#social enterprise mission

[odo-apologist]

Every ENT character is the most character ever. Archer is a bitch he plays a fundamental role in the creation of the Federation he brings his dog on away missions which once causes a diplomatic incident he likes water polo he commits war crimes he saw a gazelle giving birth and implements it into his rousing speeches he had a wet dream about his first officer that included his dog's funeral he had to carry the soul of the creator of the main tenets of Vulcan philosophy in his head he gives a lecture on Tycho Brahe while getting his ass beaten during an interrogation scene. T'Pol is strict in her Vulcan beliefs she doesn't believe in time travel even as she's presented with irrefutable evidence and remains somewhat skeptical after experiencing it firsthand she is the funniest person on Enterprise she is more emotional than average Vulcans to the point that she had to have memories erased for causing her too much distress she could canonically pick up any of her crewmates and carry them bridal style she has Vulcan HIV she has it cured by the woman that later watches Spock and Kirk roll around in the sand in Amok Time she is technically canonically trans she is a recovering drug addict. Trip is a perfect gentleman he undergoes incredible emotional losses his favorite movies are Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein he gets pregnant five episodes in he dies in the worst episode of the entire series (and the entire franchise) only to have that death retconned in the following tie-in novels he ran around the ship in his underwear he leaves the ship for a couple weeks only to come back after one person had been kidnapped another thrown in jail and the engines are on the verge of destruction and reacts like :/. Malcolm is gay he has 50 ex-girlfriends he has only had one friend in his life his own sister barely knows anything about him he dies alone he likes pineapple even though he's allergic to it he gets spacesick he worked as an agent for a top secret organization he's afraid of drowning he whined about getting a cold he had a spike driven through his leg and didn't complain at all he has a psychosexual obsession with a man he thinks is after his job and grows to respect once they had a homoerotic fight scene before witnessing him die. Hoshi is a linguistic prodigy she's the greatest contributor to the universal translator she has a panic attack on one of her first missions she ran a gambling ring she has a black belt in aikido and broke her superior's arm she has never been to the principal's office in her life she is afraid to use the transporter she became an empress in an alternate universe she is the only one who gets laid on Risa making her the first human to do so she reacted to the threat of getting worms injected into her brain to make her reveal secret information by spitting in her interrogator's face. Travis is the sweetest man ever he loves rock climbing he gets injured whenever he tries to use those skills he's a fan of ghost stories he grew up on a small freighter he gets neglected by the narrative his counterpart helps Hoshi become empress he works out when he's horny he dies in a alternate future where Earth is destroyed he's a movie buff who would probably love the Criterion Collection he likes to chill in a part of the ship with zero gravity which he calls "the sweet spot." Phlox grins like the Cheshire Cat he breaks doctor patient confidentiality to help figure out Malcolm's favorite food he goes crazy when the rest of the crew have to sleep through part of space because of how social his species is he has three wives who in turn have three husbands he responds to the news of one of his wives propositioning a crew member by being like "cool! have fun :]" he once nearly vivisects Travis because he's being affected by radiation and gets obsessed with knowing why the guy has a simple headache he has a menagerie in the middle of his sickbay. And they're all my best friends.

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE //S2E3 Minefield

Frankly, sir from my point of view that kind of socializing has no place on a starship. I had a C.O. once, felt the same way. 'They're your crew, not your friends.' I thought about that a lot… when I took this command but then I realized this is not a typical mission. We could be out here for years. All we have to depend on… is each other.

[medlilove]

Please click for full res

There’s nothing like sitting on a porch swing in the shade on a Georgia peach farm, talking to your niece, whom you found on an abandoned research station halfway across the galaxy. But that's a story for another day. 🍑

(Ok, so OC time. Ivy was found alone by McCoy and the crew at six years old on an abandoned research station during the Enterprise's five-year mission. After rehabilitation, she was adopted by Lorna, McCoy’s twin sister. Lorna, a dedicated social worker, licensed foster parent, and active community participant, lives on a small peach farm in Georgia with her wife Adelaide (Addie) and their teenage daughter June. Though McCoy owns an apartment in the city, he usually stays at the farm during shore leave, because it's just so much nicer.)

[social-media-au-reblog]

COMPLETE DC SMAU

Main masterlist

Damian Wayne

A mystery to unveil (SM!AU)

- After you upload a picture to make sure that every girl in Gotham knows that Damian is yours, it’s his family’s personal mission to find out who that newly found Mystery Girl is…

In the shadows

When Damian's left alone to take care of Gotham for 2 weeks, he receives help from a few vigilantes in the next town. Turns out they go to school together and make a great team.

Captured by fate

Being asked to be the photographer at the recent Wayne Gala was an amazing opportunity, meeting your soulmate Damian Wayne was not a welcome surprise.

Prom shenanigans

Damian asks the girl he tutors to prom, shenanigans follow.

Partners in justice masterlist

Summery:In his senior year of high school, Damian Wayne has to work with the new Batgirl Y/N L/N in more ways than one. Will they become friends, rivals, or more?

Ballet SMAU Masterlist

As lovely as you are

Smau Damian Wayne x reader

Jason Todd

Social media cordina

Recently fired Y/n receives a job offer from Bruce Wayne. Date Jason and run the Wayne Enterprises social media. It was better then her other idea...Featuring stalkers, awkwardness, and friends who won't let you fail at this because they're having too much fun.

Tim Drake

Moving closer master list

Summery: Tim Drake's best friend is moving back to Gotham, and the BatFam learns about her for the first time... Social Media AU

Update firewalls

Y/n a computer genius, got bored and decided to hack everything she could of Batman's. Turns out, all of his firewalls needs to be updated...

Dick Grayson

But oh..cara mía”

It’s one year after Damian’s arrival, and Yn Ln just came back from her two year long trip. Constantly perplexed by her relationship with Dick, Damian sets out to dig down deeper on who she is, what went wrong, and what will become. With the help from the batfam, let’s find out what the hell happened to Dick Grayson and Yn Ln

[southernbluebellereader]

MASTERLIST

Who I write for: Call of Duty (Preferably MW2 and MW3); Star Trek (everything up to Enterprise + Strange New Worlds); Slashers (Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers); Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson); SIX (coming soon)

REQUESTS: Closed | INBOX: Open | TAG LIST: Click Here | (*) = WIP

Last Update: December 29, 2023

{JACK REACHER}

| JACK REACHER (Alan Ritchson) |

General Headcanons

General Headcanons Part 2

X Fem! Southern Waitress

Peach Pie and Cream

{CALL OF DUTY}

| IMAGINES/HEADCANONS/REQUESTS |

Imagine Dancing with Alejandro Vargas and Rodolfo “Rudy” Parra

Imagine Dancing with John Price, Ghost, and Soap

Do They Know How to Take a Bra Off? (COD 141 + Alejandro, Rudy, & König)

Routines (Taskforce 141 x Southern Hairdresser Reader (PLATONIC))

Routines Part 2 (Taskforce 141 x Southern Hairdresser Reader (PLATONIC))

Tenderheart Bear (141 x People Pleaser F! Field Medic (PLATONIC))

How would the 141 react to you getting your nails done? (COD MW2) (Task Force 141 - Semi-NSFW)

(18) Request: Imagine Ghost & König with an anal vibrator

Request: 141 x Reader w/ Psoriasis & Vitiligo (SFW & Platonic)

Request: Taskforce 141 x Reader with rumors of being a slut

(18+) Request: Kvinlig Demon (141 x F! Reader w/ Womb Tattoo)

| CAPTAIN JOHN PRICE |

Requests

(18+) NSFW Price x Younger S/O & he is wrapped around your finger ;)

(18+) NSFW Daddy Price x Wife (this a little *spicy*)

Family Day (x Wife Reader; y'all and the 141 go to Disney World as a family)

Personal Nurse (x Nurse F! Reader)

Leg Warmers (x Reader w/ misaligned knee caps)

*Price begging - collar - sub!Price

X Female Escort Reader

[PART 1] Don’t Look At Me Like That (FLUFF/LITTLE ANGST)

[PART 2] Excitement in Patience (18+ MATURE)

[PART 3] Cup of Coffee (Kinda of a prequel)

X Female Wife Reader

Gray Hairs (FLUFF)

X Young Reader with Facial Scars

[PART 1] Bruised Apple (Platonic, Angst, Facial Scars, Mention of Violence)

[PART 2] Apple Slices (DITTO [Mention of Violence & Trauma])

[PART 3] Apple Pie (Platonic, going on slightly romantic, Angst, Fluffity Fluff)

X MILF Single Mom

Forbidden (Fluff, Innuendos, Brief mention of violence)

| LIEUTENANT SIMON “GHOST” RILEY |

Requests

Drake (x AFAB Teammate w/ Tattoo; Simon seeing their tattoo for the first time)

Turquesa (x AFAB Latinx Nurse Reader)

Midnight Dining (x AFAB Civilian Reader (leather jacket Ghost))

Emergency Snack Run (x AFAB Gas Station Clerk)

Personal Mechanic (Mechanic Ghost x AFAB Reader)

X Female Southern Cook

[PART 1] Midnight Snack (FLUFF & PLATONIC)

[PART 2] Tomato, Tom-ah-to (FLUFF & PLATONIC)

[PART 3] Bag of Peas (FLUFF & PLATONIC)

[PART 4] Hash Browns (FLUFF & MOSTLY PLATONIC)

[PART 5] Prickly Pear (FLUFF & DEF NOT PLATONIC ANYMORE)

[PART 6] Peaches and Cream (FLUFF, ANGST, LOVEY DOVEY)

[PART 7] Chicken and Dumplings (VERY ANGST, A LITTLE VIOLENCE)

[PART 8] Hot Links (FLUFFITY FLUFF FLUFF LOVEY DOVEY)

X Female Reader

(18+) Hot For Teacher (Simon's S/O gets a teacher costume for Halloween)

Being Chosen…By A Baby (Single Mom Reader)

| COLONEL ALEJANDRO VARGAS |

X Female Wife Reader

Forehead Kisses (FLUFF)

Alejandro and His Big Ol' Forehead - One, Two, Three, Four

| SERGEANT KEEGAN P. RUSS (COD GHOSTS) |

Fun and Games (x F! reader) (PLATONIC) - His name is said in a funny accent

| SERGEANT KYLE "GAZ" GARRICK |

Requests

A little nosy, aren't we? (x F! Reader gets caught looking at his social media)

(18+) Car Shenanigans (x F! Reader giving head/getting fingered)

Post-Mission Angst (x AFAB Reader)

X Female Signaler/Radiowoman Reader

Guardian Angel (bubbling relationship)

| KÖNIG |

How he likes to show affection by holding you close (xGN Reader)

| COMMANDER PHILLIP GRAVES |

X Pregnant Wife Reader

First Time Husband (first-time pregnancy; little angst, fluff)

| SERGEANT LOGAN WALKER (COD GHOSTS) |

Requests

Headcanons (Both SFW and NSFW)

What would Logan be like as a Father? (fuffity fluff fluff)

Headcanons Part 2 (Both SFW and NSFW)

| SOBIESŁAW "GROMSKO" KOŚCIUSZKO |

General Headcanons (SFW and NSFW)

Supportive Soft Friend (SFW Fluff)

| KATE LASWELL |

x Wife Reader

My Wife (fluffity fluff fluff)

| ALEX KELLER |

x F! New Yorker Medic Reader

Polar Opposites (Golden Retriever Alex, Black Cat Reader; Fluff)

| SERGEANT JOHNNY "SOAP" MACTAVISH |

Requests

*Dilf! Johnny x Babysitter

x F! Reader

Calling Him "Stud"

{STAR TREK}

| IMAGINES/HEADCANONS |

Kirk, Spock, & Bones x Southern Reader (SFW)

Do They Know How to Take Bra Off? (Kirk, Bones, Spock, Scotty, Chekov)

| DOCTOR LEONARD “BONES” MCCOY |

X Female Nurse Practitioner

Medical Couple (FLUFF LOVEY DOVEY; TOS/REBOOT MOVIES)

| FIRST COMMANDER SPOCK |

Requests

Pop of Color (x F! Betazoid Quartermaster/Seamstress; STRANGE NEW WORLDS)

{SLASHERS}

| JASON VOORHEES |

X Female Camp Counselor

Instinct (stalking)

{SIX}

| JOE "BEAR" GRAVES |

Requests

Request: Joe Graves X Younger Wife/GF Headcanons

[ghost-bxrd]

What do you headcanon as AU careers for Dick?

I don't much like the idea of Dick as a cop (in Wayne Family Adventures I'm pretty sure they never explicitly mention his job, so I'm gonna pretend he's not a cop there)

Gymnastics instructor seems to be a popular choice in most of the Happy Dick and Nice Batfam AUs and it sounds in character... Except his night job related injuries would be difficult to hide.

Neither Fae nor Talon Dick are likely to have the kind of falling out with Bruce which led to Dick striking out on his own, so they will likely never have the worry about earning their own living. Bruce would no doubt be willing and eager to give them cushy jobs with the WE, or they can just treat Superhero-ing as their full time job. But still, I think they will want an independent, non-nepo baby job.

I like the idea of Dick as a CPS worker, or just with social services in general. He'll be great with traumatized kids, has so much experience both first and second hand to draw on.

And if Fae Dick is with CPS... Well. The lore about fae stealing children is well known, but less well known is the lore that fae steal neglected children.

Now, that can simply be the predator going after the vulnerable, but it can also be in some stories the fae see humans refusing to take care of the children properly and getting their adoption instincts triggered Bruce Wayne style, taking them away from the parents who don't deserve them to a better life.

CPS takes neglected and abused children away from the parents who don't deserve them, to a better life.

Love the idea of a fae as a CPS worker, getting official sanction and human cooperation to do his traditional job :)

It depends on the Au!

I’m very flexible with what I read as long as the author manages to fit it into the story in a plausible and believable way. Like with the Titans TV series where it establishes very early on that Dick is rather feral and not as opposed to murder as Bruce *cough*

But over all I do agree that him being a cop doesn’t check out most of the time since most comics (at least from what I’ve read, so take that with a grain of salt. My comic knowledge is like— 3% if we’re being generous lol.) depict him as being very opposed to using firearms, and to killing. And cops have to carry guns to protect themselves and others, and sometimes also shoot people. So yeah I don’t know.

And acrobatics instructor actually isn’t such a bad idea imo! Yeah there are some pretty revealing suits out there. But if we go with what Dick is wearing in Gotham Knights in between missions it could totally work out! He’d still have to be careful tho, obviously. But honestly I don’t think people will look too closely at someone who does potentially dangerous sports as a living and comes in with a black eye or a broken arm or something.

CPS sounds like a very fun idea tho! Espiecally in regards to Fae Dick! He’s got a soft spot for children and their wide eyed wonder. And kids aren’t nearly as frightened of him if they happen to catch a glimpse of other either. So yeah, perfect!

But now I’m also thinking of the Pied Piper of Hamelin tale, because I can totally see Dick leading a gaggle of kids through the streets and out of harms way if there’s ever a Gotham wide catastrophe going on… hmmmm

Other than that I could also see Dick as someone who takes a job leading and organizing multiple charities (sponsored by Wayne Enterprises) and rising through the Gotham Elite. It would help his vigilante cover (poor and dumb Richie Wayne, always drunk and being scandalous, just like his guardian) while also serving the ulterior motive of rooting out corruption.

Idk that last one’s just a thought (cuz I love good rich people playing other bad rich people and causing their downfall… eh.)

[toxicwasteempire]

Foreshadowing in book one for Sidestep secret.

We all know by now but did we always? How many of us picked up the clues for the first book?

I personally was 100% convinced Sidestep was a Re-Gene before I started to play Retribution. This is because my mind is huge™ (Lying). It is interesting how it isn't information the first book is withholding, it keeps bringing it up to the point it feels natural once you read it once again with that knowledge. It doesn't hide it, it's just not said explicitly.

This is not a exhaustive list. I did one playthrough and took every reference, just so you all see my point. Remember, this is all just from one playthrough.

Is not foreshadowing (or is it?) but the phrasing is interesting knowing that Sidestep was made to do undercover missions. At the start, one things they're talking about gender norms in general but Sidestep was taught those in a clinical, artificial environment, with the goal of being as unassuming as possible. Only cuckoos are socialized this way, something that separates them from other Re-Genes.

More clear impossible and this is at the start of the game. Close your eyes and imagine baby Sidestep in a test tube. 🧪👶🏻

Tech-savvy Sidestep knows the capability of modern science, they're a product of it. Is the topic of race and heritage touchy because they see themselves as having no heritage or is do they consider Re-Gene culture as their heritage. (We know they have a unique language) If the latter is true, they would also feel isolated from it, since cuckoos are set apart.

Here is The Point™ it occurs in every playthrough. The existence of Re-Gene is explained and Sidestep is shown extremely distressed after calling the Special Directive. This is the point where it's practically confirmed there's story between Sidestep and the GeniTech corporation. it's difficult to not at the very least suspect.

I mean, the whole situation is stressing Sidestep the fuck out. If her crying, sobbing and throwing up about this isn't suspicious I don't know what is.

"You see Re-Genes have NO HUMAN RIGHTS because a CEO (of a company that kicked off after moving somewhere without a bioethics board) ~~claimed~~ that Re-Genes, allegedly 😒, are not sentient. Oh, you see they can mimic 😋🤗 so if you see some acting alive that's just silly pretending Which is why they have to be BRANDED as the MINDLESS OBJECTS they are just so nobody confuses them for actual people. 🙄 They have no mind after all. Or so they say. 😒 They are used for war... Do what you want with that info."

The way Sidestep talks immediately sends off alarms. Putting aside her being a Re-Gene, it is very clear the moment the Re-Genes are mentioned, the text is also putting in question the apparently known fact that they are not sentient.

Even if Sidestep had not been revealed to be one, I would've be on the side of the Re-Genes. Made by a sketchy enterprise somewhere with little to no regulations, they're marked to make sure nobody confuses them for a human, sent to make rich people richer in proxy wars abroad. The company says uuhhm actually they have no soul so it's okay if they got not human rights. 💕 And I'm supposed to believe that? Go away

Also a journalist was straight up murdered. Como cosa rara.

So the supposedly mindless robots need to have their thoughts shielded from possible telepaths 🤔 how weird.

There's show of kinship if you chose to save the Re-Gene. You see me and I see you. We are the same. We don't deserve this.

Sidestep stop hating your body challenge (impossible)

The first one can assume she's talking about being a villain but we know better.

Kinship between Sidestep and Heartbreak. They both being treated like less than a person. I see you. You see me we are the same etc. We also get a glimpse of her life in The Farm.

If you already got the inclination to believe sidestep is Re-Gene mid playthrough, the game proves you right with texts like this.

My poor mew meow...

Being serious, one assumes their tragic backstory means Sidestep's childhood was sad. When actually is simply non existent.

[shipposttt]

The Ship of the Day: Spirk

Name: Jim Kirk x Spock 

Ship Name: Spirk 

Original Content: Star Trek: The Original Series (And its 60 years of following history)

Ship info: The original ship of the modern era, this was the ship and fandom that kick started fandom and shipping as we know it! 

James Tiberius Kirk is the cocky and suave blonde Iowan captain of an exploratory spaceship (The U.S.S Enterprise)  in the 23rd century and Spock is his alien first officer and science officer, recognisable by his elf-like pointed ears, black bowl cut and famous pointy Vulcan eyebrows. 

Dedicated to their mission alongside each other, Spock and Kirk have had 60 years of homoerotic moments, from worrying after each other, to Kirk defending Spock from bigots. Quite possibly the most prominent and famous moment is the goodbye between Spock and Kirk as Spock is dying during the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan. Kirk stays by Spock’s side as he dies after sacrificing himself for their ship, crew and friends, giving a heart-wrenching goodbye that has echoed throughout pop culture and Star Trek, to even be replicated in the less than faithful and not very well liked reboots, where it is Kirk that sacrifices his life. The death of Spock is followed by Kirk spending an entire movie trying, and succeeding, to bring him back to life and return him home to the Enterprise. 

Type of ship: Queer Read

At the end of the day, this was the 60s. While Star Trek has always been progressive, always preaching equality and peace, having the first interracial kiss, featured female characters with proper roles and often combatted social issues, it was still the 60s and homosexuality was almost definitely a step too far for the producers and showrunners. The interracial kiss only succeeding in going through to air because William Shatner kept on intentionally messing up the other takes that didn’t contain the kiss. 

In my opinion, Spirk has held so strong as a ship for so long because they were too men who truly did care for each other, while maybe never in a labelled homosexual way, they very often showed their care, their worry, their love (platonic)  for one another. 

“I have been and always will be, your friend.” That’s what Spock says as he is dying. DYING! No final words to anyone else, no regrets for not telling someone he loved them, just speaking to Kirk and confirming how much he cared for him.

Speaking of anyone else, neither Kirk or Spock have long term female partners in the original series. While Kirk is a bit of a flirt with any female he comes across, and Spock’s meant to be wife, T’Pring, was brought up for plot once and them summarily disappeared from the story and Spock never went through with it. In the show there is no one who means more to these men as each other. 

Admin🦉

[spotlightstory]

The Michigan Medicis of Donald Trump’s America

Left, clockwise from top left Blackwater founder Erik Prince; U.S. Sec of Education Betsy DeVos (Prince); philanthropist Elsa and Prince Corporation founder Edgar Prince. Right, philanthropist Hellen and Amway co-founder Richard DeVos; standing, businessman Dick DeVos.

If you ever wondered where the weird Republican ideas came from or how did we get here, well, here's a piece of the puzzle. Buckle up, it's a long read. Link to full article above. I pulled out quotes on topics below.

"In the solar system of elite Republican contributors, Richard DeVos Sr., who died Thursday at age 92—one of the two founders of Amway, the direct-sale colossus—occupied an exalted place, and his offspring did too. Since the 1970s, members of the DeVos family had given as much as $200 million to the G.O.P. and been tireless promoters of the modern conservative movement—its ideas, its policies, and its crusades combining free-market economics, a push for privatization of many government functions, and Christian social values. While other far-right mega-donors may have become better known over the years (the Coorses and the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson and the Mercers), Michigan’s DeVos dynasty stands apart—for the duration, range, and depth of its influence."

Conservative think tanks, advocacy organizations, and colleges

Grand Valley State University; Calvin College, attended by several generations of DeVoses, including Rich’s daughter-in-law Betsy DeVos, Northwood University, her husband Dick’s alma mater. Hillsdale, the libertarian-plus-Christian liberal-arts college in southern Michigan.

Other recipients of DeVos largesse: the Heritage Foundation, the Institute for Justice, and the American Enterprise Institute

"The DeVoses’ preference for “values-oriented” candidates reflect the teachings of the Christian Reformed Church. A small breakaway denomination of its Dutch forerunner, it has some 300,000 adherents in North America, many living in the same western-Michigan towns where their immigrant ancestors settled in the 1840s to pursue a faith.."

SCHOOL REFORM: Who can forget Betsy DeVos’s campaign to undo the state’s public-education system and replace it with for-profit and charter schools that, as she had put it two decades earlier, shared her mission of “defending the Judeo-Christian values"?

“[Among] her big ‘accomplishments,’” says Diane Ravitch, the N.Y.U. professor and respected education historian, “have been reversing civil-rights enforcement for kids with disabilities, putting administrators from for-profit colleges in charge of monitoring for-profit colleges . . . stabbing in the back young people with heavy debt for their college education, and being a constant critic of public schools.” One saving grace, Ravitch contends, is that DeVos has gotten very few of her budget proposals through Congress. 

LABOR UNIONS: Another target was labor unions. Amway and the Prince Corporation had no use for them. Now the family waged a public fight. After Dick DeVos was routed when he ran for governor of Michigan in 2006, he blamed his defeat, in part, on Michigan’s unions and began to push for a right-to-work law (weakening the unions’ economic power and political clout, a pillar of the state’s Democratic Party). In 2012, the bill got through, and Michigan—headquarters to the United Automobile Workers, no less—became yet another of the country’s right-to-work states.

FAMILY: "Betsy and Erik’s father, Edgar Prince, was a Chrysler-Plymouth salesman and then machine engineer who started a die-cast business and also had a tinkerer’s gift for inventions. One, the lighted vanity mirror on the flip-up sun visor (introduced in 1972), helped Prince become one of the wealthiest men in Michigan." (wow) "As he got richer, the elder Prince rewarded his hometown handsomely; Prince money has done much to preserve downtown Holland, which remains a 1950s time capsule of Candy Land façades."

The C.R.C.’s greatest figure, Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian and prime minister who died almost a century ago, had declared, in words the faithful know by heart: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”  

The Princes and DeVoses—with neighboring homes in Holland—had effected a merger thanks to the 1979 marriage of their firstborn, Betsy Prince and Dick DeVos, then in their 20s. “Bible-reading jet-setter” was the description in a Detroit Free Press profile of Betsy.

Betsy and Dick own a 22,000-square-foot mansion on Lake Macatawa.

ERIK PRINCE was devoted to his father, who doted on him. He played four sports at Holland Christian and was the proudly straitlaced kid who, without being asked, put away the soccer balls after practice. Prince enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987 but was shocked by the frat-house atmosphere—too much for a junior culture warrior who’d been an intern at the Family Research Council. After three semesters, he transferred to Michigan’s Hillsdale College.

Today Hillsdale, under its president, Larry P. Arnn (former head of the Claremont Institute, a citadel of far-right ideology), is known as a feeder school for the Trump administration, including Betsy DeVos’s chief of staff, Josh Venable. In May, the week Vice President Pence gave the commencement address there, Politico called it “the college that wants to take over Washington”—citing many alums who are now D.C. power players. 

In 1989, Erik had been invited to a “youth” inaugural ball for Bush—and there had met Joan Keating, the woman who would become his first wife. Prince even worked as a Bush White House intern. “I saw a lot of things I didn’t agree with,” he later said. “Homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of bills. I think the administration has been indifferent to a lot of conservative concerns.” He left that job for another, in the office of California congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who has often been called Vladimir Putin’s top Capitol Hill asset, so valued, the Times has reported, that he was given a Kremlin code name.

Prince spent four years with the SEALs in the early 90s but moved on after his wife was diagnosed with cancer and his father, aged 63, died of a heart attack. The elder Prince left behind a business with 4,500 employees. The family sold it for $1.3 billion, and Erik, at 25, now had a sizable inheritance.

One of Prince’s instructors in the SEALs, Al Clark, was also looking to set up a security-and-defense training company. Prince had money to invest. Out of this came Blackwater, which began as an instruction facility for law enforcement, the military, and special-ops squads in Moyock, North Carolina. 

The article goes into detail about Blackwater and it is mind-blowing. Their involvement post 9/11, Russian arms dealings, US government contracts,

"The source says he resigned after he discovered that Prince had approved plans to illegally weaponize aircraft and “actively train former Chinese Red Army personnel that are now being deployed into Pakistan, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Uighur region in China”—actions he perceived as supporting foreign interests above America’s. (Other Prince associates reportedly resigned for similar reasons.) Prince firmly denied the allegations."

[electronickingdomfox]

"Uhura's Song" review

Novel from 1985, by Janet Kagan. I have mixed feelings about this book. For starters, if you're looking for a story focused on Uhura, this isn't it. She plays an important role in the very first chapters, but then she goes to the background, and doesn't have more protagonism than, say, Chekov.

Anyway, misleading title and cover aside, there are good things about it. The culture of the Sivaoans (some kind of anthropomorphic cats) is well fleshed and described in detail. Little by little, we learn a lot about this people: their social structure and rites of passage, the importance they place on names and oral tradition, their linguistic quirks, taboos and legends, etc. By the last third of the novel, when the crew goes on a quest along the main Sivaoan characters, we've come to understand and care about them. So yeah, as an exploration of an alien culture, it's alright.

But on the other hand, there's an incredible amount of filler in this novel. It's about twice as long as the average TOS novel of this era, but a great chunk of it is just pages and pages of the Enterprise crew doing cute things and playing with cats. With little development in-between. The narrative has a tendency to overindulge in the most insignificant events. Sometimes, after several pages of this, I'd stop and think "Are they really STILL talking about that!? It wasn't so interesting to begin with!" Granted, the main mystery is engaging enough to keep going: I wanted to know what had happened between the Sivaoans and their distant relatives thousands of years ago; and I wanted to know how they'd find the cure for the plague that's at the core of the mission, and what had songs to do with it. Those things kept me going... but with a lot of struggle to wade through the fluff.

Another problem is the guest character, Dr. Evan Wilson, who's not just a doctor, she's a... (insert anything you can think of here). No, really, whatever you can do, be sure she can do it ten times better: she beats Sulu at fencing and Spock at computers, she's a better engineer than Scotty, she's the best friend of everyone and is impossible not to love her (including the Sivaoans), she will develop a new vaccine and then kill a dangerous beast with a spear in the same breath, all the time being "super funny". Even when she's not present, other characters' conversations tend to gravitate towards her and comment on how awesome she is. (For those that get "The Simpsons" references: she's a Poochie, literally). But it's not just that she's a blatant Mary Sue; after all, a Mary Sue may fulfill an important role in a story, provide the plot or be the key to solve a conflict. The main problem with Dr. Wilson is that I see no reason why she needs to be in the story to begin with. She just steals McCoy's role as chief medical officer, and doesn't offer anything that couldn't have been done by other character (like Uhura, for example). There's some mystery about her identity, but its resolution doesn't explain why she's important for the story either.

To summarize, this novel has an interesting premise, but would have been much better without Dr. Wilson, and cutting corners on the fluff. If you want to read an actual Uhura story, go get "The Tears of the Singers" instead... Unless you absolutely need lots of cats, I don't know.

Spoilers under the cut:

The Eeiauoans (some sort of cat people) are being ravaged by the worst outbreak so far of a deadly disease: ADF syndrome. Sick Eeiauoans start losing all their fur, bend in pain, and in the final stages, enter a coma and die. At first thought to be exclusive to this race, the disease starts propagating among humans, and Chapel is one of the first to fall sick. So while McCoy battles the disease planetside, Uhura tries to find a solution in the Enterprise. She's good friends with Sunfall, an Eeiauoan dancer, and suspects there are clues about a cure, hidden in the ancient songs that Sunfall passed to her.

Thus, Uhura starts working with Spock to analyze the songs. Some of them seem to allude to a different origin for the Eeiauoans, as if they were colonists or exiles from another planet. And Uhura believes the cure is to be found in their planet of origin; one of the songs mentions similar symptoms as ADF, but unfortunately, the part about the cure was cut out. Speculating about some astronomical references in the songs, they narrow down the search to a certain quadrant. But the Eeiauoans refuse to help, or even acknowledge this extra-planetary origin, as if they were hiding something. Finally one of them, desperate about her sickness, confesses that the planet's name is Sivao, which helps Spock and Uhura to pinpoint the place. And considering how difficult was this search, and how vague the references in the songs, they solve this part of the problem with relative ease.

McCoy is left with the medical team in the planet, so Dr. Wilson takes his place in the Enterprise. Once in Sivao, Kirk, Wilson, Spock, Uhura and Chekov beam down to contact the aliens. They're very similar to the Eeiauoans, suggesting a common ancestry, though their language is a bit different. And unlike the Eeiauoans, they still live as nomadic tribes. They're amicable enough at first, but as soon as Kirk mentions the Eeiauoans and the plague, they become really hostile, and refuse to talk about the subject. Just as happened with their relatives, the Sivaoans don't even recognize the existence of the others. Nonetheless, the crew stays with them for several days, in the hope that they reveal something eventually. Uhura trades songs with the local bard, Chekov builds shelters and plays with the kids, Wilson befriends Brightspot (the local chief's young daughter) and Jinx (a kind of outcast among her people). They also discover that the Sivaoans have perfect pitch when singing, and perfect memory of events, so they don't need books. But although some Sivaoans seem to be itching to help them, they still can't acknowledge the existence of the Eeiauoans. Besides, a description of ADF syndrome doesn't ring any bells with the town's doctor.

Meanwhile in Eeiauo, McCoy has contracted ADF too, but a new treatment developed by Wilson before her departure can slow down the symptoms, though it's not a cure. (And there's a big mood whiplash here, since Kirk and co. are having so much fun with the cats, while McCoy is having the shittiest time of his life...).

In the Sivaoan village, the crew finally gets one of the natives to speak, even if she can only confess it to the tricorder: two thousand years ago, their civilization split between a technologically-advanced one, and a tribal one; but technology and urban dwelling brought disease and the extinction of several species, so that part of the Sivaoans was forced to leave the planet, and establish a colony in Eeiauo. The two branches have tried to ignore each other ever since, out of guilt. However, if the crew wishes to learn more, they'll have to undergo a rite of passage to be considered real adults for the Sivaoans. So the crew, together with Brightspot and Jinx (who was ostracized for having failed the rite several times) go out on a quest. They need to traverse a dangerous part of forest to the nearest village.

For the following days, the crew fights against wild animals with primitive weapons, survive a fall into the river, and must take care of Chekov, who has fallen suddenly ill with ADF. It turns out that Chekov was specially sensitive to the disease, and he will die even before reaching the next village. Then Uhura decides to sing again the song about the cure, but this time varying the pitch, in case that makes Brightspot and Jinx recognize it. Effectively, one of the variations matches a Sivaoan song about some mild chidren disease. This way, they find out that this minor disease in Sivao, has evolved into the lethal ADF among other populations. Chekov caught the disease because he was playing a lot with the cat kids. Once they know this, Jinx quickly concocts a cure with local plants, and Chekov starts recovering.

After finishing the quest, the crew is able to confront the local chieftain as adults, and several Sivaoans choose to go with them to Eeiauo, to help with the cure (among them, Brightspot and Jinx). Everyone is cured and vaccinated, and it's time for Dr. Wilson to depart. Spock, who had grown increasingly suspicious about Wilson, starts investigating her records. And he discovers she's not the real Dr. Wilson, but some kind of "space pirate" or benevolent trickster, who goes around impersonating other people and helping here and there... Okaaay. In her last message, Wilson challenges Spock to keep searching for her across the galaxy (but I'm pretty sure Spock will have forgotten everything by the next novel).

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. There's the usual mind-link between Kirk and Spock, so the latter is certain that the Captain's alive after falling into a river. Kirk is often amused by Spock's idiosyncracies. And one night, he wakes up from a nightmare, to find Spock's "reassuring form" next to the fire. Also, Kirk teases Spock saying that "some of my best friends are devious- isn't that right, Mr. Spock?" However, there's only timid examples like these. Compared with other novels, there's not much more.

A bit of McKirk as well. McCoy is reaaally happy to have Kirk back in the end. And Kirk comes to a sleeping, sick McCoy (who's cuddling with the cat kids; you know, the ones that carried the infection... WHY!?), and wakes him gently to tell him everything about their adventure.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

Tagged: @agenderlessrat

[luvly-writer]

“You are my sunshine”

Part 2: Galas and bets

——————————————

Jason Todd x Latina! Reader

Social media Au

Summary: Whilst fighting a magical being, a vision of a girl, to be precise Jason’s soulmate, is shown to the batfamily.

Series: Finished

Warnings: none

Author’s note: in my universe of the batfam, Damian is more emphatic and “caring” towards his sibling whilst also maintaining a cold front because of the years he has spent in Gotham, he has emotionally matured and therefore is nicer in a brotherly way to all of them. So that’s why you will see more of a playful and brotherly tone to him even if I’m maintaining the essence of his character through this. He handles his and the emotions of others better. Enjoy!

Taglist: @lorosette

Series masterlist:

————————————

Writing under pictures:

Bruce and Alfred were seeing how they were practically vibrating with excitement.

“This is the first time ever I’ve seen them this excited for a gala, master Bruce” said Alfred with an amused glint to his eyes. He was also excited to meet this girl, even if it was hidden. Jason deserved good things after everything.

Bruce was baffled and amused. He lets out a small laughter. His children are going to be the death of him and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “That is correct, Alfred”

“How is master Jason?” questioned the butler seeing as he wasn’t anywhere near the rest.

At this, Bruce went to find him. He saw him in the balcony that was directly above the gardens looking up.

“You alright, Jaylad? I assumed you would be as excited as the others, even more seeing as that is your soulmate”

“you honestly believe it? this? the whole soulmate thing? YOU? Mr. Paranoid?”

Bruce chuckles, “Kid, this isn’t the first time i’ve been through a soulmate zap”

Jason looks at him intrigued

Bruce continued, “Justice League mission, they had touched Oliver and three weeks later, the same blonde girl walks up to quarters with the Black Canary mantle. Clark and Barry didn’t leave him alone for the entire day. Then, when she came to one of the galas and introduced herself as his date, I didn’t leave him alone for a whole week. He was whipped”

Jason laughs a little

Their relationship is slowly healing so it’s nice to see them have a chat without harshness been expressed

“What’s really wrong, Jason?”

“I didn’t think i was capable of being loved until i recently, or loving as a matter of fact….what if i fuck up and loose a good thing the universe has set out for me?”

“You will never know until you meet her and try”

Bruce clasps his hands on Jason’s shoulder

“Now let’s go before your siblings scare her away”

At this Jason sighs heavily, how fkn annoying can they be.

——————- gala begins- —————————————

Alfred was the only one greeting the guest, Bruce had forbidden the rest from being with him because they were worrying the rest of the guest so here they were at the ballroom, each planning their approach. The girls claimed they had it easiest, cause they could string up conversation having a girl to girl anywhere, even in the bathroom. Damian planned on using his youngest child privileges and Dick was gonna use charm. Duke intended to connect because they are both POCs in a room of stuffy rich people, and Tim was gonna use his Wayne Enterprise CEO status to connect with her through business (even if W.E. doesn’t need anything with architecture rn). And so the games began. Each separate in their own area. And Jason? In a corner with scotch in his hand wanting to numb his nerves. What they didn’t know was that Bruce knew about the bet, and planned to win as well.

Alfred saw the car arrive and the two young girls get out.

They presented their invitations and handed their coats to him.

Both girls, having recognized the butler from all the past galas, smiles at him and thanked him.

“Both of you look lovely, Misses Yang and L/n. It’s good to see you both this year again.”

“Thank you Alfred, it is good to see you too as well” responded Y/n with a bright smile.

Both girls walked towards the entrance, the same entrance everyone in the batfamily had been staring waiting anxiously for her arrival.

First they saw Nola, then Y/n, and so the games began.

(to be continued…)

<3

[cantsayidont]

I keep seeing people point to the STAR TREK: TOS episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" as an example of STAR TREK's progressive bona fides, which really gets up my nose because "Battlefield" is, along with "A Private Little War," "The Omega Glory," "The Paradise Syndrome," and a couple of others, among the half-dozen or so most politically unsavory TOS episodes, a statement of unvarnished white liberal contempt toward the civil rights movement.

First, like a lot of TREK, and like the superhero comic book stabs at "relevancy" in this period and afterward, the episode is, at a structural level, constructed to let the white middle-class liberal hero sit in judgment on contemporary social issues that only incidentally affect him, but which he is privileged to weigh from a position of presumptive neutrality. This is a common feature of the series, but it becomes especially pointed here because when this episode aired in January 1969, no viewer over the age of about 6 would be likely to miss what it was talking about; the episode originally aired just a little over nine months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

It is noteworthy, then, that the script goes to particular lengths to distance Kirk and the other Enterprise regulars from the racial conflict between the black-and-white aliens Lokai (Lou Antonio) and Bele (Frank Gorshin). Spock goes so far as to insist that they are wholly outside known standards of "genetically possible" "gradiations of color" in humanoid beings! At no point does any of the crew express any sympathy or identification with Lokai; Chekov and Sulu regard racial persecution as an historical curiosity with which they have no experience, and even Spock, who experiences racial persecution on the regular, dismisses both Bele and Lokai as hopelessly irrational.

This is curious insofar as Lokai clearly describes conditions of material oppression that any Black person in America would immediately recognize: He says Bele's people "raided our homes, tore us from our families, herded us together like cattle, and then sold us as slaves," and that after slavery ended on their world, Lokai's people continued to be second-class citizens, "denied the simpest bit of decency that is a living being's right." They were even drafted into "a war on another planet," a clear reference to the then ongoing Vietnam War; this was the era when Muhammad Ali nearly went to prison for refusing conscription. Notably, Bele doesn't deny most of this except to chide Lokai's framing of it, telling Kirk, "They were savages, Captain. We took them into our hearts, our homes. We educated them."

Nonetheless, Kirk's primary reaction to both Lokai and Bele is annoyance. Kirk is not concerned with justice, or addressing historical injustice; his sole concern is the maintenance of Federation civil order. As is often the case on TOS, this is framed in economic terms: The Enterprise is supposed to be heading to a medical decontamination mission on the planet Ariannus, whose urgency is underscored by its importance "as a transfer point on regular commercial space lanes." (Kirk notes that the bacterial contamination he's supposed to address may "render it lifeless unless checked," but he presents that as an afterthought to the commercial urgency of the situation.) Kirk is also concerned with Lokai's appropriation of a Starfleet shuttlecraft, which appears to completely undermine any sympathy he might have otherwise had for Lokai. This also seems to be the position of Kirk's superiors; Uhura reports that Starfleet is entirely sympathetic to Bele and is likely to grant his request "after a hearing at Starbase," once the legal formalities have been observed. (Significantly, the possibility that Lokai might have a claim to political asylum, even temporarily, is never suggested.)

Kirk is SO preoccupied with maintaining economic, civil, and legal order that he's prepared to destroy the Enterprise himself rather than concede any ground even rhetorically. There is an apparently unintended parallel here with the revelation at the end of the episode that Cheron is now lifeless, its entire population wiped out by the racial conflict of which Lokai and Bele are the sole survivors, but the episode pretty obviously expects the viewer to find Kirk's position sensible and principled.

The episode's obvious thesis is that Black Power and Black protest are just as bad as the bigotry Bele represents, a kind of racial horseshoe theory underscored by Spock's eventual declaration, "To expect sense from two mentalities of such extreme viewpoints is not logical." Presumably, the "correct" course for Lokai's people would have been to accept their second-class roles in post-slavery Cheron society, work toward the furthering of economic order, and patiently wait for the "normal" forces of social evolution to bring about justice through legal means, and the episode unequivocally indicates that their failure to do so bears equal responsiblity for the apocalyptic genocide Spock says has taken place on Cheron. (There's an ugly parallel here with the racial politics implicit in the 1968 film PLANET OF THE APES, which kicks off what is at its core a very racist series.)

Throughout the episode, the script tries to play up the irrationality of Lokai and Bele by emphasizing that their conflict has taken place over thousands of years, but because we don't have any idea what their normal lifespan may be (there's no indication that their survival over the course of 50,000 years is due to suspended animation or time travel), or even how long they consider a year, this carries little weight, and it can't overcome the obvious familiarity of the conflict. In the real world, the American Civil War had only passed out of living memory about two decades before this episode was written, and until the passage of the Civil Rights Act less than four years earlier, it was still perfectly legal in many parts of the U.S. to refuse to hire, rent to, or sell to people of color, or to pay them less or charge them more based on race.

That Kirk's crew considers this ancient history is not the problem with the story; the problem is that the episode takes the obvious position that Black Americans should just get over still recent — and still ongoing, now as well as then — injustice and persecution. That's not a progressive viewpoint — it smugly exemplifies what Martin Luther King had called "allies more devoted to order than to justice." I imagine it was infuriating then except to the most self-congratulatory white liberal viewers, and it has not aged well at all.

[scotianostra]

March 29th 1783 saw The Royal Society of Edinburgh incorporated by Royal charter.

At the start of the 18th century, Edinburgh's intellectual climate fostered many clubs and societies of which the most prestigious was the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge founded in 1731. Its name changed over time and became the Edinburgh Philosophical Society and then finally the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783, issuing, in 1788, the first volume of its new journal Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Its mission is to advance learning and useful knowledge and by doing so it supports the cultural, economic and social well-being of Scotland and its people.

The Society delivers programmes that support research, enterprise, education and public engagement.It also incorporates the world’s leading chemistry community, advancing excellence in the chemical sciences. It regularly engages with policy makers on the many ways that chemistry can help tackle modern challenges such as climate change; the security of energy, food and water; the economy; and science education in Scotland. Unlike similar bodies the society is a non political body and has always been independent in all it's work.

It's presidents have included pioneering lighthouse designer Thomas Stevens and Lord Kelvin, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was announced as the society's first female president in 2014, she sat until Professor Dame Anne Glover was voted in three years ago.

It has been housed in a few properties through the years but since 1909 it has been based in 22 – 24 George Street, on the junction with Hanover Street.https://rse.org.uk/

You can find out more bout the organisation here  https://rse.org.uk/

[starwarsmum]

Officially halfway through the month 🥳 @maribat-calendar-events day 15 of Maribat BioFamily September prompt is Social Media Snafu

Marinette had awoken that morning with a sense of foreboding. Things had been going well for her ever since she had met Cass - a little too well apparently. And given that her good luck had practically imploded in the past two days, she was destined for some bad luck to balance it.

So when she saw that Alya had sent her a link to a news article, she braced herself. Had someone else worked out that she was Ladybug? Had Hawkmoth already found out and was on his way to get her right now?

“Marinette, perhaps you should read the article before working yourself into a panic?” Tikki said, making Marinette realise that she'd been thinking out loud. She grimaced at the Kwami before opening the link. 

To say she was surprised was an understatement and she groaned out loud before slumping onto her desk. Tikki hovered next to her, reading the article over her shoulder and gave a giggle when it became apparent that it was not a life ending problem.

_ _ _

Damian was in a good mood. His father had entrusted him with the task of making contact with the Parisian hero team and he had not only already accomplished this task, but he had gained the trust of Ladybug enough that she had shared her suspicions and theories on who was wreaking havoc on the city.

In the past two days, he had begun to work with her around her other responsibilities and was impressed with how far she had gotten in her investigation. And he had so far managed to respect her wishes not to share her identity with his family, as it wasn't entirely pertinent to their assistance.

So, yes, he was in a good mood which of course meant that something would come along and ruin it. This ruination came in the form of two of his older brothers joining him in Paris to aid in the search. Both Dick and Tim would be arriving later that afternoon and encroaching on his mission. 

He had argued the point several times but to no avail. And now he was getting messages from Jason and Steph, which he chose to ignore for now. He sighed, wondering if it was too soon to call Marinette and work further on their investigation. As it was only 10am on a Friday, she would be at school so he was left to work alone on it and face his brothers when they arrived.

When he got the text from Dick to say that they had landed in Paris, it was close to 3pm. He stretched and set aside the file he had been compiling on Gabriel Agreste, grabbing his phone to message Dick in return. Once that was complete, he decided to indulge Jason and Steph's messages. He was not prepared for the article that they had sent him.

Pyjama girl bags a new hottie!

Pyjama girl, famously known as Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend, has been seen this week in the company of another young, rich socialite. The pair were spotted at a hole-in-the-wall cafe in Paris, looking cosy as they chatted.

So who is this mystery boy, and how much of a threat is he to the young Agreste's relationship with pyjama girl? Well, given that he is the son of notorious playboy Bruce ‘Brucie’ Wayne, perhaps Adrien should look out. 

Damian Wayne is reportedly in Paris to do some work experience with his father's company but when seen in the cafe, they did not appear to be working particularly hard. And when approached by a Wayne Enterprises employee, the infamous ‘Ice Prince’ of Gotham was quick to dismiss them.  

Is Adrien in for heartbreak? Or was this an innocent misunderstanding? Only time will tell!

Beneath the article was a photograph of Marinette and Damian sitting at the cafe table with them both leaning into each other's space. The look on Damian's face wasn't one he had ever seen captured on film previously, and he had mixed feelings. On one hand, he was annoyed that the ever looming paparazzi had caught him speaking with Marinette, but on the other he was glad that the moment had not been lost.

Glancing at the time he groaned. It was not even half an hour until Dick and Tim arrived at the hotel, and doubtless that would have their own opinions on the situation, especially as Tim was a co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He didn't know how to successfully head off the veritable storm that was coming his way.

He decided to set the matter aside until confronted with it, but messaged Marinette to let her know he would meet her outside of her school. He did not expect to receive a reply, so was pleased when she sent back a confirmation followed by a smiley face.

Yes, in spite of his family descending upon him, today was a good day.

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (9/12/2024) Episode: Vive la Resistance!

Luigi and Noemi were up late and took their time rising the following morning. After enjoying a delicious breakfast in bed, they strolled back to the Resistance camp section of the park to meet their next quest giver.

Thew, a bright pink Twilek “basecamp engineer”, asked them to disrupt First Order transmissions, providing the critical distraction his team needed to mount a rescue operation. It would be “very dangerous” but if they succeeded, they would win the gratitude of Vi Moradi, leader of the rebel outpost.

As they made their way back to the teleporter Luigi suddenly pulled Noemi into the shade of some tall vegetation. “You know” he whispered “Thew did say that this next mission was very risky. It would be awful for us to meet our end, never having tried “that” thing we’ve always talked about…”

Noemi grinned, immediately picking up on what her husband was suggesting. “Well…” she said “if it might be our last day in this world, I think we owe it to ourselves. Then as I’m being dragged to my death, I’ll have that memory to hold onto.”

Luigi didn’t wait for her to say anymore. Without further adieu he jumped into the bush with Noemi close behind, and they proceeded to make passionate woohoo as if they might never have another chance in this life.

 A little while later the flushed and slightly sticky pair of lovebirds snuck into the Cantina to meet their Scoundrel contact.

Noemi continued to push herself socially, volunteering to handle locating and talking to the other sim to obtain the data spike they would need to complete their quest while Luigi kept an eye out for any “suspicious characters” who might be looking to cause them trouble.

She stumbled a bit over her words, clearly nervous, but the scoundrel actor was as patient as Luigi had promised. With a little subtle prompting she successfully “negotiated” ownership of a “contraband data spike that will get you a date with an interrogator droid if they catch ya with it!”

As they tried to stroll nonchalantly out of the bar a booming voice called out: “Luigi Lawbourne, as I live and breathe!”

Noemi rolled her eyes as the pair turned towards the distraction, sure that one of her husband’s many fans had tracked him down, until she realized the figure headed their way was decked out in the vibrant costume of the “main character” of this particular theme park faction.

Luigi greeted the newcomer enthusiastically “Eugene, I mean, Hondo my man! It’s been to long.” A fellow fan of Sims Forever, Luigi and “Hondo” had spent many a pleasant evening playing sabbac and talking about their favorite videogame franchise after their shifts were over (and sometimes before).

“I heard you were here” Hondo said, “but legitimate business was booming yesterday, and I missed you. If you’ve got a few minutes I’d love to catch up over a hand of Sabbac. You can tell me about this Sims knockoff you’re making, and maybe I can win back some of my credits from you or the lady.”

Feeling inspired by the actor’s roguish air, Noemi counteroffered: “If you’re hunting for juicy details, then you should know that “the lady” is lead architect for Project Daisy, and she’s willing to dish on all sorts of secrets… as long as you’re letting her win.”

Luigi laughed as Eugene quickly produced an oddly shaped deck of cards and temporized: “Why, what do a few credits matter compared to the joy of sharing a relaxing evening with old – and new - friends!” He waved them towards a table in a quiet corner of The Cantina and managed to alternately beg off or find coverage from other employees for several hours as they chatted.

It grew late before Hondo could put off his duties no longer and had to leave. “Be safe you two, and if you get tired of the Resistance, remember that I’m always looking for trustworthy sims to help me with my completely legal enterprise.” he said with a wink, hurrying out the door.

Data spike in hand, the couple snuck back into the First Order district to complete their mission of sabotage.

Sticking to the route they’d used successfully the day before they made their way to a partially concealed control panel. Even after Luigi assured her that “I’ll protect you with my life!” Noemi still looked around carefully before starting her task. Once she began, she became hyperfocused on the work, a tricky puzzle customized based on her datapad settings to challenge someone with her high-level programming skill.

When, some minutes later, Luigi heard her softly cry “Yes!” he turned around, a big smile on his face to see her so elated at her success.

The sun had set by the time they returned to the bubblegum colored Thew at the rebel base with the “vital access codes” they’d obtained.

“Fantastic!” the actor exclaimed “You’ve proven yourself to be a true ally to our cause. Now, if you’re interested in helping us out with something even more sensitive, Vi is working on her X-wing right over that hill and she’ll be taking you on your next, and most dangerous, mission so far.”

Luigi and Noemi grinned at each other. Finally, they would meet the infamous Vi Moradi and get to play a key role in freeing the galaxy!

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[southeastasianists]

Tan Ming Li is a certified death doula. Just as there are those who facilitate bringing new life into the world, there should be people facilitating more and better ways to talk about death and dying, she reasons.

In 2023, she started The Life Review, a social venture with the mission to normalise conversations about death, dying and bereavement. Events open to the public include Life Stories, a series of chat sessions with topics such as “Motherless daughters”, “Real men don’t cry” and “Pet loss and our enduring bonds”; as well as Death Over Dinner, in which people come together to have conversations guided by Tan about their personal experiences with loss while sharing a meal.

The last Death Over Dinner took place at South Indian restaurant Podi & Poriyal, where participants were served dishes containing ingredients with special life and death significance in South Indian culture such as black sesame seeds, which signify purification; and jackfruit, the wood of which is often used as funeral pyre logs during cremation.

“What better way for Asians to connect than through food?” said Tan, explaining that Death Over Dinner is actually a global movement that originated in the US, “but we tweaked it so that food was a much bigger component, building the conversations around the ingredients and dishes. In other countries, the concept is just for people to talk about death over the dinner table.”

Tan, who is in her 40s, believes that getting comfortable with talking openly and honestly about such topics is vitally important.

“A nationwide survey conducted last year (by the Singapore Management University) revealed that ‘only 53 per cent of Singaporeans are comfortable discussing their own death while barely a third (33.4 per cent) would do so with someone who is dying’,” she shared.

She feels there is also a tendency to over-medicalise conversations about death, focusing on treatments and doctors.

“As a society, death is not something that is commonly discussed and we tend to be ‘death-denying’. Healthcare and wellness are all about ‘preventing’ death. In fighting against death, we are unaccepting of this natural part of life. This makes it hard to be vulnerable about our emotions around it,” she said.

Even if you haven’t lost a loved one yourself, “When someone else experiences a loss, many of us don’t know how to address the topic and end up using platitudes like ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ or worse, ‘Everything happens for a reason’,” she pointed out.

Ironically, avoiding the subject of death inadvertently gives it more power. “This power can then suppress our thoughts, beliefs and behaviour,” she opined.

NO STRANGER TO DEATH AND DENIAL

Tan speaks from personal experience. When she was 17, her mum died of cancer. “Dad said, ‘Don’t worry, she will recover.’ Her sudden passing left us in shock. I remember my dad brought me to the hospital canteen, broke the news to me and simply said, ‘We just have to accept it and move on’. I don’t think he ever recovered. As far as I recall, there were no conversations about it within the family.

“In the years that followed, I lost my dad, grandma, uncles and aunts… I was frozen in my grief response and it took a mental health crisis for me to start addressing these issues.”

Concurrently, Tan had always been interested in social work, from her university years when she volunteered to support children with special needs, to volunteering to teach yoga and breathing at various institutions including the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) and the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). She also lived in Thailand for several years, where she gave her time to a social enterprise helping indigenous craftsmen sell their goods.

Her career was in Advertising Research until she took a sabbatical and travelled to India in 2013. Following that period of time in which to think and reflect, she embarked on a new path, offering services such as mindfulness and movement.

“In the course of my work, I encountered clients who are terminally ill or grieving the loss of a loved one. Curious about how to better support them, I started researching the topic,” she recalled. “One day, I received an email from students working on a grief literacy event, inviting me to facilitate a somatic movement session for parents who had lost their child. Somatic movement involves exploring the body's sensations and movements to promote healing. During this session, many participants were able to release long held emotions within their bodies, even years after their loved one had passed.”

Motivated by the experience, she enrolled in the death doula course offered by the International End of Life Doula Association, an organisation in the US. Participants acquire skills revolving around how to support and comfort the dying and their loved ones.

“As I delved deeper into the subject, I realised that this was something that needed to go beyond supporting my clients one-to-one. The societal reluctance to discuss death openly leads to a lot of discomfort and unresolved emotions surrounding the topic, and I realised the need to scale and bring this out to the public,” she said.

So, “I decided to pursue a Masters of Science degree in Thanotology – even doctors go, ‘What’s that?’ – and start The Life Review as a platform for people to get comfortable discussing end-of-life matters through education and engagement.”

As far as she knows, she’s the only one in Singapore taking a Masters in Thanatology (“When the course started, the Programme Director said, ‘Now we are an international programme, thanks to Ming Li!’”) and one of just four people in Singapore who have completed death doula training.

“While trying to help people going through bereavement and grief, it struck me that I also had to look at my own experiences and work through all the emotions and experiences that I hadn’t known how to deal with – or even realised was necessary to,” she divulged.

“The way society operates, if we experience a loss, we are given three days of compassionate leave – and only for immediate family – and then we are expected to get back to ‘normal’ as productive members of society. But what about losing a friend? A partner? A pet? Do you get over it in three days? Since the norm was to get on with life, that’s what I did. It was only later in life that I realised that it was affecting me in ways that I did not immediately connect back to my earlier experiences, such as in the way I interacted with people in relationships and friendships. I would not get too close in case they would disappear,” she shared.

And so, “The main reason I’m doing this now is because of what I have gone through in my own life. The programmes I’m planning are skewed towards caregivers for now, as I don’t want anyone to be in a situation that I was in.” She added, “It was a turning point for me to adopt cats, knowing that they will die before me, yet to accept this and love them.”

Her work has also turned into “my legacy project for my parents”.

“I have a purpose to fulfil now, to bring The Life Review into fruition, in the remaining years left of my life. And in a way, I’m already planning for my end, making sure that I don’t regret things that I could or should have done,” she said.

DINNER WITH A PURPOSE

At Death Over Dinner events, “The framing of conversations is intentionally designed to be inclusive and non-confrontational. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences without feeling pressured to delve into deeply personal reflections or imagine their own funerals,” Tan said.

The dinner serves as a casual starting point for discussions about a normally taboo topic to unfold naturally, fostering a sense of comfort and familiarity around the topic of death, she continued. “The intention is not to impose rigid guidelines or restrictions but rather to offer gentle guidance and prompts to steer the dialogue in a constructive direction” while embracing cultural elements within our specific society.

It is also about equipping people with the knowhow and language to either walk alongside a person who is dying, or to support a caregiver.

There are sessions taking place every quarter, which are open for individual sign-ups. The next Death Over Dinner event is planned for Apr 25 at Podi & Poriyal, with a group size of 12 to 16 people. Tan is also open to private group bookings, and hopes to possibly work with other restaurants as well.

The topic of death is rarely broached when everyone is healthy, she mused. But, in the face of loss, which comes sooner or later to all of us, “People may struggle to find the right words to express their feelings or fears, fearing that broaching the topic could cause further distress or discomfort to the person who is ill. As a result, conversations about end-of-life wishes, funeral arrangements, or even acknowledging the possibility of death may be avoided altogether, creating a palpable tension and unease.

"Dealing with it openly and saying what needs to be said can help the ones left behind adjust to the loss after the person passes away.”

And, “In the case of someone who knows they are dying, people around them not wanting to talk about it can leave them feeling unheard. They may not be able to express their desires; there may be things left unsaid; there may be people tiptoeing around them and telling them, ‘You’re going to be fine’ when they know full well they won’t be.”

The question of how we can begin to approach the topic of death in a meaningful way begs another: How talking about death openly and frankly can help us to live our lives more fully and intentionally.

“Accepting the finite nature of life and finding peace with it can change our outlook on life. When we acknowledge that life inevitably starts and ends, we are able to define what happens in between that holds significance,” Tan said.

“How do we make what happens in the middle matter? How do we leave a legacy for ourselves and future generations? Do we want to spend our time sweating the small stuff and harbouring grudges, or instead, use it to create memories and foster deep relationships? Living intentionally prompts us to confront these questions and align our actions with our values.

“Ultimately, embracing the impermanence of life compels us to live authentically, love fiercely and leave a legacy of compassion and connection.”

To sign up for Death Over Dinner, visit https://thelifereview.org/death-over-dinner.