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dancingamongstdust · 3 years

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MHA Scenarios - First Meeting (Part 4)

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Shigaraki

You hadn’t meant to cause that level of destruction. It was an accident.

But they hadn’t seen it that way.

Their words followed you even when they could not. You could hear the accusations ringing in your head whenever you used your quirk – for better, or for worse. It became easier to ignore as you slowly learned to stop caring.

Until your quirk went out of control again.

You woke up in a dark room with a pounding headache and exhausted limbs. The doctor who was looking after you (a man you were relatively certain had no actual medical knowledge) had gotten very close and asked how much you remembered. When you informed him that it wasn’t much, he had smiled.

“Well, you certainly drew attention to yourself,” he had laughed. “Perhaps you should consider yourself lucky that the heroes didn’t get to you first.”

“I guess so…”

Something warned you that this situation was more dangerous than it seemed. Your eyes drifted over the covered windows of the room and you stared at the door. “Why did you help me?”

“Well that’s hardly for me –“

He didn’t get a chance to answer before you dashed for the exit. The doctor’s quirk didn’t allow him to grab you and his alarmed shout was all you heard before you were darting down the hallway. You weren’t going to stick around and get experimented on.

You turned the corner, heart pounding in your chest. They must have given you something because you felt drowsy. The entire world was spinning.

But you had to nearly trip yourself up to avoid running directly into somebody as you sprinted down a different hallway.

This was hardly your first time dealing with villains and many of them had odd quirks, to say the least. It shouldn’t have shocked you to see somebody with a human hand on their face but maybe the medication was lowering your tolerance because it was terrifying.

“Who are you?” you snapped out, immediately on the defense. You took a step away, ready to run or fight, whichever seemed easiest.

The man didn’t seem too bothered by your snap at least; the one eye that you could see watched you steadily from behind his hand mask. “I’m sure you’re not meant to be running around here,” he said. “But you’re no hero so you must be here for your quirk. Do you still have it?”

Your heart skipped a beat.

It wasn’t unknown in the underground that there was a man who stole quirks he liked. Nobody knew what he did with them but it wasn’t unheard of for villains to wake up with nothing. And you would never get them back.

You could feel your quirk was still there. It pulsed under your skin like a warning.

“My quirk?” you repeated. “I have my quirk.”

You did a random gesture, summoning all of your past acting experience to appear horrified when nothing happened. Again and again you tried before looking around in shock and horror.

The guy bought it and he shrugged. “Then there’s no reason to stop you.” He brushed past you and continued walking. “Not like you could find the exit anyway.”

The moment he turned the corner, you dropped the act and bolted again. This place was a maze but you found the exit and avoided any encounters with a practiced ease. Before leaving, you looked back up at the building and grimaced, hoping to never see it again.

Toga

It was late at night when you had the strangest encounter of your life. Not that that was a bad thing necessarily but it was something that occurred, nevertheless.

You had been feeling quite exhausted from a long day of fun with your friends. They had headed off to get a cab when you had realised that you needed the bathroom and disappeared to go find one.

There was a public toilet not too far from the street though it certainly wasn’t as clean as you would have hoped. Not to be deterred, you slipped in and found a sight that, even to your exhausted mind was uncomfortable.

A girl stood in front of one of the mirrors, blood staining much of her face. It covered the counter beneath her fingers and seemed to be coming from her lip.

“Are you okay?!” you asked, panicked.

She looked up at you, startled. Her dark hair covered much of her expression but she seemed a little out of it. Maybe she got hit on the head or something.

“I –“ she paused, her voice croaky and sore. She brought her hand up to rub her throat. “I think so.”

“Just wait, let me help you,” you said. You rushed into one of the stalls and gathered up some toilet paper. “Do you need me to call somebody or?”

“No,” she said quickly. “No. Thank you.”

You offered some of the damp tissue to her and she started wiping it away from her mouth. While she dealt with that, you cleaned the blood that she had left on the counter, making sure to get it out of all the cracks in and around the sink. “What happened to you?” you asked. “Did somebody attack you?”

“I slipped,” she said. “The tiles are really slippery and I think that I hit my mouth on the sink. It’s all kind of blurry.”

“Don’t worry,” you said, digging through your bag and grabbing some headache tablets. You offered the bottle to her. “Take two of those just in case. Even if it doesn’t hurt now, you don’t want to wake up with a headache tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Do I still have any blood on me?”

“Just on your jaw,” you pointed out. “Come on, my friends and I are getting a cab. We can call one for you also if you need.”

She took one last glance in the mirror before leaving. You had forgotten your own need for the bathroom and it was for good reason also. If you had hung around for a little longer, you may have seen blood trickling out from one of the stalls. Perhaps then you wouldn’t have been so worried about this stranger hitting her head.

“What’s your name?” you asked as you looked around for your friends.

“Toga,” the girl said, though she didn’t seem too happy with having told you. The words must have slipped out without her meaning to.

You gave her your own name and went up onto your toes to look around the crowd for your friends. Eventually you spotted them and waved but when you spoke to Toga, she didn’t respond.

She had disappeared into the crowd.

You went back into the bathroom and checked but she was long gone. Just like how the blood has escaped your notice earlier, you didn’t see the blonde watching you from the other side of the street, her head tilted a little.

Dabi

It was a rare day when you found yourself alone without at least one person to watch your back. You didn’t always need the protection but sometimes, it was nice to have.

But you had given your word and it wouldn’t do to back out of this now.

The building where everything had been organised was old and crumbling – its ancient nature hidden on the outskirts of the city and slowly becoming overtaken by countless plants. It wasn’t somewhere anybody with good intentions would find themselves.

You liked to think that your work was good. It benefitted many and took only from those who could afford to lose it. Unfortunately though, rules had to be broken for the best results, and sometimes what was classified as ‘wrong’ turned out to be needed in order to achieve a goal. It wasn’t quite in line with what you believed but it had to be done.

Did working with villains make you uncomfortable? Of course. But it was hardly going to be something that stopped you from moving forward.

The two members from the League of Villains that had been sent to meet you were both men. You didn’t bother with greetings, just holding up the briefcase that you held.

“I’m looking for a specific artwork,” you said. “I’ve been told that you might be able to help?”

“An artwork?” the one asked. He wore a white and black mask that concealed most of his face and an extremely gaudy costume.

“Not just an artwork,” you explained. “It has something of mine hidden in the canvas. Normally, I would just get the police involved but if they found it, it would be quite problematic for me. The group that stole it won’t listen to many but the League of Villains, I’m afraid. They have a few good quirks and they’re extremely cocky for it.”

“We’re not lapdogs,” the other man said. “Especially not for whatever agenda you’re pushing.”

“I don’t pay lapdogs,” you acknowledged. “Consider me a sponsor.”

Flames cackled into existence in his hand, surprising his colleague enough to jump a little. “Chances are, they’ve already found your thing. Even if they haven’t, the league can hardly go around picking fights with random gangs.”

“Shigaraki did ask –“

The masked man was cut off by a glare. Blue flames sent flickering light through the air as they waited patiently for your answer.

“If it’s already been discovered or if it happens to get damaged during the process, then I don’t plan on getting anything out of our deal. It’ll simply be a loss on my side.”

The flames slowly flickered out and you allowed yourself to breathe again. Confidence was a requirement for these deals but you didn’t quite have the nerves of steel that you portrayed. It was always a fight to keep your reactions in check.

“I guess if we happen to bump into the group, we can check around for your shit.”

You knew his bluff as well as your own. The League of Villains had always worked well with those who had money. They required funding and wouldn’t say no to being able to flex their reputation around the underground. It was almost needed with the way rumours were circulating.

It was less than a week after that encounter when you found your artwork sitting outside your home. Charred on the edges, it was damaged enough to make the art itself worthless. But your items inside were perfectly unharmed.

Not bad for your first time working alongside the League of Villains. It was worth the cost… you should do it more in the future.

Twice

When you had been called in for this job, you had no idea that it was going to turn into a fight of the magnitude you experienced.

Flames tore along the streets. They melted lamps and trapped hundreds inside buildings – the screams for help becoming almost deafening as you broke down yet another wall to get civilians out. It was the third building you had had to smash into and there were more yet.

Nobody could get out and, if they remained trapped, they wouldn’t survive much longer.

When your partner and you had realised you were dealing with the League of Villains, you had immediately called in the big guns. What you hadn’t realised was that doing so would result in a brawl of sorts in the streets. The League of Villains didn’t care about collateral and honestly, sometimes you wondered if the heroes did.

You were starting to overheat. The amount of fire swirling around was getting to you, drawing the breath from your lungs and slowing your movements. Its angry blue nature hinted at its abysmal nature.

The next building’s walls took even longer to get through but you managed it and a few people scrambled out. You ushed as best as you could although it was starting to get hard to speak.

But then you noticed a dark figure lying in one of the rooms

Outside, the fire roared and smacked against the walls but you couldn’t just leave somebody there. You stepped over the rubble and made your way to the figure.

It was hard to make out details with the flames. The heat seemed to be getting worse as you approached – soon identified as being caused by the gaping hole in the wall. It radiated around the room in waves. You covered your mouth and nose the best you could, creeping forward to reach where the person was.

When you arrived, it took you no time to recognise that you weren’t saving an unfortunate civilian but rather a member of the League itself.

You hesitated for a second before hooking your arms under his and beginning to drag him away from the danger. This was the type of thing that lost reputation for heroes. Civilians didn’t like seeing villains being rescued but you honestly didn’t care.

If he was left there, he was probably going to end up dying.

Though he had seemed unconscious, when you got him out of the building, he muttered something and moved. It was enough to make you jump back but he didn’t attack or anything. He just touched his face and then let his arm go limp again.

You moved back cautiously. His suit had been ripped on the one side, missing its arm and half of the torso. You checked his pulse, relieved to feel that it was still going, even if it was unsteady.

“Can you hear me?” you asked.

He didn’t respond and you reached up to remove his mask. His hand immediately snapped up to grab your wrist and you prepared to activate your quirk but all he did was push your arm away from his face.

Alright then. No touching the mask.

You bandaged the open wound on his side as best as you could. It looked like he had gotten launched through the building. Once he was as stable as he could be, you moved him to a safer area and jumped back into the fray. A ton of rescues later and the heroes had won, at the destruction of much property.

And, rather unsurprisingly, the villain you had saved was long gone.

Overhaul

There was a new drug running around the market. You had heard of a number of small-time villains taking it – most of them dying shortly after consumption. It wasn’t unheard of. If something had even the promise of a good time then it would attract thousands.

But what was a problem was that you had lost several of your newest underlings as a direct result of this drug.

Given how picky you were about hiring, this was going to be a problem.

You tracked the source to none other than the Shie Hassaikai. They were an old branch of the yakuza, sitting on the edge of a downward spiral into irrelevance. Rumors followed that their boss had fallen quite ill and now, it was only a matter of time until they fell completely on their faces.

So you didn’t feel too nervous when you approached the house that fronted their main base. Even with the members watching you from the bushes, you kept a straight line.

You weren’t unknown. It would do them a great disservice to attack you.

And they knew it.

You walked in the front door with absolutely no resistance and remained unsurprised when two masked men came out to greet you. They didn’t ask about your business or enquire as to who you were. Instead, they led you into a sitting room and gestured for you take a seat.

Instead of that, you walked around the room and picked up everything that looked interesting. Nothing was hidden around but you hadn’t expected there to be.

“Please don’t touch things without gloves on,” a smooth voice interrupted your curiosity. “Cleaning this entire house is rarely needed and I’d rather you didn’t change that.”

You turned around to find somebody considerably younger than you had expected for the head of the Shie Hassaikai. He wore their signature mask and a feathered coat, almost his entire body hidden in some way.

“Not a fan of germs?” you enquired.

“Not at all.”

You shrugged and made your way to the couch, sinking down into it. “Guess that means no drinks or anything? Oh well, that’s too bad.” You gestured for him to sit. “So, you’re not who I was expecting.”

“You’ve never worked with our organisation before,” he said, sitting on the edge of the chair opposite you.

“No. You’re not in the same line of work as me and I don’t care too much about the Yakuza.”

“Then why are you here?”

You straightened, aware that you were about to get into the most dangerous part of the meeting. “Your drugs have been getting into my areas. Now, I don’t care all too much about how you distribute stock but it’s not just coming into possession of low-life criminals. My men are getting practically gifted it.”

His eyes narrowed. “We need to test it somehow. Besides, that sounds like a problem for you, no? Have better control of your men.”

“Keep your test tube shit out of my territories.”

A small staring contest took place – a test to see who would break first. You had been in almost a hundred of these over the course of your career. They didn’t bother you much at all in anymore.

Eventually he waved his hand through the air. “I guess we could stop supply to traders in your areas but this isn’t a charity.”

“I could kill your men.”

“But you would lose your own in the process. Wouldn’t it be easier to do this the peaceful way and maybe even establish a relationship between our two groups?”

“You have my attention. Don’t waste it.”

Kurogiri

There are those days when everything begins so well only to rapidly spiral into a situation out of your worst dreams. This was something like that.

You had gotten horribly caught in the crossfire of a battle between heroes and villains. It all occurred faster than you could have ever imagined – flashes of light and explosions of sound. People were screaming, the sound coming through a haze as you tried to get a grasp on what had happened.

Blood was trickling down your arm but you felt no pain. You slowly lifted your head. Something had hit you, you remembered that now as your brain caught up to the dull ache coming from your ribcage.

You tried to move, finding that you couldn’t. The ache became worse and a heavy, scraping sound interrupted your attempts to crawl away.

It was a piece of concrete, heavy and painful, pinning you effectively to the ground. A smaller chunk was holding it up and stopping you from being crushed. But if you moved too much…

You forced yourself to take a deep breath, nearly choking on the dust that filled the air. Maybe if you shifted slowly.

A crunching noise made you hiccup.

Alright, so that wasn’t going to work either. You strained your eyes to see through the carnage but you couldn’t make out any heroes. They would come eventually; you just had to wait patiently and try not to move too much.

The concrete seemed to get heavier still and you fought the desire to cry.

There was a crunching sound. You couldn’t just wait around.

Slow as you dared, you began to inch forward. The rough surface snagged at your clothing and made every centimeter feel like it was going to end with you crushed. Worse still, the more you moved, the more apparent the injury on your back became.

The blood that had been trickling down your arm was now creeping along your torso. It pooled in your clothes and made everything sticky.

You tried not to think about it but it made you light-headed regardless.

About half-way out, you spotted somebody nearby. It was just their silhouette but still, relief flooded your veins and you cried out desperately for help.

The figure made its way over to you, soon revealing that the man was almost entirely made of smoke. He wore a suit and tie but his body swirled as though only somewhat solid. Bright yellow eyes stared at you – any emotion behind them was completely unreadable.

His eyes traced your shape. “You’re not who I’m looking for.”

“Please help me. This thing’s going to crush me.”

He paused, the swirling darkness that made up his face shuddered as though it was unsure how to respond. “I should leave you here,” he mentioned. “You’re of no consequence to me or to my cause. If anything, I should add pressure to the piece of rubble and make sure the fatality numbers are higher.”

You caught of whimper before it could escape. “Please.”

His smoke shook again, almost as though he was struggling to keep hold of it. Then he raised a foot and placed it on the concrete.

You screwed your eyes shut and tried to imagine the best parts of life.

A loud horn blaring made you open them again and a surprised yelp escaped as you saw tires race past in front of you. People were shouting, their voices loud and nearby. Bright lights surrounded you and the air was clear once more.

The last thing you remembered seeing was a panicked nurse rushing over to you.

#my hero academia #mha #bnha scenarios #bnha x reader #shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #toga x reader #twice x reader #kurogiri x reader #overhaul x reader

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spectrumed · 3 years

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10. contact

The key to success is networking. Oh, God, how am I ever going to succeed? Networking? Talking to other people? Making friends? That’s not me, that’s not me at all. I don’t want to make superficial connections with other people just so that I can one day use my connections to get ahead in life. I don’t want to force myself on others, trying to convince them that I am some decent guy that’s totally worth getting to know and be friends with. I don’t know if you’re going to like me or not. I imagine some people would like to be my friend, and I imagine some people would hate to be my friend. I’d rather just forget about the latter group, and not torture myself trying to make friends with people who are fundamentally at odds who I am as a person. I’d rather have a small circle of close friends than a thousand acquaintances. But the key to success is networking.

I’ll never be an insider. This is not me just doubting myself, not some decision to undermine myself. I know that making statements about things that are impossible for you to achieve comes across as very self-defeating, but I know that I will never be an insider. I will never fit into a social clique. I am not going to be part of the boys’ club, yucking it up with my mates. I’m not going to be in any gangs, no bands, most certainly no crews. I am a solo-player. I prefer to work on my own. All my life, I’ve kept to myself, one way or another. I don’t ask for help. Growing up, my sister used to get a lot of help from my mother with school assignments, because she wanted it and she asked for it. My sister and my mother would spend a lot of time together making sure that my sister’s schoolwork turned out well. Looking over spelling, fixing grammatical errors, making sure that the text was easy to read and had a flow to it. Normal parental stuff, really. Kids are supposed to get help from their parents, it’s part of the learning process, no-one gets by all on their own. Well, except for me. I never asked for help.

I actually found it really unbearable to have my mother look over my schoolwork to see if I made any errors. Not because I am such a horrid narcissist that I refuse to admit that there were any errors, but rather because… well, it felt invasive. Like as if you spot someone spying on you through your window. It made me feel very self-conscious, in a way that I realise now is similar to how I feel when I make eye contact. Yes, I am bad at making eye contact, especially when I am speaking at the same time. I don’t mind making eye contact when you are speaking, but I don’t want to make eye contact with you when I am speaking. Is that funny? Is that odd? Well, the way I feel about it is that eye contact is intimate, it’s almost like touching. It’s mental touching. If you share eye contact with somebody you are sharing a connection. You are mind-touching each other. Oh, well… I guess that maybe it’s not quite like that, but I still don’t find it easy.

At times, I find much of the discussions about neurodiversity online somewhat off-putting. Especially when it comes to those people who are really keen on being all out positive, all the time. Those people who see any shade of negativity as outright hazardous. Don’t bring up the fact that being neurodivergent can be difficult, don’t mention the difficulties that come with being on the autism spectrum. Engage with self-empowerment! Celebrate what makes you different! Go out there and be proud of yourself, be happy about your autism, it is cool to be autistic! And, sure, I understand the importance of injecting optimism into the neurodivergent community. We need optimism, we need to profess our desire to be happy, to show the world that you don’t need to be neurotypical to be content with your life. No-one wants to be around a sourpuss just wallowing in their discontentment. But, sometimes things just suck, okay? Having a positive attitude may project confidence, may make others think you’ve got it together, but be wary when that positive attitude just becomes a mask you hide behind.

Look, we live in a society. Whether you like it or not, you live in a society. We need to rage against this society, because this society is no good. Things may look good to some people, but those people are wrong, and I am right. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! Let’s have ourselves a little revolution and see if we can piece a new society together, one that doesn’t commit to the same mistakes as the last one. Oh, wait, how do we do that? And how do we make sure that we win the revolution, we could easily lose, and that might actually just make things worse for us. What if this society we live in got even worse? Yikes, that’s a thought too scary to even really consider. Can things get worse? I don’t want things to get worse. Maybe I just shouldn’t rock the boat. Let’s calm down, and let’s not make any rash decisions here. We can overthrow society at some other point. For now, let’s just have some tea.

Yes, society stinks, but what can you do about it? It is absolutely the case that neurotypical people have it easier navigating modern society than neurodivergent people. Others expect you to function just like they function. If you wish to fit in, you are required to act more neurotypical. People expect that from you. Learn to adapt, to hide amongst them. Trick them. Make them think you are one of them. Be the wolf in sheep’s clothing. They’ll never know the truth of who you are. An outsider that managed to get on the inside. You stand by the watercooler, and by gosh, you make yourself laugh at their jokes even though you’d rather not be there at all. You partake in the small talk, talking about the weather, feigning interest in the footballs, and pretending to be an all-around wholesome compatriot. You’re not at all secretly some kind of anti-social misfit, who’d rather stay at home sitting behind a monitor and playing strategy games on your own. Do you want to come and join your workmates for a drink or two later? Oh, yes, of course you’d like that, but you might need to limit your alcohol intake so that you don’t get too drunk and begin to let the mask slip. It’s too easy getting into hyper-specific rants about obscure topics no normal person would care about when you’re inebriated, so let’s not risk that.

“Be yourself.” Pfth, bah, humbug. Neurotypicals love to state empty platitudes. You don’t want me to be myself. You’ve made it very clear that you don’t want me to be myself. Call me a cynic all you want, but you can’t get nowhere in life simply by being yourself. For better or worse, authenticity is nowhere near as desired as some people make it out to be. Name a single really successful person who is truly themselves. Fake-authenticity does better than the real deal. True sincerity, of the kind that’s naked, shameless, ugly, and challenging, it is difficult to love. And that’s not all bad, it’s just a fact of life. We all need to cover some things about ourselves up, and need to keep some secrets, because that is what is expected from us. Just as we wear clothes to cover up our naked bodies. No shame on the nudists, they’re free to embrace whatever alternative lifestyle they want, but I don’t want to see your naked body. Don’t get nude in front of me. I already struggle with eye contact, I sure wouldn’t struggle less if you stood in front of me nude as well.

Actually, to a certain extent, these social rules we all conform to can actually be quite appreciated by those of us who are on the spectrum. It is easier to know what you must do in a formal social situation than in a casual social situation. Casual people, they’re just so… unpredictable. Sticking their casual bits everywhere, acting like guests at your house who don’t seem to understand that your home is not their home. Even as a kid I hated having friends of mine over at my place. They’d play with my toys, place my toys where they don’t belong, or even worse, they may break some of my toys. Don’t touch that, it’s mine. Don’t put your icky hands on my bed, I sleep there. Don’t rip pages out of that book, it’s my favourite book. Don’t breathe in my room, I breathe in my room. I just can’t handle you coming here and disturbing the peace. I had it all ordered, I knew where everything was, and I liked it. Now you brought with you the forces of chaos, and dealing with that is just now what I had in mind for today.

I could never be a freemason. Sure, I have some good ideas for how to secretly rule the world, but if you’re a freemason, you’re expected to be part of the team. There’s no “I” in freemasonry. The secret cabal that controls all of the world’s governments, they don’t want independent folks like me to show up thinking that I can do my work assignments on my own. The Illuminati is run by a committee. You don’t get far in that world by being some freewheeling bohemian incapable of getting along with others. You don’t establish a New World Order by promoting self-reliance. Institutions are great for those who like to get chummy with their pals, the gregarious sorts who know exactly who to talk to in order to advance in the ranks. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Favours for favours. One of the reasons why I inherently distrust many institutions is because they are rife with nepotism. You know that whoever gets to sit on the high council of the Illuminati didn’t get there via competency alone. No, they knew a guy, who was cousins with this other guy, who used to work for this guy, and y’know, you pull one string and suddenly there you are on top of the social hierarchy. Most often people get promoted, not because they do good work, but because they happen to know the right people. But again, maybe I’m just being cynical.

I’ve had a recurring fantasy, in the past, of being a lighthouse keeper. Living out somewhere all on my own, not having to deal with any human relationships. Maybe I could befriend a seagull, but even that seems a little too much. Seagulls can be very needy. No, I’d just get on with whatever I’d most like to be doing, writing or making art, just enjoying my solitude. I imagine that the toughest thing about being a lighthouse keeper is the loneliness, but the loneliness is only a plus for me. I’ve long ago decided to like being lonely. I don’t want to face the fact that I too yearn for company, I like to pretend as if I am fine with being alone. So the fantasy of being a lighthouse keeper is perfect for me, I could get far away from society and I could earn a living not having to give a fuck about what others think about me. I could allow myself to get as weird as I would want to get, not having to wash my image, acting like I’m all rational and well-adjusted. It would just be me and my seagull. How simple life would be. Too bad I think most lighthouses are automated, these days.

Maybe being the perpetual malcontent cynic incapable of fitting with mainstream society isn’t all so bad. In some regards, I have made that my brand. Generally, I like to think that I don’t take myself too seriously, but like a lot of people, I’ve turned those edgier parts of my personality into armour that I wear to protect myself from the scorn of others. You can’t accuse me of being a miserable piece of shit when I’ve decided to make being a miserable piece of shit my thing. It’s what I am, and I am not going to change. I’m not really all that mean, or nasty. I am fairly cynical, but I don’t act like some asshole. I don’t think anyone is upset with me for how I act. I’ve only occasionally gotten told off for being too gloomy. But the problem here does not lie with how I end up treating others, but rather how I end up treating myself. I don’t want to make cynicism part of my sense of self. I don’t want to be this person, this misanthrope who only sees problems, and never celebrates the good things in life. I should engage with self-empowerment. I should be happy.

It’s okay being neurodivergent! Sure, you may find other people strange or foreign, with their yapping mouths and their over-eager desire to look you directly in the eyes, but just ignore them! Neurotypicals are just so last century, the future is all neurodivergent! You’re on the right side of history, bud! You’re cool, and radical, and you’re absolutely a sexy little cupcake. You either learn to love yourself, or you lose yourself. Make funny memes, find some online community to be a part of. You can absolutely be a freemason if you want to be a freemason. Don’t let your diagnosis get in your way, so long as you’ve got that inner fire driving you, you can be anything you want to be. Go ahead and rule the world, babe. Remember, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and right now, it’s good vibes only.

#neurodivergent #neurodiversity #autism spectrum disorder #autism #aspergers #mental health

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skinks · 4 years

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hi!!! what are your favourite movies? like actually good ones but also any trashy comfort movies? is IT (2017) one of them?

Hello!! IT (2017) IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THEM oh man, thank you for this, I love talking about movies!!!! This is possibly the most difficult question you could have asked me. Apologies for how absolutely off the rails this got, I just... love movies so much lmao

I’ve said this before, but opening night of IT ch1 was the best cinema experience I’ve ever had, I’m so glad I got to see it with a fully packed audience who were all laughing and screaming together the whole way through. I’m a huge fan of... everything ch1 was doing, the 80s nostalgia, the summer-coming-of-age themes, the solid ghost train funhouse JOY of the Pennywise performance and scares, the washed-out cinematography, the tiny background details to make everything that much more eerie, the kids’ ACTING?!

Like, a lot of the time I find child actors can be really awkward and stilted to watch, but I remember leaving the cinema really impressed by JDG and Sophia Lillis in particular. I liked that they were all allowed to be little shitheads with potty mouths, it felt like a callback to 80s movies like The Lost Boys or Stand By Me. The whole thing worked to make me really care about what happened to the kids (even if I do still have issues with how they handled Mike. I understand even ch1 had limitations with juggling so many characters, but still). I saw it another 2 times in the cinema and have rewatched it at least, I dunno, 7-10 more times since then?

Add to all of that the retroactive CANON R+E baby pining subplot? I just love it, as if that wasn’t obvious by now given my Whole Blog. It’s a really special movie to me!

Anyway!! Ok, the main handful of movies I rewatch all the fucking time are:

Back to the Future, The Lost Boys, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Jaws, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Ocean’s 11, POTC 1, The Dark Knight, Inception, Die Hard, LOTR trilogy, Snatch, The Nice Guys, Logan Lucky, Mad Max Fury Road, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing, Tomb Raider (2018)...

Those are the easily consumable ones that I’ve seen so many times I don’t really have to concentrate or think about them, but I really love them and unfortunately often KEEP rewatching them instead of new stuff. It would take too long to go into why I love all these movies so much because I could write the same amount as I already did for ITCH1, and everyone already knows why those movies are good, so, lol.

I think I’m gonna have to subdivide and categorise this whole post because there are too many separate criteria for... goOD MOVIES, AUUHH 😩

Okay so first off, HORROR MOVIES? I’m especially in love with Re-Animator (1985) and its sequel Bride of Re-Animator, they’re such good examples of camp and batshit 80s practical effects, and also EXTREMELY funny. I’m actually just gonna post my list of my fave horror movies that I do actually keep on my phone at all times lmao. These are in no particular order:

Wholeheartedly recommend every one of these. I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was watching Hereditary in the cinema, hoo boy. Mother! by Aronofsky is one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had (and I actually saw it on the same day I saw IT ch1 for the first time!! That was a fun day)

Psycho (1960) and The Fly from 1986 should also be on there but I couldn’t fit them in the screenshot.

I’m a HUGE fan of a ton of martial arts movies too, like Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, Ip Man, The Raid movies, John Wick 3 is my fave of the trilogy, Drive from 1997 with Mark Dacascos is incredible, SPL 2, Ong-Bak, Operation Condor, Project A, Iron Monkey, and Zatoichi (2003) are some favourites.

My favourite Tarantino is Reservoir Dogs, fave Coen brothers are Raising Arizona, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and O Brother Where Art Thou. Love some old-timey colour correction and weird offbeat dialogue. I also love Goodfellas!!! And Donnie Brasco! And The Firm, I’m so easy for any good crime/law/gangster/heist procedural like that, especially if they’re from the 80s or 90s in a super dated way.

Fave Disney movie is Tarzan, favourite Ghibli movies are Spirited Away and Lupin III. I remember watching Spirited Away during a thunderstorm one time and it being.... god! Transcendent! Favourite Pixar movie is The Incredibles (the first one. ALSO the documentary “The Pixar Story” is great and well worth a watch, it’s very comforting for some reason) and my favourite Dreamworks movies are HTTYD1 and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron.

I tend to watch more anime movies than tv shows, so stuff like Akira, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Journey to Agartha, and my ultimate fave anime is Sword of the Stranger (2008). The climactic fight in that movie is fucking stunning and should be counted in “bests fights” lists right alongside anything live action

Also if we’re talking animated movies another hearty favourite is Rango, and a Belgian stop-motion (which at one time I considered my favourite movie ever) called Panique Au Village (2009) which is one of the funniest movies ever made imo.

As for TRASHY movies, I’m not sure if that’s the right word for how I feel about these ones but.. dumb/silly/slightly guilty pleasure movies? Ones that I feel need some kind of justification lmfao

Troy - something u must know about me is that I’m a giant slut for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, so if a movie smashes historical and mythological nonsense together with fun costumes and sword fights, I’m gonna enjoy myself. Even if they should have made Achilles and Patroclus gay. Other movies in this vein are King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Immortals (2011)

Gods of Egypt - I know all the reasons this movie is whitewashed bullshit. But it was already bullshit with giant Anubis mecha and giant snakes and bad acting and ridiculous CGI and frankly I had a blast at the cinema (my friend who I forced to come with me did not have a blast. Sorry H***)

Avatar - yes, the one with the big blue people. This movie gets a lot of flack nowadays but I really do enjoy it just for the spectacle. The full CGI world technology was so new at the time and I love to wallow in the visuals and daydream about riding a cool dragon around in the jungle

George of the Jungle - I’ll defend this movie to the death ok this movie shaped me as a person, it is fucking hilarious and Brendan Fraser is the himbo to end all himbos. It’s perfect. The song Dela is perfect. I still want to write a reddie AU about it. It’s one of the best movies ever made and I’m not being ironic

Set It Up - I KNOW this is a dumb Netflix original romcom but consider this; it was funny and the leads had great chemistry. I got butterflies. I once watched it and then literally immediately set it back to the start so I could watch it again

The Brady Bunch Movie - when people talk about great satires or parodies you will see them bring up the same movies over and over again, Blazing Saddles, This Is Spinal Tap etc, but they never talk about The Brady Bunch Movie from 1995 for some reason, which they should. It is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and every time i watch it somehow it gets funnier

Some more general favourites that I do still love but don’t rewatch as often, and don’t wanna go into more detail about are:

Moon (2009), Crna Mačka Beli Mačor, The Sixth Sense, Parasite, The Handmaiden, Tremors, Wet Hot American Summer, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For the Wilderpeople, The Secret of My Success (I love kitschy 80s movies, is that obvious by now), The Green Mile, When Harry Met Sally, Rear Window, The Odd Couple, Breaking Away, Pan’s Labyrinth, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Eagle, Gladiator, The Artist, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Call Me By Your Name, Master and Commander, Pacific Rim, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Legend (1985), Emma. (2020), Flash Gordon, Trolljegeren, Hross í Oss, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, WarGames, District 9, Ajeossi (2010), Tracks (2013), Sightseers, Mud (2012), Pitch Black, Four Lions, Shaun of the Dead, Starship Troopers, The Truman Show, Withnail & I....... Jesus Christ ok I need to stop

NOTABLE EXTREME FAVOURITES that I didn’t include in the regular rewatch list because they’re too heavy/not as well known/require more attention.:

Thin Red Line (1998), Badlands (1973) both dir. Terrence Malick

Malick’s brand of dreamy impressionistic filmmaking is something I find really appealing, both of these movies are gorgeous and unusual and poignant and, in the case of Thin Red Line at least, have a lot of things to say about a lot of rough subjects. I don’t totally understand all those things sometimes, but a theme with a lot of my favourite movies is that I’ll be more likely to love something long-term if it raises unanswered questions, or is surreal/esoteric etc. Plus the cinematography is incredible, and I wish there was a way to get Jim Caviezel’s narration from The Thin Red Line as an audiobook because it’s very poetic and soothing.

Let the Bullets Fly (2010) dir. Jiang Wen

This movie is WILD, it’s so much fun. It’s sprawling and intricate and epic and smart and really fucking funny, it! Has! Everything! A gang of very tolerant outlaws!! Jiang Wen’s beautiful broad chest!!! Chow Yun Fat absolutely DECIMATING the scenery, and the two of them outsmarting each other in order to gain control of a small Chinese town!!! Plus it’s long, but it packs so much nonsense and intrigue that it goes by really fast. Wow what a flick

A Field in England (2013) dir. Ben Wheatley

I know I included this in my horror list but aaaaahhh ahhhh Wheatley is one of my favourite directors (he also made Sightseers, and is directing the Tomb Raider sequel which makes me absolutely rabid.) This is a surreal black-and-white psychological horror black comedy set in the English Civil War about some deserters who may or may not meet the Devil in a field. People eat mushrooms. It’s bonkers. I love being blasted in the face with imagery that I don’t understand

Mandy (2018) dir. Panos Cosmatos

Speaking of being blasted in the face!!!!! This movie... I saw it in the cinema and I can’t even begin to explain the experience, but I’ll try. My favourite review site described it like this:

“...somewhere between a prog album cover come to life and a metal album cover come to life, and subscribes to both genre's artistic tendency towards maximalism: what it ends up being is basically naught else but two glorious hours of being pounded by bold colors...”

So, prog and metal are my two favourite genres of music. This movie opens with the quote “When I die, bury me deep, lay two speakers at my feet, put some headphones on my head and rock and roll me when I'm dead.” and then a King Crimson song, it is SURREAL to the nth degree, it’s violent and bizarre and Nic Cage forges a giant silver axe to destroy demonic bikers and there is a CHAINSAW DUEL. A galaxy swirls above a quarry. Multiple animated horror nightmare sequences. At one point a man says “you exude a cosmic darkness” and releases a live tiger. At another point Cage says, in a digitally deepened voice, “The psychotic drowns where the mystic swims. You’re drowning. I’m swimming.” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for two years

Paper Moon (1973) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

Really fantastic movie set in the Great Depression (and also in black & white) about a conman and a little kid who may or may not be his daughter, running cons across the Midwest. It’s beautifully shot, so sharp and sweet and the progression of their dynamic is really well done because they’re played by an IRL father and daughter. Tatum O’Neal was NINE YEARS OLD and she’s so amazing in this movie she’s actually the youngest person to win a competitive category Oscar. I keep trying to get people to watch this fbdjfjdbf it’s wonderful

Alpha (2018) dir. Albert Hughes

THIS MOVIE IS A VICTIM OF BAD MARKETING ok, the trailers made it look like some twee crappy sentimental Boy And His Dog Adventure, plus it had voiceovers in American-accented english? That’s a total disservice to one of the coolest things about this film; the fact that they got a linguist to construct an entirely original Neolithic language that all the characters speak for the entire runtime. And yes, it is eventually a Boy And His Wolf adventure, but it’s COOL and fairly brutal, and it has some really incredible cinematography. The landscapes are so strange and barren and alien, you really get the sense that this is an ancient world we no longer have any connection to. And it’s also about like, the birth of dog & human companionship sooo it’s perfect.

Free Solo (2018) dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

The Free Climbing Documentary. I loved climbing as a kid, I love outdoor sports, and I love movies that elicit a physical reaction in me, whether that’s horny, scared, real laughter, overwhelming shivers, or in the case of Free Solo - HORRIBLE SWEATING TENSION. Like, I knew about Alex Honnold beforehand because of this adventure film festival I go to every year and I followed him on IG so obviously I knew he lived, but the actual climb itself was torture. My hands sweat every time I see it!! It’s incredible, such a cool look into generally what the human body can do, and more specifically, why Honnold’s psychology and life means he’s so well suited to free soloing. It’s such an exercise in getting to know an individual and get invested in them, before they attempt something very potentially fatal.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee

I can’t even talk about this. When I was around 13 I snuck downstairs to watch this on TV at 11pm in secret, and my life was forever changed. I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t seen Brokeback at the age I did. I seriously can’t talk about this or I’ll write an even longer essay than this already is

God’s Own Country (2017) dir. Francis Lee

The antidote to Brokeback Mountain, I’m so glad I managed to see this one in the cinema too. It makes me cry every time, as someone who’s spent years working on a cold British farm with sheep it was very realistic, which is expected since Lee grew up on a farm in Yorkshire. I love that this movie isn’t really about being closeted, but about being so emotionally repressed and self-loathing that the main character finds it so hard to accept love. Or that he deserves to be loved. The cinnamontographies.... lordt... but also the intimacy and sex scenes are fucking searing wow who hasn’t seen this movie by now. 10 stars. 20 stars!!!

Tomboy (2011) dir. Céline Sciamma

I saw this years ago but I’ve never forgotten it, it cut so deep. It’s from the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and it’s about a gnc kid struggling with gender and misogyny and homophobia in a really raw, scrappy way, it reminded me very much of my own... childhood... ahh the central performance is amazing for such a young age. I haven’t seen Portrait yet but I feel like if you went nuts for that, you should definitely check this out, it’s lovely.

Donnie Darko (2001) dir. Richard Kelly

EVERY TIME I WATCH THIS MOVIE I UNDERSTAND LESS AND LESS and that’s what I love so much about it. I love surreal movies, I love time-fuckery and stuff about altered perception etc etc and Donnie Darko scratches all my itches. I wish I could find a way to figure out an IT AU for it, because I know it would work! Somehow! Plus it’s got the subdued 80s nostalgia and I found it at an age when I was really starting to explore movies and music and the soundtrack FUCKS.

Offside (2006) dir. Jafar Panahi

I wish more people knew about this!!! It’s an Iranian film about a disparate group of women and girls who are football fans and want to watch Iran’s qualifying match for the World Cup, but women aren’t allowed into the stadium, so they all get thrown into the Stadium Jail together? They don’t know each other beforehand, but it’s about their changing relationships with each other and the guards and just, their defiance alongside hearing the match from the outside and WOW it’s so lively. Great dialogue and very funny, and such a different kind of story from anything you usually see from Hollywood.

The Fall (2006) dir. Tarsem Singh

This movie... I guess it’s the ideal. This is the platonic ideal of a film for me, it has fantasy, magical realism, glorious visuals, amazing score and costumes and production design and a really interesting, heartbreaking relationship at the core of it. I don’t know why so many of my favourite films feature incredibly raw performances by child actors but this is another one, Catinca Untaru barely knew any English and improvised so much because of that, and it’s fascinating to watch! Also the dynamic with Lee Pace is one of my favourites, where a kid forms a friendship with a guardian figure who isn’t their parent, but the guardian grows to really care for them by the end. It’s like Paper Moon in that sense. What is there to even say about this movie, it’s pure magic joy tempered and countered by genuine gutwrenching emotional conflict in the real world, it’s also ABOUT old moviemaking, in a way, and it’s stunning to look at!

Mad Max Fury Road (2015) dir. George Miller

I know I included this in my “most rewatched” section but it deserves its own thing. We all know why this movie is fucking incredible. I remember clutching my armrests in the cinema and feeling like my skeleton was being blasted back into the seat behind me and tbh that is the high I’m constantly chasing when I go to see any movie. What a fucking gift this film is

Théo et Hugo dans le Même Bateau (2016) dir. Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

I only found this movie last year and it became an instant favourite. Initially I was just curious because I’d never seen a movie with unsimulated sex before, but it’s so much more than the 18 minute gay sex club orgy it opens with. No, not more than, AS WELL AS. The orgy is important because this movie is so candid and frank about sex and HIV treatment in the modern day, it was eye-opening. Another thing that really got me is that I’d never seen a real-time film before. It’s literally an hour and a half in the lives of these two men, their intense connection and conversation and conflict in the middle of the night in Paris, with some really nice night photography and just!!! Wow!!! AMAZING CHEMISTRY between the actors. This is such a gem if you’re comfortable with explicit sexual content.

Ok. This is already over 3k but film is obviously one of my ridiculous passions and I can and do talk about it for hours. I’ve been reading magazines about it for years, listening to podcasts and reading review blogs and recently, watching video essays on YouTube because the whole process is so interesting to me and I want to learn more!!

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of valuing form over narrative. The idea that story can often come second to the deeper physical experience and emotional reaction that’s created by using ALL the elements of filmmaking and not just The Story, y’know? Whether that’s editing, shot composition, colour, the sound mix, the actors, how it should all be used to heighten the emotional state the script wants you to feel. And so, I think for a few years now this approach has been influencing the types of films I really, really love.

I think I love surreality and mind-bending magical realism in films specifically because the filmmakers have to use all those different tools to convey things that can be way too metaphysical for just... a script? I’m always chasing that physical response; if a movie can make me stop thinking “I wonder what it was like to set up that shot” and instead overwhelm that suspension of disbelief, if I can be terrified or woozy or crying for whatever reason, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s why I watch so many fuckin movies, and why I’ll always remember nights like seeing IT (2017) for giving me another favourite.

Thank you again for this question, I didn’t mean to go so overboard. Also there’s no way to do a readmore on tumblr mobile so apologies to anyone’s dashboard 😬

#long post #films #this is like bill hader being asked to pick his fave comedies and he gives a 4 page list #he has such good taste though ahhahbfhfhfhh lemme talk with him nonstop about movies while i ride him. thank you

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into-crazy · 4 years

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Man Under the Makeup Pt. 5

Arthur Fleck/Joker x Female Reader series

Warnings- Cursing, doubtful thoughts?

You can find the other parts RIGHT HERE and through the “Man Under the Makeup” tag lovelies!💘

You couldn't get Arthur off of your mind since that night. Going to bed every night thinking about him, to waking up wondering if he was okay. If he was still alive. Hoping he didn't get arrested. Though it's only been a couple of days- 5 to be exact- not that you're counting intentionally. Alright, alright.. Yes, you are counting intentionally. But who could blame you? It was worrying having him out there like that. Watching the news every night, Joker and the mobs tend to be the top topics.

Fire breaks out at the Wealth ball led by the Joker! Dangerous criminal Joker still at large! Violent clown group follow the Joker, shutting down major roads! All of which continue to make the headlines, and not in a good way- according to Gotham City P. D.

The only reassurance being the occasional calls you get from him. A different number each time, since he doesn't have his own line. Picking up the phone and hearing his voice on the other end, you would always exhale with relief. His calls wouldn't last too long- maybe 15 minutes at the most. Still, every call you make sure to ask how he was doing. Checking in on him.

Arthur refuses to hang up the phone until you confirmed you were fine. He tries to call every chance he gets, but he also doesn't want to overdo it. Since you work during the day, he calls more often in the evenings. Leaving sweet voicemails when you don't get the chance to answer the phone- like when you're not home yet or taking a shower.

Slowly trudging through the entry doors of the complex you reside, you make way over to the mailbox area. Heavily exhaling as you stick the key into your box.

It's been a long, frustrating day. You were supposed to be home 3 fucking hours ago, however that wasn't the case. One of the other main secretaries was apparently fired yesterday. So lucky you- of course- were required to handle your regular work, AND cover for hers as well! It wasn't fair for you, having to stay longer than everyone else. Especially on a Friday night! But, that's the way it works. It's either suck it up and stay, or be fired right along with her. You've worked too hard to get this job, work in the city was difficult to come across. You can't afford to lose it when there's bills to pay and food to put on your plate.

Opening the small box, you lazily collect the contents inside. Shutting the door, you look over the mail. Junk mail.. junk mail.. water bill.. Flipping through each, one of the envelopes catches your attention. Unsealed, with child-like handwriting, it was addressed to you. Opening it, you pulled out a small, plain white card.

This reminded me of you. See you soon! Signed Arthur.

Unfolding the card, it revealed a beautifully dried flower inside. Pretty array of light pink petals, with a slim stem. A wide smile plastered across your tired face. Your mood completely turned around as happiness filled your chest. Rapidly radiating throughout the rest of your body. It's one of the sweetest gestures you received. Sweet, darling Arthur. Closing the card ever so smoothly, you head up to your apartment. Joyously awaiting his next phone call.

Stepping out of a steamy shower, you heard the ringing of your phone coming from the living room. Wrapping a towel around your freshly clean body, you hurriedly make way to the phone. Each step leaving a trail of water behind. Snatching it off the receiver, you waste no time in answering. "Hello?"

"Hey y/n," Arthur calmly speaks, groaning slightly at the sound of you. "Mmph, how nice it is to hear your lovely voice. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

He has this way of speaking to you sometimes that gets you weak in the knees and full in the chest. Starting out super brazen with his words- telling exactly what's on his mind, a deep husk in his voice. Then quickly shying back, higher pitched with a more considerate remark.

"Never. It's always nice hearing from you," you tuck the phone between your ear and shoulder. Taking a brush, running it through your wet locks. You can hear an ongoing noise in the distance. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I am now," he acknowledges, "I'm calling you from a payphone, farther down the street from the crowd."

You giggle, picturing him all clowned up standing in a phone booth. Hunched over, with the phone glued to his ear. Trying his hardest to confide your conversation more than what it already is. "Glad you could call. I received your card earlier," you return.

"Oh," he replies enthusiastically, "I was hoping you would."

"It's beautiful, thank you." You reply, lightly tracing the brush bristles with your fingertips.

"N-no need to thank me," he continues bashfully, "I'm sorry I've been so busy lately." He curses himself for not having the time to see you. Caught up with wrecking havoc throughout the city, it's hard enough as is to catch a break for himself. But the last thing he'd want, is you to feel inclined being put second to anything.

"It's okay Arthur," acknowledging you understand. Though it does bother you, you won't let him know it. You fully understand that he has to do what he has to do.

"No, it's not. I haven't made the effort to see you, but I will. I will make the time for you, y/n." He promises over the line. Gazing out the window of the booth, determined on making it a top priority. Because right now, you are his only real priority. Sure, running a gang, robbing banks, and torching buildings is fun and all. But at the end of the day, who is the one he calls? Who's the one he runs to? Who is the one that he- dare to admit- cares about?

Arthur kept his word. On your days off, plus select nights, he'd take you out. Of course, he always came and left as Joker. With the full on paint and costume, accompanied with at least 2 henchmen. Besides not trying to get caught, he also takes great caution in making sure no one identifies you. Upon your request, wishing to stay secluded in the privacy of your life.

It was difficult- clearing restaurants, finding empty theaters, getting him into your apartment undetected. Which wasn't really that hard once you both figured it out. It was just a matter of timing, bribing, and if it had to come down to it- threatening. But for you, it was worth it to him.

Time spent together was limited, due to him having to get back to business. By limited, it simply means he's unable to spend the night or fully remove himself from Joker- appearance wise. Never, by any means has he once rushed your valuable time together. Especially the calmer evenings which consisted of watching a flick and eating takeout in your place. He enjoys those the most.

There is just something special about being wrapped with you in the serenity of your home. Getting to witness you at your most comfortable- hair completely let down, hardly to no makeup, comfy clothes. Moments where you're both able to fully relax mentally beside one another.

He's very gentle and respectful towards you- very much Arthur. Contrary to how the Joker is with pretty much everyone else. To the world out there, he's labeled a monster. A complete, psychotic nut job with no consideration for his actions. A man who will kill anyone in his path. Cruel and heartless. You ignored all that talk. Yeah, he may be a bit extreme, but never with you.

Arthur still couldn't believe how lucky he is to have a woman like you in his life. Although he has you, he's still stuck in that "too good to be true" mindset. Been nothing but let down and hurt his entire life. By the people he considered friends, those he looked up to as role models, family.. Even his own mind gets the best of him sometimes, creating false illusions. Broken promises that he wish were true. Only tearing him down once he comes to the realization that they weren't.

Yet here you are, a beautiful light shining into his world. His body felt warm in your tender presence. He just couldn't fully grasp it. The thought that you were a hallucination pondered his mind on some occasions. Resulting in him having his panic attacks and laughing fits. Many when he's alone, and a few in your company.

However, with every word from your soothing lips, every soft embrace, each beautiful gaze when he meets your eyes- just prove to him you are in fact- real. Canceling away all those conflicting concerns. No doubt, he's falling for you. Hard.

End of part 5. Sorry it was so short!

#Man Under the Makeup #joker #joker 2019 #arthur fleck #arthur fleck x reader #arthur fleck x y/n #arthur fleck x female reader #joker x reader #joker x y/n

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ghostofbambifanfiction · 5 years

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I found a piece of fic that I wrote ages ago and decided never to post and miraculously did not delete! Which is rare for me! I delete too much! I think it’s pretty crap but I promised an anon a while ago that if I found something like this I’d share it (and apologies if there are errors this is a completely unedited first draft of something that I never finished).

Lily Evans is thirteen-years-old when her mother sits her down and explains that her body is about to "undergo some changes."

Her active participation in such a conversation is not how Lily pictured kicking off the summer holidays, but after two years at a boarding school that keeps her apart from her family from September 'til July, her mum is chomping at the bit to delve right into the Talk, lest her daughter learn about menstruation elsewhere—or god forbid, wake up covered in blood one morning and assume that she is shortly about to die.

Of course, Lily knows what to expect from her period. She can read, for one thing, and has numerous female friends. Beatrice got her first ever period at the start of second year, and on the train to school, of all places. Lily will be fine if left to her own devices, but her mother is so excited to talk about Puberty and Buying Bras and Now You're Becoming a Woman, and Lily doesn't have the heart to tell her that she's already quite clued in, thank you very much. She doesn't think she could live with inflicting such disappointment.

There's even a shoebox of props to hand, for Grace Evans is a nurse, and she wants her daughters to have all the information that she was denied at school.

Menstruation education station, she calls it.

"Tampons," her mother tells her, slapping the tiny, lipstick shaped contraption down on the kitchen table like she's preparing to place it as a wager in a high-stakes poker game. Her hand returns to the box and draws out yet another item. "Or pads. They're your two main choices. I'll give you a good supply of both before you go back, just in case, unless—do they have some other method, at Hogwarts? Some sort of magic potion? It's a very difficult subject to research, in my position."

Lily's father walks into the room—newspaper in hand, lips pursed as if preparing to whistle—catches sight of them both, then turns and walks right out again.

"What's wrong with Dad?" says Lily to her mother.

"Men are afraid of menstruation, sweetheart," Grace tells her, with a baleful glance at the door through which her husband has just exited, "because they're weak and silly, and can't be bothered to learn."

"Oh," Lily says, then lets out a laugh. "I suppose I won't ask Professor Slughorn how witches deal with periods."

"Heavens, no, he'll faint dead away."

Lily does not add that it would be rather funny to watch Slughorn faint to get out of an awkward conversation about the miracles of puberty. She doubts that he would feel comfortable talking to the boys about such a thing, let alone a member of the opposite sex.

Puberty is so much easier for boys, she reflects, and that's dead unfair. She may be but a girl and ignorant to the inner workings of the male body, but the only visible change she ever noticed in any of the boys in her year—specifically, in her house—was a sudden onslaught of squeaky voices. To make things more unfair, that phase didn't even last very long, except for poor Peter Pettigrew, who seems to be a squeaker by default.

Now she has to deal with people like Potter—to pick a name completely at random—acting like puffed-up, macho twits because their voices have finally broken.

"I don't know what witches do normally," she says, "but I can always ask Madam Pomfrey. She's the matron at school. My friend Beatrice started hers last year but she's Muggle-born too, so she never thought to ask. Her mum just sends her pads."

"Make sure you do," says her mum, her tone almost warning. "I can send you whatever you need, but it'll be easier for you if there's some magical method you can access, especially for the cramps." She pauses, looking thoughtful. "And the mood swings. And the sore boobs—" Her eyes light up. "—which reminds me..."

Lily groans as Grace delves into the box again and extracts a small measuring tape, such as a tailor might use.

"I don't have boobs to measure," she reminds her mother, clasping both hands to her chest.

"Yet," says Grace, brandishing the rolled-up tape like a particularly tempting treat. "You don't have boobs to measure yet, but that doesn't mean you'll never have boobs." She nods down at her own chest. "I was your classic late bloomer—not so much as an insect bite until I was sixteen, then I ballooned out. Same with your sister. In any case, you've got at least enough to fill an A-cup, and you need to start wearing bras."

"I don't need a bra."

"Well, you're getting one. As soon as I've got you measured up, I'll take you to M&S and get you sorted."

"What else have you got in there?" says Lily, eyeing the battered blue box with a wary eye while her mother unfurls the tape.

"Just the essentials," says Grace airily. "Some leaflets from the hospital, panty liners, condoms—"

As if her mother has cranked up the dial on an embarrassment meter that only a parent has the necessary skills to operate, Lily immediately turns as red as her own hair. "Mum!"

"I'm not saying you need to use them—"

"I'm thirteen!"

"—but it won't hurt you to know how, for future reference!"

"Mum, no," says Lily, as firmly as she can, in her best attempt to sound as if she's taking a mature line on this, "I don't have any reason to want to know how to—how to use—honestly, no." She can't pretend. Her face feels all hot, as if it has been set aflame. Even the thought of what her mother is referring to makes her feel slightly sick. "Seriously, no, I don't want to learn—"

"You don't have to take them with you in September, of course, you're still only thirteen," Grace continues, completely undaunted by her daughter's mortification, "but it seems like you were just a baby five minutes ago, sweetheart. The time goes so fast, honestly, and it won't be long before you start to experience your own sexual awakening—"

"I'm going to my room," says Lily desperately, and shoots out of her chair.

"It's really not that bad—"

"I am grounded. I am grounding myself."

"Really, Lily, I'm just trying to help." Her mother lets out a hefty sigh. "Once we've measured you for a bra, I'll show you how it works on a banana, and you'll see that it's really not that complicated."

Lily Evans decides that she will never eat a banana split again.

***

The inconvenient, unwanted, and oft warned-of sexual awakening comes to hammer down Lily's door when she is fifteen-years-old, by which time her boobs have most certainly come in.

Despite a multitude of painfully awkward conversations with her mother—who doesn't say it, but seems desperate for Lily to fancy someone, anyone, so that they can gossip about it together—on the topic, she finds herself entirely unprepared for it.

She's unprepared because it's… weird.

Lily has had crushes before—sort of—fleeting things that seemed to exist because she thought they were supposed to, rather than stemming from any particular stirrings on her part. She's a late bloomer, just like her mum, and she knows as much. Bea and Mary have both been snogged, and Lily knew that she was trailing a little behind, but she never cared. It was fine and dandy and totally normal. She might even say that she's been lucky to escape it for this long.

It doesn't happen in the way she was expecting, not that Lily had any particular expectations, but had she ever, they would not have formed along these particular lines. It wouldn't be so embarrassing, or confusing—not the how or the why or the when or the where, but the what. The what, of all things.

The what is the thing that baffles her most, because Lily always figured that it would be some transformative, meaningful thing, like an effortlessly witty conversation with a mature intellectual—tall, dark, and a little bit older than she, a boy with soulful blue eyes and scholarly interests.

The what should not be James Potter's arse in a pair of jeans.

But it is.

The thing about the magical world at large is that the robes are basically formless—loose, large, flapping things that hide the body away and become quite annoying during hotter months—but younger witches and wizards will opt not to wear them when it isn't strictly required. Throw Hogwarts, where robes are the mandatory default, into the mix, and something as unexpectedly disarming as a structurally spectacular derriere may spend a vast amount of time being cunningly hidden.

It's the last Hogsmeade trip of fourth year—with summer looming tantalisingly ahead like a ripe apple dangling from a tree—when Lily steps out of Scrivenshaft's and finds herself perfectly positioned to spy James Potter's denim-clad backside as he walks past with his mates.

Her eyes flick over his form as she scans the general area, then Lily finds her gaze dragged abruptly back, as if she's snagged her sleeve on a nail whilst passing through a doorway.

And now she's staring.

At an arse.

At James Potter's arse, which is the worst of it. If Lily has just discovered that she is, in fact, a person with a thing for bums, James Potter's bum—a neat, compact, beautifully fashioned marvel that looks like a peach in those bloody jeans (what monster let him go out in public wearing those things?)—should not have been the catalyst for this discovery, because James Potter is an immature sod, a walking headache, and a bloody annoying git. He and his gang of mates are childish boors, and Lily considers herself to be quite above their general tomfoolery.

She doesn't want to stare, but her eyes won't cooperate.

She likes it, and as she's quite certain that she doesn't much like James Potter, that makes even less sense than the school’s policy on using quills in a world where ballpoint pens exist. Would that she could deny it to herself… but Lily is not deluded. She can recognise the pleasure she's deriving for exactly what it is.

And that is just… not acceptable.

And how dare he, really?

"James Potter," she says hotly, finding herself suddenly and inexplicably compelled to acknowledge his existence, point him out, say his name, anything, "is a complete and utter toerag."

"What?" says Beatrice, who has been counting coins in the palm of her hand.

"Potter is a toerag," Lily repeats, even as she's telling herself to stop, shut up, why are you letting these words come out of your mouth? "I can't believe McGonagall even let him come here after the prank he pulled the other day."

"He got a bunch of detentions," says Mary, eyeing Lily curiously.

"Isn't that enough?" seconds Bea.

"Why are you so angry?" Mary adds. "What's he done to you?"

"Nothing, he's just an arse."

That's an unfortunate choice of words, Lily thinks, colouring nicely.

"Right, but he's always an arse," Mary presses on. "Why are you so angry about it now?"

"Nothing," Lily repeats, "but he just walked by and it reminded me that he's been pissing me off lately."

"If you say so, I suppose," says Mary, looking nonplussed, but a giggling Beatrice sticks her free hand in the air, waving as if to signal a rescue ship.

"Oi, Potter!" she bellows.

Several heads, including James Potter's, turn in their direction.

"Potter!" Beatrice repeats, waving him over.

Lily's heart leaps into her throat, gets stuck, and slides sheepishly back down to her chest.

"What are you doing?" she hisses, taking a swipe at Beatrice's arm.

"If you're pissed off with him, you should tell him to his face," says Bea, dodging out of Lily's grasp to beckon Potter over. "More fun for me that way."

Mary snorts, while Beatrice grins like a cunning fox. Meanwhile, Potter has left his friends to wait for him outside the Three Broomsticks, and is sauntering over with his hands in his pockets.

"I hate you," Lily mutters to Bea.

"That's right," says Bea, smiling broadly, "get it all out of your system."

"I don't want to talk to Potter."

"Then you shouldn't have been mouthing off abo—hey!" says Beatrice brightly, as Potter draws level with their group. "Look who it is!"

"Hello to my adoring fans," he says, with a grin that would be charming, if only it were spread across any other face, and widens considerably when his gaze lands on Lily. "Alright, Evans?"

Potter has been doing this lately, offering bog-standard greetings to the masses, then following them up with, "Alright, Evans?" as if he’s been compelled to single Lily out.

Knowing him, there's some wildly nefarious reason behind it, and Lily persists in believing that despite Bea's insane theories pertaining to thoughts and feelings of the romantic persuasion.

"It means a lot that you don't consider me a fan," she says coolly.

"It's not my place to tell all your secrets," Potter replies. "What did you buy?"

She frowns. "What?"

"In Scrivenshaft's." He nods to the shop behind her. "What did you buy?"

"That's none of your business."

"Oh, right, because Scrivenshaft's is known for selling top secret wizarding spy equipment, and the world as we know it will end if you tell me," he says, sending her a flat look. "Why'd you call me over?"

Lily has to force the corners of her mouth to stay determinedly downturned, rather than laugh, which she really wants to do. "I didn't call you over."

"Didn't you?"

"No, you idiot. Beatrice did."

"That's strange. Could've sworn it was you." His eyes haven't budged from her face for a second, and Lily is beginning to feel irrationally fearful that he's seen her ogling his arse. "Why'd Beatrice call me over?"

"Because Lily wants to talk to you," says Beatrice.

Lily wants to die on the spot.

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crystalelemental · 4 years

Note

So, how does Rescue Team DX compare to previous titles? I love Explorers of Sky and I recently started Super Mystery Dungeon, but I find that last one to be a mixed bad with its artificial difficulty and recruiting method.

Honestly, it’s spectacular to a point of being better than the original, without question. Granted, I say this as someone who only just cleared Mt. Thunder, but I feel confident this will continue. Also I played Super Mystery for like 15 minutes before dropping it once I learned you can’t nickname any of your recruits, and how the recruitment system worked. I really didn’t care for Super Mystery, and Gates sucks. It’s really a shame they never made a follow-up game to Explorers of Sky. It was so good, you’d think they would’ve wanted to keep it going.

I’m gonna skip small stuff, and try to focus on what I consider as major changes in the game’s favor.

The biggest one for me is that it feels less grind-heavy. While I’m still exploring a lot of dungeons, that’s largely for recruitment or explorer points more than anything. There are a few things that have been adjusted to make this the case:

Gummis don’t exist as they used to. It’s just Rainbow and DX Gummis, and they confer a unique skill at random. There’s no longer a list of skills you need to learn, which is a massive, massive help to reduce the tedium of maxing out IQ.

Your starter is guaranteed to get the Squad Up ability, which improves your rate of recruitment. It’s super helpful.

Makuhita Dojo tickets are plentiful, and every round I go in for pretty much guarantees a level up. So it’s a really easy way to level grind if you need to be ready for something specific.

Gold Ribbons are plentiful from the start of the game, and I’m pretty sure were increased from 2000 to 2500 poke. Which means getting money is way easier. Not that you need it; without having to constantly buy gummis you’re actually pretty rich. But just in case, TM costs also went way down. A Psychic TM was only like 2500, as opposed to the 8000 it would’ve been in the original.

Now, you may recall in the original, that you could only really have four members of a party. Now you can have 8. You start with only 3, but can recruit up to five allies during exploration. This means you have to make far fewer trips just for recruitment, especially combined with the Squad Up ability.

It’s really just a lot of major adjustments that made the same a lot faster to go through, if you wanted. That said, boss battles are, I feel, substantially harder than the original. In the original, getting hit by too many random Pokemon while exploring was the big danger. Now? Boss battles are a rough time, and you have to go in prepared. Gengar took out two of my ally Pokemon before we could beat him, and that’s against Eevee who has Bite, and Mudkip who has Ground moves. Zapdos, in its first fight, knew Sky Attack, which OHKO’d three of my Pokemon. It’s definitely made the bosses more engaging, and requires you to go in prepared. Or you can recruit to a full team of 8, and just gang up on the legendary Pokemon and beat its ass. They also added rare strong enemies, which…I kinda like. They’re really rare and don’t often appear, but are essentially high-level mini-bosses you encounter. Except they’re sometimes stronger than the boss. Running into that Metagross was scarier than fighting Zapdos.

I’ve also heard that, when you get to the point of needing evolution, there’s no longer any item requirements. So instead of having to hunt down the Sun Ribbon for Espeon, you just have the general Evolution Crystals, and if you have enough you can evolve. This can be seen as a bad thing, but considering I don’t think you can generate passwords for rescue missions that give you those evolution items as rewards anymore, this is way better than having to traverse through 50 floors of the level 1 dungeon with a key to open the lock door that will get you this one item but only if you manage to make it out alive.

There are some things I don’t care for, but that’s largely in areas where it wasn’t changed. So multi-hit moves? Still disgustingly broken. Hypnosis actually got worse. Using it against a Pokemon already asleep lets the enemy control you, and often times it uses up an item in the bag. Bug Bite exists and eats all your damn reviver seeds. Small things like that, which have pretty much always existed in these games. On the whole, I think it’s super worth it. It’s so good I’m now invested in replaying all the Gen 3 games. I’m having such an intense nostalgia trip, and really that’s all I ask for at the end of the day.

#karnilla74 #pokemon rescue team dx

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gofancyninjaworld · 5 years

Text

The World of Heroes, Part 3: The Association

With great thanks to @scumerage for giving me the necessary framing.

So, welcome to Part 3 of me geeking way too much about heroes and One Punch Man. In Part 1, I talked about the challenge of being a hero. In Part 2, I took a step backwards and looked at what heroes were in the context of OPM. This part, I’m going to build on them and write about the world of the pro-hero.

No one has ever needed especial qualifications to be a hero, neither in the real world nor in that of OPM. Heroes arise from anywhere depending on the situation. The idea of someone paid to be a hero seems rather weird the more you think about it.

A: Why a Hero Association?

We can’t understand the Hero Association unless we take the time to really appreciate why it came to exist. The Hero Association was born out of desperation. Specifically, mysterious beings had been appearing with increasing frequency in the world going back at least twenty years -- and back when Saitama was in middle school, it’d already gotten severe enough a problem that there were calls for the government to set up a specialist force to deal with the problem.

Calls that went unheeded.

For years.

Until Agoni had that epiphany that his grandson having the luck of being saved by a random stranger didn’t have to be luck. So he got the buy in of both politicians and business people and set up a Hero Association to organise heroes and save people (not necessarily the same thing). The Hero Association is 100% donation funded, no taxes.

Like a beacon of hope rising out of a sea of tragedy, the Hero Association’s main building stands.

B: Why be a Pro-Hero?

The key thing that I’m going to bold is that the Hero Association ORGANISES heroes. It does not train them, taking only ‘battle ready’ people. It does not worry about developing them. You have to already be a hero. Wannabes need not apply.

This fact has many important implications.

First, there is a right time to join the Hero Association: when the hero work you are already doing has come to take up so much of your time that it is interfering with your ability to make a living. The undying gratitude of the person you saved may be priceless, but it doesn’t pay the rent, nor the hospital bills you incurred. Come to the Hero Association at that time and it’s a fantastic deal. It will reliably pay you every month. It will pay your medical bills. It will record and recognise your activities. It will indemnify you against the damage that you do during the course of your work. If you’re not in Class C, it will help you with equipment. It may even put money aside for the pension you’ll need much sooner than you think.

Second, the Hero Association may not train, but it also does not constrain. As discussed in earlier parts, the sort of person who becomes a hero is someone who doesn’t fear standing out or going against the flow -- they’re independent minded and often more than a little eccentric. The HA’s attitude allows for the weird and wonderful heroes we see to thrive. No prescription of how to do your heroism. No uniforms. Out of Class C, no expectations of minimum activity.

However, while the Hero Association has broad standards, those standards are NOT LOW. Every profession that carries authority over others from teaching to the police has a perennial problem of how to spot and weed out those attracted to it for power tripping purposes, the narcissists, the sociopaths, the sadists, the abusers, and the plain evil. The Hero Association’s pro-heroes are remarkably good -- far better than the general population. There’s a certain amount of nonsense the HA will put up with from super-useful heroes but we’re seeing that even there, they have limits. I don’t know what combination of selection criteria and the demands of the job that create this, but it works.

And there’s a logic to it: hero work, doing good hero work consistently is far too tough for people who don’t have both a serious moral core and a desire to be pro-social to last. The manga expansion has been at great pains to examine the different avenues available to people with the power to be pro-heroes but not the moral core and/or social drive -- regular law-abiding civilians doing whatever the hell they want to. Sportspeople. Criminals. Mercenaries. Vigilantes. Conversely, we’ve also been shown at least one person with the morals, but not the strength -- that person made an exceptional police officer.

With great power comes no obligation -- your life is your own

It’s not a perfect model, and its shortcomings are becoming clearer -- which I’ll discuss in a bit -- but it does do its job of supporting exceptional and highly individual heroes to dedicate themselves fully to their self-appointed work. And they’re good at drawing from society at large: a non comprehensive list of former (and current) professions of pro-heroes includes actor, circus performer, construction worker, salaryman, manager, swordsmen, professional martial artists, hunter, trapper, perfumier, farmer, athletes, body builders, ninjas, ballerinas...the list goes on.

C. Classes and Ranks

Deploying heroes means sorting heroes so as to use them in the best way possible. There are no size limits to any of the classes -- as many as fit the requirements of a class will be in it. The HA is always recruiting.

Class C is the threshing floor, where heroes start if there’s no compelling reason to recommend that they start elsewhere -- or if they have their doubts. The combination of low pay and the expectation of weekly results means that there’s no opportunity to work half-heartedly. It quickly discourages the lazy, those who aren’t strongly self-motivated, those lacking in initiative, those expecting quick recognition, the ones who simply cannot work with others, the ones who won’t take lawful orders and the plain incompetent. Expectations are relatively low. Stopping small time criminals, being helpful to people and being willing/able to work with others to take care of monsters will see you in good standing. Getting out of Class C seems to be dependent on showing that you can be relied on to single-handedly kill monsters (any damn kind) OR by being promoted to C Class Rank 1. The majority of heroes have done at least a short stint in Class C, including many current Class S heroes.

It’s hard to survive on your own in Class C

If a hero is inclined to be lazy, Class B is where to be. No formal quota, no formal expectation of being drafted to help with an escalating situation (like Class A and S heroes), semi-decent pay, help with equipment design/maintenance, its lower reaches are quite a safe place to coast. When a Class B hero does work, the expectation on them is that they be entrusted to handle a wolf-level threat on their own and if Don Pacino is typical of the sort of criminal that gets a B Class bounty, heavily-armed gangs are fair game. The challenge of Class B is the Blizzard Group -- if you work close to or in Z-City, and are ambitious, Fubuki will come knocking sooner or later. It's a problem that the Hero Association knows about and chooses to do nothing about, seeing it as just another test ambitious heroes have to negotiate.

It’s a shame that Class B is so dominated by the Blizzard Group that it’s difficult to find pictures of just Class B heroes that’s not them. And yet we know nearly none of them...

Class A is the where the main backbone of the Hero Association lies. That this is shifting of late doesn’t negate the fact that most monsters are threat level tiger or below. For the vast majority of threats, Class A is where the buck stops. The roughly forty members of this class are the highest class of heroes you could still consider ‘normal’ human beings. Highly visible, hard-working and with high expectations placed on them, A-Class heroes are what other heroes aspire to be. There may be no formal tutelage system in the Hero Association, but Class A heroes take turns to orient new recruits as to the rules and expectations of being a pro-hero.

Class A comes across as a group whose members are just as comfortable on their own as in working with others.

Class S is... well, it is special. Unlike the other classes, a hero cannot be promoted to Class S: it is by direct invitation only. And that invitation is on battle record, battle record, and battle record alone. Only the demonstrated ability to single-handedly slay a threat-level demon monster or more will elicit that invitation. By staying at Class A Rank 1, Amai Mask closes off the possibility that a hero who doesn’t meet those requirements can nevertheless request a promotion interview and talk or network their way in. Why so persnickety? Because these heroes are the In Case of Emergency heroes: when the shit really hits the fan, that’s when they step up. With so few of them, a single S-Class hero can easily be all that stands between tens of thousands of people and a horrible death with no back up available for hours. We’ve seen a lot more of them than the average person in the story does because the story is set precisely in the midst of several extreme emergencies.

They may be the most powerful heroes, but they don’t have the best reputation amongst other heroes. Even between themselves -- they’re amazingly fractious and Flashy Flash’s summation of his colleagues is particularly scathing:

The other Class S heroes are useless. They’re either stubborn or hide their own identity, weirdos, children and old people. (from webcomic chapter 112)

Getting this many Class S heroes in the same place at the same time is like pulling teeth

What about ranks? Within classes heroes have ranks, but they don’t directly correspond to battle power, have little to do with seniority, and are absolutely not measures of hierarchy within a class. What they are are measures of a given hero’s perceived utility to the Hero Association. Ranks give heroes something to measure themselves by, act as a tangible measure of progress, are something that does correlate to how well a hero gets paid within the class and of course, they bring feel superior points. If a hero is minded to climb classes, Rank 1 of the class below is the ticket to apply for promotion.

What’s very fair about the ranking system is that it’s assessed weekly. No matter where a hero starts out, week by week, they cannot help but build an actual track record. The Hero Association isn’t slow to reward good heroes with promotions -- it’s why even the Saitama who won’t report his work and claims to cheat is rising so fast that other heroes keep attacking him. What’s troublesome about it is that it’s a points based system, whereby points can be divided between heroes... which opens the door to some underhanded shenanigans.

Wrapping up

The Hero Association has solved a very troublesome problem: how to reliably hire a hero? Precisely because anyone can be moved to acts of heroism, people have been saved by a random assemblage of other people, only a few of whom would ever think of doing it regularly. What they have done in short is to give those people basic security and protection and otherwise let them get on with doing what they do.

What’s been good about their approach is that they’ve effectively captured lightning in a bottle, bringing together some exceptional people, and deploying them in a way that balanced their needs for individuality with the benefit of collective action. Until recently, it’s a model that has worked. What’s been bad about it…. Ah, that will wait until the last part of this series.

#OPM #meta #world building #Hero Association #heroes #it's an interesting model #but this piece is long enough

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

Text

Psycho Analysis: Joker (Suicide Squad)

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Boy oh boy, talking about the Joker is always fun! Who are we talking about this time? We’ve covered Ledger’s creepy anarchist and Nicholson’s unhinged mobster, so who do we have left? Romero’s madcap clown? Hamill’s multimedia masterpiece performance? Maybe Joaquin Phoenix’s fresh new take on the most iconic villain in comics?

No… sigh… we’re talking about Jared Leto. Might as well get him out of the way. And while this is certainly not a Joker I like dwelling on, I think there is a fair deal to discuss in regards to this incarnation the Joker, in particular why he fails as a take on Batman’s most famous enemy and what could have been done to fix him, because really, it would not have been hard to make this Joker work.

Actor: Jared Leto is not necessarily a bad actor, but he is certainly not the kind of guy you’d expect to play someone like the Joker. Sure, one of his most famous roles is in Fight Club where he gets his face pulverized, so we know he’s good at getting the crap kicked out of him (a requirement for being the archenemy of a superhero who loves to beat up criminals), but that was a minor role. Here he’s taking on the one comic book villain that even people who have never read a comic could probably name, and I just don’t think someone who is better in supporting roles could pull it off.

Not helping his case is his extremely creepy on-set behavior, where he method acted in incredibly disturbing ways to the point he harassed his costars. Even more baffling is that all the weird, edgy stories of his method acting showed he had no understanding of who Joker is as a character; Joker is not some weird, cringey stalker who sends people dead rats, he’s an unhinged madman who would probably bake a dead rat cake and send it to someone’s house with a bomb inside that would explode at their kid’s birthday, raining dead rats everywhere, all because the kid’s dad cut in front of him at the grocery store.

In all honesty, Leto is probably the biggest problem because of this. It’s the same problem Eisenberg had as Lex Luthor: he doesn’t understand or care about the character he’s playing, and it shows, because it is almost entirely off the rails from what one would expect, and not in a good way.

Motivation/Goals: The Joker in film typically has the goal of causing a ruckus, overturning society in some way, or just being evil in general… but with a fun twist. Joker is always supposed to do stuff because it amuses him. Nicholson’s Joker got this down the best, but even Ledger’s anarchist take on the character got this down extremely well. Here though, Joker is pretty much a bit player in the story, and his entire purpose in the narrative is showcasing Harley’s origin and then showing him coming to rescue her. That’s about the extent of his being in the film: he exists solely to help Harley break free from captivity, which he fails to do until the very end of the film.

This is disappointing in an extremely obvious way: this is THE JOKER. This is a character who demands to be the center of attention. This is a character who hijacked the plot of every single one of the best Batman video games ever made. This is a villain who just won’t die. This is the archenemy to end all archenemies, and yet here in this film he’s playing second fiddle to a CGI witch. A lot of his scenes were apparently cut, which makes things even worse, because we could have perhaps had a better grasp of who he is. As is, Joker is really nothing but a satellite love interest to Harley.

Personality: What little we see from this Joker is mostly unappealing. He’s creepy, he’s crazy, he’s strange, but a lot of it feels recycled from other Jokers and not a unique spin put on by Leto. However, there is one aspect of the character that is truly great and deserving of praise: this Joker almost certainly genuinely loves Harley Quinn, in his own demented way. Finally, an adaptation brings Joker and Harley’s relationship back from “romanticized domestic abuse” to the Mad Love it excelled at being. The director’s cut actually added in a little bit more to really showcase these two do love each other, as crazy as the two of them get. It’s like the saying goes: She was fearless, and crazier than him. She was his queen, and God help anyone who disrespected his queen.

Final Fate: They make it look like Joker dies in a helicopter crash… but it’s Joker. You can count on one hand the amount of times his death actually sticks in any continuity. He survived and busts Harley out at the end, ending the film on a kind of sweet note, honestly.

Too bad it’s one that’s doomed to be undermined by later films, as Birds of Prey is almost certainly going to have Harley kicking Mr. J to the curb and Jared Leto is seemingly cut from the DCEU, and even if he wasn’t it’s doubtful he’d ever be able to get out of Joaquin Phoenix’s shadow at this point. I can’t even jokingly say “Press F to pay respects” here, because neither I nor anyone else respects Jared Leto in the slightest anyway.

Best Scene: I’m a bit fond of the scene where he dives into the chemicals with Harley, if only because it really reinforces that their love, while utterly insane, is genuine in their own twisted way. I honestly really like this take on their relationship.

Best Quote: This entire exchange, because as corny and silly as it all is, again, it reinforces what I think worked with Joker:

The Joker: Question! Would you die for me?

Harley: Yes.

The Joker: That's too easy. Would you... Would you live for me? Hmm?

Harley: Yes.

The Joker: Careful. Do not say this oath thoughtlessly! Desire becomes surrender. Surrender becomes power. You want this?

Harley: I do.

The Joker: Say it. Say it. Say it. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty...

Harley: ...Please?

The Joker: God, you're so... good.

Final Thoughts & Score: Jared Leto’s Joker gets a lot of flak for things such as his design, his mannerisms, the overall performance… and I can’t really argue with much of that. While the base design isn’t terrible, the overdone tattoos, particularly the infamous “Damaged” tattoo, really don’t feel much like the Joker. His mannerisms for the most part just don’t scream Joker either, or at least not a particularly new or interesting take on him. And, overall, the performance in general is weak, lackluster, and inconsequential to the film as a whole. I believe even the director has stated Joker would have made for a better antagonist than the magical Enchantress, and frankly I have to agree, especially since it would have given Leto’s Joker more screentime as well as a more grounded threat for the Squad to face on their first mission. Really, considering most of the characters are just normal people with highly trained skillsets or mild mutations, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to fight off an insane gang leader clown rather than an interdimensional witch demon bringing about the apocalypse?

Combine that with what little is good about him in the actual film – namely, his genuine affection for Harley – and it may have actually made for a good, compelling plotline, with a conflicted Harley forced to choose between an insane relationship she loves and her newfound ragtag group of wacky friends. Not only would it have strengthened Harley and Joker’s roles in the narrative, it would have almost certainly given a better lead in to Birds of Prey. Leto’s Joker could have had more of a chance to exert his charm over Harley and perhaps even be more of an intimidating presence on the screen, maybe even use some classic Joker gags. As I said at the start, this character would have been seriously easy to fix. Just clean up the costume, give some better direction, and let him have a more central role that naturally creates conflict while allowing the Squad to develop closer bonds with each other.

Joker shockingly gets a 2/10. Yeah, I don’t think this is the worst abomination ever put to film, and honestly, even among bad comic book villains he’s nowhere near as bad as someone like Malekith, Weapon XI, or Fant4astic Doom; at the very least, this Joker has some redeeming qualities to him that I can’t ignore. He’s certainly one of the worst adaptations of the characters ever, but still, credit where credit is due, he does some things right. It was all just mishandled, as often things were in regards to the DCEU at the time.

#Psycho Analysis #Suicide Squad #Joker #Jared Leto

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kira-ani-mcgrath · 5 years

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I am redeemed You set me free So I'll shake off these heavy chains And wipe away every stain Now I'm not who I used to be I am redeemed

"Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave

I drew this picture specifically to go with the personal story below the cut. Thank you in advance if you take the time to read it, but no worries if you don't. Either way, have a wonderful day.

Late December 2018 was when the Frozen II calendar leak began circulating. Included in the leak was information on the Russian caption for the page, translated to be a vague movie summary. This plot teaser stated that the group (Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven) would be heading north into the forest due to some Arendelle-related mystery.

This was a bit of a let-down for me. You see, since my initial introduction to Frozen in 2013, I have been hoping and praying that the inevitable sequel would include Hans' redemption as part of the narrative (for various reasons that are too lengthy to detail here). Such a plot thread would be easier to accomplish if Frozen II involved travel to some other kingdom (or multiple kingdoms), especially the Southern Isles. With the information revealed in the plot spoiler, it was harder to picture a scenario where Hans would join the rest of the gang for an adventure. Yes, it could be done, but it would be more convoluted, possibly to the point of not being an option altogether. Perhaps I was being too pessimistic, but there was no denying the fact that I was feeling rather down about Frozen II.

A few days later, I was driving home with the radio on, but I wasn't paying attention to it. Instead, I was once again mulling over various ways Hans could be redeemed in Frozen II. Yet the more I considered possible scenarios, the more it seemed that the movie's revealed plot would make Hans' redemption an unrealistic feat. I reached the end of my train of thought, and, feeling disheartened, mentally chided myself, "I should just give up. Hans isn't going to be redeemed in Frozen 2."

At that precise moment, the opening notes of "Redeemed" began to play on the radio. Being quite familiar with the song, I immediately laughed and pointed an index finger to the sky. Not only was the title of the song the exact word my mind had just used, but I have long associated this song with Hans (one of many songs, but also one of my favorites). I had no doubt this was the Lord confirming something to me, as this was not the first time such a "coincidental" occurrence has happened.

It's important to know that, in the years since Frozen, I have created (and am still creating) multiple fanworks that posit different takes on how a Hans redemption could come about (and that's not including all the ideas I've had that aren't developed enough for full-fledged works). There have been several times when I've questioned the value of creating such things, only to have affirmation of my work come from unexpected sources at just the right time. Additionally, I have had many such question-and-confirmation experiences in my life, as well as a noticeable increase in the quantity of such instances within the past several months (albeit unrelated to Frozen and instead dealing with various other matters, such as my faith, my most recent pregnancy, and random everyday life things). Thus, when this specific incident occurred, I immediately recognized it as yet another such moment.

Since that night in December, I'd been internally debating sharing this anecdote with the world. Every few days or so my mind would recall the incident and I'd consider posting about it, but I'd always end up deciding against it. After all, it is highly personal, and it takes quite a bit of explaining to impart the importance of this experience (and I'm still leaving out personal details which make it much more powerful to me). This went on for some time. In mid-late February, I was once again musing upon the occurrence and whether or not I should share it. I jokingly thought to God: "If I hear 'Redeemed' on the radio this morning I'll take it as a sign I'm supposed to share this." And, since you are reading this post, you must know where this is going. I already had the radio on, and after getting back in my vehicle after child drop-off, I flicked through my presets to find a song I wanted to listen to. And, lo and behold, my second-to-last preset was playing the first verse of "Redeemed." (Granted, all of my presets are Christian radio stations, so that does put the odds more in favor of my "wager" coming true. On the other hand, the song is from 2012. That means it's 7 years old, and I honestly didn’t hear the song very often at the time, as more recent songs get played much more frequently. In my mind, the proposition was a joke, but I suppose I should have known better, since a lot of my recent question-and-confirmation experiences have been me joking and God proceeding to do the thing.) And thus, here we are. The large time gap between the second occurrence and this post is because 1) I take a while to get my thoughts out and refine them into something fit for public eyes, especially in a personal case such as this one, 2) it seemed appropriate to do some art to go with this, since I've been lacking in productivity in the creative departments for some time, and 3) life things requiring my attention.

On an interesting side note, I had three additional confirmations of this post while I was working on it.

#1) When I said, "There have been several times when I've questioned the value of creating such things, only to have affirmation of my work come from unexpected sources at just the right time," there's a particular incident that sticks out to me. One night in 2016, I stayed up late finishing chapter nine of my fanfiction, Frozen: Sacrifice and Forgiveness. Even though I posted the chapter, I was really depressed about it. Thoughts such as, "Is this really something I should be investing so much time in?" and "Does God actually want me to write this story?" weighed heavily on my mind, though I kept them to myself. After some internal arguing, I directed an unspoken question to the Lord: "Is this really what I should be doing?" Not much later, before going to bed, I checked my phone and saw an email from FF.net saying I had a comment on the latest F:SaF chapter. The comment was from a fellow Christian who had read through the posted chapters and was very encouraging about my story. It was just the right kind of affirmation at precisely the right time. Fast-forward to Wednesday, February 27th, 2019. I checked my phone in the morning and saw an email from AO3 that someone has left a comment on the last posted chapter of F:SaF. This was quite surprising, as I haven't updated the fic since September 21st, 2017. The comment was very positive, and it immediately reminded me of this post, which was a WIP in a computer document at the time. Not only did the new comment correlate to the aforementioned unexpected sources of encouragement, but F:SaF has been on my mind recently in terms of working on it again. Then, as the cherry on top, I was listening to the daily scripture reading on the radio while driving to work that morning, and the song that came on immediately afterward was "Redeemed".

#2) On Friday, March 1st, I had finished this post to my general satisfaction (as I knew it still required minor edits, plus I still had to finish my drawing) before getting ready for work. Upon entering my vehicle, I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if 'Redeemed' played on the radio again?" I then instantly berated myself: "That's dumb. You don't need to be looking for confirmation of things all the time." I then flicked through my presets, and the first verse of "Redeemed" was playing on my second-to-last preset — the same song position and the same preset as when I was debating whether or not to make this post.

#3) On Friday, March 8th, I thought to myself as I was getting ready for work, “I really need to finish that post.” When I started my car, the radio was on, but I didn’t care for the song it was playing, so I jumped to my first preset. “Redeemed” was playing, starting from the very first word of the first verse.

Now, the question is: what was being confirmed to me with the original occurrence in December? The most straightforward answer is Hans' redemption in Frozen II. Mind you, not a redemption based on worldly methods such as "cleaning yourself up" and "earning it," but rooted in the Christian standard of unconditional love, mercy, grace, and faith. I'll admit, it seems far-fetched, given the fact that Disney is not a Christian company and the creative team has no Christians on it (AFAIK). Then again, "What is impossible with man is possible with God." Still, I have thought of other meanings for this incident. Perhaps it was simply a reminder to not get so depressed over a fictional character. Perhaps it was merely encouragement to keep going with my various fan projects, despite Frozen II looming in the distance. Perhaps it was a nudge that the sequel would contain a small hint of a future Hans redemption. Of course, that all sounds like me trying to talk myself out of trusting God for something amazing, as I am prone to doing. It's a struggle to wait on the Lord (especially for someone like me who hates surprises and wants to know things ASAP), but the truth of this incident will be revealed when the time is right.

One may wonder why God would care about a fictional character or a fictional story. It's not that He cares about those things in and of themselves, it's that He cares about His children and the salvation of humanity. My prayers (which are mostly just God-directed thoughts as I go about my day) regarding Hans' redemption were always something along the lines of, "Hey, God, it'd be really awesome if Hans gets redeemed in a way that reflects how Jesus saved us." Then I would mentally argue with myself about even making such a request, and always end at a variation of "Whatever is best, Lord." Though a fictional character's redemption is trivial in the grand scheme of things, God can use the most unexpected means to reach someone regarding a matter of eternal importance. He knows that, for me, this isn't just about a fictional character — it's about using that character's story to connect real people with the hope of the Gospel. Frozen was a movie with weak morals and a character that is looked down upon as irredeemable by the majority of viewers. If, by the grace of God, the sequel displays true love and redemption, then perhaps one soul out there will see the truth: anyone can be saved because Jesus can save anyone.

Feel free to message me if you aren't comfortable utilizing public replies or reblogs. Thank you for reading, and God bless you.

Update (Sept. 4th, 2019): So I’ve been lurking on a few Discord servers for a while now in addition to my Tumblr lurking, and overall there is a very negative attitude regarding Hans returning in F2. It’s coming from all directions: antis/haters who don’t want him in it, neutral parties who don’t see an available role for him to play, and fans who have lost hope due to lack of news. Last night I had an unpleasant dream on the subject. While the specifics are hazy, I know it involved the fandom discussing Hans’ absence in the movie. When I was going about my business this morning, I thought about the dream, this post, and the incident that brought this post into being. I mentally argued with myself, as I often do, about the situation. Lately, I too have been feeling disheartened on this matter. As I said, the fandom as a whole has been negative about this, so it was starting to get to me. In addition to that, as new leaks reveal more of the story, the chances of Hans appearing in any meaningful fashion get slimmer. However, no matter how bleak the outlook, I was given a supernatural sign to keep hope in a Hans redemption. Still, there was always the possibility I had interpreted the incident incorrectly, and adding in the other factors at play, this morning I was once again questioning God. I wanted another sign or some kind of spoiler-type proof, then scolded myself for being greedy and for seeking worldly validation of what God has said (instead of trusting Him to fulfill His promises). I had the radio on KLOVE as I was driving, and one of my “Hans songs” came on. It was a “lower tier” one (a.k.a. one I don’t like quite as much as others), so as I listened to it I thought, “It’d be nice if the next song after this was another good song, but one of the top-tier ones. It’d make me feel better about this whole thing.” Of course, I then chided myself, thinking, “Why are you always asking for stuff? Isn’t what you have already enough?” The song came to an end, and the next song began to play. It was “Redeemed.”

#Frozen 2 #Frozen II #Prince Hans #Frozen Hans #Frozen #Hans #redemption #Christian #Christianity #my art #KAM's thoughts #KAM's personal stuff #KAM's art

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yutaya · 5 years

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Discord was talking about how Colleen still has a grudge against Ward. I started considering how they could potentially bond.... it’s a conundrum.

The problem, of course, is that Colleen remembers very well the day that Ward Actual Meachum, one of the all time youngest Fortune 500 CEOs, one of the most successful executives in New York, one of Profile Magazine’s “Hot 50″ Entrepreneurs, CEO of International Corporation Rand Enterprises Ward Meachum showed up at her struggling dojo and tried to bribe her into lying to the legal system that the homeless guy with outdated ideas about challenging dojos but who seemed otherwise earnestly harmless had threatened her, was dangerous, unstable, and possibly armed (there had definitely been a mention of guns to heads.) The homeless guy who had just called her for help, because he had already been committed and was thus safely out of everyone’s way already, who’d said that he’d been drugged and taken against his will and attacked in the street because one of the richest families in New York had it out for him, who had called a woman that he’d met twice because she had been nice enough to give him some slippers before she sent him packing - he’d called her and said that she was the only person who could help him. Ward had responded to her initial denial that Danny had been at all threatening by suggesting a bribe for lying about it anyway, had cut her off and ignored her second denial, and, after he’d successfully set all her alarm bells about men who don’t take “no” for an answer ringing, came back the next day with prepared papers and a check for $50,000.

When Colleen saw Joy Meachum’s tears and shock at Danny’s mysterious m&ms package she’d thought it possible that the Meachums were underhanded and unethical but may have at least actually believed that Danny was a legitimately crazy impostor - Colleen thought that for about half a day, and then she had to fight off Rand Security home invaders in her pajamas.

The Meachum siblings went from accusing Danny of stalking them (and, as she’d discovered later, actively trying to have him killed) to admitting he was their childhood friend and helping him fight the Hand and their corrupt murderous father. Ward apparently decided he could be the brother Danny wanted so badly after all and the two of them spent the year after Midland Circle just sort of pretending that everything else had never happened. And Colleen, who loves Danny and knows how much he values having a family, tries to be cordial.

But she’s never really stopped thinking that Ward Meachum is a piece of shit.

Ward, for his part, is hyper-aware of the fact that Colleen hates his guts, can’t blame her for it and in fact approves of her reasons (his brother’s significant other had better take extreme offense to anyone who jeopardizes him,) and is a little bit scared of her.

If Danny ever leaves him alone in the apartment with her for some reason Ward probably just stays out of Colleen’s way and they politely ignore each other until Danny gets back.

So, how can Colleen and Ward bond?

1. Danny pulls the typical sitcom “I want the most important people in my life to get along” move and wheedles an agreement to dinner out of them where they continue not to get along until somehow bonding over how they both love Danny or potentially over making fun of Danny (with love).

1: Flaw - They already know they both love Danny, that’s the only reason they have the level of acquaintanceship they do now.

2. Ward texts Colleen at some point during the Asia trip because he can not take this anymore, he has to vent about Danny to SOMEBODY, and it turns into a texting relationship that turns into an actual friendship centered around commiseration re: Danny and the unbelievably stupid things he does and his ridiculous accidental flirting ways - previously discussed with hilarity on the discord but when taken seriously:

2: Flaw - Ward would probably not text Colleen about this; he knows she hates him.

3. Ward sends a message to Colleen to tell her when they’re scheduled to land in New York coming home from Asia because he knows it would make Danny happy to have his friends welcoming him back.

3: Flaw - Although Ward would definitely do this, it wouldn’t really lead to any bonding between Ward and Colleen. It falls in line with the Danny-centric accord they have now.

4. The twelve-foot-mountain-troll method: Ward and Colleen wind up in some perilous situation where they have to work together, including active communication, to survive/save Danny/help Danny/save or help other people.

AND

5. The adventures with Zuko method: Ward and Colleen embark on some mission together, working together (including active communication) to solve the problem/find some information that will help/save Danny or other people.

4&5: Convoluted - requires circumstances - Why are the two of them specifically together? Colleen needed Ward’s resources for something like in S2? Why would Ward insist on coming along? If Ward needed Colleen’s help on something it would be more likely to be related to her physical abilities or street knowledge of a dangerous situation in which case she would be more likely to have to go/insist on joining, but what thing like that would he need Colleen’s help for? It would call for even further circumstances, like Danny is unavailable and the matter is time sensitive, or Danny is out of commission. It could not be about Danny’s safety without Danny being out of commission because if Ward tried to go behind Danny’s back even if his intention was to protect him Colleen’s opinion of him would only worsen and she would definitely tell Danny/insist he tell Danny. It seems a huge stretch to have the two of them together by coincidence, like if they both happen to be at the bank when it gets taken over by robbers.

Scenario - Maybe Colleen could be in the Rand building for some reason when it’s attacked? System override and lockdown or something. Attackers would of course go for the CEO and potentially the other executive level employees to try to make Ward do something (HA good luck with that they have no idea how stubborn he is), Colleen and her vigilante soul probably defies being a lobby level hostage by climbing into a vent in the bathroom or something and making her way to the top level to help. This would be a good opportunity for nonverbal communication between Ward and Colleen, demonstration of trust in each other to take care of their part in whatever/get things done, plus throwback to the fight at Rand from S1. Actually someone please write this.

4&5: Pro - If it’s a situation involving helping other people especially, but just the kind of conversation x situation prompts could work too, scenarios 4 and 5 would be an opportunity for some of Colleen’s views on Ward to change - his priorities and his ethics could be revealed more clearly to her and cast him in a more favorable light.

6. Just.... prolonged exposure? As Ward keeps being there at family game night and family dinner and Misty being chill about him (‘Why, Misty?’ Colleen asks, looking to the sky: ‘Why?’) and him being an admittedly cute parent and Danny babysitting his kid with Colleen’s inevitable help and continuing to be a reliable ally for all their major Iron Fist snags Colleen slowly starts to think of him less harshly, they get more used to each other and slowly start to consider the other as someone they could rely on to do something if they needed it, etc. Maybe they’d even grow to like each other, eventually.

6: Con - Would take a long ass time, not nearly as fun as the other options.

Other ideas welcome. Gang?

#Iron Fist #Ward Meachum #Colleen Wing #let ward and colleen be bros #SOMEHOW #my stuff #the immortal iron fist #daughter of the dragon #🖕 ward meachum 🖕

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kaette-kita-slayers · 6 years

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Kanzaka Q&As (July-December 2016)

July 2016

Q: After Rezo killed Zel's parents, did he dig a grave and bury them? Does Zel know where their graves are?

K: I think he dug a grave and buried them with great care, though I'll leave it to your imagination whether he did so for appearances or out of genuine feeling. He's never told Zel where it is.

Q: You said in an answer before that "no powerful Mazoku have been created in recent years", but why is that? I thought it might be because they aren't able to increase the numbers of powerful Mazoku any further, since they have to cut away part of their own power in order to create new Mazoku. (Kanzaka already answered this one the previous year. Maybe he forgot?)

K: Of course, the Mazoku accumulate power bit by bit from the negative emotions of humans, but ever since the Demon War, they've been expending more than they've taken in, so they haven't had the reserves necessary to create powerful Mazoku.

Q: In volume 9, from the second half of Slayers, Gourry said he more or less remembered Zel and Amelia, though he pretended to have forgotten them as a joke. So by the time that volume 15 takes place, did he still remember them properly? He remembered Xelloss, and in volume 9, he said himself that he remembers his friends, so I think it's probably all right. It's still bothered me for years.

K: I hope he remembers them.

August 2016

Q: I have a question about Slayers. Two different generations of the kings of Dilse were cursed with Raugnut Rushavna. Is there any possibility that the curse was lifted on one (or both?) of them by the time the second half of the series wrapped up? It seems like there might be, if Dynast wasn't the one who actually cursed King Wells. Also, has the Mazoku who cursed Dilus II appeared or been mentioned in the series?

K: Dynast was the one who cursed the prior king. Raugnut Rushavna is a curse that endlessly inflicts pain and quasi-immortality, and it requires that the person who used it be in good shape, as the source of magical power. Dynast wasn't destroyed but did lose his power. As a result, the curse would have been weakened in some fashion, but it wouldn't have been broken.

Q: Mazoku are fundamentally different from other beings, seeking "destruction". Considering how the Mazoku relate to one another as superiors and inferiors and the various restrictions they have on them---especially the high-ranking Mazoku---they come across as being somehow mechanical (this may be putting it a bit harshly, but like living instruments of destruction), even though they possess individuality. To what degree do they have emotions like humans and dragons do? I've found mentions in the novels of them feeling rage, joy, and attachment to things, but I think that they probably don't feel love, since they want destruction. Can they feel sorrow or admiration, or genuinely care for things? If you've outlined this for yourself, please tell me.

K: The Mazoku try to comprehend the emotions of humans, etc. in order to bring the world closer to destruction. As a result, they display things that appear like human emotions such as happiness, but I don't think that the Mazoku themselves know whether those are genuine or only surface-level imitations.

Q: In the Slayers world, if a mid- to high-ranking Mazoku who can take on human form were to infiltrate human society in order to gather information, which would they enjoy more, something like going drinking with a bunch of middle aged men like Tarim and Daymia and being forced to organize the whole thing, or getting information from girls who are their type (not necessarily romantically)? Do the subordinates of each of Shabranigdu's five retainers have different tendencies? Like the Mazoku under Phibrizzo's command being good at approaching women, or a lot of Gaav's Mazoku being types that are popular even though they don't understand women and lose their motivation if they have to keep talking to men at parties, or the Mazoku under Zelas and Xelloss' command being good at everything.

K: Mazoku are quite diverse in their preferences. There are Mazoku who do things like mingling with a bunch of middle-aged guys out drinking and egging them on when they complain about their own bosses and subordinates, thinking, "Such sweet negative emotions!" There are also types who would mingle with married women and encourage their negative feelings toward their in-laws.

September 2016

Q: Did the piece of Shabranigdu sealed in Rezo's eyes feed solely on the negative emotions from Rezo's own mind? Is it reasonable to assume that the thoughts and feelings of the people around Rezo, such as Zel's hatred for him, had no effect on Shabranigdu? It would be kind of a relief to hear that, compared to Rezo's intense negative emotions, the negative emotions from Zel, who was like night and day compared to Rezo, or Rezo's gang, who weren't really all that bad deep down, weren't that powerful and thus didn't have any effect.

K: The Demon Lord was sealed away at the time, so he wasn't consuming people's negative emotions. However, just by existing, he did in fact have a negative influence on Rezo's mind.

Q: About the Demon Lord of the North---even though the strength of the seal on him has never changed, the most he can manage to do, lately, is to give instructions by talking in his sleep. Does that mean that he's growing weaker? If that's true, then will he eventually be destroyed as time passes? Or will he be reincarnated in another human body? L would be lonely without S.

K: I think you have the wrong impression. In this case, "lately" is referring to a span of time from the Mazoku's perspective. "Lately" means the entire time from when he was sealed in ice until the present time.

Q: Did Rezo's gang ever keep a pet cat at their hideout? Or was it more like "I want a cat, but we'll just have to leave on another journey, so I can't..." since they were always moving from place to place?

K: They had one... ♪ ... to experiment on. (T-T)

October 2016

Q: Why did L base her form on that of the woman Lei Magnus loved?

K: I should explain this so that there won't be any misunderstandings---L has never manifested in that world aside from when she borrowed Lina's body. I meant that the version of L that I've scribbled on greeting cards and things like that looks that way. Though of course, S's lover wasn't a little girl.

Q: Was Rezo ever rejected by someone he liked?

K: To be rejected, you naturally have to approach someone first. I don't think that he would have fallen in love and approached some woman when he had an all-consuming obsession with his research and his eyes.

Q: In Slayers volume 1, page 72, line 10, when Lina and Zel are negotiating over the orihalcon statue, Lina says, "I try to make a practice of avoiding your type at all costs. Call it woman's intuition. (cut) And intuition or not, I'd rather die than be associated with the likes of you." After that point, Zel fights the Demon Lord alongside Lina and Gourry, and then makes it through various other battles along with them. Did Zel kinda think to himself that Lina's "women's intuition" is completely unreliable, despite the big deal she made about it? Or did Zel never believe in the concept of "women's intuition" in the first place? Did Zel not believe at all in something as unscientific as "women's intuition" while Rezo thought "Well, I've been around long enough that I can't say with absolute certainty that it doesn't work..."? (Leaving aside the question of whether Lina's intuition works or not.) (Dialogue from the Tokyopop translation)

K: That wasn't women's intuition in the first place. She was just trying to provoke him, which he was perfectly aware of.

November 2016

(No entry)

December 2016

Q: In Granblue, the Blast Sword was a water element weapon. Is this in any way connected to the original work? Or is it something presented by the Granblue staff that only applies to Granblue? I remember people discussing how the Sword of Light was a dark element weapon because it's a Mazoku...

K: About the elements, I basically left it to them to take care of integrating [the weapons] into the game, so that doesn't mean that the Blast Sword in the original is a water element weapon. By the way, my Granblue party's selection of water element weapons is completely awful. I'd welcome a water event!

Q: I understand that you initially imagined Noonsa as a normal fishman and not a taiyaki. (Of course, I also love Noonsa's current design!) Did you maybe imagine Noonsa at first as something like "a little slimy, but with a handsome face"? (Taiyaki, if you're not familiar.)

K: That's not even possible.

Q: Phibrizzo sent Gourry's Sword of Light back to the Demon Lord of another world. I know it's impossible, but if he could go to that other world, could he get the Sword of Light back? Or was it absorbed as soon as it returned, because it was a part of the Demon Lord, so it's no longer in the shape of a sword?

K: In its original world, the Sword of Light was created in the form of a weapon, just like Dulgofa, so if he could go to that world, he would be able to use it as a weapon, as usual.

#slayers #hajime kanzaka #interview

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webseoadd · 4 years

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Practical Tips For Buying Your New Laptop

So you need to buy a laptop but don't know where to start. You're not alone. Buying a new laptop can present many challenges, especially if you're unfamiliar with laptops or bundle computers.

Over the conclusion little while so scads new laptop technology has television the market... Intel Duo Processors, SLI, Dual Graphics... it tins all be totally mind boggling to the average consumer. For the first time laptop buyer understanding all the techno gibberish can be downright scary.

Mainly because a whole new production of bundle technology comes around every two years or less; probably scads less when you consider all the new advances made recently. It tins even be a little overwhelming even for someone like myself who runs an online Laptop Guide and who has a keen interest in all belongings laptop.

Regardless of all these fantasy new improvements, devices and bundle technology, you must remember you're buying a new laptop for you and you alone. You must first decide if all this new things is important to you? Do you really need all this new bundle technology?

But most of all before you can consider that questioning you must first figure out WHY you need a laptop? Why are you buying a laptop? What chores or assignment do you protocol the laptop to perform?

If you just need a laptop for commoner hammock browsing and emailing, a laptop made five era ago evidence do the job nicely and charge you a heck of courtyard less. You really don't conditions a top of the files laptop unless of course, you're holding up with the Jones and misses the latest top model of everything. But that's mixing into Dr. Phil's territory... lets not campaign there!

So what do you need the laptop for?

Do you poverty a lightweight portable laptop for business trips or meetings? Do you assignment a student book for classes? Or do just failure a desktop reserve computer that you can easily claim around in your home?

Your answer testament greatly determine which makes of laptop you should buy.

In my case, I needed a desktop substitute that I could easily claim around my domicile and profits on very infrequent trips or vacations. Long cell life was not a major consideration because I would mainly be using it plugged into an electrical outlet. Besides, the laptop I wanted would be 7 or 8 pounds and I had no definition of lugging that child around over any great distance.

I work full time at residence and do a yards of web formatting so I needed a solid machine with a enclosure of RAM. I also enjoy downloading and enjoying the occasional film so a DVD Multi Drive and a wide screen parade were important. High caliber graphics and sound was also important for what I needed.

* RAM

RAM is to computer what location is to real estate. RAM or Random Access Memory is perhaps the capacity important factor to consider when buying your laptop or any computer.

RAM testament greatly determine the haste of your laptop or computer. How fast it testament relatedness your obligation and graphics. You must make sure you have enough for your needs. You can now discovery dozens laptops pre-loaded with 1 Gig of RAM and capable of upgrading to 4 Gigs or more.

Compared to yesterday's computers that's a pen of RAM. If you're not into gaming, relation large video files/editing, all that RAM is not needed but it testament type your laptop run faster. Also, remember if you're into gaming, Video RAM will be important -- you poverty a summit of the line (read expensive) Graphics Card and it evidence addition the prix of your laptop.

Also it may be wise to buy a laptop with upgradable memory - since new applications, multi windowed browsers, streaming video... of the very near future may circumstance high action on your laptop's RAM.

* Dual Core Processors

CPU or Computer Processing Unit is the sanity of your laptop and in this position you have Two Hearts -- Intel Centrino Duo is the front messenger in this area odds now. However, AMD is appointing Intel some fellow competition in the dual core battle with its Athlon(TM) 64 X2 dual core processor. Either one would be a wise choice.

* Hard Drive

The amount of disparity or extent of laptop hard drives are steadily increasing, a 100 Gig laptop is now common. If you don't shortage a yards of storage, buying a smaller size hard ambition evidence save you money.

Many laptop specialist choose the SATA hard ambition with a high 5400 or 7200 RPM.

* Weight or Size

Perhaps the adult reason you're considering buying a laptop is its size or encumbrance -- otherwise you're better of saving your crack and buying a desktop computer instead. A laptop is portable, you can carry it anywhere... tuck it under your arm and wagon it to class or your next firm meeting. It is shape for conveying your dope and employment to wherever you claim to go. This mobility is the main selling feature of a laptop.

Obviously you must pickax the best sized laptop to proceedings your needs. Laptops are divided into different categories, here's a quick rundown:

Tablet PC (smallest) Size of a paper capsule or notepad, less than 3 pounds.

Ultra Portable (small) 13" x >11" More than 1.5 inches, more than 7 pounds and up

Pick the extent that suits your purpose and use.

* Price

Laptop prices are steadily falling, it is now possible to get a quality laptop for well under a $1000. Many are selling at the $500 - $600 range. High caliber gaming laptops offered by such specialty laptop God as Alienware, Rock, will still system you back 3 to 4 grand. Ouch!

* Warranties

Don't overlook this factor, if you're buying an expensive laptop, you determination shortage to unit out these extended warranties. If you do a enclosure of traveling, you durability scarcity to purchase insurance against burglar and loss.

* Dead Pixels Was the Only Thing I Feared!

If you can band your laptop for any dead pixels. A dead pixel will give you white spots(pixels)on your LCD display screen. Most situation you're buying your laptop heterosexual out of the box, booting up and discovery you have dead pixels is not a pleasant experience. If you need to gang your laptop screen for dead pixels, just do a pursuit for the free 'Dead Pixel Buddy' software program and run it to check your laptop for dead pixels.

* Use The Internet For Information Or Even Purchase

I run a commoner Laptop Guide on one of my sites and I also keep a laptop blog so I am constantly using the Internet to gather information and compare prices. You must office around and check out the consumer reports on the different laptop makers and the different laptop products. You must also sketch out the service records/reputation of the major brand names.

I researched all the different laptops and found the one that met my obligation and price. I bought it in the real world at a local Computer store mainly because I wanted to examine the laptop's graphics and keyboard in the flesh. However, I checked out all of the product's details beforehand on this store's online lands -- scads easier than in a busy crowded store.

Make A List

It might prove helpful to create a scrolls of the minimum requirements or features you shortage on your desired laptop:

Intel Duo 1 Gig of RAM 100 Gig Hard Drive 15 Inch Screen 4 or 5 Hours Battery Life Burn/Write DVDs...

* Kick The Tires

Like buying anything, it is always a good objective to fully check out your purchase. Sample the laptop's keyboard, does typing emotion comfortable? Try the touchpad, is it responsive? Open your favorite programs and band the treating speed of your laptop. Bring along a DVD and sample the sound and graphics. Take note of any problems or irritations that may pop-up, in my matter it was a small benefit shift key but this was so minor I knew I could get used to it and it didn't stop me from buying my desired laptop.

* Research Your Laptop

Use the Internet to research your desired laptop, know exactly what segment it has and know what software is already preloaded. Be careful of salespeople who evidence trial to levy you extra for configuring or repairing programs on your laptop when these programs may already be preloaded at the factory stage!

I settled on a Toshiba Satellite P100-SD3: it has Intel Duo, 1 Gig of RAM, 100 Gig Hard Drive, 17" widescreen TrueBrite Display, compatible with the new Windows Vista... it meets all my needs and I am quite pleased with my new laptop. And I testament be manuscript a full review after I have used it for a duo of weeks... but that's another article.

If you consider mass of the simple points and sketch out the factors listed above then order your own laptop purchase will not only be quite painless but it may even prove an enjoyable experience. Do a little homework and you will easily discovery the perfect laptop for you.

The poet runs an online Laptop Guide featuring the latest top gaming laptops: Gaming Laptops For Timely Special Savings/Deals/Coupons on Dell, Toshiba, Apple, Sony, Alienware...click here:https://fashnos.com/product-category/electronics/laptop/

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More than 1 million COVID-19 cases worldwide

1:04 AM

Bus driver who railed against coughing passenger dies from COVID-19

A Detroit bus driver who had expressed anger on Facebook about a coughing passenger has died from COVID-19, officials said Thursday. Jason Hargrove felt ill about four days after posting a passionate video on social media on March 21. He died Wednesday, said Glenn Tolbert, the head of the drivers union. Hargrove posted a profanity-laced video complaining about a woman he said repeatedly coughed while on his bus. The coronavirus can spread through coughs. The woman wasn't in the video. Hargrove said drivers are "public workers doing our job, trying to make a honest living, take care of our families." "For you to get on the bus ... and cough several times without covering up your mouth and you know (we're) in the middle of a pandemic - that lets me know that some folks don't care," Hargrove said. "At some point in time, we've got to draw the line and say enough is enough. I feel violated." On March 17, the city eliminated fares, promised more cleaning and told bus riders to enter and exit from the rear door only. The changes occurred after drivers refused to work that day to protest conditions. Mayor Mike Duggan said "everybody in America" should watch Hargrove's video. -- The Associated Press 12:06 AM

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine ordered released from prison four months early due to coronavirus concerns

Daniel Hernandez, also known as the rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, was ordered released from prison four months early amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. In the decision, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer cited Hernandez's asthma and the greater risk he would face behind bars. "In light of the heightened medical risk presented to Mr. Hernandez by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are extraordinary and compelling reasons to reduce Mr. Hernandez's sentence in the manner requested — to wit, releasing Mr. Hernandez from custody and requiring him to serve his first four months of supervised release in home confinement, on specified conditions," Engelmayer wrote. Hernandez was originally sentenced to two years in prison for his ties with the street gang Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. He could have been sentenced for decades for his crimes, but he reduced his sentence by becoming a star witness for the prosecution. "We are very happy that the Court allowed my client, Daniel Hernandez, to serve the remainder of his sentence at home," Hernandez's lawyer Lance Lazzaro said in a statement. "Considering today's challenging circumstances as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, inmates are especially vulnerable to contracting the virus. The Court showed great compassion today and my client is very grateful." 9:05 PM

Trump says states need to "work out" competing bids for medical equipment for themselves

President Trump on Thursday said states need to work out competing bids for medical equipment among themselves, and continued to blame states for failing to stockpile medical equipment like ventilators. Governors are sounding the alarm that they are bidding against themselves, as well as the federal government, for much-needed medical equipment and supplies. "Well they have that, and they have to work that out," Mr. Trump said, when asked about what should be done when states are fighting over orders of medical equipment. Mr. Trump said states "should have been building their stockpiles," adding that the federal government is a "backup." "We're a backup, we're not an ordering clerk, we're a backup, and we've done an unbelievable job," Mr. Trump said. Read more here. 8:37 PM

2 cruise ships with sick passengers dock in Florida

Two cruise ships carrying passengers stricken with coronavirus have docked in Florida on Thursday. It ends a nightmarish odyssey for some of the passengers, but for others aboard the journey is far from over. After nearly a month at sea, the Zaandam's grueling voyage ended in Port Everglades. Passenger Val Myntti couldn't wait for it to be over. "We are on pins and needles and we are so excited about it," Myntii told CBS News. The Rotterdam, which took passengers with no symptoms from the Zaandam, arrived, too. There were a combined 2,300 people on both ships. At one point, the Zaandam reported 200 sick passengers, nine who tested positive for the virus and four deaths. Read more here. Cruise ships carrying passengers with coronavirus dock in Florida 8:16 PM

Child donates vital medical gear to Virginia hospital

Zohaib Begg comes from a long line of doctors and nurses now working to save coronavirus patients. When his aunt told him her hospital was low on headgear, the 7-year-old got an idea. He went to hotels by his Virginia home to ask for their shower caps. He left with caps, gloves and face masks. Watch more of the story below: Child donates vital medical gear to hospital in Virginia 7:59 PM / April 2, 2020

National parks open during outbreak cause fears

Even as the public is shut out of local parks across the country, many national parks remain open with crowded trails and little social distancing. Some former park employees and outside groups are demanding a shut down of the entire National Park System. Dustin Stone, who worked at Klondike Gold Rush Park in Alaska, said he quit his job in protest. "I wound up walking out of my job," Stone said. "I had been in contact with peers at parks in the lower 48 that were telling me horror stories about their parks being overloaded with visitors." Watch more of the story below: National parks open during outbreak causes fears 7:52 PM / April 2, 2020

Trump says he's "looking to see" if he can stop states from releasing prisoners

President Trump said Thursday that he disapproves of states freeing "serious criminals" to reduce congestion in prisons during the coronavirus pandemic, and that he's "looking to see" if he has the right to stop them. "Some people are getting out that are very serious criminals, in some states, and I don't like that. I don't like it." Mr. Trump said at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefing. "But it's a city or state thing in certain cases, as you know." "We don't like it, the people don't like it, and we're looking to see if I have the right to stop it in some cases," Mr. Trump added. 7:43 PM / April 2, 2020

18% of uniformed NYPD workforce out sick

The New York City Police Department announced that 6,498 members, or 18% of its uniformed workforce, called in sick on Thursday. The department added that 1,354 uniformed members and 169 civilian employees have tested positive for the virus. The department also announced the death of school safety agent Roniece Watson, who died from complications due to the virus on Monday. 7:22 PM / April 2, 2020

Wisconsin won't move next week's primary

A federal judge ruled against postponing Wisconsin's April 7 election but is providing voters an additional six days to turn in absentee ballots. In his ruling, Judge William Conley again criticized Wisconsin leaders for not stepping up to delay the election but said it wasn't within his purview to do so. "The only role of a federal district court is to take steps that help avoid the impingement on citizens' rights to exercise their voting franchise as protected by the United States Constitution and federal statutes," Conley wrote. "That is what the court attempts to do in this opinion and the order below, understanding that a consequence of these measures may be to further the public health crisis in this State. Unfortunately, that is beyond the power of this court to control." Thursday was supposed to be the final day to request absentee ballots, but Conley is giving Wisconsin voters until Friday at 6 p.m. ET to place those requests. The deadline to turn in the ballots has been extended to 5:00 p.m. ET on April 13. As of Thursday morning, more than 1.1 million absentee ballots have been requested, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). Read more here. 7:10 PM / April 2, 2020

Jeff Bezos donates $100 million to U.S. food banks

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to food banks across the U.S. so they can feed needy Americans as the novel coronavirus cripples the economy. "Even in ordinary times, food insecurity in American households is an important problem, and unfortunately COVID-19 is amplifying that stress significantly," Bezos said on Instagram Thursday. "Millions of Americans are turning to food banks during this time." The donation will go to Feeding America, a Chicago-based network of more than 200 food banks that feed 46 million people. Forbes ranked Feeding America the second-largest U.S. charity by revenue. The nonprofit generated $2.9 billion in revenue in 2019, most of which went toward sending food to pantries, according to a 2019 financial report. Read more here. 7:10 PM / April 2, 2020

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads

The novel coronavirus has ravaged the coastal Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, which has struggled to cope with the number of corpses as hospitals, morgues and funeral parlors have been overwhelmed. Some social media videos show unattended bodies lying on the street with nowhere else to go. The outbreak in Ecuador has sickened at least 3,100 people, according to John Hopkins' latest data map. The epicenter in the country is in Guayaquil, where residents have criticized the government's response. Because of the strict quarantine measures taken to restrict the spread of COVID-19, people have been limited in what they can do for loved ones or neighbors who die at home. Some, such as Guayaquil resident Stalin Briones, have been sharing disturbing photos or videos to get attention about what's going on. Read more here. 6:17 PM / April 2, 2020

Navy removes captain who raised alarm about virus on aircraft carrier

The captain of an aircraft carrier hit by the coronavirus was relieved of his command by the Navy on Thursday for going outside the chain of command and circulating a memo pleading for help from Washington, one which quickly became public. Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said he relieved Captain Brett Crozier of command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after losing confidence in his ability to lead under the stress of dealing with the viral outbreak. "Command is a sacred trust that must be continually earned," Modly said at a news conference at the Pentagon. "As I learned more about the events of the past week onboard the Teddy Roosevelt ... I could reach no other conclusion than Captain Crozier had allowed the complexity of his challenge with the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally when acting professionally was what was needed most at the time." Read more here. Captain Brett Crozier conducts a remembrance ceremony for the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami victims on March 11, 2016. U.S. Navy / MC3 Cody Hendrix 5:52 PM / April 2, 2020

Americans with direct deposit on file with the IRS will get checks within 2 weeks, Mnuchin says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that Americans with direct deposit on file with the IRS will get their economic relief payments within the next 14 days. "Within two weeks, the first payments will be direct deposit into taxpayers' accounts," Mnuchin said. Mnuchin added that the government will be putting up a "web portal" to collect information from Americans who don't currently have their direct deposit information on file. "It is a very large priority, the president has made clear, we want to get this money quickly into your hands." 5:46 PM / April 2, 2020

NYC mayor Bill de Blasio urges residents to wear facemasks

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday urged residents to wear facemasks but cautioned that wearing one isn't a substitution for other prevention measures. "We're advising New Yorkers to wear a face covering when you go outside and near other people," de Blasio said at a news conference. "It can be a scarf. It can be something you create at home. It can be a bandana." NYC mayor urges sick New Yorkers to stay off subways during coronavirus outbreak 5:36 PM / April 2, 2020

231 inmates and 223 staffers test positive in NYC jails

As of Thursday morning, 231 inmates and 223 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus in New York City jails, according to the city's Department of Corrections. Those inmates and staffers have been asked to self-quarantine. "The health and well-being of our personnel and people in custody is our top priority," the department said in a statement. 5:29 PM / April 2, 2020

President Trump tests negative for coronavirus

President Trump has again tested negative for coronavirus, according to a memorandum released by his physician on Thursday. Dr. Sean Conley wrote that Mr. Trump was tested with one of the new rapid point-of-care tests and that his negative result came back in 15 minutes. "He is healthy and without symptoms," Dr. Conley wrote. 5:15 PM / April 2, 2020

Another BOP inmate dies of coronavirus

The Bureau of Prisons announced Thursday that another inmate has died from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of inmates who have died of the virus in federal prison to four. All of the deaths have occurred in Louisiana's FCI Oakdale. But in a Thursday statement, the bureau announced the death of a patient from Ohio's FCI Elkton who may have had the virus, too. The bureau identified the latest Oakdale patient as David Townsend, a 66-year-old who was incarcerated on a meth and marijuana conviction. Townsend, who had preexisting conditions, went into respiratory failure on Saturday before he was taken to the hospital, the bureau said. The Elkton patient was identified as Woodrow Taylor, a 53-year-old who was incarcerated on a cocaine conviction. Taylor, who also suffered from preexisting conditions, was brought to the hospital earlier in the week and died before his coronavirus test results came back, the bureau said. 4:34 PM / April 2, 2020

Ohio extends stay-at-home order

On Thursday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that his state's stay-at-home order has been extended until May 1, 2020. "We understand that this is tough — it is very difficult. But, I would not be making these decisions if it wasn't a matter of life and death," DeWine said in a statement. "We have to keep this monster down. It's not dead — it's very much alive." A health professional walks out of a drive-through coronavirus testing site at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, on March 17, 2020. Getty 3:50 PM / April 2, 2020

Oprah Winfrey donates $10 million to relief efforts

Oprah Winfrey has joined the growing list of celebrities who are making personal contributions to aid in the fight against the coronavirus. "I am donating $10 million overall to help Americans during this pandemic in cities across the country and in areas where I grew up," Winfrey announced Thursday. Her generous commitment includes a $1 million donation to America's Food Fund, who are working with Feeding America and celebrity chef José Andrés' World Central Kitchen. I believe that America’s Food Fund will be a powerful way to make a difference for our neighbors in need and am committing $1 million to this fund to support those facing food insecurity. — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) April 2, 2020 Read more here. 3:30 PM / April 2, 2020

Amazon says all warehouse workers will have face masks by next week

Amazon says it will provide face masks to all its warehouse workers globally by early next week and broaden its use of temperature checks as it tries to slow the spread of coronavirus amid its vast logistics workforce. The announcement comes 10 days after CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged the company was having trouble filling orders for masks amid a widespread shortage of protective equipment. After workers in several warehouses across the U.S. complained of not having sufficient protective equipment and shared reports of colleagues coming to work sick, the bottleneck appears to have cleared. "The millions of masks we ordered weeks ago are now arriving, and we're distributing them to our teams as quickly as possible. Masks will be available as soon as today in some locations and in all locations by early next week," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said on a company blog on Thursday. Read more here. 2:52 PM / April 2, 2020

French president says he will loosen lockdown restrictions on people with autism

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday, World Autism Awareness Day, that he will loosen lockdown restrictions on people with autism and on families with autistic children. "I can imagine your worry at this time, the emotions you must be feeling," he said in a televised address. Macron noted the nationwide lockdown marked a sudden end to the routines that many autistic people rely on by restricting movement and access to family members, friends and schools. Under the lockdown, people are only allowed to leave home for essentials such as grocery shopping and medical visits, and for one exercise period of just one hour a day, within a radius of one kilometer from their home. "For some of you, staying home is hard, and can cause you anguish," Macron said, as he announced that people with autism will be allowed to go out for longer periods and more often, and will be able to travel farther than 1 kilometer in order to go to places they find comforting. The president of Sésame Autisme, an association of parents of people with autism, welcomed the move. It is expected the new guidelines will go into effect in the coming days. 2:34 PM / April 2, 2020

Pelosi announces new House committee to oversee coronavirus response

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to create a bipartisan House committee to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus crisis, led by Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the majority whip. Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference Thursday that the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis would oversee the dispersal of funds from the $2.2 trillion relief bill signed by President Trump last week, and "ensure the taxpayers dollars are being wisely and efficiently spent." "The panel will root out waste, fraud and abuse. It will protect against price-gouging, profiteering and political favoritism," Pelosi told reporters, adding that the panel will wield subpoena power. "We need transparency and accountability." Read more here. 2:30 PM / April 2, 2020

6-week-old baby's death linked to coronavirus, believed to be one of the youngest fatalities

A 6-week-old baby who tested positive for the coronavirus died last week in Connecticut. Governor Ned Lamont confirmed the death on Wednesday, and said that it is likely one of the youngest deaths from the disease "anywhere." "It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can confirm the first pediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to ," Lamont wrote on Twitter. "A 6-week-old newborn from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived. Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive. This is absolutely heartbreaking. We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19." Read more here. 1:55 PM / April 2, 2020

New Jersey cases top 25,000

More than 25,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in New Jersey, officials announced Thursday. "We've lost another 182 New Jerseyans to #COVID19, bringing our total to 537 deaths," Governor Phil Murphy tweeted. "537 reasons to stay home and do your part to #FlattenTheCurve." As of 1:00 PM, #COVID19 statewide stats: • Positive Tests: 25,590 • Deaths: 537 For updates: https://t.co/JW1q8awGh7 pic.twitter.com/CrbCLMtWo9 — Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 2, 2020 1:42 PM / April 2, 2020

More than 1,000 people in the U.S. died of coronavirus in a single day

More than 1,000 people in the U.S. died from coronavirus in a 24-hour period, making Wednesday the deadliest day of the pandemic in America so far. Wednesday marked the first time the U.S. reported more than 1,000 deaths from the virus in a single day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — a dramatic increase in the daily death toll. Read more here. 1:20 PM / April 2, 2020

Louisiana reports spike in confirmed cases

Louisiana's health department has reported an additional 2,726 COVID-19 cases, which raises the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 9,150. "While extremely upsetting, this increase in COVID-19 cases appears to be less a sign of new exponential growth and more a sign of a logjam from commercial labs," Governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement Thursday. He said officials believe the disease is spreading "in every parish in Louisiana." "The situation remains concerning, but every Louisianan has the power to change the path we are on," he said. "Think of your neighbors, and please stay at home." 1:12 PM / April 2, 2020

Democratic National Convention postponed until August

The Democratic National Convention has been postponed to August, the party announced Thursday. The move comes after nearly four dozen party officials told CBS News that Democratic leaders should either scale back, postpone or rethink the convention. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, also said Tuesday it was "hard to envision" the event moving forward as planned. The convention was slated to kick off July 13 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and end July 16, but is now expected to begin the week of August 17. The event, which brings together thousands of Democrats from around the country, will still take place in Milwaukee. Read more here. 12:43 PM / April 2, 2020

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on his battle with coronavirus: "It's gonna be a long slog"

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, said Thursday that he's "doing pretty well, all things considered." "This is very tough. I get it now," he said, joining his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, via video during a press conference. He said he had a fever as he spoke to the governor from his basement, where he is self-isolating while battling the virus, and that he has had hallucinations, including seeing his late father. "It's gonna be a long slog," he said. "Now that I know the fight that I'm in for, I'm more comfortable." He also said he can't imagine having to fight it alone. "We're in a real fight and we really do have to remember our connections to each other because otherwise there would be no way through," he said. Governor Andrew Cuomo and brother Chris talk coronavirus 12:33 PM / April 2, 2020

New York has enough ventilators in stockpile for about 6 days, governor says

New York state has 2,200 ventilators in its stockpile, enough for about six days at the "current burn rate," Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. He said the state is still looking to acquire more ventilators. "The burn rate of ventilators is troubling, and six days of ventilators in the stockpile is troubling," he said, but added, "we have all these extra measures that I believe if push comes to shove will put us in fairly good shape." He said the measures include transporting ventilators from hospitals that don't need them at the moment to others that do, using anesthesia machines as ventilators, and splitting one ventilator between two patients. "I don't want to say yet I'm confident, and it depends on how many we need, but I can say with confidence we have researched every possibility, every idea. Every measure you can possibly take to find ventilators, this state has done. That I can promise you." Governor Cuomo: Ventilator stockpile may last 6 more days 11:47 AM / April 2, 2020

Death toll in New York rises to 2,373

The death toll in New York state from the coronavirus is now 2,373, up from 1,941 a day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. More than 92,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state – more than half of them in New York City. 11:41 AM / April 2, 2020

Speaker of Iran's parliament becomes highest-ranking official with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis

Iran's parliament says speaker Ali Larijani has tested positive for the new coronavirus and is in quarantine. Larijani is the highest-ranking official within Iran's government to test positive for the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Parliament announced Larijani's illness on Thursday on its website, saying he was receiving treatment in quarantine. In this file photo, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani, speaks with media, during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, September 19, 2011. AP Iran has one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus with more than 50,000 cases confirmed by the government and more than 3,100 deaths. Many inside and outside of Iran believe those officially confirmed figures are considerably lower than the true toll, however. — CBS/AP 11:34 AM / April 2, 2020

Pentagon confirms it's working to provide 100,000 body bags to FEMA

The Defense Department is working to provide 100,000 body bags to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Thursday. FEMA requested the body bags from the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said the department and the DLA "have a longstanding arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities from DLA's industrial partners during crisis response operations." "DLA is currently responding to FEMA's prudent planning efforts for 100,000 pouches to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies," he said in a statement. Read more here. 11:11 AM / April 2, 2020

Putin extends Russia's business shutdown until April 30 as coronavirus cases mount

President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that the Russian government was extending the nationwide shutdown of non-essential businesses until April 30 to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. The move came as Russian officials reported a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 771 more people testing positive over the last day, bringing the country's total up to 3,548. "We have not passed the peak of the epidemic in the world and in our country yet," Putin said in a televised address, urging the vast majority of Russians to stay home. He said that the measures had already bought more time in the fight against the virus. Dozens of the country's regions, including capital Moscow and the surrounding area, have also imposed lockdowns this week, ordering residents to remain in their homes for all but essential outings. A woman rides in a largely empty metro train in Moscow, Russia, after the city authorities announced a partial lockdown ordering residents to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus on March 30, 2020. Reuters Moscow authorities have threatened to impose fines of between about $51 and $6,300 on residents and businesses found to be violating the stay-at-home orders. -Alexandra Odynova 10:40 AM / April 2, 2020

Iranian students try to deliver coronavirus "aid" packages to "unprivileged American people"

A hard-line organization of Iranian college students says it has attempted to deliver "humanitarian aid" including coronavirus test kits, disinfectants, face masks and gloves to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, ostensibly to be delivered to the U.S. The group's leader said the aid was to help the "unprivileged American people" fight one of the world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks. The Student Basij is the youth division of the pro-regime Basij militia. Video on Iranian state media showed the student group trying to deliver what appeared to be two truckloads of the purported supplies to the Swiss Embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. The embassy refused to receive the packages, but has not said why. Video broadcast by Iran's state-run IRIB news network shows a truck purportedly carrying "humanitarian health aid" supplies intended for the U.S. to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. The embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, refused to accept the April 2, 2020 delivery, but would not say why. Still from video on IRIBnews.ir Relations between Washington and Tehran have been strained for months, and Iranian leaders have blasted the Trump administration for harsh economic sanctions they claim are hindering their response to the country's own COVID-19 outbreak. American officials - and some Iranians - suspect Iran has hidden the extent of the outbreak in the Islamic Republic and exaggerated its capacity to fight it. Amid shortages of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves for American medics, the U.S. has sought supplies from abroad - including from another international rival, China. -Seyed Bathaei 10:01 AM / April 2, 2020

Human impact on the environment may make pandemics more likely, experts warn

About two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans have their origins in animals. Scientists say the ability of a virus to mutate and adapt from animals to the human system is very rare, but the expansion of the human footprint is making that rare event much more likely. For most people, up until the novel coronavirus took over the headlines, the possibility of a new disease emerging out of nowhere and spreading around the world at a breakneck pace seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. But some members of the scientific community have been sounding the alarm for decades, warning that it was not a matter of if, but when another pandemic would threaten humanity. Read more here. 9:19 AM / April 2, 2020

Bill Gates calls for nationwide social isolation policy to slow coronavirus spread

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has been warning about the threat of a global pandemic since 2015. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to fighting the new coronavirus. On Thursday, Gates spoke to "CBS This Morning" co-host Anthony Mason in a wide-ranging conversation in which he called for a nationwide social isolation policy to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease and for the federal government to "set the priorities" on testing. Click here to read a portion of the interview. 9:13 AM / April 2, 2020

After Zoom calls hacked with racial slurs and pornography, CEO admits "mistake"

Hackers target Zoom videoconference calls amid coronavirus pandemic The FBI is warning about reports of people intruding on Zoom calls with pornographic or hate images. The popular app said its number of users has ballooned from about 10 million to hundreds of millions with people isolated at home under coronavirus precautions. But, attackers have discovered Zoom, too, as one Long Island mother found out earlier this month. Michelle, who asked that her last name not be used because she fears more online attacks, said her 14-year-old daughter was online in an "Ask the Rabbi" class for her private girls' Modern Orthodox high school when some boys "Zoom-bombed" it. "First, the screens were completely black and they were saying all these anti-Semitic things, cursing them out, saying you f***ing Jews, et cetera," Michelle told CBS News Consumer Investigative Reporter Anna Werner. "And then one boy suddenly stripped and was naked." Click here to read the full story. 8:43 AM / April 2, 2020

Record 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week

April opened with millions of people out of work and stock markets slumping after the White House this week acknowledged that the coronavirus could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. It's a preview of the carnage to come. Some 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the Department of Labor said Thursday, double the number of applications last week and 10 times the previous weekly record set in 1982. As many as 20 million people could be out of work this summer, according to separate estimates from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute and Bank of America. "We haven't, in my lifetime, my parents' lifetime, seen this. This is truly unprecedented," said Bill Rodgers, a fellow at The Century Foundation, a think tank. Over 6 million people file for unemployment as coronavirus crisis deepens 8:27 AM / April 2, 2020

New England Patriots plane flying medical masks to Boston from China

The New England Patriots plane is flying much-needed coronavirus crisis medical supplies to Boston from China, CBS Boston reports. A Patriots spokesperson told the station the team's Boeing 767 went to Shenzhen, China Wednesday to pick up 1.2 million N95 masks. According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker struck an agreement two weeks ago to acquire the critically needed masks from a "collection of Chinese manufacturers," but he had no way to get them back to Massachusetts. So he turned to Patriots president Jonathan Kraft — a longtime friend of President Trump — for help. Owner Robert Kraft also got involved, as did the State Department. 8:02 AM / April 2, 2020

150 bodies removed from homes in Ecuador as COVID-19 crisis strains public resources

Ecuador said Wednesday the bodies of 150 people were retrieved from homes in the port city of Guayaquil after the coronavirus crisis put a strain on resources. A joint military and police task force created to deal with the emergency removed the bodies in the past three days, government spokesman Jorge Wated said. Authorities have not confirmed how many COVID-19 victims were among the 150 dead. As of Thursday morning there were still fewer than 100 confirmed coronavirus deaths in Ecuador, and about 2,750 cases. Authorities had registered 537 deaths and 20,081 cases across Latin America by Wednesday afternoon. — CBS/AFP 7:49 AM / April 2, 2020

Engineer intentionally derailed train near Navy hospital ship in LA for virus response, feds say

A train engineer intentionally drove a speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there to help during the coronavirus crisis, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The locomotive crashed through a series of barriers and fences before coming to rest about 250 yards from the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. Nobody was hurt. Eduardo Moreno, 44, was charged with one count of train wrecking, prosecutors said. — CBS/AP Feds: Man intentionally derailed train near hospital ship 7:40 AM / April 2, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci to receive additional security following threats

Federal officials are ramping up security for Dr. Anthony Fauci after threats were made against him, multiple officials from the Department of Justice confirmed to CBS News. The increase in security came at the request of the Health and Human Services Inspector General (HHS IG), the officials said. The Department of Health and Human Services requested that U.S. Marshals deputize a group of agents in the office of the HHS IG to handle the doctor's protection, and the request was approved by the Department of Justice, according to the officials. The officials did not expand on the nature of the threats, or provide detail on the extent of physical protection Dr. Fauci will receive. Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses the latest in the fight against coronavirus Dr. Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is one of the most prominent and respected voices in the nation's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and appears regularly at the White House's daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings. Although he has occasionally stepped in to correct or dial back claims President Trump has made about the nation's effort to stop the virus, Dr. Fauci has emphasized that he and Trump are working together well. Asked Thursday on "CBS This Morning" about the threats and pressure he is under, Dr. Fauci told co-host Gayle King: "It's my job. This is the life I've chosen, and I'm doing it. I mean, obviously there's a lot of pressure. I would be foolish to deny that. But that's what I do. I've been through crises like this before. Dating back, you know, 37 years from the very beginning of the HIV epidemic. It's a job to do, and we've just got to do it." 7:24 AM / April 2, 2020

CBS News Poll: Half of Americans expect coronavirus outbreak to get worse over next month

Americans are bracing for a difficult April. Fifty-one percent say they expect the coronavirus outbreak to get worse in the next month; another 21% expect it to continue as it is now and 28% say they think things will get better in the coming weeks. A solid majority of Americans, 77%, say they don't believe doctors and nurses have the supplies they'll need. Marks for President Trump's handling of the outbreak remain mixed and have not dramatically changed from last week, with 51% saying he's doing a good job — down two points since last week — and 49% a bad one. Click here to read more from this CBS News Poll. 7:03 AM / April 2, 2020

LA mayor urges city's residents to wear masks when not home in bid to curb virus spread

The mayor of Los Angeles has urged 4 million residents to wear masks to combat the spread of the new coronavirus when they walk out in public, even as state health officials shy away from requiring the measure. Homemade cloth masks, or even a "tucked-in bandanna," will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the nation's second-largest city and remind people to practice safe social distancing, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday as he donned a black cloth mask to make his point. "I know this looks surreal," Garcetti said. "We're going to have to get used to seeing each other like this. ... This will be the look." But he urged people not to use medical-grade masks, such as N95 or surgical masks, which are in short supply and needed for health care workers and first responders. Health officials clarify guidelines on wearing face masks — CBS/AP 6:59 AM / April 2, 2020

Spain sees record 950 coronavirus deaths in a single day

Spain saw a new record in virus-related fatalities Thursday, with 950 deaths in 24 hours. The total number of deaths in Spain was 10,003 on Thursday. New coronavirus infections rose by nearly 8% overnight to 110,238, placing Spain on par with Italy, the country that has seen Europe's worst outbreak to date. Health authorities have been saying the pace of new cases confirmed daily in Spain was dropping from an average of 20% up to March 25, to less than 12% after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay at home. The government has acknowledged that the real number of new infections could be much higher because Spain only has the capacity to process between 15,000 and 20,000 tests per day. — CBS/AP 6:53 AM / April 2, 2020

Social Security recipients will automatically get stimulus checks, Treasury says in reversal

The Treasury Department said late Wednesday that Americans on Social Security will not be required to file a "simple tax return" to receive a stimulus check from the U.S. government. The announcement reversed an earlier statement from the Internal Revenue Service that participants in the federal retirement program would need to file such a return to get the funds. The IRS directive would have impacted about 15 million people, including millions of seniors on Social Security, who aren't required to file tax returns, according to Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Seniors who rely on Social Security for their sole source of income don't have to file tax returns. 6:38 AM / April 2, 2020

China insists U.S. "lying" and shifting blame with accusations of COVID-19 cover-up

The Chinese government is hitting back at U.S. officials and lawmakers accusing it of suppressing and hiding information about the coronavirus outbreak. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that "the words and actions of individual American politicians are really despicable and immoral" and that they should focus their energies on what they can do to protect their citizens and save as many lives as they can. "We have said many times that to stigmatize, blame and shift responsibility to others cannot make up for the lost time," she said. "Continued lying will only waste more time and cause more loss of life." American lawmakers and officials have publicly accused China of a cover-up of the seriousness of the initial outbreak that allowed it to spread more widely, and U.S. officials have told CBS News the American intelligence community believes China has been under-reporting both the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country. Aircraft from China with medical supplies arrives in New York City Hua insisted that China has released the relevant information in a timely manner every day. "We understand the current plight of the U.S. and the pressure facing some American officials," she said. — CBS/AP 6:18 AM / April 2, 2020

Concern mounts in India as first COVID-19 death reported in Asia's biggest slum

A 56-year-old man living in Mumbai's Dharavi slum, the largest slum in Asia, has died of COVID-19. The victim had no travel history and owned a garment shop in the impoverished area, one of India's most densely populated with about 1 million people crammed into only about two square miles. The authorities have quarantined the man's family and sealed the building in which he lived, which consists of about 300 apartments in a redeveloped part of the slum, according to Indian news agencies. Authorities were working to trace and test everyone who had come into contact with the victim for COVID-19 on Thursday. Health workers prepare to shift a man suspected of coronavirus to a hospital at Shahu Nagar in Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, during a lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, April 2, 2020. Reuters The death has raised concern among Indian authorities as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the country continues to rise. There are more than 2,000 cases and 58 deaths from the disease in India so far. Maharashtra state, where the Mumbai slum is located, has been the hardest-hit with more than 300 cases. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown that began on March 25. All non-essential business and transport has been banned. -Arshad R. Zargar 5:53 AM / April 2, 2020

New York City hospitals now too swamped to try to resuscitate many cardiac arrest patients

Paramedics in New York City have been given temporary new guidelines instructing them not to bring any "adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest" patient to a city emergency room unless their heart can be restarted in the field, because hospitals are too overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. EMS workers should now only bring such cases — virtually any adult whose heart has stopped for any reason — to a hospital if there is "a direct order from a medical control physician," or the ambulance crew itself is facing "an imminent physical danger" at the scene. The dire directive was issued by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City on Tuesday. Previously, ambulance crews would have delivered such patients to emergency rooms for further resuscitation efforts. CBS New York confirmed the story, first reported by the New York Post, and CBS News has obtained a copy of the advisory sent to EMS workers. Medical workers handle a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital amid the coronavirus epidemic in New York City, April 1, 2020. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City is the epicenter of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic with at least 1,374 of the total 5,137 deaths in the country as of Thursday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The Tuesday advisory took effect immediately, telling EMS crews that, "in the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of NYPD. 5:26 AM / April 2, 2020

North Korea insists it's coronavirus-free

North Korea remains totally free of the coronavirus, a senior health official in Pyongyang insisted Thursday, despite mounting skepticism overseas as confirmed global cases near one million. The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut its borders in January after COVID-19 was first detected in neighboring China, and imposed strict containment measures. Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department of the North's Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, insisted the efforts had been completely successful. "Not one single person has been infected with the novel coronavirus in our country so far," Pak told AFP. Nearly every other country has reported coronavirus cases. Experts have said the North is particularly vulnerable to the disease because of its weak medical system, and defectors have accused Pyongyang of covering up an outbreak. — AFP 5:25 AM / April 2, 2020

Ellis Marsalis Jr., famed jazz family's patriarch, dead at 85 of COVID-19 complications

One of the sons of New Orleans jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. says the patriarch of the New Orleans clan that includes famed musician sons Wynton and Branford has died after battling pneumonia brought on by COVID-19. The jazz patriarch was 85. Ellis Marsalis III said Wednesday his father had been hospitalized while battling the new coronavirus. The elder Marsalis opted to stay in New Orleans most of his career, gaining attention when his sons became famous and brought him the spotlight. Four of his six sons are musicians: Wynton, the trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. — The Associated Press 5:24 AM / April 2, 2020

New York City paramedic documents "battlefield triage"

Health care workers are on the frontline of the pandemic. At Jackson South Medical Center, near Miami, staffers started their shift Wednesday with a group prayer, asking for guidance and protection. In New York City, more than a thousand paramedics and firefighters have tested positive for the coronavirus. FDNY paramedic Megan Pfeiffer shared a video diary of what she calls "battlefield triage" on the frontlines in Queens. "There's a lot of hospitals that are running low on oxygen tanks and only have the big ones. They are sharing ventilators. We have never seen anything like this before," Pfeiffer says. Watch more in the video below: New York City paramedic documents "battlefield triage" during coronavirus outbreak Read the full article

#cases #COVID19 #million #Worldwide

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vieuxnoyesrp · 6 years

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Isa. Elijah Mikaelson is an incredibly difficult character to nail; as the ethical backbone of his family, he is often charged with not only acting as his siblings’ moral compass, but also with damage control for the chaos they leave in their wake. On top of that are Elijah’s own emotional complexities and vulnerabilities, which are often at odds with the aloof and austere exterior he likes to exude. We were wowed by you attention to detail in this application, and the way you managed to tiptoe the line Elijah walks between disapproval and condescension, careful not to tip too far in the direction of superciliousness and superiority. It was clear to us that you had done an incredible amount of research in preparation for this application and we couldn’t be more honored or pleased to welcome you to Vieux Noyés RP.

Isa, thank you very much for applying. As for Elijah…

⚜ ~ WELCOME TO VIEUX NOYÉS!!! ~ ⚜

Wondering what to do next? Click here and let the good times roll!

⤜ Name/alias: Isa.

⤜ Pronouns: She/her.

⤜ Age: 21.

⤜ Timezone: AEST/UTC +10.

⤜ Activity: I’m on uni break from now until February, so I’d say around 7 with work.

⤜ Best form of contact: Tumblr.

⤜ Any triggers? Nope, but thank you.

⤜ How did you find Vieux Noyés? From memory, I think it was a supernatural related RPG tag.

⤜ What drew you to the RP? I adore the shows and books this roleplay is inspired by and I have a huge respect for design… Vieux Noyés stood out immediately because it was so beautifully put together, then I read the plot and was hooked! The Appreciation Blog was also really encouraging to browse through! It seems like a wonderful group of people collaborate here.

⤜ What is one subplot/element from the Plot page that you are particularly looking forward to seeing in this roleplay? I’m watching (binging?) The Originals for the first time and the tension between supernatural species has me on the edge of my seat—it’s clear this is just as prevalent in the roleplay. I especially love that the VN plot incorporates the Salem witch cult to the mix. To see just how much pressure the NOLA coven can withstand, and how many shifts in magical balance their home can endure is exciting. A power struggle between the Originals and Marcel won’t matter if the city crumbles! How the wares, psychics, hunters and humans contribute to that war will also be undoubtedly epic (so basically all the elements, I’m terrible).

⤜ Desired character? The one and only Elijah Mikaelson.

⤜ Why do you want this character? I’ve always gravitated toward influential types who are strong willed and intrinsic to other’s development (I love to plot!). I’ve written as sadistic business moguls, security heads in dystopian angelic societies and warlock gang lords from the 1920s… I’m fascinated by prominent figures in history and the effect power has over an individual’s actions and sentiments, so I like characters that are dealt immense responsibility. I’m equally intrigued by their inherent weaknesses and the blurry line that separates honour and evil. The noble stag, the ripper of hearts, the eldest living Original vampire epitomises both extremes. Elijah’s Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator states that as an Architect, he presents as a paradox to most observers, and that he lives by glaring contradictions that nonetheless make perfect sense from a rational perspective. His sense of morality is unparalleled among vampires, but simultaneously he is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable of them all—I can’t wait to explore that synergy.

⤜ What are your future plans for this character? The Mikaelson siblings haven’t had a lot of fortune in the ol’ love department. Elijah particularly struggles to avert his attention from Klaus long enough to establish deep connections outside his family. It doesn’t help that on the extraordinarily rare occasion his focus has been elsewhere, tragedy has struck: first Tatia, then Celeste. There’s a quote from TO when Elijah says to his brother, “I have forsaken every single one of my desires in the name of your ridiculous redemption. No more. If I want something, I’ll take it. And nothing, nothing will stand in my way.” In the RP, I want Elijah to be pushed to this degree if he develops a romantic interest, triggering irrevocable consequences for his relationships and those inhabiting New Orleans.

⤜ Put yourself in your character’s shoes. Give us a few lines to describe a day in the life of your character… where do they live? Where and how do they spend their time? As Klaus expertly manipulates those in the French Quarter like pawns in a wicked game of chess, Elijah is close by to collect the pieces, regardless of how damaged they may be. While his dedication to his family is relentless, he finds peace in the Tulane University library or at Rousseau’s on nights featuring live entertainment. Further spare moments are spent playing the piano or writing in his journals which are kept in his offices at the Plantation House: a sanctuary for his business in the quarter and a beloved, albeit temporary home.

⤜ Give us three headcanons regarding your character of choice:

For a millennia, Elijah’s driving priority has been to protect his brothers and sister from their father, overconfident rivals, and each other. Elijah places family above all, even at the expense of his own happiness, but when they aren’t faced with imminent threats he utilises rare moments of peace to explore lands abroad; his favourite destination being Denmark where he lived with Klaus and Rebekah in the 1500s. Not sharing his sibling’s contempt for humans, Elijah has made many illustrious friends in his travels such as Caravaggio, Hemingway, and Ellington. Back in NOLA, Elijah continues to orchestrate alliances, believing unity is a necessary requirement for success.

After fleeing Mikael in the 11th century, Elijah settled with his family in Southern France. To assimilate into noble society, and for their true nature to remain undetected as they discovered the extent of their affliction, it was necessary to adopt local customs. This meant learning aristocratic manners and studying the arts. As his brothers found solace in paint or the blood of the townspeople, Elijah read every piece of literature he could get his hands on—discovering that strength came, not only from family, but from knowledge. This early exposure to formal education piqued a relentless curiosity that developed into something more sinister over the centuries. Elijah’s intellect is now his greatest asset, supernatural abilities aside. His penchant for establishing contingencies has proven invaluable and in battle, his strategic and calm demeanour only heightens his physical prowess making him near unbeatable (note: it’s always wise to carry a pocket handkerchief, just in case there’s a mess).

Elijah exudes elegance and is renowned for possessing an unfaltering gentlemanly demeanour. He values virtue over narcissism, but over a thousand years of life, an unparalleled encyclopaedic understanding of the world, and the inability to be killed has made the vampire supremely confident. He has no qualms reminding those that have forgotten that his niceties are a curtesy, not a given. Sassy Elijah is inevitable.

⤜ What are some plots you’d like to explore with your character?

As it mentions in the Plot Teasers section of Elijah’s biography, his future is entwined with his brother’s role in creating more hybrids, which will test loyalty. Furthermore, how will this impact his relationship with the Crescent Wolves and Hayley?

I’d love to do some flashbacks exploring the Originals’ historical ties to the city. There’s a great book I picked up after starting this application called “Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans” and the recounts from the early twentieth century in particular are magnificent.

I want to see Elijah’s investment in Gia Talwar’s training and plot how he will respond to her tenacious spirit. I imagine he’ll be a bit overprotective too.

Will Elijah intercede between Elena Gilbert and Klaus if they meet again? Can Elijah ignore the doppelgänger’s intoxicating familiarity?

I’m sure the unknown whereabouts of Finn has Elijah on edge, tracking him down may become something of a priority.

⤜ Para sample: Inspired by events and quotes: x

RFP

⤜ Would you like to be considered for another character if not accepted as your primary choice? Ooh probably Rebekah Mikaelson. Keep it in the family ;)

⤜ Have you read the rules? Thoroughly.

⤜ Anything else? Thank you for taking the time to read this application. Elijah is a considerably complex fellow and a beloved canon character, so I hope I’ve done him justice!

#elijah mikaelson rp #literate rpg #the originals roleplay #to rp #crossover rp #accepted

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happyweddingblogs · 5 years

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All about a wedding on a Cruise ship

Cruise weddings are considered to be the most romantic weddings. Whether you host your wedding onboard, at an exotic beach or in a garden, wedding cruises help you make your story stunning by simply combining your love for each other with your love for travel in beautiful settings. Yes, if you’re looking for a more leisurely way to travel and cruises are always a great alternative to air travel. And the best part is cruise cost you less than airfares.

There are many cruise lines already offering cruise wedding packages. They have their own on-board chapels and celebrants, and are able to take care of the entire wedding and wedding guests properly. They even provide you wedding packages you can choose. Or if you want to customize everything on your cruise wedding then you can do that too.

Cruise weddings are the most hassle-free weddings as they take care of everything. They are event management experts, and can help you organize the big day exactly how you want. They can help you plan every detail to create memories that last a lifetime.

If you are also looking forward to a cruise wedding. Here’s all about a wedding on a cruise ship, you need to know:

1. Your marriage should be legal

First things first, before you plan your wedding on a cruise ship, it is essential to know that you will need a marriage license wherever your ceremony is held. So, ask your wedding coordinator about all the requirements at the cruise ship, where the ceremony will take place. He will help you understand the details.

Each country has different requirements. For instance, some countries have residency requirements, which means you have to reside on the island for a certain period of time in order to legally marry there, which I believe is not possible. In such a case, you can legally marry in your home country before your cruise ship wedding and have a symbolic wedding at the port.

However, as I said, different countries have different rules for cruise ship wedding. Basically, you need to follow the laws of the country where the ship is registered. So, it is crucial to do your research, talk to your coordinator or a travel agent. And yeah, don’t forget to apply for licenses far in advance if you really want a cruise ship wedding.

2. Cruise ship weddings are best for…

Cruise weddings are a perfect idea for a variety of different couples and styles. But, it is considered best for the couples who don’t go deep into details and looking for a low-key ceremony. Because everything at cruise weddings from the flowers to the music will be simple. Also, you have less choices in a cruise wedding.

When it comes to wedding size, cruise ships usually work best for a smaller guest lists. However, there are some cruises where you can host a comparatively bigger wedding. If you don’t want any wedding guests just you two, your families and few close friends then cruise ship wedding is surely meant for you. You can combine your wedding with a unique honeymoon experience.

3. How do cruise weddings work?

It’s up to the couple, there are couples who choose to get married on the ship before it departs, while some get married on land at the destination port.

If your friends and family are not able to afford the cruise but can make for your wedding, then you can tie knot on ship before it sails. But if your family and friends can make for the cruise, then you can choose to get married in a tropical garden or on the beach on a Caribbean island.

Note: cruises may skip ports due to weather conditions that can be a risk if you’re planning a wedding on land.

4. Duration of cruise ship wedding

If you’re planning to combine your wedding with your honeymoon, then a five to seven-day cruise will be ideal.

5. What to expect from a cruise ship

If you’re planning to tie know on the ship, then the cruise will provide you a wedding coordinator in their package. And the wedding package usually includes, the flowers, music, photographer, and officiant in the packages. Besides these, the couple will be responsible for other things like; registering for their marriage license, their wedding attire, and the wedding invitations.

6. Popular cruise locations for weddings

The Caribbean is most popular amongst all, but it has residency requirements. St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, St. Lucia tend, Bahamas, Mexico etc. are popular.

7. Popular cruise lines for your weddings

These are few best cruise lines you can consider for your cruise wedding: Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, P&O Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard Line, MSC Cruises.

8. Make sure you pick a ship that matches your style

Every cruise ship will be unique in its own way and will have its own personality! So, while planning your wedding on a cruise ship, make sure you pick the one that matches your own style, with the dining, entertaining and amenity options that you and your wedding guests will enjoy.

9. Make sure you book your cruise ship a bit early

Cruise weddings are trending, every couple wants to make their wedding a unique experience for everyone. So make sure you book your cruise ship early so as to avoid a sold out sailing and also be mindful of possible holiday surcharges.

10. Know weather conditions beforehand

You may be excited to host your wedding on a cruise ship, but it is crucial to consider the weather and the season while planning your wedding on a cruise ship.

11. Arrive to the port a day early

It is always a good idea to arrive to the port a day early simply to ensure that everything is in order and also you can enjoy the city!

12. Make sure you inform your guests well in advance

Of course, it is crucial that your guests who you are expecting on your cruise wedding should know about it well in advance. You don’t need to send out the wedding invites as soon as you book your cruise, but they will definitely need time to make arrangements to take time off work.

13. Set up your wedding registry

Make sure you set up a wedding website and honeymoon registry so that it becomes easy for you to share information with your wedding guests. Also, they can help create the perfect honeymoon experience as you start your life together.

14. Check your cruise length in advance

While picking a cruise line for you wedding, make sure you check the cruise itinerary before that. It should not rush your wedding celebrations and at the same time it should not be too long or too expensive for your guests. A five- to seven-day cruise gives couples enough time for the ceremony and doesn’t require too much of their vacation time.

15. Check for affordable group rates for your cruise weddings

Cruise do provide group rates, which are comparatively cheaper than the ones you buy for individuals. While planning your cruise wedding make sure you book accommodations as a group so that your wedding guests get a better rate. Also, you can plan group shore excursions, it will allow you to have a fun time with your wedding guests and turn your wedding into an affordable vacation for yourself and your family and friends!

16. Pick a wedding package that’s in your pocket

Different cruise lines offer different inclusions in their wedding packages, which allows you to match your budget and your wedding style. You can choose an elegant sit-down reception, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, or even you can join your guests at the shipboard buffet. Different wedding packages allow you to choose your favorite menu selections. Also, you can customize your wedding package with flowers, favors, entertainment and other personal touches, which you always wanted to have.

17. Dress accordingly

By and large, cruise ship life is casual, but brides would still want to dress up for their ceremony. So, it is essential that the bride and her attendants have dresses that are easy to get into, especially if the wedding ceremony has to take place in the home port prior to sailing. However, for the groom and his gang, it’s easy to look handsome without having to pack a tux; because on-board formal wear rentals can have their suits ready in their rooms when they arrive.

18. Photographer will be supplied on board

Yes, your cruise wedding package will include the wedding photographer as well. Cruise ship usually do supply a professional photographer to take photos and videos of your wedding and create beautiful wedding albums. And the best part is, photo prints will be ready before you head home, allowing you to avoid long waits for the final wedding albums.

19. Cruise wedding are exceptionally meant to enjoy

Cruise weddings are meant to spend a wonderful time together with your loved ones and embrace the bond and togetherness amidst beautiful water. You can have a perfect vacation at the cruise wedding, where your guests will be sailing with you. There’s so much to do on a ship, each wedding guests will have something to enjoy.

20. Perfect for a low-key wedding ceremony

Cruises are a great way to host a low-key ceremony with just a few people and create wonderful memories of the biggest event of your life.

21. Combine your wedding with your honeymoon

Cruise makes for a perfect honeymoon as well. So, you can combine your honeymoon with your wedding. Like this you will not only save on money that you may spend on airfares and hotel bookings otherwise, but also on time.

22. Don’t miss to relax

Once your wedding ceremony is over, so is the stress. Now is the time to enjoy the ship’s amenities and shore excursions. Also, you can find quiet corners on the deck where you two can simply enjoy each other’s company as a newly married couple!

23. Best season to plan a wedding on a cruise ship

While booking your cruise, it is essential that you see the best time for the same. For instance, the Caribbean’s hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, so avoid booking during this time period, then you will not have to deal with any unpredicted storms. Crete and Santorini are appealing in April and November. Athens is best from March to June and September to November. Temperature starts to drop in Alaska during winters; hence, summer is the best time to have a wedding in Alaska. Also, Alaska cruises have a particular set of dates when they allow cruises.

Holidays and the family vacation season, especially summer can be quite expensive and over-crowded and might not be the best for planning a cruise wedding.

24. Cost of wedding on a cruise ship

Believe it or not but the traditional destination wedding is costlier that the wedding on a cruise ship. But on the land you get a lot more options, more security, you are not at the whim of the sea, and you can have more people at the wedding.

For a cruise wedding, you pay for the cruise and for the wedding package. Some companies offer à la carte options. Also, you will have to pay for license fees, which vary by cruise line, per package, per location.

Cruise wedding packages often have flat surcharges. The base packages are remarkably affordable, which includes accommodation, travel, a legal ceremony, venue hire, meals and much more. Usually a cruise wedding package starts from $1500 and can go up to $3000 at the most.

If will get married on land, you’ll be responsible for arranging all of the details, you may even need to hire a planner at your wedding location to ensure that everything goes smoothly. However, on a cruise ship these people are event management experts, who take care of all your needs exactly the way you want.

Cruise weddings in holiday season can be expensive.

Wrapping up……..

Cruise lines are large event specialists, they can help you create a wonderful and unique wedding that too in your budget. You can plan a premium wedding for reasonable prices on a cruise ship. Also, you don’t have to take care of wedding décor and food as the cruise ship takes care of that. It is the best way to have a stress-free wedding ceremony.

If you’re planning to host a cruise destination wedding, it is recommended to check the prices offered by different cruise lines. Pick up the cruise that matches your style perfectly and is able to accommodate your wedding guests as well.

Your wedding on a cruise ship will be a unique experience for not just you and your partner, but for your wedding guests as well. Also, the destination wedding at cruise cost you less than what it can cost you at your home.

So Happy Cruising…..

Thanks for reading….. And Happy Wedding…….

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