#In-universe illegal courier

[the-lagooncompany-courier34]

Welcome!

[mrmousetolliver]

Hans Scholl (September 22, 1918 - February 22, 1943) Hans Scholl was, along with Alexander Schmorell, one of the two founding members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The principal author of the resistance movement's literature, he was found guilty of high treason for distributing anti-Nazi material and was executed by the Nazi regime in 1943. Hans was originally a member of the Hitler Youth beginning in 1933. By 1937, his attitude towards the Nazi regime had gradually begun to change. One reason was the fanaticism promoted in the Hitler Youth and the unconditional subordination to the power structures ruling there became more and more repugnant. In 1937 Scholl was arrested and tried for belonging to an illegal youth group. He was also charged under Paragraph 175, the paragraph in the German Criminal Code that criminalized homosexual behavior. Under questioning, he admitted to having had two separate sexual relationships, one with Rolf Futterknecht, and one with Ernest Reden. Futterknecht had been the one to inform on Hans. Hans made a good impression and all cahrges were dropped. The White Rose was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime. These leaflets were left in telephone books in public phone booths, mailed to professors and students, and taken by courier to other universities for distribution. Their activities started in Munich on June 27 1942; they ended with the arrest of Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl and fellow core member Christoph Probst by the Gestapo on February 18, 1943. The trio was tried immediately and found guilty and condemned to death on February 22, 1943. Originally scheduled to be hung in public, officials feared they would be viewed as martyrs so at the last minute it was changed to the guillotine. The execution was to take place the same day, which came as a shock to the tro, as prisoners were supposed to have at least a 99-day respite before execution.

Hans Scholl's last words were "LONG LIVE FREEDOM" yelled as the guillotine blade fell. The White Rose's legacy has been considered significant by many historical commentators, both as a demonstration of exemplary spiritual courage, and as a well-documented case of social dissent in a time of violent repression, censorship, and pressure to conform. In 2003, Germans under the age of 40 voted Hans and Sophie Scholl as the fourth most important Germans in history. If only the votes by those under 40 had been counted, they would have ranked first. (Source: Wikipedia)

[kimsaidhii]

I wanna write this fic revolving around Jacob Frye as a character study, I’m thinking of placing him in 1960s England where crime rates were high and gangs were thriving.

What I had in mind is that the story kinda follows the beginning of syndicate, where Ethan died leaving his two early 20s children by themselves, they didn’t have any inheritance as I don’t imagine the Frye family to be wealthy (example was that Ethan was canonically a schoolmaster/teacher, during the Victorian era teachers, although considered honest due to their occupation, were placed in the lower or middle lower class depending on role, with Ethan being a teacher I would say he didn’t make a lot)

backstory: Evie was meant to be in university but she took a 3 year gap year when she was 18 due to her dad’s declining health and her wanting to be his caretaker, whilst Jacob went to university having to commute from Crawley to London but dropped out because he wanted to be with Evie…and he had horrible attendance and punctuality. Jacob worked full time since Ethan was out of commission and Evie was a full time carer, although the family did get some government aid (national assistance before that but Jacob didn’t want to be in a house with his father— daddy issues)

After Ethan died he didn’t have a lot to give to his children, so the twins sold his home and everything in it. Evie wanted to start fresh, Jacob would follow Evie wherever she goes. They were inseparable, womb mates afterall. She finally enrolled in university in London (idk which yet, probably kings or Greenwich…now I’m thinking Greenwich because of the green theme in syndicate)

Now, remember when I mentioned that Jacob was working full time? Yeah he was working full time as a boxer in cafe royal where you entertain rich people by fighting your gloves off— he also did illegal ring fighting, started young too. Due to London being a cesspool of crime activity and gangs, where wealth, reputation and suits now mattered, it was inevitable for Jacob to meet a few gang members or even leaders at times. He was good at what he did but he wasn’t ready to subject himself into a gang— he had Evie to care for after all, they only had each other now.

But Evie also began taking part time jobs to help as well, she felt like a burden to her twin who’s younger by four minutes (“it’s just four minutes,” Jacob shrugged once) with balancing schoolwork and work, she slowly burns herself out.

The overall problem was that Evie took out a loan to host a proper funeral for their dad AND for tuition, with that and the charge of interest she wants to work it off. Jacob gots himself in a small gang called “The Clinkers,” with doing small thing like being a courier or doing street-level enforcement, he was a good fighter. Not that strong but he fought dirty and without honour, making him dangerous and unpredictable in the ring.

But the clinkers were running themselves to the ground! The leader was doing a piss-poor job at handling with rival gangs especially the top dog Blighters. So Jacob hatched a plan to start a gang… for more money, for more reputation and for Evie

That’s currently all I got, this was heavily inspired by the movie “Gangster No.1” great movie, details London life and as a Londoner it’s surprising how accurate it was. The story would just be like…a process of Jacob being a gang leader. I’m not sure if there’s going to be romance. And to say, I do not ship rothfrye at all, hate that stuff but I can’t deny how Maxwell Roth and Jacob Frye’s interaction between each other benefits Jacob’s character development. But only that, nothing else.

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

The Other Side of the Web

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65355709 by Azuracity Peter’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Post-Homecoming, May has lost her job, and has fallen into an unlucky legal battle after a car accident. Peter – in a desperate bid to help out – finds himself as a courier for the elusive Fishery Queen, a security business. Okay, so Peter may not know what’s in the packages he’s delivering, and no one around him might be saying it’s good news. But that’s fine – because Peter’s only working there until he turns sixteen. There shouldn’t have been a problem. Really. That is, until Peter falls into a sudden bout of personal debt, and is forced to deal with unforeseen consequences of a closer working relationship with Fishery Queen. In a turn of events, Peter finds himself increasingly torn between the different threads of his life: as a student, as Spiderman, and as a struggling employee. Add that to a tangled web of lies, an absentee Happy, and some nifty personal tragedy, that’s when things really start to get complicated... or AU where Tony is MIA, Peter gets a suspicious job, and it all falls down from there. Words: 4346, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Tony Stark, Michelle Jones (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's class, Midtown High School Students (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Other Avengers Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Aunt May Parker & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker-centric, Character Study, Slow Build, Corruption, Poor Life Choices, Poor Peter Parker, Sick Character, Self-Destruction, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Illegal Activities, Crimes & Criminals, Organized Crime, Debt, Midtown High School (Marvel), Post-Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Bad Decisions, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Spider-Man Interacting with New Yorkers, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Slow To Update read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/65355709

[gryith]

I'm realising I've put tens (hundreds) of hours into these games and just never posted my characters lore anywhere so here's the character lore for the MMOs I'm currently playing:

GRYITH Sansicore (named by stream chat)

An orc, abandoned as an infant for being thought to have weak genes, Sansicore was taken in by a kindly mage of the Psyjic order, and trained in their ways. Once coming of age, he tried to find his people, and was rejected, the orc war lords, enraged that one who was meant to be dead had thrived, killed the Psyjic that took him in. Stricken with greif, Sansicore went through the Psyjic libraries for any way to bring his adoptive parent back or some means to take down the orc war band. There was nothing in their tomes he was allowed to access, only whispers of a power made illegal across Tamriel. One day, taken by visions of his failure - he breaks into the restricted area and takes what he needs. With this power, he can kill two birds with one stone. GRYITH Sansicore was soon on his way to becoming the most powerful necromancer Tamriel has ever known...

Proctor

Raised on the human homeworld, Terra Sol, this unnamed pilot saw the horrors that untamed industry could bring during his first years. When the fifth terran resource wars began his family became nomadic, and that's how he stayed. Harbouring a great lust for all the sights of the universe, an inability to stay in one place longer than a night, and a deep discomfort for being around others - he roams the night sky alone, abhorring all forms of warfare and combat. He can defend himself, but is not practiced and often fails. He spends his time as a courier, sometimes for simple cargo but often just for data - every penny being saved for an excursion to one of the wonders of the galaxy, be it huge glowing cities or the quiet of an alien forest.

GR'YITH the Undying

In life, this mage was insatiably hungry for power. He bargained and loaned from every power in the realm just to get a lick more knowledge that'd grant more to him; but that makes a man a few enemies... After learning all the mages sorceries, the psyjics control over time, and still being unsatisfied, he sought council from Hermaeus Mora, for who better to grant knowledge. For merely the price of unwavering fealty, Mora allowed unfettered access to his grand library. It seemed the mage had finally gained unlimited magical knowledge. But ones enemies don't give up so easily. A vampire assassin found her way to him after many years, and whilst he was distracted casting a spell of undead golem, trying to create an unwavering servant. The vampire killed the mage, taking from him enough of his blood to end his life, dropping him down into his own spell circle just before the crucial final passages of the spell could be read. The assassin begins attempting to scry a message to her employer, but as she does, the magic of Apocrypha swirling around this place fills the corpse of the mage with its black sludge, making him a fresh apocryphal zombie, no master to speak of, imbued by his own spell. The zombie seeks the flesh of the first person it sees, the vampire. It's barely-dead muscles still strong enough to overpower her with the element of surprise. He eats of her flesh and drinks of her blood - though if you know anything about Vampires, you know what happens next. The mage quickly becomes the world's first zombie vampire, in that order. The curse of vampirism, however, returns to him some of his mind, but not all. He flickers between undead listlessness and lucid scholar in matters of minutes. His body being dead, he no longer has access to sorcerer magic, but no matter, as he now has access to powerful apocryphal magic and restorative vampire magic, that does all it needs to. His mostly-dead brain no longer seeks knowledge, now he sees the value of experience, he must see the world, gain the knowledge of his own adventure - and get revenge on his enemies who killed him.

GRYITH

This is a simple one but one of my favourites because it lets me just be... Me. GRYITH grew up in Vault 76, reading strange tales of the cryptids of Appalachia, even running a Cryptid Club in the vault school when he was there. So, imagine his delight upon leaving the vault and finding that all of those cryptids were actually real and have increased in number! He can be found exploring the forest, taking pictures of the wildlife and writing down observations about the strangest creatures of Appalachia.

If you had told me ten years ago that there would be a Fallout game where you can see all the coolest cryptids and there's an outfit called 'cryptid hunter' that is exactly how I dress IRL (or want to), but it's awful and sucks, I'd tell you 'I don't even care, you won't be able to keep me away', and here I am, almost 200 hours in.

You may notice that these are all white cis man with dark hair and beard - and that's because they're all self-inserts. I like to have a bit... Or a lot of myself in characters I've made that I'm gonna spend tens of hours with, helps me get immersed.

Nice to have these written down! Don't imagine anyone will care at all.

Important question - do you come up with lore for your MMO characters when you're making them? I thought this was standard procedure but apparently it's not??

Like, I play a lot of Elite Dangerous, Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76, and I have OODLES of lore that's not reflected in the game in any meaningful way for all of my characters, and I was talking to someone about this - supposedly this is not what most people do, even though I'm pretty sure it is.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Hello, Oldie Chinese Diaspora Anon™️ here for this questioning anon 

Before I say anything, I just want to say: “Thanks for caring about the welfare of the workers.” Simply put, a lot of folks can’t even bring themselves to care about that. There is more than one way to look at recasts as a phenomenon and I am happy to meet you where you want to start. I hope I get to answer your one burning question here and hopefully, our mileage doesn’t vary much.

Recast BJDs are considered toys. The factory behind the largest recast company is based in Xianxi province. The workforce, according to the company’s official profile, is comprised of two parallel production lines and up to 100 people (https://chinabjd.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html). These are considered basic labourers (instead of skilled labourers). The photos mentioned by the other commentators in the blog can be found in the profiles of this factory. These profiles are created for the purpose of attracting investors and foreign business partners. This is the company at its best behaviour – and even when they try hard, it’s not difficult to see that PPEs are not universal. They stated that their maximum capacity for production is 1000 Minifees/month and 6000 Shuga Fairy dolls/month. Their stated sales volume is between US$2.5 Million - US$5 Million yearly. Keep those numbers in mind for me, will you?

According to this internal report done in 2019, toy factories are among some of the worst industries when it came to workers’ rights. The report covered several different toy factories in Guangzhou (which is considered to have a higher standard of living than Xianxi). ( https://chinalaborwatch.org/zh/the-dark-side-of-the-glittering-world-a-report-on-exploitation-in-toy-factories-in-china/ ) Some of the findings in this latest report include:

1. Stagnant wages that are not sustainable: The basic poverty line is approx. $2818RMB ($404.48USD)/month per person in Guangzhou. Most factory workers earn somewhere around $1410-1720 ($202.38-$246.88USD)/month regularly. In order to earn enough money to live, they are forced to take on OT. 2. The law dictates that OT cannot go over 36 hours a month. In an earlier report, the average OT hours for a worker was 150 hours, in the 2019 report, it’s 100 hours. The highest recorded OT hours per month was 175 hours. 3. Lack of PPEs – the report indicate that all the workers are exposed to organic solvents due to the open-air nature of the factories. The workers themselves do not know what they are being exposed to. There’s a general lack of PPEs for the workers and a lack of safety equipment (such as hardhats and face shields) 4. Workers live in company dormitories with bare-minimum facilities (photos in the article itself). Ten to 15 people live in the same room and use the same fan. AC is only available in some dormitories. Verbal abuse is common. In a 2013 report, 70% of female workers reported sexual harassment in the workplace. 5. Unions are illegal. 6. No protection when it comes to pregnant workers. Pregnant workers are expected to take on OT like everybody else. No extra PPEs set aside for female workers. Women are more likely to get yelled at than male coworkers.

Similarly, in another 2019 report, the writer asked “Why can’t the factories find workers?” (https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/98590740 )The recent survey showed that people would rather go work in the service industry (most commonly as food delivery personnel or couriers) instead of working in the factories. One of the biggest reasons is the pay – the factory’s pay is not on par with inflation. An example was given in the article. A factory is looking for an injection mould line worker (the type that is required to make vinyl dolls) – if your work hours are completely within the legal limit, your monthly pay is $2200RMB. If you want to survive (see poverty line above), then you have to willingly give up the legal protection you have and take on OT. Any kind of company insurance is -not- included in the wage.

The author did some calculations – in order to earn $4000/month ($574.45USD), you are expected to take on 100 hours of OT per month. In order to earn $6000/month ($861.64 USD), it will take 200 hours of OT a month.

Worse yet, a lot of factories cannot afford to train new workers. It means working in a factory for a new person is potentially dangerous (esp without insurance as a safety net). Any injury incurred while working would be on the workers themselves. And if they are injured severely, they will get laid off. The socialized medicine in China is bare-bones and inadequate. Most people end up having to pay out of their own pocket to ensure that they can even get any care. Humans, it turns out, are probably the most expendable resource in China.

Taking the economic circumstances into consideration, there’s a very good chance that the people who work for the recaster in Xianxi are living under worse conditions than the ones reported (which usually focus on traditionally factory-heavy districts closer to the East coast). If you think these numbers are atrocious, just remember, there is a reason why recasts are so cheap.

P.S.: According to the recaster’s company profile, they have a 3D rapid prototyping machine. Today is a sad day, indeed.

~Anonymous

[xocookiest]

USA Natural Disaster Alerts Winter 2021-2022

On the 10th of December, 2021 a strong winter storm turned into several tornadoes that hit Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The storm hit in the middle of the night and caused severe devastation to several communities and leaving several dead or injured. 

I have linked some tornado disaster safety, preparations, tips, and evacuation spaces if you are living in the area and need somewhere to go.  I have also linked several different organizations and places to donate as well as places you can volunteer in those disaster zones.

If anyone has any additional information you know or feel might be helpful please feel free to message me about it or reblog with the information and I will do my best to update this post as much as possible. Thank you. 

NEWS ALERTS: 

CBS Minnesota: December 16th, 2021

USA Today: December 16th, 2021

Weather Channel: December 16th, 2021

WRAL: December 15th, 2021

Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky): December 15th, 2021

CBS NEWS: December 15th, 2021

Wall Street Journal: December 14th, 2021

The Guardian: December 14th, 2021

Reuters: December 14th, 2021

Philadelphia Inquirer: December 14th, 2021

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): December 13th, 2021

New York Post: December 13th, 2021

Sky News: December 13th, 2021

Lexington Herald (BEFORE & AFTER Photographic Evidence of Devastation): December 13th, 2021

Courier Journal: December 12th, 2021 [LIVE UPDATES]

CNBC: December 12th, 2021

AP News: December 12th, 2021

BBC News: December 12th, 2021

PBS News: December 12th, 2021

Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky): December 12th, 2021

WLKYCBS: December 12th, 2021

The Guardian: December 12th, 2021

Times-Tribune: December 12th, 2021

CNN: December 11th, 2021 [LIVE UPDATES]

New York Times: December 11th, 2021 [LIVE UPDATES]

Fox News: December 11th, 2021 [LIVE UPDATES]

Chicago Tribune: December 11th, 2021

USA Today: December 11th, 2021

NPR: December 11th, 2021

ABC News: December 11th, 2021

Forbes (Photographic Evidence of Tornado Destruction): December 11th, 2021

Washington Post: December 10th, 2021 [LIVE UPDATES]

NBC News: December 10th, 2021

Disaster Safety & Steps:

Red Cross’s Tornado Safety Tips

Tornado Safety (National Weather Service)

How To Prep for a Tornado (Almanac): November 12th, 2021

How To Survive A Tornado (NPR); May 26th, 2011

Disability Disaster Strategies Resources & Hotline: +1 800-626-4959

Disaster Distress Helpline & Resources: Call or text +1-800-985-5990

Price Gouging is Illegal in an Emergency: +1-888-432-9257 or report online

Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) Disaster Fraud: 866-720-5721 or submit form

Hopkins County Emergency Management: 270-825-5024 [CALL FOR DISPLACED FAMILY MEMBERS & LOVED ONES]

Kentucky Pet Help Line & Resources: (502) 409-4738

Community Foundation of Western Kentucky

Kentucky Severe Storms FEMA Disaster Assistance 

Wireless Emergency Alerts

AT&T Customer Relief

Hood to the Holler Resources for Western & Southern Kentucky

Warren County Kentucky Assistance Programs

Commonwealth of Kentucky Google Doc of Resources & Support  [Thank you to @oatsmilk for the information!)

Places to Donate: 

Aspire Appalachia

Queer Kentucky

Bowling Green Micro Pantry

Western Kentucky’s Toy Drive

Red Cross

Rex Chapman Foundation Relief Fund

Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society

Global Giving Midwest Relief Fund

Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund

Kentucky’s Humane Society

Mayfield/Graves Animal Shelter

Kentucky’s Habitat for Humanity

His House Ministries

International Medical Corps

Kentucky’s Feeding America

United Way of Kentucky

Midwest & South North America Response Fund

Lee Initiative 

Kentucky’s SPCA

University of Kentucky’s Relief Fund [College of Medicine] 

Volunteer Opportunities: 

How To Help Tornado Victims (PBS): December 13th, 2021

How To Help Victims of a Tornado (NYT): December 12th, 2021

Kentucky Emergency Management

Blood Assurance 

Mercy Chefs

Muhlenberg County Humane Society Volunteer Form

Greenville Fire Department

Gasper Brewing Company [Need Volunteers for Soup Kitchen]

Team Rubicon Disaster Response

Community Action of Southern Kentucky Volunteer Form

[truckloadoffrogs]

This is my headcanon about Bucky’s probable involvement with the Italian Mafia in the 20s and 30s :)

Due to the prominence of child labor during the Great Depression as well as liquor trafficking by the Mafia during the prohibition, it is possible that Bucky would have done some liquor runs for a Mafia family in the late 20s and early 30s when he was young. Due to his loyalty and hard-working nature, he probably gained responsibility and continued to work for them even after the prohibition ended. He continued to do drug runs, and maybe some money collecting (as well as an occasional hit or two) as a side job up until the war. I’m pretty sure Steve would have known about this, and would have given Bucky disapproving looks, but wouldn’t have stopped Bucky because it got them a couple extra bucks a month for rent or medicine.

If you want to read my reasoning and more details, they’re under the cut!

So, according to the Map of Manhattan in the ‘Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe’, Steve lived in the middle of Brooklyn Heights, which was not nearly as fancy then at it is now. Due to much of the middle class leaving the area during the Great Depression, Brooklyn Heights became considered pretty much a slum and was full of boarding houses and rooming houses. Basically, Steve lived in a not-very-nice area of Brooklyn, and coincidentally a part of Brooklyn that was only about an hour walk from the Lower East Side in Manhattan, which houses Little Italy.

Now what does this have to do with Bucky? As far as I know, Bucky living with Steve isn’t canon, especially because in the comics Bucky didn’t even live in Brooklyn at all. However, it would have been quite common for young men (and Bucky and Steve would have been 19 and 18 respectively in 1936 when Sarah Rogers died) to live together in rooming houses. I think it is safe to assume that Bucky stopped living with his family and moved in with Steve in order to support him emotionally and financially after his mother died. 

Ok now for my actual headcanon. 

Child labor was relatively common during the Great Depression. Because we have some evidence that Bucky’s family was relatively well off (they owned a car, his clothing was pretty nice in the clip we see in TWS, etc), we can assume Bucky wouldn’t have been doing hard labor when he was younger, and would have instead been a newspaper carrier or a courier just to keep him busy and out of the house, and earn a little more money for his family in the process. 

Now. The alcohol prohibition was from 1920-1933, and during this time one of the main things that made the mafia money was trafficking liquor. Actually, the trafficking of liquor during the prohibition basically created organized crime in the United States. Mafia families sold liquor illegally and under the table, and probably distributed much of it to the neighborhoods around them using boys and young men who wouldn’t look super suspicious wandering the streets. 

So we can assume that when Bucky was young up until he as 16, he probably did some liquor runs for a Mafia family. This by itself was probably not that big of a deal. But if he was a hard worker, loyal, and charming (which we know he was), he probably rose in the rankings and did bigger and more important jobs as he gained responsibility. 

Because I am working under the assumption that Bucky is not Italian, he wouldn’t be able to become a made member (meaning, he would not officially be a part of whatever Mafia family he worked for). However, he would probably have been able to continue doing bigger liquor runs, and then when the prohibition ended, probably drug runs. The highest rank he would be able to be would have been an Associate, who were generally money collectors, errand boys, hitmen, enforcers, or bodyguards, and were unable to refuse jobs from the higher-ups in the Mafia. 

Ok so now the prohibition has ended, its 1936, Steve’s mother has just died, and Bucky and Steve move in together in Brooklyn Heights. Coincidentally, Brooklyn Heights is only about an hour long walk from Little Italy, the home-base of most Mafia families. This would have made it very easy for Bucky to hop over the Brooklyn Bridge for a job or two every couple of days. I think that because Bucky had Steve as his Morality Boss™, Bucky would have tried to avoid the more violent jobs Associates got, and would have tried to stick with drug runs or money collecting. I’m honestly not sure if he would have told Steve about this illegal side job, but Steve isn’t stupid so I’m sure he would have figured it out regardless. 

I really enjoy the idea that Bucky had a dark side long before he became the Winter Soldier, so I do think he might have done a couple hits and beat up a few people in the 30s for some of the jobs he was assigned. He wouldn’t have enjoyed it, but I think he would have gotten some satisfaction out of it. And due to the nature of the Mafia and his job as an Associate, he wouldn’t have been able to refuse any jobs they gave him anyway.

--

Anywhooo that’s the end of that suuuper long headcanon! If you made it this far, congratulations and thanks for reading! If anyone would be interested in reading an actual fic about this lmk because I kinda wanna write one...

[choiceofgames]

New release! Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road

In partnership with World of Darkness and Paradox Interactive, Choice of Games is proud to announce the release of Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road, by Kyle Marquis, now available on Steam, iOS, and Android.

https://www.choiceofgames.com/vampire-the-masquerade/night-road/

It’s 20% off until October 1st! Furthermore, as a special offer, if you purchase Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road by 11:59pm PDT on September 25th, we'll unlock the options to play as Clan Tremere or Caitiff with the "Usurpers and Outcasts" DLC for free. Just email your proof of purchase or receipt for Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road  to support@choiceofgames.com. Note: Steam purchasers who purchase during the release day period automatically have the DLC, no need to send us a receipt!

The elders have entrusted you, an elite vampire courier, to deliver their secrets. Can you outrun the hunters, the other drivers, and the rising sun? Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road is a 650,000-word interactive horror novel by Kyle Marquis, based on Vampire: The Masquerade and set in the World of Darkness shared story universe. Your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

It’s a new Dark Age for the dead. When the Second Inquisition's vampire hunters hacked phone lines and computer networks to expose and destroy vampires all over the world, the elders turned to undead couriers like you. For ten years, you’ve raced across the desert between cities, delivering vital information and supplies. But when an old friend reappears with a plan to disrupt the blood trade across the American Southwest, everything you’ve built starts crashing down.

Outrun the Competition. Drive, hide, or fight back! Unleash the powers of your blood in ancient Disciplines to change form, vanish from sight, or dominate the minds of your enemies. Employ blood magic, inhuman strength, and the creatures of the night to escape destruction—or just run your enemies off the road and keep driving.

Deliver or Die. All secrets have an expiration date—and so do you. Race across the desert to deliver secrets, promises, and threats. Do whatever it takes to drop off your parcel. But when the job is done, will you stick around to exploit the situation?

Run Down Your Prey. Only blood can sate the Hunger. Charm, seduce, or seize what you need, but don’t let anyone know what you are. If you break the Masquerade, your fellow vampires will destroy you for your indiscretions, assuming the Second Inquisition doesn't find you first.

- Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or bi. - Hunt the alleys and back roads of the American Southwest to stave off hunger and resist the frenzied call of the Beast. - Join the Camarilla—the immortal society of the vampire elite—or break its hold on the border states. - Confront the horrors of your immortal existence in illegal hospitals, disease-ridden prison camps, and forgotten research facilities littered with failed experiments. - Modify your car for speed, durability, or smuggling, but remember—wherever you're going, you have to get there by dawn! - Unlock the ability to play as Tremere or Caitiff with the Usurpers and Outcasts DLC.

Death is a hard road. You drive it every night.

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

have you ever dressed up for halloween or for like a costume party? what's your favorite thing you've worn? do you like wearing jewelry? do you listen to podcasts?what's an interesting historical event you know a little about? when do you feel the most comfortable? do you have any piercings or tattoos? Are there any you'd like to get? what's one thing you're proud of?

Wow, All in huh??? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

1) Have I ever dressed up for halloween or for a costume party? NNNNNNNNOT REALLY. I wasn’t allowed to do Halloween after the age of like. Five? Because my parents got MORE religious than they’d already been and they decided halloween was evil. And then as an adult I didn’t have a lot of local friends or money so... not really most of the time. BUT! There was ONE YEAR when I was in my mid-20s, that my wife and I went to a Halloween party with some local friends. She was Death of the Endless, we dyed her hair black, I did her eye makeup, there was a cardboard-covered-in-tinfoil ankh necklace and everything. I that year dressed up as Delirium to go with her. I bought fishnets that I tore a couple holes in, had some clompy boots, bought a skirt and shirt at the thrift store, and dyed my hair... like Half of it was red, half of it was just random spots of bleached, blue, and green. (I actually went to a job interview the next day and frantically reassured the interviewer that I was bleaching my hair and dying it a more natural color later that week) It was very fun as a costume tho. OH tho last year for halloween I loaned my wife a purple dress I sewed for myself and we got her some white tights and a white scarf, and I dug out my purple henley and and jeans some bandaids for my face and fingers, and we went as Hawkeye for Halloween. She was Kate Bishop and I was Clint Barton. That was probably my favorite even tho it was so low-effort. 1.5) On its own line, I think this “what’s the fave you’ve worn” was meant to be about the costumes, which I answered above, but IN GENERAL the thing I’ve worn that’s my favorite has been

Do I like wearing jewelry? I do like wearing jewelry! I need to get new earrings bc the ones I had got lost, but I used to always wear like, small gauge horseshoe earrings with the balls that screw onto the ends? I just lost the balls on the ends. I also wear a necklace every day. And I used to have a wedding band but I don’t have one that fits currently and it drives me NUTS bc even years without it I feel  like I should have a ring on that finger.

Do I listen to podcasts? I listen to podcasts off and on! Mostly MBMBAM, The Magnus Archives, The Penumbra Podcast, and Faculty of Horror. We relisten to early WtNV to sleep sometimes, and I keep meaning to catch up on TAZ, but that’s not active yet.

What’s an interesting historical event I know something about? ...Gosh that’s hard. Like, I know some stuff about historical eras or cultures but EVENTS??? Hmmm... I. Fuck. I abruptly cannot think of ANY HISTORICAL EVENT AT ALL. I’m a fucking History Major this is embarrassing. Uh okay so... I can’t think of anything. I’m so sorry. XD

When do I feel most comfortable? When I’m curled up in bed and have Birdie pressed against my back with her arm around my waist. Bonus points for literally any of our other partners in bed as well, but that happens so rarely. :(

Do I have any piercings or tattoos? I DO! Piercings are easiest. I have my left lobe pierced 3 times (though all but the first might be closed) and my right 2 times (tho ditto), and the upper shell of my left ear once (but again, closed). TATTOOS gosh, ok I have, in chronological order: a) a sort of cross between a cross and a peace sign on the inside of my left ankle. I got it when I was 18 and still a Good Christian Girl, my church bff designed it, it stood for peace in Christ, and the only thing stopping me from trying to get a coverup is the fact that it’s REALLY heavy/thick black work, and the location which was really painful. b) the kanji 天使 (which translates to “angel”) on my right inner forearm, over self harm scars specifically. I got this when I was 19 and back living with my bigoted conservative family and suicidal and trying to remind myself that I was loved. I also picked it out of a book and was lucky that book had the right kanji tbh, but I picked it bc my parents wouldn’t be able to read it, and it meant “angel” which was Birdie’s pet name for me at the time, and she was living across the country from me. If I could go back, I would get a different angel-themed tattoo in the same place, but at least I have the proper kanji for it if I’m going to have an ill-advised Japanese tattoo. c) a little curled ivy tramp stamp I picked out of a book in a little tattoo shop on St. Mark’s Place in NYC at like 2am, do NOT ask, it was dumb. Thankfully easier to work into a larger piece if I ever have the money for a back piece. d) text that is now near-illegible (due to the delicate nature of the script and the time since I got it) on the back of my left shoulder. It says “the universe has been waiting for me” in Birdie’s handwriting. It’s a line from Donna Noble’s last episode of Doctor Who, and I had FEELINGS. e) text on the inside of my left wrist that says “alive or dead, the truth won’t rest.” specifically in courier new. It’s a quote from @seananmcguire​‘s book FEED, and Birdie has a matching tattoo on her wrist as well. f) A tattoo of Coyote and the Sun, with color, on the outer side of my right calf. It’s the only colored Tattoo I have. I plan to get a semi-matching tattoo on my left calf that is El-Ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inle doing sort of a yin-yang esque circle chasing each other. it’s a Trickster thing, tying animals commonly considered  to be Tricksters with stuff that is meaningful to me. Coyotes have always been important to me, I grew up in Arizona there were always coyotes about and I always loved them, and then Watership Down was a surprise true love of a book when I was a teen.

Are there any piercings/tattoos I’d like to get? Piercings not so much. Maybe an eyebrow one day idk. Tattoos tho, goddamn, I’ve got SO MANY PLANS. I want to get text tattoos - either part of a larger text-heavy design or separately - of “It’s chaos, be kind”, “You are not obligated to complete the work, neither are you free to abandon it”, and “Do good recklessly”. Other quotes I’m sure but those three specifically. Obviously the Watership Down/Rabbit the Trickster tattoo I mentioned. Also a design from one of the tattoos on one of the guards of the Pazyriyk ice maiden. Also ngl I kinda want to get the sigils for witcher signs on the backs of my fingers. Some people get “THUG LYFE” or “FUCK YOU”, I get “I WILL FUCK YOU UP (in symbolic form)” XD

What’s one thing I’m proud of? The fact that I’m alive. ...Seriously, I’m quite proud of that, I’ve had some shit years in my life, and I’ve nearly not made it more than once. I’m proud as HELL that I’m here. I’m proud that I’m in college. I’m proud that I’m writing again.

Thank you for all these questions! So many, lmao, but I loved it, thank you. ^_^

[adamwatchesmovies]

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Johnny Mnemonic is a tangled mess. Its incoherent story tries to cram so many futuristic and cyberpunk staples into its universe it forgets to remain accessible and relatable. You'll struggle to remain invested.

In 2021 (at the time 26 years into the future), super corporations own everything and hire the Yakuza to snuff out anyone who opposes them. Mnemonic couriers carry data in their brains, ensuring that no one can get to it unless they have the correct code. When a transaction goes wrong, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) finds himself strained under the weight of a 320-gigabyte file in his head. It will kill him in 24 hours unless he can deliver the data.

I won't criticize the premise. Without it, there’s no movie. It's actually an interesting concept to have files so complicated or so dependant on human interpretation that no computer could accurately transport them. To steal it, you'd have to do much more than cut off a handcuffed to a briefcase, you'd have to decapitate the courier. Much could be done with the story of a man who chooses to erase his own memories as part of an illegal operation. You're expanding on the premise a bit, but there's interest right away.

Everything else is difficult to follow, muddily explained, and/or illogical. We’re told mega-corporations own the world. That’s bad, but we’re never shown WHY. It feels like this detail is included because it's a cyberpunk staple. Repeatedly, we're told things but never shown things. Why does future Wal-Mart and Disney employ the Yakuza? Why is there a subplot in which Dolph Lundgren plays a 'roided looking to collect the bounty put on Johnny? The unnecessary elements to "flesh out" the world are everywhere, like a love interest Jane (Dina Meyer) who, of course, just falls head over heels for Johnny, and him for her even though they don’t have anything in common and barely ever talk. We’ve got rebels, double-crosses, laser whips, assassinations, battles in cyberspace, ghosts in the machine, and a lot more that'll have you scratching your noggin'.

Adding to the frustration are the awful performances. Keanu Reeves should be perfect for this role; struggling to emote due to his memories being stripped away, desperate to become human again... he's not far from Neo or Klatu. Except he's never convincing. You want to start calling for his resignation but then you realize everyone is bland at best. I think director Robert Longo is to blame. For the acting and the jumbled story.

I know most will criticize Johnny Mnemonic for the premise, which realistically, or at least as it’s portrayed here, doesn’t really make sense, certainly not in 2021 or 1995. It wouldn't have mattered if the story was compelling and the characters relatable. Things just happen so the plot can move forward and we can be exposed to one weird thing after another. I tried hard to care about what was going on in “Johnny Mnemonic”. I just couldn’t. It’s got interesting ideas and the dated graphics of people traveling through the internet are amusing, but that's about it. (On VHS, September 16, 2015)

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

The Other Side of the Web

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65355709 by Azuracity Peter’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Post-Homecoming, May has lost her job, and has fallen into an unlucky legal battle after a car accident. Peter – in a desperate bid to help out – finds himself as a courier for the elusive Fishery Queen, a security business. Okay, so Peter may not know what’s in the packages he’s delivering, and no one around him might be saying it’s good news. But that’s fine – because Peter’s only working there until he turns sixteen. There shouldn’t have been a problem. Really. That is, until Peter falls into a sudden bout of personal debt, and is forced to deal with unforeseen consequences of a closer working relationship with Fishery Queen. In a turn of events, Peter finds himself increasingly torn between the different threads of his life: as a student, as Spiderman, and as a struggling employee. Add that to a tangled web of lies, an absentee Happy, and some nifty personal tragedy, that’s when things really start to get complicated... or AU where Tony is MIA, Peter gets a suspicious job, and it all falls down from there. Words: 4346, Chapters: 1/22, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Tony Stark, Michelle Jones (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's class, Midtown High School Students (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Other Avengers Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Aunt May Parker & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker-centric, Character Study, Slow Build, Corruption, Poor Life Choices, Poor Peter Parker, Sick Character, Self-Destruction, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Illegal Activities, Crimes & Criminals, Organized Crime, Debt, Midtown High School (Marvel), Post-Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Bad Decisions, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Spider-Man Interacting with New Yorkers, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Slow To Update read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/65355709

[mychemicalficrecs]

okay my last ask was kinda the same things but like fics where Frank is a total bad ass? Like I said in my other ask, The Enigmas Anomaly is a great example, thank you!!

Sometimes Frank specifically is a badass, sometimes everyone is pretty cool :D

Frank Is a Badass

The Enigma's Anomaly by Helena_Hathaway, Frank/Gerard, 179k [second part is a WIP], Explicit. Frank is a skilled assassin. He kills people for a living. He is not meant to fall in love with someone he’s been hired to kill. He’s supposed to just kill the guy and get it over with. If that’s the case then why is Gerard Way still alive?

we are not afraid (and we are not ashamed) by Trojie, Frank/Ray/Gerard/Mikey, 27k, Explicit. An ordinary skirmish in the desert with dracs leads to Frank taking the brunt of a new weapon - and ends with him pregnant, furious, and freaking out. When the shit hits the fan and he gets kidnapped and taken back for interrogation by Korse, and forced to listen to the contents of the Traffic Report, something in him snaps. This fucking dystopia has gone on too long.

The Only Sound That's Left by betweenthebars (butyoumight), Gen, 23k, Mature. Nuke, a member of the Government-sponsored 'superhero' group V5 dies under mysterious circumstances. The remaining four members of the group are barred from investigating the death, prompting them to go back to their (now illegal) vigilante ways. Along the way, they pick up a new ally (Nuke's replacement in the team), an old ally (who never went in for the government sponsored work), and end up fighting against a conspiracy that goes further than expected.

All We Are by lightisbreaking, Frank/Gerard, 21k, Rated R. Set in the future, where humans are on the brink of evolution. For the select few born with a special awareness of their own minds - an awareness which gives them abilities beyond the norm, life is suddenly a very dangerous thing. Frightened of what this could mean, the government set out to make this new race of humans extinct, telling the public that these people are mentally unstable defectives and must be kept under observation for the safety of the public. All of this brings together a rather odd troupe of people, hiding from the government and eventually having to protect one of their own when he's taken into custody. Superpowers AU!

Unholyverse by Bexless, Frank/Gerard, Ray/Mikey, 187k, Mature and Explicit. Religion! Horror! Exorcisms! Piercings! And Gerard is a priest.

Guys Like Us by bgoodg, Frank/Mikey, Bob/Frank/Mikey, 25k, Explicit. "You know how it is for guys like us. All we have is our word and our loyalty. Without that, we're just guns with legs." Frank is the muscle, Mikey is next in line and Bob is the police officer investigating them. Shoot em up yeah.

The Life of Dinosaurs by akamine_chan, Frank/Gerard, 29k, Mature. Gerard and Frank are rival hosts of dinosaur nature shows, who suddenly find themselves forced to work together. In order to impress their new boss, cable magnate Grant Morrison, they have to create a season of dynamic shows that maintain their high standards as well as continue to bring in the viewership (and ad revenue). On top of that, Frank and Gerard have to deal with the unexpected physical attraction they feel toward each other, all while avoiding stampeding ankylosaurs, ravenous theropods, and the occasional amorous pterosaurs.

and me here on the ground by ohnoktcsk, Frank/Gerard, 32k, Explicit. Frank's worked hard to build a life for himself in the city of Jersey, where dragons swoop and dive over the river, and every day is divided by the ringing of the city bells. He knows the streets of the city like he knows the the tattoos on the backs of his hands, and he's content with what he has: a job as a bike courier, friends who love to give him shit, and a crush on a professor of art history at the local university. But he's also got a secret—one he's been running from for a long time. But all it takes is one delivery to a mysterious, quite-probably-magical bookshop to show Frank that there are some things you can’t outrun. Especially since he’s finally found a place that he doesn’t want to leave.

Your Heart The Only Place That I Call Home by dear_monday, Frank/Gerard, 30k, Explicit. When Frank and his crew of morally ambiguous ethernauts (pirates, as Imperial law would have it, but that's such an ugly word) fetch up on the doorstep of the fabled Sanctuary, they aren't expecting to find much - least of all a long-lost brother, a garden in a box and the key to an ancient riddle.

Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency by jjtaylor, Frank/Gerard and others, 164k, Mature. Pete, in Decaydance Mansion, with a yarrow stake. Frank and Gerard, in the greenhouse, with a plant of questionable origin. Bob, everywhere you look, with a gang of assassins for justice. Vampires, valets, pamphlets, haunted furniture, dub-thrall, disembodied voices, zombie couriers, and sinister rituals.

[englishchinesetranslations]

“Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind”

Theodore Roosevelt

“Malthus has been vindicated; reality is finally catching up with Malthus. The Third World is overpopulated, it’s an economic mess, and there’s no way they could get out of it with this fast-growing population. Our philosophy is: back to

the village.”

Dr. Arne Schiotz, World Wildlife Fund Director of Conservation, stated such,

ironically, in 1984:

“A total world population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.”

Ted Turner, in an interview with Audubon magazine

“There is a single theme behind all our work–we must reduce population levels.

Either governments do it our way, through nice clean methods, or they will get

the kinds of mess that we have in El Salvador, or in Iran or in Beirut. Population

is a political problem. Once population is out of control, it requires authoritarian

government, even fascism, to reduce it....” “Our program in El Salvador didn’t

work. The infrastructure was not there to support it. There were just too

goddamned many people.... To really reduce population, quickly, you

have to pull all the males into the fighting and you have to kill

significant numbers of fertile age females....” The quickest way

to reduce population is through famine, like in Africa, or

through disease like the Black Death....

Thomas Ferguson, State Department Office of Population Affairs

“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that

pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like

would fit the bill.... But in designating them as the enemy, we fall into the trap of

mistaking symptoms for causes. All these dangers are caused by human

intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can

be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.”

Alexander King, Bertrand Schneider – Founder and Secretary, respectively,

TheClub of Rome, The First Global Revolution, pgs 104-105, 1991

A cancer is an uncontrolled multiplication of cells; the population explosion is an

uncontrolled multiplication of people.... We must shift our efforts from the

treatment of the symptoms to the cutting out of the cancer. The operation will

demand many apparently brutal and heartless decisions.

Stanford Professor ” Paul Ehrlich in The Population Bomb

“In order to stabilize world population, we must eliminate 350,000 people per

day. It is a horrible thing to say, but it is just as bad not to say it.”

J. Cousteau, 1991 explorer and UNESCO courier

I believe that human overpopulation is the fundamental problem on Earth Today”

and, “We humans have become a disease, the Humanpox.”

Dave Foreman, Sierra Club and co founder of Earth First!

“We must speak more clearly about sexuality, contraception, about abortion,

about values that control population, because the ecological crisis, in short, is

the population crisis. Cut the population by 90% and there aren’t enough people

left to do a great deal of ecological damage.”

Mikhail Gorbachev

“Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore

order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that

there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that

threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to

deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When

presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the

guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government.”

Dr. Henry Kissinger, Bilderberger Conference, Evians, France, 1991

The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.

Dr. Henry Kissinger New York Times, Oct. 28, 1973

Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third

world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of

minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries”.

Dr. Henry Kissinger

“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” and “The elderly are useless eaters”

Dr. Henry Kissinger

“World population needs to be decreased by 50%”

Dr. Henry Kissinger

“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major

crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”

David Rockefeller

“War and famine would not do. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and

fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be

solved. AIDS is not an efficient killer because it is too slow. My favorite candidate

for eliminating 90 percent of the world’s population is airborne Ebola (Ebola

Reston), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years.

“We’ve got airborne diseases with 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing

humans. Think about that. “You know, the bird flu’s good, too. For everyone who

survives, he will have to bury nine”

Dr. Eric Pianka University of Texas evolutionary ecologist and lizard expert,

showed solutions for reducing the world’s population to an audience on

population control

“The present vast overpopulation, now far beyond the world carrying capacity,

cannot be answered by future reductions in the birth rate due to contraception,

sterilization and abortion, but must be met in the present by the reduction of

numbers presently existing. This must be done by whatever means necessary.”

Initiative for the United Nations ECO-92 EARTH CHARTER

“In South America, the government of Peru goes door to door pressuring women

to be sterilized and they are funded by American tax dollars to do this.”

Mark Earley in The Wrong Kind of Party Christian Post 10/27 2008

"Women in the Netherlands who are deemed by the state to be unfit mothers

should be sentenced to take contraception for a prescribed period of two years.”

Marjo Van Dijken (author of the bill in the Netherlands) in the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/04/humanrights-women

“Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature”

Anonymously commissioned Georgia Guidestones

“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to

lower human population levels.”

Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Duke of Edinburgh, leader of the

World Wildlife Fund

"Childbearing should be a punishable crime against society, unless the parents

hold a government license. All potential parents should be required to use

contraceptive chemicals, the government issuing antidotes to citizens chosen for

childbearing.”

David Brower, first Executive Director of the Sierra Club

“The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover

cutting the Fallopian tubes.”

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Frankly I had thought that at the time Rome was decided, there was concern

about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t

want to have too many of.”

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the

optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various

countries’ shares within their regional limits. Control of population size might

remain the responsibility of each government, but the Regime would have some

power to enforce the agreed limits.”

Obama’s Science czar John P. Holdren: From a book he helped write ‘Ecoscience’

“The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world

government combining supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent,

all under their control.... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there

is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly

evil in intent.”

Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that

was shot down by the Soviet Union

P.S. And there's this:

“No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to

worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian

Initiation.”

David Spangler, Director of Planetary Initiative, United Nations

(People will shortly be expected to line up to take the COVID vaccination, with its

Luciferase enzyme)

[stillwinterair]

Two more OCs, plus Ysobel again, bc dear lord I love this dollmaker:

Bluejay, demi-cryptid-status paranormal-PI vagabond who wanders the USA in her van, solving mysteries, uncovering her own past, and unearthing secrets of the universe

Rashani, callsign Vhospyr, 25th-century courier ship pilot who finds herself at the center of a galaxy-sized conspiracy; her crew dead, ship gone, lost far from home, and at the top of the galaxy’s most wanted list, she must clear her name and save the very government that’s out to get her

Ysobel, sanctioned witch-hunter for the Meditian kingdoms whose life and duty center around bringing those who practice illegal magics to justice -- but the letter and spirit of the law are separate beasts, and more often than not, the law only benefits those writing it

[newstfionline]

Headlines

SpaceX capsule and NASA crew make 1st splashdown in 45 years (AP) Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year. Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken rode the SpaceX Dragon capsule back to Earth less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida. The capsule parachuted into the calm gulf waters about 40 miles off the coast of Pensacola, hundreds of miles from Tropical Storm Isaias pounding Florida’s Atlantic coast. “Welcome back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX,” said Mission Control from SpaceX headquarters. More than an hour after splashdown, the astronauts emerged from their capsule on the deck of a recovery ship, both signaling a thumbs-up as they headed for medical exams.

Students return to campus (AP) The first wave of college students returning to their dorms aren’t finding the typical mobs of students and parents. What they found Friday were strict safety protocols and some heightened anxiety amid a global pandemic where virus infections are growing in dozens of states. North Carolina State University staggered the return of its students over 10 days and welcomed the first 900 students to campus, where they were greeted Friday by socially distant volunteers donning masks and face shields. Elon University in North Carolina, mailed testing kits to all 7,000 students ahead of their arrival in a few weeks. Maine’s Colby College will be testing students before they arrive and then three times a week for the first two weeks on campus. They’ll be tested twice a week after that, until the semester ends. The University of Rhode Island is scaling back campus housing to abide by distancing requirements, causing a scramble for some students. “Just like the rest of the world, we have to figure out how to carry on,” said Betsy Flanagan, who was sending her freshman son, Arch, off to college. “This virus isn’t going away and it’s going to be with us for quite a while, so we all have to figure out how to safely exist and that includes continuing to educate our future.”

Face masks are thwarting even the best facial recognition algorithms, study finds (CNET) It turns out face masks aren’t just effective at preventing the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19—they’re also successful at blocking facial recognition algorithms, researchers say. In a report published Monday, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology found that face masks were thwarting even the most advanced facial recognition algorithms. Error rates varied from 5% to 50%, depending on an algorithm’s capabilities.

How the pandemic and a broken unemployment system are upending people’s lives (Washington Post) He had five days to move out of the house in Brightwood Park, and now Daniel Vought stood looking at the plastic crates stacked in the living room holding his things. T-shirts. Power cords. Pokémon cards and stuffed animals. His beloved guitar—a Gibson Explorer electric—still hung on the wall. He figured it would be safer staying behind. A new housemate was coming, one who could actually pay $800 a month for the room Vought, 30, had lived in rent-free since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the Georgetown bar where he worked. For four months, his unemployment benefits application had been snared in red tape at the D.C. Department of Employment Services, a black hole of unanswered emails, phone holds and automated voice messages offering delays instead of answers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the nation’s capital have been sucked down the same confusing abyss. Through July 29, the employment office has fielded more than 133,000 claims, nearly five times the number processed in all of 2019. In the meantime, the end of July meant the end of the initial round of federal emergency pandemic assistance. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are deadlocked over the scope of a second wave of federal help. No matter what that future assistance looks like, for people like Vought, still waiting for benefits from the spring and living without a financial cushion, the damage has been done. People pushed into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic could face years of increased dependence on government help, experts say, and greater housing insecurity and homelessness. A single mother with another baby due this summer found herself choosing between buying food or paying the rent. A former D.C. police officer spent months on a relative’s sofa, unable to find work or collect unemployment so he could find his own housing.

Coronavirus pandemic causes another health concern—closed public restrooms (Washington Post) When courier Brent Williams makes his daily deliveries around the city here, he runs into one persistent problem: There’s almost nowhere to use the restroom. Most public buildings are closed under the pandemic, and restaurants and coffee shops that have shifted to carryout service won’t let him use their facilities. “It’s hard to find any place where I can use the restroom,” said Williams, speaking outside a ­library in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood that has reopened its ­restrooms to the public. The library is one of five citywide to have opened their doors, and other parts of the city have almost no options for those who need to relieve themselves or wash their hands. The lack of restrooms has become an issue for delivery workers, taxi and ride-hailing drivers and others who make their living outside of a fixed office building. For the city’s homeless, it’s part of an ongoing problem that preceded covid-19. “It’s gone from bad to worse,” said Eric, who lives in an encampment near Interstate 5. (Eric asked to be identified by only his first name.) “It’s definitely much, much harder.”

A weakened Tropical Storm Isaias lashes virus-hit Florida (AP) Bands of heavy rain from Isaias lashed Florida’s east coast Sunday while officials dealing with surging cases of the coronavirus kept a close watch on the weakened tropical storm. Isaias was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, but was still threatening to bring heavy rain and flooding as it crawled just off Florida’s Atlantic coast. Upper-level winds took much of the strength out of Isaias, said Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm also slowed down considerably.Authorities closed beaches, parks and virus testing sites, lashing signs to palm trees so they wouldn’t blow away. DeSantis said the state is anticipating power outages and asked residents to have a week’s supply of water, food and medicine on hand. Officials wrestled with how to prepare shelters where people can seek refuge from the storm if necessary, while also safely social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.

Latin America coronavirus death toll surges past 200,000 (Reuters) The death toll in Latin America from the novel coronavirus passed 200,000 on Saturday night, a Reuters tally showed, underlining the region’s status as one of the global epicenters of the pandemic that is testing governments to the limit. Apart from the United States, Brazil and Mexico have racked up more fatalities from the virus than any other country, and together they account for around 70% of the regional death toll. Both have struggled to balance the need to curb the spread of the virus with restrictive safety measures while trying to reopen their economies, which have been battered by the crisis. Other countries in Latin America are also battling to hold the coronavirus at bay, and the region breached the 200,000 mark after Peru registered another 191 fatalities.

Indian police crackdown on illegal liquor suppliers after 86 die (Reuters) Indian police raided rural hamlets and made arrests to break up a bootlegging cartel on Sunday, after 86 people died from consuming illegally-produced alcohol this week in the northwestern state of Punjab, officials said.

Victoria state declares disaster, night curfew (AP) The premier of Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state has declared a disaster among sweeping new coronavirus restrictions across Melbourne and elsewhere from Sunday night. An evening curfew will be implemented across Melbourne from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Premier Daniel Andrews says the state of disaster proclamation gave police greater power. He says 671 new coronavirus cases had been detected since Saturday, including seven deaths. It comes among a steadily increasing toll in both deaths and infections over the past six weeks in Victoria. Melbourne residents will only be allowed to shop and exercise within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of their homes. All students across the state will return to home-based learning and child care centers will be closed.

Israel’s Netanyahu rails at media over protests against him (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday railed at swelling protests against his rule, saying they were egged on by a biased media that distorts facts and cheers on the demonstrators. Netanyahu has faced a wave of protests in recent weeks, with demonstrators calling for the resignation of the long-serving leader, who is on trial for corruption charges. They’ve also panned his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Netanyahu has painted the protests as dens of “anarchists” and “leftists” out to topple “a strong right-wing leader.” The protests have largely been peaceful. In some cases they have ended with clashes between demonstrators and police. In others, small gangs of Netanyahu supporters and individuals affiliated with far-right groups have assaulted demonstrators.