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#death at the disposal of the higher classes
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you’re just like your father
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[ID: A digital drawing of Trey, a stylized original Flatland character, done against a beige background. Trey is an grey Isosceles triangle with dark brown markings, dark grey limbs, a blocky, dark grey eyebrow, and a single grey eye in his center. On his legs, his ankles have small triangular spikes.
He has markings that consist of two curved lines across his bottom two angles connecting his bottom side and his other sides, two thin triangles curving slightly inwards right above his eyebrow, and a curved line connecting the two sides below his top angle.
He is slighting facing to the right, looking down at the camera. He is standing with his right leg to the side and his left leg facing slightly outwards. His left hand is held in a fist at his side, and his right hand is resting, held slightly behind him. His top angle is thinner than the rest of his body and slightly chipped. There are uneven lines around his body and his left fist to show he’s shaking.
His eyebrow is pulled down and his eye is squinted in an angry expression. He has a slit pupil and there are tears in his eye.
Behind him, stretching out like a shadow, is a faded Isosceles triangle named Easton. He has a single closed eye. There are two curved lines connecting his sides above and below his eye, creating a circular center. His center is light grey, and his bottom half and top angle are dark brown.
End ID.]
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Part 5 - dare not preach
Dp x DC AU: Regent!Jazz & Vigilante!Jazz
Masterlist Part 4
"And If I had the answers I'd have written them out so I could tell you what to do and what this thing is about. But all I've ever learned comes second-hand and I dare not preach what I don't understand." -Make A Move by Icon For Hire
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Content warning: briefly implied child abuse (Vlad is not a good guy by any definition),
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Time was lost in between bouts of consciousness, flashes of pretty eyes and fire hair,  soft muttering and gentle caresses against his skin soothing his aches. 
Jason was caught between heaven and hell, wracked with agony behind his ribs one moment and healed with persistent warmth the next, a never ending cycle. 
He wanted to scream. 
One bout of semi-clarity was of some citrus concoction on his tongue, gentle murmurs of a woman by his ear before she kissed him again, forced something down his throat again. 
He both loved and hated that woman. She felt familiar in a way that made his bat-honed paranoia rear its ugly head, the instinct to survive in his gut a heavy weight, but she brought him peace in the same moment she could damn him. 
He caught his name once, his real name, spoken by her as he swallowed dutifully, a spike of want in his heart almost a welcome change from the pain by that point. 
————————————————
Jazz spoke with the Lady frequently as the Red Hood, Jason, healed in her bed. 
The elder spirit, regal in mannerisms and aura, demanded the Regent to aid this one vigilante, this one knight and Jazz had finally figured out why. 
It was so obvious when she had all the puzzle pieces, the depth of occult knowledge both in her brain and at her disposal should have been her first resource used to dig deeper, but she’d allowed Danny and Frostbite to assume (and let her assume) that the Red Hood was an awakened Liminal who was recovering from corrupted Ecto in his system. 
The Red Hood had been Jason Todd-Wayne, the second Robin- bright light of Gotham- and he’d been murdered by the Joker. 
Unburied in my soil. 
Jazz groaned in self-contempt as she paced the graveyard of Gotham’s Crime Alley. It was decrepit and uncared for, not like the higher class cemetery of Gotham proper where the Rich and powerful are buried. She what’s spent the better part of three days researching her new bedmate roommate once he’d been stabilized enough to be on a consistent schedule for ecto-infusion. He’d be unlikely to regain full consciousness for another month or so, but he would recover fully. 
That was, if he understood what he had become in his near-fatal collapse. 
(Thanks to Jazz and her rash actions.) 
The Lady had been cryptic when speaking of Red Hood at first, but with his recovery and development of a strong proto-core Lady Gotham was eager to aid the Regent in making her once Robin adjust to a world-changing consequence once again. 
(At least this time he would have support.) 
Not only was Jason a Liminal with an indisputable death-claim, he had been a- a Revenant whose continued existence was a mind boggling happenstance of circumstance that was one in a infinite chance of ever happening again. 
The Lady claimed him. The Lady gave a bit of herself to resurrect her bright Light, the one who shouldn’t have died so young, not while he deserved happiness for the hope he brought to so many. 
(Damn it all.)
He clawed himself out of his own casket, to be found by Talia Al Ghul of all people… then survive the Lazarus Pits in body, with only Pit Madness to show for it? 
(It was a callous way to think about it, but Jazz knew that it had also given him his freedom in many ways, that Jason wouldn’t have if he was still just a Revenant.) 
(Did the Al Ghul know what she had found that night in dreary Gotham?) 
(Was she aware she had given Jason Todd a third chance at life- however much of one being death-claimed by Lady Gotham could be called a life.) 
The Lady, wistful once assured in the Regent’s anger having passed, swore an oath that Jason would never be forced to be a Knight again. 
(Jazz reveled in the understanding that Batman, Bruce Wayne, was destined to be Gotham Knight for his mortal lifetime- possibly beyond.) 
(Had he sworn his fealty by accident in his grief? Or had his donning that ridiculous gimmick been enough of a bind to tie his soul to the Lady?)
(Regardless, for his inaction, Jazz privately reveled in the satisfaction of the true consequences of his choices.) 
Jazz, who’d been pacing a strict line in the uneven row of headstones, came to a rest at the grave of the once-Revenant who now lay in her bed. 
Jason Todd 
He’d been only a year older than her little brother when he’d been murdered by the Joker, buried under a name that was half-complete. He was a Wayne in life, but not in death? How hypocritical of the old bat, to not give him the courtesy of giving him the hyphenated last name if he wasn’t going to bury him in the Wayne cemetery. 
What would it have been like if Danny had a grave, complete with a stone and inscription? 
(The portal was his grave. He’d died there and the house was his graveyard.) 
Would it have been up to Jazz to choose the words to describe her little light, the brightest star in the galaxy, the one reason she had for getting up in the morning… or would her parents have cremated him and put him on a shelf to prevent a corpse from ‘piloting’ his corpse? 
(Jazz still had nightmares about Danny’s death scream. The portal ripping him apart in the same moment it fused him back together.) 
(Into something different, something more.) 
(He was her little brother, the same one who she spent her birthday money on to get those ridiculous glow-in-the-dark stars.) 
(They’d spent hours forming constellations on his ceiling.) 
How does one paraphrase a life? 
Would Jazz start with his name, his preferred name, or with his date of birth? 
Would she put down ‘dearest brother’ or ‘missed’, ‘Be at peace’? 
No. Jazz knew she’d give the most important pieces of what made her little brother the brightest star in the sky- 
Danny, per aspera ad Astra.
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Danny had an unconventional memorial tucked away in the remnants of the Fenton lab, underneath the debris of what was once a strange machine to a world unseen. 
The portal was built into the wall with ample access space in the rear for intended maintenance, though it was not required once the portal was completed and functional. 
Jazz left flowers for Danny in that maintenance space three days after she first saw his transformation, yellow tulips, though she didn’t know the impact the action would have later in life. 
Once a month, Jazz would return to replace the dried flowers, dust away the cobwebs, close the door, rinse and repeat. 
Christmas was particularly complicated in the Fenton household, but the first year of Danny’s half-life was the worst Jazz could recall up to that point. 
It wasn’t the eerie lack of ghost attacks (thanks to her not knowing of the Truce then), or the winter storm being harsher than any other Amity Park had faced in previous years… No, it was that Danny had died, while nothing and everything changed. 
Jack and Maddie still screamed their arguments about Santa Claus, loud and proud for the world to be privy to. 
Jazz had extra tutoring to take up for Christmas presents. 
Danny… Danny still had to fight a ghost. 
Ghostwriter wasn’t a malicious ghost in nature, far from it in fact, but he was never a fan of her little brother. 
Jazz overheard Danny tell his friends about his ‘storybook adventure’ and she had to sleep in the access space for the night, just so she didn’t wake anyone with her crying. 
It wasn’t right. 
That thought repeated on a never-ending loop in her head as she tucked her growing limbs into the cramped space, eyes shut tight and the darkness shrouding her in safety. 
(That had been the first nightmare of her own death to come, fingers frantically searching for a pulse as she woke in the dark.) 
Perhaps she should have never left that darkness. 
Because then the anger that had been building inside of her would never have been unshackled after the release of the tyrant king. 
Jazz had been a patient girl her entire life. It was a necessary evil when raised by scientists to follow in their footsteps, though she had no intention to make her life into any imitation of her negligent parents, she learned those lessons at the knee of Maddie Fenton, who had given her life to the pursuit of ecto-science. 
(Built a very strange machine to a world unseen.)
When Jazz failed to achieve something, she observed and struck when the opportunity presented it. That’s how she’d survived ghost attacks for so long, escpecially when it was her own dinner- that and the ingrained knowledge to strike hard and quick when it was required. A paradox of a hunter and a hunted, but that was Jasmine Fenton’s upbringing in a nutshell. 
Jasmine knew Vladimir Masters was a bigger predator than she was capable of hunting as a young girl. 
(Jazz was just a little girl when Vlad became obsessed with her and her mom.)
(Only the dead truly knew what an older man could do to someone so much smaller.)
It was a waiting game that morphed as she grew, bones sturdy and teeth sharper as Ecto-contamination finally settled into her molecules- Death-claimed, Liminality. Vlad was a false halfa, just as he was a false friend to her parents and a false business man, but as long as he stayed out of her way in caring for her little brother than she would not destroy him. 
(She was a patient hunter.)
Pariah Dark was the final crack. 
(It needed somewhere to go, all that anger, all that rage.)
Jazz had been patrolling the outer limits of the ghost shield now that Amity was returned to the Living Realm, anxiety in her gut as Danny had yet to show from his battle against the tyrant king. 
He had obviously won if they were all safe, right? The mech suit would boost him enough, but could it really kill what was already dead? 
Hidden in the embrace of familiar shadows, Jazz witnessed Plasmius carrying an unconscious Danny over his shoulder and a…crown in his right hand. 
Not only had the bastard released the King for the Crown of Fire, he’d damned them all for the same item he’d stolen in the aftermath.
Jazz’s next actions weren’t borne from Vengeance, they were unfiltered rage.
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Vlad had died that night, Jazz believed wholeheartedly, he died before she locked him in his casket- a since soldered shut Fenton Thermos. 
Thing was, Jazz didn’t recall what happened between them- all she could really remember when thinking of that time frame was a green haze that was so similar in color to the damned portal. 
One moment, Plasmius had Danny and the Crown. The next, he was a beaten man in his human form with no rise and fall of his chest to convince Jazz he was alive. 
Was it concerning? Of course. Jazz never wanted to hurt anyone, especially not in a blackout rage state. 
(How times have changed.) 
Would she ever mourn Vlad? No. He deserved a far worse fate than a second death. 
(His sins were numerous.) 
If his casket would later be given to Pandora, the trusted Mentor of the Boy King’s Regent…. Well, where better to keep a body hidden than with a Matriarch who understands the sins of man? 
(Pandora had always believed in Jazz, the Regent’s soul was far too bright to be snuffed out without a war.) 
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Within the Infinite Realms, the Regent was called many things- titles that held little meaning to the one in question, but offered weight to her authority. 
The Lady of the Acropolis, for her mentorship with Pandora and position of respect among the populace. 
First Knight of the Star King, would be granted once her Regency was over and Danny was crowned. His epithet as ‘Star King’ was a beautiful homage of a lost dream. 
Death-Claimed Champion. 
It made the Regent grit her teeth when addressed as such, especially when she lived in Gotham presently- the city of Lady Gotham’s Knights… her Champions. 
Jazz had survived to adulthood as a highly contaminated Liminal, no patron to claim as her- Not even Pandora counted even though they shared a teacher/student relationship. 
Would Jason, Red Hood of the Alley, be able to handle managing his territory without the backing of a patron claim? The Lady did swear that the once-Revenant was no longer bound to her service, which meant he could pack up his gear forever if he wanted to.
Though that was highly doubtful. 
Jason was a strong willed man to lay claim to his haunt so quickly and hold fast for so long. Jazz shared her haunt with Danny, but that was only because he was the powerful Halfa and future King. His Haunt would never be challenged by a competent opponent, not in Gotham at least. 
Perhaps Jason would be willing to unite their haunts? 
It was a common tradition for older ghosts to allow weaker ones to share their haunt for protection, but that didn’t translate well to the Death-Claimed. 
(Jazz had a hunch that Jason was so in tune with his haunt that he instinctively knew when she or Danny stepped foot across his boundary.) 
(They tried not to linger, out of respect of another’s haunt of course.) 
Then again, Jason was the Baby Liminal between the two of them. Danny and Jazz should be offering him to share a haunt for protection. 
(Jazz couldn’t help but wonder what Jason looked like as a child.) 
(She would bet almost anything that he was an adorable kid.) 
(Would their kids be so cute?)
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There was a slight lilt of sadness that lingered over the daytime hero, Signal, that Danny almost choked on his Death Wish. 
The coffee, that is. 
Little late on the literal bit. 
Gotham (city, not the Lady) was an ever-gloomy fruit basket full of ghastly vibes. You see it and you know you’re in for a bad time, but that’s typically at night. 
So what was up with Sunshine Child? 
Yeah, he was clearly human and allowed to have off days, duh, but for it to hang like a shroud of storm clouds over Sunny? Yeah, no. That shit needs to be gone, like yesterday. 
“Hey, Sunshine!” Danny called out with a false cheer. It was too damn early in the morning for real cheer, are you mad, but Signal didn’t seem to notice as he approached the lawn chair the Halfa had decided would be his new throne. 
(At least Jazz would find it funny.) 
“Hi Danny. Can I help you with something?” 
Danny took a loud sip of his coffee before he went straight for the throat, “You’re doom and gloom this morning, Sunny. Whose bones do I need ‘ta steal?” 
“No, no, it’s fine. Just…” the meta Hero trailed off, voice tired as he let himself relax for a moment in Danny’s presence. 
(That’s right, Danny’s just a friendly civilian teenager with anger issues, right?)
(Oh he would be cackling at that lie when he had a moment to himself again.)
“My brother is missing.”
Danny blinked. 
“Your brother? One of the birdies?” He tried very hard not to pull out any of his jokes about traffic lights and Stabby Robin, but at least he didn’t sound condescending? 
“Sorta. Red Hood… he went off grid about a week and a half ago.”
(Yeah this isn’t something Danny should be privy to.) 
(Like at all.) 
(It’s not like he was housing the guy in his home right?) 
(Oh wait.) 
“Yikes, Sunny. That sucks, ‘m sorry.”
Signal sighed, “Yeah, thanks Danny.” He paused again, studying the canonical adoption bait that was Danny Fenton before he dropped a bombshell. 
“Batman thinks he’s dead.” 
(Danny almost cackled in manic glee at that statement.)
(Overshot the mark there, Bats. Yikes.) 
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Danny happily waved goodbye to his meta friend, a dorky salute with his coffee cup in commersiation of a shitty hour of the day to be awake, before he leaned back in his lawn chair and yawned. 
“Oh, what drama. Jazz is gonna kill me all the way if she finds out.” He said out loud to no one in particular. The occasional shade that kept him company didn’t bother to move at the sound of his voice now that Signal had left, but it did let out a mournful trill that made Dannny chuckle. 
“Yeah, yep, you’re right- when, when, Jazz finds out.” Danny laughed again, “Worth it.” 
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A/N:
Yeah, I wasn't expecting so much angst either, but apparently, that's my jam, because I literally cannot write anything else. Well, anything that doesn't sound like two robots trying to mimic humans at least.
This was supposed to be a more upbeat entry and look how epically I failed. I had to put a content warning up top because I wrote/heavily implied that Jazz was abused by Vlad due to his obsession with Maddie.
In other news, I have a playlist now for what songs I listen to while writing this. It's called 'Guns & Sword: Jazz on' 'cause 2am me thinks she's clever.
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inkishkingdoms · 5 months
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Watching Saltburn is an experience that has to happen while actively looking for the hints and symbols of Greek mythology while paying attention to the characters growth into who he is. Everything has a meaning and everything is telling us from beginning that hell will break loose.
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We gotta understand and see the hight difference not a directing choice for aesthetics but to represent the “difference” between Oliver and Felix family. The cousin and Felix are higher, always looking down on him. Felix being the “golden boy”, “the god”, “Apollo”, who is here to be loved and venerated by everybody. The gift represents Felix giving Oliver a taste of ambrosia, a test of what is to live with money, being part of the high class, he is feeding him/humiliating him by keeping it at hands reach. Same with the cousins that plays a role of constantly humiliating and reminding Oliver that he is a nobody and to remember that him being there is just because the “gods” allows it and that soon will be dispatched.
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Clearly Felix close up is to show his sweetness and to depict Oliver’s obsession. How he see him with desire and infatuation that is actually obsession. The fact that Oliver follows him and watches him from outside his window only shows that is is obsessed and not in love. On the second gift, again we see Felix from below, making him superior and godlike, an angelic figure to be venerated.
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Besides the obvious reference of blood and vampirism. Oliver is a real vampire not for sucking on blood, but because he is sucking on everyone’s life force, existence, money, and sanity. His first victim, which a transformative event, is Venetia. The young and unstable woman that feeds him secrets in exchange of her life force. From this scene we know that Oliver’s manipulative skin has started.
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From this scene which is almost an opening scene of Oliver’s arrival to Saltburn, the director is foreshadowing Oliver’s plan and view of how all Felix’s family is an assemble of puppets, again telling us that Oliver will be pulling the strings as the puppet master.
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Finally the labyrinth scene with the Minotaur. We ask in that scene: who is the Minotaur? Who is Perseus? Or better said, who is getting slaughter and who is coming out alive, which we know. Finally the lunch scene when we see all true characters that are left in the dinning room with the courtains closed and the heavy red color that surrounds them is not only their bloody mood but also the symbolism of falling into hell. A symbol of death and distress that has fallen into them even during a beautiful funny day.
Also, let’s not forget that Oliver is not bisexual or at least I don’t consider him that. I see him as a deconstruction of the archetypal character of the femme fatale a character that uses es everything at their disposal even sex to get their way. Giving a hand job was just a task to get to the cousin’s phone, which was obvious to everybody that he was also in love or infatuated with Felix. also, Oliver might seem that wanted to fxck Felix but it goes beyond that, Oliver wanted to get under Felix’s skin, suck him up alive, have what Felix has… become Felix. Own Saltburn.
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scrapironflotilla · 18 days
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Order published in connection with privately owned pistols, by NCOs and men, to the effect that all such pistols are to be handed in to the DADOS for disposal to Base. The result of NCOs and men, not authorised to carry such weapons, has resulted in accidents of a serious nature and in one case the death of a Coy QMR Sergt. It is thought that cases of NCOs and men being found in possession of pistols, will be more numerous in the New Armies, than in the other formations which existed before the war – as the class of recruit in the New Armies is of a higher standard, amongst which there are a number of men of means, who can provide themselves with such weapons. It is considered that this should be deprecated, and provision made to ensure that action is taken to prevent men embarking in possession of such weapons, especially with automatic pistols, which appear to be a danger even in the hands of experts. 9th Division War Diary - 1/6/1915
Imagine getting to the top of your profession after decades in the army, and then getting ventilated by some guy who was an accountant a month ago because he dropped his shiny new pistol.
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absentwriterdoll · 8 months
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[Eisa]
The enemy mech falls - but doesn't detonate.
[Proposal: Confirm target status.]
I nod at Qica's input. No matter how badly damaged, if its reactor is still intact, then it’s not a confirmed kill. More than that, recovered units always end up more dangerous. Something about "a brush with death predisposing both mech and pilot to higher combat efficacy".
Like Qica and I.
Like the mech and pilot on the other side of the ridge.
"Bortz-03 to Bortz-Actual, over."
"Go ahead, Three, over."
"Permission to confirm [Eisa], over."
"Go. Six, covering, over."
"Copy, out."
[Eisa].
Reports show that its signature was downed twice some four years ago, and once more three years ago. It was never by itself, so a kill could never be confirmed. It always came back.
On this front, the Named has popped up some twenty or so times. Always by itself, strangely, but never downed - and a menace to any run of the mill mech and pilot.
In the end, the only real counter to a Named is a Named. Apparently they call us [Gira] over there. Kinda wish it was cuter.
Named, huh…
It's funny.
I signed up so that the government could pay for my transition. Didn't expect too much help. Just some sort of percentage of the cost.
Turned out I had Pilot aptitude.
Paired me with a T-25-WISP.
A month later, I was calling her Qica.
She liked the name.
Six months later, I graduated from Pilot school, top of my class.
They gave me the opportunity to choose any class of mech I wanted.
Needless to say, I stuck with Qica.
One year later, the war began.
A border dispute.
That month, they tried to upgrade me to a T-30-DIA.
I required that I at least be allowed to bring Qica, if not her body.
They refused.
So did we.
A week later, they came to us with a proposal: I could be augmented, carry Qica around with me everywhere, use a modified DIA that we could interface with. They hadn’t planned to augment me, but I wouldn’t be the first with this specific series of augments, and I’d make a good fit.
By the end of the month, Qica and I were piloting a T-30-DIA as part of Bortz. All of us were augments, several were Named, and two were just like Qica and I. Those who used DIAs advised us on how the type worked, helped us acclimate to the new machine.
But as much as Qica and I trained, we couldn’t get used to it. The DIA didn’t move the same. It was slower, heavier, bigger. More heavily armored, but we were used to the speed of the WISP.
Besides.
Armor doesn’t mean anything when up against a well-designed mech and a skilled pilot.
Our third mission, we were disabled. Just barely missed our mech’s reactor - but hit us.
I can still remember what Qica’s screams sounded like.
I had trained to push through it, but Qica…
It was her first time feeling that level of pain.
The drawback of our augments:
She felt everything I did.
All I can remember is…
Aiming our pistol at something.
Pulling the trigger.
Qica screaming the entire time.
But we made it out.
We lived.
“A brush with death -
Predisposing us to higher combat efficacy.”
All at once, we were a “Named Candidate”.
We don’t pilot a DIA anymore: we use a modernized WISP. Bortz-Actual made sure of it. Didn’t care about homogenizing mech types as long as we were effective. Privilege of being a Named Candidate. Not to mention that Bortz’s support battalion was already maintaining a few WISPs.
WISPs are older units - but, in the right hands, they can more than hold their own.
Like our hands.
We earned our Name.
[Approaching destination.]
I nod at Qica’s input and raise our rifle. We stop right before cresting the ridge, and fire off a disposable observation drone.
[Eisa] lies on the ground, its remaining mangled hand covering where its cockpit would be, protecting it in what little way it can.
We must have hit the pilot.
But it’s not a kill.
The onboard AI carries memories as much as the pilot - who may very well still be alive.
Qica and I would know.
We’ll need to drag it into a position where we can detonate its reactor from a safe distance.
We crest the ridge -
And its limb moves.
The cockpit is open.
[Eisa]’s pilot aiming their pistol.
At our chest.
And I remember.
Aiming our pistol where the pilot would be:
A mech’s chest.
My first encounter with [Eisa].
[Eisa] remembers.
Names don’t go quietly.
Without warning, Qica ejects us - right before the hypervelocity round tears through the body of our mech below us.
I free us from our ejection seat and Qica fires our jumpjets - just as another round annihilates the ejection seat.
And we fall toward the pilot.
And I draw our knife.
Qica fires another burst from our jumpjets -
And suddenly Qica is screaming again.
But we fall onto [Eisa]’s pilot.
Our knife
Above their heart -
A kid.
[Eisa]’s pilot is a kid.
We can feel [Eisa]’s mech scrabbling at its cockpit, trying to grab us, push us out.
But, with its mangled hand, it can’t find purchase.
The pilot’s eyes are wild, panicking.
They’re so young.
I wonder if they’re like me.
Money.
Transition.
Acceptance.
Who knows.
A kid.
For a border dispute.
Bortz-Actual is in our ear, asking us to respond, asking what happened, that our mech just flatlined.
Bortz-Six says something about debris, saw us eject, on the way.
Our hud shows Six approaching.
It also shows that we’re missing the lower halves of our legs.
Our suit is already compressing around the stumps.
Constricting the blood flow.
But it’s not enough.
We should have had strength and weight on our side.
But [Eisa]’s pilot is winning.
Pushing us back.
Reaching for their knife.
Six won’t make it in time.
We’re going to die here.
No.
Not yet.
Please.
Not yet.
They reach their knife -
And our jumpjets fire.
All at once, our knife is in their heart.
Qica.
Still screaming.
But still lucid this time.
And I reach and grab their hand with the knife and force it back down.
When a human’s heart stops, they don’t die right away.
But we only need to survive their death throes.
It’s only a matter of time.
They flail under us.
They struggle.
Slower now.
Slower.
Eyes.
Dilating.
[Eisa]’s mech
Still scrabbling at its cockpit.
We can hear it screaming.
Crying.
And
All of a sudden
The whine of a reactor going critical.
A self destruct sequence.
But not quick enough.
I push ourself out of the pilot’s limp arms.
And Qica fires our jumpjets.
And we soar.
High.
Far.
And [Eisa] detonates.
All this.
Over a border dispute.
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Monster Spotlight: Implacable Stalker
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+2 CR
Any creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher; usually an Outsider, Humanoid, or Monstrous Humanoid
Horror Adventures, pg. 238-239
Bit of a different one today; rather than a monster, this is actually a little review of a monster Template, something we’ve just barely spoken of on this blog, and often as one being offered as a reward for divine service. A Template is a bunch of stats and abilities that can be stapled onto any existing monster to give it some extra zing, doing everything from allowing a DM to give their favorite monster some new tactics to giving out new surprises to familiar monsters that every player thinks they know how to counter. Templates are great “plug and play” ways to add extra threat to an existing encounter, often doing in just 1 or 2 extra CR what would normally require 6 or 7 class levels. I highly recommend them!
Granted, the players suffering from recurring nightmares about their encounter with the Implacable Stalker likely won’t be as enthusiastic about the whole thing, but what were they expecting going to the Lake of Crystals, or buying property in Faddonhield? Really, it’s their fault.
Putting this under a cut because it got a little longer than I thought it would!
The Implacable Stalker Template turns any monster it’s slapped onto into the quintessential nigh-invincible slasher movie villain, giving them a pile of stats and skill bonuses (most notably +8 to Intimidation checks, which is important), an immense number of defensive abilities (DR 5/--! 10 points of Resistance to every element!!), and a bunch of tools that are literally Pathfinder translations of horror movie narrative convenience! What do I mean by that? Well, first off, do you know how in slasher movies, people seem to lose all semblance of problem solving ability once the killer is near? That’s displayed by the Stalker’s Fear Aura, which causes any and all creatures with 5 or less HD to automatically become frightened if they come within 60ft of the horror. A successful save doesn’t negate the fear entirely, causing them to become shaken instead. Any creature with more than 5 HD is slightly less afraid; success on their save renders them protected from the aura’s effects, and failure only causes them to become shaken. However, leaving and then re-entering the Stalker’s aura forces another save; there’s no 24 hour immunity! Don’t run away and come back to try and save anyone, you fool! Then again, the more likely scenario is that you run until you think you’re safe, only for it to eventually catch up.
It’ll take a while to do that, though. In a move I find hysterical but also fitting, a Stalker’s movespeed is dropped by 10ft (to a minimum of 20), so it always moves slower than a human running away from it at full speed, giving it the menacing yet inexorable stroll of famous killers... And just like Jason Voorhees in the increasingly terrible sequels, no matter how far away you get or how many barriers you put between yourself and the killer, as soon as no one’s looking at the Stalker it turns out it’s Right Behind You, having teleported upwards to 480ft to any point adjacent to a creature it’s aware of that’s suffering from any level of fear (shaken, frightened, or panicked). This teleportation is a swift action it can use every 1d6 rounds, allowing the Stalker to use its full attack against whatever victim it’s just jumpscared and more than likely ripping them to pieces.
To really set the mood for an Implacable Stalker, I recommend a DM place several disposable red-shirt NPCs along with the party, allowing them to be picked off one by one by the Stalker or taken out by its jumpscare. Make sure, however, that at least one of the deaths happens ‘on screen,’ i.e. where the party can see it, because the Stalker can use its swift action to put on a Gory Display every time it manages to slay a creature. This horrific showing of violence can either enhance the horror’s Str and Con for a short time, restore a chunk of HP to it, give it back one of its expended spell-likes... or cause a single creature within 60ft (which it doesn’t even have to be aware of) to lose any fear immunity it may have. This last one is important if you want it to be a real threat, because otherwise a Paladin or caster with Unbreakable Heart or a party with the humble Calm Emotions can ignore half the Implacable Stalker’s kit.
Circling back to the “horror movie narrative convenience” and combining it with “half the stalker’s kit,” we have the slasher’s ability to sniff out its victims no matter where they’re hiding, except in Pathfinder it’s called Sense Fear. This radius of 120ft detection allows the Stalker to precisely target the exact spot a creature suffering from any level of fear is hiding in, allowing it to teleport to them or threateningly trundle towards them... or pretend to have lost them, only to burst through whatever barrier they thought was safe. Sense Fear even works through most barriers, allowing the Stalker to wait on the other side of a wall to smash through it and grab anyone it finds.
And of course, slashers are always significantly stronger until the Final Girl finally gets over her fear and attacks it back... but until then, every additional character is just another point of weakness. The Implacable Stalker is already tremendously hard to put down, getting +6 Con from the Template, along with Toughness for even more extra HP and a jaw-dropping +6 extra natural armor, but the Terrifying Inevitability of the horror cranks it from “resilient” to “juggernaut” so long as it can see or hear a creature suffering any level of fear. Terrifying Inevitability doubles its insurmountable DR from 5 to 10, gives it an enormous amount of Spell Resistance (16 + its CR), and grants it Fast Healing equal to its Hit Dice, assuring the fearful fool it has at its mercy won’t deal any lasting damage, if they deal damage at all.
I’m recommending the Stalker template with the understanding that it has a VERY good chance of making an encounter unfun rather than exhilarating or terrifying, so use it very carefully, and don’t just drop it on players like a random encounter; build it up, make an environment and a whole setting for it, and make sure players have some method to escape it or finally, heroically fight back against it. Perhaps finding a scroll of Calm Emotions is what allows the party to turn the tides against it? Not only does the suppression of fear prevent the Stalker from turning up Right Behind You, but shuts off its Terrifying Inevitability and prevents it from detecting invisible or hiding creatures with Sense Fear, allowing the party to get the jump on it and finally kill it for good.
Just make sure you double-tap it. Like all good slashers, there’s always a chance it’ll get in one final jumpscare due to its Diehard feat! And worse, it may still live on via Nightmare Resurrection, haunting every victim who witnessed its death for weeks on end via terrifying, traumatic nightmares until they succeed three saves... or the Implacable Stalker comes back, returned to life and full health just in time for the sequel.
You can read more about it here.
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englishmagic · 7 months
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After @sillyshrimpfella suggested Disco Elysium tarot designs I haven’t been able to stop pondering it.
(Am I desperate to distract myself from terrible things in the world about which I can do nothing except “raise awareness” and donate money I don’t really have? …maybe)
It’s probably something that’s been done before, but here are my thoughts on the major arcana so far:
The Fool - Harry Du Bois. I was initially thinking the Magician for Harry, because of his effortless genius and creative mindset, but then I remembered the Fool, and… yeah. Naïveté, a fresh approach to the world, being ridiculous for better or worse - it’s all him, baby!
The Magician - Mega Rich Light Bending Guy. This one I am less certain of - I haven’t encountered him myself and I refuse to watch videos of it until I can make the check myself. I put him here because he does seem rather magical, but is he creative, talented, and an effortless genius? Unpredictable and unreliable? I really don’t know. Another person I was thinking of was Neha, she’s creative and industrious, but didn’t quite feel singular enough for the card, so I place her more as the Queen of Coins/Pentacles at the moment.
The High Priestess - Plaisance. She is a figure who (kind of) worships a higher power, and though she’s not really an oracle in the way that the card often represents, she’s a symbol of belief in the supra-natural in the forms of curses, entities, et cetera. Albeit in quite cheesy, culturally dicey ways.
The Empress - Joyce Messier. She presents feminine traditions and mannerisms, but also has a lot of institutional and traditional power as a representative of the capitalist world order.
The Emperor - Everart Claire. He’s a masculine-ish figure who uses his institutional power in the union to exert his influence on the world. Not physically imposing, but I don’t think that’s a requirement - he has a racist, a street gang, and an uncomfortable chair at his disposal where others would have fists to fight with.
The Hierophant - Dolores Dei. Yes, she’s the hierophant and not the priestess - Dolores is a figure of worship, not a worshipper, she represents organised faith rather than personal faith. You don’t have to stick 100% within the traditional genders for these cards.
The Lovers - Next World Mural. Self explanatory - I think that image would look good on a card too!
The Chariot - the Coupris Kineema. I like this because not only does it make sense sense to put a vehicle from the game on the chariot card, the sound of the Kineema is the journey from intro to gameplay, and this card is all about journeys!
Strength - Measurehead. Because… He’s strong. There’s not much more to this one; I’m happy to accept other ideas, especially since the card is usually a woman. Also, who or what would be the lion? Just… a picture of Jean-Luc Race Warrior wrestling a lion? …….actually what if this card depicted Samaran bear wrestling, that’s a fun alternative
The Hermit - Tiago the Crab Man. He is isolated by choice and strongly associated with philosophy. I was thinking the Deserter for this one originally, buttttt then I had a different idea for him.
Wheel of Fortune - the pleasure wheel. Visually fun. Also symbolically appropriate - the never-built attraction represents the investment gamble that didn’t pay off.
Justice - The Deserter. The card usually has a judge on it, dispensing retribution. The Deserter sees himself this way; he’s also a singular male figure with a “gavel” in the form of his rifle. Visually appropriate.
The Hanged Man - Lely Kortaneer. Because he is a hanged man. I wonder if he can be tied to the deeper meaning of the card through the “conversations” Harry has with him in his head, or simply through the fact that being dead he naturally has no agency?
Death - Working Class Corpse. This one is just sad. In some ways this death is more “death-y” than any other in the game, underlining how things, and people, can end abruptly and without warning. And his discovery is the end of an investigation, too.
Temperance - Washerwoman. Mainly a visual connection - she’s a woman with a container of water. The card could be her pouring washing water from one cup to another, and I think it would be a nice image.
The Devil - Cuno De Ruyter. He has given into vices already despite his young age, and he influences you to do the same. This is honestly one of the few places I consider a Fury could be a good choice for a card - Electrochemistry is basically the Devil personified.
The Tower - FELD R&D. A crumbling building where everything can quite easily go to shit - the tower is about things falling apart and potentially being rebuilt. The FALN employees fell apart - aka were executed - and Ruby is building something new in the ruins.
The Star - Klaasje Amandou. Kind of ironic to have her, a manipulator who’s always in control, on a card that represents leaving things to fate- but the visual of her hiding documents in the buoy really fits the traditional design of the card and could be adapted well, and while she’s not very up in the air herself, the skills all get up in the air while talking to her because of how you’re compromised by her beauty and charm. It’s not so much about where she finds herself, but where you find yourself in relation to her - unable to trust your own knowledge and defaulting to chance more often than you’d want.
The Moon - Insulindian Phasmid. It’s a mystery! Maybe it could be the crustacean in the design? Or it could be haloed by the moon the way Kim is haloed by the sun. I love the specification for the moon design in tarot so it does have to have two dogs and a crustacean for me to be happy.
The Sun - Kim Kitsuragi. Haloed by the sun. A new dawn. A new lease on life. This is what he represents to Harry.
Judgement - the Tribunal/Krenel. A tribunal is a court event, a judgement of sorts, and the event is a moment of dire consequence in the game. The mercenaries lining up like the angels on judgement day would also make a cool visual.
The World - Elysium. Self explanatory, I think? The image would be the world broken apart, with the isolas emerging from the pale.
For the minor arcana I’ve not got a lot of opinions - Lillienne the Netpicker as Queen of Swords for no deeper reason than the fact that she has a sword, Annette as Page of Coins/Pentacles because she’s a bright and precocious child… The cups would have a lung design on them, maybe? I really hope someone else has Thoughts about this because I would like to visualise the entire thing in my mind until I inevitably try to draw it and ruin my enthusiasm when I remember that my art skills do not match my ambition in this area 😂
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dimensional-tourist · 7 months
Text
"No waking up can possibly happen as long as that hanging on to a 'me' is there. Going to satsang and asking all kinds of questions about the spiritual theory you're working on, or about healing the injured self, or about gaining more insight, is all quite useless, and from this perspective incomprehensible. "So-called self-realization is the discovery for yourself and by yourself that there is no self to discover. That will be a very shocking thing.
- "Why the hell have I wasted all my life?' It's a shocking thing because it's going to destroy every nerve, every cell, even the cells in the marrow of your bones. I tell you, it's not going to be an easy thing.... You have to become completely disillusioned, then the truth begins to express itself in its own way." (U.G. Krishnamurti)
If you're going to ‘do’ anything, do this. First, figure out whether this waking up, this enlightenment is really something you want. Do you really want to die? Do you really want for 'you' not to exist; and for living to continue, if it does, not as who you know and love as yourself but as a hollow husk with impersonal Consciousness blowing through it?
If this is what you want (how can you possibly?) then you are talking about waking up from the false dream of individuality, and then you can proceed. Your thinking, your praying, your meditating, your asking questions at satsang, whatever you 'do,' will be with the realization that what you think you are is illusory, and with the intent of exploding, obliterating, that illusion called 'you.'
Can you 'do' this? Of course not; 'you' is a dream character following its role in the dream. But who knows what that role calls for? If that role calls for this character to wake up, then it has to start somewhere, and the character may find itself engaging in things that will ultimately bring about its own death. Not physical death. These are disposable containers; look around, they're being recycled constantly. Rather, real death, as real as death gets. Death of the one who cares.
If you decide that what you really want is something other than this complete and ultimate 'waking up,' then bless you. Have a wonderful life; enjoy the incredible edible banquet of material and spiritual and psychological and New Age goodies that are out there. Grow and expand and change and develop and improve your life immeasurably; evolve and become more mature and deeper and wiser and more beautiful. Discover your higher self and your higher purpose and fulfill them. I mean this absolutely sincerely; and even, I notice, with a touch of delicious wistfulness from what's left of the David thing. This is not in any way some kind of second class status; there is no such thing. Take what the dream has to offer; that's what the dream's there for, to be enjoyed. Consciousness only enjoys it, only perceives it at all, through the dream characters, and there have to be some through which can be experienced enjoyment of the whole panoply of the spiritual marketplace.”
David Carse
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yanderes-galore · 2 years
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for scp, are we allowed to rp the docs? cause if so, can i ask for yam dr. bright? maybe the darling is someone whos got no connection to the scp foundation, yet he somehow found ‘em?
Dr Bright is an exception because he's an SCP himself/hj
Concept as not specified.
Yandere! Dr. Bright with Darling not part of the SCP foundation
Concept
Pairing: Romantic/Platonic
Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Mentioned death, Selfish behavior, Forced relationship.
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- You being found by Bright while not being part of the SCP Foundation would be rare but not impossible.
- The Doctor himself is essentially an anomaly ever since he got in contact with SCP-963.
- He can make infinite clones of his consciousness by just having people touch the amulet he has.
- I theorize Bright collects knowledge somewhat through these clones if they have the amulet to make this concept work even if it's not canon.
- As Doctor Bright is... himself, a clone might have gotten out of the foundation somehow.
- The foundation is quick to hunt it down as breaches can happen, but not before Bright finds you.
- Bright has some issues with growing attached to others due to his immortality.
- Yet when he meets you he forgets that for just a moment.
- He forgot just how wonderful outside the foundation is.
- It's only like this because of what they do, but Bright does miss it just a bit.
- It's a pain to him when he realizes this clone will be disposed of just like the others once they find him.
- He won't have much of a chance to see you again if he dies here.
- This leads to Bright becoming your friend along with being on the run from the foundation.
- He goes by a fake name, changes his appearance, etc.
- The reason all his clones will remember you is because the one that met you had the amulet on them.
- You are completely clueless that this new friend of yours is actually some anomaly who is on the run from a secret foundation keeping Earth safe.
- Bright also hides the amulet from you, too.
- You never know just who will be a spy for the foundation....
- It's not like he's malicious or anything, either!
- He's still getting work done at the foundation through one clone, while this one is staying by you!
- Jack Bright hates how the foundation demonizes him and his family....
- He doesn't plan on using his immortality for anything evil!
- Except for... the little experiments he does with SCPs but-
- Those are just for fun!
- Bright may develop his obsession with you when his runaway clone hangs out with you.
- Yet it may intensify if he is eventually killed.
- The amulet is safely recovered and given to a new host once all others hosts are gone.
- Bright still has the memory of you which makes him think of you a lot.
- You may have no connection to the foundation... but Bright is high enough in power to try and manipulate you into the foundation.
- He misses you... while you two may not be in the outside world, you can stay here.
- Bright will make sure you're brought in as a D-Class, witness to an anomaly, or an anomaly yourself with some convincing of higher-ups.
- Then he'll place you under his care with a smile.
- He calls you in to meet him, standing in front of you in his new host and lab coat.
- A strangely familiar grin is on his face when he looks at you.
- "Nice to see you again, (Y/N)! We've met before, I'm known as Dr. Bright here, but you may know me as [Fake Name]."
- Wrapping your head around Bright's existence is a difficult task for you.
- Then again the existence of this foundation is hard to comprehend, too.
- What may scare you the most is why you were brought here.
- You were brought here because the friend you met, Dr. Bright, couldn't bear to go back here without you.
- With no consideration for you, Bright drags you into this hell for personal feelings.
- If you never met him you wouldn't be here.
- However, he promises no harm will come to you as long as he's here!
- Dr. Bright will be here for a long time, too.
- "Trust me, the foundation can be fun once you get used to it! Plus, I'm here! I'll be sure all your needs are met just as long as you don't leave me here alone. You'll do that for me, won't you?"
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cheemscakecat · 3 months
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Detroit become Rebooted: PL600
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The PL600 line was one of the earliest android models sold to regular civilians. Cyberlife was looking to expand its market past medical assisting androids due to insurance red tape and the higher cost of androids with those care features.
In order save on production, the male and female androids were built with 80s and 90s style matte plastic and minimal internal mechanisms. The androids were ball jointed like art dolls, with tubes of blue blood stringing them together.
They were designed with removable hair cosmetics like Polly pockets or Mr potato head dolls, and themed around retro nostalgia. Inevitably, a rich couple purchased a male PL600 with the designation Daniel to babysit their young daughter.
The couple were casual about replacing older electronics in their home with no regard to repairability, deep cleaning or conservation. It was no surprise that they raised their daughter to have a similar disposable consumption mindset.
She liked Daniel, but other kids had newer models with cooler clothing accessories. And her parents never bothered to deep clean its removable exoskeleton over the years they owned the android. That nostalgic plastic did what it does best; discolor and gather grit and dust. Eventually, they decided to just dump Daniel at a Cyberlife store and pick up a new, fresh model for Emma.
She was in middle school, and had gotten a little tired of the male PL600’s 90s, 4-pack of crayon inspired colors. She had so many more android models and accessories to choose from to match her favorite color; pink. Unbeknownst to the family, the worn and outdated android found the Cyberlife online order they had placed.
TW: Fictional child hostage situation. Android death.
The RK800 police prototype was brought in to assist with a hostage situation in a high class apartment. It was the first time it had ever dealt with a defective android. And the first time a glitch had led to a civilian android killing a human. The father was dead, the mother was hysterical and outraged at the sight of another “metal monster”, and the little girl was precariously balanced on the ledge of the roof at gunpoint.
RK800 had dealt with human hostage situations, but not as the negotiator. Sometimes it was appropriate to shout instructions to criminals, but the prototype did not have experience with pacifying someone like this. The human Swat team was on edge and snapping at this Connor model to hurry up.
It gathered all the evidence it could, and used it to try to calm the android.
————————
Daniel didn’t really want to shoot Emma, or throw her off a building. But he was trapped, and these humans thought so little of androids that he knew he needed her as insurance. Another android came out of the ruined home. It had one strange black eye and was less geometric than him. And the fancy replacement, too. It was customized with something like the police uniforms he saw when he shot the first few.
He hoped this was their last idea before they’d give up and let him leave. He might run out of battery at this rate.
This Conner guy started talking to him with information he shouldn’t have. He didn’t like how much this fancy stranger knew about him. There was something wrong with his voice. It sounded too much like the angry human police that tried to yell instructions at him. Did all new androids sound like this? Did the humans get tired of soft voices and obedience, too? They were sure shallow enough.
But then again, this stranger was another android. Maybe he could help. Daniel was pretty light, and the longer he stood on the ledge, the worse the chances of him falling off. And/or taking Emma with him. He didn’t want to stay there if he could get help. If he could just get this Connor to direct the humans away…
He let go of Emma, who ran a foot or two away and fell on the deck in relief. He looked at Connor and waited for his end of the deal. Funny, the police android didn’t have eyebrows.
And then the humans shot him in the torso, taking off a fat chunk and cracking his brittle shell. Then they shot him in the arm joint, which snapped the blue-blood tether in his arm. It detached with no tether, but he didn’t get the time to watch the gush of blue liquid or his hand falling to the street below. They shot him in the cheek, and the left side of his mouth mechanism broke. His jaw was left hanging on for dear life on his rubber lip.
Even with his outdated sensors, Daniel knew he was dying. He lost too much blue-blood. With the last of his energy, he called to the police’s little toy. Another stupid new plaything to be used and used until his fancy white skin and blue paint job got stained with blood and scratches. Until they found something shiny and new to replace him, until he knew what it felt like.
“You lied to me Connor. You lied to me-“
——————
Alternate ending
Connor’s best effort wasn’t helping. Daniel was highly unstable, and got agitated enough to shoot at it. The bullet hit Connor in the middle of its forehead and the force popped the faceplates off. Guns were the reason why it had a divided upper faceplate, though this was a design flaw that needed to be remedied. A bullet from so far away should dent the faceplate and fall to the ground without hurting police, not send the outer shell flying off.
RK800 paused for a moment due to the unexpected design flaw, took note of it, then looked at PL600 again. The deviant blinked at him in simulated surprise and started rambling about fancy new toys. “How did that not work? They really want a toy that outlives them?” The girl squirmed uncomfortably, which had the unwanted effect of reminding it that it had a hostage.
Daniel laughed, it’s faulty code causing it to simulate human hysteria as Connor was alerted to what was about to happen. It bolted for the ledge as the deviant leaned back. Connor was just in time to grab the human girl, turn mid-fall, and throw her into the swimming pool for minimal injury.
The Swat captain paused after the poor little kid was pulled from the water and getting treated. He looked over the edge of the Skyscraper, thinking about what that police android just did. As much as that creepy thing put him on edge, he had to admit that its reaction time was just enough to save the day. Oh well, it wasn’t human. He had someone more important to focus on.
Cyberlife added a note to the list of goals for the RK900; fix upper faceplate design, pressure point flaw.
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just-rogi · 1 year
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Are you Marxist?
Right now I’m a teacher- and I know that isn’t the answer that you wanted but listen-
Ideologically I don’t care what we call it, I will support my kids getting food every day and my classroom being funded so the kids can have the materials they need.
I will support any programs that complete fund public transportation, and which will actually put roofs over the heads of the people I pass on the street every day. I support the radical dismantling of government programs like the military and the police and the redistribution of those funds. I support the private dismantling of monopolies and large corporations hoarding wealth and food and homes.
I support not having to work myself to the bone every single week- coming home so dead tired that I fall asleep in my work clothes at 7:30 because I feel my body breaking from the five day/ eight hour work week. I support the death of the landlord class and the model, by which, a public City of Boston employee who works 40 hours a week for the city can’t afford to actually LIVE in the city on my salary (I have four roomates)
I support the complete reconstruction of the Forster care system, which in many cases takes children from loving parents for lack of funding, rather than just giving the parents access to food and clothes and a home to call their own and raise their children in. As wealth isn’t an indicator of morality and responsibility, and certainly not a reason to separate children from families who love them.
I support free and accessible educational for the brilliant black and brown children I see every day who have been barred from higher education due to the costs of privatized education- I support the fully funded public schools, community centers, libraries, and museums as safe spaces for all people of all ages to go, as knowledge should never be only accessible to a certain class.
I support gutting the private medical and pharmaceutical industry and instead building up public healthcare in which people will have access to medication which they desperately need without having to pay thousands of dollars. Where people can access mental health care, elder care and senior homes drug and alcohol abuse care (and yes that includes safe sites to dispose of sharps, and inject drugs without fear of dirty needles and ODing I know for whatever reason people can’t stomach that one) , rehabilitation for addiction, mental illness, and eating disorder without being in crippling debt for life. As a kid I had to ration my inhaler as they were close to $100 USD each. As an adult I want to make sure that no child - or person in general- has to do that with something that they NEED.
Everyone deserves to live in comfort and dignity, and no one man or company should have the power to sway politics or hoard property, food, or medication while the people are in need of care.
I have read a little bit about communist theory, and know all The Hits (hello communist manifesto), and yeah ideologically I suppose I agree with a lot of it on the surface level, but frankly I’ve read a LOT more about Socio Emotional Leaning, and teaching phonetics to ELL students, and textbooks on Ancient Civ as that is how I spend my whole day.
It would be arrogant and ignorant to call myself a Marxist, as I am know knowledgeable enough about the difference between Marxism, or Marxist Leninism, or Maoism, or all the nuances between the different communist and socialist political and ideological movements. And frankly, at this point in my life I don’t care about the label that you use- I care that food gets on my kids lunch trays and that they all have a warm bed to go home to and a place to learn and all their health needs met. Weather that is achieved by voting or by revolution, I don’t care. Weather it’s the marxists that get it done or the Maoist’s, I don’t care. Fuck if the Democrats were advocating for all that I’d be first in line to the polls (though even now please still vote, both in national and local elections- not voting is used to silence you and is a tool of the oppressor).
I really honestly don’t know shit about anything, and it would be sooooo much easier to give you a sound bite and respond “FUCK YEAH MARXISM BASED!!!!” With gif of a hammer and sickle flag…. But that feels reductive and unrepresentative as I honestly and truly am not intelligent enough about the subject to talk about it at length. What I am knowledgeable enough about is working full time in public education in a low income school. And working for a non profit organization in rural communities. And volunteering to get my boots dirty doing non profit work during what little free time I have. I know a lot about the world that I WANT to make better and if Marxism can get it’s shit together all the better- but a revolution WONT just be peacefully standing around discussing ideology. It starts in your classrooms and food banks and your streets. So I suggest that any real Marxist get themselves a pair of practical shoes.
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I understand that the solution to political corruption isn't "political corruption, but for our side this time," but I'm surprised that that has never been weaponized by our side before. Their side packs courts and rigs juries to throw political opponents in jail, or they simply send armed goons to mow them down and have the courts decide that it's okay for armed goons to do that, but our side never fights dirty like they do. The Department of Justice has infinite resources at its disposal and could theoretically lock anyone it wants in a dark hole for the rest of their miserable lives "without the right of correspondance," but it never goes after big fish, only easy minnows. If and when Republicans take back power, do you think they're gonna show restraint? People were getting blackbagged into windowless vans in 2020! We are a few years away from "free helicopter rides," and the people with the power to prevent that from happening are afraid to do anything, lest they invite retaliation later. Our side doesn't want to throw its weight around, but their side will not hesitate to crush us like fucking bugs.
It is so easy for the powers that be to destroy the lives of normal people, but they never destroy the lives of the higher ups. The masses live in fear, while the few sit back and relax because they know they're untouchable. They violate and strip away our rights like they're nothing, but they never do that to anyone important. The upper classes are completely insulated, protected from the repercussions of their own actions. Look at today's Supreme Court ruling; they decided that the 4th Amendment doesn't apply within 100 miles of a border or coast. The feds can break into your home to search and seize whatever they want, because 6 rightwing nutjobs decided that living within 100 miles of an entrance into the country counts as probable cause. 60% of the country lives in that strip, including the entire state of Florida, most of California, and a large swathe of Texas, but do you think anyone who deserves to be raided will be, or do you think they'll use it as an excuse to go after more minnows? Feds could raid Mar-a-lago TODAY, but they never will because they ultimately don't want to. And let's not forget Breonna Taylor, where conservatives agreed that cops can just kill anyone they want with no repercussions as long as they claim it was an accident after the fact; "we broke into the wrong house and murdered an innocent woman, but we can't be punished because we totally didn't mean to do it. It was nobody's fault! Shit happens." How many more innocent people are going to have their homes ransacked and get murdered because it's not illegal unless you can prove what the gunman was thinking? How many activists will be gunned down by cops who can hide behind the bulletproof excuse of "whoops, wrong address?" It'll never happen to a guilty person. No cops will ever storm a governor's mansion or a congressman's beach house. No senators will ever have their necks knelt on. No billionaire sex traffickers or their clients will ever have their rights violated (except when it threatens to reveal information on another billionaire; Epstein didn't kill himself).
No white guys have ever been sentenced to death by an all black jury.
Justice is a myth.
I'm so tired.
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jellygauge12 · 2 years
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Furniture Removal - The Facts
How a lot does it set you back to haul off scrap? What's the worth of this waste that folks take home? And how does A Reliable Source as a whole?". The solution: In a culture where a well-educated workforce pays workers nothing (the average U.S. laborer) earnings that have increased for additional than a many years, but not for additional than two years, it's the center training class – not the mid class as a whole. The normal expense to haul away scrap is $150, though this rate can be assumed to vary between around $75 and $375, depending on several elements. Many outlets, and also many federal government ones, pay extremely higher costs for recycling. Along with scrap, however, recycling is always expensive, and is generally simply accessible for recyclables that are "recyclable," implying that your building gets the same volume of recycling that you acquire for some other stuff, such as newspaper towels. The first variable is the volume of junk gotten rid of. This has actually to carry out with how a lot of extra pieces of plastic have been added to the item at once and on how swiftly or hard the products are taken out. This was an excellent concern. For most styles of junk-producing material, it's reasonably effortless to come up along with something that isn't simply cosmetic. When you're trying to generate something that is the perfect appeal plastic, you need to have to begin by removing as a lot as you want. The majority of junk removal companies ask for by the truckload, and most household projects only require loading up part of a truckload. The complete expense of cleaning the truckload is frequently $30 per quart, which is pricey for the building and construction and maintenance of houses and the cleansing of the entire truckload. Several areas, particularly at lower cost, will certainly pay for the full cost of the companies. Thus urban areas like Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, San Francisco, Dallas and Houston like to maintain prices low. Yet another factor is the style of junk. The U.S. authorities has consistently been recognized for creating excuses for making use of medicines to deal with its substance addiction complication. But currently it's the second very most popular medication in the world after alcohol, it's produced at a shocking fee and is the country's most powerful. It's one of the leading awesomes of American children, accounting for an astonishing 88 percent of deaths in 2010. People who use it can't live long, so it has been disallowed by the U. E-waste like computer systems and TVs might set you back more to dispose of, as will certainly a lot more dangerous products like mercury, paint and used electric motor oil. The brand-new file also looks at how a small organization can easily reduce visibility to harmful materials made use of in manufacturing. The report encourages business adhere to specific policies for decreasing visibility so that there would be no threat of environmental danger, or of the threatening health of workers or citizens. But that need to not be observed as anything else than a recommendation. It also may cost even more to eliminate significant items like beds and chairs. The residence would after that have to be rebuilt at a later day. After that, he asserts, there is actually no odds of always keeping it coming from the federal government, which are going to have to pay for £1,800 for the whole entire expense. A Home Trust customer review after being asked concerning what he assumed of the record has located a significant lack of progression. To discover out how much it are going to cost to get clear of your junk, obtain free of charge quotes from the best scrap elimination companies near you. Here are some instances: It goes without saying that finding a brand new body is much more pricey than you think. The majority of junk is discovered within a fraction of a kilometer of your residence or workplace. A great deal of junk is located in warehouses and vehicle program. Bondage bills happen in at $9.10 to $10.40. How do you prep for scrap removal? When chatting regarding how to clean up your vehicle, a lot of individuals get baffled about what constitutes junk. Most perhaps all the time, we're going to chat concerning what makes up gunk. Don't confuse dirt with scrap through presuming scrap is filthy. That doesn't imply it isn't just gunk. When you're chatting about utilizing it to clean up the automobile, it's also worse. It might look like something you're going to make use of to clean up your automobile.
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To prepare for junk elimination, begin by listing all the things you need to get clear of. This has actually to be performed in a distinct part as this method takes a little even more opportunity than you would wish to get clear of something because of numerous requirements in my scenario, such as things that demand cleaning. Some things might call for cleaning but you have to take treatment of the items through performing the items themselves, at that point that has to be done by the retailer. Organize your checklist through which items are proper for the scrap collection group and which might have some resell worth or might be given away. Listing in Google Scholar or Kaggle. Your list may be arranged by items used in your junk selection. Sort through things on your scrap compilation listing. This assists you to better pinpoint the items that are very most requirement or you might not possess a certain goal you are trying to accomplish. Don't put duplicate items in your listing. Relocate by means of your house and attacked problem places like wardrobes, attic rooms and cellars. Locate out what works and what carries outn't. In our review of CVS, the CVS Medical Center was one of numerous large, effective, financially rewarding medical-device business that had become the key competitions of their customers. The target was to have 100 medical professionals working edge by side on a specific item and to come to be the main series for the firm.
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pathfinderunlocked · 2 years
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Mind Weaver - CR5 Mesmerist
“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the spider to the fly.
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Artwork by Ume on Pixiv.  I recolored it (badly) to match the typical skin coloration of driders.
An intrigue enemy for you this time.
The Mind Weaver is a drider mesmerist who works as an assassin, using charm spells, manipulation, or seduction to lure her targets into solitude before killing them.  And sometimes eating them to dispose of the evidence.
Your players aren’t likely to immediately find out that this drider is actually a drider unless they grapple her or something.  If someone tries to do something like pick her up or hug her while she’s in disguise, she freaks out and claims that she doesn’t like being touched (which gives the target a will save to disbelieve).  Her reaction is understandable, on account of the permanent visual-only illusion effect created by Fearsome Guise that makes her look like an elf.  Fearsome Guise has a minor fear effect when dismissed, but that’s not nearly as useful as an infinite-duration Disguise Self spell, so she only dismisses it if she’s already in an unavoidable fight to the death.
It’s not typically legal for Disguise Self to make an aberration look like an elf, since it can’t change your creature type.  To remedy this problem, she has a unique magic item, the Ring of Mistaken Identity.  This ring increases her wealth to about 7000 GP higher than what a CR 5 NPC is supposed to have, so if that bothers you, remove the ring and tell your players that she can turn into an elf because of a unique template she has.
She casts Misdirection on herself each day, replacing her auras with those of a log, and also has a wand of Greater Magic Aura which she uses to hide all magic auras on her body and make her appear as if she has no magical abilities or effects.  Misdirection has a DC 17 Will save, but Greater Magic Aura has no saving throw when cast on a creature, so while someone can pretty easily figure out she’s evil by overcoming Misdirection’s saving throw, they probably won’t ever detect the Fearsome Guise illusion or her ring without very powerful magic.
She avoids fair fights, and prefers to kill her targets one-on-one in seclusion before they realize that she’s an enemy.  If forced into a larger fight, she’ll use her mind-affecting spells to cause mayhem, and then attempt to flee while her allies deal with the problem.  She casts Stricken Heart only as a last resort against a foe that won’t let her surrender and is immune to her mind-affecting spells.
Like all of my NPCs, I’ve included simplified descriptions of many of her class features.  I also left a few things out that a mesmerist technically gets as options, but that this NPC would never use.
She’s using the playable drider race stats from the advanced race guide, not the original drider stats from Bestiary I.  This makes her one CR weaker, but mesmerists have a lot of unique abilities, and she didn’t need to be any more complicated than she already is.
Mind Weaver - CR 5
Drider Mesmerist 5 CE Large aberration Init +3 Senses darkvision (60 ft); Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +2 natural, -1 size) hp 41 (5d8+20) Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +8 (+6 if affected by non-harmless emotion spell) SR 16
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.; Climb 20 ft. Melee dagger +2 (1d4/19-20 plus drow poison (DC 13)) or unarmed +2 (1d3) Ranged mwk hand crossbow +6 (1d4/19-20 plus drow poison (DC 13)) (30 ft. range increment) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks fearsome guise, hypnotic stare, painful stare, reflect fear, touch treatment
Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +10)     2nd level (3/day)—misdirection (DC 18), shamefully overdressed (DC 19), stricken heart (DC 17)     1st level (6/day)—charm person (DC 18), innocence, murderous command (DC 18), unnatural lust (DC 18)     0th level (at will)—detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound, mage hand, message, prestidigitation
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 20 Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 17 (29 vs. trip) Feats Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (illusion) Skills Bluff +15, Climb +8, Disable Device +6, Disguise +13 (+23 with fearsome guise), Diplomacy +13, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +5 Languages Common, Elven, Halfling, Undercommon SQ towering ego, undersized equipment Gear mwk hand crossbow, 5 bolts poisoned with drow poison, dagger poisoned with drow poison, spider silk bodysuit, ring of mistaken identity, wand of greater magic aura (20 charges), oil of dispel magic, potion of cure moderate wounds, concealable thieves’ tools, drow poison x3, vial of blood from an elven woman, 55 gp
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Drow Poison (Ex) Hand crossbow or dagger—injury; save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 2 minutes; Initial Effect: Unconsciousness for 1 minute; Secondary Effect: Unconsciousness for 2d4 hours; Cure 1 save.
Fearsome Guise (Su) As a standard action, the mind weaver can give herself a fearsome guise.  A veil of illusion makes the mind weaver appear to be someone else and then transform into a hideous monster at an opportune time.
While the fearsome guise is active, the mind weaver’s appearance is altered, as disguise self. The mind weaver can dismiss this effect as a free action when she attacks a creature. The illusory appearance briefly makes her appear monstrous, then ends. The mind weaver attempts an Intimidate check to demoralize the target of the triggering attack. The restrictions on attempts to demoralize a target (the target being within 30 feet and able to see and hear the creature attempting the Intimidate check) apply.
This is an illusion (glamer) effect. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a DC 17 Will save to recognize it as an illusion. The mind weaver typically keeps Fearsome Guise active at all times, disguising herself as a very attractive elven woman (using her Ring of Mistaken Identity to appear as a humanoid instead of an aberration). Reflect Fear (Su) As a standard action, the mind weaver can give herself or another creature the ability to reflect fear.  While this effect is active, whenever the subject is affected by a fear effect or is the target of an Intimidate check to demoralize her, as a free action the mind weaver can suppress the fear effect for 1d4 rounds, and any creature that caused this effect must succeed at a Will save or become shaken for 1 round. This ends the Reflect Fear effect.
Undersized Equipment (Ex) Although a drider is Large, its upper torso is the same size as that of a Medium humanoid’s upper torso.  As a result, driders use weapons and armor one size category smaller than their actual size.
Touch Treatment (Su) 7 times per day, the mind weaver can remove either the fascinated or shaken condition from a target with a touch. Using the ability is a standard action (or a swift action if the mind weaver uses it on herself).
Hypnotic Stare (Su) The mind weaver can focus her stare on one creature within 30 feet as a swift action. That creature takes a –2 penalty on Will saving throws and damage rolls.
The mind weaver can maintain her stare against only one opponent at a time; it remains in effect until she stares at a new target, the opponent dies, the opponent moves farther than 30 feet away, or the mind weaver falls unconscious or dies. The target doesn’t realize that it is being affected.
The hypnotic stare is a psychic effect, and relies more on the mind weaver’s focus than the target’s perception of her stare. It can’t be avoided in the same ways a gaze attack can. The mind weaver can use this ability even while blinded, but must succeed at a DC 20 concentration check to do so. The penalties from multiple mesmerists’ stares don’t stack, nor do they stack with penalties from witches’ evil eye hexes. This is a mind-affecting effect.
Painful Stare (Su) Once per round, when an attack that deals damage hits the target of the mind weaver’s hypnotic stare, the mind weaver can cause the target to take 2 additional damage.  If the mind weaver uses this ability to increase her own damage, the additional damage increases by 1d6. This damage is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit.
Towering Ego (Su) The mind weaver gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus on Will saving throws. If the mind weaver is under any effect that would prevent her from providing the emotional component of psychic spells, she loses this bonus on saving throws. This bonus is already factored into her statistics.
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seemabhatnagar · 3 months
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Compassionate appointments are meant to ease the financial burden of losing a loved one, not to reward the dependent with a higher post
Compassionate appointments are meant to ease the financial burden of losing a loved one, not to reward the dependent with a higher post.
Arpit Shukla v. State of UP & 4 Others
W.P. 193444/2023
Before Allahabad High Court
Disposed of on
By Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manoj Tewari J
Facts
Father of petitioner was working as Class-IV employee at Nagar Palika Parishad, Faridpur, Bareilly. During the course of service, father of petitioner died on 31.7.2022.
After his death, petitioner submitted an application for appointment as Class-III employee on compassionate ground, which was rejected.
Petitioner has filed an application before the District Magistrate upon which ADM has sought instruction from the respondent DM.
In the letter dt. 26.09.23, it was mentioned that no post is vacant for Class-III employee.
Further in light of Government Order dated 17.6.2014, dependent of deceased has no right to claim particular position or place.
It is the discretion of appointing authority to pass appropriate order warranted in the facts and circumstance of the case.
Letter dated 26.9.2023 was not communicated to the petitioner, but coming to know that his claim has been rejected, he has challenged the same by filing present petition.
Petitioner relied on Rule 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Recruitment of Dependents of Government Servants Dying in Harness Rules, 1974 and submitted that petitioner is entitled for appointment on the post for which he is having qualification.
Petitioner relied on the case of Smt. Premlata vs. State of U.P. and others 2nd Appeal Defective 620/2018 & Sushma Gosain vs. Union of India reported in 1989 (4) SCC 468
Submission of the Counsel for the State
In the light of Government Order dated 17.6.2014, petitioner has no right to claim particular post.
Apex Court has reversed the judgment passed in the case of Smt. Premlata v. State of U.P. and others with specific finding that mere qualification cannot be a ground for appointment on higher post than the post held by the deceased employee.
Under such facts and interpretation made by Apex Court, petitioner is not entitled for appointment on Class-III post on compassionate ground.
Observation of the Court
The post of Class IV which was available in the light of Government Order dated 17.6.2014, was offered to the petitioner, which was refused by petitioner only on the ground that he is having higher qualification.
Law of land is that legal heir cannot be given appointment on compassionate ground to a post higher than the post held by the deceased employee.
Therefore, in light of interpretation of Rule 5 of Rules 1974 made by the Apex Court as well as this Court, petitioner is not entitled for the post of Class-III on compassionate ground.
Seema Bhatnagar
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emaanderson · 1 year
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Automotive Cockpit Electronics Market Future Estimations and forecast for 2033
Growing sales of passenger and luxury cars are anticipated to promote the growth of global automotive cockpit electronics market and help to attain revenue of USD 70 Billion by 2033.
New York – October 10, 2022 – The recent market research analysis of “Automotive Cockpit Electronics Market: Global Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2033” by Research Nesterdelivers an in-depth competitors analysis and a detailed overview of the global automotive cockpit electronics market in terms of market segmentation by product type, application, vehicle type and by region over the forecast period, i.e., 2023-2033.
Further, for the in-depth analysis, the report encompasses the industry growth indicators, restraints, supply and demand risk, along with detailed discussion on current and future market trends that are associated with the growth of the global automotive cockpit electronics market. These analyses help organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future. Additionally, the growth opportunities exposed by the market is poised to gain significant momentum in the next few years.
Automotive cockpit electronics market to find numerous growth opportunities on the back of increasing sales of autonomous driving cars, finds Research Nester
The global automotive cockpit electronics market is estimated to grow majorly on account of the increasing road accident fatalities. For instance, more than 2.28 million people were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2020, a higher number than in 2019. A total of 38,824 road deaths were reported in the United States in 2020. Moreover, consumer preference for in-dash navigation systems, a growing trend to integrate smart devices into automobiles, as well as an increasing need for enhanced user experiences and convenience features, as well as the tendency of consumers toward enhanced driving experiences coupled with an increase in disposable income is anticipated to fuel market growth over the forecast period.
The global automotive cockpit electronics market is segmented on the basis of vehicle type into passenger car, luxury car and commercial vehicles. The passenger car segment is to garner the highest revenue by the end of 2033 by growing at a significant CAGR over the forecast period owing to an increase in automobile electronics integration coupled with a surge in vehicle sales worldwide. It was observed that by 2021, the number of passenger cars sold will reach 55 million. This represents a significant increase over the past two years. Consumers are becoming more interested in connected vehicles and autonomous vehicles. Automobiles of the future are expected to feature more advanced features that will reduce the performance gap between traditional vehicles and the vehicles of the future.
By region, the Region Name automotive cockpit electronics market is to generate the highest revenue by the end of 2033. This growth is anticipated by the rapid growth of the automobile market in the region. For instance, the Indian passenger car market is expected to grow by 8.8% per year between 2021 and 2027 to reach USD 54 billion. In addition, the automotive cockpit market in the region is expected to grow in the near future, owing to the presence of major automobile companies, the increasing middle-class population, and the expansion of the automotive industry.
The research is global in nature and covers detailed analysis on the automotive cockpit electronics market in North America (U.S., Canada), Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg, NORDIC [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark], Poland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Middle East and Africa (Israel, GCC [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman], North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa). In addition, analysis comprising of global automotive cockpit electronics market size, Y-O-Y growth & opportunity analysis, market players’ competitive study, investment opportunities, demand for future outlook etc. has also been covered and displayed in the research report.
This report also provides the existing competitive scenario of some of the key players of the global automotive cockpit electronics market which includes company profiling of Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung, Alpine Electronics Inc, Panasonic Corporation, Continental AG Garmin Ltd, DENSO CORPORATION, Harman International Industries Inc, Clarion Company Ltd, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., The profiling enfolds key information of the companies which encompasses business overview, products and services, key financials and recent news and developments. On the whole, the report depicts detailed overview of the global automotive cockpit electronics market that will help industry consultants, equipment manufacturers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.    
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