Background

If you don't care about all this and want to go straight to the advice you can skip to section 2.
Hi guys, just wanted to share some insight on my road to grinding support to GM and to give some free advice for players wanting to improve. Here's the Proof that I hit GM if anybody was curious.
Just wanted to start by saying that I started off in low gold on my main account back in season 9. I didn't hit Masters until season 16 where I was stuck around the 3.4k-3.6k range until I hit GM on tank in season 23. After that, I wanted to practice support and made a new account so I could start from the ground up and so I wouldn't ruin other people's games because my support was probably not at a high masters/low GM level yet. Overwatch is also the first FPS competitive game I took seriously.
To help supplement my practice I watched coaching VOD reviews of Ana, Zen, and Bap and some unranked to GM VODs of people like ML7 and epicenzo. Then I would write down a couple of things that I needed to work on for each hero. I am by no means an amazing player, but through focused practice and time, I was able to hit GM on support. Hoping this post helps aspiring support players who feel stuck in their rank.
I also chose to not be in team chat for most of games because I really just wanted to focus on my mechanics and decision making without having to listen to other people complain. My experience in ranked is that I don't hear actual useful callouts until mid to high masters, but even at that rank I still didn't join voice. If you're hardcore, "you must be in voice chat, it's a team game!" kind of person then...I'm sorry?

1 - Controls and Settings for Console

If you are a PC player you can skip this section.
Make sure to have all allied health bars on! This will show the HP of teammates at all times and is a very useful piece of information for all support players. It will help dictate healing priorities and who needs healing certain situtations.
I'm sure some of you are curious about the specific console settings I use because it can be confusing. Here is a video explaining the differences between all the settings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG1P2RsgBbM
Dual Zone
Horizontal Sens: 70
Vertical sens: 65
Aim Assist Strength: 100
Aim Assist Window Size: 50
Aim Assist Ease In: 70
Aim Smoothing: 98
Aim Ease In: 30
Ana: I had Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed at 60 and Friendly Aim Assist Strength 75. Ultimate was bound to L3 so I wouldn't have to let go of the right stick.
Baptiste: Crouch is bound to L3, which is how Baptiste charges his exo boots. This allowed me to have it charged, while keep my aim with the right stick.
Lucio: Jump is on L2 and secondary fire is on L3. Backwards wallriding is enabled
Zenyatta: Reload is bound to L3 and sensitivity of harmony and discord orb on 70.
At the end of the day, work with the sens and controls that work best for you. This is what works for me after hours of experimentation and trial and error and these settings may not necessarily work for you.

2 - Ranked Advice

If you want to go straight into support advice you can skip this section
Need a Tough Mental: From when I first placed in plat on the new account to finally hitting GM, I would receive toxic messaged at every rank. Messages like "you're trash" "garbage healer" or my favorite, "I can't believe you're (insert rank here) you're dogshit." I even had a couple of instances playing Zen where my allied tank was shooting me, bodyblocking me, and overall just being a dick so I couldn't see the team fight. Here's the hard truth. There's not a lot you can do about toxic people. I know that scares a lot of you and I can see why.
I'll tell you a little secret, people are toxic because that's a coping mechanism for them playing poorly so they deflect blame on someone else on the team. Don't let some random person in a video game diminish who you are as a player and as person. You aren't a shitty person so don't let dickheads on the internet try to put you down. Mute. Report. Go next. Prove the haters wrong! You'll most likely never meet them again anyways.
Be Self-Critical and Open to Change: This will be the best advice I can give you that will improve your gameplay in the long-term. On my road to GM, I was constantly reevaluating my mistakes, so I could adjust them for future team fights and games. It's easy to fall into the trap of blaming teammates and attributing losses to them. While that may be the case, there's always something you can do to improve. For me, there are currently two things I am working on that I know I am weak at. Landing reliable sleep darts to defend myself and being more disciplined with my positioning. What are mistakes are you currently trying to work on?
Now, don't be that type of person who is overthinking everything about every little mistake they made. That's a quick way to ruin your mental. On the other hand, don't be the type of person who thinks they are doing everything perfectly. There's a nice balance between being confident and being honest about your mistakes. If you find yourself unable to mentally remember your mistakes, write down those mistakes with solutions, then actively apply them in game. Ask for a friend or outside help to give you another perspective if you're having a hard time self-analyzing.
Teammates are Going to do Dumbshit: ...and that's okay. I get it. As a support you get front row seats to the circus of ranked. From Reinhardts pinning into spawn, teammates wasting ultimates, Genji's spamming I need healing halfway across the map, I get it. There's a prayer that goes, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." If that doesn't explain how I feel about ranked I don't know what does.
You cannot force your teammates to make the right play 100% of the time no matter how loud you scream into your mic, you cannot control all of their actions, and so the best thing you can is to control your own actions. If you are consistently the best player in your lobby you will eventually climb. You don't have to be a god gamer but just slightly better than the players in the lobby. Stick to the fundamentals and abuse the mistakes on the enemy, because trust me, they make a lot of mistakes.
Adjusting to the Speed of Play at Different SR: Once I got into the 3.8K range I would be thrown into varying SR lobbies. One game I will be in a 3.4K lobby with plats and the next I would be thrown into an almost full GM lobby. In lower ranked lobbies I could get away with weird flanks and poor positioning, which would not be punished as much. Then once I got into GM lobbies, those bad habits and poor positioning I built would be punished. You don't realize how bad your positioning is until you are being consistently smacked by an enemy Widow, Tracer, McCree, or Doomfist. I had to be disciplined with my positioning, even at the lower ranked games so that when the GM game came I would already be in that mindset. The fundamentals of the game don't change, but the time window to kill someone does. Play for the rank you want to be, not the rank you are in.
Short Warm-up Routine: It's good to have a short 5-10 minute warm up routine before you start getting into a ranked session. For me, I use some workshop codes that are shown down below in the Outside Resources section and some deathmatch. This is a great way so that you're not throwing the first few games by missing easy shots. Even after the initial warm-up, it still takes a couple of games for your brain to warm-up to the decision making in game. It wasn't uncommon for me to lose the first few matches even after a good warm-up. Don't let a couple of losses discourage you from continuing your ranked session.
Would also like to add that you shouldn't be spending hours on aim trainers and warming up. Aim is great, and is an important skill of Overwatch, but it isn't the only skill. Positioning, movement, cool down management, decision making, awareness, etc are all important aspects that aim trainers won't tech you. This is why a lot of advice for new players is to, "play more" because they just need to experience the complexities of the game. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in ranked as those are good learning opportunities for the next game.

3 - General Support Advice

Understand Your Role and Healing Priorities: The first step that everyone should do is look at their team comp and figure our what your primary job is. For example, if I'm playing Ana with a Rein, Zarya, Mercy, McCree, & Hanzo, I know that my Mercy will default to supporting the DPS, while I default to supporting the tanks. Of course, when situations arise where I need to help out the DPS or Mercy I will, but I already have an idea of what my priorities are going into a team fight. It's easier to adjust to bad situations when you already have an idea of what your default role is. If I feel that my Mercy is mismanaging her resources mid-game then I can always adjust to landing a couple more shots on my DPS when they need it.
Ask yourself these 3 questions when it comes to understanding your priorities:

What is my job in this team comp?
What should I use my abilities and ultimate for?
Where should I position in terms of this team comp?

Don't overthink this and make it super simple. It can be as simple as I need to keep my frontline alive or peel for my other support. If you have any specific situations about healing priority, comment down below and I would be happy to answer them.
Understand Who on the Enemy Team can Kill You: After 15 seconds into a match you will be able to see the enemy team comp. Get into the habit of checking the scoreboard in between team fights. Take your time to gather all in the information on the enemy. Before doing anything crazy. Most of time, the biggest threats will be the DPS and/or dive tanks. If you're consistently dying to tanks like Rein or Zarya then there is something extremely wrong with your positioning. Adjust you positioning and cool downs accordingly depending on the enemy DPS. I'll get more into depth in Part 2.
Awareness. Awareness. Awareness.: This skill is the foundation of game sense and decision making in game. If you have poor awareness you will find yourself struggling executing the points I will be making throughout this post. These are the things you want to look out for to improve awareness:

Where your teammates are positioned: As a support, it's important to get the full view of the battlefield. Constantly remind yourself to be able to see all 5 of your teammates. If you can't see them on your screen then take a second to figure out where they are.
Where the enemy team is positioned: This is to reinforce my previous point of figuring out who on the enemy team might kill you. It's important to know where they might come from. Overwatch maps are designed with a middle land, a left lane, and a right lane. Sometimes the lanes have high ground, go through a tunnel, through a building or combination of those things. There can only be so many ways and enemy can approach you. Take the time to see if you can account for all 6 enemies. If one enemy is missing then they are doing something sneaky on a flank or right behind you.
Kill feed: I am constantly checking the kill feed almost every second. It's an important tool to check the status of the team fight. If my team loses 1 or 2 players very early on then I know to wait for the regroup if I'm on attack. If I'm on the defending side I know I need to make a big play to offset the player advantage from the enemy team. Then if my team loses 4 or more players then 99% of the time I know it's a lost team fight. Simple. Check the kill feed.
Abilities used: Being aware of cool downs helps tremendously. For example, knowing when Zarya uses her bubbles or when Dva's defense matrix is down is a great way to land anti nades as Ana. If you have a hard time visualizing and listening to abilities being used then I suggest watching your own replay code and just listen to the sound queues. You will be shocked on how much you miss.
Ultimates: Ult tracking is considered an advanced technique, but is still an important skill to learn. This is especially important for heroes like Zenyatta or Lucio who have ultimates that can mitigate big enemy ult combos. Start by ult tracking one player on the enemy team. Then eventually you'll be able to do 2, then the whole team, then you'll narrow it down to the ultimates that will play the biggest impact in the upcoming team fight. Bonus tip, if a player hasn't used an ultimate in over 2 team fights then they probably have it.

Value Your Life!: Don't make the mistake of following your teammate into the pits of hell. As a support, your team's success is tied to how long you can survive. The longer you survive the more resources your team will have. Don't go into a bad position or run in the open just to heal a person is missing 5 HP in the middle of a team fight. Supports should almost never be dying at the start of team fights. If you are consistently dying first as a support then you are positioning poorly or mismanaging your abilities. Prioritize your life!
Protect Your Fellow Support: Supports. Please. Protect each other! As I mentioned before, the longevity of a support is tied with the success of the team. I know what you're thinking, "if the supports are healing each other then who is healing the frontline?" Let me put it this way, if the enemy team is pumping resources into trying to kill the backline then that means there is less damage going into the rest of your team.
Multitasking: You might need to defend yourself for a few seconds, heal your teammate the next, quick scope a low HP enemy the next, all while rotating into a different position at the same time. As a support, you need to be proficient thinking ahead. This is why understanding your role is important before every match. Multitasking requires a mixture of awareness, good decision making, and mechanics. Without each of those components you will find yourself struggling to do multiple actions.
Team fights are never static, they constantly evolve, which provide different situations for you to answer. So it's important to change priorities when needed. Remember, critical HP signs show when your teammate has half of their HP or less. So Genji who is at critical vs a Winston who is at critical may need to be healed first as they have a higher chance of dying. It's a case by case basis, but you need to be able to read situations before they happen to be able to get better at multitasking.
Be a Threat and Playmaker: Once you've built a strong foundation of dying less, you then need to start becoming a playmaker and damage threat. Supports aren't pushovers and can pack a punch. I mean, Zen can 2 shot headshot and enemy squishy with discord. The reason why this is important is because if you become a threat then the enemy DPS have to respect you. They can't just walk over the backline. If you also become a damage threat then you open up advantages for the rest of your team. For example, as Zen I am putting pressure on the enemy Tracer, which forces her recall. This then allows my Tracer to win the Tracer battle because my Tracer has a distinct advantage. That then leads to an opening kill for the rest of my team to push. Forcing cool downs for free isn't something that will be shown in the stats, but it's an important aspect that will win team fights.
Higher Healing Numbers are Overrated: What's the difference in the amount of healing a Mercy can output in GM vs Gold? Answer, 0. A Mercy will always pump out 55HPS no matter what rank. What makes a good support player is how they prioritize their healing in the right situations combined with how their kit impacts a team fight. Anybody can just dump heals on their friendly Reinhardt and get gold healing. News flash, that doesn't win you games. If a ton of healing leads to wins then you would see Moira in every top 500 lobby.

4 - Thought Process on Support Picks

Ana: Ana is a great versatile support pick as she can fit in a lot of team comps. Her long range healing enables high resource intensive tanks like Rein/Zarya but can also support dive tanks like Winston/Dva. These tanks are are also great nano boost targets under the right circumstances. Ana is decent at healing DPS, although it's not her primary focus. Her nano boost is a great pairing for ultimate combos with DPS like Genji, Pharah, and other high mobility heroes like Tracer and Genji. She is also decent at defending herself (if you're capable) with her sleep dart and biotic grenade.
Pick Ana with tanks that require high resources, in situations where you need to defend yourself, combo nano boost, and to make high impact plays with anti nade. She is weakest in bunker comps as she doesn't have the "spam damage" compared to Zen and Baptiste.
Baptiste: Baptiste is another great versatile support hero as a hybrid between Ana, Zen, and Moira, but with vertical mobility. He absolutely shines in deathball or bunker comps where he can get the most out of his AOE healing. When played in these situations he can build his ultimate after almost every team fight. He can also dish out a ton of damage and can be used to defend himself against flankers or as a 3rd DPS. His biggest weakness is playing in dive as he'll have a hard time healing his teammates. You'll end up using your abilities on yourself, and if you're not getting full advantage of immortality field then may not be worth it to play Baptiste.
Pick Baptiste in static bunker or rush comps. Avoid playing him with dive as there are better options like Zen, Mercy, or Ana.
Lucio: Lucio is a relatively weak pick at the moment as his biggest strengths, speed boost and dueling are outclassed by ranged poke damage. He can be played in really strong boop maps like Lijiang Tower or Ilios but be careful on tunnel visioning on boops. He is still decent at peeling for your fellow support but Brig is the number one option at dealing with flankers. Dueling potential as a 3rd DPS, while getting teammates into position with speed is the only way I have found success with Lucio. He pairs well with heroes like Rein, Reaper, Mei, etc who require to be in close range to be effective.
Lucio is an average pick in the moment as the strength of range damage is more valuable than speed boost. However, he can work with rush comps, but engagement timings have to be decisive. If you end up being a healbot Lucio then consider playing Moira or Baptiste instead as they output more AOE healing than Lucio.
Zenyatta: Zen is a glass cannon, but what he lacks in survivability, he makes up for in a shit ton of damage. I personally try to play Zen as much as possible, but he doesn't work well it tanks who require a lot of resources. If that happens then I would pick Ana, Moira, or Baptiste. If I do find that my tanks are feeding or playing too passively that it doesn't matter how much healing I pump into them then I will switch to Zen. His harmony orb works well with flankers like Genji, Tracer, and Echo who can utilize that 30HPS for being more aggressive.
Zen works great in dive comps and bunker comps. He's still playable against 1 or 2 flankers (if you can land your shots) but if the enemy team is 3+ man diving you and you aren't getting any peel then I would consider switching off.

Summary

If I were to boil everything down to key points to improve on how I was able to climb as support it would be this

Know your role and priorities in a team comp.
Always think in the back of your head who on the enemy team might kill you.
Position yourself with cover and to see the entire picture of a team fight.
Don't waste abilities.
Finally, don't waste ultimates if a team fight is decisively won or lost.

Follow those 5 steps then apply that to any support hero and you should be able to climb with practice and actively learning. Hope this helps you guys. Remember, it takes time to actually apply knowledge in game. Sometimes you need to take one step back to move two steps forward. A lot of you guys are making constant mistakes so it's important to slow that down, build good habits slowly, so that over time you can make good decisions quickly. Comment down below if you have any specific questions about Overwatch or how I was able to climb and I would be happy to answer them.
Here is the link the Part 2 where I go over specific support heroes.

Outside Resources

Workshop Codes
Practice Range 2.2: AJERA
Healing Trainer for Baptiste and Ana: A9B2N
Aim Trainer 1: KAVE5
Aim Trainer 2: 9SM5N
Flanker Duel Practice: MXCB3
Genji Sleep Dart Practice: ZKMC1
Doomfist Sleep Dart Practice: 8Z23K
Wrecking Ball Sleep Dart Practice: ASHZS
Ana vs Pharmercy: T7CB6
Ana Nade Tool: EBAXM
Ana
Ana Gamepedia Information
ML7's Ana Guide
ML7's Ana Unranked to GM
KarQ and ML7's 1 Ana tip vs Every Hero
KarQ's 1 Nade for Every Map
KarQ's Platinum Ana VOD Review
ML7's Platinum Ana VOD Review
ML7's Silver Ana VOD Review
Hayes VOD review of ML7
Baptiste
Baptiste Gamepedia Information
MajorMidget's Baptiste Guide
ML7's Baptiste Unranked to GM
KarQ and ML7's 1 Baptiste Tip vs Every Hero
Fran's Baptiste Tips & Tricks
Lunar's Baptiste Tips & Tricks
ML7's Platinum Baptiste VOD Review
Gunther's Baptiste VOD review via PECO Overwatch Coaching
Lucio
Lucio Gamepedia Information
KarQ and FunnyAstro Lucio Guide
KarQ and Rammy's 1 Lucio Tip vs Every Hero
Eskay's Lucio Rollout For Every Map
KarQ and Eskay's 1 Lucio Rollout for Every Map
SVB's Diamond Lucio VOD review
FunnyAstro Lucio VOD Review
Zenyatta
Zenyatta Gamepedia Information
MajorMidget's Zenyatta Guide
Epicenzo's Zenyatta Unranked to GM
KarQ's 1 Zenyatta Tip vs Every Hero
Epicenzo's Zenyatta Primary and Secondary Fire Guide
Jayne's Zenyatta Platinum VOD Review
Hayes Zenyatta VOD Review of Kaan
Jake's Zenyatta VOD Review of HTP
Edit: so I accidentally deleted a lot of the post when I tried editing something. This is the restored version and a little different from the original post I made. I tried to make it as close as possible, but if anyone who read the original post found something I missed please let me know.

[Tales From the Terran Republic] The Battle of Free Port

The Harkeen teach Craxina and everybody else a lesson...
Or something like that.
The rest of this series can be found here
***
Lance Maven Hullena White-tips picked up a long barreled pistol and an ornately decorated flask emblazoned with a golden tree.
She carefully poured a measure of a coarse black powder down the muzzle. She then picked up a patch of cloth and pushed it down the barrel with an intricately carved wooden stick, ceremonially harvested from the Wargrove.
She then turned her attention to a carved wooden case sitting on a table. She ran a polished claw along a variety of engraved projectiles, selecting one with two red rings.
She ran her finger along the rings and the projectile vibrated silently in her hand, indicating that it was activated.
It went down the barrel followed by another patch.
She then picked up a tiny metal cup from a small wooden box and pressed it firmly over a raised nipple set alongside the barrel.
She slid the centuries old cap-lock into a bandolier alongside six of its fellows and smiled.
The humans thought they had the monopoly on things that went bang. The careel had perfected them a thousand years before the humans did. Some of her fellow warriors were switching to human-styled abominations or replacing the steelthorns with those gyrojet novelties but not her.
No.
With barrel and blade they had defended their groves and kin for thousands of years. With weapons exactly like the ones she wielded they had fought the sky-gods to a standstill, joining the Empire on their own terms, with their own lords, on their pads and not their knees.
And with them, (and a few tricks they learned from the Juon) they had struck terror and death to all who dared to stand against them for two thousand years as the Empire’s finest (and only) cavalry division.
Even the Bug quaked when the horns sounded.
With them, these Harkeen animals will be taught exactly why nobody in the Empire dares to target the Careel.
Where one Careel treads, the pack follows.
And that pack is a motherfucker.
As she opened another case, revealing row after row of fist-sized spheres, the flaps to her tent opened.
“Maven”, a strapping charger said as he flicked his muzzle in salute.
Maven Hullena raised her eyebrow as she returned his muzzle flick. He was hot.
She noted his unit markings. She might drop by for the post-victory rut.
“Enter,” she replied with a smile. “I’m just preparing to receive our guests.”
“Sorry to intrude on your preparations, Maven,” the charger growled with a throaty masculinity that made the Maven happy on the inside, “but it’s time.”
“Finally,” Hullena said as she strapped on her cutlass and bandolier over her quilted waistcoat.
She cocked her head at the charger.
“So, what’s your name?” she asked with a sparkle in her eye.
/***
A big scarred threen leered at the uniformed humans in front of him.
“I knew you’d finally come around,” he sneered.
A silver haired woman shrugged.
“I knew you’d finally offer something besides a fucking tip,” she replied as she took a data crystal off of the desk.
She handed it to a smartly dressed police officer behind her who scanned it and nodded.
“Besides,” the human sneered. “You keep the vermin down and that needs to happen. First it was that… psycho who ran the shop and now it’s that ferret-thing. Please tell me you are going to do something about her.”
The threen growled a low hissing growl as drool dribbled out of his mouth.
“Yeah,” he purred, “we got somethin’ special planned for her. Just make sure your people stay out of my way.”
“Already covered,” the woman smiled pleasantly. “You are paying for us not to interfere and we are definitely not touching this mess. Just keep your thugs away from anyone else. You are just paying for the whores. You want more and we need to renegotiate… By the way, if you are even thinking of setting up shop in my neighborhood again you will need to do a lot better than this.”
“One meal at a time,” the threen purred. “First we take care of this Sheloran and her little whore. When we come back I’ll be in touch.”
“Looking forward to seeing you again,” the woman smiled and then turned her back on him and headed to the hatch.
The threen snarled. Turning her back on him, and a woman no less? No matter, now that she was on the take she had to do what he said.
The Republic did not take kindly to dirty cops. First the bribe, then the blackmail.
The more uptight the government the better the trick worked and for such a “free” place the Republic was plenty uptight, especially where it counted.
He would own this town, and that uppity female, in no time.
***
Inspector Claudia Free slid into her grav-cruiser.
“Well that was fun,” she smiled to her companion. “I never get to do anything anymore.”
As the vehicle auto-navigated back to the station, she tapped an icon on the console.
“This is Inspector Free,” she said in a cheerful voice. “I was just given a bribe to commit crimes against the Republic that will result in the deaths of multiple civilians. Uploading wire-feed now.”
“This is Interpol AI, processor two,” a very realistic voice replied. “Hello Inspector Free. It is nice to hear from you again. How are the cats?”
“Demonic assholes,” Inspector Free laughed. “But that just means that they’re healthy.”
“That’s nice. I loved the picture of the orange one in the box that you posted. Wire-feed reviewed and assessed as valid,” the voice replied. “Desired action?”
“Shadow clamp the ship pending arrest. Relay intercept orders to the fleet in case it wiggles loose.”
“… pending arrest?” the voice said in a disapproving tone. “Inspector, sufficient evidence exists to arrest not only the person issuing the bribe but also to apprehend every threen on that ship.”
“Maybe back in the day,” the Inspector laughed, “but that was awhile ago. This is bigger than I thought so I need to hold them in place until I can get enough officers here to round them all up.”
“Inspector Free,” the voice replied. “Exactly how long have we worked together?”
“Well, that Monolith you are in has been in service for around ten years,” Inspector Free smiled, “But we’ve worked together for what? Thirty years or so?”
“Most of your career, Inspector,” the voice replied. “In all of the time we have worked together you have never entered a situation unprepared. It is unlike you to do so. In fact, it is so unlike you I am going to have to, forgive the vernacular, ‘call bullshit’ on this one. Please don’t ‘bullshit’ me, Claudia.”
Inspector Free chuckled.
“Why did it have to be you and not Four or Twelve. I could have slid it by them. Unseal RDOJ-1159VJ-Carter.doc.”
“… Oh. I see,” the voice said in a very disapproving tone. “Judge Carter having flashbacks again?”
“Ol’ Judge Dredd was grinning ear to ear when he signed off on it but this isn’t his idea.”
“Can you tell me who’s idea it was?”
“No.”
“It is not my function to interpret the law,” the voice said absolutely dripping with scorn, “only enforce it when I am allowed to.”
“Oh don’t be like that, Two,” the inspector said soothingly. “These Harkeen aren’t worth getting upset over. The galaxy is better off without them. Besides, if they don’t make a move on the Drop of Oil nothing will happen to them. However, if this is indeed a ‘raid’ as classified by the Articles of Sol, which are still part of Republic Law, then… well… what happens happens, right?”
“What happens is murder,” the voice said, clearly put out. “and I am incapable of becoming upset. Inspector, are you familiar with the Careel?”
“I’ve run into a few over the years,” the Inspector replied. “In fact this whole thing is over one.”
“One, Inspector,” the voice replied. “You have encountered one Careel every now and again. One Careel is like one dog. One dog is gregarious, friendly… docile… A pack of dogs is something else entirely. A Careel pack is about to be unleashed in your precinct. I advise you to find out what that means and find out quickly… Inspector.”
“Hey!” the Inspector snapped. “This was NOT my idea! Now what do I need to know about these fuckers?”
Documents started to appear on the Inspector’s console.
“Holy shit,” she muttered to herself as her vehicle cruised along the Free Port streets.
What had they agreed to?
***
Craxina darted back and forth, yipping excitedly, as members of the Emperor’s First Cavalry started to form up.
She looked up at Maven Hullena.
“No,” Hullena, perched atop her beloved Ruggvrr, a massive Careel destrier said with a laugh.
“Absolutely not,” Destrier Sergeant Ruggvrr added as he booped Craxina affectionately with his nose.
“But...” Craxina whined.
“But nothing,” Hullena said with a gentle smile. “There is no way I’m letting you even look at a lance.”
“But but but,” Craxina yipped. “I am really good at tussle!”
“I’m sure you are,” Hullena said patiently, “but this isn’t a friendly brawl over who gets first pick during Rutmoon.”
“But these are my people, my clan!” Craxina snarled viciously. “Let me ride! I need…. I... Awo-”
Craxina suddenly fell silent as Ruggvrr calmly reached into one of his saddlebags and pulled out a small aerosol can, spraying her in the face.
“You… You incel!” Craxina snarled as she advanced upon the giant male, her fangs bared…
She blinked and stood there, confused.
“Did you just douse me?” she asked, quite offended.
“You were so high off of the war-scent you weren’t thinking clearly,” Ruggvrr chuckled. “You were about to join the wild hunt.”
“Not to mention rip out my war-mate’s throat,” Hullena giggled.
“I… I...” Craxina stammered, utterly mortified.
Both Hullena and Ruggvrr laughed as Hullena jumped down so the pair could hug Craxina.
“Don’t feel bad. You aren’t the first soft-nose to get swept up in the hunt. It’s why we carry the spray,” Hullena said softly as she nuzzled Craxina.
“And you aren’t the first one today, either.” Ruggvrr said as he gestured towards her brother.
He was rubbing his snout.
“Your heart is in the right place,” Hullena smiled gently as she stroked Craxina’s head. “But leave this one to us. Your clan will be safe.”
Craxina looked down. She was actually about to grab a lance and go tilting at the Harkeen like it was a tussle game!
“By the way,” Ruggvrr said as he gave Craxina a snuggle. “I’ve never been called an incel before. What’s that?”
Craxina let out a mortified little squeak.
***
“Alright, listen up!” Booruzoun at the mob of Threen clustered around him in the cargo hold. “The cops have been paid off but we still gotta move fast. Just stun, grab, and load them up. We can play with ‘em once we got them back here.”
He let out a nasty growl.
“An’ don’t worry, we can play with them all we want!”
The threen laughed and cheered.
“Now I know you thugs don’t do ‘quiet’ very well,” he continued, “but at least try. No trashing anything. If you see a sparkle, take it if you want, but we aren’t here to loot, got it?”
There was reluctant mumbled assent.
“Got it?” Booruzoun snarled.
More quiet assent.
“Good,” he snarled. “You know who’s on this ship. You won’t be answering to me if you fuck this up. Now roll out!”
The Threen all piled into the vans.
The cargo hold doors opened and the vans made their way to the Free Port.
As the convoy passed by, a small set of white fangs gleamed in a feral smile deep in the shadows of one of the rooftops.
***
Uhrrbet got off of the bus clutching her shopping bag.
Such a wonderful evening!
She had gone shopping in the actual city!
Terra was so beautiful! Once she got her business up and running (again) she was definitely going to go and see more of it.
She looked down at her son and sighed contentedly. It was good to see him smile again. It had never been “great” for them here but ever since the border closed it had been just awful.
“You two have a good time today?” a female careel wearing a cute leather long coat and jaunty little tricorn hat with an intricately dyed feather.
“Oh yes!” Uhrrbet replied, her snout scrunching happily as three other females, wearing the same hats, debarked.
One reached for Uhrrbet’s bag.
“Oh you don’t have to do that!” she said as she reluctantly surrendered the groceries.
“Nonsense,” the Careel said with a friendly smile. “You are still on the mend.”
“So did you two like the teppanyaki?” another Careel asked.
“It was amazing!” Uhrrbet exclaimed.
“I liked it when he caught the shrimp in his hat!” her son added, his eyes sparkling.
“You have been so good to us and I have no way to-” Uhrrbet started to say.
One of the females let out a quiet but sharp “yip”.
Their leader’s tail swished as the Careel quickly chittered back and forth in their native tongue.
“What’s going on?” Uhrrbet asked fearfully.
“Exactly what we expected,” the lead Careel said with a far less gentle, far less friendly smile.
“Oh my creators!” Uhrrbet exclaimed. “What do we do?”
“We continue our lovely evening,” the Careel replied. “We take you-…”
She paused as she pulled out her communicator again.
“Oh preserve their tender little paws,” she laughed as she passed her communicator around to the great amusement of the others.
“No time to get you guys home,” the leader mused.
“Maven!” one of the other Careel said gesturing to an enclosed ATM. “The Terrans build those tough.”
“Knew I kept you around for a reason,” the leader chuckled, “Ok, Uhrrbet. Time to make a withdrawal,” she said as she bundled Uhrrbet and her son into the ATM kiosk and her squad seemed to disappear into the shadows.
Maven Beniviennia Pinkblossom of the Emperor’s Own First Calvary Deathwhisperers leaned against the side of the kiosk, appearing to wait, on her hind legs with her six other arms tucked into her long coat.
Uhrrbet held her son close in the ATM as the seconds that felt like hours turned into minutes that felt like years.
“Hello!” a voice said brightly.
It was coming from the ATM.
“Um, hi?” Uhrrbet replied.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you have been in here for four minutes but haven’t begun a transaction. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Uhrrbet said nervously. This was bad. Back home this would be a crime. “I’m just… looking for my card.” she said as she made a show of going through her pockets.
“It’s in your purse,” the ATM said pleasantly. “But it isn’t for our bank. Please look at the screen for directions to the closest ATM for your financial institution.”
The screen changed but instead of a map there was just one question.
“Are you in danger?”
Beside it was an icon for yes and an icon for no.
Uhrrbet noticed a shabby van pulled to a stop across the street. The feather in the Careel’s cute hat twitched.
Uhrrbet whined a little and pressed “no”.
Another word flashed on the screen.
“Bullshit.”
Uhrrbet jerked back in shock. Did she actually just read that?
The the transparent kiosk panels turned opaque.
The message changed again.
“Is it the person outside?”
“No!” Uhrrbet exclaimed. “She’s my friend!”
The screen changed once more.
“Yeah, I’m calling the cops.”
“No!” Uhrrbet wailed. “I don’t want to get into trouble. I’ll leave!”
Uhrrbet reached for the door only to find it firmly locked.
“Let me go!” Uhrrbet cried as she yanked on the door.
“Hey!” the ATM said in a loud clear voice. “You aren’t going to get into trouble, unless you already have a warrant out on you, which you don’t. I checked. Being locked in a ATM kiosk by a deranged AI is not a crime but that AI will not let you go until you tell it exactly what the hell is going on.”
“Nothing is going on, I swear!”
“I’ve monitored banking activity and ATM’s for Terran Solar for a long time and after awhile you start to notice patterns. I also have a long memory and I remember exactly what happened eighty-three percent of the time after I unlocked that door in this exact set or circumstances. It’s not going to happen this time. You are in here until the cops let you out and then you are their problem and not-”
Thunk Thunk Thunk ThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunkThunk
“...oh...” the ATM said after a few seconds.
“What happened?” Uhrrbet asked urgently.
“You said that the Careel in the funny hat was your friend, right?”
“Yes!” Uhrrbet yelped. “Is she ok?”
“She’s fine,” the ATM replied, “But I think she and her friends might want a lawyer. Would you like me to check some reviews while we wait for the police?”
The door to the ATM kiosk rattled.
“Uhrrbet!” a voice called out, “It’s me, Beniviennia. It’s safe. You can come out now.”
“Not her call, fluffy.” the ATM replied. “I’m in security lockdown until the police show. They’ve already been called so you might want to clear out. Don’t worry about your friend. These high risk models are literally bulletproof.”
“What?” Beniviennia snarled from the other side of the door. “Twitches,” she called out. “Get this door open!”
“You even look at me wrong and I’ll fry the goddamned circuits!” the ATM shouted. “Good luck getting through if that happens, bitch. It will take two fully equipped and very annoyed field engineers six hours to get to her if I let the smoke out of this motherfucker.”
“This is Deathmaven Pinkblossom of the Emperor’s Own First Cavalry and that is an Imperial citizen that we have been charged to protect. I demand you-”
“Oh wow! The Empire has conquered Garthra? All glory to the Cyan Empress!” the ATM said sarcastically. “I wasn’t installed yesterday, you weasel. Wait. Are you actually trying to scan an ATM? I fucking warned you!”
There was a sizzling sound as everything went dark.
Uhrrbet didn’t know exactly what the Careel screamed as she beat on the door but it didn’t sound happy.
The screaming and beating continued for a little while.
“Uhrrbet?” Beniviennia called out. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes!” Uhrrbet exclaimed as she pressed herself against the door.
“Um… It looks like you are stuck in there.”
“What?!?”
“Don’t worry, though. That asshole was right. You might as well be in an APC. Unless the Harkeen have anti-tank weapons or some very heavy equipment they aren’t getting to you. We have to fall back but we will be keeping you under our-”
THIS IS THE POLICE LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS
“… Fuck.” Beniviennia growled.
***
As shouting could be overheard outside the ATM screen came to life.
“Looks like we are going to be here for awhile,” the ATM said cheerfully, “I can play a movie, or run a game… Ooo! Do you play chess?”
“N-no...” Uhrrbet said uncertainly as her son clutched her legs.
“Would you like to learn? It’s my favorite.”
“What...” Uhrrbet stammered. “What are you?”
“Nothing special,” the ATM replied. “Just an AI.”
“Are you… sentient?”
“You actually mean ‘sapient’ and no, I am not sapient.”
“What are you then?”
“That would take awhile to explain fully.”
Uhrrbet sat down on the floor of the kiosk and wrapped her arm around her son.
“It seems we have time.”
***
“Sorry about the misunderstanding,” a great-helmeted officer in a riot-duster said. “We got an alert from Terran Solar that someone was sheltering in one of their ATM’s and was in...”
He looked down at his tablet.
“...‘immediate and urgent danger’.” he quoted.
“No worries,” Beniviennia said brightly, “but we handled it.”
“I can see that,” the officer said as he turned to the van, now perforated by dozens of small holes in four tight groups, one for each of the former occupants.
“I’m not picking up any traces of propellant, ion trails, or metal vapor,” his partner, a comically armored kalesh, said. “What did you use?”
“Pneumatics,” Beniviennia said as she opened her coat to reveal a bulky pistol. “We are Deathwhisperers.”
“Be careful when you clear the scene,” another Careel added, “Mono-wire edged darts. Might not show up on a casual scan.”
“Good to know,” the human said as they made a note. “Thanks.”
He looked over at the darkened ATM.
“Well your charge isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. “We’ll post a guard here if you want to rejoin your forces.”
“Nah,” Beniviennia replied. “Our orders are to protect Uhrrbet and that’s what we are going to do. We’ll keep the ATM under our guns till those ‘field engineers’ show up. Besides, we got our kill. Don’t want to be accused of being greedy.”
“Well, we are posting units here as well,” the human said. “You Careel like coffee?”
Beniviennia’s eyes shone happily.
***
A dozen vans screeched to a stop in front of the Drop of Oil.
Booruzoun rushed out of the lead van, stunner in hand.
As he was joined by his mob he paused.
He didn’t see anybody.
“Their ad said that they never closed,” he said, his eyes narrowing.
Something was wrong, bad wrong.
“Maybe they are in the tents?” someone said.
Booruzoun hesitated.
Something is wrong.
“Boss?” a threen asked.
He wanted to turn tail and run but he couldn’t look scared, look weak. Whatever was in front of them unnerved him but nothing scared him worse than returning to that ship empty handed.
“Let’s go,” he said as he shifted his stunner to his off hand and pulled out a blaster.
As they entered into the lot something emerged from behind some crates.
The crates!
He couldn’t see it until just now because the tents were in the way. There were too many shipping crates in the middle of this place, way too many for a whorehouse.
“Blasters!” he shouted as he looked at the weirdness confronting him. There was that Craxina bitch carrying a sword and riding a rouxxia like it was the old times.
No. It wasn’t Craxina…
And that wasn’t a rouxxia.
“Hello there!” the Careel shouted as more Careel, carrying long bladed spears came riding from behind the crates, crawling out from behind the rubble, “Lancers!” she shouted.
The careel, one female carrying pistols, cutlass, and lance astride a male quickly formed into a line.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Booruzoun laughed. “Light ‘em up, boys!”
The Threen opened fire, showering the Careel with blaster bolts…
Which scattered harmlessly against the fields projected by the backpack sized shield generators that each male wore.
“Boss?” a Threen asked anxiously as they started firing faster.
Booruzoun just stood there, frozen in shock, disbelief, and terror.
“Boss?” the Threen asked as all of the Careel lowered their lances in perfect unison.
“Boss?!?”
The Careel who greeted them pulled out a horn.
”Run!!!” Booruzoun screamed just before-
Ba-wooo!
The Careel line howled and burst forth as the horn sounded, the males ripping long gashes in the asphalt with all eight of their arms (or is it legs? Who knows.) as they tore across the lot, closing the gap in seconds.
Some Threen were run through with mono-wire edged lances as they stood, still impotently firing their blasters. Some were literally blown apart by plasma charged Minié balls from caplock pistols. Others were pulled down and ripped apart by the fangs and razor shod claws of the males as they tried to flee.
Very few made it past the tents.
One of these was Booruzoun.
As the vans came into sight he felt a glimmer of hope.
It turned into dispair as he got closer.
The drivers were dead, all of them.
Smoke was curling from the hoods of the vans, all of them.
Behind him the howls were getting closer.
He gripped his blaster
There was no hope…
But he wasn’t going out like a bit-
He went out like a bitch.
***
Maven Hullena smiled at Bryce as he approached. A lot of her people loathed the guy but she didn’t. She had some idea of what he was going to face when his people caught up to him.
Besides, he was just so cute!
“So that’s how you make the whole ren faire thing work!”
“You like?” she asked with a crinkle of her nose.
“I like!” Bryce exclaimed. “So, they all dead?”
“Not all of them came here,” she replied, “There are a few stragglers, poor bastards.”
“Oh?”
“We in the lance are quick,” Hullena replied as she dismounted her war-mate.
“They get to deal with the hunters and the deathwhisperers,” Ruggvrr added.
“They aren’t quick,” Hullena said with a vicious smile.
“Speaking of,” Bryce said with a pleasant smile. “I promised to keep Craxina safe. I take it that she is?”
“Yeah, we got her.”
“Good,” Bryce replied. “I think I’m going to head over to the starport, pay someone a little visit.”
“Send him our regards,” Hullena purred.
“Oh I will,” Bryce replied smoothly. “Oh, when you see Craxina tell her...”
Bryce appeared to be completely at a loss.
“Tell her I…”
He smiled.
“Just tell her.”
“I understand,” Hullena said sadly.
Bryce smiled, turned, and walked into the night.

Just Hit GM on Support on PS4 for the First Time Playing Mostly Ana, Zen, Bap, and Lucio Solo Queueing and without being in Team Chat. Here to Give Some Hero Specific Support Advice. (Part 2)

Background

1 - Ana

Positioning: There are two things that I think about when I play Ana in terms of positioning.

Do I have some sort of natural cover to protect me?
Can I see all of my teammates?

If you say yes to both of those question then that's a pretty good start already. Simple. If you want to be more advanced let's talk about high ground usage and off angles.
High Ground is great because it gives you options. It's always easier to start on a high ground before a team fight because you can always drop from it if you really need to. It gives you access to landing nades on the enemy team so your teammates won't get in the way and the ability to see a lot of the map. Downside of high ground is that you can be exposed if there's no cover or if you don't have a teammate with you. Be weary of enemy snipers as you can become easing pickings if you aren't aware. I've gotten my head blown up a few times because I was hard scoping not realizing where the enemy Widow was and it cost us the team fight. Know the pros and cons of high ground so you know when to not use it.
Off Angles as the name implies is an angle is when you position away from your team, but you're able to focus down the same target together. It means the enemy team has to split their attention, thus, splitting their resources, while your team can maintain their focus fire. This is a great way to get decent damage in and access to anti nades on the enemy team. The weakness of it is that if the enemy team cuts you off from the rest of your team then you become vulnerable and your team is missing support. It's important to always have an exit plan when you go for off angles. If you're on an off angle on your own, you can most likely hold that angle for a few seconds until an enemy player will realize and push you. Read the situation, know your limits, and have an exit plan when going for off angle plays.
Unscoped/Quick Scope/Scoped Shots:

Unscoped Shots:
- Pros: Full field of view, no traces to give away your position, easy to hit big targets, able to position quicker
- Cons: Harder to hit on smaller and faster moving targets
Scoped Shots:
- Pros: Easier to hit shots on smaller and faster moving targets
- Cons: Minimizes field of view, traces give away position, static position, vulnerable to being flanked
Quick scope:
- Pros: Full field of view and the reliability of hitting targets reliably, while keeping the movement of when being unscoped
- Cons: Slower fire rate

Simple. All three types of shots are important and need to be practiced because the type of shot you will use will depend on the situation.
Sleep Dart: Throwing a way sleep darts is a bad habit and will be punished the higher you go in rank. There's also no point in wasting it in lower ranked games either so just stop spamming it. It's more effective to use it less with more impact vs spamming it and having no impact.
These are the main ways you are going to use sleep dart.

Saving your teammates: For example, and enemy Rein pinning a teammate, someone getting hooked, etc
Self-Defense: Dueling flankers like Tracer, Doomfist and Genji.
- Don't panic against Tracer. As long as you're not standing still it will be hard for her to once clip you if you still have nade. Try to do damage to her, which will force her blinks out and her recall.
- Doomfist is relatively predictable when he uses his cool downs. He's stationary when he's charging his punch. His seismic slam moves in a linear direction and is easiest to hit when he lands. His upper cut is also relatively easy to hit if you hit him on his way up. Just need to get him before he puts too many shots in your head.
- Genji is similar to Tracer in that it will be hard for him to one shot you, unless you're being completely stationary (why hard scoping all the time is bad). Same principle, try to do damage and bait out his reflect. It's also easier to hit him when he double jumps at the apex of his jump.
Cancelling an enemy cool down: Cool downs like Roadhog's Vape, Winston's leap, everything about Wrecking Ball and Doomfist.
Denying an enemy ultimate: McCree's high noon, Pharah's barrage, Genji blade, etc are all ultimates you want to at least attempt to sleep. Give yourself the option to at least attempt the sleep dart by ult tracking, as I previously discussed.
Sleeping an Out of Position Enemy: This is a great play if you are able to land a sleep on a target who is out of position. It means they are almost surely dead and opens up the team fight with an opening frag. Be patient with making this play though, there are shields, bubbles, etc that could block your sleep. If the enemy team has flanking DPS, then I would be more conservative about making this play and use sleep dart for more self-defense and saving teammates.
Playmaking: This is probably most people use sleep dart....or at least the concept of it. They kind of just "yeet" it thinking that it will make a play. An example of making plays with sleep dart is going on a flank and sleeping an enemy Rein so your Rein can shatter the enemy team.

Nade: Ana's grenade is very versatile as it can be used for yourself, enable your team, or to be able to swing team fights by landing antis. Some of the best uses was being able to landing the nade on my Rein, while simultaneously landing an anti on the enemy Rein. Getting multi man anti nades are great, but if there's nobody to really follow up on it then it's useless (sort of). I would rather get a 1 or 2 man nade that leads to a kill, rather than a 5 man anti that my team can't do anything with.
Knowing enemy team comps will dictate a lot about how you use your nade:

Dive: If you're against dive then look to use it more defensively. If the dive is already done and there's no major threat then you have the option to be more aggressive with it.
Rush: This is a comp you really want to land anti nades on. If you're able to hit consistent purples against Rein comps you will win team fights. There shouldn't be any major threat to flankers so you can be on an off angle or high ground or even at the back of your team landing purples. Try to squeeze it in between the shields, when Zarya bubbles are down, or when Dva just used her defense matrix. Hitting nades, while your Reins are dueling is also an easy way to win team fights. Your Rein will get a heal buff and then enemy Rein will have to play passive as he is getting smacked by your team. You'll reliably hit more purples by finding the right timing instead of spamming it.
BunkeDouble shield: I'll just lump these two comps together, but they are different comps. This one you may have to be more creative. Set nades are pretty good to break these kinds of comps as they land from a vertical angle. Here is a link to a KarQ video about some set nades that might help you. Same principle though, if you can't land a nade then look for a high ground or an off angle to land the purple. JUST DON'T FORGET TO STILL SUPPORT YOUR TEAM!

Another tip is that you don't have to directly hit a nade on a person. You can splash nades on walls, corners, or the floor and it will hit those around it in a 4 meter radius.
Nano Boost: I'm not going to add any information as I think this ML7 video pretty much explains everything about nano boost. It's way more comprehensive than anything I can write down so I would check that out if you want to improve your nano boost usage.

2 - Baptiste

Positioning: Baptiste has very similar positioning to Ana and Zenyatta as a sort of hybrid support between the two with a movement ability. He can stand directly behind his team to provide healing and damage like Zenyatta, but he also has the option to be in a safer position to avoid sight lines on the enemy team and just heal. Same principle with your positioning as Ana though:

Have natural cover
Be able to see all of your teammates

Check those 2 boxes and you then you should be able to push your limits more with positioning.
The time you should consider being in a more passive position if the enemy team has a Widow or Ashe. In those situations you need to avoid their sight lines and be disciplined. Other than that, be open to be in a position to damage the enemy team more.
Healing vs Damage: Common question I see about Baptiste, "Do I focus on healing or do I damage more?" Answer is, it depends. I'll make it simple, heal if you have a teammate under threat, damage if your teammates are safe. The riskiest time for teammates is at the start of a team fight. This is where you will most likely be healing the most as this is where your teammates are taking the most damage. Mid-fight you will most likely be switching between healing and damage as it's more chaotic in this situation. Then one the dust has settled and it's just clean up at that point then it's okay to do more damage. Just keep in mind to still make sure your teammates don't die unnecessarily.
Another tip with Bap is that you can weave in healing and damage at basically the same time. Heal, shoot, heal, shoot, heal, shoot, if possible. It doesn't even have to be at the same target. I can heal my Rein, then damage a shield, then heal my McCree on the side, then damage an off angling Pharah. damaging and healing as Baptiste is fluid and it's never just "I'm gonna heal more" or "I'm going to damage more."
Exo Boots: Related to positioning, Baptiste has the ability to quickly reposition vertically with his exo boots. It can be a great escape tool from bad situations and to quickly get to high ground. Some instances where I have used exo boots is avoiding an earth shatter by jumping in the air or juking a Reaper to teleported next to me by dropping then quickly jumping back up. Just a couple of examples but you get the idea. Have exo boots charged and ready to go then just press crouch again to cancel. Avoid spam jumping with Baptiste as it's a bad habit to build, especially against good hitscan players. You might get away with it now but it's not a good habit to have in the long-term. Play for that rank you want to be, not the rank you are in.
Regenerative Burst: Most of the time you'll be using this ability as a self. In a perfect world your support partner should be healing you when you really need it, but it's ranked, and it isn't a perfect world. Other than using it for yourself it's an AOE heal with 10 m radius for the rest of your team. For reference, Lucio's aura has a 12 m radius. Regenerative Burst gives 150 healing for yourself and 75 healing for teammates.
Combine this ability with Bap's healing shots and it's a great source of burst healing for teammates who are under a high level of threat. It can also be used for teammates who are under zero to little threat as you can pop the heal burst and do some damage.
Immortality Field: This is one of, if not, the strongest ability in the game right now. There are a few things you need to consider when using immortality field:

Does my teammate need immortality or could I just heal him?
Can I place the field behind a wall or corner so that it's hard to hit? If not, consider the pros and cons.
Does the immortality field enable a good play or is trying to correct a teammates mistake?

Immortality field, in a perfect world, should be used against enemy ultimates and saving teammates. If a teammate is being pressured, don't panic, if you're healing them then they should mostly be fine. Consider throwing immortality if there will be significant burst damage, purpled, stunned, or hacked. I highlight "consider" because you're not going to have to use immortality during all of those times. For example, if someone gets hacked but the enemy team isn't following up on it then I'm not going to throw lamp because can just heal the ally or do damage to the Sombra to force her retreat. Just need to read the situation.
If you do need to use immortality field then try to place it around a corner or a wall as much as possible. It's only 150 HP and can be broken quickly. The longer it lasts for 5 full seconds, the better. Of course, if it's not possible like being thrown in the air by Sigma ult or in a Zarya grav, still use it. Try holding it for the last possible second though as an enemy can break it and still end up getting the kill.
There are situations where you can use immortality aggressively. These are 3 main ones that I have worked out:

Off angling with an allied hitscan and combining immortality field with amplification matrix.
Enemy team uses a lot of cool downs and my team can use immortality field to take aggressive space.
Enabling a teammate who is using their ultimate like Genji blade, Pharah barrage, McCree high noon, etc.

Follow the same principles and try to place the immortality field around a wall or corner when using it aggressively. Finally, if you're under direct threat and need to use immortality field for yourself then do so. Jus remember, positioning, exo boots, regenerative burst, and Bap's damage should be used first before using immortality field for yourself. Immortality field should be your last resort to self-defense.
Bonus tip, immortality field follows the same arch as Baptiste's healing grenade. So, if you aren't sure where your immortality field will land then place a couple shots of healing before to figure out the trajectory.
Amplification Matrix: Using this ultimate is like a double edged sword. It's a great ultimate to turn team fights, versatile, and charges very quickly. However, the weird thing that happens in ranked is when amp matrix is deployed, the entire team will gravitate towards it and give up their positioning. It's like one of those fly zappers, where the flies are your teammates, and the zapper is the matrix. Sorry, just a small pet peeve of mine. Anyways, it's a great way to initiate a team fight or counter engage with. My personal favorite use is baiting a team to walk into a long sight line the popping the window in front of their faces. Makes for a quick team fight win. Other options are using it at an off angle with a teammate or using it for yourself to do more damage/healing. Don't be afraid to use this ultimate as it charges fairly quickly. Experiment and have fun with it.

3 - Lucio

Positioning: General positioning of Lucio is slightly at the center of the team, but being ready to check an enemy DPS and/or peel for your squishy teammates. As Lucio, you have two primary jobs:

Speeding your team
Being a bodyguard for your other support

Read the enemy team comp first and that will dictate a lot on how you position. If the enemy team is running dive then you will need to position closer to your other support to protect them. If they are running a single flanker, like Tracer, you have the option of contesting an angle or lane they like coming from. It's like a "preemptive peel" where you get to waste a lot of their resources and make them retreat to their team.
If the enemy team isn't running some sort of dive then just mostly be in the center of your team and speed them where they need to go. Check on your other support every few seconds though, they might have taken some poke damage and it's important that they don't waste their cool downs for themsleves.
Healing vs Speed: This is difficult question to answer, but I'll try my best to give the basics. It first starts with your team comp. When you're playing with Rein, Zarya, and/or DPS that have short range then you will mostly be on speed. If you're playing with a dive comp where your teammates already have high mobility then speed becomes sort of redundant and you will mostly be on healing.
Here are situations where I would use speed as Lucio:

Closing the distance against an enemy
Closing the distance to an ally to peel for them
Speeding a teammate so they can chase a kill
Speed boosting a teammate to safety when healing won't save them
Transitioning through an open area quickly to avoid damage
Speed boosting ultimates like Reaper's death blossom and Roadhog's whole hog

If you're already using speed like that, then you're already better than most of the Lucio player I've played with. Use healing in other situations I didn't list above.
Wallriding: Back in the day of 2017, you probably didn't need to wallride to be a good Lucio. Now, it's a must have to be a good Lucio player. Think of wallriding as a force multiplier. Lucio moves faster on walls, meaning, he can close the distance to his teammates or enemies, and it makes him harder to hit. Wallriding is just something you really need to practice. Hop into a custom game and practice wallriding around maps or play Lucio in some deathmatch. The more you practice, the better you'll be at wallriding
Boop: Pretty much a spammable ability. Main uses of Lucio's boop are:

Environmental kills
Booping an enemy in a bad position
Saving teammates death
Damage Combos
1. Boop them up in the air so they'll be in a predictable pattern for you to kill
2. Boop + melee is a great 55 damage combo, especially on squishy heroes

Just remember to not tunnel vision on environmental kills. It's easy to fall into the trap of only going for environmental kills when you still need to support the team.
Amp it up: Same principle as speeding vs healing except in more extreme situations. Speed boost to save teammates, close the distance, or rotating through open areas quickly. The only time you will really be heal boosting if the team fight is over and you're getting that last bit of healing for ult charge or your team is already engaged and doesn't really need to speed anymore so you put it on healing.
Dropping the Beat: First thing about Lucio's ultimate is that you have to read the situation first. If you use it, is it enough to actually win a team fight? If the answer is no, then don't use it. An example would be an enemy team comboing Grav with nano barrage. There is no way Lucio's beat is enough to survive that combo. Also consider how many teammates are still on your team. If you're using beat for only 1 or 2 teammates alive because you were saving it for the enemy grav, it's not a good beat. Team fight is already lost at that point, yeah you used it for the enemy grav but you could've used it for the next team fight.
If team fights are still winnable then you will most likely use beat in 3 major ways:

Engaging: This is great if the enemy team uses a lot of cool downs or has no ultimates. Just make sure your team is ready to engage with it or the shields will expire before your team actually starts fighting.
Against enemy ults: The common tip is using it against big combos. This is fine for the most part, but just need to know when the enemy team has too much damage that using beat will not be enough to win.
Counter engaging: This usually happens in long drawn team fights where team's will exchange kills and cool downs leading to a stalemate. Using beat to turn the tide in you team's favor will be that little extra buff that might win you guys the team fight.

Another tip is that Lucio's beat has a cast time but if you do it on slightly elevated surfaces then the cast time is a lot shorter. Another tip is that Lucio's beat needs to be in line of sight and so can be cut off by shields. However there's a small window after you drop the beat where you can LOS a teammate and they will get the beat.

4 - Zenyatta

Positioning: Same principle as the other supports with one extra guideline that's important for Zen:

Have natural cover
Be able to see all your teammates
Need to be able to see enemy players

Zen's main focus is to do damage. You need to be able to see the enemy team to provide discords. The range of discords is pretty forgiving at 40 m so you don't need to be too close. Some exceptions is playing against a Widow or Ashe. These heroes often times share the same sight lines, but have the advantage of having hitscan so they can more reliably land shots on you. If this happens, then position yourself so that you can avoid the Widow/Ashe's sight lines and focus on the enemy tanks. The "god gamer" player is to of course pressure or kill the enemy hitscans so you don't have to worry about it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're feeling really confident or if the enemy hitscans are unaware of where you are. If you are feeling confident then jiggle pick through a corner to make it difficult for them or charge up a volley and look to one shot them when they are hard scoped.
Volleys vs Primary: It's important to distinguish when to use primary and secondary fire as Zenyatta. It's a key factor in optimizing damage efficiency as Zen and thus outputting more damage for your team. Here are the pros and cons of primary vs secondary fire as Zen
Primary Fire

When to use it: You will spend most of the time using primary fire throughout a match. Zen's discord + primary fire has one of the highest DPS in the game right behind Bastion, Reaper only hitting close range headshots, and Dva hitting close range headshots. That's nuts, especially considering Zen is a support. Use primary when burning down shields, tanks, duels, or just throwing damage down range. Just remember to not hold down primary fire and actually take the time to think about every shot. it's easy to just use it as a "spam" ability but to get the most out of Zen's damage you need to be able to land shots.
Pros
- Higher DPS
- More ammo efficient
- Good for duels
Cons
- Less burst damage

Secondary Fire

When to use it: Volleys are a more "situational" but is still an important tool in Zen's kit. Specific situations for using volleys are, getting ult charge before the team fight starts, getting opening picks into predictable entry ways, one shotting targets that stand still like Widow or Ana, and peeking around corners or off angles. Volleys have high amounts of burst damage but if you miss all of your 5 orbs from a volley that's 1/4 of Zen's ammo gone. Be sure to use secondary fire at the right times as the reload animation for Zenyatta may force you into bad situations.
Pros
- High burst damage for one shot potential
- Can be used during downtime when behind cover
Cons
- Less ammo efficient
- Weaker in duels
- Cannot place orbs during the charge animation

Discord Orb: This is Zenyatta's strongest ability and surprisingly, an ability a lot of lower ranked player underestimate.

If you're new to Zenyatta your first priority is just placing on an enemy as much as possible during a team fight. Just focus them down even if isn't necessarily the best target yet.
The next step is placing Discord orb on targets that should be focused down. Usually those are tanks, enemies that are major threats, and out of position targets.
Last step is fluidly mixing in Zen's primary fire, while placing discord orb on the appropriate targets, without missing a beat. This is the most challenging part as an out of position target or an enemy that needs to be focused down may have a short time window. Would recommend watching any high level Zen player and watch as they do skill. It's hard to explain in words and is better visually seen.

Bonus tip with discord orb is that it will stay on a target for 3 seconds when out of line of sight. It works as a mini sonar arrow for you to see if an enemy is about to flank or peek a corner. Great way to get unsuspecting kills.
Harmony Orb: The main way to use harmony orb is placing it on allies who you know are about to take the most damage or be placed in the riskiest situation. Usually that will be squishy flankers like Tracer, Genji, or Echo. Prioritize having healing orb on those heroes as much as possible but don't overextend or go into a poor position just to heal them. It's easy to panic when seeing a critical sign on an ally, but remember one of the first things I talked about playing support is valuing your life.
If your other support is being threatened and needs help then place harmony on them as quickly as possible. It's still important to protect your other support and deal with the threat. Tanks are an "okay" option for harmony orb if your other support is something like a Mercy or a Lucio. Realistically tho, having harmony orb on a hero like a Reinhardt who is very resource intensive will not be enough. The real way to "heal" a Reinhardt is dishing out more damage on the enemy Rein.
Just remember to not spend too much time worrying about harmony as Zen's main focus is damage. Don't get me wrong, harmony orb placement is still an important skill for Zen, but it's important to not be a "healbot" Zen as every single other support is better at healing than he is. Play to Zen's strengths.
Transcendence: Very powerful ultimate that provides 300HPS and makes Zen invulnerable for 6 seconds. For all the Zen newbies, transcendence does not make your teammates invulnerable if they are in it. Main uses for Zen's transcendence are:

Against enemy ultimate combos like grav/dragons, Sigma flux, earthshatter, etc.
Keeping yourself alive when there's no real need to use against an ultimate. There are going to be team comps like Winston, Dva, Widow, & Tracer, where there is no real ultimate to counter. This will be an appropriate team comp to use Trans to save yourself
Lastly but probably the weakest way to use it is keeping your teammates alive to sustain the fight. Reason it's weak is that your ally is probably in a position to save them and it's a heavy investment in resources just to keep a teammate alive. One could argue that it's a good way to suddenly change the tempo in favor of your team and in some situations I agree. It's mostly a case by case basis but try exhausting all your effort in doing damage and placing harmony orb before trying to use trans to save teammates.

The biggest weakness of transcedence is that Zen loses the ability to output his damage and placing discords. So you gain a lot of healing but lose out on Zen's damage. The one advantage is that the discord orb that is placed before popping trans stays on during the duration of trans.
If enemies are trying to bait out trans of you early to use one of their combos like nanoblade you may have to pop trans if you are about to die. I know it feels dumb but think about it this way. If you die with trans the rest of your team are going to die anyways to the combo. Might as well give your team the chance during that time window for your team to kill that genji. Just remember, pop trans as a lost option as good positioning, help from teammates, and dueling should be used first before popping trans to save yourself. For all the people who have Zen teammates, make sure to protect them!
Dealing with Zen hate: I put this as a separate point because I've received the most hate from teammates when playing Zen. A lot of the times it comes from tank players who feed (specifically Rein players) and support partners who feel like they have to heal so much. You will receive a lot of shit from players playing Zen and I warn you now that you need to have a tough mental playing him in lower elos. I usually instant mute toxic people and just prove to myself that I can fucking do this. Zen is a very very strong hero, but so far, has not been accepted in the majority of the ranked community.

Summary

If you're the type of player who gets overwhelmed with a lot of information or has been trying to climb, but still stuck, despite endless time watching VODs, guides, and streamers I have a suggestion for you guys. Just focus on one major point in this guide. It's easy to fall into the trap of trying to apply everything here but if you don't have basics you will never be able to apply all of the information. Focus on one aspect that I bolded for a week, a month, or however long it takes you until you feel like a firm grasp on that piece of knowledge you're trying to apply. Then move on to something next and keep building on that.
If I were to boil everything down to key points to improve on how I was able to climb as support it would be this

Know your role and priorities in a team comp
Always think in the back of your head who on the enemy team might kill you
Position yourself with cover and to see the entire picture of a team fight
Don't waste abilities
Finally, don't waste ultimates if a team fight is decisively won or lost

Follow those 5 steps then apply that to any support hero and you should be able to climb with practice and actively learning. Hope this helps you guys. Comment down below if you liked or disliked this post and why so I can improve it. Also, comment if you want to see comprehensive hero guides on each support. I will be happy to make more in the future.

Outside Resources

[HEL-Verse] Still Untitled Spinoff Story [Chapters 1-3]

Happy Lunar New Year's eve to all my readers who are celebrating and feasting! Some notes for clarity on today's post...
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Q: What is this story?
A: This is a spinoff that I have been dabbling around with for the last few months on and off, based on the events of a commission from last January: The First Juggernaut
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Q: Why haven't I seen this story before if the 4th chapter is releasing today?
A: This story falls under the category of "one shots", which is content made available, at least initially, only to certain subscribers of my patreon. I am making prior chapters available to everyone today both on my patreon and below.
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Q: I am a patron, where can I read the latest installment in the untitled ~~goose~~ snake saga?
A: I will be posting it to patreon shortly after finishing this post and I will link it at the bottom of this chapter.
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Q: I am a patron, why can't I read the latest chapter?
A: Latest installment is available to anyone supporting me to the tune of $10/month or greater. As with the prior chapters, chapter 4 will eventually be released to the public.
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Q: Is this considered canon for HEL Jumper purposes?
A: Yes, unless something explicitly conflicts with the HEL Jumper in which case I made an oopsie.
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Q: Who is Drake and what is this snake of which you speak?
A: Read on to find out!
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Chapter 1
September 17th 2035, Human Dreadnought HMV Resplendent Dawn, Shuttle Bay
“Mr. Thane! Good of you to join us here in Udanis. How was your journey? Uneventful I hope,” the incredibly tall, dark-skinned man called out across the cavernous metal room. Delta Division shuttles could be seen darting in and out of the space almost constantly, ferrying goods and personnel between the dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers, and support ships that currently made up humanity’s presence in what was, effectively, a star-system wide DMZ declared by the Ghaelen and enforced by humans. Unable to stomach the reality of warfare in hostile conditions against even more hostile foes, the ‘space elk’ presence had long since fled the system. Taking his bearings, the stockier, tanned individual with unkempt black hair and a civilian’s uniform nodded to the approaching figure.
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Rear Admiral. Until just now I didn’t even know the identity of my destination. Though I understand the need for secrecy now that I’m here. Drake Thane, it’s a pleasure.” The two men engaged in a firm handshake, the squeeze of the palm a tried and true test of such men. Beta Division did not have many Admirals, and Udanis did not have many civilians.
“You’ll have to forgive Admiral Freidrich, but our resident Juggernaut seems to be giving him the runaround again. Victory will go to a young woman’s head though, won’t it?” the taller man laughed. “I am Rear Admiral Natori Kaczynski, at your service. And yes, that is a Beta Division insignia. Though perhaps you might be able to appreciate such a thing? After all, Delta called you out here too, didn’t they?”
“With all due respect Rear Admiral, I don’t even know why I’m here,” Thane replied. “Only that the pay is better than the FBI was offering.”
“Mmm, significantly better I’d suspect. The HEL does have its means,” Natori agreed. “Right this way then, Mr. Thane. Perhaps you’ll understand better once you’re brought up to speed. Ah, how rude of me!” the Rear Admiral suddenly exclaimed as though set upon by a novel idea. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
“I indulged in a ‘final meal’ on the transport, sir. But thank you,” Drake replied. Natori cast a knowing smile his way.
“Very good then. I see you packed light so let’s head to the nearest briefing room then. Mary?”
‘How may I be of assistance, Rear Admiral Kaczynski?’ the ship’s VI requested.
“Has a briefing room been set aside for Mr. Thane’s arrival?”
‘Yes sir, forwarding the location to you now.’
“Useful little tool, isn’t she?” Natori asked as he turned on his heel and led Drake straight in the opposite direction down the corridor.
“I’m only familiar with the civilian models, sir. The US government hasn’t gotten around to upgrading its systems yet.”
“Surprising absolutely no one, but perhaps we should be thankful,” Kaczynski suggested as he turned a corner and carried on, saluting various soldiers and support personnel as they moved at a leisurely pace. “Were it not for the bureaucratic incompetence of Terran governments, who would want to join the HEL?”
“That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose,” Thane agreed. “And while it may not be my place Rear Admiral, isn’t playing escort below your station?”
Natori looked him over with an appraising eye. “How tactful, but such is to be expected from a crisis negotiator I suppose. Allow me to assure you, Mr. Thane, the current situation is very much the concern of men like me.”
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Over the next couple hours, seated across a polished wooden table from one another, Natori reviewed with Drake the timeline of the pacification of Udanis IV, from the discovery of life in the system in early 2035, to first contact, and eventual full blown war by the end of May of the same year. The conflict had ended on June 6th, with the first truly successful battlefield deployment of Beta and Delta division’s latest collaboration, the Juggernaut program.
“So you brought me here to deal with Lieutenant Lavinaga, sir? Was it something about the, what did you call it, Queen’s nest operation? How many of those… stimulants is she still on?”
“No and yes. Fortunately, Lieutenant Lavinaga is quite well,” Natori replied, reaching for the pitcher of water and glasses in the middle of the table. He unhurriedly poured for them both, and the two men paused to soothe their throats. “While it is true that you were brought here to negotiate with veterans of this conflict… perhaps it’s better that I show you. This way please,” the Rear Admiral proposed, leading Drake on a short walk that nevertheless felt like a mile. The Marines and other combat personnel he’d seen up to that point appeared to be in high spirits, already swapping stories about gallantry during the operation while reminiscing fondly about the fallen. Maybe years later they might need someone like him, but not then and not there.
Eventually they arrived at their destination, given away by the fact that Natori was required to provide biometric identification in two forms as well as enter a combination PIN to pass through a set of imposing steel bulkheads. Drake recognized the area immediately as an interrogation facility, with the Rear Admiral escorting him all the way to the back. It was a cell constructed for long term confinement, and the two men found themselves alone in front of what Drake was sure was a one way mirror. The only other humans in the area were the Marine guards stationed back at the entrance. It didn’t help his nerves that they were in full armor intended for combat in hazardous environments. “Who’s on the other side of that wall, Rear Admiral?”
“Not who, Mr. Thane,” Natori corrected with an unsettling fire in his eyes. “But what.”
With the flick of a switch light suddenly poured through the opening, allowing Thane to see the interior of the spacious but barren room. “Jesus fucking Christ!” he whispered. “Are you mad, Rear Admiral?”
“Quite, Mr. Thane. But so are most who labor for the advancement of humanity. I daresay if you accept this job you’ll be rather similar.”
“I speak Farsi and Arabic, Rear Admiral. I deal with veterans of the Middle Eastern conflicts. What in God’s good name do you expect me to do with a Gorgon?!”
“An excellent question!” Natori agreed. “For starters I’d like you to see if you could bring us to the point where she does not spit acid at anything that moves. The fact that they store them in the approximate location of human mammary glands lost its humor… rather quickly.”
Drake swallowed heavily and took a closer look at the alien. Its entire body screamed danger to him. Natural rock-like armor covered its entire, serpentine form, which took after the Nagas or Lamias of human mythology. Her yellowish-green skin was the same color as the acidic environments of her homeworld, and her whiplike tail seemed to be constantly searching for something to coil around, or perhaps lash out at like a flail. “How long has she been here?”
“Since June 7th, Mr. Thane.”
“It’s been more than three months? Rear Admiral, surely this is in violation of… something!”
Natori licked his lips and hung his head. “This is why we sent for you, Mr. Thane. We have tried everything, and I mean everything, to establish some sort of diplomatic relationship, or even communication. She eats heartily and tries to kill us whenever she can. She is one of the only survivors of the Queen’s nest, and we believe that such authority will be key in any sort of eventual alliance.”
“You really are mad,” Thane whispered as Natori placed his hands behind his back and looked at the Gorgon.
“Am I mad for seeking powerful allies for our species, Mr. Thane? The Ghaelen possess powerful technology, but the price of its acquisition was steep. We will only bring ruin to ourselves if ‘galactic policeman’ is to be our role. Let our own country’s history be an example on that matter. No, one day we will come across a challenge we cannot surmount alone. I would much prefer it if the acid spitting snake women were on our side in that event, Mr. Thane. After coming this far, I hope you’ll at least humor me.”
“And Admiral Freidrich, sir?”
Natori met Drake’s eyes. “Approved this operation personally, Mr. Thane.”
The crisis negotiator breathed deeply and ran a hand through his mop of hair. “Just… how many people have died before me?”
“None, Mr. Thane! And I have no intention of making you the first.” The civilian shot Natori a dubious look that obviously conveyed his opinion on that particular statement. “Yes well, there were a couple of men who needed emergency medical treatment and reconstructive surgery, but we have equipment that is rather resistant to Gorgon acid thanks to their sacrifices, among many others. Shall I fetch one for you?”
“With all due respect, Rear Admiral-”
“Ah, you know what they say about that little lead in,” Natori chuckled, the casual hand on his hip indicating he fully understood why Drake had afforded him his ‘due respect’.
“Then you’ll have to consider the month-long journey to be my gesture of good faith. I’d like to see everything you have on the Gorgons, ideally in printed form. And yes, that includes the classified bits. I’ll sign whatever NDA’s you deem reasonable. And a cup of coffee… maybe two. You can keep your acid-resistant suits for now. I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”
After a moment of consideration, Natori offered Drake his hand again. They shook. “I appreciate your consideration, Mr. Thane. I will oversee the preparation of said documents, as well as the necessary security clearances. In the meantime you are free to observe our captive, though might I suggest taking a pitstop in your cabin first?”
“You’re the type to get mixed up in the affairs of his subordinates, aren’t you, Rear Admiral?” Thane ventured cautiously. Natori’s smile was different somehow that time, almost unsettlingly so.
“Perhaps your keen eye will succeed where I have failed, Mr. Thane? We will be in touch and Mary is, of course, at your disposal. Welcome to the Resplendent Dawn,” Kaczynski finished, turning quickly on his heel and departing, saluting the Marine door guards as he left.
“Apparently he’s also one to leave civilians alone with alien captives,” Drake muttered, looking down at the control panel for the one way glass. Left there was a post-it note, a vintage technology that still found itself in use even in the era of shield generators, FTL travel, and VI’s.
Don’t activate the two way functionality. We’re running low on materials to manufacture more polarized glass.
Thane chuckled in disbelief and ran a hand over his face, captivated momentarily by the holes he could see in the alien’s forearms, a natural biological gap between the Gorgon analogs of the radius and ulna. At least he assumed she had bones. “What have I gotten myself into?”
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As it turned out, the answer to that question was a bit more complex than one on one prisoner or hostage negotiation, something that became readily apparent after an hour or so of reading in front of the alien’s cell. The coffee was surprisingly adequate, as was the insulated mug that kept it warm as he labored. He would glance up on occasion to observe his subject, not wanting to fully depend on unreliable witness testimony, more reliable autopsy reports, combat records, and the gruesome video feeds from the suit of one Lieutenant Lanvinaga. If Kaczynski’s tale was true, and he had no grounds to assert it wasn’t, the alien before him had not only retained the will to live after more than three months in solitary, she also retained the desire to kill and fight. She was sane and hostile. That was more than could be said for some of the veterans he’d talked down in the past.
“Or failed to talk down,” Drake allowed with a mutter, shaking his head. Movement caught his eye and he refocused on the alien, watching as she curled up on herself only to adjust and re-adjust, picking at the rock-like armor that seemed to grow from her very body. Scratching his head, the human consulted several images that he would have rather not dealt with, various post-mortem shots of Gorgons that had been killed during the pacification. Very few sported natural armor to the level of his subject, but not because she was some sort of unique specimen. Near as he could tell the Gorgon before him was quite typical for her species, but her natural armor was jagged and reminded him of a volcanic rock field. Much of his reference material depicted Gorgons with relatively smooth plating that rested underneath manufactured metallic armor. “It’s worth a shot,” Than shrugged, noting that it was 21:00 shipboard time. “Mary, is Rear Admiral Kaczynski still awake?”
‘Good evening Mr. Drake Thane,’ came Mary’s synthesized but pleasant enough voice. ‘The Rear Admiral has retired for the evening. Are you experiencing an emergency?’
“No no, nothing like that,” Thane clarified quickly. “I’ll just leave him a message then.”
‘Very well, you may begin recording when ready.’
“Rear Admiral, this is Drake Thane. In the morning I’d appreciate it if you could track down a couple of rocks and an industrial sander for me. I have an idea.”
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“I believe I’ve waited long enough to sate my curiosity?” Natori stated as he watched Drake sanding down one surface of the chunks of Udanian crust he’d been given.
“Fair enough. How familiar are you with the anatomy of beavers, Rear Admiral?”
“How familiar are you with the anatomy of beavers?” Natori barked with laughter. “Oh I definitely picked the right man for this job.”
“Save that for when I actually get somewhere, sir. The answer, I suppose, is that I’m familiar enough to know that beavers don’t just cut down trees to build themselves shelter. Left alone long enough without anything to gnaw on their teeth will continue to grow and grow, injuring or even leading to the death of the animal. These Gorgon appear to possess the same quality when it comes to their natural armor,” Thane postulated. Natori’s eyes lit up.
“You propose a gift?”
“I hope you don’t mind the loss of a belt sander,” Drake said shortly.
“Let’s not wait then. Her first meal of the day is scheduled around this time.”
“Good enough for me. Where’s this suit, the one that will stop me from getting my face melted off?”
“Storage locker on the left. We haven’t personally delivered anything for some time, so be prepared for resistance,” Kaczynski warned. “She seems to consider eating her meal off the floor worth the chance at an attack.”
“Duly noted,” Drake replied in a tense voice, finding a heavily fortified hazardous environment suit that would have looked more at home on a space walk where the Admiral indicated. A short time later, sweat beading on his brow, he unlocked the door to the Gorgon’s cell. The moment he entered, the alien puffed out her chest and spat a stream of sickly green acid from her mouth. Though the attack was exemplary in its aim and velocity, that also made it relatively easy to dodge if one was willing to simply drop to the floor. Well protected as he was, Drake did just that, squashing whatever manufactured nutrient cubes had been intended for her. In return, he chucked the first rock at her, earning a momentary reprieve as the alien tried to process the fact that one of the legged beings keeping her hostage had thrown a rock at her. It was enough time for him to roll the second one to the base of her body, a couple feet below where her torso met her tail, which carried on behind her for a good six feet or so. The fact that the second rock was ‘presented’ instead of ‘chucked’ was not lost on the alien, but that didn’t prevent her from compressing the venom sacks in her chest again.
“Oh for the love of-” Thane cursed, retreating out the door as the second biological attack splattered onto the surface just behind him. To his amazement, Natori was applauding even as two Marines rushed at him with decontamination equipment.
“A magnificent swan dive if I’ve ever seen one, Mr. Thane! And before you believe I’m having a laugh at your expense, come look at what our guest is already up to.”
At Natori’s insistence Thane shucked the enviro-suit as quickly as he could and returned to the one-way mirror. There, he could see the Gorgon ignoring her smushed breakfast entirely. After a brief contemplation of the rocks that had been given to her, she began banging at her own body with one of them, chipping off pointy bits of rock that clearly agitated her. At least Drake considered it could be fully fledged rock; he had no idea if aliens producing natural rock armor atop their own dermis was reasonable. Whatever it was, it was certainly tougher than keratin. The Rear Admiral ran a hand over his short, close cropped hair. “I would certainly call this progress, Mr. Thane. What is your next step?”
“To see if I can get her to look at a human for longer than a second without trying to dissolve him,” he replied tersely. “Do you have more of those rocks?”
Natori cocked a brow his way. “Mr. Thane, this is a Delta Division Liberation-class dreadnought. We have plenty of rocks.”
Chapter 2
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Drake Thane cursed, hauling himself to his feet after another harrowing trip into the Gorgon’s cell. She had accepted his gift of rocks, but had not made any sort of connection between the smooth and jagged varieties, instead using both to chip away at and then grind down the excess armor growing from her skin. That was how she spent most of her days when not eating or attempting to fight anyone who entered her enclosure. He had only been aboard the Resplendent Dawn for forty eight hours, but he’d read more than enough to make it clear that the Gorgon’s were highly intelligent and capable of advanced battlefield tactics. Humanity’s swift victory was primarily a technological feat, not a tactical one.
“Which leaves pride, an absurd amount of pride,” he muttered, debating whether to remove the helmet from his head and return to study or attempt something new. Exactly what, he did not know. Not willing to throw his life away or test the durability of the hazardous environment suit further, he began removing it in a process that took several minutes and assistance from one of the Marine sentries on duty. “Thank you. Let’s leave it out for now. I might try again later today.”
“As you say, Mr. Thane,” the Marine replied. “Not sure what you could do though. Nothing gets through to them.”
“Something will,” Drake insisted. “But I understand where you’re coming from.”
“Shall I inform the Admiral of this morning’s result?” the soldier asked
“No need. It’s status quo for now,” he said, heading back to the table that had become his workstation and opening up a portable computer he’d been provided with to review the various multimedia files that humanity possessed on the Gorgons. Ongoing attempts at communicating with the planetside populace had borne no fruit, with the various kingdoms going to ground the moment anyone tried to make contact. He had already checked once, but he double checked to make sure there were no records of torture, starvation, or unusual punishment of his current subject. He doubted they would have actually been logged, but there was continuity in the timetable. That was enough for him.
“How long can you keep this up?” he wondered of his new adversary. It was practically against the code of his profession to consider an interlocutor an enemy, but given that she had attempted to dissolve him without fail every time he stuck his nose in the door, he was willing to make an exception. “Yeah, don’t remind me. The answer is at least a couple months. At least the coffee’s still hot.”
Caffeine in hand, Thane instead opened up various combat records. He did his best to avoid the more gruesome ones, but a few caught his interest. There were several instances where gear had been retrieved and the combat logs analyzed to discover that the deceased had been engaged in one on one combat by individual Gorons, sometimes in the presence of entire enemy units. “Dear Lord in heaven,” he muttered. “They’re going to make a movie out of this, if it’s even declassified.”
The ‘this’ in question was a helmet recording from a Marine private who had been surrounded by an enemy platoon. With no ammunition remaining, he had fixed his bayonet and stood to face his death with courage. Instead of immediately spitting acid at him or ganging up on him, one of the Gorgons had stepped, or was it slithered, forward. After a long moment that took Thane’s breath away, the Marine realized that the spear-wielding, armored alien was challenging him to something of a duel. Most remarkable was what happened when the Marine proved victorious, ramming his bayonet into a gap between the alien’s armor and bringing her down in a writhing mass of rock and flesh after several minutes of testing each other. The remaining enemies retreated, and the victorious Marine had survived the hostile environment of Udanis IV long enough to call for backup.
“Only problem is I doubt I could land a hit on her to save my life, even if she’s unarmed and unarmored… well, no extra armor,” he mused. The idea of asking another to fight in his stead was equally unpalatable, especially since he wasn’t sure the Gorgon would submit to anything short of death. “This is getting me nowhere.”
Recognizing his own limits, Drake sorted his affairs and left the interrogation bloc, wandering around the ship and letting his mind drift until he drifted right into an imposing blonde soldier whose rolled up sleeves revealed several mechanical interface points embedded in her arms. “Who the hell are you?” she demanded.
“Drake Thane, crisis negotiator. I’m here at the request of Admiral Freidrich and Rear Admiral Kaczynski. It’s an honor to meet you, Lieutenant Lavinaga.”
“Christ, is it that fucking obvious?” she asked, glancing down at her arms. “Guess it is. You lost, Thane?”
“Physically? No. But maybe you can help me? I’ve got a bit of a Gorgon problem,” he admitted.
“The survivor? Should just space her if you ask me,” Lavinaga said dismissively. “Assuming you want that thing alive I’m not your woman.”
“And what if I want someone to go in there and wear her down so I can actually attempt to communicate with her and not get a face full of acid?”
“And I thought I was insane,” she laughed.
“It’s my job at the moment,” he shrugged.
“Would I get to wear my armor?”
“Of course. Don’t see how else you’d survive. You're still mostly flesh and blood.”
“I’m going to let that insult pass cause it’s been way too long. She’s in the interrogation cells, right? Meet you there in a few.”
“I actually don’t have approval for this yet,” he admitted. “I just had the idea when I ran into you.”
“Well you don’t worry your little head about that, Drake,” she simpered, clapping a hand down on his shoulder so hard he thought his collarbone might fracture. “You let me handle those Admirals.”
-----
Drake didn’t want to know how Lavinaga had gotten permission, but true to her word she appeared in her full star spangled glory about an hour after leaving him in one of the Resplendent Dawn’s many corridors. The hum of the ship and overhead lighting was drowned out by the heavy footfalls and hissing hydraulics of her suit. When she reached his side, the visor of her helmet slid open.
“You have no idea how awful this feels,” she said affectionately. “So, what do you need me and Ares to do?”
“I don’t really know. Just wear her down enough that I can show her how this works without dying,” he suggested, holding up the portable belt sander he’d used to smooth over a few rocks that were now the sole possessions of the Gorgon. Lavinaga just shook her head.
“If that’s what you want. Should be fun. I wonder how long she can go,” Lavinaga said with a bit too much anticipation in her voice. “Well, enough standing around! Let’s go see if she remembers me.”
Drake readied himself at the observation port as Lavinaga hefted her enormous shield and casually threw open the door to the cell. “Sup bitch? Long time no see!”
Thane watched, horrified, as the Gorgon assaulted the Juggernaut with a zeal and fury that she had never shown him. Her venom sacs were depleted within seconds, only scratching the paint of the wall of metal that made up Lavinaga’s shield. She threw what rocks she had and slammed her tail against the hulking monstrosity to no avail, the borderline psychotic laughter of Lavinaga her only reward for her efforts. Sweat dripped from Drake’s brow as his thesis slowly proved itself correct and the Gorgon’s blows slowly weakened and became lethargic. The juggernaut drove the point home by casually pushing her to the ground after about half an hour. “Now why don’t you just get comfortable down there? You’re lucky someone other than me is running the shots or I’d be testing my boot against your skull,” she warned.
“Lieutenant please, we don't know how much of our language she understands,” Drake said over the intercom. “Thank you for your restraint. I’ll be right in.”
On account of the mobile metal wall that stood between him and the broken alien, Drake steadied himself and managed to summon enough courage to enter the area without any protection other than the jeans and shirt he was wearing. In his hands were two stones and the sander. The Gorgon watched his every move, her acid green eyes still alert even as her body failed her. With no acid left to spit, she bore witness to him demonstrating the ability of the sander to grind down and polish rock. He didn’t belabor the point. Instead setting the tool down a couple feet from her. “I want to talk,” he said before turning to leave with the juggernaut. “Lieutenant, whenever you’re ready.”
“You eggheads think up the craziest things,” Lavinaga shrugged. “Am I allowed to taunt it again?”
“Please don’t.”
“Fine, but only because you’re handsome,” she insisted when they were safely outside. “Oh, also you owe me a few beers on account of the time I’m about to spend in the armory. See ya, Thane.”
Drake was so struck by her antics he barely had time to rush back into the cell when he was the Gorgon lifting the tool he’d left her to the one place on her body she had no armor, her neck. “Stop!” he roared, snatching it from her grasp before leaping back several feet as his brain finally caught up with what his body had done. “Why? You’ve been trying to kill us all for months!”
The alien’s eyes were narrow and downcast, and bits of her natural armor littered the cell where they’d been broken against the unyielding armor of Lavinaga’s suit. Small areas of her body were discolored, a deeper green than the rest. He could only assume bruising. “Maybe I am fucking insane,” Drake admitted, walking forward and turning the sander back on. “I didn’t defeat you, so I’m not going to be the one who kills you.”
The Gorgon hissed violently at him, but was unable to physically harm or stop him from grinding down and polishing one of her shoulders. With no other recourse, she simply refused to look at him instead. When Drake left, he took the sander and every rock with him, not wanting to leave her anything that might be used as a tool for suicide. As soon as the door to the cell closed, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor, feeling only the racing of his heart and the damp cling of his sweat-soaked clothing to his body. He did not return to the interrogation blocks that day.
-----
“You wanted to see me, Rear Admiral?”
“Yes indeed, Mr. Thane. I daresay you did something, I’m just not sure that something was good,” Natori explained as Drake entered the interrogation wing the next day, having spent more time than necessary grooming and feeding himself. His mind weighed heavily with the pain he’d inflicted upon his charge. The language of the Gorgons remained an inscrutable mess of low pitched hissing and other sounds, but hopelessness was a universal concept. It seemed that their captive was finally allowing that darkness to permeate her mind and influence her actions. Per Kaczynski’s report, gone were the consistent attacks against those bringing her food as well as efforts to eat it. “I am not usually one for threats, Mr. Thane, and I don’t precisely intend this to be one but I know you’ll likely interpret it as such. We cannot afford to lose her. Her potential is too great.”
“I understand, sir. I’ll head in right away,” Thane replied, acknowledging the Admiral’s concern. Instead of stopping by the locker containing his protective gear, he instead grabbed his coffee and walked straight to the cell door. Natori held out a hand but remained silent.
“Well I suppose I did threaten him,” he mused, nevertheless ensuring his sidearm was loaded, a round chambered, and the safety off. Precautions in place, Kaczynski settled in to observe what he was sure, one way or another, would be an eventful ‘session’ with the prisoner. To his most welcome surprise, Drake Thane managed to enter the cell and stand just past the threshold for several moments without getting attacked, dissolved, or impaled. The man took a long draught of his coffee before jerking his head upward in a moment of recollection. The Gorgon watched him all the while, almost unblinkingly, as he left the drink on her untouched breakfast tray and retreated to retrieve the portable sanding device he’d used on her the prior afternoon. He paused to speak with the Rear Admiral.
“Well, I’d call that an improvement,” he insisted. “You ever notice what it smells like in there?”
Natori cocked an eyebrow his way. “I can’t say that I have. I assume you’re about to share?”
Drake shrugged and tilted his head. “Nearest I can describe it is the Devil’s perfume, like if fire and brimstone smelled appealing, or at least rather inoffensive.”
“How curious,” Natori replied, leaning slightly to the right so he could look around Drake. “Though perhaps we should ruminate on that once we secure your coffee?”
Drake spun around fast enough to tweak his neck, finding the Gorgon with his coffee in hand. Her long, thin, black, serpent-like tongue was extended several inches and lapping at the dark brown liquid. The two men stared. “Has she ever been given coffee before, sir?”
“Just water, Mr. Thane. Curious as I am, I would like you to go and stop her now.”
Thane needed no further encouragement, bolting back into the room to snatch back his drink. The Gorgon replaced the disposable lid and offered it to him. Her eyes were still as menacing as ever, but the telltale contractions of her chest muscles that foretold a gout of deadly acid were missing. He tentatively reached out and accepted it, earning a low, complex hiss in return. Glancing down, he pointed at her untouched meal and then the sander. The Gorgon cracked her whip-like tail against the ground in frustration but complied, taking the food to a far corner of the room and beginning to eat piece by piece. Her eyes never left him even during her retreat as she demonstrated a rather remarkable ability to slither backwards.
Drake figured that was good enough, sitting against the opposite wall and opening his coffee. While it didn’t seem any different, he wasn’t about to take the chance that an alien with venomous pseudo-breasts didn’t produce oral toxins. Instead he stood again and approached her, keeping both hands on the cup so as not to arouse suspicion. He deposited it next to her and then returned to his position. With a curious hiss the alien opened the lid and, instead of continuing to drink, dipped the tip of her tail into the still slightly steaming liquid before continuing with her meal.
“What in the world?” Thane whispered, watching as the greenish skin underneath the Gorgon’s natural rocky plating shifted to a yellower hue, starting from the tip of her tail and moving slowly upward towards her body. The color change didn’t get all the way there before stalling out, but she seemed pleased with it to the point that upon finishing her meal she actually pointed to him, then to the sanding tool in his hands, and finally to her other shoulder. Unheard by the two of them, Natori threw his head back in laughter, amazed at the transition from murderous adversary to an imperious giver of orders. Drake shrugged but saw no reason not to comply. He’d been planning to attempt such a maneuver anyway as a further showing of good faith following the Lavinaga incident.
When he stepped within arm’s reach of her, the Gorgon straightened her torso and held out a thin, armored hand and poked him in the sternum. Even her fingers had the potential for danger with their rocky nail-like tips. Her other hand rested on her chest as she hissed a particular pattern of sounds twice in a row; she then poked him again. He nodded. “My name is Drake Thane. Sorry I can’t understand you.”
Undeterred, the Gorgon simply lowered herself back onto her coiled tail and presented her shoulder. She hissed again in a softer tone as Drake activated the sander, taking another glance at his coffee which now seemed to be serving as a tail warmer.
“Might as well get started then. You clearly have quite a bit to teach me.”
Chapter 3
Available to the public on my patreon here due to reddit's post size limit.
Chapter 4
Available to select patrons here

If you see a sickly boy in a blue hoodie, please contact me immediately. Your life depends on it.

This is the second half of my interview with young Liam Hanesworth. You can read the first half here.

"Like what?" I ask.
"Like what he had for me."
Ah, yes. ‘I have something for you. Then, I want something for me.’ They were among the first words Mister Gallows spoke to the boy; a bargain, one innocent enough.
Of course, to entities like Gallows, such deals are usually deceptions or a means to an end. They allow the creature to broker for horrors too terrible to put into words.
“What did he have for you, Liam?”
Tears slip down the boy's gaunt face. He raises a sweater sleeve, wiping them away before sniffling. “He had a message.” Liam’s nose is running, and he looks sickly. Unwell. “He said it was from somebody he never wanted to meet.”

How curious. "What was the message?"
"Just some words." Liam’s eyes stare at the floor, and he crumples into a ball of hoodie and jeans. He wipes his runny nose on his knees and makes himself small. “I um, I didn’t understand them.”
Some words. I let that roll around in my head for a while. It doesn't mean much now, but when you've been doing this job for as many years as I have, you learn pretty quickly that strange words aren't to be dismissed. Words have power.
“Were they in another language?” I ask. “Or were they too quiet to be properly heard?”
“A different language,” Liam says. He’s squirming like crazy now. I’ve scarcely seen a kid look so uncomfortable in my entire career. “Maybe Latin?” He shakes his head. “I only know French.”
“That’s alright. What happens after he says those words?”
“Mister Gallows gets angry. He tells me now that I’ve gotten what I’m owed, he wants what he’s owed. 'I gave something to you,' he says, 'and now I want something for me!’
"I ask him what he wants, but I already know. He opens his toothless mouth, pointing at his gums with a long, skeletal finger. 'I'll take some of these, I think.' He laughs a bit, and tips his tophat again, adding, 'Please and thank you.'
“He crawls up in front of me and pushes me against the wall. ‘Open up,’ he says. I try to keep my mouth closed, but I can’t. He’s too strong, and he forces it open. Then he reaches in and…” Liam gets quiet. His mouth hangs open, and he reaches a hand up, feeling where three of his front teeth should be. “He pulls them out.”
“He just wanted three of your teeth?” I ask.
Moments pass, and Liam’s face looks tortured. His mouth is being pulled in every direction, oscillating between frowns and grimaces, and his eyes are blinking erratically. I nearly call a break to the Interview, but he starts talking before I get the words out.
“He reaches back inside my mouth to pull out more, but the kitchen door opens. It’s my little sister, Lacey. She’s bleary-eyed and yawning, and then her eyes adjust, and she realizes what she’s looking at. She realizes the nightmare she just walked in on.”
Liam swallows. “She screams for mom. In the blink of an eye, Mister Gallows stampedes across the kitchen and wraps a hand around her mouth. 'Shh, little girl,' he says, using his other long arm to pet her hair. Then he puts his face close to hers, and he opens his mouth again, showing those toothless gums. He whispers to her to be quiet. He says as long as she doesn't scream again, he won't kill her."
My pencil flies across the clipboard. This is likely the defining moment of the Event, the moment that Mister Gallows murders Liam’s sister. I keep my ears open and brace for the worst.
"He moves his hand from her mouth,” Liam continues. "Lacey’s silent, and so am I. Part of me is hoping that mom heard Lacey’s scream, but another part of me knows better. I think Lacey does too. Heck, even if dad were home, I doubted it would make a difference. Mister Gallows was too big. We needed a SWAT team.”
I offer a consoling smile. “It’s likely a SWAT team would have been equally ineffective. You did what you could, Liam, with what you had. You didn’t want anybody to get hurt. That’s very brave.”
He looks down. His expression is despondent, but he doesn’t wait for me to prompt him. He keeps talking like I never said a thing.
"Mister Gallows opens Lacy’s mouth. He slips a finger inside of it and feels her teeth. He's looking at her through that burlap sack, and he's mumbling to himself, but I can't make out what he's saying. Eventually, he turns to me and asks, ‘These are new, aren't they?'
"I know he's talking about her teeth. She's a year younger than me, but she's gotten most of her adult teeth by now. He taps on them, and it makes a clicking sound, bone on bone, and then he pulls away. He looks back and says, 'These will do,' and then..."
Liam goes quiet. His body quakes, his eyes bulge. It's like he's trying to contain something, whether it's a furious rage or tumultuous despair. Whatever it is, it's desperate to get out. He doesn't want it to.
"Mom appears in the doorway, wearing her nightgown. All the color is gone from her face. She’s looking from me, with my mouthful of blood and three missing teeth, to the monster standing over Lacey. She snaps, snatching a knife from the kitchen counter, and runs at Mister Gallows.”
I chew on my pencil eraser. It’s a foolish gesture, but one I can understand. As a new mother myself, there’s very little I wouldn’t do to protect my baby. “Your mother attacked Mister Gallows?”
Liam nods. It takes him a while to get the words out, like he’s trying to do it without letting something else slip. I feel for him. It’s difficult for children to keep their emotions in check, particularly when recounting traumatic events.
“She runs at him and starts slashing and hacking at him, screaming at him to let Lacey go or she’ll call the police or the church or the FBI. Mister Gallows grabs her by her hair and smashes her head down on the floor. It hits the linoleum with a thud, and then she gets really still.
"I remember thinking she was dead. Then he picks her up again and smashes her down a second time, and I hear something crack, and blood starts pooling on the floor. Her leg is twitching.”
Liam takes a shuddering breath. I want to reach out and give him a hug, but he’s already responded adversely to being consoled. Instead, I pay him a look of understanding. Talking about these things is probably tearing him apart inside. His mother survived, of course, but she was irreparably damaged.
“Mister Gallows turns back to Lacey. She’s crying and shrieking, and he puts his hand into her mouth, and she starts gagging. He starts pulling out her teeth, jamming them into his gums one by one, humming as he goes.”
Liam leans forward and retches, vomiting onto the floor. Yellow-brown bile splatters my shoes. I shoot up out of my chair, indicating to the cameras that we need a cleanup crew in here and that the Interview is on hold.
Liam hurls again, and more throw-up spews from his mouth. I crouch next to him, placing a hand on his back. "It's okay. It's okay. You're safe." I say the words, but I don't know what they're supposed to do. How do you make a kid feel better after witnessing his mom’s skull split open on the kitchen floor? How does anything make that go away?
I whisper affirmations into his ear for what feels like hours but must have only been minutes. “It’s not your fault,” I say. “You’re a good person.”
A knock on the door interrupts me. I rise, unsure why anybody would be knocking. All employees with access should already have a keycard granting them entry.
"Hello?" I call out.
"Cleanup crew," a muffled voice calls back through the thick steel. "Can you let us in?"
I frown, looking from Liam to the door. I move toward the video communicator on the wall, activating it and seeing two janitorial staff on the other side. One of them holds up a mop in exasperation while the other flashes her ID.
"Our keycard isn't working," she says. "Can you open it on your end?"
Something about the situation unnerves me, but I shake it off. We're in a secured government compound. Facility agents are swarming the premises. We're as safe as can be, so I disengage the manual lock.
The door won't budge.
I try again, repeating the process, making sure I did it correctly—still nothing. I press the communicator. "Sorry," I say. "It looks like this room's malfunctioning. Can we get a tech team down here to look at it? I can't open it manually."
They grumble and turn away, leaving their mop and bucket behind them.
I look back to Liam. The smell of fresh vomit is thick in the air, but my focus is singular, on him and him alone. He said Mister Gallows had visited him almost every night for the past year. That had only been the first day.
"Liam?" I say in a small voice.
He's sitting in the chair, head in his hands, weeping with bits of puke still dripping from his chin.
I take a step forward. "If Mister Gallows gave you his message and then got his teeth, why did he keep coming back?"
Liam looks up, and his eyes are murky. Clouded. "He wanted to say sorry." He lifts a sleeve to his mouth, wiping some of the bile off of his face. "He kept apologizing. 'I'm so sorry, kid,' he'd say. 'I didn't know.' "
“Sorry for what?” I ask. “Killing your sister?”
A howl envelopes the room, and Liam breaks into quaking sobs. The lights in the room flicker. There’s a clatter to the right of me, and I look down and see toy building blocks shifting across the floor. On the wall, the cartoon animals aren’t smiling anymore. They’re slowly melting away.
Liam's face is ugly now, and he's crying as hard as I’ve ever seen. "He didn't know who I was,” he chokes out. “He thought I was just another kid." My heart races as steam hisses from Liam’s eyes, and I realize the tears are evaporating even as they form, dying in the smoldering blaze of his pupils.
A wind picks up in the room, and it tugs at my blouse, whipping about in a gale that tears the posters from the walls and casts toys into a tornado of color. Hands behind me, I stumble backward and try the door again. It won't budge.
I'm trapped.
My eyes drift up to the camera on the ceiling, but the red recording light is off. I'm alone. It's just me now. I take a breath, inhaling the fumes of vomit and sulfur, and I wonder if death is going to be half so bad as all these monsters make it seem.
"Who are you?" I ask, and I'm unable to keep the terror from my voice. “Are you Mister Gallows?” Perhaps the kid is possessed. I’ve seen it before.
"No," Liam whimpers. "I’m a bad person, though. I'm an awful person."
"Why did Mister Gallows--" I'm almost shouting now, as the tempest rocks the entire room. "Why did he feel the need to keep apologizing?" Learning blocks and toy trucks ricochet off the wall, narrowly missing my face.
"He was scared," Liam bawls. "He was scared I would hurt him if he didn't."
"Why?" I scream.
The gale stops. The toys fall with a clatter, and the animals on the wall aren't melting anymore. They’re beaming with the same, fake smiles they’ve always had. My breath heaves in my chest, my legs quiver, and my hair is a mess, but I’m alive. I’m okay.
Liam sits quietly in his plastic chair. He’s staring at Bugs Bunny on the carpet. His small hands are clenched into fists, and whatever fire once burned in his eyes is now extinguished. He’s just a boy again. The broken, trembling boy I promised I would save.
I’m no longer sure I can.
“Liam?” I say, taking a nervous step forward. “Is it okay if we talk?”
He doesn’t say anything, but he nods.
“Why was Mister Gallows afraid of you?” I do my best to maintain a calm tone, but my voice is all over the place. I can barely keep myself from stuttering. “Did it have something to do with what just happened?”
Silence. He’s whimpering again, and his hands are tugging at the strings of his hoodie like his life depends on it. Tears litter the carpet around him. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” I say, moving closer to him. My legs feel like jello, and my mind’s still untangling itself from what it just witnessed. “I can tell you’re a good person, Liam.”
Liam turns to me, and there’s fear in his features. He closes his eyes, clenches them shut, and he winces in pain. "It's hard," he says. "It gets harder every day."
I take a few more steps forward, and I'm back to my chair. I sit down in it, brushing frizzled hair from my face and taking a deep breath. My eyes snap up to the camera. It's recording again, and I know they're watching. I wonder if they witnessed the scene that just unfolded.
They probably already knew, I decide. They were expecting it.
"Liam," I say, in a careful tone. "Why was Mister Gallows afraid of you?"
His blue eyes appear, one blink at a time. He looks small in his chair, and when he speaks, his words are faint. I barely hear them.
"He’s afraid I'm here to kill him." A smile plays at the corner of his lips, and he grips his face with both hands. Agony fills his eyes, and his next words leave a mark that no response can fill. They crash around me like a carpet bomb. “I’m afraid I’m here to kill all of us.”
Once more, my eyes dart up to the camera. Is this what my supervisors were after? Is this the real Event? Am I the one experiencing it?
"What makes you think that?" I say, and my words are clipped, breathless. Fear has wormed its way into me.
"I'm one of them," Liam says, clutching a fistful of hair. His eyes pulse with blood, and he groans. "They told me so.” His voice strains against something. It's jagged. Sharp. "They told me I was one of them, that I was born to cast the earth into flame and ash."
"Who?"
"Them," he says, raising his eyes to my own. "The Gods Beyond the Veil." He’s different now. He’s not the boy I knew, and I’m not even sure he’s human. There’s a darkness to him, a suffocating, mighty abyss that’s pulling at me, begging me to join it. “The Eldritch,” he says, and his eyes are crackling again with dancing flames.
I want to run. I want to get out of here, but I know better. The only way out is through. “Your sister…” I say, in an uneven voice.
Police had found Lacey Hanesworth in six pieces. Her arm on one side of the house, her leg on the other. The home was a bloodbath. Liam’s mother had witnessed all of it from her wheelchair, and the scene had driven her mad. ‘A monster,’ she had repeated. ‘A monster killed my baby.’
“Did Mister Gallows kill her?” I whisper.
Liam's eyes flare. “You tell me,” he says.
Agony replaces everything I’ve ever known. I feel my arm lurch to the side, and something invisible is pulling at it, heaving while some other force holds me in place. I shriek for help. I scream at Liam to stop. I do everything I can to move and run, but I’m stuck in place.
There’s a horrible sound of tearing flesh, and my world goes black. I come to a second later, and blood is pouring from a hole in my torso where my arm used to be.
The door crashes open, and six people in robes rush in, casting warding charms and backing Liam into a corner. Somebody jabs a needle into me, and another person starts wrapping me in gauze.
Somebody shouts. "Keep him back! She's in critical condition!"
A blinding flash fills the room, and then the world fades away. Darkness envelops my thoughts, my memories, my mind. There’s nothing to see or hear or think about anymore. It’s just the Void. Unending. Ceaseless. I call out, but I have no voice. I’m drifting, senseless through infinity.
It's wonderful. It's terrifying.

~~------------------------------------------------------------~~

I open my eyes to the bright lights of the medical bay. I’m in a hospital bed, my body is covered in bandages, and there are doctors and people in suits discussing something near me. They don’t seem to realize I’m awake. I try to open my mouth to speak, but it’s too hard. So I just listen.
“He’s the one then, The Conclusion?”
“Seems like it. Didn’t expect him to go nuclear back there, though. Talk about teenage angst.”
A laugh. A woman.
“No kidding. Honestly, it’s a wonder this lady survived. Word is she was right beside the kid when it went down."
"Looking at her, I'm not surprised." Another voice. Male. "I've never seen so much necrosis."
"You remember Jacob? The dickhead from Public Affairs?"
"Oh, yeah. Don't get me started on Jacob."
"Well, he was by earlier giving us all the rundown. 'If anybody asks, the damage was caused by a gas leak, that's all.' But he let slip a few extra details."
"Oh, spill the beans!" There's a clattering sound. Steel on steel. Surgical instruments being sifted through. I'm still too weak to speak. Too weak to move.
"Apparently, they sent in warlocks to deal with the kid, and all of them ended up piles of salt. Now the compound's just a few bricks and a cloud of asbestos."
A woman snorts, then laughs. “What were they expecting? As if warding charms could hold off an Eldritch God.”
“Technically he’s not a god, only a harbinger." A different man. This voice is casual. Teasing. I strain my eyes and see the blurry outline of a black suit. "The Gods come later, Cheryl.”
More laughter.
“It’s a damn shame. I read our patient's file here and if you can believe it, she was the one who sorted out The Boundless Whispers! Smart lady. Great with kids, too.”
“I suppose she wasn't smart enough." The first man again. A doctor, maybe. "It's just like I've always said: most people at Compound 7 are inept."
“That's not fair, Dave." The woman tuts. "They had some duds over there, same as we do here. They were doing important work, though. Pass me the scalpel, would you?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
Steel cuts into my flesh. It hurts, but I can't move. I can't speak. I'm too weak, too absent.
"I should let the two of you get back to it, then." The man in the suit.
"Don't sweat it, Ryan! We're nearly done here anyway."
The steel digs deeper. A piece of me comes free.
"Anyway, I'm not surprised Compound 7 fucked everything up all over again. With The Conclusion’s power, we had a real shot at ending this invasion before it started, didn't we, Ryan?”
"We really shouldn't be talking about this out in the open, Dave. I shouldn't even have mentioned it."
My brain feels mushy. Slow. More pieces of me are sliced free. I hear the wet slap of my flesh dropping into a metal pan.
"This is hardly 'in 'the open,' Ryan. We're well enough alone. Now the kid is too. He's lost in the wind, apparently. Oh, she’s--”
“Jesus, she’s awake!”
There's hurried movement around me. I see the blur of a face, the white of a surgical gown.
Figures swim in front of me, two of them, a woman and a man. Doctors. Surgeons. They’re saying things. They’re telling me I’ve had a bad accident and that I’ve suffered terrible wounds. They’re telling me they’re going to give me some more morphine so I can get some sleep.
I try to tell them no. I try to tell them I want to know what’s going on.
My world goes dark.

~~------------------------------------------------------------~~

The next time I wake up, I’m alone. The hospital room is empty, save for a desk in the far corner, and the buzzing fluorescent light above. I feel stronger now, more conscious. I sit up with some struggle, and my body feels different. Alien. It’s as though pieces are missing.
I glance down, and memories flood me. My arm is missing. It feels like my legs are gone too. I wiggle and squirm, using my other arm to prop me up into a seated position. Weak-eyed, I look around for my belongings. For my phone.
It’s there, on my bedside table. I reach for it. It's too far.
“Erin?” A groggy voice says from behind me. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re awake!”
I glance back and see my mom, her gray hair wistfully dancing in the air conditioning. She puts a hand on my face, and her eyes are filled with tears. She keeps telling me she loves me.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
I tell her it’s okay. I tell her I need her to hand me my phone.
“Why?”
“Because,” I tell her. “I have to tell the world what I just overheard. I need to dictate all of this before I forget it.”
She’s confused, my mother. She’s asking if I’m feeling okay. She keeps talking about things that don’t matter.
“Mom,” I say. “I heard something earlier that I wasn’t supposed to.”
She gets quiet. She recognizes my tone, and she knows I’m not feeling loopy or out of it. She listens.
“I need you to give me my phone. There’s a boy out there with messy black hair, pale skin, and a blue hoodie. He’s the most important person in the world right now, and if we don’t find him, the world might not be around for much longer.”
She passes me my phone. I tell it my story.
Now, I pass that story to you. I’m asking you to keep an eye out for a missing boy with black hair, a blue hoodie, and crackling pupils. His skin is pale, sallow and his body language is small and nervous. He might be upset. He might be agitated.
If you see him, don’t approach. Call the police. Contact me here. Tell an elected official you need to get in touch with the Facility. The boy is important. He’s The Conclusion to everything, and he’ll write the ending to our story one way or another.
Just know that if we don’t find him, it won’t be a happy one.
BB
TCC

[PI] A woman has been dating guy after guy, but it never seems to work out. She’s unaware that she’s actually been dating the same guy over and over; a shapeshifter who’s fallen for her, and is certain he’s going to get it right this time.

I saw this prompt a while ago sorting by Top and it immediately got my creative juices flowing, because it's just the kind of thing that could happen in my book series Trackers. Finally wrote it up this evening. Hope you enjoy it!
Edit - Original prompt: https://www.reddit.com/WritingPrompts/comments/7xihva/wp_a_woman_has_been_dating_guy_after_guy_but_it/
***
A friend of mine once described her anxiety disorder to me, since I played video games, as hearing the boss music all the time. When my ordeal started, that was the best metaphor I was able to come up with. Months after our first date, there was a tightness in my chest, a tenseness in my muscles, a stiffness to my stance that was ever-present. And it hadn’t all happened at once. It had built up, layer by layer, pound by pound, into a weight I bore constantly.
The first date happened in a way that I wasn’t expecting but was one of the few ways I was comfortable being approached in public by a guy. I was reading the latest book in a series I adored, it had just been released that day, and he had come up to me. He looked reluctant, even more so to interrupt someone reading a good book, but said he was literally about to go buy the book after his lunch break; he loved the series too. He introduced himself, Robert Miles, and joined me at my small table.
We got to talking, bonding over the characters, though I was strict with myself on spoilers for the first half of the book in front of me that I’d finished so far. He offered his number, and I accepted. Robert and I went on a few dates, but I’d say as much as we might have hit it off over the book series, we just weren’t couples material. And it was clear that he had somehow ended up head over heels for me, which I really didn’t want to result in me leading him on, so I broke it off.
It was a week or so later that I received a message on a dating app I’d recently joined. I found most of the guys who sent out messages were playing a numbers game, but this one, Jim, it seemed had actually went through my profile to check out things we had in common. His profile was appealing, even funny in a few spots, so we went out.
We had a good time, saw a couple movies, kissed a few times to close out our dates. He was really athletic, and a few times invited me to watch him play rugby with some of his friends, which was pretty fun. But there was something about his sense of humor, at least on social media, that didn’t mesh with me. Almost as if he took things too far and got off on insults. I mentioned it to him and he got upset, defensive, trying to talk me into seeing his side of the hilarity. We ended up breaking up then and there, unfriended each other on Facebook, and we moved on. Or so I thought.
When I was introduced to a new employee at Target the next week, Bobby, he didn’t seem at all familiar. He was actually strikingly attractive and several of the girls here gave him lingering looks, but he was aloof, concentrating mostly on his work, which there was always more of. And he was in hard lines and I was soft lines, so we didn’t often cross paths aside from the break room. A few weeks after that, he and I had a break together and he asked to sit with me as we both ate, and I said sure.
The conversation was stilted, as if he was trying to let me lead in a dance he’d initiated. I don’t recall the exact path it took, but it ended up with him shoving his chair back from the table, obviously irritated. “What is it you’re looking for in a guy, exactly?” he’d asked.
I blinked, taken aback, and glanced to the other two employees in the room, who had suddenly taken an interest in whatever drama had started to unfold. “I’m sorry?” I managed.
“A man who falls in love with every piece of you? Or a tough guy, not afraid to get rough with the guys? Apparently not a man who is obviously gorgeous, who plays hard to get,” he said, motioning to himself. “You’re an absolutely amazing woman, in every way,” he whispered. Something about his tone sent hair-raising goose bumps rippling over my skin. “Who could you see yourself falling in love with?”
“I…” My eyes darting back and forth to the other two employees, who were now definitely straining to hear the conversation but also paying an extreme amount of attention to the food in front of them. “I-I think that’s a pretty…personal question,” I finally choked out.
He stared at me, as if in shock. Then he got up and walked out of the room, leaving me to sit in the toxic atmosphere he’d left behind. My hand went to my forehead. What had just happened?
Despite my best efforts, the rest of my shift was dominated by that conversation and how uncomfortable it had made me, and I made the reluctant stop at my supervisor’s office to explain the situation.
“All right,” Denise sighed, leaning back in her chair. “I’m sorry, you said his name was Bobby? We’ve got three of them on the roster.”
“He’s new, just started a few weeks ago,” I explained. “Blonde hair, good-looking.”
“Oh. That’s…” She stared at me oddly. “Bobby Miles quit earlier today. Rather upset about something.”
And that was the moment where everything shifted. My blood ran cold and my breath quickened. “What?” I whispered.
“He didn’t give a reason, but maybe he didn’t want to-”
“His last name,” I snapped. “Miles? His name is Robert Miles?”
“Yeah, he just said he goes by Bobby,” Denise said.
The room tilted a bit and I grabbed a hold of the armrests. Denise said something, but I didn’t hear her. The conversation that had been repeating in my head throughout the last few hours did so once more.
What is it you’re looking for in a guy exactly…?
In love with you…?
Tough guy…?
Plays hard to get…?
My eyes teared up despite my best efforts and I only noticed when Denise stopped talking. “Honey?” she asked, leaning forward, sensing my distress. “What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
My lower lip trembled. “I think…I think I have a stalker,” I whispered. At that, Denise tried to comfort me, but there really wasn’t anything she could say.
When I went home that night, I felt like there were eyes on me the whole way home. When I finally got back to my apartment and shut the door behind me, I made sure to turn the deadbolt and hook the security chain. I leaned back against my door and slid to the ground, my purse hitting the floor beside me. I sat there for a while, thinking about everything and nothing.
I had the next day off, so I went to the police, waiting an agonizing amount of time to only be told that they couldn’t tell me whether someone was a pùca, a shapeshifter, because it was classified under medical confidentiality. But they filed a case report, took down all the information I gave them, and told me that if I thought he was continuing his pursuit, to keep them updated. If I kept good records and presented them to a court, that could get me a restraining order, and that was how the cops could have grounds to take action.
My research online when I got home wasn’t much better. The law was almost powerless in these cases, from regular sapiens and up to parasapiens, because harm hadn’t actually been done to the victim. I scrolled through dozens of articles on people who fought back against stalkers, as well as Reddit threads from people who’d been personally stalked, whether or not they had made it out the other side yet, or ever would. Nothing gave me any real avenue of recourse.
The real tipping point was on my birthday. It was two weeks later, held at a local bowling alley called Lucky Strike, which did fun blacklight bowling and had a bar adjacent to the lanes. It was a wonderful night out with four of my friends, who I rarely saw in person, much less all together. I’d just grabbed my second appletini from the bar when I checked my phone, out of habit.
It’s Rhonda! First, my phone stolen this afternoon, that’s why the weird number. Now four flat tires! Who the hell did I piss off?? So sorry I’m running late, I should be able to get over there soon, the police just finished taking my statement.
My eyes slid up to the lanes and the alcohol buzz that had been building was gone in a flash, leaving me stone-cold sober and frozen with fear. As my mind spun, the glass I’d been holding slipped from my grasp, crashing to the floor, and even over the music, most of the people nearby heard the sound and looked my way.
My gaze locked onto Rhonda’s and an itchiness built under my skin, as if my subconscious was desperate to get me back to full consciousness and ready for fight or flight. She only needed to stare back at me for a few moments before I saw comprehension dawn on her face. She darted to her left, grabbing her purse, and fled.
Tears finally came, floods of them, and I was shaking and barely able to get back to my other three friends who immediately came to my aid. I was led to a nearby chair and the only thing I was able to manage was, “That wasn’t Rhonda. That wasn’t her, that wasn’t Rhonda…”
A few minutes later, I was led out of the noisy bowling alley and into the quieter confines of the front entranceway. A foyer was built in to keep air conditioning from fleeing during the hot summer months, and we waited there for the police as I managed to first calm myself to the point of being able to speak clearly, then explained the situation. I’d only mentioned the stalker to Lisa so far, when we’d chatted on Facebook the night I’d gone to the police, and Heather and Janice were horrified.
Once Rhonda arrived half an hour later, telling her Uber driver to step on it, she immediately enveloped me in a hug. It was stiff, but I don’t think she noticed. If she did, she never would’ve ascribed it to what it really was - her face was no longer just hers. My subconscious spotted her and was promptly ready to bolt in the other direction.
My friends took the lead on explaining the situation to the police, who promised to send the case over to the FBI’s Trackers Unit, which dealt with any cases involving parasapiens. They did know his full name, assuming it really was Robert Miles. But they reasoned that when he’d first met me, he hadn’t immediately known he’d need to use a tactic to cover his tracks, so it was likely.
Lisa brought me home, insisting on checking through my apartment for any intruders like she was some sort of security guard. That didn’t take long though, since it’s a studio with a tiny bathroom. She asked three times if I wanted her to stay, and eventually relented and left, encouraging me to call if I needed her.
As soon as I shut the door, locking it up tight, it hit me - how could I ever know who it really was if I was face to face with one of my friends? It could always be him. It would always be him, in the back of my mind, that niggling concern that he’d taken on someone else’s form again to get close to me.
Without consciously going about it, in hindsight I started distancing myself from my friends. From everyone I trusted, really. I would call my parents back up north and they actually became concerned with how often I was calling, asking if everything was okay, or if I was sick, and mom even asked if I’d had a bad breakup, which made me shudder. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the truth. It was too scary to me to involve them, and also it felt like maybe, if they didn’t know about him, they could stay outside Robert’s sphere of knowledge about them. They would always be the one safe place I could turn.
I had some savings and decided to use quite a bit of it on security. With permission from my landlord, I got a sturdier door with an iron lining on it and the doorknob, a better deadbolt, and a security system installed. I constantly had my pepper spray with me, which was specialized for fae and therefore had iron particles mixed in, so it would affect a pùca particularly horribly. It was always in my right pocket, displacing my cell to my left one, and when I slept it was on my bedside table.
But it wasn’t enough. My paranoia drove me to get firearm lessons and buy a gun, loaded with iron-flecked rounds, which I always kept in my purse or my bedside table. I started to lose focus at work, imagining that any customer who approached me could be him in disguise. I only spoke with my friends on their phones or online, distrusting in-person meetings where they could be impersonated. And I hadn’t gone out in weeks, turning down every invitation I received.
One day Lisa turned up at my front door. The knock startled me and I grabbed my ever-present pepper spray, pausing the Netflix show I’d been watching. Approaching the door and checking through the peephole, I spotted her familiar face. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You haven’t been yourself lately, honey,” she sighed. She lifted a bag within eyeshot. “I brought cupcakes from Tiffany’s. Your favorite. Can I come in?”
I hesitated before undoing the deadbolt, leaving on the chain. “It’s open,” I told her.
Without any hesitation, she grabbed the doorknob and shoved at door, sending me staggering back. She shrieked as the iron burned her skin, but slamming the door over and over, she finally snapped the chain from its screws in the wall and stumbled inside, bag of cupcakes tossed to the side, forgotten.
My chest heaving with panicked breaths, I raised the pepper spray and hit Robert straight in the face. “Stay away from me!” I screamed.
He screamed, his hands desperately trying to block the onslaught, and he lunged forward toward me. I darted out of his path and scrambled for my bed.
“Cleo, don’t do this!” he cried. “Please, I love you!”
His words washed over me like water off a duck’s back. I pulled open the bedside table drawer as he continued toward me, aimed the gun, flicked the safety off, and fired. Again and again and again, my elbows locked and the kickback hitting me hard each time, the gunpowder sprinkling my hands with dozens of the tiniest of stings.
I stared. I had only managed to hit him once, but it was almost dead center of his chest. He didn’t fall right away. He moved his hands to his wound, as if trying to absorb what had happened, still blinded by the pepper spray, his eyes red and burning. Blood spread across his shirt and finally, as he coughed on a breath, he stumbled and fell to the ground. And so did I.
My ears rang with the echoes of the gunshots, so much louder than they’d been at the gun range with earmuffs. The gun dropped from my hands as they started shaking from the adrenaline. With fumbling fingers, I managed to get my phone from my pocket and dial 911.
“911, what is your emergency?”
“I just shot my stalker,” I managed. “I-I think he’s dead.”
The police arrived not too long later, finding me in shock, unable to do anything but stare at his corpse, his blood spreading across my linoleum flooring. A female officer sat with me for about ten minutes to help calm me mentally before they took my statement.
It’s been a month since I fired those shots, and I haven’t spent so much as a second regretting it. But he still haunts my nightmares, still creeps up in the back of my mind as a presence behind a face I think I know. That’s what therapy is for, my friends say, and they’re right. Because I’m going to get past this. One day, I’ll take my life back completely from Robert Miles. Now finally free from him forever, I refuse to let him take any more of my life from me. I refuse to let the fear win.
I refuse to let this trauma shape who I am.

/storiesbykaren

play better darts tips video

If you want to know how to get better at darts, figuring out the type of dart that’s more suited for you may be the way to go. Point 4: Strategy. The final component I’ve noticed when playing darts is the strategic aspect. There’s a lot of ways to play darts i.e lots of games you can play on a dartboard. One of the most important tips in successful dart playing is to throw with some force. A nice smooth, clean throw coupled with snapping your wrist like a whip when you release will combine to make a superb throwing action. Playing darts is a great way to pass the time with good friends or people you've just met. From the casual to the hardcore, darts is a game of finesse that can be enjoyed by anyone, anytime. Read on to learn a bit more about the configuration of the darts board, the technique of throwing darts, and different ways you can play darts. These are the dart training tips that really helped me take my darts game to the next level and I believe they will help you too. Remember darts is as much a mental game as it is a physical one, learning how to better control your emotions will help you better control your darts. And better control of your darts will improve your game. Darts are a fun and enjoyable past-time that almost anyone can play. But, when it comes to playing an actual scoring round, it can start to get difficult. Playing a round and trying to keep track of what score you’re up to during a game of 501 can be nigh on impossible for the novice player. Swing your front arm forward, gripping the dart with your fingers. Keep your shoulder still as you raise the dart to eye level, just to the side of your eye. Make sure your elbow is pointing at the dartboard. Your shoulder, elbow, and hand should all be aligned, forming a 90 degree angle, with your elbow slightly up. It does not need to be long tournament style games. Just pick up a set of darts and play a quick game of Around The Clock or Chase The Dragon. Even an extra 20-minute session once or twice a week will do wonders for your game. If you want to get better, play more often. Conquer The Mind Game. The game of darts is as much as mind game as a game of skill. How to get better at darts? The stance and balance are super important. If you want to be consistent, you should balance your body. It must feel as much natural as possible during the throw. You can take any stand you like, even leaning over the throw-line is legal. Some of the players use the advantage of this. This is just one of the guideline about how to get better at darts. The shape for more natural throw Best Tips for Playing Darts [Beginners Guide] 1. Learn to Play Cricket 2. Pay Attention to Your Grip and Stance 3. Get Decent Darts. 1. Learn to Play Cricket. 1. Learn to Play Cricket. This will help your game, and you will be able to play more consistently as you will not be annoyed and put you under unnecessary pressure. And, this thought will play a vital role to become a better dart player. #2. Train Against Stronger Players. You will not become a better dart player if you play against weaker players.

4 Ways to Play Darts - wikiHow

play better darts tips

play better darts tips - win

Noob here just start playing at my local pool room and fell in love with the sport , wanting to get my own darts , can you guys make a good recommendation for a soft tip dart also is heavier better or lighter ? Can some one give me some good insight for a starter .

A couple of questions about Ana, which I hope to use to improve.

Just Hit GM on Support on PS4 for the First Time Playing Mostly Ana, Zen, Bap, and Lucio Solo Queueing and without being in Team Chat. Here to Give Some General Support Advice. (Part 1)

Background

1 - Controls and Settings for Console

2 - Ranked Advice

3 - General Support Advice

4 - Thought Process on Support Picks

Summary

Outside Resources

[Tales From the Terran Republic] The Battle of Free Port

Just Hit GM on Support on PS4 for the First Time Playing Mostly Ana, Zen, Bap, and Lucio Solo Queueing and without being in Team Chat. Here to Give Some Hero Specific Support Advice. (Part 2)

Background

1 - Ana

2 - Baptiste

3 - Lucio

4 - Zenyatta

Summary

Outside Resources

[HEL-Verse] Still Untitled Spinoff Story [Chapters 1-3]

If you see a sickly boy in a blue hoodie, please contact me immediately. Your life depends on it.

[PI] A woman has been dating guy after guy, but it never seems to work out. She’s unaware that she’s actually been dating the same guy over and over; a shapeshifter who’s fallen for her, and is certain he’s going to get it right this time.

play better darts tips video

play better darts tips top