#SAF has had its challenges

[meet-me-in-the-pouringrain]

hot take

Smosh should just do one shots of SwordAF.

Shayne just spent what like 20 minutes yapping about his one shot idea, then went on to say ‘SwordAF was taxing and exhausting.’

Why don’t they just do like an hour and a half long video interchangeable to BoardAF of just general mischief. That way there’s no pressure to keep up a storyline, fans get to see their faves do goofy shenanigans, and they don’t spend a lot of actual time on it in their busy as hell schedules.

Idk id much rather watch an hour and a half of Bug causing chaos coz they’ve lost Dolores’ purse cue shenanigans. Y’know. I zone out and get lost in stories a lot, which is probably SAF’s viewership issue and why views drop as the videos get pumped out.

Can i get others opinions pls lol

[safrona-shadowsun]

DWC August Writing Challenge

Day 4: Relationship/Somber

Daily Writing Challenge

Nearly two weeks had passed since Safrona had resituated herself in the office, managing trade manifests and acquisitions on top of advising and structuring her own courier team. And after two years of officially relinquishing the office role to her sister, Safrona found a distaste in having to again solely manage Empyrean Imports and Trades and become The Courier and all it entailed once more. She’d been spoiled with the freedom of selective business,  no longer having to carry the entire courier trade on her own back for so many years, work ethic be damned. But Wennefer Shadowsun was now avoiding not only the responsibility of the Tradehouse but specifically Safrona herself.

All of two weeks, and Safrona was finally relieved to find the younger Shadowsun behind the counter of Empyrean Star Trades, awaiting her upon opening. The relief was short-lived when Wenne seemed entirely willing to vacate as soon as she entered. Wennefer payed more mind to the tome that housed another soul in her hands, cradling it like a precious relic. The mage always liked her books more than she liked people; now she found something that functioned as both.

“Ah,” Safrona took her place behind the counter as Wennefer swept past her without meeting her eyes. “So I see you’re going to run away again like a child again instead of having a conversation like an adult? That is fine. Have fun, Wenne. I suppose I’ll manage as I always have without you.” She made sure the passive aggression in her monotone voice stung with its chilliness.

The bite stopped Wennefer from reaching the door, just as she intended; the mage’s temper rushed up in a sudden backdraft of incredulous laughter and words. “I can’t believe you. You won’t even talk to your own daughter, but you expect me to talk to you? That is rich, “Saf”.”

Safrona stood unmoving, listening to her sister rant, giving her this moment. Wenne took it, inching back to the counter with exasperated steps, until she faced her sister head on with all the words that had been boiling beneath her skin. “What is wrong with you? You are breaking that girl’s heart, you know. Your daughter wants to see you. Does that mean nothing? And those kids were your entire life, you know. Do you really not remember them, or are you just afraid to face them? Or do you just not, what, care?”

Safrona’s nebulous eyes met the sister’s brilliant blues in a sharp turn, yet she remained silent. The incredulous anger in the Mage’s face was held back for a teary eyed somberness. “I am trying, here, Saf. To keep what’s left of our family together. I really am. But you don’t really care, do you? Or, more, things are just not…right. Because things are not adding up. You remember so much that I am not a part of, like it’s just, written right into your palms. You’re closer to your demons than you are me. Dalaran doesn’t even have a record of what happened to you.”

“We’ve been over this,” Safrona finally said with a breath of a sigh, calming the edge of alarm Wennefer’s suspicion was bringing her. “Many records went missing after Proudmoore ‘evicted’ us from Dalaran. Not everyone was accounted for.”

“Even still. No Tesrael Dawnsinger wasn't recovered by our people. You were known, Tes. You weren’t just a merchant, or a vendor - Sunreaver Dawnsinger was executed, by Proudmoore herself. FROZEN to death. Nobody recovered a body, and you clearly weren’t just. Shattered.”

“I don’t remember what happened, I told you–” Safrona swept her eyes away from the mage’s gleaming, wet eyes.

“You are lying. Why?”

“Wenne...”

The arcanist spoke now with a heartbreaking softness. “Are you even my sister at all? Is it true…?”

Safrona’s eyes narrowed as her skin prickled in awareness, a network of insidious insight screaming inside her head all at once, a cacophonous, singular, burning suspicion. “Who has been talking to you, Wenne? Is someone talking to you about me? Tell me.”

Wennefer doubled down. "Are you. My sister?"

It would have been too easy to end the farce now and tell the truth, and for a moment Safrona considered that avenue. It had become exhausting living on a lie, or thieving truths that Wennefer would give her about who her sister had been. In the core truth of who she was, the warlock longed to be known as she was, not as the skin she wore. Whether the dark truth chased Wennefer away away, became an invitation for the young mage to try to end her there and then, or infeasibly brought them somehow closer together, the revelation Safrona had curtained off to most would be a resolution in its exposure, in this twisted, harsh moment.

And yet, staring on the troubled face of the younger Dawnsinger, sister of a long gone Sunreaver, Safrona found she could not utter the words. The mere utterance of the dark truths felt wrong. Like stating a demonic ritual in all its detail for one who did not understand the practice themselves, let alone speak in the infernal tongue. Trade secrets lost on one who would never understand the significance. A waste of words, of breath.

 There was a safety here in the lie. And more, a desire to become the lie, after all these years.

Wennefer took the silence as an insult, the bond between sisters wedged farther apart. The mage chuckled and wiped at her face, backing away from the countertop slowly. “Tell you what: I’ll go talk to my book, you go talk to your demons. We both seem more comfortable that way, apparently.” Wennefer Shadowsun let the door to Empyrean Star Trades slam closed behind her.

{ @daily-writing-challenge }

[greatgreenwelshadventures]

Habitat Wales Grant

(Our latest reply to our ongoing application)

Thank you for the letter regarding the updates and for the extension of the contract deadline.  Our local farmers union office has been completely overwhelmed with queries from anxious members and we have been unable to take advice on this yet.

We appreciate that change is necessary and that implementing a new scheme will always come with its challenges; however the management of information has been absolutely shambolic.  We respectfully and constructively offer the following feedback:

There seems to be a complete lack of understanding of what it takes to manage land half way up a mountain in North Wales.  We have around 40 acres of valuable habitat (peat bog and upland heath) that we sensitively manage and conserve on a voluntary basis, and we planted over 1000 trees well before the 10% of land as trees idea was a 'thing'.  We really don't need advice from well meaning politicians on how to minimise our impact and live in partnership with the land.

This leaves us with only 20 acres used for small farming practices. How on earth should we be penalised for not complying on the 1/3 of our land when 2/3 does comply if indeed this is actually about habitat, the environment and mitigating climate change?

On our application, we removed the parcels of land which are the only livestock grazing because we have no option but to supplementary feed in winter.  Please do take a visit when half the farm is under water if you have any other suggestions (bring waders). We also need to chain harrow and roll when we get the very small window of weather and ground conditions opportunity.  This is based on local knowledge and experience not an arbitrary date in the calendar.  We are working on organic / biodynamic farming permaculture.  Muck spreading is an essential component of that.

As a result, we unchecked the land parcels on which we could not meet the conditions (which we were able to do on our original application), only to be subsequently advised that the offer was on a whole farm basis.  Your office amended our application without our consent and selected those land parcels we had omitted, then advised us it was too late for us to make changes (changing it back for the above valid reasons).

It is very difficult for us to understand how the restrictions are designed to improve habitat without altogether making farming impossible for many responsible land custodians.

We will take advice and decide whether or not the contract is possible for us to sign but certainly will not be accepting it and then notifying you via SAF if we are unclear on whether or not penalties would apply, which despite many years dealing with nationwide contracts, we are not.

We would appreciate a review of cases such as ours where it would be more appropriate to assign the scheme conditions to select parcels of land provided that this meets a certain percentage of the land overall (in our case 70% compliant habitat already exists).  Otherwise many rural smallholders running sustainable and closed loop farms will be forced to give up in favour of the mass commercial monoculture environment and local community harming farms, which would be counterproductive to the published scheme outcomes, surely?

We wholeheartedly support the farmers that will be protesting against the current changes and sadly cannot join them since as it is just the two of us and we cannot be away from the land or animals. And please note that it has taken numerous attempts to reply as we kept receiving error messages on the site wasting the best part of a preciously dry morning.

Additionally, while you sit in your warm, dry offices, pouring over your satellite and drone images of our farm and the surrounding land, in order that you can remove a few more rocks or gorse bushes from our BPS claim; please note just how many abandoned mountain small holdings together with their now derelict farmhouses surround us.

Indeed we are the only such remaining property on this part of the mountain which is actually still farming.

There is a reason for that. The land and weather conditions here, particularly in winter can only be described as tough and harsh.

Aside from the sometimes inhospitable weather, there are also constant pressures in terms of the massive hikes in the cost of hard feed, fodder and energy costs.

It is an exceptionally hard life basically, and you are making it harder. Tipping over into impossible.

That is why farmers (in Wales) are protesting.

Saying that it is about farmers being anti change or resistant to tree planting woefully misses the point.

That is why the Welsh government will need to rethink this proposed policy. Because in its current form it is not viable for actual farmers!

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on https://yaroreviews.info/2023/11/first-transatlantic-flight-using-100-green-fuels-to-take-off

First transatlantic flight using 100% green fuels to take off

By Katy Austin

Transport correspondent

The first transatlantic flight powered only by alternative fuels will take off from the UK on Tuesday morning.

Operated by Virgin Atlantic, it will fly from London’s Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport at 11:30 GMT.

Airlines see the flight, which is supported by government funding, as demonstrating that a greener way of flying is possible.

But a lack of fuel supply remains a challenge, while other technology will be needed to hit emissions targets.

The flight is a one-off of its kind so far, and is not carrying fare-paying passengers.

So-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) can be made from a variety of sources, including crops, household waste and cooking oils.

For this flight, a Boeing 787 will be filled with 50 tonnes of SAF. Two types are being used, with 88% derived from waste fats and the rest from the wastes of corn production in the US.

Following test and analysis, the flight was approved by UK regulator the Civil Aviation Authority earlier this month. A number of companies have been involved in the project including engine-maker Rolls-Royce and energy giant BP.

The aviation industry is particularly difficult to decarbonise, but airline bosses view SAF as the most effective tool available to help bring its net emissions down to zero.

Planes still emit carbon when using SAF, but the industry says the “lifecycle emissions” of these fuels can be up to 70% lower.

Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said the airline’s flight on Tuesday was “proving… that fossil-derived fuel can be replaced by sustainable aviation fuel”.

“It’s really the only pathway to decarbonising long-haul aviation over and above having the youngest fleet in the sky,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. “It is a really momentous achievement.”

However, he said there was not enough SAF currently. “The issue is how we get enough production here in the UK as part of an industrial revolution and more importantly around the world.”

He admitted that due to the fuel being more expensive, flight prices would end up being higher.

Guilt-free flying not in easy reach – scientists

Using pig fat as green jet fuel ‘will hurt planet’

SAF is already used in small amounts, blended with traditional jet fuel, but accounts for less than 0.1% of the aviation fuel consumed around the world.

It currently costs more than kerosene, and relatively small amounts are made. Aircraft are usually only allowed to use up to 50% in a blend.

There are no dedicated commercial SAF plants in the UK, although the government aim is to have five under construction by 2025, supported by grant funding.

Airlines see the first long-haul flight using 100% SAF as a significant milestone. But experts say such fuels are not a magic bullet.

Dr Guy Gratton, associate professor of aviation and the environment at Cranfield University, said: “We can’t produce a majority of our fuel requirements this way because we just don’t have the feedstocks. And even if you do, these fuels are not true ‘net zeros’.”

He said the growing use of SAF had to be treated as “a stepping stone towards future, genuinely net zero technologies”.

“This might be e-fuels [which are manufactured using captured carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, together with hydrogen], it might be hydrogen, it might be some technologies that we still really only have at the laboratory stage.”

The policy director of the Aviation Environment Federation campaign group, Cait Hewitt, said the idea that the flight meant the UK was closer to “guilt-free” flying was “a joke”.

She said that the hope is there will be better technology in the future to cut carbon emissions but, for now, the only way to achieve this is to “fly less”.

UK ministers and the industry have insisted they believe “net zero” by 2050 is achievable with passenger numbers increasing.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper told BBC Breakfast: “There are those campaigners who want to tell ordinary people that they can’t fly. That’s their view, they’re entitled to it. The government doesn’t agree with them.

“Using sustainable aviation fuel means that over its life cycle we produce around 70% less carbon emissions than traditional fuels so that is a really big step forward,” he added.

“We are also involved with supporting the industry develop hydrogen and also electric flights for shorter-haul flights, so all of that technology is being developed.”

Mr Harper acknowledged that using sustainable aviation fuels “is not the only solution” but he said: “It is a really important step with those other technologies to make sure we can carry on flying and protect the environment.”

The UK government plans to require 10% of aviation fuel to be SAF by 2030.

Airlines UK, which represents UK-registered carriers, said they must be able to access enough affordable SAF to meet such a requirement, with as much as possible coming from the UK.

Its boss Tim Alderslade said: “The last thing we want is higher fuel costs for UK passengers compared to the rest of Europe and the US, with worse sustainability outcomes and thousands of new jobs lost overseas.”

Related Topics

Hydrogen power

Civil Aviation Authority

Sustainability

Fuel

Air travel

Virgin Atlantic

More on this story

Using pig fat as green jet fuel ‘will hurt planet’

31 May

Guilt-free flying not in easy reach – scientists

28 February

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade Group seeks law that will enable women, girls inherit property The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an NGO, has called on the Plateau Government to enact a law that would enable women and girls inherit houses, land and other property. Mr Sabiu Shehu, the Country Advocacy, Media and Communication Manager of NRC, voiced the demand during a roundtable organised on Thursday in Jos. He maintained that the law became necessary to reduce women and girls vulnerability in the state. ”Women and girls are the most vulnerable set of people in any society; they are denied access to land, housing and other properties. ”In Plateau, we know the state government has enacted some laws like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, Gender and Equal Opportunities Law, among others, to promote the rights of women. ”But, we are calling on the state government to specifically enact a law that would ensure our women and girls have access to housing, land, properties and other inheritance,” he said. Shehu said that the meeting was part of its Small Advocacy Fund (SAF) project funded by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He explained that the meeting would sensitise critical stakeholders toward addressing the challenges experienced by women in the state, particularly in rural communities. He said that NRC is currently implementing the project in Riyom, Bassa, Shendam, Mangu, Bokkos and Wase Local Government Areas. Mrs Olivia Daziem, Special Adviser to Plateau goovernor on Gender, commended NRC for organising the meeting aimed at creating equal opportunities for women and girls. Daziem, who maintained that existing laws in the state promote equal opportunities for women, however decried the absence of adequate awareness about the laws. K ”Some of the existing laws in the state promote equal opportunities for women; they also prohibit abandonment, discrimination, denials, and all of that. ”The constitution of Nigeria, which is the grand norm, also speaks against discrimination and this applies to us in Plateau. ”The Plateau government is committed to this cause and this is why the governor set up a special commission that will work with all stakeholders to create equal opportunities for our women and girls. ”We will also intensify efforts to create the needed awareness so that people will get the understanding on how to treat all genders equally,” she said. She said that the move isn’t aimed at creating frictions in families. “We want to promote a more developed society by creating opportunities for all,” she declared. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting had community leaders, goverment officials, legal practioners, media, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), among others, as participants.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng) AZA/ETS

[hannahnusblog]

Language genre of Singapore Reddit

I found that there are 3 main characteristics of the language used in Singapore Reddit, mainly

Appearance of acronyms unique to Singapore

Use of Singlish words (words that are somewhat derived from English, but have either morphed or is used in a context unique to Singapore)

Use of words from other languages (such as Hokkien, Malay, etc.

Singlish grammar (which can be seen in all the three varieties above)

Appearance of acronyms unique to Singapore

In the image above, there are 2 different acronyms being used, "MOM" and "CS". "MOM" is an acronym for the Ministry of Manpower, while CS in this context refers to "Customer Service". After decoding the acronyms, this person was commenting how the customer service team in the Ministry of Manpower is short-staffed today, perhaps because they could not get in touch with the team with their query today.

Use of Singlish words

In the above screenshot, the use of the words "steady" and "strat" are considered part of Singlish. In Singlish, "steady" has a few meanings. In this context, the person is talking about how their tailor is very capable and gave them a 20% discount for their next tailoring job. Another person replied, using the word "strat". "Strat" is a short form of strategy and is used quite commonly in Singapore. Although not unique to Singapore, its prevalence in Singlish is high.

Another example of a Singlish word being used above. The Singlish word this time is "agar-ation". This is actually a word morphed from another Singlish term, "agar". While the word "agar" does exist, when used in Singlish, it means "estimate". The person above mixed the word "agar" with "-ation", presumably from the word "estimation" to form "agar-ation". Thus, the person is trying to find an estimate of how many kilometres they need to maintain the 300 points for the National Steps Challenge.

Use of words from other languages

In the screenshot above, the user QuestioningEverything uses a mix of characteristics found in Singlish. Firstly, the use of acronyms unique to Singapore, "ICT". "ICT" refers to in-camp training in national service. The use of shortened terms, such as "wanna", while not unique to Singapore, is also commonly seen in the online Singlish language. Secondly, the use of the word "mak cik". "Mak cik" is auntie in Malay. The appearance of a Malay word inserted into an English sentence is very commonly seen in online Singlish and on the r/singapore subreddit.

User squeeish replied to user QuestioningEverything, using the sentence-final particle, "la". This is a feature of Singlish used in spoken language that has carried over to become the language of Singapore's Reddit as well. User QuestioningEverything replied again, with a sentence that has a Singlish-type grammar structure. The use of acronym "SAF", which means Singapore Armed Forces, similar to the acronym "ICT" used above, is unique to Singlish, and hence Singapore Reddit. The use of the word "no" instead of words such as "don't", or "do not" is also found to be used a lot in Singlish, which carries over to the r/singapore subreddit.

Above is another example of having words from other languages/dialects inserted into English sentences. The word used, "pang sai" mean to poop in Hokkien. "Pang sai" is a common word used in Singlish, and is used very often to replace the phrase "to shit" or "to poop" in English. The first sentence of the post also uses Singlish grammar, along with shortened words such as "auto" for "automatic".

Another example of a Hokkien word inserted into an English language. The two Hokkien words used here are "knn" and "si ginna". These are expletives used a lot in Singapore. Although not particularly pleasant, these words can be found to be used often among men in National Service. The word "si ginna" means literally to "curse a child to die". Taken in this context, user MangoDangoLango is saying how their colleague had cursed them to die. The word "knn" is an acronym of a Hokkien word, "kan ni na". "Kan ni na" in Hokkien literally means to "F*** your mother", which is again, a common swear word used in Singapore. Thus, the user is complaining and swearing about how their colleague had cursed them to die.

In the screenshot above, the user japchaeonescalator uses the word "limpeh". "Limpeh" means "I" in an authoritative manner in Hokkien. The user is referring to themselves as "limpeh", indicating that they regard themselves as very important. The user also uses "boss boss", which is a Singlish manner of simply saying "boss".

In the above conversation, user bueytahanliao also uses "limpeh" to refer to themselves. They also use words that are not common to Singlish or Singapore Reddit language, such as "corlick" referring to "colleague", and "heypi", referring to "happy". Although this user is an outlier, it fits the pattern of Singlish, or Singapore Reddit language, such as spelling words just like how they sound.

User musr replied to the comment using Singlish grammar. They also use Singlish exclamations, "aiyoh", as well as "liddat", which is "like that" in Standard English. Another word seen is "mgt", which is a short form of "management", presumably in a company, since the context is in the office.

As for the language used in English-speaking societies, the main feature I found is that users tend to write their comments in proper sentences, with proper punctuations.

Every subreddit has its own slang. The above screenshots are taken from r/news.

Usually, CMC is used to keep in touch with people we already know beforehand, as McCulloch mentioned. However, Reddit is more reminiscent of the Internet during the "Old Internet People" generation, where people go onto these forums to discuss topics of interest and meet entirely new people who remain anonymous (most of the time). People bond, form localised communities on Reddit and keep in touch through only knowing usernames.

While Reddit can be considered "social media", many do not consider Reddit to be a full "social media" like Instagram or Facebook because of its similarities to older media on the Internet like Usenet or IRC.

[scfeerah]

when halima challenged her to speak of justice, she decided to answer. if there was one thing she spent many hours contemplating then it was justice. “if you cut off the hand of a man for stealing, he will lose every chance of making an honest living. you do not solve a problem, you simply create a new one.” she had always thought it was so short-sighted to to give a thief all the more reason to steal. “his family might starve, and maybe he has sons or brothers. he will teach them to steal, so the family can put food on the table. now your actions have created five new thieves.” safeerah frequently worried what was mercy and what was weakness. she simply wanted to do the right thing, and yet it was often so hard to know what that was exactly.

“but if you give him a second chance, if you give him work and pay, he will stop stealing, and he will not father a new generation of thieves.” she had given jobs at the sept of four doors. they worked for enough coin to sustain their families while serving food to those in need. but safeerah had expectations of the thieves she granted a second chance. if they stole while working at the sept, they would be out of work and a cellar would be their next stop. she knew that sometimes mercy failed, but she also knew that sometimes it worked and it was a little victory each time. a confirmation of believing the best of people. “the justice of it can be reparations made to the victim, hours of unpaid work for the sept, or service to the community. it is justice that serves the good of the many instead of punishment of the few.” she was animated as she spoke. it was something that she believed in so much. no one needed to suffer for the sake of wanting to feed their families and put a roof over their heads.

safeerah was not surprised that halima had been chosen as regent of kingsgrave. it made sense that armaan would want tight control of the keep and its lands. “congratulations.” her tone was sincere, not sarcastic. she was not sure if this was good news for the people of kingsgrave, but she would never say so out loud. halima was only regent anyway, one day armaan's son would rule. “but do not concern yourself with my lands, halima. you will rule kingsgrave as you see fit as long as it's yours to rule, and i will rule my lands as i wish.” saf did not like what she was insinuating, but she did not say anything. perhaps because she sometimes worried her beliefs and ideals would somehow hurt her people. halima could think her weak, but as long as she could look at her reflection and feel no shame, she would continue to do what felt right. it was the only way she knew how to lead.

“is that the one that requires a mask? i had one made, but it is in my chambers.”

theirs was a bond that endured because it was held together by their name. jordayne, dayne, yronwood. the three families had been close for as long as halima could remember, to think of one would surely mean thoughts of another were not far behind. and yet, the two of them were not friends - but not enemies, either. closer than acquaintances, too different to truly be companions. was there ever a time where things could have been different? halima did not know, but if even her brother's murder and her sister's assault would not harden safeerah, she knew that she feared for the future of the tor.

"tell me of them, then." there was no request, no please to soften the words, just a raised eyebrow that left it open for safeerah to fill in the blanks of that which wasn't said. tell me of the justice of house jordayne. tell me how mercy has not backfired on you. tell me that this works. she knew that safeerah could not, or if she attempted to, she would not be convinced, for all evidence pointed to the contrary. if there was justice in the tor, toland and volantene heads would be decorating it's walls now. so it would be if such crimes were committed against the yronwoods - but then, she did not think that either she or armaan would have invited such

"a limb left attached to a criminal will one day find itself taking something from you. your coin, your life," despite the drawl of her voice, there was a hardness to it, and yet the words were not spoken out of true malice. "i am to be regent of kingsgrave, now. and i would like to think an allyship goes without saying. i wish to see my allies be strong, safeerah. to thrive." she held her gaze unwaveringly, before turning away. "come." she gestured. "it is lann's day, i am told. there is a festival to attend. perhaps that would be more to your liking."

[awigglycultist]

Pt 3 of The Guide: Tin Can Brothers (or Tin Can Bros or TCB) the sorta sister company of Starkid, created by three of the founding SK members (who not *actually* brothers) they started off doing skits but have also made many projects. Totally worth checking put their skits too though they're great. Fun fact all of these except Ex-Vloggers and Idol Worship canonically actually take place in the same universe. You do not at all need to watch one to understand another or anything but in WWG they made references to SIS, SAF and Flop Stoppers and then in SISBIB made another reference to SAF so its just a fun neat little thing that they all take place in the same universe.

Ex-Vloggers. It isn't like any of their other projects you'll see me list. In fact I wouldn't really call it a project. Its just a short webseries. It's much simpler and lower quality, not bad I just mean that this wouldn't have cost much to do compared to the others. It's actually really good and underappreciated in my opinion. It totally gives me nostalgia for 2015 youtube era and also it points out how fake youtubers can be putting up a front for the camera.

Summary: boyfriends Kyle and Brendan run a YouTube channel together, doing different challenges and tag videos. To their audience they seem like total love birds but behind the scenes their relationship isn't doing so well.

Spies Are Forever (SAF). This is a musical all about spies. I cannot describe how great this. It's the most loved TCB project. It's one of my fave musicals over all. There's stuff I'd love to talk about more but it'd spoil it. Just know it's great. It's really good story.

Summary: after his partner dies on a mission Curt Mega finally gets back into spying after 4 years and he ends up uncovering a super villains plot to rebuild the Nazi empire. Trailer

Choose Our Destiny: Improv Adventure. It's an improv show! Every month they had a different theme and they would do it live and do polls to let the audience choose different things to happen next. This was actually originally don't a different website that is now defunct, due to this all the episodes were luckily put on youtube by some fans but unfortunately several of them have audio issues. CHALLAHBack Girl and Murder... On The Rocks are particularly bad offenders but I promise you gets better after a while and the episodes are really great.

No summary or trailer for this one

Flop Stoppers. A short film musical with 4 songs that are all complete bops. It's a very fun little short film.

Summary: Two comic nerd YouTubers talk about their opinions on comics and movies on their channel. Until one day they're tasked with making sure one of the most hated movies by comic nerds including themselves is never made. Having to go back in time and kill the man who made it. Trailer

The Solve It Squad Returns (SIS/SISR/TSISR). A one act play that does also have two songs. It's a Sooby Doo parody and it's great the characters are so fun the jokes a fun. There's a few series moments but it's overall just really super fun and funny. Also there's only 5 actors, one for each squad member and then one that plays every single other character. And it's insane. There's literally a scene where it's just him playing every character and he has do these ridiculous quick changes and it's so funny.

Summary: The Solve It Squad is a gang of kids detectives well known throughout the world. When their dog Cluebert (Scooby) dies durning a case they whole gang breaks apart. 20 years later Scrags (Shaggy) has become apart of the FBI and his boss gives him the case that ended it all. He gathers the gang back together, Keith (Fred) who's become washed up and missing his peak in life, Gwen (Daphne) who became a self centered actor but is always stuck in a box of mystery solving, and Esther (Velma) who's became a druggie, to solve the mystery of who Cluebert's killer is once and for all. Trailer

Idol Worship. A short film about how fake YouTubers are and how much fans idolized YouTubers. It's good commentary. Pretty funny. It's not my favorite but I enjoy it for sure.

Summary: famous lifestyle youtube influencer Ashley puts on a con but it is outed for being fake from production crew. Trailer

The Wayward Guide For The Untrained Eye (TWGFTUE/WWG). This is an amazing horror comedy web series and podcast. In the webseries there's two ppl making a podcast they also released the actual podcast they made so you get to see what actually happens vs what is told to the public. If you watch this let me know before you watch it because it's suggested to watch the webseries and podcast in certain order (basically alternating every other episode) and I'll send you a playlist of it in that order. Its got a really fun cast of kooky characters. It's a mystery you can try and solve along the way yourself. I love it.

Summary: Twin siblings Artemis and Paul Schue-Horyn work at the American Podcasting Network and are trying to get the spot to the host the new season of the podcast The Wayward Guide For The Untrained Eye. When a strange man from a weird small town comes in their office to pitch the story of the corrupt mining cooperation in his town the shrug him off. Until their boss doesn't like their idea the give to him for the new season, as a last stitch effort they pitch the strange man's story and their boss loves it. When they arrive in town and their lead dies and they find out about the possible existence of werewolves the suddenly have a lot more on their hands to deal with than originally. Trailer

The Solve It Squad Back In Biz (SISBIB, or Solve It Squad the Animated but no one really calls it that). Ofc you have to watch SISR first before this. This also technically isn't fully on youtube but it is currently coming out. It's four script readings of episodes for an idea of animated series of the solve it squad, none of its actually animated (the title sequence/song is an animatic tho). It's fun getting to see these characters and it's funny. Also I'll go ahead and mention they're also currently working on a Solve It Squad musical for the holidays and the plan is too perform live and also release digital tickets for it around this upcoming Xmas and then it'll come out on youtube around the Xmas after that. I'm just mentioning this so you know that the solve it squad is like an expanding series. Anyway.

Summary: Ep 1 SIS to the (Dog) Rescue. A tiger was stolen at the zoo and the squad has to find out who stole it, Scrags is still sad about Cluebert and gets a new dog, the dog is an idiot and ruins everything they do. Ep 2 SIS Takes a Chill Pill. Gwen's life is busy with the squad, acting and her family. So her and Esther take a day off to relax. Esther gets them on drugs bc that's their idea of fun and relaxing, meanwhile Keith and Scrags take care of Gwen's kids and turns out that's not very easy. Ep 3 SIS Cashes Out. There's a certain case Keith really wants to investigate, about a cool tech billionaire, but the rest of the gang doesn't want to, so he brings back a favor from when they were kids to make them investigate it and they end uncovering the truth behind the billionaire. Ep 4 SIS Says No To Drugs. Esther tries out a new drug while the Squad follows a trail to find out more about said drug leading back to a Russian Drug Cartal while Esther has to hide that they're on this drug. It's basically a total fever dream (which make sense). I'm gonna give you two trailers for this also. First one. Second one.

[randomsevans]

The habit part 2

@jtargaryen18 30daysofchris2020

'How could you let your self be so foolish ' you kept telling yourself all night along .With the tears, throwing pillows (anything you could get your hands on ) around . Needles to say , you didnt get any sleep again and you see if being that way for a while .

After a long day of advoiding Steve in the gym , you dont think you have ever worked out more in your life , your knuckles were close to bleeding, many times Bucky had to keep telling you to stop. It wasnt till night fell you could truly let your emotions out . It wasnt till you caused a loud sound that echoed though the tower , when you though your lamp . When Nat and Bucky came to your room and looked after you again .

The morning air was quite and cold , Nat and Buck had went to go and get breakfast as you stayed your room to get change . You felt numb as if your soul was gone . You dont know why you feel like this, you cant help it , but it's not like you two were anything . You were just stuiped to catch feeling for something he probably seen has he being nice . That why it makes it feel so worst , you cant be mad . How can you ? Its Steve the most kindest human with those stuiped blue eyes . The only person you should be mad at is your self .

Turning a corner you felt half asleep . In zombie mode . You were looking at your feet which were slowly making there way forward when you collided with a wall and fell straight on your ass . "God ,y/,n you in there ? Someone tired this morning?" Arrr great clint , your never gonna live this down

"Ass !" You said getting up.

"Well you just fell on yours " clint laught walking into the kitchen "ha guy ,guess I didnt know we had a zombie in the compand?" He shouted annoyingly to group of people that were all around the table as he sat down .

You begin to walk over not amused by Clint or anyone , when you notice there was no seats left . Everyone was in there own conversation, talking about the most stuiped morning shit . You quickly glance maybe there might be one seat . No none . You looked at steve he had the biggest smile on his face, laughing as hes arm was behind Sharon was was snug against his side smiling. In your seat . Your chest tightened again . But you didnt know what more for a the fact no one saw you, Sharon and Steve or that fact . YOUR seat was taken . You have never felt so alone and pushed out of the group like you dont belong. There were all happy, your dark mood would just worsen their day , if they even knew you were there .

You turned to the kitchen and got a bowl , some cereal you randomly picked up . And turned around to walk out the room . As you left you heard to echoes of laughter as you made your way back into your room with clouded eyes . It wasnt till you reached outside your room you looked at the bowl . You forget the milk . 'Wow y/n good . Oh what the fuck I'm not even hungry!'you thought as you though the bowl toward the wall opposite your door . You just watched it smash into pieces, going all over the follow , watching the cereal slip every where ,bouncing along the corridor . You just stared at it , feeling numb , not even feeling bad for making a mess you are not going to clean up . You just thought what a symbol for your heart . Your not even sure you have one anymore .

You entered your room , slowly as if you were scared to move to fast .

"Friday " you called out .

"Yes Miss y/l/n ?"

"Dont let anyone in my room ..." you began " if anyone even comes looking " you whispered the last part .

"Do you intend to stay in here to day miss ."

"Yes I'm staying "

"Are you sick ?"

"Of life " you mumbled "no I just want to stay in here " you said more firmly.

"But miss you have training with Captain Roger's at 10 am "

"Cancel it ! ... in fact cancel all my sessions with him , change it to either Barnes or Romanoff!"

"Cancel ! ... Captain Roger's has been informed and his new partner will be miss Carter under his request " she announced , now that stings " I'm sorry miss but Barnes and Romanoff already booked their session and theres no changing.."

"I'll do it my self then .."

"M'sorry miss you cant ..."

"I can !"

"Its not saf....."

"It doesnt matter anyway Friday , I'll do it my self , Its not big deal , and if anyone ask I'm out !"

"Okay miss "

Silence. Silence fill the room , bring pain to your ear drums . You walk toward your bed and lift the covers and plop your self in between the cover , pulling the blanked over your head . You let out a loud sob as your head hit the pillow , mufling the sound as cold tears stream down your hot cheeks . You feel like you cant breath between the weight of the sheets over your head and your sobbing.

This was your new habit

You feel your eyes become heaving as your breath become even more irregular and tear ducts dry , you felt your mind wonder into darkness .

○●○○●○○●○○●○○●○○

'BANG!'

You jumped a wake , 'god what time is it?' Your mind was pounding much like the door , adrenaline though your veins

"Y/n ?" Bucky , okay so you know that voice . Your mind still fuzzy from walking up

"What's going on ?" You hurned another voice outside 'Tony ?' You think

"Is everything okay ?" Your heart stopped ' Steve ?'

"NO ITS NOT !" You heard Nat .'god is the whole team outside.

"What the matter " great Sharon

"Nothing to concern you " bucky anger shown in his voice .

"Ha Buck calm down no need to be like that to my girl " Steve defended .

"Oh fuck off would ya " Bucky shout " y/ n please open up !"

"Bucky calm down " Tony yelled over Bucky ."Friday open the door "

"I'm sorry sir I cant "

"What ! "

"Dont you think we've tried that tony "Nat now sounded worried "y/n I know your in there "

"Miss y/n is out " Friday said .

"See she out ! No need to be like this " steve

"No she hasn't left the compand I check to carma s , have you even seen her today ?" Natasha now sounds on the verge of tears , while you sat still on your bed scared to move.

"No .. no I havnt , she cancel our session " Steve voice wavered in panic " is shes okay?"

"Maybe shes sick , Friday is y/n sick ? " Tony ask .

"Of life sir " Friday respond ,great she heard that.

Gasp were heard out side , you ran into the bathroom scared as if you were a child in trouble you sat your self on the floor, knees tucked under your chin , rocking back and forth , more tears rolling down , how is more tears even possible at this point?

More ponding at the door. "Y/n please tell me you haven't done something stuiped ?" Bucky sounded as if he was near to crying , with considnt pouncing at your door . "Please!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs " open the door "

"She just probably being dramatic " you heard sharon wining voice .The next thing your heard was a loud shudder as somthing hit the floor , followed by screams of "NAT ! " "ROMANOFF!" "NATASHA !"

"Say that again and I'll kill you "

"Nat stop " steve switch to his cap voice "open the door y/n .. come on this isn't funny "

"Leave now "Bucky challenged Steve .

"No not until I know shes okay !" Steve challenged Bucky .

"She will be when you leave !"

"But ..." Steve began

"Why do you even care ?" Bucky shouts

"Because I lo....."

"Steve please " you heard sharon crying.

"Oh babe ...come on .. Nat apologise!"

"Over my dead body ... now every one leave " nat voice filled with authority.

"Okay !" Followed by foot steps heading the other direction.

"Y/n everyone's left it's just me and Buck , open up , we ain't mad just worried open up please or at least let us know your okay?"

Silence . You dont know how long . But it was just silent .

In a low whisper your voice barely cracking though the thick abosant of sound " friday inform them I'm okay "

"Of course miss " friday respond.

Silence again . Once again you wernt able to measure the amount of time due to your fuzzy mind .

"Okay. Come out when your ready , eh ? Just know your not going to push us away " bucky said

"And what did a bowl of cereal ever do to you eh " Natasha let out a small laugh . Which caused you to make a small chuckle.

You found strength and wonder to your door slowly ,pulling it open to reveal two very red eyed worried assistant. You wander how you can make two of the most deadly people in the world near to tears .

"It didnt have milk" you put on a small innocent smile .

Bucky grinning down at you with Natasha on his side even smiling more . "There she is "

[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: Towers of Midnight ch 10

An Asha’man contemplates personhood and Perrin finally has a meeting.

Chapter 10: After the Taint

Back to Perrin, who’s talking with Elyas and Grady and walking through camp and still not meeting Galad. His last chapter seemed like the last few moments before such a meeting, but I guess we’re drawing this out a bit more?

Ah, a fallen statue with a sword. Well, now I know generally where we are in the timeline, at least. That’s the statue Rand mentioned to Nynaeve (when he told her to dream on my behalf, Nynaeve; and yes, that still hurts).

Perrin’s second-guessing all his life choices—okay, in fairness, mostly just his recent strategic choices—and Elyas, voice of reason, is making the very good point that you can’t actually anticipate every eventuality. Or, as Lan might say, “You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that.”

Lan may not be there, but I’m glad Perrin has both Elyas and Tam with him. Both of them are good… not just grounding influences but I guess… steadying ones. They’re people who have gone through quite a lot of Life Experience, not all of it pleasant, and have emerged from it with a clear sense of who they are, and how they fit into the world around them. And Perrin needs people like that with him now; Rand needs people who help remind him he’s human, Mat needs his Greek chorus, and Perrin needs… people who have found that kind of balance within themselves, to show him it’s possible. Elyas, who has found his balance between man and wolf. Tam, the farmer and soldier, and neither of those lessening the other. In a way, I think they’re both not unlike the sort of person Perrin himself might be when he’s older.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is, it’s good for Perrin to have some role models.

Ugh, apparently the Two Rivers people are still judging Perrin for that time they think he slept with Berelain. Don’t slutshame the wolfboy, people; for all you know he has an open marriage!

…Okay anyone who’s met Faile could likely guess that’s not the case. But they should know better than to trust so much to rumour, especially when they know Perrin. Unfortunately, though, people are people. Also, you know, Wheel Of Absolutely No Communication and all that. Sigh.

Perrin wants to sneak into the Whitecloaks’ camp for a rescue mission, and Grady just wants to go Dumai’s Wells on their asses. Not…sure either of those is exactly a great solution here, boys. Have you considered talking? Oh, wait, no, forgot what series I’m reading.

He hated the idea of letting the Asha’man loose with impunity. The scent of burned flesh in the air, the earth ripped apart and broken. The scents of Dumai’s Wells. However, he couldn’t afford another distraction like Malden. If there were no other choice, he’d give the order.

And now he knows how Rand felt, when he did give that order.

Still, this could be taken as a small moment of growth for Perrin, to acknowledge—hating the idea but not letting it drag him fully into a crisis of self-hatred—that he could do this, will do this if he has to. That this is an option available to him, and that if it is necessary, he’ll do it. And being able to do that not in the moment (the way he sort of did with the Shaido prisoners, for example), and not in that desperate single-minded focus on finding Faile, but as a simple evaluation of the options available to him, in anticipation of what might be needed for this next task.

Still, for all their sakes, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Not yet, though. There are no coincidences with ta’veren. The wolves, the Whitecloaks. Things he had been outrunning for some time were returning to hunt him.

Wow that sounds almost like self-awareness! And lack of denial! Again, to Perrin’s credit, he’s been alright at that for a little while now, but it’s still a big enough achievement that I’ll celebrate it whenever it happens with these boys.

But yes, Perrin. It’s the endgame of an epic fantasy series; there are no coincidences here.

The Whitecloaks had haunted him since his early days out of the Two Rivers. Dealing with them had never been simple.

It felt like the time had come. Time to make an end to his troubles with them, one way or another.

That, basically. Coming full circle and getting closure to an arc and all that fun stuff.

Which is another reason why this shouldn’t end in violence, perhaps. Because that’s what started all of this: Perrin fought the Whitecloaks, and killed two of them (and then several more, with Gaul, for old times’ sake), and had to Deal With That, both in his own mind acknowledging himself as a killer and with the consequences of it. And at every stage of this he’s been in conflict with the Whitecloaks. Fighting them directly, or at odds with them in the Two Rivers.

(They make such a good point of conflict for him too, especially when you set the Tuatha’an on the other side, because together they kind of represent an extreme version of some of the sides of Perrin’s own conflict within himself. The Tuatha’an as an extreme version of his wish for peace and his fear of the violence he carries within himself; the Whitecloaks as an extreme version of a determination to do the right thing.)

But now the Whitecloaks are being set up for a kind of redemption via Galad, and Perrin’s arc is drawing to a close for the endgame, and so it would fit both sides for this long-running conflict, which challenges the fundamentals of who they are, to come to a close not in violence but in alliance. To recognise in each other something to be admired rather than only something to be feared or hated. To see points of similarity rather than just irreconcilable difference. Because to do so would also, I think, mean accepting some of those things in themselves, so that they can all move forwards.

And on the subject of alliance where once was enmity, the Asha’man and Aes Sedai with Perrin have figured out linking. Well, Neald has, and Grady seems keen to get on board. Cooperation! Overcoming millennia-long barriers! Being stronger together!

“Light! It’s wonderful. We should have done this months ago.”

Or centuries, but it’s all relative, right?

I do love, though, that at almost every turn, once this kind of cooperation happens, it’s seen by those involved as something positive, treated with this kind of joyous amazement. Like Nynaeve’s first time as part of a circle, or this, or affirmations of friendship, or those moments when characters finally decide to be open or honest with one another. It’s almost always rewarded; it takes a hell of a lot of work and time and pain to get there, but once they do, it’s something good.

“I was wondering if I might…” [Grady] seemed hesitant. “Well, if I might have leave to slip over to the Black Tower for an afternoon, to see my family.”

Oh. Oh man. Okay I think I see where this is going. (The importance of having family, to keep him grounded, as Rand recognised so long ago when he first started gathering men who could channel, before he all but lost sight of his own anchors. And the taint is gone now so it’s safe, or at least safer…).

Also, please let Grady or someone go to the Black Tower because I need a Black Tower interlude. It has been far too long and there have been far too few in the first place. What is happening there. I need to know. Because of reasons.

Damn it Perrin let him go see his family! I mean okay fair, there’s a clear threat ahead and a possible threat behind so tactically yeah, not a great time. And he does agree to let Grady go at some point soon.

“You never worried about this before, Grady,” Perrin said. “Has something changed?”

“Everything,” Grady said softly. Perrin got a whiff of his scent. Hopeful. “It changed a few weeks back. But of course you don’t know. Nobody knows. Fager and I weren’t certain at first, and we weren’t sure if we should tell anyone for fear of sounding delusional.”

“Know what?”

“My Lord, the taint. It’s gone.”

And with it, the certain death sentence they’ve all been living under. It does change everything: once, they were weapons, because that was all they could hope to be in their brief time of power before madness. Once, all they could do in the end was die for this cause. Now, there’s a chance they can live for it. Can let themselves be more than weapons again, can hope for something more.

In its own way it’s yet another version of Rand’s realisation on Dragonmount, for all that this comes earlier chronologically (and for all that we’ve seen it happen already for some of the characters who were closer to the cleansing). This idea that there might be more to the future than death, more to give than a last stand and despair, more to be than a weapon.

The timing of this does seem kind of weird, given that the cleansing was several books ago now, and the explanation that they were waiting to be sure… eh, I suppose no one ever tells anyone anything in this series so it doesn’t strain suspension of disbelief too far. I suppose it just feels weird because everything about Perrin’s chapters up until now has felt like a building up of tension before his inevitable meeting with Galad, and this feels like a kind of random digression.

Not an unimportant one—this is lovely, and fits well in terms of where we are in the overall story in the sense of realisation of hope once thought lost—but just… somewhat oddly placed.

“Seems the sort of thing Rand might have been about,” Perrin said.

Which might just be the most chill reaction to hearing about the cleansing of saidin we’ve seen from anyone. Oh, a miracle? The removal of a three-thousand-year-old evil that has gradually destroyed so much of society and thrown the world out of balance? Yeah, that sounds like something Rand would do, cool, fair enough.

It probably helps that Perrin himself can’t channel, so all of this would feel a bit more… abstract, maybe? Which might make it easier to accept than it would be for someone to whom this is an integral part of their lives. Still, it makes me laugh.

“When I joined the Lord Dragon, I knew what would happen to me. A few more years and I’d be gone. Might as well spend them fighting. The Lord Dragon told me I was a soldier, and a soldier can’t leave his duty. So I haven’t asked to go back before now. You needed me.”

“That’s changed?”

“My Lord, the taint is gone. I’m not going to go mad. That means… well, I’ve always had a reason to fight. But now I’ve got a reason to live, too.”

This, exactly. The difference between having something to die for and having something to live for; dying for a cause and living for one. It’s adjacent to Rand’s own why do you fight question and realisation, but it’s also the realisation that there is something more than death ahead.

There’s a kind of honour, certainly, in knowing he’s going to die and deciding to at least make that death worth something—give that brief time before madness to some kind of cause, use this power that damns him to serve some goal. But now that’s not the only choice. Now he can decide to fight, still, but also to live, and to hope for something else; to be a soldier, yes, but not merely a weapon.

It’s one of those shifts in perspective that from one angle looks so slight but that actually means everything, that changes everything.

And again, while the specific timing in this chapter is a little weird, it otherwise is such a fitting realisation; sure, it’s technically before Dragonmount, but narratively it’s during this time when this kind of shifting perspective is spreading across the world from its epicentre: the mountain where hope first seemed to die and now at last has been restored. This realisation that there’s more than just a dark inevitability to the future; that instead there are choices and things to live for and possibilities and second chances.

(There’s one rather prominent character who still has yet to come to his own version of this realisation, but he’s riding towards it now, unless I am very much mistaken).

That was what Perrin had sensed in the Asha’man all along, the reason they held themselves apart, often seeming so sombre. Everyone else fought for life. The Asha’man… they’d fought to die.

That’s how Rand feels, Perrin thought.

Indeed. And almost surprisingly perceptive of Perrin; for a while in the middle he sort of… didn’t quite allow himself to see Rand’s despair and sadness. But he’s absolutely right, in this.

And he touches on another key part of this change, in that thought of the Asha’man holding themselves apart. Not quite letting themselves be part of the world in the same way as others, not allowing themselves connections and friendships and anchors; turning themselves to weapons (or, in Rand’s case, to steel, to cuendillar). Which then leads to a kind of apathy or despair, to no longer having anything to live for, because they allow themselves nothing, because they don’t allow themselves to be people. But now they can, and so Grady is reaching back out to those things that mattered, back when he was a person and not a weapon (like the veins of gold). Drawing on them once more to pull himself back, to let himself be himself again.

I suppose in a way this ties into where Perrin is in his own story as well, now that he has found Faile and come out of the other side of that single-minded despair in which nothing else mattered. Because he, too, is finding his footing again after that. Finding some kind of purpose. It’s not like-for-like, but it all ties together.

Grady laughed. It felt odd, but good, to hear that from the man.

Laughter and tears.

Oh, are we actually going to get the meeting with Galad now?

“There is a stranger riding along the road towards camp. He flies a flag of peace, but he wears the clothing of these Children of the Light.”

FINALLY.

Oh good Tam is here. Tam is a good person to have around when everything’s likely to go to shit.

Ah it’s Dain Bornhald rather than Galad. That’s… not exactly ideal. He and Perrin didn’t precisely part on the best of terms. Or meet on the best of terms. Or ever interact on anything but the worst of terms, really.

Anyway Bornhald opens by calling Perrin a criminal so we’re off to a great start.

“It is you. The Light has delivered you to us.”

“Unless it has also delivered you an army three or four times the size of the one you have now,” Perrin called, “then I doubt very much that it will matter.”

I’m always here for Perrin’s backtalk, of course, but I’m pretty sure an outright threat isn’t going to help this situation any. Then again, it was more or less a lost cause as soon as Bornhald showed up, given I don’t think anything but a severe concussion and possibly amnesia is going to change his opinion of Perrin, so.

Perrin’s attempting something vaguely resembling diplomacy, in that he’s basically saying ‘why don’t we just ignore each other until we’re out of sight’, but Bornhald’s not so keen on that option. Unsurprisingly.

“But I will leave that for the Lord Captain Commander to explain. He wishes to see you for himself.”

YES. FINALLY.

Though Perrin’s not so keen on walking into what could very likely be a trap, and Tam’s thinking much the same thing… but hey, he’s ta’veren; what could possibly go wrong? When has knowing they’re walking into a trap ever gone anything but perfectly well for any of these characters? (Don’t answer that).

“Burn me, Tam. I have to at least try before attacking them.”

That’s… a fair point, at least given Perrin’s own sense of honour and morality. It’s part of his ongoing conflict with the Whitecloaks as well, really: at none of their encounters has he actually wanted to kill them, or to attack first. He’s not out hunting them, and while he does sort of bear a grudge against them now, it wasn’t always that way. It’s just that there’s quite a lot of bad blood there, and even in the early days things went south quickly, and so it inevitably ended in bloodshed.

The six of them broke away from camp, and blessedly, Faile didn’t seem to have heard what was happening. Perrin would bring her if there was a longer parley or discussion, but he intended this trip to be quick, and he needed to be able to move without worrying about her.

Kind of a shame, given that she could be an asset in a discussion or negotiation. But at least he knows that well enough to be thinking of bringing her along if there’s going to be extended talking, I suppose. Would Galad know her? Maybe not on sight, but I’d imagine he might know her name, and certainly would know her father’s… that could help. Or not; who knows.

HI GALAD.

The tall man had fine features and short, dark hair. Most women would probably call him handsome. He smelled… better than the other Whitecloaks.

This description is just trying way too hard to emphasise the ‘no homo’ that it pretty much runs screaming in the other direction, and I’m laughing.

“Goldeneyes,” the man said. “So it is true.”

“You’re the Lord Captain Commander?” Perrin asked.

“I am.”

Oh, of course we’re doing this without Perrin ever getting his name. Of course. I can’t quite decide if that strains my suspension of disbelief or not, but either way: ARGH. Then again, Perrin’s never actually met Galad and doesn’t know that Maighdin is Morgase, and barely even knows Elayne, so knowing Galad’s identity might not actually help him all that much.

“What will it take for you to release the people of mine you’re holding?”

“My men tell me they tried such an exchange once,” the Whitecloak leader said. “And that you deceived them and betrayed them.”

Well, yes, they would say that. But Galad, you of all people should know that there are probably more sides to that particular story, especially given you’re not getting it from an unbiased source.

Galad keeps listing out Perrin’s alleged crimes, some of which could be argued to be true (killing Whitecloaks); some of which are bullshit (leading Trollocs to attack his own village), but none of which he has any actual evidence for, beyond the word of his own men. Their word against Perrin’s, and it seems like Galad should also know that just because he’s the Lord Captain Commander now, and trying to drag this organisation kicking and screaming into some kind of redemption, doesn’t mean everyone in it is suddenly noble and honourable and not lying outright to him.

Or even that they’re mistaken. That, as is so often the case, there’s just more to the story. That maybe the people whose information he’s relying on didn’t know everything that was actually happening. Which is closer to the truth, really; Bornhald genuinely believes Perrin is evil, and so everything else gets filtered through that lens of confirmation bias.

“I want a more formal parley, where we can sit down and discuss. Not something improvised like this.”

“I doubt that will be needed,” the Whitecloak leader said. “I am not here to bargain. I merely wanted to see you for myself. You wish your people freed? Meet my army on the field of battle. Do this, and I will release the captives, regardless of the outcome.”

I am a little surprised Galad outright refuses Perrin’s request to sit down and talk about this like adults. Because sure, he’s seen Perrin now, but what information does that tell him? It’s a perfectly reasonable request, and nothing Perrin’s said to him has been particularly unreasonable, and again, Galad should know better than to just take as absolute truth everything he’s been told.

Then again, Bornhald told him the truth about Valda and Morgase, so maybe that’s earned him Galad’s trust? Still, it seems odd that he wouldn’t give Perrin some kind of chance—a trial, or a conversation—to defend himself, before challenging him to a battle, where so many more people could die.

I just don’t get Galad sometimes, but what else is new.

“Your force will face ours under the Light,” the Whitecloak leader said. “Those are our terms.”

So you’re just going to sentence some of your own people to death in order to determine this, rather than… talk? Sure. Okay. Trial by combat by proxy; why the hell not.

I’m still guessing it’s not actually going to come to that, somehow, though I can’t quite see how. Unless Galad sees Morgase. That’s the only thing I can think of that could potentially stop this from turning into the mess it’s currently heading for.

He could take the Whitecloak leader captive right here, with barely a thought.

Perrin was tempted. But they had come under the Whitecloak’s oath of safety. He would not break the peace.

That’s some rather weird logic, if you’re intending to then meet him on the field of battle. Capture one person, and the cost is breaking an oath of peace. Keep that oath of peace, and the cost is, very probably, the lives of some of the people following you.

I mean okay, I get it, truce flags should be honoured because otherwise Bad Things Happen, but… eh. Like with a lot of the ‘rules’ of warfare, sometimes thinking about it too hard gets a bit weird.

***

Oh we get a Galad POV now, so maybe his thinking will make more sense. Though admittedly I don’t hold out a great deal of hope for that, because again, Galad’s thought process just baffles me sometimes.

Those golden eyes were unsettling. He had discounted Byar’s insistence that this man was not merely a Darkfriend, but Shadowspawn. However, looking into those eyes, Galad was no longer certain he could dismiss those claims.

Come on, Galad, did no one ever teach you not to judge people by their appearance?

Like, on the one hand… okay, people he trusts have told him some pretty terrible thing about this guy, and he does have (apparently) unsettling eyes, and he didn’t deny any of the accusations Galad listed out. And confirmation bias, again, is a strong thing. It does make sense that he would be wary of Perrin, and expect him to be an enemy, to potentially be evil, and to see that at least his physical description matches what he was told so maybe the rest does, too.

It’s just frustrating.

“They would not have harmed me,” Galad said.

So you’ll believe he’s a monster, but also that you were safe?

To be fair, his reasoning for why he was safe does make sense, more or less, given what he knows and (mostly) what he assumes.

“If he is as you and Child Byar say, then he worries greatly about his image. He didn’t lead Trollocs against the Two Rivers directly. He pretended to defend them.” Such a man would act with subtlety. Galad had been safe.

Well, it makes sense if you partially discard Occam’s Razor and also fail to account for the possibility that he’s not as Bornhald and Child Byar say. Then again, if that’s true, then Galad was also safe, because Perrin’s not a monster or a threat.

Alright, fine, Galad, I’ll give you that one.

Those eyes… they were almost a condemnation by themselves.

Seriously, people, what is it with determining a person’s morality by their eye colour? You live in a world with literal magic! Sometimes weird shit happens!

And Aybara had reacted to the mention of the murdered Whitecloaks, stiffening. Beyond that, there was the talk his people gave of him in alliance with the Seanchan and having with him men who could channel.

Again, I can just about see where Galad’s coming from, and how he’s putting the pieces together, but I wish he’d stop for just a moment to consider that maybe there’s more to the story. But then, he’s hardly the only person in this series to come to not-entirely-accurate conclusions based on flawed or incomplete information. They’re all just working with what they have, and sometimes what they have is wrong, but… well, if I gave Lan’s a portion of wisdom quote to Perrin earlier, I suppose it’s only fair I grant Galad the same courtesy now. He doesn’t have perfect evidence that what he’s been told is right, but it paints a compelling enough picture, and he doesn’t have much evidence to the contrary, either.

Better to defeat this Aybara now, than to wait and face him at the Last Battle. As quickly as that, he made his decision. The right decision. They would fight.

Morgase, get over here; we need you.  

Previous (ToM ch 9)

[pvtrichors]

Hey is that MELISSA PAMUK? No, that’s just SAFIYE AYDIN. They’re TWENTY-FIVE and have spent ALL HER LIFE in Dayton. I hear that they’re kind of OPINIONATED but also can be SARCASTIC. SCUFFED BOOTS WITH RIPPED JEANS, MESSY HAIR & THROWING THE FIRST PUNCH remind me of SHE/HER. Can’t wait to see them at the next party!

People tend to romanticize small towns into being quaint and inviting. For whatever reason, the idea is bought and sold like capitalism is hung firmly on its shoulders. The bread and butter for tourism, the stereotypical bullshit that seemed to appeal to the weary souls of those who seems to just be looking for some kind of escape. There was nothing small, quaint, or fucking romantic about the way she had grown up. Her life hadn’t been some sort of romantic comedy that ends when love fixes all the damage that life has done.

The first attempt at fixing her was done at sixteen, when her mother tried to trade her problems away like a pack of cigarettes between inmates. She was barely able to function outside of her addiction, a flavor of the week sort of love affair, but something had to feed that, and honestly, it might as well of been her daughter. Now, most would assume motherly instinct would stop the exchange of her daughter for a discount, but assuming was the first but not the last mistake made. She truly did not give a single shit about anything but herself.

There is a circle burn, branded right in between thumb and forefinger, that will remind Safiye of this no matter how many years it’s been since she actually experienced it. Sometimes, it’s like a ghost limb, the way her body physically and naturally tends to tune back into it, like it’s the beginning of the end where her redemption had failed her. Regardless, she remembers what her mother said to her when she pressed the cigarette lighter; red hot from pushing it into the car, the way she sneered over the faintest sound of skin burning. You are only worth what I let you be.

That night, she was worth a few grand and a discounted rate. Saf was never built, nor created, to be a victim forever, though. She knew her mother was just another challenge she would have to overcome, and being someone; anyone’s bitch, wasn’t exactly her favorited play style. In fact, she leveled up continuously, until the final boss, her own flesh and blood, ended up in the ground herself. She didn’t even get a tombstone, nor a mark, not even a second though other than the smallest memories that are only permitted to chase her at night, in between recycled nightmares and trauma bonds.

The irony in the dead mommy card, and the mystery father, was that it came with freedom from both responsibility and the standard issues of morality. She was organic, nature far more than the nurture that she had lacked in the beginning. Surprisingly, and despite a slight tendency to self medicate, or even indulge in violence as a form of therapy, she learned to be well rounded, even under the occasional disappointed sucking of teeth sound her actual therapist made at the biweekly sessions. Well, the ones that she would actually attend. Some days, healing just came easier than others, after all.

There are parts of her the world has stripped clean, lessons that life has taught the hardest of possible ways, but that is not to say they aren’t worth looking at. A woman who wears her flaws and achievements equally well, once she actually allows them all to be seen. Sure, most people don’t get passed the black and whites of her personality, the parts that most either love or hate within the first five minutes, but nothing worth having is not without working for.

[safrona-shadowsun]

DWC 2021: Life/Death

{This is the final entry for the daily-writing-challenge of 2021}

Mother of Sin. Red Lady. Lady Shadowsun. Harvester. Sister. Saf. Safrona. Courier. Many names, many titles. All various acquisitions through her time since her ‘rebranding’ so to speak. Many acquaintances, many clients. Some Azerothians had thought to call the Warlock a friend and depend on her presence in their own lives. Even those that deemed her an enemy or a traitor now held some curious title for her between their teeth. She could only count on her fingers the names she had truly confided herself in, those precious few that earned more than convenience and careful words behind a guarded smile.

But tonight in Revendreth, a privileged Inquisitor earned the right to her truths in perhaps the best way one could ever really truly know the Warlock - tasting her sins directly from her soul. Safrona took her moments between siphons to breathe as the Venthyr mused over her particular sins, like a connoisseur may weigh the layered flavors of a new brand of wine. This intimate exchange was the sacrifice the Warlock had offered for what she sought. Many pacts, many trades had been made in her lifetime; it was an expected staple of her existence.

On the fifth ‘tasting’, the Venthyr cupped his fingers against his mouth and jawline in deep forethought, staring intently at the threads that were Safrona’s design. He’d eventually break the silence with a depreciating grin, an unbelieving chuckle. “You, my lady, are an utter mess.”

“It’s a controlled chaos,” she replied dryly, eyes darting for the nearest cup of anima to soothe the draining feeling she was left with.

“In that skin?” the Inquisitor gestured to her plainly and scoffed. “It is not even yours!” The Venthyr was something between fascinated and unnerved.

Safrona paused as the goblet touched her lips, nerve touched too much in that moment to allow her sip. “I’m well aware.”

“Then you must be aware of the glaring amount of sin you’ve incurred over the course of your very existence! Your soul is a dirty, shattered thing, Safrona Shadowsun.” An almost pitying look now from the Venthyr. “How you have persisted on your world this long is both impressive and dreadful in nature. You should have been ours long ago.”

“Yours? You must mean the Maw,” the Warlock answered with faux innocence. “Or did you forget that your system has been broken for, well. How long has it been n--”

“My point being,” the Venthyr interrupted in an almost chiding manner as he paused from the notations in his tome. “Every soul that ever came into existence ultimately yearns for a measure of belonging. Even those souls relieved of their lives. I can only ascertain that you would have been a suitable candidate for the Court of Harvesters had you actually let death take you as per the norm. What exactly were you doing that prolonged your life?”

“...that is a whole grimoire of information I’m not donating. Wasn’t part of the arrangement, Inquisitor.” Safrona finally allowed herself a drink. “I’d rather be discussing your end of what is owed. You can ensure the Hybrid is released from Sinfall if he is stable and he wishes it, yes?”

“With some stipulations, I can assure he is allowed leave, yes. But we must address the gargoyle in the room, Miss Safrona. Your own instability, I mean.”

“You can fix that by letting me have more ‘wine’.” Safrona informed with some skepticism, pointing at the vessel of brilliant anima.

“A temporary solution, at best. You have an addiction for it and life essences in general because your own soul is at its source, is splintered. The living should not be this beleaguered with that unnatural sort of addiction. OR patched up with the amount of other soul fragments as you are. Not to mention the many souls you likely kept from transcending mortal death by consumption - which is an unprecedented offense, by the way. But we’ll have to start on this hill by undoing this little mistake that you’ve become. Which means tracing your fragment to its source, making you whole by untethering and RE-tethering --”

“This isn’t part of our agreement.” The void elf snapped, anxious. “NONE of that is part of the agreement! I refuse.”

“Nonsense. If you refuse I won’t be able to hold up my end of the bargain. It’d be a travesty to let you go on as you are.” The Inquisitor quipped in return, like a parent admonishing a misbehaving child. “Really, I’m doing you a favor.”

Every part of the Warlock screamed inside to fight the intention, fight the Inquisitor's “fix”. She had begun as an anomaly, perhaps even a certain wrongness, a mistake, but she had been forged into an identity that had become wanted, that had meaning, and that felt her own doing. What right of order did this one have to reshape that to what was ‘acceptable’ in his own eyes?

But struck by the thought of the one she had come to love not having a chance at his own freedom, to be enslaved to the will of the Venthyr for an eternity held her own discourse back.

The Inquisitor smiled toothily in the moment of Safrona’s own conflicted defense, and reached for the threads of her fragmented soul, undeterred.

Or...at least undeterred by her own will. A thread of haunted chain imbued by unfamiliar magic kept the Inquisitor from taking full control of her spirit. Safrona felt the snap back of her bound soul like a certain whiplash in her skin, and coughed with a certain satisfaction.

“Now THAT is odd. And quite the powerful hold.” The Inquisitor’s disappointment gave way to a rising fascination again. “To what power are you bound, exactly?”

The Loa’s chuckle echoed in her mind, shuddering down the ethereal chain that was of Bwonsamdi’s own making, amused at the Inquisitor's confusion. He did not speak through Safrona, allowing her always her own words as she preferred - this was the nature of the freedom granted even within their pact.

“Should we make another trade, Inquisitor, maybe you will find out, yes?” She could not help her smugness in that moment. “For now, I think I should return back to life in general. As is, and as the powers that be would desire. I may be a mess. An absolute piece of work, even. But I think you have forgotten, Inquisitor, that Life is a certain chaos.”

{ @daily-writing-challenge , @thefirstperished }

[ansu-gurleht]

i can also foresee this kind of like, arc for saf...like she accidentally gets freed somehow when uriel goes through talin’s cell (the exact mechanism of this i’m not 100% on......maybe the assassinations happened like, the day after she was imprisoned, and the prison was full, so they just threw her in with talin? idk). she kinda wanders off after talin wanders off and ends up getting mixed up with the thieves guild. at some point she gets caught and locked up again, but she ends up being thrown into the arena as a prisoner. she’s had to kill people before, most significantly her own father in valenwood, but others since then, but she wasn’t like, good at it, wasn’t really into it, bc of those bad memories associated with her father. 

but the arena made her into a weapon, and she won her freedom at the end by killing the grand champion, who mysteriously didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. she later finds out that it was because talin did agronak’s quest and found out about his father, knowing that it would probably make him lose the will to continue being “the grey prince.” news of a nobody khajiit prisoner quickly climbing the ranks of the arena had reached talin, and he confirmed that it was in fact saf’divi, the scared girl who also witnessed the emperor’s death. so he made it easier for her to win her freedom by taking care of the final and most challenging obstacle. 

she was actually surprisingly upset about it, because while she had initially hated being made a killer, she found that the arena gave her a purpose, something worthwhile to cling to. but she hadn’t been a fool - she knew she couldn’t beat agronak. but she challenged him anyway, knowing she would die. she resented talin from stealing both a found purpose and a clean death from her. but he was already starting to rope her into the blades’ mission to protect the last heir and light the dragonfires. (talin hated doing this, because he knew exactly what it was like for your life to be uprooted and your actual desires vetoed to serve the empire. but he understood the scope of the crisis, and he needed her help.)

she helped talin (and the strange cyrodiil she assumed was his boyfriend) with everything in the main quest, even following martin, talin, and pavel to the temple of the one at the end. after everything was said and done, she left, and talin never had a chance to thank her, or to apologize.

she reconnected with the thieves guild, and while they had initially seen her as a naive child, they now found her a hardened woman. she buried her fears and pain in the thrill of the new challenges the guild offered her, including the final heist of an elder scroll. she became the new gray fox, and found herself lacking a challenge, a purpose to keep her mind occupied. she leaves and ends up joining the dark brotherhood, finding not only excitement and distraction in upping her criminal ante, but even more than the loose gaggle of thieves from before, she felt she had been adopted into something resembling an actual family. which of course ends up crashing down. she becomes listener, but never fulfills her duty as such, cursing the night mother for everything that had happened.

she ends up leaving the night mother’s crypt in bravil and wandering, swimming even, through the niben bay. as a result of abuse as a child, she has always hated water, and always avoids swimming or even walking through it. but after everything, she throws herself at the water, not caring what happens next.

she wakes up later, washed up on the shores of an island with a strange door at its peak...

[rancoeur-the-unfortunate]

Pills (Chapter 20)

(2878 😌)

GIR laughed, the little robot sat on the couch watching one of his favorite shows. The Angry Monkey Show of course! In his lap sat his popcorn kernels extra salty, just how he liked them. The little robot always did this when he had a lot of things on his mind. However, because of how scattered his mind was, it was hard to grasp onto a singular thought. So instead he'd rather distract himself with the TV.

One of those scattered thoughts was about his master. He had been gone for so long and yet for no known purpose that even GIR was concerned. The little robot could feel himself drift in out of reality, mentally of course. GIR's mind was a weird one, to say the least. If he wasn't careful his thoughts could consume him and all that was left was a sleepy GIR. One could say this was GIR's sleep mode, though he wasn't too sure. Then again, GIR wasn't too sure of most things. Like where did his food go after he ate? 

GIR shook his head turning his attention back to the TV. Suddenly GIR didn't feel like watching it anymore... GIR missed his master. He missed being yelled at for doing the things his master told him not to do. Like bringing stray animals in the house or making unnecessary noise. Now it was just him and the moose and that weird purple-headed human.

When was master going to come back?

It was at this time did GIR wished his inner clock was working properly. He never had a good grasp on time. It seemed useless to him and yet it meant so much to his master. Maybe he should have told his master about his mental clock?

What was he thinking about again?

Did he remove his memory chip again?

Maybe.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang along with several knocks at his door.

Now, what was it his master said about letting people in the base?

Before GIR could think about it, he was already at the door. Already in his dog costume, he opens the door.

"Heya GIR!"

That fun ginger kid, Keef stood in front of him.

"Meow," GIR responded with a smile, hugging the human.

"Yeah yeah, I missed you too Buddy." The ginger hugged him back while patting his head.

"So, have you seen Zim around. I heard he and Dib went somewhere and I was hoping he told you where."

Master never did tell him where he was going so GIR shook his head no.

"Aw, that stinks. I was hoping to find them it's been lonely at skool and I hate to say this about Dib but I have a bad feeling about his intentions."

Keef looks down for a bit but then turns his attention back to GIR.

"You don't think he plans on hurting Zim do you?"

GIR paused. No, he was certain that Dib wouldn't hurt him. Besides GIR was just now finding out that Dib was with his master. Yet, he knew the human wanted to capture his master. Maybe it was a trap set by his master or maybe for his master.

"GIR?" Keef snapped his fingers in front of his face causing the robot to shakes his head in surprise.

"You know maybe we should go looking for Zim. Ya know just to be sure." Keef allowed himself inside one hand on his chin.

"But where would they go GIR?"

He turned to GIR who just stared at him with a look of bewilderment. It was standard for SIR units to have trackers connected to their master's PAC and yet he couldn't think up anyway to get it to work. Maybe Keef could fix it?

Without saying a word the little robot took Keef's hand and took him to the desk elevator.

"Wow. What is this GIR?"

The little robot helped Keef into the lift. Which then sent the teen and GIR into one of the sub labs.

Understandably, Keef's eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Wait, what is all this?" Keef stopped in his tracks while GIR continued to try to pull him.

Keef may have been dense sometimes but he wasn't downright stupid. This technology wasn't human it couldn't have been or maybe it was and Keef was just being stupid. But now that Keeef thought about it, it did seem plausible. Suddenly, Keef's mind went back to what Dib had been saying all these years.

'Zim's an alien!'

But that couldn't be true, could it? Zim seemed so real, just a weird kid with a skin condition. But slowly it did make a little more sense. Zim's weird mannerisms, his allergies to both water and meat, the fact that he and Dib had it out for each other since the very start.  

"Zim is an alien."

GIR stopped pulling him as if just now realizing that he had pulled the enemy into his masters base.

"Wow." Keef let go of the little robot and wandered around. His eyes were filled with so many shades of reds, purples, and magentas. Keef approached the computer and stared at the strange keyboard.

"GIR did you know about this?" Keef, not looking up, spoke.

"BARK." Came the robotic voice from somewhere behind him.

"It's so weird." Keef being the curious teen he was pressed a random button and by some miracle, the screen lit up. If Keef's eyes were any wider they'd fall right out of his head. The screen was filled with files all explaining Irken anatomy and brief descriptions of medicines Keef had never heard of, surprisingly all in English.

"What was Zim doing down here GIR?"

"Masta was tryin' ta recreate one of uh his pill thingies."

"Pills? So Zim... really was on drugs?" Keef couldn't believe it, to say the least, but he had to. All the evidence was against Zim and yet Keef could feel the denial creeping up his shoulders like insects.

Keef shook his head. He couldn't dwell on such things, he had a best friend to look out for.

"Alright GIR how are we going to find Zim?"

"You don't."

Keef spun on his heels with a shriek. Behind him, just ten feet away stood a girl with purple hair and gothic-like clothes.

"Hey wait, I know you, you're Dib's little sister!"

"Unfortunately for you, that's the case."

"What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm here so I can find my best friend. Right GIR?"

The small robot was currently standing on the wall and nodding his head vigorously.

"Well give up then. Zim and Dib are hiding right now."

"Hiding? Why?"

"Pssh. Like I'd tell you."

"Why not?" Keef was getting tired of this.

"Because what if someone follows you, you moron. What if you give away their position?" Gaz had her arms crossed above her chest and had a bored look on her face. 

"Yeah? Well, what if that insane brother of yours does something to Zim?!"

Gaz uncrossed her arms, hands curling into fists.

"Shut up Keef you don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't I?! How many times has Dib tried to hurt Zim huh? How many times has he tried to expose him to the world like some kind of freak?!"

"He wouldn't be too far off."

At that Keef snarled. How dare she insult Zim like that.

"You take that back! Zim is amazing and to even insinuate otherwise is proof of how much of a jealous. incompetent, loser you are!"

At that, Gaz raised a brow and smiled a bit before cracked up laughing. Keef couldn't believe this, all this time he'd never heard so much of a giggle from the girl and now she was laughing at him. Her laugh, dear god, her laugh was the most terrifying thing he had ever heard. He was like a crows caw mixed with a raccoon's screech and it made Keef's blood boil. 

With that in mind, Keef charged her whilst screaming hoping to end her horrible muse. However, as soon as Keef came within range he was socked, hard. He practically spun in the air before he finally hit the metal floor.

"Computer!"

"What is it?!" The computer sounded as though it had just been woken up and wasn't too happy about it.

"Intruder alert cage him."

"I don't want to!" Came the defiant moody teenager voice.

Gaz rolled her eyes and pulled out a remote from her pocket. The remote only had one red button on it, labeled 'Restart!'.

With the push of the button, the computer's voice shrieked a bit before the light's started flickering before going back to normal.

"Yes, ma'am." The computerized voice seemed to lack all the emotion it once possessed and instead seemed to be nothing but an empty husk.

With that, robotic arms came out from the floor and ceiling, grabbing the now unconscious Keef and throwing him into a nearby cage.

GIR, now done with his nodding finally noticed Gaz and ran over. Grabbing her legs, and pulling her into a hug.

"Ugh. Computer, make sure Keef stays in that cage. We can't risk him escaping."

"Yes, ma'am."

Gaz smirked and turned around to head deeper into the base.

"Wait, why bother caging him at all? No one would believe him if he were to tell." The computer inquired.

"I know, but fuck that guy."

Minnimoose floated around the lower levels of the base, barking order after order to the computer to as she tried her best to install the new upgrades to the base's defenses. Carrying things had quickly become a challenge due to her nubby arms. So she could hold small things like wires, nuts, and bolts with her antlers. But that was just about it. 

"Mie meh ge mh yu me!" The moose barked.

"I'm tired!" The computer complained.

"Mes yu aw geh!"

"I know I'm a computer! But I don't want to do this anymore!"

Minnimoose was starting to regret giving Gaz that Restart Remote she needed it right now.

"WE GY MEH MAS!" The moose glared at the ceiling, knowing the computer was watching her.

"I know this is for Master! I don't care!" The computer raised its artificial voice.

Gaz came down the elevator, juice box in hand, and GIR in tow.

"Sup Moose. Robot giving you a hard time?"

The moose let out a squeak, which by now was a sigh.

"Yu."

GIR ran out of the elevator and up the wall to the ceiling there he knelt and screamed,

"HI COMPUTER!"

The computer let out an annoyed sigh.

Gaz stood beside Minnimoose.

"What are you trying to build?"

"Muu mo we."

"Huh sounds kinda cool." Gaz shrugs and presses the Restart button on the remote causing the computer to, like before, shriek, shut down, and power back on. 

"Yes, ma'am." 

With that, the computer went back to work on the upgrades.

Minnimoose let out a 'sigh' of relief.

"Mas we by saf."

"Yeah, with these upgrades. He better be."

"Uh, Doctor I have a few questions about this whole... plan of yours." Tallest Purple raised his hand.

The Tallest along with the Doctor and few other top-ranked Irkens were sat around a round table discussing the plan for getting Zim back on his pills. 

The said Doctor let out a sigh.

"Yes, my Tallest?" He tried his best not to lace every word with venom. The Doctor did not like being questioned.

"How do you plan on capturing Zim? You have read his file right? He's got more luck than any other being in the galaxy!"

"Yeah, we've tried to destroy him countless times and every time he always seems to evade the danger." Tallest Red added.

"That's simple. We'll set a trap for him. Zim's withdrawal should be going into full swing soon a few pills could be the perfect bait and if that doesn't work we'll just try something else."

"Something else? Like what?" Red asked.

"Oh I don't know, a personal item, a pet, a friend, a lover, etc, etc." The Doctor droned.

"Well there's always that big-headed child Zim is always fawning over," Red suggested.

"Yeah, just the other day Zim always talks about that big-headed kid. What did he call him?... Did or somethin'?"

"No no, Dib." Red corrected.

"Yeah, that's right, Dib."

The two now done with their mini conversation turned back to the Doctor. 

"Also how to plan to keep him locked up long enough to get him back on his medication."

"My Tallest, Zim may be able to escape your greasy fingers, sure. But he won't get passed mine." The Doctor's voice went deeper near the end of the sentence.

The Tallest looked at each other, then back to the good Doctor.

"Greasy?" Purple asked as if he didn't understand what the Doctor just said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tallest Red put his hands to his hips.

"Oh, nothing my amazing and all-knowing Tallest." The Doctor quickly bowed and motion for one of the foodservice drones to approach. He cupped his hands and gave his Tallest a little smile.

"Care for some confectionary?"

"Yes, please!" Tallest Purple immediately dove into the food.

"Heeeey If I didn't know any better I'd say you were just trying to distract us- oh they've got cupcakes." Tallest Red tried to but in before being drawn in by the sweet treats.

The Doctor continued to smile as his Tallest gorged themselves. He then turned to the rest of the group his smile a lot more sinister.

"Now then. Shall we begin?"

Zim sat up suddenly gasping for air he gripped his sleeping bag in a death grip as he starred forward. Beside him, Dib awoke, rubbing his eyes before sliding his glasses on.

"What is it, Zim? Another memory?"

"No Dib. A realization." Zim replied solemnly while sweat fell from his skin.

"Oh? What is it then." Dib sat up and turned to face the alien.

"I haven't contacted my Tallest in Days! They must be worried sick!" Zim gripped the sides of his head in panic.

"What?! Worried?! Zim, you do know they don't care about you right?"

That was the wrong thing to say because a second later Zim was on top of Zim with his claw gripping the front of his shirt.

"Don't you ever say such things about the almighty Tallest pathetic Dib worm!"

Dib eyes went wide before he glared back to the alien. He grabbed Zim's arms and forced him to let go and back off.

"Why are you defending them, after everything they've done to you?!"

"No those were only nightmares they aren't real." Zim put his hands to the side of his head and shuts his eyes tight as if the block out the noise.

"Wow, that Ventive really is strong."

Zim pauses and looks to Dib lowering his hands.

"What's... Ventive."

"It's one of the many ingredients that come in those little pills you care so much about Zim."

"What?! How do you know what's in my medication?!" Zim was shaking from both rage and fear.

"Tak's ship told me everything Zim. It also told me what each ingredient does to you. Ventive, for example, is what makes you so damn loyal to those deranged lunatics. It's a drug Zim, don't you ever wonder why the Tallest treat you so badly? It's because they know, no matter what horrible things they say or things they make you do, you'll always bounce back and be that good little Irken. They don't care about you Zim. I'm sorry... but they just don't."

Dib fell silent, he was prepared for Zim's backlash. He was prepared for Zim to scream about how wrong Dib was and how the Tallests love him ever so much. What he wasn't prepared for was Zim's quiet voice.

"Do you really think that's true?" Every word Zim spoke was laced with a false hope that maybe Dib was just telling a human joke but the longer he waited the more he realized.

Zim's lips we pulled into a thin line as his eyes drifted downward. He looked like he was going to cry.

"Uh, Zim are you ok?" Dib could feel the concern slashing onto his face like a bucket of paint.

Zim wiped his eyes into his face.

"Do they not care about Zim?" He sniffled.

Dib let out a sigh and told it to him straight, Zim deserved that much.

"No, they don't."

Zim nodded and wiped his eyes again. Dib could see the beginning of tears in the Irken's eyes.

"So they have been drugging me... and all those dreams did happen."

"I guess so." Dib took Zim's hand in his own.

"But, it's ok now Zim. You're not taking those pills anymore. You're getting better and soon you might even get your memories back." Dib smiled reassuringly at the alien hoping that Zim would at least feel a little bit better.

The Irken went silent for a bit.

"I... need some time to think, human." Zim stood and left the tent.

Dib couldn't explain why but for some reason the tent felt a lot colder after Zim left.

(Wasn't Enter the Florpus just great?!)

[artangel3993]

this is pt 2 of this drabble and it wont rlly make sense w/o it!  time 4 violet. cw for i mean general fuckery that is conditionally present in the box boy universe, contracts n ownership discussed, also mention of drugs

the inspiration for the setting of the underground military bunker turned psychedelic warehouse is from a real case that was i think still the largest lsd bust in the 2000s which is neat. drug history! that link has pics of the actual bunker too and im p sure vice also did a documentary on it, its a really interesting case! anyways i just want to get to bunker time so i can introduce poppy bc i love her. 

prev | next

--

Safiya could not, for the life of her, figure out what the fuck was wrong with this algorithm. She kept running it through her IDE over and over, checked all the spellings of the variables, and it still wouldn’t run the way she needed it to, or be a functional block of code in any way, intended or not (she got that sometimes, when a program would run but it would do something completely fucking different than her intentions.) She dragged her hands down her eyes, and took another long sip of her energy drink. She hadn’t slept in two days and she was still behind on her end of the code for her company’s new game- which fucking sucked, but at the same time, Saf liked the challenge, the conflict. Having something to do. Vi left her with enough money that she’d never have to work a day in her life again and still be fine, but she was good at game development- well. Not right now, but in general. Right now, she was about to ring whoever invented C++ by the neck.

Safiya was set up at the table by the kitchen, hosting her computer, a jumble of folders and piles of unorganized papers, at least three finished Monster’s scattered in between it all, and herself: wrapped in a knitted blanket, the monitor’s blue light bathing her dark skin. Summer was a couple steps away on the couch, lying down on her stomach and watercoloring, her legs idly kicking this way and that in the air (when Saf was working, Summer liked to create with her, she’d put on one of Saf’s records and make all kinds of art in a concentrated, comfortable silence, but watercoloring was always her favorite. Sometimes she’d give Saf painted pictures of the characters in whatever game she was working on, which made Saf smile like an idiot every time and put them someplace safe.) There were still wildflowers and weeds weaved into Summer’s golden hair, mud caking her tennis shoes laid forgotten by the door, and a soft smile on her face; all clues that made Saf infer she’d probably been out in the garden this morning that Summer had recently started. Saf had a lot of land extending from the cottage she’d never explored and left wholly wild and uncared for, so Summer kind of took over. 

Now when Saf looked out one of the front windows, there were all kinds of flowers lining the house, fluffy bumblebees laying on their petals, the beginnings of an apple tree supported by two wooden poles on either side as big as the sapling was. Once, she got dressed in all of her protective clothing because Summer asked if she could bring her outside and show her the full tour, just to see her get excited talking about all the different seeds she’d planted, her plans to tie a swing to the big oak tree out front. Safiya, in those moments, felt like she knew Summer, really. Felt like she knew what she could do to keep her in that good place, and even if she still slipped into being far away, Saf could handle it.

(There were other kinds of days, too, when Summer felt like a completely different person and Safiya was out kicking in the fucking deep end with no understanding of what to do, if anything she could do would make a difference anyways. Sometimes Summer wouldn’t talk for days. Sometimes, she’d sit poised and elegant- on the couch or the rocking chair or her bed in what used to be the spare room- for hours and hours and hours with the only movement being her blinking every so often, her face otherwise looked like it was as trapped in a pose as the rest of her. Safiya would try sitting down with her, and talking as quiet and gentle as her voice would allow, ask her if she was alright, if she wanted to maybe stand up with her and they could take a little walk around the rooms of the cottage, maybe, or- or Saf could put on all of her gear and they could go outside together- take my hand, everything’s okay, you’re safe I promise- but Summer would be unresponsive at that point, staring straight ahead, and Safiya would realize just how fucking unqualified she was to try and help her at all.)

Safiya fell out of her thoughts as the record Summer put on got caught in a groove, and started repeating the same chord over and over. Summer’s head peeked up from the couch, and she walked over to the record player, delicately flipping the vinyl and motioning towards putting it back onto the player.

She never got the chance, though. The front door made a clicking sound, the hinges sighed, and Violet Lowe was standing in the doorframe. Summer dropped the vinyl and it shattered. 

“I thought I changed my locks.” Safiya didn’t move from where she spoke.

Violet shrugged. “You did.” There was quiet. She closed the door behind her to keep the light out.

Safiya stood up, her blanket dropping to the floor, and she felt stupid for being in her sweats and a pair of fucking crocs because it would be really great if she was anything close to intimidating right now. Still, she walked over to Vi, putting herself in between her and Summer. 

Safiya intended to say a lot of things to her, everything that had been boiling in her mind since the morning Vi left and didn’t come back, insults and how could yous and I deserve better than thats. Instead, this is what came out: “I missed you, Vi. So much.” If, Saf thought, she was just a little less emotionally stunted, there’d be tears in her eyes. She really thought Vi wasn’t going to come back this time.

Violet smiled, but it was unreadable behind her sunglasses. She was definitely selling again, it showed in the gold and silver coiling around her fingers in serpentine rings and  dripping down her neck, contrasted starkly against her black cocktail dress. She had new heeled boots that made her stand almost as tall as Summer was, their glossy cold-black finish the exact same shade as her perfectly maintained bob. “I know you missed me. It’s why I came back.”

“Where have you been selling?” Saf knew Vi had friends in the business with mansions up and down the west coast they’d hop around, going from city to city giving out all kinds of compounds and getting rich as fuck in the process, living like psychedelic royalty. But this felt different, she’d been gone for too long.

Vi shook her head. “Not selling. Manufacturing. That’s where the real money is. We don’t have to move around, either, we bought this underground military bunker-”

“A bunker. An underground military bunker.” How the fuck do you just buy an underground military bunker.

Vi mhm’d impatiently, as if she was puzzled as to Saf not being able to keep up. “It used to be for large weapons storage, but it got auctioned off. One of the smartest decisions me and Nic ever made.” Sometimes Saf didn’t recognize the names Vi would rattle off, but Nic, Nic she knew from the one time she’d been with Saf while she was away on her business trips. She swallowed the memories she, frankly, could not be less prepared to deal with, back down.

Violet took Safiya’s hands in hers, the cold metal of her rings making imprints against Saf’s fingers. “Saf, Elana’s making psychoactive compounds nobody’s even theorized about before, with the amount of privacy we have there. You understand? We’re about to change the drug underbelly of this entire nation. And I want you there with me.”

“I’d go with you?” Vi’d never offered to take her with, ever since everything happened that summer, with her Vi, Elana and Nic. Safiya looked back at Summer in her floral sundress (she only wore that one on days when she was feeling good, Saf knew it was her favorite,) who at that point had pressed herself against the wall, standing straight and dead silent, staring at the both of them, her face unreadably calm to most, but Saf knew she only disconnected like that when she was fucking terrified. The record was still in pieces on the ground. With both eyes on her, Summer peeled herself off of the wall and hurriedly started picking up the shattered bits. Safiya moved towards her, breaking Vi’s grip. “It’s alright, Summer, I’ve got this, don’t worry about it-”

“Summer?” Vi said behind her, and Safiya realized just how badly she does not want these two people in her life to interact ever. Fuck. “It suits her so well. How have you liked my birthday present for you so far?”

Safiya stomped back up to Violet, and in a whisper edging on a growl, “We are not doing this right now Vi.” Saf would make grave eye contact with her if it weren’t for the fact that Vi still had her fucking shades on. 

“Now, if you had such a problem with my generosity, she’d be gone by now, wouldn’t she?” And then, after a moment, she added: “Stop acting like a saint, Safiya. You’ve never been a good liar.”

The room buzzed with the echo of her words, and Safiya stood there, quiet, for a dragged out moment, trying to think of some way to spit back at her. It didn’t happen. With the most calm face she can put on right now, she turned back to Summer. “Summer, maybe you should... go outside, for a little bit. I’ll tell you when I’ve shown Violet out.” She makes those last words taste like venom, matter-of-fact, so Vi can hear her anger. 

“No, she can stay.”

Summer stopped dead in her tracks. Looking at the fear in her eyes, that sinking look that overpowered any kind of calm Summer usually had when Saf was there, Saf knew she was lost. Summer was listening to Vi, now, all Vi, the kind of gone Saf was all too familiar with people getting under Vi’s words.

“Anyways,” Vi said, a tad annoyed, as if all of that had just been a mere blip in the conversation, turning her head to address Saf, “yes, you’re coming with. You’d be safe in the bunker, I made sure of it. All of your special lights. I want…. I want you there. With me.”

If this had been in literally any other context, Safiya would’ve smiled at Vi’s effort to communicate her feelings, Saf had been with her for years and she knew how hard it was for her to even understand her own emotions, much less say them out loud. But she was pissed at her, and she was going to hold onto that feeling for as long as she could to make her feel worse. “Summer stays here.” There was no way in hell she was going to let Summer anywhere near Vi’s fucked up drug empire. 

Vi just fucking shrugged. “She’s coming.”

Saf charged at her again, pointing an accusing finger at her and getting close enough until it buried into the fabric of Vi’s dress. “You can act like I’m as fucked up as you are but I would never trust her with your or your f-”

Vi smiled, and batted Saf’s hand off of her as if she was a somewhat disinterested cat. “Let me rephrase that. My name is on her contract. She’s coming.”

[numberonepeacetragedy]

Yeast Market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 8.86% during the forecast period

Market Overview

The Yeast Market Size is set to grow at a CAGR of 8.86% during the forecast period 2017 to 2023. As per the market research report, the market will hit USD 5398.5 million in terms of valuation by the end of 2023. The market growth will be driven by the rising consumption of bakery products. Based on the research report, the rising intake of alcoholic beverages will accelerate growth in the market till 2023. Although shrinking research and development budgets will have a negative impact on the global Yeast Market Size’s growth during this period. The intense demand for key raw materials is predicted to be a key challenge which could become a strong threat from 2017 to 2023 to companies.

The market report published by expert analysts includes primary and secondary data and suggests that type, applications, and form segments are anticipated to witness tremendous growth till 2023. Factors such as the growing focus on enhancing the production will become key growth drivers during the forecast period and the demand for animal feed is also said to be supporting the market globally, however, the growth projected for the forecast period could be affected by the lower awareness level among farmers which could negatively affect activities taking place across the market. The lack of effective communication is another challenge the market could face till 2023.

Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/yeast-market-5543

Market Segmentation

The Yeast Market Size is segregated into different market segments based on type, applications, and form. For a comprehensive analysis of the market, the type, applications, and form segments are further split into smaller segments. The type segment is categorized into baker’s yeast, bioethanol yeast, brewer’s yeast, feed yeast, wine yeast, and others. Furthermore, based on form, the global market is also segmented into foods, beverages, feed, and others. Based on the market segmentation analysis, the report covers market forecasts. On the basis of applications, the global market is split into sub segments including dry, instant, fresh, and others.

Strong demand for bakery products across the world will support the market growth from 2017 to 2023. As per the market research report, the global market for yeast is anticipated to grow at a healthy rate across all the type, applications, and form segments. However, the presence of active threats such as the fluctuating prices of raw materials could hamper the market growth. Business activities across yeast have also been examined and studied by yeast industry’s experienced analysts. The Yeast Market Size research report covers findings with predictions and forecasts till 2023.

Regional Overview

The Yeast Market Size, with its product and service related segments, is spread across the world. Yeast based regional markets are also covered in the market research report. The regional markets are Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa and the rest of the world. The growing health awareness is anticipated to be a major factor for growth across the yeast space during the forecast period. The regional market in North America is classified as the United States, Mexico, Canada, and others. The yeast sector based regional markets in Europe are split into Italy, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. In the Asia Pacific region, the market is segmented into China, India, Japan, and others. Yeast based businesses in these regional markets are anticipated to grow due to the rising demand for good quality convenience food during the forecast period 2017 to 2023. Although the market’s growth could be affected by the lack of developed infrastructure. The analysts have also segmented markets of the Middle East, Africa, and the rest of the world.

Competitive Landscape

Yeast based organizations are profiled in the market research report. The Yeast Market Size along with companies and segments has been studied. The analysis of yeast based business is also done to identify key challenges and strengths of these companies. The global Yeast Market Size research report covers SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Force analysis of major yeast related organizations. The strategy and other key details of these companies for the forecast period 2017 to 2023 are covered in the report. Improving consumer relations is anticipated to support the market growth as the market is set to grow at a CAGR of 8.86% and reach a value of US$5398.5 million by 2023.

Industry News

Biohymn Biotechnology, a Chinese firm that specialises in the manufacture of yeast and yeast extracts, has acquired a majority stake in Lesaffre. The deal, according to Lesaffre, is in line with the company's aim of improving its position in the Chinese sector and maintaining closer proximity to its customers. Since the 1980s, Lesaffre seems to have had operations in Asia, producing the Saf-Instant yeast product. Lesaffre bought a yeast plant in Ming Guang, near Nankin, some 186 miles from Shanghai, in 1999. In collaboration with the sugar manufacturer Donta, new facilities were commissioned in Laibin, Guangxi, in 2010. Eventually, in 2015, the company agreed to buy a controlling stake in Sungain in Chongzuo.

Request a Sample Report @

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5543

NOTE: Our Team of Researchers are Studying Covid19 and its Impact on Various Industry Verticals and wherever required we will be considering Covid19 Footprints for Better Analysis of Market and Industries. Cordially get in Touch for More Details.