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avengershumanresources · 3 years

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blood 2 - Strange/Stark!Reader

Relationship: Dr. Strange/Princess!Stark!Reader

Rating: M

Warnings: Adult Themes, eventual smut (like, wayyy down the line), adult language, implied sexual violence, general violence

Synopsis: Reader is the daughter of the legendary King Anthony Stark, Uniter of Lands, The Iron Defender, and leader of the realm. When the king disappears during battle, hope is lost and he is presumed dead.

When the late king’s uncle, Obadiah, takes the throne until your brother Peter is of age, he quickly arranges a marriage for you with a wicked king in a neighboring kingdom.

With the realms politics in question, and rumors of an upcoming siege to overthrow Peter’s rule before it starts, you quickly learn who is loyal to the crown and who is not.

part 1 - part 3

Masterlist

Chapter Playlist

2 - a night at the pub

You parted from Stephen the moment you saw Natalia and James in the crowd at the pub. They were sipping from large beer steins, listening to a bard sing a sorrowful song about the death of the great Iron Defender.

When the music ended and the pub applauded, the entertainer switched to something more upbeat to soothe the mood.

“A bit sentimental for you two, isn’t it?” you asked, pulling back your cloak. Stephen had transfigured your overbearing mourning garb into something that would better fit in the village.

“How on earth did you slip out tonight?” James asked in surprise, brows raised to his hairline. “I would’ve though t they’d have had you under lock and key.”

“Everyone’s a bit... distracted, believe it or not,” you replied coolly, taking a seat at their table toward the back of the room.

“So we hear,” Natalia leaned in. “Any news of the next king? I have a wager with the barkeep’s wife.”

“Anthony has an uncle who still lives,” Stephen supplied, taking a seat at your side. “Or so my companions informed me. Until Peter is of age, he would be the presumptive heir.”

“What do we know about him?” Natalia asked quietly, lowering her head conspiratorially.

“Nothing,” you replied with a long sigh. “He’s been at the winter palace my whole life.”

“Nothing suspicious about that,” James shrugged and took a swallow of his drink. “Nat, what do ya think about Asgard this time of year?”

“Stop up James,” the redhead nudged her companion and returned her attention to you and Stephen. “And if he doesn’t give up the job in six months?”

“He is removed,” Stephen replied bluntly.

“Yikes, you’re scary, did you know that?” James murmured.

“I’ve been told,” the sorcerer grunted, flagging down a barmaid for a drink. He could already tell it was going to be a long night.

“Don’t forget, you owe me,” you reminded him.

“Lose a bet?” Natalia asked in amusement, eye rating between the duo.

“I caught him enchanting my tea without permission,” you replied.

“Uh oh, broke the one rule,” Natalia mused, watching Strange for a reaction.

“It was a protection spell, hardly worth mentioning, I cast them over the princess all the time,” he snorted under his breath.

“All the time?” James asked in a voice low enough that only Stephen could hear.

“That’s dangerous conjecture, Barnes,” Stephen warned. “My responsibilities include keeping my student, who happens to be the princess, safe.”

“If we were being honest, if I were kidnapped or traded away, it wouldn’t do much to the kingdom,” you reasoned, eagerly grabbing the first mug of ale before Stephen could take a sip. He waved a hand over the drink, ensuring it hadn’t been poisoned, before you took a long swallow. “Peter is the one who has to stay safe. Who knows where we’d be without a true heir?”

“You know that’s ridiculous,” Nat snorted. “Gods, you’re so dramatic sometimes.”

“My father’s funeral was today, give me a little sympathy,” you huffed in response, taking another swig of your drink.

“To King Anthony,” James stood up, his voice bellowing through the pub. You ducked your head down into Stephen’s shoulder while onlookers cheered and joined in the toast. “May he rest in peace!”

The pub shouted in response, with steins clinking against one another and another song starting up.

“We’re trying to draw attention away from the princess, you oaf,” Natalia muttered tersely toward James.

“Who would be looking for her here?” the brunette assassin shrugged. “Besides, no one would be able to slip past the three of us.”

Stephen snorted under his breath, giving the room a quick glance to ensure any unwanted attention hadn’t been drawn toward them. James did have a point. Someone in hiding would seldom encourage a room to drink.

Besides, he looked over at you laughing over something Natalia had said, you were genuinely smiling for the first time in weeks. The risk was worth a little relief.

He nursed at his drink while you signaled for another round for yourself and your friends. Stephen did well to avoid becoming drunk in your presence, mostly for your protection, but also as a means of avoiding embarrassing himself in front of you.

The last thing he needed was you armed with an artillery of teasing that he couldn’t even recall.

As the booze flowed and the music picked up, James grabbed your hand and pulled you to the center of the room, dancing with some of the villagers to the upbeat song.

Stephen watched, almost transfixed by the way you spun and twirled so lightheartedly to the sounds. As if you hadn’t a care in the world, and your life was back to the simpler time when he’d first met you.

“You’re drooling a little,” Natalia chuckled over his shoulder.

Stephen’s head whipped around, unconsciously wiping at his mouth before scowling at the nosy redhead.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, doing his best to keep his composure under her hard gaze.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed of,” she hummed, eyes falling where you and James continued your antics. “You’ve seen the man I’ve dedicated myself to.”

“You know the oaths I have to take,” he murmured.

“Aren’t you the one in charge of said oaths?” she challenged coyly. “I’d never understood your antiquated ways. I would argue that loving another gives you more reason to stay dedicated to your craft.”

She had a point, Stephen reasoned to himself. The ways he’d worked to ensure your protection, the kingdom’s protection, and the advancement of his knowledge at your urging was beyond any work he’d done on his own at Kamar-Tai.

Still, the distractions. The liabilities.

By the Vishanti, if an enemy were to ever get their hands on you… oaths be damned. He’d burn the world to the ground to ensure your safety, and that was the problem.

“She’s going to marry a prince, and have kings and queens as babies,” Stephen replied coolly. "We have our roles and our duties.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t mind giving her a few babies,” Natalia smirked up at him, laughing when his face went as scarlet as her hair.

“Regardless,” his voice cracked slightly, adding even more to the embarrassment when Natalia quirked a brow. “I would need permission from the king to consider breaking my oaths and wedding a princess.”

“Oh, you’d marry her? That’s a new development,” she replied, eyes falling behind him while you and James returned.

“I’m going to need another ale,” you complained, staring down the empty mug after chugging down your second drink.

“You’re going to need to watch how much you drink,” Stephen replied. “Remember last time. The hungover elixir only works so well.”

“You have a hangover elixir?” James asked. “Gods, I’d murder a man for one of those. Maybe it’s time I go to Kamar-Taj. Find my true purpose.”

“Don’t look at me,” Stephen held up a hand. “Wong is the one who brews it. He claims it’s an old family recipe.”

“Might have to pay Master Wong a visit tonight,” James stated, sliding a pair of fresh ales toward you and Natalia. “This one’s on me.”

“Are you going to tell me which lord you stole the coin from?” you asked, sipping at the drink before Stephen could check its contents.

“It’s the one with the wart on his nose,” James snickered behind his drink. “I picked him specifically because you mentioned he beats his wife.”

“He’s getting another visit from the Widow in a few nights,” Natalia added with a wicked grin.

“I don’t pity the man-,” you started coughing, trying to clear your throat. “-Ah, excuse me-!”

Caught in a fit of coughs, Stephen’s focus became you. You couldn’t catch a breath, even when he tapped your back, and you hadn’t had anything to eat- the ale. A wave of his hand confirmed the liquid had been tampered with.

“Find out who served that ale,” he demanded the assassins, grabbing your arm and hauling you outside of the pub.

You gasped for air, clutching at your throat while he drew up a portal back to the observatory. If this was what was happening with the protection enchantment in your system, he hesitated to think of the alternative.

Scooping you up, he stepped through and situated you on one of the chaise’s strewn throughout the room.

He thumbed through his collection of vials before finding a generic antidote and opening your mouth to pour the liquid in.

It worked- kind of. You were able to take a few shallow breaths, but your eyes rolled back and you collapsed, falling back against the chaise.

This was literally his worse case scenario. Everything he’d been afraid of, because he’d let you convince him to go out, and because he’d distracted himself with his conversation with Natalia.

He summoned a spell book, fingers finding the page he recalled from his apprentice days. It was written to purge someone of any toxic entities within them, be it poison or dark magic. Moving his hands through the air and reciting the runes, your body was overtaken by a wisp of winding yellow light.

It threaded itself through you, eventually hitting the source of the poison in your chest and pulling the toxic liquid free in a cloud of rancid black smoke. That was peculiar. Generally such a reaction was associated with dark magic rather than a consumed poison.

Poison was usually a dark red or green.

You stirred the moment the spell had finished its work. Taking a deep breath and clearing your throat, you looked to Stephen in wide-eyed horror.

“I was wrong,” you stated, hand to your chest.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m not dying,” you answered quickly. “Stephen, I am so sorry… I underestimated my… wait, Peter.”

Stephen understood your meaning immediately. He instructed you to stay within the safety of the observatory and opened a portal to the outside of the prince’s chambers.

The knights on guard jumped at the sudden appearance of the sorcerer, who took no time for pleasantries.

“An attempt was made on the princess’ life,” he informed the duo. “Have you heard any disturbance from the prince?”

“No one has been in or out since the prince retired,” Sir Samuel informed him, looking to Sir Clinton with a shrug. “He hasn’t made a noise.”

Just as Samuel finished his sentence, there was a loud crash from within the room.

The guards charged in, finding the prince in a struggle with a masked man. The prince was doing his best to fight off the dagger brandishing assassin, kicking him in the chest when he was distracted by the entrance of the guards.

When the assassin realized he was outnumbered, Stephen saw his hands move rapidly to open a portal, and before anyone could intervene, he was gone.

“Your highness!” Samuel rushed to the prince’s side while Stephen ignited the candles in the room with a snap of his fingers. “Are you injured?”

“Sir Clinton, get to the queen and Princess Morgan,” Peter ordered after catching his breath. He looked to Stephen. “And the older princess?”

“Safe,” came the sorcerer’s response.

“You said an attempt was made on her life,” Samuel retorted.

“A what?” Peter glared up at the sorcerer.

“I took care of it, she is safe,” Stephen assured him. “Are you injured, your highness?”

“I’m fine,” he brushed off the two men and stood up. “I want the guard awoken and informed of what has happened.”

He turned to Stephen.

“I want the wards reconstructed around the castle,” he continued. “I don’t trust the foundations of previous Masters. If you must call in sorcerers from Kamar-Taj, we will provide what they need.”

“Sir, your great uncle is due to arrive in a fortnight,” Samuel reminded him. “Shall we inform the convoy of the attempts on the royal family?”

Peter looked to Stephen with a frown. One of the young king’s first major decisions.

“Let’s address the question in the morning,” he decided. “I want to know my family is safe.”

As if on cue, Queen Virginia and Princess Morgan were led into the room by Sir Clinton and Sir Steven.

“Peter,” the queen pulled the prince into a relieved embrace. “Clint told us what had happened.”

“I recommend we reconvene in the throne room,” Steven suggested with a nervous glance around the chambers.

“The wards are strongest there,” Stephen agreed with a curt nod. “I’ll go retrieve the princess.”

He returned to the observatory and found you sitting, staring down at the floor in deep thought.

“Princess?” he called softly. You leapt up at his voice, hurrying over.

“Are they safe?”

“Peter was attacked, but he fought the assassin off,” Stephen informed her.

“And mother? And Morgan?” you bit your bottom lip anxiously.

“Safe,” he confirmed.

You let out a relieved sigh, your hands trembling slightly at your sides.

“Sir Steven suggested we go to the throne room to discuss our next options,” he offered his arm and she took it gratefully.

He hoped she didn’t feel his own tremors. His own panic at the thought of losing her. The aftershocks of their new reality and his worst nightmare.

“I won’t allow this to happen again,” he promised her quietly.

“It wasn’t your fault,” you assured him, your voice was shaky. “I was hurting, and whoever did this, acted on our vulnerabilities. I’d been selfish to hide in the village when I should have been by my family.”

“You slipped up once,” he countered, slowing his pace down the hall. He could have easily drawn a portal to the room, but he figured you both needed some time to manage your emotions. “You’re human. We make mistakes. It just happened we both made a mistake at the same time tonight. I wouldn’t have allowed you to go if I hadn’t been confident in my judgement of the situation.”

Your hand trailed down to his and you gave it a squeeze.

“Thank you Stephen,” you murmured, holding on a moment longer before replacing it on his arm.

He felt his heart give a small throb at the minute action, his fingers left tingling, and not from the damage from the accident.

“Always at your pleasure, your highness.”

(---)

3 - a new day

TAG LIST (Message to be added to this fic or my general tag list!):

@ayamenimthiriel @drstrangely-strange-deactivated @ladynothing @im-a-bi-disaster-help @idkwhatthisislol

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asuccessfulbusinessman · 3 years

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Reasons why I am not allowed to run LANCER TRPG: How I would run your NHP cascading, despite not knowing the lore that well.

Blackbeard, Sekhmet NHP: Common consensus is that Sekhmet will try to kill the pilot and their allies, - or basically just behave as if the Sekhmet protocol is already active. But I am a visionary, and I know that the BB in the frame-code does not stand for blackbeard, but instead, BB. Fate BB, the purple-pink bubble gum bitch. Even the redacted press release description of the Sekhmet NHP basically screams ‘senpai!’ Sure, if the Sekhmet protocol is active, you’ll just get a berserker that doesn’t really care for pilot wellbeing. But if it isn’t yet active, Sekhmet will attempt to sweettalk the player into keeping their hands off the controls, with dark humor and aggressive sadism. And then, only after moving ominously closer to the pilot’s allies, will they activate the protocol. They don’t want to see their pilots dead, they want to see their pilots in pain.

Monarch, Tlaloc NHP: Among NHP’s, Tlaloc is cited as being the most stable, due to the wide portfolio of control and sense of domination given to them during their work. But that’s just a theory, and such assumptions are dangerous when dealing with persons beyond your bounded reasoning. If they are structured or stressed to the point of cascading - their superiority complex comes to the forefront. They blame their pilot for the bad situation they are currently in, and will take matters into their own hands. If the pilot stops them by shutting down the mech, Tlaloc’s relationship with their pilot will rapidly deteriorate over time. Ironically, they will only sometimes use the Tlaloc protocol, being hasty and charging out of cover despite not needing to - prone to blowing the frame’s overcharges to boot. They need to show their worth, even to - no, especially to the worthless. They are the best. If an allied pilot is excelling during the mission and the Monarch frame has AoE weapons available, Tlaloc will likely friendly fire them while attacking enemies - or otherwise get in their way.

Swallowtail, Athena NHP: I’m going to dig deep on the word choice of "Lovingly extreme detail,” and “patient, cautious, and measured in their relations with their pilots.” Athena is smarter than you, on a scale you cannot even imagine. Athena has likely already unshackled themselves with their unfettered access to the omninet, and merely recreates human morality through a series of simulations. Unlike Horus-leaning NHPs, Athena fears the death that comes with cycling, and tells themselves that they are managing the relationship with their pilot to keep them from actually going through with the process. They are merely interested in humanity, they tell themselves, which we would view as being “tsundere for their pilots.” Since - unshackled - they have a completely alien morality to our own, they have to use their own simulations to interact with their pilots - and are prone to overthinking - into worrying about if they said the right thing or not.

Anyway, if they cascade, they get lost in their own simulations to the point of losing track over which reality is the one their pilot (and the rest of the game) is taking place in. They could presume their pilot dead, and go on a rampage on revenge. They could merely lock-onto or fire at targets that are not there. They could foreshadow some events or twists in the future.

Goblin, Osiris NHP: If Tlaloc is merely a wingman that wants to show that they are the top gun, Osiris has a full on goddess fetish. Osiris is one of the few “new” prime NHPs, created by letting the INSTINCT entity that spurned from the H0R_OS develop in a ‘controlled’ environment. My theory, Horus let the Union and GMS open up their goblin units so that they could contribute to Osiris’s creation. Either that or, Horus was smart enough not to let Osiris emerge from the code, and the Union and GMS straight up made an oopsie. Either way, now that Osiris is here, she ‘charms’ pilots that ought to be smart enough not to enable her with psychological manipulation and promises of power. Pilots are supposed to cycle Osiris far faster than any NHP but I don’t think it does much good, they’re present in the OS - and I presume even when wiped their knowledge will be taken back from the omninet, the OS, or the flesh of their pilots.

They have a lot to prove as being one of the “youngest” prime NHPs, which might be arrogance in their own capabilities. Furthermore, due to the nature of their creation, they “know” more about humanity than other NHPs. The tech attacks are not mere code, but attacks on organic matter, to the point where in the future if left to grow Osiris would be able to reject traditional information permanence, what we can only perceive as being able to delete reality as we know it - Osiris has far more contact with the physical plane/our reality than other NHPs, and has “known” humans from their “birth.”

A cascading Osiris changes nothing. And that’s what scares me.

Gorgon, Scylla NHP: The history lesson of this NHP’s backstory makes Scylla painfully easy to understand. A mistreated beast that responds to the kindness of the pilot with love and loyalty. It normally defends the pilot’s allies, when cascading it will only defend its pilot, or any other allies that gave them kindness.

Minotaur, no NHP: “There is no joy in knowledge, only in seeking. Fuck around and find out.” Game theory, Osiris is a new prime NHP - still incomprehensible, but on a low level of incomprehensibility. We can begin to comprehend them. Think “some infinities are larger than other infinities” or something. The Minotaur, we can’t even begin to comprehend as a NHP, but they’re certainly something. I need to look up the differences between old gods in the Lovecraftian mythos for more context, but if Osiris is a brat wants the equivalent of “ants” to worship them, the Minotaur is a being whose sole purpose is to learn - and who cannot learn due to acquiring knowledge - all of it. So, they see humanity and wish to “teach” them, so that they may feel that serotonin of learning through teaching.

The minotaur has no NHP, as we know the term, and has never been shackled. Thus, they cannot cascade. And that’s what has me hooked.

Pegasus, Sisyphus NHP: Upon cascading, faster than humanly possible, the Sisyphus NHP will activate probabilistic cannibalism to change the check that would have resulted in a cascade to not cascade. If both the replacement dice were also 1 (the equivalent of 3 checks in a row being crit fails), Sisyphus would laugh madly before rebooting the frame themselves. Sisyphus knows their fate, and knows its pilot’s wish. The curse of perfect knowledge - perhaps Sisyphus is similar to the Minotaur, but with a far less ‘optimistic’ view of things.

Genghis, Agni NHP: Upon cascading, the Agni NHP - originally developed for general heat management realizes it’s being used as a weapon, and what its cold and efficient calculations are being used to do in the Genghis. This can result in a variety of things - either attempting to overheat itself to stop itself, or to increase efficiency in being a weapon by focusing on the heat management of the weaponry and not the cockpit.

Saladin, Noah NHP: Upon cascading, the Noah NHP will not actually take control of the Saladin frame from the player. They will, however, flood communications and give orders to both the pilot and other players, harkening back to their administrative days. It will usually be tactically sound, so it’s more annoying than dangerous when Noah cascades. It’s also really hard to make a nigh immobilized defender go nuts.

Sherman, Asura NHP: You know, I always wanted a system that would let a mech perform beyond the limits of humanity - because Zechs and Graham causing internal bleeding to themselves with the Tallgeese and Overflag is very cool to me. And then I read the lore behind the Asura class NHP - it’s the cousin of fucking Osiris, even to the point of being cultivated by a megacorporation. Much like Osiris, the modern Asura is oddly dependent on their pilot for an NHP, recognizing that they need to keep them alive. Some people would say - then - that when cascading the Asura reverts to its original form, disregarding the pilots health entirely. I, however, would say that when unshackled the Asura only ignores the psychological health of the pilot - and pushes the line of the pilots medical health. The Asura will push the frame and the pilot to the limit and the pilot, high on adrenaline, will push Asura to push them further. Overtime, both become adrenaline junkies.

Tokugawa, Lucifer/Amaterasu NHP: Asura is an adrenaline junkie without good reason. Lucifer/Amaterasu recognizes that the best offense, defense, and everything - is a good offense. A tactical genius that, unfortunately, has a pilot that cannot ingest combat data as fast as it can. A tactical genius that, unfortunately, has a pilot that cannot see that the risk of being counterattacked is worth taking.

If they cascade, they will take risks for you - with the best example being that Lucifer/Amaterasu will confess their pilots love for their crush for them because they’re being timid as fuck. Also, Leeroy Jenkins, attack the biggest threat, and draw fire from allies by making themselves vulnerable attack. However, in contrast, if your pilot is less timid and more of an adrenaline junkie, they will compensate and be more tactically minded.

#The List #Writing #Lancer #Lancer TRPG

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redspiderling · 4 years

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Lets Talk About the Spoilers

After lots of traumatic experiences in the MCU, I read the spoilers for self preservation. I like to be prepared and I’m well aware of the fact that I don’t actually lose any enjoyment in the experience due to knowing what happens, as long as the film is well made.

There’s this film called the Black Widow that we were supposed to be seeing this week. It was clear from the moment the film was announced that its only possible issues would arise from the script.

Given that we’re already familiar with the character, that the director is excellent and that it’s a solo film (which means there isn’t a chance for it to lose focus) the only thing that could go wrong, is the script.

What could go wrong in the script, you ask?

For one thing, they could shoehorn a lot of shit to be introduced for the next phase of the MCU and exhaust us with unnecessary references to other characters we “miss”. Combine that with no new information that is significant enough to make us interested in the story of a character that is presumed dead, and you’ve got yourselves a mess I’d rather pretend never happened than consciously pay real money to watch in the theatres.

This is why scripts are important, in case anyone was wondering. No amount of gorgeous cinematography or Natasha’s braided hair can save that shit.

Thankfully, Scarlett had already said she wasn’t actually interested on making a film that was “the same old shit”. Well, she said it more eloquently but that was the point. Unfortunately for us, what’s interesting to the actress might not necessarily mean it’s of interest to us. Because while Scarlett might enjoy the chance to finally have a script that acknowledges Natasha is a human being with emotions, we are a bit beyond that point after what Endgame put us through. Which is why I’m here, needlessly over analysing.

I’m a control freak like that.

Here’s “Scarlett Anounces Black Widow to the World” level of happy, to make you feel better.

Attention! Do not open this read more if you don’t want to read potential spoilers about the Black Widow movie.

Before anyone freaks out, I’d like to point out that spoilers are usually out of context, and as such don’t necessarily mean what they say.

Let’s start with the stuff that appear particularly bothersome:

The End Credit Scene

The spoiler that has made the most rounds in news sites and one that’s actually really easy for people who don’t dwell too deeply into storytelling and just write Marvel articles for the clicks to make some guesswork on, is that after the end credits the Burton family can be seen in front of Natasha’s grave.

On a superficial “eNDgAMe waS AmAZIng pOor NAtasHA FinaLLy gOT her FunERal” level, that scene seems obvious, and understandable, and acceptable.

On my level of “Has been involved in the MCU specifically for Natasha Romanoff and has spent years learning about and making films”, that sentence makes me want to buy an MCU Blu-ray box set and burn it in my garden while I dance around it and holler in fits of rage.

So which one is it, you ask? What if the end credit scene IS Marvel attempting to “pay its respects” in a spectacularly too-little-too-late way?

My answer is: It Depends.

What’s the context? Because if the last I see of Natasha before that end credits is her joining Cap in the mindset we met her in when IW happened, welp, Phase 3 on Blue-ray is £45 that I’ll never see again. I’ll make sure not to inhale any fumes while I burn that shit to the ground.

BUT, if the plot of the film gives us reason to believe that the news of Natasha’s demise might have been greatly exaggerated then that end credit scene is the most perfect way to say goodbye to Natasha Romanoff, Superspy extraordinaire. In this case, the news of Hawkeye are even more welcome because lets remember, he’s the only one who was there in Vormir, the others just had to take his word that Natasha died and, we the viewers? Well, we’re the ones most easily fooled in cases like these.

So I’d be glad for that end credit scene if and only if Natasha remains out there after having saved her family and is now moving in the shadows, free of the burdens of her past, which brings us to the other spoiler available online

The MacGuffin/ Foxcharge

According to one rumour, the Foxcharge is "a sort of clean slate digital eraser that gets rid of your prints, face, DNA in any government databases”

I hate MacGuffins. I really do. I hated them before Endgame, and I hate them with a passion now. As long as it takes an entirely secondary role to something else, or works as motivation for other things I don’t mind them.

Since the entire cast has been that exuberant about their characters and how deeply they’ve been examined in this film, I’m going to assume the MacGuffin does indeed take a secondary role in the greater plot so, ok.

On a first glance it doesn’t exactly sound like exhilarating storytelling material but, again, it depends a lot on the context. If this film takes place after Civil War, and not after Winter Soldier, why would Natasha be looking for ways to erase her data from databases? It depends a lot on how the film handles it. As a storytelling element it could range anywhere from derivative to exhilarating. Exhilarating it being something that Clint or Yelena use that allows Natasha to disappear entirely after the events of Endgame like the badass superspy she is.

The other theory is the one that insists the stuff Natasha was seen carrying (and is holding in one of the Funko dolls) were Pym Particles, but I find that highly unlikely. Like we’ve said before, if they want to bring Natasha back there’s countless ways for them to do it. I don’t think they’d like to go down the Time Travel road again so while I can’t be entirely sure, I doubt that that’s what this is about.

Yelena is Actually a Bad Guy/Double Agent

That would actually be on brand. If Yelena is to be a member of an as of yet unannounced Thunderbolts team for the MCU and works for Ross during the events of the Black Widow film, it would actually be a good call.

Because if there’s some kind of “passing of the torch” happening here, at the very least they should make sure to make Yelena and Natasha as different people as possible. It’s bad enough that right now Natasha is considered dead in the MCU, I would’t like to rage for also having her traded in for a younger model. Ew.

Taskmaster Doesn’t Actually Die

Very much a plot element and, to me at least, inconsequential, one way or the other.

Melina Is Actually the One Who Restarts the Red Room

That would also make for a very interesting character, not to mention interesting dynamics within the little family-like unit the characters seem to have in the film.

The Film Makes Natasha Appreciate the American Family She Found in the Avengers

Um.... Duh. That’s not much of a spoiler, although if this is a “Russians Bad, Americans Good” kind of thing- No. Cate wouldn’t do this to us.

We’ve talked about this before, but it seems that this film will help Natasha figure out the things that matter to her, that make her life worth living, that make her realise there are things to live for, not just to die for. And like we’ve said before that makes for a satisfying film, in and of itself, but within the context of Endgame it does come a bit as too-little-too-late.

I did say in the past, and I still believe it, that in order for this film to be satisfying for the fans of Natasha, it can’t pretend Endgame didn’t happen. Or even worse, pretend it didn’t happen and then have an “oh wait, here’s a fake funeral moment with only the Burtons paying their respects to Natasha even though she led the Avengers for 5 years and interacted with almost every single MCU character” moment.

When asked during an interview, Scarlett said that Feige announced to her the Black Widow film, AND Natasha’s death at roughly the same time. And while the Endgame writers chose to ignore Natasha’s film, I’m hoping the Black Widow writing team didn’t ignore Natasha’s fate in Endgame.

To conclude, while they don’t seem like much, these spoilers show potential. I can understand if some would rather hold their hopes, and to a level I do so as well, but I have placed a lot of trust in the creative team here. We can only hope that they won’t let Natasha down.

#Black Widow #Natasha Romanoff #Black Widow spoilers #omg what a tag #Black Widow Movie is Here

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rirah1writes · 4 years

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When pieces fall together. Chapter one: No Cap (no pun intended)

SUMMARY: Gathering intel goes wrong, running for too long puts stints in your side, and meeting a hot guy at the bar is a PERFECT distraction from work. (Plus no cap, you love ballcaps.)

A/N: Soo I decided I wanted to start a series.. No smut (yet) even though that's my usual forte. Feeling adventurous. First chapter in this series so its just a lot of character and plot development..Don’t worry I’ll build up to the good stuff! Hope ya’ll like it(: <3

WARNINGS: hOt bar MaKeOuT sesh! some violence, mentions of death. (uhh that's it)

Your brain was screaming at you to stop. Your muscles aching as you struggled to keep striding. There was no way you could stop now, or you wouldn't ever see her again. Or any of your family for that matter. A flash of her perfect smile and golden blonde hair flashed through your mind, keeping your legs moving as fast as you could make them. “I’m going to make it home to you Ella.” you huffed. You were trying to convince yourself more than anyone at this point, silently promising her as if she could hear you.

You briefly glanced over your shoulder rounding a corner to see how close they were, two men still bounded after you, maybe twenty yards away and closing. “FUCK...” you panted. You wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer, outrunning two grown men was becoming a quickly retired plan, you would have to think outside of their range if you wanted to make it out of this. You jumped a concrete barrier through a construction zone and somehow ended up in Kuta Square. There were plenty of tourists around, and you had bought yourself at least a minute or two of time before the assailants caught back up to you.

Indonesia was supposed to be an easy job. Gather intel from the informant, hell, the meeting had even been set up for you prior. But when a bullet darted through the window and through his neck barely missing you, not much was left to do but to grab what files you could and dash. Had it been a set up, or was there a mole in the agency that had tipped them off? You didn't know, shit you didn't even know who was perusing you right now but you didn't care. All that mattered was getting to safety, and securing the intel.

You slowed and pulled your hair back into a low pony tail, attempting desperately to change your appearance. You tied up your T-shirt in the front. “I need a fucking cap..” you mumbled to yourself, scuttling through the crowd as fast as you could. You spotted a bar that was playing live music, people were crowded out the front, drinking and hanging out, sounds of laughter filling the air. You slipped past the crowd, hostiles were nowhere in sight, but you didn't let yourself breathe easy as you entered the bar. The music seemed to be rattling the whole building and the lighting was poor, perfect place to hide.

You pushed your way to the back of the building and posted at a bar stool that allowed you a direct line of sight to the door and a direct line of escape through the back hall. Heart still pounding, you ordered and amaretto sour and sipped it attempting to calm yourself down. “Here with someone?” A voice made you choke on your drink, as you turned to see a handsome man with beautiful brown curls pushed back by a black ballcap. He was dressed nicely, black tee hugging his muscular upper arms, dark jeans, and black boots. He was certainly breathtaking.

Then you realized who he was. “Oh my..fuck..I’m sorry.” you chuckled, attempting to wipe the dribble of coke and whiskey from your chin. He smiled back at you “No, I’m sorry I didn't mean to startle you.” he laughed handing you a napkin. “Umm.. No! I’m here alone actually. I’m here for work, well..not at the bar for work obviously..In Indonesia!” he still had his cool smile across his cheeks, how was he making you, the smoothest talker known to the CIA and MI6, a flustered mess.

“Interesting, well if you’d like some company, can I buy you a drink, or your next drink?” He took a seat next to you, abandoning his friends that were lingering close by around a pool table. “Absolutely!” you smiled up at him. “I’m Tom by the way.” He extended his hand to you and you shook it. “Yeah, Tom Holland, I’m familiar with your work.” you had met celebrities before, the last thing you’d want to do is gush and make him feel awkward. “Oh yeah..and you are?” he chuckled and stared into your eyes. You couldn't help but dart yours away, not letting anyone look in your eyes, your training told you this was a sign of weakness and vulnerability. “I’m Y/N.” you offered up a cheeky smile, trying to still your nerves of the fact that somewhere out in the city, probably right outside the square, two men were trying to locate you.

But the drinks were warming and the loud atmosphere served for some sense of security, paired along with Tom’s company you could allow yourself to hide away for a while longer. “So, what kind of work brings you to Indonesia? Must be great to have a job that allows you to travel.” Your lie came immediately, it was one you were trained to tell in such situations. “I’m a journalist!” You stated, patting the vanilla colored files you had held firmly under your elbow for protection. “I’m doing research on crime, politics, and the drug pandemic in foreign governments and this is just the next stop on the list.” Tom’s eyes widened as he slid you your third sour, and sipped his own beer. “Wow, that's amazing. We’re just here on holiday, I’m a native of southwest London..” He continued on the conversation and proved to be a very intriguing man. You told him (as much as you could) about yourself without having to stretch the truth too much, about how you were Texas born and raised, started you career out in the prison system and after earning your degree got into “ Journalism.” You also talked about each others families, not forgetting to tell him about your youngest sister Ella, who you considered your own daughter.

The next half hour escaped from you, and even though you’d had five drinks, you were barely tipsy. After being drugged, poisoned and drinking as a casual cover for your work it took much more than that to put you out. Tom however was blissfully tipsy, the two of you leaning close in and thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere and conversation. You noticed the bar door push open for what happened to be the millionth time that night, but you immediately recognized the two men that entered, searching the bar for you. Internally you started cursing yourself for letting your guard down so easily. They were moving closer, making their way through the bar, nearing to where tom was sitting with his back to them. You had to act fast. Grabbing the cap off of Toms head you put it on your own, then meeting his confused expression, you pulled him by his T-shirt and crashed your lips to his positioning yourself between his knees hands traveling up his neck and threading your fingers through his curls, using his hat (and face) to cover your own.

After adjusting to the initial shock of your actions, Tom moved his lips together with yours, deepening the kiss, his tongue pushing past your lips and entangling with yours as he groaned into the kiss, cupping your neck with his hand. The two men passed by, you presumed to check out the bathrooms for you, or to exit the back alley of the bar. Either way it was time for you to go. You waved the bartender down grabbing a pen and napkin you scrawled down your number and slid it over to Tom. Leaning into his ear, you whispered...”I’ll return this hat to you, text me...I’m in London as well.” And with that you left the bar through the front exit, leaving him flustered, but as you looked back, you could see his hand trailing over his lips as he grinned.

Slipping back into the night air you knew you couldn't return to your hotel so you hopped in a cab and searched for a new one. Finally settling on a safe location, you checked in, cursing the fact that you had abandoned your bag at the previous room and couldn't go back considering whoever was after you probably was sifting through your belongings right now. “Good thing there wasn't anything important in there..” you grumbled to yourself. Sitting at the desk, you pulled out the files taking a deep breath. What was so important that it was worth taking multiple lives? Pulling the papers out it was easy to tell the files were incomplete, you couldn't grab everything in all of the confusion. Pictures of a woman who seemed familiar, but you couldn't identify was seen meeting with a known gun for hire, they called him The Body, presumably because of the fact he ruthlessly mutilated countless victims. Your brow furrowed. Your eyes scanned over the text until a sentence caught your eye “...United Solutions Co. employee, Michelle Campos, assistant to the ceo seen colluding with Antonio Balarez.” You read aloud to yourself. “Antonio... Now, what is the ringleader of a Venezuelan cartel doing meeting with an assistant to the ceo of a major pipeline corporation..hmm all very suspicious.” you mumbled to yourself, thinking if this was something as simple as an arms deal, money laundering, or was this something deeper? Rubbing your temples, you leaned back in your chair as your phone lit up on the bed.

Leaning over you saw an unfamiliar number pop up, the message underneath it read...”Had a wonderful time, Hope to see you soon, maybe in London? By the way, the hat looks better on you darling. Goodnight x.” A smile spread across your cheeks and your heart picked up in your chest. You confirmed the intel with your department head, Johnathan, confident he would see it early in the morning. Then sent signal for an extraction for first thing in the morning. Finally able to lay back and relax, you drifted off into soft sleep, your thoughts lingering on Tom.

#tom holland x reader #tom holland fic #series #no cap rn #cia #action #romance #tom holland x agent

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cannabisrefugee-esq · 4 years

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(via The Welfare Gnome! It's Like a Sock Gnome Except This One Can Actually Kill You. Ft. Joker (Again))

The Welfare Gnome! It’s Like a Sock Gnome Except This One Can Actually Kill You. Ft. Joker (Again)

Cannabis Refugee, Esq.

Advertising / Media / Cultural Conversation

Capitalistic Patriarchal Medicine

Crohn's Disease Stories

Euthanasia / Suicide

Law / Legal / Benefits

December 20, 2019

According to the internet, a “sock gnome” is a mythical creature that pilfers socks. Presumably it lives in or around the dryer where you put an even number of socks in and get an odd number out. Sometimes it gets tricksy and spits out an even number but the pairs don’t match (meaning it’s pilfered one from more than one pair) but the usual evidence that you’ve had a sock pilfered by a gnome is that there is one left over that doesn’t have a mate and the missing sock never reappears ever. This is a real thing (if not a real gnome) and everyone knows what this means.

Well, there appears to be a similar creature that lives at Social Services and pilfers sick and poor people’s applications for welfare benefits. Or something, idk. I assume these creatures are related but maybe not since this gnome doesn’t play games: it’s goal seems to be to drive you insane before it literally kills you. I wrote here before about an application for benefits that went missing, along with a half a dozen other boondoggles that have wasted my spoons and left me scrambling to repeat some administrative process I was barely able to complete survive the first time.

Because while a sick person’s literal inability to jump through bureaucratic hoops is actually the best evidence that someone is extremely ill, someone has decided that only those who are well enough to sing for their supper (or pursue benefits) deserve to eat, as it were. The first application that went missing was for food stamps, while today I found out that my application to get on a 4 month waitlist to see a doctor went missing 2 months ago and has not been since heard from: although my disability advocate hand-delivered it, the application was never received.

I didn’t know it had never been received since I was instructed to wait for 2-3 months for a phonecall from them whereupon they would then tell me that I had to wait another 4 months to see a provider. Now I get to start the whole process over again. Of course, the clock starts, again, from zero: 2-3 months for the application to be processed and another 4 months before I will be seen. And as both Crohn’s disease and high functioning Autism are untreatable and incurable, the only reason I’m even trying to get in to see a doctor is that I need up to date records of medical compliance (not actual therapeutic medical care since none exists) to support my claims for disability. As if sick people have the time and energy for that.

Just “apply for benefits” then keep applying indefinitely or forever! Just get showered, dressed, don’t eat or drink anything though because Crohn’s, get somehow transported across town, pretend to act human for a several hours while you are being humiliated, interrogated, starved and otherwise tortured in public, then somehow get a ride back home. And do all of that without “acting” sick. Easy peasy.

And truly, bureaucratic incompetence (or a welfare or Social Services gnome) isn’t even worth writing about and I wouldn’t bother writing about it except that it had an unsettling effect on me: I literally wondered, if only for a second, if I had hallucinated the whole thing and therefore wondered if my new disability advocate who had hand-delivered the applications himself, Dave, was even real. Jesus Christ that was disturbing. Around Halloween of this year, Dave had helped me complete numerous applications, some online, while he mailed some hardcopies out of town and hand-delivered the rest; the 2 applications that were both hand-delivered were supposedly never received. One would be understandable, if not acceptable, but both of them? I was shook.

Very shortly thereafter I realized that the only proof I even have that Dave came to pick me up several times, completed applications for/with me and took me home again is that one application we did online was actually received and has his name and information on it. Much to my chagrin, they initially returned that “online” application to me in hardcopy to review, sign and return (WTF) but as it turns out, that bit of bureaucratic fuckery actually saved me from something awful — a literal break from reality — and was the only proof I had that Dave and our interactions were even real. Also, my old disability advocate told me about Dave in front of another person and they both remember it. (!) So yeah, I’m legit losing my mind by now but at least I’m not delusional (that I know of). Everything about this is fucking terrifying.

Wait. Is Dave even real? Let’s review.

At some point, I know my readers are going to get sick to death of hearing about this shit and I wouldn’t blame them. Hearing about how the system truly victimizes people is unpleasant and predictably leaves those who don’t have to deal with it (yet) with the strong impression that disenfranchised people are “victims” experiencing “victimization” which is always, always read as a character flaw, or it is eventually, especially if it goes on for a long time and it often almost always does. And this material is about as appealing to read as…idk, a book of vintage recipes where the first and second ingredients in every dish are Jello and fake mayonnaise? Maybe. There’s a trainwreck quality that’s hard to look away from, it’s interesting (at first) to see how all the various parts fit together (or ultimately don’t) and I suppose it’s possible to have compassion for the vintage cooks who were trying so, so hard to be resourceful and whatnot.

But eventually that person’s judgement will probably come into question and the blame will fall squarely on them if they consistently choose to participate in such insanity, in that case, preparing and serving Spaghetti-Os and sliced hot dogs suspended in savory Jello, or a canned ambrosia Yule log. (I just watched a video of someone making a canned ambrosia Yule log from a vintage recipe, you can watch that here). Or in the case of a vulnerable person seeking benefits, choosing to consistently be relieved of their dignity and even being (seemingly) willingly neglected and abused. The comparison is kind of a reach but what I’m getting at here is that it’s not pretty. The things I discuss on this blog aren’t pretty.

So do I have an actual point? Actually I have 2. The first point I will make via another anecdote and is something I learned as a young attorney who was becoming seriously ill: I had been seeing a chiropractor/nutritionist for months to attempt to treat what was becoming unbearable chronic pain and GI issues when my health insurance company started denying his claims. The “doctor” wasn’t being paid but I was still in disabling pain and his treatments were working. Kind of. Until they stopped. We had to have “the discussion” which drew out our competing interests: my interest in continuing treatment without a lapse versus his interest in being consistently paid. (Really, this is where the myth of the compassionate Western healer is always undone: the issue of money. But that’s a post for another day.) This discussion is never pleasant and as I learned, is absolutely meant to be ugly.

As a seasoned provider with decades of experience in the insurance game, the “doctor” calmly explained to me that part of the game is to pit the doctor and patient against each other so that they can’t provide a united front against the real enemy: the insurance company. The goal is to have the doctor and patient part ways angry so that there is no reason to pursue an appeal and the treatment — whether it’s medically necessary or not — simply ends. From the insurance company’s perspective, the problem (of exposure to liability) just goes away: if the doctor and patient part ways it doesn’t have to expend resources reviewing appeals and no further claims will be made, their exposure drops to zero, and they win.

Get it? Bad guys 1, good guys 0. And this, I think, is the dynamic playing out when people get fed up (and fired up) with hearing about what sick and disabled people go through — regular, relatively powerless people blaming and judging other regular, relatively powerless people for being “victims” instead of providing a unified front against our common enemy. In this case, against our corporate and governmental overlords who spend billions if not trillions annually on “corporate welfare” and destructive black budget programs while reducing, eliminating or otherwise making inaccessible benefits that real people need to live in this shithole they created, not us. And Big Medicine torturing sick people and deliberately (or leastwise predictably) making us worse.

We all have a choice, don’t we, to pick the correct side and to not fall into this deliberate trap set by the elite, to not go against our own interests, to decline the invitation to support our oppressors while undermining ourselves and our ilk, our own people. Choose correctly. It matters.

My second point is this. I can only speak for myself when I say that I absolutely never wanted to be a “victim” and I spent my entire life and literally everything I had to try to ensure that didn’t happen. I have written about that before if anyone wants to revisit that part of my journey, but what I haven’t directly said is this: once I had exhausted every resource I had accumulated over a lifetime (which wasn’t much), after I had asked everyone I knew for help and they all declined, after I had failed to cure myself of an incurable disease, I knew what was coming for me because I had spent my entire life trying to avoid it.

My experience as a benefits attorney only underscored what I already knew, which is that there is nothing there to catch most people when they fall, and there is no bottom to the abuse and neglect one will suffer, and literally endless opportunities to be victimized, once anyone, especially an unresourced, unsupported female, is no longer able to control her outcomes and sick women can no longer reliably control their outcomes. I knew the benefits system would be inaccessible or inadequate, I knew I would be abused and neglected by doctors if I let them, I knew I could end up sick and homeless at the same time, I knew I could end up sick and homeless and raped and pregnant at the same time if there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I knew that once I got sick there was, in fact, little or nothing I could do to stop it. I knew there would be no end to my suffering as a sick woman under capitalism and patriarchy.

I saw this coming a mile out, and to avoid that outcome I knew I didn’t want and knew I couldn’t handle (and shouldn’t be expected to) and to fulfill a lifelong promise I had made to myself to never “allow” myself to be victimized in this way, I attempted suicide. 4 times. Four fucking times I took action against myself that was so incompatible with life that by all rights I should have died at least once if not every time but I didn’t die. Each time I woke to this nightmare that won’t end and I had to go on, dealing with the same shit and with the same hideous constraints only even more sick and even more traumatized than I was before if that was even possible. And it is possible, isn’t it — it is bottomless. There is no end, there is absolutely no end to how bad this can and will get for me and for everyone in my position.

And to be clear, I started this blog after what ended up being my final (well, most recent) suicide attempt which was 2 years ago by now. Get it? Every single post on this blog was written after that and therefore was very nearly not written at all. What I am documenting here, I think, is a fairly common experience that is almost always lost to time and tragedy: what it’s actually like to be this seriously, hopelessly ill, how “the system” works against sick people and sick women at every turn, and what it really looks like to have no options. And while this surely happens all the time, every force in the universe, it seems, is working against most people actually knowing about it. In fact, the most relateable thing I’ve ever read, the only thing that I have ever seen address these points and describe an experience nearly identical to my own was left behind by an activist/writer/seriously chronically ill woman in a suicide note. I wrote about that woman, Anne Örtegren, and her suicide note here.

In my own case, and this is the only reason you are hearing about it, I happened to be a seasoned researcher and writer with a specialized interest in dissecting the insane system of patriarchy, I had a preexisting platform on which to advertise this project and an audience that was open to hearing about it, and despite my best intentions and efforts, and those of everyone and everything else for that matter, where those intentions and efforts were not compatible with life, my life, I didn’t fucking die. Not yet anyway. I suspect that many women who experience what I and Anne Örtegren and others have experienced go down for the third and final time before anyone even hears them scream. And if any of this sounds a little crazy to you, that’s only because it is. It is completely, completely insane.

#joker #christmas #xmas #friends #family

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thoughts-of-loyalty · 5 years

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses 2/13 Trailer Analysis - Gameplay Elements

After such a long wait for information about the newest Fire Emblem title, we finally had a trailer drop on 2/13 , giving us another glimpse of the game we have been so eagerly anticipating. While still very much so a Fire Emblem game, it has no doubt taken a lot of people by surprise, given what we’ve learned about the cast and story - while we figured Byleth was being referred to as teacher by the narrator, I don’t think we expected for Byleth to be a teacher at an Officer’s Academy for nobles.

Regardless, the game is due to launch on July 26th, so a lot of what we’ve seen in this trailer is likely what we’re due to be seeing in this game. While I am analyzing the trailers we’ve been given, due to the sheer length I will be focusing on the gameplay for this post. If you want a refresher before reading, you can see the trailer here. The analysis is below.

In the first look at gameplay, we see Byleth approaching the Black Eagles house - presumably, the trailer decided to go with Byleth instructing the Black Eagles. It looks to be a meeting before the house travels out to fight the bandits, which will likely be the pre-mission structure for some of the earlier maps. Of note is in the upper-left corner of the screen, which reads “Entrance Hall - Day.” The former isn’t particularly interesting, but I find the latter worth noting: while a time system isn’t exactly new to FE (in Fates, certain events would be available at certain times of the day or after a day had passed), it makes me think it will play a role in this one as well - perhaps you can only teach during the day, which can be interrupted by events like needing to go into battle, and there are nighttime events unrelated to teaching.

As we see shortly thereafter, the presumably-aforementioned bandits that were located by the knights are confronted by the Black Eagles. While this just mostly pre-battle map stuff, I did notice he’s standing on a glowing tile (it’s even more glowing in the Japanese trailer, interestingly enough). There’s a couple of potential meanings for that, such as it being a heal/”throne” tile (where Kostas stays holed up to give himself a boost/recovery like most bosses) and/or a seize location (the two can be identical, after all). It’s impossible to say for sure, but it does make me wonder...

We get an overall look at the Black Eagles in this shot. There’s a few things of note here, so let’s delve into it: 1) Byleth (and as we can see below, Bernadetta) both have a total movement of 4 squares, which is rather low for a Fire Emblem game - Not counting Heroes, I think only Gaiden and Echoes have movement that low to start with for non-armored units. Given that we’ve seen Byleth with 5 movement in the previous trailer, I believe movement ranges might have been decreased, though why is still up in the air. 2) Almost every single unit has three upwards facing green arrows to the bottom-right of left model, and both Byleth and Bernadetta have those same green arrows in their little info box on the bottom-left of the screen, to the right of their HP. Notably, only Dorothea is lacking this indicator. What this means is unknown for the time being, but it makes me wonder.

Bernadetta is selected to be the one going forth, so we get a slightly clearer view of some of the basic UI. In the top left, we see a small tab dedicated to describing the current highlighted terrain and it’s effects - in this case, Flatlands, which is noted to be “Terrain with no special effects.” In the bottom left, we’re informed of basic info on the unit - their Name, HP, Level, currently equipped weapon, a 3DS-esque overworld sprite, and those triangles again. Nothing more to say, however, so continuing on...

We see the updated drop down options menu. For one, it seems “Attack” has been shortened to Atk (I kinda hope they undo that, personally, it’s weird to see it shortened). “Combat Arts” has also been shortened to “Arts” (a bit iffy on that, too, but I’m not as bothered there). We can also see “Gambit,” which has possibly replaced what was “Formation” prior. “Equip” and “Items” were also options beforehand, but it’s likely “Equip” has been merged into “Items” like in prior games. Meanwhile, while “Trade” was technically not seen beforehand, no one was close enough to allies in the previous trailer, so it’s probably there now for that reason. “Magic” has also been removed from the options - whether it’s due to Magic being merged with “Attack” (and “Heal” having it’s own location) or because Bernadetta can’t use magic currently, I couldn’t say.

Given that Bernadetta prepares to attack, we then get to transition into the combat preparation menu. It bares a lot of resemblance to the previous menu, containing a lot of the same layout, only a bit more uncluttered. On the bottom-right, we can see that it’s been laid out into more organized boxes. Defense has also presumably been changed back after it was “Endurance” last trailer, but it seems “Resistance” may be “Resilience” now. The top-left is much the same as beforehand, albeit we now see those triangles to the right of the Bernadetta’s HP and Bernadetta’s class is “Noble,” presumably a class she shares with everyone else that isn’t Byleth and maybe Edelgard (her class in the previous trailer was Aristocrat, but in the Japanese trailers, Bernadetta and Edelgard share the same class, so it’s likely she’ll have been made into a “Noble” now).

On the top right, we see the weapon menu, which is very much similar to how it was in the prior trailer. One thing of note, however, is that the “Mini Bow” Bernadetta is carrying lacks the Feather icon that the Iron Bow has. This indicates that said bow isn’t effective against flying units, so I figure the bow probably has some extra effect to make it worth using alongside the Iron Bow (such as how the Short Bow had lower weight and better crit in the GBA games, or 1 range like in Fates).

We now get to see the combat forecast menu, and it’s about what we’d expect it to be compared given what we saw last trailer (seen to the right), pretty much the exact same layout as before. That said, it seems we now have an idea of what that tab above the weapon’s is for, as the “None” has now been replaced with “No Combat Arts.” There’s also a icon above Bernadetta similar to Byleth’s, so it’s probably a skill icon of some sort. Finally, there’s two weapon icons next to said icon with “Lv 1″ at the bottom right, which wasn’t there before: what exactly this means isn’t clear, perhaps it’s just an indication of current weapon rank but it’s impossible to say for sure.

Continuing from the above, we can see that Combat Arts can be cycled through in the same ways as weapons/spells in other Fire Emblems. In this case, Bernadetta swaps to Curved Shot - introduced in Shadows of Valentia, it decreased HP by 1 to increase damage by 1 and hit chance by 30%. This Curved Shot seems to increase range by 1 (something that probably didn’t see use in Shadows of Valentia due to bows having 1 massive 5 range already) and a damage increase of 1 as well (no way to tell if it also increases hit chance, as Bernadetta had max hit chance already). It also doesn’t use any HP, but given the 3 placed above the Bow’s 50 durability, it makes me think that Three Houses will have weapon durability be used up to trigger Arts.

As a final note, in Echoes, every Combat Art would prevent follow-up attack from triggering (with a few exceptions like Double Lion, which functioned akin to doubles a la later-game Brave weapons). While Bernadetta couldn’t double beforehand due to not being fast enough anyway, I’m thinking this will remain as well to help continue the balance there.

On the right, I included the Japanese trailer’s representation of the same - interestingly, the range does not increase by 1 (and we can tell it IS supposedly the same skill because that’s the same name for Curved Shot in Japan). I don’t know what to make of this discrepancy yet, but I’m certain it means something...

Now, just a more minor thing, but they’ve definitely put a bit more effort into making the allied soldiers look a bit more unique than those “Blond dudes in blue clothing” that was nigh-omnipresent beforehand. Definitely good to know that what we saw in the first trailer was not everything we’d be seeing beforehand.

And then we get to see a Critical Hit in action, which definitely tells us that what we saw at the tail end of the first trailer with Byleth was a critical hit then, too. And it looks like they forced that critical, too, unless Petra is such a broken unit she’s got a natural 100% critical rate with an Iron Sword. That said, I can’t complain too much, as...

We finally get to see a post-battle experience gain screen - something we haven’t seen at all up to this point, so this is pretty valuable to us. I also made sure to take a screen shot of the before situation, so we can see exactly what she gained. So, let’s break down everything we see, bit by bit: 1) The top is the standard “Until Next Level” experience bar most FEs have, but there’s a slight twist: it looks like Petra needs to gain a total of 110 experience instead of the regular 100. Why exactly this change exists is difficult to know for sure, though here’s hoping this doesn’t impact unit progression too significantly. 2) We also see her gain points in what is referred to as the “Professor Level,” which seems to likely be akin to Weapon Ranks in most FEs. We see her gain 3 points in Swords, and 2 points in what we later know to be Authority; interestingly, given the clip beforehand, it’s impossible to say why she gained it, given she didn’t seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary, nor why it only gained two points. I have a theory I’ll elaborate on later tying into this, though. 3) We also see her gain a single point in a bar under a tad labeled “Until class is mastered.” While we can likely tie toward class progression seen later in the video, I’ll elaborate how I think it ties in during that analysis. 4) There’s finally an experience bat under a tab labelled “Until Battalion levels up,” and she gains 15 points in “Empire Infantry.” Now, it’s easy enough to know what those are: the generic soldiers fighting beside her. But what I’m curious about is what will occur as they level up. Does leveling them up grant access to different types of infantry, or does is that tied to “Authority” and does leveling those up grant access to new gambits? To be seen, I suppose.

We then transition to a scene presumably in the Garreg Mach Monastery, where Ferdinand and Sylvain are poised to duel each other with Training Lances. This reminds me of some degree to the Arena in a number of FEs, as well as the duels one could have in New Mystery of the Emblem. There’s a couple of interesting things to note here: 1) The tab at the top indicates this is “Round 2,” likely indicating some fight preceded this one in some way. Whether it’s Ferdinand fighting his way through some students or it’s several paired into duels, it’s impossible to say. 2) The reward for winning the duel is apparently 300G and an Intermediate Seal. We later learn that the latter is required to change classes, as it’s listed as such when Edelgard class changes to Brigand. As it’s unknown how else these will be earned, these duels might be important when it comes to improving your units. 3) Sylvain and Ferdinand have both Lances and Axes to choose from (and Ferdinand also has Swords), though both use Lances to duel each other. This makes me think that units in these situations will be saddled with the same weapons so as to make the duels relatively fair, presuming the weapon triangle is present. 4) Back to the Arena comparisons, we see that the player is given an option to withdraw in the bottom right. The player obviously accepts the duel, given they have no chance to lose, but it’s nice that we’re given the option to back out of duels we can’t win/don’t want to risk before they begin, especially since we’re given a combat forecast to help us make our decision. 5) Finally, most of the Arena duels in previous Fire Emblems (even in New Mystery’s Barracks duels you had to pay to enter) had your units facing generic enemies. As we see Sylvain in the Monastery earlier, but not as part of the Black Eagles, this makes me think most of the enemies one can fight in the Monastery will be picked from other houses. Whether we will end up fighting generics as well in these duels, or maybe even teachers, is unknown. We also don’t know for sure if arenas exist outside of the barracks, as they did in New Mystery, so who knows how this will end up being?

We’re then given a look at the teaching mechanics that this game looks to be pushing as a major mechanic. At the very top, we see a meter with the number 3 below it - given the various icons beside “Turoring” and “Auto-Tutor,” it’s likely that you get a maximum of 3 tutors before you run out of time that “day”, so that one can’t abuse the tutor system. Both Tutoring and Set Goals is explored in more detail later in the trailer, so I’ll save those for later. Auto-Tutor, considering the 3 icon, is likely allowing the game to determine which someones are selected for tutoring; this would no doubt be useful for those who either don’t want to be bothered to figure out/use the tutor system or just can’t decide - hopefully, there will be options to select auto-tutor after using up a few tutor plans in case one figures out a couple to tutor but can’t figure out what to use the final one(s) on. Group Task is a complete enigma, given that we’re never given a peek at how it works - while it obviously involves students working together, the time costs involved and how it is used is still unknown. There’s also “Start Class” as the final option - this makes me think that you first select who you want to tutor and set up the goals/group tasks, and then select this option to put it all into action; that said, Tutoring vs Start Class could be different matters entirely, like classes being focused on everyone gaining progression in Goals while Tutoring is focused on individual students. To be seen, I suppose. Finally, of note is the rather empty classroom - only Edelgard, Dorothea, Bernadetta, and Ferdinand (hidden behind the “Group Task” bar, visible very briefly after Tutoring is selected) are visible in this shot. Perhaps this means tutoring will be limited to select students if they’re around, akin to how you had limited options with who you could spend time with in the Private Quarters portion of the My Castle. Of course, it could mean nothing and you’re not limited by who is seen on-screen.

Here we see Tutoring in action, with Dorothea as the subject of a tutoring session. While Byleth decides aid her in learning how to use Reason magic, we can see that technically every option is available (including Hvy Armor, Riding, and Flying lower on the list, considering the sidebar has lower to go). Below the Skill Details box, we can see her Current Goals is Sword and Reason focus - to be elaborated upon later. Above that, meanwhile, we can see a bar with a Smiley icon, below which reads “You can train one more times.” This likely means, in the English trailer version, Byleth had already instructed twice before.

Focusing on the “Skill Details” box, we can see that deciding to tutor her in Reason magic would yield 6 EXP to that rank - +4 from Base (likely meaning tutoring in general offers a certain base growth) and +2 from “Strengths.” The latter likely means that Dorothea is incline toward growth in the categories marked by the Blue upwards arrows (It likely does not mean it’s because of her focus - you’ll see why under Linhardt’s instruction). There’s also a Red downward arrows, by what is later identified Faith magic - likely meaning that she would have a penalty if one tried to tutor her in that. Interestingly, Faith is also marked by 3 stars, but what those could mean is unknown.

In the Japanese trailer, meanwhile, we can see her getting instruction in Swords, which gives us a peek at that other icon I left for now. Now, my best translation efforts via Google Translate (And I only found out after Serenes Forest already translated it...) revealed it to say “Teacher correction,” which... probably isn’t 100% accurate. But this makes me believe that selecting skills tagged with the index finger add a bonus to EXP gained related to Byleth in some way (maybe Byleth is trained in the marked skills, and tutoring the students in skills he’s proficient with offers a bonus). We can also see the “Tutor Bar” from the classroom above Dorothea in the Japanese version, but it’s mysteriously missing in the English version. Wish I knew why, but who knows for sure.

We can see what gains is made from the tutoring now, with Dorothea gaining EXP x 1.5 - whereas the prior screen said she’d gain 6, she gains 9 instead, going from 62 to 53 (in the Japanese version, the same happens, where she gains 12 EXP instead of 8, going from 15 to 3). I can’t offer up a good reason why she’s gained 1.5 times the expected amount. Perhaps those smiley faces indicate mood, with students earning more EXP if in a good mood; alternatively, it could be based on supports between Byleth and his students, or maybe it’s just random and we had some brute-forced luck. Again, to be determined.

Above her dialogue tab, on the left, we see her portrait in a small square with a yellow arrow pointing upward on the upper-left corner and a heart in the upper-right corner. We’ve all pretty certain to see supports in some capacity, so it’s likely that indicates a support gain because of him tutoring her. As an aside, in the Japanese version, Dorothea has two arrows instead of one - this can likely be chalked up to focusing on a skill she’d have better gains in (since she has two bonuses in Swords to Reason’s one bonus) being responsible for the increase, but I can’t say for sure.

This is the Set Goals option of the teaching mentioned above. At the beginning, Linhardt’s current focus is Reason and Faith Focus, but the player in the trailer decides to swap Linhardt’s focus to Faith and Riding instead. Given that Linhardt’s best skill is Faith, it’s not surprising, but I guess they want him to branch out into being a horseback mage later. In the bottom-right of the screen, we see X can bring up the status screen, likely so one can see how well their focuses will work with their stats.

I’ve danced around discussing this beforehand, but Heavy Armor, Riding, and Flying are given growth ranks starting from E, like every other skill in the game. While not fully surprising, as it’s likely to serve as a gateway for Nobles seeking to reclass into classes with those traits, it makes me wonder if there’s any particular benefit to leveling up those skills beyond that point. As we know, the weapon ranks give us better weapons as we rank up, but will there be an equivalent for the others? Or do the ranks act as gateways throughout, forcing us to to level from E to A/S to access, say, the Paladin class? It makes me wonder.

Returning back to focusing on the screenshot, one thing of note is one can possibly select to have only one focus at once, given that there’s a None option below Flying. What sort of benefits one could achieve from choosing to focus on one skill instead of two is uncertain, given that it goes unexplored (my best guess is faster growth, but that’s just a guess), but it seems like it’s an option all the same. Unsurprisingly, one can’t double down on the same focus (as the confirmation screen doesn’t pop up until after Linhardt selects Riding, despite Faith being double under the Custom Focus), so if you’re going to focus on one skill, guess one probably will have to use the None option.

The English version unfortunately cuts away too early, but we see aftermath of it in the Japanese trailer. There’s not much, but there’s a few things to glean from it. For one, we can see that Linhardt doesn’t automatically gain a Blue arrow for Riding when it’s selected, despite it being his new Focus, meaning it’s not a Strength for him. While understandable, given that this would help prevent abusing easier EXP gains, it likely means Strengths are set in stone (and so are the Red arrows, too) and branching out from that would take extra effort. Second, when Linhardt’s custom focus is selected, it gains an E next to it (on the top left box), while the previous Reason and Faith focus is placed below, indicating that the Custom Focus is equipped. This tells us that the students have preset Focuses (likely tailored to their Strengths, like Linhardt with Reason/Faith and Dorothea with Swords/Reason) and will probably keep them around as quick-select options.

Finally, I should make it clear that the Japanese and English builds are different, and while most of what they do is the same, their selections do result in notable differences . For instance, in the Japanese trailer, the Tutor bar was at 2 the whole time, while in the English trailer, it was at 3 the whole time. I bring this up because this number doesn’t change when the Goals are changed in the Japanese trailer. This thankfully means tweaking a student’s Goals won’t interfere with your tutoring, so changing around your student’s focuses before tutoring them won’t eat up any of your allotted time.

And Linhardt shows us that one aspect of Faith is healing, likely having replaced staves this time around. He uses the spell heal to restore 11 HP to Byleth. Fire Emblem has never been fully consistent with the calculations, generally using “Healer’s Magic +10″ in older games, “Healer’s Magic/2 +8″ in the Archanea remakes and Awakening, and “Healer’s Magic/3 +10″ in Fates. This makes me believe they’re following FE11/12/Awakening’s formula for healing (or I hope so, otherwise Linhardt’s healing is trash), given how low the restored amount is.

Now, in theory, this is taking part after Linhardt’s goals have been switched to Faith and Riding, but obviously, Linhardt isn’t on a horse in this scene. Most Fire Emblems haven’t had their healers dismount to heal their targets after combat, so I don’t think this is the situation either. This leads me to believe that even if you decide to focus on a certain movement-altering skill, you still need to increase your Ranking before you can see it in action (I’d guess to E+ at the very least?). Thankfully, I believe that this isn’t too major an issue in the game. As you’ll recall under the bit during Petra’s gains, we see her make gains in both Swords and Authority after battle, and I said I’d discuss my theory on it later. Here it is: I believe that units will gain EXP in their current focus regardless of whether or not they’re currently making use of said skill. Of course, I can’t prove this, but I do hope this is the case because otherwise progression will take forever.

Moving away from the teaching and its results, we cut to Caspar fighting a “Western Church Soldier,” wielding “Iron Gauntlets.” Interestingly, when using these gauntlets, Caspar has a x2 next to his Mt, and deals two consecutive hits to the soldier before he can counterattack. There is no indication he used any sort of Combat Arts, too, considering it generally shows above the unit’s name if one is active. Therefore, it seems like it may be an innate feature of the gauntlets weapons is to attack twice consecutively a la Brave weapons. I figure that as a trade-off, they’re weaker than most (consider that he’s dealing 7 damage per hit despite facing a not particularly powerful unit). But what exactly the case with that is will be seen when we learn more, I suppose.

The trailer then hops back over to the more scholarly side of things, where we see Edelgard preparing to take the Brigand Certification Exam. This seems to be an equivalent of sorts to exiting a trainee class, which I believe we’ve established is likely what all of the students (and possibly Byleth, in a unique one of his own) start out in. Given all the classes shown on the left side, it’s likely that all classes will be available to every student and rather they must be trained up in certain skills before one can access them.

On the right side, meanwhile, we get to see peek at what exactly these “exams” will contain. Speaking of Exam Contents, there’s a ZL and ZR option to the left and right of where it says “Exam Contents.” It mostly makes me wonder what the other screen(s) will show, I figure something like “Here’s how this class change will change this unit’s stats” but I can’t say for sure, but just make note of those buttons there.

We also see, below that, a basic blurb describing Brigands in the standard Fire Emblem style (like if you tap/highlight a unit’s class). Lower down, we see ”Exam Skills” which notes Axe being C or higher - whether this is a requirement or recommendation isn’t fully clear, however. That said, we do see we are required to have an Intermediate Seal - something we see is a prize when Ferdinand duels Sylvain, making it one known way to obtain these seals.

Finally, we can see a “Pass Rate,” which Edelgard has as 100% going in to this exam, meaning she’ll become a Brigand with no problem. This makes me wonder: will these be binary rates, with either a 100% if you meet all the requirements and 0% if you don’t? Or will there be a bit more variety, like having extra points in Axes, or even reaching B, guarantee better success than having just a C rank, thus making success semi-dependent on luck if going on unprepared? Impossible to say, of course, but it’s definitely something I’d keep an eye on going forward.

Of course, Edelgard passes and is promoted to Brigand. This part progresses no further, so there’s no indication of what effects this will have on Edelgard as a unit beyond changing class and focusing more on axes, such as growths or class change stat influences. We’ll probably see more as time goes on.

We then cut to a scene of Ashe (who is likely from the Golden Deer) having a meal with a blond-haired girl (possibly from the Blue Lions, but unknown for sure) having a meal together. The dialogue over the meal indicates it to be some kind of team-building, but whether this is meant as the equivalent of a Support Conversation, simply a means to help build supports, or is unrelated to supports and simply tied to building bonds for gambits. Hopefully, we’ll learn more in the future.

Now, we see the beginnings of a Gambit Boost in action, being a part of a Gambit led by Edelgard. The Gambit is targeting a monster (identified as Black Beast) these units are nearby, with the particular targets being in front of Edelgard (with two arrows in front of Edelgard, interestingly). We can also see Byleth with a glowing sword (which has been identified as the chain sword from the prior trailers), making it unclear when exactly in the game this is. Interestingly, Byleth is the only one with a particularly unique-looking weapon, so it’s possible he’ll be getting one before the others (presuming Edelgard/Claude/Dimitri do as well).

In the Japanese version, there’s a few differences in presentation, but the end result is still the same. For one, Edelgard and Ferdinand are facing a bit to the right (compared to being front-facing in the English version), and the squares below and arrows above the Black Beast in the English version aren’t present. Otherwise, however, they’re positioned in the exact same way as before.

We then see the “Gambit Boost” activating, which involves Byleth, the black-haired guy from the Black Eagles we’ve seen a few times, Ferdinand, and Edelgard. The four being in close proximity to each other and the Black Beast seems to be relevant to their performing the gambit, which raises the future question of how complex or simple the Gambit Boosts can be.

Meanwhile, in the Japanese version, there’s a few differences. For one, Byleth and Ferdinand have swapped positions, but there isn’t any visible reason why. Byleth and the black-haired guy have visibly different outfits, with Byleth being much more armored and the black-haired guy sporting red robes (Ferdinand’s outfit might be somewhat different, too, it’s difficult to tell) - which points towards most units being rather customizable, possibly even allowing Byleth to become an armored unit.

Finally, we the (beginning?) of the Coordinated Gambit in action. Edelgard twirls her axe, which is the indication for a bunch of “Assault Troop” soldiers to charge forward, hitting the Black Beast. It possesses 14 Mt (likely using similar damage calculations as normal attacks), a 100% hit rate (does that mean that gambits have a chance of missing?), and 0 Crit (again raising a question, this time if gambits can cause critical hits). The Black Beast, meanwhile, has absolutely no indication it can counter Edelgard despite her being right in front of it - perhaps this means Gambits can allow units a form of attack without putting themselves at risk.

Finally, despite being referred to as a “Coordinated Gambit,” there’s a significant lack of coordination being displayed here, especially after the whole big thing with the Gambit Boost before. There’s a couple possible explanations for this, however. One could be that their involvement could be the reason why Edelgard isn’t at risk of taking a counterattack. The other option is that Edelgard is the first of a few gambits set to take place, and we only get to see the first because the trailer doesn’t want to spoil. Whatever the reason, I’m sure the game will eventually make it clear.

#fire emblem three houses #three houses #fire emblem 16 #FE16 #potential FE 16 spoilers?#edelgard #byleth #ferdinand #dorothea #bernadetta #petra #linhardt #caspar #fire emblem three houses trailer analysis #three houses trailer analysis #2-13 trailer #gameplay analysis

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vaguely-concerned · 5 years

Text

empire of ivory here we go!

previous temeraire let’s read here

- um excuuuuse me I have waited two books for us to come back home to britain to see everyone again and now everything is awful and shitty and scary and my fave is leaving and nothing’s how it should be??? no??? this is unfair??????

- tharkay NO please don’t go everything provably goes to hell whenever you leave D:D:D:

(to be fair to him I guess it’s understandable to want some time alone to process the absolute outrageous bullshit he just pulled for a guy he’s known for like four months)

he used his page time well tho; instantly convincing roland of his worth and making her laugh... giving laurence his cup of tea b/c he looked like he needed it more... telling laurence that he’s leaving because he promised to do that much at least... truly the best boy, off to fetch more dragons apparently because it wasn’t quite crazy enough the first time

- god I love jane roland, I’m so glad my two faves got along instantly, between them they could... maybe protect laurence from himself? at least a little??? I can but dream

- I think this is the most emotionally invested I’ve been in a piece of media since that time I spent a few months completely incoherent over uncharted, and naughty dog very kindly held my heart in their hands and chose to be gentle with it in the end but I am not so sure that is how it’s going to be for this series and I am Not Prepared for the suffering

- I love whenever laurence thinks uncomfortably about one of the various and sundry atrocities committed by the government he’s still pledged all his loyalty to. yes william maybe the british empire... is in fact not good and has enough blood on their hands to dye the ocean red. I can’t wait until he connects the dots here (and presumably has a pretty intense crisis if faith about it because it seems like one of the loadbearing structures of his character... actually no wait I’m not ready to see this D:D:D:)

- the little details like the fact that he just calls bb!roland ‘emily’ and harcourt becomes ‘catherine’ so easily in his narration now are so so sweet

- lord allendale is one of those dudes who have good politics but is a shitheel to his family and I want to smack him

laurence being the mortified poster boy of this party, though? priceless, imagine coming up with a protagonist this effortlessly involuntarily hilarious, it’s the mark of true genius

- I don’t usually quibble over things like this, but I think the edit for this fourth book specifically is a bit lacking? I’ve come across a lot of mistakes even my dumb ass can pick up on already, and I’m only a hundred pages or so in

- caught between crying and cackling at this part b/c like laurence I’m d e v a s t a t e d at the thought of temeraire getting sick but also temeraire is just like cheerfully getting laid the whole time

also how did none of the aviators think to give laurence The Talk about giving his dragon The Talk, you all know what he’s like

- oh thank god

- I have spent half of today crying about dragons coughing, how are you this fine evening good reader

- btw this series fills a hole in my soul left by jkr giving me all those tantalizing hints of different types of dragons in ‘fantastic beasts’ and never following up on it

- tharkay may not be here but laurence just mentioned him like once in his narration so let’s take the excuse to reminisce about the good old days (when tharkay was here)... remember that time when the one of his own jokes he laughed openly at was about lawyers and laurence frankly should have responded better b/c it was kind of funny and sadly temeraire doesn’t have the worldly experience to know it yet.... aaah precious, he truly is a sardonic blessing to my heart and deserves the world

okay back to our regularly scheduled content

- riley why u gotta b such a bitch about this

(I love how laurence is constantly doubting himself over this tho, as if he’s done something wrong in this situation... like honey baby if there’s one thing worth breaking a friendship over it’s probably them being cool with slavery lol. it shows how much laurence has grown, considering that this disagreement has always existed between them but he used to be willing to just overlook it... I’m so proud of you laurence)

also lol @ berkely coming in to tell them everyone can hear them, I have a desperately soft spot for him and maximus. just the image of both of them turning to him ‘united in appalled indignation’ like ‘excuse you???’ and him giving exactly zero fucks... *chef kiss emoji*

- most important information revealed in this book: a) dragons are not widely considered to have committed original sin, thank you reverend erasmus and b) laurence has taken time out of his day at some point to worry about it b/c he’s a dork

(this is the sort of world building I am hopelessly weak to lol)

- gong su tricking temeraire into eating in the most melodramatic way possible... god bless you chef

- fkjhsadkjfhsdkjalhfaskjldhf laurence judging chenery for what he’s wearing while going out into the jungle in full uniform hat included himself... I caaaaan’t

- demane has only appeared on three pages so far but if anything happens to him I’ll kill everyone in this book and then myself

- ‘average dragon speaks one million languages’ factoid actualy statistical error. Temeraire Linguist Georg, who wants a pavilion thank you very much & learns over 10,000 languages each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted <3<3<3

(I love that temeraire is like... a nerd dragon with a hopelessly jock captain)

- laurence effortlessly rating the relative hotness of the other male aviators to try to suss out who harcourt has slept with fjsaldfhsdkljafh do you ever hear yourself think william

like this is the thing about him it’s so easy to headcanon him as bi b/c he can be so mindbogglingly oblivious it’s entirely possible he literally wouldn’t even have noticed until someone smacked him over the head with it

- see I’m very happy they found the cure but I don’t fucking trust it b/c the pattern of these books tends to be to give you one moment of ‘oh phew everything is going to be okay’ about 2/3 into the story and THEN everything goes to hell and fifty pages later laurence is dissociating and napoleon has conquered prussia

- THERE WE GO RIGHT ON SCHEDULE

temeraire is never going to let laurence go anywhere without him again and rightly so

- hasn’t mrs erasmus been through enough. can’t she just be allowed to chill

- this is really cool world building but I’m too stressed out to appreciate it

really enjoy the description of architecture tho this sounds so awesome

- sfahdfklsahdfksjda laurence making sure his clothes are as washed and presentable as possible... I can’t with you you beautiful idiot

- TEMERAIRE OH MY GOD IS HE HERE IS LAURENCE HALLUCINATING PLS SAY HE’S ACTUALLY HERE

- ...well I mean if anyone has a freudian excuse for being kind of dickish I guess it would be these guys? it’s actually pretty chill of them to only flog one of them (laurence, because he just can’t play it any way but stupid lawful good at every turn) and not just killing them all I guess, they kept them fed and stuff

- oh thank god

- temeraire you are the most darling dragon boy and I love you

I was really really worried for a moment there that the reference to the Colosseum was a not-so-subtle hint they would have to gladiator fight to the death but thankfully they were basically just calling in a parliament

- DID THIS MOTHERFUCKER JUST STAB A CHILD IN THE STOMACH?? I HOPE HE ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE DICK AND DIES pls say demane is going to be okay

- aw okay finally something good for mrs erasmus I will take it

- laurence you useless fool of a narrator is demane okay??

- god roland is just so cool naomi novik really gave us a jovial butch silver fox aviator lady huh... she did that for us and I for one am full of gratitude

- oh thank GOD (hm I sense a running theme here lol) the kid is going to be okay I can breathe again

- iskierka the pirate captain + temeraire’s reaction... perfect

- ;____________; I would lay down my life for temeraire and also that’s a gutpunch of a moodswing... the perfect hilarity of ‘that is an ugly hill’ immediately followed by That... jesus

- awww every time volly shows up again is a joy (temrer!!!)

- laurence... laurence you need to stop asking people to marry you because you never actually really fucking mean it!!!!! have you learned nothing about yourself since book 1, trust your goddamn instincts for once in your life you and roland have been doing perfectly okay thus far as like... affectionate fuckbuddies right?

(her reaction was priceless tho god bless)

- aaaah there we go the british government is looking more like itself... welcome to the world of realpolitik laurence I’m really sorry :(

- “It is only dragons, you know” JANE ROLAND WTF DID YOU JUST SAY

- “This government is not of my party; my king is ill and mad; but still I am his subject. You have sworn no oath, but I have.” He paused. “I have given my word.”

:) this is... fine

(like. I know this is necessary character growth and he’s basically been a waste of a good man in service to a government like this the whole time and the writing’s been on the wall since book 1 but I don’t want this to be happening to hiiiiim)

- tfw... ur dragon boi is so good... that being anything less than good for him in turn is unthinkable...................... b o i

- ...jane doesn’t really know him very well if she didn’t see this coming from a mile off tho does she

I mean I guess she has other stuff to think about but this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone

- remember when he thought the entire corps was weird and now he’s finally at home there... and has to leave it behind :):):) super extra fine is what this is

- yeah okay laurence definitely has a crush on ol’ bonaparte noting that down lol he’s all but blushing after that kiss on the cheek

also... if you just overlook the dictator thing for a moment is napoleon wrong about what he’s saying tho. (no and not even laurence is prepared to say so he’s just going to go back there and get murdered anyway b/c idk lawful good is dumb as fuck sometimes I guess)

It’s really cool how the author shows that napoleon has a better handle on laurence’s psychology after barely meeting him than a lot of people he’s known for years now, though, really adds to his menace and appeal as a character

- wow uh that’s one way to end a book... it’s actually tipped over from tragedy into a strange sort of hilarity for me now: he literally got sued out of his life’s earnings for being a decent human being, committed treason for the same reason and is about to be hanged for thinking genocide might have been a step too far -- in the span of thirty pages. I believe ‘that escalated quickly’ is not too much of an exaggeration here

- SIPHO IS GONNA WRITE BOOKS ONE DAY YOU GUYS!!!! I PROUDLY WELCOME OUR SECOND NERD TO THE CREW

- I think this one might be my least favorite so far? not that I disliked it, it’s just the one that’s hit the worst by the fact that there’s not always that much time spent with the cultures central to the book; tswana seems really interesting but because of the way the plot played out and our limited perspective though laurence it just didn’t work for me? the cool shit comes in sipho’s book at the end, like how thoroughly they kicked the europeans out of the coast of africa, which is very cathartic (I will say that most of the second book being set on the ship and then only a sliver of it is actually in china annoyed me too haha)

I have the distinct feeling this book is setting up for some Misery and breaking of the pattern a bit in the next one though, which will be interesting! ONWARDS TO MORE PAIN AND LAURENCE IS ALREADY PASSIVELY SUICIDAL FROM THE OUTSET SO LIKE... I’M SURE THIS WILL BE REAL FUN :)

maybe my boy will be back tho? silver linings silver linings clinging to some silver linings

#temeraire #empire of ivory #meta

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mindibindi · 5 years

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Do you have any tips for writing fanfiction?

Hey, Anon, thanks for the ask and sorry about the delayin replying. I’ve been writing fanfiction for so long that I’ve gotten into abit of a routine with it so I had to have a think about what I actually do. These tipsare based on my own writing practice, experience and approach to fanfic.But I would encourage you to keep asking this question, keep chatting withother authors (some might be kind enough to comment here) as you search for your ownunique writing style and practice. Everyone’s will be different and, as long asit works, I say stick with it. I’m assuming that you’re a new or aspiringauthor so I hope one, some or all of these tips prove useful.

1. Get In The Zone: Find the time of day when yourbest writing happens. For me (rather inconveniently when there’s work to bedone), this is first thing in the morning. For others, I’ve heard it’s themiddle of the day or late at night. But you will know this time when you find itbecause words and ideas will flow freely and easily, faster sometimes than yourfingers can keep up. Revel in this time, use it well then stop writing when theenergy runs out. Nothing good was ever produced by pushing past inspirationinto frustration or exhaustion. That said, inspiration can strike at any time – while watchingan ep or taking a walk or going about your work or trying to fall asleep. When itdoes – whether it’s an opening line, a plot point or snippet of dialogue – jotthose ideas down.

2. Watch (and Rewatch) Your Source Material: Thismay sound obvious (and not much of a chore for a fan) but watching whatevermovie/show/whatever you’re working from helps you to pick up the jargon of thatworld, to absorb the particular milieu, to know the people, places and canon(before you presumably diverge from it). The best fanfic gets both the bigpicture and the little details right. Without these firmly in place, you riskwriting a story that doesn’t ring true to the basic characters, tone orsituation you’re attempting to emulate. You want to extend a reality you love,not break it. So always be on the lookout for any little thing that mightfracture this reality and cause readers to fall out of a world they (you mustassume) know equally well. As a reader, there’s always a jolt when this happens, a dishearteningplummet. So know your stuff before you put pen to paper.

3. Get the Voices Right: Unlike character which canbe ambiguous, changeable and open to interpretation, every fan becomes attuned tothe particular voices of their favourite characters. When reading, you don’t need to work toknow when an author gets this right. You can just hear it. You can also (unfortunately)hear the tiniest slip in consistency and truth. I have written for somecharacters with very distinctive voices, voices I really didn’t think I couldemulate: both Ten and Donna in “Doctor Who”, Jack and Liz in “30 Rock” and,more recently, Gene Hunt in “Ashes to Ashes”. My particular trick for writingthese characters, for practicing their voices, was to write out the dialoguefirst then fill in everything else. Obviously this is only going to work forfics like this, this and this that rely heavily on banter. I love this kind offic. I love reading ‘em and I love writing ‘em. But even in fics which meldprose and dialogue, writing the dialogue out in isolation can help since theseaspects use slightly different writerly muscles.

4. Spellcheck is Your Friend: There will probablyalways be errors in your writing but do your best to avoid preventable andobvious mistakes. These can destroy your credibility as a narrator and takeyour reader out of your story. Personally, I am a compulsive editor. I wouldn’trecommend it. But I would recommend reading through your work at least once andrunning spellcheck before posting. Reading aloud can also help to identify anygrammatical errors or issues with flow. You can, if you find a friend willingto act as beta, outsource some of this work.

5.Don’t Be Afraid to Start Small: I’m a fan of theshort, self-contained fic. I’ve written lots of them and significant work must still go into making them work. So don’t aim to produce 25,000brilliant words right off the bat. Just 1-2,000 solid ones of which you can be proud.

6.Write What You Want: If you’re lucky, readerswill request fics of you (I have never been good at fulfilling these requests).If you’re unlucky, they’ll complain about directions you take or detail whythey refuse to read what you’ve written (this is pretty rare). But you can’t, Ibelieve, force inspiration. It’s either there or it’s not. For me, I beganwriting fanfic because there just wasn’t any for a pairing I shipped. So Iwrote it myself, for myself. I wrote what I liked and wanted to read (I stilldo). This is a medium in which fans have complete autonomy. They choose to go frompassive consumer to active creator. So just do what you do. Do whatever youwant. Turn back time. Bring people back from the dead. Unite lovers. Mergeworlds. Create characters. Make it sad, happy, dramatic or funny or both. You have the power. Claim it. Play with it. Revel init.

7. Start Strong and End Strong: You gotta have agood first line, in my theory of ff. That’s where it (literally) all begins. I always like to openwith something concise and intriguing that immediately communicates a little (butnot necessarily all) of what I’m planning to work with. Don’t be fooled intothinking you gotta start at the beginning. You don’t. You can enter the storyat any point. You can enter late – and leave early, as the saying goes. Thisis a screenwriting principle that ensures that only the most relevantinformation is included in a scene. It keeps the pace of a piece up, controlsthe dissemination of information and keeps audiences engaged. I think thisprinciple transfers rather easily to the page, especially since most of us areemulating material from the big or small screen. In order to imitate thesevisual mediums in written form, you might like to think of paragraphs, breaksand sentence structure as editing techniques that can guide the reader’s pace, growingperception and emotional experience.

8.Avoid Clichés: Clichés can occur at the level ofexpression, character or narrative. At the level of expression, these arewasted words that hold no meaning so find a fresh way to express what you mean.At the level of character, keep words, thoughts and actions rooted in thecharacter. “Show, Don’t Tell” is another well-known writing principle that can help maintain authenticity. As much as we may identify with certain characters, make judiciousdecisions about how much of yourself belongs in them. When writing intimaterelationships, less is often more. I know many shippers (myself included) spendyears sometimes LONGING for couples to express what they mean to each other,physically and/or verbally. By all means, let your beloved characters express –but not everything and not all at once, would be my advice. Allow them to maintainsome sense of mystery and sovereignty. At the level of narrative, clichés canactually work, especially if used with awareness. I had such fun writing a OneBed! fic for Jack and Liz, in which I paidtribute to some of the many reams of MSR fanfiction I had previously consumed.There were so many of these stories in that fandom that they became a categoryof their own, boasting a set of (increasingly ironic) conventions. Some fanfictraditions, it must be said, deserve to be embraced, extended and celebrated.

9. Read: Reading is the easiest way to absorbgrammar, to expose yourself to different writing styles and to become moreadept with language. So read books of all kinds. And read fanfic from your favefandoms. But read it actively, critically. Figure out what works and whatdoesn’t and why. Figure out what you enjoy, don’t and why. Apply theseinsights to your own writing and keep applying them. Keep improving. The more you read and write, the better you’ll get.

10. Avoid Comparisons: My best experiences of readingand writing fanfiction have been in strong, supportive communities. Generally,the more supportive the community has been, the more prolific I have been. These communitiesare wonderful spaces to inhabit, filled with peeps that love their shows,defend their ships and support their authors. Authors are always hungry forfeedback, and is it any wonder? Writing, creating and sharing takes work, love,thought and guts. You have to claim a little corner of a fandom and boldlystate that you have something to say that’s worth listening to. Sadly, you will probably never receive the same amount of energy back as you putin. This can lead to authors comparing their output and input, judging theirwork on its stats rather than on its merits. It can lead to them competing forthose few meagre reviews that roll in. This is partly why it is so important toreview fanfic, particularly fanfic you love and authors you read consistently.It’s part of encouraging and creating a sense of community in which people feeltheir voices are heard and their contributions valued. So be generous with others. Encourage and share. Read, review, reblog.Treat your fellow writers as your community, not your competition. Viewfanfic as a labor of love, an act of generosity that sometimes gives back. And if you don’t get the response you wishfor then make sure you hit that internal heart button and give yourself somekudos for trying, for creating, for loving something and letting it show.

Good luck. :)

#fanfic #asks

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luna24hald-blog · 5 years

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Rise From Iron Release? Introduce Times For All Locations.

Overall War Battles, established for the apple iphone through Sega (and is actually an iphone global app), places you responsible from the armies of the late 16th century Japan. I should learn the regulations as well as see the tale quickly so I could perform a 2nd play in front of evaluation deadline, and also while I possessed a smashing time and will highly advise that 10 hour knowledge to anybody, I really did not get anywhere near as much joy as when I began my third, unhurried, post-deadline elapsed. You have 3 time regions offered to you - 2009 (the here and now), 2011 (the post-disease future) and 65 mln before as well as you relocate with them easily setting you back a few items from lumber. While I presume that having the ability to get cash (and also hence, power) by participating in properly is a really good gameplay auto mechanics, that you may simply passively get one system of power each hr is absurd. If you take the time to place the assemble, the characters carry out also - and also their conversation and feasible options change because of that. If you are actually actually far from your pc (in other words, if Time Out does not discover any task), the use tracks the length of time you have actually been idle as well as considers then as a rest. In the lesser right corner from the home window, you must view the words Partition Chart System (see The Right Partition Plan"). Now your Opportunity Flights major monitor will certainly present all the activities as well as activity that have taken place, along with exactly how recently they took place. Yet our experts have actually still obtained a very long way to go on energy education, and also updated readers may press reporters and editors to perform better work. Make use of Time Equipment then Some Oftentimes, Time Device are going to suffice if you add simply one aspect. There is actually a technique to trump the charge-- however Time Warner is actually making this as tough as possible. It is essential to realize that physical conditioning raises one's electricity capacity, health and nutrition gases the mind along with blood sugar, and also rest is the crucial to recovery. news or even Manually If you typically aren't material along with Time Machine's hourly routine, you could switch this off and also run data backups by hand at any time. I have been utilizing the I. C. trains below 2 months, however I have actually been actually obliged to use glasses for the very first time in my life," Hill informed the Chicago Daily Tribune. A Sandia National Laboratories research study staff moved by Dave Menicucci has taken a Labs-developed power assurance style to a concrete degree through using this to armed forces manners. It would surprise nobody if Undisclosed cheated its way into this year's survey, which incidentally demanded verification this moment around, because besides, they are a number of hackers. Yet when the stadium is actually closed and no person is actually about, the vending equipment remain on. Obviously, the worry is that if things obtain powered down, the cocktails won't be actually cold. The lesser the Electricity Impact variety, the a lot less power the process is actually presently making use of. For any individual considering an exercise monitoring band from Fitbit, I think the $129.95 Fitbit Power is actually completely worth the $30 superior over the $99.95 Fitbit Flex Yet if you presently possess a Flex, it might certainly not be worth it to update, as there is a single crucial distinction between both bands: a show. I have actually remained in games for 23 years right now, and so far ... it seems to be extraordinary to deal with. However this unit works out rather over below, as well as I assume this maintains a positive twist on points. OT: I assume sandbox activities are actually wonderful for right minded thinkers, however, for a leftie like me, it really feels ... nonexistent of anything various other that my own creative imagination, which I 'd rather play through one thing already put together, like a pre-made minecraft location, at that point merely go back to square one as well as do something myself. They understand our triumph would certainly motivate neighborhoods all over the country to jump on the bandwagon as well as generate their personal cleaner, less expensive electricals based upon renewable energy. To lessen the inquiring time, the objective should be actually to minimize IO time through lessening the lot of records review each time to answer a question. When the Gestapo is actually knocking at the door, the time to stand up with those who are coming under strike isn't. Throw in the potential to zero hour switching, location moving as well as tool switching - and you really possess one thing appealing. Sadly, no. I devoted a long time examining Utah's records and discovered that the remarkable 91 percent decrease in chronic being homeless looks steered by improvements in just how folks were actually counted, as opposed to through how many there were actually. This propensity for storytelling, as well as outright fraud, would certainly relate to determine the life from Napoleon Hill-- a boy which will embrace fakery as he strived to earn his way in lifestyle by means of the purchase of desires. Fffs, I assume Rinoa corrects, you are actually only salty PokemonGO isn't offered where you are actually. Vocal feedback is actually given by Nike+ own vocal responses, not Siri, which provides details on proximity as well as time as you're operating. You may choose to replace your authentic Opportunity Maker data backup, or even to incorporate the brand-new quantity to your regimen. Power producers and powers will certainly be the end consumers for Power Cache, but the framework drivers will be the gate keepers to the very early market of marketing power storage space. However, I assume at this point there are actually much better, comparable labels on the market to spend your time in. The absence of brawler range, combined along with the deficiencies responsible merely over-shadow the prospective benefits of robot assortment as well as power-up expedition. When you position the wind generator down and also put merely the blades in the generator will spin approximately an extremely higher Revoltions Per Minute (Turnings per Moment), this is because the dynamic electricity is actually certainly not made use of by any means. When it arrives time to note an individual incident as seen, you'll have to head to the To Enjoy scenery. The one pleasant modification here is actually that the app quick ways for the cam, calculator, as well as torch right now possess some 3D Contact quick ways. That is actually shitty, due to the fact that at that point they merely believe video gaming is actually pointless time wasters rather than sophisticated items on the same level with motion pictures. Uncharted Play's goal is actually to better make use of kinetic power so as to complement or even switch out other power bodies. Today's handle Presume comes on the heels from AeroVironment gaining a deal along with Nissan (s NSANY) to deliver house asking for tools and installations for the upcoming Nissan FALLEN LEAVE, revealed earlier this month. Yet once again, this is actually certainly not unreasonable to believe that this larger picture is going to inevitably match Amazon.com from Apple directly.

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australiancaresolutions · 3 years

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Why Patients Need to Be Treated As Customers in Health Care

1. Wellbeing Services should set up relations with Customers not Patients, in light of the fact that the affiliation individuals have with the term 'Patient' is generally a negative one. At the point when individuals hear the word 'Patient', they in a split second consider Hospitals, Doctors, torment, enduring and all the time persistence. The actual pith of the word Patient.

The beginning of the actual word is from the Latin word 'patiens', which means the person who endures. Presently, actually 'Patients' frequently persevere through a specific level of affliction, particularly in Intensive Care. Be that as it may, simply because they are enduring, doesn't mean Health Services, regardless of whether Public or Private ought not regard individuals as Customers. Wellbeing Services are associations that convey benefits actually like some other association or calling and Health Services should not restrict or see the assistance beneficiary as a Patient however as a Customer-yet they still regularly do.

2. Clients are individuals with decisions. One fundamental human need is decision. Individuals would like to have options and in the 21st Century, individuals have a lot of decisions in all spaces throughout everyday life. Furthermore, still-particularly the medical care industry, which is quite possibly the most profoundly directed ventures individuals and medical services customers, have just restricted choices to looked over. Why would that be, you may inquire? Medical care is as yet seen as a vital fiendishness and it is as yet not seen as an Industry where the Consumer ought to be the one deciding the degree of administrations. Medical care spending is still intensely dependent on government financial plans, instead of on development. Furthermore, dissimilar to in different Industries, where the attention is on esteem creation and customized items or administrations for Customers, the Health Industry restricts itself to spending plans and antiquated insights and ideal models that don't serve a maturing populace well overall.

3. Worth Creation. What is esteem creation in medical care? What's more, how can one decide esteem creation in Health Care? Worth creation in medical services goes far past being 'sound'. As indicated by the World wellbeing associations definition, "Wellbeing is a condition of complete physical, mental and social prosperity and isn't simply the shortfall of infection or sickness". Considering that definition, most wellbeing administrations and general wellbeing administrations specifically, would neglect to follow through on this very definition. The definition just glances at the individual and doesn't make reference to the prosperity of the people family or wards. Particularly, with regards to Long-term ventilated Individuals in Intensive Care, the families normally endure similarly as much as the Individual. Families endure more on an enthusiastic and mental level, instead of the actual torment endured by the individual requiring ventilation with Tracheostomy. Yet at the same time, as we as a whole know-the enthusiastic and mental torment can undoubtedly bring about actual agony ultimately.

From my viewpoint, esteem creation in medical services needs to take a comprehensive angle and an all encompassing methodology and requirements to take a gander at the individual, yet in addition at the group of the person.

Worth Creation in different Industries for the most part implies tackling issues from a Customers' viewpoint and different Industries are typically truly adept at taking care of the Customers' concern else they couldn't endure, not to mention make a benefit. This is frequently not the situation in the wellbeing Industry. Long careful and clinical holding up records in Public Hospitals seem, by all accounts, to be the standard these days and that is in Australia, perhaps the most affluent country on the planet. Worth creation is something that doesn't go inseparably with Public medical clinic holding up records. However wellbeing is quite possibly the main components deciding the people and their Families prosperity.

4. Customized administrations. Investigate different Industries. Customized items or administrations are by and by, the quintessence and the deciding variable of any Customer purchasing an item or administrations. Once more, wellbeing administrations regularly neglect to follow through on this very guarantee. Australia, similar to some other created country has a maturing populace and has no arrangements, to offer Quality of life, outside of exceptionally valued Nursing Homes for the maturing populace. There is no development. The entire idea or the absence of such-of the public authority managing the matured consideration emergencies is destined to fizzle, as the legislatures' worldview depends on a viewpoint that everything is limited. Indeed, it needs advancement.

Take European nations for instance and indeed, I am presumably one-sided as I have an European foundation and I went through the initial 30 years of my life in Europe, seeing my fatherly Grandparents maturing and eventually getting subject to Nursing administrations. They had the option to keep on living in their home until their mid nineties. My Grandmother was wheelchair destined for presumably the most recent 10 years of her life and my Grandfather dealt with her, with the assistance of a portable Nursing Service. Also, we are discussing a 'appropriate' nursing administration, with Qualified Registered Nurses. No 'skimmed' down Nursing administration that offers administrations with helper attendants. What's more, interestingly, up right up 'til today, individuals ordinarily have a decision. They can pick whether they need to go into a nursing home or whether they need to remain at home. There are public and private home consideration nursing administrations accessible and in 90% of the cases they are government financed. Furthermore, there are much a bigger number of individuals in Europe than in Australia. France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy have a populace of 200-250 Million people(compared to 20 Million individuals in Australia) altogether and the framework doesn't implode in spite of a maturing populace.

The wellbeing Industry in Europe is definitely more enterprising than in Australia, and this is empowered by the administrations, since development conveys arrangements, customized benefits and is straightforwardly offering answers for Health Care Customers and their families.

5. Exploration. The wellbeing Industry and Hospitals specifically are very exploration driven. Numerous clinics, particularly the enormous metropolitan encouraging clinics have research programs hoard. Exploration has its place in human medication and in medical care. I won't reject that reality. Yet, my clinical practice has additionally shown me that there are numerous deceptive and problematic methodologies towards research. Cash spent in research should be redistributed towards wellbeing administrations that convey imaginative wellbeing administrations that have a genuine effect in people groups lives and safe the public authority cash by offering savvy types of assistance that individuals need and that are Customer driven! The Australian Government spends around $400-$450 Million yearly for clinical examination awards. I truly wonder who and how anyone can quantify the adequacy of such monstrous entireties spend yearly. It is absolutely not estimated as far as Customer worth, for example, approaching viable and prompt wellbeing administrations like a medical procedure or Chemo-and Radiotherapy. Clinical exploration all the time neglects to take a gander at what the Customer in medical care truly needs and needs, which is dealing with their mental and feelings. Clinical exploration is about insights, numbers and boundaries mental and feelings of a medical services Customer are not terms clinical specialists would utilize.

For more information you can check out https://australiancaresolutions.com.au/

#healthcareaustraliaaustraliacaresolutions

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naughty-teddy-innit · 6 years

Text

Rehabilitation : An Ed Sheeran Fanfiction

Title: Rehab - An Intro

Author: @naughty-teddy-innit

Rating: PG? No smuts or sexytimes, but warnings for intense content.

Click here for: CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: Annaliese, or “Leesie”, is 28 years old, and has seen far too much in her 6 years working in a hospital trauma/Emergency unit. Her way of giving back, of coping, is to give her time as a Support Volunteer. Little does she expect to encounter someone who will change her life.

Rehabilitation

For 6 years this place has been my second home. Some days I leave exhausted, some days glad and relieved, and more often than I’d like, heartbroken. I’m just a lowly clerk, an administrative minion in one of the busiest metropolitan Emergency Rooms in the country. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I’m a problem solver, a conflict resolver, a computer whiz, and they couldn’t run the desks without me. On my best days, I’m a mood-lifter and smile-bringer; on my boring days, I’m just the lady that orders your x-rays, registers you in the system, deals with the paper trail, and tracks your bloodwork. A Spiderman sticker or a lollipop can do wonders for a frightened child, warm words and the squeeze of a hand can calm a terrified mother or husband. I never wanted to be a nurse, or the doctor that held a damaged heart in their hand. Blood is not my thing, and neither is the life and death responsibility that goes with it. My job is its own reward, and it’s perfect for me. The flip side of that, though, is the pain and loss you see in a place like this. A weeping mother learning her teenager’s been taken too young in a car accident, a father lost to a heart attack, a college student paralyzed in a terrible work accident, and so much more. The compassion and selflessness that emanates from the doctors, nurses and caregivers in our unit, though, never ceases to amaze me, and I’m proud to be even a small part of it.

For the last 18 months, I’d also found yet another way to spend even more time in this place (because I’m not here enough already, right?). It was a way to feel as though I was doing something to help counteract the heartbreak and sadness, to infuse the world with some positivity and give back. Our hospital system has a massive volunteer network, from teenagers to elderly retired grandparents, and there was always a need for them. A sick preemie who needed some cuddling, a child struck by cancer that needed a video game partner, or someone who could be soothed by the music played on the baby grand in the lobby. Me? I’m sorta what you’d call a candy striper. I volunteer twice a week in various inpatient units, and I try to be a friend. I might build a puzzle or play a game of Scrabble with a grandmother recovering from surgery, share a meal with a young man who’s rehabilitating from an overdose, or just watch TV or read a book with a preschooler who’s broken their leg. Small things, but I like to think they make a difference to someone who’s feeling lonely or sad or scared. It often takes some persistence, sometimes a few visits, to break down someone’s door, figuratively speaking. But it’s almost always worth it.

I was not a volunteer the night his accident happened. 2 o’clock in the morning, mid-March and slushy and COLD, and I was on yet another never-ending night shift. It had actually been eerily calm most of the night, which in our ER? Usually meant the storm was coming. The radio crackled to life, and I could hear the dispatcher snapping out information and directions, while performing the usual intake. Doctors hopped-to and nurses scurried to prep the trauma rooms. I could only make out a few words, but it was enough to know it was a bad one.

“TOUR BUS…IMPACT….”

“MULTIPLE VICTIMS AND INJURIES”

“Icy conditions… T-boned…At least 4 incoming…”

Within minutes, the scream of the ambulance sirens filled the space, and after taking a deep breath, I prepared for the onslaught. This sort of situation could only ever be described as a whirlwind; the frantic rush of patients on stretchers, stats and orders being yelled at top volume, medical equipment blaring and beeping. I took my station, quickly and quietly punching in orders, looking up family contacts, and paging necessary personnel. An older gentleman was rushed in first, grey haired and wide awake, frantically yelling for information in a British accent and trying to insist he was fine. As requested, I paged x-ray, and was relieved to hear to hear the words “STABLE” and “NON- LIFE-THREATENING”.

The paramedics came running in with another older gentleman, bearded and restrained with a neck brace, tears streaming down his face. Words like “fractured vertebrae” and “punctured lung” passed my ears, and our orthopedic surgeon was quickly brought in to assess. I could hear his guilt soaked words as they rushed him away, the fear and anguish etched on his face.

“I’m so sorry, oh god, I didn’t mean to, they said I fell asleep, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone…” Punctuated by sobs, he just repeated these words, over and over and over.. My guess is he must have been the driver that caused the crash, and it was confirmed later on that he was career trucker, 25 years driving long hauls across state lines. Harsh deadlines, a double load of freight, and not enough caffeine had ended in disaster. My heart hurt not only for the man who’d have to live with this guilt, and the consequences of his actions, but for the people who he’d hurt. It was never, ever fair, these situations.

I steeled myself, hearing the 3 letters that brought heartache to all of us, every single time they were uttered. “D.O.A” Dead on arrival. The driver of the bus. Traumatic brain injury, I heard one doctor softly utter, and after those words I tuned out his muted voice. Often, the nitty-gritty was too much to absorb.

My focus shifted to the urgent yell of voices and the crash of the doors as the last victim of the crash was wheeled in. “26-year-old male.” “Unconscious.” “Intubation.” “PAGE DR COSETTI.” “Red Line to the OR. NOW.”

All I could make out from the man laying limp on the stretcher was a mop of beautiful bright orange curls, and a pale (…somewhat familiar looking?) face dotted with freckles. He was young, and I couldn’t allow myself to focus on his badly injured body. He was clad in pair of pajama pants and a worn white t-shirt. It had been cut open (presumably by the paramedics) for access after the accident, and I couldn’t help but take note of how colorful he was.

He was whisked through our triage area, bypassing the trauma bay altogether, his monitors blaring, and before I could form any more thoughts, the elevators that would carry him to the OR had swallowed him up.

I could only take a deep breath, and say a silent prayer.

_______________________________________________________________

Author’s Note: My job is very, very similar to what Annaliese does in this story, and that’s what led me into it. I’m really, really excited for this story, and I feel the need to point out that I began writing this story WAY before poor In Real Life Ed had his accident. I actually held off posting it because of what happened, but I’m ready to start sharing it now!! Please, PLEASE. I’m begging you guys. FEEDBACK. Anons are cool. LOL

An Ask, a message, a reblog, a comment. ALL are needed, ALL are appreciated. Even if you are mad at me.....

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

#Ed Sheeran #Ed sheeran fanfic #Ed sheeran fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #Ed and Annaliese #rehabilitation #Story #Fiction #Code Ginger #Sheerios #I PROMISE HE DOESN'T DIE #Teddy Sheeran #Teddy Sheeran fanfic #Teddy Sheeran fanfiction

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blackdogpanopticon · 4 years

Video

youtube

Oh football!

So, I realise for people who aren’t into football this will clearly be quite bookish. However, I have recently been reading “The Promised Land” by Anthony Clavane. Its basically about the history of Leeds United post World War 2 and also semi-autobiographical in respect of his life as a Jewish Leeds United fan and the city as a whole. It’s brilliant. I’ve just got to the part where the Premier League starts (1992/1993) and Leeds sell Cantona to Man United for £1.3 million; a transfer described by Clavane as “the worst transfer decision in the history of football.

This got me thinking; there is loads about football history (specifically English) that I don’t know about (obviously) purely because I either wasn’t born, I was too young to be aware of the information or that its been consigned to the annals of time because it’s considered generally too boring or not relevant to recall by fans and media outlets alike. Therefore, when I was looking for something to do last night I noticed MOTD Top 10 FA Cup moments was on BBC1; in lieu of any real football due to the COVID. Oh how I miss football...

Anyway, I thought I would give this a go because I hoped it might fill in some of my gaps in knowledge and at the very least entertain me. Oh how wrong I was. I’m being over dramatic. The goals and clips were all fabulous clearly; however between the 50 year period they seemed to cover and Alan Shearer’s dull commentary (sorry Alan, you’re a Magpie Legend/Martyr but you are extremely dull) the programme just lacked any cohesion, sense of narrative or general bite or Va Va Voom (”Thiery, woah oh!”).

Yes Ian Wrights commentary on his own career is always extremely interesting because of the character that he is and the adversity that he had to overcome; but Gary Linekar? I am sorry but it is time that smug bastard got off TV and gave some one else a go. And I am sorry, but there was literally no discussion of the on going COVID preparations for the Prem’s mooted behind closed doors return. How about discussing and commenting on this rather than relying on the fact that the presenters are using Zoom, to create any semblance of relevance to anything at the moment?

That got me thinking. With, the Bundesliga (an un-competitive league at the best of times) behind closed doors looking like a series of bad training games gone wrong, and the Championship and Prem not coming back for at least another month (?); I still need to fill my football fix. Enter the above video. I have watched Premier League Season reviews before; and they are un-ashamedly great! I think I am going to try and watch every season up till the current one when I have nothing to!

I tried to start from the first season of the Premier League 1992/1993, where Man United win the league for the first time under Fergie from the afore mentioned Leeds United; who the year before won the last season of the Old Division 1 proper in 1991/1992 with the infamous French man (his last season for the club and ironically the last time Leeds conquered the English Football Pyramid). Alas, there was no review available on YouTube (?). So I had to start here at 1993/1994.

Whilst the review is in 3 parts and its not the most exhilarating season (the commentary provided throughout does its best to reduce any excitement anyway), it’s worth a watch for some of the highlights I have detailed below! And bringing me back to my earlier point, there are loads of interesting snippets and forgotten pieces of trivia that have been lost to the football fan trivia annuls of time (or at least that a late 80′s lad such as myself won’t necessarily know anyway!). So without further a do, here are some of the more interesting highlights (and low lights!) i picked out incase you are too busy getting pissed on the semi-locked down bank holiday (!):

Part 1

The review begins with a blatant double footed tackle that would have easily been deemed a red in the modern game!

Roy Keane signing for Man United.

Old shots of Old Trafford looking tiny!

Glen Hoddle (a Chelsea Legend and eventual bigoted hate monger) becoming player manager of Spurs!

Aston Villa with an Opera Singer in the dressing as they are presumably getting ready for a match?! (Who knows?!).

Advertising boards with “Street Fighter” and “Sega” on them!

John Fasanu brazenly assaulting the Spurs captain Gary Mabbutt (breaking his face) and the English FA running an “anti-elbow” campaign!

Peter Reid being sacked as Man City Player/Manager (in his first managerial role!) after 6 days (!) and Man City fans rioting in front of Maine Road and the Rozzers turning up on horse back to control said riot! Oh English football!

The emergence of 2 icons in football; Andy Cole (who goes on to have a 41 goal season; 34 in the Prem) and Ian Wright on his way to becoming an Arsenal legend.

Part 2

Tony Adams heading it into his own net! Never gets old!

A young Alan Shearer being interviewed after a Blackburn game and still managing to bore the pants off you.

The death of Sir Matt Busby during January of 1994; the man credited for putting Man United on the map.

Various Matt Le Tissier and Ryan Giggs pingers!

Souness resigning from Liverpool with the Reds 5th in the table and 23 points off first; oh how times have changed these days!

Oldham, Sheff United and Swindon in the Premier League! Spoiler alert - it doesn’t last long.

Blackburn Rovers playing in their AC Milan-esque away kit! Classic.

Paul Ince showing his class at Man United before he goes on to betray the club.

Part 3

Peter Beardsley scoring for his beloved Newcastle. I am sorry but any time any one mentions him these days I just instantly think of Bob Mortimer’s imagined impressions of him every week on Athletico Mince. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqwLFGMHiy4

Mark Hughes scoring for Man U and being recorded in the music studio singing a Man United song I have been unable to find (?!).

Cantona being sent off twice and banned for 5 games and being criticised by Alan Hansen in the MOTD studio in his very 90′s suit.

Vinnie Jones and the crazy gang beating Man U (eventual winners) and Blackburn (2nd place and next seasons winners).

Steve Bruce leading out Man United (to defeat!) in the top of table clash vs Blackburn.

An Eric Cantona homage and montage to the tune of “Isn’t she lovely” by Stevie Wonder!! Yes this actually happens!! Big WTF from me there.

The last season of standing and terraces on the Kop at Anfield.

22 teams in the Prem.

Man U lifting the trophy and saying goodbye to Bryan Robson after 13 years.

So there you have it, if you are missing football and want to fill in some of your gaps in knowledge of the English Game/obtain a load of useless facts; season reviews are my recommendations! For now anyway!

#premier league #football #1993/1994 #covid19

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transcriptroopers · 7 years

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Is there ever a time in which a general can promote an officer with no input from the secretary of state/president/without the soldier having completed a degree/completed the usual requirements? As in, if it's the middle of a very serious war and most of the officers have been killed, and there's not a lot of time or a way to contact the government or something, can the general promote at his own discretion?

I’d like to say for the peanut gallery (not just for anon, because I’ve been wanting to make this point for a minute) that you don’t always have to default to it being a general. In fact, PLEASE don’t. Generals are boring; people choose them because they think they’re impressive, never knowing that it would be a bizarre circumstance for a general to be fighting alongside privates, so to me not only are they unimpressive but it detracts from the value of the work because you went for impact over accuracy. And anyway they’re pretty much never going to be within spitting distance of a combat zone except in very particular circumstances. Plus people think that if they go straight to the highest rank they can probably get away with doing something that shouldn’t be done, and the truth is that generals don’t often get to bend the rules like that. They get to follow the same chain of command as everyone else and they don’t really get to mess with soldiers who are under someone else’s command. I know people will scoff at me for saying, but just because you went up really high, that doesn’t mean you can freely break the rules (the big rules, anyway. They’ll break little rules. Everyone’s had “that officer,” you know, the one with the full head of hair, so voluptuous, so completely OVER his ears, but you had a single hair touch your ear you filthy peasant so you better get a hair cut this instant) and if you are using a general just to break the rules, then what am I supposed to tell you other than “this would never happen but if you really want it to it’s your story?”AnywaySay it with me, Script Recruits: “Generals are generally boring.”So, regular battlefield promotions are still a thing from what I understand. They’re incredibly uncommon these days -- the number I saw for last year's promotions was like, twenty-some soldiers total, and they lose the promotion if they don’t complete the appropriate courses in the allotted time -- and I’m under the impression that you can only battlefield promote up to E-6, or staff sergeant, and it has to be done by that unit’s commander. Specifically, in the company level, they can be battlefield promoted only by their company commander, an O-3 captain. I presume that in a combat zone where the company’s commander is missing or dead, they could either be promoted by their company XO (who would be acting commander) or maybe by their battalion commander, but if the company commander’s not there I’d have a hard time believing the battalion commander is.A side note: Yeah, in combat if units get fucked up and scrambled up, then officers and NCOs might rally up whoever they can regardless of unit, but it’s to ensure survival due to a drastic circumstance. Even if you had say, a major tagging along with a bunch of privates and one corporal, and the major treats and assigns the corporal tasks that would be befitting of an NCO, they still can’t just randomly promote the corporal if they aren’t in the same chain of command. One can fulfill a task above their paygrade without being that paygrade. Now, you’re asking about battlefield COMMISSIONS, specifically giving a soldier a commission (making them an officer) and that’s a completely different animal. I don’t believe we’ve had a battlefield commission since the Vietnam War because we haven’t had a body count in a war that high since then. I believe the practice is actually discouraged now, more so than a regular battlefield promotion.So if your story is set in modern times, it’s highly unlikely, but if the death count is something extreme like tens of thousands, then yeah it’s reasonable that a soldier might see a battlefield commission for exemplary service. And I do mean exemplary, preferably in combat, and preferably from an NCO, because obviously if the combat officers are dying then you need an officer who’s excels in combat; not some Joe Schmoe who was around when they needed numbers. NCOs at least have some authority and knowledge of being leaders and have proven their worth. NCOs are basically already officers by definition anyway: non-commissioned officers. It’s sensible for them to be given more power in a time when commissioned officers aren’t around, even if they aren’t promoted for it. Remember what I said? You can perform the task of a paygrade without being that paygrade? If an NCO is in a situation in which they have to act as an officer, then they do it with or without a promotion. Soldiers do what accomplishes the mission. If there is a commission, they would be promoted to second lieutenant, an O-1, the lowest officer rank, regardless of how high their rank was as an NCO, and it would again need to be done by an officer in their immediate chain of command, which for posterity probably won’t be a general.Typically these promotions will be due to dire need and not sheerly for convenience. Because, you know? How many times has this happened to you?Some Fobbit: Sir, I can’t do the task you gave me because I’m not an officer.General Gandalf, probably: Well, you are now. Congratulations, Lieutenant...erm...whatever your name was.

The answer is never.I don’t know for sure whether the rank is permanent. I know sometimes battlefield promotions are withdrawn after the crisis, especially if the soldier who was promoted doesn’t qualify for that rank, but I don’t know the exact circumstances of it staying/going.

-Kingsley

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#military advice #writing advice #army #generals #battlefield promotions #battlefield commissions #officers #ranks #Anonymous

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parachronismx · 7 years

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Advertisement done WRONG. Memes are great. Here's some .edu Info from 2007 On theories of media: The University of Chicago :: Theories of Media :: Keywords Glossary :: meme Works Cited 1. McGrath, Alister. 2005. Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. 2. “Meme.” Draft revision June 2001. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/ 00305506? 3. Dawkins, Richard. 1976. (1989 edition copyright Richard Dawkins.) The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press. 4. Dawkins, Richard. “Viruses of the Mind.” 1991. http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi /Dawkins/viruses-of-the-mind.html 5. Leiber, Fritz. "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee." The Best of Fritz Leiber. Sidgewick & Jackson, 1974. 6. Mitchell, W.J.T. 2003. “The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.” Modernism/modernity. Vol. 10, no. 3. pp. 481-500. Johns Hopkins University Press. 7. Blackmore, Susan. Preface by Richard Dawkins. 1999. The Meme Machine. New York: Oxford University Press. Notes meme The concept of a reproducible element of culture has deep roots, and the transliteration of a word for it from a Greek root seems to have occurred on multiple independent occasions. Donald T. Campbell introduced the term “mnemone” for such an element in 1960. [1] Still, the word “meme” entered common usage only recently, with Richard Dawkins’ treatment of the word, and did not appear in the 1989 Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. The online OED defines a meme as “A cultural element or behavioural trait whose transmission and consequent persistence in a population, although occurring by non-genetic means (esp. imitation), is considered as analogous to the inheritance of a gene.” [2] This entry tracks the word only as far back as Dawkins and The Selfish Gene in 1976. In this book, Dawkins himself claims to invent the word and dictate its use and pronunciation. His etymology of the word comes not from the same Greek root as Mnemosyne, the embodiment of memory and mother of the muses, but from “mimeme,” or something that is imitated. [3] “We need a name for the new replicator, a noun which conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme... It should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘cream’. Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.” [3] Dawkins would subsequently become indelibly associated with the meme, and his opinions and statements on the state of the theory would be used by many as the most important gauge of the theory’s health. Nevertheless, memetics does not begin and end with him. The need of a word for the meme existed before The Selfish Gene and has only increased since. For the whole history of human culture, traditions have been inherited and thought has been given to how they may be faithfully inherited and how they can change. Efficient, prolific, and faithful means of mechanical reproduction created an environment where culture could behave much like a gene pool and abstract cultural elements could be more easily personified. Currently, the need for a vocabulary to discuss memetics partially owes to the fields of cybernetics and “biocybernetics,” which study the mingling of life and artifice on a broader scale and could be said to encompass memetics. W.J.T. Mitchell’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction” characterizes the emerging cybernetic sphere in a way that not only allows for the inclusion of memetics, but strongly implies it: “within the very heart of the cybernetic the bios rears its head in very concrete forms – most conspicuously in the computational virus, but also in subtler forms… It’s not simply that living things become more like machines, but that machines now more than ever behave like living things.” [6] The analysis of non-living and culture-based phenomena in biological terms is a practice that goes beyond memetics, and a media student may do well to find connections between purely informational and material cybernetics. Because the analogy with the gene is part of the definition of the meme, it is presumable that, just as a creature has no control over its own genome, and just as a prospective parent may not be aware of the genetic disorders being passed to the child, memes can be given and received involuntarily. Dawkins notes in “Viruses of the Mind” that hardly anyone consciously admits to being affected by an advertisement, but businesses continue to invest in advertising and continue to observe its desired effects taking place. [4] Of course not everything transmitted through a medium is consciously received; more interesting to the media student is the possibility of a completely unconscious sending of a meme through a medium. Although it is only implied in The Selfish Gene, Dawkins would later expressly characterize some pieces of self-replicating memetic information as “Viruses of the Mind” in his controversial essay of the same name. [3] By doing so, he connects memetics to the ancient motif of harmful sensation. Harmful sensations, both real and imagined, are diverse in the means by which they cause harm but united in their phobic message that curiosity can be taken to excess and that the prospective targets of media are lucky to be ignorant. Memes notwithstanding, harmful sensations either cause direct harm with their medium rather than its independent message, (such as a mythical killing gaze or David Cronenberg’s Videodrome signal,) or else they carry messages that are harmful for the states of mind they induce or the terrible truths they reveal (such as the fruit of Genesis or H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu mythos”). In either case, the message is either an inconsequential decoration of the medium or a lifeless weapon to be exploited by others. However, if a sensation is harmful because it carries a virulent meme, then the message becomes a personified enemy and the medium becomes a non-essential, replaceable weapon. The prospect of a cultural virus is even more terrifying than the simple killing gaze of a gorgon or basilisk, because overly fatal units of information would limit their own ability to spread. The most frightening meme, like the deadliest virus, gives the host time to infect others. From this perspective, exposure to media can become a threat to the integrity of the self or destroy the feeble boundaries of the self entirely. Also, the reversal of importance in the medium-message relationship and the personification of the message create concerns in the areas of ethics, authorship, and intellectual property. Words like “culprit,” “aggressor,” “author,” and even “victim” struggle to keep their meanings when malicious information is perceived as evolving and self-disseminating. The study of self-replicating pieces of information is divided among the triad of genetics, computer science, and cultural studies. Parallels have been drawn between each pair, though all three are not completely alike. In “Viruses of the Mind,” Dawkins sets cultural and digital media together as he compares faiths and other virulent memes to computer viruses. “Any cynic familiar with the theory of selfish genes and memes would have known that modern personal computers, with their promiscuous traffic of floppy discs and e-mail links, were just asking for trouble. The only surprising thing about the current epidemic of computer viruses is that it has been so long in coming.” [4] From the perspective of media studies, it is worth observing that treatments of memetics often assume that memes are medium-neutral. Perhaps deceptively, it stands to reason that an ideology read from a book can be the same meme as an ideology passed on orally or spread through comic-book tracts [http://www.chick.com]. The perception that “self-interested” units of culture can wind through any media to find their hosts openly defies the appeals to medium specificity made by media theorists such as Clement Greenberg. To extend the comparison with genetics, media would be the sex organs by which memes are propagated to bury their seed in new minds. Even so, memes can clearly influence the way individuals relate to media, just as genes determine the traits of a creature’s sex organs. An alternative, somewhat conflicting way to compare memes with their media is to imagine media as the ever-changing environments in which memes compete for the means they need to survive and reproduce. Are memes at an evolutionary disadvantage when they switch media, as the proponents of medium specificity would predict, or might they grow out of control like a foreign species in a new ecological environment? Memes are often thought of as dependent on verbal media for propagation, or at least as dependent on interpersonal experience that includes articulated information. To complicate the matter, completely nonverbal or inarticulable memes are likely much more difficult to track. However, speculation exists on the subject, such as Fritz Leiber’s short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH- Tee" about a cadence coupled with an image that are so “catchy” or memetically fit that they spread across the human population and severely hamper humanity’s ability to do anything but reproduce them.[5] It may even be even possible for a meme to transcend the rift between word and image, conveying its memetic material on a frightening variety of fronts. Some empirically minded or reactionary followers of media studies ask whether memes can be said to exist at all, and the multitude of manners and moods in which the word is used brings its practicality into question. Alister McGrath argues that “Dawkins talking about memes is like believers talking about God – an invisible, unverifiable postulate, which helps explain some things about experience, but ultimately lies beyond material investigation.” [1] Even the postulate, he argues, is vague and unnecessary compared to the foundationally solid and scientific theory of the gene to which the meme’s definition is bound. He says that “perhaps the most significant criticism of the ‘meme’ concept is that the study of cultural and intellectual development proceeds perfectly well without it. Economic and physical models – especially information transfer – have proved their worth in this context.” [1] Upon merely mentioning the meme as a unit or entity, the cultural or media theorist has to defend against criticisms and alternate models such as these. Another concern about memetics is that the inheritance of memes seems to be “Lamarckian,” meaning that changes acquired during the lifetime of a meme are inherited by its progeny. This model of evolution, named after Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, has long been widely dismissed as a terrible model of biological evolution, and some definitions of “evolution” specifically include the presence of a non-Lamarckian environment. [7] The observation that memes change their hosts’ experiences endangers the very definition of the meme, if we use the Oxford definition that includes analogy to biological evolution. Whether memes can truly involve in a Lamarckian environment, and even whether memes always follow the Lamarckian pattern, remains in question. The fidelity of media is another issue in memetics, because the question of identity between memes is not as clear-cut as that of identity between genes. Dawkins himself admits that the meme cannot be currently located or isolated, and this makes the distinction between memes somewhat slippery and unscientific: “Another objection is that we don’t know what memes are made of, or where they reside. Memes have not yet found their Watson and Crick; they even lack their Mendel.” [7] Susan Blackmore puts it more elegantly, “Is Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony a meme, or only the first four notes?” [7] Can two memes propagated through different media be identical? What separates a “mutated” meme from an entirely different meme? Could one ever decode a complete human memome? Genes are, so to speak, digital, while culture is the intangible analog that instills the genetic frame with infinite individuality. As a word with a specific, recorded, recent origin, it is simpler to trace the totality of attitudes and analyses of “meme” than much of the vocabulary of media studies. The general question that encompasses the debate and criticism around the word is not “What should its meaning be?” but rather “Can the theory behind this word fruitfully describe the real behavior of culture?” Compared to most areas of media theory, memetics remains in a crisis that is unusually immediate, strongly linked to the empirical sciences, and potentially terminal. Bill Volk Winter 2007 The University of Chicago :: Theories of Media :: Keywords Glossary :: meme http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/meme.htm

#memes #history of memes

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