather presumptuous of you, isn’t that, Your Majesty?” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her in a way only he could get away with doing. 

“Not if I’m right,” she said evenly, “And I am, aren’t I?” 

Wit grinned at her, “This is one of things about you I’m so inordinately fond of, Jasnah.”  

“My ‘unfettered, unyielding, and quite boundless arrogance’?” she asked, smirking slightly at the memory. 

Wit paused, then cocked his head and said, “Ruthar?” 

She inclined her head, confirming that suspicion. His grin broadened. 

“If you’re right, I don’t think that’s arrogance. I think it’s justified confidence in oneself in that circumstance,” he said, musing.

“So I am right, then?” she said, feeling a ridiculous flutter of nervousness as she asked the question, as if he might now turn around and reject her, after everything. 

Wit stroked her cheek with his knuckles and said quietly, “Given that I’ve been thinking about nothing but kissing you again since last we stopped I’d say that yes, your hypothesis has some merit.” 

“I thought I already told you what you should do if you want to kiss me,” she replied, “I am not fond of repeating myself, Wit, you know this.”

“I do apologise, my Queen,” Wit breathed, already leaning in, the words pressed against her lips a moment before his mouth met hers again.

When he drew back again, Wit cupped her face between both hands, gazing up at her, intent, and said quietly, “This is what you want? I am what you want?” 

“Yes, I believe so,” she replied composedly, “I have already come to the conclusion that this is a mostly appropriate course of action to pursue.” 

Wit raised an eyebrow at her and she actually blushed, turning away from him, feeling ridiculous. She had taken charge earlier, had all but commanded him to kiss her, but now she was stumbling around him like a teenager who had never so much as had another person hold her safehand?

“I am not accustomed to this kind of conversation,” she admitted, trying to reassert herself, though feeling horribly awkward at the same time, “It has never been my forte.”

He just shuffled in a little closer, and she realised that he was still kneeling on the floor in front of her while she sat primly at her desk. Storms. What a ridiculous man. 

She stood up then said, “Come, let’s sit somewhere more comfortable, if we’re to have this talk now.” 

Wit stood up as well, but put a gentle hand on her arm, “We don’t have to talk about anything right now,” he said, “It was a kiss. Which may turn into more kisses. Or it may not. We don’t have to define anything just yet, if you aren’t ready for that.” 

She stared at him incredulously.

“Did you hit your head on something as you were standing?” she demanded. 

He blinked, confused. 

“Have you forgotten entirely who I am?" She went on, "I can’t think why else you would say something so ridiculous to me.” 

He snorted with laughter at that. 

“Of course, of course,” he said, waving a hand, “How foolish of me, to attempt to put a woman at ease and remind her she’s under no obligation to me because of a single kiss we shared in the heat of a moment.” 

Jasnah sighed again and rubbed her forehead, wincing. 

It had been some time since she’d had to navigate a romantic relationship and she...Well she hadn’t been exactly good at this to begin with. 

She opened her mouth, but Wit just put a finger to her lips and spared her the trouble of making an even larger storming fool of herself.

“It’s quite alright, my dear,” he said, eyes twinkling in a way that she found, frustratingly, both irritating and enticing all at once, “In fact it’s rather refreshing. It’s the apocalypse, after all, we haven’t time to waste with pointless pleasantries and empty reassurances. Lead on, your Majesty.”

Still grinning, he slid his hand into hers and allowed her to draw him over to the reclining couch she had set up on the opposite side of the room to her study desk. A place for more relaxed reading or meditation. 

They both settled themselves, Wit still smirking at her, and she withdrew her hand from his and clasped it in her lap, not looking at him.

 “So,” Wit said, leaning in, and raising his eyebrows suggestively, “You’ve, let me make sure I get this correct,” he cleared his throat, and his already deep voice lowered even further as he said in a breathy, exaggerated, voice, “‘Come to the conclusion that I am a mostly appropriate course of action to pursue’ have you?” 

She stared at him flatly, and in direct counter to his hyperbolic seduction, which had intensified to the point that he was now fluttering his eyelashes at her, replied as matter-of-factly as she could, “Indeed. Ivory and I have already discussed it together at some length.” 

That made him sit up, suddenly dropping the act, which surprised her, as she’d expected him to drag at least a few more minutes of torment out of it. 

“You spoke to Ivory about us?” he said, in normal tones again. 

“Of course,” she said, frowning slightly, unsure why he thought this so worthy of remarking upon, “Any relationship I am involved in will directly impact upon him. It was only right that he be allowed a say in it.” 

“You wish to embark upon a relationship with me?” Wit repeated, a little dazed, as though she’d just swung a heavy weight into the side of his head. 

“Yes, Wit,” she said, then narrowed her eyes and drew away from him, “Unless you are only interested in a physical distraction with me,” she added, feeling suddenly cold at the prospect, “In which case this ends here, with no further conversation required on the matter.” 

“No,” Wit said, quickly, his voice gentle and reassuring. 

He reached out and took her hand to stop her retreating from him. When she hesitantly allowed this, he squeezed it and scooted closer, bumping his shoulder against hers in a manner that he apparently saw as affectionate.

"Not at all, Jasnah,” he said, shaking his head. Then he paused and added, “The kissing was very pleasant, I must admit. But there is more here, Jasnah, much more.”

 He met her eyes, and there was a depth to him he had rarely allowed her to see there. Knowledge, and history, and life and all of it focusing entirely upon her and this moment. It was almost overwhelming. 

She nodded slowly, running her thumb absently back and forth on the top of his hand, “It has been some time since I have connected with someone the way I have with you these past months,” she confessed quietly. 

Despite the fact that she had kissed him mere minutes before, despite admitting she had spoken with Ivory about him, despite the fact she’d all but told him that she wished to embark on a relationship with him...That revelation made her feel suddenly vulnerable. Almost to the point that she instinctively withdrew, before he saw, before he could use it as a weak point to hurt her. 

But something in him held her there. Like a Windrunner balanced on a surge, suspended above a chasm, unable to fall, to retreat to the ground where it was safe, and familiar, while the thrill of the flight kept them airborne, free, unwillingly to remember what life had felt like before this intensity, this rush of feeling and joy.

Wit nodded to her, squeezing her hand again, stopping her from falling, as she had so many times before, “I feel the same way,” he admitted, “You are a truly extraordinary woman, Jasnah Kholin,” he breathed, huffing a soft laugh and shaking his head. “And I would be lying if I tried to claim that I had seen this coming. I doubt even Cultivation-” he broke off, shaking his head. 

Taking a breath he composed himself, and met her eyes once more, tenderly cupping her cheek in his hand. She allowed him, once again feeling as though something in his touch was electrified, as though something sparked between them at the merest brush of his skin against hers. 

“You took me utterly by surprise, Jasnah,” he said, his voice now soft and sincere, “I knew you were a woman of uncommon beauty, of unsurpassing intelligence, and wit, even before I joined your court,” he added, seemingly unable to stop himself. Then he sobered, his voice gentler, more serious, “But I could never have predicted the effect that you would have on me. How stimulating your companionship could be, how addictive spending time with you could become.” 

She nodded, barely conscious of the gesture, then she cleared her throat and said, “Is this your long winded, Wit way of telling me that you want to be in a relationship with me as well?” 

Wit laughed at that, but it was a fond laugh, not meant to mock or hurt. He stroked his fingers through her hair and said, “Would it be more direct and obvious if I just kissed you again?” he asked. 

“I certainly don’t think it could hurt,” she replied flatly, even as something in her chest fluttered in excitement at the prospect. 

He did just that, but broke away before she was ready for it to end and said, “Jasnah Kholin.” She didn’t have a chance to reply before he was kissing her again. “I am telling you now,” Another kiss. “In no uncertain terms whatsoever,” He kissed her once more. “That I absolutely,” Another kiss. “Without a doubt,” She was smiling now. “Or a shred of hesitation,” he kissed her once more. “That I, your Wit,” he leaned in for another kiss but met only her finger, pressed against his lips and blocking him. 

He raised his eyes to meet hers without drawing back from and said, the words mangled by the press of her finger against him, “Am asking you if you would-” 

“Wit,” she groaned, shaking her head, even if she was still smiling at his antics. 

He straightened up, also grinning, and said, “I want to be in a relationship with you, Jasnah. A romantic relationship. With you as my partner. If that is something you think would please you?” 

In answer, to be quite sure he understood her completely, she kissed him again. 

***

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 78

Okay, I checked. This is actually chapter 78 :)

Thank you, again, to @zommbiebro for the name of the colony. This will be way more important than people realize.

As runners-up, @baelpenrose and @iguessthisisme, thank you for the names of Else’s new habitats. While the reason isn’t given (you are free to mention them in the comments), they did rank as the runners-up.

I made an appointment with Miys to continue our talk about other species next week and sent messages requesting a small meeting in my office.  When I arrived, Alistair already had everyone seated and was handing out drinks. Dropping into a chair, I grabbed the one Tyche passed me and took a deep sip, narrowly avoiding a sputter when I realized my coffee had at least one shot of whiskey in it.  “Geez and fuck, Worthington, what are you trying to do to me?”

Taking the cup from me, he inhaled deeply before apologizing. “It was meant to be coffee with Irish crème, not Irish coffee.”

“Whatever, give it back.” Pinching the bridge of my nose to avoid the looks I was inevitably getting, I made a blind grabbing gesture with the other.  “By the time this conversation is over, I may need this to be sans coffee.”  I inhaled deeply before looking up.  “We have a problem on the Ark.”

“That’s nothing new,” Tyche pointed out.  Beside her, Antoine gave a regretful look of agreement along with an eloquent shrug.

Groaning, I arched an eyebrow at Arthur Farro, who sat across from Tyche, on my other side. “You see how often this kind of shit happens?”  With that, I launched into what happened in the corridor with Miys, specifically the crowd of people plowing into us. When I finished, I held up a hand to stop the outpour of questions from Farro and focused on Antoine. “Can the update to receive proximity alarms be disabled?”

“In theory, yes,” he answered hesitantly.  “But I’m uncertain if the entire implant would have to be disabled in order to do so.”

“Our hosts should be able to tell us if the implants can be turned off,” Alistair pointed out.

“Mmmmm… you would think so.  But I asked, and apparently they didn’t even think we would be able to understand any of their technology, much less futz around with it on the scale needed to create the proximity alerts in the first place,” I explained.

Tyche nodded firmly. “That means we use our secret weapons.”

“Derek?” The question came from our resident former-warlord, who was still not used to our shorthand.

“And Zach to run herd on him,” I confirmed.  “If we can determine whether it’s just the update or the entire implant that’s disabled, Derek can turn the right thing back on and lock user privileges down so they can’t be messed with again.”

Raising one hand for attention, Antoine ventured a point. “Are we - is the Council - okay with the ethics behind forcing people to use the translation implants?”

My head dropped heavily onto the tabletop. I hadn’t even thought about that, but he had a point.

“We can argue ethics later,” Tyche interjected. “First, we have Zach and Derek determine what part of it isn’t working.  If it’s the update, there isn’t anything to worry about, since the Council already agreed that it was in the best interest of the ship as a whole to make the receiver software compulsory.”

Thank you, little sister. When I lifted my head after a silent prayer, I saw Farro giving Tyche an evaluating glance before turning to me. “So. Were these the same people you two mentioned at the dinner?”

“I think so.” Opening my datapad, I pulled up the questions he sent me. “So, on that note, since that’s why you’re here…. ‘How large are the groups?’ I would say three to seven people.” I tipped my hand back and forth in a vague gesture.

Tyche nodded. “I tend to watch my data pad as I walk but the groups aren’t too big. Five-ish? Sometimes more sometimes less? Not suspiciously big though, that I can say for sure.” She opened her own copy and tackled the next question. “Any frequent meetings...The clusters seem to be everywhere, but it's the whispering and watching that make me uncomfortable. I'm face-blind, though, so I couldn't tell you if these are the same groups.

“To be honest, meetings happen all the time on the Ark.  Granted, there are generally fewer after the misunderstanding with Else - “ Alistair scoffed so hard I was worried for his sinuses, but I ignored him and plowed on. “but I would definitely say nothing overt enough to stand out.”

Before I could reference the next question, Farro pre-empted me. “Have you noticed people from these smaller groups interacting with each other? Or groups combining, mixing?”

I had to roll my eyes that one. “Dude.  It’s literally my job to get people to interact, so the only answer you’re getting to that one is ‘all the damned time’.”

He turned to Tyche, eyes hopeful. She just gave him a smirk. “What do you get when you mix an elephant and a rhino?”  When he looked perplexed at her non sequitur, she leaned forward. “Ellephino. Faceblind, remember?”

Scowling, he shook his head. “You handle staffing… how the hell do you do your job?”

"I do it damned well, if I do say so myself," she waved off his complaint. "Which I do. Voices, body language, key accessories... Been doing it my whole life."

“Fair,” he shrugged, seemingly satisfied. “Sophia, have you noticed if it’s always the same people who are clustered up?”

I couldn’t stop the groan that question elicited. “Arthur. There are over nine thousand people on this ship. It would be nearly impossible to be sure.”

He grumbled something about ‘no self preservation’ and ‘what happened to proper paranoia’ before asking the last question. “Please tell me someone at least noticed if they got noticeably quieter when any outsiders came near them?”

My sister and I exchanged glances before I responded. “Eyeah. Kind of why they stand out.”

How did Farro avoid getting dizzy when he rolled his eyes that hard?

Antoine cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. Leaning forward in his seat, he ran a tired hand through his hair. “Tyche mentioned these groups to me a few days ago. I’ve been keeping an eye out and while they aren’t the same groups, there are the same people with new groups, sometimes two at a time in the larger gatherings. Much like a very hushed spreading of word about….something. I have no idea what of course. I’m usually on my way to either medical or a client.”

“Wait,” I held my hand up for a moment. “Same people with new groups? What do you mean? Like, intermingling groups of these people?”

“Think of a social butterfly, but more secretive. There are some I recognize from other groups, but surrounded by different faces. Mingling but spookier.”

Tyche nearly choked on her drink. “You’ve been around me too much. ‘Mingling but spookier.’”

“At least someone noticed something useful,” Farro grumbled.

“Hey!” I complained. “I get that you’ve got a theory, but you don’t have to be rude.” I scowled at him.

Okay, maybe I pouted.

After a moment of deadlock, I took a drink of my coffee and arched a brow at him. “You know. If you told us what exactly your theory was, this would go a lot better. I get that you’re used to working on your own, but you’re asking questions that are leaning into things we aren’t going to notice.  It’s like… asking a vet if they’ve noticed any fleas lately.  Even if they don’t just ignore them outright, it’s nothing remarkable.”

“A cult,” he admitted, sitting back and taking a drink of his tea, only to glare at it like it betrayed him.  Getting up, he went to dispose of it and asked the console for a hot, fresh cup. “People suddenly acting weird, closing off others unless they make the first move? Cult, all day long.”

“That’s pretty overt for a cult though. Most of the time, it’s hard to tell when someone is part of one. They were surprisingly common back Before,” Tyche immediately interjected, having suddenly gone eerily serious. “I’ve known former members. They creep in.”

“Not that overt,” he pointed out. “Scientology.”

“A fake religious movement, that if not for a certain celebrity wouldn’t have gotten so much attention.”

“Oh, completely fake. Not even the founder believed the bullshit he was slinging,” Farro agreed. “But, it was also a very overt, definitive cult.” He started counting on his fingers. “There’s also Jonestown and the Manson family, as far as cults that withdrew from society, although the somewhat limited space of the Ark makes it easier to just get quiet instead of trying to isolate.…” he trailed off before seeming to snap out of his thoughts. 

Tyche groaned at the point. “And the non-religious ones, such as multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes.”

“Of which there were several in the latter half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries,” I pointed out. “Very famous and popular ones, actually.  So.  Being overt doesn’t mean this couldn’t be a cult.” My stomach twisted at the idea of something like that forming in the midst of our chance to be everything good we had the potential for.  It felt like someone doused the Mona Lisa with acetone.

“To be fair, it could also be a more harmless, mysticism based situation like the legionary sect of Mithras in ancient Rome, so we don’t necessarily need to assume the worst - just plan for it, in case.”

“If we concede that this could be a cult,” Alistair volunteered, “I feel it would be wise to discuss the matter with Councillor Hodenson.”  Deafening silence followed his statement, broken only when he squinted at our group in confusion. “Grey Hodenson? The Councillor for Research and Sciences? Who was raised in a cult?” Another emphatic squint before he sighed and threw his hands up.  “Unbelievable.  For a group of supposed geniuses, you all show a breathtaking capacity to overthink things.”

“I believe we should also include Councilor Kalloe,” Antoine advised. “As the Councillor for Health and Safety, it is imperative that she is kept abreast of the situation, even if it is unfounded.”

“It would also give us a stronger likelihood of a majority in the Council if it came to a vote,” Tyche confessed. “We’d already have three out of six, would just have to convince one more.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I groaned.  “But yeah, subject tabelled for now, until we can reconvene.” I forced myself to sit up straighter. “Now, enough bad news.  Tyche, Antoine, someone, give me some good news.”

Antoine spoke first. “The portion of Else that is not in coldsleep is adapting well to its new habitats.  It is quite pleased with the compromise, and reports excitement at the opportunity to speak to more humans.”

My eyebrow arched before I could stop myself. “Do I even want to know why that is in your purview?”

“Therapy is therapy,” he shrugged eloquently. “Adjusting to new environments is stressful for all living creatures, even those not known to be sentient.”

Alistair added, “Additionally, a nebula has been located that is determined to be sufficiently large and ferrous enough for Else to colonize.  They have determined to name the nebula Esperia, to symbolize their origins with humanity and their hope for the future. When we locate a similarly suitable planet or planetoid, they have decided upon Redemption, or the equivalent in whatever language they have evolved by that point.”

“Wait,” Farro stopped my assistant. “You mean to tell me that a bacteria decided on a name for two colonies before we could decide on one?”

“Only by a breath,” I smirked, opening an alert on my datapad.  “Apparently the name for our new home was just approved by the Council. Good news indeed.”

Several seconds of silence followed as everyone stared at me intently, with Tyche and Alistair pointedly ignoring the similar updates they had just received. Finally, my sister broke. “Are you going to share, oh mighty Councillor, or does everyone have to wait for me to leave and spill the details?”

Laughing, I gestured my concession.  “The name that was agreed upon, by a five to one majority within the Council, is Von. ‘In Norse religion, Ragnarok is the end of the world, followed by a period of rebirth and renewed hope.  Our world has already ended, this we agree upon to point that we have all simply named the chain of events Before, The End, and After.  The new colony will be our renewed hope, our opportunity to be reborn as a better people.  In that spirit, I put forth the name Von, which simply means hope or expectation in Icelandic.  Nothing could be more fitting for our new home, after our own Ragnarok’.”

Heads nodded in agreement. “That’s a good name,” Alistair admitted. “Not my suggestion, but still good.”

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[dragonologist-phd]

Soft OC Asks

answering questions for Nona as requested by @grumpy-jedi!! thank you for the questions!

🌹 Where in the world does your OC feel most at home? Is there any reason why? If it’s not the place they were born, where were they born? Is there a certain somebody that makes them feel at home where ever they may be? What does home mean to them? 

Nona was born in Aedyr (I don’t think I ever actually named the city? But it was a fairly well-sized city). She still has some nostalgia for Aedyr, but she hasn’t really considered it her home in a long time.

The LK headquarters is probably the closest thing to a home Nona has these days. It’s less about the place and more about the fact that it’s where Thaos usually is, and for her home means being with him.

🍄 What are your OCs favourite snacks? Their favourite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favourite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen? 

Nona likes warm bread and pastries, especially any kind with blackberries! She’s fond of a lot of Aedyran foods in general (a lot of Dyrwoodan food tends to be too heavy for her preference). And she’s pretty good at cooking/baking- nothing too fancy, but she does well enough!

🍂 Does your OC enjoy hugs? What do they do as a show of affection for: their friends, their family, their significant other(s) or for strangers? Over all what are they like with recieving affection from others? 

Nona only does hugs if she knows the person well. If a stranger tries it she’ll just push them away, and if a friend tries she will awkwardly tolerate it (honestly she just doesn’t really know to respond, which is why the image of Dal hugging Awkward Nona at the end of the campaign is one of my favorite moments XD )

Overall the only person she’s actually affectionate with is Thaos, because he’s one of the very few people she actually trusts enough for it.

🌻 What little things do they notice about people or the world around them that make them happy? What tiny little treasures do they find in the normal every day that makes the world seem a little brighter for them? 

Nona likes noticing what people get excited about. It’s really endearing to her when people are enthusiastic about their interests. She likes finding little bits of everyday art and pretty handmade items; they don’t have to fancy, she just likes seeing the work that was put into them

💐 How does your OC handle being unwell or forced to rest in bed? Who cares for them and in what ways? Does your OC enjoy being doted on or are they a terrible patient? Reversed: is your OC good at taking care of others who are ill or in need? 

Nona hates being sick. She always wants to be doing something productive, so even when stuck in bed she’ll try to read or write even if she’s too sick to actually do it. She’ll also resist being doted on and insist people can leave her alone unless she’s actually too sick to put up a fight.

She’s better at caring for people who are sick- at that point, she’ll switch roles and force them to stay in bed while she makes sure they’re well taken care of.

🌳 What is your OC’s favourite way to relax after a stressful day? Do they have a favourite book to curl up with? A hobby? Or do they have a nice bubble bath and have an early night to bed? 

Curling up with a good book sounds like the perfect way to end a day for Nona! She normally likes informational books, but on stressful days she likes to indulge in cheesy mystery novels that she can just turn off her brain and enjoy

🌲 How deeply does your OC feel? Are they typically empathetic or do they have a hard time connecting with others in this way? What are they like when offering support and comfort to someone they care for? 

Nona does feel things pretty deeply, but she’s not always the best at expressing it. She can be reserved around others, and that plus her stubborn viewpoints can make her seem less empathetic than she is. But if she’s close to someone it’s easier for her to open up and show that she cares, usually through comforting touches and words.

🌺 What does your OC do to calm down when they’re scared or after a nightmare? Do they have any special comfort items or need to be reassured by a specific person? How do they handle this if they’re alone? 

Hmm...I think if she’s with Thaos, she would go to him for comfort, and just laying quietly with him would be enough to calm her down. On her own, she’d probably calm herself down by mediating and praying for a while, although she might not go back to sleep afterwards

🥀 How would your OC decorate a notebook or journal? What kind of things are written in there? Could you give an example of a nice entry? 

She wouldn’t decorate it much, although it would be full of loose scraps of paper and notes to herself. The actually entries would also just be a lot of notes to herself- lots of to do lists and notes in shorthand that probably don’t make much sense to anyone besides her

🌼 Who are this characters friends and found family? How did they meet, how long have they been friends for, could they ever be something more than just friends? What do they look for in a friend or a romantic partner? 

The LK is basically Nona’s found family at this point, although with all the secrecy the only members she really has connections with (besides Thaos of course!) are Talisa and Hafmacg. She also liked the God Squad for the most part, but it’s not likely she’ll see them again (except possibly Ona since Kauri and Thaos apparently know each other)

In friends and partners, she looks for people with similar views to her, who are loyal and intelligent and are able to stand up for their beliefs.

💫What is your favourite fact about this character and why? 

So hard to choose just one... I think it’s that she sincerely believes in the work the Leaden Key does, and she has faith that what they’re doing really is worth it in the end. It’s part of what makes her so much fun to roleplay!

☄️ Does this OC deserve better treatment from you? Do you make them suffer just a little bit too much? Be nice to them! 

...I mean, probably. But it’s okay because I made a happy fluffy AU for her!

💦 If you as the writer could erase one traumatic event from this OC’s life what would it be and why? 

Hmm...all the stuff from her backstory is traumatic, but without that she wouldn’t have ended up with the Leaden Key or the God Squad at all. Maybe getting captured by Eothas, although even that led to some really good character development

[wrestlingisfake]

Best in the World preview

Hey, everybody, remember Ring of Honor?  They still exist!  Let’s see what they’re up to...

Matt Taven vs. Jeff Cobb - Taven is defending the Ring of Honor world championship, which he won at the big Madison Square Garden show on April 6.  That same night, Cobb won a double title match, defending the ROH television title and capturing the NEVER openweight title.  Cobb has since lost both of those belts, and he has declined to pursue rematches to instead challenge Taven.

Cobb is scheduled to enter the G1 Climax (July 6-August 12), so if he wins here he would bring ROH’s most prestigious prize to wrestling’s most prestigious tournament.  To my knowledge that’s never been done before, and probably with good reason--it’s rough to book around your top champion being off your schedule for six weeks so he can lose a few matches in another company.  Still, that might be a shot in the arm for Ring of Honor’s credibility, after looking second-rate on their own MSG show and being overshadowed by All Elite Wrestling.  Keeping the title on Taven is going to feel like a commitment to mediocrity, and unfortunately that fits ROH to a tee.

Shane Taylor vs. Bandido - Taylor won the ROH television championship on May 9, but Bandido scored a win over him before that, which puts Bandido in line for a title match.  Taylor is nearly twice the size of the challenger, but he moves pretty fast for a big man.  Bandido was a key acquisition for ROH after the AEW exodus, so you would expect him to be winning matches like this one.

Ordinarily I would feel like a title change can happen, but ROH has sort of conditioned me to expect heel bullshit for months before a babyface can get the brass ring.  The safe bet is on Taylor, I think.

Marty Scurll & PCO & Brody King vs. PJ Black & Tracy Williams & Mark Haskins - Scurll’s team, Villain Enterprises, is defending the ROH six-man tag team championship.  Williams and Haskins are part of the Lifeblood stable, but they’re shorthanded seeing as Bandido is in another title match, David Finlay is injured, and Juice Robinson apparently isn’t coming back.  So Black (formerly WWE’s Justin Gabriel) teamed with them recently to win a trios match, putting them in contention for this championship.

The biggest storyline here that I’m aware of is that Villain Enterprises is actively searching for a fourth member, but I’m not sure how that would play into this match.  I suppose the fourth man could reveal himself by helping Scurll’s team win the match.  But this isn’t exactly helping the Four Horsemen or the NWO protect the world title; it’s just Villain Enterprises and it’s just a trios title.  It’s not a spot for a big star, and if it’s not a big star there’s no point to doing it here.  A better formula might be for the new member to help regain the trios title later on, so for that reason alone I think it would make sense for Black’s team to win here.

Kelly Klein & Jenny Rose vs. Angelina Love & Mandy Leon - Love and Velvet Sky (formerly the Beautiful People in TNA) showed up in ROH on April 6 to team with Leon as “The Allure.”  They attacked Klein after her women’s title defense, and took out Rose and Stella Grey when they attempted to make the save.

Love and Sky did the “hot mean girls” bit years ago, and now they’re adding the “bitter veterans” gimmick to it, demanding credit for recent improvements in major league women’s wrestling.  This should be exhaustingly familiar to anyone who lived through Nikki and Brie Bella’s last few years with WWE--the connotation is that the super-hot women “can’t wrestle” and got ahead by their looks, so now that we’ve supposedly moved beyond that they’re trying to undermine the slightly-less-hot women who are “real” wrestlers.  It boils down to the same cliche WWE has been using for over 20 years: Women are fighting over which of them is wrong about what a woman should be.  I’m not excited to see that trope make its way into ROH.

I could see the Allure losing this match if ROH has decided to abandon the experiment.  (The concept was originally developed to convince Madison Rayne to stay, but she didn’t, and the group’s debut was widely panned.)  But otherwise, it would be a mistake to job them out so quickly after their debut.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young - This is being billed as a “pure/scientific rules” match.  Back in the day ROH made its name by being the polar opposite of hardcore brawling, and there was even a “pure” championship that could only be contested under strict enforcement of the standard rules.  I assume this is meant to be a throwback to that idea.  Gresham is a master technician in the ring, but Young has bested him in the past with cheap shots and foreign objects.  So in theory these rules give Gresham the advantage, but it’s ROH in 2019 so I’m pretty sure Young will still manage to break the rules behind the ref’s back for the win.

Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee - Castle suffered a humiliating loss to Rush on April 6, causing him to turn heel and vow revenge...on Rush’s brother, Dragon Lee.  Lee is just coming off of a nice run in New Japan, having lost the IWGP junior heavyweight title to Will Ospreay.

Castle’s stock has dropped a lot since back problems led to him dropping the ROH world title last year.  It’s hard to tell if his recent downturn is due to in-ring limitations holding back a renewed push, or to set up the heel turn.  The fact that he’s still wrestling in a back brace doesn’t make me very optimistic.  Even if he wins (he should, or the heel turn is pointless), I’m not expecting him to do very much, unfortunately.

Nick Aldis & ? vs. Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe - Billy Corgan bought the National Wrestling Alliance a few years ago and has been partnering with ROH to promote matches.  This led to an NWA/ROH co-promotion of the Crockett Cup tournament on April 27 to reactivate the NWA tag team championship.  The Briscoes were disqualified in their tournament match against PCO and Brody King, who went on to win the whole thing.  That made the Briscoes mad enough to attack NWA national champion Colt Cabana after a match with James Storm on May 12, at which point they called out NWA world champion Nick Aldis, dragging him into the fight.  So this match was originally made with Aldis teaming with Cabana, but then Colt suffered a minor leg injury and had to pull out of this show.  Aldis’s new partner is supposed to be revealed on the pre-show.

Logically this should all build to PCO and King defending the NWA tag title against the Briscoes, but to get there the Aldis team needs to fail somehow.  The key to that may lie in the NWA’s hype video for the mach, which showed James Storm walking away from the Briscoes’ attack on Colt and oddly emphasized tensions between Aldis and his enforcer Kamille.  One way or another I expect shenangians that blindside the NWA team while handing victory to the Briscoes.

Rush vs. Flip Gordon - This is scheduled for the pre-show for some reason.  After Gordon won a four-way over Rush, Dalton Castle, and PJ Black; Castle talked shit at Rush but wouldn’t back it up, so Gordon proposed this match and Rush kicked his ass.

They’ve spent over a year building up Gordon as the underdog hero of the masses, but Rush is the biggest star in the company.  I don’t think this will be as quick as the squash of Dalton Castle on April 6, but I expect Rush to make similarly sort work of Flip.

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 43 - NJD - Exorcise and Celly

It was a rainy night in Buffalo and dread was in the air among the spires of downtown Buffalo. The Sabres were a fright since Christmas and could hardly tame cats. The absolute fright seemed to reach its peak when the Devils incarnate came to town: often the torturers of Key Bank Center crowds they had not lost in Buffalo since April fool’s Day 2014. No, not tonight, for tonight was a different night: tonight would be the night a silver sabre was stabbed into the heart of the beast. Tonight… or last night now… would be an exorcism. Enough of the theatrics: there was a kid in the row behind me who was no older than 8 who repeatedly hollered obscure stats from NHL 19. We’ll be calling him Chel kid for this blog post. Chel kid was a few seats down from Loudmouth. Loudmouth only kind of knew he was at a hockey game yelling about drama of his family and friends to the two rather fetching women at either side of him. Chel kid and Loudmouth had a rollercoaster game. This is all to say I was at this game. I’ve been at both wins since Christmas so… maybe buy me tickets if you really like this team? There might be some rich trust fund baby in Amherst who might take me up on that. Nonetheless, demons were sorta exorcised in this game. In the second period it was a regular Tae-Bo session! Yes, that was a play on words pun and Tae-Bo was basically Zumba before Zumba was popularized, kids. Is this going to be six paragraphs of this guy making exorcism and exercise jokes? The answer is yes; today we celebrate because it’s been a rough go of it for the Sabres these last few games. We’re going to Exorcise and Celly today! Exorcise and Celly with Chel Kid and Loudmouth because the Sabres have perhaps their most compelling win since November in this tilt with the Devils of Newark.

The first period really only exists in this game to remind us of what this club has not been doing well. Passes, zone entries and secondary scoring did not come in the first. That said, it wasn’t a horror show either. It started out sour. Blake Coleman redirects a puck clumsily around Carter Hutton he had received from Miles Wood. Two thoughts on this goal: Miles Wood looks way to handsome to live in Newark, like no offense Newark but that City is what New Yorkers mean when they talk trash about New Jersey; and second: that goal should’ve been stopped by Hutton screened or not. If anyone was screening him it was Sabotka who was not even in his line of sight as the puck crosses the ice to Coleman. The first period ended 1-0 Devils but not before guys like Tage Thompson and Sam Reinhart really begin to lay it on. Do note that the Sabres outshot the Devils for the entirety of this game in spite of the visitors getting many more opportunities there. Loudmouth was really raising the decibel level as the first goes on, not for the Sabres but apparently because one of the women he was with told a very meandering story about how her sister was throwing a fit about having to work on her birthday. All the power to ya girl but do you find Loudmouth shattering ear drums for ten seats around in every direction attractive? Jeff Skinner got some hot opportunities in the first and Chel Kid made sure to let his surrounding compatriots know that Skinner’s shooting rating has been updated because of his hot start. Good to know, Chel kid.

Chel Kid was overjoyed when 1:39 into the second period Jeff Skinner came in on the right circle and sliced one home over Keith Kincaid’s far shoulder to draw the Sabres even. Tage Thompson, banging on the door all night got the only assist on that play.  I get an added kick out of Skinner’s 29th goal this season out of the hope that he’s warming up for Friday night’s trip to his old stomping ground in Carolina. I have that kind of midrange buzzing hatred for the Canes and I hope Skinner does pirouette goals around them. I had hardly stopped freaking out about Skinner potentially getting his 30th goal while I was there when C.J. Smith collects an arching pass from Johan Larsson in the offensive zone all by his Sabre lonesome. He proceeded to lean around the Devils defenseman and get his shot off from the low circle. The puck lands behind Kincaid and trickles in. It hardly looked like a goal. Smith cellyed on his own while it was deliberated. The refs reviewed it and the arena buzzed with cheer as the replays played on the video board. It was made official: C.J. Smith’s first NHL goal and one that feels like the start of something great considering his last 16 months with Rochester: glorious! What comes next over the six to ten minutes to follow is a moderate counterattack by the Devils who were actually 3-2 in their last 5 games coming into this one. Hutton stoned them on the few shots they got. Loudmouth actually started getting into the product on the ice at this point; it may be in part because Chel Kid had a lot to say about the Rochester Americans following Smith’s goal. My word, if NHL 19 is an adequate teacher of Hockey then this kid is probably smarter about Hockey then me, not that I’m any genius.

Casey Mittelstadt has been rough lately. He’s almost a guaranteed commodity. In time he will be a bankable second line center. Unfortunately he’s so not that right now that talk of trading for a 2C to fill that role for a time is afoot. Mittelstadt got the puck at the blue line and went along the left boards before cutting in and shooting the puck right on Kincaid. He then collects his own rebound and puts it around him on the second attempt at 10:42 of the second. That’s a nice little weight off his shoulders and his first goal in ten games. The Devils got twice as many powerplay opportunities as the Sabres in this game but the Buffalo PK was hot and the Devils just weren’t on their PPs. The Devils were on the powerplay with Buffalo up 3-1 when Vladimir Sabotka got the puck to Evan Rodrigues who broke out of the D-Zone with Jake McCabe. The two went in two-on-one against Will Butcher and did the old last second pass and McCabe got the puck past Kincaid who was still looking at E-Rod: shorthanded goal and 4-1 Sabres! This second period had everything from tape-to-tape passes to good zone entries on the Sabres part. It was maybe the most complete period they’ve played since November. But it wasn’t done yet! They were set up in the O-Zone when Conor Sheary got the puck back to our young Lawrence Pilut at the blue line. Pilut just rips that one at a foot per second and the puck goes in a straight line past his own guys, a couple Devils defenders and Keith Kincaid: 5-1 Sabres. Loudmouth must have seen this play from the start because he immediately lost his mind. Chel kid gave me a good laugh when he yelled: How many goals will they score!?

They would score no more and neither would the Devils. The visitors would shoot as many shots as the Sabres in the third period and even get a couple scraps going. None would pass and this game ended 5-1 and hit me like a cool, spring breeze. Buffalo needed this and as Loudmouth said: I’ve never seen a Sabres game with this many goals! Not only that Loudmouth but if you count assists 14 different Sabres got points in this game and all but one from Skinner came from non-top line guys. That by itself is worth celebrating. I don’t just joke about exorcism because it’s the Devils: that lack of secondary scoring has been a real blight for this team. Moreover, the Devils are an Eastern Conference team which means in the second half of this season they get Playoff Trash talk with New Look Sabres: New Jersey, if you make the playoffs at this point it will be something of a miracle. Your mix of young guns and geriatric players makes you and enigma to figure out but goaltending is not stable in Newark and the Sabres would make quick work outscoring a Devils team that in spite of its talent has no true firepower. Taylor Hall went from a five alarm fire in Edmonton to an already burnt down sporting goods store in New Jersey and isn’t saving this team in a seven-game series: not last season, not this season. Beating the Devils in the first round would be our punishment to them for making the 2010s a nightmare at home. Sabres win in 5.

Speaking of the Playoffs: the only good news on that front last night was that the Islanders lost and are now two points back of Buffalo in the first spot out. Montreal, Boston and even Carolina won so all the other spots remain the same although Buffalo moves up to the first wildcard spot. They have to beat Carolina on Friday because every team around them in the standings plays one or two games between now and then. Their buffer is gone but yes, there is much hockey to be played. Like, comment and share this blog. I look forward to a day both Loudmouth and Chel Kid read New Look Sabres although I’m not helping myself with a younger demographic making a friggin Tae-Bo reference. Do also note however that I didn’t call this game just exorcism; yes they played the right way in this game but I am not convinced yet that they’re exorcising some of those consistent mistakes. See you Friday in what will surely be a feelsy game. Keep pace, Sabres!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Scott Wilson getting waived right now may seem stranger than how precise Jack Eichel’s game day regimen is but the 411 on that is that when he clears he’s going down to Rochester for a reclamation stint if you will having been out since Training Camp.

[vincent-marie]

A Look Back on TREASURE PLANET

So recently I rewatched TREASURE PLANET for the first time in about fifteen years and… I'm not gonna lie, it's still my personal favorite of the 2D Disney animated features from the early to mid-2000s.

Let's be real. Of the 2D features Disney released around that time period, TREASURE PLANET is one of the more solid films. ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE had some interesting ideas and some really nice design work and animation, but it really needed to be at least two hours long if it wanted to flesh out the characters and the world-building without requiring supplementary material (like a special edition of Disney Adventure magazine). Hardly anybody remembers BROTHER BEAR was even a thing, and the less said about HOME ON THE RANGE, the better. (Seriously, that movie wasn't even worth the Steve Buscemi cameo.)

The only other film of that era that has really held up was LILO AND STITCH, and I'll admit it's probably a better film than TREASURE PLANET. It took more risks in terms of character, setting and originality, and emotionally it leaves more of an impact. (That scene when Nani sings to Lilo makes me cry like a baby every time.) My only problem with it is it always felt like two entirely different movies collided with each other and it never felt like they really meshed well. Otherwise, I agree with most fans that it’s a good film.

Also, of course, there was the excellent THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, which was just such a huge departure from Disney’s normal schtick and trying something more Tex Avery-esque, only for it to be a perfect storm instead of a total crash and burn. That is much to be proud of.

Going back to TREASURE PLANET, I can understand that most folks walk away saying it’s an "okay" film. I, however, am not one of those people. I've had a real soft spot for this movie ever since I saw it, but now I appreciate this film for additional reasons.

Namely, the animation and effects work. Holy crap, is this movie gorgeous! It's like watching Don Bluth's ANASTASIA, except I don't have to feel guilty about historical inaccuracies. (Now it’s just scientific inaccuracies, but STAR WARS gets away with that all the time.)

Directors John Musker and Ron Clements had apparently wanted to do a sci-fi retelling of "Treasure Island" since before they started working on THE LITTLE MERMAID. With that in mind I do feel like this movie would have fared better with critics back in the early 90s during the Disney Renaissance. However at that time they would not have had such elaborate and detailed CG effects within arm's reach. There's something I really enjoy about the use of 3D backdrops so that they may do sweeping camera movements, and that's not even getting into the lighting effects to establish atmosphere.

What's more, there are a lot of subtleties to the character animation that I never appreciated until now. You could just pick one character and focus on him or her during the whole movie and find a lot of fun little quirks in their dialogue or walk cycles.

Admittedly, much of this film’s appeal probably depends on how much of an animation fan you are. In my case I was watching John Silver’s animation and I suspected that Glen Keane was probably in charge of animating him (as there are moments when Silver looks so much like Ratigan). Those suspicions were confirmed during the end credits and I was delightfully geeking out about it.

It’s also easy to see where this film might not have had a lot of mass appeal. Most of the focus on the story is on Jim Hawkins and his daddy issues, which by the early 2000s was already a cliche of a character arc. And it’s not helped by the fact that Jim himself is... well, kind of on the bland side as a protagonist. There’s not a lot about him that makes him any more or less interesting than any other teenage male lead. But for what it is I think the movie did fine at establishing and building the relationship between Jim and Silver, which does have its warm and comforting moments. For both of them.

And at least the film is straightforward with its plot and characters and it’s not a structural mess like HERCULES, a previous venture by Musker and Clements.

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that TREASURE PLANET has a little bit of a cult following. I distinctly remember this one time when I was taking a storyboard class in college; we were assigned to do a “Master Study” assignment by recreating the key story frames in our favorite scene in a favorite animated movie. One of my classmates picked the scene when Jim is brought home to the inn by the police and embarrasses his mother. I recall being so impressed, and even a little envious, that she got the character design style down to a T. (If you’re wondering what movie/scene I picked for my Master Study, I picked the Big Ben scene from THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE.)

Then, of course, some friends and I suspect that TREASURE PLANET might have fared better if it had been released a bit later, more towards the height of the Steampunk craze. It’s not quite what I would call “Steampunk”, as it takes place in a sort of alternate universe version of the 18th century and not the Gothic era, and most of their transport is solar-powered and not steam-based. Nevertheless it’s easy to see how fans of Steampunk could find it appealing, with its mostly earth-tone color pallet to evoke the painted illustrations of the classic novel it was based on. Also that combination of a pre-20th century aesthetic with out-of-this-world science fiction elements is pretty much, in my opinion, what makes Steampunk so much fun to play around with. Also, a robot made out of copper. End of story.

In terms of why this film didn’t do so well when it was released, I suspect what stunted its success was the marketing. I could be wrong, as I was actually living in Honduras at the time of the film’s release, but we got some TV stations from Denver, Colorado. I remember a lot of the TV spots spent most of their time highlighting the goofy comic relief moments with Morph, and there was a real emphasis on the presence of B.E.N., even though he's in less than one-third of the movie. In other words, the film's success might have been partially sabotaged by a marketing team that seemed to think if you don’t take your film seriously at all that will somehow draw in the crowd.

Although speaking of the comic relief characters, I actually don’t mind them that much. I always thought Morph had a lot of cute, funny moments that weren’t too obnoxious. As for B.E.N., I kind of have mixed feelings for him. On one hand, the directing team made better use of Martin Short’s improvisational skills than PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN or WE’RE BACK! ever did. But on the other hand, does B.E.N. have to be so loud and shouty? However, while B.E.N. is a real screw-up, he’s not so much to the point where I want to see him get smashed with a sledgehammer. He’s generally likable, not at all loathsome, and just annoying enough, but not TOO annoying.

However while we’re still on the subject of B.E.N., I’d just like to add that the CG animation on him is really nice. Making him 3D gives him a sort of sense of solidity compared to his hand-drawn humanoid compadres, and to top it off his animation isn’t at all stiff or feels like the CG is holding him back. There is some really expressive squashing and stretching going on with his dialogue. It’s so subtle in places that you’d probably miss it if you’re not looking for it. A lot of CG animation studios at the time like Pixar and Dreamworks had not quite mastered squashing and stretching themselves, so kudos to Disney for pulling it off so well.

Now if I may indulge a little on why I remember this film fondly, my favorite characters were always Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia. They are both fun and engaging on their own, but together they are weirdly adorable. Granted, I've always thought them getting together at the end was a bit rushed, but I still totally buy it.

(What I don't buy is that they'd be so eager to have kids after Doppler showed such annoyance and revulsion towards that toddler alien girl at the beginning. I get that the creators wanted some visual shorthand to indicate that they're an official couple, but they could have just been wearing wedding rings or throw in a little more of them dancing together.)

Part of the reason I love these characters on their own is the casting. I was already familiar with Emma Thompson from Ang Lee's adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and her character of Eleanor Dashwood was very quiet and reserved. You can imagine my disbelief and delight hearing her play an assertive, witty badass as Amelia. (As if I didn't already think Amelia’s design was cool.)

As for David Hyde Pierce, I had only occasionally watched FRASIER growing up, but when I saw this movie I was familiar with him through some other memorable voice acting roles, particularly that excellent Season 8 episode of THE SIMPSONS, “Brother From Another Series.” In other words, I already knew him to be funny, snarky and charismatic.

While I'm on about the casting, I feel like there's a totally wasted opportunity to have these two characters in a room together, say, before the black hole scene, exchanging witty banter to show how compatible they are in a casual setting. It’s a shame that Emma and David didn’t record their dialogue together, because with her being an accomplished writer and with his skills at improvisation, there could have been some good verbal combat by way of “Much Ado About Nothing-Meets-Frasier.”

But looking back, I remember I immediately loved Captain Amelia just on principal. As a kid I never really gravitated that much to any of the Disney princesses. I can’t really describe why, but it was mostly how they were marketed as just looking pretty and (arguably) kind of passive in their own stories. Not to mention how when Disney Princess became a brand, they really amped up the girly cutesy-ness to their preexisting images. Not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with cute or feminine things, but it really made me feel like a weirdo who somehow wasn’t fit to be called a girl.

Captain Amelia, on the other hand, had her own style of femininity by wearing a classy, more masculine captain’s uniform along with thigh-high high-heeled boots (that she has no problem running in). She had a no-nonsense attitude, she was focused and cool-headed in a stressful situation, she was downright snarky and took crap from no one. In other words, she was the type of woman I wanted to be when I grew up, and to this day she is my favorite Disney Lady, bar none.

And while I’m at it, I’m just going to add that I’ve always found Dr. Doppler more attractive than your standard Disney prince. Besides his character design looking like a canine version of Roger from 101 DALMATIONS, he just always seemed like he’d be fun to get a coffee with.

Well, that’s about all I really want to talk about regarding TREASURE PLANET. It’s a shame it’s not remembered by more people as it does have some really good elements to it, but in some regards I can kind of see why it wasn’t a huge critical success. If you haven’t seen it already I recommend checking it out as it’s a pretty solid standalone film that doesn’t need supplementary material and covers all the bases with the plot and some fun character moments here and there. If you’re an animation fan I cannot stress enough how you really need to watch it, or even rewatch it, because, again, the animation and effects work is just a real feast for the eyes.

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Best Films of 2017 - End of Year List

I did a mid-year ‘best of’ list, so it was only fitting that I returned to the format at the end of the year to run down my top 10 favourite films of the year. Only three films from my mid-year list remain here, which is a testament to what an incredible year it has been for film. As far as I’m concerned, 2017 has been a real banner year for cinema and it has seen the release of several all-time greats that I look forward to enjoying for many years to come. 

Since I’m based in the UK there will be several notable omissions here (I still eagerly await films like Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and The Post), purely by dint of the fact that they have yet to be released in this country. Do look out for them in my forthcoming most-anticipated of 2018 list!

Honourable mentions: Custody, Brimstone, The Disaster Artist, Professor Marston & the Wonder Women, Call Me By Your Name

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, dir. Rian Johnson

While the placement of this film on my list may be resoundingly predictable (check out the total lack of bias signalled by my username!), the thrilling thing is that the film itself is anything but. The Last Jedi shatters the Star Wars mould to entertain new forms of storytelling and question long-held assumptions. It’s a shockingly meta story in how it questions the conventions of Star Wars - particularly those concerning lineage and its implications - but it is never meta in an ironic sense. There are no wink, wink moments, and while the past is investigated and questioned it is never mocked. Instead of descending into irreverence, The Last Jedi is meta in a way that feels absolutely necessary and justified if Star Wars is to remain fresh and vital as it moves forward. Bloodline and history do not have to dictate destiny in this new version of Star Wars - the heroes are those who understand this, and the villains are the ones who fail to grasp the same lesson. It’s a beautiful and intellectually rigorous movie, and I’m thrilled by how it elevates and re-contextualises the stories that came before it while pushing the characters and their relationships forward. I have no idea of where Episode IX will take this story, and that is incredibly exciting to me. Bring it on.

2. Blade Runner 2049, dir. Denis Villeneuve

There are a million and one reasons why this movie shouldn’t have worked, but Villeneueve proved his genius by making a sublime sci-fi picture that actually surpasses its predecessor. I have always admired the original Blade Runner more than I’ve enjoyed it, and that’s because I have always found it emotionally distant. Deckard struck me as a mumbling arse and his romance with Rachael always felt obligatory, not organic. The genius of Blade Runner 2049 lies in how it made me care - it made me care about the love between Deckard and Rachael (which was something of a miracle in itself), and it made me care about the love between K and his holographic girlfriend Joi. With these emotional hooks in place, everything worked as a thrilling symphony. The cinematography is easily the best of any film in 2017 (sorry, Dunkirk - I still love you) and this film has an astonishing number of scenes that still linger in my mind after many months - the very modern threesome, the shootout in the gaudy pleasure palace, the fight in the rain, the father seeing his child for the first time. It’s a breathtaking film and I couldn’t be more excited to see what Villeneuve does next.

3. Dunkirk, dir. Christopher Nolan

Dunkirk is such a striking and effective piece of cinema that it actually made me overcome my innate bias against war movies (I blame too many tedious Sunday afternoons wasted on mandatory viewings of The Great Escape at my grandparents’ house). With Dunkirk, Nolan has probably made his most accomplished and sophisticated movie - it starts off unbearably tense and doesn’t release its grip on your pulse until the final scene, when its hero finally drops off to the blessed peace of sleep. Nolan employs a tricksy converging structure with multiple plot strands to ramp up the tension and provide different perspectives on the evacuation, masterfully playing them off each other to assemble the big picture. While criticised by some for its apparent lack of character, I can’t really agree with that assessment - Dunkirk is probably the most powerfully humanistic war film I’ve ever seen, and by stripping its characters down to their rawest selves it reveals some uncomfortable yet powerful truths about all of us. The characters are somewhat distant from us - we never hear them pine for lovers or miss their mothers - but the removal of these storytelling shorthands leaves us with soldiers who behave exactly as you would expect frightened, stranded children to. And there’s something terrifyingly poignant about that.

4. mother!, dir. Darren Aronofsky

mother! is the work of a madman with no fucks to give, and it is what I choose to refer to as ‘peak Aronofsky’. He made what is clearly an allegory, and while he had his own intentions with said allegory (which he has been very loud about declaring) the film is so cleverly constructed that it can simultaneously be about the entire history of the world and the plight of the tortured artist’s muse - either reading is perfectly correct and supported by the text. mother! is a piece of art that has provoked a lively and frequently heated debate, and while it needs to be read as an allegory to make any kind of sense as a narrative I also don’t want to undersell this movie as an emotional experience. If you go into mother! willing to be challenged and content to be swept up in a bold artistic vision, it has the potential to be a really absorbing and engrossing film - it is anchored by Jennifer Lawrence’s remarkably brave and unrestrained performance. She is not playing a grounded character, but her performance is palpably real and frequently painful to witness - she portrays the whole spectrum of emotions, from mild bemusement to shrieking horror, and the whole film soars on the strength of her efforts. This is a uniquely strength and esoteric film, and I am incredibly happy that it exists.

5. Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele

This film really knocked me for six, to such an extent that I simply had to see it twice in the cinema. It got even better upon a re-watch, when I was able to watch it with full knowledge of the characters’ underlying motives and the things to come. It’s a terrifying concept (the racism of an all-white suburb is taken to a horrifying extreme) executed with incredible panache, and you feel every emotion that Chris goes through thanks to Daniel Kaluuya’s excellent performance. Get Out also represents one of the most brilliantly communal experiences I’ve ever had at the cinema - I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say that the audience erupted into spontaneous applause at a key moment in the climax. Simply fantastic. 

6. The Handmaiden, dir. Park Chan-wook

This film is exquisite - it’s first and foremost a beautiful boundary-smashing love story, and an absolutely marvellous tale of female defiance. It transplants Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith to 1930s Korea, and the story is effortlessly adapted to become intrinsically interwoven with its new setting. Sookee is a talented pickpocket plucked from a thieves den and sent as a handmaiden to trick a rich heiress into falling for a conman. To say any more would spoil the twists, but this film is just a masterwork of suspense, keeping you guessing throughout a series of interlocking pieces that take their time to reveal their secrets. I’ve seen the theatrical cut and the extended version, and they’re both great - you’re in for a treat with either.

7. The Florida Project, dir. Sean Baker

This is one of the best screen depictions of childhood I’ve ever seen. Our hero here is Moonee, a smart-tongued and cheeky six-year-old. Moonee lives in a motel room with her abrasive but loving mother, but since she’s a child she doesn’t mope or lament her poverty - she takes her surroundings for granted and makes the tacky shops and hotels that form her world her very own theme park. The Florida Project is firmly committed to adopting a child’s eye perspective, and while it can feel a bit meandering to begin with it gradually accumulates pace and purpose, building to an utterly heartbreaking and unforgettable climax. The performances here are extraordinary, and Brooklynn Prince is so palpably real as Moonee that she’ll own your heart by the end of the movie (having squeezed it to bursting point on several occasions).

8. The Shape of Water, dir. Guillermo del Toro

I’ve long been a huge del Toro cheerleader, and this movie is perhaps best described as ‘peak del Toro’ - it has the mannered, detail-oriented set design, the charming quirkiness, the subverted horror, and the woozily strange romance that he has employed again and again in his films. This story, however, is unusual for del Toro in that it is ultimately optimistic and hopeful - it’s the daddy of all supernatural romances in that it is a full-blown love story between a mute human woman and a fishman, and it is characterised by total commitment and self-belief. Think Creature from the Black Lagoon done with the creature as the romantic hero. The Shape of Water has a certain playfulness that means it never feels ponderous or silly, but it affords its characters real respect and dignity and makes you care for them deeply. This movie makes me excited to see where genre filmmaking can go next (hint: I hope it only gets weirder).

9. Thelma, dir. Joachim Trier

Who knew something like this could come out of Norway? This was probably my biggest pleasant surprise of 2017 in terms of film - I went in with no expectations at all, and came out wowed. This is an intensely strange and effective supernatural horror that follows a girl with strange repressed powers that manifest whenever she experiences desire. It could be a hackneyed or exploitative premise in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, but Trier shows a deft hand and a remarkable talent for building tension and creating a sense of heightened reality. There is one scene set to ‘Mountaineers’ by Susanne Sundfor that is one of the most transporting experiences I have ever had in the cinema - the combination of the ethereal music and the mounting suspense makes for real film magic. This was a great reminder of how important it is to take chances and try out films outside your comfort zone.

10. Jackie, dir. Pablo Larrain

This is a film that soars on the strength of Natalie Portman’s incredible performance, which is complemented by Mica Levi’s haunting score. Portman’s performance is painfully vivid, with her agony and wretchedness coming through so intensely that it’s often uncomfortable to watch. Jackie is probably the best portrait of grief I’ve ever seen, and it sucks you into a famous historic event by providing an incredibly intimate perspective on it. This is great cinema, but be prepared for suffering.

[wizardsnwookies]

TPR061318 - Creatures Below

It was late in the morning by the time they left the Foaming Mug, the sun was high and Endsday was clear and peaceful. The day of leisure and renewal was uneasy with tensions from the town pulsing around them, and people we eager to take comfort in the only place they knew they could always turn. However, on this Endsday in Orlane, the Temple of Damu was shuttered.

They could see the crowd of people from outside the abandoned in, and by the time they had made their way up the Temple road, the group of strangers saw Zacharias addressing the crowd red faced. The gates behind him were closed and locked, something the people of this town had never seen on an Endsday morning. The questions he was receiving were difficult to answer, at least, without raising a panic.

“I assure you, everything is quite alright. Temple services will resume as soon as things are set in order. Misha and Abramo apologize for this inconvenience, and remind us that Damu is within the very soil and will hear our prayers no matter where we are.”

“He’s struggling.” Galumak commented. A bead of sweat trailed down the mayors dark brow, leaving a trail along the length of his neck before disappearing into his tunic.

“Understandable, what’s he going to tell them? The entire Temple has been taken by a group of cultists, goblins, and Troglodytes? That their priest is dead and their priestess hogtied in a stranger’s house?” Raam scanned the crowd as he spoke, taking note of the faces he saw. Farmers, mostly, but also more well off folk of a less strenuous profession.

“Looks like most of the town is here.” Lash noticed Raam watching the crowd and made their own observations. The faces were a mixed blend of fear, anger, and confusion that combined to make a crowd of very upset people who were on the verge of panic.

“Mmmm, with some notable exceptions.”

“Molly and her boys, the Constable...” Lash nodded.

“More than them, no way this is a majority of the population.”

Lash sank back into their memory, once again standing in Dorian’s bedchamber and staring down at a list of descriptors for everyone in town. They had snuck in unawares, hoping to confirm their allegiances. They were not one to take things on face value. The list of people in town with shorthand labeling for those suspected as cult members, was enough to satisfy them, now it helped give a better idea of who was left to be identified.

“You’re right, let’s hope Dorian and Lyliwillan are watching this. They’ll have a better idea of who they’ve already cleared.”

Managing to duck away from the gate for a moment, the Mayor approached the three of them with something like relief in his eyes, layered on top of the panic he was surely feeling.

“Thank the Lady, I hope you have good news, I’ve had this to contend with all morning.”

“A bit of mixed news.” Raam offered. “We found evidence of Troglodyte nests in the basement of the old Foaming Mug Inn. They appear to have fled into the temple overnight.”

The mayor cast a look back at the iron wrought gates. “Well, I suppose then it is a blessing that those gates were locked. I know not who had done so, only myself and the high messengers have them. Did you take a key from Misha or Abramo?”

“Not any to the gates.” Lash shook their head. “But you’re right in that it’s probably best they were closed. We still need to finish up in the basement.”

“Of course, here.” Zacharias beaconed them to follow, weaving through the crowd and back to the gate. As he unlocked the gate, he felt questioning eyes of the townsfolk bearing down upon him.

“Are these people going to disperse?”

“I hope so...I don’t know what more to tell them.”

“Tell them to come back to your house.” Galumak stepped forward, his voice stern, almost chidingly so. “Hold services at your home, share your family’s warmth and food. They need a strong leader now, they need someone to guide them.”

Zacharias’s face flushed for a moment, but not of anger. He felt ashamed of himself, for many reasons lately. With a curt nod he thrust these feelings aside and stood taller,strong chin thrust out.

“You’re right, of course. I swear, it was easier taking orders than it is giving them. But that is my duty now, to these people, to this town that is what I have to be. Thank you, I needed that.” Galumak felt a strong hand clap down on his shoulder with a force surprising given the man’s small frame.

Lash watched as Zacharias approached the crowd as if a new man, his voice was commanding and confident, whether he felt as much or not, and the people responded as if in relief. The procession wound their way down the path back towards the village, leaving the company alone before the unlocked gates. 

“That was very well handled Galumak.” Lash turned back with a smile. The half orc responded by taking a long pull of his wine.

---

“You best watch yourself, our orders are no longer to capture you. You’ve proven to be more trouble than you’re worth!” The cultist spat with a hatred in his eyes spawned from the powerful charm placed upon him. Still, it felt no less real, and no less ominous.

“Gag him.” Raam bent over to collect the pile of parchment and papers they had caught him trying to flee with. They had caught him rummaging through Misha Devi’s desk upon entering her room, his arms already full of scrolls and documents of all sizes.

Raam recognized them immediately, for he had seen them quite recently. Any and all documents pertaining to the cult activities were collected here. The donation documents, temple activities, everything. They were running scared, he and his company were driving them back. This was both good and bad. Their presence outside the village would minimize collateral damage, but at the same time, they risked losing those their trail and the innocent people still indoctrinated with them.

“Does he have anything on him?”

“Nothing but a dagger, and this.” Galumak tossed Raam a small piece of stone about the size of a salt shaker. He knew what it was before he examined it. Turning it around in his palm he saw the roughly carved face of a Naga, it’s body coiled around a central pillar. His temper slipped, the disgust he felt for the vile piece of blasphemy got the better of him and he threw it against the wall with such force it shattered. The cultist screamed against the piece of cloth tied over his mouth, but he received no pity from the room.

“The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can track down this Naga and end this.”

“Agreed.” Without having to be told Galumak grabbed the bed by the posts and dragged it across the plush carpet floor, revealing a dogeared edge by the corner half concealing the trap door beneath. He wrinkled his nose, already he could smell the stale scent of fish and earth lingering in the air. He hesitated, but ultimately willed himself to throw open the door opening the room to a blast of foulness that overcame them all.

“Ugh...if there was any doubt before.” Lash reached into their pocket and drew out a handkerchief to hold against their nose. A savory scent filled their nostrils by pure happenstance they had reached for the same cloth they folded in herbs from the forest. Relieved, they stood taller and peered down into the darkness, ready to face whatever hid in the shadows.

The cellar of the temple was like an entirely different world. Even when tainted by the cult’s presence, the Temple of Damu had a feeling of warmth and openness. Stepping past the threshold you felt welcome as if by an old friend into a home where there was want for nothing. Everything felt fresh and plentiful, it was the feeling of renewal and abundance. 

The cellar however was simple, almost barren of all feeling. Here the taint of darkness was much more apparent, stretching beyond the sense of smell that was constantly assaulted. The shadows felt darker, the silence more deafening, one felt an overpowering presence looming over them feeding off of the warmth of their body and leaving them cold and empty.

While the stone foundation rose above them on the right hand side, upon the left a long stretch of wood formed a crudely constructed wall along the entire length of the room with a single door that just barely hung upon its hinges. It was obvious that this was not original to the room, the planks and squares of wood ranged from fresh green wood to aging lumber that smelled of rot and mildew. Iron nails jutted out, half driven into place as if merely an afterthought. There was one thing that was meticulously crafted about this however, it was the presence of strange iron circles of some kind that pock marked the entire length of the wall. It was almost as if something was driven into the wood from this side, careful to go all the way through to the cap.

“I was not expecting this.” Lash brushed their fingers against the cold iron studs, slowly moving along the length of the wall before stopping at the door. The haphazard way it had been hung left a wide gap where what little light there was spilled in beyond. Their elven eyes adjusted to the darkness, pressed up against the door to see what awaited them.

“What do you see?” Raam inquired.

“Hard to tell. Let me get a better look.” Stepping back, Lash’s body emitted a faint green light. Their very flesh becoming luminous until they were nothing more than a sillouete of emerald energy. Their human form shifted, shrinking in upon itself, the outline changing and the light fading. Where once an elf stood, a small brown field mouse adjusted itself to its surroundings. Nose twitching, it looked up at the two towering forms surrounding it, before squeezing in between the gap and disappearing inside.

Minutes passed in a quiet tension. Galumak paced the cramped hallway, impatient. He was not well suited to waiting, biding his time, and he was loathe to do so now when there was still a threat to these people lying just beyond the wooden barrier.

“Cold water helps.”

“Excuse me?” Galumak was almost startled by Raams sudden breaking of the silence.

“Rivers, ponds, the ocean especially if you can get on the coast.”

“I don’t follow?”

“The fire in our veins. It doesn’t go away, but cold water helps make it manageable.” Raam turned and looked with eyes that spoke of understanding, of experience in such things. No pity, for pity did no one any good. Understanding however, opened a door through which experience could be shared, both pain and relief.

Galumak simply nodded, a squeak at his feet drawing back his attention. When he looked down the mouse was already glowing, expanding into a familiar humanoid form.

“It’s a maze. Some kind of torture maze, spikes on the walls, dead ends, and an Ogre.” Lash looked at the two of them, Troglodytes were one thing, an Ogre was something else entirely. “But I think I can get us passed him to the tunnels.”

“Tunnels?”

“At the end of the maze there’s a hole in the wall that leads down, from the smell of it that’s where the Trogs are.”

“Lead the way.”

---

The grit of excavated earth crunched beneath their feet, each step carrying them deeper below the cellar, deeper into the earth, and closer to the foulest stench either of them had ever encountered. The darkness was pervasive, each shadow resembling an abyss that felt like it could stretch forever. Getting this far was simple enough, however the with the unknown laid before them each step was taken with care and with utmost stealth.

“Hold up.” Galumak stretched his arm across the tunnel, letting the other two bump into the limb, blinded to it by the darkness. “Lash, you’re the druid, what do you make of that?”

Lash looked past the stubby finger thrust forward, just beyond the edge of the oncoming turn towards a flash of color in the tableau of earth browns and greens that surrounded them. Towards something small, something that almost fluoresced in the darkness with a purplish hue sprouting out of the dirt.

“Looks like some kind of fungi, a toadstool perhaps. Strange that it’s just the one though.”

“Mmmm, that’s what I was thinking. Anything you recognize?”

“That size, and that shade of color? No, that is utterly foreign to me.”

“Then we proceed with caution, we can’t just stop here because of one lone toadstool.” Raam carefully stepped forward, signalling that their journey continued here. As they approached the ground behind the fungus gave way to something that glistened int he faint light. A brackish sticky fluid that was as still as glass, with the texture of lumpy porridge.

“A quagmire...we’re getting close. We should form a-”

Their ears exploded in pain, forcing their hands to clamp on to the sides of their head as the air was filled with a shrill screech. It was like a thousand crickets all chirping at once at such a volume as to drive out a dragon’s roar, the echoing off the tunnel walls only amplified it, nearly splitting their heads in two.

Looking down at his feet Raam saw the once innocent fungus, twitching and writhing as the gills beneath the cap vibrated against one another to emit the piercing cocoughany of sound. “GALUMAK, KILL IT!”

A single swing with his mace silenced the growth as it was driven down into the earth, crushing the cap beneath its weight. Though the tunnels returned to silence, it took minutes for the ringing in their ears to fade.

“Well...so much for the element of surprise.” Lash turned their head towards the darkened tunnel before them, forking to either side and winding into inky blackness. “Which way?”

Galumak shrugged, ears perking back to life with the sound of wet sloshing in the distance. A sickening sucking sound. The ever present stench gaining strength. “Better figure it out soon, we’re going to have company before long.”

Removing the cloth from their face, Lash leaped into the mud and felt themselves sink in shin deep. The mud was cold and pulled back against their movements with an unexpected strength, slowing them to a snails pace. They could only hope the Trogs didn’t fair much better. Finding the fork, they pressed themselves against the earthen wall and took an offensive stance. “Too late, we’ll make our stand here.”

“That works for me.”

Hissing now, a high pitched rush of air between needle-like teeth. Their nostrils burned, and in the dim light the outline of several medium sized creatures appeared from the shadows. They stood with a slight haunch, elongated heads leading the rest of their thin, muscular forms. Rotting cloth just barely hung to scalely skin while clawed three-fingered hands gripped the hilt of a large scimitar. And the stench...by the throne the stench. It was overpowering, nearly knocking them over with a punch to the senses. 

In an instant the tunnel to the right light up like sunrise, twin balls of flame hurtling town towards the hissing creatures. Lash shuttered, feeling the spirits of nature, guided by pan himself, surge through them and sparking to life at the tips of their fingers. Raam’s Eldrich power exploded from his palm with the familiar burning in his blood, the constant reminder of this lineage and his pact. Both burned with their own power, and each found their own target, adding singed flesh to the assault on their senses.

Galumak’s mace cut through the air, striking the first of three more Troglodytes that scrambled through the mud of the left tunnel. They were too eager to take any care in their approach, primitive minds compelling them only to move forward for the kill. The crushing blow of scorched iron ended their advancements, with a sickening crunch and the spray of blood.

As more fell lifeless into the mud, apprehension gave way to confidence. These creatures were proving to be no more than a nuisance, Raam thought to himself. So much for the better, there will be more of them in the Naga’s lair, and that is when we will need to conserve our energies for the hardest push forward.

The last of them crashed into the earthen wall behind them, a hole burned clean through it’s chest. Even in death, their stench persisted and if anything, became only worse. Lash stood, returning the herb cloth to their face.

“Let’s hurry up and check their lair and get out of here before one of us gets sick.”

---

“And the Ogre?” Dorian leaned forward, listening intently to the story, pieces fitting together in his head. The two elves welcomed the group once again into their home to discuss progress on the greater mission at hand. Progress, it seems, had been made on both fronts.

“The thing was starved, most likely to keep it nice and aggressive so as to make sure that whoever was left in that maze left nothing behind but gnawed bones. We put it out of its misery.” Raam reflected back to the pitiful creature, he had never seen an Ogre in such sorry a state. It wheezed when it first saw them, its mouth far too dry to even salivate at the prospect of a meal. A solid blow with Galumak’s mace ended its torment.

“Not even ogres deserve such a fate.” The elf heaved a sigh and slapped his knee, signalling a change to more cheery news. “Well, my brother and I on the other hand have been visiting the good people over at the Golden Grain Inn.”

“Hospitable were they?”

“Oh yes, laid out their best silver for us.” The mirth the two brothers shared was intoxicating. Normally, such behaviour in the midst of a town in dire peril would have been unseemly, but the three of them found it rather a source of relief and renewal. It was quite welcoming and warm.

“After a friendly, if not heated discussion over the finer points of swordsmanship, the owner and those under his employ had to retire to their rooms for the evening.”

“Charming bunch they were.” Lyliwillan broke in, tending to the fire with a small poker. “Although there was one black sheep among them that we found quite interesting.”

“Oh?”

“A very...small man, I would say.”

“A halfling?”

“No, small in deeds and character. When we first arrived he appeared to be charmed like the rest of them, but when it became quite clear he was on the losing side he experienced a remarkable change of heart and tried to flee.”

“That is not so strange.” Raam curled his lip, thinking of the cowardly cultist who tried to cut and run with all evidence of their existence in the temple. “We caught one trying to make his escape with the records.”

“I’m afraid you misunderstand...it very much appeared that he no longer was concerned with the preservation of his cult, but rather his own skin.”

“You think he was faking it?” Lash was incredulous. “Why on earth would someone do that?”

“Coin, of course.”

“He was being paid?”

“He’s a rather chatty fellow, apparently he was skimming off the top of the ‘donations’ before they were delivered to the Naga’s lair.”

“So, as you can see...” Dorian finished. “A very small man indeed.”

The three companions exchanged a look, each one having the same thought at the same moment. They almost felt like it didn’t need to be said, and yet, for such a golden nugget to drop right in their lap they felt compelled to if only to convince themselves it wasn’t just them being mad.

“If he was pretending to be charmed...” Lash began.

“That means he was brought to the Naga’s lair, and resisted her ‘gift.’“ Raam continued, a somber grin forming on his lips.

“Which means he was clear headed enough to remember which way they took him.” Galumak finished, punctuating the conclusion by pacing over to the window and staring off towards the south, towards the swamps.

“Where is he?” Lash nearly lept to their feet.

“We deposited him in the cell at the constables office.” Dorian smiled “Seemed like the perfect place for him.”

Buy Me a Coffee

[timespanner]

In a vault in the basement of a library in Connecticut lies a book no one can read. The Voynich Manuscript, an early 15th-century codex that belongs to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, presents an irresistible medieval mystery. The tome is written using an otherwise unknown collection of symbols known to those who study the codex as “Voynichese,” with what appear to be roots, prefixes and suffixes as well as repeating spelling and grammatical patterns. Then there are the illustrations, which include unidentifiable but detailed and realistic plants, circular zodiacal and astronomical diagrams, crowned nude women bathing in green or blue pools and other images that defy description.

For centuries, the Voynich Manuscript has resisted interpretation, which hasn’t stopped a host of would-be readers from claiming they’ve solved it. In June 1921, the monthly magazine Hearst’s International announced that University of Pennsylvania Professor William Newbold had “come upon the key to the secret cipher of the [Voynich] Manuscript … and the truth of six hundred years ago is coming out!” Newbold surmised that 13th-century English scientist Roger Bacon had written the manuscript with the aid of a microscope and a telescope, centuries before the invention of either instrument. Newbold’s solution was debunked in 1931 by University of Chicago classicist John Matthews Manly in a journal of medieval studies called Speculum, leaving Newbold posthumously disgraced. Although they had once been close friends, Manly felt a moral imperative to publicly denounce Newbold’s work in the “interests of scientific truth.” “In my opinion,” he wrote, “the Newbold claims are entirely baseless and should be definitely and absolutely rejected.”

Sound familiar? It should. Every few months, it seems, a new theory is trumpeted by the news media beneath a breathless headline along the lines of “Has the Voynich Manuscript Really Been Solved?” (Spoiler alert: No, it hasn’t.) I’ve seen them all.

I’ve been critiquing Voynich theories since I was a PhD student at Yale in the early 1990s and had a job at the Beinecke Library. In addition to my other responsibilities, I was tasked with handling Voynich-related correspondence. Ever since I first laid eyes on the manuscript 30 years ago, I have been captivated not only by the object itself but also by the hold it has on both the public and the persistent and devoted “Voynichologists” who can’t get enough.

Like modern-day Newbolds, we all want to know what the Voynich means. But most would-be interpreters make the same mistake as Newbold: By beginning with their own preconceptions of what they want the Voynich to be, their conclusions take them further from the truth. Their attempts to demystify the medieval past only serve to mystify it further, making the Voynich into a telling avatar of our vexed relationship with the past.

In addition to my own work on the Voynich, which involves a detailed study of the scribes who wrote the manuscript, I’ve been increasingly called upon by the media in recent years to comment on various theories. Every solution I have seen falls apart under scrutiny, from wishful foundations to illogical conclusions.

Recent proposals that were reported worldwide argued that it was written in “Proto-Romance” (something that was not an actual language in the early 15th century), in ancient Hebrew (this theory depends in part on Google Translate, which can’t really handle medieval languages), or — as publicized just last month — in an Italian dialect transcribed using a well-known medieval shorthand system called Tironian Notation. (In fact, there is no resemblance between Voynichese and Tironian Notes.) Like others before them, these authors tend to go public prematurely — and without proper review by the real experts. Word of each new solution spreads across the globe in minutes. While it took years for Manly to call out Newbold, today’s refutations are posted within hours on Twitter or other platforms.

What is it about the Voynich Manuscript that keeps us clicking? Why do we fall for the breathless announcements, only to see them denounced within hours or days? And why should we care about the Voynich Manuscript at all?

There is, in fact, no medieval manuscript that has been seen, studied, analyzed and debated more than Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library MS 408. Dozens of solutions have been proposed in the past century alone, most of them more aspirational than they are substantive. In addition to Roger Bacon, the manuscript has been credited to Leonardo da Vinci or attributed to 16th-century Mesoamerica. Recent chemical analyses, however, concluded that the oak gall ink and the mineral and botanical pigments are consistent with medieval recipes, and Carbon-14 analysis has dated the parchment to between 1404 and 1438. That rules out Roger Bacon (who was already dead), da Vinci (who hadn’t been born), and the peoples of post-contact Mesoamerica.

I regularly receive Voynich “solutions” by email with requests for feedback. That feedback and my public comments are not always accepted in the constructively critical spirit in which they are given. I recently received an ugly and threatening direct message from a fake Facebook account referring in detail to my critique of the Proto-Romance theory, claiming that the author of the theory “will go down in history,” while I will be remembered as a “backwards looking troglodyte” who tried to slow “the advancement of knowledge and human progress” and who will “fade into obscurity.” For some, apparently, the stakes appear to be irrationally high.

The proliferation of demonstrably false Voynich solutions is indicative of a larger issue. As executive director of the Medieval Academy of America, the largest organization in the world dedicated to the study of the Middle Ages, I am acutely aware of the importance of the humanities as a discipline and the urgency of addressing the increasing threats to the study of history, languages and literature in the United States.

In this context, what are we to make of the widespread popular interest in a 600-year-old manuscript that no one can read? While it is the mystery of the Voynich that appeals, that grabs and holds the attention of a curious public, undercooked solutions presented without context lead readers down a rabbit hole of misinformation, conspiracy theories and the thoroughly unproductive fetishization of a fictional medieval past, turning an authentic and fascinating medieval manuscript into a caricature of itself.

Every new Voynich theory offers an opportunity for readers to exercise healthy, critical skepticism instead of accepting publicized solutions at face value. Proposed solutions shouldn’t automatically be rejected (the default reaction of most medievalists), but they should be approached with caution. Seek out expert opinions, and do some follow-up reading. It shouldn’t take a Voynichologist to spot a leap of logic or an argument based on wishful thinking instead of solid facts. It is only by engaging with the critical reading and interpretive skills imparted by the study of the humanities that consumers of media can deconstruct methodologies, assess hypotheses and judge for themselves the reliability of what they read. And I’m not just talking about the Voynich Manuscript.

When we approach an ancient object such as the Voynich Manuscript, we tend to bring our preconceptions with us to the table. The more we burden the manuscript with what we want it to be, the more buried the truth becomes.

The missteps of historical preconception are particularly problematic when dealing with the Middle Ages. We watch “Game of Thrones,” we read “Lord of the Rings,” we play medieval-themed video games, and therefore we think we know something about the Middle Ages. Nationalists and white supremacists misappropriate medieval symbols, imagery and narrative to serve their own vicious agendas. Using a contemporary cultural megaphone to talk over history threatens to drown out that which might otherwise be heard on its own terms. To truly understand the past, we have to let it speak for itself. The Voynich Manuscript has a voice — we just need to listen. 

[jmess-6841]

SA Wk 2: Loadable Kernel Modules

Getting Familiar With FreeBSD To run/test the code written for this project, I’m going to be using FreeBSD running through VirtualBox as recommended by my tutor. FreeBSD is easier to use for rootkit development since it is open source, making it easier to figure out how to intercept APIs as function implementation etc, are easily accessible. Running through VirtualBox rather than having a dual boot on my machine is also just for simplicity, in both installation as well as not accidentally wrecking my personal system. 

FreeBSD did take some getting used to since there is pretty much no GUI. Most terminal commands are similar to linux (ls, mkdir, cd etc.) but I noticed there is no gcc compiler and clang is used instead.

I also had to change a lot of settings. For example, the ‘host’ key was set as ‘right ctrl’ however my keyboard doesn’t even have this key, so i was using an onscreen keyboard just for this function at first before changing it. My keyboard also didnt have a ‘scroll lock’ key to let me scroll through terminal output so this setting had to be changed as well. 

Although it is advantageous freeBSD is open source, I’ve found that there is a lot less documentation/forum discussion available, making this all a bit difficult.

All the practice code I write will be here: https://github.com/sherryliu38/comp6841

Hello World Loadable kernel modules are a simple way to inject code into a running kernel. 

When a kernel module is loaded/unloaded, the module event handler is called. 

The prototype for the event handler function is defined in the <sys/module.h> header;

typedef int (*modeventhand_t)(module_t, int /* modeventtype_t */, void *);

The same header also defines modeventtype_t as below, and module_t is a pointer to a module structure.

typedef enum modeventtype {     MOD_LOAD,              /* Set when module is loaded. */     MOD_UNLOAD,         /* Set when module is unloaded. */     MOD_SHUTDOWN,   /* Set on shutdown. */     MOD_QUIESCE         /* Set on quiesce - pausing an active                                                                    device/thread/other resource */ } modeventtype_t;

The function should return 0 if the module was successfully loaded/unloaded or an error code otherwise.

When a kernel module is loaded, it needs to link and register itself with the kernel. From the same header, this is achieved using the DECLARE_MODULE macro;

DECLARE_MODULE(const char *name, moduledata_t data, sub, order)

name is the name of the module, data is a struct as defined below. For our purposes, sub = SI_SUB_DRIVERS to register device drivers and order = SI_ORDER_MIDDLE to initialise the kernel in the middle. Other values for these 2 parameters are found under the <sys/kernel.h> header. I will look further into these if necessary later on. 

typedef struct moduledata {     const char *name;                /* module name */     modeventhand_t evhand;    /* event handler */     void *priv;                            /* extra data */ } moduledata_t;

I’m uncertain why it’s necessary to pass in the name of the module into DECLARE_MODULE as well as have it defined in moduledata_t which is also passed in. 

Terminal commands for loading/unloading module;

sudo kldload ./module_name sudo kldunload module_name

Note unloading only requires the module’s name unlike loading, since it is already stored in the kernel’s list of loaded modules.

The Makefile will be taken from the system at bsd.kmod.mk. I will adapt it to compile various modules. The resultant file will have the .ko extension.

When attempting compiling a Hello World example, running ‘make’ resulted in 20 errors generated of the form, “unknown type u_int”, “unknown type u_char”, etc all stemming from the <sys/systm.h> header. Some googling later, and apparently this is due to BSD codebases using u_xxx as shorthand for unsigned xxx back when system headers had this typedef, and it was suggested I add some CFLAGS to solve this, however this did not solve my issue. I attempted typedefing these values explicitly to see what kind of error message I would get but it only made them worse. However, in doing so, I had moved the sys/systm.h header underneath the other headers, and after commenting out the typedefs, the file compiled with no errors. Immediately I realised the relevant typedefs must’ve been present under one of the other headers. After looking up the source code for each of the headers used, I found that the typedefs came from <sys/types.h> which was included in <sys/params.h>, which was the header included in hello.c. 

System Call Modules System call modules are type of kernel module that install a system call. 

The function that implements system calls is defined in the <sys/sysent.h> header as follows;

typedef int sy_call_t(struct thread *, void *);

Thread points to the currently running thread and void to the system call’s argument structure. Note: arguments to the system call are stored in a struct.

To access the syscall arguments within the function, it is necessary to assign the void pointer passed in, to a struct sc_example_args *tmp, and accessing through tmp.  Recall that the syscall arguments will reside in user space whilst the syscall function execution occurs in kernel space. Hence using this approach (assigning tmp), you are unable to modify the arguments.

Note: The kernel expects each syscall argument to be of size register_t. Explicit padding may be required for arguments not of this size. Macros defined in <sys/sysproto.h> may be useful here.

System calls themselves are defined by sysent structs;

struct sysent {     int sy_narg;                       /* num arguments */     sy_call_t *sy_call;             /* implementing function */     au_event_t sy_auevent;   /* audit event associated with system call */ };

These are all stored in sysent[ ]. Each syscall has a unique offset value (0 - 456) to indicate its place within sysent[ ]. Offset values must be explicitly declared;

static int offset = NO_SYSCALL  //Next available offset in sysent[ ]

Unlike with the hello world kernel module, it is more efficient to use the SYSCALL_MODULE rather than the DECLARE_MODULE for syscall modules. 

#define SYSCALL_MODULE(name, offset, new_sysent, evh, arg)  static struct syscall_module_data name##_syscall_mod = {      evh, arg, offset, new_sysent, { 0, NULL }  }; 

static moduledata_t name##_mod = {      #name,      syscall_module_handler,      &name##_syscall_mod  }; 

DECLARE_MODULE(name, name##_mod, SI_SUB_DRIVERS, SI_ORDER_MIDDLE)

Clearly, SYSCALL_MODULE does the work of DECLARE_MODULE for us, plus the extra functionality required for a syscall module. The offset, new_sysent, and arg paramters need to be passed as pointers. 

The syscall module will be similar to the regular module, with the addition of defining the syscall args struct, syscall function, and offset value. 

We may now simply load this module as before. But we now need to write a user program that is going to execute the syscall to test it out. 

Some new functions:

int modfind(const char *modname);    /* Returns an int to uniquely identify a module loaded into the kernel */

int modstat(int modid, struct module_stat *stat);    /* Returns status of a module referenced by modid into stat */

int syscall(int number, ...);    /*Executes syscall associated with number */

Based on the DECLARE_MODULE hello world example, I’m going to try to write and execute a syscall module that takes user input and prints it out. 

After writing and attempting compilation, I received an undeclared identifier error for the variable AUE_NULL, appearing in the SYSCALL_MODULE macro. I was unaware of the existence of this variable(?)/value(???)/parameter so went to inspect <sys/sysent.h> source code. After Ctrl+f ing, it seems AUE_NULL is used but never declared or initialised anywhere in the header nor within headers within the header. I threw a #define AUE_NULL 0 into my code to see what would happen - compilation successful! So glad freebsd is open source.

Calling the module however was unsuccessful. After reading some documentation, it seems adding your own syscall is lot more complex than it used to be. I will revisit this later on.

[michellelewis7162]

A Training program In Miracles - Changing Lifestyles and Just How it Aids You Launch Guilt

A Training program In Miracles - Changing Lifestyles and Just How it Aids You Launch Guilt

 A Course in Miracles is therefore pure, therefore remarkable, therefore effective, and also therefore a lot extra emotionally enhanced than some other part of the planet's literature (past times and also found), that you possess to in fact experience it to feel it. Yet those whose thoughts are actually also attached to worldly thought and feelings, and also are without the underlying crave true metaphysical knowledge that is essential for its understanding, will likely certainly not comprehend a singular entire web page. That is not because A Course in Miracles is actually puzzling - however its own guidelines are remarkably basic - but rather since it is actually the nature of metaphysical understanding that those that are actually certainly not prepared to recognize it, just can not understand it. As said in the Bible, at the starting point of the publication of John: "The mild shineth in night, and also darkness understood it certainly not". A Course In Miracles

 Since I initially became knowledgeable of the amazing and also magnificent presence of God, I have appreciated checking out numerous wonderful spiritual jobs like the Bible (my beloved components are actually the Sermon on the Mount and also Psalms), the Bhagavad-Gita, the Upanishads, the Koran and also the poems of Kabir and Rumi. None of them resemble the effectiveness of a Course in Miracles. Reading it along with an open thoughts and center, your worries and also issues get rid of. You hear of a fantastic love deep-seated within you - much deeper than just about anything you understood in the past. The potential starts to seem so brilliant for you as well as your loved ones. You think love for every person featuring those you recently have attempted to leave omitted. These expertises are incredibly effective and also sometimes toss you off equilibrium a little bit of, however it costs it: A Course in Miracles offers you to a love therefore calm, so global and thus tough - you will ask yourself how numerous of the world's religions, whose objective is actually apparently a similar expertise, got thus off monitor.

 I have read the gospels a lot of times and also I assure you that a Course in Miracles is entirely regular with Jesus' trainings while he was actually on earth. A Course in Miracles mirrors Jesus' true information: genuine passion for * all folks *. If they taste as pleasant as my own perform, and also the millions of other true seekers who have found A Course in Miracles to be absolutely nothing less than a divine treasure, then congratulations - and also might your center consistently be perfectly filled up with calm, nurturing joy.

 As the label indicates, A Course in Miracles is a mentor gadget free sources. It shows us what is actually actual as well as what is unreal, as well as leads us to the direct knowledge of our own Inner Teacher.

 The Course is actually arranged in three components: a text message, a workbook for pupils and also a guidebook for instructors. The educator's manual is actually presented in a question and also solution format, addressing common questions that a trainee may inquire; it additionally supplies an explanation of phrases used throughout the Course.

 On How all of it Began

 The free of charge information Course was composed through david hoffmeister, extremely trained and prosperous Professors of Psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and also Surgeons in New York City. Helen was the scribe for the Course, making a note of in shorthand the internal notifications she obtained. Expense keyed what Helen created. It took a total amount of seven years to complete A Course in Miracles, which was very first posted in 1976 in the United States. Helen created added handouts. Her Song of Prayer was actually released in 1977 and The Gift of God in 1978.

 Over the previous 34 years, the popularity of A Course in Miracles has actually grown and also spread worldwide. Throughout the world, people collect along with other similar pupils to read the Course all together in purchase to better comprehend the Course's message.

 Experiencing the Course

 The Course is actually designed to be a self-study device by david hoffmeister. Nonetheless, several pupils locate that their 1st communication with the product is actually complicated as well as mind-boggling - the modification in viewpoint that it uses contrasts conventional reasoning. Taking an introductory class with a trained company or educator allows for a gentler position to these originalities and a more meeting expertise.

 There are several classes as well as curricula based upon the approach of A Course in Miracles, and also specific courses on crucial Course concepts, like True Forgiveness or Cause as well as Effect. Such classes give students the possibility to experience the concept and also request of details component extra deeply. By means of such deep-seated expertise, lots of students find the confidence of internal calmness and also the joy of understanding the Inner Teacher.

 " This Course is actually a beginning, certainly not an end ... No a lot more specific trainings are designated, for there disappears need of them. Henceforth, listen to yet the Voice for God ... He will send your efforts, informing you precisely what to perform, exactly how to send your mind, and when to find to Him in silence, seeking His sure instructions and His certain Word (Workbook, p. 487).

 They discover that they come to a brand-new understanding of mercy when folks use the lessons found out as well as the precepts of A Course In Miracles. They are actually capable to research as well as find out why you harm on your own and others when you carry out certainly not eliminate.

 The one who requires to forgive is actually affected simply as much as the one who needs to be eliminated, if not even more deeply! You can easily forgive the culprit whether he inquires for forgiveness or even not. This will certainly be the first of the miracles that is actually given as well as secured by the power of forgiveness knew from A Course In Miracles.

 Over 40 years earlier, a psycho therapist from Columbia University began to channel revelations coming from a religious facility that she was enticed was Jesus themself. She as well as her assistants created trainings that loaded dozens unfilled webpages over a time period of seven years which later ended up being "A Course In Miracles."

 The psycho therapist was a Jewish female called Helen Schucman, as well as she informed individuals that Jesus Christ himself was her personal sense quick guide for these trainings and also trainings. These courses were supposed to give credence for folks to find out that they were the just one in command of their very own feelings, actions, attitudes and destinies. The mentors took lots of fines of activities out of the equation. Indeed, a hallmark of the ACIM training program is actually that wicked itself does not exist. The ACIM trainings insist that by qualifying your mind adequately, you can discover that there is no such factor as heinous, which it is simply a viewpoint or something that individuals have actually set up to frighten and also handle the activities as well as notions of those that are certainly not competent of thinking for on their own. ACIM urges that the only thing that carries out exist is true passion and also upright thoughts and also emotionally best reasoning are going to not permit anything like evil to exist.

 These views and also concepts outraged numerous individuals that belonged to a number of the significant beliefs given that, while they espoused a number of the same guidelines, this program likewise found to possess people strongly believe that wickedness is certainly not real and as a result sin is actually likewise unreal. ACIM on its own makes an effort to possess individuals rely on the sacredness and also a good idea beliefs as well as behavior as well as in the fact that nothing at all can easily injure you unless you think that it can. Alternative masters fasted to realize onto these concepts due to the fact that much of the New Age religious beliefs are based certainly not on wrong and atonement but the electrical power of one's very own thoughts and sense.

 ACIM carries out use some teachings regarding how to rid your own self of irritated as well as unfavorable emotions that are flooding your lifestyle along with troubles and making disease as well as misery day by time. A Course In Miracles instructs you that you are in charge of these feelings and also they are actually only harming you. It is actually up to you to clear them coming from your life for your personal happiness as well as prosperity.

 A Course in Miracles is actually a collection of self-study components released due to the Foundation for Inner Peace. The publication's content generalizes, and also describes forgiveness as related to regular life. Oddly, nowhere carries out guide have an author (and also it is actually therefore detailed without an author's title due to the U.S. Library of Congress). Nevertheless, the text was created by Helen Schucman (deceased) as well as William Thetford; Schucman has connected that guide's information is actually based upon interactions to her coming from an "interior vocal" she asserted was actually Jesus. The initial version of the manual was actually released in 1976, along with a changed edition posted in 1996. Portion of the information is actually a teaching guidebook, as well as a trainee workbook. Due to the fact that the 1st edition, the publication has marketed a number of thousand copies, along with interpretations in to virtually two-dozen languages.

 The manual's sources may be outlined back to the very early 1970s; Helen Schucman initially experiences along with the "conscience" resulted in her after that administrator, William Thetford, to call Hugh Cayce at the Association for Research and also Enlightenment. In turn, an introduction to Kenneth Wapnick (later on guide's editor) developed. During the time of the overview, Wapnick was clinical psycho therapist. After appointment, Schucman and Wapnik devoted over a year modifying and modifying the product. Yet another overview, this moment of Schucman, Wapnik, and also Thetford to Robert Skutch as well as Judith Skutch Whitson, of the Foundation for Inner Peace. The very first printings of guide for circulation resided in 1975. Ever since, copyright judicial proceeding due to the Foundation for Inner Peace, and Penguin Books, has established that the material of the very first edition is actually in everyone domain name.

 A Course in Miracles is actually a training unit; the course has 3 manuals, a 622-page text message, a 478-page student book, and an 88-page instructors handbook. The web content of A Course in Miracles addresses both the academic as well as the practical, although request of the manual's component is actually focused on. Not either the book neither the Course in Miracles is meant to accomplish the reader's discovering; merely, the components are actually a beginning.

 A Course in Miracles compares know-how and belief; truth is immutable as well as eternal, while understanding is the planet of interpretation, improvement, and time. The globe of impression reinforces the prevalent tips in our minds, and maintains our company different from the fact, as well as different from God. Belief is limited due to the physical body's limits in the real world, hence confining recognition. A lot of the experience of the planet enhances the self-pride, and also the individual's splitting up coming from God. By taking the vision of Christ, and also the vocal of the Holy Spirit, one knows mercy, both for oneself and also others.

 On the web attacks in the community for A Course in Miracles (ACIM) are actually using the lots of remarks, quotes as well as various other posts wherein we respond to our interpretation which then ends up being the reason for our feedback (T-12. All trainees have a basic confusion between kind and also content as well as what it indicates to participate in so permit's certainly not sweets coat it: Social media is forms (forecasted web content of the self-pride wrong mind) coming from joining along with the incorrect mind.

 Even in the Course, all of us sit around online along with some kind of a digital device mindlessly doing our pride trait. Okay, some could be standing up, bending or lounging:

 Relaxing as well as speaking about the Course is certainly not the very same trait as doing the challenging job of researching the text message as well as putting the guidelines into process to discover out what the Course means (Kenneth Wapnick, Rules for Decision).

 In the exact same Rules, Wapnick likewise states, "What provides the vanity its energy is your having accompanied it, your recognition using it." Forms are actually projected as a defense against the contrary as well as are simply with the vanity incorrect mind and thereby they perform not matter.

 Specialness is valued as an idol put before the Love of God as well as those perceived variations sustain the separation in the thoughts. Positively any sort of broken quality our company judge in another online (or even anywhere) must be found in all of the Sonship due to the fact that our experts're truly One in fact.

 Distinct means, "Distinct as well as one by one different." All attack in any kind of kind is the very same and also is actually indicated to split the whole of the Sonship considering that it assaults (fragments) the Sonship using variations as opposed to equivalency. We can easily view why Wapnick will mention that it is actually ridiculous to use the Course as a weapon when it's accurately a Course located in uniformity.

 Finally, permit's incorporate two various other term symbol interpretations given that these are both utilized throughout the Course:

 Show: Clearly reveal the presence or even truth of something through giving evidence or even proof.

Reminder: A point that induces someone to consider something.

 Unloving Reminders

 In the Course, "To show is actually to show (M-in.2) as well as our experts are actually consistently teaching, or showing the ego or even God every instant, i.e., the material thoughts with which our team have actually opted for to join or identify. For contrast, the material of the ego is several predicted and also different types; and the information of the right mind is actually oneness, sameness, i.e., Love (no forecasts). There are actually no exemptions. It's one or the other.

 Our brothers are actually a part of our company. They are actually the ones who instruct our company that our experts are for our knowing is a result of what we have instructed them (T-9. VI.3) - the self-pride or even God - always. As the daydreamer of the goal (T-27. VII.), our dream bodies (those online along with us and also our bros) are doing what our team are actually dreaming they are actually performing based on what we've taught (shown). As a result, they are actually innocent given that it is our aspiration. We educated splitting up or a homicidal assault thought versus God therefore all of us confirm pointed out attack in numerous fragmented forms. If we forgive ourselves for what we have shown (chosen) rather of attacking, our team discover who we are with our siblings that are actually the same.

[martin9395]

A Program In Miracles - Altering Lives as well as Just How it Helps You Discharge Guilt

A Course in Miracles is actually therefore pure, so wonderful, therefore powerful, and also so a lot a lot more emotionally state-of-the-art than any kind of other part of the planet's literary works (past and present), that you need to really experience it to believe it. But those whose thoughts are actually too affixed to life notions, as well as do not have the rooting crave true spiritual know-how that is actually important for its understanding, will likely not comprehend a singular entire page. That is actually certainly not since A Course in Miracles is actually confusing - as a matter of fact its own principles are actually incredibly basic - but rather since it is actually the attribute of spiritual understanding that those that are not ready to comprehend it, just can certainly not know it. As specified in the Bible, at the start of the book of John: "The mild shineth in darkness, and night understood it certainly not". a-course-in-miracles.net

 Ever before because I first became informed of the amazing and marvelous existence of God, I have taken pleasure in checking out several splendid metaphysical works like the Bible (my favorite parts are actually the Sermon on the Mount as well as Psalms), the Bhagavad-Gita, the Upanishads, the Koran and also the verse of Kabir as well as Rumi. None resemble the effectiveness of a Course in Miracles. Reading it along with an open thoughts as well as heart, your worries and also problems clean away. You hear of a wonderful passion deep-seated within you - much deeper than anything you understood previously. The potential starts to seem to be so bright for you and your liked ones. You think love for every person featuring those you recently have attempted to leave excluded. These experiences are actually extremely strong and also at opportunities toss you off balance a little, yet it is actually worth it: A Course in Miracles introduces you to a love thus peaceful, thus strong therefore global - you will ask yourself how thus several of the planet's religious beliefs, whose goal is apparently a comparable experience, got thus off track.

 I have reviewed the gospels numerous opportunities and I guarantee you that a Course in Miracles is totally consistent with Jesus' trainings while he was actually on planet. A Course in Miracles shows Jesus' correct notification: outright passion for * all people *. If they try as wonderful as my own carry out, and also the thousands of various other real applicants that have actually located A Course in Miracles to be nothing at all less than a divine treasure, after that congratulations - as well as might your center constantly be actually abundantly packed with calm, caring pleasure.

 As the label suggests, A Course in Miracles is a training gadget complimentary resources. It shows us what is actually real and also what is actually unreal, and leads our team to the direct knowledge of our very own Inner Teacher.

 The Course is actually set up in three parts: a text, a workbook for students as well as a guide for instructors. The Text offers the principles rooting the Course. The book includes 365 daily lessons that offer trainees the option to administer and experience the concepts on a sensible level. The instructor's guide exists in a question as well as answer format, attending to common concerns that a trainee might inquire; it also supplies a clarification of conditions utilized throughout the Course.

 On How it All Began

 The free resources Course was actually composed by david hoffmeister, extremely taught and also successful Professors of Psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians as well as Surgeons in New York City. Helen was actually the scribe for the Course, listing in shorthand the internal messages she got. Expense keyed what Helen wrote. It took a total of 7 years to finish A Course in Miracles, which was actually 1st posted in 1976 in the United States. Helen composed extra pamphlets. Her Song of Prayer was actually released in 1977 and The Gift of God in 1978.

 Over recent 34 years, the attraction of A Course in Miracles has increased as well as spread out worldwide. It has been translated into 18 various foreign languages and additional interpretations reside in the jobs. Throughout the world, people acquire with other compatible pupils to check out the Course together if you want to a lot better understand the Course's information. Within this period of digital and social media, A Course in Miracles can be actually gotten in electronic book format, on CD, as well as by means of iPhone Apps. You may communicate along with various other Course trainees on Facebook, Yahoo Groups, Twitter, as well as countless various other web sites.

 Experiencing the Course

 The Course is actually made to be a self-study device through david hoffmeister. A lot of students locate that their 1st interaction along with the component is actually difficult and also difficult - the change in viewpoint that it offers is actually contrary to conventional thinking. Taking a promotional course along with a skilled company or educator enables a gentler position to these brand new ideas as well as an even more meeting experience.

 There are a lot of lessons and training programs of research study located upon the approach of A Course in Miracles, and also details courses on crucial Course principles, including True Forgiveness or Cause and Effect. Such lessons offer pupils the opportunity to experience the theory and also request of particular component more greatly. By means of such deep knowledge, a lot of pupils discover the confidence of internal calmness as well as the joy of recognizing the Inner Teacher.

 " This Course is a starting point, not a side ... No extra details lessons are designated, for there disappears need of all of them. Henceforth, hear however the Voice for God ... He is going to direct your attempts, informing you precisely what to perform, exactly how to send your mind, and also when ahead to Him in silence, seeking His certain instructions as well as His particular Word (Workbook, p. 487).

 When people utilize the sessions found out as well as the mandates of A Course In Miracles, they discover that they involve a brand new understanding of forgiveness. They are capable to research as well as learn why you injure your own self and also others when you perform certainly not forgive.

 The one that requires to eliminate is had an effect on only as a lot as the one that needs to be actually forgiven, if certainly not additional greatly! You can forgive the perpetrator whether he inquires for forgiveness or certainly not. This will be actually the first of the miracles that is provided as well as secured by the electrical power of forgiveness knew from A Course In Miracles.

 Over 40 years back, a psychologist from Columbia University began to direct revelations from a metaphysical facility that she was actually enticed was Jesus themself. She as well as her assistants produced mentors that filled up thousands of vacant web pages over a time period of seven years which eventually came to be "A Course In Miracles."

 A trademark of the ACIM program is that heinous itself carries out certainly not exist. The ACIM teachings insist that by qualifying your thoughts effectively, you can easily know that there is actually no such thing as evil, and also that it is only a viewpoint or one thing that other folks have set up to discourage as well as control the actions and also ideas of those who are not capable of believing for themselves. ACIM firmly insists that the only point that performs exist is pure passion and also that innocent minds and also emotionally best thinking will definitely not permit everything like bad to exist.

 These concepts and beliefs outraged lots of folks who concerned a few of the significant faiths due to the fact that, while they embraced much of the exact same concepts, this course additionally found to possess folks strongly believe that evil is actually unreal and also for that reason sin is additionally certainly not true. ACIM on its own makes an effort to have folks strongly believe in the sacredness of right and also wise opinions as well as behavior as well as in the truth that nothing at all can easily injure you unless you believe that it can. New Age masters were actually simple to grasp onto these concepts due to the fact that much of the New Age religions are based not on sin and also redemption however the power of one's personal thoughts and also feeling.

 ACIM carries out supply some trainings concerning just how to clear your own self of bad as well as irritated emotions that are actually swamping your life along with complications as well as making sickness and worry each day. A Course In Miracles instructs you that you are in charge of these feelings and also they are actually merely injuring you. As a result, it depends on you to free all of them from your life for your personal happiness and also prosperity.

 A Course in Miracles is a set of self-study materials released through the Foundation for Inner Peace. The book's content is actually supranatural, and also reveals forgiveness as administered to daily life. Part of the content is actually a teaching handbook, and a trainee book.

 The book's sources can easily be actually traced back to the early 1970s; Helen Schucman initially experiences with the "inner vocal" led to her after that supervisor, William Thetford, to speak to Hugh Cayce at the Association for Research as well as Enlightenment. In turn, an overview to Kenneth Wapnick (later on the publication's publisher) occurred. The 1st publishings of the manual for circulation were in 1975.

 A Course in Miracles is actually a teaching device; the course possesses 3 manuals, a 622-page text, a 478-page trainee workbook, and an 88-page instructors guidebook. The products could be researched in the purchase selected by reciters. The information of A Course in Miracles deals with both the academic and also the useful, although request of the manual's product is actually highlighted. The text message is actually primarily academic, and also is actually a basis for the workbook's lessons, which are actually sensible uses. The book has 365 courses, one for every day of the year, though they do not must be done at a speed of one lesson every time. Probably most like the books that recognize to the normal audience from previous knowledge, you are actually asked to utilize the product as directed. Nevertheless, in a departure from the "regular", the viewers is not required to believe what is in the book, or perhaps take it. Not either the workbook nor the Course in Miracles is planned to finish the viewers's learning; merely, the components are a beginning.

 A Course in Miracles compares know-how and also perception; reality is firm and everlasting, while belief is the globe of modification, analysis, and time. The globe of understanding improves the dominant tips in our minds, and maintains our team separate coming from the truth, and different coming from God. Viewpoint is restricted due to the physical body's limitations in the bodily planet, hence limiting awareness. A lot of the encounter of the planet reinforces the self-pride, as well as the individual's splitting up coming from God. But, by approving the vision of Christ, and also the voice of the Holy Spirit, one finds out forgiveness, both for oneself and others.

 On the internet assaults in the neighborhood for A Course in Miracles (ACIM) are actually via the many remarks, quotes and also other postings in which our experts respond to our analysis which then ends up being the reason for our feedback (T-12. All pupils have a fundamental confusion in between kind and also content as effectively as what it implies to sign up with therefore permit's certainly not sugar coat it: Social media is actually forms (forecasted content of the self-pride inappropriate mind) from joining with the wrong thoughts.

 Even in the Course, all of us kick back online along with some form of a digital unit mindlessly doing our ego factor. Okay, some may be standing up, leaning or passing time:

 Kicking back as well as discussing the Course is actually not the same point as doing the challenging work of researching the text as well as placing the guidelines right into method to discover what the Course implies (Kenneth Wapnick, Rules for Decision).

 In the exact same Rules, Wapnick also points out, "What provides the ego its electrical power is your having participated in along with it, your recognition with it." Types are forecasted as a protection against the contrary and also are actually merely with the ego inappropriate thoughts as well as thereby they carry out certainly not matter.

 Because social media is actually all concerning kinds which are actually broken forecasts of the pride, our company are actually after that recognizing the Sonship as broken which brings in the inaccuracy true. Specialness is valued as a beloved put before the Love of God and also those regarded variations preserve the separation in the thoughts. Positively any fragmented feature we evaluate in an additional online (or even anywhere) needs to be viewed with all of the Sonship since we're truly One essentially. That is actually why assault isn't separate and must be relinquished (T-7. VI.1).

 Distinct methods, "Distinct as well as separately different." Due to the fact that it strikes (pieces) the Sonship using variations as an alternative of parity, all attack in any kind is the same and also is actually implied to split the entirety of the Sonship. Our team can find why Wapnick would say that it is ridiculous to use the Course as a weapon when it is actually plainly a Course located in oneness.

 Allow's include pair of other phrase symbol interpretations considering that these are each used throughout the Course:

 Demonstrate: Clearly show the presence or truth of one thing by providing evidence or proof.

Tip: A point that triggers someone to keep in mind something.

 Unloving Reminders

 In the Course, "To show is actually to confirm (M-in.2) and our company are consistently showing, or even confirming the vanity or God every instant, i.e., the material mind with which our company have chosen to join or even recognize. For contrast, the material of the vanity is several projected and also different types; and also the information of the sanity is actually unity, solidarity, i.e., Love (no estimates). There are actually no exceptions. It is actually one or even the other.

 They are the ones who educate us who our team are for our understanding is actually an end result of what we have instructed them (T-9. We taught splitting up or a homicidal attack believed against God and also so our company all show claimed strike in lots of fragmented kinds. If our team forgive our own selves for what we have actually taught (picked) as an alternative of attacking, we discover who we are actually with our siblings that are the very same.

[thisdaynews]

What George Kent told impeachment investigators

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/what-george-kent-told-impeachment-investigators/

What George Kent told impeachment investigators

Democrats’ highlights of Kent’s testimony | Full transcript

Check back for updates. We’ll post the most important revelations here.

How other officials rationalized dealing with Giuliani

Kent makes clear in his testimony that he was alarmed by the role the president’s personal lawyer was playing in trying to shape Ukraine policy — especially his efforts to work with a Ukrainian prosecutor to smear the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, Marie Yovanovitch.

But he said that others, like Kurt Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, thought that it was better to engage with Giuliani than to ignore him because of the influence he wielded on President Donald Trump. Volker even brushed off Giuliani’s campaign against Yovanovitch and push to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, a rival for the White House in 2020, saying, according to Kent: ”Well, if there’s nothing there, what does it matter?”

Kent, however, was worried about the precedent set, and the long-term implications. Or, as he put it: “What I understood was Kurt was thinking tactically and I was concerned strategically.”

The Trump-Zelensky call made for uncomfortable talk even among colleagues.

Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was so unusual that a National Security Council official — Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who also has testified for the inquiry — didn’t want to get into the details with Kent. That call is now at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

“It was different than any read-out call that I had received,” Kent told investigators. “He felt — I could hear it in his voice and his hesitancy that he felt uncomfortable. He actually said that he could not share the majority of what was discussed because of the very sensitive nature of what was discussed.”

Trump’s message for Zelensky: ‘Investigations, Biden, Clinton’

Kent told investigators that, based on his conversations with other senior American diplomats, Gordon Sondland relayed that Trump “wanted nothing less than President Zelensky to go to microphone [sic] and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton.”

Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, was describing “in shorthand” what Trump wanted the Ukrainians to do, according to Kent.

“Zelensky needed to go to a microphone and basically there needed to be three words in the message, and that was the shorthand,” Kent added.

The word “Clinton” was shorthand for 2016, Kent said, a likely reference to the debunked conspiracy theory — pushed by Trump and Giuliani — that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election.

Giuliani and Lutsenko waged a ‘campaign of lies’

As Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani was interested in getting Ukraine to investigate Biden and the 2016 election. And Yuriy Lutsenko, a top prosecutor in Ukraine at the time, saw Yovanovitch as an apparent threat to his ability to keep his position as it became clear that U.S. officials felt he was not doing enough to battle corruption.

The two men found each other useful, Kent said.

“Based on what I know, Yuriy Lutsenko, as prosecutor general, vowed revenge, and provided information to Rudy Giuliani in hopes that he would spread it and lead to her removal,” Kent said.

Kent said he learned that Lutsenko had even met in private with Giuliani in New York, where Lutsenko’s purpose was to “throw mud” at Yovanovitch and Kent himself.

Kent said the two men essentially waged a “campaign of lies” about Yovanovitch, who would be recalled early from her post in May.

“I believe that Mr. Giuliani, as a U.S. citizen, has First Amendment rights to say whatever he wants, but he’s a private citizen,” Kent told lawmakers. “His assertions and allegations against former Ambassador Yovanovitch were without basis, untrue, period.”

Kent’s boss told him to keep his ‘head down’

Top officials at the State Department seemed unsure of how to deal with someone like Giuliani, who, although not a U.S. official, clearly wielded an outsized influence on Trump when it came to Ukraine. His presence was a divergence from the usual policy-making process.

At one point, after Giuliani slammed Yovanovitch, Kent and others in a May 2019 interview, Kent was told by his superiors to “keep my head down and lower my profile in Ukraine,” he said.

The instruction came via an intermediary from David Hale, the undersecretary of State for political affairs, according to Kent’s understanding. It wasn’t clear if Hale had talked to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about it.

Hale testified to impeachment investigators on Wednesday, but little has yet emerged about what he told them.

Hunter Biden’s role was scrutinized, too

Republicans will be able to hang their hat on at least one aspect of Kent’s testimony.

Kent said he spoke with a member of Biden’s staff in February 2015 and raised concerns about his son Hunter’s role on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

“I raised my concerns that I had heard that Hunter Biden was on the board of a company owned by somebody that the U.S. government had spent money trying to get tens of millions of dollars back and that could create the perception of a conflict of interest,” Kent told investigators.

The foundational basis of Giuliani’s efforts to spur a Biden investigation was the unsubstantiated theory that the then-vice president sought to oust a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was looking into Burisma. The prosecutor was widely viewed by the Western world as corrupt, and the State Department’s view was that Shokin became an impediment to efforts to root out corruption in Ukraine.

Sondland’s ‘independent relationship’ with Mick Mulvaney

Kent testified to a previously unreported detail about Sondland’s relationship with the White House: namely, that Sondland had “connections” to the acting chief of staff that got him into high-level meetings with both Ukraine’s president and Trump, despite Ukraine not being in the European Union and therefore not a key part of his portfolio.

“It was Ambassador Sondland’s connections with Mulvaney” that got the U.S. delegation that attended Zelensky’s inauguration a meeting afterwards with President Trump, Kent testified. That meeting “was not done through NSC staff,” Kent said, explaining how it deviated from the typical process for such debriefings.

Sondland, for his part, had testified that “I don’t believe I’ve ever had a formal meeting with Mulvaney … we say hello, we walk by and wave. I don’t believe I’ve sat down with him for a formal meeting on any subject.”

Notably, Mulvaney, as the former head of the Office of Management and Budget, also ordered the hold on military assistance aid that Trump had directed, Kent testified. His relationship with Sondland suggests the EU ambassador might have had more insight into the reasons for the hold than Sondland let on during his own testimony.

In revised testimony submitted earlier this week, Sondland said he understood that the aid would only be resumed if Ukraine launched the investigations Trump demanded.

House Democrats have demanded that Mulvaney give a deposition of his own, but the White House said on Thursday that he would not show up to his scheduled appearance on Friday, calling the impeachment probe “a ridiculous, partisan, illegitimate proceeding.”

Kent kept a receipt, too

At a certain point, Kent said, he realized he needed to make a record of his concerns about Ukraine policy. Two conversations in particular triggered the move.

One was with Catherine Croft, a special assistant to Volker. She asked Kent in mid-August, he recalled, whether the U.S. had “ever asked the Ukrainians to investigate anybody.”

He explained to her that if there had been a crime committed in the U.S., there was a treaty that allowed for asking for such assistance, among other options. But if she was talking about asking the Ukrainians to prosecute someone for political reasons, he said, “the answer is, I hope we haven’t, and we shouldn’t because that goes against everything that we are trying to promote in post-Soviet states for the last 28 years, which is the promotion of the rule of law.”

The next day, he learned from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Kyiv after Yovanvitch had been pulled out, that Volker had raised the possibility of “investigations” with top Ukrainian officials. So Kent decided to write a “note to the file saying that I had concerns that there was an effort to initiate politically motivated prosecutions that were injurious to the rule of law, both Ukraine and the U.S.”

Kent’s frustration with Volker in this process was palpable. In his conversation with Croft, he told her: “Kurt has a lot of ideas. Some of them great; some of them are not so good. And part of the role of the special assistant as well as people like me is to ensure that the ideas stay within the bounds of U.S. policy.”

Republican senators pushed Trump to lift hold on aid

Republican Senators Jim Inhofe, Rob Portman and Mitch McConnell called Trump and asked him about the hold on military aid to Ukraine just before the hold was lifted, according to Kent. The questions, and bipartisan criticism of the hold from members of Congress, may have contributed to Trump’s decision to release the aid on September 11.

Kent recalled Republican senators “who had traveled to Ukraine from the relevant committees” getting involved, presumably because they were aware of the importance of the aid to fending off Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.

Describing the aid as “critically important” for Ukrainian security and in the “national interest” of the United States, Kent said, “I would say that we probably derive more benefit from the relationship than the Ukrainians do.”

Kent clashed with State higher-ups over their response to inquiry

As the House committees investigating impeachment pressed the State Department to hand over records, Kent grew frustrated over how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his aides were handling the matter.

For one thing, he took exception to Pompeo’s claim in an Oct. 1 letter to lawmakers that the committees were “attempting to bully, intimidate, and threaten career foreign service officers.”

He, for one, “had not felt bullied, threatened, and intimidated,” Kent said.

He also pointed out that despite receiving requests for documents on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23, as well as a Sept. 27 subpoena, it wasn’t until “after the close of business on Oct. 2” that the department issued a “formal instruction” on gathering documents. The committees wanted the material by Oct. 4.

Along the way, Kent said he had a “very public exchange” with a State Department lawyer over who should be responsive to the subpoena.

Kent argued that a top consular official should also share information because he’d spoken with Giuliani about a dispute over a visa for a prominent Ukrainian. The lawyer disagreed that the consular official, who was not named in the subpoena, needed to get involved.

Kent remains a U.S. diplomat, and it’s not yet clear how his decision to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry will affect his career. He told lawmakers he was “faced with enormous professional and personal cost and expense of dealing with a conflict between the executive and legislative branches not of my making.”

Kent doesn’t believe aid was part of quid pro quo

Several witnesses have testified both a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky and the U.S. military aid package were conditioned on Ukraine publicly committing to the investigations Trump and Giuliani were seeking.

But Kent says it was his “personal opinion” that only the White House meeting, not the military assistance, was part of a quid pro quo.

“It strikes me that the association was a meeting with the White House, at the White House, not related to the security assistance,” Kent told investigators. “But again, that’s just my personal opinion, other people may have different opinions.”

Read More

[whatwewrotepodcast]

Tales of Toby

So I think Emma has posted a few excerpts about a character named Liam. So here is one from Toby’s POV. This is a NA LGBT fiction story and was basically just us messing around. We have plans to revisit Liam and Toby’s story as a High School drama, but in this incarnation they are at uni :)

Toby felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame as he bent over his desk, copying notes down onto his notebook. He was one of the few students in the class that didn’t bring a laptop to write on. He preferred writing everything down – in a form of shorthand that he developed back in high school. He felt like writing them down etched them into his brain, committing each scratch of pen on paper to his memory. He kept soft copies of his notes too, of course. Later that night he’d transcribe all of his notes into a word document. Another key step to remembering what he wrote down, he supposed. He was pretty sure most of the students in this class would never open their word document again, let alone read their notes. If they were taking any, that is.

He glanced up, flexing his wrist absently and looking over a few of the other people in the class. Most looked like they were making an effort. Biophysics wasn’t exactly a class for the weak hearted, which tended to weed out the slackest of slackers. But even so he could spot a few people with the tell-tale glaze over the eyes. He could see one girl, Stacey, sneaking selfies of herself from under the table. Toby rolled his eyes and turned back to his notes. He’d been in a few classes with the ditty blonde girl now, and he knew she essentially flirted her way through them. She was pretty in that typical pale skin, big green eyes and doll-like make up kind of way. If you liked that sort of thing, he supposed.

“Mr Zhao, yes?” the lecturer interrupted his explanation abruptly, making Toby look up in surprise. “You’re late.”

He was standing in the doorway and Toby’s breath fell suddenly, unexpectedly short. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Almost like he’d walk straight out of one those trashy romance books he occasionally caught Delilah reading. He wore blue jeans and a fitted black t-shirt that clung to the muscles over his chest and shoulders. He had a black leather jacket slung over his shoulder, the kind of jacket that a motorbike owner might wear.

“Sorry. I had to go to the office and sort out my timetable.” He replied, unruffled by the lecturers accusations. His voice was soft, though it carried straight to Liam well enough that he could hear the slight accent, Chinese he was sure. It was just enough to give his words an unfamiliar, almost musical, lilt.

“You’ll be behind.” The lecturer nodded. Toby swallowed back his snort of derision, turning back to his notes. That was an understatement. The class had started weeks ago, “Mr O’Keefe can catch you up. I suggest you take a seat next to him.” He said, then continued with his lesson without pausing. Toby blinked at the lecturer, though he shouldn’t be surprised. This wasn’t the first class he had with him. And he no doubt knew that Toby would be the only one with reliable notes. He turned his gaze back to the new comer, Mr Zhao, and felt his mouth go dry.

Damn, he thought, watching him as he rocked on his heels, evidently looking for the elusive Mr O’Keefe. He was distractingly good looking. He finally caught Toby’s gaze and lifted a brow a little in question. Toby nudge his chin up in assent, grabbing his book bag off the table next to him in invitation. Mr            Zhao took a deep breath, as though mentally preparing himself for the beginning of his education before starting towards him. As he got closer, Toby saw that his initial assessment of the guys attractiveness was vastly understated. He had soft, gold-brown skin, all but flawless. His eyes were pitched so dark they were almost black, and they sat in slightly slanted in his face, a sweet almond shape to them. His hair was spiked, neat in that deliberately tousled kind of way. It was dark and thick and looked perfect for running fingers through it.

He reached the desk and dropped his jacket over the back of the seat before sliding into it. He gave Toby what could only be called an appraising look.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced.” He said, his voice soft, pitched low so as not to disturb the other students. A small smile was playing on his lips as he offered him his hand. “Liam.”

Toby reached out and took his hand. It was warm, his graceful fingers curving delicately around Toby’s. He spotted the hint of a tattoo poking out from underneath the arm of his t-shirt. A collection of Chinese characters on his bicep, he thought, though he didn’t dare let his gaze linger.

“Tobias.” He replied, even as his heart rate rose. “I think I’ve seen you around.” He added. Though truthfully he couldn’t be sure. It was all he could think of saying other than ‘I love your fucking face.’ Liam gave his hand a brief squeeze before letting him go, giving him an interested look.

“You have?” he asked, tipping his head to the side. Toby hesitated, feeling more the fool. If he had seen Liam around, apparently Liam hadn’t seen him.

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “You got the chapter?” he asked then, tapping on the open textbook in front of him. Liam didn’t answer right away, instead he regarded Toby, a little more intensely than one would expect from a new acquaintance. It was bordering on awkward when he finally replied.

“No. I haven’t had a chance to purchase my textbooks yet.” He said, glancing down the front to where the lecture was flicking through some slides. “I am sure I can catch up on my own, if you need to listen.” He added, lifting his dark brows.

“It’s fine. I’d give you my notes, but…” he trailed off, glancing down to his cryptic notes. If nothing else, the short hand deterred people like Stacey trying to sit next to him. “So, you haven’t even done the readings?” he asked then, unable to hide the note of disapproval from his tone. Liam’s eyes fell to Toby’s notebook, the corner of his mouth quirking up in the half smile again. Fuck, he sounded like the guys tutor or something. Clearly he had better things to do than study. Like riding his motorbike and getting tattoos.

“No. I’ve already done three semesters of biology, and one of biochem.” He defended his intelligence. Toby lifted a brow a little. Maybe he wasn’t a completely lost cause after all.

“And physics?” he pressed. Liam grimaced.

“Not so much.” He admitted. “I understand thermodynamics, energy and matter transfer. Not much more than that though.” The way he said it made it sound like it physically pained him to admit he didn’t know something. Toby admired him though, for not pretending as though he did know it all. He made sure he schooled his expression into something neutral so that Liam didn’t feel as though he were being judged.

“Okay. Well, at the moment we’re discussing protein dynamics.” He told him, tapping a figure on the text book with the end of his pen. “And the transitions between thermodynamics and kinetics.” He added. Liam leaned a little closer across the space between the desk and Toby hastily slid the textbook towards him so that he didn’t have to keep coming. Damn, he smelled as good as he looked. He watched him as he read, the corner of his mouth pulling back as he concentrated.

“Mmhm. I understand this.” He said. “This is the equation?” Toby nodded.

“For the thermodynamics only. The kinetics is here,” he turned the pages over to the one marked a little later, pointing to the paragraph in question. Liam studied that, and Toby studied him. He trailed the tip of his tongue over his lower lip and Toby found himself copying the movement. He stopped himself quickly when Liam looked up at him.

“I see.” He said. Toby wasn’t sure if his gaze was intense, or if his skin was prickling just because of his proximity. “What is this code you use?” he asked then, releasing him from his eyes and looking down at his notebook. Toby straightened as though a physical weight had been lifted off his shoulders when Liam had looked away.

“It’s mine.” He said. A corner of his mouth quirked up, that playful little smile making it appearance again.

“I see that.” He replied, amused. “Show me.” Toby hesitated, his brows lowering warily. No one had paid any particular attention to his short hand before, beyond the quick curious looks to see if they could be copied surreptitiously. He slid his notes across to him warily. Hell, if he could figure out the code, the boy deserved the right to copy the notes.

Liam pulled the notebook across in front of him and hunched over it. He studied it for a long time, his eyes moving carefully over the collections of scratchy symbols. He saw his mouth twist a little, concentrating on the code like he had the equation in the textbook.

“What is this one?” he asked finally, pointing to a symbol. Toby dragged his eyes away from his face to look at what he was pointing at.

“With.” He answered.

Liam made a quiet sound, though what that meant, Toby couldn’t fathom, and slid the book back to him. “Your handwriting is messy.” he added. Toby arched a brow as he pulled his notebook close again. What the hell kind of comment was that?

“So’s your hair.” He muttered, curving his arm around his notebook defensively, hiding it from Liam’s view and turning back to the projection at the front of the class, hastily scratching some more notes down in defiantly messy fashion. A quicksilver grin flashes across Liam’s face, like lightning splitting against the horizon, brief but stunning and illuminating in the dark.

“It’s intentional.” He assured him quietly, leaning back casually in his chair, crossing his ankles under the desk and folding his arms across his chest, the picture of nonchalance. Toby rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore him. He paused to flex the tightness of his wrist before turning his full attention back to the class.

Granted, it was difficult. He managed to copy down all the notes, but he definitely didn’t think about what he was writing down at all. How could he? It was like Liam was deliberately trying to unsettle him. He refused to look at him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the burn of his gaze boring down on him. Was he even listening to the lesson? Was he planning to learn by osmosis? Or was he plotting to mow him down with his flashy black motorbike later. It was probably a black one. Or maybe it was red. He’d look good on red.

Finally the lecturer finished and dismissed the class. Toby began to pack up his things. Liam didn’t move, though he had absolutely nothing to pack up given that he hadn’t taken anything out. It occurred to him that he was loitering there when Toby went to stand up and found him facing him, his cool gaze now showing a hint of something that he hadn’t expected to see. Uncertainty.

“Tobias.” He said finally. “Thankyou. For letting me read your notes.” Toby glanced down at his satchel where his notebook now resided.

“No worries. Dunno what good they were to you.” He said, given that he wouldn’t have been able to read them. Liam’s mouth curved in that little smirk at all, like he was the only one privy to a little inside joke, and lifted one shoulder.

“I’m a quick study.” He said as he picked up his jacket. Whatever that means, Toby thought dryly. “See you around.” He added as he shrugged the leather on over his shoulders. Toby tried not to watch too closely. You could tell a lot about a person from the way they put their clothes on. Like the way they might take their clothes off. Or the way the might move when free of the restraint of fabric.

“Uhuh.” Toby all but grunted. “If you need help catching up. Let me know. You should probably get your textbook soon. You won’t last long without it.” He said. He gave him that little smile again, shrugging his shoulders to settle his jacket more comfortably.

“Thanks for the tip.” He said dryly, finally stepping back to let him pass. Toby clenched his fist by his side. What was he, Tutor Toby all of a sudden?

“Anytime. See you next time.” He responded, mimicking Liam’s dry tone. He hesitated, but short of hurdling over the desks, there was no other way around, and Liam didn’t seem to be planning to move. Toby had another class starting at the opposite end of the uni in 15 minutes though, so he braced himself to sidle past him, slipping between Liam and the desk, brushing closer than he found completely comfortable. He caught a waft of Liam’s sweet musk and heard his intake of breath, feeling the air rush past his ear.

“Next time.” He murmured. Toby shouldered his bag a little more comfortably, giving him one last nod before turning and heading out of the room at a pace that could only be called a ‘run’. He told himself it was because he was worried about being late for the next class. But in reality, he knew better.

Fuck.

[flauntpage]

The Kill is Alive: Thoughts after Flyers 2, Predators 1

The phrase being tossed around this week is that the Flyers “are fun again.”

Two home wins following the firing of a coach who was publicly maligned for more than two years by the fans and starting the heir apparent, a 20-year-old rookie goalie, who the same fans have been screaming for will bring about that feeling.

And to be fair to the Flyers, they have played two solid games, most notably on the defensive side. Yes, Carter Hart has done a fine job in goal, but more so because he’s been able to make more routine saves that many other goalies the Flyers have trotted out this season.

No, instead of focusing on Hart, the real change has been the Flyers playing more soundly in their own end. They’ve improved their breakout. They haven’t alarmingly turned the puck over in the past two games like they did so often in the previous 30 games.

Winning both games helps, too, because it also energizes the fan base into thinking they were right all along and that the problem was the coach and the fact that Hart wasn’t on the team.

If you want to believe that, fine. Go nuts. It’s not accurate, even if it has played out that way for two games.

There are other factors, like Detroit, the team they beat Tuesday, being pretty terrible. And Nashville, the team the Flyers upset Thursday, playing without a couple key players.

But that’s the nature of the sport. Good teams take advantage of those breaks in their schedule and while it’s likely too soon to call the Flyers a good team, they certainly did take advantage of those breaks.

But there’s something else that is vastly improved about this hockey team, and it’s something that began well before Hart’s arrival and well before Dave Hakstol was fired, and it’s the No. 1 reason they were able to stave off the Predators on Thursday.

Find out what it is after the jump:

A suddenly stingy penalty kill

There was a time this season when the Flyers were on pace to be historically bad at killing penalties. Through the first 21 games, the Flyers penalty kill was only successful 68.5 percent of the time. It was a pace that, if maintained over the course of an entire season, would have resulted in the worst penalty kill percentage since the NHL started tracking that statistic in 1979-80.

Yeah, it was that bad.

But since then, which coincided with Thanksgiving, the Flyers have done a complete 180.

Yes, it’s a small sample size, but in the 12 games since, the Flyers penalty kill has allowed just five goals on 38 chances, killing off penalties at an 86.8 percent clip.

Consider that three of those goals allowed came in a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Winnipeg, that means the Flyers have allowed a total of only three power play goals against in the other 11 games.

Assistant coach Ian Laperriere has been a target of the fans’ ire for much of the past two seasons because of the ineptitude of the penalty kill. It’s hard to say those outcries by the fans weren’t justified.

But just as he’s deservedly been the scapegoat for the penalty kill’s failings, he also needs to be recognized in a positive manner for finding a fix to this long-standing problem with the team – even if it’s only been a temporary one.

The Flyers killed off all six of Nashville’s power play chances Thursday. And while not having P.K. Subban manning the point or three of their top five goal scorers (Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissions, Viktor Arvidsson) in the lineup likely crippled Nashville some, the way the Flyers competed on the kill was still impressive.

“Our PK hasn’t been the best during the season, but I think during the last 10 games it has been a lot better,” said Robert Hagg. “I don’t know how many PKs we had, but every single guy that was on the ice did a hell of a good job.

“It’s all about the small details and I think we play with more pressure now than we did 10 games ago. We’re trying not to let them set up inside the zone, and I think that’s the biggest thing. … But you need to block shots, that’s what everybody in this room is saying, we need to keep doing that to be successful.”

As a whole, the Flyers blocked 23 in the game against the Predators. Hagg and Travis Sanheim led the way with five each, although 13 of the Flyers’ 18 skaters were credited with at least one block.

But never were they more important than on a two-minute, two-man shorthanded situation.

Late in the second period, the Flyers took three successive penalties. Wayne Simmonds wiped out the end of a power play with a chintzy hooking call. Radko Gudas was then whistled for delay of game which was immediately followed up by a high-sticking call on Andrew MacDonald that never made it above the top of the Predators logo on Kevin Fiala’s chest. However, Fiala sold it well, and the Flyers faced a daunting task.

With Ivan Provorov already off the ice with a misconduct (more on that in a bit) and Gudas and McDonald in the box, Coach Scott Gordon had little left in the way of options to kill off the two-minute penalty other than Sanheim and Hagg. Yeah, Shayne Gostisbehere was available, but he’s not reliable enough defensively to kill a penalty at 5-on-4, let alone 5-on-3, so it was the two second-year defenseman and Sean Couturier who coach Scott Gordon turned to and, well, they delivered:

(video courtesy of Charlie O’Connor at The Athletic)

Sanheim (21:58) and Hagg (20:59) were the top two minutes guys among the Flyers defensemen and they combined for more than 10 minutes of ice time while shorthanded.

Couturier also shows why he is an elite defensive forward on this kill. And it energized the building, as any good penalty kill in a one-goal game can – but when you are doing it two-men down for two minutes… that’s something else entirely.

Speaking of Sanheim

He’s arguably the Flyers best defenseman right now. Again, I know there are fans who have been screaming this for two years – that he should play more, that Hakstol stunted his growth, yada, yada, yada. But the fact is, he needed to be put on this path. He needed to develop with a little more nurturing. He needed to build confidence a little more slowly than some other players. That’s all O.K.

And if you think it was Hakstol who was stunting him, you’re fooling yourself. I asked Scott Gordon about Sanheim’s development, and this is what he had to say:

“In Travis’ first three months in Lehigh (in 2016-17) he was keeping both teams in it, that was his biggest adjustment. By December he was a little more responsible defensively and picking his spots better to jump up into the play.

“He plays that first year and no matter how much you learn and get better in the American League, there’s always going to be another adjustment in the NHL. Players are bigger, stronger, faster and decisions have to be made quicker. You can’t replicate that in the American League.

“So, he had some growing pains last year. But this year, you started to see him score a couple goals. He’s getting up into the play more. That’s a strength of his. Somewhere along the way on this most recent road trip (Assistant Coach Rick Wilson) started mixing up the D pairs and wanted to try some different things. When I got here, his recommendation was to play Sanheim with Provy.

“Obviously if you play with Provy you are going to get more ice time, and when you are a big body like that you’re going get some ice time on the penalty kill. And your minutes are going to go up, and, now he’s getting time against the other team’s top lines.

“With all that being said, he’s got to do the right things to deserve that opportunity and he has. Some of it is simplification. There was one play in the third period on the far side where he didn’t have anything and he threw it off the glass and he lives to play another day. He lives to play another shift. You know what I mean?

“Sometimes, when you are a young player you always think you can make a play and that was just one instance of his maturity as a player, recognizing the situation and identifying the fact that ‘I don’t have anything,’ get it out in the neutral zone, let a forecheck happen. Get in my gap and defend. That’s something the best defensemen do – they don’t beat themselves.”

There’s a lot to unpack here.

I love the way Gordon gives you a detailed, thoughtful answer. This is bountiful with information and really gives you honest perspective.

Speaking of which, I love the quip that Sanheim’s problem was he would “keep both teams in the game.” In other words, he was superior offensively but he often made bad decisions that would cost his team, and he needed to learn not to do that.

He identified that getting going offensively is what Sanheim needed this year to really spike his confidence.

That working with Rick Wilson is already paying dividends for Sanheim.

That Gordon, ever the teacher, identified an innocuous clearing play in the third period as a seminal moment for Sanheim’s development. Never mind that the guy, who rarely plays on the penalty kill, helped author a textbook kill of a two-minute, two-man disadvantage, the clearing play off the glass rather than risking a turnover is what was most impressive.

Overall, that Sanheim is earning his promotion to the top pairing and his bigger minutes.

And yet, that this is a shining example of a good, patient process for a young player playing out before our eyes.

I also had an opportunity to talk to Sanheim one-on-one after the game. Here’s how that went:

Q: You haven’t been asked to play a lot of PK this season, and then tonight, you were called into duty. Can you talk about jumping into that role and then being out there for the entire 5-on-3?

“Last year when I was sent down to the American League (Gordon) would leave me out on the penalty kill for the entire two minutes. So, I’m familiar with the situation and being able to kill penalties. It was something different for me this season, yes, but it wasn’t just me out there. Hagg and Coots deserve full credit, too.”

Q: You had to know with three defensemen in the box and with Ghost not playing on the kill that you guys were probably going to have to play the full two minutes, right?

“It’s not something that I was really thinking about to tell the truth. It was just that ‘next man up’ mentality, really. I just wanted to step up to the challenge. Hagg did, too. He had three or four blocks on that one kill alone. Credit to him for doing that. It made it easy for me.”

Q: Good that you were able to get a breather in there when Scott called the timeout too?

“He came down the bench to talk to us and see how we were feeling. He asked us if we thought he should take the timeout. I said that if he was willing to use it there that it would be a good time. It was nice to get the rest there for 30 seconds and then be able to go right back out there.”

Q: It’s no secret that confidence is a big thing for you and that you’ve been playing with a lot of it lately. Does being able to help the team win in this way – through defensive posture more so than your offensive ability – just add to that growing confidence?

“Yeah, I think so. Anytime you get to play in all situations you feel like you are contributing more to the team. That said, it doesn’t matter how many minutes I’m playing, I’m there to help the team win hockey games, but in the end, I’m going to do everything I can for however many minutes I play to do just that.”

Now, while the penalty kill was the key thing to focus on in this win, and I spent an inordinate number of words writing about it, there are some other things that I have to touch on before getting out of here, so:

MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

Provorov is damn lucky:

Why Provorov got a 10-minute misconduct. pic.twitter.com/5pF8QBypIP

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) December 21, 2018

This kind of action usually results in a match penalty and a game misconduct. In that instance, there is an automatic 10-game suspension. No hearing. No negotiation. 10 games. Out. But, by getting only a 10-minute misconduct, he will likely avoid that significant suspension. I expect a fine of some sort… but that’s it. Big break for Provy and the Flyers.

The non-call on Sean Couturier

I took abuse from Twitter for saying I agree with the referee in not calling this a penalty. I will say that I wouldn’t have been shocked if it was called a penalty, but this is far closer to a borderline call/non-call than it is a blatant and egregious boarding:

It looks worse at full speed and from the wide angle than it really is. The angle to pay attention to is the one from behind the net. The referee isn’t wrong that Couturier turned away from the check and that he does reach out to brace himself on the hit. Usually, those two things prevent a boarding call unless the skater takes several strides to hit a player from behind with force, which Ryan Johansson does not do in this instance.

I talked to Coots privately after the game, and while I won’t quote him specifically because I didn’t have my recorder on at the time, here are some things that he said:

He’s fine. He doesn’t have a concussion. However, he was mad that he had to go to the quiet room to get checked for a concussion on a play that there was no penalty. If an off ice official was concerned for his health on a hit, then maybe the hit wasn’t good.

He admitted he turned into the boards, but said he did so to protect the puck.

He didn’t feel it was a major penalty, but thought it should have been a minor for two reasons. The first being that Johansson was not right on him, but took a stride before making contact. The second being they had just called a penalty on the Flyers for a high hit (Scott Laughton) and an earlier high stick on Andrew MacDonald (which wasn’t a high stick) was the result of Kevin Fiala throwing his head back. His thought process was if those were penalties than this should have been too.

I get the argument. And like I said, I wouldn’t have been screaming about an injustice for Nashville if the penalty was called. But, by the book – and not that the book is always right – this was a 50/50 judgment call and the ref went with the judgment that it wasn’t a penalty. I can’t disagree with that rationale.

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