#anyway there’s a 6am controversial take from me

[stylesprimes]

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[britishassistant]

Oooo oh! The post you just made is so interesting! Can you do a version with how things go down in the supervillain universe? Like all the dorm heads call Yuu Prefect and Yuu freaks out internally as to how these younger version of the supervillains know their secret?

@ectopus said: ok now i wanna know more on whats happening with older Yuu with the dorm leaders from twisted wonderland

Anonymous said: Finding out your crush is also your enemy sometimes ally is amazing funny! Reporter Yuu gots their hands full with these teenagers and twenty-year-old.

Yuu the Reporter isn’t exactly happy to hear frantic banging on their apartment door late at night. Unsurprised, but not happy.

“I know I told you all I have the 6AM shift tomorrow.” They grouse loudly as they go to open it. “So I don’t care what amazing scheme it is you want to kidnap me for, it is not my pro—”

They stop short when they see what looks like younger versions of Tsunotaro, Charon, and...is that Viper-san? The aide to Kalim Al-Asim?

The trio are huddled together miserably on their doorstep, all dressed in similar school uniforms. Tsunotaro and Charon have a blazer and a hoodie held over their heads, as if that will in any way disguise them.

“This just became my problem, didn’t it.” The reporter says glumly to the three...teenagers? They look like teenagers, Great Seven they’re so lanky and baby-faced, it’s making Yuu feel old.

Teenage Charon lets out a squeak, the edges of his hair flaring hot pink under his hoodie. Teenage Tsunotaro is just staring at them, wide-eyed and mute. Teen Viper-san swallows and says “You think?” in what is probably supposed to be a sardonic manner, but the effect is kinda ruined by his voice cracking halfway through.

It says a lot about Yuu’s life that they just open the door wider and stand aside to let the teenagers shuffle in with only a weary, “Age ray or alternate selves?”

Of course, it can never just be two or three afflicted with the supervillains.

Malleus, Idia, and Jamil are in the middle of explaining how they each came to in different lairs, running into each other on their way to the only recognizable name in the lair’s databases and running away from the screaming townsfolk in Malleus and Idia’s cases, when there’s another violent pounding at the door.

The reporter has to get Jamil to put his...magic wand? thing away before they can go see who it is. Yuu’s not sure how much damage that thing can do, but they’d rather their apartment not get turned into the scene of a brawl again, please and thank you.

The teenager insists on hovering though, as though Yuu is not a grown ass adult who can open doors on their own and not shatter like glass. He promptly gets bowled over by the three other uniformed teenagers and young adult (?) that burst in the moment the handle turns.

The younger King slams the door shut behind them, tail lashing up a storm and ears nearly flat on his head, a growl still rumbling in his chest. The teenage Octo Dealer’s glasses have been snapped clean in half. Yuu still doesn’t get why younger versions of Dr. Rosehearts and Schoenheit-san are with them, but the pair of civilians look understandably shaken.

They are all covered in glitter.

The reporter recognizes that look well. “A RSA hero found you, didn’t they?”

Schoenheit-san sneezes on glitter as he scoffs, “Hero? An overgrown manchild courting indecent exposure and awful fashion sense is more like it!”

White Neige it is then.

The reporter goes to get the first aid kit and lint roller to begin patching up the high schoolers like they’ve done countless times for the minions and supervillains before them.

So Yuu’s little apartment is now filled with high schoolers. High schoolers who are having some trouble absorbing the fact that they’re in a world where four of them are highly feared supervillains, and three of them are hapless civilians. All of them seem to be united in glaring at Grim when he strolls out of the reporter’s bedroom and asks how they all got so small.

By now, Yuu’s phone has begun blowing up with messages from the Game Night group and the other minions asking where their bosses are.

The reporter texts back that they have no idea where Snake Charmer, Poison Queen, or Royal Flush are, but they do snap a picture to send in a group message of the teenage boys who are currently bickering over who gets to sit on the couch versus the floor, and whether Leona lying down on it and taking up the whole thing is “fair” to everyone else.

Uproar in the chat.

Lilia is squeeing over how small and cute Malleus is, lookit him in his little fancy school uniform!! Sebek is both joining in with this praise, and terrified about how they can turn the young master back to his old self! Silver is asleep because he has that luxury, the lucky bastard.

Ruggie is disappointed that his boss doesn’t have anything embarrassing that could potentially serve as blackmail material to get himself a pay raise. Jack wants to arm wrestle young Leona if he’s still there tomorrow and see who would win.

Floyd and Jade want to come over to pick on Azul! Yuu says no! They say they’re coming anyway!!

Ortho is coming too!! His nii-san is now younger and needs him and there’s nothing Yuu can do about it!!

Lilia heavily implies that they all can wait until tomorrow or else.

Suddenly Yuu is no longer anticipating any more house guests tonight. Yay?

Waterboy’s weirdly excited at the picture of Jamil, and Huntsman keeps rhapsodizing about Vil’s youthful beauty, but they’re both a little odd so the reporter purposely thinks nothing of it.

Just like they think nothing of Trey’s oddly monosyllabic mother-henning over the young Riddle. He’s much smaller than the other boys—he probably just set of Trey’s big brother instincts is all. And if the rest of the Heartslaybul minions have gone strangely quiet too? They’re likely just busy searching for Royal Flush. Nothing to read into here, no sir.

Yuuken tells Yuu to call if they need any extra food or blankets for their guests or anything. He’ll try to convince their boss’s boss that Yuu’s taken ill tomorrow. For a moment, all seems right with the world.

Then Azul calls for the “prefect” to come settle the couch argument.

Yuu promptly drops the cup they were about to pour lemon tea into.

They wave off Malleus and Riddle’s concern, Azul’s apologies, and Jamil’s attempts to clear up the shards up for them, saying they were just...startled at being addressed like that.

The reporter explains that, while the students’ version of Yuu might be known as a prefect back at their school, here The Prefect is the name of a...controversial vigilante. One who foils the villainous schemes of the top seven supervillains in the city, and usually takes quite the beating while doing so. The supervillains’ ire even extends to their friend and cameraman, Yuuken, who’s only suspected of being the Prefect.

Yuu likes being on good enough terms with the supervillains that they know even if they get kidnapped, they won’t get seriously hurt. If they or any of their minions were to be given reason, however flimsy, to believe the reporter was The Prefect...

Well. Yuu doesn’t like to think about what would happen then.

The high schoolers keep shooting Yuu looks that suggest they don’t buy this flimsy explanation, but they let the subject drop mercifully, turning back to serving tea and dividing up who will be sleeping where.

Another argument erupts when the reporter offers to sleep on the floor so one or two of them can share their bed. Leona and Malleus come close to almost burning the apartment down before Yuu takes a page out of Uncle Divvy’s book and breaks out the rolled up newspaper to restore order.

Later that night, after it’s all settled and the students are all fast asleep, Yuu the Reporter has a panic attack in the privacy of their bathroom.

They don’t know how much longer they can keep this up.

[fighterkimburgess]

Hi! I don’t usually post anon stuff, but may have a controversial opinion (not necessarily from you), but I’m troubled by the amount of ‘blame Kim’ for everything that happened in 9X15 (again not from you). These range from takes that ‘Kim is toxic’ to (my favorite that I’ve heard of, but haven’t seen) of ‘Kim should sign custody of Makayla over to Adam.’ (I’m hoping that was to have joint custody/adopt, rather than cede it to him completely.) While I might be a member of the Kim Burgess Defense Squad, this is not a knee-jerk ‘blame Adam’ thread, either. I have thinky-thoughts about this.

I felt like the Fangirlish review was very balanced in that it articulated some of these thoughts. That Kim and Adam said things that they might not usually say, looking for some kind of control. Not control of each other, or even Makayla, but of what had to be an uncontrollable (at least feeling like) situation. Before Kim said the ‘my daughter line’, Adam had just very emphatically said, ‘We’re not going to do that’, or something like that, referring to the drop. This, for me, had serious ‘You’re pregnant with my kid’, emphatic vibes from Season 7. I think it might have had for Kim, as well, and she lashed out.

This is a situation, that I could never imagine myself in, where you feel like you’re about to lose something as precious as a child, and you are not in control (even as cops, something civilians might not be able to feel anyway). They both said things that are hard to take back. Like you’ve said, it will take much more of the decent communication they’ve been having all season. On steroids. They will need to use their words, but just as importantly, they’ll have to listen to one another.

That’s it for the streams of consciousness that this may sound like. Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

I ADORE this and you’ve basically said everything I’ve been thinking, so thank you Anon!

I totally agree some of the takes have been ridiculous. Neither were faultless here, and they were stressed, both were physically injured (Adam’s shoulder, Kim’s hand from the sea glass cuts), and they hadn’t slept since the day before. We say they get up around 6am? This was noon the following day, and the day before they’d been shot at, Kim testified, and they’d been stressed waiting for news. They’d been awake for more than 30 hours and I’m willing to bet the sleep before has less than decent. It was 48 hours of hell.

They both fucked up, and I think Kim did more than Adam. But they need to talk it out. It’s something they’ve been good at so far this season. They’re putting Makayla first, and they both love her. To quote Kim that episode, “we’re her parents”.

Parenting isn’t easy. Being a family isn’t easy. And call me naive but I think these two can make it work out.

[gstqaobc]

'I still don't believe Meghan': Piers Morgan tweets defiant Churchill message and says he stands by view that saw him quit GMB - as Susanna Reid tells morning viewers 'it's going to be very different' without him

Ranvir Singh will host Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid today - the day after Piers Morgan stormed off

Mr Morgan faced a social media campaign over comments he made about Harry and Meghan's interview

He faced a huge online backlash after he said he 'didn't believe a word' of the Duke and Duchess' Oprah talk

Twitter users responded by sharing links to Ofcom and gave instructions on how to complain to TV regulator

Ofcom today announced it was launching an investigation following the raft of complaints from Twitter users

MailOnline editor at large, who has helped show to record ratings, had blazing row with Alex Beresford

They were discussing the Sussexes' interview with Oprah, where the couple accused Royal Family of racism

Piers Morgan today doubled down after quitting Good Morning Britain by tweeting that he still doesn't believe any of Meghan's incendiary claims to Oprah in a defiant message sent as the show began without him with Strictly star Ranvir Singh in his chair.Susanna Reid admitted it will be a 'very different' programme without her co-star of five years and told viewers this morning that he had been a 'voice for many of you' through Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.Mr Morgan sensationally quit the show on the day it scored record ratings after he told viewers he 'didn't believe a word she [Meghan] said' to Oprah and branded her 'Princess Pinocchio' after an interview where the Duchess said she was suicidal while five months pregnant and accused the Royal Family of racism. His views sparked more than 41,000 complaints made to Ofcom.

Just after the show began at 6am this morning he tweeted to his 7.8million followers: 'On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions'.

He also shared a quote by Britain's greatest prime minister Winston Churchill, which said:  'Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage'.

On an extraordinary day for the show he also walked off set live on air after the show's weatherman Alex Beresford accused him of unfairly 'trashing' Meghan, branding him 'diabolical' and saying: 'I'm sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen'. Mr Beresford was not on screen today, with Laura Tobin presenting the GMB weather this morning.

Hours later Mr Morgan quit, with his supporters defending his views and claiming his exit is more bad news for free speech and a sad indictment of cancel culture in Britain after critics including Labour MP Dawn Butler encouraged people to complain to ITV and Ofcom. Others have questioned whether GMB's viewing figures will hold-up without its star, who helped add a million new viewers in his time on the show.

After Ranvir Singh, a GMB reporter and star of Strictly last year, stepped in for Piers today, Susanna then gave a short speech on the tumultuous events of the past 24 hours.

Ms Reid said: 'A number of people will know the news and many of you will not and will be surprised that Piers Morgan is not here this morning. Now, Piers and I have disagreed on many things and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the programme.

'He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster. He has many critics and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan's interview. He himself clarified his comments about her mental health on the show yesterday.'

Reid said there are 'many voices' on Good Morning Britain and 'everyone has their say'. She added: 'But now Piers has decided to leave the programme. Some of you may cheer and others may boo.

'He has been my presenting partner, Monday to Wednesday, for more than five years and during Brexit and the pandemic and other issues, he has been a voice for many of you and a voice that many of you have railed against.

'It is certainly going to be very different but shows go on and so on we go.'

Ranvir Singh, Reid's co-presenter for the morning, replied: 'Well said.' She described Morgan as a 'big character' and said 'many viewers will be absolutely gutted'. Singh called Morgan 'Marmite' and acknowledged his role in Good Morning Britain's success. Ms Singh is amongst the favourites to take the job, but said: 'I was here anyway, don't read anything into this, I was here anyway. I've shifted seats on this brand new desk'.

It came after 55-year-old Mr Morgan shocked viewers by walking off camera during a heated on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford, saying 'I'm done with this' after being challenged on his position of the Duke and Duchess by his co-star. Afterwards ITV CEO Carolyn McCall - who formerly worked for the left-wing Guardian newspaper - said that the broadcaster's media and entertainment MD Kevin Lygo was speaking to Mr Morgan.And last night it was announced that Mr Morgan had quit the hugely popular ITV show - which he co-hosted with Susanna Reid.An ITV spokesman told MailOnline: 'Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.'It is understood Mr Morgan had been asked to apologise for his remarks which had been criticised by mental health campaigners but had declined.It brings to an end his six-year long association with the breakfast show, which he originally joined as a guest host in 2015, during which time he has made it must-see TV with a strong of exclusives and his strident opinions.Ironically it came the day after GMB recorded its highest ever viewing figures in the wake of Megan Markle's blockbuster Oprah Winfrey interview.It also came on the day that he had followed up with an agenda-setting interview with her father Thomas in which Mr Markle had taken aim at 'snotty' Harry, defended the British people and Royals against her claims of racism and revealed that he felt she had betrayed him, not the other way around.Earlier Morgan, who this evening Tweeted a picture of himself with former manager David Ferriter and the message 'trust your gut', also addressed his previous comments regarding the Duchess's mental health.Yesterday, he was criticised by the charity, Mind, after saying he 'didn't believe a word she said'. I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report,' he added.Today he addressed these remarks and said: 'When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all-encompassing thing I don't believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.'But let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide.'On mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time. Every time.'And if they belong to an institution like the Royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it.'It's not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.'My real concern was a disbelief frankly and I'm prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I'm wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.'If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.'But it was not enough to stop a wildfire social media campaign against him that resulted in 41,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom by last night who announced they had launched a probe under their 'harms' code. The campaign featured an avalanche of tweets which criticised the host and supporting Meghan - some sharing direct links to the Ofcom complaints page. Among those launching criticism at Morgan were Labour MP Dawn Butler, who copied in the Twitter page of ITV to her Tweet.

In her social media post, which shared a comment from Mind criticising Morgan's remarks, she asked: '@ITV what have you decided to do?'Another Twitter user said: 'It took me about seven minutes to complain to fill in the Ofcom online form to complain about Piers Morgan's disgusting behaviour on mental health and race issues. It's not much, but if enough people complain they have to do something!' One Twitter user - who said: 'I am determined to get Piers off GMB Lolz. Which petitions do I need to sign?' - received a response with a link to the Ofcom complaints page.Their decision to act was in stark contrast to what happened with 24,500 people complained about dance troop Diversity's BLM-inspired routine on Britain's Got Talent last year when the watchdog refused a probe and said: 'We carefully considered a large number of complaints about this artistic routine, an area where freedom of expression is particularly important.'Diversity's performance referred to challenging and potentially controversial subjects, and in our view, its central message was a call for social cohesion and unity.'Any depictions of violence by the performers were highly stylised and symbolic of recent global events, and there was no explicit reference to any particular political organisation - but rather a message that the lives of black people matter.'Mr Morgan is also Editor at large for MailOnline and writes a twice weekly column for the website. A spokesman for MailOnline said: 'This is a very sad day for British free speech and one ITV will come to regret very quickly. We stand by Piers 120%.'  LOADS MORE ON THE DM

WELL HE HAS CERTAIN MADE HIS OPINION CLEAR AND MANY AGREE, MYSELF INCLUDED! EVEN GIVEN PAST ERRORS HE IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR TAKING SUCH A PUBLIC STANCE!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

[onlyeverydaysa]

3. Africa and the novel coronavirus.

Africa enjoyed a short bit of time before the novel coronavirus hit its shores. Here, however; the amount of time that lapsed till the first few reported confirmed cases made the world question whether or not we would be ready to handle a health crisis of this magnitude. Kind of ironic because the entire world including first world countries were and are still not equipped to handle a pandemic of this magnitude as we can clearly see from the numbers and how different areas have shifted to become the epicentre. But I digress. 

The first known and confirmed cases in Africa originated from Egypt, and was said to be someone who was not of Egyption nationality who had recently travelled to an area affected by COVID-19 and was reported on the 14th of February, 2020. The last African country to catch COVID19  was Lesotho who recorded their first case on the 13th of May, 2020. 

Then on the 5th of March, 2020 the first known and confirmed case was recorded / reported to South Africa. South Africa was ‘the 7th African country to  have a citizen test positive for the disease’. The person was said to be a 38 year old male who had travelled to Italy with his wife in a group of 10 people. Here, South Africa was held to be ‘one of 2 countries on the continent with reliable testing capabilities’. But testing capacity has since improved in other countries due to the rapid spread and severity of coronavirus and the need to  be able to take care of our people. Here, the rand was said to weaken against the dollar after confirmation of our first corona case. 

We watched the novel coronavirus spread rapidly across Africa in quite a short period of time. It almost looked, well, too co-ordinated. Was that just coincidence? I don’t know but again this takes me back to whichever theory you believe in about it’s origins; as that theory might have an answer that suits you. -sips tea- However, one must also take into consideration how much travelling was still allowed during the earlier days of COVID19 and how in general, mild cases have been allowed, in most cases to treat themselves at home - which means the potential for underreporting of real COVID19 cases  throughout the world; whilst some non-COVID cases have been misdiagnosed as covid cases potentially inflating numbers in some areas will cause problems for us when analysing what needed to be done, what has been done and what still needs to be done to fight COVID19. 

But here is what we do know: every country’s experience of coronavirus is different and as a result everyone has had to respond differently to try address the unique challenges facing their country. The one size fits all approach couldn’t be used to treat this virus, as it has been used to treat other viruses and we are seeing in some instances this difference in approach paying off in some countries whilst going wrong in others which has been both eye opening and scary as the entire world realises that the entire health system has been greatly neglected. 

However, despite having been praised for trying to get ahead of the curve by WHO and many others (and also praising WHO for their role in helping to combat COVID19) in our earlier days dealing with coronavirus, our numbers have since drastically shot up (currently sitting at about 23 615 as of the 25th of May, 2020 - Africa Day) and are expected to peak only around August / September/ Also, despite efforts by government to keep people calm and despite efforts by everyone to try and focus on the facts and the science of it all there have been some later decisions that have arguably taken us backward or caused us as citizens to question whose interests are best being served by some of the implementation measures introduced by government to combat / curve / reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

But with regards to my experience in South Africa, I would definitely say we tried to do the best we could with the cards that we have been dealt and as critical as I am of politicians, authority and structures I would say that some of the decisions that have been taken have been quite impressive actually, despite potential political, racial and class differences that the country is facing. Also I am very proud of our healthcare sector and how they have managed to actually also encourage us to stay calm by leading by example from our Health Minister, to doctors, nurses, lab techs, scientists, pharmacists, paramedics and other essential staff that work at the health facilities including cleaning staff, security, food suppliers etc. Everyone has just been calm in the public eye. Our response between mid-march up until early April definitely inspired a sense of feeling safe (health wise), albeit not physically; because the army & the police were unleashed on the people causing greater distress.

Some controversial issues raised were in relation to class and how lockdown impacted on the unemployed, underprivileged and working class in a society that is so deeply unequal - actually even known as the most unequal country in the world. Social media has opened the door for all these different debates, with many people openly questioning and criticizing some of the decisions taken by the government. Most notably, the open letters to the president written by Ntsiki Mazwai and Gareth Cliff which caused a stir. For which I will definitely say at the time Ntsiki raised some valid concerns even though her tone was harsh. Gareth’s letter stated nothing new, but then when he was questioned on it, on the popular South African tv show the Big Debate SA he didn’t really articulate himself well and quite frankly was quite rude and unfortunately played into critiques belief that he was clout chasing and seeking relevance (a story for another day). (This all depends on which side of the debate you fall on, I guess).

Meanwhile, round-about mid to late-April (21 April, 2020) Madagascar announced a herbal mix remedy called COVID Organics that is preventative and curative in nature. The remedy is said to contain Artemisia Annua, a plant used in medicines to combat malaria, for which it has been critiqued to say that this plant does not fight malaria in its plant-like state. Here, several African countries had opted to try it by mid-May, including: Liberia, Equitorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Tanzania, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo who have all ‘received some bottles’ of COVID Organics. The emergence of this remedy sparked growing debate around the usefulness / effectiveness in herbal and traditional medicine in combating COVID19 here on the African continent even though China has been exploring this option since February. This resulted in WHO cautioning against herbal remedies that are untested but criticism for the centering of Western medicine as the solution has grown. This led to a call to boycott WHO on social media which never really went further and was then resolved when WHO was rumoured to have agreed to look into COVID Organics but concerns were raised around the non-disclosure clause said to be agreed upon between the two (also rumour, as the sources on this are now more scarce). However Madagascar is still a member of WHO and supporting WHO. Madagascar was recently elected (22 May) on their executive board. 

Personally, I believe a combination of both forms of medicine must be looked into, because some homemade remedies have proven effective in combating or helping to boost our immune systems against flu and if flu is a virus that logic holds. But on the other hand, noting that respiratory illnesses like pneumonia require antibiotics and other inflammatory and other drugs as well as liquids, rest, and possible oxygen therapy a more impactful drug with organic properties may be what is needed. But again I am not a medical expert so I am merely stating an opinion based on my understanding - its not fact. Anyway, interestingly enough: Madagascar only had 121 cases and no deaths at the time of releasing COVID Organics. Now by the 25th of May, 2020 they had 527 cases (I stand to be corrected). This is still significantly less than most countries especially for a population of 27.6 Million people so they must be doing something right even if it might not be linked to medicine - it could just be that they have disciplined citizens who are taking care of their health by eating healthy and practicing effective social distancing and sanitization.

To date, Africa as a whole continent has had 111 812 confirmed cases of COVID!9, with 3 354 deaths and 45 001 recoveries as of 6am, (25 May, 2020). In blog posts to follow, I will continue to touch on South Africa as my primary example of what is happening (for obvious reasons as you can tell by the name of this blog) and I will then try to give examples of what has been done in other countries. 

*Disclaimer (again): images aren't mine. I just use pics from the net from the sources I touch on, for my posts. 

*Wrote this piece on Africa Day, but struggled to post it. 

*A reminder that  the blog posts in the 21 Conversation series are just bits & pieces of the COVID19 experience that I have found worth talking about touching on some facts, some opinion and some theories you may or may not agree with, I have linked some of the sources that speak to these issues in all the posts that range from news to stats and facts to blogs to youtube so take everything with a pinch of salt. But always keep up to date with coronavirus news through reliable sources and keep up to date with your country’s rules, regulation and other legislation through official government sites.  I hope lockdown is treating you well if you are in lockdown and if you happen to be reading this and your country isn’t on lockdown let us know how your country is handling it. Stay safe everybody. 

M.T.M

Sources:

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/egypt-confirms-coronavirus-case-africa-200214190840134.html

2. https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/world-news/first-coronavirus-case-south-africa-who-is-it-where-reported/

3. https://techcentral.co.za/first-case-of-coronavirus-in-south-africa/96364/

4. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/05/africa/south-africa-first-coronavirus-case/index.html

5. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/03/05/south-africa-confirms-first-case-of-covid-19/

6. https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/coronavirus-in-sa-who-boss-praises-south-africas-response-to-covid-19-pandemic-45923836

7. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/04/09/african-union-reaffirms-support-for-who-amid-covid-19-pandemic/

8. https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/who-again-heaps-praise-on-south-africas-response-to-covid-19/

9. https://mg.co.za/article/2019-11-19-why-sa-is-the-worlds-most-unequal-society/ 

10. https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-04-04-poverty-shows-how-apartheid-legacy-endures-in-south-africa/

11. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52125713

12. https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/396473/handling-of-the-covid-19-crisis-makes-mkhize-a-stand-out-leader-analysts/

13. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/africa-press-office/2020/05/12/coronavirus-south-africa-employment-and-labour-praised-for-prompt-payment-of-coronavirus-covid-19-temporary-employer-employee-relief-scheme-ters-benefits/

14.https://select.timeslive.co.za/news/2020-03-23-sa-states-response-to-covid-19-gets-a-huge-thumbs-up/

15. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52619308

16. https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/395685/extending-lockdown-would-not-delay-south-africas-coronavirus-peak-by-much-mkhize/

17. https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/your-life-entertainment-your-life/entertainment-celebrities/2261937/ntsiki-mazwai-pens-scathing-open-letter-to-ramaphosa-opposes-lockdown/

18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPD2zj6DCE&t=6s

19. https://www.garethcliff.com/dear-mr-president/

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8iGnW2cSYc 

21. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/madagascar-population/

22. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-madagascar-idUSKBN22K1HQ

23. https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/madagascar-launches-miracle-drink-for-coronavirus-infection/ar-BB12WZoM

24. https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/04/21/madagascar-president-backs-unproven-herbal-treatment-for-coronavirus/

25. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/coronavirus-madagascar-herbal-remedy-covid-organics-200505131055598.html

26. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52374250

27. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/who-to-study-madagascars-drug-to-treat-covid-19-/1840971#

28. https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-madagascar-hasnt-quit-world-health-organization/

29. https://www.africanews.com/2020/05/25/coronavirus-in-africa-breakdown-of-infected-virus-free-countries/

30. https://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-pneumonia-treatment

31. https://www.drugs.com/condition/pneumonia.html

[sol1056]

the bar was already so damn low it was practically underground

Well, I guess I’ll start with this quick correction, with thanks to @jeannettegray, who pointed out I mixed up days (for S1-S6) and weeks (S7) which would explain why it felt wonky when I was looking at it. Here’s the corrected chart of time in-the-tail versus not-in-tail: 

I included S8 in this version, but without a season coming after it, the only thing to track is the tail itself... and unless something truly wild happens between now and tomorrow, we’re already out of the tail. S4 and S5 had tails lasting 14 days each. I guess S8 isn’t the worst, since its tail looks likely to be 17 days. Yay, three more days of elevated viewership than the two worst seasons. 

Unfamiliar with the expression ‘long tail’? Here’s a reference image showing the rise and fall of a season’s viewership stats. More info in this S7 post, or you can just check my data-cronch tag. 

Or for a more pointed visual, here’s the past six months: S6, SDCC, S7, and S8... the last of which shoots up and comes right back down. Like a rock. 

For S7, I included IMDB rankings per season, and the range was wide enough I had to take good/average/bad and split it into four: great, good, okay, poor -- and S7 had more episodes in ‘poor’ than any other. That’s what I mean when I say the bar was so low the damn thing was underground... and yet amazingly, S8 utterly failed to hop over it.  

In fact, S8 did worse. Much worse.

viewer feedback via IMDB

Here’s all eight seasons, with their respective episodes averaged into each season’s value. It’s... well. Look for yourself.

For comparison, I also did a breakout, where the full seasons got split into 6 and 7, so we're comparing apples to apples with S3-S6 split seasons. The  pattern is pretty consistent, between first-half and second-half, in that the season-half (or half-season) with the ‘finale’ is usually the one with the higher score. People like big finale set pieces, and those tend to get highest ratings. 

Unless, of course, you’re season 8. Then people hate you. 

S1, S2, S5/S6 (as a two-part season), even S7, all have higher ratings for the finale-containing half. And then there’s S8. I usually try to avoid a word as strong as hate, but... there’s really no other word that fits when the difference is that stark. People really, truly hated S8, in case the Rotten Tomatoes score wasn’t enough to tell you that. 

Given the scores for S8, I had to create a new, even lower level to see how the seasons broke out in terms of ratings per episode. Now we have great (green), good (blue), okay (yellow), poor (red), and... terrible (maroon). 

Yeah. So. There you go. Remember when I said last season that The Voltron Show had lost its title as worst episode ever, unseated by the Feud? 

Well, the Feud has been unseated... by ten episodes in S8. Take your pick, there’s plenty to choose from. As of the time of this posting, the current three worst episodes are The Zenith (5.2), Uncharted Regions (5.3) and Clear Day (5.5). I’d list the ten worst but then I’d just be listing all but three episodes from S8, anyway. 

However, it’s interesting to see the pattern form when you put the split-seasons back together. You can see how in some ways, there’s a certain level of audience approval gradually building, I guess as people got used to the story’s vagaries, err, style.

The number of ‘great’ episodes (8.6 or higher) slowly climbs; the number of ‘okay’ episodes gradually declines. S7 breaks that pattern, with only one ‘good’ episode, a few ‘okay’ and the rest at poor. S8, well. Yeah. 

Okay, moving along, to the IMDB traffic. This is another viewership-style stat, since a site’s page tends to get hit the most when people want to know about the show they’re watching. 

The color-dot indicates the ranking for the week of release. S6′s biggest interest was the week it released, which tells me people were going direct to IMDB on the day of release or the next day. When that happens, it seems to correlate with viewers coming to rate every episode, often with a strongly positive slant. They want to get right in there and make their happiness known. 

S7, the leap upwards came a week later, and the utter wildness of the rating (plus the delay) seems to be related more to rubbernecking and controversy, rather than viewers reporting in. S8 not only debuted lower than the previous two seasons, it also had a delayed reaction (indicating more controversy)... and it dropped right back down, in one of the biggest post-peak drops I’ve seen yet.

viewer feedback via twitter

About six hours after S8 appeared on Netflix, I caught this sentiment analysis of the twitter stream for ‘voltron’ as a keyword. This is from midnight California time (point of release) to about 6am California time.

This is the tracker where I can’t review sentiment, and judging from the other tracker I use, the negative is higher... but more negative than positive is never good, no matter the totals. 

Twelve hours after release, I checked the other tracker. Traffic overall was pretty low compared to previous seasons (and nowhere near what S7 had prompted, not even in the same county). Sentiment was running about 3:1 negative --- that is, for every for-VLD tweet, there were three against. 

(If it makes anyone feel better, #Allura was the center of the maelstrom, with Shiro a not-quite-close second. No, despite the impression on tumblr, people weren’t sitting back and accepting Allura’s fate.) 

But seriously, the response was otherwise pretty subdued. This is a general traffic pattern + predictive, for #voltron as of two days after release:

Which is pretty much... nothing at all. If I didn’t know better, I’d think no season had been released at all. It shouldn’t look that flat when a season drops, and it sure as hell shouldn’t be predicted to fall within the week. 

And back to the sentiment analysis, showing the trends over the first week and a half after release. It’s continued to fall in a semi-regular pattern, so this is a fair-enough idea of what it looks like. (It hasn’t changed much; it just keeps gradually dropping.) 

24 hours after release, negative-to-positive was nearly 1:1; since then, it’s stayed pretty consistent with two positive tweets for every one negative. Which, okay, you might say, two-thirds of people expressing an opinion seem to be somewhat okay with things, right? 

Except I think there might only be like a few hundred of them. I mean, the peak up there, of total mentions? Maybe 1200, total. Sure, it’s great that 510 people had something nice to say while 498 were unhappy, but... that’s practically three people in an empty auditorium, if you go by twitter’s usual traffic levels. 

And no one’s sticking around, either. Once again there was a post-release bump thanks to the simmering controversy... and then everyone hung up the phone, left the building, went on vacation, but they sure checked out. 

That leap upwards? That’s not the week of release. That’s the week after. The week of release (second bar from the right) is flat for just a bit, before spiking upwards. And just like the wiki-extrapolated viewership stats, it falls promptly afterwards. Like a rock. 

(I so want to crack a joke about rocks fall, everyone dies, but... #TooSoon?) 

There’s one last chart to explore, but this one’s a bit of a doozy to explain. Once you see what it’s saying, though, hopefully you’ll find it as interesting (and illuminating) as I do. I’ll leave it here for everyone to ponder, and get into it in the final S8 installment. 

Coming in the next few days.

[inevitablyuncertain]

i didn’t get a chance to voice all of my thoughts on an article we were reading in my psych class so get ready for some words **warning for long-winded rambling and also rape mention in the second paragraph

so the topic was on the controversy around evolutionary psychology, specifically regarding the subject of gender and sexuality, and so often i feel like nature-nurture debates are trying to find one definitive answer when research is showing increasingly that it is a mix of both, and even within genetics it’s often a combination of genes and biological factors that create a predisposition for traits. and maybe scientifically this research is used as a potential explanation for behavior, but among the general population it seems to be treated as an excuse. *like if women are found to have a more nurturing disposition, then it’s used as an ‘aha! so women shouldn’t be in competitive leadership positions!’ or something like that. it’s as if finding a basic trait from a million years ago discounts all of the cognitive reasoning skills that have developed to raise us up from those primitive humans all those years ago. and that just doesn’t work? the reason people are the way we are is because we have control over our impulses, our id, our whatever. like how according to my natural clock, according to my natural, base feelings, every morning i should say ‘fuck it’ to class and roll back over to sleep. but, with the help of some cognitive functioning, i get up. at 6am. every day. despite how much better it would feel (and probably even be better for me)

this led into discussion of a point that there is a perspective on rape that takes an evolutionary standpoint of men being driven to rape women because they’re at the risk of not passing on their genes or whatever, rather than the power/feminist perspective. and it’s bullshit because a) it discounts sexual harassment besides outright rape b) ignores different kinds of rape (ie. oral) that have no reproductive purposes c) ignores same sex or women rapists. but anyway. the professor asked one pf of the girls if she was offended by the idea that men were more naturally inclined to rape and i can’t help but wonder why that wasn’t asked to the guys (well, guy. there’s only one) in the room. why does no one expect men to be offended at the idea that they’re too animalistic and have too little self-control to not rape someone? unless ‘natural impulses’ are just used as excuses. justification. and rape is just a woman’s problem. women’s ‘natural instincts’, on the other hand, are expected to be justified. like women being more emotionally aware, and we have to dance around it to make it a positive (capitalizable?) skill like ‘that makes them more fit for leadership because they can communicate with their workers better-’ i don’t care. it doesn’t matter. i don’t need myself to be justified, i just need to be me. but fuck it, i guess being a woman is more shameful than being a rapist

slight side note, but speaking of guys in my classes, i remember talking in a soc class last year about gender inequalities and gaps in school curriculum and careers and a girl said that she didn’t feel as though there was really an inequality in our school classes, and that men and women participated and were seen equally. and maybe that’s true.. for the psychology and sociology classes we were in. with an even gender split in faculty and studying social relations and biases. and, most importantly, a general ratio of 7-8 girls for every 2-3 guys in the room (my senior capstone for psych has 10 girls and 1 guy). but what about the “hard sciences”, my girls in biochem and neuroscience and actuarial science? anytime anyone says the gender gap is closing i just want to make sure we’re actually looking at all women, from corporate and science to blue-collar labor **and treatment outside of work because people are more than just their jobs

[letsprayitwritesitself]

groundhog dave part 2 - day one

At 6am sharp Davey was jolted awake from his suspiciously pleasant sleep. His motel bed was almost too cosy, about ten feet high with a duvet that seemed intent on smothering him. He must have been more tired than he thought.

The clock radio started blaring the local forecast to keep him company as he forced himself out of bed, trying to motivate himself with the idea that if a job was worth doing it was worth doing well and blah blah blah.

That’s right woodchuck chuckers, it’s Groundhog Day!

He scowled at the radio over his shoulder as he shuffled into the bathroom, thinking that he maybe had two or three years left of this before February 2nd was ruined for him forever. He’d be eighty, in his retirement home, staring out the window and muttering to himself: that’s right woodchuck chuckers, that’s right woodchuck chuckers...

Could he do this again? He remembered thinking a year ago that three Groundhog Days had been a bit much. Now four? What if the execs just expected him to, because he’d never said no? He could walk into the studio tomorrow, look his boss in the face and say ��No more.”

Could he?

He was a good producer. He knew it. He could do way better than this.

But if that was true then why did they keep assigning it to him?

This internal struggle didn’t make him any more excited to deal with the day’s festivities so he walked to the square in a daze, squinting through the brisk sunlight at the millions of people who seemed intent on wishing every stranger they passed a happy Groundhog Day.

Jack and Crutchie had beat him there and were watching the celebrations with amusement - Davey would tell it was their first time. He greeted them with a grimace as a particularly loud accordion assaulted his ears.

‘Morning sunshine!’ Jack grinned at him, shuffling from foot to foot to try and keep warm. His cheeks were red from the cold and it struck Davey for a moment (just a moment, mind) as adorable. He got over that fast. 

‘Hey, guys, we ready for this thing?’

‘We’re all good to go, we’ve checked the link with the studio in Philly, due to start in about five.’ Crutchie had the knack of keeping his own optimism while being sympathetic to Davey’s lack thereof, and he’d always appreciate that about working with him. ‘Then we’re back on the road and home by eleven, sound good?’

‘Sounds great, thanks Crutchie. Jack, you ready?’

‘Born ready. Can’t believe how eager you guys are to blow this place. Don’t you love being out of the city just a little?’

Davey pulled a face.

‘That’s a no, then... no explanation? Or do you just like being controversial?’ Jack smiled as he said this, somewhere between genuinely curious and deliberately provocative. 

‘Alright. My whole life is in the city. I come here, it’s full of strangers, it’s too quiet at night, and there’s a million reminders that I’m still at the lowest point in my career. Meanwhile my superiors are laughing at me in Philly.’

Jack raised his eyebrows. Davey hadn’t meant to say that much. He cleared his throat. 

‘How about you - why are  you so happy to be here?’

‘It’s just nice to see all these people celebrating for next to no reason, y’know? Getting together with their neighbours, dancing in the streets. Heck, I don’t know what my neighbours are even called back home. Don’t you think it’s sweet?’

‘I think... If this is all that these people want, and that’s what makes them happy, then I’m happy for them. But also, no thanks.’ Davey shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced up at the bandstand, where the festivities were starting. Crutchie hoisted his camera up onto his shoulder and addressed Jack. 

‘Alright, Jack, we’re on in five... four... three... two...’ Jack adopted that grin again and lifted his mic up.

‘Once a year the eyes of the nation turn to this tiny hamlet in western Pennsylvania to watch a master at work. The master? Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous weatherman - the groundhog! Who, as legend has it, can predict the coming of an early spring! Which means the question we’re all asking ourselves today is: does Phil feel lucky?’ Davey shot Jack a tight-lipped smile and a thumbs up, and Jack nodded in return before turning around.

Even Davey had to smirk as the emcee pulled Punxsutawney Phil out of his trapdoor. The little guy had a bewildered, wide-eyed look on his squished face, kind of like he’d been forced out of bed for this bullshit tradition, and this made Davey feel like they were on the same level. Jack caught him smiling when he turned around to exclaim ‘He’s so cute!’ and he quickly rearranged his features into an expression of distant supervision. 

‘This February 2nd, at 7:20 and thirty seconds,’ the emcee started reading from a theatrical scroll, ‘Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, prognosticator of prognosticator, emerged reluctantly, but alertly...’ Jack turned round again to point at Davey, prompting another smirk. ‘... in Punxsutawney PA, and stated in groundhog-ese, “I definitely see a shadow.” Sorry folks, six more weeks of winter!’

Crutchie cast the camera over the disappointed crowd, who were voicing their upset at what the talking beaver had told them.

‘You ready for your sign off, Jack?’ Davey was really trying to not join in with the disappointment, the idea that this trip would have been any less of a waste of time if the groundhog had delivered good news. Jack nodded and lifted the mic again while Crutchie got into position.

‘Three... two...’

‘Well, there you have it folks! Not the outcome the people of Punx were hoping for but you, uh, you can’t argue with science! From Punxsutawney PA I’ve been Jack Kelly, back to you in the studio!’

‘Awesome, amazing, we’re done here.’ A sudden gust of icy wind chilled them and a low murmur of awe spread through the crowd. Snow started to fall. Jack, typically, let out a laugh and held his hands up to catch some.

‘It’s snowing!’

Davey bit back the impulse to say no shit, Sherlock, knowing it would only make him sound (and feel) like an asshole.

‘I didn’t think we were expecting snow?’

‘We weren’t, really, not yet anyway! Thought we’d be home by the time it started.’

‘We should get a move on, then, I don’t want it disrupting any of our travel.’

‘Can we stop for coffee? And breakfast?’

‘We can pause for coffee and breakfast.’

//

It was Jack’s damn caramel macchiato that did it. If he’d been normal and ordered a black coffee like Davey, or even tea like Crutchie, they would have been out of that damn coffee shop easily three or four minutes faster, and might have just missed this truck blocking the only tunnel out of Punx. The snow was falling heavily now, almost obscuring the road ahead, but Davey knew the route, and was keen enough to escape that place that he would have driven through a tornado.

‘Sucks that Phil couldn’t have told us about this, huh?’ Jack leaned forward from the back seat. Davey glared at him.

‘You’re literally a forecaster, Jack.’

‘It’s my day off! God, the one day I let a groundhog do my job, and this happens!’ He didn’t look particularly sorry.

‘Crutchie, can you flag down that cop and see what’s going on?’

Crutchie rolled down the window just enough to call out to the officer, who came over and spoke through the six inch gap. Davey wanted to talk but had a feeling his bad mood would get the better of him, so let Crutchie.

‘Morning officer, could you help us out a little?’

‘’Fraid not, fellas, we’re closing the road. There’s a blizzard.’

It was getting harder for Davey to bite his tongue.

‘What time we looking at re-opening it?’ Crutchie continued on his behalf. ‘We’re all due back in Philly and I think my producer’s gonna have a nervous breakdown if he doesn’t see a skyscraper in the next three hours.’

‘Hard to say, kids. Could be later today, could be a week. All depends on what the storm feels like doing!’

‘And there’s no way you could just... let us through?’ Davey leaned across Crutchie’s seat. As he said it, he knew it was a dumb question, but he had to ask.

‘Absolutely not. Roads are getting icy as hell and visibility is near zero. Nope, I cannot in good conscience let you continue. Best thing to do is turn around and get yourself a nice bowl of soup at Lily’s. Hunker down. It’s gonna be a cold one.’ He tapped the roof of the van good-naturedly and walked away to deliver the news around. There was a moment of heavy silence in the van before Jack spoke.

‘Well, look on the -’

‘Please. Please don’t tell me to look on the bright side.’

Jack stared at him for a moment before retreating back. ‘I wasn’t. I was going to say... Look at the silver lining!’ Crutchie snickered unhelpfully from the passenger seat. Davey leaned forward and rested his forehead on the steering wheel.

//

‘So now will you come hang out with us, see what Punx has to offer?’

They sat in the diner, watching the snow fall in sheets outside. Jack and Davey nursed cups of coffee in a window booth while Crutchie sat up at the counter, engaging the fry cook in wholesome banter. Davey had just spoken to the network, who had told the three of them to stay safe and take as long as they need - and hadn’t, unfortunately, offered to send a copter or a private jet to rescue them. He didn’t like the feeling of being a stick in the mud, but it was hard to force a positive attitude when he felt like the universe was conspiring against him.

‘I’ve seen what Punx has to offer. So have you. This is it.’

‘Jeez, Davey! What have I got to do to get you to crack a smile?’

‘I’m sorry.’

Jack seemed a little taken aback at the apology.

‘What for?’

‘I know I’m being an asshole. I just really, really hate this place.’

‘How about a drink?’ Jack raised his eyebrows, ready to be a little sympathetic now he knew the unpleasantness wasn’t just Davey’s personality.

‘How about nine or ten drinks?’

‘You’re on.’

[confusedunit]

Universe of Unreality - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 -  "Benry, you gotta stop telling people I'm dead, man."

Dr. Freeman paused for a moment in the 'airlock', catching his breath as he waited for the door to open. He was so late. Why did they always do this? Change tests around at will, change times and alert him via pager at 6am. Couldn't they just pick a time and stick to it? It had originally been a 10am test, and it looked like now it was gonna be that anyway.

God, he needed to have words with his boss. He designed his test, let him get to pick the times he runs it. He's always two weeks in advance with his test prep anyway! There's time to prepare for the energy usage at those times! There's even less time to prepare if they shift times around three hours before.

He sighed as the door finally opened, adjusting his glasses as he hurried over to the front desk. He reached up to pull his hair into a small ponytail, missing the length his hair used to have. Stupid dress code, with it's 'professional hairstyles' requirement. He kept it long enough for the smallest ponytail out of spite.

"Hey, Mr. Freeman. Looks like you're running late." The guard looked up at him with a grin. "Again."

"Wouldn't happen so much if they kept their times straight. You'd think they would have learned by now." He smiled a bit, letting his arms fall from his hair. "Didn't I tell you to call me Gordon, Fredrick?"

"Didn't I tell you to call me Freddie, Gordon?" Freddie smirked, giving him a shrug. "Anyway, I had some messages left for you I think. Guess they didn't think to email you. But there's been system issues all day, so I don't know where they are now. I'll forward them to you if we find them?"

"What, none of them thought to use a pen and paper?" He snickers. "Sounds good, Freddie. I'll check later."

"Good luck with the test." He waves him off. "With how things have been today, you might need it."

"Keep your luck, man. I've got enough of my own. Promise." He grins, before quickly jogging down the hall.

-

Tommy didn't know what he had been expecting, when he had turned the corner away from the break-room. But hearing someone call out down the hall 'Good morning, Dr. Freeman.' hadn't been one of the things. Hearing a reply of 'Hey, sorry, running late.' was even less expected.

He knew that voice. Oh God, he knew that voice. He'd almost forgotten it, but he knew it so clearly. He spun around quickly, sprinting back down the hall, and barely skidded to a stop in front of the man walking in.

Dr. Freeman looked up at him, startled, before he grinned. "Hey, Dr. Coolatta!"

He barely held back tears, as he lunged forward to pull the shorter man into a tight hug. He hadn't...he hadn't known Dr. Freeman was even still alive, what with...everything Black Mesa had been doing. He'd thought the man was gone. He hadn't even looked...God, he hadn't even looked...

Dr. Freeman returned the hug, though he seemed a bit confused. "...Uh, Tommy? You okay, bud?"

He wondered how much the MIT grad knew. How much he remembered. God, how long had he been awake, and...no, he couldn't...he couldn't blame himself. If he couldn't find Dr. Freeman, and Benrey couldn't find Dr. Freeman, then they had to have hidden the man somewhere hard to find. Somewhere none of them would have looked. Or been able to look? He didn't know.

"...Tommy, you're holding me a bit tight there-"

He flinched, pulling back from the hug. "I'm- I'm sorry, Dr. Freeman!"

The younger man held up his hands, smiling a bit nervously. "It's fine, you didn't hurt me or anything. I'm just- ...You okay? You're acting like you've seen a ghost."

Oh, if only he knew how true that statement felt. "I'm fine. Didn't...didn't sleep well, is all. And I missed you!"

"I know I was gone for a few weeks, but it was just a flu. I'm feeling better now." He gave a smile, as if to convince the other that he was fine. He didn't...look entirely fine, though. He looked drained, tired. Still recovering, he'd probably insist.

"Right..." Tommy took that information and sorted through it. He still thought...if he thought this was his return from when he was sick...that complicated matters a lot. But it also explained several things, to him. "Sorry, Dr. Freeman. I was just...really worried..."

"I'm okay, promise. Still..." Dr. Freeman shifted from foot to foot. Okay, so he knew he was lying a bit. "...Okay, so I'm still feeling a bit lethargic, but other than that I'm okay. Got cleared to come back, too! Paperwork's in order, I'm not contagious." He startled, as if just remembering something. Difficulty remembering things as well...? "Which, right- sorry to cut this convo short, Tommy, but I'm, uh- I'm like...half an hour late for my test. Gotta run!" He waved, as he started jogging away again.

Late? For a test? Oh, that meant that today really was- Oh no. No, he wasn't going to let Dr. Freeman go through that. "Wait!"

"Sorry, I'll talk with you at lunch!" Without another chance, he went around the corner, and he was gone.

-

It was a strange sensation, to be within the locker rooms while feeling only one set of eyes. Dr. Coomer hadn't experienced that in...a very long time. He couldn't correctly remember the amount of time, but he knew it had to be long. The clones had been around for years, after all. ...Even if, chronologically, that didn't make much sense.

He'd sat down on the floor, staring at his locker, and gotten lost in thought. His, not a clone's. They each had their own, but this one...this one was his. He knew this. This was one distinct fact that he had exact evidence for. It was other things that were much more complicated. Such as the paradox of years. According to all the information he had, these had to be false memories. Gordon had admitted this had been a game, correct? Which meant...his memories had to be false. Lies. Fabricated backstory for an AI to parrot to a player that he was programmed to be compelled to follow.

And that had been easy to take to, and understand, during the Science Team's time with Gordon. But now...now that data itself seemed flawed. Incorrect. Because according to his memory, Gordon was the first person to have 'played' through this scenario.

And yet, he remembered very clearly, waking up earlier than he had when he went to see Gordon. And he'd slowly started to remember a few other things, as he'd sat there, undistracted for once in a long time. Remembered wandering around Biological Research. Remembered a group game night at one of the laundromats in the Level 3 dormitories. Remembered combing through databases, for something-

He winced, rubbing at his head. Perhaps whatever had caused this 'restart' of sorts had messed with his memory code. None of these memories were making sense. He liked when things made sense. He wanted to think about literally anything else, other than that his own head was confusing him severely.

"In psychology and logic, rationalization or rationalisation, also known as making excuses, is a defense mechanism in which controversial behaviors or feelings are justified and explained in a seemingly rational or logical manner to avoid the true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable—or even admirable and superior—by plausible means. It is also an informal fallacy of reasoning-"

He clamped a hand over his mouth. He hated that he'd started doing that again (again?), his unconscious mind seeming to attempt to tell him what he was avoiding by accessing Wikipedia articles and forwarding them directly to his mouth. He could handle his normal info-dumping, such as the chair incident when he'd attempted to cheer up Gordon after such a time of stress. But this kind, where he seemed to be calling himself out, was really grating his nonexistent nerves.

He slowly stood, blinking as he heard the door to the locker room. He turned, with a smile. "Ah, hello-" He stopped, hand raised in greeting, as he stared at the person entering the room.

Dr. Freeman blinked in return, before he smiled. "Oh, hey Dr. Coomer! Sorry, I know, I should be in the test chamber already, but I'm running late." He waved, before quickly moving past him. "Hopefully it won't be delayed too much longer! I just gotta get the HEV suit on." He hurried to the back of the room, before moving through to the area where the suits are stored.

Coomer very quickly sat down on one of the benches, hands clasped together in front of him. Because he knew that man. Dr. Freeman, the actual Dr. Freeman, not Gordon 'not Freeman' that had just played through the game. But that was...impossible, wasn't it? ...Why would they have an actual version of the person that a player was supposed to play as? That seemed...incorrect. Like everything else he'd thought about so far that day.

Even more than that, was the fact that he knew Dr. Freeman. He'd consulted with him on a few of the younger man's theories for his resonance tests. Dr. Freeman had called him his mentor. But how could those memories be correct if he was just...a chunk of code? He vividly remembered, sitting down outside in an outside break area in Sector B, eating pizza that had been bought for him while Dr. Freeman rambled on about his teleportation theories, and his thoughts about frequency tuning. 'Like a radio,' He'd confirmed with the younger man, finishing his slice of veggie lover's pizza.

But...why would he remember so clearly what someone would have left as a footnote in his backstory file? Was this kind of thought why they'd split him into three hundred clones? Was it to protect him? That would be a first, from Black Mesa, doing something to protect someone else...

He barely noticed Dr. Freeman leave, only able to give him a wave in return. He slowly looked up again, when he heard the door open once more, Tommy Coolatta standing there. He gave him a look, and the other had walked over to sit with him, pulling him into his arms. He closed his eyes.

-

Benrey shifted from foot to foot, trying to pretend like he totally wasn't anxious. He was sure it was working, and the guard across the hall from him was just snickering because...he didn't know, maybe thinking of Fruit Loops or something? He'd heard once that people aren't them when they're hungry, or whatever, and he's pretty sure that that guy's job was to mind his own business or whatever.

He reached up and fidgeted with his hat, which earned another snicker. Oh man, if that guy kept that up Benrey was gonna...do something. Kinda thought throwing him down the hall would be fun, but apparently that's 'frowned upon' and 'hurts people' or whatever. So that was a no on that one. Rude, then, for the guy to laugh, if he couldn't retaliate. Hmmph.

...What was he thinking about? Right, all he had to do was wait for Gordon. Gordon was gonna come around that corner any minute now, and yell at him for messing everything up even though he totally hadn't because he'd thought he was helping, and they'd figure out how to fix it even if that meant going through the whole scenario again. Easy peasy.

Except the man who came around the corner in the HEV suit wasn't the Gordon he'd just spent three days tormenting.

"oh holy shit-" He pushed off of the wall immediately, sprinting down the hall. "freeman!" He lept towards him.

Dr. Freeman let out a yelp, turning quickly to catch Benrey against himself. Their momentum sent him backwards, slamming into the wall.

"bro! bro!! it's been, like, five-ever!" He laughed, knocking their heads together.

"Hey, Benry. I know I told you I was sick, and that's why I've been scarce." He slowly set him down, before starting to walk. "Have you been telling people I've been dead or something?"

"what? no way, that's not a cool joke. you told me that." He followed right at his side. "why? do you want me to?"

"No!" He laughed. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. I've been getting weird looks."

Benrey blinked slowly. "what kinda weird looks?"

"Just Tommy and H- Dr. Coomer, I guess. But they both stared at me weird. Tommy looked like he thought I died, and Dr. Coomer looked like he was having a mental breakdown." He shrugged, as if that was normal. "Was just wondering if one of your pranks had gotten out of hand again."

He thought about that for a moment. That was good to know, at least. He figured Tommy would remember what had gone on, but...Dr. Coomer sounded like he remembered some stuff too. So that was...weird? But sounded good. Then they wouldn't have to have like, some kind of emotional talk where they all figured out what the fuck was going on. He liked that. Because those talks were always awkward, and he was never invited.

But wait, put that thought on hold, he had work to do. "hey, uh, you got ID?"

Dr. Freeman raised an eyebrow. "Earth to Benny, come in Benny." He gestured to the ID he was already showing the other guard.

The other guard snickered again, opening the door.

"Are you sure you didn't prank anyone while I was gone?" He walked through the door.

He hurried quickly with him. "uh, nope, no pranks here." Did the arm thing count? Shit. "...okay one prank, but it wasn't that. or any of them. i keep my word, bro."

He smiled a bit. "I know you do. Now, I gotta get downstairs. I'm late."

"uhh, I gotta come with you. you, uh, you got...passport?" He grins. "gonna need your passport."

He shook his head with a chuckle, starting down the hall. "I've got my old one in my locker, but it's expired. My new one's on my kitchen counter back in my dorm room. ...Shit, was the policy change today?"

"'fraid so. looks, uh, like i'm just gonna have to follow you, then."

He walked into the elevator, holding the door open for him. He smiles. "Well, come on then. I'm already late enough as it is."

He skipped into the elevator, grinning back. "missed you, bro." He's not lying, he just hadn't realized how much he'd missed him while he'd been gone. Time always passed differently for him, but he felt like it probably had been a while.

"Missed you too, Benry." He pressed the elevator button. "Missed you too."

-

Bubby didn't know how the fuck to handle everything that had just happened.

He'd been checking some machines, not trusting that the other scientists wouldn't fuck up worse this time and kill Gordon for good, when suddenly Benry had come around the corner and brought Dr. Freeman with him.

He knew Dr. Freeman, he'd seen him often with Dr. Coomer, and had intentionally gotten into as many arguments as possible with the young theoretical physicist. So why had seeing him come as such a shock? He wasn't Gordon, not the Gordon from the last few days anyway. And now that he'd thought about it, that should have been obvious. The language, the irritation and confusion, hell even the hair had been all wrong since it'd been way longer and a bit unkempt.

He was supposed to be perfect, but this had slipped past him. What the hell was going on?

The two had left, heading off towards the test chamber, leaving Bubby to stand there confounded and alone. He was glad when he heard the doors behind him open again, and heard two sets of steps approaching.

"Uh, h-hello Dr. Bubby." Tommy spoke quietly as the two approached.

He turned. "Hey, Tommy. Dr. Coomer." He crossed his arms. "Do you know what the fuck is going-" His arms fell immediately. "...Dr. Coomer, are you alright?"

"I'm...yes, professor. I am normal." He sure didn't look normal. He looked stressed, freaked out, like a single breeze would knock him over. Dr. Coomer never looked so small, so weak.

"That's not the question I asked." He rested his hands on Dr. Coomer's upper arms, before looking up at Tommy. "...What's going on with him?"

"He's...having a bit of a crisis. From..." He gestured around them. "...All of it."

"So you remember, then? Both of you?"

"...Yes."

"Hmm." He glanced towards the door. "...As much as I wish we could stand here and try to figure out what's wrong, Harold, I think we all know what comes next."

Dr. Coomer tensed. "...He might..."

"Maybe we can, uh, try to...stop them?" Tommy glanced around, nervously. "Call it off, maybe?"

"We can sure as hell try." He adjusted his glasses. "Come on, we've got trouble to brew."

Dr. Coomer seemed to finally relax a bit. "I'd much rather have tea brewed...but trouble will do for now."

"Then lets hurry, we've only got a few minutes before- before he gets down there!"

The three quickly scampered down the hall, after their friends.

[taylorswiftacoustic]

So i’m going to do one of those obnoxious why i love Taylor so much posts, even though I hate putting myself on blast and feel cringey, but it’s almost 2am and she’s still meeting fans in Nashville (at like 5am) so it’s not like she’s going to see it ever.

Anyways I’ve been listening to Taylor’s music since Fearless.  I actually even made a facebook post about it back when I still made obnoxious facebook posts all the time back in 2008 when I first got a Facebook cause I was a freshman in high school.  Because Taylor is 4 years older than me she usually releases music that I need right when it’s relevant to my life.  I was 15 when Fifteen came out and there was a boy I had a crush on who’s name was Drew and honestly her entire work just fit so well into my life.  It was on my ipod and i listened to her song religiously and whenever I would go on walks with my dog she was one of the artists playing.  Fearless is an excellent song to walk out at night and look up at the stars to just in case you were wondering.

Speak Now came out my junior year of high school back when Taylor and the SF Giants coincided with making people in the Bay Area happy in October.  (But tbh i don’t really care about baseball and found the giants hype obnoxious), but the Taylor hype I was all for.  Speak Now was that album it had Dear John which honestly if I was going to pick a favorite it’s def in the top 10 cause as Alana Haim says “Just listened to taylor swifts song “dear john”… That bitch has huge balls.  FUCK YOU JOHN MAYER”.  The part where she says shining like fireworks over your sad empty town does something to my soul and honestly the music and the emotion and ughhhhhh she’s trying to kill me.  The songwriting on the whole album just kills me and the fact that she wrote the whole album by herself just proves that she can do literally anything.  It’s empowering to know how much work she put into that album.  Also junior year of high school was when my older sister left for college and I couldn’t drive myself to school cause I didn’t have my license (tbh i can never spell that word) and I walked home from school a lot and you can tell this was blasting.  Also junior year was when I kind of had a life crisis of what to do for college and life and I just threw myself into the drama department and was a part of 3 plays in one year partially so I would stay after school and my parents could pick me up at the end and partially cause i was so confused by school and my anxiety that being a part of a theater production made me feel like a part of something.  And I literally always and forever want to be a part of any group.

Now for everyone’s favorite album Red.  God people are really not kidding when they say this album is the best.  I mean every single track is that track.  It came out during my first year of college.  I went away to SoCal for college and nobody from my hometown went to my school and I had gone to school with the same people from k-12 and honestly I was so lonely.  My campus was a commuter campus and everyone went home on the weekends and I couldn’t fly home and I didn’t have a car so I joined a sorority cause they did things on weekends, I heart being part of a group and instant friends.  And man was that the best life decision ever.  I joined the most chill group of people and I got my Big in October and on the car ride from Big/Lil reveal over to our dinner my GBig played Everything Has Changed and the whole album and it was just so wonderful and amazing and fit so freaking perfectly with my life.  I had no romantic things happening like ever, but I did go through a major life change and it was just so good.  And then when I went home over thanksgiving and christmas break my best friend also loved the album so we just listened to Red on repeat until i knew every single word and we sat in the car and talked like we had just seen each other yesterday even though it was almost 3 months and it was like I had seen her yesterday.  She’s been my best friend since kindergarten and even if we don’t talk in like 6 months, I see her in person and it’s like she was just in my car the day before talking about whatever.  Anyways this whole album was the key to my first few years of college to get away from the loneliness and the aching of trying to figure out how to live with no parents and it being miserable and magical at the same time.

Then we get to 1989 and my 3rd year of college.  This is when I had finally moved in with my best friends instead of living with randoms and my whole life became so much better because they took care of me and I had a car so i had more freedom and they took me out and I was officially part of their little group and I felt like I actually knew what I was doing with my life for once (did not last long, but it was there for a bit).  And it was just the pop hits album that I needed.  The change from country to pop fit into my life so well and I was so much happier and the album was happy, but you could tell came from a place of knowing about that anxiety and fear, but kept pushing through.  Like all of Taylor’s albums it just fit into my life.  It was the soundtrack of drives to LA and to parties and pregaming and formals and hikes and walks around campus and to class.  It was joined with Haim’s album on a playlist on my phone called HaimSwift and it was played on my 8 hour drive from NorCal to SoCal at least 3 times that year when I drove to school, when I drove back for break and then back to school again.  There’s also a Noah + The Swift for Noah + the Whale and Taylor Swift.  They are both wonderful playlists of my favorite artists.  This is when I found out that Haim the band that I had discovered and fell in love with at Outside Lands the summer prior was going to be touring with Taylor, but unfortunately on in LA when I wasn’t going to be there and not in NorCal at an expensive stadium after I had spent all of my money on pasts and wine in Italy on my study abroad trip.

And then Taylor went on a break, well a longer than 2 year break and in that time I graduated and moved back home and my grandpa passed away and I found a job (not the one I wanted, but you know it paid and I got to stay at home with my parents and my family during a rough time).  And then I applied to the Disney College program and I got accepted in Anaheim and life was better because I got to move back to SoCal where I wanted to be and work at the literal dream location and have housing and see where life would take me.  And so I moved back to SoCal and I started this program and I fell more in love with Disneyland and the people I was in the program with (love being part of a group) and then stayed on after it ended and finally got an apartment and started being a “real adult”.  It was a strange time, but a fun time.  I got to explore the parks, I visited my friends in Chicago, I worked a lot and then from the silence Taylor Swift came back.  I was thrilled about the new album and the experience.  See I have been on tumblr with my blog @megansalphabet(actually the name was meganislameness but that is a little controversial so it got changed) since 2010 my junior year of high school and also when Speak Now came out.  But during the “drought” I actually started following a lot of Taylor Swift blogs cause I was missing her music and her presence and so once the news about rep dropped I was hooked.  From the early days of people fighting about if it was a dragon or a snake and then what kind of snake and through the whole build up and music videos and easter egg hunting and the experience of being in that group and having other people freak out about the same things that I was, was so thrilling and exciting.

And finally on a day when I worked until 2:45 in the morning the album came out.  And so even though I had already pre-ordered a CD, it was not at my apartment yet so I went to Target and bought my magazines and read the lyrics while listening to the album and spent the whole day listening to the album 3 times.  Then once the tour announcement came I decided no more waiting about ya girl is finally gonna see my idol and so I told my mom what i wanted for an early christmas present and I watched the music video and I bought some sweatpants and a sweatshirt and a bag and a keychain and I said this is the era that I’m going to see Taylor Swift live I don’t care who’s going with me, but I am going no matter what.  And I did.  I got a second job, I went to Seattle and I had been working at 2 jobs for almost 2 weeks on the most perfect May day I got off work and drove to Pasadena, picked up my friend and some tacos from the train station and parked at the Rosebowl parking.  We walked a trek to the stadium and got some drinks and found our seats.  We watched Charli XCX and watched the ASL translator translate Boys and we learned how to sign Boys and then we met up with my sister who was also at the concert and got some more drinks and some pretzels because I had a craving and my friend is the best.  And then we went back to our seats and had the most incredible concert experience ever as Taylor Swift serenaded us the whole evening.  Also Selena Gomez and Troye Sivan showed up?!?!??!!?!  Also she sang All To Well acoustic in front of us like we were so close to the B stage and Dancing With Our Hands Tied on the guitar and I just about died like 20 times even though I had already seen a instalive of a girl from the first night of the concert in Glendale and pretty much knew what was going to happen.  But it didn’t matter because this was the concert that i was at next to Taylor and my best friend and oh wow.

And now Lover is fast approaching and I no longer work 2 jobs or at Disneyland and I still don’t really know what I want to do with my life and I’m still probably working too much (say hello to the past 3 sundays that I was supposed to be off and then got a call at 6am asking if I could come in, yay overtime pay? boo 6 days).  But I’m getting closer to figuring out what I want and who knows maybe I’ll go back to school and become a teacher because that’s always kind of been a secret dream of mine, but they get paid so little and grad school is expensive.  But shaping young minds seems so fulfilling and worthwhile.  Join me in my next existential crisis for that debate.

Anyways the point of this is that Taylor has always been there for me through all of the questioning and the confusion and the late night walks with my dog at the creek looking up at the stars and the happy times and the sad times and honestly there is a song for every single mood that i’ve had.  And even though I’m 25 and have never had a romantic relationship (not sure I want one or if i’m just afraid of pursuing one) I’ve always had her songs to stay with me through it all.  And this post is a mess and now it’s 3am and thank goodness I don’t have work tomorrow, but that nap did mess up my sleep schedule and my computer is at 18% and it’s probably time for bed.  Also Taylor if you ever do read this sorry it’s a mess, but I really do appreciate all that you’ve done even if I never get to meet you and tell you that.

[cottoncske]

Sarah: The Abnormal Beyond the Life of a Teen Entry #2

•7/13/17• Well today has been uneventful, I stayed up talking to Katherine until 3am and i fell asleep around 6am. I don't fall asleep until the feeling of drowsiness falls over me ( it takes too long). Anyway my subject today is Parents... sit back relax and enjoy.

DISCLAIMER : This is a very controversial topic and I am sharing my full opinion, along with my parents opinion on race. I love all races and walks of life and have no problem with any race,sex, or age.

PARENTS: I swear, dealing with parents from the 60's are too tough. They don't open their minds to anything,nor listen. They always ask the question: "who raised these kids?" ( even though it's clear you have) I am a African American teenager, and I am raised in an African American family. As I am, I am raised to "know" these things:

1. Whites & the Jewish are the wolves in sheep skin ( which isn't true) 2. Being young means that you can't say shit. ( which is a dumbass term that shouldn't exist) 3. Just because your young, that means your dumb as hell and no experience with anything... ( which TOTALLY ISNT FUCKING TRUE)

First off, it's a really stupid to think all Whites & Jews hate blacks, it isn't the 60's anymore ,grow up. My mother makes these claims because her job experiences are pretty terrible, so she set up this mindset of that. Second, she thinks just because i'm 14, I don't know who people act truly. I can easily debunk that because :

Children in Iraq, Sudan, and Brazil,etc. are trafficked,raped, and some even have to provide for their sister and brothers since their parents are dead or out to war...

I'm not vain,but i'm not retarded. I know more than I should, I know people can be evil,disgusting, and at the worst sometimes even all the time. I know my history and I know others history... I'm not retarded.

I can easily make diverse numbers of friends and their parents love me, I know because I ask my friends...

I swear I hate the full "idea" of parenthood, they are too damn bossy,never give out privacy, and never shut the hell up. I love my mother best believe, but she doesn't believe in closing her mouth.....ever. After an argument, I can still hear her yapping after an hour! My mother can disagree on almost anything and everything just to start a fight.

My mother goes too far just to embarrass the life out of me. She always asks " is ( insert old enemy name)still acting crazy??" or " is that one over there bullying you?". The overprotective era is in my age range. My mom and family go so far as to ask if I have a boyfriend yet... -_- REALLY?!? DO I HAVE A BOYFRIEND YET?!? HAVE YOU SEEN ME?!? I FUCKING HATE MALES ( i'm joking)! I've worked too long and too hard to be treated like a child instead of a teenager... Now, my family is also Christian and they force it pretty heavily upon me and I hate it. They are convinced I'm possessed by the damn devil, just because I truly don't believe there is a god for moral reasons

God didn't help me with my depression, my friends did.

God doesn't heal my fucking scars, hydrogen peroxide did...

God killed multiple people in my family and one of them in a gruesome way. I have no hope or belief in a damn "god" . It was so heavily pushed on me that I was scared to be bisexual. I pushed "god" to the side, and decided to live my life freely. But when I think about religion, I feel 1million years worth of fear course through me. I can tell the only reason we have religion is because humans are scared of being alone. Loneliness hurts and it's scarier than anything in the world to us.

Conclusion * I went a little off track, but I wanted to get more characters in...