#demonstrating his power level of zero on that toy

[melljam]

[fanrealdoll]

Sex Toys for Penis Wellbeing: Clues for Utilizing a Sex Doll

Despite the fact that an ever increasing number of grown-ups appear to be utilizing (or maybe being a smidgen more open about their utilization of) sex toys, not every person has a similar solace level with these things. Furthermore, even with more prominent acknowledgment of sex toys, the sex doll keeps on having a specific standing that keeps numerous from recognizing their advantage in this choice. Notwithstanding, when utilized with legitimate consideration regarding penis care, a sex doll can turn into a welcome expansion to a man's masturbatory schedules.

Notoriety

For a really long time, the sex doll was viewed as something that main frantic men utilized, yet the truth of the matter is that numerous men with a solid sex life appreciate utilizing a doll too. Deals of these dolls have risen consistently lately, and propels in assembling and innovation have made an entire line of exact and costly dolls.

Numerous men like to utilize a doll instead of just jerk off with their hand due to its comparability to real intercourse. Furthermore, numerous men likewise accept that in light of its similarity to intercourse, it empowers them further develop penis wellbeing and take care of on problems, like untimely discharge, or to improve their strategy when they are sleeping with an accomplice.

This article will zero in on the more customary (and more affordable, and consequently more promptly accessible) inflatable sex toy. Yet, it's vital to recognize that numerous choices really do exist around here. Click over here FANREAL Doll

Hints

The accompanying tips are recommended for men keen on investigating a sex doll choice.

Use oil. Albeit the dolls are intended for penetrative investigation, there can in any case be critical contact. Utilizing a suitable type of grease will shield the penis from mileage.

Attempt a siphon. Exploding a standard doll can take a ton of lung power. Utilizing an electric siphon is a vastly improved thought.

Clean it completely. Make certain to completely clean all pieces of the doll after use, particularly the areas of infiltration. A doll ought to accompany guidelines on the most effective way to keep up with its tidiness, and a man really should adhere to these directions.

Keep away from a preliminary attempt. A few people have companions who utilize a sex doll and might be enticed to inquire as to whether they can give it a shot for themselves. By and large, staying away from this is ideal. Not every person is as careful about tidying up after themselves as they ought to be. On the off chance that a man utilizes another's doll, he ought to wear a condom - in the event the proprietor has abandoned hints of himself.

Know about commotion. A few dolls can be shockingly noisy. On the off chance that a man wishes to keep his exercises secret, he might need to cease from using a doll with the exception of when he is certain he is separated from everyone else.

Think about capacity. At the point when emptied, most dolls don't take a lot of room, however it may not fit effectively into a little space, by the same token. A few men feel awkward with others realizing they utilize a doll; such men are encouraged to consider where they can store the doll when not being used.

A doll, in the same way as other sex toys, can open up new universes of masturbatory a good time for a man - which may thus lead him to exaggerate things, bringing about a sensitive penis. In the event that this occurs, consistently utilizing a top notch penis wellbeing crème (wellbeing experts suggest Man1 Man Oil, which is clinically demonstrated gentle and ok for skin) can facilitate the irritation and assist with reestablishing the penis to wellbeing. It's ideal to choose a crème that incorporates strong however normal saturating fixings, for example, Shea spread and vitamin E. This will keep the skin flexible and rush mending. The crème should likewise contain a powerful cell reinforcement, for example, alpha lipoic corrosive. This can battle the free extremists which cause oxidative pressure; these free revolutionaries age the skin as well as disrupt its capacity to mend.

[lakesbian]

see here, but also:

yes brian respects his father. this does not change that his father treated him poorly & brian outright acknowledges him as someone "not meant to raise a child alone." the fact that brian feels necessary to go "well he wasn't abusive, but..." is an indicator that his dad was Not Great for him. but this is all irrelevant--how much someone retains bigoted rhetoric they're taught by their parents doesn't depend solely on how much they like that parent. being steeped in an environment for your entire life will psychologically impact you regardless of whether or not you like the people creating it. alec hating his father really does not change the reality that his reward for getting his powers & beginning to use them to hurt others was being pushed into sex w/ adult women as a material prize. it doesn't change that he grew up seeing women treated as combination maids & sex toys (+ Mean Annoying Bitches to him before he was given sexual access to them) and being explicitly groomed to follow in his father's footsteps.

"human brain vs lizard brain" this is simply not how brains work at all in any way

alec's siblings were not a support net. via WoG, his older siblings were complicit in pushing drugs & hypersexual behavior onto him, and this bit in 14.1 (take a shot every time i mention 14.1 in an alecpost):

“Ouch,” Cherish layered on the sarcasm.  “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do.  You’re delaying me, so I have less time to work with.  Why don’t I get started?  Let’s talk about your first kill?  Gang member, a kid.  You used him to kill his boss.  His older brother, in fact.  Because daddy wanted you to.  Then dad ordered you to kill him.  But you didn’t make it fast, did you?  You made him stab himself with a fork, over and over, and over…” “Keeping in mind that I was hanging out with you and the dirty old man and our brothers and sisters.  Nature and nurture, I was kind of fucked on both fronts.  It was a matter of self-preservation to keep you guys entertained, and that was the sort of thing you liked.  Sorry, like, present tense.”

makes it clear that they were also very explicitly responsible for coercing him into the whole "turning into his father" thing under threat of harm to him, hence the "matter of self-preservation." as for his younger siblings, the vast amounts of "them literally trying to kill each other" makes it exceptionally clear that their dynamics are extremely splintered and violent--vasil siblings were used by heartbreaker as weapons against each other & tools for bringing each other into line. there's quite literally a line in ward where some of the younger heartbroken talk about having "won" because they have genuinely functional and caring relationships w/ each other & decently happy lives despite heartbreaker's attempts to turn them against each other. he wasn't friends with them, he practiced his powers on them. there was zero possibility of a support net, particularly for alec, who would've been both suffering abuse at the hands of his older siblings & abusing his own younger siblings to struggle for some level of self-preserving status in the household. the fact that he has been deeply, fundamentally lonely for more or less his entire life is integral to his character. there's a reason his power is the ability to force people to help him--it's the power of someone who has never had a support net, and sees no route to gain one but through force. "alec had sort of a support net" is like. a statement i would say about alec if i was posting about alec on opposite day. brian and aisha actually demonstrate consistent both-ways fumbling attempts to care for each other and alec his siblings were just in there beating the shit out of each other for the last bag of chips every other day 😭 literally the most we hear him talk abt his siblings is him being like "ooooouh i hate that Bitch Cherie and Everyone Else Sucked Too. And I Had To Change Stupid Diapers."

if you think about it it's really funny that alec is less misogynist than brian

[hexfloog]

Love your posts about evil conan! Since Conan gets his power from the (uninterrupted) lie, how do Agasa, Heiji, and all the other characters who know the truth fit into this?

Hi, thanks so much!! :D I can't keep quiet about him for longer than a few days at a time so I'm delighted to hear that my ramblings are enjoyed ;0;

At the end of the day, Conan’s existence is contingent on the endurance of only one lie: that Shinichi lied to Ran.  His undoing is as simple as confessing the truth to her and her alone, no matter how seemingly unstoppable he’s become.  Of course, neither he nor Shinichi know that this is the case, but they both have a vested interest in maintaining this lie above all else, so... whoops, lol.

Additional whoopsies...es... below the break :3c

By the time Conan takes the reins in Shinichi’s life the opportunities for anyone else to be consciously let in on the secret are practically zero.  Even if he wanted to entrust his identity to additional people, the lie is just so present in the world that its power relegates him to captive audience in his own mind.  One or two others knowing the truth wouldn’t do anything to break the cycle-- as it hasn’t, especially since those who know have so far pledged, at Shinichi’s own insistence, to keep the secret-- so Conan’s power is mostly unaffected.    

So with that in mind, those who are already in the know will be the only ones who know going forward-- with some exceptions (more on that later).

Conan as he really is-- red-eyed, fanged, and clawed-- is not normally visible to the common person, and even then he has some level of control over how much of the real him is seen.

Two requisites only mostly* need to be met for someone to be imbued with “sight” (or “the truth,” as he calls it): [1] knowledge of Shinichi’s secret, and [2] a subconscious belief in the supernatural.  Generally these conditions are already met among those who canonically know, since Shinichi’s circumstances are already stranger than fiction, though the degree to which these characters are capable varies even among themselves.

As the deuteragonist of this AU, Heiji is my prime example of someone who can see so much of the truth, he considers it a curse:

Everyone knows Heiji figured Shinichi out on his own, but while he may proclaim he doesn’t believe in spirits he sure has a demonstrated inclination towards a sixth sense... 

Heiji’s ability to “see” is as involuntary as his devotion to his friends.  He cannot control when he gets to peek behind the curtain, nor can he control how far it draws, and so his relationship with it-- and by extension, his relationship with both Conan and Shinichi-- is complex.  In several instances, it is used against him-- Conan becomes aware that Heiji can see him and toys with him in this comic, but in others, Heiji wrangles it to his advantage, such as when he uses it to gauge when Conan has receded in this snippet. 

Obviously who believes in what exactly is up to interpretation.  Haibara knows all there is to know about Conan being Shinichi and is easily able to detect that something is amiss when Conan takes control (much in the same way she sniffs out Black Org members), but she doesn’t truly see until very late in the story because of a staunch refusal to really believe that anything supernatural is at play with regards to his increasingly strange behavior.  Hakase is of a similar (if less-inclined) mindset, fortunate enough to enjoy a more distant relationship with Conan than the others throughout the meat of this AU, but he shares with Haibara an... unwillingness to believe he had any hand in said transformation (let alone the inception of the lie itself), and would not “see” Conan unless he pulled back the curtain in its entirety. 

*These requirements can work the other way around, too, which is why I say they only need to mostly be met.  Some people, like Ayumi and other children who are still privy to believing in monsters, sometimes glimpse him for what he really is  despite having no feasible way to even suspect that he isn’t who he says he is.  And even then... once Conan begins tapping into his power more, the requirements matter less and less.  “Rules” bend to his will and although he only gets to this point once, everyone would be able to see him as he truly is.

Ultimately, whether or not people know the truth doesn’t matter to him.  Ran doesn’t know and so he will continue having his way with Shinichi’s world unabated.  Of course, the chances of Ran eventually finding out is higher if more people are in on the secret (social osmosis and all), but we’ve already established that more people finding out in the first place is unlikely, and... while he initially guards his secret with the same ferocity as his maker, he-- like Shinichi-- is prone to recklessness... and he gradually stops caring about being on the down-low, anyway.  Something something unchecked ego.

(And besides - Ran finding out through someone else doesn’t really stop anything. She might become aware of the deception, but Shinichi himself has still not confessed the truth to her, and the lie continues...)

So in short, with regards to the original question... Ran is the only one who matters >:)  Except to potentially get in the way, none of the others-- Heiji, Ai, Hakase-- have any bearing on his existence.  Them knowing doesn’t have any effect on the true depth of the deceit.  Although Conan knows that the relationships Shinichi has with these people are uniquely Shinichi, they are, at the end of the day, expendable in his pursuit of becoming Shinichi in the eyes of the world.  The charade can’t be halted from the sidelines, and especially not once Conan starts standing on his own.

Spoiler spoiler, the last step in Conan’s plan to replace Shinichi-- to seize his relations, his status in life, to discard all that’s been established as Conan-- is to be accepted by Ran, and when he isn’t, well...

Thank you for the ask!! Hehe I wrote an essay again (this is the additional whoopsie) <3  Detco canon has established that Shinichi generally prioritizes guarding his secret from Ran above anyone else, even at her own expense, so I like to roll with that perspective and... well, all that that implies~~~

[ahgaseda]

enough | one

even if everyone else leaves me, you’re enough for me, you’re my only one, stand by me forever, only you, just you...

summary : to survive as a single woman in the big city, you resort to letting rich men pay for your company, but never anticipated that your first client would be the boy you once loved, Jinyoung.

warnings : strong profanity, explicit dialogue, references to prostitution, mentions of gang activity, graphic sexual content, potentially triggering elements involving mental health, panic attacks, etc.

miniseries chapters : one / two / three / four / five / six / seven

“Sorry, Mom,” you apologized under your breath as you stepped into the warm, bustling hallway of the agency. The building may as well have been your second home at this point, considering you spent most of your free hours under its roof.

Your place of business lay hidden beneath a layer of secrecy, operating within the guise of an illustrious marketing firm. After all, prostitution was still very much illegal. But evading the law in such sparse times had become an undeniable artform for creatures of the underworld.

However, you had yet to jump from that hyperbolic bridge. Until today. Hence the apology to your mother.

Being an escort that didn’t have sex with her clients had allowed you to earn enough to survive. Men paid for your company, nothing more. They took you to candlelit dinners or upper class events, because in the world of preternaturally rich people, having a gorgeous slab of meat on one’s arm was a blatant demonstration of funds.

Also, if the society they ruled knew who they actually slept with, their careers would be over as quickly as they began.

When you first came to the big city from your humble hometown in the countryside, you swore to yourself you would never sell your body to make a living - no matter how comfortably you could thrive if you did. But keeping your head above water was no easy feat and you were thrust back into the bottomless pit of debt and insecurity.

Seoul had become more and more expensive around you and you could feel the sensation of water rising over your head, drowning you in the hopelessness of it all. Your hopes and plans for the future were costly and the bank refused to grant you any more loans.

Then, you were reminded that sex sells. You had the advantage of being a woman in a world of ravenous men. Your employer had always given you the option of stepping into darker circles when you needed more. You met every criteria on the checklist of powerful, wealthy suitors.

Who needed dignity anyway? It was but another luxury you could not afford.

“We have just the client for you,” explained Seokjin, predictably diplomatic when discussing every dirty detail of his illegal business arrangements.

You were more than grateful and certainly never faulted him for it. Seokjin was a remarkable boss, especially considering his line of work. He had spent more than his fair share of time on the streets from a young age and he grew to provide individuals a safer, more regulated way of earning money the only way they knew how.

“He’s new,” Seokjin added, breaking you from your reverie. “Never hired before. Specifically asked for a virgin.”

“I’m not a virgin, boss,” you deadpanned, inevitably daydreaming of the one man that had ever known how it felt to be between your thighs.

How many years had passed since you last saw him? Four or five, maybe. In your mind, you tried to play clueless with yourself, but truth be told, you knew the exact day you left him down to the very hour. The bitter memory was fresher in your imagination than recalling what you ate for dinner the night before.

Seokjin twirled a pen through his knuckles before resuming his notes. From what you knew, he preferred to document everything in excessive detail. That was the lawyer part of him. Knowing that your own employer had worked his way from streetwalker to successful attorney and business owner gave you a blossom of hope for your own future.

“I’m referencing your lack of sexual activity with any of your previous clients,” Seokjin clarified, his tone level. “You have served as a public escort, not private. Emotional, not sexual.”

You nodded your understanding, already missing the simpler days that would soon be forgotten to you. Though life had abandoned most of its simplicity since you moved to the big city. Weighted under the gravity of your decision, your thoughts drifted back to that fateful morning when everything changed forever.

The rain had poured from the blackening sky and you were relieved the drops would conceal your own tears. Thunder roared with a vengeance and drowned the shouts following you as you leapt into the truck that would bring you to the city.

Your boyfriend had been a step or two behind, slamming his hands on the door and begging you to stay with him at the top of his lungs. You watched him through the window, apologizing over and over in a pitiful chant. His yelling turned to pleading and desperation, and when the truck drove away, he chased behind it.

Eventually, you lost sight of him in the rainfall as you sobbed uncontrollably. You could only imagine how long he had spent running after you.

Seokjin called your name tenderly and you blinked back to your surroundings, shifting anxiously in your seat in an attempt to rouse yourself. Meeting his gaze, you made some off-handed comment about lack of sleep, but to a man whose entire survival had once completely relied on the sharpened skill of reading people, you were an open book.

“You don’t have to do this,” he lamented, sympathetic. “The women that choose this path, do so because they want to. Clearly, you do not.”

Your experience with sex was narrow, that much you were certain. Given you had been out of the metaphorical saddle for almost four years, you wondered if you were even remotely good at the act anymore. The only partner you had ever known was heavily biased, in your opinion.

You recalled how it felt to ride him, wincing at how hard he could grab your hips while he begged you to slow down just a little, afraid he would blow his load too early. Getting off on the heady feeling of power with how easily you could ruin him, you would giggle and quicken your pace, grinning with victory when you felt him shudder with release beneath you.

“No, I do,” you insisted, readjusting your position in the chair at your unclean thoughts and the way they made your pulse throb. “I do, honestly. You know I wouldn’t waste your time unless I was sure.”

Seokjin sighed, recognizing the signs of someone who had made up their mind. After a short pause, he diverted your attention and asked, “How is school?”

“Good, actually,” you chirped, delighted he would opt to change the subject to something less heavy. “The general requirements are all done which means I can spend more time focusing on my major.”

“You’ll make a great doctor,” Seokjin crooned, sincere. “I just know it.”

You smiled. The compliment and vote of confidence warmed your very soul.

Seokjin wasn’t obligated to smooth your feathers. He was your employer, but he also served as a confidant and friend to those who needed him. You were the type of girl that never should have darkened his doorway, but life forced your hand and rather than accept defeat, you clawed a path over every obstacle you faced. Seokjin admired you for that and recognized you as someone that reminded him of his own tenacity.

Noticing you had relaxed, Seokjin gave you a reassuring simper before returning to business, informing, “There will be a function tonight. Lots of powerful people will be mingling and your new client will be present. I can have you added to the guest list and you can meet him, but only if you feel ready.”

You appreciated the fact your first meeting with the client would be in a crowd full of people. A man willing to pay for his own personal sex toy must have been a low-down dirty bastard, you surmised. Frankly, you were terrified to meet him, expecting he would see you as an object to possess and not a human being capable of pain.

The saving grace was you had unshakable faith in Seokjin. He screened every client personally and had a zero tolerance policy toward any form of abuse. Plus, he employed some of the most no-nonsense bodyguards you had ever seen. Your personal favorite was Hoseok. He was number three on your speed dial and your emergency contact on all medical forms at the university.

“Just like that?” you questioned, skimming over the document Seokjin pushed toward you. It was puzzling to you - how easy sacrificing a part of your soul would be. You naively expected some bells and whistles.

Seokjin hummed an affirmation and responded, “There’s absolutely no commitment to do anything physical with him tonight. He will be made aware as well. You have to agree to a contract of consent with him established by this agency because money is involved, similar to the ones you have had before. Tonight, you simply meet him, get to know him. Then, in the morning, you give us your answer as to if you wish to proceed.”

Signing your name on the page, agreeing to an initial evaluation with a potential client and swearing not to engage in any sexual activity with him until a contract had been signed, you acknowledged, “I understand. Thank you.”

Your employer accepted the document and slid the page into your file, tucking the folder away into his locked drawer. With that business concluded, Seokjin laced his fingers together over his desk and mentioned with a smile, “The event tonight is formal. I suggest you buy a new dress. Use the company card. We will add it to his bill.”

You chortled and stood to leave, shaking his hand and saying, “Pleasure working with you, boss.”

Seokjin rose and squeezed your fingers. “As usual, the pleasure is all mine.”

Making the long, arduous trek to your little apartment, you kept your head lowered, eyes on your shoes and every labored step you took. You wondered how many days from now you would be heading home in a walk of shame. Tears threatened behind your eyes, but none appeared. Your reserves were empty from the amount of crying you had done over the past few weeks.

Not long after you departed the agency, you came to a stop before a large stone building with a courtyard set in the center. Surrounded by well-trimmed hedges, students glided in and out.

The medical school you hoped to attend within a year or two was a massive, daunting building, but you had seen the inside during a quick tour and knew the place to be modern and professional and - in your humble opinion - warm and welcoming. Excitement gathered in your chest at the sight and for a moment, you remembered the determination you kept stored deep down and tapped into the current for the remainder of the day.

Your father was a farmer. Your mother was also a farmer. All of your neighbors within a ten mile radius were - big surprise - farmers. You were born and raised in a little town surrounded by nature and you were taught to cultivate the land from a young age.

But your heart was in a hospital and had been since the first time you were able to speak to your physician during a routine annual check. You told him you wanted to treat the sick and to your surprise, he encouraged your dream with a smile.

From that moment on, your mother rebuked you for wanting to abandon the family tradition of agriculture, as she called it. People like you and her were never meant to aspire to anything greater than the hand life dealt them, she said.

Your father, on the other hand, secretly fueled your plans at every turn. For your tenth birthday, he bought you a stethoscope which became the most sentimental item you owned. It was one of the few things that had survived your journey to the city when you ran away.

The town you came from left much to be desired. Once a simple place for hard-working residents, machines and modern advancements turned an entire way of life on its edge. Soon, your home became a breeding ground for gangs, using the rural, poverty-stricken lands for a perfect nest to hide from the law and conduct their devious affairs. Name any contraband and it was run through your streets; guns, drugs, and even women. Anything and everything was available for the right price.

Not much time passed before everyone came to recognize a simple principal: you either got in the gang or the gang got you.

You couldn’t abide by that and you would rather leave than accept it. Your heart yearned for the simple life of those that came before you; the straight and narrow path of working hard with your hands while earning your education. Without any options, you ran and turned away from your home, never looking back. And to your dismay, the big city was even more ruthless.

But you couldn’t go back. It wasn’t a matter of pride... it was the boy you left behind. You couldn’t come home and see the devastation left in your wake. Even your own family had broken all contact with you when they discovered you sold your body as an escort for wealthy men. No matter how many times you tried to convince your parents you weren’t sleeping with these people, they didn’t believe you. And you couldn’t blame them.

They didn’t know you anymore.

What you quickly learned was the city was no different from your little town except the stakes were higher. You had much farther to fall. The players in such a dangerous game were ruthless and influential and walked in plain sight without fear of consequences. You had heard the other girls chatter about the clients they regularly entertained and how deep they were in when it came to the illegal way of life.

You had most certainly jumped from the frying pan and into the open fire.

These same men meandered through the room you entered that evening, themed with gold and maroon for the elegant fundraiser. A few took long, lingering glances at you, shameless with their intentions as their eyes hovered far too long on your ample curves. You paid them no mind and made your way to the bar.

The gown you wore for your first meeting with the potential client was sultry purple. “A statement of royalty,” the dressmaker had exclaimed when you tried it on. Of course, she would say nearly anything while trying to entice you to spend a lump sum on one of her pieces. Given the money wasn’t coming out of your own account, you had no qualms when it was time to swipe the company credit card.

Hell, this man would more than likely be fucking you in the near future. He could splurge for a dress.

The thought made you overthink, as you often did, and you sipped your wine while you sat at the bar. From what your forthcoming coworkers told you, selling your body to the right man was a gold mine that surpassed security and landed in excess. Most spoke of riding a man so good the reward was a luxury car or a penthouse apartment overlooking the city.

You tried not to be disgusted, but it was a rebellion against everything you had been taught about respecting your body. You never thought you would reach this point in your life - putting a price on your own head to survive.

“Hello, beautiful,” greeted a husky voice at your side, an older man offering you a glass of bubbling champagne.

Jolting from your internal monologues, you turned and bowed your head politely, speaking your greetings shyly. A shudder of remorse tore through you. Would this be your future? To be owned by a man who had accrued enough wealth to feel he was entitled to your body as he pleased?

Briefly, you remembered the boy who had stolen away your heart. The boy who was patient and gentle with you at every turn. The same boy who was always tempted to fight any man who didn’t give you the respect he felt you deserved. Damn it, you knew he would hate you for what you were about to do.

“Don’t ever let another man touch you,” he had whispered in your ear once while taking you against a wall.

Soaked to the bone from an impromptu dive in the neighborhood lake that quickly devolved into a tangled mess of limbs, your boyfriend lost any and all patience when you begged him to soothe the ache between your thighs from his hot, wet kisses. You cried out his name softly as he held your hips and bounced you up and down to meet his thrusts, filling you with his cock and making stars appear behind your eyes.

“I won’t,” you swore against his neck, gasping for breath and locking your ankles around his waist.

He nipped at your jaw then, groaning in the back of his throat at the scorching heat of you around him, and growled possessively, “Because you’re mine.”

Fire gathered behind your cheeks, clouding your head, and you blinked rather rapidly as you tumbled out of the memory. God, you had almost forgotten how good he felt, skin against skin. No man would ever make you feel that way again, not that you had even given one the opportunity. You had tasted paradise and no one else could ever hope to compare.

Reminding yourself to pay attention, you focused your gaze on the visitor offering you a drink, realizing rather quickly he was not your prospective client when he failed to utter your designated alias. Clad in a fitted suit, the man introduced himself by his position and holdings and then proceeded to flirt borderline aggressively. The moment you could cut in between his words, you graciously told him you were expecting someone. Offended that you dared dismiss his entitled ass, he rose from your side and stormed off, taking the untouched glass of champagne with him.

You exhaled to release your irritation, drumming your manicured nails on the counter and resting your head on your free hand. The longer you waited, the more you wallowed in indecision. Could you really go through with this?

Suddenly, your phone rang and you pulled the vibrating device from your clutch. Your brow furrowed when you didn’t recognize the number, but you answered anyway with a rushed, “Hello?”

“Did that bastard really take the drink with him?”

You chuckled at the annoyance in the stranger’s voice and glanced around to see if any of the men at the fundraiser could be holding a phone to his ear.

Finding no one on their mobile, you nodded and replied coolly, “Yes, he did, but I prefer my wine anyway.”

“Is that so?” the stranger rumbled. “Hand your phone to the bartender for me.”

You narrowed your eyes in surprise before calling the pleasant server behind the bar over. Giving him your phone, adding that you were as clueless as he was, the server chuckled at the caller and echoed after a moment, “Your tab? Got it.”

You took your phone back from his outstretched hand and purred, “Very generous of you, sir.”

The caller chuckled and persisted, “Anything you get goes on my tab and I took the liberty of ordering you a White Russian, if you don’t mind.”

“We have made the jump from wine to liquor so soon, have we?” you joked, thanking the bartender when he made the drink and slid the glass your way. “May I ask, why a White Russian?”

The caller took a sip of his own drink as he leaned leisurely against a pillar and mused, “You look like the type of girl to nurse one while you scan around the room for me.”

You giggled, amused. “Well, you’re in luck. They are my favorite.”

“Imagine that,” he sang, but you failed to hear the lack of surprise in his reply. “Take your time with it. You need to be coherent for this conversation.”

The assertiveness in his voice snared your attention, because there was something strikingly familiar about it. With a smirk, you rebuffed, “Are you implying I am a lightweight?”

The client chuckled ever so subtly and replied, “I would never insult your alcohol tolerance, but yes, you do strike me as one.”

“It seems you are right again for the most part,” you admitted, giving the room another glance over for participants on their phones and finding none. “If I start singing Fall Out Boy at the top of my lungs, I’ve officially reached my limit.”

This time, he openly laughed.

The sound registered deep within you, because this delayed sense of familiarity was growing stronger.

“Alright, pretty lady,” the caller asserted, steering the conversation with a firm hand though he sounded rather young and carefree to your ear. “What is your game?”

You shrugged nonchalantly and returned, “I’m not playing any games.”

Abandoning his hiding place alongside the pillar, the stranger was quick to interject, “You most definitely are and I’m more than ready to play with you.”

You wanted to be ashamed at how effective his banter was thus far. You found yourself biting your lip and resituating on your bar stool. The rush of flirtation was pleasant, foreign to you after so long. Personally, you greatly enjoyed verbal sparring and rarely could someone hold their own against you.

Glancing at your glimmering fingernails, you sighed as if in deep contemplation, “Life is merely a game in the grand scheme of things. Isn’t it?”

He hummed an agreement before offering, “As are relationships between people.”

“I agree.”

“I like to hear you agree with me,” he confessed lowly, voice dropping an octave.

To which you replied, “You are easy to agree with, sir.”

Then, he quickly veered back to his easy-going and flirtatious manner to whisper, “I’m still trying to get a read if you’re submissive or if you just try to appear that way because you think it’s what I want.”

You swallowed nervously, viscerally reminded of the situation you were in. Harmless flirting had been fun, but now you remembered why you were here in the first place - to be someone’s plaything. To be used and used until nothing was left of you.

At your conflicted pause, the caller coaxed, “I’ve spooked you, little one.”

You came back to your senses and stuttered over your words, “No, I, uh...”

“Take a breath and sip your drink.”

You obeyed without a second thought, welcoming the liquor and swallowing a mouthful. Your conscience was too strong for this, but the duality of him had you snared like a wild animal lured into a false sense of security. He balanced adeptly between hot and cold, reeling you into a disarming sensation of safety before trapping you in his clutches. Because all the while, you knew he was a dangerous man and yet he made you brush aside your instinctual fear of him.

“Well, well, well, you are a bit submissive,” the stranger taunted, obviously pleased at how mindlessly you had heeded his order with no resistance or snark. “But you’re skittish.”

“Am I?” you sassed skeptically, glancing around with narrowed eyes. “Are you an expert on me now?”

He tsked his tongue and muttered, “And there’s that little streak of fire. I like it.”

You flushed. Your mind raced at the thought of your potential client. He had a way with words and he clearly enjoyed the banter. It seemed he wasn’t intent on just bending you over a surface and having his way with you.

He wanted to play.

Rising from the bar, you tucked your clutch to the inside of your arm and carried your drink, still holding the mobile to your ear. As you glided across the marble floor, you scanned the room for men on their phones, ready to hunt.

“You know what they say about playing with fire,” you smarted, words hushed.

He chuckled and sounded as if he were also in motion, potentially avoiding your gaze. With a smirk, he asked, “Are you going to burn me?”

“I might,” you replied boldly. “But I get the feeling you would like it.”

“You’re right about that. How the tables have turned. Are you reading me?”

You snickered, licking your bottom lip before sipping your drink. After swallowing the alcohol, you exhaled and asked cautiously, “Can I be honest with you?”

He nodded, slinking behind a pillar, and spoke almost sternly, “If anything between us goes beyond tonight, I want you to be honest with me always.”

That response surprised you and you didn’t bother to hide it. For all his potential danger, he didn’t instill in you a feeling of maliciousness. You were becoming less and less afraid of him. “I appreciate that,” you finally told him.

“Hit me.”

Stopping in your tracks, you turned on your heels, surveying the upper decks in the massive gallery, and inquired, “Why do this?”

He growled, “Why pay a woman to fuck me?”

His blunt words sent a shiver through your body. This man didn’t carry much fear, that you could tell. You were intimidated by your potential client already and you hadn’t even laid eyes on him. Pinching your lips, you hummed, “Mm.”

“My job mostly. I can’t have a normal relationship in my line of work. And I’m not the type who should try,” he explained without hesitation. There was nothing dishonest or remotely offensive in the way he spoke to you, which made you wonder what kind of position your client held that would lean him toward this inclination.

But you remembered something he said previously and turned his words back on him when you remarked, “You’ve already brought up submission. I think you like the power balance this would give you.”

There was a pause. Then, he exhaled, “You’re right again.”

You smiled victoriously, taking a sip of your drink, and resumed walking across the room.

The caller chugged some of his own alcohol; you could hear the ice cubes clinking against the glass. “I know you’ve never done this before. I specifically asked for that,” he began, sounding piqued with interest.

“Yes,” you murmured, shivering at where this line of question might go, but knowing you had opened the door in the first place.

“Why are you doing this?”

Flinching, you felt your heart clench. For a moment, your mind showed you that hated memory - of the only boy you ever loved chasing you down as you scrambled into the truck. He beat both hands on the door and screamed those exact words to you at the top of his lungs.

Shaking your head to snap out of your thoughts, you played cool and echoed, “Why am I agreeing to let someone fuck me for money?”

He was entirely unaffected by your language as he said, “Yes.”

Frowning at the mental image of bills piling on your coffee table at home, you answered, “Because these are hard times.”

That was a valid enough reason for him apparently. “I hear that,” he rasped.

Pensively, you nibbled on your bottom lip as you walked through the sea of patrons, tasting the slightest remnants of the White Russian on your tongue. Accepting defeat when you still found none of the men on their phones, you asked demurely, “Any more questions, sir?”

Playfully, he chuckled and teased, “No, I just wanna flirt with you some more.”

You scoffed with a roll of your eyes and said, “I’m listening.”

“I’m watching the way you move,” he sang, drifting from his perch. “You’re beautiful.”

Spinning in a quick circle, with a simple statement you were reinvigorated to find your client and called with curiosity, “Where are you?”

Amused, he easily ignored you and continued, “You’ve passed through a crowd of people and everyone has moved out of your way. Did you even notice that?”

Glancing around to see a small empty radius around your presence, you whispered in disbelief, “No.”

It was time for him to take control. Monitoring your movements from above, the caller couldn’t help but lick his lips at the sight of you, at the way the violet gown hugged your curves and displayed your beauty in all of its glory.

Finishing his drink, he continued, “You walk with confidence. You’re assertive and commanding.”

Something was nagging at you, tugging on your instincts as you meandered through the crowd. Your mind had already solved this mystery, had already put the pieces of the puzzle together, but you were in too much denial to accept the signs.

The client moved to another shadow, noting your gaze kept passing over the gallery above, and taunted, “If I were any other man and I saw such a stunning goddess coming toward me, I would fall to my knees and worship her.”

“What a silver tongue,” you droned, feigning indifference. As a waiter passed by, you discarded your now empty glass on their tray.

“My tongue is ready to do things to you, sweetheart.”

You stopped, biting your lip again, and persisted, “You said, if you were any other man. Are you implying you wouldn’t bow down and worship me?”

He swallowed the last mouthful of his drink and chuckled, “You don’t fool me. I know what you are.”

Hesitating, you resisted the urge to be offended, but the feeling seeped its way into your voice when you asked, “What I am?”

Licking his lips like a predator on the prowl and moving in for the kill, he elaborated, “You’re a rare breed.”

Approaching the stairs to the overhead gallery, you tapped your fingers on the bronze railing and ordered, “Keep talking.”

“The world has made you strong and hard. You demand respect because no one has given it to you. Even when you’re afraid, you can convince everyone else in the room that you are fearless.”

Brow furrowed, you questioned, “And that’s rare?”

“You, my dear, are no lion. You are a lamb.”

You stopped, blinking in surprise. A glimpse of his face flashed in your mind and for a moment, the world began to spin around you.

He resorted to a guttural snarl as he continued, “You may try to convince the world you are the untouched goddess who needs no god, but behind closed doors you wanna scream and beg for Daddy to fuck you harder.”

Saliva had gathered in your mouth. You knew your client when he spoke in that tone, a tone you once knew so intimately. The years had made his voice deeper, more mature and roughened by the cruelty of life experiences.

But you angrily cursed at yourself for not recognizing him until now.

At your lack of a reply, the stranger pressed coyly, “Am I close?”

A memory tore across your mind of the man who once called you the love of his life, the way he held your face and told you he would never leave you. You remembered how raw and firm his voice had been when he promised to fight every battle that needed to be fought to keep you safe.

Hands shaking, your voice broke when you choked, “Jinyoung?”

For the first time since the call began, there was only silence on his side of the line.

The absence of an answer served as confirmation and you furiously shouted into the phone, “Jinyoung!”

“Took you long enough.”

Before you could utter another word, the call went dead.

next chapter →

a/n : this story was previously Lacuna on my old blog, minheoney. I’m really excited to finally finish it! This fic was my baby for so long and I’m ridiculously happy to give it a new home :)

Hey there, beautiful! If you enjoyed this, please leave a like or reblog or follow me! Or maybe buy me a coffee so I can keep writing? Or check out my masterlist here for more stories! Thanks for reading :) - Katya

This work is fictional and for entertainment purposes only, but is licensed and protected under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international license. Any instances of plagiarism will be dealt with accordingly. Do not re-post or translate without my permission.

{ copyright 2018-2020 © ahgaseda // all rights reserved }

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 9

The Slaying of the Bobbledragon

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Since slaying a serial-killer dragon is a little outside the party's expertise, they're off to Cauterdale to enlist the aid of the Deathseekers' Guild! Having gotten a good night's sleep at a druid village, and not eaten, they're ready to take on, uh...

Well, some sort of very large monster that Zero kindly drew for me.

In the morning, they rather uneventfully get up and get back on the road, thanking the villagers for their hospitality. And the remainder of the trip to Cauterdale is likewise brief and uneventful, right up until the fire.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: the what Benedict I. (GM): The fire.

Yeah, the forest and the road up ahead are ablaze, sort of blocking passage. The dirt road isn't actively on fire, but the trees on both sides are, making it pretty risky to proceed. The team opts to send Oyobi up ahead to scout the situation- and pretty soon she comes back with a report. Apparently, just past the visible fireline, the forest is totally burned down- just charred stumps as far as she could see, right up to the city walls. The fire itself is just, like, 10 meters wide or so, so it's totally something they could just dash through.

It takes some Animal Handling checks to coax the giraffes through, and the ones that balk get them and their riders a little bit of chip damage from heat and smoke inhalation, but the party is pretty much able to push through to the blasted wasteland of charred tree stumps surrounding Cauterdale.

They notice a few people in strange armor in the distance, doing something near the fire- from the seemingly controlled nature of this burn and the name of the town, they conclude that those are fire squads doing this deliberately, and don't get involved. It's a fine conclusion, and the party begins walking the remaining mile to the city.

As they approach, they notice... a little ways off from the main gates, something is attacking the city walls. Guards atop the walls are manning some sort of huge harpoon guns, and they seem to have already slain several of the... whatever these things are. The remaining one, though, seems larger and more resilient than the others, continuing its assault despite the several harpoons already lodged in its flesh.

What they see is a huge reptilian monster. It's probably not a dragon- no wings, and it doesn't appear to be using a breath weapon- but it's the size of a dragon, with tiny arms, headbutting the metal walls of the town repeatedly.

Orluthe makes his Nature roll to recognize this thing- he's heard of them before. They're called "bobbledragons"- some sort of deformed mutant offshoot of true dragons, incapable of speech or flight or magic but still possessed of monstrous strength and durability.

Luckily, the bobbledragon doesn't seem to be in between them and the main gate- the fight is far enough away that they could potentially just walk up and head into town, assuming they'll open the gates during a situation like this. Hell, they don't even need to open the gates- if the guards just drop a rope, they should be able to just climb over. That seems like a decent plan, so Saelhen and Looseleaf begin working together to draft a use of the Message spell to ask the guards to help them inside.

Then they notice that I've been moving Oyobi's token on the map in the direction of the fight.

Oyobi, blinded by bloodlust and/or extra-credit-in-Severe-Zoology-lust, is determined to help fell the bobbledragon. Their attempts at persuasion fail, and Oyobi, undeterred, continues to charge the giant fucking T-rex that is making huge dents in the walls of a city.

As Oyobi runs for it, and as the party follows behind in hopes of stopping her from making a terrible mistake, the bobbledragon jumps and seizes one of the guards on the wall in its jaws, demonstrating its +10 4d12+7 bite attack by immediately oneshotting its victim.

Looseleaf: oh god we're all going to die. you're using the real t-rex statblock. that thing is challenge eight. it is made for a party of four level eight adventurers, so either we are all going to die here, or the guards are going to show us why they are professional fighters and we are students. Benedict I. (GM): "Shit! It can jump!" "No!" The guards seem upset.

Not promising.

Looseleaf: This thing does sufficient damage to oneshot any of us with a perfectly mediocre hit. Looseleaf right now is kind of thoroughly convinced that Oyobi is actually literally about to die. In that light, Looseleaf is going to message Oyobi again. And she is not going to get any closer. Actually, she's going to back off, put distance between herself and the monster. [Oyobi that thing is going to bite you in half get back here you are going to die.] Benedict I. (GM): Roll Persuasion! DC 20 again. -Looseleaf: 17 / PERSUASION (1)- Oyobi Yamatake: [I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER!!!]

So... that's a bust, and Oyobi finally reaches the dragon and begins her assault. Miraculously, her flying leap hits, and she digs her sword in... for thirteen damage.

The guards return fire against the bobbledragon, and one of the harpoons catches it in the chest- but it doesn't go down, and the second harpoon- manned by just one guard, after his partner got crunched- misses. Another guard, without a cannon, throws a spear- and gets not only a critical hit, but a max damage critical hit, spearing the thing right in the eye.

...for eleven damage, because these are ordinary CR 1/8 Guards, but still!

Saelhen tries to distract the bobbledragon so Oyobi can run and hide, but... her arrow goes wide, and Oyobi isn't interested in running and hiding anyway. The bobbledragon, targeting whatever did the most damage to it recently with its bite attack, jumps and bites the whole damn harpoon gun out of the guard tower, leaving the guards without heavy weaponry.

And then with its tail, it tries to slap the insect that just stung it in the rear.

...and rolls a 3, meaning Oyobi gracefully backflips over the attack and strikes a dramatic pose.

Looseleaf: God, she did not deserve that dodge. She got so fucking lucky there. Saelhen du Fishercrown: she really didn't Oyobi Yamatake: "When you get to Dragon Hell, tell them Oyobi Yamatake sent you!!"

Looseleaf, in the interest of communicating to Oyobi how much danger she's in, makes use of an upgrade to her Rend Spirit attack she learned while studying Lumiere's notes on pain. With Painread, she can get some feedback back from something whose spirit she disrupts, and figure out exactly how bad a shape it's in. She does so (dealing a cool 16 damage as she does), and learns how huge this thing's remaining hit point pool is, so she can tell Oyobi how unlikely she is to survive long enough to take it down.

...It, uh, it was already pretty hurt when they arrived, and it, um, has nine hit points left. And it's Oyobi's turn.

Oyobi Yamatake: Oyobi dashes forwards, Naruto-runs up to the T-rex's throat, and does a spinning leap that slashes open its jugular. It roars, and the roar swiftly fades off as its breath escapes. Saelhen du Fishercrown: God dammit, Oyobi. Oyobi Yamatake: "YES! YES! B-S-U! B-S-U! B-S-U!" "THAT is how it's DONE!" She is jumping up and down, doing a celebratory dance, the works. "Flawlessed the boss! Hell yeah!"

Yeah, so... I had kind of been planning on her getting oneshot and laid up in the hospital, as a sort of character growth thing and also keeping her out of the way of certain events in town, but, uh... the dice... didn't exactly... share my priorities.

With the bobbledragon slain, and Oyobi doing an extremely obnoxious victory dance, the rest of the party springs into action to stabilize the guard who was used as a chew toy. Thanks to his plate armor, he hasn't lost much blood, but he's got more broken bones than not, and his prognosis wouldn't be good... if it weren't for the healer's kits Looseleaf had the foresight to buy for everyone. Saelhen stabilizes him, and Orluthe calls on his goddess to Lay On Hands to save the guard's life.

Then there's this guy- the captain of the guard, who fought in the battle with a fancy crossbow that shot flaming bolts. He demands to know who the party is, seeming kind of annoyed that they rewarded weakness by saving the guard's life.

Benedict I. (GM): He looks down at your medical kit. "Y'know, all of my men are prepared to fight and die for our home. You really want to take away this man's glory?" The injured guard looks up. "Uh, sir, I- it's fine, actually..." "Feh." Looseleaf: This guy immediately seems like a bad boss. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Oh, he's ridiculous. Okay, that changes the tenor of this conversation somewhat! "...I apologize, sir," says Saelhen, bowing to the guard on his stretcher, "if I have diminished your victory with my carelessness."

And rather than give this guy any more of the time of day, Saelhen asks the random guard his name. (And then I have to give him one and make him a character, whoops.)

Medd Cutter here is thankful for Saelhen's assistance saving his life, and Saelhen pledges to remember his heroism. The commander feels- by design- somewhat left out of the heroism-remembering, and declares that he is REX SCAR, and Saelhen kind of blows him off. He's not happy, but...

Captain Scar is still the sort of person who is very impressed with anyone who rolls up and kills a bobbledragon just because they felt like it, and despite Saelhen's calculated snub, tries to get buddy-buddy with the group of obviously very powerful people who just arrived. He decides to help them through customs without going through the usual processes, much to the chagrin of...

...Long-Tongue, Cauterdale Customs and Border Inspection Officer of Cauterdale, who's very loquacious and wordy and redundantly repeats what she says in different words to phrase things differently in a somewhat unnecessary fashion for no real reason. Rex bullies his way past her, but Saelhen- as another snub, and just to be... nice? (What's her game...?), hands her the 300-page history of the de la Surplus family as collateral for a deferred border inspection.

Inside the walls, Cauterdale is a very crowded place. It's like 80% slum, choked with buildings constructed of a patchwork of scrap metal and discarded siding, without much wood to speak of. The streets are narrow and bustling, and the general vibe around the place is impatient.

The remaining guards escorting them (Rex went off someplace) inform them, when questioned, that the town indeed burns down the forest around them- since they're near the jungle, horrible dangerous things tend to come out of the trees to attack them, and their harpoon defenses are most effective when they can see their attackers coming from a mile away, with no obstructions. Looseleaf asks if bobbledragon attacks are common.

Benedict I. (GM): Another guard shakes his head. "No, that one was pretty crazy. Usually it's just the giant spiders, or the giant mosquitoes, or the mushroom demons." "We've had a few bobbledragons before, but that was like, four at once." Looseleaf: "Oh gods there's already giant spiders?!" "We're not even at- I thought this was a pine forest still!" Benedict I. (GM): "No, that's usually after it rains," Medd says. Looseleaf: Looseleaf casts Druidcraft. Please tell me it's not going to rain. Benedict I. (GM): Nope! Clear skies for now. "Whoa, cool." Looseleaf:"Thank the gods of sea and sky and weather and everything even tangentially related to weather," she says. "No rain." "I hope it never rains, ever again." Benedict I. (GM): "Haha, better stay away from..." "Wait, where are you headed?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "The rainforest," adds Saelhen, mildly. Looseleaf: "Ttttthunderbrush, and yes I know that place is crawling with spiders NOERU SHUT UP,"

Then Looseleaf asks about what they're there for- the Deathseekers' Guild. Unfortunately, the guards tell them that the Deathseekers... probably still exist, but they're like, a weird secret club of old people who think they're too cool to join the guard. They give them a couple leads- apparently the Temple of Andra keeps tabs on them, and also a guard by the name of Mags was the last to see them as they were recently seen leaving the city.

The team splits up- Looseleaf and Orluthe head for the temple, and Oyobi and Saelhen head for the guardhouse to talk to Mags. (Vayen... is still gone, after vanishing as soon as the bobbledragon fight started.) The latter group does their thing next session, so...

After dropping off their rental giraffes, they head inside to meet...

This guy, working the reception desk. He seems to be made of rock, and when he talks he rumbles.

As Looseleaf explains their dilemma and their need for Deathseekers, this guy takes a keen interest in their plight. He's very "hmmmm, iiiiiinteresting, oh i see, you don't say?" about the whole thing, making a very normal interaction seem as ominous as possible.

He tells her that the Deathseekers, to his knowledge, should be back in the city from their unspecified errand inside two days, and offers to take a message.

Looseleaf: "I don't suppose they're looking for a green dragon, are they?" Benedict I. (GM): This guy's smile keeps getting wider. It's kind of creepy. "Hm? What makes you say that?"

As she explains about the dragon, he offers her and Orluthe a candy from a bowl on the desk. After some hemming and hawing out-of-character because the creepy rock man is offering you suspicious candy, they eventually opt to have some, because really, Looseleaf isn't suspicious of this guy. Hers is lemon-flavored. It's tasty.

Then, as she describes the empty tower with the corpse of the torture wizard in it, this guy's demeanor changes suddenly from "creepy wry amusement" to "genuine concern". He tries to put on a poker face, but him having a poker face when he's until now been all creepy-friendly chewing the scenery... stands out. He gives her a strong assurance that the Deathseekers will handle this problem for her.

Benedict I. (GM): "I... thank you, for this information." Looseleaf: "You're welcome. Please, uh, make sure that the Deathseekers get this information as quickly as possible. The dragon eats a corpse a week and there's only three corpses left in the tower, there's a very real deadline on this." Benedict I. (GM): [rolling 1d20+4] (Insight) 17+4 = 21 Looseleaf: Belatedly, Looseleaf realizes she's made a mistake. Benedict I. (GM): "You say... the dragon eats three corpses a week?" "Only three corpses left in the tower?" Looseleaf: Namely: Looseleaf has no good reason to know the fact that the dragon eats a corpse a week. Since she's never met the dragon. Benedict I. (GM): "Curious information." "How did you come across it?" Looseleaf: "Uh, erm, uh." Shit.

Looseleaf opts to tell the truth about Arnie, to avoid spinning a dangerous web of lies for herself- after all, Arnie's not worth lying for. She does describe him in as sympathetic terms as she can, though, and asks this guy not to harm him if possible- she doesn't want to break her word to Arnie if she can help it.

Benedict I. (GM): He takes a moment to process this. "...Very well." "My people will be the soul of discretion." "I thank you very much for your generous contribution to the Ecumene of Understanding."

Looseleaf notices that something is wrong.

This guy is the receptionist. He's not a bishop or anything. He's not even wearing priestly vestments- just a nice suit. And he's speaking as though he's in a position of power- "my people", he says.

And after considering various possibilities, she tries something. A shot in the dark, but...

And the way Looseleaf plays this, is... "quit acting like you don't know what I'm talking about, c'mon, the jig is up". She takes out the letter she found in Lumiere's tower and shows it off, as proof!

And this guy keeps denying it, and getting increasingly more panicked, and looking nervously over at Orluthe, and asking her to please stop, shh shh shh shh, and it's when he begs her to have a conversation with him in private please that she makes the connection. If this guy is affiliated with Lumiere, who's apparently affiliated with some sort of secret conspiracy that's affiliated with some sort of deific usurpation... he maybe doesn't want to have that conversation in front of a cleric.

Looseleaf:"Okay, Orluthe, uhm. Sorry, so," Looseleaf whispers into Orluthe's ear. "Long story short, turns out my sister, who left my village way before I did, ended up falling into some kind of magical secret society. The kind of secret society with Hal Lumiere, i.e. 'the torture wizard who came up with all those pain knives that we all got stabbed a lot with', was apparently a very active member of." Benedict I. (GM):Oh my god, um. Looseleaf: "So, uh, I'm kinda freaking out about that, right now, but if my hunches are right then I'm the sister of someone important in their organization?" Benedict I. (GM): As you start whispering, he tries to interrupt. "Please do not say things to him!" "Please let us speak in private!!" Looseleaf: Oh he's freaked out now huh. "Anyways that's why I am actually indeed going to speak, with this guy, in private," Looseleaf finishes. "And if I don't show up in a half-hour or so, then things have probably gone lopsided." "In which case you should find everyone else and tell them to, I dunno, come save me or whatever." "You got all that?" Benedict I. (GM): The rock man looks distraught. Orluthe Chokorov: "I, uh... think so? This is really... I'm not sure it's safe..."

With a good Persuasion roll, Orluthe agrees to stay behind, and the rock man leads Looseleaf into a backroom whose doors and walls seem warded heavily with some sort of abjuration magic. A secret saferoom.

The man describes the problem: the gods don't know that they exist, or didn't until Looseleaf went and told a cleric of Diamode that they existed. Clerics, in this setting, channel divinity literally- their gods come into their heads to do magic for them, meaning anything a cleric knows is something a god can know, if they care to check.

Benedict I. (GM): "Because if the next time Diamode is in that kid, if she goes looking for that memory..." "I mean, she might not. And you didn't mention anything about our aims, so she might consider it beneath her notice." "But that, right there? That was nearly game over." "And I can't just kill you, because if I did, Yomi would end me." Looseleaf: "Yeah, I'm not incredibly foolish, I haven't actually shown anybody else Yomi's letter." "Nobody knows that Lumiere was involved with... deicidal blasphemy." "That's what this is about, right? Thereabouts, in terms of sheer magnitude and hubris?" Benedict I. (GM): He sighs. "It's not like that." "At least, it's not all like that." "The Project is... fractious." "The less you know about the project, the less you're able to carelessly blurt out about the project your cleric friends, or to anyone who tries reading your mind or tricks you into a Zone of Truth..." "The safer we all are." "With as much as you know, you're already dangerous. It'd be best for us- and you- if you dropped this. Never spoke of it to anyone."

Looseleaf points out that it's good that she found the letter, because that tower was sitting abandoned for a year- anyone could've walked in and read it, since it was lying on a bookcase in the open.

This is somehow not taken as good news- when he finds out that the letter could've potentially been read by anyone, that there was a security breach for a year...

Looseleaf: "Look, my man, next time you want to send a letter, by the way, use... use some encoding." "Don't just write things in plaintext like a chump, by the gods." Benedict I. (GM): "He was supposed to burn after reading." Saelhen du Fishercrown: he's too dead for that! Benedict I. (GM): "Wait, you said it was... out in the open?" "But he's dead?" "Either he was an idiot, or... someone else opened his mail." "Except... Yomi should've hand-delivered it, so..." "...well. We'll definitely look into it."

He brings up sending for someone to do memory magic to handle the breach- but he realizes he can't have that done to Looseleaf, because Diamode would notice if someone tampered with her cleric's memories, and someone needs to still know what's up so they can keep Orluthe away from the truth. (Plus, she figures she'd notice the inconsistencies and end up sleuthing it out again.)

Looseleaf asks if Yomi is doing well, and gets... that she's intense, and powerful, and she probably thinks she's "doing well", but... he doesn't know about happy.

Lastly, he shows Looseleaf a symbol- a blank circle, with the elvish character 人 drawn underneath. The symbols of gods are typically circles with a design inside- so the meaning of this and its relationship to the nature of the Project is fairly easy to infer.

Benedict I. (GM): "If you need to prove to someone you're in the know, without blurting out a bunch of dangerous details, this is the mark." He then eats the paper and the graphite stick he used to draw it.

Next time: Saelhen and Oyobi grill the guard Mags for information on the Deathseekers, and connections are made with powerful individuals.

[strad-214]

Sunday, 06/07/2020 Lightsaber:

The crystal is the heart of the blade.

The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.

The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.

The Force is the blade of the heart.

All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi.

We are one.

 My favorite subject concerning the Jedi Order: Lightsabers, the most iconic weapon in all of cinematic history. Every chance I got—and provided I had the funds—I purchased toy lightsabers, replicas, and unlicensed stunt weapons wherever they were available; I must have at least eight of those Ultimate Lightsabers you could build yourself in Disney World at the Star Tours Gift Shop, I built one every time I went. You could also buy the kits in toy stores once upon a time, then Disney bought them and you could only make them there after that. I have yet to visit the new Galaxy’s Edge, I haven’t been to Disney World in quite some time.

When anyone thinks of the Jedi, in universe or not, they first think of their weapon; the lightsaber is the closest thing to a possession that the Jedi have. It is a direct reflection of their personality, fighting style, and personal beliefs. The lightsaber itself is as much a piece of art as is the fighting styles the Jedi have developed to wield their weapons, and I am only too happy to describe them to anyone at any given moment. Once again, I will be drawing most of my discussion from Old Canon and a little bit from Legends, particularly from The Jedi Path and the rpg game of Knights of the Old Republic and the mmorpg, The Old Republic. I personally find that the New Canon removes some of the intimacy involved in creating a lightsaber, but it is part of the Universe, so I will give it its fair analysis too.

Across most versions of canon, there are four key components to building a lightsaber: the emitter matrix, the lens, a focusing crystal, and a power cell. The emitter matrix is usually made up of a lightsaber resistant material, usually the metal called phrik, and houses the lens. The lens is what the raw energy passes through to form the blade and can be made from various different things such as high yield glass or other crystalline material. The focusing crystal, in old canon, was a crystal compound that was of organic and inorganic matter, the root element of which was kyber. There were several types of kyber crystals, including adegan kyber crystals found on Ilum. In Jedi vs. Sith, The Essential Guide to the Force (JvSEss.), some lightsabers were made using other crystals instead of those that were kyber based such as emeralds and diamonds. There are also some accounts that say you could use more than one crystal, up to three crystals to be specific, in order to form durable and potent blades. The crystal(s) are placed into a housing constructed to conduct the appropriate amounts of energy into the crystal(s). The power cell of the lightsaber was to be installed empty, with no charge. This was because the Jedi building the lightsaber was supposed to use the Force to charge the power cell according to JvSEss. The rest of the lightsaber is up to interpretation, the switch assemble, the emitter housing, the hand grip, the pommel; all these other components are constructed to the Jedi’s specific designs, making their weapon unique to all the others.

image by Chris Trevas

In building the lightsaber, a Jedi would assemble the components and meditate on the mantra: “The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. We are one.” As they did this, they would use the Force to telekinetically assemble the lightsaber, fusing the individual components at the molecular level as they went so that their lightsaber would become one entity. They would charge their power cell, align their crystal to the Force, and influence the lightsaber to take shape before them. Now, with a complete lightsaber at hand, the Jedi Knight may dispense justice and protect citizens across the Galaxy. In Old Canon—and according to The Jedi Path—Padawans would come to Ilum with their Master about midway through their partnership to build their first lightsabers. The lightsabers they carried before these would either be training sabers or ones gifted to them by their Masters once they were paired to each other. Now, having had enough training in applying telekinetics and knowing their fighting style and themselves better, they can make their own unique weapon. The Master would leave their pupil in the caves to select a crystal they liked—blue, green, yellow, or purple, not all were available in every cavern— then to select components they liked from the stores on site or build their own components, and meditate on their new weapon. In New Canon, Younglings, not yet Padawans, would join in a ceremony called The Gathering, where a Jedi Master would take the Younglings to Ilum in order to build their first lightsabers. Younglings had a limited amount of time to gather their crystals, as the frozen door to the caverns would melt open from the sunlight and refreeze over time as time grew closer to night. The Younglings couldn’t select any crystal, the crystal had to select them, already being attuned to the Force and attuned to the Youngling. They had to hear their crystal calling to them and face a trial that would teach them something about themselves in order to obtain it. Once the crystal was obtained, the Younglings would return to the temple and ride the Jedi Vessel named The Crucible back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Aboard this ship, a Mark IV Architect Droid named Professer Huyang taught the Younglings how to build their lightsabers and provided them with components. The crystal color would become evident once the Younglings attuned them to the Force.

gif by me, sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq8N4EAusL4 

I personally favor the version of Old Canon for lightsaber construction; it feels as though it has a lot more room for variety, independence of choice, and application of experience. The Force is supposed to guide our choices, meaning, follow your gut instinct: even if you attract to the role of a Jedi Consular, if you saw a gleaming, deep blue kyber crystal in the caves of Ilum and loved the way it looked, you could take that one to be your lightsaber crystal. Now, Jedi Consulars are known to have green lightsaber blades, but that doesn’t have to be law and it is stated all over both versions of Canon that the color doesn’t define the role of the Jedi, it defines their personality: Blue for those who are active, valiant, and are swift to action in the face of danger. Green for the patient and scholarly, those Jedi who are able to navigate the political battle field as well as the physical one, if not better than. Yellow for the Jedi who walks a fine line between civilian and protector, they often are sent out, undercover to hunt down agents of the Dark Side and are strong enough in their foundations to guard the Jedi from even their selves. Purple is for the Jedi who walks the fine line between the light and the dark, being able to summon strength from both sides without falling to either one in order to fulfill their role as a Jedi Knight. There are many more, but these are the most common. Given this analysis, however, Jedi Master Jocasta Nu, historian and librarian in the Jedi Archives, should have a green lightsaber, but something either made her pick a blue crystal or her crystal became blue (depending on which version you prefer), and that speaks volumes about her character.

In our real world, lightsaber technology is quite beyond our reach. However, in a thesis written by one Thomas William Noel at the University of Washington in 2014, creating a blade of solid energy was demonstrated to be possible. His experiments were conducted to see how a trapped Barium ion would react when spontaneously exposed to a positively charged photon. The result is that the two become entangled and form something like a solid wall of energy. Now, photons are particles representing a spectrum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the specific band of light’s frequency but has zero mass. Yet, when exposed to a specific variety of Barium Ion, the photon acts as though it has mass, acts as though it is matter, conversion of energy into matter without losing its properties of energy, a lightsaber blade. Barium is our kyber and photons are our Force. There are so many more applications far more practical than this, but the science is there. Perhaps, one day… (Source: https://depts.washington.edu/qcomp/pdfs/tom_thesis.pdf )

In the mean time, we have these:

I purchased my current lightsaber from UltraSabers.com; it’s a combination of three different models. The main body is the “Shock LE” model, the emitter is from the “Archon v2.1” model and the pommel is from the “Manticore Model”, the low grade version. The color of the blade is their guardian blue option, the switch lights up blue when activated, and I originally had sound on it. The speaker inside has since broken off when I beat the ever living hell out of a BB-8 piñata with it. This was after a couple years of love and usage. She still lights up brilliantly though… if I didn’t lose the batteries and the charger in a recent move. Between these two deterants and the fact that I’ve been eyeing other lightsabers, I think it’s time I’ve retired her.

I just recently purchased many components from Saberforge.com to construct a new lightsaber with. They have an adaptive saber component collection and their parts look far more movie accurate.

I can’t wait for the components to come in, I already have the emitter from a sale I jumped on ages ago. I like to admire it and dream of a brilliant blue blade coming from the end of it. I ordered a couple different pommels and switches so I can see what I like more on the finished product, but I like the way this 3D rendering looks the most so far. I got extra parts though because it’s one thing to see an image of it, and something else entirely to see it in person. Saberforge has really great stuff, they just take awhile to ship for some reason. So, if you don’ mind the wait, they’re an excellent company to get sabers from. UltraSabers also has really great products, very sturdy and lots of basic looks that you wouldn’t mind it if they got banged up. Like, I love the concept of my new saber a lot, but I know I’m gonna freak out the second it has a pit in the metal because I dropped it or it got wacked by another blade the right way. Unfortunate fact of ownership; these things are meant to be used, they get beat up looking after awhile. If you look closely at my current one, the thing is covered in nicks, smudges, and pits from years of love. And yes, they are expensive. However, for the quality of use, they could be more expensive, and they certainly help you become closer to that Galaxy far, far away.

I hope you gained something from this. Enjoy the rest of Jedi June.

May the Force be with you.

@jedijune​ 

[dailycharacteroption]

Techslinger (Gunslinger Archetype)

 In your average fantasy setting, gunpowder and the art of gunslinging are probably the upper tier of technological advancement in the world.

However, sometimes you want to play with some more fancy toys, be they relics from a forgotten age, bleeding-edge volatile experiments, or literally fell out of the sky on an ancient spaceship, as is the case for the country of Numeria in the Pathfinder core setting, where techslingers are most likely to be found.

While fully capable of using gunpowder firearms when needed, a techslinger is in their element when they finally get ahold of an advanced weapon, like a laser gun, a zero rifle, or one of the mighty weapons in the heavy category. They may barely understand how the weapon works, but their intuitive methods help them make the most of these powerful tools.

This archetype was definitely built with the timeworn and glitching rules in mind, so if you’re interested in a gun-toting character with weapons that are normally reliable, perhaps such a build would be more suited to Starfinder, but if your fantasy game dives into strange inventions and tech, perhaps you might find a use for it.

 This archetype sports a number of unique deeds, the first of which allows them to get a surprisingly large number of shots out of a single battery, burning grit to retain a charge in the weapon, which is useful since timeworn items sometimes break down to the point they can no longer accept batteries. Whether this represents channeling grit directly into energy, fiddling with the settings to reduce consumption, or the sheer luck that grit partially represents is up to the player.

Additionally, they are exceptionally lucky when it comes to the unreliability of such weapons, glitches happening less frequently thanks to their grit.

Whether it is by a crude recharging action or something else, they can also temporarily add charges to a tech firearm, though these are fleeting, draining from the battery naturally if not used.

As long as they maintain their grit, they can even make use of their luck with the bigger weaponry they might find, unleashing devastating blasts with surprising finess.

Given their associated region, it only makes sense that these gunslingers can take the technologist feat as a bonus feat.

Additionally, like other gunslingers, they learn to specialize in specific weapons, though techslingers focus on specific models of the strange weapons they focus on.

Planning a campaign in a sword and raygun campaign? This archetype is perfect if you are fancying the gunslinger class, though obviously its use outside of that scenario is unlikely. The deeds associated with this archetype are less about providing a unique flavor and more about putting these gunslingers on part with their normal counterparts with their different weapon selection. In a way this makes them similar to the bolt ace, but in the opposite direction.

Build them as you would any gunslinger, but don’t forget how their deeds change the class. (honestly the charge recycling deed is only really good at later levels when you’re down to your last grit point and are running out of weapon charges, for example).

 In a land where understanding of the strange alien technology that litters the landscape can bring great power, techslingers demonstrate power rarely seen outside of the technomancers. Many may live for the rush of using these weapons.

  Raised by a caregiver robot in a peaceful nursery, Ilkas always wondered about the outside. When a power failure shut down the facility, he was forced to leave and fend for himself, discovering that he had been living on a section of an ancient advanced facility that had been running on backup power. He has seen much since then, including hints at the truth behind his shackleborn tiefling heritage, and has taken to collecting the strange firearms he finds for protection.

 When the Ship of the Gods crashed into Bollino Swamp, it quickly was renamed Godpoison swamp, for the ship leaked deadly energies into the water, killing many, twisting others, including the mutated mosslord that rules over it now. Still, for those brave enough, deadly weapons that call lighting and burning light on foes wait for the right hand to grasp them.

 The elemental weapons of Skyfall utilize a rare crystal which powers, redirects, and converts energy without the use of magic. However, none realized this crystal was the shed scales of a strange god dreaming beneath the ground. Now that the god is awakening, the weapons grow volatile and unpredictable.

[toku-explained]

I'd like to talk a little about the concept of inter-rider compatibility of the items used by the riders in a series. For this, unless I state otherwise, it is assumed most more powerful items/main forms are only usable by the riders who use them due to personal compatibility.

While my discussion on this topic is motivated by recent events in Zero-One, I won't be talking about that here.

First up Ryuki. We actually know exactly what happens with trying to use Advent Cards beside your own. The effect is triggered, but for the person whose card it is. Cards like Copy Vent and Freeze Vent might be an exception. Each Rider is compatible with at least one Survive Card. Odin is the exception to this, but he doesn't need a Survive Form, and he can use all three together to be invincible anyway. The Alternative cards wouldn't be compatible with the other Visors, and vice versa.

Faiz, I don't know if we have confirmation either way of if the other Mission Memories can be used on another Rider weapon.

Blade we got a pretty good answer for. While for the 3 BOARD Riders they would only be able to use their particular Ace with their Belt, and their particular Royals with the Rouze Absorber, we know from a period when Leangle had most of Chalice's cards that they can use cards out of their suit, even if the Rouzer doesn't announce the name of the attack. And King Form has an attack using all 4 Category 6. As for Chalice, at least for transformation, he should be able to use every single Undead. Attacks probably the same.

Kiva is where I want to talk about a slight deviation to my theme, the concept of using other Rider's gears (mostly weapons) as a mechanism of their powers in at least one form. Despite the obvious fact that toy wise all Fuestles are compatible with all belts, in theory, in the canon there is no evidence for this. The Arms Monsters, the Garulu Saber, Bassha Magnum and Dogga Hammer are usable by Kiva, Ixa and Dark Kiva. The three are directly tied to Kiva's powers due to their loyalty to Wataru/promise to Otoya, able to grant him various forms. Ixa has Fuestles that enable him to steal the Arms Monsters from Kiva after he summons them, though only did so once, with Garulu. Finally, the 1986 Dark Kiva is responsible for them being Arms Monsters in the first place, having used his Fuestles to transform them.

Decade has two things to consider in this regard. The first is that all of Decade's personal cards are exclusive to him, and all of Diend's are the same. The exception to this is the occasion where Decade Complete used the Diend Kamen Ride Card to trigger a double Dimension Shoot. As for cards of other Riders, Decade is able to transform into any of the 9 Heisei Riders and use their initial forms and abilities via cards, as well as Final Form Ride them. A few cards can effect other Riders (seen with Amazon) but that's limited. Diend on the other hand can summon any rider using their Kamen Ride card, but only in their main form. He also has Final Form Ride cards for all 10 Heisei Riders.

In Zi-O, where their repertoires have been altered somewhat, things are different. While no Final Form Rides are used I wouldn't rule them still having them out. Decade now only has cards to transform into the 19 other Heisei Riders, lacking Form Ride and Attack Ride cards, however, he has now demonstrated the ability to use those forms weapons of abilities in the Rider's main form. Diend's cards have been more significantly altered, as he now only has Rider Cards for the 19 secondary Riders.

Gaia Memories in W have a bit of an unclear status with their use between Riders. It's clear that any T1 Memory or T2 Memory can be used in any Maximum Slot to trigger a Maximum Drive, and most of these memories would seem to be usable in a Lost Driver. Accel's seem to be specifically designed for his equipment, and while CycloneAccel Xtreme theoretically exists, I don't think Accel could be used with the W Driver.

OOO we know exactly how it works. OOO can use any Core Medal to transform as long as it's in the correct slot, with the exception of the Black Medals, which still have a variant in different colours which are compatible. He only uses Cell Medals for the Ride Vendors and Medjalibur, which are add-ons to his power, and the Taja Spinner and Medagaburyu. The Birth system meanwhile only uses Cell Medals. Poseidon uses Core Medals, but is probably designed only for those specific ones.

With Fourze's Astro Switches, only Circle switches are usable by anyone other than Fourze. Nadeshiko has only been seen using the Rocket Switch. Meteor is able to use the Elek, Fire and N Magnet Switches to trigger finishers, and Fourze in Cosmic States is able to use the Meteor and Meteor Storm Switches in the Barizium Sword, but can only use the Meteor Switch in the Fourze Driver thanks to Fusion.

Wizard we know how it works, the Beast Driver can only use Beast's Rings, while the Wizardriver can use Beast's Mantle rings to trigger a spell affect of their own.

Gaim, we know that any Rider using a Sengoku Driver can use any standard Lockseed, and via a Genesis Core any Energy Lockseed for a Jimber form, not withstanding the individuals ability to withstand the effects of some of the stronger Lockseeds. The few weapons that do use Lockseeds seem able to use any of them. The Genesis Driver can only use Energy Lockseeds, but the Sonic Arrow can use the normal kind.

For Drive, Drive itself is unable to use anything not designed for it to use without some reworking of the systems. It can read Roidmude Viral Cores, but the Tridoron and Heartron Cars both had to be altered to allow for a transformation. The Chaser system can use any non-transformation Shift Cars to channel their abilities, except the Pit Crew, as well as read data from the Shift Speed Prototype. The Mach Driver system is demonstrated to be able to use the same range of Shift Cars to channel abilities, and Chaser can use Shift Speed Prototype the same way. It's also able to read the Tridoron Key or Shift Viral Core to allow the transformation into Chou DeadHeat, which isn't designed to be used. On my occasional weapon use topic, Type Special is able to use Mach and Chaser's weapons.

Ghost, any Eyecon for a historical figure is usable by any rider, as long as either the spirit is willing or the rider is able to control the spirit. The Necrom Eyecons don't seem to have any restrictions who uses them, and Necrom is in fact compatible with with the Ghost Driver. Almost every other Rider's main Eyecon is either connected to their own soul (Takeru, Daigo, Ryu) or the soul of someone related to them (Makoto, Ayumu), what soul is responsible for Dark Ghost I don't know, but for these reasons they're only usable by those specific people. Toucon Boost is only usable by Takeru for the same reason, and the same with Mugen, Sin Spectre and Yujou Burst. Deep Spectre might be usable by Takeru, at least originally.

Gashat rules actually seem to be fairly clear cut. In fact, given the examples we see with Dangerous Zombie, Girigiri Chambara and Kamen Rider Chronicle, it seems that either Driver can be used to transform into Rider form, as long as you're physically capable of using the Driver, or resisting the effects of the Gashat. It might be that the Bugle Driver variants are only capable of transforming into Level X Riders or Cronus, but we only see one example of a trying to Henshin using a Gashat that doesn't fit those criteria, not including Girigiri Chambara, which was especially modified to give it a Level X form. Higher level Gashats are only usable by the characters who use them in canon, either due to their unique circumstances (Ex-aid and God Maximum Mighty X) or an acquired resistance to the specific strain of the Buster Virus those Gashats inflict on the wearer (Snipe and Brave), with Para-dx's ability to use Level 50 and later Level 99 effortlessly being down to the fact he's a Bugster. Whether the Level X Gashats could be used for a Level X form by anyone besides the ones who use them is hard to say. The Level 3 and 4 Gashats should be usable by anybody who has a Gamer Driver. As for the Level 2 Gashats, each regardless of who is actually using it, would only transform you into the Rider who normally uses it, since the suit data is part of the Gashat, not the Driver. The last things to note are that every Gashat can be used in any Kimewaza it as long as it's large enough, but Proto Gashats do not have Critical Finishes, just Critical Strikes. We also have 3 Gashats designed just for Finishes, specifically Doctor Mighty XX, Bang Bang Tank and Mighty Novel X, though the last was reprogrammed for a transformation.

Fullbottles are the basis around which all Henshin devices in Build are based around, and even if a system doesn't use any of the 60 Fullbottles for transformation, they can still use them for attacks. The TranSteam Gun relies on Lost Bottles (probably only the specific two) for transformation, and the Nebula Steam Gun has its transformation initiated via Gears, but both have other attacks using Full Bottles, and in the case of the latter, Lost Bottles. The Sclash Driver works much the same way in attacks, but can only have transformations using either Sclashjelly or the specially created Crocodile Crack Bottle. The Evol Driver can use Evolbottles for Evolt to transform, or based on the existence of Mad Rogue, any Best Match pair to transform. Any Fullbottle with an associated weapon, used with the Rider Evolbottle, will summon that weapon. The Build Driver is most versatile of the systems, but can only use proper Fullbottles in Biotic Abiotic pairs (RabbitDragon is a unique situation stemming from both bottles' evolution), all other forms require a special device to be created, in some cases channeling a single bottle.

Ridewatches would have a simple answer if not for one thing. But before I get to that, it's pretty clear that only Ridewatches can be used with the Ziku Driver, and only Miridewatches with the Beyondriver. Also, all transformation Ridewatches and upgrades can only be used by the specific Rider. That leaves us with the Legend Watches. It's known that producing a single Ridewatch cuts you off from all powers associated with that Rider, and that it is possible to produce Ridewatches representing super forms of another blank watch is used. It would be easy to assume that every Ridewatch is usable for a weapon finisher, powering up Time Mazine, or, for those with enough power, using their abilities just by activating them, and only the Heisei Riders would produce a Ride Armour. Unfortunately, GenmArmour confirms other Riders can have armours, although I would still argue watches for other forms do nothing

I wasn't originally planning to cover Zero-One when I started this post, back when His debuted, but now I think I will. The months have given me more to talk about.

First of all, in the world of Zero-One we have two types of key, ZetsumeRise Keys and ProgRise Keys. Both now have an associated type of monster that can be created using an appropriate device on a singularity achieving Humagear or ZAIA Spec using human respectively. I had initially presumed that the ZetsumeRise keys were derivative technology, now it seems likely they were developed in tandem, although it's hard to say why. There is, at present, only two known ways for the keys to produce Keys. The Ark satellite is able to produce both types, but for the past 12 years, between Daybreak and it's restoration via Ikazuchi, it has been unable to produce Progrise Keys. I am uncertain about ZetsumeRise Keys. The other method is Satellite Zea via the 3D printer in the President's office at Hiden Intelligence. As far as has been shown, it can only produce Progrise Keys. While the origins of a number of Progrise Keys are known or deductable, the origins of those keys initially seen in the possession of AIMS or ZAIA are unclear. Of the 4 driver types so far, in theory all should be able to use any Progrise Key to initiate a transformation. This is confirmed for the Zero-One Driver, which requires a link to satellite Zea to produce the animal data, as official images of Zero-One using every current Progrise Key except Assault Wolf have been revealed. The Shotriser doesn't produce a Data Animal, and all the confirmed forms have a sort of incomplete look to them, and despite a number of the Progrise Keys so far used only for attack being with AIMS, no official images exist of them being used in the Shotriser. The ForceRiser, when used with Progrise Keys, forcibly opens the key and extracts the data animal, and then converts that into the armour. One ZetsumeRise Key has been used successfully in the ForceRiser to transform into a Rider, but it should be noted that said Key, Dodo, had already been shown to evolve throughout its use by a Magia, this also involved no Data Animal. A variant of the ForceRiser, the CycloneRiser, when used with the Rocking Hopper ZetsumeRise Key, also allowed transformation into Kamen Rider Ichigata. The newest driver, the ThousanDriver, is intended to work using both the Awaking Arsino ZetsumeRise Key and Amazing Caucasus Progrise Key for a PerfectRise. While this is the only depiction we have seen as of yet, the toy, when Awaking Arsino isn't used, or a different Progrise Key, or both, will only initiate a ProgRise.

[jazzviewswithcjshearn]

Connie Han: Iron Starlet (Mack Avenue, 2020)

Connie Han: piano & Fender Rhodes; Ivan Taylor: bass; Bill Wysaske: drums; Walter Smith III: tenor saxophone, Jeremy Pelt: trumpet.

When 23 year old pianist Connie Han released Crime Zone, her Mack Avenue debut in 2018 it caused quite a sensation.  For starters, she used the influences of Kenny Kirkland and Mulgrew Miller along with those of McCoy Tyner, Hank Jones and others to put her spin on the post bop music that young musicians made following the arrival of Wynton Marsalis.  Now, with her sophomore Mack Avenue release Iron Starlet Han shows growth from Crime Zone and also plenty of potential with expansions into other directions.  Here she mixes even more refined examples in the burnout style heard previously; head bobbing swing, expressive ballads. She uses her working trio, bassist Ivan Taylor and drummer/producer/composer Bill Wysaske, augmented by Walter Smith III (returning from the previous album) and  Jeremy Pelt on trumpet on select tracks in full quintet and quartet formations.

What in part and parcel makes this music successful and enjoyable is that it is road tested.  Han and Wysaske did not just bring in the charts for some of this very difficult music for a first time studio run down-- they played much of the material on the road, including a stop at New York's Jazz Standard last summer. The other common denominator is the Wynton, Branford, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Kirkland and Jeff “Tain” Watts stream of playing the new compositions take their cue from and expand on.  It's all music that Pelt, and Smith III had also grown up on so it's a natural fit.  For musicians in their 30's and 40's, it's nearly impossible to not be influenced by albums the above named players made that boldly through their own lens blended the kind of energy found on the best jazz-rock and jazz-funk records, the defining Blue Note albums of the 60's, and some of the pivotal albums from John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner and Pharoah Sanders.

Han's interest in insistent rhythm and locking into a stone groove with Taylor and Wysaske announces the title track with powerful conviction.  The knotty theme has the striking use of piano and bass unison like that of “Southern Rebellion” on Crime Zone with abrupt thematic passages for Pelt's trumpet and winding unisons for Pelt and the pianist.  For Pelt's bravura solo, staccato eighth note jabs and legato tones incite Han's comping figures, prompting eruptions from Wysaske's drums.  Han's solo is brash, rhythmic acuity a defining feature; Taylor locked in his walk, Wysaske's short high hat chokes on the upbeat and swiss triplet figures in groups of five stoking the flames even more.  If the first four minutes of the album are a thrilling joy ride on the Audobon, then Wysaske's attractive “Nova”, the first tune to feature Han on Fender Rhodes electric piano shows how adept the pianist is at switching moods.  This is where the growth from Crime Zone really begins to shine through.  Pelt and Smith III play Wysaske's pretty melody as if they are skaters on ice, Han's Rhodes solo is filled with a warm glow, keen sense of space, and blues undercurrent.  Her playing on the coda under Wysaske's straight eighth ride brings about a feeling of melancholy letting the glowing “Nova” go.

“Mr. Dominator” a Hank Jones and Mulgrew Miller inspired lesson in hard swing,  is distilled here to it's essence from the lengthy versions the trio played nightly.  The pianist is sly, sultry and funky, freely using techniques of horn players in her improvisation ,while Wysaske sticks purely in service to the groove.  Ivan Taylor gets his say with a Wilbur Ware and Jimmy Garrison depth of tone, and a brief economical drum solo bring things back the funky, memorable melody. “For the O.G.”, dedicated to the late McCoy Tyner conjures up some of the feeling of the pianist's defining 1970's Milestone albums.  The pianist launches into the piece with determination, and her solo assimilates the innovations of Tyner wisely. Her use of the lick as a motivic device is dryly humorous, and her cadenza at the end demonstrates how much she loves and understands the Tyner style, but she uses the ground he broke to speak those lines in her own voice.  Sandwiched between the head and the pianist's solo, Wysaske's drum solo has judicious use of toms as a thematic component.

Eugene McDaniels “Hello To the Wind” originally taped by vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson for his classic Now (Blue Note, 1970) and later reprised with the LA Philharmonic on the obscure Blue Note Meets The LA Philharmonic (Blue Note, 1977).  McDaniels' lyrics and the entire Now album, in light of our divided social climate,  and the general surge for change  are as relevant in the present as they were then.  Han's choice of chorused Rhodes and a Philip Glass like ostinato in the left hand, for the introduction with  textures later thickened by acoustic piano add emotional weight to the piece.  The deeply emotional current is further in her solo and Walter Smith III's tenor.  Wysaske's tender ballad “Captain's Song” an ode to a French bulldog, has a gently floating feeling and Han digs deeply into color in her solo, much as she does on the drummer's gorgeous “The Forsaken”; making all the note choices count.  Both “Boy Toy” and the closing homage to Wynton Marsalis' Black Codes From the Underground (Columbia, 1985) “Dark Chambers” mine the treacherous burnout territory once more, with the closing track in particular a marvel of focused intensity, and the rhythmic urgency found on the Marsalis recording.  Han takes zero prisoners in her solo, using motivic development to smart effect. Smith III, and Pelt go full steam ahead as well for a wonderful conclusion to an engaging collection.

Sound:

Recorded at Sear Sound in New York City over two days in August, 2019 recorded and mastered by Chris Allen,  and mixed by Patrick L. Smith at Dennis Songs Studio in Los Angeles Iron Starlet is a significant upgrade in sound from Crime Zone. Well done acoustic jazz recordings have a particular matter of fact quality to them that Iron Starlet definitely has in that the instrument tonalities are natural and realistic, the relatively dry sound stage bear this out.  Han's piano shines on Focal Chorus 716 floor standing speakers, where it's midrange is one of it's strongest assets, and the stereo image of the piano is accurate to what is heard in real life.  The Fender Rhodes tones are particularly fat and luxurious, the Chorus 716's again excelling at mid range.  The upper end of Han's Rhodes work makes subtle use of Focal's patented inverted tweeter technology.   The high end of her Rhodes silky and smooth, with the way the instrument is recorded there is an pleasing bell like ping in the upper notes, reminiscent of Bob James' signature Rhodes timbre on his classic work.  Walter Smith III's warm tenor tone is captured attractively and Jeremy Pelt's rounded tone comes through without issue.  Ivan Taylor's bass tones in the phantom center channel are rendered accurately on the Chorus 716's where some speakers may have difficulty with tones that deep.  Finally Bill Wysaske's drums have the snare in the center image with ride cymbal on the right of center, high hat on far left, with splash and crash in the far left and right and tom drums far left and right.  The snare has resonance but is contrasted with a weird hybrid Tony Williams 70's type sound with a more deadened one for the toms.  As Wysaske is a lover of Steely Dan, this kind of tom sound is no surprise, but at first the subtle resonant-dead sound can take a minute to get used to. The deadened tom sound did appear on acoustic jazz albums in the 70's like  Frank Butler's The Stepper (Xanadu, 1978) so it wasn't uncommon then, but album's like Butler's often had strange mixes, as did a lot of acoustic jazz of the period.

Final thoughts:

With Iron Starlet, Connie Han has truly arrived.  This is very much a project of continued growth in an artist's journey.  The assured ness that informs a very specific area of the jazz universe is heard through each one of her compositions, those of Wysaske's, and the lone standard “Detour Ahead” . Han is a driven and unshakably confident soloist always ready to burn, but she also exhibits a level of restraint and sensitivity that further drives home her passion. She has a trio that makes challenging music quite accessible, and with the added gusto of Walter Smith, III and Jeremy Pelt, the ensemble delivers on a high level the very visceral music that helped shape and establish many musicians who came in it's wake. Iron Starlet also points to Han's further potential, perhaps a double live album to cap off the music presented thus far on her Mack Avenue releases,  an album with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride and Jeff “Tain” Watts, or  even an album expanding on the cyberpunk themes the pianist loves with her ethos at the core, enhanced by more Rhodes, keyboards and funky rhythms in addition to searing swing.  The sky is the limit for Connie Han.

Music: 9/10

Sound: 9/10

Equipment used:

Yamaha RS202 stereo receiver

Focal Chorus 716 floor standing speakers

CD playback: 80GB Sony Playstation 3

Note: Jazz Views with CJ Shearn will now have a more detailed sound category offering audiophile insight into recordings as part of review thanks to upgraded equipment.

Key terms:

Sound stage: The audio depiction of the placement of instruments, as if one were to go see a play and see the position of the actors/actresses on stage, when a listener closes their eyes, they can see and hear the placement of the players and instruments.  The term stereo image can also be applied.  

Stereo imaging refers to the aspect of sound recording and reproduction of stereophonic sound concerning the perceived spatial locations of the sound source(s), both laterally and in depth. (source for stereo image definition: wikipedia)

[megabrightguy-blog]

THE RETURN OF GEPM

THE RETURN OF CRIMINALS FROM GEPM (EUROPEAN GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS IN MARKETING) THROUGH NATURA4EVER AND ERIC MASSON THE GODZICH GANG IS BACK LIE AT THE FVD

Hello everyone,

Let us, before anything else, in this dark time for the Network Marketing industry, introduce ourselves.

We are a group of independent distributors who have worked and developed for more than three years our networking activity within the company Natura4Ever, a Luxembourg company located at 35 rue J.-F. KENNEDY in STEINSEL and who is also a permanent member of the FVD (French Federation of Direct Sales).

Today, we are seeking justice directly from the FVD through Mr. Jacques COSNEFROY. The FVD, which for us, is and will remain the guardian and the guarantor of the ethics, the morality and the rules of ethics of this magnificent industry that is network marketing.

We also address the long list of all injured, disgraced and humiliated Natura4Ever distributors.

Dear distributors,

Natura4Ever being a member of the FVD, we would like to express our thanks to Mr. Jacques COSNEFROY, the FVD’s Delegate General, his representative and his spokesman, for the trust, support and help given to the entire industry of network marketing in France.

Being a member of the FVD is for us a pledge of seriousness and respect for the rigorous rules of the code of ethics and the ethics of direct selling. Promoting direct sales and its trades at the national level, as in every French region, this is the primary vocation of the FVD.

The FVD is the guarantor of the fundamental values ​​of direct selling and their respect for all its members. The FVD also has a special mission: to oversee the development of member companies, of which Natura4Ever is a part.

However, we are now in possession of irrefutable evidence that this company, Natura4Ever, was never what it claims to be, and that its so-called “noble” mission serves as a front for a group of very well known criminals.

Know that what we are going to reveal to you is the strict truth and at every step, we will present you with the proofs that will leave you in no doubt.

At the helm of Natura4Ever is a criminal shareholder, condemned by the French Justice.

The true founder of Natura4Ever is a criminal named JEAN GODZICH.

Who is Jean Godzich: former founder of GEPM, aka the European Group of Professionals in Marketing, the company that has been classified as one of early pyramid schemes and who went bankrupt in 1995.

Jean Godzich is a criminal doubly sentenced to firm prison without appeal.

Eric Masson, the current puppet leader of Natura4Ever, has the mission to develop Natura4Ever under the cover and direction of his mentor and boss Jean Godzich.

The story began in 2014:

Eric Masson and Jean Godzich were at the time in negotiation with an Israeli company called S …… T. After a few weeks of discussions, the said society would have refused a partnership, given the sulfurous past of Jean Godzich. The two friends decide together, to create a new legal entity, not in France, but in Luxembourg (we understand why) to attack the French market.

Eric Masson deliberately lied to the FVD so that Natura4Ever would be admitted as a permanent member of the FVD. It has hidden the true identity of the founding shareholder of Natura4Ever and has built Natura4Ever’s reputation on the blatant lie, putting its distributors and their families at risk, opening the door to the wrongdoer, and preparing the company for a possible bankruptcy on the same lines as that of GEPM.

We will prove it.

We decided to bring these facts to the attention of the FVD, because, on the one hand, we can not ignore them as it would be immoral and almost criminal, and on the other hand, according to some distributors active today. Natura4Ever, alarming facts that take place in this business, continue to accumulate month after month.

The great speech of Eric Masson, the Chairman of Natura4Ever, who, by the way, changes his titles as he wishes, is less and less credible in the eyes of his clients and his own distributors. We are in possession of multiple facts, which demonstrates, unequivocally, that Natura4Ever became THE toy in the hands of an unscrupulous criminal who was at the origin of the GEPM and who, guided by his unhealthy ambitions, created Natura4Ever in the one and only goal of making it the GEPM BIS.

It is clear that the values ​​declared by Natura4Ever are respected only on paper, when in fact, every day its distributors are confronted with facts, declarations and official actions proving the opposite; aggravate.

All his actions on behalf of Jean Godzich and Eric Masson, push us to act with firmness. So we decided to make them official and public. These criminal acts committed by notorious bandits must stop immediately, for the good of everyone.

Constant changes contrary to official declarations, changes of the strategies by Godzich and Masson, suspensions of accounts of independent distributors without any warning or plausible reason, misappropriation of funds, bribes, theft and displacement of network structures for to favor former GEPM leaders, commissions and cars leased to certain distributors chosen by Godzich and Masson, not based on their success and involvement in Natura4Ever, but on the fact that they are alumni of the GEPM and in the small shoes of two leaders ….. and all this carefully hidden. According to our sources, all this continues to this day.

Judge for yourself.

These outrageous acts, which are always of the same nature for many years, are sadly more and more numerous.

The hypocrisy of Godzich and the misrepresentations of Eric Masson and Jean-Michel Larré, the people who call themselves directors of the company, hiding the identity of the real boss, lead to the permanent dysfunction of Natura4ever, contribute to the lower compensations of independent distributors, not to mention the loss of trust.

We are firmly committed to stopping this kind of illegal practice and exercise of power that goes against all ethical rules. In our country, we remind you, that they reign two slogans: transparency and democracy.

If the “managers” of this society who make the rain and the good weather, bound by the pact of silence or rather by the CLAUSES OF CONFIDENTIALITY, which you will discover below, we will allow, in our turn, to act to the public, the press and through some major social networks as well as the competent judicial authorities.

Now, judge for yourself, here is the evidence.

We are today in possession of documents that prove unequivocally that the company Natura4Ever was founded and actually belongs to Jean GODZICH, former founder of the European Group of Marketing Professionals (GEPM), created in 1987 and based in the time in Fleury-sur-Andelle (Eure), near Rouen.

Eric Masson was one of Jean Godzich’s “Diamond” leaders.

Jean Godzich founded Natura4Ever with Eric Masson.

Jean Godzich remains to this day the invisible shareholder of Natura4Ever by exerting the power of management, communication and decision via, for example, the meetings of the Elite Committee, formed by the former leaders of GEMP and who have, themselves, the same, benefited from profitable and profitable investments by moving entire network structures for the sole purpose of presenting themselves as the Natura4Ever Diamonds.

We will prove by audio and video recordings that Eric Masson deliberately lied to the FVD regarding the management of Jean Godzich within Natura4Ever and that Jean Godzich continues to be actively involved in the development of Natura4Ever by the through Eric Masson.

Here are some facts about this unofficial leader.

Jean Godzich, of Polish origin, is a French naturalized American businessman, he is the founder of the GEPM in 1987, a public limited company with a capital of 10 million francs, who distributed cleaning products, ties, insecticides , bra and necessities. The GEPM has become a trading empire of 900 million francs.

In the same year, Jean Godzich was expelled from a well-known international network company, where he was a Diamond distributor, because of serious ethical differences.

In 1995, before going bankrupt, the GEPM sponsored a team of professional cyclists, on the advice of a former amateur cyclist, Eric Masson, who, we remind you, became the chief executive of the company founded by Jean Godzich, Natura4ever. For example: Luc Leblanc signed his contract a few days before becoming world champion. He even recorded a video message or he boasts of the humanism and the qualities of heart of Jean Godzich, president-founder of GEPM.

Luc Leblanc is part of Natura4Ever today, he is paid by Godzich and Masson, he also has a Natura4Ever car paid by the company, even if its results in terms of development are almost to zero.

ADFI (Association for the Defense of the Family and Individuals), which helps and defends the victims of mental manipulation, considered Godzich, Masson and the GEPM the second subject of concern after the Church of Scientology. Jean-Pierre Bousquet, Vice-President of the ADFI, spoke about the “sectarian characteristics” of Godzich and the GEPM. There are scores of testimonies that Godzich, Masson and their leaders at the GEPM contained most of the ingredients of a religious and sectarian practice, with a guru who bewitched his troops at gatherings, during which ceremonies were celebrated and where mental manipulation was done.

In addition, there are multiple testimonies and statements of distributors who felt they had been victims and who had complained to the Civic Union of Socialist Women (UFCS). A socialist from the Rhône had even written to the URSSAF to warn that Godzich, Masson and the leaders of the GEPM (who are represented today at Natutra4Ever) recruited young people without official payroll and that this entity was largely beyond the legal commercial framework and was related to a sect by its methods. The case was led by the director general of the repression of frauds. The UFCS has even filed a complaint with the High Court of Evreux, with overwhelming evidence about many salesmen scammed.

During a hearing before the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Caen, Father Jacques Troulard, a specialist in cults within the Catholic Church, said he found in the methods of the Group the traits that are found in dangerous cults. Moreover, a circular of the rectorate of Caen warned the principals against the recruitments of the pupils at the exit of the high schools. Godzich and confreres filed a lawsuit that lost with loss and crash, in 1993, as well as that against ADFI. The last CEO enlisted by Godzich was indicted on complaints from a consumer association and several former distributors.

In 1995, after a search of the gendarmes at the head office of Fleury-sur-Andelle, the GEPM became a Cedipac company. Its CEO, Lionel Charles, former president of the GEPM, announced his intention to liquidate all the companies related to the GEPM and stop the multi-level sale to act as a single central purchasing. He also claimed that the government and banks have forced him to eliminate Jean Godzich from the Board because of the fierceness of the media driven by the sponsorship of Luc Leblanc, eagerness that had reduced by 60% the activity of the Group. The company Cedipac filed for bankruptcy the same year and Lionel Charles was indicted for violation of the regulations on pyramid selling.

Three French executives of the ex-GEPM were prosecuted for complicity and were sentenced to 8 months to 2 years in prison, as well as to fines ranging from 10,000 to 80,000 euros.

The GEPM filed for bankruptcy in November 1995, its losses amounted to 37 million in the year, and there remained less than 1200 distributors.

Eric Masson, and all the leaders of the GEPM were controlled by the French tax authorities and all have, without exception, been rectified for tax evasion.

We remind you that the law of June 23, 1989 forbids proposing to a person to collect memberships or to join a list hoping for financial gains resulting from a geometric progression of the number of people recruited or registered . On 15 November 1993, the Senate adopted an amendment to the draft law on commercial practices, which aimed to hinder the development of so-called pyramid selling. Today, only so-called multi-level direct selling is legal.

At the time, Godzich and the GEPM were never admitted to the Direct Selling Union. The GEPM has been described as a snowball and fraudulent pyramid system, therefore prohibited by law.

Since 2007, an international arrest warrant has been issued against Jean Godzich, who has been sentenced to 3 years in prison in France and a fine of 500,000 euros for illegally transferring approximately 6 million dollars of the social funds of GEPM to United States prior to his declaration of bankruptcy by a civil court.

Two international arrest warrants were issued against Jean Godzich, the first on December 14, 2000 and the second on October 17, 2006. In 2006, Jean Godzich was sentenced by the Criminal Court of Evreux to 3 years of prison, 500,000 euros fine and 20 million euros in damages. A sentence that has never been executed, because Jean Godzich has never been able to leave his American cell.

In June 2016, Jean Godzich, aged 66, was prosecuted for misuse of corporate assets, bankruptcy with misappropriation or concealment of all or part of the assets, concealment of property resulting from bankruptcy and forgery, abuse of property or credit of a corporation by an officer for personal purposes and fraudulent alteration of the truth in a writing. He was arrested at an airport in France. He was judged and sentenced to 2 years in prison in January 2017, including a year in suspension and a €150,000 fine by the Criminal Court of Evreux.

Jean Godzich was imprisoned in France in June 2016.

He did not appeal, but he learned from his mistakes. We are convinced today that he went to the French justice only in order to stay in France, and to manage Natura4Ever operations from France.

Eric Masson and Jean Godzich have deliberately deceived the FVD so that Natura4Ever becomes a permanent member in order to continue conducting their clandestine business with Jean Godzich.

We will now show you the evidence that Jean Godzich is the true leader of Natura4Ever.

According to Eric Masson, Natura4Ever has preferred to make a clean sweep of his past, which he has stated in numerous interviews with the FVD claiming to have separated from Jean Godzich.

Eric Masson has simply lied for many years to the FVD.

According to some sources:

John Godzich aka Jean Godzich is now involved with Eric Masson (also an old A … .and GEPM Member). They are both owners of a new MLM company Natura4ever. Of course, Mr. Godzich is a “hidden” partner of Natura4Ever. Mr. Godzich did not go to prison for 3 years. “

Natura4Ever founded by Jean Godzich, chose Eric Masson as chairman of its board, undoubtedly to take advantage of its direct links with former leaders of the GEPM.

LYASSA LLC: a screen company owned by Jean Godzich, Eric Masson and other leaders. This company is registered in Delaware, United States.

What Natura4Ever distributors are unaware of is that

JOHN GODZICH IS STILL AND ALWAYS THE FOUNDER OF NATURA4EVER.

(By the way, he created the Natura4Ever logo.)

This criminal and highwayman, runs the Natura4Ever network in secret, Eric Masson being his faithful sidekick. Together, they adopt strategies, decide who, what, where and how, and even worse, take actions that go against even the most basic rules in terms of ethics, finances and management.

We are told about the FVD, sports teams, and at the same time, entire networks are stolen. Masson and Godzich decide to suspend accounts by punishing honest distributors, while the true criminals of society act safely, without fear for their unfair and criminal actions.

This must stop.

The same source said:

“Natura4Ever seems to work in a similar way, especially since Godzich is there, even if he stays hidden. besides, it does not surprise me that society is based in Luxembourg.

We remind you that in January 2017 Jean Godzich was sentenced to 2 years in prison, including a suspended sentence. What was he doing during this year in suspension, and thereafter?

Well, he led the first meeting of the Committee of Elites that took place on November 23, 2017, at 10:36 at the following address: 67, rue du Dijon, 21910 SAULON-LA-RUE, www.chateau-saulon.com.

All the leaders who were present at this meeting, signed a confidentiality agreement (find out a copy below): the document was written by Eric Masson and Jean-Michel Larré

And here are some exchanges of emails confirming the meetings, between Jean-Michel Larré, Eric Masson and Jean Godzich.

Among the leaders present were: Eric Masson, on the right in the photo

All former leaders of GEPM, close to Eric Masson and Jean Godzich.

Alain Monoury

Alex Blonbou

Michel Bodin

All of these leaders, including Alex Blonbou, a part-time doctor at Natura4ever, running his clinic in Paris, received their DIAMANT qualification thanks to the generous gesture of the founders of Natura4Ever, Jean Godzich and Eric Masson, who flew and moved the entire branches belonging to other distributors, to ensure the balance of structures and high checks for their favorite leaders: Alex Blonbou, for example, was qualified DIAMOND only once during the whole existence Natura4Ever, Michel Bodin only 3 times in 5 years; but Godzich and Masson promote these people as full Diamonds of Natura4Ever. Another scandal, stifled by the leaders of Natura4Ever for the umpteenth time.

Let’s go back to this famous meeting: please watch and listen to some of Jean Godzich’s audio and video messages in person during and after the meeting of the Elite Committee. Jean Godzich talks about Natura4Ever and its products.

Video - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/v1.mp4

Audio 1 - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/1.mp3

Audio 2 - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2.mp3

Audio 3 - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/3.mp3

Audio 4 - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/4.mp3

Get ready: Eric Masson admits he deliberately lied to the FVD in his audio message.

Audio 5 - https://themlmreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/5.mp3

And here are some groups created on WhatsApp with the names in question, look at the dates.

Subject: Precautionary Measures Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 15:41:39 +0100 From: Jean-Michel LARRE For: John Godzich Copy to: Eric Masson

Hi John,

We were delighted to see you on Saturday in great shape. It is certain that the ordeal that you experienced is not an easy thing to live but now it belongs to the past and you will be able in a few times to enjoy a total freedom of movement. Following our meeting and throughout this weekend, with Eric, we thought a lot about your situation and the impact it can have on Natura4Ever’s image.

Indeed, we have built together a beautiful society that evolves month after month. The distributors we meet are proud to belong to this beautiful company and thank us personally every time for creating it for them. It has become indirectly their baby, it’s their business and we must not destroy or taint this beautiful image.

Currently you are under house arrest and you have been sentenced to several months in prison, fines and damages. Everyone can see that your name appears in articles, on websites that it is in France or in the USA, and which mentions your condemnation. In your interest, that of the distributors and Natura4Ever, it is clear that you can not appear anymore as a distributor.

There are surely malicious people who only try to get us down.

A successful company is still bothering, especially in France. I hope you understand our situation, I know that for someone like you, staying in the shadows is not easy, but we must be very vigilant. Eric has already lost a lot with NL. Eric and I, as a director of the company, have responsibilities, we have invested a lot of time and money, and we will protect Natura4Ever because we do not want the story repeats itself. Personally, I will do everything to protect our interests. I do not want, and I suppose you do not, that Eric knows again the failures and betrayals that he has known but that he takes full advantage of his success for the rest of his life, without needing to restart. I also want to protect my interests and those of our families because we have personally taken sureties.

We must not take any chances.

So here’s what we need to do:

change the name of your company (with a company in which you do not appear, so we will have to provide the RCS record). make a transfer of contract to this new company. do not make any recognition of this company. remove groups on WhatsApp, but before you get out, do not forget to change the identity so that there are no questions. do not communicate with the network. you can create a group with your direct referrals. tell your direct referrals not to quote you. not be present in all Natura4Ever events. do not do webinars for Natura4Ever. – Even if you create a consulting company, N4E can not use your services. your direct referrals can contact you for advice but this must remain their own initiative. These are precautionary measures for the good of all.

Good to you. Jean-Michel LARRE +352 621 752 459

LOL?

Finally, we would like to bring to light another fact, no less worrying:

Know that one of the shareholders for 5% of the capital and member for several years of the management of Natura4Ever called LOUIS Rémy Raymond Rodolphe, was sentenced by the tribunal de grande instance of Paris to 3 years in prison for fraud in France.

Mr. LOUIS Rémy with various associates and members of his family is the founder of fraudulent companies: PHBC lnvest SA, 134, rue Adolphe Fischer, Luxembourg and PHBC International SA, 134, rue Adolphe Fischer, Luxembourg (always luxembourg).

Mr Rémy LOUIS has robbed several thousand victims in France, Luxembourg and Switzerland of more than 30 million euros by selling them fictitious investments and products.

He was sentenced by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, to 30 months imprisonment for aggravated money laundering by competition organized gang (read the conviction of the TGI of Paris, as well as some extracts from all the documents in our possession, below).

As a further penalty, against Rémy Louis and others, the court ordered the confiscation of all their property, funds and bank accounts held in various European countries. PHBC, which was the subject in 2007 of an alert from the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission due to the exercise of a financial sector activity without authorization, then legal proceedings both in France and Luxembourg, has been liquidated by the courts in 2015.

It appears therefore that the suspicions concerning the possible involvement of LOUIS Rémy Raymond Rodolphe has activities leading to criminal prosecution is justified, more than 40 savers have filed a complaint in Paris for fraud against his financial company PHBC, based in France and the Luxembourg, which had high returns if its investors became shareholders. Dividends were not paid. The CSSF has warned the public of the activities of these companies under Luxembourg law, by issuing an alert and advising persons who have been wronged to lodge a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office of the District Court of Luxembourg. According to the information available to the CSSF, these companies offer a public offering, despite of having theongoing investigation, conducted by the specialized inter-regional jurisdiction of Paris which deals with organized crime cases, is currently examining the complementary activities of the members of this group.

A dozen people are at the head of this scam, all known by the service of representation of frauds.

Some are part of the Natura4Ever network and we are not sure if their accounts are blocked to date. Mr Rémy LOUIS is still a shareholder in Natura4Ever, which has not taken any action in his case.

ON CIVIL ACTION

ON PUBLIC ACTION

Mr. Rémy LOUIS and others appealed the decision of the High Court issued in March 2017, but no doubt that the decision of the TGI of Paris will be endorsed.

Given the serious prejudice to the interests of shareholders, distributors and customers of Natura4Ever, and the existence of conduct contrary to the Code of Conduct of the company, we allow ourselves to launch this alert to Natura4Ever distributors, in a first, then with the French and Luxembourg population, but also with the French Federation of Direct Selling (FVD) and the national press, following the list stipulated herewith. This message will also be communicated on some social networks.

LET JUSTICE BE DONE.

PRESS LIST 20 Minutes Direct Morning National West-France The Parisian Today in France The World The Figaro Direct Evening The Released Dauphine Release The Humanity The Express The Tribune The Point Paris-Normandy The Progress The Voice of the North The Echoes The Dispatch Group Le Populaire L’Opinion Courrier International The MLM Report

[crossedbeams]

ROSE REVIEWS… THE X-FILES - S1.E11 Eve

<<1.10 Fallen Angel ———————————  1.12 Fire >>

I’m salty today and what better way than to transfer that into something positive than to finish this long overdue and almost certainly irrelevant recap of Eve. Read on for children who are almost as scary as their acting is bad, prison aesthetics and idiotic blithering by me.

THE PLOT

The fathers of creepy children are being exsanguinated on opposite coasts and Mulder wants to know the aliens have upgraded from cows. IVF suspicions run wild and with a little help from good old Deep Throat, the terrific two suspect genetic government experiments gone wrong may be responsible for the shenanigans. When the creepy kids go missing, things escalate and soda becomes a very dangerous refreshment...

Let’s go...

MY STREAM OF SEMI-CONSCIOUSNESS

Ah. The X-Files, the show that is always a scenic autumnal bath for my eyes…. And where under the leaves there is probably a dead person eaten by a molewoman or an alien. Honey? I’m home.

We find ourselves in an idyllic suburban neighbourhood, (always bad news on screen), where very concerned joggers approach an underdressed child and her stuffed animal. It’s hard at this stage to decipher whether the kid is creepy or just a really bad actor but the suspense synth hardly encourages us to give her the benefit of the doubt...

They head to the backyard, where peppy jogging neighbour fails to notice that the kid’s dad is dead coloured, posed like a corpse and basically, stereotypically and obviously dead... until he claps him jovially on the shoulder causing a tragicomic half slump of dead dad, and exposing vampiric looking marks. The kid screams, not sure why, she’s way too far away to see anything. This is the point at which I begin to suspect that she is both a bad actor AND entry #224 in the Vancouver local listing of Creepy Kids for Hire. Move over Conduit boy!

CREDITS!

This week we only wait 2.5 mins for our special baby Agents to materialise, Scully dressed as a Catholic grade schooler and Mulder wearing a tie designed, as far as I can tell, to look like mushroom soup with licorice allsorts floating in it.

Their poor fashion choices don’t seem to put them off them though, and we zigzag between lip biting (Mulder), making weird moany noises (Scully), and the level of inter office eye contact we’ve come to expect from these fluffy baby agents all set to a soundtrack of cattle mutilation chatter. And our series first (!) cow slideshow!

Scully is still naive enough to ask why Mulder believes cattle mutilation is linked to aliens. Give it a few weeks and you’ll realise that aliens is pretty much always the answer to “Why….” on the X-Files and that eyebrow is the only appropriate response before you just go with it.

I can’t wait :D

As Mulds and Sculls traverse some stairs, I realise that creepy kid #1 is called Teena. Spelled the same as Mulder’s mum. Because apparently the X-Files name bank isn’t only shallow in the male department. Also is Teena a normal spelling in the States? Here it’d only really be Tina….

I then get distracted by Scully in the biggest of purple coats. I’d love to see S1 Scully’s closet. A symphony of oversized pastels with overcoats to clash… don’t worry though hon. You’ll get some style later though for the bargain price of two (2) family members and also your ova. Poor Scully.

Scully also looks incredibly young in this scene, speaking all soft to the kid. Moments like this I struggle to believe that Mulder “never saw her as a mom” until Home. She’s all melty round the edges even though the kid is weird and creepy.

When creepy Teena starts talking about red lightning, the massively coached and unnatural pauses in dialogue and the trouble pronouncing exsanguination are just so glaring you can’t believe that this kid’s innocent charade will hold up as long as it does. But it all adds to the creep, just in time for…

**bring bring ** Scully leans in to kiss her spoopy partner tell Mulder there has been another murder. Darn. Seriously though. Close talkin to the power on uuuungghhh right here. No wonder this fandom is so thirsty.

We’re in Vancouver San Franciso, still in giant coats, for another exsanguination and what we now know is death by digitalis. Mulder says that the two estimated times of death were at the “exact same time” and I chuckle to myself like the pedant I am. Estimates cannot be exact dumdum. It also takes the edge off him mansplaining timezones to Scully. SHE IS A MEDICAL DOCTOR DAMMIT. 

This scene has very nice warm, sunsetty lighting which is nice as our Spooksters demonstrate why the X-Files department is always over budget; they’ve flown cross country to do two laps of a crime scene while reading a file aloud and the kid they wanna question isn’t even in town. Where is she? I’m glad you asked, coz remember that sunny warmness? Well it’s over.

Back on the east coast, creepTeena is getting outcreeped by a thunderstorm and what appear to be disembodied footsteps at her door. We see nothing but a flash and then the door is open. It’s tense and I’m pretty sure this is never explained, raised as a concern beyond “she got abducted”?

A new day means new suits, Mulder in a tie inspired by parquet flooring and Scully in eggshell and pinstripes and a brown trenchcoat named regret. It’s a lot to process and they still don’t seem overly concerned about Teena’s kidnapping. Despite his post Samantha abduction PTSD, Mulder’s only contribution is a dramatic sky point and the suggestion the cops need to look up, but then dun dun dduuuuunh - there’s another one.

Sinister Cindy in the house. Literally.

She informs them she has lived there “since she was born eight years ago”. Zero inflection with that info and a sentence structure as unnatural as the phenomena Mulder wants to blame. Deffo a rent-a-creepykid. 100%. The woodenness only adds to it.

Commence super awkward kitchen convo where they Mulder and Scully try and fail to find a tactful way to imply Cindy might not be this grieving wife’s legitimate child. A birthing video is offered and declined. Thank god. Imagine is CHris Carter had to watch rushes of an actual woman’s vagina with a female child emerging. 

Mrs Reardon’s insistence that Cindy was daddy’s girl is pretty horrifying once you know how it ends. Damn creepy kids. Listening in while watching politics, Cindy is infinitely creepier than Teena and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not for this kid “actor”.

Back in the car and Mulder is still pretty blase about Teena’s abduction/kidnap, though I forgive him because his flippant potato/potahto is adorable and he does hang out in the bushes to try and protect Cindy from getting nabbed sending Scully off to the IVF clinic alone. Ahh... the foreshadowing is out there.

At the Luther Stapes Medical Centre, a doctor mansplains IVF to Scully. She does not punch him. Another way that she is better than me.She does however, maintain super intense eye contact with him for the entire walk and truly it is a miracle she doesn’t fall over.

The next scene is pretty uneventful except that I can honestly say that Sally Kendrick is the last human I would want toying with my cervix. She’s...robotic and it looks like she has to work out how to sit down like a human. She could give Theresa May lessons.

Back at the hotel there’s some funky camera panning that I am here for and also I think there is some dialogue but let’s be honest.... this is more important 

Yes Professor I would like some extra credit and may I also just smooth your poofy hair.

Even Scully knows it. Hence her confusion at being ushered out, for no obvious reason. She just wants to look at him and maybe get inside his shirt and ... and... Mulder’s “what’s a girl” is cute.... but this is cuter. (even more overanalysing of this scene here for ya glasses lovers). 

Instead of meeting a girl, Mulder meets Deep Throat in an excessively aesthetically pleasing place. Honestly, Eve is a beautiful episode. Despite the creepy kids and imprisoned women. (Eve Aesthetic here). DT seems very concerned that Scully not be invited and while I’m sure that this has some link to the possibility of spy!Scully, it reads more as jealous older manfriend wants pretty Mulder to himself. And honestly I get it. God, fic has ruined me. Anyway, enough of that, enjoy this picture of pensive waterside Mulder and try to recall the specifics of the Deep Throat reveal. Project Blah. Boys called Adam. Girls called Eve. Clones. Bad. Disaster. EVE-il is at work. ¬¬ (sorry)

Mulder has brought sunflower seeds because meeting an informant without snacks = rookie error. 

The important thing to note is that Deep Throat basically sets the stage for the Super Soldier Arc and everyone forgets about it when they actually get to the super soldier arc. God, for a continuity pedant, my fave is SO problematic!

Deep Throat finishes by telling Mulder he’s scored him front row seats to what’s left of the whole fucked up thing.

Cut to the most aesthetic Institute for the criminally insane and after some hot DAMN camera angles we get panic buttons and a tromp into the deeps where they keep all the government created monsters, including Eve 6.

I just wanna take a moment away from my snark and give a huge shout out to Harriet Harris who is SO good and creepy in this episode. A lot of the Season 1 extras/bit parts are average to the extreme and honestly, Harris makes this episode. Without her eyeball biting, jerky, wild eyed delivery, this ep would be as mediocre as the creepy twin actresses.

Now we’ve got that out of the way - we find out that Eve 6 screams when the lights are on but is fine with  an industrial sized flashlight being shone all up in her face.  Nobody’s ever got a good look at her... except presumably the person who undoes her straitjacket so she can pee? And now Mulder and Scully.

Eve 6 is my fave Eve tbh. She’s this perfect mix of terrifying and pitiful, alludes to the telekinetic connection that the younger Eve twins later reference, and is the kind of proof of government misdeed that and older Mulder and Scully despair of, delivered while they’re way too young in their partnership to do anything about it. She tells them that Eves are into suicide, psychosis and murder, and on exiting, our baby agents still don’t suspect the kids.

(Break for actual analysis) It struck me during this scene how this case tunes into both Mulder and Scully’s demons. For Mulder, it’s the missing girls and the incarcerated Eve represents a scenario that could explain Samantha’s absence in the most horrifying ways. What if she is a locked up experiment just like Eve 6? For Scully it’s a visceral representation of her struggle between scientific duty and Christian morality. The creation of Eve 6 is an aberration against both good scientific practice AND the divine right of Good to control life and death... and yet she is also a victim who did not choose too be engineered and while Scully tries to question her, maintaining composure, this face/stress swallow really says it all.

Just to double the sucker punch we cut to Cindy asking the lord to take her soul, her mother looking on with a mournful doomladen stare before telling her daughter how special she is. Cindy is unmoved, because she is special(ly evil) and Mama Reardon leaves, bereft of her husband and unacknowledged by her kid. We get it Chris Carter. Genetic experimentation BAD, family GOOD, foreboding, CHECK.... now can we just-

Mulder Scully stakeout! There is no iced tea in the bag and when Mulder posits that the adult Eves 7 & 8 did done the murders, Scully pulls this face, and mutters without much conviction that she was beginning to suspect the girls. 

GOOD CALL SCULLY

Except Mulder then says “no no and here is why” and Scully just goes with it. The whole delivery at set up of this scene feels very Season 1, by which I mean Scully vacillates wildly between submitting to Mulder’s experience and being done.with.his.shit, Mulder gets all the big lines/theories/feelings/hunches and Gillian especially (and David to a lesser degree) seem unsure how to play their nuances and dynamic. Essentially it all becomes irrelevant because CRISIS takes precedent but being the super-nerd I am, this stuff fascinates me as evidence of them still learning their characters. No way S5 Scully gives up on a plausible theory so easily, even if it makes 8-yos into suspects. If cats can be evil, these staring, soulless kids can be too.

Cue Mark Snow jangles and Cindy and her similar to Teena’s bunny rabbit run away from her terrifying wall dolls and many crucifixes towards the window where she makes terrifying eye contact with Scully’s binoculars before getting grabbed by someone who is considerate enough to announce themselves by turning on the lights?!.

Mulder will take the back! (any time Mulder. Any way ¬¬ ) and sets off with his almost convincingly held gun/torch combo while Scully takes the indoors. This is, invariably, only going to go one way.

DOWN GOES SCULLY!

Sally Kendrick/Eve? leaps through the window where Mulder confronts her by asking her which Eve she is, allowing her a chance to pull a gun, shoot at him and escape and this is why you don’t want S1 Muldo and Sculls handling your home invasion. I mean who holds their gun like this, takes out a psychopath and ends the day without a hole in them?

Fox “Thinks he can outrun a car” Mulder is who. 

I love his idiot face though.

Despite the fact that Cindy didn’t struggle/scream/react to her apparent kidnap at all, Scully’s remaining focussed on the adult Eves in support of Mulder’s dismissal of her earlier theory... well I already said it but - *sigh*

After Scully briefs the police and Mulder tries to reassurea distraught Mrs Reardon that her increasingly abnormal daughter will be found we get the kind of side by side, meaningful  moment that I am here for all day long. Except that the height difference is so extreme that they never actually get Scully in focus!

And Scully’s “and then what” brings us back to unsettling truth that even if the kid gets found, things aren’t looking good for her given how much murder is in her genes. Poor Mrs Reardon.

Very X-Files, through-the-motel-sign shot and we see Sally Kendrick taking Cindy into motel to meet Teena. The girls look... creepy... and Kendrick looks weirdly and simplistically happy given that she has multiple abductees, severe genetic issues and the FBI on her back. Maybe poor old Sal just wants a normal life? Unlucky girl, this is the X-Files, no happy ending for anyone EVERR. Except possibly a two-faced rapist who likes Cher but that’s for another time.

Back to Sally Kendrick who is rocking a poloneck and showing a remarkable lack of nutritional concern for someone supposedly a genius. Pretty sure 8 cartons of fries are no better for psychotic murder-kids than regular ones. She begins to explain that she was pretty hopeful that she’s evolved the murdering out of her second batch of Eves but turns out she actually made it worse! Let’s pop a check in the box for “playing into popular concerns about genetic testing” and “reasons you shouldn’t do it yourself”. She tells Cindy and Teena she’s “disappointed” that they’ve done murders ahead of the curve. They are not bothered which is unsurprising given they don’t know her/are psychopaths.

Aesthetically this scene is very pleasing and the lack of stilted kid dialogue “we just knew” vs. long sentences definitely adds to tension. As does the total lack of background music. Hearing even these fairly limited actors candidly and remorselessly admit to murder is effective. And Kendrick’s slightly desperate plea that they not think that way, that they be “better” as she designed has the double effect of showing her own Eve-y instability and her very human desire to not have made a horrible mistake in creating this terrifying she-devils.

Sorry Sal.

Genetic destiny’s a bitch

And the X-Files narrative demands that when you play god you get dead. unless you’re the CSM in which case you probably drink digitalis and kale for breakfast to aid skin regrowth. Bye bye Sally Kendrick. Thanks for the creepers.

On attending the crime scene, Mulder and Scully are midway through being told that the scene is undisturbed when they hear stuff breaking. This prompts some X-Files-Action-MagicTM and some truly outrageous faces by Gillian.

Yup

What is most disturbing on rewatching is that with the scene secured, Scully confirms death and Mulder goes to gaze out the window while the Creeper twins cower and cry on the floor. Noe we know they’re guilty AF by this point, but in the narrative DumbScull and MulderingItOver haven’t quite got there because they’ve been too busy gazing at each other so we have two children just whimpering in the corner while Scully pokes a corpse and Mulder mulders about. 

Scully does eventually go and pat them. And again I say fuck you CC and anyone else who “didn’t see her as a mother”.

Mulder volunteers to chaperone the creepsters to hospital and beyond and the guy in charge kinda just goes “meh”. Pretty sure some liberties have been taken with child service procedures but hey, at least this means we’re almost at the crescendo moment. Right?

Having loaded them into the car, where their spiffy red outfits match the velour upholstery and promised they’ll talk about “what happens next” (again, is this really FBI jurisdiction? Fox Mulder counselling bereaved kids seems like a HORRIBLE plan to me) , Scully and Mulder note the girls attachment and somehow miss the horrifying expressions of murder on their creepy little faces. 

Again though #aesthetic

Cue some spangly night driving music, Mulder looking all pops over a red vinyl steering wheel, Scully playing mom and the creepsters plotting murder in the back. Ver ver X-Files. They pull up to a used car lot masquerading as a rest stop and go for a group wee,Mulder makes the rookie error of a) hyping evil kids with sugar and b) letting them order a murder weapon, and as soon as Scully’s distracted, one of the creepsters, possibly Sinister Cindy creeps out to spike the drinks. 

Now at this point, honestly, I’m questioning the kids narrative motives. Yes they’re murderous, but aren’t they also meant to be hyper intelligent? Amd getting marooned at a nowhere rest stop, with the corpses of two FBI agents seems SUPER dumb. Like they’re a bit small and loudly dressed to hitch a ride to Vegas and make it on the strip. What gives, creepsters?

The waitress tries to stop her plan by insisting she wait to take the soda until it’s paid for, but is way too easily placated by the kids excuse. Stick to your guns lady, you might just stop a murder.

Although apparently nobody is paying any attention because THIS ISN’T SUSPICIOUS AT ALL IS IT?

Apparently Mulder doesn’t think so, even knowing digitalis is sweet and that there is something weird afoot, he doesn’t question his super sweet diet drink or the kids totally normal and not at all weirdly resistant to drinking sugar free soda and just does this. Seriously it’s like he wants to die in agony.

Scully’s not much better, simply commenting on the “syrupy” taste. MMhmm. Bitch. You’re a medical doctor with a previously voiced suspicion. Quit sipping the murder juice.

Fortunately, after some suspenseful drawn out paying and a forgotten key excuse, Mulder FINALLY twigs when he finds some green goop on the table. Apparently murderTwin is cackhanded when she pours and Mulder, having licked the poison just to check it’s murdery enough (I just cant even) rushes outside to karate chop Scully’s drink away from her in a way so unsubtle that the creepers escape.

Which is actually great news because it gives us all the chance for a nice dark, X-Files bread and butter cat and mouse around a truckstop, cool lighting and tubey-arty stuff sequence. Which I’m here for. 

Despite some pants ruining puddles, the twins are quickly apprehended except for some gun wielding truckers interfere because in this universe regular citizens can hold law enforcement at gunpoint and prevent them doing their job/identifying themselves and anyway everyone almost gets shot and the kids run off again. I should probably insert some pithy political point here about arming the kids too but I’ve been writing this review for 84 years and I don’t have the energy.

Fortunately, at this point Mulder and Scully rediscover some investigative nous and having flashed an ID and truckboy, they trick Sinister and Creepy into thinking they’ve sped off after a school bus. Mulder goes full on child catcher and nabs them with a “gotcha” and is finally deaf to their “we’re just little girls” plea.

I’d like to take a second to flag up his response “that’s the last thing you are” because he’s wrong too. They are little girls, as well as psychopaths, and everyone’s insistence that they must be one thing or another is a device for narrative obfuscation as old as the bible. The appearance of beauty/youth/innocence is not mutually exclusive of the presence of malign intent or evil. Just ask Henry James/Oscar Wilde. Or me. I literally wrote a dissertation on this so. Yeah. They can be little girls and killers Mulder. Don’t be reductive.

But I guess we do need the simplicity of “this kid is evil” otherwise Mrs Reardon ripping her daughter out of a picture and burning it would be more conflicting and we’re only on season 1. 

Likewise the disturbing concept of two eight year olds in a secure prison. I mean yes thy’re creepy but - duh duh dunnnnh - rescue is at hand! Eve 8 shows up for them and once again thy “just knew”. This is the kind of X-Files ending I love. This is the kidn of story I would have loved the revivals to pick up. Imagine (recast) grown Cindy and Teena, off doing murdery clone stuff. Yep. Okay. I’m done now. This is the end. 

Except the score. Which is...

A solid “C” Grade (26/50)

Plot 6/10 - It’s entertaining and a good idea but I penalised it because it depends on Mulder and Scully being super slow on the uptake. That said, they do actually solve the case.

Mulder  6/10 - Mulder is in charge (thanks S1) and presents a mess of grieving brother, heroic car catcher and good cop. Good, in character stuff but not exceptional.

Scully  4/10 - Scully seems to forget she’d an MD and a badass here. She lets Mulder talk her out of (correct) suspicions, gets taken down in the action scene and generally second fiddles. She’s a cute mom but not the Scully we want to see.

USP 3/5  - This was an ambitious idea, beautifully presented, and while it didn’t quite get the polish to make it iconic it is memorable, creepy and a good representation of S1 bread and butter eps. 

Other Characters  5/10 - These points are all for Harriet Harris. None for you creeper twins. None for you.

Bonus points 2/10 - One for being aesthetically pleasing. One for the dorky, cute, feeling out Mulder/Scully moments (motel urnghh) and also their mom and pop act at the rest stop.

That’s all for now folks. I’ll probably have the next one done this decade. Fire. Goodie.

<< 1.10 Fallen Angel ———————————  1.12 Fire >>

[ajoblotofjunk]

Z Nation re-watch: 3x04 The One With the Fake Poop Toys

This is a very gruesome opening. Gets the point across of the Red Hands.

SO. Since we know who the Scorpion actually is (gosh I hope you've already watched the show if you're reading these, heh), the question that follows is: what happened to Javier to make him this way? Something in particular or just the accumulated weight of all that had happened?

They make such good use of these windows this season.

They're taking a bunch of Murphy's blood and he's feeling weak. This must be what leads to him losing his coloring. That or possibly when she gives him another shot of the vaccine in a microdose.

Murphy needs periodic boosters or he'll end up like patient zero in Colorado. That's not good.

I LOVE how they dress Murphy this season. Every suit is so good.

Did Addy have a tooth infection at the start of this episode? It's been literally 12 minutes and I can't remember. lol I don't think she did though.

Merch freed 10k! Oh and told him he's been bitten. SURPRISE!

Look at this GQ mf.

El Scorpion is the protector of the innocent, the Red Hand woman says. Everyone at this point in the apocalypse has found their group and they will kill to protect each other. Our group is no different, it's just the level of torture the Red Hands do that makes them demonstrably worse.

Warren: "She turned, I had to mercy her." I...I don't think that's true. (See? Protecting her tribe. Warren goes all in on this mindset this season. Group loyalties define much of this season.)

Sun Mei chokes Addy into unconsciousness. That's not gonna feel great when she wakes up, but they've gotta pull that tooth. AUGH the WORST SCENE IN Z NATION. *shudder*

Hector: "You've got to admit, whoever they are, they've got style." Warren: "...really?"

Warren looks almost peaceful here, like she's welcoming this moment. I can't imagine how spiritually exhausted she would be by this point.

Hector's pained "please get up, I need you" is brutal. He's a man who needs a leader, no matter what face he presents to the world.

10k throws himself out of a window to avoid getting shot with more Murphy vaccine.

Murphy's lieutenant tells 10k that 'Murphy cares about you.' I wonder if that means personally (he actually cares about 10k, which I could see since they did travel together for years), or if he's just totally into the Murphy Regime and means the you like Christians mean it when they say "Jesus loves you" - Jesus loves everybody, and so does all the people Murphy saved.

Hector: "I was Escorpion, and for that I deserve to die. But not for this. And not by you."

Our Zombie Messiah, taking the apocalypse as seriously as ever.

Murphy: "We'll do it right this time. We'll do it my way." Ah, the cry of the dictator.

Addy to Sun Mei: "Thank you. Don't ever touch me again."

Hector: "I'm never gonna get away from who I am." Warren: "None of us gets away. It's the apocalypse."

Hector: "Everyone close to me dies." Warren: "Everyone close to everyone dies." I mean...that's life. The ultimate truism we all have to somehow come to terms with.

Warren: "I don't need a saint. Or a lover. I need a killer. The only redemption any of us has is to survive. To live another day." This scene is a lot. And is another signal of the shift Warren has made internally. She's leaving her 'do good at any cost' ideals behind to make it another day. She justifies it to herself by saying she's got to get to Murphy to make the vaccine to save humanity. And I'm not going to argue whether she's right or wrong because that's a huge question. But she's changed. 

Little on the nose there, don't you think Murph?

Ugh the tension in this scene where Merch walks into the zombie pen is palpable. Why can't/doesn't Murphy force her to turn around though? Has she really just fought long enough that he's lost control over her? Is his power waning because he's spread his blood so thin? I have Questions.

[robobabez-blog]

Clues for Utilizing a Sex Doll

Despite the fact that an ever increasing number of grown-ups appear to utilize (or maybe being somewhat more open about their utilization of) sex toys, not every person has a similar solace level with these things. What's more, even with more prominent acknowledgment of sex toys, the sex doll keeps on having a specific standing that forestalls numerous from recognizing their advantage in this choice. Nonetheless, when utilized with appropriate thoughtfulness regarding penis care, a sex doll can turn into a welcome expansion to a man's masturbatory schedules. 

Notoriety 

For quite a long time, the sex doll was viewed as something that solitary edgy men utilized, yet the truth of the matter is that numerous men with a solid sexual coexistence appreciate utilizing a doll too. Deals of these dolls have risen consistently lately, and progress in assembling and innovation have made an entire line of similar and costly dolls. 

Numerous men want to utilize a doll as opposed to just jerk off with their hand on account of its likeness to real intercourse. Furthermore, numerous men likewise accept that due to its similarity to intercourse, it empowers them to improve penis wellbeing and work on issues, for example, untimely discharge, or to upgrade their method when they are sleeping with an accomplice. 

This article will zero in on the more conventional (and more affordable, and along these lines all the more promptly accessible) inflatable sex toy. Yet, it's imperative to recognize that numerous choices do exist around there.

  Clues 

The accompanying tips are recommended for men keen on investigating a sex doll choice. 

- Use ointment. Despite the fact that the dolls are intended for penetrative investigation, there can at present be huge contact. Utilizing a proper type of oil will shield the penis from the mileage. 

- Attempt a siphon. Exploding a full-size doll can take a great deal of lung power. Utilizing an electric siphon is a vastly improved thought. 

- Clean it all together. Make certain to altogether clean all pieces of the doll after use, particularly the territories of infiltration. A doll should accompany guidelines on the most ideal approach to keep up its tidiness, and it is significant that a man adhere to these directions. 

- Maintain a strategic distance from a preliminary attempt. A few people have companions who utilize a sex doll and might be enticed to inquire as to whether they can give it a shot for themselves. All in all, it's ideal to stay away from this. Not every person is as trustworthy about tidying up after themselves as they should be. On the off chance that a man utilizes another's doll, he should wear a condom - simply on the off chance that the proprietor has given up hints of himself. 

- Know about clamor. A few dolls can be shockingly noisy. On the off chance that a man wishes to keep his exercises surreptitious, he might need to shun using a doll aside from when he is certain he is separated from everyone else. 

- Think about capacity. At the point when flattened, most dolls don't take a lot of room, yet it may not fit effectively into a little space, all things considered. A few men feel awkward with others realizing they utilize a doll; such men are encouraged to consider where they can store the doll when not being used. 

A doll, in the same way as other sex toys, can open up new universes of masturbatory a good time for a man - which may thus lead him to exaggerate things, bringing about an irritated penis. On the off chance that this occurs, routinely utilizing a top notch penis wellbeing crème (wellbeing experts suggest Man1 Man Oil, which is clinically demonstrated mellow and safe for skin) can facilitate the touchiness and help reestablish the penis to wellbeing. It's ideal to choose a crème that incorporates incredible however common saturating fixings, for example, Shea margarine and nutrient E. This will keep the skin flexible and rush mending. The crème should likewise contain an intense cell reinforcement, for example, alpha lipoic corrosive. This can battle the free revolutionaries which cause oxidative pressure; these free extremists age the skin as well as meddle with its capacity to recuperate. 

For More Information:- Buy Best Sex Doll Toys Online

[letsshri1234universe]

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY#1

Cohen, D. (2014). Why We Look the Way We Look Now. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/the-way-we-look-now/359803/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2019].

‌The article discusses the U.S. fashion design history and evolution beginning with the Great Depression. The author describes how the way we dress today took on familiar form in the 1930′s, with men wearing shoulder pads jackets and women wearing sportswear designed for movement and ease. It concludes that the by-now-family paradox shaped this time: American clothes became more and more similar in style even as their bodies deviated along class lines. There is also a conversation about the widely recognized flapper dress as new clothing design methods arose and how Hollywood played a role in the development of such popular styles.  

The article is relevant to my research because it explains how different fashion types have a certain importance throughout the history, which is particularly notable, because while I know how styles these days have a significance today, or how they have played a role in today's style. One important part of this article was the way to view some type of clothing, like sportswear, as "democratic and harmonious, practical and flexible" which demonstrates even more that fashion has an important part to play in our society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#2

Winston, R. (2015). What Is Feminism? [online] HuffPost. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/womens-rights-news/what-is-feminism_b_6985612.html.

‌

This article is about how everyone should be treated the same regardless of their gender. His discussion of how society has pushed us into other roles, gender roles, telling us what is male and female rather than just a human being. This says children are forced to play with either "boy toys" or "girl toys," based on what their curiosity is to make them male or female. But the article says we have to stop thinking like this and just let people do what they want. That men and women should be equivalent, and we as a society will eventually break social norms by making them equal, and we can all live peacefully, and people can be themselves.

I think the advantages of these papers would be that it offered a history of many of the issues it raised so that the reader would appreciate it more. A drawback would be that because it was a bit short, it didn't go deep into the issue. This article relates to my subject because it talks about gender inequality that has been faced before in 18th and 19th century and how it has changed now. And this article gives good reasoning about what feminism is.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#3

Collard, Eileen. The Cut of Women’s 19th Century Dress Part 4: ‘The Rise and Fall of the Bustle’ circa 1867-98. 1979.  

This self-published book describes the development of the pattern of bustle that dominated the style of women in the 1870′s. Collard offers in- depth technical details of dress styles and cuts, and explains the types of fabrics, colors and decorations used in different dress designs.  This book also shows the drawings of dress bodices, skirts and sleeves, which are mostly hand drawn based on common fashion plates examples.While most of Collard's research concentrates on women's wear as it originated in England, there is a small portion of how these trends have been adapted into Canadian fashions.  

This book is helpful for my research as it talks about the 19th century fashion which was famous for its corsets, caps, top hats, bustles and petticoats. And it also talks about how the Victorian era women's fashion was heavily dominated by full skirts, moving steadily to the back of the silhouette and how the less restrictive aesthetic style started to emerge towards the end of the period.This is an interesting topic to work on because it talks about the history of fashion, how women’s from that period used to dress up and how this bustle and corset trend affected them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#4

Tavaana (2018b). The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers for Women. [online] Tavaana. Available at: https://tavaana.org/en/case-studies/1960s-70s-american-feminist-movement-breaking-down-barriers-women

This article was quite lengthy, covering several different parts of the 1960's Women Liberation Movement. This began by describing the 1960's WLM as the "second wave" of feminist movements, the first of which is with the suffragettes at the beginning of the 1900's.  The article points out how many women remained at home mothers who were supposed to be going at the order of their father, care for their kids, and performed up to 55 hours of housework a week. In addition, divorce has been a very limited and difficult alternative. There were mostly just teachers, nurses, and secretaries for the women who had jobs. For several other jobs, women were not wanted by men but some of these.  

This article is helpful for me because it explains about the women’s liberation movement and it is divided into 3 parts i.e. the first wave, the second wave and the third wave. It talks about how women fought for their right’s and how it affected them and how they changed the perspective of feminism and gender inequality because feminism is more about the rights of a person whether it’s a men or a women, either in workplace or somewhere else.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY#5

Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty (2014). 9780385479424: Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty - AbeBooks - Nancy Etcoff: 0385479425. [online] Abebooks.com. Available at: https://www.abebooks.com/9780385479424/Survival-Prettiest-Science-Beauty-Nancy-0385479425/plp [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].

Etcoff cites recent findings in evolutionary psychology to conclude that, through a natural selection mechanism, perception for physical beauty is hardwired in the human brain. The book is written for a specific audience and the pace of some arguments will put some readers off, despite their wit. It is also not expressly a feminist work. Nevertheless, Etcoff addresses interesting studies on, among other things, the perception of children of physical attractiveness and special treatment for physically beautiful individuals, which indicates that some body forms are innately regarded as more desirable than others.  

The book is of my interest because it makes provocative statements about racism based on personal appearance and challenges the notion that taste is socially influenced in physical beauty. I think beauty standards have increased so much that people feel that the perfect zero figure is the ideal body type and beautiful face is everything through which they start to think a lot about their body, stress out and try to achieve that beautiful appearance if their body is going through so much of pain. But nowadays people have learned to accept themselves with whatever body type or skin color they have.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#6

Cooney, K. (2018). Women Achieved Enormous Power in Ancient Egypt. What They Did With It Is a Warning for Today. [online] Time. Available at: https://time.com/5425216/ancient-egypt-women-in-power-today/ [Accessed 17 Dec. 2019].

While women in high-level positions have advanced in governments, the thing is not how they have gone, but what they do once they are there. Nearly all women in ancient Egypt had a leading role, having in the country at least six women at the highest position, but history revealed that their culture was no more egalitarian than male dominated civilizations. It was the most important thing for the women of the ancient world.  The tale of women coming to power in Egypt is fascinating and beautiful, yet a sad one because many queens would fit into their own hierarchical system of power created by men.

I'm going to use this source to counter my investigations. One of the good points makes clear is that the Egyptian woman king came in for support from the masculine dominated system only for a short time. Breaking glass ceilings is something but until women are able to do with their own agendas, the majority of powerful women are serving the status quo today and yesterday.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#7

Bilton, N. (2014). Reclaiming Our (Real) Lives From Social Media. The New York Times. [online] 16 Jul. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/fashion/reclaiming-our-real-lives-from-social-media.html [Accessed 17 Dec. 2019].

Nick Bilton is a New York Times columnist; he explores how social media can take over a person's life in its recent paper "Reclaiming Our (real) life in social media." He begins by telling that after he's been at a cafe Hemingway started his book spontaneously and how he might have gone into an Instagram post in the last decade. Bilton starts by indicating a person's spending 3.8 hours per day on social media. He starts by explaining how the work carried out by Adam Kramer shows that people who are exposed to negative situations have contributed to more depressed behavior.  

Bilton reveals some partiality at the end of the day, he shares his opinion that he doesn't want to use social media all of his time and that he changes the way it is used. I think Bilton is a good source to demonstrate how use of social media can affect behavior and reaction of the person.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#8

Fasanella, K. (n.d.). History of apparel manufacturing – Fashion-Incubator. [online] Available at: https://fashion-incubator.com/history_of_apparel_manufacturing/ [Accessed 22 Jun. 2020].

The publisher of this blog is Kathleen Fasanella, who is a published author talks on the topic of product manufacturing.  In addition to creating blog posts from designers and industry professionals on the concept of clothing production process, it also theorises on the potential of clothing production adopting a different local approach rather than large scale manufacturing.

As it relates to my discipline, It brought the idea of local custom production to my attention. Although I won't apply this ideology to my assertion of the future, I do understand that local production will play a role throughout the future of the clothing industry at some point, because access to technology has created a society that can concentrate on the specifics of where their products are manufactured and how they are produced.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#9

Ritter, S.M., van Baaren, R.B., Dijksterhuis, A., 2012. Creativity: The role of unconscious processes in idea generation and idea selection. Thinking Skills and Creativity 7, 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2011.12.002

In this study , the authors carried out experiments to see if the unconscious mind plays a role in the process of producing ideas and selecting ideas. They asked students to participate in this experiment and divided it into three categories. The cycle of immediate, conscious and unconscious thinking. During these conditions, they were asked to list as many ideas as possible, and then to pick the most innovative. The result of this whole experiment is that the unconscious mind did not have an impact on the process of generation of ideas, but it plays a very important role in the process of selection of creative ideas.  I am especially interested in this article because my practise is focused on innovation and new ideas, and I have always wondered where the ideas come from and how each person thinks about things in a specific creative way.

BIBLIOGRAPHY#10

Connect, C.B., 2017. Aaron Blaise Reveals The Seven Steps to Great Character Design [WWW Document]. Cartoon Brew. URL https://www.cartoonbrew.com/sponsored-by-aaron-blaise/aaron-blaise-reveals-seven-steps-great-character-design-149504.html (accessed 12.10.18).

The article offers details on the seven steps that need to be taken into account in order to build a better character. Aaron Blaise, who has received his feature film titled "King of the Elves" nominated for Best Animated Feature Film by the Academy, is the one who has revealed the steps set out in the post. These phases go from the study process to the life phase of the character. When reading this post, I noticed that I skipped a move or two when I worked on a project before. The content of this article is of vital interest to pre-production animators, considering that character design is one of the most critical aspects of animation. There is no novel without a well-developed character.

[paradoxicalca]

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 24 Falling Leafs Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Mar 11, 2019 - Mar 17, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (26/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (1.03)Tampa Bay Lightning-55-13-43-0-0I’m not really sure what to talk about this week. We beat Washington in a close game. We smoked Toronto. Jon Cooper probably deserves more credit than he will probably get in voting for the Jack Adams. Actually rewind to those games against Toronto and Washington. Those games probably demonstrate the difference between Tampa Bay this versus last year. Of the twelve goals scored in those games seven on them came from the third and fourth line. The emergence of Anthony Cirelli as dominate third line center has changed everything. And for all the crap the fanbase can sometimes give Killorn in the offensive zone there is no denying that he too has been a force defensively. When you are able to depend on those lines, it keeps the top lines fesh. Kucherov plays a full 3:20 less than McDavid per game and 2:40 less than Kane. You can only imagine how many points he could have put with that extra time.2 (3.59)Boston Bruins-43-20-91-2-0Not a great week for the Bs: with Zero points on the recent road trip against the Penguins, the Blue Jackets, and the Jets. The game at home against Columbus was a solid effort; even though it went to OT: 37+63=💯❤️️! A shame McAvoy and Panarin didn't drop the gloves again for Conor McGregor. Thanks for the free Proper Twelve whiskey on St. Paddy's Day Conor but remember Bs: have fun but not too much fun on St. Paddy's Day! The team is starting to get healthy with DeBrusk playing again and Johansson and Pastrnak expected back in the lineup this coming week. Of interesting note is that is in the Columbus game at home, Butch shortened the bench as the game went on, including OT; McAvoy clocked 26:34 TOI, Marchand [21:44] and Krejci [21:07] had +21m, and Backes had only 7:55 TOI. The Bruins were fortunate that the Leafs also slumped this week to maintain home ice over them as the inevitable rematch between the two teams looms next month.3 (4.41)San Jose Sharks-43-21-82-2-0With 3 of the only remaining 10 games against teams currently in the playoffs there is a lot of chances to gain points in the standings. Unfortunately those 3 games could decide Pacific Division dominance.4 (4.76)Calgary Flames244-21-72-1-0In our four game losing streak we had a grand total of 5 goals. With our 3 game winning streak we had 20 goals. And yet again we lost another matchup with a 2-1 score. Its not the level of goalie play that concerns me right now but the fact the offense seems all or nothing.5 (6.79)Washington Capitals-42-23-71-2-06 (7.9)Winnipeg Jets142-25-42-1-0Post-deadline Jets are a team with a fun forecheck. Watching Jets hockey is fun again, and less confusing. Please, injured reserve, return us our top 2 defenseman for the playoffs!7 (8.07)Toronto Maple Leafs-343-24-51-3-0Bruins in 5.8 (8.38)New York Islanders-42-23-73-1-0The Isles had huge wins vs CBJ and MON and got a ROW @MIN to get 6/8 points for the week. They are playing better now than they have been as of late but the offense still has not been great. They broke an 0/25 PP streak and are hitting lots of posts and getting unlucky, but if they positively regress at the right time things could go their way.9 (9.41)Nashville Predators241-27-52-1-0There has been a vocal minori- okay, probably majority of the Preds fanbase that has been critical of Turris' play for the greater part of the season now. It seems the coaching staff may now have similar sentiments, as what started as a demotion to the 4th line turned into 2 straight healthy scratches this week. That same vocal majority of the fanbase would also be very quick to point to the results of those games as vindication for their feelings. While pinning the success of a team to the absence of one player would be a bit hasty, hopefully it has at least been a positive message received for Turris. On the other end of the spectrum, Arvidsson is on fire, breaking the franchise record for quickest to 30 goals and becoming the second Pred to have multiple 30 G seasons (Forsberg being the other). He's only second behind Ovechkin in G/GP at .63, and with 9 games remaining it seems he'll break the Preds single season record of 33. If only he hadn't missed 24 games...10 (10.21)Carolina Hurricanes-39-25-72-1-0Trying our best to hold onto that wildcard one position luckily our schedule cannot be that bad right? looks at schedule Fuck.11 (10.93)Vegas Golden Knights-240-27-52-0-0Imagine if we had Mark Stone at the start of the season. With only one loss since his arrival we might on the same HISTORIC pace as Tampa12 (11.34)Pittsburgh Penguins-39-24-102-1-1A stolen game against Washington followed by a disassembly of the Sabers was unfortunately partially undone by an utter disappointment against St. Louis and ANOTHER last-minute choke job against Philadelphia. I guess we payed for the goalie karma we used in the first two games this week with the last two, as Binnington and Hart stole those games. The schedule this week is at least Metro-light, with only Carolina to deal with. Fun fact: We still haven't played Nashville this year.13 (12.21)Columbus Blue Jackets140-28-42-1-1Panic in the fanbase has subsided for now. If the Jackets stay at .500 the rest of the season, we're sitting at an 86% chance to make the playoffs. The new additions have finally started clicking, so I can see this team hitting at least .500. If they go 6-4 in their remaining games, the chances go up to 96%.14 (13.52)St. Louis Blues-137-27-81-2-1The Blues continue to do well against good teams and falter against bad teams. Getting shutout by Ottawa is a very bad look, but at the same time we are still pretty comfortably looking at a playoff spot. Would prefer to finish strong and hope Tarasenko comes back swinging15 (14.72)Dallas Stars137-29-62-1-1Alright Dobby. Get it done.16 (15.17)Arizona Coyotes136-30-62-1-117 (16.24)Montreal Canadiens-237-28-71-2-0If you wanted a masterclass of how to not make the playoffs look no further than the Canadiens. Dear lord where has our offense gone.18 (18.69)Philadelphia Flyers-35-29-82-2-0Hey I actually remembered this before midnight EST, are you proud of me yet dad? We kinda sucked this week, but weirdly. Lost to the Leafs in a crazy game , lost to the caps in a sad game BUT SO HELP ME WE BEAT THE PENS IN A COMEBACK GAME THAT WAS REALLY HYPE TO SEE THE LAST 10 MINUTES OF. It was a really good goaltending game, but Elite Sniper Sean "Actually Patrice "'Selke"' Bergeron" Couturier won us the game with 3 seconds left in OT. Carter Hart is back from injury, and we really just dont wanna be faded until the last day of the season. Hail Gritty19 (18.79)Minnesota Wild-34-30-91-2-1The win and OTL against the Rangers and Islanders, respectively, ring hollow after that "performance" against Dallas to start the week. This team has scored the first goal in only 26 of 73 games this season and has played from behind far too long. Not sure if it's an empty gas tank, injuries piling up, and/or the team just quitting on Boudreau, but the Wild would need a miracle to squeak into the postseason and extend their playoff participation trophy streak to seven straight years. A hearty stick tap to the Whitecaps, though, for winning their first Isabel Cup and reminding fans what winning hockey looks like.20 (19.45)Chicago Blackhawks232-30-93-0-0The Blackhawks have won 5-straight games to keep their dim playoff hopes alive. Corey Crawford capped off this week with a 48-save shutout against the Canadiens (a career high for saves, and ties a franchise record for most saves in a shutout). He has allowed only 3 goals against in his last 4 starts. Brendan Perlini has scored 8G, 2A in 7 games since being a healthy scratch, including 5G, 2A this week (highlighted by his first NHL hat trick). The once hot PP has cooled off and is now 0-for-16 in the last 7 games. Also, with their shutout win over the Canadiens, for the first time this season, the Blackhawks won a game in which Patrick Kane failed to record a point (they were previously 0-11-2, including a regulation loss in the game he missed).21 (20.41)Florida Panthers-32-28-122-1-022 (21.03)Colorado Avalanche-231-29-121-2-0Rough week for the Avs and now they either need to win out or need help from other teams. Not controlling your destiny sucks, but we blew our chances of that back in December - early February. The Good News Mackinnon is flaming with two more multi-point games this week and hit back to back 90 point seasons. The problem this week was finishing and playing a full 60 min game. The good news is the devils game was great effort all around and we hope to take it into St. Paul Tuesday. Speaking of 4 Huge games this week all basically must win. We face the Wild and Stars on the road then have a home and home with Chicago. All Central teams in the wildcard race, all 4 point games. The playoffs start this week, and we are already down two games.23 (22.83)Edmonton Oilers132-33-72-2-0Said it last week. The Oilers are roaring since having a healthy roster, but it's too little, too late. The Oilers were average this past week with regulation losses to Vegas and the Devils likely have ended the slimmest of playoff chances. Now we need those hot teams around us to start slipping,but even then it might be too late. While wins against Rangers and Yotes have done us well, the Yotes still got a point from that OT win. The stars must align now.24 (24.66)Buffalo Sabres-131-32-91-3-0Some say that Jack was suspended for two games; I say that he didn't miss any after all. Now, I love three straight shutout losses as much as the next guy, but I also enjoy seeing my team score goals. Oh, and seeing my team compete in the playoffs, that's fun too. But whatever Buffalo, you do you.25 (24.97)Vancouver Canucks130-32-102-0-1The team continues to truck along at an even pace down the stretch, and despite some Pettersson highlights there is little to suggest the late season slide is really going to turn around.26 (25.21)Anaheim Ducks130-35-93-1-0Are we good again? No. But the idea of Carlyle less coaching has given the team a good bit of pride and they are beating playoff bubble teams. It was nice to know you, better draft pick lottery odds. In other news, Corey Perry scored twice in a game. He now has four whole goals this year. I predict he scores 20 next season. Kesler has been missing since his 1001st game.27 (26.21)New York Rangers-228-31-130-3-1Toughhhh week. Not a single win. Mika's still putting up points and Georgiev's playing his ass off. Lemieux's been a great addition as well, but we just couldn't put it all together this week. We got wrecked by McDrai in overtime on Monday. Got demolished by the refs in Vancouver on Wedenesday. Steamrolled by the Flames on Friday. To cap it all off we got stomped by the Wild on Saturday. Not a fun week, but hey St. Patrick's Day is an excuse to drink our sorrows away!28 (27)New Jersey Devils-27-37-92-2-0Man tanking is something I'll never get used to. I always want the boys to go out and win, but it's just so hard to justify bothering when the only logical thing to do is tank. The battle of heart vs mind rages on.29 (28.17)Detroit Red Wings-25-37-101-2-030 (29.59)Los Angeles Kings-25-38-80-2-0I don’t really care for baseball...but is it baseball season yet?31 (30.31)Ottawa Senators-25-41-62-1-0For as shit as this season has been at least we beat the leafs. /r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 24 Falling Leafs Edition Source