oh my gosh I didn't even know you guys were leavinggggg awww I love you Nighty!!

Btw if you don't understand the ending:

The sun shone through the swaying leaves, bringing out their rich emerald pigment and illuminating their edges with pure, golden light. Sunrays danced along the ground over twigs and mossy rocks, speckling the earthy hiking path. Birds could be heard singing; there were crickets chirping, and leaves rustling and crunching underfoot. There was the occasional raven’s cry far away. It smelled like a carefree August afternoon; the kind that would bring blissful nostalgia. Yes, it was a beautiful, sunny day. Nobody was enjoying it more than Angelo was. After all, it was the three of them - as it always had been - venturing through the forest together. They’d first called themselves the “three musketeers” when they were ten years old; and now, thirteen years later, they felt as if not even death could separate them. Angelo turned to the red-haired girl walking beside him and humming. “Are you dead yet, little sister?” he asked. “This trail has been going on for a good half-hour now, and I don’t think--” “I could keep walking forever!” she interrupted. “And I’m only eleven minutes younger than you, okay? My name isn’t ‘little sister’, it’s Cynder.” Some distance ahead of them, a tall young man, whose appearance completely embraced the stereotype of a jock, was walking backwards and calling out to the twins. “You guys are SO slow! Does it run in the family? RUN, get it? Haha!” “That’s not funny, Cole!” they laughed. Cole was Angelo’s best friend and Cynder’s sweetheart. The three of them fit together perfectly. They came to what felt like the heart of the forest. The wall of trees opened up to a large clearing in the hot sunlight, and there stood a brilliant white gazebo. The roof was what made it beautiful: it had abstract waves shaped by hand twisting around on its center point, which rose up to a very sharp-looking spire. The roof by itself nearly doubled the gazebo’s height. Smiling at the twins’ thoroughly impressed expressions, Cole said “It took me quite a few months to carve myself.” Then he got down on one knee in front of a stunned Cynder and presented a silver ring. “Darling, will you marry me?” And none of them could recover from the happiness of that moment until the wedding day. Cole and Cynder were getting married under the gazebo’s roof, with the two dozen guests standing under the open sky as grey clouds passed over. Angelo was the best man. He’d never been so proud of their friendship. He muttered, “I swear on my life, if anything happens to either of you two, I will avenge you.” He didn’t know if he was really mumbling it to anyone in particular, or even to himself. All he knew was that he had to say it. He loved Cynder and Cole. He could almost smell a hearth burning. They were just exchanging wedding vows when suddenly, one of the guests shrieked. Not a second had passed before every eye caught it, everyone smelled it and recognized its heat. The sky turned deathly black. The rows of trees were swallowed up instantaneously, and the red beast reached the clearing, hungry for more. Everyone was fleeing. Cole picked Cynder up and started running, with Angelo in close pursuit. The fire started gnawing the delicate curves of the once gleaming roof. Suddenly, the couple was yanked backwards right in front of the gazebo. Angelo immediately whirled around to help them back up. One glance told him that the train of Cynder’s wedding gown was snagged on a jagged tree root. He quickly unsheathed his hunting dagger. The dark smoke was thickening around the three and began to claw mercilessly at their lungs. Angelo could hardly see anymore - stinging tears were streaming down his face as he coughed. He slashed at the fabric and it tore. “Go!” he wheezed, and Cole took a wobbly step and ran, carrying Cynder. Her brother was left behind. He collapsed under the heat. It was as if his very being was made of scorching pain. He was blinded, deafened and voiceless. His soul screamed in its cage, unable to fathom the burning. He was drowning in burning sulfur. Then there was nothing. *** Dead silence rested on the ruins of what was once a regal white gazebo, a place of unity. Blackened and chewed up, the core structure was barely intact, and the beauty of the roof was nothing but dust on a charred spire. It was as if the forest fire was too greedy for new destruction to finish its victims off before moving on. Where there used to be exquisite railings, there were sharp fangs of burnt wood pointing up to the sky. Where there had been trees and a green clearing, there was a vast, empty wasteland littered with stumps and ashes. A black and white photo of the scene might turn out more colourful than the real thing. Then a sharp inhale could be heard, followed by a pause. Finally a long, nervous exhale stirred a small wave of dust to roll backwards in the air. From a pile of rubble right in front of the gazebo’s ruins rose a strange, independent form of inky smoke. It was breathing, thinking and sensing. It was confused and lost. Then something caught its attention - there was a blackened dagger on the ground. It all came back to him. He was Angelo. He had saved his sister and his best friend. He had been on fire. How was he still alive? Angelo looked down at himself. He was still shaped like himself, but translucent and resembling dark smoke. His body had changed state. Surely he was having a weird dream, he thought. He took a step forward but his foot mysteriously went right through the debris that should have tripped him. Amazed, he swung his foot through it again with the same result. It was as if he was a ghost, and nature was acknowledging it. Suddenly he felt very cold and lonely. There was nothing around him except the lingering scent of everything that was burned. A raven’s cry echoed through the desolation. Then, Angelo had a thought: if he could hear and smell and see, perhaps he could also touch somehow. He knelt down and focused his cold energy into his fingertips - and they collected black mist until it was so concentrated that his hand would not go through his hunting dagger. Staying focused on his touch, he slowly picked up the dagger. A sensation of triumph made him smile. He wished he could show Cynder and Cole. He was uplifted by the possibility and became motivated to find them. Even if they couldn’t see him, if Angelo could reach them, he would get to protect them and avenge them like he’d promised. Over fallen and charred trees he walked, all the way to the small log house in the field where he remembered the couple had planned to live in when they were engaged. When he arrived, he saw that it did not have nearly as much charm as it did the day Angelo last saw it. It was secluded in peace before; now it just looked dreary and isolated, and the windows were dirty. It was so far away from other sources of life. But Angelo was excited. The three musketeers would be reunited, he thought. He walked through the wall into the living room and saw Cynder there, the same red hair and innocent face, holding a loaded crossbow. It looked like her eyes were swollen from crying. She was pointing it at an empty space on the wall, getting ready to fire it. And there was Cole, standing by, tilting the crossbow slightly upwards to improve Cynder’s shot. “Shooting with this thing has always helped me with troubles,” he told her, blinking back tears. Angelo was watching thoughtfully as she gulped, and she tried to pull the trigger, but nothing happened. “Hmm, it’s probably jammed,” said Cole. Outside, rain was pouring and thunder was rumbling. He gently asked her to give him the crossbow. As she was handing it over, an unexpected flash of lightning bathed the whole room in white for one shocking half-second, and Cynder flinched. Angelo’s jaw hung in horror as his best friend Cole collapsed, lifeless, with an arrow through his heart. It took only a moment for Cynder to join him in death on the cold floor. Angelo was dumbfounded. He did promise he would avenge Cole. But the dagger in his grip seemed to have lurched forward of its own accord. How did the dagger even pass through the wall with him? Angelo, numb, broken, empty, in disbelief, was struck with one more realization: He had also promised to avenge Cynder. ***

the good ol' days

nope, you're not the only one

amaaaazing

...

There are XP/BP tips everywhere, I think

7

Gold: Welcome tankers! For this very special article, my Reporter over here is under strict orders to bring you the most exciting, awesome, action-packed reading experience you could ever imagi-- Pho: Just skip this part, guys. It wasn’t my idea -_- Gold: --shhh, let me finish. As I was saying, the most exciting, awesome aaand action-packed reading experience you could ever imagine… an interview with myself! Pho: ...And with that being said and ignored - hello Goldilocks! Would you be so kind as to share a bit about yourself? Gold: Sure thing ^_^ So, my name is Arya, and I’m a 17-year-old British guy who’s been around in the community for quite a while now. Having first joined the Newspaper all the way back in Issue 11, I was recently promoted to Administrator of the EN Newspaper Reporters group along with the (infamously 3vil) Lhamster. I’m currently making some changes to existing Newspaper systems, so that content can become as engaging and exciting as possible. Pho: I guess that makes you one of the youngest admins :P So what’s life like as a big pro 17-year-old British guy? Gold: Well, it’s pretty busy actually xD I’m doing Year 12 exams at the moment, and having taken 6 subjects as opposed to the usual 4, I generally have a fair amount of schoolwork. Not that I always do it, but that’s another matter (heh). Anyway, apart from that, I’m also a qualified lifeguard and like a game of table tennis in my spare time - as well as having managed a student company up to making over $6000 of revenues, won a national essay competition with a prize trip to New York and being a representative for my school at national conferences. So yeah, I tend to get up to a fair amount in real life as well as in Tanki! Pho: Wow! That’s amazing! Didn’t you used to have multiple jobs in Tanki too? Gold: Haha yeah, I’ve had a few. Uh… so I edited the Tanki Wiki back before the staff group existed, had a stint as a FB Moderator Candidate (but stepped down when taking a break from Tanki) and spent quite a few months as eSports staff, both as a Commentator and as an eSports Reporter. Commentating was so much fun, it was great getting the chance to stream the action live and discuss the gameplay and strategy with my colleagues, and writing a few analyses of matches for eSports was equally interesting. But I suppose the one job that’s stuck has been the EN Reporter one… As mentioned previously, I first joined the team a long time ago (back in March 2013), and have left twice to take breaks from the community only to find myself having returned for the third time. I really enjoy writing articles for the community, and the Reporters are just a really brilliant group of people to work with. It helps that many of us are also very good Tanki friends. Pho: Cool, being a Reporter is my favourite staff job too ;) What are the perks of having become an admin now? Can you really drop golds? Gold: I would’ve thought that you of all people would know that admins can’t drop gold boxes, pfft. Anyway, I guess there are a few ‘perks’ of the admin position such as having the gold avatar, the Flame paint and working directly with Cedric. But really, with these rights come responsibilities, and there’s generally a lot to do! From setting up internal systems and organising the article planning process to establishing links with other community groups (top parkour clubs, the Creative League and Spectator group), editing Newspaper content and general management tasks, admins are not usually short on work that needs doing. However, it’s great having gotten to know other admins along the way. We might seem scary and important but really we’re quite a friendly bunch, and we all share passion and dedication to contributing to the community. I think the biggest ‘perk’ of being an admin is actually the rewarding experience of being able to contribute in this way while learning about effective management at the same time. Pho: Really? Your favourites aren’t even the Flame paint or the golden avatar?! Gold: Hm well, I’ve got to admit that the paint is pretty cool... although it does get confused for the Master of Parkour paint, which can mean players shout ‘hacker’ in XP/BP battles instead of ‘admin’ sometimes. Apart from that minor drawback, I personally love the way it looks, it’s my favourite looking paint. The avatar is cool too, of course. Suits my username! But again, I really would point out that well, I didn’t become an admin because I was motivated by any desire for these particular perks. They’re awesome rewards to get in return, but I’m an admin in the first place ‘cause I love the Newspaper and want to see it go onwards and upwards from here. I think similar feelings would apply to pretty much every admin. Pho: Yep, Flame totally looks like burnt chicken! Gold: Well, you’re technically a burnt chicken. A rather fiery one might I add, ‘Phoenix’. Get… roasted. Pho: Ouch! :c Anyway, going back to what you said about time management, how do you properly balance so many different tasks at once? Gold: I actually recently read a great book on the subject that I’d recommend called ”Only 10s: Using Distraction to Get the Right Things Done”. In a nutshell, the idea is to plan exactly what you’re doing in the here and now… but only if it’s worthy of your time and attention. Whether you’re really interested in a task, enjoy the task a lot or really have to do it to get where you want, you should focus on what matters. Dividing your focus just means more distractions and getting less done overall. On the scale of importance, the tasks you decide to do have to be a ‘10’. Following on from this, I can’t say it’s always easy what with a really busy real-life schedule too, but it’s doable. The way I try to approach things (which is along the same lines as the book above) is by having a continuously changing ‘To Do’ list in my head, where I try to tackle certain tasks I decide to do each day and focus my time and effort on those tasks. I try not to waste my time on things that aren’t absolutely important to me, and delegate or leave such tasks to one side. It’s surprising, but you’ll be able to get a lot done if you pick narrow focuses and centre in on them one after the other, instead of trying to do everything at once! Pho: (pushes up glasses) (jots notes) Speaking of tackling certain tasks each day... could you please describe the sock collection you once told me about? :lol: Gold: Riiight, about that. So apparently I have a confession to make: I have a set of socks with a pair for each day of the week. They’re black with different coloured toes and heels for each day, and the day of the week written on. Like today, I’ve been wearing my light blue ‘Wednesday” socks... but my personal favourites have got to be my purple “Monday” pair, my bright yellow “Sunday” pair and my awesomely pink “Friday” pair. They come with the added bonus of being able to pull up your trouser leg to remind yourself what day it is. Not that I’ve ever needed to do that so far, heh. Pho: Ladies and gentlemen, our new administrator is, in fact… a proper geek. Myth busted. GoldRock, on behalf of the EN community, you win these socks: (PIC) Gold: OK, that’s a step too far, even for me. I would not wear those socks, let me make that clear EMOTICON Pho: Considering your… unusual taste for socks, that was about as clear as Godmode_ON’s true identity. Moving onto another topical issue: if you could meet one person in Tanki and none of the others, who would you choose? :ph34r: Gold: Uh... while I’ve got to know a lot of people on Tanki and have made some great friends in this community, I believe you’re aware of the answer to that question. That answer happens to be yourself, and don’t ask me why. Pffft. Pho: Why-- ...oh :blush: Gold: Oh please, don’t make me use this emoticon again: And by the way, thanks for the free embarrassment in the official Tanki EN Newspaper which I am now an administrator of. Glad to see I get my way here, really appreciate it (rolls eyes) Pho: You are most welcome ;) OK, so here’s a classic question: if you could have one superpower, what would it be? Gold: Hm, good question, definitely a classic one. Assuming I’m not allowed to say I’d like a superpower which would enable me to get all other superpowers, I guess the ability to read minds would be pretty cool. It would be so much easier to understand what makes people who they are. But then again, I wonder if I really would want to be able to see the depths of everyone’s hopes and fears, their darkest secr... Pho: Wow noob stop, this is supposed to be fun -_- Nearly everything you say leads back to your mult obsession with philosophy. Here’s a deeper question for you then: would you rather be able to speak every language fluently orrr be an expert at playing every instrument? Gold: As for being addressed as ‘noob’, I believe I did make it clear I’d prefer to be addressed as ‘Your Highness’ in my first post as admin. Thanks in advance, Miss Burnt Chicken. As for your question, while I do play piano in my spare time and love music, I guess I’d prefer to be able to speak every language… kinda because I see communication as one of the most important things about life. I guess it also fits in with being part of the Newspaper, but being able to talk to people, convey ideas and understanding is an invaluable skill to have. Plus, it would be undeniably cool to be able to switch between whatever language you want. Pho: Definitely, but I think I personally would go with the instruments :3 Finally, to round off this interview on a more serious note, where do you see the Newspaper going from here after all the changes made recently? Gold: It’s great that we’ve managed to implement some striking improvements to the way we do things, which our readers have (hopefully!) noticed. As for where we’ll go from here, we’re looking to promote our new and improved work to a wider audience within channels such as TO social media, the V-LOG, and so on. Our ultimate aim is to bring the community together in providing high-quality content for everyone, and I think we’re well on our way to achieving that now! Pho: I must say your dedication to improving the Newspaper is really admirable, and you're doing a great job with the project ^_^ Thank you for your time! Gold: Well ultimately, it’s contributing to the community to help other people that’s important, as well as working to achieve the best we can ^_^ Thank you for the kind comments, and you’re welcome! So, there you have it, our new Newspaper Administrator. Hope you enjoyed the read, and feel free to let us know your thoughts on how this went below. One interview down... and many more to come! Credit to for the professional-quality pictures of GoldRock used in this article. -BLOOPERS-

poutine

that speech XD congrats nuglet

EMO

My new tank, a goldbox and a purple smudge (aka Goldnug) :3

plz all sales in one day, this is confusing :l