#Loan origination solutions

[allcloudindia]

Loan Origination Software

Discover essential features to consider when choosing loan origination software and unlock the potential to streamline your operations with the right solution.

[next-target]

Unity Small Finance Bank doubles SCF book with revamped volume strategy, delivered on UnciaChain

Unity Small Finance Bank is promoted by Centrum Financial Services, part of the diversified Centrum Group. Resilient Innovations Pvt. Ltd (BharatPe) is an investor in the Bank. The Supply Chain Finance (SCF) business was started before the formation of Unity Bank by Centrum Financial Services in 2017. They were among the pioneers entering India’s SCF sector. When they launched their SCF business, they strategically targeted large corporations to expand their operations.

In line with their strategy, they acquired the entire L&T Finance’s SCF portfolio, which majorly involved L&T as an anchor and all their suppliers/vendors as counterparties. However, India’s Supply Chain Finance (SCF) market became intensely competitive due to small profit margins and bank’s high cost of funds. Consequently, there came a point when they began reducing their portfolio.

Amidst these changes, Centrum Financial Services along with BharatPe formed Unity Bank. They rethought their strategy, focusing on mid mid-market anchors while expanding into both the Vendor and Dealer Finance segments. This shift required Unity Bank to onboard a larger number of anchors as compared to targeting large corporations.

To implement this new approach, Unity needed an efficient digital SCF back-office system combined with robust Loan Origination System (LOS). They aimed for a complete digital transformation, creating an end-to-end digital ecosystem for SCF. This transformation would enable them automated onboarding and underwriting of anchors and counterparties along with digital servicing during discounting process, providing a competitive edge in the market.

After an extensive evaluation of products available in the market, Unity chose UnciaChain as their platform of choice. Uncia’s in-depth understanding of Unity Bank’s business needs reflected in the bank specific solution walkthrough, backed by strong references from exiting UnciaChain users tilted the scale in Uncia’s favor.

UnciaChain designed as a cloud native, multi-tenanted SaaS-based solution, is built on cutting-edge microservices architecture. Functioning as a tri-party system, it enables Financial Institutes (FIs) to digitally onboard their anchors and counterparties, granting them platform access via portals for seamless digital transactions. The platform is API-driven and boasts high automation levels, effectively eliminating the need for manual intervention through Straight Through Processing (STP).

With comprehensive functional coverage, the platform comes pre-mapped with fifty-one predefined SCF product variations covering practically every SCF nuance within the Indian market, catering to both the Dealer and Vendor sides. It features a standalone limit management system, a Business Rule Engine, and UnciaStudio. UnciaStudio empowers users to reduce dependency on external support by enabling them to launch new products, configure rates and charges, manage user access restrictions, and more, independently. Designed for a seamless user experience, the platform automates the entire SCF business ecosystem, offering efficiency and ease of operation. Designed for a 30-day Go-Live, out of the box, the UnciaChain design dramatically reduces both the need to write custom code to meet a nuance, as well as the lead time for custom development, where it is unavoidable.

Uncia proposed the implementation in two phases. The first phase involved implementing the entire back office, allowing Unity Bank to transition into the new business ecosystem swiftly and immediately reap its benefits. In the second phase, Uncia worked closely with Unity, to build a bank specific Loan Origination Software (LOS) to cater specifically to their requirements, providing them with a substantial competitive edge.

As part of the project, Uncia facilitated integrations with Karza, Perfios, CIBIL, AML, and Posidex, enhancing Unity’s operational capabilities and competitiveness. These integrations collectively empower Unity with a holistic view of their customers, streamlined operations, improved risk assessment capabilities, and enhanced data accuracy. This suite of integrations ensures that Unity Bank can make informed decisions swiftly, maintain regulatory compliance, and deliver an elevated level of service to its clients.

The implementation of the supply chain finance platform was accomplished within 3 calendar months, while the LOS was completed within 6 calendar months. Parallelly, a complete data migration of 20,000 loan accounts was achieved within the same timeframe.

Unity Bank gained a significant competitive advantage through the implementation of the customized Lending Origination System (LOS). This system empowered them to digitally onboard and underwrite their anchors, and bring their complete ecosystem along with the counterparties in a complete digital mode to the platform. A comprehensive rollout of the integrated platform was executed across all branches and with partner institutions.

Before the platform implementation, Unity Bank operated with a book size of INR 400 Crores. Since the implementation, the bank has scaled its operations significantly to a book size of more than INR 1000 Crores within 6 months. This impressive business growth can be attributed to the establishment of a comprehensive digital ecosystem, reduced manual dependencies, and the implementation of robust compliance reporting mechanisms. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and strategic partnerships, Unity Bank is well-positioned to continue its trajectory of success in the dynamic landscape of the financial industry.

[best-loan-origination-system]

Unity Bank Partners with Uncia for its Supply Chain Finance Platform Uncia Chain

Uncia Technologies today announced the go-live of Uncia Chain, its state-of-the-art Supply Chain Finance platform, at Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank), a new-age, digital-first bank.

Unity Bank is a scheduled Commercial Bank, offering digital first banking solutions. Its core businesses include Branch Banking, Business Banking, Inclusive Banking and Digital Banking and services over 15 lakh customers PAN India. It commenced operations in November 2021 and in a short span has built a sizeable loan book of over Rs. 7,000 crores and a Deposit base of approx. Rs 5,000 crores.

Uncia Technologies is a pure-play SaaS product company in the Digital Lending space, and its digital Loan Origination, Loan Management, and Supply Chain Finance platforms enable efficient processing and accurate daily lending transactions for over 1 lakh crore across banks and NBFCs in India.

Uncia Chain, its flagship Supply Chain Finance (SCF) platform, is designed to provide a hassle-free implementation journey for its customers. It offers a feature-rich product suite that houses all business constructs the physical Supply Chain industry looks up to, for its financing needs. It effortlessly manages to handle all functions of a three-party financing construct by bringing buyer, seller and lender in one platform, by providing templatized variations of all onboarding and transaction journeys that occur between these parties. Uncia’s ability to be cloud-agnostic, database-agnostic, and efficient in ERP integration constructs, has enabled it to elevate Uncia Chain to a highly configurable, rapid deployment framework. Case in point being the implementation of Uncia Chain for Unity Bank, which was accomplished in less than 100 days.

In an industry dominated by one-time license fees and protracted implementation processes, Uncia stands out by offering a set of pre-defined productised services. This novel approach defines Uncia’s Go-Live methodology, streamlining the post-Go-Live journey and eliminating the friction associated with exasperating change requests.

G.L Kumar, Chief Business Offer – Business Banking, Unity Bank, said, “Unity Bank is committed to delivering a seamless digital banking experience, and this collaboration with Uncia Chain aligns perfectly with our mission. Uncia Chain’s robust and agile platform provides us with a seamless and rapid deployment framework. We are particularly impressed with their cloud-agnostic and database-agnostic capabilities, which align perfectly with our vision of collaboration and open architecture.”

Hari Padmanabhan, Chairman, Uncia Technologies, said, “Reaching this milestone serves as a testament to our steadfast pursuit of excellence and customer satisfaction, achieved by leveraging our pre-configured, highly agile, rigorously tested, and supremely secure SCF platform. One of the most notable accomplishments of this enterprise Go-Live was its migration from the existing platform and completion in less than 100 days. We look forward to working with Unity Small Finance Bank as it leverages the robust capabilities of our platform to support its ambitious plans.”

About Unity Small Finance Bank Limited

Unity Small Finance Bank Limited is a Scheduled Commercial Bank, promoted by Centrum Financial Services Ltd. (Subsidiary of BSE & NSE listed – Centrum Capital Ltd.) with Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd as a joint investor. It strives to be a Digital First Bank with a business model of collaboration and open architecture, uniting all its stakeholders to deliver a seamless digital banking experience. Driven by its mission to have the highest standards of Corporate Governance, Unity Bank has in place a strong Board comprising of industry veterans. It offers services across Branch Banking, Business Banking, Inclusive Banking, Digital Banking and Treasury Services. For more information about Unity Bank and its services, please visit www.theunitybank.com.

About Uncia Technologies

Uncia Technologies, formerly known as ThemePro Technologies Private Limited, was established in the year 2020. Uncia is a young enterprise application software product company addressing Banks and NBFCs with a comprehensive suite of pure-play SaaS products designed to meet the ever-changing Digital Lending space, encompassing Loan Origination, Loan Management, and Supply Chain Finance. Uncia boasts a formidable and referenceable marquee client list across Banks and NBFCs, where it has achieved unprecedented success in rapid go-to-market (GTM) with its innovative product and delivery models. For more information about Uncia Technologies and its products, please visit https://uncia.ai/.

[salesforceconsultant]

Increase Process Efficiency With Salesforce Loan Software

Overcome loan lifecycle inefficiencies and streamline workflows with the latest Salesforce Loan Software called Loans Neo. Salesforce Loan origination software lets businesses automate processes like amortization, loan application and approval, EMI scheduling, tracking of payments, penalties, or charges for delayed payments.

[cutieeva]

My Sweet Little Girl

Female Reader

Warnings : Abusive and toxic relationship. Murder. Attempt Murder. PTSD. Revenge porn.

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 :

Is moving on with life is possible when haunting dead is hot on heels and mind ?

Her finger tips is cool to the touch of the sliver frame that is design in circles like of a bent soft feather could be, beautifully arch and terribly divine. Her (E/C) eyes felt familiar to the beauty, sight following the center of the frame that is wrapped around. A neat huge mirror where her reflection stare back, bearing her nose, her skin, her mouth and eyes and hair. Even her sombre expression that she almost forget she was staring at her own self not at another sad woman she refuse to know.

Her eyes lift to the very above where the mirror's frame hold a diamond— a frown settle on her brows, uncertain if it's real or unsettlingly false from the shine and beauty. Then her eyes stare lower to the mirror, the height of the oval mirror is taller than her own, reminding her of someone. Someone close, dear to her heart once. He might have been perfect tall for the mirror unlike her. He always was she guess.

Her fingers continue to trace the dusty frame, feeling the metal and subtle changes when she caught the feeling of a paper beneath and look to find a white price sticker attached. She titls her head at the one word. Free.

Odd word. She thought. For such a ancient, timeless beauty this should have been placed to sell in an expensive auction at the first place not in an small antique shop let alone be brought free. "Unless something is wrong with the—". Her thoughts cut off.

"Nothing is wrong with the product". His voice startled her, flinching away from the frame and step back a little from the aged grinning man, his slender hands laced behind his back. "The free is because of the one who sold the mirror. Actually the original price of this product could not compare to my humble shop and the car I have brought from loan. Something only filthy rich can buy to show off not common civilians like us..." Grumbling the man said, distasteful in his voice. "But the lady was grieving saying someone close to her heart died belonged the mirror which was one of many things and she wants them to be out of sight however not have the heart to throw them into the trash nor sell them to other uncaring people. So, her only solution was to send all of her expensive products to many antique shop hoping only pure antique lovers would take care of the things that once belonged to her beloved dead". He finished and she raised her eyebrows still unclear why the free tag if it will be eventually sell to the people from antique shops instead of completely zero amount. But she had a hint.

The man notice and cleared his oak throat. "She did not want price attached to the products, the very reason she decided to sell to me, or more like given to me". As she expected, she nod.

"Well, good because I need it". She decide, leaving the part out for her fresh moved house. The man doesn't need to know such private information. The owner's grin wider, nodding and enthusiastically walking to his desk for the package and calling his worker to delivery the fragile mirror.

She step back a little, her red heels shimmers under the golden rays. Face shadowed by a hat as she watched the male worker holding the mirror carefully. It would be a lie if she is buying such fancy thing for mere decoration or in need, rather because deep inside a side of her always love to see the history of an ancient product, touching them, finding the little changes over the course of years. It was fun to collect until it wasn't and so one and half years after she moves to an unfamiliar town along an unfamiliar house leaving her family, friends behind.

She suppose the least she can do is recall her past self. The self she erased and moled into someone her love had loved.

"Mam !" She look at the aged man.

"Yes".  Soft her voice was.

"Please write your address where we can delivery". (Y/N) nod, holding the ball pen between her fingers to write quickly, away from the man's curious eyes, away from the sun's rays, away from everything if possible.

"Here". Hurried she let the pen fall and slide the paper towards him to hide her trembling hands below the wooden desk before his glinting eyes could spot. The man took it and smiled.

"Oh ! What a wonderful place you live in. Only people with enough money can live in Vallancia estate". His smile wider. "No wonder I felt like I didn't saw you in this town because you belonged there". He added causing her to swallow how sharp the man is.

Then she frown. Wait, why is so desperate to hide the fact she is new ? It's not funny. She knows it isn't so does she knows why she is so desperate to hide because she is afraid to be scammed and tear to pieces by the local in name of kindness. She is afraid they will take advantage of her unawareness around here.

She is terribly, terribly scared. All alone. Her chest rose and fell fast and breath heavy. "I-I will take my leave then. I will wait at 2 pm for my product unscathed". Not waiting for his answer she left, patting her chest to calm and hiding her face from the sun by her hat. It's ridiculous, truly is at how little things she has come to be afraid. Little things she loved to befriend once.

━━━━━━━

The mirror stood tall at her bedroom corner, beside her closet. It's magnificent she must compliment. Her eyes slide to the newly hanged clock over the wall. At perfect 2:00 pm did it arrived in it's cleaned glory. A smile lift her lips and that years later proud feeling bubble within her chest.

Still a smile over her lips, she went to unpack the boxes. Sitting on the red carpet on the white tiles beside the boxes, her fingers went though many things she had forgetton like her photo album, her collections of sea shells, her camera and so more. Skimming though the things she once knew feels like an foreign objects now, something she is gliding her eyes for the first time. Like she is knowing a self he had once. Like all her closest people had.

Now all is remain of her past self is hurt, broken and incomplete. Grim at the loathful thoughts she push the box and decide to unpack some other day. She has lots of time in her hand. Standing she went to the bathroom.

"I should take a relaxing bath". Mutter to herself, she choose a loose pair of cloth and enter inside nude, sliding inside the warm bath.

Warm bath are always her favorite, water trickling from her skin, his humming calming her thoughts, smile plaster on her lips she can't remove. Eyes close in the bliss when her legs were pulled, her eyes flutter open watching him holding her tender feet like fragile glass and messaging them. Her smile wider, his grin too.

Slowly little by little her smile wide further at the ticklish sensation of his fingers roaming up to her wet body. She waited, feeling up his childish play how he trace to her thigh, dangerous close to her private part— a part that was not unseen by him, then at her navel he loves to pepper kisses so much, her ribcage his palm always squzze a little before resting on her breast— his favorite to fondle and caress and her buds to engulf within his pair of lips then his fingers went up to her collarbone where the golden necklace of his gift lays. The letter R shines at the light then his fingers slide up to her neck he often licks and finally caress at her chin. Where he often than not lean in to kiss like now. Her ears ignore the splash sound of his leaning to her from the water of his other side to blend their lips one.

For eternal, for now— "Ah !" Her lips grasp and eyes wide open in fear. Shaking pupils stare at the end of bathtub where she felt like her legs were tugged. Slightly. She suppose ? Inhaling deeply she run her fingers in her hair and shake her thought. "I am going crazy". A little her voice echo at the lonely bathroom before she spring up realizing how cold the water had become and numb her body.

Shivering from the cool breeze brushing her skin she wrap a towel around her body, walking to the sink to wash her face clean. Her eyes stare at the mirror for a long time before applying the facewash and splash the water to her face.

A breath of relieve escape as she lift her face to the mirror and a scream tore her lips at the sight of a shadowed tall figure right behind her.

In fear she bent to the sink, tremble her entirety, breath heavy and blurry her vision became. "D-Deep breath. Deep bre-ath". Lifting her face again, slowly, utter slowly and her eyes close in relieve of no one standing this time. Not the shadow figure or anything close still her heart pound.

Stress must be affecting her mind. Wiping the escaped tears and continue her deep breaths, her fingers slide to the vacant neck.

━━━━━━

Fresh aroma of dish travel to the bedroom awakening her eyes as she snuggle more in the comfort of her morning, sliding further to hide away inside the soft blanket, pillow and his spice smell with hint of light cologne.

"Wakey. Wakey". Teasing his creamy voice was, drumming his finger tips over her bare shoulder. "Wakey". He repeat, voice softer at each word and she giggle at his kiss on her skin like he can't get enough of her. Something that always success in fluttering her heart at the new relationship they share.

"Hmm, dear majesty isn't waking up..." He tailed off, acting like he didn't heard her giggles and his finger on his chin. "Let's then—" She waited, closing her eyes in pretense of sleeping when a yelp left her at his sudden attack of fingers ticking her stomach. Her most sensitive part from beneath.

Laughter and chuckle fill the serene silence room. "Okay ! O-okay ! Stop I am wake !" Choked laugher let out, pushing his hands away the more he is nearing. "Stop ! I am awake !" She cries and he laughs, laying on her back, facing her meanie boyfriend. A man who loves to tease her, a lot.

"You are bad". Pouting she said, looking away in act. He tilt his head, smiling on his charming face she still remembers how flustered she had became upon their first meeting.

"Am I ?" He snuck his hands beneath her body to embrace and rest his chin on her chest.

"Yes you are". He made a oh sound.

"Then..." He tail off, climbing over her "If I am bad. I am your bad boy". With his contiguous laughter he begin pepper kisses over all her face, pulling pure happiness out of her. "Don't you love this meanie, badie boy ?" He peck on her eye lids, nose, cheeks, forehead, chin. "Don't you ?"

She wrap her arms around him, pressing their bodies together. "Yes, I do !—

(Y/N) open her eyes to silence. No birds chirping nor the clock alarm she set yesterday.

Beep. Beep. She is earlier than the clock. Unusual for someone who disliked waking up early in the morning. Guess, people grow up and change. Sitting up, her stomach growl. Her feet slide to her slippers, walking to downstairs the open kitchen.

Alone the house is as it should be and her hands open the upper cabinets to reach the box of rainbow cereals she manage to unpack and keep. Within minutes she found a cleaned bowl along cleaned spoon and only bottle of milk in the fridge reminding her to do groceries and begin eating it, leaning her body to the sink and listening to her own munching sounds apart from eerie silence.

Her eyes lay on the kitchen, drafting to the past.

"What did you made ? Masterchef Rylanox" Joking she add the title despite him aiming to become one and to her, he always will be the best chef.

"Nothing much. Egg sandwich, bacons and some salads and milk". She nod, picking the spoon he provide and ate in hurry she almost burned her tongue.

"Ah !" She yelp causing him to near her and caress her cheek.

"Calm down, no one is going to snatch your food away". Rylanox said, pressing a quick kiss on her cheek and brought a tiny piece of ice to put in her mouth. "Swirl around it until it melts or if feel too icy then spit it out. Understood ?" (Y/N) nod like a good girl she was earning a smile.

"My sweet little girl". His favorite endearment to use as if he was older when they were around the same age. 21.

"Ah !" In daze she burned her tongue, spilling the food out in the sink and drinking cold water to numb the pain. She suppose one thing didn't change, her carelessness. She grim hating how if she changed why not change for the better entirely. Sighing she throw the remaining she didn't have appetite to eat anymore.

Ring ! Ring ! Ring ! (Y/N) turn her head to the living room, in front of the sofa is the house telephone ringing. She walk fast to pick and put on her ear.

"Hello". She greet. Silence she heard and she waits and waits for the other person in line to speak. "Hello ?" She gulp hearing nothing apart from silence. "Hello ? I am hanging up if you have nothing so say" She said about to hang up when a loud static ring so hard near her ear she slammed the phone down.

"Goodness". Little buzzes she felt on her right ear. Angrily she wonder who in the earth is pranking so early in the morning. "Must be the little kids". Aren't they little demons as much as little angels.

Ring ! Ring ! Ring ! (Y/N) flinch at the unexpected ring of telephone again. Her (E/C) eyes watched the shivers of red phone as it continue to buzz, filling in the air. Ring ! Ring ! She finally pick up, holding it near her ear without uttering a word, waiting for the other side to say.

However not a single sound came. Not a breathing, not even a breeze of wind and she slam the phone down.

"What was that ?" Her heart skip a beat. Kids these days are becoming bolder she swears.

Ring ! Ring ! Ring ! And the last ring about to close when her fingers pick the green telephone near her ear. "Hello !" She greet knowing already who the otherline was despite silence greeting her.

"You don't have to act when it's October. You know, I am fully aware this is you not some random or Billy Loomis from scream". Leaning on the counter her finger twirl the cords hearing his chuckle.

"Sweetie, you are no fun. Too smart to fool". He compliment, blushing her and stroking her ego.

"I know". Smirking she said.

"Narcissist much ?" She could already image mirth playing around his sky blue eyes.

"No, confident much". She replied earning more of his melody deep voice she loves to hear. "Then..." He tailed off, (Y/N) continue to not pay attention to his words, eyes lift to the kitchen window watching the full beauty of moon, smiling and drinking the fog clouding the night.

"Boo !" Her heart leap and scream tore from watching a figure pop on her window as she fell on her back. "Ah !" She whine, rubbing her back and heart pumping blood to veins faster as eyes look up, little over the counter to see her boyfriend standing, holding his smartphone near his guffaw mouth.

"You bastard !" She cursed.

Standing (Y/N) scan the piles of boxes debating where to unpack now or later. And she decide to procrastinate walking to her laptop sat on the glass tea table.

Comfortably she sit on the lush sofa, pulling the device on her lap, pressing the on button and the moment it lit up, she regret a little staring back at her own alone self, standing while holding her graduate degree in the photo with a forced smile under the scorning sun. Her thought draft to how he should have been beside her, holding his chef degree however he didn't and it satisfy her for hidden reasons.

━━━━━━━

Soft touches brush against her neck. Feather light and gentle they are and awful familiar too. Soon her close eyes discover they are hands, and the fingers hold her soft and (S/C) skin. Tender they were before tighten they become. She whimper at the feeling, breathing hitch and brows furrow as a weight lay over her body, huge than her, deepen the darkness further and the grip tighten, tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter until she couldn't breath, strangled cries let out, eyes barely open as water fill them. Nails harshly scrape the unmovable force, still she dug harder and it tighter, the more she fight, the harder it become that she felt herself floating suspended in a sea of terror.

Cries and tear bleed together.

She open her eyes and...

Nothing.

No tall midnight figure, no distorted monster, no human. Nothing but darkness with hint of moonlight sweeping through the drawn curtain windows. In mist of swallowing her dry throat and restricted chest, her fingers tap the switch of light and her sight glide around finding nothing lurking even under the bed only to rest upon the mirror and for some reason an uneasy feeling slit her stomach.

The more she stare at her self from the bed the more the feeling increase as if entrance she can't look away—. 

I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream.

I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

"What ?" She utter, heart picking up again at the song playing inside her house from downstairs she assume.

And I know it's true, that visions are seldom what they seem

The song continue to play. (Y/N) begin crying again in fear, watching the closed door when a fleeing thought came. Did she lock the door ?"

But if I know you

What if she didn't and the intruder come in ? Someone is in her house. Fist clenched and tears roll down silently she close her eyes and count to three to one to ran.

I know what you'll do

Three.

Two.

One.

She sprinted in silence, her feet pounding the ground, and grasped the golden doorknob, twisting and locking it with a desperate urgency. As she caught her breath, two stark realities dawned on her: the oppressive silence had replaced the sweet serenade, and she was holding her breath in terror.

Leaning against the door, she closed her eyes, exhaustion and fear threatening to consume her. But before she could find solace, a faint whimper pierced the air. The doorknob began to turn, resisted only by the lock's fragile hold. Someone was pushing against the door, their body weight straining the wooden frame, threatening to splinter it.

She recoiled, her back peeling away from the door as if scalded. Turning her face, she clamped her palm over her lips, stifling the cries that trembled on their way out.

You'll love me at once

The way you did once upon a dream

The song begin again. Her favorite song she listened with him as they dance, bubbling their little world where only they existed. Him and her only.

(Y/N) quickly pick her phone from the drawer, biting her hand to hold the fearful cries, calling the emergency. "Pick up ! Pick up ! Pick up !"

But if I know you

I know what you do

The haunting melody and the persistent banging at the door transported her back to a day she long tried to forget. The memory of that agonizing wait, clutching her phone as it rang incessantly, with no reassuring voice on the other end to save her, came flooding back. Today, like then, desperation clawed at her soul.

"Please, please, please," she whispered, her pleas lost. She wasn't sure who she begged– the universe, a higher power, or perhaps herself– but she clung to the fragile thread of hope.

You love me at once

The way you did once upon a dream.

"Hello, this is 911. What's your emergency ?" And the ray of hope stretch it's hand from darkness. With a relieve, she cries.

"S-someone, I-I don't know. Som-eone is trying to o-pen the door". She cries, her ears peeking how the song stop, only her strangled cries and the polite mam's voice flowing in.

"Okay, mam. I understand, I will dispatch police cars right away but you have to share your address". The lady's voice went over her head as fears consumed her. Again, again that night repeated the cause of her moving away, staring fresh. "Hello ? Mam ? Please calm down and stay in the line. Please share your address". She cries harder not knowing if she even did the simply task.

━━━━━━

"(Y/N) open the door ! (Y/N) open the door ! (Y/N) open the fucking door". Banging threat to tear the door and she tremble, fearing for her life, hand coming to touch her neck and wince, recoiling her hand when recalling how painful it was. "God damn (Y/N) ! You can't always stay in the bathroom. Come outside I am sorry, it was my fault. Come here darling. I am sorry".

His raging voice scared her more she wanted to yell, but didn't, her back touch the cold wall and she cries silently hoping, praying for him to go when her sight caught the mirror in the bathroom. Her eyes wide in surprise and lips part staring at the mixture of blue and purple hue around her neck. She didn't know how bad it looked, slowly her steps forward to the mirror, fingers gazing to touch because it feels surreal. Not true.

Her boyfriend, her sweet boyfriend that never even raise his voice when angered did this to her is pure nightmare, she isn't ready to face the reality. She isn't. No. No. No. No. No. No. It must be a accident, it must be. No way.

The banging and his voice become a white noise she was too lost to stop her doubt creeping in. Questioning is this his true self ? Is this how he was ? But it slipped ? Evil voices merge together so much when she caught the tall figure right behind her. It was too late, she screamed in horror and tried to ran past him but he was stronger, faster holding her in the place he desired.

She blindly punched, kick his legs, screaming in hopes of someone hears her when Rylanox groans, slamming his hand over her lips and caging her between his body and the sink.

"Shuu". He hushed her, holding her tightly as she cries louder. "Shu ! Shut up ! I am sorry, I am sorry (Y/N), I am sorry I was bad. It was an accident I swear". Apologies in his tip, uttering thousand times that it lose it's meaning now.

"Calm down ! FUCKING CALM DOWN !" He yell, flinch her and scaring her so hard, she stopped, her hands limp on her side and legs stand wobbly, wailing turn to sobbing. "Sorry, sorry. I was angry. I am sorry. Good, my sweet little girl, stay like this". His sweaty palm comb her locks out of face, wipe her tears as the other remove from her lips.

"I am sorry. It was an accident. I was drunk—".

"So you strangled me ?" Angrily she utter, cutting his nonsense to which he deeply inhale.

"I am sorry, okay ? I fucked up. I know that, the alcohol in my system just mess up my brain so—". He pause searching words she knew wasn't enough to justify his actions. "—I am sorry, I truly am". He settle on those words in last.

(Y/N) look away, a shudder ran her body at the image of his crazed eyes loomed over her, haunting her mind's eye—the same eyes that had once gazed at her with affection. His hands, once gentle, grasped her neck like a vice before he was simply kissing her, being sweet to her only to spiral into someone she couldn't recognize, couldn't see for the tears flooding her eyes and black, colorful dots dancing in her vision as she was fighting for her life to the man she thought would fight for her, not from him.

She regrets opening the door when he was drunk, regrets walking the straved lion to her bedroom to sleep together when he push her on the bed gently, she giggled unaware of what about to happen as he press kisses, hands roaming around her body, all at once before gazing at her neck and leading to this.

"(Y/N) ? (Y/N) ? (Y/N) ? Please look at me—".

"Miss. (Y/N) !" She look at the pair of cops in front of her in daze, wrapping the shawl tighter feeling the brown hair-red cop from the black one was gazing at her too intimately.

"Yes". She replied to the black haired cop.

"We searched your entire house and property but unfortunately we found no one". (Y/N) nod hating the distant sound of it. "So, we think it might be the mischief neighbor children". (Y/N) frown, gazing at him.

"How children could easily come in and do such terrible things ? The phone ring—".

"The phone calls ?" He question, hand on his waist belt.

"Yes, today morning I had continuous phone calls but whenever I picked up, no one talked". He nod and she could imagine him believing entirely it's the children unlike her and she hated it.

"So—". The brown haired cop drawls. "—do you live alone ?" Her heart sink to her stomach, his eyes glinting is too familiar to him when he first asked her name. That amusing and excitement locking her in dilemma to say truth or lie.

She listened to her gut feeling. "No. My parents are out of town". She lies watching the glint melt. Police were never her first choice anyways rather she dislike them for not doing their duty that civilians pays taxes for them to keep. It's infuriating.

"Oh". His voice drop and the black haired cop scoff lightly.

"Well, then if anything happens do not hesitate to call us again. We will look out too". Those revised words she excuse she heard when cops can't do anything, watching them leave from the window before drawning the curtains. She could have asked, even pled them to stay if the brown haired cop was not bearing ill intention or at least flirtatious thoughts.

Why men are so greedy she wonder. Always want more than they can chew and she wants to die, wishing to disappear from the surface of the earth if it meant free from the pain, agony fill memories and regret. She wish she had told her parents, friends. Even his parents the truth. She should.

Sitting on the carpet, her eyes roll to the music box the song was haunting her and she went to pull the plug out when something else caught her corner of eyes. The telephone plug. It is not plugged.

And her mind reel and breath halted away. No. No. No. No. No. No. It can't be. If the phone is not plugged then how could it ring— ? It's not possible. It simply not possible. Maybe mice or some animal did it after it rang. Yes, that's the thing right ?

Aside from that there is no evidence how a unplugged telephone ring twice. (Y/N) nod, convincing her because otherwise.....the blood in her veins turn cold.

He isn't dead ?

No. No. No. He has to be dead. Because she with her own bare hands killed her boyfriend Rylanox.

━━━━━━

"You are trying to break up with me ? (Y/N) can you hear yourself ? You, trying to break up with me, Rylanox Slade". He grip her chin hard, daring her to bore her gaze into his angered ones. "And you were fool to think that I would agree and let you fuck someone else !" She cries, pushing him away in disgust of his thought.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you ! How more disgusting can you be ? Rather than trying to know the reason or even understand why we are breaking up, you care more about who I will have sex with ?" Tears swell her red rimmed more yet her voice horse like she cried for hours.

"Of course I will when you are mine !" His large palm hold her wrist tight she wince. "I do care who you fuck and not, whatever nonsense you are coming up to break up with me when we are happy !" He screamed, angering her further.

"Happy ? You say me crying and applying pounds of makeup everyday to hide your little accidents is called happy ? And you say that reasons are nonsense ?" The voices of his sound distant like she can't believe who the person is saying in front, not her beloved boyfriend she knew because he would never, he even swore in their first date to always be there to listen to her, protect her. Not hurt her. But if this is her boyfriend then she was a fool to not notice how a monster he was.

She was also a fool to come to a party of their mutual friend thinking he will not be here after she cowardly in phone announced their break up after that fateful night of him choking her to death. After that she feared for her life more than she loved him. But how ? How did he even know she would be here ? She was not a party person and her thoughts tangled when his grip on her wrist brought her back.

"I am talking to you !" He rest his forehead, jaw clenched and alcohol reek from his mouth she almost turn her head if not for his fingers holding her chin in place. "Look at me. We are not breaking up. We aren't. We never will be". His pled overshadowed the faint loud music from the living room, her (E/C) eyes stare into his teary blue ones and she almost saw the boy she fell for, not the monster that held her.

She swear, she was close to agreeing, close to embracing him and giving him a second chance and turn a blind eye however his words circle around her mind of how not once did he sincerely apologize for his mistakes, acknowledge them as messed up for better and try to be better instead of uttering them when needed and finding justification. If not for her then at least for his sake they need to break up.

She realize she loves him more than she can hate him so she decide to—

"Let's break up". Because if he truly loves her as he says then he will be better and she will take him without a second thought, forgive all his sins.

"What ?" However he did not share the same thought, his eyes disbelief and the grip loose. "What did you say ?" His voice barely above a whisper like he is afraid to hear it himself.

"I said let's break up for real". She repeat, her own heart breaking apart. "We can't stay together. Not when you are like this". Her voice crack in the end and a lonely tear slide. She glance at his clouded face, frown deepen and she move forward to rest their forehead as a unspoken goodbye. "I am sorry". She truly was and with that she walk away as he let her.

Her palm on the doorknob rest, twist it about to open.

"Ah". A moan halt her actions. "Harder ! Harder !" (E/C) eyes wide at her own voice, shamelessly moaning and her warm body turn cold, the air of outside whiff inside.

"Ah !" She moan again, louder than previous. (Y/N) can't believe her ears, her heart heavy, heart ratting like a rat against her cage. Behind her footsteps came, a hand from behind brush past her skin to gently push the door shut with a click.

He stood holding the phone— the source of her nightmare, of all girls horror while he tower over her like he had the power, smirk like the devil incarnation hug her waist. "You can still break up if you want. Unless of course". He chuckle like a joke it was to him. "You want to be the face of whores". Tears descend from her eyes. How low could he go to trap her ? chain her ?

"Aww," he cooed, his voice dripping with false tenderness as she sobbed. "Don't cry, my sweet little girl. I didn't record it secretly to take revenge or exploit you. You know me." His words reeked of insincerity. "I love you too much for that. I just wanted a token of our love, a reminder for when we're apart."

His voice cracked with amusement, sending shivers down her spine. "But who knew it would come in handy?" The laughter that followed was like a devil's chuckle, echoing in her mind, relentless and haunting. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

The sound was like an irritating mosquito buzzing in her ear, a constant reminder of his betrayal. Pain and anguish swirled inside her, threatening to consume her. She had trusted him, loved him, and this was how he repaid her ?

SLAP!

Rylanox's face jerked to the side, his cheek flaming crimson from the force of her blow. The sex tape in his hand seemed to fade into insignificance as her chest heaved with rage, her eyes blazing with betrayal.

"How dare you!" she thundered, her voice shredding the air. "How dare you try to blackmail me? Manipulate me into being your puppet?" Her palm throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the anguish and vulnerability ravaging her soul.

"I loved you," she spat, each word laced with venom. "I gave you everything – my heart, body, and soul. And this is how you repay me? recording our intimate moments without my permission and using them against me?" Her scream tore through the silence, veins bulging in her skin, eyes wide with disgust and hurt. For an instant, Rylanox's expression faltered, revealing a glimmer of remorse.

But anger quickly clouded his face, hardening his features.

"You forced my han—". She cut off his nonsense.

"No ! You fucking coward ! You forced my hand to break up ! I want you to know that we break up is because of you ! And you and you only !" She screamed. "And you know what's funny ? The video serves more prove why I should separate with you". She bitterly laughed at his face. He flinch at the tone. "Upload it. Upload for all the people to see and you will find my dead body to touch". At the word dead red painted his vision so his better judgment.

The next moment all happen in a fleeing motion, (Y/N) was pinned against the wooden door, her back colliding with it so forcefully that a strangled gasp escaped her lips as his both palms wrapped like a venomous snake around his neck, tighten at each passing second. "You know what my (Y/N) ? I want you dead than not being with me. So let's die together". Her eyes wide in that and his smirk grew, loving the fearful power over her. See, it doesn't make sense for both of them to live especially her apart from him let alone with someone else showing such cute expressions that belongs only to him.

"Ah !" With a frightening scream her eyes wide open, grasping for air in her lungs. His wicked smile imprint on her mind. Her eyes roll around finding herself engulf in darkness as her body lay on the carpet of the living room where she saw the— memories flash inside her mind making her crawl back to the wall, staring straight to the innocent unplugged cord. Sweat glisten at the peering moonlight and hand found her flipped smartphone, holding it and surprise to find a day pass since the cops came....yesterday.

She slept a day away ? More like faint.  Confusion greet her as she rarely slept since that day— the day she shut her mouth about despite all know the unhidden part of truth. Not the cloaked part of his dirty, nasty self she choose silence. It's alright thought, as long as her recording none know. She will take to her grave where she was the villain and he was the angel.

Standing up in the shaky legs she went inside her bedroom, locking the door and meeting the mirror and a suddenly doubt made her step towards it. If she carefully think, the moment this mirror grace her house all her paranoi—

Ring! Ring! Ring! The shrill sound pierced the air, shattering her fragile calm. Her thoughts snapped back to reality, and dread washed over her like a cold wave. Her lips quivered, and her eyes snapped shut as if to block out the unbearable truth.

He's not dead. He's come back to haunt her, to claim her as his own in death.

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Each ring grew louder, more insistent, and she covered her ears, desperate to block out the cacophony. Her hands trembled, and her breath came in ragged gasps.

But it was the impossible truth that made her stomach churn with terror: the telephone was unplugged. Yet, it rang on, a maddening, otherworldly sound that defied logic. This was no ordinary call. This was a summons from beyond the grave.

Silence. The abrupt cessation of the ringing left her breathless. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the eerie stillness that enveloped the house. The sudden quiet was oppressive, heavy with anticipation.

A pin drop would have been deafening in the vacuum of sound. Her ears strained, hyper-vigilant, and then she heard it – the faint click of someone picking up the phone.

The sound was like a spark to dry kindling, igniting her fear. Her heart skipped a beat as she waited, frozen, for the voice on the other end.

The pause seemed interminable, stretching her nerves to the breaking point. And then, a low, raspy breath echoed through the line.

"(Y/N) ! What the hell did you mean in the text let's break up ? Who do you think you are ? Out of nowhere writing something dangerous to get my attention ? This is so petty from you". That same deep voice of his sch the house. She stilled, unable to process how on earth is it speaking the same words he did when she announced their break up on phone following the horrible phone ringing on her house phone as she blocked him on her own. Yet it was before the storm. That incident.

She recalled the terror vividly, like it was yesterday. Days of relentless calls from unknown numbers, forcing her to change phones, only to have him breach the new barrier, invading her landline. "I said what I said, let's break up". The same words he heard to be angered.

"You !! This is about that night ? Isn't it ?" He sounded so, so angry and wounded she wanted to smooth when she was the cause.

"Yes". Said honestly. She heard him exhale.

"Please don't do this to yourself. To me. To us". Pleading his voice, dangerously edge to crying she recalled herself crying with him.

"I'm sorry. No." She whispered to the darkness, tears streaming down her face as remorse and anguish consumed her.

Memories flooded back, transporting her to that fateful day. She relived the horror of holding the phone as he slammed it down, the sound echoing in her mind.

"I'll watch how," his menacing voice still lingered, sending shivers down her spine.

The sudden slam of the phone shattered the silence, making (Y/N) jump. The ensuing stillness was oppressive, a haunting reminder of her isolation.

The silence she had craved now felt suffocating, a desperate loneliness that echoed the terror of being trapped with him in that room. No one to weep to, no one to beg for help.

"I told you we're meant to be together." (Y/N)'s pupils dilated in terror as her legs buckled, sending her crashing to the floor. Her eyes locked onto the mirror, where a dark, bottomless figure emerged, its hand reaching out like a specter.

Her mouth hung agape, frozen in horror, as she stared into the face of death itself – a monstrous, inhuman form that twisted the reflection of her former lover.

Despite her desperate attempts to move, her body remained paralyzed, rooted to the spot like a trapped animal. The darkness seemed to seep from the mirror, step into her bedroom. That's when she sprinted for her life, adrenaline fueling her desperate escape. Once again.

In an instant, the dark figure grasped her body, spinning her around with inhuman strength. (Y/N) crashed into the wood, the impact reverberating through her bones.

A rage-filled slam pinned her against the surface, the air knocked from her lungs. The figure's grip tightened around her neck, a merciless chokehold.

(Y/N)'s vision blurred, her thoughts racing as she struggled to break free. The figure's grip only tightened, its intention clear: to unalive her. Tears dripping and her entire visage red. Lips wide open to earn any or at all air possible as she continue to tug her nails on it's hand finding indeed soft flesh almost like his palms. She cried more at that. Swimming to the past of how twice she is in the same place, suffering for other's anger.

"I fucking hate you!" she screamed with her last shred of strength, defiance burning in her eyes. The figure's response was a grotesque, inhuman screech, its lip tearing apart like ripped fabric. The sound sent shivers down her spine.

"I fucking hate you !" (Y/N) scream loudly not giving the satisfy that if a afterlife exist they will be reunited. Fuling his anger as he screamed, using his force more and tears swell in his own eyes like he was hurting to do this.

(Y/N)'s vision blurred as Rylanox's grip tightened, lifting her off the ground. Feets deattached from the ground as she wailed, kicking frantically, desperation clawing at her chest. With a final burst of strength, she inhaled deeply and launched both legs into his chest.

Rylanox stumbled backward, landing hard on his back, his head thudding against the phone's edge. A groan escaped his lips. (Y/N) crashed to the floor, coughing, gasping for air. Her eyes locked onto a nearby lamp, and with a surge of adrenaline, she seized it.

With a primal urge, she brought the lamp down upon Rylanox's head – again and again and again. Blood splattered across her sky-blue dress, mirroring the hue of his eyes and tainting her (S/C) skin of hands, face. The blows continued, fueled by rage and terror, until his face was unrecognizable, a battered, pulpy mass.

Click— the door opened revealing the terrors painting her friend's and father's face who came to pick her when she didn't pick his calls.

(Y/N)'s feet dangled in mid-air, suspended by the figure's unyielding grip. Her eyes snapped shut, and she kicked wildly, blindly flailing. Her hands swung at the faceless void, desperate to connect. In a flash of hope, she turned to the wooden wardrobe beside her. With a surge of adrenaline, she pushed against it, shaking the sturdy frame, it rattled, teetered, and finally touch the frame of the mirror beside it to collapsed, shattering on the ground.

The figure vanished into thin air, releasing its hold. (Y/N) crashed to the floor with a thud, gasping for breath. Her stomach churned, and she vomited the remains of her last meal, retching violently.

As she stumbled backward, away from the wreckage, she gazed at the shattered mirror. The cracked glass reflected her own fractured reality, a testament to the horror she'd endured.

Cops were called, red and blue highlight her features as the police drag her, handcuffed. Her father furiously speaking to the head cop as she in daze clench his phone on her pocket watching her friends standing with palms pressed on their lips, unable to believe what she was capable of. To be honest so is she.

At the station she utter nothing of the motive, nothing of tale to tell only words echo "Self-defense". The female officer stare at her disheveled self, doubts creeping on her eyes of the possible explanation and her father'a hush money to the higher ups were enough to bail her however when she still painted in her lover's blood was slapped across her face by his mother's sorrowful hand.

"How dare you wretched girl took my son away so terribly ! I thought you were a good girl". Indeed, she was sorry for doing so, his mother was nothing apart shown kindness when introduced to her, always noting her allergies, sliding with her on fights that she almost forget that she wasn't her mother, rather his mother.

So all she did was choose silence, remaining on her father's grip on her shoulder and watching the woman break down to the ground with her husband holding her together, his eyes red and clouded with hatred she often seen held for the murderer of Innocents. But he was no far from one.

Not even when his funeral was held and his father's weeping speech portrait him as one. She watched from the slidelines inside her father's car as her mother hugged her saying "I believe you did that to protect yourself". Without a doubt her mother did when she wasn't known to his abusive side nor her friends who still stood by her side despite being in dark. (Y/N) was so grateful and felt foolish for feeling that way, afraid of if she said to anyone of his behavior they would curl in disgust, stare at her like she was a clown.

Or worse, tell her a liar because as much as she was fooled by him, they were too. All deeply adored him, cared for him and loved him that's why the stares of the university hall felt so heavy, so scary to she endure until she was shallow from the inside holding the degree she needs to run away.

And like a coward she did to another small town she was unknown, leaving behind her loved ones to protect herself.

From the growing guilt of hiding, regret of never revealing, disgust of her nativity and scared of their faiths on her. She really really didn't want to be alone at least left alone in this house with a haunted mirror bringing all the bittersweet memories.

Sometimes a bottle can't keep overflowing water so when one tries to close the cap from dripping down. It has no choice aside from busting like a bomb unless....

"I let the cap lose and spill the water all". Some secrets aren't just meant to keep and she should have known that as she keep her phone and finally called her parents, friends and all the people who have faith of her innocence til the end. She needs to say the cloaked truth. The dirty, nasty truth of how she survived and that was the busting point.

━━━━━━

"And that's why I just smash it again and again and again". She stare at her loved ones, silent tears flowing. "Until he become the mess I always saw". Mother's grasp her mouth, tears of regret roll down.

Little droplet of water fell from father too who is looking at his little daughter and finally saw how big she has become to endure such horrific experience. "My child. This is not your fault". He hugged her tight and she after a long time cried laying herself bare just like the days of childhood when she cries without hiding the reason.

Her friends hold her hands. "You should have told us ! I knew you always had a reason". Rosie, the one who opened the door that night to be witness. "I knew from the sheer despair of your face that someone appalled you to ! But I didn't knew..." She halted, kissing her back of palm.

"It's alright. We are here. Nothing is your fault and will never. He deserved it if I dare say". Jasper said, wiping his tears.

"I know right. I should have at least punched him". Edie, expressed swallowing and leaning on the sofa, drinking the information.

"My child, I am sorry. I failed to protect you". Mother kiss her forehead. "Always remember I love you and always choose you before anyone". She said the oath (Y/N) knew was truth.

Finally the overflowing water from the bottle spill without busting. And to be honest it felt good. Light even.

"This mirror..." (Y/N)'s weary eyes locked onto Rosie's voice laced with a mix of curiosity and dread. "Didn't it belong to... the bastard ?"

The words hung in the air like a revelation, and suddenly, the puzzle pieces fell into place. (Y/N)'s expression transformed from confusion to shock.

She wasn't haunted nor possessed by him. It was the memories that she remember but tries to repressed hard leaving her everything behind to start fresh and when she layed eyes on the mirror. It all begin again surfacing— the feelings, the memories, everything even the emotion of familiar to the beautiful mirror. After all, it was the mirror of Rylanox she always saw, the first thing in his bedroom.

After ending Rylanox's life, (Y/N) mistakenly believed it would bring closure, an end to her suffering. But in reality, it marked the beginning of a new, arduous journey.

The scars he left ran deeper than she imagined. Nightmares lingered, and everyday encounters triggered memories of him: light tugs in the bathroom, shadow figure of the bathroom and the phone rings, door banging, music playing. Each incident convinced her that Rylanox's ghost haunted her. But the truth was more complex even the final, suffocating grasp was not his, but her own recollection. The mirror, once a symbol of elegance, she forgetten had become a portal to her darkest recollections.

Breaking it shattered the cycle she didn't want to face, but true healing required more. Killing Rylanox eliminated the problem, not healing. (Y/N) needed to confront the scars, acknowledge the hurt, and face her emotions head-on. Healing demanded honesty and vulnerability, not just eradication of the source. It was time for (Y/N) to take the first step forward, to confront the shadows and begin her true journey toward recovery.

Ha, even after dying he left her in misery. What a joke because indeed after calling the owner of the antique shop for the name of the grieving lady is Rylanox's mother who couldn't bear to stand his things nor throw heartlessly.

Soon (Y/N) moved out of the house from the uneasy feeling to her parents' house where they took care of her, even her friends come to vist whenever they can if not daily. After few weeks she took the advise of Jasper to see a therapist for the better.

Never once did she met the Slade family thankfully because she doesn't know what to utter. To be honest she still get nightmares but they are much easier and processing in a way she feels light.

She will heal. If not in one year or so, one day she will and that will be the sweetest revenge to him from her. Getting better and live her life without him like he feared and she wants.

FIN

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐨𝐟 ◜⌜ 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ⌟◞

[mollycoddleheadconnons]

So I’m reading HellBlazer: Original sins and like… I knew Constantine was a smart ass but almost every problem he encounters is solved by him literally just saying something. I’m half way through and he’s used magic as the primary solution three (?) times?

Needs to stop demon loan sharks? Summon a demon (magic) and crash the soul economy (not magic)

Niece missing? Decimation (magic) and bribe a kid to find them.

Four headed eight armed monster trying to kidnap your girlfriend? Ask about there football teams and watch them tear themselves apart (literally, and not magic)

[electronickingdomfox]

"Double, Double" review

Novel from 1989, by Michael Jan Friedman. A sequel for the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", where Kirk has to face once again his evil duplicate (this man is so easy to clone, except when "cloning" involves drawing his face correctly in the covers...).

The start is a bit slow, but it's a quite entertaining adventure story, with far more epic proportions than the original episode. For the most part, the narrative switches between the real Kirk on his solo mission to recover the Enterprise, and the dealings of the android duplicate aboard the ship. Kirk's suffering reaches levels not seen in these novels since "The Price of the Phoenix". Specially during the chapters where he's kidnapped, which are VERY violent. He also gets a "fatherhood" subplot, where a young boy whose life Kirk saved becomes kind of his adopted son. It's a bit similar to the situation between Spock and Zar in "Yesterday's Son" (up to the boy's empathetic abilities), but I feel that this subplot was a bit wasted, without contributing much to the solution at the end. On the other hand, there's a closer examination of the evil Kirk, who despite his supposed superiority as an android, ends up falling to the very human shortcomings of hubris.

As for background information, around this time the stricter policies imposed on Star Trek novels by Richard Arnold (Roddenberry's archivist) started to become more obvious. Often vetoing books for the slightest "errors". In the case of the present novel, the problem was that Chekov appears in a story set shortly after the original episode, while the character wasn't seen until season two. So Arnold asked Friedman to completely rewrite the novel to eliminate Chekov. The author, as any sane person would do... simply changed the stardate. There's also a minor continuity error, when the USS Hood becomes the USS Dunkirk halfway through the story.

Spoilers under the cut:

The story opens with the aftermath of "What Are Little Girls...". A copy of the android Brown returns to Korby's laboratory, finding everyone dead. Using the cloning machine, Brown can recover a copy of Kirk, still stored in the memory. The new Kirk soon proves to be a charismatic and ambitious leader, and takes charge of the mission to fulfill Korby's vision for a perfect world populated by androids. Though, as seen later, Brown starts having misgivings about this Kirk's actual goals.

Meanwhile, in the planet T'nufo, Kirk heroically saves a young man (K'leb) while meteors rain from the sky and pterodactyls fly around them (it's very epic, I know). K'leb's culture requires him to follow and serve his savior for an entire year, or save his life in turn, in order to pay his debt. So Kirk, very begrudgingly, has to adopt K'leb as a son, and allow him to stay in the ship for the time being.

The androids get their plan into motion, by luring and killing the captain of the starship Hood, replacing him with an android copy. Then, the fake captain "rescues" Brown and Kirk (disguised as a scientist) and brings them to Midos V, where Brown sets shop with the cloning machine, and starts replacing captured colonists with androids. Evil Kirk, for his part, is left in the planet Tranquility Seven, where he knows the Enterprise is scheduled for shore leave, and sets a trap for Kirk's arrival. After taking a loan from the local mob boss, the android starts squandering the money and bragging in public, attracting the attention of the boss' thugs.

The Enterprise crew take their shore leave at Tranquility Seven, and everyone's really eager to visit this place (and I'm not sure why exactly, since the place seems rather sordid and dangerous, and there's the mafia and killing plants... Perfect place to get into trouble, if you ask me). Sure enough, Kirk, Scotty and McCoy soon get into trouble in a bar, where the mob guys approach the Captain, mistaking him for the guy that duped them and ran away with their money. A barroom brawl erupts, and the three men are beaten badly. When Kirk awakes, he's a prisoner of the Rythrian (the mob boss) and more beating ensues. It's pretty painful to read. Unable to fulfill his side of the deal (that he doesn't even know about), Kirk is brought to a swamp, where the boss' right-hand man pretends to drown him. Kirk, however, manages to beat his captor at the last minute and escapes.

After much wandering (and being bitten by a killing plant on top of it), Kirk is rescued by the spaceport master. The Enterprise (now commanded by the fake Kirk) has left orbit in the meantime, not suspecting that they're leaving the real Captain behind. So Kirk contacts another Federation ship to pick him up. Unfortunately, the ship that comes to his rescue is the Hood, also controlled by androids. But Kirk manages to discover the truth and retake the ship, with help from the Hood's doctor.

In the Enterprise, evil Kirk is arousing suspicions already. First K'leb, whose race has the ability to sense others' emotions, notices the void inside this Kirk, and shares his worries with McCoy. Beside this, the Kirk android realizes that, despite being a perfect copy of the original, he's still lacking a certain "something" when it comes to command. Frustrated and blinded by pride, the android enters a battle against Romulans that had captured a Federation freighter. And after some misguided strategies, the Enterprise is crippled and left defenseless. But the real Kirk, now commanding the Hood, arrives just in time and shows how things are done, by resolving the conflict in a more peaceful way.

Nonetheless, Kirk still needs to recover his ship and beat the imposter. Apart from this, Spock, Chekov, Sulu and Chapel had been left in Midos V (under the pretext of helping the colonists), and they must be rescued before it's too late and Brown replaces them with androids...

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. Kirk is separated from both Spock and McCoy for most of the story. But in the beginning, Kirk is very insistent on Spock accompanying them for shore leave (why Kirk thinks that Spock would enjoy a place like Tranquility Seven is anyone's guess). The evil Kirk also admits that Spock is the person who knows the Captain best, and his undoing comes in great part for failing to trust his First Officer.

Kirk and McCoy also have their moments. While watching a street show during shore leave, McCoy suddenly remembers a poem, and then looks sideways at Kirk; seeing the smile on his face, McCoy starts feeling better, and asks him to go to a less crowded place. After Kirk is captured by the Rythrian, he agonizes over the fate of his companions after the fight. And he's specially disturbed by the image of an unconscious McCoy being thrown in the air, which often repeats in his mind.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[yuurei20]

Hullo! I was wondering, is there info anywhere on how much a madol/thaumark is worth? Like, do we have any ideas about what a potential rate of exchange is or something like X number of thaumarks is expensive, Z number is cheap?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! :>

While not explicitly stated anywhere, the original game's "madol" might be based on Japanese yen, while EN's "thaumarks" are likely based on USD!

While not the case at the moment due to the weakened yen, it used to be that 1 yen = 1 cent USD, and thus 100 yen = 1 dollar USD, which is how the currency was updated for EN: take the original price of something and remove the last two digits, and you have your madol-to-thaumark exchange rate!

Here are some examples from in-game:

An interesting result of this rate-exchange is that it was not updated within the game mechanics in the move to EN!

This makes sense as EN players would require far fewer thaumarks for shop purchases and leveling if the exchange rate was obeyed, but it means that EN players are paying $80,000USD for leveling that technically only costs $800USD.

The two zeroes are being removed from dialogue, but kept in tact everywhere else!

This change over from yen to USD resulted in a challenge for Aniplex USA: sometimes characters will say that something costs 1 madol, which is 0.01 thaumarks. As 1 madol = 1 yen (1 cent USD) this is something the original game can do with madols, but EN cannot do with thaumarks.

Aniplex USA's solution? Invent an entirely new form of currency that does not exist in the original game! :> Thus "sorcents" were born!

Interestingly, there have been at least two instances of EN not adhering to its own exchange rate:

The Albert chain that Kalim loans to Lilia is said to be 10,000,000 madol/yen which should be only 100,000 thaumarks/USD, but it was translated literally as "10 million thaumarks," instead.

And in the Prologue the chandelier is 1 billion madol/yen, so it should be only 10 million thaumarks/USD, but for some reason it was translated literally as "1 billion thaumarks," instead. Interesting!

A few more examples of the exchange rate at work:

Jamil haggles for a lamp during Firelit Sky, getting it down from 10,000 madol/yen (100 thaumarks/USD) to 7,000 madol/yen (70 thaumarks/USD).

Ruggie sells 30 cat carvings to Kalim for 60,000 madol/yen (600 thaumarks/USD).

Ruggie asks about a jeweled bracelet valued at 1,000,000 madol/yen (10,000 thaumarks/USD).

Jamil calculates for Grim how two shares of the 5,000,000 madol/yen (50,000 thaumarks/USD) prize for winning the VDC equals 1,420,000 madol/yen (14,200 thaumarks/USD).

[lackablazeical]

🩵🌙Usagi Miyamoto🌙🩵

Specific trigger warnings -

Abusive/toxic relationship, codependency, self harm, depression, suicidal thoughts/ideation, child abuse, disassociation, paranoia/delusional thoughts, major character death

Specific boundaries w/ this character -

Do not victim blame Usagi. (I.e, "I bet Usagi likes the attention", "why doesn't he just tell people", etc)

Do not ship Usagi with anyone.

General info -

Usagi's birthday is March 4th. He is a Pisces ♓️

Usagi's love language is Acts of Service.

Usagi is demisexual with exclusive attraction to non-women.

Usagi has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Usagi has MDD (Major Depressive Disorder).

Usagi has Agoraphobia.

Personality traits -

Usagi is quiet, withdrawn, shy, self-sacrificing, depressed, logical, responsible, pessimistic, and routine oriented.

Usagi is very quiet and withdrawn. Many of his co-workers assumed he was mute because of this. He never attends social gatherings and prefers to stay home.

Usagi is self-sacrificing, and will do anything for those he loves, even if it means sacrificing his own life or happiness.

Usagi has depression, and often feels completely empty or numb. He is not very 'active' in terms of his depression, and would rather just stay in dull routine.

Usagi is logical, able to critically think about problems and find solutions on the fly.

Usagi is incredibly responsible, wanting to fawn everyone around him and fix their problems and mistakes.

Usagi is pessimistic, never expecting the best. This can make him a bit of a pain to be around sometimes.

Important details -

His beliefs -

Usagi's element is water.

He feels connected to any type of water, but specifically rain, ponds, lakes, oceans, and puddles.

Usagi does not flavor his drinking water because of this. He also does not drink out of straws.

Usagi loves sitting in rain, and he loves being able to relax by bodies of water.

Usagi will prefer baths to showers, so he can soak in water.

Usagi prays over the first water he drinks of the day. He manages to stay well hydrated.

His dynamic with Leo -

Usagi is a victim of Leo's abuse.

Usagi hates Leo, but has been manipulated into being dependent on him. Usagi feels like he is nothing without Leo.

Usagi was originally extremely against ever being around Leo, but as time progressed, started feeling the opposite way. Usagi often doesn't know what to do with himself when Leo is not around.

Usagi often screams at, kicks, and punches Leo, often in an attempt to get him to stop what he is doing and leave Usagi alone.

Usagi needs Leo's permission for everything he does, and is terrified of somehow making Leo mad.

Usagi would never leave Leo, as he knows that would never work, and likely risk the safety of his family.

Usagi barters affection or makes up 'games' in order to get Leo to do what he wants. It's often in a desperate attempt to get Leo to actually listen to him. This only works about half the time.

When around Usagi's family, Usagi will put on a mask and fake interest (and even enjoyment) of Leo's actions as to not concern his family and risk them finding out about Leo's abuse.

Usagi will often just listen to what Leo tells him to do, as the fight is often worse. Sometimes, though, he may press back, and he gets swiftly reminded of why that is a bad idea.

His life in the Hidden City -

Usagi often worked many odd jobs at once, sometimes working up to 70-80 hour weeks. He would lie about his age to be hired, and often worked below or just barely at minimum wage.

Usagi ran into debt multiple times, because he wasn't aware of how loan sharks (or American currency) functioned. He was often tracked down because of this, but always managed to weasel out of it or evade then.

Usagi had no friends, and was known as very anti-social to anyone that even knew of his existence.

Usagi had lived in one cheap, dingy apartment the whole five years he lived there. He couldn't afford to move.

Fun facts -

Usagi's favorite food is any type of produce with salt, and his favorite drink is plain water.

Usagi self-harms.

Usagi prefers having long sleeves he can roll up, to having short sleeves.

Usagi hates being pinned on his stomach.

Usagi is a ritual cleaner, and deep cleans everything he owns fairly often.

Usagi is a good cook.

Usagi hates all sweet foods but mooncakes.

Usagi hates being touched.

Voice claim [Steven Yeun] -

Tags including Usagi -

#addams! Usagi, #addams! Leosagi, #addams! Miyamotos

[iri-desky]

Genshin Impact Tumblr Simulator

🌠 TeyvatTraveler101 follow

Emergency food for sale! Visit Mondstadt at 7:00 PM tommorow night for FREE RATIONS!

✨️ Paimon-Is-The-Best

TRAVELER WHY DO YOU HURT ME IN THIS WAY

156 notes

��� Kriedeprinz

Sometimes I wonder what the essence of Teyvat's visions are. What makes them work? What makes them tick? I've repeatedly inspected my vision for any signs of their specific magical origin...as an alchemist, I would have already done multiple experiments on the object to determine it's nature. As a vision holder, however, it's my duty to keep it safe...even though it can be considered simply a tool.

🎨 Kriedeprinz

ScientificSugar asked: You heard about what I did with my vision when I first got it didn't you

Yup.

547 notes

🏴‍☠️ Totally-A-Pirate follow

Do NOT go to Angel's Share. Worst experience of my life, got thrown out at midnight into the street because the bartender said he didn't like me and my drinking buddy 🙁🙁🙁 what an asshole

🍷DilucOfMondstadt

I threw you out because you were to drunk. Please do not come to Angel's Share with the intention of inappropriate behavior.

🏴‍☠️Totally-A-Pirate follow

*too

🏴‍☠️Totally-A-Pirate follow

HE FUCKING BLOCKED ME LMAAAOOOOO

810 notes

🛡 is-varka-back-yet

No. No, Varka is not back in Mondstadt yet.

#please help us #we're losing mods #is varka back yet? #probably never #stay tuned #Varka #Mondstadt

360 notes

🐍drbaizhu

milk

🐍drbaizhu

Cocjo goadt

🐍drbaizhu

I cannt frember

🐍drbaizhu

Hi everyone! This is the Dr. Baizhu again. Sorry for the strange posts, Qiqi got her hands on my Tumblr account again and started posting. 😅 I've locked my phone with a code and wrote down the code in a secure place in the office, so not to worry! This won't happen again. 😊

🐍drbaizhu

Hey everyone, please stop reblogging this.

🐍drbaizhu

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE NOTES PLEASE HELP

🐍drbaizhu

Mulk

2,671 notes

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🐋 TarTarTaglia follow

TIL that my birth name, Ajax, is derived from an ancient legend that referred to a hero called The Great Ajax! I think it's pretty fitting, don't ya think?

🐋 TarTarTaglia follow

I've also been told that the name Ajax "was sometimes said to have been derived from the old expression aiai, meaning 'alas!'" And the great Ajax also killed himself with a sword

🐋 TarTarTaglia follow

Bro's still cool though imo

564 notes

💧 TheRealFocalors

Poll #489

4,890 notes

[hussyknee]

Def a good idea to delete theculturedmarxist’s stuff, he’s also a big-time propagandist/genocide denier type. It sucks that some tankies have gotten bigger platforms recently by strike blogging.

But yeah the banana thing is insane, I *think* the original poster was using it as an example of the fact that a more just society in the US is necessarily going to be a less convenient one because convenience often comes at the expense of (domestic and international) labor exploitation, and “non-domestic crops being available year-round” is an example of a luxury that came out of said exploitation, which is A Point (though I might’ve picked something like Amazon same-day delivery to argue it…)

But then people ran with it and made it about either How Do We Stop Big Banana Through Socialism or Here’s How Bananas Can Still Win. Both at the dehumanizing expense of now-theoretical Latin American laborers of course 🙃

Oh shit that's what's happening? Tankies coasting in on strike blogging?? Gdi.

Yeah I think that was the original point too. The thing is, that US leftists keep centering US consumer demand in everything, like the entire system of global labour and resource exploitation by multinational conglomerates, aided and abetted by the IMF and World Bank and the entire colonial power matrix, can be solved by yelling at enough people about their consumption. For people who are so obsessed with class, it seems to consistently escape them that Global North consumers are also exploited and disempowered by the same oligopolies and monopolies that pay producers pennies on the dollar and sell for prices that smaller and entry-level companies can't compete with. Even as an example, bananas in the US are priced way lower than what's profitable, just to keep a monopoly of consumers. And because so many companies in the West don't pay working class people a fair wage, they have to consume the cheapest, most convenient food stuffs. So when you talk about people reducing consumption of bananas, you're asking people dependent on the cheapest nutrient sources to bear the biggest loss.

This is exactly what we mean by "no ethical consumption under capitalism". It doesn't mean we give up on the entire issue, it means that the systems of production cannot be manipulated by consumer boycotts and individual ethics. Even if one product was taken off the shelves, whatever supplanted it would be just as unethical for some group of people. It means that the solutions need to be implemented top-down, not bottom up. Global North governments need to better regulate corporate behaviour, prioritise the well-being of workers and ecological chains involving production and transport, prevent monopolies by regulating prices, and encourage and incentivize local food supply networks. And also, as some from Colombia said in a reblog about the cocaine industry, economic stress must be taken off developing nations by forgiving their IMF and World Bank loans so that they can invest the profits from their export industries in reforming agriculture and social welfare systems.

I literally do not understand why, when people directly impacted by these conditions have clear and cohesive demands and action plans, Western liberals and leftists need to come up with these completely abstract, impractical, ego-centric bullshit to create endless discourse over. They don't actually care about engaging with activists, grassroots organizations and unions in the Global South, because that involves interrogating their own paternalism, privilege and bias, and narrows the scope for the clout-chasing dunk economy.

[beardedmrbean]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected a blueprint to give undocumented immigrants unemployment benefits on Saturday, vetoing a politically sensitive measure that conservatives seized on weeks before the presidential election.

It was the third bill aimed at supporting noncitizens that Newsom has vetoed in as many weeks, as immigration continues to be a top issue in the election. The latest veto comes as the Democratic governor continues campaigning for fellow Californian Vice President Kamala Harris, who is facing attacks from former President Donald Trump on progressive policies in her home state.

In his veto message, Newsom contended the bill "sets impractical timelines, has operational issues and requires funding that was not included in the budget." The governor pivoted to the federal level, stating that Congress should not "abandon its responsibility to advance solutions that provide an earned pathway to citizenship for longstanding residents who hove contributed significantly and seek the opportunity to work and live without constant fear and uncertainty."

"California has taken important steps to advance inclusion and equity for undocumented workers and mixed-status families who contribute significantly to California's economy and local communities - all while bottling fear and uncertainty due to decades of inaction by Congress and cruel and false anti-immigration narratives," Newsom wrote.

Newsom added that "we can have a fair immigration system that works for families, U.S. workers, and employers, and also have a safe border."

Two weeks ago, Newsom cited funding concerns when he killed a proposal that would have made some undocumented immigrants eligible for state-sponsored home loans. He also rejected a bill that would require public universities to hire undocumented students without work permits, warning of legal risks.

The unemployment benefits measure would not have automatically given undocumented immigrants unemployment. Instead it would have required the state’s Employment Development Department to plan for a permanent program that would provide cash assistance to those workers, who are prohibited from receiving unemployment insurance under state law.

Newsom vetoed a similar bill in 2022 that would have created a pilot program, also citing funding. His finance department had opposed an earlier version of this year’s measure.

A coalition of more than 120 immigrant and worker rights organizations had pushed for the program to be enacted in an original version of the measure, but the proposal was reduced to a study bill after funding was not included in the budget for the second straight year.

The original version of the bill would have made the estimated 1.1 million undocumented workers in the state eligible for $300 a week in cash payments for the periods they were unemployed in 2025, provided that they meet a number of qualification requirements.

Research from the Community and Labor Center at UC Merced found that undocumented workers contribute billions of dollars annually in state and tax revenues. Advocates contend it is unfair they don’t receive benefits from the crucial safety net they are paying into.

California has helped undocumented immigrants who were out of work in the past, though only during emergency situations — the state provided Covid-19 disaster relief assistance in 2020 and aid to undocumented families impacted by winter storms in 2022 and 2023.

[mariacallous]

This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

On a 20-acre parcel outside the tiny Southern California town of New Cuyama, a 1.5-megawatt solar farm uses the sun’s rays to slowly charge nearly 600 batteries in nearby cabinets. At night, when energy demand rises, that electricity is sent to the grid to power homes with clean energy.

To make renewable energy from intermittent sources like solar and wind available when it is most needed, it’s becoming more common to use batteries to store the power as it’s generated and transmit it later. But one thing about the Cuyama facility, which began operations this month, is less common: The batteries sending energy to the grid once powered electric vehicles.

The SEPV Cuyama facility, located about two hours northeast of Santa Barbara, is the second hybrid storage facility opened by B2U Storage Solutions. Its first facility, just outside Los Angeles, uses 1,300 retired batteries from Honda Clarity and Nissan Leaf EVs to store 28 megawatt-hours of power, enough to power about 9,500 homes.

The facilities are meant to prove the feasibility of giving EV batteries a second life as stationary storage before they are recycled. Doing so could increase the sustainability of the technology’s supply chain and reduce the need to mine critical minerals, while providing a cheaper way of building out grid-scale storage.

“This is what’s needed at massive scale,” said Freeman Hall, CEO of the Los Angeles-based large-scale storage system company.

Electric vehicle batteries are typically replaced when they reach 70 to 80 percent of their capacity, largely because the range they provide at that point begins to dwindle. Almost all of the critical materials inside them, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt, are reusable. A growing domestic recycling industry, supported by billions of dollars in loans from the Energy Department and incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, is being built to prepare for what will one day be tens of millions of retired EV battery packs.

Before they are disassembled, however, studies show that around three-quarters of decommissioned packs are suitable for a second life as stationary storage. (Some packs may not have enough life left in them, are too damaged from a collision, or are otherwise faulty.)

“We were seeing the first generation of EVs end their time on the road, and 70 percent or more of those batteries have very strong residual value,” said Hall. “That should be utilized before all those batteries are recycled, and we’re just deferring recycling by three, four, or five years.”

Extending the useful life of EV batteries mitigates the impact of manufacturing them, said Maria Chavez, energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“The whole point of trying to deploy electric vehicles is to reduce emissions and reduce the negative impacts of things like manufacturing and extractive processes on our environment and our communities,” Chavez told Grist. “By extending the life of a battery, we reduce the need for further exploitation of our natural resources, we reduce the demand for raw materials, and we generally encourage a more sustainable process.”

Just as batteries have become crucial to reducing emissions from transportation, they’re also needed to fully realize the benefits of clean energy. Without stationary storage, wind and solar power can only feed the grid when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.

“Being able to store it and use it when it’s most needed is a really important way to meet our energy needs,” Chavez said.

The use of utility-scale battery storage is expected to skyrocket, from 1.5 gigawatts of capacity in 2020 to 30 gigawatts by 2025. EV packs could provide a stockpile for that buildout. Hall said there are already at least 3 gigawatt-hours of decommissioned EV packs sitting around in the United States that could be deployed, and that the volume of them being removed from cars is doubling every two years.

“We’re going from a trickle when we started four years ago to a flood of batteries that are coming,” he said.

B2U says its technology allows batteries to be repurposed in a nearly “plug-and-play fashion.” They do not need to be disassembled, and units from multiple manufacturers—B2U has tested batteries from Honda, Nissan, Tesla, GM, and Ford—can be used in one system.

The packs are stored in large cabinets and managed with proprietary software, which monitors their safety and discharges and charges each battery based on its capacity. The batteries charge during the day from both the solar panels and the grid. Then B2U sells that power to utilities at night, when demand and prices are much higher.

Hall said using second-life batteries earns the same financial return as new grid-scale batteries at half the initial cost, and that for now, repurposing the packs is more lucrative for automakers than sending them straight to recyclers. Until the recycling industry grows, it’s still quite expensive to recycle them. By selling or leasing retired packs to a grid storage company, said Hall, manufacturers can squeeze more value out of them.

That could even help drive down the cost of electric vehicles, he added. “The actual cost of leasing a battery on wheels should go down if the full value of the battery is enhanced and reused,” he said. “Everybody wins when we do reuse in a smart fashion.”

B2U expects to add storage to a third solar facility near Palmdale next year. The facilities are meant to prove that the idea works, after which B2U plans to sell its hardware and software to other storage-project developers.

At the moment, though, planned deployment of the technology is limited. B2U predicts only about 6 percent of decommissioned EV batteries in the US will be used for grid-scale storage by 2027.

“People are skeptical, and they should be, because it’s hard to do reuse of batteries,” said Hall. “But we’ve got a robust data set that does prove reliability, performance, and profitability. We’re at a point where we really can scale this.”

[eclipsedcrystalstar]

If Markiplier and Game Theory exist in the FNaF universe, they made fucking bank off Help Wanted. Fazbear’s would’ve gotten so much fame in an instant. Also Markiplier definitely got possessed by Glitchtrap.

On more reasonable solutions, malls are, irl, slowly dying out. It’s not unreasonable that they managed to get an ordinary mall for relatively cheap and renovate what was already there. Take a loan or two, hire the cheapest contractors they can find, maybe sell some old property like the original Fredbear’s Family Diner or Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. And, it’s highly likely they also got their hands on Afton Robotics as well, since all the Aftons are dead, so that’s a bunch of tech and blueprints that only need a couple modifications to work with.

Matpat and Markiplier inadvertently funding more child murder

The Pizzaplex is on top of the Pizza Sim location, so they’d have to have gotten extremely lucky for someone to build a mall there and for it to die that quick

[dailyanarchistposts]

I.4.8 What about investment decisions?

Obviously, a given society needs to take into account changes in consumption and so invest in new means of production. An anarchist society is no different. As Guild Socialist G.D.H Cole points out, “it is essential at all times, and in accordance with considerations which vary from time to time, for a community to preserve a balance between production for ultimate use and production for use in further production. And this balance is a matter which ought to be determined by and on behalf of the whole community.” [Guild Socialism Restated, p. 144]

How this balance is determined varies according to the school of anarchist thought considered. All agree, however, that such an important task should be under effective community control.

The mutualists see the solution to the problems of investment as creating a system of mutual banks, which reduce interest rates to zero. This would be achieved ”[b]y the organisation of credit, on the principle of reciprocity or mutualism … In such an organisation credit is raised to the dignity of a social function, managed by the community; and, as society never speculates upon its members, it will lend its credit … at the actual cost of transaction.” [Charles A. Dana, Proudhon and his “Bank of the People”, p. 36] Loans would be allocated to projects which the mutual banks considered likely to succeed and repay the original loan. In this way, the increase in the money supply implied by these acts of credit providing does not generate inflation for money is not created wantonly but rather is aimed at projects which are considered likely to increase the supply of goods and services in the economy (see section G.3.6). Another key source of investment would be internal funds (i.e., retained savings) as is the case with co-operatives today: “Worker-managers finance their new investments partly out of internal funds and partly from external loans … Entrepreneurial activity of worker-managers … generates profits and losses, i.e., higher or lower income per worker.” [Branko Horvat, “The Theory of the Worker-Managed Firm Revisited”, pp. 9–25, Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 21] As discussed in section I.1.1, eliminating the stock market will not harm investment (almost all investment funds are from other sources) and will remove an important negative influence in economic activity.

Collectivist and communist anarchists recognise that credit is based on human activity, which is represented as money. As Cole pointed out, the “understanding of this point [on investment] depends on a clear appreciation of the fact that all real additions to capital take the form of directing a part of the productive power of labour and using certain materials not for the manufacture of products and the rendering of services incidental to such manufacture for purposes of purposes of further production.” [Op. Cit., p. 143] So collectivist and communist anarchists agree with their Mutualist cousins when they state that ”[a]ll credit presupposes labour, and, if labour were to cease, credit would be impossible” and that the “legitimate source of credit” was “the labouring classes” who “ought to control it” and for “whose benefit [it should] be used”. [Dana, Op. Cit., p. 35]

Therefore, in collectivism, investment funds would exist for syndicates, communes and their in community (“People’s”) banks. These would be used to store depreciation funds and as well as other funds agreed to by the syndicates for investment projects (for example, confederations of syndicates may agree to allocate a certain percentage of their labour notes to a common account in order to have the necessary funds available for major investment projects). Similarly, individual syndicates and communes would also create a store of funds for their own investment projects. Moreover, the confederations of syndicates to which these “People’s Banks” would be linked would also have a defined role in investment decisions to ensure that production meets demand by being the forum which decides which investment plans should be given funding (this, we stress, is hardly “central planning” as capitalist firms also plan future investments to meet expected demand). In this, collectivist anarchism is like mutualism and so we would also expect interest-free credit being arranged to facilitate investment.

In a communist-anarchist society, things would be slightly different as this would not have the labour notes used in mutualism and collectivism. This means that the productive syndicates would agree that a certain part of their total output and activity will be directed to investment projects. In effect, each syndicate is able to draw upon the resources approved of by the co-operative commonwealth in the form of an agreed claim on the labour power of society (investment “is essentially an allocation of material and labour, and fundamentally, an allocation of human productive power.” [Cole, Op. Cit., pp. 144–5]). In this way, mutual aid ensures a suitable pool of resources for the future from which all benefit.

It should be remembered that savings are not required before credit can be issued. Under capitalism, for example, banks regularly issue credit in excess of their actual reserves of cash (if they did not then, one, they would not be very good capitalists and, two, the economy would grind to a halt). Nor does the interest rate reflect a preference for future goods (as discussed in section C.2.6 interest rates reflect market power, the degree of monopoly in the credit industry, the social and class position of individuals and a host of other factors). Moreover, a developed economy replaces a process in time with a process in space. In peasant and tribal societies, individuals usually did have to spend time and energy making their own tools (the hunter had to stop hunting in order to create a new improved bow or spear). However, with a reasonably developed division of work then different people produce the tools others use and can do so at the same time as the others produce. If workers producing investment goods had to wait until sufficient savings had been gathered before starting work then it is doubtful that any developed economy could function. Thus the notion that “investment” needs saving is somewhat inappropriate, as different workplaces produce consumption goods and others produce investment goods. The issue becomes one of ensuring that enough people and resources go towards both activities.

How would this work? Obviously investment decisions have implications for society as a whole. The implementation of these decisions require the use of existing capacity and so must be the responsibility of the appropriate level of the confederation in question. Investment decisions taken at levels above the production unit become effective in the form of demand for the current output of the syndicates which have the capacity to produce the goods required. This would require each syndicate to “prepare a budget, showing its estimate of requirements both of goods or services for immediate use, and of extensions and improvements.” [Cole, Op. Cit., p. 145] These budgets and investment projects would be discussed at the appropriate level of the confederation (in this, communist-anarchism would be similar to collectivist anarchism).

The confederation of syndicates/communes would be the ideal forum to discuss (communicate) the various investment plans required — and to allocate scarce resources between different ends. This would involve, possibly, dividing investment into two groups — necessary and optional — and using statistical techniques to consider the impact of an investment decision (for example, the use of input-output tables could be used to see if a given investment decision in, say, the steel industry would require investment in energy production). In this way social needs and social costs would be taken into account and ensure that investment decisions are not taken in isolation from one another, so causing bottle-necks and insufficient production due to lack of inputs from other industries.

Necessary investments are those which have been agreed upon by the appropriate confederation. It means that resources and productive capacity are prioritised towards them, as indicated in the agreed investment project. It will not be required to determine precisely which syndicates will provide the necessary goods for a given investment project, just that it has priority over other requests. Under capitalism, when a bank gives a company credit, it rarely asks exactly which companies will be contracted with when the money is spent but, rather, it gives the company the power to command the labour of other workers by supplying them with credit/money. Similarly in an anarcho-communist society, except that the other workers have agreed to supply their labour for the project in question by designating it a “necessary investment”. This means when a request arrives at a syndicate for a “necessary investment” a syndicate must try and meet it (i.e. it must place the request into its production schedule before “optional” requests, assuming that it has the capacity to meet it). A list of necessary investment projects, including what they require and if they have been ordered, will be available to all syndicates to ensure such a request is a real one.

Optional investment is simply investment projects which have not been agreed to by a confederation. This means that when a syndicate or commune places orders with a syndicate they may not be met or take longer to arrive. The project may go ahead, but it depends on whether the syndicate or commune can find workers willing to do that work. This would be applicable for small scale investment decisions or those which other communes/syndicates do not think of as essential.

This we have two inter-related investment strategies. A communist-anarchist society would prioritise certain forms of investment by the use of “necessary” and “optional” investment projects. This socialisation of investment will allow a free society to ensure that social needs are meet while maintaining a decentralised and dynamic economy. Major projects to meet social needs will be organised effectively, but with diversity for minor projects. The tasks of ensuring investment production, making orders for specific goods and so forth, would be as decentralised as other aspects of a free economy and so anarchism “proposes … [t]hat usufruct of instruments of production — land included — should be free to all workers, or groups of workers”, that “workers should group themselves, and arrange their work as their reason and inclination prompt” and that “the necessary connections between the various industries … should be managed on the same voluntary principle.” [Charlotte M. Wilson, Anarchist Essays, p. 21]

As for when investment is needed, it is clear that this will be based on the changes in demand for goods in both collectivist and communist anarchism. As Guilliaume put it: “By means of statistics gathered from all the communes in a region, it will be possible to scientifically balance production and consumption. In line with these statistics, it will also be possible to add more help in industries where production is insufficient and reduce the number of men where there is a surplus of production.” [“On Building the New Social Order”, pp. 356–79, Bakunin on Anarchism, p. 370] Obviously, investment in branches of production with a high demand would be essential and this would be easily seen from the statistics generated by the collectives and communes. Tom Brown made this obvious point:

“Goods, as now, will be produced in greater variety, for workers like producing different kinds, and new models, of goods. Now if some goods are unpopular, they will be left on the shelves … Of other goods more popular, the shops will be emptied. Surely it is obvious that the [shop] assistant will decrease his order of the unpopular line and increase his order of the popular.” [Syndicalism, p. 55]

As a rule of thumb, syndicates that produce investment goods would be inclined to supply other syndicates who are experiencing excess demand before others, all other things being equal. Because of such guidelines and communication between producers, investment would go to those industries that actually required them. In other words, customer choice (as indicated by individuals choosing between the output of different syndicates) would generate information that is relevant to investment decisions.

As production would be decentralised as far as it is sensible and rational to do so, each locality/region would be able to understand its own requirements and apply them as it sees fit. This means that large-scale planning would not be conducted (assuming that it could work in practice, of course) simply because it would not be needed. This, combined with an extensive communications network, would ensure that investment not only did not duplicate unused plant within the economy but that investments take into account the specific problems and opportunities each locality has. Of course, collectives would experiment with new lines and technology as well as existing lines and so invest in new technologies and products. As occurs under capitalism, extensive consumer testing would occur before dedicating major investment decisions to new products.

In addition, investment decisions would also require information which showed the different outcomes of different options. By this we simply mean an analysis of how different investment projects relate to each other in terms of inputs and outputs, compared to the existing techniques. This would be in the form of cost-benefit analysis (as outlined in section I.4.4) and would show when it would make economic, social and ecological sense to switch industrial techniques to more efficient and/or more empowering and/or more ecologically sound methods. Such an evaluation would indicate levels of inputs and compare them to the likely outputs. For example, if a new production technique reduced the number of hours worked in total (comparing the hours worked to produce the machinery with that reduced in using it) as well as reducing waste products for a similar output, then such a technique would be implemented.

Similarly with communities. A commune will obviously have to decide upon and plan civic investment (e.g. new parks, housing and so forth). They will also have the deciding say in industrial developments in their area as it would be unfair for syndicate to just decide to build a cement factory next to a housing co-operative if they did not want it. There is a case for arguing that the local commune will decide on investment decisions for syndicates in its area (for example, a syndicate may produce X plans which will be discussed in the local commune and one plan finalised from the debate). Regional decisions (for example, a new hospital) could be decided at the appropriate level, with information fed from the health syndicate and consumer co-operatives. The actual location for investment decisions will be worked out by those involved. However, local syndicates must be the focal point for developing new products and investment plans in order to encourage innovation.

Therefore, under anarchism no capital market is required to determine whether investment is required and what form it would take. The work that apologists for capitalism claim currently is done by the stock market can be replaced by co-operation and communication between workplaces in a decentralised, confederated network. The relative needs of different consumers of a product can be evaluated by the producers and an informed decision reached on where it would best be used. Without private property, housing, schools, hospitals, workplaces and so on will no longer be cramped into the smallest space possible. Instead, they will be built within a “green” environment. This means that human constructions will be placed within a natural setting and no longer stand apart from nature. In this way human life can be enriched and the evils of cramping as many humans and things into a small a space as is “economical” can be overcome.

Only by taking investment decisions away from “experts” and placing it in the hands of ordinary people will current generations be able to invest according to their, and future generations’, benefit. It is hardly in our best interests to have a system whose aim is to make the wealthy even wealthier and on whose whims are dependent the lives of millions of people.