Is there a resource out there that provides a guide to what railroad museums and scenic tourist trains can be reached by Amtrak and other public transportation from Amtrak stops?
Museums I know of, starting with three I'm pretty sure are great and are easily reachable:

• B&O museum in Baltimore.
  
• Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
  
• California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
  

A little more niche but worth a mention:

• Cable Car museum in San Francisco.

Then some I know of that I'm less sure about, and aren't as easily accessible

• Colorado Railway Museum in Golden, CO, a 40-minute light rail ride from Denver, plus a 15-minute walk. Probably worth the ride out to it if you are stopping in Denver.
  
• Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: 20 minute drive from Lancaster Amtrak; no public transportation available but maybe worth a UbeLyft ride?
  
• Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL, a 16 minute drive from the Woodstock regional rail stop, which is 1:40 from Chicago
  
• National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, reachable from Milwaukee on a couple-hour Thruway bus
  
• NY Museum of Transportation, 25 minute drive from Rochester Amtrak.
  

As far as scenic trains, I only know of the Grand Canyon train that leaves from Williams AZ, reachable from the Flagstaff AZ stop by Thruway bus. But there must be more. Maybe a map of them that could be overlaid with the Amtrak map to find opportunities?

Hey everyone. Trinity College's Temple of Hip Hop is hosting our 17th annual international hip hop festival. Pull up tonight for some amazing djs. Address 200 Summit Street.

AN: WOOHOO I CAN FINALLY RELEASE THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEXT BOOK!
​
It was raining, a light but persistent drizzle that soaks clothing through and through. Though the humidity and heat of Spring in a swamp permeated everything, the rain somehow made it even more uncomfortable. A thick silence lay over the darkness with the only exception being a very faint sing-song tone that could be heard in the distance, the sounds of a formation run in full swing. But beyond that, the base was still sleeping the grumpy snooze of Marines who weren’t really ready to face the new day yet.
Down a darkened street lay the building. Illuminated only by a single, sickly orange street lamp, it appeared that whatever architect had been responsible for the building’s design had really phoned it in on that day. It was a purely functional concrete rectangle with concrete stairs leading to a concrete landing that gave entrance to tired workers with no appreciation for cinder block motifs. Bright green patches of grass were only just managing to survive thanks to SgtMaj’s lifelong ordinance against pedestrians on his lawn, enforced at the point of a knife-hand.
On the ground, pressed up against the construction in what looked like a boring game of the-floor-is-lava, they sat. Shoulder to shoulder, lined up in a neat row, taking advantage of the mere six inches of protection against the elements provided by a high up ledge, Marines quietly waited for things to kick off and get worse. No one was talking. It was far too early in the morning to exercise one’s vocal chords and anyhow, they would be forced from their sulky silence any minute by the platoon sergeant.
Klobi stared blankly at her green running shorts, moving her gaze to the white running shoes and socks. Well, they used to be white. The platoon sergeant’s enthusiasm for running on low-impact surfaces, i.e. grass had fixed that right up. With a mix of exhaustion and low-grade anxiety about the immediate future, she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her green t-shirt. Should she have gotten up a bit earlier and shaved her legs before coming out here? Then again, does anyone really care about prickly stubble after a couple miles? Whatever was going to happen next was entirely out of her hands. The gentle susurration of Marines shifting around in a futile quest for comfort was the only sound. Oh, and the rain.
Softly, from the front of the line, someone muttered, “Yip”
A full second passed. Then another green-clad Marine repeated, “Yiiiip.”
“Yip yip yip…” chattered the next guy, faintly, as if the sound might be giving too much away. But Klobi could hear the wall of silence developing cracks.
“Yipyipyipyipyip” repeated the girl next to her. With no more words exchanged, the whole line suddenly broke out in the monosyllabic repetition.
“YEEEEIP, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip”, multiple voices joined in, all out of rhythm with one another. Then the base section at the very end started with their own contribution.
“UHHH huh, UHHH huh!” Within seconds, a disjointed cacophony was in full swing.
“YEEEEIP, yip, yip, yip, (UHHH huh, UHHH huh), yipyipyip, YEEEEIP…”
This went on for nearly two minutes and then, just like that, they fell silent. An intruder had been detected. A voice from off in the parking lot barked, “COMM PLATOON! FORM UP!”
Uggh. It was time to PT.
A couple of hours later, the gang were sitting in the chow hall picking at their government issued breakfasts. Today’s meal was low grade hash browns, eggs, fried ham slices, and slimy grey goop with chunks in it that the cooks claimed was meat from some named domesticated animal despite appearances. It didn’t look any more appetizing under the painfully bright fluorescent lights. The hall filled with the sounds of competing televisions tuned into the morning news shows and complaining Marines.
"I swear they put saltpeter in the food." Crannick muttered darkly, poking at his scrambled eggs with the cheap tin fork. "Every time we come here for breakfast, my junk don't work for the rest of the day."
"What, like you can't pee?" Tran asked around a mouthful of food. "Because that sounds like you should hit medical." He stabbed a piece of bacon that shattered on impact.
"No! No, I can pee just fine." Crannick grumbled.
"Why is this our breakfast convo, for fuck sake?" Klobi hated how they couldn't even get early mornings right. She smeared jam on toast, preferring that over anything that was cooked in the chow hall kitchens. At least she knew what was in it.
Ignoring her, Crannick pressed on. "I mean I should probably ask doc for some Viagra if I have to keep eating these disgusting eggs."
"So you're saying..." Klobi started to grin.
“Shut up, Klo.”
"I know a guy who can get Viagra for you. Cheap too, so you don't have to tell doc anything." Dawson contributed graciously. “He gets all kinds of stuff.”
"...Crannick is a broke dick?" Klobi looked quite chuffed with her own jokes as usual.
"It's not funny, Klobi!" He turned Dawson. "And is that even legal? Can we buy pills?"
"Long as you are quiet about it. Lots of Marines do." Dawson made a face as he drank some of the weird tasting milk the chow hall dispensed daily. He was the only person Klobi had ever seen actually drink it.
“Oh yeah? Who’s selling it?” Tran asked, entirely unaware of the street rules about naming names. Speaking names could catch the attention of the blue falcons and no one was having any of that if they could help it. Dawson shot him a dirty look and kept eating.
"If you pissed your pants, could we call the resulting puddle Lake Flaccid?"
"I'm leaving, Klobi had no idea how a penis works." As Crannick collected his tray, the others snickered. " Thanks, Dawson." With that, he left to dump his trash.
His departure lulled the conversation briefly. The shop report time was drawing closer no matter how they tried to ignore it. The brief window between PT and work was never enough.
"Who's he trying to perform for anyway? The Green Weenie doesn’t care if his thing works." Tran finished the last of his coffee and stood up. "Time hack?"
Dawson checked his watch, "0745. Let's get going."
They rose together from the benches and made their way out of the chow hall. As they approached the area to dump their trays and make their exit, Klobi saw a small, bleak table that had been set up ceremonially towards the front of the cafeteria. There was one like it in every mess hall in the Marine Corps, no matter where they were. The tablecloth was black. A single white candle sat unlit in the middle of the tiny dining surface and a single chair was sat on the right side. A neatly folded black cloth napkin lay beside a single white plate that was always empty. A bread plate held one single slice of lemon with a salt shaker sitting adjacent to the plate. There was never silverware beside the plates. No point. No one ever sat there and no one ever would. It would be sacrilege.
She took her eyes off the somber scene to toss the last of her uneaten eggs in the industrial waste collectors and stack her tray for washing before following her friends out the door.
As Klobi climbed the steps to the shop, she winced. The run that morning had made her legs sore already and she’d probably be barely able to walk by evening. But she’d be damned if she’d let that show when the others were bounding up the stairs two at a time.
“What are you all in such a hurry for?” she griped.
At the top of the stairs, Tran held the door as Dawson and Klobi went in. Compared to the muggy, suffocating air outside, the air conditioning hit like winter. Despite her muscle aches, Klobi sighed with pleasure. Air conditioning reminded her that it could always be a lot worse. She could’ve gone infantry and missed out on the joys of civilization for the entire enlistment.
Just before entering the shop, they paused at the wall of tiny metal lockers. Taking her phone out, Klobi set it on silent and then dropped it in one of the top lockers, closing the door and taking the key. In accordance with some universal law on abandoned cell phones, someone’s locked up device was playing a ring tone at max volume inside it’s locker. The owner had probably thought the ring tone was clever and individual, but it sounded damn silly on repeat as whomever was trying to call him couldn’t take a hint.
“Sounds like Hileman’s phone.” Dawson tried to get a good look at the locker number.
“How do you know? Besides the shit taste in music, I mean.” Klobi pointed to the offending locker as she was closer.
“What are you talking about? This tune was a banger.”
“Was. Oh well, guess we found our lunch flyer for the day.”
Anyone who didn’t put their device on silent became responsible for the shop’s chow run later. They’d have to take everyone’s order and then suffer the trip to the PX where the fast food joints were. This was also in accordance with universal laws that when a Marine catches another Marine slipping up, there will be some sort of fine levied informally. Especially if the violation was leaving their email open while they went to the head. Ooo-boy, that one was always a hit with the shop.
Stripped of all their devices, the three went to the door and swiped in. The data center might be air conditioned but it was also locked down against unauthorized entry. The Marines who worked in there, like many POG shops, treated their access as a rare privilege. More importantly, there was always internet.
They spread out to their separate desks, positioned all over the watch floor as they each jockeyed for some privacy. There was no other way to pretend to be doing work and if another Marine was sitting right next to you all day it ruined the illusion. Tran disappeared to the vault, his happy place in an otherwise confusing world.
“What’s the deal with Tran?” Dawson asked. “He’s cool and all but I think he might be gay.”
“Impossible” snapped Crannick. “He has boot bands on.”
Klobi snorted.
Dawson’s expression changed with mounting confusion.
“What do boot bands have to do with anything?”
Like any role playing game, and the Marine Corps during peace time bears a great resemblance to a bad one, Marines ascribed certain intangible qualities to otherwise boring (but required) uniform items. For example, Marines who had to wear red patches on their cammies[1] were considered to have AIDS and boot bands eliminated any possibility that your sex life leaned towards homosexuality[2]. The famous Marine dress blues gave the wearer +10 to sex appeal but that was nerfed by -20 when they inevitably started talking.
“He’s a jay-dub, Dawson. Poor kid probably doesn’t even know there’s more than one gender.” Klobi stretched as she talked, making her voice crack a bit when she got to the best part of her back muscles. “Oooooh gods, that’s good.”
Tran was in fact a Jehovah’s Witness. Or at least his family was. The Marine Corps was coming as quite a shock for him.
“Why do you care anyway? You trying to hit that?” Crannick leered at Dawson. “Forget your own bootbands for moment there?”
Dawson just shook his head and laughed. “He’s just…weird. I don’t know anyone back home that’s that innocent out of diapers. But he’s able to absolutely smoke everyone at PT, so yeah, I guess, who cares?”
Back in the barracks that evening, Klobi lay sprawled across her rack, thumbing through a paperback book. Her laptop was open streaming some YouTube channel for background noise, something she rarely did without headphones. This time, however, there was no roommate to bother. She didn’t have the room to herself exactly, although there were so few women in the battalion that single occupancy was not uncommon. It was just that her roommate, Sullivan, was dating another lance corporal, LCpl Hileman, down the hall. Hileman’s roommate had recently rotated out to another duty station and the barracks manager had yet to assign him a new one. That gave Hileman the rare privilege of having his own room, albeit temporarily. From what Klobi had heard, Hileman was using every available means of persuasion short of blunt force trauma and bomb threats to keep this state of affairs going.
The main benefit to Klobi was that, since Hileman’s room was private for now, Sullivan rarely slept in Klobi’s room.
Sully was a nice enough girl, although a bit naive in Klobi’s opinion. She had the look of a strawberry. Bright red hair, chubby oval face, freckles, pale skin that was prone to blushing at even mildly saucy comments, and bright green eyes, Sullivan looked way too innocent to be a Marine. Klobi knew better. The girl swore profusely, albeit in her squeaky high-pitched voice. It was like listening to a drunken chipmunk who’d caught his missus chipmunk with extra nuts.
Klobi shifted in her bed and tried to get back into her book. It was rough, considering she had just read the same paragraph four times but had not gotten any closer to understanding it. She flipped back a couple of pages and started over.
“In the universe, all things trend towards higher and higher states of entropy. Low entropy can be described as a closed system with a very neat order to things and little change, but if you break the system, entropy begins to increase almost immediately…”
She yawned. It was unfair that she so desperately wanted to be more knowledgeable and well educated while at the same time being as easily distractible as a kitten in a yarn factory. No sooner had she read one sentence than her own mind began formulating examples of the idea, until she was daydreaming and an hour later had forgotten the book entirely.
What did entropy have to do with anything? Well, it was pretty damn certain that just as soon as she had gotten things settled and neatly ordered that circumstance would lob a fragmentation grenade into the mix and then giggle with anticipation. Was it the fate of all ordered things to be utterly destroyed by chance? Was chaos never going to ultimately wipe out all possibility of order and sense? What, when you get right down to it, is in it for the universe? Is slam-dancing its way to surly oblivion the only method of locomotion that universes know?
Klobi sighed and closed the book, tossing it to the other side of the bed. Maybe being intelligent had a too crazy a syllabus to be worth it. It wasn’t doing her much good anyway. The more thoughtful she became, the less she fit in with her squad. Crannick, Dawson, and Tran weren’t the kind of folk to be impressed by quotations from Faust. They were more likely to stare in awe and wonder if Klobi were to pee standing up or knock someone out. She started to feel like their low standards were either telling her a major fact about people or else she was missing the real path to wisdom through controlled expectations and grotesque physical humor.
It seemed nature had designed Klobi to not fit in anyway. She dug around under her bed for her locker where she kept small personal items and put the book away. It was late and sleep would come and give her that wonderful feeling of eyeball ache that meant she’d be unconscious soon. No point struggling to understand eternity without its consent, she thought. It probably could not care less about the comprehensions of a hairless ape sitting in a swamp. Anyway, she thought, what, when you get right down to it, is in it for me?
She decided to visit the smoke pit before getting ready for bed. If there was anything going on, that’s where she’d learn about it. Besides, the odds were almost certain that the guys would be out there too.
In the darkness outside, the outline of a wooden gazebo that served as the barracks smoke pit was cast in the fluorescent lights from the barracks rooms. It stood at the far end of the courtyard, providing a vantage point where Marines could see the catwalks, sidewalks, and open windows of at least three floors of the building while they ingested their tobacco of choice. Two old instant coffee cans were placed at opposing corners of the entrance for butt disposal and one of them was charred from a small fire in the recent past. On her way out there, Klobi had knocked on Crannick’s door to invite him to the pit with her. He almost always said yes.
"I think he's up to no good." Klobi scowled. She lounged on one of the benches, pausing to admire the profane graffiti etched into the seat. Phallic fascination knew no bounds in the Marines. Maybe it was like ancient Rome, where dicks pointed the way to the good times. "Huh? He's like the chilliest SNCO in the company." Crannick had an annoying habit of trying to see the best in their leadership. “What did he do to you?”
"I just think," Klobi sniffed, "that he's a wolf in sheep's clothing." There was a slightly too long pause.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Is this your idea of some sort of zoological conspiracy?" Crannick really hated when Klobi got metaphorical.
Klobi rolled her eyes. "I'm saying that- "
"Hey, either of y'all got a smoke?" A new Marine joined them in the smoke pit and Crannick graciously offered him a menthol. As the lighter flared, Klobi could see it was LCpl Dawson.
"What's up, Dawson?" She took a pull from her own cigarette. "Living the dream." His southern drawl was even thicker with sarcasm. "Sup with you guys?"
"Klobi here is getting awfully agrarian about laundry day. " Crannick snickered.
Dawson frowned. "What? What’s that mean?" "I fucking hate you." Klobi sighed.
"What's wrong with her?" Dawson asked Crannick.
"She's been drinking the tap water." Camp Lejeune's tap water was legendary for its malignant properties and the on-base water treatment plant served every barracks, leading to some disturbing speculation on its potential as a source of chemical poisoning.
"Hey Doc!" Crannick hollered to the corpsman, Doc (PO3) Ellis, who had just emerged from the barracks. "You got anything in your bag for an idiom addiction? Klobi needs a fix stat!"
"I might actually stab you, Cranberry." Klobi got her own back by occasionally reminding him that his nickname was a fruit. “We’re talking about GySgt Castor, Dawson. Crannick seems to think he’s a swell guy.”
“No, I don’t. Stop putting words in my mouth.”
“Anything to shut you up.”
“Look, I agree that GySgt Castor is kind of a bastard. He’s just not as big a bastard as you think he is.”
Klobi privately reflected that Crannick was sort of right. GySgt Castor wasn’t a bastard, as such. It was more like he had the general temperament and charm of a demonically possessed wood chipper with a personality disorder. That was fine as far as the Marine Corps was concerned, but it was also a few steps beyond ‘bastard’. She couldn’t fathom why Crannick, or anyone at all besides GySgt Castor’s mother, would ever defend the man.
“He doesn’t sign you up for duty every single time the roster comes around.” Klobi snapped. “Or fail your room inspection for having dust on a pineapple.” She added, wondering to herself how one dusts a pineapple in the first place.
“Well, get good at the job then. If you’re crucial to the shop, you might find you’re less of a target for being voluntold.” Crannick flicked his ashes. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I’ve had barracks duty, chow hall duty, battalion duty, and been sent to motor T to do preventive maintenance on the one humvee we have, all in the last six months.” Klobi took a drag. “No one is that big of a shit bird.”
“Don’t take it personally, Klobi. Crannick’s shit at the job too. He only gets by because he can run good.” Dawson smirked. “If we ever have to retreat, Crannick will be leading the way.”
Doc Ellis wandered up to join them in the dark of the gazebo. He pulled out a tin of shewing tobacco and began to pack it industriously. “How’s everyone doing?” He took a big pinch from the can and began lining his lower lip with a wad the size of a slug. It looked just as appealing.
“Hey Doc. We’re good.” Klobi grinned, thinking back to breakfast. “Actually, Crannick here has some questions for you regarding his-”
“OH BOY, would you look at the time? We’ve got PT tomorrow, y’all. Guess I’d better head back to my room!” Crannick stood up from the bench and shot her one more dirty look as he was leaving.
“Y’all need to quit smoking.” Doc Ellis said, pausing to spit into a reused plastic beverage bottle he always had with him. “It’s really bad for you.”
“Thanks Doc, I’ll forget you said that. Night all.” With that, Crannick departed, leaving the others to trickle away on their own.
“Yeah, that’s it for me too. Good night Doc, Dawson. See y’all tomorrow.” Klobi stretched and yawned, stumbling back to her room for the night.
​
And somewhere, two burly strong men shared an aggressive handshake and immediately exploded in splooge supernovas of epic scale.
​
The End. (For now)
[1] Their proper name is ‘landing support specialists’
​
[2] It does not matter if you then attend a sixty person same sex orgy, so long as you wore boot bands while you did it.

I was writing this story and thinking of turning it into a webtoon. Can you tell me what you think.
My mom finally caved in. “Fine, make sure you’re prepared and take the train to school. Make sure you’re careful and follow all instructions!”
“Don’t worry mom,” I grumbled. “It's not like any of us have superpowers anyway.”
I finished my food, grabbed everything I needed and rushed out the door.
Living here is expensive but it sure is amazing if you can succeed.
Even if the world was almost destroyed 250 years ago we sure were able to come a long way in that time. It was great enough that me and Thomas’ parents would try so hard to be able to live here.
At first glance it was beautiful like a dream. Sector 3 was one of the best Districts except 1 and 2.
It buzzed with life with people on their way to work and wherever they needed to go. Cars hovered over the ground at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour.They made a sort of buzzing noise that was music to my ears. The smells of food cooking in fancy restaurants attacked my nostrils hoping to draw my attention and buy their food. Good thing I had a hearty breakfast because I don’t think I could afford any of them right now. Teenagers like me hung out with their hoverboards doing all types of tricks that could easily backfire in a nearby park. They had neon colored hair, mohawks along with other choices in fashion that my school and I just don’t agree with. Other businesses such as hospitals, hair salons, movie theaters also seemed to attract crowds like a magnet. I even passed by the hospital my mom worked at. It was a huge dark skyscraper with a spacious parking lot with its name Healing Haven Hospital in bright colored letters at the top.
Sector 3 was a great place to live if you could afford it. Although If you looked hard enough you noticed the people that failed to make ends meet. In the slums people slept in man made houses of trash and boxes. Others smoked and did drugs which was kind of illegal. Either they weren’t caught or the soldiers didn’t care enough to check. Children wearing dirty rags who were so skinny you could count their ribs rummaged through trash and fought over any spoils. It wasn’t fair that this greedy government would place laws and taxes that would force them to suffer this horrible fate. I need money whether or not it's legal as long as it can keep my family fed and happy.
15 minutes after I left the house I finally reached the train station. I got off my hoverboard and got in line and thankfully it wasn’t that long. When I reached the doors, I almost had a heart attack. Guarding the door where two sentinels armed to the teeth carrying large guns and dressed in their signature white bulletproof armor.
“Pay up please,” the one on the right said as he stretched out his hand. He held a device that would collect the money you need to take to ride the train.
“Okay,” I agreed with a nervous voice.
I took out my own phone and paid. I was able to get a seat on the train I was keeping all to myself with no troubles.
After we started moving I finally was able to let myself relax. I thought I was this close to being arrested before I could do anything illegal today.
Sentinels are usually stationed in places such as banks and homes of important people like governors. But this is the first time I’ve seen them deployed at a train station. I remember when I wanted to be one when I was a kid and go to District 2 to make lots of money but my parents made me give up that dream. District 2 specializes in military and security. That was where soldiers trained and lived. Higher Ups also had access to a luxurious life in a fancy mansion and more money than what they actually needed. This is where the hovercrafts that soared the sky providing surveillance were built and maintained. Where Epizon’s forces that would protect our country from its threats could prepare for any possibility. Prepare for what I always ask. Most of the world has been destroyed. Africa has never shown any hostility to us. No, they’re just here to enforce this tyrannical government and eliminate any that may possess abilities.
I grabbed my headphones from my backpack and played my favorite songs. At least I can enjoy the view.
It was like I was flying as the train soared through the sky on a railway that snaked throughout the city. Never actually touching since the train was connected through powerful electromagnets saving both energy and money. The city looked even more impressive when you had a bird’s eye view.
Couples and families enjoyed picnics on tables at the Liberty State Park. People walked in and out of the Interpretive Center where history from about 300 years was taught. It still had memorials dedicated to remembering events like what happened centuries ago at 9/11. Now there’s a huge memorial dedicated to those who fought to save us from the Enhanced. It's still so hard to believe that people with super powers exist. I’ve learned about them in history class but they seem so unreal. I’ve never seen somebody shoot fire or fly so either the military is really good at their job or this is all made up.
District 3 of the great utopia Epizon. Named after the Greek word for survivor. When the continents Australia, Europe, South America, and Asia were destroyed in World War Three. By the Enhanced who gained powers that almost destroyed the world. Thankfully, the remnants of North America were able to stand up and defeat all the Enhanced people and create the amazing paradise we live in.
It sounds so unreal it has to be propaganda to control the Sectors.
We flew over the Hudson River Walkway. It was my favorite view on the train ride because I loved the way sunlight would reflect off the pristine turquoise waters. It's a shame we don’t really get to swim or fish though. That’s probably for the best.
The rest of the train ride went fast and before I knew it I was at my stop. I grabbed my hoverboard and raced to school because the Victor can’t be late.
While this District has its downsides it could really get a lot worse from here. However, District 1 was the real paradise. It was where the most important people with the most standing lived. The President, his wife, and other high ranking government officials lived there. In enormous mansions separated by acres where all the other people who enforced laws and taxes that made it difficult for my parents to live and provide for us.
But District 3 was the best place where people who are more fortunate like me could live. As long as you were skilled enough and worked hard enough. My mom was a somewhat prominent doctor at one of the biggest hospitals in this District. District 3 specializes in a lot of fields but the one it specializes in is medical science. Medicine, prosthetics, you can get the best of them from here. And my dad was vice president at a company that released some of the best virtual reality games. Entertainment is just as important as health in Epizon. Which meant I sometimes received popular games before everyone else. I remember so many times my parents and I would play together exploring outer space, fighting monsters. My parents are so cool, right?
You’d think that our life would be a little more luxurious and it was. Unfortunately, the selfish government increased taxes and fees from school started to pile up. As the victor in sophomore year I was exempt from those rules as long as I remained Victor. But my parents have yet to completely finish paying all those debts.
It's dangerous to get lost in your thoughts when you’re traveling 3 feet off the ground at 15 miles per hour on a hoverboard because you might end up running into a moving car. Thankfully, I managed to stop just in time.
“So, the Victor almost crashes to a fatal stop. It would be sad, you know. I’d hate for my best friend to die like that.”
I knew that voice.
I turned around and noticed that mischievous grin with sharp teeth I was so familiar with. With his strong red eyes and messy black hair he could’ve been a criminal. Well he technically should be but we’re too smart to get caught.
“Thomas, how’re you?” I asked as I got off my hoverboard.
“Oh, nothing, just waiting for you,” he replied. “I knew you’d show up here to catch the levitrain.”
He gave me a hug and somehow managed to pick me up and spin me around like something a kid would ask their parents to do.
“How’re you doing my best friend? Did you actually get a huge extravagant meal because I just did. My mom just got paid and she didn’t save a single epi.”
“Yeah, I actually did and so I can actually keep my breakfast and not throw up let me down.”
“Sure!”
“How’re you so strong anyway? I know you work out but are you seriously that strong. Don’t tell me you actually have super strength.”
“I hope I don’t. Life sucks as is but it would get even worse if I suddenly awakened superpowers.”
I feel the same. It’s rough but we can make it better.
“Fistbump!”
We always managed to read each other’s minds.
“Are you ready for these physicals?” I asked.
“I’m so sick of those things,” he replied. “Oh, it’s time for us to cross.”
We both got on our hoverboards and raced towards school.
“Don’t worry about it, you're strong and you’re pretty muscular,” I assured him. “But, I hope you’re not strong enough to throw a car or something.”
“Don’t worry about it, I've already tried. Nah, I’m kidding.”
“So, are we doing that job today,” Thomas asked with a mischievous grin.
“You know it,” I said.
CHAPTER 2
Now you have to admit our school was pretty impressive.
First of all, it was gigantic. It sort of resembled a castle but really high tech in blue, red, and white colors. In the middle FutureTech was printed in red and blue and was highlighted in white. The dorms were on the left side. And the rest of the other facilities and equipment was in the other half. This was FutureTech, a place which was probably the best school a student could ask for. Less than 20% of those who apply here make the cut. And the majority of them were rich kids who could afford to pay the tuition. Me and Thomas barely made it and it was really tough. But we both worked hard and eventually I became the Victor. One of the perks of being a Victor that must’ve been in place for people like us was that the Victor could choose anyone who didn’t have as much money as the others to be their second in command. They would be exempt from the tuition and other crazy rules. Did you know you have to pay a security fee after a year?
Crazy.
But those only applied if the other guy had good grades and a clean track record. But only as long as I’m the Victor and if either of us do anything that breaks the rules we’ll both be kicked out. Talk about pressure.
But this was the best place to learn anything really. Law, business, art, engineering and other sciences. And it could all be done here.
The school had defenses in place to protect the lives of students and staff. An electromagnetic barrier surrounded the entire establishment. Stretching out a few acres across outside the building. If you wanted to get in you had to get through the one gate in the front. At the gate there were security cameras, x-rays, and 10 armed Sentinels just for extra security. The security was just as intense inside making it nearly impossible to do anything that violated the rules. They didn’t waste a single epi.
“Man, the security of this place is unnerving as always,” Thomas complained.
“It never fails to show me just how out of place we are.”
“Of course the security is advanced. The children of really important people receive education here. This helps them make sure they aren’t kidnapped. I do agree it's unnerving but at least it’s secure. Besides you and I both deserve to be here”
We walked through the sliding doors and saw just how beautiful the school was inside.
The place was illuminated by golden lights. Robots made clunky noises while drones wizzed over my head. I could barely hear myself think over the voices of other students. Girls argued over petty things like their hairstyles and whose boyfriend was better. While boys competed to see who’s stronger or more handsome. Rainbow colors flashed from the lab to the right. Future doctors practiced their skills on mannequins in the lab at the left.
“Hey, look, it's the Victor!”
Soon, the whole school had their eyes on me.
Girls and boys waved and applauded. Even the ones on the second floor whooped and jumped around. Not everyone felt the same though. Some students snickered and sneered while others glared with hatred and jealousy. Even when you work hard to be at the top not everyone will appreciate it.
“You’re popular,” Thomas remarked.
“Too bad not everyone is a fan. You still got the ladies cheering for you. You think you could give them a good word about me?” Thomas joked.
“You know that’s not how it is. We’re on different levels in society. I lose my title as Victor and I fade into the background.”
“Besides, you're smart and strong. Try hard enough and you could get a girlfriend. Just don’t let anyone catch on to our extracurricular activities.”
“Look at that smug smile on his face,” a voice rang out.
“It must be nice to be the Victor's lap dog. I could use that so explain why it is getting wasted on that idiot.”
“ He thinks he’s so strong and mighty just because of that stupid pin. Wait till I get my hands on it, fool.”
“He should watch out. It’d be unfortunate if an accident were to happen. No one would miss some commoners who couldn’t support themselves without that Victor title.”
“Who is that?” Thomas demanded.
“If I find out who they are they won’t have to worry about creating any accident.”
“Chill out Thomas. None of them have the guts or smarts to try anything. Besides, together there’s nothing they can do to either of us.”
“You’re right. We have brains and muscles,” he said as he flexed his arms.
I don’t blame some of them though. Kids who weren’t super wealthy but still made it could use the privileges I got from this title. There were also the selfish rich kids who had more money than they really needed. But I couldn't bear to see someone work hard to achieve something they couldn’t. It makes me so sick sometimes. Our parents do our best just to put a roof over our heads and pay taxes. But I became Victor and that’s a problem. I apologize but I’m not giving it up anytime soon.
“ So what’s first on Victor's schedule?”
“First, we have History class. Then, I have to give a report on quantum physics. Then we have lunch right before the physicals.”
“Well, while you’re doing your fancy report on quantum psychics I’m doing one on the state of this Sector. There’s so many children and families without homes. If I simply beg them nothing will happen. I’ll convince them why they should lend money and support to those who really deserve it. They can train adults to help reinforce the Walls. Add them to the military. Children can also be useful for things. Think about all the new medications they could try by using sick children. They could also put extremely smart children to work in engineering. Even the government can’t ignore the potential of children if given the right environment.”
Good old Thomas is always thinking of ways to help those in need. He takes every advantage and tool he can if it means he can improve the lives of his mother’s and others. More reason for me to fight to stay the Victor.
“Thomas, I have a question.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“Let’s say if you can do what you plan. What if some of those who you’re helping have powers?”
Thomas' face darkened as he stopped his stride.
I hate to do this to him but what if some of those he’s trying to help are Enhanced. People who have done nothing wrong superpowers or not don’t deserve to be hurt out of fear and hatred. Especially if it was because my best friend was only trying to genuinely help.
“I’m not sure. I can already imagine what the government would do if they got their hands on Enhanced people. But if I can only help people with no powers who actually need it. Am I wrong to try even if it could hurt others?”
Thomas’ statement really made me think. The government will hunt those with powers without question. But if he can help the others is that really so wrong? If only we could get the power and authority to change Epizon for the better. A place where rich or poor, normal or superpowered don’t matter. The only thing that you’ll be judged on is your character.
But I guess we’ve got to help our families and graduate first.
“Let’s go Thomas. We can both think about that later. But first let’s catch an elevator to the third floor and learn more history. YAY!!”
“Ok! I’ll race you!”
In 5 minutes we made it to History class before we could’ve been marked late. Seriously, why does Mr. Rodrigo’s class has to be all the way at the end of the hallway.
We took our seats in the front with Thomas right behind me and got ready.
Mr. Rodrigo was an intimidating man. He was 6ft 6 inches tall. He had an even more muscular body than Thomas and his platinum blonde hair was as tidy as always. But the most frightening part was his silver right arm prosthetic which I swore could punch through steel. No student turned in work late in this class. We had a Veteran soldier, not some pushover.
“Today, in class we’ll be discussing World War Three and what led to it 250 years ago!” Mr Rodrigo announced.
The projector in front turned on into an educational video to teach us about the history of Epizon.
This is how the story went. Over 250 years the Earth was a beautiful place. All the major continents and countries were still thriving and Epizon was known as North America. It was a place where all races were equal. And people could enjoy nature and the same standards of living. No one went hungry and people could afford anything they could ever want. Yeah right.
However, this peace and prosperity was interrupted when the Chosen rebelled. When the greatest scientists of North America were able to give selected people superpowers to make sure peace could continue to prosper. However, the Chosen got drunk on their new powers. They betrayed our country and killed those who gave them their powers to make sure no one could fight against them. After taking full control of our country they waged war on the rest of the world, Starting World War Three. However, other major world powers also developed their own Chosen. In the next 10 years Asia, South America, Europe, and Australia were completely destroyed.
However, our country’s usurpers had almost destroyed themselves in the war. While they grew complacent with their powers we built up our resources in secret. When they attempted to heal their wounds we launched a counter strike against them. Using whatever tactics it took from air strikes, snipings, and more. A major part was thanks to a specially created poison that could weaken those with powers and even kill them. We finally won over them and took our country back. To celebrate we named our country Epizon and split it into 20 Sectors. The most crucial people in the war effort against the former Chosen were elected to be governors, secretaries with the President on top. With their descendants guiding Epizon to greatness and equality centuries later.
What a load of bull.
This country isn’t fair or equal at all! My parents struggle just to pay stupid bills! I go on these stupid jobs just to make sure me and my best friend's family don’t have to sleep on the streets. The horrible fate of those who couldn’t make it haunts me everytime I go around the city. One doesn’t even have a fair chance of becoming a politician if they aren't related to one.
I got so mad I snapped my pen in half. A waste of a perfectly good pen.
“Mark, are you good?” Thomas whispered.
“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry just lost my temper-”
A metal fist slammed into my table.
“Mr. Mark, is there a reason why you and your friend are interrupting class. Do you perhaps feel that as the Victor you have nothing to learn from this topic.”
The rest of the class snickered and snorted.
“Actually no Thomas and I were comparing the earliest of Epizon to now to highlight just how much our country has grown. I apologize if we interrupted your class.”
“Oh really. Well since you already know this class backwards and forwards you can teach the class. In fact, you can educate them on the Bloody River Incident. Consider this a test. And I do hope you know your facts. After all, I was the only survivor of that horrible massacre ”
The Bloody River Incident was a catastrophe where 1,000 died. I only learned about it last year because whenever the aftermath turned on the news my parents removed it.
“I’d love to educate our class on Epizon’s history, Mr. Rodrigo.”
Three years ago the Sentinels launched an attack on a refugee camp of Enhanced in Sector 4. Unfortunately, the battalion of 1,000 Sentinels was all wiped out. It got its title for the color the Hudson River turned when the blood of fallen soldiers mixed in. The security for schools, banks, and other “important” places increased. Of course they never bothered with things like public transportation until recently.
“Anytime this year,” Mr. Rodrigo complained.
Why did I have to get a pop quiz today?
Chapter 3
“Finally, we get to go to lunch,” Thomas cheered.
“Did you bring anything today?”
“I was super lucky today. My mom made this huge spread so I’ve got some leftover pancakes, bacon and some eggs. What about you?”
“Oh nothing so special. My mom was still at work so I gathered up some things and made lasagna.”
“Your mom’s super awesome lasagna,” I wondered.
“I’ll share some with you if you share with me,” he said.
Thanks to the insulated lunch box Thomas’ food was still warm. The aroma of all the wonderful spices gave me delight.
“Sure. One of the special privileges I get to enjoy is your mom’s lasagna. After all the school lunch is too expensive and while it may be high class food. It still pales in comparison to homemade food made with love.”
“Isn’t that right? So Mark, what do you want to do once you graduate? We can’t be criminals forever.”
“I was thinking about starting a company using our inventions. I’ve been talking to my dad about it and if I can remain the Victor until I graduate. It will be a great sales pitch especially if we can improve our projects. Even Epizon can’t deny geniuses who can make their country even greater.”
“You’re right. How did your Dad like our skeleton key?”
“He wasn’t fond of it at all. He said he didn’t want us to use our intellect to make weapons. Instead, we should work with my mom to find ways we can help people. For example, my mom’s a neurosurgeon. Sentinels who’ve suffered grievous injuries in training exercises will be looking for someone who can really fix them. Paralysis, loss of motor control, even the prosthetics they use sometimes malfunction.”
I took out my laptop and typed a few buttons. In three minutes I pulled a sort of research paper I made in my spare time.
“I’ve heard that some nervous systems are unable to handle the stress of handling new prostheses. And the more prosthesis they implant the more the increase in side effects. Some soldiers sign up for weaponized implants to improve their combat powers. I heard they can even copy some powers like pyrokinesis or super strength.”
“That’s crazy. Anyways I’m hungry. Let's discuss this after lunch.”
We’ll need all the energy we can get.
We split the food both ways and chowed down.
Thomas took out a mini speaker and started playing rock music. Before we knew it we started using the forks and spoons we had as music instruments. We tapped and beat to the music. But we calmed down a little when we received glares. We can’t be looking foolish.
The cafeteria was big enough to carry two hovercrafts. It had gold chandeliers and pristine white walls. Tables ranging for 1, for 2, and 4 were scattered out. Robots taking orders, collecting checks, and bringing food raced around on high tech wheels. The air was packed with aromas from dishes prepared by some of the best chefs in Epizon. However, what I despised the most wasn’t the high cost of food that made me avoid relying on school lunch. But the snot nosed rich kids who went out of their way to bring their own fancy dresses and suits just for the cafeteria. I mean are you serious? And the school allowed them to do it as long as it was just for lunch. I pitied the other kids who stood out because they weren’t in the position to waste the few good clothes they had. I certainly could agree with that. These kids would dance, sing loud and do whatever else that was annoying.
On our table just for two that was far away from the majority we ate our lunch in peace.
“Your mom’s lasagna is just as good as it’s always been Thomas. I could never quite recreate it even when you gave me the recipe.”
“Of course you couldn’t. It’s a secret skill that can only be learned by my bloodline.”
HAAH! HAAH!! HAAH!!!
Would it be too much to ask if we could just laugh like this forever.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself Victor.”
Someone just had to ruin the fun.
I heard the tip tapping of shoes from right behind me. One girl, two boys.
“I hate this guy. Why’d he even come to this school? He should have just been homeschooled in his nice mansion in Sector 1.”
“Come on, commoner. You should be grateful to be blessed for me to come to you. Your lap dog should feel grateful too.”
“This guy,” Thomas growled.
He grabbed a chair and sat right in the middle of us. His lackeys stayed right behind him.
The aggressor was the son of the President, the most powerful man in Epizon. He was tall for 15 6ft 3 inches. His white skin had no freckle, zit, or pimple in sight. His red eyes went well with the red highlights in his hair. Usually dying your hair isn’t allowed but when you’re the President’s son you get to break a few rules.
His two lackeys are Merle, daughter of Sector 4’s Governor, and Sector 3’s Secretary Charles.
“Jason. It’s time for us to eat lunch. What would you like to order?” Merle asked.
“Knowing Jason he’s going to order whatever’s the most expensive thing on the menu,” Charles answered.
“That’s right I Jason Powers sit at the top of Epizon. I come from a line of great people like secretaries, governors, generals, and revolutionary scientists. Someone of my standing deserves nothing less than the best.”
“Very well, I shall place your order now.”
Jason pointed at me.
“But what are you eating Victor? What’s on your plate? Pancakes,eggs,lasagna. I won’t allow someone as esteemed as the Victor to eat from such a shabby diet. At this school you’re one of the only people at this school at my level. Maybe I should order the second most expensive thing on this menu.”
“Ok!”
“What-” both Thomas and him exclaimed.
“If possible, can I take it to go?”
Look I’m not passing up free high class food even if I don’t like the guy that’s offering.
“Guess I’ll order it then. I’ll take something to get Waiter-bot!”
In response a nearby Waiter-bot rushed over.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Thomas whispered.
“Look, I'm not turning down free food. Maybe I’ll give it to my parents.”
“And what about your third string?”, he addressed Thomas.
Thomas jumped out of his seat and looked like he was about to start a fight. Thankfully, his smart to know that’s a bad idea.
“Considering you’re the lowest person here. Should I buy you the fifth most expensive dish? Or did that restaurant your mom owns mean you don’t need it. It used to be so high-class you know but ever since Father placed those taxes you haven’t been doing so well. You’re still successful, sure but your mom must be struggling to run it.”
Thomas was about to raise his fist but I quickly smacked it down.
“He’ll take it and thanks for your kind consideration.”
“If you need anything, here's my card. I may take pity on you.”
In 20 minutes the Waiterbots brought our food after Jason and his lackeys left.
We had Massaman curry, wagyu beef, Japanese sushi and other delicacies.
“WHY! Why would you accept that he’s mocking us!”
“But he’s giving us free food Thomas,” I leaned in to whisper.
“We literally do all these illegal side jobs that could get us and our families in danger if we’re found out. So we can provide for them. You think I’m passing up free food.”
Thomas' expression finally relaxed.
“You’re right it’s like you said free food is free food.”
The loudspeakers in the cafeteria shouted out loud:
“Will the Victor please come down to the basement prepared for the assessment.”
Voices from the crowd erupted.
“So, the Victor is going first?”
“I’m glad it’s not me.”
“What if he has powers? What if the Sentinels can’t bring him down?” We can’t leave until the assessments are over.”
“I hope he doesn’t come back. Then, I can be the Victor.”
“You think it’s going to be you. It’s going to be me.”
Why did it have to be me first? I wish these kids would shut up, they're making it worse.
“What are these brats talking about? Half of these brats couldn’t hope to be as good as you or me for that matter so they shouldn’t get their hopes up. The only thing stopping Jason from being Victor is you so there’s that.”
Thomas is always there to cheer me up.
“Well, I’ll put this food in our lockers so we can eat them after school. That’s if I actually see you again.”
“Yeah, yeah I hope you can’t shoot fire or fly too because then I’d be in trouble.”
“HAAH!! HAAH!! HAAH!!”
“Don’t do your best Mark, I'll see you later.”
After changing into my gym clothes I was escorted by 4 sentinels to the basement. It was only accessible by a special elevator built for that purpose alone. After what was probably 4 whole minutes with people who were ready to fill me up with lead. We finally arrived at the basement.
The Basement was where the annual assessment to discover if a student possessed super powers.
You see Enhanced have this sort of bioelectric aura that they emit that couldn’t be recognized using the human senses. They can only only be recognized using incredibly advanced technology. if an Enhanced got enough experience with their abilities, they could hide their bioelectric aura from machines too. However, this aura is linked to their powers and are stronger when they are used or the individual is under extreme stress. So the government came up with an idea.
To set up a school system where students can be monitored and powered people can be identified. With Sentinels there to take them down. And that is why every kid in Epizon has to go to some kind of school or get an annual check up. It’s so they can kill powered people when they’re young.
Could this society be more wrong? It saddens me to know that it could.
We finally stopped and the doors opened wide open.
“Keep walking?” the Sentinel to my right demanded.
Guess it’s time to get this over with.
We arrived at the Vault. It looked just like some high tech bank but instead of keeping people out. It was made to make sure they couldn’t escape. With automatic machine guns on the walls, Sentinels, and 12 foot thick walls of high grade steel it wasn’t going to be easy to escape. And in the case of an incident the elevator upstairs would be locked. Leaving you trapped under bedrock unless you could teleport or had some other useful power for that situation.
One Sentinel walked over to the Vault's white doors and demanded entry.
“Open, Sentinel 1706!”
With a click and clank the doors started to open slowly.
It finally sank in just how nervous I was. I was just as nervous as last year. I’ve seen kids that took the physicals never returning. As if they never even existed. My heart started to race and I could feel the sweat crawling down my face.
Please don’t tell me I’m an Enhanced person. I don’t need superpowers. I just need to graduate and start an awesome company. Hanging out with Thomas and helping our families. That's all I want to do! I just want to be normal like everyone else.
“Relax, you’re hyperventilating. You’re the Victor , you should be calm and composed. I mean don’t give us a reason to suspect you before the assessment even starts.”
Crap, I let them see me weak.
“Of course not, I'm just planning this out that’s all.”
However, my focus was ruined by ominous threats.
“Let’s kill those kids.”
“They’ll all pay for what they’ve done.”
“The sins of the parents shall be held accountable by their children.”
“Let the Revolution begin!”
Hey, what are those voices? They just started flooding in my head.
I looked around but I couldn’t find any culprits. I’m sure none of those voices belonged to a Sentinel. No Sentinel would dare to harm a student here without approval. So where was that coming from?
“Hey, who was that? Are you playing some kind of game?” I asked.
“What are you talking about, kid. Don’t try anything, follow the rules, and you’ll be fine.”
“BUT!!”
The final part of the Vaults wall barely opened before I heard a deafening boom.
The ground started shaking and the ceiling began to collapse.
“Did something happen upstairs,” a Sentinel asked.
“What the hell is going on?”
My question was answered by a ginormous explosion.
​
Would it be a good idea to start the webtoon with how the world was destroyed. Like it's normal and boom everything's destroyed. Continents have fallen, North America was a wasteland, and 250 years ago Mark and his friend are on the run from gangsters on their way to school.

Part 10: Revenues and Taxes (Part 1) (Part 9)
​
"It truly is an honor to finally meet you in person, Elder Bmashgnew." Atxika began to bow slightly before correcting herself. "Mosh."
​
"The honor is all mine, Admiral Atxika." Mosh mimicked the slight bow. "You are the first official Qui’ztar Military Envoy we have hosted in quite some time. I hope you and your crew have been enjoying themselves on your visit."
​
"Ah, yes." The Admiral couldn't help but let a slightly disappointed look cross her face. "I would like to formally apologize for the behavior of some of my crew. They should have shown greater levels of self control."
​
"Eh, don't worry about that. The youth do as the youth do." The Elder tried to dismiss her concerns with a wave of his hand. "If anything, I am far more concerned about how much trouble young Tens here has caused for you."
​
There was a moment of pause as both the Atxika and Mosh slowly turned towards the young who was standing a few paces away and trying his best to be neither seen nor heard. For a few seconds, the only sounds that could be heard were muted noises of station life. Spending the past few hours acting as his commanding officer's guide while rounding up wayward women was not what he expected to do on his vacation. When his Elder had called him and requested the young bring the Admiral to his office, he had assumed his uncle would be assigning her a dedicated assistant from the Interspecies Relations Council. Seeing as that had not happened, and he was now the topic of conversation, he was not particularly happy about it.
​
"I have not violated a single rule while I've been on The Hammer." Tens rebutted while still maintaining his somewhat formal posture.
​
"While that is technically true." Atxika saw her opportunity to mess with the young man and seized it. "I didn't think we would need a rule against… how did you phrase it again?"
​
"Uh…" Tens coughed into his hand and started to blush slightly while his Elder shot him a glare. "Manual testing the artificial gravity safety systems?"
​
"Ah, yes." She replied with a coy smirk on her face. "By opening a window nearly 300 meters from the ground floor and leaping from it. Regularly."
​
"Gotta keep up good maintenance?" The young man tried to joke while the older individual both squinted their eyes and smirked at him.
​
Tens's cheeks became noticeably red as both his uncle and commanding officer stared at him for a moment with the same expression. As the young man became more and more uncomfortable with the looks, he began fidgeting slightly in place. Just when it all finally became unbearable, and he got ready to say something in his defense, both of them started cracking up laughing. Tens’s anxiety gave way to relief before confusion suddenly overtook him. As his brain slowly caught up to the fact he was being messed with, his confusion quickly shifted to mild annoyance. While he squinted his eyes at them in defiance, Atxika and Mosh's laughter slowly subsided.
​
"But I must admit, this young man has been quite the asset." Atxika’s smirk became more honest. "I can now understand why there is never a need for my fleet in this sector. If you are all as capable as the Lieutenant here, then…"
​
"Tens is one of our finest young warriors." Mosh said so convincingly that the young man took it as an honest compliment and smiled. "I am glad that he has found a productive use for his talents while being able to see the galaxy. And that is despite how much we miss having him around."
​
"I can certainly make an effort to ensure more frequent visits." The Admiral shot back. Even though her Matriarch hadn't explicitly ordered her to form closer ties with the Nishnabe, something told her they would make excellent allies.
​
"We wouldn't want you to go out of your way and waste resources like that, right Tens?" Mosh quickly replied while shooting a particular look over at Tens. Before the confused and slightly taken aback man could answer, Atxika responded for him.
​
"It would be no inconvenience at all." The Admiral had a cheerful and pleasant tone in her voice. "This sector is actually part of our assigned patrol route. However, the region is so peaceful that we tend to not need to stop here for long. In fact, I don't believe the 1st of the 3rd has received a call for aid from any of the Kyim'ayik territories in nearly a millennia."
​
"Ah, yes. About that…" The expression on the older man's face became much more serious as he lightly sighed. "I think we should have a private discussion about that."
​
"Of course." Atxika replied with a smile before quickly turning to Tens. "You are dismissed, Lieutenant."
​
"Yes, ma'am." Tens saluted his Admiral before nodding at his uncle and quickly turning to leave.
​
Both pairs of eyes followed Tens with intensity as he casually walked through the fabric hanging in the doorway to Mosh's office. Where Atxika was glad that she would finally be getting an in-person conversation with a Nishnabe Representative, Mosh had not been looking forward to this. While the fabric door was still swaying, the older man stepped over to his desk and pressed a button concealed on the underside. There was a faint hum as an almost interceptable blue light filled the door frame and caused the fabric to suddenly become stiff. The well-adorned and naturally styled room fell completely silent as all of the noise of the station outside was muted by unseen technologies. So much so that the soft sounds of Mosh taking a seat into his chair caught the Admiral’s attention and caused her to turn back towards him.
​
"Please, take a seat." The old man motioned towards the large chair on the other side of his desk. "It was made just for this occasion."
​
"Have you been expecting this meeting with me for some time?" The Admiral asked with a slightly confused tone while taking a seat in the surprisingly comfortable chair.
​
"Well, not necessarily you, specifically." Mish replied. "But we have been expecting a Qui’ztar Admiral to show up and start asking questions eventually."
​
"About what? I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean?" Atxika's expression was becoming very confused.
​
"But you've already said it!" The rebuttal was a bit more aggressive than it needed to be and the old man brought his tone down after seeing how taken aback the woman was by his remark. In a much more polite voice he continued, "This sector is peaceful and your fleet has not received a call from the Kyim'ayik for nearly a millennia. Surely, that has cut into your profits. And your government has finally taken notice."
​
"Oh!" The woman exclaimed and while allowing her expression to become much more relaxed. "Oh, no, no, no. We aren't concerned about that. The galaxy is a big place and has many problems. One species maintaining a relatively peaceful territory simply allows us to concentrate resources where they are needed most."
​
"So, your Matriarch didn't send you here to see who was taking your profit?" The doubt was obvious in both the man's voice and expression. "I assumed your leaders would be quite upset by the lack of revenue from this region of space."
​
"This room is sound shielded, correct?" Atxika asked while glancing around and then shooting the man a coy smile.
​
"Of course." Mosh replied with an affirmative nod.
​
"Providing services for the Kyim'ayik was never profitable for us." Atxika admitted with a wide smile. "We performed our obligatory services for them as we would any other GCC member species. But they rarely, if ever, actually hired us for profitable missions. They've just sort of been there. If your people are providing military and security services for the Kyim'ayik, my Matriarch does not care in the slightest."
​
"Is that right?" Though there was still a hint of doubt in his voice, his expression showed that he was starting to believe the large woman. "Then, if I may ask, why have the sudden interest in us? If your Matriarch doesn't care then?..."
​
"If I'm being entirely honest…" Though the Admiral’s bioluminescent freckles weren't lighting up, she did look slightly embarrassed and she paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before explaining further. "It's more of a… personal interest. I was quite impressed by Tensebwse's performance in the qualifications."
​
"Ah, yes. I believe I remember something about that now." Mosh seemed to relax in his chair. As he leaned back further, all hints of doubt had been replaced with a curious smile. "I think I can understand your… uh... 'personal interest' in the young man."
​
"What? No, it's not that kind of interest!" This time Atxika’s freckles did light up, though just for a split second, as her translator contextualized the man's insinuation. "He is far too young for me."
​
"Too young?" The Elder laughed in a cheerful yet shocked way. "I know the boy is only 24, and it may just be my eyes failing me in my old age, but I don't see much of an age gap between you two."
​
"I will be turning 48 years old in a few months." That response was so unexpected that it pushed Mosh further back into his seat.
​
"Then I need to get my eyes checked because I would have guessed 30, maybe 35 at the oldest." The old man was in disbelief at both the woman's age and that she would admit to it. "By that age I was already bald and gray!"
​
"Excuse me?" It was Atxika’s turn to be taken aback. "How old are you now?"
​
"Oh, I'll be turning 65 this year." Mosh relaxed a bit after seeing the woman was just as shocked by the difference in aging as he was. "I've still got my golden years ahead of me. But I am certainly past my prime." He rubbed his knee while saying that last part.
​
"Fortunately, I still have at least another two full decades of my prime to look forward to." The Admiral winced slightly as she watched the old man rub his sore joint.
​
"What I wouldn't give…" All the old man could do was shake his head and laugh. However, as he let that comment linger for a moment, his mind began to wonder and went straight back to his previous concerns. "Well, if it isn't that kind of 'personal interest', what kind of interests do you have in my nephew?"
​
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"Your feathers are so beautiful." Wishwaskde gushed over the gold and tan avian that Binko had tightly wrapped in both of his right wings.
​
"Th- Thank you." Tarki meekly replied. Even though her husband had sworn she was completely safe, and everyone was giving her all the space she needed to not feel threatened, the way these Deathworlders were looking at her made her feel awkward.
​
"We have a real Kno in the Dodem now!" A far more masculine voice shouted before Tarki heard a small thud and someone else began to whisper.
​
"Hey! That could be offensive." The almost imperceptibly quiet voice chastised.
​
"What's a Kno?" She tried to stealthily ask Binko.
​
"It's a sacred and noble bird from their homeworld." He replied in a not as quiet voice. "Hey Wish, bring up some holopics on your tablet."
​
Binko squeezed a bit tighter on his wife as he felt her tense up at the approaching human. Despite how uncomfortable he knew she must have felt in that moment, he also knew it would soon pass as she became more familiar with her new family. Unlike the two Krokek subspecies, both of whom tended to have relatively small family groups, the Nishnabe utilized a clan-based system of extended relations. Rather than relying on just a few closely related individuals, the large and mutually supportive family groups these Deathworlders formed ensured multiple layers of redundancy when it came to aiding one another throughout their lives. Binko knew that once Tarki realized all of these incredibly dangerous predators loved her unconditionally, and would willingly risk their lives to protect her, she would feel right at home.
​
"Sure, just give me a second to find some good ones." Wish responded while pulling out her elaborately decorated tablet as she slowly came closer.
​
"Ooo…" Tarki's tension released slightly as her eyes fell on the bright blue gemstones, vibrant silver inlays, and overall incredibly shiny aesthetic of the device's protective cover.
​
"You like it?" Wish couldn't help but notice the golden Kroke's reaction to seeing the tablet case.
​
"It's… beautiful." The sparkle in Tarki’s bright yellow eyes made her seem like a child who was seeing the galaxy's most wonderful piece of candy for the first time.
​
"Well, in that case…" Wish immediately began prying the veneer off of her tablet. Before either avian could react, the elaborate decoration made a light popping sound while it was removed. While offering it towards Tarki, Wish flatly stated, "Here, it's yours."
​
"Wha-" Both of the avians began in unison before Tarki came to her senses. Struggling to pull her eyes from the new shiny, she put her minor wings up slightly with the palms of her claws pointing towards Wish. "Oh no, please, I can't accept that. It-" but before she could resist further, she was cut off.
​
"I insist. Consider it a late wedding gift." Wishwaskde replied with a sincere smile. "And I can always just make another one."
​
"You made this yourself?" Tarki said in disbelief as she slowly reached out to accept the gift.
​
"Yeup." The Nishnabe woman pleasantly replied as Tarki cautiously took the decoration. "I'm a micro-scale maintenance technician and my supervisor lets me use the tools in my off time for my art projects."
​
"You must be very good at your job." There was a sense of wonder in the bird's voice while she examined her gift. "This…"
​
As the bird's eyes focused to take in every last detail, she soon became lost in it all. The leather-bound, polymer-backed rectangle featured a highly decorated circle of braided silver cording which was used to bind and inlay 13 blue, circular gemstones of varying size. The twisted silver also extended into and split the circle into four parts. Each quadrant was dyed a different color and featured a variety of intricate silver patterns. Peering deeper, Tarki realized the patterns formed fractal-like images of animals inside of plants inside of animals as far as her incredibly sharp eyes could peer. Upon seeing these sub-millimeter scale details, a thought crossed the avian's mind and she found a memory of something similar that she saw in the Ko Ko Royal Dynasty's History Museum.
​
As if suddenly possessed, Tarki tore into the satchel-like purse she had been wearing and started to search for something very specific. While Binko and Wish tilted their heads in almost perfect unison while curiously examining the seemingly frantic woman, she just kept searching. Just before Binko was about to ask what it was she was looking for, Tarki pulled out a small crystal mounted into a larger, gold-plated setting and necklace chain. Though her husband tilted his head further in confusion, the other woman's eyes shot open with recognition. As Tarki held her treasure up to light to let it glisten, her forgetful husband only had vague memories of the object.
​
"Isn't that the necklace your Queen gave you to honor our marriage, my love?" Though he knew the event was significant to her, Binko didn't know the purpose of the item.
​
"It isn't just a necklace, my dear." Tarki chided at Binko while shooting him a harsh look.
​
"It's a musical instrument." Wish explained while giving the man the same look before turning back toward the woman with a smile. "It plays to the right."
​
Taking the necklace in her two smaller claws, Tarki pinched the end of the setting and twisted it to activate the hidden power source. While carefully holding the rectangular object firmly in her two larger claws, she slowly lowered the crystal towards the gemstone at the top of the circle. Binko's especially sensitive ears were able to pick up on the slight hum emanating from both the objects as his wife held the crystal just a few millimeters from topmost jewel. As she slowly and methodically moved the crystal around the ring, the hum grew into an audible musical note. The magnetic field created by the now charged crystal caused a current to flow through the thin silver cords and forced the stones to vibrate at audible frequencies. On the eighth pass of the necklace over the humming stones, the sound had grown to the volume of a softly played piano.
​
Finding this volume to be appropriate, Tarki began slowly and precisely spiraling the crystal towards the center of the circle. The deliberate speed with which she moved the magnetic inducer around the conductive grid created a steady rhythm in the vibrating stones. As the crystal moved, the hum changed in pitch and tone to create each individual note of a building symphony. Tarki could feel in her heart and soul as the song began to weave together a story of pain and loss, of being stolen from one's home and left in the dark, before the tune suddenly grew brighter and brighter. As the subtle interplay of hardly perceptible notes built into harmonies so magnificent she was having trouble controlling herself, Tarki felt the music fill the air around her with love and hope for the future. As the spiral reached nearer and nearer to the center of the circle, the bliss only intensified until it seemed to fade into a loop as the crystal finally came to halt at the center.
​
"Haven't finished that song yet?" Tens's voice cut in as the final hums of the stones began to fade.
​
"Nope." Wish replied flatly while turning around to greet Tens as he approached. "And I hope I never do. It's the song of our people, you fucking guy."
​
"It is truly beautiful." Tarki had to slide her nictitating membrane a few times to whisk away the moisture that had accumulated while playing the song.
​
"Enough to make your mom jealous." Binko chimed in with his poor attempt at a joke.
​
"By the sky, why did you have to bring up that woman? Especially when I was having such a good time." Tarki's tone suddenly became harsh at the mention of her mother. She even turned her head away from her lover and shifted herself to be slightly further from him while still wrapped in his wings.
​
"I am so sorry, my love." Binko used his most apologetic tone while trying to to nustle into his wife. Though she didn't nustle him back, she didn't resist him either. "I promise I'll never do it again."
​
"Um…" Wish murmured while shifting her gaze between the birds for a moment and then looking toward Tens with a confused expression.
​
"She didn't approve of their marriage." Tens tried to quietly inform her clanmate.
​
"That wretched fucking witch has always tried to control my life!" Tarki blurted out and cursed for the first time in a long time after overhearing Tens. "She refuses to accept the fact that I fell in love with Xi Xi. She even tried to appeal to the Queen to have our union declared illegal and my love charged as a kidnapper!"
​
"That bitch!" Wish had the same rage in her eyes that Tarki felt in her soul. "If she can't accept others for who they love, she isn't welcome here."
​
"And what did your Queen do, my sweet?" Binko asked in his most loving voice while still nuzzling into his wife's neck. At that question, Tarki seemed to relax a bit, and the avian equivalent of a scowl faded from her face.
​
"Not only did my gracious and compassionate Queen give us her full blessing and this priceless heirloom as a gift." The golden bird's voice grew almost reverential as she finally returned her husband's nustling. "She also made a binding declaration that all Krokek, regardless of subspecies or noble status, are free to love and marry whomever they choose. And it would be considered a crime to discriminate against a Kroke simply because they married outside of their social status or subspecies."
​
"I think I'd like her." Wish's voice and expression changed to match her new clanmate's now blissful tone.
​
"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the idea of royalty, but…" Tens added in a way that implied he held a high opinion of the person in question. "Queen Eurkitchi really does seem like a good person."
​
"Her family has been working for the past few generations to heal the divides between the Xi Xi Free States and the Ko Ko Royal Dynasty." Tarki explained further as she knew neither Binko nor Tens knew about Kroke politics. "And they have received vast public support because of that. Queen Eurkitchi's heart truly is as golden as her feathers."
​
"Speaking of gold feathers, before I forget…" Wish held her tablet out flat with the screen facing up and pinching the center while pulling up. As she did so, a highly detailed holographic representation of a Golden Eagle emerged from the screen and began to delicately float above it. "This is a kno. Or, this is what our archives say a kno looks like. I've never actually seen one to know for sure."
​
As the hologram became animated in order to show the flapping pattern of the two-winged bird, Tarki was once again entranced by what Wish was showing her. Learning in a bit to get a closer look while still remaining nuzzled up to her husband, she took in every detail she could. Though the vague silhouette of a human being projected off to the side showed her that the bird would have been much shorter than she was, its wingspan was nearly 2.4 meters. While her major wings had an additional meter in span, her minor wings were only slightly longer. Judging by the shape of wings, intensity of the beak, and length of the talons, this creature would be considered a fearsome predator on any world, including her own. Despite the minor anatomical differences, and the glaring lack of a second pair of wings, Tarki couldn't help but be in awe at the similarities between Ko Ko Krokek and this completely unrelated avian.
​
"Isn't convergent evolution fascinating, my love?" Binko asked his partner in an endearing tone.
​
"It is a magnificent creature." Tarki had a genuinely impressed tone to her voice. "Quite beautiful feathers patterns."
​
"Not as beautiful as yours, my love." The deep purple avian lightly pecked his beak against his wife's to give a kiss.
​
"Aaahhh." Both Tens and Wish cooed in unison at the display of affection before Wish commented. "You two are just the cutest! I can't wait to see you wearing some of the gifts the Aunties got for you!"
​
"Gifts?" The pair of love birds responded in perfect unison.
​
"Oh, yeah! How could you miss the giant pile in your nest, Binko?" The Nishnabe woman had a look of disbelief plastered across.
​
"Your nest?" Tarki's confusion intensified as pulled away slightly from her husband to give him a glare.
​
"Yeah… I'm sure that I've told you that I own a home here." Binko's expression mirrored his wife's confusion before quickly turning to Wish to explain. "We spent the night at goko's. We haven't actually been back to my nest yet."
​
"Wait, what kind of nest are we talking about?" The gold avian inquired further, her disbelief still obvious.
​
"It's a standard 200 square meter housing space at 140m level overlooking the lake." Her husband's answer caused Tarki's eyes to grow wide with shock. Unable to control himself, he had to crack a joke. "Where did you think that 25 percent of all my paychecks went? I pitch in for the community and they help take care of me and my needs."
​
There was a moment of pause as Tarki processed what she had just heard. As the gears of recognition started to turn in her head, her wide-eyed, shocked expression became even more intense. For a moment, it nearly looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. As the full implications of what her husband just said fully settled on her, she turned to the two Nishnabe who were now sporting slightly confused expressions. Without any consideration for her volume, and not even really thinking about what was about to come out of her beak, Tarki shouted what was on her mind.
​
"You got a Xi Xi to voluntarily pay taxes? How?"

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon Legendary Hero Edition
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Two Point Hospital
Chenso Club
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition
BIOMUTANT
Jurassic World Evolution 2
Golden Light
Hero's Hour
Monster Crown
Rogue Lords
Call of the Sea
Trek to Yomi
Shadow Warrior 3
OlliOlli World Rad Edition (EU)
Encased
Grow: Song of the Evertree
Conan Chop Chop
Hokko Life
The Serpent Rogue
BATTLETECH MERCENARY COLLECTION
BATTLETECH Shadow Hawk Pack
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
Knights of Pen and Paper - Haunted Fall
KNIGHTS OF PEN AND PAPER 2 - DELUXIEST EDITION
Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
Deathloop
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
F1 2019 Anniversary Edition
Valkryia Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
Mafia Definitive Edition
Mordhau
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED ™
GAS STATION SIMULATOR
IN SOUND MIND
MIND SCANNERS
EMILY IS AWAY <3
OMNO
ATOM RPG Trudograd
Banners of Ruin
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Legend of Keepers
Yes, Your Grace
Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries
Endzone - A World Apart
60 Parsecs
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
PGA 2K21
Bioshock Collection
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Collector's Edition
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
CRUSADER KINGS III
JUST CAUSE 4: COMPLETE EDITION
Plague tale
Gas station simulator
Mind scanners
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DEADLOCK SEASON ONE
Monster Hunter World
Gamedec
Command & Conquer Remastered (Origin)
Surviving The Aftermath
Genesis Noir
Dirt Rally 2.0

Stand With Ukraine Charity Bundle
Gang Beasts
Tinkertown
Cloud Gardens
Blightbound
Stick Fight: The Game
Railway Empire
Mad Experiments: Escape Room
ibb & obb Double Pack
The Falconeer
Truberbrook
At Eve's Wake
Interrogation: You will be deceived
Hoplegs
Cannibal Cuisine
Necronator: Dead Wrong
Awesomenauts All Nauts pack
1993 Space Machine
8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
ChromaGun
Baby Dino Adventures
Click and Slay
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Cosmonautica
Crash Drive 2
Dimension Drive
The Way
Explosionade
Gelly Break Deluxe
Guppy
Journey For Elysium
Last Resort Island
Lumini
Marooners
Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
Pizza Connection 3
Pressure Overdrive
Renowned Explorers: International Society
Tales of the Tiny Planet
TaniNani
THE CORRIDOR
AWAKE - Definitive Edition
Treasure Temples
Shu
Combat Tested
Unexplored
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
Circles

Other Games
AVICII Invector: Encore Edition
10 Second Ninja X
The Indie Mixtape
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
Heroes of Hammerwatch
Monster Slayers - Complete Edition
My Big Sister
Red Ronin
Heal
Cat Lady - The Card Game
Undungeon
Tangledeep
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Styx: Master of Shadows
Squids Odyssey
Pendula Swing - The Complete Journey
Mists of Noyah
King's Bounty: Crossworlds
Jotun: Valhalla Edition
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 1
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
Undead Horde
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
Ghost 1.0
Stirring Abyss
Scarlet Tower
Blood And Zombies
One More Island
Doorways: Prelude / Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh
Slain: Back from Hell
Lucius/Lucius 2/Lucius 3/Lucius Demake
Aragami
Deliver Us The Moon
Anuchard
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Darkwood
Intravenous
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy
Interstellar Space: Genesis
Survive the Nights
Blasphemous
Unto The End
NUTS
Cat Quest
Cosmic Star Heroine
Degrees of Separation
Pure Farming 2018
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
SUPER CHICKEN JUMPER
Syberia/Syberia II/Syberia 3
The Innsmouth Case
Tinytopia
Sniper ghost warrior contracts
Trine 4
Risen 3
Shadowgate
How to Survive
FORCED
Psychonauts
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
Sniper Elite 3 + Season Pass DLC
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 - Season Pass Edition
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES
Strange Brigade Deluxe Edition
Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3™
Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe Edition
Amnesia: Rebirth
PGA 2k21
Jurassic World Evolution
Darksiders Genesis
Endless Space® 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VI : PLATINUM EDITION
F1 2020
Titan Quest
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Witch It
BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience
Mighty Switch Force! Collection
EVERSPACE
Gone Home + Original Soundtrack
The WB Batman Collection
Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition
Beholder
Beholder 2
We Were Here Together
Kyle is Famous: Complete Edition
GRIP: Combat Racing *-GRIP: Combat Racing - Cygon Garage Kit *-GRIP: Combat Racing - Nyvoss Garage Kit *GRIP: Combat Racing - Terra Garage Kit *GRIP: Combat Racing - Vintek Garage Kit
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
Miscreated
Second Extinction
Survive or Die
Breathedge
Dead in Vinland
Die Young
Empyrion - Galactic Survival
How to Survive 2
The Wild Eight
One Finger Death Punch 2
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
Slap City
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
Layers of Fear: Masterpiece Edition
Civilization: Beyond Earth – The Collection
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
Primal Carnage: Extinction
Due Process
SimpleRockets 2
Killing Floor 2
For the King
For The King: Lost Civilization Adventure Pack
Pro Cycling Manager 2020
Tour de France 2020
Infectonator 3: Apocalypse
Warhammer: Chaosbane
Project Highrise
LAST OASIS
The Beast Inside
Terminus: Zombie Survivors
Crown Trick
Discolored
Everhood
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands
Nomad Survival
Sparklite
The Ramp
Valfaris
Dusk Diver
Neverinth
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Zengeon
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Unmemory
Nigate Tale
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
Liberated
Neversong
Nine Parchments
The Walking Dead
Secret Government
Monsters' Den: Godfall
Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
Learn Japanese To Survive! Hiragana Battle
Learn Japanese To Survive! Kanji Combat
Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED]
THIS WAR OF MINE: COMPLETE EDITION
Cats in Time
Afterparty
Battlecruisers
Astronarch
Save Room - Organization Puzzle
PlataGO! Super Platform Game Maker
Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
Warhammer vermintide collector's edition
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Tank Mechanic Simulator
The Uncertain: Light At The End
INSOMNIA: The Ark
Darkside Detective
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
GIGA WRECKER
Panty Party
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
Tannenberg
Golf It!
Heroes of Hammerwatch
The Battle of Polytopia *DLC1. Cymanti Tribe *DLC2. ∑∫ỹriȱŋ Tribe *DLC3. Aquarion Tribe *DLC4. Polaris Tribe
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
Lornsword Winter Chronicle
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
N++ (NPLUSPLUS)
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Virgo Versus The Zodiac
They Bleed Pixels
Maize
Smile For Me
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
A Hole New World
Sumoman
Shape of the World
Evan's Remains
Ministry of Broadcast
She Sees Red - Interactive Movie
A Long Way Down
Depraved
Helheim Hassle
Neurodeck : Psychological Deckbuilder
Tropico 5 - Complete Collection
Escapists 2
Worms Rumble *Worms Rumble - New Challengers Pack *Worms Rumble - Legends Pack *Worms Rumble - Armageddon Weapon Skin Pack *Worms Rumble - Captain & Shark Double Pack
John Wick Hex
Hiveswap friendsim
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
Turmoil
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels
Rogue Stormers
Torchlight
Fictorum
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
Moon Hunters
No Time to Relax
Overpass
Blood Bowl 2
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
Conarium
Brawlout
F1 RACE STARS Complete Edition Include DLC
Killing Room
Tenta Shooter / The 触シュー
Everreach: Project Eden
Railway Empire
Looterkings
Headsnatchers
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
AIdol
Livelock
The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
F1 2018
Tacoma
Hard West - Collector's Edition
Hard West: Scars of Freedom DLC
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows
The Shrouded Isle
Joint Task Force
The World Next Door
Verdant Skies
DISTRAINT 2
Ittle Dew
Ittle Dew 2+
Oxenfree
Monstrum
Strikey Sisters
Do Not Feed the Monkeys
Counter Terrorist Agency
Cyber Ops
European Ship Simulator
Fishing Adventure
Internet Cafe Simulator
Zen Chess: Mate in One, Mate in 2 , Mate in 3 , Mate in 4 , Champion's Moves (5 games)
Transport INC
Shoppe Keep 2 - Business and Agriculture RPG Simulation
Desolate
GRIP: Combat Racing + DLC
OUTBUDDIES DX
Eidolon
Pizza Connection 3
Spartan Fist
River City Ransom: Underground
Saints Row: The Third
Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.1 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.2 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.3 DLC
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior
Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
Chaos Reborn
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Shadows: Awakening
Caveblazers
Fallback: Uprising
Mordheim: City of the Damned
WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
Mana Spark
Autonauts
Nusakana
Shift Happens
Crash Drive 3
Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Automachef
Demolish & Build 2017
Resort Boss: Golf
Out of Space
Narita Boy
Aven Colony
Alien Breed Trilogy
Tools up
Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition
Detention
Downfall
Miasmata
Overclocked: A History of Violence
Silver Chains
White Night
The Cat Lady
Syberia 3
Textorcist
GARAGE bad trip
Guts and glory
Swag and Sorcery
Fort Triumph
Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
FRAMED Collection
ROTASTIC
As Far as the Eye
Cepheus Protocol
Overruled
Ageless
Giana Sisters 2D
Prank Call
Hotshot Racing
Undead Horde
Streets of Fury EX
Rec Center Tycoon
JumpJet Rex
Hyper Knights
Vectronom
Levelhead
I am not a Monster: First Contact
Papo & Yo
Crookz the big heist
Iron Fisticle
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
Reventure
Smoke and Sacrifice
American Fugitive
The Signal From Tölva
Medieval Kingdom Wars
Rebel Galaxy
XIII - Classic
Comedy Night
Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage
FLATLAND Vol.2
The Chess Variants Club
Armada 2526 Gold Edition
Toybox Turbos
Sudden Strike Gold
Airport Madness: World Edition
King's Bounty: Warriors of the North
Planet Alcatraz
NecroVisioN: Lost Company
Star Wolves
Konung 2
Men of War
A.I.M.2 Clan Wars
Parkan 2
El Matador
Ascension to the Throne
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
The Flame in the Flood
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Bomber Crew
10 Second Ninja X
The Sacred Tears TRUE
Fred3ric
Lovecraft's Untold Stories
Path to Mnemosyne
CastleStorm
Crush Your Enemies
Semblance
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
Radio Commander
Boneless Zombie
Robot Squad Simulator 2017
Pretty Girls Panic!
Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
VVVVVV
Warhammer Space wolf
Blazing Chrome
Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
Pang Adventures
Party Hard 2
REKT! High Octane Stunts
Thief of Thieves: Season One
Trailblazers
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
Demetrios - Deluxe Edition
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath
Neversong
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game
Survivalist: Invisible Strain
We Were Here Too
Blacksad: Under the Skin
Heroes of Hammerwatch
Leisure Suit Larry 1-7
Murder by Numbers
Redout: Enhanced Edition
Rise of Industry + 2130 DLC
Ziggurat
They Bleed Pixels
Sunblaze
Noosphere
Train Valley 1+2
Door Kickers: Action Squad
Vikings - Wolves of Midgard
Vambrace: Cold Soul
The Void
The Vagrant
Republique
Nephise: Ascension
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
Knock-knock
Jewel Match Atlantis Solitaire - Collector's Edition
Healer's Quest
Fictorum
A Robot Named Fight!
Skautfold Chapters 1-4
Hero of the Kingdom: Trilogy
198X
Danger Scavenger
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
Dread X Collection
Going Under
My Lovely Daughter
Rage in Peace
Flashback
Garfield Kart
Curse: The Eye of Isis
Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
Black Moon Chronicles
Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
Red Riding Hood - Star Crossed Lovers
Chicago 1930 : The Prohibition
Sinking Island
Haegemonia: Legions of Iron
Occultus - Mediterranean Cabal
Gevaudan
Windscape
Ultra Space Battle Brawl
Through the Woods
This is the Zodiac Speaking
The Uncertain: Light At The End
The Uncertain - The Last Quiet Day
Tales
Tales of the Neon Sea
Styx: Master of Shadows
She and the Light Bearer
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
A Wolf in Autumn
The Music Machine
Jalopy
Insane 2
Clustertruck
Antigraviator
All-Star Fruit Racing
Constructor Plus
Ice Lakes
Knights of Pen & Paper 2
Victoria II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance – Band of Bastards
Kingdom Come: Deliverance – From the Ashes
Mindustry

Games
Cube Runner
Slash It Ultimate
Slash It 2
Slash It
Cybercube
Poly Island
Spin Rush
Upside Down
Neon Space
Hungry Flame
Charlie's Adventure
Neon Space 2
Duke of Alpha Centauri

VR Games
House Flipper VR
Telefrag VR
Slinger VR

Wishlist

Senju Renjiro returned to the beach. He found his clone, students and 5 Yugakure chunins waiting there. Shunso had joined the 3 Yugakure chunins along with their sleeping teammate. They had set up a couple of tents. Renjiro entered the tent of his students. He informed his students of how his fight went and they decided to wait for others to return,
Late in the afternoon, Tokuhei and the remaining two chunins returned to the beach. Renjiro asked, "What's the status of your opponents?" Tokuhei replied, "Mine managed to run away." The chunins replied, "Our opponent ran away as well. We tried searching, but couldn't find anyone."
Renjiro nodded and said, "From 13 chunins and 3 Jounins, only 2 Jounins and 1 chunin are left. And we suffered no casualties. The mission can be considered a success. The ones who escaped will not dare to return here again. And once the news spreads, other rogue ninjas also won't dare to create chaos in the Land of Hot Water."
Tokuhei asked, "Which other jounin managed to escape?" Renjiro answered, "I killed Mitsuzuka. Fumimaro managed to injure my clone and escaped."
Tokuhei breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "Good. As long as Mitsuzuka is dead, this mission can be considered a success."
Renjiro nodded and handed him a scroll. He said, "His body is inside it." Tokuhei accepted the scroll. Renjiro looked at Fujin and said, "Give him the body of the ninja you killed as well." Fujin nodded and handed the scroll to Tokuhei.
Tokuhei chatted more about the mission. He talked with his subordinates as well to understand everything that took place.
With the mission over, Team Renjiro returned to Konoha. Renjiro said, “I’ll report the mission's success to Lord Hokage. You guys can leave.”
Everyone nodded and left.
Fujin was considering what his future actions should be while heading home. As he was walking in his thoughts, he saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the right to see a man with long white hair peeking in through a hole. He looked up to see what the man was peeking into. Fujin's eyes twitched as he read the sign. It read 'Konoha Hot Springs'. The man was peeking into the Women's section of the bath.
Fujin's eyes glowed as he observed the man. His chakra was humongous! He sighed as he thought, 'Pervy Sage… What an appropriate name. A shame that he won't get that name for a few more years. Still, I wonder what he's doing here. Did he come back to report something to Hiruzen? Or did Hiruzen call him back due to the threat of the coup? His presence could make the Uchihas more cautious.'
Jiraiya sensed someone looking at him and turned around. He saw an eleven-year-old boy staring at him with glowing eyes. He thought, 'What does this kid want? I hope he doesn't interfere in my research.'
He was about to continue peeking when the boy's chakra suddenly spiked. He began making hand signs rapidly. Jiraiya panicked, 'What the hell? Since when did young brats begin having Jounin-level chakra? And why the hell is he making hand signs for the Air Bullet jutsu? Does he want to destroy the bath house?'
Jiraiya immediately flickered and appeared next to Fujin and grabbed his hands. He asked, "Calm down kiddo. What are you doing?" Fujin looked into his eyes and said, "Grandpa said that all perverts must be caught, castrated and tied to a pole to be whipped publicly to death." Jiraiya's eyes twitched. He asked, "Which crazy old man is your grandpa?" Fujin replied, "Lord Third. Now let my hands go and accept your punishment." Jiraiya's eyes twitched once again. He complained in his mind, 'How many young kids is that old man going to fool into calling him grandpa? And since when did he become so righteous? No, this doesn't sound like him at all. He is as perverted as me!'
Jiraiya let his hands go and said, "That old man is my sensei. So stop building your chakra up." Fujin looked back with deadpan eyes and said, "His students are the Legendary Sannins, not Legendary Perverts." Jiraiya laughed, "Legendary Perverts? Hahahaha!" He looked at Fujin and said, "You are lucky that you met Jiraiya the Gallant and not the other two Sannins." Fujin thought in his mind, 'No shit. One is a pedo researcher and the other is a drunk hulk.' Fujin looked at Jiraiya with surprise on his face. He said, "Are you really…"
Jiraiya smirked and said, "That's right. You are looking at the one and only." Jiraiya slammed his hand on the ground. A lot of smoke appeared and from the smoke, a toad appeared. Jiraiya jumped on the toad and moved as if he was dancing. He swirled his hair and head in a manner that he thought was cool. "I am the hermit of Mount Myoboku. The Wise and Immortal Spirit. That's right! It's I, the Toad Sage, Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannins!"
A look of awe appeared on Fujin's face. He said, "That's cool! But gramps said that even if his students were perverts, he would still chase them down with a stick in his hand!"
Hearing that, Jiraiya's leg slipped and he fell on the toad. He thought, 'The first half doesn't sound like the old man at all! But him chasing with a stick totally sounds like him!'
Jiraiya looked at Fujin and said, "What do you want, kid? You are interrupting my research." Fujin said, "If you don't want me to tell grandpa about your perverted acts, then you need to teach me what I want." Jiraiya was amused by Fujin. He asked, "Oh, and what do you want to learn?" An innocent smile formed on Fujin's face. He said, "Sage Mode." Fujin's reply shocked Jiraiya. His mouth fell open in disbelief as he heard what Fujin wanted. He forgot to swallow, and the resulting coughs rattled through his chest like a storm, leaving him gasping for air.
He took deep breaths and said, "Kid, go bother someone else. I have no time for you!" Fujin squinted his eyes and said, "You have to, or I will never let you do your research."
Jiraiya looked skeptically at Fujin and said, "Good luck catching me kiddo." He made a hand seal and both he and the toad disappeared into the smoke. Some distance away, Jiraiya appeared. He muttered, "What an annoying brat." At that instant, he saw a gorgeous lady walking next to him. His eyes immediately landed on her and a lecherous smile appeared on his face.
However, he suddenly heard, "Stop perving around and teach me, old man!" Fujin's voice wasn't soft. Everyone in the street heard him. Everyone began looking at Jiraiya with disgust. Jiraiya turned around to see Fujin standing behind him! His eyes widened. He asked, "How did you follow me?" A smirk appeared on Fujin's face as he said, "I have been taught by gramps. Do you think you can get away so easily?"
Jiraiya grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground and said, "Try following me now!" Jiraiya appeared under a tree and said, "Finally got rid of the boy!" However, he heard, "You didn't." Jiraiya looked up to see Fujin standing on a branch of that tree. Jiraiya disappeared once again! Fujin followed him.
Both appeared in various locations in the village. Fujin tracked down Jiraiya every time. Jiraiya was annoyed, 'Not only does he have a high chakra, but he is also a sensor and can flicker seamlessly! So annoying!'
Realizing that he wouldn't be able to get rid of Fujin, he transformed into a toy bear. Fuji. A few seconds later, Fujin appeared at that location. He looked at the Toy bear and frowned. He muttered softly, "That old pervert ran away! Shit, grandpa will be disappointed with me!"
Jiraiya laughed in his mind as he saw anger and disappointment appear on Fujin's face. However, soon he was terrified! Chakra gathered on Fujin's fist as he punched at the bear with full power.
Jiraiya immediately undid the transformation and moved out of the way. The punch hit the ground and left a massive hole in it! Cracks spread in the ground around it. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he saw how dangerous the punch was, 'What the fuck? Did Tsunade teach him?'
Fujin looked at Jiraiya and completely ignored the damage he had caused. He said with an innocent smile, "Oh, you are still here. I thought I lost you." Jiraiya complained in his mind, 'Shit, this brat is worse than Orochimaru and Tsunade combined!' He asked, "Why do you want to learn Sage Mode?" Fujin said, "Well, I asked grandpa to teach me Sage Mode. But he said that only you know it. So he taught me Wind Vacuum Technique instead. So I want to learn Sage mode from you." Jiraiya watched with a deadpan expression, 'You didn't answer my question. Wait, those sentences aren't even in sync with each other!'
Jiraiya sighed and said, "I can't teach you Sage Mode either. I was taught by the toads and they won't teach anyone else." Fujin expected such a reply. He quickly said, "That's fine. You can tell me how to learn Sage mode and monitor me. I'll learn it on my own." A frown formed on Jiraiya's face. He said, "Sage mode is very risky to learn." However, Fujin was adamant and kept asking him. Finally, Jiraiya gave up and agreed.
Both flickered to the Training ground. Fujin sat in a meditative position. Jiraiya said, "Try to feel natural energy around you. And absorb it and mix it with your own chakra. Once you manage to do it, I'll tell you the ratios."
Fujin nodded and began sensing. However, without any help, he had no success. Jiraiya saw Fujin try unsuccessfully and smirked, 'Suzuki Fujin. Sensei told me information about him. Orphan, hardworking, extremely talented with the sword and wind release and has very high chakra for his age. Unfortunately, it looks like he has allowed himself to be very arrogant! This should make him more humble.'
Fujin spent 6 hours trying to sense sage chakra without any success. Finally, he sighed and asked Jiraiya, "Could you give me some tips?" Jiraiya said, "I already gave you all." Fujin said, "Can you tell me anything else? Like how do you feel when you absorb natural chakra or anything else that could help me?"
Jiraiya thought for a bit and said, "Now that you say, I do feel a tingling sensation in my back whenever I activate Sage Mode." Fujin asked, "Tingling sensation?"
Jiraiya turned around and pointed at the center of his back. He said, "Over here. I concentrate my chakra and get a tingling feeling here while activating sage mode."
Fujin was lost in his thoughts on hearing that, 'Tingling feeling… Tingling feeling… Tingling feeling… It feels like I have forgotten something… something important…'
He sat in the meditative position once again and concentrated his energy on his back. Soon, he began feeling a tingling sensation on his back. He kept meditating and sending more chakra there.
Jiraiya watched Fujin with curiosity. But soon, his curiosity turned into shock! His mind couldn't form words as he sensed Fujin's chakra skyrocket!
Finally, he gathered himself, 'What the fuck is happening? How can a human have so much chakra? It is exceeding Tailed Beast chakra levels! No, it has already exceeded them! Even Nine Tailed Fox doesn't have so much chakra!'
Fujin chakra kept skyrocketing. Soon, a golden aura appeared around him. He gritted his teeth and focused. The aura caused high-speed winds around Fujin. Even Jiraiya had to move backwards. The winds spread throughout Konoha and every sensor looked towards the training ground where Jiraiya and Fujin were. The chakra was so intense that everyone was scared out of their wits.
Suddenly, Fujin yelled loudly! He let out all his energy. The golden aura around him grew. His hair turned golden! He stood up and muttered, "Right, this is what I have forgotten!"
Soon, lightning began appearing on his body. He said, "It's a good thing that I learnt lightning release." As soon as Lightning appeared on his body, his energy once again Skyrocketed! It increased by more than 10 times! His chakra spread throughout the universe.
A long long distance away from Earth, there was a settlement in space. This area was ruled by a strong clan. The members of this clan were all very pale and had white eyes. Some of them had a 3rd eye on their forehead. In this clan, an old man opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the earth. A serious look could be seen on his face. He was stunned, "What energy! This doesn't feel like anyone from my Otsutsuki clan! Who unlocked such a huge power?"
Fujin looked at Jiraiya and said, "You can increase the length of your hair, right? Can you show me how it's done?"
Jiraiya was scared shitless by Fujin's aura. He nodded and made hand signs and increased the length of his hair.
Fujin watched carefully and replicated his jutsu without making any hand signs. His hair began growing. They grew up to his waist. And his eyebrows disappeared. He said, "This is the power I want!"
His chakra grew many folds once again. He looked up in space and could sense every being in the huge space in the territory controlled by Otsutsuki!
The leader of the Otsutsuki clan, who was wondering who could have such power, suddenly shivered as he felt Fujin sensing his location.
A grin formed on Fujin's face as he said, "I will be the God of this world! No one can stop me!" He began laughing like a maniac, "Zehahahahahahaha"
A/N: Happy April Fool's Day

21st: Courtney Marit (Panama - 6th)

​
this was funny lol
rovivus:

As evidenced by my cut of her just inside the Top 100, I don’t think Courtney is anywhere near an endgame character. The show is always laughing at Courtney rather than with her, which is why I don’t buy her as a comedic character, and she comes across as way too insufferable for me to see her as a tragic character. The fact that she’s the victim of Cirie’s 3-2-1 boot is delicious, but that vote is much more about Cirie’s growth arc than Courtney’s downfall. Just a meh character for me, with some memorable moments.

DramaticGasp:

Courtney is a very fun character! She contributes greatly to the chaos and entertainment that is Casaya. Every moment she's on the screen is a great moment. Only problem is, the show doesn't give her enough screentime. Had she gotten more of a focus I think she'd be more of a lock for endgame overall.

Schroeswald:

If my lowest character in endgame is Courtney Marit I did a really good job of this. She’s hilarious and has some solid relationships and her boot is one of the greatest in post Palau survivor. It’s fun that she got here and there are certainly worse people who y’all have top 21.

supercubbiefan:

The main source of conflict on the glorious trainwreck Casaya tribe, which is in my top three for best tribe of all time. Every argument with her tribemates, from taking offense at Bobby’s selfish drinking of the wine to defending her shitty apartment, is pure gold. Oh, and Courtney being picked as the correct answers in the Touchy Subject challenge for “Who never shuts up”, “Who is the most annoying person out here” and “Who is the biggest poser” is a perfect way to describe her incredibly chaotic energy that was perfect for Casaya.

TinkerKnightForSmash:

Pretty funny, but, even coming from the world's biggest Keith fan, I don't think that's enough to elevate her this high, as she's not really the most memorable member of the Casaya trainwreck; she's no Shane, Cirie or Aras.

Theseanyg22:

I’m loving the Exile Island representation in this endgame. I’m so glad Courtney and Shane were able to make it together. Courtney is one of the best if not the best of her archetype

~
Franky494:
Courtney Marit (6th Place, Panama)
*”Forgot my guns. They’ve been dropped in a sea of forgiveness.”*
Similarly to Courtney, I will begin this writeup with forgiveness - because I will forgive my fellow rankers for (I’m assuming) placing Courtney far too low. I could stay mad - but chips on your shoulder of regret and anger weigh you down…and I’m a bird, so I gotta fly.
Really though - I think an excellent introduction to a Courtney writeup is her jury speech. It introduces everything about her and perfectly explains the type of person and player that Courtney is. Her quirks and her oddities and her eccentricities are all on full display, and she makes no attempt to hide them.
Is she the most complex character on Earth? Nah. I don’t think her arc is some masterclass in storytelling, or she’s the secret main character of Panama. That isn’t why I got her to endgame. I got her to endgame because she’s fucking hilarious, and I don’t think enough people acknowledge that to the level that she deserves. She isn’t some exaggerated personality or some OTT comedic legend - and yet she manages to quite handily be my favourite character in terms of the enjoyment I get.
Maybe that’s going to be a weak argument and leave people dissatisfied with her endgame placement - but hopefully I can provide enough examples of the insane comedic relief that Courtney brings to the season and just how her mere presence improves everything around her. Even her first confessional is jokingly remarking about how the younger women were unable to choose a spot for a shelter - with the stereotype of women being indecisive.
But her true premiere shining moment is also something that’s just…really Courtney. Courtney is a uniquely spiritual person. As her tribe stumbles across an unfortunately deceased turtle and looks confused, Courtney wants to honour the turtle as in some cultures it represents the idea of mother and goddess - and so decides to draw a heart and make a rock pattern around it, feeling like the turtle was significant. Even this initial introduction to her quirks causes some disdain from her tribemates as it was fairly over dramatic compared to the priorities that they should hold when in the game.
I think introductions are some of the most important aspects of a character. While people rarely have golden premieres - they can set up everything and when done successfully, should introduce us to the players and the type of people they are. This is especially important for a comedy character because it can easily determine whether or not they’re a facade or if they’re just an entertaining person. And Courtney never has a wavering moment after this. I never get the idea that she’s playing a character, she’s simply just a unique personality. She’s not the most likeable, and I understand that criticism, but I’ll be damned if someone tries to argue that she isn’t herself for better or for worse.
Now I don’t want to simply go episode-by-episode for this cut - however I’d be remiss to not mention Episode 2; and the irony of how Casaya forms. It’s not a random draw like most tribe swaps - but instead, we have a schoolyard pick. Casaya’s chaotic nature was formed by their own destiny’s being bonded together. In fact, Shane himself chooses Courtney which always makes me laugh. Of course he had no way to know what he was strapping himself in for - but Shane being the one to put him and Courtney together is golden. And we end up with a tribe of Aras, Bobby, Cirie, Courtneyand Shane - and later, Bruce. And also Melinda and Danielle but honestly they’re not really relevant to Courtney. Danielle didn’t really get to drag Courtney in the same way as everyone else because they were friends of sorts, while Melinda is just not that relevant. Hope she’s thriving though!
I suppose now is an appropriate time to talk about her relationships, as they’re truly what makes Courtney what she is. The reason why all these relationships become so important is because Courtney is just a miraculous person. She’s able to inspire such a level of controversy just by her existence - even in the most calm, cool and collected individuals. On Casaya, only one person probably meets this description, and while she’s not as involved in the shitting on Courtney, she’s able to get a few digs in; mainly through her reactions to how Courtney just exists in the world. And with a Cirie mention, I’d also be a fool to avoid the elephant in the room, the 3-2-1 vote. While it’s far more fitting for a Cirie writeup, I think it’s poetic that Courtney became so annoying that Cirie became the only person to take her down and prevent her seemingly inevitable FTC performance. It’s such a simple but effective story for how Courtney leaves the game that I can’t help but enjoy it.
From the goddess of Survivor to the Cod of Panama - let’s next go over Bobby, who’s shining episode is For Cod’s Sake as a whole. Easily one of the most entertaining compilations of a boot episode ever, BobDawg (and Bruce) decide that after their tribe floods and they thought they had no room in the shelter, they should drink the wine that was won on a reward. Our heroine, Courtney, confronts him about it because naturally people aren’t going to be happy, just for Bobby to state he has no bad feelings about taking Courtney’s wine, just that he took everyone else’s, which for one of the few times in the game, leaves Courtney speechless. It’s such a fun episodic rivalry that comes out of the blue and really sells the chaos of Casaya. From wild actions to petty confrontations, what other way is there to define it.
With a smaller rivalry - Aras also shines a lot.in his scenes with Courtney, as it feels like for a lot of the season, Courtney is the only person who Aras is allowed to be negative about (until his eventual Terry dislike). From Aras complaining about laziness overlayed with a confessional of Courtney doing yoga, to Courtney’s dislike of how Aras approaches vote outs - such as him telling Cirie & Melinda that they were leaving, or his attempt to get out Sally in favour of a “boys club” - it’s a surprisingly consistent part of the Panama story.
You may notice two of these people have been left out. That is because we are now approaching the final two episodes of Miss Marit’s stay in Panama, where I think going through one of the episodes makes sense for the climax of both of her favourite relationships. I’ll start with what may end up being the unintentional funniest episode in all of Survivor - Medical Emergency. Now this may be a touchy subject for some, but the best part of Courtney’s stay for me is easily that entire episode. She’s a goldmine of entertainment the entire time, and where else to begin but Touchy Subjects.
I can’t quite explain what makes it work for me - it’s definitely not *fun* to see Courtney get raked over the coals by being the answer to virtually everything negative, but I feel like it’s also not as serious as some people make it out to be. She might be hurt, but she’s laughing along and I actually think Panama’s entire challenge is fairly negative, so someone had to get it. And while Courtney might not mean harm, I definitely see why people would find her annoying to be around. I also get why someone might not enjoy watching it, but I personally found it funny to watch the trainwreck of that challenge - from Shane’s emotional reactions to others, to Aras trying to play the peacemaker.
And to make it better, Courtney shows exactly why she got those answers. As Bruce is crouched over in pain, he declines Courtney’s offer to sing a song for him. Courtney makes the charitable decision to sing regardless through his suffering as a form of comfort. This entire scene is genuinely scene, as the seriousness of Bruce’s medevac is countered by Courtney’s singing and Shane carrying the stretcher naked. Not to mention how Bruce being medevaced left Courtney & Shane together at camp, with no one else.
With Bruce’s departure, let’s talk about Courtney & Bruce, as their one-sided dislike is probably where Courtney’s lack of self awareness is most prevalent. From Courtney disagreeing with Bruce’s water filtering system immediately, to Bruce claiming that exile is better than spending time with Courtney, to everything about the rock garden, their entire relationship is so special. One of the best recurring moments is how no matter what, Courtney just can’t stay away from Bruce’s rock garden. Early on, she does yoga there even as Bruce gets openly annoyed - and to honour Bruce, the infamous “LUV” gets written in the rocks. It’s such a sweet, sentimental way to memorialise his legacy, and nothing could be more Courtney than that.
The next time we see Gitanos pot-medevac though, we see the infamous “shitty little apartment” fight. I don’t care what anyone says - this fight is GOLD. Even if you disagree with Shane and find it uncomfortable (which is very valid, just to clarify) I still think Courtney was a gem in this, as she instigates it as she laughs at Shane’s reactions when she denies her apartment's shittiness. For as little self awareness as people find Courtney to have, she’s a great instigator when she wants to be and I think she brings such a relaxed level of craziness.
And thus, that brings us to Shane. Shane and Courtney have a genuinely insane combination of relationships. From start to finish, they are on a rocky rollercoaster of a friendship. From their immediate alliance and Courtney being a big factor in trying to convince Shane to stay - to the very next episode where Shane fights Courtney and Danielle about wanting to be released from the promise of his son’s name. From initiating fights as Courtney laughs about the thinking seat, to unintentional fights about how Shane is condescending, there is always something with these two and it’s what makes Panama such a fun season.
My personal favourite scene of the dynamic duo though is a throwaway one that’s very easily missed - where Courtney and Shane are in the shelter at night, and fighting as they’re meant to be cuddling at night for warmth. It’s such a funny contrast that shows the survival element of the show, and it comes out of nowhere and that’s part of the value of it.
For a few miscellaneous moments that didn’t really fit inside the writeup, a lot of them concern her spirituality. For the firecracker of a tribe to be a spiritual person, it comes as a shock, but it provides Courtney with a lot of unique commentary. The aforementioned turtle scene is a great introduction to this, but even her general demeanor and way of talking feels quite spiritual - such as how she attempts to talk Shane out of quitting in Episode 2. Another fun moment for me is when she calls the other tribe pure evil after they exiled Bruce a second time. And the FIRE DANCING is absolutely incredible. One of the best luxury items ever, for sure. It was such a unique talent and honestly I could watch the scene of her using the fire sticks for hours. Maybe it’s a small part of Courtney in the big picture, but it’s always been a really memorable item for me. It links to her spirituality as she talks about how blessed she is with “our” fire and “our” journey together, and it just shows that Courtney really is exactly the person we saw on our TVs.
To finish this off though, let’s go back to where I began this writeup, and re-introduce her FTC, because I really think that speech is a top tier one of all time. Of course, the dropping her guns quote is legendary - but even the answers are amazing. I adore how Courtney just goads Aras and Danielle into telling her what she wants to hear, and while it might not be as iconic or groundbreaking as a speech like Snakes & Rats - I think it’s an amazing one nonetheless.
I’d also just like to quickly address the criticism that we laugh *at* Courtney, and never *with* her - and I do think that’s fair, but while Courtney wasn’t the best socially, I don’t think her edit was necessarily malicious. I think it’s easy to brush off the insight we get into who she is because she’s such a quirky personality, but we really get to know a lot about her. Of course, the comfort levels are entirely personal, but the fact that we don’t *just* get told Courtney is a joke (even if a lot of her content isn’t really told to us in a matter-of-fact way) makes me be able to view her as an entertaining character rather than one that causes discomfort.
So…yeah. That’s a wrap on my thoughts about Courtney. Maybe endgame is generous in the eyes of some people, and I fully respect that take. However, I absolutely find her to be a great TV character and pound-for-pound, I would wager money that Courtney brings the most pure entertainment. Sure, she’d probably be a nightmare to live with, but as a TV character, she was gold. She was authentic and we got to know her personality, and we got shown this through how she interacts with other people and the world around her. We don’t get *told* that Courtney is a bit obnoxious and a bit unaware of how she comes off - because the show makes it clear that’s her personality in how she interacts with people.
Franky494: 5
rovivus: 20
DramaticGasp: 19
Schroeswald: 21
supercubbiefan: 21
TinkerKnightForSmash: 19
Theseanyg22: 17
​
Average Placement: 17.429
Total Points: 122
Standard Deviation: 5.653 (9th Highest)

Here is a list of events happening in Summerville for the month of April! Feel free to add additional events in the comments, and we'll add them to the main post for visibility.

Recurring Events:

Mondays:
6:30 - 8:30pm - Main Street Writes: Open Writers Group - Main Street Reads - FREE
7:00 - 9:00pm - Pub Trivia - Trolley Pub - FREE
Tuesdays:
5:30 - 6:30pm - Chess Club - Summerville Library - FREE
6:15pm - SpokeWorks MTB/Trail Ride - 10 miles - Sawmill Ridges - FREE
7pm - Music Trivia Night - Steel City Pizza - FREE
Wednesdays:
9:30 - 10:00am - Stories on the Square - Main Street Reads - FREE
10:30 - 11:30am - Baby & Me - Summerville Library - FREE
Fridays:
10:30 - 11:30am - Family Story Hour - Summerville Library - FREE
10:30 - 2:30pm - Problems Solved Friday Sewing Sessions - People, Places, & Quilts - $25
3:30 - 4:30pm - LEGO Club - Summerville Library - FREE
5:00 - 8:00om - Food Truck Friday - Carnes Crossroads
Saturdays:
8:00am - Coastal Cyclists CVS Road Ride - ~54 miles, 20-23mph - CVS @ Bacons Bridge - FREE
8:00-1:00pm - Summerville Farmer's Market - Downtown Summerville - FREE
9:00am - SpokeWorks Social Ride - 15 miles, 15-16 mph - SpokeWorks Bicycle Shop - FREE
9:00am - SpokeWorks Intermediate Ride - 25 miles, 15-16 mph - SpokeWorks Bicycle Shop - FREE
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One Time Events:

Saturday, 4/1:
9:00-6:00pm - Flowertown Festival - Downtown Summerville
7:30pm - Summerville Orchestra: The Reformation - Summers Corner PAC - $22/adult, $2/youth
9:00pm - Stand Up Comedy - Old Trolley Theater - $15
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Sunday, 4/2:
9:00-4:00pm - Flowertown Festival - Downtown Summerville
11:00am - Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt - Stallsville United Methodist Church - FREE
12:00pm - Bunny Brunch - Knightsville United Methodist Church - FREE
1:00-4:00pm - Kid's Garden Grand Opening Party - Kids Garden Summerville - FREE
2:30-4:00pm - Parkinson's Disease Support Group- Cane Bay YMCA - FREE
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Monday, 4/3:
3:30-4:30pm - Little Bits - Ages 8-12 - Dorchester County Library - FREE
6:00-8:00pm - Summerville Women in Business Networking Group - Taco Boy - $20
7:30pm - Stand Up Comedy - Old Trolley Theater - $15
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Tuesday, 4/4:
5:00-7:00pm - Kid's Night with the Easter Bunny- East Bay Deli - FREE
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Wednesday, 4/5:
3:00-4:00pm - Green Thumbs: All About Herbs - K-5th - Dorchester County Library - FREE
4:30-6:30pm - Teen Videogame Club - Ages 12-18 - Dorchester County Library - FREE
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Thursday, 4/6:
11:00-3:00pm - Sweet Tea Secrets from the Deep Fried South Book Signing - Cracker Barrel - FREE
6:30pm - Crafting Class - Modern Ring Wreath Making - OhMy! Creative Studio - $38
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Friday, 4/7:
5:00-8:00pm - Sounds on the Square - Nexton Square - FREE
6:00-7:30pm - Farm Bingo with Goats - Flowertown Charm Mini-Farm - $15-30
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Saturday, 4/8:
9:30-11:30am - Bunny Brunch and Egg Hunt - Five Loaves Cafe - FREE
10:00-11:00am - Bethany UMC Easter Egg Hunt - Azalea Park - FREE
10:00-11:00am - Walk with a Doc - Gahagan Park - FREE
10:00-12:00pm - Easter Bunny and Easter Egg Hunt - Ashborough East - FREE
10:00-12:00pm - Sketching on the Square - Hutchinson Square - FREE
11:00am - Easter Brunch - Charleston Sports Pub - FREE
12:00-1:00pm - Easter Egg Hunt and Photos with Bunny- Ages 8-13 - Selfie Studio - $20
2:00-3:00pm - Easter Egg Hunt and Photos with Bunny- Ages 14+ - Selfie Studio - $20
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Monday, 4/10:
9:00am - Tree Protection Board Meeting - Council Chambers - FREE
10:30-2:30pm - Quilts of Valor Sit and Sew- People, Places & Quilts - FREE
5:00pm - Drum Camp - Activate Church - $75
5:30pm - Standing Committee Meeting - Council Chambers - FREE
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Tuesday, 4/11:
6:30pm - Spring Succulent Globe Workshop - Frothy Beard Off World - $31/$50
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Wednesday, 4/12:
8:00-10:00am - Wednesday Workshop - Email Marketing - Chamber of Commerce Board Room - $45/nonmember
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Thursday, 4/13:
2:00-3:00pm - Bingo for Books - Dorchester County Library - FREE
6:00pm - Summerville Town Council Meeting - Council Chambers - FREE
6:00-7:30pm - Colonial Dorchester Archeological Walk - Colonial Dorchester State Historic Park - FREE
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Friday, 4/14:
7:00-9:00pm - Sounds of the Square Concert Series - Hutchinson Square - FREE
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
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Saturday, 4/15:
12:00-3:00pm - Dorchester Paws Adoption Event - Dorchester County Library - FREE
2:30pm - Beat Beethoven Concert in the Park & 5k Nature Trail Walk/Run - Ashley River Park - $5/concert, $40/runner
7:00pm - Stand Up Comedy - Old Trolley Theater - $15
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
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Sunday, 4/16:
2:00-6:00pm - 2023 Hotrod Honeys Car Show - Stars and Strikes - FREE
2:30pm - Crafting Class - Modern Ring Wreath Making - OhMy! Creative Studio - $38
3:00pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
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Thursday, 4/20:
5:30-6:30pm - Law Talks with SC Bar: Getting Arrested - Dorchester County Library - FREE
5:30-8:30 - Third Thursday: Spring is in the Air- Hutchinson Square - FREE
6:30-7:30 - Foster Care Info Night - Church at Cane Bay - FREE
7:00pm - Cane Bay High School presents: The Sound of Music - Cane Bay High School - $12
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
​
Friday, 4/21:
11:30-1:00pm - Dorchester Children's Advocacy Center: Community Awareness Luncheon - FREE
7:30-9:00pm - Charleston Concert Band: Heroes and Villains - Summers Corner PAC - FREE
7:00pm - Cane Bay High School presents: The Sound of Music - Cane Bay High School - $12
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
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Saturday, 4/22:
7:00pm - Cane Bay High School presents: The Sound of Music - Cane Bay High School - $12
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
​
Sunday, 4/23:
3:00pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
​
Wednesday, 4/26:
8:00-10:00am - Wednesday Workshop - Phone Videography - Chamber of Commerce Board Room - $40/nonmember
5:30-6:30pm - Music Chats with Wojciech - Dorchester County Library - FREE
​
Thursday, 4/27:
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
​
Friday, 4/28:
6:00-7:30pm - Farm Bingo with Goats - Flowertown Charm Mini-Farm - $15-30
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
​
Saturday, 4/29:
4:00pm - Singers of Summerville: Broadway Blockbusters - Bethany United Methodist Church - $10
7:30pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student
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Sunday, 4/30:
3:00pm - Flowertown Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs - $25/adult, $20/student

Intro
We're working on a new MUD called Song of Avaria, using Evennia as a base code. Hopefully, the game will be opening for a public alpha nine months from now: January 2024. This is the fourth in a series of showcases to display the features of our game. In order to properly exhibit the purpose of Song of Avaria, which doesn't quite fit into the existing molds, we're going to demonstrate gameplay by focusing on the story of a character: Emmaline.
Chapter 1: CHARACTER GENERATION
Chapter 2: ARRIVAL
Chapter 3: STORY
​
Chapter 4: THE POETS' GUILD
In the last chapter, we set up a story arc for Emmaline and developed it alongside ongoing roleplay, illustrating how experience is gained in Song of Avaria, and how character progression occurs. Emmaline heard about the Poets' Guild and now plans to join them, but she anticipates that they are a haughty bunch. We want to clarify here that the game is not centered around the Poets' Guild; they are simply one organization of many. A character might prefer to join the Custom Inspectors or the Lion Guard or a merchant's organization or crafter's chapter or even start their own guild with friends. That's not even to mention that the game is entirely playable as a rogue or lone wolf. The focus of the game is for your character to live their own life, and that can take a vast range of forms.
Anyway -- Emmaline may be hopeful and naive, but she is cautious as well. She has roughly a month until her lack of funds leave her out on the street. Living on the street is something that may suit some characters, and Emmaline has certainly had to rough it during more difficult periods of her life, but she'd prefer to avoid that. Here, Emmaline is thinking that she should have a serious plan to make a good first impression on the Poets' Guild. Thoughts serve as a vehicle to display the inner life of a character: their motivations and hidden agendas as well as more benign and whimsical workings of their mind.
A view of Emmaline's inventory, showing her rather ragged clothing, and how she thinks that she needs to invest in more dignified clothes in order to make a good impression on the Poets' Guild
Emmaline goes to the bazaar to find some local garments. The Bazaar of the Nine Winds is located above the river that separates the East and West districts of the city, very close to the caravanserai. It doesn't take much exploring to find a tailor's shop, but it was raining in Omrazir the previous night, and now there are puddles in the street.
Once she gets to the tailor's shop in the bazaar, however, Emmaline has no idea what to wear. NPC tailor shops have a design book where a customer can look through the designs and available fabrics, as well as trim such as buttons and embroidery and ribbons. But the styles and garments advertised by this shop are foreign to Emmaline. She really wants to make a good impression, but doesn't understand how to spend her money. Some things, after all, are more expensive than others -- and there's no way that she can currently afford the most extravagant options...
An image showing the possible options at a tailor: different materials, patterns, and colors that one can choose for a bespoke garment. You can touch the swatches of material to see how they individually feel. Emmaline is confused about her choices, and has the idea of asking Iziro for help.
Maybe it's better not to get a bespoke garment after all. That cashmere feels awfully luxurious! Since Emmaline doesn't know that much about the local customs, she looks around for a courier outpost in order to ask her new friend Iziro's advice. In this case, there's a courier booth set up at the main gates of the bazaar.
The courier booth is painted green, with a golden kestrel that symbolizes official Omrazi messengers. Using HIRE COURIER as a command opens a dialogue to find out what sort of message you wish to send.
To hire a courier, you can use a single-line command with all the information, such as: COURIER SAY HI TO IZIRO FROM EMMALINE... or, you can just input HIRE COURIER and it will bring up a few questions leading you through a menu of dialogue that will help you to send the courier off on an errand. Surely Iziro will have an idea of the most affordable garments she can buy to make a good impression!
Completing the dialogue causes the courier to emerge from the booth, take payment, and depart with the spoke message asking Iziro about cost-effective yet decently-impressive clothing items.
You can send any item, including a letter or a package, with a courier -- as long as it is not too heavy for that courier to carry, of course. You can also send a short verbal message. At this point, Emmaline is sending Iziro a quick question, because she doesn't feel as though she has the time to write him a letter.
When you send a verbal message through a courier, if the intended recipient is not online or is in a private location, the courier will eventually return and tell you they couldn't find the person you sent them to. If you quit during that time, the courier will instead go to the local post office and have a note written to send to the recipient through the IC mail system (which we will showcase another time).
For now, though, we can see that Iziro is around by checking WHERE. Using the WHO command would also work, but it is more of a global command whereas WHERE will show only people in your locale. Emmaline's locale is Omrazir, where Iziro also can be found. Regardless, it takes a short while for a courier to make their way through the city. The delay on sending messages is roughly three minutes, so the minimum that Emmaline will need to wait for a reply is six minutes.
The output of the WHERE command can be considered information that is accessible in-character, because it will not show people who are in private locations. Anyone seen by the WHERE command could be witnessed by VNPCs. If you're with another person, however, you shouldn't roleplay by saying, "I checked WHERE and Iziro is at the Plaza of the People" -- because that is an out-of-character mechanic. You can, however, roleplay something like asking a passing merchant if they've seen any street poet with sorrel hair, and learning that someone like that was seen heading towards the Plaza of the People. Obviously, you can integrate this knowledge into your roleplay however you please, so long as your method is reasonable and immersive.
The image shows the output of the WHERE command, showing other characters at specific public locations in Omrazir. The courier returns with a spoken message from Iziro, saying that Emmaline could get a cotton or linen abaya or sirwaal and a kaftan. Emmaline replies to the courier with polite gratitude for the service and moves on.
The courier returned to Emmaline with a reply from Iziro! That's very helpful. Now Emmaline will return to buy a garment for herself. If couriers were free, she might send back her thanks to Iziro immediately -- but as it is, they cost a small amount, so she'll talk to him about it later instead, face-to-face. The courier is of course an NPC and will not typically respond to roleplay, but it's nice to emote a bit all the same: after all, the courier might end up getting animated by an admin to respond, and update their affection towards you, and then you'd get a discount! Also, it makes your roleplay log look like a nicer story. Acting immersively is always a plus.
Emmaline checks the rack of already-sewn garments at the tailor's store. This image shows the use of appraise and restock command, as well as looking at the item in the rack. In the end, Emmaline purchases a kaftan and sirwaal.
At stores, items for sale tend to be on shelves, tables, display cases, racks, and so on. In order to get more information about an item for sale, you can look at it and also use the APPRAISE command. If you don't like what's in stock currently, you can ask the shopkeep to RESTOCK, in order to check if there's anything in the shop storage that could be cycled out for you.
Other commands that might be useful in a shop are LIST or WARES, which will give you an abstract summary of everything for sale. In order to quickly look at how much money you have, you can check WEALTH -- and earlier, Emmaline withdrew all her coins from the bank so that she would have enough for this fashionable endeavor. She's wearing some rather old-looking sandals, and wonders if she has enough money to buy new slippers, too... but alas, she does not.
The image shows using LIST and WEALTH commands, as well as how the bazaar building's construction is incorporated in the weather message.
All right, now we have the clothes. And we can see that it's started to rain a little... a warm rain, typical of early springtime in Omrazir. Unbothered, Emmaline goes back to the Night Winds Caravanserai to change. Removing and wearing clothes is pretty simple -- clothes cover body parts, along with any wounds or scars on those parts. You can rearrange clothes to cover or to reveal other clothes or parts, and there are some clothing items that are automatically covered by others. We hope to have made this relatively intuitive and simple, while maintaining a wide range of realistic possibilities in terms of garment use. You can also signify how you want to wear an item when putting it on -- for example WEAR HAT TILTED AT A JAUNTY ANGLE, or WEAR SHIRT WITH ITS SLEEVES ROLLED UP. This will then show up just as you typed it when people look at you.
Note that we have designed the game with various holding locations on your person -- hands, teeth, etc. -- such that you do not have a free-floating inventory. But moving and managing your items is made easier by the fact that you can hold multiple objects in one hand, as long as they do not exceed ten pounds all together. While removing her old clothes, Emmaline ends up holding them all over an arm.
Emmaliine takes off her old clothes and puts on new ones.
When finished getting dressed, Emmaline puts her old clothes on the bed. Unfortunately, when she steps back out the door from her room, she sees that the warm rain has abruptly turned into a pouring gale! She ducks back in to grab her cloak.
This image shows how the RAISE HOOD command can be used.
While raising the hood of her cloak will protect Emmaline from the rain, it will also conceal her identity: she will now appear to others as a slight figure wearing a tawny wolf pelt cloak. But that's all right. In a characteristically hopeful manner, Emmaline hopes the storm will stop. Battling through difficult weather takes more endurance, but unless someone is carrying a heavy load and moving quickly, the effects of endurance are fairly negligible. We made this design choice in order to facilitate movement of characters in the world, for the sake of pursuing roleplay. While often the realism of carrying a load and needing to rest can generate spontaneous roleplay on its own, in normal cases it should be rather easy to move around.
Since Emmaline has her waterproof cloak, she's able to keep both her new clothes and herself from getting too wet in the storm. An umbrella would also do the job, but she doesn't have one. She's determined to get to the Poets' Guild, though! Full disclosure: this storm was unplanned on our part for the showcase. However, weather is an important part of Avaria, and it was apparently just as determined as Emmaline to show its face here.
Emmaline's movement messages are now preceded by \"battling through the shrieking gale\"! We can see by looking at her garments that her cloak is getting wet, but her new kaftan is staying dry. The downpour lessens as she walks on her way, remembering where Iziro told her that the Poets' Guild is located.
Thankfully, the storm has lessened a bit already. REMEMBER is a command that works just like THINK and FEEL. Iziro told Emmaline where the Poets' Guild building was located before, and she remembers. The Via Magna and Via Maris cross each other in the center of Omrazir, so these large streets are great landmarks to reference. Other streets and neighborhoods intertwine chaotically through the city's terraces, making an enchanting, mysterious, as well as potentially-frustrating (and dangerous in some neighborhoods) place to get lost. There are many small interactive touches in the world, along with unique atmosphere echoes and hidden passages that may be discovered. We want to make a game that rewards exploration and immersion, where you can step into your imagination and simply exist as a character for a while. Many things in the environment are dependent on time, and also on the weather, as can be seen in this sensory description that happens only during the rain.
A sensory description on the street is related to the current weather.
Eventually, Emmaline arrives at Poets' Place: a distinguished plaza in front of the Poets' Guild. When she tries to enter the building itself, she finds her way barred by an organizational guard. These are NPCS who will block non-members of an organization, or members of too low a rank, from passing through certain entrances. She waits around, a little despondent, hoping to see someone of note. You can change the way you appear in the room with the POSE command, and here we will pose Emmaline waiting. This seems like typical behavior at this location, judging by the room description. As a side note: using thinks and feels can often alert staff storytellers to the fact that a PC is waiting somewhere, unable to continue their story easily without some help.
An image showing Emmaline's arrival at the Poets' Place, and what she does and sees there. A kingfisher sighting seems to be a cause for joy among a crowd of revelers.
April 1st in the game world is Pavana 1st, the Avarian New Year. Eventually, we want to have scheduled events for lore holidays, but for now some staff members send a few special echoes to Emmaline's location, depicting the celebrations of surrounding VNPCS. And then, a resplendently-dressed poet walks out! This is an animated NPC. In the beginning, when the game first opens, it is likely that all high-ranking members of various organizations will be NPCs. They will always be accessible in game, and roaming around their turf with their specific set routine, until a staff member animates them. These NPCs are intended to facilitate stories for players, and eventually player characters will take more high-ranking roles. The presence of organizational NPCs, however, should hopefully alleviate the stress of in-game player leadership and give PC leaders a staff-based support structure to lean on if they wish.
(Here is a text version of the roleplay log for anyone who finds the images difficult to read, or who wants to see the full version that doesn't show in just image snips.)
The poet who has emerged from the edifice is Arezou Rufsahni, and seems to be a famous and celebrated figure. Emmaline catches his attention, and he asks her to walk with him. She falls in, looking at him with a grateful nod.
As it happens, this poet appears to be one of the most famous figures in the Poets' Guild. He is on his way to somewhere, and invites Emmaline to join him so that they can speak. She follows, and they walk through the city while conversing. Adding parentheses when you look at someone will produce an emote, while otherwise there is no notification to anyone else that you used the LOOK command. Sometimes, after all, you may be checking what someone looks like for OOC reasons.
Following works in a fairly simple manner. You FOLLOW someone and then whenever they move, you move as well (if you are able to). It is possible to follow in tandem, so that if either person moves, the other moves with them -- but if you get separated, all following ends. If you FOLLOW someone, then it will be easy for them to lose you, but if you CHASE someone, it's more difficult for them to lose you and it requires a skill check. You can stop following by using FOLLOW ME or FOLLOW STOP.
Some exits have delayed traversal times, due to either the method used to move (such as climbing or crawling) or to the nature of the specific location, such as moving along a winding alleyway. To show some subtleties of Emmaline's unfamiliarity with the area, we will use the HMOTE ("hidden" emote) command to show her looking around the markets. This is akin to a whisper in that some people may notice it, if they are close enough or sufficiently observant, but it is likely to go completely unseen. It is a good way to add nuance to a character without being dramatically obvious, and if another person is specifically WATCHing you, they will almost certainly see any hidden emotes.
Despite Emmaline being overwhelmed by an unfamiliar part of the city, Arezou Rufsahni's destination isn't far. The Thieves' Treasure is a rebelliously-artsy drinking establishment on the western side of the city (and not actually a hangout for thieves). Here, it appears that Arezou is meeting a fellow poet. Emmaline introduces herself. Here, you can see the use of INTRODUCE, which is most often used to get local NPCs to recognize you, but also displays an emote that can be useful for players as well.
Emmaline meets Djafira, a prickly protege of Arezou Rufsahni. This image shows the use of HMOTE in terms of giving subtler emotes, as well as the INTRODUCE command that presents a quick and basic method of introducing yourself accurately.
Emmaline reveals her intention to join the Poets' Guild. Djafira is scornful, and barely tries to hide it, but Arezou continues to be intrigued by Emmaline and suggests that she return in one month and audition with a performance in flawless Sirdabi. This is obviously a big challenge for Emmaline, but she accepts.
Emmaline accepts the opportunity from Arezou Rufsahni, and establishes the beginning of a relationship with both Djafira and the elderly poet.
Back at the caravanserai, Emmaline starts to plan a performance. Different professions have their own mechanics; Avaria is not just a game for bards, of course. There are some mechanics that we are unable to explore with Emmaline, such as hunting, sailing, tinkering, mining, animal husbandry, and so on. The game world is vast enough in both lore and mechanics that one character's niche, while perhaps at times overlapping with another's, cannot realistically encompass everything. One professional mechanic that we can demonstrate through Emmaline's story, however, is performance.
There are many performing-type skills (such as acrobatics, dissembling, singing, dance, and the playing of various instruments) that will grant performance abilities. These abilities will allow you to review your repertoire of performances and plan new ones, and then to rehearse, perform, and publicize your performances.
When we check Emmaline's repertoire, using the REPERTOIRE command, we can see that she has no specifically planned and rehearsed performances. Of course, that doesn't mean that she hasn't been performing all this time. Free-form performing through emotes alone is encouraged and welcome, so we'll just say that Emmaline has been winging it.
The snip shows checking one's repertoire, and beginning to plan a new performance with the PLAN PERFORMANCE command.
Now, however, she wants to plan a performance. She decides to compose a song in honor of Mira, her guardian and mentor back in Merouen, because while in Ruvera she tried to avoid singing directly about the hedge witch for safety's sake, she feels more secure doing so in Omrazir where such things seem to be more acceptable. Planning a performance entails assigning the main skill that would be used (in this case "vocals"), as well as categorizing the performance with a genre (in this case, we will leave it as "drama"), naming the performance (we named it simply "Mira"), and lining up a series of actions that would be taken in order to perform.
Emmaline plans a few actions of her performance and wraps up the planning, adding the draft to her repertoire in order to try rehearsing what she has so far.
Now we're lining up actions. These are in the forms of commands, so if we want to make sure we're speaking a certain language, we'll put that in there. Using the SING or RECITE commands will allow you to insert forward slashes in order to separate lines in a stanza. These commands will be issued automatically at an evenly-paced rhythm when we start performing (until the performance is finished, or we stop, or are otherwise interrupted). So, we shouldn't make any of these emotes overly long, and if we want a thoughtful pause, we can insert one on its own. Once we're done planning, we can complete the performance, and it now becomes a part of Emmaline's repertoire.
The number of times a performance has been practiced will add to its final score up to a limited bonus, which will determine the reactions of vNPCs in the area. So, when planning a very important performance, it's a good idea to rehearse. After planning some of her performance, Emmaline starts to do just that...
Using the STOP command will stop a performance anytime.
Whoops, there's a knock on the door! At any time when performing or rehearsing, you can stop with the STOP command. This command works for anything that has a delayed outcome or is ongoing. Most doors have peepholes that you can look out through, so Emmaline does that now, using the PEER command. She sees Iziro outside, and then shortly hears him calling.
Emmaline converses with Iziro through the door, adding a new impression to their relationship that shows she is beginning to consider him to be a true friend.
Using shouting commands such as scream/shout/bellow/et cetera will echo your noise through the surrounding rooms, so if you don't want to do that, you can simply address a direction. Here, Emmaline will say something to the door. If someone is not positioned at that direction, they will only be able to hear a vague murmur, but since Emmaline and Iziro are standing directly on opposite sides of the door, they can hear each other easily. Further, since they have already established a relationship, new impressions can be made at any time and there is no need for the direct presence of the other.
We'll leave Emmaline to tell Iziro about her exciting news, and close this chapter in Emmaline's story. Of course, when we get a chance, we'll go ahead and develop her story arc further -- thus earning more experience, which this time we'll probably want to invest in furthering her singing skills. During this next month, Emmaline will be rigorously practicing her Sirdabi, and she will also enlist Iziro's help in learning the language through conversation. She will add more lines to her song -- planning a performance with the same name will override the old one in her repertoire. And she will adjust and rehearse her performance multiple times, growing more and more comfortable with it, until the fated moment where she will audition before the crowd at the vaunted Poets' Guild.
When the next month rolls around, we'll see Emmaline's performance and whether she will be accepted or not. Until then!

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 19%. (I'm a bot)

One of the funniest subplots in the Donald Trump Indictment Show-which centers on the hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016-involves the multiple reports that, after predicting to his followers that he would be arrested on March 21, the ex-president and his allies came to believe he was in the clear.
Trump, The Washington Post reported late Thursday, "Had grown cautiously optimistic" in recent days, after "Advisers had counseled him that a possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jurywould not come for some time-if at all." The former president, the outlet noted, was apparently so unconcerned about the prospect of being charged that he'd "Even begun joking about 'golden handcuffs,'" which is probably not something one does if one thinks there's a legitimate possibility they might be indicted, convicted, and sentenced to time in prison.
"It was a surprise to everybody," David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser, told the Post, which noted that "Some of his lawyers had been preparing to take a few days off." Following the indictment, The New York Times similarly reported that "Trump and his aides were caught off guard by the timing, believing that any action by the grand jury was still weeks away and might not occur at all." The paper of record noted that Trump had recently been "Telling nearly anyone that he was in a good mood and that he believed the case against him by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, had fallen apart."
Of course, the biggest indication that Trump indeed believed he'd outrun Bragg? His taking to Truth Social on Wednesday to write: "I HAVE GAINED SUCH RESPECT FOR THIS GRAND JURY, & PERHAPS EVEN THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM AS A WHOLE. THE GRAND JURY IS SAYING, HOLD ON, WE ARE NOT A RUBBER STAMP, WHICH MOST GRAND JURIES ARE BRANDED AS BEING, WE ARE NOT GOING TO VOTE AGAINST A PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE OR AGAINST LARGE NUMBERS OF LEGAL SCHOLARS ALL SAYING THERE IS NO CASE HERE." Sure, that could have been an unabashed attempt to sway the jurors through flattery-but, in retrospect, those very much sound like the words of a man who was extremely confident he was not going to be indicted.
"Such respect"! "The grand jury system as a whole"! "The grand jury is saying, hold on"! Do you think he still stands by these statements? If there were ever a time for the internet-ism "ROTFLMAO," it would be now.
According to the Times, on Thursday, "a large group of former Trump Organization employees was quietly cheering the latest developments via text messages."

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Trump^#1 grand^#2 jury^#3 time^#4 believe^#5
Post found in /politics, /AnythingGoesNews, /politics and /u_TightProfession.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 19%. (I'm a bot)

One of the funniest subplots in the Donald Trump Indictment Show-which centers on the hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016-involves the multiple reports that, after predicting to his followers that he would be arrested on March 21, the ex-president and his allies came to believe he was in the clear.
Trump, The Washington Post reported late Thursday, "Had grown cautiously optimistic" in recent days, after "Advisers had counseled him that a possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jurywould not come for some time-if at all." The former president, the outlet noted, was apparently so unconcerned about the prospect of being charged that he'd "Even begun joking about 'golden handcuffs,'" which is probably not something one does if one thinks there's a legitimate possibility they might be indicted, convicted, and sentenced to time in prison.
"It was a surprise to everybody," David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser, told the Post, which noted that "Some of his lawyers had been preparing to take a few days off." Following the indictment, The New York Times similarly reported that "Trump and his aides were caught off guard by the timing, believing that any action by the grand jury was still weeks away and might not occur at all." The paper of record noted that Trump had recently been "Telling nearly anyone that he was in a good mood and that he believed the case against him by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, had fallen apart."
Of course, the biggest indication that Trump indeed believed he'd outrun Bragg? His taking to Truth Social on Wednesday to write: "I HAVE GAINED SUCH RESPECT FOR THIS GRAND JURY, & PERHAPS EVEN THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM AS A WHOLE. THE GRAND JURY IS SAYING, HOLD ON, WE ARE NOT A RUBBER STAMP, WHICH MOST GRAND JURIES ARE BRANDED AS BEING, WE ARE NOT GOING TO VOTE AGAINST A PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE OR AGAINST LARGE NUMBERS OF LEGAL SCHOLARS ALL SAYING THERE IS NO CASE HERE." Sure, that could have been an unabashed attempt to sway the jurors through flattery-but, in retrospect, those very much sound like the words of a man who was extremely confident he was not going to be indicted.
"Such respect"! "The grand jury system as a whole"! "The grand jury is saying, hold on"! Do you think he still stands by these statements? If there were ever a time for the internet-ism "ROTFLMAO," it would be now.
According to the Times, on Thursday, "a large group of former Trump Organization employees was quietly cheering the latest developments via text messages."

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Trump^#1 grand^#2 jury^#3 time^#4 believe^#5
Post found in /politics, /AnythingGoesNews, /politics and /u_TightProfession.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

Greetings fellow fans of the playoff-bound Sacramento Kings! I just had a slice of leftover pizza from Majka and I know I shouted them out the other day but dang that chicken parm and penne was so good yesterday. I didn't post yesterday because the Pelicans/Nuggets game was the only one on Thursday that affected the Kings, and the impact was pretty negligible. But with another win last night, there's at least some stuff to investigate.
By the way, I don't know about any of you, but I went to G1C on Thursday night and picked my seats for a half-season plan for next year. I would have loved to do full-season but don't quite have the scratch yet. It was still pretty cool to walk around the arena at court-level. As I was walking to the lounge, I walked past this stand of four LED lights and I feel like this might actually be the beam? Anyone here know enough about lighting to say one way or the other? [EDIT: I am told this is not the beam. Thanks to rolladoob for the correction!]
https://preview.redd.it/56hiqjp4dara1.jpg?width=1930&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9068a6f9dcb263cdaec3932ea8f598870bb00069
Whether it was these lights or not, the beam shone brightly last night, bringing the Kings' magic number for clinching the division (and at least the 3 seed) down to just 1. Any Kings win or Suns loss at this point means the Kings winning the division. It's still technically possible the Kings go 0-5 and the Suns go 5-0 the rest of the way, so don't celebrate just yet, but that only happened in 4 of this morning's 10,000 simulations. The other 99.96% of the time, the Kings won the division. There's even still about a 1-in-5 chance of catching the Grizzlies and grabbing the 2 seed! And a very very long shot at the 1 seed, but that's pretty hard to imagine at this point.
To reach 50 wins, our beamers need to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way, something the 538 model thinks has almost a 2-in-3 chance of happening. It doesn't seem like the 50-win mark would have much impact on playoff positioning, but it would be a nice bit of bragging rights for a team that was widely written off, even after they started winning games.
We've also got some movement in the likely first-round match-up. California's other purple team (the one named for Minnesota's most famous topographic feature) have won 5 of 6 to move into the 7 seed. There's still a lot of room for the Clippies, Pelicans, and Wolves to end up the visiting team for the first playoff game in G1C history, but at this point there's a slightly better than even chance it's one of the two nemeses. I don't think we can take any of those teams for granted, so I'm just sort of waiting to see how it plays out. But if you had to choose between hosting the Warriors or the Lakers for a first-round series, who would it be and why?
Light the beam, and have a delightful weekend!
​
​ Table: Kings Chance of Seed (10,000 Simulations)

Seed	Chance of x Seed	Chance of At Least x Seed
1	0.7%	0.7%
2	18.1%	18.9%
3	81.1%	100.0%
4	0.0%	100.0%

​ Table: Kings Chance of Total Wins (10,000 Simulations)

Wins	Chance of x Wins	Chance of At Least x Wins
47	0.6%	100.0%
48	7.4%	99.4%
49	28.6%	92.0%
50	37.9%	63.3%
51	21.0%	25.4%
52	4.4%	4.4%

​ Table: Chance of Kings' 1st Round Opponent by Kings Seed (10,000 Simulations)

Opponent	Total	1	2	3	4
Total	100.0	0.7	18.1	81.1	0
Warriors	34.9	0.0	3.1	31.8	0
Lakers	18.3	0.1	4.1	14.2	0
Clippers	17.4	0.0	2.3	15.0	0
Pelicans	13.9	0.2	3.4	10.2	0
Timberwolves	12.8	0.1	4.6	8.1	0
Suns	1.8	0.0	0.0	1.7	0
Thunder	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.0	0
Mavericks	0.4	0.0	0.2	0.1	0
Jazz	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0

​

Are you ready for another night of thrilling NBA action? On April 1, 2023, the Miami Heat will be taking on the Dallas Mavericks at 11:30:00 PM UTC in a game that's sure to have you on the edge of your seat! The action will be heating up at the Miami-Dade Arena as these two powerhouse teams face off against each other. Who will come out on top? You'll have to tune in to find out!
The excitement continues on April 2, 2023, when the New Orleans Pelicans will be battling it out against the Los Angeles Clippers at 12:30:00 AM UTC in a game that's sure to be an unforgettable experience. The Smoothie King Center will be filled with fans as these two teams give it their all on the court. Will the Pelicans fly to victory or will the Clippers clip their wings?
Later that same day, at 5:00:00 PM UTC, the Charlotte Hornets will be taking on the Toronto Raptors in what's sure to be a game full of surprises. The Spectrum Center will be alive with energy as these two teams go head-to-head. Can the Hornets buzz their way to a win or will the Raptors swoop in and take the victory?
Don't miss out on all the action as these teams battle it out for supremacy in the NBA. So mark your calendars, set your reminders, and get ready to witness some of the best basketball you've ever seen!
​
WATCH AND EARN REWARDS

Last week (3/23/2023-3/25/2023) was the inaugural Juanita Brooks Utah History Conference held at Utah Tech University. What ensued was a celebration of Juanita Brooks’ legacy, a variety of presentations, and a guided tour (Barbara Jones Brown & Richard Turley) of Mountain Meadows. Naturally, given the conference’s name-sake, the theme of standing for truth over power remained steady. Two talks stood out to me related to this topic. The talks were given by Greg Prince (DOM and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, Gay Rights and the Mormon Church, Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History, etc.) and Paul Reeve (Century of Black Mormons, Religion of a Different Color, Let’s Talk About Race and the Priesthood, etc), both highly respected in their respective fields of study. These talks particularly touched me because they penetrated a vein that has significantly bothered me and has repeatedly disrupted my sleep: The institutional suppression of truth.
Greg Prince - Subsequent talk on Lester Bush following the presentation of the inaugural Juanita Brooks Award.(if timestamp doesn't work ff to 40m 25s)
To the surprise of those attending, during the Friday morning session of the conference, Greg Prince presented the inaugural Juanita Brooks Award to Lester Bush. Lester was not able to attend, but his wife was there to accept the award. Following the presentation, Greg Prince gave a moving talk dedicated to his best friend, Lester Bush. In 1973 Lester published the groundbreaking Dialogue article MORMONISM'S NEGRO DOCTRINE: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW. This article became the foundation of what would become the “new” Mormon history regarding race and the priesthood/temple ban. Prince got to know Bush shortly after the publication of this monumental article. What followed the publication of Bush’s article was informal discipline that took many forms. Prince got to witness it all first-hand.
At a time when Spencer Kimball reorganized the office of Seventy, Bush was kept from ordination to the office of High Priest with no explanation while all his peers had their expected upgrade. After his success disrupting the Leonard Arrington led History Division of the Church, senior apostle Mark Peterson sought after other “intellectuals”. Lester Bush was one of those targeted. Despite direct and harsh calls from Peterson, Bush’s Stake President (Bill Marriott) refused to follow through with disciplinary action because he knew it was wrong to do so. Lester was a pariah among his own. The result of decades of social ostracization and “soft” discipline (described by one anonymous GA as “the worst'') was Bush’s inactivity in the Church (~30 years).
In 2009, Brent Rushforth (Director of Dialogue when Bush’s 1973 article was published) shared with Prince and Bush that he had recently inquired of Jordan Kimball (grandson of Spencer) and Rebecca Kimball (wife of Jordan) regarding whether Lester’s 1973 article had any impact on Spencer Kimball and the 1978 “revelation”. Jordan assuredly told Brent that they need not wonder any longer. Later, when Prince was able to get Rebecca on the record, she explained that upon Spencer Kimball’s death, son Ed Kimball came across Bush’s 1973 Dialogue article marked up heavily in Kimball's personal home study. None of the other Dialogue articles in Kimball’s study were marked up in his distinctive red pencil. Vindication was on the horizon.
In 2014 Prince emailed his good friend Jeffrey R. Holland to see if there was any way Bush’s work could further be validated by the Church. Shortly after, Bush was invited to give the 2015 Sterling M. McMurrin Lecture on Religion & Culture at the University ot Utah. Lester got to meet Steven Snow (then Church Historian, 2012-2018) the same day, as well as Marlin Jensen (the former Church Historian, 2005-2012). Both validated Lester and his monumental work. In addition, Lester and Darius Gray got to meet, in person, for the first time. The following morning, Lester got further reassurance from Elder Holland that Lester was an exceptional person and that his work was valuable to Mormon history.
Paul Reeve - "Riding Herd with Juanita Brooks: A View of Latter-day Saint History from the Ragged Edge" (if timestamp doesn't work ff to 2h 46m 3s)
The final talk of the Friday morning session was given by Paul Reeve, titled, "Riding Herd with Juanita Brooks: A View of Latter-day Saint History from the Ragged Edge". The imagery outlined in his talk was outstanding. He described Brooks’ upbringing on the outskirts of “Dixie” (Bunkerville Nevada). The ultimate edge of the edge of Deseret. Not only was her residence on the edge, but so was her approach to the gospel and her Church. Those around Juanita wondered whether she would talk/think her way out of the Church as she questioned traditional narratives and biblical fundamentalism. After she published her groundbreaking book The Mountain Meadows Massacre (1950) Juanita wondered whether she would be disciplined by her male Church leaders. She decided that if she would not be allowed to retain her membership and write objective history, then she would choose truth and forfeit her membership. This stalwart resolve served as the foundation of what would become the “new” Mormon history. Honesty became more important than perpetuating dogma. As a result of writing honest Mormon history, Juanita forced the Mormon Church to confront its past and decide what they were going to do with their future. The Church, unfortunately, rejected truth and transparency in her lifetime.
Early in Juanita's life, she was given sage advice in the form of an analogy. She was taught ( I paraphrase) that in order to guide a herd of cattle, you must persuade from the edge. You can not confront a head strong herd head-on and expect the cattle to remain cohesive. Worst case scenario, conflict results, and cowboys and cattle get hurt and lost. Juanita took this counsel to heart and rode that “ragged edge” of the herd, gently guiding the Mormon Church toward honest inquiry. Regardless, she would never see the fruits of her labor as she died in 1989, not long after the Arrington history department was dismantled and moved to BYU. A form of formal denunciation of honest inquiry.
Reeve explained that he values this advice, and lives by it, as he grew up ranching in south-eastern Utah and is actively teaching church membership the truth about the Church and race relations. Guiding a herd of headstrong cattle requires finesse. In an age where truth can not be contained, the importance of honest discourse has come front and center.
Following the panel presentations (Reeve include), one listener posed a question (if timestamp doesn't work ff to 3h 16m 10s) to the panel that consisted of Paul Reeve (UofU) and Janiece Johnson (BYU). Joseph Stuart (BYU) did a good job summarizing the attendee’s question. I’ll paraphrase (in case you didn’t watch the video):
We can clearly see that Juanita Brooks was riding the “ragged edge” of the church (same goes for Lester Bush). Who do you see riding that “ragged edge” of the Church today? What topics are they focusing on?
As the question was dictated, I looked forward to hearing what a BYU employee would provide for an answer (given the Church’s history of suppressing truth and deemphasis of controversial topics). After the question was posed, Johnson immediately deferred to Reeve. I wish I could pretend I was surprised. Reeve proceeded to name Taylor Petrey (Tabernacles of Clay) as an example of someone riding that edge concerning the Church’s evolving teachings related to gender and sexuality. This was a great example, and naturally, one that would make any orthodox member uncomfortable considering we were all attending a conference commemorating those in the past (Brooks and Bush) who were discarded when they published their seminal, controversial works. It was a surreal experience. For all we know, in 30 years, Taylor Petrey will be given the Juanita Brooks Award (despite the backlash he received from his excellent book and pivotal Dialogue article: Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology).
In the end, the institutional hierarchy of the Church who proposed the 1978 “revelation” did not cite Lester Bush, but rejected him. Juanita Brooks never got to see her work appreciated by her beloved Church. Formal acknowledgement of the Church’s directing role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre didn’t happen until 2007. Only today do we embrace her objective and unapologetic view of the past. Today we celebrate the quasi church endorsed works of Turley and Brown as they publish authoritative texts on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Today we watch scholars like Petrey lament the circumstances of LDS academics as the institutional Church entrenches itself into orthodoxy with commander Clark Gilbert at the helm. The leadership of the Church today, apparently, does not embrace the suppression of their predecessors (GTEs, JSPP, Saints, etc.)...
Or do they? Remember, Boyd K Packer, the zealous crony of Ezra Taft Benson and Mark E Peterson, the sworn enemies of “so-called scholars”, was acting president or president of the Q12 from 1994 to 2015. He sat at the head seat of every weekly coordination meeting of the Q12 for over 20 years, training and counseling just about every current member of the Q15 extensively. He watched the control of truth slip from his hands as technology reached frictionless levels of transference. He could no longer easily excommunicate those who published unflattering truths of his golden idols (his predecessors in Church leadership). Boyd was forced to concede with progress. The publication of the initial 13 Gospel Topics Essays (2013-2015) served as the metaphorical final 13 nails in his coffin (2015).
Now to my main point. The soul touching/crushing point that frequently makes its appearance in my heart/mind (most recently in St George). Why has the institutional Church refused to honestly confront its past? Brody, Brooks, Bush, Arrington, and Quinn were all attacked by their ecclesiastical leadership. Today, we hold up their scholarship and cite them in official Church publications. What is it about telling the truth that causes the Brethren to hunt for scholars? Why does paranoia abound regarding BYU and its faculty? Why do many members refuse to look into the past of their own Church beyond the correlated resources offered on LDS.org? My theory lies in the heart of Boyd Packer’s poignant advice to, then new GA, Lynn G. Robbins: “Which way do you face?”. The foundation of the LDS church is the reliability of modern prophets and their ability to receive and convey the mind and will of Deity. If the leadership of the Church loses this value proposition, then the Church is gone. Boyd’s advice is designed to maintain the idolatrous nature of the Q15. They give directions. We listen. A submissive, unquestioning membership is what they need for their Church to thrive. The absolute antithesis of unquestioning loyalty and obedience is inquiry. Curiosity is the root of academia. Questioning established tradition lies at the heart of refining truths. Academia strives to uncover every rock, illuminate every hidden corner, and question the questions. Fiat lux.
Naturally, inquiry will reveal unflattering elements of the beloved prophets, seers, and revelators of the Mormon past. Their teachings will be interpreted in a new light. Their journals will reveal their hidden intentions. Their accusers will be vindicated. The more you learn about the men in the ivory tower, behind the curtain, the more human they become. The cultural façade of prophetic infallibility drifts away with the myths of Santa Clause, Atlantis, and a moon made of bleu cheese. The 14 Fundamentals in Following the Prophet start to sound a little authoritative when you realize the leaders of the Church were simply selected through a network of nepotism and relations. The November 2015 Policy flip-flopping starts to make sense after contrasting it with John Taylor’s 1886 revelation and the Manifesto Woodruff and gang so reluctantly published. The institutional guiding principles that resulted in the SEC Order make a whole lot of sense after reading the lengths Joseph Smith went through to maintain his secrets in Nauvoo. Studying the past illuminates the present.
These men try so unbelievably hard to maintain a prophetic figure of perfection. President Russell Nelson taught, “Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!”. His closest ally and wife, Wendy, last year challenged the dwindling membership of both Europe and California in private broadcasts to question everything said by anyone besides President Nelson. How does a membership consisting of nuanced, informed, and participating individuals react to messages like this? I’ll tell you how I felt: skeptical. With every authoritative address and comment reliant on unrighteous dominion, the leadership of the Church thickens the doctrine of obedience over conscience.
This is Mormonism. Bending your soul to conform to the will of the Brethren. This is what historians like Juanita Brooks and Lester Bush refused to do. They gently pushed from the ragged edge, persuading the herd that is Mormonism toward truth and reconciliation. They paid socially for their guiding principles (truth). The stubborn cattle at the head of the herd believe they are guiding the masses, when in reality, those getting bruised and battered on the precipitous edges are ensuring goodness remains on the horizon. May we encourage and sustain those on the edge and continue to immortalize those that have gone before us. God bless Juanita and God bless Lester.
I will close with the following enlightening quote from Spencer W. Kimball, just as Prince did in his address [emphasis mine]:

“Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me, indeed, this impression weighs upon me—that the Church is at a point in its growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. Some decisions have been made and others pending, which will clear the way, organizationally. But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, Let Us Move Forward and Upward, April 1979 GC)

So which way do you face again, Boyd?