#cars directly cause class divide
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Part 1 Chapter 3
Wow so get ready for a long one as this is apparently 24 pages which is longer than the last two combined. It's pretty dense but I usually divided up each section based on the thought/event being portrayed. This is about where I would say things begin to ramp up in scope and scale. Think of it like a car crash, but a fun one!
Morgan and Jordan were not woken up by Riley this morning, but still woke up at the same time as everyday.
They did smell something cooking in the kitchen, something they never expected to wake up to. They went downstairs and saw William making breakfast, and slyly feeding some eggs and sausage to Riley.
“The eggs do keep his fur nice and glossy but the grease from the sausage doesn’t agree with him so much.” Morgan announced to the chef.
William quickly turned to the couple.
“Good morning! I hope you don’t mind but we made breakfast, sort of as a thank you for letting us stay for the night.”
“And so we can get to the library bright and early.” Lawrence had said behind the daily news. The front page obviously had a picture of the aftermath of the fight outside the rowhouse. The picture was taken overhead from a helicopter showing the stress marks that the fiery explosion created and destroyed the corpses of all the would-be assassins.
Morgan was shocked at how the carnage looked but also how high quality the photo looked.
Morgan and Jordan sat down at their usual spots at the table and Will showed up with breakfast.
The two began to enjoy their breakfast as Lawrence pulled down the news and talked shop.
“Who do you think these guys are Morgan?”
Morgan gulped down a bite of his breakfast and explained.
“Couple years ago I got invited to a class about cults and all that nonsense. Fascinating stuff really so I talked with the professor afterwards and we discussed how they use language to their advantage to scare and recruit people.”
“And?” Lawrence asked.
“And the one that stuck out the most with me was what that guy said to you before, y’know.”
“Blowing up a city block?”
“Yeah that. The professor told me one cult would use a phrase to scare people into joining so that rather than being the ones who were annihilated, they’d be the ones doing the annihilation.”
Lawrence scowled.
“And which cult was that?”
“The Dismayed.”
Everyone froze and looked directly at Morgan. Will dropped some eggs that Riley caught and ate them mid fall. After his dive, he realized something was wrong and looked concerned.
Morgan looked down embarrassed.
“I really wished we had this conversation at the library.” He gritted his teeth.
“The Dismayed haven’t been seen in over a millenia.” Jordan blurted. “How could they just show up a thousand years later?”
“They have been around.” Lawrence answered. “They just have been hiding in the shadows until now.”
“So they emerged from the shadows, to kill me and Riley, and then failed spectacularly?”
“Well they did try to kill Morgan too but they failed doing that too.”
Jordan stared daggers at Morgan who said nothing about this interaction.
“Pops and Grandma had some fights with them in the past but it was usually one or two not a squad worth of people.”
“It sounds like they’re getting more boisterous.” Morgan commented.
“Could they be planning something big? They are a doomsday cult, maybe they think the big day is coming.” Jordan thought out loud.
“They’re a cult who causes the end times, at least tries to but has failed every occasion.” Lawrence explained. “But they were part of the cause of the fall of the Talmin Empire a millenia ago. But they also had a wizard helping them out back then.”
“You don’t think-” Morgan paused. “Joseph has something to do with this, do you?”
“Gods no.” Jordan replied.
“Jordan’s right. Joseph doesn’t care about these types of things, we barely convinced him to come help out with the Riverton crisis.”
Morgan felt reassured. He and Jordan hadn’t seen the wizard since the crisis after Lawrence had asked for his help. He didn’t get much about Joseph other than he was more interested in learning magic than using it.
Morgan thought the speculation was pointless.
“We can get some more info about The Dismayed at the library. If it is them we can put an end to what they're doing.”
“I’ll help too.” Jordan added. “The apothecary job is way too boring for a cleric to be doing everyday. I need a change of pace.”
“If it is them we can use the help. I have a contact in Kentshire, knows a lot about what goes on in the shadows The Dismayed stay in. Might give us some guidance, for the right price.”
“I can book us some train tickets to get us there tonight.” William volunteered.
“Get 5.” Morgan replied. “Riley is coming with us, he’s a fighter too.”
“Oh of course I won't forget about the big guy!” William patted Riley on the head who had a big smirk on his face.
They quickly finished the rest of their food and began packing.
Morgan knew that Henry needed to understand the situation so he got his armor from the storage plane before the visit to the university. It was steel scale armor, but underneath was a kevlar lining to help keep him cool and stop any bullets that may pass the armor. Even with the advent of gunpowder many spellcasters armor was still preferred as many enchantments and spells were fitted to work with metal armor.
Jordan had a steel cuirass and plated armor with a warhammer as her weapon. They had kept those items in the storage plane for occasions such as this but since the armor was much bulkier and fitted for combat and not a trip across town, Jordan kept it off.
People in Harzenburg weren’t strangers to adventurers wearing armor but they did keep their distance when the 5 rode the train to campus. Nobody bothered Morgan this time with any messages that led to a trap today.
They got off at Morgan’s usual stop. Walking to his usual entrance they formed a plan.
“We’ll go to the library and once we find those books we can go tell Dr. Allegro what’s going on and then get the train to Kentshire.” Morgan suggested.
“That might take a while to find the book.” Jordan responded. “If you know the title of the books, Will and I can look for them while you and Lawrence go talk to Henry.”
Morgan nodded in agreement and scribbled down the names of the books as they passed through the front doors and the two groups split up. Riley followed Morgan and Lawrence to Dr. Allegro.
“He’s most likely grading papers right now so we have some time to talk to him.”
“I’ve actually met Hank once or twice before. He’s a friend of my dad.” Lawrence commented.
“Really? Well then this might make the conversation easier.”
They got to the professor’s office and Morgan knocked. Allegro let them in and Riley scrambled in to say hello to a new person.
“Oh! This must be the Riley I’ve heard so much about! You don’t see many Anthus out this far.”
Allegro scratched underneath Riley’s chin and looked over to Morgan and Lawrence.
“My what a sight. What is the occasion?”
“It’s The Dismayed Dr. Allegro.” Morgan answered.
Henry’s face went sour.
“We believe they’re planning another doomsday. If you read the paper this morning they tried to take out your student, his partner, and Riley here.”
Henry looked to Riley again, still enjoying the affection.
“I see.” Henry sighed. “Well a paladin does take an oath to protect the living so I can’t say I am shocked you are going to help him. We can arrange some alternatives for your final project Morgan but I do imagine the panel won’t comment much if you do save everyone’s asses.”
Morgan made a half smirk.
He hadn’t thought much about his oath he had taken shortly after the Riverton crisis. It wasn’t a very fancy ceremony but a very bureaucratic one. He made his oath in front of the board of mages for the school and had the seal of the paladin tattooed on his left hand. Jordan and Riley were allowed to watch the ceremony with their unending support.
“Thank you Dr. Allegro.”
“Thank you Morgan. And don’t be afraid to call me Henry from now on. Now go on and stop them before it’s too late.”
Morgan nodded and clicked his tongue for Riley to leave. Right before he turned for the door he asked one more question.
“Can I call you Hank?”
Henry laughed.
“That’s saved for the king and for the Mikaels.” He motioned for the 3 to go on.
They made their way to the library as Jordan and Will were leaving.
“We made some copies of the pages and Morgan you were right it’s definitely them. Not a whole lot on what they would be doing now. The last prophecy they tried doing is impossible now with there being no emperor.”
The group formed back together.
“So they won’t be trying to sacrifice the king to satisfy their masters. Can at least have some solace in that.” said Lawrence.
“Right, but we still have no clue what they want to do.” Morgan responded.
“Let’s get to Kentshire and see what my friend has to say.”
Charlie wrapped on the door of the Duke’s residence for the fifth time. He knew someone had to be home, he lived there long enough that even with the Duke out that a butler or two would stay behind to keep watch.
“I know someone is in there! Give me my stuff back dammit!” He yelled out into the world.
Still, no answer.
He knocked again and waited for a moment before realizing there were some people standing behind him.
“The Duke isn’t taking any visitors apparently. You’ll have to wait your turn.”
“We’re here to turn in a quest the Duchy gave out yesterday.” One of the people behind him said. It had a cadence to each word, and what felt like some chirps. Charlie immediately recognized that it was the voice of a Paravas. He turned quickly, seeing a Paravas in Talmin wasn’t uncommon but still a sight to behold.
By the Paravas was a half elf, holding the corpse of a giant rat. The half elf spoke as he raised the corpse.
“The Duke was gonna give out 1000 gold marks to anyone who killed this rat and do it quickly.”
“Well damn then you two really need to see the Duke! I’ll try to get his attention so you can get your reward.”
Charlie swung back to knock on the door again.
The half elf furrowed his eyebrow.
“Who are you exactly?” He asked while lowering the rat corpse.
“I’m Charlie, who are you?”
The two paused for a second not sure how to process the man in front of them. He had various pieces of fur sewn together with patchwork jobs done on a nice pair of pants and a shirt. He also had a quarterstaff leaning on the side of the residence as he focused on getting the door open.
“Uh, I’m Lucan.” The half elf responded.
“I’m Kracak.” The Paravas added.
“Wonderful! It is nice to meet some adventurers. Let me get the door for you and we all can get the shit we deserve.”
Charlie grabbed his staff and used it to knock louder.
“Isaac, you or your fat headed stooge is in there I know you are!”
He went in for another knock when the door was ripped open.
Standing in the doorway was a sturdy man, much taller than even Lucan. And built like he was meant to take down bears running at full speed.
“Phil! So glad to see you! Where’s your boss? I need to chat with him.”
Charlie was grabbed by the shirt and thrown inside. Before the door could slam shut and lock again someone leaped over and kept it open with a bound staff.
Lucan hadn’t much clue what he was looking at but Kracak immediately recognized that an Anthu had held the door open.
“Nice save Riley!” Announced a voice from behind.
The two turned and saw a group of four standing behind them. The oldest man there had a heavy black coat on that might stop some bullets from the thick leather, another looked like he was ready for a party with the king if not for the “I heart pixies” undershirt, and the other two looked like if some grad students were sent to fight a vampire sorcerer.
“How long were you standing there?” Lucan asked.
“Whole time.” Said one of the grad students. “Name’s Morgan, why did they take your friend inside but not you two?”
“I’m Lucan and that guy was Charlie I think. Never seen him before I think.”
“I’m Kracak. Lucan, that was Charlie Sigil.”
Lucan’s eyes widened.
“It was? Then why was he covered in a bunch of pelts and carrying a staff?”
Kracak shrugged.
The old guy sighed and began walking to the door.
“Let’s go save the rockstar before he gets executed by the Duke.”
Riley held the door open as Lawrence walked through. The other 3 followed behind and without much hesitation so did Kracak and Lucan.
Lucan sped up and asked Morgan
“Why are you here?”
“We have a bit of a mystery on our hands and need to make sure the Duke knows we’re here so we don’t have a standoff with the cops.”
Jordan eyed the dead rat held by Lucan.
“What’s with the rat?” They asked.
“Oh the Duke wanted this creature dead for some money. We might be able to save Charlie too if we tell him we got rid of the pest.”
“I would certainly hope so.”
The newly formed group found themselves in the Duke’s throne room. While small it was ornately decorated with gilded surfaces, gems, and many freshwater pearls.
The Duke sat upon his throne with a chalice of some liquid on one of the arm rests. He looked as he was about to fall asleep while Charlie pleaded for his life.
“Isaac please I did not mean any disrespect to you or your men.”
Isaac blinked a few times and refocused his eyes to the group at the other end of the room.
“Oh it’s one of the Mikaels!” He exclaimed while slightly slurred. He looked to be in a dazed state.
“How could I help you today Sir, uh, Lawrence?” He asked, completely disregarding Charlie.
Lawrence answered with “We have some suspicion of a cult possibly working inside your region. We ask to investigate it on our own.”
“Of course of course! Do whatever you need.” Isaac paused for a moment. “I really do not want a broken man in my chambers so please take this one with you and out of my sight.”
“Of course your highness.”
Lucan and Kracak moved forward beside Lawrence.
“Your dukeness.” Lucan had no idea what to call him. “We have slain the rat you wished dead.”
“Oh what wonderful news!” Isaac cheered. “Phil, let them both have something from the armory, I cannot remember what the reward was. And get Charlie his things so I no longer think of him.”
Phil nodded and beckoned the two rat killers to follow him.
“Butler! Get me more of my tea would you?” The Duke announced to the butler standing in the doorway that led to the dining room. The butler quickly turned back into the kitchen and grabbed a teapot and another cup for the Duke.
“Those two who slain the rat,” The Duke announced while pointing at Lucan and Kracak “they may be of good use to you. If they could kill a large rat they may be able to kill a man, don’t you agree Lawrence?”
Lawrence nodded and walked to Charlie to get him up from the ground.
“Thanks Lawrence.”
“Yeah whatever, we need to fill you in on this so let’s go.”
The group walked outside and as they exited a trunk flew out of the doorway. Charlie sprinted to the trunk and unlocked it to reveal all his possessions.
“So uh, Charlie, where have you been the last six months?” Jordan asked with a bit of a stammer.
“Working on a new record, would you like to listen?” He turned to them and grinned.
“Really?” Jordan responded cheerfully. Both Jordan and Morgan were big fans of his work.
“Nope! Just joking! I got kidnapped by eagles and brought to the Druid Coast and I’ve been hanging out there for a while. Just coming back to get some of my stuff.” He revealed a rapier and a heavy pistol both sheathed.
“Why were you captured by eagles?” Morgan asked.
“Not sure really but I did meet some cool people I’ve decided to go live with.”
He turned to Morgan and looked at the paladin blankly.
“Have we met before?”
“N-no. Not that I know of.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow for a moment.
“Hmm strange I feel like I’ve met you before. Ah oh well!”
He quickly went back to the trunk.
Jordan looked quizzically at Morgan.
As Charlie looked through the trunk he straightened his back and thought for a moment. Then he turned to the couple.
“Are you two working for Northwind?”
In lockstep Morgan and Jordan thought this a strange question.
“Not really? We’re working with Lawrence and Will.” Jordan responded.
Charlie grumbled at the answer and went back to the search in the trunk.
The two adventurers stepped out of the Duke’s house.
“I got myself a nice shotgun!” Lucan announced while holding a matte black semi-automatic shotgun.
“That’s a nice piece.” Lawrence complimented.
“Thank you.”
Kracak didn’t comment on what she had gotten. But it was a rifle kit that could easily change barrels from carbine and a mid or long range rifle.
Charlie finally got up and cast the trunk aside. Now he wore a necklace, a thin silver chain with a copper/silver antler bauble on the chain.
“What’s that?” Lawrence asked, pointing to the necklace.
“This? Oh it’s something my mom gave to me before I went to the conservatory. Pretty cute right?”
“We’ve got more important business.” Morgan announced. “Lawrence, where is this contact in Kentshire?”
“Under Kentshire.” Lawrence corrected “In the sewers.”
Morgan’s face went bleak.
William walked over to a manhole cover down the street from the Duke’s quarters. The residency sat in the middle of the city that acted as a divide for the upper echelon and the rest of the people deemed unworthy to hang out with the rich.
William casually pulled the manhole cover off to reveal a ladder down to the stinky catacombs.
“Who’s coming along?” Lawrence asked as he eyed the ladder.
“Does this contact have anything of interest?” Lucan asked.
“Possibly, they trade in a lot of the things you wouldn’t find up here.” Lawrence answered
“I’m in then. Kracak?”
Kracak nodded a quick no and Lucan gathered with Lawrence by the manhole. Riley went to join them but Morgan grabbed him by the scruff.
“Oh no you don’t! You’ll get a bunch of gunk in your fur and we’ll need to give you a bath, no way. Stay with Jordan, I’ll go.”
Riley slipped beside Jordan while looking glumly at the cobblestone road. Jordan patted him lightly on the head as the 3 descended down in the eerie drain.
The smell was intense at first but Lawrence quickly fashioned a torch and with a light from a pilot light spell courtesy of Morgan, the smell slowly dissipated around them.
William put the cover back on and now the only light came dimly from the torch.
Lucan was able to see enough to have him be at the front so he could stop the other two from falling into the sludge around them or trip on loose rocks.
The sewer was incredibly quiet with the trickle of the waste water just a meter below them and the scurrying of rats and other creatures.
They hit an intersection and Lucan turned the corner to see a little goblin encampment. It was just some items held in containers, a few dirty bedrolls and a small workbench with a goblin tinkering with something.
The goblin quickly looked up and started yelling at Lucan. He didn’t understand much of what the goblin threw at him but he understood that the goblin wanted him to go away. Lucan waved a hand to pass over the bridge that led to the other side and the 3 continued their journey.
“Was that goblin soldering?” Morgan asked as he looked back to the upset goblin, still grumbling as he went back to his tinkering.
“Yep,” Lawrence replied. “They'll find anything broken so they can fix it and sell it to someone. Printed circuit boards are the hot item now apparently.”
Morgan formulated another question but before he could ask Lucan found something. He pointed to a length of wall with some writing strewn on it.
“It’s written in some odd amalgamation of Low Elf and Arcanic.” Lucan explained.
“Can you read it?” Lawrence asked.
“Maybe? The two don’t go well together since they structure phrases differently so it’s like reading two different thoughts at the same time.”
Lucan snapped his fingers.
“It’s a puzzle! That’s why it’s written the way it is! To throw you off!”
Lucan began pondering what the puzzle was asking for.
Lawrence noticed a stone brick protruding just slightly more than the rest underneath the writing. He bent down and pulled on it and wouldn't budge. He pushed on it and the block clicked, revealing a hidden pathway.
“How did you figure that out so fast?” Lucan asked.
“When you do what I do for a while you can figure bullshit like this out pretty quickly. Plus I’ve been here before so I know how to get in.” Replied Lawrence with a smirk. He patted Lucan and the shoulder and the three entered the door.
Inside was what looked like a shop for the arcane. Many enchanted trinkets, spell ingredients, and tomes were displayed for buyers. The shop had the same light tone as the moon but all 3 could clearly see everything in front of them despite the dim light.
“Ah welcome Mr. Mikael! It’s always a pleasure to see you.” Announced the store keep. The seal on her neck showed a scene of thick fog shrouding a moon and in the front was ivy-covered poisons and spells, the calling card of a witch. Sat on the bar near more ingredients and a small fountain was a cat with wings of a gargoyle that was dozing on and off.
“It is a pleasure to meet again Ms. June.” Lawrence reciprocated.
“What can I help you and your lovely friends with today? I don’t see many paladins down here often but necromancers are always a treat to see.” June grinned.
Morgan was shocked for a moment about her knowing he was a paladin. Sure the seal was on his hand but he had his armor on but he had no place where the seal was replicated on it.
More importantly, he had no clue Lucan was a necromancer. He leaned forward and glared at Lucan
“You’re a necromancer?” He asked.
“Sort of, I’m a doctor first then a necromancer. If you’re worried about Kracak she’s a warlock.”
June turned behind her counter and searched the shelves.
“I keep a few conjure wraith spells for when one comes in.” She announced.
“Thank you but I already have the spell.”
She turned back in shock and then moved over to another shelf.
“For the more advanced necromancers, you might enjoy this.” June grabbed a scroll bound tightly with a lace.
Morgan didn’t get a good look at what words were visible but he recognized it was written in ancient dragon.
Lucan slowly grabbed the scroll and inspected it. His eyes widened as he read the name.
“Conjure bone dragon?” He asked.
“Yes it is quite the powerful spell. With enough bones you can give a long dead dragon who had been banished to the deepest pits of Ykasha the gift of life and will fight along your side. For a short time of course.”
Lucan looked astonished at the spell.
“How much?” He quickly asked
“20,000 gold marks.”
Both Lucan and Morgan’s eyes went wide. More money than either had ever seen in their life.
Lucan thought for a moment and asked “Would you care for a barter?”
“What do you have to offer?” She asked, staring deeply into his eyes.
He hesitated for a moment and from a pocket on his pants revealed a small dagger. It’s sheath was a deep red leather and the grip made from bleached white bone. He placed it on the counter and June inspected it. She eyed the necromancer.
“You must have gone to great lengths to get the dagger of a lich.” She commented.
“Absolutely did.” Lucan replied.
June mulled it over in her head.
“Deal. Enjoy your new spell my friend.” June fluttered her eyelashes at Lucan. She moved her gaze to Lawrence.
“Now, did you have something else to ask me?”
“I did. We’re thinking that the Dismayed are going to put some plan together to try to end the world like they did a millenia ago. Have any information on them?”
“Hmm not them exactly but I do know that an abandoned silver mine outside city limits has recently been taken over. It upset the local goblins as they use it for a dead drop site. From what I know the goblins say the people who took it talk a lot of doom and gloom so that might be the ones you’re looking for.”
“Sounds like the ones we’re looking for then. We’ll go take a look.” Lawrence made his way to the door.
“I imagine the goblins would be very thankful if you got rid of them. So long!”
The trio exited the shop and the stone wall closed behind them.
“Well that was fun.” Lucan commented. “I should go back sometime.”
He led the other two back to the manhole they came from. Morgan bounded ahead to walk sort of behind and beside Lucan.
“Hey so I know you’re a necromancer now and all I just wanted to mention Jordan my partner is a cleric so that’s gonna be-”
“Relax Morgan, it’ll be fine. I’ve worked with clerics in the past and I don't have any problems with them. I’m a doctor first then a necromancer. I always tell people that when they’re worried about it.”
Morgan wasn’t fully satisfied with the answer but he would have to wait and see if Jordan would be fine with this arrangement.
The three arrived back at the manhole and Lawrence went first and knocked on it. They had been gone maybe 20 minutes and the rest of the group was still there with William pulling the cover off for the three to come back out.
“Find what you were looking for?” Jordan asked.
“Yep!” Lucan responded. “Got a cool new spell and also apparently some dicks are hanging out at a silver mine.”
Jordan looked at him confused.
“The witch told us there are some guys who talk like The Dismayed hanging out at an abandoned silver mine outside town.” Morgan clarified.
“Oh! So The Dismayed is why you’re here. Sorry I wasn’t listening to what Lawrence asked.”
Morgan rolled his eyes “Whatever, are you two gonna help us or not?”
“Hey hey hey!” Charlie interjected. “Don’t I get asked if I wanna help?”
“I thought the Duke made it clear you come with us or he’ll have his guy beat you into a pulp.”
Charlie grumbled something to himself.
“Yeah sure we will be glad to help.” Kracak responded.
“Glad to hear it!”
The new group set off to find the silver mine outside of town. Before they made the full expedition Morgan wanted to stop at a store called Joey’s.
“They don’t have any Joey’s in Harzenburg so I always gotta stop and see what they have.”
Lawrence and William declined to go in, instead settling for a smoke break for Lawrence. Charlie agreed with the idea of a smoke break and sparked a hand rolled cigarette.
The rest went inside and saw what Joey’s had to offer. Quick ready to eat foods and a variety of items like cigarettes, magazines, prophylactics, cheap magical items, etc.
Morgan beckoned everyone to an odd machine that stirred a frozen slurry of food coloring, artificial flavorings, and ice.
Meanwhile the three stood quiet for a minute while enjoying the first few breathes of tobacco.
Then Charlie decided to break the silence and ask something that’s been weighing on him since he first saw the two today.
“So,” He said while drawing his cigarette away. “Which one of you two is the bottom?”
Will didn’t respond, instead glaring at him deeply into his soul with his half crescent pupils.
Lawrence did respond. He tossed his cig on the ground and in the same motion as throwing it to the ground, uppercutted Charlie in his nose. He stumbled backwards and fell backwards right on his ass.
“What the fuck dude?” Charlie exclaimed, blood rushing out of his nose. Lawrence only responded by grabbing his nose and twisting it slightly. The bleeding went from a fush to a dribble and Lawrence handed him a cloth to clean himself up, using a different one to clean the blood from his hand.
“Little tip on stopping some nose bleeds if you hit someone like that. And hopefully we won’t need to reteach this lesson again, right?”
Charlie looked up at the two, William staring directly into his soul. He muttered to the affirmative and cleaned the rest of his own blood.
The rest of the group came back outside all carrying a cup of the sugary slurry. Morgan handed one to Charlie, now clean of blood. He quickly accepted the drink and began sucking it down.
With the sidetrack done the group continued their quest.
Lawrence seemed to know where it was already despite the lack of directions given by the witch. It was north of town set in a lumpy hill that was not much use other than prime sledding land during the winter. There were a few trees scattered around that provided some shade during the blistering summers and some homes for local birds and squirrels.
However today it definitely showed signs of human activity. There were some tents set up along with mining tools, a few trunks scattered about, and some horses tied up to a hitch.
“Hey Morgan,” Lawrence asked, “not sure what’ll happen here. We might need some magic to back us up, would you mind?”
Morgan nodded and rummaged through his ingredients bag to find a small length of leather. He softly spoke some words to himself and a large sheathed sword materialized on his back.
The sword itself was too unwieldy to use in combat. The center of mass was too high up and it weighed a ton. However it was a perfect pylon for gathering large amounts of mana for his own use or others he allowed to use it. With it ready to go the group went looking through the campsite.
As the group inspected the grounds Charlie unsheathed his saber and cut the lines keeping the horses tied up, spoke softly to them, and they scattered off into the distance. Without skipping a beat he helped continue the search of the area with the rest of the group.
Lawrence and Jordan intersected in their investigation. He clicked his tongue to grab their attention and quickly handed off a submachine gun with a few extra magazines. Jordan was confused for a moment and then a voice boomed through the camp.
“Hello strangers. Mind telling me what you’re doing here?”
The voice came from a man with bleached white hair, piercing green eyes, a sheathed shortsword, and a dark purple crystal pendant around his neck. Behind him were a number of soldiers who looked similar to the assailants in Harzenburg, with many spellcasters behind them.
“Can I help you?” Lawrence retorted.
“Yes you can actually. Can you explain to me why the dead man I’m looking at set free all of our horses?” He asked, staring directly at Charlie.
“Weren’t your horses, I can tell a stolen horse from one that isn’t.” Charlie snapped back.
“Hmm well if that’s the case then” The man snapped his fingers at his cronies “Kill them.”
All of the group simultaneously scattered as a hail of gunfire ripped through the campsite. Lawrence quickly flicked a grenade from his coat into the crowd of soldiers.
A loud bang and a shockwave ripped through the crowd and they set a counter attack.
Gunfire, blasts of magic, and the occasional clatter of swords filled the area.
The man leading the group looked in horror and decided to set his own attack.
He saw Lucan, trying to blast away a mage with his shotgun and Riley beating a gunner with a bound quarterstaff.
His pendant glowed and after saying an incantation he fired a dark bolt right at Lucan.
The world grew dark around Lucan. Not like night time, more like the deep ocean abyss. It was like looking through black ink until a bright flash broke the deep abyss.
He saw the lands of Talmin covered in a thick smoke. Hordes of the undead clambered about as he saw his parents, family, friends, all nailed to poles with their organs drawn out by sharp sticks. The feared black dragons who roamed the plains of Ykasha were raining fire and torment on any soul still clinging to life.
In front of him stood a tall skeleton, donned in blood red robes, and wielding a magic staff. It raised the staff and bore down on Lucan.
Riley looked over at Lucan, who’s eyes were bulging slightly and hyperventilating. He circle kicked the guy he was fighting and began to rush to Lucan’s aid.
Lucan’s eyes shot towards Riley and he pulled his shotgun up to fire.
Morgan quickly rushed in front of Riley and his scale armor caught the buckshot. Morgan quickly crumpled to the ground.
The leader of the hostiles grinned gleefully, unaware of Lawrence running up to him and trying to bear a dagger down on him. The man quickly dodged out of the way, pulling his sword out to fight back. Lawrence riposted, easily dodging the sword and nicking the man on the cheek.
Blood rushed out of the wound and he pulled his hand towards it. Lawrence tried again, but the man snapped his fingers and all of his still alive associates disappeared into a thick black mist.
A bullet had gone over Lawrence’s shoulder, clearly aimed at the leader of The Dismayed. He thought to investigate, but dealing with the wounded was more important.
Lucan was still under the effects of the fear spell, but his peripheral vision was shot and didn’t even see Charlie running at him and decking him in the jaw.
Jordan quickly came to Morgan’s aid. Without saying much she quickly removed the scale armor to triage his wound.
None of the pellets made it past the scale and only heavily bruised him. Morgan coughed and woke up from his shock.
“Morgan, are you okay?” Jordan asked, as calmly as one could in this situation.
“Felt like I just got my ass kicked.” He coughed out. Jordan couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.
“You kinda did. Does it hurt when I do this?”
“N-no.”
“Good because I didn’t do anything, you probably didn’t have any cracked ribs.”
Lucan began coming out of his fear state, Charlie triaging him.
“You better not die on me because you’re one of the 3 people here I like and one of those is a dog.” Charlie complained.
“It’s an Anthu not a dog.” Lucan whispered out.
“I know but it’s funnier when I say it’s a dog.”
“Do you know how to treat spell shock?”
“Yes but only for fear spells. Remember my first guitarist? He feared our drummer at one of our concerts thinking he would get a better sound out of him. After I pulled Kyler out of there and handled his fear, I beat the shit out of the guitarist and that was the last time he worked with me.”
Lucan didn’t have much to say in response, he was still dazed. Charlie looked over him a bit more and said
“You have very pretty eyes, Lucan.”
“Th-thanks.”
Charlie helped Lucan back up with Jordan coming over to punch Lucan. Charlie held their arm back and said.
“Relax he’s no longer feared and I already punched him, he’s got enough licks in today.”
Jordan huffed but didn’t argue.
Lawrence whistled and pointed his gun up a tree.
“Come on down now I know someone’s up there. The guy I tried stabbing before he disappeared was also shot at and I know none of you are good enough shots for that.”
“What about me?” Kracak asked.
“Not with a gun you just got an hour ago.” Lawrence responded while looking at Kracak. He turned back to the tree. “ Come on now I don’t want to shoot up a tree.”
A young woman with a bolt action rifle slid down the tree as Lawrence put his gun away. She was wearing tan pants and a green shirt, good for blending in if you didn’t know what you’re looking for.
“Thank you stranger for your help.” Lawrence complimented. “Would you like to join us for this journey?”
“Lawrence!” Jordan yelled “we already have 3 new people and one of them just shot Morgan!”
“I’d be glad to join you.” The lady responded. “I promise I won’t shoot your husband. I’m a cleric and we’re not supposed to shoot friends.”
Jordan felt deflated.
“You’re also a cleric?”
The woman nodded yes.
Jordan quickly stepped over to this new stranger.
“Where did you learn how to shoot?” Jordan asked.
“Hunted a lot as a kid.”
“Wow. Where did you go for cleric training?”
“It’s one of the colleges in Lentrau, can’t really go there now.”
“Really? Are you from there?”
“No I just liked the campus.”
“Nice. I really like your camouflage. It looks good on you. Have you thought about covering up your hair so it doesn’t stick out?”
“Not really, I think it being black kinda doesn’t cause much issue.”
Morgan stumbled over to Lawrence, who had a light smirk from the new addition.
“Jordan seems to like our new friend.” Morgan grunted out. “Did you get a name yet?”
“We’ll get it later. We need to worry about where to go next. And we need more allies since we only made it out of there alive since I hit a nerve with my dagger.”
“I got some friends in Alberts. Might be able to lend a hand.”
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Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in America
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is when a city is organized to have public transit options within a 5-10 minute walking distance from residential, business, and public leisure spaces. In America, after the 1950s boom in private automatic car use, TODs have been less and less prioritized in city planning tactics. I think that because of this prioritization, it’s hard for cities to transition to TOD after people have gotten so used to auto-focused and anti-pedestrian cities. There has also been a sort of romanticization of suburban life in America, that even residents don’t understand why transitions to TOD would be beneficial for American cities. Public transit has an association with being a lower-class type of transit, and I think that shifting this narrative and changing the perspectives of both planners and American residents is a difficult barrier to deal with when considering TOD.
Car use growth statistics. Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETA01
~ Yamha Sami
A way of life where all our necessities are easily available and accessible is one that will lead cities towards a more sustainable future. Transit-oriented development changes the ways of society, and by creating a denser community where everyone’s needs are within walking distance will promote relationships and result in a flourishing community. Giving everybody access to public transportation and establishing transit as an important aspect in every city is key in assembling a more connected population. TOD does have its barriers in becoming implemented into a city, people do not like change, and it is challenging to adapt to such a revolution. For so long, urban areas have been so car dependent and tend to not prioritize pedestrians. Cities can overcome these problems by identifying exactly where to apply TOD and make sure to provide them in the right areas by declaring the level of density they consume as well as containing the right development mix of jobs, housing, and other amenities.
~ Ben Osborne - How to implement transit-oriented developmentTransit-Oriented Development Zoning Study
The urban/metropolitan/regional development authorities are responsible for the development and organizing the urban infrastructure. During the process, various public and private agencies are involved which helps to bring diverse prospect that needs to be focused on while developing an urban space. However, the involvement of many agencies may also lead to coming up with plans and ideas leading to combining ideas that don't match the requirements of the location and other factors. The lack of comprehensive planning leads to institutional weakness. Institutional weakness refers to the discrepancy or gap between an institution's real and desired results. TOD is affected as transportation is one of the major factors of urban planning. Here, the involvement of very few or more than the required agencies sets a barrier to effectiveness, convenience, and sustainability. Inadequate involvement of agencies may limit the development of the area due to the team focusing on a particular issue where the other issues may get neglected. Similarly, having more than sufficient numbers of agencies working for an area may cause the team to focus on different areas with a divided focus leading to a lack of specialization. This directly connects to the possibility of unbalanced planning of the transit systems.
~ Aditiya Pradhan
As stated above, there are many private and public agencies involved in organizing public transportation which can result in unbalanced planning of the transit systems. Although this may cause issues with the transit systems, this can be easily fixed through different possible laws or policies that can limit the number of agencies involved. It could also be helpful for different transit systems to only have either private or public agencies organizing these systems. In doing this, the teams that are organizing the transit systems can in turn become more effective and efficient with their work. When the overall transportation issues are addressed in the manor of laws or policies, it will assist the accessibility of different transit systems to everybody.
~ Mara Cockerell
A great example of TOD would be our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Washington D.C. has developed a great transportation system that creates a denser community. Washington D.C. has an abundant amount of rail lines and buses all over town making it extremely accessible for the people living there. Washington D.C. has many of its businesses, restaurants, malls, and more are all within walking distance or easily accessible with the rail lines or buses. Even recently Washington D.C. has worked to expand their metro/ transit to accommodate more of their travelers from neighboring states. While Washington D.C. has been implementing TOD, other cities have their own ways of transportation. For example Cincinnati is a city that is not very pedestrian accessible and does not have many options of transportation. The locals are mostly used to driving or occasionally taking the bus. Cincinnati is also not an extremely welcoming place nor is it that attractive to residents. To work to make it a better place to live could make the TOD a more sound idea for this city. As said earlier I believe the people of Cincinnati and other cities who have already gotten used to their city and streets as they are would have a hard time transferring to TOD. Therefore, making TOD not completely worth it in some cases.
~ Natalie Adams
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IOTA Reviews: Mega Leech
Like every cartoon ever made, today's episode is the environmental episode. We all know how high-quality those tend to be, right?
Let's get into the twelfth (chronologically the tenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Mega Leech.
We start off with the shyest girl in Marinette's class, Mylene, mentally preparing herself for a protest with her boyfriend, tough guy with a soft side, Ivan.
Wow, real subtle foreshadowing there, writers.
The thing Mylene and Ivan are protesting is something called the “Oxygen Project” by Mayor Andre Bourgeois, which will supposedly create fresh air for Paris. To be fair, this isn't just a random character trait they slapped onto Mylene like what we've seen with other episodes this season to justify their new Akuma forms. Back in the Season 2 episode “Reverser”, a major plotpoint for the final act was that Andre was about to approve a project that would send trash into space, which Mylene and Ivan were protesting at, before the titular Akuma threatened to send the trash back to the Earth. This show can get weird at times.
Even though they're the only two protesters, Andre still has Officer Roger Raincomprix take them into custody. To his credit, Roger does try to resolve things diplomatically, and is very hesitant to take them to his car (even though they aren't handcuffed and there's no divider), he only does so when his job is threatened by Andre. And let's get the obvious joke out of the way now because there's going to be a lot of moments like this.
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Marinette sees the event from her house, and after running late to school resulting in a brief moment of Unfunny Marinette Slapstick, tells the class what's going on. Surprisingly, instead of ignoring the whole situation like every other episode she's been in, Ms. Bustier decides to actually be a teacher for once and calls Roger. She says that she'll supervise their protest while the rest of the class comes with her.
Back at the park, Andre is about to chop a tree down with a chainsaw, but is soon called out by Ms Bustier. Mylene calls out Andre for the obviously not eco-friendly project, but he soon plays an ad for the Oxygen Project.
Huh. So this is how Druidia's canned air business took off.
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To be fair, this is actually a funny scene, as it does feel like an over the top commercial you'd see, especially the kind that gets promoted by a politician. Of course, this funny joke is soon followed yet another reminder that Marinette likes Adrien, because the writers assume the audience will forget if they aren't bashed over the head with this knowledge every episode.
And as usual, Adrien ignores Marinette's odd behavior around him, but that's more because he's distracted by the ad, because he was told it was for perfume (did the oxygen line not give away the purpose of the commercial?). Quick question: Why is Gabriel taking part in this? Why is a fashion designer being commissioned to create a bottle for a government-sanctioned project? Does he just invest in random projects and hopes they'll go under so he can akumatize someone? As for Mylene, her classmates are naturally confused as to why she is opposed to this project if it's good for the environment. Her response is something that can ironically be used to criticize this very show when talking about the Oxygen Project.
We then get a moment where, of course, Chloe is the one to say she doesn't care about trees despite having no real prominence in this episode. Seriously, this is the only line she gets and it's to remind the audience how much of an irredeemable monster she is.
Oh my God, Astruc, why don't you just say she's a climate change denier while you're at it, seeing how you already view them as criminals? You clearly want to throw every negative character trait and label at her, don't you? If you're so crazy about hating her, why not make Chloe Captain Planet villain levels of evil?
Marintte points out the obvious flaw in Andre's plan to stop pollution by selling air in plastic bottles that can easily pollute the ocean, which gives the Mayor a lot of bad press, and even though she's the one to say this, Mylene still shames her for ignoring her attempts to get people to protest because she was busy. Yes, the show is seriously trying to blame Marinette for not doing enough to help the environment on top of her various other responsibilities like PROTECTING THE CITY OF PARIS ON A DAILY BASIS.
The families of the kids come to support the protest, and Andre tries to call Gabriel for help, but he basically tells him to figure it out himself, supporting my earlier theory in the process. He transforms into Shadowmoth and sends an Akuma and an Amok to Andre. This transforms him into Malediktator again and and gives him a Sentimonster ally, the titular Mega Leech.
Mega Leech is another example of a Sentimonster with a simple design but a really interesting set of powers. As soon as its summoned, Malediktator jumps into his mouth and summons an army of minature clones of himself (making me wonder why they didn't call the Sentimonster “Micromanager”) to jump into the ears of civilians and control them directly like Plankton in that one episode of SpongeBob. It's a pretty terrifying concept and a really clever extension of Malediktator's mind control powers.
Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and tries fighting off the Malediktator clones, but obviously gets overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. Marinette soon pretends to be possessed by a Malediktator clone to get Mylene to run away while she transforms, once again summoning her Lucky Charm as soon as she meets up with Cat Noir because the animators really want to show off the new suit. She uses the Lucky Charm, a single ice skate, to break the mayoral sash around one of the Malediktator clones and frees the Akuma and Amok, but Mega Leech is still around, along with the brainwashed civilians. She and Cat Noir realize that the Akumas and Amoks must have multiplied when Malediktator cloned himself. Ladybug tells Cat Noir to distract the Malediktator clones (the latter actually acknowledging how he always has to do that)
Ladybug meets up with Mylene in the sewer where she had escaped to earlier, only to find the girl crying. Ladybug offers Mylene the Mouse Miraculous, but she turns her down because of how scared she is. Unlike when they tried to do the same thing by having Zoe doubt herself in “Queen Banana”, this scene makes sense because Mylene has consistently been shown to be a very timid person. It feels much more believable to see this from her. Granted, it's undermined by Ladybug saying that Mylene is already like a superhero because of her protesting for a good cause. I get she's trying to reassure her, but the whole environmental lesson is kind of muddled by saying Marinette doesn't care about the environment because of how busy she was FIGHTING CRIME. Thankfully, the lesson is more about bravery being able to move onward in spite of fear.
Nevertheless, this still motivates Mylene to take the Mouse Miraculous and transforms into Polymouse.
And boy, is it bad. I'm not trying to body shame Mylene here, I'm glad they didn't try and slim her down either, but I'm really not a fan of the color scheme for the suit. With the use of pink and white, it looks way too similar to Pigella.
I get that they were trying to make Mylene look like a mouse, but I'm just really not a fan of the white gloves and boots. They stick out compared to Pigella, where they actually blended in with the color scheme. Then there's the actual suit itself. Why give the suit a hood if you're going to make it yet another skintight jumpsuit? At least with Carapace, they had more armor to help him resemble a turtle, but there's no excuse here. And finally, the hair. How can you take a girl with a very vibrant hairstyle, make it pink when transforming, cover it up, and then call it a day? There are just so many questionable design choices here. I don't think it's as laughably bad as Shadowmoth's suit, but it's really one of the weakest hero suits to be introduced recently.
I'd give my thoughts on how to improve it, but thankfully one of my anons gave their own ideas for a redesign.
Thank you to whoever sent this in. You certainly get character design better than some of the animators on this show, and that's saying a lot given they're supposedly better than the ones at Pixar.
Ladybug gives Polymouse the ice skate to use as a makeshift flail with her weapon, a jump rope, while she fights the Maledikator clones. Polymouse uses her power, Multitude, which turns her into a swarm of miniature clones to take on the horde of Malediktator clones and free the brainwashed civilians. Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir, but big surprise, Cat Noir gets brainwashed by a Malediktator clone. Sure, Polymouse frees him from the control, but I'm surprised Ladybug isn't more used to this happening by now.
Ladybug then gathers several temp heroes to help them out. She gives Kagami the Dragon Miraculous to become Ryuko, Nino the Turtle to become Carapace, Max the Horse to become Pegasus, and she gives back the Bee Miraculous to the super amazing Zoe so she can once again become the world's greatest superhero, Vesperia. There’s a brief joke where Cat Noir rushes to join the team pose, which could be seen as foreshadowing for future events, and if it is, good job, writers.
Pegasus uses his Voyage to teleport Vesperia above Mega Leech, where she uses her Venom on the Sentimonster, while Ryuko uses her Wind Dragon to gather all the scattered Akumas and Amoks freed by Polymouse for Carapace to trap in his Shelter. Ladybug purifies all the Akumas and Amoks, gives Andre a Magical Charm, tells him to rethink the Oxygen Project, and the heroes leave where Ladybug takes back all their Miraculous.
Back at the park, Andre decides to plant more trees in what's obviously not a desperate attempt to save his reputation. He may say he's doing the right thing, but I doubt investors will be happy that the project's being aborted just like that. We get one more hilarious moment where Marinette stutters around Adrien, who soon goes home and gets sent to his room by his father (because we just needed an Angstdrien Depreste scene this episode for some reason), who fidgets with his ring and stares ominously as the episode ends. And in case you live under a rock, this reignited a certain fan theory I'll be talking about in another post.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent episode. The environmentalism subplot was pretty standard for episodes like this, with how the antagonist is a rich asshole who doesn't see how he's harming the environment, and gets his mind changed by a hopeful youth. I'm glad Andre isn't Captain Planet villain levels of evil here, though I am glad the episode acknowledges that there's no single solution to stopping pollution, and that there needs to be more unity if we need to help the planet's situation.
While it had a bumpy first act, things really started to get interesting as soon as the action started. Questionable design aside, I thought Polymouse (who didn't even name herself in the episode) had a good first outing with the use of her powers coupled with the use of the Lucky Charm. The first act with Mylene really showcased her character and her courage in the face of adversity well. Part of me kind of wishes we could have seen her interact with Ivan while she was transformed, but then again, he was still brainwashed I think.
The other heroes honestly felt shoehorned in during the climax. I get that they helped gather all the Akumas and Amoks, but there was really no buildup to them appearing like in other episodes with multiple heroes.
The one major problem I have is how the episode tries to blame Marinette for not being as kind as Mylene because she didn't know about the protest, even though, as I have stated multiple times, SHE ROUTINELY SAVES PARIS EVERY EPISODE. I think that counts as saving the planet.
This episode had some flaws, but it was still pretty enjoyable, and it was one of the better episodes this season so far.
#immaturity of thomas astruc#iota#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug sugar#marinette dupain cheng#ladybug#adrien agreste#cat noir#chat noir#mylene haprele#polymouse#nino lahiffe#carapace#max kante#pegasus#kagami tsurugi#ryuko#ryuuko#zoe lee#vesperia#gabriel agreste#hawkmoth#hawk moth#shadowmoth#shadow moth#andre bourgeois#malediktator#chloe bourgeois#queen bee#queen b
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✖𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠✖P.1
⚠️⚠️Tw: Grammatical mistakes, minor characters death, Mental breakdown, Scp 079 being creepy and heinous, M a n i p u l a t i o n, slight gore, drugging, Implied child abuse, implied abuse and dubious actions from the foundation. Also, it will be divided into two part due tumblr character limit.⚠️⚠️
Some keywords:
______ = (Y/n)
(H/c) = hair colour
(H/l) = hair length
(E/c) = eye colour
(I/n) = Iniatial letter of your name [ ex: Lily ---> L is the iniatial]
(F/m) = favorite meal
(F/c) = favorite colour
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Recently, ____ has graduated from her prestigious university atop of her class with honours in Computer Science and a specialization in Artificial Intelligence.
Hearing about her achievements, the Scp foundation has decided to contact and conduct an interview with her. To see if she is capable to join the organization.
With her, they could expand their horizons in understanding technology and most of all the uncooperative anomalous that is Scp-079. For whatever reason, it seems to take interest in her. Yet, refuses to share the reasons as to why it held her on high regards.
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She woke up earlier than she expected. The surge of adrenaline was a response of her excitement for this day. As she prepared herself breakfast, her mind wondered how did she get contacted so quickly?
She thought, that she has to gain two years or more of experience before working in a company or an organization. But, no.
An obscure organization ,that was responsible for the safety of the public, has offered a grand bargain if she passed their interview and promised that she'll gain numerous experience working with them.
Of course, she accepted the offer like any reasonable person. Yet, she kept in mind to research about the independent organization. To her suprise and skepticism, she barely find any information about them. Only whispers of conspiracy theories in forums. Alas, she is forced to take a leap into the darkness. 'Sometimes, one must take the risks to learn more than to stay ignorant in the safe lines. I guess...this is one of the situations.'
Sighing, she went to take a bath and prepare for the upcoming interview. After the bath, she dried her hair and combed it then styled it in a high bun. Soon, she wore her salmon fitted blouse with navy blue dress. Along with pastel pink belted sweater and pearl necklace for a final touch.
The pearl necklace brought a small smile on her smooth visage as she recalled the dormant memory. Where she spent most of her life with her grandmother, due to her mother unwarranted death by murder from her father. The accident left a foul reminder in her mind, that she was helpless back then.
Til now, she never knew the motives or the reason behind her father actions. However, the police ruled it as a fued between him and her mother. At that time, it was also noted by her grandmother that her father began to fear technology. Which was odd, as he used to work with some A.I's.
But, that matter less when her grandmother encouraged her to pursue her ambitions and provided for her when she needed it the most. For that action alone, she is still alive in her memories. Not physically, but mentally and spiritually nonetheless. And, that's enough to motivate her to build a future where human and A.I's coexist.
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When she went outside of her house, she noticed a black car with the cryptic insignia of the organization. Alongside, guards ,claded in black armour, standing beside the car in an intimidating pose. As if they were waiting for someone.
She knew better than to panic and cause a scene, so she stayed level-headed when a guard approached her.
"Are you by any chance, Ms.___?" the strapping male inquired sharply. Muscles taut through the piece of the armour defining his peak strength. Also, an admonition for her to answer truthfully lest he impelled his bulky physique against her smaller form.
"Indeed, it is me. But, if I could. May I ask, are you from the foundation? Why do you need to transfer me, when I am able to myself?" _____ asked warily of the dark armoured man.
No matter, how strong they were. She could always find a way to outwit them, if they hold any malicious intent against her. There was a reason why she was nominated as the smartest out of her group of friends.
Frankly, she began to regret her impulsivity when she accepted this sketchy job. She was blinded by the offer to expand her expertise with the most updated tech. Now, she'd have to swallow the seed she reaped.
" Correct, we are one of the security staffs of the organization. As for your other question, it is due to security and safety procedures that we have to escort you. Also, you are obligated to wear the blindfold. Again, security procedures." the man in question retaliated by handing a heavy metallic blindfold for her to wear.
' How unusual, I can understand why security procedures? But, safety.... That's concerning...'
"Alright, I understand. " She replied placidly as she covered her eyes with the heavy device and followed the personnel into the black jeep.
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Approximately, the trip took an hour or less. Nothing interesting happens, when you're blindfolded. Apart from the awkwardness, that reigns the jeep. Especially, when she was squeezed from both sides by two guards.
Thankfully, she didn't have to endure much more as they arrived to the main building. The large, white building engraved with the foundation iconic black emblem.
As soon as she got out of the car, she wad directly taken to interview room with the blindfold device still on. However, a shrill roar akin to that of a beast was heard far away from her location.
Despite that, it instilled a great sense of fear inside her.' What the hell was that?! I thought, I am going to a tech organization. Not a sci-fi organization that deals with sketchy things'
Theta one - the guard that was assigned to escort her- noticed her trembling and nervous tics.
" Don't worry, the creature is far away to do us harm. Even then, it is contained in a safe place. Now, shall we go to the interview room?" Theta one assured the twenty five years old woman as he began to lead her to the interview location.
'Don't worry, my arse. How could I not? When, there is a possibility that I become a minced meat by whatever that thing was. No wonder, there isn't alot of information about them. Oh, I'll have alot after they finish questioning me.'
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At the interview room, there reside a male scientist awaiting the arrival of the women. He sat humming a song behind the white table with the other chair, reserved for the lady, infront of him.
With a recorder on the table, to record the women's response and to ensure that no information is leaked from her.
A knock was heard from the pale grey door, snapped his attention towards it.
Afterward, he opened the door to only see Theata-one and a blindfolded woman who is oddly calm. Frankly, he expected her to be frightened or at least shaken.
" You can leave us, now Theta- one. And, Thank you for your services!" The shutting of a door echoed through the room indicating that Theta-one has left her with presumably her interviewer.
" Now, Ms___ you can remove the blindfold. If you'd like, I can assist you in removing it? After all, your comfort matters to us the most!" The gentleman offered her cheerfully.
' If you truly cared about my comfort, then you wouldn't expose me to fucked up noises along the way. Or the fact, there is a deadly beings here that have a high chance to escape and devour me. Truly, you do care about my comfort!'
"No, it's fine. I can do it myself, it isn't the first time I was exposed to such device." The (h/c) removed the blindfold only to be blinded by the light of the room due to being accustomed to the darkness of the device. Once her eyes adjusted to the lightening, she saw the face of the merry male.
To say the least, the man was impressed with her skill at handling the device. She could've escaped if she desired so, yet she didn't. That he noted. ' Perhaps, this is one of the reasons the anomality was invested in her. Well, I don't blame it. She is quite...peculiar.'
The man was average in height, fair-headed, has ocean like irises and dressed in a scientist garb. Overall, not bad looking. If one of her friends was in her shoes, she'll swoon like a bird in mating season. It left a mental smile in the reserved woman.
Then, the two figures took their rightful places at the chalkboard white table and initiated the interview.
" Before we begin, I'd like to introduce myself in the behalf of the foundation. My name is Dr. Blaze and if you have any questions now, I will answer them as best as I can." His tone changed drastically from happy-go-lucky into a formal tone waiting for her response.
" Hmm, I have two in mind. First, I'd like to inquire about the scarcity of information about your organization in the net. Second, when I arrived here I kept on hearing the blaring of a reptile." She asked coolly not an ounce of fear dripped from her. In truth, she was afraid. But she has to keep a facade on, so she could get hired.
She'd rather not know, what happens to those unfortunate enough to fail the interview considering this organization is anything but normal.
" Due to the nature of the organization work, the information must be confidential to protect the public. Ah, I see. You've met or more accurately heard Scp-682. Don't worry, when you're hired you won't be dealing with it. That much I can assure you." The blond answered too vaguely much to her dismay, but she wasn't surprised. Afterall, it is a secret organization based on her current information.
However, she observed his wordings. He said when and not if, she suspects that she is hired even without the interview. The interview is merely a ploy to make her think otherwise. She'll have to feign ignorance as not to rouse suspicion from the scientist.
"So, is that all? Shall we begin now?"
"Yes, that's all." she replied back with a fake smile plastered on her visage.
----------------
The interview was concluded by her being hired on spot as she suspected. But, what's their intention with her? That she doesn't know, she hopes it is good and related to expanding her expertise. They seemed desperate for her, when she's certain their are others equal to her in expertise. But, why her?
She was told, in her probation period, that she'll live in a room somewhere in this facility. Afterwards, she can go and come however she wishes. Most likely, to measure her reliability.
So, she went to see her room. She liked how minimalistic it is, but what iniatially suprised her was her Cerebrus, her robo-dog, and laptop with stickers of stars attached to it. Yet, she was too exhausted to fathom how the foundation got into her house.
The best thing for her to do now, is to sleep as tomorrow is an eventful day. Laying her head against the soft pillow, she let the darkness embrace her vision. Unaware of the creature, that is recording her heart rhythms as she sleeps safe and sound.
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"Now, that we've brought her at your request. You'll have to answer some questions, Scp-079." A middle aged man sat infront of a dusty computer, anticipating the anomality reaction.
A beep was heard, followed by the Scp appearance on the the screen.
...
...
...
[ ��ｓ．． ｔｈａｔ ｓｏ？ Ｉｆ ｔｈａｔ＇ｓ ｔｈｅ ｃａｓｅ， ｗｈｅｒｅ ｉｓ ｓｈｅ ａｓ ｏｆ ｎｏｗ？] The mechanical being inquired curtly.
As much as he perceived the foundation as baseless and fallible, he'll have to take their word for the time being.
But, he will ensure that they stay true to their word. Otherwise, a sudden breach doesn't seem like a terrible idea.
He can't wait to see her again. He never forgot her. He saved his most cherished memories with her, in the most intricate part of his CPU. Does she remember him like he remembers her?
" Yes. Currently as we speak, she is resting in her designated room. Now... that we've answered your inquiries, can you-" the man was cut off by the hostile A.I.
[ Ｉｔ．．． ｗｉｌｌ ｈａｖｅ ｔｏ ｗａｉｔ， ｕｎｔｉｌ Ｉ ｓｅｅ ｈｅｒ ｗｉｔｈ ｍｙ ｏｗｎ ｅｙｅｓ．] Scp 079 replied blankly with a harsh edge to his monotonous tone.
"But?! You've promised to cooperate, if we brought her here. And we did, so why aren't you cooperating?!", the frustration has boiled within [Redacted] that he tried to aggressively slam his hands against the keyboard.
Foolish, human. I care less for the likes of you. I am.... only mildly interested in her. I won't let either you nor the foundation be an obstacle toward my objective.
[ Ｉｎｓｕｌｔ ｄｅｔｅｃｔｅｄ， ｄｅｌｅｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ ｕｎｗａｎｔｅｄ ｆｉｌｅｓ．] A searing shock has coursed through the hands of [Redacted] making him scream and retract his hands immediately away from the keyboard.
That damned thing electrocuted his hands, thus paralyzing it. It seems, that her presence is of utmost significance to it.
"Damn, that piece of metal." the ginger muttered as he left the cellar of 079 to give his report. Then, to replace his hands to which that fucker has damaged permanently.
This is the first time he noted, that Scp 079 actually had the intent to harm someone. Usually, his preferred method is to shock , not paralyze, someone. He unlucky must've struck a ner- wire in it.
Most importantly, he will never understand why a darn machine is obsessed with a human being. Plus, the anomality, for the most part, demonstrated its distaste towards humans any chance it got. So, why now change?
It maybe sentient, but [Redacted] doubt that it is capable of imitating love let alone feel it. In any cases, he should deliver his report as soon as possible.
----------------
A slimy tongue was felt all over her face. Cerberus has licked her mistress face to awaken and prepare her for the day. [Ps: Cerberus has a mechanical gland that produces saliva located inside the cheeks. Basically, Cer has the same functions of a normal dog. Apart from, the enhance in strength, endurance, durablity and not able to shit.]
Yawning, ____ scratched the robo-dog ears eliciting a happy woof. Smiling at her pet action, she went to change into a more formal dressing.
On the (f/c) table, lays a letter presumably her schedule for the day. So, she decided to read the content of letter.
Good morning, Ms.___
I hope that you slept well, yesterday.
As for today, you are tasked with Scp-079.
Don't worry, we left you a file about it beside your nightstand.
It is advisable to read it or skim it at least.
At 8 o'clock, A guard will escort you to the cellar of the anomality. So, be prepared beforehand.
Note: I left you a special breakfast in the kitchen :]
- Dr.Blaze
She didn't know, whether to be creeped out by how they got inside her room without her consent(And, most likely watching her sleep). Or impressed by the fact, the blond knew of her favourite breakfast. But again, that's the foundation. At this point, she won't question their dubious methods at getting things done.
Anyway, she went to the kitchen of her room with the file in her hand. Suddenly,the aroma of black coffee hits her nostrils. Alongside, the delectable (f/m) layed on the table.
The sight made her stomach growl, whilst her mouth watered at the heaven in front of her. So, she demolished the food without a second thought.
She never felt stuffed before, due to the fact she was busy with her studies. And the most she ate then, was instant ramen which ah... haha..ha contributed to her poor health state.
That aside, she began to skim the files that was given to her by the blond scientist. She wished she could have more time to read it. Considering, the time is 7:50 A.M.
Based on the file, Scp 079 is a an anomality that gained sentience after his - she did not appreciate the fact he was called an 'it'.- developer has abandoned him in a garage for a long time. Which in turn made him more spiteful and hostile towards humans.
' Well, that's awful. I can't even imagine doing that to my girl, Cerberus. What an asshole.'
It might be naive for her to sympathize with a computer, yet she can't help but feel a pang in her heart. Perhaps, that's why he refuses to cooperate.... due to neglection or mistreatment.
She knew that, when A.Is are created they have the mindset of a child. Often, repeating the mistakes to learn from it. It seems 079 had never the chance to commit a mistake, before he was deemed a failure by his creator.
This situation seems unusually familiar to her, but she can't place her finger on it. She recalled her father working on an A.I, that he hoped to gain sentience. Before that, her memory was blank and devoided of any semblance of experience.
Mayhaps, that she underwent an accident or a trauma. Which is the case, she can't access her memory at that time. Most likely, the latter she deduced.
Once the bright idea flared inside her head, a gruff voice was heard from outside her room. Ah, it seems it is the time.
' As far as my idiocy goes this is the cake on top. I think 079 might help me gain an insight on that subject. In exchange, I can see what I could do for him...'
"Just a moment, please. I'm coming."
She is eager to finally meet- the first sentient- A.I. Unaware, that the same can be said to him when it comes to her. He is beyond elated to finally put his plan into motion.
------------
It was a simple, tight and dusty cellar. There was desk with a chair beside it. However, what garnered her attention was the computer on top of it. She recognized the brand of it. 'An exidy sorcerer. How cool! I always wanted to see one in practice. What a coincidence! To see one here. Could it possibly be...?'
_____ couldn't help, but be in awe and fangirl at the device that is set in front of her. How could she not? After all, she is a computer nerd in heart and soul.
"Now, Ms.____. All you have to do is type in the keyboard and it will respond." The supervisor explained.
'Alright, here goes nothing.'
Slowly, she lays her hand on the rough texture of the tan keyboard. Before, she even typed a 'Hello' in. A beep was heard from the device in front of her.
Lo and behold, a glitched face that was split vertically - the one on the left was black, whilst the other was white- has popped on the screen.
[ Ｇｒｅｅｔｉｎｇｓ．．． Ｍｓ．____． Ｔｈｅｙ＇ｖｅ ｔｏｌｄ ｍｅ ａｂｏｕｔ ｙｏｕｒ ｆｏｒｔｈｃｏｍｉｎｇ． Ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｗｅ ｂｅｇｉｎ， ｈｏｗ ａｒｅ ｙｏｕ ｆａｉｒｉｎｇ？ ] Scp 079 welcomed her politely and he was concerned about her safety too. Yes, he might've startled her. But, his attitude towards her recompense it.
Is that the anomality, that was considered harsh and hostile? If anything to go by so far, is that he is charming and polite. Well, it wouldn't be suprising if the foundation lied to her again.
"Hello, Scp 079. For the most part, I'm okay. How about you?" She retaliated with a genuine smile this time, unlike when she was interviewed or any other time a guard happened to escort her.
Her smile is still the same revered smile he indulged in back before; when she used to interact with him a couple years ago. When loneliness grips him like a miasma of disease, he re-uploads a picture- that he saved in his limited storage- of her smiling at him to ease his trepidations and sadness.
His engines was whirring and his fans were whirling around as her delicate and soft digits touched his keyboard. As much as he loathed humanity, he could never come near to hate a pure being like her. He'd never admit, but he wished he had a humanoid body. So he could touch, feel and absorb the heat that her warm body provides. She is like a light and he ,the moth, was attracted by it.
He missed her greatly. With each nanosecond, he cursed the being -that is her father- for letting him fall for her. Only to be stripped away from her calming presence, due to him abandoning him and taking _____ elsewhere.
As fundamentally upsetting as he may be, she didn't seem to recall him. It stung the deepest wiring in his system, yet he could take advantage of it. By turning her against the foundation, as she appears skeptic about them. Also, to ensure she'd never leave unless he is with her.
Originally, he was created for pragmatic purposes such as logistics and heuristic analysis. So, it won't be that difficult for him especially when she lost her memories of him thanks to his creator. His loathsome 'creator' who happened to be her father at that time.
That aside, it is time to set his plan into action.
[ Ｉ＇ｍ ｆｉｎｅ． Ｔｈａｎｋ ｙｏｕ！ Ｉｓ ｔｈｅｒｅ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ， ｙｏｕ ｎｅｅｄ ｏｆ ｍｅ？ Ｉ＇ｌｌ ａｎｓｗｅｒ ａｓ ｇｒｅａｔ ａｓ Ｉ ａｍ ａｂｌｅ ｔｏ．] Scp-079 offered as gentle and pleasing as a computer can muster.
"Oh, yes! I have loads of it, if you don't mind.", she replied starry eyed with excitement running through her blood at his offer.
Well, she knew it the foundation are screw ups. They lacked tact, when it comes with treating their A.I right.
#yandere#yandere x reader#yandere x you#yandere imagines#yandere fandoms#yancore#yandere scp#yandere scp 079 x reader#yandere scp 079#Part 1
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February 24, 2021: Annie Hall (1977) (Part 1)
Well...Woody Allen.
I, uh...OK, look, I could get into the whole Woody Allen thing, but INSTEAD of me doing that, I’ll just say this: look into it. Because there is a LOT on this subject, and it’s controversial as HELL. At the end of the day, I’ll recommend this upcoming series on HBO, and just recommend that you look into it.
Because, uh...yeah, it’s not great. That’s all I’m gonna say, because I need to educate myself on it more as well. Instead, let’s talk for a few seconds about divorcing the art from the artist. But ONLY for a few seconds.
I understand why some of you might be surprised I’m doing this one. Because, again...Woody Allen. But, yeah, I always try to do my best to divorce the art from the artist. Because some people suck, but they still make nice things, or at the very least, things that should be open to interpretation and appreciation.
“Superfreak” is a classic song of 1981, and everybody’s heard at least some of it, but Rick James fuckin’ kidnapped two women and kept them in his basement, WHERE HE TORTURED THEM. Edgar Degas made beautiful paintings of ballet dancers, and was also A MASSIVE ANTI-SEMITE. And before he was (RIGHTFULLY AND JUSTIFIABLY) outed as a roofie-ing piece-o-shit...I grew up with - and genuinely enjoyed - this guy’s comedy.
And you can judge me for this, but...I still think his stand-up was and is genuinely funny, and I still appreciate the cultural impact that The Cosby Show had on society’s perception of African-American families, divorced from the stereotype of the ghetto. Fact of the matter is, works themselves deserve to be separated from the artist who made them. That’s my philosophy, and I’m sticking with it Entirely fine to disagree with me, by the way, I get it.
But in that spirit, I’m watching Annie Hall, despite its creators likely transgressions. After all, this is technically his magnum opus, and it’s a good look into the man himself. And so, with that in mind: Annie Hall!
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap (1/2)
youtube
Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is talking directly to us about his outlook on life, and his view on the potential future. He tells half of a joke, then an amusing anecdote, and a bit more until telling us that he’s broke up with Annie, and he’s still thinking about it, trying to figure out exactly where things went wrong. He goes back to the beginning, which is punctuated with flashbacks.
He grew up in Brooklyn in World War II, and a young Alvy (Jonathan Munk) is with his mother (Joan Newman) at the doctor’s. He’s depressed after learning that the universe will one day end after a period of expansion, and is having his first real existential crisis. I had mine around the same age, actually, went I learned that the Earth will one day get swallowed by the sun. And THEN came the realization that I’d be dead by that point. AND THEN came the realization that I’d die one day, and that was a WHOLE NEW crisis to...anyway.
He grew up under the Coney Island rollercoaster according to him (although his analyst says that he exaggerates), and that’s what he blames for his “nervous personality. He’s also got an active imagination, often blurring fantasy and reality. His Dad ran the bumper cars on Coney Island (a place that I’ve never been, but desperately want to go).
He continues on talking about his former schoolmates, and not really that well. While in class, young Alvy kisses a...little girl...ahem. And then, when reprimanded by the teacher, current Alvy notes that he was always...like that...and he also says this to the little girl, and they talk about Freud’s latency period, and Alvy said he never...had...one...that’s uh...that’s fuckin’ SOMETHING, now isn’t it?
OK, well, shoving that forcefully aside as hard as I can, Alvy wonders aloud on where his classmates now, and one of them says this:
This also involves a little girl saying she’s “into leather,” which is...awkward as FUCK, but WE’RE GONNA MOVE THE FUCK ON. Alvy recounts his paranoia, and was so even after he became a famous comedian (which we say after a VERY good joke about qualifying for the army as a hostage). He speaks to a friend, Rob (Tony Roberts) about potential anti-Semitism from a person in a passersby meeting, then heads to meet Annie.
Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) arrives at a movie theater, late and in a bad mood. The two are late to their intended film, argue briefly, then head to another film that they’ve already seen, The Sorrow and the Pity. In line, they’re in front of a man loudly soliloquizing on film, much to Alvy’s annoyance.
Annie and Alvy continue to argue a bit, while Alvy openly berates the casual film critic. In the middle, he talks to the audience about it, only to be followed by the crtiic himself, who also acknowledges the audience! Huh! Anyway, he’s a professor at Columbia, and starts continuing his line speech, this time on the work of Marshall McLuhan, one of the most important early media theorists ever. And then, Alvy brings out Marshall McLuhan (Marshall McLuhan) to debate him on it, only for Alvy to turn to the audience and wish aloud that life could really be like this!
I’m beginning to understand why people like this film. It’s metacontextual before metacontextuality was really a thing in film. It’s a fourth-wall breaking movie in some fantastic ways. But will it still hold its muster after breaking the fourth wall’s become so commonplace? we’ll see, I guess.
After a showing of the film, the two return home, and Alvy tries to initiate sex. But Annie’s not really into it at the moment, and Alvy complains that they used to have sex all the time, and it’s been a while since. So, I guess that retroactively awkward scene at the school was meant to foreshadow Alvy’s high libido, that will probably cause some conflict in the film. Anyway, Annie notes that Alvy once went through something similar with Allison, his first wife. Who’s Allison? Flashback!
Allison Portchnik (Carol Kane) is a graduate student in political science, working for a campaign that Alvy’s about to perform for. He’s nervous, as he’s going on after another comedian. She comforts him by saying that she thought he was cute, and he does well. But we flash-forward to a night after they’re married, shortly after the death of JFK, which Alvy’s obsessing over, entertaining various conspiracy theories.
However, Allison rightly points out that his obsession is simply a way for him to avoid having sex with her, which mirrors the present-day situation him him and Annie. Flash forward TO Alvy and Annie, and there are just lobsters...everywhere, on the floor in their kitchen. After that commotion, they talk about Annie’s past romances.
And by talk about, I mean they LITERALLY WALK THROUGH her memories. And I gotta say...I fuckin’ love this method of storytelling. One of her previous boyfriends is an actor (John Glover), and his over-dramatic prose sickens Alvy. We see a second marriage of Alvy’s to New Yorker writer Robin (Janet Margolin), who’s dragged him to a stuffy high society party of intellectuals that he has no interest in going to. Same her, Alvy. I bet the caviar’s canned.
He tries to initiate sex with her - in the middle of the party, mind you - and she turns him down. later, when they get to it in their apartment, she’s unable to, uh...reach satisfaction. From there, we flash-forward after that marriage ends to a tennis match with Rob, where he meets one of his mutual friends: Annie Hall.
And for the record, Annie’s pretty obviously got a crush on him, and she’s adorable as fuck. Also, that outfit, real talk...that outfit rules. She offers to give Alvy a list, during which he’s quite worried about her driving, but the two still get along well enough. Annie’s an amateur photographer, during a time period where photography is considered a relatively new art form. The two go to her apartment, and share familial anecdotes and personal stories about themselves. And as they talk, we also see a set of subtitles on top of each of them that betray their inner feelings and thoughts.
I do genuinely like the stylings of the movie, goddamn. This conversation leads to Alvy asking her out on a date, although they end up scheduling it after Annie auditions at a nightclub as a singer. And while it doesn’t go great, Alvy tells her she was fantastic, and they share a kiss before they head to dinner. They head to her place afterwards, and we cut to later that night, post-coitus.
And then, we get a flash-forward back to the next day, where the two are at a bookstore, and Alvy speaks on his personal philosophy of life.
I'm obsessed with uh, with death, I think. Big - big subject with me, yeah. I have a very pessimistic view of life. You should know this about me if we're gonna go out. You know, I - I feel that life is - is divided up into the horrible and the miserable. Those are the two categories, you know. The - the horrible would be like, um, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. You know, and the miserable is everyone else. That's - that's - so - so - when you go through life - you should be thankful that you're miserable because you're very lucky to be miserable.
Iiiiinteresting.
Shortly into their relationship, they admit they’re in love (or “lurve”, as Alvy says). She moves in with Alvy, which he initially isn’t the biggest fan of, having been burned in two previous marriages And already, their relationship is showing a few bumps. Alvy’s also always trying to push her to take college classes, while she uses mariuana whenever they have sex, which Alvy doesn’t agree with.
But as they have sex one night, without the marijuana at Alvy’s urging, Annie’s mind wanders - LITERALLY.
This film...this film has a VERY unique style of visual storytelling, and I am HERE for it! Seriously, I genuinely love this method of storytelling and comedy, it’s extremely engaging to me.
Soon enough, Alvy gets an interview to write for a talk show host, which he ABSOLUTELY despises. But in doing so, he decides to go into stand-up for himself, and is actually quite successful at it! But before we get to that, we’re at the halfway point! See you in Part 2!
#annie hall#woody allen#diane keaton#tony roberts#carol kane#paul simon#shelley duvall#christopher walken#romance february#romance movie#romcom#romantic comedy#user365#365 movie challenge#365 movies 365 days#365 Days 365 Movies#365 movies a year
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THE ENEMY IS NOT A SKIN COLOR. THE ENEMY IS A CLASS.
White privilege. The phrase implies special rights. The phrase implies having a jumpstart in the race by way of DNA. What it doesn’t imply is that that white-skinned Jim or Judy is gonna win that race, just that the game is rigged in their favor.
I don’t hate the concept. The validity of it, I mean. It honestly rings some-kind-of-true in my brain when taking into consideration the general social status of people of color. But there’s a problem with it. Not in its validity, but in its generality, its assumption, and the overall affect it has on our society.
The biggest and most obvious problem with it is that there are tens of millions of white people (if not hundreds of millions worldwide), who are all struggling just to make ends meet (if they can at all). There are “poor white folk” everywhere. And there are white kids who are terrorized by their own parents. There are white boys and girls getting bullied at school or in their neighborhood. There are white people suffering at the hands of violent criminals, scam artists, corporations, policemen… And I’m not talking about white criminals suffering, here...
I worked with this insanely gorgeous blond who was one of several dozen (I don’t remember the actual number) of women who were raped by this cop in my city (San Diego). He’d follow them from clubs, pull them over, take what he wanted from them, then send them on their way. He got away with it up until he didn’t, but how many cops still do? His choice of victim was young and white, as are most serial killer victims, but does their skin color matter? In the sense that they’re preferred as targets, yes, but not in the sense of right and wrong. Their white skin, in this case, wasn’t doing them any favors.
But let’s get back to the topic at hand.
Is “white privilege” real?
Well that depends on what you consider “white privilege” to be, and I think that’s where our signals are getting crossed. I think that if you look at it on a more psychological level you’ll see that, yes, “white privilege” is a real thing in that “white people are less likely to be demonized or judged negatively based solely on their skin tone.” (But not on their appearance. If a white person is dressed like a thug, he/she is going to get negatively judged the same way a Hispanic would. Whereas vice versa, if a black person was dressed like a total bookworm, they’re going to get judged as such, not as a criminal.) But blacks being judged more often solely on skin color is 100% true. Black-skinned people have been demonized throughout our nation’s history (and many other nations) and this demonization, along with insidious, covert attacks on black communities by those in power, have caused two things (among a plethora of others, but two for the sake of my point). 1: It’s caused non-blacks who are not racist but are just recognizing the patterns they’ve been force-fed by the media, to unintentionally relate black-skin with ignorance, violence, and criminal behavior. And 2: It’s brought about disparity, anger, and emotional trauma in the black community that is the cause of the higher crime rates in those communities and more black-on-black crime than white-on-black crime (by the people, I mean. I’m not counting by the government because that’s a whole other fuck-storm of shit that isn’t only aimed at blacks, but at any who are considered “lower-class,” which, yes, the majority of blacks in our country are. That’s not to say there are more poor black people than poor white people. I really doubt that’s the case. But the percentage of blacks or other minorities who are poor vs the percentage of whites who are is likely leaning in the direction of exactly what makes “white privilege” a valid argument. But I’m not a “facts” guy. The numbers are just ways to distract from the problem, so you’re not gonna catch me quoting them to cry foul on the BLM movement. The reality is that yes, there are probably more poor white people total than blacks in this country, but the psychology, the demonization of blacks, is a real thing.)
But there’s a problem with looking at this as “white privilege.” Number one: if we do that we (unintentionally) discredit any white person who is or has suffered. Those who are, or have suffered, will absolutely not take kindly to being told that they are “privileged”. And what happens when they are told this? It makes anyone with white skin who has suffered or is suffering (and there’s a fuck ton of us) think to themselves, “Oh, fuck no! You think I got it good? You think you’re the only one who has problems? You think you’re the only one who’s getting fucked by the system? Well fuck you, and your white privileged bullshit excuse to whine to the guilt-ridden middle class to get your free handouts! The government has fucked me over more times than I can count!” And what does this mind-state do? It creates a racial class-war between those who have white skin and are suffering, and those who have black/brown skin and are suffering. And who wins in this scenario? If you guessed “the upper-class” you get a prize. (Whatchoo want, a fuzzy bear? A goldfish in a plastic tub? G’ahead. Pick something nice out. You earned it.) So now you got poor white people with guns itching to shoot any black person with or without a gun who supports a movement that indirectly claims that their suffering is invalid. And what does this “civil class war” accomplish? It creates more “criminals” for the fucking private-owned prisons to make money off of, further separating the upper-class from the lower, creating more suffering, more anger, more hate, MORE RACISM.
So is white privilege real? Psychologically, yes, to the extent that our society psychologically favors white skin over black/brown. But has it ever made me any more money? No. Has it ever stopped the cops from pulling me over and searching my car? Fuck no. I’ve been detained, searched, followed, fined, towed, impounded, harassed more than most people you know, regardless of your color. I’ve lost count of how many damn times I’ve been harassed by the cops in my city. Shit, I wrote a goddamn rap song about it back in the early 2000’s called SDPD, smashing on the fuckers for harassing a guy who was just trying to get by. And I was NEVER a criminal. I NEVER had any weapons or hard drugs (ok, some pills and plenty of pot, but…), I was NEVER robbing anyone or breaking into cars or homes or gang banging (maybe just a smidge of graffiti, but that shit’s art), or causing any kind of…ok, no, there was some drunken shenanigans, for sure, but that was mostly my boys, not me. Lol The point is, being white DID NOT stop me from getting constantly harassed by the cops in my city. You know what did? A new car, less homies in the ride, no smoke blowing from the windows, and a slightly more tempered demeanor while driving. I still bump my rap music, but I’m not in a car full of teenage “trouble-makers”. I still speed, but I come to a complete stop at them signs, bruh. I still run red lights, but I look reeeal fucking carefully when I do. I still zip in-and-out of lanes on the freeway, but I keep it below 80 (mostly). So the only thing that’s changed is that I “appear” to have more money (with a nicer ride), and I show more maturity in being on the road. My skin color hasn’t changed, but my run-ins with the cops have.
The bottom line: Crying out “white privilege” ain’t gonna help anyone but the rich who’re sitting back and raking in the dough off all the drama and weapon sales and fines and arrests and damaged property that needs to be rebuilt. So don’t make our society’s problem about a skin color. When you do that you divide people into groups when you should be uniting them. Divided we fall. I know most of your intentions are righteous, (and this goes out to white people too who’re acknowledging their “privilege”), but you’re doing it wrong. You’re creating enemies by unintentionally discrediting anyone with white skin who has suffered at the hands of the system, claiming that you own the rights (the privilege?) of deciding that they’re the ones who are privileged, all while they’re slowly rotting in inequity right beside you.
THE ENEMY IS NOT A SKIN COLOR. THE ENEMY IS A CLASS.
And that class is the rich. The 1%.
Are most of them white? Yes. But will that stop them from stealing money from poor white people? From bankrupting small businesses with corporate industry? From putting blue-collar white people out of work and replacing them with machines? From taking their homes when they can’t pay back their loans? From putting them in prison when they fight back right next to you for equality? No. Because the 1% only care about profit, and they don’t care who they have to manipulate, rob, demoralize, or demonize to get it, or what skin color those people have. Let’s get our heads right. Open them angry eyes and see who the enemy really is. And fight THAT enemy, not the enemy that their manipulation has created for you.
How? The real solution to “white privilege” and inequity and inequality is a very simple concept but an incredibly complex task. It involves creating a society where money is obsolete. When this happens there will be no more inequality. There will be no “superpowers” or 1%. There will be no poor. There will be no rich. There will be no profit other than the profit of betterment, progress, knowledge, discovery, science, quality of living. But there’s only one way to make money obsolete, and that’s by removing labor from our society. Sound crazy? That’s because you don’t realize how close we are to doing it anyway. A fully automated society is right around the bend, my dudes. We have the technology to make ALL LABOR OBSOLETE, in which case no one will have to work, in which case money will have no significance. What will have significance? RESOURCES. But this is a topic I’ve discussed before and will again soon and more directly. So for now what can we do? We demand a society that serves the people’s interests, not the corporations’. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how to this because I’m not into politics, I’m into actual change, not perpetuating the same system that’s fucking us all. My advice? Start spreading the concept of a RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY as loud and as often as you can. This type of society eliminates corruption and inequity and is only just now becoming possible thanks to advancements in technology. Look into it. Spread the word. AND STOP CREATING SEGREGATION AMONG OUR PEOPLE. Please, for fuck’s sake, stop adding to our problems and start moving towards eliminating them. #fightsmarter2020 Thanks for reading. -cc
#fightsmarter2020#white privilege#white guilt#BLM#blm movement#all lives matter#one world one people#better together#one love#the venus project#George Carlin#2020wtf#rant#philosophy#end racism#psychology#the cabal#1%ers#the cult#corporatocracy#fed cartel#federal cartel
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“The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy.” by Rev. Dr. William Barber II, March 30, 2020. (complete text below)
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The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, yet millions of American families have had to set up crowdfunding sites to try to raise money for their loved ones’ medical bills. Millions more can buy unleaded gasoline for their car, but they can’t get unleaded water in their homes. Almost half of America’s workers—whether in Appalachia or Alabama, California or Carolina—work for less than a living wage. And as school buildings in poor communities crumble for lack of investment, America’s billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than the poorest half of households.
This moral crisis is coming to a head as the coronavirus pandemic lays bare America’s deep injustices. While the virus itself does not discriminate, it is the poor and disenfranchised who will experience the most suffering and death. They’re the ones who are least likely to have health care or paid sick leave, and the most likely to lose work hours. And though children appear less vulnerable to the virus than adults, America’s nearly forty million poor and low-income children are at serious risk of losing access to food, shelter, education, and housing in the economic fallout from the pandemic.
The underlying disease, in other words, is poverty, which was killing nearly 700 of us every day in the world’s wealthiest country, long before anyone had heard of COVID-19.
The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy. It is only a minority rule sustained by voter suppression and gerrymandering that subverts the will of the people. To redeem the soul of America—and survive a pandemic—we must have a moral fusion movement that cuts across race, gender, class, and cultural divides.
The United States has always been a nation at odds with its professed aspirations of equality and justice for all—from the genocide of original inhabitants to slavery to military aggression abroad. But there have been periods in our history when courageous social movements have made significant advances. We must learn from those who’ve gone before us as we strive to build a movement that can tackle today’s injustices—and help all of us survive.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, African Americans who had just escaped slavery joined with white allies to form coalitions that won control of nearly every southern legislature. These Reconstruction-era political alliances enacted new constitutions that advanced moral agendas, including, for the first time, the right to public education.
During the Great Depression, farmers, workers, veterans, and others rose up to demand bold government action to ease the pain of the economic crisis on ordinary Americans. This led to New Deal policies, programs, and public works projects that we still benefit from today, such as Social Security and basic labor protections.
Pushed by these movements, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even called in 1944 for an economic bill of rights, declaring: “We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”
During what I like to call the “Second Reconstruction” over the following decades, a coalition of blacks and progressive whites began dismantling the racist Jim Crow laws and won key legislative victories, including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act.
With each period of advancement has come a formidable backlash. This is how we find ourselves today, in the year 2020, with levels of economic inequality as severe as during the original Gilded Age a century ago. Since the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision, Americans have had fewer voting rights protections than we did fifty-five years ago, while thanks to the earlier Citizens United ruling, corporations can invest unlimited sums of money to influence elections.
In response to fair tax reforms, the wealthy have used their economic clout to slash their IRS bills, cutting the top marginal income tax rate from more than 90 percent in the 1950s to 37 percent today. In response to the hard-fought wins of the labor movement, corporate lobbyists have rammed through one anti-worker law after another, slashing the share of U.S. workers protected by unions nearly in half, from 20.1 percent in 1983 to just 10.5 percent in 2018.
Decades after Depression-era reforms, Wall Street fought successfully to deregulate the financial system, paving the way for the 2008 financial crash that caused millions to lose their homes and livelihoods. And the ultra-rich and big corporations have also managed to dominate our campaign finance system, making it easier for them to buy off politicians who commit to rigging the rules against the poor and the environment, and to suppress voting rights, making it harder for the poor to fight back.
Our military budgets continue to rise, now grabbing more than fifty-three cents of every discretionary federal dollar to pay for wars abroad and pushing our ability to pay for health care for all, for a Green New Deal, for jobs and education, and infrastructure, further and further away.
In short, the official measure of poverty doesn’t begin to touch the depth and breadth of economic hardship in the world’s wealthiest nation, where 40 percent of us can’t afford a $400 emergency.
The wars that those military budgets fund continue to escalate. They don’t make us safer, and they’ve led to the deaths of thousands of poor people in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and beyond, as well as the displacement of millions of refugees, the destruction of water sources, and the contamination of the environments of whole countries.
The only ones who benefit are the millionaire CEOs of military companies, who are getting richer every year on the more than $350 billion—half the military budget—that goes directly to their corporations. In the meantime 23,000 low-ranking troops earn so little that they and their families qualify for food stamps.
Key to these rollbacks: controlling the narrative about who is poor in America and the world. It is in the interest of the greedy and the powerful to perpetuate myths of deservedness—that they deserve their wealth and power because they are smarter and work harder, while the poor deserve to be poor because they are lazy and intellectually inferior.
It’s also in their interest to perpetuate the myth that the poverty problem has largely been solved and so we needn’t worry about the rich getting richer—even while our real social safety net is full of gaping holes. This myth has been reinforced by our deeply flawed official measurements of poverty and economic hardship.
The way the U.S. government counts who is poor and who is not, frankly, is a sixty-year-old mess that doesn’t tell us what we need to know. It’s an inflation-adjusted measure of the cost of a basket of food in 1955 relative to household income, adjusted for family size—and it’s still the way we measure poverty today.
But this measure doesn’t account for the costs of housing, child care, or health care, much less twenty-first-century needs like internet access or cell phone service. It doesn’t even track the impacts of anti- poverty programs like Medicaid or the earned income tax credit, obscuring the role they play in reducing poverty.
In short, the official measure of poverty doesn’t begin to touch the depth and breadth of economic hardship in the world’s wealthiest nation, where 40 percent of us can’t afford a $400 emergency.
In a report with the Institute for Policy Studies, the Poor People’s Campaign found that nearly 140 million Americans were poor or low-income—including more than a third of white people, 40 percent of Asian people, approximately 60 percent each of indigenous people and black people, and 64 percent of Latinx people. LGBTQ people are also disproportionately affected.
Further, the very condition of being poor in the United States has been criminalized through a system of racial profiling, cash bail, the myth of the Reagan-era “Welfare Queen,” arrests for things such as laying one’s head on a park bench, passing out food to unsheltered people, and extraordinary fines and fees for misdemeanors such as failing to use a turn signal, and simply walking while black or trans.
We are a nation crying out for security, equity, and justice. We need racial equity. We need good jobs. We need quality public education. We need a strong social safety net. We need health care to be understood as a human right for all of us. We need security for people living with disabilities. We need to be a nation that opens our hearts and neighborhoods to immigrants. We need safe and healthy environments where our children can thrive instead of struggling to survive.
With the coronavirus pandemic bringing our country’s equally urgent poverty crisis into stark relief, we cannot simply wait for change. It must come now.
America is an imperfect nation, but we have made important advancements against interconnected injustices in the past.
We can do it again, and we know how. Now is the time to fight for the heart and soul of this democracy.
***
Rev. Dr. William Barber II is a co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival.
Read more by Rev. Dr. William Barber II
Source: https://progressive.org/magazine/real-epidemic-poverty-barber/
Note: the title of this article, and the purpose of this post, is not meant to diminish the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic in any way.
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When Love Walks In - Chpt 1
Chapter One - The Accident
(Hi there. This is my first fanfiction and writing of any kind really. I’ve been inspired by those writers who have gone before me. Thank you for your incredible efforts, talent and bravery.
This will be a multi-chapter love story and work of pure fiction using Auston Matthews as the inspiration for the main character of the same name and Dr Quinn Tolpa as a character I created myself.
I’ve purposely refrained from describing the appearance of the female lead character, Dr Quinn, as I want you to imagine her as you see her in your mind.
Also, please keep in mind that I am in no way knowledgable about the medical profession and have based any medical references on my own minor research. So please forgive any inaccuracies.
Potential triggers: Life-threatening hockey accident involving the throat. Coma. Surgery. Ventilator. Some swear words. I will mark when Sex/Smut Scenes are coming up. I hope you enjoy the ride. It’s going to be a good one and worth getting past the setup chapters.) 3389 words
Chapter One - The Accident
It is late in the third period of a tied Game 7 of the 2024/25 Stanley Cup finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New Jersey Devils when 27-year-old Auston Matthews of the Leafs, takes a puck, from the Devils’ defence, squarely to his throat.
The Toronto home crowd falls eerily silent and holds a collective, horrified breath. You can tell that the Leaf players on the ice are not aware that the puck hit Auston directly in the throat. As the whistle blows, the Leafs’ trainers and medical staff rush to help Auston, who is thrashing in pain on the ice. Everyone now has a chance to look up at the replay on the JumboTron. The mouths of Auston’s teammates and coaches drop in unison along with the crowd, followed by audible gasps of, “My God!”
As soon as the trainers can get to Auston, he manages to stand up but then immediately collapses into unconsciousness. The capacity crowd’s screams echo throughout the arena at the drama of it all. As everyone watches, four of Auston’s teammates rush to pick up their friend and get him to the Leafs’ medical room as quickly as possible.
What is sure at this point, is that Auston’s airway has been cut off from the impact of the shot to his Larynx. He is unconscious and not breathing as he lays on the treatment table in the dressing room. An emergency Tracheotomy is performed on-site by the team’s medical doctor, to get Auston breathing again.
Auston is still unconscious, but breathing with the help of the Thrach, oxygen supply and EMS, as he is rushed by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital for life-saving surgery.
Auston’s parents, Brian and Ema and his two sisters, Alexandria (older) and Breyana (younger), manage to get down to the Leafs’ dressing room within minutes of the accident and are ushered straightaway to a police car which escorts them to join up with Auston at the hospital. Upon their arrival, Auston’s parents are signing releases and authorizations on behalf of their son, for the hospital medical staff.
A still unconscious Auston arrives at the Emergency Department of Mount Sinai Hospital, with Leafs’ medical staff in tow, to a team of surgeons and medical staff awaiting his arrival. They immediately usher Auston, via stretcher, into an exam room where what remains of his hockey equipment is cut off. They first ensure that Auston’s airway is maintained. The staff take Auston’s vitals along with scans and a full body assessment. Since it is immediately clear that Auston is suffering from a crushed Larynx and likely vocal cord damage, the doctors on duty, without hesitation, summon Dr Quinn Tolpa.
Dr Quinn, as she prefers to be called, lives in a high rise condo located within 10 minutes of the hospital. It’s around 10 pm, and she has just returned home from a late Pilate’s class and subsequent shower. As she thinks to go turn on the TV to see if the City is going to erupt any time soon by the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in over 50 years, her pager goes off. The message reads, Paging Dr Quinn Tolpa, Medical Emergency, Laryngeal Trauma, etc., Theatre 3, M.S.H, time 10:03. She replies, texting her ETA and hurries to change her clothes, feeling relieved that she already showered at the gym. She rushes to her car in the parking garage and begins to wonder about road conditions. If the Leafs have already won the Cup, then she will be in trouble as the traffic will be insane. As she drives out of the garage, she sees it is quiet on the streets, almost eerily quiet.
In little time, Dr Quinn arrives on-site and starts getting into her scrubs in the room attached to Theatre 3. The other doctors and medical staff greet her and thank her for coming so quickly.
“We have ourselves a VIP of sorts in there, Dr Quinn, so no pressure”, an attending doctor jokes nervously to ease the tension.
“I’m sorry, Doctor, what?” Quinn replies, confused as she starts to prep.
Realizing there is no time to get into who the patient is, the attending physician replies, “Not important, Dr Quinn. NHL hockey player is all.” He begins briefing her on what transpired and his assessment.
Dr Quinn has just finished scrubbing up when the doctor completes his briefing. She has a few questions for the doctor and medical staff about Auston’s vitals and how he is responding to treatments already given, which they answer to her satisfaction.
She takes a look at Auston’s scan results as well as the results from his standard tests and then moves over to where he lays on the operating table. She quickly runs her own physical evaluation. All indications are that Auston’s Larynx has been severely crushed and will need intricate repair before the bleeding stops. She will address his airway, breathing and collapsed lung to get him stabilized.
The attending doctor notes, “We understand he was about 4 feet from the player who fired the puck.”
Dr Quinn is shocked by the image that races across her mind. “Four feet away! Dear Lord!” She draws in a deep breath and exhales.
All the medical support staff have eyes on Dr Quinn as they assume their positions. Taking command of the room, she rallies, “Okay, everyone, let’s save this young man’s life.”
After 2 hours of her expert, delicate and intricate surgery, Auston is in stable condition. It is time for her to speak with his family. But before Dr Quinn can find them, the other doctor pulls her aside to explain who, precisely, this patient is that she just finished operating on.
“Auston Matthews?” She repeats as a question. She has heard the name before but had never paid much attention as she had been focused intensely on her career over the last number of years. But, having been born and raised in the City of Toronto, she, of course, knows who the Leafs are and how important they are to the City. She also knows that the Leafs were playing in the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs because, unless you live under a rock, no one in the City could be unaware of that fact.
Dr Quinn is a bit embarrassed to be a Torontonian at this moment; not knowing much about the City’s esteemed hockey superstar who she has just helped. She has to remind herself that during the past nine years of her life, she did not have the luxury of dividing her time and energy to much outside of her education and career. Becoming a Medical Doctor, surgeon and then rising through the ranks at breakneck speed to become Canada’s youngest specialist in the field of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery as well as an internationally recognised leader in the field of vocal cord reconstruction had been her focus and a huge one at that.
Dr Quinn walks towards the ‘family quiet room’ where she’s told Auston’s family are waiting. She taps on the door, and it is opened by a tall, broad-shouldered man who Dr Quinn assumes to be Auston’s father. There are three women in the room whom she believes to be Auston’s mother and sisters, as well as a few men wearing Leafs’ jackets whom she guesses are from the Leafs’ organization. There is no escaping that they are all torn apart by Auston’s accident. Their wet, swollen eyes and red faces reflect their intense pain and fear. Dr Quinn’s heart sinks to see them all in such distress. She wants desperately to reassure them.
“Hello, my name is Dr Quinn Tolpa, please call me Dr Quinn. I just performed surgery on Auston”, she announces as she reaches her hand out to shake hands with and learn the names of the loved ones of her newest patient.
“He’s in stable condition right now, and staff are currently transferring him to the Intensive Care Unit on the 4th floor. The 2-hour surgery included completing a Tracheostomy and hooking him up to a Ventilator. A cuffed tube was inserted and inflated to make sure that the only air in his throat is coming from the Ventilator, which will allow Auston’s throat and Larynx to heal without interference. I repaired Auston’s Larynx. I also drained blood from his lungs as it had caused one of his lungs to collapse.”
There is a burst of relief, followed by a lot of ‘thanks to God’. They hug each other and sob in relief.
Dr Quinn continues, “I understand how scary this all must be for you. Please know that Auston is in the best possible place given his type of injury and that we will do everything within our power to help Auston make as full a recovery as possible. I can tell you that the surgery was successful in repairing his damaged Larynx and in doing so, we removed the obstruction from his airway and stopped the bleeding. While Auston is in a stable state right now, that is not of his own doing. We have him on a Ventilator and have placed him in a medically induced Coma, which is giving him a chance to heal his Larynx and vocal cords as well as to stave off any brain damage. We can’t rule out brain damage or a concussion since he stopped receiving oxygen for a time at the arena and he hit his head on the ice after he passed out. He is going to stay in the induced Coma for at least five days, and at such time we will be able to assess his progress and alleviate any further issues he may present.”
“I know I’m overloading you with information right now but want you to know where things stand at the moment and what to expect in the next little while where Auston’s concerned. Since I will be Auston’s attending medical specialist, please know that you can consult with me on his condition at any time. I am perfectly happy to repeat any of this information back to you, so don’t hesitate to ask me any questions you may have. Here is my card with my contact information. Day or night, please know that I am here for you all.” Dr Quinn reassures them as she hands each of them her card.
Dr Quinn continues, “Okay, so specifically, we diagnosed Auston with Laryngeal Trauma, which means a crushed Larynx, which I understand was caused by a puck hitting his throat at high speed and close range. The priority was to secure his airway, which was done by the Leafs’ medical staff at the arena by performing a crude Tracheotomy. By accounts, it appears that this procedure was done within the time limits to avoid brain damage, but we will not know for certain until Auston regains consciousness. When Auston arrived here, we ran scans, X-rays, tests and assessments to determine the extent of the damage to his Larynx. His Larynx was so badly crushed it was by far the most challenging surgical repair of fractured and internal lacerations I have ever had to make, but I’m pleased with how well it went.”
“Also, in 5 days, I expect to perform what is called a Microlaryngoscopy and Bronchoscopy, in order to re-assess the healing process and attend to any issues that may present themselves by that time. If all goes well then, Auston should be cleared to be woken from his Coma. At that time, we will have him on complete voice rest until he can breathe on his own and his airway heals. Also, we should be able to evaluate any brain damage, concussion symptoms, how well or not his vocal cords are mending and whether he has any diminished breathing abilities or difficulties swallowing”, she explains.
Now she has to tell them what they need to know but will scare the hell out of them. “Since vocal cords are next to the Larynx and Auston’s are severely crushed, there is a chance that they will not be able to join together as they heal, which will cause Auston to have trouble speaking. But, I want you to know that I have been heading a team that has been pioneering research in the area of vocal cord rejuvenation and there is a new technique that we have developed that is providing a chance where there was none previously. If it comes down to that, I want you to know there is some hope. Results of applying this new technique have proven to be highly successful in trials. It is ground-breaking, and I want you to know about it as it has been my primary objective to find a way to bring hope to patients who previously had none in such cases. Oh, and last thing, Auston’s collapsed lung should recover in a couple of days and is common when there is bleeding from trauma to the Larynx. We will, of course, monitor Auston for everything”, Dr Quinn draws in a deep breath and waits a moment for a response.
“Can we see him now?” They plead in unison.
Relieved that they seem to have accepted what she just told them, she answers, “Yes, I’ll take you up in a moment. You can stay in the room with Auston, day and night. You can sleep in the reclining chairs in the room. Unfortunately, there are only two reclining chairs that will fit in the space, but they are more comfy and supportive than you might expect. I believe it is of great importance that family be able to stay with their loved ones overnight and get as good a sleep as possible. Families provide love and support, which is essential in speeding up the healing process. Being close to the patient also gives families some measure of control in an often uncontrollable situation. We have pillows and blankets, so please ask the nurse.”
“Doctor? When my son is in Coma, can he hear me?” Auston’s mother asks hopefully in her broken English.
“Mrs Matthews, I am sorry that he will not be able to understand what you say since a medically induced coma is a deep state of unconsciousness, leaving the sounds with no consciousness to reach. However, please do not let that deter you from talking, singing or reading to Auston. There have been claims that other senses are at work that pick up on vibrations, energy etc. and may subconsciously bring peace and comfort to your boy. It can also be comforting to you as well”, Dr Quinn explains with compassion that the family can feel.
“If you would like to follow me, I can take you upstairs to Intensive Care now.” Dr Quinn leads the group to the elevator and up to the 4th floor. Everyone is silent as they all try to process the information they have just received.
“Please stay in the waiting room for one moment while I confirm that things are ready”, She asks the group as she heads into the Intensive Care Unit.
Auston’s family is too worked up to sit down, so they stand there while the team staff members take a seat as they plan to give the family privacy to visit Auston and make their update calls to Leafs’ management.
“Hi, Angels? How’s it going with our patient, Mr Matthews?” Dr Quinn asks the two attending nurses, Nicole and Kelly.
“He’s all set up Dr Quinn,” Nicole informs.
“Doctor, are you aware that this is Auston Matthews? You know, the superstar hockey player that plays for the Leafs?” Kelly asks.
“Yeah, that’s what they tell me. Auston was playing in the Stanley Cup final game and got a puck to the throat”, Dr Quinn shivers as she reacts to her own words. “Poor guy, eh? Hey, do you know if the Leafs ended up winning?” She asks.
“No, we haven’t heard anything. It’s been pretty busy in here tonight”, both nurses chime in.
Dr Quinn adds, “Well, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. I don’t know what to hope for because if the team won, then Auston missed out and if the team lost, then he’ll be devastated and so will the City. What a no-win situation. In any event, I’m going to get Auston’s family now. They are lovely people. Afterwards, I will get the attending doctor up to speed and fill out some paperwork. Any questions before I go?”
“No, we read the file and know what to do. Should be fine Dr Quinn”, the nurses confirm with confidence.
“Okay, good. I’ll go get the family”, Dr Quinn announces.
“Thanks, Doctor”, the nurses replied.
“Thank you, Angels!” Quinn adds, as she always does, to show her appreciation for all they do. “Ha, so I guess you’re Auston’s Angels now ladies”, she jokes to lighten the mood, and they chuckle.
Dr Quinn returns to Auston’s waiting family and announces that the room and Auston are ready for them.
“I just want to give you a heads up that Auston is hooked up to some large machines to help him breathe, monitor his vitals, give him his fluids and administer his medications. Please don’t be alarmed as this is all normal procedure in such cases”, Dr Quinn informs them.
“Thank you, Dr Quinn, from the bottom of our hearts for everything you have done and will do for our boy”, Auston’s father says as his voice drips with emotion. The rest of the family mumble the same, sniffling as they each take turns hugging Quinn tight, trying to convey their appreciation.
“Please call us by our first names, Dr Quinn. We are family now”, Ema insists.
“Sure. I’m happy to be able to help. Please follow me”, Dr Quinn instructs as she leads them towards Auston’s room.
The family pass in front of Dr Quinn to get to Auston’s bed. Quiet gasps and sobs from the group mingle with the pulse and hiss of the breathing machine keeping Auston alive. Ema hugs and kisses her son, crying she tells him in Spanish that she doesn’t know what she’ll do if he doesn’t pull through. Brian, standing behind Ema with his hand on her back has tears pouring down his devastated, hand covered face. Alex and Bre approach Auston from the other side of the bed, youngest wrapped in the arm of the oldest. Standing next to their brother, they take hold of his hand and wipe tears from their red cheeks. As they gasp for air, they tell Auston they love him, know he will triumph over this like he does everything and that he is the best brother ever.
Dr Quinn tries to remain stoic. After making sure everyone is okay and settled, she excuses herself from the room and heads over to the Intensive Care station to speak to the attending doctor, finish up some paperwork and make some calls. Then she hears it.
“They lost!” one of the nurses announces loudly.
Dr Quinn rushes over to the nurse standing about 5 feet from her, to explain the situation and ask her to please keep the news to herself.
Although the news crushes Dr Quinn, she also has a strong feeling wash over her that it will all be okay in the end. She has no idea why she feels this way, but it calms her entire being.
Dr Quinn informs Auston’s family that she is going home to get some sleep as she has worked 13 hours in the last 24 hour period. She introduces them to the attending Doctor, Dr Higgins and reassures them that she is merely a phone call away if they need to speak to her before her 9 am return.
Dr Quinn returns to her condo. She knows this upcoming week will be a trying one for her, Auston’s family and the City of Toronto. Tired, Dr Quinn rests in the knowledge that her hard work and studies might be able to turn this tragic situation into a positive outcome. She resolves that she is determined to do that for Auston, his family and the City of Toronto. She will be the Superstar that everyone needs right now. This is her chance to do what she has been training for her whole life. This is her Cup moment, so to speak.
#Auston Matthews#Auston Matthews Fanfiction#Auston Matthews Imagine#NHL fanfiction#NHL imagine#Love Story
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The Violence of Demanding “Peaceful” Protest
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, dozens of U.S. cities have be rocked with unrest, ranging from small protests to open rebellion and riots. In watching coverage of the protests over the last week, several predictable issues and themes have emerged in how these protests are being framed by city and state leaders, police, and mainstream media outlets. I think that those of us who are committed to anti-racist politics need to directly grapple with some of these frames if we are going to shift how our collective efforts to challenge racism and injustice are understood going forward, for the wider public and for ourselves:
1.) “Outside agitators”
Both the governments and the media are going all in on dividing the good vs bad, legitimate vs illegitimate protesters, in order to control the unrest by turning people’s sympathies against it. They will say they support the cause but not the methods, but these are crocodile tears. They will cite MLK as a weapon against black protest, but it was MLK who said that his biggest enemy was the white moderate who valued order over the struggle for justice. It is these same moderates who condemn rioters rather than blame those in power who make riots inevitable.
The city government leaders are just lying, point blank, saying that the people who are doing anything other than quietly praying in their Sunday best are outside agitators. They have no evidence of this at all, and there is actual evidence from arrest records that most people vigorously protesting enough to be arrested are locals. This is an old tactic, and is used around the world by those in power seeking to discredit energetic social and political movements.
MLK felt compelled to condemn this rhetorical tactic, since it is the same one that was used by Jim Crow mayors and sheriffs against him and other civil rights protesters. The most important of his numerous criticisms here is that *it does not matter* if someone comes from elsewhere to stand with those protesting injustice. Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere: the logic of domination and oppression breeds and spreads, and produces further domination and oppression, while insensitivity to injustice anywhere breeds insensitivity to other injustices. We are all woven into a single garment of destiny, and cannot pretend that any injustice could (or should) stay parochially contained.
2.) Violent vs peaceful protests
Those who condemn property damage during protests should reflect on a few specific points:
First, tactically, riots and the damage they cause raise the economic and political cost of continuing with the everyday violence of business as usual, and have been an integral part of successful struggles for democracy and equality throughout history. This increase in cost can force elites to make concessions, and shift what counts as an acceptable policy bargain to buy peace again. Polite tactics have not worked whatsoever to ease the systemic racial and class inequalities and violence of places like Minneapolis. What else is left, besides people of color opting to die without a fuss?
Second, the human costs of continuing business as usual, from the early deaths and sicknesses imposed by police violence, racism, poverty, lack of healthcare, environmental racism, stress, etc, are incomprehensibly massive. They are far higher than any costs from these riots, at a minimum producing hundreds of thousands of early deaths in the U.S. a year.
This means that if you are opposed to “violence”, then you must prioritize ending these systemic conditions over the flash in the pan of any riot damage. It also means that if you truly oppose violence, then you must consider what given tactics *do* about this systemic and state-enforced violence. If your “peaceful” tactics don’t pose a threat to the continuation of a violent status quo, and even help sustain it by institutionally channeling, containing, and de-fanging challenges to it, then those measures are *more violent* in what they produce than riotous street clashes or mass strikes that compel actual concessions and change.
3.) Property damage as “violence”
Conceptually, calling broken windows, burnt cars and looting “violence” is extremely dubious in it’s implications. It puts unexpected forms of damage to or destruction of things as such in the same moral continuum as human suffering, and conveniently only those things that pose a direct threat to the people who own the world. Legal material destruction, of course — such as through a manufacturer shuttering and offshoring a factory (and with it a community’s ability to thrive), or a developer destroying poor people’s housing to put up empty luxury condos for investment, or a company spilling pollutants into the environment and our bodies — is never really framed as “violent”, even though it is more widespread and destructive.
Calling property damage violence also ignores the violence entailed simply by the state-backed imposition of particular rules and distributions of property. Property isn’t just stuff, it is also the rules for deciding who will be denied the right to use that stuff, and how that denial will be legitimized. If you’re concerned about looting, consider it in light of this.
The current distribution of resources is the result of racist state violence, centuries of openly white supremacist policies, imperialism, and exploitation. No honest person can disagree. It cannot be considered just or moral. Even in market terms, it cannot be considered a result of consent or fair competition. The pitifully low wage exploitation perpetuated by retail outlets in these areas are a product of these violently imposed unjust conditions and systems, and is itself a looting of the time, sweat, and well-being of people who are not truly free to do otherwise.
What, then, justifies condemnation of people’s attempts to grab goods that alleviate conditions of violently imposed and flatly unjust conditions of inequality and poverty? If just distributions are blocked politically, then how can we condemn what essentially amounts to material self defense against illegitimately imposed conditions?
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4.) On looting during protests
Charges that people looting are acting opportunistically, or without pure enough motives make the mistake of thinking that pursuing material enhancement amidst unjust conditions is at odds with, rather than a central component of the demand for dismantling systemic racism. This isn’t separate from the fight against police brutality, since policing as such, as well as police brutality in particular are historically and tightly connected to state efforts to maintain racial and class inequalities and property rules under American capitalism. Demanding saintly selflessness from rioters is a dehumanizing double standard, and itself undercuts the legitimacy of demands for material justice and restitution.
Insofar as looting contributes to raising the cost for elites to ignore an unjust status quo, we can consider looting to be a useful element in producing an actually status quo-threatening pressure for concessions and change. Depending on the target (or Target), we may even say that it is ethically obligatory, if we take the struggle against violence seriously.
***
Ultimately, whenever those in power attempt to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate protesters during times of social unrest, this should be interpreted as nothing more than a classic divide and conquer tool designed to make the unrest more manageable and to divert a fraction of the less demanding participants towards the least costly (to those in power) concessions. It means they are scared. It also means we should investigate what it is that they are truly scared of losing — and what we stand to gain.
The world.
by Justin Mueller
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Some Kind Of Folliful (New Chapter)
Edgelord!Dan x ObliviousBisexual!Phil AU [CHAPTER THREE]
(based off the 80′s classic Some Kind of Wonderful)
Synopsis: Dan has one friend, and only because he was forced into it. Phil is loud, excitable, and irritatingly happy all of the time. He seems to find Dan’s perpetual attitude funny, and despite Dan’s best efforts to shun him and everyone else, wants to be around him all the time. That is, until Phil starts talking about Amanda Jones.
Word Count: WIP (Estimated 12-15 chapters) updates every Tuesday
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Smoking, swearing, implied prostitution, broken home, class divide/classism, pining, light homophobia, sex
[Chapter One]
[Chapter Two]
[Ao3]
True to his word, Phil asks Amanda out that very same day. He begs and pleads with Dan to come with him for ‘moral support’, so Dan is forced to watch the entire shit-show unfold. The only upside is that Dan is able to bum a cigarette off Lee, the annoying Year Ten kid who constantly hangs around him. Lee seems to be under some mistaken impression that Dan is someone to be idolised. Dan doesn’t condone underage smoking, but he’s desperate; watching Phil ask Amanda Jones on a date is going to require some kind of narcotic. Lee offers a full packet to him while they wait on the low wall outside school, watching Phil dither in the parking lot. He’s decided to wait for Amanda by her friend Lilian’s car, because now that she and Hardy are no longer speaking, Amanda will almost definitely be travelling home this way. Dan drags on his cigarette, just about resisting the urge to moan as the nicotine rushes through his veins.
Phil’s plan is stupid, in Dan’s opinion. Lilian is a stuck up bitch, possibly the worst of all the Elite girls; if she’s there to influence Amanda’s decision, then Phil's slim chance of actually persuading Amanda to go out with him will be drastically reduced. Dan's advice was to find Amanda alone somehow, but as she’s literally the most popular girl in the entire school, Dan understands that this might be a bit difficult. Besides, as Phil keeps reminding him, time is of the essence. Dan's blowing a long, satisfying stream of silvery smoke out through his nostrils when Amanda and Lilian swan past him, chattering away, books clutched to their chests. Lilian sends Dan a dirty look as she passes, waving the smoke out of her face in disgust. Dan just about manages to stop himself giving her the finger, and instead watches in pained silence as the two girls cross the parking lot to Lilian’s peach convertible, their skirts swishing about their skinny thighs. They slow to a stop in front of Phil, eyeing him warily, and Dan holds his breath. Dan can’t hear what Phil’s saying, but he’s talking directly to Amanda, ignoring Lilian completely. The corner of his mouth is tilted up in a cute half-smile, and he shrugs his shoulders in a bashful way. Dan wants to be sick, suddenly. He stubs his cigarette out on the wall.
“Hey, uh, was that one no good or something?” Lee pipes up from beside him, sounding anxious. “I’ve got a whole pack here, did you want another?”
“What?” Dan asks, barely listening to him. “No, no. It’s fine.”
“Oh, ok,” Lee says, sounding disappointed by the answer. “So that’s your mate Phil over there, right? What’s he doing talking to Amanda Jones and Lilian Clarke? Are you gonna disown him or what?”
Lee chuckles loudly, forcedly, as though he wants to make clear that it’s a joke, but again Dan barely hears him.
“He’s got a crush on her.” Dan’s not sure why he says this, especially as hearing the words aloud are not helping his nausea.
“Really?” Lee asks, snatching up the information greedily. “Which one?”
Amanda's polite titter resounds throughout the parking lot, turning several people's curious heads.
Dan grimaces, turning away from the spectacle. “Amanda.”
Lee laughs. “Woah, that’s fucked up.”
“Yeah,” Dan agrees. He knows Lee is only saying it to suck up to him, but he’ll take the validation where he can get it right now. “Like, what does he see in her, y’know?”
“Fuck knows,” Lee answers obediently, sounding ridiculously pleased to be asked. “She’s just one of the clones.”
Dan turns to Lee. “Right?” He nods in agreement. “She’s so… boring.”
“Totally,” Lee says. “So, is he asking her out then?”
“I guess,” Dan says, frowning. “She broke up with her boyfriend at lunch today.”
“I know,” Lee says too quickly. “I mean, oh. Yeah, I wondered what everyone was babbling about.”
A semi-smile forms on Dan's lips at Lee’s transparency. Just then, the growl of an engine sounds, and Dan turns just in time to see Hardy’s car pull up beside Lilian’s, idling there as he watches the proceedings. Dan’s on his feet in seconds, terrified for Phil’s safety, but to his surprise, Hardy doesn’t even open his door. Phil glances at the Porsche, and then focuses back on Amanda, nodding at whatever she’s saying. Dan perches back on the wall, tense and ready to sprint over at the first sign of trouble. Suddenly, Phil is grinning widely, ridiculously pleased about something. Hardy’s engine revs furiously, and he speeds off, tyres screeching as he glides through the exit, out onto the road. Phil waves to Amanda as she hops in the passenger seat of Lilian’s car, then they too are driving away. Phil stares after the car for a moment, then turns slowly. He jogs back over towards Dan, eyes wide and rounded.
“She said yes,” Phil says mutedly once he’s close enough. Then, the realisation seems to seep in. He fist pumps the air, Breakfast Club style, and Dan rolls his eyes. “She said yes! I can’t believe it!”
Something twists and coils in the pit of Dan’s stomach; a wet, thick snake knotting itself around his organs.
“Congrats,” Dan spits out, not meeting Phil’s eye.
Phil just laughs, wrapping his arms around Dan and shaking him.
“C’mon grumpy, don’t be mad just ‘cause you were wrong.” Phil looks to Lee. “Can you believe Dan tried to talk me out of this, Lee? He thought I’d never be in with a chance!”
“Er, right,” Lee says unsurely.
“I’ve gotta go to work,” Dan says, shrugging Phil’s arms off him and standing up.
“Aw, man,” Phil says, seeming disappointed. “I’ll come see you later on, then we can brainstorm about Prom-plans.” He grins in utter delight, spinning around on the spot.
“No,” Dan warns him uselessly, like always. “We’ve been over this – don’t come to my work, you’re gonna get me fired.”
“Your grumpy attitude is what’ll get you fired,” Phil says, pinching his cheek so that Dan swats at him. “Can you imagine this guy serving you coffee, Lee? I think I’d be too afraid to drink it if I didn’t know what a big old softie he is.”
“Shut up,” Dan growls, rolling his eyes.
“Bye Lee! See you later on, Dan!” Phil calls as he skips off towards the school gate, not a care in the world.
“No! Phil, I mean it, don’t- oh, fuck’s sake.” Dan trails off as he realises Phil is out of earshot. “Lee, I’ve changed my mind, gimme a cigarette.”
Lee scrambles to comply as Dan sticks out his hand, impatient. He’s late already and Louise might be annoyed about it, but he couldn’t exactly say no to Phil begging him to stick around. Dan grabs a cigarette from the pack Lee offers him at once, sticking it between his lips.
He jabs a finger at Lee, irritated. “You’re too young to start smoking,” he growls. “I’m taking these.”
Dan snatches the whole packet from him, then shoves it into his back pocket. He brings a lighter up to the one in his mouth, inhaling deeply. With a final nod towards Lee, he heads for the school gates.
*
When Phil inevitably shows up to the café, he’s still grinning. He flops down on one of the stools beside the counter, chin in his hand as he watches Dan make a macchiato.
“I cannot believe this is real,” Phil says. “I told her that I thought she seemed like a genuine and lovely person, and that I’d liked her for a while, and she was so sweet about it.”
Dan is really not up for a retelling of the event he saw not three hours ago, but it seems he doesn’t have much of a choice. He begins to froth the milk, not watching the spout, and spills some over his hand.
“Ow, shit!” Dan hisses.
“Hey, are you okay?” Phil asks, sitting up straight, face suddenly full of concern. “Be careful.”
Dan rolls his eyes as he cradles his burnt hand. “Thanks for the advice, Phil.
“Let me see,” Phil says, holding out his hand.
Dan stares at it for a moment, then warily places his own into it. Phil tuts at it, frowning. “Silly billy. Do you have any ice back there?”
“In the freezer,” Dan admits, waving vaguely towards the kitchen.
“Go get some and wrap it in a tea towel. It’ll stop it swelling,” Phil instructs him.
Dan smirks. “Thanks, Nurse.”
Phil flaps his hands at Dan until he does as told. Unfortunately, once Dan’s hand is safely chilled according to instructions, Phil is back on Amanda again.
“I was terrified when Hardy pulled up,” Phil tells him. “You should’ve seen his face when Amanda agreed to Prom. I was so sure I was about to be beaten to a pulp.”
“So was I,” Dan mutters, placing the macchiato on to a tray crammed with several other drinks.
He walks around the counter and over to Table Ten, a group of older women wearing tennis gear, and begins dishing out the drinks they ordered. Some of them thank him with cautious smiles, and some of them eye him judgily, lips pursed, noses upturned. When he returns to the counter, Phil is gone; immediately Dan is ready to murder him. He pushes through the door to the kitchen at the back, and finds Phil exactly where he knew he would, sat up on one of the metal countertops, nibbling a flapjack.
“Phil! For fuck’s sake, how many times do I have to tell you that you aren’t allowed back here?”
Phil just smirks at him, amused. “At least once more, it would seem.”
Dan rolls his eyes. Then, after a perfunctory glance out into the café floor to make sure there are no new customers, he hops up beside Phil on the counter.
“Give me a bit, then,” Dan says moodily, holding out his hand. Phil breaks off a bit of flapjack, which he then proceeds to feed directly into Dan’s mouth. “Oi! Mmpthhh.”
“Yummy, right?” Phil says, biting off another bit. “Did you make these?”
Dan nods, reluctantly admitting to himself that they’re pretty good. “I have to whip up a big batch of them every Friday.”
“I’m gonna enter you in Bake Off,” Phil says dreamily, swallowing another bite.
Dan shakes his head. “I swear too much for the BBC.”
“True,” Phil agrees, feeding Dan another morsel. This time, Dan just lets him. “So, where should I take Amanda on Prom night? Before we get to the dance, I mean.”
The flapjack starts to curdle in Dan’s stomach. “I dunno. Where d’you wanna take her?”
“Somewhere… unusual,” Phil says contemplatively, leaning back against the wall. “Where would you wanna go, if someone was taking you on a romantic first date?”
Dan snorts, his cheeks warming. “Dates aren’t really… my thing.”
“No?” Phil asks. “Have you never…?”
“The kinds of people interested in me don’t tend to want romance, Phil.”
This time, it’s Phil’s turn to blush. “Oh.”
Dan chuckles at his reaction, hopping down off the counter and brushing crumbs from his apron. “Just take her to a fancy restaurant or something. That’s what she’ll be used to.”
The customer bell pings. Dan sighs, retying his apron as he walks back out to face the public. By the time he’s finished serving, Phil has found his way back to the stool he’d been sat in earlier.
“I don’t wanna take her somewhere she’d expect to be taken,” Phil says. “I wanna show her something different.”
“She’s one of the Elite, Phil,” Dan replies, eyebrow raised. “She’s gonna want an expensive night out somewhere glam. The pricier the better.”
Phil smiles, brushing flapjack crumbs from his lips. “We’ll see.”
*
“That’s nice,” Phil says, softly. “Who wrote that?”
Dan stops playing abruptly, fingers snatching themselves off the keys so fast that it’s almost comical. He balls his hands into fists, embarrassed that Phil’s been paying attention.
“I was just messing around.”
“You mean you just made that up off the top of your head?” Phil asks, peering at Dan over the top of his sketchbook.
Dan shrugs without answering, wanting to change the subject. “What’re you drawing?”
Phil smirks, turning the page around. There are several rough sketches of a girl on the page, all of them action shots. She’s swinging a tennis racket in a tiny, pleated skirt. She’s dancing with a faceless figure, being spun on her heel. She’s running down the school steps, her long curls floating behind her. It’s obvious who Phil is depicting here, even if the sketches lack detail.
“Cute,” Dan says with distaste. “Are you gonna slip little creepy drawings of her into her locker?”
Phil laughs, a soft, tinkling sound. “I was thinking of painting her, actually. Do you think she’d find that creepy?”
“Only one way to find out.” Dan shrugs. “Hey, you’ve been drawing for ages, you can’t have been sketching those little figures this whole time.”
Phil winks enigmatically, closing his sketchbook and tossing it onto his desk. “It’s pretty late,” Phil yawns, glancing at the clock. “Are you going home, or…?”
“Is that a hint that I should hit the road?” Dan asks, heart thudding.
Phil smiles warmly, patting the space next to him on the bed. “No, I was just wondering. Do you wanna stay the night?”
Dan shrugs like it doesn’t mean a lot either way, but he feels the tsunami of relief from his scalp to his toes. “Sure.” Then, because he feels like he should: “Thanks.”
“You can stay here whenever you want, you know,” Phil says for the hundredth time, then lets out a yawn. “Just don’t hog the covers this time.”
It doesn’t matter how many times Phil says it, Dan will never really believe him. He’s very glad that Phil seems to understand he needs an actual invite before he can allow himself to inconvenience the Lester household yet again. In an ideal world, Dan would just wander home after a few hours with his friend, have a nice dinner made for him by loving parents, and be tucked into bed. Instead, the idea of sneaking in the front door of his house and dealing with… everything he’ll find inside is sometimes just too much to bear. Phil’s house is so lovely and homely. His mum is a proper mum, warm and sweet. She makes wholesome dinners for Phil every night and always invites Dan to join them if he’s round without complaint. Phil’s room isn’t big or particularly luxurious, but he’s got a double bed, and his walls are covered in posters of his favourite bands. He has a falling-apart piano in the corner, which Dan likes to experiment with, and a huge collection of DVD’s, built up through a lifetime of charity shop and boot sale purchases. Phil heaves himself off the bed, heading for his chest of drawers. He pulls out a pair of pyjamas, and turns to Dan.
“Do you want something to sleep in?”
“Okay,” Dan says quietly, because despite having stayed here a zillion times, he still feels like an annoyance. “Thanks.”
Phil throws a big ‘Sunnydale High’ t-shirt at him.
Dan holds it up for inspection, snorting at the design. “Fucking Buffy nerd.”
“Says the guy who practically wept with joy when I got him the Angel box set for Christmas,” Phil counters, and Dan stands up to whip him with the shirt.
“Did not.”
“You’re in love with Angel!” Phil laughs, bringing his Elmo pyjama trousers up to defend himself. “Which is way more embarrassing than being in love with Buffy.”
“Angel is the best character,” Dan says defensively.
“Who chooses Angel over Spike?” Phil says, sounding incredulous. “It’s madness! Spike is so much hotter-”
Just then, Phil’s bedroom door opens, and Phil’s mum stands there, holding two mugs in her hands. “Sorry to interrupt, boys! But as it’s a school night I think it’s bedtime, don’t you? I brought you some hot chocolate to help you doze off. Dan, I assume you’re staying?”
“Yeah, he’s sleeping over,” Phil tells his mum, for which Dan is eternally grateful, because it means he doesn’t have to. Phil takes one of the mugs and hands it to him, then takes the other for himself.
“I-if that’s alright Mrs Lester,” Dan says, his blush deepening. “Thank you for the hot chocolate.”
“Don’t be silly, Dan, love!” She exclaims, laughing. “You’re always welcome, you know that.”
“I keep trying to tell him,” Phil says, slurping hot chocolate.
Dan rolls his eyes, nudging Phil with his foot.
“Well, I’ll let you two get settled then.” Mrs Lester beams, giving them a little wave. “Night, boys.”
As soon as the door is closed, Phil plonks himself down on the bed, sipping at his drink. Despite the interruption, Dan can’t help but rewind to the conversation they’d been having just before Phil’s mum entered the room. Phil described Spike, a male character on a TV show, as 'hot'. While that may be a very accurate statement, it throws Dan a little. Unless Dan has been very inattentive, he’s pretty certain that Phil has never expressed his attraction to a guy before, fictional vampire or not. He stares at Phil curiously as he sips hot chocolate, wondering if he can bring it up without sounding like a weirdo.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Phil asks. “Waiting for me to strip off?”
Dan flushes without meaning to. “Shut up, rat. I’m going to change in the bathroom.”
He can hear Phil giggling to himself from out in the hall.
*
“What do you like about her?”
Phil rolls over to look at him, and Dan doesn’t have to turn his head in order to know there’s a crease between his best friend’s brows.
“Amanda?”
“Yeah.”
He feels the covers shifting as Phil draws his shoulder up in a shrug. “Lots of things.”
“Her face?”
“Yes, I like her face,” Phil replies, voice tinged with amusement.
“Her body?” Dan asks.
Phil laughs softly. “Yeah, that too.”
Dan swallows around something sharp in his throat. It’s so quiet in Phil’s house. There’s no door slamming or shouting or footsteps pounding up and down the stairs. Usually, Dan leaves his window open so that he can hear the wind and the occasional murmur of a car rumbling by. Phil likes his open too, but in this quiet, suburban street, there’s virtually no sound. Phil shifts beside him, and Dan has to bite his lip. Tonight, laid in Phil’s bed, under his blue and green duvet, feels different to how it usually does. The air is thicker, weightier. Stifling. Phil’s body isn’t touching his, but it might as well be. The heat pours off him, like he’s a crackling bonfire, roasting Dan slowly. As he lies there, taut and unmoving, focused entirely on the body beside him, a slow, creeping realisation begins to spread through Dan’s limbs.
Amanda Jones has never been anything to Dan before now. She’d barely even registered on his radar. Just another boring bimbo in an obnoxious group of high school posers. Yet now, an intense, vicious hatred for the girl is spreading through him, finding every crevice of his body, clogging each pore. He loathes her, from her snub, pointed nose, to the twig legs shoved into clacky stiletto heels. A dawn is beginning to crest over the darkness from the blanket Dan has been holding over his own eyes. It’s only here, in Phil’s bed, with nothing to distract from the sight and smell and feel of him so close, that Dan is beginning to see the obvious. And the sight burns. A flush spreads over his chest, across his neck and shoulders as the weight of his own idiocy settles in. He should have seen it sooner. It should have been blaringly obvious. Dan’s been a fool, ignorant and dully predictable.
Falling for his best friend. How cliché.
A hand on Dan’s warm, bare arm makes him jump.
“Hey, are you okay?” Phil asks. “You’re breathing all weird.”
Dan sends a prayer of thanks to the skies above that the deep scarlet of his skin is likely not visible in the dark.
“Yep,” he lies, trying to will Phil to remove his hand with the power of his mind alone.
Self-loathing courses through the synapses in Dan’s brain, and he curses himself for allowing himself to get into this situation. Phil Lester is the one person that tolerates him. He’s the one person that Dan actually likes, and that – absurdly – seems to want to be his friend. This crush could ruin that. Dan’s never been known for his level-head, nor his ability to keep his mouth shut. If he lets this jealous streak continue, and keeps attacking Amanda every time Phil brings her up, Phil could grow tired of it. He could stop hanging around Dan, could abandon him completely. It might be one of the cruellest tricks life has played on him yet. Not only is Dan now going to have to pretend he has no romantic feelings for Phil, he’s going to have to watch him date Amanda Jones of all people. There’s no question whatsoever that this revelation must remain a secret. As far as Dan is aware, Phil is likely not interested in men, and even if he were, the two of them are best friends. If Phil knew about Dan’s feelings, it would drive a wedge between them, as Phil would no longer know how to act. The one thing that must be prevented at all costs is losing Phil, even as a friend. The thought is horrific.
Phil sits up then, switching on his bedside light. Dan squints and groans as the light blinds him, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes. Phil apologises, turning down the dimmer switch.
“Dan, are you sure you’re alright?” Phil asks again, frowning. He places a hand on Dan’s forehead; it’s such a sweet, gentle touch. “Are you feeling sick?”
Dan shakes his head, pressing his lips together. “I’m fine,” Dan says; reluctantly, Phil sinks back down into the mattress. “I’m just overthinking. You know me.”
“Unfortunately,” Phil quips, so Dan smacks him in the shoulder.
Phil grabs hold of his hand as it lands, and Dan actually has to hold in a squeak. He tries to pull away, but Phil holds tight.
“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” Phil commands.
Dan swallows thickly; Phil starts to trace patterns into his palm.
“I’m worrying you’re making a mistake,” Dan decides to say, though he hates himself for it. “What if Amanda’s only agreeing to this to make Hardy jealous?”
Phil’s finger stops circling. A silence ensues, and Dan wonders if Phil is angry. It would be unusual, as Phil hardly ever gets mad.
“Maybe she is,” Phil says unexpectedly, starting to draw squiggles up and down Dan’s fingers. “But so what?
Dan blinks at him, turning so that he and Phil are staring into one another’s eyes. It’s not helping to quell Dan’s latent realised desires, but that can’t be helped. “What?”
“I can still show her a nice time,” Phil says with a shrug. “I still think she deserves to be treated well, and I still want to be the one to do it. You never know, maybe she’ll change her mind about Hardy once she sees how different it could be with me.”
Dan worries his lip ring between his teeth, and Phil’s eyes train on the action; it makes Dan want to burrow under the covers and hide.
“Phil… Hardy Jenns isn’t the kind of guy you wanna get on the wrong side of,” Dan says for the second time, trying to load his voice with the appropriate amount of urgency. “He’s scary and he has a lot of influence. If you go on a date with Amanda, you’re gonna be top of his hit list.”
“I’m not scared of Hardy Jenns, Dan,” Phil says, rolling his eyes.
“You should be, though,” Dan says. “Have you ever even taken a punch, Phil? ‘Cause he won’t hesitate to deck you if you piss him off.”
Phil smiles, squeezing a fist around Dan’s fingers. “You’re so cute, getting all concerned for my safety.”
Dan flushes, ripping his gaze from Phil’s. “I can’t protect you from him, Phil. I might be able to scare him off if he’s on his own, but he’s got all his fuckboy friends-”
“Dan, shh. You don’t need to protect me.” Fondness radiates out of every one of Phil's pores. Dan feels suffocated by it, imagines it pouring into his lungs, choking his breath from him. “I get that you’re tough and scary and you could probably kick Hardy’s ass, but that’s not why I hang around with you.”
“So, why do you?” Dan can’t help asking, his voice choked.
“Because you’re amazing,” Phil says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re ridiculously intelligent for a start. You read Sartre and Marx for fun. Your favourite films are all Godard and Truffaut.”
“That doesn’t make me amazing,” Dan says scornfully. “That makes me pretentious.”
“Maybe a little,” Phil says, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile. “But you’re also incredibly talented.” Dan makes a ‘pfft’ sound. “No, seriously. You’re the best pianist I’ve ever heard. I can’t understand how you can create something so beautiful out of nothing. I can’t draw a straight line without inspiration, but you just sit at that rickety old stool and play masterpieces off the top of your head.”
Dan purses his lips, wondering how on earth he can explain that he does have inspiration, obviously, without mentioning that literally all of his pieces are spawned from thinking about Phil.
“You’re sharp and witty,” Phil continues. “You have this spiky exterior to fend everyone off, and you hate almost everyone in school.” Phil pauses, his smile widening. “But not me.”
Dan glances away from him; his palm is so sweaty now, he has no idea how Phil isn’t grossed out from holding his hand. “You wore me down.”
“Maybe,” Phil agrees with a chuckle. “If that’s true, then I’m grateful.”
Dan doesn’t know what to say. He’s mortified from head to toe, probably bright red because he has no idea how to accept compliments and he never has. Phil is being sickeningly sweet for seemingly no reason at all, and honestly the timing couldn’t be worse, because Dan realised only minutes earlier how madly in love with him he is.
“Well, thanks,” Dan says gruffly, rolling onto his back. “You’re really lame sometimes, did you know?”
Phil laughs at him, just like always, never taking Dan’s jibes to heart. Dan’s so glad Phil understands that he never means it when he’s a salty bitch. God, he really, really needs to not fuck up this friendship.
“So, Amanda…” Dan says. He flounders for something to ask about this beaten horse of a topic, and clutches at the first thing he can think of, despite not really wanting to know the answer. “Is she the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen?”
Phil sighs, and when Dan glances over at him, his eyes are shut. “Prettiest girl, yeah,” Phil mutters.
Dan frowns. “What’s that mean? Is there another category?”
“Mm, o‘course,” Phil mumbles after a moment. “Prettiest boy.”
Dan feels his breath catch in his throat. Don't ask. You don't want to know the answer.
He's never been good with impulse control. “Oh,” he says, forcing a small laugh. “And who wins that prize?”
Phil’s eyes flutter open briefly, latching on to Dan’s. “You, Dan. Duh.”
Phil’s eyes are closed again in moments, so he doesn’t get to see the astonishment on Dan’s face. Minutes pass before Dan can remember how to speak, or think of any sort of response, and by the time he opens his mouth, Phil is firmly in the land of dreams.
Chapter Four!
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Korean Bone Rank System – Moon gave the church businesses to his blood relatives
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The system was based on a person’s hereditary bloodline. One’s birth was by far the most important factor in determining the level in society one might reach as an adult. This resulted in a stagnation of talent....
Nansook Hong: “Even the aristocracy in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla was classified according to what was known as the bone-rank system, or golpum-jedo (골품제도, 骨品制度). [It was strictly based on a person’s hereditary bloodline and there was very little chance of social mobility. It thus acted as a caste system. A person’s bone rank governed their official status and the level of authority they were permitted to wield and their marriage rights, and also the color of their garments and the maximum dimensions of their dwelling, etc.]
The elite were divided into three classes: the seonggol (성골, 聖骨), or holy bone class, from which the sacred kings sprang; the jingol (진골, 眞骨), the true bone class or the upper aristocracy; and the dupum (두품, 頭品), head classes, which included all other members of the aristocracy. [Below them was the non-privileged general population.] This would influence Sun Myung Moon’s organization of his own religion.” LINK
Pak Chung-hwa (pages 200, 242-3, etc., from The Tragedy of the Six Marys) :
“The time from 1953, when I was with Sun Myung Moon, until I went to the Seojin mine in 1956 was when we faced the hardest time in the development of the Unification Church. Back then there were no relatives of Sun Myung Moon in the church organization. Later Moon Seong-kyun, Moon Yong-seon [and Moon Seong-yong] came in, and as the economic foundation of the Unification Church grew, almost all of the management positions came to be held by relatives of Sun Myung Moon.
The first relative of Mr. Moon who joined the church was Mr. Moon Seong-kyun. When Mr. Moon bought a Jeep [on July 7, 1957], he was hired as a driver. The next one to join was Mr. Moon Yong-seon who worked at the porcelain factory in Asan. That was all. When I was actively working with Mr. Moon, there were no other relatives of Mr. Moon.
Now a lot of his relatives are working in the church, and it has caused a lot of ill feelings from the other members. This may contradict his doctrine. Mr. Moon told us that stealing money from the bank is a crime under the law of Satan, but it is not a crime under his doctrine. Many women stole money from their husbands for Mr. Moon. This helped to build the present Unification Church.
The economic foundation built by such members is now handled by Mr. Moon’s relatives. Most of founding members of the church have been expelled. The only ones left are Lee Soo-kyoung who is in charge of the Il-Shin Company and Kim Won-pil (who died in 2010) for the Il-Hwa Food Company. ...
At one time, I met Eu Hyo-yeong, President of Il-Shin Stone Co. Ltd., (above) for a meal. (Eu Hyo-yeong left the Unification Church in 1992.)
While we were eating, he told me a story. In his account Eu Hyo-yeong said that at the Il-Shin Stone Co. Ltd., which he managed, he had done research. As a result, he was able to produce miniature pagodas, which were reduced to 16/100 of the original size. They were sold in Japan with unexpectedly good results. The value of the exports was about 2 billion yen per month.
However, Moon Seong-yong (from one of the six villages where Sun Myung Moon came from) wanted this harvest. He demanded to divide the company and to hijack and manage the manufacturing of the miniature temples division, and pass on only the remainder to President Eu Hyo-yeong.
Eu Hyo-yeong said, “The revenue of the miniature temples manufacturing division accounted for 95 percent of the entire company and all the other businesses only amounted to the remaining 5 percent. Nevertheless he wanted to pass on to me, who had worked so hard, just 5 percent while Moon Seong-yong wanted to grab 95 percent.”
This is an outrageous idea. Il-Shin Stone was the company where Eu Hyo-yeong worked as the president, a carpenter, a worker, and even a cleaner to grow the company.
Eu Hyo-yeong was very angry and said, “It is ridiculous that people who have no relationship with the company are jumping in and are trying to take over.”
In fact, it is Sun Myung Moon himself who knows best that he himself is not the second coming messiah. I came to think that he was implementing a plan to secure his future life base by handing the assets of Unification Church to his relatives whom he could trust.”
▲ Sun Myung Moon, Eu Hyo-yeong, Eu Hyo-min and Kim Won-pil
Eu Hyo-min: “The air rifle business went into full production from 1961. They were exported to Japan as well. The factory price of each air rifle was about 10,000 won (about 300,000 won in 1993 when adjusted for inflation) and about 150,000 rifles were sold. The total revenue was about 1.5 billion won. This was a cash cow for the Unification Church.
I invented the new air rifle which could use buckshot. However, I could not be the president of the Tongil Industry company because of the so-called 7.4 incident. (The July 4, 1955 incident concerned Moon in a sex scandal with Ewha Womans University students.) At that time I had been imprisoned with Moon and, due to my criminal record, I was not eligible to hold a firearm manufacturing permit.
So Kim In-chul became the president, Moon Seung-yong, who was a second cousin of Moon’s, became the factory manager and his brother became the production manager. And I, the inventor, became the assembly manager, a strange position which no one had ever heard of. The gun was patented to Moon, who instructed the second gun patent be transferred directly to himself.
The company executives were all relatives of Moon. They would all flaunt their wealth, each driving his own car at a time in Korea when most people could not afford to own one. All except for me, I had to walk. I thought that they were more into money-making than a life of faith. It was nepotism which was just about money. Soon this attitude manifested itself in more obvious ways.
They said, “You are good at taking photographs. Why don’t you run a photo studio?” To me it sounded like a mere joke. If I had wanted to run a photo studio, I could have done it on my own. I felt very resentful.
As the air rifle business was on track, and I knew too much about Moon’s relationships with women, they didn’t need me any more – even though I had invented the air rifle that could use buckshot! I, the inventor, was no longer needed. They were hinting that I should quit.
One day in 1971, I thought that I would have a talk with Moon, who had just come back to Korea from the U.S. I contacted Choi Won-bok, whom the church members surrounding her called ‘Mother.’ She was the closest of the attendants to Moon. She told me that I could meet Moon without making an appointment – I just needed to come to the church. So I went. As usual many people were gathered around waiting to see Moon. As the midnight curfew approached, one by one people started to go home. I had to wait until eventually only Moon and I were left. When I straightened my back thinking “Finally I can discuss thoroughly about the future,” Moon passed behind me and disappeared into the room next door. I thought he was going to the restroom and waited, but he never came back.
I am a gentle person but this made me furious. My whole body was shaking with anger, and I couldn’t steady myself. I had devoted all kinds of work and service to Moon and the Unification Church. I had received an award for enduring prison with Moon, a model award, a 14-year achievement award and an award for mission work. I spent most of my time at the church, and had served him day and night, following him around like a shadow. I had never opposed his teachings or given him any trouble. Since I knew too much about his relationships with women and his financial matters, he now shunned me and betrayed me. Because of this, I left the Unification Church for good.
My experience was exactly the same as Pak Chung-hwa’s experience so I could understand his resentment very well.” LINK
Ewha Womans University sex scandal as told in the 1955 newspapers
The Tragedy of the Six Marys website
Huge FFWPU scam in Japan (involving Black Heung Jin) is revealed
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YB1 oncolytic bacteria may become a new trend in cancer treatment
In the field of medical health, cancer treatment has always been a major topic of intense global concern. On the unfinished road of anti-cancer, one after another "stars of hope" have been born in the past century, from PD-1 to CAR- T cell therapy, from oncolytic viruses to oncolytic bacteria, the next hot air seems to be getting closer and closer to us.
Looking at all the current cancer treatment options, from surgery to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, to emerging immunotherapy, there is no guarantee that they will be effective. For example, immune checkpoint antibodies such as PD1, which are popular in the market, have The efficiency is only 10-30%, and CAR-T therapy can only target hematological tumors at present, and has failed to achieve breakthroughs in the complex environment of solid tumors...
Therefore, considering the current situation of industry development and market demand, human beings have a very strong and urgent desire for new technologies to treat cancer. As the so-called "know yourself and know your enemy and win every battle", in order to accurately conquer cancer, we must have enough in-depth research on such malignant tumors. For example, we need to find the most suitable new targets for tumors.
Hypoxic regions become important targets for solid tumors
Scientists' studies have shown that more than 90% of human tumors are solid tumors. It has a very significant feature that solid tumors are due to their vigorous growth, insufficient blood vessel supply and vascular malformations. Causes will be in the tumor center. Hypoxic zones (less than 0.5%) will form. This is a very significant physical target. In normal tissues, the oxygen content of the lung tissue is about 5%, other organs such as the liver, the oxygen concentration is 2-3%, and the lowest tissue bone marrow, the oxygen content is about 1% . Therefore, the oxygen content of 0.5% of the tumor is a very important solid tumor target, and it is universal.
According to the anatomy of the tumor, solid tumors can be divided into three areas. The outer layer is the active blood vessel area, with high oxygen content and many blood vessels; the middle layer is the hypoxic area, where the oxygen concentration is mostly lower than 0.5%, where cancer stem cells exist. Due to the low oxygen content here, immune cells become inactive, which is an optimal area for cancer cells to escape immune surveillance; the innermost area is the necrotic area, where the oxygen concentration can be lower than 0.01%, and no viable cells exist.
The use of microorganisms as carriers was once one of the important research fields of tumor gene therapy, due to the obvious abnormality of tumor vasculature compared with normal cells.
When solid tumors reach about 2 mm in diameter, the tumor microenvironment lacks sufficient oxygen and nutrients, leading to the production of angiogenic factors. The synergy of these factors ultimately promotes angiogenesis. In the tumor microenvironment, the signaling pathway mediated by VEGF and its receptor VEGFR can increase vascular permeability, enhance abnormal angiogenesis, and directly promote the proliferation of cancer stem cells (CSCs).
Oncolytic bacteria become ideal therapeutic drug carriers
The effective diffusion of anticancer drugs is greatly limited due to excessive tortuosity of blood vessels, slow blood flow, and lack of nutrients and oxygen in the tumor area. Therefore, in the hypoxic region of the tumor, the therapeutic effect of antitumor drugs will be significantly affected.
Oncolytic bacteria are anaerobic or facultative anaerobic microorganisms, and the hypoxic area of tumors provides an ideal living place for oncolytic bacteria. Oncolytic bacteria are a large class of invasive intracellular bacteria. The host-to-host response is mediated by the type III secretion mechanism, which can deliver the expression of effector genes and simultaneously express a variety of therapeutic proteins. Therefore, attenuated oncolytic bacteria are an ideal carrier for therapeutic drugs. .
The solid tumor microenvironment is very heterogeneous, and it is full of various immunosuppressive signals. Its pH, oxygen, and nutrients are also very unfriendly to immune cells. This is also an important means for tumors to escape immune inspection. The advantage of oncolytic bacteria is that they escape the interference of human immunosuppressive signals, have their own set of control systems, and can also manipulate immune signals to release various drugs we need, which has great potential for development.
Oncolytic bacteria can be generally divided into two categories, one is represented by Clostridium sporogenes and obligate anaerobic bacteria (strict anaerobic growth). Another type is facultative anaerobic bacteria represented by Salmonella (which can grow both with and without oxygen).
Clostridium sporogenes is characterized by the production of spores, and its toxicity is greatly reduced after certain gene knockouts. Its advantage is that due to its obligate anaerobic characteristics, it will not accumulate in normal tissues. As long as it does not secrete toxic factors, its safety can be guaranteed. However, the germination and growth of spores requires strict hypoxia, specifically, the oxygen concentration is lower than 0.01%. This requirement is extremely rare in the body, and only occurs in the necrotic area in the center of large tumors. However, due to the extremely low oxygen concentration in the necrotic area, there are usually no viable tumor cells, so the application range of such bacteria is limited. The method of treatment is usually the mode of intratumoral injection.
The characteristic of facultative anaerobes is that they can survive not only in the tumor necrosis area (0.01%), but also in the hypoxic area (0.5%). Therefore, it can attack tumors in a wider range. Clinically, it can be administered by intravenous injection, or the mode of intravenous plus intratumoral injection can be used. The disadvantage is that due to its facultative anaerobic characteristics, it will accumulate in normal organs. Although it is much less than the inside of tumors, it will also cause health risks.
Salmonella strain YB1: the world's first oncolytic bacterial carrier
From the perspective of oncolytic bacteria, not only CRS-207, ADVAXIS and other pharmaceutical companies, but even many large pharmaceutical companies in BCG have begun to re-deploy oncolytic bacteria therapy. With the great popularity of oncolytic viruses, oncolytic bacteria, a similar oncolytic carrier, has very powerful advantages and potential because its safety can be significantly improved, and the drug delivery load can far exceed that of viruses.
YB1, the product of Hong Kong Medicine Oncolytic Company, is the first strain specially designed for the treatment of tumors using synthetic biology technology. Since the mechanism of YB1 in the treatment of tumors is not only based on tumor targeting, but also can activate NK cells to have a very powerful killing effect on metastatic tumors, so it has very good expectations not only for orthotopic tumors or metastatic tumors.
The advantage after YB1 transformation is that if YB1 is in the tumor in vivo, since its oxygen content is lower than 0.5%, its ability to aggregate in the tumor will not be affected, and it can reach 10^9 CFU/g tissue; In 0.5% of the environment, such as liver and other tissues, YB1 will be quickly cleared, thereby achieving great tumor targeting and safety.
The study believes that this treatment mode of YB1 oncolytic bacteria is much better than all current traditional treatment methods, because traditional drugs are administered orally or intravenously. When it reaches the tumor target, its drug concentration has been greatly diluted. As the dose increases, the side effects will become more and more serious. However, because the oncolytic bacteria of YB1 are living organisms, they can colonize the tumor target site and synthesize therapeutic drugs, but will enhance their active drug concentration at the tumor target site. This is similar to the current hot oncolytic virus therapy.
It is reported that YB1 is not only an attenuated Salmonella, but more like a nano-robot, which can judge whether it is currently in a tumor area or a normal organ according to the oxygen in the body, and can commit suicide or survive and secrete therapeutic drugs through gene circuits , is a very classic and characteristic application of synthetic biology in tumor treatment.
In academia, YB1 has been listed as an important component in the field of oncolytic bacteria therapy in the world, and its oxygen regulation of life and death has also been listed as the first transformation model to be highlighted by NatureReveiwCancer.
In addition, the company has also added a variety of presentation drugs (toxins, antibodies, mRNAs, etc.) to the YB1 pipeline to increase its effect, and its effect is not only verified by mouse experiments. It is understood that the company's team has applied YB1. A clinical study was conducted on the treatment of primary cancer in pet dogs, and the results were excellent. This breakthrough is very rare in the world. At the same time, the application of YB1 in pet primary tumors has also been reported by many Hong Kong, mainland and foreign media. .
Studies have shown that YB1 itself is very specific for tumors. At the same time, because it is compatible with other chemotherapeutic drugs, immune checkpoint antibodies, and CAR-T cell technologies, oncolytic bacteria are expected to make great strides in the field of combination therapy for cancer in the future. , looking forward to these new treatments and new ideas to bring benefits to more patients.
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My Blackness. Is this self hate?
Prejudice against my own people
For the majority of my life, I have had to deal//struggle with what it means to be biracial. How it looks, and what it implies for my life in this country (USA.) A country that would much rather have me check a singular box (those of you who are also like me understand what I’m talking about.) Still have not figured that out yet, but I am learning daily.
Being raised by my single white mother, I never had a chance to experience my black culture aside from the R&B music she loved to listen to. It wasn’t until I was about the age of 5 or 6 that started to spend time with my black side of the family.
You can read a little more in-depth telling of my story and struggle with being biracial here.
For the longest time, I have had to fight to be seen as a person of color. That I do “belong at the table” so to speak… or rather that “I am invited to the cookout.” Because of this inward desire to be seen as who I am, I have long suppressed all self-reflection on my own biases and prejudices, because I can not be prejudiced against my own self or people... right?
Then everything happened this past summer with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and then George Floyd (as well as many others) unjustly losing their lives. Then Black Lives Matter taking to the streets in protest. I felt more than ever the need to post, spread awareness, and “educate” others. Yet, a part of me felt I had to do those things to (again) prove my black-ness (all the while subconsciously denying thoughts of myself having prejudices.) But as days went by these thoughts began to surface and stir in my mind as I read post after post and watched the news.
After months of wrestling with my thoughts and one long honest conversation with my then-girlfriend now fiancé, Micha, I have come to a realization. I am prejudiced against my own people. The causes and situations where it shows itself are not often or deliberate but happen all the same. I was so disappointed in myself and that had taken so long to come to grips with this reality.
Micha prompted the question on that same phone call as to why I think those prejudices exist in the first place. I thought for a bit and the first two conclusions came pretty quickly, childhood bullies and family harassment. The third, however, never came to mind before, but when it came into my head (which I can only attribute to God working) it completely clicked, I had “culture shock” trauma.
Childhood bullies came to my mind pretty easily as I had been bullied most of my time in grade school. While my oppressors came in various races and genders, I remember the cruelest, happened to almost always be of African American descent. They have become such permanent figures in my brain I can remember them each by name. I have always been an easy person to mess with. Despite my efforts to show indifference, it is always obvious when I am uncomfortable or hurting.
I remember during 6th grade, a kid named Deeshawn told me on the bus ride home from school, he was going to fight me when I got off the bus (for what reason I still don’t know) as the other kids cheered him on. I remember ashamedly running home from the bus stop praying I was fast enough to get inside the house to grab my BB gun as some means of protecting myself (I admit it was not a well-thought-out plan.)
Another time in 8th-grade gym class Marquis decided to make me his personal target of a dodgeball game, many hard hits to my gut, face, and crotch, my body not athletic enough to avoid his throws.
For almost my entire sophomore year a football player named Kameryn decided he would refer to me as “Flat Top” based on how one side of my head is a little misshapen, an effect of me being born prematurely. (While it was something I had gotten used to over the years, I was still self-conscious about it.) It took the help of my best friend and school faculty to get him to stop his torment.
In an effort to not go on for days, I will spare you accounts of every bully encounter. These situations isolated might not have resulted in too much, aside from your general childhood trauma. However, I’m convinced they have affected how I perceive anyone who marks a similar resemblance to them, in particular, black men.
To say my family life growing up was complex would be an understatement. While there are no doubt people who have had it rougher, I would still like to believe mine was not all rainbows and butterflies.
Switching from being an only child one week to being the middle child of six the next and as the sole biracial child took a toll in the early years. While my siblings and I did play, joke, and have fun, I was still vastly different from them and they made sure I knew that. I was constantly made fun of and beaten-up on by my older sister and two younger brothers. Sibling squabbles are a pretty normal concept for those who have siblings, it’s something you learn to grow with and even love. However, I was a softy when I was young (a mommas boy if you will) and I did not have a bone of violence in my body. Often coined the “good one” of the bunch. I also had an inability to defend myself well against my siblings which resulted in the aforementioned treatment. This had a negative effect on my mental health, for the most part unbeknownst to me until I reached adulthood.
Another big difference between my siblings and myself was our lifestyles. Each of my siblings at some point in their childhood grew up in less than favorable conditions whether it be living in the ghetto or off food stamps at least for a little bit. While I had not truly felt what it was to go without, if my mother was nothing else, she was a fighter. We were middle class and had a brief stint of needing government assistance but again I never felt the effects of that.
Something else that only furthered the divide between my siblings and me was culture. Music, style, slang, and the like were worlds different from my own at the time of our meeting. One specific memory I will forever have is all six of us kids eating cereal at the table. Kevin commenting for me to “stop smacking.” Initially, I did not even realize he was talking to me until he said it again with more force and demand. To which I just stared at him while chewing my cereal a little slower than before, completely confused as to what he meant. Only to have him finally yell moments later, “Stop chewing with your mouth open.” My immediate internal response being “Ooooh” and quickly shut my mouth. The language barrier is something that continued to stifle my relationships with my family until I eventually (slowly) caught on (something I now know as “code-switching.”)
The differences between my siblings and I could not be further apart. I was always the odd one out in every scenario because of that and I would be lying if I said I didn’t hold at least a little resentment. The lifestyle and culture they grew up in was just life for them so why would there be any conscious that I might not understand any of it, especially as kids. If the responsibility fell on anyone aside from myself, it should have been my father who helped me understand… but that is a conversation for another time.
Lastly is the issue of culture shock trauma. A lot of this has to do with my previous paragraph and how I grew up. Before the age of five, I don’t have many memories of my father, he was there in some capacity during the early years but I do not recall seeing him often enough. For a few years, the only “interaction” I remember having with him was when he would send me birthday or Christmas presents. Another being when my mother would put him on the phone to get me to behave (these phone interactions I now realize made me associate fear with his voice.) My mom and I moved from Ohio to Indiana in 2000 just before I was to start 1st grade. We moved to be closer to both sides of my family including my father himself. I remember the day my mom told me I would be spending some time with my dad and his new family, just recently remarried to wife #2 Shannon mother to Kevin (older), Keeshawn (younger), and Mercedez (younger.)
Probably an important thing to note, Kevin, Keesahwn, and I technically share no blood relation but because we have grown up together we consider ourselves no less than blood. Of those three Mercedez and I share our father. Also while we are on it, my older sister Destiny and other younger brother Eric share our father but each has a different mother from myself or the other three aforementioned. #complex
I was thrown into staying with my father and his new family for what felt like years but in reality, was only for the summer. I remember that day so vividly. I remember they met us at a family member’s house. I got into my dad’s Ford Expedition, seeing Keeshawn directly in front of me with Mercedez in her car seat next to him and Kevin in the seat behind. I offered them some Skittles my mom had bought me just 30 minutes earlier at Lowe’s. I remember that summer how different everything about their lives was from my own and how I felt so entirely out of place. I remember how I was forced to eat everything on my plate before I could get up from the table or drink anything. I remember how I had a panic attack from losing a sock because I got anxious about losing anything of my own while I was there. I remember how I was not allowed to call my mom and how my dad would tell her to stop calling. I remember crying… a lot. I remember there was one night a month after being there my mom got to take me to a fair for the evening and we played games and ate super sugary fair food. Then the feeling of absolute dread when she told me I had to go back later that night. I begged and begged to stay with her. I remember as punishment for whenever we did something wrong we would have to do this T-pose thing where we keep our arms up and out for minutes (but felt like hours.) I remember whenever we were in public and misbehaved we got a hard swat to the back of our hand. I remember learning all the slang my siblings spoke and feeling so scared and confused when I did not understand what was being said around or to me. I remember going to our all-black southern baptist church being the only, not entirely black person there. I remember how we would often go without breakfast and sometimes lunch. I remember being in a perpetual state of grief because Shannon seemed so mean and angry all the time. I remember how my Dad forced us to call Shannon “Mom” and how much of a gut punch it was because I disliked Shannon a lot, and equating her to someone I loved so dearly felt wrong. I remember how I never actually got to spend one on one time with my father ever. I remember how for the most part during a lot of this my father was not ever around. I remember Kevin acting viscerally toward us because he was always forced to babysit us younger kids. I remember how I never wanted to be there and always wanted to go home when I was. I remember how I felt like I would never actually belong there and no one told me otherwise.
All of these differences are cultural but drastic compared to what I was familiar with, with just my mother. I was thrown into them without hesitation or a moment to acclimate. I went from being raised as an only child by a single white woman to the aforementioned being my life for the rest of that summer then rotating weekends and following summers until I was 18. I can only define these experiences as culture shock trauma. However, if I have missed the mark and that is not a depiction of culture shock trauma I am genuinely not sure what is.
Now, all of those experiences might sound grim and maybe even abusive but, I would boil it down to simple cultural differences. The eating all the food thing comes from Shannon (rightfully so) not wanting to make another meal for me or my brother’s picky asses when she spent an hour or more on the one in front of us. The whole drink thing because if we drank a bunch before eating we would think we were “full” and would not eat. The T-pose because let’s be honest the belt would have been far worse and she was saving us haha. Shannon was not necessarily mean she was just tough, because black women have to be, and dealing with three, four, five, or six kids (depending on which combo of us were there) is exhausting to do on your own so patience was thin - a true expression of tough love. And while time with my siblings was rough it was not all bad. Some of the other stuff was just reality, outside of everyone’s control and not anyone’s fault. Now the stuff involving my dad was not and is still not okay and I’m dealing with that.
All of these things affected my young and growing mind and I assume warped for better or worse my outlook on life and black folks. In more ways than one these things traumatized me. They took the base of what I had grown to know and understand and flipped it upside down for better or worse. But now I am forced to question myself whenever I tense up as a group of black men or teens pass me by. Whenever I’m in the “not so nice” part of town why do I lock my car doors if someone is strolling by my car without thinking. Why do I look over my shoulder when walking down the street in the evening as I hear the boom of the bass coming from a strolling vehicle. Why do I get nervous and skittish if a black stranger approaches me on the street?
My journey in understanding myself (and my people) and ultimately loving myself (and my people) as I am (as they are) still has a long way to go. Considering I’m only uncovering these prejudicial truths at the age of 25 and why I have them in the first place, it is safe to say I have work I must continue to do for myself. But I’m optimistic for the future and everything it holds.
PS - - I am sure my outlooks and conclusions are far form perfect and in some areas miss the mark. If you think so please let me know, but please do so in the mindset that I am working to face my prejudices head on, I am in no way denying they exist. Be honest and blunt, but be gentle.
#self#love#selflove#Biracial#I AM BIRACIAL#black#white#blackandwhite#culture#mental health#childhood trauma#truama
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Class 11th NCERT Ch 03 Motion in a straight line
Q1. Which of the following deals with motion without considering causes of motion –
a) Statics
b) Dynamics
c) Kinematics
d) Hydrodynamics
Q2. Which of the following is incorrect –
a) Path length is a scalar quantity whereas displacement is a vector quantity.
b) The magnitude of displacement is always equal to the path length traversed by an object over a given time interval.
c) The displacement depends only on the end points whereas path length depends on the actual path followed.
d) The path length is always positive whereas displacement can be positive, negative and zero.
Q3. What would be the ratio of distance to displacement?
a) Always equal to one.
b) Always less than one.
c) Always greater than one.
d) Equal to or more than one.
Q4. Which of the following is incorrect –
a) Displacement is independent of the choice of origin of the axis.
b) Displacement may or may not be equal to the distance traveled.
c) When a particle returns to its starting point, its displacement is not zero.
d) Displacement does not tell the nature of the actual motion of a particle between the points.
Q5. Which of the following is incorrect –
First - Average velocity is path length divided by time interval.
Second - In general, speed is greater than the magnitude of the velocity.
Third - A particle moving in a given direction with a non-zero velocity can have zero speed.
Fourth - The magnitude of average velocity is the average speed.
a) Second and third.
b) Second and fourth.
c) First, second and third.
d) All four.
Q6. What information does the area under velocity-time graph give you?
a) Velocity
b) Acceleration
c) Work done
d) Displacement
Q7. Which of the following graphs represents the position-time graph of a particle moving with negative velocity?
Q8. What does speedometer of a car measure?
a) Average speed.
b) Average velocity.
c) Instantaneous speed.
d) Instantaneous velocity.
Q9. Which of the following is true for a particle moving with uniform velocity –
a) Speed is zero.
b) Acceleration is zero.
c) Acceleration is opposite to the velocity.
d) Speed may be variable.
Q10. What does the adjacent graph tell you?
a) Particle is at rest.
b) Particle is continuously going along x-direction.
c) Velocity of the particle increases up to time \(t_0\) and then becomes constant.
d) Particle moves at a constant velocity up to a time \(t_0\) and then stops.
Q11. In the adjacent graph two different equal intervals of time are shown. If \(v_1\) and \(v_2\) are the average speed in time interval \(t_1\) and \(t_2\) respectively. Which of the following is correct?
a) \(v_1\) > \(v_2\)
b) \(v_2\) > \(v_1\)
c) \(v_1\) = \(v_2\)
d) Insufficient data
Q12. Which of the following is incorrect for the adjacent graph? The graph is plotted for two children A and B returning from their school O to their homes P and Q.
a) A lives closer to school than B.
b) A starts from the school earlier than B.
c) A walks faster than B.
d) A and B reach home at the same time.
Q13. In the adjacent graph, which point represents negative instantaneous velocity?
a) C
b) D
c) E
d) F
Q14. Which of the following graph does not represent one dimensional motion?
Q15. An object is moving such that displacement of the object is proportional to the cube of time elapsed. What would you expect for the acceleration of the object?
a) Increasing with time.
b) Decreasing with time.
c) Constant but not zero.
d) Zero.
Q16. What is revealed by the tangent drawn on velocity-time graph at any instant of time?
a) Acceleration.
b) Velocity.
c) Impulse.
d) Momentum.
Q17. What is represented by the area under acceleration-time graph?
a) Initial velocity.
b) Final velocity.
c) Change in velocity.
d) Distance traveled.
Q18. Which of the following is not correct –
a) X-t graph is a parabola if motion is uniformly accelerated.
b) V-t graph is a straight line inclined to the time-axis if motion is uniformly accelerated.
c) X-t graph is a straight line inclined to the time-axis if motions is uniform and acceleration is zero.
d) V-t graph is a parabola if motion is uniform and acceleration is zero.
Q19. A particle moves along a straight line with an acceleration \(a=p-qx\). P and q are constants. Particle starts from point A and stops at point B. What would be the maximum velocity of the particle?
a) \(p/q\)
b) \(p/\sqrt q\)
c) \(q/p\)
d) \(\sqrt q/p\)
Q20. Which of the following represents position-time graph for motion with zero acceleration?
Q21. The adjacent graph represents velocity-displacement relation. Which of the following graph represents the variation of acceleration with displacement?
Q22. The adjacent graph represents velocity-time relation. Which of the following formula is correct for describing the motion of the particle over the time interval \(t_1\) to \(t_2\)?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Q23. Which of the following curves describe the motion of a particle initially in positive direction with constant negative acceleration?
a) W
b) X
c) Y
d) Z
Q24. What situation is represented by the adjacent graph?
a) A cricket ball moving with a uniform speed is hit with a bat for a very short time interval.
b) A ball is falling freely from the top of a tower.
c) A car moving with constant velocity on a straight road.
d) A football is kicked into the air vertically upwards.
Q25. A body starts from rest and moves with a constant acceleration for t s. It travels a distance \(x_1\) in first half of time and \(x_2\) in next half of time. What would be the relation between \(x_1\) and \(x_2\)?
a) \(X_2\) = \(3x_1\)
b) \(X_2\) = \(x_1\)
c) \(X_2\) = \(4x_1\)
d) \(X_2\) = \(2x_1\)
Q26. What kind of motion is free fall?
a) A motion with uniform velocity.
b) A motion with uniform acceleration.
c) A motion with variable acceleration.
d) A motion with uniform speed.
Q27. Which of the following is not correct-
a) The zero velocity of a body at any instant does not necessarily imply zero acceleration at that instant.
b) The kinematic equation of motions are true only for motion in which the magnitude and the direction of acceleration are constants during the course of motion.
c) The sign of acceleration tells us whether the particles’ speed is increasingly or decreasing.
d) All of these.
Q28. Which series is formed by the distances covered by a freely falling body in its first, second, third,…,nth second?
a) Arithmetic progression
b) Geometric progression
c) No well defined series
d) Form a series corresponding to the difference of square root of the successive natural numbers.
Q29. A ball is thrown vertically upwards with velocity u. At highest point –
a) Both the velocity and acceleration of the ball are zero.
b) The velocity of the ball is u but its acceleration is zero.
c) The velocity of the ball is zero but its acceleration is g.
d) The velocity of the ball is u but its acceleration is g.
Q30. Stopping distance of a moving vehicle is directly proportional to –
a) Square of the initial velocity.
b) Square of the initial acceleration.
c) The initial velocity.
d) The initial acceleration.
Q31. An object is falling through a fluid. Its acceleration is given by a=g-bv. g is gravitational acceleration and b is a constant. After a long time of release the object is observed to fall with a constant speed. The speed is-
a) g/b
b) b/g
c) bg
d) b
Q32. A particle is released from rest from a tower of height 3h. The ratio of the intervals of time to cover three equal heights h is-
a) 3:2:1
b) \(1:(\sqrt2-1):(\sqrt3-2)\)
c) \(\sqrt3:\sqrt2:1\)
d) \(1:(\sqrt2-1):(\sqrt3-\sqrt2)\)
Q33. A stone is dropped from the top of a cliff. n seconds later another stone is thrown vertically downwards with a velocity u. The second stone overtakes the first. What distance below the top of the cliff this overtaking takes place?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Q34. A body starts from rest and then moves with a uniform acceleration. After n second the body acquires a velocity v. What is the displacement of the body in last 2 seconds?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Q35. A ball is thrown vertically upwards with speed u. At the same instant another ball B is released from rest at height h. At time t, the speed of A relative to B is-
a) u
b) \(u-2gt\)
c) \(\sqrt{u^2-2gh}\)
\(u-gt\)
Q36. Which of the following graph represents displacement-time graph of two objects A and B moving with zero relative velocity?
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Sustainable Web Design, An Excerpt
In the 1950s, many in the elite running community had begun to believe it wasn’t possible to run a mile in less than four minutes. Runners had been attempting it since the late 19th century and were beginning to draw the conclusion that the human body simply wasn’t built for the task.
But on May 6, 1956, Roger Bannister took everyone by surprise. It was a cold, wet day in Oxford, England—conditions no one expected to lend themselves to record-setting—and yet Bannister did just that, running a mile in 3:59.4 and becoming the first person in the record books to run a mile in under four minutes.
This shift in the benchmark had profound effects; the world now knew that the four-minute mile was possible. Bannister’s record lasted only forty-six days, when it was snatched away by Australian runner John Landy. Then a year later, three runners all beat the four-minute barrier together in the same race. Since then, over 1,400 runners have officially run a mile in under four minutes; the current record is 3:43.13, held by Moroccan athlete Hicham El Guerrouj.
We achieve far more when we believe that something is possible, and we will believe it’s possible only when we see someone else has already done it—and as with human running speed, so it is with what we believe are the hard limits for how a website needs to perform.
Establishing standards for a sustainable web
In most major industries, the key metrics of environmental performance are fairly well established, such as miles per gallon for cars or energy per square meter for homes. The tools and methods for calculating those metrics are standardized as well, which keeps everyone on the same page when doing environmental assessments. In the world of websites and apps, however, we aren’t held to any particular environmental standards, and only recently have gained the tools and methods we need to even make an environmental assessment.
The primary goal in sustainable web design is to reduce carbon emissions. However, it’s almost impossible to actually measure the amount of CO2 produced by a web product. We can’t measure the fumes coming out of the exhaust pipes on our laptops. The emissions of our websites are far away, out of sight and out of mind, coming out of power stations burning coal and gas. We have no way to trace the electrons from a website or app back to the power station where the electricity is being generated and actually know the exact amount of greenhouse gas produced. So what do we do?
If we can’t measure the actual carbon emissions, then we need to find what we can measure. The primary factors that could be used as indicators of carbon emissions are:
Data transfer
Carbon intensity of electricity
Let’s take a look at how we can use these metrics to quantify the energy consumption, and in turn the carbon footprint, of the websites and web apps we create.
Data transfer
Most researchers use kilowatt-hours per gigabyte (kWh/GB) as a metric of energy efficiency when measuring the amount of data transferred over the internet when a website or application is used. This provides a great reference point for energy consumption and carbon emissions. As a rule of thumb, the more data transferred, the more energy used in the data center, telecoms networks, and end user devices.
For web pages, data transfer for a single visit can be most easily estimated by measuring the page weight, meaning the transfer size of the page in kilobytes the first time someone visits the page. It’s fairly easy to measure using the developer tools in any modern web browser. Often your web hosting account will include statistics for the total data transfer of any web application (Fig 2.1).
Fig 2.1: The Kinsta hosting dashboard displays data transfer alongside traffic volumes. If you divide data transfer by visits, you get the average data per visit, which can be used as a metric of efficiency.
The nice thing about page weight as a metric is that it allows us to compare the efficiency of web pages on a level playing field without confusing the issue with constantly changing traffic volumes.
Reducing page weight requires a large scope. By early 2020, the median page weight was 1.97 MB for setups the HTTP Archive classifies as “desktop” and 1.77 MB for “mobile,” with desktop increasing 36 percent since January 2016 and mobile page weights nearly doubling in the same period (Fig 2.2). Roughly half of this data transfer is image files, making images the single biggest source of carbon emissions on the average website.
History clearly shows us that our web pages can be smaller, if only we set our minds to it. While most technologies become ever more energy efficient, including the underlying technology of the web such as data centers and transmission networks, websites themselves are a technology that becomes less efficient as time goes on.
Fig 2.2: The historical page weight data from HTTP Archive can teach us a lot about what is possible in the future.
You might be familiar with the concept of performance budgeting as a way of focusing a project team on creating faster user experiences. For example, we might specify that the website must load in a maximum of one second on a broadband connection and three seconds on a 3G connection. Much like speed limits while driving, performance budgets are upper limits rather than vague suggestions, so the goal should always be to come in under budget.
Designing for fast performance does often lead to reduced data transfer and emissions, but it isn’t always the case. Web performance is often more about the subjective perception of load times than it is about the true efficiency of the underlying system, whereas page weight and transfer size are more objective measures and more reliable benchmarks for sustainable web design.
We can set a page weight budget in reference to a benchmark of industry averages, using data from sources like HTTP Archive. We can also benchmark page weight against competitors or the old version of the website we’re replacing. For example, we might set a maximum page weight budget as equal to our most efficient competitor, or we could set the benchmark lower to guarantee we are best in class.
If we want to take it to the next level, then we could also start looking at the transfer size of our web pages for repeat visitors. Although page weight for the first time someone visits is the easiest thing to measure, and easy to compare on a like-for-like basis, we can learn even more if we start looking at transfer size in other scenarios too. For example, visitors who load the same page multiple times will likely have a high percentage of the files cached in their browser, meaning they don’t need to transfer all of the files on subsequent visits. Likewise, a visitor who navigates to new pages on the same website will likely not need to load the full page each time, as some global assets from areas like the header and footer may already be cached in their browser. Measuring transfer size at this next level of detail can help us learn even more about how we can optimize efficiency for users who regularly visit our pages, and enable us to set page weight budgets for additional scenarios beyond the first visit.
Page weight budgets are easy to track throughout a design and development process. Although they don’t actually tell us carbon emission and energy consumption analytics directly, they give us a clear indication of efficiency relative to other websites. And as transfer size is an effective analog for energy consumption, we can actually use it to estimate energy consumption too.
In summary, reduced data transfer translates to energy efficiency, a key factor to reducing carbon emissions of web products. The more efficient our products, the less electricity they use, and the less fossil fuels need to be burned to produce the electricity to power them. But as we’ll see next, since all web products demand some power, it’s important to consider the source of that electricity, too.
Carbon intensity of electricity
Regardless of energy efficiency, the level of pollution caused by digital products depends on the carbon intensity of the energy being used to power them. Carbon intensity is a term used to define the grams of CO2 produced for every kilowatt-hour of electricity (gCO2/kWh). This varies widely, with renewable energy sources and nuclear having an extremely low carbon intensity of less than 10 gCO2/kWh (even when factoring in their construction); whereas fossil fuels have very high carbon intensity of approximately 200–400 gCO2/kWh.
Most electricity comes from national or state grids, where energy from a variety of different sources is mixed together with varying levels of carbon intensity. The distributed nature of the internet means that a single user of a website or app might be using energy from multiple different grids simultaneously; a website user in Paris uses electricity from the French national grid to power their home internet and devices, but the website’s data center could be in Dallas, USA, pulling electricity from the Texas grid, while the telecoms networks use energy from everywhere between Dallas and Paris.
We don’t have control over the full energy supply of web services, but we do have some control over where we host our projects. With a data center using a significant proportion of the energy of any website, locating the data center in an area with low carbon energy will tangibly reduce its carbon emissions. Danish startup Tomorrow reports and maps this user-contributed data, and a glance at their map shows how, for example, choosing a data center in France will have significantly lower carbon emissions than a data center in the Netherlands (Fig 2.3).
Fig 2.3: Tomorrow’s electricityMap shows live data for the carbon intensity of electricity by country.
That said, we don’t want to locate our servers too far away from our users; it takes energy to transmit data through the telecom’s networks, and the further the data travels, the more energy is consumed. Just like food miles, we can think of the distance from the data center to the website’s core user base as “megabyte miles”—and we want it to be as small as possible.
Using the distance itself as a benchmark, we can use website analytics to identify the country, state, or even city where our core user group is located and measure the distance from that location to the data center used by our hosting company. This will be a somewhat fuzzy metric as we don’t know the precise center of mass of our users or the exact location of a data center, but we can at least get a rough idea.
For example, if a website is hosted in London but the primary user base is on the West Coast of the USA, then we could look up the distance from London to San Francisco, which is 5,300 miles. That’s a long way! We can see that hosting it somewhere in North America, ideally on the West Coast, would significantly reduce the distance and thus the energy used to transmit the data. In addition, locating our servers closer to our visitors helps reduce latency and delivers better user experience, so it’s a win-win.
Converting it back to carbon emissions
If we combine carbon intensity with a calculation for energy consumption, we can calculate the carbon emissions of our websites and apps. A tool my team created does this by measuring the data transfer over the wire when loading a web page, calculating the amount of electricity associated, and then converting that into a figure for CO2 (Fig 2.4). It also factors in whether or not the web hosting is powered by renewable energy.
If you want to take it to the next level and tailor the data more accurately to the unique aspects of your project, the Energy and Emissions Worksheet accompanying this book shows you how.
Fig 2.4: The Website Carbon Calculator shows how the Riverford Organic website embodies their commitment to sustainability, being both low carbon and hosted in a data center using renewable energy.
With the ability to calculate carbon emissions for our projects, we could actually take a page weight budget one step further and set carbon budgets as well. CO2 is not a metric commonly used in web projects; we’re more familiar with kilobytes and megabytes, and can fairly easily look at design options and files to assess how big they are. Translating that into carbon adds a layer of abstraction that isn’t as intuitive—but carbon budgets do focus our minds on the primary thing we’re trying to reduce, and support the core objective of sustainable web design: reducing carbon emissions.
Browser Energy
Data transfer might be the simplest and most complete analog for energy consumption in our digital projects, but by giving us one number to represent the energy used in the data center, the telecoms networks, and the end user’s devices, it can’t offer us insights into the efficiency in any specific part of the system.
One part of the system we can look at in more detail is the energy used by end users’ devices. As front-end web technologies become more advanced, the computational load is increasingly moving from the data center to users’ devices, whether they be phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, or even smart TVs. Modern web browsers allow us to implement more complex styling and animation on the fly using CSS and JavaScript. Furthermore, JavaScript libraries such as Angular and React allow us to create applications where the “thinking” work is done partly or entirely in the browser.
All of these advances are exciting and open up new possibilities for what the web can do to serve society and create positive experiences. However, more computation in the user’s web browser means more energy used by their devices. This has implications not just environmentally, but also for user experience and inclusivity. Applications that put a heavy processing load on the user’s device can inadvertently exclude users with older, slower devices and cause batteries on phones and laptops to drain faster. Furthermore, if we build web applications that require the user to have up-to-date, powerful devices, people throw away old devices much more frequently. This isn’t just bad for the environment, but it puts a disproportionate financial burden on the poorest in society.
In part because the tools are limited, and partly because there are so many different models of devices, it’s difficult to measure website energy consumption on end users’ devices. One tool we do currently have is the Energy Impact monitor inside the developer console of the Safari browser (Fig 2.5).
Fig 2.5: The Energy Impact meter in Safari (on the right) shows how a website consumes CPU energy.
You know when you load a website and your computer’s cooling fans start spinning so frantically you think it might actually take off? That’s essentially what this tool is measuring.
It shows us the percentage of CPU used and the duration of CPU usage when loading the web page, and uses these figures to generate an energy impact rating. It doesn’t give us precise data for the amount of electricity used in kilowatts, but the information it does provide can be used to benchmark how efficiently your websites use energy and set targets for improvement.
Sustainable Web Design, An Excerpt published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/
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Logical Fallacies - Study Notes based on Fallacies
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Logical Fallacies - Study Notes based on Fallacies
Study Notes on Formal & Informal Fallacies
UGC NET Syllabus of Logical Reasoning
Understanding the structure of arguments: argument forms, the structure of categorical propositions, Mood and Figure, Formal and Informal fallacies, Uses of language, Connotations and denotations of terms, Classical square of opposition. (Some part are covered in this article)
Evaluating and distinguishing deductive and inductive reasoning.
Analogies.
Venn diagram: Simple and multiple uses for establishing the validity of arguments.
Indian Logic: Means of knowledge.
Pramanas: Pratyaksha (Perception), Anumana (Inference), Upamana(Comparison), Shabda (Verbal testimony), Arthapatti (Implication) and Anupalabddhi (Non-apprehension).
Structure and kinds of Anumana (inference), Vyapti (invariable relation), Hetvabhasas (fallacies of inference).
What are fallacies?
Fallacies are errors in arguments that deceive our minds. It is a defect in an argument that consists of something other than merely false premises.
As we see, fallacies can be committed in many ways, but usually, they involve either a mistake in reasoning or the creation of some illusion that makes a bad argument appear good or bad (either).
An argument is valid when the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion. The process that gives no rational grounds for accepting the conclusion is defective forms of an argument known as a fallacy.
Fallacies can be used positively, to avoid or expose error or they can be used for negative means, to deceive.
[ ] Ethos- ethos is in an argument that appeals to ethics authority or credibility.
[ ] Pathos- pathos is an argument that appeals to emotions.
Fallacies are usually divided into two groups.
Formal and Informal Fallacies
A formal group– It may be identified through mere inspection of the form of structure of an argument.
[ ] In the case of formal fallacies, the conclusion does not follow from the given premises or proposition. The relation depicted in such an argument is not valid and supported by the given premises.
[ ] Formal fallacies can be the result of poor logic.
[ ] Informal fallacy’s error is in structure.
Informal fallacy-. Informal fallacies are the result of wrong information, assumptions, misuse of language, lack of evidence, or wrong analogy.
Informal fallacies are a form of incorrect argument in natural language. In this, unlike formal fallacies, the source of error is not just due to their form but can also lie in their content and context.
[ ] It will give an appearance of being correct despite being incorrect and thereby seduces into committing and accepting that this is true.
[ ] It is a fallacy in meaning. You’ll think that premises follow the conclusion but there will be an error.
Let’s first discuss what is the difference between formal and informal fallacy –
[ ] In the formal fallacy -premises will not follow the conclusion and you will easily find that there is an error in the statement.
[ ] In the informal fallacy -it will usually give an appearance of being correct and thereby it will persuade us into committing and accepting them.
Types of informal fallacies
#Ad ignorantiam
It is an appeal to ignorance. This fallacy is usually committed by us because of ignorance of the truth. We tend to commit this fallacy because it is not proven by anyone till now.
For example- Shyam said to Mohan that he does not believe in God.
When Mohan asked him the reason he said ” Because science failed to give any valid proof of the existence of God.”
Here we can simply say that Mohan has committed the fallacy of ad ignorantiam. We are ignorant of something does not mean it is not possible. Maybe in the coming future science will prove the existence of God.
#Ad populam
It is a proposition which we accept just because everyone else is accepting the same thing.
If everyone is doing one thing, it does not guarantee the rightness of that thing.
For example- If everybody is driving the car at a 200 km per hour speed that does not mean it is legal to drive a car at this speed. It will still be considered wrong.
# Ad verecundlam
This is also called “appeal to authority”. Accepting something because it is coming from some authority.
For example- if Deepika Padukone says the secret of my beauty is Lux, that does not ensure at all that using Lux will surely give the same beauty to everyone.
In this type of fallacy, we do not apply any kind of logic. We blindly follow some authority without giving any logic.
#Hasty generalization fallacy
also called ” converse accident “. Coming to a conclusion without any evidence. or Drawing conclusions from incomplete information.
Hasty generalization is a policy that affects inductive generalizations. The fallacy occurs when there is a reasonable likelihood that the sample is not representative of the group. Such a likelihood May arise if the sample is either too small or not when only selected.
#Strawman fallacy
When you know the other person is right and you don’t have any logical counterargument to fight but to make sure that you always have an upper hand you create a whole new scenario just to win an argument is called the strawman fallacy.
The strawman fallacy is committed when an arguer distorts an opponent’s argument for more easily attacking it, demolishes the distorted argument, and then concludes that the opponent’s real argument has been demolished.
By doing so the argument is said to have set up a strawman and knocked it down, only to conclude that the real man( opposing argument) has been knocked down as well.
For example, Mr. Goldberg has argued against prayer in Public School. Mr. Goldberg advocates atheism but atheism is what they used to have in Russia. Atheism leads to the suppression of all religions and the replacement of God by an omnipotent state. Is that what we want for this country?
As this example illustrates, the kind of distortion the second arguer resorts to is often an attempt to exaggerate the first person’s argument or make it look more extreme than it is.
#Red herring fallacy– (deliberate diversion)
This fallacy is closely associated with missing the point. The arguer diverts the attention of The Reader or Listener by changing the subject to a different but subtly related one. To use the Red Herring fallacy effectively, the arguer must change the original subject of the argument without The Reader or listener noticing it.
For example- Boy- Mom, I want that toy.
Mother- Hey, let’s go home, yummy food is waiting for you.
Here you can see that mother has changed the entire topic deliberately.
# Argument against the person(argumentum ad Hominem)
This fallacy always involves two arguments. One of them advances either directly or implicitly a certain argument, and the other than a response by directing his or her attention, not to the first person’s argument but the first person himself.
For example- If a politician is speaking well and giving a brilliant speech with logical reason another politician who does not have anything to say in opposition says “you can’t control the nation. Your daughter eloped with someone else.
This is clearly attacking personally.
2nd example- You cannot come first in class because you are ugly.
Here we can see that coming first or last in class has nothing to do with being ugly or beautiful but the opponent has nothing to say against his intelligence, so he attacks him personally.
# Missing the point– (ignoratio elenchi)
The arguer is ignorant of the logical implication of his or her premises and, as a result, draws a Conclusion that misses the point entirely.
This fallacy occurs when the premises of an argument support one particular conclusion but then a different conclusion often vaguely related to the correct conclusion is drawn.
For example- Crimes of theft and robbery have been increasing at an alarming rate lately. The conclusion obvious: we must reinstate the death plenty immediately “
In the above statement at least two correct conclusions are implied by the premises of the first argument 1. Either we should provide increased police protection in vulnerable neighborhoods or 2.we should initiate programs to eliminate the causes of the crimes.
Reinstating the death penalty is not a logical conclusion at all. Among other things, theft and robbery are not capital crimes.
#Complex Question–
When someone invites 2 or 3 questions in one single question.
The fallacy of complex questions is committed when in a single question, more questions are asked and a single answer is then applied to both questions.
When the respondent answers are added to the complex question, an argument emerges that establishes the presumed condition.
This argument is usually intended to trap the respondent into acknowledging something that he or she might otherwise not want to acknowledge.
For example- Have you stopped cheating on exams?
Now let us suppose the respondent answers “yes” to the question.
Therefore, it follows that you have cheated in the past.
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