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prorevenge · 5 years

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You try to cut my team in half so I outsourced your entire department.

This tale takes place over the course of many months and resulted in over 150 lay offs, all to save 22 IT Techs from losing their jobs.

I learned a long time ago that no one cares about the IT team at our company. They see us as "Those useless employees always complaining about rules."

We are a mortgage company, and those rules are the rules everyone follows to protect customer data privacy and to prevent theft. When your company suddenly loses 2 full payments for a house to some scammer in Nigeria and the FTC has questions for you, then it is time to change your policies.

This meant cutting legacy access, revoking unnecessary access, and correctly coding job titles in active directory to prevent people from granting their own access.

What this boiled down to was a meeting that I phoned into a year ago. This was one of those meetings where I did not need to be there. Budget meetings.

In this meeting the VP over the accounting department played a recording showing times when someone in the IT Tech team provided "sup par service." She tried using this as reason to fire half of the tech team.

The trouble was, that all of the people she played recordings of were already fired for giving terrible customer service. These people were replaced by 5 star techs who know what they are doing and give excellent customer service.

This started the whole chain of events that led to last week.

Since this meeting was every 2 months, VP has tried to use her position and influence to grow her team while shrinking ours.

Every budget meeting, I would show up and VP, who shall hence be referred to as Karen, would target my team. I would pull out the numbers, and pull out the logs showing how my team received a little over 3/4s of that team's call volume.

I show how my team of 22 techs personally receive more phone calls than every other inbound call employee by more than double the number.

I show how with the call volume we receive we still maintain a 98 percent satisfaction rating.

At the 3rd budget meeting the COO had been tired of "hearing the same excuses" and wanted hard data. He had a point. I was merely throwing out basic numbers without providing real data.

Our company was in the middle of a budget crisis and someone needed to be cut. These budget meetings were basically a way to defend our own department from the chopping block. Karen believed that the best defense was a good offence. She was right, but not in the way she thought.

When it became clear that the IT support team was on the chopping block, Karen starts to have her employees call into the tech center and have them make requests that she knows we can not assist with as that is handled by another company entirely. We are not able to transfer calls to an external line so the only thing we can do is give the number to call and hang up.

The negative CSAT's start to flood in after this. Every single call from that team regarding a vendor's password reset gets a negative csat. Our approval rating tanked to 72 percent in one day. I instantly took action.

First I contact a few of the users, on recorded calls, and ask them why they called the IT Tech team when they know we are not capable of resetting the vendor's password. She replied that she was told it was policy to do that now. I asked why she left a negative satisfaction rating and she said that those no longer count against the employee. That those are only used for macro metrics.

I walked over to Karen's office and walked in. "Karen, why are you having your team call mine to reset vendor's password?" Karen looked confused and stated that she did no such thing. She said she would talk to her team and make sure that they call the correct number in the future.

The calls did not stop. Now a few of her team were calling in with personal machines that were not an asset of our company. They were wanting things done which would violate license agreements with microsoft or dell. Each of these were refused and each of these were leaving negative CSAT.

It became clear that Karen was trying to tank our stats before the next budget meeting.

I let my boss know and he just gives me a sly smile. "The leash is off. Sick her." This is an inside joke between us as I am someone who is very detail oriented when I am focused. When you try and get my team fired because you want to grow your useless team, I am very focused on you now.

The first thing I do is enable call recording for every corporate employee as to not arouse her suspicions. Her team did not have call recording enabled because her team "handles CDP" on a daily basis.

I pull a live call and listen in.

"This is Employee with our company may I have your account number or your name?" The customer gives the name. "OK I have your account pulled up, are you wanting to make a payment?" Customer says yes. "Are you authorizing me to go ahead and make the withdraw from the bank account we have on file?" Customer agrees. "OK payment is processing. You will be notified in X days when it is complete. Your next due date is this date." The customer thanks her and he hangs up.

Entire phone call was 1:22. Short phone call so I listen to another. Similar situation. I listen to another and get the same thing. I start seeing a pattern here so I go through the rapidly building log and see that all of the phone calls are usually less than 1 minute and 20 seconds long. It takes well over an hour before an anomaly occurs and I see a 5 minute phone call.

The customer needed an extension and the employee was authorized to give her a 30 day extension to avoid a late fee if she would make a double payment next month. The person on the phone agreed.

At this point I also turn on the CSAT for her team only. I expected a largely similar rating as my team. I was not prepared for the nearly instant 50 percent rating that steadily dropped.

My boss comes over to my desk as he was getting the email notifications for the sub 75 percent csat rating and was flabbergasted at the sheer volume of negative reports.

Its now clear that there is no choice but to examine this further. I assign 4 people to review the negative calls from the other team and have them all. The amount of employees being downright rude to customers, not other employees but paying customers, over the phone was shocking. The negative tones in their voice, the unwillingness to fully answer questions, the extreme lack of empathy, and the shocking lack of mute button use was too much.

Then came another shocker. The number of customer facing employees was ridiculous. 152 employees to handle roughly 30 percent more calls than my team of 22.

I call the CIO.

$CIO - What you got for me?

$ME - I have something for you. Its incredibly evil, depressingly accurate, and can probably save the company a ridiculous amount of money.

$CIO - You know this is the second time you have said those exact words to me right?

$ME - Yup. But there is something I need to know first. I am not currently authorized to know it and I need to request it in a way that would not set off any red flags.

$CIO - What is that?

$ME - The starting pay scale for all account employees.

$CIO - Tell me your plan.

The next budget meeting was not a budget meeting. It was a IT Tech defend yourself meeting. The COO directed it and let Karen speak first.

Karen pulled out the same stuff as before. Calls upon calls to our group that were cherry picked as well as listing off dead zone times when we had people working but no one calling in. Then went on about how they could cut our group in half and hire more Account employees to reduce the workflow.

Instead of defending myself or my department, I played 4 of the short call recordings from Karen's department. I then pulled up the excel sheet that was color coded showing how many phone calls each account rep received and the length of time they were on. each call, and the customer satisfaction rating.

I explained the lack of high csat with my own little recording I liked to call a failtage. Its a montage of fail and her team were the stars. Before you ask, I did put music to it.

The recording starts off with an employee saying. "Yeah I guess I can take your payment." Then goes straight into one where a customer accidentally gave the wrong bank account info and said don't use that one. The rep responded with "Christ. What is the actual account number?" It only got worse from there.

This group was unmanaged for so long they were filled with rude and useless employees.

I then showed them a side by side comparison of each tech who received a call. I showed how my techs were receiving more than 4 times the number of calls, per rep, than her team was getting per day. I showed how we all were on the phone for well over 7 times the amount of time her team was on the phone for, and I demonstrated how each tech had double or tripple the satisfaction rating over all of her group.

Half the room that was uninterested in the conversation were suddenly interested when I closed out my presentation.

"In short, I saw no reason to defend the IT team today as I have successfully done so in every prior meeting. Since the last meeting, however, Karen has crossed the line and has had her team call mine in regards to things we have no access to."

I played the recording of me calling her minion. "As you can see here, she directed her team to call mine and to leave bad satisfaction ratings on my guys because of it. I have since deleted those CSAT's as they served no purpose whatsoever. " I then pulled out my next flowchart.

"This is the monthly expense, taken from the last 9 meetings, that our company spends on IT and Servicing departments." I look at the COO who was looking at me intently. "Before today I was on the defensive as I saw no reason to attack another group. But it is clear to me now that my team has a target on its back. That is why I now show you this."

It was a graph showing the starting pay scale for each IT and Servicing employee code as well as their average daily workflow. There was one glaring anomaly on this list. Account department had the highest starting pay scale with the least amount of work.

"So basically in laymen's terms, the Account department can reduced to one tenth of its current size, and we can reduce the pay scale to a little over one half as this department requires very little in the way of problem solving and critical thinking." I saw a few raised eye brows as well as one impressed smile from the CIO.

The COO ushers everyone out of the room except for me, my direct supervisor, and the CIO. He looked at me and said "Continue."

"Further, we can cut this department entirely and outsource THEM instead of IT. Since this group merely takes payments and sometimes allows extensions, we do not have to worry too much about technical ability. Outside of simply using windows we can hire high schoolers if we wanted to." This got a laugh from the CIO. Karen was staring through the window with this smug grin on her face the entire time.

"Now for my final bit for this meeting, I am going to play two cherry picked phone calls. These are the two most technical phone calls I could find from the last month for both departments."

I play a call where a payment fails to process and the rep realizes she typed in the wrong number.

I then play a call where it starts out with a user stating that her customer submitted a payment to the wrong CD. The tech breaks out into our procedure to prevent wire fraud. Thanks to the quick action of this tech we were able to reverse the CD and save this customer from losing their down payment.

The final masterful stroke was playing my final card. "As you all know, Karen has been coming after my team for months. She has been grinding her axe against us because she, like everyone else, has made the mistake that we are incompetent, inept, and useless to the company. What she did not know was that I have all of the logs showing the truth. The smoke she has been blowing for years is so thick that its ridiculous. Her team is highly replaceable and we both know my team would require extensive training and effort to replace."

The CIO spoke up. "With just 30 people, we can outsource her entire department and save the company millions a year. The next time we have a major IT issue, you will be regretting outsourcing us." He then pointed to the graphs and flow charts brought by both myself and Karen. "Her team is useless."

The next day I watched in pure joy as a term request came in for Karen. It came in with the double ** indicator at the beginning meaning this was a stealth term. To be done and coordinated with the person who will inform her of the termination. (Its not actually ** I changed that for here to protect identities.)

Over the next two months, the account team was shuttered. First they came for anyone with disciplinary issues or attendance issues. Then they laid off anyone who had been there a really long time. Then the newest employees.

The smart ones applied for other positions in the company or left before getting laid off. All the while the calls for payments were slowly shunted to the call center in India.

By the end of last week we only have 4 domestic accounts people who take escalations that the India call center is not authorized to take.

Do I feel guilty about being integral for 148 people being laid off? Yes quite. But I know it was necessary to keep my job and my health insurance. Without my health insurance I am a dead man.

The entire reason why this happened though, was because a division was slated to be cut and sent to India from the outset. Thanks to the actions of myself and my direct supervisor, we prevented it from being a sure thing that our team was going to get cut.

On top of that we cut out a festering wound in the company that was slowing it down and costing it money.

My team has not been brought up in the budgetary meetings since.

(source) story by (/u/TheLightningCount1)

#prorevenge #by /u/TheLightningCount1 #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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quakerjoe · 5 years

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For anyone who doesn’t have the time or inclination to read the “Mueller report”...

I noted some highlights from Volume I that you can read in 5 minutes. I couldn’t help myself. 😆

*”The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”

*The counter-intelligence investigation was opened because Papadopolous told a foreign diplomat that the Russian government could assist Trump by releasing damaging info on Clinton.

*The Trump campaign “welcomed the potential damage” resulting from Russia’s “information warfare” and “active measures.”

*The IRA (Internet Research Agency), based in Russia and funded by “Putin’s Chef” Yevgeniy Prigozhin, launched an information warfare campaign to undermine the US electoral system.

*Trump, his sons, and many of his minions like Flynn and Kellyanne Conway promoted Russian generated content alleging voter fraud and other Russian propaganda lies.

*An estimated 126 million people saw posts made by the Russians to influence the election.

*The Russians “organized and promoted” dozens of “political rallies inside the US while posing as US grassroots activists,” going so far as to communicate with Trump campaign members to help coordinate the rallies.

*The Russian military hacked the computers and email accounts of hundreds of Clinton campaign employees, advisors, and volunteers, the DNC and the DCCC, releasing documents timed to interfere with the election. They implanted malware on their networks. GRU officers captured their passwords, banking information, sensitive personal information, internal communications, etc.

*GRU military units targeted military, political, governmental, and non-governmental entities in the US.

*Russian military GRU officers targeted and hacked computers belonging to US state and local entities, Secretaries of State, state boards of elections, county governments, and private technology firms that manufacture and administer “election-related hardware and software, such as voter registration software and electronic polling stations. The GRU continued to target these victims through the elections in November 2016.”

*In just one example, the GRU gained access to info on “millions of registered Illinois voters.”

*Russian government officials and prominent businessmen made a concerted effort during the campaign and post-election transition period to make inroads into the Trump camp.

*Trump fired Comey and freaked when the Special Counsel was appointed, saying it was the end of his presidency. He tried repeatedly to get Sessions to “unrecuse” and to curtail the investigation.

*Trump’s cohorts lied to Congress and the SCO, destroyed evidence, and in some cases refused to be interviewed to avoid accountability.

*Amidst many redacted paragraphs, a few words indicate that while Trump and Gates were driving to La Guardia, Trump told Gates that more releases of Clinton emails were forthcoming.

*Trump continued to express frustration that the Clinton emails had not been found. The Trump Campaign planned an entire strategy around their release by WikiLeaks.

*Harm to Ongoing Matter* Looks like Corsi is in very hot “ongoing matter” water, which is redacted. Unless Barr can still save him.

*Podesta e-mails stolen by the GRU are released by WikiLeaks less than an hour after we all watch the video of Trump say disgusting things about women - “I moved on her like a bitch” and if you’re a star you can do anything you want like “grab them by the p*ssy.”

*Trump Jr “colluded” with WikiLeaks by messaging with them and tweeting links they requested he share. However, they did not conclude it was a “coordinated effort” with Russia to disseminate the e-mails.

*Trump repeatedly asked people affiliated with his campaign to find the “deleted Clinton emails.” Flynn took it to heart and sent people looking, like Peter Smith, the man whose suicide note read “NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER.” Smith claimed he was in contact with Russian hackers and was coordinating his efforts with Trump campaign members Flynn, Sam Clovis, Bannon, and Kellyanne Conway. The SCO could only verify he communicated with Flynn and Clovis for certain.

*Again, because it’s so much worse than Watergate because it involves a hostile foreign adversary directing a concerted attack on our country, TRUMP DIRECTED his campaign people to find the emails he assumed to have been hacked by the Russian military so he could use them to harm his political rival.

*There are a gazillion (by my count, only 101 per Business Insider) “links” between the Trump campaign and those with ties to the Russian government, but the Office could not prove with the info available to them that it rose to the level of a chargeable criminal conspiracy. Again - none of the players “remember” or “recall” anything damning, or they refused to be interviewed or destroyed evidence. This is an incredibly high bar of proof for a narrowly defined crime, so carry on being traitors.

*Trump Jr. seeks documents and info to incriminate Clinton via Goldstone, who says the Crown Prosecutor of Russia is offering them, prompting the “Trump Tower Meeting.”

*On page 187 there’s a paragraph that I find pretty gross. They are letting the Trump Tower meeting participants like Jr. (who refused to be interviewed) and Kushner off in part because they may have been ignorant of campaign finance law. Also, they can’t prove how much the damaging info the Russians claimed to have was worth monetarily, so they get another pass. President Trump and Jr. went to great lengths to cover up this meeting, which any reasonable observer knows is because they KNEW it was ethically wrong, and that it might also be illegal.

*Trump’s written answers to Mueller’s questions state he doesn’t remember if he was involved with changing the RNC’s platform stance on armed support for Ukraine.

*Manafort had Gates give Kilimnik (ties to Russian Intelligence) Trump Campaign updates and polling data, which per Manafort’s own attorney’s admission in Manafort’s trial was “very detailed” and “focused.” Many of Manafort’s shady dealings were covered up by using encrypted applications.

*Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs fully intended to use Manafort to get Trump to support their plan to control eastern Ukraine.

*Pages and pages of shady stuff about Russians, Erik Prince, Nader, the UAE, a chess tournament, the Seychelles, Libya, etc.

*Bannon and Prince’s phones had no text messages on them prior to March 2017, and neither one of them knows why. What a mystery. Provider records show they exchanged dozens of messages.

*Kushner asks Kislyak if they can communicate “using secure facilities at the Russian Embassy” so that, per Kislyak’s suggestion, Russian generals can talk to the Trump transition team to brief them on Syria. Kislyak says no to the Russian Embassy idea.

*Kushner meets with Gorkov, the head of the Russian-government-owned and US sanctioned VEB bank. Kushner says the meeting was “diplomatic.” VEB bank’s public statement says they met to discuss “business.” Mueller here reminds us that Kushner was about to owe a ton of money on 666 5th Ave.

*The Trump Transition team attempted to undermine the Obama administration regarding a United Nations resolution calling for Israel to “cease settlement activities in Palestinian territory.” There was media speculation that the US would not oppose it. Multiple Trump team members, including Michael Flynn and President-elect Trump, communicated with foreign governments such as Russia and Egypt to undermine or delay the resolution, and thereby the current US administration. It passed 14-0 with the US abstaining.

*In sum, despite all the many contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians, the Trump campaign was receptive to their offers of help only sometimes and it did not rise to the level of conspiring with the Russian government’s election interference campaign. It would be difficult to prove they “willfully violated the law.” Their actions may not be sufficient to sustain criminal charges under FARA or criminal conspiracy law, but several of them blatantly lied and obstructed justice anyway and were charged accordingly, like Papadopolous and Flynn.

*Insufficient evidence to charge Jeff Sessions with perjury because his cagey answers and faulty memories (colloquially known as “lies”) were plausible in the context of the questions.

*Some other characters not charged with perjury/making false statements because of evidentiary hurdles to prove falsity, others because the witnesses were ultimately truthful, and others because of “considerations of culpability, deterrence, and resource-preservation.”

- Elizabeth Renfrow Madison

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adorkablegrrl-blog1 · 6 years

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Regarding Andrew Blake

So I deleted my last post because it was truly a TL;DR word vomit that made me, personally, seem incredibly manic and disorganized. I was pissed when I was writing it, because I keep seeing AB’s stan, Chris, making comments calling my best friend’s honesty and integrity into question. And, while I feel like everyone in the “Andy Awareness” biosphere has been doing a good job of calling that nonsense out for what it is (thank you @theteablogger, thank you @kumquatwriter, thank you @returnofthenecromommycon) seeing Molly and/or Chris and/or any of our friends who interacted with AB dragged in any capacity makes me feel quite stabby. It’s probably the pregnancy hormones that have exacerbated it to the word vomit state... I blame everything on pregnancy hormones right now. As is fair. I am growing a human.

I have pretty much said what I needed/wanted to say about the chronology and facts of what happened with Andy in LA here, so I’m not going to rehash the entire timeline. Besides it’s not my story to tell, really. It’s Molly’s. And, she’s doing a fine job of doing just that. And, I have been assured by her that she is not afraid of or worried about being dragged by either AB or his minions. (I still worry, but I will take her word at that and try to not go Mama Bear on people talking shit about her unless she asks me to.)

That being said, as a witness to these events, there are a couple of important things I feel like I want to share. These are conclusions I came to after spending an ungodly amount of time going down the Andrew Blake rabbit hole this past weekend to try to wrap my mind around the largeness of this mindfuck of a story which is his life.

#1: Andy has all the hallmarks of an addict -- in so much as he “lies, cries, and denies.” He lies about his past and present circumstances. He cries/deflects/minimizes to make it seem like he’s a victim of gossip and mean-spirited people projecting their own personal problems/experiences onto his behavior, and when confronted with the truth he denies that he has done either of the previous two actions. He also claims frequently to be reformed with no tangible evidence that he actually is (further signs of an active addict.)

I have intimate experience with addicts. Both those who are active in their addiction and those who are in successful recovery. And, I am here to tell you -- that the number one bedrock, hallmark, tenant of recovery is accountability. You have to be completely transparent about your life, where you are at, your past mistakes, and your present struggles. If you are lying about ANY of this, you are not a recovering addict. If you are minimizing your behavior (past/present) you are not a recovering addict. If you are deflecting responsibility for what you do and have done onto other people... you are not a recovering addict. Andrew Blake is not out of fandom. He is not done with leading cults. He is not done using people for money, connections, concrete daily needs for living. This has been clearly demonstrated by not only how he behaved in the past, but how he behaved with us before we even KNEW his past. And, this behavior was enough to set me on edge (and I only met him IRL twice) and set at least 8 other people outside myself, Molly, and Chris on edge. We were all creeped out by him, none of us wanted him around... Here is a brief list of 5 major things he lied to me directly about: 1. He said he’d never been to LA before and acted shocked at how expensive living here was.

2. He said he was working “in-house” for the summer for an established costumer who was working on a “big” project. For those not familiar with the industry, that implies he was working in a more permanent capacity, for a film or television production -OR- that he was a staff member at one of LA’s various large costume production houses. That was not the case, he was doing piece work on an “as needed” basis and that alone was not foundation enough to warrant moving to LA for. (Nor was it lined up before he got to LA, to my understanding.)

3. He said he was staying the whole summer with Molly and Chris. Which was not true. As Molly told me, after I questioned her as to why she’d let someone live rent free for three months, that she had agreed to let him stay a week in exchange for a costume commission.

4. He said he had more costuming experience than he did. And, in fact, pointed me to an IMDB page for a different Andrew Blake who is an established costume designer in the UK. (And, my fault lies in believing this, as I didn’t do more than just look briefly at the page and go “oh cool, he has an IMDB page and some experience, he might be good to recommend to [name redacted] as a second assistant or something.” Had I looked more in-depth I would have realized his lie IMMEDIATELY and brought it to Molly’s attention.)

5. He told me he was 23. I believed him. He told me he was a cis-gendered man who was born a cis-gendered man. I believed him. He has a young face. I do not question people’s gender... though it gave me great pause to find out that he was transgender, presenting as cis, making transphobic and homophobic comments to my good friends. And, when confronted with those lies, he has either said “oh no, no- you misunderstood me, that’s not what I said, that’s not what I meant” (gaslighting 101) or directed his minions/stans to try to discredit those confronting him with his lies. This is addict behavior 101.

#2 He is SO not out of fandom...

Of course he knew who the Because Science guy was when questioning my friend C about her boyfriend (the Because Science guy.) Of course he pushed Molly to introduce him to the Critical Role cast (including that RIDICULOUS menu he suggested for a dinner party... hamsters and peacocks? JFC.) Of course when he found out that both Molly and I ran close with the Geek & Sundry crowd (Molly still does, I do not convention or comic con or podcast anymore due to stuff) and that we know Wil Wheaton and Stan Lee (frankly, who doesn’t?) he pushed us to make introductions. BECAUSE HE’S NOT OUT OF FANDOM.

It was suggested by one of his stans that he wanted to make those connections because it would bring him costuming work. Um. No. Celebrities have ZERO, zilch, nada, niente, nothing to do with hiring staff at the level Andrew was/is at. Knowing celebrities is only good for two things: 1. Getting into parties, B. Stroking your own ego and sense of self-importance in a very impersonal and tough industry. And, sometimes actual friendship, but rarely. Also one rule those of us who know and/or are friends with famous people follow is that we don’t introduce randos to them, no matter how big a fan, how well intentioned we believe them to be. And, given the stalky-stalk-mcstalkerson-from stalksylvania-ness of AB’s LoTR and SPN fandom scams (and, possibly a Bucky Barnes/Avengers scam? I am unclear how close he did or did not get to Sebastian Stan) -- it’s as obvious as the nose on my face why he actually wanted those introductions. And, that is not only creepy AF, but it is calculated and not at all about getting costuming work.

#3 He’s NOT DONE with being a cult leader...

Like I said up top (I know, this one is TL;DR, too... Sorry, I have things to say) I went down the Andy Blake rabbit hole this weekend and read as much of the information out there about supernova shitstorm of a life he leads that I could before my head exploded. That includes the incredibly trainwreck-y book that was written about the LoTR scam; Abbey and Diamond’s accounts of their time with them (which ripped my heart out, I cannot even,) and the horrifying account of AB’s involvement in and exacerbation of the circumstances/climate which lead to Brittney’s murder (which is ghastly.)

What I noticed about all these circumstances was a pattern. Specifically, a pattern about how Andy interacts with couples. He finds someone who is kind and has empathy and other good attributes who shares a geeky aspect with him; he engenders himself to them and lovebombs them and disorients them and ingratiates himself into their social circle; he then moves into this person’s real life space; he creates conflict and friction between the person and their significant other or friends, thusly isolating them, making it into a “them against us” situation; and, finally he maneuvers into that that person of importance’s place in his target’s life. He then builds an insular group of people around them who share the “them against us” mentality. And, then the real fuckery begins...

He clearly did this with Abbey, he clearly did this with Brittney, he seems to being doing this with his Chief Stan... and, based on the behavior I observed, he was trying to do that with Molly AND if he hadn’t succeeded he had already decided he was going to move in on the relationship of another couple within our social circle.

This is horrifying to me to consider. Though I am proud of Molly and Chris that they recognized what was going on (before they were told about AB’s actual past and before they realized the scope of his lies.) But, it garners the thought of “what would have happened had he succeeded?” Was he trying to install himself into the LA cosplay scene and create a new cult around some fandom or another? I think he was. He surely targeted the group who he thought most likely to accept or tolerate his nonsense. He didn’t count on the fact that we’re all really close, already, and we are also adults who are pretty established in LA, in our careers, and in “the scene” and we’ve seen enough of this kind of bullshit before (though not on such an epic scale) to immediately throw up red flags when a pattern begins to appear. Where would his manipulations have led had he been successful? I don’t care to speculate other than saying it would not have been good. Which leads me to my conclusion:

#4 Andrew Blake is still dangerous....

This might seem like a given. In fact, it is a fact. And, though I honestly wish nothing more than he actually was being sincere about his desire to reform his life and start fresh, his behavior -- even in this narrow two week span of time -- belies his actual intentions. Is his pathology a sickness or is it deliberate? I don’t know how to tell. As someone with mental illness issues, I resent him blaming his bad behavior on mental illness, so I don’t think that’s true. Is it possible he is a sociopath or has a BPD that he cannot control? Maybe? But, then again, much of what he has done in the past and present show a particular cold calculation designed to best manipulate emotions and behavior of others. Some are pathetic and transparent (like The Stickening) and some are more insidious (I’ll leave others to detail those instances since I have only heard about them second hand, not experienced it myself.) Further I’m not a qualified diagnostician, so I cannot speculate on his mental stability, other than to critically look at what he has put out about himself.

I will say this, however -- personally, due to a really intense triplet of tragedies, in 2015 I had a complete nervous breakdown. Of which I was totally incognizant, but which was observed by those close to me. They intervened and pretty much strong armed me into treatment. For about a year I had a “care team” because I was considered very fragile and it was thought that I might backslide into my breakdown psychosis. That care team was in weekly, if not daily, contact with me, my husband, my parents, my friends -- and, EVERYONE had a list of warning signs to be on the lookout for that would indicate that I needed more help and support and possibly a medical intervention. And, given my diagnosis (C-PTSD, Major Depression, Social Anxiety, General Anxiety) it required the utmost focus and work from me... I couldn’t even think about making major changes to my life, let alone being social, I was in (sometimes daily) therapy and trying to recover for a whole year before I could even think outside myself enough to make changes to my work, residence, relationships, etc. And, I was never outwardly destructive, but the intervention and treatment was that intense.

I’ve read various pieces around the different blogs about AB saying he has a care team and that he’s being held accountable and that he’s better and in treatment and he’s burned fandom to the ground, etc.... all I know is this: If that is true, and multiple people have “had productive conversations” (and, yes I’m the one who talked for two hours to Chris whatshisname) with people who are supposedly on said care team (though, has someone called the Players about this LA nonsense?) saying they had witnessed troubling behavior patterns that were indicative of a serious backslide.... and the care team haven’t acted on implementing an intervention for him? That calls into question if said care team actually exists and/or if he was or is in any kind of treatment for whatever his problems actually are. Are his problems actually diagnosed or just an additional layer to his “backstory” he made up to garner sympathy? Having been there, done that, got the t-shirt with serious, in-depth mental health care, I’m guessing the latter. It just doesn’t pass the sniff test. Anyhoodle... there are my eighty-bajillion words about Andrew Blake. I am hoping that now that I’ve spit them out I can stop ruminating on his latest fuckery and it’s impact in my group. Mostly, we here in LA are just glad AF that we excised him from our lives so quickly and with such precision. And, we hope that the pro-Andy stans leave Molly and Chris and the rest of our community alone. He ain’t welcome around these parts. If you have questions, comments, please don’t hesitate. Please be aware that any aggressive, mean spirited shit will not be acknowledged. Otherwise this is the one and only Andy Blake specific post I am going to ever make on Tumblr. Because I just don’t have the time or bandwidth for this brand of crazy anymore.

#andrew blake #andy blake #thanfiction #tentmoot #tf-talk #crazy

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lolmoviestarplanet · 6 years

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this y’alls fave?: exposing a “popular” user

so very recently, i got into an argument with a semi-popular user who’s also best friends with a pretty high-level user.

all screenshots are in chronological order with some of my commentary underneath

this is how it began: she messaged me this because my ads pushed her ads away from the front page of comments in the competition comment section

i then called her out because she’s doing the same thing to me and everyone else but she’s pressed about me, which is pretty hypocritical 🤷🏻‍♀️

“delusional fans”

uh i don’t think that’s what you should call people who support you and get you fame 🤔

and the fact that she’s willing to manipulate her fans like this,,, yikes 😳

this is so sad, i’m not well known on a virtual game 😔 i won’t succeed in life now 😔 oh great universe, please change my fate 🙏🏻

while i do like leveling up, i don’t really care if i never reach level 100 or whatever

“don’t get yourself deleted”

damn she really gonna send her minions after me 😩

about my message:

anyways, new point!

i also noticed that another (slightly high level) user spammed his ads and pushed hers to the back too

i was wondering if she said anything to him because he did the same thing i did

unfortunately, i don’t think she went off on him because they’re friends,,,

so she’s gonna come for me when her own friend does the same stuff,,, just say you feel threatened and go

at this point, i just said “stan loona” again (because that’s not even remotely “rude,” meaning she can’t claim i was being rude) and then ignored her because she was just gonna keep on threatening me 👋🏻

imagine getting so pressed over a bunch of ads,,, wild. she’s acting like i tried to hack her and delete her entire account or something 😳

like she said, no one knows me so if i want people to actually look at my stuff, i have to advertise. since she’s “famous”, why would it matter that her ads aren’t seen? wouldn’t she already have views and loves from her fans? 🤔

*yes, i am aware that i also fought like a child, which may have made the whole situation worse, but i feel like she was definitely overreacting over a bunch of ads

anyways, i’m still waiting for her to carry out her threat and become hated by a bunch of preteens, especially since i just posted (only) one ad in the competition comment section which pushed her to the back! even though 8 other people posted ads and pushed hers towards the back before i even went online

feel free to ask questions if i don’t make any sense to you :)

edit: yes this is the us server

#sorry this is so long hhfdjfh #mod riley #moviestarplanet #msp

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vampireadamooc · 5 years

Link

As Always: text is provided only in the event of access expiration or post deletions from the hosting site. Whenever possible, always read the article at the link.

Blood Types ‘The Vampire: A New History’ By Regina Munch October 29, 2018 Books Secularism and Modernity

The Vampire of Vinesac, 1883 (Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo) Right from the start, a recent long-anticipated trip to Romania delivered on its promise. On the shuttle from the airport into the heart of Bucharest the driver asked if we had ever visited before. When I told him no, his mood turned grave. “We have a beautiful country,” he said. “But it is not safe to go out at night, especially for a young woman.” When I asked why, he hit the brakes, turned around slowly, and smiled. “You must be careful of the vampires.”

It was just what I’d been hoping for. A huge fan of Dracula, I’d always wanted to see the place that had inspired Bram Stoker’s classic tale, and to get a sense of how its citizens feel about clueless foreigners associating their entire country with nocturnal bloodsuckers and Vlad the Impaler. They certainly seem willing to cash in on it, judging from the tourism industry’s marketing and advertising. But they also revel in it, as evidenced by my grinning shuttle driver.

Romanians are hardly the first people to use the myth of the vampire to establish an identity or advance an agenda, as Nick Groom makes clear in his book The Vampire: A New History. Far from a Freudian representation of sexual desire, an inelegant metaphor for colonialism, or merely a played-out trope, the vampire, according to Groom, is something more layered and complex. “Vampires came into being when Enlightenment rationality encountered East European folklore,” he writes, “an encounter that attempted to make sense of them through empirical reasoning and that, by treating them as credible, gave them reality.” Various folklore traditions make whispering mention of mysterious hybrid ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and demons, many of which suck blood. Only after members of the European elite began to investigate these entities using the science of the day did they become what we know as vampires. Thus, “the vampire is a specific phenomenon that dates from a precise period in a certain place, and which consequently has recognizable manifestations and qualities—particularly concerning blood, science, society, and culture.”

Groom divides his book into two sections—delightfully titled “Circulating” and “Coagulating”—to demonstrate the flow of ideas about disease, demonology, and politics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which congeal in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into the Gothic literary figure—epitomized by Stoker’s Dracula—that we’re familiar with today. He writes that although most histories of vampire mythology begin in the Victorian era, the Gothic monster can be traced back to the folkloric milieu of the previous two centuries. From Eastern Europe came tales of bloodsucking creatures that stalked the living, tales that through the 1600s and 1700s spread across the continent. They shared many of the same elements: the vampire comes into being through the reanimation of a corpse; it can influence the weather and certain animals; it preys on loved ones, strangling and sucking the victim’s blood, often from the chest; it can be killed with a stake or by decapitation. Localized versions might include more specific details, such as the unearthing and opening of a suspected vampire’s coffin to find the corpse floating in fresh blood and gore. Sometimes it had partially eaten itself and its clothes. In other versions, one could protect oneself by drinking blood from a vampire’s head, eating the dirt from its grave, receiving Holy Communion, or making the sign of the cross.

The corporeality of the vampire—as opposed to the ephemerality of a ghost, for example—lent itself well to “investigation” via the latest medical and forensic methodologies. William Harvey’s discovery of circulation, Christopher Wren’s development of hypodermic injections, and fears of contagious disease were changing the way the body was understood, and when European empires consolidated power over Eastern Europe, they deployed new techniques to make sense of what they were hearing about. It was only in such investigations, Groom writes, that vampires were “discovered”; they “did not exist until the emerging medical profession and natural philosophers began to try to explain them and they were thus named and categorized as vampires.” When, for example, a recently deceased woman was reported to be attacking villages in Moravia and her corpse was found to have fresh blood in it, Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa deployed two doctors and the head surgeon of the military to look into the matter. Such investigations were thoroughly documented, as Groom writes: “Detailed forensic examinations were accordingly made and records kept, including catalogues of signs and symptoms, and much learned (and pseudo-learned) work was published in professional journals.” Indeed, in the 1730s, many such journals made their reputations for scholarly seriousness and rationality with accounts of outbreaks of vampirism in Eastern Europe.

Even Enlightenment philosophes weighed in, trying to discern what was mere religious superstition and how, if vampires did indeed exist, they might be incorporated into knowledge about the natural world. As these reports spread west, debates about vampires “detonated.” One of Groom’s most interesting chapters recounts the different ways religious authorities responded to reports of vampires, and how their responses reflected their own theological and political priorities. The Catholic Church, for example, downplayed such reports; clergy saw that they might lose their influence if people resorted to near-pagan methods of protecting themselves from spiritual peril. Eastern Orthodox clergy, on the other hand, promoted belief in vampires and presided over stakings and decapitations of suspect corpses to reinforce their power over encroaching Roman Catholicism. From a theological standpoint, the issue was even thornier. For Protestant theologians, “vampirism, seemingly engineered by the Devil and his demonic minions, smacked too much of Catholic superstition” and so was dismissed. Catholics, theologically invested in corporeality, were in more of a bind. If the dead really were being raised to hunt the living, did that mean the Devil was as powerful as God? This couldn’t be true—so was vampirism a diabolical illusion meant to lure sinners into pagan beliefs? Even Enlightenment philosophes weighed in, trying to discern what was mere religious superstition and how, if vampires did indeed exist, they might be incorporated into knowledge about the natural world.

Bloodsucking monsters also transformed political life. Groom writes that as scientific discoveries increasingly “medicalized” the human body, so the metaphor of the “body politic” changed as well. Vampire analogies proved useful for political agitators: usurers were called vampiric for their predatory loans; monks sucked funds from the wallets of peasants; corrupt officials cannibalized their citizens. In other words, “blood oozed through eighteenth-century thought…simultaneously part of everyday life, a mysterious substance of folklore and superstition, [that] lay at the heart of the Christian mass and the symbolism of the Church.” The figure of the vampire encompassed all these aspects.

It is from this frothing and fearful era in European history that the literary Gothic vampire was born in the nineteenth century. While vampires originated in Eastern Europe, Groom writes, their main “artery” was England, where the vampire became Gothicized and Romanticized into the figures we know today. Anxieties over medical advances—corpse-harvesting; vivisection; and a new institution, hospitals—seeped into vampire stories. As theories of evolution began to gain traction, vampire mythology became a vehicle for expressing fear of regression to a primeval state—one in which we are all bloodthirsty predators. Soon enough it was fear of women—specifically the “New Women,” who “dressed casually, smoked, rode bicycles and even—horror of horrors!—educated themselves.” (It is telling that most nineteenth-century vampires were female.) Karl Marx applied the vampire metaphor to economics and politics: “Capital is dead labour which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.” Stoker’s Dracula is a culmination of all these aspects of the nineteenth-century vampire. The text is a “mass of papers—a scrapbook of textual proofs that reflect the earlier emphasis on evidence and authenticity.” Dracula is brilliant for its ability to set old folklore against new technology, to combine “contagion and the body, blood and the economy, political power, the invisible and vampirism” that haunted the Victorian imagination while drawing on an earlier obsession with empirical evidence and investigation.

Lurking in the cracks of social, theological, political, and medical knowledge, vampires drew “uncomfortable and disturbing attention” to society’s shortcomings. Always threatening to escape the cracks, to “ooze” and “contaminate,” vampires confound boundaries and borders, natural and supernatural, self and other. Groom writes, in the most chilling passage I have read in an academic text, “Vampires are not both dead and alive; they are also undead. And so they disturb the primacy of animated life and humanity by replacing the fundamental distinction of life and death with a third state of being”—that is, unbeing.

Though Groom impressively manages to analyze vampires’ influence on almost every facet of private and public life—social, theological political, medical, cultural, sexual, literary—over the span of four centuries, there are a few missteps. For such a well-organized book, the writing can meander. And in his evident enthusiasm for the topic, Groom sometimes loses the reader with examples that don’t quite find their way back to a larger point. But the examples are so fascinating in themselves that this is forgivable.

Groom writes that he has “tried to resist essentializing the vampire as an elemental mythic type,” or letting it be a mere canvas for theories about sexual neuroses, colonialism, or feminist theory, “valuable as these approaches might be in other ways.” Instead, “the vampire becomes more thought-provoking and more perplexing” in its correct historical context, and when it is allowed to seep from the fractures in our thinking and the contradictions of daily life. “Vampires are good to think with,” he writes. Let them be the “roving thought-experiments” that they are. I agree with him there. Just be careful at night.

#By Regina Munch #newspaper clipping #tags preserved for the comments of the OP

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journeysintowebcomics · 6 years

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Worm Liveblog #56

UPDATE 56: Your Friendly Neighborhood Supervillain

Last time Taylor was getting settled into her new building, where she’d have her headquarters for the work to come. She also encountered Dad Hebert, who was glad to see her but they couldn’t really talk. Let’s continue.

Well, last time the chapter ended when all the men she asked Coil to get her arrived. So I suppose it’s time for work! What’s there to do when you’re trying to take over an area of the city? It doesn’t seem to me like Coil left her any kind of instructions on how to do it, so I guess it’ll be improvising time. About the only thing I can think that definitely needs to be done is make sure the Merchants and any other groups get the heck out of the Docks area. How to do that, though? Through sheer force? Threats? Physically hauling them out of the Docks like they’re yesterday’s trash? Physical harm seems like a necessary thing, I don’t imagine they’ll be getting out without some of that.

Skitter has to give an image of power and confidence, for that reason she doesn’t make any small talk with Coil’s men, nor helps them to carry the stuff into the vehicle. The henchmen are dressed like workers from the city, their identities concealed by their jumpsuits and masks. Good, just as expected of Coil, only the best stuff for him.

If it weren’t for that, I’d think Coil was trying to be funny, giving the hazmat crew to the bug girl.

Golly, Skitter, really? You think Coil is the type to prank people or try to be funny? I mean, I don’t know Coil that well, but he really doesn’t strike me as someone who’d bother to do such a thing. I mean, he does do unnecessary stuff, but that’s in the form of…torture or something like that, whatever Coil does for pleasure in the timelines he deletes. He’s not going to play practical jokes on anyone.

Since she can ride in silence, Skitter focuses on gathering bugs. Sometimes she gathers from the immediate area, sometimes she goes around and selects the right bugs for her purposes. She had done it for her important battles, and now that she has to make herself look like an important villain, intimidating and fearsome. She needs everyone to know she’s here, doesn’t she? Yeah, a few clouds of insects flying towards one same location may be a good way to do that. When she does, the clouds are large enough to cast shadows onto the surface. I hope Dad Hebert doesn’t see this, because he’s going to get worried about Taylor if he does.

They weren’t the only bugs I controlled. I had others on separate tasks. With a number, I created barriers, heavy clouds in alleyways and across streets. My motives here were purely selfish – I laid these barriers between the southmost end of the old Boardwalk and the Docks because I didn’t want my dad entering the area. My gut told me that if he got a good look at me in costume, he’d know who I was.

Dad or not, I think he’d think it twice before approaching the converging insects if there’s no immediate signs of Taylor being in danger. He’s not an imprudent man, he’d be careful. I think maybe he’d try to get in contact with Taylor, though.

The great thing about being able to feel through bugs is that she can find out how many people are in the Docks areas. There seem to be many small clusters of people, no clue if any of them are related to the Merchants – there most likely are. Using her bugs to form shapes and letters, Skitter directs everyone to go to a place, and wakes up those who are asleep by biting them. Hm. She planning to gather everyone and tell them they’re all in her territory now? I don’t think everyone will simply accept it without complaints. I hope she’s prepared for a possible attack or at the very least some heated words.

Once the supplies are placed in a way everyone can see them, Skitter has her bugs ready to ward off anyone who tries to approach them without permission, and a sizable enough crowd gathers – a fifth of the total she tried to get, which makes sense. Not everyone would dare to follow the bugs’ indications, everyone in the city must know Skitter can do that – she gets ready. Also!

I’d known this move of mine would attract people of all types. If they were Merchants, I was okay with that, I’d accounted for it. Above all, I knew that this offering of supplies would attract the people who were hungry enough to venture out into the outdoors with the oppressive cloud of bugs looming above them. I would also attract the people who would want to confront me, Merchants included.

I have to wonder how she’ll know who is a Merchant. They do have a logo, but I don’t think they’d be wearing them or have it drawn on them. What’s the difference between a very desperate civilian unaffiliated to anyone, and a Merchant?

I was taking a risk, here. Gambling. It was like betting someone a million dollars that you’d hit a bullseye, when you’d barely played darts before. It wasn’t that I was confident this would succeed. It was that I really needed that million dollars.

In short, I needed to get underway with Coil’s agenda, and I needed to do it fast.

This is making me curious how the rest of the Undersiders are doing. Grue would have no problem being intimidating and subduing people, so I’m not really worried about him. Tattletale...well she may have a bit of a hard time controlling a crowd, so I think she’d rely on Coil’s men for that. Heckpuppy...hah! You’d have to be insane to fight a few dogs the size of a truck! She’s going to have no troubles at all. Regent, hm, I’m not entirely certain how well he’d do. Not as difficult as Tattletale’s situation, but he’s also not as intimidating as Grue or Heckpuppy.

Once Skitter judges there are enough people in the crowd, she makes her triumphant entrance. She’s hiding near the supplies, without being seen, she makes a swarm of bugs approach while being shaped as a human. Of course people step away from the swarm, nobody notices anything...and then it dissipates. All bugs go to the supplies, where she climbs onto them and makes it look like she teleported there! Impressive! I must say, I like how since some time she has been using her power to make some illusions. It’s a clever use of insects.

I kept the bugs swirling around me, tightly packed together so they would be moving in tendrils and loops. Like Grue habitually did with his power, I was aiming to use my own abilities to make myself look bigger, more impressive. It was like a dog raising its hackles or a cat arching its back.

Hey, it has been effective before! Sure, maybe with some thought people would realize this is a trick, but Skitter has managed to fool people with her swarms before. The bugs swirling around her afterwards is also a nice touch. All in all, I think she made a quite good entrance, it’s guaranteed she’ll have everyone’s attention on her now!

“Some of you know of me!” I called out, and the noises of the swarm accented the words, gave an eerie, strangely loud echo to my voice. “My name is Skitter!”

After everything the Undersiders have done, is there really someone in the city who doesn’t know of her? A bank robbery, an attack to the PRT, the party they crashed...those weren’t small incidents, and the rumor mill works rather quickly. Sure, maybe people wouldn’t know the full extent of what their powers can do or their names, but I think everyone at least could have heard about someone controlling bugs.

Oh, civilians and gang members aren’t the only ones listening right now! Looks like a hero is here too – a heroine, staying in the back and listening. The costume description doesn’t sound familiar, I’m not sure who she is. All I know is that she isn’t anyone in the Wards, nor she is Miss Militia.

There come the words of the day!

“I am laying claim to this area! From this moment, I rule this territory!”

Skitter may have expected jeering, but I didn’t – at least right after saying that. Crowds may be impulsive and not very smart when it’s about taking decisions, but usually they don’t reject someone who has their attention.

“I am not the ABB, I am not the Merchants, the Empire or the Chosen! I am acting in your interests!”

Actions speak louder than words, and that’s why Skitter brought supplies. You know...I don’t know how people will react to living in a villain’s territory. Would they consider themselves minions in some way? No money is needed, no tributes are needed...at face value this does seem like quite the good deal, really. To them someone protecting them wouldn’t be a villain, that’s for sure.

Maybe giving portions of the city to a heroic cape to protect and deal with the community inside could work, if it’s about maintaining order and keeping the civilians content. I don’t know if it’d work, but hey, if the villains can do it successfully, so can the heroes, right? Especially because they wouldn’t have the word ‘villain’ branding every single action.

Rules, huh. Alright, what is it?

“No gangs will operate here. Merchants? Chosen? I know some of you are in this crowd. Consider this my declaration of war. I will not permit you to sell drugs, to hurt my people or steal from them, or to seek shelter in my territory!”

Reasonable enough. She also proceeds to do a show of intimidation to show she means business, and bluffs in an attempt to get enemies to think twice before causing trouble. I don’t know...I think anyone from the Chosen or the Merchants wouldn’t be allowed to leave, and any civilians will have to rely on Skitter to keep them safe. I don’t doubt those enemy groups could intimidate civilians and others to do their bidding, so yeah, Skitter has a lot of work ahead of her if she wants to keep people safe.

“To everyone else! If you assist any of these groups, give them food, shelter, or business? If you sell drugs, steal or prey on people in this area, you lose my goodwill. You will receive no more supplies, and you will earn my attention, with eyes on you for every waking hour. That’s strike one. If I catch you doing it again? I treat you as one of the enemy.”

24/7 surveillance? I can’t say I imagine Skitter can do that, but hey, if the civilians and the enemies don’t know that then great! It’ll be effective. Better hope none of them will think in testing Skitter’s limits...they totally will, won’t they?

Before giving supplies, Skitter lies down one last statement:

“If you want more? Work for me. This work does not have to be criminal, for I need people to pass on messages, to act as spokespersons for these neighborhoods, and to clean up or rebuild. For anyone who does assist me, them and their families will have access to some of those foods you miss, to showers and electricity, and generous payment. You and your loved ones will be dry, clean, and you will have fresh clothes.”

Hmmmmm...maybe...that will work? I’m not sure. It depends on if people would view themselves as henchmen or not. There are many that wouldn’t want such label on them. It’s an appealing exchange, though, being safe in exchange of work that doesn’t have to be criminal – does that mean there is the option for it to be criminal? I wonder how many civilians will join Skitter...

Now that her monologue is over, Skitter is ready to hand out the supplies, one for each family. It takes a moment for someone to approach because, well, would you immediately trust a villain giving you supplies while there are clouds of insects flying around, and knowing people from other villainous groups surely are watching you and what you do? I think I would be rather afraid. Kudos to the first person to approach!

There aren’t enough supplies for everyone, so it seems Skitter’s first duty will be to decide what to do with that problem. It could be her chance to show she can be reliable. Before she can do anything, more trouble happens. Ah, there it is! The enemy groups are making their appearance! Or at least it seems the man who just pulled out a knife and is swinging it around is a member of the Merchants. Bright move to do this right in front of Skitter, buddy, this is not going to end well for him.

Just as expected, Skitter isn’t scared of some knife. The guy – who is definitely high, judging by how his tics are described – keeps blustering and saying he’s not scared, until Skitter challenges him to use that knife on her, to stab her. Uh...well, I’ll trust she knows what she’s doing. I do remember her costume was resistant to blades, since I remember it didn’t let Shadow Stalker slit her neck, but I’m not sure how well it’ll fare against a whole knife being pressed against it, tip-first. Skitter isn’t made of jello, that’s likely to hurt, even if the knife doesn’t stab her.

He lunged, holding the knife with both hands to drive it into my stomach, just beside where I had the armor. I resisted the urge to bend over, but I did have to step back for balance, and I had to put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. I clutched his shoulders, digging my nails in for grip. I could feel pain radiate from my stomach and into my lower abdomen and chest. That was despite the fact that the fabric of my costume had kept it from piercing my flesh.

Oh, great, just her luck. He stabbed right beside her armor. At least it seems the spider silk resists even that. I wonder how fast something will have to go to pierce through it? She’s not immune to bullets, that’s for sure.

More attempts to stab Skitter fail, she effortlessly pours insects over that man. Capsaicin infused insects, that is. Looks like those will be part of her everyday arsenal from now on, it seems! Since this hasn’t been enough demonstration of how she’ll treat her enemies, she also stomps on his hand with her heel, and would have stabbed him if Battery hadn’t intervened. Ah, the heroine was Battery.

She spent the accumulated charge of her power and caught the knife out of the air by the handle. “How does this tie into the stunt you helped pull at the HQ?”

“The Wards’ building? The intel we got from there was valuable, and that kind of money buys a lot of things.” I looked at the remaining pile of supplies.

A believable enough lie. With some luck the Wards and the PRT will try to find out to who the Undersiders supposedly sold the information. The more time they spend on a red herring, the better.

As expected, Battery doesn’t approve of this whole thing, but she’s not going to do anything about it because the Undersiders are a lesser evil. Yeah, that adds up. Weld’s files listed other teams as priority, the Undersiders weren’t among them. I suppose once the PRT finishes dealing with the aftermath of what happened in the headquarters the Undersiders will be much higher priority, and then they will try to stop them from taking over parts of the city. Add one possible plotline more to the growing list of plotlines future arcs may use.

You know, I’m glad Skitter doesn’t hesitate about lying to the heroes’ face like that. True, the supplies were obtained through a vaguely legal medium, but I doubt the Wards and the PRT will take it at face value. Someone will try to snoop where they got supplies from.

Trying to find out Skitter’s agenda is a failure, because no way she’d tell her she’s doing this to help Coil take over the city. I wonder if they’ll ever make the connection between Coil’s rising influence and the Undersiders? At some point they will, won’t they? The conundrum is what will happen first: will the heroes find out about the connection between the Undersiders and Coil, or will Coil triumph? Personally, my bet is on the first one.

Credit where credit is due: Skitter is doing rather well in her first public speech to her territory! Once Battery left, everyone seemed to approve her a bit more, maybe because Battery not trying to stop her was like a tacit approval. Can’t say I don’t understand why they’d leave her alone even though the thought of a villain taking control of anything is a bit nerve-wracking. The city is a big bundle of trouble, if heroes can have less stuff to worry about, the more they can deal with the rest of this whole city. I don’t expect them to just step aside and let any of the Undersiders continue controlling territories unchallenged once the city is in an acceptable state, though. Controlled territories are like ticking time bombs.

So yes, there aren’t enough boxes, so before everything devolves into chaos, Skitter takes control of the situation.

“Each of you now has three ladybugs in your hands. Keep them, and I will use them to find you later today to drop something off for you, with a small gift to each group of you for being patient.”

Hohoh, bribing the unlucky ones with a small gift! Skitter sure knows how to keep things from falling apart! It’s going to be a bit hard to knowingly keep insects on your hands, though. Instinct when having bugs on you isn’t to let them stay for a few hours, it’s to swat them away. Makes me wonder how many will have ladybugs on them when it’s time to give more boxes.

When Skitter was about to leave, her power lets her notice there’s someone nearby, staring at her – one of her new vassals, so to say. Skitter tries to dismiss her gently, but she’s not here for a box of food, although she has ladybugs on her hand. There’s something else she needs help with...

...and here it is! Looks like the plotline for this arc has been found!

“My kid brother. I- he needs help. My parents are sick and they’re in the hospital and I can’t tell them because I told them I’d take care of him, um, and I asked the cops but they’re so busy and there’s no way they can help, and I was going to ask that hero, Battery, but then she disappeared so fast-” The words spilled out of her mouth, less and less intelligible as she kept talking. She only stopped when her voice cracked.

I think I see where this is going. Skitter is going to be in charge, and she promised to help and fight other groups. This gal here even asked confirmation about that last part. Does that mean she’s going to ask Skitter to bring that kid brother back? A hostage, or a minor grunt in a different group, perhaps?

“The Merchants took him. My kid brother. I want you to get him back. Please.”

A hostage, alright. Well then! This can be a good way to show goodwill from Skitter to everyone in her newly claimed territory. The word will get around fast about how Skitter rescued a relative of someone who lives here.

The problem I see is that Skitter may have to do it alone or with some of Coil’s men. The rest of the Undersiders are going to be busy with their own territories, they won’t have time or manpower to help Skitter with this, uh...comparatively minor problem. I have faith on Skitter’s ability, but still, this won’t be easy to do all by herself. There’s a chance of failure.

I hope she succeeds, though. If she succeeds, then people here will have more reasons to believe she does have everyone’s interests as her goal, and the other groups – or at least the Merchants -- will see her as a threat. Compared to other arcs, it doesn’t seem like there’s much at stake, but the end result here can have repercussions and make Skitter’s goals reachable or unreachable.

My interest has been piqued, but I’ll continue next time.

Next update: in two updates

#worm #worm liveblog #liveblog #serial novel #book liveblog

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zm-sc · 7 years

Text

Trying to figure out Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost with canon quotes; Part 3

Part 1; Part 2

On may 1st, (before 3x20 aired) this is what is reported Andrew Kreisberg says about Killer Frost for the last three episodes of the season:

“Obviously her meta powers have severely messed with her mind, so it’s not like Barry Allen, who is still Barry Allen even though he got super speed. Her brain chemistry has been severely altered.”

In the same scoop, Danielle says: “I don’t know if we’ll even be able to see Caitlin again, but as you’ll see in episode 21, it becomes clear that Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost do occupy the same body and that they have the same memories. The things Caitlin remembers, Killer Frost can access as well. It’s more a question of if she chooses to and how she feels about Caitlin’s memories.“ (So that can be clear already: this is therefore technically not a ‘Hulk’ scenario (split personality, sorta, kinda), because the matter and fact is Bruce does not remember the chaos Hulk creates and Hulk is not able to recognize his friends. Caitlin remembers and Killer Frost is able to recognize Team Flash

On April 22nd at the C2E2, Danielle said: “The way it was explained to me was it’s like an addict and Killer Frost is someone who lives inside with Caitlin. She’s got this bad person inside her and it’s learning how to be in control with the help of the bracelets and necklace she can squish her.”

Two weeks later, she reiterates in an interview: “The way that this has been explained to me is that it’s almost like there’s this dark person inside of her who’s itching to get let out. It’s like an addict, almost, this person who craves the malice and the harm that she can do to people. Caitlin, with the help of the necklace and the cuffs, was able to keep that in check, but now the Killer Frost inside her has become a too strong and too powerful…It’s going to be a much more difficult battle this time to see if good can triumph over evil.”

On Sept 28th, Kreisberg says: “Caitlin is “continuing to struggle with the cold monster lurking inside of her.”

On Oct 7th, Helbing says: “When she left, she had to go deal with this on her own, figure out exactly who she was and how to deal with this newfound person inside of her.”

So why is she evil, again? Because this is STILL not an explanation. Why was she affected more severly than Barry? And Cisco? Better. There is a WHOLE entire DIFFERENT person, living inside Caitlin who just wants, to wreck havoc every now and then, for no good reason? Again, no character has every suffered this kind of spliting, except for Frankie. And hell, this was not the narrative for her. Hers actually made sense. She got battered by her step father and snapped, making Mangenta to come out. Frankie has a split personality (She had no memories of what happened, compared to Caitlin), who had for motive to defend herself against anyone who could hurt her, aka her step father, as she wanted to destroy the hospital he was being treated in. That, makes sense

But what do you want me to do with Killer Frost just…liking…to hurt…people? And what do we do of the last following quotes of season three that keep hinting at many explanations, and Killer Frost and Caitlin being the same person, is still one of them

3x19:

[Killer Frost is about to freeze Julian]

Killer Frost: “You know, you probably should’ve spent a little more time finding a cure for what ails me.” Me, as in Caitlin, right? Who else? Killer Frost wants to take over, not to be cured

[Killer Frost is about to freeze H.R, Julian and Cisco in the pipeline, Barry storms in]

Barry: “Caitlin, you can fight this.”

Killer Frost: “I know. But I don’t want to.” I, Caitilin, do not want to fight “this”, Killer Frost

[2024; Barry questions Killer Frost]

Barry: “Why would you help him [Savitar]?”

Caitlin: “Because he gave me the thing that you couldn’t: the cure to my illness, embracing who I really am.” Remember that one epic time Caitlin said: “Maybe if you helped her [Jesse] navigate her powers rather than just assuming they’ll destroy her, she’d turn to you rather than push you away.” to Harry? Me neither. And never did Cisco too, apparently

[2016; Killer Frost sees Savitar in the woods]

Killer Frost: “You want to cure me? Turn me back into Caitlin Snow?”]

3x20:

[Killer Frost takes Barry down and stabs him in the leg]

Barry: This isn’t you!

Killer Frost: It is now.

[Cisco faces Killer Frost off in the warehouse]

Cisco: It’s over, Caitlin.

Killer Frost: Caitlin is dead.

3x22:

[Killer Frost and Cisco face off in the woods]

Killer Frost: “Savitar’s right. In order to join him as a god, I have to cure myself of Caitlin. This has to happen.”

Reminder: Becoming a God = comiting a murder

3x23:

[Deleted scene: Killer Frost abducts Cisco and monitors his recrafting of the speed force bazooka]

Cisco: “Julian went to Taunnhauser to work on a cure. With your mother. He figured it out.”

Killer Frost: “You’re lying.”

Cisco: “Your BFF just told me so.”

Cisco: “It didn’t have to be that way. We can fix you. Come back to us.”

Killer Frost: “Fix this or I will show you what I truly am.”

Three things here. “With your mother.” Either this was meant for the public, in case we had forgot who Taunnhauser was, which is truthfully likely, or this was meant to ring a bell in Caitlin. Her mother found a cure for her. Even her cold hearted mother wants her back

Second thing: The moment Cisco says that Savitar is the one who told him about the cure, Killer Frost lowers her head. It’s not a lie. She has a choice again. Caitlin has a choice again. She was close to join Team Flash back until the third thing

“We can fix you.” For the first time in 17 episodes, Cisco uses the word “fix”. For the first time, he sounded like everybody else did, like she is sick. And that makes Killer Frost change her mind and straight threaten to hurt him (Note that a minute earlier, she offered to to join her and Savitar and do as Reverb had told him he could, become a God)

Similaryly, near the end of 3x23 as the final fight goes down, when Cisco tells her “I never will [Go bad]. But I will give you a choice. You wanna be Caitlin again? Here’s your chance.” was the first time Cisco showed no concern at all about what might happen to her. Literally, he throws the cure to her face, and tell her to choose a button once and for all

Savitar grabs Cisco. Caitlin looks at the cure, looks back at Cisco and Savitar, morphs into Killer Frost again, who strikes Savitar with an ice blast, and Caitlin helps Cisco to get back up

“I knew you didn’t have it in you, Caitlin.” Savitar says

As the episode nears its conclusion, we are left at the same place where Caitlin is:

“I’m not Caitlin anymore.” She tells Julian

“You’re not Killer Frost.” Barry says

“No, I’m not. I’m something else. And I need to figure out what that is. On my own.” Caitlin answers

Something else. We have discussed she could be Caitlin. We have discussed she could be Killer Frost. She reckons she is neither. So about she’d be both, exactly like this entire show keeps telling us yet refuses to take full responsibility of it?

4x01:

[Cisco attempts to re recruit Caitlin in Team Flash]

Caitlin: “It’s just me, Cisco. I’m just Caitlin.“

Caitlin who after she got violently grabbed by Amunet’s minion, was taken over by Killer Frost, again. Is it because Killer Frost is the one who decided to enroll into Amunet’s buisness and so she should be the one to call quits? Is it because Caitlin was upset/scared, which happened multiple times in season three? Or is it for a brandnew fourth reason we will know about soon enough?

Anyways. I personally always heavily leaned towards the fact that they were meant to be the same person but the writers are too lazy/afraid to run on this route because of the implications that it’d impose, primarly, the fact that it’d make Caitlin accountable for all of her actions, and that would make it very hard to root for her

And it’d seem I was right, because on Oct 10th, Danielle said: “while they may inhabit the same body, they are not the same person, and they certainly have very different intentions — I think my hope is that Team Flash, and Iris in particular, can forgive Caitlin and that they don’t necessarily hold Caitlin accountable for Killer Frost’s actions. They are two different people, even though they look the same.” So instead, let’s make sure it is all so confusing we can at least get to say, “if you’re a fan of Caitlin Snow you won’t be disappointed and if you’re a fan of Killer Frost, you won’t be disappointed”. Why, does this happen to begin with, why is Killer Frost evil, in fact?

Here is to a frosty season ❄

#caitlin snow #killer frost #danielle panabaker #the flash #mine

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themandylion · 7 years

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[fic] the rarer action is - deleted scenes

My current writing process means I overwrite/slash-and-burn like nobody’s business when writing (mostly because I just rewrite the same scene wholesale over and over). I hold onto everything in hopes of being able to recycle it later, but sometimes plotpoints are rendered moot and that can’t happen. That said, the first of these can be read as a scene that is pretty much canon to the Team RedBird AU but just didn’t make the cut of the final fic. The second is just a different take of the second-to-last scene in the fic, but I’m fond of the phrasing.

I’ll probably do at least one more post like this because if nothing else I want to share my ridiculous Alvin Draper theory (which has already been shot down by canon, but whatever).

When Bruce finally makes it back to the Cave, Tim’s just getting up from the computer, the machine already silent, put into sleep mode in preparation for the daylight hours. “Oh, good. Glad I caught you before I left,” Tim says, flashing a tired smile.

“You have news about Moneyspider?” Bruce asks, striding across the chamber to meet him.

“User Moneyspider has been active in Fighting & Factions all night, from ten until just under twenty minutes ago. They went idle for about fifteen minutes at one point, but that was probably for, like, a dinner break or something.” Tim grimaces. “Sorry, B. I know you were hoping for a lead.”

“Were you able to determine the identity of the user?” As unlikely as it is, there’s still a chance that someone other than Lonnie has laid claim to the Moneyspider handle on this particular platform.

“Credit card payment for the account traces back to one Greta Machin,” Tim says. “Looks like the kid was telling you the truth.”

Bruce grips the edge of the desk, gritting his teeth. Fine. This is… fine. There are other leads he can follow up on. He has an entire warehouse full of evidence to sift through still, after all.

A hand falls on his arm and Bruce jerks involuntarily, startled by the unexpected contact. “Bruce,” Tim says softly, worry evident in his eyes. Glancing down at him, Bruce notices for the first time that Tim is dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, not the Red Robin suit. “It’s after six in the morning, the sun is up, there’s nothing more Batman can do right now. Go to bed.”

“Stephanie Brown—”

“Has probably been working with Oracle for months and, if I know Steph, has been running circles around her the whole time. From what I saw tonight, Oracle treats her people fairly and cares about their welfare. If they don’t like something she does, they aren’t afraid to call her on it,” Tim says.

“Oracle used fear gas on Hush and shot Lincoln March,” Bruce points out.

“From what Babs told me earlier, if Oracle hadn’t detained and questioned Hush, his plan to blow up half the city and blame it on Batman or Bruce Wayne or both would’ve gone through,” Tim reasons. “And she did have a point about March possessing Talon-level healing abilities.”

Reluctantly, Bruce relaxes his grip on the desk. Reaches up and pushes back the cowl. “She’s an unknown element.”

“But not a pressing one. Go upstairs, get some sleep,” Tim says, yawning. “I know I’m planning to.”

“—tween this whole mess and what happened with you and Tiffany, I feel like I need to take a break for a while. I’ve been coming up with some neat stuff to help me with all of this and a lot of it could be repurposed to help civilians.”

Uuuugh, it is too early for this kind of noise, why the hell is everyone shouting around her?

“That’s great, Luke. I’m really happy for—hang on, I have to get this.”

Pru groans and pulls the pillow over her head. She still can’t believe Luke made her and Tam move to an air mattress in the living room, it’s not like Luke even sleeps in his bed most nights.

“Isn’t that Connie’s phone?”

“It’s cool, we have an understanding. What’s up, Jaime?”

…hey, wait. Isn’t she Connie? “Wait, wait. My minion. Mine,” Pru growls, struggling to sit up and grabbing aimlessly in Tam’s direction.

“Minion?”

Pru meets Luke’s raised eyebrow with a black look. “I’m doing a big sister thing this summer,” she improvises. “Jaime is my minion, my responsibility, and Tam should give me my phone.” Instead of obeying this very pointed command, Tam chooses to plant a foot on Pru’s chest and hold her at bay, because she is secretly evil.

“Pretty sure that’s not how the big brother/big sister thing works,” Luke says, because he is completely ignorant of the ways of the real world.

“Clearly you’ve been involved in the wrong kinds of mentoring programs,” Pru grumbles.

“Thanks, Jaime. We’ll try to get there as soon as possible.” Tam turns to Pru, all smiles, like she wasn’t just poaching Pru’s minion.

“What did Jaime want?” Pru demands. There will be no forgiveness here, minions are sacred.

“He needs us to meet him at someplace called St. Dumas,” Tam says, lifting her foot now that it doesn’t even matter. “According to him, he’s found Cassandra.”

#The Tempest of Team RedBird #my writing #Tim Drake #Bruce Wayne #Batman #Robin III #Prudence Wood #Tamara Fox #Luke Fox #Batwing #considering the number of times Pru accuses/suspects Tam of being an agent of evil I sometimes wonder if she's onto something

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