#on an individual level. Like I am not thinking about what it means for Bart Allen to be a more established hero than Wally West.
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Hey so I'm interested in writing for bartkon week, but I like doing frankly excessive research on characters before I try writing them...and honestly I don't really want to read all of SB94, impulse and YJ just to get a handle on what I'm doing, that's a lot even for me. I know some general stuff about the both of them, but not to the point where I'm like "Ah yes, I understand the soul of the matter" So I was wondering if there were like any specific arcs or points of characterization that I could read through to get the dynamic right?
shfkjdsfd ngl, I'm the worst person to ask bc my romance with BartKon didn't even start with BartKon....... it started with Clark/Bart from Smallville 😭😭😭 I'm exceptionally weak for Kryptonian/Speedster romances, but whereas Clark/Bart was the gateway, Bart/Kon is where my heart resides. And I don't ship any other Kryptonians with Speedster. Literally just Clart from Smallville and BartKon from the comics. Just giving you context so you don't think I'm some subject matter expert with a phd in BartKononomics ...... I am just a lady in her thirties who has carboard boxes full of sb/imp/yj singles cuz Clart made her Feel Things when she was a kid and she decided to Do Something about it (aka read comics).
BUT TO YOUR QUESTIONS!
If you want a high level overview of the ship, @radioactive-earthshine's KonBart Manifesto is a great place to start. It has the ship's Best Highlights, and really sums up why there is a small but dedicated fanbase to it. Dedicated enough that I broke my near-ten year cold turkey of mainline DC comics because my main man Bendis put BartKon back on the map while I was living my life blissfully unaware that DC had even hired Bendis to begin with and that the Diamond distro monopoly died. I was shocked. Still am. Two things I never thought would happen in my lifetime.
Now to understand the soul of Bart and Kon.... you're gonna have to look at that things that don't really have Bart and Kon on the same page. Part of the reason why BartKon Speaks to Me is because their relationship progression over the year directly ties back to their individual growth as characters.
So reading material 1: In Impulse, Bart starts off as the speedster equivalent of a feral bobcat, but slowly progresses into an empathetic, understanding, and an overall Good Man. Much of his story deals with the harsh realities of simply growing up different. Running theme of Imp fandom is that Mark Waid created and wrote an autist with ADHD without meaning too, and by Allah he sure did. It's fascinating because Bart harbors both grief and rage due to his predicaments, and the adults in his life are incredibly unkind (even if they are well-meaning), so Impulse has always been, in my understanding, the slice-of-life that really helps Bart to come of age into a Man and a Great Hero. You don't have to read the whole series, but if you can read at least the first twenty or so issues, you'll find yourself rooting for the little man and see how he shines in terms of empathy, understanding, love, and dealing with unresolved rage/grief/loss.
Reading material 2: Superboy is a trick and a half because it deals with issues of child neglect, grooming, the allegory of child star exploitation, and so on and so forth. The BartKon implications are There, but the reason why Superboy is incredibly important is because Superboy as a character is more than just his parentage. Contrary to popular belief, Geoff is NOT the main man in this story. Reading even just the first twenty issues of Superboy will show you Kon was failed by most of the adults in his life, and Superman is NOT his villain. Or the root of his daddy issues. Bro didn't even have a name until much later. If you wanna know who Superboy REALLY was before the Geoffian Era, you can read the first twenty odd issues. If you wanna go earlier, you could read his parts in Reign of the Supermen, just to get an understanding as to why he HAD to be the way he was during this time.
Reading material 3: I do not recommend reading all of YJ 98 for the BartKon bc YJ 98 is hijinks fun. It's GREAT reading for absurdist and comical situations, but only really works with context from Impulse and Superboy to get to the BartKon heart of it all. Not to say YJ 98 wouldn't give you the BartKon goodness, it sure does, but the soul doesn't come together if you don't get how Bart evolved in Impulse and how terribly Kon was treated in Superboy. You can read really anything in YJ to have fun with the group, but if you wanna fast track, you can read the last twenty or so issues and Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day.
Reading material 4: The Geoffian era..... I wouldn't wish Teen Titans 2003 on my worse enemy. Funniest thing is that at the time, I was just starting to watch Smallville. In love with Smallville!Bart already, I embarked on my Superboy journey.... had mixed feelings, so I stuck mostly to the 90's content. Ended up reading impulse a decade later, but long story short.... the Geoffian Era set a Tone and Direction for Bart and Kon that never sit well with me. There IS story there, if you are interested in reading about Daddy Issues, Masculine Identity, and a shit ton of other stuff that really pulled Kon away from his roots and made him more of a Emotionally Tortured Super. If that floats your boat, you may enjoy it. You can read a handful of comics from this era. Just know that in the end, he suffers anyway, just in an ugly ass outfit. The only real bit I'd recommend forreal forreal is when he dies. His whole arc in the Geoffian Era really just tells us he doesn't know how to live and thus he... dies. It's sad bc the writers before him despite having tortured Kon relentlessly, never really made him so...... hopeless.
Reading material 5: Flashpoint.... Bart dies, but I personally did not feel much for him because Bart didn't feel like Bart in the end, but yeah, he kicks it. This is where I pretty much kicked DC to the side too, minus the mistake that was reading RHATO. You can read Kid Flash Lost if you'd like.
Do not read New 52.
Reading material 6:.... my main man Bendis. No you do not have to read all of YJ 2019, but BartKon reunion and then Bart's explication as to WHY he found Kon is all you need. Bendis, despite the hate he gets, actually shows that he has great love for the YJ line. BartKon especially. The bald headed demon proves yet again that he care not for the world, only for his faves, which I'm cool with bc BartKon are me faves.
I know. A lotta reading. Those numbers I gave you.... you can also just read half of what I said kjdhgkhd Googling also helps! I know it's not always feasible to read so many comics, and I'mma be real, the Tone for many may not entice you either. Impulse feels like a slice-of-life to me, but YJ's an absurd shounen, and Superboy is the saddest book you'll ever read that is absolutely hilarious when you can accept that 90's writers just Did Not Care. Geoff hates Bart and Kon. New 52 is not real. Bendis actually loves BartKon a LOT, so you can just read their tidbits and find peace in the fact that Bart Allen, the loneliest fucker in existence, found his Kon El, who is the saddest fucker in existence. Something something, I will find you even if God wants us both dead. And God (editorial) did. I don't know how Bendis pulled the shit that he did, but he put a decades old rarepair back on the map after the Geoffian Reign. And Geoff hates Bart and Kon.
Happy Reading/Googling/Researching!!!!
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Hi Jin! Since you are looking for some DC hc what's your opinion on Flash? Honestly I like his character and his interaction with other heros, esp. Batman. I like to hc that sometimes Flash says/does something so deep and profound completely accidently but it shocks and touches others and they see him in renewed light. If you don't feel like Flash, what about some grandpa Alfred and his horde of superhero grandkids? xD Just some options for you, have fun and thank you for your amazing writing!
So I... don't reallllly have much experience writing for Flash or the Justice League in general? I based Flash's characterization off from what I remember from watching various cartoons and from pannels I've happened across over the years. I need to read his comics. He's such a dork. Anyway, sorry this took a million years DF, hopefully this is sorta what you were wanting <3
Also if you're wondering when exactly this takes place, just know I am constantly rejecting canon and substituting my own 😤
-o-o-o-o-
When Dick was nine years old, he wanted to join Bruce on a Justice League mission.
Bruce—being the clear-headed, calculative, newly foster father that he was—panicked and said he couldn't go on an official League mission until he was twenty-five years old... which is what Bruce was at the time. When Dick tried to argue back, well, Bruce pulled some strings—meaning he glared at the other League members until they agreed—and made it official.
No one under twenty-five would join an official Justice League mission.
Bruce wishes now he set the bar higher and told the young man to just deal with it. Because Dick is twenty-six now, and that's all Bruce can think about as Batman punches his way through an alien spaceship. Twenty-six, somewhere on this ship where Bruce can't see him with a different team comprising of newer members—not because he's untrained, but because there's no one else Bruce would trust to keep the newer recruits alive.
Meanwhile, Batman and other original powerful members of the League fight their way towards the leader of these attacking aliens. The mothership is large, practically a maze, and filled with soldier creatures with no individual agency to note. They're not an Apokolips level threat, but it would still be preferable to stop them before they enter the solar system.
Batman stops in his tracks, slamming his back against the wall to avoid getting blasted by an enemy soldier around the corner. Then, after a beat, he jumps out and launches a baterang at the attacker and takes them down with a few well placed jabs. There's the sound of something creaking violently somewhere behind him, probably Superman or Wonder Woman deciding doors are too tedious to find and the walls are weak enough for them to just plow through.
Which is why Batman is paired with none other than Flash for the moment. Despite his abilities, he can't go vibrating through walls whenever he finds it quicker to do so. He needs to save his strength; which means he's in the same boat as Batman, finding tedious doorways and navigating winding corridor filled with flashing red lights and steaming pipelines.
There's the sound of a blaster loading up to his right where he didn't notice another soldier hiding in the shadows. He just manages to pull up his cape in an attempt to lessen the damage when there's a blur of red and a flash of yellow lightning, the alien goes flying against the wall with a snap, falling limply to the ground.
"You good, B?" Flash asks, stopping in front of Batman with a grin. His voice is light, a little joking. Batman rolls his eyes. "I mean, it's a good thing I was here, It's not normally me who's doing the saving for destracted teammates."
"Let's move," he replies before moving on.
Behind him, he hears Flash sigh dramatically. "Good talk."
They move further into the ship, the blue glow of a fuzzy, half-detailed map hovering from Batman's wrist computer. Flash is a constant chatter behind him, which only serves to remind Batman further of a certain talkative, pun-slinging acrobat somewhere on the other side of the ship, taking down the ship's main controls.
Then, suddenly, the holographic map glitches violently like an old corrupted silent film as the entire ship jolts. A large boom crashes through the air, creaking pipes and tilting the entire gravitational system, causing Batman and Flash to throw their bodies towards the nearest wall as the ship struggles to realign itself.
Batman keeps his grip firm while Bruce keeps his eyes on the map, his stomach dropping when he sees a flashing red dot appear near the ship's main control room.
Nightwing...
"What was that?!" Flash wheezes as the gravity returns to something similar to what it should be, but it's shaky now, like one wrong move and everything will be sent spinning.
"Something exploded in the control room," Batman growls, pushing all thoughts that don't involve the alien leader and finding said alien leader out of his head.
"'Wing's on the other side," Flash says, his voice suddenly devoid of his constant joking and light tone. "You think they're oka-"
"We need to finish this."
And Batman is moving before Flash can argue. He doesn't say he's sure they're fine, or we should turn back, or let me attempt communications; he just moves forward because the mission is important. The world is important.
Whatever trouble the other's have gotten into... he is positive they can handle it.
Then, just moments later, they run into more trouble. Only this time, it's not just one or two mindless soldiers, but a whole group of them. Immediately, Batman launches himself into battle, cape fluttering behind him like an omen, using the shadows between the flashing lights to his advantage. He can hear the static of a speedster's energy all around him as Flash winds between bolts of enemy fire. Batman pushes his companion to the back of his mind, throwing his fist out into slam the door deformed jaw of an attacker.
The ship jolts again, along with the floor beneath him. He grunts as he's thrown into the wall, the explosion sounding like it came from the same area as before. Everything's sideways now: the ship, the gravity, his train of thought. He just manages to grab at clawing hands as an alien jumps on top of him, snarl in its lips and teeth dripping with drool.
The alien screeches, it's taloned feet digging into the Kevlar over his stomach, practically doing it's damnest to gut him open. Batman growls, his stomach twisting as the ship's gravity tries to fix itself once again, causing Batman and the alien to go rumbling from the wall into the floor. Batman grunts as he crashes through a branch of pipeline, landing harshly on the ground and sucking in a breath as his ribs scream at new bruises.
What is going on over there?!
And he doesn't even have a chance to think more into it, because he realizes he's been laying on the ground, worrying, when he should have noticed the alien finding it's bearings and scrambling forward with a scream to attempt to pin him down again.
He bunches up, preparing himself to defend himself at last moment, before there's Flash, once again, coming in at the perfect time. Flash slams the alien into the wall, it's skull making a terrible thunk noise, before it slides to the ground unconscious.
Batman pushes himself to his feet, his ribs throbbing, and opens his mouth to command they keep going, but Flash—in the blink in an eye—ends up right in front of Batman, his mouth twisted in a rare frown.
"What is wrong with you," Flash demands, grabbing into the clasps of Batman's cape and holding Batman in front of him so he can effective snarl in the other man's face. "I was joking before, about you being destracted, but now I think you actually are."
"I'm not destracted," Batman growls back, moving to shove Flash off of him, but the Flash doesn't back down. He tightens his grasp and glares.
"You are. You're destracted and worried for Nightwing because you're a dad-"
"We have a mission to finish-"
"The mission is a failure if you die, Bruce! I can't watch them be told you've died again!"
Everything goes still, nothing but the flashing lights and creaking pipes exists while Barry clutches the clasps of Bruce's cape and breathes hard. Barry swallows roughly, and then gives Bruce a narrowed look.
"When will you realize that?" He asks, sounding close to hysterical. "That your self preservation is worth more than the world to them?"
And Bruce remembers Wally, and Bart, and Iris, and their plans to have kids and find a better house with a bigger lawn. Bruce takes a deep breath and lets Batman take the backseat.
"What do I do?"
Relief flashes through Barry's face. He lets go of Bruce's cape and a smile twitches in his lips. "Go find him. Check on him. Get yourself un-destracted."
"What about you?" Bruce asks, and Barry shrugs, looking way too relaxed now. Like a weight is off his shoulders. Like he can really run now.
"I'm sure Oli is around here somewhere. I'll meet up with him." Barry looks Bruce right in the eye. "We'll finish the mission, it'll be a done in a flash. Just go make sure your kid is okay first."
And for once, Bruce doesn't groan at the pun or argue the phrase his kid. He just nods and turns back the way he came, his legs pumping, to make sure his kid is okay, which he should have remembered in the first place was always the mission. Always the top priority.
He'll have to thank Barry later... and send Iris some flowers.
#bruce wayne#batman#barry allen#the flash#dc comics#jin writes#drabble fic#justice league#fanfiction#fanfic#dc drabble fic#long post#add keep reading later
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Sherlock Fic Recs (mostly lesser-known)
All right, I’ve recommended individual fics from time to time,and I certainly reblog fic rec lists, but this is the first time I’ve tried to assemble a Sherlock rec list of my own. I’m trying to select stories I’ve not seen often (or ever) on other lists for this, and they are in no particular order. Mind the tags. Nearly all are end-game Johnlock, although a couple are more gen.
Since this is my first time writing a fic rec list, please let me know if you enjoyed it.
A Telling Touch - by MikayoToudaiji, 91K, E, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Post-Reichenbach. After Sherlock’s death, John manages to get himself re-enlisted and is sent back to war. But when two series of gruesome murders link home and outland together, John is suddenly faced with more battles than he could have imagined. A Reunion, multi-chapter, case fic.
This is one of my go-to fics. John is grieving the loss of Sherlock and back in the army, this time in Syria, courtesy of Mycroft, when he is called home due to the mysterious death of Irene Adler. Irene was the latest victim of a serial killer, but she has managed to leave John a mysterious message. Sherlock does eventually return, but badly injured. There’s a fascinating case fic, a very different and totally platonic Mary Morstan, Sebastian Moran makes an appearance, and a Mummy Holmes who’s absolutely lovely. I find this story so emotionally rewarding, on many levels.
Follow My Voice - by flawedamythyst, 9K, T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Sherlock's voice is all John has.
John is in a coma, and his only link back to the world is Sherlock’s voice. Told mostly from John’s perspective, the payoff when John finally wakes up is lovely.
Meeting Clara - by BlueSkye12, 2K, G, no pairings (pre-Johnlock, perhaps, if you squint)
John and Sherlock have a chance meeting with John's former sister-in-law and Sherlock learns a thing or two about John's return from Afghanistan.
Sherlock learns exactly how much damage John suffered from the bullet that brought him to London and that fateful meeting at St. Bart’s. Clara is very protective of John, even if he’s no longer her brother-in-law.
Bitter Sweet - by distantstarlight, 17K, E, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Alpha John Watson is a retired army doctor with a chance to acquire an omega mate. He meets the most unusual omega he’s ever encountered.
A somewhat unusual take on A/B/O dynamics, where alphas need to have a use in life, either with a satisfactory career or as a parent to the next generation. Omegas, including Sherlock, are bought at auction, which some may find disturbing, but there’s no indications of maltreatment on anyone’s part. It’s Sherlock who has all the power in this relationship, although he’s deleted the reasons why. John may have to pay the price for that.
The Art of Seduction series - by flawedamythyst, 97K across 6 works, T to E, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes/many OMCs, John Watson/OMC, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Sherlock ran a website called The Science Of Seduction, on which he gave advice on the best ways to get laid, wrote blog entries detailing the results of his various sexual 'experiments' and generally contributed to the stereotype of 'every gay man is a sex-mad playboy'. John avoided the thing like the plague.
AU in which Sherlock treats sex like he does crime in canon. Inspired by Queer As Folk UK, but it very quickly went its own way.
I love this series. Sherlock is obsessed, not with crime, but with sex. John is his flatmate and pretty much the only gay man in London with whom Sherlock has not slept. John pines, Sherlock sleeps with most of gay London, and they all go dancing every weekend. Then Jim shows up and ruins everything. Or does he?
Semper Fidelis - by Blind_Author, 57K, M, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Anthea
Written for a prompt. Moriarty frames John and "Anthea" of betrayals which cause both of the Holmes brothers to cut them off. Cue BAMF!John and BAMF!"Anthea" doing their best to clear their names.
John and Anthea go on the run after they are both framed the same day. They protect one another and bond over the idiocy of their respective Holmeses. Both are in established, if hidden, relationships. They bond while on the run.
Evidence of Human Life - by thesardine, 17K, E, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Sherlock's sanity deteriorates while he and John are stranded on a deserted island.
I basically summed this up in my personal bookmark as: Sherlock and John on a deserted island. They hunt seals, Sherlock periodically goes nuts, and they start having sex.
This Doesn’t Feel Like Falling - by Dark3Star, 148K, E, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, pre Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
When he fell from St. Barts, Sherlock knew he loved John Watson. John couldn't love him back (or so he thinks). Now that he's back from the dead things are back to normal... sort of. When a serial killer targets increasingly high profile gay couples Sherlock is on the case. With a, possibly ill-advised, plan Sherlock and John go undercover as a couple to uncover the truth.
Part 1 of a series, although this is by far the largest part. Your classic “married for a case” trope, taken to the extreme. There’s a decent case fic, a lot of mutual pining, and some interesting wedding planning. Heed the warnings, there are some pretty graphic depictions of violence when they finally confront the murderer.
The Secret Identity of John Watson - by scifigrl47, 27K, G, John Watson/OFC (but don’t let that scare you!)
Taken out of context, John Watson leads a terrifying life. You have to wonder what those poor women he dates thinks of it, especially if John decides to try keeping one away from Sherlock, and Sherlock decides that it'd be best if he could get rid of her. After all, Mycroft's taught him a thing or two about removing potential 'problems.'
Told from the point of view of the bank girl John saves and then dates. Guys, I am a total Johnlock shipper, and so is everyone else in this crack-fest, although they aren’t actually together. Samantha and her girlfriends are an absolute riot, and their impressions of both John and Sherlock are hysterical.
Small Steps - by crossroadrain, 16K, unrated, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
"It's John's birthday and all his army buddies have got him a prostitute for a laugh.
A/B/O fic, where Sherlock is an unwilling omega stripper hired to entertain for John’s birthday get-together with a bunch of his army buddies. When John takes him aside to protect him from his army buddies, he learns something more is going on. The writing is a little uneven, because the writer is not a native English speaker, but the story is quite good.
Endings - by Purple_Slippers_18, 3K, T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Fifty years. Eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty two days. It was a long time to be alive, never mind the thirty-four years Sherlock had breathed before he'd met John, which the man in question most certainly did not. As far as Sherlock was concerned, his life – the one whose memories he hoarded like a dragon protecting caverns of stolen gold – began on that serendipitous January afternoon when two strangers met in the research labs at St. Bart's.
Not for those who can’t deal with MCD or find assisted suicide disturbing, but they’re so in love here. Retirement!Lock.
Body Language - by CeruleanDarkangelis,2K, T Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
There is a language to dancing; a call-and-response from one body to another. Even with the poncy kind of dancing I knew he was versed in, the kind that requires classes and counting and rules, there is communication between bodies. Watching him now, I’m more than pleased to discover that he understands my dialect as well.
This is just 2K of absolutely hot dancing seduction. There’s a follow-up fic, Touch Me, about what happens when they get home
Blind series - by inspiration_assaulted, 19K across 3 works, G to T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Lt John Watson, 25, will do just about anything to stay in the Army, even if it means marrying a man he's never met. It's only for two years, and he'll probably be in Afghanistan the whole time. How much can his life really change?
Mycroft arranges a marriage between Sherlock and John, allowing John to stay in the army and Sherlock to pay for rehab. They write each other letters, but have never met. I originally read this story on FF.net and loved it. I was delighted to find it on AO3, which is easier on my eyes.
Words of One Syllable and At A Loss- GwendolynnFiction, 101K across 2 works on FF.net, M, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
The landmine at Baskerville leaves Sherlock deafened. Unable to stand living without his friend John agrees to learn to sign, but foreign languages cannot be learned in a void. Sherlock helps John learn to sign by finally learning to talk to him.
This was one of my early favorites when I first started reading Sherlock stories on fanfiction.net. The author has slightly different versions up on AO3, but I find these much more enjoyable, as their relationship just seems to work better. The followup story is what happens during the Moriarty trial and after the fall, when Sherlock has to return unexpectedly after John goes missing.
The Otter and the Hedgehog - by Trinity Fire, 23K on FF.net, T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade.
Just when John and Sherlock think they have time to rest after a case, they get an unexpected surprise... Unexpected, yes, and fluffy!
This is a little uneven, and has a very awkward, very weird self-insert OC, but Sherlock the otter wandering around the flat tucking John the hedgehog into his scarf to carry him everywhere is just too cute!
Letters to a Soldier - by Pakmai, 70K on FF.net, T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Captain John Watson is a soldier in Afghanistan. Sherlock Holmes has just been admitted to a drug rehab facility, assigned to write a letter to an unknown soldier. He doesn't expect to get a letter back from someone as interesting as John. John doesn't expect to get letter from a recovering drug addict. Together they form an unlikely friendship through letters.
I’ll admit, it’s been a while since I read this one, but this series turned me into a big fan of epistolary fics. The follow-up fic, Letters to a High-Functioning Sociopath, finished after I’d stopped reading regularly on FF, so I admit I don’t know how the series ended.
Flare - by iMusicalMinji, 6K on FF.net, T, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
John has a lot to learn about an elusive species when he ends up living with one. Like how he doesn't have to change under a full moon, how he is fireproof even if he cannot breathe fire himself, and how he loves the doctor. MythicalCreature!AU
A sweet dragon!Lock story, with some parental elements. Sherlock’s hoard made me laugh, and then I thought about it and it made sense.
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Gravity Well
A Loki x Lithium Fanfiction (CanonxOC)
Set before the events of Thor, Loki receives as large mysterious crate of alcohol the day before his birthday. What seems like a strange yet benign gift from an anonymous person ends up being more than he, or the woman at the bottom of the crate bargained for.
Chapter Warnings: mild language, the occasional innuendo (because Loki)
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At first glance, the crate was nothing particularly unusual or special. Just a rough-hewn wooden box that had the sharp smell of being made of new boards. It was large but not so much as to cause alarm about what it might contain.
Not like the last time a larger container was in his room. Despite how many years had past, Thor still found it hilarious that he had pranked him with a box of angry water fowl.
So Loki was cautious of this crate that had appeared while he was at dinner. He circled it , head tilted at a quizzical angle, looking for any indication of what this strange delivery could be. The opposite side bore a brand that indicated it was from Binary Star Brewery, whatever that was. He leaned his long frame over to examine it further and popped back up in surprise. If the brand was to believed, this mysterious delivery was from Midgard.
Who would be sending him anything from a realm so rarely visited anymore?
His curiosity piqued, he circled it once more, finding an envelope attached to the side opposite from brand. The paper was light and flimsy, like something mass produced with little care or attention, with basic black ink addressing it to him, care of the palace.
Loki opened the envelope as he sat down in the chair by his writing desk, leaning the chair on its back legs.
"Dear Customer, Enclosed in this crate is our Imperial Package-“
A smirk spread across his face. “I am already in possession of that, I assure you.”
“- of assorted house brews from our award-winning collection of fine alcohols, ordered for you by an anonymous individual in honor of your up-coming birthday."
He took a moment to consider this, staring back at the crate in question. It was tall enough to reach his knees. How much did this "anonymous individual" think he drank anyway? Hopefully the awards won indicated quality or he was going be quite literally knee-deep in bad fermentation.
"Please accept a bonus gift as our thanks for your business, packaged with the bottles.
Sincerely,
Bartholomew Kranston, Owner and son of the Founder of Binary Star Brewery.
PS: Don't forget to leave positive reviews of our products on social media!"
Loki arched an eyebrow at the canned sign-off. What was this social media and why was this Kranston guy soliciting his opinion on the wares?
He looked up at the crate again, dramatically crumpling and tossing the paper into the small waste bin next to the desk. “May as well see what I’m stuck with for who knows how long.”
The construction of the box was simple enough and the boards as flimsy that he had no need of tools or assistance to remove the lid. He held a spell in reserve in case the contents proved to be more sinister than a ridiculous number of alcohol bottles.
He was not about to be chased through the palace by rabid geese again.
It proved unnecessary as removing the lid revealed a pleasing pattern of brown glass bottles in a stiff multi-layered paper honey comb of slots to protect them. Another piece of paper sat atop them with a three layered diagram.
The first level contained something called “craft beers”, the former word having no meaning he could understand from the context. What did they do, knit the beer? There were also a line of bottles labeled as ciders of the alcoholic persuasion as well. Those were familiar enough, he figured, even if the names of the individual kinds left him baffled. The beer labeled “Hair of the Dog” was going straight to Thor because the literal visual was completely unappetizing to him.
The second layer sounded more his speed, with a selection of wines of different fruits. Asgard had none of them so those would at least be an interesting experience. There were a few more ciders, including a mix of cider and dark beer which also sounded intriguing. One corner was entirely a variety of rice wine, which from the context was a grain rather than a fruit.
But what was most interesting about that was the name of that layer’s line. All were created by a particular brew master from Binary Star, who called their work “Cute But Deadly”.
“Sounds like a person I could get along with with.”
The last layer was labeled as the bonus gift, and that it was meant to be a surprise. As much as that was intriguing as well, it was late and the next day would be boisterous as it would be busy. Royal birthdays were events for all to share and his was the one being celebrated.
At least in theory.
He placed the paper back in with the bottles and slid the lid back over. He would dig farther into it tomorrow, along side the other surprises the day would hold, probably share the mysterious beverages with his mother.
And not forget to give Thor the “Hair of the Dog”.
No sooner were the lights out and he tucked under the linens and furs did the rattling and thumping start. Loki cast his gaze to the crate, only to watch it jump slightly as another thump followed by the rattle of the bottles floated ominously across the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lithium woke to darkness, the smell of pine wood and the rough feel of burlap against the side she lay on. The only familiar sensation was the smell of her old messenger bag, tucked under her arm, the novelty pins on its flap cool against her skin. Every other smell she discovered was foreign and set off alarm bells in her fog-muddled mind.
She did a mental check of her body. She felt no pain aside from a dull headache, but when she tried to stretch a leg out, it hit a wall with an audible thud. Glass rattled above her.
She kicked the wall near her foot harder, to the same effect. Breath suddenly ragged at the realization there were walls in every direction, she kicked until she heard splintering wood. Low light flooded into whatever held her captive and more scents filled the rush of air.
A person? But not a human…but faint…their place but they aren’t home maybe?
Regardless, Lithium figured shape-shifting into her human disguise was safer than not, before she went inching out of the hole she made. She listened intently, her surroundings were too quiet for comfort.
But what choice do I have? Stay curled up where ever this is and turn into five feet of cramped muscle?
Her feet went out first. Sure, they were easy to grab but kicking was still an option. Part way out, she wished she had not chosen to wear the fancy bra that day instead of her usual sports bra for work.
I just had to have a bad self-esteem day and now I’m not sure I’m going to get out of here because boobs only compress so much in this double-cupped death trap that attempts to defy gravity…
She wiggled around until she was on her stomach, letting gravity deal with the compression she needed. A few more shimmies and she was out, facing a delicate window with little moonlight shining through it.
She whipped her head around, the faintest flicker of movement sending a chill down her spine. Had she been in her normal form, no doubt the fur on her back would be standing on end.
She turned toward the movement, slowly backing away from it. Goosebumps made their way down her arms as she stepped to put the thing she had crawled out of between her and whatever had been moving.
And backed right into the person behind her.
She jumped away and spun, now facing said person’s chest with arms crossed tightly across it. Her head jerked up and kept going for a bit until she found a face.
A face with one hell of an eyebrow game.
He, as her nose told her that much, stared back at her one eyebrow raised in the silent question of the moment. Dark hair fell into his face, tousled by sleep if she had to guess, considering he was standing in front of a partially unmade bed.
He held her gaze for a few moments too long, just the right amount to unnerve her. She held up her hands and took a step back, but any words she had were held back by the lump of fear in her throat.
Mercifully, he spoke first, in a steady soft tone that made him seem more dangerous than he was just staring her down. “Care to explain why you just crawled out of that crate of Midgardian alcohol?”
Lithium looked back at what she now knew was a crate and then back at this stranger whose bedroom she had apparently wandered into via her own brewery’s product packaging.
“I would care to, but I’m not entirely sure myself…I have a guess…but nothing for certain…”
“Guesses are acceptable, given the unusual circumstances.” His tone was no less molten, but the touch of curiosity softened the edge it carried.
Lithium looked back at the crate once more. “I am on the losing side of a hostile brewery take-over, it seems.”
“The papers said it was owned by some Whatshisname Kranston.”
Lithium ran a hand down her face. “Bart…that asshat, he really did it…dammit…”
The man tilted his head. “Am I to believe that you were the mentioned “bonus gift” that came with this Imperial Collection…thing?”
“Oh lord, he’s calling it that again?” She heaved a sigh and shook her head. “I’m not usually the bonus gift of what was supposed to be called the Galaxy Collection. I’m sure you can see I’m not branded drink ware for the different offerings in the collection.”
“Alcohol is not typically what one drinks from a woman.” His eyebrow raised again as she looked down at the floor in hopes he missed her blush at that veiled innuendo. “Galaxy is also a far superior name, given the name of the business.”
Lithium looked back up at him, her eyebrow now raised. “I appreciate that, but this conversation seems far too casual given I don’t know where I am or who you are but I just popped into your room out of a crate of product.”
“Would you rather I yell and demand answers you do not actually have?” He took one smooth step toward her. “Because if that’s your wish, I can oblige, though I would much rather not as the hour is late and the night guards tend to be less amicable than their daytime counterparts.”
She waved her hands and shook her head frantically. “Ah, no no this is fine, please continue as you were, I hate yelling.”
He took another step forward, the beginning of an arc around her. “Well then, I would like the name of the woman I watched get stuck half way out a wooden box for a truly entertaining though brief few minutes.”
“Lithium. Just Lithium.”
His circle narrowed as he went around her again. “Well, Just Lithium, I am afraid that intrepid crate of yours has landed you in the personal chambers of Loki, Prince of Asgard.”
He stopped to give her the most sarcastic shallow bow she had ever witnessed. “The question, lady, is what do I do with you now that you’re here?”
Lithium made the mistake of meeting his gaze again and quickly looked back down at the floor.
I would land myself with some stranger with a deadly smirk…end me now…
“Well you could direct me to the nearest bathroom because the last thing I remember before waking up in a box was drinking my weight in coffee and it has run right through me.”
He straightened back up with an amused chuckle, gesturing to a door at the opposite end of the room. “It’s over there. When you’ve finished, we can discuss what else should be done with you, my little unintentional intruder.”
Lithium tried not to dwell on that ominous statement as she vaulted the crate to get to the bathroom as fast as she could. She also tried to ignore the fact that she almost fell three times in her haste.
I am forever without a shred of dignity, I swear…
#loki#loki of asgard#loki of jotunheim#loki x lithium#canon x oc#loki odinson#loki laufeyson#loki friggason#loki fanfic#gravity well#lithium#lithium of midgard#OC#crate of alcohol#Imperial Package
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Coronavirus and other things
Bart: Cheer up Homer
Homer: Can't
Bart: Okay!
Marge: What if you pretended this couch were a bar? Then you could spend more nights at home with us, eh!
Homer: I'm not going to dignify that with an answer.
Lisa: Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for "crisis" as they do for "opportunity"?
Homer: Yes! Crisitunity!
The Simpsons, Season 6, Episode 11 - Fear of Flying
Yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister announced that we should never see our friends again and live in a constant hazy mix of anxiety and mania.
Skip 24 hours forward in bizarro-hell world, and Boris' "thick neck and broad, Germanic forehead" was joined by everyone's least favourite A-Level Economics student, Rishi Sunak. (Also present was the ex-President of GlaxoSmithKline, and current Chief Scientific Officer, Sir Patrick Vallance). Rishi proceeded to spit some absolute fire from the AQA AS Economics textbook about "fixed costs" and, at one point, I even thought he was going to tell us the individual components of aggregate demand.
He also said that this was "not a time for ideology". A sentence, which if ever uttered tends to precede utter bullshit, that even those unfamiliar with Slavoj Zizek would be able to call out as "pure ideology itself". Which brings us on to the support package of "£330 billion". As I know many others have explained (and in great detail), the package of measures were completely targeted at satiating capital, and did practically nothing for labour.
Now why would we expect anything different? Rishi, after all, used to work for Goldman Sachs, and then the incredibly creepily named "Children's Investment Fund Management". I'll call it CIFM for ease. Now CIFM is a British hedge fund, founded in 2003. Interestingly, it is owned by a holding company based in the notably tax compliant Cayman Islands. It's not really clear what CFIM actually do, apart from funnel dark money to arseholes, but I can tell you what they don't do, and that's invest in a better future for children. Rishi's ex-boss at CIFM, Sir (oh he's a knight, I wonder why) Chris Hohn, paid himself over £200 million in both 2017 and 2019 (he probably did it more but I only checked the first page of google results).
You might think, where is this going, are you just rambling, have you been driven crazy by the less than one day of isolation? The answers are: somewhere, yes and yes.
But, that somewhere is climate change.
So, Chris likes to think of himself as a bit of an "activist investor" - a term that makes me physically sick. In late 2019, during the extended Extinction Rebellion protests, Chris and CIFM donated £50,000 and £150,000, respectively, to XR. What’s a guy like this, absolute piece of shit, to the bone capitalist, giving £200,000 to a group which is, ostensibly, anti-establishment. Seems a bit odd, no?
XR push the exact same line that our big special boy the chancellor did in today's briefing on the coronavirus, that being they proclaim climate change is an issue "Beyond Politics". How asinine. Ultimately, this all points to a much larger screed, which has been well pointed out by many others, that being the neoliberal consensus.
But the bit I want to examine in this is the crisis aspect of it.
In his seminal (both definitions of the word) text Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman remarks that “Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change.” His quote tends to chime with the theory of punctuated equilibrium, a way of understanding policy change which originated from evolutionary science. It portrays policy as, appearing to be, largely stable for long periods of time, only to be punctuated by a quick and dramatic change.
It's fairly simple, some might even consider it "common sense". Basically, periods which exhibit stability in policy over time can be explained by stable interactions between legislators and special interest groups, and drastic change is as a result of a shift in the agenda.
Of course, as one of the most notable figures of neoliberalism, it is only logical that this would be Friedman’s view on the impact of crises on policy change. But, to my mind, crises are, in fact, neither the sole nor most important reason for policy change, rather they can be a contributing factor toward change in some instances. AKA it depends.
Although policy change is a phenomenon in and of itself, it may be best understood through its relationship to periods of stability. This requires us to question just what we mean when we discuss change, or the lack thereof.
So, what am I getting at again?
None of this is a change in government policy, both with regard to the coronavirus, and climate change. The coronavirus has offered an opportunity for the Government to implement a wide ranging package of tax cuts and support to capital, whilst continuing to punish and alienate labour. So nothing’s fundamentally changed in their approach, its just been ramped up.
Likewise, climate change. Groups like XR have, admirably, managed to expand the general discourse to include climate. Sadly, all they've done is make it another "political football" that just needs to be sorted out by some sensible people. They fundamentally do not identify any of the malefactors in our society who are responsible, and as such have no possible solution to the problem. It's all well and good saying "tell the truth" and "act now", but what does that actually mean? A quote which sticks out in my mind regarding XR comes from Chomsky: "power knows the truth already, and is busy concealing it".
So, how to tie this neatly in a bow?
Well I could just say this is an experimental and ground breaking new format of writing where I just do whatever I want and call it art, and you must respect it by the way, or I could put in the effort and properly conclude this.
ENDS
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Tim Drake Positivity Week - Day 1: Loyal or Resilient - Newspapers are always bad news
Category: Gen
Genre : Humor / slight angst / Fluff
Fandoms: DC Comics, Teen Titans
Continuity : Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint
Summary: Newspapers are always bad news, especially when they're brought by a Superboy wearing a shit eating grin.Or that time when Tim's and Cassie's misplaced pride almost ruined bonding time and ended up making it 100% times more worthwhile.
Word Count: 2165
To read it on AO3
Author’s Note: I'm so sorry I'm late for the week but, life kinda got in the way.I’m trying to get better at descriptions, but it still feels very stiff... Oh well, I’ll get better.
I don't have much to say except that while I don't like Cassie, I love her friendship with Tim. Also I feel awfully bad for her because instead of developing her character, Teen Titans only gave her excuses for it and ruined most of the depth she had.
Bart and Conner had now been laughing for five minutes straight while Cassie had been fighting a smile.
It was their bi-monthly camping trip, something they did in the middle of the week to catch up. It was just the four of them sitting on logs, around a fire. None of the other Teen Titans (most weren’t even aware they did it). It was their way of trying to reconnect, the four of them, in a way that they hadn’t been since they had disbanded Young Justice.
After all if their individual relationships had (mostly) gotten stronger, as a group, however; it had been lost before the Teen Titans were brought back by Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy. Some of the former members did join some times however as Cassie was still in school with at least two of them.
And reconnecting they were. Tim simply wished it hadn’t at the expense of his dignity. But was it his fault, if the paparazzi had taken his “Tim Drake-Wayne” persona a little too far and mixed it with Bruce? Conner had loosened his hold on the newspaper and Tim could see the headline read “GENIUS WAYNE HEIR. AS LAZY AS HIS FATHER?” with a picture taken at 4PM when he had gone to the supermarket for groceries (he may have used his popcorn machine a little too much) with bed hair as well as what Cassie called his zombie look (not that she had seen it much herself but she was starting to get along with Steph because she got along with Kara and…well. It did not bode well for Tim). He had come back from patrol very late that day (9 AM, he barely had time for a quick nap before patrol) and hadn’t even been aware he had left his apartment in slippers and PJs (he was lucky it was one of the rare times he had worn actual PJs instead of his overly big T-Shirt + underwear combination).
He didn’t want to face his family. Ever.
He could already see Damian’s disdainful look.
Cassie was patting his shoulder in a falsely compassionate manner. And Tim was glaring at them all in betrayal. He knew he was acting like a petulant child but he had done what he could so “LAZY” wouldn’t be associated with his name.
It didn’t help that a part of the article was spent describing his “delicate” and “pretty” features. Now, while he had been trying to eradicate the “problematic” part of his mindset as Cassie had put it shaped by the view of the world set by TV, Video Games and movies (Dixit Anita), he wasn’t exactly there yet and as such, while he knew he shouldn’t, he still felt very insulted at the description. It probably wouldn’t have been as bad without his friends’ reactions though. Granted it was more about the picture and how Tim had started “pouting” (“glaring”, Tim corrected immediately) when Conner showed up wearing a big grin, the paper in his hands than about the description. Clark had apparently seen fit to notify Conner when he saw the cover so he had left it in his room while Conner was at school. It had “turned [Conner’s] crappy day in a truly amazing one”, simply because his best friend lived to humiliate him.
They finally stopped and Conner left the paper on the ground and sitting on Tim’s left side. However, while he should have, by all means, fallen down, he hadn’t. Either because he was flying or because he was using his TTK to create some sort of extension of the log Tim and Cassie were sitting on. Knowing Conner, however, it was probably the TTK. After all, if it was True that Conner hadn’t bragged about it in a while, he was still very much proud of his power and loved using it.
And now he was using his right arm to encircle Tim’s shoulders in a side-hug, his left arm almost mirroring it but stopping at his right clavicle, fingers lightly brushing Tim’s neck.
“C’mon Tim, lighten up.” He paused as he held a little tighter onto Tim as if trying to stop him from moving (probably to stop him from jumping at his throat and strangling him). He grinned like the little sh- annoyance he was. “It’s very cute.”
Tim could feel his glare deepen as Cassie stifled another laugh and he hoped that Conner was choking now that he was trying to hold his laughter back.
Bart was quite obviously feeling left out as he got up from his log and settled between Tim’s legs, head resting against his right thigh as if he hadn’t betrayed his trust seconds before.
He looked up at Conner then they both looked at Cassie who nodded and before Tim could do anything about it (like run away from the mess he knew was most likely to happen), she lifted him above her head, by the armpit as if he was just a small kitten.
“I’m not letting you go until you change your attitude mister. If you’re gonna act like a petulant child, I’m gonna treat you like one!”
“Is this how you treat children?” Tim asked, indignant. “Tell me the truth, is this how you acted with the kids you used to babysit?” He was now genuinely curious about whether or not Cassie truly believed that and only partially trolling her.
As revenge, Cassie started to spin faster and faster at each turn.
“I’m sorry! I can’t hear you over the sound of me spinning you!”
She stopped after another few seconds when she felt he had had enough. At this point, she let go of him and his face might have met the ground brutally had it not been for Bart and his amazing speed catching him before it could happen.
Bart helped Tim sit down and stabilized him with a hand on his back as they waited for his vision to stop spinning. Cassie had gone back to their log, head held up high, arms crossed under her chest and quite obviously pouting while Conner looked torn between laughter and worry. After about half a second, the worry won out and he joined Bart and Tim.
Cassie rolled her eyes. They all knew it was nothing for Tim but since they had come back from the dead, Bart and Conner had become extremely protective of Tim. Probably because of his sorta mental breakdown…and his asplenia. She might have been jealous had she not have the same tendency, or had she not be used to Conner and Bart preferring Tim’s presence over hers…Mostly because she understood the sentiment all too well. She got over Conner’s death soon after Tim came back after all. Not because of any romantic attachment as she might have believed for half a second, but because he was her best friend and it had turned out he was as important, if not more, in her life as Conner had been.
Even if they didn’t share that much (Tim’s frat boy tendencies, as well as her own shortcomings, did sort of get in the way of that), Tim had recognized qualities in her that no one had and had helped her develop them. Their history had also made them share so much. Like how, before Conner and Bart came back, she was the only one he told about knowing the anti-life equation. Then she ruined it of course. Well not completely, obviously, but she had been so scared he was going to go back to his grief-stricken life and try to do something stupid that she ended up encouraging him to do just that. She was so glad to see him get back on his feet and gets simply vexed instead of feeling betrayed by them.
Now Conner was helping Tim walk straight (and didn’t that make for a good –or bad- joke?) by standing behind (goo or bad the joke is definitely there…and vulgar), both arms standing on either side of Tim to help him stay on course. There was like a 90% chance that Bart and Conner had turned it into a Pinball game.
Tim sat next to her while Bart and Conner counted their points or something along those lines (she’d have to ask them later) and looked at her, apologetic.
“Sorry, I know how traumatizing babysitting was for you, I shouldn’t have mentioned those little demons”.
They shared a knowing smile before Cassie answered.
“Nah, I told you to stop acting like a child and then started to act like one. It wasn’t my best move. Pun intended”
“Yeah well, we don’t exactly have the best role models,” Tim said as they both turned to look at Conner and Bart arguing. “Also that was a terrible pun. Not even on Kon’s level. You should leave bad puns to him”
They smiled at each other for a few seconds before Cassie settled her head on Tim’s shoulder and caught his arm between her own and used the opportunity to start playing with his fingers.
“you know we don’t think you’re delicate or fragile or whatever this made you think right?”
Tim looked startled and turned his head toward her as she continued, staring at Bart and Conner who were now thumb wrestling.
“I mean sure you need your Kevlar protection but you’ve survived so much. You’re one of the most resilient people I know and, I mean I know Donna Troy and Wonder Woman and Artemis and...you know…Amazons. That’s it. This is your main feature. This and Loyalty. Not this intelligence bullshit”.
“Hey!”, Tim yelled, offended. ”What intelligence Bullshit? I am very intelligent”.
Cassie looked at him with a pitying look.
“Tim, I once saw you eat fries with ice cream. There is a picture of you, in you PJs, at a supermarket”.
“Well I make mistakes –the fires/ice cream thing wasn’t one btw, it was delicious. Doesn’t mean I’m not intelligent”
Cassie was now fighting her laughter again. Tim was grumbling like a three years old and she could help squealing as she gave him a bear hug. Tim’s cry of indignation (or pain she wasn’t really sure) turned Bart and Conner’s attention toward them.
As they stopped their little conversation and started approaching Tim and Cassie, Bart asked :
“So….Why are you trying to get the air out of Tim’s body Cassie?”
Before Cassie could snort or answer –Tim was obviously not in a state to do so as she started releasing him- Conner did:
“Cassie’s stroking his ego so he doesn’t have a fit. I can’t believe you guys used to talk about *my* ego all the time.”
They all looked at him before Cassie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
“Were you eavesdropping again?”
“Of course, Cass. I always want to know what’s going on in Tim’s life” Conner answered in a faux passionate voice. As if it wasn’t really how he felt “I eavesdrop all the time, even when he’s with his lady friends” He added wiggling his eyebrows.
They all rolled their eyes at his comment, though Cassie was seriously starting to wonder whether it had actually happened or not. Conner’s control of his powers outside of TTK wasn’t exactly stellar and he was easily distracted into using his super hearing accidentally. And she didn't want to think about this right now.
“Still”, he continued “ I agree with Cassie. None of this intelligence bull. Your main features are Loyalty and Resilience. It should be all over this paper “WAYNE HEIR. LOVES PEOPLE TOO MUCH AND WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR THEM. WILL RESIST DEATH NO MATTER HOW MANY TIME IT CALLS HIM””. He then grumbled to the side and Cassie was pretty sure she was the only one who heard him “Or you know, he calls death and hang up right when it comes online”.
Which…Yeah okay was one of the truest things Conner had said tonight. And Cassie really didn’t want to think about it. Really, Really didn’t. Which is when Bart started talking.
“So he’s basically a Hufflepuff?”
And oh no. It was going to be nerd time. Bart and Conner were gonna start talking about Harry Potter and, she like the movies sure but they weren’t that good (according to Bart it was “because you need to read the books! The writing style isn’t anything exceptional but the movies make no sense” and...Cassie really didn’t want to deal with that. On the other hand she was curious as, from what she knows, Ravenclaw seemed most likely –then again she barely knew anything about the houses. So she sighed and settled back against Tim while they watched the other two argue about Harry Potter and houses and when she started feeling tired, Tim helped her glide down the log so their back would be settled against it, falling asleep to the sound of their friends’ voices and fire cracking.
Author’s End note: So, as may be obvious I’m not a native English speaker and while I was writing this, I wrote clavicle (mostly because I’m used to the French clavicule), but after re-reading this story I kinda remembered seeing collarbone used more often. After a (very short I admit) research on the internet, I’ve learned that clavicle was mostly used in medical settings. I’ve kept it because the word flows better for me (and I didn’t have the time to have the story beta read). However please tell me if you feel it hinders the rhythm of the paragraph.
Also yes. I will die before I let anyone put preboot!Tim in any house other than Hufflepuff.
And Cassie finding herself accidentally shipping Tim and Kon together is my favorite trope. Like, she feels slightly offended, annoyed and exasperated. But at the same time and are so sweet to each other and they deserve to be happy. And so does she so when she realizes that she finally completely moves on and gets herself a nice Kiran, I mean bf...or not. And they finally leave us alone with these couples.
I’m not that proud of it tbh I think it’s a little stiff. On the other hand I think the end is one of the cutest things I’ve ever written.
#TimKon#Tim Drake#Cassandra Sandsmark#Bart Allen#Conner Kent#DC comics#BroShip: TimCassie#brotp: timkon#BrOTP: TimBart#BrOTP: BartKon#Friendship: Teen Titan's Core 4#Teen Titans#teen titans v3#Humor#Angst & Fluff
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i dont think theres a person on this earth who truly believes that i am or that ive ever been suicidal (or at least they certainly dont know how constant it is)
its not even necessarily how people interact with me, its how they dont and thats honestly the worst
the “rational” part of me (objective, but i dont believe it or feel it at all) says that its not that they dont like me, i just dont give anyone reason to outwardly and consistently and actively mention me at all, let alone in the same loving light they talk about others in
the other part feels more that im kinda just here in the way that im annoying but they cant really demonize me and exclude me cuz i havent actually done anything, but they dont love me bc im unlovable in that i dont provide anyone a damn thing but second hand embarassment
and i dont really mean embarassment on account of how im inherently embarassing, its just that i always end up doing the worst shit and i dont doubt that im a difficult person to be in company with
hell im surprised most folks put up the act of tolerating me as much as they do
theres only one person on this planet who i believe enjoys my presence without real or perceived malice/distaste and thats soph
shes an absolute gem and honestly besides it being another friends bday today (even tho that friend in a timezone where her bday has technically passed) shes a big reason i havent already gone and done it
and this is mainly bc the way ive thought would be the most accessible way to do it would involve an element that would be doubly triggering for her and i have no clue how it would affect her considering her past
shes so nice and passionate and unique but in a way where shes unabashedly herself and i admire her a great deal though i kno other folks dont quite view that aspect of her in the same way
i wish i could interact with people in group settings without feeling unloved
hell even individual settings im just as bad
im fucking pitiful and idk if im just feeling sorry for myself or if im just feeling like shit bc feeling unloved feels like shit
i cant wait til i fall asleep bc no matter what uncomfortable elements come up dreaming is undeniably better than being awake
i just wish i had a fucking therapist who could work w me through dbt or cbt or somethin to help me stop thinking about myself/others perception of me in the way tht i do
i feel like fucking crying but id feel really pathetic for it
i also feel like a huge asshole bc just cuz other folks are getting love it doesnt mean they necessarily hate me
and even tho on a rational level i can say thats whats happening i cant believe it yet
maybe itll just take me havin to bart simpson it for years but god i just wanna fucking believe it
idk if its cuz im listening to the dresden dolls that i feel close to crying/if listening to the dresden dolls is making it worse but maybe i should change my tunes to see if tht helps
im such a fuckin wimp
i feel really pathetic
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Announcing The Sprudge Twenty Class Of 2020—Presented By Pacific Barista Series
Hello! Welcome to the official announcement of The Sprudge Twenty, presented by Sprudge and Pacific Barista Series.
This is the second class of Sprudge Twenty honorees, part of a new annual tradition honoring and amplifying leaders in the global coffee community in partnership with Pacific Barista Series. Pacific is dedicated to championing leadership and excellence in the coffee industry, and to supporting coffee culture as it happens worldwide.
That support and commitment happens in good times and bad. Here in the spring of 2020 the global coffee industry and the people behind it are threatened with an unprecedented challenge in the face of COVID-19. And yet, this moment makes highlighting the incredible work of individuals around the world even more important. These twenty people are changing the game in coffee, doing work that challenges and excites us, from every step of the coffee value chain: entrepreneurs and coffee producers, baristas and cafe owners, career coffee professionals, and those whose careers are just starting, competition success stories, and folks working quietly behind the scenes, leading by example. All of them have been impacted by current events; all of them have stories worth championing as loud as possible, now more than ever.
From a massive list of nominees around the world, below please find the Second Annual Sprudge Twenty class presented by Pacific Barista Series. We hope these stories will bring a smile to your face—as they have to ours—but many also include a call to action, a way to get involved to support the various projects and causes represented by our incredible global class. Each one of these members will receive a spotlight feature in the coming weeks on Sprudge, so get ready to know them a little better. For now, read on to discover the Sprudge Twenty presented alphabetically, and thank you.
Want to nominate someone in your community for the next Sprudge Twenty class? The nomination schedule for the 2021 Sprudge Twenty presented by Pacific Barista Series will be announced this fall. Sign up for the Sprudge Newsletter and never miss an update.
Kat Adams, Cold Brew City Fest
Kat Adams (Photo courtesy Kat Adams)
“Kat Adams participates in the USBC Championships, is one of the organizers of Cold Brew City Fest, and has brought attention to gender identity to the coffee community in southern California. Recipient of the Q-Grader scholarship from Wrecking Ball and an amazing and talented coffee professional.” Nominated by Pablo Lara
Kathy Altamirano, Counter Culture Coffee
Kathy Altamirano (Photo by Sprudge)
“Kathy Altamirano exemplifies everything that the Sprudge Twenty is about. She works as tirelessly and enthusiastically at building a stronger, more inclusive local coffee community as she does judging the Finals at the World Brewers Cup and every step in between. When I would organize local coffee events, Kathy was always the first to volunteer, and she would be the first person to arrive and the last to leave. I’ve never met anyone who genuinely cares about building a better coffee community at all levels as much as Kathy does, and more importantly, she actively works (often thanklessly) toward creating it.” Nominated by Zac Cadwalader
Brittany Amell, Royal Coffee NY
Brittany Amell (Photo courtesy Brittany Amell)
“She is the super friendly barista that makes coffee approachable, but the green coffee version. Treating customers like you want to help them, and answer questions and be a totally great human being while doing it. If there was green coffee trading competitions she would blow everyone away.” Nominated by Arsalan Pourmand
Dandy Anderson, Stumptown Coffee
Dandy Anderson (Photo by Liz Dean)
“Dandy exudes quiet, unassuming leadership and that is exactly what makes them such a needed voice in our industry. Dandy is empathetic, understanding, patient, firm, and also pragmatic.They are generous with their time, energy, spirit, kindness, and heart. Their ideologies on the workplace, team dynamics, and what it means to be a leader makes me hope there’s a day I can call them a colleague. For now, I’m so lucky to call them a peer and also a friend.” Nominated by Kendra Sledzinski
Virginia Bauman, Go Get Em Tiger
Virginia Bauman (Photo by Jessica Zollman)
“I joined Go Get Em Tiger in July 2018 thanks to my now manager, Virginia Bauman, seeing a Facebook post I’d made announcing I was looking for steady work. I’d been pursuing a career in freelance commercial photography since 2007 and it was time for me to take my skills into a structured space that would still provide me with some creative freedom. Virginia brought me in as Visual Coordinator at GGET and has done so much more than given me room to take creative risks; she’s actively encouraged, supported, and pushed me to think beyond what I believe is possible. She’s fostered a culture of transparency, vulnerability, accountability and personal growth that has allowed me and my co-workers to flourish. All while operating an LGBTQIA+ coffee shop of her own, Cuties Coffee, in the heart of Los Angeles. Virginia exemplifies the future of coffee.” Nominated by Jessica Zollman
Noa Berger, Paris, France
Noa Berger (Photo by Lucie Sassiat)
“Noa Berger is a Ph.D. candidate at the EHESS Paris, studying the social construction of quality in the Brazilian and French specialty coffee markets. She is incredibly active within the French coffee scene but also the larger specialty coffee industry. Noa is one of the main reasons I have opened up my mind to many of the anthropological questions coffee asks and she is responsible for many in-depth conversations …we are so grateful to have someone like her invest her mind, time, and energy in our industry. Noa is definitely someone to look up to and be inspired by.” Nominated by Mihaela Iordache
Estelle Bright, La Marzocco UK
Estelle Bright (Photo courtesy Estelle Bright)
“Estelle has been in the industry for fifteen years, once an incredible barista pacing the way for the young baristas in the London scene today—she’s done everything from barista, trainer, coffee delivery driver and now heads up all things technical for La Marzocco UK.” Nominated by James Stelling
Allie Caran, Partners Coffee
Allie Caran (Photo courtesy Allie Caran)
“Allie Caran is the Director of Coffee Education at Partners Coffee and has been with the company since 2012. At Partners Coffee, Allie oversees the company’s broad range of educational offerings, from their public Brew School courses for consumers to Partners Coffee’s wholesale barista training programs and more.” Nominated by Angela Pizzimenti
Amaris Guttierez-Ray, Women In Coffee
Amaris Guttierez-Ray (Photo by Roberta Duarte)
“While Amaris’s Central American heritage and direct family ties in Nicaragua give passion and a unique perspective to her work, she has applied her academic training in research techniques to the science of coffee roasting, QA/QC systems, and the complicated business of the coffee supply chain.
Amaris started at Joe Coffee Company in 2015 as a part-time barista at our Pro Shop. In 2016, she joined our roasting team as a Production Roaster, bringing some years of roasting and management experience, and quickly moved into the Director of Roasting position. She has also established herself in the larger coffee community by creating the Women in Coffee project, a volunteer-run project aiming to highlight the voices of women throughout the coffee supply chain. In her “downtime” from work at Joe, Amaris puts her academic skills to use galvanizing the coffee community by cultivating transparency and providing forums for women to share the stories and experiences that would otherwise be obscured by innate and inequitable gender dynamics.” Nominated by Jonathan Rubinstein
Bartholomew Jones, Cxffeeblack
Bartholomew Jones (Photo by Erin Kim)
“I first stumbled on Bart via his project Cxffeeblack late 2019. He released this coffee that was called “Guji Mane”, a natural process coffee with a very punny name. Didn’t think much of my man passed that but I started following him and his coffee project. The longer I followed him the more I came to realize that his genuine positive mindset and knack for education for sure set him apart from any of my newer peers. He has tasked himself to educate this surrounding area about their connection to coffee(which in Memphis, can’t be easy) and did so without othering anyone.” Nominated by Cameron Heath
Lauren Lathrop, Mill City Roasters
Lauren Lathrop (Photo by Mill City Roasters)
“There are a plethora of wonderful head judges on the US Barista Competition Committee, but Lauren’s linguistic talents, when supporting her judging panels, is why she was the perfect person to lead us. Lauren has the wonderful ability to speak with articulate, complex, brevity yet makes the subject entertaining and digestible.
She displays compassion for all her judges, and empathy for all the competitors. She encourages us all to be better people, not just judges, through her unconscious bias training, and general demeanor….She is a specialty coffee role model, and professional inspiration, and thoroughly deserves the recognition that a Sprudgie would provide.” Nominated by Barnaby Holmes
Angie Katherine Molina Ospina, Insignia Coffee
Angie Katherine Molina Ospina (Photo by Paula Molina)
“Angie and her husband Jhon founded Insignia Coffee. Angie is a dedicated, passionate, and exceptional in the specialty coffee industry in Colombia. She volunteers her time to help others, is a dedicated volunteer in coffee events, and works with many coffee farmers and organizations.” Nominated by Paul Kevin Doyle
Jacob King, GYST Coffee Training
Jake King (Photo courtesy Jake King)
“Glitter Cat alum Jacob King is working on a free training project called GYST, has been heavily involved in the Black coffee community and is just a genuine dude. I am excited to see him grow as a barista and how he pushes the community forward for coffee in the southeast.” Nominated by Connan Moody
Ellan Kline, Ritual Coffee
Ellan Kline (Photo by RJ Joseph)
“In her five years in the Bay, Ellan has been instrumental in building a large, thriving community of trans coffee professionals at various tiers of the industry. When she moved here, she was the only visibly trans person in her company. Over the 5 years since, she has persisted in her growth and worked her way into various roles through sheer undeniability, skill, and dedication, and left the door wide open for others, fighting to help them see themselves and the growth they deserve. Now, it’s easy to go into a coffee shop in the Bay Area and find multiple trans baristas behind the bar. She would never take even the smallest amount of credit for that, but I’ve watched her work, her humility, and her persistence, and I see the series of stepping stones she’s laid for others. She is humble yet unapologetic about her skills and experience. She never felt the need to prove anything to anyone, and yet she has. She works quietly without the need for recognition, but she deserves it.” Nominated by RJ Joseph
Ever Meister, Cafe Imports
Ever Meister (Photo by Victor J. Pagán)
“Ever is a force for good in our industry: She’s a thoughtful, empathetic, and intuitive communicator focused on many of the complex issues at hand today. Outside of her work as Editorial Manager and Director of Education at Café Imports, Ever has produced valuable content across written features, presentations, and podcasts. Right now, she’s leaning into some really big questions around specialty coffee marketing ethics and grappling with how we can work towards a more equitable coffee industry. Ever is one of those rare communicators who manages both prolificacy and quality.” Nominated by Jenn Rugolo
Felipe Sardi, La Palma y El Tucan
Felipe Sardi (Photo by Felipe Sardi)
“I would like to nominate Felipé because first, he is a great human. He shares his knowledge and he is very open to sharing his experience. His farm is following sustainable processes and a permaculture system. The farm is admirable. He is taking a big part in his community with the neighbors and crops program, and in the process changing the processes and quality in the Cundinamarca region. He also participates in the Glitter Cat Project providing coffees. He is a big actor in specialty coffee in Colombia and tries at maximum to make the community and the share of knowledge in the first place.” Nominated by Clementine Labussiere
Kendra Sledzinski, Philadelphia
Kendra Sledzinski (Photo courtesy Kendra Sledzinski)
“How do I put into words how Kendra has affected my life and countless others? We met at Joe Coffee in New York five years ago and hit it off right away. Who was this friendly person, I wanted to know! Soon I became aware of Kendra’s influence in the coffee community of Philadelphia. When I went to visit her, everywhere we went, she knew someone. Kendra constantly went above and beyond in Philly to encourage professional development and community with the Joe staff and baristas of Philly—doing palate development and cuppings that were never required, but she knew how to make baristas stay. She works hard for her community, and works hard to lift other people up—and she does so selflessly. Thank you Kendra!” Nominated by Kayla Baird
Ramsey Smith, Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters
Ramsey Smith (Photo courtesy Ramsey Smith)
“The dividends of Ramsey’s labor and sacrifice are just now beginning to start paying off. His business, Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters, is now in many of the local resorts, grocery stores, and even the airport. His company was now apart of the U.S Virgin Island experience and culture. However, his business and all of his customer business was devastated by Hurricane Irma which struck on September 6, 2017.
However they now bigger than ever and have exceed their size prior to the storms. They have a brand new café that you recently did a piece on and they also opened another roastery in Florida as well as the roastery in the U.S Virgin Islands. This is why he is my hero. He has weathered the storm and never lost faith.” Nominated by John Coyne
Oliver Stormshak, Olympia Coffee
Oliver Stormshak (Photo by Charlie Voohris)
“I’d like to nominate Oliver Stormshak, owner of Olympia Coffee, for his work with coffee producers and the Fair For All initiative. Fair For All is the culmination of years of hard work and passion for Oliver. He pushes the boundaries of our industry norm and continuously strives for higher quality of life for everyone involved in the supply chain. Guaranteeing things like sustainable wages for everyone involved, only choosing to work with producers who support the kind of quality of life and transparency he believes in and taking the time, energy, and resources to visit producers every year to provide feedback and develop relationships; Fair For All is true step towards a sustainable future for our industry ensuring that people see coffee farming as a viable career option.” Nominated by Richelle Parker
La Nisa Williams, Barista Life LA
La Nisa Williams (Photo courtesy La Nisa Williams)
“La Nisa is a long time coffee professional and freelance trainer who has helped built the coffee programs of many cafes and restaurants in the LA area, most notably places owned and operated by Black people and people of color. Her work here in LA resonates throughout the community and she inspires people who initially have little interest in coffee into a deep appreciation. I see her at every nearby event working, volunteering, soaking up information, and offering her expertise to become a better professional just so she can share it with others. Her focus on businesses that are often overlooked to the rest of the specialty coffee scene here is beyond just admirable—it’s the Lord’s work (lol) and she makes our coffee community here as a whole so much better.” Nominated by Michelle Johnson
Visit Sprudge.com/twenty for more on the Sprudge Twenty presented by Pacific Barista Series. Watch for upcoming interviews with each member of the 2020 class right here on Sprudge!
Announcing The Sprudge Twenty Class Of 2020—Presented By Pacific Barista Series published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee
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Announcing The Sprudge Twenty Class Of 2020—Presented By Pacific Barista Series
Hello! Welcome to the official announcement of The Sprudge Twenty, presented by Sprudge and Pacific Barista Series.
This is the second class of Sprudge Twenty honorees, part of a new annual tradition honoring and amplifying leaders in the global coffee community in partnership with Pacific Barista Series. Pacific is dedicated to championing leadership and excellence in the coffee industry, and to supporting coffee culture as it happens worldwide.
That support and commitment happens in good times and bad. Here in the spring of 2020 the global coffee industry and the people behind it are threatened with an unprecedented challenge in the face of COVID-19. And yet, this moment makes highlighting the incredible work of individuals around the world even more important. These twenty people are changing the game in coffee, doing work that challenges and excites us, from every step of the coffee value chain: entrepreneurs and coffee producers, baristas and cafe owners, career coffee professionals, and those whose careers are just starting, competition success stories, and folks working quietly behind the scenes, leading by example. All of them have been impacted by current events; all of them have stories worth championing as loud as possible, now more than ever.
From a massive list of nominees around the world, below please find the Second Annual Sprudge Twenty class presented by Pacific Barista Series. We hope these stories will bring a smile to your face—as they have to ours—but many also include a call to action, a way to get involved to support the various projects and causes represented by our incredible global class. Each one of these members will receive a spotlight feature in the coming weeks on Sprudge, so get ready to know them a little better. For now, read on to discover the Sprudge Twenty presented alphabetically, and thank you.
Want to nominate someone in your community for the next Sprudge Twenty class? The nomination schedule for the 2021 Sprudge Twenty presented by Pacific Barista Series will be announced this fall. Sign up for the Sprudge Newsletter and never miss an update.
Kat Adams, Cold Brew City Fest
Kat Adams (Photo courtesy Kat Adams)
“Kat Adams participates in the USBC Championships, is one of the organizers of Cold Brew City Fest, and has brought attention to gender identity to the coffee community in southern California. Recipient of the Q-Grader scholarship from Wrecking Ball and an amazing and talented coffee professional.” Nominated by Pablo Lara
Kathy Altamirano, Counter Culture Coffee
Kathy Altamirano (Photo by Sprudge)
“Kathy Altamirano exemplifies everything that the Sprudge Twenty is about. She works as tirelessly and enthusiastically at building a stronger, more inclusive local coffee community as she does judging the Finals at the World Brewers Cup and every step in between. When I would organize local coffee events, Kathy was always the first to volunteer, and she would be the first person to arrive and the last to leave. I’ve never met anyone who genuinely cares about building a better coffee community at all levels as much as Kathy does, and more importantly, she actively works (often thanklessly) toward creating it.” Nominated by Zac Cadwalader
Brittany Amell, Royal Coffee NY
Brittany Amell (Photo courtesy Brittany Amell)
“She is the super friendly barista that makes coffee approachable, but the green coffee version. Treating customers like you want to help them, and answer questions and be a totally great human being while doing it. If there was green coffee trading competitions she would blow everyone away.” Nominated by Arsalan Pourmand
Dandy Anderson, Stumptown Coffee
Dandy Anderson (Photo by Liz Dean)
“Dandy exudes quiet, unassuming leadership and that is exactly what makes them such a needed voice in our industry. Dandy is empathetic, understanding, patient, firm, and also pragmatic.They are generous with their time, energy, spirit, kindness, and heart. Their ideologies on the workplace, team dynamics, and what it means to be a leader makes me hope there’s a day I can call them a colleague. For now, I’m so lucky to call them a peer and also a friend.” Nominated by Kendra Sledzinski
Virginia Bauman, Go Get Em Tiger
Virginia Bauman (Photo by Jessica Zollman)
“I joined Go Get Em Tiger in July 2018 thanks to my now manager, Virginia Bauman, seeing a Facebook post I’d made announcing I was looking for steady work. I’d been pursuing a career in freelance commercial photography since 2007 and it was time for me to take my skills into a structured space that would still provide me with some creative freedom. Virginia brought me in as Visual Coordinator at GGET and has done so much more than given me room to take creative risks; she’s actively encouraged, supported, and pushed me to think beyond what I believe is possible. She’s fostered a culture of transparency, vulnerability, accountability and personal growth that has allowed me and my co-workers to flourish. All while operating an LGBTQIA+ coffee shop of her own, Cuties Coffee, in the heart of Los Angeles. Virginia exemplifies the future of coffee.” Nominated by Jessica Zollman
Noa Berger, Paris, France
Noa Berger (Photo by Lucie Sassiat)
“Noa Berger is a Ph.D. candidate at the EHESS Paris, studying the social construction of quality in the Brazilian and French specialty coffee markets. She is incredibly active within the French coffee scene but also the larger specialty coffee industry. Noa is one of the main reasons I have opened up my mind to many of the anthropological questions coffee asks and she is responsible for many in-depth conversations …we are so grateful to have someone like her invest her mind, time, and energy in our industry. Noa is definitely someone to look up to and be inspired by.” Nominated by Mihaela Iordache
Estelle Bright, La Marzocco UK
Estelle Bright (Photo courtesy Estelle Bright)
“Estelle has been in the industry for fifteen years, once an incredible barista pacing the way for the young baristas in the London scene today—she’s done everything from barista, trainer, coffee delivery driver and now heads up all things technical for La Marzocco UK.” Nominated by James Stelling
Allie Caran, Partners Coffee
Allie Caran (Photo courtesy Allie Caran)
“Allie Caran is the Director of Coffee Education at Partners Coffee and has been with the company since 2012. At Partners Coffee, Allie oversees the company’s broad range of educational offerings, from their public Brew School courses for consumers to Partners Coffee’s wholesale barista training programs and more.” Nominated by Angela Pizzimenti
Amaris Guttierez-Ray, Women In Coffee
Amaris Guttierez-Ray (Photo by Roberta Duarte)
“While Amaris’s Central American heritage and direct family ties in Nicaragua give passion and a unique perspective to her work, she has applied her academic training in research techniques to the science of coffee roasting, QA/QC systems, and the complicated business of the coffee supply chain.
Amaris started at Joe Coffee Company in 2015 as a part-time barista at our Pro Shop. In 2016, she joined our roasting team as a Production Roaster, bringing some years of roasting and management experience, and quickly moved into the Director of Roasting position. She has also established herself in the larger coffee community by creating the Women in Coffee project, a volunteer-run project aiming to highlight the voices of women throughout the coffee supply chain. In her “downtime” from work at Joe, Amaris puts her academic skills to use galvanizing the coffee community by cultivating transparency and providing forums for women to share the stories and experiences that would otherwise be obscured by innate and inequitable gender dynamics.” Nominated by Jonathan Rubinstein
Bartholomew Jones, Cxffeeblack
Bartholomew Jones (Photo by Erin Kim)
“I first stumbled on Bart via his project Cxffeeblack late 2019. He released this coffee that was called “Guji Mane”, a natural process coffee with a very punny name. Didn’t think much of my man passed that but I started following him and his coffee project. The longer I followed him the more I came to realize that his genuine positive mindset and knack for education for sure set him apart from any of my newer peers. He has tasked himself to educate this surrounding area about their connection to coffee(which in Memphis, can’t be easy) and did so without othering anyone.” Nominated by Cameron Heath
Lauren Lathrop, Mill City Roasters
Lauren Lathrop (Photo by Mill City Roasters)
“There are a plethora of wonderful head judges on the US Barista Competition Committee, but Lauren’s linguistic talents, when supporting her judging panels, is why she was the perfect person to lead us. Lauren has the wonderful ability to speak with articulate, complex, brevity yet makes the subject entertaining and digestible.
She displays compassion for all her judges, and empathy for all the competitors. She encourages us all to be better people, not just judges, through her unconscious bias training, and general demeanor….She is a specialty coffee role model, and professional inspiration, and thoroughly deserves the recognition that a Sprudgie would provide.” Nominated by Barnaby Holmes
Angie Katherine Molina Ospina, Insignia Coffee
Angie Katherine Molina Ospina (Photo by Paula Molina)
“Angie and her husband Jhon founded Insignia Coffee. Angie is a dedicated, passionate, and exceptional in the specialty coffee industry in Colombia. She volunteers her time to help others, is a dedicated volunteer in coffee events, and works with many coffee farmers and organizations.” Nominated by Paul Kevin Doyle
Jacob King, GYST Coffee Training
Jake King (Photo courtesy Jake King)
“Glitter Cat alum Jacob King is working on a free training project called GYST, has been heavily involved in the Black coffee community and is just a genuine dude. I am excited to see him grow as a barista and how he pushes the community forward for coffee in the southeast.” Nominated by Connan Moody
Ellan Kline, Ritual Coffee
Ellan Kline (Photo by RJ Joseph)
“In her five years in the Bay, Ellan has been instrumental in building a large, thriving community of trans coffee professionals at various tiers of the industry. When she moved here, she was the only visibly trans person in her company. Over the 5 years since, she has persisted in her growth and worked her way into various roles through sheer undeniability, skill, and dedication, and left the door wide open for others, fighting to help them see themselves and the growth they deserve. Now, it’s easy to go into a coffee shop in the Bay Area and find multiple trans baristas behind the bar. She would never take even the smallest amount of credit for that, but I’ve watched her work, her humility, and her persistence, and I see the series of stepping stones she’s laid for others. She is humble yet unapologetic about her skills and experience. She never felt the need to prove anything to anyone, and yet she has. She works quietly without the need for recognition, but she deserves it.” Nominated by RJ Joseph
Ever Meister, Cafe Imports
Ever Meister (Photo by Victor J. Pagán)
“Ever is a force for good in our industry: She’s a thoughtful, empathetic, and intuitive communicator focused on many of the complex issues at hand today. Outside of her work as Editorial Manager and Director of Education at Café Imports, Ever has produced valuable content across written features, presentations, and podcasts. Right now, she’s leaning into some really big questions around specialty coffee marketing ethics and grappling with how we can work towards a more equitable coffee industry. Ever is one of those rare communicators who manages both prolificacy and quality.” Nominated by Jenn Rugolo
Felipe Sardi, La Palma y El Tucan
Felipe Sardi (Photo by Felipe Sardi)
“I would like to nominate Felipé because first, he is a great human. He shares his knowledge and he is very open to sharing his experience. His farm is following sustainable processes and a permaculture system. The farm is admirable. He is taking a big part in his community with the neighbors and crops program, and in the process changing the processes and quality in the Cundinamarca region. He also participates in the Glitter Cat Project providing coffees. He is a big actor in specialty coffee in Colombia and tries at maximum to make the community and the share of knowledge in the first place.” Nominated by Clementine Labussiere
Kendra Sledzinski, Philadelphia
Kendra Sledzinski (Photo courtesy Kendra Sledzinski)
“How do I put into words how Kendra has affected my life and countless others? We met at Joe Coffee in New York five years ago and hit it off right away. Who was this friendly person, I wanted to know! Soon I became aware of Kendra’s influence in the coffee community of Philadelphia. When I went to visit her, everywhere we went, she knew someone. Kendra constantly went above and beyond in Philly to encourage professional development and community with the Joe staff and baristas of Philly—doing palate development and cuppings that were never required, but she knew how to make baristas stay. She works hard for her community, and works hard to lift other people up—and she does so selflessly. Thank you Kendra!” Nominated by Kayla Baird
Ramsey Smith, Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters
Ramsey Smith (Photo courtesy Ramsey Smith)
“The dividends of Ramsey’s labor and sacrifice are just now beginning to start paying off. His business, Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters, is now in many of the local resorts, grocery stores, and even the airport. His company was now apart of the U.S Virgin Island experience and culture. However, his business and all of his customer business was devastated by Hurricane Irma which struck on September 6, 2017.
However they now bigger than ever and have exceed their size prior to the storms. They have a brand new café that you recently did a piece on and they also opened another roastery in Florida as well as the roastery in the U.S Virgin Islands. This is why he is my hero. He has weathered the storm and never lost faith.” Nominated by John Coyne
Oliver Stormshak, Olympia Coffee
Oliver Stormshak (Photo by Charlie Voohris)
“I’d like to nominate Oliver Stormshak, owner of Olympia Coffee, for his work with coffee producers and the Fair For All initiative. Fair For All is the culmination of years of hard work and passion for Oliver. He pushes the boundaries of our industry norm and continuously strives for higher quality of life for everyone involved in the supply chain. Guaranteeing things like sustainable wages for everyone involved, only choosing to work with producers who support the kind of quality of life and transparency he believes in and taking the time, energy, and resources to visit producers every year to provide feedback and develop relationships; Fair For All is true step towards a sustainable future for our industry ensuring that people see coffee farming as a viable career option.” Nominated by Richelle Parker
La Nisa Williams, Barista Life LA
La Nisa Williams (Photo courtesy La Nisa Williams)
“La Nisa is a long time coffee professional and freelance trainer who has helped built the coffee programs of many cafes and restaurants in the LA area, most notably places owned and operated by Black people and people of color. Her work here in LA resonates throughout the community and she inspires people who initially have little interest in coffee into a deep appreciation. I see her at every nearby event working, volunteering, soaking up information, and offering her expertise to become a better professional just so she can share it with others. Her focus on businesses that are often overlooked to the rest of the specialty coffee scene here is beyond just admirable—it’s the Lord’s work (lol) and she makes our coffee community here as a whole so much better.” Nominated by Michelle Johnson
Visit Sprudge.com/twenty for more on the Sprudge Twenty presented by Pacific Barista Series. Watch for upcoming interviews with each member of the 2020 class right here on Sprudge!
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MTA Week Watch: What’s New in Influencer Marketing, Oracle Introduces Innovative AI-powered Capabilities, Simple to Partner with Microsoft
Here is a roundup of all that was trending on MarTech Advisor last week.
Lead generation will always remain an integral part of marketing and sales. But how can your Data Orchestration Platform help with lead scoring and routing? Find out!
There is a greater demand for transparency in advertising today. When it comes to programmatic, is it the problem and the answer?
A deeper understanding of user behavior will help you convert leads faster! Here are 5 ways to make the most of it.
As Influencer Marketing gains more prominence, will it be more useful to strike performance-based deals with Influencers in time to come?
On another note, when planning your Influencer Marketing strategy, it's better to avoid making it look like earned media.
Marketing automation is great for every size business. Here’s why it can change the level-playing field for small and mid-sized publishers.
The Facebook controversy put far too many users data at risk. Here are 3 changes every Social Media platform should make to keep up!
Oracle Marketing Cloud Launches Infinity Analytics and CX Audience to Boost Big Data Analytics
Oracle Introduces Innovative AI-powered Capabilities to Customer Experience Cloud
Simple Announces Plans to Partner with Microsoft
Want to market to millennials but not through Social Media? Bart Mroz, co-founder and CEO of digital commerce consultancy SUMO Heavy has this advice to share, "Millennials are changing the way brands sell products and market to customers. But in response to the concerns about data privacy following the data harvesting of Facebook by Cambridge Analytics, confidence in Facebook and other social networks is falling. Now, marketers need to think about other ways to get through to this demographic without using social networks.One way marketers can do this is by implementing experiential marketing, which blends customer experience with marketing and branding activities. Millennials crave experiences and grew up in a tech-centric world, so this type of marketing is a great way to target this brand savvy demographic. To create richer experiences, marketers should employing modern technologies, like virtual reality, augmented reality, online communities, or live streaming video. Experiential brands are reinventing the in-store experience, creating environments that attract consumers through features like spas, cafes, theaters, art exhibitions, and a host of other amenities, along with personalized service, in-store kiosks, 3D experiences, pop-up shops, mobile commerce, and more. This experience-based trend has already seen major success in companies like Warby Parker, Apple and ULTA, who are all building their businesses around allowing customers to experience the brand rather than simply sell their products."
Is the lead data that you gather, enough? John Steinert, CMO of TechTarget feels that marketers must partner with third-party solutions that can maintain a rich database of information about their research activity over time and understand what content is resonating with a prospect. He says, “In B2B, the parameters of a ‘lead’ are prone to oversimplification. Leads should be contacts that are truly exhibiting buyer’s journey behaviors. They should be data-rich: a good match of your ICP, from accounts that are actually in market and so on. Real leads are not just names that have exhibited a single desirable behavior. They should be real people known to be searching for the best solution to their business challenges. Leads that convert well have typically consumed several or many pieces of decision-relevant content but it’s often difficult to know this if the marketer relies only on what can be seen in their systems or from their website traffic. In B2B, it gets more complicated. Since approximately 6.8 people are required to sign off on a major B2B purchase, relying on a single lead as an indicator of what’s really going on can create problems. Marketers really need additional insights to uncover what’s truly going on in an account as a whole. First-party data – your leads – commonly only tell part of the story. They tell you something about an individual but not much about the account. To maximize your results and to optimize your investment, you need to disqualify false positives – “leads” where there isn’t any purchase happening – and better qualify false negatives – accounts where there is demand but you haven’t generated any leads. That’s where real purchase intent data from reputable 3rd parties really shines. It can tell you which accounts are really in market for what you sell. You use it to locate demand within your ICP prospects and your target account list, to enhance your messaging and positioning, and more. Without an outside-in view like this, you’re really sub-optimizing your understanding of what’s going on and, especially, your access to more active demand.”
Moving on to Gmail's newly designed web interface update, what does it mean for marketers? Brady Edwards, Director of Customer Solutions at email deliverability Company 250ok addresses this question. Brady says, “Like every change or announcement Google makes with Gmail, the email marketing and deliverability communities collectively hold their breath. While it’s way too early to speculate, the redesign looks more like a new coat of paint than a complete redesign of the core email experience like Inbox attempted to do. New features like “snooze” and Smart Reply will provide Gmail users smarter ways to manage their inbox, and the accessibility of G Suite apps and “plugins” will improve productivity within the Gmail interface. As a reluctant adopter to Inbox a few years back and current avid Gmail user, I am excited about the possibility to see some of its unique features included in the official redesign from Google. Email is one of those day-to-day necessities for many of us, and we spend an ample amount in our mail clients every day. Any update to Gmail and G Suite improving efficiency and making things smarter is welcomed…even if it causes panic.”
It seems like the popularity surrounding voice search is growing everyday. Mike Tortorice, SEO Marketing Manager at Infront Webworks weighs in on the associated impacts, "With voice search capable technology outnumbering the amount humans on the planet it is inevitable that searches performed on devices such as smartphones will continue to grow exponentially. This will have an impact on the way we write content for websites. Creating content that is geared towards user personas and natural speaking language will win at the end of the day. The growing presence of Google's Rank Brain plays perfectly into the onset of voice search technology covering the bases of billions of new searches never searched before in part due to voice search technology. These two factors combined will influence search for years to come and influence the way we look at content on our websites."
This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor
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Can Big Data Change a Wicked School Truancy Problem?
The Brightmoor neighborhood in the western edge of Detroit—ravaged by poverty and gang violence, riddled with abandoned homes and boarded-up schools, and lacking public transportation options—has no shortage of wicked problems that exasperate chronic absenteeism in its schools. In fact, there is only one high school, Detroit Community Schools, a charter school, left in the area after other district-run campuses were shut down or abandoned.
Abandoned homes and schools in the Brightmoor neighborhood. Photo Credit: Jenny Abamu
Since the introduction of a school improvement plan during the 2015-16 school year, the Detroit Community High School has seen progress in attendance—going from 30 percent of students missing more than 10 percent of school days in 2015-16, to less than 5 percent in 2016-17, according to the Michigan School Data System.
Principals, teachers and district leaders tried to stay off the radar and just survive
Nikolai Vitti, Detroit SuperintendentOutside Detroit Community Schools. Photo Credit: Jenny Abamu
Yet, making sure students get to classes and stay in them is a constant struggle for educators. As EdSurge toured the woodworking class, where high school and university students are supposed to work side-by-side on art projects, it is clear that many of the students are missing.
“That group over there,” says Bart Eddy, co-founder of the school, pointing to a cluster of students, “many of them didn't show up today.”
College and high school students in Detroit working on a woodshop project. Photo Credit: Jenny Abamu
School leaders in Detroit say they know they have a truancy problem, even without having to refer to data showing that the city has the highest rate of chronic school absenteeism in the United States.
Marcus Lewis, a former Brightmoor student who is now an instructor in the woodshop, notes that several issues keep students from coming to school, even when they want to. He points to community problems such as constant transience, where students have to move several times in a school year because of issues with rent and homelessness, which make it difficult for them to stay in school.
Lewis first took the woodshop class when he was in 10th grade, and during that time his mother passed away, causing him and his six siblings to be scattered across different homes around the city. While he says he originally came to the woodshop “for the girls,” the teacher would only let him stay if he worked, and he found it eventually became the only thing that kept him from dropping out of school.
Eddy designed the woodshop program so students would be able to sell their creations for profit. And as Lewis built strong woodworking skills, it soon became his primary source of income. “So by the time 12th grade came I paid for my prom, and senior dues all from working here,” says Lewis. “It became like a home for me.” He notes that the ability to work and go to class is what helped him get back on track at school, even though he had to travel miles to be there.
Yet, other students in the program dealing with their own set of traumatic experiences will not see graduation.
Jay Sean, a senior working in the woodshop, lost all his siblings in a house fire during his freshman year in high school. Eddy notes that though the woodshop programs seem to have helped him build back social and emotional skills, it has not gotten him back into class.
“He was totally and completely shut down. We took him on. He wasn’t talking at the time,” says Eddy, who notes he has been working with the student since he was a freshman. “He has gotten to the point now where he can talk in front of a group. He is a senior, but he is not going to graduate. He comes to work at the woodshop, but he often does not come to school. That has been a big issue.”
The District Seeks a Data Response
Even though charter schools such as Detroit Community High School often operate under a different set of rules from traditional district schools, there are obstacles endemic across the city that affect all the communities they serve. Speaking at the Schoolzilla Data Champions Summit last Monday in midtown Detroit, Nikolai Vitti, the new superintendent of Detroit Public Schools, noted how several practices by city and state officials exacerbated truancy throughout the area.
Nikolai Vitti speaking at the Schoolzilla Data Champions Event. Photo Credit: Jenny Abamu
Vitti noted how the closure of several public schools under emergency management, the lack of quality checks on “choice” schools, an inefficient bus system, and high suspension rates had effects on the truancy in schools across the city. He also recognized a need for students—who don’t have washing machines at home—to have a way to clean their clothing.
On that last point, some schools have found that providing laundry machines have drawn some students back, according to Vitti. “We are hoping to see schools that are doing a better job on attendance. We have seen schools have washers and dryers to clean clothes. That’s a little thing we don’t think about, but that helps,” he says.
The superintendent also believes that data can play a critical role in helping to sort through the many factors that contribute to truancy and test what interventions are most effective.
“Systems drive reform in order to do things better for children,” says Vitti, noting that when his administration started last May, they first assessed the district data.
Yet in order for data to be useful for the district, Vitti says it has to be “good,” meaning accurate, action-oriented and standards-aligned. At the Schoolzilla event, he noted how a culture of fear, dishonesty, and lack of fidelity in data collection resulted in information that he deems unreliable. Past datasets are so inaccurate, he believes, that the district is essentially starting from “ground zero.”
“Principals, teachers and district leaders tried to stay off the radar and just survive,” says Vitti. “So when I get asked, ‘Historically what is the rate of truancy at X school?’ I can get that data, but then I am very skeptical about what does that data really tell me when there wasn’t fidelity to actually inputting data.”
Since 2009 the district has been using a system called MISTAR to track student information such as grades and attendance, but Vitti says that is about to change. He plans to partner with Schoolzilla, a K-12 data management system provider, for a “user-friendly” tool to input and display information.
“[Schoolzilla] synthesizes all the data to make it very clear. If it is clear, it is actionable, and it becomes easy to understand what is most important,” explains Vitti.
His district has identified metrics such as student performance at grade level, growth, attendance, truancy, suspension, and how many students are eating lunch and breakfast. These indicators are tied to the district’s strategic plan, a three-year outline for improving public schools. Using the metrics, Schoolzilla will provide a custom dashboard to the district to use for the upcoming school year.
“We will start the school year next year with clear dashboards, so we can begin to view what those metrics look like at the district level [and] also at the individual schools,” explains Vitti.
However, Vitti recognizes that merely changing the data-collection platform is not enough. That is why he is also hosting “Data Chats” with school principals to improve the accuracy of information from schools. The chats put principals on the “hot seat” to explain data trends coming out of their schools. He notes that these discussions are not meant to be punitive, but to simply change the culture around data inputs, so school leaders take the work more seriously.
“The attempt is to create a culture of collaboration around data,” says Vitti. “We also start getting into issues of truancy, for example, and what we can do differently based on pockets where we don’t have transportation lines. Do we need to add a late bus in a certain neighborhood to pick up students where we are always dealing with students being late? Those aren’t theoretical conversations. They are rooted in data.”
Starting this fall, he hopes, “we will have better data and that we will also start to see schools that are doing a better job on attendance.”
Can Big Data Change a Wicked School Truancy Problem? published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness
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A primary care doctor delves into the opioid epidemic
Our nephew Christopher died of a heroin overdose in October 2013.1 It had started with pain pills and experimentation, and was fueled by deep grief.2 He was charismatic, lovable, a favorite uncle, and a hero to all the children in his life. His death too young was a huge loss to our family. I have always felt that I didn’t do enough to help prevent it, and perhaps, in a way, even contributed.
Good intentions with unintended consequences
My medical training took me through several big-city hospitals where addiction and its consequences were commonplace. Throughout all of it, great emphasis was placed on recognizing “the fifth vital sign,” i.e. pain, and treating it.
I distinctly remember as a medical student wearing a little pin with the word “PAIN” and a line across it. One was considered a bad doctor if they didn’t ask about and treat pain. And so, treat we did. This medical movement, combined with the mass marketing of OxyContin and a swelling heroin trade, has created the current opioid epidemic.4
It generally starts with pain pills: Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycodone or OxyContin, either prescribed or given or bought. Quickly, a person finds that she or he needs more and more of the drug to get the same effect. Almost overnight, they need the drug just to feel normal, to stave off the horror of withdrawal. Street heroin is cheaper and easier to come by than pills, and so, people move on to the next level. Just like Christopher.
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) show that deaths from overdose of opioids have been rising every year since 1999.5,6 (OxyContin came to market in 1996). Deaths from heroin overdose have recently spiked: a 20% increase from 2014 to 2015.7 And most recently we’re seeing fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid, where even a few small grains can kill.
So, if we doctors helped everyone get into this mess, we should help them get out of it, no?
Needed: Treatment that works
As the opioid epidemic has exploded, so has the demand for treatment. But treatment is almost impossible to come by. The U.S. is short almost 1 million treatment slots for opioid addiction treatment.8, 9 And not all treatments offered are that effective.
The “traditional” treatment of detoxification, followed by referrals to individual therapy or group support (think Narcotics Anonymous), may work well for some, but the data suggest that there are more effective approaches. In fact, a growing body of evidence very strongly supports medication, combined with therapy and group support, as the most effective treatment currently availabe.10,11,12
“Detox” followed by therapy has consistently shown poor results, with more than 80% of patients relapsing, compared to treatment with medications, with only 15% relapsing.10,11 Medications, specifically methadone and buprenorphine, can help prevent withdrawal symptoms and control cravings, and can help patients to function in society.10,11,12 Suboxone (a combination of the drugs buprenorphine and naloxone) has many advantages over methadone. It not only prevents withdrawal and controls cravings, but also blocks the effects from any illicit drug use, making it more difficult for patients to relapse or overdose. In addition, while methadone can only be prescribed through certified clinics, any primary care provider who completes a training course can prescribe Suboxone. That means treatment for opioid use disorders could be much more widely available.
Basically, treatment with medications, and especially Suboxone, is effective, and safer than anything else we have to offer. Yes, relapses can occur, but far less frequently than with traditional treatment.10,14,15 And death from heroin overdose? Far, far less.16
Biases against treating opioid use disorder with medications
Despite their effectiveness, there is stigma associated with treating substance use disorders with medication. I admit that I had my own doubts as well. People say, as I did, “Oh, you’re just replacing one drug with another.” But a lot of hard science has accumulated since 2002, when the FDA approved Suboxone for the treatment of opioid addiction.17
Think about it. Is shooting street heroin that’s cut with God knows what, using needles infected with worse, really the same as using a well-studied, safe, and effective daily oral medication? Some may claim “Oh, you’re just creating another addiction.” Would you tell someone with diabetes who depends on insulin that they’re “addicted”? Then why say that to someone with opioid use disorder who depends on Suboxone? This is literally the reasoning that played out in my head as I have learned about treating opioid addiction, or, more correctly stated, opioid use disorder.
Stepping up
I’ve decided that it’s time to do something. There’s a great need for doctors willing and able to treat opioid use disorder. In 2016, surgeon general Vivek Murthy issued a strident call to action to all U.S. healthcare providers, asking them to get involved.18
This issue has been on my mind and soul since Christopher’s death, so I started educating myself, and contacted our hospital’s substance use disorders specialist with my motivation and concerns. In the few months since then, I’ve taken the training course to become a licensed prescriber, and am working with the team to begin treating a small group of patients.
In my 16 years of clinical training and practice, I have witnessed all of this firsthand: the blatant, medically rationalized over-prescription of pain meds, the stigma and undertreatment of opioid use disorder, and the unnecessary, premature death of a really good kid. I’m just starting off on this, and I’m still learning, but my hope is to keep another family from experiencing unnecessary loss. (For more information see Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction)
Take the online course OpioidX: The Opioid Crisis in America. This course challenges common beliefs about addiction and the people who become addicted to opioids. Through an increased understanding of the biology of addiction, the course aims to reduce the stigma around addiction in general, and help people discover the multiple pathways to evidenced-based treatment. A variety of Harvard Medical School clinicians and health policy experts explain these topics and you’ll hear stories first-hand from those who have experienced addiction, or whose lives have been touched by this the opioid epidemic.
Sources
Generally Medicine: Ripped from the family
Generally Medicine: Drugs, Violence, and Tragedy in our Family
Mularski R.A., White-Chu F., Overbay D., Miller L., Asch S.M., Ganzini L. Measuring Pain as the 5th Vital Sign Does Not Improve Quality of Pain Management. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 31 May 2006.
http://ift.tt/1TKZuTn
http://ift.tt/2a4GZLD
http://ift.tt/1Q7O9ZO
http://ift.tt/2i0mNwN
Jones, C.M., Campopiano, M., Baldwin, G., and McCance-Katz, E. National and state treatment need and capacity for opioid agonist medication-assisted treatment. American Journal of Public Health, August 2015.
http://ift.tt/1Lsul2U
Wakeman S.E. Using Science to Battle Stigma in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Opioid Agonist Therapy Saves Lives. American Journal of Medicine, May 2016.
Bart, G. Maintenance medication for opiate addiction: the foundation of recovery. Journal of Addictive Diseases. October 2012.
Connery H.S. Medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder: review of the evidence and future directions. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, March/April 2015.
Mattick, R.P., Breen, C., Kimber, J., and Davoli, M. Buprenorphine maintenance versus placebo or methadone maintenance for opioid dependence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 6 February 2014,
Mauger S., Fraser R., Gill K. Utilizing buprenorphine-naloxone to treat illicit and prescription-opioid dependence. Neuropsychiatric Disease & Treatment, 7 April 2014.
Colson J., Helm S., Silverman S.M. Office-based opioid dependence treatment. Pain Physician, July 2012.
Schwartz, R.P., Gryczynski, J., O’Grady, K.E. et al. Opioid agonist treatments and heroin overdose deaths in Baltimore, Maryland, 1995-2009. American Journal of Public Health, May 2013
Subutex and Suboxone Approval Letter. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (October 8, 2002). fda.gov.
Murthy V.H. Ending the Opioid Epidemic — A Call to Action. New England Journal of Medicine, 22 December 2016.
The post A primary care doctor delves into the opioid epidemic appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
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