#the relationship between e and w supported the structure *

[mattzerella-sticks]

Thinking about one of the core themes of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and - not to do this but since it's kind of 'my thing' lol - my mind wandered with strings to try and connect it to Supernatural and how the finale truly just - just dropped the ball because -

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Because the message of "there are an infinite amount of realities so nothing matters which is why everything matters" ties exactly to the struggle Dean was facing in the last season (though in the case of Supernatural there was someone to blame instead of the inherent randomness of the universe) and literally how both Dean and Evelyn spent most of the arc of the narrative fighting but in the end it wasn't fighting that saved the universe but love and kindness (and they were reminded by their loves who they just so happened to end up with due to the randomness of the universe - the thing that Chuck probably hates, it's his everything bagel lol). And the fact that Eveyln got to have that happiness in the ordinary and we’re left with the idea (or at least I was) that things are going to be okay and they’ll work out. Whereas in the finale Dean gets to that point of realization only for the ‘randomness’ of death to come and claim him or whatever in a way that kind of undercuts the journey (which we ALL have discussed to death lol). Like, we know Dean will die someday I think having it end like that, with the showing of it, was just meh. Even if they wanted to end it with a hunt and it’s the brothers sitting on the trunk of the Impala sharing a beer like “yeah we’re back to business even with Chuck gone”, it would have been a better button on the show then... that. Like maybe they will die during a hunt but that’s up to speculation.

And then there's the Cas and Wayden parallels, like the speech Wayden gave Evelyn in the alleyway when she was in the parallel universe where she was a famous movie star is a Cas thesis statement for sure. And also the reason why Cas's endgame should have been becoming human.

And like in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, it starts with a divorce and ends with a reunion once Evelyn sees past her own stuff and sees Wayden for who and what he truly is and realizes she's been ignoring what's right in front of her, preoccupied with her own 'unhappiness' and 'unfulfillment' and -

I didn't expect this to be an essay but to any SPN fans go watch Everything, Everywhere, All at Once because it is not only a good movie it makes the DeanCas brainworms v v happy

[fatehbaz]

[S]peed itself might be understood as debilitating. [...] This echoes the transformation of the epidemic into the endemic whereby [...] “death becomes durational.” Displacing military encounters [...] and other discrete time frames of traumatic events [...], slow death occurs not within the time scale of the crisis, not of the [singular moment or] event [...], but in “a zone of temporality . . . of ongoingness, getting by, and living on, where the structural inequalities are dispersed, the pacing of their experience intermittent [...].” In this nonlinear temporality, for it starts and stops, redoubles and leaps ahead, [...] “[...] slow death describes populations marked out for wearing out.” [...] Slow death is, quite simply, “a condition of being worn out [,..].”

More trenchantly, some are living the disability that does not get codified or recognized as such [...]. Mingus highlights populations (institutionalized, incarcerated, racialized) for whom claiming the term and identity of disability is difficult given many are already stigmatized as nonnormative, and deemed in need of fixing [...]. “[...] [W]e need to think of [...] a model of disability that embraces difference [...] and challenges what is considered ‘normal’ on every front [...].” Thus [...] disavow[ing] pathology is intertwined with a critique of the embedded structures of [...] eugenics [...] and its attendant forms of administrative surveillance [...]. [D]ebility [...] [is] endemic, perhaps even normative, to disenfranchised communities: [...] not that which is to come or can be avoided, but a banal feature of quotidian existence [...].

If debility is endemic to disenfranchised communities, it is doubly so because the forms of financialization that accompany neoliberal economics and the privatization of services also produce debt as debility. This relationship between debt and debility can be described as a kind of “financial expropriation” [...]. Debt peonage [...] is an updated version of [...] [the] critique of “choice” under capitalism. Debt as enclosure, as immobility, is what Gilles Deleuze writes of [...]: “Man is no longer man enclosed, but man in debt.” This is especially true [...] in the United States, where health care expenses are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy, a capacitation of slow death through debt undertaken to support one’s health. This theory of human capital entails that [...] one is, as Geeta Patel points out, paying for one’s own slow death, through insurial and debt structures predicated on risk and insecurity, and essentially forced into agreeing to one’s own debilitation. [...] More perniciously, one could suggest, as does Geeta Patel, that finance capital enforces repeated mandatory investments in our own slow deaths, continually reproducing the conditions of [...] debility, capacity and disability.

---

All text above by: Jasbir K. Puar. “Introduction: The Cost of Getting Better.” The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability. 2017. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph contractions added by me.]

[twocubes]

How many cards are in your deck for readings? It would be nice to have a reference for their names and meanings; I would like to homebrew a derivative from them for a D&D game that I am DMing. Might you be willing to share?

uhh well there's 145 cards in the deck and they all have readings. i... added a few since last time.

i plan on selling like, an official version, but if this experience has demonstrated anything to you it should be that you really can make up your own and it's just fine so, like, go ahead and do that if you want. might be worth shelling out for some blank cards that have the like, proper playing card finish, if you're willing/able to spend like a few bucks more, the ones i have kind of suck.

(you can even get blank cards with like the bicycle card back, but those are even more expensive)

anyways. readings.

the suits I read as follows:

♠: spades I associate with like, material contradiction. so this means like, when there's two things (people, projects, ideals, emotions, w/e) that need the same resource (time, effort, money, commitment, w/e) and are thus put in conflict.

♥: hearts i associate with like, reproduction in the sense of what-is-necessary-for-something-to-continue. you can think of it as a sort of generalized "health": stuff like life, family, projects, support systems, nations, class structures, they will break down and cease to be if not maintained, and that's like. what i mean by reproduction. continuing to make yourself (or copies of yourself) exist.

♦: diamonds is like, what-makes-life-worth-living. friends, loved ones, material possessions sometimes, etc

♣: clubs is labor. the stuff you dedicate your life to, your life's work, etc.

a spread that is more red should be read as having more to do with internal factors, a spread that is more black should be read as having more to do with external factors. a spread that is more concupiscent (♠♥) should be read as being more visceral, a spread that is more conciliatory (♣♦) should be read as being more thoughtful.

onto the actual card values. these here are the cards in the spades suit:

you can extrapolate from this what the other suits will look like. the values i read as follows:

-1: these are things that happened before your intervention; this could mean the assumptions you made before you started, or the events that unfolded before the situation at hand, or etc, that sort of stuff

0: this means the absence of something. it could mean that something is missing or not started or gone, which might sound bad, but it could also mean that you're free of something.

½: this means something is in progress or incomplete or only part there or insufficient or (etc)

√3/2: this one is to do with mirror symmetry; flipping to the dual, considering the opposite, etc.

1: something is finished, complete, all there, etc

√2: taking a shortcut, cutting the gordian knot, so on

φ: spiralling, upwards or downwards

2: a relationship between exactly two things, a single edge in a graph

e: an exponential process; something that builds up small and then blows up

3: a basic building block (think triangles being rigid or 3-SAT being NP-complete)

π: cycles

4: orthogonality, coincidence, multitasking, separate things that have to be handled separately, unrelatedness

5: mystery (familiar); things you use every day while remaining fundamentally mysterious. intuition, insight, guesswork, etc

6: balance, perfection; not abundant, not deficient, "as simple as possible but no simpler"

7: mystery (unfamiliar); things that are mysterious but not everyday. confusion, surprise, the unknown

8: networks, indirect effects

9: having to make a choice as to who you should be, like on an alignment chart

10: familiarity, a sense of effortlessness

11: stuff that in principle should be familiar to you but somehow isn't. friends you haven't seen in a while, stuff you learned a long time ago, etc

12: flexibility, accommodation, sacrificing doing your stuff efficiently for making sure it gets done

13: clicking. for some reason you and something or someone working well together, as if you were two halves of a whole. or more than two, idk.

ω: something you work towards without the expectation that you will reach it; an ideal that you strive for.

ω+1: the consequences of your ideal should it be attained; the question "and then what?"

𝖈: that which is entirely beyond human attainment; the divine, the sublime, the eternal

i: posit that you are magically given a tool that solves your problem. what is that tool like? what is the least impossible version of that tool?

Jack: routine, everyday, implicit help; the help someone might come to take for granted

Cavalier: exceptional one-time help; the cavalry to the rescue

Queen: where you can exert your full power; what you're good at, where your talents lie, the way you can most strongly affect the world.

King: that which you must protect absolutely; the piece that when lost ends the game.

a note on reading: when you have three number cards x, y, z such that x + y = z, you should think of z as a consequence of x + y. similarly try to think of other like, coincidences of sums, as meaningful. it makes the reading richer.

next, there's the trump cards:

these are interpreted as follows:

0 the fool: forgetting. maybe you've forgotten something or are ignoring something you shouldn't be, maybe you're supposed to forget or ignore something, like details. simplification. obstinacy. irony. all that.

I the individual: a particular person. often yourself. maybe you need to do something yourself. idk

II childhood: dependency, irrelevance, lack of control

III youth: finding your place in the world or in like. something more specific.

IV maturity: duty, career, responsibility, all that

V old age: giving up, passing the torch, taking a back seat, moving on

VI morning: figuring out the next step, setting course for like a short period of time (rather than for the rest of your life)

VII afternoon: autopilot. course is set for the day, you're keeping going until evening.

VIII evening: cooling down, taking a break

IX night: you're not supposed to be working now. secrets, stealth.

X earth + air: if it's upright it's air (weather, chaos, unpredictability) if it's reversed it's earth (slow accumulation, growth)

XI water+ fire: if it's upright it's fire (consumption of resources, sacrifice) if it's reversed it's water (incompressible flow, transportation of stuff from somewhere to somewhere else, logistics)

XII dance: coordination, skillful collective motion

XIII shopping: exchanges, trades, bargains, something-gained-for-something-lost

XIV open air: external factors, taking the wider view, "go touch grass"

XV visual arts: trying to picture it; studying the actual thing and capturing its details and being able to imagine it in more accurate ways

XVI spring: sowing seeds, starting something (for you or for others) that will not immediately bear fruit

XVII summer: exhaustion, perseverance, the middle of a project

XVIII autumn: harvest time, bearing fruit, getting ready for the winter

XIX winter: a dark period, a death

XX the game: self-awareness, self-reference, self-knowledge, etc

XXI the collective: a group of people working together, mutual aid, society, etc

finally there's the "accidentals":

Black joker: a sudden drastic change, a singular point (in the environment of the thing you're considering)

Red joker: a sudden drastic change, a singular point (inside the thing you're reading for)

Blue joker: a sudden drastic change in everything

The cards with the rules on it: the literature; consulting it, contributing to it, etc

The blank card i left in the deck accidentally: bore yourself and let your mind wander. or meditate, i guess. contemplate the void

The face-down card: something known only to whoever you're reading for.

The template i used to make these cards: find an example to consider. someone or something to follow or imitate or avoid being like or transcend.

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 51, 2022

Adolescent thalamic inhibition leads to long-lasting impairments in prefrontal cortex function. Benoit, L. J., Holt, E. S., Posani, L., Fusi, S., Harris, A. Z., Canetta, S., & Kellendonk, C. (2022). Nature Neuroscience, 25(6), 714–725.

Cognitive and affective theory of mind double dissociation after parietal and temporal lobe tumours. Campanella, F., West, T., Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C., & Skrap, M. (2022). Brain, 145(5), 1818–1829.

Common and stimulus-type-specific brain representations of negative affect. Čeko, M., Kragel, P. A., Woo, C.-W., López-Solà, M., & Wager, T. D. (2022). Nature Neuroscience, 25(6), 760–770.

Social-affective features drive human representations of observed actions. Dima, D. C., Tomita, T. M., Honey, C. J., & Isik, L. (2022). eLife, 11, e75027.

The role of population structure in computations through neural dynamics. Dubreuil, A., Valente, A., Beiran, M., Mastrogiuseppe, F., & Ostojic, S. (2022). Nature Neuroscience, 25(6), 783–794.

Proximal CA1 20–40 Hz power dynamics reflect trial-specific information processing supporting nonspatial sequence memory. Gattas, S., Elias, G. A., Janecek, J., Yassa, M. A., & Fortin, N. J. (2022). eLife, 11, e55528.

Diversity of spatiotemporal coding reveals specialized visual processing streams in the mouse cortex. Han, X., Vermaercke, B., & Bonin, V. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 3249.

Learning binds new inputs into functional synaptic clusters via spinogenesis. Hedrick, N. G., Lu, Z., Bushong, E., Singhi, S., Nguyen, P., Magaña, Y., … Komiyama, T. (2022). Nature Neuroscience, 25(6), 726–737.

Reach adaption to a visuomotor gain with terminal error feedback involves reinforcement learning. Ikegami, T., Flanagan, J. R., & Wolpert, D. M. (2022). PLOS ONE, 17(6), e0269297.

What matters in making demand-based decisions: Time alone or difficulty too? Janczyk, M., Feghhi, I., & Rosenbaum, D. A. (2022). Psychological Research, 86(5), 1355–1365.

A brain atlas of axonal and synaptic delays based on modelling of cortico-cortical evoked potentials. Lemaréchal, J.-D., Jedynak, M., Trebaul, L., Boyer, A., Tadel, F., Bhattacharjee, M., … Nacci, E. (2022). Brain, 145(5), 1653–1667.

Two Types of Auditory Spatial Receptive Fields in Different Parts of the Chicken’s Midbrain. Maldarelli, G., Firzlaff, U., Kettler, L., Ondracek, J. M., & Luksch, H. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(23), 4669–4680.

Efficient coding of cognitive variables underlies dopamine response and choice behavior. Motiwala, A., Soares, S., Atallah, B. V., Paton, J. J., & Machens, C. K. (2022). Nature Neuroscience, 25(6), 738–748.

Integration of visual landmark cues in spatial memory. Newman, P. M., & McNamara, T. P. (2022). Psychological Research, 86(5), 1636–1654.

A general decoding strategy explains the relationship between behavior and correlated variability. Ni, A. M., Huang, C., Doiron, B., & Cohen, M. R. (2022). eLife, 11, e67258.

Aberrant causal inference and presence of a compensatory mechanism in autism spectrum disorder. Noel, J.-P., Shivkumar, S., Dokka, K., Haefner, R. M., & Angelaki, D. E. (2022). eLife, 11, e71866.

A synaptomic analysis reveals dopamine hub synapses in the mouse striatum. Paget-Blanc, V., Pfeffer, M. E., Pronot, M., Lapios, P., Angelo, M.-F., Walle, R., … Herzog, E. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 3102.

Parametric Cognitive Load Reveals Hidden Costs in the Neural Processing of Perfectly Intelligible Degraded Speech. Ritz, H., Wild, C. J., & Johnsrude, I. S. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(23), 4619–4628.

Conditional and unconditional components of aversively motivated freezing, flight and darting in mice. Trott, J. M., Hoffman, A. N., Zhuravka, I., & Fanselow, M. S. (2022). eLife, 11, e75663.

Context-Dependent Inhibitory Control of Stimulus-Specific Adaptation. Yarden, T. S., Mizrahi, A., & Nelken, I. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(23), 4629–4651.

[thaneweb]

Navigating the Future of Education: Online Learning and Education Institutes

Navigating the Future of Education: Online Learning and Education Institutes Introduction In a rapidly evolving world, the landscape of education has undergone a transformative shift. Traditional brick-and-mortar educational institutions are no longer the sole providers of knowledge and skills. The advent of online learning has opened up new horizons, allowing learners to access quality education from the comfort of their homes. This article delves into the realm of online learning and its impact on education institutes, highlighting the advantages, challenges, and the way forward in this digital age. The Rise of Online Learning Online learning, often referred to as e-learning, has gained significant traction over the past decade. The proliferation of high-speed internet, technological advancements, and changing learner preferences have contributed to the rise of online education. This flexible and convenient mode of learning allows individuals of all ages and backgrounds to pursue education without geographical constraints. Advantages of Online Learning Flexibility: Online learning offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing students to design their learning schedules around their existing commitments, be it work, family, or other obligations. Accessibility: Geographical barriers are no longer an obstacle, as learners can access courses from renowned education institutes around the world without the need to relocate.

Diverse Course Offerings: Online platforms host a wide array of courses catering to various fields, ensuring that learners can find programs tailored to their interests and career goals.

Self-Paced Learning: Online courses often allow students to progress at their own pace, accommodating different learning styles and speeds.

Cost-Effectiveness: Online learning eliminates the need for commuting and provides access to resources in digital format, reducing costs associated with traditional education. Impact on Education Institutes The surge in online learning has prompted traditional education institutes to adapt and integrate digital strategies into their offerings. Many universities and colleges have established virtual classrooms, enabling them to reach a global audience. This transition has led to a symbiotic relationship between online learning and traditional education, fostering innovation and enhancing the learning experience. Challenges and Mitigations Lack of Face-to-Face Interaction: Online learning may lack the interpersonal engagement that physical classrooms offer. To mitigate this, institutes can incorporate video conferencing, discussion forums, and collaborative projects to encourage interaction among students and instructors.

Self-Discipline and Motivation: Online learning demands a higher level of self-discipline and motivation. Institutes can provide structured support through regular check-ins, progress tracking, and study groups.

Quality Assurance: Maintaining consistent quality in online courses is essential. Education institutes should invest in training faculty for online instruction and utilize effective assessment methods. Technological Barriers: Not all learners may have access to the required technology or internet connectivity. Providing offline resources and optimizing courses for mobile devices can address this challenge.

Credibility and Recognition: Some employers and institutions may be skeptical of online degrees. Institutes should ensure accreditation and establish strong alumni networks to enhance the credibility of online programs. The Future of Education: A Hybrid Approach As technology continues to shape the education landscape, a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of both online and traditional learning is gaining momentum. Blending online courses with periodic in-person interactions can provide a well-rounded educational experience. This approach leverages the flexibility of online learning while preserving the benefits of face-to-face engagement. Conclusion Online learning has revolutionized education institutes, paving the way for accessible, flexible, and diverse learning opportunities. While challenges exist, proactive measures can ensure the effective integration of online learning into the education ecosystem. As we navigate the future of education, a thoughtful blend of online and traditional approaches promises to empower learners and reshape the way we acquire knowledge and skills. Embracing this transformation is essential to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving educational landscape.

Thaneweb A City portal dedicated exclusively for Thane City.

Visit Us-https://www.thaneweb.com/

[sukiglycerin]

golden hour || tenya iida.

* pairing: tenya iida x fem!reader

* genre: aged up!au, friends with benefits!!, smutsmutsmut

* words: 899

* warnings: AGED UP TENYA, dom!tenya, sub!reader, daddy kink, dirty talk, cunnilingus (f receiving), cum eating(??? not too much), aftercare cuddles ofc, tenya is soft and gentle but also daddy

* a/n: i hope you like this! this is my first ever smut piece (completed and actually not trash)!! i'd like to thank the lovely @toshiprime and @dylanxmin for their support <3 also i've been in this fandom for like two weeks, so cut me some slack (but feedback is always appreciated!)

* read part two: witching hour.

addiction. that’s how tenya would describe your relationship with him. it started as a mutual attraction to each other; a failed on-and-off again relationship which led you both to the conclusion that as much as you platonically liked each other, the attraction was merely physical. extremely physical. that wasn’t to say a new relationship hadn’t bloomed in the midst - of course, you had maintained your close platonic relationship, going back years to middle school - but it now became something else; put as politely as possible, it was a platonic friendship that happened to have benefits. said benefits happened to be sexual.

and tenya happened to be addicted to these benefits.

“tenya- i- oomf-!” tenya cut you off with a harsh kiss. sunlight streamed into his room, illuminating you in golden rays. you were wearing one of his old white t-shirts which reached your mid-thigh, covering just enough to be considered somewhat decent. the sight filled him with lust; all he wanted was you, you, you, so beautiful in the golden sunlight.

his plush lips ran against yours, sucking and nipping sensually just to get a perfect reaction from you.

"i'm- still- sensitive- ngh-" you croaked out, voice still raspy with the after-effects of sleep.

"don't worry, sweetheart, i'll be gentle," he uttered salaciously, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck.

you were still slightly sore from the night before, but the ache in the pit of your stomach had you yearning for his touch. the arousal was indeed more intense than any pain.

"t-tenya...!" you gasped as his lips found your neck and started to suckle. 

he'd always found your saccharine moans and noises addicting, a sweet melody he could play forever. you arched against him, rutting the slightest bit against his boxer clad crotch, making him tch in mock seriousness.

"sweetheart, are you going to be good for me? hm..?" you nodded, to which he rewarded you another suckle. he made sure not to make too dark a mark; he had to control himself so your relationship would stay secret. 

"what's that?" he teased, his hot breath ghosting your collarbone.

"y-yes, i'll be good," you shuddered as his lips met your clavicle.

"'yes, i'll be good' who?"

your mind stuttered as you grasped his words. "yes... daddy."

"good." he pressed a soft kiss to the delicate valley in between your collarbones. he traced down your body with his finger lightly, goosebumps igniting behind his trail. he reached the swell of your breast, curving over and passing your navel. his touch went lower and lower; your anticipation grew. he traced your sensitive folds over your soaked panties before savagely moving the fabric aside and plunging in two fingers to the knuckle. you gasped, bucking your hips into him, then whimpered as he pulled out sharply.

"what's this?" he gathered your slick in between his pointer and index finger, spreading them apart in a 'v' shape to reveal strings of white which started to drip down his fingers.

"daddy, please," you whined.

"please what, sweetheart?"

"touch me."

tenya chuckled darkly; something you'd like to imagine that you only ever witnessed. there was something exhilarating about him losing control, threads that you wanted to pull and unravel in him. you wanted him to lose it all with you, lose his carefully structured persona for even a minute. you wanted to be the person he came apart for - the person he stopped being gentle and righteous for.

there was something dark and indecent glinting in his eye, and you knew you were on the brink of it.

"i am touching you, my sweet," he tormented, his words innocent but cruel. his smile was full of mirth as his finger trailed down your thigh.

"you know what i mean!" you cried out.

"do i...?" he drawled, making eye contact with you as he dropped to his knees at the foot of the bed. he pulled you by the ankles until he was eye level with your wetness, your legs draped over his shoulders.

he lapped at your juices like a man starved, his hands splayed on your thighs to keep them spread. his tongue darted in and out of every crevice it could reach, toying with your aching bud, now swollen with arousal.

"tenya, tenya, tenya," you chanted his name like a mantra. 

the white-hot bliss crept through your body, the toe curling sensation almost too fast for you to notice. his free hand reached up to pinch a nipple, and you toppled over the edge.

"tenya, i'm-" but he was already aware, holding your thighs as you convulsed and shook as waves of pleasure washed over your body. he licked up your cum, holding you closer when you flinched from the overstimulation. half of his face shone with your arousal, a sight that made you clamp together your thighs by instinct. tenya without glasses and ferally aroused was truly a sight.

"hush." he climbed up onto the bed, the lust in his eyes replaced by a softness. holding you to his chest, he whispered sweet nothings into your ear and stroked your hair. "you did so well for me, darling." 

you made a noise of protest, wanting to return the favour, but he hushed you once more. "after all, we have the whole day."

tenya was addicted to everything about you - and he was utterly fucked.

[gwyns]

So apparently it's a bad form of writing to repeat what happened in ToG between Chaol + Celaena + Nesryn + Yrene with Azriel + Mor + Elain + Gwyn and SJM would never do that BUT it means something else entirely if SJM repeats the same ''structure/order of events'' (that people keep drawing parallels from, context be damned) in ACOTAR's own W+E + ACOFAS with Az's POV? Make up your mind people. Your lack of reading comprehension is showing if you're gonna cherry pick what best supports your ship.

first let me say, i'm so incredibly sorry this has been sitting in my inbox for awhile. i'm awful at replying in a timely manner these days lmao

now, e/riels are honestly so brave for saying sjm wouldn't repeat something as if the ship they're going this hard for isn't the boring version of feysand and nessian, right down to their coloring.

i'd rather see another chaol/nesryn/yrene situation than the mess that would be e/riel. she's done that dynamic a couple of times actually if you count chaol/aelin/rowan and tamlin/feyre/rhys as in they were in love/had feelings/were in a relationship with someone else when they met their endgame so... it's clear sjm likes it. e/riel can't even say they've got any of the above bc.... they're clearly not in love, not in a relationship and idk if i would even go as far as to say they have any romantic feelings towards one another. there's attraction but that doesn't equal feelings of any kind 💀

i'm tired of them saying az's chapter is like wings of ember when it's literally the furthest thing from it 😭 the biggest difference being WE COULD TELL THAT CASSIAN ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT NESTA IN THEIR BONUS CHAPTER. in az's chapter we see no sign of him even giving a shit about elain outside of pleasuring himself which ok he has an attraction to her! that's great!! but idk i wouldn't be celebrating that as much as they are considering one of the main things elain looks for in a relationship is someone who truly sees her. not just her beauty, not what her powers can do for them but who she is. and it's clear as day to me that azriel doesn't.

anyway they prove time and again how hypocritical they are. it's ok for them to acknowledge this one miniscule line that, within context, doesn't even really support their ship but it's wrong for us to point out the signs sarah planted in acosf that could lead to elain leaving and not belonging in the night court bc of.... feminism i guess?

idk but it's funny to watch them scream about how nesta and cassian don't know elain "like everyone else" which 1. if NO ONE knows her how do we know they're wrong? and 2. it's literally sarah speaking to us through her characters. it's perfectly acceptable for us to notice it, especially with how many times she brought attention to it.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Irritator challengeri

By José Carlos Cortés 

Etymology: The One That Irritated

First Described By: Martill et al., 1996

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Megalosauroidea, Megalosauria, Spinosauridae, Spinosaurinae

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 110 and 108 million years ago, in the Albian of the Early Cretaceous 

Irritator is known from the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation in Brazil 

Physical Description: Irritator was a Spinosaurid, so the weird crocodile-mimicking theropods that roamed the Cretaceous landscape across the Southern hemisphere (and some of Europe). Irritator, however, is not known from very much material, despite having loads written about it. It was one of the smaller members of the Spinosaur group, only about 7.5 meters long and not weigh more than one tonne - which may actually indicate it could have still had some sort of fluffy integument, though this still seems unlikely based on its ecology. As a Spinosaur, Irritator would have been fairly bulky, with a long and vaguely crocodilian skull. Its skull also featured a long thin crest going from the midline to the eye, where it flattened into a bulge - this was probably some sort of display structure. Little is known of the rest of its skeleton, but it is known to have had a long and well-clawed hand. It probably had some sort of sail on its back, but it probably was a shorter one, and whether or not its legs were a normal size is unknown. 

By Alexander Vieira, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Irritator is on the far right, in green) 

Diet: Irritator would have mainly fed upon fish and other aquatic organisms.

Behavior: Irritator, being a Spinosaur, spent most of its time in the water, swimming about and searching for food. Since it was rather small, it would have been able to fit in smaller streams of water than most of its other relatives. Though, since it probably still had fairly decent legs, it also would have spent a good amount of time on the land, surveying the shore for food and seeking out prey. Its long snout would then be used to grab fish and other animals from the water, using the lightweight instrument to grab food it might not be able to reach otherwise. While swimming, it would be able to use that snout to reach even more food than before, ducking its head underwater or doing the reverse to hide from land sources of prey. Its very powerful neck muscles would have also been extremely helpful in grabbing and holding onto thrashing prey. 

By Fred Wierum, CC BY 3.0 

Irritator was probably warm-blooded, and used its sail more for display than for keeping warm. This display structure may have been able to change color based on blood circulation or environment in order to send different messages to other members of the species. The crest on the center of the snout also probably served similar features, for displaying to one another. It seems likely that Irritator, like most other dinosaurs, took care of its young; but there is no evidence either way to support that hypothesis. 

By PaleoGeekSquared, CC BY 3.0 

Ecosystem: Irritator lived in the Romualdo Environment of Brazil, which was a basin of lakes surrounded by rivers and other wetland environments, filled to the brim with a wide variety of plantlife. Nearby was the burgeoning Atlantic Ocean, making this a Spinosaur’s favorite place of all. Here there were a wide variety of early flowering plants like magnolias, seagrasses, and lilies - all of which were associated heavily with this aquatic environment. There were many types of ray-finned fish, which would have been the primary source of prey for Irritator, as well as lobe-finned fish which would have also been decent sources of food. Sharks seem to have been rare. There were plenty of turtles too, including one of the earliest sea turtles Santanachelys. This was the land of extreme pterosaurs, including Anhanguera, Arirpesaurus, Barbosania, Brasileodactylus, Cearadacytlus, Maaradactylus, Santanadactylus, Tapejara, Thalassodromeus, Tropeognathus, Tupuxuara, and Unwindia. There was also a Notosuchian, Araripesuchus. There were other dinosaurs there too - the compsognathid Mirischia and the Tyrannosauroid Santanaraptor, which would have mainly fed on small animal prey. 

By Scott Reid

Other: Irritator was found as part of the illegal fossil trade, initially mistake for a pterosaur, then a maniraptoran, before being finally identified as a spinosaur. The confusion surrounding this fossil - and the fact that the snout had been artificially elongated by the fossil traders - lead to its name. Its position within the Spinosaurs is well supported, and it seems to have been at least somewhat closely related to Spinosaurus itself, rather than Baryonyx on the other end of the family tree.

~ By Meig Dickson

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[dabistits]

while reading your posts, i always feel that you’re really well rounded and good at character analysis and just articulating your feelings and opinions towards stories in general. it’s something that i’m trying to get better at, and something that i admire you for, so i was wondering if you had any pointers or tips regarding developing analysis skills? thank you!

first of all, thank you so much!!😭😭 i’m so glad you enjoy my stuff and it gives me a lot of joy to know that this, like, inspires people or w/e fkdkgkf

i’m putting everything below a cut bcs it’s long as fuck and kind of disorganized. i wrote some parts half-asleep, so they might be rambly or stating the obvious or whatever, but you know, pick and choose what’s helpful to you! this probably isn’t exhaustive (and i kinda focused in on the ‘character analysis’ part, bcs otherwise there’s… so much), and if anything’s unclear or if you want more elaboration on sth just let me know!

the basics:

write!! it doesn’t matter what you write, it can meta, fanfic, rp, whatever, but as long as you write about this character you’ll be forced to articulate your thoughts; by extension that means you’ll have to gather evidence and make a convincing case for your portrayal. even if you’re writing fic or rp i think you should have a strong reference of where your characterization is coming from - i used to rp at places that required applications, so that would force me to think about my character’s personality and put it into words. i think most people are helped by the actual process of writing itself also, so don’t let lack of confidence stop you if you’re someone who tends to do that: you might wind up happier with your ideas after having written something than before (and you can aaalways edit).

read!! read other people’s analyses, not necessarily just about the character you have in mind, but about other characters, other stories, other genres, etc. what kinds of things do they point out to support their argument? what patterns are they picking up on? do you agree/disagree? what’s a new thought they’ve introduced to you? what are things they do that you particularly like? can you replicate that idea/technique in your own reading? there are so many times when i’ve read another person’s analysis and made a note to be more aware of [a certain thing] in the future, so that’s what helps me change and build and incorporate new stuff into the way i think about stories.

try to keep an ongoing chronicle of your thoughts. this could 100% be a personal thing, but i actually started to think and absorb a lot more (especially about small things) after i started this blog. being here meant that not only was i keeping up with chapter releases bcs of other fans, but i was also regularly writing about my impressions. reading and discussing chapter by chapter forced me to read & process everything in smaller increments, which let me take in more details, and gave more time for my thoughts and feelings to develop. in contrast, when i binge-read, i actually miss a lot of details and a lot of finer points of the storyline because i’m just trying to get from one plot point to the next.

stick close to canon. this is definitely subjective, but since this is also partially about how i approach character interpretation, i’ll toss this in. i personally don’t stray too far from what’s shown to me in-text, and i revisit canon a lot to establish a “baseline” characterization rather than building off of my own headcanons. this has pros and cons: for example, i feel like i don’t overstate things compared to their canon importance, and i feel like i don’t get too carried away with embellishing character traits; however, it also holds me back from theorizing unless there’s a ton of evidence in front of me, and i can be overcautious when it comes to approaching narrative hints. sometimes i do talk about my headcanons, but even then i usually point out whether or not it’s substantiated, because i do think the line between headcanon and canon gets muddled a lot in fandom discussion.

think about a character’s role in the story. so, we know stories have plots, a start and an end, and messages and themes. all characters function within that framework, they advance us from point a to point b, the carry the moral of the story. i think these are aspects that are important to include in your character analysis; while sure, there’s already plenty to analyse about the LOV as self-contained characters, but they also seem more important, more interesting, and more complex when you take them into the context of the larger story (how and why their relationships are built, what they mean as a part of man vs society conflict, etc.). not only does it inform you about the character (what the author is trying to say through them, what direction the author might push them in), it can also tell you a lot about the overall structure and themes of the story itself.

authors include everything for a reason. when you’re creating something from scratch, you have to actively decide what you include. the way someone’s room looks doesn’t necessarily mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but the author decided to design their room that way based off something—most likely a character’s interests, tastes, and preferences. while mina’s dorm room looking a certain way might not mean she has an old-fashioned personality, it can maybe tell you that she has a more retro taste and aesthetic. this can apply to “big” things too, like one of tomura’s severed hands still surviving the chaos. hori chose to have it survive rather than be decayed like everything else, so of course the question is why?

… but they are imperfect. creators also do make choices out of plot convenience, because of their own biases, or sometimes they just forget (as hori has done before, such as twice duplicating himiko in the overhaul arc and then saying he doesn’t know her measurements for the mla arc). so it can sometimes also be assumed that a detail was included/excluded because of something on the creator’s end, rather than because of it necessarily being symbolic or important to the characters (e.g. a character not being able to make it to a fight might be because their skills are too useful and could resolve the plot too easily, not because them getting sidetracked is important in itself; a female character losing a fight she should have won could be an issue of the creator’s misogyny). so these are aspects you can keep in mind as well when you’re evaluating characterization!

tendencies i see people fall into:

don’t take everything characters say at face value. characters can and do lie. they can be sarcastic. they can be manipulative. they can be deluding themselves. they can even be mistaken! there’s a reason why they’re expressing themselves that way, and sometimes you can gain more by actually investigating that contradiction rather than just assuming they mean what they say.

allow characters to change! they will change in canon, so don’t be too beholden to their early characterization if you’re trying to analyze or write them from a later point in the timeline. again, this seems intuitive, but i see a lot of people who still appear to draw on tomura’s early character portrayal by making him irritable towards the LOV, but he’s much more recently allowed himself to be physically pushed around by some of them without really reacting in any way.

embrace subtlety. a lot of people in their fanfic just see one aspect of a character and blow it up to make it their only characterization. like, tomura is irritable, himiko is obsessed with blood, any villain can be written as a sadistic killer hellbent on annihilation, etc. while having a couple personality traits come through strongly can help the character have a unique personality and voice, too much will make them appear one-note. it’s just as important to recognize moments when characters are being calm and focused and articulate, as much as their most dramatic moments. for example, a lot of writers don’t seem to notice that tomura doesn’t snap at his allies, tends to answer their questions evenly, and never lashes out at them; that’s because these moments are very understated in the manga. hori doesn’t point a huge arrow at them, and he shouldn’t have to! it’s one of those very subtle ways to show a character’s growth. so, pay attention to those moments, and pay attention to what’s not being done as much as what is.

[bluewatsons]

Anna E. Clark, Twilight of the Mentors: Or how I learned to stop worrying and love my gatekeeper, The New Inquiry (May 19, 2020)

Mentors have a dubious lineage. Since the 1980s, when the corporate world co-opted the concept, mentoring — long a synonym for teaching — has come to stand for almost any kind of professional guidance, and especially that which rank-and-file employees provide to one another. As mentoring has become increasingly linked to workplace diversity initiatives, a mentor is more likely to be the person sitting next to you than a CEO, a shift that echoes the economic devaluation of historically male-dominated jobs now occupied by women. As Helen Colley, a professor at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Education and Social Research Institute has argued, mentoring is no longer a system in which powerful people support other structurally powerful people but a burden passed on to the masses. Though presented as an unalloyed good, mentoring is an additional encumbrance, a way of shifting what should be the responsibility of the institution to the individual.

It might be tempting to view this now ubiquitous corporate mentoring model as further evidence of capitalism’s capacity to extort our emotional labor, but it’s more accurate to say that corporate culture’s embrace of mentorship surfaces the extractive, obfuscating qualities that have always been integral to the concept. Mentors enable and thrive in systems of obstruction and privilege. By embracing them now as vehicles of ostensible inclusivity, companies, nonprofits, and schools gesture to diversity while shoring up the opaque gatekeeping structures that keep power consolidated. Meanwhile, as mentorship becomes increasingly inseparable from its corporate repurposing, the term itself has come to subsume other forms of teaching and caregiving, blurring the lines between labor coerced and labor freely given. Now, we are all the conscripts of mentorship.

Mentorship has become so pervasive, such a taken-for-granted value, that the shallow history of its contemporary meaning has gone strikingly unremarked. Though articles about mentors like to say that they started with Homer’s Odyssey, where Athena disguises herself as someone named Mentor in order to tell Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, to kick Penelope’s deadbeat suitors out of the house, the mentor as it exists today is a uniquely late-capitalist construction. Mentors start popping up with frequency in 18th century literature, where the term means something like “stern but well-intentioned teacher.” In The Task, William Cowper’s charmingly meandering 1785 epic on, among other things, nature, sofas, and God, the speaker describes a thin board frequently strapped to aged backs in the service of posture as “a Mentor worthy of his charge.” By the 19th century, a mentor is as likely to be a piece of instructional literature as a person. The Bible is a “mentor.” So too are didactic texts on everything from fashion to marriage to living a moral life. In the early 20th century, the Mentor is the title of a popular American magazine charged with giving its readers “knowledge that they all want and ought to have.” Here, “mentor” suggests a kind of anonymous trustworthiness and authority, like a particularly salutary encyclopedia.

Something changes, however, in the 1970s. A search for “mentor” in the Google Books Ngram Viewer — a convenient tool for charting broad shifts in printed English — shows a modestly steady increase in the word’s usage from 1800 to the earliest years of the Reagan era, when the graph starts to mimic a textbook illustration of exponential growth. “Mentoring” is almost nonexistent until the mid-eighties or so, when it too sees a similar spike. For comparison, a search for “adviser” (a common synonym) in the same period yields a graph that looks like a mountain range.

What shifts in these years? One clue exists in a 1980 installment of William Safire’s On Language column in the New York Times, where Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter, practiced his layman lexicography for nearly three decades. In a characteristically tongue-in-cheek piece titled “Perils of the Fast Track,” Safire codifies the new meaning of “mentor” by close reading a recent exposé of what was arguably the first corporate sex scandal: A 29-year-old VP, Mary Cunningham, was accused of a “romantic liaison” with her mentor, William Agee, who also happened to be her CEO. She was forced to resign; Agee stayed on.

“Today,” Safire begins, a mentor is “a senior management figure who takes a younger person under his wing, risking rumor and innuendo if the protégée, or mentee, is an attractive woman.” Safire goes on to explain that though the word comes from Homer, it’s been “adopted” by the corporate world to signify “‘career guide and executive nurturer.’” Safire’s point is that, despite mentor’s new status as business-world lingo, its fundamental meaning hasn’t changed. “Here’s the beauty part,” he writes in the column’s kicker. In the Odyssey, Athena uses Mentor’s identity as a disguise. Thus, Safire concludes, “It was all a trick. . . . As Mary Cunningham learned, at the start of her own odyssey to CEO, mentors can be trouble; even Homer shook his head.”

Safire sounds authoritative — his prose tends to have the air of someone with a comment rather than a question. But his closing “gotcha” nod to Homer is an empty rhetorical flourish. While it’s true that Athena disguises herself as Mentor, the aim isn’t mischief. Taking on his appearance allows her to overlap her identity (all-powerful goddess of wisdom and strategy) with his (a nobleman and guest), which is capable of setting the young Telemachus at ease. When Athena/Mentor takes leave of Telemachus, now buoyed on praise for his bravery and manhood, he has himself become “godlike.” Mentorship here looks not like a “trick” but like a subtle, enlivening transfer of power.

Why does Safire mention the Odyssey at all? Because aligning the fundamentally new meaning of corporate mentorship with Homer is an ideological move, part of the larger linguistic project of Safire and other conservative commentators such as William F. Buckley and George Will, who seek to revive the conservatism that had fallen out of favor since the 1960s by linking it to free market economics, reframing American identity as a matter of Christian faith, “Western Civilization,” and capitalism. In this context, classical learning serves as a form of arbitrary clout, a way of invoking time-honored authority for extant power structures. Things have always been so, says the reference. Who are you to think they could be otherwise? It’s certainly true that men in positions of power have long cultivated the careers of their successors, entrenching their own control by choosing their likenesses to carry it on. But calling this practice mentorship is, in 1980, a new evolution, a way to elide the less savory aspects of business-world patronage by associating it with the term’s blandly benevolent connotations, articulating a vision of corporate life that is not profit hungry but humane, generous, and invested in individual success. At the same time, portraying mentorship as part of a timeless tradition makes it easier for Safire to blame Mary Cunningham for her own termination. The fault lies not with her boss, or the board of trustees who forced her out, but in her own naive assumption that mentorship at work might mean anything other than the same old patriarchy.

It’s tempting to read Safire’s casual endorsement of mentorship’s worst impulses as quaint anachronism, but the Janus-faced definition he helps to shape continues to inform the concept today, overwriting things we used to call teaching, counseling, advising, and friendship. We talk easily of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus as mentors and the solidarity practiced by people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities as mentorship; at the same time, official mentorship programs syphon up the language and labor of these informal networks, turning their aims not to structural change but to objectives such as employee retention and professional success. Or, as a 2019 Forbes article puts it, “Employees are happy, engaged, and productive when their individual needs and the needs of the organization are in sync.” Like company softball leagues and team-building retreats, mentoring has become another cheap substitute for the structural transformations needed to upend entrenched injustices, superseding tangible forms of support such as money, time, health care, and job security. Even in government and philanthropy, mentoring’s primary aim is economic advancement. In 2002, George W. Bush endorsed January as “National Mentoring Month” in an effort to bolster the professional prospects of youth from underprivileged backgrounds, a cause later taken up by Barack Obama. Granted, when we talk of community and social-justice leaders as mentors, we don’t usually mean “executive nurturers.” We use the term to capture a sense of an affective heritage, in which the meaningful work of social change gets carried forward. And yet, that we turn to “mentor” at all is largely thanks to the term’s Reagan-era reclamation. However much we might want to claim “mentor” for other uses, its every application to the labor of solidarity, caregiving, and comradeship refracts back on its corporate context. Like so much of what was formerly grassroots organizing and activism, it too has become professionalized.

There is one additional feature of the Odyssey’s mentor scene that Safire leaves unremarked. There, as Athena guides Telemachus, preparing him to fight alongside his father, the mentee looks less like an apprentice or a novice than like someone ready to assume the mantle of responsibility, a sharp difference from contemporary corporate mentorship. This is the torch-passing version of the mentor-mentee relationship still common in Hollywood blockbusters and video games, where it’s so frequent that it gets its own mention on the pop-culture wiki TVTropes.com — think of the Jedi masters of Star Wars, or Morpheus tutoring Neo in The Matrix. It’s an archetype that still informs how we often think of the relationships between teachers and students, raising up the young to take over from the old. But it’s an anachronistic fantasy in an era when the structural forces that enabled older generations’ well-being no longer exist — when, in fact, the material comforts of past generations bear responsibility for a climate crisis that will be borne largely by generations to come. In these circumstances, a meaningful transfer of power between mentor and mentee might look less like a torch passing — a replication and renewal of extant practices and beliefs — than like a wholesale rethinking of what power meant and entailed.

Academia, a system with its own long mentorship history, is especially useful for thinking about how conditions of scarcity and upheaval have changed the concept’s meaning. Here too, “mentor” has typically bled into other offices — those of teacher and advisor, which recall the mentor archetype. It’s common for academics to refer to their “mentors” with reverence, as if the term connoted a specific kind of guidance and personal instruction. The term speaks to the idea of intellectual legacy, the way that advanced graduate study was, in a less precarious era, an induction into a genealogy of thought that one would eventually pass on to one’s own mentees.

But academic mentorship has never been perfect, often replicating the same inequalities present outside its walls, and its contemporary application has only heightened its propensity for exploitation. In an era in which the gulf between well- and underresourced institutions has become increasingly stark, mentorship is often uncompensated labor, a trait that compounds the arbitrary ways it has long been dispersed. Mentorship is something many professors can fail at or excel in, disperse with equity or bias, wield as a cudgel or dole out as a gift, often with little penalty or risk to themselves. Students and colleagues rely on such support for their advancement, yet they are often without recourse if they don’t receive it. While some schools and programs might assign mentors, others leave it up to the student to find their own support, whether by networking, charm, or nepotism. The fuzziness of mentorship as a category of academic labor perpetuates this inequality. How do you measure it? What does it involve? What kind of training does it require? What does it even mean? Though the academy has become increasingly willing to use the same productivity quotas honed in the business world, it has remained stubbornly resistant to quantifying the work of mentorship in meaningful ways.

At the same time, mentors bear the weight of institutional efforts to increase diversity. Here, perhaps even more than in the corporate world, it’s often treated as a form of charity, a service obligation one can assume or disregard, reserved mostly for those who see inclusion as an ethical and political obligation as much as a professional one. While universities may pay lip service to its virtue and form committees to facilitate its practice, it usually counts for little in the tenure process. The labor and value of mentoring is a dominant theme in Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure, English professor Patricia A. Matthew’s indispensable collection of interviews and essays on the experiences of the “diverse” faculty academia claims to celebrate. Here, as sociologist Andreana Clay suggests, being a mentor is often “inextricably linked to the position of the educator,” encompassing mutuality, allyship, friendship, activism, and role modeling. But ambivalence and frustration are equally part of the job, the consequence of institutional unwillingness to give time or recognition to work disproportionately performed by faculty of identities historically marginalized in academic life. Meanwhile, academia largely excludes the ever growing number of contingent instructors — the majority of teaching faculty at colleges today — from formal and informal support. This doesn’t prevent their students, who see no difference between them and tenure-track professors, from seeking their time and care. If, at some point, for some people, academic mentorship offered an archetype of the concept, as close as anyone outside a Homeric epic might get to godlike guidance, that day is long past.

And yet. The ideal of the good mentor persists. We reify the term even as it grows increasingly imprecise. Much like the 20th century ideal of the perfect spouse, the mentor in 2020 houses a seemingly endless and incompatible cluster of desires, everything from understanding to support, friendship, motivation, protection, advocacy, leadership, deference, generosity, power, nurturing, care, and collaboration. The mentor stands for the best version of who we want to be, while promising to see us as the best version of ourselves. As in the Odyssey passage Safire references, we might as well ask for a divine protector. Even in its originating appearance, the mentor is an impossible hybrid, as much a fantasy as a source of guidance.

Such desire speaks to another aspect of the mentor ideal: the potential for mutual fascination, as mentor and mentee find in one another both a reflection and an exemplar, sharing the charged pleasure of mutual recognition. Affect theorist Eve Sedgwick gets at this kind of exchange best in her description of the teacher-student relationship in Western appropriations of Tibetan Buddhism. Reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a popularization of The Tibetan Book of the Dead written largely for American readers by Sogyal Rinpoche, a charismatic Buddhist teacher, Sedgwick considers the distinctive phenomenology of reincarnation in descriptions of the teacher-student bond. As a young child, Rinpoche was identified as the reincarnation of a renowned Buddhist teacher by the man who would become his own “master,” Jamyang Khyentse. He was raised and taught by Khyentse, in the same way Khyentse had been raised and taught by him, in his prior life. In Rinpoche’s description, it’s a kind of teaching that, as Sedgwick suggests, “thrives on personality and intimate emotional relation,” even as it also “functions as a mysteriously powerful solvent of individual identity.” Here, temporal and interpersonal boundaries blur: One is always both teacher and student to an intimately connected other, who is also always one’s own teacher and student. A version of this interchange exists in the transactional language of mentoring today. Mentoring, we are often told, is a two-way street: The mentor stands to gain as much as the mentee, who should in turn consider themselves a mentor in training. Sedgwick reminds us of the emotional intimacy of such work. The will to mentor and to be mentored often comes from a sense of identification: This is who I was; this is who I want to be. It’s a relationship engaged with obligation and care, even as it’s not so much selfless as deeply, disorientingly self-entranced.

There is a coda to Sogyal Rinpoche’s story. In 2017, a quarter century after The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying became an international phenomenon, and nearly 15 years after Sedgwick wrote about it, decades of abuse suffered under Rinpoche came to light in Rigpa, the international Buddhist network he founded, along with evidence of a longstanding cover-up. In a public letter written by his former students, they describe physical, psychological, and sexual manipulation explained away as instruction, concealed by Rinpoche’s “public face” of “wisdom, kindness, humor, warmth and compassion.”

It’s a conclusion that today feels almost expected. Post #MeToo, the ability of powerful men who claimed to be mentors to exploit the trust that came with that role appears unnervingly commonplace. Looking back to Safire’s deeply sexist telling of Mary Cunningham’s experience, or to the many similar stories found in academia, there’s another account of mentorship to be told, one in which the role’s queasy combination of benevolence and power excuses manipulation and abuse. In this version of mentorship’s history, we might see its current association with inclusion and diversity as a kind of sea change, a way of shifting power away from those who have wielded it for too long. Here, the identificatory ideal of mentorship becomes relevant again, promising a way of retelling history, making wisdom from suffering, celebrating those who broke the paths we tread.

Or we could imagine different kinds of solidarity. As much as we might want to, it’s impossible to unwind contemporary mentorship from a worldview that blames individuals for their own subjugation and absolves the company and the state of the burdens of meaningful social change. Before the mentor’s rise, we had language for this. Maybe it’s time to reclaim it.

[militvs]

                        “And I bid you all a very fond  F A R E W E L L”                               For @sweettifalockhart​ with all my love ♥

Warnings for: character death, cloti, a writer who is happy to rip your heart out.

          Her eyes, the color of whiskey in a glass held up to the sunset; the color of romance he’d once mused to himself--though he’d not shared the sentiment out loud. He needed to fix that--complimenting her out loud, it was just that it was easier with his hands. They flowed in a way his mouth could not and kept up with his brain far easier--it just was simpler. He couldn’t exactly put much into words, but the shape of his hands--he hoped she knew. Tifa was far too patient; far too kind--but he was grateful all the same. ‘What would you do without me?’ she’d once said, and he couldn’t have denied the sentiment if he wanted to. But then that had been the start of all this hadn’t it? Cloud had known early on he was gay and she’d been fine with that--but it wasn’t like that with her. 

           She was special in a way no one else could be; no woman ever could be. He didn’t see them like that, no matter how much he’d tried--but the more she’d been by his side the more he realized it didn’t matter. It was a complicated matter for sure--he wasn’t straight and he still had yet to find any other female remotely attractive to him--but then he’d mostly given up on putting a label other than ‘love’ on their relationship. It just--was, and Cloud was ok with that. Their relationship had been slow as they took their time exploring the bond. He hated to admit that a lot of the reason for that was he’d still been hung up on Zack. It wasn’t his fault, nor his girlfriends, it was just that he’d never actually been given a chance to move on from his first love, let alone mourn his death. So they’d gone at his pace--slow and steady. He didn’t know if it was worth it, but the way Tifa would smile secretly from behind the counter and sending butterflies rushing through him spoke volumes. Even if it had been a struggle, they were happy and that was good enough. 

            Pushing up his goggles he paused, staring into the city popping up on the ruins of Midgar and couldn’t help his small smile. I’m happy now, Zack. It was habit...to sign to the air as if his dead friend was looking down and watching, even though he was certain he’d long since become just another fragment of the life stream. But then that was human nature wasn’t it? You liked to imagine that your deceased loved ones were still out there, watching over you--he knew the thought comforted him now that he’d healed some. It didn’t change the ache of missing their presence next to you--but it did ease it, if only a little. The point was he had a girlfriend, a son, a home, and there was peace. He revved the engine on fenrir and motored back into town, coming back after a particularly long delivery. The sense of peace he’d been feeling was quickly lost, replaced with this lingering sense of dread. 

               Having been a ‘savior’ more than he’d ever really wanted had honed his instincts to tell when something was off, but he couldn’t quite place it. The inability to figure out what was wrong left him even more on edge than if he knew. Deciding that dwelling on it til he was sick with worry wouldn’t help, he continued on his way to seventh heaven--keeping a wary eye out. If anything did go wrong, he’d deal with it then. Instead he tried to focus on the doors of the bar, then on Tifa. She’d heard him come in--but smiled and waved a happy hello to him. They were beyond words now (something he’d been so grateful for) and so he replied in kind, signing that it was good to be home before scooping her into a warm kiss. She always beamed at him afterwards and it sent his stomach tying itself into warm, happy knots. He loved seeing her happy; but most of all he loved being the reason for it. He knew he’d made her sad far too much--but at least he was making up for it now. 

                   The dread didn’t leave his stomach all day, but he ignored it in favor of spending time with Tifa and Neku; it had been a while after all. They did, for all his nervousness, have a pleasant evening and he went to be practically glowing. It was because of this that he wanted to ignore the nag that pulled him out of sleep in the middle of the night, but it wouldn’t go away. Neku was sprawled out between himself and Tifa and he really didn’t want to leave, but he had people to protect and so he got up--stepping out into the night. It was chilly and quiet--but that was what had disturbed him. The quiet was almost deafening. At first he’d thought maybe he just needed his hearing aids--but even then it made no difference and it was like he hadn’t put them in at all. Gripping the hilt of the buster blade he stepped out onto the street, eyes narrowing at the shadows that were thick in the air. Why were there no lights on? Sure not a lot of people would be up at this time--but it’s not like no one was ever up at this time--and they’d put up street lamps. 

                    There was a loud hissing noise and too late he realized there was a bomb. The explosion sent him flying, careening into the dirt and ground so the devices in his ears fell and shattered on the ground, leaving him even more disoriented. He was used to the ringing--having dealt with it often as the geostigma ate away at his body--but this time it was for a far different reason. The apartment he lived in was on fire, as well as two of the building around it. He realized that the explosives hadn’t quite done their job properly and had only blown up some of the supports on the complex. Sure it had blow a sizeable hole in one side, but the whole structure still stood--even if it was quickly blazing into the night sky. He was frozen for only a moment before he spotted his son stumbling from the wreckage. He was up like a shot, rushing to his side and checking him over. He looked panicked and scraped, clearly having clambered out of the burning rubble as quick as he could--but other than that he was mostly unhurt. It was his shaking hands, tugging at his shirt, that made him realize he was trying to sign something. 

                        Tifa...stuck...still inside. It was all that would stick in his brain and he barely managed to tell Neku to find somewhere safe before he rushed right into the fire. Reckless, sure, but he’d fought and killed Sephiroth more times than he cared to count--he wasn’t letting a little fire stop him from protecting everything and everyone he loved. There was a barking sound and he realized in panic that the animals were also in there. It was probably a blessing, however, seeing as Sasha’s high pitched yip was the only thing that he could hear clearly of the dull roar thundering in his ears. It didn’t take long to find her, trapped in the flames and looking for a way out. It was then he realized she’d gone for Fenrir--saving the little kittens life and a beam had fallen in her path. Heaving heavily with the weight of the smoke taking over his lungs he leapt forward, using all his strength to fling himself to her side. The minute he was close, Sasha stopped barking and then slipped through a hole that hadn’t burned and ran off. He had no doubt she’d gone to look for Neku, smart dog that she was. Wrapping his arms around Tifa and the shaking kitten he looked for another way out; the hole was too small for them after all. 

                          In the end he settled for hoisting her and the cat into his arms and leaping back through the flames. It was a lot of exertion and if he were normal the smoke he’d inhaled already would have made him pass out--but thankfully he was enhanced. His arm wrapped around her, holding her and Fenrir to his chest so their smoke intake was limited and moved as quickly as he could. The end was in sight, he could see his son and their dog standing at the edge--waiting nervously--they were almost there. But then, that was when things had always gone wrong hadn’t it? He was always almost there, happiness so close he could just about taste it. There was a crack and the building began to collapse, rushing toward them at a break neck speed and he reacted on instict. Tifa and the kitten went flying, rolling briefly in the dirt as half the building came crashing down on the blonde. She may have screamed for him but he couldn’t hear, couldn’t even feel his legs he realized. 

                         It was then it occurred to him that this is what the bombs had been meant for. They’d heard rumors of ex-shinra trying to rebuild the empire, but he hadn’t put nearly as much stock in it as he should have. Clearly they’d been trying to kill him and now as he lay there, body broken under the weight of the wood--he realized that they’d succeeded. He might have laughed for the irony of it if he couldn’t see Tifa come into his vision. The fall had snuffed out most of the fire in this section and he took some comfort that he’d probably die from his broken spine before he burned alive. If this was an uprising--then his family needed to get out of there and find everyone else--save themselves. “Hey...” he croaked out, voice rough from smoke and the pain searing up from limbs he couldn’t really feel anymore. She tried, begged him to get up til she was red in the face with tears and her own throat raw. She tried to lift the beam but he’d said her name so low and rough that she was forced to give up. “My back is broken” he murmured into her hand, kissing a knuckle gently and lovingly as he used to. 

                             Neku was suddenly at his side, clinging to Tifa as they both cried in their own way. It was sweet and he would have liked to go out like that, clutching Tifa’s hand and his other resting on his sons foot--but they needed to be safe. It took several tries but they finally left, vanishing into the night. He had no doubt they’d seek out barrett--hoping that he could pull Cloud out and save his life. The blonde knew they’d never make it back in time. He was proven right when a man with a gun came marching up, a cruel smile on his lips. He cocked the weapon, shifting so he could point it right at Clouds head and he couldn’t help but laugh. The only time they could bring him down was when he was already dying--it was a stupid house that had done him in. He’d fought monsters, nearly died once, only to be thrust back and save the world--which he’d done a lot--but a simple wooden beam had taken him down. 

                              “Go on then.” he hissed as the man pressed the barrel of the gun to his head. “You can’t destroy what I built...” he hisses, not hearing how the other snorts. “And what I’ve built won’t let you rekindle what I destroyed.” Yeah, he knew that ShinRa would never rise again--even if he wasn’t there. A part of him felt regret as the gun rang out, finalizing his last moments -- but in the end he was at peace. Ironic, he thought, that he and his best friend had gone out the same way. 

             “Was I a hero?”              “You were, to a great many people--but only I get to call you mine.”              “And I always will be, Tifa.”

[samadmalik-blog2]

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. Stock Jumps 300%; Revenues Spike Toward $30 Million Annually

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. (OTC: TLSS) stock is in rally mode with shares trading higher by more than 300% since last week. Investors are embracing the company's recently published (unaudited) financial results that show a yearly revenue run rate approaching $30 million. Also, the company announced last month that they are again expanding its operations by acquiring the assets of GRC Trucking, Inc. That deal will leverage GRC's more than 30 years of experience to TLSS and add additional depth to the company's already diversified services platform. Also, the company announced that it has taken several immediate steps to address and seize upon the heightened logistical demands of its eCommerce partners, and the general public, as a result of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Explicitly, Frank Mazzola, Chief Operating Officer of PrimeEFS and ShypDirect, TLSS' primary delivery brands, stated, "TLSS is partnering with its customers, which includes some of the leading eCommerce companies in the world, to enable them to fulfill their delivery commitments and ensure people have the vital supplies they need during this crisis. He added, "To meet the increased demand, we are hiring more drivers and adding new routes in our seven states of operation as more and more people are being asked to stay in their homes."

Before the demands from the global pandemic, the e-commerce market is expected to become a more than $4.8 trillion economy by the year 2021. And, while investors focus toward the large-cap players in the sector may have been prudent just two months ago, the demands created by this spreading virus have created substantial opportunities to logistical services players like TLSS.

Expanding Services To Fill Burgeoning Demand

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. is already in growth mode. Unlike many small-cap logistics companies, TLSS is a revenue-generating company that posted more than $18 million in income in 2018 and is projecting a sharp rise in the coming quarters. And, that was before the current health crisis that has made online purchasing and delivering a critical component of general commerce. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is proof that the demand is substantial and is real.

TLSS also noted that in cooperation with its eCommerce partners and to ensure its ability to handle the heightened demand, the company has increased the hourly wage for all of our drivers by $2.00 per hour. The temporary initiative is intended to support and reward its logistics team for their dedication and commitment to ensuring timely delivery of essential products and services for both its customers and the end-user. TLSS reiterated that during these trying times, its clients can count on the company to be a responsive partner to maintain the consistent flow of goods to the general public.

Logistics In Demand

In 2019, CNBC reported that Bank of America expected a more than $1.4 trillion B2B e-commerce market by the year 2021. At that time, most investors paid attention only to the e-retail side of the equation. E-retail giants such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) were the apparent beneficiaries of the exploding market, and their stocks responded accordingly by sending valuations to near all-time highs in 2019.

However, as these global leaders have seen share price valuations deflate as the Coronavirus continues to spread, the companies that lean toward fulfillment are not getting hit as hard. And, they shouldn't, especially with the cost of business declining due to depressed oil presses and the sharp increase in delivery demand.

In other words, investors, without disregarding the enormity of the current health crisis, are focusing more on the companies that are essential to completing the logistics processes to help curb the spread of the virus. Why? Because unlike manufacturing and distribution companies that are feeling the pressures of declining demand for some products, other logistics channel providers offer a valuable service that is experiencing heightened demand.

Thus, finding the opportunities that are an integral part of the logistics process makes sense. It makes even more sense to find the companies that offer substantial valuation propositions. Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. may fit that scenario well.

A Broad Suite of Logistics Systems

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. (TLSS) brings much to the table in terms of having the ability and resources to become a significant provider of services to the e-commerce sector. Already a revenue-producing company that is expecting to report more than a 100% increase in revenue compared to 2018 results, TLSS has assembled a diversified suite of services that can help to expedite shareholder value and grow into a more suitable market cap valuation. Before the planned GRC acquisition, services already included "at home" delivery, last-mile delivery, and mid-mile transport services. Each of these logistics offerings provides necessary components for completing any e-retail transaction. Moreover, TLSS provides line-haul transport, which serves as a connection between manufacturers, distributors, and hub-to-hub outlets. The GRC asset purchases extend those capabilities.

Here's where the importance of TLSS gets more pronounced. Whether the first step of the distribution process begins by air or sea, the final stage of the e-retail transaction will require a land-based logistics partner roughly 90% of the time. And, TLSS is already well-positioned in that capacity.

TLSS, as an example, has actively proven itself to demand hungry clients by creating processes that meet or exceed consumer and client demands by integrating faster delivery times, offering specialty services, and integrating advanced tracking systems that include the use of telematic devices and synchronization to clients' networks and software. In other words, TLSS is providing its clients with a suite of services that are often overlooked by the final recipient. But, its clients have not.

However, despite the services appearing common to any transaction loop, not all transportation companies offer a competitive set of logistics and transportation options that are comparable to TLSS. And, it's those distinctions that expose opportunity.

Coronavirus Adds To Delivery Demand and Expectations

One of TLSS's subsidiary companies, PrimeEFS, is already positioned to assist e-retailers to quickly respond to consumer expectations. In fact, just as 5-day delivery has become somewhat of an outdated expectation to consumers, PrimeEFS is building its reputation by meeting and exceeding market demands. Consumers need products "tomorrow."

To that end, TLSS's subsidiary, PrimeEFS, has an established e-commerce logistics platform in place that provides line-haul, mid-mile, and last-mile services. The company is also positioned to maintain its presence in the fulfillment loop by extending its end-to-end solutions from distribution centers or manufacturer's docks to consumer doorsteps.

PrimeEFS is led by an experienced management team that brings decades worth of logistics experience to run operations and manage key client relationships. Their implementation of a 24/7 Network Operating Center (NOC) integrates with their clients' tracking and update systems that facilitate seamless delivery and transaction details to both the drivers and the company's clients. While these matters are mostly taken for granted by the consumer market, that's not the case for vendors. Client companies, manufacturers, and distributors are laser-focused on using only the logistics providers that can protect their brand image and expectation.

Organic Growth With Increasing Assets

While PrimeEFS itself is a significant asset, TLSS is unique by controlling an additional set of intrinsic assets. First, unlike competing companies, TLSS is an asset-based carrier that employs its staff through W-2 engagement. In other words, they do not use independent contractors to facilitate company functions. Second, TLSS only uses equipment that is owned or leased by the company, with maintenance being done in-house. Third, because TLSS manages its fleet and staff, the company may be in a significantly better position than its competition to achieve safety, reliability, and overall company performance.

Perhaps most relevant to the asset-based structure is that as the market continues to develop, e-commerce companies are trending toward, and even mandating, that their transportation service partners be asset-based. Thus, TLSS may be ahead of the curve when it comes to procuring and expanding new and current client relationships.

And, while TLSS has guided toward substantial growth in the coming quarters, the focus on creating higher shareholder value by seizing real-time opportunities to expand its services by scaling into metro markets is also a work already in progress. Moreover, strategic acquisitions, like the one announced with GRC Trucking, can bring additional diversified opportunities by opening new geographic markets that can leverage the experience and assets of the company to a broader client base. Notably, TLSS has suggested that there is an ample pool of quality logistics companies nationwide that can be accretive to the company quickly expanding routes and client connections.

TLSS Adapts to Client Systems and Expectations Of Crisis Demand

As a primary concern, even the best companies need to stay focused on the most essential component for success -customer service. Failing to maintain a competitive advantage or not responding to change can transform a leader into a follower quickly. TLSS is addressing that reality with action.

The primary advantage of TLSS's growing success is that they can become experts on their clients' platform.

This expertise allows TLSS to integrate seamlessly. Referring to themselves as technology agnostic, TLSS understands the value of using a client's systems rather than connecting other, third party logistics systems. The ability to connect to its clients' network also helps to deliver transparent, accurate, and timely records that provide a superior level of trust compared to companies that utilize third-party systems. Each of these components are assets that offer TLSS an advantage over competing providers.

Further, TLSS maintains strict records about the health and performance of its fleet in Fleetio, an industry-recognized fleet management and maintenance system that is audited daily by company management. The results of proactively maintaining its delivery assets help to ensure that its trucks and vans are 100% operational, which produces the company's high on-time delivery times and enhances the safety of its core asset – its drivers.

In addition to focusing on its fleet and personnel, TLSS offers its NOC platform that provides its clients the real-time status of every delivery and shipment. The program also provides clients with geographical location, when the shipment will arrive, and if any issues have transpired during its transportation. These advantages are important to the client and allow them to communicate with their own customers with facts rather than speculation. In effect, NOC is a valuable asset that closes the communication loop between the supplier, TLSS, and the end customer.

Global Demand Exposes TLSS's Strength

Undoubtedly, the world is witnessing trying and unprecedented times relating to the Coronavirus. And, as much as people would like to turn off the investment screen, the reality is that investors are still managing and deploying capital. For that reason, keeping an eye on an opportunity for long-term growth is ongoing.

Well managed, asset-based, and significant logistics partnerships are only some of the factors bringing attention to Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. The real measure comes from their opportunity to participate in a trillion-dollar e-commerce economy, where reputation and performance matter. And, its from those inherent assets that TLSS can expand its revenue base and leverage asset-based utilization levels to their fullest potential. Combined, this asset-based logistics provider may already have the pieces in place to drive substantial long-term growth.

And, after this current crisis passes, TLSS may be in an even stronger position to maximize its growth strategies.

Media Contact Company Name: Soulstring Media Group Contact Person: Kenny Soulstring Email: Send Email City: Miami Beach State: Florida Country: United States Website: https://www.soulstringmedia.comMay 26, 2020 (AB Digital via COMTEX) -- Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. (OTC: TLSS) stock is in rally mode with shares trading higher by more than 300% since last week. Investors are embracing the company's recently published (unaudited) financial results that show a yearly revenue run rate approaching $30 million. Also, the company announced last month that they are again expanding its operations by acquiring the assets of GRC Trucking, Inc. That deal will leverage GRC's more than 30 years of experience to TLSS and add additional depth to the company's already diversified services platform. Also, the company announced that it has taken several immediate steps to address and seize upon the heightened logistical demands of its eCommerce partners, and the general public, as a result of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Explicitly, Frank Mazzola, Chief Operating Officer of PrimeEFS and ShypDirect, TLSS' primary delivery brands, stated, "TLSS is partnering with its customers, which includes some of the leading eCommerce companies in the world, to enable them to fulfill their delivery commitments and ensure people have the vital supplies they need during this crisis. He added, "To meet the increased demand, we are hiring more drivers and adding new routes in our seven states of operation as more and more people are being asked to stay in their homes."

Before the demands from the global pandemic, the e-commerce market is expected to become a more than $4.8 trillion economy by the year 2021. And, while investors focus toward the large-cap players in the sector may have been prudent just two months ago, the demands created by this spreading virus have created substantial opportunities to logistical services players like TLSS.

Expanding Services To Fill Burgeoning Demand

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. is already in growth mode. Unlike many small-cap logistics companies, TLSS is a revenue-generating company that posted more than $18 million in income in 2018 and is projecting a sharp rise in the coming quarters. And, that was before the current health crisis that has made online purchasing and delivering a critical component of general commerce. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is proof that the demand is substantial and is real.

TLSS also noted that in cooperation with its eCommerce partners and to ensure its ability to handle the heightened demand, the company has increased the hourly wage for all of our drivers by $2.00 per hour. The temporary initiative is intended to support and reward its logistics team for their dedication and commitment to ensuring timely delivery of essential products and services for both its customers and the end-user. TLSS reiterated that during these trying times, its clients can count on the company to be a responsive partner to maintain the consistent flow of goods to the general public.

Logistics In Demand

In 2019, CNBC reported that Bank of America expected a more than $1.4 trillion B2B e-commerce market by the year 2021. At that time, most investors paid attention only to the e-retail side of the equation. E-retail giants such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) were the apparent beneficiaries of the exploding market, and their stocks responded accordingly by sending valuations to near all-time highs in 2019.

However, as these global leaders have seen share price valuations deflate as the Coronavirus continues to spread, the companies that lean toward fulfillment are not getting hit as hard. And, they shouldn't, especially with the cost of business declining due to depressed oil presses and the sharp increase in delivery demand.

In other words, investors, without disregarding the enormity of the current health crisis, are focusing more on the companies that are essential to completing the logistics processes to help curb the spread of the virus. Why? Because unlike manufacturing and distribution companies that are feeling the pressures of declining demand for some products, other logistics channel providers offer a valuable service that is experiencing heightened demand.

Thus, finding the opportunities that are an integral part of the logistics process makes sense. It makes even more sense to find the companies that offer substantial valuation propositions. Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. may fit that scenario well.

A Broad Suite of Logistics Systems

Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. (TLSS) brings much to the table in terms of having the ability and resources to become a significant provider of services to the e-commerce sector. Already a revenue-producing company that is expecting to report more than a 100% increase in revenue compared to 2018 results, TLSS has assembled a diversified suite of services that can help to expedite shareholder value and grow into a more suitable market cap valuation. Before the planned GRC acquisition, services already included "at home" delivery, last-mile delivery, and mid-mile transport services. Each of these logistics offerings provides necessary components for completing any e-retail transaction. Moreover, TLSS provides line-haul transport, which serves as a connection between manufacturers, distributors, and hub-to-hub outlets. The GRC asset purchases extend those capabilities.

Here's where the importance of TLSS gets more pronounced. Whether the first step of the distribution process begins by air or sea, the final stage of the e-retail transaction will require a land-based logistics partner roughly 90% of the time. And, TLSS is already well-positioned in that capacity.

TLSS, as an example, has actively proven itself to demand hungry clients by creating processes that meet or exceed consumer and client demands by integrating faster delivery times, offering specialty services, and integrating advanced tracking systems that include the use of telematic devices and synchronization to clients' networks and software. In other words, TLSS is providing its clients with a suite of services that are often overlooked by the final recipient. But, its clients have not.

However, despite the services appearing common to any transaction loop, not all transportation companies offer a competitive set of logistics and transportation options that are comparable to TLSS. And, it's those distinctions that expose opportunity.

Coronavirus Adds To Delivery Demand and Expectations

One of TLSS's subsidiary companies, PrimeEFS, is already positioned to assist e-retailers to quickly respond to consumer expectations. In fact, just as 5-day delivery has become somewhat of an outdated expectation to consumers, PrimeEFS is building its reputation by meeting and exceeding market demands. Consumers need products "tomorrow."

To that end, TLSS's subsidiary, PrimeEFS, has an established e-commerce logistics platform in place that provides line-haul, mid-mile, and last-mile services. The company is also positioned to maintain its presence in the fulfillment loop by extending its end-to-end solutions from distribution centers or manufacturer's docks to consumer doorsteps.

PrimeEFS is led by an experienced management team that brings decades worth of logistics experience to run operations and manage key client relationships. Their implementation of a 24/7 Network Operating Center (NOC) integrates with their clients' tracking and update systems that facilitate seamless delivery and transaction details to both the drivers and the company's clients. While these matters are mostly taken for granted by the consumer market, that's not the case for vendors. Client companies, manufacturers, and distributors are laser-focused on using only the logistics providers that can protect their brand image and expectation.

Organic Growth With Increasing Assets

While PrimeEFS itself is a significant asset, TLSS is unique by controlling an additional set of intrinsic assets. First, unlike competing companies, TLSS is an asset-based carrier that employs its staff through W-2 engagement. In other words, they do not use independent contractors to facilitate company functions. Second, TLSS only uses equipment that is owned or leased by the company, with maintenance being done in-house. Third, because TLSS manages its fleet and staff, the company may be in a significantly better position than its competition to achieve safety, reliability, and overall company performance.

Perhaps most relevant to the asset-based structure is that as the market continues to develop, e-commerce companies are trending toward, and even mandating, that their transportation service partners be asset-based. Thus, TLSS may be ahead of the curve when it comes to procuring and expanding new and current client relationships.

And, while TLSS has guided toward substantial growth in the coming quarters, the focus on creating higher shareholder value by seizing real-time opportunities to expand its services by scaling into metro markets is also a work already in progress. Moreover, strategic acquisitions, like the one announced with GRC Trucking, can bring additional diversified opportunities by opening new geographic markets that can leverage the experience and assets of the company to a broader client base. Notably, TLSS has suggested that there is an ample pool of quality logistics companies nationwide that can be accretive to the company quickly expanding routes and client connections.

TLSS Adapts to Client Systems and Expectations Of Crisis Demand

As a primary concern, even the best companies need to stay focused on the most essential component for success -customer service. Failing to maintain a competitive advantage or not responding to change can transform a leader into a follower quickly. TLSS is addressing that reality with action.

The primary advantage of TLSS's growing success is that they can become experts on their clients' platform.

This expertise allows TLSS to integrate seamlessly. Referring to themselves as technology agnostic, TLSS understands the value of using a client's systems rather than connecting other, third party logistics systems. The ability to connect to its clients' network also helps to deliver transparent, accurate, and timely records that provide a superior level of trust compared to companies that utilize third-party systems. Each of these components are assets that offer TLSS an advantage over competing providers.

Further, TLSS maintains strict records about the health and performance of its fleet in Fleetio, an industry-recognized fleet management and maintenance system that is audited daily by company management. The results of proactively maintaining its delivery assets help to ensure that its trucks and vans are 100% operational, which produces the company's high on-time delivery times and enhances the safety of its core asset – its drivers.

In addition to focusing on its fleet and personnel, TLSS offers its NOC platform that provides its clients the real-time status of every delivery and shipment. The program also provides clients with geographical location, when the shipment will arrive, and if any issues have transpired during its transportation. These advantages are important to the client and allow them to communicate with their own customers with facts rather than speculation. In effect, NOC is a valuable asset that closes the communication loop between the supplier, TLSS, and the end customer.

Global Demand Exposes TLSS's Strength

Undoubtedly, the world is witnessing trying and unprecedented times relating to the Coronavirus. And, as much as people would like to turn off the investment screen, the reality is that investors are still managing and deploying capital. For that reason, keeping an eye on an opportunity for long-term growth is ongoing.

Well managed, asset-based, and significant logistics partnerships are only some of the factors bringing attention to Transportation and Logistics Systems, Inc. The real measure comes from their opportunity to participate in a trillion-dollar e-commerce economy, where reputation and performance matter. And, its from those inherent assets that TLSS can expand its revenue base and leverage asset-based utilization levels to their fullest potential. Combined, this asset-based logistics provider may already have the pieces in place to drive substantial long-term growth.

And, after this current crisis passes, TLSS may be in an even stronger position to maximize its growth strategies.

Here is the original article

Media Contact Company Name: Soulstring Media Group Contact Person: Kenny Soulstring Email: Send Email City: Miami Beach State: Florida Country: United States Website: https://www.soulstringmedia.com

[itmeansvictory]

❝ She did not need much, wanted very little. A kind word, sincerity, fresh air, clean water, a garden, kisses, books to read, sheltering arms, a cozy bed, and to love and be loved in return. ❞

BRIE LARSON? No, that’s actually VICTOIRE WEASLEY. Only TWENTY SIX years old, this HUFFLEPUFF alumni works as an CURSE-BREAKER and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. SHE identifies as CIS FEMALE and is a HALFBLOOD ( ONE EIGTH VEELA ) who is known to be OVERPROTECTIVE, STUBBORN, and SELF-DEPRECATING but also CONSCIENTIOUS, NURTURING, and PRAGMATIC. { r, 27, mst, she/her/hers }

GENERAL

FULL NAME: Victoire Apolline Weasley NICKNAME(S): Vic, V, Tori, Tor AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 26, 05/02/1997 OCCUPATION: Independently Contracted Curse-Breaker GENDER: Cis Female PRONOUNS: She/Her HOMETOWN: Tinworth, Cornwall, England CURRENT RESIDENCE: London, England POSITIVE TRAITS: Conscientious, Nurturing, Pragmatic, Loyal NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Self-Deprecating, Overprotective, Moody

BIOGRAPHY

victoire apolline weasley - though you may know her as a number of monikers: blonde weasley, curse-breaking milf, mom friend™, whatever. she’s the eldest weasley cousin, part-veela, a mother, and yes she is a natural blonde. these are often the defining characteristics she is known by, but there’s a lot more than meets the eye.

born on may 2nd, 1997, almost two years after the fateful tri-wizard tournament where voldemort was defeated “once and for all”, she is the first child born to bill weasley and beauxbatons champion fleur delacour. the first of her generation; hers was a charmed childhood, only made more exciting by the arrival of two siblings and many cousins. seeing as she was older than most of them by a handful of years, victoire became somewhat of a “babysitter” for the family. she spent most of her formative years running after younger weasley-potters, patching up scrapes and kissing bruises as well as diffusing tense situations. from an early age she just naturally took on the role of “mom” among her social groups, the nurturing tendencies carry on even to her hogwarts years where her friends often teased her for being so overprotective of them and “babying” them.

at hogwarts she was sorted into hufflepuff - the first of her family to not be a gryffindor much to the changrin of several of her family members. while the hat had debated between the two houses, it was ultimately the pragmatic and sensible nature of the girl that lead her to being placed among the badgers. this turned out to be best suited to her traits. victoire’s easy going youth lead to her being soft and gentle but also incredibly empathetic and warm. aside from being the aforementioned “mom friend”, she was basically the poster child for hufflepuff - being dutiful, hard-working, trustworthy, loyal and fair. the one “weasley trait” that followed her was a deep love for quidditch, being a beater for the house team for a few years. but her true loves had been herbology, history of magic and charms; the girl spending most of her days studying old textbooks, hanging around the greenhouse, or learning new charms to advance her abilities.

due to a studious nature, she was usually in the favor of her professors and hadn’t found herself in detention like many of her family members might have. it was for this reason she was chosen as a prefect during her latter years, and head girl her seventh. she was responsible and organized in comparison to most of her peers, and actually took pride in being a role model. a side effect of being the oldest in her family - there were always eyes on her and victoire wanted to live up to their expectations.

following school, it was of little surprise when she announced she would be a curse-breaker in training under her father’s tutelage. she possessed much of her father’s qualities - she was an academic achiever as well as laid back in nature, while still managing to be serious when necessary. as a child she was a daddy’s girl and had a very keen interest in bill’s occupation. she used to pretend she was a curse-breaker, "disabling” curses and jinxes on teddy bears and various odd objects throughout the house. so when it came time to take her NEWT level classes, she made sure to structure her schedule around what classes would help her become a successful curse-breaker. it was a thrilling and adventure-filled career path, but her time with gringott’s would only last a few years before she opted to be an “independently contracted curse-breaker” - a choice made in order to continue the work she loved while being a single parent with full custody of her child.

before she began her apprenticeship, victoire spent the summer holiday after her seventh year in france with relatives. despite her claims she would come back “still very much the same victoire” the girl had returned from holiday a very different woman - a married one, actually. hardly one to make rash decisions, it was a shock to hear that after just four weeks of courtship victoire had married a beauxbatons alum she’d met while touring the french riviera. much of the family was opposed to the union, but victoire swore that she was happy and it was meant to be - and for a while that was true.

it turned into a tumultuous affair and would last all of four years before the ill-suited pair would inevitably call it quits - an embarrassing fact considering how adamant she had been that their love was “real” and that it would “work out just fine”. it turned out over time that the two were not exactly suitable and wanted very different things. for one, he wanted to live in france while victoire wanted to stay near her family in england. the only complication left after the marriage was a child that neither had originally planned for - a little girl named amélie whom victoire has full custody of. now her trips to france - via portkey every other weekend - are begrudgingly made in order to allow their daughter time to stay with her father, with whom she has remained (or has tried to remain) amicable and civil despite how poorly the relationship ended.

these days victoire is hardly around. contracted with many independent buyers and sellers of magical antiques and the like, the woman travels across the wizarding world in order to acquire such objects and to reverse whatever hexes have been placed on them as security measures. it’s become harder to balance this job with raising a child, and as such has made her home base in the UK in order to receive the support from her family. she was away on such trips when things began to escalate back home and has since taken on less jobs and has been spending more time in london and close to her relatives during what feels like the return of dark times.

joining the reinstated order of phoenix, victoire is at war with the impending fight. the young woman isn’t too eager to be part of another wizarding war. a little bit of a pacifist, victoire just wants to see a happy future again. having a young child, and seeing the aftereffects of her uncle’s death on his family, makes her worried to put herself in a position where she will no longer be able to take care of amelie. but she also knows that it is up to the order to put an end to the death eaters once and for all - choosing to ultimate put herself in harms way in order to make sure her daughter gets to grow in a safe and happy world like she herself did.

tbh i’ll probably be editing this as i go along.

MISC

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Demisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heteromantic LANGUAGES: English, French, Gobbledegook, Some German, Spanish and Chinese FAMILY: Bill Weasley (father), Fleur Weasley née Delacour (mother), Dominique Weasley (sister), Louis Weasley (brother), Amélie Weasley-Dufour (daughter), Bastien Dufour (ex-husband) PETS: Barn Owl named Athena, Kneazle named Pyewacket ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus MBTI: ISFJ AESTHETIC: black coffee forgotten and cooled to room temperature; books and files piled up on every surface; scuffed up doc marten’s, cracked brown leather jackets, vintage band tees; makeup-less face and messy buns; chipped black nail polish; teeth marks running along her wand; reading glasses sitting on the button of her nose, a finger shaped smudge on the right lens; world map with assorted pins and thread connecting cities across the globe; bleached shells, creased postcards, and faded photographs in a trinket box long forgotten in the far corner of the closet; freckles that only come out with the sun, sideways smirks and a mischievous twinkle in dark chocolate eyes; the cry of seagulls and the salty sea breeze; pressed flowers in leather bound notebooks lying e v e r y w h e r e, blue ink stains on hands; trinkets and odd little souvenirs from various countries and cities on every desk; finger paintings and crayon drawings with ‘i love mummy’ in the corners; bottomless bag with everything a mom ever needs; nights spent alone and welcoming the solitude

WANTED CONNECTIONS

THE SCHOOL FRIENDS (2) - a couple fellow hogwarts alums who would have attended at the same time as victoire, they have remained close friends since leaving school and regularly meet up for drinks and to catch up and reminisce. they are hufflepuffs and have their own trio kind of like harry/ron/hermione. bonus points if one is a death eater, 1/2 taken

THE RIVAL - a fellow curse-breaker or someone from victoire’s youth who she has never seen eye to eye with. perhaps its because of opposing ideals, a dislike for the weasley-potter family or whatever petty reason - these two just don’t get along and are constantly butting heads. bonus points for being rivals in the curse-breaking field, open

THE EX - self explanatory; victoire’s ex-husband and the father of her daughter. this is not meant to be a romantic connection. they weren’t very well suited for each other and instead insist upon being civil and amiable for the sake of their daughter. is french/a beauxbatons alumni and would be newly arrived in britain should you take up this role, npc

tbh i’m really bad at these; just hmu and we can brainstorm afheahpfieaihfeiafpieafea

[edelgoth]

Hi! Can I request a matchup w/ a girl from 3H and Awakening? Im an INFP with a small number of close friends. I do my best to be polite to all people I interact with and Im told I have walls that are difficult to break through. Im encouraging and openly compliment people! I also quickly call out things that I think are wrong. Im very open with my feelings and I like being asked for my opinion. It takes a lot to get me motivated. Im also a tease with a smart mouth who jokes a lot! Thank youa

hey!! sorry for the wait!! you sound really sweet!!

without a shadow of a doubt, i match you with… 

dorothea!!

i think she’d just really like the way you go about things? and by that i mean, she would admire how you treat people while remaining authentic, and how you maintain a small number of close friends

you’d absolutely start out as good friends before the two of you go “o shit… they’re the One” 

and i feel like it’d be prompted by the fact that dorothea really values sincerity, and you would be a breath of fresh air for her

despite how she presents herself, dorothea doesn’t like herself very much (it broke my heart when i saw that ‘herself’ was listed under her dislikes), so i think that she’d really appreciate how open you are with your compliments 

i just feel like dorothea would feel so lucky to have met you? like, you’re exactly the type of partner she needs, and she’d be able to rely on you in a way she hasn’t relied on anyone before 

just!! encouraging each other!! all the time!! with everything!! always rooting for each other in whatever you guys do!! 

i feel like dorothea’s the sort of person who’d be able to break down people’s walls easily? she’s just good with people like that, and she’d want to help you just like you help her 

okay but she’d also L O V E how you speak up when you see things you think are wrong; we know how dorothea feels about bullshit social structures, and honestly? i feel like she’d find it kind of hot

but you’re both teases, so half the time you guys just won’t let each other live 

if the mood is right, literally nothing is off limits; watch her tease you for your motivation, while you tease her for always sounding like she’s flirting with whoever she’s talking to (we stan a self-made harem queen) 

basically your relationship would be a beautiful balance of playful and deep? i feel like it’d literally be The relationship that dorothea dreams of 

ugh now i’ve made myself emo, please look after this incredible woman

alternate matchups

mercedes: perfect angel couple… too good for this world… we do not deserve… i feel like your relationship would be a bit less playful than with dorothea, but it’d probably be cheesier (in a charming way!). but, polite, encouraging angels who are always checking in with each other and making sure they’re well-looked after as they pursue your dreams? my HEART

annette: P L E A S E this would be so cute!! you two would be the MOST supportive couple, always encouraging each other and providing support! it takes a lot for you to get motivated? no matter! annette’s going to actively encourage you to do your best and be the best version of yourself you can be. pls take care of her!

i also match you with… 

olivia!!

oh my!! goodness!! name a cuter duo. i’ll wait. but seriously, you and olivia would compliment each other so well? 

as we all know, olivia is V E R Y quiet, and cripplingly shy. but!! it seems like you’d give off a very approachable aura, so she’d warm up to you quicker than to others

the fact that you’re very polite would certainly help, and i feel like you’d be something of a rock for her? 

she’s quite insecure, so the fact that you’re openly complimentary would be wonderful for her!! and like honestly, what isn’t there to compliment her on? 

while they’d make her really embarrassed, i think it’d be valuable for her to have someone who’s so actively reminding her of her worth?

i think the fact that you’re also encouraging would be invaluable to her, as she needs someone to help bring her out of the pessimistic ruts she falls into, and to help her realize that she’s good at more than just dancing! 

even though she’s shy, olivia’s actually quite good at talking about her feelings once she’s comfortable with someone, so i think the two of you would have a very good back-and-forth with each other! 

i think this emotional openness would help break through your walls, and olivia would absolutely offer the same affection and support that you give her 

i feel like she’d always be asking you for your opinion, partly because she’s genuinely interested, but also because it means that you’ll fill the silence aldskjdskjs

i feel like you wouldn’t tease her that often (she might be a bit too skittish for that), but you’d always be trying to make her laugh!! 

I Love Her please treasure this Literal Angel

alternate matchups

flavia: all i want in life is for flavia to validate me. your relationship would (obviously) be very different from that listed above, but i feel like it’d be really fun! flavia is absolutely going to kick your butt into action, but the two of you are also going to have so much fun. she’d like how you speak up when you see something wrong, and she’d love your smart mouth tbh.

lissa: she’d be a bit of a middle ground between olivia and flavia; she’d push you to do things, but by teasing you about it. she’s got the sweetness of olivia, but she’s much more lively and lighthearted. she’d also enjoy your sense of humour (as we know, she loves pranks), but she’s going to be less of a… Galvanizing Force, so to say, than flavia! 

[coolpyoda-blog]

Factors associated with increased  or decrease treatment use in with Major Depression

A.     The dataset used is National Epidemiologic Survey of Drug Use and Health.

B.     My topics of interest is “Factors associated with increased  or decrease treatment use in with Major Depression”

C.     A literature search on PubMed is conducted using terms: “Major Depression”, “Factor”, “Success”, “treatment”

D.     Seven relevant articles are identified:

1: Kraus C, Kadriu B, Lanzenberger R, Zarate CA Jr, Kasper S. Prognosis and

improved outcomes in major depression: a review. Transl Psychiatry. 2019 Apr

3;9(1):127. doi: 10.1038/s41398-019-0460-3. Review. PubMed PMID: 30944309; PubMed

Central PMCID: PMC6447556.

2: Kelley ME, Dunlop BW, Nemeroff CB, Lori A, Carrillo-Roa T, Binder EB, Kutner

MH, Rivera VA, Craighead WE, Mayberg HS. Response rate profiles for major

depressive disorder: Characterizing early response and longitudinal nonresponse.

Depress Anxiety. 2018 Oct;35(10):992-1000. doi: 10.1002/da.22832. Epub 2018 Sep

7. PubMed PMID: 30260539.

3: Heinz AJ, Meffert BN, Halvorson MA, Blonigen D, Timko C, Cronkite R.

Employment characteristics, work environment, and the course of depression over

23 years: Does employment help foster resilience? Depress Anxiety. 2018

Sep;35(9):861-867. doi: 10.1002/da.22782. Epub 2018 Jun 7. PubMed PMID: 29878482;

PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6123281.

4: Agabio R, Trogu E, Pani PP. Antidepressants for the treatment of people with

co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018

Apr 24;4:CD008581. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008581.pub2. Review. PubMed PMID:

29688573; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6494437.

5: Dunlop BW, Kelley ME, Aponte-Rivera V, Mletzko-Crowe T, Kinkead B, Ritchie JC,

Nemeroff CB, Craighead WE, Mayberg HS; PReDICT Team. Effects of Patient

Preferences on Outcomes in the Predictors of Remission in Depression to

Individual and Combined Treatments (PReDICT) Study. Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Jun

1;174(6):546-556. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16050517. Epub 2017 Mar 24. PubMed

PMID: 28335624.

6: Hall CA, Reynolds-Iii CF. Late-life depression in the primary care setting:

challenges, collaborative care, and prevention. Maturitas. 2014 Oct;79(2):147-52.

doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2014.05.026. Epub 2014 Jun 7. Review. PubMed PMID:

24996484; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4169311.

7: Marshall M, Crowther R, Almaraz-Serrano A, Creed F, Sledge W, Kluiter H,

Roberts C, Hill E, Wiersma D, Bond GR, Huxley P, Tyrer P. Systematic reviews of

the effectiveness of day care for people with severe mental disorders: (1) acute

day hospital versus admission; (2) vocational rehabilitation; (3) day hospital

versus outpatient care. Health Technol Assess. 2001;5(21):1-75. Review. PubMed

PMID: 11532238.

E.      Abstracts and full articles are obtained. The abstracts are enclosed:

Transl Psychiatry. 2019 Apr 3;9(1):127. doi: 10.1038/s41398-019-0460-3.

Prognosis and improved outcomes in major depression: a review.

Kraus C1,2, Kadriu B2, Lanzenberger R1, Zarate CA Jr2, Kasper S3.

Author information

Abstract

Treatment outcomes for major depressive disorder (MDD) need to be improved. Presently, no clinically relevant tools have been established for stratifying subgroups or predicting outcomes. This literature review sought to investigate factors closely linked to outcome and summarize existing and novel strategies for improvement. The results show that early recognition and treatment are crucial, as duration of untreated depression correlates with worse outcomes. Early improvement is associated with response and remission, while comorbidities prolong course of illness. Potential biomarkers have been explored, including hippocampal volumes, neuronal activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, and levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and central and peripheral inflammatory markers (e.g., translocator protein (TSPO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)). However, their integration into routine clinical care has not yet been fully elucidated, and more research is needed in this regard. Genetic findings suggest that testing for CYP450 isoenzyme activity may improve treatment outcomes. Strategies such as managing risk factors, improving clinical trial methodology, and designing structured step-by-step treatments are also beneficial. Finally, drawing on existing guidelines, we outline a sequential treatment optimization paradigm for selecting first-, second-, and third-line treatments for acute and chronically ill patients. Well-established treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are clinically relevant for treatment-resistant populations, and novel transcranial stimulation methods such as theta-burst stimulation (TBS) and magnetic seizure therapy (MST) have shown promising results. Novel rapid-acting antidepressants, such as ketamine, may also constitute a paradigm shift in treatment optimization for MDD.

PMID: 30944309 PMCID: PMC6447556 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0460-3

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2.

Depress Anxiety. 2018 Oct;35(10):992-1000. doi: 10.1002/da.22832. Epub 2018 Sep 7.

Response rate profiles for major depressive disorder: Characterizing early response and longitudinal nonresponse.

Kelley ME1, Dunlop BW2, Nemeroff CB3, Lori A2, Carrillo-Roa T4, Binder EB2,4, Kutner MH1, Rivera VA5, Craighead WE2,6, Mayberg HS1,7.

Author information

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Definition of response is critical when seeking to establish valid predictors of treatment success. However, response at the end of study or endpoint only provides one view of the overall clinical picture that is relevant in testing for predictors. The current study employed a classification technique designed to group subjects based on their rate of change over time, while simultaneously addressing the issue of controlling for baseline severity.

METHODS:

A set of latent class trajectory analyses, incorporating baseline level of symptoms, were performed on a sample of 344 depressed patients from a clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy and two antidepressant medications (escitalopram and duloxetine) in patients with major depressive disorder.

RESULTS:

Although very few demographic and illness-related features were associated with response rate profiles, the aggregated effect of candidate genetic variants previously identified in large pharmacogenetic studies and meta-analyses showed a significant association with early remission as well as nonresponse. These same genetic scores showed a less compelling relationship with endpoint response categories. In addition, consistent nonresponse throughout the study treatment period was shown to occur in different subjects than endpoint nonresponse, which was verified by follow-up augmentation treatment outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS:

When defining groups based on the rate of change, controlling for baseline depression severity may help to identify the clinically relevant distinctions of early response on one end and consistent nonresponse on the other.

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

KEYWORDS:

CBT/cognitive behavior therapy; antidepressants; depression; genetics; treatment

PMID: 30260539 DOI: 10.1002/da.22832

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3.

Depress Anxiety. 2018 Sep;35(9):861-867. doi: 10.1002/da.22782. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Employment characteristics, work environment, and the course of depression over 23 years: Does employment help foster resilience?

Heinz AJ1,2, Meffert BN1, Halvorson MA3, Blonigen D2,4, Timko C2,4, Cronkite R2,5,6.

Author information

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Depression is the leading cause of disability and represents a significant challenge to stable employment and professional success. Importantly, employment may also operate as a protective factor against more chronic courses of depression as it can function as a form of behavioral activation and scaffold recovery by facilitating community integration. The current study examined work-related characteristics as protective or risk factors for subsequent long-term depression trajectories.

METHODS:

Relations between employment characteristics and lifetime course of depression were examined among 424 adults in the community who entered treatment for depression. The sample was followed for 23 years with assessments at 1, 4, 10, and 23 years post baseline. At baseline, participants were asked about employment history and status along with work-related events and aspects of their work environments. Depression was measured at each assessment, and three different life course trajectories of depression were identified.

RESULTS:

Employment at baseline was associated with lower levels of depression at baseline and less severe life courses of depression. Among employed participants, higher occupational prestige, a more supportive work environment (greater involvement, cohesion, and perceived support), and lower work stress (less pressure and more control, role clarity, and autonomy) may protect against more severe, intractable depression over time and may have bolstered functioning.

CONCLUSIONS:

Findings have potential to be harnessed for clinical translation to better inform vocational rehabilitation counseling and human resources programs. Specifically, clinician assessment of work setting can guide patient decision making about how to reduce vulnerability to depression and foster resilience via employment.

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

KEYWORDS:

depression; employment; occupational prestige; resilience; work environment

PMID: 29878482 PMCID: PMC6123281 DOI: 10.1002/da.22782

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4.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Apr 24;4:CD008581. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008581.pub2.

Antidepressants for the treatment of people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence.

Agabio R1, Trogu E, Pani PP.

Author information

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Alcohol dependence is a major public health problem characterized by recidivism, and medical and psychosocial complications. The co-occurrence of major depression in people entering treatment for alcohol dependence is common, and represents a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, which negatively influences treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVES:

To assess the benefits and risks of antidepressants for the treatment of people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence.

SEARCH METHODS:

We searched the Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group Specialised Register (via CRSLive), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and Embase from inception to July 2017. We also searched for ongoing and unpublished studies via ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (apps.who.int/trialsearch/).All searches included non-English language literature. We handsearched references of topic-related systematic reviews and the included studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials comparing antidepressants alone or in association with other drugs or psychosocial interventions (or both) versus placebo, no treatment, and other pharmacological or psychosocial interventions.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:

We used standard methodological procedures as expected by Cochrane.

MAIN RESULTS:

We included 33 studies in the review (2242 participants). Antidepressants were compared to placebo (22 studies), psychotherapy (two studies), other medications (four studies), or other antidepressants (five studies). The mean duration of the trials was 9.9 weeks (range 3 to 26 weeks). Eighteen studies took place in the USA, 12 in Europe, two in Turkey, and one in Australia. The antidepressant included in most of the trials was sertraline; other medications were amitriptyline, citalopram, desipramine, doxepin, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, mianserin, mirtazepine, nefazodone, paroxetine, tianeptine, venlafaxine, and viloxazine. Eighteen studies were conducted in an outpatient setting, nine in an inpatient setting, and six in both settings. Psychosocial treatment was provided in 18 studies. There was high heterogeneity in the selection of outcomes and the rating systems used for diagnosis and outcome assessment.Comparing antidepressants to placebo, low-quality evidence suggested that antidepressants reduced the severity of depression evaluated with interviewer-rated scales at the end of trial (14 studies, 1074 participants, standardized mean difference (SMD) -0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.49 to -0.04). However, the difference became non-significant after the exclusion of studies with a high risk of bias (SMD -0.17, 95% CI -0.39 to 0.04). In addition, very low-quality evidence supported the efficacy of antidepressants in increasing the response to the treatment (10 studies, 805 participants, risk ratio (RR) 1.40, 95% Cl 1.08 to 1.82). This result became non-significant after the exclusion of studies at high risk of bias (RR 1.27, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.68). There was no difference for other relevant outcomes such as the difference between baseline and final score, evaluated using interviewer-rated scales (5 studies, 447 participants, SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.12 to 0.42).Moderate-quality evidence found that antidepressants increased the number of participants abstinent from alcohol during the trial (7 studies, 424 participants, RR 1.71, 95% Cl 1.22 to 2.39) and reduced the number of drinks per drinking days (7 studies, 451 participants, mean difference (MD) -1.13 drinks per drinking days, 95% Cl -1.79 to -0.46). After the exclusion of studies with high risk of bias, the number of abstinent remained higher (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.43) and the number of drinks per drinking days lower (MD -1.21 number of drinks per drinking days, 95% CI -1.91 to -0.51) among participants who received antidepressants compared to those who received placebo. However, other outcomes such as the rate of abstinent days did not differ between antidepressants and placebo (9 studies, 821 participants, MD 1.34, 95% Cl -1.66 to 4.34; low-quality evidence).Low-quality evidence suggested no differences between antidepressants and placebo in the number of dropouts (17 studies, 1159 participants, RR 0.98, 95% Cl 0.79 to 1.22) and adverse events as withdrawal for medical reasons (10 studies, 947 participants, RR 1.15, 95% Cl 0.65 to 2.04).There were few studies comparing one antidepressant versus another antidepressant or antidepressants versus other interventions, and these had a small sample size and were heterogeneous in terms of the types of interventions that were compared, yielding results that were not informative.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:

We found low-quality evidence supporting the clinical use of antidepressants in the treatment of people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence. Antidepressants had positive effects on certain relevant outcomes related to depression and alcohol use but not on other relevant outcomes. Moreover, most of these positive effects were no longer significant when studies with high risk of bias were excluded. Results were limited by the large number of studies showing high or unclear risk of bias and the low number of studies comparing one antidepressant to another or antidepressants to other medication. In people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence, the risk of developing adverse effects appeared to be minimal, especially for the newer classes of antidepressants (such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). According to these results, in people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence, antidepressants may be useful for the treatment of depression, alcohol dependence, or both, although the clinical relevance may be modest.

PMID: 29688573 PMCID: PMC6494437 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008581.pub2

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5.

Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Jun 1;174(6):546-556. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16050517. Epub 2017 Mar 24.

Effects of Patient Preferences on Outcomes in the Predictors of Remission in Depression to Individual and Combined Treatments (PReDICT) Study.

Dunlop BW1, Kelley ME1, Aponte-Rivera V1, Mletzko-Crowe T1, Kinkead B1, Ritchie JC1, Nemeroff CB1, Craighead WE1, Mayberg HS1; PReDICT Team1.

Author information

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The Predictors of Remission in Depression to Individual and Combined Treatments [PReDICT] study aimed to identify clinical and biological factors predictive of treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder among treatment-naive adults. The authors evaluated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and two antidepressant medications (escitalopram and duloxetine) in patients with major depression and examined the moderating effect of patients' treatment preferences on outcomes.

METHOD:

Adults aged 18-65 with treatment-naive major depression were randomly assigned with equal likelihood to 12 weeks of treatment with escitalopram (10-20 mg/day), duloxetine (30-60 mg/day), or CBT (16 50-minute sessions). Prior to randomization, patients indicated whether they preferred medication or CBT or had no preference. The primary outcome was change in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), administered by raters blinded to treatment.

RESULTS:

A total of 344 patients were randomly assigned, with a mean baseline HAM-D score of 19.8 (SD=3.8). The mean estimated overall decreases in HAM-D score did not significantly differ between treatments (CBT: 10.2, escitalopram: 11.1, duloxetine: 11.2). Last observation carried forward remission rates did not significantly differ between treatments (CBT: 41.9%, escitalopram: 46.7%, duloxetine: 54.7%). Patients matched to their preferred treatment were more likely to complete the trial but not more likely to achieve remission.

CONCLUSIONS:

Treatment guidelines that recommend either an evidence-based psychotherapy or antidepressant medication for nonpsychotic major depression can be extended to treatment-naive patients. Treatment preferences among patients without prior treatment exposure do not significantly moderate symptomatic outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

Antidepressants; Cognitive Therapy; Mood Disorders-Unipolar; Outcome Studies

Comment in

Engaging Depressed Patients: An Essential Step in Optimizing Care. [Am J Psychiatry. 2017]

PMID: 28335624 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16050517

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6.

Maturitas. 2014 Oct;79(2):147-52. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2014.05.026. Epub 2014 Jun 7.

Late-life depression in the primary care setting: challenges, collaborative care, and prevention.

Hall CA1, Reynolds-Iii CF2.

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Abstract

Late-life depression is highly prevalent worldwide. In addition to being a debilitating illness, it is a risk factor for excess morbidity and mortality. Older adults with depression are at risk for dementia, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and suicide. Individuals with late-life depression often have significant medical comorbidity and, poor treatment adherence. Furthermore, psychosocial considerations such as gender, ethnicity, stigma and bereavement are necessary to understand the full context of late-life depression. The fact that most older adults seek treatment for depression in primary care settings led to the development of collaborative care interventions for depression. These interventions have consistently demonstrated clinically meaningful effectiveness in the treatment of late-life depression. We describe three pivotal studies detailing the management of depression in primary care settings in both high and low-income countries. Beyond effectively treating depression, collaborative care models address additional challenges associated with late-life depression. Although depression treatment interventions are effective compared to usual care, they exhibit relatively low remission rates and small to medium effect sizes. Several studies have demonstrated that depression prevention is possible and most effective in at-risk older adults. Given the relatively modest effects of treatment in averting years lived with disability, preventing late-life depression at the primary care level should be highly prioritized as a matter of health policy.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Collaborative care; Depression prevention; Late-life depression; Primary care; Treatment of depression

PMID: 24996484 PMCID: PMC4169311 DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2014.05.026

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7.

Health Technol Assess. 2001;5(21):1-75.

Systematic reviews of the effectiveness of day care for people with severe mental disorders: (1) acute day hospital versus admission; (2) vocational rehabilitation; (3) day hospital versus outpatient care.

Marshall M1, Crowther R, Almaraz-Serrano A, Creed F, Sledge W, Kluiter H, Roberts C, Hill E, Wiersma D, Bond GR, Huxley P, Tyrer P.

Author information

Abstract

***ACUTE DAY HOSPITAL VERSUS ADMISSION FOR ACUTE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS***

BACKGROUND:

Inpatient treatment is an expensive way of caring for people with acute psychiatric disorders. It has been proposed that many of those currently treated as inpatients could be cared for in acute psychiatric day hospitals.

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of day hospital versus inpatient care for people with acute psychiatric disorders.

METHODS - STUDY SELECTION:

Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials of day hospital versus inpatient care for people with acute psychiatric disorders. Studies were excluded if they were primarily concerned with elderly people, children, or patients with a diagnosis of organic brain disease or substance abuse. METHODS - DATA SOURCES: We searched the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycLIT, and the reference lists of articles. Researchers were approached to identify unpublished studies. Trialists were asked to provide individual patient data. METHODS - DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted independently by two reviewers and cross-checked. METHODS - DATA SYNTHESIS: Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for dichotomous data. Weighted or standardised means were calculated for continuous data. Day hospital trials tend to present similar outcomes in slightly different formats, making it difficult to synthesise the data. Individual patient data were therefore sought so that outcomes could be re-analysed using a common format.

RESULTS:

Nine trials met the inclusion criteria (involving 1568 randomised patients and 2268 assessed for suitability of day hospital treatment). Individual patient data were obtained for four trials (involving 594 people). A sensitivity analysis of combined data suggested that day hospital treatment was feasible for at worst 23.2% (n = 2268; 95% CI, 21.2 to 25.2) and at best 37.5% (n = 1768; 95% CI, 35.2 to 39.8) of those currently admitted to inpatient care. Individual patient data from three trials showed no difference in the number of days in hospital (combining day hospital days and inpatient days) between day hospital patients and controls (n = 465; weighted mean difference (WMD) = -0.38 days/ month; 95% CI, -1.32 to 0.55). However, compared with controls, patients randomised to day hospital care spent significantly more days in day hospital care (n = 265; WMD = 2.34 days/month; 95% CI, 1.97 to 2.70) and significantly fewer days in inpatient care (n = 265; WMD = -2.75 days/month; 95% CI, -3.63 to -1.87). There was no difference between readmission rates for day hospital and control patients (n = 667; RR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.72 to 1.15). Individual patient data from three trials showed a significant time-treatment interaction, indicating a more rapid improvement in mental state (n = 407; c2 = 9.66; p = 0.002), but not social functioning (n = 295; c2 = 0.006; p = 0.941) amongst day hospital patients. Four of five trials demonstrated that day hospital care was cheaper than inpatient care (with overall cost reductions ranging from 20.9% to 36.9%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Acute day hospitals are an attractive option in situations where demand for inpatient care is high and facilities exist that are suitable for conversion. They are a less attractive option when demand for inpatient care is low and where effective alternatives already exist. The interpretation of day hospital research would be enhanced if future trials made use of the common set of outcome measures used in this review. It is important to examine how acute day hospital care can be most effectively integrated into a modern community-based psychiatric service. ***VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION FOR PEOPLE WITH SEVERE MENTAL DISORDERS***

BACKGROUND:

People who are disabled by severe mental disorders experience high rates of unemployment, but most want to work. Prevocational training (PVT) is the traditional approach to helping such people to return to work. PVT assumes that a period of preparation is required before those with a severe mental disorder can enter into competitive employment. Supported Employment (SEm) is a new approach that places clients in competitive employment without extended preparation. Both PVT and SEm are widely practised, but it is unclear which is the most effective.

OBJECTIVES:

The overall objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness of PVT and SEm relative to each other and to standard care (in hospital or the community) for people with severe mental disorders. In addition, the review examined the effectiveness of: (1) special types of PVT ("clubhouse" model) and SEm (individual placement and support model); and (2) modifications for enhancing PVT (e.g. payment or psychological interventions).

METHODS - STUDY SELECTION:

Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation approaches (PVT and SEm or modifications) for people of working age and suffering from a severe mental disorder. METHODS - DATA SOURCES: Relevant trials were identified from searches of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's specialised register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycLIT, and the reference lists of all identified studies and review articles. Researchers who were active in the field were approached in order to identify unpublished studies. METHODS - DATA EXTRACTION: All data were extracted independently by two reviewers and cross-checked. Continuous data were excluded if they were collected by using an unpublished scale or were based on a subset of items from a scale. METHODS - DATA SYNTHESIS: For all comparisons, the primary outcome was the number of clients who were in competitive employment at various time points. Secondary outcomes were: other employment outcomes, clinical outcome and costs. The relative risk (RR) and number-needed-to-treat (NNT) were calculated for the relevant categorical outcomes. Continuous data were either presented as in the original trial reports or, where possible, combined across trials as a standardised mean difference score.

RESULTS:

Eighteen RCTs of reasonable quality were identified: PVT versus hospital controls, three RCTs, n = 172; PVT versus community controls, five RCTs, n = 1204; modified PVT, four RCTs, n = 423; SEm versus community controls, one RCT, n = 256; and SEm versus PVT, five RCTs, n = 491). The main finding was that, on the primary outcome (number in competitive employment), SEm was significantly more effective than PVT at all time points (e.g. at 12 months, SEm 34% employed, PVT 12% employed; RR of not being in competitive employment = 0.76, 95% confidence interval 0.69 to 0.84, NNT = 4.5). Clients in SEm also earned more and worked more hours per month than those in PVT.

CONCLUSIONS:

The main finding was that SEm was more effective than PVT for patients suffering from a severe mental disorder who wanted to work. There was no evidence that PVT was more effective than standard community care or hospital care. The implication of these findings is that people suffering from mental disorders who want to work should be offered the option of SEm. Commissioning agencies would be justified in encouraging vocational rehabilitation (VR) providers to develop more SEm schemes. From a research perspective, the cost-effectiveness of SEm should be examined in larger multicentre trials, both within and outside the USA. There is a case for countries outside the USA to survey their existing VR services to determine the extent to which the most effective interventions are being offered. ***DAY HOSPITAL VERSUS OUTPATIENT CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS***

BACKGROUND:

This review considers the use of day hospitals as an alternative to outpatient care. Two typesof day hospital provision are covered: "day treatment programmes" and "day care centres". Day treatment programmes are day hospitals that are used to enhance the treatment of patients with anxiety or depressive disorders who have failed to respond to outpatient care. Day care centres are day hospitals that offer structured support to patients with long-term severe mental disorders who would otherwise be treated in an outpatient clinic.

OBJECTIVES:

There were two objectives: first, to assess the effectiveness of day treatment programmes versus outpatient care for people with non-psychotic disorders; and, secondly, to assess the effectiveness of day care centres versus outpatient care for people with severe long-term disorders.

METHODS - STUDY SELECTION:

Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials comparing day hospital care (either a day treatment programme or a day care centre) with outpatient care. Studies were ineligible if they were largely restricted to patients who were aged under 18 or over 65 years or who had a primary diagnosis of substance abuse or organic brain disorder. METHODS - DATA SOURCES: Relevant trials were identified from searches of the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycLIT, and the reference lists of all identified studies and review articles. Researchers were approached to identify unpublished studies. Trialists were asked to provide individual patient data. METHODS - DATA EXTRACTION: All data were extracted independently by two reviewers and cross-checked. METHODS - DATA SYNTHESIS: Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for dichotomous data. Standardised mean differences were calculated for continuous data.

RESULTS:

There was evidence from two of the five trials identified suggesting that day treatment programmes were superior to continuing outpatient care in terms of improving psychiatric symptoms. There was no evidence to suggest that day treatment programmes were better or worse than outpatient care on any other clinical or social outcome variable or on costs. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

[imagines-so-what-if]

O is for Opportunity of Parenthood

Headcanons for Sherlock, Mycroft, and Moriarty

The prompt: How are they as parents?

Genre: Fluff / Humor

Rating: K+

SHERLOCK MASTERLIST

Headcanons for Sherlock as a father:

He is p r e p a r e d.

Or at least he thinks he is.

He’s read every book he could get his hands on, watched an assortment of documentaries and youtube videos, and consulted with John no less than thirty times before the baby comes along. He absolutely thinks he is ready to be a dad by the time it happens.

He is not.

Is not prepared at all.

Why are they crying?

Why are they throwing everything?

W h a t is going on??

What do you mean they cry just for attention? You mean he has to hold them how often?!

On the plus side waking up in the middle of the night for a crying baby is not an issue at all. Sherlock already has a wacked up sleep schedule so it’s likely he’ll still be up when the baby starts crying.

He’ll be a little overwhelmed at first, and cite books he’s read over and over. He won’t trust in your instincts right away (but he’ll learn quick when you’re the one who calms the baby down).

He will not do baby talk.

He will not hide his experiments (but he’ll keep the dangerous stuff away for obvious reasons).

He will definitely show the kiddo decapitated nuns when you’re not looking.

He’s not one for censorship. Never will be. He encourages for his children / kiddo to learn everything possible and he won’t hide anything from them.

That being said he’s super wary of other children. What if they call his baby a freak? You’ll have to be there to reassure him that everything will be okay.

(You’ll probably have to reassure him semi-frequently that he’s a good dad, because Sherlock will have his moments of doubts and heaven forbid that child ever says that s/he hates Sherlock because oh that’s gonna hurt).

(Also if someone does bully your baby Sherlock will absolutely seek retribution / justice. Even if it’s another child because that’s his baby).

Sherlock does not handle puberty well at all.

Be prepared for lots of arguments between the two, and dealing with two sulky people in the home.

(But they’ll both love you so much)

First dates / kisses / sex / etc will make Sherlock uncomfortable and he’ll probably scare off the first few attempts with his blunt attitude. He’ll definitely do some background checks, too.

Bi, straight, gay, asexual… none of that matters to him.

School isn’t that important to Sherlock. He won’t be the one to encourage his children to finish school if they have something else they want to do. Sherlock is all for letting them do as they please when it comes to their dreams / jobs / professions. As long as they’re happy.

That being said if it’s dangerous then he’ll get antsy and keep tabs on them.

(Although you know John’s gonna make sure this kiddo knows how to defend him/herself)

He’ll be proud at whatever it is they do, because they’re his kids.

(but if they become a detective like him then he’s a giddy, giddy boy)

He’ll stumble a bit as a father (especially during hormonal times like angsty teens), but he’ll sincerely love ‘em and want their happiness.

He hopes they like him, too.

Headcanons for Mycroft being a father

He’ll have a nanny for the kiddo. With his job being the way it is, he knows it’ll be hard on you to raise a kiddo (mostly) by yourself, so he’ll insist on hiring a nanny to at least help out.

(If you’re adamant about no nannies, he’ll comply, but please be prepared for the fact that Mycroft can only make so much time to spend at home).

He’s borderline over-prepared for the baby. He’s got doubles of everything in case something happens, has memorized every baby book he could find, and already has a list of professional tutors and doctors on standby. His kiddo is going to have everything s/he could ever need/want.

(To be honest he’s a little scared at being a dad because he struggles to simply act normal, and deal with other humans. You’re the exception, not the rule, and he’s worried he’ll estrange his own child. Please comfort and encourage him, because of course this man will be a good father)

Mycroft is a firm believer in a structured environment. That means getting his bundle of joy on a schedule as soon as possible (this is also so that way Mycroft can work his schedule around his child’s schedule so he can spend more time with him/her).

Lots of reading, and no T.V.

He’s a bit awkward with physical affection. He knows how to hold his baby, but he’s terrible at playing with him/her.

This kiddo is going to grow up fast. Lots of education right away and it probably won’t come as a surprise that they end up graduating early due to the environment.

Mycroft will be a very proud dad.

He will absolutely show up to as many meets / plays / games / club / tournaments / whatever they’re into as he can. And if he can’t then he’ll have you record it so he can watch it later and discuss with him/her. He’s all for extracurricular activities and wants to have an active role in his child’s life.

Will not tolerate drug abuse. Any signs of it and they’ll be immediately sent off to a high end rehabilitation program. One of Mycroft’s biggest regrets is not stopping Sherlock before it got out of hand and he will not let that happen to his child.

Mycroft will deal very poorly with teenage rebellion. It’ll put a strain on their relationship, no matter what you do, unfortunately. Mycroft will very likely treat his child like another Sherlock in this case, and be snarky.

He’ll still love ‘em regardless, but he’s done dealing with that kind of stuff and has zero patience left.

He’ll make sure his child can have their dream job, but he’ll be a lot more supportive of financially secure jobs, or more intelligent jobs, than other more unstable things. 

(Please don’t be a detective like Uncle Sherlock. Mycroft will lose his mind and very well may strangle his brother)

First dates / kisses / sex / etc will give Mycroft mild anxiety attacks. They better have the most pristine backgrounds and if he suspects for a second his kid is in danger then he’ll send in the calvary.

Sexuality won’t matter in the slightest bit to him.

He may be a bit more controlling than others when it comes to his kid’s life, but he sincerely only wants what’s best for them. Sometimes he’ll have a hard time seeing that maybe his son/daughter knows what’s best for him/herself, and he’ll need your help with that.

Headcanons for Moriarty as a father

One word: Spoiled.

Moriarty is an eccentric parent. He’s the kind of parent that will feed a baby pop rocks to see what would happen. 

His children will always get what they want, provided they obey him and aren’t a hassle.

His child will be dubbed as Mini-Me. 

He’s got matching outfits. Moriarty will totally wear a dress (and rock it) if he has to in order match outfits with his child.

That baby is his Mini-Me and he LOVES IT.

He will educate his children personally when it comes to music, and he’ll encourage pyromania.

This kiddo is gonna grow up with private tutors, bodyguards, and an assortment of materialistic items.

You’ll have to make sure s/he receives lots of love and discipline so they don’t grow up dissociated, or disillusioned.

Frankly you’ll have to reign Moriarty in at times, too. He can get carried away when it comes to his Mini-Me. His parents were never around, so he wants to make sure his kid is constantly involved in his life. He’ll be quick with the physical affection, and will love  Even bringing him/her into the criminal enterprise ASAP. Like when s/he’s ten s/he’s probably already been introduced to mafia bosses.

(He’ll be persuaded out of this if you’re adamant enough, but you’ll have to really dig your shoes in.)

He will l o v e his Mini-Me, though. He wants his kiddo to live a happy and fulfilling life. He doesn’t want them to be bored easily like him, or wake up and discover the world’s nothing but gray. He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Super protective dad. First dates have an honest chance of getting sniped.

This kid can be whatever s/he wants to be. Moriarty does not give a hoot, so long as they’re happy, healthy, and always call him Best Dad In The World.

All the dad jokes.

A L L the pranks. He lives for pranking his kiddo.