#the further away we get from the conclusion of the campaign

[avelera]

thesis about the sea peoples you say? may i request an infodump about the sea peoples?

Heya!

So, basically in college (undergraduate) I got really obsessed with the questions around the Collapse of the Aegean Bronze Age, mostly because I wanted to set my big Magnum Opus historical fiction novel in that time, and the deeper I dug into the rabbit hole the more it appeared that no one, absolutely no one, actually knows why the civilizations around the Mediterranean all fell from a state of pretty sophisticated internationally-trading civilizations to literal Dark Ages (all except for Egypt which was substantially weakened and never really recovered), all at once around 1200-1100 BCE.

The Sea Peoples are the names of the only contemporary (Egyptian) account we have that names who might have been responsible if this collapse was due to an invasion. It's a popular theory because a viking-style invasion is a much sexier reason for a civilization to collapse so we all gather around it like moths to flame. But the thing is, there's a lot of contradictory evidence for and against and shading that hypothesis.

Suffice to say, literally no actually knows what happened and almost every answer comes up, "Some combination of these things, probably?"

But what makes the Collapse even more interesting from a modern perspective is that if there was a historical Trojan War (and I think there was) as fictionalized in the Iliad and the Odyssey (and Song of Achilles, for the Tumbrlistas), then it would have taken place within a generation of the entire civilization that launched the Trojan War crumbling to dust.

So like, if you're Telemachus, your dad Odysseus fights in the Trojan War, some even manage to get home, and then like... everything goes to shit. Catastrophically. And doesn't recover for 400 years.

Seriously, they lost the written word, like how to actually write things down and read them and it took 400 years to get it back. That's how fucked shit got during the Collapse of the Bronze Age.

So my thesis was asking: what if these two things were related? What if the Trojan War either led to the Collapse or it was part of the Collapse or it was a result of the Collapse? Because the timeline is so unknown and muddled that it really could be any of those and again, that's if the Trojan War isn't entirely fictional (which I don't think it is, but many academics disagree, it used to be a whole thing up until Schliemann dug it up, and many doubted it was ever a historical event even after that.)

Ok, so at the risk of writing 75 pages on this again, let me just say:

My conclusion (more of a hypothesis proposal ultimately since there are so many gaps in our knowledge) was that the Trojan War took place before the Collapse of the Bronze Age. But, it might have been launched in response to a wider breakdown in trades routes and resources, causing the Greeks to launch the campaign basically as a bid to replenish their own coffers because they were getting squeezed by what they didn't know was the first rumblings of a global domino effect.

Therefore, since taking out Troy didn't solve those larger trends and forces, they all went home and then got slammed by the REAL problem, which was all the people who had been displaced from further away by this rolling drought or invasion or whatever that was disrupting these delicate international trade routes.

But the Greeks might have been part of the Sea Peoples too! Our only record of the Sea Peoples is from the Egyptians in a highly propagandistic text which makes them sound like this big fearsome foe but that might have been because saying, "We slaughtered a bunch of desperate refugees at our border who were looking for shelter," didn't sound as cool. If the Greeks (or Achaeans or Ahhiyawa) got swept up in this slow-rolling collapse/displacement of people, then they absolutely could have been among those refugees who crashed against the shores of Egypt.

A lot of my evidence was based on looking at how Troy was sacked (it was stripped literally down the nails and there was a lot of evidence of a long-term siege, like what we read about in the Iliad) vs. how Mycenae (Agamemnon's city) or Pylos (King Nestor's city) was sacked, where they were burned and stuff was stolen but they weren't stripped, it looks more like a standard looting hit-and-run type thing. Which led me to believe that it was different turmoil that rocked Mycenae and Pylos than what led to the sacking of Troy, despite the fact these things happened within about 20 years of each other. (Helen being a made-up reason for a resource-driven war would only be the oldest trick in the book, as far as propaganda goes, after all.)

But really, the craziest detail I'll leave you with is: we just don't know! And then it gets weirder. Because the Hittites fell at the same time so the Hittites scholars say, "Nah, the Sea Peoples weren't Hittites, they were probably Greeks." And the GREEK scholars say, "It wasn't us, it was probably the Hittites or someone else. " and the EGYPTIAN scholars say, "Yeah it was someone north of Egypt, maybe the Hittites or the Greeks." and the LEVANT scholars say, "It wasn't from the Levant, we know what was going on there, it has to be from somewhere else."

Literally every single possible source of the Sea Peoples has the scholars who specialize in that location saying it's not them and it must be the guy next door.

It's maddening!

And then there's a big ol' gap around Bulgaria and the Black Sea because, oh yeah, the Soviet Union forbade archaeology in those areas to quash any local pride so those places that were behind the Iron Curtain are decades behind on scholarship that would allow them to say, "Oh hey, it was actually us! Yeah, the invaders came from Bulgaria and got pushed down by a famine." or something to that effect.

We also have some histories from the time saying that the Sons of Heracles returned not long after the Trojan War to lay Greece to waste! And it's really evocative and sounds like it fits what we've got of all these burned cities that happened right after Troy fell! Except that's in doubt now too!

The latest theory is that it was climate change that led to a massive drought. You can read about it in the latest and most popular book on the subject, 1177 BCE which I highly recommend because if it had existed when I wrote my thesis, I wouldn't have had to write it.

But I disagree with the conclusion! Or rather, I'm skeptical. Because very decade, the problems of the day have been hypothesized as being the cause of the Collapse. Like, in the 60s, there was a theory that maybe it was internal strife around a labor strike, like the French Revolution. And y'know when there's a world war, they think it's an invasion. And there was a theory that it was 'cuz of an earthquake (I think that one is nonsense, Mediterranean civilizations famously bounce back quickly from earthquakes.) And now that climate change is on our mind, I'm a little weary to see that it's the new theory because it feels way too much like we're just projecting our problems onto this giant question mark.

Was climate an aspect! I think so! I think it might have contributed to the break down in trade routes that made everyone in the Mediterranean really stressed out and hostile and warlike and led to a lot of displacement. I'm not sure if it's the only reason though and I think the book just kinda reiterates everyone else saying, "I think it was this but in the end, we just don't know, and it was probably a lot of things." which we've known for ages so it's just repeating all the same conclusions. *sigh*

... Like I said, I wrote my thesis on this so yeah, I could go on for a while lol.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

i have been obsessing over this extremely short moment post-sunshot campaign for weeks now trying to put together a lengthier post about it, but i think the screenshots themselves arranged chronologically speak for themselves. so i will just post them and then talk about the framing, because i’m insane about it.

just about everyone else on this side of the banquet hall within the scorching sun palace is looking towards jin guangshan as he speaks—everyone except for:

1) jin guangyao, who is staring straight ahead with a startlingly flat and resigned expression on his face, despite being seated in a position of honour beside his brother, and

2) nie huaisang, who is obviously TRYING to pay attention, but his attention keeps wandering between looking at nie mingjue, and looking at jin guangyao

(also he gets no further commentary/acknowledgement from me but look at jin zixun back there just lounging in his seat like a smug spoiled brat. ugh. step on legos forever jin zixun.)

the camera shifts its focus while jgs keeps talking to zero in on jgy’s expression. this deliberately highlights and provides us the chance to see his expression in more detail. and it is so hard to discern what he is feeling specifically beyond “not great,” but what stands out for me is: he isn’t wearing his usual polite, customer service mask, the one he managed to keep in place both during the introductory sequence at the cloud recesses in the face of so much mockery from the jiang sect disciples.

so what is that expression? what is going on in his head that he can’t play the part that he’s perfect for years now, when he has supposedly almost achieved everything he ever dreamed of accomplishing for himself and his mother? i mean, i have my suspicions of course, because we know what is going to happen very soon.

and then—

—the focus of this scene changes, drawing our attention away from jin guangyao towards nie huaisang where he’s seated just behind nie mingjue. because nie huaisang is not paying attention to jgs’s speech or watching his da-ge. unlike everyone else in this banquet hall in this moment, nie huaisang is looking at jin guangyao, observing him in this moment where his polite mien has failed him, and god what i wouldn’t give to know what is going through his head!! because:

1) i don’t for a moment believe nmj told nhs the details of what transpired between him and jgy during their confrontation in the scorching sun palace. i don’t think he did this as a favour to jgy or to lxc, either. imo this decision would be consistent with nmj shutting down any discussion of what caused him to exile meng yao from the unclean realm back in… uhhh, episode 10?? when nhs, wwx and jc all converge in the unclean realm throne room to ask about meng yao’s fate. (yeah it was episode 10.) anyway for all we know this is the first time nhs has seen his old body guard/babysitter since he watched meng yao totter feebly into the wild blue yonder all those months ago, and now here he is seated in a place of honour between jin zixuan and his da-ge, looking perhaps even more miserable than he did while bleeding from a giant sword wound in his chest. it is entirely consistent with nhs’s character to be like ‘???? what is up with this??’ but not even he is bold enough to ask jgy what is up in the middle of this banquet, not with da-ge right there.

2) his expression is ALSO harder to read than it would have been when they were last together!! but there are clearly gears and cogs shifting and ticking and whirring behind his eyes, and the fact that the framing calls attention to nhs noticing jgy in this moment when it’s quite clear no one else does is one of many hints the show is dropping for us that nhs is more than just a lackadaisical and absent-minded second son. he notices things that no one else does—but, as with jgy, we are left to guessing as to what he is thinking, and what conclusions he is drawing.

well okay it looks like i managed to write a lot of words down about this after all!! go me.

[charonean]

I've seen the art of Szereban-Webber family and so far only understood they are characters from your dnd campaign? Like honestly they look very cool and I would love to know all about them so I hope I did not miss some post with their backstories or anything because I would just love to ask in very generic sense who they are? What's their story? Who are they? Sorry if you'd like to get some more specific questions I've just came here, saw your cool little guys and I'm intrigued

Thank you for your ask!!

We haven't actually posted any proper lore for them yet, so I'll share it here.

For context, my character is Jonas Webber, otherwise known as Lore. His husband is Niles Szereban (aka Partisan), created by @doonthestair. They have two kids: Magnus (Alterity) by @freckleshine007 and Evangeline (Agency) by @viridianvales.

From the point of view of my character, he was a tiefling born to human parents in a formerly aristocratic family. Tieflings weren't uncommon in their family, so he was raised pretty normally. His mother died when he was a young teenager, and he later moved out to pursue a degree in history. From there he went on to a Masters and then a PhD. During the last year of his PhD, as he was repressing a lot of things at that point (specifically the fact that he was gay), he ended up in a relationship with a young woman named Cordelia (Prudence) who was working on her Masters in Business. She became pregnant with their first child, a daughter named Antonia (later, Resolve). He became a professor of history, and later also had a second child, a son named Wesley (later, Loyalty). However, Prudence was having an affair with her boss (she was a secretary) for most of their marriage, and both were incredibly unhappy in their relationship, but didn't divorce one another because of societal expectations. At some point, Jonas has a bit of a midlife crisis and starts studying magic, finding himself making deals with a genie named Manahimeko (as a dnd character, he's a mix between a wizard and the 3.5 prestige class Malconvoker that has been modified a bit).

Eventually, Niles Szereban was hired as a professor of Criminal Justice at the university Jonas taught at. Niles was a former prosecutor who was disbarred following a public affair with a judge in a high profile case. When Jonas first met Niles, he was rather annoyed because he realised that he quite liked the other man, but he was still repressing a lot of things at that time, so they didn't interact. Later, however, they had to work together as they were often called to meetings to discuss requirements for the Politics degree (where their fields overlapped) and they got to know one another.

One night, Niles and Jonas go out to a bar, just drinking and talking, and Jonas gets really drunk and kisses Niles. However, Niles doesn't do anything further and Jonas forgets about that night. A couple of weeks later, they're talking late into the night again, and Niles notices that Jonas is looking intensely at his lips and they end up making out one more time. This progresses into something more and ultimately leaves Jonas with the conclusion that he has to leave his wife.

From here, Jonas and Niles eventually marry one another once Jonas' divorce has gone through (he got custody of Resolve; Prudence got custody of Loyalty and eventually married her boss with whom she was having an affair). Through surrogacy, Jonas and Niles have their first child, Magnus (later, Alterity). When Magnus is a year old, Jonas decides to put away his serious pursuit of magic and binds Manahimeko to a cane he created, sealing her away in a demiplane. This leaves him with what is known as the Fantasy Cataract™ which blinds him partially in general (for context, he has shit vision already, so he's Not vibing) and to things within Manahimeko's domain (namely water, but also anything currently imbued with her magic, such as the cane itself). When Magnus is 7, he sneaks into Jonas' office and steals the cane and becomes blind and bound in a pact to her.

When Magnus makes the pact, he wishes for a sibling because he is lonely, and eventually the Szereban-Webbers adopt a young girl named Evangeline (later, Agency) who was a tiefling born to human parents but cast out. She went from home to home, facing much discrimination, before making a deal with a genie named Idalia so that she could find a family. Jonas and Niles adopted her, and they all became a family.

The story then follows Alterity and Agency as they learn more about magic and the genies. At some point, Manahimeko breaks lose and wishes to cause chaos upon the world, and Jonas needs to stop her. In sealing her away, back in the cane, he dies. This leave Niles, Alterity, and Agency scrambling to pick up the pieces and actually solve the problem as Manahimeko has only been delayed, not stopped entirely.

This is essentially the whole story. We've all worked out some more, and, personally, my current obsession is this au we made where Jonas doesn't actually die but is rather sealed away in the cane for a year before he breaks out and returns to his family. But that doesn't fit within the larger narrative, so it's only an au.

Yeah! That's the story! Hope it makes sense lol. I am ever so slightly tipsy right now (coming out of being properly drunk), so I can only hope this is coherent.

[strangerthings64]

So I dont know about y’all but Eddie isn’t dead to me.

He got out of the upside down, he got his name cleared somehow, he walked that stage got his diploma and “ran like hell outta there” and him and his uncle now live in another place. He still plays with his band all the time, he still joins the boys for there campaigns at the school even though he doesn’t go there anymore, he starts to become a big part of the gang and there all friends now.

Edward Munson gets his happy ending not because I said so, but because he deserved it after everything that town put him through. Because I’m tired of people who are different getting killed off just because well.. there different.

Barb was weird, and only had like one friend she was an outcast, bob was bullied and had no friends he was an outcast, Fred was a bit weird and seemed to only have a few friends and one of them being dead. And Eddie the metal-head, rock-loving weirdo was the biggest outcast of them all and he died why?

Because he was different, he didn’t need to die he could of lived, I’ll never understand why they sacrificed him and he was perceived as a coward/no hero, when he was just as willing to do the things Steve, Robin or Nancy would do. And why was he a coward, because he ran from Chrissy’s death? Like any other normal person.

And they all went on like nothing happened two days ago. Like he wasn’t a living human being, like he didn’t have his own hopes and dreams. It was just so simple to let him live. Like he just wanted to listen to Black Sabbath and his other music on the way to school and dress in cool clothes without anyone judging him, he wanted to “snatch that diploma and run like hell outta there”. He wanted to play in his band in his free time and get lost in the music and he wanted to play D&D with the boys just to escape reality for a bit because we all know how shitty it can be at times.

He might just be a show character but to them he was alive, and he was real, and to me he was real as well, because I felt like I belong with him like if a took a sit at his table he wouldn’t shun me away he’d welcome me in instead and he��d embrace my differences. he made me realize it’s ok to be weird and different, it’s ok if you talk to much and people don’t understand you sometimes. It’s ok if you struggle at school because of your ADHD or your learning disabilities or just because school is hard it’s ok to be different with him because he’s different to. He has had such an impact on my life one I didn’t think he would, so in the end It’s like his death meant nothing to them, once they got what they wanted out of him they just didn’t care anymore.

But I know I would care… just like so many other would too. If it was me I wouldn’t stop looking for the guy who let me sit at his table because I had no one else to eat with, if it was me I’d advocate for him ever single damn day, because he might talk a big game but he’d never hurt anyone on purpose, especially the way Chrissy died. If it was me I’d mount his death like no other telling everyone the truth of what he was really like. Because the boy with the childish grin and baby brown eyes who’d give you the shirt off his back just to see you smile, didn’t deserve to die a for a town who never saw him as anything more than a freak and now a monster.

Anyways, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk y’all. This is just how I feel about Stranger Things as a whole I feel like more outcast/different people die then any one else. Chrissy died and she was popular but we all know she would fit right in with Eddie and the gang, Jason died because he’s an asshole and deserved it and Billy died to further the plot for Max. Honestly no surprises if they kill off Will or El, next season because there different. Or maybe not since they’re scared to kill off the main group people, I think they even probably felt like they pushed it far this season with Max. 🤦🏻‍♀️

In conclusion, Eddie didn’t deserve to go out that way or at all. He deserved the whole damn world and I’m so fucking sad I couldn’t give it to him!! Eddie Munson I’m so sorry the Duffers did you so dirty!! 😖

[sofiiel]

Dial Tone Ch.5 | Duality

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You sat at the police station with a small paper cup in your hands, gazing at the water within. Your fingers felt numb even against the warmth seeping through the paper. Chewing your lip, you pulled dead skin from it. Your panicked eyes cried themselves dry.

Nancy left you some time ago, to investigate further and to go with the police, she wanted to help as much as she could, maybe they needed more information, she also to be there when they brought the news to Fred's parents.

Your eyelids fluttering as your thoughts took you back and forth between two terrible conclusions. "Someone has him" and "he's already gone."

"Eddie would have come to me by now, he would have." Your mind reels. "Me and my wanting to fix things, stupid quater-life crisis," you pull too hard on the dead skin on your lip, ripping up a healthy layer and tasting the blood in your mouth, "and I took it out on Eddie, I freaked him out, It ended everything we had now he - my chance to ever fix it or tell i'm I'm sorry for being a basketcase might be gone."

The door to the police station swung open as Wayne rushed in, tired eyes shinning with concern. "Where is she/he?" He asked, his eyes falling on Flo.

Flo pointed in your direction, she'd given you water and tried her best to make you comfortable. But nothing helped the state you were in.

Wayne's steps slow as he calmly takes a seat next to you. "Hey kiddo," He said. You sucked in your lips and shook your head, turning to look at him. " Let's get you home." said Wayne, as he helped you to your feet.

"They haven't questioned her/him yet," Flo says.

"Look at 'em," Wayne said, "does she/he look like hours of interrogation is a good idea?" He asked. Flo fell silent and sighed, "I'll let Powell know you came bye and got her/him." He said. "Thanks." Wayne said, walking you out of the station.

The ride back to your apartment was a quiet one.

Wayne rolled out his foldout bed, and you locked yourself away in your room. On hands and knees, you dig around under your bed, pulling out articles of clothing and chucking them across the floor. Reaching for a box.

Pulling the box out from under the bed and onto your lap, you sniffle and rummage through it. Old doodles drawn on cigarette pack foil and gum wrappers, from another phase Eddie went through of 'cute things' during your third year together. "Eddie, this is trash," you remember telling him.

"And now we're recycling, babe. Saving the earth and being cute as hell while doing it. Look, it's you in my clothes." You could almost hear his reply as if he'd been beside you again, showing you that miniscule drawing.

You give a sniffle, and pull out a short brown braid.

"Eddie, wh-what is this?"

"I cut off some of my hair. It's easy to keep track of this way and carry around."

"Y-you want to carry around, Eddie there is hair on your head!"

"It's not for me, it's for you, babe. I hear it's lucky...in some places to gift a lock of hair to your lover."

You chuckle at the memory, he'd gotten the idea after being in trouble for being late for your date, "why're you so good at making sure I'm not mad at you?" you question, gazing down at the braided lock.

Old bandanas, a heart shaped rock he'd gotten stuck in his shoe, handmade valentines cards, a friendship bracelet from middle school.

"There you are." you whisper with a smile, holding up a tape. "Because I won't say it right, please play this and listen closely." was scrawled in tiny writing across a strip of packing tap. Popping it in the stereo, it brought back the memory in a flood.

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

Spring of 1982

Eddie opened the front door, you were greeted by a wide smile as he leaned against the doorway. "You're late." He hummed, "A wizard is never late, she/he arrives precisely when she/he means to." You said.

"Yeah, only I'm the wizard, and you're the knight." Eddie pointed out. You roll your eyes, "last campaign I was the wizard." You said as he let you inside. Sniffing the air, you laugh, "You bathed in that fragrance didn't you?" You asked him in a small laugh.

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck, "um...the thing broke on it and," He stammered. It was the scent you said you liked after sitting close to Keven Saunders in 3rd period, and Eddie was hoping for some brownie points with his endeavor today. Too bad he didn't know how Cologne worked.

Eddie cleared his throat and lead you to his bedroom, "where's Wayne? It's his off day, isn't it?" You asked. "Uuuuhhhh, yeah, he um...had things to do....you know," Eddie lulled as he sat at the edge of his bed.

You took his desk chair, "huh, damn all that stuff getting in the way of relaxation. Poor Uncle." You say. Eddie riffled with something in his vest pocket.

"Why are you being so weird?" You asked him cautiously.

"I just..." Eddie sighed, "alright, this isn't working." he muttered. His eyes flickered into your gaze as Eddie got to his feet, taking both your hands he guided you to sit in his place on the bed. You watch in confusion while Eddie goes to his stereo and pops in a tape from his pocket.

It clicks in place, Eddie's shoulders rise and fall as he takes a deep breath in and out.

"Ok, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to tell you this, or explain it so - I made you something." Eddie explained slowly, he takes a seat next to you, one leg tucked under him as the other dangled off the edge. The seriousness in his eyes ripped the butterflies in your stomach from their safe cocoons.

"You can talk to be about anything. You know that." You remind him. Eddie smiles at you, "this is harder, scary, I guess. Just, please listen." he said. You give a nod, heart beating fast, you didn't know what you expected.

"Yeah so um...." Eddie's voice spoke on the tape. "Hand picked with love, enjoy?" it said with a question, it causes you to giggle, and Eddie fights off blushing.

"For many hours and days that pass ever soon, the tides have caused the flame to dim. At last the arm is straight, the hand to the loom, Is this to end or just begin?"

Your breath got caught in your throat, and your jaw clenched. Your heart is hammering away like a handyman. You find it's impossible to look at Eddie, though he sits nervously, wringing his hands. He knows you knew this song.

"All of my love, all of my love. All of my love to you, oh"

Your frozen eyes trapped to the stereo. "Um, the other songs...they aren't shit I listen to, but..." Eddie muttered as the song came to an end.

"I need you to love me, I need you today. Give to me your leather take from me my lace"

Spoke the next song.

"But just between you and me, baby I know our love will be"

"Oh you make my world, a summer day. Are you just a dream to fade away?"

"I say, I want you to try to understand. That I, I want to be your lovin' man, babe"

You exhale and close your eyes, each of the following three songs dragging a smile clutched between the legs of the butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

"It's getting hotter, it's a burning love, and I just can't seem to get enough"

You hopped up and turned the volume down before your chest burst open. Eddie bit his lip behind you. "so..." he hummed. "s-say something?" He murmured.

You turned to face him, Eddie looked down at his hand plucking at the frayed string of his ripped jeans, twirling his hair around his finger.

Silently walking towards him, your hands slip under Eddie's chin, and tilting your head, you bring him into a timid kiss. Eddie's hands hold your arms as he leans in. "You know the tape is nice but-"

"I've liked you, I've always like you, and now I'm pretty sure I love you. Because you're ok with all my....me. Your you makes my me more and..."

You giggled as he rambled in a daze. "I told you I'd mess up the words." he muttered.

"No, no, it's perfect. Keep going." you say.

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

The memory fades, and you're left alone in your room, silently crying to a mix of music that both is and isn't your flavor. Crushed under the weight of the bad thoughts, the unasked for mental pictures of Eddie, his bones twisted like a broken pretzel at the bottom of the bag.

Wayne lingered on the other side of the door for a moment, your sniffles slipping past the quieter places within the songs. He remembered the day Eddie pieced that tape together.

Knocking with the knuckle of his finger, Wayne made his presence known. "You ok in there, kid?" He asked.

Getting up, you trudge to the door and open in, "no." you admit. "What if what happened to Fred and Chrissy-"

"Neither of us is gon' think about that. Not right now." Wayne stated firmly. "Not until they've got proof. Same as their thoughts that Eddie did it. Nothing happened until they prove it to us. Alright?" Wayne asked.

You wipe your eyes, and nodd. "Right, right, I'm sorry." You said. " Don't be, I had my moment too." Wayne sighed. "Try and get some sleep, you'll have to deal with them asking questions at some point." He said.

"Not that I don't feel bad about this, but I really should be getting home." Robin said. They'd spent hours debriefing Eddie about the upside down, Demogorons, Demodogs, and the gate. Though there was still much to tell, mainly Eleven, the lab, the Russians, and what really happened last summer.

"You weren't kidding when you said it would be hard to take, but after tonight... I'd believe grass is naturally neon pink." Eddie muttered.

"Don't feel bad, I get it." He added, looking over the four sleepy faces lingering in the boathouse with him. "And you know...thanks, man." Eddie said, turning to Dustin.

"Of course." Dustin said, a small smile then came to his face, "I'll be sure to call Y/n and tell her/him-"

Eddie pointed to Dustin, "no," Eddie said with a frown, "you don't tell her/him anything." He said quickly.

"Why not?" Dustin asked, "She/he's losing their mind over everything that's going on."

Eddie's gaze hardened, "because if you guys are right, I don't want Y/n in this shit. Fjora wasn't around when the party fought Vecna in the final battle, and took a hit that nearly killed her/him when that party fought him the first time. If we're dealing with our own personal real life Vecna, I don't Y/n there either." Eddie said.

"She/he's a fighter, but always get roughed up somewhere along the way." Eddie sighed.

"You can't protect me this time." he thought.

"But she/he was crying on the phone, that's bullshit." Steve said. "It's not, you didn't see what this thing did to Chrissy." Eddie protested sharply, he then rubbed his eyes and forehead. "S-she/H-he was crying?" he asked softly, stammering.

"Yeah." Dustin said.

Eddie closed his eyes, "if you call her/him, Y/n will be down here somehow in no time flat. and while that would be pretty damn great. It's the worst idea." Eddie tried to convince himself in his thoughts. He sighed, "no," Eddie looked between Dustin and Steve, "still don't tell her/him, not a word from anyone." He said.

"Fine, we're going to head out, is there anything you need?" asked Dustin, "We'll come back as early as we can." Max jumped in. Eddie fumbled with the note between his fingers. "They've already seen you cry, what's a little more embarrassment." Eddie thought.

"Yeah, Yardley, and if you can actually get in my house. There's a-" Eddie cleared his throat, a rose hue taking over his cheeks in the dim light. "This little stuffed frog, about," He held out his hands to measure, "this big, has an ugly little knitted top hat..." Eddie said.

Steve laughed, "what, like Michigan J. Frog?" He asked.

Eddie looked up at him, "who else?" He asked Steve.

"So soap and Michigan J. Frog knock off. Right." Robin said making a mental note. "You don't move, don't stick your head out of anywhere, we'll be back." Dustin warned Eddie.

"It might be my first rodeo, but I'm not that stupid, Henderson." Eddie said. "I'm just saying, sometimes, when in the fire, you don't think straight." said Dustin.

"Yeah, like peeing in an elevator shaft and then trying to hide when now the room clearly smells like-"

Steve cleared his throat, "We don't need to rehash that, Robin." he said, shaking his head.

"I mean, if you have to go..." Eddie said. "See." Steve called.

"From the top, though?" Robin asked. "Ew, god wait that's different, that means it like...ran down." Eddie said.

Max and Dustin watched the three in silence. "Sorry to break this...fascinating conversation. But we still need to be going." Max said. Dustin shook his head, "what's wrong with you." He asked. Eddie rose his head, "not you." Dustin groaned. "Hello, ambushed and assaulted with a busted bottle," Steve said.

"He does have a reason, that's pretty jarring." Robin chimed.

"Yeah, sorry about that too." Eddie muttered.

"Alright, everybody but Eddie, out!" Dustin called out as he turned to Eddie, "you-"

Eddie nodded his head, "stay here, I know."

Eddie watched the little group leave out the boathouse doors, and once they closed he released a long breath. "Someone believes you," He thought, "but holy shit." Eddie sighed. Eddie could picture your face in his head, "hopefully I can get back soon." he murmured.

Eddie didn't get much sleep, he'd refused to venture back into the house just yet either. It didn't help that his dreams were plagued with nightmares. Visions of anyone and everyone that mattered to him, sharing Chrissy's fate, and eventually him too.

He isn't the only one.

Rolling out of bed, you hit the floor screaming. Motley has puffed up in the corner of your room a ball of spiked fur. He does not appreciate you waking him up in such a manner.

"It's a dream." You gasp, "shit." Your eyes fix to the popcorn ceiling, "Wayne says, we don't know until something is proven." You tell yourself, "so if the big pink ball of zombie spaghetti could please stop ruining my sleep with horrible scenes," you thought getting up to your feet, "that would be nice." you sighed.

Looking at your clock, you realize that Wayne most likely headed out already. He needed the rest, having late shifts at the plant. However, there was little of that to go around for the man who lived with the police's main suspect.

You glare at the carpet, "no doubt I'll be seeing Callahan and Powell again as well." You thought. "Let's just get dressed, one step at a time, Y/n" you told yourself trying to motivate your mind for the day it would have to face.

A hot shower can fix a lot, but nothing shocks your system into being alert like freezing cold water rinsing away the haze of a night of tortured sleep.

Dressed, you sit before the TV watching the news. "So they're not mentioning names yet, but have given up that they have a suspect in mind." you sigh, "small favors I guess."

"Not that it'll stop Jason or change his mind." you thought.

A knock came to your door.

The house was a mess, between Wayne's duffles bags, the floor pillow, and an unmade rollout bed. You try not to think about the state of your kitchen as you gorged on every junk food item you owned for breakfast.

Nonetheless, you open the door.

"Nancy?"

She stood at your door, peering at you with eyes that had seen about as much sleep as your own. "Yeah, hi. um, the police are investigating the area where you found Fred this morning. Powell wants to ask us some more questions, and I figured maybe you needed a ride." Nancy explained, holding up her car keys.

"It also seemed like it would be better not to hearing it from them that you needed to go back to that place in the road, only to be grilled like patty and possibly annoyed." she added.

You crack a smile. "Starting to remember why we were almost friends?" Nancy asked, offering a smile herself.

"Maybe," you hum, "thanks," you grab your house keys hanging on the wall and follow Nancy out, locking up.

Eddie looked between Robin, Dustin and Steve; he hadn't been this level of lost since he learned about 'lady parts' in sex education, at least that was fun for a while.

"- mine was more human-flesh based and theirs was more, smoke-related. But, bottom line - collectively, I think we've got this." Robin rambled.

"We usually have this girl with supper powers, but those kinda went away so uh, -"

"We're technically more in an um...."

"a kind of a..."

Max listened to Robin and Steve struggle to find words as they tried their best to ease Eddie's mind as his expression mimicked that of a cat who'd unexpectably had water dumped onto it.

"Brainstorming phase." Max said, leaving Robin and Steve looking relieved.

"Ther-there's nothing to worry about, or anything." Dustin said. Eddie raised his brows, "then why is everyone falling over their words." Eddie thought, box of honeycombs hugged to his chest. Behind it, a frog peering over the opening with a fixed smile. It wasn't his frog, he'd gotten the bad news of his trailer being locked down, but the group pulled together to buy him a little frog they'd found in the thrift store.

Sirens echoed loudly, tearing down the nearbye road. "Shit" Eddie whispered. "get under the tarp." Robin urged as the little group headed for the windows.

Your stomach purged itself, as it caught a glimpse of Fred's uncovered body. Taking a few deep breaths at the roadside before loosing the rest of what you'd eaten that morning. Chief Powell sighed and decided it would be better if he came to you.

"Why is he still just out here, like, like that?" you asked, accepting the paper towel offered by Chief Powell. "Can't be moved until forensics have properly investigated the scene, then we take it to the coroner's." Powell explained.

You spit a few more times before standing up.

"You ok?" Powell asked. "Everyone keeps asking that, and I think the answers always obvious." your words crackle out dryly.

"Well, so, you say you heard a crackling sound and a thud before seeing Fred like this?" Powell asked.

"mhm, It was loud. I was pretty far away at the time. I didn't see a person. Not in the trees or, or running away. But when I got to Fred, he was still warm and the blood a-around his eyes was....fresh." You could feel your stomach start to bubble again.

"But there was no one there, no one around. Nobody's that fast....nobody." you whispered.

"Maybe it was just too dark to see, maybe they had on black. Like a black jacket." Powell pushed. Your eyes thin as you scowl, "What, like a black leather jacket?" You snapped.

"Easy, just doing my job." Powell stated calmly.

"I....right." you whisper. "We don't know, ok. That's why there's no name in the media, yet. For now, I'm on your boyfriend's-"

"Ex-Boyfriend" you correct in a whisper.

"- side. Ok?" Powell asked.

He then spoke with extreme caution, "Now I have to ask what's coming next. I need you to understand that going in."

You give a nod of your head, but your defenses raised all the same. "What were you doing last night before finding Fred? Can anyone place you with them?" Powell asked.

A cold sweat swept across your palms and forehead, and Powell could see the urge to rage in your eyes. "I have to ask these questions." He warns again. It doesn't help, but you try to understand.

"I was with Nancy and Wayne, and then I was talking to some visitors in the woods. Three of." You said.

"Visitors?" Powell asked.

"Yeah, they're stranded in Hawkins because their van is totaled. Harvey down at Thatcher's is currently trying to figure out how to work on it. I'd seen the guy before. Rude lanky s.o.b was trying my patience in front of Barry's Big Buy." You explain.

"And did they seem suspicious at all?" Powell asked.

You remembered the gun Mick carried, and the bullet dents in the van. "But the fact is you don't know." You think to yourself. You give a simple shake of your head. "No, nothing other than they were from the city, for sure. And I mean, they're punks, so...to you and every other bland Hawkins denizen, probably looked a little 'spooky' but they weren't bad, offered to help me look for Eddie."

Powell crossed his arms, "they offered to help you?" He asked.

You nodded, "You know, often the suspect will be the closest one to the investigation." He said. "Then looks like you, me, Wayne and Nancy need to be at the top of the possible perp list, don't you think?" the hollow irony of your words nearly echoed.

"I'm just trying to help you help Eddie." Powell said.

"Yeah? Then find him." You shot, "find him. And give him a chance when you do."

You sigh, "can I go now? It's day two which means, I need to make flyers." your words sound small and Powell caves, "alright, you're free to go." He said, "I can have Callahan give you a ride."

After saying goodbye to Nancy, you begrudgingly go with Officer Callahan.

"Actually, Callahan can you drop me off at a friend's place instead?" You ask during the car ride.

Jeff, Gareth and Nick rushed out of Jeff's garage the moment you stepped out of the police car. "What did you do?" Gareth asked quickly, the boy's eyes following as Callahan rode away.

"Nothing." You sighed. "He just gave me a ride."

"Bullshit," Nick murmured. You groan, "alright, but if I tell you, not a word about it. It's going to hit the news anyway." you warned.

"We swear," said Jeff.

"Whoever got Chrissy," You whispered, "They got Fred Benson too. Last night, out on the road not far from Forest Hills."

The boy glanced at each other, "did you see it happen?" asked Gareth. You give a feeble shake of your head, "no. But by the time I got to him, who ever did it shouldn't have gotten far." You said.

"Maybe he got hit by a car or something?" Nick asked. "Since when is the road out there traveled at night?" asked Jeff.

"Something, sucked in his eyes, there was blood all over his face. Even if you can talk away the broken bones...the eyes. That's got to be a signature, right?" You asked them.

The three boy look at each other, they can hear your nerves on edge. "Have you every heard the legend of the Creel family?" Gareth whispered. "Yeah, the dad snapped and killed his wife and kids. That sort of thing happens all the time." You say with a shrug.

"And he's ancient now." You add.

"You know what else happens all the time, Copycat killers." Jeff reasons.

Your mouth snaps shut, "See, knew it was a bad idea to bring it up." Gareth muttered. "Look, Y/n, it's probably not that bad." Nick said quickly, "Yeah, you know how Eddie is. He's probably just lying low for a while, when things calm down he'll call and -"

Jeff's words faded as water leaked into your eyes. "I do know, and he would have been at my door, that night." Your voice shivered. "Come on, don't try. You're working yourself up." Nick urged gently. "And freaking me out... I'm trying not to think about what could have happened." Jeff muttered.

"We were just in the middle of practicing a set to get our minds off of things. You can stay and listen for a bit. Give yourself a rest." Gareth offered. "Yeah, you look terrible." Nick added.

"Gee, thanks Nick." You said, while Jeff wacked Nick's shoulder. "But if you guys don't mind, please? I won't bother you."

"Oh, of course, come on." Gareth and the boys lead you into the garage and find you a chair to sit down on. You listen to two of their songs and realize you've never heard them before.

"Are those new?" You ask, the guys grin with pride, "Yeah, Eddie wrote them recently." Jeff said. "Worked with Nick to get the sound down."

"It's good." You praise. "Got lots of practice in on them since he had all the extra time on his hands after the....well never mind..." Gareth caught himself, though a little too late.

"Man, you're just on a roll with those screw-ups, aren't you?" Nick asked him. "I'm not doing on purpose." Gareth sighed.

"Uh...guys" Jeff murmured as a car slowed before his house. "Shit, it's Carver." you murmur. The boys stopped playing and Gareth stood up from his drums, As a group of guy sporting the Hawkins' Tigers lettermans strolled up.

"Fellas, sorry to say, but you're early. Show don't start til next week." Gareth called with a sour smile. Corroded met the team at the garage entrance.

"Oh, was that music?" asked Andy.

"Please, Anderson, you wouldn't know music if it crawled up your craw and died." You said drawing his attention. "It's easy to talk shit when you're hiding behind others, isn't it?" Andy shot back.

"She/he isn't hiding from you the likes of you, Andy." Nick said.

Jason sighed, "We're just looking for Eddie Munson. He’s in the band, if you can all it that." he said. Instantly offended, the guy became as still as a wall, "What do you care?" Gareth asked with a tilt of his head.

"They can't fight." you thought, and if you were honest neither could you, not well. You could scrap, but not alone, and not against three. Usually if the boy had to fight, they had Eddie.

You stepped forward, trying to support the boys as best you could. You also knew, the tired mess that you were, wasn't all that intimidating. "Fuck off Jason. If they did know where he was, why the hell would they tell you." You lulled, through a flat gaze.

"Funny how you seem to be everywhere. Trying to get your alibis straight?" Jason questioned. "Are you? Won't look good, boyfriend on a rampage. You might come off as having anger issues." You hum, "tsk tsk tsk, you know they always look at the boyfriend with anger problems." you said, wagging for finger.

Gareth squinted at the figure hiding behind Jason. "Lucas?" he asked.

"I'd never hurt Chris." Jason growled. "If they don't believe me about Eddie, why would they believe you?" You asked him. "Because I'm not a freak who sells drugs, or some loser with a record." Jason barked at you.

"No, you're just a golden boy who's hard of hearing. I wouldn't be here if I knew where he was." You said.

"But this is exactly where you'd be if he was here." said Patrick.

"Lucas, what are you doing with these douchebags?" Gareth asked, ignoring the back and forth. Jason's eyes slowly widened as he turned to face Lucas, who seemed to be shrinking in place.

"You know these freaks, Sinclair?" He asked. You close your eyes and shake your head. Lucas looked about nervously, "They know my sister, they tried to recruit me to their club? Cult? It was after Y/n left. They were desperate." Lucas said. "You didn't, Lu." You thought.

"Lucas, what the hell?" Jeff asked with a sneer of disbelief. Gareth and Nick quietly seethed. "But look what side he's on," you study Lucas carefully. "He's scared, and he still thinks he can salvage this," You thought.

"We're just trying to find Eddie, man." Lucas said to Jeff.

"Only you're on the wrong team, Lu." You sighed, crossing your arms. "And you have eyes, don't you? He's not here." Gareth said with a scowl. Jason nodded, and though you saw it coming, his swing flew faster than your warning would have.

Gareth took the punch to the jaw. "Hey!" Jeff called, rushing to help, and Andy honed on him, Patrick closing in on Nick. "Carver!" You called out, as he took another swing. "Where is he!" Jason yelled, grabbing Gareth by the collar. Andy held Jeff back by the arms, and Nick stood glaring into Patrick's eyes in a stand-off.

"I said, where is he!"

"I don't know!"

"Carver, get bent and go home! Alright!" You shouted. Jason swings again, it's enough to make you cringe, "screw it-" you whispered, Gareth holds out his arm to you. "Y/n, no." he said. "Get off him!" Jeff shouted as Jason hooked his arm around Gareth's neck. Lucas watched the scuffle stunned.

Gareth is flung into his drum set and with a loud crash it fell apart. "Yep, 6th grade, Jimmy fucking Gatsby all over again." You thought, drawing in a breath and moving forward, "Hey Jason!" Patrick called out in warning, But your foot stomped down into Jason's shin, causing him to stumble.

With a growl he looked up at you glaring. "Leave him alone and call off your stupid goonies, Carver." You said. He stands and gives you a hard shove, with the lack of sleep and stress it's more than enough and you stumbled backward.

"Damn it." you curse yourself.

Jason, grabbing Gareth by the collar, mashed his hand under his sneaker, "Gonna be hard to play drums when your hands broken!" Jason raged as Gareth screamed.

"That's enough!" You shout.

"Dustin Henderson! He was calling around looking for Eddie! M-maybe he found him." Gareth caved. You and Lucas look equally mortified. Jason smirked and looked around, "see, that wasn't that hard, was it?" He asked, but Gareth looked as if he wanted to cry. "Now where can we find this, Dustin?" He asked.

You managed to push yourself off the ground and lunged, arms wrapping around Jason's neck. "Shit she/he leaped!" Andy called out. "Get off him, Carver, that's assault! Strike two against the angry boyfriend!" You yell tauntingly in his ear, hoping to cause pain, bust his ear drum something.

"Yeah, and how is this gonna look for you?" He asked, struggling against you. "Like I'm helping the kid whose hand you're trying to break. Go home, Carver, let the police handle it!" Jason stands up and Gareth cradled his hand.

Your arms are latched tight as he tries to throw you off. "Damn, she/he's like a leech or something!" Patrick cried out.

"Chrissy would hate this, and you know it. You know it." you whisper, trying to get under his skin, and it quickly gets you thrown to the ground. You can feel your back crack, and groan. "Y/n!" Lucas gasped. "betcha that hurt." Andy snickered.

"What the hell's going on here? A party?" A familiar voice chimed.

Tilting your head back to look up, you spotted two displeased faces. "Seems like it." Mick mused, dropping her cigarette on the ground and stomping it out.

Jason and his boys turned to look towards the two new combers. "Can we come and play?" Axel asked, a vicious smile coming to his face as from his pocket with a spin for flare he pulled out a switch knife.

Jason's eyes fell on the blade, "more freaks?" Andy asked. "Don't piss these guys off, Andy, look at them." Patrick whispered. Axel held the group still while Mick helped you to your feet. You wince. "Easy. The jackass was right, that did look painful." She said.

"Beat it, go on, get lost." Axel said, glaring down at Jason. "Or do I need to teach you a lesson or two?" Axel asked, poking the H on Jason's jacket. "Come on, we're done here." Jason muttered.

Andy and Patrick were quick to follow, Andy pushing Jeff to the ground. "W-wait, wait! You leave Henderson alone!" You call after them. Lucas reluctantly follows, giving the four of you a guilty glance.

"Heard there was another death, Kali sent us looking for you." Mick explained. Kneeling, you check over Gareth, "let me see," you offer, but he just gazed down at his shoes. "It's ok, Gareth." You try your best to console him, but the guilt won't leave his eyes.

You sigh, letting Nick and Jeff take over. Standing, you turn to Mick, "who were the assholes?" Axel asked. "The first victim's boyfriend and his friends. They're looking for Eddie." You explain.

"Looks like we'd better find some wheels and get to looking then." said Axel. "At this rate, if the killer doesn't have him, it won't matter." He said. "They didn't have that, let's have a chat. Look about them." said Mick.

"I need to speak to Chief Powell and let him know Jason's gone mental." you sighed, but as you went to walk, a sharp pain shot through your back. "Whoa, maybe you ought to sit a minute first." called Nick.

"Maybe you're right." you whisper, heading back for the chair they'd given you earlier.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

[kajaono]

Why Netflix brought Sense8 back for a special and refuse to do so as well for others

Disclaimer: I love Fan campaigns, and I take part in many of them, this is only an analysis of the situation

When taking part in fan campaigns to save a show from cancellation I often here: „we brought Sense8 back, we can do so as well“

I think what people do not understand is how well Organized the Sense8 fandom was back then. Sense8 was one of Netflix first major shows, and one of Netflix first major shows with a lot of LGBTQ representation. Streaming was new and Netflix was growing like crazy, they were a single player on the market. Netflix did everything to make their show’s successful

The irony of the whole story is: Netflix themselves helped to build the Sense8 fandom. The promo campaign before season 1 dropped was insane. Posters everywhere, character trailers for every single one of the cluster, they even had trailers for sense8 in my German cinemas here. And! They even released season 1 on DVD. A nice white box set together with other shows (I need that box set so bad). They had social media accounts for the show. They send the casts on every major pride parade. Once season 1 was released Netflix continued to hype the show up. They didn’t just went quiet about it, like they do today.

Then Netflix announced a Christmas/New Year’s Eve special: To further hype the show up and to shorten the waiting time for season 2. it was again a major event.

When Season 2 finally dropped and was shortly cancelled after, the fandom was amazingly organized and HUGE! The fans already knew each other from conventions and prides. There were tumblr accounts only dedicated to the show, or single characters of the show

When Netflix cancelled the show they said: „the viewing numbers do not justify such high production costs“. But in the end the simple truth was that Netflix wanted to produce cheaper shows that were easily marketable. The show still had a lot of viewers, nevertheless

This is why it was so easy for the fans to gain 300.000 signs in five days on the Save Sense8-petition. In the end it was over half a million… in around two weeks! In just a few days they had bought the domain for savesense8.com and released a petition calendar: one month, everyday, one campaign.

Fans phoned Netflix. Send them Flipflops, letters, produced a whole music video in under a week and got an actor of the show involved, digged out every single mailing address they could find and wrote there. Netflix’s social media accounts was hardly usable anymore because the comment section was full of #savesense8 and I mean in an amount you can not imagine.

We were so loud that even the HEAD of Netflix wrote us a letter. And they even gave us a special mail address we should write to why we love Sense8.

So in under one month we got the show back. Because I think not even Netflix was prepared for such an outrage. It was new and unique.

And 2) the financial situation back then was completely different. The situation on the market was different. Prime just started producing their own shows, every other streaming service didn’t existed yet.

This is also why Shadowhunters got two specials right away because they were also amazingly organized, maybe even better then sense8. Look what they pulled off to get a season 3. if Netflix didn’t gave them their specials right away they would have gotten their special!

But most shows being cancelled today are small shows with really passionate fan bases but sadly not many viewers. I am all here for: „Netflix stop cancelling smaller shows, a successful company should have big and small shows“ but Netflix isn’t. And hence it is so complicated for small shows to get conclusion. Because 10M tweets are impressive but if you have a few thousand fans who tweet everyday that’s an achievable goal.

Look what sense8 had to pull off and we got a „we hear your voice, but sadly we can not bring back the show“ letter, half way through our campaign…

I really hate the whole situation honestly, but I have the feeling today major shows do not get canceled anymore, only the smaller shows that can not make enough noise to really bother Netflix…. I really hope that will change one day and Netflix will change their strategy

Until then we can not do anymore then support every small queer show and hope for the best

[cncuwau]

the script is finally out and i have a lot of thoughts. god.. first of all, i think it’s very byler-coded (“his face can light up a room” like BRUH, and also like iiiiih, lmao no i’m not fangirling idk what you’re talking about). we don’t get very much of mike’s perspective (kinda sus imo 👀), but what we do get, i think is very very interesting..

SO, “what are you, like 12-years-old still, dude?”.

i don’t know why (i do know why) this line screams internalized homophobia to me.. but it sure does! i don’t necessarily think this is mike’s exact train of thought, but i do think it is from his perspective. but just because it’s something that may have popped up in his head, it doesn’t mean that’s how he’s actually feeling. i think that line absolutely is a call-back to mike and will’s fight in s3. in that fight and throughout the whole of s3 mike’s train of thought usually comes back to the fact that he feels he needs to grow up. to him, that mainly means letting go of the feelings he has towards will, and getting a girlfriend. focusing on what boys at his age “should” be interested in and care about. and that’s certainly not his very-non-platonic feelings for his guy best friend. i am wholeheartedly sticking to the theory that mike has always had feelings for will, he’s ALWAYS been in love with him, but has never realized the extent of his feelings because in s1 and s2, when he was younger, he felt those feelings were normal. they were kids and will was special to him because he was his best friend, and nothing mOoOore??? he didn’t have to take it one step further than that. mike can’t tell the difference between platonic love and romantic love to save his fucking life man. i.e. why he’s together with el. BUT, as he got older and the feelings for will didn’t go away, and maybe were even stronger than the feelings he was supposed to have for el, he had to find an excuse for that. he couldn’t accept that fact. accepting that fact would mean accepting something he didn’t believe himself to be. mike doesn’t at this point know that he’s gay (or queer). he doesn’t want to be different, he wants to fit in, at least in s3. so he comes to the conclusion that feeling this way is childish behavior and how will feels is childish too. they HAVE to grow up at some point. and to mike that meant leaving those feelings behind, even though he realistically can’t, he isn’t able to. queue repression and projecting onto will.

in their s3 fight, after will gets upset, mike impulsively tells him “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”. guys, the first sign of projection. it’s beautiful :’) and really fucking sad, but anyway.. he also says “we’re not kids anymore”. here he’s not referring to the dnd campaign, we know mike loves dnd and in s4 he’s gone back to pursuing the things he likes, unapologetically. but he’s talking about him and will, their relationship. he’s basically saying “we can’t go on like this, we can’t act on these feelings. we’re supposed to grow up and do grown-up things and that does not include spending every minute of every day with each other. it’s not normal anymore, that’s something we did, and could ONLY do, when we were KIDS”. he doubles down on this way of thinking when he then says “i mean what did you think, really? that we were never gonna get girlfriends? that we’re just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” and will responds with “yeah. i guess i did.. i really did.”. OUCH. the first time i watched that scene i thought will was overreacting and i didn’t understand the extent of why he was SO upset. yeah, mike was being a dick but it felt like i was missing something, and what i was missing was that this conversation really wasn’t about dnd at all. the subtext is really fucking strong in this one, and on second watch, i realized it’s not even subtext. when i first heard mike say “i mean what did you think, really? that we were never gonna get girlfriends?” i assumed he was talking about the whole party. like did you not expect me, OR lucas OR dustin to get girlfriends and for our dynamic to change? BUT, what i realized is, he’s not talking about the whole party. he’s talking about just him and will. we know will’s not had any issues with lucas or dustin getting girlfriends. it’s actually been the complete opposite, he’s been supportive and happy for them. the only relationship he’s had a problem with is mike and el. it’s the only relationship that’s caused him pain and he even blames SOLELY mike for their party falling apart in this very fight. NOT lucas. NOT dustin. MIKE. “YOU’RE ruining our party [...] YOU’RE destroying EVERYTHING, and for WHAT? so YOU can swap spit with some STUPID GIRL?”. if this fight was about the whole party, lucas and dustin would be there. but this is NOT about them. it’s about mike and will, JUST mike and will. and again, mike’s response confirms that take on things. “el’s not stupid!” and “it’s not MY fault you don’t like girls”. mike is aware that will is having trouble with MIKE AND EL’S relationship SPECIFICALLY. that’s what he’s alluding to when he then says “did you really think that WE were never gonna get girlfriends?”. he’s literally saying:

haven’t you realized that YOU AND I would HAVE TO get GIRLFRIENDS at some point?

and i have to say that realization BROKE ME. because that little shift in narrative changed the tone of the scene SO MUCH for me. it hit so hard. FUCK. like mike’s basically saying “did you never think you and i would have to move on for each other and conform to what society expects from us?”. ow ow ow ow. it really hurts to think that mike has convinced himself of that, and will’s response just solidifies that theory while also making it so much worse, because he says “yeah. i guess i did.. i REALLY did.”. will’s saying he doesn’t care about the expectations others have of them, he doesn’t care that he’s also terrified of the prejudice, of how hostile society is towards gay people, of how he’s feeling towards mike and what that means for both of their lives. because before el, he thought that mike felt the same. that they were on the same page in all of this. s2 mike would surely make you think so. and now he feels like mike has rejected him, but even then he still wants mike to know how much he values him and their relationship. saying that none of that other stuff matters to him if they’re together. because how much he loves mike surpasses all of that. will thought their bond was so special that nothing would change that fact, ever. well, until now.. i reiterate, ow ow ow ow.

so how does this relate to the s4 script? well, the “what are you, like 12-years-old still, dude?” i think is s3 mike rearing his head. throughout s4 mike’s feelings for will have been brought to his attention again. been more pressing, because mike’s starting to realize things about himself, like having issues telling el he loves her, and how much he really misses and loves will since he moved across the country etc. but i still think, i mean we still know, that mike has trouble accepting these feelings. so he doesn’t know how to act around will, and i think he gets impulses like “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” even now, but maybe he can at least keep those feelings in his head at this point. which is why we get a glimpse of mike’s confusion when a thought like “what are you, like 12-years-old still, dude?” pops up. and that “still” reaaaaaally emphasizes and confirms that this is truly just a call-back to s3, to their fight. this is something mike’s had an issue with before. mike’s internalized homophobia, the devil on his shoulder if you will, is trying to convince him saying “how can will STILL think like that? you know that’s not realistic”. and i think it’s also really telling how will reads this behavior as mike worrying about el, when he’s really not. like william “i hate who i am” byers wouldn’t be able to tell that mike’s in love with him even if mike fucking told him so lmao (i’m laughing through the pain).

we know mike’s actually the one who’s been trying to reach out to will since the end of s3. not will, but mike. he’s trying to go back to behaving like he did pre-s3, which is his unfiltered, usual, protective-over-will-self. he wants to go back to being super close with his best bud and soulmate and future bf will. and he tries, but he doesn't feel like will reciprocates that. mike even acknowledges that in their fight at the roller rink, and later on when they have their heart to heart at home. will could have reached out more. but instead mike feels like will’s been pushing him away, like he’s “losing” him, which will also confirms in the van scene by explaining that he’s tried to “rip off the band-aid so he doesn’t get more hurt”. they are doing it in an incredibly roundabout way, but THEY ARE trying to tell each other that they actually want to be with one another. they don’t want their relationship to be like this. they both want more. and i can’t fucking stop thinking about the theory that mike’s been trying to call will all of the frickity frockity time since he moved away. because we get dustin saying “joyce has this telemarketing job. always on the phone. mike wont stop whining about it”. and we know mike can’t call el because it would put her at risk, that wouldn’t make any sense. so who the fuck is he calling but can’t get through to because the line is busy all of the time because joyce is on the phone constantly but he gets frustrated because he really wants to talk to this person and has trouble writing to them probably because his girlfriend would see the letters too and like it’s complicated and maybe would be seen as romantic and aaaaahhhhhh i don’t know what to do with all of these emotions???? IT HAS TO BE WILL. like there’s literally no other explanation. and it would kinda make a lot of foking sense why mike’s behaving the way he is in s4 because of that, and why a thought like will “being childish” would come up now that they’re finally seeing each other again and spending time together aaaand talking just them over and over and over, with their billion heart to hearts. because now, mike’s more exposed to and forced to face BOTH his romantic feelings towards will AND the destructive feelings holding him back from him. like bruh. i can’t with this. byler is endgame

[ventureawaybitches]

My analysis/interpretation/opinions on Sawyeh's not-death at the Veil. Be ye warned long post ahead.

Contains major spoilers for campaign 1 ep. 86/87, major character not-death, gore, canon-typical violence, Rem apologist (kinda) musings.

This is basically an analysis of Sawyeh’s not-death, and yes unnecessarily Rem focussed, but that should be expected by now. Relistening I’m just like…it’s very clear that what happened happened but I’m going to detail it all here anyway. I haven’t listened to those episodes in a long time and I thought it was more implied. And behold! supporting quotes!

Mila tells Sawyeh that "Rem wanted me to tell you that you have to leave or she’s going to kill you" and Sawyeh refuses. After Mila vanishes the minotaur at the bridge gives Sawyeh a key, and a few moments later she feels "a sudden sharp horrific pain in her chest" and falls unconscious.

The rest of the Maidens run into their cottage to find "blood everywhere, smeared along the walls and the floor, and lying in the centre is Sawyeh who has been expertly disembowelled, slashed to pieces”. Sawyeh regains consciousness thanks to Kara casting death ward on her before they left (honestly I would have chosen to pass out again rather than deal with that).

The immediate assumption is that Rem did this, because the whole hoard of the undead + dracolich was a distraction so Rem could burn the book of mazes and kill Sawyeh if needed, it’s also a massive statement and warning to the other Maidens a look what happened to her, stop this or it’ll happen to you too. BUT we then get this:

Something is very weird about this scene, all of this blood everywhere around this room, and you start to notice, looking on the floor, it seems to have made some sort of pattern. It looks like a maze. A maze has been made out of Sawyeh’s blood. Like someone has left you a key.

Looked like her chest cavity had been ripped open, so much so that pieces of her had spilled out onto the ground, and someone had painted a maze around her body on the ground.

They confirm there is no physical key on Sawyeh’s person or in the room.

And here are my thoughts with no finesse to them.

Why would Rem, who was trying to keep them away from mazes, make a maze for them, even if it was a statement, or warning, or even to mock them?

While I have no doubt that Rem is capable of eviscerating someone, it makes no sense for her to do it here because; there are quicker ways of killing someone and she’s probably trying to be quick, Mila is there and I’m 99.9% sure Rem wouldn’t disembowel someone in front of a seven year old she almost sees as her own child, and this doesn’t fit with how Rem has killed before.

Rem killed Kara and Baltana narratively ‘on screen’ (and I’ll be including Arafel in this too). Both Kara and Arafel died instantly with a very slim blade between their eyes. Baltana was killed in a single unspecified strike. Rem's general murder technique is a single quick precise attack because she's a rogue, and making a mess isn't really her style.

When Sawyeh tries to speak they find another wound "a very neat precise cut across her throat that certainly would have been a killing blow if not for the death ward" which is absolutely fits how Rem does murder. Further investigation reveals that the throat wound probably happened before the chest wound, leading to the assumption that there were two separate causes.

From the above I think the moment Mila vanished Rem cut Sawyeh's throat and the two of them left. Sawyeh then received the key and left the demiplane, her body being disembowelled and the maze painted in her blood. The blood maze gave her the ability to cast the maze spell.

I accidently posted this instead of saving as a draft and there is no conclusion, anyway. Defence against Rem having disembowelled Sawyeh ta-daaa!

There's a whole lot in these episodes I'd love to go into but don't have enough info, like what exactly was draining the pylons, Rem, the Avatar, or Valerius, and why? To what extent was Valerius involved cos he was totally involved? Where did the dracolich come from? The decision to trap Alistar in an antimagic orb instead of killing him?

[firstopinionsblog]

Maximizing Your Income: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Paid for Surveys

Introduction:

In today’s digital age, earning extra income from the comfort of your own home has become increasingly accessible. One popular method is participating in online surveys. Companies are constantly seeking consumer feedback to improve their products and services, and they are willing to pay for your opinions. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of paid surveys, exploring how to maximize your earnings and make the most out of this opportunity.

Understanding Paid Surveys:

Paid surveys involve companies paying individuals to provide feedback on various topics such as products, services, advertising campaigns, and more. These surveys can be conducted through online platforms, focus groups, or even in-person interviews. Companies use the data collected from these surveys to make informed decisions that can shape their business strategies.

Benefits of Participating in Paid Surveys:

Flexibility: One of the greatest advantages of paid surveys is the flexibility they offer. You can complete surveys at your own convenience, whether it’s during your lunch break, while watching TV, or during your commute.

Extra Income: While paid surveys may not make you rich overnight, they can provide a steady stream of additional income. The amount you earn will vary depending on the number of surveys you complete and the platforms you use.

Voice Your Opinion: Participating in paid surveys allows you to have a say in the development of products and services. Your feedback can directly influence companies’ decisions and help shape future offerings.

Low Barrier to Entry: Unlike some other side hustles, getting started with paid surveys requires minimal effort and investment. As long as you have access to a computer or smartphone and an internet connection, you can start earning money right away.

Tips for Maximizing Your Income from Paid Surveys:

Sign Up for Multiple Survey Sites:

To increase your earning potential, it’s advisable to sign up for multiple survey sites. Each platform may offer different survey opportunities, so diversifying your options can help you access a wider range of surveys.

Complete Your Profile:

Many survey sites use demographic information to match participants with relevant surveys. Make sure to complete your profile accurately and honestly, as this will increase your chances of receiving survey invitations that are tailored to your interests and demographics.

Be Consistent:

Consistency is key when it comes to earning money from paid surveys. Set aside dedicated time each day or week to complete surveys and stay active on the platforms you’ve joined. The more surveys you complete, the more you can earn over time.

Take Advantage of Referral Programs:

Some survey sites offer referral programs that allow you to earn additional income by referring friends and family to join the platform. Take advantage of these programs to boost your earnings further.

Watch Out for High-Paying Surveys:

Not all surveys offer the same compensation. Keep an eye out for high-paying surveys that offer a larger reward for your time investment. These surveys may take longer to complete or require specific qualifications, but they can significantly increase your earnings.

Be Patient:

Earning money from paid surveys takes time and patience. While you may not see significant results overnight, consistent effort and persistence can lead to a steady income stream over time.

Avoid Scams:

Be cautious of survey sites that promise unrealistic earnings or ask for upfront fees. Legitimate survey sites will never ask you to pay to join or participate in surveys. Always do your research and read reviews before signing up for any survey platform.

Conclusion:

Participating in paid surveys can be a rewarding way to earn extra income in your spare time. By following the tips outlined in this guide and approaching paid surveys with a strategic mindset, you can maximize your earnings and make the most out of this opportunity. Remember to stay consistent, be patient, and always prioritize reputable survey sites to ensure a positive and profitable experience.

FAQs

1. Are paid surveys legitimate?

Yes, many companies conduct paid surveys to gather valuable feedback from consumers. However, it’s essential to be cautious of scams and only participate in surveys from reputable platforms.

2. How much can I earn from paid surveys?

Earnings from paid surveys vary depending on factors such as the number of surveys completed, the length of the surveys, and the platform used. While some individuals earn a modest supplemental income, it’s unlikely to replace a full-time job.

3. Are there any requirements to participate in paid surveys?

Most survey platforms require participants to be of a certain age (usually 18 or older) and have access to a computer or smartphone with an internet connection. Some surveys may also target specific demographics, so having a complete profile with accurate information can increase your survey opportunities.

4. How do I know if a survey site is legitimate?

Legitimate survey sites will never ask for payment to join or participate in surveys. Look for reviews from other users, check for a clear privacy policy, and verify that the site has been in operation for some time. Avoid sites that make unrealistic promises or seem too good to be true.

5. Can I participate in paid surveys from any location?

Many survey platforms accept participants from around the world, but some may have restrictions based on location or language. Check the eligibility requirements of each platform before signing up.

[xpresscovidtesting]

Is it True? Free PCR COVID Test in Chicago? Unravel the Facts at Xpress COVID Testing!

Welcome to Xpress COVID Testing, your go-to location in Chicago for a free PCR COVID test. In these trying times, maintaining access to trustworthy testing is essential for containing the virus's spread and defending the public's health. We are dedicated to providing free PCR COVID tests to Chicago residents and visitors because we recognise the value of accessible and precise testing. We work hard to make the testing procedure quick, simple, and dependable with our cutting-edge testing facilities and skilled medical staff. By being tested at Xpress COVID Testing right now, you can join us in our efforts to safeguard our community.

Recognising PCR Testing

A molecular diagnostic technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is utilized to find the genetic makeup of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. The patient is asked to provide a nose or throat swab, which is then taken and submitted to a lab for testing. The lab procedure amplifies the viral genetic material for authentication by processing the sample using the PCR method. Due to its great accuracy and sensitivity, PCR testing has been recognised as the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19.

Free PCR COVID Testing's Importance

A crucial step towards guaranteeing that all citizens, regardless of their financial situation, have access to testing in Chicago has been the city's decision to make PCR COVID testing free. Free testing makes it possible for anyone to get tested without obstacles, such as cost reservations. As a result, more individuals are urged to be tested right away, resulting in early identification and isolation of positive cases, which can aid in restricting the virus's spread.

Quick diagnosis and containment are carried out.

If people suspect they may have been exposed to the virus or show symptoms, they may get tested straight away utilizing the free PCR COVID test. If a positive test result is discovered, individuals may decide to isolate themselves in order to stop the disease from spreading. A timely test allows for an early diagnosis. The fast adoption of contact tracing to identify and notify others who could have been around positive patients further reduces the risk of viral propagation.

increasing public awareness of health

Free PCR Covid test is provided in Chicago as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the disease. The community is more informed about the value of early detection, testing techniques, and safety precautions because of the accessibility of free testing locations and broad education about the necessity of testing. Greater knowledge encourages people to take charge of their own health and the health of others, promoting a group effort to lessen the pandemic's effects.

Increasing Data Gathering and Monitoring

Health authorities may gather and analyze data more thoroughly using the free PCR COVID test. Data on positive cases, infection rates, and demographic trends that are accurate and current are used to guide public health policy, resource allocation, and focused treatments. A more targeted and efficient response to outbreaks and potential hotspots is made possible by this data-driven methodology.

A Way Back Towards Normalcy

In Chicago, the free PCR COVID test is crucial to the city's attempts to go back to normal. The city can more successfully limit the virus's spread, lower infection rates, and eventually abolish restrictions by making testing easily accessible to all inhabitants. The city gets a little bit closer to a secure and healthy post-pandemic future as more people are tested and immunized.

In conclusion, the availability of free PCR COVID tests in Chicago has been extremely important in preventing the virus's spread and preserving the community's safety. Xpress COVID Testing has been at the fore, offering affordable and dependable testing services to locals and guests alike. They have improved public health by providing free testing, as well as aided individuals in making wise decisions regarding their own and other people's health.

Testing is still crucially important as the epidemic develops. The dedication of Xpress COVID Testing to the community's health and welfare is evident in their commitment to provide free PCR COVID tests in Chicago. Their actions definitely saved lives and helped people get through these difficult situations.

It is essential that we keep promoting the availability and accessibility of free COVID testing as we go forward. The services provided by Xpress COVID Testing have been essential in promoting a safer environment and enabling people to take control of their own health. We can all contribute to a healthier and more resilient community by being tested frequently and exercising caution.

[cams-shwcase-blog]

This is the end result of my final GAC project. I experienced some challenges and difficulties, such as file placement and exporting, but I researched how to fix it and I did. I enjoyed this project overall, it gave me a great amount of satisfaction to start with just a vision in my head that I was able to create.

Project Proposal:

Mangroves are trees that survive in water and land. They filter out toxic chemicals and protect our coastlines from natural disasters. They also provide a large ecosystem base for many birds, insects, reptiles and animals.  It is important to have an advocacy campaign for their restoration because this is a problem worldwide. Deforestation is creating the loss of these habitats and ecosystems along the coastlines. Many different species are being affected, birds, animals, and plants are closer and closer to extinction as the problem gets worse. To take action and support the campaign “Mangrove Love”, you can donate as we account or buy private land and restore and protect these lands. We are partnered with Conservation International.  Conservation International is a foundation that you donate to, and they buy land to protect and do research on. There is also a monthly email newsletter to remind you to donate, in return you will get stickers and have access to the current research data that our teams are producing, and you are able to see on paper the difference that you personally are making. Our team will have the email list linked on our pamphlets as well as our Venmo to help support our funding and research for donations. 

The campaign’s color scheme is nature, including the following colors: lime green, green, pine green, dark green, light bronze, coffee brown, chocolate brown, arctic blue, and spruce blue. The use of these colors will make the audience feel empathetic towards nature and environmental. For the title and header, I am using Minion Variable Concept. For the body text I am using Bookman Old Style. I will state the facts in Papyrus, and for statistics I will be using Engravers MT. I am using these fonts because I feel as if they give the design character, especially for the statistics and facts, they are a more eye-catching font than the rest. All of these elements together will give a sense of appreciation towards the world's beauty, as these are colors that are seen in nature on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully then causing the viewer to donate towards the cause. 

My audience is anyone that is willing to help donate and fund this project. We are targeting construction companies and fishing companies as they are the leading causes of deforestation and habitat loss. My logo that I have designed is the project name “Mangrove Love” with a heart shape and mangrove tree on the center of the heart, with the name above the heart. I also have a plain and simple type of the name “Mangrove Love”. The graphics that I am illustrating include: fish, a turtle, bubbles, a mangrove tree from further away (the whole tree and roots) a closer version of a mangrove tree (just roots and some trunk), birds, a bush with a monkey in it and the rest will be illustrated as needed.   In conclusion, I have many elements that will engage the viewer enough to hopefully get their attention and have them contribute to the purpose of our mission.

Research:

American Museum of Natural History- 

“The Importance of Mangrove Forests: Diverse Ecosystems: AMNH.” American Museum of Natural History, https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/biodiversity/mangroves-the-roots-of-the-sea/why-mangroves-matter. 

“Mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs are often found together and work in concert. The trees trap sediment and pollutants that would otherwise flow out to sea. Seagrass beds provide a further barrier to silt and mud that could smother the reefs. In return, the reefs protect the seagrass beds and mangroves from strong ocean waves. Without mangroves, this incredibly productive ecosystem would collapse”

Florida Department of Environmental Protection- https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/benefits-of-mangroves-2-8-16.pdf 

Benefits of Mangroves - Florida Department of Environmental Protection. https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/benefits-of-mangroves-2-8-16.pdf. 

“• Stabilize the coastline

 • Protect water quality 

• Reduce coastal flooding 

• Provide habitat for fish 

• Protect wildlife species 

• Protect young fish from predators 

• Serve as nesting area 

• Contribute $7.6 billion annually to the economy and create 109,000 jobs”

Mangrove.org 

“The Importance of Mangrove Forests: Diverse Ecosystems: AMNH.” American Museum of Natural History, https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/biodiversity/mangroves-the-roots-of-the-sea/why-mangroves-matter. 

“Despite increasing awareness regarding value and importance, the destruction of mangrove forest continues to take place in many parts of the world under a variety of economic as-well-as political motives. In some areas, mangroves are protected by law but a lack of enforcement coupled with the economic incentive to reclaim land can result in deliberate destruction.”

World Economic Forum 

“5 Reasons to Protect Mangrove Forests for the Future.” World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/5-reasons-to-protect-mangrove-forests-for-the-future/#:~:text=Mangroves%20provide%20valuable%20protection%20for,is%20stored%20within%20the%20plant. 

1. They are a natural coastal defense

2. They are carbon sinks

-An examination of 25 mangrove forests across the Indo-Pacific region found that per hectare, they held up to four times more carbon than other tropical rainforests.

3. They provide livelihoods

4. They encourage ecotourism

5. They are rich in biodiversity

-The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List shows that of 68,574 species of invertebrates, 8,374 were on the brink of extinction.

Conservation International 

“Mangroves.” Conservation International, https://www.conservation.org/priorities/mangroves. 

“35% of the world’s mangroves have been lost since 1980.

Sea-level rise threatens to drown mangroves in the United States, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and elsewhere this century.

Unsustainable aquaculture — primarily shrimp farming — is driving large-scale clearing of mangroves.”

What they are doing to help: 

“Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO lead the Blue Carbon Initiative (BCI), a global collaboration focused on mitigating climate change by conserving and restoring the world’s coastal marine ecosystems, including mangroves. Through the BCI’s scientific working group, we’re helping to coordinate an agenda for blue carbon research, produce information that supports projects in blue carbon ecosystems, build a global network for blue carbon science and develop a resource of country and region-specific expertise.”

Smithsonian Ocean 

The Ocean Portal Team Reviewed by Candy Feller. “Mangroves.” Smithsonian Ocean, 18 Dec. 2018, https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/mangroves. 

“A mangrove is a woody tree or shrub that lives along sheltered coastlines within the tropic or subtropic latitudes.”

“Mangroves are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth. They cover between roughly 53,000 and 77,000 square miles (138,000 and 200,000 square km) globally, acting as a bridge connecting the land and sea.”

United Nations Event Programme 

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/six-things-you-can-do-bring-back-mangroves

“Six Things You Can Do to Bring Back Mangroves.” UNEP, https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/six-things-you-can-do-bring-back-mangroves

Home to forty per cent of the world’s population, coastlines are among the most densely-populated areas on Earth. Consequent development of coastlines – clearing mangrove forests to create space for buildings, and to farm fish and shrimp – is the main driver of mangrove loss. Worldwide, this has caused the loss of 20 percent of mangrove ecosystems. 

Pollution also plays a role. Because they form a protective line between coasts and ocean, mangroves are effectively a “plastic trap”. When plastic bags and litter cover roots and sediment layers, it can starve mangroves of oxygen; and can harm sea animals.

National Park Service 

“Mangroves.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/oceans/mangroves.htm. 

The long roots of mangroves hold sediments in place, slow the pace of water, prevent erosion, and stabilize the coastline. Mangroves also provide habitat for many species of fish, crabs, sponges, corals and oysters that find protection from predators or places to grow among the roots.

World wildlife foundation 

“Mangroves May Be One of Nature's Best Defenses against a Changing Climate.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/winter-2016/articles/mangroves-may-be-one-of-nature-s-best-defenses-against-a-changing-climate. 

The Sundarbans, or “beautiful forest” in the Bengali language, is the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem. Home to 4 million people in India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans also harbor many rare and threatened species, including tigers that swim from mangrove island to mangrove island to hunt prey.

Seacology 

“Mangroves.” Seacology, 5 Nov. 2022, https://www.seacology.org/key-habitats-we-protect/why-mangroves/?gclid=CjwKCAjw586hBhBrEiwAQYEnHa5mSmwbgigNIrvPL60oqmvgYe1Qt0yFCHjU3WbO5lC3sBnSxxgAdhoCRbwQAvD_BwE. 

Mangroves trap sediment, making for clearer water. They also absorb excess nutrients from runoff that can cause algal blooms, which deplete the oxygen in the water.

[anewswire]

A Furious Chuck Schumer Demands Fox News Pull The Plug On Tucker Carlson's 1/6 Disinformation

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is blaming Kevin McCarthy and Tucker Carlson and demanding that Fox News pull the plug on Carlson’s 1/6 disinformation campaign. Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson broadcast a lengthy segment last night arguing that the January 6th Capitol attack was not a violent rebellion. Carlson did so with disregard for the facts, disregard for the risks, and full knowledge that he was lying—lying—to his audience. Mr. Carlson conveyed the blatant lie that the Capitol attack—which we all witnessed with our own eyes—was, in some way, not at all an attack by delving down into the seas of conspiracy and cherry-picking from thousands of hours of security tape. He made an effort to counter that it was simply a tranquil sightseeing tour. Can you picture it? A nonviolent protest is a totally acceptable form of individuals expressing their opinions. Millions and millions of Americans, including me and a large number of those present in the Capitol, are outraged with Tucker Carlson and Kevin McCarthy right now. On January 6, members of my staff were present at the Capitol. Their lives were in jeopardy, as well as the lives of numerous of my coworkers, police, maintenance workers, journalists, and countless others. I got as close as 30 feet to the rioters at one point. One of them said, "Let's get him," I was told, but my detail yanked me away, and we fled in the opposite direction. That the sixth of January was not violent is a flat-out falsehood. I don't believe I've ever witnessed a prime-time cable news host deceive his audience in such a way as Mr. Carlson did last night. I can't recall ever witnessing an anchor treat the American people and democracy with such contempt. And he will return tonight with a new section. He should be warned not to by Fox News. .. Ru.................... You are aware of the falsehood. It's a lie, as you've admitted. And Speaker McCarthy shares the same level of responsibility as Mr. Carlson. Even before last night, Speaker McCarthy's decision to provide Fox access to surveillance footage appeared to be a mistake. Now, it appears to have been a catastrophe. By pandering to the far right, Speaker McCarthy has played a treacherous—a treacherous—game. He helped spread the Big Lie and further weakened our priceless democracy. When people don't believe elections are on the level, that is the beginning of the end of this great experiment in democracy that has gone on for more than two hundred years. Speaker McCarthy is unsurprised by this conclusion since he is aware of the exact type of client Mr. Carlson is, making it all the more disgusting. A terrible turning point for Speaker McCarthy. So disappointing for Fox News. As coverage of the Dominion litigation demonstrates, Mr. Carlson had no trouble acknowledging in secret that the Big Lie is total nonsense. Sidney Powell is lying, Mr. Carlson informed colleague anchor Laura Ingraham when Powell appeared on television to promote the notion of the stolen election. "I don't think there is evidence of voting fraud that swung the election," Mr. Carlson's own producer texted him. The know. They are completely aware that they have been lying. And yet they continue to do it. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all need to rise out and denounce Mr. Carlson's actions for what they are: a risky, reprehensible attempt to undermine our democracy and change the history of the worst assault on our Constitution since the Civil War. It's a disgrace to each and every police officer who responded to the call on that terrifying day. It is disrespectful to Brian Sicknick's memory as well as the memories of all others who died as a result of the attack. Nonviolent? Consult the Sicknicks. Just imagining what his family must be going through this morning makes me sick. Additionally, it is an insult to everyone who cares about our democracy and wants to carry out the founders' dream in the modern era. I'm hoping that each and every member of this body will denounce Fox and Mr. Carlson for their support of the insurrectionists. Again, I must express my disappointment and rage at Speaker McCarthy's choice to give Mr. Carlson access to private security footage. On that day, Speaker McCarthy was present. He is aware of what truly occurred. Like everyone else, His employees and Members suffered. Yet he rejected the truth and the upkeep of democracy in favor of cheap political expediency. I disapprove of Mr. Carlson for supporting anti-democratic forces. I vehemently disagree with Speaker McCarthy's choice to provide Carlson access to this video and strongly condemn his behavior. I implore Fox News to issue a directive to Carlson to stop spreading the Big Lie on his network and to be honest with their viewers about the truth—the truth!—that lies underlying their deceitful propaganda campaigns. Such behavior just serves to increase the likelihood of another January 6th. Schumer, the majority leader, was correct. The fact that Kevin McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson access to Capitol security footage should infuriate the American people. The American people need to be furious with Carlson for attacking democracy on public airwaves. It's crucial to keep in mind that Rupert Murdoch just needed to make one phone call to put an end to Carlson's insurrectionist antics. Murdoch refuses to make the decision, indicating that he is okay with positioning America for a subsequent 1/6 attack as long as it prevents his viewers from leaving. McCarthy and Carlson's disinformation campaign needs to be stopped by Fox News, or else America may have to turn off the lights for Fox News. The managing editor is Jason. He works for PoliticusUSA as a congressional correspondent and is a member of the White House Press Pool. Jason holds a political science undergraduate degree. His graduation work was primarily concerned with public policy, with an emphasis on social reform movements. Read the full article

[thedigitalhunt]

How to Boost your SEO through Chatgpt content: 

Have you been looking to increase your SEO rankings but have no idea where to start? Look no further! Chatbots are a great way to help boost your SEO rankings and make your website more user-friendly. In this blog post, we'll discuss some of the ways chatbot technology can help you improve your SEO rankings. 

Benefits of Utilizing Chatbot Technology: 

Utilizing chatbot technology can significantly benefit your SEO efforts, as it provides content users are actively looking for.  

Chatbot generated content, known as chatbots GPT, is SEO friendly due to the relevance that the algorithm provides.  

It ensures that visitors get the answers they need right away and can continue to explore pages of your website.  

This makes the user experience much better and more likely to increase user engagement and page rank.  

By using chatbot GPT, you are able to create higher quality and more relevant content than traditional methods ever could. 

Chatbot technology allows users to engage with a conversation that is relevant to their needs and interests, which can lead to increased website visibility and higher search engine rankings.  

By providing SEO-friendly content through a chatbot, the user can easily access information and have their queries answered quickly.  

This helps to increase website traffic and improve visibility on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).  

Additionally, structured conversation elements create a more user-friendly experience which can also help to boost search engine rankings as Google rewards websites that provide quality content and experiences to their users.  

Overall, chatbot technology is a great way to ensure your website's content is SEO friendly. 

Additionally, the data gathered from user interactions with the chatbot can be used to enhance content optimization and ensure your website is providing relevant information that engages readers and leads to more organic searches. 

Also, chatbot generated content can help generate more organic searches by providing relevant information and engaging readers.  

By gathering data from user interactions, you can use this to optimize your content and make sure your website is up-to-date with the latest trends.  

Overall, Chatbot's content proves to be SEO friendly and is a great tool for website optimization. 

How Chatbot Content Enhances SEO Rankings: 

Chatbot content is a great way to boost your website's SEO rankings because it allows you to add fresh content on a regular basis, which helps keep your website active and interesting for potential customers. 

As a digital marketing agency in Boston, we recommend taking advantage of chatbot content for your website as it provides an efficient, cost-effective way to add fresh content that can be tailored to the needs of your target audience.  

Furthermore, it also allows you to schedule specific campaigns or messages in advance, ensuring that your website remains interesting and up-to-date. 

This content can also be optimized for keywords relevant to your business, thus ensuring that your website ranks higher in search engine results and is more likely to be seen by potential customers. 

Thus, with chatgpt content, businesses can ensure that their website is SEO-friendly and optimized with relevant keywords.  

This will result in improved search engine rankings, allowing potential customers to easily find the website and the services or products it offers. 

To Conclude: 

In conclusion, chatbot technology can be a great way to improve your SEO rankings, increase your website's user-friendliness, and improve customer service. Chatbots can make it easier for customers to find the information they need and even help increase sales by providing a more personalized experience. However, it's important to remember that chatbots are not a replacement for humans - they should be used as an additional tool that provides convenience and better service for customers. 

This Article was written by

TheDigitalHunt - Leading Digital Marketing Consultant Boston

The digital Hunt is the best digital marketing consultant Boston and also one of the top marketing companies in Massachusetts. If you want any digital marketing and web development services click the link below.

http://thedigitalhunt.com/

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How to Start and Monetize a Dropshipping Business on the TikTok App

TikTok is a wildly popular app with over 2 billion active users. That’s a lot of potential customers, and it’s a great avenue for businesses of all sizes to reach them. What if you could start and monetize your business on TikTok without ever leaving your home? Sounds too good to be true, right? That’s where dropshipping comes in. In this article, we will outline the basics of dropshipping on the TikTok app and show you how to get started. We also include tips on how to set up your store, manage inventory, and track your sales performance. So if you’re ready to take your business to the next level, read on!

How to start a dropshipping business on TikTok

How to Start and Monetize a Dropshipping Business on the TikTok App If you’re looking for an easy way to start and monetize a dropshipping business on the TikTok app, look no further. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to get started, from finding products to setting up your store. 1. Begin by researching popular products to sell on TikTok. Before you begin selling anything, it’s important to research popular products that are likely to be successful on TikTok. This will help you identify which items generate the most traffic and sales. Once you have a list of potential products, it’s time to find them!...

How to monetize your business on TikTok

If you're looking to start and monetize a dropshipping business on the TikTok app, there are a few things you'll need to do first. To get started, download the app from the App Store or Google Play. Once you have it downloaded, open it and create an account. Next, create a product listing. You can either use an existing product listing or create a new one from scratch. Before adding your product, make sure that it meets all of the requirements specified by TikTok, such as being HD-quality and having at least five reviews. Next, add your product to your list and set its price. You can also add additional details about the product such as its description, ingredients, and color choices. Once you've added your product listing, click on "edit" next to it to change any of the above details. Finally, check out your sales page and track your sales metrics to see how well your product is selling. Once you have created a product listing and set prices for it, you will need to start marketing it in order to generate interest from potential buyers. One way to do this is by using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also post about your product on other relevant websites and forums. Additionally, you can use paid advertising campaigns on platforms such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads targeting people who are likely to be interested in buying your products. Finally, make sure that you keep up with current trends

Conclusion

If you have an idea for a product and want to start selling it online, dropshipping might be the perfect business model for you. This article will teach you how to get started Dropshipping on the TikTok app and what steps you need to take in order to make your products available for purchase. Once you have completed these simple steps, you will be able to start making money from your creations right away!

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The difference between good and bad CPA marketing

Good and bad CPA marketing come in many shapes and forms. As with most things in life, the answer to whether it’s good or bad is determined by the individual. If you’re looking for a quick and dirty way to tell if your CPA marketing is effective or not, look no further than the money you have left after paying for your ad.

The good: If you’ve paid for a CPA advertising campaign and haven’t seen any results, there’s a very high chance that it wasn’t well-spent money. However, if you see results from your ad campaign every time you run one, then it might be time to step up your game. The Bad: On the other hand, if your ad hasn’t produced any return at all after multiple test runs, chances are it was poorly implemented from the start.

As seen in the online media a program named 123 profit was launched recently. To assist you in money making.

What Makes a Good CPA Marketing Ad?

The most important aspect of any CPA marketing campaign is the deal you’re offering. What deal are you offering? Are you offering a course? Are you offering a product? Are you offering a service? Decide on the deal you want to offer, then pick an offer type that best suits it. Another important factor when it comes to picking the best CPA marketing ad type is the time of day.

Your ad has to be in the right place at the right time to get noticed by the right people. In regards to your ad’s design and layout, it’s all about finding the right balance between sales and professionalism. When in doubt, keep things simple and clutter-free. When it comes to your ad’s copy, again, keep things simple and straightforward.

You want your potential customers to know exactly what you want them to know and do with their money as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What Makes a Bad CPD Advertising Campaign?

There are a number of red flags that could indicate your CPD advertising campaign is not going so well. If any of these apply to you, it might be time to redo your entire approach. Bad deal. Bad deal. Bad deal.

This is the most important thing to make sure doesn’t fail in your CPA or CPD campaign. If you’re offering a bad deal, there’s a very high chance that you’ll never make any money from your ad. Bad time of day. This is a good way to tell if you’re not targeting the right audience. What if there’s a group of people that are so interested in your deal that they’re willing to travel at all hours of the day just to get a chance to talk to you?

Bad design and layout. As we discussed in the “What Makes a Good CPA Marketing Ad?” section, it’s all about finding the right balance between sales and professionalism. If your design is amateurish and your copy is sloppy, you’ve just thrown away all the good work you’ve done in the other categories.

Finding the right ad platform for your audience

Advertising is the most cost-effective source of sales for any ecommerce business. However, finding the right ad platform for your audience comes down to three things: 1) your product, 2) the market you’re advertising to, and 3) who you want to target.

The product: This is most commonly where you’ll run a parallel ad campaign on your own website. A parallel campaign is when you’re ad is placed on your own site, but it’s using the ad platform’s inventory to reach a new audience.

The market: This is the type of person you want to reach. If your product appeals exclusively to a certain demographic, you’ll want to find an ad platform that reaches that subgroup. Who you want to target: If you want to reach a certain audience, but you don’t know where to start, you want to start by finding the right ad platform for your audience. Research different ad platforms and pick the one that best suits your audience type, product, and market.

Conclusion

Advertising is a complex topic to get right, but if you’re willing to do the legwork, it’s a fantastic way to grow your business. If you’ve got a bad CPA marketing ad campaign, it may be time to revamp your entire approach.

On the other hand, if you see results from your CPA ad campaign every time you run one, then it might be time to step up your game. You’ve got a lot of nitty-gritty details to take into account, but if you’re willing to put in the time, it’s worth the effort. With the right approach, you could make a fortune from your CPA marketing.