#by which i mean that on attempt 32 i beat the final boss

[foxstens]

yoo i made it out

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 33

part 1 | part 32 | ao3

Chapter 8

cw: period-typical attitudes/language

"Steve," Robin hisses through the phone, and he can practically hear her nostrils flaring. "I have been trapped at Uncle Bobby and Aunt Deb's house for six. days." She drops her voice to a harsh whisper, the tone somehow even more disapproving at a lower volume. "HOW have you not kissed him yet??"

"It's not like I didn't try!" Steve throws his hands up; nearly knocks his broom to the floor. He's finally sweeping up the shards of glass in the living room, because he's tired of wearing shoes in his own house (and because at some point he's going to have to have the kids over whether he wants to or not. He's kind of surprised Erica hasn't shown up demanding to hang Christmas lights yet; that girl is aggressively festive.) "He was all 'ask me in the morning,' so I was gonna ask him in the morning! Not my fault it was Monday morning and his stupid uncle barged in yelling about how he was going to be late for school."

"You really shouldn't call him stupid," she interrupts, "that man is a saint."

"No, you’re right. Wayne's awesome."

It’s true. Wayne walked in on them that morning, like, fully spooning in their sleep — Eddie pressed all along Steve's back with an arm over his waist, their ankles intertwined — and rather than beat Steve's ass and ban him from their house like Steve expected him to, he just awkwardly grunted 'breakfast is ready' and shut the door.

"I'm always right," Robin gloats in his ear.

"You're always the worst."

"You love me." Steve hears shuffling as she adjusts the cord — probably wiggling around to lie on her stomach on the bed and kick her feet up in the air the way she likes — and then she says, "I'm still not seeing how this explains the other five whole days, though."

Jesus. Five whole days. Like she's his unimpressed boss and he’s late with the quarterly reports. "Our schedules kept not lining up! And then he went out of town with Jeff's family for the holiday."

"And you haven't called him?"

Steve glares flatly at the phone; hopes she can feel it through the line. "Literally how would I do that, Robin?"

"Well— I don't know! Maybe..." She hums in thought then snaps her fingers, talking fast. "Ooh! You could ask Wayne for the number? I mean, he'd have to know it in case he needed to reach Eddie, right?"

"Uh huh." Steve loves her solution-oriented brain, he really does, but that's one of the worst ideas he's heard in a while. (And he's including Mike and Dustin's attempted kidnapping last month.) "Yeah, let me get right on that," he snarks, switching the phone to his other ear. "I’ll just call them up and say, 'Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Jeff's Grandparents! This is Steve Harrington, may I—? Oh. Who's Steve Harrington, you ask? Nobody, sir or ma’am, just the kid who stood by and watched while his teammates gave your grandson a swirlie two years ago, so I'm sure he fucking hates me still for that! Anyway, can I please flirt with your house guest now?'"

Robin's whinnying into the receiver by the time Steve finishes his rant, and he begrudgingly laughs along with her, shaking his head as he stoops to pick up the dust pan.

"Okay," she concedes. "You may have a point."

"Thank you."

"But you still have to do something to make up for this when he gets home! Otherwise, he's going to think you're, like, having a straight boy crisis or something and get all weird."

"I'm not having a 'straight boy crisis,'" Steve rolls his eyes. He's having a bisexual boy crisis — at least, according to the three hour phone call he had with Robin the other night (which was humiliating, by the way; he never thought he'd be quietly crying tears of total confusion while saying the words 'I still likes boobies, though' out loud. Jesus Christ. Sexuality is embarrassing.) "And I already have a grand gesture in mind, anyway."

"Oh?" Robin perks up. "Do tell."

"I was thinking we could, like..." Hmm. It's sounding less grand when he goes to say it out loud. "Well, shit, I don't know. I thought we could go to one of his shows together when you get back, but now that sounds kind of lame?"

“No, that's good! That's perfect, actually. We can get a whole group together to go support him, then he'll see that you're not embarrassed to be seen around him with your friends."

"Wait, was that a concern?" Oh, god. He dumps more glass into the trash can; hisses when a little shard gets his fingertip; sucks the wound into his mouth. "Are you sure it’s not-? I mean, I want him to know I mean it in a romantic way, not just a friendly gesture."

"Well, yeah, obviously. But you can't just go by yourself; his bandmates hate you."

Oh, right. “Yeah.” That would be pretty awkward to loiter in a booth by himself all night while Jeff and Gareth and the other kid glare daggers at him. "Do you think you could get a group together? If I do it…"

"…We'll be hanging out with a group of dorky freshman all night?”

"Rude."

"Accurate."

"You know what? Tell Deb and Bobby they can keep you."

"Ah!" Robin gasps. "You would turn to stone like a troll in the sun without me, and you know it!"

Man, he misses her. "Yeah, I know it." He puts the broom back up on the hook. "When ya comin' home?"

"Soon, I hope. I swear to god if I have to hear Deb and Patty fight over the leftovers one more time—!" She cuts herself off with a strangled noise, and Steve laughs at her plight. "Anyway, yes. I'll ask some friends at school—"

"—Is one of those friends Vickie?"

“I can multi-task; shut up."

"I love you," he smiles.

"Love you, too, dingus.” Her voice dips soft and sincere for just a second; there and gone. “Hey, I have to go, Carrie wants the phone.”

“You have too many relatives.”

“Ugh, I know. Okay. Leaving for real now; can't wait to see you for Operation Woo Your Man!”

"Robin, no-!”

“Got to go byeeeee.”

“We’re not calling it that!” He holds the phone out with both hands so he can yell into the receiver. “Robin? Robin!"

The line's already dead.

—

part 34

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added tomorrow please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[synoxshots]

The Master KOTFE Adventure

My latest project has been playing through KotFE on master mode.

Why ever would you want to do that? you may ask, and I have asked myself the same thing. In short, it was a mix of having a light sided empire toon that I didn't want the autocompletes on, and the fact that he is also the best geared character I've ever had and the discipline I've had most experience playing. And I've run through KotFE quite a few times so, freshening it up I guess? 

So this is how it went. This isn't a guide - more, a record of my experiences as I went through. As ever, some things I found easy others might find hard, and (more likely, lbr) vice versa. 

The gamer:

I play a Rage Jugg, wear Descent of the Fearless set, gear level 306 with a full set of 286 augments. So - very well geared, but not fully optimised stats wise. Experience wise for this - I'd done a few chapters on vet mode before with a Guardian (Focus) and Powertech (Pyrotech) though not always at max gear (probably in the 290s when I first gave it a go), and I like trying to solo group content like vet fps (master for Red Reaper only) because I don't love myself, I guess. A smidge of ops experience. I'm reasonably competent as a player but also prone to stupid, I don't claim to be great by any means.

Chapter I

All went smoothly, died on the last fight against the BD-148 elite skytrooper - but that was just because I forgot about heroic moments existing, given that half the chapter is spent without a companion. Used my enraged defence a few times but never really felt at risk of dying. Apart from the one time when I did, obviously. Marr goes up to 28 influence automatically. Lots of mobs can be skipped as they're already engaged in fights.

Chapter II

Quite a few mobs you can skip around. Valkorion heals you though he's not a companion so no heroic moment. Last monolith did get me close to death sometimes, so there was a bit of running away so I could heal up a bit more, and making good use of defensive abilities. But no deaths on this one!

Chapter III

I died twice on this one, both were easily preventable. The first was against the Ground Assault Walker (massive droid before the bridge) and pretty much because I hadn't raised Lana's influence yet, so I upped it to 20 before starting the fight again and cleared it very quickly. Sidenote: a while back I bought a bunch of Spiced Aric Tongue from the Jawa scrap peddlers as I didn't know what else to do with all that, Lana accepts it so it's a nice quick way to up her level (Koth likes it too, a lot, which is handy). Second death was against like, a handful of skytroopers when I was shutting down the reactor and really it was mostly because I wasn't paying attention properly, though Lana died both times at this point. There's another fight where these prototype skytroopers keep swarming and I was a bit nervous because there were kolto stations there and I couldn't entirely remember how intense it got. The answer was...not intense at all and I definitely didn't need them. The final fight on this one is the two Zakuul knights but they didn't cause me any problems. All in all I'd say the deaths I've had so far have all been my own fault.

Chapter IV

This...did not go as well. And I'm not entirely sure why, just bad play on my part I think mostly, sometimes there are days when I just play like trash *shrug*. Not timing things like enraged defence, heroic moments and so on very well which meant I died a few times to wildlife - twice the larger bosses, twice mobs of normal/strong ones. Yeah... Kept upping my companion influence so all three (Lana, Koth and HK by this point) got up to 27 but I think even higher than that may be needed as they just didn't seem to be healing well. 

Chap V

I was a bit wary heading into this one, as it was one I'd run before on vet mode and remembered having trouble with the skytrooper waves. I was less geared then though, and had less companion influence doing that, having now taken everyone up to about 32. I didn't record any deaths on this though had a near miss - but I had saved my enraged defence/heroic moment and so on and hit them at the right time. Hey, I'm playing smarter! 

Chapter VI

I found this chapter easy when I'd run it on veteran not long before, but that was not the case on master. Died the first time against Oggo, that was my own fault though, although he does have one particular ability that hits very hard. Then came the Scions. Ohhh boy. The first two you face killed me, fair enough I hadn't had a chance to raise Senya's influence yet. The second two, Venat and Berusal, caused me pain. The good thing is that when fighting the pairs and you take one down, if you die the other doesn't respawn. The other good thing is that Venat and Berusal can be pulled separately, the bad news is I found this out after a few attempts. And Berusal still killed me on his own the first time. I was not having a fun time. And then you face Heskal without a companion. It takes a bit of tactics. I tried to damage him whilst he was doing Debris Storm, though still had to avoid the red circles. Turbulence gives a lot of damage, so had to hastily get out the way/interrupt it. He also stuns you which isn't fun. Valky pops up and offers you an out after the first phase, unfortunately I decided to stay true to character and not take it. Bad times were had. I went to lunch. I asked a friend to help. My internet got switched off before that could happen. I found out I was able to summon a companion...I know I'm not supposed to story wise, and I'm not sure if you can normally (there's a lot of times when companion summon buttons are greyed out due to story restrictions) or if this was only because I'd previously logged out...but suddenly the fight became a lot easier. Funny that. Sigh. Moving on...

Chapter VII

Honestly not much to say about this one, nothing that caused me trouble. A lot of it is in the open world so regular difficulty rather than scaled to master. 

Chapter VIII

This one wasn't much trouble either, did die once when stuff was on cooldown, once in the final Arcann fight. Kiting him over and hitting the conduits there is a big help as they stun him, that is probably very obvious but I've literally never bothered with them on story or vet mode. We're halfway there!

Chapter X

This one also gave me a Time. The problem I had was when you come up against Faedral and Zaamsk. My first thought was the difficulty was because I hadn't raised Kaliyo's influence (oops, but you get her on the spot and I didn't have gifts handy...or at least the ones I thought she liked she didn't actually) (this is how I found out that agent!Kaliyo and alliance!Kaliyo have different preferences, apparently this will also apply to other - but not all - returning companions). But I raised her to 28 and still kept dying. It's a bit of a nasty fight honestly, and the guide I looked at said that juggs...aren’t ideal for it. Crowd control and interrupts are very handy. I kept getting really close to getting one of them down and dying just before I could, super annoying because it's another of those where if you take one down and die, you only have to face the other one. I took a break and read the guide more closely, watched some videos, and ultimately just decided to bring someone along to avoid the pain, or maybe share in it. I still died but we got through them. The fight against Tayvor Slen, the boss fight of the chapter, took a couple of tries with two of us - the first time I got stuck in a red circle and pretty much insta-killed. There was a bit of a close call on the second attempt but it was under control really. The achievement then comes through for chapter completion, all you have to do then is get out of the Overwatch, all things rosy right? Oh how wrong they were. A bunch of Zakuul Knights came along and literally just slaughtered us, full on, one-shotting us both - it was hilarious and extremely confusing because why?? how?? Did the bonus mission to get the prisoners to escape (look out for the glowing terminal, it says 'Overwatch Prison Logs' when you hover over it) - they one-shot a few Knights but then disappeared on us too. Who knows. But we got through it.

Chapter XI

A much nicer one though still had a handful of deaths. Where you meet up with Havoc Squad there's ambush of Skytroopers, followed by a couple of walkers - and the walkers beat me. They cast circles that I just couldn't get out of in time to save my health, even with my defensives. I'm not sure if they were the type to follow you or a sort of stamp move (I should have looked at the cast bar, come to think of it) - I suspect though it was the latter and so it wouldn't be an issue on a ranged character. The fight though does continue around you if you die so you don't lose the progress you make, just use the med probe, revive and rejoin. I only took Jorgan to level 7 because that was all the gifts I had, but most of the mobs were just regular trash, typically 3 at a time, which was no worry. When you attack the base the Knights are a bit harder - there's one round the back that does stealth strikes and that's a difficult one to face. I died - the respawn to medbay actually puts you inside the part with the forcefield you're supposed to take down, and then you can't get out of it...I maintain that I did find a way past the forcefield but it doesn't work as a cheesing method. Use your med probe, otherwise it's quick travel out and re-enter your phase. The final battle is a big droid (I forgot the name of it). It spawns a bunch of smaller droids, just ignore those and go for the boss - I didn't the first time and that's why I died - I lost Jorgan, I had two Knights chasing me whilst the droid put up shields, it didn't go well - second time I did it in less than a minute whilst using a heroic moment.

Chapter XII

This one you don't have a companion for, though it's not a big deal - for the most part my main enemy, as tends to be the case on this chapter, was the map. I think the regular mobs are scaled down a bit for playing without a companion. You can pick up an animal to help you as well, which you may as well do as things just die quicker. It runs off in caves. Valkorion does take your health down a fair chunk before he gives you his beat down but it wasn't so bad. Vaylin though took quite a few attempts. You can't interrupt her so you have to be on the ball with your defensives and timing them all, which includes the shield and medpac given in your temporary bar for the chapter. Really the medpac isn't that effective so don't count on it. There's a lot of running around as she casts red circles. Probably easier with a character with more self heals. I got through it after a few efforts, after getting close a few times, though even then I was still low on health by the end.

Chapter XIII

Yeah, this one was no trouble really, and that was with Gault at only level 4 influence. If things get hairy whack a bit more on him, there's no real mechanics to pose problems. As ever, good practice to stay out of circles on the boss fight, you have Vette there as well so a bit of extra damage going and yeah. Nothing to worry about.

Chapter XIV

Another that was nice and simple, I didn't even have any gifts to give Torian so was wandering around with him on level 1. Just a matter of timing defensives and heroic moments in that case. Lots is open world, too. Final boss fight was no problem at all.

Chapter XV

Reading guides for this put the fear of god into me, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it better than expected. The bosses were the toughest parts. The first is the Skytrooper Constructor, that one does spawn adds after a while as well. It killed me a couple of times but really I'm not sure what the best strategy was so I just went for the classic, burn it as fast as I possibly can and making use of heroic moment/defensives as well. The GEMINI droid at the end had me worried. That took 3 attempts (maybe 4, I think it was just 3 though), one of those my heroic moment was still on cooldown and Senya died quickly on it too. It was really just about managing defensives effectively as well, running away when she has the red cone in front of you, using the heroic moment for extra speedy damage. It was a close call in the end but my enraged defence came off cooldown at the perfect moment, thank you Grit Teeth. I wouldn't say this was an easy chapter by any means so quite proud of myself for getting through it on my own! The other thing I would say is watch out for the lasers - they don't do lots of damage on story mode, but on master they one-shot you if you get caught in them! The other various traps I probably got through easier than I have on the lower difficulties which may just be a testament to this being like, my fifth complete kotfe run at this stage haha.

Chapter XVI

The final chapter...and the one I was the most scared of. Took Lana up to lvl 50 in preparation...she duly died early on in the first boss anyway. KJ-931 is the first boss - I say first boss, there's still a high rank enemy immediately before that I died to a few times anyway and needed a heroic moment to beat. First attempt against KJ I actually came really close. Stay out of the aoes - there's a white circle and a yellow cone, as well as a big red laser thing where you have to rush to the corner and if you can - micromanage Lana well enough that she doesn't get caught up in them too. So I learnt that I am not good at micromanaging companions like that. Take the turrets rather than the shields, definitely - apparently the shields also have limited use, the turrets pull aggro as well as giving you damage so they're very handy. Sometimes on this fight I got one-shotted very quickly, others I managed to hold on a bit - but it was the first attempt that was my best run until I actually did it. Honestly I can't say what the trick was to finally getting it right...just a lot of blind panic and luck. Second boss is Dara Nadal - I found it easier to just go for the intense burn on her - put down the turrets, use a heroic moment, set Lana to damage as well and burn. Still took a few attempts on her but each time I was getting very close so I knew I would get there.

And then came Arcann. Ooooh boy. I'd been reading guides and watching videos in preparation but there's still a lot to keep on top of. I decided to use the Marr & Satele Special Saber rather than my usual one - having the benefit of being able to run around quickly was handy, and the other ability reflects damage from his saber attack. This took many attempts - some that went very quickly, some that got him to his final phase. Rather than going into specifics I'm going to link to this video as it probably explains what to do best (it’s handy for all the bosses). You really have to watch for the moment he gets to ~25% and stands in one spot - if you aren't able to do the shield whacky he will kill you straight up. My first time running towards him with the shield in that very last phase I died on the way up. It took me a long time and a lot on repair bills but this is another one I was very proud of for getting through on my own as there were times I didn't think I would.

General stuff:

I would say doing this is not for the light-hearted but it’s certainly possible! Apart from one chapter where I grabbed a friend I got through them all on my own

Some classes fair better in certain chapters than others. I went with my Jugg all the way through, but if you have the characters geared and you know them well enough - and you're doing this for the cheevos rather than going through the storyline - you're likely better off mixing and matching as you go. There were many occasions I wished I had range.

You will die to trash mobs. It is a fact of life. It feels embarrassing in the early chapters, you come to accept this and move on.

Companion influence helps a lot. Koth, Lana, and Senya all like delicacies (especially Koth, that man can eat) - you can grab these from the Jawa vendors in the cartel bazaar on fleet.

Med droids are also a booming industry thanks to the amount I've spent on repairs in the course of this.

There are more mechanics compared to story mode, and some that exist in story mode that you just notice more on master. But apparently the difference between vet and master is just artificial - more health and hitting harder. 

Going Commando is another good resource for their experiences playing through.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO “Leading the Witness.”

Alright guys, this is going on longer than I thought and way more detailed as well but its been interesting. Also I am sorry for the late update, my boss has me rolling quarters at work so I am trying to do that and write this in between.

Thank you to my discord member Eddi for the testing logs he wrote and that I am using as evidence in this story. He deserves all the credit for the well thought out and executed test logs.

WARNING: Graphic depictions of blood, gore, bodily mutilation and mentions of suicide. The Steel eye project development is very graphic, so if you wish to read, please skip the test logs, which will be bolded. 

The room spun around him, and he took a few long, deep breaths hoping that it would stop.

He wast sure he could survive another few hours of this.

He wasn’t sure at all 

He was sweating, and his body throbbed all over. Clammy hands gripped the sides of his chair as he sat straight backed in his seat. A line of cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck. Blood had long since drained from his face, and he wondered if he looked as sick as he felt half expecting the bailiff to walk over with a bucket or something. A part of him fancied he could feel every eye in the room staring at him. The prosecution was still talking, but he could barely hear them as his head spun around and around in circles, ears ringing.

The lights pulsed.

He jerked out of it as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He looked up, confused for a moment as he tried to figure out where he was, the room was partially tilted and it took him a moment to realise that he was slumped slightly to the side. Waffles had her head in his lap whimpering very softly.

“Adam, adam are you ok, do you need to step out.” 

He lifted his head and turned to look at Admiral Kelly, who now sat beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

His ears were still ringing but not enough to realise that the court had stopped.

The lead judge had held up a hand to the prosecution and was looking directly at him. 

Well… at least now the blood was rushing back to his head, and he could feel his ears burning, “Is everything alright, council?” The judge asked, “Does your witness need to step out.”

The lawyers turned to look at him, hints of both concern and concealed annoyance on their faces.

They looked at him expectantly.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, “No your honor. My apologies.”

His voice was surprisingly strong for someone who felt like he was about to pass out. The judge didn’t seem too annoyed at him, and looked on with some measure of concern. They whispered something to the nearby bailiff and then motioned the council to continue.

Admiral Kelly didn’t move seats keeping one hand on his shoulder. The bailiff walked over after things had started up again and sat next to them for a moment, “If you need to step out.” He whispered, “Take the side door to your right and someone will let you back in.”

He nodded, “Ill be alright, but…. Thank you.”

The man nodded and stood returning to the front of the room.

“As you can see, their first attempts at creating a proper drug cocktail to dull the pain of direct neural interface, was a complete disaster. Dr. Gladstone, assuming you were forced to use drugs instead of subdermal implants, how would you have gone about this? What is the proper procedure dictated by ethical state law.”

“Drug trials can take months to years, we test them on animals, rats monkeys and even inject them into synthetically grown human tissues and tube grown organs before we even test on animals. Each phase of testing can take up to eighteen months in clinical trials, and if the drug proves to be wrong we start over again.”

“Have you ever done phased drug testing on human subjects.”

“No, certainly not.”

“But of course they continued. May the prosecution present Experimental log 32 for For consideration by the court.”

Experimental log #32:

Over the past experiments we have been testing multiple drug mixtures to try and reduce the pain induced by the Direct neural interface our most recent tests have involved morphine much to our resident doctors discouragement it is one of the few drugs we have found capable of suppressing the pain induced by the direct neural interface. This test involves the use of an automatic dispenser controlled by the pain sensors in the arm.

The subject, as before has been sedated for the implantation of the test augmetic. This time however the drug reservoir has a direct link to the bloodstream. 

-recording break-

The subject seems to be stable and moving around without much interference, although slightly lethargic and a little dopy due to the drugs.

We made sure to remove the augmetic well before the drug reservoir ran out. This seems to be successful and stable Several more tests are to be made to confirm this before moving on to the next stage. 

“Dr, do you happen to know the laws in relation to the regulation and use of morphine during testing?”

The doctor nodded, “Morphine is heavily regulated even on the research level owing to its additive properties. Only doctors are allowed to prescribe it, and even then, the morphine dosages are regulated and reviewed by an internal board of directors. There is a cutoff point for the amount of morphine allowed for personal use,and the amount of morphine allowed for medical use. This cap can be broken if the board of directors determines the patient is terminal and in extreme pain.”

“How about for research purposes.”

“You can’t research with morphine, and you certainly cannot give it to a patient with no prior history of injury, or other medical conditions.”

“Thank you doctor, the prosecution wishes to present experimental log 34 to consideration.” 

Experiential log #34:

Our continued experimentation has lead to the conclusion that stronger chemicals may be required to reduce the pain, one subjects auto-dispensary caused an overdose When the subject spent some time prodding and poking at the implant site it caused excruciating pain that was responded to by the auto dispensary by flooding the body with over 500milligrams of morphine. A stronger painkiller would mean lower doses are required thus avoiding an overdose. Despite our team's medical advisors continuing protests. 

Prosecution turned to the judges, “You see here your honor that instead of considering the ethical questionability of their actions, they determined to use more morphine despite the overdose and even extend the use to even more potent drugs. These are not the actions of scientists who were considering ethics, or even the value of human life.”

“Objection your honor on conjecture about the thoughts of my client.”

The judge waved a hand, “It may pass.”

The defence took a seat.

The prosecution adjusted her tie, “Three people died as a result of these tests your honor. Marvin Dess, William Moseratt and Angela Vilgrin. Not once were the tests paused or delayed. Instead, they moved onto the next phase of testing.”

Adam was starting to feel a little better now. He wasn’t sweating so much and he had finally managed to even out his breathing.

“The prosecution would like to present experimental log 28.”

Experimental log #28

Calibration of the arm mounted augmetic seemed to proceed without error or difficulty, The drugs delivered through the internal reservoir developed by Dr. Nkosi renders the subject inured against the supposed pain induced by the augmetic. The primary tests we will be administering are of the use of high strength servo motors to power the augmeitc, reducing its weight and increasing the power behind the subjects rapid motions. 

-Recording break-

The Reaction of the servo motors and torsion cables was far too extreme delivering significant damage and trauma to the subject, Further testing will have to be done and fine tuning of the suits will be needed. 

Adam knew what was coming and tried to close his eyes and block out the sounds as the next visual log was projected before him. 

Audio-visual log transcript:

The subject appears bleary and unresponsive. The augmentic is mounted on their right arm, supposedly their dominant one according to the research notes. The subject is drawn to attention by the scientist administering light taping on their cheek. Upon raising their arm the subject appears a little shocked at the size of the augmetic and the fact it is connected directly to an external power source, questioning the scientist on this who confirms it is just an experimental version. The augmetic appears to only be active on the elbow joint. The scientist appears to be requesting the subject extend his arm in an attempt to punch an invisible foe. Upon doing so the augmetic appears to cause an extreme reaction of force, resulting in not only damage to the subjects musculature, but outright stripping the subjects muscle tissues away from the bones, the pins seem to be functioning as anchor points as the subjects skin and muscles are removed from the skeletal structure. Functionally stripping the flesh away from the skeleton in a manner that can only be described as ‘glove like’. It appears that this area also contained the drug delivery interface as part way through the emergency removal of the upper section of the augmetic, the subject seemed to come out of the semi stupor and begin to register the damage done to themselves, screaming and becoming violent. It was only after the subject was re-drugged with the remaining contents of the drug reservoir that they calmed down.

His attempts to block out the sound do not stop him from hearing the hydraulic hiss, the tight whirr, and the horrific cracking popping noise as flesh is torn from bone. The screaming echoed around in his head. His heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Sweat poured down his back and neck and in between his shoulder blades. Flashes of red sky cut before his vision, the sound of gunfire and the smell of ash.

Admiral kelly squeezed his shoulder hard bringing him back. The dog was halfway in his lap her head pressed against him, and the Bailiff from earlier was on his other side steadying him as his body seemed prone to leaning to one side.

He took a few very deep breaths.

A few of the judges were watching him, but they didn’t stop the proceedings this time. Most of them just looked like they wanted an excuse to look away.

“Your honors, this is not the last log in the series. Even after the catastrophic failure, they continue to implant the steel ee pieces onto test subjects without prior testing in a controlled environment. I believe we have been making realistic ballistic dummies for the past thousand years. I am sure there is something that could have been done.”

Adam was fading.

The lights were growing up in his vision, turning everything around him white.

The defence stood, “THe defence calls for recess, your honors.”

There was a pause, “Recess granted. You have thirty minutes.” 

The room burst into a flurry of murmurs and movement. Admiral Kelly leaned forward hands on his arms, “Adam, you should get up, walk around a bit.”

He nodded and stood feeling the world tip around him as he did. With one hand he gripped heavily onto the back of the pews and staggered forward out of the room. Waffles followed after him whining and whimpering. He waved admiral Kelly off him as he wobbled his way down the hall and burst through the outside door and into open air. He took a deep long breath and leaned against the wall trying to choke down the bile that welled into his throat.

“You alright here buddy.”

Blinking owlishly, he turned to the side to see a man leaning against the wall on the other side of the door.

“You don’t look so good, Cigarette?” He asked offering a pack of the things towards him.

Adam waved a hand, “I don’t smoke but, thanks anyway.”

The man shrugged and lit up puffing a billow of smoke into the air, “You know breathing exercises.”

Adam blinked and nodded, “Yeah.”

“Don't forget to do them. It will help.”

Adam rubbed a hand across his forehead breathing slowly.

“You seem to know a lot about this. Am i that easy to see through?”

The man shook his head “I was a soldier during the panasian war, I know what PTSD looks like.”

“My father fought in the Panasian war.”

The man nodded, “Better get back inside while you still have some color, boy.”

He did as told. He didn’t know the man  but something about his calm demeanor and understanding was nice, and he stepped back inside patting waffles on the head as he walked back towards the courtroom.

He sat down before anyone else was there just yet and rested his head in his hands breathing slowly and evenly. The room slowly filled up again, and before he really knew it, things were back in session.

“The prosecution would like to present Experimental log 31” 

He closed his eyes and began to count slowly breathing in and out, in and out.” 

Experimental log #31

This test is the first among the replacement for servo motors for hydraulics The system was far slower and makes use of a combination of fast extension pistons and slower extension ones for combination. The test is the same as before a simple arm extension in the guise of  a punch. However the augmetic will also include the shoulder. We have increased the dosage of the painkiller as so to prevent the increased implantation volume from inducing a negative reaction in the subject. -Recording break-

The reaction from the hydraulics was stronger than expected, and the delay and stack up of orders has caused significant issues. A halt override taken directly from the nerve system needs to be implemented. 

He squeezed his eyes tight shut 

Audio-visual log transcript:

 The subject appears to be only semi responsive, appearing to function at a 12 on the GCS, Only held there by the active responsiveness of their motor function. This appears to fade somewhat when the subject is given physical stimuli by the scientist in the form of a light slap on the cheek. Bringing the subject back to consciousness. The subject is then encouraged to make the punching action as prior experiments. The subject does so, the fast reaction of the piston seems to achieve the scientist's goal, However the long extension piston appeared to continue extending. This continued, dragging the subjects arm outwards, dislocating the subjects shoulder, then elbow as well as wrist. The subject appeared to be distressed at this, however not unduly in pain. The scientist having stepped back to observe the outcome of events. The extension of the piston continued beyond tolerable human limits. The piston continues to extend despite the protests of the subject and attempts at removing it. The extension continued forcefully separating the subjects limbs at both the elbow and shoulder joint, ripping tendon and muscle as well as ligament structures, fully separating the limb in to two parts and away from the body. It is at this point the subject began to scream in terror and panic till the researcher sedated the subject. 

A door opened at the back of the courtroom as a few more people stepped out. Adam sat there on the bench, his head tilted back and staring at the ceiling breathing even and slowly as light and color swirled around them. He could what speaking, but didn’t really hear what was being said.

He just had to keep himself together.

“....Log 35 to the court.” 

Experimental log #35

Continued experimentation indicates that a combination of servo motors, torsion cables and hydraulics are likely to result in the desired effect. Since the previous experiments a stop override has been implemented in to the systems. This prevents the hydraulics from continuing to extend despite the users body having ceased movement. This should result in the desired movement structures. We are moving on from the single arm testing considering the current functionality and strength amplification satisfactory. The current test is simply to get the two lower limb implants to function in tandem with walking. We have had to once again increase the level of drugs in the users system to prevent the reaction to the pain induced by the interfacing devices. 

-Recording break- 

While the system is capable of walking, the addition of hydraulics have caused the system to be heavier and more cumbersome than intended. Additional servo motors and possible leaf springs for artificial support tendons will have to be added to prevent the augmetics from lagging behind their users.

“Objection your honor…. The court has seen enough….. This is simply…”

“Objection denied council. The evidence stands. If you must you may leave the room.”

“But members of the audience…”

“Can step out if they need to.”

Audio-visual Log transcript:

The subject once again appears to be somewhat unresponsive. This ceases when the scientist provides a physical interaction with the subject, tapping them on the shoulder. The subject appears to be somewhat disoriented. Upon being prompted to walk the subject beings to walk without much in the way of impediment, though seeming to tug at the augments as if they are holding the subject back. The subject is then prompted to move at a might higher speed. Running if possible. The subject manages this for two steps before the continued pulling against the augmetic and movement against the interface needles appears to pull the subject’s leg free, removing large sections of the subjects muscle tissues and nerves along with it. The subject seems to be disturbed, if not in pain. Likely due to the drug reservoir and input mounted on the subjects arm. The subject however seems to be announcing that they can no longer move their legs as the researcher requested. The subject is then sedated and recording ends. 

Adam is being held up again by Admiral kelly his body tilting widely sideways and he is having trouble finding the orientation of the room.” 

“.... experimental log 38 as a demonstration of the scientists moving development far too quickly.” 

Experimental Log #38

Increased response time in the legs combined with the introduction of support springs within the armour have reduced that movement restrictions of the armour and made it much harder for the user to ‘pull away’ from the armor, this combined with several additional straps and metal binding to keep the users legs attached directly to the augmetics have solved several of the most recent problems. The newest set of experiments are moving on to vertical movement, focusing on the subjects ability to jump and move around obstacle strewn environments. 

-Recording break- 

It appears the engineers did not calibrate the hydraulics and other systems to function as shock absorbers, but rather only as force amplification devices. Meaning that impact shock is taken fully by the users body, This would normally not be an issue, however with the additional force and weight provided by the augmetic seems to cause issues upon landing. 

Audio-visual Log transcript:

The subject is suffering the same symptoms as prior subjects, low levels of function and unresponsiveness. Once the subject is roused from the stupor via an open handed impact to the cheek, delivered by the researcher,  they are directed to attempt an obstacle course. The subject seems to have little trouble with the primary obstacles, clearing them with little effort, however their recovery from each obstacle appears to be ungainly and improper. The subject is then presented with a  three meter high wall and instructed to go over it. Rather than scaling it as expected the subject simply jumped over the wall, exhibiting far more mobility and control than prior subjects in experiments. However upon landing the subjects legs appear to buckle and collapse under them, folding at several points that do not have joints. Indicating shattering of the bones. The subject seems unphased by the injury, Pointing it out to the researcher and asking if that is normal. This indicates that the drugs being used are of a high enough dosage and strength to suppress not only extreme pain but the shock reaction of the body. 

He can feel another person holding him up from the other side, but mutters that he is ok when anyone asks. E just keeps counting and breathing counting and breathing knowing that it has to be over soon. He just needs to hold himself together 

Experimental log #42

The final tests regarding midriff functionality have been completed, with shockingly low failure or complications compared to prior testing phases, we are putting this down to our own excellent ongoing improvements of the system. This final text is a sequential system test where a single subject will be required to use each individual part in sequence to ensure that no errors are likely to occur during the whole body testing or further complications are likely to occur.

-break in recording-

The subject suffered no ill effects due to the armour itself. However the subject seemed to become agitated and seemed to be suffering ill effects until they were returned to the augmetics. So long as prolonged exposure to the augmetics is not an ongoing factor we do not see an issue with this. 

“These testings had immense costs and horrific side effects to those who participated. Many of these men and women seen here are not functional or alive to testify in court as to what happened, however, the prosecution would like to call Admiral Vir to the stand as a representative of those who could not be here today, and s a member of the steel eye operation himself to ive the court a little idea about what this experiment did to people even when fully operational.”

Adam was still feeling light headed but even then he still knew what this was. This is what he was here for. Thi was the moment he had come to be a part of, the moment that he was here to help all those soldiers and test subjects used by steel eye.

Admiral Kelly stood with him as he made it to his feet, but he brushed off her hand and walked towards the witness stand. The judge stopped him on his way up.

“Are you well enough to testify Admiral?”

“This is why I came, your honor. Even if I had to crawl through a field of glass to get here.”

The courtroom murmured as he was sworn in, and he sat down feeling the eyes of the entire room on him.

He was still sweating and light headed.

“State your name for the record.”

“Adam Allen Vir.”

“And what is your position in the UNSC.”

“I am Fleet admiral of the UNSC space armada on loan to the GA.”

“And what branch?”

“Originally the air division. I trained at the Aerial combat academy as a fighter and shuttle pilot before being a member of the crew on the enterprise.”

“And how did you end up on Anin.”

“The Enterprise was being decommissioned for some wok, so I offered to go to Anin and be part of the war effort against the Drev.”

“And as a fighter pilot, you didn’t see much time on the ground.”

“No ma’am, I was primarily air support at that time.”

His voice was strong and hard, and the longer he talked the straighter he sat. he had to do this for them. He would NOT fall apart now.

“How did you end up on the ground forces then, Admiral.”

“Volcanic activity, ma’am, they call it the dark season when ash chokes the ai miles into the sky. It isn’t safe to land a ship or fly a jet in such conditions, so my vehicle was grounded. By that time the war was going badly and they needed every man they could get.”

“Were you trained for ground combat, Admiral.”

“Yes at the academy we were trained in ground combat though not as extensively.”

“And you lost your leg to a Drev.”

He reached down hand to his leg remembering the screaming of a red sky above, “Yes, I did.”

“What happened after that?”

“I ended up in a triage tent in out forward operating base. There was no medicine because all our supplies had been used up.”

“Would you say that you were delirious during that time.”

The defence stood quickly “Objection your honor. Leading the witness.”

“Dismissed, council.” The judge said, waving a hand.

“There were no painkillers, ma’am, so maybe. If not delirious than I was at least not in a right state of mind. I remember floating halfway in between being conscious and unconscious. I was in so much pain its…. Had to describe.” His voice wavered before he had it back on track shoring it up and strengthening it with memories of the men and women waiting back at the rehabilitation center.

“And at this time you were approached by Admiral Ablemen about the steel eye project?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“And did he detail any specifics.”

He paused thought for a moment trying to remember back into memories that he really didn’t want to foster, “Not…. really. It's hard to remember but I…. I remember him saying that we could help him win the war. I remember him saying that when I woke up I would be a new man. He gave us the choice to go home or serve the UNSC one last time.”

“In your opinion, would you have said yes had you been more conscious.”

“Objection based on conjecture your honor.”

“Objection accepted.”

Adam paused and the mn let him continue, “Wat DO you remember about what happened to you.”

“I…. remember pain and….. Anger. I was never really all there during the steel eye project. I remember feeling invincible, like I could do anything but at the same time, hazy. I remember getting orders and going out, and then nothing after that.”

“Did they tell you there would be rugs involved.”

“No ma’am.”

“And after the war was over, what happened. How did all of this affect you?”

He paused and struggled to speak for a moment, opening his mouth and then closing, “I…. have never been so hopeless in my entire life. I tried to get help with the Veterans association but my claim was denied. I…. went through withdrawals…. Horrible horrible drug withdrawals where I. I was in so much pain, I just….”He paused then lifted his head to look up at th courtroom making eye contact with them. His voice was as strong as ever “I wanted to die, and I would have done it if I hadn’t had a good support system in my family. After a few months my brother got me in contact with a group of people who got ahold of my service dog, and I was able to heal.”

“Does what happened still affect you”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“In what ways.”

“I still have long term PTSD, and while it is controlled and I am no longer on medication, I still have bad days. Days where I can’t move or think, days where the quietest nosies send me into a panic.”

“Were you ever compensated for your injuries, Admiral.”

He paused again and shook his head, “No ma’am, I never received help.”

“Thank you admiral, you may be seated.”

He stood, his head was clear and his hands were dry. He stepped down from the podium with his chin raised and his back straight returning to his seat. He had done it. He had done what he needed to do and the only thing that was lft was to survive the rest of the trail.

He could do that.

He survived operation steel eye didn’t he?

So he could certainly survive this.

[hopeatermeetsgodzilla]

Chapter 19

“Sir?” Jonah raised his head from his computer, frowning as he saw Emily. The young woman seemed worried about something. “May I come in?”

He softened his face a bit. “Of course.” Emily nodded, coming into the room and sitting down in front of her boss’ desk. Jonah took his hands away from the keyboard, folding them over his desk. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid Monarch knows of our headquarters’ position?”

“No! No, it’s not about that.” Following Florès’ exposing of their takeover of Outpost 32 to the military, the Titan Liberation Front had had to leave in an emergency, coming back to their base in Boston. It had quickly been followed by Emily doing a quadruple check of the security system.

The only trace from Florès she had found was an encoded message on a Word document that hadn’t been there before.

Remember, Jonah doesn’t trust you...

“Well then, what is it about?”

“... are you sure waking all the Titans is the way to go?” Emily asked, frowning. When Jonah narrowed his eyes, she quickly tried to correct herself. “I-I mean I know they’re the only ones who can save the planet at this point and that not waking them would just delay the inevitable, b- but what if when we free all of them, we end up regressing back to the Stone Age-”

“Emmy.” Jonah suddenly cut her off. She flinched away. Emmy was a nickname her parents had given her before they had died. Jonah was pretty much the only person close to her who was still allowed to use it. “Why are you so worried? Humanity going back to a time were they held no impact on the planet is an ideal scenario.”

“I- it’s not just about that... it’s Ghidorah.” She started. “It’s- they’re not from Earth, they’re not going to restore the planet- they’re destroying it- it’s not going to be the co-existence you told me about, they’re a walking extinction event-”

“Kane.” Jonah started, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Are you telling me you’re having second doubts now? You were fine with millions of people dying, but you’re going to draw the line at billions of people dying?”

“That’s not what I said-”

“If we’re a sickness,” Jonah started, circling his desk, “and the Earth Titans are a fever, then Ghidorah is both the cure and the vaccine. It doesn’t matter what our intentions are: what’s important is that humans won’t be able to rise up again once they’re done, and the planet will only benefit from it. Do you understand?”

“... yes, sir.”

 “And if we do live to see this mass extinction event through...” He placed his hand on Emily’s shoulder, making her flinch. “I trust you and your talents will help us out, yes?” Jonah smiled down reassuringly at her, patting her shoulder.

... And you shouldn’t trust him.

Emily hesitantly nodded, remembering the message Florès had left her. “O- of course, sir.”

-

“You want me to teach you how to absorb energy?” Rodan nodded, San turning away from the coast to look at him instead, still not getting up. The sun was starting to set, and Ghidorah had made it very clear they were fascinated with the sky and the objects in it. There was also the fact they drew most of their energy from it. “Any reason why this sprang up?”

“I’m having difficulties finding food, and your brother mentioned you could teach me how to do it.” Rodan explained, sitting down and craning his neck up to look at San. “Something about being more spiritual.”

San nodded. “That is true. Ichi’s too clinical, and Ni convinced himself that if he allows himself to be vulnerable, he’ll die.” There was a pause. “Either way, neither can meditate if I’m not here. Can you absorb energy on your own, like, consciously?”

“Not consciously, I just start doing it automatically the moment I submerge myself in lava.”

“Partially, or fully?”

“Both. The more I’m submerged, the easier it is.”

San nodded. “Alright, that means you’re the unconscious type. We’re gonna try to meditate, okay? Okay. I want you to close your eyes, and breath in a pattern: 4 seconds in, 4 seconds hold, 8 seconds out. You think you can do it?”

“Yeah, I’m not an idiot.” Rodan hissed out, San giggling to himself before closing his eyes. Rodan watched the taller one do it a few times, before attempting himself. He started taking a deep breath. 1, 2- Heat, too much heat, feathers burned off, scalp burning, sides of mouth splitting, veins bursting, eyes burning, heart burning, too much light, no noise, nothing, lost everything-

“Hey, hey.” Rodan opened his eyes, craning his neck up to look at San. The blond had a worried look on his face. “You weren’t able to get it in. What went wrong?”

“I felt like I was burning from the inside out.” Rodan wheezed out in a shaky tone, before stopping and taking a moment to gather himself. When he spoke again, his voice was steadier. “Am I supposed to feel like I’m losing control of my powers?”

“You’re not. Probably. I don’t feel like I’m getting struck by lightning when I meditate, but I do feel like I’m floating... You said you felt like you were burning, right...?” San seemed to think for a moment, before holding his hands out. “Take my hands.”

“... alright?” Rodan hesitantly put his hands in San’s. He shuddered. Apparently, the cold from the ice had seeped into their very being. It felt as if frost spread were his hands touched San’s. Long fingers curled around his hands, and he shivered as he felt a shock run through his body.

“If you start feeling too hot again, focus on my hands, alright?” Rodan nodded, closing his eyes again as he took a deep breath. 1, 2- liquid fire in his lungs, in his heart, can’t breath, can’t talk, all alone- he squeezed San’s hands, all cold and long fingers and letting off small shocks each time they moved- shaky 3, steady 4. He opened one eye as they held their breath in, but quickly closed it again when he saw San’s were still closed. He let it out, and San giggled. “See? You did it!”

“Y- yeah.” Rodan couldn’t help but blush. “I guess I did. What now?”

“We continue. Try to find your own rhythm. I’ll follow you.” Rodan nodded, resuming the exercise as they slowly adapted to his own breathing- which was more along the lines of 5,3,8. He could practically hear his own heart beating, how the magma flowed in his veins. Slowly everything seemed to fade away, the only thing left being the hands he held. “Rodan?”

“Mmm?”

“Open your eyes.” Rodan carefully opened one eye, before looking around in confusion.

They weren’t on Mara anymore. The sky had become whirls of color he couldn’t put a name on, and the ground a flat expense of white sand covered by a thing layer of water. Thousands upon thousands of stars filled the sky. Rodan blinked in confusion. “What the...?”

“What, first trip to the Soul Realm?” Rodan turned toward San, and screamed in surprise, letting go of his hands. Instead of San, there was now a vaguely San-shaped golden floaty thing in front of him, three pairs of round white eyes staring at him.

“Wh- San!?” He exclaimed in surprise, the spirit nodding. “What happened? Where are we? Where did Mara go? Why do you look like that-”

“One question at a time, okay? First, we’re meditating. This is what happens when you successfully separate your soul from your body. This is the Soul Realm, or the place between life and death. Mara didn’t go anywhere, in fact our bodies are still on it, alive and soaking in energy. And I look like that because that’s what my soul is like.”

Rodan groaned. “Great. And I thought the moth’s whole deal was weird...”

San giggled. “Don’t be like that, fire bird. I mean, look at you! You’re practically wrapped in fire!”

“What are you talking about- woah!” Rodan looked at his hands. His sleeves had been replaced by feathers of fire, dragging after him like a train as he got up. He slowly moved his arms, watching the flames move in synch.

He slowly started laughing, running around in circles and watching the fire around him grow larger, brighter, encompassing him. He distantly registered San laughing along or telling him to spin as he danced around, but he complied anyway, flames growing with each gleeful pirouette he did.

“You’re even brighter than the precious Fire guardian!” Rodan came to a halt at that, the flow of flames around him dying. San tilted his head at that, Round eyes becoming ovals in an imitation of confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“... Quetz had similar flames?”

“Oh yeah!” San cheerfully said, seemingly obvious to Rodan’s distress. “She was really something to behold. A bloodlust that nearly rivals Ni’s, a flawless defense in her attack, and a passion-”

“-That shined brighter than the sun could ever hope to.” Rodan finished, his voice breaking a bit on that.

San tilted his head in curiosity. “... are you sure you’re alright? Each time the former Guardian of fire comes up, you get really sad.” Rodan said nothing, simply maintaining his lack of eye contact. “With how you and your people’s hierarchy work, I thought you’d be happy about a runt like you getting close to the top of the food chain-”

Rodan’s flames flared up again, this time in anger as he screeched. “WHY WOULD I BE HAPPY ABOUT MY MATE DYING-” The flame went back to a smolder as he realized in horror what he had just blurted out. There was no way they wouldn’t try to use that against him-

San looked impassive, but what he said sounded... horrified? “You... your mate died and you ended up taking her place!?”

“I- I don’t know why it happened either-” Rodan started, the pent-up frustration and anxiety and despair that had accumulated and festered over the years starting to come out as yellow flames started surrounding them. “It’s just- we were trying to start a family and one of the attempts finally took- and before I knew it the volcano we nested in erupted and we lost the eggs and I lost a wing and she choked on the smoke and I tried to join them but Terra wouldn’t let me die-”

Rodan came to a halt as he felt two hands come up to his face. San was looking down at him, all three pair of eyes narrowed. “How cruel.” He blankly stated. “Instead of letting you join her, your god- Terra, is it?- has decided to throw her death right in your face by making you her successor... are you not angry at her?”

Rodan grabbed San by the wrists, taking his hands away from his face. “Why do you care? It’s not like you ever lost anyone dear to you.”

“I have, actually.” Rodan’s eyes widened in surprise. He would’ve called bullshit, but something about San when he said it made him seem more... vulnerable. “Back when we lived in space. He often helped us, we had similar point of views, and he was very fun to be around. A bit similar to you, really. Losing him so suddenly is what drove us to come here.”

“Oh.” Rodan took a hold of San’s hand, squeezing reassuringly. “I’m so sorry for your loss... was his death brutal, or... ?”

“Oh, he didn’t die, firebird.” San started ominously, standing to his full height. “He betrayed us.”

“W- what?” Rodan’s eyes widened in horror. As far as he was concerned, once mated, you essentially pledged your very being to that person. And while a relationship between mates could die if given enough time, betraying them before breaking off was never an option. “Why would he do that!?”

“Weaker beings are afraid of what they don’t understand, and we are very hard to understand.” San stated, his voice back to it’s dissonant cheerfulness. “I mean, I’m very sure you’ve seen quite a few humans who didn’t like Titans and wanted them dead-”

Rodan didn’t process what came out of San’s mouth next. He was too focused by his arms breaking off, separated from his shoulders by tiny black, pointy sticks. He opened his mouth to scream, only for more sticks to lodge themselves in his lips and throat, chocking off any sounds that would come out of it. As those sticks started tearing into his chest, is vision went blurry, the entire world around him melding in a sick spiral of colors, gold at it’s center.

“Rodan!? RODAN! OPEN YOUR EYES!!!” Rodan opened his eyes, eyes turned to the ground and whole body shaking as he hyperventilated. He was back in the real world. ‘Hey, hey, it’s fine, you’re fine, there’s no danger- Look at me.” He slowly looked up. The light of the mostly set sun was casting strange, moving shadows on San, his glowing red eyes amplifying the strangeness of his sharp features. “What’s wrong?”

“C- Can’t breath-”

San frowned. “Breath, then.” He sang, his voice echoing onto itself.

Rodan didn’t know why he wasn’t ignoring the Ghidorah’s songs. Hell, they were the whole reason he had built up his immunity to all Calls, thanks in no small part to hanging out with Godzilla so much. But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the pull of it. And he was too shaken to not listen right now. He took in a large gulp of air, breathing in short, quick bursts as San held onto his hands.

“Do you want to talk about what that was about?” San asked, tilting his head. Rodan shook his head. Revealing his relationship with Quetzalcoatl could’ve gone wrong very fast, and he attributed San having someone similar to a pure stroke of luck on his part. There was no way Ghidorah could’ve ever been hurt by beings so much smaller and weaker than them. He hoped the other wouldn’t push it.

But San just nodded, letting go of Rodan’s hands and gently bending forward as his breathing calmed down. It’s then he realized. “It worked.”

San blinked in confusion. “Uh?”

“The meditation, it worked!” Rodan cheerfully exclaimed, pushing his earlier thoughts in a corner of his mind. “I feel stronger then befo-”

“Rodan.”

“GAH!” Rodan turned his head, only to see Ni staring down at him and San. “I told you not to sneak up on me like that!”

Ni simply shrugged in indifference. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, hi Ni!” Ni nodded at San, before kneeling down, facing Rodan.

“I found something you might like.” Ni told him, handing him a handful of something. Rodan’s eyes widening in surprise when he realized it was a handful of small roots, nuts and grains. “You told me you couldn’t eat the fish around the island anymore, so I tried to find something you could eat in the human settlement. It’s not a lot, but it should be better than rotten fish.”

Rodan smiled, bringing the handful of food to his mouth and swallowing. He then turned toward Ni, his face glowing a bit. “And it is. Thank you, Ni.”

Ni frowned, bringing a hand to Rodan’s face. “Are you sure you’re fine? Blood keeps rushing to your face.”

That snapped Rodan out of his relaxed state of mind. He jumped up, the flush growing bigger as he did so. “Of course I’m fine, whywouldntIbefine-”

“Rodan, it’s fine, sit down-”

“AnywayitsgettinglateandIneedtosleepgoodnight!” Rodan exclaimed, followed by a strong wind that carried him off to the top of his volcano. Ni and San could see his silhouette collapse at the top of it, followed by a strange, quiet shriek.

San turned toward his brother, smiling. “Good idea to find him food!”

Ni blinked. “I didn’t think my efforts to make him like me were working.” When San gave him a confused frown, he shrugged. “Each time I try to be nice to him, he keeps getting... flustered. Embarrassed. That’s not a good thing.”

“... He’s touched.” San blankly stated. “You keep giving him gifts, Ni. Of course he’s gonna keep blushing.”

“How did you figure out he needed food?” The two turned toward Ichi, who they knew had been watching them for a time.

San waved as their older brother sat down. “Hi brother Ichi!”

“He... told me?” Ni tried hesitantly. “It’s why I told him to talk to San. So he could learn to absorb energy without soaking himself in lava. Help him stay not weak.”

Ichi nodded. “Either way, good job. The both of you.” Ni sighed in relief and San beamed at the praise. His good mood only improved as Ichi pat him on the head. “If we continue like that, we’ll be out of this place sooner than later.”

[christhehoff]

Eleven Reasons I Can't Wait For Mega Man 11

Mega Man and I go way back. As a gamer, I've been enjoying Mega Man since his very first adventure, and as a professional, I was very fortunate to have been involved in the reveals of Mega Man 9 and 10, plus I've written more Mega Man articles than I can count. So hearing the news earlier this week that Mega Man is returning after a lengthy absence in Mega Man 11 got me more excited than any video game news has in a long, long time. Here are 11 reasons why I'm so thrilled for the upcoming release of Mega Man 11.

1. Classic Gameplay From all appearances so far, this is Mega Man as we know him and love him - running, jumping, and shooting his way through side-view horizontally and vertically scrolling stages, blasting enemy robots and using special weapons to stop the desires of the evil Dr. Wily. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

2. Modern Looks Though the gameplay is traditional Mega Man, Capcom has given up the 8-bit visual style of Mega Man 9 and 10 and instead opted for modern polygon-based visuals with a 2.5D presentation. Personally, I always thought it was weird to revert back to 8-bit graphics after the 16- and 32-bit graphics of Mega Man 7 and 8, so I, for one, am happy to see the visuals take a leap forward rather than be tied to the past.

3. Something New Despite sticking to the familiar Mega Man formula, the developers aren't afraid to add something new to the mix. There are cool-looking new enemies, and more significantly, Mega Man has the newfound ability to activate a temporary powered-up state. It'll be interesting to see how to best use it during gameplay.

4. It's On Switch Yes, Mega Man 11 is coming to all current platforms, but Nintendo systems feel like Mega Man's true home. Capcom's commitment to Nintendo has been somewhat spotty over the last few months, especially where Mega Man is concerned, so it's awesome to see that right out of the gate the game is scheduled for Switch. And even better, they're paving the way with Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 and all eight Mega Man X games. Now if only we could convince them to port Mega Man: The Wily Wars and Mega Man & Bass....

5. Slide & Charge Are Back With the last couple Mega Man games, the designers took a back-to-basics approach and removed some of his slightly more advanced abilities: the slide that debuted in Mega Man 3 and the charge shot that first appeared in Mega Man 4. Now these moves are back (and looking better than ever) in Mega Man 11.

6. Mega Man Makeover When Mega Man joined the Smash Bros. crew, he appeared with a mild redesign that added additional details to his outfit and provided a slightly more robotic look. That new design seems to be the basis for Mega Man's new look, but this version also makes him a bit thinner and sleeker, as he appeared in the artwork for Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass. Furthermore, Mega Man's helmet and buster transform when he equips a Robot Master's special weapon, adding some extra visual punch to the character while not detracting from his legacy.

7. Multiple Difficulties Mega Man is known for being hard. Sometimes it's known for being too hard. I still have nightmares about the final boss of Mega Man 7, and Mega Man 9 almost made me jump out the window. Beating a Mega Man game can be a badge of honor, but the series should also be accessible, so I'm pleased to see that there will be four difficulties available in Mega Man 11. If that means more people enjoying Mega Man, I think that's a great inclusion.

8. Returning Characters So far, Mega Man 11 looks like an ideal blend of old and new. Familiar gameplay, new visuals, new abilities...and also a lot of returning characters. Rush is back to give Mega Man a boost, and Roll, Beat, and Fliptop (aka Eddie) are returning as well. Roll's new design, which debuted back at TGS for some merchandise, is especially well done. However, I'm even more excited about some of the returning enemies like Sniper Joe and the pick-axe-throwing baddies, some of whom haven't been seen in a Mega Man game in ages.

9. It's Not the Cartoon With a new Mega Man cartoon in the works, it would have been easy for Capcom to tie a new Mega Man game to that property and try to ride a multimedia wave to success, like Sega attempted with Sonic Boom. Fortunately, they didn't go that route, and fans all over the world are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief.

10. A Respectful Dev Team From Capcom's livestream, it became abundantly clear that Mega Man 11 is being handled by experienced designers who have a great reverence and appreciation for Mega Man and genuinely want Mega Man's "resurrection" to be a success. As with many of today's great indie titles, some of these developers grew up playing Mega Man and are fans as much as any of us. With producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, director Koji Oda, level designer Masakazu Eguchi, art director Yuji Ishihara, and sound designer Ryo Yoshii on board, the series appears to be in good hands.

11. It's Mega Man Honestly, no matter what Capcom had shown, I probably would have been elated at the mere thought of any new Mega Man game, especially considering that for the past 5 years it's seemed like the franchise was, for all intents and purposes, dead. The fact that it's not, the fact that the new entry is in the classic series, and the fact that Capcom seemingly wants to please the series's thousands upon thousands of devoted fans, can only be good things in my book. Let's hope Mega Man 11 lives up to everyone's expectations.

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night, Annex of Encounters Part 3 (Book 5)

This will be a lot shorter as there’s not much in the way of art for Book 5, and mom starts her radiation therapy tomorrow morning, so I can’t stay up too late. Her health obviously takes priority.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the entry.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for anyone who wishes to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so, however.

Finally, before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

This one is going to be lacking in encounters mostly because most of them, honestly, were already built as monsters with class levels and the such. Most of the creatures in this one were way too low of a CR to be an honest challenge, so it had to be that way. No matter how much it wasn’t that way, there’s no way three aboleths at CR 7 (or CR 8 with the Advanced template, and even CR 12 with the Mighty template), could have possibly thwarted the party.

Like before, the level estimation is based entirely around the fact that I’m assuming that Gary would have stayed in line with his writing for “Way of the Wicked”, and would try to hit the same beats as much as possible.

Getting into it, here’s Book Five: Sailors on a Sunless Sea (Level 16-18):

With Taaryssia dealt with either by war, assassination or alliance, the PCs began to realize that they may face an enemy greater than either drow or corrupted dwarves. Caravans start to go missing. Reports of strange aberrations appearing in the depths come to their attention. And everywhere there are dark omens that something of terrible magical power is awakening the deepest depths of the earth. To find out more and to reach these rarely visited depths, the PCs must cross the great Sunless Sea.

The PCs are given (or possibly steal) a boat, and head out onto uncharted waters (for them). At best, they might be acquire a limited map that shows them a few miles in various directions. Anything further might be too pointless or treacherous for the standard drow to consider. Hopefully one of the PCs (and players) is a decent cartographer by this point.

I have no stats for these, but these are just some of the “bizzare” life forms that are swimming around these strange sunless seas.

Even underground it seems that fog rolls in off the water. As well, hidden dangers are all around, and the PCs won’t likely know that any of it is coming. It’s here that we’re told “portions are shrouded in mists.” and ”Other seas boil like a hot cauldron over a ceaseless fire. Some are the domain of monsters never dreamed of by the sunlit realms.”

Unless someone in the party can see through fog, which is highly unlikely, or have ranks in Profession (sailor), everyone’s going to new to using the boat.

Speaking of the boat, a large rowboat with 60 hp would likely be the best option for this portion of the game.

As for encounters for this portion, it sounds like there might be things hidden in the hog that could attack at any time.

To be a proper threat, they don’t necessarily all need to be CR 16 or greater, as the boat will be the target more often than not. If the party doesn’t have mending and either version of make whole, they might be swimming back home (assuming they live that long).

For a fog monster, a Mighty Id hungry fog would be a terrible encounter to fight in such close quarters, even with it only being a CR 12, and if you have more than one? Malicious. (There are three links in total in that monster suggestion.)

While it’s taken directly from another published module, instead of creating your own ‘boiling sea’, a CR 15 burning geyser would be a nightmare to deal with as no one knows where those might spring up. It’d definitely make it more troublesome for the party is those geysers triggered earthquakes and the low ceiling to suddenly crumble into a falling rocks.

Aquatic Terrain

It’s at this point that the party will have to deal with rapids, quick currents, and the reality of being swept away (or smashed into rocks). Looking it over, and reading what’s available, it would seem this book is let about monster encounters and more about skill check challenges. Hopefully none of the PCs are wearing medium or heavy armor.

Either a shallow shore line, or the stalagmites have been growing due to an over abundance of mineral deposits. Regardless, this looks to be another skill challenge, and the closest I’ve been able to find is the razor rubble special terrain. Because the boat has hardness 5, increase the damage from 1 point to 6 points. This way every time the PCs fail, the boat is slowly chipped away. If they critically fail a challenge, and the boat has already taken half damage, this might also mean that the boat has sprung a leak.

Note that most skill challenges assume numerous skills for options such as Acrobatics, Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), Perception, and Profession (sailor). You can also use regular ability checks if the party doesn’t have the proper skill. As well, players who think up really interesting and unique ways to use a skill, that the GM feels would work, can attempt that too. For example, Intimidate wouldn’t work, but Survival likely would. Another example could be maybe the PC has a Fly or Swim skill and wants to use one of those to help maneuver the boat around the hazardous terrain.

If you’re not familiar with skill challenges from Pathfinder Society, you can instead use these rules and come up with your own scenarios for how you want the party to bypass these special hazards. PFS style challenges, on the other hand, uses the Easy/Average/Hard system, and it’d look like this: Skill Checks and Combat Maneuver DCs Level 16: Easy DC 27; Average DC 32; Hard DC 40 Level 17-18: Easy Skill DC 28; Average Skill DC 34; Hard Skill DC 42 Saving Throw DCs Level 16: Easy DC 23; Average DC 26; Hard DC 30 Level 17-18: Easy DC 24; Average DC 28; Hard DC 32

And the reason I know these numbers is thankfully PFS got this high of a level, so I can use the adventures I used to run from when I was a Venture Lieutenant as a reference.

If you use the E/A/H method, then for the rapids, then it would go something like: When the PCs hit the rapids, at least half must succeed at an Easy Profession (sailor), Average Knowledge (nature), or Hard Perception DC 40. A PC that succeeds can aid one other creature for every 5 points they beat the DC by. On a failure, they must succeed at an Average Acrobatics or Reflex save, or be thrown from the boat.

After that, it’d be Climb checks to get back in the boat, Swim checks to keep up with the boat/stay float/etc.

And this can be used for the razor rubble, additional geysers, cave-ins, etc. Note that skill challenges are worth experience just as any combat encounter, and can take anywhere from one minute to one hour, depending on the situation the PCs are involved with.

Nightwave Nightshade (CR 20)

It’s not specified exactly when the PCs are supposed to face this, but this picture comes before that of the three aboleths, so it can’t be the final boss.

There’s also talk of “strange tribes of weird creatures rarely even heard of by the those who dwell above. The PCs must conquer them either by guile or by force”, and I can’t help but wonder if those might be gillmen. Where there are aboleth, the gillman race can’t be too far. And, interestingly enough, if things went really south, and PCs started to drop like flies, a gillman PC as a replacement isn’t the worst thing. Maybe it ends up being a TPK, and the a dwarf or drow body is discovered by a gillman that has speak with dead in their repetoire, whether it’s prepared, known, or a scroll. That fallen dwarf or drow might tell that PC what happened, and of its quest to stop the kidnappings from Taaryssia. The new gillman PCs take up arms, and finally decide that enough is enough, and after all these years, it’s time to take on the aboleth and stop this from continuing, only to discover that they’re just pawns being controlled by something far greater and alien.

----------------------------------------

I’d like to bring up that I did a speculated level build for the submarine the PCs find, and said it was Book 5. To be honest, that’s just an assumption, and I honestly don’t know when they’re supposed to discover it. It would either be in Book 5 or the absolute earliest part of Book 6, as that’s when the PCs infiltrate the aboleth city. However, there are a few encounters that the PCs are supposed to face in Book 5 that the art looks as though they take place under the water, but I can’t be 100% certain. As such, there’s more art that I want to put here, but I’ll save that for a “miscellaneous” post. So look forward to that.

Next time, will be Book 6 and the final encounters of the AP.

[howtoloseweightfastsafely]

The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

There are 5 traits that ALL traditional cultures have in common:

1) Zero processed foods.

2) Moderate-to-High amounts of Natural Fat.

3) Adequate amounts of Natural Protein.

4) Locally Grown Carbohydrates, prepared in a specific manner.

5) Lacto-Fermented Foods

Points 4+5 are crucial to improving various markers of health, but mainstream wisdom conveniently forgets to mention them:

1. Time-tested food preparation techniques (specifically, carbohydrate-preparation techniques)

2. Consuming fruits, vegetables, and other foods preserved via lacto-fermentation

a. Think pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.

You see, traditional cultures knew something about carbs that most of us DON'T.

And there's a good chance it's destroying our internal health, even for those of us who think we eat "healthy".

Let me start with a quick example.

What is one thing that all humans and other animals have in common?

---> Some sort of defense mechanism.

I don't know about you, but if someone tries to attack me, I WILL fight back. I'll punch, kick and head butt my way out if I have to.

What about an animal in the wild? Will it just stand there and let itself be killed? I think not.

It will also claw, run, bite, kick and more in an attempt to escape its predator.

What about plants and grains?

Yep, you guessed it. Just like humans and animals, plants and grains have a defense mechanism too.

We've previously discussed this, but it's true. Plants and grains have "built-in attacks" for anyone that tries to eat them!

Unfortunately, though, very few people realize this...and off they go recommending high quantities of grains, beans, and other plant foods.

Besides the insulin resistance caused by this, we then have to deal with the issue of being "attacked" by the grains.

The defense mechanisms, in this case, are *anti-nutrients* such as:

Various lectins

Gluten

Phytic acid.

These anti-nutrients *latch on* to glucosamine (naturally occurring sugar) that is found around our cell membranes. Once the toxins *catch on*, they penetrate the cell membranes that are part of our connective tissue, intestinal linings, cartilage, and more.

This opens the door up for toxins to spread all over the body. In the process, this breaks down healthy tissue, ramps up inflammation, and causes a harmful autoimmune response.

Even worse, this can manifest itself with the appearance or worsening of severe health issues, such as:

Chronic Pain and Joint/Muscle Disorders

Systemic Inflammation

Inadequate Absorption of Vitamins and Minerals

Poor Intestinal Health

Heartburn and GI Tract Issues

Gas and Bloating

Crohn's Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and a myriad of other illnesses

It's not a pretty sight.

Thankfully, there are ways we can prevent this outcome.

----> Now about those traditional cultures again:

They *knew* about the anti-nutrients in grains and plant foods.

Which is why over the centuries of testing and tweaking, they determined the BEST preparation techniques for these foods.

And this is what really amazes me...

Because these days, you sometimes hear "oh just eat some beans or wheat. They're low fat and so good for you...and people have been doing it for thousands of years and they live so long!".

EXCEPT, the people eating these foods always used "special" prep techniques. Even my own mother, a woman who grew up with traditional cuisine in India, always soaks and sprouts beans/lentils before cooking. I used to think she was crazy, since sprouts make it look like there's some foreign creature growing out of the beans, but now I know she was holding a bit of "secret wisdom" in all the cooking she does.

And as a result, it doesn't surprise me that people eating traditional Indian cuisine (not the modern, processed junk that has made Indians obese in recent years) continue to live happy, healthy, long lives without the aid of dangerous drugs and procedures.

But anyway, let's get back on track.

Did you know that, when done correctly, these prep techniques can virtually eliminate the antinutrients in the grains/plants, meaning we can actually enjoy them without harming our insides?

But what are these techniques? And why do they work so well?

For starters, carbohydrate preparation has to do with soaking, sprouting, and fermenting the foods before cooking

 Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't"

Read the next article about "The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

[breegullbeakreviews]

NOTICE: I’m a 64-bit backer of this game. That means I put over $500 (approximately $535) into this game on Kick-starter. That being said I’m not going to cut this game any slack.

Summary: When Capital B steals all the worlds’ books, Yooka and Laylee set out on a quest to stop the corporate creep and get their book back in a collect-a-thon adventure straight out of the 90s.

Overall: For better and for worse Yooka-Laylee is a game out of the 90s. I’m a fan of a lot of what this game is inspired by, but when this game fails it does so to such a degree that it makes me angrier than I’ve been in a very long time. If it’s on sale or available on Games with Gold or Play Station Plus I’d say it’s worth a shot, but as the reviews paint, this game is the definition of a mixed bag.

Gameplay: Yooka-Laylee is essential a Banjo Tooie sequel. You know the one people complained Nuts & Bolts wasn’t. Yooka the Chameleon and Laylee the Bat are an animal duo that can fly, shoot projectiles, and do a few other unique new maneuvers I won’t spoil here. You collect Pagies to open new worlds and expand them and Quils to pay Trowzer to teach you new moves. There are 20 Pagies in the hub and 25 in each world while there are a mere 10 Quils in the hub and 200 in each world. A Mollycoolin each level will allow you to transform with the help of formerly evil scientist Dr. Puzz. There are 5 Ghost Writers in each world and collecting all of them nets you a Pagie. There are Quiz shows.

Everything I’ve listed off is a classic Banjo game staple, but most of them are either done mediocrely, or just badly. The first one you’ll likely see messed up is the transformations. In Kazooie and Tooie these tied into one or two of a levels ten Jiggies. Here they tend to tie into just one of twenty-five. The last two levels are the biggest exceptions to this rule, but compared to the source material, these transformations feel like they’re here out of tradition as opposed to necessity.

Ghost Writers are next on the list of classic elements muddied up. Each of the 5 little guys has a different method of catching them. One stands still, one runs around a set area, one fights you, one needs to be fed with a projectile, and one is invisible. 3 of these aren’t terrible. Guess which two are terrible? The little red fucker who attacks you is always placed on a small platform that’s about the size of his lunge attack that you need to dodge before he is vulnerable to a hit. I never once found the invisible blue ghost on my own. I looked up every single one of them.

The Quiz shows are also pretty badly botched. Instead of one final quiz before the boss fight at the games end, you get three super small quiz shows. You need to cross ten spaces with three lives by answering questions. No challenge spaces, thank god for that in this game, but also no musical questions. The one interesting mechanic here is that if you answer the question in the first two seconds you get to move two spaces instead of one. The part where things go south though is in the questions themselves, and it’s caused by the fact that the first quiz comes in so quickly after the game starts: some questions are based on player stats and choices. How long have you been playing? What was the first ghost writer you collected? How many Quils do you have? These end up being the questions you get most of the time as there just isn’t a wide enough variety of characters and settings to draw creative quiz questions from.

This last blunder I guess is more of a preference thing, but I never liked buying moves in Tooie, and that’s what you do here. Trowzer gives you moves free in the hub, but inside the five worlds he charges you. It doesn’t even force Yooka and Laylee to find Trowzer in a certain area for a certain move. He sells all the worlds moves from one easily accessed spot towards the start of the world. Heck I think the most effort you need to put in to find the guy is in the first world.

This last issue is kind of a big one, and part of it again depends on preference, but it’s a new mechanic to an extent as well: Expanding worlds is a terrible idea. Banjo Tooie was cool for a play through when it was big, but even with warps it feels tedious and empty years later, at least to me. Nuts & Bolts was a result of an attempt to fix the issue by making getting around the massive world as fun as what you do once you get there, and that worked, but I’m getting off topic. Yooka Laylee’s expandable worlds are always either too empty to start with, or get to big when expanded. I’ll hit on each level more specifically when I get to each, but let’s just say this game struggles to find that happy medium.

Also again opinion, but this game has back-tracking to previously visited worlds. Something my 3D platforming preference Banjo Kazooie almost entirely lacked. Some people like it, others don’t. For me it’s certainly not a good mark on this game, but probably an necessity due to the games size.

Mini-games: They all suck. All of them. If Yooka-Laylee had no mini-games this game would be so much better than it is. I guess here it’s also important to note that while I grew up in the 90s with Rare game, I only grew up with their 3D platformers on the N64, so Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie, and DK64.

I never owned a Super Nintendo and I’ve never played a Donkey Kong Country game long enough to get behind the wheels of a mine cart. That being said Kartos is a relic I have no nostalgia for. Kartos generates out of thin air a series of mine cart tracks floating in the games environment filled with holes and obstacles you need to avoid while collecting enough gems by the end of the course. I don’t find these fun. Not one bit. This is compounded in the fourth world, but I’ll cover that when I get there. What annoys me about the inclusion of this character is it is stretching beyond Banjo to an era I don’t care about, but more importantly its inclusion was a stretch goal. I have very mixed feelings about stretch goals, particularly how you usually need to go through a bunch of lesser goals, like this one, before hitting to really good ones, like the day one release on consoles.

Kartos isn’t the worst thing about this game though. Another side character holds that title, and his name is Rextro. Rextro’s inclusion was sadly always a planned part of the game, and he is by far the worst part of that plan. I haven’t heard one person speak positively about them, and that’s for good reason, because there is no positive side to them. They’re relentlessly hard, are home to a host of frame drops and other glitches, and not only do you need to beat them all to get a Pagie, but you then need to beat the high-score for another.

My end game time was just shy of 32 hours, and probably a good 5 or 6 of those hours was spent basing my head against these horrible mini-games. While the mine cart at least becomes somewhat of a mechanic that you learn to use over the course of the game, Rextro’s Arcade never builds on its games, and each arcade game is just as bad if not worse than the one that came before it. If I ever replay this game I’m going out of my way to avoid both of these.

Hivory Towers: Hivory Towers is the games HUB, and it’s got some problems. Most notably is that outside a small number of short cuts you can open up, getting from one end of the map to the other is a chore that can require multiple loading screens. The Pagies scattered about are pretty clever considering you never know if you’ve got the right move for the job.

That being said the place feels over designed. Since most of Banjo’s moves weren’t required to transverse Grunty’s Lair, outside theming changes around level entrances, the lair stayed pretty consistent in design. It was a cave with barren walls and the only thing blocking your way to the next area was a note door. Here progress is blocked by the next move which means to get from one end of the map to the next you need to pull out every move in the book, literally. Not only is this inconvenient to play through, but it leads to ugly areas like around the entrance to Moody March which is covered in grapple points because that’s the next move you need to progress.

Tribal Tropics: The game’s first level, and the one I’m going to have the most bad memories of. Not that it’s this levels fault. It just happens to be the first level and therefore the one you see all the games problems in first. The annoying ghost writers, the dead ends fixed by world expansion, the under used transformations. They’re all here and they hit hard. Same goes for Kartos and Rextro, but Kartos is actually pretty easy in his first outing.

There are two problems this world has that are all its own though. One is that it is home to the most back tracking in the game. You are unable to complete this level 100% until you’ve gone through over half the game. It’s other problem is part of a joke that culminates in the final world that broke me inside. A Pagie is in a container for no other reason than this joke. You need to talk to it and it’ll open the lid saying it can’t just slide out. I assumed I needed to hit a switch or something so what should have took two minutes took twenty.

There is some good here. Racing against the cloud is fun and the boss fight is interesting. Another cloud can also be used to fill, freeze, or drain the world’s river. Yeah it’s a short list, but it’s not like the first level of Banjo Kazooie or Tooie has a massive highlight reel.

Glitterglaze Glacier: This is the generic snow level, but it’s also the least interesting level in the game due to its attempt to be unique. When you unlock the world you’ve pretty much seen it all as it doesn’t have any dead ends that could be opened up. Instead its expansion opens up the ice palace in the center of the map where the game becomes an isometric platformer.

Let’s tackle the exterior first though. By default this world feels a lot bigger than the previous despite being smaller, but that is a result of a lot of dead space and various levels. Outside the palace there are several other interiors to explore, but all of them turn the game into a linear series of platforms. The transformation for this worlds is only used for one challenge which is the lowest of any of the transformations tied with the next world. There are also several tedious challenges outside involving slippery slopes that are solved with one of the games more interesting new abilities. While these are done better latter, these are handled well for teaching you the basics of these move.

Inside the castle the game turns into an isometric platformer. The labyrinth like design just doesn’t work well here. Finding our way back to a room is annoying, and sadly you’ll be back tracking to rooms quite a bit. The puzzles are all isolated to single rooms, but what you’re supposed to do in each room isn’t always clear or doesn’t always work as intended. For the first time since Ocarina of Time I hit a situation where I was doing the right thing but the game wasn’t detecting it for some reason.

I don’t have negative memories of this world, but it’s certainly in the lower half of the games worlds if I was going to organize them from best to worst.

Moody Marsh: This might be my favorite world in the game. Now negatives wise the world starts out way to small, and once expanded it’s still easy to get lost. The only other issue I had was that some of the challenges don’t set you right back up to try them again, but the general lack of a “retry challenge” button is a more overarching problem for the whole game.

Now for the positives. This world has the best Boss fight in the game. It might be in my top boss fights of all time. It’s not crazy epic, but it’s a mechanically sound fight that never feels cheap. The banter during the fight is fun and it doesn’t out stay its welcome. It’s also designed in such a way that the boss feels massive despite mostly off screen. It’s a boss I’m really sad isn’t repayable without starting a new game because it’s just a really fun boss.

The world also feels the most like a world out of a 90s collect-a-thon. Trees that stretch into the sky and just stop. An endless stretch of water out into a sky box. Even crummy draw distance disguised by darkness. It feels like a modern take on Bubble Gloop Swamp from Banjo Kazooie. Instead of a central hub leading out into clusters of challenges it’s a series of clusters connected by various platforming obstacles that aren’t part of the puzzles.

The world also has the least terrible Rextro Arcade game. It’s not good, but I didn’t loathe its very existence. The mine cart challenge also mixes things up with multiple paths that loop back around which creates a series of back tracking loops you’ll need to hit in order to collect enough gems. The transformation is underused, but it’s still a really cool idea that is sadly limited in use.

Capital Cashino: This world is considered by many to be the worst in the game, but I’m not sure I agree. It is home to my worst memories though. Unlike all of the other worlds, you don’t collect Pagies directly outside of Rextro’s Arcade, Kartos’s challenge, The Boss Fight, the Ghost Writers, and finding all the Quills. Instead you collect Casino chips and exchange them for Pagies. This concept is super interesting despite its sloppy execution. I’d love to see this explored in a sequel with a different theme.

Where the world falls apart is everything else. The challenges are all really weak. The transformation makes no sense here and for some reason it is how you get a massive number of chips. Sadly how you get those chips isn’t explained at all and I discovered how to tackle it by accident. Most of the platforming chips are obtained through a series of random obstacle courses and the rest by playing slot machines that require timing to work out.

What would make this the worst level in the game is Rextro and Kartos. Let’s start with Kartos. I really didn’t like this mine cart course. It’s just not fun at all. It lacks any sense of creativity and is just really difficult. This is also where the world’s boss hides. You fight this world’s boss in a mine cart and it’s the worst boss in the game. It took me over an hour to beat this thig. You jump projectiles and mines and wait for an opening to shot over the course of 3 phases that have nothing in common. It’s just a terrible boss fight all around.

Now for Rextro. This is the worst of his games. It’s the first one I struggled to finish let alone get the high score on. I again spent over an hour on this thing. It’s really bad. This mini-game has frame rate dips like crazy, pointless decorations that block your view of the course, and by its very design you need to play almost perfectly to beat the game at all.

Galleon Galaxy: Much like Moody Marsh, Galleon Galaxy takes after another Banjo Kazooie level, Treasure Trove Cove. Unlike Moody Marsh, its scattered design doesn’t work to its advantage. First off this world starts off insanely small. It starts off consisting of two small islands and a cove. Once expanded the level quadruples in size adding several more islands and a large number of floating space orbs.

The concept of the level is a cross between a pirate theme and space and it’s really cool aesthetically. The level truly feels unique in the genre. The world has the most used transformation in a good way. Not only does it get use across the entire map, but it’s how you’ll face the world’s boss. The game even cleverly gives you a tutorial for the transformation before it lets you out to explore.

That being said the challenges are pretty hit or miss. They are also mostly isolated to their own separate space orbs and usually come down to just platforming. That being said there are some really good challenges here like the robot puzzle. If it weren’t for the isolated aspect of things this might have been the game’s best world.

Final Boss: I want to like this more than I do. It’s a multiphase fight, but it doesn’t feel like it’s fairly designed. Particularly the final phase. Due to the games power bar being vital to most of the moves you’ll need for the final battle, the final phase makes it impossible to have enough time to recharge that bar without taking a hit since you can’t move fast enough to avoid the attacks. The first phase also is designed in such a way that you can get hit by the boss moving to his next location so you need to move into the corner. There are also unskippable mid boss cut scenes.

[scdojo]

The Complete History of Foreigners in GSL

Alexander "Neeb" Sunderhaft won the KeSPA Cup. Mikolaj "Elazer" Ogonowski, Tobias "ShoWTimE" Sieber and the aforementioned Neeb all made it into the round of 8 at Blizzcon. This is a wild time to be a StarCraft fan, as the foreigners continue to close the gap against the Korean programmers, making their mark more and more.

And now, Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn has qualified for the longest standing and most prestigious tournament in all of StarCraft II, the GSL Code S. While this is certainly an impressive feat, Scarlett's entire story in the GSL has not unfolded yet, so I'd like to take this time to look back on the history of foreigners (non-Koreans) in GSL.

GSL started just after the official release of SC2, all the way back in August of 2010. It was an exciting time, the start of the first Korean league in the sequel to the game that really started esports. Immediately great attention was given to the GSL, and many top Non-Korean players decided to attempt to make their name by traveling to Korea to compete.

The First Era - Open Seasons 1-3

The Open Seasons were like the Wild West of GSL. StarCraft II was an untamed land, one full of strategies and mechanics yet to be discovered. There was a pretty good understanding of who the top players were at the time, but really anything could happen as the game was not even close to mapped out at the time. To add to the craziness, the first 3 seasons were known as "Open" for a reason. There were no seeds, and the brackets started at 64 players. This means that during the open qualifiers, there were 64 spots up for grabs to get into the GSL. That is a LOT of spots, which both allowed almost every top player to qualify, but also let in a lot of randoms who had some strange strategies or easy brackets.

Open Season 1

The first qualifier for GSL was announced very last minute, but still 4 non-Koreans were able to make it into the main tournament. 

Trevor "TorcH" Housten made it only as far as the round of 64, losing to a Protoss player who, little did we know, would several seasons later become a surprise powerhouse: Cho Won "San" Kang.

Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski (me, lol!) also only made it into the round of 64. There I played a pretty poor series against a Protoss player and lost 1-2. This was of course with Zerg, my original race in SC2.

Dario "Liquid`TLO" Wunsch also qualified for the first GSL Open Season, and certainly did a good job there as well. He took out Kang Ho "LosirA" Hwang, who is still a top professional Zerg to this day, with a 2-0 score, and then lost to Yoo Jong "Hyperdub" Kim in the round of 32, a well known Terran of the time, 1-2. By the way, this was all playing Terran, the race TLO started out with.

The favourite of the Non-Koreans (and truthfully, one of the overall favourites of the whole tournament), Greg "IdrA" Fields didn't preform as well as anyone expected in the first season. After handily dispatching a Terran player in the round of 64, he lost to Yung Soo "NettiePrime" Jun 1-2 in the round of 32. 

Thus ended a very underwhelming Open Season 1 for a hopeful foreigner scene.

Open Season 2

Season 2 had repeat qualifiers in TLO and IdrA, as well as a new one in Yi "Loner" Dai, the Chinese Terran (who would soon later go on to get 2nd at the first StarCraft II Blizzcon tournament).

TLO had a harder season this time, hitting Sang Ho "Killer" Shin AKA SangHo, an experienced StarCraft 1 pro who had just switched over. He went out in the round of 64.

IdrA had a much better run this time. He took out 2 Terrans before losing to Jung Min "Zenio" Choi in the round of 16.

Loner had a pretty impressive in his first GSL, first taking out the current world champion, Hyun Woo "ByuN" Byun (who played Protoss at the time and was known as Bleach), followed by a victory over a Zerg player before losing to the Emperor himself, Yo Hwan "BoxeR" Lim.

2 rounds of 16 was certainly a much better showing for the foreigners, but nothing compared to what the 3rd season had in store...

Open Season 3

Some truly heavy hitters came out of the woodwork this season. 

Hayder "Liquid`HayprO" Hussein made it in but instantly fell to the cheesiest player in the history of StarCraft, Nam Kyu "BitByBitPrime" Kim.

IdrA, Jos "Liquid`ret" de Kroon, and Chia Cheng "Sen" Yang all fared a bit better than HayprO and made it to the round of 32 before falling. Notably Sen's run was cut short by the previous season's champion, Jae Duk "NesTea" Lim, who mentioned multiple times that he felt Sen was easily top Korean level.

Pretty underwhelming for a brand new game with the best RTS talent outside of Korea trying their best to overcome the history of Korean dominance. Enter Jonathan "Liquid`Jinro" Walsh.

Jinro had already tried the previous 2 seasons to qualify for the GSL. Despite many weaker players making it into the GSL, Jinro was only able to make it to the ro8 in both previous qualifier attempts. 3rd time's a charm.

In the round of 64, Jinro took out the strong Zerg player Jin Yung "Drug" Kwun 2-1. Sadly, he would be going up against the 5th race, the ultimate legend from WarCraft III, Jae Ho "Moon" Jang, in the round of 32. Sadly for Moon, that is. 2-0 for Jinro. Well, in the round of 16, which is as far as any non-Korean had made it so far, he would have to play Seong Hun "Polt" Choi. Yes, that Polt. Polt, by the way, had already taken down BoxeR in the previous round. Oh, never mind, no problem. Jinro wins 2-0. Well round of 8 is pretty damn good. But now he was going up against Hyung Seop "Choya" Lee, who had already taken out He Who Would Be The Greatest That There Ever Was, Jong Hyun "Mvp" Jung. Jinro clutched that round out as well, with a 3-2 score. Round of 4. This would be where Jinro was stopped, by none other than the Boss Toss, Min Chul "MC" Jang. MC crushed Jinro 4-0, and would go on to give a 4-1 victory against Seo Yong "Rain" Park in the Finals. MC would also go on to be the biggest money winner EVER, even to this day, when he is retired and coaching a League of Legends team. Not a bad player to go out against.

Just to get this out of the way, these large 64 spot GSLs were the ONLY times that foreigners ever qualified for the GSL through an open bracket. Every single participation in the GSL after Open Season 3 (which started in November of 2010) by a foreigner was seed-based. Until, that is, Scarlett won her qualifying group this past week.

The Second Era - Rapid Fire GSL Code S

2011 had 7 GSL Code S tournaments. 2012 had 5 GSL Code S tournaments.

  GSL January 2011

Loner and ret both played in Code A and both lost to Jung Hwan "Cezanne" Kim. ret in the first round, Loner in the second.

Jinro and IdrA were in Code S, where they were both put into Group H. The star foreigners were both able to eek it out, forcing Sang Cheol "Ensnare" Kim and Hyung Joo "Check" Lee into the Up and Down matches.

The round of 16 groups were absolutely brutal for both players. IdrA was in a group with the legendary Yoon Yeol "NaDa" Lee, the Blizzcon Champion Min Soo "Genius" Jeong, and one of the strongest players of early StarCraft II, Kyu Jong "Clide" Han. Despite this, IdrA advanced in first place to the round of 8.

Jinro's group was no less scary. Sung Je "Rainbow" Kim, the runner-up of Open Season 1. MC, the Boss Toss and defending champion. And last but certainly not least, the legendary Jung Hoon "MarineKingPrime" Lee, who was the runner up to Open Season 2. No prob Bob. Jinro gets out cleanly in 2nd place, moving on to the round of 8 with IdrA. Or should I say against IdrA?

Having not played against each other enough, what being in the same ro32 group and all, IdrA and Jinro faced off in the round of 8, to see if IdrA would become the most successful foreigner in GSL history, or if Jinro would run far out of his range. Jinro came out on top, securing his second top 4 in a row. Here he would fall to MarineKing once again, 1-3. 

A remarkable season for the non-Koreans, and a statement to be sure. Spoiler alert: this greatness would never be matched again.

GSL March 2011

This was a sad time, the time when IdrA, after many years living in Korea decided it was time to move back to America. With that, Jinro would be the only foreign player in Code S this season. 

It started out well for Jinro, beating down a group containing RainBow, Polt and Check to finish in first place. Once he reached the round of 16 (now a bracket), he was taken out by Hong Wook "HongUnPrime" Ahn, a Protoss of some note in early SC2.

There was also quite a handful of foreigners in Code A this season. Loner, HayprO, ret and Andrew "mOOnGLaDe" Pender all lost immediately in the round of 32.

This though, was Chris "HuK" Loranger's big breakout moment. HuK was seeded into the Code A and was able to take down Won Pyo "Curious" Lee and Dong Hyun "Revival" Kim, two extremely strong Zergs before losing to LosirA in the round of 8. This gave HuK a spot in the Up and Down matches. After losing to Joon Hyuk "InCa" Song, a previous GSL Finalist, HuK managed to take down Choya in a close series and gain a spot in the next GSL Code S.

GSL May 2011

HuK and Jinro were all that was left going into the GSL May season. Neither were able to make it out of their round of 32 groups. Jinro beat San but lost to both Nestea and Clide. HuK wasn't able to take any victories, losing once again to InCa as well as to the God Of War himself, Sung Joon "JulyZerg" Park. These disappointing performances forced both into the Up and Down matches. Jinro lost to both Jong Hwan "CoCa" Choi and Zenio, while HuK was able to take out Seong Won "MMA" Mun and advance back into Code S.

GSL July 2011

Due to a partnership between MLG and GSL, Shawn "Sheth" Simon was given a Code A spot for this season. Showing great skill he was able to take down San in the first round, but did lose in the next round to the strong Protoss, Sang Jun "Puzzle" Kim.

Jinro met a similar fate. After winning the first round of Code A against an unknown Protoss, he fell to the strong Terran player Dae Jin "asd" Lee, who had taken down fan favourite BoxeR in the previous round. Thanks asd.

Meanwhile in Code S, HuK was having a strong showing. He topped his ro32 group which included Polt, Killer and Lee Seok "aLive" Han. It was a much tougher round of 16 though, as HuK faced off against his close friend MC. HuK was crushed here but at least secured the next season of Code S on the back of this performance.

GSL August 2011

There were 4 new foreigner seeds for Code A this season due to the MLG / GSL partnership: 

Marcus "ThorZaIN" EklofJohan 

"NaNiwa" Lucchesi

Jian Carlo "Fenix" Morayra Alejo 

And Kim "SaSe" Hammar

All 4 players, as well as Jinro who was in Code A once again, lost in the round of 32 in Code A. Only ThorZaIN was able to take a map.

Similarly to GSL July, though, HuK was having a great time up in Code S. First he got out of his ro32 group in second place. Out of Killer, Ji Sung "Bomber" Choi and Dong Hwan "viOLet" Kim, only Bomber was able to take him down. As one of 4 Protosses in the round of 16, HuK got a deadly opponent indeed. A bonjwa of StarCraft 1, NaDa. HuK managed to take down his opponent 2-1, but that's where his run would end. His next opponent was Mvp. HuK lost 0-3 there, but who can blame him? Mvp was just hitting his stride as the strongest player in the history of the game.

GSL October 2011

NaNiwa and SaSe both remained in Korea and gave Code A another go. It didn't go very well, as both Swedish Protosses fell in the first round to Korean Zerg players. Joining them, and fairing a bit better though, was fellow Swede Jeffery "SjoW" Brusi. SjoW did manage to win his first round against Han Eol "MaKa" Kwak, but then promptly lost to the Code A Gate Keeper himself, Curious.

Meanwhile, due to his strong showing in the previous Code S season, HuK was once again the only foreigner representation in the most prestigious league in the world. He ended up in 3rd place in his ro32 Group, having lost to asd and Joon Yong "Virus" Park, but having taken down Zenio at least.

GSL November 2011

HuK fights on in Code S. Put into group C with Clide, JulyZerg and Puzzle, HuK takes first place with a clean 2-0. In the round of 16 groups, though, he gets a devastatingly hard group. The Creator Of The Universe, NesTea, along with MMA and Dong Nyoung "Leenock" Lee. No laughing matter. HuK manages a win against Leenock but loses against both NesTea and MMA, getting 3rd place. This loss in the ro16 immediately seeded HuK into the Code A ro24, where he would face Kyu Seok "KeeN" Hwang. With a 0-2 loss, HuK was off to the Up and Down matches. His group was played less than 2 weeks later. Unable to secure a top 2 spot, HuK was relegated to Code A.

SaSe and Naniwa, once again, stayed in Korea to fight the good fight. Both dropped in the first round of Code A with 0-2 scores.

GSL 2012 - Season 1

A welcome surprise occurred with the new year's first GSL season. The return of IdrA. Kind of. Both IdrA and Sen were seeded directly into GSL Code S this season, much to the delight of the fans. They didn't fair too well, though. Sen ended up with a 0-4 map score and immediately was eliminated. IdrA, in what could be called the group of death (containing NesTea AND Mvp) fell out in last place as well, taking only a single map.

Code A was chock-full of foreigners this season: HuK returned, of course. Two still-famous Chinese pros also came to Korea: Xiang "MacSed" Hu and Lei "XiGua" Wang. IdrA and Sen, who were eliminated early on in Code S were also back to battle it out.

It didn't go well. IdrA lost 0-2. HuK lost 1-2. XiGua lost 1-2. MacSed? 0-2. Only Sen was able to take his series, but fell immediately in the next round.

GSL 2012 - Season 2

Only HuK and NaNiwa remained to fight on. HuK had to start out in the Up and Down matches, which still consisted of 6 man groups with the top 2 advancing to Code S. Heartbreakingly, HuK got 3rd place in his group and had to go into Code A. Here he lost in the first round to Young Il "Hack" Kim, being completely eliminated from the GSL.

NaNiwa was given a seed directly into Code S, where he made an extremely impressive run. First he topped his round of 32 group which included Dong Won "Ryung" Kim, Puzzle, and Mvp himself. Naniwa dropped only a single map. The round of 16 groups, somehow, went even better. With a flawless victory, Naniwa won the group over Young Jin "SuperNova" Kim, Virus and Genius.

This put NaNiwa into a fabled land: the GSL Code S round of 8 bracket. Here his opponent was Mvp, the eventual champion of the tournament. NaNiwa fell 1-3.

GSL 2012 - Season 3

HuK was now completely out of the GSL. NaNiwa remained in Code S due to his high placement, and ThorZaIN was back due to a seed, this time directly into Code S. Sadly, ThorZaIN wasn't able to capitalize upon his seed in the same way that Naniwa had in the previous season, falling out of a strong group containing Hyun Woo "Squirtle" Park, Byung Jae "GuMiho" Koh, and Keen. His 3rd place finish put him into the Code A round of 32 against Jin Young "JYP" Park, where he ended up falling 1-2.

NaNiwa though, wasn't done making his mark on Code S. In a group containing NesTea, Hyun Woo "Creator" Jang and Yeon Sik "TheStC" Choi, NaNiwa got out in second place right behind NesTea. The round of 16 groups went just as well for Naniwa, getting 2nd place to ByuN, beating out both Genius and KeeN. Again NaNiwa found himself in the round of 8, and again he found himself eliminated by a legend. This time it was Soo Ho "DRG" Park who took him out with a 3-2 score.

GSL 2012 - Season 4

Season 4 brought a new seed: Grzegorz "MaNa" Komincz was put directly into the Up and Down matches. In a 5 man group containing Ji Hoon "jjakji" Jung, Seok Hyun "HyuN" Ko, KeeN and Bomber, MaNa was able to secure 2nd place (to Bomber) and move on to the Code S. Code S didn't go so well for MaNa. His group was maybe the most ridiculous of the year, though, so 4th place with a 1-4 map score really wasn't that bad. Who was in the group? Oh, only Mvp, MMA and Young Seo "TaeJa" Yun.

Naniwa had similar results in his ro32 group, going 1-4 total against Squirtle, Min Hyuk "Heart" Kim and Tae Hoon "Sniper" Kwon. His drop down to Code A was similarly rough, losing 0-2 to a Protoss player.

These results meant that GSL 2012 - Season 5 would have not a single foreigner playing in it.

The Third Era - The End of Hope

GSL 2013 - Season 1

The Up and Down matches this season had both HuK and Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen seeded in. Grubby ended up losing each and every map in his 6 man group and was immediately eliminated. HuK, on the other hand, managed to get top 2, just behind NesTea. This seeded him directly into Code S, where he and Ilyes "Stephano" Satouri (also seeded) would be the last foreigners to play in the tournament until Scarlett's debut.

HuK was placed into another tough group with Bomber, GuMiho and Sniper. Only able to win a single map, HuK fell out of GSL Code S for the last time.

Stephano didn't fare much better. With DRG and Shin Hyung "INnoVation" Lee topping the group, Stephano was only able to beat out Hack, losing to INnoVation 1-2 in the decider match of the group.

With both players in Code A, we would witness the unceremonious exit of foreigners from GSL. HuK lost in the first round 0-2 to Young Han "Shine" Lee. Stephano, seeded one round higher due to his 3rd place group finish, lost 1-2 to Jae Wook "Flying" Shin.

That season of GSL ended in March of 2013. Since that last moment, we haven't had a single foreigner compete in the GSL. Now, with Scarlett having qualified for GSL 2017 Season 1, we begin a new Era.

[torentialtribute]

Manchester United stars arrive at training ready to plan ahead for visit of arch-rivals Liverpool

Manchester United's players arrived on the training ground on Saturday morning

The stars of Manchester United arrive at the training, ready to make the final preparations to run ahead at the arch rivals Liverpool in Old Trafford

Anthony Gunnar, an attempt to return after an injury, arrived with a parking ticket

The Frenchman plans to return to the side after an injury against PSG recently

Nathan Salt For Mailonline

Published: 11:32 GMT, February 23, 2019 | Updated: 11:40 GMT, February 23, 2019

The team of Manchester United arrived Saturday at the training base of the club with their game faces before the confrontation with arch rivals Liverpool

The side of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer look to avenge for the defeat at Anfield in December – the last game of Jose Mourinho reigns – and a dent in the bid of their rivals on the Premier League title at the same time.

Anthony Martial was part of the upcoming group because he looks forward to returning to the side since he sustained an injury in the recent defeat of the Champions League to Paris Saint -Germain .

Although the news of a timely return for Martial is good news for United, the attacker was shown with a parking ticket under his windshield wiper.

Jesse Lingard also caught an injury in the defeat against PSG, but he was part of the training group on Saturday and was able to give Solskjaer a new boost in coming up with his plan.

Alexis Sanchez wore a serious expression as he looked forward to finding his way into the team after coming off the bench in recent weeks.

Brazilian midfielder Fred has endured a frustrating campaign since joining Shakhtar Donetsk, but he looked good when he arrived in sunglasses with the sunny and sunny weather in Manchester.

Since losing 3-1 in Anfield in mid-December, United has enjoyed a renaissance led by Solskjaer.

The interim manager still has to defeat in national competitions while he is preparing for his biggest game in the lead.

They remain only one point ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal, who are in fifth and sixth place, which means that a result on Sunday is crucial.

After spending time in United as a player under the legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson, the extent of the importance attached to beating Liverpool has not been lost on Solskjaer.

The Norwegian told Sky Sports: & # 39; It means a lot. I have good memories, bad memories and am a supporter.

& # 39; As a player, it means real focus and focus on your performance. If you are a supporter, it is all emotion, you can not wait for the game.

& # 39; Now I am a manager, you have to try to control the temperament of the players, the supporters, everything, which is fantastic.

& # 39; It is the big game, the game you watch every year when the match list appears. & # 39;

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[jmindigo]

My Collected Notes on A Hat in Time:

I think I'm done with A Hat in Time for a bit. I've hit a point where it's just not rewarding to grind out the last few achievements and Death Wish challenges, so I think I'll step away from the game for a while. Leave some things for me to do when I come back to the game for the promise second round of DLC. Here are some of my notes on the game from my journal, from different days over the last couple of weeks. (1/27)

I took far too long to get around to A Hat in Time. In fairness, it came out in the midst of a traumatizing mess of moving and for months after just looking at the name on my list of steam games made me feel guilty for being blindsided by how awful some people can be. A Hat in Time is a very good game, and it really doesn't deserve that association. I find the controls are blessedly both tight and forgiving, meaning I'm not frustrated like I am with Yooka-Laylee, and I about cried when I found that it had customizeable field of view options as I was getting terribly motion sick playing it. I love the visual design, and the characters turned out way more charming then I expected. (1/30)

Spent the afternoon playing A Hat in Time. I played up to beating Snatcher, and now I feel a bit aimless - should I go deal with Mustache Girl, or go to Alpine Skyline? There's no real direction because both have equal weight in game play. Subcon Forest was a level I was really concerned about during the kickstarter, I was worried it would be awful but I think now it's my favorite level in the game? The Snatcher boss fight is awful though, it just goes so fast I can barely keep up with it and it took a heavy dose of luck to beat it. Definitely not the fight I'm going to see for the one hit hero achievement if I go achievement hunting.

I really like Subcon Forest's music, right up there with the soothing Rift themes. So mellow I could listen to them endlessly. (2/1) I did play a bit of A Hat in Time early today - made an attempt at the final boss, and actually made it through the level this time. I'd made decent progress on learning the boss's pattern when suddenly the boss just up and despawned from the arena. Just poof, gone - I don't think I'd done anywhere near enough damage for any sort of cutscene to have glitched out. I played around in the arena for a bit, just in cause something was trying to load in the background, and one it was clear nothing was going to change I quit out and I didn't have time to try again. It's a mild delight, because it's been ages since I've run into a glitch that's actually really affected my ability to play a game! As I recall... the last time was needing to wait for collision to load in FFXIII-2, and that wasn't really a hindrance just an annoyance. (2/2) Played a bit of A Hat in Time - gave up on the final boss to play in Alpine Skyline, and almost immediately ran into a puzzle that needs a post-game item and ugh I'm so tired of that in games. (2/3) My goal for the day was to beat the final boss in A Hat in Time so I could open up the rest of the game, and it was about 2pm by the time I got to sit down and play the game. I beat the boss, ran around collecting yarn and relics. The game is open to me now, and I just have to decide how much of it I want to play. I guess I'll play until I'm sick of it or the achievements get too hard for me. It's a good game, I hope there's a sequel someday. (2/4) My reward to buckling down and doing that was a can of tamales and a bit of time playing A Hat in Time. I finished up with Alpine Skyline, and then I messed around with mod levels for a while. It's really fun to play rifts, I'm glad the developers left the doors open for custom levels and mods. It's a delight. Next up is the DLC content. I might play a bit more tonight, I'm not sure. I've hit a bit of a wall with the game, because the Arctic Cruise stuff all takes so much time and feels less... optimized. The critical path just isn't clear at all. (2/5) I put some more time into A Hat in Time. I'm still... I love the game, but I'm aggravated with the difficulty of the dlc. Because it feels... fake. I finished the first rift and the first act, the rift from a lot of practice(and I got all the storybook pages) and the act because I'd watched a playthrough video of it the night before. What gets me is the lack of healing items in the rift, which makes even small failures very punishing in a way other rifts to this point haven't been, and the convoluted and unintuitive layout of the cruise ship making navigating it a real chore, made worse by a camera that's just... The camera is bad, it's often way way too close to Hat Girl to the point of I can't see anything no matter what the settings are. Especially if I'm close to an object, like say a wall I have to precision platform off. It makes a lot of the platforming blind. The DLC feels bloated for length, to make the dlc 'worth it'. I'll finish it, but it's my least favorite part of the game so far. I don't want to play it, I want to replay the main game and all it's well designed levels and platformer that felt good and rewarding. The death wish challenges look interesting, at least if I don't need to do the higher level of difficulty for them they'd be fun. A good excuse to play the game over again basically. I haven't even poked at them, I'm afraid they'll be the sort that only unlocks in order.

Another like and dislike - I'm not a fan of the rope mechanics. They work alright, but I could use a bit more 'magnetization' because I just barely miss them so often. I love how Hat Girl counts when you pick up items that count towards a total, something about her voice clip is especially adorable. A neutral - the sound effect for the doors in Hat Kid's ship opening are... strange. It sounds like a sound a critter should make, and it took me forever to realize it was the doors. (2/6) I played more A Hat in Time - finished off the Arctic Cruise levels, and the rifts. It was... Arctic Cruise was not great. First a busywork level, then a timed busywork level, and then the physics were just all messed up for the final level. I feel like almost none of my failures were fair. Did a few of the mod levels, and some of the Death Wish challenges. I enjoy the 'Peace and Tranquility' mode. That is like the perfect thing - gimme the challenge without the impossible bullshit, gimme a way to play the game I enjoy. No judgement zone. It's beautiful. I wish more games had something like that, and I love the games that do. Platformers need to be forgiving on some level. I just wish I didn't have to kill myself three times to activate it. I technically 100%'d the game today! Which I think is all main story time pieces and rifts? They gave me the fancy hat and everything. That does feel like an accomplishment. --

Hmm. I feel like my tone is overall negative, but I suppose that's only because I took a break or got broken out of the game when I was frustrated. I love the game - five stars,, anyone who likes platformers should play it. I only mentioned briefly the soundtrack, but I find I love it in general - it's bombastic and cheerful, and some songs are so peaceful. I've added it to my rotation of music to play in the background. Current playtime is 32 hours.

comments x-posted to anindigomind on dreamwidth | comment there

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Garth Crooks

Garth Crooks

Garth Crooks

Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten begins and Manchester City received once more to stay two factors behind the Premier League pacesetters.

Manchester United dug deep to safe a much-needed victory at Watford, whereas Arsenal beat Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth defeated Leicester in a six-goal thriller, Crystal Palace received at Huddersfield, whereas on Sunday West Ham picked up a primary victory of the season at Everton, after Wolves received the higher of Burnley.

However who did sufficient to make my staff of the week? Learn my picks after which decide your individual XI.

Goalkeeper – David de Gea

David de Gea: With goalkeepers beneath siege lately it amazes me how they even get to the ball. It is like dealing with the Ant Hill Mob each time a nook is taken.

David de Gea made an exquisite save from a nook within the dying minutes of the sport towards Watford, a match-winning effort from a Christian Kabasele header that, had it gone in, would have given Watford a reasonably undeserved level.

De Gea might need had a shaky World Cup with Spain however he is saving United useful factors once more.

Do you know? David de Gea saved 4 of Watford’s 5 photographs on track, as many saves as in his earlier three Premier League matches mixed.

Defenders – Chris Smalling, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk

Chris Smalling: We have all been in search of cracks in Jose Mourinho and his gamers since his outbursts and the defeat towards Tottenham. To my shock I’ve seen nothing however whole dedication.

Credit score the place credit score’s due, United’s gamers have come out combating and look meaner than ever. Chris Smalling, along with his new ‘natty dread’ hair type, was excellent towards Watford.

The brand new look oozes swagger and if his objective was something to go by, the defender’s coiffure might have one thing to do with it. Superb what a brand new look can do.

Do you know? Smalling has ended up on the profitable facet in all 11 Premier League video games through which he has scored, the joint-best such report within the competitors (additionally 11 video games for Ryan Babel).

Joe Gomez: The deal with by Joe Gomez on Lucas Moura within the second half of Liverpool’s win at Tottenham would have stopped a mail practice.

I stated two weeks in the past, after Liverpool’s spectacular victory at Leicester, that this child was the perfect defender I’ve seen in years. In reality I stated one thing much more profound than that however I am not going to repeat it for worry of jinxing the lad.

(What I’ll say is Gomez is a future England captain if ever I noticed one. Learn extra concerning the relevance of England’s fixture towards Switzerland in The Crooks of the Matter beneath.)

Do you know? In addition to contributing three tackles and three clearances, no participant recovered possession extra for Liverpool than Gomez (9 instances).

Virgil van Dijk: Harry Kane by no means had a kick. Virgil van Dijk was too large, too sturdy and too composed on the ball. In instances like these when centre-backs look imperious, strikers must ruffle feathers and the England captain merely wasn’t ready to have a scrap.

If ever there was a day for Harry and the boys to get amongst it and stick their heads within the faces of Liverpool’s defenders then this was it. As an alternative, Van Dijk walked on to the pitch trying like a movie star and walked off with the Oscar for greatest main man.

Do you know? No participant at Wembley made extra clearances than Van Dijk (5, equal with Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld).

Midfielders – Marouane Fellaini, James Milner, Eden Hazard, Ryan Fraser

Marouane Fellaini: Who’d have thought it? Marouane Fellaini starring in a Manchester United shirt. When David Moyes purchased the participant from Everton it was universally felt that he was not in United’s class.

Towards Watford he regarded like the reply to all their issues. Enjoying like this, Fellaini could possibly be for United the participant he was for Everton.

Do you know? Fellaini recovered possession for his facet extra usually than another participant (10 instances), whereas additionally profitable seven of his 9 aerial duels, and offering the help for Chris Smalling’s strike, a pivotal second within the sport. The Belgian additionally made extra tackles (three) than another United participant (equal with Antonio Valencia).

James Milner: He is been taking part in top-class soccer since he was 16 years previous, so we should not be fully stunned 16 years later when the participant strolls by a sport as if he’s studying the Sunday Occasions.

James Milner’s understanding of a sport of soccer is second to none and already Milner is trying like my early candidate for Footballer of the 12 months. I strongly imagine that accolade belongs to a member of the staff that wins the title. So you may see the place I am going with this of us.

Do you know? James Milner made 5 tackles in Liverpool’s match towards Spurs, greater than another participant on the sphere. The Englishman additionally created the joint highest variety of possibilities for his team-mates (three – equal with Mohamed Salah), in addition to making an attempt extra passes within the opposition’s half than anybody for both facet (32).

Eden Hazard: My goodness Eden Hazard’s first objective took me again. I have never seen an ‘over’ accomplished so successfully for years – the time period utilized by the professionals for what’s euphemistically referred to as ‘a dummy’.

The transfer, when executed properly, can rip defences aside and Hazard used it fantastically. Hazard’s hat-trick towards a Cardiff staff who have been to date out of their depth it was scary solely tells a part of the story. The Belgium worldwide is taking part in the soccer of his life.

Do you know? Eden Hazard is the fourth participant to attain multiple Premier League hat-trick for Chelsea (after Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink), and he was profitable with every of his three photographs on track.

Ryan Fraser: This lad had a wonderful sport and would have obtained even higher reward from me had he not dived within the early exchanges. There have been a number of incidents on this sport towards Leicester however the dive was by far the worst of them.

He took his objectives brilliantly, particularly his first, however the dive marred an incredible efficiency. He is made my staff of the week however I had to consider it and I should not have. Professionals do not like individuals who dive and that is value remembering.

Do you know? Ryan Fraser had a hand in three objectives in a single Premier League sport for the primary time (two objectives, one help).

Forwards – Wilfried Zaha, Marko Arnautovic, Roberto Firmino

Wilfried Zaha: Now, Wilfried, cease this whinging and whining in your after-match interviews. You are taking part in in a contact sport and the higher the participant the extra doubtless they’re to get kicked. Why have not you labored that out but?

Go away the referees and the pundits to sentence the assassins, you simply maintain scoring sensational objectives, receiving the plaudits and signing the huge contracts for all this inconvenience.

That is the way in which it really works and it is not a nasty change. Oh, and by the way in which, I by no means heard George Greatest or Johan Cruyff complaining to the press about gamers kicking them.

Do you know? For the reason that begin of final season, Crystal Palace have averaged 1.5 factors per sport when Zaha has performed (33 matches), in comparison with no factors when he has not been concerned (10 matches).

Marko Arnautovic: I’ve stated all through West Ham’s torrid time beneath new boss Manuel Pellegrini that offered the Hammers do not lose their nerve they’ve sufficient high quality to outlive within the Premier League.

The outcome towards Everton was a superb indicator of what West Ham are able to as soon as this new group of gamers settles down and finds a rhythm.

A lot of the pulsation got here from Marko Arnautovic and his new strike accomplice Andriy Yarmolenko. Arnautovic is excessive upkeep but when the Austrian will be bridled he will be one hell of an asset.

Do you know? For the reason that begin of 2018, solely Mohamed Salah (23) has had a hand in additional Premier League objectives than West Ham ahead Marko Arnautovic (16 – 9 objectives, seven assists).

Roberto Firmino: At no stage did Tottenham’s again 4 come to phrases with Liverpool’s entrance three. Each time Firmino picked up the ball, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah took off like stealth bombers leaving an airbase.

Liverpool appear to be the staff more than likely to cease Manchester Metropolis from profitable the title for a second consecutive season.

Nonetheless, ought to something occur to Liverpool’s frontline assault then we might have a distinct state of affairs fully.

Do you know? Roberto Firmino has been immediately concerned in 61 Premier League objectives for Liverpool beneath Jurgen Klopp (38 objectives, 23 assists), 16 greater than another participant.

Now it is your flip

You’ve got seen my picks this week. However who would you go for?

The Crooks of the Matter

England beat Switzerland 1-Zero in Leicester on Tuesday

I am nonetheless reeling from the 25-second black-and-white transmission of the England v Switzerland sport to mark the 25th anniversary of anti-racism organisation Kick It Out. The concept was a bit of selling genius.

It was so easy but so efficient, matched solely by the excellent introduction to the match by Sky’s David Jones and Martin Tyler, who between them offered the proper overview. To cram 25 years into 25 seconds takes some doing, however they did it.

I’ll admit, through the years I could have in all probability been the Soccer Affiliation’s harshest critic however that has come from a want to see the best FA on this planet play a higher half in utilizing soccer as a instrument to provoke change and create a extra inclusive society.

As I watched the tv flip from color to black and white I considered Laurie Cunningham, Ray Wilkins and Cyrille Regis, three former England internationals who, had they been in that line-up, would have so accredited of the tribute and recognised its significance.

How becoming then, that Marcus Rashford ought to rating the profitable objective to mark an event that was initially initiated to guard kids like him lengthy earlier than they have been even born. Properly finished Kick It Out and thanks England. You make a fantastic staff.

BBC Sport – Football ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/12353/

#Barcelona

[365footballorg-blog]

'Last year was almost perfect' - De Bruyne on winning the title, Guardiola & being a leader

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Manchester City “will never have a season like last year” as they attempt to become the first Premier League champions since 2009 to retain the title, says midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.

City broke several records in 2017-18, including reaching 100 points, winning 32 matches and scoring 106 goals.

“Last year was almost perfect,” said De Bruyne, 27, who joined City in 2015.

“If we are going to be champions on the last day, the last kick of the season, then I am also going to be happy.”

City’s record-breaking campaign was captured in unprecedented detail by an Amazon Prime Video film crew,[1] with the documentary series All or Nothing to be released on the streaming service on Friday, 17 August.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Dan Walker, which can be seen on Football Focus on Saturday from 12:00 BST, City’s player of the year De Bruyne discussed:

What it was like for the City squad to be filmed daily by the film crew.

How manager Pep Guardiola gets the best from his players.

Whether he will go into coaching at the end of his career.

Whether City need to win the Champions League to be considered a great side.

‘As real as possible’

City signed a £10m deal with Amazon last year to film the series. They are the first Premier League club to commission such an in-depth documentary – which will consist of eight hour-long episodes – but Amazon have already made similar shows with three NFL teams, and the New Zealand All Blacks. Cameras followed City’s players on and off the pitch, including filming at half-time.

“In the beginning it was a little bit awkward,” said De Bruyne.

“We are used to getting a lot of camera attention but mostly on the pitch. Behind the scenes, in training, there is not normally anything apart from the stuff that City themselves do.

“In the beginning it was a bit weird as you don’t know the people you are working with but then after time you forget they are there. They are there every single day, you get to know them and it becomes familiar.

“This programme you have to show it as real as possible. The good things, the bad things, maybe incidents, whatever. A life of anybody is not perfect, there is always things that happen and that is what makes it interesting.”

<!–

‘We are on the same wavelength’

The trailer for the series shows Guardiola demanding his players show desire to win in every training session, as well as telling them to hate him if it makes them play better. De Bruyne says he is not afraid to argue with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss if necessary.

“Pep has different relationships with everyone. I am lucky that I like to play the way already that he implemented so it was an easier transition, more natural.

“That is how I prefer to play football, we are on the same wavelength. In the end it’s a lot of hard work but if it’s fun then it’s good. Pep can be intense.

“In the end sometimes it can be an overload [of information from him] but every person in life has that when they are at work. We cope with it fine.”

[Do you ever argue with Pep?] “I would do that. But to be fair it has not been happening a lot. Maybe one or two think something different but you need to discuss it. Everyone has their own view on football and I am already lucky that a lot of the time I think the same as him. For me it is easy.

“You don’t have to shout at him, you talk like an adult, you are both people who came here to win as a team. If you explain what you are thinking then there is no problem.”

‘I have grown to be a leader’

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Walker says one of the themes of the series is De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany being vocal leaders in the dressing room. During the FA Cup defeat at Wigan, De Bruyne took Leroy Sane to one side to console him and explain why he had been replaced by Guardiola after Fabian Delph’s first-half red card.

“At the time Sane was angry that he had been substituted. I remember that he showed it a bit and Pep wasn’t happy with that. In the end I told him: ‘It’s all right, it’s not because you are bad, it’s for tactical reasons and you are going to play so many games. Don’t show it too much.’

“Sometimes some managers would take that very badly. I did it when I was young. I told Leroy he is going to play another 30 or 40 games and win a lot of games for us.

“I have grown into it, being a leader. When I came here I was not the player that I am now, I did not have the same view. I came from Germany, I didn’t succeed before in England [with Chelsea.]

“When you do well, you train hard, you work hard, you get more leadership on the field. I try to do everything in my power to win the game. I am more relaxed than Vinny but I try to do everything to win.”

‘Being a coach is ruthless’

De Bruyne played a key role in guiding Belgium to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer. But could the midfielder move into coaching in the future?

“I don’t know. I have thought about it, sometimes I think I could, sometimes I can’t. It is the same lifestyle as being a player now, always being away from your family, even more because you make longer hours than a player.

“I’m luckily not yet at this stage of my career. The older you get, the more you start thinking about what you want to do with your life, what to pursue after football. But I am still hoping to get another seven or eight years at a good level.

“It’s tough, it’s ruthless. When you are the boss you need to sometimes disappoint people, take tough decisions. You have to be ready for that.

“As a player you can be good with the manager but there is always a distance between the manager and a player because he is the boss and he decides if you play or not. Sometimes it is ruthless.”

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‘We don’t have to win the Champions League’

In the decade since City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group they have won the Premier League three times – but not progressed beyond the semi-finals of the Champions League. Last season, despite winning the Premier League by 19 points, they were beaten 5-1 by Liverpool in the quarter-finals. But De Bruyne believes the consistency needed to win the league means Guardiola’s side do not need to take an extra step to be a top team.

“I don’t agree that we have to win the Champions League to be a success. It is a big title to win but in the Champions League you don’t need to have the consistency that you need in the league.

“We were great for the whole year, maybe a bit less against Liverpool, and so we were out. It is a tournament, you need to be good at the right time.

“In the league if you have a bad spell then you are running behind. It is a different prospect, cup games are different to a league.”

‘The top six is always challenging’

As well as beating City twice in the Champions League, Liverpool were one of only two teams to beat City in the Premier League. Having spent big on goalkeeper Alisson and midfielder Naby Keita this summer, many are picking Jurgen Klopp’s side to be City’s main challengers this year. But what does De Bruyne think?[2]

“The main focus is on us. The other teams are always going to push us, Liverpool did what we did last year. They have spent a lot of money but wisely.

“They needed some additions and they have got them in the right places. They saw that they had to up the level to come closer to us and we are trying to maintain what we have done last year. It will be a good battle between the top sides.

“The top six is always challenging. I don’t make a difference between any team. Liverpool spent the most this year, but last year it was us and Manchester United. Now there are other teams in the Premier League who spend more than us, they have to do what they have to do to be better.”

Watch the full interview with Kevin de Bruyne on Football Focus, Saturday 12:00 BST, BBC One and online

References

^ Amazon Prime Video film crew, (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ many are picking Jurgen Klopp’s side (www.bbc.co.uk)

BBC Sport – Football

'Last year was almost perfect' – De Bruyne on winning the title, Guardiola & being a leader was originally published on 365 Football

[mavwrekmarketing]

Image copyright Northumbria Police

Image caption Left to right, row by row, starting top left: Eisa Mousavi, Mohammed Ali, Nashir Uddin, Monjur Choudhury, Taherul Alam, Habibur Rahim, Badrul Hussain, Carolann Gallon, Saiful Islam, AbdulHamid Minoyee, Prabhat Nelli, Abdul Sabe, Jahanger Zaman, Nadeem Aslam, Mohammed Azram, Yassar Hussain, Redwan Siddquee, Mohibur Rahman

Eighteen people have been convicted of abusing girls in Newcastle who were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to have sex.

The vulnerable victims, some as young as 14, were exploited by a “cynical organisation”, a court heard.

The 17 men and one woman were convicted of rape, supplying drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Over the course of four trials, 20 young women gave evidence covering a period from 2011 to 2014.

These trials involved 26 defendants, who were mostly Asian, facing a total of more than 100 charges and 22 victims.

Those prosecuted were from the Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish communities and mainly British-born, with most living in the West End of Newcastle.

Of the 26, three people have been jailed. The rest will be sentenced next month.

It also emerged during the court process that police paid a convicted child rapist 10,000 as an informant.

Reaction after 18 people convicted over abuse

“Vile crimes committed by evil men”

The victims were at first flattered by the attention of the men who apparently befriended them, but were then lured to parties, known as “sessions”, by the promise of alcohol and drugs – often mephedrone (or M-Kat), Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Bags of M-Kat were left on coffee tables for the girls to help themselves.

The parties took place at premises around the West End, including the top floor of tower block Todd’s Nook, where one teenager said she was raped three times.

The prosecution said they became the “vulnerable victims of an organised, cynical, systematic organisation in which they were passed between their abusers.”

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionOperation Sanctuary was the biggest investigation into sexual exploitation by Northumbria Police

Some spoke of being “too intoxicated” to defend themselves, while others became addicted and had to commit sexual acts in return for drugs.

One victim said she had attended about 60 parties and another told of going to an address where there were two older men and a woman, who seemed “frightened and scared, like a slave”.

She said: “They told us what she would do for them for money and drugs or she’d get battered.”

Another victim said: “I knew that if we wanted drugs or alcohol we would have to do something.

“[He] had us too intoxicated to fight him off. One time, [he] locked the door. I was told I would only be allowed out if I had sex.”

Northumbria Police set up Operation Sanctuary in December 2013 to investigate claims of sexual abuse against girls and young women.

The investigation is ongoing and to date has resulted in 461 arrests. Police have spoken to 703 potential complainants and 278 victims have been identified.

Image caption The victims were abused at addresses around the West End of Newcastle

Due to its size, the investigation was split into a number of spin-off operations.

Operation Shelter uncovered groups of men in the West End of Newcastle – many of whom were known to each other – who exploited vulnerable young women and girls over a period from 2010 to 2014.

This eventually led to four separate trials, the first commencing in September 2015 and the final one which has just concluded, allowing previous reporting restrictions to be lifted.

Chris Jackson, BBC Inside Out in the North East and Cumbria

Sarah (not her real name) was 19, extremely vulnerable and unable to look after herself.

Along with other at-risk teenagers she was regularly abused by older men.

In the new year of 2014, Sarah told the police she had been raped by Abdul Minoyee.

A police officer took Sarah on a tour of the West End to try identify Minoyee’s house and car and other places where these “parties” had taken place.

Sarah’s information was a red flag – the abuse was on a much bigger scale.

The detective in charge of Sarah’s case told his bosses that what she had said signalled something much bigger.

Days later the officer’s hunch was given added weight when two girls in care reported that they had been repeatedly raped by a group of older Asian men.

The girls were aged 14 and 15.

They described being driven into Newcastle where they were plied with alcohol and cocaine before being raped and beaten by several men.

They were given money before being returned home.

One of the victims was in local authority care at the time. Newcastle City Council has launched a serious case review that is due to be published in December.

Council leader Nick Forbes said: “These were vile crimes committed by evil men.

“The victims … have been brave beyond belief and undoubtedly have made our city safer.”

Chief Constable Steve Ashman said: “We have not and will not stop.

“There has been no political correctness here. These are criminals and there has been no hesitation in arresting them and targeting them using all the means at our disposal.”

Now that reporting restrictions can be lifted, it can be revealed that a police officer was sacked for failing to investigate a sex offender’s phone.

It related to an earlier Operation Sanctuary investigation, which resulted in the conviction of Bahmani Ahmadi.

Mr Ashman said the officer should have been much more diligent, and that his dismissal should provide reassurance that the police culture in Northumbria had changed.

The 18 defendants and their convictions

Mohammed Azram, 35 of Croydon Road, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, sexual assault, supplying drugs to a victim

Jahanghir Zaman, 43 of Hadrian Road, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, rape, supplying drugs to a victim

Nashir Uddin, 35 of Joan Street, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, supplying drugs to a victim

Saiful Islam, 34 of Strathmore Crescent, convicted of rape. Jailed for 10 years

Mohammed Hassan Ali, 33 of Bentinck Street, convicted of sexual activity with a child, supplying drugs to a victim. Jailed for seven years

Yasser Hussain, 27 of Canning Street, convicted of beating, possession of drugs. Jailed for two years

Abdul Sabe, 40 of Dean House, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, drugs offences

Habibur Rahim, 34 of Kenilworth Road, convicted of causing or inciting prostitution, drugs, sexual assault, trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation

Badrul Hussain, 37 of Drybeck Court, convicted of drug offences

Mohibur Rahman, 44 of Northcote Street, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to incite prostitution, supplying drugs to a victim

Abdulhamid Minoyee, 33 of Gainsborough Grove, convicted of rape, sexual assault, supply of drugs

Carolann Gallon, 22 of Hareside Court, pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking

Monjour Choudhury, 33 of Phillip Place, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, supplying drugs to a victim

Prabhat Nelli, 33 of Sidney Grove, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, supplying drugs to a victim

Eisa Mousavi, 41 of Todds Nook, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, rape, supplying drugs to a victim

Taherul Alam, 32 of Normanton Terrace, convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, supplying drugs to a victim, attempted sexual assault

Nadeem Aslam, 43 of Belle Grove West, convicted of supplying drugs to victims

Redwan Siddquee, 32 of West Road, pleaded guilty to causing or inciting prostitution, supply or offering to supply a class B

You can see more on this story on Inside Out on BBC One in the North East and Cumbria at 19:30 BST and on the BBC News Channel at 20.30 BST

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[junker-town]

WWE Money in the Bank 2017: Full rundown and why you should care

History will be made, and Randy Orton gets his second attempt to hinder Jinder.

Money in the Bank is here, but this time around, it’s a SmackDown-exclusive event. That brand-split move has made space in WWE’s plans for a historic first, too, as we’ll get to witness the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match with its own briefcase, and see if Jinder Mahal can keep the WWE World Championship in his first defense of the company’s top title.

Money in the Bank begins at 8 p.m. ET on the WWE Network, with the pre-show beginning at 7:30. Let’s get right to it.

Kickoff Match: The Hype Bros vs. The Colons

What am I looking at here? Mojo Rawley won this year’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with help from his irl pal, Rob Gronkowski. He failed to win his way into the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, but then his (previously) injured tag team partner, Zack Ryder, showed back up. Mojo seemed, for a moment, disappointed at this, likely because it means his recent singles success is at an end. Maybe the unthinkable has happened, and Mojo is in fact not hype about something even though it involves his bro.

The Colons, who are no longer selling time shares for their home of Puerto Rico, are in this match because it turns out they weren’t the ones to destroy the office of the Fashion Police, even though a cologne was left on the scene that tasted of tree frog excrement and hibiscus. I promise that every word of that paragraph makes sense in context.

Why you should care: Mojo turning on Ryder or Ryder turning on Mojo could be something here, or at least we’ll get the seeds of that split fertilized now that they’re planted. Zack Ryder making himself the Marty Jannetty of of this team would also be kind of incredible but uh, also kind of make sense in context.

Lana vs. Naomi (c) for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

What am I looking at here? Lana debuted on SmackDown two weeks ago declaring her intentions to wrestle after years as a valet for her husband, Rusev. She asked to be placed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, and was laughed at by her boss, Shane McMahon, as well as other women in the ring. When she then changed her demand to a title shot against Naomi, she was laughed out of the ring, but then got a measure of revenge by attacking Naomi and costing her a match later in the show.

Lana’s gambit worked, too, as Naomi demanded Lana be allowed a championship match against her even though literally no one — including Naomi, really — believes she deserves it. Pride is a powerful thing, and if Naomi isn’t careful, it could also be what costs her the title.

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Lana walking to her match at WrestleMania 32

Why you should care: Lana has real potential on this show as a top-level heel. She’s only wrestled one televised match in WWE (a group effort at WrestleMania 32), but she’s also been spending time working house shows in developmental to get to the point where she could wrestle regularly on the main roster. Don’t expect her to floor you here, necessarily, but you weren’t expecting that out of Eva Marie, either, and that’s the role Lana appears to be filling.

A successful wrestling character isn’t entirely about how many moves they can do. Lana gets huge reactions, her character work is wonderful, and she has a real presence on the mic. If she’s even competent in the ring and capable of telling a story within it, this could be the start of something real good for SmackDown.

The New Day vs. The Usos (c) for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships

What am I looking at here? The New Day showed up on SmackDown thanks to the Superstar Shakeup, and with Kofi Kingston finally healthy, are ready to wrestle again. Their first big match is against The Usos, who were faces the last time New Day saw them. Things have changed now, though, and the Usos have some harder edges, but are also still capable of roasting Xavier Woods’ shoes when need be. Maybe that’s what was missing from New Day’s feud with the Wyatt Family.

Why you should care: Well, New Day and the Usos are both great, so there’s that easy explanation. To go a little deeper, however: it would be a little weird to have New Day win this match given that the group still has plenty of mileage on it, but maybe it’s not necessarily as a tag team. They’re already the longest-reigning tag team champs in WWE history, so losing this feud to the Usos and deciding to focus on singles competition while remaining a stable feels like the smarter move.

Who knows, though? They still sell merch and people love them and they haven’t won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships yet and I’m just some dude who thinks they should Freebird a singles title.

Oh, wait, New Day thinks that, too.

tl;dr: This match could tell us a lot about SmackDown’s long-term plans for their most popular stable and their current heel champions.

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya vs. Carmella (ft. James Ellsworth) vs. Tamina in the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match

What am I looking at here? Well, as that section header says, it’s the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. But I guess I can tell you what that all means.

These five women will all try to climb a ladder, and at the top of the ladder is a briefcase. The briefcase contains a contract that’s good for a year, guaranteeing the holder of it a championship opportunity at the time of their choosing. It can be a little boring with faces, who might as well write a polite letter to their opponent declaring their intentions, but when heels win? That’s the stuff booing crowds are made of.

The women have never had one of these matches, mostly because WWE has only had a passing interest in women’s wrestling until recently (and, real talk, their feelings on it are still very much at the work-in-progress level). With the level of talent in this match, though, you could see it stealing the entire show.

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Why you should care: In addition to the above, there are so many directions to go in! Becky Lynch could win, which might be a little boring as a face, but the briefcase could also be used as the vehicle to turn her heel and change up the entire power dynamic of the division. Charlotte Flair could win, and maybe even cost Becky the briefcase with an underhanded attack in the process, which would reignite a feud we’ve all been waiting some time for. Natalya, as the leader of the Welcoming Committee, could win and spend the coming months beating down Naomi (or whoever the champ is) with the help of her cronies until she finally sees the time to strike.

Most likely, though, at least from my perspective, is Carmella winning. She’s the one who has the outside help in James Ellsworth — sure, Ellsworth is part of the Welcoming Committee, but his strongest allegiances lie with Carmella, aka the reason he’s in that group. She’s also the one who could be truly made as a heel with a successful briefcase run. She’s already got Ellsworth helping guarantee that there will be boos when she shows up on screen. Months of threats and sneaking around and cowardice and the inevitable sketchy win over a beloved face champion would bring her the rest of the way.

Oh, there’s also the possibility a former WWE star shows up and inserts herself into this match, but I’ll let you find those rumors on your own so as not to spoil the fun for everyone else.

Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal (c) for the WWE World Championship

What am I looking at here? I could describe it to you here, or I could just link you to a feature I already wrote on it that has links to other features on it because hoo boy is Jinder Mahal’s championship reign the kind of thing that requires in-depth explanations from multiple angles.

Why you should care: I promise I’m not being lazy in order to avoid writing even more than I already have, just read that feature and you will find all your answers.

The short of it, though, is that if WWE wants to prove that they didn’t just throw the title on Jinder Mahal to get India’s attention and dollars, they have to actually give him a worthwhile reign that bucks the trends of their unfortunately white-centric history. Jinder losing to Randy Orton a month after winning would just be more of the same for wrestlers of color who manage to hold WWE’s top prize.

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Kevin Owens vs. Baron Corbin vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match

What am I looking at here? This is the more traditional Money in the Bank ladder match, as there is always at least one men’s match, and there have also been two on a number of occasions. Between WWE unifying their previous top titles and the brand split making it so there is just one per show, there is only the need for one of them now, though — hence WWE finally deciding there was room for a women’s iteration of the match.

This should be great — in this group, only Ziggler has ever won before, and he has the lowest chance of winning this year’s match. (Having the lowest probability of winning doesn’t mean he won’t, of course.) Kevin Owens is maybe the next least-likely given he’s already United States Champion, which possibly means AJ Styles comes next on that list as he’s feuding for that belt but put that on pause for the chance at the briefcase. That leaves fan favorites Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura, as well as Baron Corbin, who is basically built for this match.

Why you should care: This feels like it’s the moment that makes Baron Corbin into a legitimate main event player for WWE. He’s already had matches against big stars like John Cena, but putting him one surprise beatdown away from becoming WWE’s top champion at any time is something entirely different. And if it’s not Corbin, then this is WWE putting a rocket in a briefcase so Nakamura can strap it on whenever he feels like.

I’d say this could also be the moment Sami Zayn wins, but come on. You’ve all presumably watched wrestling before. He’s almost guaranteed to be the guy who gets real close to winning until something terrible happens to him at the last second, further delaying the gratification of seeing him succeed.

Sure, WWE is PG now, but even with that we can still tell that they are really into edging.