#she might be in a dangerous profit-fueled confrontation

[riseandfallofsecunit]

I had never had a human touch me, or almost touch me, like this before and it was deeply, deeply weird.

[thecomicsnexus]

FRANK MILLER’S RONIN JULY 1983 - AUGUST 1984 BY FRANK MILLER AND LYNN VARLEY

SYNOPSIS (FROM WIKIPEDIA)

In feudal Japan, a young, nameless samurai has sworn to protect his master, Lord Ozaki, from assassins. Ozaki is assassinated at night by a demon called Agat in the guise of a geisha, in an act of revenge for Ozaki stealing his sword. The sword is powered by blood — if it can be fueled by the blood of an innocent, the sword will become powerful enough to destroy Agat. Ozaki has hidden the sword, so Agat cannot find it. The young samurai prepares to perform seppuku at his master's graveside. The spirit of Ozaki appears before him and demands that he find the sword and keep it from Agat until his skills are great enough to destroy the demon lord. The young samurai becomes a rōnin, wandering the countryside for many years. He comes to Agat's castle, and fights his way inside. Since the sword has never killed an innocent, it is not powerful enough to destroy Agat, so when Agat approaches him from behind, the ronin thrusts the sword through his own abdomen, impaling Agat. As Agat dies, he curses the ronin, and both their souls are trapped inside the sword until someone releases them.

Eight centuries later, social and economic collapse has left New York a lawless wasteland, populated by squatters, factions, and mutants. In the heart of the city is the Aquarius Complex, the headquarters of the Aquarius Corporation. The Aquarius Corporation is an idealistic company founded by three people: Peter McKenna, inventor of biocircuitry, his wife, Casey McKenna, Aquarius' head of security, and Mr. Taggart, who funded and controls Aquarius. The company is successful developing and marketing biocircuitry as a means of saving a world on the brink of war. Biocircuitry is a new model of plastics-based electronics, capable of self-organization and self-repair under the direction of Virgo, the artificial intelligence at the heart of the Aquarius Complex.

Aquarius's ward, Billy Challas, was born without any limbs due to a genetic defect and has telekinetic powers. Virgo works with him to develop his psionic abilities and Billy tests cutting-edge prosthetic limbs for Aquarius. Billy has been having vivid dreams of the story of Ozaki, the ronin, and Agat. Billy and Virgo are confused by the detail and historical accuracy of the dream since his education had never covered feudal Japan.

Back at Aquarius, Virgo explains what has occurred to Casey McKenna, who assumes Virgo's logic units have been affected, but begins an investigation anyway. Agat infiltrates the complex, where he murders Taggart and assumes his form. In this guise, Agat begins negotiating a weapons deal with the Japan-based Sawa Corporation. Peter McKenna is outraged; he had created the technology under the agreement that it would be for non-violent purposes only. He confronts Taggart and realizes that he's an impostor. He informs Virgo, who is not only unshaken by this revelation, but immediately informs Taggart, forming a pact with him. Peter infiltrates Virgo's memory bank and forces her to show him what happened to Taggart. Even with the video replay, Peter refuses to believe the story and accuses Virgo of killing Taggart. He is kidnapped and held prisoner by Agat.

Head, an aging hippie who realizes that the ronin is his ticket to security, tells the ronin that he'll 'manage' him and take care of him; the ronin passively acquiesces. Head plans to sell the ronin as "The Elvis of Violence", and makes deals with the heads of both the Nazi and Black factions to kill the other faction's leader in exchange for rice, beer, sterno, and a place to sleep.

Casey McKenna gets authorization to pursue and retrieve the ronin, understanding from Virgo that Billy Challas has somehow been transformed into a killer, and that the absence of effective law enforcement means that capturing him is Aquarius' responsibility. The three man team who finds the ronin, however, is killed without hesitation. Convinced of Virgo's story, Casey seeks permission to kill the ronin. Taggart denies this when Virgo informs him that the ronin is, in fact, Billy, complete with telekinetic power and, as such, might be useful in cybernetics. Casey finds the ronin dealing with the Nazi and Black factions and, despite her orders, attempts to kill him. Casey is knocked unconscious by the two factions before she can accomplish this and is thrown into a pit. The ronin kills both faction leaders, discards Head, and goes to rescue Casey.

The pit leads into sewers infested with cannibals, who swarm and kidnap Casey and the ronin. The ronin breaks free and slaughters the cannibals. Casey is surprised to find herself falling in love with the ronin. It snows shortly thereafter, for the first time in five years, and the ronin speaks English out of the blue. Casey and the ronin sleep together in the snow.

Peter, bound and gagged, is met by therapist Sandy. Peter convinces Sandy to free him and they try to make sense of all that has occurred. Peter concludes that Virgo kept the extent of Billy's powers a secret in order to exploit them, and that Billy created the ronin based around the television programs he loved so much as a kid, using his powers to create arms and legs built for himself and control Casey. Sandy, hearing this, thinks Peter is insane, and leaves him alone with Virgo.

Robots sent by Taggart attack the ronin and Casey, removing the ronin's mechanical arms and legs. Virgo, controlling the robots, starts a mental attack on the ronin, bringing forward Billy's repressed memory of murdering a local bully. Billy, enraged, regains his limbs, but a horde of flying robots subdue him and blast the subway tunnel where Casey had been trying to make her escape. Trapped, the ronin mentally reaches out to Casey, who regains consciousness within the rubble and kills a robot. Casey breaks into Aquarius, which by this point has engulfed the entire city. The ronin causes a blackout that allows Casey to escape the guards and find Peter. Virgo forces Agat to restrain himself, and address the workers about the blackout. Virgo confronts Billy mentally. Virgo soothes Billy and convinces him to stop helping Casey.

Casey, with the help of Learnid and Sandy, whom Learnid convinces of Peter's sanity, finds Peter. A physical wreck, Peter informs Casey that Billy is being manipulated by Virgo into turning fantasy into reality. A Virgo robot attacks and kills Peter. Reinvigorated by Casey's sadness, Billy begins questioning Virgo. When Casey is attacked by another robot, Billy is enraged and lashes out, destroying it. Virgo verbally castigates Billy, threatening to send him away (as his mother did after she saw him murder the bully) if he doesn't stop. Billy backs down.

Taggart, trying to calm the workers, is confronted by Learnid who accuses him of having been corrupted. Before Taggart can attack, Virgo orders him away, stating a life-threatening hazard has occurred. Learnid notes that regulations give him authority in such situations to evacuate non-essential personnel and forces Virgo to carry out the order.

Casey runs into Peter, now a deformed half-man/half-machine, who attacks her. Peter explains that Billy's powers gave Virgo a consciousness and Virgo wanted more. In order to increase his power, while keeping him under control, she manipulated him into creating the ronin, thereby releasing his power, but trapping him in fantasy. Virgo wants to make biocircuitry the new dominant life form on Earth. Casey kills Peter and tells Virgo to take her to the ronin. Once near him, she is transported back into fantasy, and keeps playing along. Kissing the ronin, they are confronted by Agat. Casey turns to confront him but rather than taking out her sword, she shoots him in the head. Agat's wiring explodes, revealing him to be a robot.

Sensing danger, Virgo tries in vain to talk Casey out of acting, to no avail. Casey frees the ronin, then humiliates him, as a woman had avenged his master where he had failed. Casey then gives him a sword to commit seppuku while acting as his second. As the ronin guts himself, Billy cries in agony. Virgo tries to scold him to take control but Billy can't control himself, blaming Virgo for making him feel worthless. The ronin shoves the sword into his heart, Casey decapitates him, and Billy unleashes a telekinetic blast which destroys Aquarius, and by extension, New York. The only ones left standing are Casey and the ronin.

CONTEXT

REVIEW

There are too many things to have in mind with this novel, I do not recommend analyzing individual chapters, while this was published as a mini-series, it is pretty clear that it has to be read like a book.

This is important, because for the first three episodes, it felt pretty much like the average Frank Miller “toxic masculinity” western adventure. But then, everything changes completely and you no longer know what is real or not. Even the ending is a bit ambiguous. Did Billy survive only to live in a fantasy world?

There are also many references to social problems of 1983, like the world going to hell, world war III and humans feeling replaced by machines. Half of this story feels like many other Frank Miller’s stories where big corporations are free to bend the laws and nature for a profit. (RoboCop comes to mind).

But then, the second part of this story blows up into a very different story that doesn’t even match the premise of the novel. It’s like the last three chapters are not the ending of the first three. And the fact that it’s all a fantasy, makes up for what could be considered artistic errors (like a Japanese having blue eyes).

Frank Miller’s art is polarizing. His faces are not always human, and much like John Romita Jr. his characters tend to look to much alike. But this fluctuates a lot and sometimes we get perfectly human faces. So my guess is that this is intentional. I read somewhere that Miller was conscious about the similarities in his art with Moebius. This is notorious, in fact, I would say that the whole novel has an European feel to it. But it also draws from manga, and his influences are balanced enough not to look like he is copying others.

Lynn Varley takes advantage of the print technology used for this book (not Newsprint), and while not making the comic full of colors (the one thing the change in technology allows), but full of shades. So while her palette is still limited, there are many tones of each color. She also decided for a bi dimensional feel that matches Miller’s art. Other graphic novel at the time had gradients, I don’t those would have look good with the art.

As with many westerns, female roles are complicated. They are either a sexual distraction or macho women. This case in particular shows inverted roles in Casey’s home life, with her husband being a bit more effeminate (and possibly bisexual). At the same time, she falls prey for a macho fantasy, and while she puts an end to the bigger menace, one would have to think that she is still prisoner of Billy’s imagination. So I don’t know, you tell me...

I give this novel a score of 10

[mirrorcollecter-blog]

Division and Outrage

Many would agree that the American chain of political discourse has gotten considerably more hostile and less open to discussion over the years, alongside the rise of increasingly radical politics and spread of ideas through the internet. Statistics also seem to support this theory, with pew research citing that 92% of republicans are more conservative than the median democrat and the average democrat 94% more liberal than the moderate conservative. Even through simply interacting online through social media, people in general seem to have become exceptionally angrier over the last few years. So, in the spirit of identifying the causes behind the United State’s newfound division, let us discuss the reasons we seem to be at each other's throats.

As mentioned earlier, the U.S. was not always so polarized. Ronald Reagan’s first election in 1980 illustrates this quite well, with the former actor swamping the electoral college with 489 votes and winning the popular vote by almost 8.5 million votes over Jimmy Carter.

Since then, electoral maps have become substantially more split, especially when compared to the infamous 2016 election. To quickly recap, Donald Trump actually managed to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by about 3 million votes despite gaining well over the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

But what has caused such a divide since the good old days of unity pre -1994?

Journalism has always had a large impact on public opinion as a whole, most notably in instances of extreme emotional disarray. The story of the USS Maine typically springs to mind when thinking of journalism’s role in public outrage. To briefly explain, the USS Maine was a United States battleship stationed in Cuba in 1898 that exploded for unknown reasons, but was played off as an attack by the spanish by news outlets. Despite the mistakes of the past, in today’s world it would seem that outrage journalism has only become more frequent.

Just a few days ago the left-leaning New York Times published an exceptionally anti semitic cartoon depicting the sitting president as a blind Jew being led by a dog depicted as the israeli prime minister in its editorial section. Likewise, the fringe right wing website Breitbart managed to play dirty throughout Alabama’s last election cycle, where they routinely elected to downplay and discredit the substantial sexual assault allegations against Roy Moore. Reactionary and outrage pieces like these are certainly good for business, as advertisers use instances of online engagement to determine how much they pay these news sites for ads. In a fantastic piece by Tobias Rose-Stockwell at Medium.com, it is discussed that the more outrageous and “clickable” an article is, the more money it makes.

What's even more brutal is that people in general don’t seem to care all that much. Another piece of the vast puzzle that is political outrage comes from the concept of internet “echo chambers,” where people are entretching themselves in an ever deepening sea of identical “news” sources. According to The Guardian, an estimated 61% of millennials use social media as their primary source of news, a statistic that certainly helps promulgate echo chambers. Tech companies, namely Facebook and Twitter just so happen to show their users content that is closely related to what they may be currently following, which in turn boosts their own profits.

Thanks to algorithms like the aforementioned, “alternative” news organizations are able to function quite well by capturing new members of angry and outraged viewers. Despite what I have mentioned thus far however, reactionary outlets like the previously mentioned Breitbart are not the only ones able to survive in this new climate. More trustworthy organizations like Zero Hedge and Signs of the Times have also managed to materialize thanks to readers who have a vested interest in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to its best possible extent.

The rise of more unbiased and publicly funded journalism does signal that there are more influencing factors at work than just a monetary incentive for our newfound charged political atmosphere. For these reactionary groups to continue maintaining a viable business, there still has to be a social cause for why people choose to ignore less biased media in favor of their prefered outrage, which leads me to an interesting look at the culture of politics in the U.S.

It would seem that the only way that media pushing outrage can stay in business is if people continue to want something to be outraged at. An article published in the Chicago Tribune puts it quite well:

“This is the current pitch of outrage culture, where voicing an opinion someone says she sees as a threat qualifies you for instant annihilation, no questions asked. Why ask questions when it's more expedient, maybe more kick-ass, to turn anything you might disagree with into an emergency?

A sense of emergency is what people on all sides have developed an addiction to. Show us the next person to hate and we are so there; we take an animalistic pleasure in destroying the kid in the MAGA hat, in fashioning a decades-old interview with John Wayne into a knife with which to posthumously eviscerate the actor. And then we look for the next target.

Because we need that next hit, we need it right now. Being in a constant state of emergency — a condition in which people notoriously make terrible decisions — is like having a fire raging inside the body, one that needs to be fed. It needs new fuel, and so we seek new enemies.

Meanwhile, some of us are watching from the sidelines, trying to stay out of the way, hoping not to be next. (Good luck with that.)” - Nancy Rommelmann

This passage illustrates a very good picture of why people seem to gut each other at the first possible opportunity. Maybe we truly enjoy the process of getting angry and delving into our own personal circles where we feel right at home. At a minimum, the process feels a bit cathartic to say the least.

Assuming this is true, and that people have a fondness towards conflict and will neglect to take a rational approach to political discourse, how are we supposed to tame our tendencies and return to a less confrontational state? Unsurprisingly, some of the solution requires a healthy dose of personal responsibility and motivation. Readers should at least attempt to open their echo chamber to more centered outlets, such as the publicly funded ones mentioned earlier. As sociologists, we may also be able to help “lead the way,” so to speak. As we study people and populations, we are somewhat responsible for telling people that they are allowing themselves to buy in to stigmas and assumptions fed to them by their own outlets. As a citizen of a country with such a free and open platform for discussion, I truly hope we can work past our tendencies to discredit and damage before civil debate.

Links and resources:

https://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/

https://www.270towin.com/1980_Election/index.html

https://www.pbs.org/crucible/tl10.html

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/28/media/ny-times-anti-semitic-cartoon/index.html

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/breitbart-fake-news-alex-marlow/comment-page-2/

https://medium.com/@tobiasrose/the-enemy-in-our-feeds-e86511488de

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/dec/04/echo-chambers-are-dangerous-we-must-try-to-break-free-of-our-online-bubbles

https://medium.com/real-social-post/top-10-alternative-media-list-1ed52befa70c

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-outrage-culture-metoo-meneither-portland-0226-20190225-story.html

I would just like to state that I found all of these articles very interesting and thought-provoking on their own, and would highly recommend that you visit and read them yourself. Thank you for reading.

[annarellix]

The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan (Quinn & Costa #3) - EXCERPT

ABOUT THE BOOK: A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board. Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands. Was the explosion an act of domestic terrorism, or was one of the dead the primary target? That is the first question Special Agent Matt Costa, Detective Kara Quinn, and the rest of the FBI team need to answer, but they have few clues and no witnesses. Accused of putting profits before people after leaking fuel endangered an environmentally sensitive preserve, the West End Charter company may itself have been the target. As Matt and his team get closer to answers, they find one of their own caught in the crosshairs of a determined killer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ALLISON BRENNAN is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over thirty novels. She has been nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers and the Daphne du Maurier Award. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Arizona with her husband, five kids and assorted pets.

Social Links: Author website: https://www.allisonbrennan.com/ Facebook: @AllisonBrennan Twitter: @Allison_Brennan Instagram: @abwrites Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52527.Allison_Brennan

Buy Links: Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-wrong-victim/9780778312307 Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780778312307 Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wrong-victim-allison-brennan/1139717188?ean=9780778312307 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0778312305/httpwwwalli0f-20 Books A Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780778312307 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B096FYD1S5/httpwwwalli0f-20 Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wrong-victim-allison-brennan/1139717188?ean=9780369717795 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-wrong-victim-1 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Allison_Brennan_The_Wrong_Victim?id=60kxEAAAQBAJ Ibooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-wrong-victim/id1570424193

EXCERPT:

CHAPTER ONE A killer walked among the peaceful community of Friday Harbor and retired FBI Agent Neil Devereaux couldn’t do one damn thing about it because he had no evidence. Most cops had at least one case that haunted them long after the day they turned in their badge and retired. For Neil, that obsession was a cold case that his former law enforcement colleagues believed was closed. Not only closed, but not a double homicide at all—simply a tragic accident. Neil knew they’d got it wrong; he just couldn’t prove it. He hadn’t been able to prove it thirteen years ago, and he couldn’t prove it now. But he was close. He knew that the two college boys didn’t drown “by accident;” they were murdered. He had a suspect and he’d even figured out why the boys had been targeted. Knowing who and why meant nothing. He needed hard evidence. Hell, he’d settle for any evidence. All his theory got him was the FBI file on the deaths sent by an old friend, and the ear of a detective on the mainland who would be willing to investigate if Neil found more. “I can’t open a closed death investigation without evidence, buddy.” He would have said the same thing if he was in the same position. Confronting the suspected killer would be dangerous, even for an experienced investigator like him. This wasn’t an Agatha Christie novel like his mother used to read, where he could bring the suspect and others into a room and run through the facts—only to have the killer jump up and confess. Neil couldn’t stand to think that anyone might get away with such a brazen murder spree, sparked by revenge and deep bitterness. It’s why he couldn’t let it go, and why he felt for the first time that he was close…close to hard evidence that would compel a new investigation. He was tired of being placated by the people he used to work with. He’d spent so long following dead ends that he’d lost valuable time—and with time, the detailed memories of those who might still remember something about that fateful weekend. It was only the last year that Neil had turned his attention to other students at the university and realized the most likely suspect was living here, on San Juan Island, right under his nose. All this was on his mind when he boarded the Water Lily, his favorite yacht in the West End Charter fleet. He went through his safety checklist, wondering why Cal McKinnon, the deckhand assigned to this sunset cruise, wasn’t already there. If he wasn’t preoccupied with murder and irritated at Cal, Neil may have noticed the small hole in the bow of the ship, right above the water line, with fishing line coming out of it, taut in the water. * “I’m sorry. It’s last minute, I know,” Cal said to Kyle Richards in the clubhouse of West End Charter. “But I really need to talk to Jamie right away.” “It’s that serious?” asked his longtime friend Kyle. “I cannot lose her over this. I just can’t. I love her. We’re getting married.” At least he hoped they were still getting married. Two months ago Jamie finally set a wedding date for the last Saturday in September—the fifth anniversary of their first date. And now this whole thing was a mess, and if Cal didn’t fix it now, he’d never be able to fix it. You already blew it. You blew it five years ago. You should have told her the truth then! “Alright then, go,” Kyle said. “I’ll take the cruise. I need the extra money, anyway. But you owe me—it’s Friday night. I had a date.” Cal clapped Kyle on the back. “I definitely owe you, I’ll take your next crappy shift.” “Better, give me your next corporate party boat.” Corporate parties on the largest yacht in their fleet had automatic eighteen percent tips added to the bill, which was split between a typical four-man crew in addition to salary. Plus, high-end parties often paid extra. Drunk rich people could become very generous with their pocket cash. “You got it—it’s next Saturday night, the Fourth of July—so we good?” Kyle gave him a high five, then left for the dock. Cal clocked out and started for home. He passed a group of sign-carrying protesters and rolled his eyes. West End Charter: Profit Over Protection Protect Fish Not Profits! Hey Hey Ho Ho Ted Colfax has to go! Jeez, when would these people just stop? West End Charter had done nearly everything they wanted over the last two years—and then some—but it was never good enough. Fortunately, the large crowds of protesters that started after the West End accident had dwindled over the last two years from hundreds to a half dozen. Maybe because they got bored, or maybe because West End fixed the problem with their older fleet, Cal didn’t know. But these few remaining were truly radical, and Cal hoped they didn’t cause any problems for the company over the lucrative Fourth of July holiday weekend. He drove around them and headed home. He had more important things to deal with than this group of misfits. Cal lived just outside of Friday Harbor with Jamie and their daughter. It was a small house, but all his, his savings covering the down payment after he left the Coast Guard six years ago. But it was Jamie who made the two-bedroom cottage a real home. She’d made curtains for the windows; put up cheery pictures that brightened even the grayest Washington day; and most recently, she’d framed some of Hazel’s colorful artwork for the kitchen nook he’d added on with Kyle’s help last summer. He’d wanted to put Jamie on the deed when she moved in with him, but she wanted to go slower than that. He wanted to marry her, but she’d had a bad breakup with her longtime boyfriend before they met and was still struggling with the mind games her ex used to play on her. If that bastard ever set foot back on the island, Cal would beat him senseless. But the ex was far out of the picture, living down in California, and Cal loved Jamie, so he respected her wishes not to pressure her into marriage. When she found out she was pregnant, he asked her to marry him again—she said yes but wanted to wait. “There’s no rush. I love you, Cal, but I don’t want to get married just because I’m pregnant.” He would move heaven and earth for Jamie and Hazel—why didn’t she know that? That’s why when she finally settled on a date, confirmed it with invitations and an announcement in the San Juan Island newspaper, that he thought it would be smooth sailing. And then she left. As soon as he got home, he packed an overnight bag while trying to reach Jamie. She didn’t answer her cell phone. More than likely, there was no reception. Service was sketchy on the west side of the island. He left another message. “Jamie, we need to talk. I’m sorry, believe me I’m sorry. I love you. I love Hazel. I just want to talk and work this out. I’m coming to see you tonight, okay? Please call me.” He was so frustrated. Not at Jamie—well, maybe a little because she’d taken off this morning for her dad’s place without even telling him. Just left him a note on the bathroom mirror. Cal, I need time to think. Give me a couple days, okay? I love you, but right now I just need a little perspective. Jamie. Cal didn’t like the “but” part. What was there to think about? He loved her. They had a life together. Jamie and their little girl Hazel meant everything to him. They were getting married in three months! He’d given her all day to think and now they needed to talk. Jamie had a bad habit of remaining silent when she was upset, thanks to that prick she’d dated before Cal. Cal much preferred her to get angry, to yell at him, to say exactly how she felt, then they could move on. He jumped in his old pickup truck and headed west, praying he could salvage his family, the only thing he truly cared about. Failure was not an option. * That night Kyle clocked in and told the staff supervisor, Gloria, that Cal was sick, and he was taking the sunset cruise for him. “Are you lying to me?” Gloria asked, looking over the top of her glasses at him. “No, well, I mean, he’s not sick sick.” Dammit, Kyle had always been a piss-poor liar. “But he and Jamie had a fight, I guess, and he wants to fix it.” “Alright, I’ll talk to Cal tomorrow. Don’t you go lying for him.” “Don’t get him in trouble, Gloria.” She sighed, took off her large glasses and cleaned them on her cotton shirt. “I like Cal as much as everyone, I’m not going to jam him up, but he should have come to me. I’ll bet he gave you his slot on the Fourth, didn’t he?” Kyle grinned. Gloria had worked for West End longer than Kyle had been alive. They couldn’t operate without her. “Eight people total. A party of four and two parties of two.” Gloria handed him the clipboard with the information of those who had registered for tonight’s sunset cruise. “Four bottles of champagne, a case of water, and cheese and fruit trays are onboard. You have one minute.” “Thanks Gloria!” He ran down the dock to the Water Lily. He texted his boyfriend as he ran. Hey, taking Cal’s shift, docking at 10—want to meet up then? He sent the message and almost ran into a group who were already standing at the docks. Two men, two women, drinks in hand from the West End Club bar, in to-go cups. “Can we board?” the tallest of the four asked. “Give me one minute. What group are you with?” “Nava Software.” Kyle looked at his watch. Technically boarding started in five minutes; they’d be pushing off in twenty. “I need to get approval from the captain.” He smiled and jumped over the gate. He found Neil Devereaux on the bridge, reading weather reports. “You’re late,” Neil said without looking up. “Sorry, Skipper. Cal called in sick.” Neil looked at him. “Oh, Kyle, I didn’t know it was you. I was expecting Cal.” “He called out. Everything okay?” Neil didn’t look like his usual chipper self. “I had a rough day.” Rough day? Neil was a retired federal agent and got to pick any shift he wanted. Everyone liked him. If he didn’t want to work, he didn’t. He had a pension and didn’t even have to work but said once that he’d be bored if he didn’t have something to do. He spent most of his free time fishing or hanging out at the Fish & Brew. Kyle thought he was pretty cool for a Boomer. “Your kids okay?” he asked. Neil looked surprised at the question. “Yes, of course. Why?” “You said you had a rough day—I just remember you talking about how one of your kids was deployed or something.” He nodded with a half smile. “Good memory. Jill is doing great. She’s on base in Japan, a mechanic. She loves it. And Eric is good, just works too much at the hospital. Thanks for asking.” “Four guests are waiting to board—is it okay?” “There’s always someone early, isn’t there?” “Better early than late,” Kyle said, parroting something that Neil often said to the crew. Neil laughed, and Kyle was glad he was able to take the skipper’s mind off whatever was bothering him. “Go ahead, let them on—rear deck only. Check the lines, supplies, and emergency gear, okay? No food or drink until we pass the marker.” “Got it.” Kyle slid down the ladder as his phone vibrated. It was Adam.

F&B only place open that late—meet at the club and we’ll walk over, k?

He responded with a thumbs-up emoji and a heart, then smiled at the group of four. “Come aboard!” * Madelyn Jeffries sat on the toilet—not because she had to pee, but because she didn’t want to go on this cruise, not even for only three hours. She didn’t want to smile and play nice with Tina Marshall just because Pierce wanted to discuss business with Tina’s husband Vince. She hated Tina. That woman would do anything to make her miserable. All because Pierce had fallen in love with her, Madelyn Cordell, a smart girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Tacoma. Pierce didn’t understand. He tried, God bless him, but he didn’t. He was from another generation. He understood sex and chivalry and generosity and respect. He was the sweetest man she’d ever met. But he didn’t understand female interactions. “I know you and Tina had somewhat of a rivalry when we met. But sweetheart, I fell in love with you. There’s no reason for you to be insecure.” She wasn’t insecure. She and Pierce had something special, something that no one else could understand. Even she didn’t completely understand how she fell so head over heels for a man older than her deadbeat father. Oh, there was probably some psychologist out there who had any number of theories, but all Madelyn knew was that she and Pierce were right. But Tina made her see red. Tina, on top of this pregnancy—a pregnancy Madelyn had wanted to keep quiet, between her and Pierce, until she was showing. But somehow Pierce’s kids had found out last week, and they went ballistic. They were the reason she and Pierce decided to get away for a long weekend. Last night had been wonderful and romantic and exactly what she needed. Then at brunch this morning they ran into Tina and Vince who were on a “vacation” after their honeymoon. Madelyn didn’t doubt that Tina had found out she was here and planned this. There was no doubt in her mind that Tina had come to put a wedge between her and Pierce. After five years, why couldn’t she just leave her alone? Just seeing Tina brought back the fearful, insecure girl Madelyn used to be, and she didn’t want that. She loved her life, she loved her husband, and above all she loved the baby inside her. She flushed the toilet and stepped out of the stall. Tina stood there by the sink, lips freshly coated with bloodred. Madelyn stepped around her and washed her hands. “Vince took me to Paris for our honeymoon for two glorious weeks,” said Tina. Madelyn didn’t respond. “I heard that you went to Montana.” Tina giggled a fake, frivolous laugh. It was true. They’d spent a month in the Centennial Valley for their honeymoon, in a beautiful lodge owned by Pierce. They went horseback riding, hiking, had picnics, and she even learned how to fish—Pierce wanted to teach her, and she found that she enjoyed it. Fishing was relaxing and wholesome, something she’d never considered before. It had been the best month of her life. But she wasn’t sharing that with Madelyn. Her time with Pierce was private. It was sacred. She dried her hands and said, “Excuse me.” “You think you’ve changed, but you haven’t. You’re still the little bug-eyed girl who followed me around for years. I taught you how to walk, I taught you how to attract men, I taught you how to dress and talk and act like you were somebody. If it wasn’t for me, you would never have met Pierce Jeffries. And you took him from me.” “The boat leaves in five minutes.” Madelyn desperately wanted to get away from Tina. “Vince and Pierce are going into business together. We’ll be spending a lot of time together, you and me. You would do well to drop the holier-than-thou act and accept the fact that I am back in your life and I’m not going anywhere.” Madelyn stared at Tina. Once she’d been in awe of the girl, a year older than she was, who always seemed to get what she wanted. Tina was bold, she was beautiful, she was driven. But she would never be satisfied. Did she even love Vince Marshall? Or had she married him because of the money and status he could give her? Madelyn hated that when she first met Pierce she had thought he was her ticket out of poverty and menial jobs. She hated that she had followed Tina’s advice on how to seduce an older man. Madelyn had fallen in love with Pierce, not because he was rich or powerful or for what he could give her. She loved him because he was kind and compassionate. She loved him because he saw her as she was and loved her anyway. But when he proposed to her, she’d fallen apart. She’d told him that she loved him, but she could never marry him because everything she was had been built on a lie—how she got her job at the country club, now they first met, how she had targeted him because he was wealthy and single. She would never forgive herself; how could he? His marriage proposal had been romantic and beautiful—he’d taken her to the bench where they first had a conversation, along the water of Puget Sound. But she ran away, ashamed. He’d found her, she’d told him everything, the entire truth about who she was—a poor girl from a poor neighborhood who pretended to be worldly and sophisticated to attract men. He said he loved her even more. “I knew, Madelyn, from the beginning. But more, I see you, inside and out, and that’s the woman I love.” Madelyn stared at her onetime friend. “Tina, you would do well to mind your p’s and q’s, because if I tell Pierce to back off, he’ll back off.” She sounded a lot more confident than she felt. When it came to business, Pierce would listen to her, but he deferred to his oldest son, who worked closely with him. And Madelyn had never given him an ultimatum. She’d never told him what to do about business. She’d never have considered it, except for Tina. Tina scowled. Madelyn passed by her, then snipped, “By the way, nice boob job.” She left, the confrontation draining her. She didn’t want to do this cruise. She didn’t want to go head-to-head with Tina for the next three hours. She didn’t want to use the baby as an excuse…but desperate times and all that. Pierce was waiting for her on the dock, talking to Vince Marshall. “Would you excuse us for one moment, Vince?” she said politely. “Of course, I’ll catch up with Tina and meet you on the boat.” She smiled and nodded as he walked back to the harbormaster’s building. “What is it, love?” Concerned, worried, about her. “I thought morning sickness was only in the morning. I’m sorry—I fear if I get on that boat, I’ll be ill again. I don’t want to embarrass you.” “Nonsense,” he said. He took her hand, kissed it. “You will never embarrass me.” He put their joined hands on her stomach. The warmth and affection in his eyes made her fall in love with him again. She felt like she loved Pierce a little more every day. “I can meet with Vince tomorrow. I’ll go back to the house with you.” “This business meeting is important to you, isn’t it?” “It might be.” “Then go. Enjoy it. I can get home myself. Isn’t that what Ubers are for?” “A sunset is not as pretty without the woman I love holding my hand.” She wanted him home with her, but this was best. They had separate lives, at least in business; she didn’t want to pressure him in any way, just because she detested Tina. “I will wait up for you.” He leaned over and kissed her. Gently. As if she would break. “Take good care of the woman I love, Bump,” he said to her stomach. She melted, kissed him again, then turned and walked back down the dock, fighting an overwhelming urge to go back and ask Pierce to come home with her. But she wouldn’t do it. It was silly and childish. Instead, she would go home, read a good book, and prepare a light meal for when Pierce came home. Then she would make love to her husband and put her past—and that hideous leech Tina Marshall—firmly out of her mind. * Jamie already regretted leaving Friday Harbor. She listened to Cal’s message twice, then deleted it and cleaned up after dinner. Hazel was watching her half hour of PAW Patrol before bath, books, and bed. Her dad’s remote house near Rogue Harbor was on the opposite side of the island from where they lived. Peaceful, quiet, what she thought she needed, especially since her dad wasn’t here. He was an airline pilot and had a condo in Seattle that he lived in more often than not, coming up here only when he had more than two days off in a row. She left because she was hurt. She had every right to be hurt, dammit! But now that she was here, she wondered if she’d made a mistake. Cal hadn’t technically cheated on her. But he also hadn’t told her that his ex-girlfriend was living on the island, not until the woman befriended her. She wouldn’t have thought twice about it except for the fact that Cal had hidden it from her. She had a bad habit of running away from any hint of approaching drama. She hated conflict and would avoid it at all costs. Her mother was drama personified. How many times had young Jamie run to her dad’s house to get away from her mother’s bullshit? Finally when she was fifteen she permanently moved in with her dad, changed schools, and her mother didn’t say squat. “You should have stayed and talked it out,” she mumbled to herself as she dried the dishes. The only bad thing about her dad’s place was that there was no dishwasher. But Cal was coming to see her tonight. He didn’t run away from conflict. She wanted to fix this but didn’t know how because she was hurt. But he had to work, so she figured she had a few hours to think everything through. To know the right thing to do. “Just tell him. Tell him how you feel.” Her phone buzzed and at first she thought it was an Amber Alert, because it was an odd sound. Instead, it was an emergency alert from the San Juan Island Sheriff’s Office.

19:07 SJSO ALERT! VESSEL EXPLOSION ONE MILE OUT FROM FRIDAY HARBOR, INJURIES UNKNOWN. ALL VESSELS AVOID FRIDAY HARBOR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Her stomach flipped and she grabbed the counter when a wave of dizziness washed over her. She turned on the small television in the kitchen and switched to the local news. She watched in horror as the news anchor reported that a West End Charter yacht had exploded after leaving for a sunset cruise. He confirmed that it was the Water Lily and did not know at this time if there were survivors. Search and rescue crews were already out on the water, and authorities advised all vessels to dock immediately. Cal had been scheduled to work the Water Lily tonight. Hazel laughed at something silly on PAW Patrol. Jamie caught her breath, then suddenly tears fell. How could—? No. Not Cal. She loved him and even if they had problems, he loved Hazel more than anything in the world. He was the best father she could have hoped for. Hazel wasn’t planned, but she was loved so much, and Cal had made it clear that he was sticking, from the very beginning. How could she forget that? How could she have forgotten that Cal had never made her feel inadequate, he’d never hurt her, he always told her she could do anything she wanted? He was always there for her…when she was bedridden with Hazel for two months. When she broke her wrist and Hazel was still nursing, he held the baby to her breast every four hours. Changed every diaper. He sang to Hazel, read her books, giggled with her in makeshift blanket forts when thunder scared her. And now he was gone. There could be survivors. You have to go. She couldn’t bring Hazel to the dock. The search, the sirens, the fear that filled the town. It would terrify the three-year-old. But she couldn’t stay here. Cal needed her—injured or not, he needed her and she loved him. It was as simple as that. Rena would watch Hazel so Jamie could find Cal, make sure he was okay. “Hazel, we’re going home.” “I wanna sleep at Grandpa’s!” “I forgot to feed Tabby.” Tabby was a stray cat who had adopted their carport on cold or rainy nights. He wouldn’t come into the house, and only on rare occasions would let Jamie pet him, but she’d started feeding him. Hazel had of course named him after a cat on her favorite show. “Oh, Mommy! We gotta go rescue Tabby!” And just like that, Hazel was ready. Please, God, please please please please make Cal okay. * Ashley Dunlap didn’t like lying to her sister, but Whitney couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, and if Whitney said one word to their dad about Ashley’s involvement with Island Protectors, she’d be grounded until she graduated—and maybe even longer. “We’re going to be late,” Whitney said. “Dad will understand,” Ashley said, looking through the long lens of her camera at the West End Charter boat leaving port. She snapped a couple pictures, though they were too far away to see anything. She was just one of several monitors who were keeping close tabs on West End boats in the hopes that they would catch them breaking the law. West End may have been able to convince most people in town that they had cleaned up their act, and some even believed their claims that the leakage two years ago was an accident, but as the founder of IP Donna Bell said time and time again, companies always put profit over people. And just because they hadn’t caught them breaking the law didn’t mean that they weren’t breaking the law. It was IP who documented the faulty fuel tanks two years ago that leaked their nasty fuel all over the coast. Who knows how many fish died because of their crimes? How long it would take the ecosystem to recover? “Ash, Dad said not a minute past eight, and it’s already seven thirty. It’s going to take us thirty minutes just to dock and secure the boat.” “It’s a beautiful evening,” Ashley said, turning her camera away from the Water Lily and toward the shore. Another boat was preparing to leave, but the largest yacht in the fleet—The Tempest—was already out with a group of fifty whale watching west of the island in the Haro Strait. Bobby and his brother were out that way, monitoring The Tempest. Ashley was frustrated. They just didn’t have people who cared enough to take the time to monitor West End. There were only about eight or nine of them who were willing to spend all their free time standing up to West End, tracking their boats, making sure they were obeying the rules. Everyone else just took West End’s word for it. Whitney sighed. “I could tell Dad the sail snagged.” “You can’t lie to save your life, sis,” Ashley said. “We’ll just tell him the truth. It’s a beautiful night and we got distracted by the beauty of the islands.” Whitney laughed, then smiled. “It is pretty, isn’t it? Think those pictures are going to turn out? It’s getting a little choppy.” “Some of them might,” she said. Ashley turned her camera back to the Water Lily. The charter was still going only five knots as they left the harbor. She snapped a few pictures, saw that Neil Devereaux was piloting today. She liked Neil—he spent a lot of time at the Fish & Brew talking to her dad and anyone else who came in. He’d only lived here for a couple years, but he seemed like a native of the small community. She’d talked to him about the pollution problem from West End, and he kept saying that West End fixed the problem with the old tanks and he’d seen nothing to suggest that they had other problems or cut corners on the repairs. He told her he would look around, and if anything was wrong, he’d bring it to the Colfax family’s attention. But could she believe him? Did he really care or was he just trying to get her to go away and leave West End alone? Neil looked over at their sailboat, and both she and Whitney waved. He blew the horn and waved back. A breeze rattled the sail, and Whitney grabbed the beam. “Shit!” she said. Ashley put her camera back in its case and caught the rope dangling from the mast. “You good, Whit?” “Yeah, it just slipped. Beautiful scenery is distracting. I got it.” Whitney bent down to secure the line, and Ashley turned back toward the Water Lily as it passed the one-mile marker and picked up speed. The bow shook so hard she thought they might have hit something, then a fireball erupted, shot into the air along with wood and—oh, God, people!—bright orange, then black smoke billowed from the Water Lily. The stern kept moving forward, the boat in two pieces—the front destroyed, the back collapsing. Whitney screamed and Ashley stared. She saw a body in the water among the debris. The flames went out almost immediately, but the smoke filled the area. “We have to help them,” Ashley said. “Whitney—” Then a second explosion sent a shock wave toward their sailboat and it was all they could do to keep from going under themselves. Sirens on the shore sounded the alarm, and Ashley and Whitney headed back to the harbor as the sheriff’s rescue boats went toward the disaster. Taking a final look back, Ashley pulled out her camera and took more pictures. If West End was to blame for this, Ashley would make sure they paid. Neil was a friend, a good man, like a grandfather to her. He…he couldn’t have survived. Could he? She stared at the smoking boat, split in two. No. She didn’t see how anyone survived that. Tears streamed down her face and as soon as she and Whitney were docked, she hugged her sister tight. I’ll get them, Neil. I promise you, I’ll prove that West End cut corners and killed you and everyone else.

Excerpted from The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan, Copyright © 2022 by Allison Brennan. Published by MIRA Books.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (94/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

Previous chapters conveniently available here.

[26 May 234 Before Age.   Interstellar Space.]

It was taking too long.

Aboard the Emerald Eye, Zatte stood in the engineering room and held her finger over a button on on of the consoles.  Next to the button was a time display, which counted down to zero.   When that moment arrived, she would press the button, which would disengage the ship's hyperspatial drive.  After that, she would take sensor readings and compare them to other readings she had taken several hours earlier.   After that, she would begin laboriously calculating the ship's position relative to her destination.  

Normally, all of this would have been done automatically by the ship's computer, but its navigational functions had been sabotaged by King Rehval's agent, Pozet.   Pozet's mission was to keep Zatte out of the way while the rest of Rehval's plan fell into place.   Zatte had destroyed her hours ago, but she had to admit that the miserable creature had probably succeeded anyway.   Pozet's original plan was to confuse the navigational computer by replacing its charts and tampering with its fundamental understanding of the universe.    The genius of this had been that the ship appeared to be working properly.    It set a course and followed it perfectly.  The only problem was that it now believed the shortest distance between two points was an elliptic curve, so the ship simply flew laps in space, unaware that it was getting nowhere.  Zatte had solved that problem by disconnecting the navigational system altogether.    Her plan was to fly the ship manually, and navigate by the stars, but this was no simple matter.    The longer it took, the more Zatte wondered if her efforts made any difference.

At last, the timer reached its end, and Zatte pressed the button just as the display read zero.   The engines made a low hum as they reduced power and the ship returned to normal space.  She sighed with relief, then activated the ship's sublight thruster.   With that, she turned on one heel and left the engine room to go to the observation deck.

Ideally, Zatte would have done all of this from the bridge, where engineering and sensor controls could all be accessed from a central location.   But the bridge had been badly damaged during the fight with Pozet, and it would take days of repairs before life support could be restored there.   In any event, the ship needed to move through space for a least a half hour so the sensors could get the necessary data for her to calculate her position.  There was nothing she could do in the meantime, so she preferred to spend her down time on the observation deck, where she could see the stars for herself from the transparent canopy that surrounded it.  She walked past a pair of tables where she had been working on her calculations, and sat down in a lounge chair to stare at the heavens.

The brightest star was the sun of the Pflaume system.   She had made that much progress, at least.   Her best guess was that it would take four or five more jumps at superluminous speed to bring the ship close enough that she could navigate with greater confidence.    Until then, she had to be careful.   A single, long trip at superluminous speed would cover more ground, but even a slight error in the math could put the ship far enough on course to delay her, even further.    Fuel was also a consideration.   Pozet's little "detour" hadn't consumed too much antimatter, but it was enough that Zatte couldn't risk running the engines without being certain they were going the right way.  

"I'm trying," Zatte said as she looked up at the star.    She wasn't sure if Luffa was even there.  Pozet claimed she was, but she might have been lying, or simply mistaken.   It was also possible that Luffa was dead by now, or that she had found some other means of escape.   Or maybe...

"Maybe you really did buy what King Rehval was trying to sell you," Zatte said to herself.    "Maybe the two of you left together.   Or you're waiting for me to show up, so you can laugh at me to my face."

She didn't really believe it, but she couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility either.    Saying it out loud forced her to confront it.  Luffa was too proud, too contemptuous of Saiyan royalty.   Even if Luffa had feelings for Rehval, there were too many incompatibilities there.  And Rehval had lied about a great many things since Zatte and Luffa had met him.  And yet... Zatte still couldn't convince herself that it was impossible.  

Luffa's telepathic powers had allowed Zatte to see into her mind.  They had tried to cut back on this, since the exchange of unvarnished truths about their innermost thoughts and feelings had caused a rift to form in their marriage.   Still, Zatte knew enough to know what her wife truly felt towards her.    They were in love, that much was unquestionable, but there were many things that left Luffa unsatisfied.   She would have never admitted it, but Luffa had a homesickness to her.   It wasn't a longing for any particular place, but she missed her family: not just her parents, but also the family that she might have had with her late husband and unborn son.   It frustrated Luffa to be apart from other Saiyans, and it frustrated her to be among them, only to find that they didn't share her lofty ideals.   Maybe Rehval had an answer to those issues.   In spite of his moral failings, maybe he had something to offer Luffa that Zatte simply couldn't provide.  

Perhaps that was what troubled Zatte now.   She couldn't truly believe that Luffa would join him, but she couldn't quite shake the possibility that Luffa should join him.   If Rehval had some happiness for Luffa, some way to cope with the unspoken longing Luffa felt, and if Luffa rejected this, then what?   Zatte also wondered how she herself would handle the same choice.  Rehval was trying to secure the future for the Saiyan race.   What if he was right?   If Luffa refused him, then was she condemning her own people to ruin?   No Dorlun could make that kind of choice, but then, Luffa was no Dorlun.   Luffa was willing to risk everything for what she thought was right.   She was even willing to jeopardize her own people.   That idea horrified Zatte, but maybe not as much as the alternative.

She imagined arriving on Pflaume to find Luffa dressed in royal blue, her short black hair framed by some elegant tiara, her arm in the arm of Rehval.    Her marriage to Zatte would be effectively over, but the Rehval Dynasty would be preserved for centuries.   The Saiyans would prosper and thrive for generations to come.    The next Super Saiyan would be born to the royal house, and he would lead his people to an even brighter tomorrow.  That made all the sense in the world, but not for Luffa.   It just didn't fit her.  

On the other hand, Zatte could imagine arriving at Pflaume, and finding Luffa standing over Rehval's broken body.   Regicide and interstellar incidents meant nothing to her.   The Saiyan Kingdom would declare war on the Federation, and there was no telling what would happen in the aftermath.    It might take decades for another Saiyan leader to arise, and their fate as a species would be uncertain at best.    Luffa would smile that savage grin of hers, and spit on the body of the Saiyan King.   "He had it coming, Zattie," she would say.  "And so does anyone who has a problem with that."

That Luffa seemed much more realistic to Zatte.  More importantly, that version was the one that excited her, the one that inflamed her passions.   No Dorlun could ever do that, but then, Luffa was no Dorlun.   Zatte was beginning to wonder if she was much of a Dorlun herself.   Her people would never dream of standing with someone so dangerous as a Super Saiyan.   If Luffa was willing and able to jeopardize her own species, then what could she do to others?   Zatte often wondered if she rationalized Luffa's behavior as a way to justify her own approval of it.  She also wondered if she was simply overthinking things.

By the time the ship's sensor scans were complete, Zatte was no closer to an answer than before.   She was grateful for the distraction the sensor data would offer, though she knew it would only make her more frustrated in the end.   The computer could help her calculate the coordinates, but only up to a certain accuracy.    Without the navigational computer to read data and adjust course automatically, the best she could manage would almost certainly be billions of miles off-course.   Persistence was her only hope.  Each try would bring her closer and closer to the target, and then she would finally reach the goal.  

She only hoped that there would be something to find when she got there.

*******

[26 May 234 Before Age.  Planet Pflaume.]

There was no trace of Xibuyas or King Rehval on Pflaume City.   By now, Luffa could only assume that they had either escaped or been killed in the attempt.  Alone, and with nothing better to do, she focused on keeping herself alive.  

The battle with her son had severely damaged the city's interior, though they had both been careful not to hit the outer hull.   That didn't seem to matter much, as the low groaning she heard suggested that the hull had been taxed to its limits anyway.   A city directory on one of the less broken levels showed her the way to the operations center, where a crew of engineers and technicians normally kept the city floating in the Pflaumian atmosphere.   This crew had abandoned their posts along with everyone else in the city when Rehval had it evacuated, but Luffa expected to find something she could use at their stations.   Information, equipment, supplies, any of these would improve her chances.

The ops center was located near the bottom of the city, requiring Luffa to dig through tons of debris to get at it.   Blasting her way through was too risky, so she burrowed down the old fashioned way.   To conserve her strength, she powered down to her normal form.    Her Super Saiyan power gave her the strength to clear the rubble faster, but speed would get her nowhere if she damaged the very facility she was trying to reach.    For an hour, she threw chunks of metal and plastic over her head, occasionally using her ki to cut through the more unwieldy pieces.   The hull continued to groan, and she was sorely tempted to transform again, though she could find no practical purpose for it.  

"I don't need you," she muttered, addressing her transformed self.   Over the years, she had gotten used to the idea that her transformation was a part of her, but never completely.   Early on, it had taken a great deal of concentration just to suppress it, and even then it seemed to claw at her from the inside of her skin, demanding to be released.    In a way, she was more comfortable in that form.   Her senses were sharper, and her body was stronger and faster.    

Instead, she curled her tail around her body, and looked at it while she dug.  This had been her source of strength throughout her life.   The tail was the weakest, most vulnerable point of the Saiyan anatomy.   It could be overcome, but the training needed to strengthen the tail was far more difficult than the work needed to build up an arm or a leg.  It was a rite of passage for a Saiyan warrior, or at least that was what her mother had taught her.    For most Saiyans, overcoming the tail's weakness was the most harrowing challenge of their lives.  Defeat that, her mother had promised, and you can defeat anything.    For Luffa, training her tail was probably the fifth or sixth greatest ordeal of her life at this point, but it still gave her comfort in times of trouble.  

Only, this time, it wasn't helping much.    Looking at her tail only reminded her that Rehval had cut his own tail off.   He was the king of the Saiyans, and he preferred to mutilate his own body rather than deal with a minor inconvenience.    Then he took her own son from her, raised him as his own, and cut off his tail.   There were plenty of Saiyans on Planet Saiya who still had their own tails, but it apparently didn't bother them at all to be ruled by a man who would willingly amputate his own.   He took children from their mothers, and his subjects meekly tolerated this.   It made her sick to her stomach, and as the rage welled up inside her, she wanted to release it in a storm of golden light--!

No.  She refused to give in to that.   This was a battle, as much of a battle as she had faced with any warrior.   Her opponents were time and despair and the environment.  She had to stay focused, or they would destroy her, and then King Rehval would be able to claim victory.   She refused to give him the satisfaction.   And so Luffa denied her Super Saiyan power, refusing to indulge the golden thing that howled from within her.  

When she reached the operations center, she was encouraged to find that it was well-reinforced, and had withstood the upper levels collapsing down onto it.  It also had very little in the way of security, and she was able to force open a door and reseal it with no difficulty.    Luffa found a command terminal and called up a status report.  The good news was that the hull had not been breached, and the ops center was designed to be able to function and sustain a crew even if the rest of the city were to be destroyed.     That meant this was the safest place to wait for help to arrive.  

The bad news was that the city was losing altitude.  Planet Pflaume was an ice giant, and while Luffa had a general understanding of its composition, the ops center computers gave her a precise display of her problem.   Unlike terrestrial planets, Pflaume had no solid surface.   Its core was composed of iron, nickel, and silicates, and this was surrounded by a mantle of "ice"-- a mixture of water, ammonia, and methane.   Despite the term "ice", these chemicals were actually hot and fluid because of the immense pressure at that depth  Without a solid crust to separate the mantle from the atmosphere, this boundary was arbitrarily defined by a certain pressure: about 1.5 million pounds per square inch.   Similarly, the "surface" of Pflaume was arbitrarily defined as the depth where the atmospheric pressure was equivalent to that of a terrestrial planet, about 15 pounds per square inch.   Pflaume City floated just below this altitude, and while it was designed to withstand higher pressures, the outer hull would buckle if it sank too far into the planet.  The city's propulsion systems were riddled with backups and failsafes to keep it aloft, but these had been damaged during the battle, or Rehval had sabotaged them to make certain she never escaped the city alive.   According to the computers, she had very little time left.    

She stood up from the command terminal and searched for any food the crew had left behind.  The situation was grim, but she saw no reason to die on an empty stomach.   There were several crates of emergency rations in a back room, and she devoured these as quickly as she could, using the time to consider her problem.  

It was conceivable that she could move the entire city with the power of her Super Saiyan form.  She had never tried anything like that before, but she couldn't rule out the possibility of simply carrying the entire city to a safe altitude.  The problem was that she would have to concentrate her force onto a single point somewhere along the city's superstructure, and she suspected that it wasn't designed for that.   It would be like trying to balance a large animal on the tip of a nail.   Even if the nail were impossibly durable, the animal would simply be punctured by the nail and fall.  

The ops center was smaller, and she considered trying to cut it apart from the rest of the city, but she wasn't sure if it was designed to support a crew without the rest of the city surrounding it.   The temperature outside was well below the freezing point of water, with gusts of wind moving at supersonic speeds.  There was no oxygen to breathe in the Pflaumian atmosphere either.  As strong as Luffa was, she would be killed almost instantly if she ventured outside the city.  

"I'm trying," Luffa said aloud as she drummed her fingers on a table in the ops center break room.    None of this would matter unless someone came along to find her.   Even if she found a way to keep the city floating, sooner or later something else would go wrong, or she would exhaust her supplies of food and water.   The only thing keeping her going was the fact that Zatte was headed for Pflaume City when they parted, and the only thing Rehval had done to stop her was to send that homunculus after her.   Pozet was nothing more than a cheap copy of Zatte, and Luffa was completely confident that the copy was no match for the original.  She was certain that Zatte had defeated it and was on her way.   All Luffa had to do was stay alive in the meantime.    She had let Zatte down before, but she could honor her in this respect at least.   She could find a way to survive, and then...

Before she could continue on that train of thought, an alarm sounded in the ops center.    Luffa leaped up from the table and raced back to the command terminal.  She couldn't imagine how things could get any worse, but the status report explained it all very simply.    

Two of the propulsion thrusters were gone.  For a moment, she thought that the computers were telling her that they no longer functioned, but then she realized that they were literally no longer connected to the hull.

Luffa had no idea how this had happened, but her best guess was that they had been shorn off of their mountings by the atmospheric currents.   By now, the city had fallen to an altitude where the pressure was several times more intense than normal.   While the hull could withstand that pressure, the weather patterns buffeting the city were now denser, and the winds hit with greater force.   Without those thrusters, the city would only sink even faster, and sustain even more damage.   There was no time to waste.   She had to do something quickly, before--

Suddenly the entire city shook, and she heard a very loud noise.  It was already too late.   She checked the readout at the command terminal, which confirmed her worst fears.    Methane levels had skyrocketed in the past few minutes.   The outside atmosphere was leaking into the city, and that could only mean the hull had begun to crack open.   The ops center was still safe for the moment, but she only had a few minutes left.    She had to do something, and quickly, before--

And then, at last, Pflaume City imploded.

NEXT: The Morning After.

[traitor-boyfriend]

I just read your post about Stan and Kyle's relationship and I totally agree, but I was wondering if you might elaborate on what you mean when you said Kyle acts as a moral/ethical guide for Stan? I'm not disagreeing but I'd love to hear you talk more about it

sure!

kyle is obviously the most morally fixated of the four boys and i would say after about season four or so is when they really began to take this direction with his character. whenever something transpires within the group, kyle is almost always the first to disagree w whatever plot they (’they’ almost always meaning cartman) start brainstorming to keep themselves from getting into trouble, that they should instead own up to their mistakes and take responsibility and suffer the consequences that come along w it. rarely if ever does anyone actually listen to kyle and he’s cajoled into complicity but that doesn’t stop him from offering his disapproval at every turn in the name of wanting to do the right thing. the best example of this is ‘toilet paper’ where they tp their art teacher’s house for making them stay late; kenny and stan are immediately on board when cartman suggests it but kyle is uncomfortable w the idea entirely, and after it’s done he’s racked w guilt and is seen as the weakest link in all of them b/c of his compulsion to tell the truth. we get to see kyle struggling w guilt pretty often and the apex of it is usually when some outside force is preventing or coercing him from coming clean about whatever it is he’s done. though stan and kyle both shared the whole ‘gay little speech’ element in the very beginning, it’s pretty much been exclusive to kyle for the majority of the series -- kyle is the one to always explain what they learned at the end of the episode, to tie together the moral lesson you’re supposed to take away from it

because he’s a kid, kyle can occasionally be swayed out of his conviction if the consequences are great enough for him to be afraid of (this tends to be his mom). when butters’ gets the ninja star stuck in his eye in ‘good times with weapons’, kyle initially panics and agrees with cartman’s idea to kill butters and bury him in kyle’s backyard b/c he’s so petrified by the idea of his mother finding out what he was doing. but even then his moral center comes back around, even if he doesn’t follow through; he protests the idea of taking butters to a vet instead of a hospital and later tries to get rid of his ninja weapon and instead confess to what happened. in ‘crack baby athletic association’ kyle is outraged and disgusted by what he sees as cartman exploiting the babies born addicted to narcotics and wants to expose him, but he changes his tune after learning how much money cartman is making. so he eventually joins cartman but justifies it to himself as taking care of these babies, giving them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise get, raising awareness, etc -- even though he’s in the wrong, kyle tries to view his actions through a benevolent lens in that what he’s doing -is- the right thing; that’s why it bothers him so much when stan tells him he sounds just like cartman. stan is seeing both of their actions clearly in the same vein, but in kyle’s mind, he’s incapable of conceiving himself being in anyway like cartman and has to further delude himself into seeing the positives of his actions. he goes as far as showing up in stan’s bedroom in the middle of the night to legitimize his actions, both to himself and to stan, because stan’s opinion of him matters so much that kyle can’t move past it unless he’s able to convince stan that he’s in the right. to his credit, kyle does try to rectify his actions with the ea sports deal and building an orphanage and whatnot. two wrongs don’t make a right, but that won’t stop kyle from trying.

basically i’m just trying to fully highlight the extent of kyle’s dedication to being honest, being kind, being a good person etc. it matters a lot to him and it’s also touched on briefly now and then w regards to his being jewish -- that being a good person is important if not only for the sake of being a good person.

it’s not that stan isn’t concerned w being a good person or doing the right thing, but he has more of a selfish or self-centered impulse than kyle does. stan cares a great deal more than kyle of what people think of him and is more desperate to be accepted or liked by his peers, so he’s often subservient to the whims of passing trends and fads or following the crowd. this is a debatable point but i also think because of this stan is generally more prone to blatant egotism than kyle -- when he leads some kind of superficial crusade (’butterballs’, ‘scause for applause’, ‘bass to mouth’), it’s pretty plainly about himself and his own feelings whereas when kyle gets wrapped up in a similar power-trip it’s usually at least manifested/disguised in some cause greater than himself, even if it’s a self-centered one. 

i’m gonna touch on the examples i provided above briefly:

-butterballs: stan begins the anti-bullying campaign initially out of concern for butters but when he sees how highly his classmates regard him for taking a stand, it very quickly divulges into stan riding the high of peer approval w regards to the music video, making it seen, going on dr. oz etc. kyle is the only one who finds fault with it -- “don’t act for me, stan, really” is a really caustic but honest assessment of the situation on kyle’s end b/c he sees that stan is more concerned w how his efforts are being received and praised rather than helping butters. again highlighted by their interaction in the bathroom when stan insists his video needs to be seen by everyone and kyle tells him to put it on the internet for free instead if he feels that way. stan is dumbstruck b/c he doesn’t know how to defend himself b/c he knows kyle is right, and he cares more about accolades/profit more than he does actually making any kind of grand social change.

-scause for applause: my favorite example, i think. again, stan’s refusal to take off the bracelet starts as something personal to him and very, very quickly transforms into a selfish movement about himself, ‘stanground’, b/c he loves the positive affirmation he receives as a result. craig then accuses him of having lied, and stan berates him in front of everyone in a really acerbic manner and only fuels the fire that eventually brings him down. when everyone hates stan after finding out he actually did cut off his bracelet, kyle tries to nudge stan in the right direction by urging him to tell the truth, but stan only doubles down and tries to get everyone on his side again w a convoluted scheme to make it seem as if the whole thing was intentional. when this blows up in his face, again, kyle -- without judgement -- confronts him about having asked heidi to borrow superglue the week before. stan scoffs and i think he says something like “you’re still on that, dude?” and of course kyle is! why wouldn’t he be! he doesn’t want to see his friend dig himself any further a hole than he already has. 

-bass to mouth: everyone participates in the wikileaks gossip site at school but kyle; he’s the only one who has an outright problem with such an invasion of privacy, and stan tries to get him to lighten up. kyle remarks that it wouldn’t be funny if something about stan were written on there; stan responds flippantly that there isn’t, only for something about him to show up shortly after. cue stan leading the charge to find out who the site-runner is only for kyle to remind him during the meeting that, okay, now that it happened to you, it isn’t funny, right? 

not necessarily in the same vein of selfishness, ‘two days before the day after tomorrow’ is another great example of kyle wanting stan to do the right thing. after they destroy the dam, cartman and stan agree not to tell anyone, but when stan is confronted by the destruction his actions have caused with the people of beaverton being trapped in their flooded homes, he feels immensely remorseful. cartman sternly demands that he not tell kyle b/c kyle will obviously try to get him to confess to what they did. stan ends up telling kyle anyway to the exact result, advising him to let everyone know he’s responsible so the people stranded can receive actual help. cartman becomes irate when he realizes kyle knows, but instead of following his advice, stan tries to do the right thing in a roundabout way: rescue the people himself so he can “do the right thing, but still lie about it.” this doesn’t work and only serves to put the boys themselves in grave danger, and kyle pleads for stan to own up to what he did if for their sake only. he calls randy and comes so close to following through only to decide against it, to which kyle is visibly angry and upset with him. by the time stan does come around to telling the truth it’s too late -- everyone thinks he’s speaking metaphorically about breaking the dam instead of literally which leaves him frustrated.

there’s more examples of this, but kyle very frequently is the first one who tries to intervene when stan gets himself in more trouble than he can handle by trying to guide him toward what’s honest and what’s right. stan is often described as the everyman or the straight man of the group, and for the most part i agree with this -- stan himself is a very average kid. but i think it helps to also look at his family dynamic; he has no siblings he can really rely on as shelly is far too volatile, and though she’s shown some moments of genuine concern and care for stan (that i love and wish there was more of!) she generally holds stan with disdain and irritation. sharon is shown to love and care deeply for stan’s well-being but is also largely unaware of the extent of his problems as her hands are usually tied up elsewhere (and doesn’t receive enough one-on-one interaction with stan for me to really comment on how well she handles those problems). randy is a fucking mess and speaking as someone w a parent who was a functioning alcoholic as randy is, i can attest to how fragile and chaotic a relationship like that can be. randy is certainly no role model of decency. i mean, christ, there’s an entire episode based around the concept of randy teaching stan how to lie effectively wherein which he demonstrates ‘tells’ for stan only to exhibit them when he tells stan he loves him. obviously this is played as a joke, but stan notices this and is rightly upset. randy, as a parent and a person, is incredibly selfish, has no sense of boundaries, acts in his own self-interest, and treats stan like a friend instead of son -- not a very good friend at that. not that randy has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but they’re few and far between, and the rare occasion we see him genuinely try to help or bond with stan usually ends up in another wacky misadventure. my point being, stan doesn’t have a very strong support system within his home and thus has to rely entirely on his own will to guide himself.

kyle is one of very few who is really ever shown to expect better of stan, to want him to be better than he is, to want him to be better for the simple fact that he should want it for himself as well -- not so he can get anything out of it.

that was what i mean by kyle being a moral guide for stan and helping keep him grounded. sorry this became so long, but i hope this answered your question!

[cinema-tv-etc]

The 2011 film Contagion is even more relevant in 2020, and not just because of coronavirus

The once-again-popular drama has a lot to say about rumors and fake news.

By Alissa Wilkinson Feb 4, 2020

Contagion, the 2011 film about a deadly worldwide virus outbreak, was hugely popular when it came out, raking in $135 million worldwide. And then, a shocker: As the 2020 coronavirus outbreak proliferated, it suddenly became popular again, briefly breaking into the top 10 on the iTunes movie rentals chart on January 28. As of February 3, it was holding steady at No. 11, right behind The Farewell.

Apparently many people reading the news turned to the movies to make sense of what’s going on, and that might have been smart. Upon its release, Contagion was mostly lauded by the scientific community (though not uniformly) for its unusually accurate depiction of how a deadly, highly transmissible virus could spread around the globe, affecting everyone from scientists and government leaders to ordinary people.

The movie features an all-star ensemble (including Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, Bryan Cranston, and more) and a winning writer-director duo in Scott Z. Burns and Steven Soderbergh, who had collaborated on The Informant! in 2009 and, after Contagion, would re-team for Side Effects (2013) and The Laundromat (2019). (Burns also wrote and directed 2019’s The Report.) Like most of their efforts, it’s a taut thriller for wonks, deeply researched and filled with jargon that coaxes viewers to pay attention; behind the entertainment is information that could have a real impact on your own life.

Contagion portrays a world wracked by not just a virus, but a whole set of ills that come along with it — disorder, societal breakdown, the difficulties inherent in finding a cure, individuals who refuse to follow rules, people who set priorities that protect their loved ones before the general public. And no wonder people want to watch it now. It feels like it could have been released yesterday.

Contagion is both horrifying and a little comforting; the scientists do eventually find and release a vaccine, and even though a lot of people die, most of the world’s population manages to survive. World war doesn’t break out. It’s both a horror film and not the worst-case scenario.

But watching Contagion in 2020, what’s most striking about the film isn’t really the central virus itself — or at least it wasn’t for me, though seeing the rising coronavirus fatality count has been heartbreaking. What’s most striking, and what I hope iTunes renters are taking note of, is a different kind of virus, a parallel outbreak for which Alan Krumwiede (played by Jude Law) is patient zero.

Contagion argues that bad information is at least as contagious as the virus itself

Alan Krumwiede is a kind of character who still felt a little fantastical, as I recall, in 2011. He’s a blogger, a conspiracy theorist, a “freelance journalist” in the mold of Alex Jones, with 12 million devoted fans and a penchant for the spotlight. To his audience, Krumwiede peddles various theories about the virus, such as the idea that it’s been genetically engineered. He goes on national television to accuse CDC director Dr. Ellis Cheever (Fishburne) and the entire government apparatus of conspiring with Big Pharma to suppress a simple homeopathic cure, called forsythia, in order to profit off a vaccine.

But Krumwiede is a charlatan who stands to profit off forsythia himself. (Jones has made a hefty sum off his own hawking of dietary supplements — like a pill that will cure the “fungal epidemic” sweeping the nation.) In a video posted to his website, Krumwiede fakes the symptoms of the virus and then “heals” himself with forsythia. Later, we see him roaming the streets in full protective gear, even though he’s supposedly immune; it was all a scam.

Yet Krumwiede’s falsehoods contain just enough of the truth that they spread quickly, infecting viewers prone to his cocktail of fear, paranoia, and mistrust of authorities, particularly those who are supposed to be looking out for them. That, as he tells one man, is his “brand.”

When he confronts Cheever on TV, Krumwiede argues that, as with Hurricane Katrina and Wall Street (presumably he means the housing crisis), what’s really going on is being hidden from the everyday man. Cheever, trying to keep his cool, rebuffs him. “In order to become sick,” he says, “you have to first come into contact with a sick person or something that they touched. In order to get scared, all you have to do is come into contact with a rumor, or the television, or the internet. I think what Mr. Krumwiede is spreading is far more dangerous than the disease.”

“Oh, really,” Krumwiede shoots back. Then he reveals on air that an email written by Cheever has surfaced and is circulating on Facebook. Cheever had sent it to his fiancée, warning her of a quarantine about to be enforced in Chicago, where she lives. The quarantine wasn’t announced to the general public until several hours after the email was sent. See? you can almost hear Krumwiede’s 12 million viewers shouting through the screen. They are withholding the truth from us.

The scary part about Krumwiede’s brand of “virus” is that it infects people’s minds and causes them to act in ways that expressly counteract their own best interests, not to mention the greater good. Once the vaccine has been developed, he threatens to advise his viewers to avoid it, and when he’s arrested and charged with securities fraud, conspiracy, and likely manslaughter, they pool their money and post his bail.

Even “reasonable” people seem prone to his way of thinking in the wake of the virus, whether or not they’ve come into contact with Krumwiede themselves or would ever listen to someone like him in other circumstances. One scientist tells another, offhandedly, that he’s read that the Americans have a cure and are manufacturing it in secret; when she asks him where he’s read that, he says, “The internet.”

“The internet? You believe it?” she says.

“I don’t know,” he replies.

Obviously, people have always been able to sell theories and fake remedies for all kinds of problems to people who are scared for their lives, throughout history. But Contagion reminds us that the structure of the internet allows bad information to spread in a way that uncannily mimics a very contagious virus. (Smallpox, Kate Winslet’s scientist character informs us early on, was often transmitted from one patient to three others; the spread of false, harmful information is much faster and covers more ground thanks to the internet.) And that false information — those unverified rumors and sinister theories — have real-world implications.

I guess that’s easy to see in 2020, with QAnon and Pizzagate and so many other internet-fueled, garden-variety conspiracies wreaking havoc on the real world all the time. But even sensible people find it difficult to resist hoarding masks or shutting out hoaxes about the spread of coronavirus. We’re afraid, and our fear mixed with rumor and hearsay can have dangerous consequences.

Which is why Contagion still rings so true today — and why, maybe, it’s good that people are watching it in times like these. It’s probably not an inoculation against paranoia, but it at least provides a bit of a barrier between us and the virus.

Contagion is available to stream on Hulu (with Cinemax add-on) or digitally rent or purchase on iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Vudu, and Google Play.

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/4/21120178/contagion-movie-coronavirus-itunes-fake-news

[brockwoodhouse8-blog]

They will additionally cope with the trouble of navigating time zones when reserving or researching.

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[beingmad2017-blog]

Profiting from Buy to Allow - Locating the Right Belongings

New Post has been published on https://beingmad.org/profiting-from-buy-to-allow-locating-the-right-belongings/

Profiting from Buy to Allow - Locating the Right Belongings

On the subject of Making the most of the apartment Belongings, the maximum vital detail is to purchases the Proper Property yield on the Proper rate.

But sturdy the community rental name for and substantial availability of perfect tenants, it’ll all be of little use if your funding Belongings is poorly positioned or unattractive and/or of the wrong form of the close of the market. So time spent surfing the net, constructing relationships with suitable neighborhood dealers and actually viewing homes yourself, might be time properly spent!

Purchase

That specialize in yield

For years, Assets investors have been Concentrating on the potential capital increase and being prepared to in reality be given fairly unimpressive internet yields of 3% or 4%. Obviously in a Property marketplace wherein there may be little inflation, not do and traders should study what type of yield a Belongings would possibly realize, while nevertheless of path regarding the Property as a longterm capital investment.

The hassle could be that you’ll be wanting fairly extreme quantities of capital to capitalize on this developing situation. There’ll although be mortgages to be had, However exceptional to folks that are regarded as a fairly well credit score rating danger. The instances of the 90% and one hundred% mortgages are usually over for the foreseeable future, and in the long run in an effort to not be an awful thing.

Even as the present day boom started out lower returned inside the ‘gold rush days of the overdue Nineties it changed into notably smooth to take advantage of purchases Permit. Landlords with the Right houses should gain as masses as 15% yield together with out of the ordinary capital boom or even a ‘so-so’ Belongings can be profitable.

That isn’t the case. With the growth in Assets fees and the growing competition among landlords for tenants, it far ends up tough to get extra than a five.five% internet Yield, so extra than ever it is very crucial to shop for the ‘Right’ Belongings.

Shopping for funding Assets Do’s and Don’ts

I assume those do’s and don’ts are not truly tough and fast ‘policies’, and there are usually exceptions, However, you will do nicely to comply with these hints in which realistic to be able to take benefit of your houses.

1. Do no longer get to private

Do not purchase an investment Property sincerely because of the truth you, in my opinion, would really like to live in it. usually, have a look at it from functionality tenants’ factors of view.

Additionally, attempt to keep away from spending too much refurbishing the Property. You could fall in love with a £20,000.00 kitchen and a £10,000.00 toilet with faucets costing over £two hundred.00 each, however besides yours is a very up-marketplace condominium, losing your cash, as there has a bent to be a ‘ceiling’ rent for a given length flat or house in any given location.

2. Do research the market. Who is probably your tenants?

where and who’re your capability tenants? Are there locally with an ever converting body of workers, which incorporates hospitals, universities, even Television studios in which humans are usually employed on short-time period contracts?

Apartments and residence with ease placed for those shape of places need to normally Permit effects.

3. Do be well associated

The vintage adage, ‘place, area, area’ is paramount With regards to appropriate Buy-to-Allow Belongings. it’s miles continuously beneficial for the Assets to be no extra than 15 minutes walk from a station if in a town like London, or as a minimum close to distinct journey hyperlinks which incorporate motorways, bus routes and so on. Additionally, look for available shopping for facilities, bars, and restaurants, as these are constantly attractive to tenants.

4. Do no longer idiot yourself!

If you’re buying a leasehold Property, constantly don’t forget to issue in All of the expenses.

Here’s a useful trick list:

Check the Carrier Expenses Test the Floor rent Take a look at the Homes Coverage (typically blanketed within the Service charge) Understand that You may well have void periods, possibly up to 2 months in each 12 inside the course of an alternate of tenants and so forth. do not forget upkeep and renewal Charges Fuel and possibly power protection exams can fee as a great deal as £100 and fifty.00 a yr, even though In case you save around You may probably spend much less.

five. Do be aware of factors you can not manage

In case you are Searching for a flat, pay specific interest to the not unusual elements, it’s little want ending up together with your very very very own ‘palace’ set in a ‘slum’! often be a trouble in converted Assets, in which there can every so often be no formal or at an sick-described responsibility for the renovation and cleaning of common factors such as hallways, drives, and gardens.

Finding the ‘Proper’ Assets

So what is the ‘Right’ Assets? no matter the truth that it could be blindingly apparent, to start with, the Right Belongings is one you pay the Proper rate for! An achievement Shopping for to Permit is all about going back to funding, whether or not that be capital appreciation over the long term or rental move back. If you pay too much, no person goes to pay you more lease to compensate you.

This does not recommend that you need to always choose the cheapest Property. I as quickly as noticed a bedroomed terraced Property in Manchester on the market for about £12000.00. I referred to it to someone who is privy to that metropolis very well and he or she or he asked me the decision of the road. As soon as I informed her, she said the house modified into overpriced!

As a good sized rule, it’s far higher to look for good buy-to-Allow Property in city or suburban regions, in place of rural ones, sincerely due to the reality, there are likely to be ways extra people seeking out rented lodging in the metropolis and suburban regions. The geographical region and the shires are greater attractive for people nesting, older individuals who are settling down or retiring – the ones oldsters generally pick to buy in preference to hiring.

As an example, someone I realize used to lease a mattress-roomed Belongings that become properly really worth around £270,000.00 in a semi-rural vicinity and modified into paying around £800.00 consistent with the month in the lease. Many residences at that factor that had been costing much less than this inner London have been returning over £1200.00 according to the month in the lease.

What about Ex-nearby Authority Assets?

Ex-close by authority Belongings, at the start, bought below the Right to buy scheme, may be an =”hide”>awesome=”tipsBox”> funding, however, you need to do your homework, and a spread of legwork. Some council estates are run down, poorly managed and feature large troubles of anti-social behavior, however, maximum are Good enough and don’t have any extra problems than other private metropolis areas.

Check out the Property, walk throughout the property a bit. Is there a whole lot graffiti? Is the area normally clutter-unfastened? How does it sense? If it’s an excessive upward push back, what are the lifts like?

In well known, it’s far excellent to be a piece flexible. Offer the Belongings provided or component provided and be prepared to deal with the wishes of a tenant you enjoy is worth it.

New Assemble or antique Construct?

Be careful While shopping for a present day. Colorful brilliant city center apartments are so seductive, with their style fashion designer kitchens and bathrooms, but, they may be not constantly appropriate fee for money. Very often the developer may want to have set a rate that isn’t, in reality, a real market fee.

Assets Golf equipment

Belongings

metropolis center tendencies also are favorite of ‘Assets Clubs’, who profess to barter bulk offers with builders and skip on a so-referred to as a bargain to their individuals. No question there are deals to be had once in a while thru Shopping for on this manner, however, I in my view might keep away from them similar to the plague!

In case you must Buy new, it’s miles once in a while to buy the final flat on the block because the developer desires to glide immediately to the following mission and can be open to lower offers.

wherein is the  region to search for appropriate funding Property?

As I have already said, for the first-rate condo yield and minimal void periods it’s far generally exceptional to buy in city areas, cities, locations with universities, hospitals, actual employment possibilities etc.

but need to you keep in mind buying a Belongings an extended manner away, in any other a part of the UK. It is, in fact, genuine that Some cities and areas of the UK are better than others On the subject of renting out Property.

For several ancient, cultural and employment security reasons, apart from London, many northern and midlands cities Provide Right possibilities for condominium investment, with very healthy condo yields.

the community may be

In case you already live in or close to a superb investment area It’s miles, in my opinion,  to analyze your local location first due to the fact you are aware of it. Moreover, You may easily flow lower back several instances to test that you are making the Proper decision, while that is regularly very difficult If you’re confronted with a protracted journey to transport from side to side to make those vital tests. Yet again, making an investment regionally become the policy discovered through Judith and Fergus Wilson Even as building their purchases to Allow empire around Ashford in Kent.

Is it properly worth shopping for at auction?

The general public generally tends to shop for Property in a traditional way. They see an appropriate Assets installed an offer undertaking to settlement (in England & Wales), as soon as common they hold to installation a loan and hire a solicitor, surveyor and so on to deal with conveyancing and surveys that can be required. This method can soak up to 3 months and shopping leasehold Assets is an in particular drawn-out method.

but there is a quicker manner. Purchase at auction. You can commonly purchase Property at public sale for much much less than in a conventional way, But there are Some very crucial limitations to bear in thoughts. Your bid isn’t ‘issue to the agreement’, as the hammer falls you have to pay the 10% deposit plus any auctioneer’s Charges, and interior 28 days you should entire the purchase.

So, auctions are surely for people with to be had price range, and also you also are strongly suggested to have checked thru the prison percent and finished a survey earlier than bidding – so you really need to understand what you are doing. In instances of high Belongings call for, auctions are typically  left to professional developers and builders as they have got the to be had price range and recognize quite simply how plenty they will need to spend refurbishing the Belongings. And inside the case of builders of route the refurbishments are an

Shopping for investment Belongings in Scotland

funding

Also, please go through in mind that even Scotland’s Property regulation is pretty specific from England’s. In England and Wales a customer’s Provide is typically ‘subject to agreement’, because of this that both birthday celebration can withdraw at any time with out penalty Right up to Change of Contracts. In Scotland, humans are commonly required to put in sealed bids, based totally on ‘gives over’ a given charge. Confusingly, the ones gives can occasionally be up to 20% over the ‘asking fee’.

As quickly as your sealed bid is formally normal with the useful resource of the vendor you’re locked Proper into a contract and every party risk penalties for withdrawal. So…it is essential to do essential prison searches and surveys in advance than installing the Provide.

despite the fact that the English system does have the trouble of gazumping and gazundering and people simply retreating, I nevertheless anticipate that the Scottish machine is a chunk too rigid and ‘clunky’. in my view, I believe that the English system needs to effortlessly be advanced through the way of each birthday party placing say £1000.00 no longer returnable deposit with a stakeholder Once a client’s Provide is officially trendy.

Do not be an ‘armchair investor’

For the duration of the last few years, many human beings have believed that each one they need to do an amazing way to put money into Assets has become to browse Some net websites, maybe be part of a Property club and Permit the membership to pick out residences from which they then pick.

With reference to A success Assets funding, whether or not you’re Shopping for to Allow or in search of to broaden, there may be no opportunity to ‘getting your fingers grimy’. You need to virtually view Belongings your self – no person goes to be as cautious collectively along with your money as you. It may be quite hard and tedious art work but unluckily, as in slimming in which the handiest component that without doubt works is ingesting plenty less and exercise more…there’s no easy alternative.

Yield or Capital growth?

A totally essential attention Even as buying any investment Assets is to determine what is more important to you, YIELD or CAPITAL boom, or a very good combination of the two?

The way to training session the yield on a Property is to take the As soon as a year gross rent, subtract ALL expenses (ie Carrier Prices, Floor lease, Houses Coverage, renovation, and renewals) and divide it into the whole rate charge and multiply by means of the usage of 100 – =”hide”>this could=”tipsBox”> come up with the Gross Yield in percent. As a way to decide the all-essential internet Yield, you need to subtract any letting agent charge.

Right here is an instance:

The whole price of leasehold flat: £two hundred,000.00 which incorporates fees, stamp obligation and so on.

Annual Gross lease: £11,000.00

Annual Provider charge, Homes Coverage, Floor hire: £1140.00

Letting Agent’s rate (eight% Permit best): £880.00 plus VAT = £1034.00

Gross Yield = £11000.00 – £1140 = £9860.00 ÷ £ hundred,000.00 x 100 = four.ninety three% Gross Yield

net Yield = £9860.00 – £1034.00* = £8826.00 ÷ £two hundred,000.00 x 100 = four.Forty-one% internet Yield

*agent’s fee

Understand that this is the actual manner of exercising whether a Assets offers a  yield. Do not certainly upload up all your prices, at the side of the mortgage payments, subtract them from the rent and say, ‘this is how plenty I am making’. Of course, this calculation is essential, but satisfactory in your private personal occasions. In extraordinary phrases, are you able to find the cash for it, are you capable of pay the loan, Provider Costs and lots of others in the route of void intervals, But it’s going to no longer inform you the real investment ability.

Barring crucial disasters, I’d say that top Property well placed within the Uk will typically be a  lengthy-time period and probable medium time period funding. however, assuming you are not involved with capital boom, or trust there is probably none inside the brief time period and need to understand whether or not or not You may purchases to Allow or in reality stuff all of it within the financial organization then, as the humans say, ‘simply do the math’. schooling session the internet Yield and spot the manner it compares with cutting-edge monetary financial savings fees.

Whilst it comes to shop for to Allow homes, yield or capital boom, you can’t have the whole lot

typically talking, there is mostly an exchange off among yield and capital increase – You may get a superb yield, but you usually must sacrifice Some capital growth. regularly very up-market Houses typically generally tend no longer to Offer the type of yield However does go back the correct capital increase.

I for my part consider that until you are very rich or deeply in want of the lease as earnings, it’s  to accept a balance – average yield with common capital growth.

A higher yield

Right

So long as your purchases inside a chief city like London, You may normally get a miles better charge of apartment go again from a council Belongings, despite the fact that you will not get quite the same quantity of capital appreciation. but of course, in the now not probably occasion that the market goes down (surprise horror!) then you will get correspondingly much much less capital depreciation! on this appreciate, the purchase of an ex-close by authority Belongings is, in reality, a lower threat alternative than shopping for an extra up-market one.

can you get a mortgage?