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aconstantstateofbladerunner · 4 years

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101 Open MHA Gen Prompts

I had a very long ask game where people gave me fake titles and I came up with fic ideas to go with them. Multiple people asked to use some of them as prompts, and some of my friends have lately maligned the lack of gen prompts out there, so I decided to compile them all into a single post. Almost all of these are gen, aka not shipping, but you can do what you want I’m not your boss. Everything is free and open to use WITH CREDIT, so have fun with my word vomit.

1. In Dreams I Had the Sun - Being the number one hero isn’t all it’a cracked up to be, Toshinori realizes early on

2. The Chainlink Fence that Held the Ocean - In his new book post-retirement, All Might opens up about his regrets, struggles with mental health, and his issues with the hero system as a whole. The backlash is swift and intense.

3. Welcome to the Loud Silence - After an injury, Izuku is rendered deaf.

4. Water Since Turned Red - After a villain attack nearly kills All Might, the beach where Izuku used to go to find comfort now feels tainted.

5. all scrap left untouched is bound together - A group hero students who failed the provincial license exam for the third time, effectively ending their careers before they start, get together to take revenge on UA’s first years who beat them out.

6. You’ve saved more more times than you know - Times All Might saved people without his powers, just by being a cool, nice dude.

7. No Amount of Tragedy Can Justify Your Actions - A dying All for One tries to justify his centuries of cruelty to an uncaring Toshinori.

8. To Leave a Cage Locked - One for All is conscious and has a will of its own, one that doesn’t always line up with Izuku’s wellbeing.

9. Okay, who let in the Kraken? - Izuku is the reincarnation of an ancient eldritch horror.

10. keep us alive up above - Izuku and Shigaraki get trapped together somewhere. Izuku knows he needs the villain’s help to survive and escape, but the other would rather they both die.

11. The world will revolve around me neither less - The ebbs and flows of AFO’s influence over the years.

12. More Roulette, Not Russian - Kids get their quirks swapped.

13. Patron Saints - Toshinori teaches a class about pre-quirk superhero comic characters and their influence.

14. Don't Come Back - Touya Todoroki’s first few weeks after a severe injury resulted in his father abandoning him.

15. The Blessed and the Fool - Toshinori meets up with a few of his ua classmates after retiring.

16. Not Your Sacrifice - Some of the other kids have started adopting some of Izuku’s self sacrificing habits and the teachers are concerned.

17. Break in the Storm - Villains use a power outage as an opening to break into ua.

18. One Day Those Consequences Will Finally Catch Up - Even though the teachers don’t take her concerns seriously, Inko saves every piece of evidence regarding people hurting her son.

19. a garden in their eyes - Izuku meets a fan who got injured after trying to step into a villain fight, just like he did, and it makes him question some things.

20. what could have been, if not for you - After Inko divorces him, Hisashi’s goes to the press to say All Might stole his wife and son.

21. Promised Misery - All Might finds out the severity of Bakugou’s bullying, and warns him he’s on thin ice with him.

22. Fly Up Higher, Blossom Brighter - Izuku has to write a paper for middle school about being positive, intercut with all the bullshit he has to deal with.

23. Libre Me from Hell - One of Izuku’s new quirks is spiral related.

24. No One to Blame but Yourself - Izuku’s kindness doesn’t extend to murderers, tragic backstory or not.

25. At Its Finest - Izuku accidentally gets involved in a hero commission coverup.

26. A Rising Issue - Izuku starts developing more severe side effects of his injuries. He’s convinced he’s under the influence of a quirk, while the adults thing he’s finally gone too far hurting himself.

27. What you are in the Dark - Izuku usually keeps most of his anger to himself until he can’t.

28. nowhere to go - Inko moves into UA after their home was destroyed.

29. Something Without - My theory about the 2 OFA vestiges that are blurred out is they don’t approve of izuku as a successor. Izuku tries to figure out why.

30. Walking with a Ghost - Toshinori joins the OFA dreams while he’s in a coma. He gets to reunite with nana, and is more open to Izuku about his past and feelings. Part of his starts to wonder if it’s worth waking up, since he will die and join the others eventually.

31. Death By Crying - Izuku is affected by a quirk that will suffocate him if he expresses any emotion.

32. Justice is Subjective - The hero commission gets to Shigaraki before AFO does.

33. Undo / Underdog - Death loop fic. Izuku keeps reliving the day he met all might after being killed by the sludge villain. he has to find a way to break the loop and survive, but he gets s little weaker every time he restarts.

34. Like Wildfire - A rumor that Izuku is All Might’s bio son picks up steam, and the characters have to decide whether to deny it but risk suspicion or play along and add a new layer to the lies protecting one for all.

35. Once Upon A December - All Might and Inko actually met in the past trope.

36. Some Legends Are Told - All Might’s first interview post-retirement.

37. Will The Real Mentor Please Stand Up - Aizawa considers himself the better teacher, but a lot of the kids seem to like All Might more.

38. I don't want the cure, I want the POISON! - Inko is killed in a hit and run, and Izuku becomes desperate to find the killer.

39. I will kill my heart before I dance on stage for these bigots - Izuku is interviewed as a rising star of UA, and the interviewer brings in some of his old bullies because they claimed to be his friends from middle school. Izuku does not play along.

40. Split Ends - A quirk gives Izuku brief visions of what would have happened if he made different decisions.

41. Dreamless Sleep - A One for All dream leaves Izuku with a cryptic half-warning, and he desperately experiments to try and figure out how to trigger the visions to get the rest of it.

42. toxic flowers and pretty blades - Young Inko escapes the constricting life of her cruel wealthy family by becoming a vigilante.

43. The Suns we Orbit - Some of the other teachers believe Izuku is too codependent on Toshinori, and separate them for a time.

44. Submerged - Similar to those buried alive fics only someone’s in a box at the bottom of the ocean.

45. Deprive - Izuku also loses his stomach to an injury, and struggles to adjust to the necessary lifestyle changes.

46. The ashes fall like snow - Post Kamino cleanup.

47. Home will always be here - Inko cares for Izuku after he’s sent home due to “trouble at work study” but he refuses to clarify what that means.

48. Playing Favorites - A look at several times where Izuku was punished, while Bakugou got off scot free.

49. Elusive Dreams - Some kind of training or issue forces the kids to stay away for several consecutive day, and they start losing it.

50. Fracture - Izuku struggles through physical therapy after a severe injury that leaves his hero career in question.

51. Starlight, Starbright - Space cadet au

52. Someone in Your Corner - Gran Torino looking after Nana, Toshi, and finally Izuku through the years.

53. I cast magic missile into the darkness - Generic “the gang plays d&d” fic.

54. One Month At A Time - Izuku breaks a limb, and has to let in heal naturally over the course of several months.

55. Head Above Water - Izuku runs out of his pain meds and can’t get access to more doses for a while, so he has to endure not only the pain, but the withdrawal symptoms.

56. Are you going to leave a path to trace - All Might uses a new strategy to try and get Izuku to be less self sacrificial: what about all the young kids who are going to look up to him?

57. The View from Halfway Down - Izuku realizes that a risky move has just landed him with a potentially life threatening injury, but the fight it still going.

58. The Dust Bites Back - A villain All Might defeated early in his career is back and out for revenge.

59. The Absence of your Worth - Nighteye thinks he’s put together a rock solid case for why izuku isn’t worthy of One for All. All Might’s response is to ask if he has something against quirkless people.

60. Behind the Screens Nobody is Afraid - All Might explains some of the context of his most popular hero videos to Izuku. They are much more tragic than the media has spun them in hindsight.

61. Under the Light of the Moon - Someone gets turned into a werewolf. And I ain’t talking the wattpad piss shit. I’m talking full-on back-breaking monstrous transformations into a bloodthirsty abomination set to Bad Moon Rising.

62. some dreams were made to be broken - Bakugou crosses a line and finally gets expelled.

63. You Say You're Into Closure - Izuku finally beats Bakugou in a one on one fight fair and square, but Bakugou is a sore loser.

64. Something or Someone Missing - AU’s memories of Izuku get wiped, but those closest to him can’t help but feel an absence.

65. Too Little Too Late - Izuku’s father returns to find he’s been replaced.

66. Collecting Dust - Inko goes through the stuff Izuku didn’t take to the dorms.

67. Where the souls of wanderers go - Toshi meets up with a retired hero support group.

68. Fragility of Trust - Suspected traitor au

69. no one answered - Izuku is trapped in a cell in a building that’s collapsing in slow motion due to a quirk.

70. Eye of the Storm - One of the other kids has a panic attack for the first time between public appearances. izuku has never seen from from the outside.

71. To Whom It May Concern - The kids find a mysterious collection of letters from previous students hidden in the ceiling of the classroom. Some are ominous, some are incomprehensible. Aizawa has no answers. They enthusiastically go to try and solve the mystery within, but that excitement quickly diminishes the more they find out.

72. Of Popsicles and Ponytails - All Might gets in a discussion with the other teachers about whether the Clark Kent glasses thing would actually work. All Might bets them it does, so he goes around town with no disguise other than his hair being up, and no one bats an eye.

73. All Men are Not Born Equal - Word gets out to the public that izuku used to be quirkless. Everyone finds out just how deep anti-quirkless sentiments run when some begin to question whether a quirkless kid should be at ua, regardless of whether or not he has a quirk now.

74. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies - Something about encountering death in person for the first time being the dividing line between child and adult.

75. Sins of the Father - All for One has had many children over the centuries, and has made numerous attempts to groom them into the ideal heir with several different methods. None of them worked though.

76. Where The Dead Come To Rest - The kids come home after a long, grueling mission where they saw some shit, and are too tired to process what they went through. They take off their gear for plain clothes, then sit in the common room in silence long into the night, not wanting to open themselves up but also not wanting to be alone.

77. Rivalry - Nighteye tries to pit Izuku and Mirio against one another. It goes right over Mirio’s head, but Izuku becomes convinced the other boy is in on Nighteye’s plan to wear him down until he gives up One for All.

78. A Subtle Language - All Might and Nana never said out loud that they loved each other, but little things told them that they did. All Might hopes to pass a similar love down to his own successor. But Izuku is very different than himself as a kid, and he needs to learn a new subtle language of affection.

79. It’s Gone - One for All stops working one day.

80. A Sight For Sore Eyes - All Might looking after Izuku in the aftermath of the second movie.

81. Loose Lips (sink ships) - Bakugou blurts out something about One for All during a rage, so the rest of the class jump on him and Izuku for answers.

82. No Expectations - Word gets out that All Might is going to choose a successor. None of the theories or speculation online resemble Izuku in the slightest.

83. Eden was Only a Garden - Izuku gets hit with a quirk that erases some of his most traumatic memories, but in doing so loses part of who he is.

84. Run it Down - With all Izuku’s new quirks and his incredible skill, some of the other students with similar powers (Iida, Sero, Uraraka) start to feel like izuku is upstaging them. And it affects their friendship.

85. Fool's Gold - Bakugou grows even more jealous of Izuku having One for All, and his relationship with All Might. He thinks that if he could just prove himself to be more worthy, All Might would change his mind and name him his successor. But in reality, he ends up jeopardizing the relationship they already have.

86. somewhere down the road - The final deadline for Nighteye’s predictions passes, and All Might lives. He debates telling Izuku, as even though it would be a weight off the boy’s mind, he doesn’t want to jinx it. He will still die eventually after all.

87. Just For You - All Might has certain rules and boundaries for fan interactions that he completely ignores for Izuku.

88. if these walls could talk (their whispers would be maddening) - Montage of training accidents in a ‘cursed’ ua gym

89. If Only I Could... - Nighteye tells Mirio about One for All, including that he thinks he’s more deserving than Izuku and he plans to pressure him into giving it up. Mirio struggles with the knowledge that his mentor, someone he respected more than anything, only saw him as a replacement for All Might, meanwhile watching Izuku strain under the pressure of that mentor’s impossible expectations.

90. This is a Test Designed to Provoke an Emotional Response - shameless Blade Runner AU

91. Once and for All - Retelling of the Superman story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” with All Might. Some new heroes use much more aggressive and violent tactics against villains while also upstaging All Might. That, and there general approval from the public cause All Might to question his moral code.

92. Sitting In The Rain - Tsuyu likes to just sit out in the rain sometimes. Not do anything, just sit there. Some friends decide to join her.

93. At Sundown - Mysterious creatures start attacking ua every night. The gang works tirelessly during the day to find the cause and a solution, while defending their school and each other at night.

94. The 1000th time's the charm - Uraraka has been practicing a new move in secret but they just can’t get it right. She wants it to be perfect before showing it off. But one attempt gets her seriously hurt while training alone at night in one of the gyms, and she’s too hurt to get up to the phone to call for help.

95. Sunflower Seeds - All Might attempts to start a garden as a new hobby.

96. What It Means To Be Human - Sun god Toshi starts living among people.

97. Eyes on Me - All Might teaches Izuku some unarmed fighting moves to defend himself from bullies.

98. one remains - Izuku has developed all but one of the quirks he’s slated to, and he has no idea what it will be. Anxiety ensues.

99. Come Back Home - Izuku vanishes from campus and everyone assumes he was kidnapped, but in reality he ran away to try and clear his head after a depressive spiral. He goes by train as far away as he can until he comes to his senses and calls the others.

100. I Won - Izuku accidentally managed to kill Shigaraki during a skirmish, and while everyone around him praises his heroics, he struggles to deal with the fact that he killed someone.

101. Ivory Tower - All Might grapples with how much izuku suffered as a quirkless person, how he could have done more for quirkless rights in his time as a hero, and how now people may not care as much because he’s retired.

Reminder to credit me if you use any of these prompts, and a special thanks to everyone who submitted titles!

#mha #bnha #mha prompts #bnha prompts #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #dad might #all might #toshinori yagi #midoriya izuku #deku #bakugou katsuki #aconstantstateoffanfiction

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valencitaflaherty · 5 years

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eyyy i got more notes on the bnha au because im bored (is it a bnha au if i’ve never actually seen bnha and just have a loose grasp on how the worldbuilding works? is it just a superhero au then? ah what the hell) - revised wolfgang’s quirk a little: instead of having to ingest any toxic substance so his blood can become a temporary antidote, he can also rely on dermal absorption if there’s a high-enough concentration of said substance in the air or if he gets dunked in it somehow, or perhaps more gruesomely, his blood can come into contact with the substance to create the antidote. i mostly made this revision just bc i think it’d be darkly humorous for one of wolfgang’s signature moves to be him going “ah fuck they’re flinging toxic sludge at me time to slice my arm open,” but i imagine you can probably make some symbolism about him giving too much of himself for the people he’s protecting since while he can’t be poisoned, he’s still vulnerable to physical trauma

- when i say raising an event’s probability beyond 50% puts a lot of strain on shin, i was thinking classic symptoms like nausea, migraines, vertigo, etc etc.. he can still function, but he’ll be a little fucked up until he has somewhere to rest. going past 75% results in collapse.

- christine probably had a regeneration quirk? idk if her old parts would rot or still be intact and therefore able to be donated to hospitals and the like just to drive home her wealthy philanthropist image and tie into wolfgang’s quirk a little more, but that’s just what she does. by contrast, his father had a poison-based quirk. dandelion was either quirkless or had like. a very mundane plant-based quirk. haha get it bc his name is. dandelion.

- the gang isn’t based in japan in this au. i didn’t really imagine them going to U.A. for some reason? like i just assumed they’d already be working as pro-heroes and also it’s during the same time period as when the main bnha kids are goin’ to school. learnin’. growin’. being bisexual probably.

#text posts #king's maker #kings maker #bnha au #long post #I GUESS.jpg

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thedurvin · 5 years

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Like ‘Stranger Things’ but for the 90s

Here’s my pitch that I’ve been brainstorming way too much and may need to actually write. Does AO3 have a section for “knockoffs of everything with a particular aesthetic”?

Setting: a small coastal town in California. A diverse group of unpopular teens [pretty much everything from the 90s had that] learn their favorite failing record store is being demolished [Empire Records] to construct a new sludge-factory for Pollutimus Inc [Captain Planet]. That night they break into the construction site to protest and discover in a secret underground chamber some ancient amulets that give them ninja powers [Power Rangers]. After taking on a few monsters-of-the-week mutated by the sludge [Ninja Turtles], including a former employee of Pollutimus that wants to help them [Toxic Avenger], they return to school and discover that the popular kids at school are being murdered one by one [Heathers] by a masked figure [Scream]. They suspect they have also accidentally unleashed the spirit of the Dark Ninja, except it turns out one of them is secretly possessed by the spirit and has been committing the murders himself without knowing it [Fight Club]. They then learn that the mutated former employee was actually an FBI mole following up on a bizarre conspiracy theory [X-Files] that Pollutimus is actually run by villains from the future trying to rid the Earth of humans [Terminator].

For the kids themselves, I figure there’s a pair of once-separated twins [Sister Sister and all those Olsen Twins movies] whose dad works at Pollutimus despite being an idiot [the Simpsons]--one twin is a medical prodigy [Doogie Howser MD] while the other is just annoying [Urkel]. Another of the gang is a streetwise kid from elsewhere sent for safety’s sake [Fresh Prince] to live with their three uncles that share a house for some reason [Full House]: the first is a manly man [Dan from Rosanne and Ed from Married With Children] with a terrible cable-access show about manliness [both Home Improvement and Wayne’s World], the second is an uptight therapist [mainly Frasier, but also all those bad psychologists from 90s movies that misunderstand the kids really badly], and the third is a lazy loser with no obvious job [Big Lebowski]. The family also has a wacky foreign nanny [cross between The Nanny and Perfect Strangers] that gradually becomes clear more is going on [initially wacky like 3rd Rock From The Sun, then gradually more X-Files-y]. One of the kids has a pet that talks (exclusively in pop culture references), although this turns out to be a horrible mutation from the sludge.

#gotta stop before i keep going #what does the dad at pollutimus work on? flubber? jurassic park? robocop?

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runusbrewblade · 5 years

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Nova Wright

Name: Nova Wright

Age: 24

Height: 5’6

Hair Color: Raven Black but dyes it purple and green

Eye color: Electric Blue

Skin Tone: Dark Tan skin with tattoos covering her.

Body type: Average with a bit of curve to her.

Home Region: Unova

Likes: Fights, Poison Pokemon, Her heritage, Lyra, Her family, Her Pokemon, Night skies, Punk Rock, tattoos, Traveling cool nights

Dislikes: Stuck ups, rich pricks, men who flirt too much, not being able to fix things, people who hurt their Pokemon

Dark Secret: Nova almost joined up with her old gang but after she saw what they had become she swore to never go back

Info: Nova is a 24-year-old Native woman of Unova. She was born and raised in the slums of Castelia city with her mother as her only form of family. Living there was no easy life, gangs, crime and city waste made day to day living a chore for the young girl. Still, she was able to toughen out and even manage to join up with the Toxic Sludge gang. Life was getting better for her but it wasn’t until she was 18 that her life took a surprising turn for the better.

Nova accidentally saved the life of a young woman who came from the upper side of the city from a rival gang. Her name was Lyra and she had gotten lost in the subway trains. Nova and Lyra instantly hit it off together. They soon began to meet up and hang out together and found passion in each other’s joys. It didn’t take long for the two of them to form feelings for each other and soon had a passionate romance together. Sadly Lyra’s parents found out about it all and sent Lyra away to boarding school. Nova would have gone after her but sadly her Mothers health too a turn for the worse.

With bad health due to the city, Nova and her mother were forced to live with her known grandmother. For a time Nova was bitter about the move but her Grandmother soon took her under her wing and began to have the girl work on her ranch with her as her mother slowly got better. This is where Nova learned about her ancestors and how they were great Pokemon Breeders due to their intimate connection with the Pokemon, or as Nova called it fucking the Pokemon. But Nova was enraptured by it all and soon dedicated her life to it. Her grandmother was proud and soon told Nova she should go out and see the world to learn more about breeding from other tribes. Nova didn’t argue and soon left the ranch for her journey.

Her Team: Muk (Aroma) Golbat (Fangra) Zangoose (Stricker) Seviper (Slasher) Bouffalant (Charger)

Top kinks: Being teased, Anal, Being bottom, Aggressive partners, Being bond, Being order about, Spontaneous sex, The thrill of being caught, Being watched, Pokephilia

#OC #Pokemon #Muses #Nova Wright

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phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 6 years

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Comic Series to Read (Pt3)

+ALTERS by Paul Jenkins & Leila Liz

As the world struggles to accept the emergence of a new kind of human species known as alterations, or "Alters," a young woman must navigate the path to becoming her true self, while struggling with the complications of her civilian life and the responsibilities of her newfound power. This groundbreaking series - years in the making - begins the saga of a young woman who can only really be herself... whenever she is not herself.

Fascinating view of the world through the eyes of someone who is not only hiding their secret hero abilities, but also that she IS a she. I really enjoy this book, and all the little details that unfold the more you read on.[Trans!protagonist, violence, disabled character(s), general death and mayhem, superpowers, a few unfortunate slurs, etc.]

+GENERATION ZERO by Fred Van Lente & Francis Portela

Years ago, the children of the experimental strike team known as Generation Zero were taken from their families by Project Rising Spirit, a private weapons contractor, and raised to be psychic soldiers. After years of taking orders, they have fought for and won their freedom. Now, the world's most wanted teenagers have pledged to protect each other tooth and claw, while using their extraordinary abilities to right wrongs for a generation without a future... To fight for kids, just like them. One of those kids is Keisha Sherman, whose boyfriend just turned up dead after a suspicious car crash in Rook, Michigan - a newly booming tech town that sprang from rags to super-riches seemingly overnight. When Keisha makes a desperate plea into her webcam, the local high school suddenly finds itself with several unusual new students... But as word of Generation Zero's presence spreads rapidly through the halls, this volatile band of teenage upstarts is about to discover that they're far from the most extraordinary thing lurking behind Rook's stainless-steel facade...

This is one of those stories where you THINK you know what will happen, but surprise, you’re fucking wrong, it’s waaaaaaaaay better and also, way worse than you imagine. What they come to save the town from is something that takes far bigger than you can even comprehend...

[MH/disabled protags, violence, deaths, etc.]

+ECLIPSE by Zachary Kaplan & Giovanni Timpano

Imagine if sunlight burned you alive. In the near future, a mysterious solar event has transformed the sun's light into deadly immolating rays. The world's few survivors now live in nocturnal cities. But a killer emerges who uses sunlight to burn his victims, and when he targets the daughter of a solar power mogul, it falls to a disillusioned solar engineer to protect her.

Actually really, really liked this one. The effortless world-building and the degree of chaos instilled by the whole world going to, literal hell. And it’s not... far-fetched, not really. I mean, in Aus it was super fucking hot three years in a row, like, unusual even for us hot... it’s that hint of ‘maybe future’ that draws you in and the story traps you. [Violence, murder, immolation, drugs/alcohol use, etc]

+COPPERHEAD by Jay Faerber, Ron Riley & Scott Godlewski

Welcome to Copperhead, a grimy mining town on the edge of a backwater planet. Single mom Clara Bronson is the new sheriff, and on her first day she'll have to contend with a resentful deputy, a shady mining tycoon, and a family of alien hillbillies. And did we mention the massacre? Questions swirl around not only the murder mystery, but around Sheriff Bronson herself. What brought her to a place like Copperhead? Is she running from something? Or towards something?

It feels like you want to like and hate the characters, because they feel a little too realistic; the situations may be in space and crazy alien nonsense, but some things remain the same. Definitely felt a bit slow to begin with, but it all made sense in context the more I read... [Violence, Surgery, Death, Big Spooky Bullshit Aliens, etc.]

+TREES by Warren Ellis & Jason Howard

Ten years after they landed. All over the world. And they did nothing, standing on the surface of the Earth like trees, exerting their silent pressure on the world, as if there were no-one here and nothing under foot. Ten years since we learned that there is intelligent life in the universe, but that they did not recognize us as intelligent or alive.

Okay, so that’s vague. Consider this, ten years ago, aliens dropped some gigantic cylinders on earth in strategic places, humanity called them ‘trees’; they don’t talk to us, we’re fleas to them, nothing alive or worth noting. Occasionally, a tree floods green sludge that annihilates everything around it. The world is broken by them.

You follow a handful of different stories that all seem to meld together somehow. Follow a research team in the ice; a young painter who finds himself in the shadow of the china tree; a young woman who seizes control of her little world through the fear the trees elicit, etc. You never know what will happen.

I, personally, loved it; but that’s just me. can’t wait for volume 3, though. [LGBPTA+ characters, violence, alien trees, gangs, violence, murder and cruelty, etc.]

+THE EMPTY by Jimmy Robinson

Tanoor is a hunter struggling to feed her village in an apocalyptic world of poison and decay, but Tanoor finds hope when she discovers a stranger named Lila who has the ability to grow life from death-a power that could change the world of The Empty.

You know, when I first saw the artstyle, I was a little put off because I thought it was just someone exaggerating features for the hell of it; but you know what, the more you read, the more you realise how and why they are like that. How evolution shaped them, because of the world they had come from, and survived in.

Basic story summary? Tanoor, badass lady hunter trolling through the emptiness to find food for her asshole people, lead by foolish elders too afraid of their own shadow to take chances. Lila, a different kind of being, ends up in the Empty and finds Tanoor; that’s when the fun really begins as they try to reverse the terrible poisoning that has created such a toxic, barren world. It was pretty engaging; can’t wait to see what volume 2 will bring, bc you really do get invested in the characters. [Violence, Death, Wasteland, Xenophobia, etc.]

+ZODIAC STARFORCE by Kevin Panetta & Paulina Gancheau

They're an elite group of teenage girls with magical powers who have sworn to protect our planet against dark creatures . . . as long as they can get out of class! Known as the Zodiac Starforce, these high-school girls aren't just combating math tests. They're also battling monsters--not your typical afterschool activity! But when an evil force from another dimension infects team leader Emma, she must work with her team of magically powered friends to save herself--and the world--from the evil Diana and her mean-girl minions!

Sounds like just another Sailor Moon style magic girl team, and that’s pretty much the mindset I went into it with; but yeah, I was wrong. Honestly it surprised me, really loved them.

And the villain is so fucking relateable, sure she’s doing a Bad, but ther reason behind it makes sense. At least half of you would take the same chances and fuck up too. Not justifying her shit, but really, you get WHY. Love the zodiac force though, so damn cute and silly and ridiculous. [LGBPTA+ protags, girl power, violence, chaos, etc.]

#more for your consideration

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theophenes · 7 years

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Seattle Nights, Byte 1: We were Running in the 90′s

The thing you need to remember about shadow-runners, as we begin this story, is that runners are not happy, well-adjusted people. No happy, well-adjusted person decides to live their life as a criminal mercenary of varying use and expendability to a wide variety of patrons in the hope of scoring enough money to do other things. No reasonable person wakes up one day and decides, “You know, I think I'm going to run around the city as a pawn for competing corporate, private, and criminal interests!” while making an omelet and smiling at their nice lawn.

Well-adjusted, happy people, with sane, reasonable lives, go into things like accountancy or mystical beauty school or amateur drone racing or making little holograms of dancing hot-dogs to lay over furniture on your AR goggles. This crappy little dive bar in Renton, however, was home to people who had far bigger problems on their minds than simply paying the bills and keeping the tedium from killing them. Hell, half of the people in this bar were worried about people who couldn't spell tedium trying to kill them.

In the back, near a particularly poorly lit fish tank, sat two men, with a woman between them. The one on left, with his back to the bar, looked so damn normal it was frankly strange that he was here. The man had all the appearance of a well-mannered corporate secretary—including the expensive suit. He nodded, sternly, looking at the other two. “I'd like to thank you for considering retaining me for this operation,” he said with a polite bow. He was so stiff and coifed, it seemed like he was likely an AI or some sort of cold-blooded cephalopod in a skin suit. Blonde hair that never seemed to move, frameless glasses with square lenses, and a three-piece suit that seemed perfectly tailored. His tie and pocket square were both dark red. The jacket and pants were a simple metallic gray affair with black, needle thin stripes. If the plain white human man with a height and weight that seemed so average as to be on purpose had any sign of emotion is his message, it certainly wasn't noticed by the two he addressed. Between the stiffness and the suit, people took to calling him “Jeeves.” For his part, he let it stick.

The other two, on the other hand, well, they didn't look like the type to hire runners. One of them, a large, dark-skinned orc in a heavily tailored jacket design to show off how hard it was to make a jacket in his size, wearing several gold chains and a rather thick turtle-neck. His posture was conspiratorial, his movements slow and stiff, as if he had been sore from something. The woman beside him wore some odd, extravagant not-quite-Chinese robes, her large horns and heavily-braided hair adding a look that earned her the nickname “Oni Queen” among other fixers. She had been happy to set up the meeting, but the employer wanted to meet her runner in person. No idea why.

“You read the files, Mr....Jeeves,” the Orc said. “I've got the check in hand. Can you deliver the goods to me?”

The blonde man grinned. “I can, but I'll need more talent.”

The Orc shrugged. “Yeah, no offense, but you're not exactly the guru of Wu. To get and reach this prize, you'll need a good third eye. No mage eye goggles, you need a drekkin' pro here,” he said calmly. “But I've sized you up in person, and you skills ain't hurtin'. You've got moves and confidence. And frankly, you're in my budget,” he said with a slight chuckle, his New York accent clicking in slightly with the weird, sing-songy delivery. “Still, it's easy. You get in, you steal back what's mine, bring the ruckus on the goons who took it. Now, are you ready to bring the coming of Wu, the new neon,” the orc said as he raised an eyebrow, “Or are you not playing with a full deck?”

The blonde man took a second to parse all the slang and nodded confidently. “I can assure you,” he said gently, “I've got a few aces up my sleeve, regardless of the deck. And I'm certain our dear queen has a mystic in mind to aid me in handling your project,” he extended a hand to her.

“Presumptuous,” she began with a smirk, “but not incorrect, Jeeves. I have a man, named Fong. He is experienced, but new to Seattle. He would be happy to assist you. However, he refuses to work with those he has not met,” she said as she produce a data-stick from somewhere in the complex structure of her hair, resting upon and woven with her horns like some bizarre pagoda of overwrought Wu Jen tradition. Whether or not the troll was actually Chinese, or just played up the incense master gimmick was a matter of debate. Her knack for knowing things, however, wasn't.

“The data-stick will give you relevant contact info. You need only text him. When the operation is finished, you may inform me, and I will see to it that payment and exchange are handled. Now, you two tend to your business. I need to finish preparing tomorrow's drink specials,” the troll stood up from the table, and moved towards the kitchen of the dive, as the blond man stood up as well.

“I'll see you after we've confirmed the merchandise is in our possession, Mr. Johnson.”

The orc nodded. “I suppose fake names are the rule, even if I'm known? Do your thing, Jeeves. I'll make sure you got enough Nuyen to make some waves, as per the contract with Oni.”

Jeeves gave a very small smile and slightly inclined forward. “Your earnestness is appreciated. I'll take it from here.” With that, the man dressed like a corporate flunky wandered up and out of the bar, tapping away and uploading the data to his comm-link.

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

Fong's 'pad', to put it politely, was a dump in Puyallup. Originally, years ago, it'd been some kind of a boxing gym. The sort of place that would've trained fighters and occasionally lent “talent” to local gangs for extra muscle.

Fong was by no means a trainer. He was an adept, but he wasn't known for taking on students, or doing much of anything other than winning the occasional local brawl. Still, this half-burned building, with some canvas on the floor, was better at keeping out the acid rain than some other parts of town, and if he'd been honest about it, there were fewer cash-cop patrols here. Not that there were any non-private cops in Seattle, mind you. Every officer on the beat was owned, either by Lone Errant, or some in-house corp security investigator with limited jurisdiction and a chip on their shoulder. Either way, the Barrens were better. Safer, at least until a little start-up cash could be had. Or the occasional fling with someone who had an actual bed.

Fong himself looked like a character from a bad action Trid. His outer robe was black and green, with small embroidered bits here and there. His beard—a rarity for an elf—was this white, wispy thing. He didn't look a day over twenty-five, but his hair and beard were white as clouds that were, well, not festooned with toxic sludge. His slacks were also black, but in that oh-so-futuristic hex pattern that was all the rage six years ago. Of course, anachronistic fashion added to his charm, if he was to be believed. His skin had a sort of ruddiness to it, with a few freckles on his arms on the rare occasions he rolled up his sleeves, or the less rare occasions he removed his shirt. His eyes seemed to always be cheerful, and he seemed to have a near permanent shit-eating grin.

While Fong sat, meditating with the stillness of a tree amongst the rubble, if a tree had been mildly hung-over. For in this moment, there was time, not only to reflect, but to transcend the limitations of the physical. To attune to the power of the mystical, and channel the raw energy of barrens into a heated, passionate wisdom. For in the chaos of this city, there a chance at enlightenment, and ascendance. Soon, he could move past the physical, and transcend the limitations of metahumanity to become something akin to a god. Something akin to a legend. A few more moments, and his meditation could afford him--

beeep-borp. Unknown caller. Beeeeep-borp. Uknown call--

The elf grabbed the phone. So much for seeking enlightenment in starvation. The monk sniggered to himself and answered the phone. “Only about eight people have this number. So, who has the universe added to my phone list?” His voice seemed cheery and slightly rehearsed, as if greeting a customer more than a person.

“Mr. Fong, I presume,” the sterner voice answered. “I'm a runner. Queen Oni believes you could assist me with a...mystical matter.”

A snicker. “Probably. I'm decent enough with magic. A bit out of practice as far as runs go. What details have you come to offer before the altar of my wisdom?” He said, a bit of dry cheesiness as a wry grin spread across his face. Half of the grin because he might have finally found some paying work, and half because he was likely enjoying teasing this man.

“Mr. Fong, my name is Jeeves. I will send you the details via comm.”

“Afraid my winning looks will reduce you to jelly? Fair enough,” the elf said with a chuckle. “Shoot me the details. I'll let you know if it's up my alley, and we'll meet up and talk shop. Happy to consider doing business with you, Jeeves.”

Jeeves simply made a severely noncommittal “Mmhmm” noise.

The elf smiled weakly. How did a guy scold you over the phone without a word? That was some talent. “Gotcha. Not the friend-making type. Still, I'll get back to you with a response after I'd had time to eye your dossier.”

“Very well. I expect to hear from you shortly, Mr. Fong. Time is not necessarily on our side.”

“Can and will handle it, my main man. Unless you're a lady with a voice modulator. Or a really dry accent. In that case, you do you!” The monk made a cheerful finger gun at a nearby rusted over turn-buckle, which did not seem to appreciate his plucky can-do attitude any more than the irascible well-dressed man on the other end of this conversation. Mr. Fong hung up and sighed. “Well, a deal's a deal. Let's see if this is worth it,” the elf said as he opened a message attachment. Big file.

The elf raised an eyebrow. “Client says they're missing a lost family heirloom, it's in a storage facility in a Horizon archive section for study...” he grunted. “Smash and grab, they probably just want some magic eyes to evade any para-security.....what are we grabbing, anyhow? Isn't Horizon into media production and PR? Does some local suit want to go antiquing....oh, there's the image. Oh. Shit. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeetttttttt.”

The elf stopped reading, typing back a text only comm message. “I'm in. I realize we haven't discussed payment, but I'm sure you'll come up with a fair rate. What has the client told you about this heirloom, and where are they from?”

“Not much. Just that it was taken and they want it back. Also, he's from New York, but tried to hide his accent. Why? What do you know about it?” The text came back.

“Not w/comms,” the elf said, typing with a finger while reading the dossier up and down intensely. “U kno Tasheem's Grub n'Gas? dive in Puyallup. Rough patch=secure.”

There was a long pause, were Jeeves was apparently typing something. However, after what was around five minutes of either hesitation or consistent revision, a third channel appeared.

Hel's Harpy has been added to the chat.

Mr. Fong's glorious white brows knitted together in a shape that would've made a numerologist blush if there had been one handy. Meh. Best to play it cool. “New party-goer? Groovy. We can meet at 7 tonight?”

He added coordinates to the chat.

Jeeves hesitated again and type something. “She insisted. She prefers to size you up herself.”

Mr. Fong sent an holo-ji of a disco-dancing elf. “Good. She can join our briefing party. I'll arrive early, ask the bouncer for Cloudy Fong. I have a usual spot at this point.”

Hel sent a holo-ji of a burning drumstick. “Order an appetizer, something spicy.”

“Please stop with the holo-ji's, I'm trying to avoid flashing lights right now.”

“Deal. 4 both,” Mr. Fong tapped out, still half-immersed in the dossier. So many details!

Hel sent an “image” made of text in the shape of a pouting ani-trid character. “Fine, but don't skip on the chilis. wierdo. I could use a good burn.”

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

Calling Tasheem's a 'rough patch' was the greatest proof that Fong still had either healthy optimism about Seattle, or a truly sick sense of humor. The place smelled like a mixture of a landfill, a barbecue restaurant, and an engine shop. The lean, cranky old cuss at the door glared over at Jeeves, and the stout, dour orc woman behind him.

If Jeeves was too clean and sharp and symmetrical and corporate, the Orc girl behind him was anything but. Her jacket seemed to be slapped together from a few dozen types of holographic projection suits and flex-screen systems, all alternating between desktop backgrounds and seemingly random advertisements. The colors kept alternating, making her large duster look like a robe of mutating stained glass, with a tank top that had the face of Marlon Brando made entirely out of mathematical symbols on under it. The irregular polygons of her jacket flickered as she produced an e-cig from her glowing jacket of obnoxious logos, which was at least marginally better than a trench-coat of dark obnoxious pathos. Her pants were simple fatigue cut, a sort of strange, shimmering metallic blue tint, almost glittery. She had something not entirely resembling a bird or a small squirrel on her shoulder. Her hair looked like a mix of dreadlocks and fiber optic cables, her eyes the sort of fake green color you expect to see on soda cans that keep you awake for twelve hours. Her tusks were both sharp and meticulously clean, given her smoking. The digital cigarette glowed briefly, and the orc exhaled a cloud of orange smoke, which smelled not entirely unlike undercooked tea and slightly aged tangerine zest.

Jeeves blinked, fidgeting with his cuff links. “We're here to see...” he said, attempting to be cordial, “Cloudy Fong.” he continued.

The cranky old biker with a chromed out arm and a bad attitude looked them over and nodded. “Don't cause trouble. We're over due for a shoot-out this week,” he muttered as he opened the door to the crappy faux-retro gas station.

The duo entered the den of random iniquity, the smell of beer, wings, and the occasional heavy cloud of drug smoke wafted through the air. The place seemed fairly quiet, save for a very, very drunk troll with an indeterminately European accent and a leather bustier singing....some ballad. It too drunk, too sluggish, and not in a language known to either of them.

Mr. Fong waved at the two of them, smiling. “Jeeves, Hel! How are you. Come over! I got us some fallout wings, and a few fried edamame poppers with mega-mozza sauce.” He munched on a popper and smirked.

Jeeves sat uncomfortably, and “Hel” sat on a barstool, staring down the white-haired man. “How the hell did you know it was us, Fong? I don't remember sending you any damn vacation photos,” she said bluntly.

Mr. Fong chuckled. “Because Jeeves moves almost as stiff as he chats on the phone. The only people wearing suits like his in this neighborhood are runners and slumming schmucks who are about to get mugged. Have a hot popper, they’re great. Fried smoke pepper stuff and other stuff, battered in cheese and beer and stuff. Totally good soy junk! And please, it’s Mr. Fong.” He said with a smirk.

Hel plucked an appetizer, and continued staring into Mr. Fong as she ate it. “So, you're the mage? No offense, chummer, but you don't look like a shaman. You look like some wage-slave with a bad golf swing.”

Mr. Fong shrugged. “I'm a mystical kung-fu master—and my swing is great, if you ask my exes. The illustrious Mr. Fong, at your service. Now, let's enjoy the show.” Mr. Fong smiled as he watched the woman at microphone, humming along to the tune of the music, muttering the lyrics that were clearly not being sung by the woman, or otherwise visible.

“How can you understand her singing?”

“I can't,” Mr. Fong out, tapping the side of his head, “but I can see her emotions. I assense the performer, and read what the song means to her as she sings it. It's good practice. Plus, Karaoke isn't about what you sound like, it's about your heart.” He nibbled on a “chicken fallout” wing.

The troll concluded her solo, and Mr. Fong smiled and wiped his eye. “Wow. She really loved the one she was singing about. How sweet,” he said with a smile. “Okay, so let's talk about your package.”

Hel choked on the wing she was eating. “Damn, and we haven't even ordered a entree yet. You always this flirty, skinny?”

Jeeves grunted. “Please try to keep it together. Is this location...secure?”

Mr. Fong shook his head. “Better, it's full of angry drunk go-gangers who don't care about anything unless I'm buying. Anyhow, your box” The orc snickered again-- “is the container of some very primo merch. An album,” he said with a smirk. “The only one of its kind. 'Once upon a time in Shaolin.' Originally made by the Wu-Tang clan.”

“Some sort of magic cult?” Jeeves asked, a blond eyebrow arching in a rare moment of facial expression for the taciturn drone.

“A rap group, around in the early 1990′s and late 2000′s,” he said with a slight wave of his hands. “It was printed as a one-time exclusive, then sold to the highest bidder, who leaked the tracks publicly, destroying the supposed rarity of the album. Millions of dollars, spent on a folly,” he clasped his hands together as if to demonstrate a hammer hitting nothing of importance.

“Why does this matter?” Jeeves inquired. “It's an interesting piece of music history. Why would we need an adept to find it? Why would we need magic?”

Fong grinned. “The Wu-tang were obsessed with kung-fu and eastern mysticism. Their name is based on the traditions of Wu-Tang and Shaolin kung-fu story gimmicks. And Rumor is, they weren't making all of it up. There's some folks out there who believe that not every track was released, and the physical copy has hidden connections to sixth-world knowledge. I'd bet some good nuyen that our collector believes there's some mojo involved as well,” he said.

Jeeves seemed unimpressed by the revelation. “So, our client believes that Horizon has an actual magic album form before the start of the sixth world, and that we can acquire it? How could there have even been mages before the awakening?”

The orc with a not-parrot on her shoulder shook her head as her coast turned slightly more violet. “Orcs and trolls didn't appear all at once with friggin' fanfare, it was over the course of a few years. Why wouldn't magic do that, too? A dribble before the gods-damned monsoon of insanity?”

Fong nodded. “Or, ancient rituals which were of no value then, but now, are far greater. If the album has hidden data or tracks, it could lead to something major. Or a wild goose-chase.”

Jeeves stared at Fong as if an explanation was forthcoming.

Fong smiled warmly. “I understand your skepticism,” he said as he ate another wing. “However, the true power of wisdom comes from knowing all possible truths, so we are not trapped in denial when the right one presents itself,” he said, doing his best to sound sagely. After all, Martial Mystique was always in demand. “The main reason these rumors are given such weight is that of the leaked tracks, there are a total of twenty-six tracks. However, most stories have thirty-five, or thirty-six, chambers of Shaolin. In addition, the guy who leaked them, a Pharmaceutical bigwig, was known for leading people on, being a smug little ass, and price-fixing critical medications. A real piece of work. So, it's fully possible there was another disc, with ten tracks, that nobody acknowledged, and he lied about the existence of to be a jack-ass.”

Fong stroked his beard, attempting to look thoughtful. “The reason your buyer believes such things, is that he may be of a sect tat teaches of the way of Wu Tang, or Wudang. Focus on a form of Tai Chi and pray to spirits of wealth and criminal debauchery—religion for and by runners, based in New York. And if our buyer is right, the relic matters. If our buyer is wrong, than it's a truly expensive paperweight. However, now you why I'm considered necessary.”

Jeeves nodded.

Hel took a puff of her electronic smoke and sighed. “New question: You didn't learn all this shit yesterday on a vision quest. Why the hell do you know so much about it?”

Fong smiled. “I'm well-read on weird martial traditions, even the ones I've never dealt with. Never know how's gonna be chasing me with a scimitar, Best to plan for it, though.”

Hel stared. “You normally got a drekking lie that ahlf-assed in your pocket, or is it a fire sale on bullshit today?”

Mr. Fong shrugged. “Yeah, I've dealt with the Wu before. If our buyer's with them, than it's a big deal. They talk about recovering it all the time.”

“Dealt with how?” Jeeves said, his tone pointed for the first time in this casual dining environment.

“Not important. That having been said, I'm not meeting your Johnson. I'm helping you get the goods, legit or not. If you want to use this info to up your price, that's on you. Personally, though, I want them to have it. If it's the real deal...well, that'll be far from dull, to say the least,” the elf mused, suddenly wincing.

Hel blinked. “You okay? Having a hard time keeping your weirdness down, Fong?”

“Nuclear fallout sauce...from wings...in eye...bathroom!” Mr. Fong bolted with the kind of speed usually reserved for mutant cyber-ninjas in bad Wuxia trideo releases. For a brief moment, he was like the wind. Then he was gone. Then a series of expletives in Mandarin were bellowed from the bathroom.

Jeeves nodded to Hel, opening a silent comm channel.

Your thoughts?

He's slick, but he wasn't lying, the Orc contributed. We keep him in. For now, at least.And if he screws us, we ventilate him.

Understood. Jeeves always was one for brevity. Polite, brief, clean—more like a surgeon than a runner.

The elf walked back, face slightly wetter, smiling warmly, his eyes closed. “Okay, so I'm sure you guys finished talking about me while I wasn't here. What's the verdict? Slot, Marry or Kill?”

Hel snickered again. “Hire. For now. And if you screw up, you have to deal with whatever consequences happen.”

Mr. Fong grinned. “Threats and bribes, all at once? Be still my beating heart. Anyway, thanks for sticking around for the time being. Next time, we'll meet at a place of your convenience. How soon do we want to make our move on this?”

Jeeves nodded. Finally, business. “Tomorrow night.”

Mr. Fong nodded. “Good. Enough time to say my prayers and focus my chakras. Give me a tiem to met you tomorrow, and we'll run this little party. Until then, I've got a date with the moon,” Fong let out with a shrug. “Also, if we do any victory celebrations, you guys will buy. I'm not gonna have much until we get paid. Last couple of nu-yen went to my appetizer platter here.”

“How dire of straits were you in, Fong?” Jeeves seemed rather blunt. “Seems odd to gamble your last bit of cred on a job interview.”

Mr. Fong shrugged. “When you're as awesome as I am, you learn to throw all your chips on the table when it counts. And if you dislike that lie, I have others,” he said as he slowly rose from the table, folding his hands into his sleeves dramatically. “See you tomorrow. If you'll excuse me, I need to prepare to aid you.”

Hel shook her head, still smiling. “I can't tell if you're a fucking idiot or a damn genius, elf boy.”

Fong cocked his head to the side, the picture of innocence. “I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. But please, stick to Mr. Fong. Elf-boy sounds like some sort of jab at my metatype, when so many other things exist to be criticized,” he said with a wink. “Like my fashion sense, or inability to remember who I'm supposed to be flirting with,” he said with a laugh. “Okay, going for real now. See you tomorrow, bring your best weapons and schemes.”

Hel shrugged. “Does anything bother that guy? Buddha on a god-damned stick.”

Jeeves shook his head. “Maybe you should wait until we work with him a few times before you decide to use your winning personality, Hel.”

Hel shook her head. “And you'd know, Mr. walking stiff? Neither of us are people...people,” she said with a grunt. “Pretty-boy is, though. Might be nice to have someone working with us on the regular who's that friggin' chill under fire, if he isn't a total drekhead.”

Jeeves chuckled. “You almost sound like you like toying with him. Still, our operation could use a few more hands. We'll treat this as an audition, then,” the blonde man sighed, adjusting his glasses. “Even if he is just a fool, he might be useful.”

Outside, Mr. Fong kept walking. This could work. And if that box was actually holding the lost manual of the Wu-tang, then...well, that'd be worth exploring after they got their hands on it. Still, letting the Nu Wu get the manual would tips the scales in Manhattan, and that'd be a hell of a thing. But hey, the Wu weren't the worst people to take over the New York underworld, by any stretch. Hell, The Rotten Apple was so corporate, odds are the album would end up starting a whole new shadow-war over there. Mr. Fong smirked, looking up at the moon. “Huh. I think they actually liked me. That's nice. A new crew....would be nice.”

For now, it was time to rest, and prepare. Tomorrow night, would be a hell of a ride.

#shadowrun #mike is writing #short story #fiction #fanfiction #oc's #Seattle #wu tang #kung-fu #kung-fu-riffic #Matrix stuff #magic #cyberpunk #screwing around #I blame you #damnit amy

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newstfionline · 7 years

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India’s Holy River Succumbs to Pollution

Reuters, July 10, 2017

DEVPRAYAG/VARANASI/SAGAR ISLAND, India--India’s holy Ganges begins as a crystal clear river high in the icy Himalayas but pollution and excessive usage transforms it into toxic sludge on its journey through burgeoning cities, industrial hubs and past millions of devotees.

Worshipped by a billion Hindus and a water source for 400 million, “Mother Ganga” is dying, despite decades of government efforts to save it.

Lokesh Sharma, a 19-year-old priest in Devprayag, a small hill town where two rivers converge to form the Ganges, is his family’s fourth generation to lead riverbank prayers.

“I never thought of going somewhere else and settling. Devprayag is a heaven for me. I feel blessed to be born next to Mother Ganges,” Sharma said, as chanting priests and devotees, some bottling the water, dunk themselves in the fast-flowing river.

Thousands of Indians immerse themselves and idols of their gods every day, believing a dip in the Ganges absolves a lifetime of sins. People drink the water and use it for crops.

But the pristine waters soon becomes a distant memory as the 2,525 km-long (1,570 mile) Ganges snakes its way down to the densely populated plains of north India, where too much water is sucked out to maintain a healthy flow.

Sliding under bridges in the industrial city of Kanpur, the water’s color turns dark gray.

Industrial waste and sewage pour in from open drains, as clouds of foam float on its surface.

At one stretch, the river turns red.

Nearby, tannery workers haul chemical-soaked buffalo hides into huge drums. The filthy run-off is dumped in the river.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pledged to build more treatment plants and move more than 400 tanneries away from the river, but his $3 billion clean-up plan is badly behind schedule.

Less than a quarter of an estimated 4,800 million liters of sewage that flow daily into the river from main towns and cities is treated.

The sorry state of the Ganges is most keenly felt in Varanasi, the ancient and most holy of cities for Hindus.

Religious students practise yoga, pilgrims seek spiritual purification and families cremate their dead by the water’s edge, scattering ashes so that souls go to heaven and escape the cycle of rebirth.

Along the bathing ghats, prayers invoking followers to keep the Ganges clean fill the hot evening air.

“I remember earlier the water was very clean and we could drink it,” said 58-year-old boatman Anil Sahni. “Now you can’t even bathe in it.”

As the river widens it curves southwards, towards the Bay of Bengal, passing thousands more villages and swelling cities.

In the 14-million strong metropolis of Kolkata, people bathe and brush their teeth next to towering mounds of rubbish. On the outskirts, brick kilns and factories line the river banks.

Downstream, a packed ferry sets off for Sagar Island, or Ganga Sagar, a magnet for Hindu pilgrims that marks the point where the Ganges meets the sea.

“I feel sad about what’s happening around us. The Ganges is getting dirty day by day but nobody cares. Not even its children,” said 66-year-old priest Ashok Kumar in Mirzapur, a riverside carpet and brass ware hub.

“The Ganges is our mother. There won’t be any future if she dies.”

#India #Ganges River #India pollution

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depressed-changeling · 6 years

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You know I didn't think anything could be worse than the year 2010 when my parents broke up because my mom cheated and my dad was emotionally abusive, my uncle was murdered by some bitch who wanted to clear his debt with his gang and got it covered up by some butch cop, me I was was being bullied for my eccentric hobbies. But 2018 took the cake with my work switching to some London Timptom bitch as our GM who didn't give a shit about us, being overloaded with stress from work and school, having to give up whatever free time I had to be around my poor little dog to make him feel loved, only for him to be given to a shelter and him being put down before he could kill himself, and all the mean while being emotionally abused by my dad.

Fuck you 2018

Let's see if I'll survive 2019 or finally get the guts to off myself before I become a more toxic sludge and worthless excuse for a human being

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newssplashy · 6 years

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Opinion: Women in politics often must run a gantlet of vile intimidation

Four days before the 2016 congressional primary in her Northern California district, Erin Schrode woke up to tens of thousands of messages.

“All would laugh with glee as they gang raped her and then bashed her bagel eating brains in,” one said.

“It’d be amusing to see her take twenty or so for 8 or 10 hours,” another said, again suggesting gang-rape.

It has been two years since Schrode, now 27, lost her Democratic primary and moved on. But the abuse — a toxic sludge of online trolling steeped in misogyny and anti-Semitism that also included photoshopped images of her face stretched into a Nazi lampshade and references to “preheating the ovens” — never stopped.

“She needs to stop moving her hands around like a crackhead,” said one tweet this year. “Another feminazi’s plans foiled!” said another.

The 2018 election cycle has brought a surge of female candidates. A record number of women ran or are running for the Senate, the House and governorships, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Many more are running for state legislatures and local offices. And in the process, they are finding that harassment and threats, already common for women, can be amplified in political races — especially if the candidate is a member of a minority group.

Last year, sexist and anti-Semitic abuse helped drive Kim Weaver, D-Iowa, out of her race against Rep. Steve King.

Someone crept onto her property overnight and put up a “for sale” sign. The neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer published an article (no longer available) titled, as Weaver recalled it, “Meet the Whore Who’s Running Against Steve King,” increasing what was already an onslaught of threats. An acquaintance in the German government even called to warn her about a threatening conversation on an extremist message board, and to ask if she had personal security.

“I’m normally a pretty brave person, but when you feel like you’re in a fishbowl and you don’t know who it is that’s throwing rocks at you, it’s disconcerting,” Weaver, 53, said. “You don’t know if it’s somebody sitting in his mother’s basement in Florida or if it’s a gun-happy white supremacist who hates you who lives a block away.”

When she withdrew from the race, King suggested she had made up the threats. “I wanted #KimWeaver IN the race — not out,” he tweeted. “Democrats drove her out of the race — not R’s. Death threats likely didn’t happen but a fabrication.”

No independent organization appears to formally track incidents of harassment, and the Democratic and Republican National committees did not respond to emails asking whether they did. But several groups that work with candidates said they routinely provided personal safety training.

Emily Ellsworth, 31, R-Utah, said that when she was seeking party delegates’ support to get on the ballot for the state Senate this year, a male delegate cornered her at multiple candidate meet-and-greets and messaged her around a dozen times on Facebook. Only after she deactivated her account did he stop.

The messages were not sexually explicit, she said, but made her feel that “he really wanted to push a more personal relationship and had a hard time accepting the boundaries I had set.”

Morgan Zegers, 21, a Republican running for state Assembly in upstate New York, said she had been called a “GOP Stepford wife” and often had to delete vulgar comments on her Facebook page. Lauren Underwood, 31, a Democratic House candidate in Illinois, recalled that when she was visiting a supporter, a local Republican stopped by and was affronted when he learned that Underwood was challenging his friend in Congress.

“He threw his shoulders back and stood at his largest and leaned into me, as if he was going to launch at me for having the audacity to run for office,” Underwood said, adding that her supporter came to her defense.

Harassment is not new for women in politics, or anywhere else — and men face it too, especially if they are African-American or Jewish. But for women, the harassment is ubiquitous and frequently sexualized, and it has come to the fore this election cycle, partly because so many women are running and partly because more of them are discussing their experiences.

Attendees at WomenWin — a forum in June for Democratic women running in Texas, which included a personal safety session led by the police chief of a local university — said they had found a sense of camaraderie in doing so.

“Being in the room with all of those women that are having those same concerns as me made me feel so much saner,” said Samantha Carrillo Fields, 31, a candidate for the Texas House, referring not only to safety but also to other forms of misogyny on the campaign trail. “OK, so this is real. What I’m feeling is real. It was really nice having that validation.”

In a 2017 video by the Women’s Media Center, elected officials — including seasoned politicians like Reps. Katherine M. Clark, 55, D-Mass., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 66, R-Fla. — described their experiences as part of a campaign called #NameItChangeIt, which encourages women to speak out about harassment. And women are more willing to do so than they were even a few years ago.

When Rebecca Thompson, a Democrat, ran for the Michigan House in 2014, strangers followed her home from events and drove slowly, repeatedly, past her house. At one point, someone broke into her car. By the end of the campaign, she said, she was sleeping at her partner’s house because she was afraid to be in her own.

“I felt unsafe throughout the entire campaign,” Thompson, 35, said. “It almost seemed like psychological warfare, like they were trying to psych me out. It kept me on edge all the time, because I just didn’t know where I could go, anywhere in the city, without feeling like I was being followed.”

But she was not comfortable speaking out then. “I told myself I had to just suck it up — there’s no crying in baseball; there’s no crying in politics,” she said. “Had those things happened now, I do feel like I would have been empowered to speak up about them.”

Yet even still, some candidates interviewed said initially that they had not been harassed — but then, when given examples like menacing social media messages, said yes, they had experienced those things. Just as many have observed in the #MeToo movement that a certain level of misogyny is so expected as to feel unremarkable, these candidates said they saw the messages as par for the course.

“It becomes so normalized, the types of things that people say,” said Mya Whitaker, 27, a Democrat running for City Council in Oakland, California. “Being a black woman and existing, in some cases, is enough to piss people off.”

A different kind of normalization happens at the other end of the spectrum, where the harassment is so vicious and constant that it overwhelms the ability to react.

As an independent video game developer in 2014, Brianna Wu was the subject of abuse during GamerGate, when women involved in gaming were targeted for harassment.

Now a Democrat running for Congress in Massachusetts, Wu, 41, said death and rape threats came so routinely that she had ceased to feel much in response. Even when people threw objects through her window. Even when they vandalized her husband’s car. Even when they emailed paparazzi-like photos of her in her own home.

“I often look at it and I’m like: ‘I know I should be feeling something right now. I know I should be feeling scared or angry or stressed.’ And it’s at a point where I can’t feel anything anymore,” Wu said. “It’s almost like fear is a muscle that is so overtaxed, it can just do nothing else in my body.”

Many said it was a point of principle not to be intimidated into silence. Others said their political ideals were simply more important.

“For good reason, there’s never any shortage of telling stories about women being harassed on the campaign trail,” Wu said. “But I cannot communicate to you strongly enough: Overall, this job is fun. This job is exhausting, but this job is amazing.”

Repeatedly, she and others urged prospective candidates not to be deterred. Zegers said that was why she deleted sexist Facebook comments.

“A lot of women pay attention to my page,” she said. “It’s important to me that we show a good dialogue about the issues and we don’t scare women away from running.”

And some cast the harassment as a hurdle they simply had to overcome if they wanted to change the systems that fuel it.

The government is still composed mainly of men who have never experienced sexual harassment, while “far too many women experience these things,” Underwood said.

“I think that’s part of the opportunity in running for progress,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to fix this and stop it from happening in the future.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/opinion-women-in-politics-often-must.html

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sherristockman · 7 years

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‘Crapshoot’ — How Sewage Contaminates Our Food Supply Dr. Mercola Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes, Jeff McKay, provided by the National Film Board of Canada By Dr. Mercola The documentary, “Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes,” produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 2003, investigates an important aspect of human life you likely give little consideration: sewage. Do you know what happens to the water and other items after you flush the toilet or run water down the drain? If you’ve never stopped to consider what happens after you turn off the faucet or put down the lid, this one-hourlong film will edify you. It may surprise you to learn the many negative consequences resulting from our so-called “modern system” of waste management. The True Face of Sewage Sewers are used all over the world. Through its miles and miles of underground pipe, sewers collect everything you send down the drain or flush down your sink. While waste management may seem simple from your vantage point as a single user, it is much more complicated and complex than you may imagine. If you’ve ever toured your local waste treatment plant, you have likely seen the mechanical filter called a bar screen that is used to remove large items such as baby wipes, condoms, diapers, feminine-hygiene items, hairballs, paper towels, plastic wrappers and the like. Although it is somewhat inconvenient, at least these items can easily be seen, gathered up and disposed of as landfill waste. Of greater concern are the items contained in sewage that cannot be seen with the naked eye, as well as the mixing of all kinds of items. As narrator, the late Ruth DeGraves reminds us of the variety of the wastes that conspire to make sewage a kind of “toxic soup:” “Down into the sewer they go: factory run-off, thousands of new synthetic chemicals, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, storm overflow, food wastes, human excrement, vomit, detergents, industrial solvents, petroleum products, paints, oils, abattoir wastes, cleansers, asbestos, radioactive materials, heavy metals and dental and hospital wastes, to name a few.” In case you are not familiar with the term “abattoir,” it is the technical term used for slaughterhouse. As such, abattoir wastes include byproducts from livestock operations such as animal blood, fat, feces, stomach contents, trimmings and urine. Not only is sewage an ugly, stinking mess, it also is dangerous due to the intermixing of all those types of waste. But, most of us seldom think about it. Boston-based Laura Orlando, civil engineer and waste-reform advocate, estimates that up to 75 percent of the U.S. is connected to sewers. As such, she believes Americans have become desensitized to the potential risks involved. In reality, most people both appreciate the sewer system and take it for granted. As noted by Orlando, “When we think about a drain that carries whatever we dump into the pipe and takes it somewhere else, it helps us forget about all of the dangerous things that can be in that pipe.” Sewers: An Ancient Development of the Romans According to DeGraves, the modern sewer system was a brainchild of the ancient Romans. She states: “The sewer was in its glory in ancient Rome. It was about a vision of being civilized, and to have sanitation meant to be civilized, dignified and ennobled. It was in classical Rome that the sewers were first built on a grand scale over 2,500 years ago.” So enthralled were they with their invention, the Romans paid homage to a sewer goddess named Cloacina. She was so loved that Roman ruler Titus Tatius, a contemporary of Romulus, erected a statue of Cloacina near the famed sewer Cloaca Maxima (“Greatest Drain”). This masterfully constructed sewer was established in the 6th century and remains today. Like all sewers, notes DeGraves, the goal of the Cloaca Maxima centered around: “The collection and transport of wastes by the use of water. Quite simply, the idea has always been to use water to move our wastes downstream to where we are not.” Historian and writer Carlo Pavia suggests the ancient Cloaca Maxima will always reign supreme in both historic and modern-day Rome. This is, in part, due to a famous Latin phrase attached to it, which when translated means: “The Cloaca is the vessel, the bowel of the city, which purges everything.” But, does the modern-day sewer really purge everything? Common sense, and the filmmakers, suggest otherwise. Spewing Raw Sewage: Trouble in Our Global Waterways It may surprise you to learn that not all sewage is treated. In cities around the globe, even in these modern times, raw sewage is still dumped into lakes, rivers and other waterways at sickening rates. In India, raw sewage has been dumped continuously into the famed Ganges River since 1917. Once pristine waters now churn with chunks of animal and human excrement at inconceivable levels of toxicity. Here, pollution levels are estimated to be 340,000 times what is considered safe! Veer Bhadra Mishra, an engineer and Hindu priest who lives in Varanasi, India’s holiest city, notes the river, while not globally polluted, has local stretches that are highly toxic. Says Mishra: “When we move from Tulsi Ghat towards the end of [Varanasi], more and more sewers join the river and more and more sewage flows into the river. The cumulative effect of all the city’s sewage flowing into the river is felt at the downstream point where the Yemuna meets the Ganges, [in the city of Allahabad]. At that confluence point, the river water is septic — practically no dissolved oxygen, brown-black water and methane bubbles you can see surfacing from the bottom.” About the Ganges, The Sydney Morning Herald, states:1 “Experts estimate that more than 3,000 million litres of untreated sewage from towns along the Ganges are pumped into the river every day. By the time it reaches Varanasi… it becomes a sewer, and the sixth most polluted river in the world. Scientists … have found the river has a fecal coliform count of more than 1.5 million per 100 milliliters (ml) of water. Water regarded as safe for bathing should not contain more than 500 fecal coliform per 100 ml.” Similar to the Ganges, the harbor in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, was recipient of some 120 million liters (31.7-million gallons) of raw, untreated waste that was being pumped into it every day. The waste was so prominent, tourists frequently observed large flocks of seagulls scavenging for bits of floating human waste. With such a large volume of input, local experts estimate at least 16 feet of excrement solids rest on the bottom of the harbor, effectively making it a gigantic toilet bowl. DeGraves estimates 80 percent of Canadian coastal communities dump their sewage raw. Said Bill Stoyles of the Atlantic Coastal Action Program, which focuses on environmental and sustainability issues related to watersheds and adjacent coastal areas: “There’s a huge mound 20 feet high — a mound of crap just below the outfall that just keeps coming out. The solids, of course, drop to the bottom and pile up there, and the other stuff drifts away … We‘ve come so far, become so civilized, so how can we be … living in our own filth?” Untold Types and Quantities of Toxic Chemicals Lurk in Sewage Given the public’s general lack of education about sewage and sewage treatment, you may not realize how many toxic chemicals are lurking therein. Since the 1950s, which marked the introduction of chemicals into mainstream America, “countless new and unpredictable ingredients are being added to the sewage recipe,” DeGraves says. “The sewer has become a super highway for toxic wastes.” Indeed, the average city generates millions of gallons of wastewater daily, containing many unknown types and untold quantities of hazardous components. The goal of sewage treatment is to attempt to clean the wastewater and then release it back into lakes, rivers and oceans. While it is called “reclaimed water,” it’s anybody’s guess as to the effectiveness and safety of this practice. In the documentary, waste-reform advocate Abby Rockefeller expresses concern about what she calls “our radical disconnection between us and our waste.” In her opinion, most of us minimize the consequences of mixing our wastes together in the sewer. She notes: “The fact that the consequences of our actions are not immediately connectable and we don’t see the trouble immediately, makes it extremely easy for people to go on with their behavior and not think about the effects. In fact, our entire culture — the educational system, the industrial system, the government system — all encourage people not to think about waste disposal.” Sludge Anyone? As part of the sewage treatment process, liquid waste and solid waste are separated. Liquids go on to become “reclaimed water,” while solids become known as “sludge.” According to the film, sewage treatment plants produce millions of tons of sludge every year, which in North America, depending on its intended application, may be known as: Biosolids Black gold Compost Nutricake Sewage compost Solid waste As noted by DeGraves, Canada has embraced the notion of repackaging its sludge as fertilizer for application to farm and garden soil: “We have embraced the idea of co-composting, wherein two big-city waste dilemmas are seemingly solved by mixing municipal garbage and sewage sludge. These waste materials undergo a ‘digestive process,’ and are packaged as ‘Nutriplus,’ a compost promoted for home gardens and agricultural use. Nutrient ingredients are listed on this mixed-waste product, but not the toxins or heavy metals.” Orlando notes sludge was long considered to be a hazardous waste until “Part 503 rules recast it as a beneficial, nonhazardous substance.” (Part 503 refers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s laws and regulations pertaining to biosolids.) The reality is sewage treatment was never meant to clean or purify anything. Moreover, it should never have been suggested sewer treatment could or would result in by-products that are chemical-free, beneficial and safe for use by human beings. She emphasizes: “It never started out that way, nor is it possible to make it that way. We end up in a treatment process with a very dangerous material that, most unfortunately, we are now putting into life cycles and on our land.” While it is well-known that sludge contains an unknown and extensive array of chemical wastes, there is also intense pressure being felt by all kinds of entities to dispose of it. Within the industrialized world, it seems, the need to dispose of sludge and sewage waste is almost always prioritized above public health and safety. Sludge Contaminates Soil and Threatens Human Health According to Mother Jones,2 recycling sewage has become a big business, with trillions of gallons of the wastes Americans flush annually being processed into products that are spread on farms, gardens and lawns. They note: “In theory, recycling ‘poop’ is the perfect solution to the one truly unavoidable byproduct of human civilization. Turning sewage into a potent, inexpensive fertilizer means cleaner rivers and oceans. But as sludge has spread across the country, so have concerns that it may cause as many environmental problems as it solves. In communities where sludge has been used, residents have reported ailments ranging from migraines to pneumonia, to mysterious deaths.” Sweden has been called out as one nation that has made a direct link between sewage sludge and public health. One of the big concerns highlighted by Gunnar Lindgren, a chemical engineer from Goteborg, Sweden, centers on the presence of metals, such as copper, found in sludge. According to Lindgren: “[T]he levels of metals is increasing very rapidly. Authorities know they have to accept the presence of metals because they desperately want to get rid of the sludge … Copper is one metal that is now presenting us with severe problems. It has risen to a level where it is a poison for the soils, as well as the organisms in the soils.” What Mother’s Milk Reveals About the Negative Effects of Sludge The turning point for Sweden’s handling of sludge reportedly stemmed from the discovery of flame retardants in it that were linked to Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Of particular concern was the dramatic increase of flame retardants found in mother’s milk. Says Swedish oncologist Lennart Hardell of Orebro Regional Hospital: “The concentration of brominated flame retardants in mother’s milk has been increasing. We have historical batches [of mother’s milk] in Sweden from the early 1970s, and at that time there were really low concentrations. Now the curve is going straight up, and the concentration of these flame retardants in mother’s milk is doubling every sixth year.” Lindgren underscores a common-sense reality that whatever we put into our bodies, our water supplies and our sewer systems eventually comes out in the sludge. He states, “If you have a poison somewhere in an industry, you will have the poison in the sludge. … Sludge is a collection basket of all bad things.” Adds Swedish civil engineer Carl Lindstrom: “If you say that broccoli is a healthy vegetable, the next question is: What is it grown [in]? Broccoli grown [in] one soil can be very good for you, but if the broccoli contains heavy metals, it can be very bad for you. To focus attention on what you eat, you have to go deeper into the question of what is actually in the food, and especially look at what is in the soil it was grown in.” Is Your Food Grown in Sludge? Sadly, nearly half of all sludge is applied to farmland, even though no one knows exactly what may be in the thick, wet mud. To sweeten the interest, sludge is often touted as a soil conditioner and it is routinely offered to farmers at no charge. Various forms of wastes find their way onto productive farmland under the guise of sludge-based fertilizers, including paper and pulp sludges, raw-septic waste and sewage sludge. About this sickening practice, Orlando comments: “It says a lot about our culture to think we would even take the gamble to ruin our productive agricultural soil by applying a material that we know causes great harm. If we have any doubts at all, why risk putting it on our soil?” In the U.S., sewage sludge used for fertilizer may contain a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs due to the fact that many Americans take medications. These drugs are excreted in your waste and find their way into sewage-treatment plants, which typically don't adequately remove such drugs. When the sludge is applied to farm or garden soil as fertilizer, the plants get exposed to the pharmaceuticals, sending them indiscriminately into the food supply. After news about the potential dangers of sludge became public in Sweden and other countries in Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands, authorities banned the spreading of sewage sludge on agricultural land. In the short term, Sweden turned to burying its sludge in the ground, focusing first on areas such as motorways that were perceived to be less-intrusive to human health. Solar Aquatics: A Unique Approach to Waste Treatment In Bear River, Nova Scotia, residents resorted to a totally different tactic. They addressed their sludge waste by installing a solar aquatics treatment system. In a bold move, they placed the end of the city’s sewer pipe in the center of town. By doing so, it was hoped sewer waste would remain top of mind for the community. While this setup has not necessarily resolved all of their sewer and sludge-related issues, it certainly has made residents think more consciously about what is happening to their water and waste. Said Mark Van Zeumeren, former senior engineer with Environmental Design and Management, the company responsible for designing and installing the Bear River system in 1995: “In the past, it was never in people’s mindset as to what happened to the water, what they were doing with it … Here, everyone’s keen to come down and walk through the system … They identify with their sewage now … This is their sewage and they have to deal with it.” Solar aquatics is radically unique in that it employs plants and microbes to purify waste. Inside the greenhouse in the city of Weston, Massachusetts, 16 gravity-fed tanks brew sewage with the help of floating flora. Celery, cherry tomatoes, mint, primroses and water lilies, as well as a few fish and snails absorb contaminants. Phil Henderson, chief executive officer of Ecological Engineering Associates, which owns and operates the Weston greenhouse, shares a few of the advantages of solar aquatics:3 It produces half or less as much sludge as most industrial plants Local residents much prefer living next to a greenhouse than a traditional waste treatment plant, which is generally thought to be an eyesore It is a great learning tool for students and the community Change Is Needed: Steps You Can Take to More Responsibly Handle Waste No matter what kind of sewage treatment methods we may use to clean up after ourselves, certain problems will undoubtedly remain unless we determine to change our ways. Unless we change, most assuredly the habitual, daily use of all sorts of chemicals, medications and other toxic substances in our homes, industries and institutions will continue to burden our sewers. While the film ended without a clear “call to action,” I would like to draw your attention to a few potential areas that may fuel your thinking about how you can become more engaged with, and responsible toward, waste and waste treatment. If each of us made just one small change, it would go a long way toward helping us to collectively “clean up our act.” Some areas to consider include: Place baby wipes, condoms, diapers, feminine hygiene items, paper towels, plastic wrappers, so-called flushable wipes and the like in your garbage can; do not put them down your drain or toilet Be sure to dispose of hazardous wastes such as motor oil, paints, pesticides, stains and varnishes, which can contaminate soil and water supplies, according to the directives issued by your local regulatory bodies; never flush them down drains or toilets Discontinue or moderate your use of chemicals, fertilizers, toxic household cleaning supplies and pharmaceuticals; avoid disposing of them in drains or toilets Take caution with respect to the amount of water, as well as the cleaning supplies, detergents and personal-care products, you use for car washing, laundry, lawn care and personal hygiene, because they introduce additional areas where contamination may occur Keep leaves, trash and other debris out of storm sewers because those items are often deposited, untreated, directly into natural waterways, which may be a source of your drinking water

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