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livefreeforfun · 1 year

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Saiyan Duality - A SSG and SS4 Comparison

I don’t think anyone would argue that one of the most recognizable aspects of the Dragon Ball franchise is the transformations the characters tend to undergo. From an old hermit bulking up to an absurd degree to the legendary Super Saiyan, the franchise has its fair share of power ups, but the users of many of these iconic forms usually fall under one category of people - the aforementioned Saiyans.

The Saiyans, across all forms of Dragon Ball media, have over a dozen different transformations, each one becoming more and more powerful than the last. From the simple Great Ape to the lengthily named Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Controlled Berserk (I wish I was making that up), the repertoire of Saiyan forms is immense, but I constantly see two of these forms being compared: Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan God.

Both forms are very iconic, with Super Saiyan 4 being a GT trademark and Super Saiyan God being the first of many new transformations we see in Dragon Ball Super. I’ve seen a multitude of debates online trying to prove that one of these forms is better than the other, so I wanted to throw my hat into the ring and give my take: while I have a personal preference for God, both forms are absolutely incredible at what they attempt to portray in those who use the form, and I’m gonna go a little in depth as to why.

Starting the Super Saiyan 4 section with a little bit of background info, the older of the two forms made its debut in GT during the fight against Baby. To access the form, a Saiyan needs to both have a tail and already be able to transform into a Super Saiyan. They must transform into a Great Ape, turn Super Saiyan on top of that to become a Golden Great Ape, and then control that state to obtain Super Saiyan 4.

Super Saiyan 4 is remarkably different from the previous Super Saiyan forms, sporting no golden hair and instead keeping it back and having it grow far longer and having it cover the user’s shoulders, though it’s worth noting that Super Saiyan 3’s hairstyle is much longer. To make it more visually distinct, the user’s body is also covered in red fur save for parts of their chest, with their tail also turning red and gaining a red trim around their eyes. Curiously, Goku is also turned into an adult when he accesses this transformation, which is explained as a unique property of this form: any user of the transformation has their body reverted (or propelled into) its prime, meaning they will always appear as a young adult. Lastly, different users of SS4 have slightly different looking versions of the form. For instance, Goku’s version of the form has a shade of red fur that has a slight pink hue to it while Vegeta’s fur is crimson, and Goku has yellow eyes while Vegeta has blue eyes.

Now that the backstory and design of SS4 has been talked about, it’s time to talk a little bit about SSG. Super Saiyan God is a legend closely related to the legend of the Super Saiyan that Frieza feared. The legend involves the Saiyan Yamoshi and his five pure hearted allies battling against the evil hearted Saiyans. Yamoshi actually obtains Super Saiyan, but still loses the battle and his life, and now his spirit wanders through Universe 7 trying to find the Super Saiyan God.

There are only a couple ways for a Saiyan to obtain Super Saiyan God. The first method is a ritual, in which five other pure hearted Saiyans give their power to a sixth, transforming the sixth into the Super Saiyan God. As a side note, this ritual only works because of the wandering spirit of Yamoshi, making it a Universe 7 exclusive phenomenon. The other way for a Saiyan to obtain SSG is to train with god ki, which can typically only be done by training with someone who already possesses godly ki, such as Gods of Destruction.

Super Saiyan God, as a transformation, actually looks quite simple compared to other Super Saiyan forms. The user’s hair and eyes turn red, they become slimmer and even look a little younger, and their aura looks like fire. Super Saiyan God, similarly to SS4, also seems to give different users of the forms slightly different shades of red, though it’s not nearly as apparent as it is for SS4.

When putting the two forms next to each other, it can be hard to find similarities between them. Both feature some kind of red hair but outside of that, noticeable similarities are sparse, and I think that’s the point. Both forms have to portray entirely separate ideas: the wild nature of the Saiyans and the calmer demeanor of the Gods, and they portray these ideas incredibly well in my eyes. While I do have more of a preference for SSG like I said earlier, it’s not hard to see why so many fans of Dragon Ball are allured by the primal look of SS4.

Ultimately though, if you ask me, trying to compare the two to try and prove that one is objectively better is just a waste of time. It feels like God was designed to be the other side of the same coin as SS4, the heads to its tails. Both designs have their strengths and their weaknesses, so at the end of the day, whichever form is “superior” will always be up to viewer interpretation and nothing more.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super #dragon ball gt #db #dbs #dbgt #super saiyan 4 #super saiyan god #ss4 #ssj4

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saddayfordemocracy · 3 years

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The Taliban has retaken control of Afghanistan!

As Taliban fighters took Kabul on Sunday evening, roaming through the halls of the abandoned presidential palace, the group issued a statement: It would soon revive Afghanistan’s former name.

The country that was built in the wake of the 2001 U.S. invasion at a cost of over $2 trillion would revert to the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” (That’s the name the country bore between 1996 and 2001).

The Taliban, which means "students" in the Pashto language, have been waging an insurgency against the Western-backed government in Kabul since they were ousted from power in 2001.

The group was formed by "mujahideen" fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s with the backing of the CIA.

Emerging in 1994 as one of several factions fighting a civil war, the Taliban gained control of much of the country by 1996 and imposed its own strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law.

Men were forced to grow beards. Women were forced to wear burqas, flowing garments that cover the entire face and body. Schools for girls were shuttered. Women who were unaccompanied in public places could be beaten. Soccer was banned. So was music, aside from religious chants. The Taliban government held public executions in Kabul’s Ghazi Stadium.

There were photos of children dying of preventable illnesses in a dilapidated pediatric hospital. Images of the ancient Buddhist statues pulverized by the Taliban because its leaders considered the stone images to be idolatrous. The sea of refugees and displaced people living in makeshift tents across the region.

The group is infamous for its use of suicide bombers and has been accused of assassinating top Afghan officials and holding kidnapped Western citizens for ransom.

Only four countries recognised the Taliban when it was last in power: neighbouring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkemnistan.

After sheltering Osama bin Laden and key al Qaeda figures in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Taliban would fall after a US-led military coalition launched an offensive on 7 October 2001.

Despite being ousted from power, the Taliban would continue a guerrilla war against the Western-backed governments and US-led forces in the country.

Around 150,000 British military personnel have served in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, and 457 have been killed.

Also, 2,448 American service members have died in the conflict.

The Taliban entered into talks with the US in 2018 and struck a ‘peace’ deal in February 2020 which committed the US to withdraw its troops while preventing the Taliban from attacking US forces.

However, the Taliban have continued to kill Afghan security forces and civilians...

If there is 1 image that symbolized the brutality of the Taliban regime in 90s, it was that of a woman in a blue burqa being executed in public in KBL’s stadium.

An Afghan judge hits a woman with a whip in front of a crowd in Ghor province, Afghanistan August 31, 2015. REUTERS/Pajhwok News Agency.

A member of the Taliban's religious police beating an Afghan woman in Kabul on August 26, 2001. The footage, filmed by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, can be seen at pz.rawa.org/rawasongs/movie/beating.mpg

The cover of the Aug. 9 issue of Time magazine features a photo of Aisha, an 18-year-old Afghan woman with a mutilated nose. Time Inc./AP

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chernobog13 · 3 years

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The remaining saboteurs depart for the airport bridge to recover their records, stolen by the secret agent, before they fall into government hands!

But first, they make certain to lock in their captive, Clark Kent!

Clark, however, is done playing possum!

Boss: “Was ist los?”

(Here the animators have a bit of fun, harkening back to their comedy roots. All three saboteurs are given comical expressions here, and if you watch closely you’ll notice the guy in the blue suit has swallowed his cigarette!)

Boss: “Zum Teufel!”

Superman saves the secret agent in the nick of time, of course, but there’s one more task he has to perform!

The secret agent is deposited, safe and sound, at the Capitol Building where she can turn in to the authorities the information on the gang of saboteurs.

And, with patriotic music playing, there’s time for a salute to Old Glory before we fade out!

First of all, as sad as I am that that series came to an end, I’m glad that the gang at Famous Studios finally stepped up and brought their A-game! Maybe, because they knew this was the last Superman cartoon they’d make, the animators wanted to go out with a bang!

The action is non-stop in this story, and the animation is on-par with the earlier entries in the series from Fleischer Studios! There are none of the shortcuts used to save time and effort that had been a hallmark of the Famous Studios’ entries in the series.

The only thing wrong is the story. The studio, again, reverted to a typical war thriller/propoganda piece that made up the bulk of the Superman cartoons after Paramount Pictures took control. This was a story that could have featured any one of dozens of “regular Joe” protagonists in a B-movie, serial, or radio drama. It is not a Superman story.

As I have stated in this blog before, Superman needed enemies and threats that challenged him. During the first nine cartoons in the series, Fleischer Studios made sure that happened (rampaging dinosaurs, bank-robbing robots, giant apes run amuck, etc.).

Famous Studios tried a couple of times, with Superman battling mummies and bird men, but those entries seemed lackluster compared to the Fleischer stories.

It’s not like Superman was lacking for villains at this point in time. The Ultra-Humanite, while not in the albino gorilla form he is known for today, had been a recurring thorn in Superman’s side since 1939. Lex Luthor showed up in 1940. How awesome would it have been if either of them was the featured villain in this cartoon, with Famous Studios doing their best work?

The Superman series probably wouldn’t have ended due to “loss of novelty.”

In any case, it’s no use crying over spilt milk.

Some time ago on this blog I suggested that HBO Max engage filmmakers to give us live-action versions of these cartoons (which I still think would be all sorts of awesome!). I further suggest that someone at Warners Animation (Bruce Timm, are you paying attention?) continue this series of shorts, in the same style, with Superman still at this early level of power. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d certainly watch them!

Some trivia before I go:

Although Lois Lane doesn’t appear in this episode (the only one she’s not in), her voice actress, Joan Alexander, does voice the unnamed secret agent.

There are some reports that Lois was in any early scene in this story, but it was cut for length.

And finally, if scenes from this cartoon look familiar to some of you older types out there, it’s because the cartoon (minus the parts with Superman/Clark Kent) was featured extensively in a 1998 music video for the song “Spy in the House of Love” by Was (Not Was).

I hope everyone enjoyed these cartoons as much as I enjoyed presenting them. If you haven’t seen them in full you owe it to yourself to remedy that immediately!

#Superman #Secret Agent #Clark Kent #Famous Studios #propoganda #cartoons

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marley-warriors · 5 years

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The Beast Titan and its animal forms

The Beast Titan takes on the form of the holder’s animal counterpart/ spirit animal.

This is a rewrite of an old meta of mine which I wrote over a year ago.

So far we have only seen two holders of the Beast Titan: Tom Xaver and Zeke Yeager. Of them we only ever saw Zeke’s Beast Titan. Hence many fans assume the Beast Titan simply looks like an ape, and probably has looked like that for past shifters as well.

However there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the Beast Titan does change its animal form with every new shifter. These animal forms seem to be that of the current holders animal counterpart or spirit animal.

First of, here is the definition of Beast:

From this definition it becomes evident that the Beast Titan is supposed to represent an animal, and not just a monkey.

Zeke Yeager’s Beast Titan: The Ape

Zeke’s titan looks a lot like an ape, and has been refered to as the ape/money titan a few times (by Connie and Ymir).

As a young child we can see Zeke play with a monkey toy. It seems that monkeys may be Zeke’s favourite animals. Further his titan assumed the likeness of his childhood toy, even having the same fur colour.

Many people have been confused as to why Zeke’s titan hair is brown and not blonde. After all, the rest of the shifters, such as Annie, Eren and Ymir all retained the same hair colour as their human form. Zeke’s however does not, and that is simply because there is no such thing as a blone ape. They are either brown or black.

The ape also matches up with Zeke’s character, which may explain why it is his spirit animal. Upon research I learned that apes symbolise efficiency and intelligence. According to Isayama, Zeke did score very high on intelligence, so that makes sense. Further the ape is primarily concerned with its own survival. Interestingly an ape can also symbolise a childlike nature and playfulness. Zeke does often seem to tap back into being an irrational, tantrum throwing child. A child that just wanted to be a child and play, but was forced to take on adult responsibilities by his parents. Hence the supressed child inside does occassionally show in Zeke.

It is also interesting that the moment it was decided Zeke would become a titan shifter, was the very moment at which he was playing with his toy monkey.

Isayama did not do this by coincidence. Nothing is ever coincidence with Isayama, whom is very clever at hiding small foreshadowing details in his manga.

Eldian Empire Beast Titan: The Horse

In a few panels of the Eldian history book there are depictions of a gigantic horse. All 3 of these images show a horse, way larger than the humans beside it. This is a titan horse, as it is way to large to just be a regular horse.

One of the previous Beast Titan holders assumed the form of a horse. In one of the images, the horse is being riden by another titan blowing a horn. This may be the Founding Titan riding the Beast Titan while commanding the mindless titans before them to attack their enemies. The other two images show the Beast Titan in the background between the Armoured and Warhammer Titan.

Zeke’s Predecessors

Season 2’s opening provided a shot of Zeke running alongside other beasts that has long confused many fans, both anime and manga alike. It confused me too for a long time before finally thinking up a possible reason.

Left to Right there seems to be the following animals:

Emu, 2 Stingray, Zebra, Kamel, 2 diffrent types of Whale, Giraffe, Hippo, Dinosaur, Zeke’s Ape, Crocodile, Elephant, and a T-Rex.

And before each of these Beasts stands a human with their hearts glowing as well. These must be representative of Zeke’s predecessors and their animal counterparts. That is why so many random beasts are running alongside Zeke.

Tom Xaver: Unkown, but useless Beast

We only ever saw Tom in his human form, so it remains to be seen what his titan looked like. But we do know some things about his titan.

Xaver noted that his particular Beast Titan was not useful in war. Zeke’s titan on the other hand is extremely useful in war. This indicates that Xaver and Zeke must have had two very diffrent titans despite both owning the Beast Titan. Whatever animal counterpart Xaver’s titan had was not suitable for war, so he instead spent his time being a titan science researcher. Its strange that Marley would not simply offer Xaver up to the next Beast Titan if his titan was faulty. So it must be assumed that Marley is used to the Beast Titan occassionally not being of much use depending on its wielder. There is probably no telling for Marley what animal their next Beast Titan will assume, so its mostly a game of luck. They were unlucky with Xaver, but lucky with Zeke.

I believe Isayama has not revealed Xaver’s Beast Titan yet because he wants people to continue assuming the Beast Titan is ape like. That way the next Beast Titan reveal may come as a shook to some readers, realising that all along the evidence for the beast titans had been there. Isayama has done this before, often liking to leave hints which most of the fandom only picks up on after the great reveal has occured.

I don’t know what Xaver’s animal counterpart was, but it could not have been useful. That cancels out any animals of great use, such as horses or dogs. It may be that Xaver’s animal counterpart was a sea creature, such as a whale. That would definetly not be beneficial for Marley’s trench warefare.

The next Beast Titan

If Beast Titan Holders assume the form of their spirit animal, the next Beast Titan holder too will have a strong affiliation to their animal counterpart. We do have one character that has shown a strong connection to an animal.

Falco Grice

The first time we meet Falco we see him reaching up to the sky as a Falcon flies by, telling it to fly away from the battle.

Falco is an Italian/ Germanic name, short for Falcon, and was often an occupational name for a Falconer or a person thought to resemble a hawk.

A Falcon represents Wisdom, vision and Protection. This is perfect for Falco, whom always seems to be protecting others. Further he is intelligent enough to understand both sides of war rather than just being brainwashed by Marley’s teachings. Even Falco’s mindless titan looks like a freshly hatched bird with no feathers. A Falcon also symbolises Freedom, knowledge, success and rising above challanges.

So far, Falco is the only character with a clear spirit animal in the manga, indicating that he will most likely be the next Beast Titan. In that case, Falco’s Beast Titan would take on the form of a Falcon, perhaps becoming a Winged Titan.

The Winged Titan: Foreshadowing

Since chapter 91, there has been foreshadowing of a potential Winged Titan. Even before that there had been many small, and easily dissmissable clues.

In one of the OVA’s about Jean and Sasha’s cookoff, we see Pixis imagining the 104th as Titans. Historia ends up being a Winged Titan. This is the first time we have seen anything related to winged/ flying titans.

We also see a winged creature in the end credits of Season 1, part 2. On the wall beside Bertholdt there is a winged creature that is much larger than the horse and titan beside it. Hence it is way to big to be just a bird. It probably depicted a winged titan instead.

Its from the Marley arc forwards that evidence for a winged titan does become much more prominent.

With Marley we see an increased focus on the skies and aircraft development. The officers talk about how soon Titans will be unable to be of any use, highlighting them as the rulers of the earth. Note, Earth is in bold.

Further this conversation takes place right after an air ambush on fort Slava, in which mindless titan were dropped from the sky.

We now have titans raining from the sky. With this the territory of the titans is explanding. Before Zeke, Marley had never gotten to control their titans and turn them at will. With Zeke came the change of an era. Titans are falling from the air, which is becoming the prefered method of fighting wars.

However, the General is not satisfied with just titans falling from the sky. Instead he asks. “We don’t have titans with wings, do we?”

Nope General, not yet. But if Falco became the next Beast Titan, we might very well see a Titan with wings.

Falco as the Falcon Beast Titan would be amazing. But we do know that as of chapter 119, mindless Falco is slurping up Porco. Despite this, Isayamas foreshadowing can’t be denied. There is too much evidence pointing towards a winged Falco for Isayama to turn back now. Some way, Falco will eat Zeke and become the new Beast Titan.

It may even be that Porco is alive if Falco slurped Porco up like the Santa titan did with Eren. With everyone thinking Falco is reverting back to a human, it might come as a suprise when he attacks Zeke out of the blue. After all Zeke is currently to concerned with seeing his decapitated brother to control his mindless titans.

And if not, it could also be that a Jaw titan Falco takes it upon himself to obtain the Beast Titan from Zeke.

In the end, if we did get a winged titan, it would be the actual embodiment of the wings of freedom.

#snk #aot #snk spoilers #snk 119 #snk 120 #marley-warriors-of-demon-blood #snk meta #my meta #titan shifters #beast titan #winged titan #zeke yeager #tom xaver #falco grice #porco galliard #jaw titan

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cinemamablog · 4 years

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Lana Del Rey Goes to the Movies

I use roughly 1/16th of my iPhone’s storage space to hold my collection of Lana Del Rey’s music, including her (misspelled) self-titled album Lana Del Ray AKA Lizzy Grant and over a hundred of her leaked, unreleased tracks. (If you have an MP3 of “Yosemite” or “Life is Beautiful”... Hit me up, please.) My husband teases me because I have a LanaBoards account so I can read - and occasionally participate in - the pre-release gossip months, sometimes years, before the next Lana album drops.

Just like I make no secret of my Lana Del Rey obsession, Ms. Lizzy Grant pulls no punches when it comes to her idolatry of the silver screen and Hollywood lore. With songs aptly titled “Hollywood,” “Hollywood’s Dead,” and “Super Movie,” she wears her movie loving heart on her sleeve. Lana makes references to movies, iconic (usually dead) actors, and David Lynch throughout her discography. She has also contributed to countless recent movies, providing sultry vocals while matching the vibe of the films, like on the soundtracks for The Great Gatsby, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Big Eyes. In fact, Mary Ramos, Quentin Tarantino’s music supervisor, revealed last summer that Lana submitted music for Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. She also reportedly recorded a song for the James Bond franchise at one point. A casual fan of motion pictures, Lana is not. To which I say: girl, same.

Lana frequently references to Marilyn Monroe in her music, always in a very blatant (some might say distasteful) manner. “If I call you on the telephone, I might overdose, ‘cause I’m strong but I’m lonely, like Marilyn Monroe,” she mews in an otherwise sweet love song named after the actress. She also references suicide and Monroe in her single “Body Electric”: “Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn’s my mother,” she sings in the first verse. By the second verse, she sings “Diamonds are my bestest friend [Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, anyone?]. Heaven is my baby, suicide’s her father, opulence is the end.” On a less morbid note, she also pays homage to Monroe in the intro of her National Anthem music video. In the black and white clip, Lana sings “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” a la Marilyn Monroe, except instead of JFK on the receiving end, she serenades rapper A$AP Rocky.

The reason for Lana’s attraction to Marilyn’s mythos seems obvious to me. They both created their persona by studying the stars that came before them: Marilyn by emulating Jean Harlow, Lana by paying her respects to Marilyn, Sharon Tate, and other young movie stars known for the tragedies that marked their lives. The cycle continues into the 21st century.

Lana has a few other movies and film people that reappear throughout her song catalogue: David Lynch, Scarface, and Easy Rider. I find this appropriate, as all three present the viewer with stylized visions of how the American Dream can go wrong. Lynch explores the nightmarish underbelly of the suburban lifestyle, Scarface follows Al Pacino’s immigrant character up a violent ladder of success, and Easy Rider glorifies living on one’s own terms, a freedom for which the main characters pay dearly.

Lana covered the titular song of David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet on her first studio EP, Paradise. At first, I thought that maybe she just likes the song, but then, on her second studio album, Ultraviolence, she gave an undeniable nod to Lynch that marked her for a fan. In the song “Sad Girl,” she sings: “He’s got the fire and he walks with it,” a blatant reference to the phrase “fire walk with me” from Lynch’s project Twin Peaks. Both Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks focus on the sexual, drug-fueled violence lurking just under the surface of an otherwise idyllic community, much like Lana’s storytelling through song.

“Scarface, sacrifice, sold my soul to make it nice. It was worth it, paid the price, life is death when blow is life,” Lana sings on an unreleased track called, you guessed it, “Scarface.” The lyrics of the song follow the same themes as the movie, describing a life characterized by mob violence and stoned patriotism. Lana also references the De Palma remake in another unreleased song, “Never Let Me Go”: “Like they say in Scarface, kid, you can push your drugs and I can make it big.” I’m pretty sure they don’t say that in Scarface, but still, the sentiment remains the same: the road to the American Dream (and doom) can be paved with drugs, money, and luck.

“Is the sun in your eyes, easy rider?” Lana asks in the unreleased “Angels Forever, Forever Angels.” She sings in the bridge, “Paradise is a hell-colored flame sky. Is it nice to feel free and wild?” throwing out a subtle, decades-old reference to the theme song of Dennis Hopper’s 1969 counterculture hit Easy Rider, “Born to be Wild.” On her third studio album, Honeymoon, Lana recycles the reference on the track “Freak”: “Sun reflecting in your eyes, like an easy rider.” Like Blue Velvet and Scarface, Easy Rider shows the American Dream onscreen as a drug-induced fantasy that can’t end well, but the ride is worth it.

Occasionally, Lana sings about the real dark side of Hollywood, where the bad decisions and late nights aren’t a fun game or even a choice anymore, but rather the price of artistic success, demanded of her by men with sinister intentions. In Lana Del Ray AKA Lizzy Grant’s “Put Me in a Movie,” Lana teases a powerful man in the movie industry: “Come on, I know you like little girls... Put me in a movie.” Some of Lana’s other lyrics came under fire in the media shortly after the accusations against Harvey Weinstein publicly surfaced. Lana sings the lyrics in question during the bridge for the already-controversial song “Cola”: “Harvey’s in the sky with diamonds and he’s making me crazy.” She’s since claimed in interviews that she won’t sing “Cola” anymore due to the backlash, but I think the song has made its point: Lana’s always known that men like Harvey have the money and power (“diamonds”) to drive desperate people crazy.

In her penultimate album, Lust for Life, Lana doesn’t let up on the Hollywood imagery. In the album’s teaser trailer, Lana lives inside of the Hollywood sign, stirring a witchy potion and pondering the fate of the world from above the LA lights. She climbs that same Hollywood sign with the Weeknd in the music video for the titular song, “Lust for Life.” While the album begins on this upbeat note, by the third song, “13 Beaches,” we return to a familiar sense of isolation and sadness. An audio clip from the cult classic movie Carnival of Souls plays over string instrumentation: “I don’t belong in the world. That’s what it is. Something separates me from other people. Everywhere I turn, there’s something blocking my escape.” (This monologue is only available in the deleted scenes of the recent Criterion Blu-ray release and in unrestored YouTube videos. Lana knows her independent horror movies.) This cinematic depression haunts the rest of the album, with lyrics like “Cherry”’s “My celluloid scenes are torn at the seams, and I fall to pieces” and the disturbing Charles Manson references in my all-time favorite LDR song, “Heroin”: “Manson’s in the air and all my friends have come ‘cause they still feel him here… Something ‘bout the sun has made these kids get scary. Oh, writing in blood on the walls and shit…” Even when Lana tries to shift her audience’s focus to her lust for life, she can’t help but revert to her old melancholic ways. But as she sings in the final bridge of “Heroin”: “I hope that I come back one day to tell you that I really changed.”

“You move to California, but it’s just a state of mind,” Lana sings on her latest album, Norman Fucking Rockwell, and the rest of the album echoes that sentiment. Her disenchantment with the City of Angels has been a running thread through her discography and yet she returns to it over and over, in songs like “Bartender” and “California.” On Honeymoon, she sang “I will never sing again. With just one wave, it goes away.” On Lust for Life, she sang “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sick of it.” Now on NFR, she sings “I guess that I’m burnt out after all.” But after three albums of threatening to leave it all behind, I don’t think Lana Del Rey will ever really be done with Hollywood. In the words of the last song on NFR: Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like Lana to have… but she has it.

#music #critique

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mycochaotix · 6 months

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I dont know what happened but I never updated yesterday. Been pouring plates and preparing to spawn and also moderating contamfam , seems it slipped my mind heh. But just gonna post yesterdays with this project update and next post will be day of for today with usual order of photos xD

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First four pics:

These photos are of current empty plates (1), jars and 2 year old cold storage plates (2), the currently showcased plates i decided to keep based on available new xfer plates (3) and the cold storage plates and current showcases I am going to toss (4). Kinda hard but gotta do it sometimes, to keep your projects under control.

And as i type that…. I now get to add:

-Im planning to swab plates and then put those plates to grain to show what that type of inoculation (that I wpuldnt recommend) works out :) which means over the mext few momths ill hopefully get beautiful tubs of blue ape revert, albino riptide, natalensis, ape, and more 🍄 im going to use it as an oppottunity to replace and add to current spore prints but focusing on highest spore load on one foil square as I possibly can (where as before I made as many as I could thinking i was spreading eggs into baskets… but i realize now that quality prints in small quantities beats many prints of medium or low quality, in both personal stock and for trades

- im planning to take the cold storage plates, move them to the new plastic charcoal plates, and after two weeks probably put em into cold storage; this is prob a year over due (these t 2 year old cold stores, some of them); but visually they all have some healthy appearing mycelium to xfer, some look really bruised up though :(

#mycology #lgbtqia2s #magic mushies #microbiology #mold #60s psychedelia #lgbtqia #lgbtqia2s+#myc #enby #fungus #fungi #queer #non binary

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mycochaos-oldacnt-plzfollownew · 1 year

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End of October inoculations of Albino riptide and blue ape revert from mss, 1st, and 2nd gen plates—-🍄🍄🍄

#fungi #fungus #fungusamongus #fungiphotolic #mushroom #mushroomporn #fungilover #fungiporn #mycology #myco #fungiphoto #fungiphotography #mycologyart #micologyart #lgbt #mushrooms_of_our_world #instagram #gay #nature #nikon #d750 #fantasticfungi #mould #mold #contam #containatiom #mycelium

#myco #mycology #art #magic mushies #mushies #mushroom #gay #mycochaos #albino riptide #blue ape revert #mycelium #paul stamets #pscilocin #pscilocybin #fungi #pgt #Instagram

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fyeahbenreedsue · 5 years

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A guide to BenReed, one of Marvel’s oldest and slashiest relationships! The ultimate nerd/jock pairing! A love story for the ages! They started out as college roommates and ended up becoming lifelong best friends, roommates, partners, and, along with Sue, the co-parents of Reed’s children. They’ve said six times that they love each other and would willingly die for each other and can’t bear to live without each other, Reed’s admitted that he sees Ben as more than just a friend and that he loves Ben as much as he loves his wife, and Ben’s told Sue point-blank that he loves Reed just as much as she does.

PRIME MARVEL UNIVERSE

Silver to Modern Ages (1961 to 1997):

+ Fantastic Four Vol 1 #11: “A Visit With the Fantastic Four!” | 1963 | Ben and Reed recount how they first met as roommates in college and later fought in WWII together. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #25: “The Hulk vs Thing” | 1964 | Reed falls ill while developing a cure for Ben, who ends up fighting the Hulk; Reed is desperate to help. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #41-43: “The Brutal Betrayal of Ben Grimm!” to “Lo, There Shall Be An Ending!” | 1965 | Ben is brainwashed by the Wizard into becoming evil and is unleashed on the rest of the FF; Reed is the only one who can save him. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #51: “This Man...This Monster!” | 1966 | Reed discovers the Negative Zone; Reed and Sue wrongly believe Ben has died; Reed admits that Ben is “more than just a friend.” + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #61-62: “Where Stalks the Sandman?” to “...And One Shall Save Him!” | 1967 | Reed is trapped in the Negative Zone; Ben and Sue desperately try to find a way to save him; Ben admits that he’d willingly die for Reed. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #64: “The Sentry Sinister” | 1967 | Ben, Reed, and Sue go on a romantic island getaway that is interrupted by a Kree sentry.

+ Fantastic Four Vol 1 #68-#69: “His Mission: Destroy the Fantastic Four!” and “Divide -- and Conquer!” | 1967 | Reed tries to cure Ben once more but fails; Ben despairingly goes out alone and ends up getting brainwashed by the Frightful Four...again. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #78: “The Thing No More!” | 1968 | Reed successfully cures Ben; Ben realizes that he’s unable to protect Reed if he’s not the Thing. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #105-113: "The Monster in the Streets!” to “The Power of -- the Over-Mind!” | 1970-1971 | Reed’s latest attempt to cure Ben goes disastrously awry; he admits that Ben and Sue are the two people he cares most about in all the world, apart from his son. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #204-206: "The Andromeda Attack!” to “The Death of... the Fantastic Four!” | 1979 | Ben, Reed, and Sue go on an adventure in space; Reed is seemingly killed; Ben goes berserk. + Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 #2: “Annihilation” | 1982 | Reed works himself past the point of exhaustion because he believes that he is on the verge of discovering a cure for Ben. + Thing Vol 1 #2: “For Beauty Passed Away” | 1983 | Ben flashes back to his early college days with Reed. + Thing Vol 1 #23: “Remembrances” | 1985 | Ben discovers that Reed has been keeping an important secret from him; he quits the FF. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #296: "Homecoming!” | 1987 | Ben announces that he’s moving permanently to Monster Isle; Reed wants some closure. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #301: "Dark Dreams!” | 1987 | Ben continues to be furious at Reed for keeping the true reason behind his inability to revert to his human form a secret; Franklin begs him to forgive Reed. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #304-307: "Pressure Drop” to “Good-Bye!” | 1987 | Reed offers Ben the opportunity to take over as leader of the FF; Reed and Sue plan to retire to focus on raising Franklin. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #350: "The More Things Change...!" or "It's the Real Thing...” | 1991 | Sharon goes missing; Ben tries to become the Thing again; Reed is worried and furious at him. + Fantastic Four Unplugged Vol 1 #2: “Willpower” | 1995 | Believing Reed was murdered by Doom in Fantastic Four Vol 1 #381, Reed’s family attends the reading of his will; a grieving Ben lashes out; we discover that Reed attended every one of Ben’s college football games.

Contemporary (1998 to the present):

+ Fantastic Four Vol 3 #5: “Broken Reed” | 1998 | Ben and Reed travel together to Paris for a conference. + Fantastic Four Vol 3 #38-39: “Flesh and Stone” to “Things Change” | 2001 | Ben is attacked by the Grey Gargoyle; Reed and the rest of the FF must save him. + Fantastic Four Vol 3 #57-59: "The Ever-Lovin', Blue-eyed End of the World: Part 1-3" | 2002 | Ben’s skin goes haywire and Reed saves him; Ben calls Reed “baby.” + Fantastic Four Vol 3 #65-66: “Small Stuff / Big Stuff" | 2003 | Ben and Reed team up to deal with rogue Negative Zone bugs that are loose in the Baxter Building. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #501-502: “5th Wheel, Pts 1-2" | 2003 | The FF are left reeling by Doom’s vicious attack; Ben confesses that Reed and Sue were what gave him the strength to keep going after the rocket crash. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #509-511: “Hereafter” | 2004 | After Ben’s untimely death in the previous arc, a devastated Reed voyages to the afterlife to get him back; Ben swears he’ll never leave him. + Marvel Knights 4 Vol 1 #5-7: “The Pine Barrens, Parts 1-3” | 2004 | Reed, Sue, and Ben take their son Franklin on a camping trip that ends up going horribly wrong. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #524: “Tag” | 2005 | The FF’s powers are hopping from person to person throughout the city; Reed does his best to ensure that he gets Ben’s powers rather than Ben. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #551-553: “Epilogue” | 2008 | A Doom from the future arrives to warn the FF of the path Reed is taking them on; Ben comes passionately to Reed’s defense and insists that he could not love Reed more than he already does. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #554: “World's Greatest: Part 1” | 2008 | Reed accompanies Ben on a philanthropic visit to a school. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #569: “Doom’s Master, Part 4” | 2009 | Ben mysteriously doesn’t show up to his wedding; Reed is there for him through the aftermath. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #581-2 | 2011 | Ben is transformed into Angrir, Breaker of Souls; Sue and Reed must save him. + Fear Itself: FF Vol 1 #1: “When Everything's Lost, The Battle is Won...” and "... Because of All These Things I've Done." | 2010 | Reed’s time-traveling, immortal father, Nathaniel Richards, asks for college-aged Ben and Reed’s help in murdering an AU version of himself. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #605: “End of Line” | 2012 | Reed’s father takes Reed to see what will become of Ben; Reed discovers that Ben will outlive him by thousands of years. + Marvel 2-In-One Vol 1 #2: “Our First Adventure” | 2018 | While hunting for the Multisect Reed bequeathed to him, Ben recalls his and Reed’s first adventure.

OF INTEREST

Please note: These comics aren’t BenReed-centric but they feature shippy BenReed moments.

+ Fantastic Four Vol 1 #13: "The Fantastic Four Versus the Red Ghost and His Indescribable Super-Apes!" | 1963 | Ben calls Reed “adorable.” + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #15: "The Fantastic Four Battle the Mad Thinker and His Awesome Android" | 1963 | Ben calls Reed "pretty boy.” + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #20: "The Mysterious Molecule Man!" | 1963 | Ben calls Reed "lover boy.” + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #22: "The Return of the Mole Man!" | 1964 | Ben swears he’s going to kiss each of Reed’s fingers if Reed saves him. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #44: “The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon!” | 1965 | Ben admits to Sue that he loves Reed almost as much as she does. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #55: "When Strikes the Silver Surfer!" | 1966 | Reed confesses that he’d willingly die for Ben. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #56: "Klaw, the Murderous Master of Sound!" | 1966 | Ben calls Reed “lover boy.” + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #59: "Doomsday" | 1967 | Ben admits that he thinks that Ben is “the most man” he’s ever met. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #89: “The Madness of the Mole Man!” | 1969 | Reed and Sue buy a mysterious new house; Reed nearly dies; Ben gives him CPR and saves him; he admits that he thinks that Reed’s “the greatest.” + Marvel Two-In-One Annual Vol 1 #3: "When Strike the Monitors!" | 1978 | When the Fantasticar saves Ben’s life, he’s so grateful he swears he’s going to kiss Reed. + Marvel Two-In-One Vol 1 #60: "Happiness Is a Warm Alien!" | 1980 | Ben calls Reed a “long drink of water” and thinks about how much he loves him. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #229: “The Thing from the Black Hole” | 1981 | Ben is enraged when a monster harms Reed. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #350: "The More Things Change...!" or "It's the Real Thing..." | 1991 | Ben foolishly tries to turn himself back into the Thing; Reed is furious; Ben says he knows it’s because Reed loves him. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #382: "Captured!" | 1993 | Ben admits that he loves Reed. + Fantastic Four Unplugged Vol 1 #3: "Showdown in Elsewhen" | 1996 | Reed tells Glot that Ben is the best man he’s ever known. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #410: "The Ties That Bind!" | 1996 | Ben is so overjoyed that Reed’s alive that he lifts him into the air. + Fantastic Four Vol 1 #557: "World's Greatest: Part 4" | 2008 | Ben tells Reed that he’s got a man-crush on him. + Heralds Vol 1 #3: "Burning Up The Future" | 2010 | Ben admits that he wolf-whistles at Reed when he looks hot.

NON-616 UNIVERSES

+ Tales of the Thing Vol 1 #2: “Hulk — Widescreen” | 2005 | Reed helps Ben out with a problem. + Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four Vol 1 #38: “Dear Aunt Petunia” | 2008 | Ben writes a letter to his Aunt Petunia that is all about Reed. + Fantastic Four: Season One | 2011 | A retelling of the FF’s origin story; Ben tries to kiss Reed as a thank-you for being cured. + What If Doctor Doom Had Become the Thing? Vol 1 #1 | 2004 | A What If? where Victor becomes the Thing and Ben becomes the Hulk.

#benreed #fantastic four #reed richards #ben grimm #mister fantastic #the thing #prime marvel universe #comics #mod: lamujerarana #comic recs

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detginski · 6 years

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Space Noodle

Gavin Reed x Reader

Summary : Undercover mission, got injured and noodles with ya boy, Gavin.

a/n : its super crappy writing. just want to post this out bcs i have zero content in my brain and on this blog

How long as it been since you lay down on your own bed instead of crashing on the musty damp smelling couch that was at your now undercover temporary house. God the case Fowler assigned to you took longer to solve than you thought it would. It was the human and android trafficking case. You’ve been undercover too long for your taste. Trying to get mushy with the ringleader, gaining their trust and making them think that you were one of them was tough. You had to pretend to be interested on the ringleader’s son to gain their full trust. You can say the entire 5 months you were undercover and being with the family, was the worse you had.

Finally you were invited to the family’s event and that’s when the swat team close onto them and close the case for good.

You really miss your boyfriend and your bed. You miss your boyfriend in your bed. Really, the only thing that kept you going was your boyfriend. And his sweater is losing his scent. Finally after 5 months of pretentious rich assholes, you can see your asshole boyfriend again.

For the entire raid, you pretended to be shocked and all, but the son you had mushied with, dragged you with him. You reluctantly let him drag you until one of the officers cornered both of you. It was a moment of blur when you were pulled to the front by the son, using you as a shield. The officer shot you on the shoulder and stomach. Pussy, you thought before collapsing to the ground. The officer arrested the man and, is that Captain Allen’s voice? You look up to Captain Allen with a medic, “That’s our undercover officer you just shot!” You weakly grin and nod slightly, “Sup’” before passing out.

Gavin Reed had the worse 5 months of his life. Since you were asked to do an undercover case for 5 fuckin months, he revert to his basic instinct, being an asshole to anything that moves. Gavin snapped at whatever Connor is doing even when he was just passing by his desk. He even snapped at Nines but stopped after the first month as Nines could only tolerate so much of his bullshit. He tried to gain information on what and how you are doing but all he ever get to hear about you is when Fowler briefed about your case for a few minutes before moving on. That is only about the case, not about your well being.

It frustrates him how much he misses you. 5 months is too long for a man like him. He hasn’t slept well in a while and threw himself into cases after cases. Gavin was working on a paperwork with Nines constantly rolling his eyes at Gavin’s constant sighing. As Gavin got up for another cup of coffee, Fowler called everyone into the briefing room for a short meeting.

“The mission Detective (L/N) on was a success. But they were injured on the mission. Shot by one of the team members.” Gavin was already halfway up from his seat but was stopped by Nines and Fowler’s voice. “But they are stable and will be back to work today. Detective Reed, I suggest you not to do anything rash. Dismissed.” All the detectives cheered for you but Hank, Connor, Gavin and Nines waited behind in the briefing room. Hank frowns slightly at the last briefing, “Fuckin (Y/N) got shot. What the hell. They’re the best among all of us for fuck’s sake.” “The officer who shot them must’ve mistook them as one of the traffickers.” Connor tries diffuse the tense atmosphere that suddenly graced the room. Gavin who had been silent the entire time, slammed his fist against the table, “Stupid swat team! I fuckin swear i will find that motherfucker who shot (Y/N)!” Nines kept Gavin from getting up, “Detectives, I suggest both of you to calm down. (Y/N) is alive and well as per Captain Fowler had said. Please stop this childish act.” Gavin is far too tired and too sleep deprived to start a banter with Nines. Hank walked out of the briefing room with Connor in tow and Gavin took awhile to get up from his seat and resume his paperwork with a heavy heart. Nines let out an inaudible sigh and prayed to anything that you’re back soon.

Finally, out of sanitized smelling hospital to earthy smokey street smell of Detroit. You had your left arm in a sling due to your shoulder injury and your abdomen covered in bandages. You’ll live. Except for the earful you’ll get from you boyfriend once he sees you. Smiling and suddenly feeling extra happy that you’re finally seeing him again after so long.

You walked into the always loud and busy precinct, “Sup Detective Chen. Miss me?” you smiled at the woman who’s currently talking to a cop and looked up at you. “Dear god if it isn’t the asshole tamer. Missed you, stupid!” She say and punched you lightly on your good shoulder. “I thought you’re supposed to be discharged tomorrow?” “Nah, doctor said I’m good to go” “Doctor said or you said?” You both chuckled at that. “You should go to the bullpen asap. Your idiots are worried about you.” “Thanks for the info, Chen. See ya around.” She smiled and nodded at you, continuing the conversation she had with the cop.

Smiling and nodding at everyone who greeted you, you finally reached your office floor and slowly step out of the elevator. God you missed the smell of the bullpen. Roasted coffee with a tinge of some air freshener that you couldn’t name. Jason was the first to notice you. “Look who’s back. Sup (Y/N). Missed me?” “No” you blatantly answered him before laughing. “Of course I do, stupid. Where’s my idiot?” “Being babysit by Nines as per usual” He shrugs and puts on his coat, “Duty calls. Catch up with you later kay?” You gave him a wink and finger guns.

Connor was the second one to realize you’re back. “Hello (Y/N)! Let me assess your injuries.” He held you still while his LED is turning yellow and blue. “Thank god no fatal injuries. How are you doing?” He asks with an attempt at a smile, “Great job at the smile. The undercover job is a bore. God. Once I was in a room full of dudes name Stu. Yes, all of them are called Stu. I had to keep up on which Stu is which.” You both laughed at that. “Well, Hank is at the toilet at the moment but I’m pretty sure there’s someone you should see first. Just so you know, he really misses you. Like really misses you. The first few months was a pain. He keeps on snapping at whatever I’m doing. He even went as far as snapping at Nines but stopped because, you know how Nines is.” You chuckled slightly and Gavin on his desk, whose back was towards you.

“I guess I gotta go and say hi now before he destroys his computer.” You say while keeping an eye on the silhouette that you missed so much. Connor nodded and went about his business.

Slowly and softly, you approached Gavin. You smiled at Nines, whose expression says ‘Finally you’re here. Calm the fucker down will you’ Nines frowned a little at the arm sling. His calculative gaze is enough to promise you a full long hour of being a competent detective and not injure yourself on the job. You rolled your eyes slightly at the android and smiled. God how you missed them. Softly and carefully, you wrapped your good arm around Gavin’s shoulder and kissed his cheek, “Guess who’s back grumpy!”

Gavin, who was super focused on finishing his paperwork on his latest arrest, felt an arm coiling around his shoulder and peck on his cheek. His sleep deprived brain automatically grip on the arm and before he threw you off, he had to load for a second before realizing who it was. He turn his head slightly to kiss you fully on the lips. “Missed you, little shit.” Then frowned when he releases you from his grip. “Aren’t you supposed to be at th-” You kissed him again before he says anything. You whisper against his lips, "Can we do this later? I missed you"

Gavin sighed and smiled weakly, “Thank god you’re alright. I swear I will find the motherfucker who did this to you and-” You smacked him in his chest and gave him your best glare, “No Gavin. He’s under suspension for shooting an officer. God calm down, babe!” you laughed at him worrying about you, “God I missed this. I missed you. How are you holding up? You look like shit.” You said releasing him from the choke hold and gingerly sat on his desk. Gavin placed his head on your thigh, “I haven’t slept all night, I’m vibrating slightly but constantly, and I’m pretty sure I just tasted god. How are you doing?” You smiled and ran your fingers through his hair and massages his scalp, earning a groan from the man. “God I fucking miss you so much.”

Both of you talked about your time undercover to his cases to you complaining about him not taking care of himself. But you were interrupted by Fowler, who frowned first at your appearance at the precinct and cleared his throat, signalling for the both of you to get back to work. “Dinner-” “Dinner at Space Ape.” Gavin interrupted you and both of you shared a smile. Space Ape was the diner you both had your first date at. It became your favorite because they make the best noodle you’ve eaten in Detroit.

You let out a yawn and stretched a bit before getting up to pack your things. Halfway through packing, a pair of arms snaking through your waist circled around you. You smiled and lean back into your boyfriend’s wellbuilt chest. Gavin smothered his face with your hair, “I missed this, I missed you. God you have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of this.” “I know, 5 months.” “Shut up, dipshit.” You both laugh and went to grab your dinner together.

The thing you really missed about being in the car with Gavin was when Gavin drive, he subconsciously puts his hand on your thigh while he drove. You put your hand on his, “Babe.” he hums back at you, “I love you.” The hand on your thigh squeezes slightly and his hand turns to hold yours in his. Pulling your hand to his lips and places a soft kiss on it. “I love you.” Gavin smiled against your hand and rubbed your hands against his unshaven beard. “Good fuck Gavin! Stop that!” Both of you laughed as you struggled to get your hand back.

Both of you arrived and immediately got to the seat that you had on your first date. Ordering both of your favorite classic noodle, Gavin put elbow on the table and places his chin on his hand. Tilting his head slightly as he watches you talk to the waitress. He smiled when you noticed his blatant stare. “Hi babe.” He said in a low voice. He puts his hand out and you put your hand on his. Smiling back at him, “Hi love.”

You talked about anything and everything. Gavin finally had a good laugh after 5months of your absence. Your boyfriend’s cologne, the smell of the dingy diner, the dimly lit diner light and the street lights that shines in from the diner window that makes your boyfriend looks extremely beautiful, the empty bowls of noodles, the tasteless green tea you both adore so much, the soft music coming from the jukebox and your boyfriend, who looks at you like you own the world. You’re finally back home.

#dbh imagine #detroit become human #dbh gavin reed #dbh gavin #gavin reed #dbh gavin x reader #lmao kudos to nyall who reads #wow i wrote #another attempt at shitty writing #shit writing #good fckin luck

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latoyanorthcutt-blog · 5 years

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Converting Flac To Mp3

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exemplarum · 5 years

Note

//For the League meme thing: Give me all the answers/Everything that hasn't been answered yet :^)

[LOL ask meme | @thenoxiangrandgeneral | PLS NO THIS IS LITERALLY EVERYTHING]

1. First Champion played?

//Quinn

2. First Champion you mained?

//Caitlyn

3. Champion you main/play currently?

//Talon, Lux, Kayn, Jarvan

4. Best or Favorite role to play?

//Mid

5. Favorite Top champion to play/have on your team?

//Shen

6. Favorite Jungle champion to play/have on your team?

//Kayn

7. Favorite Mid champion to play/have on your team?

//Talon UWU

8. Favorite ADC champion to play/have on your team?

//Ezreal or Lucian

9. Favorite Support champion to play/have on your team?

//Nami

10. Best champion design(no skin)?

//Uhhhh Kayn I guess…?

11. Best champion ability/kit?

//Talon

12. Worse champion design(no skin)?

//Petition to update base Talon’s model

13. Worse champion ability/kit?

//I hate LB revert

14. Favorite Female champion?

//Sejuani

15. Favorite Male champion?

//Talon

16. Favorite Yordle?

//Trist

17. Most annoying champion to play against?

//LB

18. Favorite champion laugh track?

//Talon or Lux’s annoying af laugh….

19. Favorite champion Taunt track?

//Kayn…? I honestly don’t remember any taunts…

20. Favorite champion Joke track?

//Talon and then Jarvan. They’re why I picked those two nerds up to begin with.

21. Favorite champion dance track?

//J4

22. Thoughts on Surrendering?

//I’m in potato tier where people throw regularly so nah unless my premade is suffering

23. Favorite game mode? (including temporary game modes)

//Ranked?

24. Best event for the game?

//Odyssey

25. Demacia or Noxus?

//Noxus

26. Piltover or Zaun?

//Piltover

27. Winter Claw, Avarosan, or FrostGaurd?

//Winter Claw

28. Shadow Isles or The Void?

//The Void

29. Favorite champion associated with Shurima?

//Malz or Kai’sa

30. Favorite champion associated with Ionia?

//Kayn

31. Favorite champion associated with Bilgewater?

//Graves

32. Praise the Solari or Lunari?

//Lunari

33. Static Shiv or Phantom Dancer?

//PD

34. Favorite item in game?

//Duskblade

35. Flash on D or F?

//F is for flash

36. Current game icon? Do you ever change it?

//Enduring Sword Talon. Sometimes I swap it out for SSG Ez/J4 or Pulsefire Shen

37. Have/do you watch(ed) LaLaLa Demacia?

//No…?

38. Best skin in game?

//Enduring Sword Talon

39. Best splash art(skins included)?

//See above

40. What ping do you play on?

//20 on OCE; 200 on NA and JPN

41. Do you keep up with pro play? If so, favorite pro player(s)?

//No but I used to be a big fan of Reignover and PowerOfEvil

42. Favorite ship?

//J4/Kayn; Talon/Kayn; Zed/Shen

43. Do you listen to music while playing? What kind?

//Yes. Musicals or pop.

44. What season did you get into league?

//Preseason 5

45. Favorite type of Poro from Blitzcrank’s Poro Round Up?

//All of them

46. Pref playing AD or AP champions?

//AD

47. Favorite Rioter?

//Does Sjokz count?

48. What do you play more Ranked or Normals?

//Overall - norms, of course. Lately - ranked

49. Do you prefer Red side or Blue side?

//Blue side

50. If you could remove one champion from the game who would it be?

//LB

#Parchment and ink stains (OOC)#thenoxiangrandgeneral

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endri17-blog · 5 years

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Yes , dragon ball heroes ...my review!!

How the hell do I get 500 words out of this one. A good chunk of previous posts regarding Super Dragon Ball Heroes I’ve written have talked about the amazing concepts that could come from a series like this. It already exists in the form of the ads. Yet, once again, this show fails to impress.

With such a brief run time, you’d expect the show to be a series of quick-fire punches, throwing entirely different concepts at you, then quickly dropping them and moving to something new. This is the third (of the four) episodes to focus on the fight with “Cumber”. And it’s so boring. I’m starting to feel like I had the wrong idea about this show was before I started watching it. I was expecting more of the things like Golden Cooler, Vegeks and Super Saiyan 4. But in this episode, we got to see the Deviant Art insert character show up and Gary Stu the situation.

I didn’t have anything against Fu when he first showed up in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, but his appearance in this episode felt a little self indulgent. As far as this episode goes; a kaioken blue Vegito was still not enough to combat Cumber, let alone him in great ape form. Vegito is forcibly defused, Goku and Vegeta try to fight him off along with Cooler, but to no avail. Because Cumber is so powerful, he is destroying the barriers that are keeping everyone trapped on the Prison Planet, much to his own frustration, Fu decides to intiervene.

This is where the Gary Stu aspect of the character becomes really apparent. Never mind that he is already some bespectacled elf/demon dude with carries a katana and has time travel powers. Now he apparently has his own Super Saiyan looking transformation, as well as the power to quickly destroy Cumber’s energy moon and revert him back to his base form with an ease and swagger that not even Kaioken Blue Vegito could manage. For a while, I felt Fu was an ironically inspired character, made to embody and ridicule the fan base’s tendency to create overpowered insert characters. It would be a pretty Toriyama thing to do. I failed to detect any irony in this episode. Yes; it’s only a few minutes long, yes; it’s only there to promote a game, and yes; I’ll continue watching it. But it doesn’t mean this is worth watching. The series would have been better served as an anthology, taking the created forms, fusions and other “what ifs” from the game ads and just fleshing them out into a brief story.So what I’m really saying is that it’s not what I and all of you really expected ,this dragon ball heroes is a bad one.

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floggingink · 7 years

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Riverdale, “Chapter Nineteen: Death Proof”

Death Proof is a great movie. there’s one man in it and he gets Pussycatted at the end. Vanessa Ferlito gives a lap dance. Zoё Bell’s abs have a starring role

Jughead is a Serpent now, so it must follow that he’s taking care of Hotdog voluntarily

did he take the couch? Jug took the couch. he’s writing again, so he’s got his groove back via an emotional plateau/Toni

Betty hung up and was like, Shit. SHIT!

Nick has a knife for...protection? cocktail garnishes?

Mrs. St. Clair seems thrilled to meet Betty and then not at all surprised that Nick has charges brought against him, the ennui of the ruling class

Betty gets a free pass for her suspicious appearance at the apartment for just having been that much of a pain to Sheriff Keller by now

I liked Betty’s tone of disappointed confusion when she says “You didn’t kill him.”

I don’t like BH talking about “nakedness” in any context, no matter who he turns out to be

I want to say those are Veronica’s shimmery blue pajamas?

Penelope’s icy disregard reverts Cheryl back to calling her “mommy,” which I think is like Cheryl’s PR thing? Cheryl continues to be fascinating. she’s called Penelope “mother,” hasn’t she? it’s all about context. it’s all about context with Cheryl

Jughead eats: at breakfast with Jug, Toni daintily eats fruit out of a parfait cup, like Veronica

Toni’s uncle locks her out of his house, so there’s that. the Serpents don’t have somewhere for her to sleep?

Jughead was honestly about to be like “Last night was…[fun/amazing, similar],” because that’s what people do in Bridget Jones and he’s flying without a net here

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: in a remarkable turn, Toni puts an end to the whole affair, because she has better things to do (girls), which is a stress off everyone’s shoulders

Jughead’s “not over Betty” because it was like six hours ago?

also props for the classic bad girl-bisexuality revelation. it doesn’t get badder (it’s GOOD). this is PRECISELY what I want but now I want optical proof

Betty is done with the BH’s “Simon Says”

The Blossom spawn: “the people” at “the Farm” (CAPITALIZED in the closed captioning!) will help Polly “disappear” for while? I’m gonna need a Farm episode pronto. what the HELL is THE FARM

Archie checks up on Betty in the morning and takes care of her of best he can, because this is a Good Archie episode. Good Archie wants to know why Betty hasn’t fixed it with Veronica yet. Good Archie never lets you walk alone. Good Archie stops you from walking into your ex’s brunch

Certified pedigree: the sheer SPREAD of personalities at Alice’s living room shaming. the mayor and the sheriff and their felon children. BOTH Lodges showed up. can Fred handle any more disappointment? Reggie has a parent?? what’s next!!!

Nick’s party was “bacchanalian,” so it’s probably best Alice only saw Jughead’s birthday party from across the yard

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: “Except for my Betty”

I’VE HAD SOME WINE LET’S GET THIS BITCH DONE

SUCCUBUS VERONICA IS GREAT VERONICA. ARCHIE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT A SUCCUBUS IS

I relate to Kevin because “HASHTAG BUGHEAD IS NO MORE?” is coincidentally what I woke up screaming two Thursdays ago

Hiram says “ACID QUEEN ALICE” because there’s something in Riverdale’s water that just gives you that kind of inspiration!!!! apparently he knows some shit about her too!!! everybody’s parents seem to “know” about Alice. she’s got a lot of attitude for someone whose secrets EVERYONE KNOWS

—just like Betty!

“The Southside is the source of all our problems.” HOW’S THAT, HIRAM? because your northside succubus children were the ones who tossed it back like green apple sugar powder in a Baby Bottle Pop

Archie’s 180 with “Not all Serpents are dealers” is the kind of whiplash Archie is capable of. he knows he fucking broke up with his boy. fucking fix it with Jughead you twit before he gets a bigger tattoo

The 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie was SO HOPING she would get out of there with plausible deniability!

Jughead is like NODDING ALONG with every word Mr. Phillips reads, waiting to be abandoned

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: JUG LEAVES THE INSTANT HE GETS A CAPSLOCK TEXT FROM THE BOY HE LOVES

he interrupts a totally warranted scolding from his beloved English teacher to PROBABLY get reamed again by Archie, but he CAN’T RESIST WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN

Archie coming to get Jughead is probably Archie’s “WHAT’S UP IS I SAW YOU, ARCHIE” moment. it’s not equivalent but rather proportional in that you know this is the best I could hope for from Archie, but also—I don’t want to shortchange him! he went to the scary school where everyone hates him, through the metal detectors (OR NOT!!!!!!), and stood dithering in the hallway until he saw his Jughead!!!!!!! HE CAME TO RESCUE JUGHEAD

this is a great example of Archie’s hands-on “justice,” which is sometimes more in quotes than other times, but he didn’t CALL Jughead, you know, he ran over there! fuck! FUCK! WHEN ARCHIE IS GOOD HE IS VERY VERY GOOD

Archie is like hauling him out by the fleece collar too, like Jug wants to get Toni, and Archie, his arms locked around Jughead’s waist, teenage boys scrambling

What damn high school in America: Sweet Pea punches the locker when he gets arrested, because of injustice

I think Veronica would have listened to Betty if Kevin had not interrupted!

“She’s not worth it” is way harsh, Tai, but Betty did seemingly attack her out of nowhere

anyway of course Betty answers the phone, because she’s stressed, down two friends, and doesn’t want to have done all that for no reason

the “Sugar Man”? the “Sugar Man”? SUGAR MAN

if one more person tells Jughead that the Serpents deal jingle-jangle, he’s going to absolutely blow a gasket

“Tall Boy wants to parley” is going to be a code sentence of mine for something. if we’re on the phone and it suddenly sounds like I’ve dropped it and you just hear “TALL BOY WANTS TO PARLEY!!!!,” the Winter Solider is there

Fifth period is AP English: Cheryl is sunbathing, in the shade, outside Thistle House reading Baudelaire because...it helps her feel calm…

Cheryl’s sheaths: I want to say those sick black sunglasses are Miu Mius

“Is there no memory, however traumatic, you won’t defile?” is an Alice-level read

oh, Fred would like to know how Jughead’s doing? ISN’T THAT NICE, YOU PRAWN

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Malachi’s House of the Dead is exactly what I wish I’d had the guts to make my dorm room look like, like all the cool lesbians’ rooms in the art majors’ dorm building, like the cellars of the Opéra Populaire but in the Strand

Gay?!: quick question: if Tall Boy weren’t here, would Malachi be fucking Jughead?

Cheryl had so seamlessly incorporated the Sugar Man into her emotional life as a first grader that she drew a family picture with him in it, like in Children of the Corn (her parents are two TINY stick figures in the background, it’s incredible)

is Sheriff Keller letting Betty have “one question” a red herring? asking for Jughead

the zoom in on Betty looking at Veronica and the cut to her audibly sipping on a milkshake is classic art

Veronica is right that Betty needs to “break up” with BH, but Betty’s Bettiness instead makes her want to “turn the tables on him”

HOW EASY WAS THIS CONVERSATION, BETTY. YOU COULD HAVE JUST TALKED TO THEM TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO

OH MY GOD! Jughead and Archie, together again, it’s been like THIRTY YEARS!!!!!

Archie knows why Jughead joined the Serpents, has learned some lessons maybe? (no)

the second god-blessed cut to Archie (in his letterman jacket) and Jughead (fleeced, his man-about-town look) with the prison phones to their ears

“SP-24601”: FP Jones played by Hugh Jackman would be a sight to behold

poor FP has lost everything except his honor and now he’s lost his SON. his hair is such a mess. he’s gotta SLAM THE PHONE

“Ghoulies dress like fops” is great

they drive hearses, like Claire Fisher

“RIVERDALE DRIFT”? Jughead did NOT watch that franchise? (Archie’s expression is fantastic)

FP’s like, I hate that you joined my gang, but now you’re going to break some laws for me

Penelope eats hard boiled eggs with toast soldiers

the Caravaggio reproduction I liked from the wake escaped the fire!

did Penelope know about the drugs? I thought she didn’t know but I guess just knew the Sugar Man was sketchy and avoided him for Legal Reasons

“I wouldn’t even go cruising here.”

Reggie DOES look good in the county’s blue vest

I hope the reason Betty’s avoiding talking to Jughead, LIKE ARCHIE KEEPS TELLING HER TO DO, is because it’s too important and she’s scared to see him

Veronica’s purple pumps

God bless jingle-jangle: Verne the JJ dealer is a cutie!

you know he’s a Ghoulie because he hand-stitched a leopard-print patch onto his studded sleeveless vest

Veronica was rich: $150 for two stix of the JJ??? this is how you know it’s the northside kids with the drug problems!

“Drugstore Cowboy”

Sexy, aesthetic Southside: these angels hot glue the ends of the stripey jingle-jangle sticks, because it’s a family-owned business. I kind of love the Ghoulies? like I’d rather hang out at Malachi’s than the Whyte Wyrm from what I’ve seen so far, as long as I get my next tetanus shot first

Jughead calls Archie his “boy” to impress Malachi, Archie is wearing his Riverdale jacket probably without thinking about the political symbolism

I couldn’t believe Maggie Kiley had the audacity to stage the “Veronica/Betty?” “Archie/Jughead?” face-to-face, but she’s this season’s Lee Toland Krieger, she is an artist

Y’ALL REALLY GONNA TAKE JUGHEAD’S FIFTH HOME AWAY FROM HIM?

“SHARON”?????????

Cheryl’s red crop top and paisley trousers

“an unrepentant spore”

Penelope is Cheryl’s “cobra-like mother”

I swear Graham Phillips was darling on The Good Wife

Archie approached Reggie for the car and Betty approached Jughead about fixing it, and that’s that

Jughead consented to sulk next to her while she tuned it up, because he loves her but he’s mad

and it’s okay that he’s mad, for the record, because he’s been broken up with three times in two days

his voice cracks, preciously, when he’s like YEAH AND YOU BROKE UP WITH ME

I love how pissy and curt Jughead gets when he’s peeved. “You just called it a date.”

I’m curious about “You did the one thing that could hurt me.” EVERYTHING hurts Jughead

Betty’s in denim overalls and Jughead’s in a mechanic shirt for no reason except they’re next to cars

Cheryl is getting some grade-A maple syrup this episode! leveraging the St. Clairs’ check for dirt on the Sugar Man? GIRL

The female gaze: Veronica slept with Archie one last time because he literally might die today

aw, he’s proud of Veronica for her Ghoulie stunt

Hiram and Hermione are LITERALLY playing chess

OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY WHEN VERONICA SAID “HE TRIED TO DO IT TO ME,” EVERYONE IN THE ROOM WATCHING WITH ME WHEN HIRAM LOOKED UP WAS LIKE OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!! I’M TELLING YOU!!!!!

Hiram is about to rip someone’s face off with his teeth and Hermione steps into frame and it rack focuses on her, GENIUS

These students are legally children: I want to say Tall Boy is the only adult at the race. the FP at Jughead’s party, if you will

Best costume bit: everyone of course looks fucking incredible at the race. the Ghoulies? slick and absurd dandies. Kevin’s powder blue bomber jacket? he’s not at Needle Park, and he’s cruising. Betty’s high-waisted post-WWII skinny Express trousers? she knows Jughead’s looking. Cheryl’s $1,000 leather jacket and Quentin Tarantino foot-fetish slingback? she knows I’m looking. and Jughead in all black? Jughead looks GREAT in leather. Betty, write this down

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: Betty’s bandana and ponytail

Please protect Betty: Veronica and Archie get to make out, while Betty and Jughead have to make do with Betty telling him she can never stop loving him and to drive good

Jughead doubts it: Jughead’s “You’re an enigma, Cooper” is the second-greatest thing he has ever said to her, after “That was haunting, Betty.”

so Jughead can drive? Jughead can drive STICK?

Toni and Sweet Pea got out on 1) lack of evidence or 2) Penny Peabody threatening someone

Gay.: Toni got a face full of Cheryl and she’ll be back. Toni, save Cheryl from the evils of this world

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: Cheryl was ABSOLUTELY “born for this moment”

Sixth period is Intro to Film: I know this is Grease, and I can appreciate Jughead being the Danny Zuko of this moment, but I don’t want to forget the chicken run from Rebel Without a Cause, where Natalie Wood starts the race with only her elated sky-high jump and tiny 50’s waist

Jughead gives Cheryl a thumbs-up and Malachi makes the rock-and-roll index-and-pinky signal

Cheryl’s hair: God, the see-through scarf? her immaculate cutout shirt? her Jesus Christ Superstar heavenward arms? CHERYL WAS BORN FOR THIS MOMENT

I don’t think Jughead is shifting gears

BUT HE IS HAVING A GREAT TIME!

oh NOW you say “abort”

Archie > Dawson: TURNS OUT ARCHIE HAD A GREAT PLAN! WOWZERS

Jughead can drive very well, has very strong arms, and can run very fast. these things I didn’t know!

okay but the race is forfeit, right? buys them some time, maybe

Betty and Veronica watching Jughead go lite-ballistic from stress and Archie being like, Dude, dude, calm down, like something was not right with the world (Archie did a great job)

although Jughead is right that the power politics are complicated and everyone is in danger, although it was frankly that way before

I liked Archie using a chessboard analogue. Veronica is rubbing off on him

is Betty getting a ride home with Reggie? classic

“Careful you don’t get burned again.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Penelope’s left hand makes her so uncomfortable that she wears ONE leather glove

when one Sugar Man retires, another seamlessly takes his place, like the Dread Pirate Roberts

“Damn good coffee”: fucking correct me if I’m fucking wrong, but is that the nightmare painting hanging over the fucking fireplace?

Cheryl hands the check back over, because as you will remember Cheryl honors business deals, but Penelope decides to be “a mother”

Pop’s trademark blue purgatorial lighting bathes the girls in their plotting booth

The Blue & Gold is basically just Betty’s awesome blog at this point

her “Care to comment?” is WICKED though

Betty has resolved to find BH, which means he has about three episodes left. the Serpents should really start involving Betty in their maneuverings, as she is just as much a hereditary Serpent as Jughead and much more effectual

50 Shades of Betty: SHE’S BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK AND SHE LOVES IT. this is her driving fast! they love danger!!!!!!

was Mr. Phillips protecting Jughead by telling him to stay away from the drug world??? (I mean obviously he was, but because Phillips was an insider and liked Jughead and didn’t want to have to kill him) or did he just not want Mini Woodward and Bernstein on the case?

he and Jughead make the exact same sort of grimly resolved/horrified eye contact, respectively, as FP and Jughead when FP got arrested last season

Toni TOTALLY knows this shattered something of Jughead’s Southside foundation. look at her little smile

Archie thinks his plan with the race backfired and he’s worried he’s losing Jughead, PUNKIN

Fred’s popping Chekhov’s Valiums, so he’s about to be addicted to drugs

I can’t even do it out here with the fucking Lodges sitting around their cream salon with Andre being like, the St. Clairs are dead or whatever, ma’am, and Hermione’s like, Thank you Andre, go get yourself something nice

Summer + Blair = Veronica: Veronica’s like, I HAVE HAD A STRESSFUL DAY AND IT MAKES ME FEEL POWERFUL

“CHECKMATE,” HIRAM? HIRAM, HAVE YOU MURDERED? DID YOU JUST MURDER?

Betty and Jughead I want to say are back together, but they did not kiss this episode, which means I have to start over with the tally marks on my wall

Betty’s reading The Silence of the Lambs, to better figure out what her game is going to be (Jughead had a copy)

Jughead looks over at her like, Damn. My girlfriend is fucking scary. I fucking love my girlfriend

SUGAR GETS GOT!!!!!!!! BODY COUNT OFFICIALLY TWO! he’s almost caught up to Hiram Lodge

NEXT WEEK: Sheriff Keller does me a solid and takes his shirt off

#riverdale #i say #commentary #tropes

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pierrehardy · 4 years

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COVID-19 x Trade-Offs

This article focuses on the numerous trade-offs we face today due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As usual, the article itself is concise and to the point, but I will leave references which can also be some sort of reading list for you. This time around, I also included some appendices for more detailed explanations of some parts.

TL;DR

The current situation is forcing doctors to make tough decisions which can be as difficult as deciding which patients will live and which patients will die. This can weigh heavy on the doctors who have to do this a lot on a daily basis.

If you were wondering which is better at saving more lives: lockdown vs no lockdown, the answer is yes lockdown.

If you were wondering which is better economically in the long term: lockdown vs no lockdown, the answer is still yes lockdown.

Through models, we expect a second wave of infections once the lockdown is lifted. So intuitively, the ideal situation is to wait for the first wave to die down and give hospitals a bit of time to prepare for the second wave before lifting.

After all this mess is done, we need to help the losers of the tradeoffs we had to make, most especially those who suffered economically due to the lockdown. These are mostly the unemployed, which is forecasted to shoot through levels worse than the 2008 financial crisis.

This article is divided into two main parts: first, we will talk about the two main kinds of trade-offs we have to deal with (medically and economically) and what they imply. Second, I will examine America’s handling of the crisis and what we can learn and imply from it.

Medical Trade-Offs

The concept of a triage was first conceptualized by a French military surgeon named Dominique-Jean Larrey [1]. It was a system of segregating and prioritizing medical attention and resources to wounded troops with the highest chance of survival. It is necessary but can feel hard hearted.

Doctors are doing the same thing right now considering the surge of patients and the lack of supplies. [2] Imagine you have two patients in need of a ventilator but you only have one, the decision on who to give it to usually flows like this:

First rule of thumb is to give the supplies to the person with the highest chance of survival.

If both have an equal chance, give it to the person who is more likely to live longer once recovered. [3]

These decisions had to be made by doctors everyday and at quantities big enough to break them down emotionally. These choices are further complicated by certain realities relating to Covid-19, of which I will highlight three:

Ventilators are necessary when combating a severe case of the virus.

Ventilators are tough on the body. Frail and old bodies cannot sustain the stress from a ventilator for more than 3 weeks.

Patients on a ventilator truly need it and when taken away from them, they will die within minutes. [3]

These realities can lead to decisions devastating to morale. For example, if a young patient arrives and is in need of a ventilator, under the triage rule of thumbs, it is better to take a ventilator being used by an older patient and transfer it to the young because: 1) the young has more chances of surviving the virus, 2) the young has more chances of surviving the stress of the ventilator, and 3) the young, once recovered, will live a longer life. While ethically reasonable, it is burdensome to basically kill the older patient. [4]

Economic Trade-Offs

It can feel wrong to discuss economics when there’s thousands of people dying from the pandemic out there. However, the very fact that the numbers are that high is the very reason why it is necessary. To manage and fight an enemy with this scale, we need to strategize.

The main trade-off economically is in knowing which is worse: the cure or the problem; the cure being putting everything in lockdown and the economy is in a coma. To keep it fair, we will look at two scenarios: 1) no lockdown, versus 2) with a lockdown. To understand the rationale behind the pros and cons, I delved into one of the most common epidemiological models (the SEIR model) in Appendix A.

No lockdown.

PROS

The pandemic would’ve been over sooner.

The economy would’ve kept going.

CONS

1 million more people will die (number based on America. This is 458% more than the worst estimate with a lockdown). [20]

Lockdown.

PROS

A 78% reduction in deaths. [20]

CONS

A second wave of infection is expected once the lockdown is lifted.

The economy is in a coma.

Looking at the pros and cons, it’s clear that the amount of lives saved is enough to convince that “yes lockdown” is a better option. But even if you crunch the numbers and calculate the lifetime cost to the economy of losing that many people, it still shows that “yes lockdown” is a better option. The calculations for this is detailed in Appendix B.

But one crucial note: there’ll be a duration wherein the lockdown will do more harm than good. Next question: then what? Let’s break that down into three questions, all with differing scenarios and time frames.

When do we lift the lockdown?

Since we are expecting a second wave, it would make sense to lift it once the first wave (what we are experiencing right now) dies down. Preferably, we should also give hospitals a bit more time after the first wave to prepare their medical facilities for the incoming second wave.

What if that takes too long?

In an ideal world, we want the first wave done, for hospitals to be prepared for the second wave, and a better treatment for the virus to be developed before opening society again. However, we need to acknowledge the nightmare scenario. What if none of those conditions are met and we are locked down for too long? When that happens, a lockdown will start to do more harm than good.

Societal cohesion will decrease. [9]

Mental health will decrease. [9][10]

The economy has been put to sleep for too long that skills, innovation, and investments would be stalled and would decay. This can become detrimental for the search of a vaccine or cure. [11]

What to do when this happens? Honestly, not sure.

What do we do after all this mess?

After everything, we have to help all the losers of the trade-offs mentioned so far. One is the young since they will be carrying the burden of paying off all the massive debt accrued during this crisis. Another are the unemployed, which is surging at the moment as companies had to lay off workers due to the shutting of businesses. The unemployment rate is estimated to skyrocket at around 15%-30% in America, depending on who is estimating. [12][13][14] Notice in figure 6 that it is expected to be worse than the 2008 financial crisis.

Figure 6

This can go two ways: historically, shocks brought on by a crisis will rebound quickly and sharply. However this time, experts expect the rebound to be slower since people will stay cautious for a while before reverting to the norm, which they estimate to be by 2023. [15]

Probably, the biggest loser is the combination of the two: the young and unemployed, usually the new graduates. Just like the author of this article.

America and the COVID-19

At the time of writing, New York is the epicenter of the disease and is in the brink of hospitals reaching its limit. To lend a hand, the USNS Comfort (Figure 7) has arrived to relieve New York of some patients. [15] This floating hospital has a capacity of 1000 patients and is one of two. The other giant floating hospital, the USNS Mercy, has been deployed to California. [17]

Figure 7 [16]

Figure 8 and 9 shows forecasts from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) for New York, California, and Virginia. [18] The dashed lines in figure 8 shows the estimated needs for an ICU (blue is the lower estimate, yellow is the mean estimate, red is the high estimate) while the green line shows how many ICU beds are in each state. Three things to note. First, the needs for an ICU bed in New York and Virginia are predicted to exceed capacity. Second, the outbreak is predicted to be not as bad as New York. Third, as seen in Virginia, their outbreak is to last and spread out until May, implying not all places in America will be infected at the same time. The pro is that if it’s spread out, the virus is easier to combat. The con is that this will put the economy on hold for longer.

Figure 8

Figure 9

But the thing about America is that it is very decentralized: the good job of one state can be ruined by the spillover effects of the bad job made by another. One example of bad governance is by the governor of Florida. The gov has been more concerned with politicking and appeasing Trump more than actually protecting the state, which has a high population for the elderly. The governor refused to close beaches to spring breakers (See figure 10) despite the threat of the virus. [19] Currently, Florida has 15.7k cases of the virus. Now that Trump has changed his tone and called on governors to be the frontline of this pandemic, the blame can be shifted too easily and it’s not going to look good on Florida’s governor.

Figure 10. Julio Cortez / AP.

Appendix A: SEIR Model

Figure 1

Figure one shows the most basic SEIR model (and the only version I am willing to learn and understand. Disclaimer: I am not an epidemiologist), named so for its four main variables. The S variable is the number of people Susceptible to the disease (which is usually the whole population). Variable E is called Exposed, which is how much was exposed to the virus. Variable I means Infectious, which is how much of the population incubated the disease and started becoming infectious. Finally, the R variable stands for Recovered which is when a patient recovers and develops immunity from the disease. Strangely though, those who die also get lumped under R. Beta represents how contagious the virus is, sigma represents the incubation period, and gamma is the rate at which people recover (or die). At any point in time, all of this should add up to 1, as they’re all about the ratio of the population in a particular state. As one may notice, these values seem to be calculated backwards, starting from the fatality of the disease. [5]

Figure 2

Figure two shows the typical trajectory of the base SEIR model [5], which should be similar to how Covid-19 would progress if there was no lockdown. Figure 3, taken from a study in The Lancet [6], runs a simulation on a model that seems to be similar to the SEIR model but with a lockdown. Note the green line, containing the rather famous “flatten the curve” call to action. More interestingly, note the blue line which shows two humps, representing the first and second wave of the disease. From this model, experts expect a second wave after the lockdown is lifted.

Figure 3

Appendix B: Economic Benefits of Social Distancing

The aforementioned calculation was made by University of Chicago’s Michael Greenstone and Vishan Nigam [7]. They calculated the net benefit of the lives saved through social distancing and putting a monetary figure by using the US Government’s Value of Statistical Life (VSL). Figure 4 shows the formula used.

Figure 4

In the formula, Rjdirect is the proportion of the population directly saved by social distancing and Rjoverflow is the proportion of the population indirectly saved by social distancing by preventing the overcrowding of hospitals and lowering the chances of being denied ICU beds and ventilators. These calculations were based on the work of Ferguson et al (there were 31 authors) [8]. Figure 5 shows the age adjusted calculations of the total economic benefit of social distancing to society. The final value is totalled on the lower right corner of the table, which is almost $8 trillion dollars. This is about 42% of America’s current GDP. This gain outweighs any negative economic impact brought on by social distancing even in the long term.

Figure 5

References

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage

[2]https://www.wamda.com/2020/04/age-triage

[3]https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/04/02/the-tough-ethical-decisions-doctors-face-with-covid-19

[4]https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/aca-architect-ezekiel-emanuel-on-coronavirus-triage-ethics.html

[5]https://www.idmod.org/docs/hiv/model-seir.html

[6]https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2930567-5

[7]https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/BFI_WP_202026.pdf

[8]https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/77482/8/2020-03-16-COVID19-Report-9.pdf

[9]https://theconversation.com/cabin-fever-australia-must-prepare-for-the-social-and-psychological-impacts-of-a-coronavirus-lockdown-133353

[10]https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2020/04/08/coronavirus-lockdown-is-taking-a-toll-on-mental-health-especially-womens-study-finds/

[11]https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/04/02/covid-19-presents-stark-choices-between-life-death-and-the-economy

[12]Data from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE, visualizations created through PowerBI.

[13] Data from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-31/goldman-sees-even-deeper-u-s-contraction-in-second-quarter, visualizations created through PowerBI.

[14] Data from https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/march/back-envelope-estimates-next-quarters-unemployment-rate , visualizations created through PowerBI.

[15]https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/03/jobs-may-not-come-totally-back-for-years-all-depending-on-how-small-businesses-weather-this-storm.html

[16] Photo of USNS Comfort taken from Reddit, posted by u/anders1318.

[17]https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-29/usns-mercy-accepting-first-patients

[18] Data from https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america, visualizations created through PowerBI.

[19]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-comes-spring-break-locals-close-florida-beaches-after-governor-n1163741

[20]https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/04/04/the-hard-choices-covid-policymakers-face

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