📎: PRELIMINARY PROTOCOL FOR THE TRINITY CALIFORNIA REGIONAL MEETING

 

FROM: Manulifee<intern@darkriver.net>

TO: Jamie<Jamie@darkriver.net>

SUBJECT: fix this blue beer demon 🥴

Jamie,

as you got me drunk on the vapor of all the blue beer alone you were jugging with your visiting polar bear buddy last night, and you are up nice and shiney while I have the hangover of the century, please fix the mistakes in this and make sure I still have a job tomorrow! 🥴 🤢

📎: PRELIMINARY PROTOCOL FOR THE TRINITY CALIFORNIA REGIONAL MEETING

Participants:

Lucas Hunter and Sascha Duncan (E-Psy), Dorian Christensen and Ashaya Alleine (M-Psy), Faith NightStar (F-Psy) all Dark River (DR), Hawke Snow and Sienna Lauren Snow (X-Psy), Judd Lauren (TK-Cell), Alexei and Memory Aven-Rose (E-sigma) all Snow Dancer (SD), Adam for Wind Haven (WH), Tejian for the Rats, BlackSea doesn’t have a resident liaison, but will be informed.

Nikita Duncan and Anthony Kyriakus, residents and part of the Ruling Coalition, a pregnant Sophia Russo (J-Psy and strange anchor) and Max Shannon, Bjorn Thorsen, a non-cardinal Californian hub-anchor (Tangle of Need) also part of the Anchor Representation Association (ARA) ‘s advisory board (Last Guard p.123-125). Samuel Rain declined attending this meeting, he just had a new idea regarding Vasic’s robotic arm. Ivan Mercant has been invited to the meeting but is still pretending he isn’t a Mercant (thank you Bear spies 😊) [If he is spying on us, he can contribute to the area as well. (Last Guard)]. The Enforcement vice commissioner, a middle-aged Psy woman with unusual papery white skin (Heart of Obsidian, p. 317-318) was not invited to this meeting. The Forgotten don’t have an official liaison yet.

Jim Wong, an elderly human male of Asian descent as the representative of the shopkeepers in the warren of Chinatown and a tall black male as the liaison of the Human Alliance (Heart of Obsidian, p. 317-318).

General update:

• According to research by Alpha-Z the Net was never supposed to be only populated by Psy. Their conservative estimate is that at least 25% of the Net population before Silence – via relationships with Psy – was made up of humans. (Wolf Rain, p. 106)
• “Unless thousands of humans fall in love with thousands of Psy within the next twelve months, it [the PsyNet] will collapse.” (Wolf Rain, p.108)
• The PsyNet needs a lot of new Anchors initializing like yesterday! They need to hold the Net in place and care for the Substrate, fill it with psychic energy (Last Guard).
• The Net Mind and Dark Mind have reconnected into one but fractured just as well. A small part of it hid away in the mind of Sophia Russo (Last Guard).
• The PsyNet is still rotting at an alarming rate.
• The Empaths are all on the edge of burnout.
• Tp-A-Psy like Silver Mercant need a solution for their audio channels when letting go of Silence, if there are even any others alive. DNA therapy would be way safer than the operation and seeding of the brain with biofusion tendrils (Silver Silence, p.319-334).
• The PsyNet around Psy with mating bonds with humans: Sophia Russo, Clara Alvarez and Stefan Berg and Psy with bonds with dominant predatory changelings: Silver Mercant, Memory Aven-Rose and Ehtan Night is healthier, stronger … solid (Wolf Rain, p.390-392).
• Bowen Knight’s implant is still stable. The experimental and risky procedure to fix the failing Human Alliance implant, is rolled out one after the other in the order of implantation by Dr Kahananui (Ocean Light).
• There still is no other solution for humans to block Psy intrusion. The Aleines are working on an implant version for humans (Silver Silence, p.295) as is a team that Kaleb put together, without sharing the Aleine’s process to stay open for other solutions.
• There are still BlackSea people missing, that need to be found. And tracking KJ needs to be successful (Ocean Light, p.390).

Anchor update:

• All anchors with attached “weeds” can attach those weed tendrils to Canto Mercant “so that if one day we do have no choice but to cut the Net into pieces, we can keep the Substrate together, so no one anchor starves.” (Last Guard, S. 353)
• California has 20 anchors with 200 backup anchors. Of the 20 anchors are 3 cardinals (hubs), the rest are secondary anchors, secondary hubs. Additionally, Sophia Russo resides there, a strange anchor (Tangle of Need, p. 345-346).
• Sascha Duncan and Judd Lauren have the files with the pictures and locations of all the anchors in the region (Tangle of Need, p. 413).
• Jaya Storm (E-Psy) is researching "how childhood trauma may affect the development of psychic pathways in all children, and anchors in particular." (Last Guard, p. 278)

California region update:

• Pax Marshall, aka Patient Zero is still here frequently for his therapy sessions with Memory Aven-Rose (Wolf Rain, p. 375-377).
• Memory Aven-Rose, a local member of SD is the only one to clean the PsyNet of the sickness (Wolf Rain, p. 357-359). 
  
• The training center for Empaths is still active (Wolf Rain), also hosting meetings for the teenage Arrows with changelings and humans (Shards of Hope or/and Allegiance of Honor).
• Sascha Duncan (E-Psy) is the resident wizzard shield technician, consulted by Psy of all Designations (Arrows, Anchors, Forgotten, ...) for custom shields (ie.: Alpha Night; Last Guard, p. 278)
• Ashaya and Amara Aleine (M-Psy) live here.
  
• Samuel Rain lives here still (Shield of Winter).
• California has more stable PsyNet regions than any other area in the world with Sophia Russo, Clara Alvarez, and Memory Aven-Rose living here (Wolf Rain, p. 390-392).
• We have the best spy organization in the region. (Heart of Obsidian, p. 318) River is good friends with them (Last Guard).
• Ivan Mercant moved here, so the Mercants have on of their own on the ground and to know what is going on here firsthand (Last Guard).
• Something is going on between Nikita Dunkan and Anthony Kyriakus (mentioned in every Book since Nikita was shot in Shards of Hope, i.e., Allegiance of Honor, p.129). They both call California home still.
• Clan NightStar is there, “has a small base right up against Dark River land” (Wolf Rain, p. 134).
• The Pure Psy attack on SF also brought the “normal people” of all three races closer together (Kiss of Snow). Further seen when the mercenary lion team attacked Sascha and Naya in the Presidio. The human residents called the accident in to DR, they helped tie up the assailants. Not only members of the DR pack responded immediately, but also Indigo and Drew, Teijan and Max Shannon (Allegiance of Honor, p. 154-159).
• Dr Maia Ndiaye, a 9.3 M-Psy with a specialization in neurology works at PsyMed SF Echo and is the current specialist for Scarab Syndrome (Alpha Night, p. 301). 
  

Scarab update:

• Scarab powers are an imminent threat for the PsyNet. There are many. Ethan can see the lightning echoes, their signature all over the PsyNet (Alpha Night, p. 302).
• Many sufferers of Scarab Syndrome are not being treated according to Dr Maia Ndiaye at PsyMed SF Echo. Melody can help some, but not all. If they go beyond a certain stage, they cannot be helped at all.
• Only Patient Zero saw Empaths as the enemy and attacked them (Wolf Rain). Later Scarabs didn’t attack Psy of one specific designation but followed the orders of the Spider and pushed energy into a certain part of the PsyNet (Alpha Night, p. 343).
• Memory Aven-Rose, the only E-Sigma to date, can clean the PsyNet of the sickness (Wolf Rain, p. 357-359).
• Ethan Night, the only other “new” E so far, can see Scarab powers and their energy tracks on the PsyNet. He can also track “sufferers of Scarab Syndrome when they begin to lose control and surrender to the urge to free their powers” (Alpha Night, p. 301).
• Kaleb Krychek and Aden Kai stitch the PsyNet fractures together most often, with other high level Psy able to deal with smaller ones. The fractures are always also fixed in the Substrate by Achors (Last Guard).
  

F-Psy forecast updates:

• The Queen of Scarabs wants a piece of the PsyNet for her children (Last Guard).
• Low level F-Psy like Zuli-Anne Flowers are having recurring nightmares of fire and water and death (Music in the Rain, newsletter short story, December 2021)
• There is a storm already echoing through the world, hitting soon, but unable to be located more precisely at the present moment (Anthony Kyriakus, undefined F-Psy, likely Faith NightStar).

Questions:

• Is the Queen of Scarabs/the Architect going tear off an empty piece and move her children there or take any piece and do what with the normal Psy that live in that region as well?
• Can anyone get into that piece of PsyNet, who wasn’t there when it got torn off?
• Can Psy get out of that piece of PsyNet if the relocate (like the empaths moved to the training grounds? Does the PsyNet have to be in one piece to do that reanchoring?
• Can Psy get out of the torn of piece by “dying” and relocating physically like Ashaya did?
• Can they get out by creating their own network like the Forgotten and Lauren family did?
• Can Canto go to the border of the torn off piece and create another “moving of the Stars” Occlusion to move all the Psy over or does that only work when the PsyNet is “whole”?
• If we still go on the hypothesis the Queen of Scarabs is Shoshanna Scott and lives in Henry’s mansion in London, she most logically should tear of the piece of PsyNet that goes with London, or Great Britain. About that region and its inhabitants, we know nothing at all so far. About Europe we know very little, the attacks in Copenhagen and Geneva, Ming Le Pon being in France, Shoshanna in London.
• Does the tearing of a piece off the PsyNet create the Storm of fire and water and death that is being foreseen?

To do list:

• We need to tap Trinity contacts (Arrows, Kaleb and Ivan Mercant), our own roaming and stationed in Europe. (Lukas)
• How do we prepare for a storm of fire and water and death? We have a long coast! If it is a tsunami, we need plans to evacuate our people safely and fast. Same with flooding. (Max + Mr. Wong)
• Tornados are unusual here, tap contacts with Tornado experience. (Anthony)
• Who is responsible for fire stuff here? Contact the person and persons responsible and get the crisis plans for the whole region. Get the emergency contact information to spread out along the network for fastest response possible. (Sienna + Dorian)
• How do we prepare for a storm of death? This is too unspecific. Nothing to be done right now.
• Check our EM Net contacts are correct. (everyone)

The meeting ended after much discussion but all agreed on this:

Whoever this Queen of Scarabs is, she better stay far away from our corner of the world. She would be beyond stupid to set her Queendom here!!!!

<end of attachment>

See you all soon in San Francisco in Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling Trinity World (Storm Echo, Book 6, 2022). 🤗💖🤗

 

Psy/changeling #15 sneak peak from the ethers

so, now that we all read Nalini Singh's Shard's of Hope, who hasn't wondered who will be starring as the leading couple in the next installment?

I, for one, wondered ... a L.O.T. :-)

my conclusions so far about the next "chapter":

• the hunt for the members and the instigator of the Consortium will continue
• by the Arrows for taking Aden and Zaira
• by Kaleb for nobody plays games with big bad powerful Kaleb Krychek
• by Black Sea for taking their people
• and in a way by all the members of the Trinity Accord.
• the hunt for Black Sea's missing members will continue unabated  
• the Consortium will go active again and target more "people", either from the Ruling Coalition again or members of the Trinity Accord as well

that leads to the following suspects for the next leading characters:

• Members of the Ruling Coalition as they were targeted before
• as most are mated already (Kaleb, Ivy, Aden) that leaves NIKITA and ANTHONY as the only viable suspects on the Ruling Coalition. There were enough hints that something is going on between them. They are both powerful in their own rights but don't actually have the ability themselves to hunt and uncover the Consortium. 
• The Arrows have all the abilities, training and expertise and as Lucas said: "Identify them and we'd be happy to help you take out the trash." it feels like the Arrows are responsible for indentifying the Consortium members. 
• AXL is already in charge of the Op hunting down Aden and Zaira's captors and there is something going on between him and TAMAR. And sure uncovering the identities of the Consortium members will need loooots of "ripping apart shell companies upon shell companies". Rational fact most strongly points toward them. 
• AMIN and CRIS are another option on the Arrow team. They both have had more page time and Amin lead the team hunting down Blake so he is capable of hunting down Consortium members too. 
• I'd have put STEFAN and his unknown lover on my list of suspects too, as he is considered an Arrow and he has the connections to Black Sea, but Nalini already mentioned that she wrote a novella about him. Sorry pal, out of the run for it right at the start.
• The higest stakes right now are with Black Sea as they still have so many missing members.
• MIANE and MALACHAI have the incentive to hunt the Consortium with unrelenting focus even if they have gone quiet for the time being. They also have the expertise, training and resources to do it with their reach across the whole world. 
• The Human Alliance has missing members too and BO is unmated and completely bad ass enough to lead the hunt to dig out and uncover the Concortium with a ruthless and stealthy Black Sea lieutenant by his side. :-)

As to who the instigator of the Consortium is, my bet is on Shoshanna Scott. She had the time and politically ruthless mind to put such a big Op in play. As it is political and not militant in nature, I think she is the prime suspect.

Well, 1 month down and only 11 more to go til we know for sure. Only I already had a glimpse of the new book already. Want a look? *drumroll* ... HERE IT IS!!!!

native creative: LOOK!! Psy/changeling book 15

Isn't it perfect already? ... I hope you think so too.

Until next we "read" ....

Who's in Nalini Singh's new novella collection?

after reading Midnight Kiss from Nalini Singh's new years eve newsletter I had to re-check the scene at Wild. After that, I just couldn't stop and re-read all the books after - again. I realized something close to the end of Vasic's book, Shield of Winter. THERE IS A LOT GOING ON ALL OF A SUDDEN!!!! I mean, lots of flirting and flirting and ... flirting!

native creative - something's going on  here

• Jaya and Abbott: There is definitely something going on between those two. Curiously, after the "I am falling for him too" scene back at the E Compound, all of a sudden there was no more mention of their relationship, just Jaya finding out about her special E Power and lots of Jaya and Abbott still at the hospital. That's it? End of story? ... I don't think so.
• Concetta and Isaiah: Definitely something going on as well ;-)
• Ivy's parents: little glimpses of something more going on ... 
• Clara, the former J-Psy and manager of Haven and her husband: ... married means something was happening and is still going on ... a J-Psy with a second life? If I don't smell a story here, I am not deserving of my predatory changeling nose.
• Stefan, the "one of us" Arrow on permanent duty at the deep sea station Alaris and his lover: As he discovered the method of redirecting Tk-Energy into water while intimate ... I claim there is more than a little something going on ... or eat my tongue.
• Alice and the wolf males: Now there is definitely something going on ... nothing specific yet, but getting there. Suspects? wolves living at the den rather than lieutenants from other sectors. single wolves we met so far: Sam, Kieran, Felix, ....

All of this was just going on in Shield of Winter!!!

native creative - flirting of the dangerous kind

  Riordan and Noelle: they already got their own story in the newsletter, but there is potential for more, I am sure.

• Tai and Evie: that is the one relationship turning serious Sienna talks to Hawke about without mentioning their names. 
• Lake and Maria: not much we know but definitely something going on.
• Jason and Nicki: they were at Wild too, something's going on here.
• Rina and Jon: ... not yet, but soon 
• Tag and Tiara: there is definitely something going on between the two powerful Forgotten Telepaths from Dev's book Blaze of Memory. They are both sooo ready to get down to business.
• and last but not least: What is going on between Nikita and Anthony? and don't tell me there is nothing going on! You don't have to be a cardinal E-Psy to know that there is something going on.

So, who is gonna make it into the next novella book? ... Could also be some of the already mated pairs having their story told like D'Arn and Sing Liu, Ava and Spence, Elias and Yuki, Simran and Ines, or someone with nothing going on right now like Lucy, Kit, Bowen, Samuel Rain, Silver Mercant or Leon Kyriakus. 
Nikita and Anthony are more like a full novel caliber, but Tag and Tiara are novella material - and I just want Jaya and Abbott's story!!
Well, I guess it will be a surprise ... until we know for sure.

Nalini Singh - Shards of Hope

this time I tried to forget it, but I couldn't. Some questions and speculations are running around my head on a continuous loop. I need to get them out NOW.

Nalini Singh - Shards of Hope

• "a chilling conspiracy that spans all three races"

•  "a shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad"

•  "Aden and Zaira awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked"

Who is this shadowy enemy?
Who is powerful enough to capture and wound the two Arrow leaders?

My Number One Suspect is ...  *drum roll* ... S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E. ... Ming LeBon. He'd have the martial mind and ressources and power to plan and execute a chilling conspiracy spanning all three races and capture, wound and jail Aden and Zaira and block their psychic abilities. On the other hand, why capture and not kill them right away? So either he didn't do it himself but had some of his people do it, or it wasn't that finely planned an operation and more of a haste op with putting them away to finish them off (a little) later. Another reason for Ming is that he surely wont just accept that Kaleb took over the Net and is the de facto leader now.

Suspect Number Two is .... Shoshanna Scott. Where is she and what is she doing? We don't know that much about her or whether she is capable of pulling of such an op, but she isn't just rolling over and accepting Kaleb's leadership either.

Suspect Number Three is .... there one?
As to the rest of the former Psy Council, neither Nikita Duncan, Anthony Kyriakus nor Kaleb Krychek have any real reasons to eliminate the Arrows. They are all on the Ruling Coalition with the Arrows and have some kind of a profitable working relationship with them.
Further I can't see the Human Alliance turning against the Arrows, neither the changelings or the Forgotten.

Why "put a target on the back of the Arrow squad" at all?
Yeah why? Someone has to feel threatened by so many assassins and deadly operatives on the loose. If Mind still wants Vasic, he might theorize that Aden's death would break Vasic and the bond between them and make Vasic open to ... manipulation? reason? corruption? vengeance?
The other viable option is that someone wants to still get to the E's and as the new priority of the Arrow Squad is to protect the E's, that could also have put a target on their back.

"they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn't welcome outsiders."
Where are they? harsh, far from civilization and hidden predators ... It would fit for the Snow Dancer den, hidden deap in the Sierra Nevada, far from civilization. It could as well be anywhere else, but apart from Snow Dancer and Dark River we only now more about the Falcons and their place could be harsh and inhospitable in the heat of summer.
If I consider Judd the den doesn't make that much sense. Also most senior soldiers know about Aden and might know how he looks like from the Anchor Protection Op. Snow Dancer has other dens, so it could be one of those smaller dens.
But why would Ming or Shoshanna have a mysterious prison on Snow Dancer or Dark River land? Wouldn't they have it closer to their home base?
A prison on Snow Dancer land only makes sense if the shadowy enemy wanted Aden and Zaira to escape and get themselves killed-by-changeling to start a Psy/Changeling war.

One last point: "the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira"
What kind of ability has Zaira? She is the leader of the Venice Arrows, those outside the Psy Net. She is capable of making independent decisions, that's why she was appointed their leader. ... I recently reread Slave of Sensation and Sascha mentions a Transmutation ability. So far we never again heard of it, but would Transmutation be so violent and insane? Maybe Judd's TK cell ability falls under Transmutation.

For more check: http://nalinisingh.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/cover-love-shards-of-hope.html

Nalini Singh - one question

before I forget it ...

if I could ask Nalini Singh one question, what would it be?

There is one thing that I am really curious about.

The Psy/changeling series consists of 13 novels so far, number 14 is being written now, and some novellas too.

How much is strategy and planning ahead and how much is writer's instinct and intuition?

Here is my example:
Kaleb Krychek is the male hero of Heart of Obsidian - book 13.

Nalini Singh - Heart of Obsidian

Kaleb first appears in Visions of Heat - book 2 as Faith's competitor for the Psy Council position. He is mentioned as a young ruthless cardinal who rises through the Council structure very fast and becomes Councilor at the end of book 2. Then he appears throughout all the other books as all Councilors appear throughout all or most books.
Sahara is also mentioned briefly in book 2 in context with Faith's Net dropout and increasing her forecasting prize to set up a fund for those who disappeared like her cousin Sahara.

As both are mentioned first in Visions of Heat I theorize that Nalini had some kind of idea for those two from the beginning. It's just as possible that they both were side characters to further the story and give it enough background with no connection or any other thoughts in mind.

So, that is my question. Does she have a story (past, present, future) in mind for all characters who appear in the books, even minor? Or do they develop their own life throughout the story and develop from minor side character to main character with their own book? Or maybe both, some knowing ahead and some development throughout?

 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Nalini Singh - story telling

before I forget it ...

Nalini Singh writes paranormal romance or urban fantasy or whatever you want to call it. Why is she my absolute favorite author?

Nalini Singh - Shield of Winter

• Just because!
• But besides that, the world she created in the psy/changeling series is just soooo my world. I just want to live there as I've said before. 
• Apart from that, she writes with so much love for her characters. Every character has a unique personality, a definite character, they are authentic and integer. What they think, feel and do just fits, they are congruent.
• The story moves on in a big arch. Each book tells a bit more of the big story and moves it along. 
• That world has soooo many parallels with earth at this point in time. The whole Psy way like Silence conditioning, mind orientation, money focus and efficiency is also very dominent in our world. The same is true for it not working for humanity on earth any longer either and EMOTION being the way forward. 
• So she delivers knowledge and insights helpful for humanity right now, wrapped in a captivating story set on earth in the future. I read esoteric and spiritual books for a while until they got so dry, I couldn't get them down anymore. They got stuck in my throat because there was not real emotion in it, no water to wash it down.
• She extracts a lot of emotion from her readers, me included. I get excited about the new book, the new hero, the new story a year ahead of it being published! I reread the books over and over because it makes me happy, her characters are my friends and I love to go for a visit.

Did I say a year ahead of publishing, damn ready to forget that!

Nalini Singh - Aden's woman

before I forget it ...

I remembered some more unmated females mentioned throughout the series.
Marsha Langholm, Gia Khan, Keisha Bale (Ming's M-Psy supervising Arrows)

There was a rumor that there is more than friendship between Aden und Vasic but that threat has desintegrated.

There are some obstacles his woman will face.

Faith Nightstar's vage glimpse of a female when looking into Aden Kai's future

 

• For one he can't leave the net and he can't leave the Arrows. So if she is a changeling she has to leave her pack and the Arrows will be her new pack. Aden's woman will have to be comfortable with the Arrows.
• A fellow Arrow female will be comfortable with the Arrows as she is one of them. We know of Cristabel and Zaira, and Keisha Bale, Ming's M-Psy, but here the chances for a more intimate relationship are small as Aden has telepathically influenced her  to sign death certificates of not dead Arrows without her knowledge.  One more possibility is an Arrow woman we haven't met yet. Aden knows all Arrows since he has been part of them since childhood. So if she is an Arrow he will have known her for a while, except she is a juvenile. Even then he will have known her for a while. That leaves the question: Why now? What is different now?
• She will have to move to "his place" or Arrow Central Command as he can't teleport.That holds true for a human, changeling, Psy or Forgotten, as long as she can't teleport him around. No, he needs to be at Arrow Central Command.
• There are rumors around the Psy Net about Silver Merchant as a possible candidate. If she has the rumored Illusions ability and her chilled frosted perfect Psy exterior is only an illusion, ... maybe ... just ... maybe.
• If she is one of the Forgotten, she will have more than one obstacle to work out. Can they be part of two different Nets? If not, who will join whom? As Aden needs to be on the Psy Net as the leader of the Arrows, it has to be her. Can Forgotten even rejoin the Psy Net now? Not that any sane person would want to now with the state of the Psy Net. Would she risk it? (note to self: more digging on the Forgotten needed. f.e.: if anyone ever tried to rejoin the Psy Net and how it went)
• As Aden had a meeting with Devraj Santos about the shared challenge of training some of the kids, it is possible he meets someone new there, like the Forgotten person in charge of training. Devraj took charge of finding someone for William last time, but maybe that was because he is his next of kin. Maybe they have someone in charge we don't know of yet. There is a woman on the board in charge of education, but that might mean Shine scholarships, schools, grades, professions not Psy ability training.
• If she is human, like Lilli, Bowen's adopted sister (note to self: what would he have to do with her?) she will not have the issues with the Psy Net but ...
• Any woman will have the problem of connecting to him. Does he have any weak spots? How does she get through to him? (note to self: I still believe a teacher/trainer for the young Arrow kids holds the best cards, no matter what race.)
• I am sure Aden will surprise us plenty - and I am so looking forward to it. Now I can forget it to be really surprised later :-)

Nalini Singh - Ming LeBon

before I forget it ...

can someone kill Ming now please? or yesterday even better?

I was curious and did some very illegial hacking and BINGO! I found this on some very non-existant server in a non-existant database belonging to SnowDancer:

Ming is a dead man walking reconnaissance:

personal Ming facts:

• military mastermind (I outthought him once, I can do it again)
• Psy Councilor
• Ex-Arrow
• leader of the Arrows before they shift their allegiance
• trained in mental combat
• Trainer of Judd Lauren
• Trainer of Sienna Lauren 
• wanted Sienna to become his protégé before the rehabilitation order
• has very white skin, not albino but close
• has very few white stars in his cardinal eyes
• has a birth mark on his face
• was in charge of Protocol One, the implant lab, its relocation, security, its destruction, ...
• Katya's shadow man
• got almost killed by Katya, fortunately for him, he survived a shot to the head
• very skilled at mental programming
• cardinal Telepath?
• master shadow game player
• gave the Arrows the order to eliminate Judd Lauren
• "cares" only about the only true Teleporter in the Net - Vasic
• supported Pure Psy and Councilor Henry Scott with military strategy
• has the strongest military force in the Psy Net
• had made attempts to coerce and/or eliminate: the Arrows, the Lauren family, Amara, Ashaya, Ekaterina - Katya, Forgotten kids through Lizard man, Dev Santos - Director of Shine through Katya, Hawke and Luc through Pure Psy, as well as both packs through Pure Psy, furthermore: Judd, Sienna, Kaleb, and Vasic. (anyone he hasn't tried to eliminate yet?)
• has his home base in Europe
• carries an X-burn mark across his chest
• has no more Arrow support or access to Arrow facilities
• has a death sentence hanging over his head (feral grin)
• has a crystal clear cutting mental voice and star
• keeps the Psy Net in Europe stable at present
• knows about the X fire, no surprise moment there
• he is vulnerable only to 

Hawke! stop it ... or not  .... [end of file]

Nalini Singh - untraceable research notes on Aden

before I forget it ...

I love mysteries and puzzles. Each new book is a great new mystery I am hardly able to await. So I did some in depth research on Aden. He is rumored to be the hero of the new book. Here is what I found. My research notes are securely encrypted and hidden behind layers of security and unable to hack, of course.

Aden facts:

• He is the leader of the Arrows.
• Both his parents were Arrows.
• He has training as a field surgeon, so he has some M-Psy abilities.
• He saved Dorian's life when he was shot through the cariotid.
• He was never on jax as he was trained to oversee the jax use on Arrows.
• He is a Telepath with a very delicate touch, which makes him appear weaker than he actually is.
• Vasic is his brother in all but blood.
• He was trained by Walker amongst others.
• Walker showed him how to hide his "strength".
• He has protected other Arrows since he was a kid.
• He broke into Kaleb's shield when the Squad shifted allegiance.
• He echos body postures.
• He is of Asian descent.
• He is very intelligent. (finding Henry Scott by searching for M-Psy treating severe burns)
• Kaleb Krychek wonders how Ming LeBon could not have seen his intelligence and seen him as a threat.
• He is always thinking years ahead. 
• Politics is his field of expertise.
• He is now in full control of the Arrow Squad's school rooms. 
• His full name is Aden Kai.
• His place in the Arrow Squad was shaky as a kid, but is rock solid now.
• He is alpha of the Arrow Squad.
• Not to forget, he is good looking with long curled eyelashes, if you like your men icy.
• He did not act on the order from Ming LeBon to eliminate Judd.
• (note to self for later consideration: Is there anything he can't do?)

rumored shadow of Aden Kai

some more from the rumor mill ... possible but unconfirmed:

• His parents died in a staged accident, their bodies never found or DNA traced, so they might have been the first two to create an escape hatch and might now be part of the Venice Arrows, if they are still alive.
• working alongside Kaleb to seal the fracture in the Net, she shows strength of cardinal power, but doesn't have cardinal eyes. So he can either amplify his powers (like Katya and Kaleb) or ... something else.
• Nalini mentioned an Illusions ability but so far we never met anyone with it.
• He already has M and TP, does he have the Illusions ability too?
• It would explain how he can appear of now interest and hide his presense and will.
• Aden is so not seeing himself with anyone, not even the strongest Forseer can see a woman in his furture yet.
• What Walker tought him helped him stay sane. He tells Judd it helped more Arrows to stay sane, but not directly says one of them was him. 

open story threads and some questions:

• the assassination of Ming LeBon
• the new training for Arrows and newly drafted Arrow kids outside the Silence Protocol
• the training of all Psy kids outside Silence
• the fracturing Psy - teaching them how to handle emotion and feelings again
• Is the Psy Net "healed"? The corruption contained? Do the Net Mind and Dark Mind need to merge again? 
• Is it now "safe" being hocked into the Psy Net?
• Where the hell is Shoshanna and what is she secretly up too? She is not just gonna roll over ...
• rapid response team: for violence caused by the infection or/and mass scale only or also for violence caused by fractured Psy that is not caused by the infection?
• What's going on between Nikita and Anthony behind des scenes? (note to self: I believe Nikita has some E herself)
• There aren't many unmated female characters left, that we know of: Shoshanna, Silver, Lucy, Alice, Amara, two Forgotten females on the new board Eva and ...., one of the other E's: Brigitte or Lianne (note to self: highly unlikely), Cristabel Rodriguez, Zaira - leader of the Venice Arrows,  Eben's mom, Nikita, now that would be irony of faith as he "jokes" about Vasic and Nikita to Ivy, ... (note to self: more digging needed, as of yet list incomplete)
• Jaya and Abbot mated?
• Who is the father of Sienna and Toby?

likely hea:

•  no glue! (note to self: not enough puzzle pieces and too many fucking pieces missing! ... rips out hair ... grrrr ... no wiff, no trail ... need to get Dorian digging ... f***... crash ...

 [end of file]

Nalini Singh - Judd

before I forget it ...

I am totally on team JUDD. Carassed by Ice was my first book and Judd just ... well, noone comes close to Judd. All males in the series are cool and edible, but Judd, ex-Arrow and Rebel and grrrr yummy.
He even gets a fanclub in the series later on, complete with I love Judd and Judd is my boyfriend T-shirts. I had to have one. Not a generic one, I made Judd MY boyfriend.

Judd is my boyfriend - native creative

My hair might be sticking every which way due to Judd's telekinesis. I couldn't find two of the same shoes in my deliriously happy dreamy state. But it matters nothing because JUDD is MY boyfriend!

If you want to know more about Judd, read his book. I am not gonna tell you anything.

Just in the native creative department I was thinking about doing a "the ghost is my shadow" shirt ... Can't do it though, until he gets a fanclub, which is unlikely as he is feared more than anything. "I love the ghost" is out of the question. What the heck, I don't care about the ghost, he gets too much attention already and  now he sneaked in here too and got himself prime time. aaaaarrrgggg

 time to forget ....... what?

Nalini Singh - changelings

before I forget it ...

I love love love Nalini's changelings, her shape shifters - all of them, but mostly the apex predators.

Strength is for protecting. (Stroke of Enticement)

It just calls to me, calls to my soul, my being. The leopards and wolves, they are not afraid of strength. They respect strength in all its variations: strong personality, strong will, spine, strong body, whatever. To be strong is a good thing, for males and females. They hold their leaders to taff standards. They protect all children, the young and the old who can't protect themselves. They want their kids to grow into their strength, whatever it is. They want each and every one of their pack to become what they are meant to be. They support every pack member in that growth. It's an unresistable lure for me. Being left alone to be who I want to be is good, but being supported ... wow.
 

my Bruno - a norwegian viking

Being supported into becoming the big strong massive tree I am meant to be. ... HEAVEN and actually natural and normal, at least to me. The wild, everything is so natural and normal to me, while this whole "weak is safe" is abnormal. Education here is more like cutting away all growth and shaping everyone into the same hedge. Just like the Psy do with their kids and conditioning them to be silent. The changelings live emotion, the are emotion. Their emotions are sometimes wild and overwhelming when it is anger, rage, possessiveness, or protectiveness. But they also play and tease, and they allow all emotions. For them, emotion and feeling is a strength, not a weakness. They are also strongly physical and use their minds. They are wild beasts and also human. It's just perfect, the mix, the balance. It is perfect for me.
 

Ipomoea - being what it is meant to be

To be allowed to be all I am meant to be.

... not forgetting that ... rrraaauurrr ...

Nalini Singh - Arrows

before I forget it ...

I feel such kinship with Nalini Singh's Arrows. I have no Psy powers, nothing dangerous at all, no offensive combat abilities and still I feel like an Arrow. I realized I tightly control myself. I constantly monitor my aggression levels. For a while I even believed myself as very aggressive even though the last time I hit someone was at age 6. It was in school and he surely deserved it. ;-)

I tightly control myself because I got convinced as a kid that I was bad, that I hurt other people. I was forced to shut up and didn't talk much for years. The perfect Psy, only talked when asked a question, always so cool, calm and collected - no friends, no bonds, no touch and NO PLAY, totally efficient, never anything without a reason. The only important thing was the mind, my intelligence, being good at school, bringing home good grades. They were just expected.

To be an arrow is to be an island.
Arrows are shadows, the walk and live in the shadows, they are the shield against the darkness.

I still control myself, mostly my emotions and the words coming out of my mouth. I had sooo much tension in my body. I was tight as a board for so many years, all that withheld expression manifesting in my body. It is better now, though I still feel the tension, mostly in my hips and sacrum, my jaw and forehead. I know now that I am not dangerous and not bad. I know now that they are not strong enough to deal with someone voicing a different truth than their own. I threatened their whole world because they believed that there is only one truth.

As all Arrows are strong personalities and taff SOBs, so am I. I still suffer at times from what I had to allow, had to do to survive, but I did not BREAK.

so ready to forget that

shifting shape

before I stall again ...


I love books and reading and more reading. Why? Because I kind of find this world boring and so limited and ... booring. Books take me on a ride to amazing places and amazing people and into totally different universes.  I am no longer limited in this human experience and this kind of totally weak human body with all its aches and pains.

I really want to shift shape. NOW. I really want to run through forests as a wolf. I KNOW how it feels. I KNOW! If I just think about it, I can feel it. The wind in my fur as I rush through the forest, the soft flex of the earth under my paw. The forest floor isn't totally stiff and hard like it feels as a human, it gives. The whole perspective is different, the colors and the smells, the sounds come from a different angle, ... the hearing is better, the smells are more intense and the colors are different. I can feel how my muscles move in my body while moving through the forest. This is totally normal for me, like an every day normal thing to do. Go out and shift and run ... or fly ... or swim. I can shift into everything I want to. Some like wolf or dolphin are more familiar than others but all kinds of shapes are possible.

One way to ease the longing is reading books with shape shifters. There are quite a few but only some I really like. I'd move universe and never look back to Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling here, now and forever. She is my absolute favorite writer. Can I go on vacation there? I'll stay also, no problem, if it's for security/secrecy reasons. Or whatever reason I don't care, as long as I can stay there. Pleeeeeease?
http://www.nalinisingh.com/

Now I can give in to frustration or get a book from the shelf to help me forget about needing to shift.