#assess materia is waiting

[wh3r3sth3l0ve]

Sora x Tifa

Part 29

Part 28 below

Tifa laid her boyfriend on the floor, checked his pulse and tried to bring him back to senses.

- Bring me a wet towel and a glass of water. - she commanded Riku.

- Wha… yes, yes, sure. Where?

- Under the sink.

He came back a moment later. She laid the wet towel on Sora’s forehead and gently patted his face. Less than half a minute later Sora opened his eyes.

- What happened? Why am I on the floor?

- Anxiety. - Tifa answered. - Lay still, you have to recover.

Sora sighed deeply and closed his eyes again.

- This one was the worst I’ve seen. - she said quietly to Riku. - Do you understand why I can’t let him go?

She looked up at him with sadness. All he could do was to nod. He sat down heavily on the stool and emptied his glass at once.

- I’m sorry you had to see this. - Sora said, still laying with his eyes closed.

Riku just shook his head, looking disbelievingly at his friend. He saw people in different states but even Aqua, after spending ten years in the Realm of Darkness, wasn’t so broken.

Sora eventually sat up and gave Tifa a grateful look. She smiled at him and helped him get back on the stool.

- I think we have to call it a day. - she said. - Do you have a place to sleep?

- I’ll manage. - Riku stood up.

- Oh no, you don’t. - Sora protested. - Don’t listen to him, Tifa, he’s always like this. Maybe he could sleep in the basement?

- Yeah, why not. Wait here, darling, I’ll be back in a moment.

- Sure. See you tomorrow. - he said to his friend. - And, please, don’t go without saying goodbye.

- I won’t. Bye.

Riku followed Tifa to the pinball machine to get to the basement. Once she was sure that Sora wouldn’t hear them, Tifa said:

- I’m sorry I’ve been so harsh, I’m just scared. That breakup destroyed him and I’m trying my best to help him recover.

- I know, I see. Thank you for that. - Riku said with a grateful look. - Is there anything I could do to help?

- Just be his friend as you always were. And, if you can, don’t mention Kairi again. I believe he loves me but I don’t believe he stopped loving her, no matter what he says. - her voice started breaking down.

- Ok, I get it. - he paused. - You really love him, don’t you?

- You think I’d be able to be with him if I didn’t?

Riku shaked his head, looked around the room and then at the elevator to the bar.

- Go to him. I’ll stay a few days, if it’s ok for you.

- Sure. Do what you can for him.

They both nodded and a few moments later Tifa was back up. She walked out with Sora to go back home. He was holding her close, exhausted and longing for her closeness.

The next day Sora woke up with a headache and a huge amount of stress. Even though Riku promised him to stay for a couple of days, he was scared that his friend would break his word. Tifa was still asleep so he decided to take a hot shower to get rid of the annoying pain. As he was standing under the streaming water, Tifa went in to join him. Without a word she hugged him tight, which caused him to smile and hug her back.

A few minutes later they both felt it’s time for breakfast, so they dressed up and went to their favorite place for bagels. Sora bought one for Riku as well and they headed to 7th Heaven to eat together. When he saw his best friend sitting by the bar, a sigh of relief came out of his mouth. Tifa suggested sitting outside as the weather was perfect for that.

Once they finished eating, Riku asked from behind his cup of coffee:

- Would you like me to help with the Unversed?

- Yeah, I can’t leave them be. It would be nice to investigate with you. - Sora was pleased with the offer.

- I’ll help you as well, I want to get to know those things. - Tifa was determined.

- Sure, also we could try materia on them, I wonder if we could assess them.

- Materia? - Riku looked surprised.

- How to keep it short… - Sora scratched his head but Tifa was quicker with the response.

- It’s a kind of condensed energy made of mako, the substance that runs this planet and can be used in many ways.

Riku nodded and asked when they would be ready to go for a search of the Unversed.

- Let me just leave the information for clients.

Tifa disappeared behind the door and a minute later was back with a sheet of paper saying that today the bar is closed, which she hung on the door.

- Ready. Let’s ask people if they saw anything suspicious.

#fanfic #story #ff7 tifa #kh sora #cardiophilia

[cinderella-gurei]

Continued from here @tsurugixbuster​

Chadley shook his head and quickly dived into one of his questions.“Would you be interested in aiding me in some materia research? And...” he hesitated for a moment, but figured he wouldn’t solve the mystery if he didn’t ask. 

“That sword... is it yours?” 

#tsurugixbuster #developing connections (ch threads) #assess materia is waiting #but only if there is data to gather! #Feel free to continue or leave it as you would prefer! #And thank you for answering!

[deathpuppies12]

The Bombing of Emotions

Cloud Strife x Teen! Reader

Part III

Apologizes

 (Y/n)'s POV I jolt up in my chair, the person living next door making really loud noises next door. Cloud flips out of bed, grabbing his Buster sword in the process.

 "Damn", I whisper out that was pretty cool. 

Cloud leaves to go check on our neighbor, he tells me to stay put. Huh, this is gonna last a while. I curl back up on the chair trying to fall back asleep. I hearing yelling from out side. I jump from my chair and rush through the door. Cloud is standing over an old cloaked man on the ground. 

"Cloud what are you doing", I shout! 

"(Y/n), go back inside, it's not safe out here", Cloud says, with real fear in his eyes. 

"Cloud, what are you doing get back inside", Tifa yells from behind me.

 What the hell is going on, I run back into our room.

What the hell, I feel so sick. I sit down on the bed trying to regain my breath. My chest starts to hurt, is this what it feels like to pass out. I lay back on the bed, my eyes drifting closed.

Cloud's POV After that odd encounter I go back to my room. Looking towards the bed, I see (Y/n) sprawled out on the bed. I chuckle and go over to fix her. I guess I'll take the floor.

 I truly don't mind, I know she is gonna make a big deal tomorrow. If she evens talks to me. God I really fucked up, obviously she was just trying to get answers. I got to find a way to apologize properly to her. Maybe I could buy her some new materia, she would love that. With this plan in my head, I dose off.

I wake, luckily with no back pain. 

"Oh, you're awake, good Tifa said she was waiting at the bar for you", (Y/n) says. 

"Oh, Ok, well we should get going then", I say getting ready. 

"I didn't think you would want me to come with you", she says. 

"I... I'm sorry about yesterday, I shouldn't have been so harsh and I have a way to make up to you", I tell her.

 She seems surprised but gets up and gets ready anyway.

(Y/n) POV He has a way to make it up to me. That is so un-Cloud like. Collecting my things and throwing my backpack on, I follow Cloud outside. Maybe sense Cloud is apologizing I should try to make it up to him to. I mean, I did completely not listen to him and made him really worried. 

"Hey Cloud, I'm sorry to, I shouldn't have ran off on my own like that, I just, I was tired of not getting answers and thought this was my chance". 

Cloud doesn't say anything right away, I didn't expect him to.

 "It's fine, I haven’t been completely honest with you any way, some of the answers your looking for, I know but i'm worried about how your gonna react".

 This shocks me, he knew things and didn't tell me. I don't want to start another argument so I move on but I know this is gonna bug me all day now.  

We reach the bar, this place is actual really nice.

 "Just letting you know, we are gonna be running around town doing jobs for people today, so if you don't wanna go with, say so now", Cloud warns me. 

Well of course i wanna go with, especially cause I didn't get to go with on the last job. Heading inside the bar, I final get to take a chance to look around. They have multiple game machines and a dart board in the corner. All in all it looks pretty nice in here.

 I follow Cloud to the counter where Tifa is. I wait silently to finish their conversation. I wonder if she is like Cloud's secret crush or girlfriend. I'm gonna have to tease him about this later, or use it as blackmail. 

what I gathered from the short conversation was that we are going to be changing filters for people. Cool, another job where I sit around and watch, fun.

While were out changing filters we met a handful of weird people. One guy even called Cloud a punk-ass bitch, yeah never going there again. I met some of the people he worked with the other night, they were very energetic.

 final for the weird people we met, a boy who talks very robotic and can apparently make materia based on information gives him. Also Cloud gave me new materia, a assess materia and a healing materia. The best part about the day was finding out information about Shinra, which is a power company.

 After the long day we head back to the bar for a break. I take a seat at a table while Cloud and Tifa go to the counter to hang out. I pull out my clip board and pull out the files. Now that I know that Shinra is a power company, these will make more sense. 

I don't have much time to look at them though before that big man from last comes bursting into the bar. I quick jump to put my things away, while shuffling around the inside of the bag my hand brushes against a zipper I've never felt before. What the hell, how have I never seen or touched that before. I'll have to check that out later.

More people walk into the room, including the people that Cloud had worked with last night.  They use a game machine to get into a secret basement. Whoa, I want a secret basement game machine thing. 

I look back over towards Cloud to see him sitting at the counter by himself. I'll go keep him company. I waltz over to Cloud and sit next to him. 

"So is Tifa like your girlfriend or something", 

I lean on my elbow looking at him. 

He coughs on his drink, "No". 

"Oh, so you just have a not so secret crush on her", I tease him. 

"Shut up", I can see a slight smile on Clouds face. 

I giggle, I'm glad me and Cloud aren't fighting anymore.

 "Wanna play a round of darts", I ask him. 

"Sure".

I regret playing darts with Cloud. He's kicking my ass at this, how is he so good. Cloud wins for the fifth time and also gets the highest score on the board.

 "Alright I give up", I throw my hands up in mock surrender.

 Cloud only laughs at my suffering. 

"So, Cloud I didn't tell you, I found a secret pouch in the backpack", I tell Cloud.

 "Whats in it", Cloud asks.

 "Well I don't know yet, I like just found it", I reply. 

"We can both check it out later and I tell you all the answers you wanna know ok", Cloud says.

 I smile and give him a thumbs up, "I can't wait".

#cloud strife x reader #cloud #cloud strife #cloti #Barret Wallace #barret ff7 #barret #tifa lockhart #tifa #cloud x tifa #tifa final fantasy #tifa ffvii #cloud x reader #cloud final fantasy #cloud ffvii #cloud ff7 #cloud strife ff7 #cloud strife ffvii #cloud strife final fantasy 7 #cloud strife final fantasy vii #final fantasy vii #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy #FFVII #FF7 Remake #ff7 cloud #barrret ff7 #barret ffvii #jessie #jessie rasberry

[itisnor]

The FFVII Remake looks just how I pictured it all in my head when I was 5, but better. To take something that so many people loved and reinvent it beyond expectations is not an easy task. I can't help but be extremely thankful for the way that it was handled and delivered with such love and care. The attention to detail, little references to the prequel and source material aswell as other works is beyond amazing. The character's personality was given life through fantastic voice acting and development. ALSO, WHOEVER DID THE LIGHTING ON THIS GAME they deserve every bit of praise. I can't say enough good things about this game.

I even got to 92% completion without even realizing. I eventually gladly grinded the 100%, and to top it off assessed every enemy because I wanted to see what else they added in.

My one and only critique is that there aren't enough sorting options for materia; I.e. sort for command materia, complete, support etc., like in the original game. After a while you find yourself with a ton of materia that you need to scroll trough to find if you want to optimize for every encounter. I bet they'll improve on that in a future instalment or perhaps a patch.

I can't wait to go home so I can play it again. I'm 110 hours in and I'm still fangirling.

#ffvii #ffvii remake #voice acting #cloud #tifa #barret #cait sith #jessie #biggs #wedge

[mrnicholas]

I’m going to fangirl for a minute.

So I’ve been hype for a remake of FF7 for pretty much forever. I was 14 when it came out and it was my absolutely favorite game for years (Until I played ME and DA). I’ve played it probably at least every other year since 1997 (give or take a few years missing in between), hell I even wrote Valenwind fanfiction way back when,  so when the Remake was announced I pretty much lost my shit, but I knew it was going to be a loooong wait. As the years went by I grew more skeptical of it, worrying that they’d change it too much to suit modern gamers and leave old fans like me in the dust. I was in the ‘purist’ camp for a long time and believed not one thing should be changed because in my head everything was already amazing, but... I was wrong.

I read the spoilers for the remake before my copy shipped. Spoilers never ruin anything for me so I read the ending. I pretty much hated it in text, but it wasn’t going to ruin the game for me. Regardless I knew it was going to be a fun game, even if it changed things and that it was a chance to spend time with characters I already loved. That’s how I went into it.

So I was shocked when I played and kept thinking “This is the same as xxxx part. Even the lighting is similar.” Of course I noticed most of even the smallest deviations, like the inexplicably strange neon “Texas” sign in Seventh Heaven being absent. But so what? None of that stuff mattered. I was surprised at just how faithful it was to the original in most parts. Other parts I completely understood why they were changed. Name changes of materia threw me off. (I kept reading ‘Assess’ as ‘Asses’.) But again, not important. Honestly I was shocked by how little of any of it bothered me. There were things they made waaaaaaay better, and things that I think the original handled better atmospherically (The Shinra building/Trail of Blood part) but I made it to the end expecting to be completely disappointed by it. And...honestly? I’m not. I mean yeah it was unnecessary and yeah -maybe it could cause problems in the future. But that’s maybe and it doesn’t exist yet so it feels weird to be annoyed by what ifs.

Of course I was though. It changed so much at the end that I was infuriated in the moment like most OG fans, but after I beat it I decided to play the original again and I’m glad I did, because even if I remembered SO much of it there were things I had forgotten because there wasn’t anything better to compare it to. I know ‘better’ is subjective, but...listen. Playing it again I realized how fast everything was. Important parts. Important bits of dialogue. All reduced to a few lines. Everything is TOO fast and too clipped and I can see why they expanded it. It just made sense. If they had made it exact it would’ve felt strange, rushed and awful. Playing the original put that into perspective quickly, it put its awful transliteration into perspective and it’s barely there interactions with certain characters. It made me understand why they had to split it into parts.

Originally I thought ‘cash grab’ like most people, but listen...SO much happens in that game even before Disc 2. I mean disc 2 starts after THAT scene...so many things come before it. SO many places are just 2 minutes stop overs. Gongaga, Costa del Sol, Corel, Rocket Town, Icicle Inn, Bone Village you just go in and out in a matter of minutes, buy things and that’s that. I didn’t remember any of it being THAT short. But it is. And if any of those places or those scenes are going to exist they have to be expanded to make them any more than rest areas. I forgot that the flashback in Kalm takes almost an hour to get through and it’s rushed. And that’s likely where the second game will open. With that amazing flashback. It’s the perfect place to start. I get it. And I realize that some of the things i look back on fondly will just seem ridiculous in an updated/realistic setting. As much as I want to see Cloud ride a dolphin I will 100% understand if they find us another way to get into Junon. Or a random snowboard mini game in the middle of chasing Sephiroth? All the choices they made I understand now (all except the whispers...>_>) and I’m SO glad I took off my rose tinted super-fan glasses and played the OG directly after while the remake was still fresh in my mind.

Also that battle system... I see so many purists complaining that it’s too different, but honestly? It’s the exact same system. It’s still nearly 100% ATB based. The only difference is you can move around, dodge, attack and block now without wasting your gauges. I was so nervous for an active system but playing them back to back...it’s the same system. It’s fake active and I adore it. Honestly at the end of the day I’m so impressed with what they did. I’m so grateful for all the people that worked on this. I never thought I’d live to see the day. I love everyone waaaay more than I did in the og and that’s saying something. And you actually made me kind of indifferent to Aerith which I thought was impossible because I hated her in the original. I know it’s going to take a million years before I see my favorite character (Cid) but I’m willing to wait, and I’m honestly so excited. There’s so much I want to see and there’s so much I can’t wait for the new fans to see. If they loved Midgar they’re in for a wild ride.

I’m just so fucking grateful you made this. I can’t even express it properly.

#final fantasy vii remake #ffvii #FFVIIR

[soartfullydone]

Well, well. If it isn't the little mouse come to rummage around once more in my things. Oh, no please. Don't get up. I'd love to see what is of such interest to you on my desk. Last I checked, it was a mountain of requisitions from Urban Development. Do close your mouth, pet. You could give give some men the wrong idea. Hm? Why so surprised? Did you really think I would be unaware of the comings and goings in my own office?

ahaaaaa bite me cassie

*

Rufus Shinra’s office wasn’t as obnoxious as his father’s, but an air of pretentiousness lingered all the same. Melody felt that way about most executive offices. It seemed like anyone in Shinra who breached past the managerial level acquired a new suite big enough to fit their ego inside, the size of the space in direct correlation with the amount of money most of them didn’t deserve to make.

Namely because they weren’t in said office working often enough. With higher-ups, it was always arriving late and two-hour lunches and leaving early. Melody didn’t know what was stronger: her lack of surprise or her disappointment that Rufus appeared to be cut from the same cloth.

As Mayor Domino promised, Shinra’s heir apparent was absent, and this, too, gave her conflicting feelings. Relief. Frustration. However, her disgust was aimed entirely at herself.

Just get this over with.

Walking on the balls of her feet to minimize the clacking sound of her heels, Melody darted across the room, feeling immediately off-kilter.

She couldn’t remember ever seeing so much white. The tiled floors, the seamless stretch of wall, even the great expanse of his steel desk—the room was an uninterrupted blanket of white. The company’s usual selection of marble had been completely rejected for this room, for even the whitest marble displayed veins of black and gray. There were no deliberately placed accents, no splashes of color save for the odd item on Rufus’ desk. A black fountainpen. A silver paperweight shaped almost as perfectly as materia. A discarded, canary yellow paperclip. Then, there were the stacks of papers—Melody recognized the cover page on one stack instantly—the three computer monitors, the leather chair pushed into the desk, all of them white.

It was this chair Melody slid into, attempting to ignore how unnerved it all made her. There was nothing personal. No paintings on the wall, no shrubs in the corner, no pictures of family or friends. There was an entire wall that was a window, which displayed Sector 8 through Sector 2 in dazzling silver as sunlight beat down on steel and stone. Thank God. This was a room one could go insane in without such a view. She had never seen a space that was so clearly used be so cold and clinical at the same time; hospitals had more life.

It’s possible our dear Prince Shinra will be a little more careless on his own turf. Most employees are that arrogant, Mayor Domino had said wryly.

What am I looking for? she’d asked.

Anything.

Melody didn’t have much time. She’d originally guessed she’d linger no more than five minutes, but Domino’s warnings—not to mention her past experiences with Rufus—had scared her down to three. She tried the desk drawers first, only to find them all locked. The one that wasn’t held nothing but a keyboard, and a quick inspection failed to uncover any poorly-hidden notes containing computer passwords or other intriguing information. The computer was locked, too, and a quick keystroke put it back into sleep mode. Her hands flew across the papers on the desk, thumbing through them rapidly.

New recruit considerations for the Department of Public Safety, most of them unfavorable. Performance analytics for weapons prototypes from Scarlet’s department. Melody’s eyes snagged on the schematics and armaments list for a mechanical monstrosity labeled “Project Airbuster” before she was forced to continue on. She reached to move aside the one handful of papers containing information she already knew when, inexplicably, the hair on the back of her neck stood up.

“Well, well,” Rufus Shinra said, his lips ghosting the shell of her ear as a strand of his blond hair brushed her cheek. “If it isn't the little mouse come to rummage around once more in my things.”

Melody twisted around—or tried to. The Vice President had other ideas, his hands gripping both sides of the chair and holding it steady, his body an uncompromising wall. She was locked in and going nowhere.

“Oh, no, please. Don’t get up.” Rufus smirked, his tone polite and mocking at the same time. He knew he had her caught. As if to boast this knowledge, he shifted just enough so he could lean over her left shoulder and cage her in further as he pretended to examine the spread of documents. “I’d love to see what is of such interest to you on my desk. Last I checked, it was a mountain of requisitions from Urban Development.”

With a smooth sweep of his hand, he gathered that very mountain she’d messily dropped in her shock at hearing him—feeling him—just behind her. He straightened the papers and feathered through them, the pages skipping across his thumb. “A scintillating read, I’m sure, but...” His sidelong gaze caught hers before it dipped, skimming down her neck, tracing her clavicle, caressing the swell of her breasts. Finishing his lazy inspection, his crystal blue eyes found hers again, searing this time. “Rather than suffer more of Tuesti’s thinly-veiled pleas for financial backing, I’d rather find you waiting for me here, on my desk—but not today.”

Melody had an iron-clad defense ready, but her lips parted in surprise, a blush spreading across her face at how casually Rufus could talk about fucking her. At how intimately she remembered what his cruel mouth could do to her flesh, how quickly his skillful fingers could make her come. She hated how easily he could fluster her by merely mentioning it. She hated how he could dangle the possibility in front of her only to yank it back without any true regret at all.

And most of all, she hated how badly she wanted it—wanted him—anyway.

Rufus regarded her with half-lidded eyes before leaning closer, setting off a new wave of panic and eagerness within her. Was he actually, finally going to kiss her? Was she finally going to discover what he tasted like? He tilted up her chin, and Melody’s knuckles turned white from squeezing the chair’s armrests. His lips were a breath away from hers when he chided, “Do close your mouth, pet. You could give some men the wrong idea.”

He released her with a flick of his fingers and straightened, his focus returning to the desk with a more worrisome air of assessment. At least, Melody should have been worried, should have been busy double-checking that she had put every document back in the exact spot she had first found it. Instead, she was leaning back in the chair, dazed and barely holding onto herself inside her own skin. Little mouse. Pet. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to know how creative he could get with names for her. Gratefulness that she had avoided reaching some point of no return with him again warred with the urge to see how far she could push him until he took what he wanted.

Instead, she steered her resolve toward the plan and managed, “I didn’t mean to bother you, sir. I— I didn’t expect to see you.”

“Hm? Why so surprised?” replied Rufus coolly. He was frowning suddenly at the assessment report from Weapons Development. “Did you really think I would be unaware of the comings and goings in my own office?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what,” he said, his voice and eyes frozen as he turned to advance on her, “are you doing here?”

Melody stood so quickly that she pushed the chair free and clear from her. She meant for her hands to raise in a placating gesture, but they became the barrier against Rufus’ chest to halt him from coming closer. (Not that they could truly stop him. Not that some part of her wanted to cling to the lapels of his jacket and pull him flush against her, imploring him to take, take, take.)

“The proposal!” she exclaimed, her thoughts scattered. “In your hand.”

A crease appeared between his blond brows, doubtful and contemplative at once. “What about it, Miss Westfire?”

Her stomach flipped with a thrill at his put-on formality. She loved how he humored her, but God, how she hated him for how he played with her. “A team member of mine thinks she included a page from another report in there by accident. She was freaking out, so I offered to get it back.” She looked down at the Urban Development proposal, concern flitting across her face. “Assuming you haven’t already trashed it.”

“I haven’t looked over it at all.”

Melody ignored that dig. She crossed her arms, feigning calm as Rufus flipped through the pages much slower and more thoroughly this time.

“Is this what you’re after?” Rufus pulled a page free, and a glance at its surface showed a half-formed spreadsheet, its cells missing numbers, with notes penned in flowing cursive across the bottom of the paper. It also lacked the distinctive formatting that the proposal was required to have and clearly displayed on its other pages.

Melody sighed, relieved. Even though she’d planted the page herself, a part of her had believed wildly that it had somehow vanished. “Yes. Thank you. She’ll be so glad.”

She went to take the page, but Rufus wouldn’t relinquish it. He asked, “Which team member lost this again?”

Her smile thinned. “I didn’t say.”

“Then say, Miss Westfire.”

“I would prefer—”

“I don’t care what you would prefer. Imagine if this held trade secrets, SOLDIER patrol routes, blueprints of our reactors. Now imagine if this information fell into the hands of Avalanche.” Rufus pulled, and the page ripped in an uneven half between their hands. Crumpling his half, Rufus tossed it on the desk, the completed proposal landing with a thump beside it. “Our company—my company—can’t afford this kind of carelessness. Tell me who it was.”

“So you can do what?” She let her half flutter to the floor, her heart pounding in her chest.

“I would think that was obvious,” Rufus said, dragging his chair back. He sat facing her, elbows braced on the armrests and his fingers laced together. “I’m going to fire her.”

Blood rushed in her ears. No, no, no. No. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

Seeing her indecision, Rufus smiled and leaned forward. “Tell me, Melody. Tell me now, or the one I’ll be making an example of will be you.”

Her fists clenched at her sides. If she bit down any harder, she thought she might shatter her teeth. Rufus’ eyes glittered before he shrugged, unconcerned. “Pity. In that case—”

“Rainy,” Melody bit out. “It was Celeste Rainy.”

Rufus’ smile sharpened. “Good girl.”  

“Want me to send her up, too, while I’m at it?” she snapped, enraged at him. Enraged at herself.

“Oh, no. I don’t mind handling all the unpleasantness for you. You’ve done enough.”

Yes. Yes, Melody had, and she had nothing to show for it except getting a faithful, hard-working employee fired over her lies and schemes. Sick to her stomach, she went to leave, uncaring that the Vice President hadn’t dismissed her yet.

He caught her with an arm around her middle; he didn’t even have to rise from the chair to do so, but he did anyway. “Now, I can’t let you go with you looking this upset. What about your reward?”

“I have a lot of work to do.” She refused to meet his eyes. If she did, he would know exactly how much she despised him. More than likely, it would make him happy, and the last thing on Gaia she wanted was Rufus Shinra’s happiness.

“Work, she says.” The tips of his fingers traced the line of her neck. “Everything you do… In the end, it’s all for me.”

She went to protest, incensed, but his hand tightened around her and drew her into him. She felt his leather, fingerless glove press into the nape of her neck, his thumb caressing her racing pulse. Racing because his mouth was lavishing cruel ministrations to the column of her throat, his kiss hot, his mouth sucking hard enough to leave marks on her skin. She gasped as he rose higher and higher, his teeth scraping the underside of her jaw. Each kiss was a new way to claim her, and she was helpless against any of them.

At some point, her knees had buckled. Rufus’ arm was around her waist, pinning her against his chest. One of his legs was in between both of hers, and she moaned, the heat of his thigh driving her temporarily insane. Melody rolled her hips, wanting that delicious friction. Rufus bit her earlobe sharply.

“I said, not today.”

He let her go, removing himself enough that she was forced to get her legs under her. They felt shaky, but she managed. Her hand rose to inspect her neck, which felt utterly ravaged, and it was enough to bring a hint of sanity back. “You call this a reward?”

“You’re never satisfied,” Rufus noted, smiling as if he was satisfied. “That must be why we get along so well.”

He strode to the door of his office, expecting her to follow, which she naturally did. It was her only escape route. She frowned when he opened it for her like a gentleman. “That wasn’t your reward. I’m still debating what it is you deserve.”

Those words caused butterflies to flutter and a chilling dread to settle in her stomach all at once. When she was level with him, she asked archly, “What was it then, besides unwanted?”

Rufus traced her lips with his thumb, felt her shudder before she could stop it. “Don’t lie now.”

He leaned down, so they were looking nearly eye to eye, icy assurance versus burning resolve. “It was a warning, my dear. You’re good at this game, better than most, but you’ll never be able to play it like I can.” His smirk was sharp and prideful. “Next time you want to play spy with me, take greater care with your pawns.”

#:)))))))) I Love It Here #cue scene #ca: observe my sins #Anonymous

[up-sideand-down]

Some combination of Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth for the soulmate prompts, #16. the one where anything written on your skin appears on your soulmate’s skin as well.

Angeal sighed against Genesis’s cot, completely exhausted. 

“Your beside manner is terrible,” Genesis said. 

“You try running around casting Cures for 8 hours straight,” Angeal mumbled. Genesis patted his head awkwardly with his unbroken arm. 

“You did good,” Genesis said, “especially considering how much higher my MP is compared to yours.” Angeal forced a tired laugh out. Even injured Genesis would take the opportunity to brag. 

“I’m not the best choice for medic,” Angeal said bluntly. 

“But you were the only choice,” Genesis said, “and you pulled through.” They were quiet together for a moment, tired and ragged breathing of other injured men surrounding them. 

“Ange?” Genesis’s voice broke through the quiet, “Ange!” 

“Mmm?” 

“He’s here,” Genesis said. Angeal looked up, confused. 

“Blood Type O Neg, 1 shot epi, skull fracture, multi stab…” Genesis trailed off, “gosh he got the shit beat out of him.” Angeal looked at Genesis’s shin and saw their usual field assessment written clearly in black sharpie, just below Gen’s own assessment. He stood up, then pulled up his own pant leg. Written there too. He felt a bit of relief with that. 

“Angeal go find him before he fucking dies!” Genesis said. 

“He’s not gonna die,” Angeal said, but Gen was right, he was hurt pretty bad. 

He stepped out of the tent, searching for the new arrivals. He was technically off duty but he kept his Materia on him just in case. He had no MP left whatsoever, so he didn’t know what he would do in that case. 

He practically jogged along the triage line, trying to fine the description. He stopped at one with three medics around it. 

“I’ll be fine,” the young commander Sephiroth said, “go help someone more wounded.”

“Sir you are the most wounded,” the surgeon said, “and you need to lie down.” Sephiroth made a move to lie down, but Angeal stepped in. 

“No, no, no,” Angeal said, “stay down.”

“Hewley I thought you were drained?” another medic said. 

“This is a special case,” Angeal said. He pulled off Sephiroth’s left glove, revealing a Banora White Tree doodle that Genesis had drawn on Angeal’s own left hand and hour ago. Angeal showed Sephiroth the original. He slumped back, staring at it. 

“I didn’t think those were real,” he said. 

“I mean,” Angeal said, “I have your field stat on my shin, but it isn’t as pretty.” Sephiroth just went quiet. Angeal took hold of his hand. 

“And you really are in bad shape,” Angeal said, “so for my sake, and for the sake of our other soulmate…let the nice doctor look at you.”

“There’s another one!?” 

“Yes,” Angeal said, “and once you skull fracture gets taken care of, I’ll show you how to write secret messages to him.”

Genesis kept checking his palms, waiting for either Angeal or the new one to tell him everything was okay.

“My name is Sephiroth,” slowly was inked in to his right hand. And he breathed a sigh of relief. 

#sephiroth #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #soulmate!AU #my writing

[peony-pearl]

Gifts

I haven’t written in eons; so this is a practice piece of sorts. Concrit is welcome 8)

rated T for some language I suppose

“What do you want for your birthday?”

Sephiroth barely glanced Hojo’s way as he rested on the examination bench. The slight rush that someone had remembered his birthday was welcome; only it was nearly 3 in the afternoon, and Hojo had just acknowledged it. 

“Just a few gil for the night. Thanks,” Sephiroth responded shortly. Hojo clucked something under his breath as he wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Sephiroth’s arm.

“You’re getting at that age where gifts mean something in return,” Hojo said while he pumped the attached bulb to tighten the cuff. “A gift carries burdens.”

“What do you mean?” Sephiroth asked. Hojo looked at the meter on the cuff, then at his watch. After a moment, a slight shift in his wrinkles meant a satisfactory result, and he released the pressure on the cuff without another look at the silver-haired soldier.

“You’ll understand one day,” he said as he scribbled on the usual chart. Sephiroth sat, his patience now an act, but one he’d perfected. Eighteen years of tests, trials, and dealing with the cold, sterile air of the Shinra labs, followed by waiting, and waiting, and more waiting, until being thrust out into the battlefield, and returning home with his whole worldview shifted; but no one else had changed. His patience had now become a continuous, quiet appreciation for every moment he had away from those orders he’d been given in Wutai. He knew there would be more. So he waited. 

Hojo turned to Sephiroth; those eyes that had once glared at him in frustration were now calm, but no less piercing than ever. He reached into his back pocket, fishing a few hundred gil out of his wallet to hand to Sephiroth.

“Enjoy your night. But I still expect you in for briefing by eight,” Hojo said. Sephiroth nodded.

“Thank you, sir.”

After a trip to his bunk and a change of clothes, Sephiroth wandered down the streets of Midgar. He was accustomed by now to the citizens stopping to watch him; or worse, trying to ask him questions; so he often traveled by alleyway. It was quieter and quicker. He’d heard of a materia shop he wanted to visit, and he rushed quickly with the worry it would close before he could get there. He noticed some lights coming from a bar ahead; he slowed down, intrigued by the location of the bar deep in a series of alleyways, and he peeked inside. Various chattering was often drowned by the sounds of billiards players or the clinking of glasses full of alcohol or utensils scraping at scraps of food. Smoke billowed out of the open doors, illuminated by neon lights, both inside and outside of the bar. He hummed to himself, remembering to hurry on before-

“Birthday boy!”

Sephiroth paused. He reversed his steps and slowly stepped inside, looking for the voice. He noticed a figure in a fenced-in nook, where a billiards table rested and an Automated Player swiveled past who had shouted out to Sephiroth.

“Hollander?” Sephiroth hesitantly approached Hollander’s table, where he watched the bearded man chalk his pool cue; in the meantime the Automated Player prepared to take a shot. “Playing alone? So that’s not just something you do at work?”

Grinning, Hollander put the chalk back before he watched the AP strike, causing a flurry on the table. “I like it,” he said before looking at Sephiroth. “It can’t talk back to me unless I program it to,” he said before the AP tucked itself into a corner until its next turn. “So. Eighteen. How does it feel?”

Sephiroth looked at him, and could only shrug. “I don’t know. It feels like last year. And the year before that. I always think I’m going to feel different. I always think maybe...”

“You’ll get more perfect?” Hollander smirked. His cue struck out in a clatter, and he cursed as his target failed roll into the aimed pocket.

“N-no. It’s... something else,” Sephiroth mused. His hands dug into his pockets as his fingers rifled through the gil he had yet to spend. He looked to the aging carpet on the floor, squinting, but in thought. He pondered his conversation with Hojo, and all the previous ones he’d known for eighteen years. Each monotone, cold conversation between him and the most consistent figure in his life. “That I might... feel enough.”

Hollander looked up from the table. Sephiroth, able to maintain his posture and dignity, spoke this with an air the scientist wasn’t familiar with. As the AP beeped it’s way to assess the contents of the table, Hollander stopped it; he turned the machine off and let it return to its nook before he slid the pool cue out of its casing, offering it to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth, unsure of what to do, slowly took the cue and looked at the table before back to Hollander, who realized his mistake.

“Use that stick to hit one of the balls on the table with the white one.”

“... You do this for fun?”

“I do this because I like it. Does Hojo allow you to have hobbies?”

Sephiroth didn’t look at him.

“I should know better than to ask that,” Hollander said as Sephiroth aimed the cue. “Sephiroth. Listen. Feeling ‘enough’ is... tricky. For someone like you who’s been taught nothing but perfection and then to get what you’re given back in return,” Hollander watched Sephiroth manage a clean shot, nabbing two targets at once on his first try, ”... It’s frustrating.”

“Hojo sees so much.” Sephiroth said. “I’ve done what they’ve expected of me-”

“All that and more,” Hollander said, rounding the table.

“But... But once we secure Wutai, what then?” Sephiroth asked. 

“What do you mean?” Hollander asked back.

Sephiroth’s mouth bobbed, searching for the right words. “When do I find my... my own? My way... M-MY way! When do I do what I see fit for me?”

Hollander looked at him, trying to keep his face an empty slate as Sephiroth continued.

“All the scientists talk about their homes or apartments; their lives, their hobbies. Their families. When will I find mine?” Sephiroth asked, his usually placid demeanor now rippling with anxiety and irritation. “When will I have my life?”

It was a moment only filled with the sounds of the bar, yet even those seemed dulled by the conversation at hand. Hollander tapped his cue against his shoulder, barely glancing Sephiroth’s way. 

Now he knew what Gast had meant when he suggested ‘unforeseen complications’ nearly thirty years ago.

“Perhaps now,” Hollander suggested. “You’re old enough to do many things on your own. Start making sure Hojo knows you’re not just his puppet.”

Sephiroth watched Hollander lean over, aiming his cue. “I’m not his... I can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?” Hollander asked as he struck his aim; causing a crackle of noise as he hit his target, concluded with the thunk of a scoring hit. 

“I can’t go against him-”

“Why. The hell. Not?” Hollander asked again, his sunken eyes widening. He rounded the table to approach Sephiroth, his walk loose and unrestrained as he almost pleaded with the young soldier. “What is he going to do? What can he do to you, Sephiroth? He can’t hurt you. You’re the strongest person alive, and you’re afraid of that weasel?”

Sephiroth frowned. “No, b-”

“Then tell him to back off. Better yet, put him in his place.”

“You’d like that more than I would,” Sephiroth said. Hollander slowly grinned, shaking his head.

“You know that,” Hollander confirmed. He watched Sephiroth round the table; for once he seemed in a haze. His eyes lacked focus as he looked at the table, searching for a potential move; but he wasn’t actually looking. He wasn’t focused on the game. 

“Do you remember the time you sneaked some candy to me when I was seven?”

Smirking, Hollander nodded. “Saltwater candies from Costa del Sol. Did you like them?”

Sephiroth aimed his cue. “I never had the chance to try them. I hid them under my pillow, but Hojo found them while I was getting my Mako treatments. That was one of the worst lectures I’d ever received.”

Hollander’s smile dissipated. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

Sephiroth shook his head as he half-heartedly aimed and struck; despite his lack of focus, he managed a perfect shot. “It’s okay. I just never understood why, when I was just trying to have a normal life, everything I did seemed wrong. That... hurt me. I tried from then on to be what he wanted, to be the perfect...”

Hollander watched as Sephiroth fought for a word.

And for the scientist, it clicked. His jaw became slack, and he closed his eyes for a second.

“I see.”

Sephiroth looked up, confused. “What?” He asked as Hollander made his way around the table.

“Listen,” Hollander started, anchoring his cue on the floor as turned his eyes to Sephiroth. “You won’t find something new until you break ties with the old. Your dependence on Hojo’s validation of you isn’t going to help you from here on out. And he’s certainly not going to change. Trust me, Sephiroth. I’ve known the bastard for longer than you’ve been alive. And the only thing that’s changed is how ugly he’s gotten.”

“Yeah but you hate him.”

“I fuckin hate the bastard.”

“Then why are you offering me all this advice?”

“Because I hate the bastard. And because you deserve it. If no one else is going to tell you, the soldier responsible for Shinra’s current successes, then I suppose I will.”

“And what, pray tell, are you hoping to achieve from it, Hollander?” Sephiroth asked. He crossed his arms, for once letting his stance loosen. Hollander smiled, looking at Sephiroth past loose strands of salt-and-pepper hair. 

“Perhaps, like you, I’m looking to fill my own emotional voids.”

Sephiroth looked at his watch, unsure if the materia store was still open. Something lingered on his mind though; and now that he was in an atmosphere of being able to ask, that trip wasn’t important at the moment.

“If you’ve known Hojo that long; do you remember my mother?”

Hearing the question; Hollander fought not to freeze. He found a quick distraction in a dessert card by the table where his belongings were located, and he could feel Sephiroth walking closer.

“Your mother?”

Lucrecia. What had Hojo told Sephiroth of her? As much as Hollander wanted to tell Sephiroth every detail he could just to spite Hojo, Hollander also enjoyed not taking a trip to a gas chamber.

“Hojo’s only told me her name; and that she died giving birth to me.”

Hollander set the dessert card down. He turned, facing Sephiroth with every ounce of acting he could muster. “I’m afraid I never knew her. I’m sorry. What was her name?”

“Jenova,” Sephiroth answered. And Hollander questioned himself for expecting anything else; but still, something boiled in the pit of his stomach. For everything Hojo had taught and given Sephiroth, Couldn’t he at least have told the boy about his mother?

“I’m afraid... I was never privy to that knowledge,” Hollander said, doing his best to speak without gritting his teeth. Sephiroth’s gaze became distant again, and he clutched the pool cue as he looked back at the table. Hollander watched, slightly leaning to try and get a look at the soldier’s face. “Are you alright?”

“... It’s your turn, doctor,” he said, lowering his pool cue. Hollander looked back at the scattered table, having completely forgotten about the game. 

“O-oh; right,” he said, painting a smile to hopefully dissuade any clues of what he actually knew about Sephiroth’s mother. His origins. And how bits and pieces of that origin had been picked from Hollander’s own failed opus. He scoured for a target before looking up at Sephiroth, who was taking in the scene of the bar. “Hey... you don’t have to stay, Sephiroth. I’m sorry I took you off track to what you were doing. You should be out enjoying yourself.”

“Doing what?” Sephiroth asked. “Wandering the streets I’ve known my whole life alone for the three hundredth time?” He smirked. Hollander smiled back as he leaned in to take his shot.

“So; have you met those other two boys up for First Class? What are they names... Hewley and Rhapsodos?” 

“I have. I was hoping to spend today with them but they were assigned to Wutai a week ago. So... it’s just me.” He watched Hollander’s cue strike, and listened to his curse as it missed it’s target.

“Well.” Hollander said as he walked to his coat, rifling through it. He pulled something out and returned to the table. “It doesn’t have to be like that.” He tossed something Sephiroth’s way, and the soldier gracefully caught it; when he opened his hand, he saw something he never thought he would see again. A candy wrapped in neat foil; one of the saltwater candies he’d never been able to have.

“Happy birthday.” Hollander said, taking one out for himself. “I’ll buy you a box.”

“And what if Hojo finds it?”

“Hit him with it.”

Sephiroth laughed, popping the candy into his mouth; a salty-sweet shell encasing a creme center tingled at his jaws; he usually wasn’t allowed sweets, and the subsequent rush was foreign to him, but he smiled.

“For that? Yeah, I just might have to.”

Hollander laughed, watching Sephiroth aim for his next turn. Sephiroth landed another score, and as Hollander readied himself for another turn, he eyed Sephiroth with an air of caution.

“No, uhh... questions about your father?” Hollander asked. Sephiroth continued to gaze at the table.

“No questions needed. Or wanted.”

A smirk, followed by a nod, Hollander pressed no more. 

The night came to a close, and the two finally parted ways. Sephiroth made it to the materia store in time, and with spare gil, he bought a small can of soda at a machine tucked away in the store. He hid it within his jacket and rushed back to the Shinra Building.

He awoke on time for his 8 AM briefing with Hojo. He prepared his standard oatmeal breakfast, got dressed, and reported punctually, as usual. Hojo was waiting for him outside of the lab, pouring over his clipboard.

“You weren’t out too late last night, were you?” He asked. Sephiroth’s posture remained at-the-ready; appearing the perfect soldier.

“I was out all night.”

“Goo...” Hojo caught himself as he looked up at Sephiroth, who smirked.

“That was a joke,” he said, knowing what was coming next. Hojo’s face remained ever-perturbed, and he simply shook his head.

“Do not.”

“My apologies, sir,” Sephiroth said, still wearing a ghost of a smile. As the rest of those involved in the briefing stepped in, the day commenced, and life resumed as usual. Sephiroth would, at times, see Hollander in the halls of the science department. A knowing nod would be exchanged should they have caught a glance at each other before returning to work. One night, Sephiroth had free time after hours to go into town, and he sought out the bar, only to find few patrons and no one he knew. He still tried a game with the Automatic Player, and he promised himself to bring Angeal and Genesis here one night.

It was a week later, and Sephiroth was waiting for Hojo to dismiss him from his mako treatment. He sat, looking through his phone, and soon received a message from Angeal that he and Genesis were boarding the plane to return to Midgar. Relief and excitement took Sephiroth by surprise; he wasn’t used to feeling this way with others. He received a photo of the two, Angeal wearing a smile, and Genesis trying to appear photogenic despite their muddy conditions. Sephiroth beamed, almost confused by his own happiness; but this new emotion was as welcome as it was needed.

Finally, the door slid open; and Hojo walked inside, his eyes ever glued to his clipboard. He peered up at Sephiroth for a moment. 

“I noticed you bought a new materia,” he said. Sephiroth nodded.

“It was what I bought with my birthday money.”

Hojo’s face remained unimpressed as he set the clipboard down to remove the last of the tubes and wires from Sephiroth’s arms. “I wish you’d told me that was what you were getting.”

“Like you said; gifts are a burden-”

“We could have made that for you and we wouldn’t have had to waste giving money to a run-down shop.”

Sephiroth stopped. He stared at Hojo; something about his tone created a divide in what Sephiroth wanted to say. Something about the way Hojo continuously provided for the young man brought him comfort; yet his chastising nature caused Sephiroth to bristle. 

“I wanted to buy it. I wanted to make it my own.”

“Your own?” Hojo asked. “Don’t you have enough? Do we not provide you with everything you need?”

Sephiroth stared at him, words failing. But instead of falling back on apologies, his brow furrowed and he dug into the well of unsaid frustrations.

“You’re the one choosing what to provide me. I chose what I wanted.”

Even as calmly as this was said, Hojo halted what he was doing and he stared at Sephiroth, his eyes almost burrowing through the soldier.

“And what is it you want, boy?”

Sephiroth felt as though he was reverting back to childhood, yet he remained confident.

“I want my own choices. I want... to live.”

“You want to be like one of those reckless third class mutts? You want to lower yourself to that of a common creature? Is that it? Sephiroth, you’re better than that.”

“Then why do I need you to command my every hour?”

Hojo stood straight up, and as Sephiroth sat, he towered over the soldier; and despite his relaxed stance, Sephiroth could tell he was livid.

“You need me.”

“I don’t want to do this anymore-”

“You can’t stop being a SOLDIER.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Sephiroth finally stood, towering over Hojo. “I’m... I’m capable of doing this on my own.”

Hojo hadn’t flinched at Sephiroth’s true height. He crossed his arms, unimpressed. “Oh really? You’re already such an adult you can make it without me?”

“I’m ready to try, at least,” Sephiroth said, and with that, he proceeded to where his shirt hung on the wall, quickly slipping it on. “I’m... I’m tired. I’m going to go rest.”

“In the bunk that we provide you with? I thought you didn’t want that,” Hojo spat.

Sephiroth continued on his way out of the lab with Hojo furiously following him.

“You can’t treat me like this, Sephiroth. After everything I’ve done for you-”

“What about everything I’ve done for you?! For this company?!” Sephiroth shouted, reeling around on Hojo. “I’ve given my entire life, I’ve risked everything, I’ve killed for you! I’ve seen and heard things that would drive you mad-”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Hojo sneered. “You take me to be that weak? Boy, I thought we stamped this behavior out years ago.”

“Behavior? I’m not a hound you can keep caged up until you need me!”

Hojo opened his mouth; yet he relented.

“That you are not.”

“Then please,” Sephiroth said. “Please. Let me be.”

With that, Hojo stared silently at Sephiroth. He took one step back, and, with a tautness to his posture, he motioned for Sephiroth to proceed down the hall. 

“By all means. If you want to isolate yourself, so be it.”

Sephiroth felt something churn in his gut; fear started to spread. Was this worth it? To damage his ties with the most consistent figure in his life just for a bit of freedom? 

He shook his head; he fought to press on, and he walked forward. Just as he did, the elevator rang, and out walked Hollander, who almost reeled at the sight of Hojo. 

“Ugh, God,” Hollander said before turning to find Sephiroth. “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Excuse me?” Hojo asked as Hollander approached Sephiroth. He tossed something towards the soldier, and Sephiroth caught a small, wrapped gift. With a nod from Hollander, he opened it, finding a package of the Costa del Sol candies. 

“I told you I’d buy you a box. Happy birthday.”

“He can’t have those,” Hojo said. “He needs to stay away from-”

Before Hojo could finish Sephiroth was unwrapping and plunking a candy into his mouth. “Thanks, doc. I owe you. Pool tonight?”

“You’re on, kid,” Hollander grinned as Sephiroth walked out of sight. Hojo cornered Hollander, aiming a fist at Hollander’s jaw.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Hojo screamed. Hollander winced, looking at Hojo.

“I didn’t do anything. But you’ve done enou-”

“Spare me, Victor. What did you tell him?!”

“Nothing. But I know what you told him about Lucrecia. Or what you didn’t tell him.”

Hojo froze. Hollander’s nose wrinkled. “That’s right. Jenova? Really?”

“You’re the reason why he’s behaving this way. You’ve tampered with my son!”

“Bullshit,” Hollander growled. “Did you honestly think you could keep the most powerful man alive at your fingertips for his whole life?”

“You’re going to regret this,” Hojo snarled. Hollander shook his head.

“I’ve regretted every damn day of my life since Shinra took Gillian and Angeal from me. Try me. I live for this.”

A few more heated moments as the two seethed just inches away from each other, and Hojo turned on his heel, returning to the labs without another sound. 

Hollander’s cell phone chimed, signaling a company-wide update. He opened his mail to read that another successful troupe was returning to Midgar. He sighed in relief, knowing that meant Angeal and Genesis were returning to Midgar. He rubbed his jaw, which was swelling, and he looked at his watch, remembering that he now had a game with Sephiroth later that night.

He hoped his gift would be enough to win the soldier over, so that perhaps Hollander could have a better chance of acquainting himself with his own boys through Sephiroth.

It would be unfortunate, though when his potential plans came to fruition; whatever they may be. They would not be easy on Sephiroth; or anyone for that matter. But he was prepared for it.

Gifts carried burdens. And Sephiroth’s burden was the first gift he was given by Lucrecia: His own life.

#luna writes #I apologize this is so out of practice #Crisis Core #Hollander #Sephiroth #Hojo

[adelineadkin]

The Discipline of Vavilov? Judicial Review in the Absence of Reasons

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Discipline of Vavilov? Judicial Review in the Absence of Reasons

Decision commented on: Alexis v Alberta (Environment and Parks), 2020 ABCA 188 (CanLII)

One of the “wait-and-sees” following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 (CanLII) was the question of whether or not (and if so, to what extent) the Court’s guidance as to reasonableness review (where applicable) would result in a greater degree of scrutiny of the reasoning supporting administrative decisions. Another but related question was the application of that guidance to decisions for which there is no duty to provide reasons, and where the decision-maker provides no such reasons. This recent decision of the Court of Appeal (unanimous in terms of the decision to quash – some difference between the members of the Court as to the remedy) provides guidance on both questions.

The decision does suggest that reasonableness scrutiny will be more searching and that the failure to provide reasons may not render the decision inscrutable or presumptively reasonable. One possible result of this is that it might lead government lawyers acting for statutory decision makers to advise their clients to provide reasons, even where not obliged to do so by statute or natural justice. The rationale for doing so would be to make sure that as convincing a case as possible can be made for the decision in question, and to forestall the possibility that a reviewing court will draw inferences or identify unbridgeable gaps in reasoning between an application and an ultimate decision. If so that would be a good outcome. As another panel of the Court of Appeal has observed in another recent decision (Mohr v Strathcona (County), 2020 ABCA 187 (CanLII) at para 35 (per Slatter JA)), reasons serve “(a) to tell the parties why a decision was made; (b) to provide public accountability for that decision; and (c) to permit effective appellate review.” See also an earlier post on the importance of reasons in administrative decision-making in a somewhat different context: “Reasons, Respect and Reconciliation.”

Wayfinder Corp. was the proponent of a project (Big Molly) to develop a deposit of silica sand for use as a proppant for fracking purposes in the oil and gas industry. The project included development of a sand pit with a production of about 500,000 tonnes/year of sand and an estimated 15 year life. The project would also involve lined ponds, a slurry pipeline, and closed loop facilities for de-watering, washing, drying, and storage of the produced sand. Trucks would take the product to customers in Fox Creek and northern Alberta.

In October 2017, Wayfinder’s environmental consultant wrote to the Director of Environmental Assessments under s 44 of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, RSA 2000, c E-12 (EPEA) requesting a ruling as to whether the project required EPEA registration or approval and thus whether or not an environmental impact assessment (EIA) would be required. The request consisted of a covering letter, a map showing the location of the extraction site, a one-page project summary and a one-page project description.

For present purposes, the question of whether or not the project was a mandatory activity. If the project is a mandatory activity the Director shall “direct the proponent by order in writing to prepare and submit an environmental impact assessment report in accordance with this Division”. The Environmental Assessment (Mandatory and Exempted Activities) Regulation, Alta Reg 111/1993 provides a list of mandatory activities including “[t]he construction, operation or reclamation of… (b) a quarry producing more than 45 000 tonnes per year”.  Section 1 of EPEA defines “quarry” as meaning “any opening in, excavation in or working of the surface or subsurface for the purpose of working, recovering, opening up or proving (i)  any mineral other than coal, a coal bearing substance, oil sands or an oil sands bearing substance …”. EPEA defines minerals in s 1(ll) as meaning:

all naturally occurring minerals, including, without limitation, gold, silver, uranium, platinum, pitchblende, radium, precious stones, copper, iron, tin, zinc, asbestos, salts, sulphur, petroleum, oil, asphalt, bituminous sands, oil sands, natural gas, coal, anhydrite, barite, bauxite, bentonite, diatomite, dolomite, epsomite, granite, gypsum, limestone, marble, mica, mirabilite, potash, quartz rock, rock phosphate, sandstone, serpentine, shale, slate, talc, thenardite, trona and volcanic ash. (emphasis added)

The EPEA definition of minerals therefore has two components: “one exhaustive and the other nonexhaustive” (at para 61). The majority notes at para 84, “We do not understand why the definition of minerals includes a nonexhaustive enumerated list of minerals.” “Sand” is not included in the definition of minerals, but then neither are other substances that would universally be recognized as minerals, such as lead and zinc.

In addition to these definitions, the minority (Justice Dawn Pentelechuk) also considered that the project might be classified as a pit (at para 149). EPEA defines a pit to mean “any opening in, excavation in or working of the surface or subsurface made for the purpose of removing sand, gravel, clay or marl and includes any associated infrastructure, but does not include a mine or quarry.” It is notable that this definition expressly references “sand” but it also makes it clear that a project cannot be a quarry and a pit; i.e. a project must be one or the other.

Less than a month after receiving the application, the Director informed Wayfinder that it did not have to submit an EIA for the Big Molly Project. The following seem to be the entire “reasons” for the decision (at para 28):

I wish to advise you that … I have considered the application of the environmental assessment process to your proposed Wayfinder Corp., Big Molly Project. This activity is not a mandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment. Having regard to the consideration set out in Section 44(3) of EPEA, I have decided that further assessment of the activity is not required. Therefore, a screening report will not be prepared and an environmental impact assessment report is not required.

Further inquiries from Mr. Alexis adduced the following additional comment (at para 30): “[Environmental impact assessment] … is discretionary since the Project involves the recovery of sand using a pit greater than 2 hectares.” At this point, Mr. Alexis applied for judicial review (JR) of the Director’s decision not to require an EIA.

The JR judge, Justice Paul Jeffrey, in oral unreported reasons and applying a standard of review of reasonableness, concluded that it was “within the range of acceptable outcomes” for the Director to conclude that sand was not a mineral within the meaning of EPEA and that therefore an EIA was not required (quoted at para 32 of the CA decision). In doing so, it seems fair to say that Justice Jeffrey, in a pre-Vavilov decision, effectively identified a line of reasoning that might have justified the conclusion by, inter alia. referring to the definitions of minerals in the Mines and Minerals Act, RSA 2000, c M-17 (MMA), and the Law of Property Act, RSA 2000, c L-7 (LPA).

On the appeal, the majority emphasized that the Director gave no reasons for her key conclusion that the proposed project was a pit and not a quarry. In the absence of any reasons on that crucial point, the majority engaged in its own analysis of the statutory interpretation issue, concluding that the open definition of minerals in EPEA could not be confined by the non-exhaustive list of examples. As a result, sand had to be a mineral. Furthermore, the proponent’s own description of the project made it clear that the project was a quarry, and since it was a quarry it could not be a pit.

Given that the project passed the volumetric threshold in the regulation for a reviewable project (i.e. it would produce more than 45 000 tonnes per year of sand), an EIA was required. In the majority’s view this was the only possible interpretation and thus it saw no need to refer the matter back to the Director. Instead, it ordered the Director to notify Wayfinder that it would need to submit an EIA report. The majority reinforced this analysis by noting that it was not permissible to reference either the LPA or the MMA in construing the definition of mineral in EPEA since neither statute was in pari materia with the EPEA. The majority also took comfort from classifying the project as a quarry rather than a pit on the grounds that this interpretation would increase the number of projects requiring environmental review, which is consistent with the purposes of EPEA (at para 101).

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the majority’s analysis is, in effect, a correctness analysis. It can be justified on the basis that the Director’s decision gave the court very little to go on (i.e. the were no reasons to provide a starting point) but that’s the nature of a decision without reasons. Post-Vavilov, and in a case which can be framed as a pure question of statutory interpretation, it may be fairly easy for a Court to question the major premise on which an administrative decision-maker’s decision turns: in this case, quarry or pit.

Justice Pentelechuk’s minority judgment is more nuanced and perhaps, because of that, more consistent with the instructions of the Vavilov majority. In particular, she notes that the distinction between a pit and a quarry might depend upon the scope of activities associated with the project (at para 178). Given that, the apparent failure of the Director to make additional inquiries along these lines, despite concerns raised by staff (at para 183), brought into question (at para 184) “the reasonableness of the Director’s decision.” The following three paragraphs expand upon this point:

[185]      As already noted, while the Director did not provide reasons, the record does show that the Director’s staff contemplated the Project as involving more than the simple removal of sand. They considered whether the “washing plant component” would need an approval under the Activities Designation Regulation, rather than simply a registration. As a pit only requires registration under that Regulation, they were necessarily considering whether the scope of activities at the plant might constitute more than a pit. This leads to a contradictory conclusion; the Project cannot both be something more than a pit and also be only a pit.

[186]      In their discussions regarding the Project, the staff seemed to treat the extraction of sand and the treatment of the sand as two separate projects with different requirements. However, in the result, the Director lumped the Project activities together, deciding that because the sand removal did not require an EIA, the treatment of the sand at the plant did not either.

[187]      As established in Vavilov, “a decision will be unreasonable if the reasons for it, read holistically… reveal that the decision was based on an irrational chain of analysis”: para 103. While the reasons for the Director’s decision are not complete or transparent, the parts that are discernable from the record reveal precisely such an irrational chain of analysis.

As a result, Justice Pentelechuk was able to join the majority in concluding that (at para 188), “the dearth of reasons, lack of information on the record, and contradictory conclusions made by staff members render the Director’s decision unreasonable.” But she could not join the majority in concluding that there was only one inevitable outcome. In particular, her analysis revealed the need for a more careful and fact-based examination of the distinction between a quarry and a pit in light of the activities included within the project description. As indicated above, this seems to me to be more consistent with the deferential, but more searching, analysis that Vavilov demands than is the majority opinion, which reads more like a correctness analysis.

Either way, both opinions seem to demand a harder look at administrative decisions post-Vavilov than pre-Vavi­lov, whether reasons or no reasons; and if this is the start of a trend then that is some cause for optimism that discretionary decisions under environmental statutes will need a harder look and will need to be scrutinized in light of the object and purposes of those statutes. But, as with the saying “one swallow does not a summer make,” we likely need to “wait-and-see” a little longer before reaching any more definitive conclusions.

This post may be cited as: Nigel Bankes, “The Discipline of Vavilov? Judicial Review in the Absence of Reasons” (May 12, 2020), online: ABlawg, http://ablawg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Blog_NB_Alexis.pdf

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Follow us on Twitter @ABlawg

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[bearpillowmonster]

FF7 Remake Review (Gameplay)

Great big pizza in the sky? Ha, yeah!

I never played the original FF7, all I know is the stuff from Kingdom Hearts and (spoilers) Aerith dying which puts me in a unique position. If my opinion is a little swayed then it’s because this is my first experience. However before you say I don’t have any experience and you don’t care what I think, I did play through a decent amount of Crisis Core before I lost my save file but finished by watching a cutscene compilation on YouTube and got the whole scoop. This will be spoilers since it’s been a while since the game came out but I’m doing it through exposure, gameplay first, characters next, then story, if you don’t want any of the first two spoiled then I suppose you’re already sold on the game but I’m making then separate parts because of how much there is. There will be some things I’ll compare to the original game in the later parts, only because I looked it up after beating the game.

Let’s start with gameplay. I’m not a fan of turn based, which makes it a good thing that this game doesn’t exactly have that. There are a lot of things I could compare it to and people are going to say it originated from somewhere else but I don’t care. So the combat is more real-time action based, so you can actually hit square and you’ll attack vs picking a command and having turns. You do have commands to heal and use special abilities and magic like Kingdom Hearts and bringing up that command menu slows time so much that it’s almost a stand still so you have time to think about what you’re going to do. The core combat is regular, kind of like FFXV but better (much better in my opinion.) There is a stagger meter which I’ve seen in FF13, you attack consistently and the enemy will break under pressure and is vulnerable to more damage, some abilities may be stronger in this instance and is also used much better in this gameplay style.

It’s true you can play as other characters, this is during combat, it’s really enjoyable playing as them. If you’re really feeling up to it, you can command them what to do, what to focus on, what attacks to use, while controlling your main. You’re going to have a harder time in some instances with Cloud than you would using a more effective character like Barrett. Imagine turrets that are high up, it’s hard to reach with a sword right? That also goes for if an enemy traps you, just jump ship and play as the other character to get the enemy off. (Imagine playing as Donald Duck to heal Sora instead of waiting for him to do it himself as an NPC) plus maybe you equipped a specific command to a character or want to use their specials. I like the fast pace and how they’re actively telling you stuff that needs to be done, during both combat and regular gameplay, there’s always a conversation. One thing that you need to keep all your party members in sync by the ending, I gave 3 of my characters the good and maxed materia while I just had regular stuff for the other, rotate your materia and make sure you have one readily available for each member to use rather than switch it out when the time is right, I’ve had to fight bosses weak to something such as lightning and not have it equipped because the two party members that do have it equipped, aren’t in the battle so I had to cheese it just using limits and abilities.

With the gameplay variety comes different types of weapons for each member, for example, with Cloud if you use the buster sword, it’s the combat I’ve described along with Punisher mode which is heavy attacks in sets, but I believe your guard is lowered a little, you can’t dodge, and you can’t do aerial combat in this mode (don’t worry, you just press triangle to change it) but with something like a Nailed bat, he powers up his swing which can take some much needed time but has a strong impact (seeing as you’ve upgraded it) and some come with naturally better stats, like higher power/magic. Trust me, it sounds more complicated than it actually is, I even thought it looked more complicated in the E3 presentation but no, don’t take its looks at face value, just feel it for yourself, you can ease into it.

The way it interweaves between cutscene, venturing, and combat is very smooth, comparable to how KH3 does it because gone are the text boxes of yesterday, and here are the full fledged voice acted cutscenes (with subtitles) of today. This is very nice but at the same time, I like to talk to randoms and then skim and walk away in most games, but this one makes you wait until they finish saying their sentence, which isn’t bad, it’s only a sentence but just a thing I do in my impatience. It does help with the world building because even just walking around, you’ll hear people talk and the sidebar will have their dialogue so it’s out of the way and not in your face and you know it’s just side stuff.

Speaking of “Out of the way”, I get anxious over menus and sub menus and certain games being complicated, hence the reason I don’t like turn based combat, the two seem to go together, but this game takes everything that I don’t like about them and turns it on its head, it’s really good, nothing is cluttered, yet I don’t have to search for stuff, very good organization and capitalized on the stuff I actually like from FF.

With that being said though, this still has side quests and I kind of hate a lot of the side quests in FF games in general, with FFXV, I would get a roadblock because I needed more EXP before going any farther and the only way to do that is through side quests, I was able to do it a bit better with this one though especially since it’s only available during certain chapters and you’re always on the move fighting enemies for EXP anyway. If you’re going to do the quests though, you either do it all at once or not at all (for that chapter) because it gives you what I would call a grace period of an allotted time to explore the place and do some side quests but you can’t go back and do them, so you can’t switch between main quests and then do a few side ones which in a way I can respect because it keeps the narrative rolling in my opinion since you’re going sector you sector but just something fundamental that is either respected or hated. That is until after you finish the game, then you get chapter select, which is a great idea makes me glad I can just jump back in if there’s something I want to do really bad.

One of the main things I hated about FF12 is that I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, in fact the only reason I got that game is because I got my Roman numerals mixed up and thought XII was VII and they just ported VII to the PS2 but no. This game is decent at telling you where to go, however, it expects you to explore for some of them, it doesn’t always show where to go on the map. Internet is a lot more convenient these days so it’s not too much trouble, I never spent a lot of time on being lost, let’s put it that way. XV has those really tough enemies in certain areas that you could just run away from if you’re under leveled but with this more linear setup, it has a lot more control with its leveling. That reminds me, whenever you do finish a side quest, it asks you if you want to fast travel back so you don’t have to go through the hassle of running back.

One thing I do regret is not seeing where the summons were because by the time I actually got into it, I had already passed most of them so check up on that as well as limits. Another interesting and funny tidbit is that I went through the game with basic spells, yeah, I didn’t know how to change from Thunder to Thundaga, that includes Cure so I had to use it multiple times to even make a dent with my characters and I still had a blast? (Hint you just go to use the base command and just press right on the D-pad) Like it wasn’t even overly difficult like you’d expect, it just costs less MP. I did the same thing with KH2 by not equipping a new keyblade/chain until the Xaldin boss so it’s just me being oblivious. Serves me right for trying to do it blindly.

Also I would ask myself how each boss was after I played it and even with the annoying ones, I would think “I still had fun.” Except maybe the Trypapolis’ if you consider those a boss, there’s 3 and they are during the Chocobo retrieval side quest so it’s not even mandatory but I did all the Ch.14 ones and oh boy this boss isn’t hard, no. You can use an ability called “Assess” which tells you what you can use against it for maximum damage and what not to use against it, well these things don’t have a weakness but they are resistant to attack and magic, those are how you beat any enemy so you would think “use an item?” Right? Nope. “Stagger and get more damage?” Nope, the stagger only lasts a literal second. You sit there and do chip damage, they are literal sponges and only attack every so often with a few Aerogas, pointless time wasting battle. FFXV is open world which is a love hate relationship for me, FF13 is very linear...not much to say about that. This is a middle ground, the soft spot, I’m comfortable within its confines, and that’s supposedly one of the main complaints I was seeing in other reviews so it’s just whatever you prefer I suppose. Look at it this way, it was a PS1 game before, why would it suddenly be open world? I’d compare it to the original MGS, though I think there was more backtracking in that one. I would also compare it with, once again, Kingdom Hearts 3 because that’s pretty much all I ever play, it depends on what area you’re in and what’s going on and this that and the other thing. One more thing, Chapter 7’s lever puzzle is stupid, I did exactly as it said and it wasn’t enough.

Man, I haven’t done a review this long and in depth since KH3 but there’s so much to talk about here, it’s unreal. Check out the next 2 parts:

(PART 2)

(PART 3)

#ff7 #remake #final fantasy 7 #review #game #gameplay

[lopezdorothy70-blog]

The World Anti-Doping Agency Just Gave Olympic Athletes the Green Light to Use CBD Products

The World Anti-Doping Agency just gave Olympic athletes the green light to use CBD products - or cannabinoids - to manage their pain.

And it only took 2,800 years. More on that in a moment…

The ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides wrote extensively about CBD and cannabis in his five-volume medical text.

This is huge news for people who depend on their bodies to perform at peak levels day in and day out.

But it's also big news for my patients at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine.

You see, living where I do in South Florida, I have a lot of patients of retirement age. And they moved to this area so they could enjoy their days outdoors playing golf and tennis all year round.

But the aches and pains that go along with getting older sometimes keep my patients from doing the things they love.

My patients want natural solutions to treat their pain. And that's what I offer them. But now, I have a new tool in my arsenal that's highly effective, natural and safe - CBD.

You see, my patients know that Big Pharma's painkillers are not a good long-term choice. By now, everyone is aware of the opioid epidemic in our country. But even over-the-counter pain meds are dangerous…

Low-dose aspirin is toxic when taken too often. Regular use increases your risk of bleeding, getting ulcers, developing hearing loss and having liver and kidney failure.1 Even conventional doctors and the FDA have stopped recommending that everyone take a low-dose aspirin daily because they finally get that the risks outweigh any benefit.

Acetaminophen, or Tylenol, is marketed as the world's safest drug. But recent studies found it can increase blood pressure, double your risk of certain cancers, lead to broken bones and cause liver damage.2,3,4,5

NSAIDs increase your risk of heart attack and stroke - within just one week of consistent use. And the more you use, the more your risk goes up.6

Cannabis-based remedies were one of the world's leading medicines for thousands of years.

The two oldest forms of medicine - Ayurveda and Chinese - used CBD oil to treat everything from high blood pressure and cancer to sexual dysfunction and pain. And the ancient Egyptians wrote extensively about it in the world's oldest medical textbook, the Ebers Papyrus.

And as it turns out, the very first Olympians, back in 776 B.C., used CBD oil to treat a variety of illnesses and ailments.

Years later, the ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, wrote extensively about it in his medical text De Materia Medica.

In this five-volume pharmacopoeia, he said that “[cannabis] is a plant of much use in this life” and that its uses include… “the treatment of inflammation and [arthritis],” as well as the “twisting of the sinews,” or tendons.7

CBD was also widely used extensively in America until the 1930s. In fact, it made up half of all medicines prescribed and sold.

But then the government got involved and declared this lifesaving drug illegal. Luckily, they've reversed course in recent years. Today, CBD products are legal in some states.

That's a relief for a lot of my patients because CBD is leading a pain-relieving revolution we haven't seen since the invention of aspirin. And today's research backs up what 10,000 years of use has found.

A 2012 study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine found that CBD significantly suppressed chronic inflammation and pain in animals without causing either tolerance or addiction.8

In a separate study, researchers applied CBD oil to severely arthritic rats for four days. Their research reported a significant drop in inflammation and pain, without side effects.9

A third study followed 2,700 cancer patients in severe pain for six months. After using CBD oil, almost every single study participant reported that their chronic pain was cut in half - with none of the side effects they got from their prescription medications.

If severe pain were all that CBD treated, I'd still recommend it. But this miracle oil has also been proven to treat cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and heart disease. Look for more on that in a future letter…

Knock Out Pain with These 3 Herbal Remedies

Take the original aspirin. White willow bark contains salicin, the same compound found in aspirin. It comes from a tree native to Europe and Asia. Hippocrates had his patients chew on white willow bark to reduce inflammation.

Studies show it not only relieves arthritis pain but also increases mobility in the back, knees, hips and other joints. And a study in the American Journal of Medicine found it extremely effective for lower back pain.

I recommend 240 mg per day.

Try the “golden miracle.” That's what I call curcumin. This South Indian spice has 619 health benefits that are supported by nearly 7,000 studies. But curcumin is best known as a powerful anti-inflammatory. In fact, studies show it reduces arthritis joint pain by 60% and joint swelling by 73%. Another clinical trial found it was more effective than prescription strength NSAID.

Look for a supplement that contains piperine. This black pepper extract boosts absorbency by 2,000%.

I recommend 400 mg to 500 mg twice a day.

Use this “NSAID substitute.” That's how researchers at the University of Miami refer to ginger. In their study, they compared a ginger extract to a placebo in 247 patients with osteoarthritis. The ginger reduced pain and stiffness in knee joints by 40% over the placebo.11 And a second study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that ginger reduce pain in both muscles and joints by as much as 25%.12

Ginger contains 12 different compounds that fight excess inflammation. Some block the enzyme which triggers it. Some lower pain-receptor and nerve-ending sensitivity. Together they work as well as any over-the-counter remedy you can find.

I recommend you take 750 mg of liquid ginger extract a day.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD, CNS

P.S. I'm currently working on my own CBD product to release in the next couple of months. With my decades of experience searching for natural herbal cures around the world, this seemed like the obvious next step.

The studies and research I've read have been incredible. And I can't wait to share this new powerful no-prescription-required treatment with my patients. Stay tuned!

1. Harvard Health Letter. Weighing the risks and benefits of aspirin therapy. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/weighing-the-risks-and-benefits-of-aspirin-therapy. November 2017. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 2. Harvard Health Letter. Acetaminophen may boost blood pressure. February 2011. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/acetaminophen-may-boost-blood-pressure. Accessed May 8, 2018. 3. Walter RB, et al. “Long-term use of acetaminophen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of hematologic malignancies: results from the prospective Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study.” J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(17):2424-2431. 4. Williams LJ, et. al. “Paracetamol (acetaminophen) use, fracture and bone mineral density.” Bone. 2011;48(6):1277-1281. 5. FDA U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Can an aspirin a day help prevent a heart attack? 6. Harvard Health Publishing. FDA strengthens warning that NSAIDs increase heart attack and stroke risk. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-strengthens-warning-that-nsaids-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-201507138138. Updated August 22, 2017. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 7. Pedanius Dioscorides. Full Text of De Materia Medica. https://archive.org/stream/de-materia-medica/scribd-download.com_dioscorides-de-materia-medica_djvu.txt. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 8. Xiong W, et al. “Cannabinoids suppress inflammatory and neuropathic pain by targeting α3 glycine receptors.” J Exp Med. 2012;209(6):1121-1134. 9. Hammell DC, et al. “Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain-related behaviours in a rat model of arthritis.” Eur J Pain. 2016; 20(6): 936-948. 10. Chandran B and Goel A. “A randomized, pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of curcumin in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.” Phytother Res. 2012;26(11):1719-1725. 11. Altman RD and Marcussen KC. “Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis.” Arthritis Rheum. 2001;44(11):2531-2538. 12. Ozgoli G, et al. “Comparison of effects of ginger, mefenamic acid, and ibuprofen on pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea.” J Altern Complement Med. 2009;15(2):129-132.

The post The World Anti-Doping Agency Just Gave Olympic Athletes the Green Light to Use CBD Products appeared first on Dr. Al Sears, MD Anti Aging Pioneer Alternative Health Newsletter.

[battybat-boss]

The World Anti-Doping Agency Just Gave Olympic Athletes the Green Light to Use CBD Products

The World Anti-Doping Agency just gave Olympic athletes the green light to use CBD products - or cannabinoids - to manage their pain.

And it only took 2,800 years. More on that in a moment…

The ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides wrote extensively about CBD and cannabis in his five-volume medical text.

This is huge news for people who depend on their bodies to perform at peak levels day in and day out.

But it's also big news for my patients at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine.

You see, living where I do in South Florida, I have a lot of patients of retirement age. And they moved to this area so they could enjoy their days outdoors playing golf and tennis all year round.

But the aches and pains that go along with getting older sometimes keep my patients from doing the things they love.

My patients want natural solutions to treat their pain. And that's what I offer them. But now, I have a new tool in my arsenal that's highly effective, natural and safe - CBD.

You see, my patients know that Big Pharma's painkillers are not a good long-term choice. By now, everyone is aware of the opioid epidemic in our country. But even over-the-counter pain meds are dangerous…

Low-dose aspirin is toxic when taken too often. Regular use increases your risk of bleeding, getting ulcers, developing hearing loss and having liver and kidney failure.1 Even conventional doctors and the FDA have stopped recommending that everyone take a low-dose aspirin daily because they finally get that the risks outweigh any benefit.

Acetaminophen, or Tylenol, is marketed as the world's safest drug. But recent studies found it can increase blood pressure, double your risk of certain cancers, lead to broken bones and cause liver damage.2,3,4,5

NSAIDs increase your risk of heart attack and stroke - within just one week of consistent use. And the more you use, the more your risk goes up.6

Cannabis-based remedies were one of the world's leading medicines for thousands of years.

The two oldest forms of medicine - Ayurveda and Chinese - used CBD oil to treat everything from high blood pressure and cancer to sexual dysfunction and pain. And the ancient Egyptians wrote extensively about it in the world's oldest medical textbook, the Ebers Papyrus.

And as it turns out, the very first Olympians, back in 776 B.C., used CBD oil to treat a variety of illnesses and ailments.

Years later, the ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, wrote extensively about it in his medical text De Materia Medica.

In this five-volume pharmacopoeia, he said that “[cannabis] is a plant of much use in this life” and that its uses include… “the treatment of inflammation and [arthritis],” as well as the “twisting of the sinews,” or tendons.7

CBD was also widely used extensively in America until the 1930s. In fact, it made up half of all medicines prescribed and sold.

But then the government got involved and declared this lifesaving drug illegal. Luckily, they've reversed course in recent years. Today, CBD products are legal in some states.

That's a relief for a lot of my patients because CBD is leading a pain-relieving revolution we haven't seen since the invention of aspirin. And today's research backs up what 10,000 years of use has found.

A 2012 study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine found that CBD significantly suppressed chronic inflammation and pain in animals without causing either tolerance or addiction.8

In a separate study, researchers applied CBD oil to severely arthritic rats for four days. Their research reported a significant drop in inflammation and pain, without side effects.9

A third study followed 2,700 cancer patients in severe pain for six months. After using CBD oil, almost every single study participant reported that their chronic pain was cut in half - with none of the side effects they got from their prescription medications.

If severe pain were all that CBD treated, I'd still recommend it. But this miracle oil has also been proven to treat cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and heart disease. Look for more on that in a future letter…

Knock Out Pain with These 3 Herbal Remedies

Take the original aspirin. White willow bark contains salicin, the same compound found in aspirin. It comes from a tree native to Europe and Asia. Hippocrates had his patients chew on white willow bark to reduce inflammation.

Studies show it not only relieves arthritis pain but also increases mobility in the back, knees, hips and other joints. And a study in the American Journal of Medicine found it extremely effective for lower back pain.

I recommend 240 mg per day.

Try the “golden miracle.” That's what I call curcumin. This South Indian spice has 619 health benefits that are supported by nearly 7,000 studies. But curcumin is best known as a powerful anti-inflammatory. In fact, studies show it reduces arthritis joint pain by 60% and joint swelling by 73%. Another clinical trial found it was more effective than prescription strength NSAID.

Look for a supplement that contains piperine. This black pepper extract boosts absorbency by 2,000%.

I recommend 400 mg to 500 mg twice a day.

Use this “NSAID substitute.” That's how researchers at the University of Miami refer to ginger. In their study, they compared a ginger extract to a placebo in 247 patients with osteoarthritis. The ginger reduced pain and stiffness in knee joints by 40% over the placebo.11 And a second study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that ginger reduce pain in both muscles and joints by as much as 25%.12

Ginger contains 12 different compounds that fight excess inflammation. Some block the enzyme which triggers it. Some lower pain-receptor and nerve-ending sensitivity. Together they work as well as any over-the-counter remedy you can find.

I recommend you take 750 mg of liquid ginger extract a day.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD, CNS

P.S. I'm currently working on my own CBD product to release in the next couple of months. With my decades of experience searching for natural herbal cures around the world, this seemed like the obvious next step.

The studies and research I've read have been incredible. And I can't wait to share this new powerful no-prescription-required treatment with my patients. Stay tuned!

1. Harvard Health Letter. Weighing the risks and benefits of aspirin therapy. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/weighing-the-risks-and-benefits-of-aspirin-therapy. November 2017. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 2. Harvard Health Letter. Acetaminophen may boost blood pressure. February 2011. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/acetaminophen-may-boost-blood-pressure. Accessed May 8, 2018. 3. Walter RB, et al. “Long-term use of acetaminophen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of hematologic malignancies: results from the prospective Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study.” J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(17):2424-2431. 4. Williams LJ, et. al. “Paracetamol (acetaminophen) use, fracture and bone mineral density.” Bone. 2011;48(6):1277-1281. 5. FDA U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Can an aspirin a day help prevent a heart attack? 6. Harvard Health Publishing. FDA strengthens warning that NSAIDs increase heart attack and stroke risk. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-strengthens-warning-that-nsaids-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-201507138138. Updated August 22, 2017. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 7. Pedanius Dioscorides. Full Text of De Materia Medica. https://archive.org/stream/de-materia-medica/scribd-download.com_dioscorides-de-materia-medica_djvu.txt. Accessed on August 17, 2018. 8. Xiong W, et al. “Cannabinoids suppress inflammatory and neuropathic pain by targeting α3 glycine receptors.” J Exp Med. 2012;209(6):1121-1134. 9. Hammell DC, et al. “Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain-related behaviours in a rat model of arthritis.” Eur J Pain. 2016; 20(6): 936-948. 10. Chandran B and Goel A. “A randomized, pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of curcumin in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.” Phytother Res. 2012;26(11):1719-1725. 11. Altman RD and Marcussen KC. “Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis.” Arthritis Rheum. 2001;44(11):2531-2538. 12. Ozgoli G, et al. “Comparison of effects of ginger, mefenamic acid, and ibuprofen on pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea.” J Altern Complement Med. 2009;15(2):129-132.

The post The World Anti-Doping Agency Just Gave Olympic Athletes the Green Light to Use CBD Products appeared first on Dr. Al Sears, MD Anti Aging Pioneer Alternative Health Newsletter.

[wizardsnwookies]

Campaign Diary- TOD102517

The temple of Oghma was quiet that night despite the activity inside. Dain had reappeared from his banishment plane the moment the Warlock died, but he was not whole. Dain’s mind had been enfeebled, a definite handicap on an already simple-minded dwarf. The priests shuffled him off to one room to cast a spell of Greater Restoration. Meanwhile, Waldorf had holed himself up in the study to quietly examine the soul gem.

Osborne sat on the floor just outside the study, exhausted both physically and emotionally. He said not a word when the newly restored Dain walked past him to help the old wizard with his examinations, but instead stared ahead of him. He had a renewed hope that his sister would be restored to him but all he could think about were the bodies he had left in his wake.

One call, one simple decision had brought so much death and suffering...all by his hands. At one time he and Skydancer were equals in decision making, they worked together to forge the path forward. Ever since he learned of what had become of the brother of one slain by his ill-advised tactical call, he no longer was confident in his ability to choose.

“Osborne...” Waldorf cut into his thoughts as wrinkled hand waved him inside. Osborne stood and entered to find his sister laid out upon a cot in the room. He had no idea when she had been moved.

“So, you can do yes?”

“Yes, I can. However, I must warn you hers is not the only soul within the gem.”

“I figured.The Warlock’s sister?”

“Yes.” Waldorf hung his head sadly. “You must know, that I can restore your sister, but to do so would mean the destruction of the other soul that resides within.”

Osborne felt like he had been punched in the gut. It wasn’t bad enough that he had resided this poor woman to the afterlife to begin with, but now he must decide on whether or not to destroy her very soul?

It wasn’t a difficult decision, not for Osborne. Which perhaps made him feel worse. His sister was in such a state because of the Warlock’s tampering of the natural order. The poor woman’s soul who had died so long ago, had been slain by natural means. Her death was that of the proper order of things, the preservation of her soul was far from natural and proper. It did not belong on this plane, in this state. In this way of thinking he could justify the decision...that didn’t mean he had to like it though.

“Do it.”

Waldorf nodded grimly and turned to Dain, together they began the ritual. Osborne watched, displaced from the activity. The chanting, the materia, the somatic movements were all beyond him, all he knew was to stay out of the way.

Within a few minutes, the gem was placed upon Rose’s chest and began to glow. As the spell continued it pulsed with a bright sapphire light that bathed the entire room. Then, her body lurched forward, arching her back several inches off the cot before returning to rest. Her breathing became, different, more relaxed and her eyes began to flutter. Osborne forced himself to watch as Rose’s eyes slowly began to open, and the gem on her chest shattered and turned into dust.

“Where...where am I?”

“Shhhhh, take care young lady. You are safe.” Waldorf smiled and moved aside to allow Osborne to take his place by her side. 

“Osborne?” The face Rose looked up into was not what she remembered. It had the vague semblance of her brother, a ghostly memory of a man that once was, now overlayed with scars, silver hairs, and purple shadows under the eyes.

“It’s OK Rose, you’re in Waterdeep.”

“Waterdeep? What am I doing here? Why do I feel so strange?”

“It’s a long story...too long for the moment. The short version is we brought you here because there’s people that can help you. Just rest for now, I’ll explain everything later.”

Osborne closed the door to the study behind him and looked up at the withered old man before him. 

“Waldorf...thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“I think I have some idea young man.” Waldorf smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I recently had someone dear returned to me myself.”

“Right...your grandson. Still, thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. You are a good friend Osborne.”

Osborne smirked, he couldn’t help but find humor in the statement. So many times he had nothing but harsh words and exasperation for the old man. “Yeah...you too.”

“Group hug!!!” Without warning Dain wrapped twin burly arms around the two and hugged them close giving Osborne’s senses an assault with old man and dwarf musk which was far from a pleasant mixture.

“Ok...yeah, that’s enough of that.”

---

King Malendrag ushered the party into a small ante chamber issued to him by the council for his personal use before and after meetings. Despite the brief time he used it, he still managed to invest the time and money to make it as comfortable as his personal desires required. He sat down on a plush chair and took a sip of elderwine from a silver goblet that one of his assistants placed before him the moment his behind hit the cushion.

“What is it you would like to speak to me about that couldn’t wait for a public setting?”

“We have taken care of your dragon problem in the Misty Woods, your son and the people were very appreciative.” Skydancer looked the elf king dead in the eye when she passed the princes letter to him across the table. Malendrag at first betrayed a look of confusion before recognition hit.

“I...see.” The King’s eyes grew cold as he read over the letter and his body visibly tensed. He took time now with his words. “You have done my people a great service. Although I’m sure given time my methods would have had the same results. Shame you didn’t slay the dragon outright...”

“There’s more I’m afraid.” Despite her feelings towards the king, Skydancer approached the next topic very delicately. “There’s no pleasant way to address this, but your son was the wymspeaker behind the attacks.”

“What? That’s...I have but one son.” 

“No, you have another. The eldest, by name of Narenvane.” Skydancer slowly slid the journal across the table. “I’m sorry, but we had to slay him.”

Malendrag’s face was flushing red, staring daggers at the group. Quickly he snatched up the leather-bound book and flipped through the pages. Slowly at first, then quicker, with each turn of the page his face softened from rage, to a strange mix of sorrow and regret.

“...love, sometimes makes us do things we know to be wrong. I should not have banished him...” Malendrag slowly placed the book down upon his lap and looked upon the group anew. “You seem to have done me a service twice over.”

“Then if we may, ask for one in return?”

“Anything.”

“The metallic dragons will agree to aid us in the coming battle, however they have a few stipulations. One of which, is a formal apology from the elves for the Dracomithel.” Skydancer nodded to the letter still unopened in front of the King. “The prince will plead our case if necessary.”

King Malendrag took a moment to read the letter from his remaining son, his mood tempered by recent revelations. When he was finished he slowly folded the parchment looking quite thoughtful before answering. Skydancer watched as the harsh man that she traded verbal barbs with not that long ago melted away to something more noble, softer. 

“I will do this, not only because honor demands it...but because it is the right thing to do.”

---

Connerad Brawnanvil had not been King of the Dwarves for some time. He had served his people with honor and pride, and preserved the necessary traditions with equal dedication. So when a dwarf arose with a stronger hereditary line to the throne, it was not difficult for him to stand aside. But he had not stepped down empty handed. In gratitude for his service, and in recognition of his years of experience Connerad was made ambassador for the dwarves of the north. Something he took equally as seriously as his former monarchy.

Dain Frostbeard stepped forward once the door to his antechamber was closed, offered a form perfect salute and presented order of rank. Connerad gave a stiff nod, he respected the gesture although he found himself surprised that one of the members of this group had been a soldier in the dwarven army.

“How can I be of service?”

“We spoke with the dragons, they will agree to help.” Dain began slowly, more out of nerves than his own simple mind.

“That’s good news. We will need their strength.”

“There is a lady. She lost her family, so she is now my family. She requests, so now I request...”

“If there is anything I can do, I shall do my best to full fill it.”

“Many years ago, we hunted her kind. We killed her family. We should apologize for their deaths.”

Connerad took a deep breath and set his jaw. He was a man of honor, but he was a dwarf after all, and with that came a stubborn nature. “Those hunts are an ancient, now defunked, custom. I never took part in those hunts, nor did my father, nor did my grandfather. Why should I apologize for something so far removed from myself and my family?”

“Dwarves hold grudges for a long time.” Dain stood stalwart, not at all discouraged. “Dragons live much longer...by saying we’re sorry, we can turn old feuds into new friendships.”

Connerad was not used to being lectured, least of all by a subordinate. However, one of the skills he had to learn was to put his pride aside and listen well to the offerings of others. Wise or not, everyone had a different perspective, and offered another view of any given situation. This better allowed his own assessment.

Many races were long lived in this land, and perhaps eldest of all were the dragons. They kept a long memory for things it seems. His own people, shared the trait, if only selectively. This dwarf before him was right in one aspect, his people were not quick to let go the slights made against them. That in mind, could he begrudge the dragons the same extension? Should any race have committed a similar atrocity towards his people, he wasn’t sure an apology would be enough to wipe the slate clean. And yet, here aid was offered with so little a price to be paid.

“With this, we will secure the alliance of the metallic dragons against their bretheren?”

“This, and the armor made from her family.”

Connerad felt a twinge of guilt, something he was not expecting. “Consider it done.”

---

The council meeting that followed held many surprises. New allies presented themselves; Harshnag the Bold, a towering frost giant offered his strength and his many years as an adventurer from before the Spellplague. 

Apologies were offered; both Connerad Brawnanvil and King Malendrag offered their formal apologies in witness to the entire council, taking their promise on step further. 

New faces appeared, not necessarily for the better; Avenging Lotus and Skydancer made notice to one Lady Nightshade, a new confident to Lord Neverember of Neverwinter. A familiar face from Lotus’s past, a memver of the noble elite who made much of their wealth on the slave fights where Lotus spent much of his life.

Finally, new responsibilities were laid upon the groups lap. With new allies on their side, the decision had to be made as to where their strength may be best distributed. 

“Well, obviously we need to protect the cities holding refugees. The city watches are probably just barely managed to keep the peace, they wouldn’t provide much protection to attack.” Osborne leaned against the wall during the brief recess that was offered to them. He had seen so many displaced by the cult, even before the refugees began moving towards the cities. 

“Fine, the Bronze dragons can do that well enough.” Skydancer took notes on a piece of parchment, the rest of the group pondering over their options.

“Eltarel needs to have its forces bolstered and rallied. They are the front line in the oncoming battle.” Lotus was still thinking over the appearance of Lady Nightshade. He had made a point of looking her in the eye and removing his mask. She needed to see him. She needed to know that he knew her.

“Lady Ilia and the Silver Dragons...” Skydancer spoke aloud as she wrote.

“It would also be best to gather as much information as we can while we have the power to do so. The dragon kind have better opportunities to do this than we’ve had previously.” Barton wasn’t sure why he had been so tactically minded as of late, but he wasn’t going to argue with his instincts either.

“Copper dragons always liked playing tricks on people. Might as well be the cult.”

“The Grandfather Tree, it must be protected.” Waldorf spoke as if it had just come to his mind, but Skydancer knew well the importance of this matter and nodded as she wrote.

“Gold dragons, the most powerful for the most important task.”

“Excuse me? Am I missing something?” Osborne furrowed his brow.

“The Grandfather Tree is a gigantic Treant, an eracor. It was summoned over 15,000 years ago by elves during the crown wars.” Skydancer spoke as casually as if she were reading off a list of spell components.

“It could be a powerful ally, if awoken.” Waldorf nodded.

“That just leaves the Brass dragons.” Skydancer looked up for suggestions.

“They could protect the people.” Dain offered. “They are fast. They be places we cannot.”

Waldorf beamed with pride at what he considered his protege. “A response team of sorts, well done Dain.”

“Is everyone in agreement?” Skydancer finished her notes and stood, rolling the parchment into a tube before anyone had a chance to answer. No one offered objections, she expected as much, but asking was part of the process. Everyone was a part of this. Everyone gave their own wisdom. They were in this together, for better or worse.

“Alright...let’s go.”

#campaign diary #Dungeons and Dragons #Tyranny of Dragons