#plus he’s an australian citizen

[fountainoflove]

why is he moving to Australia?

for uni :((

[kookygobbledygook]

I want to talk quickly about the four reasons Australia could never have a president like Trump, and this isn't a dig at the US or it's citizens. And it's not holding up Australia as some sort of becon of government, because as you'll see there are so many flaws in our system. This is about government structure and voting policy. It is also so, so funny to think about.

1. Preferential voting: A.K.A raked voting. Unlike the U.S system which is most votes wins, this takes into account second and third choices of voters. It means that it takes into account not only who people like most but also who people like least. Essentially our system has a "I don't want A to win, I want B to lose," clause which is so petty and I love it.

2. Compulsory voting. Everyone has to vote, or you get fined. Now, I know that most of you think that would be crap, but think about this; no voter suppression, because everyone has to vote. No point in voter fraud because ballot numbers have to line up with the population. You don’t have to make sure your voter registration is up to date because you just do it once when you turn 18, and you stay in the system forever because you're always gonna need to be registered. And the government has to make sure voting is accessible to everyone because everyone has to vote. Plus you get a democracy sausage.

3. We don't vote for a prime minister. We vote for a party, and the leader of that party gets to be in charge. Now Americans probably are thinking "we do that too." Not quite. You see, if all the citizens are hating on a prime minister too much and their party is getting antsy about the polls, they can have a leadership spill and nominate a new head of their party, who will become prime minister without an election. Since 2007 we had Kevin Rudd who was ousted by Julia Gillard who was ousted by Kevin again who was voted out and replaced by Tony Abbott who was ousted by Malcom Turnbull who was ousted by Scott Morrison who was voted out and replaced by Anthony Albanese. That seven PMs over three elections, two of them the same guy. You think Trump wouldn't have been pushed out in his first six months?

4. Because we are still part if the commonwealth King Charles is still our head of state and has the power to fire a Prime minister. It's kind of happened before. I hate the fact that Charles is our head of state and I don't believe he should have the power to dismiss an official elected by the Australian people. But if Trump was our Prime Minister it would be sooooo funny to watch Charles fire him.

[submalevolentgrace]

...In some ways what Everett-puralia meenamatta is doing seems profoundly simple: he wanted to be arrested at the Styx in March, and was. And he eventually wants to be rearrested for failing to appear in court – though not until September, because he plans to be involved in further protest action with friend and fellow Tasmanian activist Bob Brown, who has himself been arrested many times in the forests. Here is where it gets slightly more complicated. Beyond his 50-plus years of environmental activism and protest against the wholesale destruction of Tasmania’s culturally totemic old growth forests, Everett-puralia meenamatta’s desire to be arrested and eventually rearrested – and perhaps jailed or fined – is strategically aimed to highlight issues of Indigenous sovereignty, legal jurisdiction, colonialism and the citizenship status of Indigenous people on this continent. “I do not identify as an Australian citizen,” says the former commercial fisherman, who recently obtained his master’s degree in history at the University of Tasmania. “There has never been a true conciliation between First Nations people and the colonial nation of Australia. And any notion that First Nations peoples are citizens of Australia is an historic political lie being maintained by governments and institutions alike. “It’s a trickery throughout its history to evade any responsibility to negotiate a treaty with our First Nations.” Everett-puralia meenamatta does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction over him, as an Aboriginal “non-Australian citizen”. The court, he explains, is like so many Australian institutions – an enduring colonial instrument of an Australian state he neither recognises nor belongs to.

[ncisfranchise-source]

Acamera sweeps under Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the right is the Opera House and then we’re at Fleet Base East in Woolloomooloo. It could be an ad for Tourism Australia, except soon there’s a dead US sailor floating in the water. It’s not so much, “Where bloody hell are we?” more “What the bloody hell is going on?”

Now, it’s here. And for that, you can thank AUKUS, the contentious nuclear submarine deal between Australia, the US and the UK, which provides a great excuse for getting NCIS agents on Australian soil.

“That’s what the show is piggybacking off,” says Todd Lasance, who plays Australian Federal Police agent Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey who is called in to investigate the sailor’s death. The catch? Because the sailor was a US citizen, NCIS also has jurisdiction over the investigation.

Mackey (Swann) and JD (Lasance) face off over who gets to investigate the death of a US sailor in NCIS: Sydney.

Enter Olivia Swann, who plays NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey. “She’s a very straightforward woman, she’s here to get a job done,” says Swann. “She’s here to do things her own way, she follows her own rules. So having to join forces with these larrikin, laid-back Aussies is not her ideal way of working.”

It’s a big swing and one I have been so curious about since the show was announced last year. Back then, it seemed ludicrous – how could NCIS even operate here? Would every dead body have a major tourism landmark in the background? How many times can they visit Bondi? Would they throw another shrimp on the barbie?

NCIS: Sydney is a throwback to the kind of police dramas we used to do so well, such as Rush, starring Jolene Anderson, Rodger Corser and Callan Mulvey.

But, you know what? It works, it really does. It’s zippy and light on its feet, with a distinctive Australian twang. It’s a throwback to the type of police action dramas we used to do – Police Rescue, Water Rats and Rush. Yes, it’s still slightly absurd that the AFP would team up with the NCIS crew and that AUKUS would be the catalyst, but it’s the back end of a rank 2023, so let’s go with it.

“With NCIS, the audience comes for the crime, but stays for the characters and chemistry,” says Lasance. “And that is very true for our series. It centres around interesting and well-rounded and nuanced characters, and when they come together, it’s just exciting stuff. They’re flawed people, but also so lovable.”

‘I wonder why they haven’t done this?’

Part of the enduring popularity of NCIS is that it’s the opposite of every cult, word-of-mouth, zeitgeisty show ever made. It’s easygoing, almost daggy TV. Everyone knows how it works – mysterious death in the first five minutes, some office banter, investigation of said death, a scene or two in the autopsy room or forensic lab, a red herring, then a chase, suspect is caught, more banter and cue credits. And repeat.

“My very first reaction was: I wonder why they haven’t done this already?” says O’Neill, who created the ABC series Les Norton.

So he watched a lot of NCIS – the Washington original, plus the Los Angeles, New Orleans and Hawaii spin-offs – and realised that far from creating a carbon copy of the “mothership”, each spin-off worked because it had its own identity.

“They expanded the universe, but they never made the same show twice,” says O’Neill. “So the original show, which is now in its 20th year, is a really unique show. It has its own swagger, its own tempo, its own tonality. But when they came to make NCIS: LA, it wasn’t the same show. They really took a step to the side and a couple of steps in a different direction to make sure that it stood out as a distinctive version of a show that shares a lot of DNA, but isn’t the same.”

And while these building blocks may seem creatively restrictive, O’Neill found them liberating.

“There is an expectation from the audience that this is going to be a quirky family, where you have these archetypes that exist within it,” says O’Neill. “Fortunately, we have those archetypes in Australia, and they’re not really the same as the ones that America has.

The other ingredient O’Neill wanted was humour. Whereas the US versions are cheesy, at best – Mark Harmon couldn’t crack a smile if he tried – NCIS: Sydney burrows into the culture clash between the US and Australia. The slang for yanks, “septic”, has to be explained, as does our coffee. There’s drag queens at Bondi and mustachioed hipsters in Marrickville, while a chase through a narrow terrace house is one you won’t find in Los Angeles.

“What I think makes this show such a behemoth – someone was telling me they reckon there’s four and a quarter trillion minutes of this show that has been viewed around the world since its inception – is that at the core of its success is the fact it’s fun. There’s a wink to it, there’s a twinkle in its eye,” says O’Neill.

‘Just be still’

One of the other main building blocks of NCIS is that each episode opens with a death – the sillier the better (one recent one had hairy body chunks falling from the sky onto a child’s birthday party). But what I want to know is, how do you play a dead body?

“You know, I had the same question,” says Michael Jupp, a stunt performer who was asked to, well, play dead. “I’ve done my fair share of acting and stunt work, but I’ve never played a dead body. So the first place you go, as anyone, is Google, to have a little look at the experiences of other people. I asked a few of my actor friends, and they’re like, ‘Just be still’.”

Jupp’s character has a fairly pedestrian death by NCIS standards – a drug-induced heart attack – but it required him to stagger while running before eventually collapsing. He then had to lie on the ground for a few hours while filming carried on around him.

“You’re just still and you try not to breathe with your chest, so you don’t look alive,” he says. “And if you do need to take a breath, go deep in the belly.”

Jupp also spent a couple of days on the autopsy table. “They make you super pale, with purpley dark bits under your eyes to make you look a bit lifeless,” says Jupp. “Then, because it was an investigative autopsy, they had to put prosthetics on my chest. The first thing we did was the sewn-up version, with the big Y-shape and stitches.

“Then there was a prosthetic change, where they put the open chest on. And that was like a massive build, from hip to shoulder. I couldn’t move at all, they were like: ‘If you move, it’ll break the seams and we’ll have to start again’.”

And the best thing about being a dead body? “It was a lot of getting paid to lie down,” says Jupp.

‘All sorts of sticky situations’

If O’Neill has his way, there’ll be plenty more opportunities for actors to play dead. “I can imagine a couple of [future] episodes shot up in Darwin,” he says. “There’s a huge port up in Darwin that houses a continual marine rotation unit, of anywhere between 3000 and 4000 Marines who get in all sorts of sticky situations up there.”

What about other US TV franchises, does O’Neill see a future with Law and Order: Melbourne perhaps?

“Melbourne can have Law and Order and then we can keep NCIS: Sydney and we can just co-exist,” he says. “The world is in a pretty dark place right now. I was just talking to one of my story producers and she said it’s actually good to come to work and be thinking of stories that are slightly escapist, where you can tell a story and wrap it up and actually love the people for what they’re doing. And I hope audiences feel that.”

NCIS: Sydney streams on Paramount+ from November 10.

[paulagnewart]

Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 2/12: All My Friends are Echidnapped!

Sonic the Hedgehog issue 244 AU Publication Date: 20th February 2013 Price: $6.50

Back for more, eh? Unfortunately the time has come for a shocking second installment in these monthly musings of hedgehog history. Why? Maybe it's the masochist in me. Nostalgic pertinence? Stockholm Syndrome? Whichever way, reflecting on the past can be a merciless drug. Archie Sonic is long cancelled and unlikely to be of any further significance within my lifetime, so where lies the point of writing these posts nobody would rightfully read anyway?

Lunacy. Sheer lunacy.

If this is the result of two posts, part twelve will likely be DOA. When one considers the legacy of pointless shouting matches, ego stroking and litigations this comic suffered equally as it caused, giving it any thoughts beyond apoplectic is almost self-destructive. Still, if the book's vivid international history is to ever see the light of day again, guess I must make use of whatever avenues are at hand. Thus in the epic tradition of another 12-part pop culture event, if last month's introspective retrospective on Sonic Super Special 3 was a 'Nightmare Begins' scenario, then now comes a true 'Day of Armageddon'.

It's 20th February. Among the dwindling selection of comic books available across newsagents was a new high-speed hedgehog adventure. A multi-part story many moons in the making handled by a long-time writer which saw Knuckles take front and centre. With cameos from an echidna cast, he faced off against a powerful enemy destined to change the very future of Mobius. A story only superseded by immense publication turmoil that it left writer and editor scrambling by the seats of their pants, leading to a fanbase bitterly disappointed by its depressingly dour and rushed conclusion.

But we're not talking about issue 131. An incredible coincidence to be sure, but hardly a welcome one. Instead let's take a trip forward nine more years to that very same day in 2013.

The state of Australian politics were, as ever, chaotic. Julia Gillard, the nation's first female Prime Minister, was reaching the end of her turbulent three year term in the top job. Despite legislating sweeping changes to assist disabled citizens, better internet, student education and environmental protection, her conservative detractors were ruthless. Be it newspapers, radio or self-aggrandizing musicians, their demands to "burn the witch" were loud and clear, and none more so than misogynistic maestro and onion connoisseur Tony Abbott.

It wouldn't be an Aussie summer without bushfires, and true to form, early 2013 was plentiful. Records for hottest days previously set in January 1998 were smashed. Volunteer firefighters travelled the wide charred land to tame nature's chaos, resulting in multiple deaths. Thankfully the worst had already come to pass by this point as the extreme weather gradually wound down. A difficult recovery time began for many, but with hindsight on our sides, that summer paled compared to the sheer tragedy which awaited us come October.

Life that February wasn't all doom and gloom. Millions of viewers tuned in Channel 10 to watch our home teams weave their way to gold in the Sochi Olympics. Martin Scorsese's adaptation of 'The Wolf of Wall Street' was number one at the box office. Red Hot Chili Peppers led the charge for the 20th Big Day Out concert. Stone Music Festival swept the land later, spearheaded after a last-second venue shift by the triumphant return of Aerosmith, their first Aussie tour in over 20 years. And I suppose it's worth a mention how 'Harlem Shake' toppled P!nk and Nate Ruess' dominance of the charts for a grand total of… one week.

Baauer wasn't the only one left shaking. Upon conclusion of the 20th anniversary tale 'Genesis', a discontent among Archie Sonic readers began to seep across message boards. Questions and critiques over the book's direction, plus whether editorial or SEGA were responsible, became increasingly frequent topics of fiery debate. A sentiment which reached a peak by the time Sonic Universe's 'Scrambled' arc ran its course, ultimately spilling over to the BumbleKing Forums.

In response, Ian Flynn called an official "State of the Books" topic on 11th May 2012 for fans to civilly discuss their grievances. It's important to remember the fanbase was already running on knife's edge since certain litigations were announced back in July 2010, which intentionally or unintentionally influenced several commentators. Critiques over its 48 pages ranged from slowly erasing the Freedom Fighters in favour of game characters, a meandering plot going around in circles, Sonic himself being a boring hero, a lack of Knuckles, to forced melodrama and a constant string of depressing losses (complaints fans already aired to former writers a decade earlier. Oh, the more things change…). In spite of fan disagreements, civility won the day.

Which sadly could not be said when issue 244 was released. Once it became clear the story was hastily rewritten at the behest of Collen IP to remove legally contentious cast, forum members hit the roof in an intense 34 page debate. "Convoluted and convenient", "This. Development. Sucks!" and "Empty filler" were slung around. Nor was veteran artist Steven Butler spared, yet again heavily criticized for his page layouts and character proportions. One optimistic commentator opined "Why do i have a feeling that when issue 245 comes out everybody that was worrying a lot is going to wind up loving this arc?". A resolution they'd have to find elsewhere after the thread was locked.

"Where is everyone?" Knuckles yelled on the first page as he wandered into the abandoned wasteland of Albi-erm, echidna homeland. A good question, rad red. Perhaps they're all hung over after last night's Cliff Richard in Melbourne concert.

'Endangered Species' is Archie's ultimate Monkey's Paw story. The mind boggles how this same company who infamously toppled Dan DeCarlo and set creators rights back to the stone age ended up firing their own legal team. What should read like an Outhousers article is now part of Sonic's history. Yet for all the readers upset over cast culling, plenty more made it shamelessly clear they approved the move.

Page 11's "Now then -- to clean up the garbage." became a call to arms for fans sick of the series' expansive echidna cast. After 'Return to Angel Island' set the standard, they were poised, primed, ready for latter-era Archie Sonic to continue its indulgence in some permanent eth-chidna cleansing. No matter the character or relevance to the plot, "And nothing of value was lost" echoed across BumbleKing and beyond. A selfishly spiteful sentiment people steadfastly hold to this very day.

T(h)rash would be proud.

Next Time: Swing back to March 2001, a time where Sonic faced a foe far greater than any robo scientist or machine monkey could dare compare. The very real and deadly threat that was… mass unemployment? Had things behind the scenes truly gotten that bad for Riverdale's top-selling high-speed hero? Absolutely. But for Australia, it was Friday.

< Previous | Index | Next >

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

THE GOP'S DECLARATION OF WAR

TCINLA

NOV 9, 2023

“Ni Shagu Nazad.”

That was Stalin’s order to the Red Army in World War II: “Not one step back.” He enforced the rule with battalions of NKVD goons behind every Red Army battle formation; goons with orders to shoot anyone they found “malingering” and not advancing with the rest, regardless of the odds in the specific event.

That is the policy of today’s Republican Party. Regardless of results in any election, the cause of any Republican defeat has nothing to do with the unpalatibility of the programs they present as the future if they are in power, the programs that keep leading to their defeats in 2018, 2020, 2022 and now 2023.

“Not One Step Back.”

Despite the whacking the Republicans took in Ohio in the fight over abortion and the campaign to legalize recreational use of marijuana, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, has a full list of changes he wants to make: "This statute was written by the marijuana industry and should not be treated as a cash grab for their cash crop at the expense of a state trying to emerge from the opioid epidemic. The General Assembly may consider amending the statute to clarify the questionable language regarding limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute."

Huffman and Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens issued a similar warning about the abortion amendment, even though repealing a constitutional amendment is hard once it's on the books. Both supported the failed effort in August to make it harder to change the constitution, by changing the number to pass from a majority of 50.1% to a super majority of 60%, which was specifically aimed to thwart the abortion amendment.

Ohio House Speaker Stephens said yesterday that Tuesday's vote isn't the end of the conversation: "The legislature has multiple paths that we will explore to continue to protect innocent life."

Huffman suggested voters could see abortion issues on the ballot again in the future. "Life is worth fighting for. As a grandparent of eight, the life of a baby is always worth the fight. The national abortion industry funded by wealthy out-of-state special interests spent millions to pass this radical language that goes far past abortion on demand. This isn't the end. It is really just the beginning of a revolving door of ballot campaigns to repeal or replace Issue 1."

In Florida, Judge Lucy Cannon is working to insure that in the trial she is overseeing the American public doesn’t learn that - while in office - Trump spilled highly classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, that he tweeted out a classified spy satellite photo; that later, as a private citizen, he showed what he called a “highly confidential” secret Iran attack plan to a writer and publisher at his golf club in Bedminster. That he allegedly disclosed highly sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines to an Australian billionaire at Mar-a-Lago who then spread it to scores of others. The last thing this “judge” and the rest of the Trumpscum want is for it to finally sink to the American public in that Trump kept 100-plus secret classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, including in a bathroom and on a stage, even after authorities asked for their return.

The in-the-bag media doesn’t go far out of their way to let voters know that last month, Trump boasted on the campaign trail about threatening to abandon NATO’s mutual protection commitment, even if Russia attacked a NATO member; that he’s treating convicted January 6th insurrectionists as patriotic heroes and talks repeatedly about pardons for all or most of them.

The mainstream media might let a report out that last week in the Senate, Republicans themselves began confronting the intolerable, dangerous and ongoing betrayal of the United States by some of their colleagues, that by this coming December - next month! - 89% of all general officer positions in the US military will have been effected by Tuberville’s blockade.

The Tuberville blockade has to be understood as part of what appears to be a coordinated campaign to undermine the United States and our democracy in a time of rising global instability and challenge.

Right now Republicans are:

Blocking hundreds of Pentagon appointees, weakening our military and encouraging our adversaries to challenge us across the world.

Blocking over 60 State Department appointments, including 37 Ambassadorships and the Ambassadors to Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. Makes is far harder to achieve diplomatic solutions to our global challenges.

Blocking critical cybersecurity legislation, turning off a DHS program called Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), and are now working to terminate DHS programs to counter use of drones by terrorists here in the US and the office which works to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction against the American people.

Blocking appointments of U.S. Attorneys, as a way of weakening the Department of Justice and the rule of law more broadly.

Fighting additional aid to Ukraine, once again appeasing Putin and enabling Ukrainian genocide; holding hostage aid to Israel.

There’s practically no talk of their threat to once again shut down the American government a week from tomorrow night

What they’re about is clear when they elevate Insurrectionists, including a man who was one of the primary architects of the effort to overturn the 2020 Presidential election and end American democracy to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line of succession to the president

They aren’t meeting in dark alleys or holding their conspiratorial meetings in candlelit basement rooms where the door is only opened to a knock in the proper code. The conspire in public and hold press conferences to announce their accomplishments and what’s next.

When he was interviewed Tuesday night about the election on Fox News and Newsmax, Scott Perry, chairman of the House Fweedumb Kawkuss, appeared coatless, wearing a lavender-colored shirt and a pale yellow tie. Where have we seen those fashion choices before? Jim Jordan may not have been elected Speaker, but “Jordanism” is on display throughout the House Republican Caucus.

On Newsmax Tuesday night, former Senator Rick Santorum also announced the Republican position on elections when he said that we can’t have all these popular measures on the ballot to be decided by the voters. “Thank goodness that most of the states in this country don’t allow you to put everything on the ballot, because pure democracies are not the way to run a country.”

And if “pure democracy” is allowed to work, Republicans will start the day after to work and find a way to subvert, revise, or revoke the result if it’s not what they want.

“Ni Shagu Nazad.”

Not. One. Step. Back.

TCinLA

[brisbanecleaningandpestcontrol]

How to Get Rid of Rats Permanently with the Fastest Ways | Brisbane Commercial Cleaning and Pest Control

RODENTS… Your “RENT FREE “Tenants!

RATS & MICE… Please don’t be surprised to know that they may be living in your House from much before you Bought or Leased it.

They are Tenants who live in ‘Your’ home without ‘Your’ consent, sometimes without ‘Your’ knowledge and ‘Never Pay Rent’. They take shelter in ‘Your’ home, Breed large families in ‘Your’ home, Eat ‘Your’ food in ‘Your’ home and move around as they please, making you feel like second citizens in ’Your’ home !

WELCOME to the Rodent Infested World…

The Australian List of Rodents is a diverse list of mammals which have intriguing names like Rabbit Rats, Rock Rats, Water Rats, Stick Nest Rats, Mosaic-Tailed Rats, Prehensile-Tailed Rats, and Hopping Mice.

All these species have stemmed from a Hydromyini group, with each species establishing a unique niche in Australia’s unique habitat and homes. These scurrying rodents have always been on a “Shoot at Sight” mode with us Humans from time immemorial. In fact the name RAT is considered as a word of “Insult” amongst humans. They live quite close and around us than we can fathom… Nooks, Corners, Under Spaces, Holes, Pipes and where not.

They are not only ugly, scary and irritating but they are a Health hazard to the human inhabitants and carry with them many diseases, dangerous specially when there are Children and Pets in the house. Sometimes Rodents live and flourish all around you, without you realizing it, specially when all residents are out of the house in the day.

But if you do look around systematically and properly, you will surely come across Signs which Tell the Story of their presence in your precious home.

NO WONDER WE WANT TO ELIMINATE THEM ON SIGHT…

Residential Rodents

Before we know about the “Tell tale Signs “, let us know

HOW and WHY they enter and infest your Home!!

Food, Water and most importantly Shelter… 

These are the 3 primary reasons why Rats and Mice enter your home and ultimately make it their own. Rats and Mice differ as far as Shelter is concerned. For Rats it is basically a place of rest and safety, where they come and go, mostly staying out. For Mice it is another Home or a Resort where they merrily live, procreate and prosper.

Once they’re settled, Food and Water become their next target or rather their daily life requirement. Open Food spots like Garbage Cans, Kitchen Sink etc. become their favourite hunting ground, so BCCPC recommends you to keep them clean and clear.

Entries and Exits…

A detailed survey of your House Structure will reveal many such Holes, gaps and Cracks from which these rodents enter. Basements, Garages, Roof Under Carriage ( Attic ) etc. are places to be checked thoroughly. All such holes, cracks and gaps should be sealed either by Cementing, Metal Barricades, Strong Wire Mesh, Steel Wool etc.  Once those are sealed and done, you are sure that No New Tenants will arrive.

Then the next step is to search for their presence…

SOME TELL TALE SIGNS…

Unfriendly Smells and Sounds Rats in particular have a very powerful Ammonia Stink ( He smells like a Rat… a line frequently used by Humans for someone with foul smell ). Rats are loud… their squeaks, scurrying and scratching is very noisy If you experience any of the above, then your home is surely Rat Infested.

Excrement and Smudges What goes in Comes Out… Since they’ve been eating well in your home, they’re bound to Defecate, so watch out for their excreta, poop, droppings etc. Search for dark, smelly pellet shaped droppings… Rats have weak eyes, so they leave smudges or tracks on the route when they travel along the walls. These greasy smears tell you about their presence.

Foot & Tail Marks Rats and Rodents leave behind proper footprints when they walk around in your home, plus they also leave behind the swishing of tail marks. Observe areas less used and where dust is present. P.S : If you have a dust free home, then sprinkle flour powder or baking soda etc on the floor or kitchen platform, at night. You will get proof next morning…

Home Damage Rodents are great Damagers of your precious Home and Belongings… They gnaw and chew whatever comes between their teeth since they’re Omnivores and eat everything they smell. So check around for Cut Electrical Cables, Chewed Books, Gnawed Furniture, Food Containers, Sofas, Pillows etc.

If you notice any of the above… Then our good advice is to call up a reputed and thoroughly experienced Pest Control Agency like Brisbane Commercial Cleaning and Pest Control.

DIY GUIDE – How To Eliminate Rats In The House Fast

It goes without saying that none of us would want to live with Rats and Mice scurrying around the house. Though BCCPC does not recommend it (since Rats need expert Eliminators) Yet… We have listed a few DIY Tips for ‘Rat Hunting’!

Chemical Free Methods

Search and Seal Search all holes, cracks and gaps all over your house and Seal them. Check the Roof specially, don’t assume that they wont go so high… Rats are great climbers and prefer such entries. Rats and Mice are so flexible that they can squeeze thru the tiniest spaces. So Seal them all. Advice: If you’re not successful in assessing whether your home is Rodent Infested, then Call BCCPC for ‘Expert Assessment’. We are prepared to serve you in and around Brisbane at any point of time.

Rat Repellants Every Home has these Natural Ingredients which can keep Rats and Mice at bay, at least for quite some time if not permanently. Try Using Black Pepper, Cloves, Cayenne Pepper, Peppermint Oil, Red Chilly Powder etc. Sprinkle the powder and Spread the liquid generously on the home exteriors, identified entry points and on the line between your foundation and ground.

Clean Up Food and Water Access Points Food and Water are the main attraction of all Rodents, once they have settled inside your domain. They eat relentlessly and eat everything since they are Omnivores. So keep them away from accessing Food and Water: 

Store all food in thick plastic, metal, or glass containers with airtight lids.

Clear up spilled food immediately.

Keep a Clean Sink, do not leave dishes in the sink – wash all utensils immediately after use.

They love Pet Food too, so Store pet food securely and avoid leaving pet food and water bowls out overnight.

Garbage is another favourite hunting ground. Keep it secured inside metal containers with tightly fit lids or thick plastic bags.

Wash garbage cans frequently with hot water and soap.

Trash, Compost etc. should be disposed regularly.

Place Traps Once you have sealed all entry and exit points and cleared all food and water sources, it is time to Set Multiple Traps to eliminate those Rodents who are residing in your domain. Traps are the Non-Poison manner of Rat Elimination and though tedious they are successful to an extent. Snap Traps are the preferred Traps to kill Rats fast and humanely, as Chemicals (Rodenticides and Harsh Poisons) are supposed to be cruel. Glue traps are an alternative choice, though less humane but effective. Place glue traps effectively on Rodent Travel Paths and check often and if need be, replace them often. Use Peanut Butter, Seeds (salt free ), Bananas or Apples as Bait in your Traps… In case you notice rats eating something specific, then you can place that as bait too. Like we mentioned they’re omnivores and eat everything. Tip: Try to contact a professional pest elimination agency, in case you’re not comfortable with setting traps on your own.

Eliminate Hiding Spaces The primary reason Rodents enter your home is for Shelter or Hiding Spaces. Eliminating such spaces is a very effective way to eliminate them. Let’s know How: 

Zero Clutter in and around your home. Move Furniture objects away from Walls.

Clothes Piles, Open Boxes, Heaps of Newspapers & Magazines etc. should be removed asap. These are Nesting Materials for them.

Keep Boxes on a height, off the floor.

Plastic is a deterrent for Rats, So use durable plastic containers instead of cardboard boxes.

Chemical Methods

Poisoned Bait

Warning:

We do not advise the usage of Rodenticides or Pesticides inside homes, specially with children and pets. It is high risk to do so since it requires careful handling even by adults, wearing gloves, covering your face etc. You should Hire a Professional Rodent Eliminating Agency like BCCPC to execute it. Rodenticide laden Bait is an effective way to eliminate rats and rodents but as we mentioned, great caution and care is required.

Rat Baits are divided into two segments… Anticoagulants and Non Anticoagulants. Anticoagulants kill rats by stopping the blood clotting process… Non-anticoagulants are single-dose poisons that kill rodents by stopping the energy producing mechanisms within the body cells. Baits come in various forms like Pellet Baits, Blocks, Food Baits, Liquid Baits etc. which can be mixed in fresh food.

Do Not Try Unproven Gadgets, Machines and Techniques Humorous yet Serious to Note:

We all have seen and enjoyed the “ Tom & Jerry “ Cartoons since decades…

We all find “Jerry” very very cute BUT Do Not take this seriously as Mice and Rats inside your home are far from Cute.

One lesson we all must learn from the Cartoon is that a Mouse always Wins over the Cat !

They are very intelligent and smart creatures and fast learners too.

You Pet Cat might be able to kill a rat or two, that’s it…

So No matter what, Do Not Try to use your Pets to eliminate Rats.

Period !

CLEANING UP THE MESS…

Time to Clean up the Mess…

Once your home is Rodent Free, it is imperative to clean up all the mess which they have left behind. This is a very tedious yet crucial factor of the entire process.

Some Tips for the same:

Use Protective Gear Rodent Droppings contain harmful bacteria and virus. It is important to handle it with thick rubber gloves and face mask.

Open Up the Contaminated Area Sunlight and Fresh Air are very important to remove the stench and dry out the contaminated area after you clean up. Open all Windows for around 1 Hour and allow fresh air to circulate.

Soak and Spray It is mandatory to Soak and Spray all the infested materials, urine patches, droppings with any commercial disinfectant or homemade solution.

Wipe it all Use a disposable cloth or strong paper tissue to Wipe Up all the soaked up areas properly. Dispose the wiping medium in a plastic bag and throw it in any outdoor Garbage can. Do the same with the Protective Gear you used for this process Advice: A Vacuum is a complete No No… Never use a vacuum cleaner for rat droppings, nesting material or urine. It can mix with the air and affect your health adversely.

Washing it All Use good detergent and hot water to wash your hands and the clothing worn by you during the cleaning process thoroughly.

Health Observation It is important to keep a check on your Health, post the cleaning operation for any signs of fever or muscles aches, chill etc. Contact your Family Physician immediately in case you notice any of these signs.

How Does a Professional Pest Control Agency Eliminate Rats??

This is where a Professional Pest Control Agency like Brisbane Commercial Cleaning and Pest Control comes into the picture… A Top of the Line Pest Control Agency has a completely Professional Approach to the entire operation. Our team of “Rat Busters” works with total knowledge about the behaviour of Rodents, their nature, habits, pattern, timing, eating habits, nests etc.

@ BCCPC

We Inspect Our first step is to inspect the Venue of Rat Infestation thoroughly.

We Evaluate A detailed inspection helps us to evaluate the situation and plan the elimination process accordingly.

We Eliminate Once we evaluate the situation, we go into action mode with our experienced team, acquired skills, techniques and required materials, to eliminate the existing rat population in your home. This includes Trapping, Baiting and Cleaning…

We Refuse Once the rat population inside your home is eliminated, we take measures to ensure that “ We Refuse Entry “ to all Rats who live outside your home but want to come in. We thoroughly Double Seal all possible entry points which the rats had used in the past and also search for any probable ones and seal them too.

We Exit Once all the above steps are done, We show you the results of the process done, give you the basic tips which you should follow in the future and “We Exit”.

SOME RAT FACTS U SHOULD KNOW:

Call in a Professional Pest Control Agency like BCCPC in case the Rat Population multiplies beyond your control. They will ensure complete elimination and also identify the main reason of infestation, to prevent further nuisance.

Rat Reproduction is a process which happens at an alarming rate. A Female Rat mates for around 500 times in an hour. The female of Brown Rat Species produces around 2000 Babies in a year. So you can imagine how fast they reproduce and Why you need a Professional Agency like BCCPC to wipe them out.

Disease Couriers… Rats are known to be avid Couriers of a variety of Rodent Borne Diseases. Increasing rat population in your home could be very harmful to all inhabitants residing in your home. Rats are known to carry and spread Hepatitis E and Typhus which are harmful to humans.

Closing Tip…

Do Not Get ‘RAT’TLED… Call BCCPC !

[ultramaga]

It is true that people fantasise about situations they would reject in reality. Rape porn is the number one seller by women to women. It's also true that disfigured people are unable to get partners, which is why the lesbian who coined the phrase about herself invented it. c.f. "Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project". Sorry, but "The Ghoul" is the least disfigured ghoul ever, and the reason is because they knew it would attract women. He's a man without a nose. Whoopdedoo.

In fact, "The Ghoul" could wear a prosthesis and pass for a normal citizen.

One in three people who have a facial disfigurement have suffered abuse in the street, a new survey has revealed.

Some 28 per cent of those with a visible difference have been shouted at and insulted while out in public and more than 70 per cent of those incidents went unreported.

... The troubling figures come after American television presenter Wendy Williams's apparent mocking of actor Joaquin Phoenix for a scar on his upper lip.

The idea that women won't select against you for physical imperfection is ludicrous. Yes, they will flick the bic to werewolf vore, but they marry the six foot plus dude with a six pack. And they will also argue they want the upper range of the six figure income to boot. https://archive.is/vc7dz https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_249-1

Telling men lies disempowers them. The harsh truth is a disfigured man will have his work cut out for him. Hell, most men go bald and that is routinely mocked by women. I had a friend go bald at 21 and he nearly committed suicide because suddenly every woman around him wanted nothing to do with him. Looking at the collapse of marriage rates, I don't see this changing. I see the Western Cultures as collapsing and being replaced by Islamic ones where women are mated off and their consent is irrelevant. However, if I am wrong, then women will start choosing disfigured men. Until then, Incels are perfectly correct to claim that they will be discriminated against, and mocking cripples for being crippled might feel good - but it is an evil act, and you should be aware of it.

Note: This is recognised as true to the point that the Australian Government launched a program to prevent male suicide, which occurred when the disabled men reached the age of majority, and realised they would never be married. Only men. The women could get married.

So the government launched a therapy program to help the men get used to a lifetime of involuntary celibacy. What a clumsy term; I wonder if there's a way to abbreviate it?

Note that female incels have rebranded as Femcels, and are praised for their rightous rejection of heteronormativity.

Being unattractive is good, akshually - so long as you are female.

[tehuti88-art]

10/14/22: r/SketchDaily theme, "Drawlloween: Pumpkinder Garten." Two arts today.

Second. This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Lance Corporal Silver Rat. He's nicknamed "Silbergeist" for his habit of sneaking in and out of places undetected (and other things I won't get into here). There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding his design, I believe he was originally intended to be white with a pale gray mask, but I decided to make him very pale gray with light gray "spectacles"/eye patches. I'm not sure what I think of this latter decision. 😕 But I guess it's his design for now.

TUMBLR EDIT: Despite him being intended to be one of the primary Trench Rats characters, and partly responsible for the short-lived resurrection of this storyline circa 2000, I know woefully little about Silver Rat, and so far he isn't sharing his story with me. :/ He's always been pretty private. Therefore, most of what I know of him is the role he plays during the story itself. Though in the current reboot, he HAS gained somewhat more of a role that didn't exist before.

I know practically zilch of Silver's pre-war life. I'm pretty sure he came from a well-off family, and has some Nordic ancestry, possibly Swedish; he seems to dislike Germans; aaannnd that's it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He enlists in the military pretty early on, before the US even officially gets involved in the extended version of WWII that exists in my story, because he's one of the tiny unit of American (well--plus Indigo, who's Australian but an American citizen) soldiers who head to Germany on a sort of reconnaissance mission, only to end up attacked by the Nazis, and have one of their members, who later becomes known as Doomsday/D-Day but I don't know his previous nickname yet (in fact, none of these guys have their color codenames yet), captured. The rest of them are left under near-constant attack and are basically trapped, unable to flee or even to contact their superiors in the US for help as their communications gear has been damaged. They have food and ammo, but not enough to last for long.

(I didn't get to mention, Indigo is the de facto leader of this small unit, since he's the one with the combined highest rank (yeah, a piddly lance corporal) and time in the military; Silver comes in second. I clarify this as it explains Silver's attitude throughout most of the story.)

Somehow, word of what happened reaches the US military anyway. There are rumors the Nazis are at work on some sort of medical project, named "Doomsday," intended to create a "super soldier" for use in war. The American captive is believed to be involved in this. They organize a rescue attempt utilizing an experimental battalion they've already been putting together--this is the Trench Rats. They arrive in Germany, establish contact with the British and with some French fighters in the country, and pinpoint the location of the besieged unit. The battered, half-starved soldiers are surprised when the corporal, Drake, pops in on them out of nowhere to let them know they're coming back to the newly established Trench Rat Headquarters as the latest recruits.

Most of them--including those who are given the nicknames Battleship Gray, Blue, Copper, Teal, and Turquoise--are grateful to be rescued and brought into the battalion; they quickly take to their assigned roles. Indigo and Silver...aren't so thrilled. Because Sgt. Camo and Cpl. Drake are now in charge, when previously THEY were in charge. Shouldn't they have a say in who's in charge? Well, no. Indigo gives up his grudge when he's offered a position in the medical unit, assisting chief surgeon Burgundy Rat. Silver, however, is still quite disgruntled, and he takes out this attitude on the newcomers as often as possible. He quickly earns a reputation for being asocial and highly unpleasant to get along with, even beating out Burgundy in that category. (Seriously, it's tough to top Burgundy when it comes to having a pissy attitude. At least Burgundy has a far better excuse--his wife cheated on him with his brother.)

Fortunately, Silver has a specific skill that ensures he'll get a job that involves very little personal interaction. He's very...sneaky. He can break into and leave buildings and rooms without leaving any trace of his presence, via a combination of lockpicking/breaking skills, and some sort of ninjalike parkour. (It's hard to describe.) The Nazis are absolutely dumbfounded by how various documents keep going missing despite their best efforts to secure their facilities. It isn't until Silver accidentally comes face to face with a guard and is forced to kill him--his gun jams, so he grabs the guard and puts him in a chokehold, only to end up snapping his neck and killing him instantly--that they finally realize the documents are being stolen rather than misplaced. However, the only evidence of this is a dead body left on the floor, and he looks like he died of fright. Broken neck, doctors pronounce afterward, though that begs the question, broken by whom?--or what? It's like a literal ghost is to blame.

The Trench Rats start their career in Germany dressed in Prussian-style uniforms, to give the superstitious Nazis the idea they're dealing with ghosts from the Great War. The Nazis aren't COMPLETELY stupid so this ruse lasts like all of ten minutes before they catch on, but it helps give the Rats a bit of time to get established. When they finally get a glimpse or two of Silver, however, old superstitions die hard, and his skills are just so difficult to believe that they nickname him Der Silbergeist--a name that doesn't impress him in the least, in fact, he later on comes to hate it. But he takes full advantage of his new reputation to freak the Nazis out, and soon becomes one of the Allies most wanted for capture or execution. He still carries a gun on his missions but finds it much more suitable to just break people's necks, so this is what he primarily becomes known for. (I just Googled out of curiosity and came across the term "Nackenbrecher," though this appears to refer to heavy metal music, i. e., "headbanger." Something to keep in mind for another nickname, though? Heh.) If the Germans want to believe he's a ghost or has supernatural/superhuman powers, well, that's fine by him. He'll go on thinking they're morons, though.

In case you've missed it, Silver is rather a d*ck. No other way to put it. In the abortive revamp of the Trench Rats story that took place before this one--about twenty years ago (God I feel ancient just typing that ;_; )--Silver's plotline was the primary driving force, and I had plans to at least write a side story/novella about it even if I couldn't work on the entire series. (Though I did give the latter a try, got about a dozen short chapters through--you can find a fragment of the beginning in Mirela's entry--oh holy crud! I just looked at the final finished part, Chapter 14. It's when Helena Urbach--unnamed at the time--is asking Mahogany Rat for info on her missing relative. Currently, she's seeking her husband, who it turns out was killed in the camps. In the written version, however, I just noticed there's an additional character involved, Sapphire Rat, and Helena--who at 23 is way too young for the current storyline--is asking after someone with the surname KURTZER--and it's her young DAUGHTER. Heh! That really changed! Anyway, this is what happens when you don't look back at your own cruddy source material. I also found Mahogany speaking THIS particular line as he deals with the hassle of admitting rescuees, a process that creepily resembles what I've since read about, but didn't know about back then, "selections" at concentration camps: "'Maybe we should just recruit the NAZIS to take care of our records for us!' he snapped, slapping the papers back into a dissheveled [sic] pile as if he were beating a sullen mule. 'Maybe THEN we'd get something done!'" Er...ouch. Back to Silver.) Anyway, if I'm recalling correctly (as you can see, that doesn't always happen), there are a few scenes featuring Reseda Rat, the other main character of the intended novella (I think it was entitled "Tough Love"), interacting with Silver as one of his inferiors (i. e., Reseda is the inferior) in Echo Company, and Silver just chews him out--uh, figuratively o_o; --EVERY chance he gets. I mean, sure, Reseda's new (you could even say he's green, heheh..."reseda" is a shade of green in case you didn't know), and pretty inexperienced and somewhat bumbling at first, but he tries hard, and Silver seems to specifically target him for most of his criticism. Suffice it to say, the two of them can't stand each other--Silver thinks Reseda is a bungling idiot who will get them all killed, and Reseda thinks Silver is a sociopathic bully who gets off on terrorizing his men. They're both partly right, and partly wrong.

Somehow Reseda is indeed at least partly to blame when Silver ends up captured by the Nazis, though I can't recall how. It's through basic negligence, I do know that--and even with as much as he despises Silver by then, he's devastated by his role in things. (He's not solely to blame, however. Teal Rat--one of Silver's former comrades from the early unit, who was captured by the Nazis when Doomsday was rescued and has been undergoing extensive torture since--spots him, and screams, "Der Silbergeist! Der Silbergeist!" to get the Nazis' attention.) Silver, on the other hand, is too busy just trying to stay alive. He's brought to "Dr. C," the Nazi doctor in charge of Project Doomsday. From the start Silver finds this strange, but C--whose real name is Dietmar Kammler--quickly clears things up: He's not just the doctor in charge of experiments, he's pretty good at torture, too. He has Silver brought to the main room where the Doomsday serum is usually first administered to test subjects; it's not a big room at all, more like a small medical office, with shelves and counters along one wall, observation windows at both ends, and a medical table taking up the bulk of the space. Oddly, the wall opposite the counters/cabinets is entirely taken up by a sort of prisoner's cell, and this is currently occupied, by a somewhat older, haggard man in striped clothes and a yellow star. He seems just as perplexed to see Silver as Silver is to see him. Dr. C has his Nazi guards put Silver in restraints on the table and starts to attempt to question him about the Trench Rats and his particular role, but Silver refuses to give up any information, so the guards start punching him after each non-answer. It isn't long before he's black and blue but he still says nothing, so repeated punches turn into an outright pummeling. Silver dimly notices that the older man confined in the cell is watching everything intently, though his knuckles are white where he grasps the bars, and his face is pale--he looks vaguely ill. Finally Dr. C gets impatient and flicks his hand--the guards undo Silver's restraints and lift him up, only to turn him around and shove him back down on the table, prone this time--he's again restrained, and Dr. C sends all the guards out except one, a sergeant. "Do your thing," he says, a bit disdainfully; "All of it?" the sergeant asks, to which Dr. C replies, "Whatever you like--just try not to kill him, bitte?"--and departs. The sergeant looks back at Silver and smiles. Silver instantly gets a very, very bad feeling.

This particular Nazi's name is Kaspar Lange, and like Silver, he has a reputation; a reputation that under normal circumstances could end him up in a camp himself, except the Nazi higher-ups have realized he can be quite useful to them, as a torture technique in his own right. Various other characters in the story, both Allies as well as those on his own side--including Boris, Ratdog, and Klemper (almost)--have ended up on the receiving end of Lange's attentions, and Dr. C requested him to handle Silver, who he knows will be a hard nut to crack. By necessity, I can't get into detail here, although this scene WAS written out long ago (titled "Broken Ghost," it's likely very outdated like the rest of my Trench Rats stuff); so I'll just say that Lange indeed gives Silver "all of it" and then some, yet Silver still refuses to give up any information--he actually bites Lange, HARD (uh, his hand, I should clarify he bites Lange's hand hard), which results in even more brutal treatment, yet all Silver has to say even after that is "F**k you!"--so Lange loses his temper and beats him so savagely he goes limp and stops moving. Believing him dead (oh well to Dr. C's request ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), Lange leaves in a huff, to go tend to his own injured hand. The Jewish captive in the adjacent cell wrings his hands and whisper-yells, "Herr Geist?--Herr Geist?" for a bit before giving up and going to huddle in the corner, wiping at his damp eyes.

(One thing I forgot to mention, why Silver grows to despise the name "Silbergeist"--Lange calls him this all throughout this scene. Naturally, that gives it a very distasteful connotation in his mind.)

Silver, however, is merely unconscious. He slowly comes to a while later, remembers what happened and where he is, and immediately starts trying to escape. He's lying on his stomach with his head twisted to face the left (looking toward the door to the hallway, beside the counters) and has leather restraints on his wrists, ankles, and waist, so he starts working on his right wrist, twisting his hand side to side--his only real hope is somehow loosening it and possibly taking some of the skin off himself in the process, yet even this is a dim hope. Still, he has to try. After a while of doing this--his wrist getting raw and bloody--he hears a loud Hssst from the other side of the room, behind him, and freezes. "I'm throwing you something," somebody with a German accent whispers, and Silver flinches when something clanks against the metal table near him. "By your hand," the voice says, and he feels around until he touches something--"Right there!"--and he pulls it closer with his fingers. It feels vaguely like a knife, with a handle and a rough but sharp cutting edge. He manages to grasp it and twist his wrist such that he works the sharp part under the edge of the restraint, and starts sawing. It's incredibly tedious, and at one point the voice whispers, "Someone's coming!"--he freezes again and closes his eyes to slits as someone peers in the door but then leaves--but after some time he cuts far enough through the strap to start twisting and tugging until it breaks--his right arm is freed. Buoyed slightly, he picks up the shiv--for that's what it is--and starts working on the left wrist strap. Cuts it, then the waist strap. Painfully pushes himself up and twists around to free one ankle, then the other. Then rolls over, sits up, swings his legs toward the floor to stand, and promptly collapses. The Jewish prisoner--for that's who helped him--grimaces.

Silver slowly pulls himself back up after a moment or so, straightens out his clothes, and lets go of the table to lurch toward the cell, grabbing the bars and startling the prisoner; "What are you doing?" the Jewish guy asks as he starts looking around, tugging on the bars. Soon becomes clear he's trying to figure out how to get the cell open. As soon as the Jewish guy realizes this, he frets, "Nein! You have to go!" Silver ignores all his pleas, and after a moment or so he locates the opening and starts trying to force it; the Jewish guy gives up protesting and tugs on it himself, and they both manage to get the cell open. (Truth is...the captive did most of the work. He's a successful test subject of the Nazi experiment, and could break the bars with little effort whenever he wished. He has his reasons for not trying, though.) He hurriedly grabs hold of Silver, who nearly collapses again and says, "I'm not sure I can walk on my own." He asks the prisoner if he knows the way out; he does, though it'll involve a complicated trek through various hallways past possible guards, finding an unattended exit, crossing the yard and fence to the outside, and making their way out of the city into the nearby woods. Silver says they better get started then, so they go.

They briefly have to hide in a closet as a guard passes by, but other than that, their passage through Project Doomsday headquarters is relatively uneventful. Everything works out in their favor--empty halls, untended exit (it's locked though, and Silver has to pick it), and no one in the yard. They force an opening through the fence and out into the city. The facility is located near the city's edge, so they have only a few rundown alleys and warehouses to pass through before an open field comes into view. This here is likely to be the most dangerous stretch, as for a few moments they'll be in plain view of anyone who happens to look in this direction; the Jewish guy suggests they go separately so at least one of them might make it, and offers to go first: "I'm a better target, they'll be more interested in shooting me than you." Silver doesn't like this idea, but isn't in much state of mind to argue; he hangs back a moment as the Jewish guy goes running off, then takes a breath and bolts off after him. Well...sort of. More like stumbles off after him, as he's still quite dizzy and in a lot of pain; it's mostly adrenaline that gets him through. He reaches the woods after what feels like forever; before he can fall, the Jewish guy grabs him again and hauls him after him until they're deep enough among the trees to be out of the sight of anyone watching, and at last, they're relatively safe.

The Jewish guy actually laughs and hugs Silver, who's still trying to catch his breath. He introduces himself--"Wolfstein, Jakob Wolfstein"--and confirms that he's one of Dr. C's test subjects (though he doesn't confirm that the test was a success). He was known for refusing to follow the doctor's orders, so as punishment, he was often placed in the cell adjacent to the testing table, to watch the torture other captives were subjected to. Silver starts to introduce himself, but Wolfstein cuts him off: "I already know you, everyone knows who you are, Herr Geist." He'd been stunned to see that Der Silbergeist had actually been captured, and though it turned his stomach, he forced himself to watch most of what he went through--"I turned my eyes at the worst, Herr Geist, I can take only so much, and you didn't need me seeing that"--so he can serve as a witness if anyone is ever held responsible. He admits he has no idea which way to go from here, but vows to stick by Silver until he's safe. After a brief rest, they go walking.

They make it a decent distance, but Silver's pain and exhaustion finally catch up with him, and he collapses; this time Wolfstein can't rouse him. Rustling noises start coming from the woods around them, so he grabs the only weapon he can think of--a tree branch--and stands over Silver, glancing around. (He unfortunately left his shiv behind. Silver still has his uniform, but obviously his weapons were confiscated.) Several armed men emerge from the trees and jeer at Wolfstein in a vaguely threatening manner (he insults them right back, brandishing the stick, which just amuses them) before taking notice of the yellow star on his shirt; they stop threatening him then, but are still kind of condescending, saying, "Did you escape from a camp, old man?--you know you're not safe out here on your own?" Wolfstein holds his ground and warns them to keep back, until he hears one of them mention the name "Didrika"; suddenly realizing these are resistance-allied partisans, he tells them he has Der Silbergeist with him, and he needs a doctor. The partisans' confusion and skepticism frustrates him, but it's merely that they don't see Silver lying on the ground; as soon as they do, and come closer to get a look at him, they immediately construct a stretcher (using Wolfstein's branch and their jackets), place Silver on it, and hurry further into the woods with him, Wolfstein right alongside.

They arrive at a camp hidden deep in the woods, an eye hex painted on a tree to warn people away. This is Didrika's camp; she's the Romani leader of this large group of male partisans, and Wolfstein knows she's Silver's best chance of receiving medical attention. They're intercepted by Boris, her second in command; he too is skeptical of the story the others tell but Wolfstein's angry insistence convinces him to notify Didrika. (This is rather something--average-height, sickly-thin Wolfstein managing to cow the tall, muscular Boris, who takes s**t from no one but Didrika. BTW, yes, this is the same Boris who was himself once victimized by Lange, and I suspect the sight of Silver's injuries, combined with the few details Wolfstein gives, convinces him Silver had a run-in with the same guy he did.) He returns a few moments later, gestures them through--Didrika will see them. She actually meets them halfway, glances Silver over, instructs him to be brought to her quarters for immediate medical attention by their doctor; Wolfstein protests to be allowed to stay with him, but Didrika has him brought to their eating area to be given food instead. Wolfstein refuses to eat anything the partisans bring him; a while later Didrika returns to try to convince him to eat something, but he says he won't eat until Silver does. Didrika manages to convince him Silver's in good hands yet needs some privacy, and he reluctantly takes some of the food before she leaves again.

Silver, meanwhile, has been brought to Didrika's quarters and their doctor summoned to check him out. He informs Didrika, when she comes back, that the Trench Rat was obviously tortured--he miraculously has no obvious broken bones, but there are signs of sexual trauma. Didrika has him tend to Silver's other cuts and bruises and then sends him away. She waits for him to regain consciousness, which he does some time later; she gives him water to drink, and penicillin since he starts shivering and sweating with a fever. She briefly outlines what happened since he lost consciousness, as well as what the doctor told her and why she sent him away; she offers to finish tending to his injuries so he doesn't have to deal with another man doing it. Silver is silent for a bit before acquiescing; he's obviously humiliated and still in a lot of pain but doesn't protest. Didrika treats him as quickly and discreetly as possible and asks if the Rats know where he is; likely thanks to Reseda's mistakes, they weren't fully informed of this mission, so they may not even know he's missing. She says she'll try to get in touch with them, but won't let him leave until he's well enough to get around on his own.

Some time later, a contingent of Trench Rats arrives, including their own doctor, Burgundy. There's a brief delay getting them to Silver when Didrika has a confrontation with the chief nurse, Lyndsey Skye, who knows of Didrika's habit of "testing" men by trying to seduce them, and warns her not to try this with Burgundy; when Didrika makes a crass comment in response, Skye slaps her, which stuns everybody (except Burgundy, who happens to not be there just yet). Silver surprises them by arriving of his own volition, albeit very slowly and haltingly; the Rats negotiate with Didrika's people to take him back with them early (Burgundy and Didrika, who've somehow never met before now, haggle, and involved somewhere in all this is that the partisans will get a new supply of penicillin while the Rats will get fresh oranges), and Wolfstein of course insists on accompanying them, walking alongside the dog used to transport him back to Trench Rat Headquarters. (After a while the Rats place him in a blindfold and headphones, and put him in the dog's other transport carriage (hard to describe, it's like saddlebags except they're square compartments on both sides of the dog, and two to several Rats can fit in each, depending on size), to protect the location of HQ.) Upon their arrival they're both brought to the medical ward for further attention; Silver gets some rest, while Burgundy tends to Wolfstein, who, now that he's sure Silver will be all right, finally lets himself be checked out. Burgundy is stunned and disgusted by the extent of the torture and experimentation Wolfstein himself has been subjected to, including vivisection--he gets a look at the scar where Dr. C basically cut him open while he was fully conscious and unmedicated. After looking him over, Burgundy removes the yellow star from his shirt.

Silver slowly recovers, at least physically. His mental state, however, has taken quite a hit, and although he acts as if he's put the incident behind him, obvious cracks soon start to appear. Reseda, who's already sensitive to such things as he's racked with guilt over his own blame for Silver's capture (I really need to work out how 🤔 ), notices first of all. And he starts covering for Silver when he makes mistakes or experiences lapses in attention or judgement. Silver is just as much a jerk as before--probably even more so--which makes Reseda's actions even more notable, considering how trashily Silver acts toward him.

All righty, now here is where things get somewhat more conjectural, based mainly on how outdated this part of the story may be. I haven't looked at what text might exist of "Tough Love," as there wasn't much (I'm not even sure it's extant), though there are a few completed adult scenes. At least one of them is f**king stupid and so no longer canon. The other is melodramatic and could use a COMPLETE redo but I think a few of the basics could still occur. Basically, Silver suffers a sort of mental breakdown and ends up compulsively and almost violently scrubbing at his wrists--where he'd had restraints placed--with water, fuming angrily that he can't wash them off. Reseda tries to convince him to stop, by now there's nothing there, even his injuries have healed; but when he grabs Silver's arm to stop him, Silver punches him. Then is stunned by his own actions. In the original version this led straight to an adult scene, but I don't think that's realistic considering the trauma Silver is still dealing with, so in the new version perhaps it just leads to a brief pause where both of them realize they have some unresolved feelings, then they go on with their day, except something between them has definitely shifted. (I suggest this based also on two other adult scenes featuring Reseda but not Silver, one where he's briefly involved with an older male character named Vischer--Vischer is still on the character list, but I don't know if he still appears in the story--and one where he passes the night with two female prostitutes. I won't go into details, but both scenes make it clear Reseda has developed feelings for Silver. He tries hard to deny it to himself, but eventually realizes he can't. The thing is, he's pretty sure Silver is straight, so can't possibly feel the same way.

The situation with Silver is...complicated. I'm pretty sure he's straight, too. He shows no interest in any other male characters, and while he doesn't show much interest in women either, I think this is more to do with him just being too busy with his work; he's not asexual. But he definitely feels something for Reseda, and yes, it's confusing. Throughout the story and after, this is also the only time he experiences something like this--just once. I understand most "alternate" (hate that term) sexualities, but I don't really understand Silver, an apparently straight guy who ends up attracted to a man just this once. I decided not to bother attempting to explain it, because such things happen, don't they? Human (well, "human") attraction is inexplicable sometimes, and not everyone can be so easily pigeonholed.

Anyway, yes, the two of them are attracted to each other. I think a big part of it is how the previously bungling Reseda steps up to help Silver out when HE becomes the bungling one. He's used to being painfully self-sufficient; he despises needing help; but he realizes he's not quite able yet to handle everything on his own. Reseda helps him without endangering his leadership position by outing him as incompetent or overwhelmed to the other Rats. In reality this could be seen as dysfunctional or deceptive, but to Silver, who's been independent and flown solo most of his life, it not only helps ease the stress but jars him a little bit, that anyone would go to that trouble for him, much less someone he's treated like such garbage. He v-e-e-e-r-r-r-y slowly warms to Reseda, and eventually, though I'm not sure how yet, they start a relationship.

This plotline, as I said, was the main impetus behind my brief spark of renewed interest in the Trench Rats story around 2000 or so, and was originally intended to be a major theme. My interest waned again before I got far, however, and the Rats again went on hiatus, this time for what I came to believe was permanently. I just...had no more passion for these characters, no real desire to see what happened to them next. (The Trench Rats is a rather odd storyline for me anyway in that, unlike all my others, it isn't open ended and potentially endlessly ongoing--it goes from around 1900 (flashbacks) to around the mid-1950s (flash-forward), and that's it. No continuing plot. I think that alone put a big damper on a serial writer like me, and still does--I get close to characters, I want to keep coming up with more plot for them.) This went on for about two decades--TWENTY YEARS. I go through extended "phases" where I'll fixate on one story and "abandon" the others for years--I haven't worked on my Manitou Island storyline since around 2005 or 2007 or so, I think--yet I always end up returning to them at some point, plus, all those storylines at least have some substantial written content, unlike the Trench Rats, which hasn't even one completed short story. (I don't count the adult scenes unless they're full novellas, which none are; "Tough Love" never made it.) Plus--I don't think any have gone on full hiatus for TWENTY YEARS. So, yeah...I reached the sad conclusion that the Trench Rats story was permanently dead.

But for some reason, in November 2021, I got to thinking about a character I never much cared for--Papillon, the French bat partisan--and wondered what it would be like if he got involved with another male character. And I wondered, what if that character was Drake Rat. For all I'd known these two had been originally intended as straight--I'd never really thought about it, honestly. Yet I thought about it a bit more, they clicked, and I started writing an adult novella (because I don't do trashy little throwaway scenes anymore). And kept writing and kept writing. Nope--it's not done, it was paused when I started writing ANOTHER such story--this one featuring the brand-new character Otto Himmel. Alas, I can't recall how I came up with him! But with this, a swarm of OTHER completely new characters started pouring out of my head, and with them, changes to existing characters (Gunter Hesse is the most dramatic example--his current character is NOTHING like his original character description), and more significantly, entirely new chunks of plot that filled in previously gaping holes that had stumped me for years. For example, I'd gone since childhood having no clue WTF the deal was with Inspector Dobermann, why he's the way he is, what side he's even on--I thought he was a Nazi sympathizer, a bad guy. That's how he was always imagined (even though a niggling voice in the back of my head insisted there was something good in him--should've listened more to that voice). Turns out I was COMPLETELY wrong--he's a resistance sympathizer--with a Jewish wife!! (No, he doesn't KNOW she's Jewish for a good long while, but still.) It took him around thirty years to reveal himself to me. Thirty years! What took you so freaking long, Dobey??

And with something like that, I wonder if these swarms of new characters are actually "new" or if they've just been locked away in my unconscious all along, and something, I don't know what, prompted them to emerge a year ago and start telling me about themselves. I rather wish I fit into some writing communities so I could bounce theories around. If anyone reads this and has experienced anything similar, feel free to drop a note, however that works on Tumblr.

Anyway. Silver?...is NOT one of the characters who've started telling me more about themselves. 🙄 Thanks, Silver. When even the super-stoic Dobey speaks up more than you do it says something. His role in the story may as a result be reduced in importance. I can't think of much else to say regarding his and Reseda's relationship except to hint at how it seems to end: Even in the previous version of events, I had a strong feeling it isn't a permanent relationship, i. e., the two aren't together after the war. :/ I felt this was due more to Silver than to Reseda; Reseda would definitely be open to a longterm relationship, but Silver is more skittish, less likely to commit. Another factor in this, however, is that I had no concrete idea how Silver ends up at story's end. He just kind of seems to disappear; I started getting the impression that he goes MIA at the end, possibly even captured--or killed--by the Nazis, so Reseda has to head back home without him, heartbroken. I've been mulling over this situation recently since Silver won't reveal his background to me, so I'll get to that in a moment.

A relatively new development ties in with the other newish detail regarding Silver being part of a small early group who arrive even before the Trench Rats and this is how Doomsday, part of that group, ends up captured. This tiny unit didn't exist in the earlier versions of events. D-Day's capture was really confusing to me; his previous story (the original story is never explained) was that he was actually a civilian who was visiting Germany for whatever reason. I couldn't figure out why an American civilian would be visiting Germany at a time of rising hostility; made no sense. :/ This newer development of the small reconnaissance group at least makes a bit more sense, and D-Day starts out the story as a soldier who gets captured when Indigo's and Silver's unit is attacked. I already went over the rest, how resentful Silver is at being denied a leadership role in the Trench Rats, and how he spends the series taking this frustration out on others, but especially Drake (hm, does Silver have latent antisemitism, too?) and Gold, the corporals--because he feels he should've been a corporal. There's LOTS of tension between him and Gold--it's obvious he despises Gold, no matter how much the sociable Gold tries to reach out. Later in the story, after Sgt. Black is killed, Gold takes his place and then is later promoted to sergeant. He's informed he has to name a new corporal, and after some thought, he names Silver. Silver is like o_o ... He'd had NO idea that was coming, and similar to how he'd treated Reseda, he can't understand why Gold would promote him, with how poorly he'd acted toward him. He's fully aware of what a jerk he is toward others, yet the concept of being the bigger person seems to be beyond his understanding; I guess he subscribes to the idea of "to each his own" (yes, I realize the irony here of that particular saying), or you reap what you sow. So, when others are magnanimous toward him despite his behavior, it's weird to him and he doesn't know how to react. He accepts the role of corporal and I think this more than anything (though definitely combined with Reseda's actions) convinces him to finally start shaping up, let go of his bitterness, and consider how his actions influence others. Being a leader isn't a solo job, it involves all the people you're leading, too.

This takes place late in the story, so while I hope Silver is second in command long enough to make some differences, it isn't that long before he exits the story. Originally, there was no indication that he appears in the final story, Ultima Thule; Reseda definitely doesn't appear, as he's among the majority of Rats who returned to the US after the war's end. As I said, Silver just seems to "disappear." I thought maybe he'd been killed by the Nazis, since he was one of their most wanted. Recently, though, plot has been developing; I don't know if this is the final version of events, I could change my mind, but currently, Silver indeed gets captured toward war's end, and is declared MIA. Reseda, heartbroken as I said, returns home not knowing what became of him. Some time passes, then those remaining in Germany catch wind of Nazi activity ongoing in the mountains, and form teams to investigate.

They arrive at the Alpine Fortress, which they'd previously been informed isn't even real, and start exploring. It isn't long before they make a shocking discovery: Indigo Rat. They KNOW he was killed by shrapnel near the war's end, yet his body had gone missing. Yet here he is in the Alpine Fortress, very much alive, except wearing a white SS-style uniform and attacking them as if THEY'RE the enemy. Wut. It doesn't matter how much they try to get through to him--including trying to remind him of his fiancee back home--he keeps targeting them, as if mindlessly. It isn't until they run into Sturmbannführer Ludolf Jäger, a member of the Allgemeine-SS, that things are clarified: Doomsday, the medical project the Nazis had been running during the war to create a "super soldier," didn't end when the Third Reich fell--several Nazi doctors fled to the Alpine Fortress to continue the project, now renamed Ultima Thule, with a new and improved version of the serum. The project goal is now not increased intelligence and strength, but immortality itself, as Indigo's presence proves. There's no such effect on those who were alive when administered the serum (case in point, Jäger, who volunteered), but those who've been resurrected are blindly obedient to pre-programmed orders given to them by the Nazis--meaning that no matter how much the Rats try to get through to Indigo, they can't break his programming. And oh yeah--the effects of the original serum are still present, too, meaning amped-up strength and ability to withstand pain. So Indigo, who's already a big scary guy, is nearly impossible to fend off, much less defeat, and the Rats have to retreat.

Things get even more alarming when they run into Indigo again, and now, Silver is with him--also dressed in one of those weird white uniforms, also seemingly resurrected. Indigo attacks while Silver's actions are more restrained and defensive, a detail the Rats assume is based on their original fighting mentality (Indigo was more into brute force, Silver would think things through). The Rats again have to retreat, but run into the pair a third time later on--except this time, before Indigo can attack, Silver quickly knocks him out, something only someone on the serum can do. He shows all the other signs of being on the serum, including a blue sheen to his eyes, yet as the Rats are briefly stunned by this turn of events, he addresses them directly and with full awareness--something resurrected subjects CAN'T do--and instructs them not only on the only thing proven to stop an experimental subject for good (destroying the brain), but on where to find the doctors' files with more information on the project. He provides a few more details as they go looking: Obviously, while he was indeed captured by the Nazis at the war's end, he wasn't killed, thus wasn't resurrected. His situation is more similar to Jäger's; he was given the serum as a conscious test subject, though unwillingly--the Nazis thought it would be some delicious irony if Der Silbergeist himself ended up fighting for them. The full effects weren't understood yet, so he was able to convince his captors he was brainwashed as well, though the torture and conditioning he also underwent contributed to the Nazis believing he would side with them. In reality he's been biding his time, gathering information. Upon learning that the remaining Trench Rats had arrived, he accompanied Indigo in hopes of tipping them off to ways to destroy the project for good.

Burgundy, the Rats' chief surgeon, ends up discovering that the Nazis also created a sort of "antidote" to the serum, which stuns the subjects back into awareness. Silver helps them track this down, and they try it out on Indigo when he next attacks; he reacts as if in extreme pain, but it isn't long before he comes back to his senses, and recognizes his colleagues; he defects back to the Allies. The Rats pass word of their discovery to their canine counterparts also in the Alpine Fortress, and together they manage to destroy it in an explosion/avalanche while escaping to safety; this time the project truly IS destroyed for good, and those Rats who haven't decided to remain in Europe head back home.

Details are still hazy and could change, but in the snippet that currently plays in my head, Silver returns to the US and tracks down an address. He knocks on the door and it opens--it's Reseda. The two of them stare at each other for a moment before Reseda steps aside; he lets Silver in, and shuts the door.

[Silver Rat 2022 [‎Friday, ‎October ‎14, ‎2022, ‏‎4:00:14 AM]]

[creepingsharia]

I Now Better Understand the ‘Good German’

Apathy in the face of tyranny turns out not to be a German or Russian characteristic.

I Now Better Understand the ‘Good German’

As my listeners and readers can hopefully attest, I have been on a lifelong quest to understand human nature and human behavior. I am sad to report that I have learned more in the last few years, particularly in 2020, than in any equivalent period of time.

One of the biggest revelations concerns a question that has always plagued me: How does one explain the “good German,” the term used to describe the average, presumably decent German, who did nothing to hurt Jews but also did nothing to help them and did nothing to undermine the Nazi regime? The same question could be asked about the average Frenchman during the Vichy era, the average Russian under Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev and their successors, and the millions of others who did nothing to help their fellow citizens under oppressive dictatorships.

These past few years have taught me not to so quickly judge the quiet German, Russian, etc. Of course, I still judge Germans who helped the Nazis and Germans who in any way hurt Jews. But the Germans who did nothing? Not so fast.

What has changed my thinking has been watching what is happening in America (and Canada and Australia and elsewhere, for that matter).

The ease with which tens of millions of Americans have accepted irrational, unconstitutional and unprecedented police state-type restrictions on their freedoms, including even the freedom to make a living, has been, to understate the case, sobering.

The same holds true for the acceptance by most Americans of the rampant censorship on Twitter and all other major social media platforms. Even physicians and other scientists are deprived of freedom of speech if, for example, they offer scientific support for hydroxychloroquine along with zinc to treat COVID-19 in the early stages. Board-certified physician Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, who has saved hundreds of COVID-19 patients from suffering and/or death, has been banned from Twitter for publicizing his lifesaving hydroxychloroquine and zinc protocol.

Half of America—the non-Left half—is afraid to speak their minds at virtually every university, movie studio and large corporation—indeed, at virtually every place of work. Professors who say anything that offends the Left fear being ostracized if they have tenure and being fired if they do not. People are socially ostracized, publicly shamed and/or fired for differing with Black Lives Matter, as America-hating and white-hating a group as has ever existed. And few Americans speak up. On the contrary, when BLM protestors demand that diners outside of restaurants raise their fists to show their support of BLM, nearly every diner does.

So, then, who are we to condemn the average German who faced the Gestapo if he didn’t salute Hitler or the average Russian who faced the NKVD (the secret police and intelligence agency that preceded the KGB) if he didn’t demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm for Stalin? Americans face the left’s cancel culture, but not left-wing secret police or reeducation camps. (At least not yet—I have little doubt the Left would send outspoken conservatives to reeducation camps if they could.)

I have come to understand the average German living under Nazism and the average Russian living under communism for another reason: the power of the media to brainwash.

As a student of totalitarianism since my graduate studies at the Russian Institute of Columbia University’s School of International Affairs (as it was then known), I have always believed that only in a dictatorship could a society be brainwashed. I was wrong. I now understand that mass brainwashing can take place in a nominally free society.

The incessant left-wing drumbeat of the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and almost every other major newspaper, plus The Atlantic, the New Yorker, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, all of Hollywood and almost every school from kindergarten through graduate school, has brainwashed at least half of America every bit as effectively as the German, Soviet, and Chinese Communist press did (and in the latter case, still does). That thousands of schools will teach the lie that is the New York Times‘ “1619 Project” is one of countless examples.

Prior to the lockdowns, I flew almost every week of the year, so I was approached by people who recognized me on a regular basis. Increasingly, I noticed that people would look around to see if anyone was within earshot and then tell me in almost a whisper: “I support Trump” or “I’m a conservative.” The last time people looked around and whispered things to me was when I used to visit the Soviet Union.

In Quebec this past weekend, as one can see on a viral video, a family was fined and members arrested because six—yes, six—people gathered to celebrate the new year. A neighbor snitched on them, and the celebrants were duly arrested. The Quebec government lauded the snitches and asked for more public “collaboration.”

Snitches are likewise lauded and encouraged in some Democrat-run states and cities in America (Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in March: “Snitches get rewards”) and by left-wing governments in Australia. Plenty of Americans, Canadians, and Australians are only too happy to snitch on people who refuse to lock down their lives.

All this is taking place without concentration camps, without a Gestapo, without a KGB and without Maoist reeducation camps.

That’s why I no longer judge the average German as easily as I used to. Apathy in the face of tyranny turns out not to be a German or Russian characteristic. I just never thought it could happen in America.

[gear-project]

hey since sol is never stated otherwise should we assume hes "white"? his last name is bulsara and hes based off freddy mercury whos real name was farrokh bulsara. plus hes not pale in the way confirmed white people like ky or axl are

First of all, it's incorrect to simply call them "white/pale/Caucasian"...

Ky Kiske is French/Illyrian Resident.

Axl Low is British/English native/vagabond, so is Bridget (who is MIA).

Leo Whitefang is German/Illyrian Resident

Raven is formerly German/East Roman Imperial/vagabond.

Kliff Undersn and Testament are Swiss-born American-residents.  Testament is technically vagabond, but he resides in an American forest somewhere...

Zappa is Australian/Illyrian Resident.

Chipp is American-born, but a South-African resident/Adopted by Japanese.

Answer is also former South-African resident and current Eastern Chipp Kingdom Resident now.

Johnny is American-born but no longer resides in any one country/vagabond.

May is Japanese-born/but also vagabond.

Frederick Bulsara (that's his full in-story name, not "Farrokh" despite the reference, he insists on being called Sol Badguy though):

Sol is American-born but no longer resides in America/vagabond.  In the past it was suggested he came from Texas because of his connection with the Houston Space Center, but that was only a place he visited as a child... he also visits New York, New York from time to time, but that's not where he lives regularly either.  Sol's also spent time residing in Zepp as well.

Millia Rage is Russian-born/Illyrian Resident.

Zato is formerly Spanish-born/undercover Illyrian Resident.

Elphelt and Ramlethal are considered "adopted" as part of Ky's family, so they're Illyrian as far as Ky is concerned, despite being Valentine in origin.

Dizzy is "technically" American-born but is currently an Illyrian Resident.

Sin was born "somewhere in Europe" before Illyria was established as a country, but he's currently Illyrian resident as well.  You could say the same of Venom at this point as well.

Then of course there's Nagoriyuki who is Nigerian-born but apparently Japanese-raised, based on his culture/beliefs... we don't know where Nagoriyuki currently resides, however.

Giovanna is Brazillian-born but is an American citizen.

I-No has no ethnicity beyond being fluent in Italian as a language and somehow having originated in Rome (or near Rome, given the location of the Crusades).  She also resided in Babylon in the past.

Izuna (despite how white his skin is) is born from Japanese traditions and mythology, though he is currently an Underwood Hill resident.

Dr. Paradigm was actually "born" in America (Ohio to be exact) but currently resides in Illyria after spending time in Ganymede Island.

Dr. Faust is "rumored" to have been born in China, but he is currently vagabond as well.  Jam Kuradoberi is in a similar situation as she currently travels between the Japanese Colonies as part of her culunary business.

Bedman and his sister Delilah have no known nationality/residence beyond the Backyard.

Slayer and Sharon are Transylvanian-resident/Illyrian-resident/ethnic origins unknown.

If it's too complicated to describe these characters the way they actually are, I suggest dropping the topic of skin color ENTIRELY, as it's typically IRRELEVANT.

[newstfionline]

Monday, August 16, 2021

U.S. Air Force veteran comforts children plagued by gun violence (Reuters) Like many cities across the United States, Washington has seen a spike in shooting-related deaths during the pandemic. Homicides were up 19% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. This month’s data shows that the city has already clocked more cases than at the same time last year. “It’s like a war zone. It’s like being in the military,” Jawanna Hardy said. Frustrated by the senseless loss of life, Hardy, an Air Force veteran and now a 34-year-old high school English teacher, launched ‘Guns Down Friday,’ an outreach program to support neighborhoods plagued by gun violence—including the one she has lived in since childhood. She has raised money for shooting victims’ gravestones, advocated for more streetlights, and trained people how to treat bullet wounds themselves. She drives her van—adorned with photos of young gun violence victims—through the streets to greet youngsters. On a recent Friday, she arrived with water balloons. “Put your guns down and pick your water balloons up!” Hardy cried through a megaphone as children outside an apartment complex in southeast Washington laughed and scrambled to drench one another. She knows her Friday night street parties will not stop gun violence but hopes they can at least provide children a brief respite from the constant fear in which many live.

Haitians scramble to rescue survivors from ruins of major quake (Reuters) Haitians labored overnight to pick through shattered buildings in search of friends and relatives trapped in the rubble after a devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean country on Saturday, killing 1,297 people and injuring at least 5,700 more. The 7.2 magnitude quake flattened hundreds of homes in the impoverished country, which is still clawing its way back from another major temblor here 11 years ago, and has been without a head of state since the assassination of its president last month. Churches, hotels, hospitals and schools were badly damaged or destroyed, while the walls of a prison were rent open by the violent shudders that convulsed Haiti. Access to the worst-hit areas was complicated by a deterioration in law and order that has left key access roads in parts of Haiti in the hands of gangs, although unconfirmed reports on social media suggested they would let aid pass.

Want to stay long term in France? First come the classes on how to be French. (Washington Post) In France, la vie en rose comes wrapped in red tape. Foreigners hoping to stay here long term must sign an “integration contract” and agree to uphold French values. The contract requires four days of civic education, yet what’s taught is more akin to a government crash course in how to be French. There are discussions about Marianne—the symbolic embodiment of the French Republic—and about classical culinary dishes, such as duck confit and escargot. France 101 covers both the cultural (how to visit museums) as well as the practical (how to navigate the national health-care system). The classes, plus language lessons for anyone whose fluency doesn’t measure up, help determine whether an applicant gets a multiyear visa. Every year, an average of 100,000 people take the courses, in cities across the country. The contemporary agreement explicitly states that receiving an extended residency visa is conditional on abiding by its terms, a key one being deference to French values. After an applicant signs the document, the language test is administered and 24 hours of classes scheduled.

Taliban sweep into Afghan capital after government collapses (AP) The Taliban swept into Afghanistan’s capital Sunday after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade U.S. campaign to remake the country. Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul’s abandoned presidential palace. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, told The Associated Press that the militants would hold talks in the coming days aimed at forming an “open, inclusive Islamic government.” Kabul was gripped by panic. Helicopters raced overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents, and the American flag was lowered. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out. Fearful that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights, Afghans rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings. The desperately poor—who had left homes in the countryside for the presumed safety of the capital—remained in parks and open spaces throughout the city. Many people watched in disbelief as helicopters landed in the U.S. Embassy compound to take diplomats to a new outpost at the airport. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected comparisons to the U.S. pullout from Vietnam.

From hubris to humiliation: America’s warrior class contends with the abject failure of its Afghanistan project (Washington Post) Twenty years ago, when the twin towers and the Pentagon were still smoldering, there was a sense among America’s warrior and diplomatic class that history was starting anew for the people of Afghanistan and much of the Muslim world. “For you and us, history starts today,” then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage told his Pakistani counterparts. Earlier this month, as the Taliban raced across Afghanistan, retired Lt. Col. Jason Dempsey, a two-time veteran of the war, stumbled across Armitage’s words. To Dempsey, the sentiment was “the most American thing I’ve ever heard” and emblematic of the hubris and ignorance that he and so many others brought to the losing war. “We assumed the rest of the world saw us as we saw ourselves,” he said. “And we believed that we could shape the world in our image using our guns and our money.” Both assumptions ignored Afghan culture, politics and history. Both, he said, were tragically wrong. Michèle Flournoy, one of the architects of President Barack Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan in 2010, said, “In retrospect, the United States and its allies got it really wrong from the very beginning. The bar was set based on our democratic ideals, not on what was sustainable or workable in an Afghan context.” Flournoy acknowledged in hindsight that the mistake was compounded across Republican and Democratic administrations, which continued with almost equal fervor to pursue goals that ran counter to decades—if not centuries—of the Afghan experience.

Afghanistan’s collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts (Washington Post) The Taliban's stunningly swift advances across Afghanistan have sparked global alarm, reviving doubts about the credibility of U.S. foreign policy promises and drawing harsh criticisms even from some of the United States' closest allies. And many around the world are wondering whether they could rely on the United States to fulfill long-standing security commitments stretching from Europe to East Asia. "Whatever happened to 'America is back'?" said Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the Defense Committee in the British Parliament. "People are bewildered that after two decades of this big, high-tech power intervening, they are withdrawing and effectively handing the country back to the people we went in to defeat," Ellwood said. "This is the irony. How can you say America is back when we're being defeated by an insurgency armed with no more than [rocket-propelled grenades], land mines and AK-47s?" As much as its military capabilities, the United States' decades-old role as a defender of democracies and freedoms is again in jeopardy, said Rory Stewart, who was Britain's minister for international development in the Conservative government of Theresa May. "The Western democracy that seemed to be the inspiration for the world, the beacon for the world, is turning its back," Stewart said. Rivals of the United States also have expressed dismay. Among them is China, which fears that the ascent of an extremist Islamist government on its western border will foster unrest in the adjoining province of Xinjiang, where Beijing has waged sweeping crackdowns on the Uyghur population that have been denounced by the West. The United States' Arab allies, which have long counted on the U.S. military to come to their aid in the event of an attack by Iran, also have faced questions over whether they will be able to rely on the United States.

Torrential rains lash wide areas of Japan, three feared dead after landslide (Reuters) Torrential rain lashed much of Japan on Sunday, flooding roads and buildings in the western part of the country, while three people were feared dead after a landslide in central Nagano prefecture. Large parts of Japan, particularly the southernmost main island of Kyushu, have seen record levels of rainfall, causing rivers to overflow and triggering landslides. While the rain had stopped in much of Kyushu as of Sunday morning, Tokyo and other parts of the country were pounded by the downpour. Japan “will continue to face conditions in which a large-scale disaster could occur at anytime, anywhere,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a ministerial meeting on Sunday. He called on local municipalities and relevant organisations to cooperate and act with speed on rescue missions and aid.

More military personnel deployed to enforce Sydney Covid restrictions as entire state locks down (CNN) Additional Australian military personnel will be deployed to enforce tighter Covid-19 restrictions in the greater Sydney area next week, authorities announced Saturday, as the entire state of New South Wales (NSW) prepares to go under lockdown. Stay at home orders will be applied across the country’s most populous state, with people only permitted to leave home to shop for essentials, receive medical care, outdoor exercise with one other person, and work if residents cannot work from home. Schooling will also be moved back online. Sydney, the capital of NSW, has been under lockdown measures for more than seven weeks now, and they will likely be extended further; they were set to end on August 28 but the state government has indicated restrictions will remain through September.

Fuel explosion in Lebanon kills 28, wounding dozens (AP) A warehouse where fuel was illegally stored exploded in northern Lebanon early Sunday, killing at least 28 people and injuring 79 more in the latest tragedy to hit the Mediterranean country in the throes of a devastating economic and political crisis. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion near the border with Syria. Fuel smuggling operations have been ongoing for months. The Lebanese Red Cross said a fuel tanker exploded and its teams recovered 28 bodies from the site in the border village of Tleil. In a statement, it said it evacuated 79 people who were injured or suffered burns in the blast. Hours after the blast, Lebanese Red Cross members were still searching the area for more victims as Lebanese soldiers cordoned the area.

'Once the best in the Middle East,' Beirut hospital pleads for fuel as it faces shutdown (The Week) A once-famed Beirut hospital is now pleading for international aid to avoid running out of essential resources. The American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon, is making an urgent appeal to the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund, to supply the hospital with fuel before it's forced to shut down by Monday. Lebanon is mired in an economic and political crisis, and the nationwide fuel shortage is currently the most dire consequence. That's perhaps most clearly reflected in the plight of AUBMC, which said 40 adults and 15 children living on respirators would die immediately and many other patients will be at great risk if the shutdown is not avoided. The medical center said it's been rationing fuel and electricity for weeks, but is running out of both. Liz Sly, The Washington Post's Beirut bureau chief, notes that the American University hospital "was once the best" in the entire Middle East region; the announcement shows that the country is "truly heading to disaster," she writes.

[definegodliness]

It starts off as a joke

So, an Australian reporter walks into a grocery store. Notices all the shit-ribbon's gone. So he asks, 'hey, store clerk, where has all the paper gone?' Gets the news that Australia's notable Chinese population has been buying it for their fam. Dudes are in lockdown, under a suppressing government that doesn't give two unwiped shits about its citizens, so basically left to the generosity of their kin. Headline: 'Chinese are clearing out Australian TP shelves' (or some shit, bidet it). Further in the article there is nuance, but ain't nobody got time to read.

So, a small minority of Australians panics. Starts to stock up on ribbons. Which is hilarious to other Australians, who meme them. Yet this reaches the crowd sans humor plus extra package of panic and paranoia i.e. the anti-vax, flat earth believing, chemtrails perceiving package of idiots that the internet is rich. Power of social media.

Now, normally, these people don't bother us multi-braincelled beings. They're easily unfollowed if they have been followed accidentally. But right now they're having an impact on the real world. By buying unholy amounts of TP, whilst at the same time maintaining the egocentric stubborn nature they have been training ever since they've made their first online account to find choirs to preach to as people around them don't take them seriously. For good reason.

So, the crazies take over. Australia laughs and weeps. And it could've ended there. But no. More infectious than Covid-19 is the fucking madness and idiocity. Now, all over the world people are stocking up on toilet paper. Because some Chinese Australians wanted to help out their family in lockdown.

It's fucking mindblowing if you'd ask me. Here's people in areas unaffected by the disease, not in lockdown, with distribution centres working normally and stocked to the brim with the commodity TP, without Chinese people wanting to help their families on an island that is relatively nearby and has a notable Chinese community, stocking up on rolls and rolls of the plied deliverer of feces as if it would fend off corona itself with ease. Moreso, moist toilet paper is eerily shunned, as if it isn't superior. It's all about the rolls. The have seen. The meme. My expectations were low, but, what the fuck, humanity?

The sickest twist in the joke is that arguably sane people will be tempted to stock up on this ridiculousness out of an arguably sane fear for the idiots, who are in far greater numbers than we could have ever imagined. Again, the expectations were low, but... What. The. Fuck. Humanity.

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (1.15-1.21.20):

NEW MUSIC:

·         Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil teased new music in a number of Instagram stories, where the singer showed how he uses software to layer vocals. The frontman ended the videos by saying he can’t wait until we hear the song.

·         Four Year Strong took to social media to announce they will be releasing their new album, Brain Pain, on February 28 via Pure Noise Records. The band also released two new songs, “Talking Myself in Circles” and the title track “Brain Pain.”

·         Blink-182’s Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly participated in an interview at the Beats 1 studio, where they announced to host Zane Lowe the title of MGK’s upcoming pop-punk album, Tickets to My Downfall. The album will also feature Escape the Fate’s Kevin Gruft.

·         Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams teased more from her Petals for Armor project, posting another black box with the caption “Nothing cuts like a mother.” The Instagram page also posted screenshots from multiple movies including Bird Box and Kidnap.

·         Green Day dropped their newest single off their upcoming album Father of All…, titled “Oh Yeah!”. The accompanying music video pokes fun at modern interactions due to the influence of technology.

·         Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade announced that he will be releasing a solo record in 2020, a five-song EP titled My Rock and Roll Heart. The EP is scheduled to drop on Valentine’s Day and will feature a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus.”

·         Anti-Flag released a live, in-studio, full-length album playthrough of their newest record, 20/20 Vision. The multi-cam video gives us a look at what everyone is doing to create such a killer album.

·         Grayscale dropped a live music video for “Tommy’s Song,” a tribute to lead singer Collin Walsh’s late cousin, and are raising money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The band revealed that they have raised close to $2,500 in donations.

·         Creeper dropped the second single off their upcoming album titled “Annabelle,” which premiered on BBC Radio 1. Soon after, the band dropped a second tweet linking fans to the official lyric video.

·         Halsey announced that she is releasing an extremely limited version of her new album Manic. The album is now available with its alternate album art and will be signed by the singer, but under her birth name Ashley.

·         Australian act Trophy Eyes and WWE star Seth Rollins joined forces for the band’s new music video for the song “Figure Eight.” The music video, or “lyric visual” as they’re calling it, features Rollins lip-syncing to the song as he prepares to fight.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

·         Jeffree Star recently spoke out to fans regarding the cancellation of his European makeup masterclass tour, due in part to his breakup from longtime boyfriend Nathan Schwandt. Star went on to discuss the complications in his life and that it was more than just the breakup.

·         Angels and Airwaves postponed their remaining shows for this month as frontman Tom DeLonge has fallen ill. The band took to social media to tell fans that DeLonge “has come down with a nasty upper respiratory infection.”

·         Citizen announced a new tour with support coming from Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Fury, Snarls and Rosie Tucker. The 19-date tour will begin in Detroit on March 20 and finish off its rounds in Indianapolis on April 24.

·         Scary Kids Scaring Kids kicked off their reunion run with Secrets and Push Over, the latter of which features Kurt Travis and Thomas Erak (The Fall of Troy). The band hit the stage for the first time since disbanding following a final tour in 2010.

·         Sum 41 canceled the second night of their Paris stop for the No Personal Space tour after an explosive device was detonated outside of the venue’s door. After playing Zénith Paris Friday, the band were set to play a sold-out show at the Les Étoiles Saturday.

·         My Chemical Romance unveiled details for their much-teased UK show, taking to YouTube to share a video titled “An Offering…” on their channel before adding the same to social media. The band revealed they will be playing in Milton Keynes at Stadium MK on June 20.

OTHER NEWS:

·         Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes” has officially held the number one spot on Billboard‘s Hot Rock Songs Chart for 52 straight weeks. The song first hit number one on the chart in November 2018.

·         Another defendant in the ongoing Juice WRLD case filed for an extension to February 4. BMG Rights Management requested on January 13 that they have until the new date to respond to the initial complaint filed by Yellowcard.

·         My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero announced that he will be making an appearance in a new movie to premiere at SXSW called Drunk Bus. Iero announced the name of the film through an Instagram post.

·         Woes announced their breakup on social media, stating that they are prioritizing their own well-being, but will finish out their journey with a tour in the UK. The group dropped their first and only full-length, Awful Things, last year on June 28.

·         Fall Out Boy was the topic of heavy debate in Comedy Central’s new satire video. In the video, which includes former Smosh co-founder Anthony Padilla, we see the panelists engaged in hot debate about whether or not the band’s music is considered emo.

·         Panic! at the Disco frontman, Brendon Urie, opened Notes for Notes, a new music studio aimed to help young people create music, at the Boys and Girls Club in Henderson, Nevada. The studio was also made possible by a $500,000 donation from State Farm.

·         Post Malone announced he would be making his film debut on TV screens everywhere, starring with Mark Wahlberg in a new Netflix action movie Spenser Confidential. The film was first announced in 2018 and originally titled Wonderland.

·         Former Black Veil Brides bassist Ashley Purdy revealed in a new interview that he didn’t choose to depart from the band back in November. In an interview with Sonic Perspectives, he said “Technically, I didn’t leave; I’m just not in the band anymore.”

·         Funko unleashed plans for their newest Pop! vinyl figures including ones for bands like Slipknot, Weezer, Ghost and more, plus movies like The Craft and Creepshow. The company has many more figures they will be revealing at the 2020 London Toy Fair.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[incognito-lionbeast]

I was thinking about how Meis n Gueira met/became Burnish, and came up with some headcanon concepts I really like -- or at least ‘til they give us something official. Then this will all be for naught, but here goes!

They’re both Aussie, right? So, then for some backstory: in my headcanon Meis is still technically an Australian citizen, whereas Gueira moved to Florida as a teenager w/ his dad -- so, they never actually met while they were both in Australia. It’s just a happy coincidence.

Gueira never really got along with his dad, ‘cause that’s what sorta happens when you mix a stupid, rebel teenager & an asshole. His dad wasn’t the absolute worst person in existence (and by that I mean there was no like. physical abuse), but it was bad enough that he left/was kicked out pretty much right after he turned 18. Not long after that he flared up somewhere in Miami and never looked back. Never wanted to. Cause, sure, fuck it. He took up a fake name and raised a whole lotta hell where & when he could.

Meanwhile, some distance away, Meis’ boy band* was doing well enough--still pretty niche, but their music was selling, baybee--that they were toying with the idea of doing a US tour (they had more fans there than in Aus). Y’know, just a few shows to test the waters. Somewhere in the South, maybe. Easy enough. Their first show was in Florida at some sleazy little bar--decent crowd. Nothing crazy, but that’s where he met Gueira. Some punk with a fun attitude and a pack of cigarettes. They hit it off over a few drinks, eventually learning that they were both from Australia. Small world. Plus, Meis didn’t care if Gueira was a Burnish. Do you think some lanky twink in a fancy leather outfit and too much eyeliner gave a shit abt that kinda stuff? No way.

So, Meis offered him a ride as far as Dallas. That’s where their last show was, and Gueira didn’t have anywhere else to be. So, Fuck It moment number two. He was down to haul equipment for a few days if it meant the company was decent. Meis’ band-mates were a little less thrilled, but that’s the fun thing about being the leader. What you say goes. So, several more shows down the road and a whole hell of a lot of bonding in-between, they finally made it to Dallas. And this show? This show was the best and last show Meis ever performed in.

Near the end of the set, things had gotten really intense on stage and it burned him up--set the stage on fire, too. Meis lost a really nice jacket that day and had to be hauled out of the venue by Gueira. He’d been a Burnish for a while at that point. He knew what to do, and, hell, he kind of liked this asshole. Once Meis’ fire problem got under control, they both realised this meant neither of them had anything left to go back to. Like hell would his band-mates take him back after that level of public disaster, and it was plenty easy to replace a mere bassist. So, Fuck It number three. I like you, you like me. We’re both Burnish bastards. Let’s see what the world has to offer--and maybe the Mad Burnish, too, while we’re at it.

*Meis started the band, though he was actually the bassist/only did backup vocals. His character on stage was more broody & mysterious than it was charismatic. Not a good fit for the main guy, y’know? He had fun, though

[blog-sliverofjade]

Hearth Fires 12: Chiaroscuro

Pairing: Remi Denier x OFC

Summary:  Lorel Maddox just wants to live as a human, run her bakery in peace, and forget. Unfortunately, the alpha of the local leopard pack has very different ideas.

Remi Denier doesn’t know what to make of the female Changeling who wants nothing to do with him or the RainFire pack. He does know that he has a driving need to protect her. Even if it’s from herself.

While they’re embroiled in a battle of wills, there’s a war brewing on the horizon. The outside threat could not only destroy everything they hold dear, but tear apart the fragile new bonds of the Trinity Accord, plunging the world into bloodshed to rival the Territorial Wars of centuries past.

Word count: 2138

Content warning:  Content warning for references to child abuse and overtly racist cops.  Bear in mind that it was already written into the plot before 2020 happened.

Hearth Fires Masterlist

Beta read by the brilliant pandabearer

“I am disheartened by this reprehensible act against two of our citizens.  We do not condone hatred, bigotry, racism, or intolerance of any kind here.  I hope this brings us together as a community.”

         -Narinder Rao, Bryson City Mayor

         The sheriff was trying to play dominance games with an alpha.  He left Remi cooling his heels in the waiting area for ten minutes despite the fact he’d arrived promptly for their scheduled meeting.  Shaw had tried to avoid him outright, but Remi pulled the media card and he relented immediately; he’d won his position by a scant margin and didn’t have the political clout to withstand a media frenzy.  If he still refused to play ball after this, well, Remi still had a few more cards up his sleeve.

         Several deputies seemed to have important business in the front office while he waited.  While he wasn’t in the mood to play, RainFire needed to cultivate as much rapport with Enforcement as possible.  So he donned his easy-going demeanour like the well-worn armour that it was and flirted and charmed while not promising anything.

         “Mr. Denier,” Shaw called, noticeably irritated he had to come in person since his receptionist was currently slipping his phone number into Remi’s hand.  He’d scented the other man before he spoke, of course, but there was no need to be rude to the young psy in front of him who was obviously inexperienced in flirting.

         “À plus tard, cher,” he winked, tucking the slip of paper into a pocket to dispose of later.  Red flagged the younger man’s cheeks and he ducked past his boss to make his way back to his desk.

         The sheriff’s polite smile was strained as Remi sauntered over to him; he made sure to keep the leopard in his line of sight as they walked back to his office in silence.  Stale coffee and the maelstrom of dozens of people assaulted his senses.

         “I always wondered, what made you decide to come here?” Shaw asked, southern accent thick, as Remi settled in one of the two chairs facing his desk.  He stifled the urge to bare his teeth in annoyance at the small talk when all the animal wanted to do was tear out the throat of its enemy.  It was too uncivilized to bother with social niceties, especially when it saw the man as a threat to be eliminated

         “It was what was available for a new pack,” he shrugged, seeing no need for prevarication.  The information was out there for anyone who cared enough to look, and he had a feeling the Sheriff had done his homework.  There was more to the process, of course, but that was the bare bones of it.

         “Doesn’t seem right that the good folk of this county don’t get a say in a pack of predators moving in,” Shaw feigned bewilderment and shook his head, light glinting off a pate shaved to hide the fact he was mostly bald.  “It would’ve been better for everyone if we’d all stayed in our own lanes.  Nothing good ever came of pandering to the other races.”

         “Talk to your Trinity representative about that,” he said flatly.  “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, where are you at in the investigation into the assault that occurred outside Acapella two nights ago?”

         “Mr. Denier-”

         “Alpha,” he corrected.  “My proper title is ‘alpha’.”

         “Alpha Denier, it’s still the early stages.”  In a false display of sympathy, Shaw leaned forward to loosely weave his thick fingers together on top of the desk.  “We have no fingerprints, no DNA, no witnesses, and no suspects.  You must understand that we have limited resources and an inquest would require much of that with very little chance of success.”  Shaw spread his hands as if in remorse.

         “DNA evidence was taken at the hospital.”  What he didn’t say was that the pack had taken their own samples, while theirs wasn’t admissible in court, there was still a chance that it would help identify the assailants for some extra-judicial justice.

         “The hospital didn’t have a protocol for preserving evidence, no need for it before you people moved here.  The samples weren’t logged properly and got destroyed.  A damn shame, but I’ve been assured they’re remedying the situation.”  It didn’t take the nose of a changeling to tell that Shaw was lying, he didn’t bother to hide his smugness at stonewalling Remi.

         “RainFire offers its assistance in the investigation.”

         “You don’t have the authority.”  The flat rejection was no less than what Remi had expected.

         “One of the survivors is changeling, therefore changeling laws apply should RainFire choose to exercise our rights.”  What went unsaid was that changeling justice was swift, brutal, and brooked no interference.

         “Forgive me if I doubt you’n’s impartiality.”  The smirk that had been dancing in the human’s eyes died, leaving them flint hard.

         “Local Enforcement leadership has already proven its own lack in that area.”

         A vein in the officer’s forehead throbbed as his blood pressure and heart rate increased.  The cat wondered how hot the blood would be, how far it would gush if it sank its teeth into the human’s carotid arteries.  The temptation to allow the leopard to surface was callow, yet strong, and completely unnecessary.  Fear filled the office, hovering beneath the thick cologne Shaw wore.  He wondered if the sheriff’s sense of smell was dulled or if he thought the cloying concoction would hide his reactions from Remi.  It might have worked against a changeling who hadn’t grown up surrounded by the stink of constant fear, but the acrid bite was etched too indelibly in his memory.

         “It’s becoming increasingly clear that local Enforcement’s reluctant to protect the changeling community but is more than willing to police it.  RainFire will respond to any attack on changelings or humans with changeling affiliations within the area we have claimed.”  Remi let the leopard rise in his eyes, not enough to change his pupils, just enough to remind Shaw he was right to be afraid.

         “I won’t tolerate a witch hunt.”  The sheriff gave his best imitation of a snarl.

         “Nor will we.”  The leopard’s growl was genuine.

         Whenever Lorel found herself in need of parental advice, she inevitably called her aunt.  Maternal, of course, since she only knew her father’s name and that of his now-defunct pack.  Even though her grandparents raised her, calling them was out of the question, unless she felt like a lecture and shame; in her experience, there was no such thing as unconditional love.  No, what she needed was a calm perspective from someone who wanted the best for her.

         Pacing the living room while the call went through, she rubbed her palms up and down her arms.  There was a strange buzzing under her skin.  All the feelings and sensations bouncing around in her head drove out what she intended to say by the time her aunt Nora answered.  What came out instead was peevish.

         “Did you know that RainFire intended to expand their territory?”

         “Sorry… you… breaking… up.”  Her aunt’s words came haltingly even though there was no interruption in the video itself.  Lorel could still make out every coil of hair that was so like her own, albeit auburn compared to her copper, glowing in the Australian sunlight.  The vague, pastel memories of her mother showed in the older woman like ghosts.  Her childhood impressions of her mom were of someone a little less colourful, gentler, but with the same mass of curls.  The familiar sight seemed to chase back the gloom of early evening filling the corners of her own living room.

         “Static hasn’t been an issue for nearly fifty years.”  Not since the psy had invested in international telecommunications infrastructure.

         “Yes, I did know, and I knew you wouldn’t have taken over the bakery if I told you.  You deserve to-” she sighed and held up her hands, apparently at a loss for words.  “To be whole.”

         “I’m fine,” snapped Lorel.  “What I don’t need is a pack of leopards threatening to kill me for the crime of living where they want to stake a claim.”

         “What you need is something you’ve never been given,” she replied evenly.  “And I’m partly to blame for that.  I should have done more.”  At that, Lorel swallowed the acerbic words on her tongue.

         “We’ve been over this: you’re barely fifteen years older than I am and were in college halfway around the world,” she reminded her aunt with as much gentleness as she could summon.  “Speaking of which, how are your classes going?”

         “Harder than I remember, but I’m enjoying it so far.  Nice attempt at changing the subject, though.”  She wagged a finger at her niece, who pretended to be abashed.  “Give them a chance, Lolo.  If it’s not what you need, my cousin’s still willing to buy you out, but at least you’ll know.”  Unable to look into a face filled with such tender love and concern, Lorel hugged herself and looked down at her feet.

         “Besides, some of those cats are drop-dead gorgeous.”

         “Aunt Nora!” she snapped her head up to gape at the other woman.

         “I’m old, not dead!”  Laughter lit up her entire being, wrapping around Lorel like a warm hug, and she couldn’t help but smile along with her even as she shook her head in fond exasperation.  While she was on the edge of forty, her aunt could be- and had been- mistaken for her sister, and certainly young enough to be studying for a second career as a marine biologist.

         “I love you, Lolo, and I know you wouldn’t have taken this risk on your own.”

         “Yeah, who wouldn’t want to risk death threats?”  Lorel unfolded one arm to wave her hand in a flippantly sarcastic gesture.

         “You have choices: give the leopards a chance or sell to Marselo.”  Her harsh, no-nonsense tone had Lorel twisting her face into a moue of distaste.  Sometimes she wondered how Nora and Klaudia Maddox could possibly be related, but then, when least expected, her aunt revealed a spine of pure steel and the family resemblance was undeniable.

         “You didn’t even want SweetCheeks, something about moving to Hicksville, Nowhere?  I had to guilt you into it.”  The older woman’s insistence had seemed strange at the time but made sense now that Lorel knew what her ulterior motives were.

         “Yeah, well, I like it so far,” she admitted begrudgingly, burrowing her bare toes into the Aegean blue area rug.  “You built up a good business.”

         “Damn straight,” Nora sniffed with obvious pride.  “So, you better take good care of it, ya hear?”

         “Yeah, yeah, love you, too.”  She rolled her eyes and thrust both hands into her hair.  “They’re dangerous, No-No.”

         “You’ve survived things that would break other people.  I know you were taught to fear them,” a shadow of remorse crossed her face, “but my money’s on you.”

         “What if I can’t?”  The question was a whisper because she couldn’t speak past the knot in her throat.

         “What if you can?  Imagine what you’d be capable of.”  The strength of her aunt’s love and confidence in her was still a kick to the heart and she’d always regret not confiding in the other woman when she was younger.  Nora had fluttered like a vibrant butterfly at the edges of her youth; shame and a twisted sense of protection had kept Lorel from reaching out to her sooner, she didn't want her spirited aunt to put her life on hold for Lorel's sake.  What support Nora could provide, no matter where she was in the world, had gotten her through some of her toughest years.  As an adult, she soaked in as much of Nora's love as she could, and tried to return it as best she knew how.  “I have to go, I have a date with some algae.  Let me know what you decide.”

         “I will.  I love you, No-No.”  She kissed two fingers and pressed them to the comm screen.

         “Love you, too, Lolo.”  Her aunt mirrored the gesture on her end before they both hung up.

         Twilight seemed to rush back into the room once the screen went blank; for once, she didn’t bother turning on a light and allowed the shadows to envelop her.  It wasn’t fully dark to her eyes, never had been, yet she still kept nightlights around the house; a childish habit Nora had never ridiculed her for, seeming to understand without words why an adult changeling would fear the night.

         “We are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness.”  Her grandfather’s voice echoed in her head, accompanied by the remembered pain of sudden light on her sensitive eyes.  “Why are you sitting in the dark?  What are you trying to hide?”

         Maybe it was time to stop hiding.