#Somewhere in the World...There's Us || Location Classified

[brooklynislandgirl]

Advent Calendar || Day Six @therealgamble

"One day of coal versus three hundred sixty four days of fun, I'll go ahead and take my chances."

She can't help but chuckle. Not that she should be listening to him, they are, after all, sweeping for mines. That's her job. Listening in her way for the variations of energy from the magnetics in the metal. She's light enough after a little bit of judicious use of her powers not to detonate them and her ability to sense the common thread of quintessence in specific patterns, what she tells him is the life's blood of the universe. Brian lets her go on as she likes about these things and while she knows he understands all but the most obscure esoteric minutia, maybe even fantasises about having abilities too, he treats it as he would someone with extraordinary talent in marksmanship, someone who's an expert mechanic, someone who is a doctor. Sometimes he watches her when she's doing little things. Almost ordinary by her standards. But he's never come across as envious. And right now, she's glad for it. Just like she's glad that she's the canary in the mine so to speak. Command says they can lose her, or if she comes away with missing limbs, she can take care of it herself, given time. She doesn't want to take the risk with him. "Okay, but. If you did care, and you did believe? What would you ask for if you were on the Nice list?" His shrug warms her through. Then the smile and he gets on with wild fantasies. Room service in a five star hotel, a bevy of women ~she isn't jealous though she does make a face at him before she mops her brow despite the cold~ the food, the drink, the rest. He asks her the question in return and she shrugs and keeps planting flags for the EOD team that will follow after them. What he says sounds nice. The idea of lying on the golden sands of a beach somewhere with a giant fruity drink sounds good too. Maybe because regardless of the ever more fanciful details they add, she realises anywhere would be good so long as she's with him. A gruelling eighteen hours later, they both fall across their cots. For long moments neither one moves or even speak beyond a few well earned groans. She listens as his breath starts to deepen and she knows that he's on the edge of sleep. "Hey, Gamble," she manages. She's sure he's about to ignore her. "I got ya something. And no, it's not coal." He flips her the bird. She smiles. He'll find it in his boot in the morning.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Do you know why is 云深不知处 popularly translated as cloud recesses? As far as I know (by that I mean recesses), it makes no sense? Like what about recesses makes them unknown or deep

(Ngl when I first heard 云深不知处, I thought it was 云深不知出 and if you called some place that, no wonder someone would think you’d be trying to imprison them lol)

Hi there!

For context for others and the original poem this comes from first:

Traditional Hanzi:

1 松下問童子

2 言師採藥去

3 只在此山中

4 雲深不知處

Simplified Hanzi:

1 松下问童子

2 言师采药去

3 只在此山中

4 深不知处

Pinyin:

1 Sōngxià wèn tóngzǐ

2 yán shī cǎi yào qù

3 zhǐ zài cǐ shānzhōng

4 yún shēn bùzhī chù

English (Just gonna have to deal with my shoddy attempt):

1 Beneath the bow of pines, I asked a disciple

2 My Master has gone to gather herbs that grow wild, he said

3 Somewhere on these mountains

4 Hidden in the clouds unknown

And here we have chù and chū at the end of these sentences. Simplified 处, Trad. 處,. And 出 which is what areuils is speaking of! The character to classify a location a place (usually somewhere that's pretty official, think office, facilities departments, etc) as well as 出 being used to classify dramas and opera plays. The 处, 處, character also heavily denotes punishment and discipline. This makes it seem a lot more intimidating and nightmarish. For the teenage boy that Wei Wuxian was at the time, it kind of makes it a fun little word play of his expectations and early views of the Lans and Lan Wangji and his own wild imagination at times.

For the English choice that the original translator chose (ExR) I at least thought it was wanting to stick to the spirit of the ideal monk-like ambience the original poem was portraying and took some heavy liberties for an English audience to keep in mind that the Gusu Lan clan are heavily monastic in living and tradition and are also mysteriously ethereal and untouched by the world (like the master we never see on page). Recesses sounds more monastic and peaceful I suppose in English even if it's not linguistically similar in the slightest to the hanzi and denotes a pathway more so than the actual unknown of mountains.

I personally enjoy the shrouded steeps as one translation to go with, as you said the official English denotation lacks the feel of a lurking unknown that the boy in the poem seems worried over and still too immature himself to go in like his hermit master.

I was also not one to enjoy how 乱葬岗, Luànzàng Gǎng is translated as Burial Mounds, as that still feels far too respectful for it, even if meant ironically in English.

But the woes of translations eh? And that footnotes cannot be chapters in themselves for readers because it's all just so brilliant and wonderful to delve into.

[darth-mortem]

This is a third chapter of my COD fic "At the Crossroads of the Worlds" translated by @g8se.

Task force "141" was sent to clean up a secret laboratory, the research of which was financed by states recognized as sponsors of terrorism. The soldiers broke into a bunker located in the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian-Georgian border. At first, everything went according to plan, but after the fighters split up, Ghost came across a strange room, the door of which locked automatically the moment he was inside. Without knowing it, Simon Riley had set off an experiment that had been brewing here for years, and now he would have to be very strong to finally return home.

First chapter | Second chapter

Chapter 3 of 6. 2,221 words.

Past character death, angst, action, secret lab, experiment, parallel worlds

August 16, 2016. Temporary base of TF 141. Iran. Zagros ridge. Coordinates classified. Experiment Status: Twenty-six hours after successful equipment launch. Vital signs of the subject are within norm. Reality LW414/2016.

“Ghost, wake up.” Captain Riley sighed deeply, recognizing the familiar voice of his younger double.

“We’ve arrived?” He rasped after waking up, rubbing his eyes through the openings in his mask.

“Yes,” MacTavish nodded, getting up. “Will ye help me take Roach to the medical?”

Ghost agreed, and they carried the injured soldier out of the landing compartment. Around them were several buildings, most of which looked quite neglected, and a large hangar with a rusty roof. Inside, a few vehicles and what seemed to be an APC. Once all the soldiers disembarked from the heli, the pilot began manoeuvring it into the hangar. Ghost glanced at him, and the pilot waved his hand before returning back to work.

“What is this place?” Captain Riley asked as they walked towards one of the buildings. “And where are we?”

“We’re in Iran,” Price said, lighting a cigarette. “It used to be a terrorist base. We cleared it, and it turns out we're the only living people left who know about this facility. So, this is our safe place.”

The soldiers repurposed one of the buildings for their needs. Supplies of food, ammunition, fuel, and some other equipment were stored in several rooms. A separate room was turned into an infirmary, and the wounded soldier was carried just there.

“I'll bandage him up and stay with him,” MacTavish said. “Just don't forget to call me when the food is ready.”

“Thank God you won't be the one cooking,” Lieutenant Riley snorted and was the first to leave the room.

Two captains followed him, and the younger Ghost suggested showing the older one around the base.

“Good idea,” Price replied and smiled. “Show him everything around here and help our new friend settle in somewhere. Maybe in your room while Roach is in the infirmary?”

“Sure,” Lieutenant Riley replied briefly. “And who will take care of the food?”

“I will,” Price said, “just need to check on our helicopter first. We took a bit of a beating, and the pilot had to fix everything before picking us up.”

They went their separate ways. The captain of 141 went back to the hangar, and Lieutenant Riley led his older double through the building. He explained where everything was stored, showed a room repurposed as a small kitchen, led to a room where the soldiers could spend time together, something like a recreation room, showed the shower, mentioning that there was artesian water from a well, but it was cold, to say the least – icy. Then Simon pointed to a door, saying that behind it was Price and Soap's room, and he opened it, making an inviting gesture with his hand.

The room was small but quite clean and tidy. There were a few metal shelves, a small table, a chair, and a bunk bed.

“Mine is the upper one,” the lieutenant said. “So, make yourself comfortable on the lower one. Wait a bit, I'll clear space for your gear.”

“Are there any outlets here?” the captain asked and smiled under his mask. “I need to charge something.”

They used a generator for power, and there were not many outlets in this room. So, Simon went somewhere and soon returned with an extension cord with four sockets. Then he began rearranging equipment to make room for the older Ghost's belongings but stopped, watching with curiosity what he was doing. Taking wires and adapters from his cargo pockets, Captain Riley began connecting them to the collimator sight on his assault rifle to some device on the end of his pistol, and to the thermal imager, which he had previously disconnected from his helmet.

“I just noticed how interesting your weapons are,” the lieutenant said, approaching the table. “What's all this?”

“Sit down, I'll show you,” the captain offered. “Come closer so the wire length is enough. This is a modified Beretta M92*. Lightweight frame, waterproof coating, and an eighteen-round magazine. Take it, try how it feels.”

The younger Ghost took the pistol, checked its weight, pulled and pushed back the magazine, then stood up and tried different stances and grips. Under the barrel, there was a flashlight and a Picatinny rail attached to the barrel, but it was empty. On the end, as Simon had noticed earlier, there was a device with a display, which currently showed a charging progress.

“What's this?” The lieutenant asked.

“Turn it on, you'll see,” the captain smiled.

On the side he’s found a small power button. The younger Ghost sat back, pressed it, and saw the message "Ammo" and the number "18" on the screen. Tilting it, he pulled out the drum, and the device immediately registered it.

“It counts your ammo, warns when you’re running low, and reminds you to reload,” the older Ghost smiled. “To me, it's a just a toy, but it helps young and inexperienced soldiers. Now, take the assault rifle.”

“Is this an M16?” the lieutenant put the pistol aside and took the weapon. “Not very comfortable, although the stock is adjusted to you, and you're twice my size.”

“Well, not twice,” the captain smiled. “It's the MX25, based on the M16. Turn on the collimator sight and look around, tell me what you think. And tomorrow, we'll readjust all of this for you, and you’ll try it out.”

Curious, Simon did what his older double advised him. Looking through the sight, he saw a red dot, and then slowly moved the rifle in different directions. It turned out that the collimator sight also distinguishes thermal radiation, even through walls. The lieutenant saw red zones on the side where the generator and the kitchen were. Then he pulled out the magazine, made sure there was no cartridge in the chamber, and aimed the weapon at the older Ghost. His figure lit up in green and was outlined.

“Why are the generator and kitchen red, and you're green?” Simon asked.

“The sight detects obstacles between you and the target,” his older counterpart explained. “It can tell between moving and stationary targets, as well as living and non-living. However, when it comes to latter it’s somewhat limited.”

“This is very cool,” the lieutenant said and laid down the rifle. “What about knives? You love them too, right?”

“Naturally,” Captain Riley smiled under his mask and then unfastened tactical sheaths from his armour and handed one to his younger double.

While Simon examined the knife and played with it in his hand, checking the weight and balance, Ghost removed the chest rig and armour, stretching with satisfaction. Then came the turn of the knee pads and plates protecting the shins. The lieutenant watched with curiosity, and then, setting aside the knife, took one of these plates and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“It's so light!” he said and, making sure the captain didn't mind, took his armour and weighed it in his hands. “Fucking hell, I would never believe this thing could take a direct shot from a short distance if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! You probably have a huge bruise there.”

“Not at all,” Ghost smiled and stood up. “This is the latest development, a complex armoured composite material. It not only surpasses older armour plates in strength but also absorbs the impact force, spreading it evenly across the surface. And since we're on the topic, tell me, Simon, why were you there without your armour?”

Lieutenant didn't get a chance to respond. A knock echoed in the room, and a second later, Captain MacTavish appeared at the door.

“Roach woke up ‘n’ even managed tae stand up,” he reported. “And the food is ready, so put away yer toys and let's go ‘ave dinner.”

“Soap!” unexpectedly, the lieutenant got upset. “You can't talk like that to Captain Riley!”

MacTavish blinked and scratched his forehead before looking at the older Ghost and smiling at him.

“Right,” he said, “sorry, mate.”

Ghost waved it off, and all three of them went to the recreation room. Roach was already sitting on the old sofa by the table – pale, wrapped in bandages, but still alive. As Price, who was getting plates ready, said Sergeant Sanderson even made it here on his own two feet, just a bit leaning on Captain MacTavish.

“Soap told me about you,” Roach said in a weak voice, looking at the taller and bigger Ghost. “Said you saved me and Riley. So, thank you.”

“No need,” Captain Riley sat down, and the lieutenant settled next to him. “Tell me, guys, is the fact that you didn't have full gear has something to do with you being on the run?”

“Partly,” Price began serving canned meat and porridge onto plates. “We didn't expect such resistance, nor did we expect that bloody Shepherd would betray us.”

Ghost nodded and, receiving his portion and a cup of tea, took a fork and started eating. For a few minutes, everyone stayed silent, hungry and tired, and then Captain Riley realized that he didn't see the pilot here.

“He's not one o’ us,” Soap answered Ghost's question. “He owes us, so he helps out, but he stays oot of our business ‘n’ sleeps in the hangar. I brought ‘im food before calling ye ‘n’ Simon.”

There were no more questions, and the room fell silent again, interrupted only by the clatter of forks on plates. When dinner was finished, Soap, glancing at Price and seeing him nod, took a bottle filled with some murky liquid from the shelf. Everyone took a sip of their tea, and MacTavish poured something homemade and very unpleasant-tasting into the empty cups.

"Captain Riley showed me his weapons and gear," Simon said when everyone had finished drinking and caught their breath. "Ours doesn't even come close!"

The lieutenant began to talk about the weapon attachments and armour. Price lit a cigar, and Ghost noticed that this older and more serious Johnny was looking at his younger double with a slight but very gentle smile. No one interrupted Simon, and he told them everything, ending his speech by boasting that Captain Riley would let him try his assault rifle once all the high-tech gadgets were charged.

"You know what," Ghost said, looking at his younger counterpart, who, having finished, grabbed a cigarette from Soap and lit it, "I'll give it to you as a gift. I'll leave the charging cable; if you're careful, it will serve you until similar technologies appear in your world."

"Hold on, what aboot ye, going without a weapon?" Soap asked, leaning forward.

"Well," Ghost smiled faintly, and everyone saw it because the edge of his mask was still raised, "I don't think I'll stay with you for long. The reason why I ended up here int the first place was an experiment. And what's the point of an experiment if you can't find out the results? So, most likely, I'll somehow get back. But my gear can still help you. John, my armour will fit you. Roach, you lost your helmet in the mountains, so I'll give you mine. Captain, I see you haven't suffered a knee injury like Price from my world. I don't know if it's supposed to happen to you or if our worlds are completely different, but..."

"You have the same scar as me," Lieutenant Riley interrupted him, touching his lips.

"Exactly," Ghost nodded and looked at Price again. "So I'll give you knee pads and shin plates, and also my Beretta. The ammo in my weapon is standard, so you won't have a problem with that."

Soap wanted to receive his gift right now, so both Ghosts went to the room to bring everything. The soldiers of the 141 began to examine the weapons and try on the gear, and Captain Riley lit another cigarette, feeling that he had done the right thing. However, he couldn't dwell on it for too long because his younger double approached him, and the captain helped the lieutenant readjust all the moving parts of the MX25 stock to fit him.

It didn't take too long. After giving the guys and himself about fifteen minutes, Price stood up and ordered everyone to disperse and get ready for sleep. Everyone, except John, who still had to wash the dishes. While MacTavish was following this order, and Price himself led Roach back to the infirmary to check his bandages, both Ghosts quickly took a shower and returned to the room.

"Simon," Lieutenant called the captain, closing the door, "I also want to give you something. This is my knife. It's not as cool as yours, of course, but..."

"Thanks," Ghost took the knife, examined it, and raised his eyes to his younger counterpart. "Let's trade then, ‘cause how can you be left without a knife?"

For the next few minutes, they spent time attaching knives to their vests, and after that the lieutenant turned off the light and climbed onto his upper bunk. He heard the creaking below under the weight of the robust Captain Riley and quietly smiled under his balaclava.

"Goodnight, Simon," he said.

"And goodnight to you too," came the response from below, and the bunk creaked again as the captain settled in more comfortably.

Lieutenant Riley often suffered from terrible nightmares, but for some reason tonight, he was confident that he would sleep soundly until morning comes.

*All of Ghost's weapons from 2030 are fictional, but some features, such as the ammo counter, already exist in reality today.

[impcrios]

( ayo edebiri | cis-woman | she/her ) — was that mary macdonald passing through diagon alley? those close to them say they remind them of standing in the streets in protest for two different worlds that you live in, making up stories to comfort those who won’t remember it in the morning, a loving family that one day won’t remember that you even existed, friends that you’d die for but won’t let yourself remember in the end, a kind heart that never fails even in memory, which i suppose seems to fit that gryffindor alumni. they’re actually pretty determined, imaginative, and weary for a twenty-five year old, but i wonder if it serves them well when working as an obliviator. rumor has it that the muggleborn is aligning with the order of the phoenix. i wouldn’t have guessed… but this is a conversation we should be having somewhere else.

full name — mary abeni macdonald nickname(s) — none  name meaning — mary: star of the sea, beloved. abeni: we asked for her, behold we got her. macdonald: mighty rule. age — twenty-five date of birth — october 1st place of birth — kenmare, ireland star sign — libra sun, virgo moon, sagittarius rising current location — right in the middle of wixen london and muggle london gender — cis-woman pronouns — she/her sexual orientation — queer religion — ex-catholic  occupation — obliviator education level — hogwarts, obliviator apprenticeship   family — i’ll get to this eventually - lots of family members  finances — not great  spoken languages — english, gaelic, some yoruba boggart — people finding out about her blood status and hurting her family patronus — lynx, people with the lynx patronus are known to be patient and secretive, people tend to tell secrets to them because their peers know they have the ability to keep those classified words to themselves. they are very observant and can see through people if they are lying, so with being observant it helps to know when a individual is lying about a secret they wish to tell the conjurers of the lynx patronus. they normally have a calming presence and are always the ones to remain cool and collected under pressure when things get stressful. even though they’re calm they have a playful side too, showing that playfulness only to their friends. they can also be very passionate about their interests and hobbies as finding that enjoyment helps with their composed yet lively behaviour.    wand — silver lime wood with unicorn hair measuring 12 ¼ inches, high flexibility it can bend without breaking, it's a wand with consistent and faithful magic. 

tw: it goes without saying the mulciber attack is mentioned but not in great detail, mentions of blood status, mentions of a botched obliviation charm used on one's self not in great detail.

mary is the eldest in her family of six, the only witch and the only girl. she was raised on a farm in ireland, their family having some of the best stock often providing for many other families around them. she was always surrounded by animals and a garden that was full of abundance. her family while not rich in any means were rich in other ways : family. they had always stuck together when her parents immigrated before she was born. so it came a shock when mary got a letter in the mail letting her know that she was in fact a witch. 

she had always been an independent girl growing up but always included others, she loved everything and everyone having not known the difference. her father and mother raised her and her brothers going to protests and looking out for the underdog, she carried that with her when she came to hogwarts. 

she read everything there was to know about the school that she was attending, but her parents were always a bit wary of sending her there. they had her for so many years why must she go somewhere they couldn’t follow? mary had always felt like she didn’t fit in with her peers, but she accepted their differences, going to hogwarts was finding that piece of independence that she was always craving, but those first couple of years she was terribly homesick of the place and people that she had called home. 

everything is fine, for a while, until an attack with mulciber. growing up muggleborn and not realising the prejudice of people of her kind had left her questioning everything she believed in. she didn’t understand why it had happened — why her of all people was someone that was being attacked just for being. as a girl who always forgave and forgot it had rattled her. she wasn’t able to sleep alone most nights after the attack, and it was the first secret that she had kept from her parents and the rest of her family. they were already cautious of her going to a school where they couldn’t see her so she acted as if nothing had happened. 

when she learned that there was a spell for someone to forget memories she had become obsessed with the obliviation charm and what it could do. which is to say that she excelled in charm work, only getting ever O’s in most of her classes. she had always loved knowledge, loved magic, and had been best in her class when it came to charms. her professor had pulled her aside and asked if she might have thought of becoming an obliviator. it was a delicate science of fabricating a memory to make it better on its victim; mary had never thought of herself to be a storyteller, but if it were to give a victim a better state of life? well, she was all for it. 

when the incident of mulciber happened she had first tried the charm on herself only for it to be botched leaving her with headaches and often brain fog, she knew then that she needed to make herself better at learning this magic and she’s been perfecting this craft ever since. she wanted to make the process easier if there was ever someone that needed something obliviated. mary while always ruthless had never been anything but kind especially with this intricate magic.

when it came to mary’s graduation her parents had grievances of fully immersing herself in the wixen world, it was always their dream of her going back to the farm and taking the macdonald name of running their business, but mary wanted more than that. she lived in two worlds but she could never really give up magic. she ended up sending applications to becoming an obliviator and they readily accepted her. 

with the political climate changing heavily she still sticks to herself and her charm work, often making it more elaborative and mostly less painful as possible. she takes the work seriously and often thinks it's more storytelling than anything. she may not be able to let herself forget what happened with mulciber, but if she could lessen anyone’s pain then she will. she, a muggleborn, has become a top obliviator, often getting consults from many in the wixen world because at her very core she is gentle and kind. 

her family still don’t fully understand what she does but they support her anyway in her endeavours because for once in her life she feels like she belongs somewhere. even if quietly, she misses her home. 

in the end, when her friends start dying and going missing, mary had always come up with a backup plan. she erases her family's memories of her ever going to hogwarts, but instead she was sent to a very prestigious school, in the highlands of scotland, not hogwarts. she was never an active member of the order of the phoenix, and the attack on mulciber never happened that changed the trajectory of her life. magic wasn’t real, and to save her friends, well, she never really knew them if the memory isn’t there. at the end of the first war, mary macdonald goes home. 

and if she’s in scotland, or london, and sees someone who looks familiar from her old life? well, she gives them a smile on the street and doesn’t know any better.

[azems-familiar]

on Senator Sejan and that classified military intel

so i was working on a Jedi: survivor fic tonight and i got to thinking about Senator Sejan, the Senator for Utapau who Cal is stealing that intel from at the start of the game - the one who sets up the themes of collaboration to survive/protect people and the idea of choosing the lesser evil. which is a brilliantly-done setup, and everything in it holds up the rest of the game really well, so i started going - why would they never explain what's going on with that information?

from the holoprojection we see when Cal briefly takes a look, it looks like the intel Saw wanted was a list of Imperial military deployments and impending invasions across the galaxy - which is definitely incredibly sensitive, highly classified intelligence that a senator should not have been able to have access to, especially not on an unsecured location like his pleasure yacht, which is basically a glorified luxury landspeeder. it seemed like something incredibly weird for the writers to just... never acknowledge how unusual that is.

so then i get to thinking. it's not really hard to figure out how he could've gotten hold of that information - one thing that we know is that the military, the ISB, the Senate, all of them will have someone dirty, at some level. trading secrets for secrets, or credits, or some other nebulous favor, is probably fairly standard. while this is definitely a high-value thing to get his hands on, Sejan had enough accumulated power to entirely seal off a level of Coruscant and force it to quarantine, despite not being an actual member of Coruscanti planetary government. that leads us to the much more pressing questions of what the hell did Sejan want with that information, and why the hell did he have it on his yacht?

and i think i've found an answer that explains everything.

Sejan is Alliance (Rebellion).

timeline-wise, we're in 9 BBY, which i believe is post Partisan-Alliance split. we know the disparate rebel cells that will form beneath the Alliance's banner are currently being funded, in varying levels of secrecy and deniability, by the governments of the senators who make up the Alliance's leadership council (see: Leia and Bail involving themselves in getting ships and other materials to rebels). we know also that the cells mostly function via receiving information from Fulcrum - and she has to get that information somewhere. somewhere likely very high up. a list of current and future Imperial military deployments would be incredibly valuable to the budding rebellion. if Sejan was hoping to steal that information and then send it out, it makes sense that he'd smuggle it out onto a personal terminal he can control, that probably has his own encryptions - and we know that Fulcrum's encryptions are damn good.

but Lee, you say, Sejan is an Imperial collaborator whose planet hates him! that doesn't fit the profile at all! to which i say: doesn't it? the entire game is about how there are more ways to fight than just the obvious. about how sometimes survival is a rebellion in and of itself. about how fighting back, becoming a weapon, may just get more people killed in the end. the bitter Imperial collaborator is not only an excellent cover to wear - it could even be true. sometimes fighting back means throwing your lot in with the other side, and resisting in the quiet ways. not all worlds are powerful enough, wealthy enough, and Core enough to survive their governing figures being openly anti-Imperial like Alderaan. to win a war you have to be alive to fight, and beyond that, you have to have something left behind to be protect, something there to go back to, when it's all over. as for the bits where he's canonically tortured people - well. have to maintain an image somehow.

the game gives Sejan's reasoning for trying to capture Cal out from under the nose of the Inquisitorius as an attempt to gain favor with the Emperor, but i honestly don't buy that. a clever man (and Sejan has to be a clever man) would know that Palpatine does not appreciate being undermined, especially where the Jedi and the Sith are concerned. i suspect it was an attempt at actually being able to talk to Cal, in some kind of privacy, possibly to try and recruit him away from the Partisans?

which really just leaves the final piece of the puzzle as: why would Saw Gerrera send Cal to steal intel from someone he almost definitely knows is Alliance? and that's pretty easy. we know how Saw feels about the Alliance; of course he'd want to have data on Imperial military movements for himself. of course he'd believe that he could do more damage with it than the Alliance ever could. all he had to do was not tell Cal all the details, and it seems fairly clear to me considering the utter lack of contact Cal has from Saw that while he's a useful frontliner and diversionary force, he's not entrusted with the Partisans' inner workings. for good reason, too - Cal can't lie to save his life.

just some food for thought. but i find it interesting that Ninth Sister accuses Sejan of "consorting with traitors" and kills him without blinking, instead of listing out his actual, theoretically more important crime to the Empire (since it would be very obvious that he wasn't willingly with Cal) - stealing classified intel, locking down an entire level of the capital planet he has no real authority over, and trying to keep a Jedi prisoner away from the Inquisitorius. she doesn't accuse him of harboring a traitor - but consorting with them. to me that's an important distinction.

(i made this post at 5 am, so if there's any errors or anything i didn't explain clearly enough, that's probably why. this came to me like an hour ago while i was trying to write fic. figured the fandom might find it interesting.)

[silverhallow]

Homeward bound

Benedict Bridgerton x Sophie Beckett

With a hint of Kate Sharma x Anthony Bridgerton

Modern Spies AU

Rated: G

Word count: 1.1k

Summary: a little follow on from A Spies Honour. Benedict (and Anthony) waiting patiently(ish) at the airport for their girlfriends to return from a mission that had gone a little array.

Author's Note: this is a little fluffy towards the end and it’s not really angsty just a fun little Drabble

Again thanks @ambitionspassionscoffee for the photo inspiration

Enjoy

Benedict stood frantically waiting for her, his legs and his entire body jingling with nerves as he waited at the airport terminal.

He both loved and hated their jobs, he loved it when they got to do jobs together but when they had to do jobs apart he honest to God, spent the time they were apart stressed out.

This time he wasn’t alone in his stress, Kate had been sent with Sophie on a mission. It required a pairing but as they had to infiltrate a female gang, he knew there was no way he’d be able to pull it off, even if he did look good in Drag.

But things hadn’t quite gone to plan, both he and Anthony had known there wouldn’t be much contact, but they would get some details, some information from their handlers, Lady Danbury, as the girls missions went on.

After saving the world from the deadly supervirus, they had all been recruited to be part of an elite team, doing off the book missions to help keep the country safe. Benedict and Anthony had done a few missions for Danbury before but never permanently but after seeing how they all handled Araminta’s terror organisation, Danbury wanted them all as a team.

They usually went as a foursome, or if they had to go in teams, it was Kate and Anthony and Sophie and Benedict, depending on what needed to be done.

But this time, it was Kate and Sophie for the first time working as a pair. They’d been confident, they used to run griffs as kids and had loads of little scenarios and between them they were unstoppable but something this time had gone wrong.

The girls lost contact with Lady Danbury and the team, they had no idea if they were safe, alive or kidnapped…

Anthony and Benedict had been frantic and had wanted to be sent over to find their girls but Lady Danbury denied them access, locking them out of all the classified material, the mission could not be compromised for their safety.

Their hacking skills left a lot to be desired and they’d asked Eloise and Hyacinth who’s skills rivalled Kate’s and Sophie’s but Lady Danbury had bribed them pretty good to keep them from helping their older brother, they’d been tasked with trying to aid Lady Danbury and just kept reassuring their brother’s that everything would be okay.

But two weeks turned into a month with no word on the girl’s safety and Benedict was growing frantic, Anthony was trying to demand updates as often as he could get them but it wasn’t forthcoming.

They had no idea if the girls were alive still, if the mission had been a success or not.

They knew the plan had changed, from the intel they been able to gather the gang had changed their targets and were looking to hit somewhere in the US but other than that they’d been unable to garner any additional information.

But after 6 long weeks, they finally got an update. Kate’s location tracker was back online, Sophie’s never came back on and Benedict was terrified it had meant she was gone forever but Kate managed to get an encrypted message through to Anthony, the details of the final attack, that Sophie was alive but was nursing a broken arm after they’d been ambushed by a war lord trying to get their hands on the very device they were trying to seize, which is why her tracker was gone, she’d had to cut it out of her arm when the leader of the gang had sent for the medics to set her bone, if they’d found it, she and Kate would have been executed immediately.

Danbury was able to send in a local team to prevent the attack from happening, the entire crew was caught and “arrested”, or least it seemed to be the case, Kate and Sophie were shown to be arrested along with the rest of the crew so not to give away their identities and put them in danger.

Both girls were transferred to a military hospital to undergo checks before they would be allowed to board a flight home.

Which is where Benedict and Anthony were now waiting, not so patiently, for the plane to come in.

It had been nearly 8 weeks since they’d seen their girlfriends, they had been sent on a last minute mission and their flight had landed an hour before they were due to land, Lady Danbury had offered them the chance to go and change as they were still in some of their military gear from their mission.

They watched as the American C-17 plane appeared in the air and started it’s descent towards the ground and Benedict grabbed Anthony’s arm “they’re here!”

“I know, get off me will you” he said, shoving his brother off him as he tried to make himself look smarter.

It took all of their patience not to go hurtling towards the plane the moment in came to a stop, they’d been warned not to get in the way and let them open the cargo hatch for the girls to disembark before making their way onto the tarmac but the moment the cargo ramp hit the floor they could see two figures making their way down the ramps, running at full speed.

Benedict didn’t even hear the resigned yells of “wait!” from the man behind him, he saw that streak of blonde hair and his feet took off.

He ran faster than he’d ever run in his life, “BEN!!!” He heard Sophie screech, he didn’t even see his brother and Kate collide next to him as he carried on running, Sophie wasn’t able to run as fast with her arm in a sling so Benedict got to her before she got him but she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could as she felt the tears burst forth as Benedict wrapped her in as tight but as gentle a hug as he could manage.

When they’d spoken before she left, both she and Kate had sustained bruised ribs, and a multitude of other bruises and wounds from the fights but her arm was what had fared worse off. “Never scare me like that again. I thought I’d lost you” he whispered into her ear as he clung to her, she was real, she was home.

“Never,” she whispered as she held onto him. “You’ll never lose me, it’ll take more than a gang of terrorists to take me away from you. It’s you and me forever remember”

Benedict just held onto her, revelling in the fact she was real, breathing her in, the scent he had missed for the last 8 weeks, she was home and she was safe and unable to help himself, unable to stop the question bubbling to the surface he placed a hand on her bruised cheek, kissed her temple and said the words that would make it all permanent, that would mean, forever…

“marry me”

[playedbetter]

Acker's Multiverse Classification System

Elias created an unofficial classification system for the multiverse to classify universes based off of factors such as danger level, tech level, and the presence of things like magic. Both Elias and Leah use this system, and it will also be generally used on the blog.

Brief note: Spawning refers to where a hopper will appear in a universe, usually it will be the equivalent of where they entered a gate, which typically is just directly on the other side of the gate. However in universes where the action is happening far away from where the spawn point world be, or that a direct equivalent doesn't exist, it will spawn the hopper at a place equivalent in spirit.

Elements inspired by @chaosmultiverse

Danger Level

Class 0-A: No danger at all besides from environmental obstacles such as water or cliffs. The universe might be post apocalyptic with ruins of civilization present. Fauna is extremely limited and there is no sapient life in the universe. Life is sustainable here due to ability to get supplies through some means native to the universe.

Class 0-B: As above but life is unsustainable due to a lack of native supplies. These are more likely to have no complex fauna at all and extremely limited flora.

Class 1: Danger is extremely limited, but possible to encounter. Fauna and flora are likely pretty normal. Sapient life can be present, even in great numbers. Powers might be present but aren't strong or the full applications of them never used. This includes universes such as most toddlers cartoon universes and some children's, post apocalyptic with some survivors who have banded together, and slice of life aus.

Class 2: Danger is present but not overwhelming. Most universes similar real life life fall under this class. Powers are more likely to be present but still are rather limited. This includes universes such as most realistic universes, historical universes, some fantasy and sci-fi universes.

Class 3: Danger is difficult to avoid but not overwhelming. Powers are far more likely to be present in these universes. Fauna and flora start to get more dangerous. Minor apocalypses may be in their starting days or immediate aftermath or beyond. This includes many superhero universes, fantasy and sci-fi universes, and historical world war era universes.

Class 4: Danger is impossible to avoid or overwhelming in some way. Powers are highly likely in these universes. This includes universes in nuclear war, universes with eldrich conspiracies, apocalyptic universes, and some superhero universes.

Class 5: Danger is impossible to avoid and overwhelming. These worlds are nearly certain to become class 0 universes at some point once life has been wiped out. This includes universes with extreme apocalypses, worst case scenario nuclear war or powered war, post arrival eldrich universes, and universes near the end of their existence.

Class X (theoretical only): Entering these universes result in instant death, or near instant enough that escape is impossible. This includes universes where the spawn location is somewhere like the sun, there are no planets with a survivable atmosphere, all human life immediately ceases to exist, etc. Currently these universes are only theorized to exist as neither Elias or Leah have attempted to enter one, and haven't accidentally.

Class Z (theoretical only): Universes that do not kill instantly, but that are impossible to escape. This includes universes that instantly remove any and all powers a person has, ones with no surfaces to draw on or material to construct with (or universes lacking any form of door if lacking equipment), and ones that remove a person’s soul immediately. Currently these universes are only theorized to exist as neither Elias or Leah have attempted to enter one, and haven't accidentally.

Class Null: Universes that don't exist. These are extremely rare, but do exist (or well, not exist) such as universes Leah or Elias do not have, have not, and will never exist in. This also is used to refer to universes they try to enter with impossible specifications such as if trying to encounter the version of the other they know and then other specifications don't match the universe the other is in. Trying to enter these universes results in the hopper getting booted to the void.

Tech Level

Alpha: No tech at all to stone age.

Beta: Bronze age to iron age.

Gamma: Medieval to age of sail.

Delta: Industrial revolution.

Epsilon: Mechanized age.

Zeta: Nuclear age.

Theta: Technology equal to 21st century earth.

Iota: Technology feasible in the next fifty-hundred years.

Kappa: Full sci-fi but grounded in some present science or feasible scenarios.

Omega: Advanced technology beyond what is considered ever possible.

Extras

Magik: Some form of magic is present in the universe.

Powered: Powers not obtained through magic is present in n the universe.

Xeno-1: Humans don't exist or are not a dominant species, instead there is a different sapient dominant lifeform.

Xeno-2: Humans co-exist with other sapient life, possibly multiple species or just one other.

Regressed-(tech level): While their tech level is higher most of that tech is unusable for one reason or another, and besides from some choice things, they operate at this lower tech level.

Terra: The spawning planet is not earth, and earth may not exist.

Screwy (Leah only): Universes that Elias has significantly changed in some way, such as removing or adding people.

Eli territory (Leah only): Universes that Elias frequently is in and exerts a claim on.

Leah territory (Elias only): Universes that Leah frequently is in and exerts a claim on.

Examples

Since this is such a dense read here's a few examples of the system in use.

DC Prime Earth: A class 3 iota magik powered xeno-2 earth.

Star Wars: A class 3 omega xeno-2 terra.

Dragon Age: A class 3 gamma magik powered xeno-2 terra.

Payday: A class 4 theta magik earth. Would be misidentified as a class 2 theta earth.

John Wick: A class 2 theta earth.

The Walking Dead: A class 4 theta regressed-epsilon earth.

[first-impressions-gaming]

Citizen Sleeper

Developed by Jump Over the Age

Published by Fellow Traveller

Release Date 2022

Tested on Xbox Series X

MSRP 19,99 USD

“Nothing comes free Sleeper, remember that.” -Sabine

That’s the mic drop moment in Citizen Sleeper, Sabine, who is a doctor in Bright Market, is not talking about a dystopia in a far away galaxy or time. Citizen Sleeper is set in a futuristic time and in a spacecraft in the galaxy, yet every single detail and character is relatable by us. Right now and then, in this moment.

Before diving into the game, I’ve read somewhere that “Citizen Sleeper is Disco Elysium set in space” and seen this game recommended in Disco Elysium’s subreddit, personally I would not go so far to suggest that this game is equivalent of Disco Elysium in any aspect. The scope and frame are really appealing, that’s for sure, and as a Disco Elysium worshipper, this game can find an audience, majority of whom have played Disco Elysium before. Most noticeable likening is the dialogue window, conversation is displayed on the right side of the screen and you select choice-based dialogues basically. The second one is that the game puts forward that this is a (post)-capitalist world and we witness the life and background of characters are scarred by everything suıch a world brings. Some characters are more willingly talking about their past compared to others and we can read between the lines even when they are not explicitly talking but giving us glances of their past. 

At the beginning we find ourselves in a scrapyard in a spaceship, we awake and Dragos, the seeming owner of the makeshift scrapyard, greets (well, ‘greet’ is a generous verb, more like ‘hey, you are finally awake, uh’) us with fatigue and disdain. We are trying to get our head around what did happen, when did happen and how much time has passed since we were conscious. We do not remember onboarding on this spaceship, and where are our mates? Why are we completely alone and a total stranger to his ship, named Eye?

We are directly interacting with the world through the map as a point-and-click game, the spaceship being the whole map. Navigating through the locations and finding your way is not difficult, since it is completely text-based. I will raise my suggestions and feedback about the map in the next paragraphs.

You get to track one active mission, which will be marked and tracked with a yellow icon, popping up on the location to direct you. Of course you can progress multiple missions simultaneously, not tracking a mission does not mean that you cannot progress it. There are missions such as “Find a Doctor”, “Investigate the Wreckage”, “Gain access to a specific location” etc, though the map is not that huge, it is not that easy to pinpoint where to look always, let’s say for a particular person, item or a place without help. For instance, your very first mission is named “Survive” and you have to find a doctor because as a Sleeper you need to obtain a special medicine to properly function, and the game directs us to Bright Market, and once we success at talking to the locale, the location to the doctor unlocks on our map. These types of “go to the location and complete a side-mission to reach to the main person/location” missions are commonplace. 

The game runs on a couple of mechanics, with which you can get familiar quickly: first there’s real-time interactions, where you deal with dice (the amount of dice that you will receive a day depends upon your energy level and you need your medicine to keep up your energy which decrease daily), cyro (currency) or other components (such as classified info, data that you can harvest by hacking and trade them), and there is cycle-based interactions (cycle means ‘day’), it is crucial that you check cycle-based actions each cycle for example you hack into Harvenga’s server and three cycles need to pass before you obtain any info or you need to wait at least a few cycles to receive your medicine from the doctor.

As previously mentioned, you receive dice each cycle, and the number of them depends upon your energy level, yet the numbers on dice are random, you may get low numbers such as 1 or 2 or high ones like 5 or 6. Of course 1 and 2 do not put you in a disadvantaged position all the time, when you are hacking into the servers you are requested to put dice with 1 or 2. So, getting high numbers would not guarantee you a successful cycle necessarily. 

Now I’ll expand upon missions, there’re always multiple active missions and with your limited dice you cannot expect from yourself to complete each mission, the game essentially presents you various missions and it is up to your choice how to progress your story. The story takes turns and you meet new characters as you complete missions and makes choices during dialogues. For instance, I frequented Overlook Bar a couple of times, then you meet the owner, Tala, who offers you a job at the bar, and after working there four times (by spending dice), your relationship with her gets closer, then you can help Tala build a distillery for the bar. 

The freedom in progression allows the gameplay to be non-linear and each player’s story would branch our in a unique way naturally. On the other hand, I got a bit stressed thinking and calculating in which mission I should favour, especially when I was running low on dice. This un-guided story progression did make me anxious, I wanted to know whether I was making smart choices and not wasting my time on dead-end missions. There’re some missions that would go hand in hand, when you complete them one after the other the progression takes pace. If you are not paying attention that much, it makes you feel you are not getting anywhere.

Character designs are top-notch, maybe it would not do the justice, still they can be described as anime-like. In case of environments, it is such a step-back compared to character designs. We never get a chance to see environments in person. We view the spacecraft as a map, and we don’t see the places physically when we visit them, therefore the overall design looks generic and uninspired. I would love to see Feng’s hideout, Tala’s bar closely. The thing is that obviously the developers put lots of effort into character design, I mean they look and feel original and sophisticated, but did not design any environment, or it was a more of afterthought. Perhaps this part of development got cut from the budget. We are experiencing the ‘environment’ through text-based narration and descriptions. I anticipated that we would see the environment in the background when we visit a location.

Citizen Sleeper will take you on a journey where you get to meet unfamiliar faces, strangers, both hostile and friendly, you will be a part of their world, and they yours. This title is one of my favourite text-based games of all time, simply put. 

[nursingwriter]

Pathophysiology of Cervical Cancer Every two minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from cervical cancer (GlaxoSmithKline 2007). Caused by persistent or continuous infection by human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer progresses slowly over a number of years (GlaxoSmithKline 2007) and is the second most common cancer for women around the world (Ivansson E.L. et al. 2008) . Due to its slow progression, observable symptomology usually translates into late stage illness, and indeed, within the 1940's invasive cervical cancer was the major cause of death for child bearing women in the United States (National Cancer Institute 2010). As of 2009 the number of cervical cancer diagnoses stood at 11,270 with 4,070 resultant deaths (National Cancer Institute 2010). Prior to HPV being targeted as the main culprit of cervical cancer, mitotic abnormalities and chromosome rearrangements showed a stepwise progression of tumorigenesis (Therman, E. et al. 1983) and later statistical analysis showed that the chromosome abnormalities were nonrandom, implicating viral sites and proto-oncogene locations within the chromosomes (Sreekantaiah, C. et al. 1991). Now it is known that HPV is a necessary step in the acquisition of cervical cancer and is present in 99.7% of all invasive cervical carcinomas (Gius, D. et al. 2007). Up to 80% of women will acquire HPV infection by age 50 (GlaxoSmithKline 2007) and for women between the ages of 20-24 years old, the infection rate is 44.8% (Steben 2007). Over 120 types of HPV exist and over 40 of those infect the epithelial lining of the anogenital tract along with other mucosal areas of the cervix (Steben 2007). Eighteen types of HPV are known to be oncogenic: 16, 18, 45, 31, 33, 52, and 58 with types 16 and 18 accounting for 70% of all cervical cancer cases (GlaxoSmithKline). The virus itself is a non-enveloped double stranded DNA virus (Steben 2007) containing 8,000 base pairs and encoding for two separate protein classes (Ellenson, L.H. & Wu, T.C. 2004). Because most women infected with HPV do not actually develop invasive cervical carcinoma, additional exogenous or genetic factors may be required to keep the infection persistent enough to progress into cancer (Gius, D. et al. 2007). Risk factors include, "Individual susceptibility, immune status, exogenous hormones, tobacco smoking, parity, co-infection with other sexually transmitted agents such as HIV, herpes simplex virus type 2, and Chlamydia trachomatis," (Steben 2007). The histological changes occurring within cervical tissue as a result of HPV infection and other factors are separated into three stages of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CINs). Following the invasion of the basement membrane by HPV-containing epithelial cells, lesions become malignant and are thus classified as squamous cell carcinoma (Gius, D. et al. 2007). Proteomic analysis using mass spectroscopy of this squamous cell carcinoma has shown 55 significantly changed protein spots, with 24 upregulated and 31 downregulated proteins, suggesting that using direct tissue samples may be the most persuasive way to find biomarkers and therapeutic targets (Xueqiong, Z. et al. 2009). Preceded by precursor legions, invasive cervical cancer is characterized by disturbances of the "cellular maturation, stratification, and nuclear atypia…" (Boulet, G.A.V. et al. 2008). Using genomic analysis, a model of cervical cancer carcinogenesis as been illuminated across all three CIN stages with early viral infection leading to CIN-1 including the altered expression of genes associated with cellular proliferation and suppression of the immune system which may allow the HPV virus to replicate without detection or destruction (Gius D. et al. 2007). Genetic risk factors for cervical cancer reflect the genetic variation influencing immune response toward HPV infection with a number of genes involved in inflammation and immunity contributing to susceptibility (Ivansson, E.L. et al. 2008). CIN-2 favors the growth of new blood vessels in both the epithelial and stromal cells suggesting communication, while CIN3 has the most pro-invasive genomic signature with changes in cell adhesion proteins and enzymes involved in the extracellular matrix remodeling of both epithelial and stromal cells (Gius, D. et al. 2007). Figure 1. Specific alterations of host tissue during CIN stages 1-3 (Gius, D. et al. 2007) Specific protein classes affected by HPV are the early and late proteins. Early proteins encode for viral DNA replication (E1, E1), RNA transcription (E2), and cell transformation (E5, E6, E7) while late proteins (L1, L2) are the structural components of the viral capsid (Ellenson, L.H. & Wu, T.C. 2004). While most viral DNA replicates extrachromosomally, HPV integrates into the cellular DNA and results in the deletion of large areas of the viral genome including L1 and L2 along with E2 and E5 which leaves E6 and E7 as the primary remaining open reading frames (Zur Hausen, et al. 2002). E2 is a functional elimination as it acts as a viral repressor, while E6 and E7 act as promoters (Yu, T. et al. 2005). Figure 2. Loss of the E2 gene during viral integration (Boulet, G.A.V. et al. 2008) The left over oncogenic proteins, E6 and E7 are implicated in proliferation with E6 expression leading to unregulated cell growth through the blocking of p53, a tumor suppressing protein, and proapoptotic BAK (Ellenson, L.H. & Wu, T.C. 2004). Indeed, HPV types and 16 and 18 have been found to complex with p53, resulting in its ubiquitin-dependent degradation, taking away its control of the cell cycle -- a hallmark of most cancers (Hu, X. et al. 2010). With these checkpoint proteins blocked, E6 activates telomerase and inhibits SRC family kinase degradation, leading to growth stimulation (Ellenson, L.H. & Wu, T.C. 2004). E7 activates genes: cyclin a and E. which stimulate S. phase while simultaneously blocking the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors KIP1 and WAF1 breaking down cell growth regulation. It is the co expression of both E6 and E7 that increases transforming activity (Zur Hausen, et al. 2002) as their overexpression contributes to malignant phenotype (Yu, T. et al. 2005). Additionally, alterations such as the activation of ras mutations or the deletion of DCC are required. All of this remodeling is common to viral integration of not only the HPV genome, but the surrounding integration site (Yu, T. et al. 2005). In terms of genetic heritability and susceptibility, studies have investigated TP53, MDM2, NQO1, SNPS, and ICC in conjunction with CIN-3 finding that Caucasians had a significant association between TP53 codon 72 and cervical cancer, with that association stronger in subjects infected with HPV types 16 and 18 pointing to molecular level evidence for the heritability of cancer risk (Hu, et al. 2010). Genetic predisposition had been seen prior in the observation that biological first-degree relatives of women who had been previously diagnosed with cervical cancer had double the risk of contracting it themselves (Ivansson, E.L. et al. 2008). TP53 produces the tumor suppressing protein p53 which regulates DNA repair, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and has been observed to be blocked by E6, the oncogenic protein of HPV. Ubiquitin degradation of p53 is controlled by both MDM2 and NQO1 with the latter acting as a back up for the former since it does not need ubiquitin and is instead regulated by H. quinone oxidoreductase 1 (Ivansson E.L. et al. 2008). MDM2 traditionally works by binding directly to p53 with its promoter SNP309 T/G rs2279744 increasing its affinity (Ivansson E.L. et al. 2008). Weakening of the immune system by viral integration, in conjunction with a patients internal immunity are also risk factors in the acquisition of cervical cancer. Immune response is inherently regulated by the genes that code for proteins involved with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which in turn encodes for leukocytic antigens (HLA) I and II with cervical cancer being linked to the HLA II region (Ivansson, E.L. et al. 2008). When tumors lose the expression of certain MHC class I molecules, as seen in cervical cancers, the reason may be because of an immunoselection by T cells specific for he peptides presented by MHC I. The loss of the MHC I expression invariably results in non-recognition by cytotoxic T cells (Janeway, C.A. et al. 2005). The reality of cervical cancer acquisition points at HPV being a main player; however, while it is a necessary step, it is not the only sufficient risk factor since disease progression is variable among those infected with the virus. Host genetics along with environmental, hormonal, and even nutritional factors may have an influence in creating a situation wherein HPV is allowed to become a continuous infection. To date, the only way to routinely test for cervical cancer is by using HPV as a biomarker through the Pap smear procedure which involves scraping of the transformation zone of the cervix and transferring those cells to a glass slide (Boulet, G.A.V. et al. 2008). Within the past fifty years Pap smears have played a vital role in the decrease of cervical cancer incidence and mortality and its increased use worldwide is helping a number of nations, like Mexico decrease mortality to the disease (Lazcano, P.E. 2008). The test itself, however, is high subjective with a limited sensitivity of 50% along with a number of inherent individual variability (Boulet, G.A.V. et al. 2008). Indeed better screening is necessary due to the number of false-negatives from women with precancerous lesions among the most frequent reasons of medical malpractice in the United States (Steben, M. et al. 2007). In the case of having a tissue sample to be tested, early stage cervical cancer can be differentiated from healthy cervical tissue by gene expression profile due to comparisons done with healthy and lymph node metastatic tissues which found certain genes upregulated and down regulated (Biewenga, P. et al. 2008). Early stage cervical cancers can be cured by radical surgery or radiotherapy with similar effectiveness (Biewenga, P. et al. 2008). Overall the treatment options for cervical cancer are based on whatever the outcome of clinical staging is and include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and/or chemoradiotherapy (Ellenson, L.H. & Wu, T.C. 2004). More sophisticated methods such as the use of MR imaging before, during and after radiation therapy is providing accuracy in the main evaluation of prognostic factors and staging (Engin, G. 2006). Currently there is an HPV vaccine for women that have been shown to be 100% effective against HPV types 16 and 18, preventing subsequent development of CIN (Steller, M.A. 2003). This vaccine is the direct result of over two decades of research and ongoing trials to find a male equivalent vaccine are underway utilizing a number of species. Papillomavirus infections, however, are species restricted and do not infect of induce changes in the morphology of animal tissues, thus requiring the use of species specific HPV which is hard to equate to humans due to no cervico-vaginal challenge or natural sexual transmission (Schiller, J.T., & Lowy, D.R. 2006). Because of these issues it is difficult to evaluate potential benefits or efficacy. Ultimately, cervical cancer requires HPV infection but once infection occurs the virus requires other factors such as its host's genetics, immunity, as well as environmental factors such as nutrition, hormonal supplementation like birth control, or cigarette smoking which causes vasoconstriction and overall inflammation. If given the right external factors to its own viral integration into the host's DNA than continuous HPV infection may lead to precancerous lesions and cervical cancer itself. With a number of genetic, molecular, and protein markers being elucidated, tailoring both the treatment and screening processes can bring down overall cervical cancer mortality worldwide. References Biewenga, P., et al. (2008). Gene Expression in Early Stage Cervical Cancer. Gynecologic Oncology, 108, 520-526. Boulet, G.A.V., et al. (2008). Human Papillomavirus in Cervical Cancer Screening: Important Role as Biomarker. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, 17(4), 810-817. Ellenson, L.H., & Wu, T.C., (2004). Focus on Endometrial and Cervical Cancer. Cancer Cell, 5, 533-538. Engin, G. (2006). Cervical Cancer: MR imaging findings before, during, and after radiation therapy. Urogenital, 16. 313-324. Gius, D. et al. (2007). Profiling microdissected epithelium and stroma to model genomic signatures for cervical carcinogenesis accommodating for covariates. Cancer Research 67, 7113-7123. GlaxoSmithKline. (2007). Cervical Cancer Fact Sheet. www.glaxosmithkline.com Hu, X., et al. (2010). TP53, MDM2, NQO1, and susceptibility to cervical cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, 19(3), 755-761. Ivansson, E.L., et al. (2008). MHC loci affecting cervical cancer risk: distinguishing the effects of HLA-DQB1 and non-HLA genes TNF, LTA, TAP1, and TAP2. Genes and Immunity 9, 613-623. Janeway, C.A. et al. (2005). Manipulation of the Immune Response. Immunobiology: 6th Edition. 636-637. Lazcano-Ponce, E. et al. (2008). Decreasing Cervical Cancer Mortality in Mexico: Effect of Papanicolaou Coverage, Birthrate, and the Importance of Diagnostic Validity of Cytology. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, 17(10), 2808-2817. National Cancer Institute (2010). Cancer Advances in Focus: Cervical Cancer, www.cancer.gov Schiller, J.T., & Lowy, D.R. (2006). Prospects for Cervical Cancer Prevention by Human Papillomavirus Vaccination. Cancer Research, 66(21), 10229-10232. Sreekantaiah, C., De Braekeleer, M., & Haas, O., (1991). Cytogenic Findings in Cervical Carcinoma: A Statistical Approach. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, 53, 75-81. Steben, M., & Duarte-Franco, E. (2007). Human papillomavirus infection: Epidemiology and pathophysiology. Gynecologic Oncology, 107(2), S2-S5. Steller, M.A. (2003). Human Papillomavirus, it's genes…and cancer vaccines. Cancer Cell, January, 7-8. Therman, E., Buchler, D.A., Nieminen, U., & Timonen, S. (1983). Mitotic Modifications and Aberrations in Human Cervical Cancer. Cancer Research 30(4), 185-197. Walboomers, J.M.M. et al. (1999). Human papillomavirus is a necessary cause of invasive cervical cancer worldwide. The Journal of Pathology, 189(1), 12-19. Xiaoxia, H. et al. (2010). TP53, MDM2, NQO1, and Susceptibility to Cervical Cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, 19(3), 755-761. Yu, T., et al. (2005). The Role of Viral Integration in the Development of Cervical Cancer. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, 158, 27-34. Zhu, X., et al. (2009). Proteomic Identification of differentially-expressed proteins in squamous cervical cancer. Gynecologic Oncology, 112, 248-256. Zur Hausen, H. (2002). Papillomaviruses and cancer: From basic study to clinical application. National Review of Cancer, 2, 342-350. https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/pathophysiology-of-cervical-cancer-every-12622#:~:text=Logout-,PathophysiologyofCervicalCancerEvery,-Length6pages   Read the full article

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 226

Hello everyone, Mage of Light Nick Card here. I am well fed and ready to give the news!

Parked at Park

Early this week, there was a soft opening of the Park station, located near the site of The Park (which is still closed down). This massive station is just as large, if not larger than it was when it directly served The Park's patrons. Your Dear Newsletter writer got a potential invitation to check it out and write a report about it, but unfortunately I just wasn't up to it this week, despite journalistic duty. I still have a number of human limits, unfortunately. Maybe next week will prove to be less difficult for me to grapple with. Regardless however, it is open for interchanges in particular. Park Station is slated to be apart of the Loop Line, which is still in the works.

One Who Seeks The Light

Early this week, your dear newsletter writer got in contact with a very curious troll. Her name will not be published for privacy concerns. She had managed to make her way onto a train going off-world and eventually ended up somewhere safe. I have been offering her advice, as she is eager to learn about the outside world beyond Neo Alternia. Details will not be provided, but she has managed to prove herself as an ally to the dungeon crashers through use of her technical skills, of her own volition. That being said, if anyone harms even one hair on her head, I will not hesitate to track any harmful actors down. Further potential action beyond that will not be published.

Friendsgiving

On thursday, Brae Emit held her annual friendsgiving harvest feast. Many of her friends and family attended the get-together. A great deal of different dishes were offered, a few of them brought in by various guests. At some point, Rogue of Heart Charles ended up cleaning the solar panels on the roof, it is unknown if this was out of gratitude or anxiety. It was a relatively laid-back event, with not much of note that occurred during that time. Everyone went home with ample leftovers, as is the tradition every year. Personally I enjoyed my time there this year, and I look forward to future events there.

Black Friday

The day after friendsgiving, a great deal of businesses all ran sales at the same time, many in preparation for Frogmas, which is somehow almost as commercialized as christmas. The conflicts however, are reportedly just as, if not more ridiculous. I do wonder if there's any Dawnsring talent scouts out and about at the Spaceport Mall recently, because its practically a maul over there.

In other news, a number of corporate websites, including at least one that had been running a sale lately, have reported being hacked and defaced by an unknown hacker, often with the reported webpages being replaced with public service announcements about the targeted company's unethical practices. Further details are still being investigated.

Classified ads

Rail engineers wanted! Contact theUnderground for details.

Do you need therapy? Have you been impacted by the cosmic creation game in some manner? Do you have weird problems that likely have supernatural factors? Contact Dr. Winters at 555-555-0125 to schedule an appointment.

Professional Chaositter at your service! Please contact Fluff the Chinchilla at 555-555-0084 for inquiries.

Do you want to get something extra special for your special someone this holiday season? Come visit Chawishe Market for a wider variety of artisan goods! Do note that credits are not accepted directly, they will first need to be converted to gold pieces at the trade checkpoint on the way to the city from Desertia Town. (disclaimer: travel at your own risk, the road between the Mystic Gateway and the city itself has been known to attract thieves and dangerous creatures. Escort services are available by request if needed. No, you cannot bring your futuristic economy-breaking device through customs, please stop asking.)

Do you want an ad here? Contact lavenderSiren to get an ad for whatever. If you don’t write it yourself, you risk the newsletter writer writing it instead, do be warned.

This week’s known market stands in Desertia Town:

DTA train ticket stand

Katie’s potion stand (Not available to plitlanders due to regulations, available to all others however)

shinyjiggly pokesnacks stand (also has a Unity Village location!)

Rubber shark stand

Rolling pin stand

Bike helmet stand

Haircare product stand

Thermometer stand

Goods Warehouse: - adamantine (1 lb.) (300 gp) - 1 square yard of cloth (1 sp) - 1 pound of copper (1 sp)

Traditional Shop: - Pot, Iron (2 gp) - Chair, folding (2 gp) - Rope, silk (50 ft.) (10 gp) - Field survival guide (20 gp) - Blanket (5 sp)

That probably covers everything. I had forgotten to mention last week that the egg hatched and the pokemon is a spritzee! I have yet to come up with a name for the cute little pink bird looking creature. Its highly likely that one of the parents is Smelly the Aromatisse. Other than that, I've been working on this absolute slog of a cutscene that takes place in a slow moving line. It still needs a lot of cleanup, but I've got the structure put together, at very least. I'm hoping to finish this chapter this week and then move onto some in-between scenes. Goodnight everybody! https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/464/charcherry-weekly-issue-226

[limitlessrecyclings]

The Best Kept Secrets About Paper Shredding Services Melbourne

Effective waste management stands out more than it could have before in today's world where information security becomes more vital than ever before. From household to corporate entities, no one wants sensitive documents scattered somewhere without being destroyed, whether from a law or from other regulatory aspects or protecting your personal and corporate information from the wrong eyes. Paper shredding services have emerged to be a crucial solution in Melbourne. Let's get the best-kept secrets about paper shredding services Melbourne and make well-informed decisions.

Paper Shredding Services in Melbourne: A Glimpse

Basically, paper shredding in Melbourne provide the shredding of confidential documents so as to ensure that there is no unauthorized access. The companies normally offer on-site and off-site shredding solutions for the customers so that they can select a service that best fits their needs. The company will provide services for all ranges of needs-from small businesses that may have few paper shredding needs to larger corporations that require big archives.

Secret 1: Not All Shredding Services Are Created Equal

While hunting for shredding services Melbourne, the most important thing is not everyone does equal reliability and safety while doing the job. Some need research on certifications in how they comply with other industries. Look for some service providers that follow the principles set by organizations like National Association for Information Destruction, or NAID for short. These give out their certifications to confirm their firm sticks to best practices-especially concerning sensitive information. Ask them the type of shredders they use because high-security shredders are important for securing classified documents.

Secret 2: Environmental Benefits of Shredding

Many people tend to forget that shredding services in Melbourne have an environmental benefit. After shredding, most of the waste paper is recycled instead of being sent to landfills. This will not only reduce carbon footprints but also contribute to a circular economy. A reputable waste management company would ensure that besides shredding your documents safely, the shreds are also handled in an environment-friendly manner through E-Waste recycling. This will imply that choosing the shredding service not only ensures you will safeguard your information but also the environmentally conscious practices.

Secret 3: On-Site vs. Off-Site Shredding

When choosing which service you should opt for, on-site or off-site shredding, you need to know what both services mean between the two. On-site shredding involves the shredding truck coming to your location, and you can actually see the process happening in real time. This will give you some peace of mind, especially if the documents are sensitive. Off-site shredding would involve picking up your documents and taking them to a secure facility. This is the more economical option for bulk shredding, but one has to have trust in the service provider. Determine the sensitivity level of your files in terms of determining which service is the best for you.

Secret 4: Shredding Scheduled Services

Many Melbourne shredding services provide scheduled shredding services, a somewhat underutilized resource. Scheduled shredding enables companies to arrange regular pickups, meaning documents are shredded methodically and not kept on site any longer than is necessary, as would happen with an ad-hoc collection when a large amount of paper accumulates. Scheduled services not only ensure time-sensitive documents do not linger onsite, thereby reducing the threat they pose, but they also help save time and other resources. Scheduling may ensure better compliance with privacy legislation and internal company policies.

Secret 5: Document Retrieval Services

Some other not-so-popular service that shredding services in Melbourne may provide is document retrieval and management. Sometimes after shredding, companies would require their historical documents for audit or legal purposes. Saving time and business interest through a complete solution service would save you a lot of headache. They can organize and identify what needs to be kept within compliance requirements so that the shredding company does not end up doing something against your business legal parameters.

Secret 6: E-Waste Solutions Complementary to Shredding Services

With technology moving forward, the E-Waste solutions are also seen to advance and are thus considered in addition to paper shredding. Most of the shredding companies in Melbourne have broadened their services to include secure destruction of electronic devices such as hard drives and other storage media. This dual approach is very essential since sensitive information may reside on digital formats, and without proper shredding, it remains vulnerable. Identify an organization that can provide overall destruction services to ensure all types of sensitive data will be destroyed confidentially.

Secret 7: Compliance with Australian Privacy Laws

Privacy laws in Australia dictate that businesses appropriate measures to protect private information. A reliable paper shredding service in Melbourne may play a crucial role. Several shredding companies know these legal requirements and may provide supporting documentation stating proper shredding practices have been followed. This documentation is critical during a compliance audit and can also protect against liabilities stemming from data breaches.

Secret 8: Cost-Effective Shredding Services from Professionals

On the other hand, though I thought that maybe initially, professional shredding services would cost more than an office shredder, the reality is mixed. Professional shredding services in Melbourne can be very cost-effective in the long run. It will save time and administrative costs of in-house shredding and avoid the need to purchase high-security shredding machines regularly, equipment maintenance, and waste disposal logistics.

At its core, mysteries surrounding Melbourne paper shredding services present a world of benefits beyond the destruction of paper products. In effect, the services form an integral part of ensuring the safety of sensitive information and compliance with laws regarding privacy, while they promote sustainability and specific needs through E-Waste solutions and document retrieval.

Make the research before getting the service provider. Learn about the services they give you, how they maintain security over your information, and if the services can work for you. You'll be not only keeping your information safe but doing good to the environment while staying in line. Searching for shredding services in Melbourne can save you some secrets as you make a better choice to be safer, more sustainable, and efficient.

[theuntoldoriginsoftheportmafia]

Part Ⅳ The Port Mafia - Chapter 2.4

⏲ Miles To Go ⏲

1,134 Words

It's been a month and there still has been no one found in all of Japan that comes close to touching Ranpo's olympian intelligence.

'No matter, there is still the rest of the world.' Fukuzawa sighs, shaking away the fatigue as he continues to pour over lists of the world's most intelligent. Results from trivia competitions, chess and maths tournaments, memory challenges and more. No one is good enough.

Normally he'd have mafia grunts do this type of work, but this is personal. No one else knows exactly what Ranpo needs and all affairs relating to the third mafia executive are classified anyhow.

Just as the man's eyes start to close again he spots something sticking up from the bottom of the pile. It looks different from the other perfectly white papers.

He pulls it out, careful so as not to rip it.

'What's this, a newspaper clipping? And it's American? How odd.'

He presses it against the desk with his palm to flatten it. The paper's name says it's located somewhere called Boston, and the headline reads:

"Incredible Young Author Solves Murder That Stumped Police For Years, In Three Days!"

This headline is the first thing in the pile to truly intrigue Fukuzawa. He checks the date, it's only a week old.

"How on earth did a week-old newspaper, from America of all places, get here?" he mutters to himself. The only response he gets is the soft mewing of the calico cat at his feet. Elise insisted that they just had to take the poor animal off the streets. Fukuzawa thought it looked to be doing just fine, it wasn't scrawny and its coat was glossy, but Mori couldn't deny Elise's wishes.

He reads the article, written by a woman named Gloria Montressor.

"Early Thursday morning, 19-year-old Edgar Allan Poe, the son of late Elizabeth Hopkins Poe -nee Arnold, and David Poe Jr, the founder of Usher Publishing House, sought out the local 12th police precinct for help in searching for his lost racoon, Karl. While there, he happened to see some of the evidence for the formerly ongoing Iceman serial murder case. 

In exchange for finding the lost mammal, he offered to assist the police officers. At first, they were reluctant, but now they're glad they accepted. It took the incredible young writer only three days to solve the case and track down the culprit, an ability user by the name of Robert Frost. 

It turned out that Frost, who appeared by all accounts to be your friendly local elder, had ever since his early twenties, been luring victims to his poetry reading and then using his time extension ability "Miles To Go Before I Sleep" to lock victims in the basement of his estate and torture them. When faced with arrest the 88-year-old, ended his own life with a gun he had in his home. His victims were all found in various states of harm, but by far the most curious thing was that, according to IDs and driver's licences found in the basement, and medical tests, every victim is far younger than they should be. 

Authorities guess that the nature of Frost's ability is to slow down time and trap victims in this slowed time. They assume it is also the reason for the slow progression of the infections in their wounds. This may have spared their lives, but they will never recover these lost years. Many mourn the loss of pets and loved ones and wonder how they will ever reconnect with friends or return to their previous careers.

The hero of our story, the young Mr Poe commented that it was only fair he used his great intellect to help out, since it would hardly be any trouble for him and the police helped him reunite with his furry companion. He seemed in quite a hurry to be off and refused to offer more citing that he had to return to work on his next great mystery novel.

Thanks to this incredible boy, we can all feel a little safer, even as the threat of ability users becomes a growing concern."

'Oh, this is promising. He seems to have the same type of intelligence as Ranpo, and he writes mystery novels. He's perfect. He solved it in only three days, well, that's nowhere as fast as Ranpo, but this is as close as anyone has gotten. I ought to buy some of these novels for Ranpo. Yes, I'll do that.'

Fukuzawa can feel sleep overtaking him and decides to wait until the first thing the next morning.

-

Ever the early riser, Fukuzawa is up at 5:00 AM and having nothing urgent to do he begins the search for the novels. With the internet these days, he should be able to find them without much effort at all, not to say he wouldn't search the ends of the earth to find his son a friend.

He frowns when he doesn't find them on the Usher Publishing House website. Why wouldn't his own father's publishing company carry his son's books, dead or not?

He tries again searching: "Edgar Allan Poe novels"

Another website comes up, it's clearly a much smaller company. The banner says Rue Morgue Publishing. On the right side is a grainy, pixelated graphic of a black cat scratching digital claw marks on the screen and on the left is a raven, the gif blinking and letting out a silent caw every few seconds. 

'This looks like some type of website where one would buy illegal things. Is this the dark web?' Fukuzawa thinks.

But sure enough, all of the teenaged author's books are available here, and for reasonable prices. The site claims that these novels will leave even the most erudite readers stumped until the very last detail of the solution is revealed. Fukuzawa buys a copy of each of the three novels.

'I wonder if his gift applies to fictional mysteries as well? If not this will be a nice challenge. It should entertain him for a while . . . but he's so used to knowing everything. I hope it won't be distressing for him.'

-

Pleased with himself, Fukuzawa returns to his usual routine with his morning workout.

He's only startled out of his concentration when a large weight settles on his back. He manages one more push-up before surrendering and sinking back down.

Ougai doesn't get up. "There's an incident that needs our attention."

"Well, I can hardly give any attention to anything with you sitting on me, now can I?"

"Oh, was I sitting on you, I must have forgotten! How rude of me!" the mafia leader teases, standing and extending his hand to his partner.

"Yes, very rude."

Elise mimes falling over dead. "Dying" with a dramatic, "Ugh!"

"Can this issue wait until after I freshen up?"

"I could tell you as you do,"

"That works just as well." Yukichi shakes his head as his partner falls into step beside him.

[amischiefofdeets]

JIM MORIARTY

>--------------------------------------<

CHARACTER SUMMARY

>--------------------------------------<

Former account: StorySpinningSpidcr Jim Moriarty is a name you never want to hear, the man is a monster hellbent on destruction for his own amusement. Unlike Sherlock, when he is bored he begins to tear the world apart rather than focusing that in on himself, toying with people as though their lives are meaningless - which they are, to him at least. Note: I will NOT soften by Jim for others consumption. He is a dangerous villain who is incapable of love and care, seeing people only as objects, though some more useful and less replaceable than others. Do not expect any muse to be treated otherwise unless it is some kind of act to benefit him.

>--------------------------------------<

MUSE DETAILS

>--------------------------------------<

Name: James Moriarty Nicknames: Jim, M Race: Human Born: October 7th Age: 36 Height: 5'8 Gender: Male Sexuality: Gay Location: [CLASSIFIED] Occupation: Consulting Criminal Abilities: Genius-Level Intellect, Master Tactician, Master Manipulator, Expert Intimidator, Expert Deceiver, Expert Networker.

Scars: N/A Tattoos: N/A Alignment: Chaotic Evil Goals: Cause as much chaos as possible, avoid being bored Hobbies: Creating chaos, starting conflicts, destroying things, anything that stops him being bored. Mental state: Cold, unfeeling and distant. He has forever been incapable of real attachment, this doesn't bother him at all. Disabilities: N/A Reputation: People know him as M, a criminal mastermind who is untouchable to most. If people know him personally then generally he's seen as a cold unhinged psychopath who just enjoys making chaos. Family: [UNKNOWN]

>--------------------------------------<

VERSES

>--------------------------------------<

#STAYING ALIVE - AU set post season 3.

This is where my Jim diverges from canon, as he returns to ensure his favourite toy isn't taken away from him for good. If anyone is going to kill Sherlock Holmes, it's going to be him.

#CROWNED - Set from Season 1 until the end of Season 2.

This verse is entirely canon to the show, set while Jim is working as a 'consulting criminal'. Do not be mistaken, he certainly loves to toy with Sherlock Holmes but that is not his only focus, he is pulling many strings for his own amusement. People may vaguely know who Jim is depending on where this is in canon (due to his very public trial), though keep in mind that he's not likely to stop and play nice with some stranger approaching him for no reason.

#BEGINNING - Set during Jim's childhood.

This verse is during Jim's childhood/young teen years. He may or may not be intent on becoming a criminal in his future depending on whether a particular thread is set before or after the death of Carl Powers. Please keep in mind that he's not likely to open up about his lack of empathy or such things unless he TRULY trusts you character, which isn't an easy task.

#DANCING - Completely set apart from canon.

Jim is not AS bad as his canon counterpart, not entirely lacking guilt but certainly not a good man by any stretch of the imagination. He runs the Criminal underworld, punishing or killing criminals that step outside his very strict boundaries. In this verse he doesn't target innocent people (though some are certainly caught in his web on occasion), his work is entirely focused on the criminal underworld. -- He adores leaving dead criminals for a certain Consulting detective to find.

#TIMELY - Victorian era AU.

This Moriarty is somewhere between what we know from the old stories and the Jim we love from BBC Sherlock, he's a professor in public and maintains a good reputation while directing the criminal underworld in secret. He isn't likely to be his usual manic self in full view of the world, he'll act like a proper gentleman when necessary but that slips away when it is time for business. While based on the mind-palace version of Jim from the abominable bride, this verse is based on the notion that it was real (and thus Jim didn't blow his head off in Sherlock's lounge).

>--------------------------------------<

TAGS

>--------------------------------------<

Main tag - Headcanons - Ask tag Likes - Aesthetics - Musings - Wardrobe

RELATIONSHIP TAGS

TBA

[artisanscribbles]

ismyteadoneyet

....William DOES mention during Bree's Legendborn 101 crash course that they have a ton of artifacts and sht in the Lodge: "Down here is all the other secret stuff we can't risk anyone seeing by accident. Artifacts and member documents"-he jerks a thumb at a door we've just passed-"are in a cold storage room where we have more control over the temperature and lighting conditions. Fortunately, the oldest items have been so infused with aether by Merlins over the years that we don't have to worry about them crumbling to pieces." (- Legendborn, page 133) If the Order is hiding the tunnel to Excalibur behind the Wall of Ages, and flaunt those handcuffs that they used to "arrest ✨️other magic users✨️", I wouldn't put it past them to have the crown stashed away somewhere in the vault as a "trophy" of winning "the war", right? 🤔🤔 I think you're onto something !

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok @ismyteadoneyet I thought this deserved a reply on the main post because I'm not sure what would be a better situation:

The Regents' know about the Shadow Court and the Crown and have it hidden somewhere and just don't tell people about it. It's super secret and very 'if you need to know, we will read you in." Very in character for them.

Merlin straight up magic bullshitting the Crown in some hidden place and telling no one. (unlikely but it could happen)

Morgaine straight up magic bullshitting the Crown in some hidden location and telling like (1) person and that knowledge being passed down from disciple to disciple without them telling anyone else this is a thing. (possible)

OR (and I think this would be the funniest, and also supported by the fact the Shadow King has being Masquerading as an extremely highly ranked Merlin Order Member and still doesn't seem to have his Crown back yet or know where it is)

4. The Order falling prey to what is referred to in the real world as Organizational Decay with everyone who knew about the Crown and its purpose just either being killed or dying BEFORE they could pass on that knowledge (like Bree's Ancestress), their replacements having no way of know what this super powerful artifact is or what it does, but knowing it's important somehow and just chucking it storage somewhere and forgetting about it. Like the King knows the Order has the Crown but the Order DOESN'T because some poor guy inherited this mess generations ago and did nothing about it, so like several position replacements later they do some restructuring and move all these powerful objects into storage without knowing what they are and like, knocking off for lunch. Job well done guys.

MEANWHILE the Shadow King manipulates his way into the highest Merlin position in the Order, with the most likely access to highly classified magical and security documents AND STILL CAN'T FIND ANY INFORMATION ON HIS CROWN BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT IS SO ITS LABELLED IN THE SYSTEM SOMEWHERE AS LIKE "AETHERIC OBJECT 4445662B - TRANSFERRED FROM STORAGE FACILITY IN SAINT ASPAH, WALES IN 1939 - PROVIDENCE UNKNOWN" along with like the 100,000,000 other random objects the Order's accrued over the 1500 years because they never throw anything out.

Which means its entirely possible that the Shadow King was exactly 2 Floors away from his Crown at the beginning of Bloodmarked AND HAD NO IDEA.

Friends, I hope I am right about this. It'd be hilarious!

Some Oathbound Thoughts

There's a larger post regarding the Order that's still percolating in my head but while I was drafting that post, something occurred to me:

We have very little in text proof that the Shadowborn are as big as a problem as the Order makes them out to be- But do you know where they seem to gather and most attacks happen: The 4 Legendborn Chapters.

This made me start made me start to think about what we know about magic in universe, and also what we know about the Shadowborn.

The Order makes the Shadowborn out to be this huge problem, but Valechez, Patricia and every Rootcrafter we meet treat them as a problem and certainly something to be cautious about, but a known factor.

And none of the Rootcrafters spend their lives at battle-ready mode waiting for the next attack. It's just the Order that does that. But everyone else acts like the Order is the much bigger problem and danger of the two.

But Scions and Squires have been being called ever since the Order's inception to handle all these demon attacks? And we see there is truth to this: The Shadowborn are Undeniably Attacking the Legendborn.

Which begs the question: Why the Order and not the other magic users?

And then it hit me.

The Order of the Roundtable has been around for at minimum, per William, at least 60 Generations. Like with Vera, the spell is somehow bound to the bloodlines. But Vera's bargain is tied to The Shadow King - He cast the Mark and as far we can tell he's been maintaining the Magic required for it to Work. With me so far?

So this begs with question: With Merlin (as far as the text informs us) 100% Dead

WHAT'S POWERING THE SPELL OF ETERNITY?

IT CAN'T BE ARTHUR. EVEN IF MERLIN ANCHORED THE SPELL TO HIM ORIGINALLY LIKE THE CHARM BRACELET (AND WE DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW THIS BTW, EVERYONE IN THE ORDER THINKS ITS THE CASE AND EVERYTHING THE ORDER THINKS IS IMMEDIATELY SUS) CANONICALLY ARTHUR PENDRAGON DOESN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE MAGIC TO KEEP IT GOING BECAUSE HE CANNOT WORK AETHER (proven by that scene in BloodMarked)

Arthur Pendragon can use the abilities gifted to him by Excalibur and Merlin's original spell, but he can't power it himself. But SOMETHING must be- because as per Sel, aetheric workings can only last so long as the caster can maintain them and live, as as per Valchez and Patricia, all that Power has to be coming from SOMEWHERE EX.1 Bree's whole existence.

Which brings me back to the Shadowborn and the Shadow King's whole deal:

I think Merlin's spell wasn't supposed to last past the OG Table's death. Not originally anyway. Arthur and the Knights were supposed to win decisively and then the portals would be closed forever. And Bree's Bloodwalks seem to support this.

But then, The Table Captures the Shadow King's Crown, and we now Know that is an extremely Powerful Object- but we don't know what happened to it.

Just before Bloodmark's final kicks off, we get the last Arthuriana themed lore drop of the novel- And that is that the last place we saw the Crown was in the OG Table's possession- but not broken and destroyed. IN fact the text seems to support they couldn't destroy it- SO WHERE IS IT? NO ONE IN ORDER HAS EVER HINTED AT SOMETHING LIKE THIS EXISTING- IT'S VALCHEZ THAT FIRST TELLS US ABOUT THE SHADOW COURT TO BEGIN WITH.

And then we remember Morgaine Had A Plan to use the Crown somehow. Now, of course, we don't get to hear exactly what that was because Bree had some shit to work out, but I think its important that we know about that it because it provides a reason for the concentrated Shadowborn attacks on the Legendborn and also a reason for the King to still be kicking around. The Shadowborn harry the Order so hard because the original War never stopped, it just changed.

The King seems to a bit like Sauron - separated from his Crown, he's a shadow of himself (excuse my bad pun), still powerful, but limited in scope. There's no reason for a long game otherwise. But if he were trying to get his Crown back? Because the Order STILL HAD IT?

Well, that would re-contextualize a few things, wouldn't it?

[asrtron]

Match your through Online free kundli by an astrologer on astrology site

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The conventional kundli matching for marriage way to deal with relationships underscores on Kundli matching for effective relationships. In any case, we see numerous relationships supported by Kundli matching fizzle while numerous relationships disregarding the Kundli matching succeed.

The various Vedic remedies for these doshas help the couple live a happy married life. Please consult an experienced Crystal gazer before making a final decision. This is an analysis of Vedic texts. This helps us locate the ideal soul mate. To analyze the degree of likeness between a child and a young woman, we employ the Vedic Asta Kuta approach. This method makes use of the birth star and sign.

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Each koota represents a different area of married life. The duo allegedly began grabbing each other in Varna Koota. Vashya Koota describes the couple's faith in one another. Tara Koota discusses the duration of married life. Yoni Koota describes the couple's success and financial situation. It also describes online kundli matching the couple's genuine attraction to one another. The story of Graha Maitri Koota is one of family and home. The psychological similarity between the couple is described in Gana Koota. The couple's joy is described in Rashi Koota. Nadi Koota finally talks about labor and genuine resemblance.

We truly desire the Rashi and Nakshatra of the child and the young lady for fundamental similarities. However, for a thorough assessment, we need the child's and young woman's birth details, including their date of birth, month of birth, and place of birth. This Vedic similarity method is applied in a significant region of India. 

Assuming 18 to 24 angles match, the marriage can be supported. Notwithstanding, the consequences of similarity will be normal. Matching of 25 to 32 viewpoints is viewed as a generally excellent coordinate with the possibilities of the couple guaranteeing an extremely blissful marriage. For endorsing a marriage, there should be at least 18 Guna matches between the lady and the lucky man. On the off chance that the matching Gunas are under 18, the proposed match isn't supported. On the off chance that 18 to 25 Gunas match, it is deemed as a decent marriage. A best match results when 26 to 32 Gunas match. The above information is about kundli matching  for marriage. To know more details about it visit our official website myastron.com.

[torpublishinggroup]

Queer Books Coming from Tor Books in 2022 🏳️‍🌈

We’re very gay! We publish a lot of books! 

The (also gay) mad scientists behind this account have combined the above truths into one post. Feel the mitest bit queer? Got a gay hankering for LGBTQIA+ books? 

Check it out 😎

The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood

Two years after defying the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and escaping into the great unknown, Csorwe and Shuthmili have made a new life for themselves, hunting for secrets among the ruins of an ancient snake empire. Along for the ride is Tal Charossa, determined to leave the humiliation and heartbreak of his hometown far behind him, even if it means enduring the company of his old rival and her insufferable girlfriend. All three of them would be quite happy never to see Sethennai again. But when a routine expedition goes off the rails and a terrifying imperial relic awakens, they find that a common enemy may be all it takes to bring them back into his orbit.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation. When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will. Most of them.

Last Exit by Max Gladstone

Ten years ago, Zelda led a band of merry adventurers whose knacks let them travel to alternate realities and battle the black rot that threatened to unmake each world. Zelda was the warrior; Ish could locate people anywhere; Ramon always knew what path to take; Sarah could turn catastrophe aside. Keeping them all connected: Sal, Zelda’s lover and the group’s heart. Until their final, failed mission, when Sal was lost. When they all fell apart. Ten years on, Ish, Ramon, and Sarah are happy and successful. Zelda is alone, always traveling, destroying rot throughout the US. When it boils through the crack in the Liberty Bell, the rot gives Zelda proof that Sal is alive, trapped somewhere in the alts. Zelda’s getting the band back together.

The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons

Relos Var’s final plans to enslave the universe are on the cusp of fruition. He believes there’s only one being in existence that might be able to stop him: the demon Xaltorath. As these two masterminds circle each other, neither is paying attention to the third player on the board, Kihrin. Unfortunately, keeping himself classified in the ‘pawn’ category means Kihrin must pretend to be everything the prophecies threatened he’d become: the destroyer of all, the sun eater, a mindless, remorseless plague upon the land. It also means finding an excuse to not destroy the people he loves (or any of the remaining Immortals) without arousing suspicion.

The Origin of Storms by Elizabeth Bear

Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns to conclude her acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy of the Lotus Kingdoms, which began with The Stone in the Skull and The Red-Stained Wings, bringing it all to a surprising, satisfying climax in The Origin of Storms. The Lotus Kingdoms are at war, with four claimants to the sorcerous throne of the Alchemical Emperor, fielding three armies between them. Alliances are made, and broken, many times over—but in the end, only one can sit on the throne. And that one must have not only the power, but the rightful claim.

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison

In The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor with a direct sequel to The Witness For The Dead…

Celehar’s life as the Witness for the Dead of Amalo grows less isolated as his circle of friends grows larger. He has been given an apprentice to teach, and he has stumbled over a scandal of the city—the foundling girls. Orphans with no family to claim them and no funds to buy an apprenticeship. Foundling boys go to the Prelacies; foundling girls are sold into service, or worse.

At once touching and shattering, Celehar’s witnessing for one of these girls will lead him into the depths of his own losses.

The love of his friends will lead him out again.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead. 

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock. With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories. But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

Dance with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Tobias Richter, the fearsome VP of Security of TechCorp is dead. The puppetmaster is gone, and the organization is scrambling to maintain control by ruthlessly limiting access to resources to Atlanta, hoping to quell rebellion. Our band of mercenary librarians have decided that the time for revolution has come. Maya uses her wealth of secrets to weaken the TechCorps from within. Dani strikes from the shadows, picking off the chain of command one ambush at a time. And Nina is organizing their community—not just to survive, but to fight back. When Maya needs to make contact with a sympathetic insider, Dani and Rafe are the only ones with the skill-set and experience to infiltrate the highest levels of the TechCorps. They’ll go deep undercover in the decadent, luxury-soaked penthouses on the Hill. Bringing Dani face-to-face with the man who turned her into a killer. And forcing Rafe to decide how far he’ll go to protect both of his families—the one he was born to, and the one he made for himself. Victory will break the back of Power. Failure will destroy Atlanta.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy, Neon Yang's debut novel The Genesis of Misery is full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs. It’s an old, familiar story: a young person hears the voice of an angel saying they have been chosen as a warrior to lead their people to victory in a holy war. But Misery Nomaki (she/they) knows they are a fraud. Raised on a remote moon colony, they don’t believe in any kind of god. Their angel is a delusion, brought on by hereditary space exposure. Yet their survival banks on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal. The deeper they get into their charade, however, the more they start to doubt their convictions. What if this, all of it, is real? A reimagining of Joan of Arc’s story given a space opera, giant robot twist, the Nullvoid Chronicles is a story about the nature of truth, the power of belief, and the interplay of both in the stories we tell ourselves.

The Genesis of Misery is on sale 9/27/22

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

When Tennal—a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster—is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him. Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit’s ability to control minds. Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn’t all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

Ocean’s Echo is on sale 11/1/22

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

The much-beloved BookTok sensation Legends & Lattes is Travis Baldree's novel of high fantasy and low stakes. *The new paperback edition will include a very special, never-before-seen bonus story, 'Pages to Fill.'* After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Legends & Lattes is on sale 11/8/22