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novafire-is-thinking · 2 months ago

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Medic, Maverick, Maniac, Murderer: Understanding Pharma

First thing’s first: I love Pharma, dearly.

In all the time I’ve spent evaluating his character, I’ve mainly focused on what can be worked out about who he is as an individual: his core sense of self, psychological drives, subjective worldview, etc.

When all else is stripped away, who is Pharma?

This treatise is the product of obsessing over Pharma, analyzing canon (and extras), and reading as many different perspectives on his character from fans across the fandom as I could find. The post is long, so for those of you who balk at the thought of reading a shortfic’s worth of Pharma thoughts, feel free to read the TL;DR (Conclusion) at the end and then decide if the full read is worth your time. Also, a premium reading experience is available in the form of the original Google Doc version.

As you read, keep in mind that this is primarily a mix of psychoanalysis, evidence-based examination, and speculation—not moral, ethical, or sociological commentary. The goal is to examine Pharma’s psychological drives and core values, and each of his appearances in the context of those. All other types of evaluation are up to readers.

Now, take your victim blaming-allergy meds (just in case); remove your black-and-white thinking caps; and leave your personal morality lenses at the door.

Psychological Drives & Core Values

Why does Pharma act the way he does? What gives him a reason to keep living? What are his personal priorities?

At the beginning of the Delphi arc, First Aid establishes Pharma as a “control freak” and someone who “thinks he’s an expert on everything.”

Now, First Aid has a habit of complaining about his bosses, but on both points, there’s canon evidence to back them both.

Expertise and Intellect

Throughout the Delphi and Luna 1 arcs, it’s established that Pharma is a skilled and brilliant doctor.

He once performed a 4-way fuel pump transplant, donating his own fuel pump in the process. (see above panel)

Later, he invented a soundbomb that left an echo laced with a virus and invented an antidote to that virus:

And on Luna 1, he was on the edge of finding a cure for Cybercrosis, based on the fact that Swerve was able to formulate a cure from his notes.

More than being a doctor, Pharma lives for intellectual and scientific achievement as a physician scientist. He feels most alive when he’s able to solve complex medical problems, and when his achievements are recognized by those whose opinion he considers important.

This is Pharma’s 'why.'

And even though he’s arrogant and enjoys praise, it’s not his primary motivation. He doesn’t need it in order to set his mind to whatever he’s interested in, although he’ll seek it from those he values most (i.e. Ratchet).

Pharma sees himself as less of a doctor, and more as a scientific innovator or medical maverick. The practice of medicine is primarily a catalyst for his creativity and intellect; it’s not an end in and of itself like it is for someone like Ratchet or First Aid.

First Aid’s observation of Pharma can be better phrased as, “[Pharma] thinks he’s an expert on everything medical”—because he’s not so driven by achievement and admiration that he’ll grovel at the feet of strangers and get good at something he doesn’t personally find interesting. The only time we see him express a desire for praise is when he’s around Ratchet—someone he holds in high regard for both personal and professional reasons. This makes sense since Ratchet is one of the only people who can give Pharma any kind of competition within what he considers to be his area of expertise.

“Each day we go to our work in the hope of discovering—in the hope that some one, no matter who, may find a solution of one of the pending great problems—and each succeeding day we return to our task with renewed ardor; and even if we are unsuccessful, our work has not been in vain, for in these strivings, in these efforts, we have found hours of untold pleasure, and we have directed our energies to the benefit of mankind.” —Nikola Tesla

Ego

Without question, Pharma has an inflated ego, but having an inflated sense of self doesn’t automatically mean a person is a full-blown narcissist or that they are totally uncaring.

Every personality trait exists on a spectrum. Yes, Pharma is arrogant, but the presence of arrogance doesn’t automatically and completely cancel out all “positive” traits. (For fun, check out studies on Dark Tetrad and Light Triad personality traits.)

People are complex. Arrogance can coexist with genuine kindness, ruthlessness can coexist with deep compassion, etc.

Whether Pharma exhibits genuine kindness is up to each reader’s interpretation of what little canon material exists, but the point is: Pharma’s arrogance doesn’t automatically rule out the possibility of authentic “positive” traits.

Controlling Tendencies

Pharma is comfortable pulling the power card and using it to dump what he sees as uninteresting parts of medical practice on those below him:

“So Fisitron’s writing about the Wreckers’ elbows now, is he?” said Delphi’s Chief Medical Officer. “Come on, First Aid - get to it. You’ve got a Fader in Row 2 downstairs.” He squeezed the air with his finger and thumb. “He’s about this far from shutdown.” —from Bullets by James Roberts

However, there’s nothing in canon indicating he’s power-hungry in a megalomaniacal sense. He’s not Starscream or Megatron; he doesn’t seek political or social power. In fact, he seems perfectly happy hiding away in a lab or medibay by himself so he can direct all his energy toward solving issues and achieving the so-called ‘impossible’ within the field of medicine:

The ways in which Pharma exercises power and control are through his expertise, and his administrative/management skills. That’s it.

Self-confidence

Pharma’s arrogance and controlling tendencies don’t seem to be a mask—like he’s trying to compensate for some sense of lack (in those areas). Yes, he fears failure, and yes, he displays some insecurity when Ratchet questions his competence. But at every other point and in every other way, Pharma is unapologetically self-confident. He’s fully self-assured of his intellectual prowess and problem-solving capabilities; he knows what he knows, and he also knows what he doesn’t know.

Pharma’s arrogance and desire for control don’t stem from a hidden lack of confidence or a hunger for power on its own. They stem from the fact that he genuinely sees himself as the best person for the work he does. He trusts himself above anyone else to solve problems that come his way—medical or otherwise (within limits).

Elitism vs. Superiority

I’ve always read Pharma as having an elitist attitude, but not in the social stratification sense:

elitist (adj.) relating to or supporting the view that a society or system should be led by an elite.

There’s no evidence that Pharma believes an elite class of people should hold the most power. Instead, Pharma’s “elitism” is actually an individualistic sense of superiority. It’s centered on him alone, and is tied to his capabilities as a physician scientist and surgeon.

Pharma sees himself as the best of the best and makes sure everyone knows it—sometimes through his words, but mostly by his conduct in the field of medicine. This, paired with Pharma’s natural temperament, doesn’t exactly make him socially popular—inside or outside of medicine:

One could argue that the “personality” Lockdown is referring to was a result of all Pharma had suffered at Delphi and Luna 1, but just as easily, one could argue he was always a bit difficult to get along with, and that his traumatic experiences merely magnified his already-present psychological patterns. Personally, I like the latter interpretation because it’s a flaw that makes Pharma a more interesting character no matter his mental state.

Everyone reacts differently to real and perceived social rejection. Some are so concerned about it that they’ll try anything to belong; others genuinely don’t care, and they continue as usual; and still others cope by shifting their mindset and developing a sense of pride in being an outsider.

There’s no evidence for this in canon, but I believe it’s within reasonable characterization boundaries to headcanon Pharma as being in the second or third category.

With either of those two mindsets, a sense of superiority can develop, or even be an inciting factor. Either someone sees themselves as genuinely superior to the majority and doesn’t mind when this alienates them from people, or they convince themselves they’re superior because the pain of accepting they were rejected for who they are is too much to handle.

Whatever the case, the point is, having an “elitist” attitude isn’t necessarily rooted in a sociological or ideological belief. Sometimes, individuals just see something in themselves that—to them—justifies a sense of personal superiority. A quick glance at Pharma’s canon appearances makes it clear he holds such a view of himself, at least to some degree.

Morality and Compassion

When Pharma first shows up in canon, he’s working at the New Institute. A lot of questionable things took place there on a regular basis—things Pharma would have been aware of, to some degree. However, his presence at the Institute doesn’t automatically mean he agreed with everything happening. Depending on how strongly someone feels about something, some people are content to disagree in silence. Not everyone who seeks employment considers it a priority that the establishment they work for aligns perfectly with their moral values. After all, there are other reasons to take a job: financial benefits, exclusive educational and career opportunities, pure convenience, etc.

I’m not here to say either way whether Pharma’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the events at the New Institute was wrong or right; that’s up to each reader to decide for themselves. However, Pharma’s choice to remain employed at the Institute for some time can say something about him as a character: his priority as a doctor and person is not to take care of everyone he encounters, or to act as some kind of moral or ethical authority.

This isn’t to say Pharma won’t ever stand up for something he regards as right or push back against something he sees as wrong, “off screen.” It’s just that everything in canon points more to a tendency to choose his battles instead of acting immediately on any moral sense the way someone like Optimus or Ratchet might.

This also isn’t to say Pharma doesn’t care about saving lives, but from what little is shown of him before Delphi, it’s hard to say how much he cared. Ratchet confirms later that Pharma was an excellent doctor for most of his life, but all that tells us is he was an excellent doctor; it says nothing about his internal attitude toward his work or patients.

However, inferences can be made based on doctors in our own world:

Being a doctor—especially one in trauma care—is far from easy. It takes a lot out of a person, and there are very few people who last in the profession for a long time. Most medical professionals fall into one of the following categories:

People possessing a strong will that’s coupled with an unwavering passion for taking care of others (the public’s favorite)

People who naturally have, or develop, an ability to switch their empathy off and on at will, or build walls around it—also possessing a strong will (the ideal)

People who naturally have a limited capacity for empathy (the one the public hates to acknowledge)

People with a strong social and professional support system (the necessary, but underutilized and underappreciated factor)

Of course, even if a person has one or more of the above, burnout can and does still happen, but individuals who have at least one have the best chances of surviving and thriving amidst the demands of the majority of medical professions.

As far as is shown in canon, Pharma never had a strong support system—either circumstantially or by choice—so something else was keeping him in medicine.

Pharma shows concern for both Tumbler (Chromedome) and Hubcap:

But even though he obviously cared enough to step in, neither instance makes a strong case for a capacity for empathy beyond the “average” or “norm.” Performing a job well is a lot different from being personally invested in the work.

Based on everything up to this point, and this later comment from Pharma, about Ratchet…

…Pharma has probably never shared the same I-care-about-everything-and-everyone view of the world. Instead, it’s more likely that Pharma holds a more rational view of his work and patients.

One of the first things learned in medicine, especially in trauma medicine, is that you can’t help or save everyone, and to hold yourself to that standard can destroy you quickly if you have a certain temperament or lack healthy boundaries for your empathy.

“There are times when it may seem as though I view sick or injured people not as living, breathing humans with feelings and emotions and people who love them, but simply as cases, as problems to be solved. And that is absolutely true. It's not that I don't have empathy, but the hard fact is that as a doctor, and especially as a trauma surgeon, too much empathy can get in the way of your job and cause you to make decisions based not on sound medical judgment but on your own emotions. Sure, I've seen things that even years later can still make me choke up when I think of them: a little girl shot and killed, a shattered young Marine who shouldn't have died but did. But you can't choke up in the ER or the operating room. To be effective as a trauma surgeon, you have to put a layer of Kevlar around your heart.” —Dr. Peter Rhee, Trauma Red: The Making of a Surgeon in War and in America’s Cities*

Pharma may have learned this difficult truth earlier than Ratchet and developed a practical way of managing his empathy that comes across as “cold.” He may have always had an ability to put up walls around his spark. Or, he may have always had little to no capacity for empathy.

The fact that the morality lock on Tyrest’s portal prevented Pharma from passing through proves he felt guilty for what he’d done, and JRO confirmed this. Therefore, it’s safe to assume Pharma had some level of empathy for his former patients, suffering moral injury when he felt he had no other option but to start killing them.

Still, looking at Pharma’s psychological drives and his behavior throughout canon, it’s clear compassionate care and morality are subordinate to his other values and interests.

*I highly recommend this book, and learning about Dr. Rhee in general. He’s a huge inspiration of mine, and one of my main sources of inspiration when writing Pharma. Level-headed and capable, strong-willed, selectively empathetic, an excellent scientist, etc. He lives for the thrill of practicing medicine both on the floor and as an expert in his field who pushes trauma medicine to new heights through his research. He also takes great pride in his hands. Seriously—the man spent an entire paragraph and a half talking about his “good hands” and how they were one of two reasons he decided to go into trauma surgery. The other reason was that he “liked action and excitement, liked the feeling of being able to walk into a tough situation and take control.” (Sounds familiar…)

Delphi

First thing’s first: we don’t know how much Pharma did or didn’t know about the DJD before agreeing to take the Delphi assignment.

That far into the war, he would have known something about the DJD and their ways of terrorizing traitors and Autobots, but for whatever reason, he took the assignment anyway. Perhaps Prowl assured him the situation on Messatine would be monitored and that the security team would be enough. Perhaps he underestimated the DJD’s capabilities, or scale of territory, and thought he would be able to handle things on his own. Perhaps Prowl gave him no choice. Maybe it was all of these and more.

Whatever the case, according to JRO, Pharma didn’t hate Delphi before the incident with the DJD.

Word of god remains a touchy subject in fandom, but in this case, it’s important because it says two things:

The DJD left the Delphi medical team alone for some time.

Being on the edges of DJD territory didn’t automatically mean isolation and harassment by their hand.

On the second point, First Aid was free to come and go from Messatine as he pleased, seeing as he attended a medical conference at Kimia five years into his assignment at Delphi:

Five years ago [mid-Delphi assignment], the leader of the Wreckers had cornered him at a medical conference at Kimia, the space station that doubled as a weapons research facility. —from Bullets

And five years after that, he was able to not only contact Springer without delay about one of Agent 113’s bullets he’d discovered in an Autobot badge…

He raced upstairs to his computer terminal and typed in a certain frequency code for the second time in his life. A face appeared on the screen and grinned. “It’s me,” said First Aid. “And you're never gonna guess what I’ve got for you..!”

…but he was also able to meet up with Springer to hand off the bullet:

“Your friend has a funny way of making contact,” First Aid had said when he’d got in touch three days earlier, and he was right.

It’s not known if this handoff happened on or off world, but either way, the DJD didn’t interfere.

At some point, Tarn set his sights on Pharma and the Delphi team. Knowing the DJD, one can only imagine what Tarn used to show off his team’s capabilities and convince Pharma the best option was to cooperate.

In striking a deal with Tarn to keep the DJD away from Delphi, Pharma established his territory and ensured his continued security and the safety of his staff. As long as Tarn got his T-cogs, Pharma could continue on in relative peace. He could work his magic on bots that ended up at Delphi, carry out his management duties, and work on whatever projects or research he may have been conducting in his free time.

For whatever reason, after he first came into contact with Tarn, Pharma didn��t call for help. Communications were still operational, as Pharma wouldn’t have suggested contacting High Command about the Duobots if the team was aware of any comm malfunctions:

Also, First Aid later confirms that communications were fine until the Big Bang (soundbomb detonation):

It’s always possible the DJD was monitoring the radio waves, but secure subspace frequencies exist, such as the Datalog Network First Aid used to send the datalog containing the death statistics:

Speaking of which, assuming First Aid sent the datalog with the statistics right when things started to get ‘weird,’ and before the Big Bang shut down comms, it only took—at most—a few days for them to reach Ratchet and Swerve on the Lost Light:

But back to Pharma not calling for help: for all of Prowl’s intel, contingency planning, and fretting over the security of Autobot territories, I find it hard to believe he would have stuck an Autobot medical team on the fringes of DJD territory without giving them some means of securely contacting the outside in case of issues.

But even if Prowl didn’t give Pharma a secure way to contact him or anyone else, and even if Pharma was convinced the DJD was monitoring regular communications, there were other ways he could have reached out for help. After all, the team wasn’t alone on Messatine. Like Pharma said, Prowl continued to send bots to defend the nucleon mines:

The Autobots had been mining nucleon for millions of years at this point, so I doubt the mined nucleon was just sitting in storage on Messatine; shipments of the stuff would have been sent off-world to wherever the Autobots needed it. Why not send a message for Prowl with someone leaving with one of those shipments? A message meant only to be sent over a call when absolutely certain they were out of range of the DJD’s potential monitoring.

Or, why not order in off-world medical supplies and send a message back with the delivery bot(s)?

There are two possible answers to this. One takes into account JRO’s word on the subject; the other is more intricate and speculative on my part, but it leads to the same place. So whatever your stance is on the validity of word of god, there’s an answer for you.

Answer one (word of god)

Simple as that. Pharma was aware of the scope of the DJD’s capabilities and relentlessness, and determined he was trapped prey.

Answer two (no word of god)

There are a few possible reasons Pharma didn’t call for help right away:

He was convinced all his other options would take too long and/or would still lead to him being put under suspicion. After all, being found to have harvested even a single T-cog from an already-dead patient for the DJD could have raised concerns that would lead to Pharma being investigated and/or having a mark put on his record.

He underestimated the severity of Tarn’s addiction, and was certain he could keep up with the T-cog demand without resorting to other means of harvesting, not realizing Tarn’s quota would increase later on.

He was already paranoid as a result of whatever mind games Tarn had set in motion at their first meeting, making Pharma think escape was futile.

Word of god or no word of god, there are clear reasons as to why Pharma ended up trapped. Most likely, it was a mix of all of the above.

Whatever was going on in Pharma’s mind before, he ended up in deeper trouble. Tarn increased his demand for T-cogs, and Pharma couldn’t keep up. By the time this happened, even if he had wanted to call for help, it was too late to do so without implicating himself. He reasoned his only option was to start killing patients to harvest their T-cogs.

Soon, Pharma was so consumed with fretting over whether he’d be able to meet Tarn’s next demand that he didn’t have time or freedom to do anything else except worry and feel guilty. His whole life revolved around Tarn’s addiction; he was no longer in control, and could no longer enjoy whatever it was about Delphi he’d previously enjoyed. Perhaps the facility itself enabled Pharma to research cures and perform scientific miracles of medicine.

Being at the mercy of Tarn—convinced the DJD would find him no matter what—would have been pure psychological torture on its own, but also knowing that any small chance he did have of getting help would end in him losing everything would have added to his suffering. Pharma became desperate to reclaim control over his life and began planning an escape.

Now, JRO has said that Pharma didn’t originally plan to use the rust plague on the DJD…but canon says otherwise:

Of course, Pharma could have been lying to make himself look better in Ratchet’s view, but based on everything he’d been through up to this point with Tarn, it’s more likely he was telling the truth and had tried to eliminate the source of his suffering first. After all, wiping out the DJD would have been the simpler, cleaner option.

When the Duobots refused to detonate the soundbomb near the DJD, Pharma’s objectives shifted. He had to get Delphi shut down in a way that would:

Convince the DJD the shutdown was legitimate.

Pharma knew chances of escaping the DJD at all were slim to none, but he was desperate. Getting Delphi shut down would cut off Tarn’s supply of T-cogs and allow Pharma to escape Tarn’s immediate control, but the shutdown had to be “legitimate” to prevent Tarn from retaliating and hunting him down later. Leaving Tarn even the slightest chance of regaining control was too risky, so Pharma had to make sure his plan was as airtight as possible.

Cover up the patient murders.

If the truth got out about Pharma killing patients, he’d lose his medical license and most likely be put away for life. Being cut off from the practice of medicine and his intellectually stimulating work as a doctor would mean losing more than a job and a reputation. It would mean losing everything in which he’d anchored his sense of identity and life’s meaning. His refusal to consider any other options wasn’t just about ego and preserving his image as an excellent doctor; it was about preserving any kind of meaningful future he saw for himself.

Pharma needed a plan that would fulfill all of the above. Turning the engineered virus on the medical facility was the most effective and efficient solution. Anything else would have made him suspicious in the view of either Autobot High Command or the DJD, and neither of those would have ended well for him.

Because of his goal to preserve his reputation and future in medicine, he couldn’t even risk revealing anything to First Aid or Ambulon, who would have seen to his ruin. They became nothing more than loose ends that had to be tied up, and based on the fact that Pharma only prepared one vial of the vaccine, his original plan involved him being the only survivor:

He probably would have had no problem making more of the vaccine for anyone else who survived, but he wasn’t counting on it. He wanted a totally clean slate; in letting his staff die with most of his patients, he would be getting rid of any and all evidence and reminders of his failures. He may have cared about First Aid and Ambulon before things got bad, but somewhere along the way, he decided either it wasn’t worth it to go through the trouble of finding a way to save them without raising suspicion, or he didn’t want to risk them putting together the pieces later on.

Of course, when Ratchet showed up, plans changed.

Ratchet

Ratchet is not the kind of person who seeks first to understand or be understanding. He’s inclined to trust what’s in front of him over anything abstract, and tends to look at the results of someone’s actions over trying to find any kind of ‘why’ behind them. Also, unlike Pharma, he operates from a strong moral sense, and reacts quickly and strongly when something or someone goes against that internal moral sense.

Ratchet’s reaction to finding out what Pharma did may seem hasty and harsh, but it makes perfect sense on a human level. There is no such thing as unconditional love; everyone has personal and moral lines (boundaries), and they’re different for each individual. When the most rigid of lines is crossed, that’s it; walls go up and the offender is cut off, no matter how strong the relationship may have been.

Ratchet obviously knew Pharma well enough to think he could try talking some sense into him, but then Pharma revealed that he’d crossed one of Ratchet’s lines: murdering patients. Any willingness Ratchet may have had to try to understand vanished. By the time Pharma started trying to provide a ‘why’ for his actions, Ratchet’s moral judgment had already shut down any chance of understanding what could have possibly led Pharma to kill patients. It didn’t help that Pharma seemed totally unapologetic and outright proud of his plan. For Ratchet, the ‘why’ didn’t matter anymore. What he saw was what he trusted, and what he saw was a friend who’d become his idea of a monster.

Now, Ratchet and Pharma’s relationship is one of the most confusing IDW relationships I’ve had the pleasure and pain of dissecting.

It is notoriously difficult to determine the depth and strength of a relationship from the outside. However, I’ve decided to go ahead and address it anyway because it has the potential to provide insight into Pharma as an individual.

If I were to sum up Pharma and Ratchet’s relationship in a single word, I would use “ambivalent.” The first time I read MTMTE, the thing that stood out to me most about their relationship was the drastic differences between how they each perceived the relationship.

In one sense, there’s the idea of Pharma basically being Ratchet’s crazy stalker ex, which is tossed around in fandom a lot. While I personally dislike seeing it regardless of context (yes, even as a joke), I do see how JRO’s writing choices set things up in a way that makes it easy to superimpose that trope.

In another sense, there’s the idea that Pharma and Ratchet were always close friends, and that what happened at the end of the Delphi story was a betrayal of both sides that came out of nowhere and whose consequences were taken too far.

I disagree with both. Personally, what I see at the end of the Delphi story isn’t an obsessed ex gone mad, a sudden betrayal, or a badly executed backstabbing. What I see is a breakdown of an already-complicated and poorly-maintained relationship: true feelings being revealed, long-repressed bitterness being forced to the surface, carefully-hidden cracks being split wide open.

Most people don’t have an accurate understanding of how much or how little they truly know the people in their lives, often overestimating how well they know a person until something surfaces and blindsides them.

According to JRO, Ratchet was oblivious to Pharma’s romantic interest, and throughout canon, it’s easy to see Pharma was more invested in the relationship than Ratchet ever was.

The question is, did Ratchet ever care about Pharma at all? And if so, to what degree?

Yes, Ratchet calls Pharma “buddy” and “friend,” but the former was sarcastic, and the latter means something different to each person. Also, in light of the circumstances, Ratchet could have just been saying “friend” in response to Pharma saying it—an emotional appeal more than anything.

However, Pharma must have been aware of Ratchet’s lack of relational investment because during the confrontation at Delphi, Pharma’s first reaction wasn’t to appeal to their friendship (ex: “But you know me!”). Instead, he appealed to their shared profession:

Then there’s the exchange of insults:

This is what I meant earlier by “true feelings being revealed.” Ratchet may have just been trying to match Pharma’s insult, but it’s unlikely it was merely reciprocal because while Ratchet is snarky at times, he’s sincere in that snark. There’s almost always some truth in his verbal jabs no matter how unserious they seem, and he’s never cruel for cruelty’s sake.

So, if Pharma saw Ratchet as an inferior doctor, and Ratchet saw Pharma as an inferior Autobot…it’s reasonable to assume there was always some deep-rooted competition and conflict preventing them from being super close.

Possible suspicion surrounding Pharma’s conduct as an Autobot paired with a tendency to misjudge the nuances of relationships could explain why Ratchet was so quick to decide Pharma was a lost cause. Maybe Pharma’s actions at Delphi confirmed something from the past that Ratchet had brushed off for whatever reason.

In any case, Ratchet seems to have been largely unaffected by the Pharma he found at Delphi. While leaving Messatine, he emphasizes that he’ll miss Pharma’s talent.

Not “who he used to be.”

Not “what we used to have.”

Just…“his talent.”

Later, on Luna 1, Pharma mentions that he and Ratchet were inseparable, but that could mean a few different things:

Best case scenario: Pharma and Ratchet sought each other out on equal terms.

Worst case scenario: Pharma followed Ratchet around.

Somewhere in the middle: the job forced Pharma and Ratchet to work in close proximity most of the time, and while Pharma intentionally ran into Ratchet more often than necessary, Ratchet also sought out Pharma every now and then.

Whatever the case, working with someone every day doesn’t tell you anything about who they are as a person, and the amount of time spent with someone doesn’t automatically correlate to how deep the relationship is or how well the people know each other. It’s not like either Pharma or Ratchet are shown to be good at expressing their personal feelings outside of extreme circumstances.

Ratchet does bring up late-night conversations of the past:

But while this indicates there was something deeper between him and Pharma, because neither of them were ever shown to be super open with their true feelings, it’s unlikely the conversations were full of touchy-feely talk. In all likelihood, the conversations were mostly medicine and war-related, with the rare spark-to-spark talk sprinkled in. Also, considering everything up to this point, one has to wonder if those talks ever meant anything to Ratchet, or if he was just digging for something that might stall Pharma’s torture.

Maybe those late-night conversations did mean something to Ratchet, but whatever the case, Pharma didn’t take the bait. He knew Ratchet was trying to stall by making an emotional appeal, and perhaps he was convinced the conversations hadn’t meant that much to Ratchet.

Looking at all of this, it’s hard to believe Ratchet ever cared about Pharma as more than an interesting work friend. But even if he had cared more than he let on, it wasn’t enough to overcome the doubts he had about Pharma’s character.

As for whether Pharma truly cared about Ratchet, I’m convinced he did, but in a mostly unhealthy way, and with a strong undercurrent of one-sided rivalry. At some point, Ratchet had been an equal and a source of challenge, and he probably listened to Pharma pretty often. It’s reasonable to assume Ratchet was one of the only people—if not the only person—able to handle Pharma’s intense temperament and challenge him in a meaningful way, providing some semblance of friendship for Pharma.

However, one last thing that stands out is that, when telling Ratchet why he’s torturing him, Pharma didn’t say anything like, “Because you hurt me” or “Because you turned against me—your friend.” Instead, he said it was for “ruining things at Delphi” and because “you declared war on my body.”

Either Pharma wasn’t being entirely honest, or Ratchet’s friendship didn’t mean as much in the first place as he’d previously implied. It’s possible the ‘Because you hurt me’ was implied in “for ruining things back at Delphi,” but why not say it outright? Perhaps it was a fear of vulnerability and admitting there was ever a relational need at all.

At the end of the day, it’s difficult to say for certain how close Pharma and Ratchet were, but it’s clear they were never on the same page and there were always barriers between them.

Luna 1

Revisiting the matter of Pharma’s morality taking a backseat to other priorities, his time on Luna 1 further underscores this. Again, Pharma chooses his battles and is unwilling to put himself at great risk for the sake of others, but a closer look at the situation with Tyrest reveals there wasn’t really anything he could have done for the Cold Construct population even if he had wanted to. It would have been him against Tyrest, an army of Legislators, and a bunch of Decepticons. Pharma knew his limits, and seeing as his goal was self-preservation, it was perfectly rational for him to go along with Tyrest’s grand scheme.

Besides, it doesn’t look like he was given much of a choice:

Although, knowing Pharma, he still would have demanded to know beforehand what he would get in return for the pain, and evidently, Tyrest held up his end of the deal since Pharma had access to the Luna 1 tech collection.

As for Tyrest’s plan to wipe out the Cold Construct population, there’s nothing indicating Pharma’s decision to turn a blind eye to it was rooted in malevolence or bigotry—just rational apathy: ‘I can’t stop Tyrest, so why concern myself with the outcome?’

Again, you can’t save everyone; Pharma had all he could do to save himself.

But it wasn’t all horrible. I would even go so far as to say Pharma found some happiness on Luna 1. Tyrest didn’t care about him, but he didn’t need Tyrest to care. Everyone else there hated him, but he didn’t need to feel like he belonged or was admired. At this point, Pharma’s only interest was Tyrest’s Luna 1 tech collection, and that meant playing nice so he could keep his reward. Back at Delphi, he probably assumed he’d never again practice medicine the way he’d loved; being brought to Luna 1 was an unexpected, yet welcome, second chance.

Even so, Pharma had his moments of cruelty. Back at Delphi, he had easily-identifiable reasons to kill patients—both the ones whose T-cogs he harvested and the 20 more he tried to kill when he shot the life support machine. But on Luna 1, he had no reason to be cruel, yet he chose to be. By this point, he’d mastered the ability to almost completely ignore or subdue his conscience.

In the case of Ratchet’s torment, one could argue Pharma only drew it out for retaliation purposes; it was personal for him.

As for cutting Ambulon in half, it was obviously meant to be as gruesome as possible, yet also quick. But personally, I don’t think it was about Ambulon; it was more about hurting Ratchet. Due to the fact that Ratchet’s identity is wrapped up in his compassion and his ability to be helpful as a doctor, one of the most effective acts of revenge would be to do something that makes him feel utterly helpless.

Also I wonder if, subconsciously or consciously, Pharma was attempting to recreate the sense of helplessness he felt back at Delphi under Tarn’s watch: “Do you see, Ratchet? Do you now understand how it feels to have control ripped out of your hands? To be totally helpless?”

Next, for some reason, Pharma was invested in the promised execution of Getaway and Skids:

He had no personal connection to either of them that would give him a reason to be interested, so maybe Tyrest told him he could perform the execution and/or have the corpses for medical experimentation. Either way, Pharma would have had a chance to use some of the tech in Tyrest’s tech collection, possibly explaining his excitement.

Of course, any chance of an execution disappeared when the final showdown went wrong.

When Pharma tried to escape to Cyberutopia and discovered he couldn’t pass through the spacebridge forcefield, he gave up. He’d been caught; he would no longer have access to Tyrest’s tech collection; Ratchet and every other self-righteous Autobot would never forgive him; and the morality lock prevented him from escaping. By all appearances, he would never again be able to engage in that which gave him a sense of meaning. He had shrunken his world down to his obsessive interest in a specialized field and one significant, yet unrequited relationship. With both of these lost, his world collapsed.

Yes, guilt played a part in Pharma’s despondency, but because he seems to have been in denial of said guilt, it’s more likely his despair was primarily due to the fact that he saw no future for himself. He had nothing left to live for.

In light of this, Pharma’s flippant comments to First Aid make sense. He wasn’t being insensitive as much as he was goading First Aid. Pharma’s not stupid. First Aid had a massive rotary cannon on him, and Pharma knew exactly which emotional buttons to push to get him to pull the trigger.

Pharma wanted to die.

Adaptus

First, let me emphasize that Adaptus did not take possession of Pharma’s body. Instead, Pharma was the unwelcome guest:

How Pharma ended up in Adaptus’ new body is a mystery, but whatever the case, Pharma didn’t pass on to the Allspark. Whether or not he had a choice can only be speculated.

First Aid had blasted Pharma’s head clean off, so whatever happened must have been related to the spark. Perhaps some residual spark energy was trapped in a body part that Adaptus repurposed, leaving Pharma tethered to the new body unwillingly.

Still, Pharma managed to assert his will and override Adaptus for a brief moment. Considering Adaptus was basically a god, this is impressive.

Based on Adaptus’ surprise at being interrupted, it seems he didn’t know Pharma was there. Why Pharma hadn’t tried to assert himself sooner is a mystery. Maybe Adaptus’ scheme was entertaining; maybe Pharma actually liked the company; or maybe he’d been waiting for an opportunity to get revenge on Tyrest for everything done to him back at Luna 1.

Sure enough, just like with Ratchet back on Luna 1, Pharma’s vengeful streak came out as soon as there was an opportunity.

Unfortunately for him, this left him vulnerable, and Tyrest took advantage of the confusion:

Conclusion

When someone reduces their world to narrow personal interests and one or a few very special people, their grip tightens around what little they have. They often become obsessive and possessive of the few things that make them feel alive, and their view of the world becomes increasingly more subjective and detached from the outside world. Pharma seems to have fallen into this trap.

Even so, in the context of the circumstances, several of the decisions he made were rational—even if coldly so. Oftentimes, “extreme” rationality and self-preservation are villainized in fiction, and characters like Pharma who don’t automatically put themselves at great risk for anyone and everyone are villainized, or at least looked down on. Their choices are often regarded as less human, but rationality and self-preservation are just as human as compassion and self-sacrifice.

Ultimately, Pharma was trapped and pushed over the edge into “insanity” by Tarn’s cruelty, but his own choices made from a place of pride determined how he fell, and how far he fell. It was a perfect storm of Tarn’s mind games and Pharma’s intellectual arrogance, excessive self-confidence, obsessive nature, and stubborn grip on the kind of future he wanted for himself.

Pharma is yet another Icarus who flew too close to the sun and paid dearly for it, and while JRO/the narrative could have given this Icarus better wings, that doesn’t change the fact that he chose to fly so high.

***

Many thanks to anyone who made it to the end of this monster of a post.

-tosses a Rodimus Star at you-

#look who finally finished this thing #idw transformers #idw1 #maccadam #MTMTE #lost light #idw pharma #pharma #tf idw character analysis #tf idw meta #dr. fancy hands #nova’s nerding out again

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afeelgoodblog · 7 months ago

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The Best News of Last Week

1. A branch of the flu family tree has died and won't be included in future US vaccines

A type of flu virus that used to sicken people every year hasn't been spotted anywhere on Earth since March 2020. As such, experts have advised that the apparently extinct viruses be removed from next year's flu vaccines.

The now-extinct viruses were a branch of the influenza B family tree known as the Yamagata lineage. Scientists first reported the apparent disappearance of Yamagata viruses in 2021.

2. Hospitals must obtain written consent for pelvic and similar exams, the federal government says

Hospitals must obtain written informed consent from patients before subjecting them to pelvic exams and exams of other sensitive areas — especially if an exam will be done while the patient is unconscious, the federal government said Monday.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now requires consent for breast, pelvic, prostate and rectal exams for “educational and training purposes” performed by medical students, nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

3. Germany approves new law that will allow adults to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption and store up to 50 grams at home.

Germany's upper house, the Bundesrat, cleared the way to partially legalize cannabis on Friday. Adults aged 18 and over will be allowed to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption.

4. Tick-killing pill shows promising results in human trial | Should it pan out, the pill would be a new weapon against Lyme disease.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is developing a pill for humans that could provide protection against the tick-borne disease for several weeks at a time. In February, the Irvine, California–based biotech company announced results from a small, early-stage trial showing that 24 hours after taking the drug, it can kill ticks on people, with the effects lasting for up to 30 days.

5. Thailand moves to legalise same-sex marriage

Thailand has taken a historic step closer to marriage equality after the lower house passed a bill giving legal recognition to same-sex marriage.

It still needs approval from the Senate and royal endorsement to become law but it is widely expected to happen by the end of 2024, making Thailand the only South East Asian country to recognise same-sex unions.

6. French Revolution: Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In Paris

Official measurements have found that Paris is rapidly becoming a city of transportation cyclists. In the suburbs, where public transit is less dense, transport by car was found to be the main form of mobility. But for journeys from the outskirts of Paris to the center, the number of cyclists now far exceeds the number of motorists, a huge change from just five years ago.

7. 'Miracle' operation reverses blindness in three-year-old girl giving her 'promising' future

A three year old with a genetic condition that causes blindness is doing incredibly well after unique pioneering operation to restore her sight.

The UK is the only country performing keyhole eye surgery to inject healthy copies of a gene into sufferers’ eyes. It is being used to reverse blindness in children born with a rare condition which means they can only distinguish between light and dark. And it has given little Khadijah Chaudhry, born with Leber congenital amaurosis-4, a chance at seeing properly again.

---

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

#best news of last week

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cenorii · 1 year ago

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In 2021, dirty secrets about the use of bioweapons are revealed inside BSAA + there are direct hints in Umbrella Corps that Wesker is alive. I just combine the two puzzle pieces together in my head. So let's look at another interesting post-2009 scenario.

AU - ELEGY OF FREE RADICALS

Chris was once careless about eliminating Wesker. Knowing his nature, he still didn't check Wesker's presumed place of death properly. Relying on his own luck, Chris left the place of battle and never returned there. But he had to go back. It has become his mistake.

Chris reported the scene of the victory to the BSAA. Rotten BSAA could have used that data in any way they wanted. Like going back there and checking out the volcano. They could have indicated on the documents that they were headed to clear the area of the remnants of Uroboros, but in fact to search for Wesker's remains to get rich off the sale and study of his unique biomaterial. But what they didn't expect was to find him alive. Badly injured, helpless, but somehow alive.

Taking advantage of the weakness of the still living organism, he was taken to the secret laboratory of the headquarters. Now Wesker could be under the supervision of BSAA scientists for a very long time. He's much more useful alive than dead. His knowledge, skills, all of it could be utilized. And it was also possible to conduct endless experiments on his unusual body... Testing the limits of his abilities, testing various poisons, looking at the lethality of their new weapons, and etc. He was once again a puppet, as he had once been in Spencer's hands, from which he had miraculously escaped.

The BSAA kept Wesker's abilities under strict control, he was trivially stripped of any PG67A/W injections, replaced with an alternative that was only necessary for his body to regenerate damage after the battle in the volcano, but didn't provide any additional benefits. So he would remain weak but healthy.

Another remedy was also applied to him, eliminating the consequences of merging with the Uroboros, which modified his body in a volcano. It was discovered in 2011, after the events of Revelations 2. It was rude to call it just a serum, it was something more, because it did not remove the virus itself from the body, but brought it into a more stable form, allowing Wesker to take his ordinary appearance. With him, in this form, it became easier for employees to work.

The BSAA restored Wesker, stripped of his strength, any dignity, as well as his freedom. He was bedridden for several years and various weapons were tested on him, then recorded how his body reacted and at what rate it recovered. An immobilized lab rat, a deserved punishment for someone like him? Perhaps. It was thanks to his "sacrifice" that the anti-regeneration weapon was invented, which had once come in handy for Chris in the battle against Mold.

Just think… how many things could the BSAA have invented using the infinite resources of Wesker's body? He was terrified of these thoughts. Terror at the realization that he had no chance of escape, that he was trapped here forever, that he would continue to have his organs taken out of him and be forced into endless pain. He reflected that he hadn't actually managed to do so many contradictory things to deserve eternal torment. And it's better to let him die than to endure this hell. But his own body played a cruel joke without dying. It was an expert on regeneration. His pride was trampled when he begged for death.

BSAA absolutely did not spend any painkillers and sleeping pills on Wesker, absolutely all experiments were carried out when he was conscious. They had already spent a lot of money on him during his recovery, it was a waste to spend even more on someone who could repair any of his damage.

Pain and terror haunted him for six years. He cursed what he used to idolize in himself.

And then he was forced to work for them. In 6 years he had grown accustomed to the constant pain and had already learned to see himself as nothing, sending his consciousness into free floating. Deep in his thoughts, he created a place where he learned to ignore the endless physical torment. But when he was put on his feet and pulled out of this place… Wesker was even more devastated.

It was unusual for him to suddenly return to normal work, all this created a mess in his head, reality seemed to be nonsense. The usual paperwork after hell? Are you kidding me?!

Morally, he was destroyed. His psyche was severely damaged. Wesker from the "torture room" was locked in a cell that looked like a combination of a room and a laboratory. For fear of being put back on the operating table again, he dutifully began to work and develop various things that BSAA would use in the future. But it wasn't life either. Weakened body, lack of abilities... he wanted to die, but he couldn't afford it, because he was practically immortal. Although, even if he used a weapon that stops regeneration on himself... he still wouldn't kill himself.

«Not here»

«Not like this»

At times he thought he was balancing on the fine line between normalcy and insanity. He saw people at best once every two weeks who came to check on his work and were not at all talkative. Wesker had always been convinced he didn't need company, but 12 years without socializing had made him question his beliefs.

Once a month he was provided with food, and then carelessly, because he didn't need food. His body, experiencing hunger, could devour itself and regenerate immediately.

The only reason he was given a room and released from the operating table was because the organization wanted to see what he could offer them. Of course, they didn't stop studying his unusual body and conducting experiments, but Wesker was already in charge of the process himself. Independently amputated his limbs and so on. Only closer to 2019 were these experiments stopped, because they had extracted all possible benefits from his body.

Wesker remotely, horrified, realized that thanks to his body he would live much longer than the average person, if not forever. Which led him to believe that he would be kept in this cage for centuries. BSAA would close, others would take their place, find him, torture him again. And so on in a circle, for all eternity, as long as human society and greed existed. This had to end... but how? A plan was needed, a complex one that could not be unraveled.

His life and existence was a BSAA mystery from 2009-2021. For 12 long years he was not allowed out of the walls of this cell.

Of course he wanted to escape, he had many unrealistic thoughts in his head about it. He was also interested in meeting Chris, aged, changed. To see his reaction, genuine shock rather than the anger he'd reacted to Wesker's earlier 'resurrections'. Is Chris even still alive today? What year is it now?

But this life couldn't go on forever, the BSAA was cracking at the seams. In 2021 it was revealed that they were using B.O.W. soldiers, something Chris couldn't ignore. So he headed over to European headquarters to deal with it - right where his nemesis was located, a complete headache. Chris couldn't accept that his organization, which was fighting biological weapons, would use them. It didn't fit in his head. He had long ago stopped trusting the BSAA, but this was the last straw.

Arriving there, Chris did not expect to meet someone in the basement laboratories whom he had buried a long time ago.

What was he going to do with him? Shoot him in the head without any thought? That would have been logical and in Redfield's character, but over the years he'd stopped being a complete hothead, learned to think first and then act. Gained a little equanimity.

It will turn out that it was Wesker who was involved in the creation of the B.O.W. in BSAA. Especially since these soldiers are improved clones of Chris himself. Who else could have come up with such an idea? Only to a man who thought Chris was "one of his best men".

For the past 6 years, Wesker has been forced to be an advisor to BSAA, sharing all the knowledge and ideas. He might have been able to pull it all off, if only to get back at that organization, turning Chris' anger on it, and turning his attention to himself at the same time. After all, only this "one of his best men" was the only one who could save him. Yes, Wesker was pathetic. He felt he wasn't even worthy of his former name, being so pathetic as to enlist the help of his enemy. But it was the only option. There was no more talk of pride.

However, it didn't matter now, Chris had come here to punish the founders, so their prisoner, their chief counselor, might prove to be the best informant. And an ally.

Natural intuition made Chris believe his former enemy, the biggest manipulator of them all. As if he was definitely not lying now, because he was in such a big asshole that he couldn't let his words sound unconvincing. Earlier, Chris would have easily recognized his lies, but not now. Right now, completely honest and dull eyes were looking at him from beneath translucent glasses. So damn pitiful that Chris automatically assumed the role of the hero rescuing the damsel in distress.

Chris was quickly combine the information together in his head: the situation, the physique, the setting... His opponent had been held hostage by his own ambition, it couldn't help but bring a smile to Redfield's face. But he hid it in his thoughts, because he deemed it inappropriate once he read Wesker's imprisonment papers. Chris had some free time to devote to the situation.

He read about what had been done to Wesker. About all the torture. And Redfield clutched his head, when he got to the description of his ammunition that he'd used against Mold a couple years ago. He was terrified that this weapon had been created in such a gruesome way... through the suffering of his enemy, who, even considering all his guilt, didn't deserve all this. Chris felt that Wesker should have died and rid the world of himself rather than suffer endlessly. Even for him, he thought it was inhumane.

The first thing Wesker said to Chris was: - Now you've taken on the role of captain of the «alpha» too. This jabbed Chris slightly, but he noticed how the hostage said it without malice. Redfield involuntarily remembered 1998, the mansion, the betrayal, the deaths of the Alpha and Bravo group...

The compartment Wesker was in was to him both an office and a laboratory, and a room. A kind of prison, which he could not leave on his own because of his weak physical condition. He was weakened by the daily injections putting his viruses inside his body to sleep.

Releasing him and examining him at arm's length, Chris made sure that in the state Wesker was in now, he posed no danger, just an ordinary disgust. He resembled only a pale copy of his former self.

The BSAA operative dragged him carelessly behind him like some sack of garbage, concerned only with keeping the information in his head intact. But in his mind Chris still held images of what the BSAA bastards were doing here to Wesker. He didn't want to feel sorry for him, but he couldn't control it, Redfield had never been heartless. Initially he had only cared about information, but it wasn't long before he didn't even notice how protective he had become of him. As if a friend, which in truth, he never was. His captive's behavior was different from what Chris remembered. It was different, like a throwback to the past. Perhaps 12 years of imprisonment had had that effect on him.

He was docile, which wasn't surprising, since Wesker had been treated like an object by the organization, and the operating table had been a good teaching moment. Chris couldn't believe that after so many years of hell his former enemy's mind was still intact, that he hadn't lost his mind and was capable of dialog.

Time passed unnoticed during the proceedings with the BSAA about B.O.W., eventually the organization was destroyed and all its equipment, along with Chris's squad, transferred to TerraSave.

Chris during all of this had to sign Wesker into the Hound Wolf Squad as either a prisoner or an advisor. To keep him from getting shut down again, that was the deal. He helps them, they help him. Over time, he was getting back to normal. The food and good company had done their job.

However, Chris didn't know that his new ally hadn't lost all of his strength, and the ones he had were sleeping under the influence of the medicament. But time passed, the medicament slowly stopped working without new doses, and Wesker understood it perfectly well. And felt it. It didn't affect his appearance, so he could play his role for as long as he wanted. But was it a role? Sure he was portraying a courtesy that annoyed Chris to the point of nausea, but it was partially sincere. Having broken with his past at the fault of the BSAA, Wesker could only hope to find a new purpose. After all, as Spencer had raised him, there is no life without purpose.

Therefore, was it so necessary for him to betray Hound Wolf Squad? Would it be beneficial to him? Chris is a strong point. He has no doubt that if he kills Redfield - another will take his place, and will definitely get him into the basement wheel of samsara. So Wesker had no grand plans yet. After all, any of them would be doomed to failure as long as there was anyone in the world capable of resisting.

But Chris risked to give him a goal, which, however, called impossible - to become the best version of himself. To help the Hound Wolf Squad, to work with TerraSave, to use his knowledge for something other than endless failed experiments. Stop being Spencer's failed experiment. The only option Chris would give him a chance at.

Those words stuck in Wesker's head for a long time. Mentioning the old man was like a low blow. Chris knew where it hurt the most.

It had been several years since Wesker had joined Redfield's team. All that time he'd been hiding his abilities so as not to lose the fragile trust in his person. But the truth couldn't help but surface one day....

On one of the missions connected with B.O.W., the blade of an exploding helicopter blew off Wesker's head, and then another piece of debris cut his body in half.

But he didn't die.

Chris was enraged. With resentment, he felt cheated. What else could he have expected?

First, the black mass connected the body, restoring functionality to it, and then this silent carcass picked up the head. It was slow. It looked helpless and creepy. Chris's squad was on edge, but he ordered to wait. The black substance emerged from the base of the neck and attached the head to itself, then the calm expression on the reanimated head changed to horror. Was he in unbearable pain from the newly received oxygen? Or from the fusion of tendons?

When Wesker recovered, he couldn't at first think of a response to Chris' "explain yourself!"

Everyone's fragile trust collapsed, but not Redfield's, for he knew that if his former adversary had wanted to betray him, he would have betrayed him long ago, he wouldn't have let himself be so ridiculously exposed. Especially after all the torture he'd endured. Chris could understand why Wesker was hiding his powers. Redfield had stepped on the same rake of trust again, convincing himself that he had everything under control.

Wesker, ever since the prototype had merged with Uroboros in his body, had acquired a number of flaws, chief among them an unbearable sensitivity to pain. The only time he could not feel pain was when he was BSAA injected with force restraining drugs. But without them, all the disadvantages came out.

Whereas before he could recover from any wound without feeling anything but minor damage, now the pain was so obvious that every regeneration was accompanied by agony. Especially if it was a burn, for heat is a major weakness for Uroboros. The healing places on his body, after that helicopter situation, hurt like hell.

He was closer to human now than he had been before, and Chris seemed to realize that. That was why he hadn't killed him a second time, but had accepted him back into his squad. It was not only a gesture of goodwill, but also a precaution, a way to keep a dangerous object as close to him as possible so he wouldn't do anything.

How long will they have to cut off the heads of hydra in the face of the creators of bioweapons?

- Why do you trust me, Chris?

- I still believe that anyone can become the best version of themselves. We should prioritize fighting for the future to give someone a quiet life that you and I have been robbed of. I know about Project W. Together we can stop new organizations and prevent many tragedies like this from happening again. And you can help us, Wesker. BSAA took away your choice, but I'm giving it to you now.

Wesker at first couldn't find the words to respond, but after a moment he barely audibly whispered: "Thank you."

From a man who never thanked anyone, Chris was shocked to hear that. And he was proud of him. Had he forgiven him? No, his deeds were unforgivable. But Chris wasn't the kind of man who would turn his back on his one chance to make things right, to make things right on Earth, to save someone's life. In this truce, he sees a future that's bright for everyone.

#resident evil #chrisker #Chris Redfield #Albert Wesker #AU #resident evil 5 #resident evil 8 #rebhfun

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escapistsatellite · 1 month ago

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Transformers Universe Characters (as-of-yet game only characters) Autobot Edition 1/2

“As lethal as he is resourceful - a complete Anomaly!”

—Vectorium

Anomaly by name and nature, the young and feisty Autobot is a strange mix of both scientist and soldier; to his allies, he’s a benefactor who can remove even the most virulent effects from enemy weapons… but to any enemies on the battlefield, he is walking fallout, leaving anyone who crosses him infected and quarantined. And as he is always spoiling for a good fight, you’ll always find someone on the battlefield affected by his gifts, in one way or another.

His in-game Weapons are the Lambda Pulse Blaster, Atomic Axe, and Positron Shotgun. His alt-mode comes equipped with a grenade launcher.

His in-game abilities are:

Hazardous Waste — dumps his toxic payload, i.e. coats nearby enemies in plasma which damages them over time, but also does the same to him, though weaker.

Virus Recycler — removes any viruses from Anomaly and his nearby allies, and gives Anomaly gradual repairs by turning the viruses into lead sulfide.

Spark Flux — when activated creates an aura. Enemies within the aura have their sparks mutated, so repairs actually damage them, while Anomaly and his allies receive a damage-absorb when they get repaired.

His active subsystem is "Radiation Leak" which damages nearby enemies in proportion to the amount of damage he has received.

The Web-Route S-tech on his Atomic Axe also makes Anomaly immune to damage, though this isn't mentioned in the game description.

The S-tech on his pulse blaster, Nuclear Attraction, was given a 50% miss chance for vehicles because it was not being used as it was intended.

Anomaly's vehicle mode weapon can also create a field which applies/refreshes a virus upon an area.

Anomaly is one of the six Founders Pack exclusive characters for Transformers Universe.

Anomaly originally had a difficulty rating of "hard," but was changed to "medium."

“Catapult always makes the shot.”

—Prowl

Many don’t even realize Catapult exists at all. A mysterious loner who moves through the shadows, she struts with the confident swagger of a true gunslinger. And it’s not unjustified; this Autobot assassin has the skills to take down any enemy on the battlefield every time, moving effortlessly over any terrain to find the right vantage point and able to read cross-winds with ease. The only clue to her presence in the fight is the tag she scratches into the chassis of every Decepticon she offlines.

Her in-game weapons are the Nimbus Blaster Rifle, Xeno Shotgun, and Cygnus Sniper Rifle. Her Baja buggy alt-mode comes equipped with a gatling gun that damages spark.

Her in-game abilities are:

Phase Chamber — when active, Catapult's weapons bypass enemy shields and damage them directly.

Neural Motivator — increases the damage Catapult deals by optimizing her focus.

Energon Transfusion— turns the damage she does to enemies into healing for her.

Her active subsystem is "Spark Dispersal" which heals nearby Autobots whenever she takes out an enemy.

“When it comes to Doubletake... seeing is believing.”

—Prowl

A Cybertronian police enforcer and former Decepticon, Doubletake is rarely seen or heard by his targets until they’re on the verge of shutdown… And by then, he is already on his way to finding his next victim. Equipped to handle almost all combat situations, this reconnaissance expert can keep himself going while leaving lingering damage on his enemies.

His in-game Weapons are the Assail Laser Rifle, Solo SMGs, and Badlands Saws. His alt-mode comes equipped with a rocket launcher.

His in-game abilities are:

Plasma Taser — Nearby enemies get infused with periodic plasma damage, and any of them who currently have system interference get a plasma shock to the shields.

Bulletproof — provides Doubletake with a force field which reduces incoming damage.

Cyber Warfare — nearby enemies get system interference, while Doubletake and his nearby allies get system boots.

His active subsystem is "Silent Counter", which leaves lingering plasma damage on nearby enemies when he receives a critical hit.

Doubletake is one of the six Founders Pack exclusive characters for Transformers Universe.

“As the first bot in line, Front-Line stands alone.”

—Bulkhead

Before the war, Front-Line was a vigilante known for getting to the scene of a crime first, crashing through the gates and smashing together criminal heads. Bad guys that met him were more likely headed to a scrap pile or a critical med bay than to a jail cell. Now he puts all that combat skill and power to work as an Autobot close combat specialist, annihilating Decepticons close up and personal on the front line of the battlefield.

His in-game weapons are the Orbital Minigun, Riot Hand Axes, and High-Rise Hammer. His vehicle mode can fire a shockwave cannon that damages spark.

His in-game abilities are:

Reduction Inducer — slows down enemy movement and reduces their damage resistance as a result of Front-Line's morale circuits emitting an interference signal.

Deflection Grid — projects a "defense matrix" which negates incoming ranged attacks and some melee attacks.

Infantry Overdrive — increases the movement speed of Front-Line and his nearby fellows by rerouting power from his morale circuits to his articulators.

His active subsystem is "Critical Absorption" which positively fuels his Energon flow and S-Tech Gauge when he takes a critical hit.

Frontline was previously known as "Vanquish" in the 2012 beta but in the 2014 beta his name was changed as well as a couple of his weapons.

Macro is one hotshot Autobot - I'm real glad we get along.”

—General Freeman

Macro was literally designed for tactical espionage action, sneaking into enemy territory and slicing up Decepticons. Skilled at hiding and utilizing all manner of weaponry, Macro will often jam enemy transmissions and set things up for his brothers in arms to smash in 'Con faces.

His in-game weapons are the Rail Laser Rifle, Haze Grenade Launcher, and Delta Sword. When he transforms into his custom low-rider alt-mode, Macro has access to electric dumbfire rockets.

His in-game abilities are:

Ionic Scrambler — Emits an ionic cloud which makes Macro and his nearby allies harder to hit.

Atmospheric Optimizer — when Macro is in the Ionic Scrambler field or Camouflage Shield, his weapons do more damage.

Camouflage Shield — creates a cloaking shield under which Macro and his allies can hide, and reduces the damage Macro takes.

Macro's active subsystem is "Retaliation", granting him some level of buff to Memory-Edge S-tech when he gets damaged.

Strangely, Macro is the only warrior to have a hidden backstory within the game files. It details how he fled Cybertron at the end of the Golden Age, worked as a mechanic in Delta on Velocitron, and eventually encountered Optimus Prime while the Ark was visiting the planet. He chose to join the ship on its voyage, but sustained heavy damage in a battle before take off, and ended up in the repair bay in a coma as the ship headed for Earth.

“If an Autobot is in trouble, Meltdown puts it all on the line.”

—Ironhide

Meltdown despises war but wouldn't dream of leaving a fellow Autobot behind to face it alone. His specialty is using beam weapons for repair or, if absolutely necessary, combat. It is rumored that he cares "too much" and has some emotional issues with combat, even closing his eyes rather than watching his missiles hit a living target. Still, those issues aside he is the best kind of health insurance to have on a battlefield. An Autobot "Guardian," he is designed to absorb massive amounts of damage and outfitted with everything needed to repair himself and other robots around him. Meltdown is all about controlling the battlefield and in addition to his durability and repair capabilities he can also paralyze and repel opponents.

His in-game Weapons are the Protex Rocket Launcher, Boraya Beam Gun, and Starstream Beam Gun. His multipurpose-utility-vehicle mode can fire long-ranged rockets that damages shields.

His in-game abilities are:

Beam Polarizer — when activated, Meltdown's Starstream Beam Gun boosts the damage of allies he's using it on, or dampens the damage inflicted by enemies he's shooting with it.

Repulsor Probe — drops a thumper probe which periodically causes vibrations which repel enemies.

Beam Protector — when active, if Meltdown fires either of his beam guns, his defenses are boosted.

His active subsystem is "Positronic Conduit" which repairs him for a percentage of damage.

“Meet the rainmaker.”

—Bulkhead

Like the tropical storm he is named after, Monsoon is not an Autobot you want to stand in the way of when he rolls onto the battlefield. At close range or a distance, this colossal fighter rains down destruction on the enemy, and after the fight’s done he uses his skills to heal up his comrades.

Monsoon was first revealed during Jagex's Twitch live stream on May 13th, 2014. It was also revealed that he would be one of the three starting Autobots you can choose, alongside Triage and Overclock.[2]

His in-game weapons are the Maelstrom Minigun, Gale Grenade Launcher, and Atlantean Axe. Transforming into an off road truck, Monsoon's alternate mode is armed with a rocket launcher that damages spark.

His in-game abilities are:

Primal Rage — "channels the essence of Primus into his spark chamber" and gives him a damage boost.

Climate Controller — gives repairs over time by optimizing his systems to work better depending on the weather.

Wind Tunnel — increases Monsoon's movement speed.

His active subsystem is "Mutual Affection", which increases the defence of any ally that heals him.

“Outsider and I share the belief that actions speak louder than words.”

—Optimus Prime

Outsider seems to have not quite fully grasped Earth culture. Despite his eccentric choice of alt mode, he is a bit of an antisocial lone-wolf. You're more likely to see him using his unique abilities to trap Decepticons in a small arena and then teleporting behind them than sitting around having a spark-to-spark.

His in-game weapons include the Luminal Laser Rifle, Apex Pistols, and Aquila Heavy Grenade Launcher. Transforming into a surfer bus, he uses a grenade launcher.

His in-game abilities are:

Unstable Receiver — creates a GroundBridge exit portal, which repairs Outsider and his allies while they're near it.

Localized Groundbridge — so long as a receiver is in range, GroundBridges Outsider to it and gives him the ability to spot cloaked enemies.

Matter Anchor — creates a gravity well to which nearby enemies are pulled.

His subsystem passive is "Servo Feedback", which slows down enemies using melee attacks.

He was apparently leaked after a couple of users on the Transformers Universe forums began tweaking around with the generic web address for all the model images for Autobot and Decepticon Warriors.[2][3]

#Transformers Universe #Transformers Prime #Transformers Aligned #aligned continuity #Transformers #TFP #TFU #Autobots #maccadam #video game #video games

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ut-poppy-askblog · 8 months ago

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New to this blog, so sorry if I’m missing a few points, but I was wondering if Core is able to enter the current Dreamtale, considering the state it’s in, would they be affected by the mass negative energy? If they can enter, do they just choose not to BECAUSE they can be affected?

What’s the take on letting survivors from Dreamtale that have been affected by the negativity like those wandering husks into the OT?

In general, for timelines that have survivors but they have some sort of deadly virus like infection that has something to do with their universe, would they be allowed in?

So for the first point, I don't think Core is affected by it. On account of the whole being omnipresent, I don't think they could be conceibably affected by the overwhelming negative energy. Like how core used to be scared of guns when they were alive, but they became desensitized when Omnipresent. Maybe if the negativity affected all of the multiverse, it'd do something.

On the matter of the husks, I consulted with my resident Dreamtale expert, and since the husks aren't capable of thought, it's probably a fool's errand to try and save them. Maybe Core would give it a shot, probably not- I don't know enough.

As for that last question, they'd probably try to accomodate them as much as possible. Like, maybe give them some magic shielding so they won't affect anyone, or just remove their infection outright (after all, there are some of the brightest minds in the multiverse working in the OT, someone's ought to figure it out).

#ooc ask #anon #ot poppy story #core frisk #dreamtale #ask

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rjzimmerman · 1 month ago

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In eagle nirvana, avian flu is decimating America’s national bird. (Washington Post)

Excerpt from this Washington Post story:

The research boat thumped over the waves on a crisp June morning, spraying William Bowerman as he peered into 136 square miles of lakes and a cerulean sky in Voyageurs National Park.

“This is my favorite day of the year, because I’m here in eagle nirvana,” said Bowerman, a bald-eagle researcher who has been coming to these waters for half of his 63 years.

He spoke nostalgically of recent summers when you could scale a 70-foot white pine, peer over the edge of a massive nest and observe healthy brown eaglets. And from that perch, you could see the next eagle nest a mile away, and beyond it a third.

But as Bowerman and his colleagues monitored the status of the park’s bald eagles on this perfect morning, they were finding no young birds — just empty nests and the occasional adult.

Seventeen years after the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from the endangered species list, signaling the comeback of an iconic species, a new enemy is stalking our national bird. Not lead from duck-hunter bullets, not DDT from insecticides, not PCBs from industrial polluters.

The enemy this time is avian influenza.

In Northern Michigan, where Bowerman, a University of Maryland professor, has spent 40 years continuing a long-running bald-eagle census, the number of occupied eagle nests had risen from 52 in 1961 to 114 in 1984 and about 1,000 by the end of 2021. Late that year, highly pathogenic avian influenza reached North America.

The impact was immediate and devastating. In 2022, the number of occupied nests plunged 50 percent. Tests on dead bald eagles performed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources revealed that 38 percent of those that could be diagnosed had died of avian influenza.

In Minnesota, however, there are no comprehensive figures on the impact of the disease because the state does not collect all dead eagles for necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy.

Nationwide, avian influenza has killed at least 606 bald eagles in 45 states, according to findings from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the Department of Agriculture. And those are just the eagles whose remains have been recovered and tested; experts believe they represent only a small fraction of the true toll.

“The warning bell has been rung,” said Peter Nye, who started organizing New York state’s bald-eagle restoration program in 1975 when the state had just a single pair. When he retired in 2010, the number had risen to an estimated 450.

In Florida and Georgia, avian influenza has caused an alarming rate of bald eagle deaths and nest failures, researchers wrote in January 2023 in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. Nest success rates — the percentage that result in the birth of eaglets that learn to fly — dropped in the two-hardest hit Georgia counties, Camden and Glynn, by 43 percent and 62 percent respectively in 2022.

Eagles were nesting when the virus began to overrun the population.

“Waterfowl were dying, and the eagles were eating the waterfowl,” said Nicole Nemeth, lead author of the paper and head of the research and diagnostic service at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia. The study, launched in 1957, receives dead wildlife from 17 states and has helped researchers evaluate the broader impact of avian influenza.

As dead eagles came into the study in 2022, the organizers heard the same basic story again and again.

“‘This was a nesting adult. We found it dead. A day or two later, we found the mate dead, and then the chicks died.’ It was sad, depressing, alarming,” Nemeth said. “It was like you were trying to sleep at night, and you just could not get out of your mind the fact that these birds were dropping dead.”

In a graphic video accompanying the journal study, an eagle infected with avian influenza jerked its head frantically and beat its wings, unable to rise more than a few feet from the ground.

Nemeth and her colleagues concluded that the eagle losses from avian flu offer a broader picture of the disease’s impact, “an early horizon scan of an emerging threat to populations of predatory and scavenging birds across North America.” Hundreds of hawks and owls have already been felled by the disease, according to federal figures.

#avian flu #bald eagle

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gumjrop · 7 months ago

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The Weather

Similar to this time last year, COVID wastewater levels in many states have decreased and now remain at low levels except for the states of Tennessee and Missouri, which are at high levels. Arkansas, Alabama, Delaware, Minnesota, and Virginia have moderate viral levels detected by wastewater surveillance. This reminds us that it is important to continue the practice of precautions, especially among those most vulnerable to a COVID infection.

When considering trends in wastewater levels across all four regions, they have stopped decreasing as seen in the provisional data (gray shaded area). The national wastewater levels are indicated as “Low.” While lower wastewater levels indicate decreased spread, the risk for infection remains moderate especially as current wastewater levels remain slightly higher than previous low periods.

Wins

During the past few weeks, we have taken several actions against removing vital public health measures, especially the change in COVID isolation guidelines. This included the People’s CDC press conference from March 13, a recording and our press release are available. We also have a pre-proof of the People’s CDC External Review in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Focus that additionally highlights the shortcomings of the CDC’s approach to public health and recommends a more equitable pandemic response. This week, we have assembled an expert letter asking the CDC to correct their COVID isolation guidelines.

Community groups continue to show us that it is possible to push back against corporate efforts to further privatize healthcare – and win. In Massachusetts, the Boston Center for Independent Living and SEIU 1199 led a successful drive to prevent cuts to publicly funded personal care attendants (PCAs) for disabled people. When we fight, we win.

Variants

Currently, JN.1 remains the dominant variant in the US, and is 83.7% of circulating variants as of 4/13/2024, down from 88.5% on 2/3/2024. JN.1.13 has increased to 9.1%, up from 0.7% on 2/3/2024. Other variants comprise 7.2% of the remaining total. A recent study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, provided additional information on recent COVID variants that shed higher levels of wastewater; however, this cannot discount that COVID transmission remains at higher risk during rises in wastewater levels.

Hospitalizations

Total new hospital admissions caused by COVID have decreased to 7,318 during the week of April 6, 2024. Although the number of new hospital admissions are lower than the past, many counties in the US continue to experience increases in new hospital admissions. Over 25% of all counties are experiencing an increase in new COVID hospital admissions between the last week of March 2024 and the first week of April 2024. Most concerning, we still do not know the total number of hospital-acquired infections, since reporting over these numbers halted in May 2023. Despite this decrease in new hospital admissions and wastewater levels are currently at low levels nationwide, total hospitalizations do not completely reflect the current amount of circulating virus.

Prevention and Precautions

The CDC recently released guidelines to improve ventilation and implementation of air purification to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, specifically airborne pathogens. A group of scientists have also jointly published a policy statement in the academic journal Science supporting the establishment of higher standards for ventilation and the importance of air purification in indoor settings. Two studies published in the last month have validated the significance and value of both ventilation and air purification in schools and childcare centers to prevent the spread of COVID.

Vaccine uptake remains limited. Only 22.8% of adults and 14.1% of children have received the updated COVID vaccine as of 4/11/2024 - a slight increase from 21.1% of adults and 12.8% of children on 3/10/2024. The Bridge Program remains available for those underinsured or without insurance for no-cost access to these vaccines, but may end December 31, 2024.

Long COVID

Senator Bernie Sanders, as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee, proposed draft legislation to address Long COVID. This proposal aims to allocate $1 billion annually for a decade to the NIH for Long COVID research, establish a centralized research entity and advisory board, create a rapid grant process for clinical trials, develop a patient data database, and enhance public education on Long COVID. We ask that you share your thoughts to their official contact by email specifically on allocating funding for effective treatments and specific measures in the prevention of Long COVID by April 23, 2024. Currently, Long COVID Alliance has compiled a list of active opportunities in studies and clinical trials that people with Long COVID may participate in, which may help the clinical community contribute knowledge of Long COVID and potentially support the development of effective treatments.

Take Action

An invaluable home-based program that supports testing, evaluation, and treatment for COVID, Test to Treat program, is ending on April 16, 2024. Send a letter to your local representatives to ask them to help save the program that helps so many at-risk people!

It’s been over a month since the CDC released new, irresponsible guidelines on COVID isolation which are not substantiated by scientific evidence. Our fight to take public health out of the hands of corporate interests and protect our collective well-being continues. As part of our strategy to push back, we’ve put together an expert letter to CDC Director Mandy Cohen telling her to reinstate science-based COVID isolation guidelines. We urge the CDC to consider the highly variable length of infectiousness in their recommendations and to adopt a test-based approach for ending isolation. This letter is for public health professionals, scientists, healthcare workers, disability advocates, and others who consider themselves experts in public health. Sign this letter asking the CDC to correct their updated COVID isolation guidelines.

Avian Flu (Awareness Update)

The People’s CDC is monitoring Avian Influenza (AKA “Bird Flu”) as it has been spreading in many avian and mammalian species around the world at alarming rates. The current strain of concern is subtype H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b and is highly pathogenic in poultry, causing systemic infections and rapid onset of illness and death among avian species (1). As such, this is called a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This specific clade emerged in 2020 and has now been detected on every continent (2,3,4, 5). Over 500 species of birds and 360 species of other animals have been infected worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of wild animals have died from avian influenza since its emergence in 2020 (1, 6). Here in the U.S., at least 28 outbreaks have occurred in cattle farms (6, 7).

While human cases remain low, case fatality in humans has historically been around 50% (6). The outbreak among many non-bird animals is alarming and allows for opportunities for viral mutations that may lead to further infections among humans (1,6). The ecological consequences of such mass death around the world are currently unknown but guaranteed to be devastating as food webs are severely disrupted and conservation efforts suffer (1, 5). Humans are already feeling the direct impact of this as farmers are forced to cull entire flocks of poultry to control the spread, which may result in increased prices in the food supply (6). Humans will probably continue to feel the impacts of this historic spread, regardless of the number of human cases. We will continue to monitor the situation and share updates as the situation develops.

UC Davis

CDC

Viruses

Nature

Vox

BNO News

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beardedmrbean · 1 month ago

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Zooplankton—tiny aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria—are ineffective at removing fecal microorganisms from sewage-contaminated water, according to a new study.

The findings challenged the assumptions of the researchers that these tiny animals could act as natural cleaners by inactivating harmful pathogens in freshwater and saltwater environments.

The hypothesis was that zooplankton would consume or neutralize fecal microorganisms, potentially reducing the risk to human health after water contamination. But the results told a different story.

"I was expecting to see a negative effect associated with the plankton present, but if anything, we saw a very small positive effect from the presence of plankton for a few locations sampled, which suggests that the pathogens in some cases are actually protected while associated with the plankton," the study's corresponding author, Lauren Kennedy, told Newsweek. "That surprised me the most."

The team's research comes at a crucial time. A 2017 U.S. water quality report found that over 50 percent of rivers, bays and estuaries were unsafe for at least one use, with fecal contamination being a major factor.

This poses serious health risks when humans are exposed to untreated water, which can occur due to sewage leaks, inadequate water treatment or corroded infrastructure.

In their experiment, the researchers added two common proxies for fecal contamination—E. coli bacteria and MS2, a virus commonly found in sewage—to water samples from the San Francisco Bay area.

These samples contained both large particles, such as zooplankton, and smaller, dissolved materials like salt.

Surprisingly, they found that the zooplankton had little effect on reducing the presence of the contaminants. Instead, higher salinity levels were linked to greater inactivation of the harmful microorganisms. Ocean water taken from San Pedro Beach, for example, showed that the pathogens were inactivated.

However, as the study wasn't designed to specifically test the effects of salinity, it's not possible to attribute the trends with absolute certainty.

"Regardless, I think implications are that salinity is a complex but important factor that needs to be assessed, for example, when trying to predict how long after a contamination event there will be an elevated risk of swimming in the water," Kennedy said.

The findings are particularly significant for water quality management. Many areas across the U.S. face frequent sewage spills, and local governments rely on natural processes to treat water contamination when resources for intervention are limited. The assumption that zooplankton might help in this process, however, may no longer hold water.

Kennedy added, "In the U.S., we handle the issue of pathogen pollution by allowing people who put wastewater into natural water bodies a certain level of pollutant that can be detected in the water body per day to ensure a lower human health risk.

"These thresholds are difficult to calculate and heavily dependent on the environmental conditions in the water body. This study provides an example for how to assess the effect of large particles, including plankton, when attempting to calculate these values and demonstrates the importance of particle characterization in environmental water bodies."

Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Do you have a question about the sewage spills? Let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

References

Kennedya, L. C., Mattisa, A. M., & Boehma, A. B. (2024). You can bring plankton to fecal indicator organisms, but you cannot make the plankton graze: particle contribution to E. coli and MS2 inactivation in surface waters. mSphere. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00656-24

#nunyas news

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sugolara · 4 months ago

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𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚

ft. Shota Aizawa x daughter! reader

Synopsis: After a deadly virus leaks all over the world, Shota Aizawa and his eldest daughter must survive from the flesh eating monsters in hopes that Eri is still alive. Cw: gore, quirkless! au, apocalypse! au, zombie! au, weapons, death, angst, blood, cannibalism, suicidal thoughts, cross-posted on ao3, wattpad, qoutev

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“Careful and don’t be scared.”

A month had gone by and they had no casualties which was a good thing. A family had managed to find the apartment complex and after placing them in quarantine—which was the laundry room—they now resided and were welcomed home.

The husband of the new family was a military man who disbanded from his work the second the disease hit so he could save his family. Since he was expert in holding weapons, he along with Toshinori would scavenge and take out the dead that got close to the gates. His asset was needed as people felt comfortable and safe to know someone from the military was here.

During the month, the small community would join and eat together. They would place tables and chairs from the spare rooms and with the help of the gates being covered with curtains they didn’t have a worry especially with those still on lookout.

Kids would play and run around while the adults would cook and talk among each other. Some teenagers like F/n and Hitoshi would sneak out to the back of the apartment where a small little section with a broken volleyball net was placed. However, their location was always discovered by Shota who crossed his arms as he gave F/n a scolding look and she mumbled out an apology.

They ended up laughing at her when she left with her father. Hitoshi always followed along as he didn’t want to be without. He felt safe around her, despite how reckless she may be. She also had her moment that made him crack a smile and a laugh.

The small section was also where Itsuka was buried. After F/n had told Shota about the death of his student and how the girl deserved a proper burial he and Hizashi found a broken wooden gate behind the apartment where they found the small section of dirt.

The section had a pathway that connected to the apartments. With the wind blowing, it made the section beautiful as the willow tree would sway and the unkept dry grass with a few leaves would fly in the air.

Ituska was buried underneath the tree. A vase with a flower was placed above her grave and those who knew her, which consisted of F/n, Shota, Hitoshi, Nemuri, Hizashi, and Toshinori would visit her. No words were spoken but they made sure to keep her grave neat and come by to replace the flower once it began to wither.

Itsuka’s home was no longer vacant and instead was boarded up as some people thought that since she had died there her disease that caused her to die would spread. No matter how many times Toshinori would tell them that she had died from her wound not healing properly they wouldn’t understand.

It did make Hitoshi feel hurt, but he’s been getting better. In fact, he's getting better at using the bow and knife with the help of Shota and F/n. He’ll always fear the dead, but at least he isn’t that scared to get close to it and end its suffering. He’s also gotten real close to F/n and unknowingly a feeling towards her entered him.

“We know dad.” F/n muttered as she approved behind a dead and kicked the back of its feet. Once it fell to its knee she stabbed it dead and removed her knife as blood gushed out, “We’ve been doing this for the past week.”

“I don’t think I'll ever get used to it.” Hitoshi mumbled as he copied her motion and watched the dead fall. He sneered when he accidently stepped on some blood.

“You have to.” Shota said as he looked towards the street where they stood. A lonely dead was coming their way. Behind them were a few lying corpses that F/n and Hitoshi killed, “If you plan on coming with me to look for stuff you won’t have time to hesitate. You need to be alert and on the edge.”

“What if we want to use guns?” F/n asked as she eyed his hip. She had given him the guns she had previously found as she wasn’t allowed to hold one, “When will you teach us that?”

“When you pass your first lesson.” He responded, the bag on his shoulder being adjusted.

Hitoshi glanced at the dead near his feet before looking down the street, “How far are we going?”

“Why?” Shota continued to walk, “You want to stop? Feeling tired?”

“No…” Hitoshi grumbled out, though he was feeling tired and his body sweating was rather annoying, but he wasn't going to voice that out as he enjoyed the time with his teacher and F/n, “It’s just, it looks like the sun is going down and we haven’t had time to practice with the bow. I feel like I’ve been getting better, but I’m not that good to be where F/n is at.”

The girl beside him glanced at him. He had been getting better, it’s true, but it took time for her to get at the level she’s in. She’s been practicing since middle school and if it weren’t for the outbreak she would have gone international and gotten plenty of scholarships to travel out of Japan. Heck, she probably would’ve met the person who she admired and the reason why she decided to pursue archery.

“You don’t have to be at the same level as her. All that matters is that you can defend yourself.” Shota stopped and pointed to the lonely dead, “Your kill Hitoshi.”

The male stepped out as he approached the dead. Thankfully its arms were missing and with one kick at the back its knees, he plunged his knife to the head. The knife had gotten stuck, which commonly happens, the process to remove it however is disgusted as blood squirts out.

“Prepare yourself for tomorrow.” Shota began to walk back to the complex with the other two following, “We’re going to leave and pull an all-nighter.”

“Really!?” F/n eyes shined as she grinned.

Hitoshi’s brows furrowed, “Wait, an all-nighter? We’re going to stay outside for an entire night? What are we going to do? And will it only be us?”

Shota nodded, “Hizashi and Nemuri will follow along, but they won’t be near us. As for what we’ll be doing, we’re also gathering items and perfecting our aims. Which means, dying is not a choice. Do I make myself clear?”

He turned to them. Two of the people he favored for different reasons stared back at him with determined looks. Yes, going outside especially at night with no coverage is not a good idea. In fact, it's a terrible idea, but the dead don’t normally seem to be active.

They look as if they're sleeping just like any other human which is bizarre. It had Shota believing that their consciousness is still there, barely, but there. It was actually sad. The last thing he needed was to hear a rotter cry because they are reliving their past life.

“Understood!” They shouted and soon arrived at the complex. With the entry gate closing they made their way to the managers room where they dropped their weapons and headed to the makeshift sink that was placed in the main area before heading to the parking lot where everyone else was gathering for dinner.

As Hitoshi and F/n sat in their regular spot, Shota washed his hands and began to cut the rest of the vegetables, helping Nemuri. Every now and then he could see his daughter enjoying herself.

“She’s a quick learner.” Nemuri spoke as she wiped the kitchen knife on a rag, before grabbing the peeled potatoes, “I don’t see why you won’t let her start holding a gun. Her archery skills are amazing, just imagine that but with a gun.”

He grabbed a potato from a watered bowl, droplets of water collected on the table surface. He eyed Neumri, her glasses still cracked, “We're slowly getting there.”

“How slow?” She said, peering back at the potatoes, “If anything were to happen, she’d be a great asset in helping and who knows when the day will come when she won’t have you to always protect her. You’ve always been a reasonable man.”

He knows that. Of course he knows that he won’t always be around and if that day ever came and they had not yet found that perfect sanctuary where Eri is, she wouldn’t know what to do. Who knows if Hizashi, Nemuri and Toshinori would still be around, but even if they were they each had to protect themselves.

He was stalling. Why? That he doesn’t know.

He let out a soft sigh and glanced at his daughter who was playing tic-tac-toe with Hitoshi, “Actually, tomorrow I planned on doing so. The military man helped me with everything I needed to know so there’s no issue in not knowing. What I'm concerned about is the noise. If a horde happens to be near us everything could go wrong.”

“That's just a gamble we’ll have to take.” She said, a foreign look in her eyes, “The most important thing is that you still have her.”

His eyes rolled over to her, “When do you think will be the right to leave?”

Nemuri let out a sigh and smiled at him, “I was thinking about it after the next hunt. The manager's room is stocked with supplies, so there's no need to worry about these people surviving on scraps. We’ll take some along with the guns and head out. The military man handed me the map of which route he was supposed to take. I don’t think his wife likes me very much.”

She muttered the last part which amused the male. Nemuri might come off strong and her flirtatious behavior does little help, “I can see the stink eye she’s giving you.”

“What? Really?” Nemuri looked around, her eyes slightly widening, “I didn’t know he was married.”

That emitted a laugh from him.

#shota x reader #aizawa shota x you #shota aizawa x reader #aizawa x reader #hitoshi x reader #shinsou x y/n #shinso x reader #nemuri kayama

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darkmaga-returns · 23 days ago

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The HPV vaccine contains fragments of viral DNA, but FDA says it does not pose a risk to recipients

Maryanne Demasi, PhD

Oct 16, 2024

Over the last two years, cancer genomic experts have raised concerns about the presence of residual DNA fragments in the mRNA covid-19 vaccines, saying that it has potential to increase the risk of developing cancer.

This mirrors the concerns raised several years ago about the safety of the Gardasil Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, manufactured by Merck & Co.

In 2011, Sin Hang Lee, a pathologist and 30-year veteran in DNA analysis, made the startling discovery of synthetic DNA fragments in several vials.

“I was shocked to find DNA fragments in the HPV vaccine because DNA is not supposed to be there,” Lee recalls.

“They use DNA to make the vaccine, but then it is supposed to be chopped up and removed in the manufacturing process,” he said.

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despair-to-future-arcs · 1 year ago

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Chiaki?

No problem and... sorry, I can't be of much help but that's the only way to bring them back without hurting them...

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

...

So... how long would this take to be exact to get everyone back?

Well given everything I'm working on from security to therapy sessions I think safest bet to get at least one person back would be a month or 2 and that be if I don't get any sleep

And even if we had another programmer on the island; it would take about a couple weeks to a month - the process to manually remove the despair from those in the simulation would be quite long and tedious to do as you would need to be extra careful as going through this could harm them.

As say, while Chiaki and Usami could help with removing the despair, it'll take a while especially if there's an expert programmer...

So it's gonna take long,... damn, who knew putting in a virus like this leave so much damage too.

So it would take a month, hm? Then... is there a faster way to get them all back?

Well... there is one solution...

And it does involve Hajime Hinata or should I say... Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope.

Huh? You mean... me...?

#dr #danganronpa #dtfa #despair to future arc #sdr2 #super danganronpa 2 #dr:thh #danganronpa: trigger happy havoc #chiaki nanami #hajime hinata #akane owari #nagi nanami #alter ego #kazuichi souda #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #anonymous #ds:rw #despair side: re write #ds ep 3

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backgroundnoisewithaview · 2 years ago

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It's ME/CFS awareness day.

I would like those who can, to read this.

And for those who can't, i'll try and summarise.

For many years, CFS/ME was psychopathologised and the symptoms people suffered were completely dismissed. People with ME were bullied and ignored, and then tortured with so called treatment plans that made them sicker, and written off completely because it made them sicker.

In the last 8 years, a large body of patients, with medical researchers and other medical experts who were not happy with the biased and flawed trials into ME/CFS that stated it was "psychological disorder", all worked together to debunk those trials, the results of them, and the treatments devised from them. Their aim was to get NICE, USIOM and WHO to accept the new evidence that this is a post-infection neurological disorder caused by a virus changing our physiology, not simply psychosomatic.

And just a couple of years ago, NICE, the NHS, USIOM and WHO (and i assume others around the world) listened to the science that proved everything that sufferers of CFS/ME said, was in fact true all along, and the people were right, and officially they re-categorised CFS/ME correctly as a nuerological disorder. They were a bit slower but eventually they did remove PACE, GET and CMT from the recommended treatment plans for it.

PACE - stood for Paced, Activity, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Evaluation, which basically had people do exercise and undergo CBT to "understand" they weren't sick, they were just clinging on to the idea of being sick. They felt tired because they slept too much, they slept too much because their body was deconditioned. The idea was that the proof was in the pudding, once people saw they could be healthy, they became healthy. It made people sicker because they were infact, not clinging on to the idea of being sick, they were just plain old sick.

GET - similar to Pace, it stood for Graded Exercise Therapy. The idea that you go from your state of being and slowly introduce more activity every day, every week, every month until you're all better. So if you were bedbound, you would sit up for maybe 5 minutes a day one week and increase it to 6 the next and then increase every other day and then every day until you can stand up right and move around etc without any PEM. If you could already stand and walk then the idea was you stood up and walked more, you introduced more intense exercises like jogging and swimming. Guess what? People got sicker.

I went through "combined therapy" which mixed GET with art therapy, talking therapy, and meditation. Attending and attempting it all made me so sick for well over a year that my GP tested me for various cancers and inflammatory disorders. Amazingly as soon as I stopped trying to do what was "normal", and listened to my body when it needed rest, I stopped being so sick.

#ME/CFS Awareness Day

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yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit · 3 months ago

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I go into my winter hibernation, stocked up for 6-8 months. As usual.

I drop off tumblr because mentions of some virus happening again get too triggering. I didn't consciously make the decision to log off, it just happened.

This is going to sound made up but hear me out.

I spend my winter hearing weird noises but relieved when my neighbours stop blowing shit up at night over my window and stop running the water on me. Stop making smoke and smells that come down through my ceiling. I think they moved out. I saw trucks and bags and boxes.

I do not immediately notice when the garbage and recycling stop coming by because I only put out a small bag and it's probably dragged off by animals by the next week. The recycling schedule being this fucked seems a bit odd, but it seems to be happening to everyone.

It's weird how many wild dogs and such are happening by my camera, but it's happened before. It isn't totally new and this winter is kind of harsh.

I text my neighbour who likes to check on me but they don't reply.

I come out in spring.

Where are all the people at.

There's environmental story telling all over with some bodies. They seem to congregate where I know snow banks build up in winter. Interesting. Unsettling.

There are bite marks on the bodies.

They all look human.

The bite marks do.

I keep expecting somehow, to see zombies -as if that's not insane- but everyone who's still out is quite too rotted to move and has been thawed long enough to no longer be contagious.

Grocery store is abandoned.

Walmart is too but I go through their hunting section for unexpected supplies.

I take a new batch of supplies home without paying. Fuck it.

I log back online. I message my online friends. It's normal for me to vanish for a month or more at a time, but they were worried this time even knowing me. They are relieved I am not dead. again.

Apparently, there was a zombie apocalypse?

I make sure I have appropriate armour in addition to the weapons in case there's a pocket of surviving zombies anywhere but the experts say that the virus has pretty much burned itself out and there hasn't been new infected in at least two months.

I still install a metal grate on the inside of my windows.

I am still getting my cheques because they are automatic.

I can't reach my landlord at all so I stop paying rent.

I try to get in contact with other survivors and start making plans for how to deal with bodies and etc once enough time has passed that it's 100% safe, but what's left of the CDC is already putting together teams to recover bodies and remove them, and the only reason why some were left here was on account of the snow. I never got very far anyway, because no one I tried to reach out to offline answered me.

I still haven't heard from my family. Not since I ignored the first text. But in my defense, all the text said was "so are you alive?" which is also what my mother last texted me a week or two after I had asked her to check on me daily while I was suffering repeated heart attacks, and what my sister usually texts me to act passive aggressive about the fact that we haven't spoken in a few years because she stopped answering me after some episode of verbal abuse... So yeah, I ignored the text and when I didn't get a text on my birthday I didn't think too much of it. It seems like more passive aggressive bullshit and didn't bother saying anything useful like "hey so there are zombies now and everyone is dying and I know we agreed not to speak but are you okay?"... I check and see it's my sister who sent it, I reply now but I have no idea if there will ever be an answer.

At least tumblr has a fairly complete record of events.

Apparently, not only were there zombies, but it was caused by a new covid variant and people were as stupid about it as usual, and only started caring when people were literally turning into the walking dead... A full month or two after initial infection. So by the time there were actual zombies, most of the people who were going to be infected had already all carelessly infected each other. Not to mention the month and a half or so wasted on everyone trying to pretend the 'zombie' illness was unrelated to covid. Something about viral encephalitis causing symptoms similar to rabies and prion disease. Everyone having contact with anyone pretty much got it within the two or three months before they knew what it would cause and how untreatable it is. There were three entire people who hadn't died yet after coming down with symptoms now in special care units being filled with antivirals and whatever else. A very small handful of people who got vaccinated often enough for enough variants seemed to be immune, or resistant to small exposures. Less than one in 100 000. No word yet on if they were asymptomatic carriers now like the viruses history would seem to suggest but they've been recommended to self isolate.

The world's population was decimated within the first two or three months, again when the first zombies unexpectedly started biting and attacking people, and again when people refused to go into lockdown and kept taking stupid risks. Before the first run of one of these viruses I wouldn't have expected so many people to be this stupid, but after living in corona land for the first 5 years? Unsurprised. When I read surviving groups were convincing themselves the zombies were a government conspiracy to force vaccination? Unsurprised. When I read people took up the attitude that having previous infections would obviously make them immune? When they started trying to argue children couldn't get it, couldn't spread it? Unsurprised. When people started making the argument that the weak should perish as zombies and everyone left could rebuild? Un-fucking-surprised. Reading none of this is remotely surprising.

Really didn't work out for them this time.

I wonder how many of them wished they bothered wearing masks or putting a pause on their attempts to hook up.

I also wasn't surprised to read how many people had tried to re-congregate and rebuild a "new normal" as quickly as possible, despite being advised not to, who ended up causing new outbreaks in these little emerging communities. Anyone who's left by now has learned to stay spread out.

I didn't know anyone here anyway, save for my nosy neighbour, and apparently they'd left town. They eventually answered to say they were with someone a province away. They hadn't realized why I was asking about the garbage... That I didn't know.

How could I not know?

Me especially.

Like yes. I smelled the death, but I assumed a neighbour might have passed away, texted my landlord about it and tried to contact the police, it wasn't my place to risk my life busting into someone else's apartment to check on the smell.

And yeah I heard the noise, but like... Have you heard how rowdy people get under normal circumstances in this neighbourhood? How loudly people yell strange things at night and how often there are sirens? I just figured it was none of my business. Shots and explosions right outside my window? My upstairs neighbours have me used to that, especially late at night and in the weird hours of the morning.

The world ate itself while I spent the winter playing games, sewing, cleaning my apartment and eating olives and tuna directly from the can.

I research all the animals that were able to get other covid variants and what's happening with them. Seems like a similar story to what happened with humans, the members that got infected did, and if there were isolated populations left there was no one left alive -or almost alive- to spread it to them.

I think the people that are left will take studying this virus and vaccination against it seriously. I think we'll social distance okay and wear masks. I think we'll wipe out the virus this time for good, whatever is left of us. Whatever is left of it.

I'll have to start growing my own food again. Rationing what frozen meat I can gather up until I can set up to do some fishing and trapping. I might even hot-wire a camper or something and -able, or licensed to, drive or not- get myself set up someplace other than my apartment, some place with more room to grow food. Further into the forest.

The local radio stations are dead. The radio stations from nearby larger areas are all just giving weather updates, emergency warnings, government updates and playing whatever the hell they wanted. I should have checked the radio months ago. I didn't know and no one told me.

I go out of my way to get a ham radio -there's lots of abandoned tech around, new in the package- and start putting out a broadcast to the local area with my number to call in to so I can look for other survivors in the area. I start looking into how to maintain enough internet access to keep connected. Thankfully cell services still work and so does cellular internet.

When I am sure it's safe I figure out how to drive and start cautiously canvassing the area for any hens or livestock that have been left unattended. It doesn't really matter if I am a shit driver or half blind. I can go slow, and who am I going to hit?

I find out the new housing policy when my housing specific benefit gets cut 3 years early. If you find a house marked as unclaimed and file for it. You get it. There aren't enough people left for there to be market competition. They didn't want to encourage anyone to fight over property, if there's enough people left for that, by having no official process, but really who's going to deny someone a home now. There's hardly anyone left to go through and make sure the gas and water in each property are maintained enough to not cause system wide failures.

I would apply to periodically monitor houses in the area, and they might call me up if they run out of personnel, but I was disabled enough not to work before all of the pandemics. Instead I track down a house half way off into the woods with no gas line and a wood stove, access to a well. Internet. For now. I start looking into sourcing more serious solar power, but for now I grab up every solar garden light I can find. I don't think I can rely on their being infrastructure or local shops anymore. Not this far out. It's going to be delivery from big shipping services, or self-sufficiency.

I do register with the closest health center as a patient, in place of people having family doctors in an area this dispersed, but I don't suspect they'll be more helpful to me now than they were before. I finally concede to paying for a bank account that has a proper line of credit attached to be accepted online, and there are finally cellular internet prices that makes sense in Canada.

The time comes that I could join other people, but I don't. It wasn't safe for me before and I hardly trust it after the literal zombies. I was fine in my apartment and I'll be fine in my house.

I guess the 5-10 year plan and all the saving up really didn't impact anything?

At least I can walk down the street and to the store safely without even really -needing- the mask, anymore. There's no one left here to spread it. I still keep the mask on, and there's nothing left at the store anyway.

When the zombie apocalypse came, you were prepared. What you weren’t prepared for was how quickly it ended.

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