#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.

[chekcough]

chapter 2 of ‘birdsong’ on ao3 (txf & silence of the lambs crossover) / rated: t / @today-in-fic (chapter 1 here if you missed it)

i made these stupid screenshots because i have too much time on my hands

“Agent Mulder, we can’t pursue this lead without a search warrant!”

They were at the car. He unlocked it and opened his door. “Crawford will cover us. Patterson might not be happy, but Crawford will cover us, especially if we find what I’m hoping we’ll find.”

“Which is what? Agent Mulder, I’m only a trainee,” she protested even while he got in and started the car. “I can’t jeopardize my career over a blind lead.”

“Get in, Scully,” he said, sighing.

She got in and he handed her a slip of paper. “What’s this?”

On it he’d written HESTER MOFET. Below that there were a series of scribblings, all crossed out. Then, at the bottom of the paper, he’d written THE REST OF ME. She looked at him in amazement.

“It was an anagram.”

He nodded. “Buckle up and close that door, you’re letting the cold in,” he grumbled, turning the key in the ignition. The car sputtered to life, and she did as he said.

“How did you figure it out?” she asked as he pulled out of the spot and began to navigate his way out of the Academy.

“Hunch,” he shrugged. “Hey, check in the glove compartment.”

“Hell of a hunch,” she muttered, then opened the glove compartment. “You want the map or the seeds?”

After leaving Agent Mulder and rushing back to her room to deposit her notes on the visit and change into her Academy-issued trousers and polo shirt she made her way to the firing range, checking out a Sig, the same gun she'd be issued after graduation. Andrew, a former biochemistry major, waved at her when she took a place next to him, gesturing to her eyes and lips, teasing her about the makeup she hadn't bothered removing. She rolled her eyes and smiled, pulling down the ear muffs and focusing on the target far off in front of her. When the drill was called, she fired six rounds without blinking behind her protective eyewear, then exhaled while the target zoomed toward her.

"How'd you do?" Andrew asked, removing his ear muffs and tearing off his paper target, scanning it.

She looked at her own. It was a mess. If this had been an assessment, she wouldn't have been close to passing, even with a second chance. "Not too good. You?"

"Come on, Dana, you're the best shot in the class," he teased, and they exchanged targets. He was strong, too, and had shot well. He looked up from her target. "You okay? You look a little spooked."

She nodded, reassuring him as well as herself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, I missed the counterterrorism lecture this morning, can you catch me up?"

_______________________________________________________________________

As soon as she finished dinner she was in the library, sitting at one of the microfilm monitors, flipping through all the information she'd found on Lecter. Classmates studied at tables behind her for the upcoming exam, reviewing index cards and quizzing each other, while she scribbled notes onto a yellow pad. The next article - New Horrors In 'Cannibal Trial' - dated 1980, had been published in the Baltimore Dispatch. Under the bolded headline:

The Doctor of Death Cooked his Victims for Gourmet Meals Then Served Them to His Friends. Michael Ronboz of City Council Among Those at Dinner Table.

A tap on her shoulder made her startle.

"Hey, it's just me," Marion said, putting her hands up in mock-surrender. "You've got a phone call."

"Thanks, Marion," she said, distracted, and stood up, leaving her chair pulled out as she moved toward the door. Marion followed beside her.

"You missed Fourth Amendment law. Unlawful seizure, real juicy stuff," she said, keeping her voice low. "Where were you all morning?"

"Pleading with a crazy man, with come all over my face," she answered, wishing it wasn't true.

Marion snorted. "Damn, I wish I had time for a social life." She pointed to the phone hanging off the cradle at the checkout desk.

Dana grinned, then picked up the phone while Marion went back to one of the library tables to consult her notes.

"Hello?" she answered, speaking quietly.

"Scully?"

"Agent Mulder," she said, surprised.

"Yeah. Remember that name at the end, Miss Mofet?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Listen," he said, "I've been on the mainframe for a couple hours. Lecter altered or destroyed most of his patient's histories prior to capture, so there's no record of anyone named Mofet. But I figured out the 'your self' reference. Where would you hide yourself if you were about to be captured? What's the most banal, obvious option?"

"I'm not sure I'm following," she said, leaning against the counter.

He chuckled slightly. "I tracked it down to a library's catalogue of national yellow pages. It's a mini-storage facility outside Baltimore, where Lecter had his practice."

She blinked. "Well, why aren't you there now?"

"Go put on your sleuth shoes. I'll meet you on the ground floor in fifteen minutes."

She panicked slightly. "Wait, that's a field job. It's outside the scope of my assignment. And I've got a test tomorrow on-"

"What were Crawford's instructions to you, Scully?" he asked.

"To complete and file my report by 0800 on Wednesday, but-"

"Then you should do exactly that," he said.

She picked up on something, an urgency she wasn't sure was necessary. "Agent Mulder, what is it? There's something you're not telling me."

A beat. "Miggs is dead."

She was speechless for a moment. "Dead? How?"

Agent Mulder sighed on the other end. "The orderly heard Lecter whispering to him all afternoon, and Miggs crying. They found him at bed check. He'd swallowed his own tongue. Chilton is scared the family will file a civil rights lawsuit, and he's trying to blame it on you. I told the prick your conduct was flawless. Scully?"

"I'm here," she said softly. "I just...don't know how to feel about this."

"You don't have to feel any way about it. Lecter did it to amuse himself. Why not? What can they do? Take away his books for awhile, and no jello…Listen," he sighed again, "I know it got ugly today. But this is your report, Scully. You should follow it as far as you can. On your own time, outside of class."

She took it all in for a moment.

"So, how about it? Ground floor in ten?" he asked, and she smiled, looking over at her notepad sitting next to the microfilm monitor.

"Do I have any say in this?"

"It's fine if you want to stay in and study. But when the missing person's bulletin goes out for a certain Special Agent Fox Mulder, Wonderboy of the B.S.U, and they find my rotting body locked inside of some storage unit two months later, you might feel a little guilty for not being there to make sure the door stays open."

She chuckled, and two classmates looked over at her. "Okay. I'll be there."

The phone clicked as he hung up.

___________________________________________________________________

Agent Mulder was waiting for her just outside the elevator, so that when she arrived and stepped out she almost walked into him. He tossed his car keys in the air and caught them again.

"Car's out back," he said for the second time that day, and she followed him out into the cold darkness, shoving her bare hands into the pockets of her coat. "I called the owner. A Mr. Glauber. His English is a little rusty, and my German's non-existent, but from the sound of it, he's not thrilled at the idea of us checking out the facility."

She looked at his profile. "Well, I assume you got a warrant."

He shook his head. "But I do know that he has a unit rented to a Miss Hester Mofet."

She opened her mouth. "Agent Mulder, we can't pursue this lead without a search warrant!"

They were at the car. He unlocked it and opened his door. "Crawford will cover us. Patterson might not be happy, but Crawford will cover us, especially if we find what I'm hoping we'll find."

"Which is what? Agent Mulder, I'm only a trainee," she protested even while he got in and started the car. "I can't jeopardize my career over a blind lead."

"Get in, Scully," he said, sighing.

She got in and he handed her a slip of paper. "What's this?"

On it he'd written HESTER MOFET. Below that there were a series of scribblings, all crossed out. Then, at the bottom of the paper, he'd written THE REST OF ME. She looked at him in amazement.

"It was an anagram."

He nodded. "Buckle up and close that door, you're letting the cold in," he grumbled, turning the key in the ignition. The car sputtered to life, and she did as he said.

"How'd you figure it out?" she asked as he pulled out of the spot and began to navigate his way out of the Academy.

"Hunch," he shrugged. "Hey, check in the glove compartment."

"Hell of a hunch," she muttered, then opened the glove compartment. "You want the map or the seeds?"

"Seeds," he said, and she passed him the small bag of sunflower seeds. He took it and picked out a seed, putting it between his teeth before offering her one as well. She pursed her lips and shook her head. Her entire career and future at the F.B.I was at risk by going out on this assignment, but he was a proper agent, the man Crawford had put on the case with her, and so she tried to force herself to rationalize this as follow-through, and not a wild goose chase.

_____________________________________________________________________

It was nearing nine when they finally pulled up in front of Your Self Mini-Storage. A neon orange sign, streaked with rain, identified the location. It loomed over a hurricane fence topped with barbed wire. One side of the large gate was open, and as they pulled into the lot the car's headlights revealed row after row of storage units, their doors shining with rain. A black car was parked near the entrance, and out of it came an elderly man, small and fragile looking, who shuffled over to them. Agent Mulder got out went to shake the man's hand while she opened her door and closed it, watching their interaction. From the get-go, things weren't looking promising.

Agent Mulder had his badge up, calmly explaining their intentions.

"Privacy is a great concern to my customers!" Mr. Glauber insisted. "I cannot allow you to intrude vithout the proper ausourizachion!" His English was heavily accented. "I must contekt ze customer!"

"Yes, I understand, Mr. Glauber," Agent Mulder said. "You see, we believe that the person who rented this storage unit is currently imprisoned."

Glauber squinted his eyes. "Impossible."

"Why is it impossible?" Agent Mulder asked.

Glauber made a shooing motion. "You heff no proper ausourizachion, you Agent Mulder!"

She cleared her throat and squinted a little against the mist of rain coming down, but moved forward, hand outstretched. "Guten Abend, Herr Glauber," she greeted, pronouncing his last name properly in German.

He looked slightly confused, having not seen her get out of the car with Agent Mulder, but shook her hand. "Guten Abend," he echoed, searching her face.

"Ich bin Dana Scully," she introduced herself, "Ich arbeite mit Agent Mulder." She waited a beat, and then saw him smile, lines disappearing from his brow. They spoke for a few minutes, leaving Agent Mulder out of the conversation, before Glauber waved her over to his car. She stood by the driver's door while he reached to the passenger side for a thick binder. When prompted, she helped him hold the binder while he searched through it, then consulted a piece of paper. After a few more minutes of discussion he produced a key off a huge ring and put it into her cold palm.

She stood, thanked him, then returned to where Agent Mulder was standing. He looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"We've got thirty minutes," she said, walking past him toward the storage units. It took a moment for her to realize he wasn't with her, but then she heard the slam of the car trunk and his footsteps as he caught up.

"Flashlights," he said, handing her one and tucking the other under his arm. "You didn't tell me you spoke German, Scully."

She smirked. "We met this morning, Agent Mulder. I'm sure there are a lot of things we don't know about each other."

They reached unit 31 quickly, and she went for the lock, fitting the key in. "He told me the unit was leased for ten years. That it had been prepaid in full," she said, trying to turn the key while Agent Mulder shone light on the lock. The mixture of the damp air and her cold fingers wasn't making things easier.

"Let me try," he said, and she exchanged him the key for the flashlight. After a moment the door opened, and she lit his way as he pulled the sliding garage door up off the ground about a foot before it seemed to stick. He tried again, pulling harder, but the door wasn't budging from the outside. He looked at her, then at the gap at the bottom of the door. "You think you could fit under and open it from the inside?"

She looked at the small gap, then nodded. He shone light on the ground as she crouched down, trying to pull the door up even a few more inches, but it wasn't budging. She passed her own flashlight beam under the door and sought an area with no obstacles. The unit looked to be full of furniture. Halfway into sliding under the door, she felt the rusty, frayed edge of it scrape her ankle, and she inhaled sharply.

"Scully? You okay?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him, then slid under the rest of the way, picking her flashlight up and standing carefully, shining the light around to get a new perspective on her surroundings. Agent Mulder's voice, muffled, came from the other side of the door.

"What do you see?"

The narrow beam of her flashlight caught spiderwebs, everywhere...High stacks of cardboard boxes, several dusty pieces of furniture, and a big car, oddly long and tall, covered with a tarp. The smell, like damp books. And occasional rustling sounds, like those of small rodents.

"Well, it looks like a storage unit," she said with a shrug he couldn't see, then squeezed along the back of a desk to the left side of the door, near where the beam of his flashlight illuminated the wet pavement. The crank from inside was caught on the edge of an old, intricately carved upright piano. The ivory keys, left uncovered, had yellowed, and were covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. She leaned her weight against it as best she could and pushed, inhaling a mouthful of dust and coughing as she did so. When she had moved it a few inches back, she reached for the crank and brought the door up a good couple of feet. Agent Mulder ducked underneath and appeared inside with her, seeming very alive and vibrant in color compared to his surroundings.

Lighting his way as he went, Agent Mulder stepped around the boxes, leaning down to look at labels on some of them. He drew something on the dusty surface of a black end table, examined a glass lamp, and studied a taxidermied falcon for a long moment.

"What is it?" she asked, focusing on the falcon.

"He's got good taste," he concluded, standing up straight.

A scurrying of musical notes, loud, echoing in the contained space, made her drop her flashlight. She bent to pick it up and stood again, shining light on the ancient piano. He shone a light on the floor and she saw them -mouse droppings- and felt embarrassed.

"Let's check out the car," he proposed, making his way through the rest of Lecter's possessions to the large, tarp-covered vehicle. Right when she caught up to him he folded the tarp up, and the resulting clouds of dust made him cough and her sneeze. He took a step back to admire the car.

It was an antique beauty, a 1931 Packard, still dusty, despite the tarp. A strange, shadowy feeling came over her. Nobody had been in here since 1980. Ten years ago. It was like stepping back into someone else's life without being asked. It felt wrong, it scared her, but it was exhilarating.

Curtains closed off the back passenger compartment, but there was a narrow gap in them when she approached and cleared the glass with a wipe of her coat sleeve. More mousy rustlings.

Agent Mulder was walking to the other side of the car, pulling the tarp off more completely. She shone her light carefully through the small gap. The beam was narrow, and she had to squint to see, but she could clearly make out a broad back seat. An open album of lacy, old-fashioned valentines, a crumpled lamp rug on the floor. Then a pair of women's shiny, high-heeled pumps...above them the hem of a satin gown, and a pair of pale, stockinged legs -Miss Mofet?

She gasped, recoiling from the window and stepping back, then steadied herself.

"What?" Agent Mulder called.

Carefully, she reached out a hand to try the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Can you try the front door?" she called back. "Does it open?"

She heard the dull pull of the driver's side door, then the back seat on the other side. "No."

"Wait a minute." Shining her light around, she found a box of bric-a-brac, a tangle of coathangers perched inside. With a little difficulty, she pulled one of them out, her ankle stinging where she'd scraped it and where dust was now settling. She sniffed as she worked, sensing a runny nose brought on by the cold. After straightening the hanger and bending the tip into a small hook, she jammed the tool inside the join at the top of the back passenger window. "Agent Mulder, can you shine your light here?" she asked, and looked up as he walked around the front of the car.

"Where?"

"Just on the car, so I don't have to hold my flashlight," she said, and handed him her light in addition to his. She concentrated, feeling a little bit like she was performing laparoscopic surgery, and fished around until she could snag the the inside door latch, pulling up. A satisfying -CLICK!

She grabbed her flashlight again, muttering a quick "thanks" to Agent Mulder, and opened the passenger door, where it hit some stacks of boxes, not opening very far. Leaning very carefully inside, she swept her flashlight around, revealing more of the satin gown...a pair of hands in white, elbow-length gloves, one resting on the lap, the other atop a large, beaded, drawstring evening bag beside her. Thick strands of costume pearls over the breasts, and finally the white neck stub of a female mannequin. No face, no head.

She sighed with relief, feeling silly.

"What do you see?" he asked. "Damn it, I should've brought the camera."

Setting the flashlight on the dark-pink velvet of the generous back seat, where it shone up on the velvety ceiling and cast a rosy glow, she carefully shifted the valentine album to the floor on the left, then eased herself inside the car. One gloved hand slid off the mannequin's lap with the change in weight, nudging her thigh on the way down, and she jumped a little.

"I don't know," she called out, keeping the door open with her hand. "I don't know what to look for!"

"Hold on, I'll come around the other side," his voice came through muffled, and within thirty seconds he had come around the car, now holding the door open with his hand so she could slide fully inside. He leaned down, peering in, whistling slightly.

"Guy sure doesn't skimp," he remarked. "What's that pop-up book?"

"Just some old valentine cards," she replied, following the beam of his flashlight as he took it in for himself. She felt funny, sitting next to the headless woman in her own dust-covered clothes, breathing air that hadn't been inhaled in ten years.

"What's in her bag?" he asked curiously. She wrinkled her eyebrows, then caught sight of the sequined evening bag beside the woman.

"Open it up," Agent Mulder suggested in that same curious tone.

She reached over and gently eased her hand under the plastic one, loosening the ties to the bag. She gasped again, her hand startling back a little, but couldn't help but stare. In a laboratory specimen jar, bobbing gently in a pool of alcohol, was a severed head. It was a man's head, but grotesquely transformed, by the addition of heavy makeup, earrings, and a sodden wig, into a woman's face. Over the years the makeup had smeared badly, and the pupils had gone almost milky white. The perfectly elegant, decapitated woman sitting in her chariot, holding a head in her purse.

"Jackpot," he whispered.

___________________________________________________________________

They hurried back to the car, Agent Mulder cradling the sequined bag with the head while she went to politely return the key to unit 31, stalling Glauber for a minute while Agent Mulder carefully placed the jar in the back of the car. He turned on the ignition, signaling to her that he was ready to leave, and she quickly said a last thank you before returning, sliding into the passenger seat, closing the door, and buckling up.

"What happens now?" she asked, a thrill running through her. He shook some rain from his hair, looking like he hadn't been this exhilarated in a long time, and some droplets landed on her face. She laughed, giddy and frightened by their discovery.

"First, we talk to Lecter - you talk to Lecter," he said, turning out from the mini-storage facility and speeding up down the road.

"When?" she asked. He had an annoying habit of not responding when he had an affirmative answer. "You don't mean tonight."

Again, he didn't respond. "We can't do that! It'll be almost eleven before we get to the asylum!"

"It's important to act while we can, before we lose the small details," he said.

As a scientist, she didn't agree. She believed in careful, sometimes tedious, thorough work before coming to a conclusion, before investigating further. But he had been assigned to help teach her. Talking to Lecter again would not only prove difficult, it would also be important to ask and receive answers to specific questions.

"Miggs is dead," she said, remembering.

"That's not your fault," he reminded her. "That's on Lecter."

She nodded, and wiped a hand over her face. "Do you by any chance have a dictaphone?"

He shook his head. "Sorry."

"Okay," she said, taking that in stride, "I'll need a notepad and pencil. What questions do you want me to ask him?"

[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