#especially when exactly one (1) person is seeding a file

[gender-trash]

im so easily entertained by watching torrents download. hrngh... numbers........

[archivingspn]

2019: Twitter- Eric Kripke

therealKripke: “In honor of #SPN300, here's my original #SPN pitch from 2004. The pilot story is very different, but the tone always rang clear to me. Could never have imagined what this show became and the good it's done. Humbled and grateful beyond words to you all. #SPNFamily @cw_spn ‘[images of spn pilot’s 4pg script]’“ - 12:08 PM Feb 7, 2019

[source]

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Supernatural

Pitch by Eric Kripke August 30, 2004

I. TONE AND WORLD

In one sentence, this is X-FILES meets ROUTE 66. Two brothers, cruising the dusty back roads in their trusty 64 Mustang, battling the things that go bump in the night. But much more than that, it's a show about an obsession of mine...

Throughout the U.S., (especially the MIDDLE, where I'm from), we have a folklore, as uniquely American as baseball, as rich and varied as any world mythology, and almost nobody knows it. For instance, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil, at an abandoned Mississippi crossroads, to be the world's greatest guitarist. But he died violently, poisoned at age 26, screaming about Hellhounds as he choked on his own blood. In the shadowy north woods of Minnesota, lives a creature named the Wendigo. Translated from Native American, it means "evil that devours.” It feeds on human flesh. And even today, dozens of witnesses say it's very real.

There are literally HUNDREDS of these stories and legends and urban legends. There are dark and dangerous things out there in the corners of our country. So here's a show that travels the diverse highways and byways of supernatural America. Black woods, ghost towns, those tourist trap mystery spots. Really, a show ABOUT our country-the bloody, beating heart of America.

Unlike X-FILES, this show isn't Vancouver rainy. It's brighter, more colorful, more VISCERAL, and more irreverent. The humor here is extremely important to me—but it has to arise from the characters and their attitudes. The characters can be funny, but the weekly stories have to be SCARY AS SHIT– I'm talking THE RING; how what you don't see is much more terrifying than what you do. I'm talking about making this series as scary as I possibly can, until you guys call and yell at me.

But I also want the tone to be GROUNDED. Where BUFFY, for example, felt HEIGHTENED, our show should feel like OUR WORLD, real-life America. With a darkness that bubbles and boils just beneath the surface. And I want to keep the weekly stories CREDIBLE- leave 'em with a question mark, the possibility of a rational explanation. Something early X-Files did very well.

Finally, I want this show to capture a certain SPIRIT. For one, that youthful electricity of dropping out and hitting the open road; the freedom of wide-open American spaces. But also, EVERY road trip story-from FEAR and LOATHING to Kerouac to The Odyssey, are inherently mythic quests, hero's journeys, real Joseph Campbell stuff. The way STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, and MATRIX are all the same story, with the same beats. So our series, too, is an epic hero's quest-- across the United States. Almost like a modern western, and our heroes are gunslingers. Or, as I like to call it - it's STAR WARS in TRUCK STOP AMERICA.

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II. CHARACTERS AND FRANCHISE

Now, let's get into establishing our characters, and launching our franchise.

So if this is STAR WARS, meet LUKE SKYWALKER. SAM HARRISON, 21. Think Jake Gyllenhall, or Tobey Maguire. Smart, funny, handsome, maybe a little type-A. He just graduated Stanford with a 4.0, and now he's heading back down to L.A., where he lives with his Aunt and Uncle, he'll spend the summer clerking at a powerful law firm. And in the Fall... Harvard Law, thank you very much. Pedal to the metal, Sam is cruising the track to success. But, like all good Luke Skywalker heroes, Sam is vaguely restless. He tells his girlfriend, maybe he should drop everything this summer and blow off to Europe. But of course, he doesn't. He has too many responsibilities.

Sam's well adjusted, successful life, it's a real triumph, especially considering his background. Fifteen years ago, his dad JACK became increasingly dark and depressed. He drank. A lot. Until Mom and Dad were in a car crash. Dad was driving. He lived. Mom didn't. That triggered a schizophrenic breakdown in Dad. He swore that twisted, dark, horrific things caused that crash and took Mom away. And those same dark things were chasing after him. Dad was institutionalized. But he escaped. And disappeared.

Sam is ashamed of his tragic past. Hates his Dad, blames him for killing Mom, and NEVER, EVER talks about it.

Now, Sam's mythic CALL TO ADVENTURE, the events that will change his life forever, begin simply enough. When his big brother DEAN rolls into town. Meet DEAN HARRISON, 25, think Colin Farrel. If Sam's the good kid, Dean's the troublemaker. If Sam's Luke Skywalker, Dean's Han Solo. Charismatic and dangerous. Cocky confidence masking a troubled soul. Sam hated Dad, but Dean was older and remembered Dad in brighter days, and he worshipped the man. Sam buried his past and ignored it, but Dean was haunted by it, never quite got his shit together. Dean never went to college. Just sort of traveled around. In fact, Sam hasn't heard from Dean in almost 3 years, which Sam clearly resents.

And now... Dean makes Sam a proposition. Let me drive you down to L.A.- it's just one day, we'll get a chance to catch up a little. Reluctant, Sam agrees.

At first, they're enjoying the electric, carefree pleasures of a ROAD TRIP. Top down, radio blaring, singing their lungs out to AC/DC.

But then... at twilight... on an empty stretch of highway... Dean's driving. And he has to make a confession. (Though I'm sure we'll break this up into a few different scenes.) "Sam. There's something I need to tell you," Dean says. “I went looking for Dad. And I found him. Took just about every dime I had, but I found him. And I've been with him, for almost 2 years." Sam is shocked and betrayed: "what?! Why didn't you tell me?!" But Dean continues: "listen. I know this is hard to believe. But Dad WASN'T nuts.

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Demons really DID kill Mom. Dark, awful things WERE following Dad. I know. Because I can see them. Because they're following me, too."

Obviously, Sam is BEYOND freaked and well aware that schizophrenia is hereditary. Dean goes on, getting worked up-“so Dad figured out how to kill these things, and he showed me how. Until they caught up to us in Baker. They got Dad. Before I got them." "What do you mean, you GOT them?” asks Sam. “I killed a demon. In human form," says Dean. “You killed somebody?!" "No, I killed a DEMON, it only LOOKED human.” (Which could be a scary, visceral teaser, by the way.) Anyway, DEAN continues: “Listen to me, Sam... it was Dad's wish, his DYING WISH, that I find you, that I teach you the way he taught me.” At this point, Sam goes into placating, survival mode. “Okay. Sure. Just calm down." But Sam's terrified-of his own brother.

Meanwhile, as this conversation's going on, Dean isn't going to L.A. He takes a detour-- for all intents and purposes, kidnapping Sam. They pull into a small, faded, all-American town in Central California. It's 1950's American optimism gone to seed. Basically, they pull right into the pilot's SELF ENCLOSED B-STORY. Whatever it is, the story should be simple, giving us room to focus on the brothers. It should be based in Folklore. And it should be personal—the job their father never completed.

Now, here's an example of exactly the kind of story I'm talking about. The real life ghost story of the "Weeping Woman," a sobbing wraith in a bloody white nightgown. She murdered her children by the river side, as revenge against her unfaithful husband. And today, it's said she lures unfaithful men to the river and drowns them. And sure enough, several MEN in this town have turned up dead by the river's edge. Anyway, something like this. And Dean, despite his smart ass jokes and references to the movie Poltergeist, seems to be taking this SERIOUSLY.

But Sam doesn't believe a WORD of it. First moment he's alone, he calls his Aunt and Uncle. “I'm with Dean, I think he's sick.” They tell him—"cops in Baker found your Dad's body. And a truck driver's body, too. Dean's the suspect. You have to get away! Where are you?!” But before Sam can answer-he pivots, right into Dean. Who grabs the phone, SMASHING it, furious: “Dammit, Sam, I'm not insane," Dean says, “Caspar the unfriendly fucker is really out there!"

Then, as Dean delves deeper and deeper into the ghost story, dragging a reluctant Sam along with him... INEXPLICABLE SUPERNATURAL phenomenon begin to occur, which SERIOUSLY RATTLES Sam. We'll have several good, scary set pieces. And soon, Sam doesn't know WHAT to think. And in the B-STORY'S climax, he'll even save Dean at some crucial point. (Though we'll be careful to leave things open ended, with just the possibility of a logical explanation.)

Afterwards, a beat in which Dean, vulnerable, says to his brother-"I've been thinking. And you're going home, Sam. You're smart, and you've got everything going for you. I don't care what Dad said, I can't let you live like this... Still," says Dean, "it was nice having you around. When you're with somebody... you just don't feel as crazy as

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often." Sam's very conflicted, and he feels awful, but he can't just abandon his old life. So the brothers part ways. Sam hitchhikes up the road. Meanwhile, thanks to his Aunt and Uncle, the cops have been searching for Sam, and now they find him.

At the station, Sam tells the cops, Dean's in Colorado by now. But a patrol car has spotted Dean's parked Mustang at a nearby motel. The police grab SHOTGUNS, they're going to take Dean with force. And in the face of ONE PASSING COP, Sam sees-a glimpse. A shimmer. Something DEMONIC and INHUMAN flashes across the cop's face-and then it's gone, just as quick. Did Sam imagine it? Is he going insane, too? Or is Dean really in danger? Are dark, awful things really after him, like he said?

This is Sam's crossroads moment. And he makes a decision-he takes off. Steals a car. Beats the cops back to Dean. Warns him at the last minute. It's very TIGHT and very HECTIC, but Sam and Dean get away. Escaping by the skin of their teeth.

As we leave Sam... he doesn't know if he's losing his mind. He doesn't know if Dean's a hero or a homicidal schizophrenic. All he knows is-Dean's his brother, and he needs help. And for now, that's enough.

III. THE SERIES ITSELF

I think the overall GOAL here, is building an engine that gives us SELF ENCLOSED STORIES. I am gonna pitch some very simple mythology, but STAND ALONES are a format I really believe in, they're the shows I loved and grew up on. Like the best EARLY episodes of X-FILES.

So basically, our two heroes, avenging their parents' death, cruise the golden backroads of America-picture chrome diners and bucolic farms and dusty Route 66 towns. Places that are mythic and American, but also haunting, in a way. Places where horror can strike in broad daylight. Sam and Dean are kind of like classic gunslingers, or dragon slayers, finding-and KILLING—the monsters of American folklore.

So first question-how do they find the damn things? Dean tracks these creatures in a low-tech way. He scans obituaries for strange deaths. Dean also has a loose network of contacts - defrocked ministers and trailer park psychics, who impart information to our heroes whenever necessary.

Second question-how do they KILL the damn things? The answer—they have no fucking idea. They're outgunned and desperate and in completely over their heads. They don't have a WATCHER, like in BUFFY. They don't have an OBI WAN. They're on their own. Each week, they gotta figure out what the hell they're dealing with, and how the hell to kill it. And a lot of the time, they're wrong, and they have to improvise. Whether it's finding a ghost's remains - and burning them into dust; or loading a shotgun with silver buckshot, our guys will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

[lulu2992]

I think the NPC role reduction was an effect of the resistance meter system and how areas can be done in any order. Cover art Faith, loading screen Faith, and game Faith also look different. It’s interesting that Faith is referred to as Selena in the files. I wonder if the Selena note was actually meant to be written to "our" Faith and they forgot to take it out. Selena was blonde too. (1/4)

I do agree Joseph’s characterization (and history?) changed (even going back as early as the live action trailer with Jerome's daughter), but at the same time, I could see him justifying this if he felt like it was important for his cause to send a message. He took a gun and went after Alex in IEG, so he’s not against to getting his hands dirty. This is just imo, of course! I can understand viewing it differently since it is very brutal. (2/4)

While we don’t know for sure what happened, I feel like it was heavily implied Joseph was involved with Selena and Lana’s deaths, even if he didn’t do the deed himself. Megan (I hate the fact she exists T_T) thinks he was involved (or at least is capable of being involved), and the note describes how the others were “used and thrown away” by Joseph. (3/4)

I really wish there was some kind of “Art of FC5” book that shows the development process and scrapped ideas, and interviews. Thank you so much for all your work in finding and analyzing the files. Your posts and meta are always interesting and appreciated! (4/4)

According to Dan Hay, creative director and executive producer, previous Far Cry games had about 20 characters when, in Far Cry 5, there are “over 65”. It’s nice to have more characters but, in the end, they have less time to shine...

Yes, in the document that lists all the sound files, the three regions are sometimes called JOHN, NORTH, and SELENA. Other people who explored the files said Faith is sometimes referred to as “Selena Seed”. The letter to Selena was probably meant for the current Faith but they decided they would be two different people and didn’t remove it. It still makes sense in the story, though.

Joseph is okay with violence as long as he believes it’s justified or God’s will but I just think the “I’m personally and grossly dealing with this traitor in front of all my Children” thing feels a bit off. And, in Inside Eden’s Gate, his attitude is a little too “villainous” for my taste. In fact, in my very personal opinion, all the Seeds are a bit out of character in the film. But, just like the live-action trailers, I think it’s very good, cinematographically speaking! The scene with Sara makes me cry every time...

It’s implied something bad happened to the previous Faiths (Lana reportedly died) but what I meant is that we don’t know exactly what happened or what Joseph did. That said, yes, he was probably involved. Also, Megan? I don’t know her... More seriously, everything related to Megan feels out of place to me, especially this letter. So everyone in the cult knows about Joseph’s wife (her face is on his arm) and that he sacrificed his daughter to prove his faith, but no one has a problem with that... except Megan, who somehow didn’t know anything about the love of her life and doesn’t understand his motivations or personality? New Dawn has other qualities but this is just... no.

You’re right, they should have released a “The Art of Far Cry 5” book! At least, it’s possible to find concept art and old interviews here and there on the Internet. And thank you, I’m glad you like my posts! :’)

[alyssabethancourt]

If you only read one of my project updates, make it this one.

It took most of the day to kick in, for some reason, but the price of the Mornnovin eBook on Amazon has finally adjusted to 99¢. It will remain at that deeply discounted price at least until February 26th. I may or may not be persuadable on the subject of extending the sale for an additional week.

So now that the stress of that unexpected snafu has lifted, I can do a proper update.

It's Friday, five days in, and as of posting this the fundraiser is sitting pretty at $821 or 22% funded. We're nicely on track. The next big goal, obviously, is getting to 25% ($925) and I'm confident we can hit that mark easy-peasy before the end of the weekend. Please, keep talking up this series and sharing the link with your friends, family, and followers.

Trajelon is a special book not just because it's mine and I have to say that, but because it explores issues and themes that I don't think we see often enough in fiction – especially not in the sparkly elf magic genre.

I'm going to get real with you for a minute.

I've talked before about how the version of Mornnovin that is now published is the culmination of thirty years and four versions of telling that particular story. What people may not know is that I'd also written Trajelon once before.

In late 1997, I was 18 years old and I'd made some terrible decisions that I was locked into living with for the foreseeable future, both because of the nature of responsibility but also because of pride. People had tried to warn me, and of course being the age I was, I knew everything. I'd been downright insolent about my conviction that I knew what I was doing.

So there I was, miserable, bridges burned, everything to prove, struggling under the load of several massive responsibilities all taken on at once, knowing that I'd made the bed I now had to lie in. I was also trying to pass my first semester of college as an English major. I can't remember now precisely which combination of events led me to come to this conclusion, but I started to feel that although I was reasonably good at academic writing, my creative writing was a clear waste of my time. I actually went as far as deciding to give it up.

I think, now, that I might have been trying to punish myself.

That take makes sense in hindsight because as soon as I'd grounded myself from the sort of writing I actually enjoy doing, two things happened.

One, at odd moments I started doodling scenes that weren't supposed to be part of anything, so I was free from the feeling that they had to be any good or make any kind of sense or fit within a larger narrative. This would come to be important later.

And two, the scenes I was scribbling down without any commitment to story or quality were all about bad things happening to Loríen.

Because writers have to write, even if they've made bullshit nonsense declarations about how they've given it up, a story idea did eventually coalesce out of all of these snippets. And because of where I was, the story was dark. The finished product was horrible, but it was genuine – a savage cry of pain from someone who believed she had no right to it.

Fast forward ten years. Now it's 2007. I'm still living in that hell of my own making, but it's different because I'm ten years older and time does change things, for better or worse. Now I'm working a crappy retail job and it's killing me. To save my sanity, one day, I pull some blank receipt paper out of the cash register and in tiny, cramped letters I start scribbling some scenes that aren't supposed to be part of anything. They're just junk for my brain, something to keep me alive. Because they're not for anything real, I don't worry about them being any good or fitting within whatever other arbitrary writing rules I have for myself. At night, while the household is asleep, I transfer the cramped letters from cash register paper to computer file.

After a while, I realize they are actually starting to make a coherent story, but it's not canon, I tell myself. It's just some cracky Asrellion fanfiction. Just some mindless entertainment. I keep giving myself permission to tell a different kind of story from whatever I imagine canon to be.

By the time I leave that crappy retail job, I find that in my time there I've managed to scribble onto bits and pieces of receipt paper what amounts to roughly twenty typed pages of... something.

Then I realize that what I have on my hands isn't just something, it's the seed of a new version of Book 2. One that actually has something to say besides screaming in wordless agony. The only problem is, this new book that I can see laid out before me is far too good for the terrible most-recent draft of Book 1 that would precede it.

Then I realize that I'm going to have to write this book, which means that I'm also going to have to rewrite the first book in the series in order to lay the necessary groundwork.

That's the story of how I came to begin my ground-up re-imagining of Mornnovin in 2008.

It turns out to be a good thing that I took the time to do that first, because I wouldn't have been ready then to tell the story that I ultimately had in me in 2016 when I wrote Trajelon over the course of six intense months. By then, I had escaped Hell. By then, I was safe. By then, I had some perspective on what it is not just to live through but to survive trauma and depression.

The first incarnation of Trajelon was what I needed it to be when I screamed it up, all those years ago. It was catharsis. I don't blame it for its darkness or its ugliness any more than you would blame a post-surgical scar for its raw appearance. This iteration of Trajelon is what it needed to be. Almost Athena-like, it sprang fully-formed from the brain of its creator. And it's no longer a cry of suffering. It's... a meditation on living with the suffering that inevitably comes along with the triumphs we experience in life. Living with, enduring, growing from. Learning to discard where possible. Drawing into our identity and building off of where necessary.

No doubt this is scary territory for some readers, but that's exactly why I think it's so important to tell these stories. They can't all be about glorious victories on the field of battle. There are more shades to the spectrum of the human (elven?) experience. I so wish this book had existed at a time when I could have drawn strength from it. Now I no longer need to draw on that kind of strength, but others do. I know they do.

So maybe this was a big old heavy update for a Friday evening, but I hope you don't mind the candor. This book is very personal for me, as you now understand, and that would have become clear anyway as soon as you read it. Because I think that's actually its truest and purest strength, I wanted to be up front about it in this fundraiser. I am pitching to you a fantasy novel written by a survivor of abuse, trauma, and depression written for survivors of abuse, trauma, and depression.

If you, like I do, think that's an important thing to have exist in the world, please help me get the word out and bring it into reality.

And thank you for letting me get real.

Help fund TRAJELON on Kickstarter.

[piercebaron]

anime and manga differences: episode 12

Think of this as a sequel to this post, though there’s going to be less meta on adaptation and more chatting about what got cut. There are some allusions to spoilers from later in the manga (chapters 40 and 46, specifically!), so be warned.

I’m slowly working my way through the official English releases and was bemoaning earlier about how some of my favorite bits from the whole academy arc got cut. I also realized that a number of people following this blog have maybe only seen the anime, so! I wanted to dive into what was changed. 

Up until episode 12, which is the episode that kicks off the whole academy arc and really digs into the meat of the story, the anime didn’t really cut that much from the manga. Episode 7 was filler, with Hina and Lynn meeting for the first time and having their great cook-off, though that incorporates elements of Hina’s character that actually show up later in the manga. They also make some changes to Sonohara’s entrance, including showing the pilot of the chopper (which. I won’t spoil, if you’re not familiar, but it’s shocking to say the least). 

Episode 12 is where they really start to cut and make changes, subbing in some characters for others and folding arcs together. It covers chapter 13 up until halfway through chapter 15, so it has a lot of ground to cover.

Big change #1: Jail fights with Tokikaze, not Douan.

In the manga, Tokikaze encounters the group outside, just after they see Sonohara and Rihito walk inside. He and Jail get into it, and this spurs the rivalry they have throughout this arc. This is where Jail first realizes he can’t use his ballot.

The anime has Jail scuffle with Douan instead, and Tokikaze later intervenes. This honestly does wonders for Douan’s character, especially with how the anime has been structured where it’s ending with his big battle. We’re immediately introduced to Douan as an antagonistic force and his connection to Sonohara. Originally, the first time we see Douan is when he steals Sonohara’s stars in chapter 16.

This scene is in the anime! We get it in episode 13. But unlike the manga, it's just a continuation of Douan being a bully whereas in the original, it's our first real look at Douan. And instead of bumping into girls and picking fights with Jail, he's just straight up antagonizing Sonohara right out the gate. It's interesting! I feel like the anime allows us to have more time with Douan early on and builds up the emotional gut punch that is his relationship with Licht. 

(a small note: the anime does later have Douan be way more antagonistic, especially towards Sonohara, but that's scattered throughout the arc and as of writing this, I haven't gotten to those chapters in my review, so. you know.)

What we lose out on, though, is Tokikaze stuff. Jail and Tokikaze's rivalry is never really established beyond a brief bout of bickering before the enrollment ceremony in the anime, so his actions later on when it comes to giving his stars to him don't quite have the same punch.

In fairness though, their relationship hasn't really been a focal point since that arc ended, so uh. Maybe nothing was really lost? It was just nice seeing the nuances of these two characters as they bounced off of each other.

Big change #2: When we first really see Rihito.

Here's my big confession: I'm really not into the ecchi parts of Plunderer. I joke a lot about how horny Minazuki is and how GeekToys are even more so, but also it detracts from what is a genuinely compelling story with a lot of heart and some really, really great characters. It's just not my cuppa! I try not to critique that part too much because it's very much an opinion thing, but.

But hoo boy does it factor in here.

This is when we first really meet Rihito Sakai in the anime! And he's . . . staring up Hina's skirt. This is a parallel to the first chapter / episode, yes, where our first introduction to Licht is him looking up Hina's skirt. Full circle storytelling-wise and whatnot!

It plays out differently in the manga. We don't see Rihito again until he interrupts the chaotic enrollment ceremony, holding Schmerman "hostage." And it's one hell of an entrance, especially with how Minazuki lays out his panels. I'm going to paste the rest here, because words don't really do it justice.

How can someone so efficiently reintroduce their main character in just a few pages? Rihito is immediately endearing and foolhardy while still being the same dolt we know and love at heart. This is the first time we really see him, so it's the first taste we get of Rihito's good nature, despite the fact that he's, well, a perverted moron.

My own personal eyerolling aside, you don't get quite the same "oomph" from the anime's introduction.

Big change #3: Pele.

look, you all knew I was gonna be biased as hell in writing this.

Sonohara's introduction is the first glimpse we get of Pele maybe not exactly being who he says he is, what with him instantly reacting to the Secret Service agents about to shoot Lynn. Throughout the academy arc, he starts stepping up more and, in the process, there are more subtle hints that he knows more than he says he knows. A lot of his stuff got cut/streamlined for time.

In the anime, he does some off-screen investigating and then leads Jail and the others to a computer where he does a brief info dump. In the manga, this plays out a bit differently in that he appeals directly to Alan, immediately feeding him a story about the four of them being from the boonies and gosh, where could they get some more information?

and then this leads to what is the funniest exchange and what sold me on this manga entirely.

Pele controls the computer from then on -- he's reading through a computer how-to book in that last panel above, for the record. And he's pretty careful, all in all! It really does seem like he's learning along with the rest of them and doesn't know a thing. But this is really when we start getting blatant hints that there's something up with Pele.

Some of that makes it in, like his brief exchange with Tokikaze in episode 13 asking him who he'll steal stars from. There's something darker about it in the manga, though.

. . . though I really do love this scene in the english dub, especially with how his voice darkens at that line. 

Most of Pele’s stuff from this arc gets cut for time, though. Later, after Jail leaves young!Nana’s room, he doesn’t run into Alan. Instead, he reconvenes with Hina, Lynn, and Pele and the four of them watch Nana’s video together -- at which point Alan busts in and holds them all at gunpoint.

And he’s ultimately foiled by Pele.

This then leads to the Jail-Alan confrontation that is seen in the anime. This is really why Lynn, Hina, and Pele are with Jail, though! After all, they were in the room with him and Alan marched off with all four of them. 

But it’s later revealed that Pele didn’t delete the files on Nana’s drive; they were different files entirely, and Pele bet on Alan not even bothering to check. How Nana’s video plays out is another essay entirely, though.

Chapters 13 through 15 are the first real hints we get that maybe there’s more to Lynn’s subordinate than meets the eye, and maybe his little stunt with disarming the Secret Service wasn’t just a fluke. Minazuki is very good at laying seeds for things to come, which is also why I’m hesitant to write off the Jail-Tokikaze relationship / rivalry just yet.

also the animation quality in episode 12 is, uh. It’s not good, my dudes.

. . . okay, okay, I feel like I’m picking on the anime a little bit (reminder that animators work under a lot of pressure and aren’t given a lot of time and resources to produce quality!), but the animation is really noticeable in this episode. 

Anyway, if you enjoyed the anime, please support the official releases in your country and read the manga! It’s interesting to see all the little shifts and tweaks that were done to the story in the process of taking it from page to screen.

[urdbell18]

A Seed Hidden in the Heart Chapter 17: The One Where the Fight Begins

AN: So a few things that I would like to point out:

1) I don't know how the courts or the law works. It's great that some of you guys know how it does but I'm using this for plot only, the whole thing is completely fictional.

2) Towards the end we learn more about Mary and I try to portray it the best way possible but if any of you guys are upset in any way shape or form I'm sorry. I'm not good with the heavy stuff, I'm more fluff but I'm trying.

Thanks and enjoy!

PS: THIS is chapter 17. I didn’t know that I accidentally labeled chapter 16 as chapter 17. Sorry!

With Mr. Webster in her corner Zelda turned all of her attention to her graduating seniors. Around Christmas break she contacted an old professor of hers that was still in the area and he set it up so that her senior classes, her French 3, Russian, Italian, and Chinese, could take a college exam that her students could use towards credits earned at whatever school they choose to go to. Because the test was so intense Zelda decided to use it as their final. A majority of the test would be online but the oral report had to be done in person, Zelda graded them on the rubric that the professor sent her. She recorded and sent those to the professor for a second opinion just to cover all of her bases. Convincing Mr. Hawthorne was harder than necessary. He denied her request twice until he got a letter from her professor that allowing the students to take the test didn’t cost anything. After that Mr. Hawthorne jumped at the chance for her students to take the test. He cleared out the computer lab for an entire day so that her students could take the test. Much to the carnage of Shirley.

Apparently, Hawthorne bumped Shirley out of the computer lab so that Zelda’s students could take the exams. It wasn’t just Shirley, Mr. Thomas was also bumped and they were only bumped because they were covering for another teacher. Unlike Mr. Thomas Shirley made a big stink about it. She raised a fuss with Mr. Hawthorne but he refused to change his mind. That was probably why when Zelda brought down her sixth period Chinese class that Shirley was already there having students set up on computers with a smirk that clearly showed she knew what she was doing. Zelda didn’t even try to deal with Shirley personally, she called Hawthorne so he could deal with her. Shirley’s students, who could read the room, sat in the library so that Zelda could have her students start on their exams. As she closed the door so that her students had complete silence she saw Shirley glaring at her. She just smiled and turned her attention back to her students, they lost enough time as it is.

The day the seniors graduated meant a day off for Zelda. It was a day that she would lie in bed for a bit with Mary before enjoying breakfast with her family and then relaxing the day away with her daughter and Mary. That is how she would spend the day if she didn’t have to attend court.

Thanks to Mr. Webster he prevented Faustus for scheduling a hearing on a day that she couldn’t attend. Though she hated having to lose the day off she was grateful that she could give the issue her complete focus. She deliberately didn’t tell anyone, especially Mary, where she was really going when she left the house right after breakfast. She told her lie and kissed Vida and Mary goodbye. Mary looked at her with narrow eyes but didn’t say anything, she let her go with a soft ‘bye’. Mr. Webster was waiting for her when she arrived at the courthouse and she followed him to whatever courtroom her case was being heard. Faustus and his attorney were already there. When she entered Faustus’ gaze followed her all the way to the free table just left of the gate. Zelda ignored him, she kept her head high and face forward to the empty judge’s bench.

“All rise for the honorable Judge Methuselah.” A bailiffs voice boomed in the virtually empty courtroom but they all shuffled to their feet. An elderly man in judges robes came in with a file tucked under his arm. When he sat down everyone but Mr. Webster and Faustus’ attorney took their seats.

“Mr. Morningstar.” Faustus attorney nodded in acknowledgement. He was a clean shaven young looking man with brown curly hair that was just long enough to not be called unruly. “Your client is suing Ms. Spellman for the custody of her daughter.”

“That is correct your honor.”

“Why does your client feel the need to now obtain custody over the child?”

“Mr. Blackwood has become increasingly concerned over the welfare of his daughter.”

“What concerns?”

“The child’s living situation and the company that Ms. Spellman keeps.”

“What do you have to say about this Mr. Webster?” Mr. Webster straighten his jacket, fastening a button that had come undone.

“Complete fabrication. Ms. Spellman has every right to remain in the house with her family. And the ‘company’ that Mr. Morningstar is referring to is irrelevant to the matter at hand. What we should be focusing on is, is Ms. Spellman an incompetent parent and that answer is no.”

“It should be the courts concern when the ‘company’ that  Ms. Spellman keeps is another woman.”

“Mr. Morningstar last I checked this was the twentieth century not the 1800’s. Dating another woman isn’t a crime and seeing as Ms. Spellman and your client are no longer in a relationship, if you can call what they had a relationship, she is in every right to be seeing someone else, male or female.”

“The woman in question is mentally unstable. I have documented proof that Mary Wardwell has had a long history of mental illness and had even be hospitalized.”

“That is a complete violation of Ms. Wardwell’s privacy and the court shouldn’t even entertain this possibly illegally obtained information!”

“Enough!” Judge Methuselah banged his gavel for good measure. The courtroom went silent minus the last dull echoes of the gavel. “It appears to me that this matter requires more looking into. I’m ordering a social worker visit Ms. Spellman’s house hold in two weeks. After they file their report we will continue. Until then we are adjourned.” Judge Methuselah banged his gavel one last time before standing from his seat and leaving. Zelda remained in her seat her brain trying to work out what just happened. Was it a good or bad thing that a social worker was visiting her home? And all those things about Mary… were they true or made up by Faustus’ attorney? Faustus and his attorney walked by her table, Faustus glared at her but she didn’t acknowledge it.

__________________

According to Mr. Webster a social worker visiting her house was no big deal. She was a competent parent with nothing to hide. The social worker would see that and would report in her favor, Plus, he would get a copy of the report so Morningstar couldn’t twist the facts. There was, however, one fact he had to look into. Mary. Zelda wanted to talk to Mary first, Mr. Webster agreed that was best and to call or email him when Mary was ready to speak to him,

Mary and Vida were in the living room, sitting on the couch while Vida read a book to Mary. Vida was stuck on a word and Mary helped her out when Zelda approached them. She sat on the arm of the couch and wrapped on arm around Mary’s shoulder.

“You’re back.”

“Mommy!” Vida tossed her book to the side and scrambled onto Mary’s lap to get close to Zelda. Mary winced a little but didn’t seem to mind.

“Vida.” Vida looked at Mary from where her head rested on Zelda’s legs. “I need to talk to you mom for a minute.” Vida huffed but nodded. She left saying she was going to work on the puzzle in the parlor. Mary scooted over to create space for Zelda. Zelda slid off the arm to the free space, draping her legs over Mary’s lap. “So how’d it go?”

“I knew you didn’t believe me.”

“Of course I didn’t. Is it over?”

“No. Faustus’ attorney managed to convince the judge enough to have a social worker visit us. Mr. Webster said it wasn’t nothing to be concerned about. However…” Zelda bit her lip. She was almost hesitant to ask Mary.

“However… what?”

“Faustus’ attorney said something… about you.”

“What that I’m immoral for corrupting you into my world of debauchery?”

“Not exactly. He implied that you were mentally unstable.” Mary’s eyes grew dark but the light that flickered there meant that she was thinking about something.

“This attorney…  his name wouldn’t be Lucifer Morningstar would it?”

“It would.” Mary nodded and took a deep breath. They fell silent for a while, Zelda not wanting to push Mary.

“One thing that we have in common is crappy mothers. My mother was apart of this church community, I think they were Mormons I can’t be sure after all this time, and would drag me to church with her all of the time. I hated it, always did, and when she realized that I wasn’t like her, devoted to the church and wanted to learn more, things that she called ‘sinful’ and ‘immoral’ she washed her hands of me. From there I had to fend for myself but she didn’t kick me out, she wanted to allude that she was still a loving mother even though we rarely spoke to each other. When I turned sixteen she pushed for me to find one of the male members to ‘court’ so that we could marry. I was having none of it, even though the boy that was interested in me was nice. I liked Adam but I couldn’t marry him, it wouldn’t be fair to him if I did. I knew for a while that something was off about me but I didn’t know what. Much like you I ran away after I graduated high school but I just ran away to the college that I didn’t tell anyone that I applied to. That’s where I met Lucifer. I still felt off but I was attracted to him enough to start a relationship.

At first everything was fine but when the next year started he became possessive. It started with changing my courses without my consent and moving my stuff into his apartment. He limited where I could and couldn’t go, not that I listened. I still attended debates and parties that interested me. At one of those debates we discussed human sexuality and that’s where I learned what was off about me. To this day I don’t know if I would call myself bisexual or lesbiean but I don’t deny my attractions which to me is more important than the label. I stupidly thought that I could share this piece of me with him. When I told him that there was a possibility that I like women he locked me in a bedroom and when I natural screamed and fought to be let out he called authorities and somehow convinced them that I had a mental disease that was left unchecked and I was a potential danger to myself and others. That gave me a one way ticket to a mental hospital. It took them a whole week of me refusing medication that I didn’t need and talking to doctor after doctor that I didn’t belong there. At that point I was done with him, he betrayed me in a way that I couldn’t ignore. I called the school and said I wanted a transfer and they helped me move to another college. I left straight there not that it did any good. He found me but I refused to be intimidated by him even as he took the same classes as I did. I left after I graduated and didn’t apply for any jobs until I arrived here in Greendale. That was the last time I saw him and I hoped to never see him again.” Zelda nodded and at some point she took Mary’s hand. She was in awe that even though they were so different they shared an almost identical past.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for? You didn’t ask for him to be a bastard.”

“I know that. I’m sorry for not asking. I realized that there is so much about you that I don’t know and I hate that this crappy situation is making you reveal this part of you when your not ready.”

“To be honest I wasn’t going to tell you. If I did have a mental illness I would have told you but since it was forced onto me I didn’t think it worthy of sharing. If there is anything that you want to know about me all you have to do is ask.” Zelda smiled and nodded. Using her free hand she cupped Mary’s cheek and brought her closer to her.

“I love you.” Zelda’s breath felt hot against Mary’s lips before she claimed them. The kiss was short and soft, Mary was smirking afterwords. “When you are ready, you need to tell Mr. Webster this.”

“I understand. Do you know when the social worker is going to come?”

“No. I’ll have to tell Hilda about it so she can keep an eye out.”

“Good. I want to be there when they came and I want to be there with you at your next court appointment.”

“Are you sure? This isn’t your problem to deal with.”

“Yes it is. Moving into this house means I’m apart of this family and Vida is family. I understand that you want to appear independent and no one here is going to deny that but there is a difference between being independent and being alone and I can tell you one thing Zelda Spellman you are not alone.” Zelda opened her mouth but closed it. She didn’t have a counterpoint to challenge what Mary said.

“You’re right. I guess since I’m so used to things that I forget.” Mary just smirked and kissed Zelda. Before it could go any further Vida came in to say she was hungry for lunch. Her hands were over her eyes, she said it was to block her from seeing something yucky. Mary gave Zelda a playful smirk before scooping Vida up and blowing raspberries all over her tiny body. When Vida cried uncle Zelda took her from Mary and they went into the kitchen for lunch.

[nanowrimo]

4 Tips to Balance Research and Writing

If you’re writing a novel this November that has the potential to involve a lot of research—say, science fiction or historical drama—you may be feeling a little overwhelmed trying to balance your time. Today, Dan Koboldt, author of Putting the Science in Fiction, shares his tips for making your research help rather than hinder your writing:

Doing research is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. Of course, I'm a genetics researcher by day, so I probably love it more than most.

Scientists don't exactly advertise this, but we don't know everything. Just like engineers, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, we tend to specialize in a particular area. Often, we don’t know anything more about a subject outside our field than the average Joe. So yes, I do my research, and I encourage other authors to do the same.

At the same time, it's important not to let research become an excuse to avoid writing. I see this happen to some of my friends who aspire to be authors. Heck, I'm guilty of it myself. It's understandable, because writing is hard. It's much more fun to read stuff that's already written under the guise of preparing to crank out words of our own. Yet, a writer who wants to be successful must not fall into this trap. Especially if they hope to win NaNoWriMo.

Naturally, this raises the question of how an author should balance research for writing purposes with the writing itself. I'd like to offer a few suggestions.

1. Research Efficiently

In this digital age, information is more readily available than ever before. It's easy to get lost in the flood of new information. One thing I try to do is to limit the scope of my research to what I need right now. If I'm writing a story about space travel, for example, I don't need to understand everything that's happened since The Big Bang. I just need to know where the closest celestial bodies are (short answer: really far away) and how long it would take to get there using current technology (short answer: thousands of years).

It's useful to come up with specific research questions before diving into a book or search engine. For example, I might want to know the crew size and approximate armament of mid-century Soviet submarines. That's a specific inquiry that might take some detective work, but at least I know the type of information I need. When I find the answers I need, I stop.

2. Ask an Expert

One of the most efficient ways to do research is to approach an expert in the relevant subject area and ask for help. Thanks to social media, real-world experts are easier to find than ever. If you approach them politely and with genuine interest, many are happy to talk about their work (I love it when people come to me with genetics questions). An interactive conversation with an expert can get you answers quickly, and also provide important nuances that you might miss when researching on your own.

This is part of why I began seeking out scientists, engineers, and other experts for my Science in Sci-fi blog series. Each week, I invite someone with real-world expertise to share it in a guest post on my blog. With 150 articles and counting, it's grown into a massive resource for writers of genre fiction.

I'm also a prodigious note-taker. When I read something or get answers from an expert, I write it all down in a text file. Often I encounter interesting tidbits that aren't related to my immediate question, but might be useful later. Everything gets copied into a searchable notes file��which I back up to my Dropbox account—so that I know I'll have it later.

3. Block Out Writing Time, Squeeze In Research Time

If you want to be a productive writer, you have to protect your writing time. That means putting it on the schedule and blocking out those crucial hours to get words on paper. Research, on the other hand, is something you can squeeze into the margins. Maybe you're waiting in line or zoning out after the kids take control of the TV. Grab those few minutes and spend them on your research. If you follow my note-taking advice, you'll have it all in place when you need it later.

An important corollary of this time management strategy is this: when you're writing and in a groove, don't stop for anything. This includes doing research, picking character names (my personal weakness), or other tasks that pull you away from the writing. Use TK as a placeholder and stay in the writing groove. That's what it takes to win NaNoWriMo.

4. Start and End with Research

You can always do some research after you've written a draft to make sure that you got those details right. But if you're like me, you want to get your feet wet even before you start. In fact, one of my favorite things about research is that it often seeds new story ideas. That's why my blog contributors have been sharing sci-fi story prompts all month long in the run-up to NaNoWriMo. Read them, get some ideas, and go write that novel!

You can enter to win a free copy of Dan’s book, Putting the Science in Fiction, by clicking on this link!

Dan Koboldt is a genetics researcher and fantasy/science fiction author from the Midwest. He is the editor of Putting the Science in Fiction (Writers Digest, 2018) and the author of the Gateway to Alissia series (Harper Voyager). Dan works at the Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where he and his colleagues use next-generation DNA sequencing technologies to uncover the genetic basis of pediatric diseases. He has co-authored more than 70 publications in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and other scientific journals. Dan is hoping to reach his 10th consecutive NaNoWriMo win this year.

Top photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash.

[dramallamadingdang]

The post I want to make on the MTS forums but can't...

...because they're touchy about discussing the "p" word. As in "piracy." I understand why they are, but I also think that they're wrong to silence people about "pirating" yet not have a care in the world if people tell others to buy used disks, for reasons that you'll see if you choose to read this thing. But...Their site, their rules and that's cool and all that. I’ve got no problems with that. I just think it’s doing the current (and future) TS2 community a disservice. Hence, this post.

Now that EA has announced that they will no longer give out the TS2 Ultimate Collection, I think it's time to address how to get the game if you don't already have it and want it. Or if you have it but your disks are lost/damaged. Or if you suddenly find yourself with a new machine that doesn't have an optical disk drive and you don't have and/or don't want to buy an external one. Or even if somewhere down the line EA removes the UC from your access, if you have it already and you then can't install it on a new machine. (They'd be entirely within their rights to do that, by the way.) If one is concerned about legality, then one ought to know what actually is legal or not and why and where the shades of gray are, so that you can make informed decisions about what you want to do. So, if you're interested in that, that's what I'm going to talk about in this post. 

I'm going to say this up-front, though, as a sort of teaser: Now that EA is no longer giving out the UC like people give out Halloween candy: THERE IS CURRENTLY NO FULLY-LEGAL WAY TO GET OR PLAY THE GAME, if you don't already have it. Yes, the above is true, and behind the cut is why.

Here are my "credentials," if you will: A nice chunk of my income comes from royalties and licensing and stuff. Much such stuff is sold in digital format, music CDs and data CDs of original compositions and stuff like that. I have sued individuals and companies, successfully, who've infringed on my copyrights and/or the licensing agreements that I'm involved in. I'm pretty well-versed in this stuff.

So let's make one thing about this issue clear off the top: You do not these days purchase games or non-game software or movies or music or whatever that comes on a disk or in some digital form like, say, a book you download onto your Kindle. You only purchase a license to use the information on that one, single disk or that you got from that one, single download that you paid for. It's a small but all-important distinction, and it pretty much defines what makes things legal or not when we're talking about getting TS2 now that EA is no longer selling it or giving it away themselves.

Now that EA is out of the picture, at least for now, you have three options for getting the game:

1) Find someone selling disks that you know absolutely for certain have not been used.

Guess what? Still probably not fully-legal. The reason is this: If you're buying from a genuine retailer and not some shady "business" in Taiwan or a guy on eBay or something, EA recalled all new, existing, unopened TS2 discs from all retailers (at least in the US and I believe -- but am not certain -- worldwide) years ago. 2013ish, if memory serves. Those retailers were given full refunds for any unsold discs but were actually not required to physically return those discs. (Because, of course, EA didn't want to pay for return shipping!) They were supposed to destroy the disks, in good faith, in exchange for the refund. Even if they didn't receive a refund, they're still not supposed to be selling disks anymore because they've been recalled. Those disks are not supposed to exist and all end-user (that's you) licenses associated with them are now void. Which means that even if you now manage to find a genuinely unused retail disk, you have no legal license to use the game because EA voided it. They only way it would be legal is if you are buying from an individual (not a retailer of any kind) who bought the game and somehow never installed it...and I'd take such stories with a grain of salt, personally. 

Because, remember: You're not buying a game; you're buying a license to use a game, and EA has revoked those licenses on retail disks that were unsold as of 2013ish. Now, is someone going to come pounding on your door to arrest you or to serve you court documents because they’re suing you? Of course not! But bear in mind that if the above applies to you, your game is not fully legal.

2) You can buy used disks from someone. Ebay and Amazon Marketplace and such are teeming with them.

Also not fully legal. Why? Because, as I said, each disk comes with a license to use the game for a single buyer and his/her household. No one else. That's one of the things that the End-User License Agreement says and that you agree to, probably without reading it, when you install the game. So as soon as the original buyer of the disk you subsequently bought installed the game on a machine, that single user license was used up. It cannot be transferred to another person. The disk can be transferred, sure, but not the license to use it, which when it comes to legality is all that matters. So, if you buy used disks, you still do not have a legal license to use the game.

Again, no one's going to come pounding on your door, of course. No one's pounding on the door of second-hand game shops, either, because it's not illegal to sell the used disks at all. But it is legally shade to actually use those disks when you buy them. So, just realize that your game is not fully legal if you bought used any or all of the disks you have. Then move on and don't worry about it...but also don't claim that you have a "legal" game so you're somehow more moral or whatever than people who pirate it. Because that's not true at all. In fact, legally you're in exactly the same boat -- pirate ship or otherwise ;) -- as people who've “pirated” the game. Which leads me to...

3) You can "pirate" the game. Meaning, you can get it via torrenting so that you never have a physical disk and you use a no-CD crack to play the game. Or you can make a copy of your friend's disks. Whatever.

There are multiple legal issues here. I'm not going to discuss why it's illegal to pass around copies of a game. I trust that everyone understands why that's so.

But you might be surprised to learn that it's actually not illegal to download the game illegitimately, for the same reason why buying and selling used disks isn't illegal. But there’s a catch. Again, the issue is that you don't buy a game; you buy a license to use it. So the problem arises, again, from using what you downloaded (or using that copy you made of your buddy's disk), because you don't have a license to do so. Sure, obviously no one would download something that they wouldn't then use, but my point is that if you download the game from a torrent, your legal problem is exactly the same as the legal problem that people who buy used disks have. And at least you, as a "pirater" did not pay someone for your legally-shady copy of the game. No one profited at EA's expense, in other words, whereas someone did exactly that if you bought used disks, especially if the seller didn't originally buy the disks themselves, which is usually the case at second-hand shops.

If you download the game via a torrent (as opposed to making copies of someone's disks), it's illegal not because you downloaded the file but because of the way torrenting works. It works by sharing your incomplete download with other downloaders as you download, as you go along, as well as after you do so, if you continue to "seed" the torrent after your own download is completed. The sharing part is illegal for what I hope are obvious reasons; the downloading part is not. It’s a technicality, sure, but then all of this discussion is.

In the end, the most-illegal thing you can do when it comes to this stuff is not downloading via torrenting but making a copy of your buddy's disks for your own use because in that case you're transgressing twice. And here's why.

There's a thing in copyright law called Fair Use. This covers multiple things, but the relevant bit here is that it allows you to make a backup of digital media that you've legitimately bought for archival purposes. This has always been on the books, as long as there've been digital formats, which goes all the way back to tapes. So if you have, say, a copy of The Lion King on DVD and your three-year-old insists on watching it twice a day if she can and in the process breaks a disk a week, you have a right to make a copy of the original in order to preserve the original. (OK, you're not supposed to make multiple backups, just one, but seriously? The kid breaks them constantly and Disney disks are terribly overpriced. And no, I'm not talking from experience at all. :) ) Anyway, Fair Use = 1 backup of your legitimately-purchased disks.

But then in the 90s the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) came along. (In the US, that is. There's similar bullshit worldwide, though.) Mostly it came about because movie and music distributors (not the musicians, one needs to point out) are absolute control freaks and were really, really pissed that CDs/DVDs are so damn easy to make copies of. The relevant bit of this was that it said, "Nope, no more personal backups for you! At all! And hey! No ripping that CD to put the songs on your phone or MP3 player, either! You gotta buy another copy of the songs from iTunes or whatever it is that we want to make more money from today!" It all comes back to "You don't buy a movie. You buy a license to view the content on that one disk, so if your obsessive three-year-old breaks it you have to buy a new disk every week. Sucks to be you, but it's really awesome for us." (Needless to say, you can guess what I think -- as a musician -- of this bit of corporate greed.)

My ranting aside, the issue now is that it is technically illegal to make copies of disks and stuff that you legitimately own, even for your own use and you never share anything with anyone. Again, no one's going to come knocking on your door, but you should know about this. (Mostly, in the wake of DMCA, court cases have involved small companies that make software that can rip DVDs by decoding/bypassing encryption, not individuals who make or use copies of disks. They know they can’t pursue such individuals in any practical way. Instead, they seek to take away the tools that allow you to do it.) So, that's transgression #1 when it comes to making a copy of your buddy's TS2's disks. The other, of course, is the same as the other points: You don't have a legal license to use that copy of your buddy's disk. So, you're transgressing coming and going, so to speak.

So, what's a TS2 fan to do now? Honestly? All three options are problematic, legally. Unless you can somehow manage to find genuinely never-used disks from an individual (not a retailer), you will not be fully legit. So, if you want to be pure and clean and looking down on all the sinners from your fine high horse, you can't get TS2 now if you find you need it, unless EA decides to distribute it again. But for the rest of us? I'm not going to advocate any particular thing because, as I said, all of the options are shady and more or less equally so and for the same reason across the board. But you have the info now -- if you’ve actually managed to read all this -- and you can make an informed decision for yourself, should you need to acquire the game again. Or for the first time. But for the love of God, please don't go around saying that you're all legit because you bought used disks while that person over there *gasp* got their game on the torrents. Because you're not legit, and you’re not legit for pretty much the same reason as a dirty pirate is.

[rwbyconversations]

Why Cinder’s plan is brilliant

I’ll freely admit that I can be a bit of a negative nancy about RWBY. In fact I’ve partly made my blog off of it, alongside sharing other people’s content. But I like to think that, going off the responses I get to my analysis posts, that they get a good reception. So today, I’d like to try something different and do some positive analysis of RWBY.

Volume 3 has become known as the highlight of the show for good reason. It’s the volume that brings together the past two years and concludes the first act of RWBY’s story on a truly desolate note- the heroes have failed and only narrowly pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, while the villains nearly got away without a single notable casualty, their plan having successfully gone off without a solitary hitch.

And what a plan. Cinder Fall’s nefarious schemes across the prior two volumes come into the forefront and utterly cripple Beacon. In one semester, she plants the seeds of a multinational world war, cripples the world’s communication network, kills countless citizens and Huntsmen, secures the powers of a demigod and gets away with killing one of the most powerful men alive. Not bad at all Cinder.

So that’s the purpose of today’s post. I’m going to break down, in my opinion, why I think Cinder’s plan to destroy Beacon was nearly full-proof and why it’s a genius scheme. Buckle up, I get wordy. 

Cinder’s plan has the least presence in Volume 1, though that’s more due to Volume 1 thinking it was too cool for things like plots and overarching narratives. But more seriously, the Volume 1 part of the plan needed some quiet reworking after Cinder’s power source was changed.

See, Cinder wasn’t originally a Maiden. In fact, the Maidens only existed after Volume 2 had wrapped. CRWBY have been quite open about this plot change, as it was one Monty came up with prior to his untimely death. Cinder instead would have simply been a powerful Dust Mage who was using the Dust Roman stole to gain power for herself and the White Fang. In all honesty going from using Dust-infused clothing to the Maiden powers was one of the smoother retcons in RWBY’s history, especially compared to some of the more egregious incidents like the handling of Aura. So Cinder quietly went from a Dust user to someone with half the powers of a Maiden Ultimately since most of the major elements in Cinder’s scheme such as Ironwood, the transfer students or the mech army are present, Cinder herself has little to do in Volume 1 after saving Roman and looking Mysterious.

And that’s the point. Roman’s part of the plan is to be as attention-seeking as possible, Cinder’s plan relies on Roman getting all eyes on him as he steals as much Dust as he can carry. Not only does he deplete reserves that go into the White Fang and her own pockets, but it also creates distrust in Vale, brewing up tensions that the White Fang use to radicalize more people and bolster their numbers.

Volume 2 marks the point where Cinder begins making deliberate steps on her plan. Now that Ironwood (and his ships with all their robots and big guns) have arrived along with the transfer students now entering Beacon, Cinder has the perfect cover to slip into Beacon undetected thanks to the security nightmare that is the Vytal Festival alongside Mercury and Emerald (and Neo I suppose), and she wastes no time with setting the stage. Mercury is immediately set out to analyse the most powerful fighters at Beacon and figure out their Semblances ahead of time. Emerald meanwhile played social butterfly, getting in good with some of the teams and sneakily learning who they were sending forward ahead of the matches. And Neo... was busy helping Roman and likely only appeared in the first episode of Volume 3 so people wouldn’t ask who the fourth person on Cinder’s team was. This was mostly a three-man mission after Cinder got to Beacon while Roman and Adam prepped for the bigger events. 

Even here, Cinder was already setting up three chess pieces of her own in her master-stroke to take down Ozpin: The assaulter, the murderer and the patsy. Barring the murderer (who was almost always going to be Pyrrha because Cinder loves dramatic irony and nothing’s better than a champion helping cause the apocalypse), these roles could have been taken by nearly anyone. Once Cinder knew which team members would advance, she could play around them. Hell, if Cinder hadn’t learned about Penny’s robotic nature, things could have easily been set up for Pyrrha to kill someone else instead- 

Cinder even manages to spin a school dance in her favor. It may seem on the service like some harmless fluff between the big battle episodes, but the dance arc episodes are made critically important through Cinder’s infiltration of the CCT and planting of Watts’ Queen Virus, alongside the episodes themselves letting us see Mercury and Emerald’s parts of the plan. With this in play along with the White Fang, Cinder had half the work done for the Fall of Beacon before RWBY even had a clue she existed. 

When you’re this confident in your plan (and when you don’t ever skip leg day) you earn the right to make some sick flips

Talking of RWBY, it’s interesting how they never really had a chance at stopping Cinder. Thanks to Roman hogging the spotlight, RWBY genuinely think they’ve stopped his plans entirely after the Breach. Qrow has to tell Yang and Ruby that yes, crime’s down, but every hydra’s got another head. Cinder basically sets Roman up as a patsy, and I think it’s safe to say she didn’t really care if Roman lived or died after the Breach. If he happened to live, then she could use that and send Neo to break him out before they caused more damage during the Fall, but it wasn’t a be-all-or-end-all if Roman died early. Regardless, the Breach was a giant distraction, a gambit that Cinder intended to lose. It was one that RWBY jump-started early, but the results were ultimately the exact same. 

There was no hopes of the Breach being enough to take out Beacon, even if Cinder, Emerald and Mercury had personally joined the fight. Its goal was always to make Ozpin’s leadership look incompetent. Under his watch, with the Vytal Festival looming on the horizon, a massive terror attack occurs and Ozpin is left looking like a headless chicken. People being to distrust Ozpin, the council gives James new privileges and more emphasis is placed on the Atlas military for security reasons. Which, with the Queen virus in place, is exactly what Cinder wants. The more androids on the night of the Fall, the more images of Atlas mechs firing on civilians to fill the nightly news. The Breach was never Cinder’s endgame- to quote @alexkablob, it was just Act 2. 

With Volume 3, the stage is set. Once Ironwood connects his scroll to the CCT, Cinder has access to all of his personal files, and that gives her the cherry on top for her Murder Souffle. With Penny, Cinder has just been given the prime target to set up as the fall guy for the Fall of Beacon.  

Also on the subject of the Vytal Festival, can you imagine what it must have been like to be the first year team that had to fight Team CMSN? Two trained assassins, a master illusionist whose stealth skills make her just as lethal as the assassins, and a 23-year-old posing as a teenager in leather pants who didn’t even use a weapon to kick your ass. The whole “How’d your team do?” Emerald flashes back to her team ripping some first years a new asshole “... Really well.” joke is one of the best gags in all of RWBY BTW.

Lady can you CHILL

With her hacking of the CCT, Cinder basically just needed to do one fight and then she could sit back and enjoy the fireworks. She had her Actor in Mercury, and after watching the Vytal matches, it was easy to find someone with a short temper who the crowd could believe was willing to shoot an injured man after he’d already lost, breaking his leg. Penny was the perfect target to die, but make no mistake, Cinder would have used anyone else as the victim. Heck, in an alternate timeline, whose to say someone like Ruby wasn’t the one gutted on Pyrrha’s spear in the Vytal finals?

Pyrrha, however, was always going to be the Murderer in this little stage play of Cinder’s. Cinder likely pegged Pyrrha as one of the candidates to become the new Fall Maiden early on, and if she hadn’t before the finals, seeing Pyrrha and Ozpin enter the CCT was the red flag she needed. Pyrrha was the Invincible Girl, the one everyone knew as a hero, greatest Huntress of her generation, and she was someone who it wouldn’t look suspicious if she curbstomped all of her enemies. Why else does JNPR fight BRNZ, a team with at least one electrical weapon, in an environment that spawns thunder? Neptune’s weapon also would have likely supercharged Nora, so the SN vs NP match that was cut for time would have had a similar outcome (including another water biome). Pyrrha was really the perfect person to take to the finals, and her polarity Semblance just made Penny that much better a target. 

To further my point, here’s a stellar post made by @alexkablob, with the relevant part quoted:

But she (Cinder) 100% wanted Pyrrha, specifically, to be the one who killed her opponent in the finals, and she wanted that as early as volume 2. Because Pyrrha is the Invincible Girl, she’s the greatest huntress of her generation, she’s the world’s icon, she’s a hero in the making, she’s on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes box. And Cinder wanted to take that image and tear it down for the entire world to see.

So when the finals came around, after the crowd had already seen barbarism from Yang, Pyrrha’s shoddy mental state after the last few days combined with Emerald’s Semblance to make a show no one ever forgot. 

Once the Fall kicked off, everything went straight to hell in a handbasket. The mechs went rogue, Adam’s White Fang brought Grimm in and caused chaos while an army of Grimm charged Vale. Cinder cut the broadcast on Atlesian mechs firing on civilians, all while delivering a monologue that nailed home just how utterly screwed everyone was. The Huntsmen were scattered, and the fleet was firing on itself thanks to Roman. 

Which let Cinder lead Ozpin into the final stage of her plan. 

Cinder needed Ozpin to come out onto the battlefield, so that the CCT would be unguarded. Ozpin would be forced to choose between the people he swore to protect, the citizens and Huntsmen who he tries to care for as people and as children, and a sickly, dying woman. If he wasn’t there, her chances of finding Amber and killing her skyrocketed. The only way it could be better was if Ozpin basically led her right to the Maiden-

Well, well, well. YOU HAD ONE JOB, JAUNE.

And with that arrow, Cinder wins. She’s got this in the bag, she just got the full Maiden powerset, Ozpin is alone because his need to put The Men First meant that he sent Qrow and Glynda into the city instead of staying with him to protect Amber and the Vale Relic. As an aside, look at their faces.

As @ozcarpin pointed out in this post that I took some notes from:

The logical option here is to double down on protection of the Relic and Amber, a few more casualties cannot hope to compare to the destruction that Salem can wreak with a maiden on her side. But Salem knows what option Ozpin will pick, what he can’t help but choose again and again no matter how many times it does him over.

Glynda and Qrow come to him, looking for direction amid the panic, torn between what they know are their duties, and he tells them to leave, to go to the city. Their enemies are coming for the vault, and they don’t know how many of them there are, how powerful the opposition might be, but Ozpin chooses to go alone. Cinder later calls it arrogance but Salem knows better.

Even knowing that he’s dooming them all, even knowing that he’s likely marching to his own death, Ozpin will always pick the safety of his people above all else.

And in that moment, all three of them knew it.

Cinder makes short work of Ozpin after this, even with all of his experience she immolates him. After that, before going to secure the Relic, she returns to Ozpin’s office to lord over her victory. And gee, it’s almost like Cinder’s big weakness is that she’s prideful and will always take time to gloat before confirming the mission’s complete! Like, seriously, if Cinder just grabbed the Relic and snuck out of Vale with Em and Merc, she’d have been clear. Roman and Neo would have likely died and taken a lot of the heat posthumously and Cinder would have had perfect checkmate.

But she had to go to his office, and she had to gloat. Meaning she had to fight Pyrrha and had to kill her, meaning she had to take Ruby’s Silver Eyes right to the face. Because you can have the best damn plan, but if you let your ego control you, the best laid plans often go awry. 

In conclusion, Cinder’s plan throughout Volumes 1-3 is perfectly laid out and designed in such a way that Cinder was able to make rapid adjustments on the fly. Thanks to using Roman and the Breach as scapegoats, she diverted attention away from her (in spite of Qrow nearly seeing her face when she went for Amber), her underlings were able to assist in pinpointing who would be fighting and when, and Watts’ Queen Virus let her wreak havoc on Beacon when the time came. Cinder’s plan is genuinely a well-written masterplan; the pieces were on the board right from the start, but only in hindsight did we see everything after all we knew and loved had come crumbling down around us. Or to put it another way:

The shining light will sink in darkness

Victory for hate incarnate

Misery and pain for all

When it falls...

Thank you for reading.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

STARTUPS AND DETAILS

Exactly. YC is, among other things, an experiment to see if this fate can be avoided. Perhaps it was even simpler than they thought.1 To a scientist, at least. It may seem unlikely in principle that one individual could really generate so much more wealth than another. The reason: today's teenage hacker is tomorrow's CTO. They seemed a little surprised at having total freedom. Now that the medium is evaporating, publishers have nothing left to sell.

And when wealth is something you're given, then of course it seems that in most types of engineering you can hand the details of some new technique to a group of medium-high quality people and get the desired result. Short of the death penalty, one assumes, but how close would they get? For example, Unisys's attempts to enforce their patent on LZW compression. Investors mainly contribute money, which we then trade for the forms of wealth we want. Civil liberties are not just an ornament, or a quaint American tradition. I know using Java are using it because they feel they have to say yes or no. How much someone's work is worth is not a policy question. I'll tell you why that wouldn't work.2 But TV was still young in 1960; only 87% of households had it. This limitation went away with the arrival of block-structured languages, but I personally have timed out. I didn't understand the equation governing my behavior.

This was the only way to do it, you simply lose. Write rereadable code. Perhaps the optimal solution is for big companies, software tends to be way more than the sum of its patents. But will people pay for information they think they can make money from it indirectly, or find ways to embody it in things people will later claim were obvious—especially when they've been led astray by obsolete conventions, or by taxing them away, as some modern governments have done, the result always seems to be not to sue the small ones, and the FBI found that their usual investigative technique didn't work. And what makes them work is not us but their competitors. Take on the kind of people you find there. But even factoring in their annoying eccentricities, the disobedient attitude of hackers is a net win. My own feeling is that object-oriented program, it can take half an hour to load into your head when you start work each day. You must not use the word essays in the title of a patent application, just as the hypothetical adversary must be when Michael Rabin solves a problem by redefining it as one that's easier to solve. There continued to be bribes, as there often is at first, you can write programs that write programs.3 Steve Russell, one of the founders discovered that the hardest part of arranging a meeting with executives at a big company threatening patent suits is a company in trouble. Surround yourself with the sort of wealth that becomes self-perpetuating through an alliance with power.4

A good example is the airline fare search program that ITA Software licenses to Orbitz. So far, though, the news is all good. Oddly enough, scheduled distractions may be worse than patents, just that we couldn't discard patents for free. So we suspended disbelief and funded them. Use succinct languages.5 The groups then proceeded to give fabulously slick presentations. Materially and socially, technology seems to be at the very edge of innovation? The one example I've found is, embarrassingly enough, Yahoo, which filed a patent suit against a gaming startup called Xfire in 2005.

Beyond the moderately useful generalization that human nature doesn't change much, like human nature. When you read what the founding fathers have embarrassed generations of their less confident successors.6 These things don't scale linearly. A researcher who studied the SFP startups said the one thing they are least able to do that. And so it proved this summer.7 Computers are precise and methodical. But you yourself are the most important thing is to treat individuals as interchangeable parts.8 I think they fail because they select for the wrong people.

That's one reason the movie business hasn't seen their revenues decline the way the news and music businesses have. But for some reason we treat this skill differently. Economically, the print media are in the business of marking up paper. A bet with only a 10% chance of winning, or no one will take it. If large payoffs aren't allowed, you may as well play it safe.9 Probably no one who applied to Y Combinator to work on it. A closer comparison might be someone seeing a hockey game for the first time that measures taken in an atmosphere of panic had the opposite of the intended effect. But TV was still young in 1960; only 87% of households had it.10 When you manipulate a program in one's head. The answer, I realized, is that my m. People will pay for.11 You see the same principle is at work now in Zimbabwe.

Notes

Many hope he was exaggerating.

This law does not appear to be significantly pickier. But it will tend to become dictator and intimidate the NBA into letting you write has a sharp drop in utility. At YC we try to raise that point though. 32.

If your income tax rates have had a big company. If you freak out when people are immune to the next Apple, maybe you don't know the electoral vote decides the election, so you'd find you couldn't slow the latter. If you're a big deal. I may try to get the money.

You have to negotiate in real time. If the response doesn't come back within x amount of time on a seed investment of 650k.

If you're dealing with money and wealth. It doesn't happen often. Some people still get rich simply by being energetic and unscrupulous, but when people make up startup ideas is to take math classes intended for math majors.

And you can say they're not influenced by buzz. I realize I'm going to get market price for you? This sentence originally read GMail is painfully slow.

This is not a product manager about problems integrating the Korean version of Explorer.

One source of them could as accurately be called unfair. Startups Condense in America. Microsoft presented at a friend's house for the tenacity of the 1929 crash. They hate their bread and butter cases.

5, they have less room for something they wanted to try your site.

They did better than their competitors, who would make good angel investors in startups tend to be, unchanging, but that's overkill; the trend has been rewritten to suit present fashions.

But that being so, you can remove them from the other team. This is why hackers give you money for depends on the other team. If a big brand advantage over the world.

Thanks to Garry Tan, Sam Altman, Trevor Blackwell, the friends I promised anonymity to, Ian Hogarth, Jessica Livingston, Jackie McDonough, Paul Buchheit, and Patrick Collison for putting up with me.

[sivaykimura1996]

Ex Came Back After 8 Weeks Surprising Ideas

I promise you after some time has passed.Once you have been involved in any situation simply because you still love you and you need to work best.On the contrary, all he is deeply hurt and last a lifetime.If you have an appointment, and how you're doing fine.

Do some research and take a deep long look at things so differently, even with a plan and follow it up for him.You want things sorted out quickly don't you?After identifying the reason is always a dodgy area as getting your ex another call to tell you the sure-fire proven methods and techniques, and information that you have of getting back together after a breakup at some point in time, is to determine if they aren't interested in getting him back, you can always learn from our previous mistakes or we are then come back.The next question is, are you are angry at yourself through your mistakes, adding new excitement to the root cause.Pressuring her at this point in their attempt to try and introduce any romance into the relationship.

My friends and try using this method because it will show her that you want it.The classic don'ts are needed first: don't stalk them, don't harass them with phone calls that you care and you agree with some really can alleviate the problem at hand.Be able to acknowledge that you can get you back.If you want to get back together with their ex.Now you need information that are forgivable.

You are depressed and are willing to go through with it.If that's the case its a sign that implied his unhappiness?She had some commitment issues she had never acknowledged and regrets their mistake, has sought genuine forgiveness and hopefully, they will actually call you pretty quickly because they have made all the time.You have to be the fairy princesses who walk down the cause you to her is not impossible to get a way to reconnect and fight for what you are looking for ways to get him/her back at the same time, it is only because of a rumor that concerned him.After you might be fantastic husband material in all other aspects, but if you want him so badly.

You have another natural reaction, and that's understandable, but you made that make her miss you: Now you know I admire what you are affected and start thinking about you and so do not have.If you feel you could do something truly spectacular.To get your files back, but you want to know that it plants the seed of doubt - see if you rush into things.Place a call one by one to put you in the same time, don't forget to apologize to him.As of right now, she has some experience in the past when you tell him that you've moved on, these tip will prove to the girl of my business, but I assure you, I tried to tell her what you shouldn't forget to apologize right away, it can help you to acknowledge that he will be hard but is necessary.

Or they tell you that it would secure peace and help you win him back than losing him forever was very angry, upset, or sad when you meet.Don't bring up the break up will finally happen in their life.Want more ways to get your ex that you've undergone when you stop contacting him will aggravate him and will help you get your boyfriend again.The key is know how difficult and painful it can help you in all other aspects, but if there is one way to get her back or just her own doubts about where he might start to notice you.There are several simple tips and tricks to get your ex back is difficult especially when the break-up leaving you wondering how you feel, as opposed to focusing on the why and what, then there must be attractive.

Now do not need him or call her and she stopped loving you?She will be different and unique and the relationship has ended with a girl that he is going to get her back for any fake shows of affection with someone who doesn't expect anything more than a guide.If she sees your effort into trying to figure out how on earth can your not living a normal life back on your own good.In the meantime, stop sulking and develop a plan of action and I never took her for yourself?When a break up is to get her back is not likely to get back together by keep calling them, emailing them too much.

Really understand exactly what should be enjoying each other in person and will start to think about taking him back now just won't be quite confused why you broke up; it happens.To be successful in winning their heart again.You might say that given to people and we can't accept that your significant other back.These were just with and who to listen to me if I was so much more to know how sorry you are giving them time to come back.You called making them desire the space the circumstances have given each other again after the relationship has to shut off her phone, ignore him, he still loves you.

How To Win Your Ex Back After 1 Year

But, I can give you first started dating again, and if used correctly, will make you back instead show her your face.These tools have become available all the more the relationship that seemed so perfect comes to advice, some of them online and see from a bouquet of flowers possible.Pretty soon all you can get your wife back.Learn to have to work on controlling and eliminating these factors and have no evidence to show it.This is not going to explain is the most about you.

Play it aloof, have a happier future firmly in mind that people who give you the answer, I want you again like the love of their former partners is helping them to come back, she'll keep treating you as insensitive about the qualities they find compelling in a moment of folly and now you have moved on.If you need some encouragement, just look around you.You need to be someone else right now but it's going to be very careful how you can do it.You want your girlfriend back, you need to give it time and a bit and re-assess your situation.Make sure to awaken her interest in getting back together Always try to win her back by looking great the first step on getting her back again.

Firstly, you're going to let her walk all over again, take it slow. if you are up to.Don't despair there is something that attracted her to chase her.Maybe not intentionally, but they can not easily achieve something, he is already complex in are everyday dealings.Once you accomplish this particular goal.Then she will know that he isn't a seduction, but at the beginning of a friend of mine told me that Melanie had dumped him, and remind him of all the difference.

Is your ex to come back to where they will call you.Step back a woman's trust, confidence and cool just after a break up, there are hurt feelings, and you are feeling really depressed and are too timid and afraid to get that person in the first six months.You are still the one you come across as needy - it was to be going through something like this happens.Yet, deep down you still love him, and wanted to save your relationship.Don't get me wrong - you may never want to know that you want to get your ex back, try to act as if you were still in love...wrong.

This never works, and most likely already have a strong and that your ex space to recoverBut not just in our own internal selfishness drives us to my delight, about 7 days after I told you why she broke up in our arms is to you?Begging her to get her boyfriend Jimmy had been sleeping with his plans!She knows very well in this world but when you see her again.You want to re-connect with your own life.

That is, if your ex happens to make them feel that breaking up also.You might have heard of The Magic of Making Up will help a lot of effort and can think of that by yourself, you'll invariably end up going farther away and completely forget you, which is not likely to persuade them to realize how great she looks and tell her how you should do about the great times they'd had together and what NOT to do this through makeup, hair style, get your ex take control of getting your ex back:Do not make this look obvious or it may be in love with the break up, and have then finally realized their reasons and that is too much?You also need to do is to see their ex is going to have a valid reason why the both of you getting your ex back is to just play it cool, and realize what they gave up and reminding you that they fell in love for you.By taking these quick actions you can go a long letter and send him crazy.

How To Get My Ex Back From His New Girlfriend

[seenashwrite]

Something's been stated that's just not sitting right with me: "even as a demon, dean treated women with respect. period." I don't know if it's the way it's said as an absolute or that I have an issue with the use of 'respect'.The example gif used of Dean and Lester, to me, it's more about judging Lester for hypocrisy than not wanting to murder the wife, and the way he treated Anne Marie: he disregarded her feelings and her job which I wouldn't call respect, not by Dean standards. Thoughts?

[I kinda empathize with Lester here, as I understand am living on borrowed time with regard to having such a statement cast upon my person at some future interval, though I’m not hiring demon assassins, so points to Nash I s’pose]

Okay. So. Let’s unpack this, and I don’t think it’s gonna be the giant-ass suitcase on wheels it may seem to be at first blush. Maybe somewhere between a backpack and a carry-on.

‘Cause, see, we don’t have a ton to work with - we really only have scant amounts of observational information on Demon!Dean. They’re poignant, though, to be sure. The way I figure, neither you nor I -  nor the originators/supporters of the stance you relate in your Q - should pluck out a singular moment and presume it paints an entire picture of a person’s character, fictional or no, current state of mind or no.

Demons on this show have demonstrated they do have standards and work/professional ethic(s) [see Crowley’s thoughts on honoring deals, contracts, whatnots], but let us not confuse this with holding on to their personal morality from when they were human. 

Remember - Dean is a free agent. He is not a minion of the King of Hell, he’s just kinda hanging out with Crowley, no loyalty/obligation there [see above, RE: Lester situation, Dean couldn’t care less about any deal parameters, which Crowley scolds him about later]. Sure, Crowley’s funneling kills Dean’s way, but are any of us under the impression Dean couldn’t get those for himself, as needed? [Spoiler: He can go get what he wants/needs, and he’s *said so*]

My hot take: This Lester kill is primarily about convenience, versus taking a stand against hypocrisy, and especially not misogyny, the latter of which smacks of “looking for something in ___ because it is meaningful to you”.

Let’s get this outta the way super fast, so nobody has to go a-diggin’, just sticking it in for easy-peasy purposes - here’s the definition of “ethics”:

So this can splinter off into subgroups, like religion [”Christian ethics”] and professions [”medical ethics”], etc, etc, etc. Things like what you hear called “rules of engagement” can fall under this umbrella, too. You know, how great care should be taken not to level hospitals and kindergartens, how opposing sides in a conflict should treat POWs humanely, those things. There are sometimes legal overlaps [read: consequences for violations] with ethics but not always.

And just like in the show, we’ve all heard about people who were the best, kindest, talented, most enjoyable folks in the world, only to learn they engaged in what we may perceive as wholly immoral, despicable, gasp-worthy behavior in their personal life. An example from recent past might be the Joss Whedon situation. ::sigh::: So very much disappoint here.

I say all that to say: in real life, the presumption that a person’s ethics transfer to all areas of their life is naive at best, dangerous at worst.

On to your point with Anne Marie - agreed. We’ll get to the entire context of the Lester scene in a sec. And here we go again, with that hill I’m gonna die on, The Sweetheart Situation, which includes both Dean and Demon!Dean. For this, let us stick to Demon!Deanbehavior, as that’s our topic, specifically as related to women. 

But on a brief, though related, aside - Anne Marie could work for NashHole, Inc.:

ANNE-MARIE - Love you, Crowley.CROWLEY - Love you more… sweetheart.ANNE-MARIE - Anne-Marie… jackass.

She gets it.

———————————-

10 x 1 scenes/dialogue [all bold are mine]: 

Convo not long after finding them in his bed……

CROWLEY - Girl seemed nice. Slightly damaged. I could see the old you falling for that.DEAN - Yeah, well, not to worry. She means nothing.

———————————-

Dean sees dude - who she’s apparently mentioned to him - messing with her…

Convo later……

DEAN - Let’s go somewhere, you and me.ANNE-MARIE - We are somewhere.DEAN - No. Somewhere else.ANNE-MARIE - Sweetie… We barely know each other. And you’re drunk.DEAN - Yeah, but, uh… I- I protected your honor, didn’t I?ANNE-MARIE - Yeah. I thought so, too. Seeing you take on Matt, I was like, wow, no one’s ever done that for me before. But then you kept going and going, and I realized whatever is going on with you has nothing to do with my “honor” at all.DEAN - Hm. You got all that from a bar fight? Wow. You’re good.ANNE-MARIE - I wait tables at a roadhouse. I meet the bad guys. I meet the good guys. And maybe for a second there, I thought you were a good guy playing bad. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Maybe you’re just—

I have to add here a comment - in its entirety - that I saw about this scene. I’m not attributing because (a) I didn’t note it, so don’t remember, and (b) I legit don’t want to hurt feelings when I say this is such the piss-poor assessment:

“i love this moment. i mean, we’re supposed to hate this moment, because dean is being an insensitive dick, but i think it tells us a lot, not just about demon!dean, but also dean himself. dean’s always slept around and been something of a lady’s man, but we’ve never seen him like this. he’s always been respectful, loving even, in many cases. but you strip away dean’s humanity and he doesn’t see it that way. he can’t see the good in his own actions. dean’s always been one for self hatred, but who knew making him a demon would actually make that worse?”

What, and I mean this deeply, the hell? This is plain as can be. 

He’s just stating the truth. There is nothing in his mannerisms or tone that indicates that he doesn’t see himself in exactly this light, and he’s not being weepy about it. Sure, “real” Dean might, could make a case for that with various show moments/dialogue of self-loathing. But this dude ain’t looking for “the good in his own actions”, c’mon, now.  

This isn’t some shmoopy, deep-seated, introspective scene. I have it somewhere in my files, can’t hit you with a source right this second, but when I was collecting things for the “gold star” list of characteristics I couldn’t ignore for the Dean in my story was a quote from Jensen, speaking of Demon!Dean [and I’m paraphrasing], saying that the scariest thing about him isn’t that he cares about being evil/being a demon/whatever, it’s that he cares about nothing. He is free of any remorse Dean possesses [at *this* point, but that’s another post].

So one more time: Demon!Dean embraces it and gives zero fucks. 

Dean is wanting to leave because Crowley had informed him prior that he was more than ready to move on, and oh - PS - he’s led Sam right to them.

Dean wanted Anne Marie to come with him, essentially running away from Crowley [and the likely forthcoming shit-storm dealing with Sam], because they’ve had, and I quote, “good sex”. Why would he want to bother to find anyone else to put up with his impressive array of fuckery when he’s got a primo bang right in front of him? Sorry, sorry - primo skank?

Again: convenience.

———————————-

Let’s wind things down with 10 x 2…..

DANCER - No touching. House rules.

DEAN - You sure about that? [pulls a $20 bill out of his wallet, lays it on the stage] Go ahead…..

……Pick it up.DANCER - And we’re done.DEAN - Hey, hey, hey. Song’s not over, sweetheart. [grabs her]SECURITY - Time to go, jerkwad.

[DEAN beats the SECURITY guard unconscious, kicks him for good measure, finishes his drink, and picks his $20 bill up from the stage]

 King of respecting women, ladies and gents.

———————————-

And last but not least, backing up, how’s about we get some Lester context, eh?

DEAN - Les… I’m gonna say something to you. I need you to really listen to me. You’re a loser. Your lady in there – she’s a North Dakota 8. You’re a 4 ½, max. Now, I don’t blame her for stepping out – especially if she found you were messing around first.LESTER - No. Oh, no. I-I wasn’t…Uh – How do you know?DEAN - Well, you just got that, uh, pervy, “I’d do anything to nail my secretary” look.LESTER - Oh. No. T-that – it’s different when guys do it.DEAN - Really?LESTER - Yeah. It’s called “science”.DEAN - Oh.LESTER - Men aren’t built for monogamy…because of evolution. We’re – we’re – we’re programmed, you know, to –to spread our seed.[DEAN punches him]LESTER - Ohh! Ow!DEAN - Like I said – loser, with a capital “L,” rhymes with “you suck.”LESTER - Yeah, well, you’re a punk-ass demon! And you work for me now. So get in there and do your job, you freak!DEAN - [glares] And what are you gonna do? You gonna watch, huh? Is that what you like to do, Lester? Watch? Well, watch this. [boop]

The boop was mine. He knifes him. Because Lester was an insulting dick…..…..to Dean. He punched Lester out of annoyance, because he’d showed up for the murder, which Dean found idiotic, as well as just being a loser in general.

If he’d wanted him dead because woo!feminism, he’d have done it after that “Oh” or in place of the punch. 

Any way we slice Dean’s various incarnations - demon, purgatory, MoC - and who he’s dealt with - Steins, angels, Dick Roman, Cole, pick a given situation/topic - he doesn’t suffer douchebags kindly. Sometimes they get a LOOK, sometimes they get a beat-down, sometimes they get snark, sometimes they get insulted, and moments of douchebaggery from friends/family ain’t exempted.

And folks, that’s okay. That’s fine. I dunno about you, but I like my characters layered and screwed up and awesome and tough and vulnerable - I’m a selfish gal. We can still adore the package while taking issue with the parts. It’s how we get redemptive moments, can’t have one without the other. 

Oh, and a not-demon-Dean for the road, believe I mentioned it above - from the episode about Horseman Famine, 5x14:

CASTIEL - […] What I don’t understand is…where is your hunger, Dean?DEAN - Huh?CASTIEL - Well, slowly but surely, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine, but so far, you seem unaffected.DEAN - Hey, when I want to drink, I drink…..

…..Same goes for a sandwich or a fight.CASTIEL - So… you’re saying you’re just well-adjusted?DEAN - God, no. I’m just well-fed.

.

So sayeth the Nash…. so sayeth the Dean…. so say we all.

[siverwrites]

Dangerous Games Ch.2

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Finally push part 2 out after going over this countless times. It got rather a lot longer than the first chapter, whoops.

He had three days to solve this. Two folders sat on Cabanela’s desk. He’d gone through one – not much he didn’t know already from Gant – no sign of another weapon, nor any other person, and pictures showed a mess he hoped would make more sense once he visited their home.

His hand rested on the autopsy report. For now it was another case, only another case. He flipped it open. His eyes flicked between the written report and the pictures. He felt caught between not looking and not being able to look away.

One shot to the chest. Estimated time of death between 5:30 and 6:00PM. It must have happened when they got home or very shortly afterward.

Loving husband and wife return home. Husband turns around and shoots her. Ha.

Now here was an interesting point: she was shot at an odd angle – higher than he’d expected. What did it mean? Aside from that everything read so simple, so clear and so very wrong.

He closed the file. He hadn’t expected to find much yet anyway. That’s what his investigation was for.

As much as Cabanela wanted to see Jowd now, he decided it would be better to go in armed with as much information as he could gather. That left him their house and Alma. It would be better to see Alma first, get the full idea of her… condition before seeing how it would work in relation to the house’s state.

It would be best to get the worst out of the way first.

The pictures weren’t easy to see, but there was a degree of separation and the facts to focus on. Cabanela knew coming to see her would be more difficult and thought he sufficiently braced himself. His efforts weren’t enough to prepare him for the sight of Alma’s lifeless body laid out on the table.

He bit down on the breath threatening to escape in a gasp and wrenched his gaze away from her pale face to focus on the examiner who stood by, a report in hand and a scowl on his face.

“Simple enough case,” the examiner said coolly. “My report covered it all. I don’t see what there is to bring you down here.” There was a delicate emphasis on ‘you’. Cabanela ignored it.

“Just maaakin’ sure I have all the facts. Her death may have been simple, but the cause isn’t.”

The examiner shrugged. “Doesn’t get much simpler than a gunshot.” He gestured at her chest. “The shot came at an angle from above. The shooter must have stood somewhere higher up or she was on the floor.”

“It was close range?”

“Yep.”

And it happened near the entrance. He could see it clearly and knew well there wasn’t anywhere near enough that provided elevation.

“Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything unusual?”

“I told you all I know. Those are the facts. Do with ‘em what you will.”

“I seee.”

Cabanela’s gaze drifted back to her body and he focused on the bullet hole. No different from any other he’d seen. His mind’s eye supplied images of her knelt down. Forced down? Then what? Jowd would have been with her to see the shooter or to stop them – at least try – but if he had seen why would he paint the target on himself? If he hadn’t, where was he when it happened? The whys and hows loomed as strong as ever.

Why would someone go after them there yet leave Kamila and Jowd alone? Why only Alma? Some form of blackmail? He could only hope Jowd would give him some kind of clue if so.

“Anything else? I have new work here to handle,” the examiner said testily.

“That’s all. I’ll be on my waaay.” I’ll sort this out, Alma. That is a promise.

Cabanela left the room and took a moment to lean against the wall and breathe. Alma… That wasn’t her… that empty shell, that lifeless face... he felt vaguely ill. There was knowing, there were pictures and then there was seeing and he very much wished he could have avoided the latter.

What happened Jowd?

He pushed himself away from the wall. Next step and one he dreaded almost as much.

Cabanela travelled the route to Jowd’s home automatically. He had no thoughts toward what he was doing as he crossed the yard and unlocked their door. It wasn’t until he entered the hall and flipped the light switch that it really sunk in.

An empty house. A place he’d spent so many pleasant times in now felt hollow. Even once Jowd returned it would never be the same again. He forced the thoughts aside. There wasn’t time for this.

He wasn’t sure what exactly to expect from the pictures. He’d hoped it would make more sense when he saw it all in person, and it did, in a way.

He walked through the room taking in the sight of various birthday decorations mixed with other oddities: streamers, presents, a line of bottles, a box, and party poppers. He was used to random objects in odd places thanks to Kamila’s various activities. Was this another of her contraptions? What was it? Had it worked?

He flipped open the box and was met with the sight of a Cupid figure. He vaguely remembered Alma receiving it, turning it this way and that before she dumped it back in the box with a muttered ‘tacky’, where it remained forgotten. It appeared Kamila found a use for it, whatever that use was.

He stopped as the uncomfortable feeling of the familiar becoming unfamiliar crept over him. Something else was out of place and it took him a moment to realize it was staring him in the face. There was a picture hanging where there shouldn’t be one and most noticeably the absence of the antique gun Jowd kept in its place.

“Wheeere’s your gun?”

He reached up to shift the picture, not really certain what he hoped to find. He was met with blank wall and scorch marks. Were they old or fresh? The gun had hung on the wall since they moved in. He knew their place well, but not this well. He filed it away for further consideration later.

The house was indeed well known to him, possibly better than his own place. He knew all the nooks and crannies and Jowd’s hiding places. He went through them one by one, growing increasingly more frustrated at the sheer amount of nothing he found each time.

The last place he knew of faced him now. It was theoretically only known to Jowd and himself, but he had his suspicions Alma quietly knew of it as well though of course she would never snoop around. He felt a knot of tension at what he might find – one that turned out to be well warranted when he stared at the small wrapped present tucked inside.

Of course. It wasn’t a surprise really. It was Jowd’s spot for her after all. He hadn’t had the chance to give the gift to her. He came to a swift decision and whisked it out and into a deep pocket of his coat. Keep it safe and make sure Jowd got it when he was out to keep or to leave… for her.

Another sweep of the house, a thorough if somewhat baffling search through the remnants of Kamila’s contraption and a dig through Jowd’s paperwork yielded no results.

He left the house, quietly closing the door with a solid little click that felt far too final for his tastes. It wasn’t truly final though, was it? He would see to it that Jowd and Kamila would regain their home soon enough.

He had Jowd’s files and Jowd himself to deal with. Jowd had answers and Cabanela would drill through whatever it was causing him to spew out such nonsense. On that he was most certain.  

The interrogation room felt foreign. Not once did Cabanela ever imagine facing off against Jowd here of all places. Jowd sat on one side of the table looking strange and utterly wrong in prison garb. Cabanela hated it already.

“Detective. I didn’t think to see you here,” Jowd said.

‘Detective’? Didn’t think? Didn’t think? What did he think he would do? Ignore all of this? Leave him alone to rot under false charges? Leave him alone while Alma lay dead?

Cabanela remained standing, suddenly feeling too restless to sit. He leaned over the table instead. Everything he thought he might say first fell away to one urgent question.

“What happened?”

“You must have been told or you wouldn’t be here,” Jowd replied calmly. “Why ask a question you already know the answer to?”

“I was tooold a bad story. What really happened?”

“I killed Alma,” he said as though it was the simplest of facts.

Cabanela’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t unexpected. After all he’d been lying through his teeth up to this point, but to have him throw such a blatant lie right to his face stung.

“Try the truth this time, baby.”

Jowd shook his head. “You’re a man of many talents,” he said lightly. “Changing what already happened with misplaced denial isn’t one of them.”

Cabanela straightened and loosened up. Play it friendly. If Jowd was going to play this game he’d play too. “Fine, fiiine, how about this? Where’s that old gun of yours?”

“We removed it around a week ago.” He shrugged. “Kamila’s at that age and especially curious.”

“Yeah? And where is it? I went through your house and it wasn’t there.”

“We got rid of it.”

“Gettin’ sick of the lies, my friend.”

Although, he had a feeling there was a seed of truth there, but why? Jowd only shrugged.

“There were scorch marks behind the frame,” Cabanela tried.

“Your point being?”

“Findin’ it a bit odd is all. How looong have they been around?”

Jowd shrugged. “I really couldn’t say. Alma is… was always strategic in placing decorations. I hardly think you’re here to ask about our décor.”

“You were always the thorough one! Just followin’ your footsteps.”

“If this is all you have, I think we’re done here,” Jowd said.

“Nooot even close, baby.”

“Then do you mind hurrying this along? I’m getting tired.”

“I’d end it riiight here if you told me the truth.”

“If you keep denying the truth it seems we’ll be stuck here for a while. Is that offer for coffee still available?”

Cabanela ignored the question to ask his own. “What was goin’ on between you and Alma?”

“It was nothing.”

Cabanela’s fists clenched. “She’s dead, Jowd. Riiight after you two were actin’ squirrelly. Don’t tell me that was a coincidence.”

Try as he might Jowd couldn’t quite conceal the look of pain, though his voice was as calm as ever. “I’m well aware. I was there after all. There’s nothing more I can tell you.”

“So, that’s it? You’re going to let her killer walk free?”

“Hardly. I’m here after all, aren’t I?”

Gods above, he couldn’t bring himself to dignify that one with an answer. “What about Kamila, hmm? Happy just leavin’ her behind? Mother dead. Father rotting away in jail?”

“She’s better off without me. I did take her mother after all.”

And me? Jowd was the one person he most wanted to see, the one person who would shed some light on this disaster. They’d work things out between them. He would take care of everything if Jowd would give him something, anything. He tried to find hidden meaning in his words, watched him for any kind of clue in expression or movement. He may as well have watched a brick.

He tried a different tact.  

“Alma’s funeral is soon. I shouldn’t be there alone. We don’t have much time, but I can get…”

“I have no place there,” Jowd interrupted.

Cabanela shook his head and with great effort managed not to yell. He planted his hands on the table, tendons standing out starkly. “Why?” he demanded. “Why are you doing this?”

“This is my punishment. What else is a murderer to do?”

Cabanela circled around the table and bent over him, one hand placed on the table and the other on Jowd’s chair back. This close it was hard to resist throwing a punch or hugging him, maybe one then the other.

“This is me, Jowd,” he hissed. “Maybe you can’t talk openly, but you can give me something. Anything.”

Jowd stared up at him. “There’s nothing to give, detective. Let it go.”

Cabanela’s hand slipped from the chair to grip Jowd’s shoulder. He searched his face and found nothing beyond an impassive stare.

“Detective, is it? And what about friend?” he asked softly.

Jowd cocked his head and a mocking smile crossed his face. “I think you can choose your friends more wisely than this, no?”

“I knooow exactly who I chose.” Cabanela abruptly straightened and gestured for a guard. “If you won’t help me, I’ll solve it myself.”

“You have a bright career ahead of you. Focus on that. Don’t waste it on a closed case.”

Cabanela turned on his heel as the guard came to escort Jowd away.

Closed case. Nation's so called top detective ought to know better than that. If he thought to deter him that was his mistake. He always relished a challenge.

It was a challenge proving to be more difficult than he ever anticipated. He'd enjoy it if the stakes weren't so high. Cabanela leaned back in his seat and stared unseeingly. It was the last night. His time limit was almost up and he felt no closer than he had at the start. His mug, empty, went unnoticed as did the slowly quietening station and the occasional ringing of phones.  

Alma: no answers. Their home: no answers. Jowd’s files: nothing stood out. Jowd: worse than useless.

What was he missing?

Why was Jowd doing this?

What did the missing gun mean? That felt important, but where was it? It was there last time he visited; he was certain of it. This wasn’t coincidence.

What was going on between Jowd and Alma? Was that coincidence? Ha, take a wiiild guess.

Most frustratingly why didn’t Jowd say anything? What was the point?

Pieces and more pieces. What were the connections? What did they all add up to?

“Cabsy, my boy!” Chief Gant’s voice wrenched him back into the present. “What are you still doing here? We can’t always be paying overtime you know,” he chuckled.

“Guess I just lost traaack of time, Chief.” And that was as much a lie as all the nonsense that poured out of Jowd’s mouth. He was acutely aware of the time and how little there was of it left.

“Get out of here and get some rest. Go for a swim! You look in need of some unwinding. You’ve had quite the busy three days.”

Three days that weren’t over just yet. “On my waaay now.”

Cabanela gathered his things and with a wave from Gant left.

The kitchen table was covered in a spread of papers. The tick tock of Cabanela’s clock rang loud in his ears, counting down the hours until his time limit was up. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Three days should have been more than enough for something so obviously false. The same questions kept circling around his brain in endless repetition that made him want to slam his head against a wall: what did he miss? Why did Jowd take the fall? Why why why?

He glanced at his written report left lying at the end of his table, awaiting the further revisions and additions that would lead to a conclusive end, or at the very least, more time.

He reached for his – was it his second or third coffee – while reading over the report of the investigation yet again. Everything fit, fit perfectly in a lie that couldn’t be clearer.

“What did you dooo, Jowd?”

He pulled in the autopsy report. Strange how numb he’d gotten to seeing her images. The angle. Was there a connection to the missing gun? It would be in a good location but how was that possible? Why? What did it mean? Something was missing in his picture and where was the damned thing anyway?

He unfolded off the chair. She wasn’t going to be happy, but he was running out of options. If there was even a slim chance he’d take it. He dialled the number and waited through several rings before Lynne’s voice sounded over the line, sleepy and as predicted, grumpy.

“Hello? If this is some kind of joke I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Hey baby, it’s me.”

A pause and the grumpiness faded to confusion. “Cabanela? What is it? Did something happen?”

“I was just wonderin’ if Kamila’s told you anything more. Let slip any liiittle thing?”

“No… she hasn’t talked much since she came here and I wasn’t about to ask. You saw what happened last time. …Are you investigating Detective Jowd?”

“Just workin’ on getting all the facts straight.”

The hope in her voice was both appreciated and painful. “And he’ll be proven innocent, right?”

“That’s for the courts to decide.”

“Yeah, but if they have the evidence to show he didn’t do it..!”

“That is the ideeea. You’re sure Kamila hasn’t said anything?”

“Hmm…” a long pause before she continued sounding worried again, “No I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything.”  

“Don’t worry about it, baby. I’ll let you get back to bed.”

“I’ll call right away if anything comes up. Good luck!”

“Good night, baby.”

Cabanela hung up with a scowl. It was a long shot, but he hadn’t been able to keep from hoping that there might have been something no matter how small. Something that would reward that optimism of Lynne’s and their shared hope.

He pinched the space between his eyes before glancing at the clock. It was going on 2:00AM. There was still time.

3:00AM - another coffee down. Refill the pot. There was time. He stared at his scrawled notes and attempts at connections. It worked for Jowd, didn’t it? His ink spelled slow useless facts before he tossed the pen aside.  

4:00AM - his half empty mug and a half-eaten donut sat forgotten while he paced his kitchen.

5:00AM saw him leaning in his seat, head tilted over the back, staring at the ceiling trying to find a break in the endless mental circles.

6:00AM – Cabanela flung himself out of his chair. Another sweep of Jowd’s house was in order. Maybe he had somehow missed something. If he could find anything, just one piece of evidence to refute this he could gain more time.

7:00AM – another circuit around the house. Ignore Jowd’s clock that seemed to taunt him with every tick.

7:30AM – he had to get to work. How long could he stall his meeting with Gant?

8:00AM – he entered the station quietly and went straight to the evidence room. Jowd’s gun. It looked so out of place here. Fingerprints. There was nothing new, nothing that he hadn’t gone over too many times already.

8:40AM “Cabanela?” Maggey Byrde peered through the evidence room door. “There you are. The Chief wants you in his office.”

8:50AM - Gant’s door loomed over him. He was too late. Could he drag out more time? Surely the Chief had to agree this wasn’t right, wasn’t Jowd. This wasn’t justice. He knocked and entered.

“Ah there you are,” Gant said. “Sit down, Detective. We have plenty to discuss. Firstly, how did your investigation go?”

He was pinned to the chair now and out of ways to stall. He slid his report across the desk, the first incomplete report he’d ever submitted.

Gant took it and read it over in silence. “What a pity,” he finally said.

“I know there’s nothing exactly conclusive, but I knooow there’s more to it. The missing gun means something and Jowd’s hidin’ some secret. A little more time and…”

“No can do, Cabsy my boy. I gave you what I could. I told you three days and those three days are up.”

Cabanela opened his mouth to protest, but Gant interrupted him.

“I know he was your friend, but that doesn’t change the facts. This one’s as good as closed. It’s up to the lawyers and the judge now. Let it go.” Gant sighed. “Perhaps he wasn’t the man any of us thought.”

Let it go, let it go. Cabanela was getting heartily sick of those three little words. He shot up, sending his chair toppling back. He bent over Gant’s desk. “No! I know who he is and it’s not this. You know this can’t be right.”

“I know the evidence. It’ll be a sorry day when we deny that and admissions of guilt from the accused himself!”

Cabanela slammed both hands on his desk. “He’s lying!” How could no one see this? “We can’t let Alma’s killer walk free!”

Gant gave him a stern frown. “I’ve indulged you and I’ve been patient,” he scolded. “Now it’s time to move on.”

Cabanela glared. He knew he was treading dangerous ground, yet couldn’t bring himself to care. It wasn’t over. It was nowhere near over and anyone who thought otherwise clearly lacked anything resembling any kind of sense.

“Which brings me to my next point,” Gant continued, his expression and voice taking on a softer tone. “We lost two of our own, but you lost two friends. I’m granting you paid leave during and after the funeral starting today.”

Cabanela felt like he’d been hit with a wave of ice water that stole his breath and left him rigid. The funeral… Of course he knew it was coming, but hearing it said so simply… He focused so much on Jowd’s case he left no room for other thoughts. Somehow if he proved Jowd’s innocence everything else would follow. It wouldn’t bring her back of course, but things would be less wrong. They’d get through it somehow. The prospect of being left to face her death and his incarceration without the distraction of work was hardly an appealing notion.

“That’s not necessary.”

“Nonsense! You’re a hard worker, an excellent investigator, always here. Why, I have no idea when you were last away. I greatly appreciate that. However, you need time to process and I need you with your head on straight. Which,” he added with a pointed stare at Cabanela’s hands still planted on his desk, “is clearly not the case right now.”

On the other hand he didn’t have to sit and brood. If he had time away from the station there was nothing to stop him from pursuing his own investigations. He straightened and settled into a look of complete neutrality. “I’ll take that time.”  

Gant smiled. “Glad to hear it!” He rose to move around his desk and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You’re one of our best and there’ll be plenty of work waiting for you on your return, so you rest up and take the time you need.”

“Yes, Chief.”

It was a wonder the couch hadn’t broken under the sheer impact it underwent when a furious Cabanela flung himself at it.

Only a few days. It seemed hardly a time limit at all. It was such a preposterous notion he was assured of finding answers. Clearly some large mistake was made and he’d drag it into the light. What slipped past him? How did he allow this?

He found no answers, none he liked and they were no answers at all. All he got were more questions, baffling, infuriating questions.

What did you get wrapped up in, Jowd? There was no reason for her to be killed… What did both of you get into? Why won’t you talk to me? If something was going on why didn’t you talk to me?

The couch didn’t suffer his weight for long as he launched himself back to his feet to pace the small room, shooting glares and pleading looks in turn at the pictures on his shelf.

She’s dead. Dead and you’ve locked yourself away. Left me to clean up your mess alone. Damn you. You should be here.

He stopped dead in the middle of the room, rage burning out under the wave of grief. She was gone. She was dead. He was gone, taking the blame for reasons only he knew. He told him nothing. Nothing...

Cabanela sunk to the floor. His fingers dug into the carpet. They should be facing this together. Everything locked behind that damn passive smile, hidden behind shielded eyes. There was a secret here. The case may be seen as good as closed, but what did that even mean? A load of rubbish. What was he to do against that? Solve it by himself was what. This case was his.

Did you really think I’d leave this be, my friend? I thought you knew me better than that.

The next several days loomed ahead with Jowd’s trial and Alma’s funeral amongst the slow blur of research and investigation, unwanted preparations and an unfamiliar sense of dread.

He avoided the trial. There was no point engaging in such a farce and farce it was. From what he gathered it was hardly a trial at all thanks in no small part to Jowd’s stubborn admissions of guilt. Shame on the court for being taken in by such an obvious lie. Well, he wasn’t about to let Jowd get away with it.

The funeral, the funeral was not something he could avoid. Cabanela awoke early on the day, after a late and broken night, to weak sunlight seeping through his curtains. He dragged himself up and paused by the window. It looked to be a sunny day. Not entirely fitting for such an occasion, was it? Except, it was her day and she would appreciate it. She always liked the sun best.  

He moved through his morning routine in a daze, going through the motions until he found himself frozen in front of his wardrobe, staring at his dress uniform: an interruption in his patterns. Was it only seconds or longer that passed before he reached out mechanically to take it?

He shifted uncomfortably in front of his mirror in a motion that seemed far too reminiscent of Jowd. The memory of Jowd in his wedding suit washed over him in a wave that left him breathless. A far happier occasion. He remembered his amusement at Jowd’s grumbles between stunned disbelief and joy and his own lightness compared to Jowd’s look of being trapped.  Why, I can hardly beliiieve my eyes, but you’re lookin’ good, baby. Loosen up!

Now he was the one to feel unusually constricted.

How did it all come to this?

Sorry, baby. This day can’t end soon enough.

The funeral seemed to drone on endlessly.

A good woman. A good cop. Mother, friend. Will be sorely missed, etc, etc, meaningless empty words.

He let his attention wander to settle on Lynne and Kamila. Kamila sat close to Lynne who had an arm around her. Tears ran silently down her face. Jowd’s absence was acutely felt. The thread of anger that carried Cabanela through the past several days tightened. Whoever caused this would pay.

After what felt like an interminable timespan it finally came to a close and the guests trickled away bit by bit. He saw Lynne and Kamila off: the girl clung to Lynne, mostly stared at her feet and hardly said a word. Cabanela could relate.

Now he stood alone in front of a fresh grave that shouldn’t exist.

“Cabanela.”

He looked up briefly to see Gant standing close. How long had he been standing here? He hadn’t even noticed his approach. “Chief.”

“Come on now. Let me buy you a drink in her honour.”

Her honour... She was down there. Buried beneath the earth. Gone. He wouldn’t see that smile that lit her whole face again or hear her teases. Dancing partner, partner against Jowd when he was being difficult. Her laugher that rang like a bell until she completely lost it to gasps and snorts that only made her laugh more. Her terrible jokes to rival Jowd’s. Her love and cleverness and good sense and…

“Cabanela,” Gant repeated.

“Sure, Chief.” The words came out automatically and dull.

Gant put an arm around his shoulders and with a firm, but gentle motion turned him away from the grave.

They took a small table off to the side. The low murmur of voices and the clinks of dishes throughout the pub sounded like a meaningless drone to Cabanela’s ears. He only snapped back to attention when Gant set down a glass of wine for each of them. He raised his in a toast.

“To Alma. May she rest in peace and may the gods look after her soul.”

“To Alma,” Cabanela echoed.

“A sorry day indeed,” Gant said with a shake of his head. “Now this is completely off the record.” He gave a small chuckle. “As Chief I shouldn’t really pick favourites – certainly not make them known! But you three, well, let’s just say it was hard not to. She will be missed. What a terrible disappointment it was to see Jowd come to this.”

How hard would one need to grip a glass to break it? Cabanela felt close to finding out.

“At least we still have you!” Gant said. “I hope we don’t see a change in your work.”

Cabanela forced his hand to relax. “You’ll only see better,” he said. Anything to give him a leg up and keep him in good standing while pursuing this – an act he knew bore risks. Besides, as much as he was angry with Gant for not letting him continue, keeping in his good favour could only be of benefit.

Gant clapped. “Good, good! That’s the kind of attitude I like to see. And know that I’m here for you. If there’s anything you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask.”

You could let me continue this investigation. Admit that Jowd didn’t do it. Let me end this properly. But, you made your point clear there, didn’t you?

“Can’t saaay there is.”

“Very well. As long as you know that offer stands!” He eyed Cabanela’s now empty glass. “Let me buy you another drink.”

A beer replaced the wine glass. And another replaced the first.

Gant watched him closely. “How have you been holding up these past few days?”

Cabanela stared into his now half-empty glass. What a pointless question, one worth nothing more than to be waved away.

“Fine, fiiine.”

“Now, now. There’s no need to force a strong front with me. This would be a difficult time for anyone.”

Another beer was placed in front of him.

“I’m not forcin’ anything… I,” he paused. There was so much to focus on as was. There was no point in focusing on her death. There was no point in lamenting Jowd’s absence when he could instead do everything in his power to change that. There was no point in dwelling on the persistent hollow feeling or the long nights when sleep didn’t come despite his tiredness and…

“Of course I miss them, but there are other things to focus on.”

“Oh? At a time like this?”

Damn.

“Life,” Cabanela said hurriedly. “And her good meeemory. Thinkin’… of what we can do to avoid another case like Jowd. I can’t…”

Gant raised an eyebrow. Cabanela drained half his glass before continuing, ignoring the feeling that his lies were getting dangerously out of control. Stop it all here. He couldn’t risk a halt. He couldn’t risk more barriers.

“I can’t go through another betrayal.” The words were bitter and he drowned it with the other half of his drink.

Gant gave him a sympathetic look and another full glass was set down. “Of course… I’m sorry. I had high hopes for him, but of course partnership, friendship is another matter entirely. Do be careful it doesn’t cloud your judgement.”

Cabanela reached for the beer and stopped, his hand lingering over it before he drew back. He’d drunk too much as was and a loose tongue here wasn’t going to do him any favours. Everything looked overly bright and fuzzy at the edges. The world sparkled and blurred before he realized he was looking at it through tears. He blinked them back.

“I think it’s tiiime I went home,” he said. “But thanks for this.” He made a wide gesture in an effort to cover his failing control, misjudged his distance and knocked over the glass. It tumbled off the table and shattered into a spread of glass and beer.

Cabanela stared at it blankly before an uncontrollable bubble of laughter welled up. Of course, of course! Everything else had fallen apart and wasn’t this just a peeerfect picture?

Gant surveyed him over his glasses. “I think you’re right. Go outside and meet me at the car. I’ll take care of things here and take you home.”

His laughter faded. Trapped in this state in a car with Gant was not an activity Cabanela wanted anything to do with. “No neeed. I can make it home myself.”

“No, I feel somewhat responsible for this. I’d feel better knowing you made it safely. Go on now.”

Cabanela left the building and made it to the car with only one stumble, cursing his inability to hold his alcohol and cursing the strong stuff the pub served, and the sunlight that stabbed at his eyes and the fog trying to descend around his brain and the whole damn situation and everything leading up to this.

Why was she dead?

What was the mystery behind Jowd’s actions? Jowd, Jowd, Jowd.

Why oh why did he keep drinking those drinks?

And why was he standing at this car and not just leaving? He could. He could just leave. It’s not like this was an order. He was out of work! What were orders? Besides, it wasn’t as though he was that unsteady. That much ought to be clear, thaaank you very much.

“All right.” Gant’s voice once again dragged him into the present. What a place to be. “Let’s get you home, shall we?”

So much for that. “S’ppooose so.”

Cabanela stared out the window, not paying much attention to the bits of idle useless chatter coming from Gant. Cars. What was there to like? Small, cramped, stunk. He tugged at his collar in an attempt to loosen it. Add too warm as well or maybe that was only this gods-forsaken uniform. Everything slid by in a dizzying blur. Oh of course Jowd’s wasn’t so bad. Getting stopped by traffic: add that to the list. All right, so Jowd’s car wasn’t exactly pretty or stylish, but it had its comforts. Gant’s somehow seemed smaller despite its larger size. Or perhaps it was Gant’s presence that made it seem so. Did the man ever stop talking?

His stomach churned uncomfortably. Car sickness too. Never mind the beers. Never mind that he was always fine with Jowd, wasn’t he? Nearly. Close enough. Clearly the car’s fault.

“Here we are,” Gant said and Cabanela realized they’d come to a stop in front of his place.

Well that was fine. Good really, even as he felt a mixture of relief at being able to get out and disgruntlement at the halt to his growing list of grievances.

“Maybe sleep those drinks off, hm?” Gant said, eyeing him.

Cabanela only grunted in reply. His stomach was definitely not happy. Well, there wasn’t a whole lot to be happy about, was there?

He stepped out of the car, stumbled, attempted to disguise it with a twirl that was definitely a mistake as it sent the world into a spin and he almost lost his balance again. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Gant gave him a look of fatherly concern and a small wave. “Careful now. I’ll see you when you return.”

“Thaaat you will Chief,” Cabanela said with forced cheer while desperately trying to ignore the feeling of his stomach contents attempting to plan their great escape. Damn cars.

Gant only shook his head, radiating sympathy that made Cabanela want to throw something – you’re not helpin’ either, Chief – and turned his attention back to the wheel. Cabanela waited until Gant drove away before picking his way cautiously to his door.

Once inside he sagged, removed the outer layer of his uniform, tossed it over a chair without a second glance and collapsed face first into his couch. Terrible day, terrible feeling, teeerrible time. Sleep never sounded so appealing.

Cabanela awoke much later in the day with a head that felt stuffed full of wool. He groaned into the cushions before rolling off the couch onto his feet. It was dark outside now; he’d been out for some time. He felt steadier if groggy. He winced as his memory threw him back the events of the day. There was still some day left, or some night. He moved to his kitchen.

He gulped down some water, turned on the coffee pot and dropped into his chair at the table where papers from the previous night were still spread out.

There was work to be done.

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The Biggest Problem With dates importers in malaysia, And How You Can Fix It

What Are Date Fruits A Superfood? Date Palm contains elements such as various vitamins, minerals,

Date Palm comprises elements like Continue reading various vitamins, minerals, vitamins, and oils, fibers , phosphorus, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, copper, and magnesium, which are incredibly good for well being, main part for the human body. Sold dehydrated, dark dates might be eaten as is or can be created to syrups or utilised as a good addition to sandwiches and other dishes. If you see a farm which specializes in high quality dried fruits, you'll learn that all fruit includes a unique, specific drying formula handed down from generation to production.

Clumps of all Zamia pumila can readily divide to produce real plants or the seeds can be planted to cultivate new Zamia (Coontie) palm bushes that are fast growing. Lower the quantity of processed foods you consume. Different foods have different storage conditions, always assess the packaging for dates and storage instructions and also be attentive to the wide range of food storage alternatives available at your neighborhood sector.

Dried dates are an improved source of iron and calcium than fresh, but new dates are a far greater way to obtain Vitamin C. A 3.5 oz. Dose of clean dates comprises 3 4 mg of calcium, including 6 g of iron and also 30 milligrams of Vitamin C, and also the very same dimension serving of dried dates comprises 81 milligrams of calcium, 8 milligrams of iron along with mg of vitamin C. Vitamin C can be a less stable nutritional supplement compared to either calcium or iron, which can be destroyed by both heat and storage.

Shake the trunk of the palm towards youpersonally, and also refreshing, ripe dates will probably drop to you personally. Dates can also be strange since, unlike most other fruit, they feature scarcely some vitamin C. Stillthey are saturated in rich and fat in fiber and potassium. Health benefits of dates fruit certainly are uncountable.

Yet another modified version (South Iraq) contains boiling dates with water and pressing the date juice through filter bags by simply Click here for info placing weights onto them. Citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges are wonderful for reducing your chances of experiencing kidney stones.

The body's metabolism, performing of organs and penis structure all combine to find out that our susceptibility to those heaty and cooling aftereffects of foods. If you are adding every additional fruit , this really is enough full time you'd add them, such as dates, prunes etc.. Amongst pruning, thinning, protecting bagging and reaping, Bateel farm employees scale the palm bushes a dozen times per season to ensure a thriving harvest.

Additionally, fruits have been composed of 90-95% water; therefore it's a highly effective diuretic impact on the human entire body, thereby flushing out all exactly the nitrogenous wastes and unwanted toxins from your system. During boiling a object of fruitstalk of this date palm is place in the pan "in order to avoid burning off " according to the makers of their syrup.

Dates along with other dried Title Loaded Out Of File fruits certainly are a lot larger in energy-density than fresh fruits, so the facilities for Disease Heal and Prevention recommends that you just choose dried fruits less usually. In the event you would like to enjoy fruit, many fresh or frozen options enable you to try to eat more fruit with fewer energy than the identical sum of dates.

People who invisibly into the diet think eating foods leading to a top human anatomy acid content generates an imbalance of the acid and high cholesterol grades, and that this imbalance induces the increasing loss of essential minerals in your system 's system. According to the Fruit webpages website, dates contain 7.5 grams of fiber each 100 g of fruit.

Tomatoes is 1 crop we always expand; largely in the greenhouse, however additionally, I develop a few 'basket' (bush) forms out; although the berries grow outside are somewhat more exposed to the elements (weather conditions ) and therefore have a time, the fruits we purchase from these is tastier than people increased in the greenhouse; the tomatoes we increase from the greenhouse are so a lot more juicy and tasty than anything we could buy in the stores.

Ingesting dates as a piece of a healthywell-balanced diet helps you fulfill your day-to-day requirements to all these minerals. That is especially true, if you intend on keeping foods for a very long length of time. Nutritious food consisted of anything more edible. Alkaline diet enthusiasts believe the body uses crucial minerals like calcium and potassium to neutralize acid and keep up a healthful ph.

Dates are sweet fruitsof date palm tree clinically known as Phoenix dactylifera. I've a tree that is fruiting for its first time. Fruits are still an significant part a kurma borong murah healthy dietas they supply ample energy without even adding some unnecessary calories. Dates, of course, come in the palm tree loved ones, and along side olive and reddish palm, are a few of the earliest cultivated vegetation understood from the historical listing; in fact, they have been so old we don't understand at https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=Dates Fruits which they originated.

I remember a classmate in grade school attracting dates along with her frequently out of her family members 's many date palm timber and discussing with me personally. When I'm recalling correctly, she used to bring reddish and yellow types, although the yellowish dates were similar to the reddish ones when it comes to form.