#no please put your focus into interesting map design and using maps to tell stories

[fyeah-bangtan7]

Jin: “It feels like my memories of ARMY were all a dream”

Jin is calm and quiet throughout the whole interview. But while his words start out sounding like those in an everyday conversation, they soon begin to tell the story of a protagonist in the intricate drama that is BTS.

You worked on the lyrics for “Stay.” Jin: The song opens with the words, “Was it a dream?” and I came up with the theme. We used to see our fans and it was great, but now that’s something we can’t do anymore. I thought it all felt like a dream. I wanted to say, “We used to be so happy together, but now I feel like your very existence was a dream.” I came up with the intro and then talked about it with RM. He really helped me a lot.

I’m guessing you came up with the lyrics because of COVID-19. Jin: It was around two to three months ago that I wrote the lyrics for the song, when it seemed like COVID-19 wasn’t getting any better. I want to put on another concert, and, like I said, it feels like my memories of ARMY were all a dream: Ah, they always used to be there with us, and then they disappeared like a memory—was all that a dream? Will we ever meet again? Those kinds of thoughts.

It sounds like you had a hard time getting used to this new situation. Jin: Yes. That used to be a part of our life for years, so it felt like a part of my life disappeared. When we had a busy schedule to deal with, sometimes I thought maybe it would be fun to have no job, but when that work was no longer there, no matter what I did, even if I poured myself into it, it all became meaningless very quickly. I felt insecure when I had nothing to do, since I’m so used to being busy, and feeling insecure made me think more about the things I like, and what I should do to make myself happier, besides work.

Would you say that’s been incorporated into your work on BE? Just from looking at the album photos, we can see each of you expressing your own thoughts through your room designs. Jin: Mine was the jewel room. They asked me what kind of concept I wanted for my room. I thought about what I wanted to do, and I wanted to go with gems. I was imagining myself lying down with gems all around me, but V, who was the visual director, thought I was joking at first. (laughs) “You were supposed to decorate the room, what do you mean gems?” But still, that’s the image I had in mind, so we went with that concept, except it wasn’t full of gems like I imagined. But I really stand out in the picture, so I’m satisfied with the result.

Why did you choose gems? Jin: Well … I have a sort of free, do-whatever-I-want personality, and at the time, I was really intrigued by gems, so that’s what I chose. This year, with the pandemic, I had more time to think about what I want and the things I want to do, and to try some new things, like playing piano, playing games, not playing games, meeting different people. But still, I can’t tell what I really like. I don’t think I ever thought much about myself, other than the work part. The best answer I found was doing whatever I’m interested in at the moment; is being the truest to myself. I’m more of a feeler than a thinker. Some might say I should have a plan for my future, but I don’t have any. (laughs) I thought that I really just do as I please.

So what does it mean to do as you please? Jin: Like I said, I’m someone who literally lives only in the present, so I tend to forget about the past, and I don’t stress over the future. I know I won’t forget important moments or times I spent with other people, but I’ve forgotten all the bad things that happened in the past and the hard times I had, and I’m really satisfied with my life now and happy to be working hard. How can anyone feel happy over and over again from something that happened in the past, no matter how good it was? You can be happier finding 10,000 won on the ground now than earning 100 times that in the past. I think I’m living true to my feelings by living in the now rather than thinking about the future or the past.

Even though you say you do whatever you’d like, aren’t there things you still need to be careful about, being a part of BTS? Jin: There are things that should be followed as a rule, such as not crossing on a red light, for example. Because if you do, there might be an accident. So those things, I set aside as things I shouldn’t do, so I never really thought of wanting to do them.

That sounds more like self-discipline. (laughs) Jin: It’s the same as not crossing at a red light if you don’t want to get hurt. I can keep myself happy living in the present as long as I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t be doing. Some might feel a bit frustrated, but they might also be the kind of people who cross at a red light. (laughs)

The song “Dis-ease” captures each of the BTS members’ thoughts on work. Is it especially difficult for you, in particular, to separate work from your personal life? Your life is influenced by your work. Jin: To me, work makes a lot of things happen in my life. Naturally there are times I feel stressed because of work, but the work I do makes me happy and has led to some spectacular experiences. Sometimes it’s interesting, other times it might be exhausting. I think I feel an entire spectrum of emotions thanks to my work. I lead my life the way I do because of my work, so to speak.

Just as you did, the other members also expressed on BE their feelings of what they’ve been through. Other than “Stay,” what other songs did you relate to? Jin: I didn’t really think about which songs I relate to, but I can tell you which song I like the most: “Blue & Grey,” by V. I liked that song from the very first time I listened to it, so I listened to the demo over and over again.

What was the demo version like? Jin: When V first made it and gave it to me, it didn’t have the rap part yet. There were no lines for the rap but it sounded really unique. Only the instrumental was there for that part and it felt like it was time for thinking by myself. Of course, I like the full version with the rap, too, but still, I liked how there was space that made you think. It’s been a long time since I got that feeling from listening to one of the demos. The first one was “Spring Day,” and the second was “Blue & Grey.”

It sounds like you found the song right when you needed some time to think. Jin: Yes. Before our debut, I had a clear goal: to debut. I chased after that one goal. After we debuted, I was chasing after a number one hit, and after we got number one I was chasing after major awards. And after that there were a lot of other awards, like from Billboard, and performances to put on, but it wasn’t a goal in the sense that it was my goal to debut. I’m just happy to be working. Every moment is wonderful and has become like my whole life. That wasn’t how I felt when I was a trainee because I had a serious goal then. But now, my goal is to live without overthinking anything. Maybe it’s not really a goal but a kind of defense mechanism. 

A defense mechanism? Jin: As you get thinking, you might somehow undermine yourself. So, as long as I don’t think too hard, I can work hard right now. Maybe that’s why I called it a defense mechanism: If I stop and think about it, I might have too many ways to put myself down. 

But if you imagine someone else were to have accomplished the same things you have, wouldn’t they think they deserve to feel proud? Jin: That’s true, but I’m also one of seven members of BTS. Thinking about what I’ve done as an individual feels like a burden to me. Up until we finished working on Map of the Soul: 7, I wasn’t burdened but felt, “Okay, we all did a good job. I’m happy with this.” But after getting “Dynamite” to the top of the Billboard Top 100 and starting down this new road, I started to wonder if I deserve any of this.

But you experienced a lot of big things before. What made you think that way this time? Jin: I was waiting for the chart position to come out all day, and then right before bed, Namjoon sent a message to our group chat. That’s when I realized we were number one! I was really happy, but something felt different. Maybe it was because we couldn’t see our fans. After “Dynamite,” we got even more love from even more people, and even when I was walking down the street, people would say things like, “I’m a big fan of yours,” or, “Thank you for introducing Korea to the world.” Then I started to think, “Do I deserve all this congratulations and love? That’s not me—I’m not that kind of person.” I got over it a bit, but even until a few days ago, the pressure was so intense that I couldn’t get any work done.

How did you move away from all that pressure? Jin: I just moved on. Like with COVID-19, we all have to wait and stay put until everything gets better. And actually, after “Dynamite” made number one, we got really busy, so I was able to think less about other things and basically avoid them that way, all those questions about life. I think that’s how I endured.

If you had had the fans there with you, maybe you would have felt less pressure or worry. Maybe it makes what you’re doing now seem incomplete compared to the past. Jin: We did so much and we worked so hard, but the result doesn’t hit you the same way, does it? The—excitement, maybe?—isn’t quite there. There’s a big difference between performing for people and performing for the camera. The performance itself is hard, too, of course. I have to keep at it for months once we start. But when we perform for people, I feel alive.

Had you been able to perform “Dynamite” on stage for your fans, you probably would have felt more love and more confident taking first place. Jin: I want to look and do my best in front of the fans no matter what. It’s a lot more fun when our fans are there, right in front of us. I’m not thinking about anything else in another sense, when they’re there with us. For people who don’t perform like we do, when they have fun, they don’t think about much else, and just focus on what they’re doing. I think we’re the same way when our fans are around. I don’t have to think about anything else, because my fans are all right in front of me. I just have fun and forget about everything else.

Hopefully you’ll feel like everything is back to normal once you can see your fans again. Jin: At first I thought I’ll probably cry tears of joy. But would I? I don’t really think so. At first I really thought I would, but now I think it might feel like going back home. It depends on who you ask, but I don’t think most people would cry just because they came back to their hometown after being away. I think that’s how I’ll feel: like I’m back where I should be.

Talking to you, it seems like the sense of being loved by your fans must be important to you, emotionally. Jin: You’re right. Getting love from the fans was my source of happiness—what can I compare this to? Like a kid who’s always showered with love by their parents, but then the parents are suddenly gone on a business trip for like, ten months. It’s kind of like that. I was always trying to make our fans smile, make them feel good, by acting cute, but now my parents have been away on their business trip for, ten months, and I’m trying to be cute over a video call. That’s what it feels like. So please, wrap up your business trip as soon as possible, and hurry up and come home so I can show you how cute I am again! And, to COVID-19: Please get lost. (laughs)

© source

[buggytron]

 BuggyTron

"So (Y/N) this is an easy process.” My father says leading me through it again. I smile at him buckling up in the Novas spacecore craft. The pod would put me to space and manually fly me to the colonies designation. My dad continues going over the procedures and points to the emergency controls just in case something went wrong and I had to pilot the pod manually.

Nodding as he finished his spiel he gave my restraints a last good tug. Humming in satification he pulls back a bit. I smiled excitement flowing through me, I was ready for my first flight space flight to this new colony mom had discovered.

“Okay.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead making sure my backpack was secure as well. “I love you…” He says putting our heads together. Closing my eyes head to his I laughed.

  “I love you too dad. I’ll see you soon but I’m excited to see mom.” He smiled back ruffling my hair.

 “Have fun. Her colonies great. I'll meet you there in a few cycles okay?" Saying goodbye he put his hand to the glass as I put mine over his. Pod getting ready to launch he backed up the safe travel distance. Waving at me I blow kissed him goodbye making him smile. Closing my eyes gas filling the pod I settle into sleep as the pod takes off.

 That's the last thing I remember as I wake up in the pod. Lights flash on my ships screen making me anxious. Opening communications to the landing bay alarms begin blaring. 

 “Mom? Dad?!” Hearing loud thuds outside the pod informs me its taking severe damage. The screeching alarms get louder echoing through the small space, bright lights flash across the flying modules screens, and a violent shaking left me vibrating in my seat as I tried to reach my colony. Trying to get back on course there was a sharp jolt and everything went dark.

 Autobugs P.O.V

 “It's a nice night.” Rodimus observes looking up at the sky as his thorax glowed.

 “Yes. It's peaceful.” Drift responded to the glowbug antenna twitching in delight.

 “Why’d you drag me out here for this?” Ultra Magnus questioned annoyed as he stared at the stars. It was peaceful but knowing the colonies co-leader and his second in command had plannes this party was making it hard to enjoy the night. 

  “Magnus were just trying to have some fun.” The glow bug complained, his light dimming slightly.

 “Rodimus cheer up.” Skids stated staring at his leader of the colony as a small group started to gather looking up at the skies.

 “Yeah.” Swerve chimed in finally catching up. Though the garden snail was never really known for being quick in the first place. “Tonights supposed to be the brightest meteor shower in half a vorn. We should all enjoy it.” He stated. “Plus this is the only time I’ll sell my nectar and honey at half price. In honor of the stars and Primus.” Swerve admitted. Rodimus decides not to look a gift bug in the mouth and pays for a fruity nectar buzzing happily. Let the party commence!

After lots of laughs over nectar or honey and story telling everyone finally became quiet.

 As everyone settled down in blankets and temporary nests they stare at the meteor shower in awe. Lights flash across the sky and stars twinkle as everyone watches the sky in all its glory. Looking out at the shining cosmos the colony notices a meteor go off it's course.

  “Swerve that ever happened before?” Skids questioned making everyone look at him. Swerve tilted his head confused.

  “No.” He admits.

 "Is that Meteor getting bigger?" Tailgate asks softly. His wings flutter and everyone realizes it's crashing.

  "NO IT'S GETTING CLOSER!" Panicked screeching fills the valley as bugs scatter.

  "Everyone move!!!" Ultra Magnus yells trying to retain order as everyone scatters. Getting out of the way the colony stared as something made impact but it wasn't a meteor. After the hissing had gone down Rodimus inches closer to the item curious.

 "Rodimus be careful!" Rodimus pauses his antena twitching as he gets closer curious. "It's a pod." He reports from his position. He notices a blob and his eyes widen wings fluttering. "THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE CYCLONUS HELP!" Claws tear through metal as the Lost Light Colony stare. What was that?

~~~~~~~~~

Waking up in a comfortable bed I groan. Blinking my eyes to adjust I look around the warm wooden room. The smell of herbs and medicine fills my nose as I breathe. It feels refreshing. Slowly leaning up looking at the lanterns hanging around the room I smile. Cozy.

My backpack along with some of my clothes are placed neatly next to my bed. Nest? Curiously examining my resting place I hum. A soft nest full of blankets and soft materials. How interesting.

This had to the colonies new medical center. Looking for a doctor remembering that I got pulled from my pod after it crashed I hear a door open. Turning my head I smile softly, head a little dizzy.

 "Hello doctor. Where am AHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

Scooting back screaming in terror I stared at the giant bug in front of me with horror. What the hell was that thing???

  “Please calm down I know…” It starts chittering legs reaching out towards me.

 “Oh my god the bug talks!” Backing up more I fall out of the nest on the dirt floor. Looking around I grab the closest thing to me. Holding up a long sharp stick. A sucky weapon but a weapon none the less. Swallowing I grab my backpack holding the stick out. “Back up I’ll use this!” Holding it up defensively the bug… sighed? Chirped? It sounded annoyed but I didn't care! This thing wasn't eating me!

 “Please calm down. Your pod crashed last night during a meteor shower. We pulled you from the wreckage and saved you.” Looking at the giant bug I blinked. Lowering my weapon I watched the bug curiously.

 “Crashed?” I questioned vaguely remembering a crash. Random flashes and beeps filled my mind making me close my eyes to focus. Opening them tears flooded my eyes. I let out a deep breath shakingly dropping the stick. “I… I remember.” I said slowly as my hands tremored. I had almost died. Sitting down I pull my knees up to my chest tears streaming down my face.

  “Hey.” The bug said. Looking up tired and feeling hollow it smiled at me. “You're okay now. We salvaged most of your ship and I bandaged you all up.” Looking down I pulled up my sleeves seeing bandages made of leaves up the length of my arms.

  “... You… you saved me?” I questioned wiping at my face.

 “Yes. Now please breath. It'll be alright. We'll figure this out." He promises. Looking up at the bug I nod seeing that some others had joined him.

 “... okay…” I said slowly nodding again. Yeah. Yeah it'd be okay. They'd healed me. They were friends. “.... So where am I?” I asked looking around the room confused.

 “Well we call our planet Buggytron. Where are you from?” He asked calmly coming a bit closer. Leaning up and sitting criss cross I blinked.

 “Buggytron?” I’d never heard of a planet by that name. Not in any system or region on Novacores map.

 “You're not from this system pup. I've seen many things in my life. None of them like you.” He states. Nodding now calm I sat down as a warm mug was put in my hands.

 "So what now?" I question taking a sip of the sweet liquid. It was warm and felt smooth down my throat. Like an earthy cider or soothing herbal tea.

 "Welcome to BuggyTron!" Rodimus shouts. BuggyTron huh? Well could be worse. At least everyone here seemed nice.

[malacodaus-blog]

Old Blood 

||@exmortum​|| AKA Happy Birthday Cae 

Prompt: 

Sat opposite her, between them on the cherrywood surface of his desk lay a duralumin case on its side, the locks still tightly in place. It had been there since she had entered his office, innocent despite the disastrous contents safely nestled in the plush lining. Leather encased fingers laced together, the heels of palms resting on the polished surface just a twitch or two away. The rest of him appeared as ever; composed, posture straight, but for the tilt of the head. Across the sable tinted lenses of his sunglasses flashed the lights held in generations' old crystal. Behind the shades, his gaze was intent upon her.

‘ Tell me, Ms. Sherawat. . . what would you do for the sake of loyalty ? No, ’ rumble interrupted the query, the smooth expression of calm undisturbed by the undercurrent of danger in freezing waters. ‘ What would you do for the sake of your life ? ’

The metal brief case lodged like a barrier between Jessica and Wesker. An enigmatic little mystery box posed as the center piece of his desk. She could guess the contents but only he could reveal the answer, for certain it was why he called her here. A golden evening glow bathed the desk and office in warm light. It glinted from the windows and kissed Jessica’s throat, a final farewell of the day. Wesker’s office proved to be what she expected, simple but decadent. A minimalistic statement of class and taste. Not hollow or for show; Crystal glasses, art pieces running in the millions, books smelling of warmed leather, polished wood. Wesker appreciated true quality, not money spent for the sake of itself. His clothes were designer for comfort, and durability, to put forth the best appearance. Wesker expected that everything in his vicinity preform to standard. Jessica has stepped from chaotic streets into this den of organized papers, composed into stacks for efficiency. She’d find such skilled artistry nowhere else.

His focus burned holes into her, his gaze nipping like frost bite. In a torrent ocean, a riptide, Jessica was placid. Legs crossed at the knee, the pointed red toe of her heel drawing calm circles. Her posture remained open and inviting, hands on either arm rest of her chair, expression gentle and softened, unchallenging, patient. To his question she hummed, head cocking in thought. A single auburn coil of hair brushed along the collar of her pea coat. Jessica braced her chin against her white silk gloved hand and then smiled, slight and wiry.

A half-dozen handlers had asked this exact question before him. They didn’t use the same words of course, but the gist, the intention, the heart of it, was there. It wasn’t the question that mattered. The words were but a facade meant to draw her attention, so she could stutter over them and reveal all the more of her hand. No, the question was a thin veil for something far more sinister. Life or death, loyalty or betrayal, the binary dichotomy of her career. This was the relationship of agent and handler. No it was quite obvious: Wesker was threatening her. Her comfort was that if he truly wanted her dead, she would be, there was an angle here. He was looking for something out of her. 

The answer he wanted, the correct answer, the ‘I’ll do anything, please don’t kill me’ and the ‘I’m loyal to the end.’ Were the wrong answers, not because they were lies but because they were not true. What a beautifully crafted catch-22 he presented her with. In the original story the logic was simple. Only the insane would fly bombing missions but an insane person cannot fly. If one applies for insanity to escape the missions however, they admit fear in the face of death, which is a hallmark of sanity. Ergo, to apply for insanity is to admit to being sane. Only the insane would work for Wesker but Wesker doesn’t want someone insane working for him. To try to leave, however, would be for Jessica to admit her sanity and yet to stay would be to admit her insanity. And if she was sane and if she was reasonable, the kinda person that would balk under pressure, then he’d have no more use for her because those were not the traits of a good agent. And then she’d be killed. So the obvious, easy answer —the lie— was the wrong answer. Because the sane feared death and the insane were not good agents. Jessica wondered why they had to play cat and mouse. She was content to work with him for now, it was Excella they both hated. The enemy of my enemy is not my enemy, after all.

Jessica inhaled, thin breath through her nose, eyes narrowed imperceptibly. Not a tick on the clock had passed in the ensuing silence of his query. Wesker sat across the desk as unmovable as a statue, man hewn from marble and spun gold. Jessica’s forefinger traced the line of her jaw, eyes running over his form. Broad shoulders, strong arms, hardened and tight jaw. Beneath those glasses were unseen eyes, the windows of the soul folded in shadow. At a glance he appeared as a man, but if she peeled away the layers— what would she find? 

All her handlers were the same. Men of importance and power, charged to keep her in line, no matter what. One liked to belittle and threaten her and another tries to seduce her, cruel or sweet words, all twisted to the same end. Control. Wesker controlled everything. He controlled Excella, he controlled TRICELL, and its employees, and the labs that developed the viruses. Hell, he probably even set the AC in the office. Strong, functionally immortal, intelligent, Albert Wesker was the perfect human being. His files from UMBRELLA said as much. What power he did not have he hungered for. It was in his DNa, his upbringing, nature and nurture intertwined to produce a ruthless man that will stop at nothing. He would not trip over Jessica, no, if she fell in his path he’d crush her beneath his boot heel and she was not afraid to admit she’d be helpless to stop him. All her other handlers she watched crash and fall, hoist by their own hubris. They underestimated her, doubted her skill, when they thought they were the seducer, she seduced them— not many knew to watch her mouth and her hands. 

Behind the glint of those sunglasses, molten gold in the light, Jessica saw no expression. Cold and unfeeling, his chuckle echoed in a hallow chest. If she took her fingers to his pulse would she hear a heartbeat? Or did the progenitor take that from him too. He knew of her four years in Umbrella, the last generation of agents produced from their programs— she supposed that made them somewhat related. Perhaps in an extended metaphor, she could consider herself an adopted younger sibling, or a niece. If he was the beloved golden boy then she was the black lamb, which marked two families she had estranged. 

There were other kids in the program with her. Nine others to be exact, some as young as ten and barely reaching her hip. A couple were boys older than her. They all shared one thing in common: they escaped Raccoon City before the missile hit. UMBRELLA scooped them up like prize fish at a Carnival game. There were more than them initially but Jessica suspected they weren’t up to standard and thus were terminated. They all had ‘strong’ genes. They were healthy and attractive kids, intelligent. Jessica’s parents were wealthy and talented — and bait for blackmail— so the scientists cooed that she was an excellent candidate. No, they weren’t as good as the originals —the fabled Wesker project— but in a pinch they’d do. But she recalled their first two weeks together, huddled scared in a common room of a white washed facility. The young ones were terrified, the smallest cried for her mother every night. The first day soldiers shaved their heads, dunked them into ice baths to scrub them raw, and scientists poked and prodded them with needles and instruments. For a time it was them, together. Then they identified something special in Jessica, or Captain Rodriguez did, as he said, not many sixteen year olds walked out of Raccoon City. The others were shuffled off and they handed her over to the Captain. They told him to break her, and so he did.

It’d been almost a decade but she remembered him like it was yesterday. He was a gangly man in his early-fifties, all hard muscle and scar. A black curled beard hid his face and he always wore an olive green cap over his ice blue eyes. Captain Rodriguez served for twenty-five years as a US Army ranger. He spent ten of those as an instructor. In military training there were pesky things called rules meant to insure recruits weren’t injured or killed. These annoyed the Captain, they prevented him from testing his trainees and helping them reach their full potential, in his eyes. That was what he told Jessica, at least. He had a year to produce a combat ready agent prepared for military operations, covert espionage, and UMBRELLA’s dirty work. They wanted a loyal, tough agent to carry on the legacy of UMBRELLA and its philosophy. She was to be the final testimony; the best of the best. To that end they tested her vitals at every turn and mapped out her DNA. All while Captain Rodriguez forced her to her limits.

Those same scientists and executives told her that power was in the gene pool. Humanity was a potential untapped, evolution had stagnated in the digital age with the touchy-feely attempts of modern medicine that ensured that everyone could survive and reproduce. Only those with good genes should have the right to spawn they said. Power could unify the human race, perfect it. UMBRELLA sought to cull the herd, a few lives lost here and there, nothing compared to the greater future ahead. That was how they justified Raccoon city. A few lives lost, an accident but a reasonable price for the research and data. For the betterment of mankind, the city burned. Jessica’s potential was excellent, a little more time and they could perfect her too. It will be interesting to see how she responds in real combat.

“No”, Rodriguez would growl, head ducked so his eyes were hid beneath his hat brim. “Its not the genes that make a soldier, but the spirit.”

Those old fools, he’d say, trapped in their labs. They couldn’t see pass the numbers on their data sheets. Only later did Jessica wonder if the reason the scientists were so interested in her was because they had nothing better to do. UMBRELLA was dying and their funding was drying up, might as well harass some teenagers. Rodriguez never tried to convince her of the bullshit the executives fed her, probably why she never swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. The Captain told her two things: One, the mission comes first; Two, the enemy is the one trying to kill you.

“I am trained to put my feelings aside,” Jessica said, “And to complete the mission. Whatever it may be.”

The scientists of UMBRELLA had read Jessica’s genetic code and liked whatever they saw. They tried to use it to predict her future. If they had laid out a deck of tarot cards, they would have had more success. Jessica once dreamed of following her parent’s footsteps: she’d be an actress like her mom or an executive like dad. And if all those plans failed, she had Daddy’s money to fall back on. She believed in destiny, and perhaps that’s why she once thought Terragrigia and Raccoon City were inevitable, caught in the cogs of progress and evolution. That men like Albert Wesker exemplified the machine, unstoppable.

She could not see beyond those black shades, nor to the weathered hands under his gloves, or hear the heartbeat in his chest. Jessica did not know the full story of his birth and resurrection, only the hearsay of the rumor mill and what scraps she garnered from the enigmatic man. He was the ur example, everything the scientists wished she had been. The success story, the one that took his inheritance and ran. Quite the prodigal son, Albert Wesker. Then again, genetics and virus and all, he was still a man. It want the inhuman capacity of his muscle fibers or his super speed that impressed her, not even his intelligence, it was his spirit. Even if a scientist cloned him to the exact detail, they could not replicate him. Jessica cared not for his cause or his business, nor his desire for power. paths. For the first time in her life Jessica didn’t care who held her leash, only that he didn’t tug so hard. She’d come along. After all, now was a time for patience. If he needed to be stopped, someone with equal might would get in his way. It wasn’t the strong that survived --survival of the fittest did not mean survival of the strongest, but the one that could best suit its enviroment-- but those who adapted. 

Their genes could not predict their fate. Jessica was certain, nonetheless that they’d be dealt the hand they deserved. She was calm but she was not complacent, she had her own path to walk. Her parents didn’t decide it, UMBRELLA didn’t decide it, Rodriguez didn’t decide it, and Wesker didn’t decide it. That path did not cross over Wesker’s.  Because Jessica saw Raccoon City burn, watched the missile strike and felt the shockwave from miles away. Politics crushed buildings and shattered glass. It happened on Terragrigia too. Monsters ravaged the streets but the true demons sat in plush offices and debated the PR. She had come to terms with her mortality. Jessica once feared death, now she respected it. Her hands were blood stained and the damn spot would not wash out. She had no self-righteous vindication to hold her back, only the quiet apathy of a woman tired of all the games.

The only question is,” Jessica said, and here she leaned forward, arms bracing on her knees. The mask and the lies, the little petty quirks of an actress melted from her frame, she sat before him as raw as she’d ever been. Her eyes found the reflection in those sunglasses and looked beyond. Cold steel and burning gold, the slightest upturn of cocky smirk across painted red lips.

“What is it that you want me to do?”

[stories-by-shanna-p]

Plot Bunny Adoptions

As some of you may know, I have an overabundance of plot bunnies! Plot bunnies are those story ideas I get (usually while writing another story) that stick around in my head.  Each time I come up with a new plot bunny, I write it down for later.  Which means they multiply quickly...

Unfortunately, my word doc with all these plot bunnies has become overcrowded.  I am unable to give all the love and care to these plot bunnies that they deserve, so I would like to offer them to caring writers who would give them a good home! 

Don’t worry, I have kept many plot bunnies to myself, but these others always seem to take a back burner, and that doesn’t seem fair!  So I am giving them up for adoption! 

Below the ‘keep reading’ line are many, many plot bunnies that I am putting up for adoption.  But before you adopt, some things to note:

Plot bunnies are available for the following fandoms: Supernatural, Star Wars, and Hobbit 

Once you adopt a plot bunny, it is yours.  You can change it to an insert reader, OC, ship, anything you like.  You can change characters that are the focus or even make it an AU.  It is yours, so you can groom it and play with it all you want! :D 

Plot bunnies can only be adopted to one home.  Once they are adopted, they are no longer available!  For this reason, if you want to adopt one of these adorable plot bunnies, you have to send me an ask with the plot bunny number you are interested in!  I will respond saying if that plot bunny is yours or if it has been adopted already.  

I will not be writing these plot bunnies after they are adopted, so they are completely yours.  Any that aren’t adopted will go back to my word doc and hopefully find a forever home with either myself or someone in the future! 

You are welcome to adopt more than one plot bunny at a time, if you can give them good homes! ^^

When you start writing the plot bunny, please tag me in it!!!  I would love to come visit and say hi every now and then! :D 

Adoptions will be open until July 1st.  

If you, or someone you know, has been looking for new ideas for stories or a challenge or such, please refer them to this plot bunny adoption.  I hope you will consider giving one of these little guys a good home!!! <3 <3 <3 

The plot bunnies below are organized by fandom.  For ease of browsing, if the original plot bunny idea has a main focal character, that character’s name will be bolded so you can find them quickly.  

Plot bunnies will have any random thoughts or details that I came up with at the time.  Feel free to use these or use your own.  It is completely your decision. ^^  I just copied them directly from my word doc! XD 

I hope you will find a bunny that suits you!!! 

Supernatural Fandom

·         Plot Bunny #2: (Metatron) God decides to bring back some angels that have died, Metatron, Raphael, Uriel, Zacharia, Gabriel, Balthazar, etc, but they have to prove they are worthy, so God decides…there first task is to be a guardian angel to a human, or in this case a hunter.  The Winchesters know a hunter, almost like a daughter to Bobby, who usually hunts on her own.  She will stop by the bunker every now and then, but then is usually alone, so when Chuck asks for recommendations, she is the first on their list…but that also means that her angel is Metatron.  Eager to prove his worth to his father, Metatron sticks by the female hunter like glue, watching her every move, which causes some tension.  Have a lot of spats, hilarious moments, awwww moments, and then perhaps feelings evolve? 

·         Plot Bunny #8: (Lucifer) Lucifer inspired by “Evermore”.  He had to convince her to leave for her own protection before the apocalypse.  

·         Plot Bunny #9: (Gabriel) While making his rounds as the trickster, Gabriel gets in a chat room and meets someone. They become quick friends and continue to chat for months.  One day, the girl asks to meet him, but of course, he refuses, even if he really likes her.  But then a friend of hers messages him, begging him to come, because she is dying, they say it will happen in the next 24 hours. He shows up and the friend meets him, happy that he came.  “You have been the only light in her life for these past months, now she can finally meet the man from the internet that she fell in love with.”   

·         Plot Bunny #10: (Gabriel) You are a student at the school that Gabriel is a janitor at.  You form a relationship with him, you being an acting/singing student. You find out (eventually) what he really is.  But at this point, you don’ care, because you have fallen hard for him.  One point, you dislocate your arm and he has to take you to the ER.  The meds make you loopy, and that is your first kiss with him.  “Wow, how messed up did those pills make you?”  Gabriel asked.  You responded with a smile.  “Enough that I have the courage to do this, but not so much that I won’t remember in the morning.”  You spend time at his place, eventually move in with him and his dog.  You are in acappella group, he goes to watch you compete. But what happens when your “father” Bobby Singer and your “brothers” Dean and Sam come hunting for him? 

·         Plot Bunny #14: (Castiel) Highschool AU. You are dating the popular senior, Dick Roman, when the Shirleys move into town.  You use to be friends with the Winchesters and others, but Dick pushed them out of your life to turn you into the cliché popular girl at school. When they move, you meet Castiel, who quickly develops a huge crush on you, but is really shy.  After many failed attempts to get your attention, Dick finds out about his crush and starts to bully Cas badly.  When you find out, you turn Dick in and go to check on Cas and his family.  It is then you find out what Dick did to push your old friends away.  In hopes to get you back, Dick makes a huge romantic declaration of love in the form of a proposal/promise ring in front of the whole school, but when you say no, it turns you into the biggest social outcast. Luckily, you have your friends back, and Castiel is happy to help you through.  After a year, you are now best friends with Cas, still unknowing about his feelings towards you.    

·         Plot Bunny #17: (Dean) You and Dean have been dating for a couple years now, while also hunting along side them. At least until you find out you are pregnant with Dean’s baby.  You tell him, and he freaks out and goes drinking.  When he gets home, you over hear him telling you that he is going to ‘fix his mistake’.  You misunderstand, he really means marry you and settle down, like he has been wanting to. Before you can find this out from Dean himself, you run away.  Four years later, Dean is still searching for you, but gets a call from Garth.  When he gets there, he finds out that you had a son, John Robert Winchester (JR/JB (John Bobby)).  You died when demons came after your son and sent him to Garth.  Garth has been trying to help Dean find her, so when this happens, he calls him.  Dean has to deal with the grief, while also bringing a little boy into his life. They stay at the bunker and Dean keeps hunting.  JR was raised on hunting stories and likes his bed time story to be readings from lore books.  He also likes looking at maps for where to go next!  OR you go to Bobby’s for some help where he tells you Dean has been searching for you (JR only 2/3).  Dean and Sam show up shortly after and chaos ensues? 

·         Plot Bunny #18: (Dean)  Dean and Sam run into Jesse, the boy who is half demon.  He takes them to a secluded place where others like him live and train.  It is led by a woman, who is very powerful, but also very kind and gracious.  When Jesse gets captured by demons, the woman works with Sam and Dean to free him. During that time, Dean and she develop feelings for each other.  The night they save Jesse, Dean admits to her that he is in love with her, and wants her to stay with him.  She loves him too, but, she leaves.  Because she knows the truth of her parentage, and the boys.  She leaves a note for Dean, explaining that she loves him, which is why she can’t stay, because if he knew the truth he would hate her, because she is Azazel’s child.  At first, Dean and Sam are angry about it, thinking that she tricked them.  But when words gets out that the demons have their hands on a powerful half-breed, Sam and Dean are back to the rescue.  

  Star Wars Fandom

·         Plot Bunny #21: (Hux) OC is resistance spy, but saves Hux’s life and they become friends, and almost lovers.  When the First Order is under attack by another force, she gets the resistance to bring in help and saves the day.  Eventual love

 Hobbit Fandom

·         Plot Bunny #22: (Kili and Fili) After reclaiming Erebor and the restoration is mostly done, the princes decide to put their skills to work by creating a memorial in the hall of kings for their father. When revealed, Dis is in tears, as is Thorin.  “He would be proud of you both.”  During, they talk of stories and what they remember about their father.    ·         Plot Bunny #27: (Thorin/Company) You are friends with Thorin, Dwalin, and all.  You are a bar maid in Ered Luin, they always bring liveliness to the place, and are very protective of you.     ·         Plot Bunny #35: (Bofur) In Ered Luin, Bofur meets a lass, a very shy one, that he wants to court.  But can the loud and cheerful miner court the quiet and shy seamstress?   ·         Plot Bunny #36: (Bofur) Bilbo notices after a while that all the little things Bofur whittles has a design or such that is always similar.  Bofur explains that it is his muse, how each piece has that as a dedication to her. She is a dwarf in the Blue Mountains that he fancies.  He is hoping that he can prove his worth to her father by being on the quest, and with his share, provide a good life. Jump to later with Bilbo spying Bofur in the market at his stall with a woman, holding her close and smiling.  He is happy he finally has his muse.  ·         Plot Bunny #37: (Bagginshield)  Bilbo tries to teach Thorin how to garden, and Thorin tries to teach Bilbo blacksmithing. ·         Plot Bunny #38: (Bagginshield) Upon his return, Bilbo throws a dinner for his family to explain his absence.  He assumed Thorin, the Dewarf King, would be fine…but Thorin is in over his head…then add Lobelia to the mix.  ·         Plot Bunny #39: (Bagginshield) AU: Bilbo is a school teacher (younger children) and Fili and Kili are his students.  When they get into mischief, the school calls Dis, but since she is busy at work, Bilbo gets to finally meet Uncle Thorin. 

[uomo-accattivante]

I love this interview! 👍🏼

Writer/director Alex Garland set a high bar for himself with Ex Machina, his stellar 2015 directorial debut. That sci-fi movie had a lot on its mind, but his newest film, Annihilation, is far more cerebral. It’s one of the most challenging movies of the year: bold, beautiful, and haunting in a way that occasionally verges on being experimental.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Garland and actor Oscar Isaac, who plays a key role in the film, to talk to them about bringing this story to the big screen. We touched on the film’s behind-the-scenes clashes, whether or not Garland was concerned with audiences being able to keep up with what he’s doing in this movie, Isaac’s approach to his troubled character, and much more. Read our full Oscar Isaac and Alex Garland interview below.

Warning: Both Garland and Isaac occasionally drop spoilers in a couple of their responses. If you’re 100% spoiler-averse, I’d suggest bookmarking this and reading it after you see the film. Our interview follows.

***

For me, watching this movie was like walking through a beautiful nightmare. I have not read Jeff VanderMeer’s book yet, but can you tell me about how you crafted the visual aspects of being inside The Shimmer?

Isaac: Sure. (laughs)

Garland: (To Isaac) Go on, do it. (laughs) Yeah, we knew we wanted it to be beautiful and disturbing, often concurrently within the same shot. So really, what happened was, there’s a script. And in the script it’s straightforward in many respects, because it says, like, say, this scene, you’d say, ‘INTERIOR. HOTEL BAY. Three people sit around a coffee table.’ But then of course, production designers and set decorators need to make it something where you can stick a camera. So the script was disseminated among the collective, the group of people who work together, many of whom I’ve worked with for a long time – some of them twenty years. Me and [set decorator] Michelle Day and Mark [Digby] on the production design team, [producer] Andrew [Macdonald] – we’ve worked together on seven or eight movies, so we know each other backwards.

It all goes out, and really what happens is, a conversation starts. Everybody’s got a voice, and everybody’s chipping in, and an organic, evolutionary process begins and it doesn’t really stop. It doesn’t really stop until the picture’s locked. Right in the 59th minute of the twelfth hour, or whatever the right thing to say is, in the grade, these things are being affected hugely. How much do you saturate the colors? Where do you choose to desaturate? Where do you choose to put a bright point in the screen and do we have a vignette on the shot to focus? So it never really stops. It’s a big collective all working together and getting there organically.

Isaac: But at the same time, nudging it towards ‘What’s most disturbing?’ As an example, without trying to give away too much stuff, the ‘fight’ scene at the end between the alien and Lena. I was there for a lot of those rehearsals, and just seeing – it’s such an ephemeral thing. Why is it more disturbing if she’s less aggressive here, but pushing into her? Why is it weirder if this movement happens as opposed to this movement? It’s hard to say why, but it’s one of those things where we wouldn’t think of it, but then (nods to Garland) you’d suggest it, and suddenly we were all like, ‘Yep. That’s definitely creepier.’ Something as subtle as, this alien being, all it is is intention. So seeing the physicality of that idea happen. The collaborative part is, you say that, and then we have to interpret that. How do you physicalize just intention? Then somewhere that alchemy comes together, and everyone gets on the same page and creates something really crazy.

By the end, Kane turns out to be unlike any character you’ve played before. But in the beginning, I was noticing a couple of similarities to the soldier you voice in the Homecoming podcast. Did you think about that character at all when you were making this?

Isaac: Oh, is that right? No, I didn’t. That one, he was a private. Sure, he had kind of gone through some weird stuff, but I think with that one, there was a bit of an innocence. Kane maybe has…it’s a little bit of a different thing. There’s a deeper, darker bubbling thing underneath him.

As the film goes on, it feels increasingly impressionistic and almost experimental at certain points. Were you worried at all about audiences not being able to keep up?

Garland: No. Not really. That’s not to say there’s anything to do with ignoring audiences. It’s not that. But it has to do with what you’re concerned with in relation to the audience, you know? For example, the kind of area where I’d think about it a lot would be to do with strangeness. So the film was, in some ways, conceived backwards. There was this crucial aspect to me that began as Natalie’s character is walking along the beach, and then contains the sequence within a lighthouse. I knew that was the goal, and I knew that I wanted us collectively to achieve a particular level of strangeness and beauty and oddness. Things like the dance sequence that Oscar was just alluding to. It needed to have information, but not information that was stated. It was more inferred. They key thing would be about strangeness, right? What it feels like to watch it. The crucial thing is what would it feel like? So then, you have to think, ‘How do you construct feeling?’

One of them, say in the case of strangeness, is that there’s a diminishing return with it. So if you begin strange, by the time you get to the end strange, you’ve got acclimatized to it and you’ve lost the thing that you’re shooting for. So that created a built-in structure, which on set and in pre-production, we used to call ‘suburbia to psychedelia,’ because it sounds neat and it’s a nice reduction. It’s a nice sound byte, isn’t it? But it’s got truth in it. Because if you start in suburbia, you start in our world, it gives you the chance of getting truly strange, in a way. So everything was sort of structured that way.

Along those same lines, there were some heavily publicized behind-the-scenes clashes about the making of this movie. I know you’re someone who’s not afraid to speak your mind, so I’m just wondering if you’re pleased with how it all turned out.

Garland: I only really give a shit about the film, OK? That’s actually all I care about. So as long as the film honors the intent of the collective, I’m basically happy. That’s what I care about. I think we did everything we could, and I’m proud of it, and I love it, so I’m fine with it.

I’m curious about your process. What kinds of conversations did you guys have about Kane, and was there a moment when you were developing your take on him where everything clicked for you?

Isaac: (Jokingly) Yeah, I had it all figured out, and I walked in and said, ‘Shut up. Sit down. And point the camera at this.’ (points at his own face)

Garland: He set the lens. There was some discussion about the lighting, but Oscar won. That’s the way it goes.

Isaac: (laughs) Yeah, we talked. That’s what we do. We like to talk a lot and we think about things in similar ways, I like to think, and we have a similar sense of humor. So I think my first question was, ‘I know it’s not Predator with girls, but tell me why it’s not Predator with girls.’ No, I’m kidding. I just read it and thought it was fascinating and thought it was so strange and so beautiful, and I wanted to play this character. What was so cool is that he has all this stuff bubbling underneath, as I was saying, so that’s what was most interesting to me. There was almost a Pinter-esque quality to it, where there’s all these pauses and all of this subtext that’s just emanating out of these two people. But they don’t say it. Like Alex said, it’s inferred. So we spoke a lot about that. ‘What is it that’s happening underneath, and what is the nature of this relationship? What do I know now that I’m not saying? In this scene, now what do I know? What does she know?’ Trying to map those things out. Everything had a palpable energy between the characters.

Then coming up with different ideas: ‘Where might he be from? What if I try making his voice sound a little like this? What do you think about that?’ And then at the end, just the nature of the energy of how do we do this speech at the end that’s being filmed? What’s the reason we’re filming it? What’s the intent of it? Getting very specific about that stuff. That’s what a lot of it felt like. And with Alex, it always feels like we’re building a motorcycle together, or building a car. We’re just kind of handing each other the tools and making it together. That’s what’s really fun about it.

Garland: It was actually all built backwards. So for me, for what it’s worth, the whole thing was about earning the speech that Kane says at the end in this locked off shot that just sits there and lets him do it. It’s about the words that are contained there and the things he’s expressing there. Everything else is in support of that moment. The whole film actually is in support of the last thirty minutes, basically. Which sounds like a sort of stupid thing to say, because truly all films are. But actually that’s not exactly true. In a way, every single thing that happens is just inching your way towards this strange metaphysical sequence. And having it not as just abstract firework fun, but having content.

Isaac: Or pain. I think what the last thirty minutes are just this metaphysical pain and despair in some ways.

Garland:(To Oscar, jokingly) That’s how you’re choosing to sell the movie? Are you out of your fucking mind?

Isaac: Let’s go back to Predator with girls. Predator with girls! (laughs)

Garland: It’s true, though. It’s true.

With this and Star Wars, you’re a part of two big recent sci-fi movies that proudly feature women at the forefront of the cast, which is really cool. I know you’re separated from a lot of the ensemble here, but tell me about working with Natalie on this.

Isaac: I was shooting Star Wars at the exact same time, too, so that was a wild thing to –

Wait, you were jumping back and forth between sets?

Isaac: It was literally the same studio.

Oh, cool.

Isaac: So some days I would walk from – I think I still used my trailer from Star Wars…

Garland: Yeah, we didn’t have trailers. But there were days where you were, on the same day, shooting both things.

Isaac: Yeah, there were. I would shoot something in the morning and then have a little bit of down time and then switch it up. So that was wild.

Garland: We’d catch him at his lunch break and say, ‘We’ve got to shoot this now!’ (laughs)

Isaac: I think I visited, too, still dressed up as Poe on the set.

Garland:Yeah, totally.

Isaac: It was pretty wild. It reminded me a little of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, when he’s on the lot and you see all the different actors walking around. There was something very classic about it. So there was very little time, and not a lot of rehearsal time, and Natalie and I didn’t know each other. It happens in movies, obviously – you have to suddenly be very intimate with someone very quickly. I think the fact that she was willing to trust me and I was trusting her, and we just went in there and did it and tried to find a real intimacy. Which is always a weird, awkward, strange thing to do suddenly in front of a bunch of people. But we found that, and I really enjoyed those scenes with her. She is very focused, but also in those scenes, very emotionally available as well, so I really enjoyed that.

Garland: It makes me want to name-check Rian [Johnson] and Ram [Bergman], the producer on Star Wars [The Last Jedi]. I think because they come from an indie film background, here they are making like the biggest movie of all time, and they were unbelievably helpful and accommodating to us. And they really didn’t have to be at all. Most big productions would not even dream of doing that. And they went out of their way – whilst making fucking Star Wars, for Christ’s sake – to help this really small movie next door. It was very cool and I’m truly grateful for it, actually.

Making a movie with all female protagonists almost feels like a political statement today. Was that something that specifically drew you to this?

Garland: I really just want to dodge that question.

Really?

Garland: Yeah. The answer that I’m saying – which I’ve said before, so I apologize for it, but I’m in a position where this is the answer that I have – is that the previous film that Oscar and I worked on together [Ex Machina] had within it a very conscious set of deliberate arguments which related to gender and objectification. As well as other stuff about sentience and AI and all of that kind of thing. And what interested me about this project was the absence of an argument. So if I now talk about that, I dismantle the absence of the argument. So I’d just like to leave it at that.

Understood. You wrote this long before the Times Up and Me Too movements came to light, and I certainly don’t want you to explain the ending of your movie, but there’s some symbolism and imagery at the end that could be interpreted as being aligned with those causes. Does the film feel even more relevant now than when you wrote it, considering what’s going on culturally?

Garland: No, it doesn’t. I can’t lay claim to that. I wouldn’t want to. For me, it was a film, internally – by the way, let me just say, any time you present a narrative, in a book or a film or whatever the fuck it is, what is really happening is that fifty percent of the narrative is not provided by you. It’s provided by the subjective nature of the person receiving the narrative. So they fill in gaps, they provide stuff, they create agendas, whatever it happens to be. That is not problematic to me, that is just in the nature of the job. Right? For me, personally – so it doesn’t have to be for you – in as much as it is about something, which it is, to me, it is about the nature of self-destruction. It was about an observation I made, which is that everybody appears to be self-destructive. Some people are very obviously self-destructive because they’re addicted to heroin or alcohol or they act in a psychotic way or whatever, and they offer their self-destruction to you. Other people are very comfortable in their own skin, and they’ve got a fantastic job and a fantastic life and everything seems to be bulletproof. They feel like they’ve sort of cracked something about life. But then when you get to know them, you discover odd bits of self-destruction, which then become significant bits of self-destruction. It was the universality of it, that even the people who’d cracked it all had not cracked it all. And then I started trying to think –

Isaac: Where does it come from?

Garland: Where does it come from? Why is it that you have a really good marriage and you dismantle it? Why do you have a really good friendship and you dismantle it? Why do you have a really good job and you dismantle it? Whatever it happens to be. And the film essentially presents that question and an answer to that question by inference. To me, that is what it’s about.

*****

Annihilation hits theaters on February 23, 2018.

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

Chapter 8: Discovery

Sorry for the long wait!

Booker sneaks back outside the inn. He can still hear the voices from earlier tonight. They’re coming from what looks like a block of houses. A man, standing in front of a house, the door closes in front of him and he treads towards the next house. He’s getting closer to the inn. He’s doing rounds; going door to door. It won’t be long until he arrives at the inn. And so the next door opens, and there’s a small pause before Booker can see the black figure move about, he looks like he’s just started talking. It’s risky but Booker edges closer, what’s he doing at this time of night? He moves to a stall near the Inn, and begins to hear “-...but I came to ask if you’ve seen someone?” The woman responds, but she’s too far. “I… - hav… sorry” “They’re a green lizard. Murdered a citizen from the nearest town.” I... The... Why... Uh... The bandit hideout. Somehow. The guards? “If you see anything, come here.” The man hands something - a piece of paper. … The woman shuts the door, and the man turns. At this distance, he can make out a red article of clothing, wrapped around his forearm. Booker shuts the door.

Focus. The innkeep, quick.

The man rubs his hands on his shirt “What’s got you riled up?” Booker shuffles his hands and changes to an articulate speech, lowering his voice.  “A man is going to come in here, a dangerous man. He’s going to tell you that I’m a murderer. But it’s not true. I am carrying a rare map that they plan to take from me. They shot my dragonborn friend the other day due solely on suspicion.” The innkeep looks up at him in surprise. “I beg of you, they will slaughter me on the spot. Tell them you haven’t seen me.”

He lied through his teeth. But there’s no option but to place faith in the innkeep, Endarla and Locke are still upstairs. Booker runs up the stairs to his room.  

He quickly moves and hides by the edge of the door, breathing heavily. It’s dark, and he’s holding a knife close to his chest. Locke raises his head, but Booker holds a finger. Locke stares, and lies down. He can vaguely make out a conversation downstairs. Then footsteps. Footsteps. He grips the knife harder. Footsteps get louder and nearer. Footsteps. … The door handle creaks. Booker’s readied the knife.

The innkeep opens the door. “You’re safe.” Booker sheathes the knife in the dark. He swallows. The innkeeper didn’t notice the knife. That would have been hard to explain. “I thank you, I shall leave in the morning, post-haste.”

The morning after is hard to wake up from, Booker’s head is buzzing. He reaches for his knapsack lying on the floor near the bed and rummages through its contents. 2 potions left, he can’t get any more. The mage left a message at his makeshift stand last night that he’s momentarily stopped producing the potions to focus on his studies. Just have to try and fix the sleep schedule. He sighs and rubs his muzzle.  Always gotta improvise.

It looks like he’s the first to wake up this time, Locke’s lying on the ground with his arm lying on his forehead. He looks as terrible as Books feels. Booker stretches and he thinks of last night. He needs to gather everyone up and leave, before he’s discovered. He gets off the bed, gets on his knees and lightly shakes Locke. Locke wakes up and turns to him, with a glazed expression. “Meet me downstairs, alright?” Locke mumbles a “okaymph”.

Booker knocks on Endarla’s door and shouts “Endarla! Meet me downstairs!” There’s a slight pause before Endarla shouts back “Okay!” Booker pulls up his hood as he heads downstairs.

Endarla’s bought another pie for herself, she offers a slice to Locke. “Okay, what did you need?” “We need to leave town, no questions why, alright?” Both Locke and Endarla look at Booker confused. Endarla opens her mouth “… uh-“ “I know, I know. But someone’s following our movements. Her posture immediately changes. She instantly starts eyeing her surroundings. “Okay.” “If we’re leaving, I’d like to ask you something. I want to visit the box I woke up in” He remembers talking about that a couple of nights ago “…” “It’s not important, but…” Booker looks to Locke, he shrugs He thinks. “… Yeah, we can do that. We’d be out of town anyway.” “Really? Thanks.” He forces a weak smile “Hey, no problem.”

Booker checks corners on his way out of the town, no pirates in sight, thankfully. The morning light is way too bright to sneak around alone. He thinks of the directions Endarla once told him, follow out to the forest. 

The walk out of town is uncomfortable, a path in the middle of an open field. They’re exposed and could get spotted fast. When they reach the trees Booker feels almost instantly relieved, there’s high trees and thick foliage. Both Endarla and Booker try to figure out the trail she took into town. The trees whilst giving good cover A flock of birds fly out of a nest up high in one of the trees. Locke watches in wonder as they pass by. The three keep quiet as they pass through. They found the set of footprints. It’s a very unsteady trail, as expected.

Once they’re out, it finally leads to the box. It’s a stone box, partially glass at the top, and seeing inside it, there’s a cushioned inner layer. There’s silver layered about, but it actually strikes his notice, it’s brown-ish at places. Booker kneels down and traces his fingers on the surface. It’s dirty, certainly. He pulls out a flask filled with water and pours it on his hand, rubbing it again on the silver. It stays brown. He stands up “I’ve worked it out.”

Endarla looks amazed “That easily?”

Booker sighs “Yeah. The box has a silver lining, but the silver itself is tarnished.” “That means?“ “It’s from the air, this box has been here longer than you have.” Booker hasn’t broken eye contact with the box yet “I think it’s a… coffin. And with this sorta quality it means it was someone rich.” Endarla squints “I still don’t understand” Booker finally looks back at Endarla “Alright, let me run you through this” “This box was a coffin for a wealthy person, who designed the box with silver and glass. But it’s been here for a really long while, because you can see the silver’s tarnished over the years. You surely can’t be old as this box, so something tells me you were put here by someone.”

The tracks. That’ll give evidence. They’re hard to determine, but amongst the trio, there’s a fourth boot print here from the others, a little more delicate actually, not like the boots or wraps from Locke, Endarla or Booker. It heads into a different direction in the woods, back the way they came.

Booker’s curiosity takes a hold of him. “We’ll investigate.” “Right.”

Backtracking through the woods, he realises. The tracks… head back into the town. Booker pulls on his scarf slightly. “The person we’re looking for is in the town.” “Ah...” “I… want to know, “Then we go.” “But, it’s still risky.” !”^$&)”!(£)(£^!”_ “I’m curious.”

Booker casually walks into town, ignoring eye contact with anyone who passes by. He takes alleyways, waits until streets are empty, signals to the others when it’s safe to pass, all the while following the tracks.

They finally arrive. A hulking college in the middle of the town. White brick. Multiple buildings with different purposes, storing people, components, and most of all, knowledge. It’s a shame that the books in these colleges rarely have anything more than information about magic. He could never get a hang of it.

They stand at the gates, no one stands guard, but a mage wanders by at the perfect time. “HEY!” Booker shouts. The mage turns and points to himself? “Yeah! Open the gates please!” The mage errs in hesitation before coming closer and opening the gates, it’s better than breaking in.

“Do you know where the main desk is?” “Y-Yeah. It’s… over there.” He points to the large building in the building.

They push open the wooden doors and walk in, an elf receptionist looks up from her desk, and stops writing on a sheet of paper, and stands up; she lifts her head up high with a smile.

“Welcome to the College of Scientific Magic! CSM, for short. This place is run and maintained by our headmaster and founder Ignatius Saeno!” Locke’s already checked out. Booker inquires “… Scientific magic?” The receptionist responds “Yes, based on a theory held by the headmaster back in the day. The synthesis of magic and science into one! Mages scorned him, but look at the infamous mad mage no-” Saeno, that’s a name Booker can remember. He read some of the books as a kid. Ignatius Saeno used to adventure. Known almost worldwide for his erratic manner and was intimidatingly good at his craft. “I’d be interested in hearing the story, but first, we’re looking for a specific mage. He isn’t part of this college and he arrived here in the last two days. He might have been hurt?” “Oh! Yes! We have had one such person. His name was Wolfgang, correct? Let me grab him for you.” The receptionist walks away with an elegant strut. Booker smiles, the mystery is about to be solv-

A spear prods into his back Booker turns his head to the right, and behind him stands a man with a red neckerchief around his neck. With twenty or so other men.

“You’re coming with us.” … They all have a neckerchief. Is it all a symbol? He laughs “What about my friends here?” “Does it look like I give a shit? You’re coming with us.” Can’t attack, outnumbered and at a disadvantage.

Booker looks at Endarla and Locke He fakes a smile “Well, I’ll be leaving, I hope Wolfgang can answer your questions.” Endarla stares “I’m coming with you.” Endarla’s words surprise Booker “What, why?” “Wolfgang can wait, you’re being held at spearpoint” Locke nods in unison. “Well, this is all fuckin’ heartwarmin’, but can we hurry this along? Boss’ll want to see you.”

And just on time the receptionist returns with a man in purple clothing in tow. His hair is a mess, bags under his eyes and his left arm is bandaged.

“What’s happening here?” says the receptionist in slight panic “Nightingale?” Murmurs the purple mage, staring at Endarla. Endarla widens her eyes. Booker tries to cover; he still has his hands up “Sorry about the commotion, miss, but I’ll just be leavi-“ “Shut the fuck up, he’s coming with us, pissed off the wrong people.” The crude wastrel interjects. The receptionist’s eyes lower down towards the man’s neckerchief and she responds with “Ah… Right.”

Before they leave, Wolfgang quickly rushes whispers to Endarla. A spear points at him, but he, in a panicked stupor, declares he just wanted to give her some quick information. He declares that he’ll be staying at the for the time being, and for Endarla to return as soon as possible so he can check how she’s recovering.

The trio are pushed back outside, and led out of the college. When they return to the outskirts of the city, a carriage lays in wait of them. “How long’s the trip?” “Get in.” “Come on, the syllable count isn’t that mu-“ “A day. Get. In.” Booker climbs into the back of the carriage, with Endarla and Locke following him in.

Chapter 9: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/178221350911/chapter-9-by-its-cover

[woodworkingpastor]

Grace in the wilderness -- Acts 8:26-39 -- April 25, 2021 -- Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Lord is risen!

He is risen indeed!

I noted last Sunday that it is our secular habit to celebrate our holidays before the event and not after, while the church celebrates holidays after the event. Just as we spent the 40 days of Lent preparing for the death and resurrection of Jesus, now we spend time between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension celebrating, because 33AD is the date that governs our lives. We are an Easter people; people of the resurrection!

Please pray with me:

Good shepherd of the sheep, by whom the lost are sought and guided into the fold; feed us and we shall be satisfied; heal us and we shall be whole; lead us that we may be with you, and with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, where you reign, one God, forever. Amen.

Many of you have asked about our trip to Portland. Simply put, we had a terrific time! Rose is doing very well there; the opportunity to “stretch her wings” has clearly been good for her. We also had a great time seeing that portion of the Pacific Northwest. If I had Power Point available this morning, I’d would have shown you pictures from our hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, our day at the Pacific coast, and the various places we visited around Portland itself.

But connected to today’s Scripture, I want to talk about the trip from our hotel in downtown Portland to Rose’s house in Gresham, a suburb about 12 miles to the east. I found myself having a bit of trouble committing the route from the hotel to her house to memory due to a number of one-way streets, bridges, interstate merges, and just being unfamiliar with the lay of the land; I was certainly glad for the Google Maps.

It wasn’t until our last day there that I noticed something that changed my perspective. It turns out that both our downtown hotel and SnowCap Community Charities are on Pine Street. It made me wonder—was it the same Pine Street in both places? It turns out that it is—just 180 blocks apart. On the day we volunteered at the food pantry, I thought we might just take Pine Street all the way there. That turned out to not be possible; Pine Street is minor neighborhood street that at one point disappears for 40 blocks. But there was another street that went all the way, so we took it instead. Because we had the time to travel through Portland (instead of around it) we really got an interesting glimpse of the city: houses, businesses, and even a restaurant we returned to for lunch.

The interstate highways are terrific if efficiency is your goal. But if you want to see what is creally happening in a place, the neighborhood streets (which sometimes an feel as intimidating as wilderness roads) are the place to be.

Salvation on a wilderness road

We do not want to lose sight of the fact that this salvation story happens on a wilderness road. The setting is as relevant as the content, for there is no place where Jesus is not Lord and there are no people who are too far away to be reconciled, no matter if we measure the distance in physical or in spiritual terms.

Philip is one of the deacons we met last Sunday; like Stephen—whose story in Acts 6 and 7 that we skipped over—Philip was appointed to make sure the Greek-speaking Jewish widows in Jerusalem were cared for. It is a task that we never see him actually doing, however, because Acts is most interested in telling the story of how the message of Jesus would spread

in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Having given a gospel answer to the racial and administrative problems with the food distribution to widows, Acts simply move on.

The story abruptly shifts to Philip, who is told to take a trip. He’s not given a destination; he’s not told what he’s going to do or who he’s going to see or even how he will know he has arrived. All he is told is to travel down the wilderness road from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he goes, because Philip—like the other deacons—is

full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3).

He recognizes the voice calling him to serve, and he goes. As he walks down this wilderness road, the reason for his trip comes into focus. Just up ahead is a chariot returning to Ethiopia—a designation in those days that referred to the area south of Egypt. Seated inside is a high-ranking official of the queen, a man who has come to Jerusalem to worship and is now returning home. Somehow, the God of Israel has become known in this region far away from Jerusalem, and the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has taken root in this man who has the means to make the long trip to Jerusalem for worship.

What we must notice about the man is that there would have been little room for him in the rush of Jerusalem’s public, festival worship. He had invested significant time, energy, and expense to participate in a worship festival that he would have only been allowed to experience as an outsider, because he was a eunuch. As Deuteronomy 23:1 says,

No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD.

This is not the kind of Bible verse we normally mention in polite company; you won’t find this verse artistically paired with an awe-inspiring photograph hanging in someone’s living room. But there it is, a “chapter and verse” reason why the man would have only been allowed into the outer courts of the Temple to participate in the worship of his God from a distance.

But in the fervor that often accompanies faithfulness and tradition, the people hadn’t stopped to deal with the fact that God had promised a day was to come when outsiders would be made insiders. As Isaiah would later say,

Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off (Isaiah 56:3-5).

This conversation is the purpose for Philip’s trip, because the church was not looking to the literal wilderness for converts any more than they were looking to the metaphorical or spiritual wilderness to find those persons who were being left behind and left out. The Spirit’s intervention was necessary so that the church would be forced to make a connection it would not have made on its own.

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch have a conversation about Jesus; using the passage from Isaiah the man is reading, Philip explains to him how Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in Isaiah’s message. Upon arriving at a place in the road where there is water, the man proclaims

Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized? (Acts 8:36)

It’s a fair question because he had just experienced Temple worship in Jerusalem where he was prevented from full participation. Would the faith of Jesus also keep him on the sidelines of faith?

The answer is “no.” The chariot stops and Philip and the man move immediately to the water because when faith in Jesus is authentic it will inevitably find the waters of baptism.

Finding our way on wilderness roads

The church has certainly found itself in a wilderness this past year; although it’s a stretch to call our outdoor worship venue a “wilderness,” being that this is our 58th week “in exile” from our Sanctuary and rhythms of worship, we certainly do wonder what mission and ministry will look like moving forward.

But lest we blame Covid for all that ails us, some recent surveys suggest a different source of our challenges:

Christian researcher Ryan Burge suggests that 40% of self-identified evangelical Christians attend church once per year or less. Not once a week; not once a month; once a year. That’s like “Christmas OR Easter.”

Research from the Gallup organization suggests that church membership in the United States has dropped below 50% for the first time in over a century.

You might be surprised at how many conversations I have with people who claim a belief in God and can even articulate a faith that is filled with spiritual practices like Bible reading, personal devotions, and prayer, but includes no relationship with a local church. Anecdotally, this seems to be on the rise in the people I meet.

For years I’ve heard that the church’s problems are the fault of the so-called “liberals.” But perhaps it’s not so simple. Perhaps we’ve been relying on the comfort of our own wisdom and methods and techniques and politics more than we have been trusting that God is still moving in wilderness places. If we will reject the temptation of allowing the church to be a comfortable place for the convinced and instead be a place where disciples are made and lives are transformed, then maybe today’s church can turn the world upside down like the church did in days of old.

What I’m saying is that despite the many challenges that face us, we have the spiritual resources to fulfill our calling. Could it be that Covid will function something like a fire sale—or at least a radical spring cleaning—where we are forced to admit that we’ve been hanging on to some things we haven’t needed? Might our love for worship in this outdoor space open our eyes to some new ways of being the church? Philip’s story shows that the church can function in the wilderness.

Reaching out on spiritual roads

If today’s church is going to thrive in the wilderness, then we must reevaluate our outreach.

We have a way of talking about outreach that encourages us to seek out what God is doing in the world around us and join God in that work. This is a wonderful way to understand the church’s mission. When Brethren hear this, though, our first thought is to interpret this through the lens of the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This, too, is excellent. The many ministries we support as a means of loving our neighbor and wanting to overcome the brokenness of the world by bearing one another’s burdens, and binding up the broken, and bringing beauty to the ugly places is always worth doing. Brethren have a long history of demonstrating to the world that we are not afraid of hard work on behalf of others.

But I sometimes wonder if our vision of outreach has gotten a bit out of balance.

The story of this text is about God literally chasing down a man who wondered about how much of a place he had in the kingdom of God so that Philip could show him the fullness of God’s grace. Both the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip would discover that in spite of their significant differences, grace would bring them into the same family.

In a recent Moderator’s Town Hall led by Paul Mundey, United Methodist bishop Will Willimon reminded listeners of a very interesting statement from John 10, where Jesus reminds the disciples,

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:16).

Today’s church is going to have to find where those sheep are. We must learn to come along side people and, beginning where they are,

proclaim the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35).

These conversations will happen on contested ground, because we live in a time when even people who claim to be followers of Jesus shape their lives by values other than those of the New Testament. We will need to allow our own lives to be on display so that people will notice something different about us. Anabaptist theologian Stuart Murray reminds us that we will must

offer a [life] of peaceful witness that integrates words and deeds, personal and communal testimony, listening and speaking (The Naked Anabaptist, 83).

Sisters and brothers, these are challenging, difficult times. But out of the great challenge comes great opportunity for those willing to hear the Spirit’s calling and go to places yet unknown. Jesus is preparing the way!

[another-sonic-blog]

10 Days With ShadAmy (Day. 2)

It was already late and Shadow got into the rookie’s room in order to get some sleep. He wasn’t in a good mood after leaving Amy’s room. It's not like he was romantically interested in Amy, but he low key wanted her to say that he might like him. “Mister Shadow! Ah, you can go ahead and take the bed I can sleep on the floor!”- The red fox said and Shadow just followed the flow. He took his shoes off and climb to the bed while the rookie just happily laid on the floor next tot he bed. Not even five seconds have passed when the rookie began to speak. “Mister Shadow, are you awake?” “...I am now” “Can I ask you a question?” “You already did” “Well, not-” “Just get it over with already”- Shadow turn around and gave his back to the rookie. “how was Sonic the Hedgehog?”- The rookie finally asked. “...Why do you want to know that?” “Before my village got destroyed, people would always talk about the adventures of Sonic and his friends. They would even tell their stories to the kids.... I wanted to ask Miss Amy or Mister Knuckles about him, but I don’t think they are ready to talk about it” “....He was annoying...” “Ah...I see....”- The red fox didn’t get the answer he wanted to hear, he wanted to keep on asking, but he didn't want to annoy Shadow. “but... it was tolerable”   The rookie smile, happy to hear an answer. “I would of like to know more about him, but am really happy right now as well” “Why is that?”- Ask Shadow. “Never in a million years I thought I would have the opportunity to meet Amy Rose, Knuckles the Edquina and my favorite hero of all times, Shadow The Hedgehog!”- the rookie then suddenly he realized what he said. “Sorry! I mean, like sorry if I made you-” “Don’t worry about it kiddo”- Shadow didn't want to make the situation awkward for neither of them. He didn’t want to admit it but.. he was kinda happy knowing that someone admired him. “I have another question... if you let me” “Spit it”- “Do you actually need to sleep? You ARE the ultimate life form after all”- the rookie asked. “As a matter of fact, I don’t need sleep. I won’t die from sleep deprivation. However, I do feel the need to sleep. Just like I won’t die from starvation, but I still feel hungry...You know what I mean?” “Yes, I think that explains many things..thank you!”- The rookie said as he could happily go to sleep now. “What do you mean by ‘that explains’ many things?”   The rookie stood up from the floor and looked up to Shadow as he did the same when he heard the red fox stand up. “Well, like you know.. that’s why you went to Miss Amy’s room right? It's not like you NEED affection, but you still WANT it, right?- The red fox said and Shadow got extremely surprised at his comment. “Wait, are you inferring that Amy and I?...” “Well before leaving the main headquarters room you both looked pretty intense, so everyone assumed that you both-”   The rookie was once again interrupted by Shadow. “Listen to me...listen to me well... AMY AND I WILL NEVER, EVER-” . . . . “EVER BE TOGETHER”- Amy said as loud as possible in order to make Silver understand her point. “Sorry Amy, it was just a thought”- Silver said trying to defend himself. “At this point, I don’t think Shadow is worth my time” “Then, why did you invited him to join the resistance?”- Silver asked amused “Well, because we need his strength, he is a very powerful hedgehog after all...” “I am pretty sure I can take him one on one”- Silver said confidently in which Amy smirked. “It will be a very interesting battle to see, Shadow is very skillful in combat tho” “And so am I!” “Yeah that’s right” “Amy....” “Ye-Yees?”- Amy noticed that Silver got serious, and it wasn’t like a normal serious, Amy would only see this type of Silver when he was fighting an enemy. “you are hiding something from me...ever since you came back with Shadow, your hands haven’t stopped shaking...”   Amy hated him.... she hated how much Silver knew about her. “It must be cold, it's getting a bit chilly around-”Amy began but Silver stopped Amy mid-track and grabbed her hands. “Amy, please don’t lie to me...”- Silver looked at her in the eyes and Amy knew she couldn’t hold it for long. “Its just that...when I was talking to Shadow before coming here... he made me realized something...”- Amy felt bad for lying to Silver, but all of it wasn’t lie. “What did he made you realized?”- Silver never looked away from Amy’s eyes. “He made me realized how... everything, everything is just falling apart...Silver, am scared that one day, I just wake up and... and the resistance is no more... I am afraid that one day, you will never come back from a mission... I am... so.. so afraid...I can’t stop shaking.....”- Amy was in tears and Silver hugged her so lovely, Amy for the first time in since Sonic’s death, she felt safe. “I am also afraid... so afraid that one day I come back from a mission, you will not be there...when you went missing yesterday, I was looking for you the whole day, I thought Eggman had kidnapped you...just like you...I was so afraid that I couldn’t stop shaking...Amy, you are really important to me, so please never leave my side...together, we will both get out of this” Amy has another worry now...but also another motivation to keep on going. . . . “Where the heck is Amy and Silver?!”   Both Amy and Silver woke up at Knuckle’s sudden yell. They knew he was coming. *KNOCK KNOCK* “Silver, Amy hurry up...SHADOW IF YOU HEAR ME WAKE UP AND THE ROOKIE AS WELL THERE’S A MISSION!”- Knuckles said as he entered Amy’s room. It wasn’t the first time they have slept together, it wasn’t anything new to Knuckles or the rest of the resistance of how close Amy and Silver were. However, a black hedgehog wasn’t aware of it. “What happened!”- Shadow quickly got into Amy’s room and saw how Silver and Amy were still sitting on the bed together. “Great... you both are going to stink for the whole day” “It's not like we care anyways”- Amy said and they both stood up. “We don’t have the time for this lovers quarrels, we have a mission, I’ll see you in five minutes at the main headquarters”- and with that Knuckles left.   Shadow, Silver, and Amy were all in the room. Shadow was in the door, his back touching the edge of the door, one of his foot touching the ground while the other foot was also touching the door, arms crossed. While Amy and Silver were still in the bed. “Are you ever going to leave the room?”- Silver asked as he stood up from the bed. “I should be asking you the same”- Shadow said. “I was with Amy, and you?” “I was with her as well...I always am”- Shadow said, while he pointed the flower ring design on Amy’s hand. Not only that, but he also showed Silver his own hand, his index finger containing a matching ring just like Amy’s. Silver turned around and faced Amy who was speechless. She knew what Shadow meant by saying “I am always with her” since she knew Shadow could hear and know where she is at every second. “Well, it's me who Amy smells like right?”- Silver said and as he put his arm around Amy. “Not for long...”- and with that Shadow left the room, ready to join Knuckles in the headquarters room. . . . “You guys are late!”- Knuckles said, the rookie standing right behind him. Shadow arrived first, and then Silver and Amy came up together. “Sorry...”- Silver and Amy said together. “Uh, anyways let's get going with the plan...Amy, please show me a map of Eggman’s Space Colony” “Yes, commander!”- Amy then got ready to work and took her place behind the computer.  Quickly a detailed picture of Eggman’s Space headquarters. “So here is where our next mission is going to be”- Knuckles said. “You must be crazy if you think you can infiltrate Eggman’s base”- Silver said. “Maybe not us, but Shadow can”- Knuckles then turn around to look at Shadow and everyone did so as well. “Of course its possible, however, I don’t see a space shuttle nearby, right?”- Shadow said, sarcastically. “We have been preparing this for months, the resistance alongside Tails, have successfully built a small space shuttle. Only two people will go... Silver, you are in charge! Take Shadow and he will guide you through.”- Knuckles said confidently. “Wait, what!? Shouldn’t I-”- Shadow said, but was interrupted by Knuckles. “Silver is really capable and knows how to manage well with teamwork, you can learn something from him as well Shadow”- Knuckles then turn around and proceed to explain more about the mission. “Eggman’s Space Colony is the greatest source of power that his weapon-based industries work with, if we successfully destroy the Space Colony, there would not be weapons to fight us with. Therefore, that will be the perfect time to attack and once and for all finish this war”- Knuckles ended his speech, there still many questions so they followed up. “What about looking for the last two Chaos Emeralds”- Amy asked. “We will focus on that right after Silver and Shadow come back, if Eggman’s Space Colony has taken enough damage, there will not be any possible way that Eggman can build it back up in such a short amount of time, anyways we have located one Chaos Emerald already, but lets focus on this mission first” “How are we going to exactly destroy the base?”- Shadow asked. “The old way. Amy will hack into Eggman’s Space System and will guide you along the way in order not to get caught. You will secretly place three extremely powerful bombs in three different locations of the Colony. One in the North base, another one in the South Center and the most important one in the Heart of the base... once you place the three of them, you will take the shuttle back, and on your way back, you will detonate the bombs with the amplifier that will be given to you before you leave for this mission, meaning, tonight.” “Tonight!? Commander, don’t you think is a bit early?”- The rookie asked. “We can’t lose any more time, everyday Eggman grows stronger, we have lost many of our own already... we can’t afford this anymore”- Knuckles said. “It's alright, I am ready for this”- Silver said. “Silver, are you sure?!”- Amy asked him. “This is the reason I came back for”- Silver looked at Amy, and once again Amy saw those determined eyes, there was nothing that could stop him now. “You better be back”- Amy said. “If you are guiding us, then I don’t see what could go wrong!”- Silver smiled and Amy did the same. “You better do whatever I tell you to do, if not I’ll let you to die in the Space Colony”- Shadow said. “The same goes to you, Mr. Shadow”- Silver and Shadow looked at each other, it would seem that a fight would go down, but right now wasn’t the time. “We don’t have time for your rivalry!”- Amy interrupted. “Is this how Mr.Shadow and Mr. Sonic would fight?”- The rookie asked and he sighs at his mistake, it was a question meant to be for himself but it just came out of his mouth without any objectives. “Ha! Sonic and Shadow were way worst! Those two looked like they were more so in love with each other!”- Knuckles said, and he laughed a little. Even Amy smirked at the thought of Sonic and Shadow fighting...ah, what would she do in order to get to see him again. “Well, anyways let's get ready for tonight!”   And with that said Knuckles and the others began to make preparations for tonight. Everything was going smoothly the technology department of the resistance had everything almost complete. In the outskirts of the village, everyone in the resistance gathers in order to show support to the legendary hero and the new uprising hero, Shadow, and Silver. Amy wanted to go, see them depart, but she needed to be behind the computer guiding them. She then heard the main door of the resistance room open, she turns around to see Tails standing there, like if nothing ever happened. Amy could see how the light of his eyes left him when Sonic died and how tired he looked even after mourning his death for months. “I thought you were going to see your project be executed”- Amy said smiling. “I prefer to see it depart my final project with a friend”- Tails said. “Tails, we need you, you can’t just leave us...Who is gonna help us create more weapons, or what if anything happens to you and what if like Sonic, you, you..”- Amy wanted to break down again, she didn’t want to lose another friend. “Amy...just like you, I need time to grow, after Sonic passed away, I know you haven’t picked up your hammer...I know it pains you to see it because you couldn’t use it to protect Sonic...but just like you, I couldn’t use my technology to protect him when he needed it, I failed him...and I just need a break to clear my mind and heal the pain...I already taught everything that I know about the Technology department.. you don’t need me here anymore”- Tails said as he grabbed Amy’s hand as to comfort her. “I will be here whenever you need me”- Tails said and over him was heard the voice of Silver on the computer. “Amy, do you hear me? We are ready to depart”- Silver said and Amy went over the computer alongside Tails, she was about to speak but instead, she looked over at Tails and smiled. “Would you do us the honor, one last time?”- Amy asked “With pleasure”-And with that Tails stood in front of the computer and began to speak. “Silver, this is Tails, I would be in charge of this mission alongside Amy”   His voice was heard through all across the departing field and everyone was startled, they couldn’t believe that the famous Tails Miles Power was talking through the mic. “Is that...is that Tails Miles Power?” “The hero? the guy who defeated Chaos four?” “Sonic’s right hand?” “I thought he was devastated after Mr. Sonic passed away...” “This just shows how strong he is” “He worked on this space shuttle by himself for 2 months...just how great he is?”   Everyone still couldn’t believe that a legend was speaking to them all, it felt as if they were part of a story they would tell children in their village. “Great to hear from you Tails!, Shadow and I are ready for action!”- Silver said. “Let's do this!”   The spacecraft departed from earth successfully and Shadow and Silver were able to see Eggman’s Space Colony. “We are able to see the Colony from here Tails”- Shadow said. “I’ll activate the invisibility field around you now”-Tails said and as he made some clicks on the computer, the invisibility field was activated around the space shuttle. “We will prepare to land”   The landing was as well successful and they landed without getting noticed. “Ok, from here we will take on the bombs and place them in their corresponding place. We will follow your guide through the communicator individually.”- Silver said. “I will guide you through the North Center Silver and Amy will guide Shadow through the South Center individually”   With that, Amy hurried up to the computer that was in front of Tails, put on the earphones and microphone. “You hear me Shadow?”- Amy asked him through the microphone. “Yes I do”- Shadow said. “Ok we are ready to go, are you able to locate us?”-Silver asked “We do!”- Amy and Tails said simultaneously. The screen showed a very complicated map, and within it, it showed a red point for Amy, indicated Shadow’s movements and a green dot for Tails indicating Silver’s motions.   Everything was going in smoothly and Silver and Shadow were both very careful with everything. “Shadow so you hear me?”- Silver asked “Load and clear”- Shadow said through his communicator. “How do you destroy robots without making any sounds?” “You have to make a clear shot through the robot’s center, in the center, the ‘heart’ of the robot is found, if you take it out within one movement, the robot becomes impractical”- Shadow finished saying. “...thanks”-Silver said. “this only works if you get them by surprise... if you fight for them for too long or if they notice your presence they will alert other robots and without knowing the whole base will be after you”- And with that Shadow focused on getting to the South Center. “Shadow, take a left and go straight down the path, there’s going to be a locked door, I will hack into the system. You have to seconds to enter”- Amy said. “Copy that” “And remember that *cough* *cough*”- Amy suddenly began coughing uncontrollably. “Hey Amy, are you alright?”- Tails asked concerned. “Yeah, sorry”   Amy got worried, it wasn’t like she didn’t know. She knew that the poison that was in her body had begun to take effect on her. “Amy...after this, let's go find the Chaos Emeralds”- Shadow said through the communicator, it was a conversation between him and her and therefore, Silver nor Tails could hear them. “worry?”- Amy asked, deep down she was happy that Shadow showed some concern for her. “Worry? The only thing I worry about is the possibility of smelling you when I get back” “Well, you don’t have to get near me, the farthest you are from me the better” “Even if you smell like Silver, I still like to be with you, you know that” “Shadow stop saying those things...” “Why? Does it make you feel embarrassed?” “N-No, what makes you say that?” “I see it, I know that you are interested in me, just like like I am interested in you” “No way that I-”   *beep beep* That’s when Amy realized that before getting a coughing attack, Amy forgot to tell Shadow to be careful with the lasers. “What the heck is happening?”- Shadow asked. “Shadow have you placed the bomb yet!?”- Amy asked panicking. “Yes, but we still need to place the third bomb” “Silver have you placed the bomb in the North Center?”- Tails asked through the communicator. “Yes, but what about the third bomb?!”- Silver asked. “Your safety is more important, there are robots coming your way, meet with Shadow and get out of there!”- Tails said. “This is our only chance we can’t miss it!”- Silver said. “Silver, this is an order get out of there” “I will place this bomb, whether you want it or not... I am sorry”- And with that nothing else could be heard. “Silver turn off his communicator”- Tails said. “Shadow, you have to find Silver, please bring him back!”- Amy pleaded him. “Find, but I am gonna do it my way now” “Shadow?...SHADOW?”- Amy began to panic “Shadow turn off his communicator!!!”- Amy said to Tails. “Dammit......Damn both of them”-Tails couldn’t do or say anything else. . . .   Shadow encountered many robots in his way, he had to finish things very quick. He had to find Silver, place the bomb. Shadow has been here a couple of times, he knew the place very well and needed no assistance whatsoever. From the beginning, he knew that this plan of the resistance will not work. Eggman’s weaponry industries do not only get its energy from this Space Colony, Eggman’s has learned from his mistakes and now has different energy provides all around the Earth. He took some time and told Eggman about their plan, he agreed to let them get this chance and make them believe that the resistance has the advantage over him in order to get the Chaos Emeralds. “You better get those Chaos Emeralds Shadow!”- And with that Eggman stopped communicating with Shadow.   Shadow took a right turn this time and found the cells section. “Well, what do we have here?”- Shadow said as he got closer to one of the cells. “Shadow? It's being a while since I last saw you...are you here to rescue me?” “Yeah, I am not really glad to see you either...I really don’t have time to chat right now so, I’ll get to the point” “Go ahead” “I open this door, take off your handcuffs and you can leave this place with the space shuttle you came from” “And what do I have to do in exchange?” “You stop being Sonic the Hedgehog”   Sonic stood up from the chair he was sitting in, he stepped away from the shadows and directly look into the black hedgehog. “what do you mean by that?” “You have to pretend that you don’t have memories of who you are. I am not doing this because I want to, but because I have someone I want to protect” “...is it Amy?”- Sonic asked him. “....” “I knew it, I knew you always had a thing for her” “...Just like you do”- Shadow said and he turned around and inputted some codes on the touch screen next to Sonic’s cell. “You are right, so right”- Sonic finally got out of the cell and Shadow took off his handcuffs. “I don’t know exactly what your plan is but... thank you” “Now leave, she is waiting for you”- Shadow said. “She is waiting for both of us”   Oh, only if Sonic knew.......

[anessaythattakesthereader261]

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[textsfromninjagoblog]

Ninjago Prompt: Elemental Vaccine!

(This story was based off of a prompt from @writing-prompt-s , I’ll reblog it with this story when I find it again!)

It had been a fairly typical night for my insomniac self, laying cozy in bed while sketching on my IPad; listening to K-pop and electro-swing into the wee hours of morning. Well, it was nice, until this cloaked mad man crept through my bedroom window and put a gun to my head!

“Please don’t kill me!” I begged him.

“That’s the last thing I’d wanna do,” his said, his voice somewhat gruff, “now just calm down, all of this’ll make sense in a second.”

“May-ay I ask,” I stuttered, “what the gun is for, if you’re not going to hurt me, that is?”

“Some nut case tried to attack me and steal all of my merchandise.” he replied, “I suppose if you promise to stay still and not pull anything funny, there’d be no need for it.”

“I can do that.” Was all I could muster in response.

“Now we’re in business.” He said, lowering the firearm from my temple and clipping it in his holster.

All at once, the scruffy stranger’s demeanor seemed to change. His muscles relaxed, a smirk creeping across his lips as he pulled a large black briefcase from behind him and sat it on the comforter between us.

“Congratulations doll,” he said in the almost joking fashion of a gameshow host, “you’ve just won the jackpot! You get to choose one of our fabulous prizes!”

With that, he flicked open the case with a flashy gesture and turned it to face me. Inside were all manor of vials, each one ornately decorated. Their contents all glowed in different neon colors, but some also pulsed or glittered!

“Woah,” I gasped at the sight, “what are these?”

“That’s the catch,” he answered, “you won’t know until it’s inside ya! I’ve got the needle all ready whenever you are.”

“Wait, what!?” I snapped, recoiling from the case.

“Easy now,” the stranger said, “I can’t tell you what the serums do, but I can tell you what they aren’t. None of them are poison, none of them are drugs, and none of them will kill you.”

“Does this absolutely have to happen?” I said, still irked by the thought of being injected with a strange fluid by a random person.

“Yes.” He answered, his patience starting to waver, “No rush in choosing, but keep in mind I’ve got other places to be.”

I stared at the shimmering elixirs with a mixture of fascination and terror. Despite what the man had said, I was still assessing the potential lethality of each potion. My eyes were struggling to focus with the sheer variety of oddities available to ponder, around 16 to 20 in all if I ventured a guess!

One vial was ornamented with what appeared to be silver, molded into a design that seemed both cybernetic and serene. It’s solution was a glittering sky blue, and if the condition of it’s glass were any indication, had frozen it’s container from the inside out! While beautiful, I wasn’t in the mood to have my insides frozen solid, so I passed on that one.

Another one had grand carvings of jade adorning its rims. This solution seemed far more volatile, frantically switching from its base state of sparkling amber to any number of other shades and statuses then back again! This looked about as toxic as a mystery fluid could get, so I definitely decided against it!

The next bottle I inspected was quite intriguing. A golden phoenix emblazoned its base. The solution inside initially shun a deep cherry, with flecks of light copper swirling throughout, before gradually fading into a beautiful aquamarine! It rhythmically sloshed from side to side of its own volition, as though it were part of the ocean’s tides. I’ve always felt a connection to the sea and it’s creatures since I was little, so I felt pretty secure in my choice as I began to reach for it.

“Do you have a brother or sister?” The stranger interjected as my fingers made contact with the glass.

“I’m an only child.” I replied, “Why does that matter?”

“It matters because that one has a companion,” he replied, pointing to a bold orange and crimson solution that seemed to lick the inside of its container like a wild flame, “and they’re only allowed to be given to sets of siblings.”

I retracted my arm with a huff. What was the point of being able to choose my potential poison if some were barred from me at the get go!?

But then, I saw it.

Though a bit smaller then the rest, this vial had fully ensnared my attention. It’s solution was a rich lime green, with chunks of gold soothingly bobbing about within. I had no idea what drew me to this solution, but in spite of my mind reeling at how dangerous this situation was, it just felt so right!

“Are you sure?” The man asked.

“Positive.” I replied with a sense of conviction that I’ve never before felt, let alone while in a predicament like this!

With that, the man took the vial from my hands and produced a syringe, swiftly drawing the mystical-seeming fluid for my insane inoculation. As frightening as this ordeal had been; the expert manor that the stranger had about him along with the beauty of the solution swirling in its new vessel had soothed me somewhat.

“We’ve been stuck with each other for a while now,” I said as he prepared my left upper arm with what I think was an antiseptic, “any chance I could get your name?”

“I don’t get why you’d want it,” he replied, “I’m just a samurai without a master.”

“Ah, another riddle.” I snarked under my breath.

“Ok, I’m going to give this to you now,” he said, “it can look really freaky as it disperses, so you might want to look away.”

“Will it hurt?” I asked, now just wanting for this to be over.

“I’m not sure. Guess it depends on your pain tolerance.” He answered, “If you think you could distract yourself while holding still, maybe that could help.”

“Let’s see, a distracting story…” I thought aloud, “Well, for starters, my dad once got bit by a snake when he was a kid. Still has the scar to this day!”

“Hmm,” the stranger said, “it’s interesting you picked this vial then.”

I felt a slight pinch in my skin, followed by a bit of warmth flowing in as I tried to keep my mind off of what was happening.

“You can move now, its all done.” He said, seeming proud of whatever he’s just done to me.

“Um, thank you….?” I said, still not quite sure what to make of the events that I just went through.

“Your welcome,” he replied, “if all goes as it should, I’ll be seeing you again around New Years. Quick tip, get in contact with a priest before then. You’ll really thank me later!”

Before I could even question what he had just told me, the man had disappeared back out the window, silent and swift as the wind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up the next morning with the worst craving for some candy. Chocolate, gummy, a lollipop, heck, I would have even settled for a cough drop; I didn’t care as long as it was sweet!

So I got myself a mini Kit-Kat from the fridge, and it was amazing! I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a single candy bar this much since I was a kid!

“Wonder if this is a side effect of that shot…” I thought, looking at the part of my arm where I thought the injection had happened.

Nothing remained to tell of the previous night. I would have dismissed the whole ordeal as a weird nightmare, if it weren’t for what I found on my kitchen table…

It was a large curled up paper, sitting atop a small mound of black fabric. Upon unraveling it, I saw it was a map that lead to a remote part of Big Bear Mountain!

The words “Head there alone and find your destiny.” were scratched in the lower corner of the sheet, probably the cloaked stranger’s handiwork. I was getting increasingly concerned and confused, until I saw what the map had been laying on!

It was a hoodie with a skeleton pattern on it’s front!

Suddenly it all clicked! The events of the prior night replayed over and over in my mind, making more and more twisted sense as I thought it through!

I slipped on the hoodie and called in sick to work, curious to see if this map lead to what I thought would be waiting under the snow.

Because at worst, I was given a colorful dose of saline; but at best, that crazy Ronin had just started my personal ninja origin story!

[davewakeman]

Talking Tickets 31 January 2020

Hey There!

Thanks for being here again this week. If you are enjoying this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to sign up by visiting this link.

Yesterday saw the release of “What Matters In Tickets Now!” an ebook that I put together in partnership with my friends at Booking Protect.

I can say that this is one of the coolest things we’ve pulled together so far: 40 perspectives on the world of tickets and how to make more sales! It is great!

In conjunction with the launch of the ebook, we are putting together a special webinar with key ideas, takeaways, and action items to make the ideas from the ebook take hold in your organization. The webinar will be Wednesday, 26 February, and we will have a landing page to sign up ready for next week’s email, but if you want to make certain you get hooked up…reply to this email.

To the tickets!

————————————————————————————————————

1. Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in the Los Angeles area:

Like all of us, Kobe Bryant had a complex history. And, one of the more mature things I’ve learned over the years is the understanding that no matter how you feel on a topic, your feelings are valid. So I am cognizant of the people celebrating his life and pointing out his failings, all of those feelings are valid.

I mention that because I don’t want to make a values-based judgment on this story, but I did want to discuss this because I think it highlights a few big points about what sports does for us and why sports and live events matter:

First, this story reflects the power of community that live events foster. I heard Bill Simmons talk about how Kobe’s death feels like it is hanging over the community. This is in death, but if you look through history, you’ve seen how sports also has pulled communities together, if only for a short time like when the Caps won the Stanley Cup. 

Second, this story points to the irrational nature of our likes, dislikes, and fandom. As many announcers pointed out, most people never met Kobe, so they didn’t know him, but they felt a real pain at his loss. While, I’m looking at this through the lens of Kobe, this equally applies to any athlete, team, or star. I mean, I have no rational reason for disliking the Oklahoma City Thunder, but because I was a Supersonics season ticket holder when I was a young adult, the ache of the loss of the Sonics is still there. 

Finally, it reflects the power of shared experiences. Sometimes, in a world where everything feels like it is on-demand or at our fingertips, we can miss shared experiences and that should be a lesson that we apply to the way we present events. 

2. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and the death of the NFL seems to have been a myth:

The challenges and opportunities that the NFL are looking at over the next few years likely deserve its own series of blog posts, but right now you can’t help but respect the turnaround that they NFL and its teams have managed.

$16B in revenue, rating increases, new stars, and more.

The article above does raise a lot of good questions about where the business will go next with gambling, chord cutting, and changing tastes of modern consumers.

But as we head into the Super Bowl, we can learn a lot from the NFL like how consistency and focus can help you weather a storm; how to monetize an audience; and how to respond to drops in business.

Plus, this year’s Super Bowl is an especially hot ticket! 

My question to you is who do you have in the game and what’s the score? I’ll come up with some prize for the person that picks the winner and is closest to the score. I don’t know what it will be, but we can figure out something fun…maybe buy you a drink or something.

3. StubHub could face legal action in the UK for deceptive pricing:

I’m not an anti-trust lawyer, but my lady is…so I don’t know the legal ramifications of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the merger of StubHub and Viagogo, but I can guess stories like this don’t help the merger in any market that is investigating it.

Unless you live in the United States where anti-trust enforcement hasn’t really been very strict for 30+ years and the rule of law seems to be optional in a lot of cases lately.

The context of a story likely helps a lot of you:

In the UK, the secondary market isn’t as big of a part of the ecosystem as it is in the United States. While resale has become more common over the last few years, professional trading is often frowned upon.

My argument to the traders that I am in touch with has often been that if you want to work in resale and be a valued part of the system, you have to work to constantly improve your value, deliver something differentiated from the primary market, and be above board in your business practices.

So a story like this hits right at the heart of what folks dislike about professional “touts” and the secondary market in general.

Add this to the public’s distrust of Viagogo and you can see that this isn’t helpful to any ongoing investigation of their merger or further or greater public acceptance of the secondary market in the UK or other countries around the world.

4. Live Nation’s updated consent decree is filed:

There was a few things going on with Live Nation this week that probably were worth paying attention to:

First, the consent decree. The new filing shows that Live Nation and Ticketmaster broke the decree on, at least, 6 occasions.

Live Nation pushes back talking about 6 alleged instances in around 5,000 deals.

A new $1M penalty for each transgression, a deal cut quickly, and dropped at a time totally designed for people not to notice it!

It looks like a victory for Live Nation to me!

Second, Live Nation is building a war chest to acquire more businesses. 

There is a lot of consolidation in the ticketing technology area going on right now and I don’t know if or when there will be some sort of correction.

What all of this massive amount of consolidation signals to me is that there is room for smaller and nimble competitors to swoop in and win a lot of business because as these companies grow larger, it is going to be incredibly difficult for these companies to service everyone effectively.

Finally, Live Nation completes the acquisition of the UK’s largest concert promoter. 

Over the next few years, this will bear watching because industry practices and consumer protection laws are much different in the UK and how this impacts the distribution of shows and Ticketmaster’s ability to win more business in the UK bears watching.

5. The CoronaVirus is causing troubles for sports business:

A few weeks back I had Greg Turner come on the podcast to share a bunch of stuff about China with us. Due to the nature of the Chinese internet and the way that they control access to websites and other things, that conversation was corrupted due to some technical difficulties and we figured out a way to rerecord our conversation to make sure we could have a proper chat.

On this new conversation we talked about a bunch of stuff, but we got into the conversation about the virus and how it is causing the cancellation of the X Games, the World Indoor Athletic Championships, and the Chinese Basketball Association is postponing play during the crisis.

Greg has a lot of insight into the situation in China, but seeing the AFL’s conversation around their annual China game continued to raise these issues for me and begged a couple of questions:

What’s the long-term impact of a virus or outbreak like this?

How do we prepare for these types of outbreaks when we can’t and don’t know when they will happen? 

What would you do if something like this started during a big event like the Olympics? 

These are complex questions and they mirror in many ways the questions I raised when considering the impact of climate change on events a few weeks back.

—————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

I’m posting a few podcasts including Episode 100. Who will my special guest be? You’ll have to listen to find out!

I recaped INTIX on my blog and TicketNews as well.

I’m in DC this week! If you are in town, let me know.

My travel schedule is starting to take shape and I can confirm I’ll be in London from 10-16 April with a trip to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the top of my must-do list!

I’m also planning a series of workshops for the spring in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh. The details on this are still being mapped out, but if you are in the area of one of these places and want to be kept in the loop on these special events, reply to this email.

I’m working with some sponsors that will enable me to offer tickets to these events on an invitation basis. So, get your interest into me and let me know I’m looking at the right places to take my show on the road. 

Please follow and like us:

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Talking Tickets 31 January 2020 was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

[skookumarts]

May Flowers

The Pedestrian May Update

Thanks for joining us for this month’s update of The Pedestrian development. May has been flying by at an astounding rate and game development has been keeping pace. We mentioned last month about starting official beta testing and that continues to be a focus. Getting the game into player’s hands and making decisions and adjustments based on their feedback. We’re still continuing with more phases of beta testing as it’s just unbelievably beneficial. To read more about what’s happening with development please enjoy the rest of the update.

Twitter - Facebook - Steam Wishlist - Website

Video -

Normally this video is an alternative to reading the text version of the update. But this month we thought we’d do something a little different. It’s a bit more casual and conversational. Give it a watch.

Continued Lightmap Journey -

Lightmaps are like the frosting on our Pedestrian cake, mmm cake. In order to maintain your suspension of disbelief and immersion, the backgrounds have to be convincing. Having a nice glaze of interesting lighting situations is crucial to creating a consistent and believable environment. So this month we were able to light a few more areas to roughly how we want them. Most of the grunt work is getting it set up and getting a clean bake. Once there, the values can be fiddled with and there you have it, a finished cake.

Current lighting for the Rooftops and Subway areas.

Fun shadows in the Inner City and Campus areas

Beta Mechanic Finds -

Having playtesting sessions is one of the most exciting experiences for us. It allows us to bring the game out of our isolated little studio and give it some sun. When people understand and enjoy the game, it’s so encouraging. But, It’s also awesome to see when they find bugs, struggle, or have suggestions because it helps improve the game as a whole and we can see different playstyles. So because of the beta phase there have been some fixes and design tweaks to help make things cleaner and more intuitive.

Beta Visual Finds -

Playtesters have those fresh eyes that can pick out visual oddities. So it’s been nice to have a few art issues highlighted so that we can fix them. Our Pedestrian seasoned eyes are sometimes better than we’d like at overlooking things like unfinished textures or floating props.

Some objects that need fixed. Some cups with a seam and just color as a texture and a toaster with an outdated texture.

Options Menus work -

Our menus have had some more work on them, updating the art style, getting it working with keyboard and controller inputs. Still working out what to put in it and the best way to display them, but they’re improving.

Current state of our in-game options menu. Going for the classic look on these old tube TVs.

Kickstarter campaign game assets -

We’re continuing to add in all the in-game Kickstarter rewards, should be pretty close to being done with those. It’s fun to play around the game and see all these brands and decals filling up the world. The world has so much more life now, instead of just having our signature Butts™ brand we have a fun variety of different graphics.

Kickstarter brands and decals in the Downtown area. Really helps to add color and interest.

Kickstarter brands and decals as graffiti in the Inner City area.

Rewired -

We recently implemented a plugin called Rewired. This plugin takes inputs from a ton of different controllers and mouse/keyboard, standardizes the buttons and maps them to a set of actions we define. We can then use those actions in our code. It’s a night and day difference using this instead of Unity’s built-in input system.

One of the interfaces of the Rewired plugin. Showing the devices on the left, then narrowing down to the action on the right.

Graph -

We've noticed recently, that the old graph doesn't do a very good job of portraying the current state of the game. That chart was started during a time when we were still filling out the areas with content. Now that we are past that stage, the percentages barely change because most of the work being done is on the back-end or is beta testing fixes. We are in the process of figuring out a better way to visually showcase progress. For now you can continue to check out our Task Manager export  on Google Drive.

Shout out - Unbound: Worlds Apart

One of our Kickstarter backers just recently launched a campaign of his own. You can obviously tell he is a fan of puzzle games when he supports games like ours and is now making his own! I have a feeling that if you like our game, you’ll like Unbound as well. From what it shows in the demo and the campaign page, it looks like it’s going to be a pretty awesome experience. Let’s show him some love and give him support, guys!

Thanks -

So next steps are to continue with beta testing, new wave coming soon, and making changes based on the feedback. Along with that we’re also moving along with our already created list of tasks. The big ones being story enhancement and music implementation. Thank you all for being supportive and patient while we finish up The Pedestrian.

Twitter - Facebook - Steam Wishlist - Website

[atamascolily]

Fanfic Excerpt: Alternate Version of Sinbad 2x21 - “The Guardians“, part 2/?

The "rewrite canon that annoys me" trend continues! AU version of the episode from Bryn's perspective. Part One is here.

I've been toying with the idea of putting these in script format, but one of the advantages of text over TV is that you can go further in depth with the characters' inner lives, which is something I particularly enjoy. So far, so good. 

Bryn isn't sure how she knew Ajeeb was the woman's child - some magical impulse or intuition she follows because she doesn't know what else to do. She kneels on the ground next to Firouz, dizzy as the adrenaline rush from the battle fades. Firouz is fumbling in his belt pouch for herbs and bandages to staunch the bleeding. Even though he knows it's futile, he still tries. Bryn admires him for that - in the aftermath of battle, she is just tired.

Doubar and Rongar are scouring the camp for any sign of raiders, and any survivors; they fade in and out of her peripheral vision. Dermott is somewhere in the air, silent, unreachable. He talks to her, not the other way around, although she could probably reach him if she really wanted to. She doesn't try.

Sinbad only has eyes for the dying woman, who is clinging to her child fiercely, as if the two will never be separated. She's speaking with Sinbad, and the words suddenly snap into focus for Bryn. "Take him to the temple in Balardi... the monks will take him in... He must go... it is prophesied..." Her words are in halting gasps and Bryn knows it isn't long before the shock of her injuries sets in. "I have a purse - take it - everything I have - yours - please, just take him to Balardi -"

Sinbad's face is grim and steady, and Bryn knows that he's angry, although his rage is not aimed at the woman whose name they do not even know. What's your name? Bryn aches to cry out, but Sinbad cuts her off before she can open her mouth, asking about the father.

"There is none," the woman says cryptically. She must mean he's dead, Bryn guesses hazily. Surely, she's not implying it was a virgin birth! But when prophesies are on the table, anything is possible, and Bryn has seen a lot of strange things since she began journeying with Sinbad. Often, Bryn is the one doing them, for reasons she doesn't and may never understand.

"We'll take him there," Sinbad whispers, "I promise." Bryn nods, knowing their course was set from the moment Dermott showed her the smoke. Of course they will. What else is left to do? It was never about the money, though that never hurts, either. Sinbad's a merchant, not a mercenary, and usually breaks even through exceptional luck and some dramatic and unorthodox accounting.

"The raiders - they'll try to kill him," the woman gasps. "You must protect him! They ambushed us - on our way to Balardi - the prophesy says Ajeeb will bring their downfall!"

Ah. It's all coming together now, how the story is woven, and where it all fits in. So the raiders will be back. Probably with reinforcements. Lots of them. She can tell by the clench of his jaw that Sinbad has the same thought.

"Ajeeb, I love you," the woman whispers. "Take care of him - for me - tell him - " and she slides backwards, the muscles in her face going slack, her breathing stops. Ajeeb, who has been quiet since Bryn returned him to his mother's arms, appears to sense something is wrong, and begins to wail.

Sinbad looks over at Bryn. "Can you carry him as we ride to Balardi?"

"Sinbad, what makes you think I know anything about babies?" She is tired, and her heart aches at the slaughter and senseless violence, and so it comes out more snappish than she intends. She does her best to soften the rebuke, not wanting to argue with him. He is the captain, after all. "I'm not sure I'm the best person to handle him, that's all."

Sinbad looks up over to the edge of the clearing, where Doubar is already hoisting bodies to build a pyre - mostly bandits, Bryn notes absently. Sinbad will probably make them make cairns for the caravan folk who were killed in the attack, even though it takes longer. He doesn't like burning the dead. One of his many quirks.

"I can probably rig up a sling," Firouz volunteers, fumbling with some bandages. "Give me a few minutes."

"I don't want him falling off, now." Sinbad is curt, but not overly so, absently looking in Doubar's direction. "Doubar, you had a lot of practice carrying me back in the day - ready to show off your skills?"

Doubar looks up from the grim clean-up work, probably grateful to have something else to focus on for a moment. "Baby-sitting is not my forte, Sinbad, but he can't be more of a handful than you were at that age." Rongar, who has been putting out the wagon fires, grins, not bothering to hide his amusement at the mental image.

"Good. You can carry him while we ride to Balardi. Firouz, rig up a sling for him or something."

"I'm not carrying a child over my shoulder like a sack of grain!" Doubar sputters. "That's not right!"

"I was thinking over the chest. Like Rongar's bandolier," Firouz mused, as his fingers shifted and twisted the fabric. "Though a sack might work, too."  

"Fine, but it had better be comfortable," Doubar grouses, going back to moving bodies. "For me AND for the little tyke. I don't want to drop him!"

"Come over here when you're done and we can test out my designs." Firouz is always eager when working on a new invention. It's one of his most endearing traits. "I don't really know much about babies, so this will be an interesting chance to make some scientific observations-- Hey, he's wearing a gold ring around his neck!"

Bryn cranes her neck to look. It's true. "Some sort of talisman," she agrees. "Very shiny. Probably part of the prophecy."

"Well, we'll probably need that when we get to Balardi," Sinbad says, standing up. "Let's clean up here and get going. Doubar, finish the pyre for the bandits. Firouz, stay with Ajeeb and figure out what we need to do to take him comfortably with us. You can make all the observations you want. Rongar, go through and see what else survived in the caravan. Maybe there's something we can use. Bryn, see to the horses, then help me build Ajeeb's mother a cairn."

"Sinbad, the bandits will come back. Do you think we have time--"

"We have time," he says, his mouth a grim line, and she knows there is no arguing with him on this. They will haul the rocks and build the cairn and they will do the decent thing, the honorable thing, the hard thing, the right thing according to Sinbad's code, and then they will go to Balardi and take Ajeeb to to the monks in accordance with his mother's dying wish. Studying Sinbad's face, Bryn wonders if the prophesy might not be self-fulfilling - the bandits may have set about their own doom now that Sinbad is involved.

She stands up, too. "All right," she says, and staggers off to go see about the horses, more tired and heartsick than she cares to admit to herself. No matter how many time she sees this script play out, it never gets any easier. That's what makes us good people, she reminds herself. Because we care. Because we don't let the pain make us jaded.

It's one reason why she stays with Sinbad. He may be cynical when it comes to his own emotions, wracked by grief he refuses to confront about a certain red-haired sorceress, but he's never become complacent about injustice, or the suffering of innocents. He never stops doing the right thing just because it's hard.

Also, she has to admit to herself, where else would she go? It's not like she has a home or family to go to. Like it or not, the crew of the Nomad is her family now.

Still, she wishes she had asked the woman's name. Because she was more than just Ajeeb's mother, more than just a victim. She was a person with her own life and story, one that they will never know. And they will never be able to tell Ajeeb any more than that his mother loved him and she died holding him in her arms, entrusting him to strangers because she had no other choice.

It's not fair. It's never fair. But she builds the cairn with Sinbad because it's the only thing they can do for her, aside from fulfilling her last request.

****

Firouz rigs up the sling for Doubar and they ride, following a map that was tucked away in the pouch Ajeeb's mother offered Sinbad as payment for their services. It helps that Ajeeb is a calm child and seems content to sleep snuggled up to Doubar, swaying in rhythmn with the horse's footsteps. Sinbad is still grim, and Bryn is still tired, but everyone else has relaxed enough to begin to banter again, even Rongar, who occasionally signs his reactions to Firouz and Doubar's running commentary about the infant. Firouz is fascinated by Ajeeb - clearly he hasn't spent much time with young children prior to this- and Doubar is smitten, even cooing on occasion. She would be more amused by the spectacle if she wasn't so exhausted.

Sinbad is clearly uncomfortable, but trying not to show it. It's not clear if it's the child that bothers him or the circumstances that led to his presence in their lives. Perhaps he is thinking about the bandits that are looking for them.  

Bryn doesn't know much about babies, either - she hasn't had any experience with them in her post-awakening life, and unlike battle, she doesn't have any innate memories to guide her. Just because she's the only woman in the crew doesn't make her an expert, no matter what some men might think.

Dermott doesn't show up until nightfall when they make camp, his talons bloody. He chirps a bit, staring at Ajeeb, but is otherwise silent. Bryn wonders what he sees, this mysterious hawk that occasionally sends words and images into her mind. Maeve's hawk.

She knows Dermott misses Maeve, as much or more as Sinbad misses Maeve, but at least Dermott is more open than Sinbad about his loss. Dermott will occasionally reach out to her, which is more than she can say about Sinbad. She doesn't know Dermott's story, either - he's more than just a bird, but no one on the crew really knows what he actually is - but Bryn knows he is magical, and she is magical, and so they have a bond, a connection, and Dermott can relate to her like no one else on the crew, except for maybe Sinbad. Sinbad is distant with Dermott, but she's seen his face when he watches Dermott wheeling in the sky, when he thinks no one is looking. She's seen the way he strokes Dermott's breast feathers sometimes, though their relationship is far from smooth, and sometimes Dermott will refuse his entreaties altogether.

Sinbad takes the first watch, and Bryn is all too happy to lie down and sleep. It's been a long day, bandits could attack at any moment, and on these sorts of missions, you never know when you'll have a chance to rest again. You sleep when you can.

[advancedpottery217x2]

Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei Review

A post was initially planned to be a /r/visualnovels WAYR post for Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei (TtT2) but I wanted to say too much so it expanded to become more personal and contain my thoughts on the series as a whole (including Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (TtT1) and Tears to Tiara Gaiden: Avalon no Nazo (Gaiden)) in addition to my feelings towards the main scenario writer Marui Takeshi).

Have you ever encountered a piece of fiction that conformed to your tastes exceedingly well and seemed to be what you were looking for your entire life? After finishing TtT1 (and Gaiden) last year and 2 half a year ago, I've found myself thinking about why I love this series so much, and what I’ve been looking to get out of visual novels and fiction as a whole.

First, my thoughts on TtT2. For reference, here are thoughts I wrote on TtT1 last year.

Some parts will contain spoilers written in white text and placed in brackets. [Like this.] Tread carefully if you are reading this in an environment where you cannot highlight text.

Story/Characters

失われた女神と覇王の物語

As the tagline above suggests, the story is ultimately about the growth of the protagonist Hamil and the heroine Tarte; there is a much smaller focus on the side characters compared to TtT1. Although this made me feel disappointed, the increased amount of focus on Hamil/Tarte versus Arawn/Riannon made me enjoy the main pair much more than I initially expected and became one of the highest points of the game for me. In this case it more than made up for the otherwise loss of enjoyment from decreased side character events, but it in no way erased that loss. I think whether or not you will enjoy the game depends on this point.

Like TtT1, the plot can be summed up with the word 王道, as an adjective as well as a noun. I liked how Hamil’s struggles finding his place in the world amidst the expectations placed on him seemed to be a natural extension of what Arthur went through in TtT1. The existence of Melqart “within” him and the added contrast with his lineage/surroundings supporting his 覇道 side made for more interesting character growth. This is only enhanced by Matsuoka Yoshitsugu's incredible performance as Hamil (true gap 燃え). I really appreciated how his relationship with Tarte felt more equal and mutual than the one between Arawn and Riannon in 1; while the latter are still a very solid couple, I enjoyed the feeling that the former gave off of being two people struggling to sort out their feelings towards each other while also figuring out themselves and the future of Hispania. 初々しい少年少女という感じで大変可愛いであります！！！ Tarte is a heroine with clear motives who is ready to dedicate herself to Hispania and Hamil (for reasons made clear later in the story) while also not afraid to be harsher to push him in the right direction, a position not unlike Arawn towards Arthur in TtT1. The actual reason that I like these two better is probably because they have more イチャイチャ scenes. They can get ridiculously adorable in one scene and then be deadly serious for the next, which is my ideal for fictional couples honestly.

While the plot developments were also very 王道, I was even able to look over the more overbearing ones due to how they fit in the narrative and/or the atmosphere of the series as I understood it. ...Except for [reviving Monomachus. I can see needing a spear unit, but this was just way too convenient. The case of Tarte in the final chapter had build up (along with that fantastic CG parallel) when compared to Monomachus just... coming back.] In the grand scheme of things, that's my biggest complaint about the game.

There is also a clear divide between the first and second halves of the game at the end of Chapter 6. I've seen reviews saying the second half is lacking (and I can understand why), but I honestly think the game kept up my interest more after the middle climax until the story starts moving towards the end then TtT1 did (although I did think "ah... I guess it can't be a true TtT game without a 闘技大会 stage..."), which is something I can praise 2 for.

The distinctly lower amount of events focused on everyday life made me disappointed a little, as these were a large part of what made me enjoy the cast of 1 and made me see them as a family. Dion being the butt monkey of most of the jokes also got stale after a while, although I didn't expect [for him to get all those events relating to Simon, which gives him a great role which makes him more than that at least]. In terms of my overall opinion of the cast, 1's is much higher but in 2 Hamil and Tarte are just very, very good. Some of my favorites this time around other than the main pair were Kleito, Elissa, [Hasdrubal, Ishtar], and Izebel.

System/Gameplay

The system/UI functions are mainly the same as the previous two games (which also means the one line backlog is still present..,), although I was pleased to find that the possible characters for the system voice-like things you hear when you select an item in the menu in the base screen expanded from just two (Limwris/Ermin) to all the female party members (and the male characters on the map screen). It’s fun hearing all the characters telling you you’re about to save (or be disappointed when you back out of it). Not being able to check your items/character stats at the mid-story save points anymore was a downgrade, though. I also felt that there were less of those save points than in 1, which hurts during some of the longer story segments.

The battle system keeps/expands the elements introduced in Gaiden (item synthesis, traps, magic circles) and reworks what was formerly the changeling system into the Quadriga. While I’m happy about not being forced to use the latter unlike the former, sometimes the Quadriga just goes down too quickly... (´・ω・`) taking all the units inside down with it... (´・ω・`) But luckily in this game there’s a rewind feature that can send you to the start of a turn!! No more fucking around with save states While not as good as the one in Utawarerumono 2/3 (although I can’t complain too much seeing how this came before them), it gets the job done speedily.

Another new feature is the ability to use animals as party members, whether buying them as units from the shop or having Charis charm an enemy animal in battle. I didn’t actually use this that much, except for putting Charis on the gryphon you can buy for better mobility or the boar you can buy for better defense. The elephant that pulls the Quadriga is also a great tank so sometimes I put Charis on her too I guess. I also didn’t use the Melqart/Tanit transformations much, mostly because I didn’t feel like dealing with the decreased stats after the transformation wears off, although the increased stats during the change saved my ass a couple of times. Not being able to use chain attacks is also a marked con, but I guess it’s a price that must be paid to be OP. (´・ω・`)

In terms of game difficulty, I played on Normal and felt that it was harder than Normal in TtT1 and around the same level or higher than Easy in Gaiden (although I did get the all bonus and overall S rank trophies on my first run, which may influence this impression). I don’t know how someone who plays this as their first game in the series would feel though, as I was making sure to avoid common mistakes (not paying attention to element cycle, not using skills, etc.) early on. As the game goes on, spending an hour on a stage becomes commonplace rather than an exception. However, I found myself having fun figuring out strategies to clear every stage so sometimes I wouldn’t even notice how much time I was spending. Except the second fucking dragon stage in the main story fuck you ("ah... I guess it can't be a true TtT game without a BS dragon stage...").

The 50 stage (versus 100 in Gaiden) dungeon in the post-game is where I really felt the pain as everything is just out to get you (and there’s way more dragons). I just decided to grind everyone to level 99 halfway through, which made things easier until you reach the point where you can’t just go around whacking things into submission without thinking. The rewind system is not available for use which factors into the difficulty, but there is a poverty substitution in the suspend save feature. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the plot(?) surrounding exploring the dungeon was much more serious that what Gaiden had, although it was still pretty bare. The ending was nice and sweet as someone who did TtT1 but there was no credits roll like Gaiden had. My only real complaint is that it wasn’t voiced. (´・ω・`)

I bought all the DLC units after the main story and Arawn and Riannon were lifesavers due to their attributes more than once; if you end you playing the game I recommend getting these two if nothing else, especially because the chibi Riannon model is very cute (although Arawn is now 100% an ossan). The other units got some use (except for Beard who is mostly used for MP/CS boosting and/or memes) but they had cute models and level up lines so no regrets.

My main frustration is with how low the drop rates for items are, especially since now I’m looking to synthesize the OP weapons which require some of the rarest drops. Taking an hour to get one item is a bit much. (´・ω・`)

Visuals

Why is this game so pretty!!!! Seriously, everything from the backgrounds to the OP movie to the UI to the character sprites to the character cut-ins to the CGs are extremely pleasing to look at. Honjou Tatami’s character designs go way too well with the Aquaplus coloring team, and this game boasts some of my all time favorite CGs. The character sprites are also quite varied, although I’d have to say Tarte is my top pick in this regard. I also liked the character designs themselves in this game much more than the ones in 1, if only for how much more ｙａｂａｉ they are, especially Tarte and Izebel. It kind of feels odd comparing them to the simpler designs in 1, but at the end of the day I love the designs in both.

I think the 3D models worked well in translating those designs to a smaller size (although I can’t help but wonder about the gap between the models’ feet and the actual floor...) and don’t understand the people who were disappointed that they’re in chibi proportions. They’re cute!! I don’t know enough to say anything about the quality of the 3D maps/areas, but the greater location variety is a big plus; for some reason I really love the wheat field one.

The backgrounds have the soft, almost painting-like feel I’ve come to appreciate in Aquaplus games (thanks Kusanagi). There were even some surprise background appearances from 1 which made me smile.

My only negative in this category is that there are simply too few CGs for how long the game is. There is no excusing this point.

Music

How does Kinugasa keep doing it???? I had taken notice of Kinugasa Michio as a composer who does songs right up my alley (even among all the Aquaplus composers who generally hit that sweet spot) after realizing he composed Remote Viewing for Routes, and greatly enjoyed his work in Utawarerumono 2/3, especially 麗しき世界. The fact that Utaware 2/3 came after TtT2 could never prepare me for the ultimate nut awaiting me in this game: 君の前では少年のまま. This song encapsulates the relationship between Hamil and Tarte through very passionate guitar, Sutani Naoko’s wonderful lyrics, and Suara’s vocals. This deadly combination has led to this becoming one of my top two favorite Aquaplus songs (the other being 星座 from Kusari). I had some worries about the transition to the ED as this transition in 1 was one of my favorite parts of the game but those scattered quickly when I reached that point. The catharsis contained in these moments in both games is unreal.

The game’s soundtrack as a whole is quite good at expressing the idealistic and gentle, yet realistic and tenacious nature of the game and series as a whole. There are a few tracks from 1 with new arrangements and they either made me love a track even more or vastly improve my opinions on it which is a great accomplishment. I also enjoyed the new tracks very much, and the combination of these two elements make for a satisfying music experience on the whole, the amount and variety also being a positive factor. The increased amount of comfy tracks makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The vocals songs were also to my taste with all of the new ones having lyrics about the Hamil/Tarte relationship being extremely up my alley. 🙏 thank you Sutani Naoko 🙏 I appreciate the fact that Suara, Uehara Rena, and Tsuda Akari are all in the soundtrack as this has not happened in an Aquaplus game before or since. The returning songs have arrangements befitting of the story and still hold great emotional weight. Except Until which somehow gets even more ずるい how the fuck do the lyrics fit so good every single time it plays how the fuck does it get me every time god I could write a whole new post on this song alone.

However, what elevates this to being my favorite game soundtrack at this point of my life is the usage. The amount of times that I have felt that playing a certain song during a certain part of the story was simply ずるい is not much, but the majority of them are from the Tears to Tiara series. The ずるい level in TtT2 manages to surpass the already high bar set by 1 by refining the art of layering the ずるい , leaving me staring at the screen in shock multiple times. Even in moments not as clearly defined, I generally liked the length that each each track played. I distinctly remember thinking in Chapter 1 that it was cool that the BGM changed whenever I felt like certain songs were beginning to overstay their welcome, which is pretty refreshing. I definitely feel that this game has the best use of music among all the Aquaplus games I’ve played (yes, this includes Utawarerumono 3).

Voice Acting

Someone please stop Matsuoka Yoshitsugu before he loses his voice!!, is a thought I held many times when listening to Hamil’s screams throughout the game. After reading the very interesting blog post by Mochizuki Yuutarou (voice recording director for Aquaplus) about some of the game’s voice recording and how he initially thought about having an additional person voice Hamil, I find it more incredible how Matsuoka managed to handle everything. The contrast between the soft spoken and reserved side of Hamil (his soft laugh is so good) and his hot-blooded and unrelenting side in the context of the story feels very satisfying to experience; the point where he snaps in the climax of Chapter 1 is a scene that has still not left my mind.

While Hamil is definitely the star performance for me, Kugimiya Rie as Tarte and Saitou Chiwa as Izebel were some of my favorites among the lovely voice cast. There were quite a few voice actors that I have since started paying attention to thanks to this game. On the negative side, I think a lot of the mob characters were too monotone.

Final Thoughts

Tears to Tiara 2 is a game that carries the spiritedness and positivity (:elatedsquirtleface:) of the first game and takes it to a logical next step while improving pretty much every part of the experience for a long (79 hours for main story on Easy without skipping voices), emotional journey. This is most of the reason I rated this a 10 on VNDB; the overall experience is very polished and it was the most fun I’ve had with a game that I can remember. There are definitely flaws, but I feel that what I gained from TtT2 was enough to overpower those shortcomings.

Next Post | Tear to Tiara: A Return to One’s Roots →

[personalcoachingcenter]

Expand Your Virtual Toolkit: 8 Ways to Create a WOW Group Call! | by Jennifer Britton MES, CHRP, CPT, PCC | The Launchpad - The Coaching Tools Company Blog

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Expand Your Virtual Toolkit: 8 Ways to Create a WOW Group Call! | by Jennifer Britton MES, CHRP, CPT, PCC | The Launchpad - The Coaching Tools Company Blog

Many coaches have virtual offerings – whether it’s a one-on-one coaching call, a virtual retreat or virtual group coaching session. In the virtual space, trust and connection are even more important than usual. And another key factor is creating many engagement points; rather than being talked at, most clients want to be at the center of the conversation. In this article we look at 8 ways you can build in trust, connection and engagement to your virtual coaching calls.

Editor’s Note: These tips are great if you run teleseminars, Facebook Lives (we picked up some great ideas for us to use!) and even your in-person Workshops!

Start by Setting Expectations!

When looking to create a WOW call, it’s important to shape expectations that your call is going to be different. So, let people know in advance they can expect something different! This will disrupt what clients might expect to be another “death by conference call” – with a low-energy “talking head” presenter, leading to a disconnected multi-tasking experience.

But we don’t just want to signal that the call is going to be different. We also want to deliver on it!

So, Here are 8 Ways You Can Create a WOW Virtual Group Call!

How will you tweak your next virtual event to create a more engaging experience? Here are 8 ideas to help you:

1. Put Your Members Front and Center

Help people consider the WIIFM of the call (What’s in it for me?) for themselves early on. You can do this simply by asking something like, “What do you want to get out of this call today?”

If it’s a group call, also create shared expectations. Invite your group members to share, and shape, what’s important about the topic for them.

2. Capture attention quickly

It’s often said that you have 7 seconds to make a first impression. So, what’s going to get people’s attention on your WOW call? Here are 3 ideas to quickly capture their attention:

Are you going to get people involved right away by asking them to type something in the chat box?

Perhaps you will share a ‘content’ piece which captures attention such as a photo or video?

You could also tell a powerful and engaging story related to the topic/goals of the call to draw people in.

3. Leverage Silence

We live in a hyper-driven world, so create regular pauses for people to reflect, take notes, create an action plan and schedule their next steps.

Tip: When you do this, provide clear instructions on what you are inviting people to do – and avoid awkward silences!

4. Use Breakouts

We tend to get lost in larger groups, and many people are eager to ‘meet’ one or two more people. So leverage breakouts where possible.

In “Breakouts that Sizzle”, one of the community calls for my book Effective Virtual Conversations, I explore different ways you might use breakouts. Four examples of ways to use breakouts include to:

Help people find common ground

Explore an area of shared interest

Talk through their next steps

Gain insights and perspective by sharing their focus with each other

5. Consider Visual Anchor Points

Our brain processes visuals faster than words. Consider how you can create visual ‘anchor’ points to create an additional foundation for learning. These might include a photo, graphics or a visual metaphor. Visuals also increase the impact of any stories you might choose to tell.

6. Take the Pulse of the Call

Do a “temperature check” along the way, building in several pulse checks. This allows you to make changes as you go, and keep engagement levels high for a WOW call! Ideas include:

Asking people to share their energy level through an emoji

Getting attendees to write their engagement level “out of 10” on the screen

You could also use polls and the chat function to find out what your group wants – and what they are finding useful with the call

7. Create Real-Time Engagement

Get people active, and create learning and connection in “Real Time”. It’s great to do this by involving people in something they can see on their virtual screen. For example:

Annotation – get people to note things they’ve learned on the screen themselves. For those kinaesthetically oriented, annotation is a powerful way to get engagement.

Have a map and ask people to put a dot on the map to show where they are calling in from.

Share one of their ideas on the white board – write it on there in real-time so everyone can see it. This is a great way to offer validation to participants.

Put a checkmark beside the topic they want to explore – or circle the skills they use. This personalises the learning experience for them!

Please Note: These options will depend on the facilities available to you, and on the virtual platform you are using.

8. Leave Time to “Do it Now!”

One of the sub-components of the ICF’s “Designing Actions” competency is “Do it now”. Some ways to “Do it now” for your WOW group call include:

Have people schedule items for follow up

Working on a task – now- and getting it completed in a short amount of time

Making a note of their top 3 action steps

Wrap-up

As you review this article ask yourself what can you put into place to make your next virtual session stand out? What ideas above connected with you? How do you want your next call to be remembered?

For more information: If you already have a copy of Jennifer’s 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, refer to Chapter 5 (Design) or Chapter 7 (Activities and Engagement in the Virtual Space).

While you may need to explore and learn several of these yourself consider joining Jennifer for an upcoming Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (5 weeks – 8.5 CCEs).

Contributing author: Jennifer Britton is the author of five books including the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018), Effective Group Coaching and From One To Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching. Jennifer provides a wide range of supports for coaches, and other professionals who are working with teams and groups. From 1-1 coaching around signature programs, to the Conversation Sparker Deck to the 40 Ways to Work with Visual Cards, she’s committed to helping coaches create engaging and impactful work with the teams and groups they support, while creating a thriving business. Visit her online at https://www.groupcoachingessentials.ca

If you liked this article on virtual calls in your coaching practice, you may also like:

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[wildlyhardphilosopher-blog]

Pet Training Near Me | Read More Now

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Português When you are in the car with your dog, does he suddenly start barking at other dogs and people going past or even at other cars? Read more… Life stage(s):  ©2015 City of Tea Tree Gully Here are some handy tips to train your dog using positive reinforcement. If you practice regularly and give ongoing positive rewards, your dog will improve her manners. Remember, practice makes perfect! You can find more training videos on our Youtube channel. Ownership 4. Please add any comments you have for improving our website. Dispute a fine or expiation 24 Aug 2017 10:14:15am CLASS SCHEDULE Book Now Club House and Canteen Dog Training Tips and Videos Dog Lifecycle Care Blog The Guard Dog Training Centre is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm and Sunday 8.30am to 10.30am. Take the scenic rural  drive off the M7 Motorway, Richmond Road exit and see for yourself why we refer to our facilities as a Dog’s Paradise. See Map! In home and private puppy training tailored to your specific needs and the whole family can be involved. 9. What happens to the dogs after the Positive Paws program? Pets in emergencies Reactive Rover Training Class Name: Maximum course size: 4 dogs Following changes to the Victorian Government structure, the content on this site is in transition. There may be references to previous departments, these are being updated. Please call 136 186 to clarify any specific information. Agility Trials Happy Owners Classroom 17 : Beneful To learn more about our dog training in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, contact Eastern Companion Dog Training on (03) 9723 4387. We look forward to providing you with expert canine training services to improve the behaviour of your four-legged friend. Dogs often have very little control over their environment. We decide when to feed them, when to walk them and when to play with them. Research tells us that animals who have control over their environment are happier and healthier. If we can give our dogs choices it… (1.7mb, broadband) 1300 4 777 22 We can provide solutions to all your dog’s needs. Car etiquette Bark Busters International Wait Motivate your puppy Rewarding good behaviour Cesar’s life Six week group training course CESAR ON TV Fax: 08 8642 6716 How to earn your puppy’s trust and respect I thought the course was excellent. Working through the modules was easy to navigate and understand. Thank you very much for a very professional experience. Short Courses QUICK LINKS: Ringwood Droughts Contact the ABC It’s never too late! If your puppy is 17 weeks or older, simply join our older puppy course. हिन्दी Newsletter Signup I like this BTN clip because it is interesting and seeing puppies learn how to do guide training. FAQ The Bark Busters worldwide home dog training support guarantee is unique in the industry. It is designed to help owners resolve their dog’s behaviour and obedience problems and to provide customers with the satisfaction of ongoing support and peace of mind from their Bark Busters trainer.

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fbq('track', 'ViewContent', content_ids: 'dogtraining.dknol', ); ME : 12 Walk around other dogs on lead Looking forward to a dog you can take anywhere? That begins with early socialisation, and there’s no better-or more fun-way to tackle your puppy’s socialisation than Puppy Promenade. Join fellow puppy owners and their pups for trainer-guided super-socialisation strolls through Hahndorf and Stirling. Safely introduce your puppy to the big, wide, busy world, setting early expectations for her public behaviour. A great addition to puppy preschool class at your veterinarian clinic, Promenade helps your puppy learn good manners apply outside the classroom, too. Webinars Browse the directory using the A-Z index of services – select the service that you want, then the organisations that provide the service will be displayed Education Cost: $150 Locating a Lost Pet Dog training and puppy training Training Your dog’s welfare needs Policies and Class Information Lunging 0 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1979) Contact us Getting a New Puppy I enjoyed doing the training as it was well laid out and very practical, just waiting for my permanent visa to emigrate to Australia and get the chance to use my white card. – Jeff Cowler Here are some handy tips to train your dog using positive reinforcement. If you practice regularly and give ongoing positive rewards, your dog will improve her manners. Remember, practice makes perfect! You can find more training videos on our Youtube channel. Where To Go For Class Breeds Dogs are pack animals Saunders, Blanche (1969). Training You to Train Your Dog, New York: Howell Book House. ISBN 0-87605-457-2 Working Dogs Media library Aging Anatomy Coat Diseases Dog food Heartworm Odor Rabies Reproduction Skin disorders Vaccination Tank Non Kit Meet The Team We liked this BTN story because the people were kind enough to train the puppies help the blind and deaf people. This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. Stands 4 – 12 months old Lifetime Guarantee we train them all! Terms and Conditions – Positive Dog Training Housing Emma is amazing!!! � Couldn’t recommend highly enough! Our little Phoebe is already different in all the right ways! � Media related to Dog training at Wikimedia Commons We are available in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Melbourne, Cairns and Adelaide, and offer after-hours and weekend sessions at no extra charge. This way you can involve your whole family at a time that suits you. Dog behavioural training is the application of behaviour analysis, which uses the environmental events of antecedents and consequences to modify the behaviour of a dog, either for it to assist in specific activities or undertake particular tasks, or for it to participate effectively in contemporary domestic life. A dog learns from interactions it has with its environment. Urban Basics Course 1300306887 Levels Training Program 24 Aug 2017 10:14:15am Game hunting in Victoria 5. The breed of dogs used in the program are __________________ . Bedding Cost: $295.00/$235.00 © Copyright 2018 Redgum Vet & Pet Boarding | All Rights Reserved | Built By Marketing Sweet In other projects Happy Hounds offers individualised dog behavioural training consultations using the Amichien Bonding method. This method is non-confrontational and stress-free and involves working with the nature of the dog to achieve the desired behaviour responses. Posts This class lays the foundations for more advanced training by teaching your dog to focus on you. Your dog also learns to sit and drop and respond to their name. It sounds simple, but these form a strong foundation and help you understand your dog and how they learn. Byron Bay Dog Boarding Sydney Mouthing or Biting Alpha roll Animals On Course George – we are so thankful for the time you spent with us and our border collie Annie. You are patient, kind and so in touch with dogs behaviour. I learnt more in our 2 hours than we have in endless …hours of other trainings. I never in a million years thought that within that time Annie would have learnt to loose lead walk, stay and not jump on visitors. I cannot recommend you highly enough. Thanks again. Main Menu By Cesar Millan Clicker-training using a metal cricket RSPCA Pet Insurance If you’ve got a specific puppy issue you could use an extra measure of help with – house training, puppy biting, inappropriate chewing, and the like – a little private training is just the thing. Total Care or or Log in to your account At Redgum, we have teamed with Leanne, our fully trained consultant who will spend time with you and your dog or dogs, in your own environment, before developing a detailed plan. She will explain to you the strategies you can put into place to achieve the behavioural training you are seeking. Feedback Weekend: Meet Our Engineering Apprentice Trainers Formal canine training is most valuable for puppies 8 weeks and older. Anything that has been learned incorrectly will need to be undone and re-taught, so it is wise to begin the training as soon as possible. About the Purina PetCare Advice Centre Blog Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. © Copyright 2018 Certificate III in Dog Behaviour & Training Leave it Pet Cremations Canberra Guide Dogs and Seeing Eye Dogs Corporate Matched Giving Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. Please try your request again later. Why did this happen? Send your dog’s vaccination record to: Like us on Facebook Stay Group classes are a great way to teach good manners with basic obedience, and includes safe and appropriate socialisation. Loading… Work Litter Trays Component 4: Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services Good Leadership and Communication Browse the directory using the A-Z index of services – select the service that you want, then the organisations that provide the service will be displayed Dog Training Seattle | Reviews Dog Training Seattle | Read Our Reviews Here Dog Training Seattle | Simple and Effective Solutions Legal | Sitemap