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#cw here stands for the network but also content warning
allgremlinart · 1 year
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unfortunately this is a very good point as to his stupidity
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uoblgbtq · 3 years
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Content warning: Racism, mentions of Covid-19, gun violence Today we bring you another Association infopack - this time on racism against Asian people as a result of Covid-19. You can find a document with links to the resources used here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AsRs8MGx9AN95j-nPlpRrDVBpcpL7Xs0htotRKNV-EA/edit?usp=sharing
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[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. To the right in bold red letters reads “Covid-19 and racism against asian people”. Below is small beige text reading “CW: racism, gun violence”. In the bottom right are the logos of the LGBTQ+ Association and the Guild of Students. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “This global pandemic has been horrendous for all of us...”. Below is small beige text reading “...But for many Asian people, it has also coincided with an uptick in racism, largely due to the media stating that the virus originated from China. While using language targeted towards Chinese people, this racism is directed broadly towards east and southeast Asians. This info pack looks at the realities of COVID-19-related anti-Asian racism, and how we can combat it.” End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “examples of anti-asian racism”. Below is small beige text reading “In the past year, 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents were reported to AAPI in the US. Women made up 68% of the reports. Between January and June 2020, the Met Police recorded a total of 457 race-related crimes against east and southeast Asian people. According to an online survey of Chinese residents across 70 countries, 25% of respondents experienced discrimination of various forms during the pandemic. On 16th March, shootings at multiple Georgia massage parlors left eight people dead, six of them Asian women”. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “know how to spot anti-asian racism”. Below is small beige text reading “Racism doesn't always look like using slurs or saying explicitly bigoted things. It can be helpful to know about dogwhistles and how people can sneak racist messages into their speech - check out our info pack linked in the description to learn more. It is important to take an intersectional lens when looking at this racism; the majority of anti-Asian racist incidents in the past year were against women, and many have tied the shooting at the massage parlours that occured this week to violence against sex workers and the sexualisation of Asian women”. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “don't take anti-asian racism lightly”. Below is small beige text reading “For people who aren't Asian, it can be funny to hear Donald Trump or other public figures talk about the "yellow virus" or the "Chinese virus" because they think it is ridiculous that someone could hold these beliefs. However Asian people know how harmful and potentially deadly this rhetoric can be. We need to take racism against Asian people seriously in order to combat it.”. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “Research the history of anti-asian racism”. Below is small beige text reading “Much of modern-day racist rhetoric and actions are linked to historical racism. From the Chinese Exclusion Act in the USA in the 19th century to the British 'Yellow Peril', anti-Asian racism has a significant historical precedent.” In the description, we have provided some resources on the history of anti-Asian racism”. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “Listen to asian people when they talk about their experiences with racism”. Below is small beige text reading “It is important to listen to and believe Asian people in our lives and in the wider world when they talk about racism. Some public figures and organisations you can seek out to learn more are: - Viet Thanh Nguyen - Stop AAPI Hate - Simeng Wang - WeRNotVirus - Britain’s east and southeast Asian Network (besea.n)”. End ID]
[ID: A brown background with a beige illustration of a tree along the left side. At the top in bold red letters reads “be prepared to stand up to anti-asian racism”. Below is small beige text reading “If it is safe for you to do so, it is important to combat anti-Asian racism when you see it. We have included in the description some resources on how to do a bystander intervention if you witness racism in public. If the racism is taking place online you can: know the facts and combat ignorance; reach out to support the victims; report the behaviour to moderators / the website”. End ID]
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trbl-will-find-me · 7 years
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Every Exit, An Entrance (7/?)
There are two (and only two) possibilities: either she led XCOM to victory and they are now engaged in a clean up operation of alien forces, or XCOM was overrun, clearing the way for an alien-controlled puppet government to seize control of the planet.
She’d really like to figure out which it is, but asking hardly seems the prudent option.
chapter cw: brief, non-graphic depiction of torture Masterpost of all updates available here
She jumps when the doors to the Situation Room open, startled from her nap by a concerned looking Central Officer. “Did you sleep here?”
“What time is it?”
“0800.”
“Just for the last hour and a half, then. I think I know what’s causing the energy spikes.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“It’s the Fog Pods.”
“What?”
“It’s the Fog Pods. I’m almost sure of it. It’s the only answer that makes sense.”
He lowers himself into a chair. “I’m listening.”
“On a hunch, I looked for missions we’d run in a fifty mile radius of the last recorded spike. What I pulled up was this,” she says, sending the footage to the large screen.
“The attack in Buenos Aires. Wasn’t that the one where Bernard---”
“Yup. And, rewatching the footage,” she says, calling up the incident in question. “This popped out at me.”
She replays the moment. “See the Fog Pod Hershel’s behind?”
“It’s one case, Commander.”
She shakes her head. “It’s bigger than that. I started pulling footage from other areas where we’ve seen spikes: Beijing, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Munich, Berlin, DC. The Fog Pods show up in all of the footage, so we’ve got a confirmed presence. We’ve ruled everything else out. We did our homework; we can rule out almost every other alien tech we’ve encountered. The Fog Pods are the one damn thing we forgot. That I forgot.”
“You didn’t forget. Other things had to take priority.”
“I didn’t even instruct our people to keep track of them!”
“If they’re what’s giving off these energy readings, they’ve kept track of themselves.”
“How did I miss this?”
“Weapons. Armor. Medkits. Live captures. Flight computers. You weren’t exactly leaving the research team idle.”
“But this!” She buries her head in her hands. “I have a Doctorate in Biodefense! This is inexcusable!”
“And we’ve been monitoring environmental data for cities where we’ve had active incursions. It’s been clean. If you’re right, we’ve still got time.”
“But we don’t have a pod.”
“Not even in storage?”
She shakes her head. “I really fucked us up.” She groans. “Time to go beg for the Council’s mercy.”
“Not … like that,” he says, eying her over. “Go get some sleep and come back with a uniform.”
“We don’t ---“
“It’s not going to be a pleasant call. It never is. It’s going only going to be worse if you go into it sleep-deprived.”
Her shoulders droop. “What if I’ve just set us back? What if … what if this is something coming? Some delayed onset weapon?”
“They’re not gonna bring that ship back into existence.”
“But what if they’re a bio agent? Those things take years to counter, and that’s assuming we even can.”
“They haven’t activated.”
“But they could. Our last, best hope is to stop them before they do, and we don’t even have one to pull apart. That’s not even mentioning the potential biohazard we take on bringing it here.”
“I’m not debating you on any of that. But your last call with the Council was … not the most productive. This is going to be contentious at best, hostile at worst. You’re not ready for that on … what, four hours of sleep?”
“Four and a half.”
“Point stands. You’ve got a lead now, which is more than you had last night. Get some rest. I’ll make the call and get things set.”
“I’m not winning this argument, am I?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Alright then,” she says, standing. “I surrender.”
“Commander?”
“Yeah?” She asks, halfway through pulling the sweater over her head.
“Isn’t that my shirt?”
“It was.”
He chuckles. “Looks better on you anyway.”
She winks at him. “See you in a few hours.”
“Maybe in your own uniform?”
“Might raise questions if I showed up in yours. Would have to skip the pants.”
She takes no small delight in the flush blooming under his collar.
-- It’s a quiet few days. When she sleeps, she dreams of happier times.
Well, happier possibilities, if she’s being accurate.
They’re not bad dreams, but they leave an ache in her chest when every time she wakes up.  At least in dreams, the aliens lost. At least in dreams, she can call her mom. At least in dreams, she can see the people who had become her dearest friends.
At least in dreams, Central is talking to her.
She tries to focus on the good. She’s really gotten a feel for the dynamics at play among the crew. She knows that Kelly is the one who has Central’s ear, and it’s Wallace and Royston who have Kelly’s. Thomas’s mouth likes to write cheques his performances can’t cash, whether it’s on the range or in the underbrush, but it never seems to dull his enthusiasm. Krieger and Gunda are already a matched set, an optimist and a pessimist united by a desire to take a little blood in the name of all that’s been spilled. Moon and Zaytsev are the jokesters, always the guilty ones when a prank’s afoot. Shen has an almost masterful control over her engineers, while Tygan struggles to keep his scientists in line. Dysfunctional as it is, they have formed their own little ersatz family, and adopted her right along into it.
Then there are the more nuanced factors, the things she can’t quite put her finger on. Royston and Central are at each other’s throats more often than not, but that’s not the whole picture. It doesn’t explain how he makes sure she eats dinner no matter what’s transpired earlier in the day, or the swing she takes at Thomas after he’s thrown around one too many jokes about liver failure. It certainly doesn’t explain the ice he’d brought her, reprimand free, after he’d needed to break up the ensuing scuffle or the sight she’d caught of them in the bar, his head in his arms, and Sally next to him, beer bottle in hand, with a look of worry on her face.
People have always been, and will always be, complex. Alien invaders don’t change human nature.
“Commander,” Tygan calls over the comm. “When you have a moment, I think you’ll want to see this.”
“On my way.”
During their last op, they’d managed to pull a large cache of data off of the ADVENT network. Tygan’s team had been busy perfecting the program to decode it, and had evidently made some progress.
“Commander,” he says, as she descends into the lab.
“Doctor. What have you got for me?”
He gives her a brief rundown of their findings, news on supply and troop movements to some off the beaten path facility. They’re sure it’s important, but they can’t begin to fathom its purpose; perhaps they should devote resources towards learning more about it?
She nods. “I’ll do what I can.” “There’s also the … other matter of what we found.”
Tygan presses a datapad into her hands. “Okay?” She asks, uncertain.
“There are files pertaining to your … captivity with ADVENT. Once the team realized what they were … I didn’t feel it was our place to look. They’ve been localized on the datapad as a means of keeping them off the XCOM network, given their … personal nature.”
She bites her lip. “I appreciate the discretion, Doctor. Thanks.”
“Our work on their encryption has also led us to some potential new ideas on how to handle long distance communication. With your permission, we’d like to pursue it.”
“Of course,” she nods. “My thanks to your team.”
The walk back to her quarters feels like a dream. She doesn’t like to isolate herself, but she’s not prepared to view whatever contents they’ve recovered with an audience.  The men need to believe she’s here and whole, and that means not letting them see when goes to pieces --- as she suspects she’s about to.
She remembers more of her captivity than she likes to think about. In the week and a half she’s been out of the tank, it’s come back to her more vibrantly than she would like. She’s learned to ignore it, to tamp down the flashes, the little things. The crew keeps her busy and she’s eternally thankful to them for it.
When she’d first come to in the holding cell, stripped to her underwear and a hospital gown, it was terror. Overwhelming terror. No gun, no knife, and the only visible exit without any kind of opening mechanism.
XCOM was gone. She’d known it in her bones. Her best hope was that someone had managed to escape, to warn the Council, and that the rest had died without suffering. She’d hoped Royston and Martin got a chance to say the words they very obviously needed to, and that Molchetti and Hershel hadn’t seen one another’s fate.
And Central. John. She remembered tearing up. She wasn’t religious, but she’d offered prayers up to whatever might be out there that it had been quick, and that it hadn’t been one of their own who’d done him in.
She should have told him. She should have said something. Should have should have should have. Too late.
From there, it had only gotten worse.
She remembers the sick horror that had filled her at the site of cells identical to hers, opaque black, but still clearly occupied. Not him, not him, not him, she’d prayed. Not like this not here not him.
The first file on the datapad is a prisoner profile. It lists her name, her date of birth, her identifying characteristics, degree of psionic potential, everything you’d need at a glance. Scanning through, there’s notes about her resistance to psionic interrogation, a talent for resisting mind control attempts.
Extreme will, potentially useful for our purposes, the document reads. Will need to rely on more direct interrogation methods.
She’s not sure if she wants to laugh or vomit.
May be useful in locating additional assets.
Although, drinking herself numb is starting to sound like a better solution.
Subject shows particular concern for John Bradford. Intel indicates XCOM second-in-command. May be useful asset in securing subject’s cooperation or as complement.
You don’t have to do this, she tells herself. You don’t have to go through this at all. Put the datapad down You don’t have to relive this.
Except she does.
The next file is a video. It’s strange to see herself on the table, the device she’d come to hate so ferociously already prepped for intrusion.
“There’s no need to make this hard on yourself, Commander,” the Ethereal purrs.
 “Go to hell,” she spits, voice already raw from screaming,
 “We’re willing to accommodate your ... needs.”
 “Leave him alone.”
“It would make your integration much more efficient. You’ve already developed an admirable system for coworking. Your relationship is well-established.”
“I’d just as soon do us both in.” “Very well, if you’re going to be this difficult.”
A leering Thin Man flips a switch and she screams as the device punctures her cranial cavity.
She sets the datapad down, and presses a finger against the gnarled scar at the base of her skull. Brute force was too delicate a term to describe the process. Yes, she could fight psionic interrogation, but direct stimulation of the neural pathways was a considerably different matter.
The final file is a list of high value assets. Devorah Hershel. Isabella Molchetti. Edouard Martin. John Bradford.
God, she’d kill for a drink. Then again, with her luck, Central would be in the bar, make one wrong comment, and she’d haul off and hit him anyway., assurances to Shen and Tygan be damned. Wouldn’t that just be the fucking cherry on her day?
Wait a second.
Her eyes dart from the datapad to the door and back again. You’re an idiot, she thinks. Central is the person who needs to see this the most. This might be the only thing that gets him to talk to you.
She takes a deep breath, and tries to settle the nausea in her stomach. She’ll need to execute this carefully.
“Sally,” she says, pressing her finger to her comm. “Can I see you in my quarters when you have a moment?”
“On my way!”
The knock on the door comes faster than she was expecting, but she ushers the younger Royston in quickly.
“I have an … unpleasant favor to ask you.”
“Alright, what is it?”
She hands the girl the datapad. “I need you to take this to Central, and I need you to make sure he goes through it.”
Sally cocks her head. “Can I ask why?”
“It’s not locked,” she says, offering the girl a pointed look.
Sally furrows her brow, then nods slowly as the implication dawns on her.
“You got it, ma’am. I’ll make it happen.”
She sends the girl on her way, then collapses onto the bed, burying her face into the pillows. God, she needs a nap.
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siphen0 · 5 years
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The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509c_0361bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
***Spoiler Warning***
I can’t say that I was following the hype train for Elseworlds. I was kind of at that point with some of these shows where I was way more interested in what was going to be set up than what was actually going to happen during the crossover episodes. Like comics, bigger doesn’t always mean better. This was actually one of those times where I was happy to be wrong. Would I have loved to see the Legends make an appearance here? Of course, but it also made sense that they wouldn’t want to stuff too many heroes into a story that would benefit from more focus.
The first act The Flash “Elseworlds, Part 1” is leaps ahead of what the other two crossovers had to offer in the first night. My only hope was for a better start than last year’s crossover, and that was exactly what we got. Last year it was pretty weak the way they began with Supergirl. And not because they started with Supergirl, but because there was no actual crossover content till the last few minutes. This time around so much ground was covered, so much given clarity to, and so much fun experienced from heroes seeing the other side of the grass. I don’t think I could have asked for anything more than what we got here, for the most part. Barry and Oliver fully embraced the madness of their new realities. They of course had their moments to freak out about the changes, but they took every advantage to show what it is like to step in the shoes of the other. What then brought them to Kara was a reason you couldn’t argue with. What brought them to both Kara and Clark at the same time was even better. Little time was wasted in emphasizing that this story is taking place exactly where each show’s current storylines are progressing.
The second act was thrilling for everything dealing with our tour of Gotham in the Arrowverse. It was shocking how they decided to play up the myth of Batman and stirring the question of if there ever was a Batman. You want to believe it, but no one is truly straightforward about the answer to that question. The setting was on point from the city view to the halls of Arkham Asylum. What made this introduction so great was the reaction from Oliver, Barry, and Kara. They all had their own opinion of Batman, where Gotham fits in this world, and the existence of Batwoman. Kate Kane was exactly how you pictured her from the books. She’s cold, she commands attention when she steps into the room, very confident in her actions. I definitely was left with a quick impression that she worked that role better than Oliver could. How they explained her connection to Batman and Bruce Wayne was clever. She still has her distance from the two, but this obviously isn’t going to be like the books where she one night decides she wants to dress like a bat but ignore everything about the bat.
Arrow — “Elseworlds, Part 2” — Image Number: AR709a_0195b — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Barry Allen/The Flash and Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Our first confrontation with Deegan in Arkham was absolutely brilliant. If it wasn’t the action they delivered after the prisoners were set free, it was every prisoner in Arkham who had a familiar name. You either recognized their name right away, or you had to look a bit deeper if you weren’t too up to date with the villain’s real names.
The third act put a lot of work into the endgame when Dr. John Deegan was challenged to think bigger. The reality he put together was very well executed for someone who finally realized where he went wrong the first time. It’s not as if we haven’t seen our characters flipped from being heroes to villains before, but it was fun for the way that Barry and Oliver interacted with them. Barry and Oliver waking up in a new reality where they are criminals known as the Trigger Twins was one heck of a way to throw them out of their element. It was short-lived with pacing taking priority, but worthwhile for another role that Barry was able to play outside of being the good guy. Being that this third episode was Supergirl’s part, there was much more of her and others from her story seen in this last stretch. I enjoyed the way that their tone fit into this crossover considering their theme centers around family and hope more than any of the others. Whether it was how Kara took control of her situation, or the way that Clark and Lois rose to the occasion, they stole the spotlight the only way that heroes can when they let their compass point them in the right direction. I mean, lets talk about Lois and company who joined that fight. I didn’t see it coming and I loved every second of the last people you would expect to make a difference do their thing.
For somewhat villains, Dr. John Deegan and The Monitor did stand out in their own way. I say somewhat because Deegan isn’t seen all too much as himself, and The Monitor’s actions weren’t exactly as they seemed on the surface. He was doing wrong, but clearly with good intentions in mind. His actions were the kind that lean towards Gods who think that manipulation serves as a better line of communication than being direct. Cliche yes, but the way they went about it was clever. Now Deegan I would say is for the most part forgettable. Not for what troubles he created, but for the fact that you are left with an image of Superman burned into your head rather than him. Aside from his moments rewriting reality as himself, that was as far as his actions went carrying his own face. Because of that, I found myself more so applauding Tyler Hoechlin for his role as Superman. He proved to have a lot of range. That sinister laugh, the monologuing, everything else in-between stood out when the Supes in black took matters into his own hands.
Supergirl — “Elseworlds, Part 3” — Image Number: SPG409a_0391b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow — Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
As I told someone earlier this week, the best thing about Elseworlds was the tone. You read from some people that this could be too cheesy or cliche, but what is comics if not those things? It’s not about the act of being cheesy or cliche, it’s about why. Sometimes that is what we actually need from these shows. Other shows may be better in some areas, but they also can suffer from being bleak. This three-night crossover put more effort into trying to find a balance between being light-hearted and serious. I walked away from that last episode believing in the existence of hope in superhero stories. The admiration for the way that they aimed to define what it means to be a hero. What you do as the hero, as your normal self, even what you can accomplish without your powers/gear says more than anything else could. I cherished every moment where they smiled, laughed, opened up about the things that only other heroes could relate to. This was one of the first times that I was able to cheer on Oliver for the growth he accepted when faced with other options in carrying himself as the Green Arrow.
What also deserves some recognition is the effects used for this event. Obviously there are some things they simply can’t perfect, but other things looked great. It was very cool for the level of detail that went into certain characters and how it didn’t pop out too much as things inhuman. The Superman fight was a bit fluffy in the sky, but it could have looked so much more different if they decided that it all needed to be generated images. Aside from that, they spared no expense in lighting and special effects from everyone else who had a hand in making this event out of the ordinary.
Elseworlds might be the best crossover they have done so far. I would dare to say that this is the best. It benefited from not involving too many heroes and focusing purely on those who are at the core of these shows. They also proved that you can take being a hero very seriously, but it means nothing if you can’t have a little fun along the way. Call that cheesy, but it may just mean you need to broaden your definition of superheroes in comic worlds.
The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509b_0345b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent, Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl and Bitsie Tulloch as Lois Lane — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
Supergirl — “Elseworlds, Part 3” — Image Number: SPG409a_0178b.jpg — Pictured: Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon — Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Arrow — “Elseworlds, Part 2” — Image Number: AR709b_0002b — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509d_0163bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jeremy Davies as John Deegan and LaMonica Garrett as The Monitor — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
DC/CW Elseworlds Crossover Review ***Spoiler Warning*** I can't say that I was following the hype train for Elseworlds. I was kind of at that point with some of these shows where I was way more interested in what was going to be set up than what was actually going to happen during the crossover episodes.
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