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dotthings · 6 years ago

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This felt a bit like a classic Twilight Zone episode, mixed with TFW 2.0 feelings all around.

I jotted notes and stuff. Feelings and thoughts and milkshakes.

Running with the Twilight Zone structure and style here, Cas would be the character who figures out something’s just not right and things unravel around him and he’s slowly freaking out and has to get others to wake up to it and stop whatever’s happening. The eps this most reminds me of are things like “The Monsters are out on maple street” or “It’s a good life.”

Starting from the top -- so Jack doesn’t seem right. Nope. Sam’s not okay either, and as I figured already from the promo clip, yes it turns out he’s got a raging case of PTSD from the bunker crew he led all being slaughtered. While the characters weren’t designed to stand out to audience individually (except, perhaps, Maggie, and she wasn’t much developed), they meant something to Sam. Not in the sense that he got deeply close to them. As I pointed out earlier in the season, the bunker crew is a bit like the cantina crowd in Star Wars. They’re there for world-building. They'd all have good stories of their own given a chance to tell the tale but that’s not what they are in the main story for. And Sam cares but isn’t really part of them. He’s a leader who hasn’t formed deep personal bonds.

But they were important to Sam, and Sam’s carrying a lot of guilt and trauma over their loss, which is why he blows past Dean’s protests that he’s tired and needs rest, they all need rests. Okay so everything I thought might be going on with Sam before this ep gets vocalized by the end of it, more on that in a moment.

That scene in the bunker kitchen is so...organic and domestic. I love that SPN is a monster-killing show. I’m a fan of genre shows and watching characters whose lives are strange and dangerous and how they cope with it and watch after each other, but the domestic grace notes are an important part of grounding it and making these characters seem real. This scene in the kitchen between Dean and Cas, with Sam blowing through it, was so good. So with Sam not in a frame of mind to understand Dean’s needs for rest or wait for him, and Dean needing to stay at the bunker to rest, and both Dean and Cas worried for Sam, and all of them worried for Jack, Cas basically steps into the role of family organizer, figuratively scooping them up under his wings because someone has to try to sort out this chaos and keep it together and try to make it better. So he volunteers to go on the hunt with PTSD fixated overly-driven Sam, assigns Dean to talk to possibly-soulless Jack and figure out what’s going on, tells Dean to get the sleep that he wants “’til the cows come home.”

I love that Dean says “they’re both full of crap” about Sam and Jack’s assertions of being fine. And then Cas, once he’s in the weird town with Sam, “yeah I know, everybody’s good,” Cas says grouchily. Cas is so DONE with everyone’s pretending-to-be-okay shit.

“Was it Scanners 1, 2, or 3?” I’m betting this wasn’t a Metatron pop culture upload. Oh guess what, Dean and Cas watch horror movies together. File this with the conversations and things we now Dean and Cas do together we don’t get to actually see. I wonder when their horror movie marathon was. Just after Mint Condition? Which expressly showed how great it is having a friend who’ll watch horror movies with you? Some other time?

The reveal that Cas reads the Saturday Evening Post after everyone else is asleep in the bunker is a small thing but it’s so damn good, it gives us another glimpse into what the heck Cas does while he’s not sleeping because he doesn’t need to sleep.

Sam and Cas weirded out together is adorable, as is their surprise milkshake date.

“I think the snake is sad.” Is Jack projecting onto the snake? Assigning his own feelings of hollowness and loss from his soul being eaten away onto the snake who just lost its original owner?

Dean trying to figure out how to talk to Jack is awkward af and endearing and Dean seems so very relieved when Jack picks the angel food cake over the devil’s food. Dean, I’m pretty sure things don’t really work that way and Jack’s choice of snack food isn’t the solution but I am appreciating the reasoning behind Dean’s relief. He knows angels are mostly dicks but hey, Cas is a thing in his life, and Jack picking angel food over devil’s food (Satan), Dean takes as an optimistic sign. Cas over Lucifer. Oh, Dean.

So. Much. Floral. And citris. Imagery. In this strange little town Sam and Cas are in. Sam holding that little rose teacup. Yellow tulips on the woman’s dress. Paintings with oranges and lemons. I think the set designer’s choices were are because citrus and flowers are generally bright, sunshine-y, "happy” things usually.

LOL Cas thinks Sam has beautiful hair. Well, he's not wrong.

Sam’s brainwashed altered persona is disturbing yet Jared is adorable so it’s weirdly adorable but disturbing and please make it stop this isn’t Sam make it stop.

“You will snap the hell out of it!” “I don’t wear a hat.”

Grumpy Cas incredibly put out and grumpy over one of his best friends in literally the history of the universe being brain-snatched by this stepford town is a delight.

As I said about structuring--things are unraveling around him and Cas is not a happy camper...so he deals with it. Much like he steps in and organizes Team Free Will 2.0 so everyone is looked after in different ways as needed, Cas takes charge of this case when Sam gets brainwashed. He is a competent hunter, abd he is a badass. What was that some have been saying about not seeing enough BAMF Cas? He can handle himself in a fight just fine. Albeit, his powers don’t seem to be as strong as in some previous season but I am more and more convinced this is purposeful because we know Heaven’s batteries are dying because the angels are and that’s bound to affect Cas’s power levels. So he has angel powers and he’s extra strong and self-healing and doesn’t need to eat or sleep but he’s also not the mega power we’ve sometimes seen. It makes sense.

Jack still doesn’t seem at all right and yet he seems to have a trace of a soul. He doesn’t want Sam and Dean and Cas to worry. Sam and Dean are his human role models (and no, this wasn’t Jack ommitting Cas--Cas isn’t human. We know Jack thinks the world of Cas). Which is sweet but at the same time uneasily reminds me of soulless Sam who observed Dean and then would say what he thought was expected to pass as normal. Jack latching onto Sam and Dean as models for how to act like he has a soul isn’t the same as really having one, and it’s not the same as early Cas, with all his confusing emotions broiling inside of him, adopting the Winchesters as an emotional compass and guides for how to human emotion. Jack’s going with Donatello (who is also soulless) WWTWD--What Would the Winchesters Do--literally just a plan to mimick them instead of Jack learning and feeling it himself.

“Maybe I don’t know what nothing feels like.”

Cas threatening to rip the info from the girl’s mind doesn’t seem like something he was actually going to carry out. That was a bluff, I’d say. Cas we’ve seen in the past is great at bluffing and does a good peacocking routine, a show of power. Not that he couldn’t rip the info from her. Maybe he would, at great need, to save Sam, and she was acting guilty. But I’m not sure.

“I won’t hurt you, Sam.” Of course you won’t, Cas. We been knew, sweetie.

So first Cas organizes and tucks Team Free Will 2.0 under his wings, so to speak, then he takes over the case when his parter Sam gets sucked into the happy vortex of brainwashing, and then Cas fights off like 4 people at once including Sam, who is very tall, without harming Sam, and then Cas talks Sam down from brainwashing and from killing him with an angel blade. Interesting parallels back to Dean and Cas’s fight in The Prisoner, but with differences. Because hey, ding!, these relationships are different. It’s not about the strength of the bonds, but they are different.

“I know what it’s like to lose your army. I know what it’s like to fail as a leader but you can’t lose yourself. You have to keep fighting. You can’t lose yourself. Because if you lose yourself you fail us. You fail all of those that we’ve lost. You fail Jack. You fail Dean.”

There’s so many things all at once in this scene and Misha is so good here. There’s a bit of a nod back to the “believe in us” concept from Prophet and Loss. I appreciate that SPN didn’t go for a simple, Sam regrets talking Dean out of it. Because much as I am all for Winchesters protecting the world, as I’ve pointed out already, I didn’t feel Sam was the least bit in a heedless frame of mind where he wasn’t thinking of the risks to others, and Dean was so extremely fatalistic, accepting the fate literally written down for him, it just didn’t feel right. I don’t think SPN is saying it’s right to be punished for hope, that Sam should suffer, gee that’s what you get for wanting a little more time just to find a better way, not let the world burn, not screw everything else, just a shot at finding some other way. But in the story they are telling, there is a cost for that hope and that’s heartbreaking. Also I don’t feel Dean’s plan was risk free either. It really was a lose/lose no win situation and that is the point. They have Dean free of Michael, they are free of Michael it seems, but now look, Jack is a mess. And so it goes.

As Cas did in Prophet and Loss, reaching out to Dean in a less overt way than Sam (but not unimportant), Cas is a voice of hope again. Urging Sam not to give up, and echoing what Cas said earlier this season about valuing yourself, the core self “without all the bells and whistles.” So there’s an important note for Sam here, and for Cas. S14 keeps having Cas vocalize on so many things it’s really important for Cas to say, about himself, but he does it via helping others. Cas has given advice to Jack, to Dean, and to Sam this season that indicates Cas listens to his own advice and has reached some insight about these things. Not only is Cas reassuring Sam, it shows that Cas understands despite his losses and failures, he’s worth not giving up on, and there are others who need him who are affected if he gives up. So Cas, having realized this, offers it to Sam in Sam’s moment of need and Sam drives the angel blade into the floor instead of into Cas (a familiar move), and shakes free of the brainwashing.

And Sam and Cas. Back in S9, Cas commiserated with Sam’s feelings of failure then too, and branded himself an even bigger screw up than Sam. SPN has shown for a while that Sam and Cas care about each other and have quite a few points in common, but it’s been a somewhat underdeveloped bond, and a little inconsistent. They’ve often bonded over their shared love of Dean, but we also have seen them caring for each other in their own right. I like their friendship. I appreciate that SPN shows that the relationships are different, and that Sam’s feelings for Cas aren’t the Sam as Dean’s, but I do think the Sam and Cas bond has been a bit neglected. So to land here, with a really big moment of connection for them over their particular shared traumas and specific senses of failures, is great to see. If we’re told they’re family, we should see it on the screen. Cas specifically was the person Sam needed right then. Just as Dean needs more than just Sam, Sam needs more than just Dean.

Moment to appreciate the absolute miracle Mishalecki in S14 is because anyone else remember when Misha and Jared could barely get any scenes filmed there was so much messing around and Jared loves to mess with Misha, and a director had to yell at them at one point to get serious scenes filmed between them. People used to say Mishalecki was the enemy of Sam & Cas scenes. Here we are, years later, they not only filmed this immensely dramatic key Sam & Cas scene together, but did it with Jared on top of Misha, pinning him to the floor. I don’t know how they got this filmed. But they did it. Think of the gag reel. And we got a wonderful Sam & Cas scene.

Cas takes a very proactive role in this ep which is also great to see, and it’s a really interesting note on his character development to see Cas in this role of the family member holding everyone else together, knowing the right words, watching after everybody, competently handling the case temporarily solo, saving Sam, watching after Dean and Jack.

However, notably it’s the young woman who actually saves the whole town by tapping into her own (genetically inherited) powers and taming her toxic, brainwashing father. Seizing back not only her own agency but for an entire town. There’s a Jack parallel on the tip of my brain here. The power is inherited from the parent, but what the offspring does with it is their choice.

“Yeah, I told him about the cardigan.” So Cas called Dean and told him about what happened...another Dean and Cas conversation we know took place we didn’t get to see first-hand. They talk way more than we are shown, more than we know. Unlikely they talk about the...stuff they actually need to but we keep being shown how much a part of each other’s lives they have become. They watch movies together, they talk all the time, they’ve had countless bunker kitchen talks. Cas is there. He’s been there for a while.

“I hate this place right now. Everywhere I look I see them.” That sound you heard was my heart shattering, and I’m not surprised Sam feels that way. He’s living in the place where he saw his whole team slaughtered. That’s...a lot to shoulder. But the bunker is also his home. What does a person do when their own home has been tainted by that kind of trauma (people suffer from home invasions, traumatic events, in their own home...how do people regain their sense of safety?) “this is my home. This is our home...I just need some time.” Again my heart shattering for Sam. Because he means that, yes that is home and I think Sam, as Dean did openly in SPN 300, is good with his life and who he is. But there’s no quick fix for that trauma. Sam’s not only dealing with guilt and grief and trauma, but his sense of home has been violated by what Michael did. We also know unpleasant things have happened in the Impala. Blood and trauma and fear. The Impala, like the bunker, has been home and shelter and safety, but like the bunker, has been the location of traumatic events in their lives (and who knows what kind of scary moments Sam and Dean had in that car when they were children). Yet their sense of home prevailed for the Impala and I think it will for Sam with the bunker too.

Okay. So. It seems like Jack’s soul really was fully gone already after all because he kills the snake to send its soul to Heaven to reunite with its original owner and that isn’t compassionate it’s murder and Jack thought that was a really good idea.

#Sam & Cas #Sam and Dean: a work in progress #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Castiel #Jack Kline #spn #supernatural #supernatural spoilers #meta #Dean & Cas

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dmsden · 7 years ago

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Worldbuilding - In the Beginning...

Hullo, Gentle Readers, and welcome to the first article of our new monthly worldbuilding feature. I am modifying this intro from an article that appeared on an older gaming site I wrote for, so parts of it may look familiar to you. Bear with me. My intention is ultimately to work on a collaborative campaign with the Denizen of the Den into something anyone can use.

I am something of a compulsive world developer. As new iterations of D&D have come along, I’ve created a world specifically for that edition, drawing on what speaks to me about that edition. I had my Wardome Campaign, which lasted from Basic D&D into Advanced D&D 1 & 2. Then there was my Dreamtime Concordance campaign, which was a retro-1st edition game made before 3rd edition came along featuring anthropomorphic animals. Third edition and 3.5 were my Swords of the Amanar campaign, and 4E/5E brought Seven Kingdoms: Seowyn’s Crossing (although news on that campaign and title will be coming soon!)

I thought it might be fun to take my readers on this journey to create a new campaign setting and world with me, to share my insights and wisdom, and to offer advice that’s stood me in good stead on some very long-lasting campaigns. Hopefully, this’ll help you with the decisions you’ll make when the time comes to make your own next campaign.

Almost all of my campaigns start the same way – with a distinctive blank notebook. It may be a touch old fashioned, but there’s something magical about writing down notes on paper for me. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t had a mobile device that I find as easy to take notes in as a notebook, or maybe I just like the way writing feels, but all of my campaigns have started on paper. I carry that notebook with me everywhere, then jot down ideas as they come to me. Later on, I’ll sort the ideas, type them into a Word file, or other text format, and organize them. These days, that will probably entail creating a new campaign site on Obsidian Portal and creating a Wiki that I will update obsessively as ideas gel and settle.

Sometimes, the tricky part is not so much in getting started as in reining in all the great ideas you have floating around and figuring out the framework you want to hang your campaign on. I’ve started in lots of different ways, depending on my ideas.

For example, when 3rd edition had just come out, I made an outline for what I wanted a campaign to look like. I knew I wanted to do something involving Spelljammer, because it’s one of my favorite campaign settings ever, so I thought about what the different worlds would be that would be important to the campaign. As ideas gestated, I would jot them down in my notebook. Slowly, I began to get seeds for adventures, so I would note those in a specific section of the notebook.

My 4E game evolved out of me taking every tidbit of info that was being described online about the new edition and finding a place for it to live in my game. When we found out about tieflings being a PC race, I thought about where they would come from. When I heard about the elf/eladrin split, I began to conceptualize the “Feywar” in which Elf, Eladrin, and Drow became separate races. Based on the “points of light” model, I came up with the idea of a continent that had hosted a huge united realm but which was now divided and dangerous. Somewhere, I came up with the phrase “Seven Kingdoms” as a title…not knowing that a similar concept was lurking in A Game of Thrones, which I hadn’t read at the time. Although my 7K campaign has converted well to 5E D&D, I’ve never made a campaign specifically with 5E in mind, so that’s my goal here.

So, in thinking of 5E, one thing that strikes me is the step back towards a real old school feeling. Maybe it’s the return to some older edition things like lower hit points, or maybe it’s the fact that the playtest modules were things like Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread that I played over and over in high school. Whatever the reason, that’s the vibe the game has for me, so I want to create something that makes me feel like those games made me feel back then.

I’ve decided to use the classic Keep on the Borderlands as a model. The Keep involved a series of caves near a small bastion of civilization. Missions could be given, but exploring the Caves of Chaos was more or less its own reward. PCs were drawn to it by rumors, and there was little motivation for exploring it beyond killing monsters and looting treasure.

While I don’t want to reduce the story of my campaign to goals that simplistic, there’s a lot to be said for setting up an environment like the Keep. Positioning the PCs as heroes in a limited setting, possibly giving them rumors of different dungeons in the region, and letting them decide what to do could be a different way to play, given the heavy storytelling my games have been involved with of late.

It also makes me think of the old computer game Darklands, which was set in Medieval Germany. This game made me aware of the concept of Raubritter—Robber Knights. Maybe the “Keep”, to keep using the term, is one of many such Keeps in the area, but one of the only ones to still be dedicated to Good and Order. Once upon a time, the Keeps held back the Darkness from the Light of Civilization. Since the fall of the power of Order, however, the other Keeps have succumbed to the will of evil men, becoming strongholds that are used by bandits, evil wizards, evil knights, and so on.

From this simple idea, we have the potential for many adventures. Maybe the Keep’s leadership wants to reach out to other Keeps that still subscribe to the old ways of honor, and they enlist the PCs. Maybe one of the robber-knights’ keeps holds a magic-item that must be recovered, or a helpless innocent in need of rescuing. Maybe in the absence of a central power for order, many of the regional monsters proceed aggressively, knowing that they’ll have few challengers, or even be supported, if they’ve made a deal with an evil lord. Maybe they attack caravans, giving a cut to the lord in exchange for adventurers being pointed towards a rival tribe.

I don’t know too much about the campaign so far, except that I’m going to go with a medieval European feel, with a twist to make it reminiscent of the Germanic raubritter period. Villages and towns will largely be related to the Keep they stand near, and I suspect there was once a strong, centralized kingdom which is now gone. I see lots of potential for adventure already, and I feel confident that I can spin this into a full campaign setting.

#dnd #DnD stuff #dnd shenanigans #DnD 5e #dnd 5th edition #D&D #d&d #d&d 5e #d&d 5th edition #Dungeons and Dragons #dungeons & dragons #dungeon master #worldbuilding

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tumblunni · 7 years ago

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Okay it seems we don’t actually have a full res pic of all the pokedex and that pic actually was compressed to the point of unviewability even on desktop tumblr?? And clicking through the link it seems it’s really hard to run this supposed rom file of the beta, and there’s debates about its authenticity cos the file claims it’s the ‘spaceworld demo’ yet we have limited pics of that demo and the titlescreen was different. So it seems weird that this would be labelled as that very specific demo, unless it’s a.. beta of a demo, i guess? That could be possible cos people are saying it literally just crashes when the world map runs out, instead of having your usual ‘thanks for playing this is where the demo stops’ message. So AAAA I wish I was smart enough to understand all this technical talk, and to do the hex editing stuff to actually play the rom myself! But for now I guess I’ll just wait with baited breath and hope there’s more updates as people pick it aprt.

it would REALLY suck if it turned out to be a fake rom hack or something, tho. i hope that’s false and the confusion is just cos it was a fragmented rom or a demo for a different event than people think it is, or something. But tbh it would be a prime time to release a fake demo hack, since we recently had the first new slice of beta info on the early generations that we’ve had in decades. it would be a good time to ride the hype on the speculation about ‘gorochu’. BUT then it doesn’t seem like a rom hack because wouldn’t it actually be a straight up rom, then? like actually playable without a bunch of editing and datamining and running through five emulators at once? i would think it would be harder to fake a non functioning rom that’s still rescue-able, yknow? and why would they even do that, nobody would even be expecting a non-functioning rom so it wouldn’t add more authenticity. We haven’t ever got ahold of any beta roms for the gameboy games so we don’t have any preconceptions about what file type nintendo stored them as. But then on the other hand it seems really unlikely that we’d suddenly get a burst of new info on stuff that was never even remotely mentioned before by nintendo. But then again nintendo itself just did that with gorochu! And TCRF is a really credible source, and they actually dug up that screenshot of beta girafarig SO MANY YEARS after we first heard nintendo talk about the concept, and it matched perfectly with what we were expecting. And it just dropped out of NOWHERE overnight and left zero signs of where the user managed to find it, yet was still proven to be legit...

Also like seriously half of the gold and silver beta art looks completely non-legit, its all in a wildly different art style! I don’t know if anyone’s ever found out why that is? Like does it just mean they had multiple artists at the time and were still experimenting before they settled on sugimori as the main one? But gen 1 had already had a full set of sugimori art by then. but then again later interviews had nintendo revealing that ‘half of gen 2′ were actually designed in the process of making red and green, and they just got cut out because of cartridge space. (So basically, beta stantler + 30 others were what became missingno.) So it could be entirely plausable that these gen 2 mons were designed BEFORE some of the gen 1 ones, and thus had different art...? Though there’s also the theory I had which i haven’t seen anyone else talking about. Considering how the Spaceworld Beta has been super shrouded in myth and we only have first hand accounts of what the pokemon vaguely looked like, maybe these ‘beta artworks’ are actually fan art someone made while attending the convention? like not fake betas or anything, i mean someone was trying to quickly jot down the mons while the demo reel played, cos they couldnt take pictures. And then all the confusion of passing info between japanese and english fandoms in the early days of the internet could mean this stuff was archived as ‘early official art’ and not ‘artist’s recreation of unreleased promotional material’. I just started thinking about this because the screenshot of beta girafarig ended up being EXACTLY the same pose as that artwork of it. And it’s very rare that sprites exactly mimic the official art, especially back in the gameboy era where the sprites were rudimentary and inconsistant between versions. So it seems more plausable that this maybe proves the art was drawn by someone seeing that sprite?

Further potential proof- the ‘beta art’ of Silver:

Now that’s not only a wildly different art style but he’s drawn with super big cutesy eyes and cheek blush. I mean that could indicate his personality was completely different back then, or it could indicate this was someone drawing their own interpretation of a different official art, who didnt know what role this character would have in the actual game. Also we’ve heard people saying that Silver’s gender was unknown at the time of this first beta appearance, so that could potentially mean this fan artist draw him shoujo-style cos they headcanoned the new rival would be a girl? or just that the androgenous style of his appearance would equal a personality that was typical of an androgenous anime character- i.e a cutesy shy boy or a rowdy tomboy girl, etc. Tho tbh that whole line of theory confused me because this beta silver seems to have similar short hair to his redesign way later. I don’t think this design would be remotely perceived as ‘androgenous’ if the art style wasn’t drawn cutesy like this. So maybe this was indeed the early art style? And man, who knows, maybe the inconsistancy of sugimori already existing just means that they weren’t gonna keep sugimori in the second game? The very sketchy nature of these artworks could make sense if it was an attempt to completely redesign a new style for the sequel, so every generation would look different. I wonder what genre of anime every other region would have looked like! I’m imagining some sort of mysterious Clamp-esque style for sinnoh maybe, since its the ‘relic region’? And maybe unova would have even been american cartoon style!

Anyway in summary bunni is very confused and also bunni really fuckin misses silver’s old long haired design and will NEVER FUCKING UNDERSTAND why they gave him the exact same hair as roark and mars in the same generation they introduced roark and mars. (I dunno why people don’t include roark in the family headcanons. Mayb just cos his without-hat look is only seen briefly in anime?)

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thefatalmarksman · 4 years ago

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okay so idk who gives a fuck but i have Some Thoughts on the new BL3 DLC in general, accompanied by some headcanon meta musings that are going to end up being poorly articulated because i’m tired and incredibly tipsy

- so first off, definitely a good DLC overall---wish it had been so much longer, but overall, incredibly fun. 7/10 because it was Definitely BorderlandsTM, but it didn’t bring a lot of new or unique things to the table.

- just gotta say.. evil lilith’s boss felt like a kh fight. it was all the zooming around and darkness orbs and dark fire kinda aesthetics. #lilithisrikusmom

- squishy nasty body horror grossness feelin’ like an evil within game and honestly no complaints here

- also the locomobius??? ohhhhh fuck yes that was a good boss, like the entire sapphire’s run level was aaaahmazing

- it gave me krieg/maya food that i didn’t know i needed and i’m legit livin for it.

- tbh i was worried that krieg’s Mental State would be made into a total joke because mental illness is sooo rarely handled well in media, but while we got some humorous commentary, i would never say that what we got was detrimental or hurtful towards folks with mental illness. in fact, the way it rounded out, the only reason that “psycho” krieg came into being was to protect krieg from his oppressors, and honestly??? DID stuff in media is always “lol this nice person has a Bad Person inside their head that just HURTS PEOPLE” but gosh that’s such a HORRIBLE way to misconstrue that mental illness, so honestly.. i’m pleased on this front.

soooooooo onto some probably disconnected but maybe possibly important thoughts that might (hopefully) tie into some later games (and a lot of this is based on “a-ha!” moments i had throughout the dlc that i didn’t jot down so hopefully they aren’t completely inaccurate):

- the implication that there is something “connecting” all of the psychos. as far as i can recall (and from some shaky research i’m doing on the wiki, which is never as reliable as i wish it could be), the “origin” of the psychos within the confines of the first bl game is that they were all prisoners (from the corporate wars, i want to say?? which is YET ANOTHER subject i want more on, GEARBOX????? >:( ), sent to mine on pandora, and after they went into these mines, came out mentally unstable with an obsession with the vaults. this means some kind of exposure to eridian influence---whether it was eridium itself, or eridian technology isn’t really clear, but whatever the case, it instilled in them this sense of reverence for the vaults---for the eridians

- i can only assume that psychos who may have been “created” post-bl1 were somehow imbued with the same sort of “insanity” (for lack of a better term) as their predecessors, for the sake of consistency in this headcanon

- so, within the DLC, there’s this implication that all of the psychos are “connected,” according to one echo---that, even though all the prisoners who were experimented on were in different cells, they all had the same “personality” that came from the experiments

- the amount of eridian architecture within krieg’s mind is just a BIG INDICATOR of... yknow. eridian influence. duh. :|

- so is it that, somehow, eridian influence created some kind of.. single connecting consciousness, or a hivemind, between all of the psychos?? some kind of instinct to protect the vaults???

- jumping back a bit, i can’t even BEGIN to articulate the info-dump during the proving ground sequence in bl3 (which i feel should be MAIN STORY LINE STUFF???) because there were implications that 1) the eridians AREN’T gone, they are STILL around, they are WATCHING everything that is unfolding, and 2) humans are being TESTED, somehow, though at the behest of the eridians or the guardians themselves....... well, who knows.

- i’m getting this.......... idk, feeling??? that the guardians aren’t just puppets the BL world is perceiving them as and are PLOTTING to break free of their bondage under the eridians, and this “Psycho Connection” might have something to do with it. like, a whole collective of humans under a single thought to Serve The Vaults??? basically what the guardians have been doing this whole time

- alternately, there’s also the concept that psychos have just been exposed to a Truth Too Big To Handle and that cracked their psyche and that’s that on that, but..... i mean, that’s an easy enough thing to fall back on if they’re Too Weak to follow through with an Actually Cool Hivemind Plot

SO. What Does This Mean For Xigbar’s BL AU???

it’s all shaky thus far, and a rough concept that i could only DREEEAM to expand on because idk who would even be interested, buuuut...

- he’s developed this suspicion that the eridians are still around over all the thousands of years he’s been here. just little pieces of evidence he’s picked up on while satisfying his insatiable appetite for knowledge of the universe around him---which, at one point, the eridians DOMINATED. it’s possible the guardians knew before him but, let’s remember, luxu isn’t reeeeally a “guardian,” so he’s not a part of their “hivemind.” he’s just an “eridian” with guardian parts to keep him from deteriorating. plus he’s been doing a lot of... archiving for the master, so sometimes personal research takes a back seat to... yknow....... literally obeying the whims of the oracular Eye that got forcibly shoved into your socket. :|

- given i’ve inserted him in place of the watcher........ he could very well be on Team Fuck the Eridians. he’s had enough of this shit, he’s somewhat still following the rules that have been lain out for him but he’s also sneakily Playing His Own Game, and if that means molding the humans into being replacements for the guardians? sure, whatever.

- but then again, if the master already knew all of this would unfold??? then it’s Not a Game of His Own Playing hahhaha.......... :|

- and like, sure, xigluxu ain’t 100% a guardian, but he’s been tasked with Some Semi-Immortal Bullshit, and if the guardians get the humans to replace them and the guardians can overthrow the eridians??? yknow what, that works. because fuck those guys, they never did HIM any favors

anyway that’s a whole bottle of wine sooooooo PEACE OUT

...........for now :|

#outofammo #headcanons #alcohol #my god i have work tomorrow.... er. today... whatever #idk man i just?? want to use my borderlands au To Death

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kanjikiwi · 8 years ago

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hey! so, i am finding it so hard to do lower intermediate translation for japanese. i practice so much, and while i see improvement, , when i come across very long sentences with a lot of verbs and need for nomanlisers and modifying noun related things, i always freak out and do so badly. just yesterday i did so poorly on my translation exam because i just become so lost and confused under pressure and with a time limit. do you have advice on how to practice translation? any material out there?

Hi Anon!

Firstly, wowza… I commend you on battling through exams and time constraints because that’s always super tough!

Secondly, as someone who studies casually and without time constraints, I have the luxury of taking this business at my own pace as well as the freedom to laugh in the face of my own blatant inadequacy. I imagine that with your studies, there might be a more pressing need to see results. My lax study habits may not mesh with the criteria you have. I apologise if any of this fails to meet your needs and can put you on to smarter folk if you like (Just flick me a message any time)

H’okay! Wall of text ahead… (・��;)ゞ

Material for practising translation? Literally anything written in Japanese.

That’s right. Read, read, read. Reading explodes your grasp of vocabulary and grammar. Having a parallel text in english is especially helpful for those of us who can get the gist easy enough, but sometimes stumble with precision. Finding reading material is one google search away, but here are a few for good measure:

NHK Newsweb Easy (website)

Hiragana Times (website)

Human Japanese’s Satori Reader (free or paid subscription)

Breaking into Japanese Literature (physical book)

Short Stories in Japanese (physical book)

I’ve linked you to Tofugu’s reviews on both books as I feel they are quite accurate. I own both books and am getting through them slowly with much enjoyment. The Short Stories volume is particularly good, in that it often shows furigana for a kanji the first time you encounter it, then promptly drops it thereafter, requiring you to fire up those recall engines. Not recognising a particular kanji at all means scouring the parallel english text like a regular Sherlock Holmes for its english meaning. Definitely be prepared to use your dictionary and jot new info down on paper. It’s slow going, but fun (especially for sleuths and those who get a kick out of linguistic dread)

How to practise sentence translation?

You mentioned practising a lot, but find that the sentence length, frequency or odd placement of verbs and the occurrence of “nominalisers” like こと and の get you sweatin’ (saaaaame)

My advice probably outlines things you already know, and is perhaps better thought of as “sentence understanding” rather than translating, but it may have some merit:

Make long sentences into several smaller ones.

When confronted with a Japanese sentence, I ask myself two things - Do I know these words yet? (vocabulary) and - Do I understand how the words are interacting with each other? (grammar) Generally the answer to these questions depend on my exposure to both aspects - e.g. over the past several months, how often have I needed to recall this kanji? How often have I seen or heard this sort of grammar pattern?

If my answer is “Oh yeah! Some of these words seem familiar! Also, I have a reasonable understanding of how particles link things together” then I should also be able to break any sentence into manageable chunks and come away with the gist, if not more - especially if I use the aid of a dictionary.

I define a “chunk” as being a word+particle combo, or anywhere a pause seems it could naturally follow - e.g それは… 公園に… 彼が… 東��方へ… To me, this always feels like a little break in which to get my bearings and question what information might come next. 公園に.. Yes, I’m listening… “at the park” what?

See mid-sentence informal verbs as a little flag which marks a relative or descriptive clause.

A relative or “adjectival” clause is just a mini sentence or one bigger chunk which describes the chunk that follows it. Sentence-ception (⌐■_■)

ぎんさんは　[ お菓子を　食べるのが ]　大好きな人　ですね

As for Gin-san, he is a person who loves [ eating sweets ] isn’t he?

See that の there? That leads into my next point.

Treat nominalisers as a switch for the verb it’s attached to.

A verb+こと/の combo is a chunk that requires some thought before you can add it to what comes next. Because こと is a word meaning “abstract thing” - tagging it to a verb switches the verb from being an action to being the experience or concept of performing an action. In fact, as in the example sentence, it can switch an entire relative clause ending in a verb into one!

Consider the verb “walk” 歩く …On it’s own, it means X walks. It is an action that someone performs. However, if we want to talk about the “thing” we call walking, we need to use こと. の does the same thing to a verb, but carries a sort of personal or intimate nuance. Often used for verbs that are directly sensed or experienced.

So, Gin-san is a person who loves what? Eating sweets.

That’s about as simple as it goes for me, I’m afraid. If anyone reading would like to add their advice - especially those who are studying formally and dealing with the same pressures, by all means do!

がんばって！

#kanjikiwi asks #learning japanese #日本語 #japanese sentences #japanese grammar #japanese reading resources #japanese reading #japanese studyblr #japanese langblr #kanjikiwi #correction welcome #japanese relative clause #こと

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andreynlo705-blog · 5 years ago

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10 No-Fuss Ways to Figuring Out Your kinds of renewable energy

How can we notify if a little something is bogus or genuine in now’s planet? As an example, a greenback Monthly bill, a driver’s license or maybe a vote in the election. How do we figure out regardless of whether it’s valid or not? The answer? We hold a history of it. For example, Just about every dollar Monthly bill incorporates a serial amount that may be recorded with the financial institution. Your driver’s license range is recorded through the DMV and voting records are employed to trace who voted and who didn’t, so the exact same man or woman received’t manage to vote 2 times. Whenever you desire to validate that a doc is legit, you only appear it up with the suitable authority.

We even have Notaries, people who are certified by the government to work as witnesses to attest and record the validity of pieces of information or identities. You’ll recognize there’s one thing that most of these mechanisms have in common - They may be all centralized, which means there’s a central authority, regardless of whether it’s a financial institution, state Office environment, or person that has the facility to problem and validate data. These central authorities have plenty of electricity, and as you understand electrical power could often corrupt. So what happens if a person of those authorities wishes to change the info and even it's possible alter heritage a little bit? This my seem far fetched, but even our world heritage is just a history held by historians inside of a centralized way.

The phrase “Background is penned via the victors” tells us that specifics can at times be distorted by All those in energy. If you don’t think that’s doable, listed here’s an actual daily life case in point. Right now, most money is just a file of who owes what to whom. Mainly because of the subprime crisis in 2008, almost a thousand organizations during the US received about 630 billion pounds that never existed just before. Other corporations had debts fully eradicated. Some would argue this bailout was justified, however, you can’t deny that someone decided to change the records of exactly how much money was owned and owed. That is why Bitcoin was born. It had been the initial variety of money that removes the necessity to get a central authority.

Its information are retained by All people, not just by central banking institutions. And when everyone seems to be trying to keep observe and verifying the info, well, Meaning you could no more alter the ledger of transactions When some thing doesn’t insert up or because it’s far more convenient. You even have to get started on being accountable. But money isn’t the only area in which decentralization can Participate in a job. Would you bear in mind All those significant encyclopedia publications we utilized to trust in when it arrived to analysis? Encyclopedia Britannica employed a hundred full-time editors and above 4,000 contributors to publish what we thought to be the authority on knowledge. Just imagine the ability the editors of such guides had in deciding what was well worth mentioning, condemning, condoning or disregarding. Very well, the final volume of encyclopedia Britannica was revealed in 2010. Currently, facts is a great deal more decentralized with more than a hundred thirty thousand Lively editors that maintain diverse Wikipedia pages. The potential risk of any of them “likely rogue” unnoticed is way smaller sized because Just about every edit is public and can be verified by any person. Decentralization cuts down the chance for corruption, fraud and manipulation. Blockchain technologies is a brand new and progressive way to employ decentralization.

Within a nutshell, Blockchain technology is a solution for the issue of centralization. It’s a process for retaining records by everybody, with no need to have for a central authority - a decentralized way of retaining a ledger that's nearly unachievable to falsify. I mean, when a lot of eyes are watching and verifying anything that’s currently being finished, it’s genuinely difficult to interrupt The principles unnoticed. There's a chance you're pondering why can it be named Blockchain? Properly, consider we’re retaining a shared ledger with numerous web pages of data. Each individual website page starts using a form of summary from the website page prior to it. If you change a Element of the earlier web page, you’ll also have to change the summary on the current web site. Therefore the webpages are literally connected, or chained collectively. In technological conditions, web pages are called blocks. And given that Every single block is connected to the info of the prior block, We've got a sequence of blocks, or possibly a blockchain. Many of us think that Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin, developed Blockchain know-how. Technically he only made the first actual existence implementation of it - Bitcoin. In reality, that word blockchain isn't even talked about in Satoshi’s initial whitepaper.

The closest he comes to expressing Blockchain is “chain of blocks”. Now that you just really know what blockchain engineering is, we nevertheless have two significant concerns to answer - how does it basically function, and is particularly blockchain going to vary our long run? Let’s get started with the initial dilemma. Yet another way to question this question can be - how do I develop a method that enables the creation, verification and updating of records by Most people? Perfectly, there are actually 4 factors a blockchain should actually have a lifetime of its individual. The first thing required to help a blockchain is often a peer-to-peer network - A community of personal computers, often called nodes, which have been Similarly privileged. It’s open up to anybody and everyone.

This is basically what we already have today with the world wide web. We want this community in order that we should be able to communicate and share with one another remotely. The second ingredient is cryptography. Cryptography will be the artwork of safe conversation in a very hostile environment. It enables me to confirm messages and prove the authenticity of my own messages, even though malicious gamers are around. We need cryptography as a result of to start with factor. Try to remember, I mentioned everyone can be involved in this community - like undesirable actors. It’s good which i can talk, but I also need to verify my interaction will come by means of unaltered. The 3rd ingredient can be a consensus algorithm. You are able to change the technical phrase “algorithm” With all the term “rule”. This means we must concur about procedures on how we insert a different web site, often called a block, to our records. There are several sorts of consensus policies, in Bitcoin’s scenario we make use of a consensus algorithm referred to as Evidence of labor.

This algorithm states that to ensure that somebody to get paid the correct to add a whole new web site to our ledger they have to locate a solution into a math difficulty, which needs computational energy to resolve. Computers within the community run calculations to unravel The mathematics problem and in doing so, eat loads of energy. To paraphrase they are doing a lot of function. That’s why when one of them finds the amount that solves the challenge and displays it towards the community, they’re essentially exhibiting a “proof of labor”. Think of it since the node’s way of claiming: “Hey, I put in a large amount of Strength listed here in solving this issue 1st, so I’m entitled to jot down the next site”. As I mentioned right before, there are other consensus algorithms that don’t demand so much Power, This can be just the algorithm style that the Bitcoin blockchain employs. You'll find advantages and drawbacks to various algorithms, but so that you can operate a decentralized ledger you’ll need to choose one, in any other case Will probably be seriously really hard to reach a consensus with so Many individuals while in the community.

Finally, our past component is punishment and reward. This aspect is in fact derived from game concept and it tends to make sure that it'll be in individuals’s greatest interest to always follow the policies. To this point, we’ve build a community that has a way to speak securely, and follows a set of principles for achieving consensus. Now we’ll glue these components together by giving a reward to people today that assist us sustain our data and insert new pages. This reward is actually a token, or coin, which is awarded each time a consensus has long been achieved as well as a new block is included to our chain. Conversely, terrible actors who try to trick or manipulate the method will turn out getting rid of The cash they invested on computational electricity or their coins is usually taken from them. In the long run, the critical thing to keep in mind would be that the punishment and reward process operates on psychological behaviour. It turns the rules on the procedure from a thing you have to comply with into something you’ll would like to observe, since Will probably be in your best curiosity to take action. This was just a really significant degree explanation of what a blockchain is made of.

But given that then, much more folks have begun to study Bitcoin and blockchain, and also have found the benefits they provide; both in exercise, or being an investment. So there you have it, the 5 features of A really open up, public, decentralized blockchain. Up until today you can find only a handful of blockchains which have in excess of 1,000 actually independent members, and as a result may be considered as decentralized - Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero to call some.

If you’re thinking that it seems like lots of exertions to put a blockchain in motion, you’re Totally appropriate. But this is where Ethereum comes in. Ethereum can be a Get it done Your self blockchain in which all of these 5 elements are now in movement. All you might want to do is Make the right Answer in addition to it. But that’s a complete different whiteboard episode you could have a look at later on.

Now let’s move on to a different phrase you may have listened to - A personal, or closed blockchain. This term refers to companies that monitor and Restrict the players who will engage in their blockchain. It’s a tiny bit like how the online world, which can be open up to Every person and any person, is different from an Intranet - an inner community of enterprise computer systems. Whilst I assume some businesses will see value in working non-public blockchains to enhance their inner procedures, it’s significantly from something exciting inasmuch as it's got absolutely nothing to try and do with decentralization. To emphasise this a tiny bit more Allow’s Review open, general public blockchains to shut, private kinds. A public blockchain is open up to All people, it’s transnational and borderless. It’s censorship resistant, and it doesn’t have to have any third get together. It’s also neutral - there’s no this sort of matter like a “very good”, “terrible”, “illegal” or “lawful” transaction, there’s merely a “legitimate” or “invalid” one particular.

A non-public blockchain Then again, is limited to approved participants only, and It can be governed by A few entities. Inside the terms of Andreas Antonopoulos, normally of personal blockchains you don’t actually need a blockchain, you can just share a spreadsheet among the individuals. The entire concept of blockchain was to decentralize a process through most of the people, Which’s precisely the opposite of what A personal blockchain does. The functions of a general public blockchain, Conversely, develop great Positive aspects. There’s no one point of failure. The documents are immutable, also known as tamper proof. And eventually, it’s censorship resistant so you're able to’t actually take away a report or cease it from getting posted - providing it follows the consensus guidelines. Just before we finish right now’s lesson we continue to have one particular main concern to reply - Is blockchain technological know-how the following large point? I think you could have listened to of different startups which have been working with blockchain technological know-how to unravel some kind of an issue.

Generally After i listen to of these types of a firm I question two concerns: First, are they using a public or private blockchain? Because if they're not utilizing a community blockchain there’s probably not anything at all very disruptive here. Second, do they even have to have a blockchain? When you keep in mind at first of the lesson, we talked about the hazards of centralization.

But these risks are only significant if there’s a whole lot at stake. For example, the queue to your pharmacy is managed in the centralized manner but I don’t definitely care given that there’s not a good deal at stake and it’s essentially extra productive this way. Blockchain technologies is very good at decentralizing, however it’s also incredibly inefficient, sluggish and Power consuming. As an example, Bitcoin’s network requires ten minutes on normal to confirm a transaction. Not the ideal waiting around time for getting a cup of coffee at a seven-eleven. The one explanation to pick Blockchain technologies as your Remedy is When your trouble is really centralization. If you don’t have to decentralize a thing, you most likely don’t have to use blockchain know-how and are greater off renewable energy opportunities with some centralized Answer.

In actual fact it will most likely operate much better. To sum it up, Blockchain technologies is truly disruptive, but for the time being only a handful of use circumstances definitely demand it. So the true query is this: at the current second, is our world ready for more elaborate blockchain implementation than what Bitcoin by now offers? While in the early 2000s, there have been lots of Amazons, Googles and Facebooks that never caught on to the adjustments they offered... Nowadays, many of such blockchain startups experience a similar fate.

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#Blockchain #renewable energy #what is a blockchain

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smallblanketfort · 7 years ago

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how do you make the study guide that you mentioned in your study post?

right, so before every exam i condense all of my notes into one page, or a poster type deal if the information is better presented in a chart form. this isn’t my primary method of studying; i usually do this after i’ve studied, the night before an exam.

i use these small study guides so i feel less overwhelmed and can more efficiently skim/look over what i need to learn. it not only keeps me calm, but it also prevents me from studying the wrong material (things i already know) at the last minute.

regardless, i go through my notes and what i already know and understand, i do not take to the guide. anything that i am doubtful of, did not immediately recall, do not understand, or do not have memorised is up for the study guide. i pay special attention to any note that i previously marked as very important. i also see if i can recall any noted examples. finally, i suck at remembering dates, statistics, and names, so i review those as well since i know they are my weakness. i either jot these things down on a fresh piece of paper, or mark them with a star of some sort.

then i generally refer to any other resources i have. for textbook-y classes, this includes a professor’s study guide, reviews and review questions at the back of a chapter, and learning objectives usually noted to the front of a chapter. for literature, this depends on my notes, a professor’s study guide, and essay questions. yes. in almost every english class with an exam they have usually given us the long answers first. english major perks. anyway, if i can quickly recall the answer to any of these, i don’t put it in the guide. if there is a question or concept i hesitate on, it goes in the guide.

after looking over this material, i often just make a quick bullet point list including a) things i don’t remember and should, b) statistics and names, and c) very important points. or after reviewing it, i’ll know that my information has categories or another smart way of organization, so i will assemble the info that way. i like color coding. very much.

after lectures, readings, and note taking, after studying, you should hopefully only have a piece of paper left. read it over before bed. do not cram the night of an exam! get some sleep. by the time i wake up, i usually have most of it in my brain. continue going over it every once in awhile before your exam.

study smart, study less ;)

hope that helps x

#studying #study #school #notes #anon

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fiercereadsya · 7 years ago

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The Love Interest Behind the Scenes: Interview with the Designer

The following is a Q&A between Cale Dietrich, author of The Love Interest and April Ward, the cover designer for The Love Interest. Are you ready to find out what went into the cover design for The Love Interest? Keep reading!

Cale asks April:

Hi April! I'm so, so thrilled to be interviewing you. I'm totally in love with the cover you made for The Love Interest, and I'm so excited to hear some behind the scenes info about the process of creating it. 1) What was your first idea for the cover? Did you start thinking up concepts from the pitch letter, or did you read some of the book?

I love to read the manuscripts before I start in on cover design and in the case of The Love Interest it was such an absolute page-turner that I couldn’t stop! I had to know what happened between Dylan and Caden! I read manuscripts on my phone during my commute, and as I’m reading I’ll write little notes to myself on character, settings, and possible graphic imagery. Next, I’ll jot down a list of concepts and do thumbnail sketches so I can start thinking about compositions and color combinations.

For The Love Interest, there was so much good material to work with! The overlapping heads with the girl walking through was one of the first thumbnails I came up with, but I also started with some good guy vs. bad boy iconography, like horns vs. halo and polo shirt vs. leather jacket. I also knew I wanted to play around with the idea of the guys strapped down to an operating table sort of like Nip Tuck or Botched. Oh, and the red laser that separated Caden and Dylan the first time they met also seemed like a great visual to try. I also kept thinking about the competition aspect of the story, and how to show it in a more graphic way. The best I could come up with for that direction was an arm wrestle concept, but it didn’t really pan out visually.

Once the thumbnail drawings are done and I know I have a good amount of directions to explore I start putting them together digitally and playing with color and type. From there some concepts tend to stand out and others fall to the side depending on what kind of imagery I find for the early designs.

2) Were there any elements in The Love Interest that you knew you wanted to represent on the cover? And how does one chose what parts to represent on a cover?

Actually, the hardest part in the case of The Love Interest was narrowing it down! I really wanted to get across the good guy vs. bad boy element because we all know that both are incredibly appealing in their own way. In terms of choosing which parts to represent I really like to show a good amount of variation in the early stage so I can feel confident that we’re exploring enough and choosing the best one. From the larger bunch of early cover designs (8 or 9?) it was narrowed down to four covers that were approved by the editor and creative director to show to sales. I brought those four to an art meeting and I was so happy that the sales group opted for the graphic cover! That was my favorite direction because I think it lets the reader really imagine the characters in a way that feels more personal.

3) I've had a lot of people tell me the cover looks like a badass spy movie poster, which I think is the most awesome thing ever. Were you inspired by those? Or if not, can you share any visual inspirations you had for the cover?

YES! I love the James Bond type poster design with that classic yet deadly appeal, I definitely used that style as inspiration for the look of The Love Interest. Once I start mocking up cover ideas I do some visual inspiration searching, usually on Pinterest. Early on I wasn’t sure if the cover would be graphic or photographic so I was gathering a bunch of varied visuals. One was a poster of From Russia With Love, and another showed a totally different direction with this shirtless guy just staring at the viewer with his body cut in half by type that said “Love to Hate.” I loved that and was very inspired by the direct pull of that eye contact. Though in the end, the cover had no eyes, it did inspire the idea of the bullseye used around your name!

4) I think the color combo of red, white and black is incredibly striking. How early on did you decide on this color scheme? Did you ever try out alternate colors once you'd locked in the final idea?

Originally I really wanted to do something with red, blue, and cream! I love red and blue together, it makes me think of those 3D glasses and a mix of hot and cold that’s really appealing to me. When the concept went to our art meeting the worry from sales was that the color palette was reading retro. I tried a good amount of variation on that, and the red and black idea came from my boss, Rich Deas. I was hesitant about it actually because I feel like he owns red and black but he was right!

5) Do you have any favorites from the covers that didn't end up getting picked? What about the design made it a favorite?

My favorite besides the winning cover was the first one from the very early comps, the one with the polo shirt and leather jacket that didn’t make it to the art meeting. I loved that it sort of seemed like they were facing each other and that the “V” and the “S” stood out subtly in white from the blue letters. It’s easy to get attached to early ideas. But it’s also a good reminder for me that sometimes you have to move on and just trust the process.

April asks Cale:

Hi Cale! So excited to interview you as well!

1) What was your first reaction when you saw the cover of The Love Interest? Who was the first person you showed this cover when you got the chance?

I FREAKED OUT! I’d been on what felt like cover-alert for months, where I was constantly checking my inbox for any word about the cover. Because of the time difference, I usually get all of my publishing related emails when I wake up. So one morning I remember waking up and immediately checking my inbox, like always. It was empty, so I just went about my day. I’d been awake for maybe half an hour, so I was still kinda sleepy when I saw that the tab in my browser had a (1), and I just knew that was it. And it was!

Honestly, I loved it from the first second I saw it. I didn’t have like a crystal clear image of the cover I was expecting (other than I thought it’d be blue, for some reason) but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the most perfect cover. It was so cool and striking and badass and yeah, perfect is the word that comes to mind. The first person I showed was my housemate, who freaked out about it as much as I did. And then I emailed it to family/friends and I had them open it while I was on the phone with them so I could hear their live reactions. It was a super fun day.

2) What has been your favorite fan reaction to the cover art of The Love Interest?

Ohhh good question! Someone once called The Love Interest cover the most badass cover in the YA game, which I thought was pretty freaking cool! A lot of people have taken some amazing Instagram photos of it, and it always looks so great. I also get a massive kick out of people saying it looks like a super stylish spy movie poster.

3) Aside from the final cover, do you have any favorites among the other covers that were not chosen? (Don’t worry, no covers were incinerated or otherwise harmed throughout the selection process). What do you like about some of the alternate covers?

Haha I’m glad no covers were harmed! And I actually really love them all! I’m such a sucker for covers and I think they’re all really amazing in their own ways. I love how bold and colorful the red ‘two spies, one girl’ cover and the yellow and blue one are. They both feel really punk-y to me and I love them for that.

If I had to pick a favorite, though, it’d be the one that shows Caden and the alterations the LIC is going to make to turn him into a Nice. I think it’s super stylish and it reflects The Love Interest so freaking well. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like there’s something special about that one. But I feel so lucky with all of them—like, I’d read all of those books. And for the record, my absolute favorite is the one you picked, so yay!

4) Just out of curiosity, if you had to pick, which do you think you are—a Nice or a Bad?

Oh, I’m a Nice for sure! I’d be the WORST Bad, I can’t brood at all.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich is in stores now. Get your copy today!

#The Love Interest #Cale Dietrich #bookish #booklr #interview #young adult #i read ya #yalit #bibliophile #book lover #book nerd

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optomstudies · 8 years ago

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Hi hi! So I have an AP Exam that I have to start studying for. I have two concerns: remembering all that information and time. Any advice?

Hi, thanks for asking! Well there’s a lot to say about studying for any exam. I’m likely going to write another post about studying for exams in more detail, but that’s planned for the far future at this point. Since you need the info now, I’ll just do dot points as there are a lot of facets to cover.

STUDYING FOR EXAMS

For general tips on Studying and Exams

Work out how much time you have left - schedule your study sessions.

Make a schedule. Study hard stuff first.

Discipline, stick to schedule.

Take breaks.

Don’t forget to eat or any other health related thing - health first!

Try and have enough to go over the content twice - once thoroughly, and the second time briefly 1-2 days before the exam.

Work out what type of exam and study accordingly

essay (pick topics and practice essay questions) or

MCQ (broad area of subjects tested, can be quite specific, so pay attention to important details, e.g. for diseases, focus on clinically relevant points before focusing on aetiology/pathophysiology)

short answer similar to MCQ

Work out what you don’t understand (concept wise), email prof/ask friends/read textbook and sort that out before anything else.

Study in blocks of around 3-4 hours before switching subjects, with short 10 minute breaks every hour - enough for you to get stuck into it, but without burning you out.

Everyone is different, so feel free to adjust to your liking.

No distractions. Work in quiet/cafe-volume place, or classical music only when memorising.

Studying itself - TEST YOURSELF

Highlight, read aloud or type - whatever works for you.

Blank paper method - just jot down everything you know, before and after studying - helps to track your progress too.

Understand the concepts, don’t just memorise unless unavoidable.

Explain concepts to plastic duck or dog.

That being said, you still need to memorise lots, so use flashcards if possible.

Use mnemonics if possible, but some subjects there are too many mnemonics to memorise e.g. side effects of medication - in this situation, understand the pharmacology and you should be able to eke out the conditions.

Use a story to remember mnemonics.

Use a flowchart of trigger words for essay type exams

Why? Because if you memorise a section, you may sometimes need a prompt to regurgitate that info. Ergo, if promptless, you may forget whole sections.

Have a trigger word for each section, and test yourself - write just the triggers on a blank page, and regurgitate sections.

Then memorise the trigger words in a series of flowcharts.

Use a story to remember flowchart/trigger words.

Write trigger words or any other keywords on a “cheat sheet” or “index card”.

Exam itself

Get a good night’s rest

Drink water, eat breakfast

Pack everything the night before

Make sure calculator is approved

Toilet before exam

Don’t get nervous, don’t stand around nervous people

Breathe, try not to care about exam (helps with performance anxiety)

Easy questions to hard questions

Move on if you get stuck

Read carefully

MCQ - avoid choosing “always” or “never” if you have no idea

Plan before answering essay questions

Don’t leave early

Keep checking answers until the end

Check answers by rereading question - sometimes you miss words

This turned out so long despite just being dot points wow. I’m sure this will help :)

#answered #study tips #exams #studying #memorisation #study schedule #study plan #exam types #studying for exams #revising for exams #revision #mymp #optomstudies

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antr-and-the-babies · 8 years ago

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Top 10 RWBY Characters That Didn’t Appear in V4 (Some Spoilers)

Hello all my wandering ants of the colony. My name is Hunter the Ant, AKA Antr here to talk about an amazing show: RWBY!!!! That's right, we're going to be taking a short look at one of Rooster Teeth's shining works and talk about the possibilities of character appearances for Volume 5 and on. But before I begin, let me put a BIG spoiler alert for those of you who might want to get into it. For those of you who haven't watched the show and didn't heed my spoiler alert, allow me give a brief summary of the show: RWBY follows the growing chronicles of Ruby Rose, a teenage girl who wields a mechanical sythe training to one day become a trained warrior called huntsman/huntress. These warriors have the duty of protecting people from any threat that may come into being. Their primary enemy are monsters known as the creatures of Grimm; black and red, nightmarish beasts whose only function is to destroy life. These beings are attracted mainly to the negativity of mankind. Disrupt the peace, and Grimm will follow. Ruby plans on following in her family's footsteps and becoming a trained protector. Along side her is the rest of team Ruby: Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and the groups typical "spoiled" rich girl; Blake Belladonna, former White Fang member, cat faunus, and the groups dark and brooding girl; and Yang Xiao Long, the cheerful but hot headed strong woman of the group, and Ruby's paternal half-sister. Together they form the title group: RWBY. Throughout the series, Team RWBY come in contact with both friends and enemies that propel the story; such as their close allies Team JNPR, or their enemies for the first three seasons who are (unofficially) know as Team CRME (or just Cinder's Faction if you want to include the character Neopolitan). These characters play a crucial role in the development of our main female leads, helping them grow as people, huntresses, and as team mates. With Volume 4 having just ended and Volume 5 announced to premier sometime in Autumn, there are certainly a hand-full of characters that people want to return or know more about. Some, obviously, are more popular than others. Today, we're going to be looking through the characters that either played an important supporting role in Volumes 1-3 and didn't appear in Volume 4, or characters that were mentioned/hinted at in one of the previous volumes that could have an impact in the story for Volume 5. These are in no particular order of importance. I'm just jotting them down as I go. Let's do it! ____________________________________________ 1. Leo Lionheart Its's no secret now that pretty much every major headmaster in the series is a reference to a major character from "The Wizard of Oz." Ozpin/Oscar is The Wizard, Glenda is The Good Witch, and Ironwood is The Tinman. Now, at the end of volume 4 we are introduced to the new headmaster of Haven Academy; the man we will be following and who will be helping our heroes for the duration of volume 5, Leo Lionheart. If his name isn't an obvious enough tip-off on who he's based off of, the fact that he's un-courageously sold out his school and the people of Mistral to Salem's lacky Watts should give you a clue (He's the cowardly lion guys). Ruby fans have been wondering about the other headmasters ever since the introduction to Ironwood back in Volume 2. Leo was actually first mentioned by name by Ironwood himself, however that wasn't until Chapter 11 of Volume 4. He was briefly mention by Qrow in "A Much Needed Talk," saying that they hadn't heard from him in a while; even before the attack on Beacon. While what we know on him is slim, what we do know doesn't paint him off as a very trustworthy ally. As stated before he has connection with Salem, and most likely will sellout information to save his own skin. BUUUT, knowing how the Cowardly Lion is in "The Wizard of Oz," hopefully he'll have a turning point in his character arc and gain the much needed bravery people expect from him. 2. Winter Schnee Winter Schnee is the elder sibling to both Shitley and Weiss, and the first born child to Jacques Schnee, owner of the Schnee Dust Company. To date, Winter has appeared in only two episodes, had a cameo appearance in a family picture, and was mention once towards the end of Volume 4. Along with this, she's also one of the few characters we had no prior lead up too before she was introduced. Hell, before she turned up we didn't even know Weiss had any family other than her father. All we know about Winter's position is that she works somewhere right under Ironwood in the Atlas military defenses. She's sort of on the same boat as Weiss, feeling as though it is her duty to protect and serve the people of Remnant in order to make up for her father's misdoings and reclaim the good Schnee name. However, while Weiss decided to become a huntress, Winter went for a more strict/ firm position of protection. At the end of Volume 4 Weiss and Ironwood mention that Winter is stationed in Haven, so it's a definite conclusion that we'll be seeing more interactions between her, Weiss, and possibly the rest of Team RWBY and RNJR. It'll be interesting to get a bit more info on her. What kind of authority she holds in the ranks. Not to mention, what kind of classified missions she's been up too since the fall of Beacon. Has Ironwood informed her of the growing situation? Only time will tell. 3. Neptune Vasilias (and the rest of Team SSSN Neptune was introduced in the first episode of Volume 2. He's a close friend to Sun Wukong, and was the first love interest to Weiss Schnee (still possibly is). Right from the start Neptune presented himself as a smooth intellectual who loves the ladies. And while we haven't seen him fight that much, the assumption could be made that he's one of the more unique huntsmen out there given his weapon of choice: An energy-shot gun that transforms into an energy guandao, which Then can be transformed into an electric-based trident. We got a lot of Neptune in Volume 2, a little in Volume 3, and then only a mention in Volume 4 with Sun saying he (and the rest of Team SSSN) are back in Mistral. Aside from his suave personality and crippling fear, we don't really know much about Neptune's background. In fact, he's one of the few characters who hasn't shown his semblance (others being Jaune, Taiyang, Mercury, Ironwood; just to name a few). Maybe in Volume 5 we'll get to see Neptune more in action AND get his semblance. I mean, if it can take Rooster Teeth four volumes to get to Ren's semblance, I think we can get Nepune's. Plus, it would be interesting to see how his interactions with Weiss would go after her time of self-empowerment back home. Will she still be interested in his type? Unlike Atlas folk, he was there on the ground with her after-all. Who know? 4. Penny Polendina Yes, I know Penny is "dead," but the big argument against that is that...she's a robot. Not human in any sense. And I know what all of you are going to be throwing in my face: "Well, she was able to generate an Aura. That obviously makes her unique." And yes, you would be right in the sense that all beings with an Aura have their own individual and unique Auras (excluding the Schnee's) and essentially have a soul, but remember the information we got in Volume 3, Chapter 6. Atlas had been experiment with Auras and all sorts of tech to manipulate and transfer things of that essence. We don't know under what circumstances Penny was created. We don't know how she's generating her Aura, or who created her in the first place. All we knew was that she was a robot who was under protection of Ironwood and sent to Vale to enter the Vytal Festival in order to see if she was ready. I can't be the only one to think this, but...wouldn't Penny's creator or Ironwood have kept the original schematics and blueprints on how to make another robot. Or better yet, REPAIR the broken robot. Like I said, we don't know how Penny is generating her Aura. Just because her robot body got damaged doesn't mean her Aura was. If it was implanted in her the first time, It could again. We never saw what happened to her body after everything that happened during the fall of Beacon. You really don't think that the government wouldn't go and collect the pieces? This is just a personal wish, but I really hope that some how they take Penny's dwindling Aura and put it in a new body. She reactivates, but doesn't remember everything fully. She's sent to Ironwood to continue being watched and slowly her memories start to come back of what happened. She then escapes from Atlas (which is currently under lock-down and having it's own travel ban) and goes to find her friends. She learns what happened to Pyrrha, and offers to become part of Team JNPR. It's only a wish though. It'll probably never happen....... 5. Neopolitan Oh Neo. To date, Neo is one of RWBY's most mysterious characters; that title formally belonging to Yang's mom Raven, but now Neo is pretty much on the same level as Summer Rose. We know literally NOTHING about her. All we know is that she works for Cinder (formerly Torchwick), and possibly Salem. Other than that she's pretty much a mystery. I mean, how are you supposed to learn anything about a character who has no voice? Yeah. To non-RWBY fans who don't know, Neopolitan is a mute. Probably because her concept from Monty Oum was so sudden into the universe, that they didn't have time to find an appropriate voice actor. And by then, she'd already made a name for herself as the silent, cocky wing-woman to Torchwick. At the end of Volume 3, the last we saw of Neo was her floating off of Ironwood's stolen ship into the sky of crowded griffins and nevermores. Presumably she landed far off from where all the action was happening, and seeing how everything was going down south she made her escape. Now, whether or not she returned to Cinder after all this is unknown. Neo's loyalty seemed to be more towards Torchwick then anyone else, but she still has connections. Maybe she took over Torchwicks crime organization after his death. Or maybe she's laying low. Hiding from Cinder so she won't be dragged any further than she already is. I know at this point in the series things had to be written out to make way for newer challenges. Obviously, the need for an underground crime network isn't as important now that our heroes have an actual threat, but Neo felt like more than just a common criminal. I mean, she was able to take out Yang with ease in Volume 2. And she had no problem dealing with Ruby...up 'til the point she blew her off the ship. I'm just saying that Neo seemed to be more skilled than most of the other villains we got at the time. Plus, considering how popular she, I don't think they'd just write her off as "missing in action" I think she'll make her return. And we won't even hear her coming. 6. Glynda Goodwitch Glynda was the first official huntress we saw in the show (Ruby herself doesn't count). As we've seen on multiple occasions, she one of the more powerful huntresses. Her abilities (and possibly her semblance) gives her almost magical abilities beyond any other normal huntress we've seen. She's not using dust, and she's not a maiden. She's just a strict, kick-ass lady with an awesome cape and zero tolerance for tomfoolery. Yet, we didn't get any of her for Volume 4. We saw a reused clip of her broadcast on TV of her trying to rebuild Vale and reclaim Beacon, but nothing else. As the woman who was pretty much Ozpin's second in command you'd think they give her at least one line of dialogue in the new volume. Hell, Port and Oobleck had more time on screen than she did. Well, Oscar has now emerged from Ozpin's dust, and now has to help with all the madness that's going on. Considering Glynda is one of the few people who was informed on everything, chances are that when she hears Ozpin has come back and is in the body of a child, her reaction will be about the same as Qrow's. She knows all this craziness. She probably knows more then Qrow and Ironwood considering how she's literally at Ozpin's side majority of the time. She probably knew this was going to happen and is now waiting for any word to get to her about it. She has a duty in Vale to regulate and control the Grimm outbreak, but any chance she gets she'll be on a one way trip to find Oscar and Qrow and help in any way possible. It would be awesome if Qrow and Glynda became Oscar's mentors, helping him become the new Ozpin. Qrow would teach the basics, and Glynda would perfect them. Seems like a good combo to me. 7. Adam Taurus The Volume 4 opening deceived us! We thought we were going to get a Blake vs. Adam fight, and the most we get from Adam in the entire volume is a mention from Salem and Yang's Nightmare. Though, all that means is that we'll be getting that fight in Volume 5. Though, that makes me a bit worried. Not for him, but for everyone else. Adam was first introduced in the "Black Trailer." He didn't make his series debut until the end of Volume 2. He's the leader of the faunus terrorist group "The White Fang," a once peaceful but now violent organization that wants to destroy mankind so that the faunus species can be the dominant ones. Blake also used to serve right under him and be part of his villainous schemes. As of right now, we don't know how Adam came into power, why he's so bitter and extreme, or really anything about his past. All we know is that he had a thing for Blake and he cut off Yang's arm...what a resume. And now that she's rejected him, he's going berserk and vowing to kill everyone she loves to prove...to prove...I don't what it's meant to prove, but it does show how evil he is! Obviously, Adam has eyes EVERYWHERE. Thanks to Ilia, Adam now knows that Blake took a stop back home in Menagerie. That's probably not a good thing for her parents. And now with Blake leaving for Haven, Adam's probably going to get word of that and meet her there to continue his destructive rein over her. Aside from Blake, Yang would also be facing her anxiety towards him and getting back at him for cutting her arm off. It would be a scary, yet awesome scene to have the two fighting it out. Though, I think in the end Adam would still win, and it would be up to Blake to try and save her again. The point is, Adam will be coming back. He's too bad to let go. 8. Summer Rose Unlike Penny, I know Summer isn't going to return. Obviously, a character who died before the story even began can't magically show up five seasons later, however there's still a ton of story they could do with her. Literally since Volume 2 and 3 people have been begging for a Team STRQ flashback episode. We'd finally be able to see a living Summer Rose, and possibly see where things went so very very wrong in their team history. Maybe get a little info into Her and Tai's relationship after Raven ditched him. Who knows!?! I can only hope they give us this much needed flashback. 9. Unknown Scientist The assumption can be made that this unknown scientist might indeed be Penny's "father." Considering he was watching the tournament, and his reaction to her sudden death, it is likely to be true. But what I'm surprised about, is the lack of discussion about him, and the lore that comes from knowing who he is and how Penny came into being. I came into the show a bit late, I must admit, but still the amount of talk that goes into him is staggeringly low from what I expected. Penny is based on the tale of Pinocchio; no secret about that. She's a robot who's only partially "alive" and used mechanical swords attached to puppet-like strings. Since Penny was made around this fairytale that means that this man can only be one person: Geppetto. He's the one who built her, so obviously he's the "puppeteer" who created a false being to act like the child he never had. And that's all well and good, but there's two more major characters to the Pinocchio tale ): The Blue Fairy and The Talking Cricket (I know his name is Jimmeny, but I don't know if she's based of the fairytale, or the Disney interpretation). The woman who gave Pinocchio life in the first place and the person who gave him moral advice.. Who are they, and what connection do they have with our unknown scientist? Is she the source of Penny's Aura? Was she once a living being who had her Aura sucked out of her and placed in the body of a robot? Di Penny have another person who looked out for her? Was that who her partner Ciel Soleil was from Volume 3, episode 5? I'm hoping we get some hints in Volume 5, but knowing how Rooster Teeth and Monty setup character reveals, it's probably going to be another volume-and-a-half before we even get mention of him again. A man can only dream, and wish upon a star. 10. Weiss' Mother I'm going to make a wild claim here and say that maybe, just maybe, Weiss' mother is the Winter Maiden. I know, I know, it seems TOO obvious to be true, but there are tons of signs that could lead anyone to believe that she might be the Winter Maiden. First, her location. The Schnee's reside in Atlas. As we learned from Qrow, Atlas (formerly Mantel) is basically a frozen tundra of a continent. It's equivalent to our Antarctica. Given the Maidens abilities, wouldn't it make since for them to reside in areas that correspond to the season they represent? I mean, take Amber for example. If you look past the fog (and the awesome fight going on in the foreground), what do you see? While we don't know where exactly she was when she was attacked by Cinder, the setting indicates it was an area of changing natural colors. Almost as if it were Autumn in the area she was. It corresponded perfectly with her because she was the Fall Maiden. And now our heroes are in Haven, an area that has fresh green flora and fauna everywhere. And the next Maiden we know Salem is looking for is Spring. Seems pretty likely that maybe we'll get our next Maiden in Haven. Just like how it seems pretty likely that our Summer Maiden would reside somewhere hot, like Vacuo, and our Winter Maiden somewhere cold, like Atlas. Next, the daughter's power choice and names. Ever since Volume one, Weiss has been referred too as something icy; most notably her nickname "Ice Queen" which Qrow also calls Winter. In the beginning we all assumed they were just called that because of their cold personalities and where they came from, but with the introduction of the Maidens, perhaps this is a hints for something else. Their powers may also be a hint of their mother's Maiden prestige. Of all the types of dust Weiss has been shown using, the one she uses the most is ice. Wouldn't it make some sense that the reason she uses ice more often then fire, wind, electricity, etc. is because she took after and is copying her mother's abilities? Weiss never said she hated her mother. She never even mentioned her. There's something here. Lastly, she didn't appear in Volume 4 at all. Volume 4 was the basically the volume of FAMILY. We had Yang with her father, Blake meeting up with her parents, Ruby traveling with Qrow, Qrow interacting with Raven, and then Weiss with ONLY her Father. Why? Weiss' mother is the only living parent of Team RWBY to not show up on screen. I don't think she's unimportant. Literally all the parents have had an impacting role in their children's lives and in the setting. Weiss' mother IS important, but her time hasn't come yet. They're saving her for when the hunt for the Winter Maiden begins. When will such a hunt begin? Probably not for a good 2-3 volumes at least; 5-6 if they decide to go for the Summer Maiden before her. All we can do is wait. ____________________________________________ Well, that's all the characters I can muster up for now. What do you think? Do you think any of these characters will contribute a bigger role in Volume 5? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think. Until next time, this is Hunter the Ant signing off!

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 4 #rwby volume 3 #rwby volume 2 #rwby volume 1 #leo lionheart #winter schnee #neptune vasilias #penny polendina #neopolitian (rwby)#glynda goodwitch #adam taurus #summer rose #penny's father #weiss mother

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shaliira · 8 years ago

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The Cloaked Storm: Chapter 18 - 7, 1313, Triple Zero

Coruscant, Republic Ministry Of Intelligence, Detention Levels, Interrogation Room 7

“Good morning, Agent Riis.” An aging Iridonian male greeted Valanthe as she stepped into the detention levels of the Republic Ministry Of Intelligence. “Apologies for the rough recall, we know your Felucia mission was extremely sensitive.”

Vala nodded at him solemnly, “it’s alright, Investigator Arren. It’s procedure, given the nature of the change of allegiance.”

And it gives me a chance to take a step back from everything and have a breather before I have to step back into the thick of it. She really needed to speak with Lex, alone, preferably out of the office. If he could also get some time in with Renia, that would be a soothing balm on her soul. Her best friend had that sort of healing effect on her.

Valanthe refocused on the red skinned Iridonian with his golden tattoos and horns atop of his head. Though she had never personally worked with the man, Valanthe knew of him. He had a reputation as a strict, firm and very by the book officer. Villin Arren also had the reputation of being a fair man. This settled some of her unease about being back at HQ after so many months, with everything that had happened. With all the doubts that had began to fester in her mind.

Arren nodded, “very well. Let us step into number seven and be away with this formality.”

He seemed almost embarrassed to have to do this, Valanthe could tell, but she wasn’t quite sure why. So, she quietly nodded and stepped into interrogation room number seven and took a seat at the solitary table.

For all the advancements done over the centuries, somehow nothing beat the one table-two chairs setup of an interrogation room. Perhaps it was the barrenness of it that set people off kilter.

“Alright,” Villin sat opposite her and took out a recording device and an info-pad. Turning the device on he spoke again, “Vetting session two. Vetting Officer - Villin Arren, Iridonian, rank: Investigator. Republic Ministry Of Intelligence.”

He then turned the recording device on the table to face Valanthe. “For the record, state your full name, race, rank and government body you are employed with.”

Leaning on her arms on the table, Valanthe spoke into the device, “Valanthe Riis, Mirialan, rank: Field Agent. Republic Ministry Of Intelligence.”

“Thank you, Agent Riis. You are attached to the GAR Intelligence Division training division, yes?” Arren continued, tapping on his info-pad.

“That was my original assignment. It has since been expanded to include field missions with the clone troopers under my training. These assignments also included secondments to assist Jedi Generals.” Vala said, her eyes focused on nothing in particular as she listened to his questions.

“I see. Are you aware one of the men you trained, a clone trooper, CT-4268, Sergeant Slick, had committed an act of treason against the Republic?” Arren glanced up from his pad.

An eyebrow quirked on the green woman’s face, “the Christophsis mission? I am aware that he was swayed by the Dark Jedi, Asajj Ventress into performing the act.”

“It was determined that it was your additional training that helped him stay under the radar of his commanding officers, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Marshal Commander CC-2224, Commander Cody. As well as Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Captain CT-7567, Captain Rex. Can you tell me your thoughts upon learning this information?”

Valanthe frowned a little, wondering what exactly that particular incident had to do with the reason of her recall, Rendili joining the CIS. A small sliver of doubt entered her mind. Was that the actual reason she was called in?

Still, she had to answer. She couldn’t blame him for asking the hard questions. It was his job. “I felt a little ashamed that my training helped someone perform an act of treason against the institution we had sworn allegiance to. I have to say I felt a smidge of pride as well. He’d taken his training well and managed to evade detection of some of the keenest and sharpest minds of the GAR and the Jedi Order combined, but for all the wrong reasons, obviously,” she said finally.

“Will this knowledge affect your own vetting and training procedures in the future?” Villin jotted down a note.

Riis nodded, leaning back in her seat a little. “The vetting procedures, definitely. I cannot afford another slip-up like that, risk another well trained individual being swayed to the enemy side, especially a Dark Force user.”

She’d given it a lot of thought since she learned of the betrayal. Often she’d rehearse the conversation with Slick in her head, trying to understand why he fell under Ventress’ spell. Valanthe knew though, she’d probably never get the chance to do so. Slick had probably been sent to Kamino for reconditioning nearly immediately after the Christophsis blockade. Or likely, he had met his end already.

Arren nodded, “the loss of your team on Felucia? How did that feel?”

Vala sighed bringing her thoughts back to the present, “it felt like a personal failure. I was their leader, the one that was supposed to keep them safe, bring them home. I failed….I mean, I know we’re supposed to be detached and that the life of a spook is anything but safe. I know the clones’ purpose in this war is singular. Fight and die for our victory. It’s not that simple and it’s a lot harder to ignore the fact that these are human beings with little or no concept of social culture and nuances. Children bred for war…” She stopped herself from going further, knowing her personal opinions tended to be a little different than those of the establishment, both the Jedi Order and RMOI.

“How has this influenced your future actions?” Arren projected nothing but calm outwardly, except a morsel of empathy, none of which showed in his features or posture.

“I must do better, be better, more vigilant, take better care of those under my command, prepare for missions better, learn from each assignment, each failure.” The emphatic words left her before she could stop herself.

Arren looked up from his pad, observing her for a moment. His face gave nothing away, nor his eyes. Just quiet study. Even the light brush of his mind with the Force revealed absolutely nothing. Clearly, he knew whom he was vetting and had prepared accordingly.

Valanthe felt both discomfort and a bit of pride as she realized he was shielding himself from her. Discomfort in so far that she could get no reading from him, something she was as used to as breathing, pride in the fact that he had honed in his shielding skill so well it worked on a Force user.

So, she looked up, her lilac eyes meeting his.

“Has anything changed in your perception of the RMOI or the Republic itself due to the recent events we discussed?” He asked finally.

And here comes the crux of it. She held his eyes for a few moments longer, though not really looking at him, but more through him.

“Yes...but I think that’s to be expected. War changes people and their outlooks, especially when bad things happen, when you lose people.” Vala said. “It hasn’t changed my determination and my loyalty to the Republic and its people. It has changed how I view certain elements now...the hidden truths of our trade and politics,” her reply was soft, almost quiet.

Sounds of tapping on the pad gave away that her words had been acknowledged as she lowered her eyes. She was waiting for the inevitable question, one she couldn’t ever adequately answer. Not to herself anyway.

“When did you learn about Rendili joining the CIS?” Arren asked, still as impassive as ever.

She let out a deep breath, “after I got off Felucia. In the news packet.”

“How did it make you feel?” Villin looked over at her again.

Vala shrugged, “a little disappointed, really. But largely...indifferent. I hadn’t been there in years.”

“Was that the last time you saw your parents?”

Why does this whole interview feel scripted suddenly? Almost like you’re fishing for a specific answer. The brief thought coursed through her head.

“I haven’t seen them nor spoken to them since I was four, when I was found by the Jedi Order and taken to Coruscant for training,” she replied with a shrug.

“Do you think they could be CIS supporters?” Villin pressed.

Another shrug. “I don’t know, to be honest. I can hardly remember their names, what they looked like, much less their personality. Like I said I hadn’t seen them since I was four.”

“Never had the desire after you left the Order and joined RMOI?”

What are you after, Arren?

The Mirialan shook her head, “no. I don’t know them, nor have had the desire to. Besides they could likely be dead, or believe that I am.”

The Iridonian nodded. Then glanced up at her, his demeanor changing in the fraction of a second.

“Alright, Agent Riis. I believe I have all I need to make my decision. Thank you for your cooperation.” He said, getting up from the table. “Once again, I do apologize for the rough deal you got out of this.”

Valanthe shrugged it off, “it’s alright, Investigator Arren. It’s all in the purview of our work. Besides, you’re just doing your job, as I must do mine.”

He nodded at her simply as he gathered his equipment. “Director Night will contact you about the status of your assignment with RMOI shortly. Until then, I’m afraid you must remain on suspension.”

She nodded as she too got to her feet. “Alright. Thank you, Mr. Arren. It was good to finally meet you.”

He gave a small bow then proceeded to follow her out of the room. “Thank you, Ms. Riis. Though I would have wished it to be better circumstances.”

“As do I, but alas the Force works in mysterious ways.” Vala chuckled softly as they headed towards a lift.

“If you say so.” He said somewhat awkwardly. Villin had never been overly spiritual. He accepted that some people, in particular the Jedi, believed in a cosmic concept called the Force, but he was never one to believe it existed.

It felt good to feel emotion coming from him again, even if it was polite awkwardness. Still she had no real answer but an amused chuckle as they entered a lift that had just arrived.

Coruscant, Level 1313, The Stinky Fish Bar, several hours later

She’d gotten the short, cryptic message about half an hour after she’d left the RMOI building. While her talk with Arren stirred up all the thoughts and feelings she was struggling to deal with, what concerned her more were the questions themselves. They’d felt too particular for a vetting procedure, especially from someone who’d never met her before and only worked off of what they knew from her’s and her team’s reports. Then again, it could have been the simple case of Arren knowing how to do his research extremely thoroughly. Which, when she thought about it, didn’t really surprise her.

Vala almost didn’t notice the short sound burst of her wrist com-device. When she activated the message, it said, ‘ 1313, Stinky Fish, 1800’ . The voice was digitally changed to a tone and inflection that was not recognizable to the Mirialan.

“Twenty five minutes,” she murmured to herself as she checked her chronometer.

Barely enough time to descend 1313 levels and find the place. By the name she had a good guess it was a bar or a diner of sorts. So, she found a side alley that appeared to be empty and took a deep breath, exhaled and drew upon the Force, shimmering out of sight of would be passerbys.

Level 1313 wasn’t a level for anyone not of the criminal persuasion. No fresh air to speak of, streets littered with trash and debris. It was a haven for all manner of evil and criminal creature. Any and all races, any and all genders in any and all numbers. It was the perfect place to get lost in, conduct any nefarious or similar business one would like. It was also the perfect place to get killed in and never found.

Valanthe considered herself lucky in this moment to be able to walk the dim lit, dingy streets without being seen. She would be a high commodity on the local slave and item market. Mirialan, spy and in possession of a Jedi lightsaber. Any of those aspects would be very lucrative for the potential seller.

The Stinky Fish was hard to notice in the seedy back alley to the right of the main street. She’d almost missed it when she passed by the alley. Opening her senses she stepped into the alley, trying to identify if there were any familiar presences nearby, in an attempt to figure out who it was that summoned her to the most unlikely location.

One presence shone brightly among the sea of unknowns.

Lex. A pause in her thoughts as she approached the small establishment. Why here, old friend? she wondered as she waited for an incoming customer to exit the small diner so she could slip in and find her former mentor and now boss.

She found him in the darkest corner, as expected. What she hadn’t expected was for him to look as sad and as dejected as he did. His age and the life of sitting behind a desk managing things were quite visible in this environment. Vala was glad she was still under the guise of the Force, because she felt sad for her friend and knew he didn’t want to see her this way.

So, she stepped into the refresher, checked it was empty before she released the cloak of the Force around her that had made her invisible to the eye and took a deep breath. Leaning against the wall of the danky diner she exhaled slowly and centered herself before exiting the refresher and heading for Lex’s table.

“You’re late…” was his way of greeting, a small smile taking the edge off of the words as he looked up at her.

“Twenty minutes was hardly enough,” she countered as she slipped into the seat opposite him, assuming a watchful position over his back, while he did the same for her. “You know how thorough Arren likes to be.”

“You got him? Good.” Lex Night nodded, turning his mug in his hands almost idly.

Valanthe leaned on her elbows, bringing herself closer to him and whispered, “talk to me, Lex. What’s happened since I left? Nothing’s been right.”

He placed his hands on hers, smiling. “I know. I couldn’t talk when you called. I’m being watched, so are several other division heads. GAR Intel is slowly taking over a lot of our cases. This includes your Balmorra run. That database never reached RMOI.” He kept talking softly through the well practiced, but fake amorous expression he was giving her.

Valanthe rubbed her thumbs over the backs of his hands, echoing the same amorous yet fake look, “so unless we actually gain favor from someone in GAR Int, we’re pretty much fekked on knowing what was in that database. Lex, why would they be so tight lipped? This was our case, our find?”

His eyes softened a fraction, “I think you know the answer to that.”

She opened up her senses further, focusing on him. Every sense in him was screaming at her, we stumbled onto something we shouldn’t have. Some evidence the Republic doesn’t want known. Her lilac eyes dropped as she tried to contain herself again. Deep inside, she’d suspected this for a while, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself.

There were stories, in all aspects of life where there were those who stumbled onto secrets that needed to be handled afterwards. Punishments were meted out according to the gravity of the situation.

She’d heard of rogue Jedi in her years, like Master Syfo Dias, until she pretty much became one, one of the Lost Twenty. She’d also heard of rogue agents over the years, agents who suddenly disappeared or came back from certain missions changed, then left the service never to be seen again, or rarely so.

Did she walk herself and her team into a situation like that with the Balmorra mission? It certainly seemed that way. Her team’s twice split, the brutal loss of three of her men on Felucia.

It’s all still conjecture. Get it together, Valanthe! Keep an eye out, but don’t get too paranoid until you actually have evidence. Follow the evidence. She told herself mentally as she looked back up at Lex again, throwing on another perfect, yet fake smile.

“Sorry, I drifted off for a moment,” she said finally, nodding slowly to indicate she understood his message.

“That’s alright, dear,” Lex chuckled with genuine fondness and reached over, gently cupping her cheek with his palm. “Be careful, okay?”

There was a hidden message there, be careful of whom you trust, what you say, what you do.

She leaned into his palm, smiling. “I will. I promise.”

She would be vigilant too. She would gather information, she would observe, she would be patient. She would do what good she could in her position. Then she would analyze and produce actionable intelligence. Then she’d talk to those above her and see what could be done. For all she knew it could be a case of a corrupt official or few. That she could deal with, that she had dealt with. If it wasn’t though…

Stop! Get out of your head! Vala chastised herself. “You should go,” she told him softly.

Lex nodded, “I’ll contact you in a few days with news on your interview.”

The Mirialan nodded turning her face a little into his palm and placing a soft kiss on it with a smile.

“Alright. I’ll have some food before I go,” she said, settling back into her seat. They needed to leave separately, to minimize the chances of both getting into trouble at the same time and to keep up the pretense.

Lex stood up with a nod, “I’ll pay for yours as well. What will you have?”

“The nuna stir fry, extra on the spice and Galaxy Cola, thanks, dear,” she beamed up at him, suddenly realizing just how hungry and how exhausted she was.

The man nodded and headed for the counter to pay for their orders. Valanthe watched after him for a few moments as he paid the tab and turned to her with an encouraging smile before exiting the diner.

You be careful too, Lex. She thought sadly as she turned to her wrist com and tapped in a message: On Triple Zero, caf? Triple Zero was military slang for Coruscant, based off of its spatial coordinates which were 000.

With the message sent, she leaned back in her chair again as her order was swiftly delivered. She opened the can of Galaxy Cola first and took a long gulp. It was sweet and it was fizzy and it felt so much more soothing than she could have imagined.

Jedi Temple, Courtyard

It was good to be back at the Temple, Renia honestly couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd been back. Weeks…? Months…? Regardless it had been far too long, the serenity she often felt here before the war felt alien...strange. She had spent much of the first day wandering around, seeing people, friends all the while trying to forget about the larger war. Trying...so far with ever clone she saw or armored knight she couldn’t help but remember Sermeria.

That’s how she ended up here, meditating under the large tree at the center of the courtyard, trying to block out the rest of the world while listening to the tree. When she was little Ren swore that she could hear it talking to her at certain moments, ones of deep clarity but those had been far and few between in the last few years. She’d been hoping that today of all days she’d be able to slip into one. However after about an hour she was starting to think that it wasn’t going to happen.

Feeling the wind starting to whip across her face, Ren was about to give up when her wrist communicator beeped. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t concentrate, I’m still tied into the rest of the world. Pulling up her message, Ren smiled widely. The message was short and cryptic and DEFINITELY from Vala. Quickly abandoning her meditations and plans for the rest of the afternoon Ren typed out her reply. Of course, when and where?

Skydome Botanical Gardens in Fobosi in an hour? Came a reply a few minutes later. I need some clean air. Came an addition moments later.

The Skydome Botanical Gardens was a complex in the Fobosi District of Coruscant. It was the headquarters for the Order of the Canted Circle. It was also where the New Republic held a reception for Ambassador Furgan of Carida. Constructed during the Old Republic by a wealthy Galactic News Service philanthropist, the gardens displayed exotic and endangered flora within a rooftop terrarium. The Carnivorous Plants section was of special note, and the Gardens themselves were often host to dignitary meetings.

Sounds perfect, I’ll see you there in an hour. Ren was already up from her meditations and walking quickly toward the residential wing of the temple. Wanting to take a quick shower and change her robes, Ren’s day had just about completely turned around.

Skydome Botanical Gardens, Fobosi District, an hour later

The Gardens were a most welcome change from the dim, danky, depressing streets of Level 1313. She couldn’t however complain about her lunch though. The nuna stir fry had been surprisingly good. Or was she just that hungry that it felt good no matter what? Either way, that was probably the one part of that visit that filled her with some positivity. She’d also grabbed a pack of caf-on-the-go for herself and Renia as she transited into CoCo Town, also known as CoCo District, which was a commercial district located in the upper levels of Coruscant.

Lex’s message while not loud, had been clear. Things were afoot that were dangerous and if not careful, she could get wrapped up in them with no way out. Part of her almost wished for the naivete she’d once possessed as a young Jedi. Somehow, things seemed easier then, even with all the restrictions.

The gardens and she almost melded together, what with her skin tone matching most of the foliage in the botanical heaven. She picked a spot beside a small pond towards the back of the gardens where the air was crispest, coldest. Somehow the cold managed to seep away some of her concern as she waited for Renia to arrive.

For as long as it had been since Ren had been back on Coruscant, it had been multitudes longer since she’d been to the gardens. It was nice to be amongst nature, her senses bursting with life instead of the hard metal of the rest of Galactic City. This is what Ren imagined the wilds on her homeworld were like...alive. One of these days she really needed to explore Onderon, if they got out of this war that is.

Deciding to wander through the gardens, her senses open to what was around her, Ren soon found herself standing next to a pond her green skinned friend sitting serenely on the other side. Despite all that had happened recently something about her friend seemed more serene than normal. “Hey, great place you picked here.”

“I like the mist of the water droplets…” Vala chuckled as she beckoned Renia over. “Glad to see I made it before you were reassigned again,” she said, extending a portable mug of caf to her.

“The Council thought it best that Mina and I take some time to recuperate away from the war. It also gives our troops more time to get some training in, a lot of them are very green.” Renia said as she took the mug and sat down next to Vala enjoying the light cold spray of the water landing on her cheeks. “The water is lovely.”

“I bet they’re getting some tough love from No-Nines and Oddball.” Vala chuckled as she opened the lid of her own mug, reluctant to let the light atmosphere go too quickly.

“Oh of course, they’re having quite the time leading the training. Frost of course is overseeing it all but he’s smart enough to let those two handle the day to day.” Despite the Council’s wishes Renia had peeked in on a couple of the training sessions, even participating in one of them. Mina hadn’t entirely approved disobeying the Council, but Ren was sure she understood why it was important. “Fives and Echo have been quite the help as well.”

“Eager for a promotion to ARC those two.” A soft snort escaped Vala as she took a sip of the surprisingly quite good caf. “I’m grounded for an indeterminate amount of time, so I should have some time to come visit them, unless they decide I’m loyal enough sooner.”

There it was, it escaped her sooner than she’d wished and it annoyed her. Why was it Renia always unravelled her tongue so? She could hold her peace against the toughest opponents, yet Renia simply had to be there and Valanthe felt like sharing.

Sighing with resignation, Vala risked a glance at Renia.

“I’m sure they’ll figure it out, if there’s even half a brain between your Directors they’ll be able to see you’re as loyal as I am. Of course we are dealing with bureaucrats...” Renia hated seeing Vala like this, doubted maybe even doubting herself. It was far less than her friend deserved, she’d already given up so much for the Republic. “At least there’s one good thing to come from all this, you and I get to spend some time together here just like the old days.”

“Small victories, eh?” That was why. Renia had a way of making people feel better. “You ever been to Level 1313?”

“No, although I’ve heard stories about it,” Ren said taking a small sip of her caf, giving the mug a second look as the flavor hit her tongue. Most things made to go weren’t this good. “Most of what I’ve heard makes Tatooine practically look respectable.”

“Mmm, pretty much. Had a damn good nuna stir fry there earlier. Had to talk to a CI.” Vala nodded, taking another sip, “it’s a good place to disappear in if you need to get away, to hide, or get off the planet.”

She couldn’t share her conversation with Night, she knew that, but she could hint to her friend. Or try to at least. Such stark revelations were more of a danger to the Jedi than help, yet the former Jedi wanted to do nothing more than share the full story. Life was so ironic sometimes.

“It’s strange, being on my own again, now that we’ve been split up. I keep waiting for the boys to come around the corner,” Vala admitted, sighing.

“I know what you mean, for months I was around more clones and military officers than I had been my entire life. I got to know them, they became friends, many more than comrades...now we’re separated and those I’ve felt closest to my entire life seem more alien than the men grown in a lab.” Renia didn’t quite like how that sounded, she probably could have done a better job articulating herself. But the meaning was there, Vala would understand.

“I know what you mean. Walking the halls of RMOI today...I felt like more of an outsider than ever,” Riis admitted, glancing over at the Onderonian woman. “Can you imagine it ending, us going to our old lives…”

You’ve dug too deep to go back to your old life as if nothing happened and you know it. Even if you don’t cop the flak for it, the universe has changed, it cannot and will not be as it once was. Thoughts ran through the Mirialan’s head as she waited for an answer.

“I…” Renia started, her voice trailing off as she looked down at herself for a moment. Her unique style of dress had always been a point of pride with her. The designs representing a people and spirituality she’d never known but grew up hearing about, even the colors the deep and varying blues were meant to reflect that. But this, dream of a child that had she’d carried through to adulthood had been changed by the war.

A Republic Military communicator sat on her wrist along with armored gauntlets...even her lightsabers were a tool of war now, instead of peace. “Honestly I don’t know, I don’t think I can go back to who I was a year ago. I’d like to think so, that I can just explore the galaxy again, teach Mina the ways of the Force...but…”

“It feels empty now, that old life...almost. But I guess this is what the Force wants us to learn...change. How to accept change and flow with it.” Another sip of the caf. “I think I may go into private business after the war is over.”

“I don’t know if empty is how I feel about it, we did a lot of good back then...I just don’t know if I fit in that mold. Like I’m not...worthy? Is that the right word? Like after so much war and destruction and killing I can’t see the galaxy in that light anymore.” There’s just too much grey now… “Maybe I need to think about what I’ll do after the war...I don’t think private business is for me.”

Vala nodded solemnly, “either way, let’s not lose each other for years again, hm? Maybe we can do something for the boys after the war. If the Senate allows it, obviously. You know, help those we can.”

“I’d like that.” Ren said with a soft smile, her hand lightly resting on Vala’s. “Maybe even get a few more Jedi onboard, help heal the Order, help them to see the clones as more…” Perhaps they would be able to help the clones become more, give them a full life.

“Just….stay alive. Listen to your gut...or the Force, either.” A green, tattooed hand grasped Renia’s free one. “Trust your instincts.” Spirits, she wished she could say more.

“I will, I always do...Vala what’s wrong?” Ren asked turning to fully face the other woman, a concerned look on her face as she searched Valanthe’s features for some clue. Something was definitely up, of course they both worried about each other, but this...this was different.

Riis sighed as she faced Renia, “I can’t…” she opened, then closed her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she tried again to be vague yet tell her at the same time. “Remember when I told you, back on the Resolute how I felt strange things were at work?”

“Of course, I was sitting up for days worrying about your review after that,” Ren said with an embarrassed smile. She wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone else but if she couldn’t be a bit vulnerable with Vala who else could she.

“It’s turning out to be more than a feeling…” Valanthe squeezed Renia’s hand a little harder, as if to convey the depth of her concern. “I don’t have conclusive evidence yet, but things are moving in strange patterns, for inexplicable reasons.”

“Well I’d like to think it’s just the war talking and that we should wait for evidence before jumping to conclusions...but I know you well enough to not need evidence when your instincts are screaming the alternative.” Ren really wished that Vala was wrong, it would make things simpler...clearer. They would be the good guys like in the stories of old, the grand Republic out to keep the galaxy free. But the more she looked into it, the more she listened to Vala...even the more time she spent at the Temple it seemed less and less, that was the reality.

“I can’t tell you details for your own safety. But I’ll tell you this, keep flimsi trails of everything. You never know when one day, it could be crucial.” Oh how she wished now she’d had Stick make a copy of the missing database, perhaps she could then know the depth of the mess she felt she was walking into.

“Sounds like something Master Di would have said.” It was hard to hear the strain and worry in her friend’s voice, whatever had her so concerned certainly wasn’t something to take lightly. “I understand and I will. I’ve already got a few of those stashed away...I just hoped I wouldn’t need to add any for a long time.”

“I know, me neither. Believe me. I have my logs and my reports, but they can be taken away at any point for any reason.” Valanthe nodded, leaving unsaid that haunting thought, and I’ve had it happen already.

Vala took a deep breath, then exhaled, “I’m sorry...we were meant to have a nice chat before you went back to your duties and I went….home,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

“It’s alright, after everything you’ve gone through recently I understand needing to unload a bit.” Renia had done very much the same with Vala and then Obi-Wan after Sermeria, the least she could do was to be there for her friend as well. “And we still can of course, I don’t have many duties besides checking in on some of the older groups of younglings who are getting ready for their Gatherings.”

Vala took a long sip of her coffee, grinning. “Do you remember ours? Seems another lifetime ago now.”

“More like two if you ask me.” Renia relied with a laugh. “It’s hard to even imagine we were ever that young. I was so scared, especially when everyone split up...you know at one point I almost cried out for you? Went back along my path just so I wouldn’t be on my own.”

“Aw, really?” Vala chuckled, “I felt like I was on an archaeological quest, needing to find the treasure. I loved it. Even if it meant swimming through that ice cold water. But when I got it, when I saw how vibrant green it was...one of the best feelings. I’m sorry you felt scared, ferith.”

“It’s ok, I think it was actually really good for me, since I had to get over those feelings on my own…Once I finally got over it, I had quite a bit of fun as well and I don’t think I’ve seen many worlds even half as beautiful as those caves.” Ren wished she could go back, take some time to walk through the serenity of the ice.

“Did you ever feel the call of another crystal?” Vala asked, sipping the last morsels of her coffee.

“Not that I know of, but I don’t think so.” Ren said as one of her hands glided across the hilt of her main hand saber. Both were the original sabers she’d built aboard the Crucible under Professor Huyang’s ever watchful eye, it was hard to imagine changing them. “Honestly I think my connection to them have gotten stronger over the years...more attuned.”

Vala nodded slowly, “I’ve felt pulls, over the years, two or three times. Once on Jedha and once on Dantooine. It wasn’t the same type of pull when we were on the Gathering. It was more...letting me know it existed. I don’t know if I can explain that better…”

“I think I understand, I’ve felt the pull of the Force before...what you describe reminds me of the feeling I had when I first found Gungi on Kashyyyk. Although that time I wasn’t able to ignore it…” Master Di had been furious with her, traipsing off through the village and eventually finding herself in the Shadowlands, it had all worked out in the end but that still hadn’t absolved her of her transgression. “Jedha makes sense, the Force is strong there. I’ve always wanted to visit the temple.”

“It’s unlike any of the other temples. Ancient, full of mystique, full of questions. The Guardians of the Whills are more of a Jedi’s distant cousins than Jedi themselves. I liked talking to the one that was there when I poked my head in. An old man, reminded me much of the late Master Qui-Gon.” Vala said with a grin. “If I didn’t know better I’d say they’d been cut from the same cloth those two.”

“It sounds amazing,” Renia mused smiling at the memory of Qui-Gon. Growing up she’d had several opportunities to interact with the somewhat...unorthodox Jedi Master. His ways were often quite different from many of the other Jedi at the Temple, but they were always thought provoking. Knowing what she did now, there was little doubt in her mind that those kind of men and women were exactly who should be teaching the young, getting them to think for themselves.

When Renia was younger she’d often hoped her own Master would be like him and Master Di certainly hadn’t disappointed. Even after taking her own Padawan she’d tried to continue what the two men had taught her. With both of them being one with the Force now, it was comforting to know there were others around as ornery as they were.

“We’ll have to go some time, it sounds like the perfect place to go and get away from the wider galaxy.”

“It’s a bustling city of nomads and miscreants, make no mistake.” Vala grinned, “but sure, I’d love to revisit it. I must take you a delicious little place too, fantastic food at affordable prices and the caf is the best on this side of the Correlian Trade Spine hyperlane.”

“Well what girl can resist the offer off fantastic food and good caf?” Renia teased as she took a sip of the to-go. Nomads and miscreants wouldn’t be anything new to her, the early part of both their lives had been spent around them. In a way it would be a comfort, like slipping into an old leather jacket.

“Hey, the Jedi have some strange women, you have to admit. Luminara and her Padawan for example. They transported me over…” Vala chuckled softly, “the Padawan has questions, the Master doesn’t register them.”

Turning her head to the side a bit Renia tried to decipher just what Vala meant. Luminara could sometimes be rather...aloof to the little interpersonal things. Thinking about it all it didn’t really surprise her that Luminara was missing different signals from her Padawan. “I take it you did however?” Renia grinned knowing the answer already.

Vala grinned, shrugging with fake modesty, “you know me, I have a gift. Barris...she’s, like me in a way. I just hope Luminara realizes it in time and steers her correctly, like Master Sinube did with me. I dropped a few hints with her before I disembarked, as respectfully as I could. She’s a good person, Luminara, but thinks she knows best too often.”

“I can’t disagree with you there, I don’t think I’ve ever found my footing with her. But I think she’ll be good for Barriss assuming she doesn’t ignore your warning. I’ve only met the young woman once but I liked her, I guess I know why.” Renia grinned back with a small wink.

“I felt a bit bad though. I’m a stranger and she’s her Master and a renowned Jedi, I felt a bit hypocritical insinuating that her Padawan needed to be tended to more.” The Mirialan finished her coffee with a shrug. “I know how I’d feel if someone, especially an outcast from the Order, said anything about my Padawan, you know?”

Suddenly the weight of the day impacted her and she felt tired. She yawned rather surprisingly loudly, covering her mouth with her tattooed hand.

“Sorry...I guess my adrenaline reserves have finally worn off,” Riis admitted sheepishly.

Renia nodded as Vala yawned, she had to admit that if she were in Luminara’s shoes, having an outsider comment on how her Padawan was doing would be off putting to say the least. But she’d like to think that she wouldn’t ignore the situation.

“It’s ok, from the sound of it you’ve been going pretty much non-stop since you arrived.” Renia couldn’t help but sympathize, the first few days she’d been back were more than a bit of an ordeal. “If you like we can meet up again later. It’s not like either of us is going anywhere, anytime soon.”

Valanthe nodded as she got to her feet gingerly, feeling her joints and hips complain. “I’d love to. I think I’ll drop by ARCA barracks one day too. We can meet up there and see where we end up?”

“I’d like that.” Renia had been meaning to stop by and check on her troops soon. The Council had wanted her to spend most of her time at the Temple but they wouldn’t object now that she’d been back for awhile. “I think the clones will as well, they like you and, well...they were worried about you.”

Valanthe waved it off, “oh please, they don’t know me that well.”

One thing with Valanthe was, she never could take worry nor praise well.

“I’ll get in touch soon then.” The Mirialan looked over at her longtime friend, “may the Force be with you, my friend.”

“And may the Force be with you as well.” Ren couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle at Valanthe’s misplaced modesty. It was comforting to know that somethings would never change, even if she hoped that Vala would one day be able to accept a compliment without wanting to run from it.

Valanthe grinned at her, bowing somewhat awkwardly in a traditional Jedi manner before the two parted ways. As always of late, when she walked away from Renia she felt a tug around her heart, a desire to stay, spend more time with her, never quite sure why.

==Coruscant, Housing Block ‘Chorathon’, Apartment B-21, an hour later==

Climbing up the staircase brought strange feelings to her. There was a comfortable familiarity to the steps and to the halls as she ascended to level B, but also a sense like she should be elsewhere, like she didn’t belong there anymore.

Have the last few months changed me that much? Quiet thoughts ran through her head as she approached her door.

21-B, it said. So familiar, yet at the same time, just as unfamiliar. Tapping a panel with her right hand, it slid aside and revealed a palm scanner and a biometrics scan. Leaning closer she let the green light scan her retina, then let the palm print do its own scan.

IDENTITY CONFIRMED: AGENT CASSANDRA. LOCK RELEASED. It said on the display as her door slid open. She tapped the panel back and it slid into place.

Valanthe took a deep, calming breath and stepped inside the darkened apartment. The door locked behind her with a click and a hiss. Reaching over she turned on the lights, revealing things exactly as she’d left them, except coated in layers of dust.

Where once it felt like her comfortable little cave, now it felt lonely and cold.

It didn’t feel like home anymore.

But why?

END OF ACT 1

#Mirialan #Gathering #Jedi #Jedha #guardians of the whills #star wars the clone wars #clone wars #coruscant #Intelligence #Level 1313 #Nuna

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